Fredonia Community Health Centre

Name

Institution

Fredonia Community Health Centre (SWOT Analysis)

This is the process used in evaluating internal weakness and strength of an organisation while at the same time focusing on external threats and opportunities that may have an influence in an organisation like patients, economic issues and political. Assessment of external and internal environments is an essential part in strategic planning process. The SWOT analysis gives helpful information in matching the organisation’s resources, and abilities to compete well in its environment hence it is advisable for this organisation to consider this marketing plan.

Internal factors

This are factors that the organisation has control over them.

Strength

The management should first evaluate the strengths of the organisation in terms of location, products, staff, patient loyalty, processes service delivery, and organisational structure in comparison to their competitors. For instance, they should take advantage of the grant to offer quality services at cheaper prices than their competitor to attract people from the community. If happen to provide same patient loyalty with their rival, then this cannot be considered as strength. Nevertheless, if the organisation has higher qualified staff than its competitor, then this is considered as strength.

Weaknesses

The management need to assess and identify any area of proficiency missing in the organisation. This may include inadequate qualified staff, use of inferior technology and services offered, bureaucratic management, poor location, overdependence on the federal government and high fixed costs among others. It is advised that they acquire outside opinions on what their weakness are as their observations may not always agree with actuality. According to Berry, these areas need to be improved in order to compete well with competitor. The SWOT will be useful for their evaluation when they accurately identify their weakness.

External factors

These are factors beyond the organisation’s control.

Opportunities

The next step required by the management is to assess the opportunities. Competitors’ misfortune, like not providing standard health services, gives the management a room to perform better. This may be as a result of technological changes, like in the case where the federal government has offered a grant to improve; the technological services, equipments and transportation services in the organisation. The grant also offers an opportunity to the organisation to provide subsidized services given that the community is from the middle-class.

Threats

The management need to evaluate the potential threats to the organisation. This includes aspects beyond the organisation influence that can place its existence in jeopardy. These threats include; change in technology, socio-political policies and arrival of a new competitor among others. For instance, the organisation may lack market since the community surrounding it is from the middle class, and they may be unable to meet the prices of the health services offered. Some threats are tangible while other may be mere speculations that lead to nothing, but still they add meaning to the SWOT analysis. It is advised to categorize the threats basing on their; “probability of occurrence” and “seriousness.”

Lastly, this SWOT analysis will enable will enable the organisation to utilize the grant more efficiently to meet the community demands and eliminate unnecessary wastage of funds.

A & C Black Publisher Ltd. (2006) Analyzing Your Business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Retrieved from HYPERLINK “http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bnet/Analyzing_Your_Business.pdf” http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/bnet/Analyzing_Your_Business.pdf

Berry Tim. (2008). Business Plan Help & Small Business Articles. How to Perform SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from http://articles.bplans.com/business/how-to-perform-swot-analysis/116.