SWOT Internals – Strengths and
Weaknesses
Generally, strengths and weaknesses are under a high degree of control by
management and employees. Note, however, that control doesn’t mean ease of
implementation. Internal processes can be notoriously complex, especially if rooted
in an organization’s culture. Also professional censure and personal risk
aversion steer employees and leaders towards smaller, incremental and perhaps
ineffectual changes. Bold reforms, while optimal on paper, come with challenges
and pitfalls that can be hard to overcome.

SWOT Externals – Opportunities and
Threats
Opportunities and threats address the market and financial environment outside
the business. The key in dealing with opportunities and threats is identifying
likely profit drivers and hazards and attempting to steer business marketing
and operations accordingly. Reforms with respect to SWOT externals present a
more volatile risk/reward profile. Here, it’s important
not to punish occasional bad performance since doing so will dampen the kind of
creativity and drive required for success in dealing with SWOT externals.

Team and Project Management
A team leader or project manager would be wise to divide employees into two
groups. The first should specialize in understanding business internals such as
operational processes, channels of influence, and staffing needs. The second
group focuses on team members who lean more towards knowledge of the market,
sales strategies, customer needs, financials, and competitors. Have internal
employees focus on expanding the strength and weakness aspects of a SWOT
analysis, while external-focus employees focus on threats and opportunities.
Then, combine your findings into several improvement plans.

Executing SWOT reforms
Analyze the risk and likely rewards of each feasible improvement plan. Begin by
executing a relatively low-risk improvement plan, but don’t neglect the
possibility for phenomenal growth. Remember that higher-risk projects could pay
off greatly, but be careful not to confuse established internal operations or
customers about business goals and core competencies.

SWOT is not a cure-all, but it is very useful in assessing likely business success
and, in fact, can be useful in nearly any discipline. Someone pondering a new
career can draw up an analysis of personal strengths and weaknesses as well as
identify where in the labor market those combined personal traits would carry
the greatest reward and/or present the least risk. For example, an introvert
would not be wise to go into commission-only sales, nor would someone without a
head for numbers be well-served by investing in graduate-level physics courses.
SWOT analysis is not perfect, but it is useful in many aspects of life including
business management.