Dear Fátima,

The problem with the SWOT analysis is that it is very difficult to do a proper analysis. It is not only the identification of a number of internal and external factors (which does not always identify the nature of the choices of these particular factors), it is very rare to find a SWOT analysis with an impact matrix.

It is even rarer to find this matrix of impacts (factors vs. dimensions) due to its probability of occurrence within the time horizon appropriate to the research object. Because, ultimately, the SWOT analysis is instrumental in the strategies we can identify for each quadrant.

Of course, doing a SWOT analysis with no impact matrix and no probability weighting makes the analysis too generic and subjective that serves only virtually any purpose to keep in mind.

My best

Sérgio

I think that a large corporation should employ several different forms of analysis.  SWOT is certainly one of them, but as Sérgio said, the participants must be honest with themselves and analyze objectively.

Hi,

Yes SWOT is good tool for assessment. But need to do it with clear information and deeper insights otherwise it will be just a list. And it should be combined with other internal assessment tools and business intelligence to complement the strategy.

Kind regards

SWOT is a good assessing tool. However, Kotler and Kartajaya (2000) prefer a reverse of SWOT analysis, namely: threats-opportunities-weakness-strengths. This is because TOWS analysis starts with an outside-in perspective, whereas SWOT analysis uses an inside-out perspective. An inside-out perspective tends not to consider customers’ wants or competitors’ advantages. Furthermore, TOWS is used because changes occur so rapidly that a particular advantage can be rendered meaningless in a very short period of time. Rapid changes often become threats to a company’s survival, though they could also be viewed as opportunities (Kotler and Kartajaya, 2000, pp. 98-99). 

• Kotler, P. and Kartajaya, H. (2000) Repositioning Asia: From Bubble to Sustainable Economy, John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd, Singapore. 

Im really delighted to read all these beautiful information, each one of you added a new information that I needed, I want you all to check this link video were a marketing expert in this year 2017 came up with a new method called AIMS and tell me what do you think of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DlwiVdqt0g

Thank you & Best Regards

Hi Fatima,

Thanks for sharing the video. I think SWOT and AIMS (the new method in the video) are fundamentally different in terms of their goal. SWOT focuses more on the possibility of achieving certain organizational objective and AIMS talks about market segmentation. Also, it seems to me that a flow chart would suit AIMS better than a matrix simply because analyzing product attributes, the potential impact on customers, finding the market, and finally forming a target market strategy sounds a step-by-step procedure. 

So back to your original question, whether SWOT is the best marketing assessment tool, I would say that depends on your purpose.

Thanks. 

Thank you Mrs. Ma, your answer is really helpful regarding the AIMS purpose, am sure if AIMS method is applied in several corporations it might be a really affective assessment tool, its always better to combine several tools togather to reach the desired goal, in my opinion no tool replaces another unless it governs the pervious tool and adds extra dimensions that can be really affective. 

Salam sis Fatima;

Thank you for your question and video. In fact SWOT analysis and AIMS are utilized for different purpose. These 2 tools can be used hand in hand. There is no tools can  fit all situations since every tool is design uniquely in certain condition.

SWOT is  generally used for organization on how to achieve the vision. AIMS is for marketing  oriented; from attribute -> Impact -> Market -> Strategy. Basically it is  how the  organization strategize on how to bring their product/service to the chosen target market.

From there, we have to consider our available resources (funding, material, human capital) in order to suits our strategy. If it is not balanced between resources and our marketing objective, we have to restrategize. 

Personally, I think the biggest problem in SWOT is the external factors, the right method is to develop the SW mainly from the value proposal and the value chain. If you use the five forces of Micheal Porter to develop your criteria about the environment (OT) well, you should be using the tool efficiently. In practice PEST and STEEP never worked for us. Instead, in our company we noticed that we are getting more accurate results from SPACE matrix. It is a method that was mentioned for the first time by Alan Rowe and Richard Mason in Strategic Management & Business Policy: A Methodological Approach in 1982. Check it out.

Sometimes you need to do the  SWOT Analysis. It is a great way to guide business-strategy meetings. It can be very powerful to have everyone in the room to discuss the core strengths and weaknesses of the company and then move from there to defining the opportunities and threats, and finally to brainstorming ideas. Often the SWOT analysis that you envision before the session changes throughout to reflect factors you were unaware of and would never have captured if not for the group’s input.

Hi Fatima,

I see you have already had some good responses to your question. I hope mine helps, too.

SWOT analysis is most definitely not a substitute to PEST, etc, it is complementary to it and an important addition. You can think of PEST and similar environmental analysis approaches as a means of identifying key factors affecting the business/organisation. SWOT is about making sense of these factors. To me, whether you use SWOT or TOWS, as suggested in another reply to your question, does not actually matter - it is not about prioritising the order of the SWOT/TOWS elements as such. The most significant variables are a function of what is happening to the organisation at the time.

(By the way, my preference is not to use PEST, PESTLE, STEEPLE but, rather to use PRESTCOM which identifies in its broader range of categories more important environmental factors - POLITICAL, REGULATORY (which is broader than just legal in that it highlights other regulatory impinging elements and not just the legally imposed ones), ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, TECHNOLOGICAL, COMPETITIVE, ORGANISATIONAL and MARKET. No need for a further heading of 'Environmental' because these factors should be encompassed as part of the other headings. To say, for example, Green issues began the question of, "what aspects of green issues are relevant?" and these can be identified under the relevant Economic or Social or Political or whatever headings.)

All of this analysis can then be used as a basis for constructing the SWOT analysis in that the elements identified in PEST, PRESTCOM or other (chose your favourite approach, but at least PRESTCOM highlights the Organisation as part of the analysis and this is needed for the Strengths and Weaknesses part of the exercise) can then be assessed in terms of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Simply put, SWOT is an extension of the analysis that starts out with PEST, etc.

You may want to look at the paper in the link which provides further discussion of SWOT and how to improve it.

Best wishes

Article What's SWOT in strategic analysis?

Thank you all for these kind educating replies, really appretiated

Thank you our dear Professor Khodr Addam,

& Dr.David Pickson thank you aLot for sharing this article, Ill defenitly read it, you provided me by what I was waiting to know.

Best Regards

Dear Fatima:

                       I use and teach SWOT exactly as Mr. Pickton says, that is to say that SWOT is rather a form of classifying the different things that happen both outside and inside an organization.

                       However, I´m not a marketing expert, I use it in strategy. In my mind, a good strategic analysis, the first step in strategy is this: first the external factors, divided in Macro (PEST) and then Micro (5 Porter´s forces). Afterwards, the internal factors, which can be analyzed using Porter´s value chain. Then, with Swot, you classify all these things.

                       Bear in mind two things, SWOT is rather old. Also, there are factors that can be both positive and negative, depending on how you think. So, the best way to make a good analysis is to interchange ideas with colleagues to confirm or to change your points of view.

Regards

Gustavo Concari

Hi:

Your question seems inclined to "marketing".  I teach my students a combination of SWOT, 5C's, and Porter's Five forces.

Hi:

I teach marketing management and I concur with Gustavo Concari answer.

Hi: Spanish is my native language.

Solo agregar a las respuestas recibidas que cuando hablamos de Marketing debemos sumar otras consideraciones. El tipo y ciclo de vida del producto y el sector industrial en cual compite y finalmente, tener en cuenta que las decisiones siempre se realizaran en un escenario de riesgo. 

SWOT analysis is connected with strategic plans. It is one of the used marketing assessment method for a corporation.

Dear Fatima,

I teach Strategic Management & Marketing for Shipping companies and I agree with David Pickton.

Best Regards

Katerina

Dear Fatima,

In my opinion regardless the tool used (SWOT, PEST, etc.) it is my experience that people often are happy with the results of the analysis they have done with the tool but stop the work there. The interesting part starts when you draw conclusions on the results given by the tool and starting to figure out what would be the appropriate plans for action to be taken based on the results.

Best regards

Timo

In fact, I associate SWOT with Scenario Planning and the BCG Matrix, and I seek to extract the best strategies that are common to these tools. For unstable environments and long-term resource allocation, the risk tends to be lower.

Thank you all.

Combination of SWOT, PESTLE and Porter's 5 forces  analysis would provide the most exact research and precise result.

Dear Fatima,

I suggest, combination methods not only SWAT. You can make SWOT, PESTLE and Porter's Five forces analysis.

This combination methods can give provide the more exact result.

Regards

I like SWOT because it is easy to understand and hence use.  If a student gets his first job and suggests another method, his boss may not understand what he is doing.  In that case s/he has 2 problems - his boss and the results.  Better to eliminate the first problem and use SWOT because his boss will understand it.

Almost every SWOT presentation has a problem  the 'O'.  Opportunity is something external to the organization.  It is almost always market-related.  I have seen very few that were not actually tactics for going after an opportunity. 

For example, my school recently described as an Opportunity our development of a Ms in Taxation.  That is not an Opportunity.  That is a tactic for going after the Opportunity which is the large number of students who want the additional 26 credit hours after receiving their BA degree (124 hours) before sitting for the CPA exam (150 hours).

This is not trivial.  Opportunities are critical to uncover.  Probably harder to discover than the other elements of the SWOT.

My students always have trouble identifying "W". Companies also have a problem with this. Why? Because it is difficult for us to see and often we do not want to see weaknesses. Identifying as many of the weaknesses as possible gives us the opportunity to work on them in the near future to reduce or eliminate them.

you are totally right Edyta, thats why a questionnare and intreviews must be done with each employee of the corporation, since some of the employess can have a point in regards to the coporation internal weaknesses that no body have realized from the otherstaff no matter what is his position, some people can really surprise you by their ideas and suggestions and even the ways to improve them.

I agree completely.  Corporations usually "drink their won kool-aid" so they do not understand their weaknesses.  Weaknesses are usually pretty easy though - what is the organization's core competencies?  How do they translate to continuing profitable business with their profitable customers (I am a B2B person) That will tell them the strengths and weaknesses.

When talking about the ability of the company to success in marketing and new product development projects I recommend the customer value proposition of the CANVAS model. Is a preliminary and pretty qualitative tool to discuss and to identify if the "pain relievers" or "gains accelerators" of our value proposition are strong enough to fulfill customer expectations. If we find "blanks" is a first indication of potential weaknesses. Although it does not replace SWOT, I think is a good complement to the sometimes hard and formal discipline of SWOT and PESTLE. 

I still think the 'best method' is the one that is easily understandable.  However each industry has its own shibboleths.

in my opinion, SWOT analysis is time consuming since you need to focus and work on your threats and weaknesses where you have to turne them in to strengths and opportunities.

so i beleive it is better to focus only on your strengths and make them even stronger, plus exploit opportunities, and use time to find more and more opportunities. 

Article Renewable Energy with Volatile Prices: Why NPV Fails to Tell...

SWOT and most alphabet soup tools have their place in performing initial analysis that managers may find useful. One serious drawback is in how the inputs are made, that tends to become too generic as to make any "insights" too general. In this case, a static and generic view of the world may make these tools lose their ability to provide the insights that aid managers to come with unique course of actions to gain competitive edge.

In dynamic markets, such tools tend to focus on static views of a "reality" conceived by managers. However, a volatile world does not all of sudden become static just because a manager assumes it is more predictable than it really is. For this reason, as shown in the attached paper, I tend to focus on how volatilities could change the relative advantages of firms. In my new book - Energy Investments: An adaptive approach to profiting from uncertainties - I have explored this topic farther and suggested a number of ways to explicitly examine the impact of volatilities on our perception of risks or opportunities that firms face under dynamic markets.

Good question and informative responses. Thanks!

SWOT analysis has an important place in marketing analysis as well as strategic marketing. From a practical point of view, I can also recommend the TOWS matrix, which is a synthesis of SWOT results.

Dear Fatima:

As SWOT analysis questions appear often, I don´t know if I have already answer you, I think I didn´t.

SWOT analysis was first written and thought as a strategic analysis tool, not a marketing one. That was done before Porter, so probably it was in the late sixties or seventies. It was thought and developed during the cold war, that may be an explanation of why it puts everything in a "black or white" style; something that makes it easier to understand than to use, at least for myself.

So, answering your question, SWOT is not comparable to STEEPLE or to PESTL, since the laters are tools for analyzing external factors only, while SWOT analysis "crosses" internal and external factors. The strengths and weaknesses are internal, the opportunities and threats are external. So, STEEPLE and PESTL would rather help you find the opportunities and threats only.

For the internal analysis you could use Porter value chain, although there may be more modern tools.

After using all these (external factors with STEEPLE and 5 forces; internal with value chain), then you can use SWOT and thus have a complete analysis of the situation and what is more important, an idea of the futurre moves you may be able to follow.

Best regards

Gustavo Concari