On our second day of visiting companies, Mark and I came across a very interesting company called Eveo that deals with assisting home care to the elderly and disabled. Catering mostly to Sweden’s large immigrant population of approximately one million, (many of whom do not speak the native language), the company is entirely funded by […]
Challenging the Core Business Model
Posted on June 13, 2013 Written by
Scandinavian companies, as our team has come to realize recently, tend to stick out in regards to their longevity and ability to change quickly with macroeconomic trends. This characteristic can be seen as a major difference between the American business structure, where companies may come and go in a quicker lifecycle or be slower in […]
Positive Changes at Volvo Cars
Posted on June 11, 2013 Written by
Today we had the opportunity to visit the worldwide headquarters of Volvo right outside the city of Göteborg in Sweden. The day was full of a range of activities, from hearing the VP of Human Resources Björn Sällström give a company overview to learning about the measures Volvo takes to ensure optimal safety in all […]
The Future of Safety: The Story of Volvo
Posted on June 11, 2013 Written by
On Monday June 10, we were incredibly fortunate to visit Volvo Cars where we learned the history of Volvo and their current business outlook with the VP of human resources. Afterwards, we were given an in-depth walking tour of the safety features of Volvo cars and how their future plans would lead to their grand […]
The Swedish Inside Voice
Posted on June 10, 2013 Written by
As you walk through the various offices located at companies such as Klarna, Ziggy Creative Company, and even the noisy subway, you will find that Swedes are very quiet and tend to keep to themselves. It would feel out of place to see Swedes speaking loudly to each other in public places compared to other […]
Social media helping internal communication.
Posted on June 10, 2013 Written by
The social media world is connecting companies to the outside market more and more these days. However, it’s also an avenue for companies to communicate internally as well. This is a social media evolution that is going to spread like wild fire for global companies, especially when they see the value of time saved when […]
Diverse drinking
Posted on June 10, 2013 Written by
In Sweden, as in the U.S., people are bombarded by advertisements – in public transportation, on television, on billboards on the side of the street. There are ads for a variety of products in many industries and the general aesthetic is generally similar. We have found that advertisements tend to have very clean lines and […]
Building a World that Lasts
Posted on June 9, 2013 Written by
A few days, a couple of plane rides and two cities ago, Jeff and I had the chance to visit one of the most profound companies I have ever witnessed: Ericsson. Perhaps this should not be surprising, as the telecommunication giant has played a pivotal role in developing some of the most important technological innovations […]
Ericsson’s Hiring Practices
Posted on June 9, 2013 Written by
Visiting Ericsson’s campus in Stockholm was a memorable experience. Ericsson has always been ahead of their time in technology developments, but what is also compelling is their growing investment in computer science engineers for their Research and Development organizations. After learning about the new directions that Ericsson is navigating such as connecting anything even trees […]
The Do-It-Yourself Culture of Scandinavia
Posted on June 8, 2013 Written by
Throughout our visit, we’ve taken notice that Swedish businesses have a tendency to spend special attention to pushing tasks onto the consumer, or looking for solutions, which use less human capital entirely in the product or service process. The realization of this trend came when dining in Gotland, yesterday. At the restaurant we stopped at […]
