answer101

Process Improvement Plan

Joseph Moore

BUS490

Excelsior College

Professor Robert Kane

24 January 2016

SWOT analysis occurs on a place, a product, an industry or on a person. The analysis method majorly deals on the company objectives and exploits both the unfavorable and the favorable factors in that particular business venture. Identification of this set of SWOT is important and relevant in the quest to achieve the organization’s objectives.

Threat analysis and evaluation comes at the end of a process of business or organization analysis. This theory is the tool that helps to know if the business entity is at risk of failing or if it has more opportunities of growing and making more profits. This tool plays a major role in decision making on how to invest and identifying areas of expansion into the market. (Westhues, 2001)

Strengths and weaknesses are normally internal factors to the organization while threats and opportunities directly attribute to the external factors to the organization. There can be a difficulty in identifying strengths and weaknesses distinctively. Therefore, if there is this difficulty in establishing the difference in strengths and weaknesses, one can try writing down a list of the characteristics of the organization. Then from there, one looks at the characteristics in relation to the competitors. For example, if all the competitors manufacture high quality products, then in your organization the aspect of high quality product cannot come out as a strength, but simply a necessity. A factor can be a weakness yet look like a strength on the other hand.

An effective approach when considering the opportunities is to scrutinize the strengths and ask oneself whether they open up any opportunities. On the other hand one looks at his or her weaknesses and look to see if one could open up to opportunities by eliminating those weaknesses. Considering the opportunities and threats, a method of analysis, that is PEST Analysis, helps in ensuring that one does not overlook external factors, such as technological changes in the industry or new government regulations.

Considering all the other techniques, SWOT analysis comes out as a simple and useful framework for analyzing and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of one’s organization together with the threats and opportunities that the organization faces. This helps in placing focus on minimizing threats, focusing on the strengths and eventually taking the greatest possible advantage of the opportunities available. This technique can then come into play in kick-off of strategy formulation or rather a strategy tool. This tool can also help in understanding ones competitors in order to get an insight one needs to construct a successful and coherent competitive position. One needs to be rigorous and realistic when carrying out the analysis. He or she also needs to apply it at the right level and make a supplement with other option generation tools where appropriate. (Birkenmaier, 2001)

In the organization, the great asset is where one is able to convert the weaknesses into strengths. This can be possible if the people in charge of strategizing follow the right procedure. If the team does not find how to handle these set of weaknesses they can work against the interests of the organization. The process of turning weaknesses into strengths involves first getting to identify them, get good enough, and then use that particular problem specifically to provide services to satisfy the needs of some people.

The strengths of the previous system get a slot and get way into the new system without actually making changes to it. This will ensure that the merits and benefits of the previous system do not go to waste after efforts put in place there before. This is possible in that during the changes in the system the specific areas that proof to be of more benefit at that time remain as they are at the time of system change.

The system in place may not need a complete change to be able to incorporate the new aspects desirable to the success of the business organization. This will mean that changes will come into place but the old system still comes into play at some point. Complete change of the system will not guarantee success. Consideration of the old system along with its strengths and weaknesses is as good as acquisition of a complete new system to come into play.

Therefore, the whole policy will not need to be changed. The few amendments only need consideration and scrutiny to know where to place focus and allocate more resource. This will provide an effective way of allocation of resources to ensure minimum expenditure with maximum returns. This shows that cost-benefit analysis plays a role in bringing in the new system. The cost of change against the benefit of change shows the direction in which changes in the policy will take.

The changes made in the operation will definitely take care of the goals of the organization. This looks at the visions and missions and ensures that they get considerations at all levels of induction. The goals of an organization will at all times remain in constrains of the law. There is a code of conduct to observe. The organization will always have an obligation to the whole community.

Efficiency of the new system is evident at any point after inception. There can be resistance to change after incorporation. This also gets provisions in the system from its initial design. Therefore, there will be friction but also with tangible results. These results show an improvement in the positive direction.

References

Birkenmaier. (2001). The Practice of Generalist Social Work. New York: Routledge.

Westhues, A. L. (2001). A SWOT analysis of social work education in Canada. 20. Social Work Education: The International Journal , 35–56.