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What Is A SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a business or project. It involves making lists of internal and external factors and analyzing how they relate. The document provides guidance on how to conduct a SWOT analysis including using a matrix template to organize the four factors.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
22 views3 pages

What Is A SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a business or project. It involves making lists of internal and external factors and analyzing how they relate. The document provides guidance on how to conduct a SWOT analysis including using a matrix template to organize the four factors.

Uploaded by

xin nian
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What Is a SWOT Analysis?

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and so a


SWOT analysis is a technique for assessing these four aspects of your business.

SWOT Analysis is a tool that can help you to analyze what your company does
best now, and to devise a successful strategy for the future. SWOT can also
uncover areas of the business that are holding you back, or that your
competitors could exploit if you don't protect yourself.

A SWOT analysis examines both internal and external factors – that is, what's
going on inside and outside your organization. So some of these factors will be
within your control and some will not. In either case, the wisest action you can
take in response will become clearer once you've discovered, recorded and
analyzed as many factors as you can.

In this article, video and infographic, we explore how to carry out a SWOT
analysis, and how to put your findings into action. We also include a worked
example and a template to help you get started on a SWOT analysis in your own
workplace.

Why Is SWOT Analysis Important?

SWOT analysis can help you to challenge risky assumptions and to uncover
dangerous blindspots about your organization's performance. If you use it
carefully and collaboratively, it can deliver new insights on where your business
currently is, and help you to develop exactly the right strategy for any situation.

For example, you may be well aware of some of your organization's strengths,
but until you record them alongside weaknesses and threats you might not
realize how unreliable those strengths actually are.
Equally, you likely have reasonable concerns about some of your business
weaknesses but, by going through the analysis systematically, you could find an
opportunity, previously overlooked, that could more than compensate.

How to Write a SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis involves making lists – but so much more, too! When you begin
to write one list (say, Strengths), the thought process and research that you'll go
through will prompt ideas for the other lists (Weaknesses, Opportunities or
Threats). And if you compare these lists side by side, you will likely notice
connections and contradictions, which you'll want to highlight and explore.

You'll find yourself moving back and forth between your lists frequently. So,
make the task easier and more effective by arranging your four lists together in
one view.

A SWOT matrix is a 2x2 grid, with one square for each of the four aspects of
SWOT. (Figure 1 shows what it should look like.) Each section is headed by
some questions to get your thinking started.

Figure 1. A SWOT Analysis Matrix.

Weaknesses What could you


Strengths What do you do well? What
improve? Where do you have fewer
unique resources can you draw on? What
resources than others? What are
do others see as your strengths?
others likely to see as weaknesses?

Opportunities What opportunities are Threats What threats could harm


open to you? What trends could you take you? What is your competition doing?
advantage of? How can you turn your What threats do your weaknesses
strengths into opportunities? expose to you?
SWOT Analysis Template

When conducting your SWOT analysis, you can either draw your own matrix, or
use our free downloadable template .

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