Name: Tutor: Course: Date: University:           Table of Contents Eden Project Overview.. 3 How Eden Project Improves Sustainability. 4 PEST Analysis. 5 Political Factors. 5 Economic Factors. 7 Social Factors. 9 Technology Factors. 10 Conclusion. 12 References List……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13                 Executive Summary This report presents a comprehensive assessment of PEST analysis as a strategic tool that study external environment factors affecting business operations. The discussion will clearly provide a comprehensive understanding of the function of PEST analysis and further identify and assess various macro environment factors that affect Eden Project operations. The paper will also provide a concise summary of the Eden Project as a tourist industry and an overview of how the firm improves sustainability. The findings show that PEST analysis is an effective framework for studying; Political, Economic, Social and Technology factors of the any given business. Eden Project Overview             The Project was the idea of Tim Smit who is already legendary for his contribution in the renovation of Heligan Gardens. With over 20 years in operation, Eden Project has been an imperative catalyst for the revival of the area by providing key employment, educational and environmental opportunities. More than only a large, tropical garden, Eden Project is an entry into relationship between people and plants, and a mesmerizing imminent into the tale of human’s reliance on fauna life. Eden Project struggles with inflexible external environment problems: over-utilization of the natural resources, commotion to the important systems of the universe, unequal access to limited resources and the failure of political and social structures to manage rapid population growth.

 

How Eden Project Improves Sustainability             According to Eden (2016), Eden Project acknowledges the significance of sustainability and takes into consideration the social, environmental and economic benefits and impacts in decision making. Generally, the impact of Eden Project has been positive on Cornwall and UK environment at large. Towns surrounding Eden Project have felt the positive impacts from the creation of this industry as more people have moved in into the area. The organization continues to improve its sustainability and in 2015 to 2016 Eden initiated an innovative waste and resource project named Wasteline (Eden, 2016). This project aspires to increase the reprocessing to 80% and ensure no waste is disposed to landfill.             Eden also collaborate with its traders to evaluate the packaging in order moderate the amount of potential garbage before arrival. Eden (2016) argues that the organization expects to see the first authentic results o this initiative. Besides, Eden anticipates moderating the amount of carbon emission. Evidently, the organization has moderated the carbon footprint by 14.4% compared to the financial year 2012/2013. According to Eden (2016), the organization has initiated energy renewal lately as the only reporting structure since this dumping apparently cater for a noteworthy portion of waste that had earlier disposed.             Eden is improving sustainability through generating electricity from good source, making sure that all the power is generated from renewable source of energy. The organization has engaged in effective measures and replaced lots of lights around car parks with LED, thus saving more than 60 watts for each light (Eden, 2016). Lastly, Eden introduced new market in 2015 but it was not successful in the end. The organization was unable to retrieve data required to assess and encourage stable business travel information. As an alternative, the firm used the figures from the previous financial year and increased them by 10%. Eden is apparently using RFI to record air travel coverage, meaning that it considers extra gases released in the atmosphere. This is a good strategy for protecting the environment from pollution (Environmental Science, 2017).

PEST Analysis

            External business environment encompass all the factors which affect the business either positively or negatively but are not under the control of the organization (Marmol, Feyes & Probert, 2015). Thus, these factors should be identified, recognized and analyzed by the organization so it can achieve optimal performance. The PEST analysis framework is an account of macro-environmental factors which may affect the normal operation of the business. The PEST word is a widely used framework which studies the Political, Economic, Social and Technology factors of the business environment (Saleem, 2010). Organizations should therefore respond to changes in the external environment by forming a strategy to set up a match between the organization’s abilities and the external environmental changes. This section will discuss PEST analysis for the Eden Project and further identify and assess the various external factors affecting its operations.

Political Factors

            Political factors comprise foreign influences, tax policies, tariff and trade restrictions, employment laws and laws of consumer protection (Marmol, Feyes & Probert, 2015). Mostly, the foreign policy of a country plays a significant role in establishing the business laws, which can be either due to business incentives or trade restrictions. United Kingdom, UK is a constitutional kingdom that operates under the leadership of a legislative government system. UK is said to be rational, perpetual nation with plenty of opportunities for business and people working in London.             Eden Project cannot solve political factors that negatively affect its operations but has a significant role to play. Based on the political stability in UK and proactive government, Eden Project can freely expand their services in UK (Macshane, 2015). Moreover, UK is relatively rational, with the public having a great inspiration on the domestic operations. This indicates that the UK government does not put constraints on political stability. A stable environment in the UK implies that Cornwell is stable as well.  Smith & Warburton (2012) argues that this political aspect also deals with the issue of national and local government sanction for tourism.             It is evident that there are a number of government resources to Eden Project, particularly financially. Globally, the industry is backed by European Social Fund of the EU (Eden Project, 2016). Eden Project is supported by UK government and Cornwall council on a countrywide basis and regional basis respectively. As a result of political change, Eden Project (2016) added that the industry is no more getting finances from the government, thus affecting its everyday projects. The industry is already facing financial crisis and in such a case, political factors can help Eden Project fight the crisis through granting more and more benefits. Smith & Warburton (2012) added that political change in the tourists’ native country can have an effect on the tourism and attraction industry. A number of political factors involve the issue of immigration restrictions. Legislation on this issue mainly comes from the UK government. The restriction on travel and immigrants by UK seriously reduces the expectations for the country’s industry (Smith & Warburton, 2012). This will greatly affect Eden Project from moving forward. In addition, the factor could lead a tourism industry to incur losses as a result of poor turnout of foreign visitors.

Economic Factors

            Saleem (2010) defines economic factors are the determinants and indicators of economic growth in country. UK has a stable economic state relative to other states. It has a diverse economy and a high GDP. However, these factors are affecting Eden Project in various ways. A key factor that will affect Eden Project at all times either positively or negatively is the currency exchange rate. According to The Heritage Foundation (2017) the variation in this case will definitely affect alien visitors since they will be unwilling to pay entrance charges if the currency is high relative to other legal tenders.             The other way is that when the England currency is low, visitors will be more eager to pay for the tariffs. Due to 2008 economic crisis, Britain no longer has confidence to impact its wealth perceptions and risk inclination (Aisen, 2010). As a result, UK has made comprehensive cutbacks- expenditure in bistros and socialising has been reduced by 48% of them, plus festivals 42% and home furnishings 37% (The Fin...