Strategic formulation and planning is a long-term proposition for business. In order to develop a sound approach the most widely used tool for scanning the external and internal environment is the SWOT analysis. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is used to analysis the Internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) situation in a company as well as the External (Opportunities and Threats) that the company faces.

The SWOT analysis is widely used and has proved to be an enduring analytical tool. However it does have some short-comings which are:

• Lack of weights or priorities
• Factors could be placed in two categories, e.g. Strengths may sometimes be placed as Weaknesses
• No link to strategic implementation
• Data or analysis is not verified
• A long or lengthy list could be generated