Blockchain strategies  173

Multinational global consulting firms like IBM, tech companies, banks

and new start-ups are coming up with products, and the market is frag-

mented with a variety of solutions with their own standards, framework

and protocols. Blockchain industry is demanding for common standards,

framework and interoperability between different products, but until we

have someone coming up with a product that acts as middleware to trans-

late the transactions between different products, we have long way to go on

the mainstream adoption of blockchain.

I believe that someone like the Government and/or ISO organisation

needs to come up with a common standard to be used for blockchain in the

same way as HTTP protocol for Internet. The market is fragmented with

various solutions with their own standards, frameworks and protocols.

In order for blockchain to become interoperable and increase its footprint

across different real life use cases, it is a high time that a global standard

gets published and adopted by all countries.

PEST: political, economic, social

and technological analysis

Overview

PEST stands for political, economic, social and technological analysis.

PEST is yet another strategic model to assess and analyse the external fac-

tors that influence the company operations to be more competitive in the

market. There is another variation of PEST called PESTLE to include legal

and environmental factors within this model as well.

PEST model is usually used in conjunction with another famous model

called SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).

By using these two strategic models, a company can assess the external

factors as well as internal factors to be more competitive in the market and

be profitable.

What are the areas assessed by PEST model?

There are four areas that can be assessed using PEST model. We will go

through each of them in detail in this section. The comprehensive assess-

ment of all these external factors can complement an effective strategic

planning and formulation. Strategic planning is a must to formulate a

strategy that can position an organisation ahead of its competitors by

preparing it to proactively take appropriate actions to compete in the

market.

• Political: The political area of the PEST focuses on regional and inter-

national government policies, regulations, laws, taxation and also

employment policies. Political and regulatory complexity can signifi-

cantly influence the organisation’s strategy.