Swot Analysis: SWOT Analysis And Strategic Management

3. The acronym SWOT stands for an organizations strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is strategic planning method that evaluates the internal and external performance of an organization to see if it’s favorable or unfavorable to achieve whatever objective you are set out to accomplish. Strengths and weaknesses usually arise from the internal aspect of an organization, whereas opportunities and threats evolve from external components. By performing a SWOT analysis it provides information to managers to help formulate a successful strategy to achieve goals.

A SWOT analysis is a tool used to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. A SWOT model measures what an organization can or cannot do as well as the possible opportunities and threats. This is done by taking data from the organization’s environment, analyzing the information and separating it into the internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats). When this is completed the analysis can create a plan for the organization to achieve its goals, and identify what difficulties must be overcome to attain

A SWOT analysis is also an important aspect of the strategic plan as it helps management anticipate challenges, take advantage of opportunities and mitigate risk (Balanced Scorecard Institute, 2014). These are key elements that

A SWOT analysis is an evaluation of the business environment and organizational strategic capability to identify key issues that may impact strategy development (Ireland, R., Hoskisson & Hitt, 2008). Strengths and weaknesses define a firm’s internal environment whereas opportunities and threats constitute the external environment.

“A SWOT Analysis is the most used tool for audit and analysis of the overall strategic position of the business and its environment. Its principal purpose is to identify the strategies that will create a firm-specific business model. The plan aligns the organization’s resources and capabilities to the requirements of the environment in which the firm operates. The analysis is to evaluate any potential and limitations and the probable/likely opportunities and threats from the external environment. The results provide the positive and negative factors inside and outside the firm that affect the success.” A SWOT analysis is conducted to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential threats to the organization. ("SWOT

The SWOT analysis gives organisation the opportunity to evaluate issues within and outside the business. It is the method of evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities and threats from competition, and also to identify some strategic decision-making (Colbert 2018).

Many companies use SWOT analysis to understand their position in the market and develop a plan of action. Therefore, a SWOT analysis is an important part of the project planning. Strength (internal factors): attributes of the organization that helps accomplish the project objective. Weaknesses (internal factors): attributes of the organization that stops the accomplishment of the project goal. Opportunities (external factors): external conditions that help accomplish the project. Threats (external factors): external conditions that could impair the project.

Internal analysis are conducted so it can identify an organizations strengths and weakness. Threats and opportunities are identified by assessing the external environment. Either in its broad or competitive environment. The most essential result of a SWOT analysis is the ability to draw conclusions about the organizations situation and need for strategic action.

SWOT has been used by countless practitioners, marketing researchers, and is a frequent and popular tool for business marketing and strategy students. Its simplicity and catchy acronym perpetuates its usage in business and beyond as the tool is used to assess alternatives and complex decision situations. In the business arena the grouping of internal and external issues is a frequent starting point for strategic planning. It can be constructed quickly and can benefit from multiple viewpoints as a brainstorming exercise. Typically, managers first consider internal strengths and weaknesses (at the top row of the 2 × 2 grid) which can include image, structure, access to natural resources, capacity and efficiency, and financial

When the SWOT analysis is done, it is used as the foundation of objective setting, strategy setting and usage. The SWOT analysis is concentrated upon the most important factors and it is useful in a difficult strategic situation. The strengths are analyzed to reach opportunities and to avoid threats. The search of weaknesses is of importance as it allows the manager to minimize them.

SWOT analysis is a popular analysis tool used in different situations that include not just business and marketing but also project planning and personal career development (Chapman 1995-2012). As for the strategic planning, Kenneth Andrews popularized his idea that good strategy means keeping a fit between the external situations a firm faces and the internal capabilities (Hill and Westbrook, 1997). The format the SWOT analysis presented is a 2x2 'internal/external' matrix, in which questions and relative answers can be listed for analysis (chapman 1995-2012). And according to Hill and Westbrook (1997), the output of SWOT analysis comes from meetings facilitated by consultants or managers to contribute the final analysis. Brainstorming can be used for filling in the sections to answer the questions. In addition, similar arguments should be concluded and ranked according to their answers in meetings (Rauch, 2007). As for the newly developed analysis, the TOWS matrix matching the various factors enables companies to stimulate new strategic initiative (Dyson, 2004).

The guiding force in business today is the ability to adapt to ever changing markets and circumstances while staying competitive. Strategic planning is where each company starts. Airgas is an American company that has just been purchased by the European company, Air Laquide. We are going to develop a strategic plan to grow their business over the next three years. Our strategic planning process will look into the following areas which include company history, products, competitors; we will look at the current situation of the market and use a SWOT analysis to determine areas of opportunities. Finally we will look at a few areas of the SWOT analysis and gain a better understanding of why they were chosen and understand why they are essential to the strategic plan.

SWOT analysis is a useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organization. SWOT analysis can be classified into internal and external factors affecting a company. The Strengths and Weaknesses of the SWOT analysis represent the internal factors that influence the viability of the company. While the Opportunities and Threats, on the other hand, are the external factors that may affect the company's performances. A SWOT analysis provides more understanding of the organization in relation to its internal and external environment so that manager can formulate better strategy in pursuit of its mission.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Ferrell and Hartline, 2014, p. 39). A SWOT analysis evaluates both the internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) that create advantages and disadvantages to a company when serving its customers (p. 39). A SWOT analysis is extremely beneficial in helping a company determine areas of improvement (p. 39). Internal factors examine the actual company being analyzed while external factors examine the external market (customers and competition) (p. 85).

SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieving that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a research project at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.[1]