Knowledge, Networks and Power — The Uppsala School of International Business

In the early 1960s, Sune Carlson, who came to the new Department of Business Studies after staying 10 years in the UN, started a research program on international business. The initiation of this program was considered against the background of the accelerating European economic integration that was expected to have important consequences for different segments of Swedish industry. Another important factor was that after World War II, many US companies entered European markets, thereby changing the international markets where Swedish firms operated. A number of young doctoral students were engaged in international business research projects. Some of these concerned the international operations of various Swedish industries, such as the special steel industry and the pulp and paper industry. Other projects concerned specific kinds of international business decisions, such as foreign direct investment by Swedish firms, foreign firms’ investments in Sweden or Swedish firms’ establishment of sales subsidiaries abroad. A common characteristic of the studies was a strong empirical orientation. Important research questions were “How do the firms compete in foreign markets?” “How are they organized?” “What are the important problems they face when going abroad?” “How do they adapt to changing competition in their markets?” etc. Evidently, these questions were relevant for the firms.