In this article we describe the DESTEP analysis. DESTEP is an abbreviation for demographic, economic, social/cultural, technological, ecological and political/judicial factors.
Summary of DESTEP
Analysis DESTEP is an abbreviation for demographic, economic, social/cultural, technological, ecological and political/judicial factors. It is a tool with which a picture of the external (macro) environment where a given organisation is active can be obtained. Insight into the external environement of an organisation is of importance in order to effectively make use of the opportunities and threats caused by the landscape wherein a business operates. Adjusting strategic policy based on the findings from DESTEP Analysis enables a business to succesfully become active in its environment.
What is DESTEP Analysis?
DESTEP stands for demographic, economic, social/cultural, technological, ecological and political/judicial factors. By analysing these factors, one gets a picture of the landscape wherein a business operates. The analysis constitutes a part of the external analysis and is a component of the Situation Analysis and the marketing plan.
Why DESTEP Analysis?
Insight into the external environement of an organisation is important for effectively making use of the opportunities and threats caused by the landscape wherein a business operates. Adjusting strategic policy based on the findings from DESTEP Analysis enables a business to succesfully become active in its environment.
What does DESTEP Analysis consist of?
With the DESTEP Analysis, the macro-environment variables over which a business exerts no direct influence, such as ageing population in the Netherlands, are analysed. A business can not change these factors, but can quite effectively respond to by adjusting the strategic policy accordingly.
The macro-environment variables of DESTEP Analysis are as follows:
Demographic
Demographic factors are characteristics of the population
Economic
Economic factors are characteristics that describe the economy
Social-cultural
Social-cultural factors are characteristics of the culture and customes
Technological
Technological factors are characteristics of the development
Ecological
Ecological factors are characteristics of the physical environment
Political-judicial
Political-judicial factors are characteristics of government decisions
DESTEP examples: Executing DESTEP Analysis
For each factor, the starting position must first be investigated. Thoroughly describe the current situation and make a prediction for the future based on that. By describing the thing in the past that is taken as the starting point and by contrasting it against the changes and current developments, strategic options can be developed in a later stage of the marketing plan. Thus, the DESTEP gives the answer to the question of how an organisation can effectively respond to its environment.
Deliberate on different cases for each factor that influence the organisation and focus trying to find it! An oft-made mistake at analysing the environment is describing non-relevant factors. There is a very huge amount of information to find in order to end up with a good DESTEP analysis. Not all information found is influential upon the marketing plan. Use only information of relevance that has something to do with the organisation and/or the central problem of the marketing plan. End with a summary of concrete characteristics. This is an input for the SWOT and the choice of strategy.
Marketing Implications
The DESTEP Analysis is a marketing tool with which research can be done easily on which way can an organisation effectively respond to its environment. It is up to the marketer to devise a good adjustment on this. Findings from DESTEP are often used as input for a SWOT Analysis and are a component of the Situation Analysis and marketing plan.