SWOT analys for management systems - A practical guide

SWOT analysis maps an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) are what you control – competencies, processes, resources. External factors (opportunities and threats) are the environment – market trends, competition, legislation.

While you can conduct a SWOT analysis on anything, in AmpliFlow, SWOT is used solely for analyzing the organization as a whole. For process, supplier, or risk analyses, AmpliFlow has other specialized tools.

SWOT fulfills ISO requirements for context analysis

All management system standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 require in clause 4.1 that organizations determine external and internal issues relevant to its purpose and strategic direction related to the specific subject area (quality, environment, occupational health and safety, etc.).

SWOT analysis fulfills this by mapping the organization's context, identifying threats and opportunities, and providing structure to the management team's strategic work.

When: Strategic planning, certification preparation, management review.

Preparation: Gather the management team and key personnel (5-10 people). Bring supporting materials: customer surveys, complaint data, financial metrics, competitive analyses, previous risk assessments. Base the analysis on data, not guesswork.

Example SWOT analysis implementation for ISO Midi or ISO Maxi customers

AmpliFlow is highly customizable. With custom lists, you can build a structured SWOT process tailored to your organization without any development work.

Below we describe a recommended approach using two interlinked custom lists that our consultants often use with our ISO Midi and Maxi customers, where more consulting support is included than with the ISO Mini solution, where customers handle everything themselves using guides, checklists, and AmpliFlow's built-in tools.

When working with SWOT in AmpliFlow this way, you use two interlinked custom lists.

The recommended approach is to start with the internal (List 1 - Strengths 💪 & Weaknesses 🚩) and then analyze the external in relation to your internal conditions (List 2 - SWOT - analysis 📈).

Step 1: Fill in "Strengths & Weaknesses" (List 1)

Start by mapping your internal factors. This gives you a baseline of what the organization has to work with.

Work process:

1. Create a new entry in the "Strengths & Weaknesses" list
2. Select "Strength" or "Weakness" in the "Type of capability" field
3. Describe the strength or weakness concretely in the "Capability" field
4. Assign a responsible person
5. Add relevant involved personnel
6. Fill in action plan (especially for weaknesses you want to address)
7. Optionally link to suppliers if the strength/weakness is supplier-related
8. Add clarification in the comment field if needed

Questions to ask for strengths:

• What works very well in the organization?
• Which resources or competencies are strong?
• What do customers appreciate most?
• What improvements have strengthened operations in the past year?

Questions to ask for weaknesses:

• What works poorly or creates problems?
• Where do we lack resources or competence?
• What complaints or criticism do we receive from customers?
• Which non-conformities recur in the management system?

Example entries in List 1:

Strengths:

• ISO 9001 and 14001 certified since 2018 with well-established processes
  • Responsible: Quality Manager
• Strong customer loyalty – 78% returning customers over the last 3 years
  • Responsible: Sales Manager

Weaknesses:

• Dependence on two major customers (representing 65% of revenue)
  • Responsible: CEO
  • Action plan: Broaden customer base by contacting 15 new potential customers Q2-Q3
• Low digitalization – manual production processes create inefficiency
  • Responsible: Production Manager
  • Action plan: Investigate automation solutions and digital work management

Tip: Write each strength and weakness concretely and measurably. Avoid vague formulations like "good customer service" – instead write "average response time to customer inquiries under 2 hours".

Step 2: Fill in "SWOT-analysis" – Opportunities and Threats (List 2)

Once you have mapped internal factors, continue by analyzing external factors – opportunities and threats from the environment.

Work process:

1. Create a new entry in the "SWOT-analysis" list
2. Describe the external event or trend in the "Global, national, or local events or trends" field
3. Select "Opportunity", "Threat", or "Both" in the "O or T?" field
4. Set priority: High, Medium, or Low
5. Write justification for why this is important to you
6. Select type of factor (PESTEL): Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, or Legal
7. Add detailed information if needed
8. Specify knowledge source (who in the organization knows this best)
9. Link to List 1: Select which strengths help you with this opportunity/threat
10. Link to List 1: Select which weaknesses hinder or increase the risk

Questions to ask for opportunities:

• Are there new tools, techniques, or methods that can strengthen us?
• Are customer needs changing in favorable ways?
• Are there new collaborations or partnerships to explore?
• Are legislation or market conditions changing to our advantage?

Questions to ask for threats:

• What are competitors doing that challenges our position?
• Is legislation changing in ways that create requirements or limitations?
• Are there risks in dependencies (suppliers, systems, key competencies)?
• How are we affected by technological or societal changes?

Example entries in List 2:

Opportunity (High priority):

• New EU legislation favors sustainable products – our products meet requirements directly
  • Type: Legal/Environmental
  • Strengths that help: ISO 14001 certification, Environmental expertise
  • Weaknesses that hinder: Low digitalization limits online marketing

Threat (High priority):

• Low-price competitors from Asia gaining market share – price pressure increasing
  • Type: Economic
  • Strengths that help: Strong customer loyalty, ISO certification, Quality focus
  • Weaknesses that worsen: Dependence on two major customers makes us vulnerable

Both opportunity and threat (Medium priority):

• Increased demand for fast deliveries within 24 hours
  • Type: Social/Technological
  • Strengths that help: Proximity to customers, Flexible production
  • Weaknesses that hinder: Limited warehouse capacity

Step 3: Analyze the connections

The power of this solution is the links between the two lists. Once you have filled in both, you can analyze:

For each opportunity in List 2:

• Which strengths from List 1 can we use to capitalize on the opportunity?
• Which weaknesses from List 1 prevent us from fully exploiting the opportunity?

For each threat in List 2:

• Which strengths from List 1 can we use to reduce the threat?
• Which weaknesses from List 1 make us especially vulnerable to this threat?

Concrete example:

You have identified the threat "Low-price competition from Asia increasing" in List 2.

• Under "Strengths that reduce the threat" you select from List 1: "ISO certification", "Strong customer loyalty", "Quality focus"
• Under "Weaknesses that increase the threat" you select from List 1: "Dependence on two major customers"

Now you can clearly see the strategy:

• What we can use: Our certifications, quality, and customer relationships are our competitive advantage – focus on the premium segment
• What we must address: Customer dependency makes us vulnerable if these customers are attracted by low prices – broaden customer base urgently

The linkages between the lists make these strategic insights visible and traceable.

Analyze and act on SWOT results

Once you have filled in both lists, the next step is to act on the insights. The interlinked lists in AmpliFlow make it easy to see patterns and prioritize actions.

Review connections systematically

Go through each entry in List 2 (SWOT-analysis) and analyze which strengths and weaknesses from List 1 you have linked to each opportunity or threat.

Strengths + Opportunities: How do we use our strengths to capitalize on opportunities?

• Example from the lists: The opportunity "New EU legislation favors sustainable products" is linked to the strength "ISO 14001 certification" → Strategic action: Launch a marketing campaign highlighting our environmental certification and regulatory compliance

Strengths + Threats: How do we use our strengths to reduce threats?

• Example from the lists: The threat "Low-price competition from Asia" is linked to strengths "Strong customer loyalty" and "ISO certification" → Strategic action: Focus on the premium segment with quality and personal service instead of competing on price

Weaknesses + Opportunities: What must we address to capitalize on opportunities?

• Example from the lists: The opportunity "Digital transformation opens new business models" is linked to the weakness "Low digitalization" → Strategic action: Invest in digital infrastructure and competence development Q2-Q4

Weaknesses + Threats: Which combinations create the greatest risk and require immediate action?

• Example from the lists: The threat "Low-price competition from Asia" is linked to the weakness "Dependence on two major customers" → Strategic action: Urgent need for customer diversification – contact 15 potential new customers by Q2

Sort and filter in the lists:

AmpliFlow lets you filter by priority (High/Medium/Low), type of factor (PESTEL), responsible person, etc. Use this to focus on:

• Opportunities and threats with high priority first
• Combinations where the same weakness is linked to multiple threats (especially vulnerable areas)
• Opportunities where you have many strengths to leverage (low-hanging fruit)

Set concrete actions in the lists

For each prioritized insight, use the fields in the lists to plan and follow up on actions:

In List 1 (Strengths & Weaknesses):

For each weakness you prioritize addressing:

1. Fill in the Action plan field (task list with concrete tasks)
2. Assign responsible person and involved personnel
3. Use the comment field to clarify deadlines and metrics

In List 2 (SWOT-analysis):

For each opportunity or threat with high priority:

1. Ensure you have filled in Justification (why is this important?)
2. Verify that you have linked the right strengths/weaknesses from List 1
3. Use Detailed information to document action plan or decision

Example of concrete action from the lists:

• SWOT insight (List 2): Threat "Low-price competition from Asia" (High priority) linked to weakness "Dependence on two major customers"
• Action in List 1: In the entry "Dependence on two major customers" you fill in Action plan:
  • Contact 15 potential customers in segment X by Q2 (Responsible: Sales Manager)
  • Establish offer for premium segment focusing on quality and ISO certification (Deadline: end of month)
  • Metric: Share of top-2 customers should decrease from 65% to under 50% within 12 months

Link to other management system tools

AmpliFlow lets you link from the SWOT lists to other parts of the management system. This is how insights turn into action:

To Operational risks:

• Threats with high priority (especially combinations of weaknesses + threats) are exported or referenced in, for example, the Management Process or Business Development Process in Operational risks to ensure strategic risks are taken into account
• There you conduct formal risk assessment with likelihood, consequence, and action planning according to ISO 9001 clause 6.1
• Example: The threat "Low-price competition + Customer dependency" becomes an operational risk with a clear action plan

To Improvement suggestions:

• Unutilized opportunities or identified weaknesses become improvement suggestions
• Example: The weakness "Low digitalization" generates the improvement suggestion "Digitalize production process"

To Goals and KPIs:

• Opportunities with high priority point to areas where you can set strategic goals
• Example: The opportunity "Increased demand for sustainable products" + strength "ISO 14001 certification" → Goal: "Increase sales of environmentally labeled products by 30% during 2026"

To Management review:

• Link the SWOT analysis from your Management Review checklist as input to management review (ISO 9001 clause 9.3), which you can download from our cloud library.
• Filter by high priority to give management an overview of the most important strategic issues
• The linkage between the lists and management review makes it easy to explain and track the implementation and follow-up of strategic decisions.

To context analysis:

• The SWOT lists are direct evidence that you fulfill requirement 4.1 in ISO 9001, 14001, 27001, and 45001 regarding the organization's context in relation to external and internal requirements and needs.
• Reference the lists in your documentation, for example, by linking from the Management Process in AmpliFlow.

Follow up and update continuously

Since the SWOT analysis exists in AmpliFlow, you can work with it as a living document:

Update when the environment changes:

• Add new opportunities or threats to List 2 when you discover changes
• Change priority when the situation changes (e.g., from Medium to High)
• Archive or remove entries that are no longer relevant

Update when the organization changes:

• Add new strengths as you develop (e.g., new certification, new competence)
• Remove or update weaknesses you have addressed
• Update linkages between the lists when your conditions change

Follow action plans:

• Use the task list function in the Action plan field to check off completed activities
• Assign new tasks when needs arise
• Track progress directly in the lists

History and version control:

• AmpliFlow saves change history – you can see how your SWOT picture has evolved over time
• Useful during management review: "What has changed since last year?"

Document and follow up

If you use the two custom lists in AmpliFlow (described above), you get automatic documentation, version history, and follow-up directly in the system. The lists constitute the documentation of your SWOT analysis and can be referenced in:

• Context analysis (clause 4.1)
• Risk analysis (clause 6.1)
• Goal setting (clause 6.2)
• Management review (clause 9.3)

If you work with SWOT outside AmpliFlow (e.g., as a workshop and document as an appendix to management review):

Document the result: Compile strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a document. Include the analysis of connections and decided actions. This constitutes the basis for management system documentation according to, for example, ISO 9001 clause 7.5.

Follow up regularly: SWOT analysis for the organization should be conducted at least once a year, preferably in connection with management review or strategic planning.

Track actions: Use your existing tools for follow-up. Actions from the SWOT analysis should not only be documented – they should be implemented and followed up according to, for example, ISO 9001 clause 10.2 on improvement.

Common mistakes

Formulations too vague: Write "Average response time under 2 hours" instead of "Good customer service".

Mixing internal and external: "New competitors" is a threat (external), not a weakness. "Lack of competence" is a weakness (internal), not a threat.

Nothing happens after the workshop: SWOT is worthless if it just becomes a document. Connect it to concrete actions in the management system via, for example, your processes, the "Management review" and "Management team tasks" checklists in AmpliFlow.

Analyzing wrong level: SWOT in AmpliFlow is for the organization as a whole. For processes or suppliers, there are other tools in AmpliFlow.

Want to know more?

Contact us for a consultation.