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Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy


Wuxi Suntech was founded in 2001 by Dr. Shi Zhengrong, an internationally recognized scholar in the photovoltaic (PV) and renewable energy engineering. Suntech, the first private Chinese company to list on the New York Stock Exchange, was the largest solar PV manufacturer in China and the world's third largest. Its story was once recognized as a 'perfect match' of the promising new energy industry with the technical know-how and the comparative advantage of Chinese manufactured exports as well as the financial power of global capital markets. The bankruptcy of such a successful company was hence a puzzle to the business society in China and the world. How did the company rapidly emerge as an industry leader in the booming solar PV market but suddenly fail during the global financial crisis period? The case of Wuxi Suntech's bankruptcy under Dr. Shi's leadership provides rich material for the analysis of business strategy, industry structure, entrepreneurship, emerging markets and finance.

Authors :: Cao Yong

Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Tags :: Financial management, Government, IPO, Manufacturing, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy" written by Cao Yong includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wuxi Pv facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Government, IPO, Manufacturing and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wuxi Pv, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wuxi Pv 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 Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wuxi Pv
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Wuxi Pv




Strengths Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Wuxi Pv in Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy Harvard Business Review case study are -

Strong track record of project management

– Wuxi Pv is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Wuxi Pv has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Wuxi Pv in the sector have low bargaining power. Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wuxi Pv to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Wuxi Pv 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Wuxi Pv 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

– Wuxi Pv has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wuxi Pv 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.

Training and development

– Wuxi Pv has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Analytics focus

– Wuxi Pv 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 Cao Yong 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Wuxi Pv is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy Harvard Business Review case study 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.

Organizational Resilience of Wuxi Pv

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wuxi Pv does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High brand equity

– Wuxi Pv has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Wuxi Pv to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.






Weaknesses Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy are -

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Wuxi Pv, firm in the HBR case study Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wuxi Pv has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Wuxi Pv 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Wuxi Pv 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Wuxi Pv 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy, it seems that the employees of Wuxi Pv 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy, is just above the industry average. Wuxi Pv 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 star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy 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 Wuxi Pv has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Wuxi Pv 's lucrative customers.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Cao Yong suggests that, Wuxi Pv 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 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 Wuxi Pv supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Wuxi Pv vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.




Opportunities Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy | 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 Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy are -

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Wuxi Pv to increase its market reach. Wuxi Pv 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

– Wuxi Pv 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wuxi Pv 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Wuxi Pv can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wuxi Pv can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Manufacturing automation

– Wuxi Pv can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Wuxi Pv 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 Wuxi Pv to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wuxi Pv is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Wuxi Pv 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.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Wuxi Pv can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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 Wuxi Pv 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.

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 Wuxi Pv in the consumer business. Now Wuxi Pv can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wuxi Pv can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.




Threats Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Wuxi Pv 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.

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. Wuxi Pv needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Wuxi Pv.

Increasing wage structure of Wuxi Pv

– 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 Wuxi Pv.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy, Wuxi Pv may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Wuxi Pv is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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.

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 Wuxi Pv business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wuxi Pv 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 prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy .

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 Wuxi Pv in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Wuxi Pv 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Wuxi Pv 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Wuxi Pv 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 field.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy 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 Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy 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 Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy 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 Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy 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 Cracking the Puzzle of Wuxi Suntech's Bankruptcy 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 Wuxi Pv needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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