summary of the audit not a replacement. The strengths and weakness
of the organisation have to be judged in relation to the opportunities
and threats identified in the external environment. The list should
therefore be limited rather than extensive. The aim of the SWOT is to
highlight the critical issues in order to focus attention on them during
the strategy development.■ Summary
The internal analysis aims to identify the organisation’s key resources which
are its assets and competencies. Out of these arise organisational capabil-
ities. There are a number of tools to help with this process. The aim at this
stage is to identify these assets and competencies. Their current usage will
already have been identified; the next stage is to decide how they may be
potentially applied. This requires managers to develop a view of future
changes in the environment that these assets and competencies can effect-
ively address. The next stage before developing a marketing strategy is to
generate a view of the future.
■ References
Burnside, R., Improving corporate climates for creativity, in West, M. A. and
Farr J. L. (eds), Innovation and Creativity at Work, Wiley, New York, 1990.
Davidson, M., Even More Offensive Marketing, Chapter 2, Penguin, London, 1997.
Hooley, G. H., Saunders, J. A. and Piercy, N. F., Marketing Strategy and Competitive
Positioning, 2nd edn, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1998.
Hurst, D. K., Rush, J. C., White, R. E., Top management teams and organisational
renewal, Strategic Management Journal, 10 , 1989, 87–105.
Johnson, G. and Scholes, K., Exploring Corporate Strategy, 5th edn, Prentice Hall,
London, 1999.
Kim, C. W. and Mauborgne, R., Pioneers strike it rich, Financial Times, 11 August, 1998.
Kotler, K., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J. and Wong, V., Principles of Marketing: the
European Edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1996.
McDonald, M., Seminar Notes, Cranfield MBA Programme, 1985.
Montanari, J. R. and Bracker, J. S., The strategic management process at the public
planning unit level, Strategic Management Journal, 7 (3), 1986, 251–265.
Morgan, G., Imaginization, the Art of Creative Management, Sage, Newbury Park,
CA, 1993.
Shell Chemical Company, The Directional Policy matrix: a New Aid to Corporate
Planning, Shell, London, 1975.
■ Further reading
Davidson, M., Even More Offensive Marketing, Chapter 2, Penguin, London, 1997.
McDonald, M., Marketing Plans. How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them, 4th edn,
Chapter 5, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1999.
Wilson, R. M. S. and Gilligan, C., Strategic Marketing Management, Planning, Imple-
mentation and Control, 2nd edn, Chapter 9, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1997.
Internal analysis 107