Employing a SWOT analysis

THE last few months or year have been agog with news of the popular duo of P-Square not exactly having the best of times. In case you don’t know them, they are a Nigerian R& B duo of very identical twin brothers that have thrilled audiences locally and internationally winning many awards in the process.Their fans have been posting videos on social media crying over their purported break up and pleading with them to save them from further heart aches.It got more interesting when one of the twins released a solo video talking to their late parents about the recent happenings and wishing they were around. Many have attributed the misunderstandings to almost everything you can imagine from money, pride, greed and even to the women in their lives.I dare say the duo are a very complete team; they both write their songs, they are both great vocalists and their performance on stage is just pure genius. It is likely that each of them have advisers who may be selling the notion of them going to pursue individual careers. I’m just wondering what will happen to P-square?

Louis Pasteur says, ‘chance favours the prepared mind.’ I have come to realise in life that you are most likely to succeed in life if you use your talents or gifts to the fullest extent.

In the same vein, you’ll reduce your errors if you are able to identify the things that militate against your success whether they be internal or external. It’s important that all the major players look ahead before arriving at a final decision on what to do. The good book says ‘no one intends to build without sitting down first and counting the cost’.It is important they employ a SWOT Analysis before going further on whatever plans they might have in their especially as we hear they are likely to split.

SWOT Analysis is a technique founded by Albert Humphrey who led a research project at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s. SWOT is a mnemonic for Strength, weakness, Opportunity and Threat. It enables a group/individual to handle everyday problems and look at traditional strategies from a new perspective to solving them. It is a planning tool used to understand Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats involved in a project/business as well as for an individual.

The prospect of starting anew always looks very alluring but many people have fallen into this trap of not itemising the pros and the cons before setting forth. So how do they identify the most important variables before taking that bold step? The strengths of an individual are the characteristics that give him/her an advantage over others in the industry. They are positive, tangible and intangible attributes that are internal to an individual. Weaknesses are characteristics that place the individual at a disadvantage relative to others. They detract the individual from his ability to attain his core goal and influence his growth. Opportunities from the context of an individual are chances to make greater profits in the environment. They are external attractive factors that represent the reason for an individual to exist and develop. The threats that face an individual are external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the individual. They are beyond an individual’s control, which could place the individual’s success at risk.

ALSO SEE: Psquare has fallen!

While strengths and weaknesses are internal factors because they are within the control of the individual, opportunities and threats are beyond the control of the individual i.e. they are controlled by external factors. The SWOT analysis is used to identify the areas where you can have the most beneficial strategies and targets based on your current situation. It is a critical step in developing a personal strategy. On its own it is meaningless unless it is backed by solid, well-defined action plan. It works best when you use it as a part of an overall strategy or in a given context or situation. Organisations would normally employ a SWOT analysis before they set up a business. Interestingly, It can even be used in every day dealings like moving from one organisation to another, bringing forth a new product or even deciding on who to marry.

It is good that the brothers critically examine their internal and external environment. I dare say the fact they were identical twins that had talent helped to contribute to the success of their brand and it just might not be as visible if they have solo careers. Yes it is not the first time a group will split but the case has its own peculiarities. If their advisers will look at it objectively, they will see it is not really in their best interest to embark on this journey. It is okay if other groups ‘Jackson five’, ‘New Edition,’ ‘Plantashun Boiz’ and ‘Remedies’ split but not for two blood brothers (twins for that matter). Their fans are also very emotional and may not appreciate the move. For sure they will pitch tents with whichever one is innocent (based on their own personal judgements). Definitely they will lose some goodwill not to mention endorsements.They should also note that as a group the strengths and opportunities they have might change when analysing them as individuals. On the long run, we all hope they will sort out their differences and continue churning out good music like they do.

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