SWOT analysis has been very powerful and relevant tool to analyze problems in a qualitative manner.

Regards

SWOT analysis has been very powerful and relevant tool to analyze the problems in qualitative manner.

However, SWOC ('C' stands for Challenges) has been more popular than SWOT.

Thank you Sanjay!

Where can I read about SWOC? Do you know any basic articles?

Dear Sanjay!

As far as I understand, "challenges" do not differ in content from "threats". Or these factors have a special meaning?

Challenges may comprise of threats; and 'threats' may be more critical sub-category of 'challenges' category.

Some parallel and deeper questions in the context of strategic planning are:

 1. Does strategic planning sense today?

 2. Does SWOT analysis need in strategic planning today?

SWOT analysis is a generic concept for internal as well as external environmental scanning of an organization. It is applicable to all conditions. In strategic planning point of view, before an organization wants to formulate a good strategy, it has to understand its strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) and should be able to understand opportunities and threats (external factors). The resource-based approach believes that internal factors are more important to consider than that of external factors when the organization wants to formulate a good strategy. Even, the competitive-based approach sees on both sides. To conclude, SWOT remains relevant in today's context but it is a foundation that any organization needs to understand before applying strategies.

What do you think of the prospects of a SWOT analysis in modern conditions?

I believe SWOT still relevant in today's context - just like the older Sun Tzu's Art of War quote "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles..." which is still applicable today among business leaders (see link below):

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2014/05/23/sun-tzus-33-best-pieces-of-leadership-advice/

Is it possible to take into account in this kind of analysis of the dynamics and uncertainty of the external environment?

I think we should take into account of the dynamics & uncertainty of the external environments because change is constant (if we don't change proactively / adjust accordingly we will be irrelevant in the competition) - meaning the SWOT is just a snap shot needs to change from time to time to reflect the latest position we are in & what / how we need to act.  We also need to be mindful how the immediate external threats or opportunities change will also require us to further upgrade our strengths & minimize our weaknesses the soonest possible. 

Dear collegues! 

Many thanks for all for your discussion. It's very important for my researches.

Pavel.

Dear Mario Martínez Avell!

What answers would you give to your questions?

I certainly do not think it is relevant or as comprehensive for today's environment. In fact, I have always thought it was too simplistic, limited and incoherent way of looking at an organization.

As researcher and practitioner, I like to analyze a company or an organization without such limited models, especially given today's complex and dynamic environment.

Dear Pavel:

                  I think that to anwer correctly you question, we should know the type of organization you are dealing with. Why that?. Well, Swot was one of the first steps in strategic planning, that is to say back to the sixties, it is a "pre Porter" frame. As Han Ping Fung says, it is useful as it can be to read Sun Tzu now, but it is old.

                  So if que company has never done nothing in planning and wants to begin, it can be useful. If it works in a rather quit environment, it works. However, in order not to be lost in a sea of weaknesses, strengths, opportunities and threats, try to focus in the more importants one. For instance, think o no more than five or six for each. When doing Swot, it can be a big problem to stay focused.

Regards

Gustavo Concari  

Dear collegues!

What do you think of this abstact in the context of this discussion:

DYNAMIC MODIFICATION OF A SWOT ANALYSIS

Importance. The research focuses on a SWOT analysis as one of the most popular methods for comprehensive and strategic review of business. The SWOT analysis evaluates and substantiates potential strategies a business may choose. The article formulates a hypothesis on that the current business practices require managers using SWOT analysis tools to more thoroughly consider the dynamics of an external and internal business environment, as well as to what extent users are uncertain about the value of those factors.

Methods. When traditional tools of the SWOT analysis are used to identify the most favorable combination of strengths and weaknesses, they will not allow taking the dynamics of this combination into account explicitly. As the article suggests, an entity should employ methodological framework for managing organizational changes in order to carry out a SWOT analysis for purposes of strategic development in modern circumstances. From an information dynamics perspective, an organizational change management subsystem converts into a stochastic monitoring system, i.e. the internal contour of the organizational development management system. As for the methods of a modified SWOT analysis, it represents a calculation of the average rate of changes in the specific combination of strengths and weaknesses as ‘weighted’ with the level of information representation uncertainty.

Results. What makes the proposed approach to evaluating a combination of strengths and weaknesses is the use of a dynamic variable, i.e. the rate of increase or decrease in this combination within the current period of analysis. As its second specific feature, the approach considers an extent of uncertainty in the entity’s understanding (root mean square scatter of experts’ opinions) of the current value of a dynamic variable under study. When the weighted dynamic variables are applied, considering diverging views of experts, it helps top executives concentrate their attention on the most reliable characteristics of changes in an external and internal business environment.

Conclusions and Relevance. I conclude that the application of the proposed approach may demonstrate the highest level of efficiency, if combined with traditional tools of the SWOT analysis and other methods of a modern strategic analysis.

The method SWOT is consistent within periods of financial stability.

It has a subjective load on their indicators.

I am researching about application of methodology of radar chart.

The indicators obtained from this methodology are consistent to make decisions, knowing a decision on an area represented on it has effects on others areas at same time. This effect is relevant to understand company as a set of interdependent actions. Moreover, its indicators are independent, objective and normalization and always are positive.

In this platform you can get this methodology

I hope this opinion can have been useful

SWOT is a very generic framework. And one tent to see it as useless in a more and more complex environment. But still, it builds on elements that are still relevant today.

I mean, in the end it is a decision assistant. It helps you to convert several information of your environment and forces you to understand whether the characteristics of your environment represent opportunities or threats, and if your capabilities and resources fit. I think this is timeless and everyone is doing thinks like this automatically. But it is a framework which people bring together. With the help of the framework they talk about the same think. It enables communication.

The weakness is somewhere else: Where do we have to look and which and how many information do we need to judge if an environment offers threats or opportunities? This is not part of the SWOT. So it’s the question, what the strategist is going to make out of the model. A model does not replace the information you need to fill the model.

Beside this discussion, is quite irrelevant whether the model it’s useful or not FOR US. It’s one of the basic and most widespread models in strategy. Have a look at the study of Strategyzer about the business model canvas. On page 23 you’ll see that among the 1300 BMC users, the SWOT is the second most used management tool. So, it is seen as relevant.

http://blog.strategyzer.com/posts/2015/2/9/why-and-how-organizations-around-the-world-apply-the-business-model-canvas?rq=how%20and%20why

In strategic management I prefer take orientation in ideal systems (Ackoff, 2000); you can focus in your ideal vision not in your restrictions (Weaknesses and Threats). You must be open to different points of view to design the plan. You must be open to different points of view to develop strategic management. As it seems to express Nisrin. In this vein I think is best use a comprehensive methodology to define scenarios, recognize different point of views and do negotiation of desirable and feasible changes. I use Soft Systems Methodology (Checkland &Schooles, 1994), adapted (Martínez, 2005) as a framework to discuss, negotiate and define projects.

The SWOT analysis can be a complementary tool. It is some simplistic as saying Neri Karra but useful.

in my opinion, SWOT is open to interpretation by the user or reader. One persons perceived strength maybe anothers weakness, or it could even be argued to be both!. Context also plays a key role. I believe using a tool such as PESTLE to identify key factors then dealing with them individually on their own merit, instead of labeling them is more important and of more use in real world situations. 

Besides the discussion on SWOT, maybe someone is interested to contribute to an older question on RG "Which business environment analysis frameworks/models do you know?"...

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_business_environment_analysis_frameworks_models_do_you_know

Dear collegues Mario Martínez Avella, Martin Kamprath, Lloyd Ling, Miguel Angel Pérez Benedito, Gustavo Concari, Neri Karra, Nisrin A. Ishak!

Thank you very much for your significant and useful answers and advices.

SWOT is timeless. The  secret is in the people conducting it, not in the technique.

The reliability of SWOT analysis relies on its interpretation (by the people).

Thank you, Alptekin Develi!

I absolutely agree with your opinion that SWOT analysis not useful analysis, unless the results doesn't using for improvement.

Pavel.

 Dear Pavel, successes with your paper

Dear Mario, thank you very much.

I think SWOT analysis is still useful nowadays, but it should be adapted particularly by introducing analysis of strategic capabilities in internal analysis, and completed by Porter's five forces analysis.

Dear colleague, the method SWOP has a subjective load own to its methodology. But when an agent needs making decisions, he needs knowing their general effect as well as a singular effect on each area of management. Moreover, on a period of crisis as the current, how can I measure the future? or which is the actual situation of company in an environment which change day to day?. What is the relevant information to measure a Swop matrix on an interconnected world?.

I think the methodology of radar chart is an alternative tool to take decisions for a company, independently other factors of its environment.

I have uploaded a new manuscript where I explain its explanatory capacity

Best regards

Thank you, Miguel!

Ciertamente me leeré su artículo.

Pavel

Albert S. Humphrey developed the SWOT analysis in the Stanford Research Institute durin the 1960s. There was no theoretical background, no scientfic article was written and it was developed for sonsulting purposes. The consultants use SWOT especially when they analyse the external environment for the strategy process. The practical problem is what to do after SWOT.

 Dear Juha!

I agree. What to do after SWOT. More precisely, during the SWOT. The main task is the formulation of strategy, not analysis for analysis. SWOT is not analitic tool only. It is a formalized meaning procedure for strategic planning.

The SWOT analysis is popular and helpful expert approach used before applying the more sophisticated multiple criteria evaluations to complicated reality. Agree with dr. Nikhnenko. 

SWOT analysis is very useful in administrative strategic planning.

SWOT analysis is a good communication tool that is used in multiple disciplines. It allows to communicate a point of view in a simple way and to engage others on it. Being so simple it also allows for anyone to contribute with inputs. Simple tools are always useful in complex times.

According with Spartak' comment, SWOT is a good tool to support the strategic planning, in general is a good approach to destructure each problem' point internal and external.Its usefulness is in equilbrium with its limit. In the absence of objective indications for its use, how its work (and the real benefit) depends on the capabilities of those who apply. It is also in evidence that using only SWOT is reductive. Using other techniques such as focus groups, and descending, the brainstoarming, the SWOT can bring better outcomes

SWOT analysis is a more famous tool of strategic planning process , the output of SWOT analysis help planners to identify opportunities , threats in the external environment and strengths , weaknesses in the internal environment of the organization . and choose the appropriate strategy which utilizing the strengths to Capturing opportunities , and avoiding weaknesses , and also transferring weaknesses into strengths to achieving strategic objectives.

Dear colleagues Antanas Jono Buracas, Mazhar Ul Haq, Spartak Keremidchiev, Mário Porfírio, Perano Mirko, Mahmoud A. Kamel!

Many thanks for your answers.

Pavel.

SWOT-analysis is too blurry and does not provide accurate confirmation of the responses to specific questions.

So I prefer a quantitative analysis.

Thank you, Anatoliy! Which quantitative analysis do you prefer?

Pavel, I prefer non-parametric methods like DEA or FDH, but sometimes use stochastic analysis methods like OLS or SFA.

Even if SWOT is quite an "old-fashioned" method, I've found it as still useful in my Strategic Decision Making MBA course, but ONLY  IF it summarizes the findings of more specific techniques and frameworks. For instance, for internal analysis, I require my students first to conduct business analysis through the value chain, four generic blocks, and dynamic vs. ordinary capabilities and THEN summarize all the findings in strengths and weaknesses as a part of SWOT. I apply similar logic to the external analysis: my students first conduct three layers of investigation, and only then summarize the findings in opportunities and threats. This makes SWOT quite specific, and quite illustrative.  Надеюсь, это было полезным

If applied properly and thoroughly based on reliable evidence, then I can see no reason to claim it useless. Personally, I prefer to make an additional step after building 2x2 table by trying to match items from different cells of the table. By doing so you can make particular strategic plans e.g. on how to leverage your strengths in order to realize opportunities (if some external event happens).

Julia! Thank you for your answer. It was useful for me. Спасибо.

Igor! Thank you for your answer. Of course, the 2x2 matrix is not the final stage of this analysis. It is just the beginning. Further makes sense to build a strategy on the intersection of factors of external and internal environment. Спасибо.

SAP-LAP by Honorable Professor Sushil may be a better tool as compared to SWOT or SWOC analysis 

Theory would say that the best thing a company can do is use its strengths to benefit from the opportunities or else strenghten it weaknesses in order to benefit form the same. That is to say, the categories (S, W, O, T) are just an intermediate step.

Regards.

Gustavo

I would just  to add, although my previous comments did highlight many faults with SWOT and almost made it seem a waste, I have found myself using it as a starting point to put ideas down for next years sales strategy. So maybe, it is that a good start for producing notes before peer discussion and further analysis is applied to a final document. 

Thank you, Stewart!

It's very important to scan a business environment in every circumstances. SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm's resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. As such, it's instrumental in strategy formulation and selection.