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Conventional energy providers are currently experiencing fundamental uncertainty about the evolution of the energy system over the coming few decades within the context of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (2015), and the implications of these changes for their own profitability and long-term survival. How do these companies take wide-ranging investment decisions and convince investors that they will be able to generate a sustained return on investment in a rapidly changing business world? This paper suggests a conceptual framework for understanding the complexity of this strategic management task and the ways in which companies manoeuver their way through these challenging times. The case of large German energy providers is used to demonstrate the insightfulness of this approach. We show how electricity-producing companies deal with current fundamental uncertainties by creating imaginary futures that allow for disruptive change. We identify stories generated within these companies, and analyse the ways in which these stories are entangled with the materiality of energy production. The main theme is the possibility of transition from an old, fossil fuel-based energy world to a new, decarbonized energy world. This paper will also show how companies develop and attempt to implement their specific decarbonization strategies, highlighting in particular the role of the Paris Agreement.
Dr. Anita Engels; Michael Kunkis; Sören Altstaedt. A new energy world in the making: Imaginary business futures in a dramatically changing world of decarbonized energy production. Energy Research & Social Science 2019, 60, 101321 .
AMA StyleDr. Anita Engels, Michael Kunkis, Sören Altstaedt. A new energy world in the making: Imaginary business futures in a dramatically changing world of decarbonized energy production. Energy Research & Social Science. 2019; 60 ():101321.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDr. Anita Engels; Michael Kunkis; Sören Altstaedt. 2019. "A new energy world in the making: Imaginary business futures in a dramatically changing world of decarbonized energy production." Energy Research & Social Science 60, no. : 101321.
European companies were confronted with new organisational challenges when the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was introduced in 2005. What were their cognitive sources for developing an orientation in this scheme? This paper presents original data from a survey of the University of Hamburg, dealing with companies’ responses to the EU ETS in 2005–2007. The survey was conducted three times and addressed all companies covered by the trading scheme in Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Netherlands (response rate of 19%–23% over three years). Results are provided on the share of companies that traded emission allowances, on the knowledge of their own CO2 abatement costs, on the organisational unit that was responsible for decisions on emissions trading, and on the use of internal and external sources of advice. The data thus provides an insight into the cognitive resources that companies brought to bear when looking for an orientation in the new trading scheme. The sources of advice and the internal assignment of responsibility build the framework of competencies in which companies learn to account for carbon.
Anita Engels. The European Emissions Trading Scheme: An exploratory study of how companies learn to account for carbon. Accounting, Organizations and Society 2009, 34, 488 -498.
AMA StyleAnita Engels. The European Emissions Trading Scheme: An exploratory study of how companies learn to account for carbon. Accounting, Organizations and Society. 2009; 34 (3-4):488-498.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAnita Engels. 2009. "The European Emissions Trading Scheme: An exploratory study of how companies learn to account for carbon." Accounting, Organizations and Society 34, no. 3-4: 488-498.