Thomas Lennerfors
Affiliated Professor at Uppsala University Future Institutes (UUniFI); Uppsala University Conflicting Objectives Research Nexus (UUniCORN)
- Mobile phone:
- +46 70 167 95 53
- E-mail:
- thomas.lennerfors@angstrom.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Segerstedthuset, Dag Hammarskjölds v 7
751 05 Uppsala - Postal address:
- Box 256
751 05 Uppsala
Professor at Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering; Industrial Engineering and Management
- Telephone:
- +46 18 471 72 60
- Mobile phone:
- +46 70 167 95 53
- E-mail:
- thomas.lennerfors@angstrom.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Ångströmlaboratoriet, Regementsvägen 10
- Postal address:
- Box 524
751 20 Uppsala
Short presentation
Professor in Industrial Engineering and Management. My research and teaching focuses on the one hand on industrial strategy and innovation, and on the other hand on ethics and sustainability, particularly in connection to technology and entrepreneurship.
Biography
Within the areas of industrial strategy and innovation, and ethics and sustainability, I am engaged in the following areas of study:
Industrial strategy and innovation within the context of industrial dynamics: This research area aims at understanding the relationship between industrial and institutional dynamics and corporate strategies from a modern historical perspective, especially within the shipping industry. The research area theoretically draws on strategy/management/organization theory, historical approaches from economic and maritime history, and philosophy. Methodologically, the research area draws on financial/market/resource analysis, in-depth interviews with key people, and archival studies.
Management, innovation and entrepreneurship: This research concerns alternative conceptualizations of management, entrepreneurship and innovation, emphasising processual aspects of bricolage and serendipity. Also, this area tries to bridge Western and Eastern management knowledge, including concepts such as anshin and satoruka into management thought.
Ethics and sustainability of technology and business: This research concerns the study of ethical issues related to technology and business, for example the study of inequalities in the distribution of environmental consequences of ICT, and a problematization of Sustainable ICT. The research area includes theories from non-Western contexts, for example Japanese and Buddhist ethics.
Corruption: I am engaged in studying corruption and anti-corruption. The research is aims to problematize the war on corruption, and suggest alternative theory-building within this area. Empirical studies are done in for example construction, healthcare, etc.
Research
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas_Lennerfors

Publications
Recent publications
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Part of PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 2026
- DOI for Swedish bilberries in global food transitions: A multi-scalar analysis of the innovation system for bilberry bio-extraction
- Download full text (pdf) of Swedish bilberries in global food transitions: A multi-scalar analysis of the innovation system for bilberry bio-extraction
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Beyond the attention economy, towards an ecology of attending. A manifesto
Part of AI & Society, p. 477-492, 2026
- DOI for Beyond the attention economy, towards an ecology of attending. A manifesto
- Download full text (pdf) of Beyond the attention economy, towards an ecology of attending. A manifesto
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Part of Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 2026
- DOI for From lab to fork: Directionality in the European innovation system for precision fermentation-derived food ingredients
- Download full text (pdf) of From lab to fork: Directionality in the European innovation system for precision fermentation-derived food ingredients
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Law in engineering ethics education: An exploration
Part of The Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education, p. 230-244, Routledge, 2025
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Part of Sustainability Science, p. 1595-1610, 2025
- DOI for Socio-techno-ecological transition dynamics in the re-territorialization of food production: the case of wild berries in Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of Socio-techno-ecological transition dynamics in the re-territorialization of food production: the case of wild berries in Sweden
All publications
Articles in journal
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Part of PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 2026
- DOI for Swedish bilberries in global food transitions: A multi-scalar analysis of the innovation system for bilberry bio-extraction
- Download full text (pdf) of Swedish bilberries in global food transitions: A multi-scalar analysis of the innovation system for bilberry bio-extraction
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Part of Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 2026
- DOI for From lab to fork: Directionality in the European innovation system for precision fermentation-derived food ingredients
- Download full text (pdf) of From lab to fork: Directionality in the European innovation system for precision fermentation-derived food ingredients
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Part of Sustainability Science, p. 1595-1610, 2025
- DOI for Socio-techno-ecological transition dynamics in the re-territorialization of food production: the case of wild berries in Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of Socio-techno-ecological transition dynamics in the re-territorialization of food production: the case of wild berries in Sweden
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Part of Technological forecasting & social change, 2025
- DOI for How configurations of legitimacy shape directionality in technological innovation systems: The case of plant-based meat alternatives in Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of How configurations of legitimacy shape directionality in technological innovation systems: The case of plant-based meat alternatives in Sweden
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Part of Future Foods, 2025
- DOI for Swedish consumers' perspectives on wild bilberries: Attitudes, associations, consumption patterns, and foraging behaviour
- Download full text (pdf) of Swedish consumers' perspectives on wild bilberries: Attitudes, associations, consumption patterns, and foraging behaviour
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Navigating the business model design space: A case of insects as food and feed in Sweden
Part of Technological forecasting & social change, 2025
- DOI for Navigating the business model design space: A case of insects as food and feed in Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of Navigating the business model design space: A case of insects as food and feed in Sweden
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Part of puntOorg International Journal, 2024
- DOI for Lighting a fire: A letter written by Tito Designori about bringing teaching back to management education
- Download full text (pdf) of Lighting a fire: A letter written by Tito Designori about bringing teaching back to management education
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Foraging for development: An analysis of the Swedish wild berry innovation system
Part of Agricultural Systems, 2024
- DOI for Foraging for development: An analysis of the Swedish wild berry innovation system
- Download full text (pdf) of Foraging for development: An analysis of the Swedish wild berry innovation system
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Part of European Journal of Engineering Education, p. 1-21, 2024
- DOI for The Virtuous, the Caring, and the Free: Ethical Theory to Understand the Ethics of the Teacher as a Role Model in Engineering Education
- Download full text (pdf) of The Virtuous, the Caring, and the Free: Ethical Theory to Understand the Ethics of the Teacher as a Role Model in Engineering Education
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Towards a socio-techno-ecological approach to sustainability transitions
Part of Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 2024
- DOI for Towards a socio-techno-ecological approach to sustainability transitions
- Download full text (pdf) of Towards a socio-techno-ecological approach to sustainability transitions
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The contested shoe box: revisiting the role of aesthetics in the modern cargo shipping industry
Part of Forum navale, p. 64-93, 2024
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Part of Digital Chemical Engineering, 2023
- DOI for Case hacks in action: Examples from a case study on green chemistry in education for sustainable development
- Download full text (pdf) of Case hacks in action: Examples from a case study on green chemistry in education for sustainable development
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Can blockchain-technology fight corruption in MNEs' operations in emerging markets?
Part of Review of International Business and Strategy, p. 39-56, 2022
- DOI for Can blockchain-technology fight corruption in MNEs' operations in emerging markets?
- Download full text (pdf) of Can blockchain-technology fight corruption in MNEs' operations in emerging markets?
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Ethical aspects of voice assistants: a critical discourse analysis of Indonesian media texts
Part of Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, p. 18-36, 2022
- DOI for Ethical aspects of voice assistants: a critical discourse analysis of Indonesian media texts
- Download full text (pdf) of Ethical aspects of voice assistants: a critical discourse analysis of Indonesian media texts
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Ethics as craft: some explorations
Part of Meiji Business Review, p. 1-17, 2022
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Disalienation in the management classroom: lessons from Hermann Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game
Part of Culture and Organization, p. 216-226, 2022
- DOI for Disalienation in the management classroom: lessons from Hermann Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game
- Download full text (pdf) of Disalienation in the management classroom: lessons from Hermann Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game
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Part of International Journal of Maritime History, p. 63-82, 2022
- DOI for Rooting for ro-ro: Exploring how strategic choices by pulp and paper companies contributed to Sweden's specialized maritime export systems, 1960-2015
- Download full text (pdf) of Rooting for ro-ro: Exploring how strategic choices by pulp and paper companies contributed to Sweden's specialized maritime export systems, 1960-2015
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Fictional Film in Engineering Ethics Education: With Miyazaki's The Wind Rises as Exemplar
Part of Science and Engineering Ethics, 2022
- DOI for Fictional Film in Engineering Ethics Education: With Miyazaki's The Wind Rises as Exemplar
- Download full text (pdf) of Fictional Film in Engineering Ethics Education: With Miyazaki's The Wind Rises as Exemplar
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Part of Journal of Cleaner Production, 2021
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Editorial Preface: Why Cross-National Studies Between Japan and Sweden?
Part of REVIEW OF SOCIONETWORK STRATEGIES, p. 67-70, 2021
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Part of The Review of Socionetwork Strategies, p. 71-85, 2021
- DOI for Culture as Suture: on the Use of “Culture” in Cross-Cultural Studies in and Beyond Intercultural Information Ethics
- Download full text (pdf) of Culture as Suture: on the Use of “Culture” in Cross-Cultural Studies in and Beyond Intercultural Information Ethics
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The Lean principle respect for people as respect for craftsmanship
Part of International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, p. 1209-1230, 2021
- DOI for The Lean principle respect for people as respect for craftsmanship
- Download full text (pdf) of The Lean principle respect for people as respect for craftsmanship
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Part of Högre Utbildning, p. 1-15, 2020
- DOI for Case hacks: Four hacks for promoting critical thinking in case-based management education for sustainable development
- Download full text (pdf) of Case hacks: Four hacks for promoting critical thinking in case-based management education for sustainable development
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Part of Transformative Dialogues, 2019
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The Individual-Care Nexus: A Theory of Entrepreneurial Care for Sustainable Entrepreneurship
Part of Sustainability, 2019
- DOI for The Individual-Care Nexus: A Theory of Entrepreneurial Care for Sustainable Entrepreneurship
- Download full text (pdf) of The Individual-Care Nexus: A Theory of Entrepreneurial Care for Sustainable Entrepreneurship
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Part of Sustainability, 2018
- DOI for “We Started Building Green IT Back in the 1970s”: Making Sense of Sustainable ICT through Organizational History
- Download full text (pdf) of “We Started Building Green IT Back in the 1970s”: Making Sense of Sustainable ICT through Organizational History
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Part of Project Management Journal, p. 5-16, 2018
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The Laughing Matter of Corruption and Anti-Corruption
Part of Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik = Journal of Business, Economics and Ethics, p. 40-56, 2018
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Part of Culture and Organization, p. 263-267, 2018
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Part of Project Management Journal, p. 5-16, 2018
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Green IT Did Not Take Place: The Translation of Environmentally Friendly IT in Japan
Part of Journal of Information and Management, 2017
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A Buddhist Future for Capitalism?: Revising Buddhist Economics for the Era of Light Capitalism
Part of Futures, p. 67-75, 2015
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Part of Information Technology and People, p. 758-774, 2015
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Critiquing corruption: A turn to theory
Part of Ephemera, p. 319-336, 2015
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The Confucian Ethics of Junzi in Contemporary Light Capitalism
Part of Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies, 2015
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Part of International Journal of Maritime History, p. 702-719, 2014
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Sustainable and Fast ICT: Lessons from Dromology
Part of Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, p. 284-297, 2014
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Chance Interventions – On Bricolage and the State As an Entrepreneur in a Declining Industry
Part of Culture and Organization, p. 377-391, 2014
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Part of Asia Pacific Business Review, p. 70-84, 2013
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GLOBAL BUSINESS The New, Improved Keiretsu
Part of Harvard Business Review, p. 109-+, 2013
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Part of Business Ethics. A European Review, p. 380-392, 2013
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Organizational diaspora: The aftermath of the Saleninvest bankruptcy
Part of Culture and Organization, p. 430-450, 2013
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Part of Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies, p. 16-21, 2012
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The Transformation of Swedish Shipping, 1970-2010
Part of Business history review, p. 417-445, 2012
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From mieruka to satoruka: On a Communities Based View of Organization
Part of Business Review, Meiji University, p. 1-9, 2012
Articles, review/survey
Books
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Ethics and Sustainability in Digital Cultures
Routledge, 2023
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Studentlitteratur AB, 2019
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Studentlitteratur AB, 2019
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Snow in the tropics: A history of the independent reefer operators
Brill Academic Publishers, 2019
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Elling Ellingsen - The Shipping Entrepreneur
Medströms Bokförlag, 2016
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Eros, thymos, logos - a study of the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation at Stena
Bokförlaget BAS, 2015
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Breakwater Publishing in collaboration with BAS, 2013
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Liber, 2011
Chapters in book
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Law in engineering ethics education: An exploration
Part of The Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education, p. 230-244, Routledge, 2025
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Part of Hermann Hesse's Global Impact, p. 229-242, Camden House, 2024
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Foundations of engineering ethics education
Part of The Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education, p. 19-25, Taylor & Francis, 2024
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Ethics and sustainability in digital cultures: A prolegomena
Part of Ethics and Sustainability in Digital Cultures, p. 1-16, Routledge, 2024
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A dumb spy?: Ethical aspects of voice assistant technologies
Part of Ethics And Sustainability in Digital Cultures, p. 49-71, Routledge, 2024
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Part of Ethics and Sustainability in Digital Cultures, p. 31-48, Routledge, 2024
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Part of Debating Innovation, p. 33-53, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023
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Organizational Anti-corruption: De-normalization Through Anxiety, Superego, Courage and Justice
Part of Challenges in Managing Sustainable Business, p. 313-334, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
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Corruption: maximising, socialising, balancing, and othering
Part of The handbook of business and corruption, p. 25-48, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2017
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Gamification for Sustainability: Beyond the Ludo-Aesthetical Approach
Part of The Business of Gamification, p. 163-181, Routledge, 2016
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Part of Sjövägen till Sverige: Från 1500-talet till våra dagar, Universus Press, 2016
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Part of ICT-ethics: Sweden and Japan, CTE centrum för tillämpad etik / center for applied ethics, 2013
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The Two Declines of Swedish shipping 1960-2010
Part of Global Shipping in Small Nations, p. 100-128, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012
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Foreword to The Business of Global Energy Transformation
Part of The Business of Global Energy Transformation, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012
Collections (editor)
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SCOS: Searching Collectively for Our Soul
Editoriale Scientifica, 2019
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Tetsugaku Companion to Japanese Ethics and Technology
Springer, 2019
Conference papers
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Supporting Shared Responsibility for Integrating Ethics into Science and Technology Education
Part of 2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2022
- DOI for Supporting Shared Responsibility for Integrating Ethics into Science and Technology Education
- Download full text (pdf) of Supporting Shared Responsibility for Integrating Ethics into Science and Technology Education
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2021
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Virtual Exchange for Education for Sustainable Development
Part of 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2020
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Teaching Engineering Ethics With Drama
Part of 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2020
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A Pragmatic Approach for Teaching Ethics to Engineers and Computer Scientists
Part of 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2020
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Etikutbildning för ingenjörer: Övningar, verktyg, metoder
Part of 5:e utvecklingskonferensen för Sveriges Ingenjörsutbildningar, p. 30-31, 2015
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2015
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"Ethics as practice" as ethico-politics: the contributions from Alain Badiou's ethical thought
2015
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Confucian Ethics and Global Capitalism
2015
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What is this thing called Stena? On innovation and thymos from 1939 to 2015
2015
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Sustainable ICT: A Critique from the Perspective of World Systems Theory
Part of Proceedings of 11th IFIP TC 9 International Conference on Human Choice and Computers, HCC11 2014, p. 57-68, 2014
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Beyond Keeping Going! Towards an ethics of change projects
2014
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Which way is up? Acrobats and ascetics in technological development
2014
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Translating Green IT: The case of the Swedish Green IT Audit
Part of ICT4S 2013, p. 208-216, 2013
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Marketing the Information Society: Sustainability, Speed and Technomass
Part of The possibilities of ethical ICT, p. 310-315, 2013
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"Dojo" as a space of learning and inheriting tacit knowledge
2013
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Can traditionalism be critical?
2013
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2013
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Entrepreneurial subjectivities: Lacan and Badiou
Part of Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, 2012
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The translation and development of Green IT in Japan
Part of The Japan Association for Management Information (JASMIN) Annual Conference 2012, 2012
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Part of Standing conference on Organizational Symbolism, 2011
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Homogenization of Swedish governance: The case of the Swedish shipping industry 1980-2010
Part of Critical Management Studies 7, 2011
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Part of European Group for Organizational Studies, 2011
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Recovery of the spiritual: the Buddhist turn of Sustainability
Part of Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, 2011
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Beyond compliance: Exploring the Relevance of Badiou's Ethics for Business Ethics
Part of Badiou, Business, Ethics Symposium, 2011
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The Smart, the Dumb and the Hybrid: An exploration into the future of the Grid
2011
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The current trends and issues of Green IT
2011
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Part of Academy of International Business, 2011
Manuscripts (preprints)
Other
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2021
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2021
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Knud E. Hansen A/S - 75 Years of Ship Design
Part of Forum navale, 2015
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CSR as a Management Idea - Ethics in Action
Part of Scandinavian Journal of Management, p. 386-387, 2014
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Förbund på sju hav - Sjöfolksförbundet blir SEKO sjöfolk
Part of Forum navale, p. 159-161, 2014
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Stena Line – historien om ett färjerederi
Part of Forum navale, p. 156-159, 2014
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Vintage Book Review. Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, E. F. Schumacher
Part of Scandinavian Journal of Management, p. 402-403, 2013
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Patriksson, Folke. Att kunna ta en storm
Part of Forum Navale, p. 116-120, 2013