Vattenfall Case Study

Vattenfall

Analysis of Vattenfall’s CSR issues and policy

Business-society management BKM09GM-12

Group 6.

Beseda Dan

Curfs Camiel

Liang Jingjing

Kemps Anne 18/01/2013

1. Introduction

In the past decade Vattenfall has developed from a company active in its home country (Sweden) to a multinational company with a massive market in multiple countries. Due to the rapid growth of internationally and the turbulence on the global energy market the company has struggled to keep up with national sensitivities and regulations, which harmed their international reputation and caused several clashes with environmentalists.

This document contains a concise but in depth analysis of Vattenfall's developments, issues, risks and current situation. Lessons learned from the analysis are captured in an advice to re-balance the company's CSR set-up in a policy focussing on sustainability through the demand side of the consumer energy market. The advised changes are a well balanced solution involving multiple stakeholders to reduce consumer energy demand in a way that benefits the environment, consumers, governments, NGOs and Vattenfall.

2. Company Profile

Vattenfall is a Swedish company founded in 1909 as a commercial government agency. It can be seen as a hybrid organization at the market- state interface, that produces private goods (Tulder, Zwart 2006: 24). Vattenfall remained almost exclusively a Swedish actor until 1995. Due to the stagnation of the Swedish energy market since 1992, industry-wide internationalization started, including Vattenfall’s direct (Skydraft) and indirect (Voima, Finland) competitors. Vattenfall perceives size and customer base as the key to competitiveness, and the international expansion of competitors was seen as a threat, therefore the management wanted to internationalize rather than diversify within its home country. The deregulation of various European energy markets and the electricity directive to create an...