Christina Grundström

Acquisitions and network identity change

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to discuss whether or not an acquisition changes the network identity of an acquired firm and, if so, how. This study aims to bring new insights to the corpora ...

The role of personal networks in the development of industry standards : a case study of 3G mobile telephony

Industry standards affect the diffusion and adoption of new technology and the competitiveness of individual players but their development is not under the direct control of individual actors. Exam ...

FAST-GROWING SMEs AND THE ROLE OF INNOVATION

In a study of 409 Swedish SMEs, the difference between the highest growing, which can be characterized as gazelles, and the lowest growing companies were examined regarding performance change over a four year period and what contributed to the growth from an innovation perspective. It was concluded that, besides growing, the highest growing companies also showed high profitability,increased number of employees, and significantly higher markets shares locally, nationally and internationally than the lowest growing companies. Several traits were found to contribute to this. The highest growing companies had a significantly higher portion of new products as part of the turnover during the four years studied and they perceived themselves as differentiating from their competitors concerning: (1) offering better products, (2) understanding customer needs better, (3) having a higher pace or being more agile, and (4) keeping costs down. They also found it more important to take risks, reinvest any profit, and to focus on growth than the lowest growing companies, and this regardless of industry.

VIEW AND MANAGEMENT OF INNOVATIVENESS UPON SUCCESSION IN FAMILY-OWNED SMEs

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into how the successors of family-owned manufacturing SMEs view and manage innovativeness. Research into company takeovers mainly focuses on large companies and little is known about innovativeness in research on family-owned businesses, often SMEs. This paper presents findings from ten company successions, five of which describe family successions and five external ones. The paper points to that there is little difference in how various types of successor view and manage innovativeness. A successor is chosen with care and this also influences the view and management of innovativeness; other criteria seem to apply in the succession and radical changes can only be introduced if a number of contextual factors are managed properly. The paper also indicates that while financial constraints may limit innovations, a strong financial situation is not an antecedent for innovativeness.

Needs, demands and requirements in the vehicle safety product realization process

Based on 15 interviews and a theoretical discussion, this paper argues that it is necessary and important to distinguish between the concepts: an individuals traffic safety need and her or his demand in that respect. The paper advocates that it is crucial to involve the authorities in the process of vehicle safety product realization due to the lack of knowledge with individuals and little motivation among individuals to perceive traffic safety needs as demands.