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Volume 4, Number  11                                                                             November 2009
Greetings!

Welcome to Epicenter Development Group's newsletter, EPICentral. The purpose of this newsletter is to highlight fundamental ideas that have helped organizations develop and maintain great manufacturing and service operations.  We hope that you find our EPICentral newsletter helpful, and we would welcome your comments on its content.
SWOT Analysis - The Strategic Planning Checklist
 
This month's article is about a powerful yet simple planning tool called SWOT Analysis.  SWOT (short for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) was developed at Stanford University in the 1960s and is now commonly used in organizations as part of their strategic planning efforts.  Although the model is relatively simple, it provides an excellent way to focus on critical issues that can help or hinder a company's competitiveness.
 
SWOT Analysis Steps (using grid)SWOT Analysis
  1. Determine Your Business Objectives.  What is it that you are trying to achieve in terms of sales, types of customers or other key results?
  2. Identify Your Strengths.  Brainstorm your company's strengths towards achieving the Business Objectives.  How can you best leverage your strengths?
  3. Identify Your Weaknesses.  Brainstorm your company's weaknesses that would hinder your ability to achieve your desired results.  What can you do to eliminate, improve or side-step these weaknesses?
  4. Identify Opportunities.  Brainstorm the external conditions that might be helpful toward achieving the Business Objectives.  How can you best take advantage of these opportunities out in the marketplace?
  5. Identify Threats.  Brainstorm external threats that might hinder your ability to meet your Business Objectives.  How can you mitigate these threats?
  6. Define Key Initiatives. After brainstorming the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, identify the top three to five initiatives to pursue during the next planning period.  Meet on a regular basis to review progress, revisit the SWOT analysis, and set new objectives.
Considerations
  • Ideally the SWOT Analysis is completed by a cross-sectional team of key personnel to provide the broadest view of internal and external factors.
  • This tool can be used in all types and sizes of organizations and even as an individual development tool as desired.
  • At Epicenter, we use this tool on an annual basis to identify and prioritize strategic initiatives.  We then revisit the tool on a quarterly basis to consider course corrections and gauge progress against our action plans.
Next Steps
 
If you are interested in learning more about how Epicenter can help your organization to become more effective, please do not hesitate to email us at tzubic@epicentergroup.com or call Tracee Zubic at 216.548.7136.
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About Epicenter Development Group
Epicenter Development Group is an independently-owned engineering consulting firm located in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
 
Epicenter Development Group is a unique consulting firm that seamlessly integrates the disciplines of Systems Engineering and Organizational Analysis & Development to create practical design solutions to your toughest challenges.  It is on the cutting edge of problem-solving solutions and the creator of a unique process called GreenRoom Engineering. This process adds greater value and cost savings for clients as compared to traditional engineering methods.
 
William Proctor, Epicenter's founder and president, has provided services around the country to more than 100 companies consisting of a variety of organizations; and Epicenter continues to grow as a resource for firms of all sizes.
 
To learn more about Epicenter Development Group, visit our website: www.epicentergroup.com.