Situational analysis is a critical review of your current business situation.

Any project situation

needs to be assessed and analyzed. This objective analysis enhances understanding of the likely
causes and linkages between existing problems and the needed actions of the projects. This
means that situation analysis is a process that will help you and your project team creates
together a common understanding of your projects context including the biological environment,
social, economic, political, and institutional systems that affect the biodiversity targets you want
to conserve. This practice is one that is sometimes overlooked in the conservation of projects
however it is one of the most important steps to consider in project planning. Hence situation
analysis should be one of the first steps that the project team must undertake because it is
something you will use throughout the life of the planned project. In particular situation analysis
is an essential first step in developing and implementing your action, monitoring, and operational
plans of the project.

THE ELEMENTS WORTH CONSIDERING INCLUDE:

Product; what is my current product? You may want to break this definition up into parts such as
the core product and any secondary or supporting services or products that also make up what
you sell. It is important to observe this in terms of its different parts in order to be able to relate
this back to core client needs. Feel free to also discuss here which of your clients needs your
product is meeting.
Competitive situation; Analyze your main competitors who are they what are they up to
how do they compare feature/ benefit analysis.
Distribution Situation; Review your distribution Situation how are you getting your product
to market? Do you need to go through distributors or other intermediaries?
Environmental factors; what external and internal environmental factors are there that need to
be taken into account. This can include economic or sociological factors that impact on your
performance.

Opportunity and issue analysis; A systematic collection and evaluation of past and present
economic, political, social, and technological data, aimed at;
(1) Identification of internal and external forces that may influence the organization's
performance and choice of strategies, and
(2) Assessment of the organization's current and future strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats.
The situation analysis looks at both the macro-environmental factors that affect many firms
within the environment and the micro-environmental factors that specifically affect the firm. The
purpose of the situation analysis is to indicate to a company about the organizational and product
position, as well as the overall survival of the business, within the environment. Companies must
be able to summarize opportunities and problems within the environment so they can understand
their capabilities within the market.
THE 3 TOOLS OF SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS.

a.
b.
c.

SWOT analysis
Problem tree analysis and Objectives tree analysis
Stakeholder analysis

STAKEHOLDERS ANALYSIS
The analysis of stakeholders, their needs and interests, is an important part of the situation
analysis. The purpose of the stakeholder analysis is to gain an overview of important groups or
players who have or may develop vested interests in a certain situation or working context. Core
stakeholders are those who are well informed and can help to analyze and discuss the main issues
that the analysis will focus on. The main purposes of stakeholder analysis are;

To better address and manage the distributional and social impacts of projects or

programs and policies.

To identify existing or potential conflicts of interest and to factor appropriate mitigation
strategies into activity design.

Stakeholders can be classified in terms of;

1. Functions. This includes,

Contributors.
Implementers.
Beneficiaries.
2. Level of influence.
Primary stakeholders.
Secondary stakeholders.
Key stakeholders.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS AND THE PROBLEM TREE.
In order to understand a situation to be influenced by a project, it is essential to be aware of
problem conditions which constitute development constraints as well as their causes. Precise
description of problems as deviations between some desired conditions and the status quo, and
the major root causes of the situation need to be identified in order to devise effective ways of
dealing with them. Problems and their interrelationships can be identified and visualized using
the so-called problem tree. The problem tree is a diagram showing the cause-effect
relationships between problem conditions in a defined contest.
SWOT ANALYSIS
A SWOT analysis can be a useful tool in conducting a situational analysis. It look on internal
factors (strength and weakness) and external factors (opportunity and threat).
A SWOT analysis looks at both current and future situations, where they analyze their current
strengths and weaknesses while looking for future opportunities and threats. The goal is to build
on strengths as much as possible while reducing weaknesses. A future threat can be a potential
weakness while a future opportunity can be a potential strength.
This analysis helps a company come up with a plan that keeps it prepared for a number of
potential scenarios.
ADVANTAGE OF SWOT ANALYSIS
Provides a Visual Overview; A SWOT analysis is usually presented as a square with each of the
four areas making up one quadrant. This visual arrangement of the information provides a quick

overview of the companys position. Although all the points under a particular heading may not
be of equal importance, there are some insights to be had in seeing how the number of
opportunities measures up to the number of threats and so forth.
Promotes Discussion; SWOT analysis is a great way to guide strategy sessions. It can be very
powerful to have everyone in the room to discuss the core strengths and weaknesses of the
company and then move from there to defining the opportunities and threats. One of the
challenges is that the discussion can be derailed by listing things rather than thinking strategy,
but this can be counteracted by a strong facilitator. Often the SWOT analysis that you envision
before the session changes throughout to reflect factors you were unaware of and would never
have captured if not for the groups input.
Quick; one of the most underrated advantages to a SWOT analysis is that they are quick and
comparatively easy to do. You can conduct a SWOT analysis for the overall business strategy
over the course of a meeting and that chart will serve as a quick way to vet ideas throughout the
brainstorming session.
Flexible; SWOT analysis is also very flexible. SWOT can be used to guide overall business
strategy session, but it can also be used to drill into a specific segment like marketing,
production, or sales. This way you can see how the overall strategy developed off the SWOT
analysis will filter down to the segments below before committing to it. You can also work in
reverse and do segment specific SWOT analysis that feeds into an overall SWOT analysis rather
than working from top down.
DISADVANTAGE OF SWOT ANALYSIS
No Weighting Factors; SWOT analysis leads to four individual lists of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats. However, the tool provides no mechanism to rank the significance of
one factor versus another within any list. As a result, any one factor's true impact on the objective
can't be determined.
Ambiguity; SWOT analysis creates a one-dimensional model in which each problem attribute is
viewed as a strength, weakness, opportunity or threat. As a result, each attribute is seen to have

only one influence on the problem being analyzed. However, one factor might be both a strength
and a weakness. For example, locating a chain of stores on well-traveled streets that grant easy
access to customers might be reflected in increased sales. However, the costs of operating highvisibility facilities can make it difficult to compete on price without a large sales volume.
Subjective Analysis; To significantly impact company performance, business decisions must be
based on reliable, relevant and comparable data. However, SWOT data collection and analysis
entail a subjective process that reflects the bias of the individuals who collect the data and
participate in the brainstorming session. In addition, the data input to the SWOT analysis can
become outdated fairly quickly.
PORTERS FIVE FORCES
Porter five forces analysis is a framework for industry analysis and business strategy
development. It draws upon industrial organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that
determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Strategy consultants
occasionally use the five forces model to scan for and identify competitors to conduct
qualitatively evaluate a firm's strategic position. Ultimately, the primary purpose of the model is
to help businesses compare and analyze their profitability and position at the line-of business,
rather than industry group or industry sector level.
PORTERS 5 FORCES.
Firm use porters five forces to develop business strategy and conduct competitive analysis
Threat of new entrants; Profitable markets that yield high returns will attract new firms. This
results in many new entrants, which eventually will decrease profitability for all firms in the
industry. Unless the entry of new firms can be blocked by incumbents, the abnormal profit rate
will trend towards zero (perfect competition).
Bargaining power of buyers; The bargaining power of customers is also described as the
market of outputs: the ability of customers to put the company under pressure, which also affects
the customer's sensitivity to price changes (e.g. firm can implement loyalty program to reduce
customers' buying power).

Bargaining power of suppliers; The bargaining power of suppliers is also described as the
market of inputs. Suppliers of raw materials, components, labor, and services (such as expertise)
to the company can be a source of power over the firm when there are few substitutes. Suppliers
may refuse to work with the firm, or, charge excessively high prices for unique resources.
Threat of substitute product of services; The existence of products outside of the realm of the
common product boundaries increases the propensity of customers to switch to alternatives. An
example is the substitute of traditional phone with VoIP phone.
Rivals among existing competitors; For most industries, the intensity of competitive rivalry is
the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry.
An analysis on the climate is also known as the PEST analysis.
The types of climate that firms have to analyze are the:

Political and regulatory environment

Economic environment

Social and cultural environment

Technological environment

Legislative environment

OBJECTIVES OF A SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

Define the nature and extent of the problem in the local context.
Map the perceptions and experiences of key stakeholders in relation to the problem.
Identify existing strategies and activities which address the problem.
Identify the actors and organizations that are already active in the area.
Identify the actors and organizations that could be important partners; and
Identify gaps in existing strategies and activities ( Promundo and UNFPA 2007)

THE SCOPE OF A SITUATION ANALYSIS

The district situation analysis should include information on all the factors that impact on the
health of the catchment population. Try and collect the following information during your
situation analysis.

The geography of the district as well as the people and communities who live there.
The socioeconomic profile of the district.
The health status of the people in the district.
The health services in the district.
The management systems which support the provision of health services.
The political and policy environment of the district.
The activities of other sectors which are important in determining the health status of the
population example, Education, Housing, Water affairs, and Welfare.
STAGES INVOLVED IN THE SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

Determine a Framework; A framework provides a structure for presenting the information in a

logical way. The Initiative for Sub-District Support has developed a framework which is shown
below. It is only one of a number of options, but has been found to be useful. This framework
can be adapted to fit your needs. Some sections may need to be excluded and others added
according to the particular circumstances of a district. If situation analyses are being done in a
number of districts in one region or province it will be useful to use a standard format to make
comparisons easier. However, there should be enough room to reflect the unique features of each
district.
Identify what information is already available; When doing a situation analysis, it is useful to
list down all the available information and all the potential information sources. Often, a lot more
information is available than most people realize at first. A lot of the information for a situation
analysis consists of writing down, in a structured way, things that are already known by the
people who live and work in the district.
A feature of many health services is that a lot of statistics are collected, but are seldom used for
planning and management. When doing a situation analysis it is important to take a careful look
at what figures are available and what information they provide. Unfortunately many of these

statistics are not relevant and/or are inaccurate. In this way, the situation analysis also informs
the development of a health information system.
There are often other sources of information about the district which are collected by other
departments. These include census information, information from the Education Circuit Office
and from non-governmental and community-based organization
Identify what information is still required; When the available information is fitted into the
framework, it will soon be apparent where gaps exist. The DMT will have to decide how best to
finding these gaps. At this point it is important to set realistic objectives. The situation analysis
must be completed within a given period of time. There is no point in drawing up an extensive
wish list of information which is impractical to collect. If you wait until the situation analysis is
perfect, it will never be published.
Collect the required information; Once the required information has been identified, plans
must be drawn up to collect the information. Tasks must be clearly delegated to the appropriate
person with a clear timeframe.
Compile and write the report; Once the information has been collected, the situation analysis
can be written. This is best done using a computer because it allows the information to be easily
corrected or updated.
Distribute and disseminate the report; Once the situation analysis has been completed, it
should be distributed to all relevant people or organizations. This includes all facilities and health
service providers (both public and private) in the district, managers at regional and provincial
level, other sectors and local government representatives. A mechanism should be in place to
allow for feedback to the DMT concerning the situation analysis.

IMPORTANCE OF SITUATION ANALYSIS

A well-documented situation analysis is helpful in a number of ways:

It forms the first step of a planning cycle for the problem analysis.
By documenting the problems and proposed strategies of project, it can be used as a
monitoring and evaluation tool.

It can form the basis for the future planning. Subsequent reports can be regarded as

updates and improvements of the situation analysis.

It identifies gaps or deficiencies in the information that is available.
It identifies gaps or deficiencies in the information that is available, and in this way it

contributes towards the development of information system.

Provides a method to simultaneously assess physical and social resource concerns
Provides a method to assess the issues, problems, and concerns of a specific group
Structures the collection of data
Examines both internal and external factors that impact a situation
Gathers information on a wide range of issues from interested stakeholders
Develops a communication plan to deliver the findings to a large and diverse audience

PROJECT.
HINTERLAND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PROJECT
AREA COVERAGE; From Mtwara to Dar es salaam.
THE SWOT OF THIS PROJECT
Below is an example for SWOT analysis in the public transport business that I expect to invest
and run. My Project aim to provide the transport services in transit goods between southern
zones of Tanzania and Dar es salaam region.
Strength of this Project

Availability of enough capital.

We have skilled experts such as drivers
We have quality and many trucks, semi-trailer, and vehicles for efficient goods

transportation.
We have good team work for efficient and reliable services deliveries
Current profit ratio increased.
Employee morale high.
Market share has increased and low transportation cost.

Weakness

We have few drivers that make them to work over time.

We have few ware house to store the customer goods.

Also we have few branches hence transportation services become difficult to reaches in

many areas.
Lack of strategic management system.
Opportunity

There is a great need of transporting goods because in southern zones many people
engages in agriculture, hence

many raw materials are produced hence need to be

transported to the Dar es salaam as the head quarter.

Also there is the high demand industrial goods to the southern zones hence this is our

opportunity to engage in this business.

Another opportunity is financial and equipment aids from donors.
Demand for raw materials increase annuay.
Threats

Poor road condition during rainfall seasons.

Another is terrorist caption.
Raising of costs such as the high price of fuel and accidents and injuries
Also the increase of taxes
Low value of money.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS

Before we have created the above project we have carried out and analyzed the problem in
critical manner, hence the problem analysis is another tool for situational analysis and it has two
methods;
Problem tree analysis
Objectives tree analysis
Problem tree analysis

A diagnostic tool to
i.

Analyse the existing situation surrounding a given problem context

ii.

Identify major problems associated with the stated negative condition

iii.

Recognize cause-effect relationships in a simple, transparent way that is easy

for any layperson to follow

Six Steps to carry out and prepare problem tree

i.

Decide on starter (focal or core) problem and place in center

ii.

Place problems that are direct causes under starter, 1 card per problem

iii.

Repeat add direct causes for previous level of problems, until root problem is reached

iv.

Above starter problem place direct effects

v.

Repeat adding direct effects for previous level

vi.

Refine - Analyze cause-effect relationships, move cards around as needed

So in our project the problem tree is drawn as below;

Increased
prices of goods

Increased cost of

Hunger

More demand for

both

EFFECTS

Poor supply and

transport of raw
material between
Dodoma and
southern zones of

Transit goods
transport service is
unreliable and
unsafe between

Core problem

CAUSE

Frequent

Frequent road

Frequent break-

Trucks fleetTrucks
is in are old

Fares only cover

Companies
No investment
runs
75%
of operating

High cost of

Drivers have poor

Small budget for

Fuel and spare

parts price

No minimum
driving skills

Poor trucks

Lack of spare

Import restrictions

Poorly skilled

No skills training

STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

CATEGORIES OF THEIR INTEREST

IMPACTS

STAKEHOLDER
Farmers

OF IMPACTS
Transport

their Positive

products with low

On

time

delivery

due

to

reliable

services
Low
cost

Reliable and on time

transport.
More
dependency on
donors fund
help

cost

Traders

ASSUMPTIONS

of Positive

transportation

Access of transport
in cheap cost.

Benefit
Wholesaler

Benefit

Positive

Access of transport

Commercial
companies

Low

cost

of Positive

and transportation

meet the demand of

dealers
Ministry

Reliable supply to
consumers

of Taxes

Positive

transportation

High revenue from

taxes.

Funds donors

Positive

Improvement

of

market share and

supply
The table of stakeholder analysis

OBJECTIVES ANALYSIS

EFFECTS

Increased
competitive

Improved

Drastic normal

Proper supply of

CORE SOLUTION
Improving transit
goods transport

Reducing

Reduced cost of

Improving on
reliable
services and

OBJECTIVES

Cheaper cost
of

Reducing
Improving driving

Adequate traffic

Bus fleet is in

Poor bus

Policy must be
improved with

Buses are old

More investment
Promote enough

Improving skilled

Import restrictions

Introduces skills

Earning profit

Availability of
fund for
maintenance and
recover

REFERENCES;
Anderson, Gene (March 2005). "Framework for marketing planning". Michigan Business
School.
Luccaco (2012) United nation equity for gender equality and women empowerment (UN
WOMEN)
Roger Rennekamp, Martha Nall and Julie. Situation Analysis
Margoluis, Richard, and Nick Salafsky. 1998. Measures of Success: Designing, Managing, and
Monitoring Conservation and Development Projects. Chapter 3. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
World Conservation Union M&E Initiative. (1999). Situation Analysis: An IUCN Approach and
Method for Strategic Analysis & Planning. World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland.