SWOT

(Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities & Threats)
Analysis

Brief History of the SWOT

Analysis
Developed at Stanford
University by Albert
Humphrey in the 1960s
and 1970s
Funded by Fortune 500
companies
Took 9 years to develop
Involved 5000 interviews

What is a SWOT Analysis?

The SWOT analysis provides information that
is helpful in matching the firm's resources and
capabilities to the competitive environment in
which it operates.
A strategic planning tool that separates
influences on a businesss future success into
internal and external factors.
It is instrumental in strategy formulation and
selection.

Strengths
Characteristics of the business or a
team that give it an advantage
over others in the industry.
Positive tangible and intangible
attributes, internal to an
organization.
A firm's resources and capabilities
that can be used for developing a
competitive advantage.

 What advantages does your

Examples of Strengths
organization have?
What do you do better than
Patents
anyone else?
Strong brand names
What unique or lowest-cost
Good reputation among
resources can you draw upon
customers
that others can't?
Cost advantages from
What do people in your market
proprietary know-how
see as your strengths?
Exclusive access to natural What factors mean that you
resources
"get the sale"?
Good access to distribution What is your
networks
organization'sUnique Selling
Proposition(USP)?

Weaknesses

Characteristics that place the

firm at a disadvantage relative
to others.
Detract the organization from
its ability to attain the core
goal and influence its growth.
Factors that do not meet the
standards we feel they should
meet.
The absence of certain
strengths.
Controllable. They must be
minimized and eliminated.

Examples of Weaknesses
Lack of patent
protection
A weak brand name
Poor reputation among
customers
High cost structure
Lack of access to best
natural resources
Lack of access to key
distribution channels

What could you improve?

What should you avoid?
What are people in your
market likely to see as
weaknesses?
What factors lose you sales?

Opportunities

Chances to make greater profits

in the environment External
attractive factors that represent
the reason for an organization to
exists and develop.
Arise when an organization can
take benefit of conditions in its
environment to plan and
execute strategies that enable it
to become more profitable.
May arise from market,
competition,
industry/government and
technology.

Examples of
Opportunities
An unfulfilled
customer need
Arrival of new
technologies
Loosening of
regulations
Removal of
international trade
barriers

What good opportunities

can you spot?
What interesting trends
are you aware of?

Threats

External elements in the

environment that could cause
trouble for the business
External factors, beyond an
organizations control which could
place the organizations mission
or operation at risk.
Arise when conditions in external
environment jeopardize the
reliability and profitability of the
organizations business.
Uncontrollable. When a threat
comes, the stability and survival
can be at stake.

Examples of Threats
Shifts in consumer
tastes away from the
firm's products
Emergence of
substitute products
New regulations
Increased trade
barriers

What obstacles do you face?

What are your competitors
doing?
Are quality standards or
specifications for your job,
products or services
changing?
Is changing technology
threatening your position?
Do you have bad debt or
cash-flow problems?
Could any of your
weaknesses seriously
threaten your business?

Wal-Mart SWOT Analysis

Posted onMay 8, 2014byTim Friesner

http://www.marketingteacher.com/walmart-swot/

Strengths
Wal-Mart is a powerful retail brand. It has a
reputation for value for money, convenience and a
wide range of products all in one store.
Wal-Mart has grown substantially over recent
years, and has experienced global expansion (for
example its purchase of the United Kingdom
based retailer ASDA).

Weaknesses
Wal-Mart is the Worlds largest grocery retailer and
control of its empire, despite its IT advantages,
could leave it weak in some areas due to the huge
span of control.
Since Wal-Mart sell products across many sectors
(such as clothing, food, or stationary), it may not
have the flexibility of some of its more focused
competitors.
The company is global, but has a presence in
relatively few countries Worldwide.

Opportunities
To take over, merge with, or form strategic alliances with
other global retailers, focusing on specific markets such
as Europe or the Greater China Region.
The stores are currently only trade in a relatively small
number of countries. Therefore there are tremendous
opportunities for future business in expanding consumer
markets, such as China and India.
New locations and store types offer Wal-Mart
opportunities to exploit market development. They
diversified from large super centers, to local and mallbased sites.
Opportunities exist for Wal-Mart to continue with its
current strategy of large, super centers.

Threats
Being number one means that you are the target
of competition, locally and globally.
Being a global retailer means that you are
exposed to political problems in the countries that
you operate in.
The cost of producing many consumer products
tends to have fallen because of lower
manufacturing costs. Manufacturing cost have
fallen due to outsourcing to low-cost regions of
the World. This has lead to price competition,
resulting in price deflation in some ranges.
Intense price competition is a threat.

GROUP
ACTIVITY

Highly Brill Leisure Center has hired you to help

them with their marketing decision making.
Perform a SWOT analysis on Highly Brill Leisure
Center, based upon the following issues:

1. The Center is located within a two-minute walk of the main bus station, and is a fifteen-minute ride away
from the local railway station.
2. There is a competition standard swimming pool; although it has no wave machines or whirlpool
equipment as do competing local facilities.
3. It is located next to one of the largest shopping centers in Britain.
4. It is one of the oldest centers in the area and needs some cosmetic attention.
5. Due to an increase in disposable income over the last six years, local residents have more money to
spend on leisure activities.
6. There has been a substantial decrease in the birth rate over the last ten years.
7. In general people are living longer and there are more local residents aged over fifty-five now than ever
before.
8. After a heated argument with the manager of a competing leisure center, the leader of a respected local
scuba club is looking for a new venue.
9. The local authority is considering privatizing all local leisure centers by the year 2000.
10.Press releases have just been issued to confirm that Highly Brill Leisure Center is the first center in the
area to be awarded quality assurance standard BS EN ISO 9002.
11. A private joke between staff states that if you want a day-off from work that you should order a curry
from the Centers canteen, which has never made a profit.
12.The Center has been offered the latest sporting craze.
13.Highly Brill Leisure Center has received a grant to fit special ramps and changing rooms to
accommodate the local disabled.
14.It is widely acknowledged that Highly Brill has the best-trained and most respected staff of all of the
centers in the locality.

Suggested Answer:

Posted onMay 8, 2014byTim Friesn

http://www.marketingteacher.com/answer-swot-analysis/

SWOT/TOWS Matrix
an important matching tool that helps
managers develop four types of
strategies: SO (strengths-opportunities)
Strategies, WO (weaknessesopportunities) Strategies, ST (strengthsthreats) Strategies, and WT
(weaknesses-threats) Strategies.

SWOT/TOWS Matrix
S-O or Maxi-Maxi strategy - Using a strength to maximize an
opportunity
W-O or Mini-Maxi strategy - Improving capability to maximize an
opportunity
S-T or Maxi-Mini strategy - Minimizing a threat with a strength
W-T or Mini-Mini strategy - Minimizing weaknesses and threats at
same time

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

S-O Strategies

W-O Strategies

Threats

S-T Strategies

W-T Strategies

Steps in Making a SWOT Matrix

1. List the firms key external opportunities.
2. List the firms key external threats.
3. List the firms key internal strengths.
4. List the firms key internal weaknesses.
5. Match internal strengths with external opportunities, and record the
resultant SO Strategies in the appropriate cell.
6. Match internal weaknesses with external opportunities, and record the
resultant WO Strategies.
7. Match internal strengths with external threats, and record the
resultant ST Strategies.
8. Match internal weaknesses with external threats, and record the
resultant WT Strategies.

TOWS or SWOT
Matrix of TOYOTA
http://mba-lectures.com/management/strategic-management/1248/tows-or-swotmatrix-of-toyota.html

Limitations of the SWOT Matrix

SWOT does not show how to achieve a
competitive advantage, so it must not be an
end in itself.
SWOT is a static assessment (or snapshot) in
time.
SWOT analysis may lead the firm to
overemphasize a single internal or external
factor in formulating strategies.

Its your time to SHINE!

As a BS Accountancy Students of UPV CM, What

are your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
and Threats (SWOT Analysis). Give 3-5 each
category.
From the SWOT Analysis you made, make a SWOT
Matrix to come up with your 4 strategies (SO, WO,
ST, WT). Give 1-2 strategies each category.