I. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
A. Societal Environment
1. Economy
? Low-negative growth in economy/financial markets (T)
? Reduced discretionary spending on goods that are, or are perceived to be, luxuries (T)
? Unsettled regional/global conflicts e.g. military and/or terrorist activities (T)
? Weak economic conditions in Japan (T)
? Global competition (T)
? Wholesale market for high quality cut diamonds will provide continuity of supply and pricing (O)
? Soft employment market (T)
? Post September 11th recession/reduced tourism (T)
? Increase in 2-income families (O)
? Number of families w/ household incomes over $100,000 to grow by 20% (O)
? Low cost manufacturing abroad ? China, Brazil (O)
? High discretionary income of baby-boomers through credit card use (O)
2. Technology
? Increased availability of Internet (O)
? Increased use of E-Commerce (O)
? New QAD & MFG/PRO software to collect real-time data (O)
2. Political-Legal
? Increase in free trade (O/T)
? China's membership to WTO (O)
? WTO ? World Trade Organization (O/T)
? Tax benefits associated w/ ETI (O)
? Government rules/regulations (O/T)
4. Socio- Cultural
? Growth of seniors market-over 80 million baby boomers in U.S (O)
? Baby boomer ...