Why is it essential for a firm to study and understand the external environment? What are the differences between the general environment and the industry environment? Why are these differences important?

Answer questions about management answer must be two to three sentences

1. Why is it essential for a firm to study and understand the external environment?
2. What are the differences between the general environment and the industry environment? Why are these differences important?
3. What are the seven segments of the general environment? Explain the differences among them.
4. What is a strategic group? Of what value is knowledge of the firm’s strategic group in formulating that firm’s strategy?
5. What is the importance of collecting and interpreting data and information about competitors? What practices should a firm use to gather competitor intelligence and why?
6. you are to identify a business current events article that comes from a quality business publication (Crains, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, The Economist, or any other reputable business publication.) The article should relate to something in the assigned materials for the week.Once you have identified the article, post a link to the article, and prepare a 1-2 paragraph summary that links the article