A SWOT analysis, with its four elements in a 22 matrix.

A SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or in
a businessventure. A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It
involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and
external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. Some authors credit
SWOT toAlbert Humphrey, who led a convention at the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI
International) in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.[1][2] However,
Humphrey himself does not claim the creation of SWOT, and the origins remain obscure. The degree
to which the internal environment of the firm matches with the external environment is expressed by
the concept of strategic fit.

Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give

it an advantage over others.

Weaknesses: characteristics that place the business or

project at a disadvantage relative to others.

Opportunities: elements that the project could exploit to its

advantage.

Threats: elements in the environment that could cause

trouble for the business or project.

Identification of SWOTs is important because they can inform later

steps in planning to achieve the objective.
First, the decision makers should consider whether the objective is
attainable, given the SWOTs. If the objective is not attainable a
different objective must be selected and the process repeated.

Users of SWOT analysis need to ask and answer questions that

generate meaningful information for each category (strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to make the analysis useful
and find their competitive advantage.

Internal and external factors[edit]

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win
a hundred battles without a single loss. If you only know yourself, but not
your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself nor
your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu

SWOT analysis aims to identify the key internal and external factors
seen as important to achieving an objective. SWOT analysis groups
key pieces of information into two main categories:
1. internal factors the strengths and weaknesses internal
to the organization
2. external factors
the opportunities and threats presented by the
environment external to the organization
Analysis may view the internal factors as strengths or as
weaknesses depending upon their effect on the organization's
objectives. What may represent strengths with respect to one
objective may be weaknesses (distractions, competition) for
another objective. The factors may include all of the 4Ps; as
well as personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and so
on.
The external factors may
include macroeconomic matters, technological
change, legislation, and sociocultural changes, as well as
changes in the marketplace or in competitive position. The
results are often presented in the form of a matrix.
SWOT analysis is just one method of categorization and has its
own weaknesses. For example, it may tend to persuade its
users to compile lists rather than to think about actual important
factors in achieving objectives. It also presents the resulting
lists uncritically and without clear prioritization so that, for
example, weak opportunities may appear to balance strong
threats.
It is prudent not to eliminate any candidate SWOT entry too
quickly. The importance of individual SWOTs will be revealed by
the value of the strategies they generate. A SWOT item that
produces valuable strategies is important. A SWOT item that
generates no strategies is not important.

Use[edit]

The usefulness of SWOT analysis is not limited to profit-seeking

organizations. SWOT analysis may be used in any decisionmaking situation when a desired end-state (objective) is
defined. Examples include: non-profit organizations,
governmental units, and individuals. SWOT analysis may also
be used in pre-crisis planning and preventive crisis
management. SWOT analysis may also be used in creating a
recommendation during a viability study/survey.

Strategy building[edit]
SWOT analysis can be used effectively to build organization or
personal strategy. Steps necessary to execute strategy-oriented
analysis involve: identification of internal and external factors
(using popular 2x2 matrix), selection and evaluation of the most
important factors and identification of relations existing between
internal and external features.[3]
For instance: strong relations between strengths and
opportunities can suggest good condition of the company and
allow using aggressivestrategy. On the other hand strong
interaction between weaknesses and threats could be analyzed
as potential warning and advise for usingdefensive strategy.[citation
needed]

Matching and converting[edit]

One way of utilizing SWOT is matching and converting.
Matching is used to find competitive advantage by matching the
strengths to opportunities. Converting is to apply conversion
strategies to convert weaknesses or threats into strengths or
opportunities. An example of conversion strategy is to find new
markets. If the threats or weaknesses cannot be converted, a
company should try to minimize or avoid them.[4]

Criticism[edit]
Some findings from Menon et al. (1999)[5] and Hill and
Westbrook (1997)[6] have shown that SWOT may harm
performance.

SWOT variants[edit]
Various complementary analyses to SWOT have been
proposed, such as the Growth-share matrix and Porter five
forces analysis.

TOWS[edit]
Heinz Weihrich said that some users found it difficult to
translate the results of the SWOT analysis into meaningful
actions that could be adopted within the wider corporate
strategy. He introduced the TOWS Matrix, a conceptual
framework that helps in finding the most efficient actions.[7]

SWOT landscape analysis[edit]

The SWOT-landscape systematically deploys the relationships

between overall objective and underlying SWOT-factors and
provides an interactive, query-able 3D landscape.

The SWOT-landscape grabs different managerial situations by

visualizing and foreseeing the dynamic performance of
comparable objects according to findings by Brendan Kitts, Leif
Edvinsson and Tord Beding (2000).[8]
Changes in relative performance are continually identified.
Projects (or other units of measurements) that could be
potential risk or opportunity objects are highlighted.
SWOT-landscape also indicates which underlying
strength/weakness factors that have had or likely will have
highest influence in the context of value in use (for ex. capital
value fluctuations).

Corporate planning[edit]
As part of the development of strategies and plans to enable
the organization to achieve its objectives, that organization will
use a systematic/rigorous process known as corporate
planning. SWOT alongsidePEST/PESTLE can be used as a
basis for the analysis of business and environmental factors.[9]

Set objectives defining what the organization is going to

do

Environmental scanning

Internal appraisals of the organization's SWOT, this

needs to include an assessment of the present situation
as well as a portfolio of products/services and an
analysis of the product/service life cycle

Analysis of existing strategies, this should determine

relevance from the results of an internal/external appraisal.
This may includegap analysis which will look at
environmental factors

Strategic Issues defined key factors in the development

of a corporate plan which needs to be addressed by the
organization

Develop new/revised strategies revised analysis of

strategic issues may mean the objectives need to change

Establish critical success factors the achievement of

objectives and strategy implementation

Preparation of operational, resource, projects plans for

strategy implementation

Monitoring results mapping against plans, taking

corrective action which may mean amending
objectives/strategies.[10]

Marketing[edit]
Main article: Marketing management
In many competitor analyses, marketers build detailed
profiles of each competitor in the market, focusing
especially on their relative competitive strengths and
weaknesses using SWOT analysis. Marketing managers
will examine each competitor's cost structure, sources of
profits, resources and competencies, competitive
positioning and product differentiation, degree of vertical
integration, historical responses to industry developments,
and other factors.
Marketing management often finds it necessary to invest in
research to collect the data required to perform accurate
marketing analysis. Accordingly, management often
conducts market research (alternately marketing research)
to obtain this information. Marketers employ a variety of
techniques to conduct market research, but some of the
more common include:

Qualitative marketing research, such as focus groups

Quantitative marketing research, such as statistical surveys

Experimental techniques such as test markets

Observational techniques such as ethnographic (on-site)

observation

Marketing managers may also design and oversee various

environmental scanning and competitive intelligence
processes to help identify trends and inform the company's
marketing analysis.

Below is an example SWOT analysis of a market

position of a small management consultancy with
specialism in HRM.[10]
Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

Reputation in
marketplace

Shortage of consultants
at operating level rather
than partner level

Well established position

with a well defined
market niche

Large consultancies
operating at a minor
level

Expertise at partner level

in HRM consultancy

Unable to deal with

multi-disciplinary
assignments because of
size or lack of ability

Identified market for

consultancy in areas
other than HRM

Other small
consultancies looking to
invade the marketplace

SWOT Analysis in Community

Organization[edit]
The SWOT analysis has been utilized in community
work as a tool to identify positive and negative factors
within organizations, communities, and the broader
society that promote or inhibit successful
implementation of social services and social change
efforts.[11] It is used as a preliminary resource, assessing
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a
community served by a nonprofit or community
organization.[12] This organizing tool is best used in
collaboration with community workers and/or
community members before developing goals and
objectives for a program design or implementing an
organizing strategy.The SWOT analysis is a part of the
planning for social change process and will not provide
a strategic plan if used by itself. After a SWOT analysis
is completed a social change organization can turn the
SWOT list into a series of recommendations to consider
before developing a strategic plan.[13]

one example of a SWOT Analysis used in community

organizing

A simple SWOT Analysis used in Community Organizing

Strengths and Weaknesses: These are the internal

factors within an organization.

Human resources [11]

Finances

Internal advantages/disadvantages of the

Organization [11]

Physical resources [11]

Experiences including what has worked or has not

worked in the past

Opportunities and Threats: These are external

factors stemming from community or societal forces.

Trends (new research)

Societys cultural, political, and economic

ideology[citation needed]

Funding sources [11]

Current events [11]

Societal oppression [11]

Although the SWOT analysis was originally designed

as an organizational method for business and
industries, it has been replicated in various community
work as a tool for identifying external and internal
support to combat internal and external opposition.
[11]
The SWOT analysis is necessary to provide direction
to the next stages of the change process.[14] It has been
utilized by community organizers and community
members to further social justice in the context of
Social Work practice.

Application in Community
Organization[edit]
Elements to Consider[edit]
Elements to consider in a SWOT analysis include
understanding the community that a particular
organization is working with. This can be done via
public forums, listening campaigns, and informational
interviews. Data collection will help inform the
community members and workers when developing the
SWOT analysis. A needs and assets assessment are
tooling that can be used in order to identify the needs
and existing resources of the community. When these
assessments are done and data has been collected, an
analysis of the community can be made which will
inform the SWOT analysis.[11]
Steps for Implementation[edit]
A SWOT analysis is best developed in a group setting
such as a work or community meeting. A facilitator can
conduct the meeting by first explaining what a SWOT
analysis is as well as identifying the meaning of each
term.[11]
One way of facilitating the development of a SWOT
analysis includes developing an example SWOT with
the larger group then separating each group into
smaller teams to present to the larger group after set
amount of time.[11] This allows for individuals, who may
be silenced in a larger group setting, to contribute.
Once the allotted time is up, the facilitator may record
all the factors of each group onto a large document
such as a poster board and then the large group, as a

collective, can go work through each threat and

weaknesses to explore options that may be used to
combat negative forces with the strengths and
opportunities present within the organization and
community.[11] A SWOT meeting allows participants to
creatively brainstorm, identify obstacles and strategize
possibly solutions to these limitations.
When to use SWOT[edit]
The use of a SWOT analysis by a community
organization are as follows: to organize information,
provide insight into barriers[15] that may be present while
engaging in social change processes, and identify
strengths available that can be activated to counteract
these barriers.
A SWOT analysis can be used to:

Explore new solutions to problems [11]

Identify barriers that will limit goals/objectives

[11]

Decide on direction that will be most effective

[11]

Reveal possibilities and limitations for change[11]

To revise plans to best navigate systems,

communities, and organizations

As a brainstorming and recording device as a

means of communication[15]

To enhance credibility of interpretation to be

utilized in presentation to leaders or key
supporters.[12]

Benefits[edit]
The SWOT analysis in Social Work practice framework
is beneficial because it helps organizations decide
whether or not an objective is obtainable and therefore
enables organizations to set achievable goals,
objectives, and steps to further the social change or
community development effort.[16] It enables organizers
to take visions and produce practical and efficient
outcomes in order to effect long-lasting change, and it
helps organizations gather meaningful information in
order to maximize their potential.[16] Completing a
SWOT analysis is a useful process regarding the
consideration of key organizational priorities, such as
gender and cultural diversity, and fundraising
objectives.[17]

Limitations[edit]
Critiques include the misuse of the SWOT analysis as a
technique that can be quickly designed without critical
thought leading to a misrepresentation of Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats within an
organization's internal and external surroundings.
[18]
Another limitation includes the development of a
SWOT analysis simply to defend previously decided
goals and objectives. This misuse leads to limitations
on brainstorming possibilities and "real" identification of
barriers. This misuse also places the organizations
interest above the well being of the community. Further,
a SWOT analysis should be developed as a
collaborative with a variety of contributions made by
participants including community members. The design
of a SWOT analysis by one or two community workers
is limiting to the realities of the forces specifically
external factors, and devalues the possible
contributions of community members.[15]