Start your Planning with a SWOT!

Sharron Ronco

John Cahill

Florida Atlantic University

POSITIVE NEGATIVE

INTERNAL Strengths Weaknesses

EXTERNAL Opportunities Threats

Historical Framework

SWOT Analysis as a strategic planning tool was popularized by business faculty at Harvard during the 1960s.

Igor Ansoff extended the Harvard model. Ansoff diverged from the simplicity of the Harvard model to propose a model which was more structured, detailed and prescribed.

Environmental challenges lead to use of SWOT analysis in higher education during the1970s and 1980s.

PEST Analysis

- Political

- Economic

- Social

- Technological

Porter’s Five Forces model

- Threat of new competitors

- Threat of substitutes

- Bargaining power of suppliers

- Bargaining power of buyers

- Rivalry between competitors

TOWS matrix

Related Planning Models

Who we surveyed

Online surveys to:

Faculty

Staff

Alumni

Parents

Results of previous surveys:

Student Satisfaction

Graduating Student

Admitted Students who did not Enroll

Focus groups:

Community advisory

Student government

What are the top three things that FAU does well?

What should FAU preserve at all costs?

Who are FAU’s chief competitors?

What does FAU do better than its competitors?

What does the competition do better, that FAU should be doing?

What three things should FAU address immediately to improve?

What does FAU do poorly?

What directions should FAU avoid taking in the future?

What do people outside of FAU see as its strengths?

What do people outside of FAU see as its weaknesses?

What opportunities could FAU take advantage of in the next five years?

What is changing in the environment that could adversely affect FAU?

Questions for online survey and focus groups:

S

W

OT

SW

SW

= Most frequently cited

= Often cited

= Commonly cited

= Occasionally cited

= Seldom or never cited

= Most frequently cited

= Often cited

= Commonly cited

= Occasionally cited

= Seldom or never cited

= Most frequently cited

= Often cited

= Commonly cited

= Occasionally cited

= Seldom or never cited

= Most frequently cited

= Often cited

= Commonly cited

= Occasionally cited

= Seldom or never cited

Strengths Weaknesses

S-O strategies W-O strategies

Strength: Offers a high quality education to its service area.

Weakness: Responsiveness to workforce needs.

Opportunity: Local community relations and fundraising.

Opportunity: Partner with business, industry and government

Strategy: Promote and market programs of distinction more aggressively to community.

Strategy: Form workforce advising boards for each college, promote linkages with faculty and students.

S-T strategies W-T strategies

Strength: Low cost. Weakness: Faculty and staff salaries.

Threat: Increased competition from other and online providers.

Threat: High cost of living and housing.

Strategy: Media campaign to promote value of our education.

Strategy: Consider university-sponsored housing.

Op

po

rtu

nit

ies

Th

reat

s

Figure 3.1 Sample TOWS Matrix

OPPORTUNITIES

(1) Partner with business, industry and gov’t

(2) Distance learning

(3) Growth in population

STRENGTHS

(1) High quality education

(2) Multi-campus structure

(3) Low cost

(4) Diversity of students

S-0 STRATEGIES

• Promote preparation of employees who are comfortable with multiple cultures and diverse languages (4, 1)

• Increase accessibility to mixed modes of instruction on partner campuses (2, 2)

• Increase continuing education offerings (1, 1)

Limitations

The SWOT results are not statistically representative

Analyzing open-ended responses is labor-intensive

Consider using a PEST approach

Find our paper at:

http://iea.fau.edu/inst/sair05.doc

SAIR

October 22 – 25, 2005

Charleston, South Carolina