Environmental Analysis Of India For Wi-Charge Expansion

• Undertake an environmental analysis of a target country on behalf of a company wishing to make a product or service available

• You are a (WE) product manufacturer (or the supplier of a service).

• Your marketing department has identified a potential market in another country.

• The decision to enter this new market simply needs to be supported by environmental analysis.

• This analysis will report on the operating environment in your target country - specifically in the context of your product or service and its compatibility with your strategy. 

Political environmental analysis

Established in 2012, Wi-charge is an Israeli based technology SME that is looking to expand its products and services into India which has a promising market opportunity. WI-Charge basically solves the most nagging problem in modern devices, battery charging. Wi-charge offers a wireless charging service that surpasses the normal wireless charging of modern devices where a device is placed on top of a wireless charging unit. This is achieved by attaching a wireless charging unit to any ceiling where it also serves as a normal light, emitting infrared beams to the receiver units, which the user has attached to their devices. The receiver unit which actually fingers sized captures the light which is converted to electrical power, a similar process in solar panels through a photovoltaic cell which charges the modern devices. (Richard 2018).

The SME intends on expanding the product's functionality to a much wider audience than the currently confined rooms such as homes and offices. It intends on expanding to public spaces such as parks and recreational facilities as well as bars, restaurants and coffee shops. Therefore, India will offer Wi-charge a conducive business environment and market where the SME can make the most out its expansion plan through identifying their growth opportunities at a granular level as it will be depicted through the environmental analysis of the country

After its neighbor China, India is that fastest growing emerging economy in the last couple of decades which has attracted many firms to invest and expand into the country and foresee their market opportunities in dominating their respective markets which creates a footing for Wi-charge to prosper as well. At the vanguard of the lucrative business opportunities, is the Indian government led by prime minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and his political party (BJP) in making reforms that are increasing the ease of doing business in India. Moreover, the political scenery India has been more than stable especially under the leadership of prime minister Modi since 2014. This political stability is essential for Wi-charge to conduct its business in without the fear of political disruption that might lead to great losses affecting the growth and the development of the SME (Radulovich, Javalgi and Scherer, 2018).

The bilateral ties between India and Israel have improved over the last couple of years which has led to the development of a keen interest of Israel based firms to invest or expand their business into India and exploit the various market opportunities even at a granular level. Moreover, there was a proposed free trade agreement in 2010 where India would export and import good from Israel tax-free. However, the negotiations are still ongoing but it is expected to take effect before the start of the next Indian elections. This will be beneficial for Wi-charge as it can export products to India minimal cost which will be essential in the growth and development of the firm in the country (Kumaraswamy, 2018).

The current economic shake-up due to increasing oil prices, emerging trade wars and sanctions has affected many countries, but India has managed to stay strong (Bildirici and Bakirtas, 2014). In 2017-2018 the economy of India grew by 7.1% which was far higher than other emerging economies in the ongoing economic slowdown. Additionally, the country has also seen a healthy reduction in retail inflation by 3.3% heading towards a stable price regime. The ability of the Indian economy to hold its own even in shaky situations proves an essential country for Wi-charge to expand into and pursue its goals and objectives in the Indian market (Debnath, 2016).

Economic-environmental analysis

Indian has developed and implemented economic reforms essential in improving the business climate for SMEs such as Wi-Charge in carrying out their business activities in the Indian states. Among the reforms essential to the success of Wi-charge is the conversion of the 29 Indian states into a common market that would ensure the quality interstate business transactions to be much effective and easier than before. This will allow the expansion of the SME into smaller branches in some of the strategic states so as to have a strong footing in dominating the market share and provide quality product service delivery to the Indian consumers (Narasimhan and Sridhar, 2015).

India is among the few countries known to embrace and remain true to their culture and heritage globally. The social-culture has also been known to reject business that influences or seem to clash with the social-cultural norm of the country. However, the social culture of India has embraced information technology at a far faster and wider rate that most emerging countries. This creates a conducive and motivated environment or business climate for Wi-charge to prosper and be accepted in the country. However, the culture back in Israel is different to India and its necessary for the firm to adapt to the social beliefs and practices which will provide a basis for the nature of which business processes are conducted (Asher and Novosad, 2017). The answer basically lies in just understanding the general culture which is distinct in each geographical allocation in the country which consist of a rapid growing population that is set to surpass China in the next five to ten years. literacy levels are at its highest in the south of India at close to 90% and are more likely to embrace the Wi-charge technology faster than the north were literacy is at 45%. Business success ultimately depends to a large extent of coming to terms with the social norms of the Indian country, the people and culture in order to achieve business success

The technology sector in India is booming at a rapid rate due to the support on research and innovation in the country that has led to a culture that embraces technology faster than emerging and some developed countries. The penetration rate of technology advancement especially in the villages where 70 % of the populations resides almost rivals the semi-urban sub-states. In regards to the service offered by Wi-Charge, the basic entry modern device that would revolutionize the wireless charging market in India is the smartphone

The smartphone industry in India is a growing industry with a projected growth focus and wide adoption in the country. The emergence of many smartphone manufacturing firms offering quality products at low and affordable prices is a major consequence of the continued growth in smartphone penetration in India. Moreover, this will play a major role in spearheading the growth and development of the Wi-charge service in the country as smartphones will be essential in the product service delivery during the expansion in the provision of wireless charging technology at a large scale such as in public spaces which would be essential in the elimination process of using the cable. Additionally, the continued technology advancement and innovation in other sectors of the industry such as construction and manufacturing has led to the development of infrastructures   such as parks and recreational facilities which will be essential in targeting consumers and providing quality product service delivery in the long run.

Social-cultural environmental analysis

Environmental change is becoming a major concern globally especially due to global warming which has led to drastic change and increased volatility of weather pattern. India is among the emerging countries that have increased urbanization and industrialization at the cost of the environment which has led to increased health issue due to pollution of the environment. (Alam, et al, 2016). However, the rapidly growing population of India is increasingly becoming aware of the essentials of protecting the environment especially with the support of the government. This has forced firms to revolutionize their business models towards a more environmental approach to providing their products and service. WI-charge complies with an environmentally friendly approach that does not harm the environment, additionally the product service delivery is focused on minimal energy consumption that can use electricity or clean energy depending with the taste of the consumers. therefore, the consumers who are environmentally aware can also be targeted and retained for future research and innovation on the current product service (Borthakur and Govind, 2017).

Over the year numerous essential changes have been made in India’s legal environment that has shaped the way business is conducted in the country which applies to both local firms and foreign firm from another country such as Wi-charge. Such legislation changes range from disability discrimination, a greater need for firms to observe the environment and recycle their waste products if possible and the minimum wage to be increased (Kulkarni,2017). Basically, the legislation changes occur from time to time depending in crucial circumstances which mining affect the cost and demand of Wi-charge products in the future but the flexibility of India’s business environment will be essential in steering the firm back on the right track within a short period.

Contrary to this, there are other reforms such as the international trade regulations that were focused in creating bilateral ties with foreign countries and propel investments, imports, and exports in the country which opened doors for firms to expand into the country. The foreign trade act reform has provided the basis for the central government to develop trade routes essential in developing the economy and increasing the ease of doing business in the country which has developed a strong relationship between India and Israel essential for the prosperity of Wi-charge. The bilateral ties between India and Israel have improved over the last couple of years which has led to the development of a keen interest of Israel based firms to invest or expand their business into India and exploit the various market opportunities even at a granular level. Moreover, there was a proposed free trade agreement in 2010 where India would export and import good from Israel tax-free (Sharma and Bing, 2015). However, the negotiations are still ongoing but it is expected to take effect before the start of the next Indian elections. This will be beneficial for Wi-charge as it can export products to Indian branch at a minimal cost which will be essential in the growth and development of the firm in the country 

Technological environmental analysis

India is basically a game of numbers, it is a massive market after China which is set to surpass it in the next five years. This leads to an exponential increase in buying power as well as the penetration and adoption of technology which makes it a suitable market opportunity of Wi-charge to expand into and exploit the market opportunities that will lead it its growth and development in the market .(Hye and Lau, 2015). A good example that can account for this is Uber’s success in India, the firm expanded into the country recently making it its third largest market after China and US basically due to the sheer size of the Indian population that assimilates technology at a fast pace. Additionally, the massive Indian market can also be generally be broken down into rural and urban which comprises of a relatively affluent massive middle class with a high sending power which is expected to double by 2026, therefore this presents itself as an effective market opportunity in the Indian market for Wi-charge to expand into and exploit the market opportunity.

The biggest threat in the Indian market is information and cyber insecurity, Indian business have constantly been under attacks over the past year. According to The Economic Times (2017),  Almost every cybersecurity branch that the world has suffered, India is always among the first especially now when these attacks are getting more sophisticated by the day undermining not only SMEs but large cooperation whose vast resources seem not to be of much help .Ransomware attacks such as WannaCry and Goldeneye are becoming more common especially Indian where a firm’s crucial information is held hostage for extortion purposes where victims pay a significant amount of money (Trehan, 2017). These cyber-attacks will lead to huge losses and damages a firm’s reputation which could lead to a possible failure of the firm.

The best recommendation for the threat of cyber security attack for Wi-Charge to regularly update patches on software being used as well as conduct a security training awareness program for both employees and consumers. However, the best way to protect the business from ransomware is to minimize the impact by regularly creating and maintaining secure backups backed with a clear recovery plan to implement in case of an attack. These secure backups will prevent scenarios where the firm is needed to pay some amount of money in order to acquire files that have been decrypted but rather implementing the recovery processing and updating software and patches in order to prevent another attack.

Conclusion

India is quality choice for Wi-Charge SME to expand into. The country has a massive market after china which is set to surpass it in the next five years. This leads to an exponential increase in buying power as well as the penetration and adoption of technology which makes it a suitable market opportunity of Wi-charge to expand into and exploit the market opportunities that will lead it its growth and development in the market. Moreover, India is among the top emerging economies that have a promising potential of doubling their economic growth by 2025 which will contribute to the success of Wi-charge. At the vanguard of the lucrative business opportunities, a government focused in making reforms that are increasing the ease of doing business in the country. The bilateral ties between India and Israel have improved over the last couple of years that has led to a proposed free trade agreement in 2010 where India would export and import good from Israel tax free which is set to paly a major role in the development and expansion of the firm. Therefore after analyzing the indian market external business environment would recommend Wi-Charge SME to purse and expansion into the Indian market

References

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Asher, S., & Novosad, P. (2017). Politics and local economic growth: Evidence from India. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(1), 229-73.

Bildirici, M. E., & Bakirtas, T. (2014). The relationship among oil, natural gas and coal consumption and economic growth in BRICTS (Brazil, Russian, India, China, Turkey and South Africa) countries. Energy, 65, 134-144.

Borthakur, A., & Govind, M. (2017). Emerging trends in consumers’ E-waste disposal behaviour and awareness: A worldwide overview with special focus on India. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 117, 102-113.

Debnath, P. (2016). Political and legal system and foreign direct investment in India. Retrieved from https://www.projectguru.in/publications/political-egal-system-foreign-direct-investment-india/

Hye, Q. M. A., & Lau, W. Y. (2015). Trade openness and economic growth: empirical evidence from India. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 16(1), 188-205.

Kulkarni, P. R. (2017). A New Deal for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in India. Small Enterprises Development, Management & Extension (Sedme) Journal, 35(1).

Kumaraswamy, P. R. (2018). Reading Modi’s Visit to Israel. India Quarterly, 74(1), 1-16

Narasimhan, R., & Sridhar, M. K. (2015). Internationalization of Technology-based SMEs in India: Critical Factors of Transformation. South Asian Journal of Management, 22(2).

Radulovich, L., Javalgi, R. R. G., & Scherer, R. F. (2018). Intangible resources influencing the international performance of professional service SMEs in an emerging market: Evidence from India. International Marketing Review, 35(1), 113-135.

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