Decision & Strategy

10-10-10 Meeting Model

Structure 30-minute meetings into focused parts for better feedback.

OODA Loop

To make effective decisions quickly in rapidly changing situations.

SWOT Analysis: From List-Making to Strategy

Evaluate internal strengths and weaknesses against external opportunities and threats to identify real strategic choices.

FRAMEWORK CARD

SWOT Analysis

Goal
Reveal strategic fit by aligning internal capabilities with external opportunities and risks.
Best For
Strategic Planning; Personal Development; Project Initiatives

Background

You have likely seen a SWOT analysis on a whiteboard in every meeting room.

Yes, SWOT Analysis is one of the most widely recognized and used business strategic tools in the past decades. Even if you haven’t used it yet, you must have heard about it thousands of times in classes, workshops, or brainstorming sessions.

Let’s dive into what makes SWOT Analysis so powerful and how to apply it effectively.

What is SWOT Analysis

SWOT was developed by Albert Humphrey in the 1960s during his work at the Stanford Research Institute.

It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This framework helps organizations and individuals identify internal factors (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external factors (Opportunities and Threats) to formulate effective strategies.

The essence of SWOT lies in its structured approach to situational analysis:

  • Strengths: What advantages do you or your organization have? (Internal)
  • Weaknesses: Where are the gaps or limitations? (Internal)
  • Opportunities: What external conditions could benefit you? (External)
  • Threats: What external conditions could harm you? (External)

Whether you're crafting a business strategy, evaluating a project, or planning your personal growth, SWOT Analysis provides the clarity you need to succeed.

Defining Key Factors in Each Area

Defining Key Factors in Each Area

Many resources explain what SWOT is, but the real challenge lies in correctly identifying the factors within each quadrant.

Here are some practical examples to help you define each area. You can definitely use this as a checklist while conducting SWOT analysis, it will help you identify the key areas, and most importantly, prevent missing

SWOT Strengths Considerations

  • Capabilities
  • Competitive advantage
  • Resources, assets and people
  • Experience, knowledge and data
  • Financial reserves, returns
  • Marketing, reach
  • Innovative aspects
  • Location, geographical
  • Price, value and quality
  • Processes, systems, IT, communications
  • Advantages of proposition

SWOT Weakness Considerations

  • Lack of capabilities
  • Gap in competitive strengths
  • Reputation, presence and reach
  • Timescales, deadlines and pressures
  • Financials
  • Cash flow, cash drain
  • Continuity, supply chain
  • Effects on core activities
  • Reliability of data, plan and project
  • Management cover & succession

SWOT Opportunities Considerations

  • Market developments
  • Industry or lifestyle trends
  • Innovation and technology development
  • Global influences
  • Market dimensions, horizontal, vertical
  • Target markets
  • Geographical import, export
  • Major contracts, tactics and surprises
  • Business/Product development

SWOT Threats Considerations

  • Political and economical effects
  • Legislative effects
  • Environmental effects
  • Competitive intentions
  • Market demand
  • Innovation in technologies, services and ideas
  • New contracts and partners
  • Loss of resources
  • Obstacles to be faced
  • Poor management strategies
  • Economic conditions in domestic and abroad