SWOT Analysis

11 Key excerpts on "SWOT Analysis"

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  eBook - ePub

  Managing Strategy

  Your guide to getting it right

  • Chartered Management Institute(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Profile Books

    (Publisher)

  While his work is academically rigorous, his ability to abstract his thinking into digestible chunks for the business world has given him wide appeal in both the academic and business worlds. It is now standard practice for organisations to think and talk about value chains, and the five forces have entered the curriculum of every management programme. Porter’s later thinking on strategy rides the new wave of revolutionary strategic thinking led by Hamel and links consistently with his earlier work. One suspects not only that there is more to come from Porter, but also that it will be wholly consistent with what he has said in the past.

    Performing a SWOT Analysis

  SWOT Analysis is a diagnostic tool for strategic planning which involves the identification and evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This framework facilitates the assessment of internal capabilities and resources that are under the control of the organisation and of external factors that are not under organisational control. SWOT Analysis involves the collection of information, rather than the framing of recommendations, which can only be considered once the facts have been confirmed. The analysis may be carried out by a single manager, but it usually involves the participation of a wider group, so that insights can be gained from across the organisation or department.

  SWOT Analysis emerged in the 1960s from research at Stanford Research Institute into the failure of current corporate planning methods. The technique evolved, became widely used during the 1980s and remains popular, although critics have pointed out weaknesses in its application, including a lack of analytical depth. It provides a simple framework for analysing the market position of an organisation and can be applied in a range of planning and strategic contexts including strategy development, marketing planning, and the evaluation of strategic options for a whole business or an individual department. It may be used in conjunction with tools such as PEST (political, economic, social, technological) analysis, or one of its variants, or five forces analysis, which can provide a deeper understanding of the external environment and help to assess potential risks and threats to the profitability and survival of the organisation. SWOT Analysis is also used by individuals to assess personal career prospects, but this checklist focuses on its use by organisations and departments and does not cover the individual aspect.

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  Financial Aspects of Marketing

  • Keith Ward(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  A good technique for starting the process is what is normally referred to as a SWOT Analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and forces the business to consider what it is good at compared to its competition and also where it has relative deficiencies, that is, it is a detailed internal analysis of the company. It also requires a close examination of what is happening in its external environment which is affecting or could affect the business operations in either a favourable or detrimental way. The financial impact of many of these factors will not be easily quantifiable and it may require the exercise of considerable management judgement in order to decide whether any issue is really a strength or weakness, etc. at the particular point in time.

  It is important that the lists compiled are not unmanageably long and filled with relatively trivial issues. This is achieved by ranking the items under each heading so that the most important receive the greatest attention in the planning process. The objectives are simple and obvious: build on the strengths and eliminate or reduce the weaknesses, exploit the opportunities and avert the threats wherever possible. This may be very easy to say but is much more difficult to do; the analytical process is a major help in identifying what the critical areas of the business are. It is also essential that each area is considered in the relative context of competition and the environment, as being good at marketing may not be enough for success if all your competitors are better at it than you are. Fundamental to the usefulness of this approach is a willingness by the managers to admit that there are weaknesses in, and threats to, their business. The presentation of the summarized results in the form of the simple matrix illustrated in Figure 2.1

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  Marketing Strategy

  • O. C. Ferrell, Michael Hartline, (Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  Many consider SWOT Analysis to be one of the most effective tools in the analysis of marketing data and information. SWOT Analysis is a simple, straightfor- ward framework that provides direction and serves as a catalyst for the develop- ment of viable marketing plans. It fulfills this role by structuring the assessment of the fit between what a firm can and cannot do (strengths and weaknesses), and the environmental conditions working for and against the firm (opportunities and threats). When performed correctly, a SWOT Analysis not only organizes data and information, but also can be especially useful in uncovering competitive advantages that can be leveraged in the firm’s marketing strategy. These competi- tive advantages help establish the strategic focus and direction of the firm’s marketing plan. As a planning tool, SWOT Analysis has many benefits, as outlined in Exhibit 4.1. In fact, SWOT Analysis is so useful and logical that many underestimate its value in planning. However, this simplicity often leads to unfocused and poorly conducted analyses. The most common criticisms leveled against SWOT Analysis are that (1) it allows firms to create lists without serious consideration of the CHAPTER 4 89 Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. BEYOND THE PAGES 4.1 Innovation: The Key to Success 1 Innovation is the buzzword of business in the twenty-first century. Of course, innovation has always been important, especially with respect to developing new products. What has changed, however, is the focus of innovation in most com- panies.

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  The Sports Management Toolkit

  • Paul Emery(Author)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

     It is a cross-sectional analysis that pertains to a moment in time. The reality is that in today's volatile marketplace there are constant changes, which mean that the macro- and micro-environments are very difficult to predict. For example, who predicted the global economic crisis? How would your business be affected if a new competitor set up business next door to you tomorrow? Sales trends may explain the past, but to what degree of certainty may they predict the future?

     A SWOT Analysis may provide a very accurate picture of the current scenario, but the hardest part may be creating strategic alignment between competence and required provision.

  PROCESS

  There are two main components of carrying out a SWOT Analysis – the internal environment analysis and the external analysis. Historically this has normally meant carrying out the following sequential steps:

  1   Identify the strengths. 2   Determine the weaknesses. 3   Consider the opportunities. 4   Locate the threats. 5   Create a balanced and holistic SWOT Analysis.

  This entails systematically addressing each quadrant of Figure 2.1 by adopting different standpoints and perspectives and then viewing these findings holistically. Different standpoints could include the perspectives of the employee (manager through to the lowest level of the hierarchical structure), the long-term customer, the one-off customer, the current non-buyer, the direct competitor, the supplier and even the bank manager.

  How these sequential steps are carried out, and by whom, is subject to budgetary constraints and organizational culture. Suffice to say that an organizational SWOT Analysis will entail a minimum of three to four hours and can be achieved either for a group (ideally four to eight people) for a business- or unit-level SWOT or for an individual for a personal SWOT Analysis. For the former, where departmental managers normally determine the SWOT Analysis, it is recommended that an external facilitator be used so as to eradicate any potential conflicts of interest and bias.

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  Comprehensive Strategic Management

  A Guide for Students, Insight for Managers

  • Eric J. Bolland(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Emerald Publishing Limited

    (Publisher)

  L. The SWOT in progress can be checked against the organization ’ s mission and vision statements. This will assure alignment with the overall purpose of the organization. M. A caution for any weighing scheme is to avoid having too many elements to weigh. Having too many factors leads to the diminishing of the most powerful factors in the SWOT and the advancement of less powerful factors. The SWOT Analysis is a proven and highly understandable tool in strategic management. It has survived while other tools have been set aside. Virtually every business executive is familiar with SWOT and nonbusiness executives are as well. As a nonquantitative tool, it has limitations. It is roughly directional as a tool and produces results that are orders of mag-nitude rather than precise measures. Especially on the external side, both opportunities and threats may be short lived. Both opportunities and threats must be seen as Yeat ’ s cold eye be cold eyed and hard-nosed be realistic. The idea of risk plays a larger role in the external side because this side is harder to con-trol for the organization. The strategy manager must be particu-larly cognizant of risk and vigilant to act on it. Internal and External Analysis 115 Processing SWOT Information Conducting a SWOT is one thing but doing something about it is another. If it is a true tool of strategy, it needs to play a role in strategy formulation and execution. Customarily, after the SWOT is completed, organizational leaders will digest the fi nd-ings and plan strategy. The idea of playing from strengths and not repairing weaknesses is popular. The organization ’ s leaders need to apply SWOT results to three areas: the internal condition, the external condition, and the resultant of combining internal conditions with external con-ditions. For internal conditions, the organization needs to identify its major strengths and then determine which of those strengths can be translated into coherent strategic actions.

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  Business Plans For Canadians for Dummies

  • Paul Tiffany, Steven D. Peterson, Nada Wagner(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • For Dummies

    (Publisher)

  do know tells you a great deal.

  Comparing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors with your own can help you see where competitive opportunities and threats to your business may come from. Opportunities often arise when your company has a strength that you can exploit in a critical area in which your competition is weak. And you can sometimes anticipate a threat when you see the reverse situation — when a competitor takes advantage of a key strength by making a move in an area where you’re weak. Because the competitive landscape always changes, plan to monitor these grids on a regular basis.

  Completing your SWOT Analysis

  A SWOT analysis (an analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) allows you to construct a strategic balance sheet for your company. In the analysis, you bring together all the internal factors, including your company’s strengths and weaknesses. You weigh these factors against the external forces that you identify, such as the opportunities and threats that your company faces due to competitive forces or trends in your business environment. How these factors balance out determines what your company should do and when it should do it. Follow these steps to complete the SWOT Analysis grid (and check out Figures 9-1 and 9-2 for info on coming up with a strength/weakness grid):

  1.Divide all the strengths that you identify into two groups, based on whether you associate them with potential opportunities in your industry or with latent threats. 2.Divide all the weaknesses the same way — one group associated with opportunities and the other with threats.

  3.Construct a grid with four quadrants.

  4.Place your company’s strengths and weaknesses, paired with industry opportunities or threats, in one of the four boxes (see Figure 9-3).

  SWOT Analysis provides useful strategic guidance, mostly through common sense. First, fix what’s broken and address imminent threats. Next, make the most of the business opportunities that you see out there. Only then do you have the luxury of tending to other business issues and areas. Be sure to address each of the following steps in your business plan:

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  eBook - ePub

  Tourism Marketing for Cities and Towns

  Using Social Media and Branding to Attract Tourists

  • Bonita Kolb(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Determining Marketing Strategy Using SWOT Analysis

  Learning objectives

  • How can a SWOT Analysis be used as a tool for organizing all the information from internal, external, and product analysis?
  • Why is a SWOT critical for determining the opportunities and threats faced by a city trying to develop tourism?
  • What strategic focuses are common in developing a marketing plan for tourism?
  • How should the city determine its strategic goal and the objectives necessary for its success?

  Chapter summary

  • A SWOT Analysis is a way of organizing all the information obtained through internal and product analysis along with information from external research findings. At the end of the process, internal strength is matched with external opportunity to create a competitive advantage. The first step is to analyze the internal environment strengths. These will focus on the city’s core, supporting, and augmented product benefits to determine strengths and weaknesses. Strengths will be marketed as the competitive advantage. Weaknesses will be analyzed to determine if they must be corrected.
  • The information obtained from analyzing the external environment will be used to determine the external opportunities and threats. Opportunities in the economic, demographic, socio-cultural, and technological environments can be matched with an internal strength to produce a competitive advantage.
  • A generalized strategic focus will emerge. This may be focused on targeting a new segment of consumers or a unique product offering. Price can sometimes be used as a strategic focus. Place can be used if the city is a convenient or unique location to visit. The final option is a promotional strategic focus. Often these are used in combination.
  • With the organized information from the SWOT a marketing goal, objectives, and tactics can be developed. The goal will be broadly stated, along with the specific objectives that will need to be completed to obtain the goal are then listed. Without a plan to achieve the goal, it will not be realized. To increase the chances of success, people should be given specific responsibilities along with a timeline for completion. There are several goal setting models that can help with the process.

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  Public Sector Management

  Mission Impossible?

  • Ian Chaston(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Red Globe Press

    (Publisher)

  The purpose of the technique is to iden-tify and describe an organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses in relation to current and future operations. This is accompanied by an assessment of exter-nal factors which could have positive or negative impact on future performance (Mayer and Vambery 2008). One potential risks with the conventional SWOT Analysis identified by Lippitt (2003) is the technique can lead managers to create a somewhat static model which ignores the rapidly changing nature of external environments. She iden-tified six attributes for a SWOT to be of real benefit to an organization. These attributes are the SWOT should be objective, dynamic, reflect all avail-able information, identify possible alternative scenarios, and comprehend the consequences for the organization as events shift both inside and outside the organization. In her view the presence of these attributes enhances flexibility, 138 PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT commitment, focus, and the potential for the development of a more successful strategy. In their review of the strategic implications associated with the key issues identified in a SWOT Analysis, Sherman et al. (2007) have proposed that there are four basic outcomes. Each of these outcomes provides the basis for following generalized guidance about the possible future direction for an organization: 1. Where strengths outweigh weaknesses and opportunities outweigh threat this outcome is supportive of a growth strategy. 2. Where strengths outweigh weaknesses but threats outweigh opportunities this outcome is supportive of a maintenance strategy. 3. Where weaknesses outweigh strengths and opportunities outweigh threats this outcome is supportive of a harvesting strategy. 4. Where weaknesses outweigh strengths and threats outweigh opportunities this outcome is supportive of a retrenchment strategy.

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  Business Problem-Solving and Strategy

  Manga for Success

  • Takayuki Kito, Keisuke Yamabe(Authors)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  In most cases, an accurate SWOT Analysis generally means the situation analysis is complete. So what needs to be analyzed specifically? Depending on situations and targets, the answer varies and there is not a single correct answer. However, generally the following methodology is used to do a SWOT Analysis. First, OT (opportunities for growth and possible threats to your company’s growth) are based on the Five Forces analysis (industry structure analysis), positioning analysis, competition analysis, client (consumers and corporations) analysis, and key success factor (KSF) analysis. SW (company strengths, edge, weaknesses and issues), on the other hand, are based on achievements and performance analysis, positioning analysis, business model analysis, marketing (4P) analysis, value chain and organizational analysis, and tangible and intangible asset analysis. Of course, there are many other frameworks and methods to analyze the external factors and the company’s current situation. We won’t be able to cover them all here, but please take up other related books if you are interested. Why are we starting with OT analysis before going to SW, even though it is called SWOT Analysis? There’s a reason behind it. SW normally pertains to your own company and situation while OT 80 Diagram 2-2 Example of Company Analysis is all about external factors such as the market, competition, and clients. To understand yourself, you must first have a clear grasp of all external influences.

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  10 Steps to Successful Strategic Planning

  • Susan Barksdale, Teri Lund(Authors)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • Association for Talent Development

    (Publisher)

  62 S T E P 2 Worksheet 2.1, continued Key Factor Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Organization culture Experience, knowledge, data Communication/Information flows Management of strategic change Control systems Goodwill Portfolio management Investments Other considerations unique to your organization: Scanning the Business Environment 63 S T E P 2 When you’ve completed the business scan of the organization and identified the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist now, use the worksheet again. Review each of the desired outcomes in your strategic plan, paying attention to how the out- comes will affect the future of the organization. For example, if a desired outcome is to build a new customer information system to increase sales with current customers, a SWOT Analysis will help you determine the organization’s strengths and abilities to complete the development, its weaknesses in doing so, the opportunities that will come from the new system, and the threats involved in devel- oping or not developing the system. When you’ve completed both audits (of the organization as a whole and of the strategic plan outcomes), compare the two work- sheets and ask the following questions: 1. How will the outcomes help our organization move toward the desired future? 2. How will the outcomes hinder our organization in moving toward the desired future? 3. What else needs to happen in our organization to move it toward the desired future, and is this of a higher priority than any of our desired outcomes? Identifying Business Drivers The next activity in Step 2 is a critical step in creating a strategic plan—identifying the organization’s business drivers—situations that prompt an organization to take specific actions. Both external and internal factors create business drivers (and you may have noted their effects during the SWOT Analysis). External business drivers usually are outside of an organiza- tion’s control.

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  Tools for Project Management, Workshops and Consulting

  A Must-Have Compendium of Essential Tools and Techniques

  • Nicolai Andler(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Publicis

    (Publisher)

  • The SWOT matrix consists of four quadrants: current internal strengths and weaknesses and future external threats and opportunities (see figure 85). • When investigating ‘opportunities/threats’ in the industry, focus particularly on competitors’ moves (past/current/forecasted). Figure 84 SWOT and TOWS – the 4 process steps 1 2 3 4 ?! Future Presence Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats Ability to exploit Ability to potentially develop and exploit Ability to address and restore Actual value to the business Actual impact (risk) to the business Potential value to the business Potential risk to the business Ability to potentially develop and exploit Target zone Presence Future Target zone Target zone Target zone L H H Strengths L H H Weaknesses S W O T L H H Opportunities L H H Threats Opportunities Strengths ST strategies use strengths to avoid threats List internal strengths SO strategies use strengths to take advantage of opportunities List external opportunities External factors Internal factors List external threats Threats Weaknesses WT strategies minimise weaknesses and avoid threats List internal weaknesses WO strategies take advantage of opportunities by overcoming weaknesses 5.1 Strategic analysis 279 • Prioritise each element, after validation with industry experts, into greatest strengths and opportunities, most important weaknesses and threats (see fig- ure 86 as an example). • Find the right questions to ask when developing a SWOT – typical questions are listed in figure 87. More questions are given in the Checklist below. • The above-mentioned TOWS process step starts at this point. Use figure 88 and test each result from your SWOT Analysis against the criteria depicted in the diagram. For example, test the strengths aspects against the two criteria ‘ability to exploit’ and ‘value for the business’. Each one that rates as ‘high’, is then worth considering as a key element for the next process step.

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