The PEST framework helps business planners and innovators identify opportunities for innovation and change in the macro environment. It's a tool that enables a systematic exploration of how political, economic, social and technological factors may impact on the business - sometimes expanded to PESTEL to include legal and environmental.

Typically, business planners will identify the specific trends in each of these areas, and then identify how they might be a threat to the business or an opportunity. But are all these factors equal? Do they deserve the same amount of attention?Probably not.

Depending on your industry sector, some factors may be more important than others. At certain times, you may also need to more attentive to one rather than others – perhaps when a raft of legislations is planned or when there are turbulent economic times.

However, perhaps there is also a case for many businesses to give greater consideration to technological factors specifically, and to exploring the threats and opportunities that technological trends present in more depth.

Why Focus on Technology?

• Because of the rapid pace of technological change we have seen in the last ten years and how this pace is accelerating.
• Technological changes impact on all aspects of the business and in very different ways.
• Technological changes can be disruptive – changing whole industries and business models. Large established players and their business models have no special protection and are sometimes even more exposed than smaller players.

With hindsight it’s easy to see that the music industry and the publishing industry might have benefited from considering in more detail the implications of emergent technologies a decade ago and developing creative responses. Nowadays how might driverless vehicles, stem cell technologies and 4G phones and tablets impact your markets and business?

 Three Tips for Capitalizing on Technology trends.

1. Consider how new technologies’ might impact on every single aspect of your business model from value propositions, through customer profile, channels, tangible and intangible assets, partners and suppliers, cost and revenues.
2. Give equal attention to considering the threats as to the opportunities that new technologies might present. Some people are glass half full and some are glass half empty and this can translate into your approach to business and innovation planning. Threats and opportunities are equally important and bother require and innovative response.
3. Use creative thinking to explore the implications of trends. It’s not enough to simply list the trends. You need to explore how they may develop. What are the implications? How might they combine together to impact upon your business and your sector? Scenario planning can help here. It enables you to ‘associate’ with the trends and think about how you need to act and innovate now to capitalize on the future.

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