Court gives director of training firm 10 year jail sentence

Commercial Training Provider Fined & sent to Jail – A cautionary tale

Last week at the Central Criminal Court in London, the Right Honourable Lord Wilkinson set the sentence between George (Director Ultimate Training Associates Limited (UTA)) vs Regina to 10 years for copyright infringement.

Throughout the case George proclaimed their innocence by saying that “the material was only used for education purposes, and not sold”.

Evidence given throughout the case demonstrated that the defendant had used a significant number of sources of materials for training purposes. Outlines given to the court included the following materials:

• Icebreakers & activities taken from Fenman Training publications
• The Honey & Mumford learning styles questionnaire (LSQ)
• The Belbin team roles inventory
• The Situational Leadership inventory
• Various CIPD toolkits

It seemed the company did much of what other training firms have done:

Start the day off with topical music, Run various proven activities, used profiling instruments, shown clips from TV, YouTube or from commercially available films.

The Evidence was over whelming

Many of the witnesses in the case, besides various participants from UTA’s training courses included TV producers, lawyers from training related publishing houses (including Fenman & the CIPD) and the representatives of the various instruments (tests & questionnaires) used, the Performing Rights Society (PRS) and several other parties that it appears UTA’s company used materials from without the relevant permission, or licensed products.

Evidence from the legal representatives of Dr Peter Honey, Dr Meredith Belbin, Dr Paul Hersey and others, showed not only was the material available, but the cost was not prohibitive. Legal teams from the music profession also clearly showed that there were structures in place to make music available for such usage, and yet the defendant had not taken any steps to recognise the rights of writers and performers of music. Not having the appropriate licenses also put the contracting organizations at risk of prosecution for allowing the performance of music on their premises.

Sentencing

The case lasted just 3 days and the jury preceded in less than one hour. In setting sentence, not only did the Judge send the defendant to prison for the maximum available tariff, but compensation running into £100,000+ has been awarded from ceased assets. The Judge said that this was such a serious case that the police should look into the associates of the company to see if they had been using the materials with other organizations. If so then they too should be charged.

In a press release from the Federation Against Copyright Theft FACT a representative was quoted as saying :

“It’s about time that the courts supported our members and recognised that not just all materials can be used for “educational” purposes without both recognising the source and using legitimate, licensed materials”

The judge also added to the press present that he hoped that this would serve as a message to other training providers, universities, schools etc that the copyright act was there to protect the creators of works and that no one had the right to use materials without permission, with or without license fees payable.

 

The truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth

Now this could be true, but it is only a piece of fiction.

Many training organisations, schools, HR teams and others use copyright material “because they can” and often ignore the impact on their employers of the potential penalties. Even my own daughters’ secondary school recently used a copyright model in a planner issued to all pupils without attributing the model to its creator, let alone using it under license. When I contacted the school concerned about the copyright and the message it gives to pupils about referencing and plagiarism, the reaction from the teacher (and senior school manager) was “it’s ok, it’s for education and if it helps people to learn, schools can do this sort of thing!” – well how wrong is he!

Some years ago I joined a manufacturing firm just after an out of court settlement with a well known training video producer, the company had been caught copying the video and using it internally. All I know was that we could not buy ANY training materials from any major player for almost 5 years and the company paid a large out of court settlement. It was only 2-3 copies – not 1000’s!

Only this week I was “interviewing” a trainer for delivery of a course and they did not know they could not use music, or certain “instruments or questionnaires” as they were subject to copyright. Their belief was why pay £20 each when i have types up my own! I suspect the copyright owner would not take the same view.

Time for change

As professionals we need to recognise the copyright and intellectual property of others. If a client wants to use xxxxx model or theory, then we need to pay for that… if the client cannot afford it then they cannot have it. Using materials without permission puts both ourselves at risk, as well as our clients.

If we want to use music, then we need to buy royalty free music, or make sure that either the venue or we have a PRS & PPL license.

For more information on intellectual property protection and use of copyright see the Business Link site information pages on copyright. For the ICO guidance on copyright follow this link

 ADDENDUM – what does this mean

There has been some critism on socuial media sites that this piece is misleading, and does not help practitioners.

So lets look a little more at the law.

In the case between Baigent and another v. Random House Group Ltd [2007] EWCA Civ 247 Regarding a copyright claim on the Da Vinci Code, the court had to view the facts regarding as to whether the copyright was breeched or not.  In order for copyright infringement to occur, the material appearing in the later work must form a “substantial part” of the earlier work. To understand what will be regarded as a “substantial part” of the work, we must look at earlier case law.

The Definition of a Substantial Part of a Work

In Designers’ Guild Ltd v. Russell Williams (Textiles) Ltd [2001], the House of Lords considered the question of what constitutes a “substantial part” of a copyrighted work. Here Lord Hoffmann ruled that a “substantial part” can be a wide-ranging concept, stating: “can be a feature or combination of features of the work, abstracted from it rather than forming a discrete part”.

To quote Lord Hoffmann again: “it is an idea expressed in the copyright work” that defines what is, and is not, a “substantial part”. The key word here is not the idea but its expression. Star Wars has a similar plot to many other works throughout history, but how it expresses that plot is what makes its copyright enforceable.

So in practical terms:

If you use a model or outline a theory – Maslow, Hertzburg,  De Bono, etc you should reference the author. Sometimes even single models like Situational Leadership from Blanchard/ Hersey require you to purchase a printed copy of the model for each student in order to use it, and not reproduce it or a version of it in the training notes or powerpoint slides.

If you want to use a “full piece of work” such as the Honey & Mumford LSQ, The Belbin Team Profile etc, you need to buy the product (for each learner) from the copyright/ license owner, and NOT use photocopued or self reproduced versions.

For other models you may need to attend licensed training in order to use such materials.

What you cannot do is read & copy from a book or magazine (on or off line) and assume that the work is in the public domain – it is almost certainly not!

Copyright Myths -If I change someone else’s work I can claim it as my own. The act of copying or adapting someone else’s work is a breach of copyright. Also any adaptation will be legally regarded as a derived work; so if you simply adapt the work of others, it will still be their work, and they have every right to object, (and are also entitled to any money you make from their work).

Educational Use - Duplicating, photocopying or manufacturing multiple copies of copyright works for educational use by a schools, colleges or universities usually requires permission and, at least, a licence from The Copyright Licensing Agency and including acknowledgements to sources and/or authors is still usually a requirement.

So what can you do?

The site Copyrighttoolkit claims that we can:

Less than 400 words of continuous text from a book.

Less than 800 words of discontinuous text from a book, providing no part is more than 300 words (remember this is qualitative as well as quantitative – so quoting one line giving away the murderer from a whodunnit book would very likely be viewed as copying a substantial part of the work)(but not models which would be classed as “whole works”)

‘non-commercial research’ and ‘private study’ are generally taken to restrict copying to a single copy. – not one per person!

Even the copyright statement on the famous Alan Chapman site BusinessBalls says:

“When using these materials (especially for commercial training purposes) you must decide if your usage is ‘fair use’ within your local law relating to copyright. The free provision of these materials on this website does not imply that the works can be exploited for profit without seeking permission from respective owners of original concepts, theories and other intellectual property. If in doubt about your usage seek qualified advice and/or permission from the owner of the IP concerned. See www.businessballs.com/aboutus.htm for more details about usage.”

** please note this information is given in good faith and RapidBI or the author cannot be held liable for any acts or ommissions resulting from information provided. If you unsure of your right to use material contact a lawyer and/ or the owner of the works.

 

Strategic Analysis

This is a term often used with an assumption that the people hearing it understand its meaning.

Strategic Analysis is said to be:

‘… the process of conducting research on the business environment within which an organisation operates and on the organisation itself, in order to formulate strategy.’

BNET Business Dictionary

What is meant by the term “strategic analysis” differs from academic to academic and business o business, however there are some common factors. These are typically:

1. Identification and evaluation of data relevant to strategy (a plan, method, or series of maneuvers for achieving a specific goal or result: a strategy for gettingahead in the world) formulation

2. Definition of the external and internal environment to be analysed

3. A range of analytical methods that can be employed in the analysis

Examples of analytical methods used in strategic analysis include:

• SWOT analysis
• PESTLE analysis
• PRIMO-F analysis
• Porter’s five forces analysis
• Value chain analysis

 

 

Training Needs Analysis

Sample templates

The links below will provide access to a sample TNA form and an example how the same data can be used for developing personal development plans.

TNA Sample data collection form and Sample Output for PDP use

Need simple, low cost help implementing TNA’s

For help in implementing systems like this please Contact us.

Costs from as little as £1000 for a whole organisation

Individual needs analysis from just £199.

Try one of our management development needs tools HERE NOW for FREE

More resources

The origional article published in TrainingZone is printed below:

TNA: Knowing Where to Start Your Journey

In this practical guide, Mike Morrison goes through the stages of an IT training needs analysis.

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In the story Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire cat tells Alice: “If you don’t know where you are going… any road will take you there.” Well the same is true in development and business. Conducting a training needs analysis (TNA) helps on the journey, but it can only help if you understand the destination required. So before you even begin to think about the TNA process make sure that you are clear where you are going and why.

Getting started
Taking an audit of the skills in your organisation will help you to define your current status and highlight where you need to develop certain skills. At the end of each year you can complete a new skills audit, based on your experiences. Skills audits if done with a ‘light touch’ can be a valuable tool for developers and can be a great way of starting a training needs analysis process.

Training needs analysis can be a difficult thing at the best of times. When you are faced with a technology needs analysis, this becomes doubly difficult if you yourself have significant needs. It is easy to fall into the trap of identifying beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. But what does this mean for the user? What if they are a basic level user that needs to use ONE of the functions covered in the advanced training. You we really need to invest in intermediate & advanced training, to confuse and overwhelm them when all they need is one function?

Training needs analysis at its most basic level is easy – What can you do now? What do you need you to do that is different? Why? Is it training that can bridge the gap (or is it a non-training issue)? If so what type of training delivery (style) is appropriate? How will we know that the training has been successful?

Training needs analysis can occur at a number of levels – the individual, team, function, organisation and occupational needs. For this short article I will focus on identifying generic IT needs across organisations. This methodology can be applied to teams, functions and occupations. Much more detail is needed at the individual level.

Periodically organisations change suites of software or hardware systems. It is at these times it helps HR and training teams to have an understanding of the scope of training required.

To keep things consistent my preferred method is to put together a simple top line tool for managers to use with staff. This means training the managers to undertake an individual needs analysis as part of the process.

Guidance for managers
The process of carrying out an organisational wide TNA or audit requires commitment from all parties, individuals, managers and the HR and/or training team. With this in mind we want to make sure that the process is undertaken only once in a given year. Providing guidance for managers then is essential. As a part of that guidance I often use are ten questions from Grey (1994):
1. What is the perceived problem?
2. What are the aims and objectives?
3. What is expected from the TNA process?
4. What performance is required from the target group/ individuals?
5. Timescale?
6. Budgets, should they be considered, who allocated what?
7. What barriers might exist?
8. How the information is to be presented/ collected
9. Is anything out of bounds?
10. Key issues/ areas of focus

This process enables managers to own the process while we hold the strategic data.

Putting together a survey or audit.
Look at IT for these projects in three distinct areas:
1.Desktop software – the stuff most people have on their PCs or Macs;
2.Business Systems – HR, purchasing etc; and
3.Role specific software, design, CAD, publishing etc.

Desktop software
Here we look at the programs and generic applications available: Items that may be covered include.

• Windows environment
• Linux environment
• Mac environment
• Windows explorer
• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Outlook- diary
• Outlook – email

Then I would ask each person to rate according to:
Ok for role; urgent specific need; longer term need. I would want them to identify if this application was ‘critical to role’ then there would be a free text box to capture the SMART objectives required for each item.

Business Applications
Intranet, HR system, payroll system, purchasing system etc. I would list all the available company systems, and ask the same analysis questions as above

Role specific
Here I would just have free text boxes. The individual and manager could then put in the SMART objectives for the required packages.

Strategy
This is very much a scoping or strategic overview approach. In my experience it provides the training/ learning team with the size of the game needing to be played.
With IT training we have three options of delivery:
- E-learning
- Classroom with fixed syllabus
- One-to-one coaching – can occur “at desk” or in a group

With the information collected it is easy to analyse and enables the training professional to identify volumes, nature of applications that require training and the budget required to achieve 80% of objectives. At this level, without spending a considerable amount of time on the TNA, an 80% fit is a cost effective approach to this level of need. The costs increase exponentially in identifying of needs from this point and it is more cost effective to buy a few extra hours of an IT coach to continuer at desk training than it is to go to the nth degree of analysis. Remember to map training to people’s learning preferences in terms of delivery vehicle. There is no point putting a person on an e-learning course if they best learn through discussion and sharing with others. The solution may look low cost but in this case it is also a complete waste of money!

Things to consider
The way a TNA process is managed must depend on the culture (how things are done here). There is no point centralising the process if budgets are distributed across the organisation, equally there is no point delegating responsibility for the TNA process if managers have no say in the ability to offer solutions to meet needs.

Before putting any survey or data collection process together carefully consider the end result. How will you process the data? What analysis do you need to do? Put a lot of time into this as the more you invest in considering analysis the quicker the analysis.

Many organisations fail to implement effect TNA and training processes because they fail to align the processes and procedures to the culture of the organisation.

Tools to use
There are many survey tools on the market, from the free ones like Survey Monkey to professional survey packages like Keypoint (UK company) that can handle web and paper. The free sites look good and cheap – but you will pay when it comes to doing the analysis. Tools like Keypoint can do much of the analysis for you and often work out more cost effective. Or of course you can outsource the service.

Finishing the journey
Attending training or having at desk coaching is not the destination. The end destination here is usually job or skill performance. When the individual or group have ‘attended training’ or ‘been coached’ that is the beginning not the end. We need to help our managers support people as they develop their skills. Using computer software is as much about habits of mouse movements and key strokes as it is skills development. Habits take time to change and learn – old habits sit around for a long time.

Enjoy the journey.

Note – while I have focused here on training needs – there will be needs identified that cannot be resolved by training and coaching alone. Sometimes we need to change procedures, methods or even equipment. Access to sample of the tools discussed are available at http://www.rapidbi.com/created/trainingneedsanalysis/

About the author: Mike Morrison is Director of RapidBI, a consultancy organisation specialising in organisational development tools and business improvement methods. To find out more about diagnostic and culture tools visit www.rapidbi.com/bir.

TrainingZONE 19-Mar-07
Categories: Training Methods

How to do a swot analysis

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT is a planning tool used to understand the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business. It involves specifying the objective of the business or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are supportive or unfavourable to achieving that objective.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

There are several ways of graphically representing the SWOT analysis matrix or grid. Several versions are shown on this page – use the one which is best suited to your application.

While at first glance the SWOT looks like a simple model and easy to apply, I can say from experience, that to do a SWOT analysis that is both effective and meaningful, requires time and a significant resource. This cannot be done effectively by just one person. It requires a team effort.

The term “SWOT ANALYSIS” is in itself an interesting term. To my understanding, the SWOT is not an analysis. It is a summary of a set of previous analyses – even if those were not more than 15 minutes of mini-brainstorming with yourself in front of your computer.The analysis or more correctly interpretation comes after the SWOT summary has been produced.

The SWOT Model

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

Offensive -make the most of these	Defensive -watch competition closely
Adjust -restore strengths	Survive-turn around

Definition of SWOT

A SWOT analysis generates information that is helpful in matching an organization or group’s goals, programs, and capacities to the social environment in which it operates.

Strengths

• Positive tangible and intangible attributes, internal to an organization.
• They are within the organization’s control.

Weakness

• Factors that are within an organization’s control that detract from its ability to attain the desired goal.
• Which areas might the organization improve?

Opportunities

• External attractive factors that represent the reason for an organization to exist and develop.
• What opportunities exist in the environment, which will propel the organization?
  Identify them by their “time frames”

Threats

• External factors, beyond an organization’s control, which could place the organization mission or operation at risk.
• The organization may benefit by having contingency plans to address them if they should occur.
• Classify them by their “seriousness” and “probability of occurrence”.

Introduction to SWOT

The SWOT analysis tool is great for developing an understanding of an organization or situation and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organizations.

The SWOT analysis headings provide a good framework for reviewing strategy, position and direction of a company or project.

Doing a SWOT analysis can be very simple, however its strengths lie in its flexibility and experienced application.

Applications of SWOT

A SWOT Analysis can be used for:

• Workshop sessions
• brainstorm meetings
• Problem solving
• Planning
• Product evaluation
• Competitor evaluation

The SWOT is a great tool that can be used in association with PESTLE

Overview of SWOT

	POSITIVE/ HELPFULto achieving the goal	NEGATIVE/ HARMFULto achieving the goal
INTERNAL Originfacts/ factors of the organization	StrengthsThings that are good now, maintain them, build on them and use as leverage	WeaknessesThings that are bad now, remedy, change or stop them.
EXTERNAL Originfacts/ factors of the environment in which it operates	OpportunitiesThings that are good for the future, prioritize them, capture them, build on them and optimize	ThreatsThings that are bad for the future, put in plans to manage them or counter them

Aim of a SWOT analysis

• Reveal your competitive advantages
• Analyse your prospects for sales and profitability
• Prepare your company for problems
• Allow for the development of contingency plans

A SWOT analysis is a process to identify where you are strong and vulnerable — where you should defend and attack. The result of the process is a ‘plan of action’, or ‘action plan’.

The analysis can be performed on a product, on a service, a company or even on an individual.

Done properly, SWOT will give you the BIG PICTURE of the MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS that influence SURVIVAL and PROSPERITY. As well as a PLAN to ACT ON.

How to do a SWOT

Irrespective of whether you or your team are future planning for specific products, work, personal or any other area, the SWOT analysis process is the same.

• Step 1 – Information collection – In the here and now…
  List all strengths that exist now. Then in turn, list all weaknesses that exist now. Be realistic but avoid modesty!
  • You can conduct one-on-one interviews. Or get a group together to brainstorm. A bit of both is frequently best.
  • You’ll first want to prepare questions that relate to the specific company or product that you are analyzing. You’ll find some questions and issues below to get you going.
  • When facilitating a SWOT – search for insight through intelligent questioning and probing

• Step 2 – What might be…
  List all opportunities that exist in the future. Opportunities are potential future strengths. Then in turn, list all threats that exist in the future. Threats are potential future weaknesses.
• Step 3 – Plan of action…
  Review your SWOT matrix with a view to creating an action plan to address each of the four areas.

SWOT in summary:

• Strengths need to be maintained, built upon or leveraged.
• Weaknesses need to be remedied, changed or stopped.
• Opportunities need to be prioritized, captured,built on and optimized.
• Threats need to be countered or minimized and managed.

A SWOT analysis can be very subjective, and two people rarely come-up with the same final version of SWOT. It is an excellent tool however, for looking at
the negative factors first in order to turn them into positive factors. Use SWOT as guide and not a prescription.

Simple rules for a successful SWOT analysis

• Be realistic about the strengths and weaknesses of your organization.
• The Analysis should distinguish between where your organization is today, and where it could be in the future.
• Be specific. Avoid gray areas.
• Always analyze in relation to your competition i.e. better than or worse than your competition.
• Keep your SWOT short and simple.
• Avoid complexity and over analysis.

What makes a SWOT analysis work?

Due to the collaborative nature of this tool, your working group will need certain qualities to succeed:

• Trust – The questions that SWOT will bring up, particularly in the Weaknesses and Threats categories may be uncomfortable. Your group must be at a point in its working relationship where weaknesses and potential threats can be faced openly and objectively.
• Ability and willingness to implement change.
• Diversity – The team conducting the SWOT analysis should be representative of your entire planning team.
• Time – Taking time to do a thorough SWOT assessment will help your group move forward in developing a workable plan.

Steps/ Process

• Establish that your coalition has the necessary components to successfully conduct a SWOT analysis (above).
• Assemble the group that will conduct the SWOT
• Set up meeting times (if the SWOT is not going to be completed in one ‘sitting’
• Distribute/ complete the tool individually
• In the group meeting, combine individual answers. Collaborate on each category. Complete the analysis.
• Discuss how to use the information gathered from the SWOT to inform your next steps.

Using SWOTs with an Objective or Goal

If a SWOT analysis does not start with defining a desired end state or objective, it runs the risk of being an exercise for the sake of an exercise (i.e. useless).

A SWOT analysis may (should) be incorporated into a strategic planning model.

If a clear objective has been identified, SWOT analysis can be used to help in the pursuit of that objective.

In this case, SWOTs are:

• Strengths: attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective.
• Weaknesses: attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective.
• Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective.
• Threats: external conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective.

Decision makers can then determine whether the objective is attainable, given the SWOT’s. If the objective is NOT attainable a different objective must be selected and the process repeated.

Use of SWOTs: Generating Strategies – get them USED

When the desired objective has been deemed attainable, the SWOTs are used as inputs to the creative generation of possible strategies, by asking and answering each of the following four questions, many times:

• How can we Use each Strength?
• How can we Stop each Weakness?
• How can we Exploit each Opportunity?
• How can we Defend against each Threat?

Ideally a cross-functional team or a task force that represents a broad range of perspectives should carry out the SWOT analysis. For example, a SWOT team may include an accountant, a salesperson, an executive manager, operational staff and an engineer,

What strengths and weaknesses are examined
The strengths and weaknesses analysis is an internal examination that focuses on your past performance, present strategy, resources and capabilities. It is based on an analysis of facts and assumptions about the company, including:

• People (Human Resources)
  • People and skills (in particular marketing, export experience)
  • staff development
• Properties (Buildings, Equipments and other facilities)
• Processes (Such as quality, finance, M.I.S etc.)
  • Financial resources (debt to asset ratio and personal equity)
  • Governance
  • Management/ leadership
  • Staff development
  • Communication
• Products (Publications etc.)
  • Sales
  • Products
  • Markets
  • Capabilities/scaleability
  • Capital structure suppliers
  • Customers (market research)
  • Intellectual property

In other words -

• Strengths
  • What do you do well? Is there anything you do better than most? Better than anyone else?
• Weaknesses
  • What should be improved? What do you do poorly? What should you avoid, based on mistakes in the past?

What opportunities and threats are examined

The opportunity and threat analysis is carried out by examining external factors in your domestic and export market(s). This is usually broken down into environmental factors and competitors, including:

Environmental Factors	Competitor Factors
Demographics Economic Political/legal Sociological Environmental Technology Cultural	Capability Resources Ownership New entrants Market segments Products Prices Promotion Distribution Substitute products Suppliers customers Product life cycle Risk and cost of intellectual property violation of your product

Opportunities and threats are often taken from a PESTLE analysis

In other words -

• Opportunities
  • Where can you find, or create, a competitive advantage? What are some major trends in your business?
    - Consolidation / Diversification?
    - Specialization / Generalization?
    - Changes in technology. Such as computer software that lets you perform services that others can not.
    - Changes in the types of businesses in your potential market, such as the demand for healthcare or telecommunications expertise.
    - Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle.
    - Changes in creative trends.
    - Changes in demand for certain types of services, perhaps related to interactive / Internet.
• Threats
  • What obstacles do you face? What are your competitors doing that may result in a loss of clients, customers, market share? Are the required specifications for your job, products or services changing? Is changing technology threatening your position? Do you have cash-flow problems?

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Is the defined objective attainable?

Since historical and trend data are not given, it is difficult to judge whether the business can be doubled as that would require an annual growth rate of 26 per cent per year.  Therefore, it would be more realistic to restate the objective as: “To increase the business over the next three years.”  The same SWOT details apply.

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More examples of SWOT in use and types of application

		INTERNAL
		Strengths willingness of staff to change good location of facility perception of quality of services	Weaknesses staff lack of motivation small building paperwork and bureaucracy cultural differences with users
E X T E R N A L	Opportunities support of local government high felt need of users little competition internationally funded projects	SO Options training of staff in interactive techniques of quality improvement coordination with other providers to cover all user needs	WO Options remodeling of facility with local government funds and international help
	Threats low income of users bad roads low salaries lack of budget paradigms of providers	ST Options cost recovery of products/ services with user fees payment of incentives to staff based on performance	WT Options review of procedures for decreasing costs and waiting times and increasing perceived quality

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SWOT Examples

You know the situation, you are asked to undertake a simple SWOT analysis of a department.  You are given a little time and are aware of certain factors which may or may not impact. So lets have a look at the first initial SWOT:

A SWOT on a Human Resource function:

Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunities	Threats
Developed techniques for dealing with major areas of HR, job evaluation, psychometric testing and basic training	Reactive rather than pro-active; needs to be asked rather than developing unsolicited ideas	New management team, wanting to improve overall organizational effectiveness through organizational development and cultural management programmes	HR contribution not recognized by top management who by-pass it by employing external consultants

Or from another point of view:

Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunities	Threats
Able to react to changing conditions effectively	Reliant on specific individuals with key skills and external tools which may change without our control	To use external consultants as a channel to influence senior management	New management team want to make their own mark and have a history of outsourcing

So as you can see there is no right or wrong answer to any section, it is down to your analysis of the situation.

SWOT Analysis are more effective when undertaken as a team activity with people from varying backgrounds and experiences. The very best application of a SWOT analysis is when a task team or change team is assembled to undertake the data capture and analysis. A team approach will help to ensure a balanced approach and that one aspect is not emphasized inappropriately.

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SWOT Examples continued

SWOT analysis approach can be used for:

• Business Planning
• Career development
• Competitor analysis
• Situational analysis
• Strategic planning
• Personal development
• Managing people
• Innovation
• Problem Solving

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What is a SWOT analysis?

When undertaking a traditional strategic planning process, debating future direction, or assessing existing opportunities for the organization, a board or management team can rely on a SWOT analysis for help. During the analysis, the team lists and assesses the organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Each of these controlling forces prompts the team to consider factors that might easily be overlooked as it shapes the future of the organization.

This process provides insights to the organization’s internal and external positioning, examining internal and external elements that must be factored into future decision making. It prohibits the organization from becoming too insular and functioning without proper feedback.

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Conduct a SWOT analysis on your company.

Conduct a SWOT analysis on your product

Conduct a SWOT analysis on your services

Conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself.

Conduct a SWOT analysis on your web site.

Conduct a SWOT analysis on your intranet site.

Conduct a SWOT analysis on your competitors

Offer a SWOT analysis to your current clients.

Offer a SWOT analysis to your current customers.

Note

“Management tools can help to better understand particular aspects of an organization or its environment. For the following step – the analysis of insights provided by the models – however, there is no model. Management models are effective only if their users are able to realize connections and gaps and to draw appropriate conclusions.” – Dagmar Recklies

For a complete Internal SWot, look at our Business Improvement Review or access the limited function free version here

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Please visit our main SWOT analysis page for more information

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Based upon information from www.businessballs.com www.wikipedia.com, Albert S Humphrey, Stanford Research Institute,

Armstrong. – M. A handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th edition) , Armstrong.M – Management Processes and Functions
J. Scott Armstrong – “The Value of Formal Planning for Strategic Decisions”. Strategic Management Journal, Gower handbook of Management Skills, Handy – Understanding Organizations, Hill, T. & R. Westbrook – “SWOT Analysis: It’s Time for a Product Recall”. Long Range Planning
Menon, A. et al. – “Antecedents and Consequences of Marketing Strategy Making”. Journal of Marketing, and many other sources.

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Cone of Experience – Dale

Dale’s Cone of Experience

The Cone of Experience is a visual model meant to summarise Dale’s classification system for the varied types of mediated learning experiences.

The original labels for Dale’s ten categories in the Cone of Experience were:

1. Direct, Purposeful Experiences
2. Contrived Experiences
3. Dramatic Participation
4. Demonstrations
5. Field Trips
6. Exhibits
7. Motion Pictures
8. Radio, Recordings, Still Pictures
9. Visual Symbols and
10. Verbal Symbols

When Dale researched learning and teaching methods he found that much of what we found to be true of direct and indirect (and of concrete and abstract) experience could be summarised in a pyramid or ‘pictorial device’ Dales called ‘the Cone of Experience’. In his book ‘Audio visual methods in teaching’ – 1957, he stated that the cone was not offered as a perfect or mechanically flawless picture to be taken absolutely literally. It was merely designed as a visual aid to help explain the interrelationships of the various types of audio-visual materials, as well as their individual ‘positions’ in the learning process.

Dale points out that it would be a dangerous mistake to regard the bands on the cone as rigid, inflexible divisions.

He said “The cone device is a visual metaphor of learning experiences, in which the various types of audio-visual materials are arranged in the order of increasing abstractness as one proceeds from direct experiences”

People Remember

It is said that people remember:

• 10% of what they read
• 20% of what they hear
• 30% of what they see
• 50% of what they see and hear
• 70% of what they write and say
• 90% of what they say as they do

The percentages –> 10% of what they read 20% of what they hear 30% of what they see 50% of what they hear and see 70% of what they say or write 90% of what they say as they do a thing are not from Dale. The bogus percentages appear to have been first published by an employee of Mobil Oil Company in 1967, writing in the magazine “Film and Audio-Visual Communications”.

These percentages have since been discredited. THEY ARE FICTION! This is one of the great training/ people development myths.

Old Chinese proverb

“What I hear, I forget;
What I see, I remember;
What I do, I understand.”

Stands true – but only again as a saying, and NOT as statistical fact.

Note

While Dale’s work is valuable as a metaphor (as he had originally designed it) the way a concept or model has been turned into fact is disturbing. How many of us and our learning believe these magic percentages to be fact?

Dale’s Cone of Experience a fraud?

No – not as he originally write it – but yes when ‘adapted’ by individuals without due consideration or backup research.

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The Learning Pyramid

 

In a similar vein to Dale’s Cone of experience is the ‘Learning Pyramid’ from “National Training Laboratories in Bethel Maine”, where retention rates are shown as percentage rates against delivery techniques. There is a lot of similarity between the two models – the difference is that this appears to be a complete hoax.

90%-75%-50%-30%-10%-5%

Quite where these numbers come from is a mystery to many, and indeed it is difficult to understand what 90% retention actually means… 90% of what for how long? As a model it looks and on first thought appears to be credible, however as many of us will know some people have almost 100% retention for a considerable period of time if they read something, others teach others from a structure or procedure which they themselves do not understand!

Remember

The NUMBERS on the many quoted Dale’s Cone of Experience models and articles and the learning pyramid are models without any demonstrable research and should not be used as fact. Indeed dale never had any figures on his work – it was purely illustrative.