SWOT analysis can be used to build organizational or personal strategy. Subscription databases that are available in many libraries, such as Business Source Elite and Gale Business Insights, regularly produce new SWOT analyses of companies. SWOT analysis may also be used in creating a recommendation during a viability study/survey. SWOT analysis may also be used in pre-crisis planning and preventive crisis management. Examples include non-profit organizations, governmental units, and individuals. SWOT analysis has been used at different levels of analysis in many arenas, not just in profit-seeking organizations. The factors may include personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and all of the marketing mix's 4Ps.Įxternal factors include macroeconomics, technological change, legislation, and sociocultural changes, as well as changes in the marketplace.Ī number of authors advocate assessing external factors before internal factors. What may represent strengths with respect to one objective may be weaknesses (distractions, competition) for another objective. Internal factors are viewed as strengths or weaknesses depending upon their effect on the organization's objectives. The degree to which the internal strengths of the firm matches with the external opportunities is expressed by the concept of strategic fit. Strengths and weaknesses are usually considered internal, while opportunities and threats are usually considered external. Results of the assessment are often presented in the form of a matrix, or simply as paragraphs.

Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project.

Opportunities: elements in the environment that the business or project could exploit to its advantage.

Weaknesses: characteristics that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to others.

Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others.

The name is an acronym for the four components the technique examines:

SWOT has been described as a tried-and-true tool of strategic analysis, but has also been criticized for its limitations, and alternatives have been developed. Users of a SWOT analysis often ask and answer questions to generate meaningful information for each category to make the tool useful and identify their competitive advantage. It is intended to identify the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving the objectives of the venture or project. This technique is designed for use in the preliminary stages of decision-making processes and can be used as a tool for evaluation of the strategic position of organizations of many kinds (for-profit enterprises, local and national governments, NGOs, etc.). Additional acronyms using the same components include TOWS and WOTS-UP. It is sometimes called situational assessment or situational analysis. Alternatively, project brief templates for PowerPoint can be used to complement with the project summary slides.SWOT analysis (or SWOT matrix) is a strategic planning and strategic management technique used to help a person or organization identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to business competition or project planning. Using the 100% editable templates for project plans, project managers can maintain the project data and present it to stakeholders in a simple and efficient way. Project summaries can vary in layout or colors, but essentially it must include information about the project, a brief description, the team members and the project’s current status. Using our 100% editable project summary slides, you can create stunning project summary presentations or business plans with all the important information about the project. The project summary templates can also describe valuable information about the team working on a specific project and are essential slides in a project planning PowerPoint presentation.

Using the project summary reports and slides, individuals can quickly present and deliver information to an audience about the project to be working on, explain the objectives of the project and the project status.

Project overview template