Ch: 10. Q.3

In this week’s reading, I found the “SWOT Model” under marketing strategies, extremely important. The SWOT model is defined as, “… used to analyze a company’s strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities, and threats.”  According to Think, the word SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The SWOT model is also useful for college students in choosing a major or career choice. The SWOT model to me is basically what we have learned in this class. We learn to “rip apart” someone’s argument by recognizing their fallacies or syllogisms. Instead, the SWOT model is ripping apart ads that we come across or marketing strategies that we are intrigued by. The components of the SWOT model are the following: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A couple of strengths in ads are unique selling points, large customer base, and ability to meet demands, and brand recognition. Weaknesses in the SWOT model are outdates/equipment, insufficient information, weak consumer demand, and poor marketing. Opportunities are new markets, competitor’s vulnerabilities, and global influences. Threats are competitors, restrictive legal regulations, global warming, and natural disasters.  Strengths and weaknesses go hand in hand because they are the opposites of each other. Strengths are what the company does best. Listing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are useful to inform ourselves if the company is a good one or not. I thought this was important because after college, many of us will have to analyze companies that can be potential employers.