Facit and the displacement of mechanical calculators

PublikationArtikel (med peer review)

Christian Sandström, Företagandets villkor, Konkurs

Sammanfattning

This article explains why Facit, a Swedish manufacturer of mechanical calculators, typewriters, and office furniture, collapsed in the shift from mechanical to electronic calculators in the early 1970s. Facit struggled to develop its own electronic calculators because its competencies were related to mechanics rather than electronics. Because the firm was located in a small company town in Sweden, it was difficult for Facit to access skilled labor related to electronics. Also, a lot of firms entered the industry with the shift to electronics and the increased competitive rivalry further augmented Facit’s problems. The rapid development of integrated circuits in 1967-1972 implied that all these structural changes happened in a short period of time, putting firms such as Facit in a problematic situation.

Sandström, C. (2013). Facit and the displacement of mechanical calculators. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 35(3), 20-31.

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Introducing the inverted Icarus paradox in business history – Evidence from David and Goliath in the Swedish telecommunications industry 1981–1990

Artikel (med peer review)Publikation

Eriksson, K.; Lakomaa, E.; Nykvist, R.; Sandström, C.

Publiceringsår

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Publicerat i

Business History, Advance online publication.

Sammanfattning

Previous research in business and management history has identified the Icarus paradox, which describes how organisations may fall due to overconfidence and hubris. We build upon previous research on paradoxes in business history and introduce the notion of an inverted Icarus paradox. Using rich archival sources coded in a relational database, we show how an entrant firm, Comvik, outmanoeuvred an established government monopoly in the non-market domain from 1980 to 1990, despite inferior resources and a weak market position. The government monopoly Televerket faced an inverted Icarus paradox; it could not leverage its strengths and political connections as they were stuck in a David versus Goliath narrative where public opinion was more sympathetic to the entrant firm Comvik.

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Artikel (utan peer review)Publikation

Sandström, C., & Eskilson, E.

Publiceringsår

2024

Publicerat i

Journal of Evolutionary Economics

Sammanfattning

The Hydrogen Illusion (2022) is a self-published book by Samuel Furfari, a retired chemical engineer who worked for 36 years in energy policy at the European Commission. Hydrogen has been brought to the forefront of environmental policy in recent years as the EU and other Western economies are allocating billions of euros and dollars towards hydrogen production. Furfari argues that this is a mistake, and that hydrogen has little potential as an energy form, primarily as it requires so much energy in order to be produced. While at times technical and difficult to follow, The Hydrogen Illusion is a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate about how Western economies can combine economic and environmental development.

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Artikel (med peer review)Publikation

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Publiceringsår

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Publicerat i

Economic Affairs

Sammanfattning

Large-scale government programmes and centrally directed industrial policies to address well-defined societal goals – mission-oriented innovation policies (hereafter referred to as ‘missions’) – are now prominent on many governments’ agendas. This new-found enthusiasm that a ‘visible hand’ should – or perhaps even must – drive the economy forward has, until recently, escaped significant critical scrutiny. There is a dearth of academic studies examining how, when and why such missions often risk failure.

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