Monday 20 August 2012

SWOT Analysis Introduction

SWOT is commonly used as part of strategic planning and looks at:
  • Internal strengths
  • Internal weaknesses
  • Opportunities in the external environment
  • Threats in the external environment
SWOT can help management in a business discover:
  • What the business does better than the competition
  • What competitors do better than the business
  • Whether the business is making the most of the opportunities available
  • How a business should respond to changes in its external environment
The result of the analysis is a matrix of positive and negative factors for management to address:

Positive factors
Negative factors
Internal factors
Strengths
Weaknesses
External factors
Opportunities
Threats

Strategy should be devised around strengths and opportunities

How to use SWOT analysis

A key challenge for any business is to convert weaknesses into strengths.  For example:

 Weakness Possible Response
 Outdated technology Acquire competitor with leading technology
 Skills gap Invest in training & more effective recruitment
 Overdependence on a single product Diversify the product portfolio by entering new markets
 Poor quality Invest in quality assurance
 High fixed costs Examine potential for outsourcing or offshoring

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