SWOT Analysis: Dynamic Strategic Management

Dynamic strategic management encompasses the approaches, tools and activities organizations utilize to determine direction, increasing the likelihood of organizational goal attainment. It is an approach that suggests organizations operating in uncertain environments require a flexible plan to minimize risk and take advantage of opportunity As a tool developed to analyze a firm’s position within its operating environment, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis provides insight into how internal and external factors are inhibiting or facilitating advancement toward reaching organizational objectives within a dynamic environment. This paper aims to understand how a SWOT analysis assisted the Calgary International Airport Authority create a competitive business plan for their future in an uncertain environment.

Airport planning, once carried out utilizing a single future forecast, failed to account for the complexity and uncertainty of the aviation industry. Today, it is widely assumed airport success can only be met through the utilization of a flexible, integrated planning approach that sees forecasts as incorrect.

Addressing the trials of operating in a continually changing environment and realizing forecasts can only

Qualitative research provides insight into developing phenomena or offers a new perspective on current trends. Prior to the creation of a dynamic strategic plan, the SWOT analysis offers a critical assessment of an organization’s competitive position, though the four areas of assessment are not weighted, nor does the utilization of the tool provide specific direction for the organization and requires subjective interpretation of the data. Input from stakeholders brings validity to the information gathered while conducting a SWOT