Does Being A SWOT Help Problem Solving?

Every working day you'll encounter problems that need to be solved to make sure jobs are completed well, and now there is a wealth of research and tips to guide you through issues.

From fixing minor faults with photocopying machines to solving budgeting issues linked with expensive contracts, offices create many situations where you identify what's going wrong and fix matters. When it comes to weighty issues that could change how your company competes in the market place there are standardised steps you're free to take so the firm has the best chance of success. Situational Analysis is a type of problem solving activity that takes into account many elements. And how about a creative problem solving course?

Why SWOT?

SWOT is an acronym that assists companies in assessing their strengths and vulnerabilities. The four different elements it includes are used by many different groups to identify and resolve issues. For example, military leaders may apply it to missions, while marketing firms also find it useful.

The acronym stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. These words may not sound like much of a guide, but when they are applied to current campaigns by your firm, they are useful for predicting problems and assessing how you can deal with them.

The three C's

SWOT is especially useful when it is applied to the three C's, which is also used in situational analysis of issues. The C's include Customer, Company and Competitor, and when combined with the SWOT approach they give you a powerful way of recognising problems. When it comes to your Customer there are many variables to consider when warding off issues of a retailing/marketing nature.

Firstly you must identify who they are, so you're able to brand products specifically for this market. In order to do this, you could issue questionnaires and on-street surveys to establish their perceptions of your company. Strengthening their loyalty and examining their purchase behaviour could all have positive benefits for firms, while also recognising weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Determining the size of the market available, how it may grow and whether there are any share opportunities will also give you an accurate SWOT analysis. Every trading year your organisation has to draw together its accounts, enabling you to understand the firm's finances. The customer is very important, but so is your company and the analysis you do with the help of SWOT.

Many of the strengths and weaknesses are clearly evident from looking at different variables within your accounts, such as break even analysis and ratios. These may also indicate potential opportunities and threats, especially if accounts show that you have failed to move a particular kind of stock that could be losing favour with customers. Although economics are extremely important, they tend to spring from a company's individual ethos, so if there are deep rooted problems then you may need to address mission statements and make large scale changes.

You may be tempted to place competitors under the challenges part of the SWOT acronym, but this is not strictly the case. A lot can be learned by analysing the success of other firms who operate in similar markets.

By considering the companies' strategies, resources and corporate goals you may be able to spot potential errors and learn from these mistakes. It's also useful to consider the size of the competitor market that you firm has joined or plans to compete in.