Tht is quite a valid question.
When my grade did our topic test on business management and change, we came across that discrepancy and again when studying marketing...well here's my take:
Technological advancement is:
external--->when the industry or market in which the business is operating update into more efficient and effective technological capital.
internal--->when the firm actually adopts these new technologies into their own production systems to enhance productivity and so on...
analysing a firm's situation in regards to technology would obviously have to take into account their 'technological' situation in regards to the 'benchmark'
with societal attitude:
i think its in relation to the societal marketing orientation thing, where the ecological,ethical and legal principles have to applied..
analysing the business' situtation regarding societal attiude, is wierd, because you either analyse their attitute towards society (eg. if they are conquest oriented or relationship oriented), or society's attitude towards them (if they have the well being of the wide community in mind).
ok...thts my 2 cents...im outz