SWOT Analysis SWOT is an abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

SWOT analysis is used for identifying those areas where an organization is strong, where it is weak, the major opportunities the company can explore and the threats. SWOT analysis is a useful tool for assessing the strategic position of a business and its environment. SWOT Analysis helps a company to know where it stands by exploring key issues: Strengths:

What do we do well? How are we better than our competitors?

Weaknesses:

What could be done better? What is being done badly?

Opportunities:

What are the opportunities that can be exploited? What are the interesting trends?

Threats:

What obstacles are being faced? What is the competition doing? Are the specifications for the products or services changing? Is changing technology threatening our business?

SWOT Analysis Example

Sample SWOT Analysis for CONMED Corporation: (for illustration purposes only) Global Certain Presence, products like International surgical Sales suction tubing approximated and ECG 29%, 33%, electrodes are 35% in 2002, commodity 2003 and 2004 products with respectively little Strong differentiation Manufacturing possible base Higher Clinicians incremental and costs in 2005 administrators until desiring non- manufacturing invasive of the acquired procedures products is New integrated product introductions Acquisition of key technology like ECOM Scope for Continued

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

new product or cost technology containment introductions pressures in Current highly research focus competitive on reflectance market technology Change in products which regulatory permits nonenvironment invasive Patent analysis of Litigation risks blood oxygen levels in clinical situations CONMED Corporation (CONMED) (NASDAQ: CNMD) develops and produces medical and surgical procedure instruments.