Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide
This case introduces the readers to information regarding the organization building journey of Ather Energy, an Indian start-up in the electric vehicle (EV) industry and the entrepreneurial journey of its founders. The case deals with challenges that Ather Energy faces as it works to bring its product, a two-wheeler EV, to market, adopting practices that were against the established industry norms (the internal combustion engine vehicles). The case outlines the overall environment of the EV industry across the world and in India, discussing key areas like government interventions, major existing players in the EV industry and key developments that have transpired over the past years. It then traces the journey of Ather Energy and its founders, focusing on the key phases through which it traversed as it grew from a two-membered start-up basis out of an incubator to a 350+ firm working to ensure that their product has a hassle-free entry into the market. The case outlines the background of the founders, their learnings on the course of developing their product, and the challenges faced in various stages of developing the product. The envisaged sustainability of Ather Energy and its product are then discussed, along with the challenges envisaged.
Swot Analysis of "Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide" written by Anshuman Tripathy, Amey Sahasrabuddhe, Indrasis Bose includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ather Ev facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions, Organizational structure and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ather Ev, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ather Ev 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ather Ev
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ather Ev
Strengths Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ather Ev in Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ather Ev 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ather Ev digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ather Ev 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ather Ev to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ather Ev to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Ather Ev 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 Ather Ev is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ather Ev is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Ather Ev 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 Ather Ev in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ather Ev in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Ather Ev is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ather Ev in the sector have low bargaining power. Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ather Ev to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ather Ev is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ather Ev 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide are -
Need for greater diversity
– Ather Ev 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ather Ev 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 - Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ather Ev is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide, is just above the industry average. Ather Ev 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide HBR case study mentions - Ather Ev 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ather Ev 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide, in the dynamic environment Ather Ev has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ather Ev has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ather Ev 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ather Ev has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Ather Ev even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ather Ev is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide | 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Ather Ev can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ather Ev in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ather Ev has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ather Ev to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide case study. Ather Ev can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ather Ev 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, Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ather Ev 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ather Ev can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Ather Ev in the consumer business. Now Ather Ev 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, Ather Ev is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ather Ev 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ather Ev to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Ather Ev can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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 Ather Ev 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 Ather Ev to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Ather Ev 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, Ather Ev can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ather Ev operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Threats Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide are -
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. Ather Ev 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
– Ather Ev 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ather Ev 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.
Environmental challenges
– Ather Ev 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. Ather Ev can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations 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 Ather Ev in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ather Ev can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide, Ather Ev may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ather Ev has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ather Ev needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
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 Ather Ev.
Increasing wage structure of Ather Ev
– 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 Ather Ev.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ather Ev 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide 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 Ather Energy: Riding the Electric Vehicle Tide 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 Ather Ev needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
