(also known as TOWS analysis and Dawes matrix). In the current strategic planning report, SWOT analysis should be regarded as a well-known tool. The SWOT analysis of McKinsey & Company includes analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the enterprise. Therefore, SWOT analysis is actually a method to synthesize and summarize all aspects of internal and external conditions of enterprises, and then analyze the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by organizations.
SWOT analysis can help enterprises gather resources and actions where they have the most advantages and opportunities. And define the strategy of the enterprise.
"Introduction to the Meaning of SWOT Model"
The analysis of advantages and disadvantages mainly focuses on the strength of the enterprise itself and its comparison with competitors, while the analysis of opportunities and threats focuses on the changes of the external environment and its possible impact on the enterprise. In the analysis, all internal factors (that is, strengths and weaknesses) should be concentrated together, and then these factors should be evaluated by external forces.
1. Environmental opportunities and threats.
The trend of environmental development can be divided into two categories: one represents environmental threats, and the other represents environmental opportunities. Environmental threat refers to the challenge brought by the unfavorable development trend in the environment. If decisive strategic actions are not taken, this unfavorable trend will weaken the competitive position of the company. Environmental opportunity is an attractive field for company behavior, in which the company will have a competitive advantage.
The analysis of the environment can also have different angles. For example, a concise method is PEST analysis, and another commonly used method is Porter's five forces analysis.
2. Advantages and disadvantages analysis.
Because the enterprise is a whole and the sources of competitive advantage are very extensive, it is necessary to compare the enterprise and its competitors in detail from every link of the whole value chain when analyzing its advantages and disadvantages. For example, whether the products are novel, whether the manufacturing process is complex, whether the sales channels are smooth and whether the prices are competitive. If an enterprise's advantages in one aspect or several aspects are the key success factors that enterprises in this industry should have, then its comprehensive competitive advantage may be stronger. It should be pointed out that whether an enterprise and its products have competitive advantages can only be measured from the perspective of existing potential users, not from the perspective of enterprises.
In the process of maintaining competitive advantage, enterprises must deeply understand their own resources and capabilities and take corresponding measures. Because once an enterprise has a competitive advantage in a certain aspect, it will inevitably attract the attention of competitors. Generally speaking, after a period of efforts, enterprises have established a certain competitive advantage; Then, while maintaining this competitive advantage, competitors began to react gradually; Then, if competitors directly attack the advantages of enterprises or adopt other more powerful strategies, this advantage will be weakened.
There are three key factors that affect the duration of an enterprise's competitive advantage:
1. How long will it take to build this advantage?
2. What are the advantages?
3. How long does it take for competitors to respond strongly?
"SWOT analysis steps"
1. What is the current strategy?
2. Confirm the changes in the external environment of the enterprise (Porter's Five Forces or PEST)
3, according to the enterprise resource combination, confirm the key capabilities and key constraints of the enterprise.
4, according to the general matrix or similar way to score evaluation.
Divide all identified advantages into two groups according to two principles: whether they are related to potential opportunities or threats in the industry. Similarly, divide all the disadvantages into two groups, one related to opportunities and the other related to threats.
5. Find the results on the SWOT analysis table.
Or use SWOT analysis table to fill in the form according to opportunities and threats.
6. Strategic analysis
Simple rules for successful application of SWOT analysis;
In SWOT analysis, we must have an objective understanding of the company's strengths and weaknesses;
When conducting SWOT analysis, we must distinguish the present situation and prospect of the company;
In SWOT analysis, we must consider all aspects.
SWOT analysis must be compared with competitors, such as superior or inferior to your competitors;
Keep the SWOT analysis concise and avoid complexity and over-analysis;
SWOT analysis varies from person to person.
Once the key issues are determined by SWOT analysis, the marketing objectives are also determined. SWOT analysis can be used together with tools such as PEST analysis and Porter's five forces analysis. When using SWOT analysis method, it is easy to include unused elements in relevant tables.
For the opportunity part of SWOT, PEST can be used to analyze and get the systematic results.
For the threat part of SWOT, we can use the five-force analysis model to get the systematic analysis results.
PEST is a method to analyze the external macro-environment of enterprises from the political, economic, social and technical perspectives. The formulation of enterprise strategy can not be separated from macro-environment. PEST analysis method can better grasp the current situation and changing trend of macro-environment, which is conducive to enterprises to take advantage of the opportunities of survival and development and find and avoid possible threats to the environment as soon as possible.
In order to increase the sales of goods, it is essential to do product analysis. Only by knowing users' needs and what they want can we better optimize products and promote activities according to these data. When it comes to analytical methods, some people may think of SWOT first. This analysis method can mainly help enterprises find their own advantages and integrate resources, thus forming the strategic planning of enterprises. If you want to know more about product analysis, you'd better use pest analysis.
Contents of pest analysis
1. Political environment refers to the political system, system, principles and policies, laws and regulations of a country or region. These factors often affect the business behavior of enterprises, especially the long-term investment behavior of enterprises.
Second, the economic environment refers to the domestic and international economic conditions, macroeconomic policies, economic development level and other factors that enterprises must consider in the process of formulating strategies.
Third, the social environment mainly refers to the national characteristics, cultural traditions, values, religious beliefs, education level, customs and habits of the members in the society where the organization is located.
Fourth,? Technical environment refers to the technical level, technical policy, new product development capability and technical development trend of countries and regions involved in enterprise business.
The five-force analysis model was put forward by Michael Porter in the early 1980s, which had a far-reaching global impact on enterprise strategy formulation. Used in competitive strategy analysis can effectively analyze the competitive environment of customers. These five forces are: the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the entry ability of potential competitors, the substitution ability of substitutes and the current competitiveness of competitors in the industry. The change of different combinations of the five forces ultimately affects the change of the profit potential of the industry.
Bargaining power of suppliers
Suppliers mainly affect the profitability and product competitiveness of existing enterprises in the industry through their ability to increase the price of input factors and reduce the quality of unit value.
Buyer's bargaining power
Buyers mainly affect the profitability of existing enterprises in the industry by lowering prices and demanding higher quality products or services.
The threat of new entrants
While bringing new production capacity and new resources to the industry, new entrants will hope to win a place in the market that has been carved up by existing enterprises, which may lead to competition with existing enterprises for raw materials and market share, and eventually lead to the reduction of profitability of existing enterprises in the industry, and even endanger their survival in serious cases. The severity of the threat of competitive entry depends on two factors, namely, the size of obstacles to entering new fields and the expected response of existing enterprises to entrants.
The threat of substitutes
Two enterprises in the same industry or different industries may compete with each other because of the substitution of their products. This kind of competition from substitutes will affect the competitive strategy of existing enterprises in the industry in various forms.
Degree of competition of competitors in the same industry
The interests of enterprises in most industries are closely linked. As a part of the overall strategy of an enterprise, the goal of each enterprise's competitive strategy is to make its own enterprise gain an advantage over its competitors. Therefore, conflicts and confrontations will inevitably occur in the implementation, which constitute the competition among existing enterprises. The competition among existing enterprises is often manifested in price, advertising, product introduction, after-sales service and so on, and its competitive intensity is related to many factors.
limit
The premise assumption of the five-force model is that
1. The industry boundary can be defined, and the industry scale is fixed.
However, in reality, enterprises often do not eat their competitors, but make big industry cakes with their competitors in order to obtain greater resources and markets. At the same time, the market can increase its capacity through continuous development and innovation.
2. There is only a competitive relationship between the same industry, and there is no cooperative relationship.
But in reality, there are many cooperative relationships between enterprises, which are not necessarily competitive relationships.
3. All effective information can be collected (information transparency), and strategists need to know the information of the whole industry.
It's too difficult to do.