PESTLE:
Political Economic Social Technological Legal Environmental/Ethical
Chosen company for analysis: Valve Corporation
Political—Valve is very politically neutral—with very little political involvement. They operate everywhere—only excluding North Korea. They do not sanction or treat different regions differently, which is seen as both good and bad. For instance, when lots of companies were pulling out of Russia—Valve made no comment or change. However, they do also persist in harder regions - as they have continued all operations in Ukraine.
Economic - Valve is largely unimpaired by the wider economy as they have created their own internalised Steam economic system. They are definitely still connected to the global economy though - and it does play a big role in their business. However, as they make billions in profit each year, they can afford to loose some of their money and tend not to make a change based on the economic climate.
Technological - Valve is a high tech organisation, their main product is Steam - a digital game, software and media distribution platform. They also produce games and hardware. This means that Valve tends to be at the cutting edge of technology. They have recently filed patents for BCIs (Brain Computer Interfaces), Nerve Manipulating Systems (allowing for the human nervous system to be manipulated to experience different sensations) and for technologies allowing for a false reality to be displayed to a user as a reality.
Legal - Valve is largely unregulated, as many of their business models are yet to be monitored by the law. They do comply with laws, however do also have some business models that are potential risky - such as their microtransaction/gambling models that are used in some of their games. Largely, Valve is an ethical company, paying employees well and providing partners with a good range of services at a very reasonable price. But they are not perfect in this regard.
Environmental/Ethical - Valve does not have a written ethical code, however they do react ethically in many situations. When underage gambling sites have existed around their products, they have forced these sites to close down as soon as they became aware of their existence.