Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref (PCG_pi) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi 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 Pi 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.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref
Strengths of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is one of the leading players in the 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref in the sector have low bargaining power. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has one of the best training and development program in industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi Pref staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure of United States is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi Pref to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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.
Weaknesses of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has high operating costs in the 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 Pi Pref lucrative customers.
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 Pi Pref is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is one of the leading players in the industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is just above the industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi Pref to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi Pref are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi Pref can develop new processes and procedures in 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.
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 Pi Pref can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to increase its market reach. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi Pref has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to build a more holistic ecosystem for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 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 Pi 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref can utilize new technology in the field of industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 industry.
Environmental challenges
– Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
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 Pi Pref in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 industry and other sectors.
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 Pi 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Pi Pref business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 sector.
Increasing wage structure of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi Pref with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Pi Pref in industry. The 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pacific Gas and Electric Co Pi 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 Pi 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 Pi 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 Pi 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 Pi 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 Pi Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
