WorksheetOrganizational assessment

HLT 665 Topic 7 SWOT Analysis

A SWOT has two axes, not one. Most completed templates only use one of them, which is why so many end up with the same item in two boxes.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 25, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Assignment instructions
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Final review

Two axes: internal or external, helpful or harmful

A SWOT grid has two axes and the assignment falls apart when only one is used. Helpful against harmful is the axis everyone applies; internal against external is the one that gets dropped, and dropping it is why the same item so often appears as both a weakness and a threat. Strengths and weaknesses are attributes of your organisation, things it controls and could change; opportunities and threats exist in the environment, things it does not control and must respond to. Understaffing is a weakness because the organisation could hire; a regional workforce shortage is a threat because it cannot. That distinction is not pedantry, because it decides what you can do about the item, and a SWOT whose quadrants are confused produces recommendations aimed at the wrong lever. A grid whose quadrants are confused produces recommendations aimed at levers the organisation does not hold.

Make the entries specific enough to act on. Well-trained staff is not a strength; three bilingual community health workers with existing relationships in a named neighbourhood is a strength, because it can be deployed. Funding is not a threat; a grant cycle ending in eighteen months that supplies a third of the programme budget is a threat, because it has a date. Since this is your practicum site, you can be concrete in a way a generic analysis cannot, and that concreteness is the whole value of doing the exercise on a real organisation. Finish by looking across quadrants rather than down them, since the useful output of a SWOT is the pairings: a strength that could capture an opportunity, and a weakness that a specific threat would make dangerous. That is the analysis; the grid is only the working. Four filled boxes and no pairings is a template returned rather than an analysis produced.

Likely learning objectives

Apply both SWOT axes rather than only helpful against harmful.
Distinguish what the organisation controls from what it does not.
Write entries specific enough to be acted on.
Read the grid across quadrants to produce the analysis.

Assignment instructions

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Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Details: A SWOT analysis can help to identify internal and external factors that can help or hinder organization or program success. A SWOT analysis organizes the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of an organization or program. The identification of weaknesses and threats indicates factors that have a negative impact to the organization or program and need to be addressed. Strengths and opportunities are factors that have a positive impact on the organization or program and should be maintained. For this assignment, you will complete a SWOT analysis for your practicum site/organization or program using the “SWOT Analysis” template provided APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected. This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. You are not required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. HLT665.SWOTAnalysis_9-4-2014.docx

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. HLT 665 Topic 7 SWOT Analysis One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

What the SWOT assignment requires

01A completed SWOT analysis for your practicum site, organisation or programme, using the provided template.
02Strengths and opportunities identified as factors to be maintained.
03Weaknesses and threats identified as factors needing to be addressed.
04Solid academic writing, with APA format not required.