Pros
Being part of Engie has the usual perks associated with belonging to most gigantic (and reasonably well managed from financial perspective, not necessarily strategically) organizations: vast asset base allows the generation of huge amount of operating cash flow and hence relative financial stability (for the short term at least); prudent balance sheet management, well-established relationship with the banking communicty and easy access to the capital market leave the spigot of liquidity constantly on when it comes to new investments (again for the short term at least); economy of scale innate to the energy infrastructure business means that the company can afford to compensate employees with a competitive base salary and generous bonus pay out (again for the short term at least); the company's presence across the globe creates job opportunity for those who wishes to move around.
Cons
On the other hand, Engie is also hobbled by the same pitfalls that trouble most big companies. Layers of management and committee-based decision making process slow things down. The company tries to reinvent itself in the midst of the rise of decentralized electricity generation by setting up internal incubators and VC type of inevstment vehicles. But the culture, organizational structure and incentive package may not be condusive to generatiing real transformational innovations. Whatever incremental innovations that do come to fruition dwarf the existing scale of the company and therefore have little impact on the company's bottom line in the near to medium term. Eventually, the question facing the shareholders is probably: should Engie exist in its current form?
