Description
A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It can be very effective for scanning the environment when used as an initial tool in planning. Strengths and weaknesses are usually considered to be “internal factors”—characteristics of the community and planning group. Opportunities and threats are often considered to be “external factors”—circumstances that affect the outcome of the planning process that are not under the direct control of the community or planners. A SWOT analysis helps organize subjective and objective information for review and this information can provide a foundation for decision making that takes into consideration the competitive environment, opportunities that can be exploited, and strengths that will enhance success.
Steps
The SWOT framework is very basic—it simply involves filling in answers to the four major questions:
- What are the community’s major strengths?
- What are the community’s major weaknesses?
- What are the community’s major threats?
- What are the community’s major opportunities?
There are no standard procedures for using a SWOT analysis to discover community character and heart and soul; doing so could involve using the tool as a survey for planners, officials, or the general public.
Pros and Cons
SWOT analyses help to:
- Isolate key issues to resolve
- Focus activities in areas where you are strong and where the greatest opportunities lie
- Consider factors from an internal and external point of view
- Support a comprehensive, thoughtful, and strategic approach to information that may have an impact on the identified goals
- Help elicit information from different points of view. The more perspectives involved, the more useful the information.
- Identify barriers to success
- Develop priorities for action
A SWOT analysis can be used to evaluate a position, an idea, an individual, an organization, or a strategy. It can be done by the whole team together or by a subcommittee or an individual who shares the results with the planning team. While it is helpful to do one at the beginning of the planning process, it can also help determine whether plans are progressing well and help make mid-course corrections or identify new opportunities and strategies. Once information has been collected, the planning team can review it and develop actions based on the analysis. SWOT analyses have been criticized as outdated, and for their procedures that sometimes rely upon “catchall questions” and produce misleading results. Recent studies have developed more advanced methods that resolve some of these issues, however.
Examples
SWOT analyses are used most frequently in the marketing world; they have been completed for many big-name corporations, including Coca-Cola, Hewlett-Packard, and Time-Warner.
There are also variations on the SWOT model. Appreciative Inquiry practitioners have converted the tool to better fit AI’s philosophies, resulting in the SOAR model (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results). A PEST or STEP analysis – again used most frequently in the marketing world – looks at Political, Economic, Social, and Technological factors in a particular market or organizational unit.