Managing a company is complicated. Managers must make decisions every day that impact the company and the people. A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) allows managers to understand the company’s current state and extract the most useful information to make informed business decisions.

This week, we’ll focus on understanding internal and external factors impacting the company (either the snack food company scenario or the startup company of your choice). We’ll organize the findings into four categories of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Start your response with a brief description of your business (company name, what you do, and what you sell). This description should not be longer than 3 sentences. You will include this in your response each week to remind everyone of your business. 

1. Complete the SWOT Matrix [DOCX] Download SWOT Matrix [DOCX]to highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company (as approved by the instructor) you described in the Week 1 discussion.
   • Your selected company may be a startup company of your choosing, or it may be based on the snack food company scenario provided to you.
2. Include four items in each category.
3. As you complete each quadrant of the SWOT Matrix, consider these questions:
   • Strengths.
     • What are your selected company’s likely strengths?
     • Is your product or service in a growing industry and does it lack an entrenched competitor?
     • Are you in a niche market with great potential?
     • What strengths do you and other team members bring to the company?
   • Weaknesses.
     • What are your chosen company’s likely weaknesses?
     • How entrenched is the competition in your industry segment?
     • Is your management team inexperienced?
     • How challenging will it be to produce the product or offer the service and maintain quality?
   • Opportunities.
     • What are your company’s opportunities?
     • Does your segment have more demand than supply?
     • Have larger corporations stopped serving smaller or niche markets that you could enter?
     • Is a new market emerging because of demographics, immigration, changing tastes, et cetera?
   • Threats.
     • What are your company’s threats?
     • Does a clear market leader exist that will be hard and expensive to displace?
     • Are downward-pricing pressures in the segment making profit margins slim?
     • Are there few or no barriers to entry for new competitors?

Post at least one substantive comment to another student’s post.

Important Notes: 

• Textbook Chapter 9, “Strategic Position & Risk Assessment,” pages 143-162, provides additional detail about this topic.
• You will revise this week’s discussion post as part of your on the Week 3 assignment, Company Description and SWOT Matrix.
• Complete the SWOT matrix in Word and then copy from there and paste it into the discussion window.
• DO NOT attach the Word document to the discussion window. 
• Include your company name and a brief description of what business you are in, as well as the product(s) and service(s) you offer for sale. Provide this information in your response for this week to remind everyone about your business (no more than 3-4 sentences). Save this description to include in all your weekly discussion responses in this class. 
• A substantive comment is at least 4-6 substantive sentences in length, sharing examples, your perspective, resources, your experience, making connections, asking questions, etc.