Radical Innovation for Enhancement of Swedish Economy

Innovation is at the forefront of the debates of how to enhance firm growth, as well as improve long-term sustainability of the Swedish economy. Firms today face evermore complex environments, characterized by temporary rather than sustainable competitive advantages, shortened product life cycles, and competition among global actors. This calls for an ability to create solutions of a more radical nature, breaking path-dependencies and integrating creative and highly innovative aspects into the existing routines and organizational mindsets.

This research program, at the School of Business, Economics and Law at Gothenburg University, deals with how Swedish actors may improve management of radical innovation, and prosper from such innovation. The research will analyze a broad spectrum of industries and technologies so as to capture common mechanisms and issues related to management of radical innovation, with focus on large firms, small and medium-sized ‘hidden champions’, academic spin-out firms, university based researchers, and policy actors, respectively. The work packages involve cases and survey studies cutting across mature as well as emerging sectors, where the role of small or large firms and universities vary.