Homework
External Factor Analysis Summary Guidelines

Here are some guidelines for completing an EFAS (and IFAS):

External Factors (Column 1):

· Select five strategic opportunities and five strategic threats that are facing your company of choice.

· List each of these factors as either opportunities or threats.

· Give a short description of each factor.

Weight (Column 2):

· The total weight for all of the factors should be 1.00.

· Decide how strategic each of the ten factors is in comparison to each other. As an example, a factor that might have a high strategic significance to the firm may have a weight ranging from .15 to .20. On the other hand, a factor that may have little in the way of strategic significance, when compared to the other nine factors, might have a weight of .05.

Rating (Column 3):

· In this column you are to rate how effective the firm has been in meeting the opportunities and threats, with 5.0 being the top score for any factor. As an example, if you feel a firm is doing a super job of moving into Asia then give a rating of 5.0.

Weighted Score (Column 4):

· Now multiple the scores you have in Columns 2 and 3 for each factor.

· This will produce a weighted score for each factor.

Comments (Column 5):

· Give a short description that reflects why you gave the rating (Column 3) you did to each factor.

Total Scores:

· At the bottom of the matrix you are to record the totals of each Column- Weight (Column 2), Rating (Column 3), and Weighted Score (Column 4).

· The Total Weighted Score should indicate how effective your firm has been in handling its opportunities and threats.