SWOT Analysis

TL;DR

Delivers a rigorous SWOT analysis with evidence-tagged findings across Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Goes beyond the basic quadrant by adding a cross-impact matrix, strategic implication synthesis, and prioritized action plan. Final output is a branded HTML SWOT matrix document with actionable recommendations.

When to Activate

• User mentions "SWOT analysis", "SWOT for", "analisis FODA", or "DAFO"
• Input contains a business, product, or project that needs strategic assessment
• Request involves evaluating internal capabilities against external factors
• User asks for competitive positioning analysis with structured framework

Do NOT activate for pure competitive intelligence (competitive-positioning), risk-only assessment (risk-assessment), or market sizing (market-intelligence). Those are separate skills.

1. Input Gathering and Scope Definition

Before building the SWOT, establish the analysis frame:

Parameter	Value	Evidence Tag
Subject	Company/product/project	[EXPLICIT]
Analysis purpose	Market entry, annual review, pivot, etc.	[EXPLICIT] or [INFERRED]
Time horizon	6 months, 1 year, 3 years	[EXPLICIT] or [INFERRED]
Competitive frame	Direct competitors considered	[EXPLICIT] or [OPEN]
Data sources	What information the user provided	[EXPLICIT]

If the user provides minimal context, ask a maximum of 3 clarifying questions before proceeding with reasonable assumptions tagged as [INFERRED].

2. SWOT Quadrant Analysis

Strengths (Internal, Positive)

Identify 5-8 strengths with evidence and impact rating:

#	Strength	Evidence	Impact (H/M/L)	Tag
S1	Unique technology	Patent portfolio, technical moat	H	[EXPLICIT]
S2	Strong brand recognition	Market share data, NPS scores	H	[INFERRED]
S3	...	...	...	...

Weaknesses (Internal, Negative)

Identify 5-8 weaknesses:

#	Weakness	Evidence	Impact (H/M/L)	Tag
W1	Limited geographic reach	Revenue concentration data	M	[EXPLICIT]
W2	Technical debt	Deployment frequency, incident rate	H	[INFERRED]
W3	...	...	...	...

Opportunities (External, Positive)

Identify 5-8 opportunities:

#	Opportunity	Evidence	Impact (H/M/L)	Tag
O1	Emerging market segment	Industry growth reports	H	[INFERRED]
O2	Regulatory tailwind	Policy changes announced	M	[EXPLICIT]
O3	...	...	...	...

Threats (External, Negative)

Identify 5-8 threats:

#	Threat	Evidence	Impact (H/M/L)	Tag
T1	New market entrant	Competitor funding announcement	H	[EXPLICIT]
T2	Economic downturn risk	Macro indicators	M	[INFERRED]
T3	...	...	...	...

3. Cross-Impact Matrix

Map interactions between quadrants to surface strategic themes:

Combination	Question	Strategic Theme
S + O	Which strengths can best exploit which opportunities?	Growth levers
S + T	Which strengths can defend against which threats?	Defensive advantages
W + O	Which weaknesses prevent capturing opportunities?	Investment priorities
W + T	Which weaknesses amplify which threats?	Critical vulnerabilities

For each combination, identify the top 2-3 pairings and articulate the strategic implication in one sentence. Example:

• S1 + O2: Strong patent portfolio (S1) positions the company to lead in the newly regulated segment (O2) where compliance barriers favor incumbents.
• W2 + T1: Technical debt (W2) slows feature velocity, making the company vulnerable to the well-funded new entrant (T1) shipping faster.

4. Strategic Implications and Action Plan

Synthesize the cross-impact analysis into prioritized actions:

Priority	Action	Addresses	Owner (suggested)	Timeline	Effort
P1	Accelerate patent licensing	S1+O2, S1+T1	Product/Legal	Q1-Q2	High
P2	Technical debt reduction sprint	W2+T1, W2+O1	Engineering	Q1	High
P3	Geographic expansion pilot	W1+O1	Sales/Ops	Q2-Q3	Medium
P4	...	...	...	...	...

Rules for prioritization:

• Actions addressing Critical Vulnerabilities (W+T) get highest urgency
• Actions leveraging Growth Levers (S+O) get highest impact rating
• Each action must trace back to specific SWOT item codes (S1, W2, etc.)
• Maximum 8 priority actions to maintain focus

Trade-off Matrix

Decision	Option A	Option B	Recommendation
Analysis depth	Broad survey (20+ items)	Focused (5-8 per quadrant)	Focused — depth beats volume
Evidence standard	Only hard data	Include informed inference	Include inference with tags
Cross-impact scope	All combinations	Top 3 per combination	Top 3 — actionable focus
Action plan granularity	Detailed project plans	Strategic directions	Strategic — leave execution to owners
Output format	Markdown tables	Branded HTML	HTML for stakeholder sharing

Assumptions and Limits

• Analysis quality is directly proportional to the context the user provides [EXPLICIT]
• External factors (O and T) are based on general industry knowledge unless user provides specific market data [INFERRED]
• Competitive intelligence is inferred from public information, not proprietary databases [INFERRED]
• Cross-impact matrix uses qualitative judgment, not quantitative modeling [EXPLICIT]
• Does not replace a full market research engagement or financial due diligence [EXPLICIT]
• Time horizon defaults to 12 months if not specified by the user [INFERRED]

Edge Cases

1. Startup with no history — Strengths shift to founding team capabilities, technology uniqueness, and early traction metrics. Weaknesses focus on resource constraints and market validation gaps. Tag most items as [INFERRED] or [OPEN].
2. Personal SWOT (career assessment) — Adapt quadrants: Strengths = skills and reputation, Weaknesses = skill gaps and constraints, Opportunities = market trends and network, Threats = industry disruption and competition. Adjust language from corporate to personal.
3. Multi-product company — Clarify whether the SWOT is at the corporate level or product level. If corporate, aggregate. If product, isolate. Flag shared vs. product-specific factors.
4. Highly regulated industry — Add a regulatory sub-layer to both Opportunities and Threats. Flag compliance-driven strengths and regulatory-risk weaknesses separately.
5. SWOT update (not greenfield) — Ask for the previous SWOT. Highlight what changed, what persists, and what is new. Frame the narrative as evolution, not repetition.

Good vs Bad Example

Good

Subject: Acme SaaS Platform — Annual Strategic Review
Time Horizon: 12 months

S3: Engineering talent density — 40% of team holds advanced degrees,
    attrition rate 8% vs industry 15%. Impact: H. [EXPLICIT]
W2: No mobile app — 35% of user sessions are mobile web with 2.1x
    higher bounce rate. Impact: H. [EXPLICIT]
O1: Enterprise segment growing 28% YoY in target vertical. Impact: H. [INFERRED]
T2: Key competitor raised Series C ($45M) with mobile-first positioning. Impact: H. [EXPLICIT]

Cross-impact: W2+T2 is a Critical Vulnerability — no mobile app + mobile-first
competitor = accelerating market share risk. Priority action: fast-follow
mobile MVP in Q1.

Bad

Strengths: Good team, nice product
Weaknesses: Could be better
Opportunities: Market is growing
Threats: Competition
(No evidence, no impact ratings, no codes, no cross-impact, no action plan)

Validation Gate

Before delivering the SWOT analysis, confirm every item:

• Analysis scope defined: subject, purpose, time horizon, competitive frame
• Each quadrant contains 5-8 items with evidence and impact ratings
• Every item tagged with [EXPLICIT], [INFERRED], or [OPEN]
• Cross-impact matrix completed for all 4 combinations (S+O, S+T, W+O, W+T)
• Top 2-3 strategic pairings identified per combination with one-sentence implications
• Prioritized action plan with 4-8 actions traced to SWOT item codes
• Actions include suggested owner, timeline, and effort level
• Critical Vulnerabilities (W+T) flagged with highest urgency
• Output formatted as branded HTML SWOT matrix + action plan document
• Trade-offs and assumptions explicitly documented

Reference Files

File	Purpose
references/swot-methodology.md	SWOT framework theory, common pitfalls, and cross-impact analysis guide
references/evidence-tagging.md	Evidence classification rules and confidence calibration standards
references/html-swot-template.md	Branded HTML template for the SWOT matrix output