EVENTS
EVENTS
Trana objected to Norway being classified a small economy. “We are the 24th biggest economy in the world,”
he said. “We don’t produce everything. Instead we compete for goods made elsewhere. We produce fewer
things, import the rest. The discovery of oil makes Norway different. We have $850 billion in the sovereign
wealth fund. Oil drives the economy.”Norway also has different characteristics than other European countries,
such as retraining programs for laid off workers when an industry closes, so “workers don’t have to be nervous
about moving on.” A collaboration of employers, employees,
and the government came to an agreement on changing the
retirement age. “We had change without the social unrest
and massive strikes seen in other countries,” said Trana.
Gender equality in the boardroom, where 40% of spots must
be held by women, is finally reaping benefits. “Initially, there
were complaints ‘we can’t find qualified women.’ Ten years
later, it’s good. It takes a while to get qualified candidates,
but you have to force the innovation.”
GLÖGG HOLIDAY MIXER, DECEMBER 3, 2014
Trana and the Swedes agreed that both countries’ “flat business structure” results in more being accomplished because
one manager doesn’t have to consult another. Björk moved
the 20-year old company (Qlik) to the United States eight
years ago because of better competition. “The first seven
years we were in a small incubator in Sweden and now we’re
a $150 million dollar business in the United States,” said
Björk. “As a business, we have a Swedish soul. We’re consensus driven. We don’t have to go to another person and another person to get something done. My experience living in
this country for eight years is that Swedes are pragmatic and
practical. We built the culture by hiring the very best people,
no matter where they lived in the world. We have accountability and ambitious targets. We have left the product innovation in Sweden, which is efficient and cost effective.”
For the fifth consecutive year, SACC-Philadelphia presented its annual Business Entrepreneurial Award which is
awarded to an individual or a company who has made a
significant contribution to the exchange of trade and commerce between Scandinavia and the Philadelphia Region.
Other relevant factors considered are whether that individual or company has made an important contribution
toward innovation and technological advancement; corporate social responsibility; or environmental know-how and
sustainable business practices.
Government panel: Salgado, Pietikäinen and Trana
Market panel: Stephansen, Bjork and Bergqqvist
“I’m not sure if we have a model as much as common Nordic experience,” Bergqvist said. Some of these
were cost, real estate, fiscal, banking, and currency crises in the 1980s and 1990s, and common solutions to
those crises. There are also challenges ahead.“We’re facing challenges of financing the welfare state, an aging
population, employment and immigration,” Bergqvist said. “Nordic countries start from a higher cost level
with higher ambitions.” Pietikäinen painted a different picture of Finland, which is the only Nordic country
to adopt the euro, leaving the country without control of the currency.“When we joined the European Union,
we gained an image as a schoolmaster lecturing the poor Southern European countries how to deal with the
economy,” he said. “We are not in that position any more because our own economy is down. If I was giving
these remarks a few years ago, I would be praising Finland’s high credit rating. That is no longer the case. In
the crucial 2008 crisi ̰