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Educational Management

Notes S.W.O.T. is an abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. As you can see,
the S.W.O.T. consists of four factors each clearly has its own identity and purpose.
S.W.O.T is commonly classified as External and Internal Factors. For the External factors, it consists
of the Opportunities and Threats, whereas the Internal Factors are Strengths and Weaknesses.
S.W.O.T. or S.W.O.T. Analysis as it may sometimes being called can be performed in a variety of
application or situation. It can be used as a situation analysis as an input into a strategic planning
process at corporate of company level. It can also apply to evaluate the situation in terms of its
capabilities. We use S.W.O.T. as a situation analysis tool.
In common practice, S.W.O.T. Analysis is performed during the Strategic Planning or School budget
session normally done at the end of a financial year. But to perform a S.W.O.T. should not be limited
to a yearly affair. We may perform a S.W.O.T. Analysis whenever it is needed to help you to
identify causes of a non-conformance and you needed a new solution or strategy.
In most cases, leaders of an organization perform a S.W.O.T. Analysis. However, it should not be limited
to this group of people. In fact, anyone who has an interest and trained can perform a S.W.O.T. Analysis
for the situation they are in. I have many situations where heads of a department perform a S.W.O.T.
Analysis for their own operation issues because they want to develop solutions based on facts.
As it can be seen by now, data gathering is an essential part of S.W.O.T. Analysis. Hence, the
information collected is likely to be more factual. Any solution derived from S.W.O.T. will be more
realistic and reliable.
As data collection is one of the key activities in S.W.O.T. analysis, it should allow enough time to
bring back the data.
In summary, with some basic understanding of S.W.O.T. Analysis, the solution derived from it can
be value add to the organization.

1-3 month before a S.W.O.T. Analysis session is conducted. Once the data is collected, it
should be grouped into the four factors. This can be done individually or in a team.

Self Assessment

1. Fill in the blanks:
(i) We use ......................... as a situation analysis tool.

(ii) P.E.S.T. stands for ........................................... .
(iii) Internal factors refer to factors that are internal in normally within your own ........................
(iv) SWOT analysis is performed during the strategic planning or business budget session
normally done at the end of a ................................. .
(v) Within SWOT, strengths and weaknesses are ................................ factors.

4.2 SWOT: Essential Tool for Strategic Planning

SWOT Analysis is one of the effective analytical tools to evaluate a situation. The situation may be
strategic related or capabilities related. SWOT Analysis is often used along with Strategic planning
and it forms one of the key critical success factors in a Strategic Planning Process.
While detail Analysis is performed, it can become a complex process because it entails several data
analysis involves external factors such as Political, Economical, Societal and Technological in short
called P.E.S.T. Besides, it also examines internal factors such as operational capabilities as compared
to the competitors.

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