Know-How Exchange : Strategy

I always use the following format:

Internal (Strengths and Weaknesses):

Objectives
Strategy
Structure
Finance
Marketing
Production
Operations
Customer Services
Research and Development
Personnel
Systems

External (Opportunities and Threats):
Political
Social
Economic
Competitive
Technological

Other things I usually do:
o If there are "No Significant Issues" then use this statement and it shows you have considered it.
o A SWOT analysis should really only show the issues that are of major significance, and not littered with all issues!
o Business analysis like this should concentrate on the broad issues rather than the detail.

Good Luck

Leskeneddy is right on the money - this is sometimes known as a TOWS matrix and allows quick strategic development from the issues you just observed through the SWOT.

It's also a great way to prove the veracity of the SWOT info (which participants can sometimes mis-articulate).

For example, if a Strength and an Opportunity seem to give rise to a very obvious Strategy - but when you write down that Strategy it is viewed as being fundamentally flawed or tried/failed, then perhaps the Strength or the Opportunity has been inaccurately documented, or observed...

Putting it right at that point can cause some temporary grief in a workshop session but makes the outputs far stronger and more valuable in the long-term.

As input quality most certainly underpins output quality, this can be a really useful QA check on the process.

Hope this helps.

ChrisB