Name of Student: VIVEK SINGH

Roll Number: 113

Specialisation: Marketing
Programme: PG-B
Title of Project:
A study of retail dairy outlets of Amul in Chembur area of
Mumbai: Analyzing problems and suggesting ways to
improve market share.

Literature review
Market analysis
Definition-A market analysis studies the attractiveness and the
dynamics of a special market within a special industry. It is part of the
industry analysis and thus in turn of the global environmental analysis.
Through all of these analyses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats (SWOT) of a company can be identified. Finally, with the help of
a SWOT analysis, adequate business strategies of a company will be
defined. The market analysis is also known as a documented investigation
of a market that is used to inform a firm's planning activities, particularly
around decisions of inventory, purchase, work force expansion/contraction,
facility expansion, purchases of capital equipment, promotional activities,
and many other aspects of a company.

If we agree that the core of marketing lies in responding to users' needs

and demands,then analyzing users information needs and demands
becomes a primary task of any marketing strategy. However, it is
sometimes the case that a market has not yet recognized a need or is not
aware of the existence of a product or service to satisfy it. It then
becomes necessary to educate the target market in the benefits to be
derived from using a particular product or service and to create the
desire.
Assessing customers' wants, needs, and desires is far from being an easy
task. This difficulty is well expressed by Smith:
Many library users do not know what they want, and often do not ask for
what they need. If that is true of users, then it is even more true of nonusers who may well have needs which they cannot articulate because as
yet there is no service which they are aware of which could help them.
Once target markets have been determined, it is important to discover the
character, wants, needs, and demands of each. Unfortunately, managers
sometimes make the mistake of making assumptions about their clients.
Should this happen and should the clients be misunderstood, failure is
unavoidable.

Dimensions of market analysis

Market size (current and future)

Market trends
Market growth rate
Market profitability
Industry cost structure
Distribution channels
Key success factors
Key success Details

Market size

The market size is defined through the market volume and the
market potential. The market volume exhibits the totality of all

realized sales volume of a special market. The volume is therefore

dependent on the quantity of consumers and their ordinary
demand. Furthermore, the market volume is either measured in
quantities or qualities. The quantities can be given in technical
terms, like GW for power capacities, or in numbers of items.
Qualitative measuring mostly uses the sales turnover as an
indicator. That means that the market price and the quantity are
taken into account. Besides the market volume, the market
potential is of equal importance. It defines the upper limit of the
total demand and takes potential clients into consideration.
Although the market potential is rather fictitious, it offers good
values of orientation. The relation of market volume to market
potential provides information about the chances of market
growth. The following are examples of information sources for
determining market size:

Government data
Trade association data
Financial data from major players
Customer surveys

Market trends
Market trends are the upward or downward movement of a
market, during a period of time. The market size is more difficult to
estimate if one is starting with something completely new. In this
case, you will have to derive the figures from the number of
potential customers, or customer segments.
Besides information about the target market, one also needs
information about one's competitors, customers, products, etc.
Lastly, you need to measure marketing effectiveness. A few
techniques are:

Customer analysis
Choice modelling
Competitor analysis
Risk analysis

Product research
Advertising the research
Marketing mix modeling
Simulated Test Marketing

Changes in the market are important because they often are the
source of new opportunities and threats. Moreover, they have the
potential to dramatically affect the market size.
Examples include changes in economic, social, regulatory, legal,
and political conditions and in available technology, price
sensitivity, demand for variety, and level of emphasis on service
and support.

Market growth rate

A simple means of forecasting the market growth rate is to
extrapolate historical data into the future. While this method may
provide a first-order estimate, it does not predict important turning
points. A better method is to study market trends and sales growth
in complementary products. Such drivers serve as leading
indicators that are more accurate than simply extrapolating
historical data.
Important inflection points in the market growth rate sometimes
can be predicted by constructing a product diffusion curve. The
shape of the curve can be estimated by studying the
characteristics of the adoption rate of a similar product in the past.
Ultimately, many markets mature and decline. Some leading
indicators of a market's decline include market saturation, the
emergence of substitute products, and/or the absence of growth
drivers.

Market opportunity
A market opportunity product or a service, based on either
one technology or several, fulfills the needs of a (preferably
increasing) market better than the competition and better than
substitution-technologies within the given environmental frame
(e.g. society, politics, legislation, etc.).

Market profitability
While different organizations in a market will have different levels
of profitability, they are all similar to different market
conditions. Michael Porter devised a useful framework for
evaluating the attractiveness of an industry or market. This
framework, known as Porter five forces analysis, identifies five
factors that influence the market profitability:

Buyer power
Supplier power
Barriers to entry
Threat of substitute products
Rivalry among firms in the industry

Industry cost structure

The cost structure is important for identifying key factors for
success. To this end, Porter's value chain model is useful for
determining where value is added and for isolating the costs.
The cost structure also is helpful for formulating strategies to
develop a competitive advantage. For example, in some

environments the experience curve effect can be used to develop

a cost advantage over competitors.
Distribution channels
Examining the following aspects of the distribution system may
help with a market analysis:
Existing distribution channels - can be described by how direct
they are to the customer.
Trends and emerging channels - new channels can offer the
opportunity to develop a competitive advantage.
Channel power structure - for example, in the case of a product
having little brand equity, retailers have negotiating power over
manufacturers and can capture more margin.
Success factors
The key success factors are those elements that are necessary in
order for the firm to achieve its marketing objectives. A few
examples of such factors include:

Access to essential unique resources

Ability to achieve economies of scale
Access to distribution channels
Technological progress

It is important to consider that key success factors

may change over time, especially as the product
progresses through its life cycle.

Market shARE
Definition-

"Market share is the percentage of

a market (defined in terms of either units or revenue) accounted
for by a specific entity." In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing
managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar
market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market
share" very useful.
"Marketers need to be able to translate sales targets into market
share because this will demonstrate whether forecasts are to be
attained by growing with the market or by capturing share from
competitors. The latter will almost always be more difficult to
achieve. Market share is closely monitored for signs of change in
the competitive landscape, and it frequently drives strategic or
tactical action."
Increasing market share is one of the most important objectives
of business. The main advantage of using market share as a
measure of business performance is that it is less dependent
upon macroenvironmental variables such as the state of the

economy or changes in tax policy. However, increasing market

share may be dangerous for makers of fungible hazardous
products, particularly products sold into the United States market,
where they may be subject to market share liability.

Formulas :
"Market share: The percentage of a market accounted for by a
specific entity."
"Unit market share: The units sold by a particular company as a
percentage of total market sales, measured in the same units."
Unit market share (%) = 100 * Unit sales / Total Market Unit Sales
This formula, of course, can be rearranged to derive either unit
sales or total market unit sales from the other two variables, as
illustrated in the following:
Unit sales (#) = Unit market share (%) * Total Market Unit Sales /
100
Total Market Unit Sales = 100 * Unit sales / Unit market share (%)
Revenue market share: Revenue market share differs from unit
market share in that it reflects the prices at which goods are sold.
In fact, a relatively simple way to calculate relative price is to
divide revenue market share by unit market share."
Revenue market share (%) = 100 * Sales Revenue / Total Market
Sales Revenue
"As with the unit market share, this equation for revenue market
share can be rearranged to calculate either sales revenue or total
market sales revenue from the other two variables."

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Company Profile:
The Birth of Amul, It all began when milk became a symbol of protest,
Founded in 1946 to stop the exploitation by middlemen, Inspired by the
freedom movement Amul which symbolizes taste of India achieved a
historical milestone by crossing the 2 billion dollar mark. Amul is
India's largest food products brand with an annual sales turnover of Rs.
13,500 cores (US $ 2.5 bn). It procures an average of 120 lac liters of
milk every day from 31.8 lac farmers across 16,914 villages of
Gujarat. During the financial year 2010-11, GCMMF registered
impressive top line growth of 16%, achieving turnover of Rs. 13735
cores. Shri Parthibhai G. Bhatol is the Chairman of GCMMF. During
the year 2012-13, GCMMF paid Rs. 9000 cores to its
lakhs farmer members. Payout to farmers also registered 23% CAGR
in last 4 years. Indias largest food products marketing organization
Amul is also the official sponsor of the Indian contingent to the

London 2012 Olympic Games by signing a mou with the Indian

Olympic Association. Amul has also received the "Green Globe
Foundation Award" in the Manufacturing Category at the Delhi
Sustainable Development Summit 2012. GCMMF received this award
for its mass tree plantation drive and contribution to environment
by the milk producers of Gujarat. The 31.8 lac milk producers of
Gujarat have planted more than 312 lac trees in 16000 villages of the
State in last 5 years. Thus Amul has shown its concern, awareness and
commitment for betterment of environment and has set an example for
all the cooperatives and other
institutions to turn India green in
the era of global warming and
environmental crisis.

The Amul Model

The Amul Model of dairy development is a three-tiered structure
with the dairy cooperative societies at the village level federated
under a milk union at the district level and a federation of member
unions at the state level.

Establishment
linkage

of

direct

between

milk

producers and consumers by

eliminating middlemen

Milk
control

Producers

(farmers)

procurement,

processing and marketing

The Amul model has helped India to emerge as the largest milk
producer in the world. More than 15 million milk producers pour
their milk in 1, 44,246 dairy cooperative societies across the country.
Their milk is processed in 177 District Co- operative Unions and
marketed by 22 State Marketing Federations, ensuring a better life for
millions.

GCMMF

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) is

India's largest food product marketing organisation with annual
turnover (2012-13) US$ 2.54 billion. Its daily milk procurement
is approx 13 million lit (peak period) per day from 16,914 village
milk cooperative societies, 17 member unions covering 24 districts,
and 3.18 million milk producer members.
It is the Apex organisation of the Dairy Cooperatives of Gujarat,
popularly known as 'AMUL', which aims to provide remunerative
returns to the farmers and also serve the interest of consumers by
providing quality products which are good value for money. Its
success has not only been emulated in India but serves as a model for
rest of the World. It is exclusive marketing organisation of 'Amul' and
'Sagar' branded products. It operates through 47 Sales Offices and has
a dealer network of 5000 dealers and 10 lakh retailers, one of the
largest such networks in India. Its product range comprises milk, milk
powder, health beverages, ghee, butter, cheese, Pizza cheese, Icecream, Paneer, chocolates, and traditional Indian sweets, etc.

GCMMF - An Overview :Year of

Establishment
Members

1973
17 District Cooperative Milk Producers'
Unions (16 Members

No. of Producer
Members
No. of Village
Societies
Total Milk

&
1 Nominal
3.18
Million Members)
16,914
16.8 Million litres per day

handling
Milk Collection

4.66 billion litres

(Total - 2012-13)
Milk collection

12.7 million litres (peak 13 million)

(Daily
Milk Drying
Capacity
Cattle feed

647 Mts. per day

5890 Mts. per day

manufacturing
Sales Turnover (2013-

Rs. 18150 Crores

14)
Sales Turnover Rs (million) US $ (in millions)

2005-06

37736

850

2006-07

42778

1050

2007-08

52554

1325

2008-09

67113

1504

2009-10

80053

1700

2010-11

97742

2172

2011-12

116680

2500

2012-13

137350

2540

2013-14

181500

Product Range :Breadspreads

Amul Butter, Amul Lite, Delicious Table

Margarine

Amul Pasteurized Processed Cheddar

Cheese, Amul Processed Cheese Spread,
Amul Pizza (Mozarella) Cheese,Amul
Cheese Range
Emmental Cheese, Amul Gouda Cheese,
Amul Malai Paneer (cottage cheese),
Utterly Delicious Pizza
Fresh Milk

Amul Gold Full Cream Milk 6% fat, Amul

Shakti Standardised Milk 4.5% Fat, Amul
Taaza Toned Milk 3% fat,Amul Slim & Trim,
Amul Cow Milk

UHT Milk
Range

Amul Gold 4.5% fat Milk, Amul Shakti 3%

fat Milk, Amul Taaza 1.5% fat Milk, Amul
Lite Slim-n-Trim Milk, Amul Fresh Cream

Milk Powders Amul Full Cream Milk Powder, Amulya Dairy

Whitener, Sagar Skimmed Milk Powder,

Amulspray Infant Milk Food, Sagar Tea and

Coffee Whitener
Milk Drink

Amul Kool Flavoured Milk, Amul Kool Cafe,

Amul Kool Koko,Amul Kool Millk Shaake,
Amul Kool Chocolate Milk,Nutramul Energy
Drink

Health Drink

Stamina Instant Energy Drink

Brown
Beverage

Nutramul Malted Milk Food

Amul Masti Dahi (fresh curd), Amul Masti

Curd Products Spiced Butter Milk,Amul Lassi, Amul
Flaavyo Yoghurt
Pure Ghee

Amul Pure Ghee, Sagar Pure Ghee

Sweetened
Condensed
Milk

Amul Mithaimate

Mithaee
Amul Shrikhand, Amul Mithaee
Range (Ethnic
Gulabjamuns, Amul Basundi,Avsar Ladoos
Sweets)
Ice-cream

Sundae Range, probiotic,,sugarfree and

probiotic

Amul Milk Chocolate, Amul Fruit & Nut

Chocolate &
Chocolate, Amul Chocozoo, Amul Bindass,
Confectionery
Amul Fundoo, Amul Dark Chocolate

Expansion and Innovation propels Amul to 32% growth

GCMMF which markets the extremely popular Amul brand of milk and
dairy products has registered highest ever growth of 32.1%, to achieve
turnover of Rs. 18143.46 crores during 2013-14. Results of the apex
body of dairy cooperatives in Gujarat were declared on 15th May 2014,
in the 40th Annual General Meeting of GCMMF. The
organization

which

symbolizes taste of India,

managed

to

achieve

impressive 23% cumulative

average

growth

rate

(CAGR) over the last six

years by leveraging on
several

marketing

technological
as

well

and

innovations

as

enhanced

distribution reach. In fact,

the

group

GCMMF

turnover
and

constituent
Unions,

of
its

Member
representing

unduplicated turnover of all

products sold under Amul
brand was Rs. 25500crores
or US$ 4.2Billion.

During the last four years, GCMMF has ensured 59%

increase in milk procurement price to its farmers, resulting
in 46% growth in milk procurement during the same
period. By continuously offering most remunerative price
for milk to its dairy farmers, GCMMF has incentivized
them to enhance their investment towards increasing milk
production.
The high growth in turnover is reflected in the remarkable
performance of its various mega-brands. GCMMF
achieved excellent growth in most of the value-added
consumer packs. During 2013-14, Amul long-life UHT
Milk had shown an impressive value growth of 40% and
sales of Amul UHT Cream also increased by 37% in value
terms. Amuls innovative milk beverages range showed
quantum value growth of 25%. In Ghee, their two megabrands Amul & Sagar together achieved very impressive
growth of46% in value terms. Sales of Amul Butter and
Amul Cheese achieved impressive.
Articles :India's Milk Production To Hit 177 MT By 2019-20 :- 29 April
2014

INDIA - With the increasing income levels of average Indians,

milk production in India will touch 177 million tonnes by 201920, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of
India (Assocham), an apex industry bodys Economic
Research Bureau (AERB) study said on April 22, 2014, writes
Jagdish Kumar.
The study titled Unlocking the growth potential of Indian dairy
industry said, Milk production across India has grown at a
significant rate of about 19 per cent during the aforesaid period
with overall milk production crossing 121 million tonnes mark as of
2010-11.
The increase in the income level of an average Indian is being
accompanied by a change in the food basket as the monthly percapita consumption expenditure on milk and milk products in both
rural and urban areas has grown significantly at about 92 per cent
and 72 per cent respectively, the study highlighted.
While releasing the report, D.S. Rawat, national secretary general
of Assocham said, Growing at a compounded annual growth rate
(CAGR) of over four per cent, milk production in India is expected
to rise to about 177 mt by 2019-2020 and that would help in
meeting the projected demand of 150 mt by 2016-17 that has
been envisaged in National Dairy Plan Phase-1.
However, despite being the largest milk producer in the world, percapita milk availability in India at 252 grams falls below the global
average of 279 grams per person per day.
New Zealand (9773 grams), Ireland (3260 grams) and Denmark
(2411 grams) are top three countries in terms of per-capita milk
availability, the study stressed.
Assocham study called Indias dairy industry to streamline its
value chain processes and integrate the smallholder dairy
producers into the processing value chain in order to improve the
overall performance of the industry, more so as they possess

inherent strengths like low production costs, lower liabilities and

limited liquidity risk.
The study also pointed out that lack of knowledge and technical
know-how, poor access to support services, limited access to
credit and poor milk quality together limit the ability of smallholder
dairy producers to take advantage of market opportunities.
Concentration of milk production in some pockets together with
high cost of transportation has led to rising disparity amid states in
terms of per-capita milk availability, noted the Assocham study.
The study recommended an urgent need to build up strategies to
increase competitiveness in all segments of dairy chain, input
supply, milk production, processing, distribution and retailing.
For promotion of dairy sector in India, emphasis now needs to be
more on how to involve and encourage the village population into
proactively adopting dairy industry as a viable alternative to the
agricultural activity, Assocham stressed.
The state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) has recorded highest growth in
terms of both milk production and per-capita milk availability
thereby clocking a growth rate of over 41 per cent and about 36
per cent (approx.) during the five year period of 2006-10.
Apart from AP, the states of Rajasthan (28 per cent), Kerala (24.8
per cent), Karnataka (24 per cent) and Gujarat (23.7 per cent) are
amid top five states in terms of clocking high growth in milk
production.
Uttar Pradesh (UP) commands highest share of over 17 per cent
in total milk production followed by Rajasthan (11 per cent share),
Andhra Pradesh (nine per cent), Punjab (about eight per cent) and
Gujarat (about eight per cent) which are amid top five states with a
combined share of over 53 per cent.
Punjab has recorded highest per-capita milk availability of 937
grams as per latest available data followed by Haryana (679

grams), Rajasthan (538 grams), Himachal Pradesh (446 grams)

and Gujarat (435 grams).
While, Andhra Pradesh has recorded highest growth rate of about
36 per cent in terms of improvement seen in per-capita milk
availability followed by Kerala (21 per cent approx.), Rajasthan (20
per cent approx.), Karnataka (19 per cent) and Gujarat (17 per
cent approx.).

Gujarat Ranks No 1 in Total Dairy Output Across India

09 May 2014
INDIA - With an annual dairy output worth over $2.07 billion,
Gujarat has been ranked number one state with about 21 per
cent share in terms of total dairy output worth over $10 billion
across top 20 states in India, writes Jagdish Kumar.
According to the study Unlocking Growth of Potential
of Indian Dairy Industry' by the Associated Chambers
of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham),
Gujarat has ranked third in terms of generating direct
employment in the dairy sector, besides, the state is
ranked fourth with a share of about 7.5 per cent in
1493 dairy factories across India.
Gujarat is ranked fifth with about eight per cent share
in terms of milk production, across India in total milk
production of over 120 million tonnes.
Besides, Gujarat has recorded the fifth highest growth
rate of about 24 per cent in milk production which is
above the all-India growth rate of about 19 per cent,
the study highlighted.

In terms of per-capita milk availability, the state has

ranked fifth and the state has clocked a growth rate of
about 17 per cent in this regard which is well above
all-India growth rate of 12 per cent.
"Milk production across India has grown at a
significant rate of about 19 per cent during the
aforesaid period, but despite being the largest milk
producer in the world, per-capita milk availability in
India at 252 grams falls below the global average of
279 grams per person per day," DS Rawat, national
secretary general of Assocham said while releasing
the report.
It is imperative for Indias dairy industry to streamline
its value chain processes and integrate the
smallholder dairy producers into the processing value
chain in order to improve the overall performance of
the industry, more so as they possess inherent
strengths like low production costs, lower liabilities
and limited liquidity risk, Rawat added.
"However, lack of knowledge and technical knowhow, poor access to support services, limited access
to credit and poor milk quality together limit the ability
of smallholder dairy producers to take advantage of
market opportunities," Rawat stressed.
"The increase in the income level of an average
Indian is being accompanied by a change in the food
basket as the monthly per-capita consumption
expenditure on milk and milk products in both rural
and urban areas has grown significantly at about 92
per cent and 72 per cent respectively," Rawat
revealed.
Uttar Pradesh (UP) commands highest share of over
17 per cent in total milk production followed by

Rajasthan (11 per cent share), Andhra Pradesh (nine

per cent), Punjab (about eight per cent) and Gujarat
(about eight per cent) which are amid top five states
with a combined share of over 53 per cent.
The study noted that concentration of milk production
in some pockets together with high cost of
transportation has led to rising disparity amid states in
terms of per-capita milk availability.
There is an urgent need to build up strategies to
increase competitiveness in all segments of dairy
chain, input supply, milk production, processing,
distribution and retailing, the study recommends.
For promotion of dairy sector in India, emphasis now
needs to be more on how to involve and encourage
the village population into proactively adopting dairy
industry as a viable alternative to the agricultural
activity.
With a view to formulate a long-term growth strategy
for the dairy sector, the study said: Promoting dairy
entrepreneurship, strengthening economic viability of
dairy farms, increasing the link between rural
production areas and urban markets and promotion
of small quantity packaging to meet the needs of poor
are certain key areas.

Amul to Invest $769 million in Next Two Years

23 May 2014
INDIA - Amul brand name of Gujarat Cooperative
Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) will be
investing $700 million to $769 million for

processing higher quantity of milk in the next two

years.
The cooperative plans to achieve $3.69 billion during
2014-15 financial year. It had reported a 32 per cent
increase in turnover to $3.07 billion during 2013-14
on strong sales from $2.34 billion in 2012-13.
Speaking on developments, RS Sodhi, managing
director, GCMMF, informed that Amul has planned
rapid expansion across its entire value-chain, as
expansion has been our mantra and will remain so in
the coming years.
We are in line with increase in our milk procurement,
our processing capacities across all member unions,
which has enhanced from 17 million litres per day to
23.2 million litres per day, in the last three years,
Sodhi adds.
Sodhi also said that our new dairy projects of 200,000
liters capacity in Amreli, Bharuch, Surendranagar,
Kutch and Bhavnagar at Saurashtra region in its
home state Gujarat will help to further enhance our
capacity.
The cooperatives new dairy projects at Rohtak,
Faridabad in the Haryana state will have a capacity of
1 million liters and 1.5 million liters respectively,
whereas the three dairy projects in Kanpur, Lucknow
and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh state will add another
1.5 million liters.
The cooperative is also working on 1 million liters
capacity dairy project in the West Bengal state.
Once all these new plants are commissioned, our
combined processing capacity will be enhanced by
another 6 million litres per day, Sodhi stressed.

For the last four years, GCMMF has recorded 59 per

cent increase in milk procurement price to its farmers,
resulting in 46 per cent growth in milk procurement
during the same period.
During 2013-14, Amul long-life ultra-high temperature
(UHT) milk had shown an impressive value growth of
40 per cent and sales of Amul UHT cream also
increased by 37 per cent in value terms.
Amuls innovative milk beverages range showed
quantum value growth of 25 per cent. In Ghee, their
two mega-brands Amul & Sagar together achieved
very impressive growth of 46 per cent in value terms.
Sales of Amul butter and cheese achieved impressive
21 per cent & 22 per cent value growth respectively.
Amul fresh milk sales increased by 23 per cent and
became the leading brand of fresh milk in several
major cities of India.
Making its presence in top six global dairy trade
platform, Amul is at present associated with about 3.3
million farmers and has around 50 milk processing
units. Besides milk, the company is also produces
major dairy products like butter, cheese, paneer, icecream and others.

Competitor analysis
Definition-

Competitor analysis in marketing and

strategic management is an assessment of the strengths and
weaknesses of current and potential competitors. This analysis
provides both an offensive and defensive strategic context to
identify opportunities and threats. Profiling coalesces all of the
relevant sources of competitor analysis into one framework in the
support of efficient and effective strategy formulation,
implementation, monitoring and adjustment.
Competitor analysis is an essential component of corporate
strategy. It is argued that most firms do not conduct this type of
analysis systematically enough. Instead, many enterprises operate
on what is called informal impressions, conjectures, and intuition
gained through the tidbits of information about competitors every
manager continually receives. As a result, traditional
environmental scanning places many firms at risk of dangerous
competitive blindspots due to a lack of robust competitor analysis.

Porter five forces analysis is a framework for industry

analysis and business strategy development formed
by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979.

A SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is a

structured planning method used to evaluate

the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in

a project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be
carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves
specifying the objective of the business venture or project and
identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and
unfavorable to achieve that objective. The technique is credited
to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at the Stanford
Research Institute (now SRI International) in the 1960s and 1970s
using data from Fortune 500 companies. The degree to which the
internal environment of the firm matches with the external
environment is expressed by the concept of strategic fit.
Setting the objective should be done after the SWOT analysis has
been performed. This would allow achievable goals or objectives
to be set for the organization.

Strengths: characteristics of the business or

project that give it an advantage over others.
Weaknesses: characteristics that place the
business or project at a disadvantage relative
to others
Opportunities: elements that the project could
exploit to its advantage
Threats: elements in the environment that
could cause trouble for the business or
project