Scenario: Let's say we have a company who is making female hygiene items more access to women and girls in developing countries. The sourcing for these items come from banana leaves that are refined and then converted in things like feminine pads. If a disease broke out and affected tree leaf proliferation and health this would be an example of a conflict within the external environments. If the tree population bounced back, but a new company who also wanted to join the feminine hygiene market emerged and impeded on your collaboration with the sourcing farm that retrieves the banana leaves for you. This would be affect the internal environment.

I'll talk about two positive changes to the internal and external environment (strengths and opportunities). An orthopedic implant company is selling a titanium hip stem in the United States. During a business acquisition, the company acquired a Metal Injection Molding (MIM) cell. This is a great asset since it can produce large product quantities in a short amount of time, is cost and material-effective, and has a great level of precision in forming complex shapes. This is an example of positive change to the internal environment, a new strength of the company. They can meet their inventory needs at a lower cost as well as require less material per part (since there is less material waste in general with MIM).

Additionally, in this scenario, a branch of a company producing titanium alloys has opened up in the same state as the orthopedic implant company. Titanium is currently outsourced from overseas, where transportation and production costs are hefty. From research, the marketing team is aware that this is a well established and trusted company. This is a new opportunity for potential cost reduction in production and transportation of the material for the company's hip stem. This is an example of a positive change in the external environment, an opportunity. After many hoops have been jumped through, this has the potential to reduce costs in obtaining the material for the hip stem.

A medical device company based in Florida launches a novel commercial IUD with a biodegradable polymer coating. The company had hired subject matter experts on polymers to consult on the IUD development. Their expertise contributed to the final design in which the polymer alleviates typical copper IUD side effects. The IUD has been on the market for 5 years; it has shown great financial success due to overwhelming customer satisfaction. This is an example of a positive impact by the internal environment on the company’s market performance. However, a new Florida state legislature has recently been enacted limiting access to certain reproductive healthcare. It enables healthcare professionals and institutions to refuse their patients contraceptives without any legal or financial consequences. Thus, many hospitals and private practices in Florida halt their purchase of IUDs, including the company’s new IUD. This vastly cuts the local profits the company was making; this is an example of the external environment negatively impacting a company.