In strategic planning and strategic management, SWOT analysis (also known as the SWOT matrix, TOWS, WOTS, WOTS-UP, and situational analysis) is a decision-making technique that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization or project.

SWOT analysis evaluates the strategic position of organizations and is often used in the preliminary stages of decision-making processes to identify internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving goals. Users of a SWOT analysis ask questions to generate answers for each category and identify competitive advantages.

SWOT has been described as a "tried-and-true" tool of strategic analysis, but has also been criticized for limitations such as the static nature of the analysis, the influence of personal biases in identifying key factors, and the overemphasis on external factors, leading to reactive strategies. Consequently, alternative approaches to SWOT have been developed over the years.

The name is an acronym for four components:

Results of the assessment are often presented in the form of a matrix.

Strengths and weaknesses are usually considered internal, while opportunities and threats are usually considered external. The degree to which an organization's internal strengths matches with its external opportunities is known as its strategic fit.

Internal factors may include:

External factors may include: