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Pursuing
Business Opportunities in Scandinavia
By
Finn Drouet Majlergaard, Gugin
COPENHAGEN
(KWR) In some parts of the global business community
there is a tendency to see Europe as representing
the past, USA as the present and Asia as the future.
The truth is a bit more diversified. Scandinavia,
for examples, focuses very much on the future and
opens a lot of possibilities for investors and
companies looking for solutions to tomorrow’s
problems.
Denmark ranks first among Europe's "Global Leaders" in
information and communications technology, according to the "eEurope
2005 Index", which measures ICT development and Internet usage
among 28 European countries, reports EurActiv.com. Sweden and Norway
follow right behind. To Scandinavians this is no surprise -- but
many foreign investors overlook the region.
Scandinavians are among the most creative and innovative people in
the world. They are fast movers, flexible, and well educated. Furthermore
Scandinavian countries are politically very stable and rarely have
labor conflicts. An excellent infrastructure combined with swiftness
in the collaboration between public and private organizations ensures
a high degree of agility in the commercial life. Just as an example
it doesn’t take more than a week to register a company in Denmark – and
it is free!
Why is Scandinavia overlooked? The main reason is that Scandinavians
are quite poor on marketing. They are very focused on creating, innovating
and refining and don’t care much about market demands. This
means that foreign investors and potential business partners only
discover the gold if they have good relations inside Scandinavia
already. And good relations are important -- as is a need to understand
the Scandinavian cultures. In many ways the Scandinavian are closer
to Asians than to Americans – culturally speaking. They rely
on relations a lot more than a good bargain. You might have the best
offer in the world, but if they don’t know you or the partner
who has introduced you, you will most likely never get a deal. On
the other hand – when a relationship is established you can
rely on that relationship.
Who should look at Scandinavia?: In particular, the greater Copenhagen
Area is interesting. The attractiveness of the Region has created
the largest metropolitan area in Scandinavia with a population of
3.5 million inhabitants and a high concentration of companies. Approximately
3,400 foreign owned companies have chosen to locate there. Furthermore,
137,000 students attend courses at 14 universities with a scientific
staff of about 10,000 researchers.
The industry and research environment in the region have proven to
be particularly strong in food technologies, IT and life sciences.
These three competence areas have developed over a long time through
intensive collaboration between companies, research institutions,
and universities.
Companies that are interested in looking at the possibilities are
advised to go through the following steps, many of which are relevant
to all international expansion strategies:
1. Make an assessment of the possibilities of your company. What
are your strengths and weaknesses? What is your current strategy
and how could an engagement in Scandinavia underpin this
strategy.
2. Do you have the necessary resources available? (Skills, money,
infrastructure, local contact, knowledge and processes)
3. Define precisely what you want to achieve and how much you are
willing to invest. Do you want to acquire a company, establish collaboration
or establish a branch of your company in Scandinavia?
4. Do the necessary research and business intelligence together with
your local partner
5. Search, select and act based on the intelligence you have acquired
When you have acquired a company or established a relationship you
need to focus on a successful transition in order to maximize
the return on your investment. A lot of companies overlook
this part – often with fatal consequences. What they
need to go through is:
1. Spend some time getting to know your new partner. Find out how
you compliment each other, create confidence and understand
and respect each other’s cultures both national and
corporate.
2. Make a detailed transition plan.
3. Choose a transition manager. It could be from your external partner,
who has experience in doing this.
4. Monitor the transition process carefully
5. Evaluate the results and adjust where needed.
We
all know examples on companies and even large multinational
corporations who have failed because they didn’t
take the transition and business transformation
process seriously. Disney is a great example. They
were very successful with their theme parks in
the US and successfully expanded the concept into
Japan. But when they came to Europe it all went
wrong and Eurodisney is still suffering. Much of
the problem might have been avoided with a more
detailed analysis and transition plan.
Scandinavia, in particular, the greater Copenhagen area is an ideal
choice for high-tech companies looking for areas of expansion. But
there is a need to do things right, which means the need to have
a local partner, who can guide one though the process and maximize
the return on a corporate investment. Over tree thousand companies
have done that already in the greater Copenhagen area alone – so
what is stopping you?
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