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March 2018 Vol 89:02 $5.95

The Benefits of Cultural Awareness

02 2018

Interview with Dr Fons Trompenaars Ambassador Olofsdotter Northvolt

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Company File

A Massive Swedish Enterprise in Support of the Fossil-Free Society By Peter Berlin

uclear and hydroelectric power stations produce fossil-free electric energy continuously and reliably, but their ecofriendliness is debatable. To satisfy the world’s ever-growing hunger for uninterrupted supply of electric energy, the most obvious solution is to store peak energy flows from solar panels, wind turbines and underwater tidal generators in electricity “reservoirs”, i.e. batteries. But batteries have long been too expensive to fulfil the purpose in an affordable manner; their operational lifetimes have been limited, and producing them is often an ecologically unfriendly process. If we are to achieve a viable fossil-free society anytime soon, battery performance, cost and manufacturing techniques have to be improved urgently. This is where Northvolt, an ambitious Swedish startup company, enters the world stage. The plan is to build a gargantuan factory near the northern Swedish city of Skellefteå. It will mass-produce lithium-ion batteries, a technology which is nowadays standard in cell phones, aircraft, spacecraft, electric cars and electric bicycles.

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Northvolt factory sketch. Photos: Northvolt

The installation is projected to cost up to SEK 40 bn ($5 bn) and will employ around 2,500 staff, with construction set to begin in late 2018. This is a huge venture and somewhat risky for a small country like Sweden, firstly because not all the funding is yet in place and, secondly, Northvolt is not the only such enterprise around. The largest of these belongs to the American electric car factory Tesla, and others are in various stages of planning in Japan, Korea, Germany, Poland and Hungary. However, while these potential competitors rely on external suppliers for raw materials, Northvolt differs by aspiring to be in charge of the whole production chain, all the way from mining the core minerals (lithium, graphite, and oxides of nickel, cobalt and manganese) to manufacturing and delivering

complete batteries. Moreover, the company asserts that the minerals can be mined in and around Sweden. By adopting this vertical approach, the company hopes to bring down production costs, while at the same time making the availability of core supplies independent of any political and economic turmoil abroad. Proponents of batteries as an alternative to fossil fuels are sometimes accused of misleading the general public. Battery manufacturing is not exactly eco-friendly, because it consumes a lot of electric power, often generated using coal, oil or gas. One of the reasons why Northvolt has chosen northern Sweden for its plant is that there is an ample supply of hydro-electric power, thereby reducing the emission of greenhouse gases to a minimum. The global market for affordable, high-capacity electric batteries is vast in both the transportation and the power generation sectors. Northvolt is the brainchild of Peter Carlsson, a 45-year-old Swedish entrepreneur whose c.v. includes 6 years at Tesla as Director of Supply Chain Management and Logistics. In that capacity he worked closely with the legendary Elon Musk, founder of Tesla as well as Space-X. With these and other impressive credentials, Carlsson is in a good position to make the Northvolt venture a success. www.northvolt.com

H E RI TAG E

Good Friday became a holiday in the 1770s... Good Friday By Sofie Kinefors

owadays in Sweden, Good Friday is like any other holiday when shops stay open late and people can enjoy a night out on the town. Fun choices include indulging in a fancy dinner with a glass of wine at their favorite restaurant, singing or dancing at their favorite bar, or checking out the latest comedy flick at the cinema. But it wasn’t always that way – Good Friday used to be a long, boring and uneventful day. In Sweden, Good Friday (långfredagen in Swedish) is a holiday which falls on Friday before Easter and follows the Christian tradition of dedicating the day to the memory of Jesus’ suffering and death. Good Friday became a holiday in the 1770s, and well into the 20th century it remained a day of great sorrow characterized by darkness, silence and waiting.

Stained glass in the St. Gertrude’s church in Stockholm. Photo: Jorisvo

Remembering the pain Jesus had endured on Good Friday was important to most families. During the early 1700s twigs/ branches/brushwood whipping (rispiskning) was sometimes practiced as a reminder of his suffering. The whipping usually occurred in the morning or at night, and there were many ways of going about the practice. The person who woke up first could, for example,

start whipping the ones who were still in bed. The father of the house could also whip his children and servants. Fortunately for those with low pain thresholds, the practice later became a bit more lighthearted, whereby the children would whip their parents. Sometimes referred to as the “longest day of the year”, Good Friday was a day of minimal exertion. The faithful were urged not to carry out any unnecessary tasks. Only essential jobs were performed. Good Friday was therefore filled with strict rules about what one could and could not do. Ideally, people stayed at home, avoiding chores or fun activities. Children were asked to stay calm and were not allowed to play. Food served on Good Friday was simple, and the radio (and later TV) would most likely be turned off. Public events were forbidden during Good Friday. Cinemas, shops and restaurants were closed. The ban on public entertainment wasn’t lifted until 1969. Well into the 20th century people would dress up in black on Good Friday as a way of honoring Jesus’ suffering on the cross. Children usually wore formal dress. When Easter finally arrived the day after Good Friday, people were ready and eager to celebrate with good food, sweet treats, bonfires, decorations, fun and games. Today, not so good Friday is a distant memory. More joyous (and less painful) celebrations of Easter start on Easter morning. Good Friday has become a joyous occasion for all to relish – if they so choose.

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E X C L U S I V E

I N T E R V I E W

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Riding the Waves of Culture Dr Fons Trompenaars is co-founder of the consultancy firm Trompenaars HampdenTurner, and is the author of the book Riding the Waves of Culture. This book, now in its third edition, has sold over 120,000 copies and has been translated into 16 languages. Two central themes in the book are the definitions of cultural norms and values, and how they translate into seven cultural dimensions (please see the companion article on page 12 – 13). Swedish Press spoke to Dr Trompenaars and his Australian business partner Sean Williams, co-founder and Commercial Director of Mundus International. Sean is currently living in Sweden and advises foreign diplomats and business executives on how to interpret Swedish culture, traditions and institutions.

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Dr. Fons Trompenaars. Photo: Trompenaars Hampden-Turner Consulting

Swedish Press: Can you please summarize how Cross-Cultural Awareness in general, and understanding the 7 dimensions in particular, will benefit the readers of Swedish Press? Fons Trompenaars: In a nutshell, we distinguish between four levels of cross-cultural competence: Recognition, Respect, Reconciliation, and Realization. The 7 cultural dimensions are particularly relevant for the recognition level. For example, an American may feel intuitively that Swedes are more reserved than his own compatriots. A Swede, on the other hand, may think of American culture as being rather superficial. We find that people often use the 7 dimensions as convenient labels merely to recognize why they don’t like people from different cultures, so we try to make them also respect those differences. Once people have learned to both recognize and respect, they are still left with a dilemma, namely how to make some-

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thing useful out of the differences. This is what we call reconciliation – the art of integrating opposites. So what specific action should one take to make all this happen? That is the realization part of the equation, and it is facilitated by understanding that there are scientific cross-cultural models underlying the 7 dimensions. This is why I think the dimensions are helpful for people who travel across different cultures. SP: Swedes who come to live in America sometimes observe that Americans are welcoming and extroverted, allowing the newcomer to build up a network of superficial acquaintances relatively quickly. On the other hand the Swedes often feel that they have very few real friends, and so they end up feeling lonely. Can this be explained through cultural differences between Swedes and Americans? FT: I do recognize this phenomenon and like to illustrate it using the “peach versus coconut” analogy. It is a metaphor for the Neutral versus the Affective, in combination with the

04/Specific versus Diffuse. Source: Trompenaars Hampden-Turner Consulting

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Specific versus the Diffuse (3rd and 4th dimensions, page 13). Americans tend to be Specific and Affective, which translates as enjoying other people, whereas Swedes are Diffuse and Neutral, which translates into esteem of other people. A specific culture is like a peach with lots of easily accessible flesh on the outside but a tough, almost impenetrable stone at the core. Culturally speaking, a typical American is a peach with a generous amount of flesh, or “public domain”. An American may say to a casual acquaintance: “Help yourself to a beer in my fridge”, or “feel free to borrow my car”, because these belongings exist in his or her public domain. Subjects like ill health, politics and religion reside in the private domain at the American’s core and are only shared with close friends. SP: Conversely, North Americans in Sweden often find it difficult to establish contact with Swedes who are perceived as introverted and inaccessible, even in the absence of a language barrier since most Swedes speak good English. How can this sense of isolation be explained? FT: This is because Swedes are more like the coconut, difficult to penetrate at first but all yours if and when you manage to drill your way through to their core. By the way, a little alcohol helps to lubricate the drill! The big problem arises if you try to overlay the peach and the coconut, which leads to

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S E A N

the feelings of isolation on both sides that you describe in your questions. What is in an American’s public domain belongs to a Swede’s private domain, and vice versa – so don’t assume that you can just grab a beer from your host’s fridge or borrow his car when visiting Sweden, and don’t lecture Americans about politics or religion if you are a Swede. On the other hand, feel free to enjoy the hospitality of Americans, even if it seems superficial, and know that once you have penetrated that hard outer shell of a Swede, you have got a friend for life. Sean Williams: The inaccessibility of Swedes is well documented in various international Sean Williams. Photo: benchmark Mundus International tests. In one such study involving 60 nationalities, Swedes obtained the lowest ranking when it came to establishing basic social relationships. During a typical fika pause at the office, people will eat pastries and exchange pleasantries. Afterwards, everybody goes their separate ways, and there is no expectation to engage in further social contact. By the same token, it is well established that Swedes make very loyal friends, even if it takes a foreigner months or years to reach that point in the relationship.

W I L L I A M S

FT: Let me support what Sean just said by giving an example. Recently while I was giving a workshop in China, a very good Swedish friend of mine passed away. To my surprise, his friends and relatives were quite upset that I didn’t attend his funeral in Sweden. I had thought that they would show an understanding for my absence, given my situation at the time, but I was clearly mistaken. In Sweden, if a close friend dies, you drop everything and come to the funeral, because that is what true friendship is all about. SW: How true. If Swedes are coconuts and Americans are peaches, then we Australians are mangoes – less flesh, bigger stone, and no hard shell! FT: So far we have mostly talked about Dimensions 3 and 4, but let us not overlook the other ones, especially number 7 which has to do with dominating the environment versus subordinating oneself to the environment. By “environment” I don’t just mean Nature, but also the world around us. The Americans have a greater tendency to dominate the environment than the Swedes, for whom harmony with the environment is sacrosanct. You see this for example in the American build-up of the military, versus Sweden’s preference for conflict resolution through diplomacy in peacetime and neutrality in wartime. Interviewed by Peter Berlin

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Road to 2045

In the Road to 2045 series, Swedish Press explores climate change issues in Sweden and how the country deals with this major challenge. Swedish Press has entered into a collaboration with Forum for Reforms, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (Fores) who are experts in this area. In the coming months you will see updates on activities and regulations in Sweden, case studies on interesting companies, and interviews with leading climate profiles.

Greening Mobility – Can Sweden Take the Lead?

By Mattias Goldmann

n most advanced economies, transport is the largest or second largest contributor to climate change emissions, while at the same time accounting for a large share of premature deaths due to local air pollution. Can Sweden take the lead in the move to greener, more sustainable mobility? The competition is fierce, as shown by this second article from the 2030-secretariat. Paris is about transports After the ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement, a rapid move towards more sustainable modes of transport has started taking place. This is partially due to the fact that the countries in the process of determining

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their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) require large and quick emission reductions from the transport sector – but also that there is now a competition for leadership in finding, showing and promoting green transport solutions. Sweden: A fossil independent transport sector By 2030, Sweden’s climate impact from the transport sector should decrease by 70 % compared to 2010. This is part of the new climate law, approved by seven out of the eight parties in Parliament. When asked why such a small country should have such a tough target – according to Swedish think tank Fores the toughest in the world – the parties focus on how climate leadership is good for business. Industry agrees. Swedish truck manufacturer Scania’s story is a case in point: They only sell about 3 percent of their trucks and buses in Sweden, making it something like the 17th largest market. “It can never be our biggest market, but it can be our most important. When new technology is first tested in Sweden, other bigger markets will be inspired and order this from us”, says Scania strategist Urban Wästljung. Indeed, the world’s first continuously inductively charged electric bus – a Scania which runs in Swedish Södertälje – has already attracted worldwide attention which is now turning into orders. Biofuel producers, manufacturers of electric vehicle charging and experts in autonomous vehicles have similar stories but also warn against complacency. The race for leadership is on! From Norway to India Sweden’s neighbor to the west, Norway, is a prime contender for sustainable mobility championship, with plug-in

cars making up more than half of new car sales – way ahead of any other country in the world. After the Teslas and Nissan Leafs, the next step is now ferries, buses and trucks – and by 2040 all domestic aviation is to be electric. Sweden’s other neighbor Denmark is equally aggressive with biking, which accounts for 60% of Copenhageners’ daily commute, while the Finns are world leaders in turning wood residues into transport fuel. And in the 2030secretariat ranking, the Netherlands has been the most cost-effective in moving to sustainable mobility – an aspect that will be ever more important as less affluent countries seek inspiration. Across the Atlantic, while President Trump’s federal government is relaxing regulations on clean vehicles and fuels, states like California are accelerating the pace and widening the scope of the regulations. And in September, the Indian government proved that the move to sustainable transport is a world-wide phenomenon by stating that “Car makers who continue to produce vehicles that run on traditional fuels will have their factories bulldozed.” A global helpdesk The government initiative Fossil-free Sweden equates the ambitions with being a permanent world exhibition for sustainable solutions, while the 2030-secretariat wants Sweden to be a “global helpdesk for greener transports”. But is it really going to be Sweden that the world will dial for help? This may be the fiercest fight we’ve yet seen between these friendly, peace-loving Nordic countries. Fores is a Swedish think tank devoted to questions related to climate and environment, migration and integration, entrepreneurship and economic reforms, as well as the digital society.

Canada, US & beyond

Swedish Events around the World

Chicago

Museum has two exhibits by Swedish artists – “Available Light,” an installation of still and moving images of life on a farm in Sweden, may be seen in the Swedish American Museum through March 29. The presentation by artist Erika Råberg was compiled over several years on her family’s property in rural Värmland. Råberg earned a master’s degree in photography in 2015 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has been a fellow at the Shapiro Center for Research and Collaboration. A guest artist at the Royal Art Academy in Stockholm, she earned a grant from the American-Scandinavian Foundation in New York. Also on display, through March 18, is the exhibit of watercolors by Hans Öhman of Värmland. His interest in painting was kindled

The art of Bertil Vallien. Photo: Kim Saul

by the work of his grandfather in restoring artwork in churches and building furniture that he decorated in traditional regional style. While still searching for a basis for his burgeoning creativity, Öhman found the Baha’i Faith. From that sprang his philosophical, decorative style that is based on haiku poetry.

Minneapolis

“Inspired: Contemporary Swedish Folk Paintings and Haiku Paintings” by Hans Öhman 8

Year of The Handmade – In 2018, the American Swedish Institute presents a suite of exhibitions and programs exploring the theme The Handmade. These projects delve into relevant and timely issues increasingly reflected in the handmade forum – from the old world to the new, and from the traditional to the contemporary, examining intersections among local and global, identity, heritage and sustainability. 18

The year kicks off with CraftBOWL, an exhibition project that explores vessel design and craft traditions represented through varied mediums of handcraft – from wood, to glass, to ceramics – as practiced in Sweden and around the world. The exhibition explores the work and careers of three established Swedish masters in their respective fields: Jögge Sundqvist and Bertil Vallien, and Swedish National Treasure Ingegerd Råman. Through the craft movements they have inspired globally.

Ingegerd Råman. Photo: Claudio Bresciani 28

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Swedish Press Mar 2018 Vol 89:02