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How to Write a SWOT Analysis Paper

Successful businesses and people have been conducting SWOTs since at least the mid-twentieth century and have refined the process over time. The four categories you will explore in your SWOT analysis paper are Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities (O), and Threats (T). You can use SWOT analysis to help you assess your position in project planning, business development , finance, relationships, or for personal growth. Since SWOT analysis papers are usually assigned in business school or associated with business planning, we will focus on the steps for writing a SWOT analysis paper for business, but keep in mind that the process can be tailored to any situation—professional or personal.

If this process sounds laborious or daunting, do not fret: As with most things, conducting a SWOT analysis will get easier the more you do it, and eventually it might become an essential part of all of your decision-making processes. As you evaluate your business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you will gain skills and insights that can help you evaluate yourself, your business, and various decisions you are facing.

Better than a pros and cons list

Perhaps you are thinking, This sounds just like a pros and cons list . A SWOT analysis provides more information than a simple pros and cons list, and it makes it easier to identify potential action items and areas for growth. SWOT analysis considers more than just the pros and cons of a situation: It helps you identify internal and external factors that contribute to or inhibit your success.

Strengths and Weaknesses are generally considered internal factors, so they are things that you or your company can control or can work to improve.

Opportunities and Threats are typically external factors that occur outside of your business (i.e., things that you cannot control), but they are things that could significantly affect you or your business.

Identify your objective/goal

To get the most benefit from your SWOT analysis, be as specific as possible with your objective . If you are analyzing a business, consider focusing on one particular aspect of the business.

The best way to formulate your paper is to use a SWOT analysis chart to organize your thoughts before you actually start writing.

Write down the initial strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats that come to mind when you consider the objective. Use bullet points to separate items, be specific, and remember that you do not have to write in complete sentences on this chart. To be sure that you explore all applicable points, consider the following questions:

• What does the business do best?
• What do people like about it?
• What draws people to the business?
• What does the business offer that competitors can't or don't offer?
• What puts the business at a disadvantage?
• Consider employee feedback and customer reviews: Are there any items that multiple people have identified as issues?
• In what areas does the business have less resources than competitors?
• Why do potential clients choose a competitor over you?
• What areas would you like to improve?

Be honest as you assess the business's weaknesses. Consider what aspects put your business at a disadvantage or what factors limit your growth potential. If you shy away from identifying weaknesses in this step, your SWOT analysis will not be effective or beneficial. Although it can be painful to identify weaknesses that are currently holding you back from personal or business growth, identifying and exploring these areas will give you the opportunity to improve. If you are uncertain if an item should be classified as a Weakness or a Threat , remember that Weaknesses are internal (things within the business that you can work to change) and Threats are external (things you have little or no control over). Also, accurately identifying weaknesses might help you recognize potential opportunities and/or threats.

Opportunities

• Are there any potential market trends that suggest growth in your field in the coming year?
• Does the business have any possible partnerships or sponsorships on the horizon?
• Is the business considering expanding or developing new product lines or specialties?

In addition to any obvious opportunities, look at the strengths you've listed and see if there are any ways that you can turn strengths into opportunities.

• Is the business affected by government policy? If so, are there any potential policy changes in the future?
• What obstacles prevent you from doing more business or making more sales? Be specific and list them all.
• Do you have periods of unreliable cash flow that threaten the business?
• Does the weather or season affect the business?

Once you have listed all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, prioritize the results in each category from most impactful to least. Prioritizing your results in each of the four categories will help you visualize each item's importance so you can see how it relates to the other areas.

Writing the SWOT analysis paper

Now that you have filled out the SWOT chart and prioritized your SWOT results, you have the basic information to begin drafting your SWOT analysis paper. As with any professional paper, start with a strong introduction and state your objection and the focus of your SWOT analysis. In the next four paragraphs, describe the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that you prioritized on your SWOT analysis chart. If you have more items for each category than can comfortably fit in a paragraph, consider condensing your list. As you review the lists in each category, eliminate redundancies and consolidate similar items. If you still have too many items to fit in one paragraph after condensing, include one to three bullet points per paragraph, and try to keep the paragraphs balanced. For example, if you write three paragraphs for strengths, try to write three paragraphs for the other three categories as well.

Once you have identified and described your SWOTs, you can use your SWOT analysis chart to develop strategies and create a plan to achieve your business goals. The analysis is the most essential part of the SWOT analysis paper, because in this portion you will create action items and develop plans that can lead to future success. Assess each of the four areas (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and look for commonalities or links between the categories. Some things to consider during this step:

• Can you use one of your strengths to address a threat?
• Look for ways to use your strengths to minimize your weaknesses.
• How can you use your strengths to seize growth opportunities?
• Is there a way to use your strengths to overcome threats?
• Are there any weaknesses that you can address and eliminate?
• Can you balance out a weakness by pursuing one of your opportunities?
• Are your weaknesses preventing you from capitalizing on opportunities?
• Are your weaknesses enhancing the likelihood that the business will suffer from a threat? If so, look to your strengths and see if there is a way to draw from your strengths to reduce the potential impact of the threat.

As you find connections between the bullet points in the four quadrants of your chart, start writing to generate ideas that you can turn into action. You can come back to edit these sentences and perfect these ideas later, but go ahead and record the thoughts now so you do not miss any potential connections. As you identify how different bullet points relate to each other, prioritize items that will generate revenue or reduce expenditure. Now, assess the action items that you have identified and put them in the order that makes the most sense to you. You can arrange your action items in the order that you would like to address them, or you can arrange them in the order that would make the most financial impact on the business. Organize the paragraphs in this section of the paper in your preferred order.

Now that you have performed a comprehensive SWOT analysis and identified action items to enhance strengths and reduce weaknesses, write a strong conclusion paragraph summarizing the most important findings. Keep in mind the purpose of your SWOT analysis paper here: If you intend to share this information with potential investors, make sure that you present a clear vision for growth and that you are realistic about how you will address weaknesses and potential threats. The crucial last step for any paper is to proofread, edit, and revise as needed. Now that you have completed your SWOT analysis and identified action plans, consider if applying a SWOT analysis to another aspect of your business or area of your life. Make a note in your calendar and conduct another SWOT analysis on this issue in six to twelve months so you can measure progress towards your goals.

SWOT Analysis

All business students are assigned to conduct SWOT analysis, usually at the earlier stages of their studies. This page focuses on the application of SWOT analysis in a business context as a part of academic assignments . This is a comprehensive SWOT resource and it contains an explanation of SWOT theory, an illustration of how to do a SWOT analysis and links to examples of SWOT analysis of major multinational brands. Moreover, SWOT analysis template further below can be used to generate SWOT tables of top multinational companies along a range of industries.

SWOT Analysis: Theory

SWOT is a strategic analytical tool for assessing strengths and weaknesses of a business, analyzing opportunities available to the business, as well as, threats faced by the business. SWOT analysis can be used at organizational and personal levels.

As it is illustrated below, strengths and weaknesses are internal, i.e. businesses are able to influence and to manipulate with their strengths and weaknesses. Opportunities and threats, on the other hand, are external. It means businesses can only react to opportunities and threats and they do not have any means to influence opportunities and threats.

SWOT analysis has important practical implications. Specifically, with findings of SWOT analysis in their hands, the senior level management identify and built upon their strengths, discover new opportunities and work upon eliminating or minimising threats to the business. Accordingly, SWOT can be a powerful aid for senior level management to develop appropriate strategy for the business.

As a strategic analytical tool, SWOT analysis has some weaknesses as well. Specifically, the application of this tool may encourage users to focus on quantity of factors, instead of focusing on a few, but the most powerful factors having the biggest impact on the business. In other words, SWOT analysis lacks guidance and provision in terms of differences in importance between factors. As a result weak strengths may appear to balance strong weaknesses.

The majority of sources explaining SWOT analysis assume that their audience is businesses aiming to improve their operational efficiency. This SWOT analysis resource is different. It explains SWOT analysis assuming that you a business student and you have been assigned to conduct SWOT analysis as a part of your assignment.

How to do SWOT Analysis

You can conduct a SWOT analysis with the following four steps:

Step 1: Selecting a company

If your assignment requires conducting a SWOT analysis, you are either given a case study company by your educational institution or you are free to analyze a company of your own choice. In the first scenario, you have no option but to conduct a SWOT analysis of the company named in your assignment instructions. However, the majority of educational institutions provide students the flexibility to conduct SWOT analysis of a company of their own choice.

Students are often tempted to conduct SWOT analysis of their employer. Choosing your employer as a case study can be a good strategy if you have an access to detailed relevant information. Please note that only descriptive information would not suffice and you will have to justify your arguments by referring to relevant quantitative data. Therefore, if you are not able to find relevant quantitative data about your employer, your best choice could be to conduct SWOT analysis of a multinational enterprise. This is due to the availability of data about the majority multinational enterprises. This portal offers up-to-date sample SWOT analyses of the most famous multinational enterprises as part of company reports .

Step 2: Finding information

If you are conducting a SWOT analysis of a small or medium sized organization such as your employer, family business or a company you are related to in some ways, approaching the company directly may prove to be an efficient strategy to obtain required information. You may try to secure a meeting with a senior level manager and explain practical implications of your SWOT analysis for the business. In other words, you may be able to convince a senior manager that results of your SWOT analysis may provide an important insight into the business and managers can act upon this knowledge to increase the efficiency of the business at various fronts.

Alternatively, if you are conducting SWOT analysis of a multinational enterprise, company annual report is usually the most comprehensive source of the relevant information. Note that annual reports highlight information about strengths of the business within the first few pages and you cannot find information about weaknesses of a company in its annual report for obvious reasons.

Information about Strengths in SWOT Analysis

Information about strengths of the company is easiest to find in your SWOT analysis. Strengths are competitive advantages of the business that made it successful in the first place. In case of small or medium sized organizations, the manager you are interviewing will be happy to discuss the strengths of the business.

In case of multinational companies, on the other hand, the first few pages of annual reports boast about competitive advantages of the business by referring to specific figures and charts. Using some of these charts in your assignment and properly referencing the source is going to increase the quality of your work.

You can determine strengths of businesses in answers to the following questions:

• What advantages does the company have?
• What does the company better than its competitors?
• What unique or low-cost resources are available to the company that are not available to its rivals?
• What Unique Selling Propositions (UPS) are associated with the company?

The following table illustrates the major strengths possessed by businesses and tips about how to discuss these strengths in your swot analysis:

Information about Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis

It may not be easy to find information about weaknesses of small and medium sized businesses. The manager you are interviewing may not want to discuss weaknesses of their business either intentionally, or they may not be aware of weaknesses. It is important for you to motivate your interviewee to discuss weaknesses of their company by asking relevant questions in a polite way.

It is easier with multinational organizations. An extensive online research can reveal relevant information about weaknesses associated with the company you are analyzing.The majority of big corporations have been involved in some kind of scandals during the past two years and you can discuss the damage of these scandals to the brand image as noteworthy weakness of the company.

For example, suppose you have chosen Coca Cola Company for your SWOT analysis assignment. If you google the term ‘Coca Cola scandal’, search results on the top relate to a scandal where the company funded obesity research that downplayed the negative health implications of Coca Cola products. Negative implications of this incident on Coca Cola brand image is brand’s weakness you can discuss in you SWOT analysis.

All arguments and numbers need to be referenced using referencing style required by your educational institution in an appropriate manner. Preference has to be given to online journals and magazines over online discussion forums and personal blogs.

Answers to the following questions can help to identify weaknesses of your case study company:

• What aspects of the business could the company improve?
• What should the company avoid?
• What factors are causing the company to lose sales?
• What aspects of products/services are customers are likely to see as weaknesses?

Major weaknesses of businesses and brief tips about discussing them in your assignment are illustrated in the following table:

Information about Opportunities in SWOT Analysis

Information about opportunities available to the business can be derived from its weaknesses in a way that businesses often have an opportunity to turn their weaknesses into strengths. At the same time, it is important that your SWOT analysis also identifies a set of opportunities that are not related to weaknesses. If you can’t think of any company-specific opportunities, you can discuss business opportunities that can be explored by any business in general, such as new product development, international market expansion and increasing the level of effectiveness of social media marketing. Interesting trends in the industry can also be opportunities for the business.

Opportunities can be identified through answering the following questions:

• What are interesting trends in the market that can be profitably explored by the company?
• What are the demographic and social changes that present new opportunities in the industry?
• Are there any government policies and regulations that can help the industry?
• Are there any opportunities for the company related to technological developments?

The following table illustrates the major opportunities available for businesses and tips about how to discuss these opportunities in your SWOT analysis:

Information about Threats in SWOT Analysis

Threats faced by the business can be classified into two categories. Firstly, there are company-specific threats that stem from company-specific factors such as the threat of losing market share due to ineffective cost structure or the threat of negative media coverage and damage to the brand image due to neglecting the importance of corporate social responsibility. Secondly, there are threats to the industry or to the economy on the whole, such as a threat of introducing tariffs to a certain range of products or the threat of a global economic and financial crisis. You will need to find information about threats belonging to both categories with more emphasis on the threats from the first category, i.e. company-specific threats.

You can identify the main threats to the business through answering the following questions:

• What are the main obstacles faced by the company?
• What are the latest developments in competitor Unique Selling Propositions?
• Does the company have substantial amount of bad debts or cash-flow problems?
• Was the company involved in any scandal recently?

Main threat facing the majority of businesses and brief tips about discussing them in your SWOT analysis are illustrated in the following table:

Step 3: Writing

You can structure your writing of SWOT analysis in the following way:

Firstly, you will need to discuss the company profile, its strategy and the most recent changes that have taken place in the company prior to presenting your SWOT analysis. The length of such a discussion depends on your assignment instructions and the total word count for your assignment.

Secondly, develop a SWOT Analysis Matrix for your chosen company. You can develop a table containing four sections headed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your chosen company can be presented in bullet points under respective boxes. These should be precise and verifiable statements.

Using steps 1 and 2 above, you should have long list of factors related to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the business. Now it is time to prioritize factors to be included in your SWOT analysis by focusing on the most significant factors. The numbers of factors that should be discussed under each category depends on the total word-count for your assignment.

Thirdly, you have to discuss bullet points in your SWOT table. Your analysis needs to contain statistical data and ideally graphs and tables as well. Do not forget to reference sources, using referencing system  required by your university. Moreover, you can discuss how to address weaknesses and threats identified as a result of your SWOT analysis and get additional marks for your work.

SWOT Analysis Example

This portal contains example SWOT analysis of the following companies:

SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to organizations. The following table illustrates SWOT analysis:

SWOT Analysis Template

Please choose an industry and a company below to generate a SWOT table containing bullet points of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your chosen company. In order to complete the SWOT analysis you will need to expand the bullet points into a couple of paragraphs with discussions and references from reliable sources to support your arguments.

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StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

StatPearls [Internet].

Swot analysis.

Dac Teoli ; Terrence Sanvictores ; Jason An .

Affiliations

Last Update: September 4, 2023 .

• Definition/Introduction

SWOT Analysis (short for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) is a business strategy tool to assess how an organization compares to its competition. The strategy is historically credited to Albert Humphrey in the 1960s, but this attribution remains debatable.  There is no universally-accepted creator. Also known as the SWOT Matrix, it has achieved recognition as useful in differentiating and establishing a niche within the broader market. Beyond the business world, SWOT Analysis can also be applied to the individual-level to assess a person's situation versus their competition further. There are both internal and external considerations build into the tool. "Strengths" and "weaknesses" are internally-related. The former representing a facet of an organization/entity which lends it an advantage over the competition. The latter being characteristic of that same entity, which leads to a relative disadvantage against the competition. Regarding externally-related, "opportunities" are realities in the greater environment that can be exploited to benefit the entity. While on the other hand, "threats" are realities in the greater environment, which might lead to problems for the entity.

The concept of strategic fit, a ubiquitous objective sought by all organizations, can be explained as to how well the internally-related factors fit with the externally-related factors. [1]

• Issues of Concern

While the SWOT analysis is widely known to facilitate the formation of organizational or personal strategy by assessing internal and external elements, it also has its criticisms. Some critics feel that the tool proves to be too superficial and formulaic, consequently hindering performance as outputs might be misunderstood or misused. This latter point is especially pertinent when SWOT analysis is attempted without real critical reflection by a collective group. Having only a few individuals perform the assessment increases the risk of misrepresentation of the SWOT inputs, leading to erroneous outputs. Also, organizations can anchor on one facet of the analysis, losing sight of the other critical elements of the matrix. Lastly, the SWOT captures the internal and external aspects of a single time-point. In reality, the environment is rapidly evolving. [2] [3]

• Clinical Significance

Given that the SWOT Analysis looks at factors both inside and outside an entity, it is also occasionally labeled as an Internal-External Analysis. In consideration of the broad nature of the tool, it has both organizational and individual utility. Although borne out of the business world, it does have clinical applicability such as at the organizational level.

At the level of hospital or clinical offices, implementation of SWOT is achievable by asking questions such as the following:

• What are the organization's advantages?
• What can you do better than others?
• What unique or lowest-cost services can you provide patients?
• What do patients in your market see as your organization's strength?

Weaknesses:

• Upon what factors could the organization improve?
• What are patients in your market likely to see as your organization's weakness?
• What lack of services loses your organization patients?

Opportunities:

• What good opportunities are available to your organization?
• What are the new and exciting trends your organization can try?
• What new changes to governmental regulation/policy can benefit your organization?
• What problems does your organization face?
• Of what are your organization's competitors taking advantage?
• Do evolving technologies and new services threatening your organization's position in the minds of patients?
• Does your facility have cash-flow problems?
• Could any of your weaknesses threaten quality patient care? [4] [5] [6]
• Review Questions
• Access free multiple choice questions on this topic.
• Comment on this article.

Disclosure: Dac Teoli declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Terrence Sanvictores declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Jason An declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits others to distribute the work, provided that the article is not altered or used commercially. You are not required to obtain permission to distribute this article, provided that you credit the author and journal.

• Cite this Page Teoli D, Sanvictores T, An J. SWOT Analysis. [Updated 2023 Sep 4]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

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• Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats as a Tool for Translating Evidence into Individualized Medical Strategies (I-SWOT). [Aorta (Stamford). 2015] Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats as a Tool for Translating Evidence into Individualized Medical Strategies (I-SWOT). von Kodolitsch Y, Bernhardt AM, Robinson PN, Kölbel T, Reichenspurner H, Debus S, Detter C. Aorta (Stamford). 2015 Jun; 3(3):98-107. Epub 2015 Jun 1.
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis of Hemodialysis Electronic Health Record Implementation. [Cureus. 2024] Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis of Hemodialysis Electronic Health Record Implementation. Bennis B, El Bardai G, Chouhani BA, Kabbali N, Sqalli T. Cureus. 2024 Feb; 16(2):e54675. Epub 2024 Feb 22.
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How to Write a SWOT Analysis (Template and Examples Included)

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Planning for the Future

Where do you see yourself in five years? How about your career? Your business? 

These questions keep a staggering amount of people awake at night. All too often, the future can seem like a dark, ominous cloud that looms just out of view. As the old proverb goes, we fear the unknown—and little can possibly be more unknowable than the future.

While there is no crystal ball that can accurately predict future market trends or the steps you should take to optimize your productivity and sharpen your competitive edge, we can offer some advice: Reframe the question. Rather than trying to pinpoint where you think you might be in five years, think about where you want to be at that point in time. Once you have a destination in mind, you can start planning a route to get there. After all, maps are great tools, but they can't help you if you don't know where you're going.

So, what's the metaphorical map in this scenario? We present to you the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.

How to Write a SWOT Analysis

SWOT analyses are great strategic tools that are useful in project planning, business development , financial strategizing, and personal advancement . Simple, honest, and to-the-point, they facilitate a profound understanding of your or your business's current standing. Essentially, a SWOT analysis is a comparative list of all your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

There's more power in this process than you might think. You may be only hazily aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. However, thoughtfully recording and reflecting on them creates a thorough, conscious familiarity with both the resources available to you and the obstacles standing in your way. This awareness allows you to map out a path toward your goals with great precision and purpose. Writing a SWOT analysis will help you clearly evaluate whether your goals are feasible according to your resources and needs.

In this guide, we'll break down exactly how to write a SWOT analysis and provide a few examples along the way. Feel free to use our SWOT analysis template, given below, to write your own!

Our SWOT Analysis Template

Your list of strengths should focus on your current resources and abilities. It should relate to things that you do or that your company does well. These might be your or your company's accomplishments—both great and small—and the assets that you or your company have. Your strengths give you your greatest edge; they are the resources that propel you forward and that you can continue to develop as you progress.

When you draw up your first SWOT analysis, you may find yourself at a loss. Don't worry—it's difficult for most people to come up with an objective list of strengths and weaknesses on the spot. For your convenience, we've included a list of questions you can ask yourself to get started.

These questions should help you identify a few of your strengths. Remember, while our example questions mostly relate to business strengths, they can also apply to personal strengths. Go ahead and boast as much as you can.

• What sets your company apart from others?
• What do you have that other companies don't?
• What are you most proud of about your company?
• What makes clients come back to you?
• What does your company do well?
• What assets do you have access to?
• What qualities does your company have that other companies try to emulate?
• What has always been easy for your company? 

Listing your weaknesses might be a little more uncomfortable than detailing your strengths, but trust us—doing so will help you in the long run. Understanding the obstacles in your path and the elements of your business or skills you may need to improve is just as important as appreciating your strengths. Once you're aware of your weaknesses, you can start working on them and building your next steps around them.

Your list of weaknesses should pertain to any current problems and challenges. Check out the list of questions below—it should give you an idea of where to start. Again, if you'd rather focus on your personal or career growth, feel free to alter these questions to suit your needs.

• What makes your company blend in with its competition?
• What do other companies have that you don't?
• What are the most common criticisms that you receive from clients?
• Why have certain clients not returned to you?
• What does your company need to improve upon?
• What kind of feedback do you receive from your employees?
• What might your competition consider to be a weakness?
• What has always been difficult for your company?
• What are you unwilling to do or change?

Opportunities

Think about the opportunities available to you as potential future strengths. Your opportunities are the assets, resources, and events that could be beneficial to you in some way in the future. You may need to change some of your current approaches or adapt in other ways to capitalize on these opportunities, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to identify your potential opportunities:

• What is happening in the current market that you could capitalize upon?
• What changes have you been making that have returned positive results?
• What is working for other companies?
• How could you introduce new technology to make your processes more efficient?
• What costs can you cut?
• Could you access new sectors or demographic groups?
• How can you improve or modernize your marketing techniques?
• How can you remove existing obstacles?

  Threats

Just as your opportunities are based on potential, so are your threats; these are the possible obstacles or issues that are not yet directly affecting your progress. But this doesn't mean that you shouldn't start thinking about them! Being aware of the challenges that you may encounter will help you either plan around them or confront them with solutions. Try to come up with several future events that may realistically hinder the momentum you build from engaging with your strengths and opportunities.

To get started, take a peek at our list of questions:

• What obstacles might your weaknesses create?
• Do changing market trends negatively affect your competitive edge?
• What might stand in the way of the changes you make to accommodate your strengths and opportunities?
• Do you have a lot of debt?
• Could your competition exploit your weaknesses?

How did you do? Do you feel like you've listed everything? Or do you think you're missing something? Below, we've drafted examples of a business and a personal SWOT analysis to provide you with some perspective on what a completed one might look like.

An Example of a Personal SWOT Analysis

An Example of a Business SWOT Analysis  

Final Words

The humble but effective SWOT analysis will produce a detailed map of your current environment—its hills and valleys alike. Knowing how to write a SWOT analysis will provide you with the vantage point you need to choose a direction and blaze a trail toward your goals. SWOT analyses may not be crystal balls, but they are something like compasses. Use them wisely, and you will never be lost.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, exploring swot analysis – where are we now a review of academic research from the last decade.

Journal of Strategy and Management

ISSN : 1755-425X

Article publication date: 10 August 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of the strategic management tool, Strengths‐Weaknesses‐Opportunities‐Threats or SWOT analysis, and to assess how the methodology has been used as well as changes to the methodology. The findings both for and against SWOT analysis should lead to a balanced view of the technique as well as yield ideas for needed theory building.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the ABInform Global® database, academic peer‐reviewed articles were compiled indicating SWOT as one of the article's key index and search words.

The use of SWOT analysis continues to permeate the academic peer‐reviewed literature. Research supports SWOT analysis as a tool for planning purposes. Over the past decade, SWOT research has focused on analyzing organizations for recommended strategic actions. As a methodology for strategic positioning, SWOT analysis has been extended beyond companies to countries and industries and is used in virtually every published business case positioned for business student analysis. Additional use of SWOT is as teaching tools by consultants, trainers and educators. This paper provides a summary of the research studies and suggests paths for future research.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is limited to analyzing reports found in a selection of academic peer‐reviewed business journals. However, research implications for applying SWOT analysis provides a broad spectrum of industry analysis in North America, Europe, and Asia. Additional limitations are the need to link SWOT analysis to other strategic tools and methodologies for further theory building, since past research continues to lack quantifiable findings on the success of the SWOT analysis.

Practical implications

A fresh view of new directions and implementations for SWOT analysis, as well as other strategic planning tools that can be combined with SWOT, provides guidance for practitioners and policy makers alike.

Originality/value

The article adds value to the existing literature as the first summary of SWOT research indicating its uses and limitations. Support of its usage and place in the strategic literature is validated. The SWOT methodology is pervasive, in large part, due to its simplicity. In addition, the use of SWOT as a proven developmental, results‐oriented strategic planning tool is also extended, although further research leading to theory building is warranted and recommended.

• SWOT analysis
• Strategic management
• Research methods
• Globalization

Helms, M.M. and Nixon, J. (2010), "Exploring SWOT analysis – where are we now? A review of academic research from the last decade", Journal of Strategy and Management , Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 215-251. https://doi.org/10.1108/17554251011064837

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2010, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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How to Write A SWOT Analysis: 5+ Top Research Sources

A SWOT analysis is an essential business tool. Here are the basics of how to write a SWOT analysis of the company you are doing a research on.

If you're looking to find out how to write a SWOT analysis, there are a few key things that you want to keep in mind. A SWOT analysis is a way to look at another company and this could be a competitor or someone who you want to do business with. What you want to do is use a SWOT analysis method that breaks down all the details on the company.

A SWOT analysis is a type of study . It focuses on four main components of a topic: strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Most SWOT analyses are written about companies, products, and industries (your topic). People use it to identify the benefits and disadvantages of their topic. And once the analysis is complete, they can immediately use their findings. I’ve written countless SWOT analyses from scratch. And in this article, I’ll explain my thought process while writing each one.

If you are going to write a SWOT analysis, there are a few key things that you have to focus on. For starters, you want to write out a detailed description of the company that you're going to be:

• researching
• and analyzing

Find research online for your SWOT analysis

What that means is you want to get all the details you can on the company. You may want to start online and go to their website. When you go to the website try to get as much information you can about them and if you can't find it there, you can go to sites like Wikipedia .

This can give you information on the company and it might let you know how they started. It will give you background information like the number of employees, their services, and focus. You may not always find this on their website, so researching online is a great way to get more details.

Start building your SWOT analysis

Your next step will be to start your actual SWOT analysis on your paper. You are going to put down a box with four equal boxes inside. In the first one, you can write 'strengths', next to that, 'weaknesses'. Write 'opportunities' below the strengths and next to that write 'threats'. That's how to write a SWOT analysis in the beginning.

How to Write A SWOT Analysis: Strengths

As you do the research of a company, you want to look at areas where you know they're strong. Maybe they were in the news recently because they made a lot of money or they bought another company. That’s big news that you want to list. They may have even started working on a really big deal.

For example, if you were looking at Facebook , you might say: “Wow, the Facebook stock has gone up a lot and they’ve been in the news a lot lately”. That's a strength. It'll be the first thing to write in your SWOT analysis.

What is a strength for your topic?

If you’re not sure what a strength means for your topic, it’ll be difficult to find them during your research phase.

It’s simple: a strength is a benefit (or advantage) for your topic. A strength may benefit the bottom line. It may increase brand recognition . It may be why customers are obsessed with your topic. Or it may be how the topic stands out above the sea of everyday products.

Examples of strengths

One of Netflix’s strengths is the ad-free content they offer customers. As a customer, you can stream Netflix’s catalog without seeing a single ad. This is also possible when using Hulu, a competitive streaming service but only if you pay a higher monthly fee. Compared to other streaming services, like TLC Go which forces you to watch upwards of 50 ads for a 40-minute television show, Netflix customers have it made.

BMW’s major strength is a luxurious brand image . People buy a BMW because it’s luxurious. Expensive. If you have one, it means you’re above the average person. You’re wealthy, desirable. Maybe even ambitious. You don’t feel the same way in a Toyota as you do in a BMW . And that’s because they have created this luxury feeling for their brand.

It may be best to think about strengths abstractly. Think about how the strength is beneficial for your topic.

Finding strengths online

To find new or relevant information, search the topic + press release.

See if your topic has created new products, mergers, or received awards. Search news sites for the topic and see what reporters are saying about it. Hopefully, it’s all good news, which you can use for this section of the SWOT analysis.

If it’s bad… well, we’ll save that for the “weaknesses” section.

Where to search online:

• Publications (New York Times, TechCrunch, other news sites)
• Forums (Reddit, Facebook)
• Press releases (Newswire, PRNewswire)
• Reviews (Amazon)

You can even search “strengths + your topic” and see what comes up. Be sure to read through and check for accuracy if it’s not from a reliable source (like say, the DailyMail).

Searching for strengths for a product

If you’re doing a SWOT analysis for a product , search for its reviews. You’ll likely find a few highly rated and lowly rated reviews.

Don’t blindly believe all the high or low reviews. In many cases, companies buy 5-star reviews. And the competition may pay someone to give poor reviews. Instead, see if you can spot a pattern among the reviews. Maybe a few people are boasting about a new feature for the product. Maybe they love how it feels.

Have you used the product?

If you have, you’ll likely have a few insights about it yourself. You’ll have looked at discussions about the product before buying it. And after using it, you’ll have some good things to say about it. Otherwise, check forums like Reddit. It’s typically real people openly discussing a product — the good, the bad, and the “meh”.

How to Write A SWOT Analysis: Weaknesses

In the next block of how to write a SWOT analysis, begin writing down the company's weaknesses. Start looking up the weaknesses the company might have. When you look at weaknesses, you want to look at all the problems that the company has had in the news. A great example would be Walmart which has been in the news a lot because of labor issues. They've had problems with:

• with paying employees
• not giving high salaries

These are all weaknesses. You also want to make sure that you look at things like their stock and whether or not you are reading articles that say they're doing well or if they're doing poorly.

What is a weakness for your topic?

Again, as we did for strengths, realize what a weakness could be for the topic , as well as consumers (if applicable). That's how to write a SWOT analysis correctly.

For instance, weaknesses for companies include:

• Competition
• Market saturation
• Bad reviews
• Profit decline
• Lack of diversity
• Poor economies

As for products, it may include:

• Poor reputation of the company
• Material quality

Examples of weaknesses

PepsiCo offers only a few healthy food and beverage options . With the health-conscious crowd rising up, PepsiCo should be developing more low-calorie, nutritional options for them. And yet… they’re not. This means, despite PepsiCo’s huge presence in the food and beverage industry, they’re neglecting a substantial market.

Bitcoin’s worth is declining . It’s actually at its lowest valuation in more than a year. That’s just how it works though; it’s unpredictable, like stocks.

Finding weaknesses online

If your topic is a product and you’ve used it before, you already know about issues first-hand. You’ve likely read reviews before buying or trying the product and have seen common complaints.

You can use forums to see if these complaints are still relevant. If they are, it can be included in the SWOT analysis you are writing. People are more honest about the things they don’t like about a product, so this is definitely when searching for reviews is a fantastic option for gathering info.

You can also see which publications have discussed your topic lately. Even if the topic is only briefly mentioned, consider adding it to the weakness section (when applicable).

Where to search for weaknesses

• Publications (New York Times, TechCrunch, News sites)
• Use your own experience (if applicable)

You can create a quick list of the faults of the topic. They might not all make it into the final draft of the analysis. But it’s good to have a list, particularly of the leading issues or complaints against your topic. Because this section can be highly informative for SWOT analysis' next section called opportunities.

How to Write A SWOT Analysis: Opportunities

Your next step of how to write a SWOT analysis is going to be about the opportunities. What you want to do ideally is to look at what the company mentions in its latest press release. A press release can tell you basically a little bit of information about a company and what they're getting ready to do next. You can also look at an annual report or an earnings report.

You don't want to read the full report because that might take days to get through! A lot of the information in there is really a bunch of numbers, so you want to go to the summary of the report.

The easiest way to do this is to just do a search for that particular company and search for the summary in their annual report.

So if it was Facebook that you were looking up, you can go under Facebook and then type in 'annual report summary'. This is a recap so you will find all the information there. Alternatively, you could just type in their annual report and then Facebook and look for the first few articles that come up from different companies or firms who are writing articles about them.

You may also find that there are finance companies who write about them and give articles with details on their weakness and opportunities. What they are giving you is a SWOT analysis in a different version . They're going to give you a smaller detailed version of what you need to know. What you're going to look for is an opportunity that they may be working on in the future.

For example, if you were doing opportunities for Netflix, you might see something like them mentioning that they now have a new season of Game of Thrones or the new season of their show Orange Is the New Black . That's because they actually mention things they're working on in their particular business because they do streaming videos. They are going to mention them, but they won’t tell you who is in which episode!

While these might be popular videos, they are also considered opportunities because these are areas where they are expanding. Keep in mind this is not always the case. A few years ago Netflix lost a big deal with the video channel Starz where they pulled their movies from the Netflix line-up because Starz and Netflix were fighting over money. Some news will be good and some news will be bad.

What does an opportunity mean for your topic?

An opportunity is the chance to achieve something for your topic. It should be positive. Such as a new merger or expanding a business into a new region.

It’s much easier to find opportunities after finishing the “weaknesses” section of the analysis. Opportunities are born from weaknesses . It allows a weakness to become a strength. Look again at the above example of PepsiCo’s weakness. It’s not as prevalent in the healthy eating niche as it should be. But if it were, that would change the weakness into a strength.

Examples of opportunities

Smart light bulbs. They allow you to control your lights with an app on your phone. Most companies sell these bulbs for home use . But they can also be used in organizations, businesses, and schools. The bulbs last longer than regular bulbs, making it a smart choice for establishments.

Airbnb can easily move into the travel industry . After selecting a room in the city you’re visiting, Airbnb can hook you up with a tour guide. An expert who will show you parts of the city you never knew existed. In some locations, Airbnb is already doing this. But not everywhere.

Finding opportunities online

First, examine your list of weaknesses. Which ones can be “fixed” and transformed into opportunities for your topic? If any on the list can’t ever be “fixed”, then don’t bother including them here. Because opportunities need to be possible . And not in a “million years later” kind of way. As in, possible to achieve in a few months or years.

Additionally, take a look at news and press release websites. Search your topic there. See if there have been any new achievements, such as new product developments, mergers, a change in business models… whatever catches your eye. If there are changes happening, it could mean opportunities are on the horizon.

Specifically, search:

• Publications (New York Times, TechCrunch, Local/international news sites)
• Use your own information from the strengths and weaknesses categories

You may only find a few opportunities . That’s OK. It’s best to highlight the most beneficial changes your topic can make. And really focus on what this opportunity means for the future of your topic. Will it bring more customers? Help with future expansions? Make their competition shake in fear?

Focus on what the end result will be. Then include it in your SWOT analysis.

How to Write A SWOT Analysis: Threats

As it relates to threats, that's going to be the next line that you typing as you learn how to write a SWOT analysis. You're going to write what the competition is for this particular company you're looking at.

Netflix threats could be Blockbuster which is going through bankrupt filings. You could say Roku is another threat. You could mention other companies like Play On, Sling and these are all different streaming content sites. You can also mention Amazon Prime.

What is or could be threatening your topic?

Or rather, let’s start with: what’s the difference between a weakness and a threat?

A weakness is a problem. It can be small or large. It can last for a while or disappear quietly.

A threat is likely to cause damage. It can develop from a weakness that was left too long without a solution. It undermines the success of your topic. It’s not just a problem; it’s destruction.

Telling the difference between weaknesses and threats will make you write a SWOT analysis properly.

Examples of threats

E-cigs are popular because they’re healthier than smoking regular cigarettes. But are they? Not enough reports from reputable health studies prove this claim. People fear the health risks associated with using E-cigs for a long duration. Hysteria can easily kill this product if not taken care of swiftly.

Energy drinks lead to death . That is, people have drunk several cans in a row and suffered cardiac arrest. Women who are pregnant may harm their child by drinking a can of Red Bull or a Monster. Nothing can tank a reputation harder than reported deaths.

Finding threats online

As mentioned above, a weakness can be a threat. For instance, if a company ignores a large segment of their customers for too long, that’s a weakness. But what if someone else gives those customers what they’ve been craving?

The new guy steals those customers away. Then the original company loses profits. And maybe, a year from now, the company goes under because they refused to acknowledge their customers’ needs.

That is a weakness that turned into a catastrophic threat.

Threats are often:

• Market changes
• Economic decline
• Profit loss.

Again, like with opportunities, you can use the weakness section of your SWOT analysis to brainstorm a few areas of concern (or threats). Then you may want to confirm these threats by searching online.

• Bad reviews (Amazon)
• The competition

Take a look at the competitors of your topic. Ask yourself what they’re doing differently, but most importantly why are they?

Why have they chosen to market a certain way? Or offer a specific shipping method? Or to have their website written the way it is? The reason why may be a threat to your topic.

Consider the future

In this section, you want to think about what the future will be for your topic because of certain threats. Look into stocks. Search your topic online and find any articles you can from the last six months. Maybe you can pinpoint when the threats were first introduced (reported on) and how it affects the company today.

This section is trickier than the others. It’ll require more digging. Perhaps even do a competitor analysis if you've got the time. But the reason it’s more difficult is because it’s about the future of the topic. Will your topic even have a future if these threats persist? That’s what you need to find out.

These steps show how to write SWOT analysis properly. Make sure that it is detailed and well-rounded. You are also going to update this information within another year or so if you're looking at this company again because you need fresh details and a fresh report.

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What Is A SWOT Analysis? A Thorough Explanation With Examples

Ted Jackson

Ted is a Founder and Managing Partner of ClearPoint Strategy and leads the sales and marketing teams.

Know the strengths and weaknesses of your organization, internally and externally.

Table of Contents

Historically, corporate planning has always been difficult. Many organizations have failed at trying to get everyone on the same page and agree to the details of a plan—more often than not, their efforts proved to be both ineffective and time consuming. Something had to be done.

What is a SWOT analysis?

Albert Humphrey of the Stanford Research Institute determined in the 1960s to identify why corporate planning consistently failed. Thus the origination of the SWOT analysis. Today, the SWOT analysis is one of the most important concepts in the business world and is widely used by all types of organizations to help build a strategic plan.

So, what is a SWOT analysis, how do you create one, and what do you do with it? In this article, we’ll explain it all (and share some SWOT analysis examples to boot) from start to finish.

A SWOT analysis is a high-level strategic planning model that helps organizations identify where they’re doing well and where they can improve, both from an internal and an external perspective. SWOT is an acronym for “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

SWOT works because it helps you evaluate your business by considering multiple factors:

• Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors (things you can control), like team members, software, and geographic location.
• Opportunities and threats represent external factors (things you can’t control), such as competitors, regulations, and economic trends.

Organizations use SWOT to plot out a future course that plays on their strengths and minimizes risks. Taking the time to look at your organization from different perspectives and honestly assess your future prospects is a worthwhile activity; the insights you glean as a result you should then use constructively as part of the strategic planning process.

Try ClearPoint's AI Assistant for SWOT analysis for FREE here

How to do a swot analysis.

To help you get started, we’ve created this step-by-step SWOT analysis template. The examples below are specific to the airline industry (since that’s the example we use in our grid), but the SWOT analysis exercise is applicable to all businesses.

You’ll notice we divided our hypothetical examples for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats based on the four Balanced Scorecard perspectives. You don’t have to use the Balanced Scorecard to be successful with your SWOT analysis, but this method does provide a strong framework for your discussion.

Not using the Balanced Scorecard? Look to the guiding principles of whatever strategic management framework you are using for ways to think about your business. For example, the VRIO framework emphasizes value, rarity, imitability, and organization; you can conduct a SWOT analysis through the lens of these criteria instead.

1. Create a SWOT matrix

This is the grid-like matrix that will house the information you gather. As you can see in the SWOT analysis template below, each quadrant features one of the four elements you’ll be focusing on—strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Using a matrix helps present your findings in a clear, easy-to-understand way.

2. Gather the right participants

Pull people from all departments to participate in the analysis. Your entire leadership team should be involved because they can provide a broad view of the organization and offer insight into the competitive landscape.

But having lots of different perspectives is beneficial, and that means including leaders from every department—and anyone else you think might have valuable input. The more diverse the group, the better insights you’ll generate.

Not all ideas will make it to the final list, but it’s important to consider them all.

Claim your FREE eBook on 8 effective strategic planning templates here

3. list your strengths.

Ask the group: What are we good at? How are we better than our competitors? These are broad questions, but in the beginning stages of your discussion, you should accept all answers.

Examine these questions in relation to the Balanced Scorecard perspectives. For the fictional company Upward Airlines, the discussion might look like this:

• Financial strengths: What is our most reliable source of financial growth? Is it our service destinations? A large fleet size? Our customer loyalty program?
• Customer strengths: Where is our customer growth coming from? Is it due to excellent service ratings or low prices? Why are customers choosing us over our competitors?
• Internal strengths: What do we do very well as an organization? Are our operations easily scalable? Do we have an exceptionally high employee retention rate? How complex is our maintenance program?
• Learning & growth strengths: Where do we excel as far as our employees are concerned? Is it our compensation model? Could it be our workforce development program? Are people coming or leaving because of our culture?

Having considered these questions for your own organization, you might come up with multiple responses in some categories. Below is a sample of the strengths portion of the SWOT analysis for Upward Airlines:

TIP: As mentioned above, you can use ClearPoint to simplify this and the remaining information-gathering steps. Rather than asking everyone to brainstorm simultaneously in a conference room, give people time to review relevant data (also housed in ClearPoint) that would help identify strengths and weaknesses, as well as potential opportunities. Participants can then input their thoughts into ClearPoint, link to key supporting metrics, and even add contextual information surrounding their thought process.

Doing your analysis within a single tool not only makes it easier to collect the information but also gives you the visibility to see how the various components that make up your SWOT might be linked. Further, ClearPoint has a discussion feature that allows users to @ mention other users, and thus facilitates conversations about your strengths and weaknesses.

Watch our video to learn about ClearPoint Strategy's proven Success Framework

4. list your weaknesses.

Ask the group: What are we not good at? Where can we grow? What are we lacking? The Upward Airlines discussion might look like this:

• Financial weaknesses: What is our biggest financial weakness? Our destinations are all in the U.S., which may be limiting our growth. Or, we know that a large number of new competitors entering the market are decreasing our market share. Do we have challenges with debt or credit?
• Customer weaknesses: Where do our customers think we need to improve? This could be related to frequently canceled flights, lost baggage, complexity of the reservation process, or cleanliness, for instance.
• Internal weaknesses: What do we do poorly? Are we slow at handling customer complaints? Are our maintenance costs above industry average? What about plane utilization?
• Learning & growth weaknesses: What are our biggest challenges with employees? Is our staff security training proving ineffective, or is there a negative perception of the organizational culture? Do our employee surveys reveal low engagement?

5. Identify your opportunities

Ask the group: Where do we see big (and small) possibilities for our organization? What do we see happening in the future?

The Upward Airlines group might discuss the following:

• Financial opportunities: What is our biggest opportunity to improve our finances? This might mean taking advantage of federal loans in a time of crisis (like COVID-19) or adopting specific technology to lower costs. Maybe there is an opportunity to purchase a weaker competitor.
• Customer opportunities: Where could we dramatically improve with our customers? Could we enhance our online interface? Can we create and promote new standards of cleanliness? What about finding new ways to engage with customers when travel opportunities are low?
• Internal opportunities: What processes will drive us well into the future if we could improve upon them? Adopting certain climate initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint, for instance, will make us more eco-friendly (and, by extension, more appealing to customers). Maybe now is the time to upgrade a reservation or pricing system.
• Learning & growth opportunities: What opportunities do we have to leverage staff? For example, do we have cross-training opportunities? Could we make a few tweaks to improve our culture and thus our retention?

Upward Airlines’ opportunities for the foreseeable future might be:

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6. identify your potential threats.

Ask the group: What do we see as a threat? What obstacles do we anticipate? What is changing that could hurt us? As a travel-related company in a tough economy, Upward Airlines might uncover a number of potential threats:

• Financial threats: What threats could seriously impact our financial health? This could be low-cost competitors, ongoing global health issues that prevent travel, or rising oil costs.
• Customer threats: What is our biggest concern about our customers? Has a competitor created a more attractive loyalty program? Is our number of business clients trending downward?
• Internal threats: What current areas of our business might harm us later? Is a contract dispute imminent that could disrupt business? Is a potential merger or acquisition on the horizon?
• Learning & growth threats: What threatens the people within your organization? This could be anything from instability in our customer support department to staff member departures to a department-specific pushback against new technology.

The external threats deemed most imminent for Upward Airlines might be:

7. Examine your matrix for connections

In looking at your SWOT matrix, do some of your strengths naturally support the identified opportunities? If you eliminate weaknesses, would that present additional opportunities?

At this point, we recommend running a “brown paper exercise”—print your SWOT matrix in large size, and ask employees to add post-it notes in any or all of the matrix’s four boxes if they feel the leadership team missed something. (You can also ask employees to add their names next to their suggestions so leadership can follow up with them.) Not only is this exercise great for inter-office discussion, but it also gives leaders the chance to consider opinions from staff in the field.

Done correctly, the SWOT analysis is another valuable tool in your toolbox for improving business performance and minimizing threats and weaknesses going forward. It can also prompt organizations to be more innovative with their strategy—new ideas may emerge that leadership would not normally have considered without such a thorough examination of the business from all angles.

Go Beyond SWOT by downloading our eBook on 8 effective strategic planning templates

Complement your swot with a pest analysis.

A SWOT analysis is a way of understanding and evaluating all facets of your company so you’re in a better position to make decisions about the future. But there are also external factors that will impact your company’s future; these things are beyond your control but still require consideration as you map out your strategy.

That’s why many organizations choose to complement a SWOT analysis with a PEST analysis—together, they provide a complete picture of your business environment for effective strategic planning.

PEST stands for political, economic, social, and technological—the four key areas outside your business that are likely to impact it. These factors tend to play out over long time frames. An economic slowdown, for instance, could take years to resolve, but you can take action to address staff training issues fairly quickly.

Thus, a PEST analysis is more valuable than SWOT when it comes to formulating longer-term plans and business strategies. Our recommendation is to do a SWOT analysis first, followed by a PEST analysis, to get a complete picture of the business landscape.

What Should You Do with Your SWOT Analysis?

Congratulations! Hopefully, you understand your business a little better after completing your SWOT analysis; now it’s time to put those insights to good use. Your ideas on how to use your strengths and overcome your weaknesses should inform your strategy.

Developing a strategy is in and of itself a big step. It involves defining objectives for your company to move toward, creating priority initiatives (projects) to help make them a reality, and identifying measures to make sure the strategy is unfolding the way it should.

Our Upward Airlines SWOT analysis example, for instance, lists four weaknesses:

• High maintenance costs
• Fewer direct travel routes than our competitors
• No uniform project management system in place
• Below-average employee satisfaction

Some of these weaknesses are easier to address than others, such as improving employee satisfaction and your project management practices. Others, like the lack of direct travel routes, may be difficult to address in a time when airlines are still recovering from the COVID-19 fallout and profits are low. Similarly, you want to continue supporting your current strengths.

While you shouldn’t let your excellent training program lapse, it needn’t be a focus if you expect the number of new hires over the next year to be low. However, improving your virtual communication practices will most likely prove to be beneficial moving forward.

Therefore, the Upward Airlines SWOT analysis above might drive strategy in the following ways:

• An objective might be to “improve employee satisfaction”; to accomplish that goal, the company might initiate new projects that include reevaluating the benefits plan or starting a surveying program for employee feedback.
• An objective might be to “make flying as safe as possible for customers”; to reach that goal, they might implement a new cleaning regimen and increase communication with customers about new procedures.
• An objective might be to increase revenue by 10%; to help achieve that goal they might create a problem-solving team whose purpose is to reevaluate the current capacity strategy and recommend changes to offset the rising cost of fuel.

Make sure there is a clear and strong link between your SWOT analysis and your strategy map. For example, if you’re a for-profit organization, your financial perspective will be the top priority—build your analysis into your map in a manner that drives those finances in the right direction.

Maybe your SWOT analysis foretold an opportunity to hit a new line of business or forecast that a line of business would dry up. Your strategy needs to reflect that information.

If you’re using ClearPoint for strategy execution, you can make sure the projects you initiate as a result of your SWOT will actually have an impact by a) creating links within the software to show clear connections between projects and objectives, and b) tracking progress on your goals and initiatives over time.

That way, you’ll be able to see if, for example, your revised capacity plan positively impacted revenue in any substantial way—or if it had a negative effect on the bottom line. If you’re continuously monitoring progress, you’ll be able to adjust your course of action in a timely manner if needed.

Those insights will also be useful for your next SWOT analysis.

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Real-world swot analysis examples.

Still uncertain as to how your team can use the information produced by a SWOT analysis? We reached out to the business community to ask about their experiences with SWOT.

Their answers, listed below, show that SWOT can be applied to any number of business activities, from developing a long-term overall strategy to launching campaigns, new products, and more.

Seize New Opportunities

"We focus on the opportunity aspect of SWOT. We are always looking to find new ways of growing our company, and we use this analysis to show us areas where our business might thrive. A SWOT analysis showed us how important it would be for us to partner with over 15 different insurance companies, so that we can freely match each client with whichever one is best for them. Most companies like ours only work with one or two companies, but we have seized the opportunity, and we are growing because of it."

—Anthony Martin of Choice Mutual

"We took action to understand that it's not enough to simply have a great product; we need to make sure our customers know how it can help them. By servicing the market, we found ways to add value for our customers and build relationships with them by providing helpful resources on our website and offering free trials. This has helped us to focus on creating and providing value to our customers, rather than just trying to get them to buy our product. As a result, we've created a much more sustainable and successful business."

—Diana Stepanova of Monitask

"One of the most important things that came out of our SWOT analysis was identifying untapped opportunities. After changing the game with our magnetic lashes, we saw a gap in the acrylic nail market. Through a SWOT analysis, we have realized our strength in reimagining highly used beauty products and making them better for the consumer. That has opened up even more opportunities to revolutionize the billion-dollar beauty industry."

—Ann McFerran of Glamnetic

"Our SWOT analysis revealed that we could create additional revenue streams by white-labeling our writing service and marketing it to other agencies. We offered interested parties discounts on our already-competitive rates, which made working with us very attractive and profitable for both sides. This allowed us to effectively double the size of our market. Most of the work we do now is for our agency partners, which means we can spend less time chasing sales and instead focus on ensuring quality in our service."

—Milo Cruz of Freelance Writing Jobs

“The best insight I gained from performing a SWOT analysis of my organization is that we are very good at what we do and have a lot of growth potential. One action that we took because of this insight was to expand our product line. We now offer various [photo] backdrops, including some specifically designed for events. We have also started marketing to new customers, which has helped us grow our business.At first, we didn't think that expanding our product line would help us much, but it has been one of the best things we've done for our business. It's enabled us to attract new customers and grow our sales. Marketing to new customers has also been helpful in terms of growing our business. These actions have made us a more prosperous and well-rounded company. "

—Kate Zhang of Kate Backdrop

Evaluate Your Competitive Advantage

"The SWOT analysis helped us identify potential opportunities that were unique to us in terms of reach. This allowed us to focus on key areas and strategies that would allow us to be the go-to choice of a specific market."Knowing where your company stands in relation to its competitors is crucial for developing strategies that will give you a competitive advantage. It also gives you insight into your unique opportunities that your competitors may not have. This is the kind of information that can help you make decisions that will take your company to the next level."

—Linda Shaffer of Checkr

"There are many roofing contractors competing for business, and it can be difficult for customers to understand what sets us apart from the rest. In order to address this issue, we have revamped our marketing materials to better communicate our unique selling points.As a result, potential customers can now see that our company is the best choice for quality roofing services, and we have experienced a significant increase in sales."

—Marty Ford of BulletpRoof Roof Systems Ltd.

“Owners of startups and small businesses need, but cannot find, a system to start, market, operate, or finance a business. Through our SWOT analysis, we noticed that our competitors left important questions and needs unanswered. For example, a competitor might help you set up a corporation, but have nothing for you after that.You started the business, but now need marketing, operational, or finance help. We strive to be the entrepreneur's best friend by giving you the needed tools."

—James Chittenden of One Click Advisor

Learn Business Strengths

"SWOT analysis was incredibly helpful when it came to understanding the strengths of my business. I was then able to play to those strengths and build on them.One strength was integrity—my business is always honest—and I’ve built that honesty into our brand."

—Keith Terrell of Backpacks Global

"Overcoming our weaknesses doesn't mean we are not keeping an eye on our existing strengths. If there's one thing SWOT analysis has taught us, it’s that we should treasure the things that keep our company strong by being innovative. Our positive attributes can become a weakness if we refuse to adapt to changes. Consistently monitoring our strengths has allowed us to hit all our targets and go beyond our goals. As a result, we have outperformed our competitors by always bringing something new to the table."

—Adam Garcia of The Stock Dork

Address Future Business Challenges

"Two of the issues we identified were the great resignation and the recession. Knowing them in advance gave us plenty of time to make the necessary changes (like retaining your best employees by offering new benefits—remote work, PTO, and unlimited growth opportunities). We also changed our inventory strategy and made sure we had enough to counter the price increases, shortages, and demand.These strategy changes helped us limit the adverse effects of the recession, optimize our stocks, and make sure all our orders were fulfilled on time. The changes were also able to help us retain our best employees; thus, we never even had any problems throughout the great resignation."

—Michael Perry of Fitness Fixed Gear

Shore up Weaknesses

"In our SWOT analysis, we were able to pinpoint areas where our employees may be lacking the skills they needed to succeed in our company. We decided to offer free online learning to our workers to help them add to their skill set.This has helped us not only improve the skill sets of our employees, but it has also increased employee retention. Employees want to stay loyal to a company that helps them grow."

—Mark Daoust of Quiet Light

"Prior to the SWOT analysis, I had always approached marketing from a product-centric perspective; however, the SWOT analysis made me realize that we needed to focus more on customer-centric marketing. We needed to connect with our target audience and build relationships with them.As a result, we've made some changes to our marketing approach, and I believe that these changes will help us to be more successful in the long run."

—Jacob Villa of Authority

"We have always prided ourselves on having good client relationships, but this exercise showed us that we needed to have strong client relationships. We have studied our weakness (why we have monthly policy cancellations or non-renewals) and the results showed that we need to focus on building and maintaining client relationships. After doing that, we have seen a significant increase in the average tenure of our clients and customer satisfaction scores."

—Loran Marmes of Medicare Solutions Team

"One threat we encountered in our business was the sudden and huge dip in our customer satisfaction score, which has never happened in the past five years. To resolve this issue and ensure we eliminate the threat that's harming our relationship with customers, we allocated time to engage with our employees and immediately gave them intensive customer service training.Our urgent action to eradicate this threat has helped our business bounce back and we’ve regained the trust of our customers. It has also taught us to listen to customer feedback seriously and do our best to live up to their expectations."

—Jake Smith of Absolute Reg LTD

See Different Perspectives

"A successful SWOT analysis encourages discussion from employees of different levels, from operational, to managerial, to administrative level. By doing this, everyone contributes their thoughts on the status and standing of the company—it’s not just about how one person sees it. This way, all aspects of the business are considered and addressed from all levels."

—Corey Morgan of Kind Home Painting

Download Our Strategic Planning Tools—Including our SWOT Analysis Template

Swot analysis best practices.

To create the most accurate and effective SWOT analysis, we recommend the following best practices:

• Encourage open and honest conversation. Create an environment that encourages candidness. That might mean using sticky notes to gather anonymous feedback, rather than having people raise their hand to state a company weakness out loud.
• Promote collaboration. Have everyone write all their ideas on sticky notes, put them on a board, and then walk through them as a group. Combining similar ideas might help people to think of more. You might also consider breaking up a large group into smaller groups of three or four employees to encourage the sharing of ideas.
• Vote to narrow down ideas. The group will generate lots of ideas. You want to take them all into consideration, but you don’t need to keep every idea; this should be a fairly high-level exercise. Rank the top 10 and list those to focus on. And remember—the SWOT isn’t intended to project 10 years down the road; it should look at where you are now and in the very near future.
• To identify external factors, look at the competition. In addition to a PEST analysis, another way to identify external threats and opportunities is to look at your competitors. What opportunities are they currently after, and can you use that to your advantage? What threats are they currently facing, and how does that apply to you?
• Be specific when describing internal factors. For example, “brand image” can be both a strength and a weakness, depending on how you word it. Be specific in your descriptions; ultimately, that specificity will also help you define the right measures and benchmark your performance over time.
• Keep emotion out of the room. This exercise should be objective, not subjective. If a statement can’t be backed up with facts, it doesn’t count.
• Try to make your resulting strategy “weatherproof.” Current threats may include the possibility of more political and economic turmoil, but these kinds of obstacles tend to be much more complicated than those you’d see in most SWOT analyses. While it may be difficult to address them fully, try to develop a strategy that will bolster your organization during hard times. For example, a retail store might consider creating an objective to ensure its online and in-person stores perform equally well should either avenue be cut off due to external circumstances.

If you need some guidance with this process, download our free strategic planning booklet. It includes eight of the most popular templates to build strategic plans, including a SWOT analysis template.

The strategic plan you develop from your SWOT analysis is powerful, so once you’ve created it, don’t let it sit! Use strategy execution software like ClearPoint to track your progress over time.

Optimize Your Strategic Planning with ClearPoint

Undertaking a SWOT analysis requires planning and organization; it can also be a lengthy process. For those reasons, we recommend treating it like a project. If you already have project management (PM) software, by all means use it.

If you don’t have software (or if you’re considering making a change), we encourage you to take a look at ClearPoint. It’s ideal for keeping individual projects on track, but it also does much more than that— it shows you how important projects impact your organization’s overall strategy. Are your projects moving the needle when it comes to your larger goals? That’s an important aspect of project management you can’t get with any other PM tool.

Viewing your SWOT analysis as a project within ClearPoint has multiple benefits:

• You can maintain forward momentum by creating deadlines for each component, assigning responsible “owners” to tasks, and tracking milestones and overall progress.
• You can simplify the information-gathering portion of SWOT by sending automated messages to relevant team members on when and how to input information.
• You can facilitate collaboration among all parts of the organization by providing everyone access to a single tool that handles data collection.
• You can encourage participation and increase engagement by making the SWOT analysis visible to as many or as few people as you like.
• You can see how your SWOT connects to various parts of your strategy by linking elements to high-level objectives, other projects, measures, etc.—anything that adds context to the analysis.

Another benefit of treating your SWOT analysis as a project in ClearPoint: You won’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you repeat the process. You can just duplicate the framework, make any necessary adjustments, and then repeat the process as before, even comparing your newest SWOT to the previous analysis if necessary.

Below is a screenshot of what it might look like to set up a SWOT analysis as a project within ClearPoint, with some sample milestones shown.

Ready to streamline your SWOT analysis and take your strategic planning to the next level? ClearPoint Strategy is here to guide you. Our comprehensive software solution simplifies the SWOT analysis process, ensuring you gain valuable insights and effectively integrate them into your strategic plan.

Book a personalized demo with our experts and see how our software can help you efficiently conduct SWOT analyses, track progress, and achieve your strategic goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 4 dimensions of swot analysis.

The four dimensions areL strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

When and where should you develop a SWOT analysis?

You need a few uninterrupted hours to conduct a strong SWOT analysis. You should conduct a SWOT analysis around the same time of your strategy refresh. Include key leaders within the company to get comprehensive insights on the current state of your business.

How do you use your SWOT analysis?

Use your SWOT analysis to influence your strategic plan! Don't let the insights from your SWOT analysis just sit in a shelf. Learn how to utilize your strengths to achieve your long-term goals, and make plans to strengthen your weaknesses.

Why should I conduct a SWOT analysis?

A SWOT analysis offers many benefits for your organization. It allows you to better understand your business. By taking the time to identify where your company succeeds, and where they struggle, you can create plans to leverage your strengths and mitigate risks in your weaknesses.

What's the difference between a SWOT and PESTEL analysis?

A SWOT analysis is conducted to assess internal factors that affect your business. A PESTEL analysis focuses solely on external factors .

What are the benefits of using SWOT analysis?

The benefits of using SWOT analysis include:

• Identifying Strengths: Helps identify and leverage the organization's internal strengths.
• Recognizing Weaknesses: Highlights areas for improvement within the organization.
• Spotting Opportunities: Uncovers external opportunities that the organization can exploit for growth.
• Understanding Threats: Identifies external threats that could impact the organization’s success.
• Strategic Planning: Provides a foundation for developing strategic plans and making informed decisions.

How can SWOT analysis help your business?

SWOT analysis can help your business by:

• Strategic Decision Making: Informs strategic decisions by providing a comprehensive view of the internal and external factors affecting the business.
• Resource Allocation: Helps prioritize resource allocation based on identified strengths and opportunities.
• Risk Management: Enables proactive management of potential threats and weaknesses.
• Competitive Advantage: Identifies unique strengths that can be leveraged to gain a competitive edge.
• Goal Setting: Aids in setting realistic goals and objectives based on a clear understanding of the business environment.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when conducting a SWOT analysis?

Common mistakes to avoid when conducting a SWOT analysis include:

• Lack of Specificity: Being too vague or general in identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Ignoring External Factors: Focusing too much on internal factors and neglecting external influences.
• Overlooking Data: Not using data and evidence to support the analysis, leading to biased or incomplete results.
• Failure to Act: Conducting the analysis but not using the insights to inform strategic decisions and actions.
• Infrequent Reviews: Not updating the SWOT analysis regularly to reflect changes in the internal and external environment.

How often should you conduct a SWOT analysis?

You should conduct a SWOT analysis:

• Annually: At least once a year as part of the strategic planning process.
• During Major Changes: Whenever there are significant changes in the market, industry, or within the organization.
• Before Strategic Initiatives: Prior to launching new products, entering new markets, or making major business decisions.
• Periodically: Regularly reviewing and updating the SWOT analysis ensures it remains relevant and accurate.

What are some tips for getting the most out of a SWOT analysis?

Tips for getting the most out of a SWOT analysis include:

• Involve Key Stakeholders: Engage a diverse group of stakeholders to gain comprehensive insights and perspectives.
• Use Data: Base the analysis on accurate and up-to-date data to ensure reliability.
• Be Specific: Clearly define each strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat to avoid ambiguity.
• Prioritize Factors: Focus on the most critical factors that will have the greatest impact on the business.
• Develop Action Plans: Translate insights from the SWOT analysis into actionable strategies and plans.
• Review Regularly: Regularly revisit and update the SWOT analysis to keep it relevant and useful.

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SWOT Analysis Example: Definition and Template

SWOT analysis provides a comprehensive framework with a SWOT analysis example for evaluating internal and external factors impacting a company’s performance and competitiveness. By identifying a company’s strengths and weaknesses within the organization and analyzing opportunities and threats of different perspectives in the external environment, a SWOT analysis enables businesses to develop strategies for a new project that leverage their strengths, mitigate weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and overcome threats and negative factors

A SWOT analysis example can be valuable for understanding how this analytical strategic planning technique can be applied in practical scenarios. Whether you are a business professional, an entrepreneur, or a student studying strategic management, this SWOT analysis example will provide valuable insights and a deeper appreciation of the power of this analytical tool. So let’s dive into SWOT analysis examples and unlock the potential for strategic success with intellectual property!

SWOT Analysis: Definition

SWOT analysis is defined as an acronym for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats which is an effective market research analysis technique. Usually, SWOT analysis is used to evaluate an organization’s performance in the market and is used for developing effective business strategies.

LEARN ABOUT:  Market research industry

This SWOT analysis framework, which is now a trusted assessment source that organizations rely on to understand the scope of opportunities, value proposition, and threats by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses.

SWOT Analysis with Internal and External Factors

Strengths and weaknesses are primarily for internal analysis of an organization (in terms of market reputation, manufacturing line location, patents, etc.). To improve these good SWOT analysis factors, constant work needs to be put in over a course of time. But, opportunities and threats are external (in terms of competition, prices, associated partners, etc.) to an organization and they have no control over the changes that might occur to these external factors.

LEARN ABOUT:  Market Evaluation

SWOT analysis is also used in micro situations such as –

• When an organization’s strength is the product quality and there are chances of conversion of a particular deal, it will be advisable for the organization to assign a capable workforce for the closure of this deal. It is a SWOT analysis example of internal factors.
• Identifying weaknesses and their corresponding hindrances, the organization can strategize on how to overcome the weaknesses. For instance, if the sales results are a definite weakness for a company, they can try to minimize or eliminate it by regular training for the sales employees, providing access to multiple tools so that they can work off their skills, implementation of an efficient Customer Relationship Management software and other such corrective measures can be taken through this SWOT analysis. It is a good SWOT analysis example.
• A competitor losing its customers and going bankrupt can be a huge business opportunity for an organization intending to expand operations. Proactive research on how to operate, demographic segmentation and taking advantages of the identified strengths to ensure the competitor’s market is explored.
• Taking into consideration, organizational strengths and weaknesses, factors which may cause harm to the organization’s reputation can be identified. Considering swot analysis example, if the market forecast suggests a downfall in the economy, an organization can be prepared for it by reducing unwanted expenditures, appointing existing star-performers for sales conversions, etc.

Organizations conduct SWOT analysis extensively to make internal (strengths and weaknesses evaluation) and external (opportunities and threat evaluation) improvements as it can access an excessive pool of information with SWOT analysis examples. Already-existent companies should execute this strategic competitive analysis method at least once or twice a year to make sure they proactively analyze their market to keep making enhancements in various aspects of their organization.

Learn more: Market Research Survey

Importance of SWOT Analysis

The importance of SWOT analysis lies in its ability to provide organizations with a structured framework to assess their current situation and make informed decisions with a SWOT analysis example. Here are some key reasons why SWOT analysis is essential:

Strategic Planning:

SWOT analysis is a fundamental tool in business strategy. It helps organizations identify their internal weaknesses and strengths, and also external opportunities and threats. This information is crucial for formulating effective strategies that leverage strengths, address weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and mitigate threats.

Competitive Advantage:

SWOT analysis helps organizations identify and leverage their unique strengths to gain a competitive advantage in the market. By understanding market gaps, trends, and consumer preferences, organizations can align their strategies to exploit opportunities and differentiate themselves from competitors.

Alignment of Resources:

SWOT analysis helps organizations align their resources, such as financial, human, and technological, with their strategic objectives. By identifying internal strengths, organizations can allocate resources to areas where they are most effective. It ensures optimal resource allocation and maximizes organizational efficiency.

Risk Assessment:

SWOT analysis enables organizations to evaluate external threats and opportunities that may impact their operations. Organizations can develop contingency plans and proactively respond to challenges by identifying potential risks. Additionally, recognizing opportunities allows organizations to capitalize on market trends and gain competitive advantages.

Decision Making:

SWOT analysis provides a systematic approach to decision-making. It offers a comprehensive overview of various factors influencing an organization’s success. By weighing the internal and external factors, decision-makers can make informed choices that align with the organization’s goals and objectives.

Enhanced Communication and Collaboration:

SWOT analysis encourages collaboration and communication among organizational stakeholders. It brings diverse perspectives and insights, fostering a shared understanding of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This collaborative approach promotes a more comprehensive and holistic decision-making process.

SWOT analysis is a necessary tool for organizations of all sizes and industries. It enables them to assess their current market position, identify key factors influencing their success, and make strategic decisions to achieve their goals.

Free SWOT Analysis Template in Market Research

A free SWOT analysis template can be a valuable resource in market research to assess an organization’s factors. The free SWOT Analysis template is a walk-through of how to conduct SWOT analysis using the 4 models: Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat analysis. Here are the 4 SWOT Analysis templates in details:

What is the organization good at doing? What are the key differentiators they offer? What are the primary resources they have?

Strengths depict the positive factors of an organization which they can control. They can be analyzed by dividing the organization into sales, finance, marketing plan, market share, research and development, and other structural elements. Strengths involve the positive contribution of key stakeholders in terms of experience, knowledge, educational background and such skills that contribute towards the performance of an organization. This SWOT analysis factor also includes tangible assets such as distribution channel, existing customers, generated finance, accessories etc.

Factors that add value to an organization’s operation by internal factors of a SWOT analysis and in turn build a competitive advantage called Strengths.    

Learn more: Quantitative Market Research

Weaknesses:

Where do you think there is a scope for improvement?

Weaknesses are those elements of the business which still need a lot of enhancement and are bringing the organization down in more than one way. There are certain areas of business which might not be shaping up according to expectation and this is leading to friction in achieving the desired goals.

Segments such as subject matter expertise, lack of financial support, unavailability of appropriate technological tools for training, an inappropriate location of the organization, etc. can fall under the category of “weakness”. These segments are under a company’s control but are contributing to significant losses.

Weaknesses are negative aspects which are contributing to an organization’s competitive disadvantage in a marketing campaign. An accurate understanding of negative characteristics will help an organization to improve and compete with the best in the business.

Opportunities:

What are the opportunities in the market, the ones from which an organization can prosper?

Opportunities gauge attractive elements of a market which can contribute towards more profits for an organization. These are external factors to an organization’s environment. There are always new avenues that crop up after executing marketing strategies. So, opportunities are generally the outcome of revenue/market growth, changes in market perception, a solution to difficulties faced by the market currently, the ability of an organization to add value to the market that in turn increases brand value. Associate a timeline for the identified opportunity after understanding whether it fits the current marketing strategy and also, whether the opportunity can be seized in the pre-decided timeline.

Which aspects of the market are a threat to a business?

Threats indicate those factors which may cause harm to the organization’s existing marketing strategies and also eventually lead to business losses. An organization can profit from inculcating the possibility of these risks into their marketing plans. Threats are those uncontrollable factors which will create business losses. Competitors, change in government policies, bad press coverage for products/services/events, a shift in customer behavior, change in market dynamics which might make certain products outdated and other similar angles are considered to be threats.

Learn more: Qualitative Market Research

Using this swot analysis template, you can conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis by gathering relevant information and insights through market research methods, such as surveys, interviews, and data analysis. The swot template guides you to consider all factors that can impact your organization’s performance and competitiveness in the market.

Customize the free template based on your specific industry, market, and organization. The goal is to accurately assess your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, leading to actionable insights for strategic decision-making in your market research efforts

How to do a SWOT Analysis for a Business Plan?

There are two types of factors in a business model: internal factors and external factors. The factors which would exist irrespective of the existence of a specific organization are considered to be external and those that exist within an organization are of course, internal factors.

Implement the below mentioned 8 steps for SWOT analysis to develop a strategic plan:

1. Have a clear SWOT analysis objective:

The marketing team can discuss which topic needs immediate attention and this objective can be put to paper. This way, SWOT analysis can be conducted in an organized and effective manner. For example, if an organization intends to know whether or not to launch a new product line – this becomes the primary objective of SWOT analysis.

2. Conduct research to understand the target market:

For successful implementation of SWOT analysis, there should be a thorough understanding of what the market has to offer. Insights obtained from research about technology, customer service, competitors, etc, can be used to conduct an exhaustive SWOT analysis.

3. Identify business’s strengths:

An organization should understand what their strengths are, what are those features of their functioning which are better than the others in the market. Answers to these questions must be noted down. Workforce, location of the organization, product quality, etc. are some SWOT analysis examples of an organization’s strengths.

4. Identify the business’s weaknesses:

There are certain elements of the organization which need improvement. Marketers should create a list of these elements which they believe are harming their reputation in the market. Acknowledging these company’s weaknesses and working to eliminate them should be the intention of the SWOT analysis. This list can include aspects such as the reduction in product clients, constant downsizing of market share, lack of proper staff members et al.

5. Identify potential opportunities:

Evaluate external factors which can be lucrative for business growth. These are not internal processes and there are chances of the same factor being a threat to the business as well. While listing opportunities, one should keep in mind that opportunities should not be a threat to the business. As a swot analysis example, launching a new feature after opportunity SWOT analysis might cause damage to business in case there are competitors who offer the same feature at lower costs.

6. Identify threats to the organization:

Note down factors that are not a part of an organization’s ecosystem but are threats to business growth or personal growth. Unstable markets, the increasing competition in the market etc. are some threats to a small business.

7. Allot importance to various factors from SWOT analysis:

After completing step 3 to step 6, four different lists will be formed. The ideal way of amalgamating these lists is creating a side-by-side matrix . A matrix helps in generating a comprehensive picture for SWOT analysis.

Once the lists are put into a SWOT matrix, the degree of importance corresponding to each of the points so that marketing strategies for immediate implementation can be put into action.

Ask the following SWOT analysis questions to understand the priority:

• Can the organization implement their strengths to benefit from existing opportunities?
• Can the organization implement their strengths to get a grip on identified threats?
• What are the steps to be taken in order to make sure the organization’s weaknesses do not hinder taking advantage of the opportunities?
• What can be done to reduce weaknesses to get a grip on threats?

8. Create a strategy to solve identified problems:

After creating the SWOT matrix and answering all these questions, the marketing team can work to create marketing strategies to attain organizational aims.

Personal SWOT Analysis Examples

• Strong communication skills
• Analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities
• Leadership and teamwork skills
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Excellent time management skills
• Lack of experience in a specific area
• Difficulty in delegating tasks
• Limited technical skills in particular areas
• Difficulty in managing stress and pressure
• Lack of assertiveness in certain situations
• Emerging markets and industries
• Technological advancements in the field
• Expansion or growth of existing industries
• Changing demographics or consumer needs
• Increasing demand for specific skills or expertise

LEARN ABOUT:  Test Market Demand

• Intense competition in the industry
• Economic downturns or recessions
• Potential job automation or outsourcing
• Lack of job security or instability in the market
• Limited access to resources or funding

A personal SWOT analysis provides valuable insights into one’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Individuals can develop personal and professional growth strategies by leveraging strengths, addressing weaknesses, capitalizing on opportunities, and mitigating threats.

SWOT Analysis Example with Questions

In this SWOT analysis example, we will consider a fictional company, ABC Electronics, and explore the questions that can be asked in each category of the SWOT framework: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Purpose: Launching a new mobile variant

• What are your strongest assets?
• How are your products/services better than competitors?
• What is your unique selling point?
• How efficient is your workforce?
• What do your existing customers have to say about their experience with your organization?
• Which sections of your organization need improvement?
• Which aspects of your business can the competitors benefit from?
• Do you lack subject matter technical expertise?
• Do you think your business has made enough money?
• How progressive are your competitors in terms of coping with market trends?
• Which trends do you think can bring you new opportunities?
• Will these trends benefit the market?
• Where does the current market lack?
• Are your competitors not successful in meeting customer demands?
• If yes, can you target those customers?
• Are there competitors in the market who can cut down your business?
• What are the roadblocks you are currently facing?
• Do your products/services comply with every existing law?
• Do you foresee a change in government laws in the near future?
• Do you believe your target audience might evolve in their product preferences?

By asking these questions and thoroughly analyzing each category of the SWOT analysis example, ABC Electronics can gain valuable insights for strategic decision-making. It is important to remember that the questions and factors considered will vary depending on the analyzed organization’s industry, market, and specific circumstances

SWOT analysis is a powerful tool that empowers organizations to assess their internal swot analysis strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis plays a vital role in the strategic planning process, enabling organizations to align their resources, identify areas for improvement, and capitalize on market opportunities.

However, it is essential to remember that each organization is unique, and customization of the SWOT analysis template to suit specific needs and contexts is vital. Utilizing the QuestionPro SWOT template for conducting a SWOT analysis offers organizations a powerful toolset to gather, analyze, and communicate data effectively. By leveraging these features, organizations can better understand their internal strengths and weaknesses, identify market opportunities, and mitigate potential threats. A comprehensive SWOT analysis using QuestionPro empowers organizations to make informed decisions, develop effective strategies, and drive overall success.

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Where do I find published SWOT analysis?

Databases for published swot analysis reports.

A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that is used to assess the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in an organization, business or a project.  A SWOT analysis is particularly useful in identifying both internal and external factors that are essential in decision-making.

There are not SWOT analyses available for all companies in these databases. If there has not been one published on your company, or if your company is a privately owned, you may need to put together a SWOT analysis yourself using information found in company reports in these databases. Look for reports on 2 or 3 larger public companies in the same industry.  For example, in the computer software industry, try Microsoft and Oracle .  Companies in the same industry will often use or adapt their own strengths to capitalize on another company's weaknesses.

NOTE:  A published SWOT analysis may be a good starting point for your company analysis, but DO NOT simply cut and paste from a published SWOT or SWOT graph/chart.  This is plagiarism. Do not risk your academic career but instead use a variety of sources to support your claims.

• Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window From the main search page, go to Company Information (at the top of the page), and search for your company. Open the company profile and click "SWOT Analyses" on the left side of the page. This will open a list of available SWOT analysis reports for that company, including older reports.
• LexisNexis Academic This link opens in a new window Click "Advanced Search" and click "Select a specific content type." Click "Company and Financial" and click "Company Profiles." On the Advanced Search form, you can to conduct a segment/field search. Using the Company and Publication segments, type “Home Depot” in the Company field. (Tip: To find an exact phrase, you must put the phrase in quotation marks.) Type SWOT in the Publication field. Click the Search icon. On the right side of the report you select, you have links to related business content available on Nexis Uni.
• Proquest This link opens in a new window From the main search bar, type in the name of your company and SWOT. Be sure to check the full-text box. You can change the date range using the slider bar on the left side to narrow down newer reports.
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SWOT ANALYSIS: A THEORETICAL REVIEW

Related Papers

Viviana Viviana

Journal of Process Management. New Technologies

Gomatesh M Ravanavar , Poornima Charantimath

Abstract: SWOT (acronym for ‘Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) is an instrument for analysis and evaluating various aspects of the functioning of an organisation. It is a tool that not only generates the data regarding the internal functioning of an organisation but also helps to outline the future course of action for its growth and development. While ‘Strengths’ and ‘Weaknesses’ will help to realise the data on internal functioning, analysis of ‘Opportunities’ and ‘Threats’ depicts the external factors that impinge upon its present day working. SWOT can also influence the decisions on the future prospects and plan of action of an organisation. Thus while it evaluates existing situation in an organisation, it is also futuristic. It shows the road that an organisation can take and the difficulties and problems it is likely to face in its march towards growth and development. Thus this is a tool many organisations use for strategic planning as well. The present paper describes the different steps to carryout SWOT analysis of an educational institution with a case study of a rural engineering college. The paper puts forward major recommendations in the form of strategic actions for bringing about significant quality improvements for making an engineering college more efficient, effective and responsive. Keywords: Strategic Planning, SWOT Analysis.

Strategic Change

David W Pickton

This paper reports on experience with managers on business and management programmes and ‘action’ research which has shed light on the use of SWOT and on its practical difficulties and limitations. Warning is given that a too simplistic adoption of the SWOT activity can lead to damaging consequences and suggestions are made as to how organisations can introduce this form of analysis to avoid its potential pitfalls through the use of Performance-Importance, Opportunity and Threat matrices. While recognising some of the limitations of SWOT analysis, the paper also acknowledges its benefits, the value of which is not only seen in its outputs (which may be used in the development of sound strategic business plans) but also in the very process of carrying it out. Highlighted are the extra benefits to be gained in the use of SWOT not just as a static analytical tool which helps generate an understanding of business activity but, also, as a dynamic part of the management process which can actually facilitate management development and which can be harnessed to the advantage of all involved. It can be seen as a valuable management tool which may be easily absorbed with good effect into the realities and practicalities of an organisation’s existing planning and strategy formulation processes.

Uluslararası İktisadi ve İdari İncelemeler Dergisi

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Duygu HIDIROGLU

This paper provides analysis on Cadbury, Inc and confectionery industry. The paper analyzes the external and internal forces affecting the company, the industry it operates and its business level strategy. Further, it gives detailed information about the SWOT analysis of the company. Considering the situational features such as opportunities and threats when designing the environmental analysis and making realistic marketing plan is very crucial because a company will benefit from its own strengths, eliminate its weaknesses, benefit from environmental opportunities and protect itself from environmental threats. On the simple basis of product quality and taste, Cadbury proves to be superior to other commercially available chocolate even with the seeming similarities in texture. This paper deals with two main research flows: environmental analysis and situational factors which allows organizations to compose a realistic and effective marketing plan. This study provides a framework that implement a common consensus on these research flows by specifiying some important issues for future research and by making effective strategy analysis in the confectionery industry. ŞEKERLEME ENDÜSTRİSİNE YÖNELİK STRATEJİK PLANLAMA SÜRECİNDE DURUM ANALİZİ UYGULAMASI: CADBURY, A.Ş. ÖRNEĞİ Ö z Bu çalışma, Cadbury A.Ş. ve şekerleme endüstrisi analizlerini kapsamaktadır. Çalışma, SWOT analizi yardımıyla Cadbury A.Ş.'nin içinde bulunduğu sektörü ve işletme düzeyinde stratejileri etkileyen dış ve iç kuvvetleri analiz etmektedir. Çevrenin analizi ve şirketin pazarlama planı tasarlanırken durumsal faktörler göz önünde bulundurulduğu gözlenmiştir. Cadbury A.Ş.'nin örgütsel bağlamda sahip olduğu güçlü yönlerden faydalanırken; zayıf yönlerin olumsuz etkilerini en aza indirgemeye yönelik çeşitli stratejiler kurduğu görülmüştür. Şirketin bu stratejileri, pazar fırsatlarından yararlanmasına ve herhangi bir tehditten kaçınmasına fayda sağlayacağı için oldukça önemlidir. Cadbury A.Ş.'nin ürünleri yüksek fiyatla ithal edilen atıştırmalık ve yiyeceklere kıyasla daha uygun fiyatlı ve eşit derecede rekabetçi bir alternatiftir. Cadbury A.Ş.'nin şirket stratejilerinin aynı sektörde yer alan diğer şirketlerden daha üstün ve başarılı olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Çalışma, şirketi etkileyen dış güçleri, bulunduğu sektörü ve şirketin çevresini analiz etmektedir. Böylelikle şekerleme endüstrisinin geleceği hakkında gerçekçi öngörüler sunulmakta ve sektörün dinamikleri hakkında önemli bilgilere ulaşılmaktadır. Bu çalışma gelecekteki araştırmalara şekerleme endüstrisindeki firmaların çevresel analizi için önemli alanları vurgulayan kavramsal bir çerçeve sunmaktadır.

Nonprofit Management and Leadership

Kevin P Kearns

Journal of Global Business Insights

Mustafa A Benzaghta

A strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis has become a key tool used by businesses for strategic planning. Scholars have conducted SWOT research for over six decades. However, a collective understanding of SWOT analysis remains vague. This study accessed, analyzed, and synthesized the SWOT literature, allowing for new theoretical perspectives and frameworks to emerge. Using an integrative literature review, this study reviewed SWOT studies historically, providing a greater understanding of the SWOT analysis in different sectors and the different approaches used in SWOT studies. Furthermore, it fills the knowledge gap in the strategic planning context and indicates meaningful implications for managers that could help improve their strategic decisions.

Vahideh Delbahari

Today many organizations are functioning in highly challenging, competitive and volatile environments. In such situations, having a long-term planning based on a realistic approach about internal characteristics of organization and its compatibility with the environmental conditions is essential for their continued survival and development. During the process of strategic planning, the SWOT analysis is neither the first nor the last step. The first step in the strategic planning process should be a thorough analysis of the organization’s mission or vision statements. These statements should serve as a foundation of all planning activities. If the organization does not have a mission or vision statement, the development of such a statement should precede any further plan development activities. In very broad terms, for any organization, overall objectives or‘missions’ have to be defined, then internal resources need to be assessed and relevant parts of external environment need to be...

Journal of Business Economics and Management

Mekbib Abdi

The SWOT analysis is the process of exploring the internal and external environments of an organization and extracting convenient strategies based on its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This paper presents a literature review of SWOT analysis, based on a reference bank of about 557 papers established through searching various databases. This paper reviews papers that have been published up to the end of 2009. The origination and historical development of SWOT are explained first, followed by a survey on trends & classifications in SWOT papers including journals, countries, years, people & contents. Then a categorical analysis is conducted about application area and scope of SWOT. Also a methodological development of SWOT is discussed. Finally, concluding remarks and a few suggestions and challenges are presented for future studies. It is hoped that the paper can serve the needs of researchers and practitioners for easy references of SWOT studies and applications, a...

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