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Arm and Hmmer
The external environment poses some possible threats and some opportunities. First, looking at the economic situation, of course, there are some uncertainties. Consumers are spending less because of the unstable economy. This could be a possible threat to any business in any industry. The U.S. had the weakest fourth-quarter since 1991. Consumer spending on durable goods, such as cars and appliances, has declined dramatically. However, consumer spending for non-durable good, such as food, household items, and clothing rose last quarter by 3.9%. This is the category under which Arm and Hammer falls into, so it hasn’t been such a big threat to Arm and Hammers consumer products department, but this may hinder the specialty products sector.
The legal requirements that the Arm and Hammer company needs to follow are the same in every company that works with chemicals. There are certain pollution and emission regulations that companies need to follow. This has been a core competency for Arm and Hammer though, because they have become synonymous with environmental safety. The company is environmentally sound and tries to teach environmental education and conservation.
The sociocultural environment for Arm and Hammer is very limited. 95% of the customer base is in the U.S. The transportation costs would be too high to distribute to other countries. At first Arm and Hammer was primarily targeting bakers, but as times changed the target market did as well. With the development of new products, all people are interested in purchasing Arm and Hammer, whether it be to absorb smoke or pet odors or using the toothpaste, deodorant, or detergent. There is not one specified demographic that Arm and Hammer needs to focus on, because all types of people will use the various products.
Next in reviewing the technology portion of the external environment creates some opportunities for Arm and Hammer. After Arm and Hammer baking soda was no longer just used for baking, the company had to seek out new niches. They needed to to use innovation to create new and/or different products from competitors. Since then Arm and Hammer has created toothpastes, deodorants, gums, and cleaning products. The biggest technology advancement for Arm and Hammer would be the specialty products used to control pollution processes at coal fired electrical plants or that help remove chemicals from smokestack emissions. Also the invention of ARMAKLEEN, that removes lead from drinking