The Environmental Analysis (Swot Analysis)

The Environmental Analysis (SWOT analysis)
SWOT is a planning tool that identifies the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats of an organization. It is created by Albert Humphrey, an American business and management consultant who specialized in organizational management and cultural change. Specifically, SWOT is a basic, straightforward model and technique that assesses what an organization can and cannot do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis guides to identify the positives and negatives inside the organization and outside of it, in the external environment. The method of SWOT analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate it into internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external issues (opportunities and threats). Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines what may assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives, and what obstacles must be overcome or minimized to achieve desired results.
Strengths describe the positive attributes, tangible and intangible, internal to the organization. They are within your control. It has to be considered form both an internal perspective, either from the view of the customers and people in your market. Strengths capture the positive aspects internal to your business that add value or offer you a competitive advantage. This is your opportunity to remind yourself of the value existing within your business. Strengths can be evaluated by area, such as marketing, finance, manufacturing and organizational structure. Strengths include the positive attributes of the people involved in the business, including their knowledge, backgrounds, education, credentials, contacts, reputations, or the skills they bring. Strengths also include tangible assets such as available capital, equipment, credit, established customers, existing channels of distribution, copyrighted materials, patents, information and processing systems, and other valuable resources within the...