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| Criterion | ![]() Business Strategy TOWS Matrix | ![]() Facilitation Alignment Mapping | ![]() Business Strategy SWOT Analysis | ![]() Business Strategy PESTLE Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | 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. | PESTLE Analysis makes political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental influences visible. The environment of an initiative is thereby read systematically instead of through isolated trends. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 1-2 h | 30-60 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 4-12 | 3-12 | 2-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | TOWS Matrix, Strategic Options, Priority Actions | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | SWOT matrix, Strategic options, Action list | PESTLE Map, External Risks, Strategic Questions |
Tags1 shared | StrategyAnalysisOptions | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | StrategyAnalysisMarketPositioning | StrategyMarketAnalysis |



