tools & methods for analyzing your business

Copyright 2021 Manuel Palachuk International

Tools & Methods for Analyzing Your Business

Brought to you by: Manuel Palachuk International

Brought to you by: Manuel Palachuk International


Copyright © 2021 by Manuel Palachuk International. All rights reserved. You are welcome to print a copy of this document for your personal use. Other than that, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the author. Requests to the author and publisher for permission should be addressed to the following email: [email protected] Limit of liability/disclaimer of warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this guide and workbook, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, promoters, or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. P.S. You may find links contained herein that are affiliate links (meaning that, at no extra cost to you, I may make a commission if you decide to purchase one of the linked items) and partner links (meaning that the link points to some form of content I believe will be relevant or of use to you that is provided by one of my many strategic partners).


Business Value Aspects Before we begin discussing the SWOT Analysis, we must determine the business functions we will be evaluating. Therefore, I would like to introduce the concise list of persistent aspects of any business that will be referenced throughout the remainder of this text. These aspects are persistent because they are derived from the common and ever-present activities and functions of any valid and healthy business. There are exactly ten business Value Aspects:

• Communications & Collaboration • Finance & Accounting • Human Resources • Marketing • Organization Infrastructure • Procurement & Logistics • Production Operations • Research & Development • Sales • Service Delivery


SWOT Analysis Now we come to what may very well be the most powerful tool for the analysis of your organization as a whole or your business as an endeavor. Much of my philosophy in Getting To The Next Level® relies on obtaining the most accurate and detailed information possible about every aspect or element of the organization. This highly valuable information is the fodder for all discussions and planning of the business roadmap and strategy. When properly executed, the SWOT Analysis is exactly what will yield the most valuable information you need to get to the next level. I will offer only a quick note on the origin and history of the SWOT Analysis. I don’t believe there is a definitive origin for this tool, and I admittedly did not spend much time looking. What matters to me is that it is internationally recognized and its history can easily be traced back to the 1950s. It is still highly utilized today and for our purposes, it is the definitive tool for kicking off your overall Business Strategy development campaign. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The analysis process seeks to identify and categorize the forces and factors of each of the SWOT attributes into Positive or Negative force and either Internal or External factors. Like any other analysis framework or model, it requires you to ask the right questions to illicit useful responses. The analysis will only be as good as the questions posed and the answers received. One of the features that makes this model so easy to apply is that the questions and the reasonable expectations of possible answers to those questions are conveniently embedded in the model itself (see the figure below).


Strengths For the organization, these are the Internal Factors throughout all business functions across all business aspects which directly or indirectly have potential to add value to your products and services, thereby establishing or strengthening your competitive advantage. These are what you capitalize on when developing your Business Strategy. When applying the analysis to other subjects, consider what internal factors and characteristics – tangible or intangible – are to be evaluated. Look for competencies and capabilities of the specific subject. Weaknesses For the organization, these are the Internal Factors throughout all business functions across all business aspects which directly or indirectly have potential to decrease value of your products and services, thereby diminishing or weakening your competitive advantage. These are what you seek to negate, eliminate, or possibly strengthen when developing your Business Strategy. When applying the analysis to other subjects, consider what internal factors and characteristics – tangible or intangible – are to be evaluated. Look for competencies and capabilities of the specific subject. Opportunities For the organization, these are the External Factors throughout the entire Environment, Industry, and Market which, if capitalized on, directly or indirectly have potential to add value to your products and services, thereby establishing or strengthening your competitive advantage. These are what you seek to capitalize on when developing your Business Strategy. When applying the analysis to other subjects, consider what external characteristics and factors – tangible or intangible – are to be evaluated. Look at position, finance, time, energy, inclination, and resource requirements of the specific subject. Threats For the organization, these are the External Factors throughout the entire Environment, Industry, and Market which, if not protected against, directly or indirectly have potential to decrease value to your products and services, thereby diminishing or weakening your competitive advantage. These are what you seek to negate, eliminate, or possibly weaken when developing your Business Strategy. When applying the analysis to other subjects, consider what external characteristics and factors – tangible or intangible – are to be evaluated. Look at position, finance, time, energy, inclination, and resource requirements of the specific subject. Internal and External The Factor of Internal versus External is always relative to the subject of the analysis. You have control over your Internal Factors but not over your External Factors. An organization would have Strengths and Weaknesses because of its structure, core competencies, or financial situation. The organization would seek to protect itself from Threats and capitalize on Opportunities in the industry or market it operates within. An individual would likewise have Strengths and Weaknesses as a result of their education, training, and retained knowledge. They would also seek to capitalize on Opportunities presented and threats realized in the work market or the organization itself.


You would not attempt to apply these Factors to the wrong perspective. That is to say, even though you see the new employee as Strength because of their potential if properly trained, this does not create an Opportunity on your part. The Opportunity is their Opportunity realized as External to themselves. Likewise, you would not consider a disgruntled employee as a Threat inside the company to be dealt with in a long-term strategy. They themselves are a Weakness inside the organization and would be dealt with in a short-term HR strategy. Be careful not to create new dimensions and increase the depth of complexity by pointing Internal Factors to the outside or External Factors to the inside. Positive (Favorable) and Negative (Unfavorable) The Forces of Positive and Negative are pretty straightforward. If it helps establish or strengthen your market position, your value to clients, or your competitive advantage or it helps further your strategy, it is a Positive Force. Anything contrary is Negative. The relative strength of the Force must also be considered in evaluation. It should not be underestimated and should not be blown out of proportion. Quantify everything possible and if you cannot, consider performing a Gap Analysis for further enlightenment. Application It should be obvious from the list of Forces and Factors that there is a list of questions to be asked for any element or aspect under scrutiny. Example: What Opportunities exist here? Are the Factors of this Opportunity Internal or External? What are the Positive and Negative Forces involved? The process repeats for Strengths Weaknesses and Threats. The SWOT Analysis provides a structured method for evaluating important aspects and elements of nearly anything you can present. It creates the important information you need to make quality decisions about positions, situations, directions, and strategy. It is most beneficial and revealing when used in a collaborative environment engaging the entire organization, management, team, or department. The SWOT Analysis can and should be utilized to explore:

• New solutions to problems (Pain points) • Barriers that limit goals or objectives (Road blocks) • The Levels of the Pyramid of Purpose and Value • Core Competencies • Management Functions • Market Competition • Marketing Strategy • Elements of the Value Chain • Ten business Value Aspects • Business Feasibility Dimensions • Business Strategy • Projects • People and the People Process • Ventures and Endeavors


Matching and Converting Forces and Factors In the evaluation of the results of the SWOT and the development of strategies, look for scenarios where Matching or Converting Forces and Factors help define or enhance a competitive advantage. Matching is simply identifying opportunities that can be matched with clear Strengths. You should also look out for compound Forces and Factors, such as Threats that Match with a Weakness to create a significant competitive disadvantage. Converting means looking for scenarios where a Weakness or Threat can be turned around into a Strength or Opportunity or at least negated. The possibilities for Matching and Converting are countless and only limited by your comprehension of all that is being analyzed and evaluated. Roadmap & Strategy The ultimate goal of performing the SWOT Analysis is to feed this highly valuable information into your Roadmap & Strategy processes. Too many organizations do not perform real intrusive, in-depth studies of their organization until it is sick or failing and they are forced to by those brought on or in to save it. This tool should be treated as an annual health check, if not quarterly to some extent. You should be using it when building your marketing strategy and when developing new products. If the use of this one tool even once could gain you a competitive advantage, why wouldn’t you use it? In both Chapters 11 and 12—Business Strategy Meets Agile Execution and Case Study & Example— of the book Getting To The Next Level®, the SWOT Analysis is the tool of primary focus for getting the entire Roadmap & Strategy process rolling. Look to these chapters for specific examples of identifying and addressing SWOT results. How to Proceed Step through each remaining page of this workbook and perform a true eyes-fully-opened introspective of your business. Think of it as if you were an independent third party doing the evaluation. This means remove the emotion you feel around any particular subject and suppress the endearment you feel to the people, customers, and employees. See the business as it is – a machine to be finely tuned. What needs to be addressed? List as many items as you feel are relevant and use extra pages where necessary, including pages for the quality narrative required to understand the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, or Threat you’re indicating.


Communications & Collaboration

Strength (Positive & Internal Factor) • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Weakness (Negative & Internal Factor) • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Opportunity (Positive & External Factor) • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Threat (Negative & External Factor) • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ • ___________________________________________________________________________________________________


Finance & Accounting






Human Resources






Marketing






Organization Infrastructure






Procurement & Logistics






Production Operations






Research & Development






Sales






Service Delivery






NOTES

When it comes to developing your business strategy, there’s nothing less than your entire business at risk. Reach out to me if you need help getting to the next level.

Want to learn more about developing business strategy?

Check out my book, Getting To The Next Level.

https://manuelpalachuk.com/engage/how-it-works/

https://manuelpalachuk.com/engage/how-it-works/

https://manuelpalachuk.com/resources/the-book/




Meet Manuel

About the Author

Manuel is the coach that will take you to the gym, not just send you there. He is the author of the book Getting To The Next Level: A Blueprint For Taking You And Your Business To The Top. He has over 30 years of business, management, and training experience in the computer and electronics industries.

Manuel has owned several successful businesses, managed several successful IT and MSP service companies, and coached or mentored many more around the world. He is a thought leader on Agile as applied to Business Strategy and Service Delivery processes.

Manuel is also a well-known author, speaker, and trainer on these subjects at industry conferences and in the IT consulting community for Small and Medium-sized Businesses. He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering Technology and Automated Manufacturing Technology.

Meet Manuel Palachuk

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