Current and future competitiveness of the Icelandic and Norwegian salmon farming industries: A comparison of economic performance, productivity, and characteristics of the national environments in which the salmon farming companies operate

While Norway has had a world-leading position in farmed Atlantic salmon since the pioneer age of the 1960s and 1970s, Iceland’s history of salmon farming is one of misadventure; however, a third attempt to become a viable player in the global industry is underway. Despite disagreements over terminology and the extent to which each country-specific characteristic affects the success of firms operating within it, economic and strategic management literature generally accepts that aspects of the national environment are explanatory variables when determining competitiveness This thesis aims to assess the prospects for success of the Icelandic salmon farming industry. Specifically, it aims to assess the industry´s current competitive situation, its potential development, and what country-specific differences are of most interest. Biologic and economic parameters are measured and compared with equivalent data points from Norway found in literature and official sources, using unique data collected from Icelandic salmon farming companies, including annual and generational bioeconomic variables. While current competitiveness is determined by relative cost and price achievement, future development in competitive positions is based on a theoretical and integrated understanding of the cost drivers, which are derived from a systematic and in-depth analysis of biological performance and labor efficiency, as well as the industry’s context. Norway is found to have significantly lower cost over the compared period, while Iceland generally achieves higher prices due to higher slaughter weight and possibly premium prices. Thus, and theoretically, Iceland’s current competitive position cannot be determined, whether it is one of competitive advantage or disadvantage. Additionally, it demonstrates that, under equal conditions, 40 percent of the cost difference can be accounted for by differences in labor productivity. The exponential growth rate and lag in production can account for some of this and these effects on labor productivity are expected to decline. In all, what can be found in this analysis is that the cost disadvantages of Iceland stem from extra transport costs and production time in the sea, which ultimately can be traced to the absence of global competitive suppliers and colder sea temperatures, respectively. As the “startup” costs will decrease and strategic alternatives to circumvent disadvantages, Iceland’s salmon farming industry probably has a bright outlook

Technological Change and the Politics of Decarbonization: A Re-making of Vested Interests?

publishedVersio

Corporate Strategies in Environmental Governance: Marine Harvest and Regulatory Change for Sustainable Aquaculture

acceptedVersio

The good, the bad, or the ugly? Corporate strategies, size and environmental regulation in the fish-farming industry

This article investigates corporate responses to environmental regulation of fish farming in Norway, the world's largest producer and exporter of salmon. We note a puzzling strategic divergence within the industry: whereas small firms have strongly opposed new standards, large and multinational firms have supported or even demanded stricter regulation. Traditional models for business response strategies can explain this divergence only partly. We develop a supplementary, explanatory perspective focusing on company size and predatory opportunities, to show how large and dominant corporate players can use environmental regulation strategically to strengthen their competitive advantages at the expense of small and weaker rivals. This highlights a neglected dimension of regulatory effects and motives behind corporate demand for strict and costly standards. It also shows how environmental regulations may cause trade-offs with local development concerns, relevant to other natural resource-based sectors evolving from smaller-scale production towards full-fledged industrializationpublishedVersio

Informasjonssystem i praksisfellesskap

Sammendrag Denne oppgaven dreier seg om hvordan innføringen av et informasjonssystem kan føre til konsekvenser i forhold til endring av læringsprosesser, kunnskapsdeling, arbeid og arbeidsrutiner i en organisasjon. Oppgaven er utført ved hjelp av kvalitative metoder og undersøker om og hvordan et informasjonssystem kan bidra til læring i en organisasjon, og bruker prinsipper fra teoriene rundt praksisfellesskap og lærende organisasjoner for å beskrive og forklare dette. Forskningsarbeidet i denne oppgaven er foretatt ved Statnett og i Statnetts Vedlikeholdsdivisjon. Fokus for undersøkelsen har vært innføring og bruk av et nytt informasjonssystem, IFS. Resultatene fra empirien utført i organisasjonen brukes som grunnlag for analyse i forhold til begreper og konsepter fra teoriene. På et overordnet nivå har arbeidet med oppgaven vist at et informasjonssystem kan bidra til kunnskapsdeling og læring i en organisasjon, under forutsetning at systemet har funksjonalitet som støtter kommunikasjon. Hensikten med å innføre et informasjonssystem i Statnett var å utvikle et verktøy som skulle støtte utførelsen av arbeidsoppgavene. Undersøkelsen viser at informasjonssystemet har ført til mer deling av data og informasjon og at dette har vært positivt for organisasjonen. Fordi fokus i Statnett hovedsakelig har vært rettet mot utvikling av informasjonssystemets funksjonalitet i forhold til utførelsen av arbeidsoppgaver, finnes det et uutnyttet potensial for kunnskapsdeling og læring gjennom systemet

Current and future competitiveness of the Icelandic and Norwegian salmon farming industries: A comparison of economic performance, productivity, and characteristics of the national environments in which the salmon farming companies operate

While Norway has had a world-leading position in farmed Atlantic salmon since the pioneer age of the 1960s and 1970s, Iceland’s history of salmon farming is one of misadventure; however, a third attempt to become a viable player in the global industry is underway. Despite disagreements over terminology and the extent to which each country-specific characteristic affects the success of firms operating within it, economic and strategic management literature generally accepts that aspects of the national environment are explanatory variables when determining competitiveness This thesis aims to assess the prospects for success of the Icelandic salmon farming industry. Specifically, it aims to assess the industry´s current competitive situation, its potential development, and what country-specific differences are of most interest. Biologic and economic parameters are measured and compared with equivalent data points from Norway found in literature and official sources, using unique data collected from Icelandic salmon farming companies, including annual and generational bioeconomic variables. While current competitiveness is determined by relative cost and price achievement, future development in competitive positions is based on a theoretical and integrated understanding of the cost drivers, which are derived from a systematic and in-depth analysis of biological performance and labor efficiency, as well as the industry’s context. Norway is found to have significantly lower cost over the compared period, while Iceland generally achieves higher prices due to higher slaughter weight and possibly premium prices. Thus, and theoretically, Iceland’s current competitive position cannot be determined, whether it is one of competitive advantage or disadvantage. Additionally, it demonstrates that, under equal conditions, 40 percent of the cost difference can be accounted for by differences in labor productivity. The exponential growth rate and lag in production can account for some of this and these effects on labor productivity are expected to decline. In all, what can be found in this analysis is that the cost disadvantages of Iceland stem from extra transport costs and production time in the sea, which ultimately can be traced to the absence of global competitive suppliers and colder sea temperatures, respectively. As the “startup” costs will decrease and strategic alternatives to circumvent disadvantages, Iceland’s salmon farming industry probably has a bright outlook

The environmental effectiveness of sea lice regulation: Compliance and consequences for farmed and wild salmon

Wild Atlantic salmon populations are declining. Since the 1970s, the proportion returning to Norwegian rivers has been almost halved, while Norwegian sea farming has undergone massive industrialization and expansion. As the proliferation of sea lice is an important part of the explanation for the decline in wild salmon, Norway has enacted increasingly stricter regulatory thresholds for the average number of lice per farmed fish at production sites. This study shows that setting stricter thresholds has led to declining lice-levels within sea farms, but that more frequent de-lousing measures to ensure compliance leads to farmed-salmon welfare problems and higher mortality rates. Compliance with stricter thresholds has not lessened the sea-lice infestation pressure on surrounding, wild salmonid populations. The environmental effectiveness of such regulation is thus limited. This raises the important question of whether a regulatory regime focused on minimizing the average number of sea lice per farmed fish may do more harm than good, unless accompanied by a broader set of regulatory instruments targeting other variables that affect sea-lice infestations in the wild salmon habitat.acceptedVersio