Creating The Most Business-Friendly City In Europe - A case study with the region of Gothenburg - A collaboration with Business Region Göteborg
Abstract
Business Region Göteborg, an organization responsible for the business development in the
city of Gothenburg as well as a representative in business issues for the 13 municipalities in
the Gothenburg region, has developed a strategic business program with the overall objective
that the Gothenburg region should be Europe’s most business-friendly city by 2035. Because
the program needs approval in each of the 13 municipal councils the program is constructed in
a way so that it can be modified as deemed most suitable and relevant for each municipality.
Elaborating on this topic, this report aims to examine how the 13 municipalities are working
practically with two of the focus areas of the program, business climate and innovative power
as well as investigating what is needed in order to achieve the regional goals by 2035. Thus,
the business manager for each of the 13 municipalities have been interviewed to gather a wide
range of qualitative data from every municipality in the region.
The empirical data gathered from the interviews have been coded, analyzed, and discussed in
relation to existing studies and literature on theoretical fields such as open innovation, business
climate, innovation, and managing for a higher purpose. In terms of the focus area business
climate, the municipalities are found to be measuring their performance on business climate
primarily through rankings such as the one conducted by Svenskt Näringsliv, meaning that
their measures primarily include more company visits. The findings from this report rather
suggests that creating a stronger and more attractive offering for new establishments as well as
a clearer profile in certain industries could be more impactful long-term solutions. Regarding
innovative power, it becomes evident that there is a lack of common understanding on this
term, meaning that the municipalities’ approaches are very diverse, with many taking next to
no direct actions. Thus, this report finds that there is a need to align all stakeholders and work
to find a shared view and overall vision for this area. Additionally, increased communication
and collaboration is found to be one concrete measure through which the innovative power can
be increased.
Drawing on the scope and focus of this report, possible areas of future research were identified
as examining this program and its realization through the lens of the private companies within
the region, further exploring which role public procurement can play in facilitating and
promoting innovation, as well as analyzing and applying the concept of open innovation in the
public sector.
Degree
Master 2-years
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2023-07-20Author
Wålinder, Emil
Rönnlund, Johan
Keywords
Innovation
Innovative Power
Business climate
Municipality
Business Region Göteborg (BRG)
Series/Report no.
Master Degree Project 2023:64
Language
eng