Internal Business Environmental Scanning
A SWOT analysis is a compilation of an organisation’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The primary objective of a SWOT analysis is to help organisations develop a full awareness of all the factors involved in making a business decision. A SWOT analysis precedes resource allocation in an organisation, whether exploring new initiatives, revamping internal policies, considering opportunities to pivot, or altering a plan midway through its execution. A SWOT analysis is used to discover recommendations and strategies, with a focus on leveraging strengths and opportunities to overcome weaknesses and threats.
- Strengths—capabilities that enable your organisation or unit to perform well. Your organisation needs to leverage these.
- Weaknesses—characteristics that prevent your organisation or unit from performing well. Your organisation needs to address these.
- Opportunities—trends, forces, events, and ideas that affect your organisation or unit. Your organisation needs to capitalise on these.
- Threats—possible events or forces outside of your control. Your organisation needs to plan for or decide how to lessen these.
Steps for conducting a SWOT Analysis
Worksheet: Worksheet for Conducting a SWOT Analysis
Example:
GigCloud – A data storage company has a successful strategy that includes offering premium-priced models with larger data storage capacity than its competitors. Lately, the company owner has noted the growth in cloud data storage options. The company begins to analyse how customers’ use of cloud storage could affect the company’s continued ability to compete based on greater built-in storage capacity.