Explain how social, economic, political, and technological changes may act as triggers for the

Question

implementation of a contingency plan. Give examples to substantiate your answers.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Political Changes - New laws can cause dramatic effects on organizations. They can benefit the organization (such
as solar energy credits helping solar energy companies), or hurt it (such as luxury taxes targeting high-priced
automobiles).
Economic Changes - The economic climate can affect the success of a new product or service. Marketing in a time of
prosperity is often easier than marketing in recessionary periods. For example, prices of used automobiles in the
recessionary period of 2007––2010 actually rose, instead of dropping, due in part to people wanting to save money
over purchasing a new car.
Social Changes - Consumer's choices can change over time. For example, some of the fads of the 2000s endured to
become successful new categories (wireless camera phones turned to smartphones) and others did not
(LiveSTRONG yellow wristbands, once pervasive, are now essentially gone).
Technology Changes - If a company's target market adopts a new type of technology that threatens to make the
company's technology obsolete, the consequences can be dire. An example is the rapid boom and bust of e-learning
tools in the early 2000s.