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This chapter outlines the development of the Swedish Higher Education System that led to the evolution of the profession of research management and administration (RMA) in Sweden. Evolution from an informal network towards more formalised and structured work within the Swedish RMA community is highlighted. Discussion on the level of salaries development depending on the education level, gender, experience and roles are elaborated too. The majority of the Swedish RMA community are women, which does not differ from most other RMA communities around the world. Swedish Association of Research Managers and Administrators (SWARMA) is the bridge between national research and innovation funding agencies and researchers. SWARMA selected members actively participate in the reference groups for EU R&I programmes. The future for RMAs in Sweden looks bright!

The circumstances for the emergence of new ideas in organizational theory have previously been explored from several viewpoints. Researchers trace the origins of new ideas to previous literature or compare ideas across continents and countries. The author takes another point of departure. Following Merton (1957, 1963), she focuses on “multiple discoveries” in science, studying the independent, simultaneous (re-)discovery of certain aspects of institutional theory in organizational theory. Specifically, she follows the circumstances under which two pairs of researchers proffered similar explanations for the phenomena they encountered (Jönsson & Lundin, 1977; Meyer & Rowan, 1977). Without ever having met, they suggested an analogous way of understanding the concept of organizing, though their research used different frames of reference and field material and was published in different outlets. The author’s analysis of the circumstances surrounding the two papers led her to explore elements in the emergence of new ideas: the Zeitgeist – the spirit of the times – international networks, and collegial work. When these factors are in play, physical meetings do not seem to be required, but scholars must be involved in networks in which their colleagues provide judgment and advice.

This analysis attempts a comparative specification of certain aspects of the country studies contained in this volume. The point of departure is the banking crises of the early 1990s (deep in Finland, Norway and Sweden, mini-crisis in Denmark and absent in Iceland) and the contrast to Iceland's financial meltdown in 2007/2008 (no crisis in the three, a new mini-crisis in Denmark). Detailed process tracing of the Icelandic crisis is provided. The case account is then used to shed light on the different roles of neoliberalism, economics expert knowledge and populist right-wing party formation in the five Nordic political economies.

A common understanding of what events to regard as production disturbances (PD) are essential for effective handling of PDs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to answer the two questions: how are individuals with production or maintenance management positions in industry classifying different PD factors? Which factors are being measured and registered as PDs in the companies monitoring systems?

A longitudinal approach using a repeated cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Empirical data were collected from 80 companies in 2001 using a paper-based questionnaire, and from 71 companies in 2014 using a web-based questionnaire.

A diverging view of 21 proposed PD factors is found between respondents in manufacturing industry, and there is also a lack of correspondence with existing literature. In particular, planned events are not classified and registered to the same extent as downtime losses. Moreover, the respondents are often prone to classify factors as PDs compared to what is actually registered. This diverging view has been consistent for over a decade, and hinders companies to develop systematic and effective strategies for handling of PDs.

There has been no in-depth investigation, especially not from a longitudinal perspective, of the personal interpretation of PDs from people who play a central role in achieving high reliability of production systems.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and problematise how leadership and employees, or “employeeship”, are constructed within IKEA, a global firm often associated with national identity, and connected to distinct values and a leadership ideal. From a critical management perspective, the authors' intent was to study whether there were hierarchies and polarisations in constructions of leadership and, if so, how they were manifested.

The empirical material consists of 17 interviews with Swedish and non-Swedish managers at the senior management level and internal documents.

The analysis of the empirical material supports the finding that employees are constructed in superior vs subordinate positions based on beliefs about nationality (ethnicity), wherein the construction of Swedishness is ranked above other nationalities. Based on these constructions, two different dimensions of a leader emerge. The first dimension is one of leading and supporting, which involves personal development and is regarded as something positive. The second dimension involves being a manager, which is perceived as conservative, dreary and unappealing.

The study illustrates how leaders in a global firm construct hierarchies and polarisation in the daily work.

The purpose of this paper is to show how manufacturers evolve when aiming at increasing customer value via the service addition path. More specifically, it aims to identify drivers and inhibitors as well as trajectories to reach “ideal” service addition types.

This paper employs a multiple case study design. In total 12 in‐depth interviews were conducted with managers from machine building manufacturers resulting in five longitudinal case studies of “best practice” companies. The paper is grounded in the “integrated solutions” research paradigm.

Four types of service addition can be identified based on this multiple case study. Diverse drivers push companies to higher degrees of customization and to less tangible offerings via different trajectories. On these trajectories, though, they are likely to encounter inhibitors.

The qualitative nature of this paper acts as a basis for future research efforts. On the one hand this paper has traditional shortcomings typical of interpretive studies. On the other, future research is stimulated as the exploratory but rich and longitudinal findings suggest further testing and development.

A strategy of service addition is frequently used by industrial companies to seek customer value and escape price pressure. This paper offers a framework that helps managers chose from the potential set of service addition types. The paper also identifies difficulties (the so‐called “inhibitors”) companies might encounter when pursuing this strategy.

The rich case‐based methodology enables the development of a preliminary model that identifies types of service addition and corresponding transition trajectories. The paper adds to the emergent “theory on service business for manufacturing firms” by offering a typology and an industry‐specific view on drivers and inhibitors of service addition along the different transition trajectories.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which notions of space, constituted by management accounting and operations, interact, conflict and are understood by operations managers in a variety of situations within the context of iron ore mining. The authors address a dual question: How do accounting space and production space relate to each other? And what does it mean for operations managers to reside in both those spaces at once?

The paper is based on field studies at a mining company involving operations managers who experience tensions between accounting and production responsibilities and must prioritize between different courses of action to create value.

In contrast to the view that management accounting poses a problem for operations managers in production environments, the authors show how especially discursive tensions foster reflection and choice. Operations managers prioritize their actions in accordance with management accounting or operations based on how they experience and reflect upon the tensions they encounter, dominating artifacts and their experienced relation to space. Operations managers are not tied to specific spaces, but they prioritize their responsibility to management accounting or operations depending on the space to which they feel a sense of belongingness.

Drawing upon a conceptualization of tensions between management accounting and operations as a spatial phenomenon, it is possible to understand the dilemmas experienced by operations managers in a dynamic and relational way. The authors propose that viewing tensions between management accounting and production as spatial phenomena enables a novel understanding of how such tensions can create reflexivity in responsibility with operations managers.

This paper presents a concept for digitalised maintenance (DM), maps the conceptualised DM to maintenance problems in industries and highlights challenges that might be faced when realizing this concept.

First, maintenance problems that are faced by the industry are presented, followed by a conceptualisation of DM. Next, a typical operational scenario is used as an exemplification to show system dynamics. The characteristics of this conceptualised DM are then mapped to the identified maintenance problems of industry. Then, interesting initiatives in this domain are highlighted, and finally, the challenges to realize this approach are discussed.

This paper identified a set of problems related to maintenance in industry. In order to solve current industrial problems, exploit emerging digital technologies and elevate future industries, it will be necessary to develop new maintenance approaches. The mapping between the criteria of DM and maintenance problems shows the potential of this concept and gives a reason to examine it empirically in future work.

This paper aims to help maintenance professionals from both academia and industry to understand and reflect on the problems related to maintenance, as well as to comprehend the requirements of a digitalised maintenance and challenges that may arise.