For this week’s assignment, a SWOT analysis for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital needs to be completed. I have attached a template for your reference, which will serve as a guide for conducting a thorough assessment of our organization’s internal and external factors.
Please feel free to review the template and provide any feedback or additional instructions you deem necessary before I commence the analysis.
Action SWOT Analysis1
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Sonja Armbruster2 and John W. Moran3
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April 2017
Description:
Like the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis4 , the Action SWOT Analysis provides an assessment of an organization’s internal and external environment. Both the SWOT Analysis and the Action SWOT Analysis are used to identify an organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses (as the organization’s current state), as well as opportunities and threats external to the organization (as the organization’s future state).
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Collecting and analyzing information is a critical part of any quality improvement (QI) or quality planning process. However, with so many tools to collect and display information, sometimes QI teams invest too much energy just gathering information, and fail to take action using the information they gathered. The Action SWOT Analysis builds on current state activities, and helps move organizations beyond collection and analysis to development
and implementation of clear action steps. Figure 1 shows how the Action SWOT Analysis
becomes an integral part of the problem solving process and can been seen as a useful tool to
identify and implement potential improvements.
When to Use:
Action SWOT Analysis can be used in preparing for program process improvement planning
or as part of an agency strategic planning process. It helps to understand how the
organization fits into the external environment, identifying the organizational strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It goes further to support the creation of actionable
steps that build on strengths, mitigate weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and prevent
future threats.
1 Originally published as Stop analysis paralysis! Use an “Action SWOT” as part of your problem solving
approach in the PEX Newsletter, December 2, 2013.
2 Sonja Armbruster, MA, Public Health Initiatives Coordinator for Wichita State University’s Center for
Community Support and Research and consultant for the Public Health Foundation; Co-Convener of the
Visioneering Wichita Health Alliance 2009 – Present, Member and past chair of NACCHO’s MAPP
Workgroup, PHAB Site Visitor, and Adjunct Faculty for Wichita State University Public Health Sciences
Program and the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Master of Public Health Program.
3 John W. Moran, PhD, is Senior Quality Advisor to the Public Health Foundation and Senior Fellow in the
Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health. He is a
previous member of PHAB’s Evaluation and Quality Improvement Committee and Adjunct Professor at the
Arizona State University College of Health Solutions’ School for the Science of Health.
4 Public Health Quality Improvement Encyclopedia, Public Health Foundation, ©2012, pp. 137-138.
www.phf.org/QItools
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Figure 1
Construction Steps:
1. Identify the issue to be addressed or goal the improvement team would like to
accomplish.
2. Using four pieces of flip chart paper posted on the wall, create four tables to gather
information. Label the papers Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
a. Each table should have three columns, as indicated in Tables 1 – 4.
b. Label the columns as shown in Table 1 — Strengths, Preserve and Protect, and
Prevent.
c. Label the columns as shown in Table 2 — Weaknesses, Mitigate, and
Overcome.
d. Label the columns as shown in Table 3 — Opportunities, Capitalize, and
Enhance.
e. Label the columns as shown in Table 4 — Threats, Prevent, and Isolate.
3. Use brainstorming to identify the organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats related to the issue or goal being addressed. This can be done by rotating
small groups, as is done with the traditional SWOT Analysis.
a. Separate the improvement team into four small groups and assign each group
to one of the four Tables.
www.phf.org/QItools
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4.
5.
6.
7.
b. Each small group should brainstorm responses for their assigned Table and
write them on the paper.
c. After five minutes, rotate each group to the next category to complete the
same brainstorming exercise for the next Table.
d. Rotate the groups through each of the four Tables.
After the groups have rotated through the four Tables, collectively review the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Next, answer the following
questions to develop a focused framework for developing action plans.
Strengths:
? What actions will we need to take to preserve and protect the current
strengths?
? How can we prevent slippage of existing strengths?
Weaknesses:
? What can mitigate these weaknesses, to reduce their power or influence?
? What would it take to overcome the weaknesses?
Opportunities:
? How can we capitalize on the opportunities?
? What strategies can we design that will enhance those opportunities?
Threats:
? What can prevent these threats in the future?
? How can threats be isolated?
Document the answers to the questions in the tables, as is shown in Tables 1-4.
Use Action SWOT Analysis tool in conjunction with RASIC5 or Gantt6 Charts to
assure assignment and documentation of responsible individuals/teams and deadlines.
a. Alternatively, add two columns (Responsibility and Deadline) to the four
data-gathering tables.
Use the four completed tables to fill in the downloadable Action SWOT Analysis
template (see Figure 2 below for an example) to create a single summary document.
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Completing an Action SWOT Analysis creates actionable next steps, accountabilities, and
deadlines. Instead of simply gathering information, the Action SWOT Analysis becomes a
product useable by the improvement team.
Example: XYZ Organization
The XYZ Organization wants to retain its current workforce and keep their skills current. An
improvement team opts to conduct an Action SWOT Analysis. First, the organization
examines its existing strengths for retaining employees and keeping their skills current (Table
1).
5 Public Health Quality Improvement Encyclopedia, Public Health Foundation, ©2012, pp. 109-110.
6 Public Health Quality Improvement Encyclopedia, Public Health Foundation, ©2012, pp. 47-48.
www.phf.org/QItools
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Table 1
?
?
Strengths
Knowledgeable and
adaptable employees
In house training
department
Preserve and Protect
Update Workforce
Development Plan
Keep courses relevant to
shifting demands of the
marketplace
Prevent
Pay skilled employees
better than competition
Evaluate course offerings
quarterly and update
Next, the XYZ Organization identified its current weaknesses around retaining and keeping
employee skills current (Table 2).
Table 2
?
?
Weaknesses
Employees leave for
better opportunities
Mitigate
Promote from within
Knowledge leaves with
an employee
Mentoring program with
senior and junior
employees; have employees
document all of their key
work processes in detail to
capture knowledge
Overcome
Grow the organization so
more opportunities are
available
Develop a computer bank
where all key process and
organization decisions
reside
After completing the internal scan, XYZ Organization explored potential external
opportunities that the organization could be facing in the near future.
Table 3
?
?
Opportunities
Customers dissatisfied
with rival’s
products/services
Keep employee
knowledge current
Capitalize
Develop a change-ready
and adaptable workforce
that will monitor customer
needs
Enhance
Use current knowledge of
workers to build
products/services that
satisfy the customer’s
needs.
Build academic partnerships Have a university develop
with a university to offer
an in-house satellite course
courses and advanced
to offer company-specific
degrees
training on company time
In the final step, XYZ Organization identified potential internal and external threats and
answered the action questions designed to prevent and isolate those threats.
www.phf.org/QItools
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Table 4
?
?
Threats
Employee
knowledge/skills
becomes obsolete
Competitors hire away
most skilled employees
Prevent
Hire new workers with
desired skills or upgrade
current workers with
current knowledge and
skills
Use employee satisfaction
surveys to understand what
motivates employees to stay
Isolate
Keep workforce
development plans current
and identify those with
obsolete skills; design
targeted improvement plans
Keep pay, fringe benefits,
education, and career
advancement competitive
with the market
The above tables are a simple way for an improvement team to gather information. The
tables translates ideas into a concise visual format, and posting the completed tables on a wall
can keep the action plan easily accessible. The information gathered in Tables 1-4 feeds into
the following completed Action SWOT Analysis.
• Actions: Preserve, Prevent,
Protect
• Update Workforce Development
Plan
• Keep courses relevant to shifting
demands of the marketplace
• Pay skilled employees better than
competition
• Evaluate course offerings
quarterly and update
Opportunities
Strengths
? Knowledgeable and
adaptable employees
? In-house training
department
? Customers
dissatisfied with
rival’s
products/services
? Keep employees
knowledge current
• Actions: Capitalize,
Enhance
• Develop a change-ready and
adaptable workforce
• Use current knowledge of
workers to build products that
satisfy the customer’s needs
• Build academic partnerships
with a university to offer
courses and advanced
degrees
• Have a university develop an
in house satellite course to
offer company specific training
on company time
Workforce Development
Threats
Weaknesses
• Actions: Mitigate, Overcome
• Promote from within
• Grow the organization so more
opportunities are available
• Mentoring program with junior and
senior employees
• Document all key processes in detail
to capture knowledge
• Develop a decisions process database
? Employees leave for
better opportunities
? Knowledge leaves
with an employee
? Employee
knowledge/skills
becomes obsolete
? Competitors hire
away most skilled
employees
• Actions: Prevent, Isolate
• Hire workers with desired skills
or upgrade current workers skills
• Keep Workforce Development
Plan current
• Use employee satisfaction
surveys; take action
• Stay competitive with the market
Figure 2
www.phf.org/QItools
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