SWOT Analysis

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)

Have you ever heard about SWOT/SLOT analysis?

According to Wikipedia:

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) in 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

I heard about this for the first time when I learned about Principal of Marketing. It gives me a new thought about how to approach different situation using this analysis. Actually we can use SWOT analysis in our daily problem, from looking for a job, venturing to new business, launching a new product, even looking a life-partner (yeah seriously you can use this method :p). I would like to elaborate on this method on how to use it to our different situation and using my own example to support the explanation. I hope this will help you in understanding the method and apply it in your own problem.

Before moving to each application, it's better to understand each element in SWOT analysis. First the method is divided into two elements, internal and external. Internal means the characteristic of the subject while external means the outside forces that affect the subject. Let's start one by one:

1. Strengths

One of the internal dimension, a characteristic of the subject that gives the advantage over the others. It's like your power to strike the enemy, the weapon used in war. Our strengths could be our value, talent, education, knowledge, family, capital, friend, etc. Basically it could be anything that gives us competitive advantage over the other. It is a differentiation factor that make us better than the rest. It's like our Unique Selling Point. Think about the competitor/enemy, what do you have better than them? However don't be too subjective hence make the judgment not fair and balance. Don't be unfair unless you want to plan yourself to fail. Be objective, realistic, and fair. List down all your strengths.

2. Weaknesses/Limitations

Well everything have two side of coins, nobody is perfect. If there is power, there will be weakness. While focusing on power and strength, we need to know our weaknesses well. Don't let people to pick it up from us. We need to try to understand ourselves better than others. What could you improve? What are limitations that you face? Don't say you have none, everyone will have one. Again be realistic and objective. However don't underestimate or mark yourself down.

The first two elements help us to reflect on ourselves. Taking a mirror in front of us and describe what you see there. By knowing ourselves, we can better understand others. According to Sun Tzu on The Art of War (from Wikipedia):

知己知彼，百戰不殆。

If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win numerous (literally, "a hundred") battles without jeopardy.

 3. Opportunities

It is a external dimension to look around which give us advantage and more value. Come in a form external chances to improve performance in the environment.  Changes that happen in society can give you added value, from example social media booming. If we can use it right, it can be a weapon for us to hold our ground. List all changes happening in society that you can use for your advantage. Don't limit yourself, be wide and imaginative. Think globally and internationally.

4. Threats

Again everything comes in good and bad effect. While opportunities give more advantage, threats give us trouble and headache :p. It could be the external obstacles; such as laws, regulations, technology, etc.

Everything is linked together and can turn to one another. Our weakness can be an opportunity for us. We should think how to make it our strengths by mitigate/solving the problem. Again threat can be another opportunity for us to think big. If we let our guard down, our strength can backfire us. Hence we need to always think and analyze fairly, objectively, and equally. Remember each element is connected together.

After having so much explanation and theory, let's use them in our real life problem and application. I will try use 3 different situation to apply SWOT analysis; looking for job, launching product, and looking for lifetime partner. Let's start from the first:

1. Looking For Job

Objective:  to prepare ourselves in this tight competition on getting job.

For this we need to prepare ourselves to get ready for interview. Get ready to be asked about our strengths and weaknesses, hence to prepare beforehand is a good practice. Let's see how to apply SWOT analysis:

Strengths: Our education background, personal skills, work experiences, language, leadership, organization involvement, group discussion, etc. Asked ourselves what makes us different?

Weaknesses: What could we improve? What should we avoid? What other factors hinder yourself from others? For example lack of time management, heavy laziness, over pride, etc.

Opportunities: What are current booming industry? Easy access for company information and job online, network and connection with industry player, etc.

Threats: Other students with higher grade, competitive market, government regulation, company policy on hiring, etc.

We can ask and think about some of these pointers. Be prepared and get ready, be different like a  red rose in the middle of white ones. Show your self above and higher than other. Remember to turn your weakness and threat to your opportunity to improve and get better.

2. Launching A New Product

Objective: to launch a new product into market.

Strengths: What is Unique Selling Point of our product? What makes it better than our competitor; the taste, the shape, the color, the quality, etc? What makes is stand out from other its kind product?

Weaknesses: What are the bad side of our product? What makes us lesser value than our competitor; the higher price, small production, small capital, lack of manpower, etc?

Opportunities: How to use current social media in promoting our product; Facebook page, Twitter, web promotion, etc? Can we make an event to promote this product?

Threats: How will our competitor react to our product? Is there any substitute to our product, especially cheaper one?

We need a deeper analysis to make sure the product will be a great success. We need to combine with deep market research, market test, business plan, execution plan, market test, prototype, etc. SWOT analysis is just a small part to give early understanding about our new product.

3. Looking for lifetime partner

Objective: to find special someone whom we will spend our life with.

Strengths: What is our higher value; higher education, high social status, our family wealth, our personality, etc? What gives us the upper hand than other man/woman?

Weaknesses: What can turn us down, our boring talk, over protective, heavy jealousy, too talkative, stingy, etc? What could we improve on our bad side?

Opportunities: Having taller height could give more advantage, especially for man. Joining different club in school or university will widen our social network. Attending mix school also will help us in make social connection. What other opportunity that will help you in finding the right one? Thousands Facebook friends perhaps :) 

Threats: Better man/woman around with higher social status or wealth. Different religion may also limit our potential lifetime partner. And number of people with different "preference" may also affect your future partner.

It's how you "market" ourselves; either looking for job or future lifetime partner. But don't oversell yourself. Again remember to keep your analysis fairly, objectively, and equally. Don't underestimate and mark yourself down also. Everything must be balance on the scale. At the end SWOT analysis is just a method to help you to prepare yourself. However the result will depend on your execution. How well you make the thing happen will determine your  result. Be positive thinker and hard worker. A method is just a way to achieve the goal but the process will determine the far you will go. Be prepared but also be surprised.

~Wilson Wijaya, Lee/21 July 2012~

Words about WORKING

"Working Quotes"

Here some interesting speeches/quotes that I found very true.
I like to share it with my friends around the world.
Hope you guys can learn something from the inspiring words.

1. Bryan Dyson, Former CEO of Coca Cola

2. Unknown

A Story about LOVE

One, young, academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview. The director who did the last interview, made the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research. He never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" The youth answered "none".

The director asked, "Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old. It was my mother who paid for my school fees."
 

The director asked, "Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as a clothes cleaner." The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, "Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me."
 

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands and then see me tomorrow morning."

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to her son.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tears fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled and that there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes every day to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes and asked, "Can you tell me what you did and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hands, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes."

The Director asked, "Please tell me your feelings."

The youth said, Number 1, I know now the meaning of appreciation. Without my mother, there would not be the successful me today. Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only now I realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done. Number 3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for in my new manager. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. Son,you are hired."
 

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been over protected and habitually given whatever he or she wanted, would develop the entitlement mentality and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. This kind of person, may be good academically and may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel a sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more.
 

If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?*

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat good meals, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let him experience it. After a meal, let him wash his plates and bowls together with his brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love him in the right way. You want him to understand, no matter how rich his parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young man . The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

What are key factors for my future career?

Conclusion 

  

Based on interviewee as well as analysis and discussion, and reading the prescribed text and recommended readings for this course, the two key factors that will be taken into account in career planning and development for food and beverage industry, the owner of a medium restaurant and a bakery shop and an entrepreneur is motivation driver and values.

Motivation is very important to achieve goals in order to fulfill some need or expectation. Motivation is what an individual can do, will do (given the ability) and allowed to do (Kant, 2009). Motivation also leads to degree to which an individual wants and chooses to commit in certain act. There are a lot of uncertainties in the future, but motivation will drive individual to strive and fight. Like Madam Lim, her motivations drive her despite of her illness, running the restaurant and bakery shop alone. She wanted to see her children graduated from university. In order to do so, she worked hard to earn living and save money for university fees. Finding the right motivation will keep individual stand after so many falls. To be an entrepreneur, motivation will help to cope with unpredictable result; whether the business will be successful or failed.  

Motivation is like oil and fire is career. Without oil the fire will die. Simultaneously career can grow with unending motivation.

However finding the right motivation is another issue. Luckily Madam Lim found the right motivation for her. It was not money or social status but family and good education. Hence motivation must be supported by personal values. Values will build personality. The religion, parent, community, and school provide individual with right values. Each individual has to develop it as guidance in doing anything. It becomes integrity of each person. Guy Kawasaki on The Art of Start mentioned that the company should try to make meaning not a lot of money. By making meaning there is chance for the company to make money. Whereas by making money the company can destroy meaning. It is similar to career. The career should make value in contrast to popular believe that career should make a lot of money. If individual don’t have integrity, they will use any means to achieve their goal. In other word they can use illegal way to get what they want. In conclusion motivation with right values and integrity are the requirement to work in 21st century.