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ABSTRACT
The public service in Nigeria has suffered setbacks which are largely attributed to
ineffective and inefficient management. The general poor service delivery of public
service organizations can be attributable to the inability of these organizations to
develop proper evaluation strategies that would assist them refocus on their core
mandates. A relatively new concept in organizational management, SWOT is a tool
that assists organizations assess themselves by evaluating their internal and external
competencies, challenges, opportunities and threats, with a view to enhancing their
performance. Using secondary data and a purely descriptive approach, the paper
examines the concept of public service and organizational development and
prescriptively presents SWOT as one such tool that can enhance the performance of
public service agencies.
Keywords:
SWOT, Organization, Organizational development, Performance, Human resource,
Public service.
Introduction
Organisations exist to meet the needs and wants of a society. They use inputs from the
environment and transform them into outputs such as food, clothing, housing, medical
care, transportation as well as other things that add meaning to human existence
(leisure and recreation). The extent to which these organisations achieve their
objectives depends on several factors.
Many organisations have failed to meet the objectives or purposes of their formation.
This scenario is most noticeable in underdeveloped countries where many managers
lack the requisite managerial skills in management. It is one thing to formulate
individual and organisational objectives; and another thing to achieve the set targets,
sustain task-level and later improve on performance.
In Nigeria, the failure of many public enterprises to meet the objectives or purposes of
their establishment has since become a thing of serious concern to many people.
Although there are many reasons why organisations fail, this paper argues that public
enterprises in Nigeria fail largely because of lack of self-awareness. That is, the
absence of a systematic performance appraisal system that would analyse their
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats so that they can focus their activities
into areas where they are strong and where the greatest opportunities lie. SWOT is
one such systematic appraisal system, and it is an acronym for Strength, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT).
The objective of the paper is to prescribe and argue that public service organizations
can become more effective by using SWOT analysis to determine strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats and thus formulate useful strategies for
ensuring organisational development and success. The paper is divided into four
sections. Section one consists of introduction, objective and methodology. Section
two presents conceptual analysis and examines the public service in Nigeria as well as
SWOT. Section three takes a look at how the SWOT framework can be used as a tool
for organizational development, while section four presents the conclusion and
recommendations.
The paper, mainly a positional paper adopts a prescriptive as well as a descriptive and
an analytical approach and relied on secondary data in presenting and analysing the
concepts, and the issues involved in the subject matter.
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
Public Service in Nigeria
The Nigerian public service is a product of colonialism, established as an instrument
of British colonialist from the late 19th century (Esu, 2008). According to Tukunboh
(1990) the system of state enterprises started in 1898 when the British colonial
administration undertook the railway transport project from Iddo in the then capital
city of Lagos to the hinterland. This was followed by coal mining, electricity and
marine ports. All these enterprises were established primarily as administrative organs
for facilitating trade and commercial activities of the colonial government. In 1949,
the Fitzegerald Commission into the Collery trouble articulated the idea of public
corporation. This concept was borrowed from the British labour party rationalisation
of British coal in 1947, electricity in 1949 (Tukunboh, 1990). Subsequently, in 1950s
the following public corporations were established in Nigeria: Nigeria Coal
Corporation; Electricity Corporation; Nigeria Cement Company, Nkalagu; Nigerian
Railway Corporation, and Nigerian Port Authority. All these corporations were
managed by Boards. Since then more corporations have been established based on
national interest. Some state governments have also established public corporations to
actualise their developmental interests.
The term public service can be conceptualized in two ways. First it refers to the body
of officials that are involved in the administration of the agencies, services,
programmes and policies of the public sector. That is, the public servants that manage
the entirety of public services. In the second sense, the concept refers to the
organizations, agencies, structures, departments and units which are charged with and
involved in public or governmental tasks, activities and functions. These include the
Civil Service, Commissions, Boards, Directorates, Parastatals, etc that are publicly
owned, funded and directed (Ikelegbe, 1995). The public service as established by the
Nigerian Constitution is provided for in Sections 169, 171, 206, 208 and 318 and in
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Skilled workforce.
Weakness
A weakness is a condition or a characteristic which puts the organisation at
disadvantage. The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as weakness. Weakness
makes the organisation vulnerable to competitive pressures. Weaknesses require a
close scrutiny because some of them can prove to be fatal. Some of the weaknesses
inherent in public service organizations include:
Outdated facilities.
Obsolete technology.
Opportunities
An opportunity is considered as a favourable circumstance which can be utilised
for beneficial purposes. It is offered by outside environment and the management can
decide as to how to make the best use of it. Such an opportunity may be the result of a
favourable change in the external environment. It may also be created by a productive
approach by the management in moulding the environment to its own benefit. Some
of the opportunities may include the following:
Strong economy.
It must however be mentioned that an organisation needs not necessarily pursue more
lucrative opportunities. Rather it may have a better chance at developing a
competitive advantage by identifying a fit between its strength and upcoming
opportunities.
Threats
Change in the external environment also may present threats to an organisation.
Management should anticipate such possible threats and prepare its strategies in such
a manner that any such threat is neutralised. Some examples of threats include:
New regulations.
Shortages of resources
Recession in economy.
provides a framework for analysing the market position of an organisation and can be
applied in a range of planning and strategic contexts including strategy development,
market planning, and the evaluation of strategic options for a whole business or an
individual department.
In the Nigerian public service, SWOT analysis can be an effective way of identifying
the strengths and weaknesses of public enterprises, and of examining the opportunities
and threats they face. Carrying out a self-awareness exercise using the SWOT
framework would help a public enterprise to focus its activities into areas where it is
strong and where the greatest opportunity lie. For example, a SWOT analysis could be
useful in deciding what to do with such an organization like the Ajaokuta Iron and
Steel Company that has so much sunk costs.
The use of SWOT analysis becomes necessary for an organisation while developing a
strategic plan or planning a solution to a problem, after it has analysed both the
internal and external environment, such culture, economy, health, sources of funding,
demographics, staffing, etc. A SWOT analysis, usually performed early in the project
development process, helps organisations to evaluate the environmental factors and
internal situation facing the project. Because it concentrates on issues that potentially
have the most impact, the SWOT analysis is useful when a very limited amount of
time is available to address a complex strategic situation.
The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into a situation analysis.
Situation Analysis
Internal Analysis
External Analysis
Strength Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
SWOT Profile
Source: http://mgthelp.org/plan_dec/str_plan.htm
The internal and external situation analysis can produce a large amount of
information, much of which may not be highly relevant. The SWOT analysis can
serve as an interpretative filter to reduce the information to a manageable quantity of
key issues. The SWOT analysis classifies the internal aspects of the organisation as
strengths or weaknesses and the external situational factors as opportunities or threats.
Strength can serve as a foundation for building a competitive advantage, and
weaknesses may hinder it. By understanding these four aspects of its situation, an
organisation can better leverage its strengths, correct its weaknesses, capitalise on
golden opportunities, and deter potentially devastating threats. When the analysis has
been completed, a SWOT profile can be generated and used as the basis of goal
setting, strategy formulation and implementation
A. Internal Analysis
The internal analysis is a comprehensive evaluation of the internal environments
potential strength and weaknesses (SW). The aim of such an evaluation is to enable
organisations position themselves based on their unique, valuable and inimitable
resources and capabilities. The SW framework consists of two sections. The first one
includes the organisations main operations while the second one refers to the
supportive operations. Both the main operations as well as the supportive operations
contribute to the value creation of an organisation and these operations should be
analysed in detail.
Alternatively, if a particular operation is considered as crucial because it contributes
more to an organisations value than other operations, then it should be analysed in
more detail. The detailed analysis should cover such areas as service delivery
(customer service), supportive operations such as infrastructure, human resources and
technology. For instance, in terms of the human resource components, the following
questions are relevant:
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Is absenteeism a problem?
B.
External Analysis
General Environment:
Social/Cultural Environment
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Technological Environment
What is the level and life cycle of our technology? Are there
any possible areas of improvement or change?
(ii)
Competitive Environment
Customers Issues
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Are
potential
recruits
interested
in
working
for
our
organisation?
(iii)
Financial Environment
Inflation rates.
Interest rates
Level of salaries.
For all issues managers can ask the question: Are there any current
developments among these issues which could provide opportunities or threats for our
operations? They can as well assess their ability in that regard.
USING SWOT FOR ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
For public service organizations to adopt SWOT analysis for the benefit of
organizational development, the following steps should be taken.
Steps in Conducting a SWOT Analysis
1.
The first step in any management project is to be clear about what you are doing and
why. The purpose of carrying out a SWOT analysis may be wide or narrow, general or
specific anything from getting staff to think about and understand the business
better, to the re-thinking of a strategy or the overall direction of the organization.
2.
This is important if the final recommendations are to result from consultation and
discussion, not just personal views, however the expertise possessed.
Pick a mix of specialists and ideas people with the ability and enthusiasm to
contribute.
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Think about numbers. Six to ten people may be enough, especially in SWOT
workshop, but up to 25 or 30 can be useful if one of the aims is to help staff
see the need for change.
3.
However, you will need to be aware of and take account of the inter-relationships
between internal and external factors.
4.
If the compilation and recording of SWOT lists take place in meetings, make sure that
you exploit the benefits of workshop sessions. Foster an atmosphere conducive to the
free flow of information, and encourage participants to say what they feel is
appropriate, without fearing or attributing blame. The leader or facilitator has a key
role and should allow time for thought, but not so much as to let the discussion
stagnate. Half an hour is often enough to spend on strengths, for example, before
moving on. It is important to be specific, evaluative and analytical at the stage of
compiling and recording the SWOT lists mere description is not enough.
5.
List Strengths
Strengths may relate to the organisation, the environment, market share, public
reputation and to people including the skills and knowledge of staff, as well as
reasons for past successes.
Other people strengths include:
Customer loyalty
6.
List Weaknesses
This session should not be seen as an opportunity to slate the organisation but as an
honest appraisal of the way things are. Be careful not to take weaknesses at face value
but to identify the underlying causes:
Key questions include:
List Opportunities
Technological developments
New markets
Change of government
Demographic trends
Bear in mind that opportunities may be time-limited and consider how the
organisation may make the most of them.
9. List Threats
Threats are the opposite of opportunities all the factors listed above may, with a shift
of emphasis or perception, also have an adverse impact.
Here the questions to ask include:
Unemployment levels
Environmental legislation
With the lists compiled, sort and group facts and ideas in relation to your objectives.
Consider which of the factors listed are of major importance and which are negligible.
It may be necessary for the SWOT participants to select their five most important
items from the list in order to gain a wider perspective. The key to this process is
clarity of objectives, as evaluation and elimination will be necessary to cull the wheat
from the chaff. Although some aspects may require further investigation or research, a
clear picture should start to emerge at this stage.
11.
Make sure that the results of the analysis are integrated into any subsequent planning
and strategy development. Revisit your findings at suitable intervals to check that they
are still valid.
What Public Service Managers Should Avoid When Conducting SWOT analysis
Giving undue weight for opinions which are not hard evidence.
Seeing SWOT analysis as an end in itself and failing to integrate the results
into subsequent planning.
not futuristic. The use of SWOT analysis framework can help improve enterprises
efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. This will turn around the Nigerian public
service and enable it to achieve the national goals and remain an influential institution
and as an instrument of public service delivery and development.
Nevertheless, while useful for reducing a large quantity of situational factors into a
more manageable profile, the SWOT framework has a tendency to over-simplify the
situation by classifying the organisation environment into categories in which they
may not always fit. The classification of some factors as strengths or weakness or as
opportunities or threats is somewhat arbitrary. Perhaps what is more important than
the superficial classification of these factors is the organisations awareness of them
and the development of a strategic plan to use them to its advantage.
In view of the expected benefits of SWOT analysis, we recommend that public
service organizations should take advantage of this management tool to improve on
their overall performance and service delivery. SWOT analysis will expose these
organizations to their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats so as to assist
them to take evidence based decisions about strategies that will focus on effectively
achieving their core mandates and visions.
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