How can a small country like Sweden have so many large, innovative export companies? This was the question that 50 MBA students from the Wharton School in the USA and master students from KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden sought answers to when they visited ABB Large Motors and Generators in Vasteras, Sweden in March.
Impressed students
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest schools in the US and has one of the best MBA programs in the country. The visit to Sweden was part of their course "Understanding Sweden: Focus on Innovation and Operations" and was conducted in collaboration with ABB's strategic partner university KTH. In addition to ABB, the students visited other companies with advanced technology and Swedish roots, such as Scania, Sandvik, Ericsson, Hitachi Energy and Northvolt.
"It was exciting to showcase Swedish industry to the Wharton students. They were impressed by the level of quality, by the large mandate that employees have, by the work with sustainable development and the balanced attitude that the industry showed regarding digitalization linked to production and logistics," says Johan Blaus, senior advisor strategic partnerships at KTH and one of those responsible for the visit.
Two assignments from ABB
At ABB Large Motors and Generators, the students got a factory tour and had a workshop on two assignments that they received from ABB: to investigate Energy Management in the process industry from a sustainability and business perspective and what is required to get customers to choose energy efficient solutions. David Bjerhag was the host during the visit and he answered many questions about everything from carbon neutrality and R&D investments, to ABB's opportunities to influence the development of society.
"It was a fun and inspiring visit with a lot of unexpected questions. Collaborations with universities are very important, both to be a learning organization that can think in new ways and to position ABB for future recruitment or collaborations, says David Bjerhag, Global Business Line Manager, Large Motors and Generators.
Win-win for all participants
The visit to Sweden was the first in what is intended to be a recurring collaboration between the Wharton School, KTH and the Swedish companies. At the end of March, the students' report on the assignments they received from ABB will be presented.
"Getting an outside-in perspective on our challenges is very interesting. It gives us an opportunity to challenge ourselves and our way of thinking about business. This collaboration is a win-win for all participants; the students get real cases to work with and we get new ideas to include in our strategies, says Mikael Dahlgren, Head of Research ABB Sweden.
