Environmental Anlysis

 Environmental analysis

Introduction

Any organization that wants to be successful has to make its decisions based on information and data. Smart managers know that there are no generic solutions to problems and that all solutions depend on specific conditions. Different organizations will have different capacities and needs, and they will operate in different environments. That means that they will need to structure their operations to fit the particular conditions. In order to definitively identify these conditions, organizations have to conduct analysis, and it is from the exercise that it will get the information it can use. For example, an organization will have to be sure of its capabilities and its weaknesses. It has to be aware of the regulatory environment in which it operates and the opportunities that abound. All these are essential, and there are set procedures for compiling the information. This paper shall identify two of the most used.

SWOT analysis

The name is an acronym of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The matrix is used by companies and organizations to analyze just where the company is in its internal and external environment. The strengths denote the areas in which an organization has the desired capacity while weaknesses point to where there needs to be an improvement. Both of these cover internal aspects of an organization. When it comes to the outside elements, the threats point to the challenges that come to the organization. They might be from competitors or others. Opportunities denote the openings an organization can use to gain an advantage.

Importance of SWOT

An organization needs to know its strengths for several reasons. One of them is that it needs to know what it can and cannot do. Often, companies and other entities institute ambitious projects. It is good to dream, but it is better to work in reality. Without having a realistic grasp on its own strengths, an organization will end up overextending itself. In the case of the charity, it will spread itself thin as it tries to accomplish objectives that are not realistic. It will find itself losing focus and wasting resources in the process. Another reason is that knowing its strengths gives an organization a clear sense of what it should do. The strategy crafted will be more in line with the organization and will not just be generic. It makes it that much easier to achieve any objectives that will be set as they will be grounded in data.

A principal reason why an organization should know its weaknesses is pinpointing areas that need improvement. Any person who has worked in any organization knows that introspection is often difficult, and many would rather not go through with it. One will find managers working hard to cover up inadequacies and present a positive image. An organization should therefore actively seek out its weaknesses so as to identify where it can make improvements. The analysis will tell the organization whether it lacks in manpower, resources or leadership. It will also tell the top leadership which weaknesses are impossible to mitigate. In that case, the organization is able to craft strategies that will work around these weaknesses. Without the analysis, the result is a set of strategies which cannot be achieved. An organization will continue on its hamstrung streak and will continually fail.