A critical component of business plans, whether for the entire organization or for a single function--marketing or finance, for instance--is a SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It involves a brainstorming process whereby planning participants identify all of the relevant factors that they are facing internally (strengths and opportunities) and externally (weaknesses and threats). The final list is then reviewed and prioritized to identify the top items under each category. These then became inputs to the development of goals, objectives, strategies and tactics.