1.4 Threats

Threats represent events or developments that are not welcome but which might provide you, or your organisation, with a chance to take action or develop new thinking in order to meet these challenges. Sometimes such threats can stimulate creative thinking from which profitable ideas may emerge. Think about the following questions to help identify potential threats.

• Are there major world factors – political, economic, social or technological – that might have negative consequences for your sector?
• Is your sector or industry changing in ways that threaten the viability of your organisation?
• Are your competitors changing in ways that might affect your organisation’s profitability?
• Are your customers changing their behaviour in ways that might have damaging implications for your organisation?
• Are there specific obstacles to how effective you are at work – colleagues, structures, management, etc.?