Organic Salmon Farming : An Assessment of Managerial and Organizational Implications, and the Internalization of Environmental Externalities

摘要

Organic salmon farming has emerged in the wake of tightened competition in conventionalproduction as an initiative to internalize many of the claimed externalities most people associatewith modern aquaculture. However, as Norwegian producers have largely dominated thecommoditized salmon industry, in terms of volumes and cost-effectiveness, their incentives fordiversification are confined (Georgakopoulos and Thomson, 2005).Two case companies were chosen to explore the motives and means for diversifying into organicsalmon farming in Norway, and to examine the managerial and organizational implications ofthis strategic decision. The project draws upon extant theories pertaining to the subjects ofindustry-based and resource-based strategy, management accounting and environmentalmanagement systems.A qualitative research approach was taken to gather primary data, in the form of five semistructuredin-depth interviews. The respondents represented various management positions intwo Norwegian aquaculture companies. An exploratory case study design was applied to enablecross-case comparisons and to fortify the findings. Secondary data, regarding companycharacteristics and related studies, was also collected to strengthen the results.The research findings indicate that successful implementation is reliant on distinctive resourcespertaining to human capital, well-integrated quality systems and cost control. The shift wasmade in conformity with the overall firm strategies rather than as a response to externalpressure from various stakeholders. Management accounting played a key role in assessing,allocating and actively reducing the environmental costs associated with organic production. Theimplementation did not activate any large investments and the price premiums offset most ofthe excess costs related to certification compliance, enabling the companies to achieve marginswhich equaled those in conventional production.Organic certification was, through the presence and usage of the abovementioned firmresources, revealed as an integrating mechanism for environmental issues in the organizations.However, the environmental performance of organic production was limited by a perceiveddisparity between the intended meaning of various certification standards and their practicalimplications, which in turn confines the purpose of advanced management accounting as ameans for enhancing environmental performance.