Doing Business in Nordic Europe (DBNE)

Nordic Europe, consisting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, is a region of vast business potential for enterprises from around the world. Nordic Europe opened up to the world during the 1990s as part of the European Economic Area and World Trade Organisation developments after a series of financial crises afflicting, in turn, all of these welfare states. Structuring of international business opportunities for trading products, and GATS enabled productservice linkages with these countries has spawned new possibilities in knowledge-intensive and high technology sectors. There is an unprecedented growth in the number of collaborations, trade and investment across a wide range of businesses. The politics of welfare state models that encouraged tate-subsidized and state-brokered exports is being replaced by new gateways and vistas of business linkages for sustainable value ropositions in several trategic areas such as technology consulting, infrastructure, energy and environment, healthcare, life sciences, engineering, mining, construction, and design to mention a few. The challenges of ‘Doing Business in Nordic Europe’ are enormous despite the attractiveness. These countries have a distinct logic underlying their economic structures and innovative management practices. Geographically and psychologically remote, they adhere to unique traditions of law and justice, and distinctive taxation and accounting practices. Compounded by myriad cultural differences (even a different calendar for planning and executing activities), they present formidable institutional challenges, common to them. Thus, overseas firms and entrepreneurs, able to visualize prospects of business opportunities find it difficult and costly to evaluate options, cope with institutional differences, overcome entry barriers and structure agreements with nordic firms to sustainable mutual advantage. This workshop provides an opportunity to participate in a forum to understand the nordic business and institutional environment, for identifying avenues in promising sectors and segments, structure risks and develop business opportunities to profit from them.

Objectives

Understanding the economic and institutional environment of business in nordic countries: what is common to them and what is different.

• Identifying opportunities, modes of developing sustainable value propositions and structuring business in technologies, products, and services.
• Analysing risks unique to Nordic Europe and learning to leverage product-services linkages for international business in a variety of entry modes.
• Familiarizing with cultural, social and institutional barriers and designing gateways to manage differences.
• Providing a forum to share the excitement, experiences, issues and challenges of doing business in Nordic Europe.

Methodology

This workshop is an interactive programme based on cases, discussion sessions, publications and familiarisation with concepts and relevant tools, databases and sources of business intelligence.