Stockholm

"Frederik and Eva Paulsen were pioneers in developing and selling drugs based on peptide hormones, which are small proteins secreted into the bloodstream from the pituitary gland. Eva Paulsen had experience in the field through previous research assignments. She had experimented with peptide hormones during her time at Pharmacia and Organon in Stockholm. Frederik and Eva Paulsen were convinced that the natural origin of peptide hormones could provide a more suitable basis for drug development than the steroids other companies were working with in the 1950s. They acquired a house in Malmö where they established a research department. In 1961, the research team made a major breakthrough when they learned to produce the peptide hormones vasopressin, also called antidiuretic hormone (ADH), and oxytocin synthetically and on an industrial scale. Ferring was one of the first companies in the world to succeed in this. The pharmaceutical company intended to treat diabetes insipidus (DI), not diabetes mellitus, which is commonly referred to as sugar sickness. DI increases urine production, which can lead to dehydration and pose a life-threatening risk if not treated. The synthetically manufactured drugs had fewer side effects, and the company was no longer dependent on the supply of pig pituitaries. After nearly seven decades, it has proven that the investment was right. To this day, peptide hormones are used in several of Ferring’s drugs."

"Over the years, we have analyzed numerous decentralized organizations, but rarely have we encountered a company as decentralized and averse to bureaucracy as Lifco. Despite being comprised of 250 portfolio companies and over 6,000 employees, Lifco operates with an incredibly lean structure, and its headquarters in Stockholm employs a mere handful of people."

"Andersson, Ruben: What scientific management is – and what it is not, Nordic Journal of Organisation, Stockholm 1920. Andersson, Ruben: An American reorganization, Nordic Journal of Organisation, Stockholm 1920."

"Rausing, Gad: The Way of an Invention from the Laboratory Bench to the World Market. The case of Tetra Pak, from The Creative Process, edited by Lars Gustafsson, Susan Howard, and Lars Niklasson, Stockholm 1993."

"Fagerstedt, Otto & Sörlin, Sverker: The Witness of the Future, Ludvig Nordström and the dream of Sweden, Stockholm 1978."

"Lindqvist, Mats: Gentlemen in business: about capitalist culture and mentality, Stockholm 1996."

"As the big day approached, there was some doubt among the ranks about whether people would really come. Sweden was going to play Hungary in football the same day as the gathering would take place. To enable as many as possible to participate, Erik Torudd and Sven Lundberg therefore decided to split the information meeting into three different sessions throughout the day. They also realized that they needed some sort of attraction to draw people in. When the doors were flung open to the grand ball and concert halls of the Winter Palace at Norra Bantorget in Stockholm, people poured in. The great film and revue actors Stig Järrel, Sickan Carlsson, and Gösta Bernhard warmed up the audience with some entertainment. Then Erik Torudd took over and accounted for sales figures from Lund. They showed that retailers who sold cream in bulk only earned five öre per half liter. The reason was mainly the loss that occurred during the measurements in the cream measures. With tetra packaging, however, the stores could earn 20 öre per half liter, claimed Erik Torudd. The three performances were a success. In total, over 5,000 people came and the week after, Stockholm’s tetra sales increased from 3,000 to an incredible 43,000 packages."

"In 1993, IK opened its Swedish office on Birger Jarlsgatan in Stockholm, above the restaurant Riche. That same year, the firm made its first deal in Finland, the purchase of Kone Cranes, which almost fell through at the last moment."

"Elderly care is a special market. The municipality that pays is the customer, but not the user of the services, and above all wants to keep the price down. Until the Carema deal, the general rule in the county councils was that the company that submitted the cheapest bid won the procurement. Previously, the agreements also did not take into account factors such as care units with patients who require more care must receive more money than those with less need. This was changed by the city of Stockholm after the Carema deal. The patients who are in nursing homes are rarely healthy enough to assert their rights and in practice cannot choose another home, even if they sit in their own excrement all day. They are often demented and their truth carries little weight. In the larger cities, staff turnover at the homes is high, making it difficult and time-consuming to plan and implement changes. In short, it is a tough industry. Especially for those who have never set foot there before."

"The second was that DN's revenue streams were faltering. The golden year 1969 had made the group one of the country's most profitable companies, but it had quickly gone downhill thereafter. The management's interpretation of the result development was based on an incorrect analysis of the newspaper's strength. Circulation and advertising influx stagnated. It was not a sustainable long-term strategy to meet rising costs and weakening profits with constant price increases for subscribers and advertisers. An underestimated factor was also that Stockholm's very rapid growth had taken a hit from the politically-driven relocation of authorities. DN was a national newspaper, but developments in Stockholm were absolutely crucial for the company's economy. In the early 1970s, household coverage in the city was over fifty percent, with an almost monopoly on the advertising market."

"Thereafter, I arranged a meeting with Bo, and it was a straightforward conversation in his fine office on Arsenalsgatan in Stockholm. I said that I intended to buy the A-shares if Bo and I agreed on the future. My proposal was that a new company would take the name Skrinet and include his preferred interests. Bo would buy the voting-strong A-shares in the new Skrinet. Together, we would place the B-shares on the market so he could introduce the company to the stock exchange. The old Skrinet, "my Skrinet," would change its name and focus on larger companies. The name became Herakles for a period. It was crucial that Bo Sandell supported this solution."

"I had come to the conclusion that real estate could be a good alternative for building a longer-term stronger balance sheet for the DN group. They provided a secure return and there were attractive financing opportunities in the prevailing high inflation environment. The board shared this view and during 1979, which became my last year as CEO of the DN group, we came to make a major investment in the development of Marievik, a real estate area south of Söder in Stockholm, together with Hufvudstaden. The project became more expensive than estimated and the leasing was sluggish for many years, but it eventually turned out to be a good deal when the complex was sold in the 1980s."

"There's a lot at stake. If the establishment fails, Erling Persson exposes his entire family to problems – in addition to all the sacrifices they have already made to even be able to open. His reputation as a businessman is good, but a reputation must be nurtured. He has chosen Västerås because he wants to test his business idea a bit away from Stockholm. If it goes south, it would not tarnish his other business activities. But Erling Persson has done business before and tries to shake off the worry."

"In Stockholm, a gigantic billboard featuring Madonna in her own H&M-designed clothes is put up, covering an entire facade at Stureplan. The combination of Madonna, sex, and cheap designer clothes creates chaos as customers queue early in the morning and nearly fight over the clothes. The opening at the flagship store on Hamngatan in Stockholm is like nothing else. The first ten customers receive a trench coat with Madonna's autograph. The collection consists of about thirty garments and ten accessories. A dress costs 300 kronor and the trench coat 800 kronor."