Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref (PIY) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref
Strengths of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Training and development
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Analytics focus
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 lead change in
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Weaknesses of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has some of the most successful models in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref to build a more holistic ecosystem for Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Threats Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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. Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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.
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.
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. Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 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 Preferredplus Trust Ser Czn 1 Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
