SWOT

This paper presents the case for businesses and organizations engaging in annual business plan reviews and developing long term strategies to make a shift from the negatives to the positives, utilizing Appreciative Inquiry. The most popular business tool used for the past fifty years for problem solving has been to conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and then move to a form of forced implementation. Many authors have taken issue with SWOT because of its simplicity, describing it as merely an exercise in list making, and its ease of use often leads to its misuse (Hill and Westbrook, 1997; Coman & Ronen, 2009; Chermack & Kasshanna, 2007; Panagiotou, 2003). An observation given by many researchers, as support to move away from SWOT is that there is a strong tendency to gravitate more and more to the negative aspects, the Weaknesses and Threats, when conducting a SWOT analysis. Much research has been done on the origins of SWOT, with most researchers tracing its history back to the 1950s but, as Friesner (2009) put it, SWOT has many origins because it was so commonplace in the training rooms of corporate America. This paper encourages further research into the observation that too much time is spent on the negative components when conducting a SWOT analysis, which, once corroborated and documented, will support the contention that strategic planners can do better than SWOT. The research I have conducted has provided strong support for the use of Appreciative Inquiry and for many groups to switch from a SWOT to a SOAR (Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results) analysis. The most common reason for using SWOT has been its ease of use, which is also a strong attribute of SOAR. Appreciative Inquiry enables facilitators to drop the negative aspects and build on the aspirations of participants. Stavros and Cole (2013) best describe SOAR as being the formulation and implementation of a positive strategy by identifying strengths, building creativity in the form of opportunities, encouraging individuals and teams to share aspirations, and determining measurable and meaningful results. A case study based on my own firsthand experience as a consultant, published with the permission of Abegweit First Nation, further supports the movement to SOAR. Keywords: SWOT analysis, SOAR analysis, appreciative inquiry, aspirations, negativity, positivity, result