What is SWOT analysis and why should it be carried out?

Answer 1

SWOT Analysis is a tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization. Specifically, SWOT is a basic, straightforward model that assesses what an organization can and cannot do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. The method of SWOT analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate it into internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external issues (opportunities and threats). Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines what may assist the firm in accomplishing its objectives, and what obstacles must be overcome or minimized to achieve desired results.

Read more at the link.

Answer 2

A SWOT analysis ( well it is not really an analysis but a process)

It is a framework to help people look at situations.
The Strengths of an idea (internal or within the control of the person/ organization)
The Weaknesses of an idea (internal or within the control of the person/ organization)
The Opportunities of an idea (external or outside the direct control of the person/ organization)
The Threats of an idea (external or outside the direct control of the person/ organization)

Why do one - well rather than look only at things from one perspective,a SWOT helps provide a balanced approach to looking at new products, business plane, problems, and other decisions, inside or outside of business.

Have a look at http://www.rapidbi.com/created/SWOTanalysis.html for a number of examples and methods

Mike