Target market solar energy products

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TEAM 2 MARKETING PLAN SHELL

CANADIAN SOLAR INC.

MBA640 – Innovation Through Marketing and Technology

Executive Summary

Situation Analysis

Company Overview

Canadian Solar Inc. (Canadian Solar) is one of the largest manufacturers of solar panels. It is a Chinese Company based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. According to Bloomberg, the Company is a provider of solar power products, services, and system solutions with operations in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and Asia (Canadian Power). The Company was founded in 2001 in Ontario, Canada. Today the Company has successive subsidiaries in 19 countries around the world. China and Canada is where the Company’s manufacturing facilities are located. The Company markets their products to diverse customers in various markets, including Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Czech Republic, China, the US, Canada, Japan, and India. Canadian Solar is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

The Company is listed as CSIQ on the NASDAQ market with reported revenues of (US Dollars) US$3,744.5 million for the fiscal year ended December 2018 (FY2018), an increase of 10.4% over FY2017. In FY2018, the Company’s operating margin was 9.7%, compared to an operating margin of 7.9% in FY2017. In FY2018, the Company recorded a net margin of 6.3%, compared to a net margin of 2.9% in FY2017 (E Trade, 2019).

Canadian Solar employees 12,000 people in 12 different countries, 70% work in China, and of those 30% are female. Canadian Solar has strong employee labor rights in all of their facilities.

Mission

The Company’s vision, as described by Dr. Qu is to foster sustainable development and to make lives better by bringing electricity powered by the sun to millions of people worldwide (Canadian Solar Inc., 2018). Canadian Solar Inc.’s mission is the delivery of clean, safe and affordable solar energy (Canadian Solar Inc., n.d.).

Customers have a choice to invest in a single module or a tailor-made energy solution. In an effort to help those customers make difficult choices, Canadian Solar is dedicated and has made it a mission since their inception, to help customers make changes for the betterment of their lives. Their PV panels are thoroughly tested and proven to work effectively even under harsh conditions. Their dedication to their products and to supporting their customers in over 20 countries also demonstrates attractive bankability for the Company. Their customers can always depend on Canadian Solar Inc. to deliver quality products and are content with showing their buying commitments and devotion to support an exceedingly credible solar energy business.

Product or service description

Canadian Solar Inc. is a leading global provider of solar energy and the manufacture of solar PV modules. With successive subsidiaries in counties like the USA, Brazil, Canada, south-east Asian counties, and China, the Company provides service and produce over 36 GW of quality solar modules. Additionally, the Company’s energy segments are primarily developed, operated, maintained and sold in the aforementioned successive subsidiaries. The Company has 4.7 GW solar power plants built globally. These plants maintain a power source operating at 795.8 MWp with an estimated resale value of one billion US dollars (Canadian Solar, 2018).

Products include module segment, energy development segment, and electricity generation as well as the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products for use in a range of residential, commercial and industrial solar power generation systems. The Company offers various products, including ingots, wafers, solar cells, solar power systems, and solar products.

Value Proposition

Canadian Solar is dedicated to making a difference and changing the lives of all their customers with the intention to retain and attract new ones. Regardless of the customers investment decision in a stand-alone module or an alternate energy solution, the Company guarantees their products and services. Further, these panels provide a steadfast energy resource even when challenged with severe climate changes. To assure the effectiveness of their products, Canadian Solar Inc. closely assess their PV panels before final distribution. As a precautionary measure, the Company offer their customers a 25-year warranty to use towards any unexpected malfunctions. Based on this declaration and the excellent customer support in over 20 countries, Canadian Solar is an attractive Company for investing and purchasing products. Canadian Solar Inc. made a promise to their customers. Additionally, this promise was to always make their customers feel comfortable with their decisions to conduct business with the Company because of their status as a highly ranked, reliable service provider and manufacturer of solar energy products (One Stop Report, 2019).

Canadian Solar’s value proposition is to make a difference, a positive contribution to society and the environment by providing exceptional, sustainable products and services for all its stakeholders (Canadian Solar Inc., 2019). In their 2018 Sustainability Report (2019), the Company states we are here to do good while doing good business. To that end, Canadian Solar not only believes in providing superior quality products but being socially responsible, by promoting awareness, supporting local communities, preserving fairness in trade and ensuring diversity and inclusion in its workforce.

Ron Kube 4

Figure 1 Example of Canadian Solar Product

SWOT Analysis

Canadian Solar Inc. can use a SWOT analysis as a tool to plan and assess market activity related to growth and the expansion of sales. A SWOT analysis is also beneficial in helping the Company measure competition. Additionally, this SWOT analysis will determine the internal and external strategic factors related to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the business.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

· Canadian Solar Inc. has significant strength and is dominant in the marketplace

· A leading producer of solar energy and the manufacture of solar PV modules

· Superb performance in marketing new products

· The company has earned trust and loyalty amongst their customers

· Conducts market segmenting surveys to become informative of consumers needs

· The company’s supply chain is efficient through block chain technologies

· Manages multiple pipeline projects including acquisitions and strategic planning

· Company’s brand is not fully advertised

· The company is not meeting some of the expected advancements for power operating sources

· Canadian Solar is not invested in Research and Development (R&D) in over two years.

· A bad reputation associated with environmental conservation

· High attrition among workers in some parts of the organization

· The company has rented property instead of purchased resulting in unnecessary borrowing due to lack of cash flow

· The company has a chance to explore renewable source of energy and product market of other countries

· Plans to increase their marketplace activity at fifty percent or higher

· Shipping costs have decreased significantly and allows Canadian Solar to increase their profit margin

· Development in current technology advancements will help the company create new strategies and ideas for new products

· The lack of an experienced and skilled workforce

· Slow growth rate in parts of the world it operates

· The rise of raw materials can be a significant threat that affects the whole organization, which will increase the cost of products

· A change in how customers purchase goods physically as oppose to buying online

· The business outlook is primarily based on management's current views and estimates about market conditions (potentially subject to change).

Strengths

· As a leading producer of solar energy and the manufacture of solar PV modules, Canadian Solar Inc. has significant strength and is dominant in the marketplace. As a result of its current leading position in the market, the Company can introduce new items. The organizational history of a reliable distribution network has allowed products to be distributed to other suppliers and companies. The Company also has an excellent track record of providing quality products to many technology companies, which has widened its position in the retail market.

· Canadian Solar Inc. was built on a very solid brand portfolio. This brand portfolio has given the Company a solid reputation in the marketplace to introduce and generate new solar products. (Shah, 2017). Consequently, a superb performance from marketing new products has gained the Company’s trust and loyalty among the customers. As a result, trust and loyalty are two of the Company’s most vital strengths.

· Canadian Solar Inc. does not experience blockchain supply challenges. The value of adopting blockchain technology for the Company has the potential to connect different ledgers and data points while maintaining data integrity among multiple participants. (Marr, 2018). Accordingly, the properties of transparency and immutability of blockchain technology is useful for eliminating fraud in the supply chain and maintaining the integrity of the system. The Company’s supply chain is efficient, which reduces extra costs and dramatically increases revenue. Moreover, the Company’s blockchain process strengthens and guarantees secure transactions, relationships with other suppliers and other supply chain, partners. Great website access for customers purchasing is also beneficial for the Company in multiple global locations. (Beamish & Jordan, 2018).

Overall, Canadian Solar Inc.’s most notable strength is the ability to manage multiple pipeline projects including acquisitions and strategic planning operations that confirms their competitiveness in the industry.

Weaknesses

· Although Canadian Solar Inc. has a strong brand portfolio, the Company’s brand is not fully advertised. Despite having a large market, the Company needs to develop a more prominent strategy to promote more products.

· Currently, the Company is not meeting some of the expected advancements for power operating sources in their new locations.

· The Company has a bad reputation associated with environmental conservation.

· Canadian Solar Inc. also faces high attrition among workers in some parts of the organization. Additionally, this high attrition rate has enhanced spending compared to the Company’s competitors. (Nappinnai, 2013). As an effort to sustain their position in society and the market, the Company should hire and retain qualified employees.

· The Company has rented property instead of purchased, which is an unnecessary cost.

· The Company assets are low compared to current liability, which can lead to liquidity problems.

· Canadian Solar Inc. is experiencing a lack of cash flow, which has led to unnecessary borrowing. Purchasing property as oppose to renting, will help the Company with the cash flow issues and allow them additional funds to allocate towards the introduction of new products, technology and improved operations.

· Compared to First Solar, JinkoSolar, SunPower, Canadian Solar Inc. has not invested in Research and Development (R&D) in over two years. Moreover, the organization still relies heavily on past research. Further, the Company is not growing at a steady pace in R&D compared to their competitors. (Canadian Solar, 2018).

To overcome some of these business obstacles, the Company should focus on the modifying some of these weaknesses by developing flexible alternatives to their product lines, upgrading their technology to support their R&D department, and building and rewardarding customer loyalty programs to help keep and attract customers. Further, the most cost-effective solution with regards to business properties, would be for the Company to consider purchasing property out-right as oppose to renting.

Opportunities

· As a result of the new environmental policies to eliminate air, water, and greenhouse gas emissions, more countries such as Germany and China are shifting to a renewable source of energy and product. (Bordon et.al, 2017). Accordingly, fossil fuels will become obsolete in the near future. Therefore, an investment in these new renewable energy sources and products will create an opportunity for Canadian Solar Inc. to increase their marketplace activity at fifty percent or higher.

· Canadian Solar Inc.’s shipping costs have decreased significantly and contributed to a lower cost in transportation. These costs decreases have allowed the Company to increase their profit margin, therefore allowing customers product purchasing options at a lower rate.

· A major development in current technology advancements will help the Company create new strategies and ideas for new products. Thus, this is also an opportunity to retain a loyal customer base and the potential to solicit new customers.

· The increasing rate in e-commerce has shown that people are shopping more online New online markets will provide Canadian Solar Inc. an opportunity to increase profits. (Hajli, 2013).

Threats

· The lack of an experienced and skilled workforce in some parts of the world has resulted in a slow growth rate and low profits for Canadian Solar Inc. There has also been a small supply of new raw material products in the market, which has interrupted the supply chain. Thus, this depletion in product inventory has shifted customers and other organizations that depend on the Company’s products to conduct business operations with providers that have a more consistence and robust supply chain.

· The rise of raw materials can be a significant threat that affects the whole organization, which will increase the cost of products. A change in how customers purchase goods physically as oppose to buying online could also be a threat. The Company is also challenged with the ability to manage cash flow.

· The Company's business outlook is primarily based on management's current views and estimates about market conditions, production capacity, order book, and global economic environment. However, management’s views and estimates are subject to change without notice and could be a threat to the uncertainty on final customer demand, solar project construction, and sale schedules. (Canadian Solar, 2018).

PESTEL Analysis

The PESTEL analysis is beneficial in measuring aspects of the Company which can routinely impact business activities. Thus, we use the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal factors described below to show how Canadian Solar Inc. is impacted by the macro-environment of the Company operations.

Economic

Political

Social

PESTEL

Legal

Technological

Environmental

Political

The political factors determine how the Company can grow and profit. Political stability exists in all countries where Canadian Solar Inc. operates and is conducive to the environment. Canadian Solar Inc.,’s future profitability is contingent upon their market activities in specific countries. The Company is currently operating in a semiconductor-specialized industry in certain countries which has created exposure to political risks. These semiconductor operations include silicon based products with impurities that are less than conductors that contain aluminum or copper. Therefore, the Company should closely examine the risks associated with semiconductors acitivties in order to minimize conflicts with government officials and competitors.

Canadian Solar Inc. should also examine the political factors associated with anti-trust laws, level of corruption, taxation, and pricing regulation. These factors can politically impact their productivity such as manufacturing, availability, distribution, sales, and specifically market investments. (Canadian Solar Inc. Form 20-F, 2018).

Economic

Canadian Solar Inc.’s growth can be measured via growth domestic product (GDP). The lower the rate of growth of a country, the lower the rate of growth of the Company. As the industry market activities fluctuate, the viability of conventional and other renewable energy sources such as decreases or increases in the prices of oil, gas and other fuels, ultimately impacts the economic behavior of the Company. (Canadian Solar Inc. Form 20-F, 2018).

The exchange rate of currency may largely affect the profitability of the Company. For example, some countries with lower exchange rates may decline to buy the companies products mainly if the power plant source is located in the US or in European countries where the currency rate is high. Also impacted economically are places with a high level of unemployment where more people will be willing to work for the Company for a lower wage. (Canadian Solar Inc. Form 20-F, 2018)

Social

Social factors such as culture, beliefs, attitudes, and values contribute to the social behavior of Canadian Solar Inc. These factors are relative to the vast population of the Company’s surroundings within the community. The social behaviors are vital to the operations and marketing aspect of Canadian Solar Inc. The ability to understand the lifestyles, beliefs, education levels would help the Company develop more innovative product and marketing ideas that would lead to new successful business ventures.

The demographics of the population, such as age and gender, impact social behavior. These social behaviors determine whether certain products should be marketed in these areas. The class distribution, such as high, middle, and lower-class populations, are also social considerations. For instance, Canadian Solar Inc. would be unable to promote premium products to a class of citizens where the majority are lower-class and living within a certain poverty level.

The difference in education levels is also social determinants. Canadian Solar Inc. can influence the kind of messages that are generated when marketing their products. Messages should be designed to capture the attention of existing and potential consumers and business interests. Clear and concise messages sent should be well received and influential across the various educational sectors within the population, including the marketplace. (Canadian Solar, 2018).

Technological

At the rate in which technology innovation is growing, Canadian Solar Inc. has to stay ahead or at least equal to the competition. As technology continues to advance, many competitors are willing to invest in innovation as a process to strategize and participate with other growing companies. Although the Company has state-of-the-art research centers, they can continue to make a difference with future R&D investments that contribute to the solar industry.

Environmental

Canadian Solar Inc.’s operations involve using, handling, generating, storing, processing, transporting, and disposing of hazardous materials. If the operations involvement in the treatment of these materials are not carefully managed, there is the potential for explosions, fires, and spills that will cause substantial harm to a community, the environment and business. (Canadian Solar, Inc. Form 20-F, 2018). Additionally, the situations as mentioned earlier and weather conditions in a particular location may hinder the transport of products. Thus, raw material suppliers may also have difficulties in supplying their products, thus creating fewer sales. (Ming, 2015). Canadian Solar Inc. can work closely with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their local hazmat emergency response units to help generate and implelment procedures to help safeguard the Company and the community from potential hazadorous materials calamities. Some of hhe following practices should be by executed:

· Store chemical products in areas where they cannot be contaminated

· Use spill-proof kits

· Use the appropriate shelves to store containers

· Use suitable carts to transport chemicals

· Prepare an emergency response plan of action and work closely with the EPA to enforce this plan (EPA.gov, 2018)

Legal

As one of the leading competitors in the solar industry, Canadian Solar Inc. is required to obey numerous laws and regulations in the markets, most importantly, with regards to their office locations. Energy regulations, export and import restrictions, tax laws and regulations, environmental regulations, labor laws, and other government requirements, approvals, permits, and licenses, are among these laws and regulations that are provided in Canadidan Solar Inc.’s Form 20-F, (2018).

Laws and regulations also affect the Company and create additional complexities when conducting project development or construction activities in foreign jurisdictions, including compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other applicable local laws and customs. Additionally, trade barriers and trade remedies such as export requirements, tariffs, taxes, and other restrictions and expenses, including antidumping and countervailing duty orders, are also legal requirements. (Canadian Solar Inc. Form 20-F, 2018). To avoid potential sky-rockets in their product prices, a less competitive market, negative financial impacts, trade sanctions, and a declination in prospects, the Company should focus on staying compliant and obeying the laws associated with their business operations.

PORTER Analysis

These five PORTER analysis elements will discuss how Canadian Solar Inc. equally competes with its competitors, such as First Solar, JinkoSolar, and SunPower. The analysis include the following:

New entrants

New companies and old companies that introduce new strategies in the market alter procedures daily. These new entrants become new competitors and new competitors, develop new and improved ideas. Thus, Canadian Solar Inc. should focus on creating and introducing new projects and services in order to manage and maintain its status as one of the top contenders in the industry. Additionally, to outperform new entrants, the Company should discover and develop a systematic process with new knowledge that can be used to formulate new products and improve the ones that exist. (Canadian Solar, 2018).

Bargaining power of the supplier

Canadian Solar Inc. has amended agreements in place with numerous suppliers to adjust the purchase price of purchase orders based on current market prices. The Company’s bargaining agreement with suppliers is consistent with previous industry practices, which include advance payment arrangements. These supplier agreements may affect the cost of Canadian Solar Inc. products. If the suppliers have a lower rate, the products will have a lower selling price, which will positively affect consumers’ buying behaviors. Since Canadian Solar Inc. is established as a top-tier global supplier, other suppliers may increase their production while conducting business with the Company, thus increasing their selling rates. (Canadian Solar, 2018).

Bargaining power of the buyer

In most cases, buyers want to buy the best products from Canadian Solar Inc. at the least possible costs, which is reflected in the Company’s profitability statement. However, if the Company introduces new products and services, customers may not demand a discount. Consequently, customers can request a discount on goods that have been in the market for a long time. (Canadian Solar, 2018).

Threats of substitutes

If a new product that has been introduced in the market is beneficial to the customer’s needs, the old products will not be purchased by the customers. Companies like First Solar, JinkoSolar, and SunPower are always working on new products that may act as substitutes for Canadian Solar Inc. products. Canadian Solar Inc. should be service-oriented and create or up-grade products to stay competitive. (Canadian Solar, 2018).

Rivalry among existing competitors

If the rivalry with companies such as First Solar, JinkoSolar, and SunPower increases, prices in products will decrease and significantly affect the profitability of the Company. Canadian Solar Inc. can grow a suitable differentiation from the competitors or form an alliance with the competitors to increase the price of products. (Canadian Solar, 2018).

Critical Issues

The most crucial issue for Canadian Solar will be developing new processes on how to bring innovative, better, efficient solar energy products to the market to capture brand loyalty, brand image and a more significant market share in an expanding industry. Building this brand depends on how much revenue Canadian Solar will spend on research and development since the Company efforts to innovate and their products and services are not comparable to other top producers such as JinkoSolar, First Solar and SunPower, who are also their competitors.

Canadian Solar attracted a full section of customers in 2009 where its top five customers accounted for 25% of all sales while. Currently, Canadian Solar Inc. account for 60% of all sales and is at a higher risk. Additionally, most of the the Company’s revenue derives from selling solar modules to solar power plant operators, usually electric utilities, in Europe, and not a broader US homeowner market. Canadian Solar Inc. continue to report colossal debt, which could affect its operational performance, as a significant portion of its earnings would be used to pay off debt. The debt could be of concern to the investors and make it difficult for the Company to raise funds on favorable terms from the market. In FY2018, the Company's total debt stood at US$2.1 million, as compared to US$3.2 million in FY2017, which indicates a decrease of 28.6%. Its debt to equity ratio stood at 1.38. The debt to equity ratio was above the alternative energy industry average of 0.33 for the same year (One Stop Report, 2019).

Market Analysis

Marketing Research

The company can use different strategies to ascertain information about competitors, such as Google research, going to trade shows, browsing public documents, asking customers, and using external mystery shoppers to discreetly gather information on the compaany’s products and services.

A detailed competitor analysis can be categorised into the following parts:

•Identify market growth, share and financial objectives. Some examples are maximising short-term profitability or investing in R&D for long-term growth.

•Evaluate the competitors’ strategies by collecting information from shareholder reports, white papers, press releases, promotional campaigns, hiring practices, acquisitions and mergers. This information will reveal the direction in which the competitors are moving.

•Use the above information to analyse competitors’ strengths, weaknesses and core capabilities.

Market Size and Growth

Market size and growth defines the total size of the market for a product at a certain time. Additionally, the size and growth represents the highest quantity of potential market sales and the volume for a particular product. (Hariharan & Prasad, 2019.)

As a continued effort to determine the market size and growth, Canadian Solar Inc. can examine the future of the market industry to determine the volume of activity and size. The potential for size and growth is based on current and future customer behavior habits, including product purchasing, demands and needs. Thus, to determine the market volume, the Company should focus on specific areas where industry related products were sold at a higher price than the initial purchase price. The Company should look at the total number of sales generated within a certain time-frame. To further examine the market size and growth, Canadian Solar Inc. can gather information from various resources such as financial statements of their competitors, data from government officials, customer surverys, industry reports and trade associations.

Market Trends

Customer Analysis (including needs analysis)

Canadian current customer base consist of distributors, system integrators, project developers and installers. Only a small fraction of these customers represents a substantial percentage of the Company’s revenue. As a process to retain their current customer base and gain potential customers, the Company can change their marketing approaches. (Canadian Solar, 2018). These approaches can be more effective if the Company has precise understanding of the expectations, needs, and personal attributes of their customers. The process below can help identify some of these attributes to perform a customer analysis:

· Obtain information on potential customers. This process identifies in large portions and can also be separated into different segments based on their incentives, individualities, and characteristics;

· The customer analysis should offer information about how the needs and expectations of different groups vary and the logic behind those variations; and

· Canadian Solar Inc. should analyze their products and service are beneficial to the array of customer groups and identify which groups are more and have more growth potential. This data analysis will help Canadian Solar Inc. develop customer profiles and personas.

Strategic Analysis

Marketing Objectives (including financial objectives)

Marketing Segments

Target Markets

Canadian Solar Inc. continues to find ways to expand the manufacturing of their products and grow their energy segment by conducting market due diligence and periodically meeting with players and investors in the industry. The Company also participate in industry conferences and various events to seek out project development prospects. Additionally, Canadian Solar Inc.’s energy segment utilize their expertise and knowledge by working with government officials to assist with the development and growth of new assignments for target markets.

Positioning Strategy

Product and Branding Strategy

Canadian Solar Inc.’s products and branding strategies should be developed with originality using creativity, design, name and features. Additionally, their products should show exclusivity in the market industry. Subsequently, the following elements should be considered to the development of the product and branding strategy including: quality, variation, structure, resilience, packaging, optional brand name, and enhanced services.

Pricing Strategy

Canaidan Solar Inc.’s marketing pricing strategy should involve an assessment of the value of products for targeted customers. The pricing strategy of the Canadian Solar Inc. will concentrate on establishing the list price, line of credit terms, payment period and discounts. In an effort to re-evaluate their pricing strategy, the Company should focus on the following pricing strategies:

· Price penetration strategy, which initially allows the Company to lower the costs of their products and use the word-of-mouth marketing strategy to reach customers. Implementing this pricing strategy will allow Canadian Solar Inc. an opportutnity to flourish in the market industry based on the discounts; and

· Skimming pricing strategy – which allows the Company to initially set their products at a high price, but periodically lower the price of their products.

If the Company chooses the price penetration strategy, the costs of their products will have to be lowered in order to compete with other solar power companies such as First Solar, JinkoSolar, and SunPower. Currently, consumers primary concerns with regards to products is the exact cost of acquiring, consuming and disposing, as oppose to pricing. (Hariharan & Prasad, 2019.)

Distribution and Supply Chain Strategy

Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy

Financial Analysis

Breakeven Analysis

Sales Forecast

According to the Income Statement Evolution results from Market Screener, (2019), Canadian Solar Inc.’s sales forecast is estimated at $3144M for the year 2019; $4139M for the year 2020; and $3917M for the year 2021.

$4139 Sales

$3144 Sales

$3917 Sales

Canadian Solar Inc.’s capital expenditures (CAPEX) for 2019 sales are estimated at a high of 12.7% compared to the capital expenditures sales forecasts for 2020, which is estimated at low 3.26%, according to Market Screener, (2019). Further, Market Screener, (2019), shows the Company’s cash flow sales at an estimated 8.60% in 2019 compared to a slightly high 9.02% in 2020.

Canadian Solar Inc.’s goal to show future increases in the sale of their products and services should be implemented using some of the following procedures:

· Acquire additonal knowledge of the industry and of the products and services that are being sold. If the Company is knowledgeable on their products and services, they can accurately advise and provide facts and answers to current and potential customers.

· Invest more time in research and development to help with innovation of new technology. Investing in new products and adding to existing ones can strengthen the Company’s business operations and productivity that can help with an increase in sales.

· Change and commit to a marketing strategy that educates and piques the interest of current and future customers. Consistent advertising of the brand stability and effectiveness of their products and services can increase the sale the companies products and services. Customers appear to show loyalty to a brand that promotes, has a fair and stable price and is easily accessible for purchasing.

Expense Forecast

Implementation and Controls

Implementation

Controls

Contingency Plan

Just like planning one’s life and making sure we have insurances in place, the same applies in business. Every business is exposed to the risk of mishaps that could adversely impact operations. These risk factors must be identified in order to better prepare for them. If the response to the situation is poor, it might have a dramatic impact on the future of the business, such as loss of customers, loss of data, or even the loss of the business. This is how contingency planning is identified in marketing a product or service. Before having a contingency plan in place, a risk assessment must be done in order to recognize the potential risk factors so that the correct plan can be implemented to reduce or prevent such risks. Contingency planning involves defining action steps to be taken if an identified risk event should occur (Heiman, 2000). This is a preventative method and is normally in place after a risk assessment has been completed. Risks identified and quantified in order to develop a plan can be better aligned with the types of expected risks for the Company. A good contingency plan for Canadian Solar, considering the nature of its business, should include any event that might disrupt operations, but are not limited to construction, environmental and technology risk. Here are some specific areas to include in the plan:

· Construction risk: Risk of property damage or liability stemming from errors during the building of new projects.

· Company risk: Risk affecting the viability of the project developer, for example, risks related to key personnel, financial solidity and technical ability to execute on plans.

· Environmental risk: Risk of environmental damage caused by the solar park including any liability following such damage.

· Financial risk: Risk of insufficient access to investment and operating capital.

· Market risk: Risk of a cost increases for key input factors such as labor or modules, or rate decreases for electricity generated.

· Operational risk: Risk of unscheduled plant closure due to the lack of resources, equipment damages or component failures.

· Technology risk: Risk of components generating less electricity over time than expected.

· Political and regulatory risk: Risk of a change in policy that may affect the profitability of the project, for example changes in levels of tax credit or RPS targets. Also, this includes changes in policy as related to permitting and interconnection.

· Climate and weather risk: Risk of changes in electricity generation due to lack of sunshine or snow covering solar panels for long periods of time.

· Sabotage, terrorism and theft risk: Risk that all or parts of the solar park will be subject to sabotage, terrorism or theft and thus generate less electricity than planned (Worren, 2012)

Conclusion

Canadian Solar Inc. can enhance sales by upgrading and introducing new products to the market. Also, by diversifying its operations, contributing to and revamping their R&D practices, the Company can revise their pricing strategies, promote product changes, and offer competitive discounts. These strategies will allow the Company to remain as a high-level contender who could help minimize the competition with companies such as First Solar, JinkoSolar, and SunPower.

Canadian Solar Inc. has a loyal, widespread market with a productive, consistent, and reputable, competitive brand. As an advantage, the Company has a loyal and supportive customer base, which can be used to expand business operations further. The future success of the Company is contingent upon expanding the manufacturing capacity of the energy segment and enhancing the brand name. Further, continuing to develop new customer relationships in a wider range of geographic markets to decrease market concentration is also key to the Company’s accomplishments.

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