What is difference between threats and weaknesses?

Answer 1

A threat is an external danger, while a weakness is an internal vulnerability.

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In nature, a deer would perceive a wolf as a threat, because the wolf is an external entity that is capable of hunting and possibly killing the deer. The same deer might perceive its own injured leg as a weakness, because that injury is an internal factor that limits the deer's ability to evade the wolf's attack.

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In business, a threat is an other organization's ability to negatively impact your company's ability to achieve its goals. For example, another company may have just announced the launch of a new product that performs better and costs less than your product does, thus making it more difficult for your company to achieve its desired sales targets. An example of a weakness within your company might be that you have little research and development funds available, making upgrades to your product more difficult to match your competitor's new product.

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Weaknesses can exist in other entities too, just as you can harbor threats. In the nature example above, suppose the wolf has a disease that caused it to go blind in one eye - that is a weakness internal to the wolf that reduces its threat upon the deer. In business, managers evaluate all the known and suspected threats and weaknesses across all the relevant organizations (including their own) in an attempt to assess the overall risk factors before undertaking specific initiatives.