Niklas Myhr, Ph.D.

Microsoft gets “MicroPhone” in Nokia Deal

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Business in Scandinavia 2011 outside Nokia HQ
Business in Scandinavia 2011 outside Nokia HQ

Today’s announcement that Microsoft is buying the cell phone part of Nokia (their Devices and Services Division) was hardly shocking. Yet, it is a noteworthy event and also a little bit saddening given that it represents a significant milestone in the downhill slide of Nokia from its heights as the undisputed leader in cell phone manufacturing only a few years ago.

With our Chapman MBA travel course Business in Scandinavia, we visited the Nokia headquarters both in 2010 and in 2011. In the following, I will offer some reactions to what this acquisition may mean in the evolution of the mobile phone industry and intersperse it with some pictures from our Nokia visits. [Read more…]

Chapman Students Boost Swedish Startup’s Social Media

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Megan Daugherty with Josefine Åhl
Megan Daugherty with Josefine Åhl

Recently, I published a blog post Chapman Social Media Aid asking companies if they wanted student teams helping them with their social media efforts. Heeding the call was Swedish startup Oricane, a green technology company offering energy efficient software and big data solutions often reducing cost by 98% and power use by 99%.

[Read more…]

The Man who brought Facebook to “The Node Pole”

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Matz Engman of Luleå Business Agency & Niklas Myhr
Office of Matz Engman of Luleå Business Agency

Had a very pleasant lunch meeting today in the city of Luleå in the province of Norrbotten in northern Sweden with Matz Engman, CEO of Luleå Business Agency (Luleå Näringsliv) currently busy marketing The Node Pole. Matz has had a multifaceted and intriguing career both as an executive in bigger corporations, as an entrepreneur, and even as a Swedish Elite League hockey referee. He had many stories to tell about the two-year sales cycle from initial contact to Facebook’s official announcement to establish themselves just an hour south of the Arctic Circle. Sounds like a challenging sales job to get one of the most iconic brands of our times up here. Ironically, he said that once they had fine-tuned their sales pitch, it was easier to bring Facebook to Luleå than to get a Stockholm-based company to set up shop way up north!

[Read more…]

Business in Scandinavia Travel Course for Chapman University MBAs

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During the 2010 Summer Semester, Professors Niklas Myhr and Clas Wihlborg of Chapman University and its George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics are organizing a travel course called “Business in Scandinavia” for 23 MBA candidates.  In this course, students will learn about corporate culture and governance in Nordic corporations, leading-edge Scandinavian implementation efforts related to sustainability and clean technology, as well as about economic, political and cultural factors affecting marketing strategies for firms entering the Nordic countries and for firms going abroad from there.  During the travel part of the course, the group will visit Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.

Niklas Myhr, Ph.D.

Please email me at niklas [at] thesocialmediaprofessor.com if you have any questions!