SWOT ANALYSIS

A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis can help you identify and
understand key issues affecting your business, but it does not necessarily offer solutions. You
should be aware of the limitations as well as the benefits of a SWOT analysis before you decide
to conduct one. Knowing what you can reasonably expect to achieve will make the SWOT
analysis more useful for your business, and will save you time. Ultimately, you must be prepared
to spend the time to review your SWOT analysis and use it to determine the best way forward in
your business
Another advantage of a SWOT analysis is that it concentrates on the most important factors
affecting your business. Using a SWOT, you can:

understand your business better

address weaknesses

deter threats
capitalise on opportunities

take advantage of your strengths

develop business goals and strategies for achieving them.

Using Resources Efficiently

Every company--even the largest ones that dominate their markets--has a finite supply of
manpower, production capacity and capital. Evaluating the companys strengths helps it
determine how to allocate these resources in a manner that will result in the highest
possible potential for revenue growth and profitability. The management team examines
where the company can compete most effectively. The company often discovers it has
competitive strengths that have not been fully utilized in the past.
Improving Operations
When the management team looks at the companys weaknesses, it is not to assign blame
for past shortfalls in performance. It is to identify the most critical areas that need to be
improved in order for the business to more effectively compete. A realistic assessment of
weaknesses also prevents strategic blunders like entering a market with products that are
clearly inferior to what well-entrenched competitors are offering. Continuous
improvement in all areas of a companys operations is an important aspect of staying
ahead of competitors. Current weaknesses can--and must--be turned into future strengths.
Discovering Opportunities
Growth in business requires seeking out new opportunities, including new potential
customer groups, broader product distribution, developing new categories of products and
services and geographic expansion. In SWOT analysis the management team identifies
emerging opportunities to take advantage of right now and tries to forecast longer term

opportunities so advance planning can be made to be ready to enter the market when the
time is right.
Dealing with Risks
A threat in SWOT analysis is another term for risk--an occurrence outside the companys
control that could have a negative impact on performance. Companies face many threats
beyond those caused by direct competitors. Changes in the regulatory environment can
have an adverse impact on performance. Consumer tastes can abruptly change such as
when a recession causes consumers to cut back on purchasing luxury goods and services.
Risks are less threatening to an organization when it takes the time to develop
contingency plans to quickly implement should the threats become a reality. SWOT
analysis helps a company be better prepared for whatever it will encounter in the external
environment.
Competitive Positioning
Many companies do a form of SWOT analysis on their key competitors. Combined with
the information from the companys SWOT analysis of itself, the management team
begins to get a picture of how the company should position itself against competitors. The
company wants to attack competitors weaknesses with its own strengths. It is much like
game planning in football--trying to locate where the opposing team is vulnerable.
Conversely, it does not want to meet a competitors strengths head on if the competitor
has an overwhelming advantage. SWOT analysis shows a company that even its most
powerful competitors have weaknesses that can be exploited.

SWOT
A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis can help
you identify and understand key issues affecting your business.
Have a better understanding the business better by addressing the
weaknesses, deter threats, capitalise on opportunities, take advantage of your
strengths, develop business goals and strategies for achieving them.

MARKETING MIX
The marketing mix
The marketing mix is often referred to as the '4 Ps', i.e. product, price, place and promotion. To
meet customers' needs a business must develop products to satisfy them, charge the right price,
get the goods to the right place, and it must make the existence of the product known through
promotion.

Products or services
Must meet customer requirements whatever these might be. For example, an important aspect is
function - products should do what they say they can do and what they are expected to do. For
example, Audi cars are popular because of their high performance.
Appearance is also important. This is why for example, consumers are prepared to pay premium
prices for some of Gillette's razors.
Place
Roughly one fifth of the cost of a product is spent getting it to consumers. Of course, the actual
figure varies widely from product to product but generally distribution is a very important
element in the marketing mix. Different organisations use different approaches to reaching their
customers. For example, McDonald's uses a franchising system enabling it to operate in a wide
variety of geographical locations, and Amway distributes through Independent Business Owners
worldwide.
Promotion
Is the process of communicating with customers. For marketing purposes, communication of
products and services contributes to the persuasion process to encourage consumers to avail
themselves of whatever is on offer. The key processes involved in promotion, include:

branding - creating a distinctive image and character to an organisation/and or its

products and services

advertising - to inform and persuade the public

packaging - presenting the product in a desirable and appropriate way

public relations activities and other forms of publicity

sponsorship

special promotions - e.g. buy one get one free.

Price
Needs to be relevant to the product/service and the market. For example, BIC the manufacturer
of razors, pens and lighters seeks to provide the world's markets with products at affordable
prices. A firm's pricing decision is often aimed at attracting a particular market segment. For
example, if it wants to sell at the top end of the market it will charge a high price, at the bottom a
low price, and so on.

The 4 Ps -Product,Price,Place andPromotion make up the marketing mix. Each of these

elements should be designed to meet customer needs and requirements.

"Marketing mix" is a concept used by business owners, marketing executives and operations
managers to describe the essential elements of a marketing strategy. Traditionally, four Ps are
associated with the marketing mix -- product, price, promotion and place. The marketing mix's
importance lies in its ability to help a business determine the suitability of a product or service
for a particular target consumer base. Studying the marketing mix for your specific product or
service starts by grasping the nuances of the four Ps.
Product
Product is the most basic building block. When you think of your business' product, the goal is to
visualize what consumers need or want. This can be tangible, something you physically sell, or it
can be intangible, such as a service. No matter if the product is physical or intangible, it will
have a lifecycle. Like the lifecycle of an organism, the lifecycle of a product proceeds from its
creation through to its growth and eventual decline as sales begin to fall or as consumers adopt
new products. Businesses that are able to predict the lifecycle of a product can gain a competitive
advantage by having new products or services ready for customers.
Price
The price that a consumer is willing to pay for a product is of utmost importance to your
business's marketing mix. Businesses need to make a profit, but that won't happen if the price of
your product is more than customers are willing to pay. The rule of thumb is to set the price so
that is complements the other components of your marketing strategy. If your product is
perceived as luxury, for instance, you can charge more. However, if your product is geared
toward a spend-thrifty consumer, it should be reflected in the price. Also important to keep in

mind is the customers' view of the quality and value of your products. Market research is
therefore invaluable in helping to determine price.
Promotion
Promotion is the tenet of the marketing mix that most often springs to mind when people hear the
word "marketing." Promotion includes all the methods that a business uses to attract customers
and alert people to the existence of a product. It incorporates elements of advertising, public
relations, sales and customer service. Word-of-mouth and digital advertising are also essential
components of promotion. Often, repeat clients come through the recommendation of friends and
family and this is made easier with the ability to share information on social media networks. As
with price, promotion tactics should match the product's perceived quality and value. If you're
selling a luxury car, for example, the advertisements should reflect the luxury element of the
product.
Place
The fourth element of the marketing mix, place, is also sometimes called "distribution." This
simply says that products must be easily accessible to consumers. If you run a physical store or
service center, it should be easy for customers to find and in a location that will attract business.
Online retailers must have recognizable web domains and easily navigable websites.
Convenience for the consumers is the key.

The marketing mix is an integral tool in building an effective marketing strategy and
implementing it with tactics. Also known as the 4 P's of marketing, the mix includes an
assessment of the roles your product, place or distribution, price and promotion play in your
overall approach to marketing.
Offering
Part of marketing is conveying to customers what you have to offer and why it is different and
better than alternatives. The product element is most obvious in the offering, since your product
is what people buy. Where you offer it, whether in-store or online, also is important, making the

distribution element a factor. The price point is part of the overall offering, because it affects
your product's value.
The Target
When you market, you also have to strategize about who to target with your messages. Your
primary customer group becomes the target customers of your marketing campaign. Your
product and price offer some direction in identifying the right audience. For instance, cuttingedge mobile technology ads often are targeted to young consumers. Identifying the media used
by these customers is also important, which brings the "promotion" P into play.
Message Delivery
Tangibly, the promotion P addresses the actual process of creating and distributing messages
about your brand and products. Under the promotion umbrella, you have to decide what
messages and formats to use to persuade your target customers to buy. Humor, sexuality, fear and
anxiety are all used to present emotional appeals in marketing. Selecting the right media within
television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, billboards and other support media is
another critical part of successful promotion.
Value Creation
In a general sense, the marketing mix allows you to understand how to build and sell value to
your customers. Ultimately, customers buy what they perceive is the best value for their money
in a purchase situation. Implementing marketing campaigns that show off great products at fair
prices gives you an opportunity to succeed. Finding affordable marketing options also helps you
get better return on your investment from marketing.

STP Model
STP stands for Segmentation , Targeting and positioning. STP plays an important for role to
get to your right customer. All three (segmentation, targeting and positioning) are tools to align
your products with the right customers.
In this context :
Segmentation : Classifying your customers on some basis like demographically, behaviour ,
geographically etc
Targeting : Marketing to a particular segment of the market/group of customers
Positioning : Basically it means building a brand image in the mind of the customer
Why are they important?
a) Segmentation splits buyers into groups with similar needs and wants to best utilize a firm's
finite resources through buyer based marketing.
b) Attract the right customer.
c) Reduce risk in deciding where, when, how, and to whom a product will be marketed.
d) Increase marketing efficiency by directing effort specifically toward the designated
segment in a manner consistent with that segment's characteristics.
e) Helps in customer retention.
f) Customer delight
g) Reduce the cost of the company by not marketing the product where its not required.

The STP process demonstrates the links between an overall market and how a company chooses
to compete in that market. It is sometimes referred to as a process, with segmentation being
conducted first, then the selection of one or more target markets and then finally the
implementation of positioning. The goal of the STP process is to guide the organization to the
development and implementation of an appropriate marketing mix, as highlighted in the
following diagram.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS ASK IN THESIS DEFENSE

Question 1: In few sentences, can you tell us what your study is all about?
The question is simple right? Many professors will tell you that most students get choked on a
question like this. Anyways the question is simple, but a bit technical. To answer this question,
you need to know every detail of your research project from chapters one to the end. The
question needs an answer in form of a summary of the entire study, therefore, to ace this
particular question you need to know every detail in your abstract. If you wrote a good abstract,
this question will be a cross over for you.
Question 2: What is your motivation for this study?
Now you must be careful here. This question can be very tricky and it goes a long way in
convincing your panel members that your study is worth their time. Another way this question
could be twisted is WHAT IS THE RESEARCH PROBLEM?

To answer this question, you may decide to elaborate on the problem investigated in the study.
Your zeal to solve this problem becomes your motivation. Do not state financial reasons or the
need to graduate as a motivation as you may easily go off point.
Question 3: How will this study contribute to the body of knowledge?
At some point the need for justification will arise and that is when you will be asked to mention
how your study will add to the body of knowledge if approved.
Here you will need to use your methods, case study or any unique model or conceptual
framework used in the study to defend it. For more information on how to tackle this particular
question Click Here
Question 4: What is the significance of the study?
Just like stating how your study will contribute to the body of knowledge, you will need to state
the importance of your study. To answer this question, you will need to highlight how your study
will aid the government in policy development and implementation, how it will help other
students who may wish to conduct research studies on the subject matter and how organizations
and the society will benefit from your study.
Question 5: Did you bridge any gap from your study?
Every research study must have a problem. Your ability to solve this problem and explore into
areas not yet researched on gives you the full marks allocated for answering this question. You
must be able to convince the committee members that your approach is unique and it has covered
areas where much have not been done by other researchers.
Question 6: What limitations did you encounter?
This is another simple but tricky question. Most times the question is not asked to sympathize

with you, rather to get loopholes to criticize your work. To answer this question, you must be
careful with words as you may implicate yourself. Be careful enough not to sell out yourself. Do
not discourse limitations in your methods or data analysis techniques as this may imply that your
study may be biased or not well researched. Use simple limitations like difficulties encountered
in combining lectures and project instead of limiting your study.
Question 7: What are your findings?
At this point it is expected of you to present your results or findings from the study in a clear and
concise manner. Always link your findings to your research objectives/questions. This will make
your panel members to easily be carried along.
Question 8: What Methods or Sampling Technique did you employ?
To answer this question, you must be familiar with your research methodology. Your chapter
three (in Most Projects) must be at your fingertips. Your ability to justify your sample size and
technique will be highly rewarded here. For more tips Click Here
Question 9: Why choose this method?
As discoursed above, you should not only state a particular method for the study. You must also
be ready and able to justify why you chose the method in a convincing manner. At this point you
are free to quote sources or similar studies where such methods were adopted.
Question 10: Based on your findings what are your recommendations?
Recommendations are very vital in every research study and should not be joked with. In essence
you should know your recommendations off hand.
Question 11: Based on your findings what areas will you suggest for future research?
Questions like this are just there to test your reasoning and authority in your research area. Based
on your findings in a manageable scope, you should be able to suggest future research areas in
line with your study. For example, if I researched on the challenges of personal income tax
collection in Nigeria, a good area for further study will be in other forms of taxation such as VAT,
Company tax etc.
Question 12: How can your research study be put into practice?
Easy for the computer scientist and engineering students, but a bit tough for management and
social sciences since most management/social science projects are more of abstract in nature.
However, you should try your best to be realistic here. Relate your study to current trends in your
environment, office, economy, government, schools, church etc. Use of relevant examples and
illustrations will score you good point here.
Question 13: How would you summarize your study to a practitioner in a few sentence?
Your ability to convey technical information from the study will score you good points here.

Question 14: What would you change if you were to conduct the study again?
Hmmm. Be careful! Do not be too jovial. There is a loophole here! Just like your limitations, this
question can be asked to identify your week points.
Question 15: What is your measurement Instrument?
In simple terms, what data collection method did you employ for the study? Here you state if
questionnaires were distributed or data was gotten from secondary sources. For more information
on measurement instruments Click Here
Question 16: What are your research variables?
Here you will need to convince your panel members that you know what you are talking about.
You need to explain your independent and dependent variable(s) to convince them that you are
on point. Your variables are present in your project topic. You need to identify these variables
and know their definitions as well to ace your defense.
Question 17: What are your research questions?
Very simple question. It should take about 0.015 seconds to answer this question if you are fully
prepared.
Question 18: What do you plan to do with your research project after Graduation?
Here you are at liberty to say your mind. If you intend to publish it, this is the best opportunity to
discourse and interact with the committee members-maybe a professor there can help.
Question 19: What source of data was employed for the study?
At this point you have to state the source(s) you got data from. In general you have to state
whether data was gotten from primary or secondary source or both. You can further convince the
committee members by discoursing on literature reviewed for the study-both theoretical and
empirical.
Question 20: What theories or theoretical framework is your study based on?
This is a very technical question but interesting. Before you step into the defense room, you
should know at least two relevant theories that relate to your study. For example, the impact of
motivation on employee productivity will be based on Maslows Theory and other theories of
motivation. If you cannot find relevant theories to back up your study, consult your supervisor
for help.
Question 21: How would you relate your findings to existing theories on the study?
To ace this question, one will have to read extensively. You should know existing theories on the
subject matter as well as empirical studies too. Your ability to link your findings to previous
research studies (Whether they agree or not) will go a long way in validating your study. You
will score good points here trust me.

Question 22: What recommendations do you have for future research?

Your problem solving skill is put to test here. You should be able to identify areas that will need
more research.
Question 23: What is the scope of the study?
This one is a cheap or should I say bonus question? Here you quickly state the delimitation of the
study in brief.
Question 24: What question(s) do you have for the committee?
Not a likely question in our Nigerian context, but I have defended a seminar project where this
question was asked and I was shocked to my marrows. This is an opportunity to interact with
your committee members and ask some constructive questions. Do not ask silly or too difficult
questions as the goal should be to make the committee members feel as the boss. It will also go
a long way in showing that you are a brilliant individual.
Question 25: Do you have any closing comments?
This is praising time! Use this opportunity to thank your committee members for their time and
questions. Tell them how much you have learnt from them and how you intend to correct errors
(if any) identified in your work. This can go a long way in impressing your internal and external
supervisors. All the best!
BONUS TIPS
o When confronted with a difficult question, adopt a strategy to make them rephrase
or repeat the question. This will give you more time to think.
o If your research project is Empirical in nature,or you used any statistical tool to
test hypothesis, try to know how you arrived at such conclusion. Also know how
your data was analysed and the various tools used for the analysis.
o Before your defense day. Practice with your supervisor or your friends. Make
them to drill you with likely questions.
o Talk calmly with confidence. Do not talk too fast as this may pave way for tension
and stage freight.
o Read your project thoroughly. Know basic definitions and terms used in the study.
o Expand the likely questions to 50. Feel free to add yours in the comment box
below. Thanks and God bless you.