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摘要:SWOT分析法是一个非常行之有效的战略分析工具,常被用于帮助一个公司分析其面临的内外部环境中的优势、劣势、机会和威胁,然而在分析过程中包含了很多的主观性,不可避免地产生了一些缺陷。
关键词:SWOT分析法 战略分析 战略工具
▲▲Introduction
A SWOT analysis is a very effective strategic planning tool used to identify and evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that a company is facing. SWOT analysis is usually performed early in the strategy development process. It helps companies evaluate the internal situation and the environmental factors that it operates to. Due to limited resources that most companies have, SWOT analysis can help a company to focus on its strengths with opportunities to develop its competitive advantages so as to offer superior value to its target market than its competitors. SWOT analysis also helps companies to take advantage of their strengths and opportunities and develop strategy to minimize or avoid its weaknesses and threats. In this essay, the four main issues to be covered in discussing the role and purpose of SWOT analysis as a part of the process of developing a marketing strategy and the reasons to mistakenly view it on a superficial level . The first issue is an explanation of what is a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis includes resource-based internal analysis and external environment analysis. Following this, the importance of a SWOT analysis in a marketing strategy and strategy plan is addressed. Then, to investigate SWOT analysis framework and discuss how to use it is presented. Finally, some mistakes those are easily seen when using SWOT analysis are specified.
▲▲What is SWOT analysis?
“SWOT” is an acronym which represents “strengths”, “weaknesses”, “opportunities” and “threats”. SWOT analysis is a basic, straightforward model that provides direction and serves as a basis step for the development of marketing strategy. A SWOT analysis consists of two basic analysis ——internal analysis (strengths and weaknesses) and external analysis (opportunities and threats). Actually, the analysis is replying the following questions:
* What does the firm do well? (strengths)
* What does the firm lack or do badly? (weaknesses)
* What are the factors that can be exploited to the firm’s advantage? (opportunities)
* What are factors that can potentially reduce a firm’s performance, strengths ?( threats)
(SWOT analysis: how many individuals will be involved, 2004).
▲▲Why use SWOT analysis?
SWOT analysis is an effective marketing strategy tool and widely to used in the strategy process and strategy plan. SWOT analysis is the first and important step of marketing strategy process and helps a company to identify and develop its competitive advantages and core strategy. The establishment of an effective marketing strategy needs to start with a detailed and creative assessment of both the company’s capabilities—its strengths and weaknesses relative to the competition-and the opportunities and threats in the external environment. The quality of marketing strategy and of the entire marketing plan depends on the quality of the SWOT analysis (Flavel &Williams, 1996a).
The role of SWOT analysis is to take the information from the internal analysis (strengths and weaknesses) and external analysis (opportunities and threats) so as to determine the factors that will assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives. The purpose of SWOT analysis is to build upon key strengths and correct major weaknesses in order to take advantage of anticipated opportunities and to avoid potential threats within the external environment. Take it simply, SWOT analysis helps a company to focus its activities into areas where it is strong and where the greatest opportunities lie. By the SWOT analysis , the company seeks to define the key factors for success and develop a competitive advantage which will distinguish the company’s offer from those of its competitors in the segment market so that to avoid head-on competition altogether by offering differential advantages. Research shows that the most successful companies are those to develop differential advantages (Branksbank, 1994).
▲▲How to use SWOT analysis?
SWOT analysis includes internal analysis to assess strengths and weaknesses and external analysis to identify opportunities and threats that a company is facing.
▲▲Internal analysis
In the process of marketing strategy, the purpose of internal analysis is to produce a picture of the company, its resources and capabilities so as to help the company to find out its sustainable competitive advantages. A competitive advantage can be created out of any of the company’s strengths or “distinctive competencies” relative to the competitors. It is a capability which cannot easily be copied or emulated by competitors. It may be a cost advantage, special technical or response time, service support or a combination of these capabilities. A sustainable competitive advantage is identified by comparison of a company with the strengths, weaknesses and competitive position of each of its major competitors. If an identified advantage can be copied, or can easily be emulated by a competitor, it is not sustainable (Flavel & Williams, 1996b).
To identify the competitive advantages in a company can seek both tangible and intangible assets. Not all the assets of a company can become marketing assets, marketing assets are essentially properties—normally intangible that can be used to advantage in the marketplace (Branksbank, 2004).
The tangible assets include human resources, physical facilities and equipment, product markets, distribution and communication systems and financial assets. Financial assets decide to what extent to put the company strategies into operation. Intangible assets might include managerial processes and skills, special relationship with customers, information system and legal relationships, such as patents, licenses and even companies’ brand.
The scope of internal analysis is more than just identifying and tabulating the companies’ resources. It involves assessing management’s utilisation of resources, as well as its performance functions in marketing strategy. The assessment of internal resource can make a company understand clearly its strengths and weaknesses so that it can develop a strategy to focus on its activities in the areas that they are strong and develop strategies to minimize weaknesses.
▲▲External analysis
External forces which not only influence demand for existing products and services but also create opportunities for new products and services. To establish the core strategy requires a detailed analysis of both the resources available and the market in which a company will operate. External analysis can identify the opportunities and threats. Some changes in the external environment may create new industries, as well as destroy others. Opportunities can arise when changes occur in the external environment. Many of these changes can be perceived as threats to the market position of existing products and may necessitate companies to change or redevelop marketing strategy to remain competitively competent in the marketplace. Those opportunities and threats stem from three main areas: environmental factors as well as the customers and competitors that both including current and potential. Therefore, external analysis includes macro-environment analysis (PEST analysis) and micro-environment analysis (customer analysis and competitor analysis).
PEST analysis refers to analyse the changes in the political environment, economic environment, social environment and technological environment and identify those changes bring opportunities and threats to a company or an industry. For example, the success of Jaguar Cars in 1984 and 1985 is probably due in part to the relative decline of the England Pound sterling against the US dollar marking exports to America more profitable (Bowman & Asch, 1987a).
Competitor analysis can make the company understand clearly their competitors’ strategies, strengths and weaknesses so as to help the company to use their competitive advantages to develop effective strategies.
Understanding the customers well and their changes means that the company can develop effective strategies to offer superior value to their customers. A firm’s misunderstanding of customer needs and customers’ interest in quality can lead to trouble in the marketplace (Barnett&wilsted, 1989). For example, when Haier Corporation which is Chinese biggest appliance company entered into American market, it found the smaller –size refrigerator users are increasing, so it designed the products for this target market. Today, Haier is the world’s No.2 refrigerator marker and has captured about half the U.S. market for compact refrigerators. Haier refrigerators are seen in college dorms or hotel rooms. It also pioneered electric wine cellars—those inexpensive stand-alone cabinets for wine lovers who lack drafty chateaux in which to store their treasures (Alan, 2002).
▲▲Mistakes of SWOT analysis
As we mentioned above, SWOT analysis is important in developing a marketing strategy, however, it is easy viewed on a superficial level when using it. SWOT analysis should not be operated in isolation and it needs connect with other analysis tools such as Porter’s Five Force Model. Also, SWOT analysis needs consider the changes in the external environment.
First, SWOT analysis as a process of marketing strategy, it does not merely list strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a company, the importance is assessment and matching, it needs to match strengths with opportunities. Strengths will not be useful if it does not match an opportunity. All the four factors in SWOT chart are interdependent.
Second, SWOT analysis is a comparative analysis. To assess whether a company has a strength or weakness requires comparisons to be made between the company’s resource utilisation and that of its competitors (Hooley, Saunders &Piercy, 2004a). For example, if all your competitors provide high quality products, then a high quality production process is not a strength in the market, it is a necessity. A comparative analysis of the firm’s strengths and weaknesses with those of competitors may identify areas in which strengths provide an advantage capable of sustaining a competitive strategy, or weaknesses which competitors may better than you.
Third, SWOT analysis is a customer-centred analysis. It is important to differentiate what we think is important and valuable from what customers think is important and valuable. After all, there are customers to buy our products, not ourselves. For example, you think advanced technology to a product is your strength, however, customers appreciate user-friendly and cheap are important factors. SWOT analysis must be customer focused so that to gain maximum benefit, a strength is meaningful only when it is useful in satisfying the needs of customers. At this point, the strength can become a capability (Ferrell, et al 1998).
Fourth, SWOT analysis is a dynamic analysis while not a static analysis. Failure to respond to external environmental changes may result in the ultimate failure of the company, regardless of how well it manages its internal affairs (Bowman & Asch, 1987b). Assessing whether a resource is a strength or weakness in relation to identified features of the environment in which it operates. In addition to these features changing over time as the organisation develops, the environment also will change which may indicate that a feature that was as a strength. From a marketing viewpoint, if strategy becomes too deeply embedded in corporate capabilities it runs the risk of ignoring the demands of changing, turbulent marketing environments (Hooley , Saunders & Piercy, 2004b). Since the environment is continually changing, strategic decisions necessarily involve coping with change. The extent and speed of environmental change will vary and the pace at which strategy must change will vary too.
Fifth, SWOT analysis has its limitation. The assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are depending on managers’ experience and judgement. Stevenson (1976) found that an individual’s cognitive perceptions of strengths and weaknesses were strongly influenced by factors associated with both the individual and the organisation’s attributes. Those factors include the organisation’s history, requirements and managers’ career background and positional level in the company.
▲▲Conclusion
SWOT analysis is an effective analysis tool which includes internal analysis and external analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The role of SWOT analysis is to determine where resources are available or lacking so that to identify its strengths and weakness. Also, SWOT analysis is taking the information from external environmental changes so that to identify opportunities and threats. The aim of SWOT analysis is to make the company focus on its activities on its strong and take advantage of opportunities to develop competitive advantages to offer superior value to its target market than its competitors in order to accomplish its goals successfully. However, it is easily to halt on a superficial level when companies use SWOT analysis.
References:
【1】Hooley, G.J., Saunders, J.A., & Piercy, N.F. (2004). Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning. 3rd ed. Harlow,England .New York et al. Prentice Hall.
【2】Brooksbank, R. (1994). The Anatomy of Marketing Positioning Strategy. Marketing Intelligence & Planning. Vol.12 No.4.1994 , pp.10-14. MCB University Press Limited.
【3】Brooksbank, R. (2004). MKTG 351-04A(HAM)—Marketing Strategy. University ofWaikato , April, 2004.
【4】Flavel, R., & Williams, J. (1996). Strategic Management: A Practical Approach. Sydney , New York et al. Prentice Hall
【5】Bowman, C., & Asch, D. (1987). Strategic Management. Hong Kong. Macmillan Education LTD.
【6】Barnett, J.H., & Wilsted, W.D. (1989). Strategic Management: Text and Concepts. Boston. PWS-KENT publishing company.
【7】Alan, W. (2002). This Week in Consumer Electronics, 1/8/2002, Vol.17 Issue1, P129, 1/2.
【8】Stevenson, H.H. (1976). Defining Corporate Strengths and Weaknesses: Sloan Management Review, Spring, PP51-68.
【9】Ferrell, O., Hartline, M., Lucas, G., Luck, D.( 1998). Marketing Strategy. Orlando, FL: Dryden Press.
【10】SWOT analysis: How Many Individuals will be involved
(责任编辑:张雄辉)
关键词:SWOT分析法 战略分析 战略工具
▲▲Introduction
A SWOT analysis is a very effective strategic planning tool used to identify and evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that a company is facing. SWOT analysis is usually performed early in the strategy development process. It helps companies evaluate the internal situation and the environmental factors that it operates to. Due to limited resources that most companies have, SWOT analysis can help a company to focus on its strengths with opportunities to develop its competitive advantages so as to offer superior value to its target market than its competitors. SWOT analysis also helps companies to take advantage of their strengths and opportunities and develop strategy to minimize or avoid its weaknesses and threats. In this essay, the four main issues to be covered in discussing the role and purpose of SWOT analysis as a part of the process of developing a marketing strategy and the reasons to mistakenly view it on a superficial level . The first issue is an explanation of what is a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis includes resource-based internal analysis and external environment analysis. Following this, the importance of a SWOT analysis in a marketing strategy and strategy plan is addressed. Then, to investigate SWOT analysis framework and discuss how to use it is presented. Finally, some mistakes those are easily seen when using SWOT analysis are specified.
▲▲What is SWOT analysis?
“SWOT” is an acronym which represents “strengths”, “weaknesses”, “opportunities” and “threats”. SWOT analysis is a basic, straightforward model that provides direction and serves as a basis step for the development of marketing strategy. A SWOT analysis consists of two basic analysis ——internal analysis (strengths and weaknesses) and external analysis (opportunities and threats). Actually, the analysis is replying the following questions:
* What does the firm do well? (strengths)
* What does the firm lack or do badly? (weaknesses)
* What are the factors that can be exploited to the firm’s advantage? (opportunities)
* What are factors that can potentially reduce a firm’s performance, strengths ?( threats)
(SWOT analysis: how many individuals will be involved, 2004).
▲▲Why use SWOT analysis?
SWOT analysis is an effective marketing strategy tool and widely to used in the strategy process and strategy plan. SWOT analysis is the first and important step of marketing strategy process and helps a company to identify and develop its competitive advantages and core strategy. The establishment of an effective marketing strategy needs to start with a detailed and creative assessment of both the company’s capabilities—its strengths and weaknesses relative to the competition-and the opportunities and threats in the external environment. The quality of marketing strategy and of the entire marketing plan depends on the quality of the SWOT analysis (Flavel &Williams, 1996a).
The role of SWOT analysis is to take the information from the internal analysis (strengths and weaknesses) and external analysis (opportunities and threats) so as to determine the factors that will assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives. The purpose of SWOT analysis is to build upon key strengths and correct major weaknesses in order to take advantage of anticipated opportunities and to avoid potential threats within the external environment. Take it simply, SWOT analysis helps a company to focus its activities into areas where it is strong and where the greatest opportunities lie. By the SWOT analysis , the company seeks to define the key factors for success and develop a competitive advantage which will distinguish the company’s offer from those of its competitors in the segment market so that to avoid head-on competition altogether by offering differential advantages. Research shows that the most successful companies are those to develop differential advantages (Branksbank, 1994).
▲▲How to use SWOT analysis?
SWOT analysis includes internal analysis to assess strengths and weaknesses and external analysis to identify opportunities and threats that a company is facing.
▲▲Internal analysis
In the process of marketing strategy, the purpose of internal analysis is to produce a picture of the company, its resources and capabilities so as to help the company to find out its sustainable competitive advantages. A competitive advantage can be created out of any of the company’s strengths or “distinctive competencies” relative to the competitors. It is a capability which cannot easily be copied or emulated by competitors. It may be a cost advantage, special technical or response time, service support or a combination of these capabilities. A sustainable competitive advantage is identified by comparison of a company with the strengths, weaknesses and competitive position of each of its major competitors. If an identified advantage can be copied, or can easily be emulated by a competitor, it is not sustainable (Flavel & Williams, 1996b).
To identify the competitive advantages in a company can seek both tangible and intangible assets. Not all the assets of a company can become marketing assets, marketing assets are essentially properties—normally intangible that can be used to advantage in the marketplace (Branksbank, 2004).
The tangible assets include human resources, physical facilities and equipment, product markets, distribution and communication systems and financial assets. Financial assets decide to what extent to put the company strategies into operation. Intangible assets might include managerial processes and skills, special relationship with customers, information system and legal relationships, such as patents, licenses and even companies’ brand.
The scope of internal analysis is more than just identifying and tabulating the companies’ resources. It involves assessing management’s utilisation of resources, as well as its performance functions in marketing strategy. The assessment of internal resource can make a company understand clearly its strengths and weaknesses so that it can develop a strategy to focus on its activities in the areas that they are strong and develop strategies to minimize weaknesses.
▲▲External analysis
External forces which not only influence demand for existing products and services but also create opportunities for new products and services. To establish the core strategy requires a detailed analysis of both the resources available and the market in which a company will operate. External analysis can identify the opportunities and threats. Some changes in the external environment may create new industries, as well as destroy others. Opportunities can arise when changes occur in the external environment. Many of these changes can be perceived as threats to the market position of existing products and may necessitate companies to change or redevelop marketing strategy to remain competitively competent in the marketplace. Those opportunities and threats stem from three main areas: environmental factors as well as the customers and competitors that both including current and potential. Therefore, external analysis includes macro-environment analysis (PEST analysis) and micro-environment analysis (customer analysis and competitor analysis).
PEST analysis refers to analyse the changes in the political environment, economic environment, social environment and technological environment and identify those changes bring opportunities and threats to a company or an industry. For example, the success of Jaguar Cars in 1984 and 1985 is probably due in part to the relative decline of the England Pound sterling against the US dollar marking exports to America more profitable (Bowman & Asch, 1987a).
Competitor analysis can make the company understand clearly their competitors’ strategies, strengths and weaknesses so as to help the company to use their competitive advantages to develop effective strategies.
Understanding the customers well and their changes means that the company can develop effective strategies to offer superior value to their customers. A firm’s misunderstanding of customer needs and customers’ interest in quality can lead to trouble in the marketplace (Barnett&wilsted, 1989). For example, when Haier Corporation which is Chinese biggest appliance company entered into American market, it found the smaller –size refrigerator users are increasing, so it designed the products for this target market. Today, Haier is the world’s No.2 refrigerator marker and has captured about half the U.S. market for compact refrigerators. Haier refrigerators are seen in college dorms or hotel rooms. It also pioneered electric wine cellars—those inexpensive stand-alone cabinets for wine lovers who lack drafty chateaux in which to store their treasures (Alan, 2002).
▲▲Mistakes of SWOT analysis
As we mentioned above, SWOT analysis is important in developing a marketing strategy, however, it is easy viewed on a superficial level when using it. SWOT analysis should not be operated in isolation and it needs connect with other analysis tools such as Porter’s Five Force Model. Also, SWOT analysis needs consider the changes in the external environment.
First, SWOT analysis as a process of marketing strategy, it does not merely list strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a company, the importance is assessment and matching, it needs to match strengths with opportunities. Strengths will not be useful if it does not match an opportunity. All the four factors in SWOT chart are interdependent.
Second, SWOT analysis is a comparative analysis. To assess whether a company has a strength or weakness requires comparisons to be made between the company’s resource utilisation and that of its competitors (Hooley, Saunders &Piercy, 2004a). For example, if all your competitors provide high quality products, then a high quality production process is not a strength in the market, it is a necessity. A comparative analysis of the firm’s strengths and weaknesses with those of competitors may identify areas in which strengths provide an advantage capable of sustaining a competitive strategy, or weaknesses which competitors may better than you.
Third, SWOT analysis is a customer-centred analysis. It is important to differentiate what we think is important and valuable from what customers think is important and valuable. After all, there are customers to buy our products, not ourselves. For example, you think advanced technology to a product is your strength, however, customers appreciate user-friendly and cheap are important factors. SWOT analysis must be customer focused so that to gain maximum benefit, a strength is meaningful only when it is useful in satisfying the needs of customers. At this point, the strength can become a capability (Ferrell, et al 1998).
Fourth, SWOT analysis is a dynamic analysis while not a static analysis. Failure to respond to external environmental changes may result in the ultimate failure of the company, regardless of how well it manages its internal affairs (Bowman & Asch, 1987b). Assessing whether a resource is a strength or weakness in relation to identified features of the environment in which it operates. In addition to these features changing over time as the organisation develops, the environment also will change which may indicate that a feature that was as a strength. From a marketing viewpoint, if strategy becomes too deeply embedded in corporate capabilities it runs the risk of ignoring the demands of changing, turbulent marketing environments (Hooley , Saunders & Piercy, 2004b). Since the environment is continually changing, strategic decisions necessarily involve coping with change. The extent and speed of environmental change will vary and the pace at which strategy must change will vary too.
Fifth, SWOT analysis has its limitation. The assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are depending on managers’ experience and judgement. Stevenson (1976) found that an individual’s cognitive perceptions of strengths and weaknesses were strongly influenced by factors associated with both the individual and the organisation’s attributes. Those factors include the organisation’s history, requirements and managers’ career background and positional level in the company.
▲▲Conclusion
SWOT analysis is an effective analysis tool which includes internal analysis and external analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The role of SWOT analysis is to determine where resources are available or lacking so that to identify its strengths and weakness. Also, SWOT analysis is taking the information from external environmental changes so that to identify opportunities and threats. The aim of SWOT analysis is to make the company focus on its activities on its strong and take advantage of opportunities to develop competitive advantages to offer superior value to its target market than its competitors in order to accomplish its goals successfully. However, it is easily to halt on a superficial level when companies use SWOT analysis.
References:
【1】Hooley, G.J., Saunders, J.A., & Piercy, N.F. (2004). Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning. 3rd ed. Harlow,England .New York et al. Prentice Hall.
【2】Brooksbank, R. (1994). The Anatomy of Marketing Positioning Strategy. Marketing Intelligence & Planning. Vol.12 No.4.1994 , pp.10-14. MCB University Press Limited.
【3】Brooksbank, R. (2004). MKTG 351-04A(HAM)—Marketing Strategy. University ofWaikato , April, 2004.
【4】Flavel, R., & Williams, J. (1996). Strategic Management: A Practical Approach. Sydney , New York et al. Prentice Hall
【5】Bowman, C., & Asch, D. (1987). Strategic Management. Hong Kong. Macmillan Education LTD.
【6】Barnett, J.H., & Wilsted, W.D. (1989). Strategic Management: Text and Concepts. Boston. PWS-KENT publishing company.
【7】Alan, W. (2002). This Week in Consumer Electronics, 1/8/2002, Vol.17 Issue1, P129, 1/2.
【8】Stevenson, H.H. (1976). Defining Corporate Strengths and Weaknesses: Sloan Management Review, Spring, PP51-68.
【9】Ferrell, O., Hartline, M., Lucas, G., Luck, D.( 1998). Marketing Strategy. Orlando, FL: Dryden Press.
【10】SWOT analysis: How Many Individuals will be involved
(责任编辑:张雄辉)