Hely Tanvi Vasudev

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a in a business venture. It specifies the objective of the business venture or project and identifies if they are favorable or unfavorable to achieve that objective.

Strengths: characteristics of the business that give it an advantage over others in the industry. Weaknesses: characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage relative to competitors. Opportunities: external opportunities to make greater sales or profits in the environment. Threats: external threats in the environment that could cause trouble for the business.

What may represent strengths with respect to one objective may be weaknesses for another objective. The factors may include all of the 4Ps; as well as personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and so on.

The external factors may include macroeconomic matters, technological change, legislation, and sociocultural changes, changes in the marketplace or competitive position.

The usefulness of SWOT analysis is not limited to profit-seeking organizations. Non-profit organisations, governmental units, and individuals, pre-crisis planning and preventive crisis management, etc. SWOT alongside PESTLE can be used as a basis for the analysis of business and environmental factors.

Gives ready made lists of the objectives rather than encourage thought process. No clear prioritization. Organizations view circumstances as simple and overlook certain key strategic contact which may occur. Not sufficient research and development facilities; Faulty products due to poor quality control; Poor industrial relations; Lack of skilled and efficient labour.

A creative technique by which group finds a solution to the problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members. Introduced by Alex Osborn an Advertising Executive in 1957.

Gather a group of 4 to 15 people in a room. A central person introduces the purpose of the session, and states the rules. Noting down the ideas on flipchart.

Encourage wild and creative ideas. Quantity counts at this stage not quality. Build on ideas put forward by others. Every person and every idea has equal worth. No criticism, however unconventional

When new ideas are required. When information about a problem is spread across different people.

Inability to simultaneously share thoughts. Ideas are forgotten. Ideas are not good enough to share. Can get out of control

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Fishbone Diagrams (also called, Ishikawa diagrams or herringbone diagrams , cause-

and-effect diagrams) are causal diagrams that show the causes of a certain event. Ishikawa diagrams were proposed by Ishikawa in the 1960s, who pioneered quality management processes in the Kawasaki shipyards, and in the process became one of the founding fathers of modern management.

Common uses of the Ishikawa diagram are product design and quality defect prevention, to identify potential factors causing an overall effect. Each cause or reason for imperfection is a source of variation. Causes can be derived from brainstorming sessions.

Born in Tokyo 1915. Graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1939 with an Engineering degree in applied chemistry. Worked as a naval technical officer until 1941. Worked for Nissan Liquid Fuel Company. Associate professor at the University of Tokyo in 1947. Also a famous person in Quality Management and developed several quality tools.

The Idea:

Think about possible causes and reasons leading to an effect or a problem. Find solution for preventing those problems.

People (Manpower): Anyone involved with the process. Methods: How the process is performed and the specific requirements for doing it, such as policies, procedures, rules, regulations and laws. Machines: Any equipment, computers, tools etc. required to accomplish the job.

Materials: Raw materials, parts, pens, paper, etc. used to produce the final product. Measurements: Data generated from the process that are used to evaluate its quality. Environment: The conditions, such as location, time, temperature, and culture in which the process operates.

Sketch the diagram and write the needed causes. Work the main and the side causes out. Check the completeness. Weight the main & the side causes in terms of meaning & influence. Check the selected causes for rightness. The team discusses about the solution.

Causes that can be improved or eliminated easily will be finished first of all (no need to be weighted) The weighted causes are in a list of priority and will be finished in turn. Its important that the team has skilled workers involved in the discussion. e.g. supplier, clients, etc.

Mazda Motors famously used an Ishikawa diagram in the development of the Miata sports car, where the required result was "Horse and Rider as One".

The main causes included aspects such as "touch" and "braking" with the lesser causes including highly granular factors such as "50/50 weight distribution" and "able to rest elbow on top of driver's door". Every factor identified in the diagram was included in the final design.

Ishikawa diagrams have been criticized for failing to make the distinction between necessary conditions and sufficient conditions. It seems that Ishikawa was not even aware of this distinction.