A SWOT analysis analyzes a company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Businesses typically use the analyses to make decisions, which vary depending on what the company is looking to achieve.
Characteristics of the company that give it an advantage over others in the industry.
Characteristics of the company that place it at a disadvantage relative to others in the industry.
Chances for the business to increase profits or achieve a more significant market share than its competitors.
Elements in the industry or environment that could cause problems for the company.
A SWOT analysis can help a company:
- Identify areas where the company can leverage its strengths to grow.
- Discover untapped markets or new avenues of business.
- Locate pain points that could be costing them business.
- Detect potential issues that may need to be mitigated.
Most SWOT analyses in the library databases come from public companies. A SWOT analysis may not be available if your company is private, a non-profit, or a small public company. Also, keep in mind not all public companies have SWOTs.
- Gale Business: Insights This link opens in a new windowEnter the company's name in the search box. After selecting the company profile, click on the blue button that says 'Read full SWOT analysis' to open the SWOT.
- Business Source Elite This link opens in a new windowUse Advanced Search, type the company name in the first box, SWOT analysis in the second box, and hit search.
- ProQuest ABI/INFORM Collection-All ABI Databases (PQ Central) This link opens in a new windowUse the Advanced Search and type in the company name in the first box and SWOT in the second box and hit search.
- IBISWorld This link opens in a new windowIBISWorld reports include a SWOT analysis of the industry. Look for the SWOT in the 'At a Glance' section of the report.
Not finding the SWOT analysis you want?
Here are some tips to help you find the SWOT analysis you're looking for:
- Try searching for the company's parent company (for example,
Hilton Hotels' parent company is Hilton Worldwide). - Try searching for a single word from the company's name (for example,
Hilton, not Hilton Hotels).
How do I create a SWOT analysis?
In your SWOT analysis, you'll want to cover the four areas of SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. To gather information for your SWOT, you'll need to analyze sources, such as articles, data, financial reports, news, and press releases from various credible sources.
- Use the library databases to search for news and journal articles about the company.
- Research your company's industry to find trends or threats to the industry.
- Search the company website or social media for press releases and news.
- If possible, consider interviewing the management of your company or key stakeholders based on the goal of the analysis.
These steps sound relatively easy, but it will take some time to sift through all of the information to get a clear picture of the company's SWOT, particularly if you are trying to analyze something outside your role and department.
- You might consider using a template to help you organize your information.
- Here is a simple SWOT template that organizes the information into the four SWOT categories.
- If you're creating a SWOT analysis as a part of your assignment, there may already be a template provided in your course that your instructor prefers you use. We recommend checking with them before using this template in your assignment.
- If you want something fancier, you can always Google
SWOT analysis templatesand pick one you like.
Library Databases to Use to research a company and its industry:
- Business Source Elite This link opens in a new window
Over 1,000 business journals (about 500 peer-reviewed) including most of the American Accounting Association journals, Forbes, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, and many other top business sources. Includes SWOT analyses and MarketLine company reports (under the Company Profiles section).
For about 500 Harvard Business Review articles (those that are most frequently assigned as course readings in business schools), Harvard Business Publishing has usage limits:
1) No printing (the PDF you can pull up does not allow printing or downloading)
2) No saving to students' individual EBSCO accounts (to easily get back to it)
3) No direct linking in web pages or Blackboard courses (the permalink
will take you to a page with information on the title but no link to the
document)
You can recognize these articles because a message at the top of the PDF: The publisher offers limited access to this document. It cannot be shared, printed, or downloaded.
To see an example: search for title: "Lean Knowledge Work" and author: "Staats." - Gale Business: Insights This link opens in a new window
Brings together company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies, and articles.
- ProQuest ABI/INFORM Collection-All ABI Databases (PQ Central) This link opens in a new windowBusiness content from ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Dateline, and ABI/INFORM Trade and Industry databases.
- Mergent Online This link opens in a new windowReplaced by Mergent Market Atlas. No longer available after June 2025.
Full public company details, annual reports, 15 years of financials, company history, long-term debt, SEC filings, country reports.
- Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new window
Provides access to private and public U.S and international business data, industry news, executive contact information, industry profiles, demographic data, and much more.
- IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Research reports with analysis on over 700 U.S. industries.
This content is adapted from the University Library, University of Phoenix "Find or Create a SWOT Analysis".
