Advantages And Limitations Of The Swot Model Marketing Essay

Advantages And Limitations Of The Swot Model Marketing Essay INTRODUCTION When individuals or organizations face critical situations where crucial decisions have to be made pertaining to the desired objective that has already been defined/identified, they need methods by which to analyse their current position and to find out ways to achieve their goals by overcoming the problems. But how can individuals/organizations carry out such an analysis? First of all, they must identify what they want to accomplish (the objective), what they already have (current position), what means are available to them (opportunities) and what hurdles they may have to tackle (threats). This requires careful planning. For the success of any organization, business product, or an individual, planning is essential. Planning is â€Å"an act of formulating a strategy for a definite course of action for the accomplishment of an objective.† (Business Dictionary) With the help of planning, an individual can know where he stands, can decide what he wants to achieve a nd can figure out how he can bridge the gap between the two. How is planning done? SWOT analysis is an effective tool which aids strategic planning both for individual as well as organizational growth and development. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. With the help of SWOT analysis, one can specify the personal/organizational objective, can identify the various favourable and/or unfavourable internal as well as external factors that may influence the accomplishment of that objective and on the basis of these one can develop effective strategies that would help in achieving the objective. SWOT analysis can be done on the organizational level as well as on the individual level. In this chapter, we shall focus mainly on SWOT analysis for individuals. BASIC ELEMENTS OF SWOT ANALYSIS As pointed out earlier, SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT analysis model is composed of these four main elements put together w hich form a framework for analysis. Strengths are the positive attributes of the individual or organization that help to achieve the desired objective/s. Weaknesses are the negative attributes of the individual or organization that hinder the accomplishment of the desired objective/s. Opportunities are the favourable circumstances that can create a possibility for progress which results in the achievement of the desired objective/s. Threats are the unfavourable circumstances that can cause damage to the individual or organization and stop them from accomplishing their desired objective/s. Strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors that influence the individual or organizational objectives. They are internal to the individual or organization and are within their control. They are classified as strengths or weaknesses depending upon the impact that they have on the objective. The attribute that may be seen as strength in the context of one particular objective may prove to be a weakness in a different decision-making context. For example, aggressiveness is normally considered a weakness in an individual’s personality. But when we consider it in the context of soldiers who are trained for combat, aggression is regarded as their strength. On the other hand, opportunities and threats are the external factors that propel the individual or organization towards growth or impede its progress respectively. They are external to the individual or organization and are beyond their control. Thus, the main object of SWOT analysis is to recognize the major internal and external factors that are crucial to achieving the desired personal or business objective.