SWOT is an abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis is an important tool for analyzing the overall position of work-based learning (WBL) and its environment. It is recommended to carry out a SWOT analysis after taking the decision to implement or improve WBL and before planning takes place. The results of a SWOT analysis will help focus on the process and finding critical points during the transfer of good WBL practices.
The Key Distinction – Internal and External Issues
Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. For example, a strength could be an organization’s good cooperation with working life. A weakness could be the lack of sufficient resources for planning work-based learning within the organization.
Opportunities and threats are external factors. For example, an opportunity could be a developing distribution channel such as the Internet that potentially increases demand for an organization’s reputation. A threat could be a competing VET provider which can offer better education and WBL contacts and practices.
It is worth pointing out that a SWOT analysis can be very subjective - two people rarely come up with the same version of a SWOT analysis even when provided with the same information about the same organization and its environment. Accordingly, a SWOT analysis is best used as a guide and not a prescription. Adding and weighting criteria to each factor increases the validity of the analysis.
Areas to Consider
Some of the key areas to consider when identifying and evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats are listed in the example of a SWOT analysis in Table 4.
Table 4. An example of the SWOT analysis.
I
N
T
E
R
N
A
L
| - Versatile and active contacts with working life
- Good reputation as an innovative organization
- Highly qualified staff with long experience of working life in the field
- Motivated students
- Modern working environment at school
- Responsible, innovative and open-minded management
- Good counselling for students to support their decisions relating to on-the-job learning places
- etc.
| - Poor contacts with working life and stakeholders
- Poor communication between educational organizations and working life concerning the qualification needs of enterprises
- Lack of qualified staff (no close contacts with working life)
- Weak management – not improvement-oriented
- Poor resources of all kinds
- etc.
|
E
X
T
E
R
N
A
L | - Looking after new contacts with working life and stakeholders
- Creating an innovative working climate
- Changing planning methods
- Modern working environment at workplaces
- Technological progress
- Integrating different stakeholders and target groups into planning
- Increasing the importance of WBL within the curriculum
- etc.
| - Losing contacts with working life and stakeholders
- Bad working climate in on-the-job learning places, but also within the VET organization
- Inadequate planning methods
- Technological equipment is not updated
- Staff losing motivation to support WBL and WBL students
- Not enough competent counselling for students at workplaces because of possible changes at workplaces
- etc.
|
Further examples can be found on the websites mentioned in the references.