A large, not-for-profit healthcare organization spent one year developing its first strategic plan. It involved both internal and external stakeholders, created a mission and a vision, gathered trend data, made projections, and identified strategic priorities and subsequent projects. After completing the first draft, it gave the document to various stakeholders for review and comment. Generally, the feedback was positive. However, one high-ranking governmental official remarked that the strategic plan was incomplete and not of high quality because it made no reference to SWOT analysis.

Questions

1. Is the government official correct? Should all strategic plans be informed by SWOT analysis?

2. What does a SWOT analysis provide? Could this information be generated in another way?

3. What is the value of using SWOT analysis? Are there disadvantages to using SWOT analysis?

4. Could a strategic plan be created solely on the basis of SWOT analysis? Why?