ETOP-Environmental Threat and Opportunity Profile

ETOP analysis

Environment threat and opportunity profile – It is a technique to structure the environment for fundamental business analysis. It was developed by glueck.
The preparation of ETOP involves dividing the environment into different sectors and then analyzing the impact of each sector on the organization. A comprehensive ETOP requires sub dividing each environmental sector into sub-sectors and then the impact of each sector is described in the form of a statement. A summary of ETOP may only show the major factors for the sake of simplicity.

The strategic managers must keep focus on the following dimensions-

• Issue selection – There is a likelihood of arriving at incorrect priorities therefore focus must be on the issues which have been selected.
• Accuracy of ETOP – The data must be collected from good sources otherwise the entire process of environmental scanning might go to waste.
• Impact study – It should be conducted focusing on the various opportunities and threats and the critical issues selected. Efforts must be made to make the assessment more objective.
• Flexibility of operations – Due to uncertainty in business situations, a company will be benefited by devising a proactive and flexible strategies in their plans, structures, strategy etc. An optimum level must be reached.