Social factors in a STEEPLE analysis are those related to people, their lifestyles and their beliefs (or values). Social factors that affect the level of economic activity in a country include cultural influences, demographics of the population, religious beliefs, society's views on ethical behaviour, and social attitudes towards discrimination (against women, ethnic minorities and other possibly disadvantaged groups). Examples of social factors in a STEEPLE analysis include (although these will vary from country to country):

• An ageing population, i.e. the average age of the population increases. This has implications for recruitment and different spending patterns.

• Many more women are choosing to have children at an older age. This is partly so that they can pursue their professional careers and also because of the increasing costs of raising children.

• Changes in the net migration rate – this measures the difference between immigration (when people enter a country to live and to work) and emigration (when people leave a country to work and live abroad), i.e. it indicates changes in the physical movement of people in and out of a country.

• An increase in the retirement age – this has an impact on staffing costs, recruitment and retention, and different spending habits. Retirement age, selected countries

Table 1 - Retirement age, selected countries:

In the context of the corporate world, the technological environment refers to the changes and developments in machinery and equipment developed for business operations and their growth and evolution. Changing technology has always played an important role in the external business environment. Personal computers become popular in the 1980s. Mobile (cell) phones become popular in the 1990s. Smartphones were launched to the mass market in the 2000s. The last decade has seen an increase in the use of 3-D printed products and wearable technologies, such as smartwatches. The advancements in Internet technologies have created many opportunities for businesses involved in e-commerce. Other examples include:

• Lean production technologies that improve operation efficiency, quality and productivity in the manufacturing sector.

• Technological advances have led to increased use of automation in car manufacturing.

• Unemployment in certain industries as technology and automation create opportunities for capital-intensive production methods.

• By contrast, employment opportunities have also been created, such as the need for coders and app developers.

• The increasing use and reliance on social media for marketing purposes. For example, almost all large companies use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as part of their marketing. TripAdvisor is used by marketers in the travel and tourism industry. OpenRice is a popular website used to promote food and restaurants in many South East Asian countries. Instagram is used by businesses to showcase their product range and other aspects of their marketing.

• Social media has also revolutionised recruitment for many organizations, such as the popularity of LinkedIn to headhunt workers for specific jobs.

Mobile technologies have created many opportunities for e-commerce

Technological factors are not necessarily or always positive. They can create huge barriers to entry into certain industries, thereby limiting the degree of competition on the market. This limits choice for customers, who are likely to be charged a higher price as a result. However, by far the largest threat of technological factors is technological failure, caused by power cuts or due to fraudulent hacking.

Economic factors in a STEEPLE analysis refer to the determinants of an economy's performance. Changes in economic factors that affect the external business environment can be explained by the business cycle (also known as the trade cycle). The level of economic activity is measured by gross domestic product (GDP) in an economy. GDP measures the total value of national output, per time period (usually one year).

The business cycle (also called the trade cycle) shows the level of economic activity, over time

The different phases in the business cycle include:

• Boom (expansion) – when spending, employment and prices rise due to an increase in economic activity in the economy.

• Peak – a high point in the business cycle, before a recession sets in as booms are not sustainable in the long run; prices are high, thus causing a fall in the economy’s competitiveness.

• Recession – a decline in economic activity, leading to lower employment and falling business and consumer confidence levels.

• Slump (or trough) – the bottom/lowest point in the business cycle, with mass-scale unemployment and falling prices; government intervention is likely to occur to rectify the situation. As Harry S Truman (the 33rd President of the United States, 1884-1972) said, “It’s a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.”

• Recovery – when economic activity and employment start to rise following a slump.

Interrelated factors that cause fluctuations in the level of economic activity* in an economy include changes in:

• The level of consumer and business confidence – improved confidence levels will have a positive impact on economic activity in the economy.

• Costs of production – higher costs will typically cause prices to increase. This is likely to deteriorate the economy’s international competitiveness and level of economic activity.

• The exchange rate – a currency appreciation means that export prices rise relative to import prices. This will tend to reduce the international competitiveness of the economy as exporters will generally find it more difficult to sell their products due to the higher prices.

  Exports are the goods and/or services produced in one country and sold to customers located in other countries.

  By contrast, imports are the goods and services produced overseas but purchased by domestic customers.

• The interest rate – higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive for households, so they tend to spend less. In addition, higher interest rates reduce the incentive to invest in the economy due to the higher costs of borrowing money. Hence, higher interest rates tend to constrain economic activity.

• The inflation rate – the higher the inflation rate, the higher prices are in general. Hence, higher rates of inflation in the economy tend to reduce its international competitiveness, thereby reducing the level of economic activity.

* Read more about economic growth by clicking the icon here.

The demand for imports and exports is affected by exchange rates

 ATL Activity 1 (Thinking skills) - Calculating exchange rates

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Question 1

Taryn Corporation, based in the UK, is considering the purchase of a property in the United States for $13,280,000. Calculate the change in the price for Taryn Corporation if the US dollar falls in value from £1 = $1.45 to £1 = $1.55, and comment on your answer.

 Teacher only box

Answers

• At £1 = $1.45, Taryn Corporation would pay $13,280,000 ÷ $1.45 = £9,158,620.69
• At £1 = $1.55, Taryn Corporation would pay $13,280,000 ÷ $1.45 = £8,567,741.94
• Hence, Taryn Corporation benefits from the stronger pound sterling (as it can buy American imports at a lower price), saving £590,878.75 for the property in the USA.

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Question 2

Calculate the price in USD for American tourists visiting France who wish to purchase Louis Vuitton handbags priced at €3,000 (euros), when the exchange rate is $1 = €0.764.

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• At the exchange rate of $1 = €0.764, this means €1 = $1.30
• Hence, the American tourists would need to pay €3,000 ÷ $3,926.70 (accept answers that show $3,927)

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Question 3

In the previous example, explain what would happen if the exchange rate changed from $1 = €0.764 to $1 = €0.633.

 Teacher only box

• This means the USD has fallen in value as each dollar is now worth less units of euros. Hence, American tourists would need to spend more money to purchase the Louis Vuitton handbags.
• At $1 = €0.633, this means the tourists need to pay €3,000/€0.633 = $4,739.37 (accept answers that show $4,740 or $4,739

 ATL Activity 3 (Research skills) - Job losses caused by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic

The coronavirus outbreak of 2019 (and beyond) caused the world's deepest recession in living memory, with business closures and job losses in literally every industry in every country in the world. Use the Internet to investigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on jobs in a country of your choice.

 Teacher only box

Some examples include:

• A historical high of more than 44 million people registered as unemployed in the USA, recorded in June 2020, about 12 weeks after the first national lockdown in an attempt to control the disease.

•  According to analysis from the New Economics Foundation (NEF), the coronavirus pandemic could cause up to 124,000 job losses in the UK aviation industry without direct government support.

• Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that Australia went into a recession for the first time in 3 decades. Retail spending in the country fell by $5.38 billion between March to April, causing unemployment across the economy. The coronavirus crisis was to blame.

• Airbus cut 15,000 jobs, mainly in Germany and France due to the decline in demand for its planes as a result of the stagnant air travel industry. The European aircraft manufacturer had previously furloughed 3,200 workers due to a cash flow crisis. Read more about this story here, from the BBC.

• Oil giant BP announcing 10,000 job cuts following the global slump in demand for oil (as people were stuck indoors during The Great Lockdown), around 15% of its global workforce.

• British Airways announced in August 2020 that it would make around 10,000 employees redundant as the airline carrier struggled with a huge decline in flights to/from the UK.

• In October 2020, Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong's flagship airline carrier) announced 6,000 job cuts globally along with closure of Cathay Dragon (formerly known as Dragonair) - its subsidiary airline. The company also announced that existing staff would need to take a pay cut - the more senior, the larger the pay cut.

• Also in August 2020, Coca-Cola announced 4,000 job cuts in the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico due to declining sales caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The company said it may need to make job cuts in other countries at a later date. It estimates the severance expenses of the job losses could cost between $350 million to $550 million.

• Dyson, famous for its bagless vacuum cleaner, announced in August 2020 that it would have to cut 600 jobs in the UK plus a further 300 jobs worldwide as the coronavirus harmed its global sales.

• Frankie & Benny's (a bar and grill restaurant chain owned by the Wagamama group) closed 125 restaurants in the UK, causing 3,000 people to lose their jobs.

• Rolls-Royce announced 9,000 job cuts around the world due to the global decline in air travel, hurting demand for its jet engines and maintenance services.

• According to Business Insider India, more than half of all coronavirus-related business closures since March 2020 are now permanent. Read more about this here. Business Insider India also reported that nearly 16,000 restaurants have permanently closed since the pandemic started. Read more about this here.

 ATL Activity 4 (Research skills) - Job creation during the global coronavirus pandemic

Camiko London was established in 2020 during the coronavirus outbreak

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Between 2019 and 2020, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic threatened many businesses due to sharp declines in consumer spending (see ATL Activity 3). However, not every business suffered during the deepest recession the world experienced in living memory.

Investigate and list as many examples as possible of businesses that benefited from the opportunities presented by the coronavirus pandemic.

 Teacher only box

Encourage students to use both local and international examples, whenever appropriate to do so.

Possible responses could include:

• E-commerce businesses with well-developed online retail stores, such as Amazon and Taobao

• Entertainment streaming service providers, such as Netflix and Disney+

• Food delivery firms, such as Deliveroo, Delivery.com, DoorDash, Grab, Grubhub, Just Eat, Meituan Waimai, OLO, Postmates, Snapfinger and UberEats

• Logistics and courier companies, such as DHL, FedEx, TNT, UPS, and the post office.

• Supermarkets (as more people ordered online and/or ate at home instead of dining at restaurants)

• Personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers of products such as surgical masks, hand sanitizing products, disinfectants, medical gowns, and gloves. An example is Camiko London (see ATL Activity 4 above).

• Video conferencing technology firms, such as Adobe Connect, Google, Skype and  Zoom (for online meetings, conference and education). Zoom says it now has 300 million daily meeting participants - around 10 million more each day before the coronavirus hit.

Several large companies announced revenues and profits at the end of 2020, having been able to exploit opportunities from national lockdowns and more people staying at home / working from home during the pandemic. These companies include Netflix, Uber Eats and the Walt Disney Company.

• Twenty years ago, Blockbuster refused a partnership proposal made by Netflix. Blockbuster went bankrupt in 2011. At the start of 2021, Netflix had more than 200 million paid subscribers. The company had sales revenues in excess of $25 billion in 2020 - the equivalent of more than $68.49 million per day or in excess of $2.85 million per hour(!)

• Uber Eats (food delivery services) saw an increase in sales. This signifies the importance of having a diversified product portfolio as global sales revenues for Uber were down in 2020 to $14 billion due to nationwide lockdowns in many parts of the world.

• Whilst some students might associate the Walt Disney Company with theme parks and children's movies, the world's largest entertainment group’s global sales also includes revenue streams from its many strategic business units such as Disney+ and other television cable channels such as ABC Network, ESPN, and The Disney Channel. The company also owns film studios including Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm (and the Star Wars franchise), 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and Blue Sky Studios. The Walt Disney Company had sales in excess of $65.388 billion in 2020 – by far the largest of the 3 companies listed here.

Tesla has made the most of green technologies

Environmental factors in a STEEPLE analysis refer to the ecological aspects of business activity that can have positive as well as negative impacts on organizations. Green technologies and environmental aspects of business are increasingly important for businesses. There is a growing expectation from customers, employees, and other stakeholder groups for businesses to act in the best interest of the environment. For example, depletion of the world’s scarce resources, especially non-renewable resources, is not a sustainable business practice. An increasing number of businesses are adapting renewable energy sources for their operations, such as solar power. Similarly, many more producers are using cradle to cradle design and manufacturing.

The ecological environment has direct impacts on the operations of a business. For example:

• Global warming and climate change have led to more stringent government policies to protect the environment. For example, in 2017, car manufacturers were informed that that British government would ban all diesel and unleaded petrol cars from 2040.

• Adverse weather conditions can cause huge disruptions to businesses. For example, businesses tend to struggle when there are floods, tsunamis, torrential rainstorms, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes or heavy snowfalls. Hand car wash businesses really struggle when it rains!

Flooding can have devastating effects on business operations

 Watch this short YouTube video clip about the torrential rains in South Korea in August 2022, the heaviest rainfall in the country for 80 years.

This ITV News video clip covers the " " which caused major disruptions in the USA, which experienced the coldest December since the 1980s, causing havoc in the country including tens of thousands of flights being cancelled.

• In many countries, businesses have to account for their ecological footprint. This refer to the impact of their operations on the environment, such as waste production and pollution. For example, international climate change agreements (such as the Paris Agreement) place rules and regulations on business operations in order to protect the natural environment.

• Businesses that do not consider the impact of their operations on the environment may face public scrutiny and heavy penalties (fines) from the government. Those that do take the environment seriously can benefit from a positive corporate image, and more sustainable business model.

Recycling, reusing and reducing are good business practices

 Watch this video clip of Typhoon Hato, which hit Macau on 23rd August 2017, causing major damage to the economy:

 Watch this video about how San Francisco strived to become a zero waste city by 2020:

The Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London

The political environment in a STEEPLE analysis refers to the role that governments play in business operations. It affects business operations in an array of facets. Examples include, but are not confined to, the following:

• The degree of political stability in a country has a large impact on business and consumer confidence levels. For example, prolonged political conflict within a country is likely to threaten prospects of foreign direct investment. The UK’s decision in 2016 to pull out of the European Union (the decision known as “Brexit”) has caused huge instabilities to British businesses and the UK economy.

• Restrictions on international trade, such as the use of quotas (quantitative limits) on the number of imported goods that can be sold in the domestic economy. The government might also impose tariffs (import taxes) in order to protect domestic jobs. Another example is the use of subsidies to help domestic firms be more competitive. For example, the governments of the European Union provide subsidies to their farmers. The Hong Kong and Chinese governments provide subsidies to protect their domestic film industries. However, this makes it more difficult for MNCs trying to sell their goods in overseas markets.

• Different tax laws or changes in the tax system have a significant impact on business operations. For example, many MNCs are attracted to countries where migrant workers do not pay any income tax, such as in Bahrain, Brunei and Kuwait. Similarly, MNCs can be attracted to countries that do not impose sales taxes, such as in Saudi Arabia, Gibraltar and Hong Kong SAR.

• Governments are huge establishments that also function as an organization. They are major consumers of goods and services in domestic and international markets. This can provide many opportunities for businesses.

Brexit has caused instability in Britain

Legal factors in a STEEPLE analysis refer to the laws that affect the way in which businesses operate as well as how customers behave. Changes in the legal systems or laws have a direct impact on business operations, including the production and sale of certain goods and services. Examples of legal factors in a STEEPLE analysis include:

• Legal procedures for the growth and expansion of businesses, such as laws about setting up a sole trader business or share issues on a stock exchange.

• Minimum quality standards must be met in order to protect consumers and the general public. The Volkwagen Scandal is an example of how quality standards can have major implications on a firm’s operations, corporate image and profits.

• Consumer protection laws safeguard the interests of consumers. These laws include trade descriptions (such as rules in labels and packaging), and weights and measures.

• Employment laws*, such as changes to the National Minimum Wage, maternity and paternity leave, maximum working hours, statutory sick leave, health and safety at work, and anti-discrimination laws.

• Intellectual property rights (IPRs) help to protect the intellectual ideas and creations of businesses. These laws cover copyrights, trademarks and patents.

• Laws on environmental protection and climate change can change the way in which a business operates and on foreign direct investment.

• Some products are deemed so harmful that they are banned or have age limits imposed (such as the purchase of alcohol or tobacco). In some countries, such as Australia, cigarette advertising is totally banned, including on cigarette packets.

* Read more about employment laws by clicking the icon below.

The legal environment - Employment rights

Some laws constrain business activities whilst others can enhance the performance of a business. Although countries vary in their use of employment legislation, the laws typically found in most economically developed countries are outlined below.
    
a)  Anti-discrimination legislation

These laws make it illegal to discriminate (show prejudice) against individuals because of their gender, race (ethnicity), religion, disability, marital status or age. The laws apply to recruitment, training and promotion. The social argument for such laws is that they provide equal opportunities. The economic argument is that it is inefficient to decline a person a job or career opportunity simply because of these factors, especially if s/he is clearly the best person for the job. Examples of these laws include:

• Racial discrimination laws mean that it is illegal to discriminate employees because of their nationality, ethnic background or the colour of their skin.

• Sex discrimination laws make it illegal to discriminate workers on the grounds of gender or marital status. In 2001, around 1.6 million female workers accused Walmart (the largest employer in the USA) of favouring men over women for pay and promotion. Since 2005, Walmart has publicly released data on its employment of women and minority groups.

• Disability discrimination legislation makes it unlawful for employers to mistreat a person because of his or her disability.

• There are some exceptions where positive discrimination can be lawful. For instance, it is possible for modelling agencies to recruit only female models; for Indian restaurants to employ only India chefs; or for an all-girls school to hire only female teachers of physical education.

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b)  Equal pay legislation

Equal pay legislation makes it unlawful to reward people differently if they are doing work or jobs deemed to be of equal value. The laws cover both pay and conditions of employment, including paid holidays, pension rights, bonuses and other benefits. It is possible, however, to offer greater rewards to those with higher qualifications and greater experience. Geographical considerations are also a possible exemption to equal pay legislation; it is more expensive to work/live in central business districts such as London, New York, Paris or Tokyo so employers in these areas can compensate workers with higher pay.

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c)  Health and Safety at Work legislation

Health and Safety at Work Acts (HASAWA) cover the provision of safe and adequate working conditions. Businesses need to offer a secure and hygienic working environment for their staff. Adequate facilities, such as lighting and washrooms, are also required. Training must be provided so that workers know how to operate equipment and machinery in a safe manner. Implementing HASAWA can be expensive if training costs are high. Maintaining health and safety standards also costs money.  However, in the long run, businesses should benefit from having lower absenteeism and fewer compensation claims caused by injuries at work. They may also gain from a better corporate image, thereby reducing staff turnover. Furthermore, maintaining health and safety standards is a necessary hygiene factor which is required to prevent a demotivated workforce (see Unit 2.4).

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d)  Statutory employment benefits

Statutory benefits are the legal benefits that all businesses are obliged to offer to their workers (see Box 2.1h).  To protect the business, employees must first qualify for certain statutory benefits, such as maternity leave or holiday pay.  This is usually based on a qualifying period linked to the length of time that the worker has been employed for by the business.  Some businesses choose to offer more than the statutory benefits, such as extended maternity leave.  However, all businesses must offer the minimum statutory benefits.

Examples of statutory benefits include:

• Statutory Sick Pay - payment made to workers who are unable to work due to general illness. Firms may request a doctor’s certificate as proof of the employee’s sickness before wages or salaries are paid.

• Statutory Maternity Pay - payment made to female workers who are expecting a baby. They are entitled to paid leave for a period of time after the baby is born and are guaranteed to be able to return to their job on the same terms and conditions as before.

• Statutory Paternity Pay - payment made to male workers whose partner or spouse is expecting a baby. The period of time tends to be shorter for males than for expectant mothers. In many countries, both maternity and paternity laws extend to the adoption of a child.

• Statutory Holiday Pay - payment made to staff during statutory holidays such as Christmas and New Year. Staff who work during statutory holidays are usually paid an overtime rate (premium wage rate). Employees are also entitled to a period of paid holiday leave, which is usually dependent on their length of service.

• Retirement Pension Scheme - employers pay a contribution towards the retirement fund of the worker.

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e)  National Minimum Wage (NMW)

The NMW is the legal minimum rate of pay that all businesses must pay their workers. One reason for imposing a NMW is that the government believes there are benefits to raising the income of the poorest paid workers in the country. It is usually expressed as an hourly rate and must be paid to all workers, irrespective of the work they do or their experience. Some countries have different rates of the NMW for different age categories (such as in the European Union where younger workers are paid less per hour than those aged 22 and above). The UK’s NMW in 2011 was £6.08 ($8.30) per hour and climbed to £8.21 ($11.22) per hour in 2021 for adults aged over 21, having increased by almost 130% since its introduction in April 1999. The NMW can therefore present a threat to businesses as their costs are increased quite considerably.

You will find more infographics at Statista

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Just as there are laws to protect employees from mistreatment at work, there are expectations governing employees in their conduct at work. Some of these expectations, which may or may not be stipulated in an employment contract, include the need for employees to:

• be willing and able to carry out the roles and tasks set out in their job description and employment contract

• comply with reasonable (and lawful) instructions given by the management team

• act in a professional, honest and fair manner at all times

• take care not to damage property of the business, such as machinery and equipment

• avoid misconduct, such as: theft of business property, discrimination against fellow employees, deliberate misuse of corporate finance, accepting bribes, drunkenness in the workplace or violent behaviour.

Ethics refers to the moral values and beliefs that apply to businesses and how they operate. There is an increasing expectation for businesses to consider the impact of their operations on all stakeholder groups, society as a whole and the environment. Essentially, it is about doing the right or moral things as part of their corporate social responsibilities (CSR). Examples include:

• The fair treatment of workers

• Fair trade deals with suppliers

• Ethical marketing practices

• Observing intellectual property rights

• Principled accounting procedures

• Operations that are sustainable and protect the environment.

 ATL Activity 7 (Research skills) - The Great Lockdown of 2019/2020/2021

The global financial crisis of 2008 caused a major recession throughout many parts of the world. Many countries, such as Greece and Spain struggled for many years to get out of the recession.

But what about the global social, economic and financial crisis caused by the 2019 - 2020 coronavirus outbreak? Ask students to investigate the financial and non-financial costs of the COVID-19 pandemic, and present their findings in the format of a STEEPLE analysis.

 Teacher only box

Possible answers could include:

Social

• School closures across the world, affecting the lives of over 1.2 billion children across the world and their parents

• Panic buying (of items such as pasta, eggs. rice, UHT long-life milk, flour, personal protective equipment such as surgical face masks, home cleaning products, and toilet rolls!)

• Change in work habits and practices, with many more people working from home during the Lockdown.

Empty shelves in supermarkets during the coronavirus outbreak

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Technological

• Opportunities for e-commerce, e.g. online grocery shopping and delivery services saw huge increases in demand during The Great Lockdown

• Growth in online learning due to school closures (InThinking provided over 30 different websites/subjects to help schools with online learning); other companies that benefited included Zoom, Google (Hangout) and Microsoft (Teams) as schools and businesses migrated to online platforms for their meetings and lessons.

Virtual queues for online orders during the Lockdown

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Economic

• Collapse of businesses in almost every industry, from sole traders, national airlines and multinational companies

• Reduced trading hours for retailers and commercial banks, and temporary closure of some stores/branches

• Major collapse in all stock markets across the world

• Decline in exchange rates against the USD (the most stable currency)

• Mass unemployment caused by the prolonged recession (the USA alone registered over 26 million unemployed within the first 5 weeks of the US being on Lockdown, and 44 million by the middle of June 2020 - which represented more than 26 per cent of the US workforce), causing social and economic unrest in the country.

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Ethical

• Food banks (food donations) from individuals and businesses to help the local community

• Businesses reaching out to the community - this website was launched in April 2020 as a completely free resources up to the end of the 2020 academic year in response to schools needing resources for distance learning.

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Political

• Government closure of schools and universities.

• Social programmes, such as social services to help the elderly living in isolation.

• Huge increase in financial support for the unemployed and people furloughed from their workplace; the USA registered over 30 million unemployed people in the first six weeks of The Great Lockdown, and injected over $2 trillion to support the economy (that's more than $2,000,000,000,000 - or the equivalent of spending $5,479,452,055 per day!)

• Budget deficits as governments borrowed money to finance their support of businesses and households in the economy, e.g. rent subsidies and tax relief as part of government stimulus packages - the European Central Bank (ECB) spent over €750 billion ($822bn) to support the European Union from the costs of the pandemic. In May 2020, the UK government reported a budget deficit of over £337 billion ($473bn), largely due to its "furlough scheme”, which essentially meant that people who are not able to work (during the coronavirus pandemic), but had a job were paid 80% of their salary or up to £2,500 per month ($3,510) funded by the British government.

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Legal

• Travel restrictions and travel bans, including the introduction of quarantine regulations

• Social distancing laws

• Closure of "non-essential" businesses during the pandemic, e.g. restaurants, bars, cinemas, hair and beauty salons, theme / leisure parks, and so forth

• Lockdowns in many countries across the world, e.g. China, India, USA, UK, Spain and Italy.

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Environmental

• Increased food waste as households stockpiled perishable products, emptying out fresh foods in supermarkets

• Water pollution from increased use of washing products , disinfectants, and detergents

• Improved air quality in many parts of the world, due to the closure of most businesses and the dampened level of economic activity.

Organizations across the globe have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

Source: Designed by Jure Tovrljan, Creative Director at AV studio, Slovenia