ORGANIZATION: BATH AND BODY WORKS

Now that we have the first assignment completed, which covered the basic background information about your organization, it is time to move into its strengths!

Strengths are the area where your organization is strong and doing things well above the competition. Strengths can come in the form of many things; when you consider this section of your SWOT think about some of the factors listed in the instructions and really try hard to find what it is that makes your organization great!

For this assignment you will research the strengths of your organization and provide a detailed paper on your findings. Consider the factors listed below and remember the given outline from Module 1 is there for your use. This outline is a great tool for getting your different sections fully covered and researched. In addition, remember that this paper on the strengths of your organization will become the second section of your overall SWOT paper due at the end of the course.

For this activity you will research the strengths of your company and provide a detailed paper on your findings. Factors to consider when you think about your company’s strengths both from an internal and external point of view include:

• What resources does your organization have? These could include: current human resources (staff, volunteers, board members, target population), physical resources (your location, building, equipment, does your building have a prime location, does it need renovations or updating), financial resources (grants, funding agencies, other sources of income and investments including shareholders).
• What activities and processes are currently being used to operate the company? These include all programs and procedures used by the company to run systems and other technology.
• What are some past experiences (both good and bad) used as the building blocks for learning and success? Think about employee programs and the overall company structure.
• What opportunities exist in your market or the environment that you can benefit from?
• Is the perception of your business positive?
• Has there been recent market growth or have there been other changes in the market that create an opportunity?
• Is the opportunity ongoing, or is there just a window for it? In other words, how critical is your timing?

For this assignment, complete the following:

• Do your research and really get in-depth about the strengths your organization currently has.
• Thoroughly explain at least TWO major strengths of the organization and discuss why each strength can be considered a distinctive competence for the organization.
  • You should have a minimum of at least one full paragraph for each of the strengths presented.
  • For each strength, be sure you use relevant business theories, concepts, and practices that are aligned to support the statements and findings. Note that bullet points are not acceptable.

Each of these strengths must come from a force or forces occurring within a dimension of the general environment within the organization’s external environment (keep in mind a strength can stem from more than one dimension within the general environment). Be sure to include in your analysis the relevant dimension of the general environment from which each of these forces is derived.