If a business is planning a new
development or
implementation, it may well do a SWOT analysis. It can also be used to evaluate the performance of existing departments or branches of the business. This stands for, and involves the analysis of:
Strengths.
Weaknesses.
Opportunities.
Threats.
Strengths
Firstly, what's
good about this new development? How does it achieve the goal it's supposed to achieve? It's nessecary to note down exactly what you want the development to achieve, so it can be balanced against the negative categories.
Weaknesses
Are there any potential
problems with the plan? Now's the time to think about how they can be solved - and
if they can be solved.
Opportunities
What opportunities does this development offer the business to grow in this area in the
future? If the
threats below are high, you're going to want lots of opportunity as well.
Threats
Are there any outside influences that could be a threat to the development? Are the opportunities and strengths enough to make the risk worthwhile?