UM DIGOS COLLEGE

Roxas Extension, Digos City

Telefax: (082)553-2914

Big Picture
Week 1-3: Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO): At the end of the unit, you are expected to:
a. Analyze an organization using balanced scorecard; and
b. Create a SWOT Analysis matrix.

Big Picture in Focus: ULOb. Create a SWOT Analysis matrix

Metalanguage

The most essential terms below are operationally defined for you to have a better
understanding of this section in the course.

1. SWOT Analysis. It is a tool for assessing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,

and threats of an organization. It identifies four aspects of an organization to better
understand its environment, reduce chances of failures, eliminate hazards and craft
an informed strategy to gain competitive advantage from your competitors.

Essential Knowledge

SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a

framework used to evaluate a company's competitive position and to develop strategic
planning. SWOT analysis assesses internal and external factors, as well as current
and future potential.

A SWOT analysis is designed to facilitate a realistic, fact-based, data-driven

look at the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, initiatives, or within its
industry. The organization needs to keep the analysis accurate by avoiding pre-
conceived beliefs or gray areas and instead focusing on real-life contexts.

How to do a SWOT Analysis?

Analysts present a SWOT analysis as a square segmented into four quadrants,

each dedicated to an element of SWOT. This visual arrangement provides a quick
overview of the company’s position. Although all the points under a particular heading
may not be of equal importance, they all should represent key insights into the balance
of opportunities and threats, advantages and disadvantages, and so forth.

Strengths
- describe what an organization excels at and what separates it from the
competition: a strong brand, loyal customer base, a strong balance sheet,
unique technology, and so on.
- For example, a hedge fund may have developed a proprietary trading strategy
that returns market-beating results. It must then decide how to use those results
to attract new investors.

Weaknesses

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Telefax: (082)553-2914

- stops an organization from performing at its optimum level.

- They are areas where the business needs to improve to remain competitive: a
weak brand, higher-than-average turnover, high levels of debt, an inadequate
supply chain, or lack of capital.

Opportunities
- favorable external factors that could give an organization a competitive
advantage. For example, if a country cuts tariffs, a car manufacturer can export
its cars into a new market, increasing sales and market share.

Threats
- factors that have the potential to harm an organization.
- For example, a drought is a threat to a wheat-producing company, as it may
destroy or reduce the crop yield. Other common threats include things like rising
costs for materials, increasing competition, tight labor supply. and so on.

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further
understand the lesson:
Dr, M. B. (2017). Performance management reboot : Fresh perspectives for the
changing world of work. ProQuest Ebook Central https://www.proquest.com

Mariani, G. (2017). M&a and value creation : A swot analysis. ProQuest Ebook
Central https://www.proquest.com

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Roxas Extension, Digos City
Telefax: (082)553-2914

Let’s Check

Activity 1. Choose the best answer.

1. Which of the following SWOT elements are internal factors for a business?
a. Strengths and Weaknesses
b. Opportunities and Threats
c. Strengths and Opportunities
d. Weaknesses and Threats

2. Which of the following is false regarding why a SWOT Analysis is used?

a. To build on the strengths of a business
b. To minimize the weaknesses of a business
c. To reduce opportunities available to a business
d. To counteract threats to a business

3. Which of the following could be a strength?

a. Weather
b. A new international market
c. A price that is too high
d. The location of a business

4. Which of the following could be a weakness?

a. A developing market such as the Internet
b. Competitors with access to better channels of
c. Poor quality of goods and services
d. Special marketing expertise

5. Which of the following could be an opportunity?

a. Having quality processes and procedures
b. Moving into new market segments that offer improved profits
c. Damaged reputation
d. A new competitor in your home market

6. Who usually conducts a SWOT Analysis for a business?

a. Financial Institutions/Banks
b. Lawyers
c. Employees
d. Managers

7. Which of the following is true about preparing a SWOT Analysis?

a. It should focus on where the organization is today, not where it could be in the
future.
b. A SWOT Analysis is objective
c. It should be specific and avoid grey areas
d. It should analyze the organization only and ignore the performance of
competitors.

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Roxas Extension, Digos City
Telefax: (082)553-2914

8. SWOT is one of the most commonly used analysis tools in business, but what does
it analyze?
a. the external marketing environment
b. the internal marketing environment
c. the competitive environment
d. the organization’s current situation
e. the organization’s strategy

9. If you wanted to look at factors out of control of the business which may affect it you
would look at:
a. Strengths and Weaknesses
b. Outsiders or Threats
c. Strengths and Threats
d. Opportunities and Threats

10. What would be a potential threat to a business?

a. Changes in technology and markets e.g. The internet.
b. Ability to prioritize
c. Flexibility
d. Intrusions in the market

Let’s Analyze

Activity 1. To apply the concepts in this unit, create a SWOT analysis of the
University of Mindanao. Seek further instructions from your instructor for the
submission.

Strengths

Weaknesses

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Roxas Extension, Digos City
Telefax: (082)553-2914

Opportunities

Threats

In a Nutshell

Activity 1. Analyzing the condition of an organization using SWOT Analysis is very

useful in creating a strategy for the company. Based from the definition of the most
essential terms in the course and the learning exercises that you have done, please
feel free to write your arguments or lessons learned below. I have indicated my
arguments or lessons learned.

1. Learning the areas in SWOT Analysis and how to do it will be helpful in my future
role as management accountant. It will help me analyze my organization in detail about
its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Your Turn

2.

3.

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Telefax: (082)553-2914

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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