It couldnt be a better day to be at Cedar Point amusement park. Its mid September, sunny, and 75 degrees, and theress no one waiting in any of the queue lines. Passing by the Millenium Force roller coaster, you stop to get a slurpee and then sit down at a nearby picnic table to start thinking about the annual environmental scan. Since joining the management team of Cedar Point, a large regional amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, youve done this exercise 10 times. Each time its more difficult because the environment keeps changing, but doing the environmental assessment has kept Cedar Point viable. You think to yourself Weve just finished a tight season, but we managed to come out ahead. We are facing some big shifts, though both in the general business environment and in the amusement industry, so we need to build a plan to meet those environmental challenges.

Pausing for a moment, you stare at the coasters 80-degree drop. Your mind dives just as steeply into a flurry of issues; shifts towards year-round schooling; trends in the insurance industry; new forms of entertainment; new competition; the effect of changing demographics on your attendance and your work force; higher gasoline prices; and the impact of the economy in general.

Youve been able to increase the price of admission year after year, but how long can you continue to do that?

Discuss among your group members on the following questions:

1. Consider the issues this Cedar Point manager is examining as part of this exercise. What other issues do you think he should examine?

2. Create a list of issues addressing each of the environmental factors below and

- Economy

- Technological

- Sociocultural

- Political/Legal

- Customer

- Competitor

- Supplier

3. Suggest how Cedar Point will face the challenges posed by the factor in the environment listed above.

4. Based on the solutions you proposed in Question 2, how uncertain is the amusement park industry? Explain your reasoning.