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Henrik Eriksson, professor i industriell ekonomi

 

Welcome to University West, Henrik! Tell us about your research!

“I research the quality and management work of organizations and how they drive development. I have studied, among other things, companies that have received the Swedish Quality Award from SIQ* to see what lies behind their successes. Overall, I have identified five central principles that seem to contribute to an organization’s ability to achieve its goals.”

What characterizes successful organizations?

“They focus on customer needs and benefits in everything they do. They work value-creating throughout the organization and have a well-functioning collaboration between departments. They do not have a classic hierarchical leadership but often some form of self-managing activity. They excel at creating meaning, which fosters high employee engagement. They also drive continuous innovation and improvement efforts.”

“Many successful organizations have found effective processes that engage employees in improvement work. Another observation is that they often take small steps rather than implementing large, sweeping changes.”

What trends do you see in your research area?

“Decentralized organizations are of increasing interest and can be wise to examine if one wants to attract upcoming generations. Today’s youth and young adults do not want to work in hierarchical organizations, according to Gallup surveys.”

“There are several examples of successful companies that have chosen not to have any managers but have found other forms for their organization. One example from the Netherlands is the care company Buurtzorg, which has about 15,000 employees but no managers. Here, teams of a maximum of twelve employees work together with clear rules. In Sweden, there are also some interesting examples like Centiro and Bjorn Lunden AB.”

Do organizations work better without managers?

“Leadership is not really a natural form of organization for us humans. The idea of having managers and hierarchical organizational forms emerged later in human development. Before that, we worked in groups where cooperation and community could be achieved without bureaucracy and administrative layers.”

“Research shows that development driven by employees achieves greater success and creates higher engagement among staff than when managers formulate strategies to be implemented in the organization.”

“What is important for an organization is to facilitate changes and create good conditions for that. Successful organizations operate like agile schools of fish, not like cumbersome ocean liners.”

What sparked your interest in this research area?

“I have a strong interest in these issues and have worked with improvement efforts and management in several different organizations. This inspired me to delve deeper into the subject. I hope to contribute to organizations learning more and developing their management and organization.”

What are the biggest challenges for researchers in this field?

“There is a significant gap between what we know and what is actually done in organizations. Despite the wealth of research available, it is difficult to reach out and transform knowledge into benefits in organizations. This may relate to how we researchers work, but it can also be difficult to change organizations. It’s easier to stick to old habits.

“In fact, there is much money to be saved by developing quality and management systems. Research shows that companies’ quality deficiencies on average account for about 30 percent of their total costs.”

What are you currently working on?

“My focus is on, together with others, building up the university’s research in industrial engineering and management, and developing our new master’s program in Supply Chain & Operations, which starts in autumn 2025. I am also a supervisor for PhD students.”

“I come from a previous position at Chalmers and see advantages in working at a relatively young and smaller university. For example, it is easier to collaborate when the distances between people are not very large. There is a good drive here, which I appreciate.”

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*The Swedish Quality Award is presented by the Swedish Institute for Quality, SIQ, and aims to support the development of systematic change work at the organizational level and highlight good role models for inspiration for others in both the private and public sectors.

More about Henrik Eriksson 

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