{"id":1551,"date":"2015-11-10T21:06:58","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T21:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/waymakerintromarketing1xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=1551"},"modified":"2016-02-18T17:16:10","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T17:16:10","slug":"reading-defining-and-using-a-swot-analysis","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/chapter\/reading-defining-and-using-a-swot-analysis\/","title":{"raw":"Reading: SWOT Analysis","rendered":"Reading: SWOT Analysis"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>SWOT Analysis<\/h2>\r\nA situation analysis is often referred to by the acronym <em>SWOT<\/em>, which stands for\u00a0<em>strengths<\/em>, <em>weaknesses<\/em>, <em>opportunities<\/em>, and <em>threats<\/em>.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2016\/01\/04105049\/SWOT-Analysis-Graphic-01.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3912\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2016\/01\/04105049\/SWOT-Analysis-Graphic-01-869x1024.jpg\" alt=\"SWOT Analysis is made of external and internal factors. External factors are opportunities and threats. They include technology, competition, economic, political, legal, social trends. Internal factors are strengths and weaknesses. They include financial, technical, competition position, human resources, product line.\" width=\"500\" height=\"589\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\nEssentially, a SWOT analysis is an examination of the internal and external\u00a0factors that impact the organization and its strategies. The internal factors are strengths and weaknesses; the external factors are opportunities and threats.\u00a0A\u00a0SWOT analysis gives\u00a0an organization a clear\u00a0picture of the \"situation\" in which it operates and helps it identify which strategies to pursue.\r\n<h3>Internal Factors<\/h3>\r\nStrengths and weaknesses include the resources and capabilities within\u00a0the organization now. Since the company has the most\u00a0control over internal factors, it can craft strategies and objectives to exploit strengths and address weaknesses. Examples of internal factors include the following:\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Financial resources<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Technical resources and capabilities<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Human resources<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Product lines<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAll of these are controlled by the organization. Competitive positioning can also be a strength or a weakness. While competitors' strategies and tactics are external to the company, the company's position relative to the competitors is something that it can control.\r\n<h3>External Factors<\/h3>\r\nExternal factors include opportunities and threats that are outside of the organization. These are factors that the company may be able influence\u2014or at least anticipate\u2014but not fully control. Examples of external factors include the following:\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Technology innovations and changes<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Competition<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Economic trends<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Government\u00a0policies and legislation<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Legal judgments<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Social trends<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWhile a company can control how it positions itself relative to the competition, it can't control competitors' actions or strategies.\r\n<h2>Benefits of a\u00a0SWOT Analysis<\/h2>\r\nA SWOT\u00a0analysis\u00a0benefits organizations in two key ways:\r\n<h3>Encourages Realistic Planning<\/h3>\r\nImagine a growing company that is\u00a0able to attract new customers more easily than the competition because it has a strong reputation and visible leader. These\u00a0strengths should be considered and exploited in the strategy. Now imagine that the company also has a poor history of delivering on customer commitments. If this weakness is not addressed, it will not only make it\u00a0difficult to retain customers but also likely damage the reputation of the company and its leader\u2014which would eliminate key strengths. By conducting\u00a0a situation analysis, the company is more likely to consider both of these factors in its planning.\r\n<h3>Improves Ability to Forecast Future Events<\/h3>\r\nWhat's the worst thing that could happen to your business? Most organizations can answer this question because they have assessed the environment in which they operate. \u00a0For instance, perhaps they know of pending legislation that might\u00a0adversely affect them. \u00a0Or perhaps they\u00a0recognize\u00a0legal risks, or unique challenges\u00a0from past economic cycles. By considering threats and \"worst-case scenarios\" during\u00a0the planning process, organizations can take steps to avoid them, or minimize the impact if they do\u00a0they occur.\r\n<h2>SWOT Analysis\u00a0Example<\/h2>\r\nA situation\u00a0analysis can benefit any organization. The example below shows the SWOT analysis for a fictional college.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2016\/01\/04105050\/SWOT-Analysis-Graphic-02.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3913\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2016\/01\/04105050\/SWOT-Analysis-Graphic-02-841x1024.jpg\" alt=\"SWOT Analysis 2 for SWOT College. Under External Factors, opportunities include Expand online programs, Create custom programs for local employers, Credit for prior learning. Under External Factors, threats include Reduced state funding, economic recovery, aggressive marketing by for-profit competitor. Under internal factors, strengths include Bright, committed faculty, strong and trusted leaders, student completion rates, student advising initiative, community partners. Under Internal factors, weaknesses include Aging technology infrastructure, training for part-time faculty, nursing program under capacity, inefficient transfer process.\" width=\"500\" height=\"609\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\nEven this rudimentary analysis highlights some strategic issues, discussed below, which\u00a0the college needs to consider.\r\n<h3>Internal<\/h3>\r\nThe college has a number of strengths.\u00a0Committed faculty and trusted leaders have collaborated to build academic programs that are showing\u00a0high completion rates among students. The student advising program is also contributing to that success. Also, the college has excellent relationships with businesses in the community.\r\n\r\nAmong the weaknesses, the technology infrastructure is outdated. The college also employs\u00a0a large\u00a0number of part-time faculty members, but doesn't provide them with adequate training or\u00a0support.\u00a0Nursing, one of the more expensive programs at the college, is not attracting enough students to keep it full. Also, the college has learned from some of its recent graduates that students are not receiving transfer credit at the local university for all of their courses taken at the college. The students wonder if the college faculty and advisers really understand their academic goals or the requirements of the four-year degree programs at the university.\r\n\r\nBy completing a SWOT analysis, the college can shape its strategies and objectives to align with both the internal resources and capabilities it has, as well as the external factors it faces.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2015\/11\/04104555\/1940830964_90a797f27c_b.jpg\"><img class=\"wp-image-1582 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2015\/11\/04104555\/1940830964_90a797f27c_b-1024x677.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a college campus, students walking to and from class.\" width=\"401\" height=\"265\" \/><\/a>\r\n<h3>External<\/h3>\r\nThe college leadership is feeling pulled by conflicting economic factors. The region has been through an economic downturn, which resulted in cuts to\u00a0state funding. At the same time, an economic recovery has just begun. During the previous\u00a0economic recovery, college\u00a0enrollment dropped\u00a0when students who were pursuing additional education returned to the workforce. How might the timing of those two funding issues work out?\u00a0The college is also being affected\u00a0by a local institution that is aggressively marketing to its students\u2014 especially students in the nursing program.\r\n\r\nStill, there are opportunities. Students have expressed interest in more online courses and programs. That might also slow the local competitor, though it would also require the college to address its aging technology infrastructure. The college has identified a number of innovative programs that would enable students to earn degrees more quickly and at the same time\u00a0expand its partnership and collaboration with local businesses.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<h2>SWOT Analysis<\/h2>\n<p>A situation analysis is often referred to by the acronym <em>SWOT<\/em>, which stands for\u00a0<em>strengths<\/em>, <em>weaknesses<\/em>, <em>opportunities<\/em>, and <em>threats<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2016\/01\/04105049\/SWOT-Analysis-Graphic-01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3912\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2016\/01\/04105049\/SWOT-Analysis-Graphic-01-869x1024.jpg\" alt=\"SWOT Analysis is made of external and internal factors. External factors are opportunities and threats. They include technology, competition, economic, political, legal, social trends. Internal factors are strengths and weaknesses. They include financial, technical, competition position, human resources, product line.\" width=\"500\" height=\"589\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Essentially, a SWOT analysis is an examination of the internal and external\u00a0factors that impact the organization and its strategies. The internal factors are strengths and weaknesses; the external factors are opportunities and threats.\u00a0A\u00a0SWOT analysis gives\u00a0an organization a clear\u00a0picture of the &#8220;situation&#8221; in which it operates and helps it identify which strategies to pursue.<\/p>\n<h3>Internal Factors<\/h3>\n<p>Strengths and weaknesses include the resources and capabilities within\u00a0the organization now. Since the company has the most\u00a0control over internal factors, it can craft strategies and objectives to exploit strengths and address weaknesses. Examples of internal factors include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Financial resources<\/li>\n<li>Technical resources and capabilities<\/li>\n<li>Human resources<\/li>\n<li>Product lines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of these are controlled by the organization. Competitive positioning can also be a strength or a weakness. While competitors&#8217; strategies and tactics are external to the company, the company&#8217;s position relative to the competitors is something that it can control.<\/p>\n<h3>External Factors<\/h3>\n<p>External factors include opportunities and threats that are outside of the organization. These are factors that the company may be able influence\u2014or at least anticipate\u2014but not fully control. Examples of external factors include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Technology innovations and changes<\/li>\n<li>Competition<\/li>\n<li>Economic trends<\/li>\n<li>Government\u00a0policies and legislation<\/li>\n<li>Legal judgments<\/li>\n<li>Social trends<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While a company can control how it positions itself relative to the competition, it can&#8217;t control competitors&#8217; actions or strategies.<\/p>\n<h2>Benefits of a\u00a0SWOT Analysis<\/h2>\n<p>A SWOT\u00a0analysis\u00a0benefits organizations in two key ways:<\/p>\n<h3>Encourages Realistic Planning<\/h3>\n<p>Imagine a growing company that is\u00a0able to attract new customers more easily than the competition because it has a strong reputation and visible leader. These\u00a0strengths should be considered and exploited in the strategy. Now imagine that the company also has a poor history of delivering on customer commitments. If this weakness is not addressed, it will not only make it\u00a0difficult to retain customers but also likely damage the reputation of the company and its leader\u2014which would eliminate key strengths. By conducting\u00a0a situation analysis, the company is more likely to consider both of these factors in its planning.<\/p>\n<h3>Improves Ability to Forecast Future Events<\/h3>\n<p>What&#8217;s the worst thing that could happen to your business? Most organizations can answer this question because they have assessed the environment in which they operate. \u00a0For instance, perhaps they know of pending legislation that might\u00a0adversely affect them. \u00a0Or perhaps they\u00a0recognize\u00a0legal risks, or unique challenges\u00a0from past economic cycles. By considering threats and &#8220;worst-case scenarios&#8221; during\u00a0the planning process, organizations can take steps to avoid them, or minimize the impact if they do\u00a0they occur.<\/p>\n<h2>SWOT Analysis\u00a0Example<\/h2>\n<p>A situation\u00a0analysis can benefit any organization. The example below shows the SWOT analysis for a fictional college.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2016\/01\/04105050\/SWOT-Analysis-Graphic-02.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3913\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2016\/01\/04105050\/SWOT-Analysis-Graphic-02-841x1024.jpg\" alt=\"SWOT Analysis 2 for SWOT College. Under External Factors, opportunities include Expand online programs, Create custom programs for local employers, Credit for prior learning. Under External Factors, threats include Reduced state funding, economic recovery, aggressive marketing by for-profit competitor. Under internal factors, strengths include Bright, committed faculty, strong and trusted leaders, student completion rates, student advising initiative, community partners. Under Internal factors, weaknesses include Aging technology infrastructure, training for part-time faculty, nursing program under capacity, inefficient transfer process.\" width=\"500\" height=\"609\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even this rudimentary analysis highlights some strategic issues, discussed below, which\u00a0the college needs to consider.<\/p>\n<h3>Internal<\/h3>\n<p>The college has a number of strengths.\u00a0Committed faculty and trusted leaders have collaborated to build academic programs that are showing\u00a0high completion rates among students. The student advising program is also contributing to that success. Also, the college has excellent relationships with businesses in the community.<\/p>\n<p>Among the weaknesses, the technology infrastructure is outdated. The college also employs\u00a0a large\u00a0number of part-time faculty members, but doesn&#8217;t provide them with adequate training or\u00a0support.\u00a0Nursing, one of the more expensive programs at the college, is not attracting enough students to keep it full. Also, the college has learned from some of its recent graduates that students are not receiving transfer credit at the local university for all of their courses taken at the college. The students wonder if the college faculty and advisers really understand their academic goals or the requirements of the four-year degree programs at the university.<\/p>\n<p>By completing a SWOT analysis, the college can shape its strategies and objectives to align with both the internal resources and capabilities it has, as well as the external factors it faces.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2015\/11\/04104555\/1940830964_90a797f27c_b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1582 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1505\/2015\/11\/04104555\/1940830964_90a797f27c_b-1024x677.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a college campus, students walking to and from class.\" width=\"401\" height=\"265\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>External<\/h3>\n<p>The college leadership is feeling pulled by conflicting economic factors. The region has been through an economic downturn, which resulted in cuts to\u00a0state funding. At the same time, an economic recovery has just begun. During the previous\u00a0economic recovery, college\u00a0enrollment dropped\u00a0when students who were pursuing additional education returned to the workforce. How might the timing of those two funding issues work out?\u00a0The college is also being affected\u00a0by a local institution that is aggressively marketing to its students\u2014 especially students in the nursing program.<\/p>\n<p>Still, there are opportunities. Students have expressed interest in more online courses and programs. That might also slow the local competitor, though it would also require the college to address its aging technology infrastructure. The college has identified a number of innovative programs that would enable students to earn degrees more quickly and at the same time\u00a0expand its partnership and collaboration with local businesses.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-1551\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>SWOT Analysis. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Campus. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Justin Henry. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/zappowbang\/1940830964\/\">https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/zappowbang\/1940830964\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":923,"menu_order":13,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"SWOT Analysis\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Campus\",\"author\":\"Justin Henry\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/zappowbang\/1940830964\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"53909d88-6de9-4f08-9a54-5ad97209e70f","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1551","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":91,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/923"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3929,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1551\/revisions\/3929"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/91"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1551\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/clinton-marketing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}