There are many elements that can go into an environmental scan, and your analysis will depend on the nature of your business unit, product portfolio, target market, and other factors related to the scope of your business.
Your environmental scan should include some or all of the following elements:
Economic factors and trends
Political factors and trends
Regulatory and legal factors and trends
Societal factors and trends
Technological factors and trends
Geographic factors and trends
Porter's five forces that consists of the following aspects:
Threat of new competition
Threat of substitute products or services
Bargaining power of customers (buyers)
Bargaining power of suppliers
Intensity of competitive/industry rivalry
Although your analysis will be tailored to your specific business, be sure to cover the following:
A thorough five forces analysis of your industry
The key factors and trends in any other areas affecting your industry
A preliminary classification of the external factors and trends as either opportunities or threats which will be the inputs for the final SWOT analysis.