Use our Ask A Librarian service to reach a Research Librarian by phone (314-246-6950 or 1-800-985-4270) or drop-in (see our library and research desk hours) or email or chat, 24/7.
(MS Clipart)
A study (generally written by an outside organization) that analyzes a company's internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external opportunities and threats it faces in the industry and the economy.
SWOT reports are most often written about public companies. If you are looking for information about a private company, you may find a SWOT report about their parent company, if it is publicly-traded.
Use the pull-down menu to search in specific fields of a record. For example, search for
swot in Document title -- DOC
AND dell in Company/organization - ORG
Here's a search in the for SWOT reports. Carrier Corp. is a private subsidiary of United Technologies (ticker: UTX). The Business Source Complete database does not have a SWOT report for Carrier, but does for UTX.
In the keyword search displayed below, the word SWOT, is typed in the SO Publication Name field AND Carrier OR UTX in the CO Company Entity field.
Note that SWOT reports for a company may be available for several years.
Within library databases, SWOT analysis reports are most often available for large U.S. public companies, though some foreign and private companies might be covered as well.
If you cannot find a SWOT report for your company, look for reports on 2 or 3 larger public companies in your same industry. For example, in the computer software industry try Microsoft or Apple or Intel. Companies in the same industry will often use or adapt their own strengths to capitalize on another company's weaknesses.
Also, check industry reports, like those from the IBISWorld Industry Market Research database to see what internal and external factors are impacting companies in the industry in which your company competes.
