Strategic considerations for the
Department of Environmental and Business Economics (IME)
2013 to 2020
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Southern Denmark
May 2013
1
Table of Contents
1. Academic profile of the department ................................................................... 3
1.1.
Vision .................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2.
Background – two major transitions ..................................................................................... 3
1.2.1.
The green transition ....................................................................................................... 3
1.2.2.
The Welfare Society under pressure .............................................................................. 3
1.3.
Mission .................................................................................................................................. 3
1.3.1.
Specific focus areas ........................................................................................................ 4
2. The department’s resources and organisation .................................................. 6
3. Overall goals and priorities ................................................................................. 9
3.1.
Ad 1. Degree Programmes: Goals and plans ......................................................................... 9
3.2.
Ad 2. Research: Goals and Plans......................................................................................... 12
3.3.
AD 3. Collaboration with national and international stakeholders ..................................... 18
3.4.
Ad 4. Dissemination and Collaboration: Goals and Plans .................................................. 19
3.5.
Ad 5. Balance ...................................................................................................................... 21
4. Challenges............................................................................................................ 21
5. University College South Denmark (UCSyd) Fejl! Bogmærke er ikke defineret.
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1. Academic profile of the department
1.1. Vision
At present, society is facing a dual transition requirement, partly in the direction of environmental
and resource sustainability, and partly in the direction of economic and structural sustainability.
Both have far-reaching geographical implications and considerable impacts on living conditions for
the citizens and opportunities for business enterprises.
The department's overall vision is to strengthen research areas in key fields related to this dual transition and thereby create the foundation for degree programmes and strategic business partnerships
of relevance to the challenges this transition entails.
1.2. Background – two major transitions
1.2.1. The green transition
Increasingly, environmental and resource constraints set the agenda for economic development. The
climate issue in particular has made the transition to green growth urgent, both for governments and
for businesses and citizens.
Knowledge about how economic policy instruments affect consumer behaviour and businesses is of
vital importance, both scientifically and politically. The ability to integrate social and business economic analyses related to this transition should therefore be developed as a particular position of
strength at the department.
On the whole, the creation, use and management of resources (natural, human and social) are key
concepts for the department’s future research. Themes such as nature's tangible and intangible impact on human welfare; consumer and business behaviour in relation to the limited resources; the
commercial consequences of environmental regulation; the promotion of green solutions; and the
resource foundation for local and regional business are relevant for several of our research groups.
Green energy is a key focus area for the department - an area which is partly contingent on its crucial importance in general, in part on the energy sector's special role in the region, and partly on the
need to exploit the possibilities of cooperation in relation to Aalborg University Esbjerg (AUE).
1.2.2. The Welfare Society under pressure
In addition to the relocation of particularly unskilled jobs, the international economic crisis has led
to great difficulties, especially in rural and peripheral areas. The development is particularly challenged by the significant decline of such jobs in agriculture and manufacturing traditionally located
in rural areas. Emigration from these areas has exacerbated the problems of an aging population that
has also put welfare systems under pressure, not only in Denmark but in Europe as a whole.
This has further accentuated the need for fiscal austerity in the public sector, and there is no indication that this trend will stop. The consequences will continue to be structural changes (as seen with
schools, hospitals, police stations, etc.); new styles of management for streamlining and rationalisation of existing problem-solving; innovative solutions, including solutions based on the use of welfare technology and involvement of civil society in new ways; and enhanced efforts on preventive
measures with the purpose of reducing the demand for public benefits, in areas such as health, elderly care or crime prevention.
1.3. Mission
As a university, the prime reason for existing is to research, to educate and to disseminate
knowledge of the highest academic standard. The department’s mission is to contribute with re-
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search in areas of relevance for the two large transitions described above and to educate the generations of young people who in the future will manage these in practice, both in the public and the
private sector.
This requires:
• A long-term research focus on core areas which can create the foundation for degree programmes at a high international level, so we know that Campus Esbjerg will be able to continue to attract students in competition with other universities both nationally and internationally.
• Close cooperation with the business community and authorities which can simultaneously:
o Ensure a productive interaction between the strategic and applied research at the department, for example by contributing to the identification of key research questions
and with unique data
o Contribute to the funding of the department’s research activities, for example
through business Ph.D.’s, project collaboration, etc.
o Add a practical dimension to the degree programmes
o Strengthen Campus Esbjerg's profile in the surrounding area
• Develop the national and international research networks so that we can gain knowledge of
and have an influence on the international research agenda and engage in knowledge production.
In key areas, these requirements are already to a considerable extent met today. As will be apparent
from the following overview, the department’s different research groups cover a wide range of
competences that are necessary to accomplish these tasks. In this context, the plurality of disciplines
that the department represents amounts to great potential. Yet each research area is still small and
thus vulnerable. Therefore, the mission is to ensure sustainable research groups that can safeguard
against risks associated with researcher mobility and generational shifts.
1.3.1. Specific focus areas
Within the socio-economic field, focus is on microeconomic environmental, resource, and energy
economics. Socio-economics is also widely linked to the Centre for Rural Research in terms of regional economic development processes.
In business economics, research is primarily taking place in the disciplines of marketing, organisation/management and sports and event economics, as well as in project-oriented innovation processes and entrepreneurship linked to the Danish offshore activities, including both energy production and the maritime sector.
Specific focus areas for environmental and resource economics research include:
• Pollution and resource scarcity
• Theory of regulations
• Integrated modelling
• Ecosystem based management
• Risk analysis, risk management and risk communication.
Specific focus areas of research in business economics are:
• Innovation and competence development
• Modelling and analysis of consumer and corporate behaviour with a particular focus on
green energy and green products
• Experience economics with special emphasis on sports and event management.
4
•
Companies' position in society.
Special focus areas in sociology and cultural analysis are:
• Children and young people's living conditions seen in a rural-urban perspective
• Ecosystem services as a special attraction in rural areas
• Social capital.
The different focus areas and disciplinary approaches within analytical marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship, and environmental economics can complement and supplement one another on important points. Companies develop by adapting to demands and opportunities in society, and society
ensures the proper development of business through regulation. The analysis of how and to what
extent the requirements and desires of customers and politicians translate into concrete product and
process innovations is a matter of paramount importance to society - and an area where the connection between socio-economics and business economics can be extended advantageously. Many innovations are induced from environmental needs and regulations which can arise to some extent
from the political system at the national or international level, and requirements imposed by the
market - by consumers, retailers and business partners in general.
In a market such as the one described, individual companies are forced to continuously develop
their products and processes. This demands long-term development of internal competence, not
only in terms of production and innovation in the narrow sense, but also in terms of being able to
competently interpret the requirements set forth by the surroundings, to internally translate them
into relevant product and process requirements, and, possibly, to communicate them to (the right)
subcontractors. In the long term, the company’s profitability depends on its ability to build up valuable tangible and intangible assets, especially in terms of human resources.
When public policy is formulated and implemented, it is particularly important to precisely understand how companies adapt to policy requirements, including environmental policies and interaction
with the surrounding communities in general. Often, political objectives are not met because firms’
(and households’) reactions to regulations are not well understood, or perhaps the reactions are
completely unexpected. Inclusion of strategic behaviour in regulatory analysis is therefore important. The future state of the environment is unknown, and therefore environmental initiatives
will be accompanied by various risks. Management of these risks will be a key element in environmental policy. There is considerable uncertainty about the availability of resources in the future and
how this scarcity will show itself. An example is the use of foods for biofuel production with the
primary objective of addressing climate change. Such analysis shall be based on integrated models
that can handle these complex issues.
Common to the department's focus areas is the existence of "complex" markets. For environmental
and resource economics, complexity is associated with the very significant externalities that exist in
an unregulated exploitation of these resources. Sports economics is based on the distinctive feature
that a monopoly obviously cannot exist in the sector as there would be no competition - the concept
coopetition (cooperation/competition) reflects this characteristic. The media market is called a twosided market because the balance between the interests of two very different customers (subscribers
and advertisers) is indicative of the market. Finally, the energy market can be mentioned, where
externalities, agent problems and economies of scale are the driving factors for regulations and pricing. The further existence of large initial investments in network infrastructure and relatively low
marginal costs makes the market even more difficult and academically interesting. Media- and
sports markets are growth markets, which further emphasises the need for a research effort to understand this development.
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With focus on complex markets - markets that do not act under strictly predictable competitive conditions – IME is looking to develop a research niche where we can contribute substantial knowledge
production both today and in the future.
Sociology and cultural understanding stems from IME’s Centre for Rural Research, an area of research which remains a particular strategic priority at IME.
Graphic presentation of the Department of Environmental and Business
Economics
The Sustainable Welfare Society:
The creation, use and management of resources
Environmental and
resource sustainability
Green
growth
Green
energy
Natural
resources
Environmental
regulation
Risk
management
Economic-structural sustainability
Marketing
Consumer
behavior
Experience
economics
Sport &
event
management
Innovative
solutions
in the
private
sector
Social
cohesion
2. The department’s resources and organisation
The Department of Environmental and Business Economics has 6 professors, 11 associate professors with research duties, 3 associate professors without research duties, 9 assistant professors, 3
postdocs, 8 Ph.D. students, 3.5 secretaries and one head of department. The administrative staff
covers general department tasks, study administration and management related to the department's
external project portfolio, as well as secretarial work related to regulatory functions. In recent years,
the absolute restrictions imposed on administrative staff at the department have been an obstacle,
especially for the development of Ph.D. courses, workshops, and conferences. In addition, improved
marketing and promotion through websites and other branding initiatives are limited by this resource as well. In recent years, the completion of many Ph.D. students and the administration of
recruiting new employees have put additional major tasks in the hands of the limited administrative
group.
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The department is structured in a matrix organisation based on four research groups:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Research group for Environmental and Resource Economics,
Research group for Markets and Competition,
Research group for Organisation, Innovation and Management, and
Research group for Sociology and Cultural Analysis.
The matrix organisation was designed to incorporate teaching tasks, regulatory tasks and externally
financed research projects in the research group that is best qualified for the task. Several allocative
tasks are resolved with this organisation, also across several research groups.
Examples of tasks allocated to research groups.
Function
Degree
programme:
BSc in Business economics
BSc Sociology
and Cultural
Analysis
MSc in Environmental and
Resource
Management
Regulatory
tasks
CLF
CMSS
FAME
External
projects
Environmental Markets and Organisation,
Sociology and Others
and Resource Competition
Innovation
Cultural
Economics
and Manage- Analysis
ment
x
X
X
x
X
X
X
X
X
x
X
x
X
X
x
X
X
x
x
x
x
X= major task
X = minor task
The department has several affiliated centres, including:
The Centre for Rural Research (CLF), which is in charge of a range of research and consultative
tasks for the Ministry of Housing, Urban and Rural Affairs
The Centre of Maritime Health and Society (CMSS), which is a virtual centre managed by the Unit
for Health Promotion and where the social science part of the centre is attached to IME’s research
group in Environmental and Resource Economics
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The Centre for Fisheries and Aquaculture Management & Economics (FAME), which is led by
IME.
The Danish Centre for Risk and Safety Management, which is led by Aalborg University, Esbjerg.
Centre for Rural Research (CLF)
CLF is headed by Professor Anne-Mette Hjalager and is a fully integrated part of IME. CLF’s main
objective is to contribute to the knowledge about the development of sustainable rural development,
focusing on business development and living conditions. It is pursued through research and investigation, evaluation, development of concepts and methods, training, and contribution to other categories of dissemination. The centre is part of a close knit group which collaborates with stakeholders in rural areas and rural development, and works with external actors in research and development. Grants are provided by the Ministry of Housing, Urban and Rural Affairs, and the University
of Southern Denmark.
Centre for Fisheries & Aquaculture Management & Economics (FAME)
IME is the host of FAME (Centre for Fisheries and Aquaculture Management and Economics),
which is led by Professor Niels Vestergaard. FAME consists of a research network, and also previously consisted of a research training program in resource economics and management with special
focus on fishing and aquaculture. This network, which is based on a Danish collaboration between
the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the University of Copenhagen (KU) and SDU, and an
international cooperation with institutions in Scandinavia and Europe, is responsible for ensuring
the training of Ph.D. students in the field. The department plans to continue to contribute to the implementation of such activities in the coming years.
Centre of Maritime Health and Society (CMSS)
The Centre of Maritime Health and Society (CMSS) is a centre within the Institute of Public Health
at the Faculty of Health Sciences. IME contributes to the centre’s social science research in the
broad field of maritime innovation. Research in maritime innovation at IME is led by Associate
Professor Jacob Kronbak. The task is required by law, and the government provides a lump-sum
grant of approximately 2.8 million DKK to the Faculty of Health Sciences, of which 800,000 DKK
goes to IME. In addition, external funds are continuously sought to fund project work.
The RISK-Centre (RISK)
The RISK-centre (Danish Centre for Risk and Safety Management) is led by Professor Lars
Damkilde, Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University. The Danish Centre for Risk and
Safety Management is a collaborative effort between the University of Southern Denmark and Aalborg University Esbjerg, to make Esbjerg a leader in research in safety and risk assessment. In
2013, the first class of 25 students is expected to start the Centre’s master’s degree programme
which will train skilled labour in safety and risk assessment for businesses in the Esbjerg area.
Individuals responsible for specialisations in the degree programs at IME
In terms of teaching, 11 individuals have been appointed responsible for specialisations for an identical number of degrees due to the fact that IME has a much differentiated teaching portfolio. Furthermore, the department contributes to teaching at Odense campus, and since 2008, IME has been
course responsible for the specialisation courses in Sport Management at the Slagelse campus.
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3. Overall goals and priorities
The goals of the department are:
1. To offer modern, research based university degrees in accordance with the needs of
society and the demands from students
2. To undertake research within the research areas at a high international level and to
become one of the leading departments in Denmark
3. To cooperate with national and international stakeholders for the purpose of:
a. Securing productive collaboration between the applied and the strategic research
b. Bringing a practical dimension to the degree programmes (for example as industrial Ph.D.’s, project collaboration etc.)
c. Strengthening the profile of Campus Esbjerg
d. Expanding the national and international research network
4. To secure the conditions for dissemination of research results and good collaboration,
both internally at SDU and with external collaboration partners.
5. To secure balance between research and teaching duties ‘
3.1. Ad 1. Degree Programmes: Goals and plans
 To offer modern, research based university degrees in accordance with the needs of society
and the demands from students
Esbjerg campus is characterised by the uptake of relatively small groups in its degree programmes.
Most of the Danish students come from the local region, but some programmes have also attracted
significant numbers of students from other parts of the country. The campus is therefore dependent
on local demand for education at the university level. The renewal of the teaching portfolio and
targeted marketing has been the strategic response to these challenges.
Esbjerg is a very international campus. Traditionally, exchange students study at the campus for
half a year, and with the offering and continued development of English-language master’s programmes, we have experienced an increase in intake of foreign students. A natural consequence is
also to offer international English-language bachelor programmes, which are therefore being developed at the department.
IME is responsible for the offering of all of the social science degree programmes in Esbjerg and
contributes to a wide range of programmes at both the Esbjerg and other campuses of SDU.
The Study Board of Economics and Business Administration, the Study Board of Sociology and
Cultural Analysis and the Study Board of Environmental and Resource Management are based at
IME.
The portfolio of degree programmes at IME:
 BSc in Economics and Business Administration with the following specialisations: General
Business Economics, Business Development in Practice and Sports and Event Management.
 MSc in Economics and Business Administration with the following profiles: Marketing and
Innovation, and Sports and Event Management
 BSc Environmental Resource Management (in collaboration with Aalborg University)
 MSc in Environmental and Resource Management (in collaboration with Aalborg University)
 BSc in Sociology and Cultural Analysis
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


MSc in Cultural Sociology with the following profiles: "Cultural Sociology in Social Transformation Processes" and "Cultural Sociology in Law, Power and Social Justice"
Business Economics Diploma Programme (HD), part 1 and part 2 (Accounting and Financial Management as well as Organisation and Management)
Bachelor and Master’s in International Negotiation – economics, language and culture, International Tourism and Leisure Management, offered by the Faculty of Humanities. These
programmes are currently in the process of moving to campus Kolding.
Further, IME contributes to:
MSc in Public Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences, MSc in Economics studies in Odense, Biology in Odense and is responsible for one subject of health sciences in Riyadh in
Saudi Arabia. A few widely offered electives in project management are covered in Odense
by IME.
All graduate programmes are offered in English and are divided into "Quarters". This has facilitated
a greater freedom of choice for students in their composition of subjects across faculties while improving opportunities for broad international marketing.
Strategic objectives include full implementation of our latest degree programme:
 MSc degree in Cultural Sociology (starting September 2013)
Implementation of new degree programmes:
 MSc in RISK (headed by Aalborg University Esbjerg, but is a collaborative project with
SDU Public Health and IME). The programme is accredited to begin in February 2014.
 BSc Economics and Business Administration programme in English with specialisations in
energy/environment/resources/sports and events.
In addition, a number of innovations and adaptations, which we expect will improve intake and
open up new markets:
 Experiments with virtual education across Esbjerg-Odense campuses (Sociology courses offered by the Department of Law in Odense) and a few Sports Management courses offered
virtually between the Esbjerg and Slagelse campuses.
Possible further development tracks:
Traditionally, one to two Ph.D. courses have been offered annually. This is a goal we expect to
maintain in the coming plan period. Two PhD courses are scheduled for 2013 (Professor Niels
Vestergaard and Associate Professor Arne Feddersen).
In recent years, IME's activities in part-time studies have been declining, for both the Business Economics Diploma Programme (HD) and the Professional Masters programmes. There is therefore a
need to reconceptualise our offerings and/or contributions to these educations either as single subjects or as specialisations covering, for example, two to three subjects. Energy management, environmental management or sports management could be possible focus areas of such offerings. Another possibility could be a situation where the teaching happens in close collaboration with companies.
Need for adaptation
The degree programmes within the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Esbjerg campus are hardly
economically viable with the current student intake. IME therefore covers courses on other campuses to contribute to the internal balance; see above. In reality, government grants (taximeter) (approximately 30% of IME’s annual revenue base) are not sufficient to cover the actual costs of teach-
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ing, teaching development and administration (calculated to approx. 45% of the salary costs). It is a
very significant problem since the possibility to co-study in the humanities and health science programmes at the undergraduate level is out of the question as they are no longer located at campus
Esbjerg. In the same respect, greatly increased student intake in the programmes offered seems difficult to obtain. Obviously, we will review existing degree programmes to see how it might be possible to further ensure larger groups for the existing offerings, but it can hardly result in more than
marginal impacts.
This imbalance is partly remedied by a development subsidy to the department from the ViceChancellor (for sociology) and a corresponding subsidy from the Dean. It should also be mentioned
that the budgeting model favours large-scale operations, since the grants after the shares for the
Vice-Chancellor and the Dean are distributed to the department pro rata.
Ph.D. Programme
Supervision of Ph.D. candidates is a major element of the department’s educational responsibilities.
The programme contributes to the achievement of our research objectives and ensures partial departmental recruitment in the long run. Several of the Ph.D. students are affiliated with externally
funded projects - either directly or via their "work commitment".
Ph.D. students at IME, January 2013
Ph.D. student
Thong Thien Ngyen
Supervisor
Discipline
Hans Stubbe Solgaard Analytical Marketing
Yingkui Yang
Hans Stubbe Solgaard Analytical Marketing
Lisbeth Brøde Jepsen
Mette Præst Knudsen
Malene Brandt Winther
Gunnar Svendsen
Hans Ellefsen
Lone Kronbak
Barbara Hutniczak
Niels Vestergaard
Malene Damsted
Anna Lund Jepsen
Environment and fisheries
Analytical marketing
Grzegorz Kwiatkowski
Christian R. M. Jensen
Hannibal Hof
Arne Feddersen
Arne Feddersen
Pia Heike Johansen
Sports Economics
Sports Economics
Sociology
Kristian Frisk
Carsten Kronborg
Bak
Sociology
Innovation and
knowledge sharing
Municipal reform and
rural district policy
Fisheries
Expected completion
January 2013completed
January 2013completed
January 2013completed
January 2013- delayed
February 2013 - completed
September 2014
September 2014-leave
of absence
March 2015
November 2015
Began February 1,
2013
Began May 1, 2013
Furthermore, Niels Vestergaard is the supervisor for Ph.D. student Jan Sørensen, who is employed
in Slagelse.
IME’s goal is to cover as much of the teaching as possible, within the academic research and economic framework we have, with permanent teachers. In practice, this means seeking cooperation
with complementary SDU social science departments for teacher coverage of, for example, subjects
within law. The number of part-time academic employee (DVIP) study hours has been declining in
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recent years. Already, there are foreseeable problems in the future regarding the coverage of accounting subjects, both for economics and business administration and for the diploma programme,
as these are currently covered by a single employee.
Pedagogy and didactics
Through its committed efforts in the project "students in focus", the university has created the
framework for future efforts for a good learning environment. IME expects that good experiences
from all campuses can be implemented in Esbjerg.
The overall vision for both SDU's and IME's university teaching approach is "active" learning.
Course development, study plans and the individual teacher's approach to learning reflect the desire
for students to directly be involved and take responsibility for their own learning. The vision is supported by the social sciences’ targeted integration of new technologies in teaching, evaluation and
exam practices. It is the hope to extend video streaming of lectures, development of KUBEN for the
facilitation of innovation and other initiatives, to all campuses - including Esbjerg.
Additionally, emphasis is placed on the progression of the individual programmes and efforts to
ensure cross-disciplinary coordination of the individual subjects to increase students' comprehension on the whole.
This past year, the national agenda to further define and implement a measurable research-based
teaching model has dominated the discussion between the Ministry of Science, Innovation and
Higher Education and the Danish Conference of Vice-Chancellors. There is no doubt that expectations of a verifiable research-based teaching model will continue. Ultimately, the effort to not only
include the latest research in teaching and to teach the scientific method or to demonstrate active
research presence in education must be met, but an actual involvement of students in research projects must be expected. This leads us to seek to develop teaching models where not only the few
very talented students get involved in research through recruitment as student assistants, but that the
teaching and the future classrooms are organised in such a way that they can support the active participation of students in research projects as part of the degree programme.
3.2. Ad 2. Research: Goals and Plans
The overall vision of the department is to strengthen the research areas of key fields in relation to
the dual transition towards resource and economic structural sustainability and thereby create the
foundation for degree programmes relevant to the challenges it entails.

The department has as an overall objective to conduct research within the research areas at
a high international level and to become one of the leading departments in Denmark
The realisation of this overall objective will be obtained through the following five more specific
objectives:
Focus on strategic and applied research
Strategic research is done in areas that are expected to be of considerable importance both internationally and nationally and aims to make it possible to acquire the required knowledge in the field
so as to contribute to society's strategic choices. Unlike basic research, strategic research is often
interdisciplinary. Applied research aims at generating new knowledge that can help to solve specific, well-defined problems. Strategic research and applied research overlap and complement each
other, just as strategic research is a necessary prerequisite for applied research to reach the neces-
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sary level of excellence in the long term. Therefore, emphasis is on analysing relevant research areas and focusing on real societal problems, both in the short and long run.
Strategic focus areas
IME is a social science department with research in environmental and resource economics, business economics and sociology.
Environmental and Resource Economics
Environmental and resource economics is an established, internationally integrated area of research
at the department, with FAME (Centre for Fisheries and Aquaculture Management and Economics)
as the flagship for recruitment and training. Focus areas are constantly being developed and adjusted which, in addition to regulation, control and management, incorporate recent control theories,
“risk perception”, “ecosystem modelling”, and “strategic behaviour”. Currently, the group holds a
grant for “Research of International Class” as recognition from the faculty through the initiative of
the same name. Even with a relatively small, internally-funded staff, it is possible to utilise the permanent staff as a platform for external research projects, which in itself could provide the necessary
progress. It's IME's plan to continue the more generic research with areas such as:
 Risk analysis, risk management and risk communication
 Pollution and resource scarcity
 Theory of regulations
 Integrated modelling
 Ecosystem-Based Management
In the future, consideration will be given to whether or not the research portfolio should include the
following two areas:
 The exploitation of energy resources
 Environmental regulation and technological change
Business Economics
The business economics research at IME is conducted in two research groups:
 Markets and Competition (marketing and consumer behaviour)
 Organisation, innovation and project management
Markets and Competition
The Markets and Competition group focuses primarily on:
 The business enterprise and its strategic interaction with customers/consumers (marketing
management and buyer behaviour)
 The business enterprise and its strategic interaction with other business enterprises on markets (competition)
 Industry Analysis
 Sports and Event Economics.
Emphasis is placed on general theoretical considerations as well as on empirical research on specific markets and industries such as retail markets, energy markets and markets for tourism, sports,
media and events. The group's work includes both qualitative empirical studies and statistical and
mathematical modelling.
Specific focus areas for research in markets and competition in natural extension of the vision could
be:
 The potential of experience economics, regionally and nationally
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

Competitive implications of a green transition
The demand for green products and processes, especially in a B2B perspective
Organisation, innovation and management
Research in organisation, innovation and management covers a wide range of topics, such as entrepreneurship, learning and competence development, project management, as well as innovation
management and diffusion of innovations. Empirically, the food sector and offshore sector are major fields of interest. Members of the group have also dealt with the issues concerning the relationship between environmental regulation and corporate strategy, with life cycle analysis and corporate
social responsibility.
Specific focus areas for research in organisation, innovation and project management remain:
 Learning and competence development
 Innovation and entrepreneurship
 Regional development based on local resources and new urban-rural partnerships
 Stakeholder management
Energy will continue to be a key subject area, which a number of researchers have chosen to focus
on. The energy sector is in many ways an obvious choice, both in relation to the overall research
vision and in relation to the sector's current and future role regionally.
Sociology research
The group deals with rural-urban dynamics in Denmark, including rural areas’ business development, community life, education, public services (especially hospitals and schools), food network,
innovation processes, settlement and health – seen in relation to the international literature and often
in a time perspective and compared to urban development.
In the future, the plan is to focus on these three key areas:
 Social and cultural ecosystem services seen in an urban-rural perspective
 Children and youth’s living conditions seen in an urban-rural perspective
 Social capital
In particular, the first area can be seen as a strategic focus area with good opportunities to interact
with the two other main research areas of IME, Business economics relate to research about envision the utilisation and development of local resources, and environmental economics may contribute to the valuation of, for example, landscapes and ecosystems.
Basic contributions to previous research in this field have revolved around the concept of social
capital. The theoretical work in this field has proven to be relevant in relation to a number of empirical studies, not only in relation to rural research, but also in the context of analysing business and
economic issues. The research on this point has clear relevance to the overall development in and of
the welfare state, which is a key part the foundation of the department’s long-term strategy.
The geographic scope of this research is important. As examples of generic topics that have been
prominent in past research, these can be mentioned:


Regional development and internal migration,
Interactive management/governance, meta-governance and institutional capacity building,
and
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
Learning, innovation and social change in organisations and communities
The focus on children and youth’s living conditions is a natural extension of the previous research
in this area, but at the same time, it is a crucial topic in relation to the pressure on the welfare state,
which is an essential issue of the strategy.
Collaboration between different research areas
In a number of areas, there is a foundation for collaboration between research areas on several key
issues. For the sake of simplicity, in the following, we consider business economics as one unit
(comprising both ‘markets and competition’ and ‘organisation, innovation and management’) and
highlight the collaboration potential between



Business economics and environmental and resource economics research
Business economics research and research in rural and cultural sociology
Environmental and resource economics research and research in rural and cultural sociology.
Business economics and environmental and resource economics research
The different focus areas and disciplinary approaches in analytical marketing, innovation, entrepreneurship and environmental economics may complement and supplement one another in important
respects. Companies evolve by adapting to demands and opportunities in society, and society ensures the proper development of business through regulation. The analysis of how and to what extent the demands and requests from customers and politicians translate into concrete product and
process innovations is of paramount importance for society - and a field where the connection between socio- and business economics can be developed advantageously. Many innovations are induced by environmental requirements, which can partly be made from the political system at the
national or international level, and requirements imposed by the market - by consumers, retailers
and downstream businesses in general.
In a market such as the one described, individual companies are forced to continuously develop
their products and processes. This demands long-term, internal competence development, not only
in terms of production and innovation in the narrow sense, but also in terms of being able to competently interpret the requirements set forth by the surroundings, to internally translate them into relevant product and process requirements, and, possibly, to communicate them to (the right) subcontractors. In the long term, the company’s profitability depends on its ability to build up valuable
tangible and intangible assets, especially in terms of human resources.
When public policy is formulated and implemented, it is particularly important to precisely understand how companies adapt to policy requirements, including environmental policies and interaction
with the surrounding communities in general. Often, political objectives are not met because firms’
(and households’) reactions to regulations are not well understood, or perhaps the reactions are
completely unexpected. Inclusion of strategic behaviour in regulatory analysis is therefore important. The future state of the environment is unknown, and therefore environmental initiatives
will be accompanied by various risks. Management of these risks will be a key element in environmental policy. There is considerable uncertainty about the availability of resources in the future and
how this scarcity will show itself. An example is the use of foods for biofuel production with the
primary objective of addressing climate change. Such analysis shall be based on integrated models
that can handle these complex issues.
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Business economics research and research in rural and cultural sociology
Business economics issues are closely related to geographic development in a number of areas. The
decline of peripheral areas can be significantly attributed to business economics factors such as
economies of scale and agglomeration economies, a growing demand for highly skilled labour, outsourcing of mainly unskilled jobs, etc.
In retrospect, the themes that have previously combined business economics research with research
in rural and cultural sociology point to several areas of common interest, including:





Regional economics in general (e.g. studies of industry composition, labour
markets, clusters and entrepreneurship)
Industry studies, for example in fields such as tourism or experience economics
Business development and innovation in rural areas
Marketing and branding of local areas
Local and regional effects of events (e.g. sporting events or music festivals)
To some extent, the examples demonstrate that a business economics approach seeks to understand
the drivers of local development.
However, at the same time, sociology contributes to the analysis of corporate economic development in a number of other ways. For example, it is well documented that social capital plays an important role in connection with entrepreneurship. Recent Swedish research has highlighted the link
amongst social capital, regional and local governance, and entrepreneurship as key drivers for local
and regional development. Something similar applies in relation to business clusters and networks.
Thus, there is ample opportunity for business economics and rural and cultural sociology in specific
contexts to enrich and inspire each other.
Environmental and resource economics research and research in rural and cultural sociology
The most obvious interface between environmental and resource economics and rural and cultural
sociological research is probably nature's tangible and intangible impact on human welfare. Despite
different theoretical starting points, the common interest in a number of specific contexts may prove
interesting, for example in relation to more generic issues such as migration into and settlement in
rural areas, or in concrete analyses of the balance between concern for nature conservation and for
business development.
More generally, the resource base for local development is said to be a common concern, and regional and local impacts of environmental regulation is an area of interest to both research areas as
well.
The rural and sociology group's interest in institutional capacity building is also clearly relevant in
relation to regional environmental regulation.
Interaction between different research areas in general
The table below summarises some examples of collaborations amongst the three research areas.
These overlaps are not only an expression of potential synergies, but are to a great extent also realised in actual research collaboration. It is by no means the goal that all research must span across
research groups in this way, but there is clearly potential - both internally and externally - in
strengthening across these fields.
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It is worth noting that these fields in particular seem to provide a range of issues which are central
in terms of the overall vision to "strengthen the research areas of key fields in relation to the dual
transition and thereby create the foundation for degree programmes relevant to the challenges this
transition entails."
With regards to degree programmes, this can perhaps best be illustrated by imagining the business
economics students confronted with issues from the column to the left in the table, the sociology
students confronted with subjects in the top row, and the students in environmental and resource
management with topics on the diagonal. The synergies between different research areas are, in
other words, not only research based, but can also be very relevant in terms of what we offer students.
Because of these significant overlaps, the diversity of research areas could be perceived as a
strength that should be actively developed in the following ways:
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
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Internally in connection with specific research collaborations (of which there have
already been a number of examples)
As an asset in connection with specific research applications
Externally in relation to study programmes and the students
The marketing of study programmes
The marketing of the department in general
Synergies between the different research areas
Business Economics
Rural and cultural
sociology
Regional economies
Tourism, business and innovation
in rural areas
Marketing/branding of local areas
Local and regional consequences
of events, etc.
Environmental- and
resource economics
Business development in relation
to e.g. energy, fishing and other
resource-based industries
The marketing of green products
Corporate response to environmental regulation, adapting to
resource constraints, etc.
Environmental- and resource
economics
Nature's tangible and intangible
impacts on human welfare
The resource base for local development in a new "bio resource
economy"
Regional and local consequences
of environmental regulation
Regional management of nature
and natural resources
All in all, IME has a good opportunity to develop into a very promising research and training environment by focusing its resources on issues that are central to the overall vision. It is worth noting
that this does not require the invention of entirely new fields of interest, but to a great extent can be
based on skills and interests that have already been cultivated by the department.
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Continuation of large external resource procurement
In the coming years, a strength parameter for the universities will be the procurement of external
research funds. Since the department has this expertise, it would be natural to continue that. A further advantage is that it can help to ensure the link between strategic and applied research, as well
as help to ensure the relevance of the research taking place.
International collaboration
The department has an extensive international collaboration as that is the nature of research. The
department has department-based agreements for research and exchange with several foreign universities, for example, Kiel University (Environmental and Resource Economics Group) and the
University of Ilmenau (Sport and Event Management). Furthermore, we participate in several international, externally-funded projects, as reflected in the department's publication activities which
often have several foreign authors. International collaboration means that the Ph.D. students of the
department have good opportunities for studying abroad at relevant international universities. The
department aims to continue to work to nurture and develop the international collaboration work.
Create the framework for an attractive research environment with international collaboration
All researchers, from Ph.D. students to professors, are actively involved in the environment. Academic response to and critique of research are promoted through formal events, such as departmental seminars, the internal referee system, and informal arrangements, where researchers often
speak together. Furthermore, we promote participation in networking and the exchange of researchers from other environments, including international.
3.3. AD 3. Collaboration with national and international stakeholders
National stakeholders: Goals and Plans
As much as possible, IME’s strategic research activities and projects on green growth and renewable energies are carried out in collaboration with similar activities at FOI (University of Copenhagen), Systems Analysis Division (Technical University of Denmark), and SE (SydEnergi). Focus is
on economic issues in the energy sector, with particular emphasis on the analysis of buyer behaviour (energy demand), both nationally and locally, with consumers and businesses. Locally, the recently completed project "Energy-on-the-Sea" has led to increased demand for IME's research,
which is expected to translate into new projects funded by regional growth funds.
Strategic research in sports and experience economics is undertaken in collaboration with the Danish Institute for Sports Studies (IDAN). The economic and social importance of sports events held
in Denmark is analysed. These results are of great importance for decision makers in private companies, organisations, and public authorities. Generally in this collaboration, several dimensions of
the sport sector’s influence on local economies, including Esbjerg, are analysed.
In the applied research activity, IME will enter into partnerships with major industrial and service
companies in the Esbjerg area on Ph.D. projects as part of enhanced networks. This involves working closely with selected collaboration modules (courses, seminars and reports) between the company and IME. The collaboration gives businesses useful knowledge and provides young researchers access to data in the company, to the benefit of both parties. Consequently, we expect that the
development of knowledge about business models, consumer behaviour and innovation efforts for
the establishment and operation of, for example, offshore companies for wind energy production
will be strengthened.
Finally, in connection with the Centre for Rural Research (CLF), collaboration is established with
the Danish Council of Rural Districts (Landdistrikternes Fællesråd) and the Ministry of Housing,
Urban and Rural Affairs, for whom the centre delivers contract work. There are also closer coopera18
tion with church organisations – rural deaneries (Malt deanery in the municipality of Vejen) and
Ministry for Gender Equality and Ecclesiastical Affairs - and a number of Danish municipalities.
Similarly, a number of collaborations have been established in connection with the following degrees: BSc in Sociology and Cultural Analysis and MSc in Cultural Sociology, which are primarily
handled by CLF employees. Thus, there is collaboration in the Bachelor degree programme with a
wide range of private and public enterprises and voluntary associations in connection with the students’ semester projects - a collaboration that we work to continuously develop. In connection with
the new graduate's degree, there are plans to further strengthen cooperation with the Department of
Law, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, which is responsible for the "Law, Power and Social Justice" specialisation. Furthermore, cooperation has been established with both Public Health
at the University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg, and with UC Syddanmark, Esbjerg (the Social
Worker programme so far).
International stakeholders: Goals and Plans
IME`s research activities (strategic and specific projects) are associated both with universities and
other international research institutions. FAME and the Environmental and Resource group collaborate on related areas with departments at the universities of Kiel, Barcelona, Prague, Hamburg,
Cambridge (UK), Griffith University (Australia) and others. Guest lectures, regular seminars and
exchange visits are held.
The major opportunities for cost reductions with offshore wind are a special theme for the creation
of a strategic alliance with Cambridge University (Economics and Engineering) and regulators from
the UK and Denmark. It aims to develop a regulatory framework that can incorporate wind energy
and encourage investment in offshore wind farms in the entire North Sea area, which will play a
major role for green growth and jobs on both sides of the North Sea over the next five to twenty
years.
The goals and plans for international collaboration in sports economics and management are to analyse the impact of sport participation on health and living conditions and consumer spending on
sports events, types of games and physical activities. Participants from Loughborough University
(UK), the University of Tübingen (Germany), West Virginia University (USA) and the University
of Alberta (Canada) are part of this collaboration. Academically, this entails an interdisciplinary
approach, including economics, management, sociology, and health sciences.
Green growth is academically associated with the disciplines of "natural resource economics", "ecological economics", "economic growth and development" and "international trade, globalisation".
An international network of these themes, DEGIT (Dynamics, Economic Growth, International
Trade), is based at IME/SDU where an international website for this is currently under construction.
Furthermore, the plan for the website has the general purpose of increasing the visibility, nationally
and internationally, of IME/SDU within green growth and resource economics.
Regarding sociological research, the goals and plans are to cultivate the general sociological area as
an enhanced basis for the two sociology degrees, including establishing and strengthening contacts
with international, sociological research environments.
3.4. Ad 4. Dissemination and Collaboration: Goals and Plans
 To secure the conditions for dissemination of research results and good collaboration, both
internally at SDU and with external collaboration partners.
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Research dissemination and collaboration with other research institutions
IME has a traditional dissemination strategy that is founded on: international publishing; an internal
working paper and report series (IME working papers) that has an internal review process prior to
publication; conference papers; Ph.D. courses; as well as workshops and seminars. Many researchers participate in formal and informal, national and international research networks through which
both dissemination and work collaborations are strengthened.
IME has a continuous need for visibility in order to recruit students and employees for the degree
programmes and the research in Esbjerg. Therefore, there is a need to allocate relatively large resources to the initiative “borrow a researcher” with integrated dissemination of our core research
areas, and a need for more direct marketing that does not necessarily involve a large element of research dissemination.
IME wishes to continue the support for individual researcher’s network building and to give good
opportunities for project collaborations within the research areas where we either have or can build
up a competitive advantage. Several employees have precisely such competences.
IME has a historically broad network driven by FAME and the many external research and report
tasks, both nationally and internationally. This is expected to continue.
Collaboration with the business community
Locally, this collaboration is tied to our special concentration in the BSc in Economics and Business
Administration - Business Development in Practice, which has given a few of our business economists a solid footing and good cooperation relations with the local business community (Western
Jutland). The same is currently under development in relation to the degree programme in Environmental Resource Management.
If there is a problem with the collaboration with the local business community, it is not found in the
scale of the activities, but rather in the fact that the collaboration, to a high degree, builds on individual researcher’s/lecturer’s networks. This anchoring of the collaboration activities with a few
very innovative employees makes the department vulnerable to changes in the staff and to generational shifts. Therefore, there needs to be an effort to secure a more long-term anchoring of the collaboration. This is attempted through a number of things: formal meetings with the Manager for
Business from Esbjerg Business Development Centre, the heads of higher educations present in the
city (council of the heads of higher education institutions, where SDU and Aalborg University Esbjerg are represented locally); membership on the board of Esbjerg Business Development Centre;
informal meetings between the Manager for Business from Esbjerg Business Development Centre
and the two universities in the city as well as the Head of Development at Esbjerg municipality.
But more direct and structured contact should be considered and developed.
More specifically, IME would like a closer dialogue through contact with larger leading companies
in order to:
 Offer more modules/lectures as a supplement to the formal standardised course offerings, as
introduction to discussions of new requirements and needs for the companies as consequences of the transition from production to more service-minded businesses.
 Increase dialogues with the companies on, and continue adaption of the degree programmes’
specialisations in order to secure accordance between the content of degree programmes and
the needs of the companies.
 Increase dialogues to make it possible to develop industrial Ph.D. projects and other R&D
projects to the benefit of the companies’ development.
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3.5. Ad 5. Balance
 To secure balance between research and teaching duties
With a much differentiated portfolio of degree programmes, a “safety first” strategy for the staffing
of lecturers for our programmes must naturally be balanced with the sharp defining profiles of the
individual research areas. It is therefore significant for IME to have employees who, besides covering courses within socio- and business economics, also cover the areas of finance, accounting (managerial accounting, financial management and financial accounting), statistics, IT, methodology
etc., because they are a necessary precondition for securing successful operation of the different
degree programmes on campus. We have no current problems in the staffing of the department’s
teaching portfolio, but we must acknowledge that in the long run, we are vulnerable in several central areas due to the age composition and the very limited number of employees at IME. There is
therefore a continuous need to secure the balance between teaching and research needs in the future
recruitment to the department.
Thus, there is a need to create a goal-oriented plan towards a future generational shift, especially
with regard to when the current full-time lecturers retire; it would be ideal if they are each replaced
by two associate professors with research duties.
4. Challenges
IME has, like other departments and centres at the Esbjerg campus, been given the task to secure
university degree programmes and research within a geographic area where the first graduate degree programme was established with Business School South (Handelshøjskole Syd) in the mid80s. Thus, there isn’t a tradition of generations studying at the university in Esbjerg. Today, both
SDU and Aalborg University offer university degree programmes at all levels –albeit in a limited
supply.
The Esbjerg area is relatively scarcely populated and therefore does not live up to young people’s
wish for a large city environment. At the same time, there is of course also a need in Western Jutland for highly skilled labour, coupled with the fact that only a limited number of highly skilled
newcomers move to Esbjerg. This makes it even more significant to offer degree programmes that
are in demand in this geographic area in order to secure companies and public employers the qualified labour that they need.
The geographical dimension is evident in several areas. The recruitment of research-qualified employees, especially for the business economics areas, is difficult. Many employees commute to Esbjerg, but live in other large city areas or in Germany, and there is a relatively large internationalisation of both employees and students.
Language barriers are growing (i.e. the number of non-Danish speaking senior employees). This is
an advantage in the daily work in an international research environment, but a challenge with regard
to the undergraduate degree programmes due to the fact that IME is not capable of covering teaching with all Danish speaking lecturers. Furthermore, the SDU administration is not accustomed to
handle the need for bilingual information. At campus Esbjerg, all graduate degree programmes are
carried out entirely in English.
Further challenges include the discontinuation of funds for: four positions at CLF at the end of 2010
(rectorate/faculty financing); two to three positions at MFI (funds from the Finance Act cut); and
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the relocation of the bachelor programme in Public Health (teaching provided by IME) and both the
bachelor and the graduate programme in International Negotiation (Negot) (where approximately
half of the degree was offered from IME). The need for adjustments to these new challenges of both
work tasks but also the academic composition of the staff has increased.
An additional challenge is the staffing in the research groups at IME, excluding Ph.D. students and
research assistants, but including project workers employed on external projects.
Env./Econ Marketing Management Sociology Others
Part-time
Calculated accord- 8
6
6
6
4
4
ing to the teaching
standard:
700
Hours
Actual staff
9
3
5
6
10
Vacancies;
2
3
2
granted positions
Expected staff by 11
6
7
6
10
the end of 2013
Note: the administrative staff includes two department secretaries (covering the department, CLF,
study secretary for sociology and cultural analysis), one study secretary (30 hours, covering the
study administration of the business economics studies and the environmental and resource management studies), 0.5 research assistant for project administration and support, one research assistant teaching project management and contributing administratively to the head of campus position
and one head of department.
“Others” covers four full-time lecturers, two assistant professors primarily employed for tasks at
CLF, and three employees associated with CMSS (Maritime Research and Innovation).
Environmental and resource economics is sustained by external research grants from competitive
funds and a “Research in International Class” grant from the faculty, while the connected degree
programme viewed in isolation generates a deficit. The economists contribute significantly to the
business economics programmes and it is also they who will be part of the new degree programme
at the RISK centre, where an IME employee will join the staff in October of 2013. The group also
accounts for an initiative on the econometrical area, where external funds for 1.5 post-doc positions
(beginning April 1, 2013) have been secured by Professor Bjarne S. Jensen.
Three employees make up IME’s contribution to CMSS and connected projects within maritime
innovation. In this scheme, they are also included under “others” but in practice belong to the Environmental and Resource Economics group.
There is a need to find a solution for the funding for the period after 2015, where the “Research of
International Class” grant will expire. A research group with less than six to eight core members, as
the group de facto has, will not be able to sustain the research capacity necessary to continuously
operate at an international level.
The Competition and Markets group is well functioning, and with the recent completion of two
Ph.D.’s and the start-up of two new ones, there is an acute need for additional senior researchers.
The recruitment process has been underway for some time now and there is a hope of filling two to
three vacant positions so that the group once again will reach a staff level that can cover both the
continuous teaching demands as well as securing the planned research activities.
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There is a large demand for the management group’s qualifications in connection with the innovation efforts by the business community. The group therefore has a need for additional resources.
In 2012, the Sociology group was significantly enlarged for the purpose of securing the research
foundation needed for the degree programmes in sociology and cultural analysis that are currently
being developed. The staffing will need to be re-evaluated by the end of 2013, when the recruitment
for the graduate degree programme is known.
The “others” group is historically relatively large. Our full-time lecturers make up a significant part
of the teaching efforts and cover a particularly broad spectrum of courses in the business economics
programmes, where alternative qualifications are often not found within the research groups. The
maritime field (contribution to CMSS) and employees tied to CLF are directly dependent on the
efforts in this area and the maintenance of public contracts that are financed through the Finance
Act.
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