SCE Trust IV Pref (SCE_pj) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for SCE Trust IV Pref (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , SCE Trust IV Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SCE Trust IV Pref
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that SCE Trust IV Pref can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the SCE Trust IV Pref, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of SCE Trust IV Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref
Strengths of SCE Trust IV Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of SCE Trust IV Pref are -
Diverse revenue streams
– SCE Trust IV Pref is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided SCE Trust IV 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of SCE Trust IV Pref in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– SCE Trust IV Pref has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled SCE Trust IV Pref to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– SCE Trust IV 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.
Analytics focus
– SCE Trust IV 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– SCE Trust IV Pref has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. SCE Trust IV 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.
Learning organization
- SCE Trust IV Pref is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at SCE Trust IV Pref is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at SCE Trust IV Pref emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of SCE Trust IV Pref in the sector have low bargaining power. SCE Trust IV Pref has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps SCE Trust IV Pref to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– SCE Trust IV 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.
Innovation driven organization
– SCE Trust IV Pref is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– SCE Trust IV Pref has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled SCE Trust IV Pref to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped SCE Trust IV Pref to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of SCE Trust IV 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.
Weaknesses of SCE Trust IV Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SCE Trust IV Pref are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, SCE Trust IV Pref has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. SCE Trust IV Pref even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
SCE Trust IV 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of SCE Trust IV 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As SCE Trust IV 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as SCE Trust IV Pref is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 SCE Trust IV Pref supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, SCE Trust IV Pref is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left SCE Trust IV Pref vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– SCE Trust IV 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at SCE Trust IV Pref, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. SCE Trust IV Pref has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, SCE Trust IV 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 dependence on SCE Trust IV Pref ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
SCE Trust IV Pref Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of SCE Trust IV Pref are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for SCE Trust IV 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, SCE Trust IV Pref is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SCE Trust IV 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.
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. SCE Trust IV Pref can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– SCE Trust IV 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help SCE Trust IV Pref to increase its market reach. SCE Trust IV 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– SCE Trust IV 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help SCE Trust IV Pref to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects SCE Trust IV Pref can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, SCE Trust IV Pref can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that SCE Trust IV Pref operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
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 SCE Trust IV Pref in the industry. Now SCE Trust IV Pref can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– SCE Trust IV 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.
Buying journey improvements
– SCE Trust IV 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.
Threats SCE Trust IV Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of SCE Trust IV Pref are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– SCE Trust IV 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.
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. SCE Trust IV Pref needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– SCE Trust IV 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.
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 SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. SCE Trust IV 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.
Environmental challenges
– SCE Trust IV 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. SCE Trust IV Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– SCE Trust IV Pref has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, SCE Trust IV 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.
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 SCE Trust IV Pref.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, SCE Trust IV Pref can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate SCE Trust IV Pref prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, SCE Trust IV 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV 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 SCE Trust IV Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
