Swot and Pestle Analyses

Activity 1.6: SWOT and PESTLE analyses

Task: Your SWOT analysis

Get ahead of the game. Create a SWOT analysis for yourself, using the factors in your own situation that have emerged from all previous activities on B716.

Strengths

•        What intellectual property do we own?

•        What specific skills does the workforce have?

•        What financial resources do we have?

•        What connections and alliances do we have?

•        What is our bargaining power with suppliers and intermediaries?

• Strong industry expertise
• Experience over many years of management in the sector
• Extensive network of contacts and good interpersonal skills
• Diligence and work ethic
• Good relationship with management and credit department
• Some strong professionals and residual reputation of the organisation

Weaknesses

•        What are we poor at doing?

•        Is our intellectual property outdated?

•        What training does our workforce lack?

•        What financial constraints do we have?

•        What connections and alliances should we have, but don’t?

• Stepping back and taking the wider view
• Intolerance of staff who do not measure up to high standards set
• Lack of formal management training particularly managing in difficult situations
• Working environment made difficult by redundancies, suspension of new business & infighting
• Some remaining staff lack training/ability for the jobs in which they have found themselves
• Unmotivated staff with few levers to improve their commitment
• No incentive for staff to work diligently or with commitment

Opportunities

•        What changes in the external environment can we exploit?

•        What weaknesses in our competition can we attack?

•        What new technology might become available for us?

•        What new markets might be opening up to us?

• Voluntary departure of staff make it possible to recruit better qualified and motivated staff
• Downturn in the financial markets mean there are good people willing to accept a role in a difficult working environment
• Departure of some long serving management leads to new management with less baggage from the past
• Potential for using new, more experienced staff to train and assist weaker members of the team
• Ultimately leave the institution and seek more stable working environment

Threats

•        What might our competitors be able to do to hurt us?