Quotation Pg 10 colin o’connor Within the hotel and guesthouse sector alone, the number of properties has increased by 12 percent btw 1996 and 1998.however real growth has been seen in the increase of national bedroom supply which has increased by 36 per cent. Increase consumer demand has increased competitiveness of the hospitality industry.Therefore understanding the competiive business environment assists the hospitality manager to think beyond his or her own traditional organisational boundaries. Reseach has suggested that in the irish sme, the manager is too busy running his.her business to be worried about which way his/her business is heading.this is mostly due to an increase in the pace and uncertainty of organisational change in the global hospitality environment. The practice of strategic management is very important for ex it has helped the irish hospitality industry to transform from a traditional family business to a major sector in ireland, Strategic management is all about planning and none of hospitality organisation can bypass this process if it wants to be successful. External environment According to strategic management and leadership theorists, an organization requires distinctive competencies, resources, capabilities, and leadership to be successful. There are quiet a few models that that help managers analyze external environment. The fundamental part—scanning the external environment is discussed in this piece on management. The paper points out two major parts of external environment—macro environment and industry. The article would help managers and HR managers to scan the external environment in a better manner. Intense competition between rival firms marks the external environment of an organization. The external analysis enables the firm to obtain a clear picture of the threats and opportunities prevalent in the firm’s external environment. Having done this, the firm can devise suitable strategies to exploit the opportunities...