What is SWOT analysis? What should I pay attention to when conducting a SWOT analysis?

SWOT analysis is one of the methods commonly used in competitive intelligence analysis. The so-called SWOT (posture) analysis, is closely related to the research object of a variety of major internal strengths (Strengths), weaknesses (Weaknesses), opportunities (Opportunities) and threats (Threats), through the investigation of the list, and in accordance with the order of the paragraph by the matrix form, and then use the idea of systems analysis, the various factors match each other to analyze, and then use the Then, using the idea of system analysis, the various factors are matched up and analyzed, and a series of corresponding conclusions (such as countermeasures, etc.) are drawn from them.

This research method was first proposed by a professor of management at the University of San Francisco in the early 1980s. Prior to this, as early as the 1960s, there have been proposed SWOT analysis involved in the internal strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities, threats to these factors of change, but only to analyze them in isolation, while the SWOT method of systematic thinking to match these seemingly independent factors with each other for a comprehensive analysis. Using this method facilitates one to conduct a comprehensive, systematic, and accurate study of the scenario in which the organization finds itself, and helps one to formulate development strategies and plans, as well as development plans or countermeasures corresponding to them. When conducting SWOT analysis, there are mainly the following aspects:

First, analyze the environmental factors

Use a variety of research methods to analyze the various environmental factors in which the company is located, that is, the external environmental factors and internal capacity factors. External environmental factors include opportunity factors and threat factors, they are the external environment on the development of the company's direct impact on the favorable and unfavorable factors, belong to the objective factors, generally attributed to the economic, political, social, demographic, products and services, technology, market, competition, etc.; internal environmental factors include strengths and weaknesses, they are the company's own existence in the development of the positive and negative factors, are active factors. Positive and negative factors, are active factors, generally categorized as management, organizational operations, financial, sales, human resources and other different categories. When investigating and analyzing these factors, it is not long to take into account the company's history and current situation, but also to consider the future development of the company.

Second, the construction of SWOT matrix

The investigation of the various factors according to the priority or degree of influence and other sorting methods, construction of SWOT matrix. In this process, the development of the company will have a direct, important, a large number of urgent, long-lasting impact on the factors prioritized, and those indirect, secondary, a little, not urgent, short-lived impact on the factors arranged in the back.

Third, the development of action plans

After the completion of the analysis of environmental factors and the construction of the SWOT matrix, you can develop a corresponding action plan. The basic idea of the plan is: to play the advantageous factors, to overcome the weaknesses of the factors, the use of opportunity factors, to resolve the threat factors; consider the past, based on the present, focusing on the future. Using the comprehensive analysis method of systems analysis, will be arranged with the consideration of the various environmental factors to match each other to be combined, resulting in a series of options for the future development of the company's countermeasures. These countermeasures include:

Minimum and minimum countermeasures (WT countermeasures), which take into account weaknesses and threats, with the aim of minimizing these factors.

Minimum and maximum countermeasures (WO countermeasures), focusing on the consideration of vulnerability factors opportunity factors, the purpose is to strive to minimize weaknesses and maximize opportunities.

Minimum and maximum countermeasures (ST countermeasures), that is, focusing on the consideration of strengths and threat factors, the purpose is to try to maximize the strengths and minimize the threat factors.

Maximum and maximum countermeasures (SO countermeasures), that is, focusing on the consideration of advantageous factors and opportunity factors, the purpose is to try to make both factors tend to maximize.

It can be seen that the WT response is the most pessimistic response, is in the most difficult circumstances have to take the response; WO response and ST response is a kind of bittersweet response, is in the general situation to take the response; SO response is a kind of the most ideal response, is in the most smooth situation is very happy to take the response.

The results of SWOT analysis have different names depending on the object and purpose of the study. In strategic research is called strategic plan; in development research is called development countermeasures; in market research is called market countermeasures; in management consulting is called management countermeasures.

Since the specific situation contains a variety of factors and their analysis of the results of the formation of countermeasures have a direct relationship with the scope of time, so in the SWOT analysis, you can first divide a certain period of time were SWOT analysis, and finally the results of the analysis of the various phases of the synthesis, and the entire time period of the SWOT matrix analysis. In this way, it helps to analyze the results more accurately

In the process of SWOT analysis, the most important thing is to determine what are the key internal and external factors, because the so-called internal strengths and weaknesses, external opportunities and threats, is composed of key issues or by the key issues in the form of performance. The identification of key issues requires good judgment on the part of the strategic planner. Good judgment comes not only from knowledge and experience, but also from the ability of rational thinking and irrational intuition. Therefore, this is the most difficult part of the whole SWOT analysis.

After the SWOT analysis, a public *** business management can have different strategic matches and choices as follows:

The first one is the Strengths-Opportunities (SO) strategy.SO strategy is a kind of strategy that matches the internal strengths of the organization with the opportunities of the external environment, and takes advantage of the internal strengths to exploit the external opportunities in order to achieve the organization's goals. external opportunities to achieve organizational goals. In terms of strategy formulation, this is the goal pursued by any organization, and in terms of the process of strategic management, any organization and its managers would like to make full use of their own strengths and avoid their own weaknesses, and seize the opportunities provided by the external environment in order to seek development. However, to fully utilize their strengths is actually related to the control and transformation of other factors, and thus the adoption of this strategy often needs to be based on other strategies such as WO, ST or WT strategies.

The second type is the Weakness-Opportunity (WO) strategy.The meaning of the WO strategy is to utilize external opportunities to compensate for internal weaknesses. Usually, it is used in a situation where there are external opportunities for the organization, but there are internal weaknesses that prevent the realization of the external opportunities. In fact, it is the internal renewal of the organization when there is an opportunity for organizational development in the external environment, with the goal of using this opportunity to achieve development as a direction and opportunity.

The third is the Strengths-Threats (ST) strategy.ST strategy is a strategy that utilizes strengths to avoid or mitigate the effects of external threats.

The fourth type is the Weakness-Threat (WT) strategy. the WT strategy is a strategy that reduces internal weaknesses while avoiding threats from the external environment. It is a defensive strategy when compared to the above three strategies. An organization that is in a situation where it has many internal weaknesses and faces a large number of external threats tends to be inefficient in exploiting external opportunities.

The above analysis of SWOT is mainly developed from a general technical point of view, i.e., from the point of view of strategic management in general for all organizations, including public and non-private organizations. There are two broad perspectives on the application of this management tool to the entire public *** sector, including public *** business management. One view is that there is no difference in the use of SWOT between the public and private sectors when the public sector evaluates the external environment or finds it necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis. The other view is that "the importance of the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) component varies significantly by sector. Firstly, business has a strict market with diluted political connections. In contrast, the public *** sector and third sector organizations have loosely defined markets and are put under coercion through authority systems ....... Secondly, firms seek out opportunities, whereas public **** organizations and third sector organizations act only when they encounter threats "1 . This means that the private sector, when applying SWOT, is more able to proactively seek external opportunities purely and directly from profit, due to the clarity of its market and less direct political influence, whereas public **** organizations are more likely to be reactive rather than proactive, due to the absence of the same market as the private sector or the specificity of its market, and due to the direct influence and constraints of politics, and fewer existential pressures than the private sector. likely to be reactive rather than proactive, and more commonly are prone to react to threats. This difference in the basic posture of strategic planning due to the different tendencies in the application of SWOT analysis as a whole, in turn, determines that the application of the strategic management process in the public *** sector produces different results than in the private sector.

In conclusion, strategic management, as a management technique that has been gradually utilized in the entire public **** sector, including the public **** business management sector, since the 1980s, is still in its infancy and development stage. Although there have been different views on whether the public **** sector can use this management tool from the very beginning, the use of this technique in the public **** management sector in some developed countries for more than 20 years has indeed produced positive results, such as the actual situation has shown that the adoption of this technique as a specific management process, the management of the public **** sector has provided a strategic direction for the development of the management of the public **** sector, guided the allocation of resources, prioritized, strengthened the organization's response to the environment, and strengthened the management of the public **** sector, including the management of the public **** sector. Prioritization, strengthening the organization's ability to adapt to the environment, providing a basis for control and evaluation, etc., and, above all, most critically, keeping up with the needs of the times by shifting the management of the public sector from focusing on the internal aspects of the organization to focusing on the external environment first and foremost. Of course, the use of this management tool also has many shortcomings and difficulties, to be further improved and perfected according to the characteristics of the management of the public **** department.