SWOT Analysis
Where do you stand strategically? Capture strengths & weaknesses (internal) as well as opportunities & threats (external) – and derive concrete strategies via the TOWS matrix. Ideally, the external factors come straight from your Five Forces or STEP analysis.
Guide: how to proceed
First the current-state analysis, then the TOWS matrix, finally the actions. Choose a step – or switch on guided mode at the top and an assistant will lead you through.
Video companion · Questions & answers
All the terms from the video – in plain language. Click a question to open the answer.
What is a SWOT analysis? +
The SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) is used for the strategic analysis of the current situation. It emerged in the 1960s as a tool for strategic corporate planning – Harvard Business School is often named as the origin, but according to current research it comes from the Stanford Research Institute (initially as the “SOFT analysis”) – and it works anywhere: in marketing, in project management and even for your own career.
Internal vs. external – the decisive difference
Watch out when classifying: an ageing workforce is not an external threat – it is internal and belongs under weaknesses.
From SWOT to TOWS
In the second step you look at the interactions in the TOWS matrix (Heinz Weihrich, 1982): How do I use strengths for opportunities (SO)? How do I protect myself against threats with strengths (ST)? How do I reduce weaknesses through opportunities (WO)? How do I minimise weaknesses and threats at the same time (WT)? This turns the pure current-state analysis into strategic options for action.
Link to Five Forces & STEP
The external side (opportunities & threats) can be taken over very well from a preceding Five Forces or STEP analysis. This is how the methods build on each other.
How saving works +
This HTML file is your document. Everything you enter ends up in exactly this file when you save – just like in a Word document. If you pass the file on, all the analyses are included.
Save (green button or Ctrl+S) saves the current state – without any prompt. As long as no working file of your own has been created, the state is kept in the browser and is there again the next time you open it.
Save as (under “Analyses”) creates a file on your hard drive. This is the only place where you are asked where to save. After that, every further Save writes silently to exactly that file.
The first time: Open the file, click “Analyses” and then Save as. From then on the green button is enough.
Saved automatically: Once an analysis has been saved, the tool saves every further change on its own after a few seconds.
If something goes wrong: The tool continuously keeps an interim copy in the browser. If the browser crashes or you close the window by accident, your work is there again the next time you open it.
Note on browsers: Writing directly to the file currently works in Chrome and Edge. In Firefox and Safari everything stays saved in the browser – the file itself remains unchanged.