A SWOT Analysis might have helped Electronic Arts (EA) analyze its slippages by identifying the internal weaknesses and external threats and then taking steps to mitigate them. The fact that EA games is experiencing failures to meet certain deadlines means that there is a problem somewhere in the distribution process. Perhaps the weaknesses stems from the financial department and their inability to release launch funds on time. This weakness has to be mitigated by changing the leadership in the financial department or improving the funds allocation process. Alternatively, it could be that the distributors are stalling the distribution of EA games into the market because they have internal problems or for legal reasons. In that case, the management should find a new distributor because the current one is a threat.

Knowledge is power, and a SWOT analysis is a great way for any company to assess its challenges, figure out what it is doing right, and ensure that they remain on the cutting edge of their industry. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Analyzing the strengths of a company involves thinking about what you do better than anybody else and what people in your target market perceive the company to be great at. For example, the fact that Electronic Arts has a long-established legacy in the gaming industry is a strength. This could have been capitalized on in the form of a marketing campaign to prevent further slippage.

Looking at a company's weaknesses is about considering what you could improve, what should be avoided, and what factors could be causing you to lose market share. In the case of Electronic Arts, an example of a possible weakness could have been a lack of new games to entice the market.

When it comes to opportunities, it's time to brainstorm and consider how your organization can capitalize on developments in technology, transforming societies, and changes to the profile of the gaming community. Once armed with knowledge of these opportunities, Electronic Arts could develop new products accordingly and market them appropriately.

Lastly, when looking at threats, one needs to consider factors such as budget constraints, any debt the company has, and competitor activity. The ever-changing marketplace can also be a threat in certain contexts. In the case of Electronic Arts, analyzing their threats would provide insights into the type of games that competitors are doing well from and what they are doing to get ahead. With this knowledge, Electronic Arts would know what course of action to take to counteract slippage.

Electronic Arts could have benefited from using a SWOT analysis.  A SWOT or Strengths (Internal), Weaknesses (Internal), Opportunities (External), Threats (External) will show what issues or opportunities the company has in their business.  For example, by knowing what the company's strengths are they could have further capitalized on those years of experience.  By examining their weaknesses, they would have uncovered areas that needed improvement such as improvements in graphic design of their games, customer issues with cost of games and endings of games (Mass Effect 3)  Electronic Arts could have seen that they did have Opportunities by changing how they deliver their games (such as via cell phone apps).  Lastly, a threat analysis would have uncovered competitor plans and would have allowed Electronic Arts to improve their product line and not just purchase competitors and gut them.