SWOT analysis is a strategic planning instrument that comes in helpful for discovering and examining the goals and also blueprints of a company or project in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and also threats. The easiest method to provide all these information is by using a 2X2 SWOT matrix. Let’s have a look at what all goes into a SWOT matrix, but just before that it might show useful to get a complimentary SWOT matrix template from here.
The different parts of a SWOT Matrix
As i have said earlier the SWOT analysis needs 4 kinds of details:
- Strengths: Within strengths the person could enlist all traits or variables which the company or the project has a relative advantages in. Any good characteristic that provides the project an advantage above the contending projects goes into the cell reserved for the strengths. To find out the strengths create a list of the things which the project or company is efficient at performing.
- Weaknesses: Weaknesses are elements that eliminate the competitive advantage from your company or project and cause it to be unsuccessful compared against its rivals. To put it differently weaknesses are the internal negative factors which could create difficulties in accomplishing the objectives and also goals. Weakness could be quickly discovered by examining the things which are lacking and that could pull down the actual effectiveness.
- Opportunities: Opportunities are points that the company or the project hasn't discovered and that may be probably gratifying. The simplest way to find out the possibilities is to go through the rivals and find out what new strategies they're studying.
- Threats: External aspects that are beyond the control of the company but might have an adverse impact on it could be categorized as threats. Threats can be found out by checking the particular operating environment for unanticipated trends that may prove damaging for the organization or project.
Developing a SWOT Matrix
These 4 aspects of a SWOT matrix could be arranged in 2 approaches – based on their scope and based on their nature.
Based on the scope the 4 aspects of SWOT could be categorized as:
- Internal Aspects: The strengths and weaknesses are the internal aspects.
- External Aspects: Opportunities and threats belong to the external aspects.
Based on nature, these elements could be again arranged within 2 categories:
- Positive Aspects: Strengths and opportunities are both beneficial and are thus categorized as positive aspects.
- Negative Aspects: Weaknesses and threats are the negative aspects that have a negative effect on the company or the project.
All these groupings could be displayed quickly in the form of the 2 axis of the matrix, as can be viewed in the SWOT matrix template.
A SWOT matrix is definitely a helpful strategic planning tool but its usefulness depends upon how appropriately the SWOT analysis has been carried out. It’s essential to write down only accurate and feasible claims into the matrix. Prioritizing the particular lists is equally essential.
And finally, the SWOT matrix alone might not be adequate to cover the scope and extent of strategic planning and is thus best employed in combination with various other strategic management tools for a more extensive analysis.
