Transcript SWOT’s Corner

SWOT’s Corner
An interactive tutorial on SWOT
analysis
So we all know what SWOT is?
• Right!
We all know that a SWOT
analysis is a scan of the
internal and external
environment as part of
the strategic planning
process and that SWOT
stands for Strengths
Weaknesses,
Opportunities and
Threats.
• But actually!
Most people miss the
important second half of
the process which involves
transforming the initial
analysis into change
strategies AND not
everyone appreciates that
Strengths-Weaknesses
relate to the Internal
environment and
Opportunities-Threats to
the External environment
A SWOT Analysis answers:
1. “What are the key issues that face us
today?”
2. “How do we address these issues?”
•
Most people use SWOT for question 1
but it is often overlooked for question 2.
Let us demonstrate!
• You are Library Services Manager for Glamchester NHS Trust. Your
mission (whether or not you chose to accept it!) is to positively
contribute to the health of the community by providing current,
comprehensive, quality, accessible, timely information for all Trust
healthcare professionals and their customers.
• The Trust Library serves all employees of the Trust and staff of local
general practices. By addressing professional practice, education
and research, the Library fits within the mission of the Glamchester
NHS Trust which is to provide modern high quality health care for
the people of Glamchester.
• To fulfil this mission, the Library must prioritise the needs of its user
community. This community comprises disparate groups with very
different interests, requiring diverse services. Such services must be
provided within a cost-effective framework.
Key Strategic Objectives
• To improve library services for non-medical professional
groups
• To foster co-operative initiatives with other library
services within Glamchestershire and within the Acme,
Glamchestershire and Northern Wellshire Education
Purchasing Consortium
• To promote Trust-wide awareness of library services and
resources
• To collaborate with other NHS library managers to plan
effectively for countywide changes to library services
• To deliver value-added services to the desktop and to
assist in transition to the virtual library
• To develop a needs-led staff development programme
The SWOT analysis
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
We start by analysing our
Strengths
Strengths
- 24 hour access to specialist resources
- Expertise and experience of Library staff
- Strong links with other departments within the Trust
- Enhanced IT facilities
- Wide-ranging support for the Library from various
professional groups
- Networked resources enabling home and work-based
access to evidence
- Well-used Library web site
- Co-operative links with other health librarians in the
county, consortium area, region and UK
- Sharing and mutual support through library networks
- Pleasant, comfortable environment for staff and users
Then we turn attention to our
weaknesses
Weaknesses
•
•
•
•
•
Complex funding mechanisms
Lack of funding to support nurses and PAMs
Underdeveloped skills amongst library staff
Poorly maintained and out-of-date stock
Low awareness of services across potential user
base
• Staff-intensive manual systems
• Inequalities in service provision
• Lack of user involvement in service development
Note:
• Our weaknesses may
be linked to our
strengths
• So, for example, we
have expertise and
experience of library
staff but we also find
that there are
underdeveloped skills
amongst library staff
That completes our scan of our
INTERNAL environment
• We now turn our
attention outwards to
the EXTERNAL
environment to see
how our organisation
is positioned with
regard to current
developments and
initiatives
Our EXTERNAL Environment
• You will notice that our
STEP/PEST analysis
has already identified
these external factors.
• What we are adding here
is to turn these from
factors to which we
passively respond into
active stimulants on our
service. We therefore add
a value according to
Negative aspects of PEST
whether they are
become THREATS
potentially positive or
negative.
Positive aspects of PEST
become OPPORTUNITIES
Now consider our Threats
Note:
• There is no dogmatic reason why you
have to look at your Threats before your
Opportunities. However we find it helpful
to conclude on a positive note* and thus
allow thinking on Opportunities to be
stimulated by the results of the other three
cells.
* Python, M. “Always look on the bright side of life”
Threats
– Internet and IT enable potential users to bypass the
Library
– Competition from Higher Education libraries and other
service providers
– Low profile and low credibility of libraries in general
– Size and complexity of catchment area
– Rising costs of resources, in particular, journals
– Lack of protected time for users to search for
information and to use the Library during opening
hours
– Underdeveloped IT infrastructure within the NHS
Finally - let us consider our
Opportunities
Opportunities
• Acme, Glamchestershire & Northern Wellshire Education
Purchasing Consortium Library Review project
• Reorganisation of NHS services within Glamchestershire
• Information for Health and resulting initiatives e.g.
National Electronic Library for Health
• Investors in People and NHSU
• Focus on clinical governance and evidence-based
practice
• Developing knowledge base within nursing and allied
health professions
• Training opportunities for library staff
• New technology and the information revolution
• Regional working group on library management software
Note:
The Opportunities cell will comprise
both macro level (national) trends and
micro level (regional and local)
initiatives
Finally the piece that everyone
misses out – the TOWS analysis:
Strengths
Opportunities S-O strategies
Threats
Weaknesses
W-O strategies
[pursue
opportunities that
are a good fit to
strengths]
[overcome
weaknesses to
pursue opportunities]
S-T strategies
W-T strategies
[use strengths to
reduce
vulnerability to
external threats]
[establish defensive
plan to prevent
weaknesses
susceptible to
external threats]
Example: S-O strategy
• Strength: Range of networked resources enabling
access to evidence from home and from the workplace
• Opportunity: Focus on clinical governance and evidencebased practice
• Strategy: Why don’t we package together those
electronic resources that we already hold that support
evidence-based practice and market them as a
specialised service (evidence gateway) to home and
workplace users?
Example W-O strategy
• Weakness: Manual systems are staffintensive
• Opportunity: Regional working group on
library management software
• Strategy: Why don’t we use the results of
the working group’s report to help us
prioritise purchases for library automation?
Example: S-T strategy
• Strength: Well-used Library web site
• Threat: Internet and IT enabling potential
users to bypass the Library
• Strategy: Why don’t we develop a Library
portal as an access point for users to
access external resources?
Example: W-T strategy
• Weakness: Lack of user involvement in
service development
• Threat: Rising costs of resources, in
particular, journals
• Strategy: Why don’t we involve our users
in selecting and endorsing the Library’s
choice of electronic journals?
Now you have a go!
Choose a pair of characteristics from
the S-O, W-O, S-T, W-T cells of the
matrix and suggest a resulting strategy
What we have covered
• The meaning and true purpose of the
SWOT analysis
• Its application to a “factionalised” NHS
Trust Library
• Typical factors influencing change in a
Trust setting
• Four types of strategy to effect change
That’s all folks