The same is true for enterprises. Only by fully understanding your own situation can you realize your strengths and avoid weaknesses and make a correct strategic choice.
So, do we know enough about ourselves to make the right strategic choice? Try asking yourself: Can I objectively analyze a company's own situation? If you are the CEO of Apple, what is the current situation of the company and how will it develop in the next five years? In the face of such a huge company, where should we start to analyze Apple's situation?
As we all know, Sun Tzu's Art of War says that knowing ourselves and knowing ourselves is invincible, and the role of internal analysis is to help us recognize the strengths and weaknesses of our own enterprises, so as to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses in strategic formulation.
If you want to do a good job in the internal analysis of the enterprise and come up with an internal analysis report that the boss can see at a glance, you need to first establish a framework and organize the logic of the analysis; Next, it will introduce the commonly used SWOT tools, VRIO resource analysis tools and competitive situation matrix for further SWOT analysis.
Internal:
External:
After understanding the meaning of SWOT, we can make a brief SWOT analysis of Apple to see how to grasp the company's strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges in practical application.
By observing Apple's SWOT model, we can have an intuitive understanding of it. But after understanding the concept and framework of SWOT model, can it really be used directly?
Suppose I just entered a first-line consulting company and am participating in the bidding of a consulting project of a big company. The boss asked me to make a detailed analysis of the target company with SWOT, so I thought to myself: I have learned this, that is, to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise and the opportunities and threats it faces from both internal and external aspects! So when I sat down and started to operate, I found that a new problem would appear at this time. How to prove that my analysis is logical and convincing?
If you want to get an accurate and convincing SWOT analysis result, you usually use four other tools. Two tools are PEST model and five power models, and the other two tools are VRIO and competitive situation matrix.
On the other hand, it also means that the SWOT analysis model is essentially an analysis result obtained through the analysis of the other four analysis tools, rather than a process analysis tool.
In the first two parts, you have learned PEST analysis and five power models. Now, you can apply them to systematically organize the O and T factors in SWOT:
Let's use the above ideas to push back and see what external opportunities and threats Apple will face.
External opportunities and threats are abstract and conceptual. In order to pay attention to the breadth and not miss some factors, we can use PEST method and five-force model to analyze one by one, as mentioned above.
The next focus is on the analysis method of the company's advantages and disadvantages; One method is to explore the competitive advantage of enterprises from the perspective of resources, and the other is the resource-based theory mentioned above. Most importantly, resources are of great significance to the core competitiveness of enterprises.
But how to judge which resources are truly competitive? This paper will introduce a method that is helpful to evaluate the value of enterprise resources-VRIO analysis method.
For example, fingerprint identification technology was introduced into Apple's mobile phone products, and later other brands of mobile phone products quickly mastered and used this technology. Then technology does not have the competitive potential of scarcity, difficulty in imitation and full utilization of resources, which is a short-term advantage. Apple's brand value is the core resource to meet the four elements of VRIO at the same time, and it is also its long-term competitiveness.
VRIO analysis is fast and effective. Simply put, it is to see what resources can make money, what resources I have and others don't. But it only applies to all kinds of resources of enterprises, and can't help us find all the advantages.
For example, the iOS system developed by Apple is its important competitiveness, not resources. How can I prove the value of this iOS? At this time, it is difficult to judge subjectively whether it is an advantage item or a disadvantage item.
Next, with the help of the quantitative analysis tool-Competitive Situation Matrix (CPM), we can compare the performance of iOS and its competitive products, and get a relatively objective comprehensive evaluation by scoring.
Generally speaking, VRIO analysis and competitive situation matrix are two completely different methods.
Through the above, I have mastered the complete SWOT method and learned the two tools of VRIO resource analysis and competitive situation matrix. I know how to analyze the situation of enterprises in an orderly and well-founded way. But in order to accurately analyze the current situation of the company, these tasks are only half completed.
If I, as the CEO of Apple, get the SWOT analysis report of Apple just finished, is it possible to ask what measures need to be taken for this report?
In order to translate the results of SWOT analysis into practical action guidance, we need a transformation tool called TOWS matrix.
Finally, after determining the general strategic direction and analyzing the strategic situation clearly, we can make a clear plan through strategic formulation. Successful enterprises should not only have vision, but also have means. Through the analysis of some classic cases, we can see how successful enterprises became famous in World War I through precise and ingenious strategy formulation.