A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is a tool used to

provide a general or detailed snapshot of a company's health. Think of your SWOT

as a tune-up that every business needs periodically to diagnose and fix what’s a bit
worn, what’s on the verge of breaking down, or what’s already broken and needs
replacement--so that you can keep the business humming—even better than it has
in the past.
 SWOT offers professional managers an effective evaluative technique to aid the
decision making process.
 It can not find the solution for you, but it will ensure that issues are: identified,
classified and prioritized clearly, showing the problem in terms of key underlying
issues. Decision makers can then see the answer.
 It's a four-part approach to analyzing a company's overall strategyor the strategy of its
business units. All four aspects must be considered to implement a long-range plan of action

W h y u s e s w o t ?
in any business, it is imperative that the business be its own worst critic. A SWOT
analysis forces an objective analysis of a company's position via its competitors and the
marketplace. Simultaneously, an effective SWOT analysis will help determine in which
areas a company is succeeding, allowing it to allocate resources in such a way as to
maintain any dominant positions it may have. SWOT Analysis is a very effective way of
identifying your Strengths and Weaknesses, and of examining the Opportunities and
Threats you face. Carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework will help you to
focus your activities into areas where you are strong, and where the greatest
opportunities lie.
Why Bother to SWOT? The economy stinks. So why take the time to bang your
company over the head doing aSWOT analysis when so much is out of your control?
No question that the current downturn is impacting some businesses more traumatically
than others, and a lot of disappointing business results can be blamed primarily on the
general economic climate. But look around. A high percentage of U.S. businesses are
surviving the pain, and many are even thriving. Winners typically win not by sticking with
their past game plans--but rather by focusing on some new thing(s) that are under their
control.
 SWOT Analysis How Does SWOT Analysis Work?

 The strategy is to look at the organizations current performance (strengths and

weaknesses) and factors in the external environment (opportunities and threats) that
might affect the organizations future.
 Once the attributes for each section have been identified it is possible to determine the
point of balance. Eventually the points of balance of strengths versus weaknesses and
opportunities versus threats can be plotted together.
 For example, an information technology department needs to determine the strengths
and weaknesses of its people and its technology. It also needs to make sure the IT
strategy complements the company's business goals. The department head needs to
ask: What is each staff member good at? What are they not good at?
 Project leaders also must consider opportunities and threats -- or customers and
competitors. How attractive is the market or direction they're considering? What's their
market share and cost structure?

SWOT Analysis Operational Definitions

A STRENGTH is something that you truly do well, excel at versus the competition, can
build on; something that truly differentiates your business, a key metric that is improving,
etc. Most companies do surprisingly bad job of identifying what they are really good at
doing.Every company has strengths. A strength can be something very concrete like a
large, growing customer base or less measurable: a well-run customer service
department that keeps customers satisfied (thus helping both retention and new sales).
Note that a STRENGTH can also be a weakness: e.g. you’re Number One in your market
is a STRENGTH, but if you are taking that for granted—that’s also a weakness.

A WEAKNESS is a real gap, a deficiency, a problem, or a key metric that is going south;
something you’re not doing very well and that you should be doing better; something
that’s dated that no longer applies—even though it used to; something important that you
really don’t know or aren’t sure about. In fact, one good outcome of a SWOT is to
discover what you reallydon’t know and then do something about it. A weakness can be
very tangible and concrete or it can be an attitude: e.g. a complete unwillingness to invest
in any marketing initiatives or a lack of understanding what to do.
An OPPORTUNITY is a favorable external condition; something (that you haven’t acted
on or taken advantage yet) that could impact you positively. Opportunities are new ways
that your exploit your STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES & THREATS--new things that that
you can do to potentially improve your business—that turn into recommendations and
actions. This list becomes the most important part of your SWOT for prioritizing and
determining what next steps to take.

A THREAT is something external to your business that canpotentially impact you

negatively: competitors (actually doing specific things vs. just being there), changing
conditions in your particular marketplace, the overall economy, government regulations,
etc. Threats are part of the playing field that you can’t ignore. They are part of the context
of your business. Some threats, though, are internal: e.g. hanging onto the status quo
when change is required or the impact on remaining if you decide to cut costs (maybe an
OPPORTUNITY).
You should also make an ongoing list of Issues and questions that inevitably pop-up as a result
ofdeveloping the STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES & THREATS lists—for
furtheranalysis and discussion—and possible incorporation into your SWOT. Generally,
STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSES are current in timeframe, and OPPORTUNITIES &
THREATS are in the future—starting with tomorrow.

SWOT Analysis Strengths

Every organization has some strength. In some cases this is obvious, for example,
dominant market shares. In other cases, it is a matter of perspective, for instance, a
company is very small and hence has the ability to move fast. It is important to note
that companies that are in a bad position also have strengths. Whether these
strengths are adequate is an issue for analysis.
Define areas you excel in, such as the company’s core competency and resource
analysis
Consider strengths from your own point of view and from the point of view of the
people you deal with. Don't be modest - be realistic. If you are having any difficulty
with this, try writing down a list of your characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be
strengths!
Strengths will include the wisdom and experiences learned by the staff. Some of their
skills may be valuable for continuing in the same way, but may be a hindrance to
making an organizational or program change.
focus on your
SWOT Analysis Weaknesses

Every organization also has some weakness. In some cases, this is obvious; say for
example, a stricter regulatory environment. In other cases, it is a matter of perspective,
for example, a company has 99% market share and is open to attack from every new
player. It is important to note that companies that are extremely competent in what they
do, also have weaknesses. How badly these weaknesses will affect the company is a
matter of analysis.
Consider this from an internal and external basis:
 Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you do not see?

SWOT Analysis Opportunities

All organizations have some opportunities that they can gain from. These could rangefrom
diversification to sale of operations. Identifying hidden opportunities is the mark ofan astute
analyst.
Opportunities - Traditionally, a SWOT looks only at the external environment for
opportunities. I suggest you look externally for areas your competitors are not fully
covering, then go a step further and think how to match these to your internal
strengths. Try to uncover areas where your strengths are not being fully utilized.
Apart from the kinds of responses desired, the SWOT can be used in other contexts
than transformation of a program, and is recommended to be used in annual or bi-
annual review meetings.
The aim is to provide a non-threatening situation for participants to contribute as freely
and without inhibitions as feasible, all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats that they can recall.
If SWOT is based upon verifiable observations of the conditions and attributes that will
contribute to success, and is realistic in identifying what may stand in the way of
success, then it is more likely to succeed.

SWOT Analysis Threats

No organization is immune to threats. These could be internal, such as falling
productivity. Or they could be external, such as lower priced international competition
Threats - As with opportunities, threats in a traditional SWOT analysis are considered
an external force.By looking both inside and outside of your company for things that
could damage your business, however, you may be better able to see the big picture.
In a variation of the method, the facilitator may divide the whole group into smaller
groups of four to six individuals, provide them with blank newsprint and markers, and
ask them to come up with small group contributions. In this case, the small groups are
best chosen randomly.
One drawback to this is that some individuals might be reticent at contributing in front of
friends, people with whom they work closely, their supervisors or persons they
supervise; the advantage is that the total number of contributions is reduced because
there is less duplication, and some persons contribute more in a small group discussion
than they would alone in front of a piece of paper.
Carrying out this analysis will often be illuminating - both in terms of pointing out what
needs to be done, and in putting problems into perspective.