Please answer the following by numbers and supporting references

1.What is a strategic group? Of what value is
knowledge of the firm’s strategic group in formulating that firm’s strategy?

2.What are the differences between the general
environment and the industry environment? Why are these differences important?

3.How do the five forces of competition in an
industry affect its profitability potential? Explain.

4.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?

5.What is the external environmental analysis
process (four parts)? What does the firm want to learn when using this process?

6.Assess an organization’s general environment.

7.Evaluate an organization’s external environment

8.Evaluate an organization’s industry environment.