Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref (PCG_pd) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref (United States)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Electric Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref

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Strengths of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref are -

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Electric Utilities industry

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Electric Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Innovation driven organization

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is one of the most innovative firm in Electric Utilities sector.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is one of the leading players in the Electric Utilities industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Strong track record of project management in the Electric Utilities industry

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Organizational Resilience of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High brand equity

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref in Electric Utilities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref staying ahead in the Electric Utilities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

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Weaknesses of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref are -

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to provide better information regarding Electric Utilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref, in the dynamic environment of Electric Utilities industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Electric Utilities industry, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.

Need for greater diversity

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is one of the leading players in the Electric Utilities industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Electric Utilities industry in last five years.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has high operating costs in the Electric Utilities industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref lucrative customers.

High dependence on Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Electric Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Skills based hiring in Electric Utilities industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Electric Utilities industry, but Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to focus more on services in the Electric Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Lack of clear differentiation of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

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Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref are -

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Electric Utilities sector.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

Loyalty marketing

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Electric Utilities industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref in the Electric Utilities industry. Now Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Manufacturing automation

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Electric Utilities sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to increase its market reach. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Electric Utilities industry. This can help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to build a more holistic ecosystem for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref products in the Electric Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Electric Utilities industry.

Reconfiguring business model

– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Developing new processes and practices

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can develop new processes and procedures in Electric Utilities industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can utilize new technology in the field of Electric Utilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

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Threats Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref are -

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Electric Utilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Electric Utilities sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref in the Electric Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref in Electric Utilities industry. The Electric Utilities industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.

Environmental challenges

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Electric Utilities industry.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the Electric Utilities industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Electric Utilities sector.

Backlash against dominant players

– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is facing in Electric Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in Electric Utilities industry and other sectors.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Electric Utilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pd Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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