It provides opportunities and it presents threats. Johnson et al. (2014) separate it into three constituent elements: .
The Far Environment .
The Near Environment .
The Internal Environment.
3.1The Far Environment: PESTLE analysis-Social factor .
According to Appendix 1, Social factor could be the most important key strategic issues Clarks face in the far environment which can impact the organisation but over which it has no direct control except by tentative mechanisms. Society has a considerable impact on how the company set strategies because of change of demography and social culture. .
Demography, for instance, the change in the structure and the size of population can have tremendous contribution on demand of Clarks' product and its workforce. This can be an opportunity for Clarks because one of the strongest performing parts of its UK business is its well-fitting children shoes (Barkham, 2011) and British birth rate leaps by 18 per cent in a decade (The Independent, 2014). Therefore the social factor could be a driving force for Clarks' future growth. Social culture will also affect the demand for Clarks and services. For example, increasing environmental awareness has created a demand for eco-friendly products with global warming became progressively worse, which can be a threat for Clarks. According to Rankabrand.org (2015), Clarks is ranked lowest sustainability score due to communicating nothing concrete about policies for environment, carbon emissions or labor condition in low-wages country. It can be argue that the social factor could also be a negative effect on Clarks' business. .
3.2 The Near Environment: Porter's Five Forces Analysis-Industry Rivalry .
According to Appendix 2, industry rivalry may be the highest level impact on the key strategic issues facing Clarks Shoes in the near environment which can impact the organisation and which it has some influence or less control. Competitive rival present the strongest of the five forces in Porter's model because falling demand and intensive concentration of the industry.