Growth strategies of incumbent utilities as contextually embedded: Examples from Denmark, Germany, Finland and Spain

In this article changes in the electricity industries of four different countries are analyzed in terms of the incumbent utilities' growth strategies. The economic activities are analyzed as socially embedded as we analyze how the social context influences these strategies. A typology for analyzing growth strategies based on the relative strength of social ties and focus on markets is presented. Qualitative case studies of the three largest incumbent utilities in Denmark, Germany, Finland and Spain were analyzed. Our findings show that incumbent utilities with relatively strong social relations can influence the energy policies, and their growth strategies tend to be more focused on domestic markets. In the opposite case, the growth strategies are more likely to be based on diversification and internationalization. We conclude that an incomplete unbundling of interests appears to slow down changes in the incumbent utilities' growth strategies. Thus, we propose that a complete unbundling of interests is needed.