Title: The Ericsson experience in the Swedish innovation landscape

Authors: Jon Sigurdson, Shantha Liyanage

Addresses: Associate Faculty, Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship and East Asia Science and Technology Programme, Stockholm School of Economics, Box 6501, S-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden. ' Technology, Innovation and Knowledge Management Programme, The University of Auckland Business School, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract: Achieving growth and maintaining success in a firm is an intended strategy that needs to be carefully crafted throughout the business cycle. Both technology strategies and business imperatives must be continuously reviewed in order to keep a firm innovating at a steady phase. A firm|s stature and financial statutes do not provide a license to seize innovation opportunities. Even well established firms can flounder and stumble and fall. The ability to innovate is a critical success factor for many firms. Innovation capability is not necessarily a determinant of a firm|s size or economic dominance, although the ability to adopt and change innovation strategies provides dominant firms with high agility. A firm|s corporate and innovation cultures are vital in shaping and responding adequately to the call of innovation in the market place. This case study illustrates how a major telecommunication company may sustain or lose its innovation capacity in an intensely competitive global market.

Keywords: business competitiveness; business strategy; change management; growth; innovation capability; innovation strategy; technology strategy; R&D culture; research and development; Sweden; telecommunications; organisational culture; research culture; Ericsson.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2005.008003

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2005 Vol.1 No.1, pp.141 - 155

Published online: 24 Oct 2005 *

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