Sunrun, Inc. Internal Environmental Analysis

Company Background Analysis 

Founded in 2007, Sunrun Inc. is a company in the solar energy industry of the United States of America. Sunrun Inc. is based in San Francisco, California, the United States of America. Sunrun Inc. has been an instrumental company in its industry and has expanded to reach clients from the rest of the United States of America, beyond the state of California. A partnership of three people formed Sunrun Inc. The three partners came up with a business model where the consumers in the United States of America would either lease or be involved in a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). In the PPA model, the customers would pay for the usage of electricity, but they could not buy the solar panels right away. That was beneficial to the consumers since they would reduce the initial capital needed to purchase solar panels at Sunrun Inc. Sunrun Inc. serves its consumers in the installation, repairing, monitoring and the maintenance of the solar panels they have purchased from the company (Sunrun, 2018) . 

Sunrun Inc., after its formation, went public several years later and its shares began being traded at NASDAQ. The company, in its growth, was facilitated by loans that the banks across the United States of America offered it. Sunrun Inc. was also involved in a merger with National Grid PLC, based in Warwick, the United Kingdom. The strategic partnership was meant to increase the business opportunities of Sunrun Inc. Sunrun Inc. believes that there is a cheaper alternative to the expensive electric installation that has been facing the united states of America in the recent past where the energy prices have been said to increase significantly in only a few years. The company's goal was to serve customers in 22 states across the United States of America besides California. The efforts of the company in the same bore fruits and by the end of December 2017, Sunrun Inc. had expanded its presence across the twenty-two states (Sunrun, 2018) . 

The mission statement of the company is a rather clear one and targets to come up with a planet run by the sun. The mission statement of Sunrun Inc. serves as the determinant of the corporate direction that the company faces. Due to the dedication is seen in the company, Sunrun Inc. has risen to be the top residential solar power provider in the United States of America. The journey has not been smooth for the company since its inception. However, the co-founders have invested considerable efforts in ensuring the company runs smoothly and transits to the other levels of growth. The mission statement also indicates the company's desire to integrate the use of technology to provide the solar energy services to its growing customer base (Sunrun, 2018) . 

The objectives of Sunrun Inc. have been severally reviewed to come up with a set of aims that are relevant to the operation setup of the company. The following are the objectives that drive Sunrun Inc. forward. The first objective is that the company aims to be global in the provision of solar energy services. The company has had various strategies that may help it towards the achievement of the goal. An example is a target that was set in the company to access twenty-two states in the united stated, and the end of 2017 realized it. The other objective of the company is to provide cheaper energy alternatives to the United States of America. That will be possible due to the designs of the solar panels that have been made using the latest technology and cheap materials. The cost of production is therefore low (Sunrun, 2018) . 

The internal environmental analysis of Sunrun Inc. will be structured as follows. The first part will be the background of the company, which includes its objectives and mission statement. The first part of the essay will also indicate the formation of the company. The second part of the essay will delve into the internal environmental analysis in details. Under the internal environment analysis of the company, various strategies will be discussed. These are the functional level strategy, the business unit level, and the corporate level strategies. The plan will then be linked with the mission statement and the objectives of Sunrun Inc. the approach will also indicate the interaction of the company's management and its stakeholders such as the employees and the customers. In this part of the essay, the various ratios will be calculated so that the financial direction of the company under the strategic objectives will be calculated. After the internal environmental analysis section, the strategic analysis and selection will come. The strengths and weaknesses of the company will also be listed in this part. 

Sunrun Inc. has been vigilant of its strategic growth and the creation of an internal environment that favors the stakeholders of the company such as the employees and the company. That is expected to lead to positive financial growth in the company in the present and the coming years. 

Internal Environmental Analysis 

Corporate Level Strategy 

One of the objectives of Sunrun Inc. is to succeed in its corporate and financial operations. To achieve that, the company needs to have a strategy that enables it to hit its goals that are relevant and measurable to its success. The strategies at Sunrun Inc. are long term when it comes to the corporate level. Nonetheless, the strategies allow for flexibility so that they can be altered whenever a need arises. Two of the factors that may lead to the alteration of the corporate level strategies at Sunrun Inc. are the dynamism of market conditions and their uncertainty. The modern business world in the United States of America has been faced with tremendous growth, and sometimes pitfalls are experienced. That makes it unpredicted (Purce, 2014). 

One of the types of corporate-level strategy that Sunrun Inc. has integrated into its business model is the growth strategy. There are many levels of growth in a company, including the financial and the company growth levels. The growth strategy makes use of the objectives that are put in place to ensure that Sunrun Inc. has a particular direction when it comes to the growth that is required. Sunrun Inc. has invested into the growth strategy and its maintenance. One of the ways that the company has done so is by ensuring that there are methods that are out in place to ensure there is the growth of revenue from the sale of the solar panels across the United States. The growth strategy at Sunrun Inc. can be classified into two categories: horizontal and vertical growth. The company has invested in horizontal growth strategies by expanding its presence across the United States of America. 

The other corporate-level strategy that Sunrun Inc. has been involved in is the stability strategy. The share of the market is one of the factors that can be used to gauge the stability of a company in any given industry. Sunrun Inc. has been continuously working on its market share in the last decade of its existence. One of the ways that Sunrun Inc. has done so is by being involved in a strategic partnership with the United Kingdom-based National Grid plc. The company has also targeted retaining customers and acquiring other customers for its services across the United States of America. 

Business Level Strategy 

The business unit level of a company focuses on the core competencies such as the customer satisfaction in a company. The increased service to the customers is expected to come up with a competitive advantage to the company such as Sunrun Inc. has been experiencing. Sunrun Inc. has come up with strategies to serve the customers in the states in America and increase the customer base. The company has to understand the various characteristics of its customers so that it can fulfill their individual needs (Saebi & Foss, 2015). Sunrun Inc. has primarily invested in that. 

The customers of Sunrun Inc. are the residential and industrial homeowners and tenants in the various states of the United States of America. Looking at the revenues of the company, the customers have been increasing exponentially in the last decade in the company. The customers of the company have a universal preference, and that is the choice of solar energy in the other forms of energy available in the United States. The solar industry has been growing in America since its inception and introduction. Notably, a quarter of all the energy that was used in the United States of America in the year 2017 came from the solar power. Therefore, the solar industry has a promising future in and out of the United States of America. 

The goods that the customers of Sunrun Inc. have been requiring are the solar panels. Sunrun Inc. has been laying various strategies to increase the sales of the solar panels and maintenance and repair across the states of the United States of America. The customers may also want services such as the installation, repair, and the maintenance of the solar panels they have bought from Sunrun Inc. Consequently, Sunrun Inc. needs to understand who their customers are and what exactly they want from the company. Sunrun Inc. also takes into account how to serve their customers and reach out to the other ones. That is the point where the business strategies come in. One of the procedures is Porter's five forces model. 

According to Porter's five forces model, one of the components of the company's business strategies is the customers. The bargaining power of the customers is an essential part of the decisions that control the pricing of the solar panels and their sale (E. Dobbs, 2014). Therefore, Sunrun Inc. has to ensure that the power of the consumers is at the optimum level so that the business level does not fluctuate at any instance. The company, therefore, provides that the customer service comes first. 

Functional Level Strategy 

The functional strategy is related to the operational strategies that the organizations put in place to improve the operation and the services and goods it gives to its customers. The functional level strategy is also supposed to be closely linked with the management decisions that are made in a company such as the Sunrun Inc. the functional level strategy can be applied to different spheres of the company's operations., some of those are marketing, human resource management, sales, information management, and finance. The functional level strategy is also specific to an organization in that no two organizations can share the functional level strategy. Nonetheless, the basic structure is conventional (Leavitt, 2017). 

The functional level strategies implemented by the leadership of Sunrun Inc. are sources of growth opportunities for the company. The purchasing of the raw materials to manufacture the solar panels is one of the areas that require functional level strategy implementation in the Sunrun Inc. the strategies target the purchase of the raw materials at an affordable cost. In the long run, that is expected to maximize the profits realized at Sunrun Inc. the functional level strategy at Sunrun Inc. also targets the production sector of the company. The management of the product life cycles is one of the duties that reflect the inherence of the functional level strategies to the operations at Sunrun Inc. additively, Sunrun Inc. uses the strategies in the marketing of their goods and services to the United States of America's market. 

The distribution of the goods and services at Sunrun Inc. has mostly been dependent on the functional level strategies that are put in place at the organization. The advertisements that Sunrun Inc. sets up in the American media are essential to the enabling of the policies that are implemented at the functional levels of the company in its industry. The company has had deliberate efforts in the improvement of the functions and operations of the company, and primarily by including the technological development in the production, maintenance, and the repair of solar panels for the United States of America's market. 

Financial Analysis 

The financial analysis of Sunrun Inc. will be carried out using various financial ratios that are depicted below. 

Leverage Ratios 

Total debt ratios. 

Sunrun Inc. needs to keep check of its financial ratios to improve its financial performance and attract more investors. One of the leverage ratios that the company has to consider is the total debt ratio. The total debt ratio is the ratio that indicates how much of a company’s assets are being financed by debt. It is usually expressed as a percentage. The following are the calculations of the total debt ratio of Sunrun Inc. 

Debt ratio= total debt ÷ total assets 

By the end of the financial year 2016, the debt ratio of Sunrun Inc. was as follows. 

Total debt= $ 71,616,000 

Total asset= $ 3,572,818,000 

Debt ratio= $ 71,616,000 ÷ $ 3,572,818,000 × 100 

Debt ratio= 2% 

By the end of the financial year 2015, the debt ratio of Sunrun Inc. was as follows. 

Total debt= $ 29,580,000 

Total asset= $ 2,738,146,000 

Debt ratio= 1% 

Sunrun Inc. had a relatively low debt ratio in the year 2016 but had increased from that of 2015. 

Debt-to-equity ratios 

The following is the debt-to-equity ratios of Sunrun Inc. 

Debt-to-equity ratio= total liabilities ÷ shareholders’ equity 

In the financial year 2015, Sunrun Inc. had the following ratio. 

Debt-to-equity ratio= $ 1,931,447,000 ÷ $ 554,069,000 

Debt-to-equity ratio= 3.5 

In the financial year 2016, Sunrun Inc. had the following ratio. 

Debt-to-equity ratio= $ 2,510,725,000 ÷ $ 672,961,000 

Debt-to-equity ratio= 3.7 

In the financial year 2017, Sunrun Inc. had the following ratio. 

Debt-to-equity ratio= $ 2,638,063,000 ÷ $ 811,998,000 

Debt-to-equity ratio= 3.2 

The Debt-to-equity ratio has been changing in the company for the last three financial years. It increased from 2015 to 2016. The reduction towards 2017 indicated that the company was using less money in the form of debt to finance its operations. That shows an improvement in the company. 

Liquidity Ratios 

Current ratio 

The current ratio for Sunrun Inc. was as follows. 

Current ratio= current assets ÷ current liabilities 

By the close of the financial year 2015, Sunrun Inc. had the following current ratio. 

Current ratio= $ 360,494,000 ÷ $ 253,167,000 

Current ratio= 1.4 

By the end of the financial year 2016, Sunrun Inc. had the following current ratio. 

Current ratio= $ 369,345,000 ÷ $ 244,784,000 

Current ratio= 1.5 

By the close of the financial year 2017, Sunrun Inc. had the following current ratio. 

Current ratio= $ 432,702,000 ÷ $ 335,031,000 

Current ratio= 1.3 

The capacity of the business to pay its short-term obligations and loans has been increasing and decreasing in the last three fiscal years. The current ratio was 1.4 in the year 2015. The ratio then increased to 1.5 in the financial year 2016. That indicated an increase in the ability to settle the obligations. The financial year 2017 indicated a different approach to the company’s ability to effectively clear its obligations. The drop of the current ratio also indicated a rise in the current liabilities of the company. 

Quick ratio 

The quick ratio is an example of another ratio that the Sunrun Inc. depends on to determine the direction of its leverage ratios. The quick ratio indicates the ability of a company to meet its short-term obligations by using its liquid assets. 

Quick ratio= (current assets - inventories)/ current liabilities 

The quick ratio of Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2015 was as follows. 

Quick ratio= ($ 360,494,000 - $ 71,258,000)/ $ 253,167,000 

Quick ratio= 1.14 

The quick ratio of Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2016 was as follows. 

Quick ratio= ($ 369,345,000 - $ 67,326,000)/ $ 244,784,000 

Quick ratio= 1.23 

The quick ratio of Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2017 was as follows. 

Quick ratio= ($ 432,702,000 - $ 94,427,000)/ $ 335,031,000 

Quick ratio= 1.01 

The decrease in the quick ratio from the financial year 2016 towards the financial year 2017 indicates that the company’s ability to meet its short-term obligations using the liquid assets. 

Cash ratio 

The cash ratio is another leverage ratio that Sunrun Inc. makes use of in the determination of its financial position. The cash ratio is the company’s ratio of cash and cash equivalents to the current liabilities. It measures Sunrun’s ability to pay its short-term debt. 

Cash ratio= cash and cash equivalents (CCE)/current liabilities 

At the end of the financial year 2015, the following is the cash ratio calculation. 

Cash ratio= $ 203,864,000/ $ 253,167,000 

Cash ratio= 0.81 

At the end of the financial year 2016, the following is the cash ratio calculation. 

Cash ratio= $ 206,364,000/ $ 244,784,000 

Cash ratio= 0.84 

At the close of the financial year 2017, the following is the cash ratio calculation. 

Cash ratio= $ 202,525,000/ $ 335,031,000 

Cash ratio= 0.60 

The cash ratio reduced from 2016 to 2017. That implies that the ability to pay off the short-term debt of the company had reduced. Also, the fact that the cash ratio for Sunrun Inc. is less than 1 in the three years means that the company has more current liabilities than the cash and cash equivalents. 

Efficiency Ratios 

Asset turnover ratio 

The asset turnover ratio in a company measures the sale of the company relative to its total assets. The asset turnover ratio portrays the efficiency of the use of assets to generate revenue. 

Asset turnover ratio= sales/ average total assets 

The following is the asset turnover ratio for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2015. 

Asset turnover ratio= $ 304,606,000/ $ 2,738,146,000 

Asset turnover ratio= 0.11 

The following is the asset turnover ratio for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2016. 

Asset turnover ratio= $ 453,898,000/ $ 3,572,818,000 

Asset turnover ratio= 0.12 

The following is the asset turnover ratio for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2017. 

Asset turnover ratio= $ 529,699,000/ $ 3,927,874,000 

Asset turnover ratio= 0.13 

In the year 2015, Sunrun Inc. made $ 0.11 in sales for every dollar invested. That indicates a very low efficiency in the use of the assets to generate revenue. Nonetheless, the asset turnover ratio increasing to 0.12 and to 0.13 indicated that the company was working towards increasing the efficiency of the investments made across the United States of America. 

Inventory turnover ratio 

The inventory turnover ratio at Sunrun Inc. is used to calculate how much the inventory of the company has been replaced in a given period such as a year. 

Inventory turnover ratio= sales/ average inventory 

The following is the inventory turnover ratio for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2015. 

Inventory turnover ratio= $ 304,606,000/ $ 71,258,000 

Inventory turnover ratio= 4.27 

The following is the inventory turnover ratio for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2016. 

Inventory turnover ratio= $ 453,898,000/ $ 67,326,000 

Inventory turnover ratio= 6.74 

The following is the inventory turnover ratio for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2017. 

Inventory turnover ratio= $ 529,699,000/ $ 94,427,000 

Inventory turnover ratio= 5.61 

The inventory turnover ratio recorded an increase from the fiscal year 2015 to 2016. As Sunrun Inc. reported its 2017’s financial statements, there was a reduction in the inventory turnover ratio. That indicated that there was a slight reduction in the sale of the solar panels stock in the company. 

Profitability Ratios 

Net profit margin 

The net profit margin is one of the profitability ratios used by Sunrun Inc. to calculate its profitability. 

Net profit margin= net income/ total revenue 

This is the net profit margin for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2015. 

Net profit margin= $ -248,906,000/ $ 186,602,000 

Net profit margin= - 1.33 

For every dollar that Sunrun Inc. invested in the year 2015, it got a loss of $1.33 

This is the net profit margin for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2016. 

Net profit margin= $ -303,301,000/ $ 453,898,000 

Net profit margin= -0.66 

For every dollar that Sunrun invested in the year 2016, it incurred a loss of $ 0.66. 

This is the net profit margin for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2017. 

Net profit margin= $ -286,734,000/ $ 529,699,000 

Net profit margin= -0.54 

For every dollar that Sunrun invested in the year 2017, it incurred a loss of $ 0.54. Strategies are in place for the company to make profits from its investments as seen in the 2017’s net profit margin. 

Return on assets 

Return on assets (ROA) = net income/ total assets 

The following is the return on assets for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2015. 

ROA = $ -248,906,000/ $ 2,738,146,000 × 100 

ROA= -9% 

The following is the return on assets for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2016. 

ROA= $ -303,301,000/ $ 3,572,818,000 × 100 

ROA= -8% 

The following is the return on assets for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2017. 

ROA= $ -286,734,000/ $ 3,927,874,000 × 100 

ROA= -7% 

Sunrun Inc. has not been doing well in its investment. Though the return on assets is slowly increasing over the fiscal years, it is still evident that the company is making losses. 

Return on equity 

Return on equity (ROE) = net income/ shareholders’ equity 

The following is the return on equity for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2015. 

ROE= $ -248,906,000/ $ 554,069,000 × 100 

ROE= -44.92% 

The following is the return on equity for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2016. 

ROE= $ -303,301,000/ $ 672,961,000 × 100 

ROE= - 45.07% 

The following is the return on equity for Sunrun Inc. in the financial year 2017. 

ROE= $ -286,734,000/ $ 811,998,000 × 100 

ROE= -35.31% 

The ROE is least in the financial year 2017. At -35.31%, it is clear that Sunrun Inc. has been making losses and therefore the return on equity has not been stable. It may discourage the investors from investing in the company. 

Technique Analysis 

Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) 

An internal factor evaluation (IFE) is elemental in the determination of the internal position of the company. It is similar to the SWOT analysis of the organization. Sunrun Inc. requires constant updating of its IFE to ensure that the position of the company is continuously monitored. The IFE also uses the strengths and the weaknesses of an organization (Gallo et al., 2017). The following are the strengths of the organization. The first one is dedicated customer service, and the other one is excellent customer service. The weaknesses of the company are as follows. The primary weakness is the lack of enough products and services to serve the consumers in the United States of America and the second one is the confusion on the various products and services that the organization offers to the clients. The following is the IFE analysis of the strengths and the weaknesses that the company has. 

Strength/weakness	Weight	Rating		Weighted ratio
Strengths
Excellent customer service	0.35	4		1.4
Dedicated employees	0.15	3		0.45
Weaknesses
Lack of enough products to satisfy the market	0.45	2		0.9
Confusion in the products and services offered by the company	0.05	1		0.05
Overall weighted ratio			2.8

The IFE value of Sunrun Inc. is at an average level. Therefore, the internal position of the company is average and may need some improvement. That explains the need for the company to come up with strategies that will improve the company's operations so that it can capitalize on its strengths and work on its weaknesses. The IFE analysis also helps Sunrun Inc. to gauge the most significant strengths and weaknesses so that they can be solved. 

BCG Matrix 

The BCG matrix is another internal analysis technique that Sunrun Inc. can make use of in the internal environmental analysis. The BCG matrix is used in the strategic planning aspects of the company and especially the long-term plans that the company has. It is also known as the growth/share matrix (Torquati et al., 2018). The matrix will be useful to Sunrun Inc. in the growth of the business opportunities and the generation of income. The growth-share matrix in the company will also enable the company to identify the products and services that fetch a lot of revenue and those that do not fetch a lot for the company. That will be the foundation of the first step in the integration of new strategies to inspire growth and expansion at Sunrun Inc. The growth-share matrix for the company is as follows. 

Market growth rate	Relative market share
		High	Low
	High	Sale of solar panels	Installation of solar panels
	Low	Repair of solar panels	maintenance of solar panels

The sale of solar panels in the case of Sunrun Inc. is categorized as stars. The stars are the products and services of the company that has a high market share and are associated with a faster market growth rate. The installation of solar panels in the case of Sunrun Inc. falls under the question mark category. Such services have a low market share but a high market growth rate. That is because the united states of America's solar energy industry are not yet stabilized and therefore the market share is still low. The repair of the solar panels falls into the cash cows category. The United States of America's solar energy requires various repairs but the growth of the market in the repair of the solar panels in slow. The maintenance of the solar panels is in the dog category. In this category, the service has a low market share and low market growth rate. Sunrun Inc. does not invest a lot of money in this category. The categorization of the products ensures that a given company can plan on its provision of products and services to the target market. 

Grand Strategy Matrix 

Eponymous to the matrix, it is used to come up with the various strategies that are intrinsic to the growth and the success of a given business. The grand strategy matrix makes the process of strategizing for a company easy and comprehensive. The first step in analyzing the strategies of a company through the grand strategy matrix is the setting up of a quadrant (David, David & David, 2017). The following is the possible matrix for Sunrun Inc. 

Growth	Competitive position
		Strong	Weak
	High	Finding new markets for the solar panels	Developing new products
	Low	Increasing the market share	Merging with another company

The competitive position and the growth of Sunrun Inc. are the two factors that will determine the strategies that the company should integrate into the grand strategy matrix. The finding of the new markets can only take place when Sunrun Inc. is in a strong competitive position and is experiencing rapid growth. That has been evident in the organizational goals of targeting twenty-two states by the end of 2017, which it did. The development of new products for the Sunrun Inc. can take place when there are a high growth rate and a low competitive position. That will serve to bring the competitive position up for the company. The strategy for low growth rate and a strong competitive position for Sunrun Inc. will be to find the ways to increase the market share of the company. The approach best for when the company has a weak competitive position, and a weak growth rate is to merge with another company. 

Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) 

Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) is another technique used in the analysis of the internal environmental study of Sunrun Inc. the QSPM helps an organization determine the blend of internal and external factors that enable its planning to take place and be active (Pratiwi et al., 2017) . The following is the QSPM for Sunrun Inc. 

Key 

AS- Attractiveness Score 

TAS- Total Attractiveness Score 

		Market development		Market penetration
	Weight	AS	TAS	AS	TAS
INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Strengths
Excellent customer service	0.35	4	1.40	3	1.05
Dedicated employees	0.15	3	0.45	4	0.60
Weaknesses
Confusion in the products and services offered by the company	0.05	1	0.05	2	0.10
Lack of enough products and services to satisfy the market	0.45	2	0.90	1	0.45
	1.00
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Opportunities
Investment in adjacent product segments.	0.08	3	0.24	3	0.24
The government’s green drive	0.10	4	0.40	3	0.30
New customers from online channel	0.07	3	0.21	4	0.28
New trends in consumer behavior	0.09	3	0.27	4	0.36
New technology	0.10	4	0.40	3	0.30
Investment in adjacent product segments.	0.06	3	0.18	4	0.24
Threats
Solar trade tariff and tax code changes	0.08	1	0.08	2	0.16
Currency fluctuations	0.07	1	0.07	2	0.14
Rising cost of raw materials	0.07	1	0.07	1	0.07
Imitation of company’s products	0.18	2	0.36	1	0.18
Growing competition	0.10	2	0.20	1	0.10
	1.00
Total attractiveness score			4.88		4.57

Sunrun Inc. has both high market penetration and development, which places it at a good opportunity to augment its presence in the United States of America. 

Strategic Analysis & Strategy Selection 

Strategy Analysis 

Company strengths and weaknesses 

Just like the other companies in and out of the United States of America, Sunrun Inc., has various strengths and weaknesses. Some of the advantages of the company are as follows. Firstly, the company has invested in excellent customer service. The excellence in the customer service has enabled the company to retain the consumers and reach out to others across the United States of America. Secondly, Sunrun Inc. has dedicated employees. The employees, making up the most important stakeholders of the company have enabled the services of the company to be passed on to the consumer with ease. The weaknesses of the company are as follows. The first one is the limited availability of the solar panels to satisfy the rapidly increasing solar energy usage by the residents of the United States of America. That has reduced the capability of the company to advance its financial operations and make more money. The second weakness is the confusion in the service policies. The models used to serve the customers at Sunrun Inc. may confuse the clients unless they are explained to them. The employees also need to be educated on them so that they may not obscure the clients. 

Success factors and what the company must do to perform successfully. 

Sunrun Inc. needs to educate both the employees and its consumers across the United States of America on the various aspects of solar energy usage in the country and its significance. The company also needs to expand its presence so that it can attract more customers and develop into the international solar industry. Through that, the company will be able to succeed in its financial sector. The company needs to diversify its products and services. In addition to the company coming up with solar panels for their clients, they can also come up with other innovative products such as the production of solar roofs, which can serve as both roofs and solar panels for the customers. That will be relevant to the increase of customers to the company as a goal. The company may also include other services it offers to the clients such as engaging them in research and surveys to find out their individual preferences on the sources of every for their households and industries(Tarhini, Ammar & Tarhini, 2015). 

The strategies that would allow the company to capitalize on its major strengths. 

To boost the growth of Sunrun Inc., there is the need for the company to capitalize on its strengths. On the company's strength, if having a dedicated employee base, the company can integrate the following strategies. One of them is the observation of the individual employees' strengths. That motivates the employees to work their duties diligently. The other one is to stimulate the employees in their work. That can be done using incentives such as an increase in their salaries and trips to the various parts of the world. On the strength of excellent customer service, the following strategies will be useful in the capitalization of the strength. The company can reward the best employees who are involved in the customer service department. Secondly, the company can also come up with various incentives for the customers such as discounts to attract them to the company (Hotho, Lyles & Easterby ‐ Smith, 2015). 

The strategies that would allow the company to improve its major weaknesses. 

The company also needs to improve on its considerable weaknesses so that it can spark positive performance in the solar energy market in the United States of America and hopefully the global market shortly. On the gap of confusion in the explanation of the products and services that Sunrun Inc. offers, the employees and the customers' needs to be educated about the products and services that are provided. That can be done using workshops and eLearning for the employees. For the customers, Sunrun Inc. will achieve that by coming up with brochures that give the information regarding Sunrun Inc. and the fantastic products and services it has for the American consumers. On the weakness of having limited products to showcase to and satisfy the consumers In the united states of America, Sunrun Inc. will come up with a way to increase the production and distribution of the solar panels to the customers in the various states of the united states of America. Sunrun Inc. will also open several branches and especially towards the eastern states of the United States to attract more customers into the company (Venable, Pries-Heje & Baskerville, 2016). 

Strategy Selection 

Alternative Strategies 

Three possible alternative strategies for the company 

There are alternative strategies to ensure that Sunrun Inc. is thriving in the United States of America's solar energy industry. One of the alternative strategies is the development of a comprehensive business plan. Besides the business plan is a document that is supposed to help a business solicit money from potential lenders, the report is also instrumental to the direction setting of the company and its following. Therefore, Sunrun Inc. needs to review its business plan and ensure it is more comprehensive to both the management and the employees of the company. The other strategy is the improvement of the company's leadership. Effective leadership will be essential to the success of the company. To achieve that, Sunrun Inc. will embrace contemporary leadership style and ensure that the management understands them and puts them into consideration. The third strategy is to seek business advice from its trusted business advisors across the United States of America. That will introduce a holistic change to the company's operational and financial approach. 

Cultural factors to be considered in analyzing and choosing the alternative strategies. 

Sunrun Inc. has a defined culture that is specific to the company alone and therefore it makes it unique. The analysis and the choice of the possible alternatives to improve on the company's success are dependent on the cultural factors of the organization. One of the cultural factors that guide the selection of the alternative strategies is the maintenance of the hierarchical structure of Sunrun Inc. leadership structure at Sunrun Inc. is one of a hierarchical nature, which has the top management officials at the top of the hierarchy. Therefore, the alternative strategies for success have to ensure they put into consideration the non-alteration of the leadership structure. The other cultural factor is the role of the employees in the company. The alternative strategies to the success of Sunrun Inc. have to ensure that they do not change the role of the employees in a significant way so s to avoid confusion that may be experienced in the company after the change. The other cultural factor is the values of the organization. The values that drive the organization have to be preserved in the case of the company adopting alternative strategies to work on the road to success for the company. 

Prioritize and explain the selection of alternative strategies. 

The selection of the alternative strategies has been made in accordance to the various sectors of operations at Sunrun Inc. the business plan as a strategy targets the financial and the operational spheres of the company although at some point it may be used to provide change to the holistic approach of the company. The improvement of the leadership of the company has been designed to ensure that the management of the company adopts solid structures that are beneficial to the company's growth. The advice to Sunrun Inc. is expected to span all the spheres of the company and cause a change in them. The sections of the alternatives to the primary business strategy at Sunrun Inc. have also been made concerning the position of the company in its industry. The company has already stabilized in the solar energy industry in the United States of America and therefore needs complex strategies that will ensure that the business operations are a success. 

Recommendation and Justification of the Best Alternative Strategies 

The best two strategies that will work for the company are the making of a comprehensive business plan and ensuring the company has competent leadership. The comprehensive business plan will cover more areas in the company such as the financial, operational, marketing and administration. The comprehensive business plan will, therefore, be an instrumental tool to the success of Sunrun Inc. the improvement that is set to be made on the leadership of the company will also be significantly affecting the success opportunities of the company. That said, the integration of technology is expected to change the leadership styles. That will be coupled with education on the leaders of the company to ensure they acquire the contemporary leadership skills. They will bequeath them to the employees. In the long run, the company will have employees who are ready to work diligently in the work assigned to them. The company will be a success. 

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