This approach enables business leaders to make informed strategic decisions . It is essential to carefully assess potential opportunities and threats in order to strategically position themselves and take advantage of growth opportunities ! while maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage over time.
How to create a SWOT analysis matrix and how to build it
SWOT is a 2×2 matrix in which internal and buy telemarketing data external factors that have a potential positive or negative impact on the business or activity to be carried out are identified and adequately organized.
The first line lists internal factors! aspects of the business that the organization is dependent on and has control over . In particular! the first quadrant (row 1! column 1) lists the organization’s strengths! while the second quadrant (row 1! column 2) lists its weaknesses. The organization can actively change both strengths and weaknesses .
The second line contains external factors! over which the organization has no control and which must be treated as contextual elements to be considered! but which cannot be directly influenced.
Therefore! the first column represents the factors that how to use 5 key practices have a positive impact on the business ! while the second column contains the factors that have a negative impact. Obviously! for each business! the factors are different. In fact! those that have a positive impact for some may have a negative impact on others.
In short: A SWOT matrix is a 2×2 matrix in which an organization or individual lists in a structured way the internal and external! positive or negative factors regarding a choice they have to make or regarding a specific market.
Changes are costly and take time.
For example! a company’s choice of a CRM system is strategic! in the context of Marketing. The first choice is obviously “make or buy”! i.e. choosing the path of internal development! rather than buying and customizing a commercial solution . A second level of strategic decision is choosing between an open source or licensed system. A third decision concerns which technology partners to rely on or which vendors to choose.
Another strategic choice a company might face is whether or not to enter a new market . When Amazon decided to enter the streaming video market with its own offering! Amazon Prime Video ! it certainly weighed the factors for and against this choice.
Individuals also face strategic decisions. Be a classical or a scientist? Study engineering or medicine? Go work abroad or stay in the home country? These are all strategic choices so it is useful to consider the SWOT matrix as a support tool to organize the different factors and make decisions .
Whenever you feel that you must make a decision or fax lead analyze a situation to carry out strategic actions! it makes sense to use the SWOT matrix to consider all the useful factors to guide the choice .
To conclude this paragraph! we also give a brief definition of strategy! based on the one offered by Michael Porter in a famous article published in 1996 by Harvard Business Review entitled “What is strategy?” In short! the expert considers strategy as that unique set of activities that allows the company to obtain a unique and protectable position compared to the rest of the market.