Business strategy: Petra safety and security solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Abstract

This report analyzes a small business in the infrastructure systems industry, particularly the System Integration business, and proposes business and functional strategies. The firm analyzed is Petra Safety and Security Solutions Pvt Ltd, a Chennai based System Integrator (SI) founded in 2001 by Mr Solomon Selvakumar and Mrs Jaya Vaidyanathan. While Petra has gained experience over the years, its growth has been slow - current turnover is Rs. 1 Crore and it has 9 full time employees. The research methodology included primary research via interviews with the founders, advisor and key employees, site visits to two of Petra's customers in Chennai, secondary research and studying relevant strategy literature and text books. The focus of the report is on the domestic SI market. The report begins with a description of the infrastructure systems industry and proposes classifications based on end user perspective (continuous/occasional savings) and technology systems perspectives (generic and specific systems). It is proposed that the nature of savings (continuous/occasional) influences the user's decision making process. Industry characteristics including the involvement of specialized service providers, the need for team work involving multi-vendor task forces and the technology trend towards convergence are highlighted. As part of the industry analysis, the domestic SI industry has been assessed to be in the growth stage. For the purpose of five forces analysis, the SI industry is divided into fire safety systems (moderately attractive) and security systems (highly attractive). In analyzing Petra's business model, its value proposition (turnkey SI services), target segment (commercial urban infrastructure - B2B) and recourse to coopetition are described. Market opportunity analysis based on opportunity and threat matrices identify Petra's current status and provide a basis for strategy formulation. Key challenges to Petra are described - including dealing with intermediaries, sourcing from multiple OEM's, impact of being part of a multi-vendor task force and the lack of contractual documentation. Relevant recommendations are offered. Critical success factors (CSF's) for the SI industry are identified and assessed with respect to Petra. Petra's strengths include its relationship with OEM's, PMC's and sub-contractors and its execution capability as part of a multi-vendor task force; weaknesses include lack of pricing power and pricing strategy skills, its competitive position in the value system and lack of management depth and bandwidth. Petra's strengths and weaknesses have also been assessed from the core processes and systems perspective. The industry value system is described and it is found that other than the OEM and SI who add value, the other players are intermediaries. Thus, the SI plays an indispensable role in the buyer's value chain. The competitive scope of Petra's value chain is defined based on the end user's value chain, which is the most critical in the industry value system. It is proposed that Petra tailor its value chain to identified target industries in order to leverage competitive scope as a source of competitive advantage. It is recommended that the competitive scope of Petra's value chain evolve from a focus on access control and monitoring systems to fire safety systems and onto building management systems over a three to ten year time frame. It is envisaged that at the end of ten years, Petra would emerge as a turnkey SI for commercial infrastructure and industrial sectors. The report then focuses on Petra's business strategy. The proposed goal for Petra is to be the preferred partner for fire safety and security systems integration services. Strategy alternatives are assessed and bases of differentiation are identified. Since the solution offerings can be differentiated on multiple grounds, it is proposed to envision the bases of differentiation ranging on a continuum and including product, service and solution differentiation, each of which are described. The buygrid framework is constructed for the SI industry and it is found that the buying situations include modified rebuy and new task. Based on this analysis, it is proposed that Petra focus on customer retention as an outcome of delivering added value rather than being an outcome of incentivization via price discounts. The strategy options open to Petra are assessed and three options are identified. The implications of each option for Petra are discussed. The recommended option affords Petra flexibility - whereby it can adopt an emergent strategy - while capitalizing upon its competencies (particularly the capability to perform as part of a multi-vendor task force). Recommendations are offered for Petra to compete based on resources. The final section of the report focuses on Petra's functional and branding strategy. The "core processes and systems" model is proposed as opposed to functional/department based strategy. It is felt that Petra is well positioned to adopt this model since it is a young firm with limited managerial staff and the existing staff already performs multiple roles, cutting across functions. Specific measures per primary process and support system are recommended as part of the functional strategy. Key findings/recommendations include product development as the primary source of competitive advantage and focusing on alliance building with OEM's and sub-contractors.