Before beginning any talent management initiative, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of an organization's current talent management function can help ensure the initiative is adding value to the organization. It can also lead to sound decisions and act as a foundation for the initiative. The first step of developing the matrix is to create a series of questions across both internal and external dimensions for each section of the matrix for the organization to answer. These questions will help align the talent management initiative with the organizational strategy.

For this week's Application Assignment, select an organization with which you are familiar or that offers easily accessible public information. For example, it could be an organization in which you work or a large organization such as McDonald's or Starbucks. You are to develop a series of questions for this organization that will help you easily identify internal strengths and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities.

All papers will have an introductory paragraph that tells us a little about talent management and the use of SWOT, then introduces the company that you are preparing the SWOT for, followed by a section where you will create 3-5 questions to be used in each area of the SWOT, for a total of 12-15 questions that align the talent management initiative with the organizational strategy.

There should be a conclusive paragraph that hits the top 2 - 3 key points made in the paper, followed by references that were used for all the in-text citations. Use APA format and draw upon this week's readings and your research on SWOT analysis.