Marketing Planning – Don’t Do SWOT
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Options, Threats) is a well-known framework for building a marketing and advertising approach. A Google search for “SWOT” and “preparing” turned up pretty much 93,000 hits (August 2004), most all of which laud the use of SWOT. Some learners have stated that it is the most crucial matter they learned at the Wharton University.
Although SWOT is promoted as a useful system in numerous internet marketing texts, it is not universally praised: One expert explained that he most well-liked to think of SWOT as a “Important Waste of Time.”
The issue with SWOT is much more really serious than the actuality that it wastes time. Simply because it mixes concept generation with evaluation, it is likely to minimize the selection of methods that are regarded as. In addition, persons who use SWOT may well conclude that they have performed an ample task of organizing and ignore this sort of sensible issues as defining the firm’s aims or calculating ROI for alternate tactics. I have noticed this when company university college students use SWOT on cases.
What does the proof say? Possibly the most notable indication is that I have been unable to locate any evidence to assistance the use of SWOT.
Two studies have examined SWOT. Menon et al. (1999) questioned 212 managers from Fortune 1000 organizations about latest advertising strategies carried out in their companies. The conclusions confirmed that SWOT harmed general performance. When Hill and Westbrook (1997) examined the use of SWOT by 20 providers in the United kingdom in 1993-94, they concluded that the system was so flawed that it was time for a “product recall.”
Just one advocate of SWOT asked: if not SWOT, then what? Borrowing from corporate strategic planning literature, a far better choice for planners is to comply with a official prepared approach to:
- Set goals
- Generate alternate techniques
- Evaluate different methods
- Check effects
- Acquire commitment amid the stakeholders through every move of this procedure.
I describe this 5-stage technique in Armstrong (1982). Evidence on the value of this arranging approach, acquired from 28 validation scientific tests (summarized in Armstrong 1990), showed that it led to better corporate effectiveness:
- 20 studies observed larger functionality with formal preparing
- 5 discovered no variance
- 3 discovered formal planning to be harmful
This support was acquired even nevertheless the official organizing in the studies normally utilised only some of the methods. Also, the ways have been usually badly carried out and the disorders had been not generally excellent for formal scheduling.
Supplied the evidence, SWOT is not justified below any instances. In its place, use the in depth 5-action arranging treatment.
References
Armstrong, J. S. (1982) “The Worth of Formal Planning for Strategic Choices,” Strategic Management Journal, 3, 197-211.
Armstrong, J. S. (1990), “Evaluation of Corporate Strategic Scheduling,” Journal of Marketing and advertising, 54, 114-119.
Hill, T. & R. Westbrook (1997), “SWOT Examination: It is Time for a Solution Remember,” Prolonged Selection Preparing, 30, No. 1, 46-52.
Menon, A. et al. (1999), “Antecedents and Effects of Advertising Method Making,” Journal of Advertising and marketing, 63, 18-40.
