Developing a new SWOT roadmapping technique

Integrating SWOT and roadmapping into practice

Yee Choy Leong

(e-mail: yee@econ.upm.edu.my)

Graduate School of Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia (Yee, C.L.)

Kenny Teoh Guan Cheng

(e-mail: kent@econ.upm.edu.my)

Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia (Teoh, K.G.C.)

Winnie Liaw Wei Yu

Graduate School of Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia (Liaw, W.W.Y.)

ABSTRACT

This research aims to develop a SWOT-roadmappig technique that help managers to identify changes in new business environment, generate strategies for effective solutions, and configure resources and capabilities for implementing the strategies. The prototype technique was built based on the integration of two strategic planning tools: SWOT and roadmapping. In order to operationalize the technique, it was tested in two laboratory experiments and five companies. The findings indicate that the technique has high feasibility, usability, and utility. The paper ends with providing practical guidelines for implementing the technique in future.

Keyword: SWOT, roadmapping, strategic planning

INTRODUCTION

The new business environment, driven by technological advancement, globalization and social changes, creates a series of new challenges for today’s companies (Pirson and Lawrence, 2010; Reeves and Deimler, 2011; Whipp 1991). Many market leaders in those days were no longer exist today as they were overthrown by others who have higher adaptability capability to a changing business environment (Reeves and Deimler, 2011). The new environment is especially true for companies operated in the fast-growing emerging countries, whereby, the environment is complicated by the challenge of local culture and business practices (Burman, 2011). Adopting these challenges requires new thinking to traditional approaches in strategic planning (Reeves and Deimler, 2011).

According to Reeves and Deimler (2011), the traditional approaches to strategic planning that always assume a relatively stable and predictable world are no longer feasible. New business environment requires the ability to detect external changes, conduct experiments quickly for developing effective countermeasures, and manage complex organizational resources and systems for adopting themselves to the changes.

Thus, in order to successfully detect new changes at the earliest stage possible, managers today would like to consider what changes can be expected? What opportunities and threats will these changes cause? What occurring is most desirable by the firm? What future strategies are the most appropriate to counter these changes? And what future resources and capabilities (i.e. strength) are necessary to be acquired first? These questions are not only relevant to managers from Multinational companies, but also of great concern to managers from smaller firms, usually more vulnerable ones, that are operating in emerging economies.

Thus, there is a need for a tool to allow managers to address the above questions. Starting from this consideration, this research would like to address the gap by proposing a practical tool to assist managers in identifying and analyzing changes in new business environment, generating strategies for effective solutions, and configuring resources and capabilities for implementing the strategies. In the following sections, this paper highlights the limitations of two strategic planning tools: roadmapping and SWOT, describes the development of a new prototype technique: SWOT-roadmapping that integrate the two strategic planning tools above. The architecture and process of the new prototype technique is illustrated. The prototype technique was then tested to two laboratory experiments and five companies. The results of the tests are presented and discussed. The paper concludes by providing guidelines and practical tips for implementing the new technique in future.