Marknadsanalys av miljökonsultbranschen En studie av Ångpanneföreningens miljötjänster

Abstract

As a consequence of the current global warming debate, many companies are today
working towards minimizing their operations’ effect on the environment. The
Swedish firm Ångpanneföreningen (ÅF), offers environmental consulting services
through its EHS department (Environment, Health and Safety). The department’s
largest business areas are services regarding state-regulated emission permits and
measurements and services concerning risk management. In this project, we have
studied these three areas from a strategic perspective to find out how ÅF can
improve its operations and strengthen its market position.
Purpose: The purpose of this thesis project is to determine what ÅF could do to increase its
share on the markets for EHS services. This requires separate analysis of the three
different areas. The project includes a description of the current state of each
market, a mapping of ÅF’s biggest competitors and an analysis of ÅF itself.
Method: The project has both a descriptive and a normative character. The reason for this is
that we want to try to extend the knowledge of these business areas by conducting
a market analysis. We have used somewhat different methodology when studying
the three separate areas. When examining the market for emission permits, we have
surveyed public archives to determine the characteristics of the market. When it
comes to the market for measurement services, we faced an initial challenge in
determining the different companies to examine. To find these, we did searches of
SWEDAC’s database as well as talked to several measurement experts. In the
analysis, we also studied the different companies’ annual reports. Risk management
was analyzed both in a qualitative and a quantitative way. The qualitative part was
assessed by gathering information from both electronic sources and personal
interviews with ÅF’s experts in this field. Annual reports were mostly used in the
quantitative part.
Conclusions: ÅF is the market leader in both permits and measurements. Risk management is
still in the developing stage and has been identified as a segment with high future
growth potential.
ÅF’s dominant position in the environmental permits area (22% market share) is
due to their success in A-class permits, for the projects with highest environmental
impact. In this segment of the market, ÅF holds a commanding 36% market share.
Among the smaller projects, the B-class permits, ÅF’s share is less impressive at
4% of a very fragmented market. The market size for environmental permits has
been estimated at 200-300 MSEK, where one third is A-class, and two thirds are Bclass
permits. Our recommendations focus on some possibly unrealized potential
in B-class permits, more specifically in permits for quarries and energy industries.
ÅF’s position in emission measurements is also market leading at a 21% market
share. The market size is estimated at 80 MSEK in 2006. The industry has
problems with over-capacity and exit barriers, which has led to diminishing margins
and price competition. Our recommendations focus on securing ÅF’s current
customer base by offering package-solutions with a range of related services. This
way, ÅF can leverage its size and offer services which the smaller competitors
cannot compete with. We also recommend that they focus more on the northern
part of Sweden where competitor concentration is low.
ÅF has traditionally a strong position in operations related risk management but
their services in management related risk management is still under development.
The industry is new and is characterized by diversity, both regarding the nature of
the competitors and the products and services available. We recommend ÅF to
focus on developing services in business continuity planning (BCP) since this is a
premium area where they can build on current core competencies. Since ÅF’s
vision is to be first or second in any business they compete in, we recommend
them to acquire an established competitor. This way they would get necessary key
competences and access to networks that ÅF lack today. Furthermore, they would
acquire a brand name which is not perceived as a technology consultant but rather as a management consultant which would enable them to charge more for their services.

• author: Andrén, Johan and Fernström, Gustav
• supervisor: Bertil Nilsson
• organization: Production Management
• course: MIO920
• year: 2008
• type: M1 - University Diploma
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: Emission permit, emission measurements, environmental consultant, business continuity planning, enterprise risk management
• other publication id: 08/5293
• language: Swedish
• id: 1979231
• date added to LUP: 2011-06-17 12:47:55
• date last changed: 2011-06-20 11:07:49