- Halmstad University, Box 823, 301 18 Halmstad, Sweden
- +46 70 660 61 86
- I’m an assistant professor at Halmstad University and currently working with several research projects addressing sus... moreI’m an assistant professor at Halmstad University and currently working with several research projects addressing sustainable business model innovation. One of my most interesting project address the transformation phase from conventional to digital manufacturing, building new digital production line with advanced 3D-printers. We have only scratched the surface of the 4th industrial revolution – anything is possible!
A totally different project which I´m very passionate about involves new business models with diversity as a competitive advantage. Here we are match-making refugees and CEOs in the agricultural sector in south-western Sweden. Many of the CEOs we are meeting are truly social entrepreneurs, combining business possibilities and sustainable development.
Previously I have been Head of business department and Dean for the school of Business, Engineering and Science at Halmstad University. We accomplice many things during these years, but if I would mention one thing, it would be our FabLab (Fabrication Laboratory), a great place to develop almost anything.
I’m passionate about my work and always eager to connect with other people interested in starting new projects or just evaluating new ideas or possibilities, so feel free to contact me if you’d like to connect.
I can be contacted directly at Henrik.Barth@hh.seedit
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Despite the advances in modern medicine, the use of data-driven technologies (DDTs) to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs) remains a major challenge. Scholars recognise that data management is the next frontier in infection... more
Despite the advances in modern medicine, the use of data-driven technologies (DDTs) to prevent surgical site infections (SSIs) remains a major challenge. Scholars recognise that data management is the next frontier in infection prevention, but many aspects related to the benefits and advantages of using DDTs to mitigate SSI risk factors remain unclear and underexplored in the literature. This study explores how DDTs enable value creation in the prevention of SSIs. This study follows a systematic literature review approach and the PRISMA statement to analyse peer-reviewed articles from seven databases. Fifty-nine articles were included in the review and were analysed through a descriptive and a thematic analysis. The findings suggest a growing interest in DDTs in SSI prevention in the last 5 years, and that machine learning and smartphone applications are widely used in SSI prevention. DDTs are mainly applied to prevent SSIs in clean and clean-contaminated surgeries and often used to...
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Refugee entrepreneurs can make a significant contribution to sustainable growth and development in host countries. However, comprehensive comparative studies of refugee entrepreneurial motivations are scarce, particularly in the absence... more
Refugee entrepreneurs can make a significant contribution to sustainable growth and development in host countries. However, comprehensive comparative studies of refugee entrepreneurial motivations are scarce, particularly in the absence of a theoretical framework on entrepreneurship motivation that is suitable for such contexts. This is a research topic that is increasingly of interest to scholars and policymakers working with refugee workforce integration, particularly in light of forecasted increases in global forced displacement over the next years. This paper tests and extends newly constructed entrepreneurship motivation measures, comparing person-related factors and the perceptions of environmental-related factors for Syrian refugee entrepreneurs in Sweden and Germany. The results indicate that their motivations differ between the two countries with respect to market conditions, the educational environment, dissatisfaction, and know-how. However, refugee entrepreneurs in both ...
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Biomass and renewable resources are becoming substitutes for fossil-based resources, providing opportunities for more sustainable environmental management and reductions in environmental damage. This paper studies the prospects for wood... more
Biomass and renewable resources are becoming substitutes for fossil-based resources, providing opportunities for more sustainable environmental management and reductions in environmental damage. This paper studies the prospects for wood pellet production in Kazakhstan through the lens of business model adjustment in a microenterprise in Kazakhstan. This study focuses on answering the following questions: (1) How do microenterprises propose, create, deliver and capture value through business models in the wood industry? (2) What are the opportunities and challenges relating to these business models in the context of wood pellet production in Kazakhstan? Kazakhstan has a high potential for biomass production, providing a particularly interesting case for analysing how microenterprises can tap into this potential to create value. This paper combines an analysis of bioenergy and forestry trends with a qualitative case study. The analysis of the business model is based on Osterwalder’s b...
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Digital manufacturing can produce new and advanced tools more rapidly and at lower cost than traditional manufacturing. This new technology means manufacturers need to develop innovative business models adapted to this change in the... more
Digital manufacturing can produce new and advanced tools more rapidly and at lower cost than traditional manufacturing. This new technology means manufacturers need to develop innovative business models adapted to this change in the manufacturing landscape. With digital manufacturing, companies have both an opportunity and a challenge. They can enter new markets where large-scale production provides competitive advantage. They can enter niche markets that become more attractive as old boundaries and structures lose relevance. Yet their additive manufactured components must meet the same standards set for conventional manufactured components. However, we know little about how companies manage this change as they make the transition from traditional manufacturing to digital manufacturing. This chapter presents two co-creation digital manufacturing projects between university researchers and Swedish companies. In each project, the goal was to develop sustainable and efficient digital p...
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Many companies are increasingly confronting the challenge of changing their business models as they face a future in which energy solutions are needed that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Too often, the... more
Many companies are increasingly confronting the challenge of changing their business models as they face a future in which energy solutions are needed that are environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Too often, the development process is sequential and stepwise rather than parallel, especially as far as dealing with technological, sustainability, and economic issues. This paper identifies trends as well as challenges and complications in the use of biomass from a business model perspective and address future avenues. We conduct a systematic literature review to identify state of art in the field of business model development in the biomass energy sector. We use several databases to identify international, peer-reviewed research articles published between 2002 and 2022.Our review presents data from more than 200 articles including author affiliation by country, article publication date, article title, journal of publication, journal impact factor, country of empirica...
The paper analyses changes in user activities and behaviour across different types of actors following the introduction of 3D printers. 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, has been claimed to d ...
Research Interests: Business and 3-D printing
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The recent forced migration to Europe has created more challenges for the labor market integration. However, the Swedish government encourages unemployed immigrants to seek employment in the farming, gardening, and forestry industries.... more
The recent forced migration to Europe has created more challenges for the labor market integration. However, the Swedish government encourages unemployed immigrants to seek employment in the farming, gardening, and forestry industries. Thus, this article focuses on the matching process in the Swedish agricultural sector by using an exploratory, qualitative, in-depth interview with representatives involved in the matching process. Immigrants experience challenges of Swedish language proficiency, lacking a driving license and adapting to new cultures in the workplace, while employers attribute challenges of effective hiring process and the absence of evidence of immigrants’ work experience. Furthermore, the employment service offices struggle with scant knowledge of agricultural employment that needs to be combined with limited contact with employers and the bureaucratic delays caused by requirements of qualifications validation. The paper concludes with a Labour Market Matching Model...
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Purpose – The purpose of this article is to identify work practices and activities at programme and local levels which constitute conditions that enable development in workplace development program ...
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Research Interests: Engineering and Gulf
There is a growing trend of using digital production, such as additive manufacturing, in direct consumer markets. Digital production enables new and advanced tools, which provide shorter developmen ...
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PurposeThis paper reviews research on the intersection between additive manufacturing technologies (AMTs) and business models (BM). The purpose of the review is to synthesize past research for the benefit of researchers, to describe the... more
PurposeThis paper reviews research on the intersection between additive manufacturing technologies (AMTs) and business models (BM). The purpose of the review is to synthesize past research for the benefit of researchers, to describe the dominant research themes and aggregated research questions and to identify research gaps in the literature.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review of secondary data was conducted. The 288 publications in the review appeared in peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings papers and book chapters. All publications are listed in this paper by publication year and publication source. The review also distinguishes between empirical and non-empirical studies, describes methodological approaches and categorizes the publications by unit of analysis and by theme.FindingsResearch on the intersection between AMT and BM, which has increased significantly in the last three years, reflects firms' and industries' growing interes...
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Abstract Increased global competition in the agricultural sector is rapidly changing the structure of farms and farming. As the number of small and diversified farms (often family-owned) decreases, the number of large and specialized... more
Abstract Increased global competition in the agricultural sector is rapidly changing the structure of farms and farming. As the number of small and diversified farms (often family-owned) decreases, the number of large and specialized farms (often corporate-owned) is increasing. In this transformation, the agricultural sector is more and more concerned with strategy, innovation, and competition in the effort to be more productive and more profitable. At the same time, the sector faces demands that it become more environmentally responsible in its policies and practices. This paper proposes a Lean Implementation Framework that small and mid-size farms can use as they aim to increase production and profit and yet support environmental sustainability. This case study takes an action-oriented research approach that focuses on the implementation of a Green Lean approach at 34 Swedish farms using various Lean tools. The paper describes how training sessions, farm visits, workshops, and counseling were used to introduce the farmers to the benefits and risks of the implementation of a new business model that added Green elements to the traditional business model design. The paper concludes with recommendations for adaptations to the Framework and suggestions for future research.
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The importance of business model innovation (BMI) is widely recognized. BMI is especially important in the agri-food industry that faces enormous challenges as the demand for food increases worldwide. Much of the BMI research focuses on... more
The importance of business model innovation (BMI) is widely recognized. BMI is especially important in the agri-food industry that faces enormous challenges as the demand for food increases worldwide. Much of the BMI research focuses on the technology and biomedical industries. Far less attention has been paid to the agri-food industry. This article is a systematic literature review of the BMI research in the agri-food industry. The article’s aim is to identify and categorize various barriers to BMI as described in the literature (in English) published in peer-reviewed journals between 1990 and 2014. The findings show a fairly even distribution among external and internal BMI barriers. Because the main barrier is the mind-set that is resistant to change, it is recommended the researchers and practitioners should focus more on the cognitive barriers to BMI in the agri-food industry.
The purpose of the extended summary is to develop the understanding of the existence and reasons behind barriers to growth and development in small firms. More specifically, four questions are addr ...
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Purpose – Because the business model (BM) is a fairly new concept, research is lacking on business model innovation (BMI) in certain industry sectors. One such sector is the agri-food sector. Using a systematic literature review (SLR) of... more
Purpose – Because the business model (BM) is a fairly new concept, research is lacking on business model innovation (BMI) in certain industry sectors. One such sector is the agri-food sector. Using a systematic literature review (SLR) of peer-reviewed journal articles published from 1990 to 2014, the purpose of this paper is to examine the where, when, and how of the use of BMs and BMI in the agri-food sector. Design/methodology/approach – A web-based search was conducted to identify peer-reviewed journal articles that contained a combination of “BM” or “BMI” with agriculture-related and food-related terms (e.g. “agri-food sector”). After winnowing out irrelevant and duplicate articles, 505 articles were chosen for analysis. Findings – Using categories, the paper analyses various data about the selected articles. The categories include research settings, units of analysis, methodologies, and theories. Based on this analysis, the paper finds that these agri-food sector articles are primarily qualitative, e...
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The purpose of this article is to deepen our understanding of what we know about business model innovation in the agri-food sector, both from a theoretical as well as a practical perspective. The methodological approach used in the paper... more
The purpose of this article is to deepen our understanding of what we know about business model innovation in the agri-food sector, both from a theoretical as well as a practical perspective. The methodological approach used in the paper is built on interviews, focus groups and observations of agricultural entrepreneurs and agricultural advisors in the agriculture sector and a review of over 500 peer-reviewed research papers for the period 1990-2014. The findings of the study indicate that entrepreneurs within the agri-food sector ought to shift focus from only a producer perspective to also include an entrepreneurial perspective, e.g. to focus on business model innovation. Based on this knowledge the authors present implications for research and practice. The research field is young and broad, but developing, and in need of stronger theoretical foundations. This article is based on a combination of a systematic literature review of a new emerging field as well as empirical in-depth...
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At least two different administrative mechanisms are available for the small business manager to develop and pursue a competitive strategy. One refers to managerial skills needed to implement and follow the competitive strategy chosen by... more
At least two different administrative mechanisms are available for the small business manager to develop and pursue a competitive strategy. One refers to managerial skills needed to implement and follow the competitive strategy chosen by the firm. The other refers to the design of organisation structure i.e. how job tasks are divided, grouped and coordinated. This paper argues that the fit between the competitive strategy followed by a firm and the utilisation of the administrative mechanisms is associated with superior performance of the firm.
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This paper focuses on the situation when a firm moves from being an entrepreneuri ally managed firm to a professionally managed firm. A small firm may have a very simple structure, but when the number of employees grow, so will the need... more
This paper focuses on the situation when a firm moves from being an entrepreneuri ally managed firm to a professionally managed firm. A small firm may have a very simple structure, but when the number of employees grow, so will the need to differentiate and specialise the way work is done. During that transformation, when the organisation and the management principals are changed, leading to a temporary slack of control of the firm, a decrease of economic performance is hypothesised.
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Unpacking priorities of agri-food companies in Sweden : Insights from a survey of Sustainable Business Models
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The purpose of the extended summary is to develop the understanding of the existence and reasons behind barriers to growth and development in small firms. More specifically, four questions are addressed: (1) What do we know about the term... more
The purpose of the extended summary is to develop the understanding of the existence and reasons behind barriers to growth and development in small firms. More specifically, four questions are addressed: (1) What do we know about the term barrier, how can it be defined? (2) What types of barriers to growth and development have been identified? (3) How can barriers to growth and development be addressed in a framework? and (4) How do the results of the appended papers (Papers I-V) contribute to the research field of barriers to growth and development?A literature review was undertaken to answer the first two questions. The literature review was conducted in two phases. The conceptual and operational definition of barriers was addressed in the first phase. The results reveal diverse ways of focusing on barriers, which made it necessary to address similar terms, such as problem and causes of business failure in the second phase of the literature review. The different terms used in the ...
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The purpose of the extended summary is to develop the understanding of the existence and reasons behind barriers to growth and development in small firms. More specifically, four questions are addressed: (1) What do we know about the term... more
The purpose of the extended summary is to develop the understanding of the existence and reasons behind barriers to growth and development in small firms. More specifically, four questions are addressed: (1) What do we know about the term barrier, how can it be defined? (2) What types of barriers to growth and development have been identified? (3) How can barriers to growth and development be addressed in a framework? and (4) How do the results of the appended papers (Papers I-V) contribute to the research field of barriers to growth and development?A literature review was undertaken to answer the first two questions. The literature review was conducted in two phases. The conceptual and operational definition of barriers was addressed in the first phase. The results reveal diverse ways of focusing on barriers, which made it necessary to address similar terms, such as problem and causes of business failure in the second phase of the literature review. The different terms used in the ...
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The purpose of the extended summary is to develop the understanding of the existence and reasons behind barriers to growth and development in small firms. More specifically, four questions are addressed: (1) What do we know about the term... more
The purpose of the extended summary is to develop the understanding of the existence and reasons behind barriers to growth and development in small firms. More specifically, four questions are addressed: (1) What do we know about the term barrier, how can it be defined? (2) What types of barriers to growth and development have been identified? (3) How can barriers to growth and development be addressed in a framework? and (4) How do the results of the appended papers (Papers I-V) contribute to the research field of barriers to growth and development?A literature review was undertaken to answer the first two questions. The literature review was conducted in two phases. The conceptual and operational definition of barriers was addressed in the first phase. The results reveal diverse ways of focusing on barriers, which made it necessary to address similar terms, such as problem and causes of business failure in the second phase of the literature review. The different terms used in the ...
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Barriers and challenges in agri business development – A study of two leadership programs in Sweden
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This conceptual paper focuses on the need for knowledge in leadership, organization and innovative thinking that exist in primary production throughout the value chain from the farm to the final consumer. There are also needs in terms of... more
This conceptual paper focuses on the need for knowledge in leadership, organization and innovative thinking that exist in primary production throughout the value chain from the farm to the final consumer. There are also needs in terms of improving and developing the entire value chain from the farm to the final consumer. Self-leadership and lean innovation is in this paper proposed to enhance the possibilities for business model innovation in the food production. The aims of the paper are two folded; Firstly, the aim is to present a framework containing self-leadership and lean innovation and how these theoretical approaches can facilitate and shape business model innovation in the agricultural sector. Secondly, the aim is to show a way of working with this problem area in order to meet these needs in the agricultural sector. A framework for business model innovation is presented as well as an interactive research design addressing the problem area in terms of action research in whi...
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Fran och med den 1 januari 2011 infordes ett nytt system for kvalitetsutvardering, dar Hogskoleverket bedomer studenternas faktiska studieresultat. Studenternas sjalvstandiga arbeten utgor en viktig del i omdomet av utbildningen. De... more
Fran och med den 1 januari 2011 infordes ett nytt system for kvalitetsutvardering, dar Hogskoleverket bedomer studenternas faktiska studieresultat. Studenternas sjalvstandiga arbeten utgor en viktig del i omdomet av utbildningen. De sjalvstandiga arbetena anses ge en god bild av hur val studenterna uppfyller flera av malen i examensbeskrivningarna. Ekonomikollegiet vid Hogskolan i Halmstad har, i likhet med andra larosaten, arbetat med att utveckla uppsatsprocessen for bade handledare och student. Under de senaste fem aren har uppsatsprocessen utvecklats med fokus pa larande genom kollegial forankring. Arbetet innefattar ett antal arliga aktiviteter. Syftet med arbetssattet ar att genom systematik och erfarenhetsutbyte efterstrava en hog kvalitet bade for studenternas och for handledarnas larprocess under uppsatsarbetet. Under uppsatsprocessen ar det en uttalad strategi att arbeta med larande i bade student- och lararroll. Praktiskt innebar det till exempel att handledare och exami...
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It has been indicated in literature that growth of small firms is essential for job creation, for the national economy and for development as a whole. In order for small firms to realise their grow ...
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Significant literature has focused the relationship between performance and the use of technology, strategy and structure in small and medium sized enterprises (SME); either separately or consideri ...
This paper investigates cultural diversity as means to business sustainability and competitive advantage for entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. The paper focuses on challenges and barriers in immigrant workforce integration as... more
This paper investigates cultural diversity as means to business sustainability and competitive advantage for entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. The paper focuses on challenges and barriers in immigrant workforce integration as revealed by a year-long project conducted among farmers in the region of Halland (on Sweden’s southwest coast). The paper reports on a matchmaking project between farmers seeking employees and job seekers (immigrants) seeking employment. The project began with interviews with 80 farmers and continued with an exploratory meeting with 42 farmers, four discussion meetings with 16 farmers, and face-to-face meetings between farmers and candidates for employment. The project concluded with follow-up interviews with the 42 farmers. While 42 of the 80 farmers were interested in exploring the benefits of immigrant workforce integration, the others (53%) declined further participation in the project. Ultimately, one farmer hired three immigrants. While supportive...
Food waste is an important topic in the context of sustainable development. Although many studies have addressed this topic, there is still limited knowledge owing to insufficient data. This study reports on food waste in two... more
Food waste is an important topic in the context of sustainable development. Although many studies have addressed this topic, there is still limited knowledge owing to insufficient data. This study reports on food waste in two institutional settings in a Swedish municipality: schools and elderly care homes. The findings suggest it is easier to measure and reduce food waste in stable environments, such as exist at schools, than at environments characterized by change and unpredictability, such as exist at elderly care homes. Specific areas examined and compared include cooking and receiving kitchens, infrastructure, communications, and support.
This paper aims to increase our understanding of sustainable business model innovation in the agri-food sector in terms of its theoretical and practical approaches for sustainability and their degree of complexity and maturity. The paper... more
This paper aims to increase our understanding of sustainable business model innovation in the agri-food sector in terms of its theoretical and practical approaches for sustainability and their degree of complexity and maturity. The paper is based on a systematic literature review of 570 journal articles on business models and business model innovation published between 1990 and 2014. Of these articles, only 21 have business model innovation as their main focus. The review shows that research interest in the agri-food sector has increased in these years. The paper proposes a conceptual framework for sustainable business model innovation in the agri-food sector that can be used to meet the challenges encountered in taking a sustainability perspective.
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Purpose: The purpose of this empirical paper is to illustrate two leadership development programs in Swedish agriculture. Further, it is to compare the two programs related to outcomes in terms of ...
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Immigrant entrepreneurs face many challenges in the various early phases of their companies’ existence. These challenges are often referred to as “the liability of newness”. While some of these challenges are common to all entrepreneurs,... more
Immigrant entrepreneurs face many challenges in the various early phases of their companies’ existence. These challenges are often referred to as “the liability of newness”. While some of these challenges are common to all entrepreneurs, the immigrant entrepreneur has an additional set of challenges. This article describes those challenges in the immigrant entrepreneurial experience in the Swedish agri-food industry. A qualitative research design is used. Interviews were conducted with 25 immigrant entrepreneurs who planned a business, had started a business, or had exited a business. Various websites and tax reports provided secondary data. The research, which covered a two-year time frame, identifies the strategies and actions the immigrant entrepreneurs adopted and used to try to overcome those challenges. The following strategies and actions were identified: use of business support, virtual embeddedness, family and ethnic groups, entrepreneurial experience, and niche markets. Th...