Companies in the agri-food sector are under increasing pressure to adopt sustainable business models that consider not only economic but also both social and environmental aspects. This paper examines how Swedish food producers use sustainable business models to innovate their businesses. The empirical data comes from a telephone survey with 204 companies and from case studies of 4 companies. A conceptual framework regarding sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) and a eight sustainable business model archetypes are used to map and analyse the sustainability innovation practices and the sustainable business models. The results show a surprisingly sustainable business focus taken by many companies, which is not only on optimization, but also on organizational transformation and on systems building. The results show the companies vary as far as which archetypes they match. The most common archetype matches are ‘Maximise material and energy efficiency’ and ‘Adopt a stewardship role’. Only 10% measure success solely in financial terms, while 80% measure success in financial terms as well as social and environmental terms. Another conclusion is that companies in the agri-food sector have unique characteristics and the value intention of the entrepreneurs is an important building block in sustainable business model innovation.

Swedish agricultural companies, especially small farms, are struggling to be profitable in difficult economic times. It is a challenge for Swedish farmers to compete with imported products on prices. The agricultural industry, however, supports the view that through business model innovation, farms can increase their competitive advantage. This paper identifies and describes some of the barriers Swedish small farms encounter when they consider business model innovation. A qualitative approach is used in the study. Agriculture business consultants were interviewed. In a focus group led by the researchers, farmers discussed business model innovation, including the exogenous and endogenous barriers to such innovation. The paper concludes many barriers exist when farmers consider innovation of agricultural business models. Some barriers are caused by human factors, such as individuals’ attitudes, histories, and traditions. Other barriers are more contextual in nature and relate to a particular industry or company setting. Still other barriers, such as government regulations, value chain position, and weather, are more All barriers, however, merit attention when Swedish agricultural companies develop new business models.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the need to rethink the traditional approach to education in the university engineering curriculum. The paper examines two engineering projects led by university students in Sweden: the design and construction of a solar-powered car taking part in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge and the creation of a business model for the ownership phase of an electric car together with Polestar. Design/methodology/approach: An extensive literature review was conducted. Students were interviewed and surveyed on their impressions of their learning experience in the two projects and student logbooks reviewed. Problem-based learning (PBL), the Conceiving, Designing, Implementing and Operating approach and the ABCD procedure are used. Results are compared to theories from the literature. Findings: PBL in real-world settings can increase engineering students’ technical knowledge and improve their technical skills as they solve complex problems or propose solutions to such problems. Such projects also strengthen students’ commitment, self-confidence and self-esteem as well as promote co-operation and creativity. These are soft skills largely absent from traditional engineering education. Practical implications: Innovative, student-led learning in the applied engineering curriculum can foster students’ soft skills in ways that teacher-led, lecture-style learning does not. Originality/value: This research offers a timely perspective on an issue of current interest in engineering education: student-led learning versus teacher-led learning. The paper also provides two illustrative student-led projects that focus on sustainability and mobility.

This article explores the roles of leadership, vision, and empowerment in two Swedish born global companies. Using case studies and interviews with employees and managers, the article examines how managers can lead their companies by creating a vision and empowering their employees. The findings indicate that a company vision should reflect a culture that supports the employees’ daily activities and decisions. A leadership style that features delegation of responsibility and recognition of employee work autonomy empowers employees in a way that can advance the development and internationalization of the born global company, especially in situations when top managers are often away from company headquarters.

In contemporary society, digital competence has become increasingly important for people in everyday life as well as in working life. Hence, it is vital that today’s higher education contain an appropriate degree of digitization both in terms of content and approaches, something which is particularly important in higher education, where there is a pronounced expectation of what one should be able to handle in terms of digitization when one enters the workplace. Drawing on insights from previous research, this study seeks to explore the integration of digital elements in higher education pedagogy via students’ perceptions of digital integration in their education and evaluate their assessments of teachers’ digital competence. Special attention is given to collaborative learning practices facilitated by digital technologies. The research questions posed to guide the aim are: How do university students perceive the integration of digital elements within their education, and what are their assessments of their teachers’ digital competence in utilizing these technologies? The results show that teachers’ digital competence varies across disciplines which might influence their utilization of digital pedagogical methods and tools. Moreover, both engineering and non-engineering students reported varying levels of usage of digital collaborative learning methods which might reflect discipline-specific preferences and practices in collaborative learning. Also, despite high confidence levels in using digital tools, students exhibited limited awareness of existing digital functionalities. These results seek to inform pedagogical practices, institutional policies, and professional development initiatives to cultivate a digitally proficient educator workforce and have relevance globally for all involved in teaching and learning in higher education.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to better understand the management challenges facing managers in small growing firms. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical data have been collected in Sweden through structured observations (approx. 20,000 min) of the working days of six top managers in fast- and six managers in slow-growing small manufacturing firms in order to compare managerial behaviour in two different contexts. Findings: Managers in small firms are engaged in many different activities, but a small number of activities tend to take up the majority of the managers' time. These activities can be classified as either operational or administrative. There are notably small differences (both in variance and differentiation) between the behaviours of managers in fast- and slow-growing firms; actually, there are more similarities than differences. There is also surprisingly little time spent by the managers on strategic work, even in the group of fast-growing firms. This might explain why growth and innovation in many cases come to a halt or even decline in these firms and represents such a challenge for the managers when they do not prioritize strategic work. Originality/value: The study shows that managerial work in small firms is characterized by a generic behaviour and that the managers mainly use a habitual and limited behavioural repertoire. Many managers have difficulties in changing their mainly operational and administrative behaviour and thus the underlying strategy of the firm. They are "stuck" in a path-dependency mindset, even though the development of the firm might require another strategy taken by the manager, as a response to meet environmental demands