Identifying Determinants of SWOT Analysis for ICT Sector in Bangladesh

Abstract

The main objective of the paper is to find determinants or factors that must
be considered while conducting SWOT analysis of a business organization in the
broad area of information technology (IT) with special reference to Bangladesh. In
order to achieve the set aims and objectives of the paper, primary data have been
collected from active business organizations in the broad area of information
technology using a pre-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed
on the basis of expert opinion collected from in-depth interview with some industry
experts. Then, it was pre-tested on a set 20 experts in the business other than those
previously interviewed. The pre-test ended with some corrections of the original
questionnaire. The final version was sent to a sample of 100 firms selected randomly
and 97 filled-in questionnaires were returned resulting in a high rate of response.
The paper employs Likert-scale type questionnaire to collect data. After collecting
the data, valid responses are being coded in order to make analysis towards
hypothesis testing. The null and alternative hypotheses for each item in the four
categories of SWOT analysis were tested. For an aspect in each category, we have to
calculate associated sample t-statistic from the mean and standard deviation of the
responses. A decision is made, i.e., whether we reject or accept the null, on the basis
of the calculated t-statistic. The findings of the paper are presented in tabular form.
Table I reports the important aspects that need to be taken into account when an IT
firm's strength is analyzed. Table 2 reports important measures in the area of
judging weaknesses of a firm in ICT industry. The paper also attempts to identify the
issues and aspects that must be taken into account when singling out the
opportunities for a firm in the IT industry. The results of this enquiry are reported in
Table 3. Table 4 reports the results of the responses regarding identification of the
threats for an IT firm in Bangladesh.