Be Careful with SWOT Analysis. Issues and Risks of SWOT

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I am not that happy with SWOT Analysis. My issue does not concern the tool itself, but the way it is often used. People like to make some statements with it, but the list in each of its quadrants can be endless. Everything is true, but what does really matter from all the points listed? So be careful with cherry picking (giving selective attention to particular things) to draw conclusions from a SWOT-Analysis. Here's an example of what I mean. Let's think about the situation of a horse shoe manufacturer 110 years ago:

• Strengths: how did it help you to be the best horse shoe manufacturer?
• Weaknesses: did it make a difference for your future, that your marketing was weak?
• Opportunities: there were a lot of competitors you could buy for little money.
• Threats: there are automobiles coming up, but how can these loud and unreliable vehicles affect the business?

If you had been the boss of such a company: what might your reactio (...) Read more? Sign up for free

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		Risks of SWOT Analysis: Biases Jaap de Jonge, Editor, Netherlands
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		How to Avoid Biases in SWOT Analysis James Antwi, HR Consultant, Swaziland, Member
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		Be Careful of SWOT Analysis Dr. Alan Williams, Professor, Thailand, Premium Member
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		History Exonerates the Horseshoe Company David Stehlik, Professor, United States, Premium Member
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		Tendency in SWOT to Overly Focus on the Negative Paul Bailey, Consultant, Canada, Member
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		Use Trends for External Analysis! Johannes Crol, Consultant, Switzerland, Member
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		Use SWOT as a Starting Point Charles Alter, Consultant, United States, Member
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		SWOT Analysis Using Collective Intelligence Murali Sundararaju, Coach, India, Member
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		Avoid Strategies in SWOTs Connie James, Professor, Member
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		SWOT Analysis is not Complete on Itself Musagwiza, Manager, Zimbabwe, Member
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		Reduce Bias in SWOT Connie James, Professor, Member
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		Use SWOT in Combination with Other Tools Trevor Hudson, Consultant, United Kingdom, Member
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		SWOT is a Summary Tool Gregory McGuire, Business Consultant, Member
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		A SWOT Needs to Be Informed by Other Analysis Huw Morris, Management Consultant, United Kingdom, Member
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		Very Often, SWOT Analysis Becomes a Formality Jeny, Partner, China, Member
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		SWOT Analysis Provides Little Gain for Strategy Bernhard Keim, Business Consultant, Germany, Premium Member
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		SWOT Step 2 Threat Assesment Johan Bergstroem, HR Consultant, Sweden, Member
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		How many hours, on average, such SWOT report takes to compile? David Stehlik, Professor, United States, Premium Member
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		SWOT a Primitive Tool, but… Chris Hoe, Director, Australia, Member
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		Frankly, it Entertains a Lot! Augusto Carreira, Partner, Portugal, Premium Member
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		SWOT Follow-up: Intersecting SW with OT Pedro Ferrao, Teacher, Portugal, Member
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		Liked This SOAR Sridhar Gopal, Management Consultant, India, Member
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		Determining SWOT Priorities Charles Alter, Consultant, United States, Member
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		Uncertainty and SWOT Eyad, Manager, Jordan, Member
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		SWOT is Just a First Step, Not the Final One najib mohammed Saif, Turnaround Manager, Yemen, Member
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		Combining SWOT with PESTLE Pradeep Sinha, Management Consultant, India, Member
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		GIGO & SWOT Analysis Maurice Hogarth, Consultant, United Kingdom, Premium Member
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		Hours Needed for a Well-researched SWOT Connie James, Professor, Member
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