PhD Defence Richard Puyt | The origins and institutionalization of SWOT analysis - From an underappreciated strategy tool in theory to a widely adopted viral idea in strategic management practice

The origins and institutionalization of SWOT analysis - From an underappreciated strategy tool in theory to a widely adopted viral idea in strategic management practice

Richard Puyt is a PhD student in the Department of Change Management & Organization Behaviour. Promotors are prof.dr. C.P.M. Wilderom from the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences and prof.dr. D.Ø. Madsen from the University of South-Eastern Norway.

This dissertation argues that SWOT analysis functions as a metaphor—an analytical tool with no clear origin in the literature, leading to repetition without reflection rather than meaningful theoretical progression. It critically engages with key issues in academic discourse, including the challenges of abstract theorization, revisionism in strategic planning and management history, and the reification of ‘mundane’ strategy tools. Additionally, it highlights the underappreciation of archival research methods in strategy scholarship.

The central aim of this dissertation is to explore how ‘viral’ ideas from the early days of Long-Range Planning have evolved over time. Focusing on SWOT analysis, it traces its development and examines how various iterations proliferated in academic literature, while its original methodology became diluted and largely forgotten. A key aspect of this research is the first documented use of SWOT analysis, investigating why its initial publication faded into obscurity. As Booth aptly notes, ‘most contemporary approaches to strategy are profoundly ahistorical, and are significantly impoverished as a result.’

Grounded in Lovejoy’s history of ideas and Foucault’s archaeology of knowledge, this research situates itself within the history of strategic management. Using Scandinavian institutional theory on ‘traveling ideas’, it applies historical reflexivity and evidence-based management to examine how concepts evolve across different contexts.

This work makes five key contributions. It integrates interdisciplinary perspectives, spanning AI, institutional theory, long-range planning, and management history. It identifies Robert Franklin Stewart as a key yet overlooked figure in strategic planning, uncovers Stewart’s System of Plans, and recognizes the SOFT approach as the foundation of SWOT analysis. The dissertation also develops a step-by-step historical research methodology for strategy scholars, deepens the understanding of management concept evolution, and investigates the diffusion of management ideas through ‘mind virus’ carriers. Finally, it contributes to historical preservation with the establishment of the Ansoff Archives at the University of Twente.