After reading the unit lesson, research a company of your choosing to create a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. Please note the importance of picking a company with enough information and sources to support your analysis. Selecting a publicly held company is recommended. Your chosen company will be used throughout the assignments in this course. These assignments allow for a truly comprehensive business analysis, similar to what you would conduct when working for a major company.

Your analysis should identify the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Use Microsoft Word and create four sections for your paper using the SWOT categories as your headings. Additional headers, such as an introduction, company background, and conclusion, are acceptable. Add a title page and references page. You may also use the provided template to complete the assignment. Click here for a copy of the template.

Each SWOT category should have approximately 200-300 words describing the issues and the company’s strategic philosophy that fall within that area. The total length should be at least three pages. The opportunities and threats should each have at least ten items identified.

Remember as you develop a SWOT that strengths and weaknesses are internal and controllable factors that affect only the individual firm (e.g., finances, marketing, management and leadership, research and development, corporate culture, human resources). Opportunities and threats, on the other hand, are external and uncontrollable factors that affect all industry firms (e.g., politics, economics, societal and cultural trends, technology, laws and regulations, and the natural environment, such as climate).

Format your SWOT Analysis using APA Style. Use your own words, and include citations and references as needed to avoid plagiarism. The title and reference page do not count towards the minimum page requirement of three pages.