Clicky

  • Login
  • Register
  • Submit Your Content
  • Contact Us
Thursday, October 9, 2025
World Tribune
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food
Submit
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food
No Result
View All Result
World Tribune
No Result
View All Result

The Nordic approach to business builds empowerment, team spirit and engagement. But can you copy it? 

October 9, 2025
in Business
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
The Nordic approach to business builds empowerment, team spirit and engagement. But can you copy it? 
0
SHARES
ShareShareShareShareShare

The Nordic approach to business builds empowerment, team spirit and engagement. But can you copy it? 

Nordic countries are known for being happy, with high incomes, robust welfare support and easy access to nature. Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden are in fact the world’s four happiest countries according to the latest UN-sponsored World Happiness Report, with Norway coming in 7th.  

READ ALSO

Battle over Elon Musk’s trillionaire pay package builds as pension funds face off against Tesla

A whopping 72% of S&P 500 companies disclosed AI as a ‘material risk’ on their 10-Ks this year

It turns out, many people are happy at work there too. Nordic-headquartered businesses occupy ten spaces on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For – Europe list, despite their countries constituting under 4% of the continent’s population.  

Denmark and Norway each have three of the top 100—Novo Nordisk, Beierholm and JYSK for the former; Sector Alarm, Norgehus and Reitan Retail for the latter—while Sweden has four: Svea, Tre, Bengt Dahlgren and Sparbanken. 

Is there something in the region’s glacial waters that firms in other parts of the world can learn from?  

Erkko Autio, professor and chair in technology venturing and entrepreneurship at Imperial College Business School, points to four distinguishing features. “Nordic businesses are much less hierarchical. That’s one thing. The second is that these are high-trust cultures that give employees a high level of autonomy. Work life balance is the third factor. Finally, there’s an emphasis on collaboration and consensus rather than dictation,” he explains.  

Anna Nivala, CEO of the Gothenburg branch of Swedish civil engineering consultancy Bengt Dahlgren, says that Swedes joke that “[we’re] the only country where the coworkers make decisions and then the CEO has to adjust. Democracy in that sense is very important, but it makes for a solid ground for psychological safety when you can say to anyone what’s on your mind.” 

The Nordic model in practice 

The four pillars of happy, Nordic companies that Autio highlights—autonomy, low power distance, work-life balance and collaboration—come as a package.  

“Nordic businesses are much less hierarchical.”Erkko Autio, professor and chair in technology venturing and entrepreneurship at Imperial College Business School

A commitment to work-life balance, for example, is critical for empowerment, says Nivala. “When Bengt Dahlgren founded the company 74 years ago, he had a slogan that a hungry engineer was not a good engineer, and he used to treat his employees to blueberry pies and invite them to his house,” she says.  

Today, there are “a lot of small things all of the time that happen to make you feel that your personal life also matters,” including regular fika—coffee and cake breaks where teams get to know each other without talking about work—subsidized company ski trips, and lectures about mindfulness or preventing calendar creep.  

This level of caring and personal openness—owning mistakes is part of being present as a whole person—filters into the business culture. “Sharing with each other that you’re going through a divorce or having difficulties with this or that makes you trust each other more,” Nivala explains.  

It’s a familiar story in the Nordics. Danish pharma firm Novo Nordisk, which also makes the top 100, is similarly known for a culture where employees call the CEO by their first name, and don’t feel pressure to stay at work late. 

Not for everyone  

These principles—however virtuous—do come with risks. Autio points to Nokia, Finland’s one-time giant mobile maker, as an example of the pros and cons of the Nordic approach. 

Nokia started out in forestry and heavy industries before pivoting to electronics in the 1960s and 1970s, later rising to dominate the global mobile phone market in the 1990s and early 2000s. At the time, it credited this position to its flat hierarchy, pushing decision-making closer to customers.  

“Sharing with each other that you’re going through a divorce or having difficulties with this or that makes you trust each other more.”

Anna Nivala, CEO of the Gothenburg branch of Bengt Dahlgren

But when the iPhone ushered in the smartphone era, the company couldn’t make the transition a second time and eventually exited the market; it now specializes in telecommunications equipment.  

The much-dissected failure partly came from strategic errors, but Autio also blames the company’s system of middle management committees: “The committees were empowered to decide which approaches to move ahead with. They ended up in a situation where the middle managers kept voting down each other’s initiatives, and that reduced Nokia’s capability to respond to industry change.” 

That isn’t to say that consensus culture prevents innovation or agility—Autio offers Sweden’s vibrant start-up sector as evidence to the contrary. Nivala also says that once consensus is secured, things tend to move faster because everyone is aligned.  

Getting the balance right does take skilful execution. Perhaps the most important—and apt—lesson from the Nordic companies on this year’s Best Companies to Work For – Europe list is that leaders cannot impose a collaborative culture from the top down.  

“Often you can think it’s the leader’s responsibility, but you need to talk to every coworker about creating this kind of environment,” says Nivala. “It’s not just what is the boss going to do, it’s how are you going to contribute? And what do you need to contribute?” 

Fortune Global Forum returns Oct. 26–27, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and global leaders will gather for a dynamic, invitation-only event shaping the future of business. Apply for an invitation.

Credit: Source link

ShareTweetSendSharePin
Previous Post

Israel and Hamas Reach a Deal

Next Post

Cody Bellinger leads brigade of Yankees free agents whose futures are up in air

Related Posts

Battle over Elon Musk’s trillionaire pay package builds as pension funds face off against Tesla
Business

Battle over Elon Musk’s trillionaire pay package builds as pension funds face off against Tesla

October 9, 2025
A whopping 72% of S&P 500 companies disclosed AI as a ‘material risk’ on their 10-Ks this year
Business

A whopping 72% of S&P 500 companies disclosed AI as a ‘material risk’ on their 10-Ks this year

October 9, 2025
 Some Ford employees say they’ve been warned they could be fired for skipping office days, according to report
Business

 Some Ford employees say they’ve been warned they could be fired for skipping office days, according to report

October 9, 2025
CBS becomes Bari Weiss’ ‘anti-woke’ arena as the millennial media mogul (and mainstream media critic) digs in
Business

CBS becomes Bari Weiss’ ‘anti-woke’ arena as the millennial media mogul (and mainstream media critic) digs in

October 8, 2025
Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert says he believes the world needs responsible business more than ever
Business

Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert says he believes the world needs responsible business more than ever

October 8, 2025
Top trends shaping the future of finance—AI, agility, and proactive leadership are in the spotlight
Business

Top trends shaping the future of finance—AI, agility, and proactive leadership are in the spotlight

October 8, 2025
Next Post
Cody Bellinger leads brigade of Yankees free agents whose futures are up in air

Cody Bellinger leads brigade of Yankees free agents whose futures are up in air

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What's New Here!

Tech giants to pour billions into UK AI. Here’s what we know so far

Tech giants to pour billions into UK AI. Here’s what we know so far

September 16, 2025
Anthony Volpe booed after fitting cap to ugly ALDS for Yankees

Anthony Volpe booed after fitting cap to ugly ALDS for Yankees

October 9, 2025
Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to his Gen Z factory workers: ‘They were saying I had to have three jobs’

Ford CEO on his ‘epiphany’ after talking to his Gen Z factory workers: ‘They were saying I had to have three jobs’

September 30, 2025
Nuclear in my backyard? More of America, and market, seems OK with it

Nuclear in my backyard? More of America, and market, seems OK with it

October 5, 2025
The best MagSafe power banks for your iPhone

The best MagSafe power banks for your iPhone

September 19, 2025
Germany was billed as Europe’s growth driver. Now, economists aren’t convinced

Germany was billed as Europe’s growth driver. Now, economists aren’t convinced

September 19, 2025
The Logitech MX Master 4 is here with haptic feedback, less rubber and the same shape

The Logitech MX Master 4 is here with haptic feedback, less rubber and the same shape

September 30, 2025

About

World Tribune is an online news portal that shares the latest news on world, business, health, tech, sports, and related topics.

Follow us

Recent Posts

  • Battle over Elon Musk’s trillionaire pay package builds as pension funds face off against Tesla
  • China’s Golden Week’ travel boom masks a bruising price war
  • Ferrari’s first EV is coming next year with big speed, big sound and a Jony Ive design
  • Cody Bellinger leads brigade of Yankees free agents whose futures are up in air

Newslatter

Loading
  • Submit Your Content
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • DMCA

© 2024 World Tribune - All Rights Reserved!

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food

© 2024 World Tribune - All Rights Reserved!

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In