Definition (1):
“Technological factors are variables that are being used for evaluating available alternatives with respect to technological capabilities.” These are one of the different external environmental factors greatly affecting businesses and an inseparable element of the PESTLE analysis where P stands for political, E stands for environmental, S stands for social, T stands for Technological, L stands for Legal and E stands for economic factors.
Definition (2):
Technological factors refer to the influences having an impact on the way a company operates relating to the equipment used within the company’s environment. Because of the increased dependence on equipment, nowadays technological factors have a significantly more crucial effect on a business’s success than they had only fifty or a hundred years ago.
A technological breakthrough can have a sudden and dramatic effect on a firm’s environment. It may spawn sophisticated new markets and products or significantly shorten the anticipated life of a manufacturing facility. Thus, all firms, and most particularly those in turbulent growth industries, must strive for an understanding both of the existing technological advances and the probable future advances that can affect their products and services. This quasi-science of attempting to foresee advances and estimate their impact on an organization's operations is known as Technological Factors. Technological forecasting can help protect and improve the profitability of the firms in growing industries. It alerts strategic managers to both impending challenges and promising opportunities.