...TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Internal Environment 2 SWOT Analysis in the Internal Environment 2 Strengths 3 Weaknesses 4 Opportunities 4 Threats 5 Recommendation 5 Conclusion 6 References 7 Introduction SWOT is an acronym used to describe the internal Strengths and Weaknesses of the firm and the environmental Opportunities and Threats. By description, Strengths (S) and Weaknesses (W) are considered to be factors within the control of the firm. Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) are external factors over which the firm has essentially no control. It is the most prominent tool for assessing and analyzing the overall strategic position of the business and its environment. Its main purpose is to ascertain the strategies that will create a firm specific business model that will best align an organization’s resources and capabilities to the requirements of the operating environment. It is the foundation for evaluating the internal potential and limitations and the likely opportunities and threats from the external environment. It examines all positive and negative factors inside and outside the firm that will affect its success. A steady analysis of the environment in which the firm operates aids in predicting the changing trends and includes them in the decision-making process of the organization. If accurately applied, information gained through SWOT analysis can be utilized by the firm to determine its most desirable options in matching...
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...Assignment Describe SWOT analysis as a way to guide internal environment. How does this approach reflect the basic strategic management? Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION 3 1.1 Overall description of SWOT analysis 3 1.2 Overview of the elements of the SWOT analysis 3 2.0 SWOT analysis as a way to guide the internal environment 4 2.1 How SWOT analysis prevents weaknesses and maintains strength 4 3.0 How SWOT analysis reflects the basic strategic management 5 Conclusion 7 References 7 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Overall description of SWOT analysis SWOT analysis is an analytical method which is used to identify and categories significant internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) factors faced either in a particular arena, such as an organization, or a territory, such as a region, nation, or city. It provides information that is helpful in matching the firms' resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates and is therefore an important contribution to the strategic planning process. It should not be viewed as a static method with emphasis solely on its output, but should be used as a dynamic part of the management and business development process. Strategic planning depends on a clear understanding of your organization’s resources and Capabilities, as well as critical ingredients that are lacking. The assessment of organizational Strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threats must...
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...Defining the Business Environment - A Thorough Analysis of External and Internal Environment! Successful Business Planning Defining the Business Environment - A Thorough Analysis of External and Internal Environment! Defining the Business Environment - A Thorough Analysis of External and Internal Environment! Successful Business Planning To succeed in business, you need a persuasive and strategic marketing plan. Find out how you can develop a Marketing and Sales Plan that drives sales and generates your business the profit it deserves. Click here Business firms wishing to adopt an open system of management approach, find it difficult to define the business environment. The management has to limit its consideration of the environment, only to those aspects of the outside world which are of major importance to the success of an organization. The concept of business environment is too broad and it would be hopelessly confusing to consider each and every aspect in it. Customers, competitors, government units, suppliers, financial institutions and labor pool are part and parcel of the external environment, and available resources, be it physical or human, behavior, synergy, strengths and weaknesses and distinctive competence determine the nature of the internal environment of a business firm. Defining the Business Environment - A Thorough Analysis of External and Internal Environment! Successful Business Planning Further, you can divide the business environment...
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...The focus of this paper will be an environmental scan of the internal and external environments of two real-world firms, their competitive advantages and company strategies for creating value and sustaining competitiveness, measurement guidelines for verifying strategic effectiveness and their evaluation. Internal and External Environments Environmental scanning of the internal organizational environment focuses on company culture, employee-employee, manager-employee, and manager-manager, manager-shareholder interactions, in addition to organizational structure, natural resources’ access and brand awareness, among others (Schneider, 1995, p.70). Environmental scanning of the external organizational environment focuses on the analysis of the industry/immediate environment, national, and macro-environments. Analysis of the industry environment appraises the competitive Environmental Scan Paper The business environment of an organization reveals much about its competitiveness and the possible influences on the success of its strategies. The focus of this paper will be an environmental scan of the internal and external environments of two real-world firms, their competitive advantages and company strategies for creating value and sustaining competitiveness, measurement guidelines for verifying strategic effectiveness and their evaluation. Internal and External Environments Environmental scanning of the internal organizational environment focuses on company culture, employee-employee...
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...SWOT Analysis SWOT is an acronym used to describe the particular Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats that are strategic factors for a specific company. A SWOT analysis should not only result in the identification of a corporation’s core competencies, but also in the identification of opportunities that the firm is not currently able to take advantage of due to a lack of appropriate resources. The SWOT analysis framework has gained widespread acceptance because it is both simple and powerful for strategy development. However, like any planning tool, SWOT is only as good as the information it contains. Thorough market research and accurate information systems are essential for the SWOT analysis to identify key issues in the environment. Assess your market: * What is happening externally and internally that will affect our company? * Who are our customers? * What are the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor? (Think Competitive Advantage) * What are the driving forces behind sales trends? * What are important and potentially important markets? * What is happening in the world that might affect our company? * What does it take to be successful in this market? (List the strengths all companies need to compete successfully in this market.) Assess your company: * What do we do best? * What are our company resources – assets, intellectual property, and people? * What are our company capabilities (functions)? Assess your...
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...eurojournals.com/finance.htm Critical Internal and External Factors that affect Firms Strategic Planning Kay Dora Abd Ghani Faculty of Civil Engineerings, University Teknologi MARA, Malaysia E-mail: kaydora@perlis.uitm.edu.my Surina Nayan Academy of Language Studies, University Teknologi MARA, Malaysia E-mail: surinana@perlis.uitm.edu.my Sheikh Ahmad Izaddin Sheikh Mohd Ghazali Faculty of Applied Science, University Teknologi MARA, Malaysia E-mail: sheikhahmadizaddin@nsembilan.uitm.edu.my Latisha Asmaak Shafie Academy of Language Studies, University Teknologi MARA, Malaysia E-mail: ciklatisha@perlis.uitm.edu.my Suhaimi Nayan UniKL Malaysian Spanish Institute, Malaysia E-mail: suhaimin@msi.unikl.edu.my Abstract Every firm that involves in business activity has its own strategy to operate its daily business. Strategic planning is the important element in every firm strategic management. There are various methods and techniques that can be employed in order to implement strategic planning and one of them is by using the SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis refers to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors of an organization and opportunities and threats are the external factors. This is a study on critical internal and external factors that affect the strategic planning of land developers in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed to get information needed. From the analysis done, it was found that firms’ strengths are related to their...
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...The Internal Assessment Chapter Four Chapter Objectives 1. Describe how to perform an internal strategicmanagement audit. Discuss the Resource-Based View (RBV) in strategic management. Discuss key interrelationships among the functional areas of business. Identify the basic functions or activities that make up management, marketing, finance/accounting production/operations, research and development, and management information systems. Copyright ©2013 Pearson Education 4-2 2. 3. 4. Chapter Objectives 5. Explain how to determine and prioritize a firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses. Explain the importance of financial ratio analysis. Discuss the nature and role of management information systems in strategic management. Develop an Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix. Explain cost/benefit analysis value chain analysis, and benchmarking as strategicmanagement tools. Copyright ©2013 Pearson Education 4-3 6. 7. 8. 9. A Comprehensive StrategicManagement Model Copyright ©2013 Pearson Education 4-4 Key Internal Forces Distinctive competencies A firm’s strengths that cannot be easily matched or imitated by competitors Building competitive advantages involves taking advantage of distinctive competencies. Copyright ©2013 Pearson Education 4-5 The Process of Performing an Internal Audit The internal audit Requires gathering and assimilating information about the firm’s management, marketing, finance/accounting, production/operations...
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...Evaluating Firm Strengths and Weaknesses What Does Internal Analysis Tell Us? Internal analysis provides a comparative look at a firm’s capabilities • what are the firm’s strengths? • what are the firm’s weaknesses? • how do these strengths & weaknesses compare to competitors? Why Does Internal Analysis Matter? Internal analysis helps a firm: • determine if its resources and capabilities are likely sources of competitive advantage • establish strategies that will exploit any sources of competitive advantage Traditional research on firm strengths and weaknesses • Theories of distinctive competence – General managers as distinctive competencies – Institutional leadership as a distinctive competence • Ricardian economics • Penrose’s theory of firm growth Research on the skills of general managers, institutional leaders, economic rents and firm growth have been brought together to develop a rigorous model to analyze a firm’s strengths and weaknesses: the resource-based view of the firm The Theory Behind Internal Analysis The Resource-Based View • developed to answer the question: Why do some firms achieve better economic performance than others? • used to help firms achieve competitive advantage and superior economic performance • assumes that a firm’s resources and capabilities are the primary drivers of competitive advantage and economic performance The Resource-Based View Resources and Capabilities Resources: • tangible and intangible assets of a firm » tangible:...
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...To create a marketing plan, the manager needs information: SWOT analysis is one of the most effective tools in the analysis of marketing data and information The SWOT analysis fulfils this role by structuring the assessment of the fit between what a firm can and cannot do (S/W) and the environmental conditions working for and against the firm (O/T). If the SWOT analysis is done correctly, it can be a viable mechanism for the development of the marketing plan. If done haphazardly or incorrectly, it can be a great waste of time. They are six directives for a productive SWOT analysis: Stay focused: We often make the mistake of conducting one generic SWOT analysis for the entire business unit. It should be a series of analyses, each focusing on a specific product/market combination (Example of GM) Search Extensively for competitors: The firm must watch for any current or potential direct substitutes for its products (Kodak) Collaborate with Other Functional Areas: It generates information and perspectives that can be shared across a variety of functional areas in the firm. Managers of other areas should learn what other managers see as the firm’s SWOT. Such cross-pollination can generate a very conducive environment for creativity and innovation. Examine issues from the Customers’ Perspective: All issues are not equally important; the marketing manager should identify the most critical issues by looking at each one through the eyes of the firm’s customers. We although...
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...| D. | iTunes | | 2. | _____ is best described as an integrative management field that combines analysis, formulation, and implementation in the quest for competitive advantage. A. | Supply chain management | B. | Integrated technology management | C. | Strategic management | D. | Inventory management | | 3. | _____ is best described as a set of goal-directed actions a firm takes to gain and sustain superior performance relative to competitors. A. | Behavior modification | B. | Strategy | C. | Credo | D. | Competency management | | 4. | Which of the following stages of the strategic management process involves an evaluation of a firm's external and internal environments? A. | Strategy analysis | B. | Strategy implementation | C. | Strategy formulation | D. | Strategy control | | 5. | In _____, a firm frames a guiding policy to address the competitive challenge. A. | strategy control | B. | strategy implementation | C. | strategy formulation | D. | strategy analysis | | 6. | Through _____, a firm puts its guiding policy into practice by employing a set of coherent actions. A. | strategy control | B. | strategy implementation | C. | strategy formulation | D. | strategy analysis | | 7. | A firm that achieves superior performance relative to other firms in the same industry or the industry average has a(n) _____. A. | competitive advantage | B. | balanced...
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...essential to conducting a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, and how competencies relate to the essential competencies for conducting a SWOT analysis. The work culture results states that I am high-powered, supportive and an expert. These results will allow me to better understand my strengths and weaknesses in the work place along with allowing me to achieve my organizational and personal goals. The competencies that are essential to conducting strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threat analysis are external and internal analysis The External Analysis examines opportunities and threats that exist in the environment. Both opportunities and threats exist independently in a company. The way to differentiate between a strength and weakness from an opportunity or threat is to ask: Would this issue exist if the company did not exist? If the answer is yes, it should be considered external to the firm. Opportunities refer to favorable conditions in the environment that could produce rewards for the organization if acted upon properly. That is, opportunities are situations that exist but must be acted on if the firm is to benefit from them. Threats refer to conditions or barriers that may prevent the firms from reaching its objectives (http://mystrategicplan.com/resources/external-analysis/#sthash.KgH4dcrD.dpuf) The Internal Analysis of strengths and weaknesses focuses on internal factors that give an organization certain advantages and disadvantages in...
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...Rubric for Case Analysis: As you are probably aware, case analysis is the most essential part of a business analyst’s toolbox. As such, it is of paramount importance that you learn how to do case analysis thoroughly. As with any analysis we follow a certain framework when we conduct case analysis. Please understand that the framework that we are going to follow in this class is one of many and there is disagreement among the academic and professional communities as to which one of these frameworks is the best. That said, in my humble opinion, the framework that follows is a good start to the case analysis process. What we gather from the initial analysis can then be used to direct functional departments (finance, supply chain, marketing etc.) to gather relevant data, which can be used to do further analysis. The initial analysis should follow the following process: ------------------------------------------------- Part 1 Points assigned: 15 (financial + external+ internal) A) Financial Analysis: Look for both accounting and economic measure of performance in the case. If any such indicators are not given in the case or you can’t calculate these indicators from the data provided in the case (i.e. profit-loss statement, balance sheet, and relevant data associated with WACC calculation etc.), skip this part of the analysis. However, if such data is present please go ahead and calculate relevant financial ratio and economic indicators of performance as instructed in the...
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...Internal Analysis Earlier we explained differences in firm performance as being a function of their external environment. However, this is only part of the story. Obviously, each firm has some unique aspects. How can these be analyzed to understand differences in firm performance? Resources and Capabilities. Economics generally models firms as generic black boxes that transform inputs into outputs in an efficient manner. Edith Penrose (1950) is generally credited with being the first person to model firms as unique bundles of resources. Some individuals like to make distinctions between resources, what companies have, versus capabilities, things companies can do. A classic example might be my personal computer. As a resource it is more powerful than the original computer on the Space Shuttle, however, I could not land the Space Shuttle with it. So in this case I have a superior resource but an inferior capability. Resources and capabilities can take many different forms. Literally anything an organization possesses can be considered a resource. Examples include financial resources, plants, equipment, technology, reputation, brands, and organizational expertise. In short there is no potential constraint on what can be considered a firm's resources or capabilities. VRIO Analysis Given that almost anything a firm possesses can be considered a resource or capability how should you attempt to narrow down the ones that explain why firm performance differs? In order to lead to a sustainable...
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...72169616: strategic management: internal and external factors that characterize a strategic decision Introduction: Strategic Management Process is the process which involves the process of planning, implementing and taking corrective action against the various business processes of the organization which include the strategic implications on corporate level, divisional level, strategic business unit (SBU) level and marketing level. The foremost requirement while understanding and developing this process is to carry out environmental scanning to study the external and internal factors that affect the decision in the development of the strategies and the tactics. Environmental scanning implies the process of examining the open system (external environment) and closed system (internal environment), monitoring the results and distributing it to the key managers at the right time and the right place with the required information. For a sound strategic decision to be formalized by the marketers it is very important for the firms to scrutinize their business processes by analyzing the internal and the external environment that it constitutes. Purpose of Marketing Environment Analysis: • Understanding the opportunities and threats is possible by environmental study • Strategic responses to the environment is spotted by the analysis • Examining the environmental factors provide insights into the future perspective of the strategies harnessed. • The favorable...
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...notified as soon as possible of the revised date and the reasons behind the change. Submission Date: 24th May 2015, Sunday | Feedback Date: 14th June 2015 | Details of how to access the feedback: Turnitin | Your task 1 Choose an organisation for which there is a large amount of information available about both the industry and the firm. Small private companies can be used but are not usually a good idea. You may not choose companies which feature in the large case studies in the Johnson & Scholes and Grant textbooks, or companies used for in-class teaching. Please confirm your choice of company with your tutor before proceeding. Collecting information can be done in groups 2 Group preparation. - This task is your research and is not graded. However without the research you will not be able to successfully complete the individual task. Based on the information collected, you will be asked to construct strategic tools that will lead to the analysis performed in your individual report 3. The Individual Report (1600 words). This submission only will be graded. * Provide an analysis of the business environment of the firm. You should consider the main competitors and their competitive position; market details (value; share etc.); current trends in the market; future trends in the market (attractiveness of the...
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