The purposes of this assignment are to:

• Introduce you to the concept of the SWOT analysis.
• Allow you to perform a simple SWOT analysis of your company.
• Enhance your use of periodical indexes (CD-ROM, On-line Catalog, Print) to find articles about your company.
• Further refine your critical thinking skills.
• Practice and improve effective business communication skills.

The third writing assignment is an individual effort in which you will present and explain your company’s two greatest strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In other words, you will perform an abbreviated SWOT analysis. In this assignment, you will be building, in part, on information gathered from the international business study assignment, and on the data and analysis of your company’s revenue from the first assignment. As will often be the case in real-world business situations, you will determine the most appropriate format in which to present the information (within a six (6) page limit). Your overall task will be to analyze how each strength, weakness, opportunity and threat will influence the growth in revenue of your assigned company. You will present your justifications, explanations and recommendation in the most appropriate format that you choose.

SWOT Analysis is the process of analyzing a firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses and analyzing the opportunities and threats that are posed by the external environment. The purpose of the SWOT analysis is to enable a firm to position itself to take advantage of particular opportunities in the environment and to avoid or minimize environmental threats. To respond to influences of the external environment, a company attempts to emphasize its strengths and moderate its weaknesses. Matching information about the environment with a knowledge of the organization’s capabilities enables managers to formulate realistic strategies for attaining the goal of sustained competitive advantage.

NOTE: In this assignment, the purpose of the SWOT Analysis is to answer a specific question: whether a corporate goal should be to increase sales revenue by 10% each year for the next five years.

• Assume you are the Vice President for Corporate Planning. You have been asked by the CEO to perform a SWOT Analysis to help determine whether a corporate goal should be to increase sales revenue by 10% each year for the next five years.

• Research your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

• Identify several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. See sections on "What is SWOT Analysis?" "Key Terms from Management" "Approaching the SWOT Analysis".

• Select your company’s two most important strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that relate directly to the question that is driving the SWOT Analysis: "whether a corporate goal should be to increase sales revenue by 10% each year for the next five years". Note that the "most important" will be those that have the greatest affect on your company’s ability to sustain revenue growth. Consider that some strengths count for more in the marketplace than other strengths, that some weaknesses can be fatal, while others might not matter as much or can be easily remedied. Consider that some opportunities may be more attractive to pursue than others, and a company may be more vulnerable to some threats than to others.

• Now, identify and briefly explain each of the two most important strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Then, answer these questions:
• How can strengths be maximized?
• How can weaknesses be resolved or minimized?
• What opportunities exist to expand markets and products?
• What threats exist to limit expansion and growth?

• Based on your SWOT analysis, recommend to the CEO whether a corporate goal should be to increase sales revenue by 10% each year for the next five years.

sustained competitive advantage: the use of strategies by a firm that cannot be fully duplicated by its competitors which result in greater financial returns over a period of time.

strengths: internal capabilities that can be exploited to achieve goals.

weaknesses: internal characteristics that may undermine performance.

opportunities: factors and conditions in the external environment that offer the potential

of helping a firm reach its goals.

threats: external environmental conditions and factors that can prevent a firm from reaching its goals.

The following is a framework for you to use in asking questions about the strengths and weaknesses of your company and about the opportunities and threats posed by the external environment:

_______________________________________________________________________

Internal

Strengths Weaknesses

A distinctive competence? No clear strategic direction?

Adequate financial resources? A deteriorating competitive position?

Good competitive skills? Obsolete facilities?

Well-thought-of by customers? Shrinking profitability?

An acknowledged market leader? Lack of managerial depth and skill?

Access to economies of scale? Missing key skills or competencies?

Insulated (at least somewhat) from Poor track record in implementing strategy?

strong competitive pressures? Plagued with internal operating problems?

Proprietary technology? Vulnerable to competitive pressures?

Cost advantages? Falling behind in R&D?

Competitive advantages? Too narrow a product line?

Product innovation abilities? Weak market image?

Proven management? Below-average marketing skills?

Unable to finance needed changes?

External

Opportunities Threats

Additional customer groups to serve? Likely entry of new competitors?

Enter new markets or segments? Rising sales of substitute products?

Expand product line to meet Slower market growth?

broader range of customer needs? Adverse regulatory policies?

Diversify into related products? Growing competitive pressure?

Add complementary products? Vulnerability to recession and business cycle?

Complacency among market rivals? Growing bargaining power of suppliers?

Faster market growth? Changing buyer needs and tastes?

Adverse demographic changes?

NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list; you may consider other S,W,O,T.

A S.W.O.T. analysis examines a company within the context of its industry and its environments. You cannot find a S.W.O.T. analysis in a single source, or by entering your company name and the keyword "SWOT" in a database. You have to create a S.W.O.T. analysis yourself. You need to search for appropriate information (evaluate), see if it fits (analyze), and put it all together like a puzzle (synthesize).

You already know quite a lot about your company and industry from Assignments 1 and 2. Start by writing specific facts or ideas about your company (and industry ) on small sheets of paper (like Post-Its). Cluster this information into four groups: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.

Then try brainstorming with others in your industry group about opportunities and threats to your industry, and add this information to your clusters. Now look at what information you have and where you need more information, new ideas or more specific details for ideas you already have.

For new ideas and more specific details about your company's strengths and weaknesses:

For new ideas and more specific details about your company’s (and industry’s) opportunities and threats:

• review your industry's latest profile in Value Line Investment Survey;

in the Summary and Index issue, look at the Timeliness Rank of Industries; this

ranking will show if there is a lot of interest from Wall Street in stocks in your industry

(a clue to opportunities and threats that you need to uncover).

More Hints:

A S.W.O.T. analysis requires the most recent information available about the company and industry. Look for information in periodicals and the latest figures available in a series of statistics.

Pay attention to possible bias of the source of the information. Web pages and public relations departments will likely emphasize the strengths of a company. Similarly, industry associations, labor unions, or government organizations might not publish all the information about an industry to paint a clear picture of it. Don’t rely on a single source to be convinced that something is true. You might not find all the information you need. In that case, make an educated guess. Quote your source(s) and give supporting evidence for your opinions.

• To analyze research

• To synthesize research

• To recommend a course of action

• To argue for (support ) that recommendation

Keep in mind that you are building on tasks from Assignment #2, with an emphasis on the tasks of synthesis and argument. An argument is a carefully constructed persuasion, based on facts, claims, evidence, authority, assumptions, and appeals; it is written to convince the reader of a position or to move the reader to a specific action.

1. Express your ideas briefly and precisely

Achieving brevity and precision depends almost exclusively on carefully crafting your writing through a series of drafts. The Writing Center provides staff to critique papers, and they will also provide some critique guides for this assignment.

2. Develop a unified, well organized, coherent argument

To achieve Unity, Organization, and Coherence:

UNITY: What's in the section belongs there

• focus the paragraph with a topic sentence

• select appropriate details, proofs, points

• establish the relationships among these

ORGANIZATION: The parts are arranged in a specific pattern

• choose a pattern for development: chronological, importance, spatial

• refine the chosen pattern

COHERENCE: There's a continuous connection of ideas

• tie ideas together with cue words

• reinforce key ideas

• select key transitions

Format and Document Construction:

Unlike the first two assignments for which the format was specified, you will determine the format for this assignment. You have practiced the two basic formats in business writing--the report and the memorandum--and now you may create a format which best fits the audience, task, and material in this assignment. Keep in mind that certain conventions, practices, and techniques are highly valued in business writing; therefore, you should integrate the following into your document:

• visual cues such as offset material, line breaks between paragraphs, visuals, bulleted

or numbered lists

•language which assists in reading and understanding the material--including visual

language (tables, graphs, charts) and mathematical language where appropriate

•sections which go into sufficient depth to elaborate and detail points, not just list them

Audience:

The CEO of your assigned company. The tone of your paper should match the audience who will use the findings and recommendation in your document to make an informed decision on an important issue, so accuracy, coherence, and accessibility are top priorities.

• Review key terms from the material and previous assignments and papers.

• Allow sufficient time to do your best work.

• Seriously consider having a preliminary draft critiqued at the Writing Center.