1. 05 October 2009 Heike Thomsen, BEUC SWOT Analysis - Emphasis on your organisation -

2. SWOT ???

3. SWOT can be used for... o Workshop sessions (take stock on how your organisation or team is doing) o Brainstorm meetings o Problem solving o Planning – helps to define the strategic issues o Product evaluation o Competitor evaluation o As a guideline for action o Great tool to be use with PEST, PESTLE

4.  Credited to Albert Humphrey who developed it in the 1960s using data from top companies.  Classic strategic planning method to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats in a project or business venture.  For a particular objective, it identifies internal and external factors favourable or unfavourable to achieving that objective (situational analysis tool).

5. Threats Weaknesses Opportunities Strengths TO WS HelpfulHarmful ExternalExternal InternalInternal

6. Strengths: internal attributes of the person or company that are helpful to achieving the objective. Weaknesses: internal attributes of the person or company that are harmful to achieving the objective. Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective. Threats: external conditions which could do damage to the business‘s performance.

7.  Should be part of overall strategy to analyze business and its potential.  SWOT analysis is the starting point of strategic planning. It helps to focus on key issues.  Objective-driven and particularly helpful in identifying areas for development.  SWOT is a process to identify where you are strong and where you are vulnerable, where you should defend and attack. The result of the process is a Plan of Action.

8. 1.Define an attainable desired end state or objective to be achieved in a specific point in time (long-tem/short-term) >> goals you want to achieve / how you are going to reach them 2. List all strengths and weaknesses, Opportunıtıes and Threats - PEST helps identify factors. 3. Ranking 5 much better/4 better/3 same/2 worse/1 much worse Ignore all aspects with a 3 – neither strength nor weakness 3. Put areas in relation to each other 4. Develop strategies 5. Put into action SWOT steps

9. SWOT Every SWOT process should focus on the internal strengths and weaknesses of you (as a leader), your staff, your products, and your business. Look at external opportunities and threats that may have an impact on your business, such as market and consumer trends, changes in technology, legislation, and financial issues.

10. Threats Weaknesses Opportunities Strengths T O W S Helpful Harmful InternalInternal ExternalExternal

11. Decide whether the objective is attainable given the SWOT: > Select different objective & repeat process > SWOT results may help defining possible strategies by answering following questions: How can I use and capitalize on each strength? How can I improve or stop each weakness? How can I exploit and benefit from each opportunity? How can I limit or counter each threat potential effect? Use of SWOT: Generating strategies NO YES

12. SO strategies use internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities WO strategies improving internal weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities ST strategies use strengths to avoid or reduce the impact of external threats WT strategies defensive tactics directed to reduce internal weaknesses & avoid external threats Strategies Weaknesses Opportunities Strengths Threats Strategy - SO Strategy - WO Strategy - WT Strategy - ST

13. Rules Be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of your organisation Distinguish between where organisation is today and where it could be in future Be specific, avoid grey areas Always analyze in relation to your competition, i.e. better than or worse than your competition Keep your SWOT short and simple Avoid complexity and over analysis

14. Risks: 1. Method - simple tool BUT risk of compiling lists rather than think about what is actually important in achieving objectives. 2. Uncritical: Lists uncritical and w/o prioritisation so that, e.g. weakness may appear to balance strong threats Repeat process: What may represent strengths with respect to our objective may be weakness for another objective.

15. Now it’s up to you….

16. SWOT Case studies TO WS HelpfulHarmful InternalInternal ExternalExternal