Kristiania Professor ranks high on Stanford list

Stanford's exclusive list World Ranking Of Scientists shows that professor Gøran Svensson is at the absolute top in Norway in the field of business and management.

Gøran Svensson works at the Department of Marketing at the School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing and is pleasantly surprised by the ranking. 

– I didn’t know that the list existed, but it is fun and good for Kristiania that several of us have joined”, he says.

Kristiania University College stands out with four names on Stanford's prestige list. Gøran Svensson is in good company with Andrea Arcuri, Anders Olof Larsson and Stephen Birch.

From business to healthcare

Svensson's main area is business and management, but there is great breadth in what he researches. He enjoys the freedom to work with what interests him and the research ranges from business to sustainability, ethics and consumption. Now health data is also in focus. 

In Norway, this has been seen as a societal crisis from the outset, but in Sweden this was defined as a health crisis.

He began collecting data on the pandemic a year ago. The fact that he lives in Sweden and works in Norway is a good starting point for comparing how the countries handled the threat from Covid-19. Research articles on the pandemic will hopefully be published during the year.

– In Norway, this has been seen as a societal crisis from the outset, but in Sweden this was defined as a health crisis. This meant that completely different measures have been taken. This can also be clearly seen in the data.

He is critical of how Sweden handled the pandemic and he praises Norway's approach, which has reduced both the infection rate and the death toll. The figures clearly show that it is the spread of infection that is the key. 

– If we know how many people are infected, we can calculate how many people will be hospitalised, how many people will need intensive care and how many will die!

Svensson is on his way to Spain to continue his working using Spanish data. Together with the Spanish researcher Rocio Rodriguez, who is also an honorary professor at Kristiania, he will research how Spain has utilised their resources during the pandemic.

– In Spain, we see that the public hospitals were full, at the same time as the private hospitals had spare capacity. The total capacity was not utilised and it had fatal consequences, many people died!

The companies that are good have focused on sustainability for a long time and have implemented many different measures.

A parallel project has been created with Professor Nils Høgevold from Kristiania University College based on Norwegian health data.

Sustainability in business

Sustainability is one of the other fields Svensson works with. Together with several researchers, he looks at what characterizes companies that are good at sustainability. They connect economic, social and environmental aspects and examine what these companies achieve that we can learn from. Several pioneering companies are included in the study. From Norway, Håg produces office chairs. In Sweden, they have investigated a dairy and the burger chain Max that makes fast food (with quality). And in South Africa, the focus is on the Woolworth department store chain. 

– The companies that are good have focused on sustainability for a long time and have implemented many different measures. The focus on sustainability is driven by management, which has focused on this issue, even though it was not profitable in the beginning. The companies have also looked at the entire chain, from suppliers to production and finally sales to the customer. 

Driving force in the research

The projects always start with him looking at what results the research can give and how they can be used. Although research is both a hobby and a passion, the research must give something back to society. 

I don’t have a normal working week from Monday to Friday. I work with research every day. I even manage to do something on Christmas Day!

– It is challenging to identify how a project can be designed so that it works. The goal is to obtain results that are interesting to others. Then we can also have articles published about it. That is what I am continually focusing on.

Never a day without research

It is rare that Svensson is inactive. He works everywhere, at the airport or on the bus, and he uses his time efficiently. This is also evident from his high production rate. On average, he publishes more than 15 research articles a year! As of March 2021, he has been cited more than 10,700 times and is approaching 300 publications in research journals! 

 – I don’t have a normal working week from Monday to Friday. I work with research every day. I even manage to do something on Christmas Day! 

It was when he was working on his doctorate that he got into the habit of working every day, and he still does. It can be boring to sit and analyse data from morning to night, but it is important to stay in the bubble until you have obtained something from it.

– When you work every day, research is always high on the agenda. The projects don’t stop because you take breaks, and then it moves forward. There is always something more going on.

Recruited to Kristiania

Gøran Svensson was recruited to Kristiania University College in 2005 and he praises the investment that the management at the college has made to develop the research environments.

– It is important to have an enthusiastic management that wants to have and support research. But you don’t always solve things just by giving people funding. Achievements lead to funding, but funding does not always lead to achievements.

The world was a different place when he started researching in 1994 and international collaboration was not so widespread. He has learned how to create projects and write in international research groups along the way. Today, Svensson has an impressive international network. He has published with almost 80 different co-authors from many different countries across 6 continents. The large international network also helps to put Kristiania University College on the map. 

– I do a lot of background work to find out which projects we should focus on, who we should collaborate with, and in which countries. I am like a spider in the web, pulling several strings.

Good cooperation

Svensson thinks the promotion of others is an important goal in research. Once you have become a professor, you should help others so they can advance in academia. He has contributed to several people becoming professors. 

Not everyone is suitable to be a surgeon. You have to see what you are good at!

– When you have received a doctorate, you need to distinguish yourself by joining research projects and getting published, so that you progress in academic life.

Those he collaborates with need to be more than just good researchers. They must also be nice people.

– Being humble and pleasant are important qualities, and you must want to achieve something. The human part is important, because good people provide a good research group. 

About himself, Svensson says with a smile:

– Not everyone is suitable to be a surgeon. You have to see what you are good at!