The Swedish DNA of doing business – What is it about? – Study week of IBE IMC Krems in June 2014 (hosted by Halmstad University)

Who are we?

We are Master students of “International Business & Export Management” at IMC Krems, University of applied Science in Austria. Our study week in Sweden is part of the module “Corporate Strategies and Internationalization” and aims at bridging theory and practice regarding international and corporate strategies. (~15 participants) The whole venture is hosted and supported by Halmstad University.

We aim at learning and experiencing the Swedish way of doing business

Of course, there is no “golden rule” to become successful on global scale, but our aim is to look behind the curtain and discuss it with management representatives in Sweden.

Thus we met company representatives to discuss their views on respective business models, strategy implementation and personal experience. As we are part-time students and therefore already fully engaged in business, it was be a very fruitful exchange of thoughts.

Some focal points of discussion with scholars of Halmstad University and entrepreneurs and company representatives were as follows:

1. To deliberate key success factors and challenges to become and stay successful at a global scale. (how to approach markets and sources, organizational challenges, opportunity recognition, and finally how to survive in the long run)
2. How to prepare for the unpredictable? What are major industry trends and how does the companies adapt its strategies and operations?
3. How to stay ahead? What are leadership and organizational challenges to keep the pace with the fast changing environment and requirements?
4. As a side effect, we would like to learn and better understand the “Swedish DNA” of doing business. Sweden is sometimes recognized as a “supermodel” (The economist). What is it about and what could Austrian companies and managers pic up.

When and where:

We started in Halmstad on the 2^nd hosted by University Halmstad and moved to Stockholm on June 4^th and 5^th to meet Advantage Austria and further companies.

Contact person:

Mag. Gerhard Kormann

Professor, Department International Business & Export Management

IMC Fachhochschule Krems, University of Applied Sciences Krems

Piaristengasse 1, A-3500 Krems, Austria, Europe

T: +43-(0)2732-802-381

M: +43-(0)699-17797755

e-mail: gerhard.kormann@fh-krems.ac.at

http://fh-krems.ac.at

Distinguished lectures from Professors at our partner Halmstad University paved the way to a great study week (June 2nd to June 4th, 2014)

The tight and trustful partnership between Halmstad University and IMC Fachhochschule Krems made it possible.

Halmstad University, namely Prof. Ingemar Wictor and his colleagues in the School of Business and Engineering, and Ulf Ivarsson, Director of International Department, made a great contribution to organize the programme including guest lectures and company visits. They made us feel home from the beginning.

In this context, we also want to thankfully mention Dr. Maximillian Schachner, Head of International Department and Prof Christopher Schwand, Director of Study Programme IBE. For many years, students can count on their support to organize the already traditional “Corporate Strategies – study week”.

Distinguished guest lectures have paved the way for a deeper understanding of international business strategies and the “Swedish way of doing business”

One important pillar of our study week is to meet scholars and discuss latest developments in the field of international entrepreneurship, globalization and regional development.

Prof Ingemar Wictor was mastermind of organizing and orchestrating our guest lectures and gave us a great introduction on study programmes offered by Halmstad University.

 

Prof Svante Andersson is recognized scholar in the field of born globals and international entrepreneurship. His lecture was also a perfect starter and preparation for our company meeting with Getinge and HMS.

Prof Mikael Jonasson, as cultural geographer, broadened the perspective on globalisation and international business by linking it to global megatrends like mega cities, innovation hubs, local industry as driving forces for companies in international business.

Prof Hugo Palmsköld gave as and very valuable insights into the historic, economic and touristic specialties of the region of Halland and was emphasizing on the roots of the current flourishing situation on the one hand and current challenges on the other hand.

Prof Thomas Helgesson held a lecture about the influence of culture in business relations. His academic input and personal intercultural experience led to fruitful discussions about the importance to consider cultural and institutional contexts to become successful.

Karolina Davidsson is Managing Director of Halmstads Näringslivs AB, the business development agency of Halmstad. She gave us a great overview about the regional economic development and the special focus on establishing new enterprises and start-ups to foster future prospects.

Fascinating company & fascinating discussion – introduction to Getinge International AB

On our first day in Halmstad after a bit of a rough start we had the pleasure that John Hansson, president of the Getinge International AB came to the University of Halmstad to talk about his business and how the company had become so successful. Hansson has worked at Getinge for about 20 years at various positions through the years and has gained an excessive insight of the company. His presentation was very authentic and inspiring and gave us an insight into the company’s strategy and the future outlook.

Getinge is a global medical technology company focusing on the expansion and strengthening of its product portfolio and market presence. Since the IPO in 1993 the company has been growing sharply over the years. Nowadays it has subsidiaries and manufacturing plants across the world and we were curious how such a small company could become so successful? What was their strategy?

John Hansson explained that the Getinge Group is made up of three product groups – Medical Systems; Extended Care and Infection Control. These three categories are however also branded under three different names as each Brand has a different brand promise. This John Hansson explained is highly important and was the reason why not all products could not be simply carried under the Getinge Group Name.

The Medical System under the brand name Maquet is a top of the line product with gold and leader standard. Extended Care – Arjohuntleigh has the message “with people in mind” and communicates more soft values. Infection Control which has the brand name Getinge carries the message “always with you”.

Getinge Group had at some stage considered to merge the brands but had decided against them and only connects them with the Getinge Group name below the main brand name. John Hansson explained again how crucial it is to know what story you want to tell and communicate to your customers.

The second cornerstone for a successful business that John Hansson mentioned was: “Always try to be the nr. 1 in your business field”. This means to have to highest turnover, customers know you at the best and you can profit from economies of scale. If this is not possible then you should get out of the business – a strategy which Getinge is pursuing for years indeed.

Finally the third cornerstone is customer satisfaction. This is why 90% of the sales are done through own sales companies and service personnel. The slogan “think global, act local” is thereby Getinges philosophy. The company works globally, however their customers are local. Therefore it is highly important to think local and this is best done by employing local people. Another way to reach high customer satisfaction is to offer complete service/solution which is achieved by acquisitions.

In course of the presentation more and more questions came up and a question answer session or discussion round started. John Hansson gave comprehensive responds and was also using drawings on the board to illustrate his content. For instance when he was talking about lean logistics or the different product portfolio in emerging vs. developing countries. He responded also to critical questions like the ones concerning their sales globalization strategy and CSR issues in those emerging markets. Production in Brazil and the challenges this attractive market offered was also discussed. One of them was the presence of corruption. Mr. Hanson was open while answering our questions, and he made very clear that the Company’s official guidelines was to be away from any kind of unlawful actions. However, the most interesting part was when he explained how they behave in such environment. It was explained that in bids for supplying to the public sector no “fast money” or any other kind of bribery was involved. Some specific requirements for the proposal that only Getinge and one or two more companies could fulfil, are placed on the guide lines for the Bid, and with that they could increase their chance of success. However, the explanation of those requirements, like what are they, why they exist, why they are necessary, and who decides on them, was not very clear.

Time flew and it was a pity that time was up as many students still had several questions and we would have liked to interrogate Mr. Hansson a bit longer. Nonetheless we had 2 exciting hours and would like to thank Mr. Hansson for taking his limited time at this point again.

Destination: HMS/Anybus, 03.06.14

One of our destinations was a company visit to HMS. We were very well received by Gunnar Högberg, the CFO of HMS. The headquarter of HMS was actually built into an old bowling hall and therefor has very friendly, open offices with wide spaces, as well as table tennis and billard tables for their employees.

HMS was founded in 1989 and since 2007 it is listed on the stock market.

Actually, HMS was founded by two students for the purpose of measuring the thickness of paper. However, their customers were rather interested in buying the systems that connected the devices for measuring the thickness. These connecting devices are the company’s core products today. The company focuses solely on the industrial market.

Mr. Högberg gave us very interesting insights into the development of the company and major challenges it has mastered in its past. When asking him about the cornerstones of success of HMS, he mentioned for example the very close cooperation of HMS with universities. HMS has currently partnerships with 17 universities. These partnerships are also a major cornerstone of their recruiting activities.

 

Its core business segments are in manufacturing (50%), the process industry, transportation & infrastructure and power & energy.

Mr.Högberg gave a speech with many interesting hints and tips for future entrepreneurs with regards to founding and developing a business. Therefore, it also included the future challenges for doing business in general and especially for HMS, like urbanization, cloud computing,  cyber security and smart materials.

To give you an insight, one of our questions was: “What’s your tip for founding a business with a friend, what’s important to think about?”

“The most important thing is to set up a shareholder agreement as soon as possible and generally, the sooner you bring an issue up the better. Open communication is very important”.

 

ATLAS COPCO – A giant that kept its entrepreneurial spirit (Stockholm, June 5th, 2014)

After our interesting time in Halmstad we moved to Stockholm, where our first destination was Atlas Copco, a world-leading provider of productivity solutions such as compressors, vacuum solutions, construction and mining equipment as well as power tools and assembly systems. The company was founded in 1873 and has it’s headquarter in Stockholm.

We received a warm welcome from our hosts Jonas Kälfors (Head of Trade and Structured Finance at Group Treasury) and Josefine Gustafsson (Corporate Communication).

Our visit started with a special company presentation as we had a tour through the mining, where we saw the different product segments of Atlas Copco as well as the mile stones of the company’s history. It was amazing to see the change in technology of compressors as well as big construction and mining equipment in real. Moreover we received interesting insights about Atlas Copco’s innovative spirit and their interaction and commitment with their customers. The Vision of Atlas Copco is to become and remain First in Mind- First in Choice® which is not only a slogan of the company but really lived by the company.

Afterwards we had a so called „fika break“ with a serious discussion where we could see again differences of Swedish business behavior compared to the Austrian one. Although Jonas Kälfors had a higher position in the company than Josefine Gustafsson, she always commented Jonas Kälfors sayings and added information when she thought it is necessary. This interaction was on an eye-to-eye basis without showing any hierarchical differences.

Furthermore our discussion moved on to major challenges due to various troubles like the financial crisis and political instability in for example Ukraine. Within the discussion Atlas Copco showed once more their intense customer focus and long-term commitment to their stakeholders as the company stated the importance of staying in markets like the Ukraine even if there are troubles as leaving such markets will hurts customer relationship and trust. More over the company will only stay in product segments where they are market leaders and stop their activities in segments with better performing competitors. This behavior again confirmed the slogan „First in Mind- First in Choice®“.

Visit of the Austrian chamber of commerce in Stockholm

After being introduced to Atlas Copco corporation we were invited to the headquarter of the Austrian chamber of commerce in Stockholm. Our host Wolfgang Sabella who introduced us together with Prof Kormann to the representative of Atlas Copco and who represented the Austrian chamber of commerce during the company visit warmly opened the doors to the offices of the chamber of commerce.

The Stockholm office of Advantage Austria, namely head of office Dr. Zimburg and his deputy Mr. Sabella were already heavily involved in preparing our study week and also made it possible to meet Copco. We are very grateful and proud of experiencing such a highly professional Austrian institution to support Austrian companies and institutions.

After having absorbed Swedish culture, lifestyle, business style and classes we found ourselves again in a familiar setting. The office presented itself as a typical spacious Swedish townhouse with a strong Austrian note including Austrian sweets.

We then followed a vivid presentation of Mr Sabella about the activities of the Austrian chamber of commerce in Sweden. Sweden as a large EU based country shows certain similarities to Austria. Sweden massively focuses on exporting industries as the domestic market has limitations due to a rather small population. Moreover, pressure coming from emerging markets and increasing global competition had a significant influence on Sweden. Therefore, the export economy shifted over the last decades from exporting mainly resource based commodities and goods coming from the engineering, mining, steel and pulp industries to exporting knowledge-, research based and technologically advanced goods and services.

Additionally, Mr Sabella outlined that the economy is structured differently as Sweden is home to many large multinational companies that deserve to be named global players.

Furthermore, we were presented an EU map, which showed the central European regions for research & development. Including lower Austria there was also shown a region in the north of Sweden, which is top rated as a region where innovations are driven. Google for example invested into a large research center. The companies take advantage of a quiet and calm environment to do research as well as favorable climatic conditions. Sweden on the other hand takes advantage of foreign investment into a region which would otherwise suffer from becoming isolated from the prosperous South of Sweden along the cost towards Denmark.

The discussion moved on to investment of Austrian companies into Sweden and the attractiveness of the Scandinavian market. We were shown that a wide field of industries shows growth potential. Currently, Austrian dairy products, isolation for buildings based on cellulose, as well as bakery products and Austrian wine succeed in Sweden and Scandinavia. However, the chances to successfully export to the Sweden are numerous. Technology driven solutions, high quality food products and solution providers in the field of construction are welcome.

In our final discussion we raised the question about what Sweden is doing in order to maintain its attractiveness to foreign investors and to entrepreneurs although it is a high tax country with a huge public sector. The answer was that entrepreneurs are welcome and are supported to get their business growing which can be mainly seen by simplification of administrative processes and lean public sector institutions.

The programme to this year’s studyweek

The programme

Important Information before departure

Hi to all of you!! 🙂

Only 3 days more and we are going to SWEEDDEENN!! 🙂

The flight is taking place at Monday 2nd June at 7:00 o`clock, so we are going to meet at the airport, in front of the check-in at 05:30 a.m. -> please be on time to get your tickets from Stephanie, as she has all the documentation for the trip

For Rita and Conny, we are going to arrive at 08:35 in Kopenhagen, so we are going to meet directly there

So just some important info:

• feel free to post pictures or texts to the blog during our trip
• please also take some business outfits with you
• please all of you who received some gifts for our lectures or companies -> BRING THEM!! 
• bring your passboard, some money in cash to pay for the train ticket from Halmstad to Stockholm, E-Cards and international students card you got
• for any more information or just in case the phone numbers of Lisa (069910735361), Stephie (06607800208), and Mr. Kormann (069917797755)
• there are no towels and bed linen for free in the hostel -> so if you don’t like to pay for them (around 7 €), please bring them

If you want to check out our hotels:

• https://www.nordicchoicehotels.se/quality/quality-hotel-halmstad/
• http://www.accohostel.com/

Programme Study Week Sweden

Study week “Corporate Strategies” of Master students in “International
Business & Export Management”, IMC FH Krems, University of applied Science
Hosted by Halmstad University (HU),
from June 2nd to June 5th, 2014

2014-06-02

• Arrival at Halmstad University at 12:00 (directly from Copenhagen’s airport) 
• Installation in room and internal set up (before lunch) 
• Lunch at Spiro 
• Welcome speech by Henrik Barth and Ingemar Wictor (right before or after lunch) 
• Schedule for the week by Ass. Professor Ingemar Wictor (13-16) 
• Introduction lecture in International Entrepreneurship by Professor Svante Andersson 
• Meeting with John Hansson, CEO, Getinge International AB, (17-19) – Ingemar Wictor (Svante Andersson) – Meeting takes place at the University 

2014-06-03

• Intercultural Issues and how to do business in Sweden (9-12) Thomas Helgesson
• Lunch at Spiro 
• Visit to a Swedish Company – HMS (14-16) – Ingemar Wictor (Svante Andersson) 

2014-06-04

• Lecture concerning the regional and company development (9-12) 
• Regional development for South of Sweden and Halland – Claes Norell, 
• Driving forces for companies – Mikael Jonasson, Halmstad University
• To develop tourism in Halland – Hugo Palmsköld, Halmstad University or Karolina Davidsson, responsible for developing the companies at Halmstad
• Lunch at Spiro
• Enjoy Halmstad 
• Transfer to Stockholm in the afternoon

2014-06-05

• CompanyVisit–ATLAS Copco – meeting at 8:30 am
• Meeting then with Dr. Albrecht Zimburg, Austrian Trade Counsellor
• End of our official programme – Individual departure.

Destination: Halmstad