SWOT

Note: this summary about SWOT was built on the base of several sources (listed below or found on
the web).
The SWOT (Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities - Threats) analysis is a strategic planning tool

concerned with the analysis of an organization’s internal and external environment. It synthesizes
forces and weaknesses (the resources) of a firm with regards to opportunities and threats generated
by its environment. It is the study of the relevance and the coherence of a future action in a strategic
domain. This is an ideal tool to i) understand, ii) communicate and iii) improve a situation so far as
the general objective has been well defined. This analysis may be realized at the beginning of the
process and also after 3, 6 months or more. It helps the decision makers to organize their thoughts.
It is necessary to constitute a group with people with different views on the action to be done and
different expertise in order to identify the SWOT-based variables. The meeting may be either
prepared (with relevant documents sent before) or spontaneous. Sometimes, it appears that more
research is needed on certain points (figures etc.), to identify the key factors of success. The process
implies that you begin with a broad scope, then being more specific and precise.
Positive (to achieve the goal) Negative (to achieve the goal)
Internal origin Strengths Weaknesses
External origin Opportunities Threats
First step: Internal (in GARCIA this might concern the GARCIA team in your institution). It concerns
the quality of the “product” (a service, an advertisement, a cultural tissue within an institution etc.)
Forces: factors and resources for performance (ex. team, localization, leadership, quality,
institutional stability or responsiveness, clear vision,…) i.e. what you do well.
Weaknesses: lack of means, low competitiveness, lack of institutional support, timescale, deadlines,…
Second step: External (in GARCIA this might concern your department, institute, university, region
etc.): regulation, competition, means, and negotiation power of the institution (factors and actors).
Opportunities: favorable trends, new perspectives (ex: increased political interest for gender studies),
networks…
Threats: they might be Political, Economical, Sociological, Technological, Environmental and Legal
(PESTEL methodology).
No more than 3 to 5 elements should be written in each case, to keep the method simple and have a
good overview.
1
Third step: Prioritize. Factualize and quantify as soon as possible. Identify keys of success and issues.
Go from more general to more specific.
Fourth step: Coherent strategy. To decide, grade the objectives in the medium term and define the
strategy.
Fifth step: Implementation and evaluation.
Limitations
Vagueness, over-simplification, if the objective is not well enough defined or if there is a lack of
documentation etc.
SWOT TEST with Belgian team
- Defining objective and identifying SWOT- variables are a two-way movement at the beginning of the
process, at least if the resources you can rely on are vague.
- A challenge was to identify what was ‘external’ or ‘internal’ in our SWOT analysis. We’ve decided
that ‘Internal’ concerns the GARCIA team at UCL and ‘External’, all the rest (institutes, UCL, region,
other Universities, Europe…). ‘Networks’ is also encompassing : it includes Garcia, intra/inter-
University networks etc.
- The identified SWOT-variables deal with: resources (time, budget, human resources), institutional
culture and context, time schedule, mentor’s motivation…
SWOT analysis example for two Institutes at UCL in terms of introducing a mentoring programme
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
INTERNAL ELI and IACCHOS (two Lack of time (persons)
institutes)
Master thesis Agenda of project
Impartiality Lack of specialization on Mentoring
Gender Expertise Intensity of work
Budget Legitimacy
Articulation WP
EXTERNAL OPPORTUNITES THREATS (or Challenges)
UCL Strategic Plan/Gender plan UCL to acknowledge Garcia project as
action based as well as research based
UCL Gender Appointee Motivation of Mentor (relevance,
(Déléguée) recognition)
Networks Availability Mentor
IPM Institutional Complexity
2 target groups
Legal framework
The fourth and fifth steps of the procedure are not done yet, but will be elaborated on this base.
2
SWOT References
Ansoff, H.I. (1987), Corporate Strategy, revised edition, Penguin Books.
Brooksbank, R (1996) The BASIC marketing planning process: a practical framework for the smaller
business, Journal
of Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol 14, 4, P 16-23.
Dealtry, R. (1992) Dynamic SWOT Analysis, DSA Associates, Birmingham, Haberberg, A. (2000),
"Swatting SWOT", Strategy, (Strategic Planning Society), September.
Hill, T. & R. Westbrook (1997), “SWOT Analysis: It’s Time for a Product Recall,” Long Range Planning,
30, No. 1, 46-52.
King R.K. (2004), ENHANCING SWOT ANALYSIS USING TRIZ AND THE BIPOLAR CONFLICT GRAPH: A
Case Study on the Microsoft Corporation, Proceedings of TRIZCON2004, 6th Annual Altshuller
Institute.
Koch, A.J. (2000), SWOT Deos Not Need to be Recalled: It Needs to be Enhanced,
http://www.westga.edu/~bquest/2001/swot2.htm – accessed 15th September 2008.
S.F. Lee, K.K. Lo, Ruth F. Leung, Andrew Sai On Ko (2000), Strategy formulation framework for
vocational education: integrating SWOT analysis, balanced scorecard, QFD methodology and MBNQA
education criteria, Managerial Auditing Journal Vol 15 (8), pp407-423.
Menon, A. et al. (1999), “Antecedents and Consequences of Marketing Strategy Making,” Journal of
Marketing, 63, 18-40.
Piercy, N. and Giles, W. (1989) Making SWOT Analysis Work Journal of Marketing Intelligence &
Planning, Vol 7, Issue 5/6, P 5-7.
Panagiotou, G. (2003) Bringing SWOT into Focus, Business Strategy Review, Vol 14, Issue 2, pp8-10.
Shinno, H., Yoshioka, S., Marpaung, S., and Hachiga, S. (2006), Qualitative SWOT analysis on the
global competiveness of machine tool industry, Journal of Engineering Design, Vol 17, No.3, June
2006, pp251-258.
Tiles, S. (1968), Making Strategy Explicit, in I. Ansoff (ed), Business Strategy, Penguin. Turner, S.
(2002), Tools for Success: A Manager’s Guide. London: McGraw-Hill.
Valentin, E.K. (2001), SWOT analysis from a resource-based view – journal of marketing theory and
practice, 9(2): 54-68.
Wheelan, T.L. and Hunger, J.D. (1998), Strategic Management and Business Policy, 5th Edition,
Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Weihrich, H. (1982). The Tows Matrix – a Tool for Situational Analysis, Long Range Planning, April
(60).

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Note: this summary about SWOT was built on the base of several sources (listed below or found on

The SWOT (Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities - Threats) analysis is a strategic planning tool

Internal origin Strengths Weaknesses

External origin Opportunities Threats

Fifth step: Implementation and evaluation.

SWOT TEST with Belgian team

Ansoff, H.I. (1987), Corporate Strategy, revised edition, Penguin Books.

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