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The S.W.O.T. Analysis is an opportunity for you to apply the business knowledge you have learned throughout the semester to an existing multi-national corporation.

S.W.O.T. Analysis Instructions

The S.W.O.T. Analysis is an opportunity for you to apply the business knowledge you have learned throughout the semester to an existing multi-national corporation.

Create a MS PowerPoint with your answers to the items in Step 1 through 5 below. You are not an expert in your chosen industry so your answers should use external academic sources to support your decisions and statements. Include a separate slide for a list of 3-4 references used.  Expectations describing what a ‘professional business PowerPoint’ should contain on the slide and notes sections can be found in the Business PPT Instructions.Download Business PPT Instructions.

Step 1: Choose a for-profit organization, which conducts business and sells products or services in and outside the U.S. that is listed on a U.S. stock exchange. 

Step2: Research your chosen company.

·        Locate the organization’s corporate Annual Report. See if the report contains any historical information, strategies for the future, and financial information.

·        Research historical information, including financial articles, reports, or even other S.W.O.T. Analyses.

·        Use this information to bring the audience up to speed on how the company is doing in today’s economy.  Be sure to provide stats on the overall performance of the company in the previous year and its projections/strategies for the current year.

Step 3: Answer these questions.

·        Put the answers for each part of the SWOT Acronym in the notes of your SWOT 2 by 2 Download SWOT 2 by 2(downloadable single slide of a 2×2 table) table slide. 

·        You may Google SWOT analyses for your company. Business Strategy Hub (bstrategyhub.comLinks to an external site.) is recommended, BUT you must cite and reference the SWOT you use. You may also find the Googled SWOT will help you answer the questions below.

Strength Questions (Internal).  Examples include who is on your team, your patents and intellectual property, and your location.

1.     What business processes are successful?

2.     What assets do you have in your business team, such as knowledge, education, network, skills, and reputation?

3.     What physical assets do you have, such as customers, equipment, technology, cash, and patents?

4.     What advantage does the company have over the competition? Identify all competitive advantages.

Weakness Questions (Internal) Examples include business processes, labor gaps.

1.     Are there things that the company needs to be competitive?

2.     What company processes need improvement?

3.     Are there tangible assets that your company needs, such as money or equipment?

4.     Are there gaps in the company’s team?

5.     Is your location ideal for your success?

6.     What areas do the organization’s competitors have an advantage on? Identify all competitive disadvantages.

Opportunity Questions (External)

1.     What external changes will bring opportunities for the company?

2.     What are current trends in the industry? Will the trends affect the organization positively?

3.     Is the company’s market growing and are there trends that will encourage people to buy more of what the company is selling?

4.     Are there upcoming events that the company may be able to take advantage of to grow the business?

5.     Are there upcoming changes to regulations that might impact the company positively?

6.     Do customers think highly of you?

7.     What is the market missing?

Threats Questions (External)

1.     What external changes will pose a threat to the company?

2.     Are there potential, new or existing competitors that have entered the market or are outperforming the organization?

3.     What current trends in the industry have negatively impacted the industry?

4.     Will suppliers always be able to supply the raw materials the company needs at the prices they need?

5.     Could future developments in technology change how the company does business?

6.     Is consumer behavior changing in a way that could negatively impact the business?

7.     Are there pending political/legal, social, global, economic, technological factors that have the ability negatively impact the organization’s future success?

Step 4: Analytical conclusion.

·        In your opinion, what’s next for the organization?  Provide strategy based on the group’s analysis.

Step 5: Prepare a presentation of a minimum of 6 slides (does not include title & reference slides). Your presentation can take on many forms.  Examples include PowerPoint, Video Presentation (YouTube). I encourage creativity. This is your time to present a topnotch capstone project.

Example Outline for Presentation (6 slide PowerPoint presentation) (You can use this template  Download templateas a starting point for the presentation.)

1.     Provide history on organizations existence.

2.     Describe the company’s products/services it provides.

3.     List major competitors and their current and prior year’s earnings

4.     The Company’s SWOT Analysis in a 2 row, 2 column table (download this example file Download download this example file)

1.     Strengths – Strengths should be listed on the slide and the answers to the questions above with any other supporting material should be in the notes.

2.     Weaknesses – Weaknesses should be listed on the slide and the answers to the questions above with any other supporting material should be in the notes.

3.     Opportunities – Opportunities should be listed on the slide and the answers to the questions above with any other supporting material should be in the notes.

4.     Threats – Threats should be listed on the slide and the answers to the questions above with any other supporting material should be in the notes.

5.     Analytical Conclusion.

1.     Brief summary of organization’s overall performance in previous year and corporate performance.

2.     Strategies for current year.

6.     Reference Page

Your SWOT must contain factual, data collected about your organization that accurately reflects your point of view. You must support your assumptions and implications with facts and statistics, particularly when addressing the weakness and strengths of the organization.

Possible Sources for Gathering Information

·        Organization’s Annual Report (this is your primary resource)

·        Informational Databases such as ABI/Inform, Active (visit campus library)

·        Hoover Business resource (hooveronline.com)

·        Wall Street Journal

·        Other SWOT analyses

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