How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis on Yourself?

The main points of personal SWOT analysis are as follows:

1.Own advantages and strength.

2.own shortcomings and disadvantages.

3.own opportunities.

4.Possible threats and adverse environmental factors.

5.Its own short-term action plan and medium- and long-term goals and intentions.

SWOT analysis, that is, situation analysis, is to list the main internal strengths, weaknesses and external opportunities and threats closely related to the research object through investigation, and arrange them in the form of a matrix, and then use the idea of systematic analysis to match various factors with each other to analyze, and draw a series of corresponding conclusions, and the conclusions usually have a certain decision-making.

In this way, it is possible to conduct a comprehensive, systematic and accurate study of the situation in which the research object is located, and to formulate corresponding development strategies, plans, and countermeasures based on the research results. SWOT analysis is often used to develop a group's growth strategy and analyze competitors, and it is one of the most commonly used methods in strategic analysis.

S (strengths) and W (weaknesses) are internal factors, while O (opportunities) and T (threats) are external factors. According to the complete concept of competitive strategy, strategy should be an organic combination between what an enterprise "can do" (i.e., the strengths and weaknesses of the organization) and "can't" (i.e., opportunities and threats to the environment).

SWOT analysis is possible for companies, but also for individuals!

The basic steps of SWOT analysis are:

1) Analyze the internal strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise, which can be relative to the goals of the enterprise and relative to competitors.

2) Analyze the external opportunities and threats faced by the enterprise, which may come from changes in external environmental factors that are not related to competition, or from changes in competitors' forces and factors, or both, but the key external opportunities and threats should be identified.

3) Match external opportunities and threats with internal strengths and weaknesses to form a viable strategy.

SWOT analysis contraindications.

Through SWOT analysis, the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise, the opportunities and threats of the external environment summarized in the process of enterprise strategy analysis can be transformed into the next strategic development direction of the enterprise.

SO strategy: It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the enterprise has good internal advantages and many external opportunities, and should adopt a growth strategy, such as developing the market and increasing production.

WO strategy: Faced with good external opportunities but limited by internal disadvantages, companies should adopt a turnaround strategy to make full use of the opportunities brought by the environment and try to eliminate the disadvantages.

WT strategy: If there are internal disadvantages and external threats are faced in the enterprise, a defensive strategy should be adopted to adjust the business to avoid threats and eliminate the weaknesses.

When conducting a SWOT analysis, there are mainly the following aspects:

1. Analyze environmental factors.

Using various survey and research methods, we analyze the various environmental factors in which the company is located, that is, external environmental factors and internal capability factors.

External environmental factors include opportunity factors and threat factors, they are the external environment has a direct impact on the company's development of favorable and unfavorable factors, belongs to objective factors, internal environmental factors include advantages and weaknesses factors, they are the company's own positive and negative factors in its own development, subjective factors, in the investigation and analysis of these factors, not only to take into account the history and current situation, but also to consider the future development of the problem.

Disadvantages are also internal factors of the organization, including: aging equipment; management chaos; lack of key technologies; backward research and development; funding shortfalls; Mismanagement; product backlogs; Poor competitiveness, etc.

Opportunity is an external factor of the organization, including: new products; new markets; new demand; removal of barriers to foreign markets; Competitor mistakes, etc.

Threats are also external factors to the organization, including: new competitors; an increase in alternative products; market tightening; changes in industry policies; economic recession; changes in customer preferences; emergencies, etc.

The advantage of the SWOT method is that it considers the problem comprehensively, is a kind of systematic thinking, and can closely combine the "diagnosis" and "prescription" of the problem, which is clear and easy to test.

2. Construct a SWOT matrix.

A SWOT matrix was constructed based on the ranking of the various factors identified by the survey according to their priority or degree of impact. In this process, those factors that have a direct, important, massive, urgent and long-term impact on the company's development are prioritized, and those indirect, secondary, little, not urgent, and short-term influencing factors are ranked behind.

3. Develop an action plan.

Once the environmental factors analysis and SWOT matrix have been constructed, an action plan can be developed. The basic idea of formulating the plan is: give full play to the advantages of the factors, overcome the weaknesses of the factors, use the opportunity factors, and resolve the threat factors; Think about the past, base on the present, and focus on the future.

Using the comprehensive analysis method of system analysis, the various environmental factors that are arranged and considered are matched and combined with each other to obtain a series of alternative countermeasures for the future development of the company.

Simple rules for successful application of SWOT analysis:

1. When conducting SWOT analysis, you must have an objective understanding of the company's strengths and weaknesses.

2. When conducting a SWOT analysis, it is necessary to distinguish between the current situation and the prospects of the company.

3. When conducting a SWOT analysis, it must be considered comprehensively.

4. When conducting a SWOT analysis, you must compare it with your competitors, such as better or worse than your competitors.

5. Keep the SWOT analysis method concise and avoid complication and excessive analysis.

6. SWOT analysis varies from person to person.

The rules of successful application of SWOT analysis are easy to say, but not simple to implement:

Must have an objective understanding of the company's strengths and weaknesses; (What is called objectivity?) And not self-imprisoned? ）

It is necessary to distinguish between the current situation and the prospects of the company; (How can we take a long-term view and discern the future?) It must be considered comprehensively. (How do you do it all?) ）

You must compare yourself to your competitors, such as being better or worse than yours; (How do you determine the true level of your competitors?) ）

SWOT analysis is a tool for a rough initial way of thinking and should not be a method for presenting ideas and insights. There should be more detailed and in-depth segmentation methods for both external and internal management, such as PEST analysis and Porter's Five Forces model, which are more in-depth in external analysis than the opportunities and threats in SWOT analysis.

From the perspective of internal analysis, the logic of SWOT's good and bad poles is also too coarse, and there is a big gap in the level of detail with McKinsey 7S model and more general models such as corporate strategy canvas capability analysis. Therefore, only presenting SWOT analysis in the enterprise report is a manifestation of the lack of granularity of the overall analysis and the lack of depth of thinking.

Features:

In a sense, the SWOT analysis method is subordinate to the internal analysis method of the enterprise, that is, the analysis is carried out within the established conditions according to the company's own conditions. SWOT analysis has the basis for its formation. The competition theory proposed by Michael Porter, a well-known competitive strategy expert, thoroughly analyzes and explains the "possible" aspects of an enterprise from the perspective of industrial structure, while the management scholars of the capability school use the value chain to deconstruct the value creation process of the enterprise and focus on the analysis of the company's resources and capabilities.

SWOT analysis is possible for companies, but also for individuals!

SWOT analysis is possible for companies, but also for individuals!

SWOT analysis needs to confirm changes in the external environment of the enterprise. Score the evaluation according to a generic matrix or similar. Divide all the identified strengths into two groups, based on two principles.

Adopt principles related to potential opportunities in the industry, as well as data related to potential threats. In the same way, divide all the weaknesses into two groups, one related to opportunity and the other related to threat.

SWOT Analysis Notes:

The first part is SW, which is mainly used to analyze the internal conditions; The second part is OT, which is mainly used to analyze external conditions.

Using this method, you can find out the factors that are beneficial to you and worthy of development, as well as the things that are unfavorable to you and to avoid, find out the existing problems, find solutions, and clarify the future development direction.

Based on this analysis, it is possible to prioritize the problems that need to be solved urgently, those that can be postponed a little, the obstacles to strategic objectives, and the tactical problems, and list the objects of study.

According to the matrix arrangement, and then use the idea of system analysis, the various factors are matched with each other for analysis, and a series of corresponding conclusions are drawn from it, and the conclusions usually have a certain decision-making, which is conducive to leaders and managers to make more correct decisions and plans.