There has been a long debate about the role of industry structure in the literature on why some regions successfully achieve economic growth, while other regions stagnate or decline. This paper provides an empirical analysis in which we, based on a cluster analysis, develop a taxonomy for regional growth. In a second part of the study, we explore how specialization and entrepreneurship are meaningful to discriminate between the different types of regions. Our results suggest that regional entrepreneurship and industry diversity characterized by relatedness are key elements in understanding why some regions are leading while others lag behind. The suggested taxonomy is argued to contribute with a nuanced perspective that can enhance discussions about improvements of regional development policies and to further empirical analysis on the topic.

To reach the global sustainability goals, multinationals, regardless of origin, play a significant role. Given their market power and globally distributed operations, they have the position to either accelerate or inhibit sustainability changes. Knowledge about how corporate sustainability (CS) develops within internationalization strategies such as post-acquisition integration is, however, sparse. The purpose of this paper was to analyze and evaluate the development of CS strategies of originally distant companies within an international post-acquisition context. The paper drew on the resource-based view (RBV) to provide a holistically integrated framework for the systematic evaluation of CS strategies and applied the framework to a longitudinal in-depth case study. Findings indicated that long-term perspective, partnering approach and, emphases on learning positively influenced the integration process and the maturity level of the common corporate sustainability strategies. In contributing with an in-depth understanding of strategic CS integration within a post-acquisition case, the study generated implications for proactive management in similar post-acquisition contexts. While the focus of this paper was neither on the differences in legislations and regulations as influencing factors nor on the national and organizational culture and their impact on the integration of strategic CS, these are relevant areas of interest, and future research could consider incorporating those into the new evaluation framework.

The notion of related variety has proved to be an important contribution to the literature on innovation-enhancing regional knowledge externalities in different industry structures. Related variety provides a disentangled view of diversification based on the technological and cognitive proximity of different industries. The core hypothesis of this concept, which states that related variety fosters innovation and employment growth by facilitating knowledge spillovers, has gained increasing empirical support. To date, a relatively modest number of empirical studies have explicitly linked related variety to enhanced regional innovative output. The role of entrepreneurship has also received little attention in the literature, even though economic theory emphasizes that entrepreneurs have an important role in transforming spillovers of knowledge into innovation and growth. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the extant literature on regional innovation with an analysis that probes deeper into the mechanism by which related variety fosters innovation, and to examine how knowledge appropriation mechanisms affects the entrepreneurial opportunities that external knowledge presents. Our empirical analysis employs a moderated and mediated model with non-linear knowledge spillover effects of related variety. We use panel data on 60 Swedish functional analysis regions for the years 2008-2016 and estimate fixed effects models to examine the relationships between related variety, regional innovation and entrepreneurship. Conceptually, our results disentangle the effects of regional knowledge stocks and related variety on the rate at which new ideas are commercialized through entrepreneurship. We find a substantial direct effect of knowledge stocks, and an important indirect effect via knowledge spillovers between cognitively similar firms. A key contribution of this paper is that we show that this effect is conditional on the extent to which knowledge appropriation mechanisms are implemented, which has not been adressed in the literature on knowledge spillover effects of related variety before. Another novel contribution of this paper is that we find evidence of diminishing marginal returns to related variety with respect to innovation and entrepreneurship.

Smart specialisation at the edge of Europe : Case study of sparesly populated areas in the Arctic

Related variety, regional innovation, and knowledge spillover entrepreneurship : Empirical evidence from Sweden

In recent years, many small- and medium-sized firms have joined formal strategic networks in an effort to enhance firm performance. We set out to examine how altruistic behavior by these firms affected their performance at different levels of altruistic norms within their network. Using a multi-level analytic approach and data from a population of Swedish strategic networks, we found significant cross-level moderating effects that explained variance in firm-level performance. The results showed that firms participating in strategic networks benefit more from being altruistic when other network members generally display high levels of altruism. Apparently, altruistic behaviors are rewarded relative to a general network norm. The potential to perform well thus depends on aligning a firm’s altruistic behavior with the general level of altruism in its network.

Despite the possibility of burnout resulting from dynamics in firms upper echelons, little if any work has focused on chief executive officer's (CEO's) burnout and firm performance. Drawing on managerial discretion theory, this article analyzes the influence of CEO burnout on firm performance and the moderating roles of the individual (CEO locus of control), structural power (CEO duality and CEO tenure), and organizational characteristics (size, age, and resource availability) related to managerial discretion. Using a sample of 156 CEOs in Swedish firms, we find a negative association between CEOs who report higher burnout and firm performance. Our results confirm that CEO duality and resource availability ameliorate and firm size exacerbates the negative association between CEO burnout and firm performance. Contrary to our expectations, CEO locus of control, CEO tenure, and firm age do not influence this relationship. We discuss the implications of our research for upper echelons theory and strategic leadership theory.

Of Blind Men and Elephants in Social Support Research : The Moderated Mediation Effect of Social Support on Role Stress and Role Performance

Technological development and digitalisation can revolutionise healthcare delivery and provide new business opportunities for innovative start-ups. Start-up businesses in the healthcare service sector are a promising source of new employment and innovations. The start-up stage is the most critical period for the survival of a business, as decisions made during the early stages have a definitive influence on success. This study seeks to clarify the early development of eHealth service start-ups. To summarise the research problem, the authors ask the following question: What are the critical incidents related to the early development of eHealth service start-ups? The units of analysis in this study are 14 Nordic eHealth service start-ups located in Sweden and Finland. The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) and semi-structured interviews were applied for data collection. The results are of interest to the public sector, which plays an essential role in healthcare as a service producer, but also as a creator of the business conditions of and opportunities for small businesses. EHealth service start-ups will provide fresh insights into the challenges and opportunities of the eHealth business sector.

CEO responses to role related challenges : An examination of the relationship between role stress and opportunity identification

The key research objective of this paper is to analyse industrial specialisation by developing innovative networks linked to the region. Institutional and entrepreneurial innovation systems, smart specialisation and a network based research framework for entrepreneurship are used as conceptual foundations in the paper. Based on theoretical elaborations our analyses illustrate how certain interventions have stimulated regional development and innovation in two specific Scandinavian regions. Our results highlight that both regions have gone from interventions fostering flexible specialization, with the motive of staying resilient and competitive over time, to an approach based on smart specialization with a focus on one or a limited number of strong industries.

Globally, healthcare is the biggest service industry, but healthcare practices have traditionally been slow to adopt new possibilities afforded by technologies and e-business. Digitalization can revolutionize healthcare delivery and open business opportunities for innovative start-ups. New companies in the healthcare service sectors are an important source of new jobs and significant promoters of new service innovations. The start-up stage is the most critical period for the survival of a new company, as decisions made during the early stages of growth have a definitive influence on its productivity and success. This study seeks to clarify the early stage of start-ups in the digital healthcare service business in a Swedish context. We utilize critical incident technique (CIT) and semi-structured interviews in data collection. In addition, through six cases of digital service-based start-up companies, the first phase of the four-stage service business framework is tested and considered: How do the experiences of start-up entrepreneurs in digital healthcare service firms relate to the assumptions of the stage framework's start-up stage in a Sweden context? The results provide partial support for the applicability of the service framework. Contrary to framework, cases have allocated resources to strategic planning even at very early stages. In addition, the results of the study include perceived context-specific viewpoints of healthcare business from the start-up entrepreneurs' perspective. The results of the study may be effectively used in intermediary organizations such as public advisory services, and new business can utilize the framework for predicting the early stage of digital healthcare service firms. Furthermore, the results may be of interest to the public sector, which has an essential role in the healthcare industry as a service provider and purchaser, but also as a creator of business conditions and opportunities. Service-based digital healthcare start-ups will provide fresh insights about the challenges and opportunities within the eHealth business sector.

Studies on Product–Service Systems (PSS) are emerging as a growing body of literature driven by the desire to combine economic prosperity and sustainable resource management. However, knowledge about how companies can adopt and implement PSS has remained limited. In this study, a systematic literature review is conducted related to understanding implementation of PSS business models and five sets of tactical practices. Based on an in-depth analysis of 67 articles, it was found that PSS is increasing rapidly as a research field, which is spread across a variety of disciplines and research domains. More specifically, research findings were accumulated from the field to present a framework supporting the implementation of well-established categories of PSS business models, that is, product-oriented, use-oriented, and result-oriented business models. Each business model category is linked to five operational-level tactics that ensure the model can be implemented successfully and subsequently generates value. These tactical sets include 1) contracts, 2) marketing, 3) networks, 4) product and service design, and 5) sustainability operational practices. This study concludes by proposing suggestions for future research.

This study examines the influence of network capability (the ability to use external relationships), information and communications technology (ICT) capability (the ability to strategically use ICT for business purposes), and financial slack (unused and uncommitted financial resources) on the innovation performance of small firms. This extends the current resource-based view and small firm innovation management literatures by proposing the direct and interactive effects of organizational capabilities and financial slack. The results of regression analysis based on survey data from technology-based Swedish small firms show that the three-way interaction involving network capability, ICT capability, and financial slack influences innovation performance.