SWOT Analysis
Formulating strategy often begins with an audit of the internal and external factor that will the affect the organization's competitive situation. SWOT analysis includes a careful assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that affect organizational performance. managers obtain external in formation about opportunities and threats from a variety of sources, including customers, government reports, professional journals, suppliers, bankers, friends in other organizations, consultants, or association meetings. many firms contract with special scanning organizations to provide them with newspaper clippings, internet research, and analyses of relevant domestic and global trends.