PEST, PESTLE, STEEP, STEP

PEST analysis (“Political, Economic, Social and Technological analysis'') describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management. Some analysts added Legal and rearranged the mnemonic to SLEPT others inserted Environmental factors, thereby expanding it to PESTEL or PESTLE, which is particularly popular in the United Kingdom.

PESTLE can be part of the external strategic analysis when conducting market research, for example, and can provide an overview of the different macro-environmental factors a company should take into consideration. It can also be a useful strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business positioning, and the potential of and direction for operationp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEST_analysis

EIDOS can provide a systemic analysis to identify the main driver of a system. It is recommended to use color-coding of the PESTLE elements to identify if one or more categories of the PESTLE are specifically influencing the system.