Information 

- About the Project -




Mapping Corporate Denmark 1970-2005
- a national research project with international implications



By: Assistant Professor Martin J. Iversen, Centre for Business History,
Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, Copenhagen Business School




Countries like Austria, Denmark, Norway and Portugal have traditionally been regarded as small European countries with relatively few large companies. A brief look at the Fortune 500 confirms this understanding. The European top 500 lists have been - and still is - marked by many large companies from particularly Great Britain, Germany and France. It is a matter of fact that the very largest European companies still originates in the largest European economies.

The point of departure of the research project Mapping Corporate Denmark 1970-2005 is nevertheless that since around 1970 big business have continuously played a still more important role in a small European country like Denmark. This point can be illustrated by the following figure: In 1970 the total revenue of 100 largest Danish companies was only about 40 percent of the Danish GDP, while in 2003 - only 33 years later - the total revenue of the 100 largest companies exceeded the national GDP.


Since 1970, a small European country like Denmark has fostered a whole new type of very large globally oriented companies: the largest pork producer in Europe - Danish Crown, the largest shipping company in the world - AP Moller-Maersk, the largest windmill producer in the world - Vestas the leading diabetics health care company in the world Novo Nordisk, just to mention a few of the most important Danish global leaders.

These companies were all founded before 1970 but it has been in the last 30 years that the important take-off internationally has taken place. Novo Nordisk, for instance, was only the 87th largest company in Denmark in 1973.

The background for the important changes since 1970 can be described by two phenomena: Structural changes and globalization. Structural changes mean that since the 1970s, a number of companies have gone through large national and international mergers and the tricky word globalization in this respect means that the world economy - and particularly the European economy - has become more open since 1970 and thus lead to a much more competitive international business environment.




The aim of the 3 years research project Mapping Corporate Denmark 1970-2005 is to unveil the structural changes of the Danish business system since 1970 and try to analyse the important reasons and consequences of the changes.

The project has received financial support from the Danish state - 420.000 DKK (app. $70.000) - and the first and most visible outcome is a public and free web-based database consisting of the key figures of the 100 largest non-financial Danish companies and the 15 largest financial companies from 1970 to 2005.

The database is in English and it can be visited from May 30 on www.corporate-denmark.dk.
Please visit the database and write any comment and suggestion to the editor.

The second part of the research project is a more in depth analysis of the strategies, structures, ownership and performance of the largest 40 companies in Denmark in 1973, 1983, 1993 and 2003. This second part of the project is basically an attempt to create internationally comparative results.

We have decided to use definitions from Whittington and Mayers research known from the book The European Corporation1 in which they analysed the strategic and structural development of the top 100 manufacturing companies in France, Germany and Great Britain in 1983 and 1993. The idea is to extend their work to the development in a smaller European country and at the same time try to follow the development from 1973 to 2003.

Similar work is, incidentally, done by other international researchers such as Veronica Binda from Bocconi University who work on the Italian development.



The third and final part of the research project is an attempt to supplement the quantitative database by some real "flesh and blood" - that is, to write five in-depth portraits of some of the most important Danish companies. These portraits will be approximately 10-15 pages each and will follow the years 1973, 1983, 1993 and 2003. The selected companies represent the primary sector (that is company related to the agricultural sector), the secondary sector (that is a manufacturing enterprise), a company from the tertiary sector (the service industry), one financial company, and finally one the leading "knowledge based" companies.

We have made agreements with Danish Crown2, Carlsberg3, Falck (formerly Group4Falck)4, Danske Bank5 and Novo Nordisk6. We have also agreed with national Danish weekly business magazine Berlingske Nyhedsmagasin7 that they will publish short versions of our portraits in the fall of 2005 and onwards.

The idea is thus to try to describe how, for instance, Danske Bank looked in 1973 - how was the organisational structure, the business strategy, how was the relevant market etc., and then move on to 1983 and ask the similar questions. These portraits will be written in cooperation with MA students who will use the material as part of their dissertations.



The final aim is to write a book in Danish with the title "Danske Giganter - Giganternes Danmark" ("The Danish Giants - The Giants´ Denmark") with an analysis of the structural development in Denmark after 1970, in comparison with the development in other European countries; and finally the above mentioned portraits of the actual development in some of the most important Danish companies.

The research project will be presented to EBHA members at the annual conference in Copenhagen in August 2006. Professor Richard Whittington from the Said Business School in Oxford will chair this specific session on the development of European business since 1970.


  Notes:
    1 Richard Whittington & Michael Mayer: The European Corporation, Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN: 0199242089.   (See book at Amazon.co.uk)
    2 Web: Danish Crown A.m.b.A.
    3 Web: Carlsberg A/S.
    4 Web: Falck A/S.
    5 Web: Danske Bank A/S.
    6 Web: Novo Nordisk A/S.
    7 Web: Berlingske Nyhedsmagasin.


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