730 The Marketing Book
as composed of layers of issues and
interactions.
The most immediate issues for marketing
managers are typically internal ones relating to
the product and the company itself, and exter-
nally to customers. Beyond this, the analysis of
the environment broadens out externally
through different, but interwoven, levels of
environment. Each level has important implica-
tions for marketing, but dealing with the
deeper levels of the environment is perhaps a
more difficult strategic challenge, due to their
increasing breadth and complexity, and their
decreasing proximity to the company itself. The
physical global biosphere may seem distant to
many companies’ day-to-day activities, but
ultimately all business activity depends upon
it, and its continuing stability and viability.
Problems in the underlying global physical
environment will impact firms, and their prod-
ucts and strategies, through interactions with
each layer of the model.
Global physical environment
Measurable deterioration in many different
aspects of the biosphere has created a scientific
consensus that action is needed to better safe-
guard it, and its future viability, from the
consequences of unsustainable consumption
and production (although there is not una-
nimity, and there is controversy about the extent,
causes and implications of many of the issues).
At the simplest level, the environment affects
businesses because it represents the physical
space within which they and their customers
exist, and it provides the resources upon which
they depend. Climate change, for example, is a
serious threat to companies in tourism, agri-
culture, insurance or those situated on flood
plains. For some companies there is a very direct
relationship between the health of the environ-
ment and their business prospects. The fishing
industry’s agenda, for example, is dominated by
the need to protect stocks from over-fishing.
Although global issues such as climate
change and ozone depletion dominate the
headlines, the green agenda contains a vast
array of issues, each of which creates marketing
opportunities and threats for different busi-
nesses. For the car and oil companies, concerns
about carbon dioxide emissions and global
warming constitute a major threat. For com-
panies working in alternative fuels and energy
efficiency devices it represents a major oppor-
tunity. Some issues, such as over-fishing, are
industry specific, while others like global
warming have a much wider impact. It is
interesting to note that all of the major
industries in the world face important envir-
onmentally related challenges. In tourism, des-
tinations need to be developed sustainably to
prevent them being destroyed by their own
success in attracting visitors, and to safeguard
the cultures and lifestyles of the local popula-
tion. The oil industry is under pressure from
concerns about global warming and water
pollution. For the car industry, air pollution,
global warming and the fate of cars at the end
of their working lives are key issues. In elec-
tronics, the use of CFCs as solvents and the
disposal of obsolete equipment are important.
For agriculture, forestry and fishing, the threat
that unsustainable production poses in terms of
loss of biodiversity, deforestation and soil ero-
sion are crucial issues for the future. Even in the
apparently abstract world of financial services
there is increasing interest in ethical investment
policies and concern about environmental
instability as a source of risk.Global socio-economic system
The biosphere is global in nature, since it
knows no geopolitical boundaries. Recent dec-
ades have also seen a more global social
perspective emergence reflected in global
companies, markets, technologies and socio-
cultural trends. The response to the green
challenge has also become more global through
increasing international environmental legisla-
tion (such as the Montreal Protocol to reduce
CFC use, or the worldwide ban on commercial
whaling) and intergovernmental conferences.