According to Abbreviationfinder, the SWOT acronym refers to weaknesses, opportunities, strengths and threats. The concept appears in a type of analysis applied by companies to find out their best internal characteristics and the risks that come from abroad.
SWOT analysis is also known as SWOT and SWOT, depending on how the words that make up the expression are ordered. You can also find the English acronym SWOT for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Developing a SWOT analysis makes it possible to discover the situation of a company or a project and, based on this diagnosis, favors the planning of a strategy. This tool, devised in the early 1970s, serves to identify competitive advantages and apply them in the market.
SWOT is an acronym that refers to the weaknesses, opportunities, strengths and threats of a company.
SWOT analysis items
Regarding these acronyms, we can determine that:
-Weaknesses, are the aspects in which the company in question is at a disadvantage.
-Opportunities, come to be the market spaces that have not been taken into account and that can give rise to a very interesting area for the company’s progress.
-Strengths, which are the aspects in which the company has a clear advantage compared to its rivals.
-Threats, which are the possible obstacles that the company may encounter and that come not only from consumer opinions but also from government regulations and even market fluctuations.
An example
If we take a candy manufacturing company as an example, the SWOT analysis could be as follows:
-Weaknesses: it needs more personnel, there is machinery that is somewhat outdated…
-Opportunities: it is close to different supermarkets and commercial areas.
-Strengths: it has a brand image consolidated by its tradition and history.
-Threats: other factories of the same type of products are appearing in the same area.
A SWOT analysis can contribute to decision making.
SWOT Analysis Stages
To carry out this analysis, the first two stages consist of conducting the external study (to detect opportunities and threats) and the internal study (with the aim of determining strengths and weaknesses). With these results, the SWOT matrix is made and then the strategy to be used is established.
Opportunities and threats are given by the political context, import and export regulations and tax legislation, among other factors. Strengths and weaknesses, meanwhile, depend on things like product varieties, customer service, and technical support.
The identification of the obstacles that can affect the fulfillment of the objectives, the exploration of the solutions to the inconveniences and the study of the different directions that the enterprise can take are some of the possibilities offered by the SWOT analysis.
The look on the individual
As a general rule, the SWOT is used to analyze and manage companies. However, there is also the personal DOFA. This is used to ensure that workers can achieve their goals and contribute to the general good of the one they work for.
Thus, undertaking this specific analysis, the employee’s weaknesses such as his laziness or shyness will be taken into account, opportunities such as external aspects that allow him to achieve his objectives, strengths such as his knowledge and threats such as the circumstances that surround him.
