Chapter
6
Internal Retail Strategy Analysis
When to conduct a SWOT analysis
A
SWOT analysis can be used in a variety of situations — it’s not restricted by a
specific industry or department.
SWOT
can be used to explore new ventures, products, acquisitions or mergers. It can
help businesses change course mid-project, plan out how to invest money,
understand competitors and to identify the brand’s mission.
SWOT
can also help non-profit companies and government agencies manage or allocate
grants, donations and funding. It’s a flexible analysis tool that can be
applied to a range of business situations relating to everything from IT to
marketing to operations.
How to conduct a SWOT analysis
The
process can be as simple or complex as you make it. It’s something that can be
done during workshops, meetings, brainstorming sessions or when evaluating
products or competition.
A
SWOT analysis begins with listing out the objectives, business venture or
project and identify any internal or external factors that will help or hurt
the path to achieving those objectives.
Objectives
can include anything from small or major business decisions to new or improved
products and services. If an objective is deemed attainable, the process starts
over with a different objective.
Main steps for performing a SWOT analysis
are:
1.
Collect relevant information and list all current known strengths and
weaknesses. This can be achieved through talking to others in the organization
or through larger brainstorming sessions. You should come prepared with questions
pertaining to the SWOT objective and aim to get thoughtful and insightful
responses from your team.
2.
Consider all the potential opportunities that exist for the organization,
including future trends and technologies.
3.
Review the SWOT matrix to build a plan that addresses each area including
everything that’s working and everything that needs to change.
What will SWOT analysis achieve?
A
SWOT analysis is essentially a way to get the organization focused on specific
goals, projects and objectives. It’s an organized approach that helps
businesses identify ways to improve efficiency and productivity.
A
SWOT analysis will answer the following questions:
1. What
are the internal strengths and weaknesses of your company?
2. What
are the external opportunities and threats in your industry and its
environment?
3. Can any
weaknesses be converted to strengths? Any threats into opportunities?
4. How can
your company take advantage of strengths and opportunities?
5. What
strategic changes can your company implement as a result of the SWOT analysis?
SWOT analysis examples
SWOT
analyses from major corporations can help you get an idea of how the process
works. Strategic Management Insight offers examples of SWOT analyses for a wide range
of companies, including Google, Starbucks and Amazon.
Its
example SWOT analysis of Microsoft evaluates
the potential impact of a major leadership change in the organization — in this
case, the hiring of CEO Satya Nadella.
Analysts
Insight identifies Microsoft’s strengths as the company’s brand awareness, it’s
wide acceptance in the enterprise, easy-to-use products, a worldwide network of
distributors and an ability to beat analyst’s expectations. Weaknesses include
being late to mobile computing, a lack of urgency when the internet was
introduced and security flaws in its software.
Cloud
computing was seen as a big opportunity for Microsoft at that time, as the
organization had the chance to take the lead in this trend, and the company was
economically strong. Microsoft’s biggest threats included the company’s size,
which can slow progress, as well as a failure to notice emerging trends, piracy
and lawsuits.
The
SWOT analysis concludes that Microsoft needs to keep an eye on market trends to
avoid misreading major technological shifts. The organization should also focus
more heavily on the enterprise to set itself apart from other tech companies
that are only focused on the consumer base.
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