what is a swot analysis? evaluation of an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to identify significant influences that work for or against business strategies. analysis of the competitive forces within the environment in which a company operates to assess the potential for profitability in an industry. generic business strategies that are neither organization nor industry specific and can be applied to any business, product, or service. view of a firm as a series of business processes, each of which adds value to the product or service.