MenuResearch
Introductory page
Here you will find both older and current "projects". Some parts are more of a presentation of concept without claiming to be scientific.
Research about business models
Many businesses are in a digital transformation that requires both new business models and a new "mindset".
My PhD thesis in Business Administration
I have written a PhD thesis 'Webb theses and business models for Encyclopedias↗'
. Currently, I am a doctoral student at the Department of Business Administration at Lund University in Sweden. My thesis is basically finished but not presented - read stopped - since the Department is both negative to, and uninterested in what I call a 'web thesis'↗. My ambition is to have the website approved as a dissertation. All fewer people read printed dissertations or the Pdf. A web thesis is much more dynamic and has growing possibilities. My PhD-site has several new visitors daily.
The digital transformation will of course, IMHO affect the university and research world in several new ways. As in most areas, new models and solutions must be tested.
Research about monopolies and open monopolies
Everybody knows that monopolies are inefficient, have a low degree of innovation, charge high prices and that free competition solves these problems. To explore if, and to what extent this is correct, I have done some studies on monopolies. I distinguish between traditional 'Closed monopolies' and what I call 'Open monopolies'. The point of departure for my theory of Open Monopolies is the question;
Can you make monopolies better and smarter?
Can a closed monopoly develop into an open monopoly? The fact that free competition in many areas is a superior industry structure does not automatically mean that this form is superior in ALL contexts.
Read more about Open monopolies
The Swedish pharmacy market
Has the liberalisation of the pharmacy market brought benefits to the customers that could not have been achieved in the pharmacy monopoly? My answer is NO, and this is supported, among other things, by a very interesting evaluation from 2014 by two professors in economics. See my analysis of the pharmacy market
Research in energy questions
My study on coal was done at a time when the energy discussion was much more limited than today. Hence the title of the study.
To the Understanding of coal
In 1978, the Government's Secretariat for Future Studies published my report 'Att förstå kol'. It was included in a series of reports in the area Energy and Society. The report addresses the issue of possible increased Swedish coal use in a broader social, economic, and cultural perspective. The coal also has its geopolitical role. A kilowatt-hour is not culture and society neutral. This means, among other things, that we create different social structures when choosing energy systems. Many people's lives become different depending on the design of the energy systems. The study was also intended as the first part of my doctoral dissertation in business administration.
In the report, I write about, among other things, the Geological Quantity of the Coal, the Economic Quantity, and the Social Quantity. This model can be applied to all types of energy. The basic concept of the study is still very useful.
Projects
a Knowledge portal, and a new free encyclopedia
BiBB is an extensive project and a social innovation↗ for a Knowledge portal, and a new modern and for all freely article-signed encyclopedia. In the long term, BiBB is intended to be owned by Sweden's universities and colleges.
In Denmark and Norway, there are extensive free and national encyclopedias. In Sweden, Nationalencyclopedin (NE) is a privately owned service behind a paywall that is increasingly few uses. Wikipedia is according to my research study↗ much better than NE.
Read more about the goals and strategy for BiBB.se↗
Some cases
An analysis of the savings bank Finn in Skåne
The bank that lost a billion or two
August 9, 1999, I published an extensive website - a fairly new way of conducting financial analyses at that time - with an analysis of the savings bank Finn and a proposal for a radically new strategy. The main idea was to convert the savings bank into a limited company, and eventually sell it - the savings bank Finn AB - and that it would be owned by a foundation - the Finn foundation. Among other things, I was skeptical about the bank's profitability and opportunities to meet future IT costs. When they in 2014 wanted to sell large portions of the bank to the national commercial bank, Swedbank, the chairman Bo Lundgren said that ... Finn has too low profitability and is too small to manage IT systems and computer-based services on its own. (source: Sydsvenskan 2014.02.21 page A 18)
Almost on the day 10 years after I published my analysis, Sparbanken Finn was transformed into a public limited company owned by a foundation. In addition, the bank's name was changed to the savings bank Öresund.
Due to lack of knowledge about IT and bad management, they and the board wiped out a billion SEK or two that could have become the basis for southern Sweden's largest venture capital fund.
Analysis of public libraries - a future perspective
The public libraries are appreciated by many, but they are "digitally affected" like many other businesses. The number of visitors is declining, and the lending of e-books is increasing less than the lending of physical books is decreasing. Their historical core business is declining in importance, and the libraries are, not without fear, and resistance looking for a new role or new roles.
The role of public libraries as 'the Knowledge Center' will, according to my analysis, be reduced . All fewer need to go to the library to find out more or borrow books or e-media. By contrast, public libraries can be given a role as a free "social space" and be a "service provider" in digital services for those who lack such resources. One wonders if the composition and competence of the staff correspond to the fast-approaching future?
Branding and accreditations of Business schools
In September 2019, I started a study of Branding and accreditations of B-schools. It combines research and strategy consulting.
Accreditations are big business, especially for B-school boards, deans, and their top-level staff. Accreditations have value, but a good case can be made for that they are overvalued. I suggest an alternative strategy that puts Transparency at the center. Most likely, a vast majority of B-schools have what I call Quality intentions (Qi). The formulation and presentation of these may energize their Quality work.
