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Grocery retailers & renewable energy adoption – A comparative case study on how and why grocery retailers in Finland invest in renewable energy
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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en
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100
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A significant part of the international efforts to mitigate climate change and reduce carbon emissions will be the transition to cleaner energy production. These transitions are typically studied from the perspective of governments, citizens, energy producers, and heavy industry, ignoring product and service-based businesses who often make up substantial portions of the energy consumption profile of several countries. Yet more and more companies, previously without substantial interest in the energy market, are proactively becoming critical players in national energy transitions, either through calculated consumption changes, or by self-producing or buying clean energy.
In Finland, market-leading grocery retailers S-Group and K-Group have respectively become the country’s largest consumers and producers of wind and solar energy. This Master’s thesis explores how and why these companies, to whom energy is only peripheral to their core business, have invested in renewable energy. By understanding energy as part of the companies’ corporate responsibility agendas, the thesis answers two research questions: 1) How have S-Group and K-Group implemented their renewable energy strategies and what role do these strategies play in the companies’ corporate responsibility agendas? 2) What were the key motives for investing in renewable energy for S-Group and K-Group? To answer these questions, this comparative case study uses qualitative research methods including interviews and analysis of secondary data.
The findings show that energy is mainly an operational concern, approached through corporate responsibility integration practices. Key motives for moving to renewables emerge from the national and industry contexts, while firm-specific factors further differentiate company approaches. The main difference between the case companies has been how closely energy production is tied to core business activities and how the company organizes internally around energy. Critical to both companies’ success has been external partnerships. Investments in renewables have been largely motivated by the rising cost of electricity, with national subsidy programs for renewable energy production further pushing companies towards independence in energy sourcing. The global sustainability trend has made emissions and sustainable business practices a pressing matter for companies, meaning brand management has also played a role in renewable energy adoption.
By testing out corporate responsibility frameworks in an energy context, this thesis demonstrates the varying levels of influence in energy issues for businesses, going beyond energy as a peripheral operational issue. These findings add knowledge to the understudied energy perspective in corporate responsibility, while demonstrating how corporate responsibility can help bring more ecosystem players to the area of energy transition research.
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Lovio, RaimoKuisma, Mika