Solar Enertech Corp (SOEN) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Semiconductors
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Solar Enertech Corp (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Solar Enertech Corp is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization,
technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Solar Enertech Corp
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Solar Enertech Corp can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Solar Enertech Corp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Solar Enertech Corp 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 Solar Enertech Corp can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Solar Enertech Corp
2. Improving business portfolio management of Solar Enertech Corp
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Semiconductors sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Solar Enertech Corp
Strengths of Solar Enertech Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Solar Enertech Corp are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Solar Enertech Corp has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Semiconductors industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Solar Enertech Corp have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Solar Enertech Corp has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Solar Enertech Corp staying ahead in the Semiconductors industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Semiconductors industry
– Solar Enertech Corp has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Solar Enertech Corp to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Semiconductors industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Solar Enertech Corp to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Semiconductors
– Solar Enertech Corp is one of the leading players in the Semiconductors industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Semiconductors industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Solar Enertech Corp in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Solar Enertech Corp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Solar Enertech Corp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Solar Enertech Corp in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Solar Enertech Corp has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Solar Enertech Corp to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Solar Enertech Corp is one of the most innovative firm in Semiconductors sector.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Solar Enertech Corp has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Organizational Resilience of Solar Enertech Corp
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Solar Enertech Corp does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Solar Enertech Corp comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Semiconductors 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.
Analytics focus
– Solar Enertech Corp 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 Semiconductors industry. The technology infrastructure of United States is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Weaknesses of Solar Enertech Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Solar Enertech Corp are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Solar Enertech Corp is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Solar Enertech Corp to provide better information regarding Semiconductors products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Solar Enertech Corp is one of the leading players in the Semiconductors industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Semiconductors industry in last five years.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Solar Enertech Corp has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Semiconductors industry over the last five years. Solar Enertech Corp 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Solar Enertech Corp has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Semiconductors 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 Solar Enertech Corp is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Semiconductors industry, but Solar Enertech Corp needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Solar Enertech Corp to focus more on services in the Semiconductors industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Solar Enertech Corp is just above the Semiconductors industry average. It 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Solar Enertech Corp products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Solar Enertech Corp needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Semiconductors industry, Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Solar Enertech Corp needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring in Semiconductors industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Solar Enertech Corp, in the dynamic environment of Semiconductors industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Solar Enertech Corp has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Solar Enertech Corp Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Solar Enertech Corp are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Solar Enertech Corp 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. Solar Enertech Corp can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Solar Enertech Corp is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Solar Enertech Corp can utilize new technology in the field of Semiconductors industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Solar Enertech Corp to increase its market reach. Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Semiconductors industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Solar Enertech Corp 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. Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Solar Enertech Corp can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Solar Enertech Corp operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Semiconductors sector.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Semiconductors industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Solar Enertech Corp in the Semiconductors industry. Now Solar Enertech Corp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Solar Enertech Corp 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 Semiconductors industry.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Solar Enertech Corp can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Semiconductors industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Solar Enertech Corp in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Semiconductors industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Solar Enertech Corp can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Semiconductors sector. 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.
Threats Solar Enertech Corp External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Solar Enertech Corp are -
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 Solar Enertech Corp.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Semiconductors industry are lowering. It can presents Solar Enertech Corp with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Semiconductors sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Solar Enertech Corp 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.
Increasing wage structure of Solar Enertech Corp
– 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 Solar Enertech Corp.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Solar Enertech Corp 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 Solar Enertech Corp prominent markets.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Solar Enertech Corp 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 Semiconductors industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Solar Enertech Corp may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Semiconductors sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Solar Enertech Corp in Semiconductors industry. The Semiconductors 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Solar Enertech Corp is facing in Semiconductors sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Solar Enertech Corp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Semiconductors industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Solar Enertech Corp needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Semiconductors 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. Solar Enertech Corp needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Semiconductors industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Solar Enertech Corp 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. Solar Enertech Corp can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Semiconductors 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 Solar Enertech Corp in the Semiconductors sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Solar Enertech Corp Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Solar Enertech Corp 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 Solar Enertech Corp 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 Solar Enertech Corp 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 Solar Enertech Corp 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 Solar Enertech Corp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.