SWOT is the acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is an analytical framework to help summarize in a quick and concise way the risk and opportunities for any company across the value chain. A good SWOT should look into internal and external factors affecting the issue at hand. Factors pertaining to the internal environment of the company. These are usually classified as Strengths (S) or Weaknesses (W) Factors that are external to the company. These are classified as Opportunities (O) or Threats (T).
A SWOT analysis helps you match your company’s resources and capabilities to threats and opportunities in the competitive environment. SWOT analysis can be very subjective, but adding weighting and criteria to each factor increases the validity of the analysis. Finally, a SWOT (or TOWS)matrix can help pick the best strategy to implement and takes the SWOT analysis to the next step. See our SWOT matrix below .
Structure of a SWOT analysis
A SWOT analysis is typically represented by a 4-box model that lists the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in the following order:
Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
As you can see the beauty of a SWOT framework lies in its simplicity.
Why use a SWOT analysis?
Methodically and honestly assessing your company’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats it faces gives you a rare opportunity for objective analysis. A SWOT: Is easy to use Combines quantitative and qualitative analysis Encourages interdepartmental collaboration
To make sure your analysis is put to good use, include these before and after steps in your analysis process: Set an objective for the analysis Set aside adequate time for research and information-gathering Evaluate the results of your analysis against your original objective
This competitive analysis tool guides you through the SWOT technique and will help you create your own analysis