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| Criterion |  Business Strategy SWOT Analysis |  Decision Making Decision Matrix |  Business Strategy TOWS Matrix |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | When several options collide with several criteria, comparison quickly becomes subjective. A Decision Matrix makes the trade-off visible and brings weighting, criteria, and options into a shared logic. | The TOWS Matrix connects internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats into action-oriented strategies. It goes a step further than a pure stocktaking. | With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 45-90 min | 1-2 h | 45-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 2-8 | 3-10 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | SWOT matrix, Strategic options, Action list | Decision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected Option | TOWS Matrix, Strategic Options, Priority Actions | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides |
Tagsno overlap | StrategyAnalysisMarketPositioning | DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs | StrategyAnalysisOptions | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions |