SWOT Analysis
Overview: You will prepare an analysis of the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses in Section I of
this chapter while Section II will offer an analysis of the opportunities and threats associated with the
organization’s external environment. This discussion of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats will
form the basis of a SWOT analysis for the organization. Finally, Section III of this chapter will offer an
evaluation of the SWOT analysis. You will reference this analysis again in Chapter 5 when formulating
recommendations for the organization. While conducting this analysis, recall the Hill & Jones advice on how to
proceed:
• Remember that the SWOT analysis is the key to a solution
• Balance strengths/weaknesses against opportunities/threats
• Based on the overall balance, include your evaluation of the company’s positive or negative position
• Determine, in this evaluation, if the company can remain profitable
• Further evaluate whether it can it turn its weaknesses to strengths & threats to opportunities
You should again refer to “A SWOT Checklist” (Table 1 in Appendix C4, Hill & Jones) to help in preparing a
comprehensive SWOT analysis in this section. Include references to business concepts and theories learned in
the BAS program. Your analysis will consider the following factors:
• Planning
• Organizing
• Leading
• Controlling
• Porter’s Five Forces Model
• Macro-environment forces
To streamline the preparation of the SWOT analysis, you may regard any Leadership or Control problem as an
internal weakness. On the other hand, Planning or Organizing problems may relate to either an internal
weakness or an external threat. For example, a company may be aware of its external threats but it could fail
to upgrade its planning function or avoid a needed reorganization. You may evaluate this “failure” to address a
known external threat as an internal weakness. If you see evidence of internal problems due to a failure to
address the external environment, be sure to discuss them later in Section II (the external analysis portion) of
this chapter.
To simplify further, you will focus on one primary weakness or threat while offering only a cursory review of
the other elements in this SWOT analysis. For example, your research question and hypothesis might point to a
problem with leadership (an internal weakness) so you aimed the majority of your literature review at
leadership issues. Here, you will assign a negative evaluation to the leadership component and focus much of
your SWOT analysis on this primary internal weakness. Subsequently, you will assign a “positive” evaluation to
the other components (planning, controlling, organizing and external issues) while offering only a brief
(perhaps one paragraph each) discussion for them.
Finally, SWOT analysis discussions (particularly those focused on the thesis) should again include brief
references to the theories or concepts learned throughout the BAS program. Refer to the resource guide
entitled Theories & Concepts Associated with Learning Outcomes (provided with this course) for assistance in
recalling or categorizing this information.
Details for Section I–Internal Weaknesses and Strengths: In preparing this section, you will outline the four
major elements of the management process and demonstrate how each function is related to a strength or
weakness in the company. For this first section specifically, you will outline evidence for problems
(weaknesses) or strong points (strengths) in the following components.
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April 2014 Capstone Paper
• Leading: If leadership is the primary internal weakness identified in the thesis, focus
much of the SWOT analysis on this section. If not, a brief discussion with a “positive”
evaluation is appropriate here. Include observations, comparisons, and contrasts of at
least two leaders in the organization—perhaps executives or lower-level managers.
You should:
o Examine traits, skills behaviors and effectiveness
o Explore motivational effectiveness
o Evaluate communication effectiveness (upward and downward)
o Compare their situational leadership and empowerment strategies
o Include any emotional intelligence or gender-related leadership traits if
appropriate
The discussion should assess each component for each leader either positively (as a strength)
or negatively (as a weaknesses)
• Controlling: If organizational control is the primary internal weakness identified in the
thesis, then focus much of the SWOT analysis on this section. If not, a brief discussion
with a “positive” evaluation is appropriate here. At a minimum, the organizational
control discussion should:
o You discussed financial documents (Income Statements and Balance Sheets) in
Chapter 3. If you have decided that Organizational Control is the primary
internal weakness, then simply mention that information from your Chapter 3
analysis and add a few standard stability measures and/or financial ratios
here. Refer to pages C8 to C12 in the Case Study section of the Hill and Jones
text to assist in this analysis.
o Examine productivity controls in place
o Evaluate quality practices such as TQM, 6-Sigma, ISO, or other systems
o Investigate the type and effectiveness of the organization’s information
technology
o The discussion should assess each component of organizational control either
positively (as a strength) or negatively (as a weaknesses).
• Planning: If planning is the primary internal weakness causing a failure to address
external threats (as identified in the thesis), then focus much of the SWOT analysis on
this section. If not, a brief discussion with a “positive” evaluation is appropriate here.
At a minimum, review the short-term and long-term planning processes to
o Determine if the organization has planning in place for the current and future
competitive environment
o Evaluate the planning process for weaknesses in addressing industry environment
changes political or legal forces, changing ethical and environmental
requirements, or technological forces and changes
o As mentioned previously, you may be able to relate some of these internal
weaknesses to the company’s failure to address (plan for) its external threats or
opportunities, so mention this issue again with respect to the organization’s
threats in Section II. The discussion should assess each planning component
positively (as a strength) or negatively (as a weaknesses).
• Organizing: If organizing is the primary internal weakness associated with a failure to
address external threats (as identified in the thesis), then focus much of the SWOT
analysis on this section. If not, a brief discussion with a “positive” evaluation is
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April 2014 Capstone Paper
appropriate here. At a minimum, analyze various aspects of the company’s
organization. Elements include the following:
o Examine the overall organizational design (functional, divisional, matrix, product,
etc.) to determine if the chosen system is creating problems.
o Analyze any issues surrounding job design or descriptions
o Investigate any human resource factors such a salary and wage scale issues or
collective bargaining concerns
o Evaluate any issues with organizational culture, especially with respect to
flexibility for future necessity to change.
As mentioned previously, you may be able to interpret some internal organizational
weaknesses as a failure to address (that is, re-organize for) external threats or opportunities.
For example, perhaps the company has failed to circumvent a threat because it overlooked an
opportunity to integrate vertically or horizontally to gain an advantage. If you suspect this to
be the case, mention the issue again with respect to the threats in Section II. The discussion
should assess each organizational component positively (as a strength) or negatively (as a
weaknesses).
Section II–External Opportunities and Threats: After considering the above internal components, you will
concentrate on the challenges inherent in the external environment. If these threats represent the primary
concerns confronting the organization (as identified in the thesis), then focus much of the SWOT analysis on
this section. If not, a brief discussion with a “positive” evaluation is appropriate here. At a minimum,
incorporate the following concepts outlined in the Hill & Jones text:
• Consider “Porter’s Five Forces Model” including
o Bargaining power of suppliers
o Risk of entry by potential competitors
o Bargaining power of buyers
o Threat of substitutes
o Intensity of rivalry among competitive firms
• Consider the role of the macro-environment forces and how each factor is relevant
o Global forces
o Demographic forces
o Political & legal forces including changing ethical and environmental
requirements
o Technological forces and changes
o Social forces
The discussion should assess each of the above environmental factors either positively (by finding the
opportunity) or negatively (by detecting the threat).
Section III: Evaluating the SWOT Analysis (leading to future recommendations)
You will discuss the company’s ability to achieve a competitive advantage by referring to the above analysis as
well as the discussions of structure, controls, and corporate and business level strategies. For example,
evaluate the ability of the company to address threats without making any changes. If you determine that the
company must change leadership, controls, organizational structures, or strategic plans, then discuss this
opinion as well. Consider this discussion again in Chapter 5 when preparing final recommendations.