SWOT or SWOTT Analysis

When doing a business plan for The Institute for Supply Management Dallas affiliate, a requirement was a SWOT Analysis. For those of you that may not remember, it is strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Now you need to add that extra “T” for “trends.”

Do you know where your organization is headed? Well, the SWOTT analysis can help you find the way.  Organizations go out of business every day because they fail to recognize when they are in trouble or neglect to take actions that may allow them to survive.

This also pertains to professional organizations like ISM-Dallas affiliate. We have seen membership drop, lack of attendance at dinner meetings and just overall lack of interest. We strive to offer benefits but is it working?  Companies continue to offer better service to their customers, sometimes at a loss just to maintain a good customer relationship.

The beginning of the year or the beginning of a new term of officers in a professional organization is a good time to conduct a SWOTT analysis. This means examining your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and trends of your organization and taking action accordingly to ensure success.

Organizations today face increasing levels of local and global competition, and a successful past does not guarantee a successful future. Get out a flip chart, get a group together, and start brainstorming.

Strengths: Research what separates your organization from its competition. Think about what you do well. Does your company have a good reputation for service and follow up?

Weaknesses:  Research your company’s limitations. Are long-term customers going elsewhere? Does the company have so much red tape that it lacks the flexibility to make timely market changes?

Opportunities:  What opportunities are out there for your organization?  What are you really good at that can be offered to new customers.

Threats: Are new organizations entering the market and taking away part of your customer base because you are unable to meet customer demands? This is a warning signal to investigate how to improve.

Trends:  The new “T”. The world is changing. Look towards the future. Are your products and services still in demand or are they becoming obsolete? Is the business population shifting to areas that you do not currently service? 

Organizations need to recognize that business as usual is a likely recipe for failure. SWOTT analysis should be performed on a regular basis.  If you can get your employees to take a serious look at the organizations strengths and weaknesses, SWOTT analysis can offer the company leaders a look at what needs to be addressed.  Communication is the key to SWOTT analysis.  It will not work if you only listen to the message in the boardroom.  See what people in the “trenches” are saying. 

The concept is to reach consensus on the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats for a given organization under certain circumstances. The results are examined and a list of alternative courses of action are proposed regarding how to capitalize on strengths, shore up weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities and thwart threats. Look in to the trends for the future. Ultimately a set of recommendations is proposed by those performing the SWOTT analysis. Top management support is critical.