Importance The research focuses on a SWOT analysis as one of the most popular methods for comprehensive and strategic review of business. The SWOT analysis evaluates and substantiates potential strategies a business may choose. The article formulates a hypothesis on that the current business practices require managers using SWOT analysis tools to more thoroughly consider the dynamics of an external and internal business environment, as well as to what extent users are uncertain about the value of those factors. Methods When traditional tools of the SWOT analysis are used to identify the most favorable combination of strengths and weaknesses, they will not allow taking the dynamics of this combination into account explicitly. As the article suggests, an entity should employ methodological framework for managing organizational changes in order to carry out a SWOT analysis for purposes of strategic development in modern circumstances. From an information dynamics perspective, an organizational change management subsystem converts into a stochastic monitoring system, i.e. the internal contour of the organizational development management system. As for the methods of a modified SWOT analysis, it represents a calculation of the average rate of changes in the specific combination of strengths and weaknesses as 'weighted' with the level of information representation uncertainty. Results What makes the proposed approach to evaluating a combination of strengths and weaknesses is the use of a dynamic variable, i.e. the rate of increase or decrease in this combination within the current period of analysis. As its second specific feature, the approach considers an extent of uncertainty in the entity's understanding (root mean square scatter of experts' opinions) of the current value of a dynamic variable under study. When the weighted dynamic variables are applied, considering diverging views of experts, it helps top executives concentrate their attention on the most reliable characteristics of changes in an external and internal business environment. Conclusions and Relevance I conclude that the application of the proposed approach may demonstrate the highest level of efficiency, if combined with traditional tools of the SWOT analysis and other methods of a modern strategic analysis.
Keywords: SWOT analysis, entity, opportunity, information uncertainty, matrix
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