From a US$25000 Chinese startup in 1984, Lenovo had grown phenomenally to a US$16 billion global enterprise with customers in over 160 countries. It had an employee base of more than 21000 in over 60 countries and major research centers in US, Japan and China. It also had operational hubs in Beijing, Morrisville and Singapore and manufacturing bases in China, US, Poland, India and Mexico. As of 2008 it was the number one PC manufacturer in Asia Pacific. However, Lenovo was now facing several challenges in its continued expansion.

The financial crisis had resulted in a drop of Lenovo's 2nd quarter sales by 17.9% in 2009. In the global PC arena, Lenovo was yet to catch up with the global giants such as Dell, HP and Acer. It also faced stiff competition from other players such as Apple, Toshiba and Sony especially in the mature PC markets. Known as 'Legend' before 2005, Lenovo itself was merely a four year old brand name and had yet to take strong roots in the minds of the consumers. Despite its legacy of the 'ThinkPad' line, the appeal of its brand was predominantly restricted to the large corporations.

Amidst this global turmoil however, there were enormous opportunities in the emerging markets. The rapid economic expansion in these markets had resulted in a burgeoning middle class that now aspired to own their first PC. Increasing literacy rates and internet penetration combined with the declining PC ownership costs was creating an accelerated consumer demand for PCs in these markets. In 2006, emerging markets accounted for half of the sales and 53% of the global PC growth.

The Lenovo management was keen to figure out the branding strategy that would be best suited for Lenovo to tap into these growing markets. But there were many doubts that Lenovo had to address before it could devise a final strategy. The global brand positioning and its fit in the emerging markets, the marketing & promotional strategies to be employed, the growth potential of these markets to drive future growth, and most importantly to position Lenovo as the global leader. These were only a few of the preliminary concerns to begin with.

Founded in 1898 by a father-son duo to manufacture steel window frames, Vestas has evolved to become world's no. 1 wind turbine manufacturer. In the past 25 years, Vestas has multiplied its turbine output 100 times with a total installed base of more than 39,000 turbines worldwide. That is about one third of all turbines in the world. With a CAGR of 26% over the past 4 years, and a market share of 20% in 2008, Vestas is truly a leader in this industry.

However, in March 2009, Vestas was at crossroads. The endemic financial crisis and resulting drop in global demand in the past one year had changed the wind energy industry landscape. Concurrently, as the focus on renewable energy grew, competition intensified resulting in majors such as GE, Siemens and other regional players taking away market share from Vestas. Despite its continuing global leadership, Vestas needs to look at new expansion opportunities and revenue streams in order to be better prepared for such crisis in the future and soften the impact on the company.

With a recent surge in sales of small scale turbines, investment from small scale manufacturers has risen, highlighting potential growth opportunities in this segment. With many developments taking place in the small scale turbine market, it could be the next growth platform that Vestas is looking for.

Even though this market looks attractive, it is still in its infancy stage and new to Vestas. Hence, several pieces of the puzzle need to be put together before Vestas can decide on how to leverage this opportunity. And the way these pieces fit together will decide the future business opportunities for Vestas.

Average global temperatures have risen by over half a degree in the last century and 20% of polar ice has melted away¹. Within the current century, a further 2% rise in global temperatures and a rise in sea levels of between 0.18 and 0.59 meters are now seen by climate scientists as inevitable.² By 2050, scientists declare that global emissions must reduce by 90%³ from current levels to prevent further increases in global warming and avoid potentially catastrophic consequences. Society, including government and business, can no longer ignore climate change.

Between 2000 and 2004, liquid and gaseous fossil fuels contributed to about 56% of total CO₂ emissions⁴. The six oil 'super majors' control only a small fraction of global oil & gas reserves but have a considerable contribution to the world's total oil production (inclusive of crude oil, natural gas liquids and condensates). These are integrated companies involved in the processes of exploration, production, refining and marketing activities of fossil fuels. Energy demand is estimated to grow by 45% by 2030. The world must find sustainable ways to meet this growing demand for energy whilst make deep cuts to carbon emissions. Placing an economic value on carbon emissions allows society to find the most economic means to balance these competing imperatives.

Impetunergy, one such major player in the industry, is committed to responsible business operations and creating sustainable shareholder value. It recognises the need to implement measures to offset its own carbon emissions and manage the cost of compliance arising from increasing stringent regulations across the globe. Impetunergy also has one of the largest and most diversified alternative energy portfolios in the sector, and is evaluating other business opportunities that the emerging carbon value chain presents. Developing complementary new businesses to capture opportunities in the emerging global carbon economy is a key challenge for Impetunergy as it seeks to position and transform itself for continued growth in a low carbon environment.

1. http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/qthinice.asp
2. IPCC, 2007: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M.Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA
3. Weaver, A. J., K. Zickfeld, A. Montenegro, and M. Eby (2007), Long term climate implications of 2050 emission reduction targets, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L19703, doi:10.1029/2007GL031018
4. Raupach, M.R.., Marland, G., Ciais, P., Le Que, C., Canadell, J.G., Klepper, G. & Field, C.B., (2007), Global and Regional drivers of accelerating CO2 emissions, 104, 24. doi:www.pnas.org_cgi_doi_10.1073_pnas.0700609104