A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective.

Importance of SWOT analysis lies in its ability to help clarify and summarise the key issues and opportunities facing a business.

The main advantage of SWOT analysis are that it’s simple and only cost’s time to do.

Helps in generating new ideas as how a company can use a particular strength to defend against threat in the market.

SWOT is a simple list and not critically presented.

A SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or in a business venture.

The SWOT analysis is an excellent tool in organizing information and presenting solutions, identifying roadblocks and emphasizing opportunities.

SWOT is meant to be used during the proposal stage of strategic planning. It acts as a precursor to any sort of company action.

Exploring avenues for new initiativesMaking decisions about execution strategies

for a new policy Identifying possible areas for change in a

programRefining and redirecting efforts mid-plan.

SWOT is a good hard look at

1) company (or proposed venture) and identify what it does

well or poorly relative to other competitors, and

2) factors or events that occur outside of the company and how

they may positively or negatively affect its profitability or

survival.

This analysis leads to business awareness

It’s the cornerstone of any successful strategic plan,

A SWOT accomplishes this in four straight-forward steps that

all the business owners can understand.

Financial resources, such as funding, sources of income and investment opportunities.

Physical resources, such as your company’s location, facilities and equipment.

Human resources, such as employees, volunteers and target audiences.

Current processes, such as employee programs, department hierarchies and software systems.

When it comes to listing strengths and weaknesses, individuals shouldn’t try to sugarcoat or glaze over inherent weaknesses or strengths. Identifying factors both good and bad is important in creating a thorough SWOT analysis.

Every company, organization and individual is influenced and affected by external forces. Whether connected directly or indirectly to an opportunity or threat, each of these factors is important to take note of and document. External factors typically reference things you or your company does not control, such as:

Market trends, such as new products and technology or shifts in audience needs.

Economic trends, such as local, national and international financial trends.

Funding, such as donations, legislature and other foundations.

Demographics, such as a target audience’s age, race, gender and culture.

Macroeconomic matters Technological change Legislation Socio-cultural changes Changes in the marketplace or in competitive position.

The results are often presented in the form of a matrix.

Reputation in marketplace Expertise at partner level in HRM consultancy Broad scope of communication sciences Good international links even in small fields (in a Finnish context) High social significance, in the best interests of Finnish society Multidisciplinary and international research teams very common Many examples of high-quality research and top researchers Quick to respond to societal and cultural research issues Previous networking activities good foundation for national

cooperation Active international mobility and contacts to international

organizations Good library and information services at universities Good equipment base Status as a scientific discipline

Shortage of consultants at operating level rather than partner level Unable to deal with multi-disciplinary assignments because of size or lack

of ability Staff restructurings (in particular reductions in support staff) at universities

take time away from research Unclear distribution of research between universities and polytechnics Research directions too influenced by how research funding is allocated Contemporary (e.g. technology-oriented) research projects and studies too

focused on case studies Research insufficiently targeted at theory formation Need for PhDs in the field not recognized outside the universities Currently no permanent forum for national cooperation

Identified market for consultancy in areas other than HRM Large university units create new kinds of research combinations New regional opportunities in collaborations between other companies. New kinds of innovative cooperation models with other disciplines Interdisciplinary coordination, in particular in utilization and

development of infrastructure Highlighting broad scope in international contexts, applying it to

international research projects Rapid internationalization Open access publishing Identification of new research interfaces

Large consultancies operating at a minor level Other small consultancies looking to invade the marketplace Relying on skewed publication and quality indicators Ability to respond to the challenges Finding talented and motivated graduate students Requirement of mobility viewed as an intrinsic value; importance of high-

quality work environments – whether domestic or foreign – not sufficiently emphasized Scarce university resources Rising service fees for material acquisition and limited availability of

material due to a lack of Resources in archives services and libraries