SWOT Fact Sheet
SWOT Fact Sheet
SWOT
FACT SHEET
DESCRIPTION
The name SWOT is an acronym for the words: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This tool is
used to set strategic options based on the analysis of the characteristics of an organization as well as the
uncertainty detected in the environment in which the organization operates.
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Lean Enterprise Project Management
To homologate the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as well as the
opportunities and threats perceived in its environment.
STEPS TO FOLLOW
PREPARATION
1. Select the questions to be answered for each of the quadrants (Strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats). For example:
STENGTHS
a) What has been the positive feedback from customers in the last 3 months?
b) What makes the enterprise unique?
c) Which capabilities and assets has the enterprise that competitors havent?
WEAKNESSES
a) Why customers have been lost in the last 3 months?
b) What recent failures have the enterprise had? Why?
c) Which capabilities and assets the enterprise doesnt have and it should?
OPPORTUNITIES
a) Have there been recent market changes that favor the enterprise?
b) Are there new needs in the market that the company can meet?
c) Has a competitor left the market leaving customers unattended?
THREATS
a) Have there been recent changes in the market which disadvantage the enterprise?
b) Have new competitors entered the market?
c) Are there any policies or economic situations that represent a threat?
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Lean Enterprise Project Management
SWOT DEVELOPMENT
5. Bring together the participants to perform the analysis.
6. Present the gathered information for each of the quadrants (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats).
7. Discuss the findings.
8. Write the statements for each of the quadrants (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats).
9. Prioritize the statements of each quadrant considering the business value or the degree of impact
to the business.
Define options to leverage opportunities using the strengths of the organization. For
example: Considering the strengths we have, Which opportunities can we seize?
How?
STRENGTHS vs THREATS
Define options for reducing threats using the strengths of the organization. For
example: Considering the strengths we have, Which threats can we reduce? How?
WEAKNESSES vs OPPORTUNITIES
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Define options for reducing threats diminishing the weaknesses of the organization.
For example: Which threats can be reduced by diminishing these weaknesses? How
can we diminishing them?
SELECTION OF OPTIONS
11. Prioritise preliminary options.
12. Check each option and verify whether they make sense.
13. Select the most important options for each quadrant. The selected options will be further
developed aiming at setting feasible and realistic options.
RECOMENDATIONS
Perform the assessment of opportunities and threats focusing on recent initiatives implemented by
competitors in markets where the enterprise operates.
Develop preliminary options focusing only on the most important statements for each quadrant. The
difficulty of considering all statements, is that the list of preliminary options grows too much and efficiency
is lost. If you focus only on priority statements, the preliminary options are reduced allowing you to focus
only on solutions that provide greater business value or reducing the most important threats.
Perform the SWOT analysis in team with people who can provide greater understanding of the state of
the organization and its environment. Avoid doing the analysis alone because you lose the opportunity of
knowing other opinions and other points of view.
You can perform the SWOT analysis for your main competitors. This exercise might broaden your
awareness on many new opportunities and threats.
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Lean Enterprise Project Management