PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref (PYT) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref
Strengths of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Innovation driven organization
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
High brand equity
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Employees’ less understanding of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Lack of clear differentiation of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref to build a more holistic ecosystem for PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Loyalty marketing
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref in the industry. Now PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Threats PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref are -
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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. PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
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. PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 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 PPLUS Trust Series GSC 2 Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.