http://www.iplanner.net/business-financial/online/how-to-articles.aspx?article_id=swot-analysis

4. What is a SWOT analysis and how does it relate to the Strategic Management Process

SWOT is an acronym for the words strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as shown in the image above. It is a framework that involves collection and portrayal of information about internal and external factors which have, or may have, and impact on the business.

This framework is essential which will help the managers to synthesize insights obtained from an internal analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses with those from an analysis from an analysis of external opportunities and threats.

Strategic management can be defined as a set of decisions and actions taken by management, in collaboration with all levels within the organization in order to establish long term activities of the organization. There are varieties of approaches and technique can be used on strategic management process and SWOT analysis is one of the most widespread methods of management.

SWOT analysis is widely used by manager on creating strategies. Commonly used as a tools for the analysis of internal and external factors in order to achieve a systematic approach and spport address situation. Internal and external factors are the most important for the future of business. They are called strategic factors and are presented in the SWOT matrix. The ultimate goal of the strategic planning process, of which SWOT is one of the initial phases, is development and adoption of strategy resulting in a good relationship between internal and external factor.

 Factors that give an edge for

the company over its

competitors.

Favorable situations which

can bring a competitive advantage

Factors that can be harmful if

used against the firm by its

competitors.

Unfavorable situations which can negatively

affect the business

SWOT analysis is actually a method to help with strategy formulation. This analysis aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and the opportunities and threats in the organization.

SWOT analysis is an important tools that serves as a support for decision making and is often used as a tools for systematic analysis of the organization, both internal and external influences on the organization.

The result of SWOT analysis is useful and can be help to determine a strategy that will mean long-term progress.

http://www.academia.edu/3019214/Strategy_development_by_using_SWOT_-_AHP