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Analysis?
SWOT Analysis Overview
What is SWOT Analysis?
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.
9 SWOT offers professional managers an effective evaluative technique to aid the
decision making process.
9 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.
9 It's a four-part approach to analyzing a company's overall strategy or the strategy of
its business units. All four aspects must be considered to implement a long-range
plan of action.
Delta Air Lines Inc., chose to invest in a multibillion-dollar customer service system that addresses
the flight delay problems experienced by 20% of its passengers. Although some companies might
think the move was excessive considering 80% of customers have no problems, Delta believed
customer service was an important area for increasing market share and that competitors could
pose a threat if Delta didn't address the problem.
Another example is Dell Computer Corp., which is a great example of how an IT company can use
a SWOT analysis to carve out a strong business strategy, according to Glazer.
Dell recognized that its strength was selling directly to consumers and keeping its costs lower than
those of other hardware vendors.
As for weaknesses, the company acknowledged that it lacked solid dealer relationships.
Identifying opportunities was an easier task. Dell looked at the marketplace and saw that customers
increasingly valued convenience and one-stop shopping and that they knew what they wanted to
purchase. Dell also saw the Internet as a powerful marketing tool.
On the threats side, Dell realized that competitors like IBM and Compaq Computer Corp. had
stronger brand names, which put Dell in a weaker position with dealers.
Dell put together a business strategy that included mass customization and just-in-time
manufacturing (letting customers design their own computers and custom-building systems). Dell
also stuck with its direct sales plan and offered sales on the Internet.
Clarity in strategy works. Fuzzy strategies fail. Most strategies
fail because they don't have a clear direction
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SWOT Analysis
Internal and External Analysis
To get a better look at the big picture, consider both internal and external forces when
uncovering opportunities and threats. What better source than the group of
participants composed of stakeholders, staff,
Internal Analysis:
volunteers, and/or community residents?
Examine the capabilities of your organization. This can be done by analyzing your
organization's strengths and weaknesses.
External Analysis:
Look at the main points in the environmental analysis, and identify those points that
pose opportunities for your organization, and those that pose threats or obstacles to
performance.
Key points: Once the SWOT analysis has been completed, mark each point with:
9 Things that MUST be addressed immediately.
9 Things that can be handled now.
9 Things that should be researched further.
9 Things that should be planned for the future.
A SWOT session is a participatory group process which
produces output valuable for annual planning
© Copyright 2006 - Advanced Integrated Technologies Group, Inc., All rights reserved.
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SWOT Analysis
The Basics (Cont.)
9 Now that each point has been prioritized, set an action point for each and assign it to a
person, add a deadline.
9 Although the SWOT analysis will assist in identifying issues, the action plan will ensure
that something is done about each one. With complicated issues, a further
brainstorming session might be done to analyze it further & decide what action to take.
9 The SWOT analysis results should be reviewed every few months to determine if
anything has changed and what has been achieved.
9 The "Brainstorm" is best used when setting up a new project or organization, works
best in smaller groups than a SWOT session, and can be effectively used in the
transformation process when the participants are a smaller group of managers.
9 The observations generated by the participants should not include any major surprises
to the organizers and coordinators of the program and the administrators of the
organization.
9 It can be used in a conference where the participants come from different locations
and organizations.
© Copyright 2006 - Advanced Integrated Technologies Group, Inc., All rights reserved.
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