Jessica Eriksson

Co-opetition dynamics : an outline for further inquiry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptually develop the understanding of co-opetitiondynamics and to enhance the conceptual clarity of co-opetition by developing a definition based onpre ...

The more the merrier? The effect of group size on effectiveness in SME funding campaigns

To overcome resource shortages, companies can subscribe to groups that, in competition with other groups, seek to obtain external funding for the joint development of innovations. In this context, the authors argue smaller groups are better equipped to be successful in external funding campaigns. Based on five-year panel data from a sample of 53 Swedish groups of small and medium-sized companies, the authors find support for a claim suggesting that due to the adverse effect of group size on governance and internal cohesion, the costs associated with group size will outweigh benefits, which reduce the ability to compete for external funding. Consistent with their expectations, the authors find that the adverse effect of group size on fundraising effectiveness is mitigated by internal and external governance devices including the presence of external directors on the group board and interlocking board memberships, and by a bottom-up group formation process.

Influence strategies in shareholder engagement: a case study of all Swedish national pension funds

Investors spend money and resources trying to reduce the environmental, social and governance risks in companies they own. If unattended, these risks may cause reputational damage not only to the portfolio firm but also to its owner. In this article, we study five Swedish national pension funds and the influence strategies used in shareholder engagement. Knowledge about influence strategies is important because successful shareholder engagements can lead to more sustainable corporate behaviour and a lower risk to the investor. In addition to the traditional power and legitimacy dependencies that have been reported as influential in deciding stakeholder salience, our findings reveal five additional factors useful for determining influence strategies in shareholder engagement. We provide a conceptual model showing how these factors interlink with choices of influence strategies, offering a practical use of this study. Stakeholder theory has been used as our theoretical frame of reference, based on existing influence strategy literature using a stakeholder—firm perspective.

Sustainable economic organisation: simply a matter of reconceptualisation or a need for a new ethics?

Todays increasing environmental problems are closely related to how we organise economic activities. This paper departs from the assumption that in order to reach sustainable economic organisation, we must address the dominating Market Discourse (MD), guiding mainstream organising. To understand whether reconceptualisations are sufficient or if changes in underlying ethics are needed, we compare the MD with strong and weak sustainability discourses. The analysis suggests that there is a need for changes in underlying assumptions as well as reconceptualisation of economic organisation that coheres with these assumptions. We also discuss how the related concepts of allocative, governance and throughput efficiency permeates MD, and, as principles for organisation, contribute to the inertia in working towards sustainable economic organisation.

Reduced opportunities for regional renewal: The role of rigid threat responses among a region's established firms

This article illustrates how opportunities for regional renewal in a peripheral region may be reduced by rigid threat responses undertaken by established firms operating within traditional regional industry. In an inductive case study of new biorefinery industry initiatives in a region where traditional pulp-and-paper and forestry industry was in decline, we used primary and secondary data to outline how a set of new industry players who created innovative ways of using existing regional infrastructures and resources sparked rigid threat responses among established firms from the struggling traditional industry. Established industry firms framed new industry initiatives as threats, and responded by (1) reducing new industry actors’ possibilities for new business development, (2) engaging in entrenched resistance, (3) creating collaborative illusions and (4) undermining the fundamentals of the new industry. Consequently, this study contributes to existing literature by proposing the potential of applying the threat-rigidity thesis on a regional level. This is achieved by illustrating that conflicting behaviours between new and established regional industry actors constrain opportunities for regional renewal in a peripheral region. As such, relevant directions for future research and policy implications are outlined.

The importance of competition and cooperation for the exploration of innovation opportunities

The importance of competition and cooperation for the exploration of innovation opportunities