Overview:
Tesla Australia operates
in the production of electric vehicles (EVs) and sustainable energy technology
(Tesla, 2018a). Their customer-centric values are embodied by their unique business
model, abandoning the traditional approach of franchising car dealership ‘middlemen’.
Tesla instead sells and promotes their vehicles directly to the customer
through Tesla-owned stores and showrooms. This allows Tesla to properly educate
consumers on the benefits of EVs through Tesla specialists and ensure that
customers “enjoy the experience… [and] look forward to returning” (Musk, 2012,
para. 7). This is conducive to their vision “to accelerate the world’s
transition to sustainable energy” (Tesla, 2018a, para. 1), as it allows Tesla
to highlight environmental and performance advantages in transitioning from
gasoline to electrical power. Traditional car dealerships would otherwise be
reluctant to promote Tesla in light of their predominantly gasoline powered
vehicle inventory.  

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Tesla’s mission reflects this vision, as it aims to mass-produce an EV at a price that is accessible to the average consumer and at a higher quality of its gasoline powered counterparts. It appears that Tesla is indeed fulfilling this mission, through their progress from luxury vehicles, the Roadster and Model S, to the latest Model 3, an affordable, mass produced sedan (Tesla, 2018a). Furthermore, Tesla’s operations in sustainable energy technology have caused them to work with the South Australian government in renewable energy projects to further their vision. One such project is the installation of solar panels and batteries in South Australian homes that will contribute to the state’s entire power grid (Government of South Australia, 2018). As such, the core mission, vision and values of Tesla are visible within its operations in Australia.
Value Net Analysis – The Vehicle Industry:
Customers, suppliers, competitors, complementors:
The customer
base of Tesla Australia currently consists of environmentally aware consumers
who are searching for luxury, high quality cars at premium price points (Tesla,
2018a). Additionally, the Model 3, due to reach Australia in 2019, targets the
premium small vehicle market (Tesla, 2018c).
As Tesla’s
vehicles are manufactured within their Fremont factory, this would be Tesla
Australia’s main supplier. The most important component of the vehicles,
Lithium-Ion batteries, are provided by Panasonic (Steen, 2015). However, due to
the absence of the manufacturing process and procurement in the context of Australia,
suppliers are limited or only indirectly relevant.
Tesla’s
competitors include all companies that manufacture small, premium passenger
vehicles, such as the BMW 5 Series and Audi A6 (Steen, 2015). However, direct
competitors would encompass Battery Electric Vehicles powered purely by
electricity, such as the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi i-Miev and BMW i3 (Zero Carbon
Australia, 2017).
The primary
complementors to Tesla’s vehicles are solar energy systems, to generate
electricity for charging in the home. This would include products like the
Tesla Powerwall 2, which can lower household energy costs by 30%, reducing
charging costs (Government of South Australia, 2018). Other complementary solar
systems in Australia include the LG 310w and SunPower 327w (Solarbank, 2018).
PARTS:
The players certainly
offer opportunities for co-operation to increase the overall size of the value
net. Tesla has freed their patents, allowing competitors to access their research
which will assist the global proliferation of EVs (Stringham, Miller &
Clark, 2015). This will work to increase attention and customer demand in the
EV market and will introduce new players into the value net.
Reduced fuel
costs are one way that Tesla adds value to their EVs. Owners of Model S and X
vehicles are offered free supercharging of up to 400 kWh per year, which
equates to around 1600 km of driving (Tesla, 2018b). Tesla also addresses
customer concerns regarding the resale value of EVs, by “guarantee[ing] a
resale value pegged to similar BMW and Mercedes models” (Steen, 2015, p. 5). These
methods work effectively to add value and gain customer loyalty. However,
Tesla’s main method of adding value is through their superior technology. It
assuaged the belief that EVs could not be powerful, as its Model S has a 0 to
100 km/h acceleration of 6 seconds, twice as fast as the Nissan Leaf and 10%
faster than the gas-powered BMW 5 (Steen, 2015). Furthermore, it addressed
‘range anxiety’ – fears about the maximum possible distance travelled on a full
charge – as its Model S and X boasted ranges of 350 km up to 500 km, in
comparison to the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3’s ranges of 117km and 130km
respectively (Zero Carbon Australia, 2017).
The added values of competing EVs also include reduced running costs
over gas powered cars, as they have less moving parts, reducing servicing costs.
Electricity is also significantly cheaper than liquid fossil fuels, reducing
fuel costs by up to 75% (Zero Carbon Australia, 2017). EVs also have the added
benefit of reduced emissions, as a full transition to electric vehicles would lessen
Australia’s greenhouse emissions by 6% (Zero Carbon Australia, 2017).
The main ‘rules’
of relevance to the electric vehicle industry are governmental. There are
various incentives to purchase EVs that are beneficial ‘rules’ for Tesla
Australia, such as registration and stamp duty discounts (Barton & Schütte,
2016). However, these are minimal, up to values of $660 in Queensland, NSW and
Victoria, while stamp duty on EVs has been fully removed in the ACT
(ClimateWorks, 2017). Luxury car taxes are also discounted for EVs, applicable
to both the Model S and Model X (Barton & Schütte, 2016).
Tesla Australia may also be able to encourage the introduction of light vehicle emissions standards, as they are currently in consideration and is prevalent in most other developed countries. This ‘rule’ would force vehicles in Australia to be fuel efficient, increasing the significance of the EV value net as competitors strive to develop low emission vehicles (Barton & Schütte, 2016).
The vehicle
industry is highly competitive in Australia while the EV industry is relatively
minor, and the tactics of competitors involve competition on “price, quality
and branding” (Thomson, 2017, p.6). Customer perceptions mainly focus on price
for small passenger vehicles (Thomson, 2017). Tesla Australia’s tactics in
expanding the EV industry are centred around differentiation and highlighting
superior EV technology. They attempt to shift consumer perspectives on the
industry, as their showroom employees are trained to promote the benefits of EV
technology in general (Musk, 2012). Not only is this transparent to customers,
but along with its open patents, it also attempts to change the lack of
cooperation amongst the Australian automotive industry.
The scope of the
EV industry is currently small. From the product offering of Tesla and its
competitors as discussed above, EVs in Australia are limited to small passenger
vehicles. However, Tesla wishes to expand the EV industry, and is venturing
into larger, commercial projects such as the Tesla Semi truck (Tesla, 2018a). There
are also certain benefits in Tesla’s plans to link the EV industry to the
renewable energy value net, as they are already direct complementors to Tesla’s
vehicles (Tesla, 2018a). Solar systems provide reciprocal added value to
Tesla’s vehicles – they reduce charging costs for EVs whilst the EV makes investment
in the solar system more worthwhile. By possibly forming a package deal with
the numerous solar system providers in Australia (Solarbank, 2018), Tesla could
increase the scope of the EV industry and encourage value net growth.
Critiques:
The main issue
with the value net framework relevant to Tesla Australia is its focus on
allocentrism. While Tesla is currently working to increase the value of the EV
industry in Australia, this may only work positively in the short run. It will
be detrimental if other firms who join the ‘game’ in the future approach
business egocentrically, which may reduce Tesla’s market share. This is a key
shortcoming in the ideas presented by the value net (Hitchcock, 2018).
Role of Tesla in Society:
An examination
of Tesla’s operations in Australia reveals features of the Creating Shared
Value (CSV) framework. Tesla simultaneously generates societal and economic
growth through the following methods of creating shared value, as postulated by
Porter and Kramer (2011):
Reconceiving Products and Markets
In spurring the
advent of the EV, Tesla has reimagined the market to capture both social and
economic benefits. As highlighted in their vision, the environmental benefit of
Tesla’s vehicles is immediately evident through reduced greenhouse emissions – in
2014, the average EV in Australia produced 0.16 Kg of CO2 equivalent
per km, whereas the average gas-powered vehicle produced 0.19 Kg per km (Riesz,
2014). The disparity between these figures will increase as Australia
inevitably adopts further sources of renewable energy in its electricity generation
(Riesz, 2014). This has, in turn, allowed Tesla to remain unique within a
largely homogeneous industry, creating a selling point (Stringham et al., 2015).
Redefining Productivity in the Value Chain
Tesla have also
reimagined the operations of a typical car manufacturer, maintaining
Tesla-owned dealerships in favour of franchised dealerships. By paying their
showroom employees fixed salaries rather than commissions (Steen, 2015), this
allows employees to properly promote the advantages and unique features of EVs,
instead of focusing on the “high-volume sales” (Federal Trade Commission, 2016,
p. 90) mindset of commissioned salespeople. This trait serves to further the
transition to a sustainable future by educating consumers on the benefits of
Tesla’s technology, as well as EVs in general (Musk, 2012). Tesla has created shared
value by both positively redefining their employee productivity and increasing
customer experience and awareness.
Enabling Local Cluster Development
In order for Tesla’s
vehicles to succeed, relevant infrastructure such as charging stations must be
developed (Stringham et al., 2015). Tesla has built thirteen ‘Supercharger’ stations,
for rapid charging, and numerous destination chargers around Australia, filling
in the lacking infrastructure (Tesla, 2018b). While this provides Tesla with
access to the Australian market, it also encourages the development and
introduction of other EVs into Australia. In developing Australia’s EV market,
Tesla will profit economically and also serve to combat the environmental
detriments of gas powered cars.
Critiques:
While it appears
that Tesla’s social mission is integrated within their business model, reflecting
CSV attributes, the lack of a concrete definition of CSV is problematic. There
is an unclear boundary between Social Entrepreneurship, CSV and Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR). As described by Porter and Kramer (2011), Social
Entrepreneurship should also target a social problem through the creation of
shared value. Furthermore, CSV’s main differentiation from CSR is based on the false
premise that CSR is separate from business strategy and is only for improving
the business’ image (Crane, Palazzo, Spence & Matten, 2014). Greenwashing
is also an issue, as Tesla’s cars are currently not as environmentally friendly
as they promote – much of Australia’s electricity is not produced by renewable
sources (Crane et al., 2014). Nevertheless, Tesla most closely abides by the
methods of creating shared value as defined by Porter and Kramer.
References
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