Magnus Nilsson

Namn: Magnus Nilsson

Titel/tjänst: Ekonomie doktor

Universitet/högskola/organisation: Lunds universitet

Institution/avdelning: CIRCLE

E-postadress: magnus.nilsson[at]circle.lu.se

1. NETGROW - Enhancing the innovativeness of food SMEs through the management of strategic network behaviour and network learning performance (FP7 project):
   The overall objective is to enhance network learning leading to increased innovation, economic growth and sustainable competitive advantage for food SMEs. Instrumental for achieving this is usable know-how about network learning, the attitude of food SMEs in different EU member states and the functioning and performance of different types of networks. The project analyses networks both at the network level and at the actor level to identify drivers and mechanisms affecting learning and knowledge creation in innovation processes in SME networks. The project combines qualitative case study research with quantitative survey-based analysis. This project is four year collaborative project involving teams from nine European countries
   
2. Entrepreneurship and SME growth in different sectors (VINNOVA funded):
   The project is part of VINNOVA core funding for CIRCLE and focuses on understanding conditions for entrepreneurship and growth in different sectors. It will aim specifically at providing a better understanding of sectoral patterns of innovation and growth in SMEs. Theoretically, there is a need to understand how SMEs interact with the surrounding sectorial IS, by studying the central role of networking activities for their ability to innovate and grow, since networks are a way to extend the resource base and improve entrepreneurial learning. This is particularly relevant for SMEs as there is often a trade-off between growth and innovation.
   The underlying idea is to examine if and how an extension of the resource base through inter-organizational relations can be a way to overcome this problem. The study will then be extended by analysis of the central success factors and barriers to network learning and how these are related to the development of SMEs. We are also interested in SMEs role and involvement in business networks and international R&D collaborations, as well as the consequences of such involvement for their ability to innovate and pursue growth strategies.
   The sectors to be included in the first three-year period are the Food, Health Care and Energy sectors. The overall methodological approach will be quantitative and survey-based, combining analyses at two levels in each sector, (a) the firm level, analysing how attitudes and preferences determine network behaviour, and (b) the network level, analysing how networks function and their effect on innovation and growth in SMEs.
   
3. Entrepreneurship and SME growth in different regions (VINNOVA funded):
   The project is also part of VINNOVA core funding for CIRCLE and aims at understanding conditions for entrepreneurship and growth in different regional contexts. Empirical research shows that growth firms are located across different regional contexts, even if there is a slight over representation in metropolitan regions. The project will more specifically connect the development trajectory of SMEs to their local context. The project will take the interdependent and embedded nature of economic activity as its point of departure. Emphasis will be placed on the need to go beyond the boundaries of the single firm in order to understand the creation and development of innovative and rapidly growing SMEs. The project will aim to understand the factors in the local context, which influence the formation and development of SMEs, and the relation between the emergence of new technologies and the regional competence to commercialise them. Quantitative and longitudinal cohort analysis of the evolution and development of firms in each region will be conducted and supplemented with data on regional characteristics.

1. Regional clusters in the food industry in Sweden and Canada.
2. Innovation and regional transformation in a Swedish region.

• (2010) (Henning, M. & Moodysson, J.): "Innovation and Regional Transformation: From Clusters to New Combinations." Malmö: Region Skåne.

Avhandlingstitel:
(2008): "A Tale of Two Clusters: Sharing Resources to Compete." PhD, Lund University, Lund.   (ESBRIs artikel om avhandlingen)

Nyckelord:
Innovation . Policy. Innoationssystem. Kluster. Strategi. Livsmedel.

 Utskriftsversion