Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A)
In 2015, the Nevada Public Utility Commission (PUC) passed a ruling that essentially eliminated net metering, dramatically reducing the compensation rate for home solar owners selling excess electricity back to the utility company. As a result, solar companies, including Sunrun, were forced to close down operations, severing 3,000 industry jobs. This case profiles the PUC's decision, and Sunrun's strategy in dealing with out-of-market forces in order to retain a sales presence in the state of Nevada.
Swot Analysis of "Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A)" written by Steven Callander includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nevada Sunrun facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nevada Sunrun, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nevada Sunrun 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nevada Sunrun
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Nevada Sunrun
Strengths Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nevada Sunrun in Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nevada Sunrun is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nevada Sunrun has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nevada Sunrun 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Nevada Sunrun in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nevada Sunrun in the sector have low bargaining power. Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nevada Sunrun to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Nevada Sunrun has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nevada Sunrun 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nevada Sunrun is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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.
Analytics focus
– Nevada Sunrun 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 Steven Callander 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.
Organizational Resilience of Nevada Sunrun
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nevada Sunrun does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nevada Sunrun 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Nevada Sunrun has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nevada Sunrun to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Nevada Sunrun is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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 Nevada Sunrun has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Nevada Sunrun supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nevada Sunrun vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Nevada Sunrun 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
Nevada Sunrun 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nevada Sunrun is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Nevada Sunrun needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nevada Sunrun to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A), in the dynamic environment Nevada Sunrun has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nevada Sunrun has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nevada Sunrun 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Nevada Sunrun, firm in the HBR case study Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Nevada Sunrun 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) HBR case study mentions - Nevada Sunrun 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nevada Sunrun is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) | 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Nevada Sunrun can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Global Business segment.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Nevada Sunrun 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Nevada Sunrun 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. Nevada Sunrun 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nevada Sunrun 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, Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Nevada Sunrun 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nevada Sunrun to increase its market reach. Nevada Sunrun 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.
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. Nevada Sunrun can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Nevada Sunrun can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Nevada Sunrun 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nevada Sunrun can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nevada Sunrun operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Nevada Sunrun 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nevada Sunrun to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Nevada Sunrun can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nevada Sunrun has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nevada Sunrun to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) case study. Nevada Sunrun can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nevada Sunrun in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nevada Sunrun 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nevada Sunrun 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) .
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 Nevada Sunrun in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nevada Sunrun 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.
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 Nevada Sunrun.
Regulatory challenges
– Nevada Sunrun 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nevada Sunrun has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nevada Sunrun needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
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 Nevada Sunrun business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Nevada Sunrun can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Nevada Sunrun 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. Nevada Sunrun can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business 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. Nevada Sunrun needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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 Sunrun in 2017: Net Metering in Nevada (A) 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 Nevada Sunrun needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
