Introduction
SWOT analysis is one of the most popular tools in use for analyzing the relationship between internal and external environments in order to attain results for decision- making. The beauty of this tool is its internal inspection of the organisational analysis (identified as strengths and weakness), followed by the external scanning (described as threats and opportunities). It was not surprising that SWOT analysis has grown as a crucial tool and a number of researchers and practitioners focused on its analysis in strategic management field. However, the researchers (Hill and Westbrook, 1997, pp.46-52; Lee 2013, pp.570-592; Ghazinoory et al. 2011, pp.24-48) have pointed out that the framework has come under relative limitations …show more content…
Nevertheless, some scholars (Hill and Westbrook, 1997, pp.46-52; Lee 2013, pp.570-592; Ghazinoory et al. 2011, pp.24-48) revealed that SWOT analysis should be discarded since there is an increasing number of bland and ambiguous consequences of its analysis. It is appropriate to re-evaluate its value as a strategic planning tool because of its increasing number of serious criticism. This part will discuss ** main factors of relative limitations for SWOT analysis.
Firstly, SWOT analysis relies on the intuitions of individuals and lacks of quantitative measurement provide a negative impact on the process of strategic planning. Lee (2013, pp.570-592) strongly believed that SWOT analysis dominant drawback is dependent on qualitative analysis instead of ranking the effect of individual factors by using quantitative analysis. As a result, SWOT analysis would omit important factors and cannot absolutely assess strategic decision-making processes, and therefore, provides subjective instincts of internal and external scanning of analysis (Lee 2013, pp.570-592). Moreover, researchers in their study illustrated that 212 interviews out of executives of Fortune 1000 companies considered SWOT analysis slow down the growth of the companies, as it depends on institutions of individuals and avoids quantification (Arslan et al. 2013, pp.91-98). Consequently, according to Agarwal et …show more content…
A commonly used method the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is introduced in combination with SWOT analysis in order to provide a quantitative measure of ranking the effect of individual factors on decision-making (Kurttila et al. 2000, pp.41-52). Kurttila et al (2000, pp.41-52, cited by Ho 2008, p.211-228) mentioned in his research that there are four steps in applying the AHP-SWOT: collecting and classifying the key factors by using SWOT analysis, building a hierarchy of the SWOT group by using AHP, generating priority of the individual SWOT factors relate to the four criteria, and combing with respect to overall goal. In other words, by integrating the AHP in SWOT analysis, both SWOT group and individual SWOT factors are arranged in a hierarchic structure based on the quantitative AHP prioritization. The combined AHP-SWOT method is better than the stand-alone SWOT analysis because of the improvement of the strategic decision-making process, hence, provides an obvious effect in strategic
SWOT analysis is one of the most popular tools in use for analyzing the relationship between internal and external environments in order to attain results for decision- making. The beauty of this tool is its internal inspection of the organisational analysis (identified as strengths and weakness), followed by the external scanning (described as threats and opportunities). It was not surprising that SWOT analysis has grown as a crucial tool and a number of researchers and practitioners focused on its analysis in strategic management field. However, the researchers (Hill and Westbrook, 1997, pp.46-52; Lee 2013, pp.570-592; Ghazinoory et al. 2011, pp.24-48) have pointed out that the framework has come under relative limitations …show more content…
Nevertheless, some scholars (Hill and Westbrook, 1997, pp.46-52; Lee 2013, pp.570-592; Ghazinoory et al. 2011, pp.24-48) revealed that SWOT analysis should be discarded since there is an increasing number of bland and ambiguous consequences of its analysis. It is appropriate to re-evaluate its value as a strategic planning tool because of its increasing number of serious criticism. This part will discuss ** main factors of relative limitations for SWOT analysis.
Firstly, SWOT analysis relies on the intuitions of individuals and lacks of quantitative measurement provide a negative impact on the process of strategic planning. Lee (2013, pp.570-592) strongly believed that SWOT analysis dominant drawback is dependent on qualitative analysis instead of ranking the effect of individual factors by using quantitative analysis. As a result, SWOT analysis would omit important factors and cannot absolutely assess strategic decision-making processes, and therefore, provides subjective instincts of internal and external scanning of analysis (Lee 2013, pp.570-592). Moreover, researchers in their study illustrated that 212 interviews out of executives of Fortune 1000 companies considered SWOT analysis slow down the growth of the companies, as it depends on institutions of individuals and avoids quantification (Arslan et al. 2013, pp.91-98). Consequently, according to Agarwal et …show more content…
A commonly used method the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is introduced in combination with SWOT analysis in order to provide a quantitative measure of ranking the effect of individual factors on decision-making (Kurttila et al. 2000, pp.41-52). Kurttila et al (2000, pp.41-52, cited by Ho 2008, p.211-228) mentioned in his research that there are four steps in applying the AHP-SWOT: collecting and classifying the key factors by using SWOT analysis, building a hierarchy of the SWOT group by using AHP, generating priority of the individual SWOT factors relate to the four criteria, and combing with respect to overall goal. In other words, by integrating the AHP in SWOT analysis, both SWOT group and individual SWOT factors are arranged in a hierarchic structure based on the quantitative AHP prioritization. The combined AHP-SWOT method is better than the stand-alone SWOT analysis because of the improvement of the strategic decision-making process, hence, provides an obvious effect in strategic