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The opportunity matrix used in swot analysis takes into account. An example of a swot analysis

Life forces us to make decisions every day. And every decision we make, in one way or another, affects our future. Some decisions affect our fate for years and even decades. To make any important decision, a thorough analysis of what is happening is necessary, it is necessary both in business and in everyday life. Qualitative analysis is a very difficult task. And despite the fact that absolutely every person needs to be able to do it, this management function is not taught at school. Today we will talk about one of the most common methods of analysis - the SWOT method.

What is SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is a method of primary assessment of the current situation based on its consideration from four sides:

strengths- strengths;
Weaknesses- weak sides;
Opportunities - opportunities;
Threats - threats;

Strengths and weaknesses are yours internal environment, what you already have at the current time. Opportunities and threats are environmental factors, they may or may not occur, it also depends on your actions and decisions.

For the first time, the abbreviation SWOT sounded at Harvard in 1963 at a conference on business policy problems by Professor Kenneth Andrews. In 1965, SWOT analysis was proposed to develop a strategy for the behavior of a firm.

SWOT analysis helps to create a structured description of a specific situation, based on this description, conclusions can be drawn. This allows you to make the right and informed decisions. SWOT analysis occupies a significant role in it, it should be mastered by everyone involved in personnel management and marketing.

Rules for conducting a SWOT analysis

Before you start compiling a SWOT analysis, you need to learn a number of rules.

Need to choose the most specific area of research. If you have chosen too wide an area, then the conclusions will not be specific and poorly applicable.
Clear separation of elementsSWOT. Do not confuse strengths and capabilities. Strengths and weaknesses are the internal features of the organization that are subject to it. Opportunities and threats are related to the external environment and are not directly influenced by the organization, the organization can only change its approach and adapt to them.
Avoid Subjectivity. It will be naive to rely on your opinion if the market does not agree with it. Perhaps you think your product is unique, but you should first of all ask consumers about this. Without them, your personal opinion has no value.
try use the opinion of as many people as possible. The larger the sample, the more accurate the study. Remember about?
The most specific and precise wording. I often ask my subordinates - “what needs to be done to earn more?” They almost always tell me that I need to work harder. This is not a specific wording, it is not clear what specific actions a person should perform at what time.

Using these not complicated rules you can proceed to compiling a SWOT matrix.

SWOT matrix

SWOT analysis is usually used by drawing a table, it is often called a SWOT matrix. This method of use does not depend on the global nature of the problem being solved. It doesn't matter if you decide who to spend the weekend with or what business to invest your millions in, the essence and appearance SWOT analysis will remain unchanged. The SWOT matrix looks like this:

The first line and the first column are indicated just for ease of understanding, it is not necessary to draw them if you understand the SWOT analysis method well.

How to use SWOT analysis

So, you are faced with a certain task and you need to understand how to solve it. First of all, you need to draw a SWOT matrix. You can do this by dividing a sheet of paper into four parts. In each part you need to write as much information as possible. It is advisable to first write more significant factors, then move on to less significant ones.

We analyze strengths and weaknesses

Surprisingly, it is with the description of strengths that the most problems arise for people who have taken up SWOT analysis for the first time. In general, you can ask for help in assessing your employees, friends and acquaintances, but it is better to learn how to analyze on your own. Strengths and weaknesses are evaluated according to the same parameters.

In business, strengths are evaluated primarily by the following parameters:

Management and human resources generally. First of all, the competence and experience of the staff;
Having a clear system. Business processes and understanding of employees what to do;
Finance and access to money;
Clearly. This is a very important success factor, the absence of a sales department is a serious obstacle and absorber of other resources;
Thoughtful marketing policy;
Availability of production costs.

When conducting a SWOT analysis of your personality, you can rely on the following criteria:

Education and knowledge;
Experience and your skills;
Relations in society, useful contacts and other opportunities to use the administrative resource;
Recognition and authority;
Availability of material resources;

When analyzing strengths, you should focus on what you like to do and what you are good at. As a rule, what we do not like is worse for us.

Analysis of opportunities and threats

Opportunities and threats create changes in the environment and those changes that you personally can undertake. It is worth noting that in order to analyze the external situation on the market, and even more so to predict the future market, you need to have serious qualifications. It is very difficult to predict what will happen and it is worth relying primarily on current facts and trends. At the same time, when making long-term planning, it is necessary to take into account, among other things, the most pessimistic scenario for the development of the situation.

Opportunities and threats in business are primarily assessed by the following parameters:

Market trends. Increase or decrease in demand.
economic situation in the country. In the years of economic growth, business, other things being equal, will grow in proportion to the growth of the economy, and vice versa.
Competition, the absence of competitors today does not guarantee their absence tomorrow. Coming to the market major player could turn the industry upside down.
Infrastructure changes. Major infrastructure changes can bring both profit and loss.
Legislation and political trends. Probably, in the year 2003 no one imagined that in 5 years all the casinos would be closed.
Technological revolutions. Progress inevitably destroys entire industries, while creating new ones.

In any business area there are experts and professionals, to compile a high-quality SWOT matrix, you can turn to them for advice and expert opinion.

SWOT analysis methodology

So, we have a completed SWOT matrix that contains: strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats. Based on this matrix you will need on which you will work. To do this, perform the following steps:

It is necessary to rank all factors according to the degree of influence;
All far-fetched and unimportant factors must be excluded;
We analyze how your strengths can help you avoid threats and achieve opportunities;
See what impact your weaknesses can have on opportunities and threats;
How strengths can help correct weaknesses;
How can we reduce threats;

Based on the work done, you draw up the main vectors of development. SWOT analysis is primarily a tool for a descriptive assessment of the situation. It does not analyze large arrays of analytics and does not compare indicators over the past years. SWOT does not quantify parameters. And that is why the SWOT method will always be a rather subjective analysis tool.

Application of SWOT analysis

The simplicity of SWOT analysis makes this tool very versatile, as we wrote above, it can be used both in life and in business. SWOT analysis is used both separately and in combination with other analysis and planning tools. SWOT analysis has received the widest application in management, primarily for strategic planning organization's activities.

SWOT introspection

Separately, I would like to talk about the use of the SWOT analysis method to determine priorities in personal development. You can use this tool to set goals both at work, for example, what line of work you should be engaged in, and in personal relationships.

I strongly recommend that middle and senior managers ask their subordinates to do a personal SWOT analysis at least once a year. It is also an excellent tool for determining managerial abilities when hiring a new employee. I first read this idea in Igor Mann's book Number 1. Mann recommends giving SWOT to everyone who comes for an interview.

The monumental theory in marketing and planning, SWOT analysis, remains quite misunderstood for those who study the subject, and for many people not connected with advertising, finance and analytics, this thing is generally unknown. And in vain.

Today in the Econ Dude blog I will continue to cover basic economic terms, theories, objects and phenomena, let's talk about SWOT analysis. My article will, as always, be somewhat subjective, I write in my own words and give examples. In a more general and scientific way, you can read about SWOT analysis.

What is written there is all competently and correctly, but boring. They will tell you something like this in marketing at the university, but you most likely will not understand anything, since many teachers themselves do not understand what they teach. And I will try to help you understand this theory and give examples so that the learning process is interesting.

If you don't need it for study, so much the better.

In any case, it is useful in life, for the general development of brains.

SWOT analysis is a very monumental thing, it can be applied not only to the analysis of commercial, private or state companies, it can be applied to almost any organization and even entire industries.

It works in politics, economics and social life.

Another theory in economics?

Many do not consider economics to be a full-fledged science, and I, with an economic education, partly agree. If the subject is not science, then they will suck things out of their fingers, invent theories, pour water and look for alleged dependences of one on the other. This is done, for example, in subjects that are not science.

But the field of education is also an industry, which means jobs are needed, and coaches and teachers must teach something, which means all sorts of theories and concepts need to be invented. SWOT is such a thing partly and is, like, for example, the theory about the life cycle of a product. But in general, these are beautiful theories that are useful to study to warm up the brain. Moreover, even if some thing is unscientific, but if, for example, this SWOT analysis is used by the directors of Google, Gazprom, or, for example, Tinkoff Bank, then in fact the theory becomes already practical, practical application makes it practical.

Learn the given thing in marketing, analytics and business planning.

It is from these four angles that an existing project is considered, or a new and theoretical one, for example, a new one.

Read my article on this link if you have time, it’s just that I tell how one small business company operates, and much of this is the logic of SWOT analysis, I just don’t mention it directly there.

Visually and graphically, it is quite easy to imagine everything:

What's incomprehensible here? Picture (matrix) already told everything.

Everything is beautifully divided into segments, while there is two global segments different colors, external factors (Wednesday Thursday) and internal.

I understand that it is useless to show beautiful or ugly pictures with graphs in an attempt to explain something, this is a big mistake of many teachers in schools and universities. You need to learn only with the help of cases and real examples.

Later in the article they will be, but you need to understand that capitalism is young in the countries of the former CIS, so there are few cases in Russian, and in general SWOT analysis is partly a corporate secret, however, below I translate some things from English.

How is SWOT analysis done? Example

Example, small restaurant analysis ( from eng. articles ):

Great location with lots of traffic (force);
Good reputation with locals force);
Higher price than competitors and big companies ( weakness);
Low marketing budget weakness);
Opportunity implementation of food delivery through the application;
Threat supplier price increases.

If you studied economics, then you know that there are 5-10 very typical and classic points for any business for each element. That is, this is already a classic, either a good location for a business, or a bad one - either it is strong or weak. In many cases, you don't even need to make up these points, you just need to analyze the position of your company using ready-made questions:

Location and rent?
Staff and payroll costs?
Pricing policy in relation to competitors?
Marketing budget?
Tax regulation?
General economy of a region, city or country (changes)?
Reputation, brand awareness and customer base?
Staff, payroll costs and labor costs?

And further down the list. You answer questions like this and choose whether it's a strength, a weakness, an opportunity or a threat. Here you can even twist everything in your head and expose one thing as, for example, by force and opportunity. Sometimes it happens that a feature can be painted as a weakness, or as a strength, depending on which angle to enter. There is a place for creativity and some imagination.

You can't open a successful low-price burger restaurant next to MacDonald's, having a McFuck across the street from you is an external factor, you can hardly influence it.

Therefore, you need to dance in your strategy from other things, for example, opening a premium segment restaurant nearby, or, say, offering something that they don’t offer there: calmness, lack of crowds, hookah, etc. Or .

The ability to single out external and internal factors in your head is the most important skill in life, it greatly helps to change even your personal life for the better and, for example, not to blame yourself for what you are not responsible for. However, if this internal factor and already your essence, then you need to change yourself.

So, maybe such personal examples are more clear to you.

Another example, SWOT analysis of Coca-Cola

Here is a simple example of analyzing a large company:

Any grandmotherevenin any African country knows.

What does it give? People always choose a more recognizable brand at an equal price. That is, if in any market in the world there is Cola on the shelf in a store, it will be very difficult to enter this market with your new drink in the same price category.

How to get out? Put pressure on health, as an example.

What are the weaknesses of Coca-Cola?

This is already a difficult question, so you won’t guess right away, you need to think.

The weak side is the margin. It's low and it's built into their business.

Drinks are part of the food market and even part Agriculture, since competitors are water, milk, and juices. The niche has low margins, well, relatively low, for example.

Although due to the recycling cycle and the brand, they can be understood, about it here:

So, Kolya, in order to receive a large gross proceeds, you need to sell in kind millions of cans and bottles of this poison. This means that a huge logistics network is needed, which means that the purchases of aluminum and plastic are huge. Dependence on the purchase prices of raw materials is always and in almost any business a potential weakness.

Why is this analysis needed and how to apply it?

See what a SWOT analysis does he just makes you think, analyze and sort out the company. Some conclusions naturally follow from this, many of which are very practical and applicable.

What is another weakness of Cola?

Competitor - Pepsi. What to do with it? Yes, nothing really. The situation of practically an oligopoly is almost the best, because the monopoly will be crushed by the state, and with free competition there is no need to wait for normal revenue.

The goal in terms of business is to increase profits, this is generally the goal of any commercial enterprise. There may be smaller tactical targets as well.

Let's take some other example, from another area.

SWOT analysis in politics

Let's say the "Donald Trump" project, this is also a kind of project, already a political one, to which this analysis can also be applied.

Strong point? Independence in the eyes of many from the US political elite and institutions. But as you know, our strengths are an extension of our weaknesses. From any strength follows weakness, and vice versa.

He does not have the support of the US elite, there is no media support, all the Colberts and other John Olivers from the Democrats hound him every day.

Therefore, having promised something, pushing the project through is a difficult matter. People supported, ok. But the power is not with these people, but with the institutions.

His position now is such that he is a hostage to his strengths and weaknesses. Does he communicate with people directly using Twitter? This is a plus, but there is also a minus, a weakness. Media who are against him will suck on any Tweet and dig. And if you write everything yourself without a press secretary, then of course you blurt out something like that ...

And what are the opportunities and threats in his position? The threats are obvious. Impeachment, loss of confidence in his nuclear electorate.

Here a lot depends on the goals, and Trump's long-term goals are not entirely clear, he is more playing like Russia, somehow on the situation.

But if we assume that his goal, for example, is a second term, then on the basis of this we can already think about how to take advantage of opportunities and avoid threats.

Any puncture of the Democrats is an opportunity to score points. Any puncture is a threat of an attack by enemies. Each specific situation is analyzed very quickly and conclusions are drawn. At all, SWOT analysis is a method of thinking in general, it is done by many without even realizing it, on automatism. It is logical, but not all people are able to distinguish between internal and external factors, and confusing them is a big mistake.

The acronym SWOT was first introduced in 1963 at the Harvard Business Policy Conference by Professor Kenneth Andrews.

In 1965, four professors at Harvard University - Leraned, Christensen, Andrews and Gut - proposed the technology of using the SWOT model to develop a strategy for the company's behavior. The LCAG scheme has been proposed (according to the initial letters of the names of the authors), which is based on the sequence of steps leading to the choice of strategy.

As you can see, the term is no longer new, this concept is quite old, therefore, during its existence and application, some practice has already gained.

Turn a feature into that? (feature)

You can do this analysis for almost anything, even for this Econ Dude blog of mine. What are the characteristics of a blog? I write on many topics at once (topics in header): economics, psychology, reviews, games, design, etc.

This is exactly peculiarity rather than weakness or strength. Feature. Such blogs are called copyright. And from this feature already follow the pros and cons.

That is, if we find a singularity (market diversification, for example), then you should not immediately and headlong try to write it down as a strength or weakness, you need to draw conclusions from this and now the conclusions are categorized. Example?

Suppose if I write on different topics, when the market changes and, for example, when traffic is lost on one topic, I can safely close it, continuing to write further on other topics. That is, we write by virtue of phrased like this:

"Reducing the risks of market fluctuations as a result of diversification"

A into weakness we write like this:

"Decrease in project growth rate due to diversification"

This is how one thesis and one feature turns into both strength and weakness.

Gaining a deeper understanding of the project

Here you can ask, well, what's the point? OK, you have sorted it all out and classified, what are the practical conclusions from this? So you will blog after that to write on one topic, or what will you do? Why take everything apart with this analysis?

Friends, it's just a matter of deep understanding of the essence of the project and that's it.

If there is understanding, then you can avoid many mistakes.

These are practical conclusions and this is just one small example.

Often in life we start some kind of business and some kind of project, while we just do it, maybe we have a desire and motivation, or maybe we don’t and we just want to earn money, everything is commendable. But you will be amazed at how many people waste their energy in the void, doing things that they would never do if they understood their weaknesses, their strengths, saw the opportunities and threats in their situation.

Damn, such an analysis can even save a relationship if you just evaluate the project "and the family with Masha" at least mark her strange kookies in your head and write it down in your head as a threat.

And there will be a threat, maybe you can ask Masha's friend, Dasha, and Masha is generally normal? And your girlfriend will tell you that you are crazy if you decide to marry her. That's how it works, simple things that can make a big difference in the future.

These principles, that if there is something good, then there must be bad - these are almost philosophical principles, and they are also principles for assessing objectivity, for example, on Wikipedia. It is also the principles of quality journalism and science.

SWOT analysis makes you look at the world more adequately and realistically.

There is always a threat, everything can not be fine. There is always an opportunity, all is not lost. You have strengths, you underestimate yourself. You (or business, project) there are also weaknesses, do not be a naive blind man and do not be conceited.

Along with SWOT analysis, works are often studied and applied. Porter, For example five forces analysis. Several similar methods together give much more interesting results and you should not limit yourself to SWOT alone.

Porter's methodologies are applied to competition and external factors analysis, resulting in a good understanding of the market and industry.

That's all, you can find my other articles on economic topics here.

The business environment is often associated by unprepared people with a meat grinder - yesterday the company existed and seemed to be even in good health, but today competitors have already wiped it off the face of the earth. Decisions in the field of entrepreneurship must sometimes be taken at lightning speed, but this is impossible without a clear understanding of the real state of affairs - a manager must know everything about his business, like a parent about an unintelligent child.

Difficult, agree? But there is a way out - conducting a SWOT analysis, which allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company, assess development prospects and potential threats. Let's discuss what a SWOT analysis is and how to do it. Of course, one cannot do without an example, so let's confirm the theory with practice by considering a specific enterprise.

What is SWOT analysis?

Most entrepreneurs are faced with a situation where they need to do something to develop their business - reduce the price of goods, take a big loan, start releasing new products ... There are a lot of options. But is it possible to make an important decision if the leader simply does not have information about what is happening under his nose? It is logical that it is not, because, for example, strong dumping will easily bring about the collapse of a company if it does not have a financial cushion or the opportunity to increase profits by increasing sales. In such cases, a SWOT analysis is indispensable. To understand its essence, let us turn to the definition.

SWOT-analysis - economic term, which is based on the English abbreviation:

S- strengths - the strengths of the company, allowing it to compare favorably with competitors;
W– weaknesses - weaknesses, some pitfalls and peculiar “holes” into which a business can fail under unfavorable circumstances;
O- opportunities - opportunities and prospects, the bet on which is likely to play;
T- threats - threats and risks that can affect the organization in the most negative way.

Important: the environment that reigns inside the company is reflected in the letters S and W, and the external environment - in O and T.

The abbreviation was first used in 1963 at a Harvard conference covering actual problems business - Professor Kenneth Andrews suggested using SWOT analysis as a possible way out of trouble. The idea was accepted extremely favorably, and after a couple of years the methodology began to be used to develop an effective and competent behavioral strategy for the company.

SWOT analysis allows the management of the organization to get answers to the following important questions:

Does the firm's strategy focus on existing strengths and competitive advantages? If the latter are not yet available, who can get them?
How do weaknesses affect the business, are they really vulnerabilities that do not allow full use of favorable situations? What "holes" need to be urgently patched up in order to increase the efficiency of operations?
Thanks to what opportunities does the enterprise have a chance to succeed if all available resources are used?
Are there hypothetical risks that you can insure against in advance? Where to lay the straw to avoid the collapse of the company due to an unfavorable situation?

Important: it seems to some that conducting a SWOT analysis is fraught with many difficulties, and in general it is laborious and boring, which is much easier to just calm down if it suits you. But the results of SWOT provide an opportunity to look at the business with a fresh and uncomplicated look, get rid of the anchors that pull to the bottom, catch a fair wind and move forward.

How is a SWOT analysis of an enterprise carried out?

Any marketing analysis it starts with a simple one - it is necessary to study the market sphere in which the enterprise operates in a comprehensive and as detailed as possible. SWOT, like , is needed to identify and structure the strengths and weaknesses of the company; Potential risks and opportunities are also not ignored. Many are interested - when should a SWOT analysis be carried out? There is simply no single answer to this question, since everything depends on the desires of the leadership.

Of course, one must understand that planning and new strategic ideas will never be superfluous. SWOT results allow you to take into account the changes that constantly occur in the business environment and develop options for proactive response. Beginners can apply the methodology to draw up a company development plan. A universal recipe suitable for all organizations cannot be found, since initially the “ingredients” and conditions are different for everyone, and the SWOT analysis is precisely aimed at determining the features and distinctive features of each particular business. Consider step by step the process of conducting a SWOT analysis.

Definition of participants in the SWOT analysis

It is logical that the organization decides this on its own, however, there are recommendations from the gurus of the economy - experts advise involving almost the entire team of the enterprise in the SWOT analysis process. Why? Lots of answers:

Firstly, brainstorming has not been canceled - sometimes even a cleaning lady can express an interesting idea.
Secondly, such an event is a great opportunity to rally employees, since a common problem always contributes to the establishment of not only working, but also friendly contacts.
Third When people understand that they can influence the development strategy of the enterprise, and also see the results of their work, their motivation increases significantly - which means that the outcome of the discussion is likely to bring real, not imaginary results.

Choosing the form of conducting a SWOT analysis

Written, oral, whatever. For example, for SWOT analysis, the following options are possible:

Table– participants of the event fill in a table consisting of four areas (strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats);
mind map- refers to the most creative way, which allows you to present the situation more clearly and non-standard (drawn individually or collectively);
Questionnaire Each member of the SWOT analysis team answers a series of questions.

Most often, the best result is achieved through a combination of a written survey followed by a group discussion of its results.

Advice: when planning the format of the SWOT analysis, pay attention to the brainstorming method, as it can be used to determine as accurately as possible the aspects that need to be researched. It should be borne in mind that the most significant points in the SWOT are indicated at the top - the higher the priority of the factor, the higher it is in the final list.

Identification of the strengths of the enterprise

Strengths in the SWOT analysis are understood as internal positive factors that contribute to the development of the company. To determine them, it is necessary to get answers to some questions. Of course, for each organization they can be different. For example:

What is currently great about your company? For example, low production cost, high quality, excellent organization advertising campaigns etc.
What internal resources do you have? Perhaps you have highly qualified specialists, a good business reputation, many years of experience, friendly staff, etc.
What tangible and intangible assets do you have available? Here we are talking about capital, equipment, client base, patents, innovative technologies, established distribution channels and the like.
What sets you apart from your competitors? What is your strength compared to them? Maybe you have a prepared springboard for new research or more modern technology.

Everyone has long been accustomed to an interesting property of the human psyche - when you observe something or someone every day non-stop, you begin to perceive the object as ordinary, not paying attention to the merits and strengths. Like it should be. But there is a mistake here - any company is individual and original, which means that it has something positive that can help in developing a new effective strategy.

Identification of the weaknesses of the enterprise

Weaknesses in SWOT are internal negative factors that can hypothetically reduce the demand for the goods offered by the enterprise, or its value as a whole. It is logical that weaknesses must be constantly worked on, trying to level them or remove them completely.

For a clear understanding of what needs to be improved, according to the SWOT analysis, it is important to understand the following points:

What areas of the company's activities are not effective enough, although they are under your full control? For example, staff turnover due to dissatisfaction personnel policy, lack of a company development plan, etc.
What should be improved? Here the scope for imagination is huge - the range of products is too narrow or prices differ significantly from competitors for the worse.
What is the company missing? For example, high-level specialists, technology, experience, distribution channels, etc.
What factors are holding back a business? Maybe outdated equipment does not make it possible to keep up with the times or the qualifications of the staff are not high enough.
Is the business in a good location? Here we mean the country and the city, because sometimes it is the location that determines the success of a business. No wonder there is a saying about how important it is to be at the right time in the right place.

You are the head of the enterprise, but do you know everything about it? Are you ready to voice a clear plan further development own business? Difficult to answer? Then it is necessary to put into practice already well-proven marketing research. They have already helped millions of entrepreneurs to find the right solution. One of the main technologies is SWOT analysis.

What it is?

SWOT is an acronym for the following English words :

strengths- strengths or the benefits of the organization;
Weaknesses - weak points or shortcomings;
Opportunities are opportunities or external factors that, when correct application create additional benefits for the company;
Threats - threats or possible circumstances that can harm the company.

A standard SWOT analysis is precisely a comprehensive assessment of the company's activities, and not only its strengths, but also its weaknesses. But in the terminology adopted in this analysis, they are called parties, respectively strong and weak. An assessment is made not only of probable threats from outside, but also of favorable opportunities. At the same time, the obtained results are necessarily compared with the indicators of the most strategically important competing firms.

Conducting a SWOT analysis helps answer questions such as:

Does the company make full use of personal strengths, as well as its distinctive features in implementing your own strategy?
Which of the weak qualities of the company need to be corrected accordingly?
Which of the potential opportunities offer a real chance of success if all possible resources are used and the qualifications of the firm are taken into account?
What likely threats should the manager pay attention to, and what actions should be taken in this case?

Marketers recommend choosing the time for carrying out a SWOT analysis when the direction in which the business is planned to develop in the future is formulated, and the period for determining the list of goals and setting tasks.

swot analysis matrix

During the analysis, specially designed templates are used, which are tables called SWOT-matrices. Which of them will be used during the implementation is a purely individual choice. It is worth noting that the results, regardless of the selected template, are completely identical.

Any swot analysis matrix filled in according to a specific pattern. The cells that describe the strengths of the enterprise are filled in first. Let's move on to its weaknesses. These two columns help describe the company's microenvironment.

To display the macro environment, you will need to fill in the two remaining columns. One of them should write down the opportunities, that is, the likely benefits that the company will be able to receive in the conditions of the current market, if there are no significant changes. And in the last column of the matrix, threats are recorded - those factors that can interfere with the development of the company's strengths and the use of the opportunities provided.

Microenvironment

Strengths include those moments where the company has significantly succeeded and what distinguishes it from competitors. Here you should also describe your competitive advantages, but be objective. These cannot be just allegations. They must be supported by certain indicators.

Such advantages may include:

unique resources of the company;
personnel with a high qualification level;
quality products;
brand popularity.

The weaknesses of the company include factors that drive it into a more unfavorable framework in comparison with potential competitors. As an example of the weakness of an enterprise, one can indicate a limited range of goods produced or services provided, not too good reputation, little or no funding high level client service.

macro environment

As you remember, the macro environment in the SWOT analysis is presented in the form of probable opportunities or potential threats.

Opportunities should include the most favorable circumstances, using which the company receives additional benefits. It is the opportunities that contribute to the development of the strengths of the enterprise.

Threats are probable events, in the event of which the enterprise may not be completely favorable conditions for further development. Examples of such events may be the emergence of new competing companies on the market, an increase in tax rates, a change in demand from buyers.

Additional materials

The swot analysis matrix for a more complete and truthful filling will require additional information. Let's consider this point in more detail. All available data will be required for the following categories:

Management

It contains all the information related to the construction of the work of the entire company. These are the qualifications of the employees of the enterprise, the connections that determine the level of interaction between all departments, etc.

Production

This category is assessed production capacity, the quality of existing equipment, the degree of its wear. The quality of manufactured goods, the availability of patent or license documentation, if required, the cost of the manufactured goods are also considered. Additionally, the reliability of partners acting as suppliers, the level of service, etc. are evaluated.

Finance.

This is the most important category that requires detailed consideration. It is here that the clearest gradation of the strengths and weaknesses of the business in question is observed. It's a cost production process, availability and speed of turnover of cash capital, stability of the enterprise in financial plan and its profitability.

Innovation.

How often are customers provided with an updated product list? What is the level of quality and how fast is the payback of capital investments? This subparagraph should contain answers to all the questions posed.

Marketing

consumer reactions to manufactured goods;
your brand awareness;
the range of products presented by the enterprise;
pricing policy;
effectiveness of ongoing advertising companies;
additional services offered by the company.

Rules for performing a SWOT analysis

In order to avoid possible mistakes in practice and obtain maximum benefit from the conducted marketing research, strict observance of several rules is required.

As far as possible, try to narrow down the field of activity in which the analysis will be carried out. If you perform this procedure simultaneously for all the activities of the enterprise, then the data obtained will be too general and absolutely useless from a practical point of view. Focusing the analytic process on a company's position in a particular market segment will help provide more specific data.

In the process of filling in the matrix columns in macro and micro environments, be correct in drawing conclusions regarding strengths/weaknesses and opportunities/threats for certain factors. Weak or strong qualities are represented by internal characteristics of the company. Whereas the second pair characterize the situation in a in a given time period, and cannot be regulated by management.

Qualitative performance of the analysis is possible only when all the data were completely objective. This strategic analysis should be made on the basis of the comprehensive information provided. The study cannot be entrusted to one specialist, since the information received may well be distorted by his personal subjective perception. In this marketing research it is necessary to take into account the point of view of each functional unit of the enterprise. All data entered in the SWOT matrix must be confirmed by the available facts or the results of previous research activities.

It is absolutely unacceptable to use lengthy formulations or the possibility of its double interpretation. The more specifically the factor is formulated, the more clear will be its influence in the future on the activities of the company as a whole. And accordingly, the results obtained after the completion of the analysis will be of the greatest value.

Weaknesses of SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is just a simple tool for organizing information. This marketing procedure does not provide any specific answers or clear recommendations. It only helps to more adequately assess the main factors and, with a certain degree of probability, predict the occurrence of certain events. Formulating any recommendations based on the data received - this procedure is already within the competence of the analyst.

Moreover, the apparent simplicity of this strategic analysis very deceptive. The veracity of the result, and, accordingly, the development of further transformations are highly dependent on the completeness and quality of the information provided. To really get the most real data will require either the participation of an expert who can evaluate Current state and the likely path forward for the market, or it will take a very painstaking work to collect and then analyze the information received in order to achieve this understanding.

Errors that may be made when filling in the matrix table are not detected during the analysis. Therefore, the addition of an extra factor or, on the contrary, the loss of an important one or other inaccuracies lead to an erroneous conclusion, and hence an incorrect development of a further strategy.

SWOT analysis example

The analysis example shown is for demonstration purposes only. It shows the entire sequence of steps that will help you perform a SWOT analysis.

Determination of strengths / weaknesses (sides)

First of all, analyze all possible options. Each of the directions should contain at least 3 parameters that helped to assess the competitiveness of the business.

For example, let's take such a direction as "the appearance of the product." To analyze it, you will need to answer questions such as:

how much better/worse is the appearance of the packaging than the competing company;
convenience of packing in comparison with a competing company is better/worse;
how much better/worse the package design is compared to a competitor, etc.

We check the importance of identified strengths/weaknesses

Not the entire list from the first paragraph will be required to fill in the matrix. Now you should exclude minor items. To choose the right parameters, you should evaluate the impact of each in terms of potential customer satisfaction, as well as the profit generated.

The results of such a check will help to exclude parameters that play a minor role. The final rating of the microenvironment will be fully prepared.

Identifying likely growth paths

At this stage, you will need to write potential options that can . Two questions will help you with this:

how the company can increase the level of sales;
What are the ways to reduce production costs?

Make up full list opportunities to help grow your business. The following options are examples:

new sales territory;
expansion of the range;
influx of new consumers, etc.

Next, an assessment is made, and opportunities that do not have a decisive impact on profits and customer satisfaction are excluded. Having fully analyzed the entire list received, we cross out opportunities that do not have a strong impact on profits and customer satisfaction.

Identifying Potential Threats

This section should list options for potential threats. For example, why customers may refuse to purchase an enterprise product:

change in habitual lifestyle;
decrease in the income level of the population;
changed requirements for product quality, etc.

Then we exclude threats that do not threaten the development of the enterprise over the next 5 years.

Filling the matrix

Now that all the data has been received, we fill in the standard template. At the same time, the rating of all indicators is necessarily preserved. Further, based on the SWOT information, recommendations are made for the further development of the enterprise.

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Accordingly, the question “how to do a SWOT analysis” is of particular importance in the life of an entrepreneur. It is about how to do a SWOT analysis that we will talk today. Rather, we will develop such a step-by-step instruction - a questionnaire, after which the same question () will be permanently closed for you.

First, let's look at what a SWOT analysis is (I apologize in advance to those for whom this is superfluous). SWOT analysis is a planning tool and four comparative business elements. These elements are: Strengths (strengths), Weaknesses (weaknesses), Opportunities (opportunities) and Threats (threats). A properly done SWOT analysis gives an entrepreneur a huge amount of useful information necessary for the adoption right business solutions.

Learning to do swot analysis

SWOT analysis - 4-step instruction

For greater clarity, we will divide the SWOT analysis process into steps, each of which is represented by several questions. The answers to these questions are, in fact, the process of conducting a SWOT analysis. So.

Step 1 — Scanning the Business Environment

In this step, looking at our business environment, we must identify the factors that affect or may affect our business. All factors can be divided into internal and external. To determine these factors, answer the following questions:

1. What legal factors (laws and other regulations) affect (or may affect) my business?

2. What environmental factors affect (or could affect) my business?

3. What political factors influence (or can influence) my business?

4. What economic factors affect (or could affect) my business?

5. What geographic factors affect (or could affect) my business?

6. What social factors influence (or can influence) my business?

7. What technology factors affect (or could affect) my business?

8. What cultural factors influence (or can influence) my business?

9. What market factors affect (or could affect) my business?

The answers to the first 9 questions give you information about external factors, i.e., about the impacts on your business that are in your environment, regardless of the existence of your business. All these questions, one way or another, are worth asking yourself in order to fully understand what can have any impact on your business. Of course, different factors will have a different impact in different business areas, but that's exactly what you'll understand by answering these questions.

10. Does (or could) my business be affected by competition?

11. Does (or can influence) my business the factor of management and business management?

12. Does the chosen business strategy influence (or can influence) my business factor?

13. Does (or can influence) my business the business structure factor?

14. Does (or can influence) my business factor employees?

15. Does (or can influence) my business factor affect my business goals?

16. Does (or can influence) my business the factor of leadership?

17. Does (or can it) affect my business the operational management factor?

18. Does (or can) technology affect my business in business?

The answers to questions 10 to 18 will give you information about how the factors associated with the entry of your business into the market will have in general. The list may not be exhaustive, much depends on the field of activity, but these are the main points.

And so, having answered the above questions, you will have an almost complete set of factors on which your business depends to one degree or another. Then you should analyze them and draw the right conclusions for yourself. In this regard, we proceed to the next step of our instructions on how to do a SWOT analysis.

Step 2. Analysis of the business environment

In this step of the SWOT analysis, we must analyze in more detail all the factors listed above and understand what they actually represent for us and our business. Let's do this, as you can guess, in a few questions. Here they are:

19. What legal factors for our business can be a threat, and what an opportunity?

20. What political factors for our business can be a threat, and what an opportunity?