Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 857; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030857
Lessons Learned from Establishing the Energy-Informatics Business Model: Case of a German Energy Company
1
Faculty of Economics and Management, Technical University Berlin, 10587 Berlin, Germany
2
Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, 10117 Berlin, Germany
3
Department of Economics, Anhalt University of Applied Science, 06406 Bernburg, Germany
4
Institute of Electronic Business, Berlin University of the Arts, 12165 Berlin, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 7 January 2019 / Revised: 27 January 2019 / Accepted: 5 February 2019 / Published: 7 February 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social and New Technology Challenges of Sustainable Business)
Abstract
Energy and utilities companies find themselves in a paradoxical situation in which their traditional business models are losing profitability, and they must advocate energy efficiency and climate-protection goals, and thus encourage their customers to save energy. As a result, they must partially cannibalize their business models and experiment with new models and techniques. Energy Informatics (EI) offers promising business opportunities that alleviate the concerns of energy companies about traditional revenue streams. However, recent discussions on this issue lack proof of concept and success determinants. This business case study fills this gap by describing the journey of German energy company Energiequelle, which established a sustainable business model based on EI. On the basis of our interview data, we analyzed Energiequelle’s EI strategy and stakeholder management and present six lessons learned. We believe that our practice-oriented research provides profound insight, especially to high-level executives and policymakers. View Full-TextKeywords:
Energy Informatics; sustainable business model; stakeholder management; small medium enterprise; social challenges
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Grosse, M.; Send, H.; Schildhauer, T. Lessons Learned from Establishing the Energy-Informatics Business Model: Case of a German Energy Company. Sustainability 2019, 11, 857.
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