Learn in the textbookFrameworks for Analyzing the Business Environment
DefinitionSWOT analysis (SWOT分析) is a method that sorts the business environment into four items: the company's own strengths (強み) and weaknesses (弱み), and the opportunities (機会) and threats (脅威) around it.
ExplanationStrengths and weaknesses are factors inside the company, while opportunities and threats arise outside it, and each pair is split by whether it works for or against the company. Laying all four out in one table lets you survey the company's position from both the inside and the outside.
AnalogyIt is like planning a trip: you list your own stamina and budget alongside outside conditions such as the weather and crowds, split each into good and bad, and only then pick where to go.
Memory hookS, W, O, T run "two inside, then two outside". The first pair, S and W, sit inside the company; the second pair, O and T, sit outside.