We need to enforce the strongest communities.  They are located in Western Norway and in Oslo. The only way a high cost country can compete globally, is through natural ressources, innovation and a high level of knowledge. These are the main messages from the latest Torger Reve’s research.

Twice before, Norway’s highest profiled professor in strategy has gathered a team to deliver a book on Norway’s strengths in global competition. Thursday Reve and Amir Sasson invited to a major presentation, debate and celebration with 800 people at BI Norwegian Business School .

Reve and Sasson have led a team of researchers who has combed statistics and interviewed around 300 people. The collection of empirical data is bigger than ever in this field of research in Norway, and the study cost 15 mill NOK.

The emerald
The team has developed a modell in the shape of an emerald. Every cluster is graded in six fields of attractiveness, and in one grade of dynamics. The six attractions are in clusters, education, talent, research & innovation, ownership and environmental. 

Then they analyzed 13 clusters or branches in Norway, and split them into five groups:

The global knowledge hubs (oil & gas, maritim, seafood), the complementary branches of knowledge (finance, ICT and knowledgebased), the growing knowledge branches (renewable energy and biotech), the industries that stayed at home (trade, construction, tourism) and the lonely global riders (materials and telecom).

Recommendations
At the seminar there were many high level representatives from business, academia and politics. Reve and his team have reached many recommendations for the development of business politics. Many of the recommendations may be difficult to carry through, because they collide with local interests around the country.

”It is important to gather the efforts. And we need to push the best companies and people and ideas much more, so that they can compete globally,” says Reve.

The minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske says that it is necessary to consider a change in the strategy of the Norwegian petroleum found. ”We must discuss balancing all our financial positions in foreign companies with investments in developing our clusters,” he says.