Circular business models are increasingly seen as enablers for the transition towards a circular economy. Perceiving financial benefits is an important driver for companies to make this transition, which is why knowledge of financial performance is required to support decision-makers. However, a lack of understanding of financial performance for circular business models has been identified as a barrier to transitioning. Therefore, this paper uses a systematic literature review to identify the state-of-the-art of how financial performance and its underpinnings are addressed concerning circular business models for each transition phase (i.e., ideate and design, implement and test, evaluate and improve). By analyzing the extent, context, and content of the financial performance discussions in relation to circular business models, the review identifies reasons for perceiving the transition as financially challenging and suggests specific research paths for each phase of the transition, to pinpoint where more efforts are needed. First, there is a lack of studies on prospective financial performance evaluation in the ideate-and-design phase. Second, retrospective evaluation of prototypes for circular business model experimentation lacks guidelines, and evidence and further investigations are needed on upscaling outcomes. Third, although retrospective evaluation gains more interest in the literature, guidelines and empirical evidence on selecting and designing prospective and retrospective indicators are still needed. Fourth, setting the evaluation scope is a key area for future studies. This involves having a long-term perspective and considering the offering from a business model level.

The thesis takes its point of departure in the important role of the industrial sector in mitigating climate change through a reduced energy use. There is a lack of understanding for how energy management should be organised and implemented in industrial companies. The aim of this thesis is therefore to analyse the management control activities and procedures used by energyintensive industrial companies for energy management and one of its key elements—energy efficiency investments. The thesis also examines how so-called non-energy benefits are considered for energy efficiency investments and their role in driving these investments. The thesis consists of a cover essay and four appended papers, one of which is based on a systematic literature review of benefit concepts applied in the context of energy efficiency investments. The remaining papers build on three empirical studies in Swedish manufacturing and process industries with a particular focus on the pulp and paper industry.

Energy management is an important aspect of sustainability for the industrial sector. This thesis advances the understanding of management control for energy management by bridging the theoretical domains of energy management and sustainability management control. The thesis acknowledges both the strategic and operational dimensions of energy management, going beyond the predominating operational perspective, and illuminates the way in which both dimensions are reflected in management control practices. The role of established organisational arrangements spanning different functions and levels is identified. A framework for categorising non-energy benefits is also developed, which may facilitate their inclusion in the investment process. However, the configuration of management control activities and procedures applied for the investment process is essential for the extent to which non-energy benefits can be acknowledged during investment decision-making. Through its emphasis on management control activities and procedures for energy management, this thesis contributes to the managerial path of sustainability management control, providing both theoretical and managerial contributions. Altogether, the four studies constituting this thesis illuminate the need for adequate tools and methods in the transition to a sustainable industrial sector and the role of management control configurations in this endeavour.

Energy efficiency is an important means for sustainable manufacturing. One action for manufacturing companies to improve energy efficiency is through investments. While these investments often are profitable, opportunities remain unexploited. This paper explores the structural context of the investment decision-making process by examining the associated activities, procedures, and the role of information. While the structural context may limit complex investments that do not fit predefined rules and controls, such as energy efficiency and other sustainability-related investments, it remains a scarcely studied aspect of investment decision-making for energy efficiency investments. Method-wise, the paper is based on a case study of a major investment at a pulp and paper company, motivated and justified based on productivity, strategic, energy, and sustainability rationales. The paper contributes with illustrating how configurations of internal investment activities and procedures may be crucial for sustainability-related investments to pass through the investment process. Moreover, the configuration of activities and procedures is also indicated as influential for the way in which an investment is executed. Hence, for energy efficiency and other sustainability-related investments to make business sense constitutes more than achieving desirable payback periods; the structural context should be considered.

Denna studie har bl.a. lett till nya insikter och en fördjupad förståelse för energiledning ur ett styrningsperspektiv. Det finns idag endast ett fåtal studier på energiledning med liknande perspektiv (Schulze et al., 2018, 2016; Virtanen et al., 2013) varför fortsatt forskning starkt rekommenderas. Den multipla fallstudien visade att det finns skillnader i organisering och styrning för energiledning även mellan liknande företag inom samma industri. Dessa skillnader kan till synes härledas till den strategiska riktning respektive företag tagit i sitt energiarbete. Ett ramverk har utvecklats som visar på vilka aktiviteter som bör prioriteras för att möjliggöra för ett proaktivt energiarbete. Fallstudien som fokuserade på investeringsprocessen och dess aktiviteter och procedurer stärker dessa slutsatser: energi bör på operativ nivå integreras som ett kriterium vid investeringar samt på strategisk nivå som en strategisk prioritet.

Investments in industrial energy efficiency areessential for meeting future energy needs. Nevertheless, theindustrial sector’s current efforts in energy efficiency investmentsare insufficient. Additional benefits of energy efficiencyinvestments have been suggested to improve thefinancial attractiveness of energy efficiency investments.Yet, previous research indicates that not all benefits areincludedwhen investment opportunities are evaluated, leadingto an underestimation of what a firm will gain from theinvestment. Additionally, previous research lacks conceptualframeworks for describing these additional benefits at anearly stage in the investment process. Moreover, variousbenefit terms are found in currently existing research, butthere are a lack of definitions and distinctions attributed tothese terms. Therefore, this paper provides a systematicreview on the benefit terms of energy efficiency investments,establishes non-energy benefits as the term mostrelevant for such investments and provides a new definitionof the concept. Further, a new framework for categorisingnon-energy benefits to enable them to be included duringthe investment process is developed, in which the level ofquantifiability and time frame of the non-energy benefits aretaken into account. Including non-energy benefits in theinvestment process can make energy efficiency investmentsmore attractive and increase their priority against otherinvestments. Moreover, non-energy benefits can reinforcedrivers as well as counterbalance known barriers to energyefficiency investments. Acknowledging non-energy benefitscan thus contribute to an increased adoption level forenergy efficiency investments

When industrial firms invest in energy efficiency, the effect may go beyond energy cost savings and produce additional non-energy benefits as well. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding experiences in non-energy benefits and the extent to which these are acknowledged by industry. This study attempts to explore firms perspectives on non-energy benefits of industrial energy-efficiency investments and if and how non-energy benefits are considered in the investment process. Moreover, this study also explores investment motives and critical aspects of adopting energy-efficiency investments. Based on a questionnaire and interviews with representatives of Swedish industrial firms, the results indicate that energy efficiency seems to be an important issue for the firms, but profitability and payoff appear to be the most important factors for adopting an investment, implying that it is often difficult to meet the payoff requirements with energy cost savings alone. In the meantime, various non-energy benefits are observed, but there seems to be a lack of knowledge of how these should be quantified and monetised. To facilitate such an assessment of non-energy benefits and to include them in the investment analysis, a measurement framework is provided. It is concluded that including non-energy benefits in the investment analysis can contribute to a framing of energy-efficiency investments that can meet the firms requirements for profitability assessment, which can further enhance opportunities for energy-efficiency investments in industry. Thus, the study contributes with new insights into the energy-efficiency investment process and the extent to which non-energy benefits are considered, along with the methods for measuring them.

Capital investments play a crucial role for the business of every firm. In an industrial context, energy efficiency is an important means to meet future energy needs and in the same time reduce climate impact. In this thesis, the investment process for capital investments is therefore studied by addressing the case of industrial capital investments improving energy efficiency. The thesis specifically aims to illuminate how additional benefits, i.e. non-energy benefits, are and can be acknowledged in the investment process by applying an ex-ante perspective. The thesis holds the decision-making process as unit of analysis and aims to contribute with insights on firm level. Especially in an energy-efficiency context, such a process perspective has only been scarcely applied.

The thesis is based on a literature review and two empirical studies. The literature review is the starting point of the thesis and reviews the literature on benefit concepts and investment behaviour of energy-efficiency investments. It is then followed by an explorative study in which thirteen industrial Swedish firms are interviewed on how they consider non-energy benefits. Investment motives and critical aspects for adopting energy-efficiency investments are also addressed. It also includes a questionnaire, distributed and collected during a networking event for energy-intensive firms within Swedish manufacturing industry. The second empirical study is a case study conducted at a Swedish pulp and paper firm. It aims to take a comprehensive perspective on the investment process as well as to analyse how and when non-energy benefits are acknowledged in the investment process. This case study approach  enables participants at different levels in the organisation to be engaged in the study and new perspectives to be addressed.

The results indicate a general investment process passing through the phases identification, development and selection. Investment motives, information, internal coordination and external actors appear as key aspects of the investment process. Energy-efficiency investments are primarily initiated due to cost-savings motives. However, the subsequent investment process appears as consistent for all investment categories; the investment process described here is thus not specific for energy-efficiency investments only. The results instead indicate an investment process influenced by investment size; it influences the extent to which information is collected and assessed before making the decision, i.e. level of procedural rationality, as well as how the investment project is coordinated within the firm. Last, suppliers are involved in the investment process to a large extent from an early stage.

Regarding non-energy benefits, the results indicate that various benefits have been observed but far from all are acknowledged in the investment process. They are to a larger extent acknowledged for larger investments when more resources are devoted to the investment process. Quantifiable non-energy benefits improve the business case for energy-efficiency investments and non-energy benefits should thus be quantified to the extent possible. Yet, nonenergy benefits characterised by a lower level of quantifiability could still be important, such as benefits related to work environment, and should therefore be considered. However, the findings indicate a frequent use and reliance upon an investment manual, implicating a need for simplicity when addressing the additional benefits. This indicates that there should be an emphasis on a limited number of main benefits, rather than seeking to acknowledge all possible benefits.

Despite the attention for energy efficiency today, the industry does not seem to adopt energy-efficient technology to the extent necessary. A reason which has been stressed is that not all benefits are included in the evaluation of energy-related investments, leading to an underestimation of their potential. Previous findings suggest that quantifying non-energy benefits can help showing the financial possibilities of energy-efficient technologies and increase the probability of adopting these investments. However, the literature today lacks a distinct definition of this type of benefits, even though they clearly are of high importance for evaluating investments in energy efficiency. The aim of this paper is thus to define and categorise the benefits related to industrial energy-efficiency investments by reviewing the existing literature within the field, definitions which until now have been scarce in the literature. The paper also aims at covering the investment behaviour for energy-efficiency investments, including evaluation methods and the decision-making process, thereby assessing on what basis investment decisions are made. Closely related to this is the aspect(s) of strategy; there are findings also emphasising the importance of an investment’s strategic character as well as corporate energy strategy for investments in energy efficiency. This paper contributes to the field of industrial energy efficiency in two ways. Firstly, by reviewing the literature on both non-energy benefits and the investment behaviour within the energy field and secondly, by clarifying the concept of non-energy benefits.