| 1. |
- Fridholm, Tobias, 1980-
(author)
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Working Together : Exploring Relational Tensions in Swedish Academia
- 2010
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This study explores the basic social conditions for high-quality university research, and focuses on research in science and technology in Sweden. Swedish research policy has adopted more of a market perspective on academic research and its role in society. This has meant the promotion of competition between researchers, increased focus on efficiency at universities, and attempts to make academia harmonize more with industry and other actors. How do such policies affect the variety of perspectives within the academic system? How do they affect the positions and identities of individual academics? These issues are discussed through the concept of "relational tensions". Relational tensions refer to social strains arising when interacting actors have different perspectives. Relational tensions can stimulate creativity, but may also cause unproductive conflicts. The discussion is underpinned by interviews with university researchers and a case study of Uppsala BIO-X, a program to commercialize university research in biotechnology. Typical cases of relational tensions are identified. These concern both interpersonal relations and differences between organized science and industry. A notable observation concerns potential frustration of individual academics, as competition and efficiency tends to make their positions and identities more contested. Researchers cope with relational tensions in three identified ways: socialization, seclusion, and lateral authority. Socialization is natural and often necessary, but reduces the variety of perspectives. Seclusion serves to retain variety and independence, but reduces interaction with others. Lateral authority is to formally or informally lend a researcher more authority, which improves the chance of maintaining a variety of perspectives without reducing interaction. The sustained usefulness of academic research arguably depends on its ability to foster and communicate a variety of perspectives. Hence, (i) promoting lateral authority seems fruitful within academia and in relations between academia and industry, and (ii) encouraging competition and efficiency may to some extent be counterproductive.
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| 2. |
- Jansson, Johan, 1974-, et al.
(author)
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Quality and regional competitiveness
- 2011
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In: Environment and planning A. - : SAGE Publications. - 0308-518X .- 1472-3409. ; 43:9, s. 2237-2252
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent literature on competitiveness has focused on innovation and industrial dynamics.In this paper it is argued that innovation is not enough when competing on global markets, at least incertain types of industries where performance, standards, and perceptions of the product are at theforefront. In addition to existing theory,we focus on the role of `quality' in creating and sustaining regionalcompetitive advantage. A theoretical framework for identifying and analyzing processes creating andrecreating understandings, perceptions, and experiences of quality, that is, a quality promise, is presented.In the framework, the quality process is divided into three dimensions, labelled performance, projection,and protection. Regional competitiveness is arguably achieved when: (a) a good or a service is wellrepresented in one or more of the quality dimensions; (b) quality perception and knowledge permeateall actors and their activities and are inherent throughout the value chain; and (c) space is an integralpart of these processes in that it facilitates (i) localized learning/localization economies, and(ii) place-based branding. It is argued that `quality' should be viewed as deeply embedded in spaceand that quality processes have both homogeneous and heterogeneous characteristics.
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| 3. |
- Jansson, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Quality, space and regional competition : conceptualizing a 'quality model'
- 2010
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the wake of globalization a new economic and competitive landscape has developed and, from both a research and policy perspective, increased efforts are being put into understanding and stimulating innovativeness. However, in this paper it is argued that innovation, or innovativeness, is perhaps insufficient when competing on global markets, at least in certain types of industries where performance, standards, and perceptions of the product are at the forefront. In addition to existing theory we focus on the role of ‘quality’ in creating and sustaining regional competitive advantage. A quality model is introduced as a tool for understanding and analyzing the role of quality in relation to spatial embeddedness and geographical scales. Quality is here identified as a promise or a set of promises, experienced, constructed, mediated and negotiated by a variety of actors: producers, customers/consumers, and intermediaries. These promises are divided into three quality indicators and mechanisms identifying different states and processes stimulating quality creation, labelled performance, projection, and protection. The paper argues that a focus on quality processes and the relation to space contributes to the understanding of regional competitiveness. Regional competitiveness is arguably achieved when: a) quality perception and knowledge permeate all actors and their activities and are inherent throughout the value chain; b) a good or a service is well represented in one or more of the quality indicators of the model; and c) space is an integral part of these processes in that it facilitates i) localized learning/localization economies and ii) place-based branding.
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| 4. |
- Lundequist, Per, 1972-, et al.
(author)
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Regionalizing 'Mode 2'? : The adoption of Centres of Excellence in Swedish resarch policy
- 2010
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In: Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0435-3684 .- 1468-0467. ; 92B:3, s. 263-279
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the role of university research for innovation and economic growth, a debate highly influenced by concepts such as Mode 2 and regional innovation systems and clusters. A prominent trend in many EU and OECD countries is to direct research funding towards so-called Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in order to stimulate the industrial output of scientific research. The implementation of the CoE approach is viewed as an attempt to bridge research and innovation policy. By using Sweden as an example and providing an overview and critical discussion concerning Swedish research policy during the period 2001 to 2007 we show that the rhetoric within research policy has changed and become increasingly intertwined with innovation policy. In practice, however, this is not as evident. The study draws on (a) an analysis of policy literature pointing out regulatory and organizational changes concerning the increasing emphasis on linking research to competitive industrial milieus, and (b) a comprehensive database including 110 CoEs, presenting a detailed picture of university-industry collaboration, cross-disciplinarity, and prioritized sectors. We fiind that the CoEs account for a relatively small share of government funding, but may however have a strengthening impact on particular research milieus and industries, especially in the life sciences. Additionally, although contemporary policy rhetoric appears to highlight steering funding to geographically-concentrated milieus, thereby linking leading university research to regional industrial clusters, this has only been manifested in a few cases – notably in the Vinnväxt programme run by Vinnova, the national agency promoting innovation systems.
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| 5. |
- Waxell, Anders, 1972-
(author)
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Geography and the retail industry : A literature review with a special focus on Sweden
- 2014
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The changing nature of the retail industry is something that has been widely studied during the last few decades. On a more general level, these changes have involved, on the one hand, despite recent economic crises, a rapid expansion and growth of the retail industry, increased market entries and representation of transnational retail chain stores, and a growing interest in consumer behaviour and awareness. On the other hand, these changes also show clear spatial characteristics pointing to the importance of not only location, but also a wider geographical understanding of what, how and where these changes are taking place. This has come not least to involve numerous studies trying to understand the complex spatial nature of production/commodity chains of goods and services as well as the embeddedness of local and global networks of stores and retailers, but it has also generated inputs to a seemingly never-ending debate concerning the relocation of retail activities – foremost from inner-city, or high-street, locations to external retail establishments. In the Swedish media, this debate has come to focus on the availability of, and accessibility to, retail and services. This would typically involve discussions concerning the demise or impoverishment of the inner city, the closing down of rural or country stores, or an overall diminishing supply of necessary services. Besides a few governmental reports, the geography of changing retail conditions concerning the above is not a widely studied topic however. As Sweden is a sparsely populated country, it is not farfetched as to assume that these are important questions, especially when and if the availability of and accessibility of retail opportunities are being jeopardized. Thus, the purpose of the literature review at hand is to provide a general overview of the characteristics of and recent progress in the retail industry, and to give a short account of developments in Sweden.
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| 6. |
- Waxell, Anders, 1972-
(author)
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Life sciences and human capital : Jobless growth on specialised and local labour markets?
- 2011
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In: Growth and Change. - : Wiley. - 0017-4815 .- 1468-2257. ; 42:3, s. 231-260
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Policy makers and scholars often regard the life science industry in general, and bio-technology in particular, as an engine of future economic growth. The expectation is that growth in the industry will ultimately provide a major boost to national employment numbers. However, in this paper, I find that the Swedish life science industry (encompassing pharmaceutical, bio-technology, and medical technology firms) accounts for only a small proportion of total employment in Sweden. Given the recent discussion on jobless growth (i.e., economic growth without employment growth), it is here argued that focusing on employment is not necessarily the best policy approach to assessing the impacts of the life science industry on the overall economy. This paper maps and analyses the scope, structure, and geography of the life science industry and its workforce in Sweden using a unique set of data covering approximately 1,200 firms and 53,000 employees. The industry’s workforce has education and income levels significantly higher than national averages, and is heavily concentrated in larger metropolitan areas and major university cities. Despite employing relatively few people and being more or less dependent on the existence and success of a few major pharmaceutical firms, the industry may still have a significant impact on the national economy by engendering high levels of education, income, and export revenues, particularly in specific regions.
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| 7. |
- Waxell, Anders, 1972-, et al.
(author)
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Retail relocation : Mapping changes of inner city retail and external retail locations in Sweden
- 2014
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Although being paralleled by economic recession in the last years, the developments of the retail industry has been characterized by rapid expansion and growth, both in terms of turnover and market entries, not least in Sweden. However, these changes have spatial implications pointing to not only the importance of location, but also to a need of a better geographical understanding of where these changes are taking place and what kind of retail activities they are influencing. As shown in recent studies, and despite a growing trend of concentration of retail activities in external retail locations and establishments, inner city retail is reported to handle competition from external retail locations relatively better than retail in neighborhood centers and peripheral areas. This is partly explained by its resilient, specialized and complementary nature. From a Swedish perspective, this study investigates a) where changes in the location of retail activities are taking place (between cites and within urban areas) and b) the resilience of the inner city retail by studying the distribution and relocation of specialized retail activities over time. The study uses data from the PLACE-database, a longitudinal database covering geocoded data of every individual in Sweden in working age during the time period 1998 to 2008.
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| 8. |
- Waxell, Anders, et al.
(author)
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Sound Affects : Competing with Quality in the Swedish hi-fi Industry
- 2013
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In: Industry and Innovation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1366-2716 .- 1469-8390. ; 20:4, s. 316-335
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Traditionally, literature on competitiveness has focused on innovation in networks and/or embedded in local/regional milieus. This paper examines the concept of quality and quality processes as an additional way of understanding the competitiveness of small and highly niched industries. In the theoretical framework, applied on the Swedish hi-fi industry, quality is identified as a promise and divided into three dimensions labelled performance, projection and protection. The quality framework provides a useful tool for analysing measurable and non-measurable aspects of quality sound and sound reproduction. Also, it is argued that competitiveness is stimulated when a product is associated with one of the quality dimensions and when a strong quality perception is inherent throughout the production network. Moreover, we find that quality processes are spatially embedded and that location facilitates both place-based branding and localised learning.
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