The purpose of this thesis is to study the oil skimming market and evaluate what drives company competitiveness and market attractiveness. Throughout the thesis, the total oil skimming market has been divided into an industrial market and an offshore market as these applications have entirely different requirements. However, the skimming market in general is underdeveloped and the long lifetime of the equipment has a negative impact on the market development speed. It is therefore characterised by a fragmented body of competitors and diverging pricing. Instead of price being an order-winning aspect, recovery rate and ability to pick up a large variety of oils has been found to be important.   In this inductive, and interpretivistic case study, a model for market analysis of an underdeveloped market is developed and applied to Sandvik Process Systems’ oil skimming business. The study is based on an extensive interview program with oil skimming equipment manufacturers, and oil spill response companies. The model comprises of an external, and an internal analysis synthesised into a SWOT-matrix from which five strategic directions are extracted. These directions are described as well as their respective business impact on Sandvik Process Systems.   Sandvik Process Systems’ skimmer is a steel belt skimmer developed in the 1960’s. With a lifting height of up to three metres and a width of up to 400 mm, the Sandvik oil skimmer is capable of lifting 354 litres per hour in optimal conditions. Compared to its competitors, the skimmer is a low cost alternative priced at 66-75% below industry average.   However, the results of the analysis indicate a poor competitiveness of Sandvik Process Systems’ product. Due to an inferior technology, Sandvik Process Systems’ skimmer lacks the capacity needed to target the offshore market. Therefore, the product can only target the industrial market. Meanwhile, many competitors offer complete solution packages including as pumps, storage tanks, and a variety of specialised skimmers in order to increase their competitiveness.   Looking at the competitors it is clear that Sandvik Process Systems’ skimmer does have advantages. However, many of the advantages are based on organisational strengths which are difficult to leverage. Also, the organisation does not have any experience from the oil skimming market and due to the small size of the market, it is doubtful if Sandvik Process Systems are able to devote the necessary resources to overcome this hurdle. Due to a revenue target set at EUR 2.33 million, Sandvik Process System’s skimmer would require a 23.9% of the market value or 119% of the number of skimmers sold.   Despite this thesis reaching the conclusion that Sandvik Process Systems should not enter the oil skimming market; it also stipulates that Sandvik Process Systems does have the potential to successfully sell skimmers. However, reaching the goal of EUR 2.33 million is deemed unlikely.

Entering a new market is one of the most important strategic decisions a company makes, and being an external player can make it possible to reveal opportunities not apparent to the industry players. The key is to not take industry structures for granted, but to think outside the box when formulating the entering strategy. This study rests on the assumption that there are factors in industries that are more path dependent than others, hence they are rigid and difficult to change. These factors could eventually prevent the industry from evolving even though new technology and processes are available. By first identifying factors strongly governed by path dependency and then delving deeper to understand the reason why they have not changed, this study argue that new business opportunities can evolve. The approach developed in this paper is particularly beneficial when the product or service is not yet developed and the company has many different resources, enabling a more diversified product portfolio, in which opportunities can be prioritized against the company resources. This enables matching a product or service to the industry rather than pushing it out on the market. In this report the path dependency approach is applied on the banana market, which has features governed by path dependency, and the entering company is a subsidiary to an established company and thereby has multiple resources as well as products and services. Since the subsidiary chose to proceed with the strategy formulated by using the path dependency approach the findings from the case study show that the approach can be useful when entering a new market. The report concludes that the concept of path dependency is ambiguous and subjective but could be useful when formulating an entry strategy into a new market. However, further research is needed to evaluate the application of the approach and the path dependency approach should primarily be seen as a complement to existing market entry strategies.

The interest in investing in commercial real estate has increased in recent years and as a result the need for making well informed investment decisions has increased as well. Investing in real estate is different from investing in other asset classes due to its longevity, spatial constraint, regulatory framework etc. and thus investing in commercial real estate requires knowledge of the specific attributes of the property itself as well as in the factors in the surrounding area that affect the property. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to enlighten the reader of the various investment issues that arise when investing in commercial property and to give an account of how the investment decision is actually performed and what factors affect it. The research on how commercial real estate investments are made is firstly provided through a literature review that highlights several investment issues and illustrates of how investment decisions are made by conducting the market analysis. In the next section of the thesis, a practical market analysis follows conducted on the retail area of Stockholm that is based on the findings and suggested procedures in the literature review. The market analysis is designed to incorporate a qualitative research where the data is gathered and calculated and a quantitative research where the data compiled in the quantitative research is analyzed and interpreted. The analysis of the market analysis shows that there is a vast amount of data available to consider when executing the market analysis and that these data have to be carefully selected in the screening of the real estate market. It is vital to include only relevant factors that affect the demand for the specific property, and consequently the ability of the property to generate payoff, in order to for the market analysis to provide insightful and important guidance for the investment decision at hand. Even though the research  in this study provide important implications for investor on which demand factors that are important in a market analysis, the study is still limited by the inaccessibility to property specific demand factors such as rental contracts and repair and maintenance costs, which results in a suggestion of further research in this field in particular.

An increasing population is a given pursuit for many municipalities in Sweden. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate a method that may help increase the municipalities awareness of what possible newcomers are looking for in residential development areas, what their preferences are, and what it is that affects their decision to live in a certain area and house. With this type of information, municipalities are introduced to the underlying factors that influence the customer’s (newcomer’s) decision-making processes. A better market awareness can increase municipality’s competitiveness as well as ensure a higher demand for housing. This thesis shows how a real estate market analysis of level D with a customer-based attitude survey is performed through a case study of the development area Norra Arnö in the municipality of Nyköping in Sweden. Norra Arnö is currently undeveloped, with the exception of a new retirement home. An attitude survey serves as a large part of the market analysis to analyse the customer experience of the housing development Norra Arnö. The survey was formulated through several dimensions that have an impact on the decision making process when moving to a new area. These dimensions include; appealing residential project, pleasant living environment, appealing residential houses, overall impression, an intention of moving to a similar project, communication, and value for money. Towards the end of the survey the respondents were asked whether they had an intention to buy an apartment in Norra Arnö, to which 21 out of 229 responded yes. The answers were then analysed through the methods Exploratory factor analysis and Structural equation modeling. These techniques enabled a comparison of the groups (e.g. families with children, ages, gender etc.) preferences in each dimension to find out what factors affect the decision making process for each group. The results of the survey found that young people (under 29 years) have a more positive overall impression of the project and demonstrate a greater intention to live in a residential area similar to Norra Arnö. Additionally it is the lower income groups (below 399 000 kr per year) and those who intend to move within five years, who also have an intention to live in a housing project similar to Norra Arnö. The age group 30-44, families with children, residents of Nyköping and people living in single-family houses were more positive to the dimension communications, which means they to a greater extent believe Nyköping is a good town to live in, where they can easily reach their friends, work and activities. Generally speaking, the dimension communications had greatest ii significance for the differences of answers exhibited in the survey, and can therefore have a major impact on the demand of the project. Out of 229 respondents, 21 people said they intended to buy an apartment in this new area, which unfortunately is a too small figure to be able to analyse the factors that have the greatest influence on the decision of saying yes to the project. The number of people resident in Oxelösund, the secondary market area, was 40, regrettably also a too low number of people to statistically estimate the size of the demand. However 10 % of respondents showed an intention to buy an apartment on Norra Arnö, and considering that the survey only took into account one secondary market area, it is assumed that demand exists for the apartment complex even though a specific number cannot be estimated. / Strävan efter att öka sin befolkning är en självklarhet för många kommuner. Syftet med denna uppsats är att visa en metod för kommuner, som genom att öka förståelsen av marknadens preferenser, gör dem mer konkurrenskraftiga. Marknadsanalyser för fastigheter har främst varit ett redskap för byggherrar för att beräkna lönsamheten innan en investering. Trots att metoden har många användningsområden är metoden inte känd i någon större utsträckning bland kommuner i Sverige. Om kommuner genomför marknadsanalyser av nya utvecklingsområden innan planeringsarbetet får de inte bara information om efterfrågans storlek, men även målgrupp, vilka faktorer som avgör i kundernas beslutsfattande och kundernas preferenser. Med denna information kan utformningen av området anpassas till att bäst passa målgruppen och kommunen kan öka sin konkurrenskraft. Detta examensarbete innehåller en fallstudie av utvecklingsområdet Norra Arnö i Nyköpings kommun för att demonstrera hur en marknadsanalys nivå D tillämpas. För att ta reda på kundupplevelsen kring utformningen av Norra Arnö genomfördes en attitydundersökning med frågor inom de dimensioner som har en påverkan på beslutsfattandet i boendevalet. Dessa dimensioner är tilltalande bostadsprojekt, trivsam boendemiljö, tilltalande bostadshus, helhetsintryck, intention, kommunikationer och prisvärdhet. De totalt 229 respondenterna fick i slutet svara på om de hade en intention att köpa en lägenhet på Norra Arnö, där 21 personer svarade ja. Svaren analyserades sedan med analysmetoderna explorativ faktoranalys och strukturell ekvationsmodellering. Det gjorde det möjligt att jämföra grupper (exempelvis barnfamiljer, åldrar, kön m.m.) med de olika dimensionerna för att förstå vad det är som påverkar intentionen att köpa en lägenhet. Undersökningen visade att unga (under 29 år) får ett bättre helhetsintryck av projektet och påvisar en större intention att bo i ett bostadsprojekt som liknar den på Norra Arnö. Det är även lägre inkomstgrupper (hushåll med en inkomst under 399 000 kr/år) och de som har för avsikt att flytta inom 5 år som har en intention att bo i ett bostadsprojekt som liknar Norra Arnö. Åldersgruppen 30-44, barnfamiljer, Nyköpingsbor samt boende i småhus var mer positivt inställda till dimensionen kommunikationer, vilket innebär att de i högre grad anser att Nyköping är en bra stad att bo i där de enkelt kan nå sina vänner, arbete och fritidsintressen. Generellt hade dimensionen kommunikationer störst betydelse för de skillnader som uppvisades i undersökningen och är därför en ledtråd till vad som har stor påverkan på efterfrågan av projektet. Det var 21 personer som hade en intention att faktiskt köpa en lägenhet på Norra Arnö, en för låg siffra för att analysera iv vilka faktorer som påverkade mest i deras syn på projektet. Av 229 svarande var 40 personer från Oxelösund, vilket innebär att det var för låg antal personer från det sekundära marknadsområdet för att med säkerhet skatta efterfrågan med stratifierat urval. Dock hade 10 % av de svaranden en intention att köpa en lägenhet på Norra Arnö, och med tanke på att endast ett sekundärt marknadsområde undersöktes kan man anta att efterfråga finns för området trots att en siffra inte kan bestämmas.

The heat demand in Sweden has stagnated and district heating companies must take action to sustain in the market. Based on this background this study combines a PEST and SWOT analysis to produce a basis to suggest general strategies suitable for district heating companies in southern Sweden. The analysis found that both investments into activities outside of the heating market, as well as further development of current systems, are viable options. Increasing the awareness and knowledge about district heating companies was also identified as a factor that could entail several benefits.

Konsumtionen av fast fashion-kläder har ökat och bidrar till en negativ påverkan på klimatet. EU-kommissionen har därför lagt fram strategin hållbara och cirkulära textilier som syftar till att göra fast fashion omodernt fram tills 2030. Syftet med uppsatsen är att kartlägga och analysera den svenska marknaden för fast fashion genom Structure-Conduct-Performance-modellen, samt att analysera marknadens framtid med och utan EU:s strategi i åtanke. Uppsatsen tillämpar en kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod. En viktig aspekt av metoden är att samla in empirisk data genom att utnyttja relevant information, statistik, akademiska rapporter och andra analyser från sekundära källor. Dessa metoder används för att beskriva fast fashion-marknaden och uppnå uppsatsens syfte. Marknadsanalysen utifrån SCP-modellen visar att marknaden har få regleringar som påverkar den direkt. Majoriteten av konsumenterna på marknaden är yngre kvinnor. På marknaden finns företag med både stabila och volatila samt positiva såväl som negativa vinstmarginaler. Samtliga företag strävar efter att effektivisera sitt produktionsled för att kunna anpassa sig till de senaste modetrenderna.  Sammantaget kommer implementeringen av EU:s strategi att ha en betydande påverkan på framtiden för fast fashion-marknaden. Det är viktigt att notera att vinstmarginalen är den enda variabeln som inte kommer att förändras oavsett om EU:s strategi implementeras eller inte. Däremot kommer övriga aspekter av marknaden att se annorlunda ut beroende på strategins införande. / The consumption of fast fashion-clothing has increased and contributes to a negative impact on the climate. The European Commission has presented the Sustainable and Circular Textiles Strategy, which aims to make fast fashion obsolete by 2030. The purpose of the paper is to map and analyze the Swedish market for fast fashion through the Structure-Conduct-Performance model, and to analyze the future of the market with and without the EU strategy in mind. The paper applies a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodology. An important aspect of the methodology is to collect empirical data by utilizing relevant information, statistics, academic reports and other analysis from secondary sources. These methods are used to describe the fast fashion market and achieve the purpose of the thesis.  The market analysis based on the SCP model shows that the market has few regulations that affect it directly. The market includes companies with profit margins that can be both stable and volatile. All companies strive to streamline their production process in order to adapt to the latest fashion trends in time.  Overall, the implementation of the EU strategy will have a significant impact on the future of the fast fashion-market. It is important to note that the profit margin is the only variable that will not change whether the EU strategy is implemented or not. However, other aspects of the market will look different depending on the implementation of the strategy.

Stockholms befolkning växer samtidigt som bostadsbristen blir allt mer tydlig. Stockholms bostadsmarknad ser effekten av urbanisering, efterfrågan är hög och tillströmningen av människor växer i rekordtakt. Detta har lett till höga priser på bostadsrätter och långa kötider för hyresrätter,vilket i sin tur försvårat för många som vill flytta till Stockholm. Som en konsekvens av detta har nu bostadsmarknaden börjat undersöka alternativ för att försöka motverka bostadsbristen och att fyllade tomrum som idag finns på bostadsmarknaden. En av de senaste trenderna som börjat växa framär något som kallas coliving. Coliving, även benämnt som delat boende, samlar människor från olika bakgrunder för att bo tillsammans. Konceptet bygger på att man som hyresgäst hyr ett litet privat rum med säng och plats för personliga saker. I hyreskontraktet får man även tillgång till stora gemensamma ytor som delas med de andra hyresgästerna. Då konceptet är relativt nytt har syftet med den här uppsatsen varit att genomföra enmarknadsanalys för konceptet coliving samt identifiera risker förknippade med konceptet. För attuppfylla syftet har både tidigare studier kring coliving används samt så har intervjuer genomförts med företag med stark koppling till konceptet. Genom att kombinera den insamlade datan med relevanta teorier har en marknadsanalys genomförts och risker sammanställts. Dagens efterfrågan för coliving utgörs till stor del av de yngre, även kallat unga vuxna. De unga vuxna visar således ett större intresse för ett boende med fokus på gemenskap, samtidigt som de efterfrågar prisvärda boenden med hög flexibilitet. Efterfrågan är i dagsläget betydligt större än utbudet vilket möjliggör för företag att öka produktionen av coliving-bostäder. Ett stort beständigt utbud kan sedan leda till att bostadsformen kan ta en större och permanent plats på den framtida bostadsmarknaden. Trots den höga efterfrågan har fastighetsägare och operatörer identifierat vissa risker förknippade med bostadstypen. En högre kostnad för underhåll och drift är något som lyfts fram som risker, meningen verkar däremot ha undersökt hur mycket högre dessa kostnader kan tänkas vara. Ytterligare entydlig risk är att de juridiska ramverk på bostadsmarknaden helt enkelt inte är anpassade för coliving.Trots detta så är alla intervjuade aktörer övertygade om att detta kommer att få en lösning och att vi då kommer se coliving ta en allt större och permanent plats på bostadsmarknaden. / The population of Stockholm is growing and with it the problem, finding some place to live. The housing market in Stockholm has seen the effects of urbanization, the demand is high and growing at a record pace. Prices for condominiums are very high and queues for rental apartments are long.This has led to problems for people that want to move to the city but simply can’t. As a consequenceof this, many are now looking for alternatives within the housing market. One of the latest trendswithin real estate market is something called coliving. Coliving is a form of community centered communal housing, it is like an apartment within an apartment. You have your own private space but some of the accomedities like kitchen and livingroom is shared by all the occupants. It simply combines private space with shared, with possibilities of integrity but also social contact both of which is of great importance. This thesis purpose is to analyse the coliving market in Stockholm and what risks that might be associated with the concept. To answer these questions previously studies have been examined but also two large market researches. Interviews has also been conducted with companies who operates or invests in coliving. The collected data has then been processes in a market analysis model to forma conclusion about the supply and demand for coliving as an alternative from of housing. A large demand for coliving is apparent in the younger span of the population, defined in this thesis as young adults. Young adults have shown higher interest in the idea of a community driven housing and also shown the interest for affordable housing with greater flexibility. The demand is a lot larger than the current supply which shows that companies might ramp up the production of coliving inthe near future, and that this form of housing might take a larger and permanent place on thehousing market. Despite the high demand, some have identified unique risks with this type of housing. Higher maintenance and operating cost have been identified as a risk factor, although opinions differ on this topic it seems like no one really has crunched the numbers. The regulatory aspect is also a clear risk.Sweden's real estate market is well regulated and it is only applicable to the current forms of housing,thereby coliving is currently not adaptable by today's regulations and this creates issues. Although allof the actors seem overwhelmingly positive that this will see a resolution within the near future and that coliving will have its place on the Swedish housing market.

Since bio-gasification is a potentially more efficient way to utilize bio-energy, the economic feasibility becomes one of the greatest issues when we apply this new technology. Evaluation of economic feasibility of a bio-gasification facility needs understanding of its production unit cost under different capacities and different working shift modes. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the unit cost of bio-syngas and biouel products at different capacities by using economic modeling method. Result showed that economic feasibility of a power facility was significantly affected by its production capacity and operating mode (one shift, two shifts, or three shifts mode). Economic feasibility could be improved by increasing production capacity or by changing operating mode to two or three shifts from one shift. The economic evaluation model and cost analysis software developed in this study could be a good tool for economic analysis of bio-syngasand biouel products from biomass gasification.

Denna rapport har till syfte att belysa varför förvaltande fastighetsbolag, med en långsiktig ägarstrategi på sitt fastighetsbestånd, väljer att miljöcertifiera sina lokaler. Samt hur de upplever investeringskostnaden som en certifiering medför, om de ser några problem eller brister i systemen och vad de tror om framtiden för miljöcertifieringar. Rapporten är avgränsad till miljöcertifieringssystemen GreenBuilding, LEED, BREEAM och Miljöbyggnad. Metoden som använts för att uppfylla rapportens syfte är semi-strukturerade expertintervjuer. Nyckelpersoner inom hållbarhetsarbete på åtta av de större fastighetsbolagen i Stockholmsområdet har intervjuats. Svaren från dessa intervjuer har sedan analyserats mot tidigare forskning på området och slutsatser har frammanställts utifrån denna analys.  Av rapporten framkommer att det idag finns många anledningar för en fastighetsägare att certifiera sina kommersiella lokaler. Certifierade lokaler är efterfrågade av hyresgäster, certifieringen medför en kvalitetssäkring för byggnaden samt upplevs ge en bra miljöstyrning vid såväl projekt som vid förvaltning. Utöver detta uppenbaras att det även finns ekonomiska incitament. Certifieringen medför lägre driftkostnader och förmånligare finansiering; både i form av tillgång till mer kapital och fördelaktiga lånevillkor. Företag som emitterar obligationer öronmärkta för gröna projekt (gröna obligationer), kan även se prisskillnader på dessa gentemot vanliga obligationer.  Fastighetsbolagen upplever likväl att det finns brister och förbättringsmöjligheter för certifieringssystemen. Att certifiera en byggnad är resurskrävande, både i form av tid och pengar, och den allmänna kännedomen kring miljöcertifieringar är fortfarande relativt låg. Ett införande av färdiga systemstöd för certifieringsprocessen efterfrågas och vi anser att marknadsföringen av systemen bör bli bättre. Sammanfattningsvis kan sägas att framtiden ändå ser ljus ut för miljöcertifieringssystemen. I Stockholmsområdet anser fastighetsbolagen att det för nyproduktion av kommersiella lokaler numera nästan är en hygienfaktor. De incitament som finns för att certifiera tycks överstiga de brister som uppmärksammats, och att det numera även går att certifiera med en ekonomisk vinning indikerar att certifierandet av kommersiella lokaler enbart kommer öka. / The objective behind this thesis is to clarify why real estate companies choose to environmentally certify their commercial buildings, how they feel about the investment cost of a certification and if they are experiencing any flaws with the certification systems. The report is delimited to the systems GreenBuilding, LEED, BREEAM as well as the Swedish system Miljöbyggnad; the future of these systems is also studied and discussed. The method used to carry out this objective is semi-structured expert interviews. Key persons in sustainability work at eight of the larger real estate companies in the Stockholm area has been interviewed. The answers from these interviews has then been analyzed and compared with previous research in the field, from this analysis conclusions have been made.  The results from the report shows that there are a lot of reasons for a real estate owner to environmentally certify their commercial buildings. Certified buildings are in demand from tenants, the certifications entail a quality reassurance for the buildings as well as provides a good instrument for environmental work both for projects and for asset management. In addition to this it is revealed that there are economic incentives to certify. It results in lower operating costs and advantageous financing; both in terms of access to more capital and more profitable loan conditions. Companies that emit bonds earmarked for green projects (green bonds), can also see differences in price on these compared to regular bonds.  Despite this, the real estate companies in Stockholm are experiencing some issues with the certification systems. To certify a building is demanding in resources; both time and money. The general population seem to have little understanding of the certification systems and what they entail. An implementation of complete system support for the certification process is requested and we believe that there is room for improvement when it comes to marketing the certification systems. In conclusion, the future of the environmental certification systems seems bright. In the Stockholm area, the real estate companies consider certifications on newly produced commercial buildings almost a requirement. The incentives to certify seems to be greater than the issues that has been brought up; and the fact that an economic profit can now be made by certifying indicates that the number of certifications carried out should increase.

The following Market Analysis is an analysis of the Franklin Boulevard Redevelopment Project Area. The analysis is divided into the following four sections: ♦ Planning Context ♦ Real Estate Market Conditions ♦ Emerging Market Opportunities & Case Studies ♦ Conclusion The report serves as an opportunity to aide stakeholders of the Franklin Boulevard Redevelopment Project Area. Stakeholders include residents, business owners, the City of Sacramento, County of Sacramento, Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), and the North Franklin District Business Association (NFDBA). The stakeholders are continually searching for data and creative examples of how to transform the area into a premier “urban” destination in the Sacramento Region.