Ragnar Ahlström Söderling

Namn: Ragnar Ahlström Söderling

Titel/tjänst: Universitetslektor

Universitet/högskola/organisation: Lunds universitet

E-postadress: ras[at]fek.lu.se

Webbsida: www.fek.lu.se/Default.asp?id=3352

1. SBUGROLL Small Business Growth Learning Lab. An EU-funded project in collaboration with the University of Palermo (Italy) [the project owner], University of Plymouth (England), Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Colombia), Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (Venezuela) and Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina). The project conducted in 2005-2007, had as objective to be based on 10 case studies in 5 countries, create a foundation for courses on small business growth for small business owners and masters students. The courses should use learning platforms based on system dynamic principles. The end result was a book Managing Small Business Growth (I acted as editor and publisher), which contains a CD with case studies, simulation models and power point presentations. Although the project is completed, the project team intends to write a series of articles based on the ten case studies that were carried out. The project was presented in a 1.5-hour workshop at the ICSB's World Conference in Halifax, Canada in late June 2008.
2. Entrepreneurship in Tourism Destination Development.
   A minor case study for the writing of a book chapter (2007).
   
3. Insikter för framgång (Insights for Success) - a survey of a number of Swedish regions' manufacturing businesses possibilities to be international competitive. The project was conducted with participation from Dalarna University, Örebro University, Mälardalen University, Gothenburg School of Economics and representatives from Swedish companies (Financed by, among others, NUTEK, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and Dalarna University). The project cooperated with similar studies conducted by the Ministry of Economic Development in New Zealand. (2001 to 2004). My thesis is based on studies in this project. The project also gave rise to 6 Conference papers.
4. Development of small-scale systems for wood manufacturing (wood processing enterprises in collaboration), An EU-funded research project 1998-2000. We mapped the networks that existed within the industry in Sweden and followed over a two year period the networks that were operating in the interior of Norrland (North of Sweden). The network I followed through participation in network meetings and interviews were in the county of Jämtland. The project printed a number of reports in which I participated in four. I also participated in the writing of a symposium paper that later was published in the proceedings. In addition, I wrote after the project was completed three conference papers based on this project, one of which, after review and corrections became a journal article.
5. Technology-based spin-off companies (Own project 1984-85) Case studies of spin-offs from large telecommunications companies. This project was conceived as a thesis project and I conducted a series of interviews with "spin-off entrepreneurs” from Philips, Ericsson and Standard Radio. The project was suspended for personal reasons in 1985 when I only had published an article in Ledarskap and a report on behalf of TCO TRYGGHETSRÅD (31 of bibliography). However, a research leader at Dalarna University (when I returned to academia) thought that my results were so interesting that I was asked to write a number of conference papers. Unfortunately I have not bothered to try and get them published in some journals, but they have nevertheless given rise to some attention and been quoted in several contexts. Among other things, the Koster and Van Wissen (Koster S. & LJGv Wissen (2004). Inherited resources and company support as a basis for new firm formation. A taxonomy of founding types: start-ups, spin-outs, and spin-offs, Entrepreneurship and Dynamics in a Knowledge-Economy. Routledge) wrote the following based on two of them.
   
   "Ahlström Söderling (1998; Ahlström Söderling and Wiik, 1998) proposes what may be the most complex and comprehensive analysis of spin-offs as he looks at relations with the mother company, type of organization the spin-off comes from and finally, the motives of both entrepreneurs and the mother organization."
   In addition, the International Association for Science Parks (IASP) adopted my definition of Entrepreneurial Spin-offs that I have outlined in some of these papers:
   
   “When one or more individual/s is/are leaving an organization (quitting his/her / their employment) with the intent to start a new firm that is based on elements from the firm he/she/they is/are leaving, and where The Originating organization (the employer) does neither have a dominant influence in the new firm according to ownership nor power.”

• (2003): "SME strategic business networks seen as learning organizations". Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 10, Nr. 4, 2003, s. 444-454.

• (2010): "Nätverk framåt! - Att försöka integrera företagare med utländsk bakgrund i den lokala företagsgemenskapen." In Å.-K. Engstrand (Ed.), Möjligheternas marknad: 211-229. Stockholm: Tillväxtverket. (ISBN 978-91-86341-52-7.
• (2007): "Entreprenörskap i destinationsutvecklingen". I Utveckla turistdestinationer, Bohlin, Magnus, Elbe, Jörgen, Uppsala, Uppsala Publishing House. (ISBN 978-91-7005-339-9)
• (2007) (Bianchi, Carmine, Bivona, Enzo, Dyner, Isaac, Galan, Liliana, Strocchia, Marisela, Winch, Graham): "Managing Small Business Growth". Högskolan Dalarna, Borlänge. (ISBN 976-91-85941-00-1)
• (2005): "Does Benchmarking Support Innovation that Leads to Competitive advantages?: Some observations in a study of manufacturing companies' use of best practices". In The Entrepreneurship - Innovation - Marketing Interface, Würt, Reinhold; Gaul, Wolfgang; Jung, Viktor, Künzelsau, Swiridoff Verlag. (ISBN 3-934350-60-7)
• (2007): "Innovation Entrepreneurship in Manufacturing Firms". In The Entrepreneurship - Innovation - Marketing Interface, Würth, Reinhold; Gaul, Reinhold;, Vol. IEP Volume 12a, Künzelsau, Swiridoff Verlag, 2007. (ISBN 978-3-89929-120-9)

Avhandlingstitel:
(2006): "Regionala företags förutsättningar för internationell konkurrenskraft: utvärdering av en undersökningsmodell". Stockholm, Företagsekonomiska institutionen Stockholms universitet. (ISBN 91-7155-269-3), PhD Thesis  (ESBRIs artikel om avhandlingen)

Nyckelord:
SME Growth. Regional Development. Strategic business networks. Ethnic entrepreneurship.

 Utskriftsversion