Get Ready to Sweat it Out

Management by Objectives (MBO) was made popular by management guru Peter Drucker who rightly predicted many an event through his series of theories based on real-time analysis. MBO, as we all know, is the need to manage businesses by balancing different requirements and short-term goals, rather than subordinating an institution to a single viewpoint. Most strategic plans focus on the four areas of SWOT – an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats – with alignments and re-alignments done accordingly.

The SWOT analysis, a key strategic management concept, is top-down and typically done while building businesses. They have very little to do with the present and always have the future in mind. Although many would argue that at least two of the areas i.e. Strengths and Weaknesses are attributes measured in the present, I would still categorize them as tools that are analyzed by keeping the future prospects or perceived threats in mind. Often, organizations fail to measure efforts and evaluate the approach taken

I propose that one actually has to also make a “SWEAT” analysis to enable the basic exercise of running a profitable organization. By SWEAT, I mean “Strategies” “Work ethics” “Efficiency” “Alternatives” and “Tactics”. The SWEAT analysis should be done for each and every component of the business. This will lead to a deeper understanding of an organization’s condition in a broader sense than either the SWOT or Portfolio analysis. It will help us understand whether resources – Human Capital, Financial, Branding, and Marketing – are all moving in the desired direction towards the organization’s vision. Let’s take a brief look at each of them.