Week 10/29: Ch. 10 Question 3

The concept I found most interesting is the section on the SWOT model. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and is used in evaluating companies. It can be used to decide on a marketing strategy or even for making decisions. In analyzing a company, we first evaluate the strengths it has which are defined as their “assets and core competencies.” An example given is Walmart which is a large corporation that provides low prices for their customers. The weaknesses of a company are also evaluated in the SWOT model. This can include inadequacies like “lack of expertise, insufficient information, limited financial resources, or poor location.” It is important for a company to also acknowledge its weaknesses and not just advertise based on its strengths. That way, they can find problems and therefore find solutions for them. Opportunities can include “new technology, increases in consumer spending, and untapped markets.” For instance, a company that used to focus on adults can take advantage of also attracting teens in some way. Threats include inevitable problems like natural disasters, slow economy, government rules, etc. The housing market is a great example of this because of the economy; people were foreclosing their homes therefore the values of houses also dropped. Overall, this section was really helpful, not just in studying marketing but also in making decisions.