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| Criterion |  Business Strategy Ansoff Matrix |  Business Strategy GAP Analysis |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Business Strategy SWOT Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The Ansoff Matrix organizes growth options by market and product relation. It helps weigh expansion, diversification, and adaptation cleanly against each other. | GAP Analysis compares the current state with a target picture and makes the distance manageable. It becomes useful when, ahead of new initiatives, it must become clear which capabilities, processes, or resources are missing. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | SWOT Analysis arranges strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats into a compact picture of the situation. It keeps internal capabilities and external influences separate before strategic options emerge from them. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-3 h | 60-120 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Ansoff Matrix, Growth Options, Risk Notes | Gap Matrix, Action Plan, Risk Notes | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | SWOT matrix, Strategic options, Action list |
Tagsno overlap | GrowthStrategyMarketPortfolio | StrategyAnalysisPlanning | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | StrategyAnalysisMarketPositioning |