The Future of the Dutch Environmental Testing Market

Abstract

The environment is an important part of the life for most organisms, including humans. Since its quality is integral for social welfare, ensuring and maintaining a high environmental quality is essential. The environmental testing market is dedicated to the testing of the three main components of environment: soil, water, and air. Since the origin of the environmental testing market in the Netherlands, a rapid growth in the market, especially its soil and water markets, has been witnessed. Multiple consolidation waves has reduced the market players to a few, and the markets have become saturated and growth is stagnating. Furthermore, the Dutch environmental market is facing a two-sided challenge that could potentially disrupts its current form. The first challenge is that the high pricing and cost reduction strategies, that have been adopted because of the high competitive nature of the market, have resulted in profit margins that are not longer feasible in the current economy. Secondly, the market is at the forefront of potential disruptive change from different factors like emerging technologies, regulation & policy, or the emergence of alarming substances that are potentially harmful to the environmental. These types of challenges in the Dutch environmental testing market point to a reevaluation of the business strategies of firms operating in this target market. This study was dedicated to multiple sided analysis approach of the developments in the Dutch environmental testing market. The objectives were to determine the most suited business strategy for firms in the Dutch environmental testing market to remain competitively relevant in regards to the future developments in the market, and the internal circumstances needed to support this strategy.