Question

What is a SWOT Analysis and How to Conduct a SWOT analysis?

Following the Step by Step instructions, conduct a SWOT analysis for Smithfield Foods Inc.

Answer 1

What is a SWOT Analysis?

SWOT analysis is a tool used document the internal strengths (S), weakness(W), External opportunities(O) and threats (T) in Organization. This tool helps to achieve the organizational objectives. You know about how your business is going today. But you don't know how it will be tomorrow. SWOT analysis will force you to think about future of your business

How To conduct SWOT Analysis?

• Decide the goals of your SWOT analysis: In order to get most about SWOT analysis you should have goal or questions in your mind from the beginning. You can use SWOT Analysis for deciding whether you can introduce the new product or service or can you change your existing methodology.
• Do the research on your market , business and industry: Before starting the SWOT analysis you need to do some kind of research in orders to understand your market, industry and business. Select range of perspectives, talk with other business partners, your staffs, clients ask their suggestions. Also do some market research in order to find out about your competitor.
• Gather the right people: Most important decisions are typically need to be made by senior level manager and founder.Getting the more inputs and suggestions even from the individual who does not know completely about your business is makes the business stronger.
• List your business strengths: First step is identify what you thinks about your business strengths. It could include the strengths related to the staffs, business locations,competitiveness, financial resources, your client, cost advantage etc.In this stage the list of strengths need not to be definitive, any idea are encouraged.
• List the business weakness: List the factors that you think that it is weakness for your business. This will involve employee absenteeism, absence of new product or service or client, need and lack of intellectual property, distance to the market and declining the market shares. You need to make sure Weakness is arises in your analysis. This will help you to show how your business has improved over the time. If you review the SWOT analysis after many year , you may realize that business weakness has been fixed, and you may also find new weakness
• List the potential opportunities in your business: List the possibilities of external opportunities to your business, these not same as the business internal strengths, and also no need it should be definite- you may plan to introduce a new product or service in order to keep the customer trends , but some of your competitor have already implemented the similar product, Opportunity should involve the new trending technologies , partnership, training programs, change of the government, and diverse in the market place.
• List the potential threats fro your business: List the external factors that will cause problems to your business, This will include increasing the competition, increase in the unemployment, maximizing the interest rates and also uncertainty of the global market.
• Determine the priorities from The SWOT analysis: Once after completing the above steps, You will have separate list for strength , weakness, opportunity ans threats fro the organization , you will be having the overall idea of how your business is running and what are all problems needed to be addressed. Then you need to work out on the problems which are very important to be addressed.

SWOT analysis for Smith field Foods Inc.

Strength

• It is the World's largest pork producer and also processor, It runs in the United Kingdom,France,Germany,Mexico,Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal,Portland and 26 states of US.
• We see high industry growth rate and with market leader with top 3 positions out of key product categories - especially smoked harms & Bacon and ham cut
• Industry shows strong relationship with the partners and the suppliers
• Has successful risk management strategy, producing results and mitigating losses are less compared to the other average industries
• The market size is adequate.
• We see there is a low barrier to the market entry

weakness

• There is lack of Strategic relationships
• Increase in the cost of feed products , raw materials, fuels and other supplies
• More fluctuation in the foreign currency exchange rates
• Competitive market environment

Opportunity

• New trade agreement between different countries are possible
• More global growth opportunities
• Provides the customer convenient time saving solution by providing the taste and quality in ready to eat formats
• Meets the customer demands, food products has less amount of sodium, natural ingredients and lean protein
• Invented innovative packaging style, whose differentiation leads convenience and quality

Threat

• Uncertainty in price and availability of live hog
• pressure associated with the livestock disease and safety
• Price changes are possible
• cost increase due to the increase in the interest rate or change in the outlook or debt ratings.