Head of department Knut Sogner
The Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation conducts research and teaching on key topics within innovation, industrial economics and business history and tourism.
The Department’s main focus is on a multidisciplinary exploration of innovation and entrepreneurship in a current and historical perspective, but the Department also conducts research into other related topics.
The Department had three sections in 2015: business history, entrepreneurship and economic organisation. The Department offers courses at bachelor and master levels in several of the areas, and a doctoral programme in innovation and entrepreneurship.
A significant part of the Department’s research is based on externally funded research assignments, particularly from the business community and the Research Council of Norway. The Department houses one-half of the Research Council of Norway’s research school in innovation – NORSI-PING with 75 candidates from nine Norwegian institutions and one Swedish institution. NORSI’s grant from the Research Council of Norway was renewed in 2015 for another four years from the autumn of 2016 to the summer of 2020. NORSI-PING conducted a number of doctoral courses in cooperation with its network partners during the year.
Following a tender competition organised by the Directorate of Health, for which representatives from the Department held technical responsibility, the BI Norwegian Business School won a contract with the responsibility to develop the new national leadership education within health and innovation. The agreement has a duration of three years and will involve a large number of health executives from across the country. In parallel, BI became part of one of the Research Council of Norway’s new centres for research-driven innovation (SFI), the Centre for Connected Care started at the Department, which marks the start of an extensive effort within the field of health.
The Department achieved several academic highlights in 2015, which included the promotion of two female employees to executive positions. Sølvi Lyngnes became Docent of tourism, also becoming BI’s first female Docent. Christine Myrvang was promoted to Researcher I in economic history.
- Professor Benedicte Brøgger is the only Norwegian participant in the "Fairtax" project, which includes 11 participants from nine countries and will look at the lack of coordination of tax policy across national borders. This is part of "Horizon 2020", the EU’s largest research and innovation programme.
- First StartUp Day, “Think Big. Think Global”, was organised at BI, initiated by Associate Professor Birgit Helene Jevnaker in cooperation with Oslo Business Region and Innovation Norway.
- Professor Ole Gunnar Austvik has published an article in Europe’s most influential magazine "Energy Post".
- Associate Professor Birgit Helene Jevnaker was elected as a board member in EURAM, European Academy of Management.
- The book Creating Nordic Capitalism, which Researcher 1 Lars Thue co-edited and co-authored, was translated into Korean in 2015. Professors Sverre Knutsen and Knut Sogner from the Department also wrote chapters in the book.
Five research centres are associated with the Department:
- Centre for Corporate Responsibility (Head: Atle Midttun)
- Centre for Energy and Environment, electricity studies department (Head: Atle Midttun)
- Centre for Leadership and Organisation in the Health Sector (Head: Egil Marstein)
- Centre for Business History (Head: Harald Espeli)
- Centre for Cooperative Studies (Head: Per Ingvar Olsen)