Running head: PERFORMING SWOT ANALYSIS 1

Performing SWOT Analysis

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Performing SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is a strategic positioning technique for assessing individuals and

business performance, competition, risk and potential guiding them towards taking advantage of

the existing market opportunities. In the video titled “how to use SWOT” presented at

mindtools.com, the analysts offer a perspective on how individuals and business can best

conduct this analysis (MindTools.com, 2019). Under strengths, the analyst explains that the best

way to analyze one’s potential is by evaluating what they are best at. In doing this, both business

and individual must consider how the market perceives them. The same approach is relied in

evaluating the weaknesses since one must consider the areas that they would like to improve or

avoid. Ideally, one must consider what other people see as the weaknesses.

The third element which is opportunities offers one the prospect of looking at the existing

avenues of growth mostly relying on one’s strengths. Opportunities can arise from many areas

including the changes in government policies, technology, or social trends. These avenues allow

both businesses and individuals to apply and adapt to changes in the market. Lastly, there are

also threats which are the obstacles that one is likely to face. Threats allow one to venture

towards examining how their weaknesses can translate to all this. Threats also look at what

competitors are doing in the market that is likely to impact one’s skills or business.

In the second video titled, “How to Perform a SWOT Analysis” Erica Olsen explains

organizations and individuals can use SWOT analysis to improve the performance and

strategically position their products and services in the market (VirtualStrategist, 2016). For
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instance, a company or an individual may opt to restructure their system to better meet their

customers’ needs or to simply differentiate themselves from other players in the market or

determine their key performance indicators. To do this, the company would have to consider the

opportunities that such an action would have, look at the weaknesses and threats that they are

likely to face and lastly use their strengths to restructure the system to the best of their abilities

and in response to the market needs. In this second video, she looks strengths as the building

tools, opportunities as investments, weakness as a spreads and threats as monitoring to ensure the

organization stands the test of time. The view also divides the benefits as both internal and

external. In the external she highlights that the model would allow an individual or company to

keep up with the trends, know how the industry is performing, find competitors and deliver the

products to the market. Under the internal elements she looks at the organization being able to

reposition its staff, its board and executives, its customers and to identify the key performance

indicators.
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References

MindTools.com, (2019). SWOT Analysis; How to Develop a Strategy for Success. Retrieved

from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm

VirtualStrategist. (2016). How to Perform a SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_6AVRGLXGA