Entrepreneurs take few digital risks



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Businesses in big cities innovate better in digital than those in rural areas – and it is men who drive development.

At the same time, Swedish companies take too few risks.

"We have to bet now if we do not get lost," says Professor Katarina Blomkvist.

Researchers from the Business Administration Department at Uppsala University have examined the appearance of so-called digital intrapreneurship in Swedish companies. It's about how already established businesses and organizations are able to grow digitally.

The survey is based on data from about 4,000 private and public employees.

The report highlights the major geographical differences in digital innovation. The competence and willingness to propose new solutions and new products are concentrated in the big cities.

– Digital renewal is often conducted in the private sector. For companies to maintain their competitiveness, we must add a lot of profits to reinvest. We could look like it because it is our electrification today. This will be done later in the countryside and in the public sector, "said Katarina Blomkvist, one of three authors of the study.

In the long run, digital conversion will provide competitive advantages and increased efficiency to the data subject.

"For example, if some places end up long, care will be more expensive and schooling will be less effective, and if you do not reduce that distance, that will have consequences," says Katarina Blomkvist.

Men in particular lead the development of new digital products and services. One scientist's explanation is that digital renewal is overrepresented in industries with more men than women. Innovation is also related to positions of responsibility, where men are overrepresented.

Katarina Blomkvist emphasizes that it is difficult to know exactly what are due differences between the sexes.

"If you think that there are certain structures and systems that we are living today, which are designed by men, we could ask you if you want even the fourth industrial revolution to be led by men", she says.

"This will have consequences for the way we organize our future lives, and nowadays, men's development is entrenched.

The researchers also found that Swedish companies did not innovate digitally. More than 90% of investments are made with low risk taking in existing technologies or groups of customers, which is problematic in a market where global players are using more and more resources.

"Sweden has very good quality products, but if companies are involved in this change, they have to change, so that we can keep our business and make sure that they are important in the value chain, you have to take risks.

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