SWOT analysis
Contents |
Abstract
When decisions have to be made - be it within project, program or portfolio management - the SWOT analysis can provide managers with great support by allowing them to analyse internal and external environments with a systematic approach. [1]
Is SWOT analysis just a framework for brainstorming or is it a tool to analyse a situation in preparation to take action for the future.
The history of SWOT
Although there is no single inventor/author of the SWOT analysis, early versions are developed in Harvard Business School by George Albert Smith Jr. and C Roland Christiensen in the 1950s and 1960s [2]. The The four factors that later became the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOTs) were then called "opportunities" "risks" "environment" "problems of other industries". Another version was developed at Stanford University by Albert Humphrey that later became the SWOT analysis as we know it today. The factors, represented by the acronym SOFT, were here: “What is good in the present is SATISFACTORY, good in the future is an OPPORTUNITY; bad in the present is a FAULT and bad in the future is a THREAT.” [3]
Summary of steps
There will be an introduction to the different templates you can use when doing a SWOT analysis.
Description of steps (input, action, output)
A description of how the SWOT analysis, as a part of the input, can help managers create an action plan to obtain future goals.
Application example
Two examples of application to illustrate how the SWOT analysis can be highly beneficial but also can be handled in a way that is not beneficial.
Implementation advice
A discussion of how the SWOT analysis has its own strengths and weaknesses
References
- ↑ [SWOT METHODOLOGY: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEWFOR THE PAST, A FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3846/16111699.2011.555358
- ↑ [History of SWOT Analysis] http://www.marketingteacher.com/history-of-swot-analysis/
- ↑ [SWOT analysis (TOWS matrix) Made Simple] https://rapidbi.com/swotanalysis/
