SWOT Analysis

Business

(noun)

a structured planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in a business venture

Related Terms

  • product life cycle
  • life cycle
Management

(noun)

A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) is an exercise undertaken by organizations to understand their current status and assess how to improve.

Related Terms

  • standards
  • objectives

Examples of SWOT Analysis in the following topics:

  • SWOT Analysis

    • A SWOT analysis allows businesses to assess internal strengths and weaknesses in relation to external opportunities and threats.
    • One of the most recognized of these is the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
    • Identifying SWOTs is essential, as subsequent stages of planning can be derived from the analysis.
    • The SWOT analysis matrix illustrates where the company's strengths and weaknesses lie relative to factors in the market.
    • Explain how a SWOT analysis can be used as a tool in strategic decision making
  • New Product Ideas

    • There are two parallel paths involved in the NPD process: idea generation, including product design and detail engineering; and market research and marketing analysis.
    • Ideas for new products can be obtained from basic research using SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats.
    • Opportunity analysis: This element translates identified opportunities into implications for the business and technology specific context of the company.
    • Concept and technology development: During this part of the front-end, the business case is developed based on estimates of the total available market, customer needs, investment requirements, competition analysis and project uncertainty.
    • Explain the front-end process of new product development (NPD) and the characteristics of a SWOT analysis
  • Conducting a Situational Analysis

    • Once the company began to run into problems, it went back and conducted a detailed SWOT analysis.
    • The situation analysis consists of several methods of analysis: The 5Cs, SWOT and Porter's five forces analyses.
    • A SWOT analysis is another method under the situation analysis that examines the Strengths and Weaknesses of a company (internal environment) as well as the Opportunities and Threats within the market (external environment) .
    • A SWOT analysis looks at both current and future situations, where they analyze their current strengths and weaknesses while looking for future opportunities and threats.
    • A SWOT analysis can be a useful tool in conducting a situational analysis.
  • Combining Internal and External Analyses

    • This internal analysis requires careful consideration of the following models and factors:
    • Combining these two constitutes context analysis, which is a method of analyzing the environment in which a business operates.
    • Context analysis considers the entire environment of a business, both internal and external.
    • Using context analysis, alongside the necessary external and internal inputs, companies are able to generate strategies which actively capitalize on this knowledge in pursuit of competitive advantage.
    • Here is an example of the SWOT analysis matrix, which arranges strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
  • Considering the Environment

    • SWOT analysis: In this particular model, a company's strengths and weaknesses are assessed in the context of the opportunities and threats in the business environment.
    • A SWOT analysis enables a company to identify the ideal structure to maximize its internal strengths while capturing external opportunities and avoiding threats.
    • Porter's five-forces analysis: This analysis identifies factors of the industry's competitive environment that may substantially influence a company's strategic design.
    • Porter's five-forces analysis identifies five environmental factors that can influence a company's strategic design: power of buyers, power of suppliers, competition, substitutes, and barriers to entry.
  • Making Strategy Effective

    • One method of assessing suitability is using a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis.
    • One method of analyzing feasibility is to conduct a break-even analysis, which identifies if there are inputs to generate outputs and consumer demand to cover the costs involved.
    • One method of assessing acceptability is through a what-if analysis, identifying best and worst case scenarios.
    • A firm may perform a break-even analysis to determine if a strategy is feasible.
  • Organizational Online Buying

    • A SWOT analysis includes analysis of markets and trends and can involve potential scenarios, so it shares important intersections with forecasting.
  • Setting Objectives and Standards

    • When creating a set of objectives, it is important for the organization to complete a self-evaluation, usually through tools like SWOT analysis (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
    • A SWOT analysis helps the company understand where it can achieve competitive advantage by pinpointing what it does well (strengths) and where the opportunities lie with those actions.
  • Planning and Decisions

    • Companies often use SWOT analysis when planning.
    • SWOT is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture.
  • Strategic Management

    • Strategic management entails five steps: analysis, formation, goal setting, structure, and feedback.
    • Analysis – Strategic analysis is a time-consuming process, involving comprehensive market research on the external and competitive environments as well as extensive internal assessments.
    • The process involves conducting Porter's Five Forces, SWOT, PESTEL, and value chain analyses and gathering experts in each industry relating to the strategy.
    • Strategy Formation – Following the analysis phase, the organization selects a generic strategy (for example, low-cost, differentiation, etc.) based upon the value-chain implications for core competence and potential competitive advantage.
    • The above model is a summary of what is involved in each of the five steps of management: 1. analysis (internal and external), 2. strategy formation (diagnosis and decision-making), 3. goal setting (objectives and measurement), 4. structure (leadership and initiatives), and 5. control and feedback (budgets and incentives).
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