SWOT Analysis Guide
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== Introduction == | == Introduction == | ||
| − | Strategic planning is a set of concepts, procedures and tools to be used in order for a company/organization to achieve its goals <ref name="Bryson"> Bryson, J.M. (2003). Strategic Planning and Management. In B. Guy Peters and John Pierre, Handbook of Public Administration, pp. 38- 47, London: SAGE Publications Ltd </ref> and is a function of all managers at all levels of an organization <ref name="Steiner"> Steiner, G.A. (1979). Strategic planning: What every manager should know. A step-by-step Guide. New York: Free Press </ref>. While being a process that deals with the futurity of current decisions, it is also a bulwark to support strategic management | + | Strategic planning is a set of concepts, procedures and tools to be used in order for a company/organization to achieve its goals <ref name="Bryson"> Bryson, J.M. (2003). Strategic Planning and Management. In B. Guy Peters and John Pierre, Handbook of Public Administration, pp. 38- 47, London: SAGE Publications Ltd </ref> and is a function of all managers at all levels of an organization <ref name="Steiner"> Steiner, G.A. (1979). Strategic planning: What every manager should know. A step-by-step Guide. New York: Free Press </ref>. While being a process that deals with the futurity of current decisions, it is also a bulwark to support strategic management <ref name="Steiner">. |
Strategic management is a continuous process of an organization to formulate and evaluate decisions and plans to achieve a competitive advantage by being proactive (David, 2003; Dyer et al., 2017). The strategic management process is a sequential set of analyses and choices which includes the development of a vision and a mission, translated into a setting of long-term objectives and followed by a strategy crafting to achieve the targeted performance. Next steps are the strategy’s implementation and execution as well as the necessary performance evaluation to review the situation and initiate corrective adjustments (Preble, 2003). | Strategic management is a continuous process of an organization to formulate and evaluate decisions and plans to achieve a competitive advantage by being proactive (David, 2003; Dyer et al., 2017). The strategic management process is a sequential set of analyses and choices which includes the development of a vision and a mission, translated into a setting of long-term objectives and followed by a strategy crafting to achieve the targeted performance. Next steps are the strategy’s implementation and execution as well as the necessary performance evaluation to review the situation and initiate corrective adjustments (Preble, 2003). | ||
Revision as of 21:38, 28 February 2021
Abstract
SWOT consists a strategic management tool, mainly used to identify risks during the data analysis process. The acronym of the 4-box strategy development framework stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and is possible to be applied to different industries, such as commerce, production, planning and voluntary organizations. The first emergence of the term in the literature is traced back to 1960 to investigate what went wrong with corporate planning, funded by the Fortune 500 companies while creating a new system to support management change. Over the past decade, SWOT research has focused on analyzing organizations for recommended strategic actions.
As with every tool or technique, SWOT has also its advantages and limitations. On the one hand, it is an interactional analysis technique that makes macro evaluations possible, in a road from the general perspective and solutions to the more detailed, uncovering opportunities. On the other hand, it has been criticized as prone to bias with questioned validity due to the quantity of different identified factors or failure to easily include dynamic and structural changes in a world based on competition.
The following article aims to investigate the process of conducting a SWOT analysis through a literature review, in order to present a short guide for its implementation. By analyzing the potentials of this tool’s usage, some practical implications are presented, mainly relevant to the combination of SWOT with other strategic planning tools. In addition, the author’s reflections are presented in an attempt to discuss the value and potential improvements in the use of the tool.
Introduction
Strategic planning is a set of concepts, procedures and tools to be used in order for a company/organization to achieve its goals [1] and is a function of all managers at all levels of an organization [2]. While being a process that deals with the futurity of current decisions, it is also a bulwark to support strategic management [2]
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