The traditional business school approach to situation analysis has long been to use SWOT analysis, where SWOT stands for "strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and Threats. The first two, of course, are internal to the firm while the latter two are external. The typical SWOT approach has been to ask questions of the firm in S$,$ W$,$ O and T order.

It is recommended that you reverse the SWOT approach and conduct a Tows analysis: This asks that you first consider the external elements threats and opportunities in order to develop the context within which to examine the internal elements $($weaknesses$,$ and strengths$).$ Tows analysis thus rests on the notion that a firm's strengths and weaknesses are only relevant within the context of the firm's environment.

This is best define as:

Typically, the student team, along with the client, needs to identify the root problem$($s$)$ facing the firm or organization. This activity is critical to the effectiveness of the consulting project. Business owner$/$managers sometimes focus on treating the symptoms rather than the root problems. They are so busy managing the business that they may not have time or skills for the kind of analysis that will uncover the underlying problem. Owner$/$managers$\text{'}$ egos may also get in the way of examining the business objectively.

This is best define as: