Nordic Management & Business Administration Research - Quo Vadis?

Abstract

This paper deals with the ongoing debate as to whether there is a Nordic research tradition in management and business administration. And if there is such a tradition, what are the characteristics of this way of academic thinking? The research question is particularly relevant due to the globalisation of trade and communication and the expansion of multinational companies, which have made management more observant of international trends, styles and cultures. Does global competition entail a global management style, or are there still some use in understanding and going deeper into regional/geographical management characteristics as a means of competition and thus, as a topic for research?

The empirical data is based on a survey study among the participants at the 15th Nordic Conference on Business Studies hosted by the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in Helsinki, August 1999. The study identifies some strong scholars in this research field, who dominate the learning processes by which research traditions emerge.

Based on this and earlier work we conclude that management and business administration research is diverse and fragmented. To integrate this field there is a drive towards integrative research methods like field- and case-studies and narrative perspectives.