Finding This Article Useful?

You can learn another 134 strategy skills, like this, by joining the Mind Tools Club.

Join the Mind Tools Club Today!

Also, if you're having any difficulty identifying strengths, try writing down a list of your organization's characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths!

When looking at your strengths, think about them in relation to your competitors. For example, if all of your competitors provide high quality products, then a high quality production process is not a strength in your organization's market, it's a necessity.

Weaknesses

· Whatcouldyouimprove?

· Whatshouldyouavoid?

· What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses?

· What factors lose you sales?

Again, consider this from an internal and external basis: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you don't see? Are your competitors doing any better than you?

It's best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths as soon as possible.

Opportunities

· What good opportunities can you spot?

· What interesting trends are you aware of?

Useful opportunities can come from such things as:

· Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale.

· Changes in government policy related to your field.

· Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, and so on.

· Localevents.

Tip:

A useful approach when looking at opportunities is to look at your strengths and ask yourself whether these open up any opportunities. Alternatively, look at your weaknesses and ask yourself whether you could open up opportunities by eliminating them.

Threats

· What obstacles do you face?

· What are your competitors doing?

· Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products or services changing?

· Is changing technology threatening your position?

· Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?

· Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?

Tip:

When looking at opportunities and threats, PEST Analysis can help to ensure that you don't overlook external factors, such as new government regulations, or technological changes in your industry.

Further SWOT Tips

If you're using SWOT as a serious tool (rather than as a casual "warm up" for strategy formulation), make sure you're rigorous in the way you apply it:

· Only accept precise, verifiable statements ("Cost advantage of $10/ton in sourcing raw material x", rather than "Good value for money").

· Ruthlessly prune long lists of factors, and prioritize them, so that you spend your time thinking about the most significant factors.

· Make sure that options generated are carried through to later stages in the strategy formation process.

· Apply it at the right level – for example, you might need to apply the tool at a product or product-line level, rather than at the much vaguer whole company level.

· Use it in conjunction with other strategy tools (for example, USP Analysis and Core Competence Analysis ) so that you get a comprehensive picture of the situation you're dealing with.

Note:

You could also consider using the TOWS Matrix . This is quite similar to SWOT in that it also focuses on the same four elements of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. But TOWS can be a helpful alternative because it emphasizes the external environment, while SWOT focuses on the internal environment.

Example

A start-up small consultancy business might draw up the following SWOT Analysis:

Strengths

· We are able to respond very quickly as we have no red tape, and no need for higher management approval.

· We are able to give really good customer care, as the current small amount of work means we have plenty of time to devote to customers.

· Our lead consultant has strong reputation in the market.

· We can change direction quickly if we find that our marketing is not working.

· We have low overheads, so we can offer good value to customers.

Weaknesses

· Our company has little market presence or reputation.

· We have a small staff, with a shallow skills base in many areas.

· We are vulnerable to vital staff being sick, and leaving.

· Our cash flow will be unreliable in the early stages.

Opportunities

· Our business sector is expanding, with many future opportunities for success.

· Local government wants to encourage local businesses.

· Our competitors may be slow to adopt new technologies.

Threats

· Developments in technology may change this market beyond our ability to adapt.

· A small change in the focus of a large competitor might wipe out any market position we achieve.

As a result of their analysis, the consultancy may decide to specialize in rapid response, good value services to local businesses and local government.

Marketing would be in selected local publications to get the greatest possible market presence for a set advertising budget, and the consultancy should keep up-to-date with changes in technology where possible.

Key Points

SWOT Analysis is a simple but useful framework for analyzing your organization's strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats that you face. It helps you focus on your strengths, minimize threats, and take the greatest possible advantage of opportunities available to you.

It can be used to "kick off" strategy formulation, or in a more sophisticated way as a serious strategy tool. You can also use it to get an understanding of your competitors, which can give you the insights you need to craft a coherent and successful competitive position.

When carrying out your analysis, be realistic and rigorous. Apply it at the right level, and supplement it with other option-generation tools where appropriate.

3) SWOT анализ третий.