[GUIDE] Strengths and weaknesses in a company: How to identify them and what to do about it?
All people and even organizations or companies have strengths and weaknesses.. Whether in administrative processes, customer-facing communications, internal situations, or any other example that comes to mind. Any flow of tasks, processes, communication or even the service or product itself that you offer.
For example, let's imagine a company called “ExampleCo” which is dedicated to the manufacture of electronic devices. His weakness is that it has difficulty keeping up with technological advances. The electronic devices industry is highly competitive. Whether it is your processes or communication, there are problems that are beginning to affect your market share.
While, The company has a strong research and development (R&D) team highly trained. The team manages to design and launch high-quality electronic devices that meet customer demands. It is its main strength.
So where is the gap? How can we ground all these perceptions into concrete analysis and actions? You have come to the right place! In the following Ninja Excel article, we will help you with tools and tips so that you can determine what strengths or weaknesses your organization has. This way, you will continue climbing to the next level.
Let's get started!
Definition: What are strengths and weaknesses?
We can define strengths and weaknesses as a series of characteristics, aptitudes, abilities, actions or decisions that can represent, in turn, an opportunity or a threat to the development of a person and/or company.
If we go to the key with the particular definition, according to the Royal Academy of Language Spanish (RAE), the word strength has the first two definitions:
1. F. Strength and vigor.
2. F. In Christian doctrine, a cardinal virtue that consists of overcoming fear and fleeing recklessness.
When reviewing the definition, we can point out that a strength is any characteristic that a company, team or person possesses that makes it stand out or make way for the competition.
Meanwhile, the word weakness has the following two definitions according to the RAE:
1. F. Lack of vigor or physical strength.
2. F. Lack of energy or vigor in the qualities or resolutions of the spirit.
This definition is linked to that characteristic or process that is being detrimental to the achievement of the objectives of a company, team or people.
But how can we land on time in companies? Go for it.
What is an analysis of strengths and weaknesses in a company?
An analysis of strengths and weaknesses in a company is a process where the company reviews its internal processes or how they are impacting externally, establishing the areas where the company is stronger or weaker.
According to OBS, the objective in doing this type of analysis is to think and rethink yourself as an organization. Am I moving towards the right path? Are the current flows and processes working? Are we causing an effect or impact externally? In this way, the focus with these analyzes is to do the following:
- Review the strategy Human Resources of the company
- The reputation of the company
- The viability of the corporate strategies
- The use of new technologies
- The absence of defined objectives
- He tuning level between partners, workers and managers
- The link between market and company
Strengths of a company
The strengths for a company are all those aspects where it has a competitive advantage. For example, it could be your experience in the market, solid financial resources, specialized human talent, cutting-edge technology, among others.
From Bplans, proposes us to ask a series of questions to probe the terrain and outline what strengths or type of strengths a company has. These are:
- What do you do well?
- What internal resources do you have? Think about the following:
- Positive attributes of people, such as knowledge, background, education, credentials, network, reputation or skills.
- Tangible assets of the company, such as capital, credit, existing customers or distribution channels, patents or technology.
- What advantages do you have over your competition?
- Do you have strong research and development capabilities? Manufacturing facilities? (If that's the case).
- What other positive aspects, internal to your business, add value or offer a competitive advantage?
Weaknesses of a company
The weaknesses, on the other hand, are the processes or tasks in which your company is lagging behind or has limitations, such as lack of diversification, inefficient processes, lack of training, among others. They will be all those tasks or processes that are hindering the performance and growth of the company.
Following our previous proposal, here we leave you a series of questions so that you can begin to discover what weaknesses exist in your company. Namely:
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- What factors within your control detract from your ability to gain or maintain a competitive advantage?
- What areas do you need to improve to achieve your goals or compete with the strongest?
- Does your business have limited resources?
- Is your business in a bad location?
- What is your business lacking (e.g. experience, skill development or technology)?
Benefits of doing an analysis of strengths and weaknesses in a company
Do you hesitate to perform this type of exercise? Below, we leave you a series of benefits and powerful reasons that will generate the need to do this type of analysis. The information is taken from Investopedia.
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- Foreseeable problems: It is different to perceive problems than to detect them and give them a more concrete solution. Thanks to this analysis, You will discover how much impact that weakness has had in relation to processes or tasks that you do with your stakeholders (internal or external). Also, you will land your strengths to enhance them.
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- You will wonder about the external: In addition to seeing yourself, it is relevant to consider external factors. The market, competition, the economic and labor situation, sociocultural changes. You must analyze how these factors are going to impact the strengths and weaknesses detected.
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- You will gather information that you may not have known at all.: This occasion is a perfect opportunity to obtain data from areas or processes that perhaps you did not consider before. It will also be an excellent opportunity to collect data about your company in general.
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- It is not expensive to prepare: You should not hire an external consultant! Unless you are a company with large operations and present on all continents, preparing this analysis will be easy for you. You can start in a particular area and then extrapolate the tool in others.
7 examples of strengths in a company
The strengths in a company will depend on its industry, business culture, market where it operates and competition. From that, There are a series of strengths such as:
- Organizational culture solid and innovative
- Product or knowledge with a differentiated value or unique competitive advantage
- Excellent efficiency and productivity in your processes
- Customer service that generates promoting clients
- High adaptability
- Diversification of products or services.
- Strong and decisive leadership.
7 examples of weaknesses in a company
Likewise, we leave you some examples of weaknesses that can be found in a company:
- Lack of product differentiation
- Weak, rigid and fragmented company culture
- Bad customer service
- Unregulated and unplanned growth
- Slower to market than competitors
- Limitations of business leadership and in the effective communication between members and leaders.
- Gaps in relevant soft or hard skills that affect the operation of the company.
3 great ideas to analyze the strengths and weaknesses in a company
You can use some of these useful tools to conduct a solid analysis of your company's strengths and weaknesses. Namely, some options are:
SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats):
SWOT analysis is a widely used tool to evaluate the strategic position of a company. It allows you to identify internal strengths, internal weaknesses, opportunities and external threats. According to QuestionPRO, It is ideal to apply this tool when:
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- You must identify weaknesses and your obstacles, to create strategies to overcome them.
- The strength of an organization is the quality of the product and there are chances that the product is in danger.
- You will be able to identify the factors that can cause damage to an organization's reputation.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking involves comparing your company's performance with that of your competitors or leading companies in your industry. By studying the successful practices and strategies of other companies, you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses in relation to them. This comparison will help you set realistic goals and develop effective improvement strategies.
Surveys and interviews
Getting direct feedback from your employees, customers, and business partners can be extremely valuable in identifying your company's internal strengths and weaknesses.
Structured surveys and interviews allow you to collect qualitative and quantitative data about how your company and its operations are perceived. This information will help you identify areas for improvement and also recognize your strengths.
Processes to take action against strengths and weaknesses
In addition to using the aforementioned tools, it is important to follow some key processes to obtain a more effective strengths and weaknesses analysis:
- Data collection: Gather relevant information about your company, including financial data, performance reports, market analysis and customer feedback. stakeholders clue. This way, the more information you collect, the more complete your analysis will be.
- Exhaustive analysis: Evaluate the data collected to identify the areas in which your company excels (strengths) and those in which it needs improvement (weaknesses). Examine patterns and trends, highlighting key pain points.
- Prioritization and action: Once you have identified your strengths and weaknesses, it is essential to prioritize the areas where you should focus your efforts. Develop clear and realistic strategic plans to capitalize on your strengths and improve your weaknesses. Set achievable goals and allocate the necessary resources.
Conclusions
A well-executed strengths and weaknesses analysis will provide a solid foundation for business growth and success.. By using tools such as SWOT analysis, benchmarking and surveys, along with the key processes of data collection, deep analysis and prioritisation, you will be in a stronger position to make informed decisions and improve your business performance.
Remember: Strengths and weaknesses analysis should be an ongoing process, as market conditions and business dynamics are constantly changing.
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