Trends And Issues Management

Trends and Issues Management

Made by: Nicole Phoa 1157303 Carla Ratering 1143200 Janneke op de Weegh 1164023 In order of: Dhr. Martin Karemaker Hand in date: 29-03-2006 Content list Introduction 1. Trends 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

in Society Green Energy Hyves I-pod Navigation system

2. Consumer behavior according to 11 trends 2.1 Carla as consumer 2.2 Janneke as consumer 2.3 Nicole as Consumer 3. Issue Management Plan on Green Energy 3.1 Disruption of the landscape 3.2 Prices of Green Energy

P. 3 P. 4- 8 P. 5 P. 6 P. 7

P. 8 P. 9 – 13

P. 11

P. 10 P. 12- 13 P. 14 - 25 P. 15 - 20 P. 21 - 25

Introduction For this report, we have included three assignments on Trend and Issue Management. •

Trends in Society

Within this chapter, we have included four trends within society. These trends are familiar within several age groups. • Consumer behavior according to the 11 trends In this chapter, we will individually describe what kind of a consumer we are and why we think that particular shopping trend fits us • Issue Management Plan In this plan, we describe two issue which occurred within the trend “Green Energy”.

Trends in society In the first part of this assignment, we will discuss four trends within society. These trends will be discussed by their mega level. maxi level and micro level in the Dutch society. The following trends are discussed: • Green Energy • Hyves • I-pod • Navigation system

Trends in society: Green Energy An important issue that return many times within the environmental organizations is the green house effect. This is increasing, which has a negative effect on the environment and should be changed. Every person in the world can help with this process by accepting Green Energy instead of Grey energy Grey energy is aroused by durable energy, like gas and coals, which is a damage for the environment. Green energy is aroused from permanent energy sources, by burning of wood and waste, sun-energy, wind and water. The idea behind the green energy is an decrease of carbon dioxide (CO2) and therefore an decrease of the green house effect. Mega Level The green house effect is increasing, because of the many exhaust gasses that are present within the whole world. This process is harmful for the environment and should change. Green Energy is a product that will help to change this process, because it is made of environmental energy sources like wind and sun, that are not harmful. This product is positive for the environment and towards all inhabitant of the whole world.. Maxi Level The presence of Green Energy has increased the awareness within society towards this product and the environment. It is important that people think about environmental issues and the consequences for the future. The increase of green house effect has negative influence for the future and so for their descendents. Society should start to think to use green energy instead of grey energy. At this moment a few people in society has agreed upon Green Energy, but many people have not seen the importance yet. Micro Level At this moment, people become more aware about the environment. The increase of the Green house effect as opened the eyes of many people within society. It is good that people start to realize that the environment is too important to leave it behind them. Since the day that Green Energy has been introduced, more people

started to use sun energy and wind energy, which supports an healthy environment for all people within the world. Trends in society: Hyves Meeting new friends happened many times during humans lives. Mainly through personal contact at school, work or in the train. Times have changed and the world became more international. People wanted to meet and learn more about other cultures and people. Traveling is just too expensive for many people and Hyves is a very good alternative. Hyves is a Dutch social networking site to build an online (inter) national friends network. It is created 1.5 years ago by three just graduated students from Amsterdam. Every person within the world has the opportunity to open their own profile. On this profile, people set photographs and messengers and shares these with their (inter) national friends. Hyves gives also the opportunity to cheat by friends of you own friends to broader your people network. The majority of Hyves member’s are Dutch, but they also are very popular in Peru, United States, Mexico and Iran. Within these 1.5 years, Hyves has attracted half a million members. Mega Level In this time era, studying and working abroad are aspects that become more familiar within the world. People do want to keep contact with their family and friends back home, but also want to keep in contact with the persons they met abroad. Through this aspect the world becomes more global, because of the many people that remain contact from the country they life or lived. Through Hyves, the world is connected with each other and get access to people and cultures that people know and do not know (yet). An whole global network will be made through al the experience abroad from a work placement to a vacation and the persons they met through the internet (Hyves) Maxi Level Hyves creates societies own network online. A network create cooperation between several persons in society, because they will ask favors from each other. If one person can not help their network friend, they will know another person from their network who can help their friend. Through this system, people create a huge interesting network of new friends world wide. People care about networking more and more in this society where traveling all over the globe occurs very often. Micro Level Through Hyves, many people within the world receives new contact and friends. These new contacts can be an eye opener for humans, because they will learn on how people on the other site from the world live. It is definitely possible to make friendships for live through Hyves. Trends in society: I-pod There has been a huge technological revolution in the past years. In the 1970’s it was not possible to listen to music on you’re bike or during you’re daily walk. This changed when the walkman and a few years later the disc man were introduced. At this moment, these technologies are not cool anymore and an I-pod is necessary. The I-Pod puts a whole show into the user pocket, because it supports for up to 15,000 songs, up to 150 hours of video on a 2.5-inch color display, a full-color album art and up to 25,000 photos. Since the first I-pod was introduced many new

version have become at the market, the newest versions become lighter and smaller, because of the still ungoing technological revolution. At this moment, you can put all your music in your pocket and still have room for, practically everything else. Mega Level With an I-pod, an user has their own made shown in the pocket. A user can include 15.000 songs, 150 hours of video and 25000 photo’s in one I-pod. In the present society, People want to be entertained for 24/7, which is possible by using an Ipod because it creates entertainment for every moment of the day. Maxi Level An I-pod is small, but has a huge amount of space for entertainment. During night and days, users are able to enjoy their show. Users just have to push the bottom and one of the 15000 songs will be played. It is an comfortable and easy product to be entertained at times that you are bored or can not do anything useful, like in the bus or on you’re bike, because it provides the user with all kinds of possibilities (such as photo’s, video and music). Micro Level I-pod users do not have the possibility to be bored. They have the possibility to use this product at every moment they want to. An I-pod can be used during almost every activity of the users, because it becomes easier to take with you and hide it in you’re pocket of bag.

Trends in society: Navigation system for motor vehicles Navigation systems for motor vehicles have become rather popular among vehicle owner. Many human beings must travel daily with their car for their work to visit places. In the past, it was necessary to have the ability to read a road map which not everybody found easy, but this is not necessary anymore as long as the vehicle has a navigation system. A navigation system is an assistance device for a vehicle consisting of an onboard terminal, a manual controller, and the possibility to communicate through a radiotelephone network. These three possibilities cooperate together to recognize the owners’ requests made verbally or through a keyboard to the on board terminal. This system will lead you to your destination by visual and verbal instructions. Mega Level The world is becoming more international. Many people have the opportunity to travel farther away than a few years ago. The cause for this new trend is the growth of the welfare of many people. Within the present society. people have the opportunity to spend more money on traveling by airplane and by car. The welfare, the many multinational organization and the decisions made by elderly to have a second home abroad are all examples which shows that the world becomes more global. Due to a navigation system, people will easily travel further away to visit more places on the globe. Maxi Level Navigation system creates an easy way to travel by motor vehicles, like cars and motors. The driver does not have to look at a map to find the place where he has to go to. Now, the driver just has to pay attention on the driving aspect and to listen to his navigation system. This system will bring him to the right place and

he does not have to spend any time to look at maps. A navigation system is no excuse to be late at any place! Micro Level Navigation systems work through a visual map, which owners of such a buy in shops. These maps consist of a very detailed description of a area within the world, such as Europe, United States of America. The drivers will be shown his way toward his end positioning through verbally spoken computerized person, even the most difficult places, streets, are no problem for this system.

system can particular visuals and a like small

Consumer behavior In this part, we argue what kind of consumers we are in our daily lives. We have used the 11 trends of from the book 60 trends in 60 minutes. Consumer behavior: Carla as consumer Nibble and nap. The statement that in the past there were 5 main events: waking up, breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime seems a little easy, but the main rhythm is correct. For many people I think this is still the way they live, but since I live in a student house, my perspectives on that have changed a little. In my house, people eat at the strangest times and also sleep during day time. So I think the statement of nibble and nap is correct. We have replaced our structures and daily events with snacks and rest periods. Of course you have to wake up in the morning, but I often do that in such a hurry that I don’t have time to eat my breakfast. Then after 1 hour I start to get hungry and grab a snack (this can vary from 10 AM till 5 PM). I always have dinner, but the times also vary a lot. Sometimes I eat at 5 PM, because I have to go somewhere and sometimes I eat at 8 PM. Of course you also have to go to bed, but being a students, the times that I go to bed also vary a lot. Sometimes I go to bed at 6 in the morning, so then my whole day rhythm is changed. This is a very latterly explanation of the trend that is going on, but it is something that also effects our lives as a consumer. Because people don’t have a steady rhythm anymore, supermarkets stay open until 10 PM, you find more and more take away restaurants, stores and some supermarkets are open at Sunday. All these things are done to make sure that the consumer are capable to buy what they want, when they want it. 50 years ago it wasn’t possible that a supermarket stayed open until 10 PM, but now, because everybody is busy and doesn’t have a steady rhythm, this all changes. More and more stores and shops are adapting to this trend. Consumer behavior: Janneke as consumer Faux authenticity It is difficult to put yourself in a box that contains a name. Out of the eleven trends, I do think that faux authenticity is the most me. It is mentioned that persons within this box have a feel for real, I see this as a feel for the real ME, in the past and future. Every aspect within my life must feel genuine to me, I must feel comfortable in (almost) every situation from buying a new cloth to meeting new people. In my life, I have experience many ups and downs. These ups and downs have created me to the person that I am this day and shown me who I want to be in the near

future. These situations in the past have helped me to see that I am a real person with feeling and meanings and that some decision weren’t me, but now they are. In your life, you change many time. Some of the changes hurts and some of them don’t, life and death are close connected to each other and so are experiences of happiness and sadness. All adventures in my life, the adventures of buying a special product for a special person or occasion and my adventures of leaving everything behind and follow my dreams were hard to me but become one of me, one of whom I felt it was right. During all my decisions, experiences and ups and downs it was hard to talk against my own feelings. If my feeling tells me: “Janneke, this is something that does not fit you” or “Janneke, this is not you”, I won’t buy it or won’t participate. If I disagree with my feeling and do agree to buy it or participate in it, I know that it will turn against me. I will regret this situation and be down for a few minutes, hours or a day. People have to be genuine as well. If I have the feeling that a person is playing a game with me or with others, I will avoid them. To me, friendship and family are too important to loose, so when I see such a person I won’t buy a cloth from them ( I will come in another time) and I won’t listen to them. It is shown that I am a person that needs a special feeling, a genuine feeling, before I take action and buy it, agree on it and participate on it. A purchase must mean something to me, it must fit me. I look like a picky person, but I am definitely not. I just think that it is a waste of time and money if you can not make a good and real decisions for yourself, which I do now.

Consumer behavior: Nicole as consumer The frugal rich A student’s lifestyle reflects their class most of the time. Good rooms are hard to get in Utrecht. By ‘good’ I mean: price vs. size, housemates and above all location. My parents do not consider themselves as being rich, but compared to the average Dutch family we could be considered upper-middle class or even lower-upper class. They were just at their place at the right time. As my father likes to say “Income is short-term, wealth is long-term”. You can spend all your income every month, but you will not create wealth that way. A large income can make you feel important, it may trigger the need to indulge and show the world what you have to spend, but creating wealth is about making the right decisions about money. It is about balancing what to spend and what to invest. My parents do not like to spend beyond measure. They prefer to multiply their wealth by investing in their practice and house. I’m living according to the means and values which my parents taught me, so it’s logical that I’m also a frugal consumer. Personally it is sort of a lifestyle choice. Maybe it is a sign of people becoming more educated as consumers, because I’m learning from my parent’s mistakes. My consumer behaviour is basically to think long-term. Not only money wise, but also environmentally wise. I recycle with my housemates and I support several good causes such as WNF, Oxfam and Unicef. I want to simplify my live. Frugal people are looking to cut their consumption on every level. When I’m doing groceries, I prefer to go to Albert Heijn for the quality, but I do not hesitate to shop at the Aldi either.

When it comes to clothing, I prefer some basic items and some seasonal items. Sometimes I would indulge myself and buy a fashionable bag or clothes, but it has to look really good. Vintage is the thing for me, I like to be unique. Luckily in the last few years, vintage has become hot, because vintage means value. Vintage fashion is often the closest thing to couture for a girl on a budget. Yet the true value of a vintage piece doesn't dwell in its collectibles, its rarity or even its bargain price. When you wear vintage clothes you simply look like no one else. All you have to do is act fast and keep your eyes open. Sometimes associated with the concept of frugality is a philosophy in which one does not trust, or is deeply wary of, 'expert' knowledge, often from commercial markets or corporate cultures, claiming to know what is in the 'best' economic, material or spiritual interests of the individual.” Consumer behavior: Nicole as consumer I partly agree with this definition. I believe frugality also has to do with the society we live in. People live their lives so fast, they do not stop and enjoy the simple things in life. What I save now, I can enjoy even more when I’m older. You just have to live within your means.

Issue Management Plan The final part of this report consist of two Issue Management Plans. Two issues concerning green energy will be discussed, which are: • •

Disruption of the landscape in Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands Prices of Green Energy

These two issues are both discussed in a separate issue management plan, written underneath. Issue Management Plan: Disruption on the landscape 1.1.Issue Our issue is that Green Energy doesn’t only have advantages, but also some disadvantages. Of course, in most cases Green Energy is good for the environment, but in some cases it also causes disruption of the landscape. In front of the coast of Egmond aan Zee a windmill park will be build. The park will be build 10 kilometres from the coast of Egmond, and it contains 36 windmills with a height of 100 meters. This windmill park will not only cause a disruption of the landscape, but also 10 000 birds will die each year, because the windmills will be placed in their route. In the future many companies will switch to green energy, so the facilities have to be made already. There were a lot of protests by the inhabitants of the region of Egmond and the Vogelwacht Egmond, because of the disruption of the landscape and the great number of birds that will be killed. The government passed a law which states that a subsidiary is given, so that wind energy was made economical possible. 1.2.Possibilities Of course it is a positive development that more Green Energy is won. The energy

is very durable and isn’t likely to run out any time soon. However, the fact that the windmill park in Egmond will cause many birds to die, asks for some other possibilities. These possibilities can be found in the use of more solar energy or by building the windmill park somewhere where not so many birds get killed (this could be done by placing the windmills further away from the shore). Nuon, Shell and the congregation of Egmond ignored all the protests from the inhabitants and just implemented their original plan. They argued that far less people were against the park than was originally thought. As a consequence, the involved parties organized different information meetings, to try and persuade the inhabitants. This is also a good possibility to get more people enthusiastic for your plans. Those meetings however didn’t work, because the inhabitants had the feeling that nobody listened to their arguments. Issue Management Plan: Disruption on the landscape 1.3 Organizational position In this issue, there are many parties affected. You have the inhabitants of the region of Egmond, the congregation of Egmond, Shell, Nuon, Vogelwacht Egmond and Stichting Duinbehoud. Also the government of The Netherlands is involved in the issue, because they decide on the regulation on Green Energy. However, they are not affected by this issue and will therefore be left out this report. Most of the inhabitants don’t want to have the windmill park at all, but if it must be done, then they want the windmills to be placed further from the shore so that it isn’t so much in sight and will cost less bird lives. They have gathered data about the number of birds that will be killed and compared the height of the windmills with the height of a drilling platform that is already there. The height of the windmills will be almost twice as high as the drilling platform and this causes much resistance. Shell and Nuon see this park as necessary, because green energy is something for the future. They argue this is necessary to ensure the energy for the future. The information they have gathered is how much energy the windmill park will produce. The windmills will produce 100MW durable energy. The congregation of Egmond sees no problems with placing the windmills. They also see this as necessary for the future and argue that nobody will encounter any harm. They even subsidize the building of the park. The information they have gathered is mainly about how much it costs to place a windmill in the sea and what it will gain. Vogelwacht Egmond and Stichting Duinbehoud are both concerned with the environment and the harm that the windmill park will cause. Vogelwacht Egmond is concerned with the lives of all the birds and Stichting Duinbehoud is mainly concerned with infraction of the coast landscape. The information they have gathered is about the number of birds that will be killed and about how the coast landscape will change because of these windmills. 1.4 Groups and opinion leaders The main decision makers in this issue are Shell, Nuon and the congregation of Egmond. You would expect that all the people in favour of a cleaner environment would be supporting this issue. However because of the disruption of the landscape and the harm it causes to the bird population, there are not many environmentalists in favour of this issue. People that are in favour of the building of the windmill park are Shell, Nuon, Essent, the congregation of Egmond and the builders of the windmills. All of these

parties have a stake in this issue. Issue Management Plan: Disruption on the landscape Shell and Nuon of course want to make money and let the public see that they invest in the future. The congregation of Egmond wants to show the national government that they look to the future and also they want to earn some of the subsidiaries that they will get from building environmental energy. The people that build the windmills are also in favour of this issue, because it costs a lot of money to build and place these windmills. They will earn a lot of money with this project. People that are against this issue are the inhabitants of Egmond, the Vogelwacht Egmond and Stichting Duinbehoud. All of these parties are concerned for the environment and also for the disruption of the landscape. The inhabitants of Egmond will be the best target to try and make a difference in position. However, many information meetings have already been to try and change the position of the inhabitants, all without success. Still we think the inhabitants are the first group that is willing to change it’s opinion. 1.5.Desired behaviour The behaviour that is explained above, is the actual behaviour of all of the parties. Of course, there are many other types of behaviour that were more desirable in this situation. The desired behaviour is that Shell and Nuon listen to all the protests from activist groups and adjust their behaviour, rather that just do what they always intended. Now they also claim to listen to the protests, but many of the people don’t feel the same way. The desired behaviour of the congregation of Egmond is that they looked at all the figures and consequences before making a decision. The costs of the project will be 200 million euro and they can supply only 60 000 homes with energy. The project will last for 20 years and in this period of time, the cost balance of the project will be just even. So economical seen there are almost no benefits (except of course saving the environment). Vogelwacht Egmond and Stichting Duinbehoud did everything they could to prevent the park being built. They informed the local inhabitants with the most objective information they could find and arranged information meetings to try and change the opinion of the initiators. The inhabitants of Egmond could have protested a little bit more than they did now, but their behaviour was very close to the desired one. If you notice that nobody is listening, you aren’t willing to put very much energy into it. Issue Management Plan: Disruption on the landscape 1.6. Intelligence gathering and analysis Shell and Nuon are always gathering information about their competitors to see if they have something that could be a competitive advantage. Companies like BP, Essent and Eneco are the biggest competitors for Shell and Nuon. Because they all work within the same field of expertise they know what is going on within the branch and you also see that the companies come up with similar products around the same time. The action groups in Egmond and surrounding areas monitor what steps have been taken and what the latest news on the issue is. As soon as something isn’t done

the way it is supposed to, the groups immediately intervene. Stichting Duinbehoud has been involved in several legal cases against the building of the windmill park. Because of these protests, 5 big nature restoration projects have been made possible. They argued that the windmill park will harm a big part of the coast landscape and demanded that this landscape would be restored in other parts of the country. As written above, they succeeded. 1.7. Background briefing materials To write this report, we needed some background information. To gather this information we looked on the following websites: www.ez.nl www.energie.nl Gemeente Egmond www.shell.com www.nuon.com www.stichtingduinbehoud.nl www.vogelwachtegmond.nl www.dagbladnoordholland.nl 1.8. Relationship management In this issue the relationship management wasn’t carried out in the proper way. When the congregation of Egmond found out that there were protests against their plans, they organized an information meeting. This meeting was for the inhabitants and the press, so no special press conference was held to inform the press. They felt passed by the congregation and therefore already had a negative prejudgement. It is very important to inform the press on forehand, because they are the link between the management and the inhabitants. Issue Management Plan: Disruption on the landscape Also Shell and Nuon had an close relationship with each other, as well as with the congregation of Egmond. These relationships were carried out in the right way. First Shell and Nuon agreed to work together, and discussed how this would work. Then they convinced, together, the congregation of Egmond to agree with their plans. This was in the right order, because in this way Shell and Nuon already agreed on what they wanted and that makes it easier to convince a third party. 1.9. Media Management In this case the media wasn’t addressed in the right way. They were invited as a normal inhabitant and no real press conference was given. The press conference came after protests of the local inhabitants, but then it was already too late for damage control. A lot was written in the local newspapers, but also in the national media a lot of articles were printed. Most of them were concerned with the number of birds that would be killed because of this park, rather than on the fact that it was Green Energy. Also the costs of the whole project were displayed largely in the media. Some of the articles that were published can be found as appendix by this report. 1.10. Implications for other departments The Green Energy of course has a lot of consequences for other branches. For Shell, it means that they will shift their focus from fossil fuels to Green Energy. This means that they will invest less in drilling platforms and more in the windmill parks as discussed in this issue management plan. For Nuon less will change, because they will still provide energy, only it is gained in a different way.

For the consumers there will also be a change, because most of times Green Energy is more expensive than normal energy (but more about this in the other issue). For the government there will also change a lot, because a lot of regulations have to be adjusted to fit in the whole cleaner environment. 1.11. Evaluation The process of building a windmill park in front of the coast of Egmond was performed in a fairly bad way. First of all Shell, Nuon and the congregation of Egmond didn’t listen to protests of the inhabitants, Vogelwacht Egmond and Stichting Duinbehoud. They held information meetings, but because the arguments of the inhabitants were ignored, those meetings had a negative effect. The press was informed too late, and because of that most media coverage had a negative character. Stichting Duinbehoud reached that 5 nature restore projects were realized. They were pleased with that result. Issue Management Plan: Disruption on the landscape Also, the local government suffered enormously from this issue, and many of the inhabitants lost faith in the congregation. So all in all we can conclude that this “environmental project” wasn’t so environmental at all and had a lot of negativity around it. Issue Management Plan: Prices of Green Energy 2.1. Issue In 2005 nearly 80.000 clients of energy supplier Eneco have made the switch from green energy to grey energy. According to Eneco this decline has to do with minister Brinkhorst who is messing with the subsidies. “Green energy is only 80 eurocent a month more expensive than grey energy. The consumers find this more important than global heating apparently.” This is a disturbing reason. The use of green energy is an important tool against global heating. The more green energy used, the less amount of CO2 emission which will result in less global heating. According to scientific debate, in the future the estimated temperature will rise between one to six degrees Celsius. 2.2.Possibilities In some cases green energy will be more expensive than grey energy. But these short-term costs should be compared to the long-term costs. The costs which are brought by global heating will be immense. Think about all the adjustments which are necessary for our water regulation and our agriculture. Other sectors that will undergo the consequences of this process are healthcare, increasing medical complaints by heat and dryness in the summer, inland navigation and tourism. Not to mention the increase in floods. These costs will be reported to the community. There is a large price difference between the energy prices of different suppliers. This has to do with the Dutch energy market being liberal. Companies are going to compete even more with each other, they offer competing prices and try to buy cheap. The price for green energy is usually equal to the kilowatt-hour (kWh) price of grey energy. Most suppliers have combined their green energy to the kWh-price of grey energy. Some suppliers calculate more for the purchase of green energy, but more new suppliers offer their green energy for a cheaper price. They can do that because they buy large. Next to that they import green energy from foreign

producers. Green energy is more expensive to produce than grey energy. The taxes for grey energy amount 6.39 eurocent/kWh (excl. BTW) and the taxes for green energy amount 5,04 eurocent/kWh (excl. BTW). This leads to an equal price level between green and grey energy. Issue Management Plan: Prices of Green Energy 1.3.Organizational position In this issue, there are many parties affected. You have the inhabitants of the Netherlands, the Dutch government and the energy suppliers. The main disadvantages of the production of green local ecosystems like wind farms. disrupting bird scenery. The Dutch government and the energy suppliers see necessary. They argue this is necessary to ensure figures show it.

energy have negative effects on populations and disturbing the green energy production sites as energy for the future and the

In the first half year of 2005 the production of green energy has increased. The green energy accounted for 6.4% of national usage according to the figures of the CBS. In 2004 the amount was 3.8%. The most important contribution to the increase was the burning of biomass by the power units. Wind energy shows a small increase of 0.2% to 1.9% of all energy usage. The import of green energy decreased from 9% in 2004 to 6% in the first half year in 2005. This leads to the fact that the amount of import was as large as the national production. The decrease was mainly caused by the lack of governmental support for the import of green energy since 1 January 2005. The inhabitants of the Netherlands sees no problems with in the green energy production sites, but they do not want their environment or ecosystem to suffer. They also see these sites as necessary for the future and argue that nobody will encounter any harm. 1.4. Groups and opinion leaders The main decision makers in this issue are the Dutch government, the Dutch consumers and the energy suppliers. All the people are in favour of a cleaner environment. However, the higher price for green energy compared to grey energy scares of the Dutch population, because they would rather be safe on money than on their environment. People that are in favour of green energy are the Dutch government and the energy suppliers. All of these parties have a stake in this issue. The energy suppliers want to make money and let the public see that they invest in the future. The Dutch government wants to uphold the Kyoto Protocol and show the other countries in the world that they look to the future. People that are against this issue are the inhabitants of the Netherlands. They are concerned for the high prices for green energy. Issue Management Plan: Prices of Green Energy The inhabitants of the Netherlands will be the best target to try and make a difference in position. However, many information campaigns by the government as well as the energy suppliers have already been done to try and change the position of the inhabitants, all without success. Still we think the inhabitants are the

group that is willing to change it’s opinion. 1.5. Desired behaviour The behaviour that is explained above, is the actual behaviour of all of the parties. Of course, there are many other types of behaviour that were more desirable in this situation. The desired behaviour is that the energy suppliers listen to all the protests from activist groups about the location and supervision of the green energy production sites. They should adjust their behaviour and actually listen to the protests in that way they can win people for them. The desired behaviour of the inhabitants of the Netherlands is that they looked at all the figures and consequences before making a decision between green and grey energy. The problem that the world faces is the enhanced greenhouse effect. Concentrations of greenhouse gases are building up in the atmosphere and this is preventing more heat from escaping, leading to an increase in the earths temperature. The increase in the earth's temperature is affecting ecosystems either directly, by melting ice in the arctic regions, which leads to loss of habitat for wildlife or indirectly by changing weather patterns, which can disrupt ecosystems which are used to certain climatic conditions. The desired behaviour of the Dutch government is that they continue to stimulate the use of green energy. They should stop messing about the energy subsidies and be more willing towards the consumer. They still have to make sure that a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions takes place in the Netherlands, in order to reduce the effects of climate change. 1.6. Intelligence gathering and analysis The energy suppliers are always gathering information about their competitors to see if they have something that could be a competitive advantage. They all work within the same field of expertise and they know what is going on within the branch and you also see that the companies come up with similar products around the same time. It is a shame that the price of green energy should suffer by this competition. The Dutch government is always gathering information about the increase or decline of the greenhouse effect and the use of green energy. Issue Management Plan: Prices of Green Energy The inhabitants of the Netherlands are mostly looking at the prices of green energy vs. grey energy. They are more concerned about their money than the environment. 1.7. Background briefing materials To write this report, we needed some background information. To gather this information we looked on the following websites: www.energie.nl www.greenprices.com www.milieudefensie.nl www.cbs.nl www.tegenstroom.nl 1.8. Relationship management In this issue the relationship management was carried out in the proper way.

The

Dutch government as well as the energy suppliers tried to do as much as they can to promote green energy. Meetings, press conferences, political debates, websites, advertisements and commercials about green energy are every day news. Still the Dutch consumer is not completely convinced in using green energy. 1.9. Media Management In this case the media has been involved within this issue. They are the medium which has to convince the inhabitants of the Netherlands to use green energy. It is unusual for a product to be purchased without the purchaser having some knowledge about its origins and method of production, especially in the Netherlands. However, one important exception to this is electricity. Electricity is taken for granted when a machine is plugged in or a light is switched on. If the media can not communicate the advantage of green energy correctly to the consumer, the government should do everything in its power to promote green energy, even if this means cutting on taxes. 1.10. Implications for other departments The green energy has a lot of consequences for other branches. For energy suppliers, this means that they will shift their focus from fossil fuels to green energy. This means that they will invest less in drilling platforms and more in the green energy production sites. Issue Management Plan: Prices of Green Energy For the consumers there will also be a change, because most of the time green energy is more expensive than normal energy For the government there will also change a lot, because a lot of regulations have to be adjusted to fit in the whole cleaner environment. 1.11. Evaluation As more and more consumers become aware the use of energy as well as the energy becomes more deregulated, consumers are demand for more green energy. The Dutch in promoting green energy: • as consumers, • as producers and as promoters or • legislative bodies.

of the environmental issues relating to production and the energy market which likely to exercise their buying power and government and cities can play three roles

The Dutch government should decrease the tax on green energy in order to get more consumers to buy green energy and invest in an environment friendly future. Even though this case may have a negative tone about the Dutch consumers and their interest in green energy, the use of green energy did increase in the last years.