What is SWOT Analysis?
SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning tool that evaluates an organization's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to inform decision-making and strategy development. Created by Albert Humphrey in the 1960s at Stanford Research Institute, SWOT has become one of the most widely used strategic planning frameworks in business. The tool helps you systematically assess both internal factors (your organization's strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats in your market environment). This comprehensive view enables better strategic planning because it forces you to consider multiple dimensions simultaneously—what you're good at, where you're vulnerable, what trends favor you, and what could disrupt you. SWOT Analysis is particularly valuable when making major decisions like entering new markets, launching new products, pivoting your business model, or developing competitive strategies. It works for businesses of all sizes, from startups evaluating market opportunities to large enterprises planning major initiatives. The power of SWOT lies in its simplicity and versatility—you can use it for strategic planning, competitive analysis, project evaluation, or personal career development.
Benefits of SWOT Analysis
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Provides structured strategic thinking
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Identifies internal capabilities and limitations
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Highlights external opportunities and risks
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Facilitates strategic planning discussions
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Helps align resources with opportunities
How SWOT Analysis Works
SWOT Analysis examines four quadrants: Strengths (internal advantages), Weaknesses (internal limitations), Opportunities (external positive factors), and Threats (external challenges). Strategic ideas emerge from combining these elements.
SWOT Analysis Prompts
How can we leverage [strength] to capitalize on [opportunity]?
What strategies can minimize [weakness] while pursuing [opportunity]?
How can we use [strength] to defend against [threat]?
What must we address in [weakness] to mitigate [threat]?
Which opportunities align best with our core strengths?
What threats could turn our weaknesses into critical vulnerabilities?
How can we transform [weakness] into a strength?
What opportunities can we create by proactively addressing [threat]?
Which strengths can help us create new opportunities?
How can partnerships help us overcome [weakness] and pursue [opportunity]?
Examples
Strengths-Opportunities: "Our strong brand can enter emerging markets."
Weaknesses-Opportunities: "We lack expertise in AI, but can partner with AI companies."
Strengths-Threats: "Our cash reserves protect us from economic downturns."
Weaknesses-Threats: "Our outdated technology makes us vulnerable to disruptors."
How Ideadrive Helps
Use Ideadrive's structured ideation platform to apply SWOT Analysis prompts and frameworks to your real challenges. Our collaborative tools make it easy to work through framework exercises systematically, whether you're working solo or with a team.
Ideadrive provides proven ideation methods—like SCAMPER for systematic exploration, Perspective Hats for multi-perspective analysis, and Round Robin for structured collaboration—that you can use alongside SWOT Analysis to generate deeper insights and explore ideas from different angles.
Use Ideadrive's Perspective Hats method to explore different angles for each SWOT quadrant, and brainstorming sessions to generate multiple strategic options. Apply SWOT Analysis concepts using our structured ideation methods to develop comprehensive strategies.
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