Printed charts, diagrams and tables under a magnifying glass, next to a sheet with four quadrants and an orange sticky note in the middle

InsightsBusiness insights

Where does your organisation really stand?

A SWOT is only worth something if it leads to choices. The Next Organization maps what is changing inside your organisation. We turn strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats into concrete options.

Sound familiar?

Your SWOT is a long list of general statements
Your figures do not show which customers and products make money
Internal problems only surface when things go wrong
Your strategy leans more on gut feeling than on facts
Your team sees strengths that customers do not recognise
Growth has stalled, but the cause lies within your own organisation

What is a SWOT analysis?

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The distinction is internal versus external, not positive versus negative. A strength or weakness belongs to your organisation itself. An opportunity or threat lies in your environment.

From SWOT to options

The confrontation matrix (also known as a TOWS matrix) links the internal to the external. Each combination raises its own kind of strategic question.

Strength and opportunity

Type of option: Grow

Strategic question: How do we use strength X to seize opportunity Y?

Strength and threat

Type of option: Defend

Strategic question: How do we use strength X to protect ourselves against threat Y?

Weakness and opportunity

Type of option: Improve

Strategic question: Which weakness do we fix to seize opportunity Y?

Weakness and threat

Type of option: Withdraw

Strategic question: Where are we vulnerable, and where do we pull back?

In the matrix you score the effect of each combination. The highest scores point to the strongest links, and those give you your strategic options.

Business insights provide the input for the internal side of the SWOT. The external side comes from Market insights and Customer insights.

What you get

You get an honest picture of where your organisation stands, with the factors that matter in each quadrant. You also get a few well-founded options, from growing and defending to improving and withdrawing. So your SWOT leads to choices rather than a report.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a good SWOT analysis?

Keep internal and external strictly apart and make every factor specific and testable. Compare yourself with competitors, because a strength is always relative. Do not stop at the four quadrants: link them in a confrontation matrix.

What is a confrontation matrix?

A confrontation matrix is a table that sets each internal factor against each external one. For each combination you score the effect, for example from 1 to 5. The highest scores show where your strategic options lie.

What are examples of strengths and weaknesses?

A strength might be a loyal customer base or expertise that competitors lack. A weakness might be a product that does not make money, or dependence on one large customer. Avoid generalities such as good service, because every organisation says that.

How do you find your own weaknesses?

Look at your results per customer and product, and talk to the people who do the work. Have a team attack your own business as a new competitor. Whatever that competitor does differently points to your weaknesses.