GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun
GREENoneTEC, the global market leader in manufacturing flat plate solar thermal collectors, was facing new challenges: the potential market entry of Chinese low-cost competitors and a substitution threat from photovoltaics. The company's founder and chief executive officer had developed GREENoneTEC from a garage start-up to the industry's leading firm; however, GREENoneTEC's research and development, production, quality, sales and distribution strategies, and diversification into other segments of the solar market would all have to be considered from new angles. How could GREENoneTEC create and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in this changing and difficult environment?
Swot Analysis of "GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun" written by Dietmar Sternad includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Greenonetec Solar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Greenonetec Solar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Greenonetec Solar 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 GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Greenonetec Solar
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Greenonetec Solar
Strengths GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Greenonetec Solar in GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Greenonetec Solar in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Greenonetec Solar has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Greenonetec Solar to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Greenonetec Solar is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Greenonetec Solar in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Greenonetec Solar has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun - 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
– Greenonetec Solar 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 suggested by Dietmar Sternad can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Greenonetec Solar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Greenonetec Solar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Greenonetec Solar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Greenonetec Solar is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Greenonetec Solar
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Greenonetec Solar does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Greenonetec Solar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun case study 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 Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Greenonetec Solar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Greenonetec Solar 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.
Learning organization
- Greenonetec Solar 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 Greenonetec Solar is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun are -
Need for greater diversity
– Greenonetec Solar 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Greenonetec Solar 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
– After analyzing the HBR case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun, it seems that the employees of Greenonetec Solar 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun that the firm 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 in the case GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Greenonetec Solar is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Greenonetec Solar 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Greenonetec Solar has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Greenonetec Solar products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Greenonetec Solar needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Greenonetec Solar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Greenonetec Solar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Greenonetec Solar has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun HBR case study mentions - Greenonetec Solar 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.
Opportunities GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun are -
Loyalty marketing
– Greenonetec Solar 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
– Greenonetec Solar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun suggest that firm 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Greenonetec Solar can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Greenonetec Solar can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Manufacturing automation
– Greenonetec Solar can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution segment. 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Greenonetec Solar 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 Greenonetec Solar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Greenonetec Solar in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Greenonetec Solar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Greenonetec Solar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun case study. Greenonetec Solar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Greenonetec Solar has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Greenonetec Solar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Greenonetec Solar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Greenonetec Solar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Greenonetec Solar in the consumer business. Now Greenonetec Solar can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Greenonetec Solar is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Greenonetec Solar 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Greenonetec Solar can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Threats GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun, Greenonetec Solar may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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. Greenonetec Solar needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Greenonetec Solar is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Greenonetec Solar 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 the industry and other sectors.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Greenonetec Solar
– 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 Greenonetec Solar.
Environmental challenges
– Greenonetec Solar 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. Greenonetec Solar can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution 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 Greenonetec Solar in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Greenonetec Solar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Greenonetec Solar needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Greenonetec Solar in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Greenonetec Solar 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Greenonetec Solar 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
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. Greenonetec Solar 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun 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 the case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun 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 the Harvard case study GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun 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 GREENoneTEC: Fierce Competition Under the Sun is 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 Greenonetec Solar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.