Strategic Management in the Era of Cooperation: Toward a Theory of Scandinavian Cooperative Advantage

Whereas strategic management in the U.S. has traditionally focused on competition and a competitive advantage, Scandinavian strategic management has long centered on effective cooperation. In light of recent calls in the U.S. to shift toward cooperation to realize opportunities for shared value creation and address sustainability challenges, the Scandinavian context can effectively serve as an inspiration for this shift. We conduct our exploration with two interrelated objectives: to increase awareness of the Scandinavian cooperative approach and encourage practitioner and researcher inquiry, and to provide a stepping stone to a more thorough research agenda on cooperation in the Scandinavian context.