Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions
Sunrise Power, a first-generation mid-sized power and mining company in India, was considering geographical diversification in the African continent. While many African nations were rich in resources, they often lagged in economic indicators, and global companies hesitated to invest in infrastructure due to limited risk appetite. However, this left an opportunity for mid-sized firms such as Sunrise Power, so long as they could attain regulatory support and ensure high returns. Sunrise Power needed to evaluate the complexities in identifying the right market in Southern Africa. This included examining indicators like population, gross domestic product, energy demand forecasts, and electrification capacity. The firm also had to identify the critical success factors and assess the risks in the strategy planning process. Finally, it needed to design an organizational structure for its African venture so as to realize the benefits of diversification. Sanjeev Kumar Prasad is affiliated with XLRI School of Business and Human Resources.
Swot Analysis of "Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions" written by Sanjeev Kumar Prasad includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sunrise Power facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sunrise Power, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sunrise Power
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 Sunrise Power
Strengths Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sunrise Power in Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Sunrise Power is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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.
High brand equity
– Sunrise Power has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sunrise Power to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sunrise Power to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sunrise Power to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sunrise Power has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sunrise Power in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Sunrise Power is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Sunrise Power is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Sunrise Power
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sunrise Power does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sunrise Power 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 - Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sunrise Power is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sunrise Power products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sunrise Power vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions, is just above the industry average. Sunrise Power 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sunrise Power is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Sunrise Power needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sunrise Power to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sunrise Power 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sunrise Power is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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 Sunrise Power has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sanjeev Kumar Prasad suggests that, Sunrise Power 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.
Opportunities Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions | 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions are -
Loyalty marketing
– Sunrise Power 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sunrise Power is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sunrise Power can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sunrise Power operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Sunrise Power 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sunrise Power 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sunrise Power to increase its market reach. Sunrise Power 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sunrise Power has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sunrise Power to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions case study. Sunrise Power 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
– Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Sunrise Power can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sunrise Power 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sunrise Power 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.
Threats Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sunrise Power is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sunrise Power has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sunrise Power 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.
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. Sunrise Power needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sunrise Power 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sunrise Power 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.
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sunrise Power 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.
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 Sunrise Power in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sunrise Power 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions .
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. Sunrise Power 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
– Sunrise Power 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. Sunrise Power can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sunrise Power 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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 Sunrise Power Limited: Charting Growth in Unexplored Regions 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 Sunrise Power needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.