Swot Analysis

A SWOT analysis is an essential tool for business. At its heart, a structure for evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to any business venture. American businessman Albert Humphrey (1926-2005) is often credited for developing the SWOT analysis method in the 1960s, but he himself disavowed such a role. Regardless, SWOT is important for any student or businessperson to identify the factors that may contribute to success or failure in a venture.

Developing a SWOT analysis is vital in providing information for the later steps in achieving a business objective. With information in hand, an individual should be able to use their SWOT to determine if an idea had credibility in the first place. A good SWOT analysis will identify both internal and external factors. The internal factors are the strengths and weaknesses, while the external factors are the opportunities and threats.

SWOT analysis need not be strictly relegated to the business environment. They can be used in nearly any decision-making situation with a clearly stated objective. Individuals may find SWOT useful in their personal lives, and is even used in crisis management. Like any tool, SWOT has its drawbacks as well. By clearly defining the parameters of the objective, it may limit creativity in thinking and brainstorming. In the business world, may prefer the Porter five forces analysis method to a SWOT analysis.