Master Thesis

Master Thesis Country-related, company-related, and business- environmental determinants on sales in the sustainable high- technology luxury market The case of a sustainable high-technological luxury product Thesis supervisor: Arno Kourula Judy Heemskerk 6164188 06-05-2014 1 FISKER AUTOMOTIVE ABSTRACT The sustainable products industry is a fast-growing one, but the luxury segment of that industry remains underdeveloped. In the body of literature surrounding sustainable technology, there currently exists a knowledge gap regarding the luxury segment of that market. With this paper, I intend to clarify the primary determinants for sales of sustainable high-technology luxury. I will engage with existing theories about international strategy, institutional context, high-technology and luxury products as individual entities, and corporate social responsibility (CSR), and I will construct a theoretical framework to examine country-related, company-related, and business-environmental sales factors. I will test this framework with a practical case study investigating sustainable luxury car sales in three different countries and based on the triangulation of a primary document study, interviews, and secondary document studies. Together, the theoretical framework and case study reveal that legislation across different countries is the most significant, proven sales determinant in the sustainable high-technology luxury market. I will conclude by outlining several optimal strategies for improving sales performance in this market. 2 FISKER AUTOMOTIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract.......................................................................................................................2 1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................5 1.1 Problem description...........................................................................................................5 1.2 Research objective & scientific contribution....................................................................6 1.3 Content of the thesis .........................................................................................................7 2.Literature Review ...................................................................................................8 2.1 International Strategy........................................................................................................9 2.2 Institutional Context........................................................................................................12 2.3 High technology products ................................................................................................16 2.4 Luxury products ...............................................................................................................18 2.5 Corporate Social Responsibility .......................................................................................21 3. Theoretical Framework.......................................................................................25 4. Methodology .........................................................................................................28 4.1 Research design ...............................................................................................................28 4.2 Case sampling ..................................................................................................................28 4.3 Data gathering .................................................................................................................29 4.4 Data analysis ....................................................................................................................30 4.5 Validity and reliability .....................................................................................................31 5. Case description...................................................................................................34 5.1 Fisker Automotive............................................................................................................34 5.2 Electric vehicle / Plug-in-hybrid vehicle market ............................................................34 6. Emperical Findings...............................................................................................36 6.1 Cross-case study...............................................................................................................36 Interview ............................................................................................................................36 Document study .................................................................................................................36 Model..................................................................................................................................40 6.2 Empirical findings of the Netherlands .............................................................................43 Internal Document Study ...................................................................................................43 Interview.............................................................................................................................44 External Document study ...................................................................................................45 Model..................................................................................................................................46 3 FISKER AUTOMOTIVE 6.3 Empirical findings of Denmark.........................................................................................51 Internal Document Study ...................................................................................................51 Interview ............................................................................................................................52 External Document study...................................................................................................53 Model..................................................................................................................................53 6.4 Empirical Findings of Norway ..........................................................................................58 Internal Document Study ...................................................................................................58 Interview ............................................................................................................................58 Document study .................................................................................................................59 Model..................................................................................................................................60 6.5 Comparing the empirical findings....................................................................................65 7. Discussion .............................................................................................................67 7.1 Country-related factors ...................................................................................................67 7.2 Business-environmental factors.......................................................................................69 7.3 Company-related factors .................................................................................................71 8. Conclusions...........................................................................................................75 8.1 Summary of findings ........................................................................................................75 1. Country-related factors ................................................................................................75 2. Business-environmental factors ....................................................................................76 3. Company-related factors...............................................................................................77 8.2 Managerial Implications ...................................................................................................79 8.3 Limitations .......................................................................................................................80 8.4 Further research suggestions...........................................................................................81 References ................................................................................................................82 Appendices................................................................................................................86 Appendix 1: List of internal data sources..............................................................................86 Appendix 2: List of data used for external document study .................................................87 Appendix 3: Interview Protocol .............................................................................................89 Appendix 4: Managerial suggestions for Fisker......................................................................91 4 FISKER AUTOMOTIVE 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION In 1967, Lloyd D. Orr wrote one of the first scientific articles about electric vehicles. He explains that the initial decision to choose for gasoline cars was based on the fact that electric cars have one fatal defect: an inadequate source of energy storage,

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