Task 2 Page 1
C714
Organizational Culture Analysis
Western Governors University
Business Strategy – C714
B1 .
Ev ery co mpan y h as S tre ngt hs, Wea kne sses , O p por tun iti es, and Thr eat s re fer red to as S WOT . U s ing a S WOT
an aly sis hel ps a c ompa ny iden tif y th e t hin gs t hey are go od a t a nd what th ey s hou ld i mpr ove . The func tio n o f a
SWOT ana lysi s i s to lo ok a t a co mpan y’s int ern al/ con t rol lab l e f acto rs and ext ern al/u nco ntr o lla ble fac tor s in ord er to
de vis e a str ate gic pla n fo r f utu re g row th, dev elo pmen t, and suc ces s . I nve s top edi a li ste d t hree ma in t ake away s
re gar din g SW OT anal ysi s: S WOT an aly s is is a me tho d us ed i n s tra teg ic p lan ning th at a lso pr o vid es tool s f or
asses sme nt; Ide ntif yin g k ey s tre ngth s, wea knes ses , op por tuni tie s, and thr eats co ntr ibut es t o f act -bas ed res earc h,
fr esh in sigh ts, and cr eat ive thi nkin g; and SWO T an aly sis wor ks bet ter whe n va rio us o rga niz ational ent iti es o r
pe rsp ect ives ar e fr ee to i ncl ude obj ect ive dat a po int s ra the r t han pre set imp lic atio ns (Gra nt, 202 0).
A com ple te S WOT ana lys is c ont ain s bo th an i nte rna l an aly sis and ex tern al envi ron men tal ana lysi s. Inte rna l
st ren gth s an d w eakn ess es are the thi ngs a comp any can co ntr o l. Whe n an aly zin g a com pany ’s inte rna l or gan iza tion ,
on e s hou ld u se a “g lob al mind -se t” 7(H itt , Ir elan d, & Ho ski sso n, 2 015 ),7me ani ng n ot on the tra diti ons of a s ing le
co unt ry, soc iet y, o r f ram ewor k. The ext erna l o ppor tun iti es a nd thre ats ar e ou tsi de t he con trol of the co mpa ny. The
ex ter nal env iro nmen tal ana lys is h as fou r pa rts : “ s can nin g, m oni tori ng, fo r eca sti ng, and ass ess ing ” 7(Hi tt, Ir elan d, &
Hoski sso n, 2 015 ).7I t is es sen tial to rec ogn ize , ob ser v e, pro ject an d fo res ee effe cts , an d m ake cha nge s to de al w ith
en vir onm enta l c hang es and tre nds . 7
A SWO T a naly sis ca n be con duc ted in 8 b asic st eps. Fi rst , yo u n eed to det ermine the pur pos e of yo ur S WOT
an aly sis , su ch as i den tif ying ne w pr odu ct i dea s o r im pro vin g yo ur curr ent pro ces s. S eco ndl y, e xam ine you r
co mpa ny, ind ust ry, and ma rket , c omp arin g yo ur comp any to you r c omp etit ors . Ne xt, ma ke a li s t o f t he s tre ngth s
wi thi n y o ur bus ines s. The se c oul d be fi nan cia l st abil ity , cu sto mer sat isf acti on, or str ong emp loy ee r ela tio ns. The
fo urt h st ep is to l ist yo u r i nte rna l we akne sse s, t hin gs that pu t yo u b ehi nd y our com pet ito rs o r y our ind ust ry. The n
cr eat e a lis t o f po ssi ble ext ern al o ppo rtu n iti es t hat ha ve p res ente d t hem selv es that yo u mi ght ne ed t o t ake adv ant age
of . N ext is you r li st of p ote nti al o uts ide thr eat s th at migh t c rea te p rob lems fo r yo ur com pany . You m igh t n e ed to g et
ah ead of the se to p rev ent dam age . No w y ou w ant to pri ori tiz e th e mo st cri tic a l i ssue s o n t hese fo ur l ist s. F ina lly ,
de vel op a pl an to a ddr ess the se p rio rit ize d st ren g ths , w e akn ess es, opp ort unities , an d t hre ats to maxi miz e gr owt h a nd
de vel opm ent for you r c omp any (Bu s ine ss Que ensl and , 20 20) .
A SWO T a naly sis is a g rea t wa y t o gu ide bu s ine ss- stra teg y meeti ngs . SW OT anal ysi s pr ovi des inf orm atio n i n
an ea sil y un der sto o d f ormat, all owin g e very one in the ro o m t o d iscu ss the cor e s tren gth s an d w eak ness es of t he
or gan iza tio n an d id ent ify opp ort unities and th rea ts. Th is p owe rfu l to ol lead s t o e asie r b r ain sto rmi ng o f i deas .
So met ime s th e S WOT ana lys i s y ou a nti cip ate bef ore the se ssio n c hang es over ti me to r epr esen t f act ors tha t yo u w ere
un awa re o f a nd woul d n eve r ha ve cau ght if n ot for the gr oup fee dba ck. A corp ora tio n ma y u s e a SW OT f or gen eral
busin ess pla nni ng s ess ion s or fo r a par tic ula r se gmen t s uch as mar keting, man ufa ctu rin g or sal es. In thi s wa y, bef ore
co mmi tti ng t o i t, y ou can see ho w th e o ver all pla n bu ilt fro m t he S WOT ana lys is f ilt ers dow n t o t he s egm ents be low .
A seg men t-sp eci fic SWO T a naly sis , wh ich fee ds int o an ov erall S WOT ana lys is, may al s o o per ate in r eve rse (Gr ant ,
