Fredrik Tell
Affiliated Professor at Department of Economic History; Uppsala Centre for Business History
- E-mail:
- fredrik.tell@fek.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Ekonomikum
Kyrkogårdsgatan 10
75120 Uppsala - Postal address:
- Box 513
751 20 Uppsala
Professor at Department of Business Studies; Professors, teachers, researchers
- Telephone:
- +46 18 471 31 27
- E-mail:
- fredrik.tell@fek.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Ekonomikum
Kyrkogårdsgatan 10, ingång C
751 20 UPPSALA - Postal address:
- Box 513
751 20 UPPSALA
- Academic merits:
- PhD, Docent
Short presentation
My present research involves strategic temporal work and the relationship between the future and the present, development of organizational knowledge and capabilities, patent history, intellectual property rights and markets for technology, digitalization and changing organizational routines, temporary and distributed organizational forms in innovation, and multinational management during change. Currently I serve as a co-editor of the scientific journal Industrial and Corporate Change.
Biography
Since 1 September, 2015, I am Professor and Chair of Business Studies at Uppsala University. At the department I am chairing the scientific council, convene the higher seminar and teach courses mainly on master and doctoral level, primarily in strategy and research methods. My teaching experience covers all three cycles (undergraduate, master, doctoral) involving courses in organization, strategy, innovation, knowledge management, business history and scientific methods. I have acted on the advisory team for 14 PhD students that have completed their degrees, and am currently co-supervising two PhD students. I am Deputy Chair of the National Research School in Management and Information Technology (MIT). In my work at the department, I have been responsible, together with David Andersson and staff at the Swedish Patent Office (PRV) for enabling a searchable historical database denoted Swedish historical patents, 1746-1945.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), the The Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala (KVS) and the IMIT Foundation. I served as President of The Swedish Academy of Business and Management (FEKIS), 2018-2020.
Previously I was Professor in Business Administration at Linköping University, where I also completed my undergraduate and post-graduate education (Ph.D., 2000). I have been a founding member of five research groups: KITE (Knowledge Integration and Innovation in Transnational Enterprise, with Professor emeritus Christian Berggren); DRIM (Developing Research and Innovation in Multinationals: The case of Sweden and Brazil, with Professor Roberto Sbragia, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil); EPOK (Enterprising by Projects and Organizational Knowledge, with Professor emeritus Lars Lindkvist and Professor Jonas Söderlund, Linköping University); MEKA (Managing External Knowledge Acquisition, with Professor Nicolette Lakemond, Linköping University); Patent History Research Group (with Professor emeritus Mats Larsson, Uppsala University).
During my years as an academic researcher I have been very fortunate to be able to work as a visiting scholar/fellow at the following institutions (in chronological order): IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis), Vienna, Austria, SCANCOR (Scandinavian Consortium for Organizational Research), Stanford University, USA; SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research), University of Sussex, UK; Department of Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK; Australian School of Business at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, Canada; Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto, Canada.
Research
I am currently involved in the following ongoing research projects:
SWEDISH PATENT HISTORY AND MARKETS FOR TECHNOLOGY
Extended title: “Micro dynamics of markets for ideas: Patent trade, costs and litigation during the industrialization of Sweden” (Funded by Jan Walllander and Tore Browald's Foundation, "From invention to innovation: Novelty, impact and value of patents in 20th century Sweden" (Funded by The Lars Erik Lundberg Foundation for Research and Education)
Collaborators: David Andersson (Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University), Matti La Mela (Department of ALM, Uppsala University), PhD student Yunting Xie (Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University).
Summary: Aims to describe patenting behavior and the emergence of a market for technology through a new dataset covering historical Swedish and Finnish patents.
FIRMS STRATEGIC USE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Extended title: ”Buy, Sell or Keep? How do Swedish companies use their Intellectual Property Rights?” (Funded by Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius Stiftelse) and “ David and Goliath: The challenges with enforcing patents for small firms and entrepreneurs” (Funded by VINNOVA)
Collaborators: Marcus Holgersson (Chalmers University of Technology, Principal Investigator), David Andersson (Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University), PhD student Robert Heurlin (Chalmers University of Technology).
Summary: Aims to analyze the strategic use of IP by big and small firms through the study of domestic and international court cases.
DIGITALIZATION AND ROUTINE DYNAMICS
Extended title: “Digitalization and Routine Dynamics”
Collaborators: Dr Yunchen Sun (Linköping University and Department of Business Studies, Uppsala University)
Summary: Aims to show how digital technologies such as Model Based Systems Engineering influences organization of engineering work in management of innovation and manufacturing in Complex Product and Systems industries.

Publications
Recent publications
Part of Digital Humanities in the Nordic and Baltic Countries Publications, p. 1-15, 2025
- DOI for Novelty and impact: Using document similarity to study important inventions in historical Swedish patents, 1890–1929
- Download full text (pdf) of Novelty and impact: Using document similarity to study important inventions in historical Swedish patents, 1890–1929
Part of Digital Humanities in the Nordic and Baltic Countries Publications, p. 1-15, 2025
- DOI for Multimodal LLM-assisted Information Extraction from Historical Documents: The Case of Swedish Patent Cards (1945-1975) and ChatGPT
- Download full text (pdf) of Multimodal LLM-assisted Information Extraction from Historical Documents: The Case of Swedish Patent Cards (1945-1975) and ChatGPT
Family first: Defining, constructing, and applying historical patent families
Part of Explorations in economic history, 2024
- DOI for Family first: Defining, constructing, and applying historical patent families
- Download full text (pdf) of Family first: Defining, constructing, and applying historical patent families
Tensions in Digital Transformation: How Prototype Work Links the Temporary and the Permanent
Part of Project Management Journal, 2024
- DOI for Tensions in Digital Transformation: How Prototype Work Links the Temporary and the Permanent
- Download full text (pdf) of Tensions in Digital Transformation: How Prototype Work Links the Temporary and the Permanent
AC/DC High Voltage: The evolution of Gateway Technologies and the Battle of the Systems reconsidered
2024
All publications
Articles in journal
Part of Digital Humanities in the Nordic and Baltic Countries Publications, p. 1-15, 2025
- DOI for Novelty and impact: Using document similarity to study important inventions in historical Swedish patents, 1890–1929
- Download full text (pdf) of Novelty and impact: Using document similarity to study important inventions in historical Swedish patents, 1890–1929
Part of Digital Humanities in the Nordic and Baltic Countries Publications, p. 1-15, 2025
- DOI for Multimodal LLM-assisted Information Extraction from Historical Documents: The Case of Swedish Patent Cards (1945-1975) and ChatGPT
- Download full text (pdf) of Multimodal LLM-assisted Information Extraction from Historical Documents: The Case of Swedish Patent Cards (1945-1975) and ChatGPT
Family first: Defining, constructing, and applying historical patent families
Part of Explorations in economic history, 2024
- DOI for Family first: Defining, constructing, and applying historical patent families
- Download full text (pdf) of Family first: Defining, constructing, and applying historical patent families
Tensions in Digital Transformation: How Prototype Work Links the Temporary and the Permanent
Part of Project Management Journal, 2024
- DOI for Tensions in Digital Transformation: How Prototype Work Links the Temporary and the Permanent
- Download full text (pdf) of Tensions in Digital Transformation: How Prototype Work Links the Temporary and the Permanent
Industrial design rights and the market value of firms
Part of Technological forecasting & social change, 2023
- DOI for Industrial design rights and the market value of firms
- Download full text (pdf) of Industrial design rights and the market value of firms
Att försvara ett patent: Den lilla aktörens utmaningar i patenttvister
Part of Management of Innovation and Technology, p. 3-5, 2023
A palace fit for the future: Desirability in temporal work
Part of Strategic Organization, p. 20-50, 2022
- DOI for A palace fit for the future: Desirability in temporal work
- Download full text (pdf) of A palace fit for the future: Desirability in temporal work
Technology strategy and MNE subsidiary upgrading in emerging markets
Part of Technological forecasting & social change, 2021
- DOI for Technology strategy and MNE subsidiary upgrading in emerging markets
- Download full text (pdf) of Technology strategy and MNE subsidiary upgrading in emerging markets
Globala strategier: Hur hanterar svenska storföretag nutida och framtida utmaningar?
Part of Management of Innovation and Technology (MGMT), p. 7-9, 2021
Part of Industrial and Corporate Change, p. 123-135, 2021
Att försvara sin IP: Överklaganden mot patent, varumärken och design
Part of Management of Innovation and Technology, p. 3-5, 2020
Digitala projekt — Utveckling av rutiner och digital teknik för smart industri
Part of Management of Innovation and Technology, p. 5-7, 2020
Part of Industrial and Corporate Change, p. 163-181, 2020
- DOI for Foolishness without consequence?: From physical to virtual modeling in the history of military aircraft development at Saab
- Download full text (pdf) of Foolishness without consequence?: From physical to virtual modeling in the history of military aircraft development at Saab
From Fighting Monopolies to Promoting Industry: Patent Laws and Innovation in Sweden 1819–1914
Part of Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte, p. 123-156, 2019
Part of Journal of business & industrial marketing, p. 850-861, 2019
The market for patents in Sweden: Past and present
Part of Stockholm Intellectual Property Law Review, p. 6-17, 2018
Determinants of reverse knowledge transfer in emerging market multinationals
Part of RAUSP - Revista de Administrao, p. 176-188, 2017
- DOI for Determinants of reverse knowledge transfer in emerging market multinationals
- Download full text (pdf) of Determinants of reverse knowledge transfer in emerging market multinationals
Patent agencies and the emerging market for patenting services in Sweden, 1885-1914
Part of Entreprises et Histoire, p. 11-31, 2016
Where and how to search? Search paths in open innovation
Part of Research Policy, p. 125-136, 2016
- DOI for Where and how to search? Search paths in open innovation
- Download full text (pdf) of Where and how to search? Search paths in open innovation
Part of Industrial and Corporate Change, p. 333-352, 2016
- DOI for Match & Manage: The use of knowledge matching and project management to integrate knowledge in collaborative inbound open innovation
- Download full text (pdf) of Match & Manage: The use of knowledge matching and project management to integrate knowledge in collaborative inbound open innovation
Öppen innovation - i teori och praktik
Part of Management of Innovation and Technology, p. 10-11, 2016
Patent agencies and the emerging market for patenting services in Sweden, 1885-1914
Part of Enterprises et Histoire, p. 11-31, 2016
Open to a Select Few? Matching Partners and Knowledge Content for Open Innovation Performance
Part of Creativity and Innovation Management, p. 72-86, 2015
- DOI for Open to a Select Few? Matching Partners and Knowledge Content for Open Innovation Performance
- Download full text (pdf) of Open to a Select Few? Matching Partners and Knowledge Content for Open Innovation Performance
The role of Brazilian subsidiary R&D in Swedish MNEs – towards tropicalized innovations?
Part of Management of Innovation and Technology, p. 6-8, 2015
Part of Management of Innovation and Technology, p. 10-11, 2015
Uncertainty in collaborative NPD: effects on the selection of technology and supplier
Part of Journal of engineering and technology management, p. 103-119, 2014
Leverantörssamarbeten i produktutveckling – utmaningar i tekniskt osäkra utvecklingsprojekt
Part of Management of Innovation and Technology, p. 5-7, 2014
Part of Advances in Strategic Management, p. 235-263, 2011
Part of International Journal of Project Management, p. 756-765, 2010
Do technology strategies matter? A comparison of two electrical engineering corporations
Part of Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, p. 445-470, 2009
Exploring the dynamics of the P-form organization: Project epochs in Asea/ABB 1950-2000
Part of International Journal of Project Management, p. 101-112, 2009
Part of Industrial and Corporate Change, p. 335-392, 2008
- DOI for Technological capabilities and late shakeouts: Industrial dynamics in the advanced gas turbine industry, 1987-2002
- Download full text (pdf) of Technological capabilities and late shakeouts: Industrial dynamics in the advanced gas turbine industry, 1987-2002
Epilogue: Acquiring information and integrating knowledge in new product development projects
Part of International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning (IJTIP), p. 364-377, 2008
Managing near decomposability in complex platform development projects
Part of International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning (IJTIP), p. 387-407, 2007
Exploring the dynamics of knowledge integration: Acting and interacting in project teams
Part of Management Learning, p. 143-165, 2006
Part of Industrial and Corporate Change, p. 1-26, 2005
What do organizations know? Dynamics of justification contexts in R&D activities
Part of Organization, p. 443-471, 2004
Inter-project learning: Processes and outcomes of knowledge codification in project-based firms
Part of Research Policy, p. 1373-1394, 2001
Managing Product Development Projects - On the Significance of Fountains and Deadlines
Part of Organization Studies, p. 931-951, 1998
Articles, review/survey
Books
Öppen innovation i teori och praktik
Studentlitteratur AB, 2016
Styrning: Med projekt och kunskap i fokus
Studentlitteratur AB, 2012
Chapters in book
Project collegiality: Boundary work and boundary integration in governing science
Part of An ecology of ideas permeating science, higher education and society, p. 195-210, Uppsala universitet, 2024
Part of Management and Information Technology after Digital Transformation, Routledge, 2022
The resource-based view: strategy inside-out
Part of Theories and Perspectives in Business Administration, p. 109-144, Studentlitteratur AB, 2020
Open innovation: Managing knowledge integration across multiple boundaries
Part of Managing knowledge integration across boundaries, Oxford University Press, 2017
Part of Managing knowledge integration across boundaries, Oxford University Press, 2017
Managing across knowledge boundaries
Part of Managing knowledge integration across boundaries, Oxford University Press, 2017
Introduction: Managing knowledge integration across boundaries
Part of Managing knowledge integration across boundaries, Oxford University Press, 2017
Teknologimarknader - idéer som ekonomiska tillgångar
Part of Öppen innovation i teori och praktik, p. 93-107, Studentlitteratur, 2016
Teknologimarknader - idéer som ekonomiska tillgångar
Part of Öppen innovation i teori och praktik, p. 93-107, Studentlitteratur AB, 2016
Att hantera osäkerheter vid val av leverantör i öppen innovation
Part of Öppen innovation i teori och praktik, p. 125-138, Studentlitteratur AB, 2016
Öppen innovation i teori och praktik: En kort introduktion
Part of Öppen innovation i teori och praktik, p. 19-34, Studentlitteratur AB, 2016
Hur arbetar svenska företag med öppen innovation?
Part of Öppen innovation i teori och praktik, p. 37-51, Studentlitteratur AB, 2016
Öppen innovation på vid gavel?
Part of Öppen innovation i teori och praktik, p. 285-297, Studentlitteratur AB, 2016
Part of Kunskapsintegration och innovation i en internationaliserande ekonomi, p. 62-71, Makadam Förlag, 2015
Part of The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014
Part of Management - an advanced introduction, p. 75-106, Studentlitteratur AB, 2013
Kunskapsstyrning och kunskapstyper: kunskapskuben
Part of Styrning, p. 127-158, Studentlitteratur AB, 2012
Management i samverkan: En kraftfull svensk modell?
Part of Den hållbara svenska modellen, p. 245-273, SNS förlag, 2012
Styrning: Med projekt och kunskap i fokus
Part of Styrning, p. 23-38, Studentlitteratur AB, 2012
Part of Styrning, p. 159-175, Studentlitteratur AB, 2012
The P-form corporation: contingencies, characteristics, and challenges
Part of The Oxford Handbook of Project Management, Oxford University Press, 2011
Knowledge integration and innovation: A survey of the field
Part of Knowledge Integration and Innovation, Oxford University Press, 2011
Part of Knowledge Integration and Innovation: Critical Challenges Facing International Technology-based Firms, p. 148-169, Oxford University Press, 2011
Knowledge integration in project-based corporations: Complexity and the evolution of project epochs
Part of Knowledge Integration and Innovation: Critical Challenges Facing International Technology-based Firms, p. 170-201, Oxford University Press, 2011
Två snilleföretags patentstrategier runt förra sekelskiftet
Part of Patent och pirater: Patentstrategier och varumärken under 100 år, Centrum för Näringslivshistoria, 2010
ASEA - Managing Big Business the Swedish Way
Part of Creating Nordic Capitalism: The Development of a Competitive Periphery, p. 104-136, Palgrave/Macmillan, 2008
Detecting Errors Early: Management of problem-solving in product platform projects
Part of Platforms, Markets and Innovation, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008
Part of Encyclopedia of the Age of the Industrial Revolution: A Global History, p. 133-139, Greenwood Publishing, 2007
Making Sense of Learning Landscapes in Project-Based Organizations
Part of Managing Knowledge in Project Environments, p. 197-217, ButterworthHeinemann/ Elsevier, 2005
Styrning av produktutvecklingsprojekt: om fontäner och deadlines
Part of Projekt: organisation för målorientering och lärande, p. 52-74, Studentlitteratur, 2001
Part of Projekt: organisation för målorientering och lärande, Studentlitteratur, 2001
Leren in projekten - das anpaak van Ericsson
Part of HRM Handbook, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996
Collections (editor)
Managing knowledge integration across boundaries
Oxford University Press, 2017
Conference papers
AC/DC High Voltage: The evolution of Gateway Technologies and the Battle of the Systems reconsidered
2024
Routine design: Understanding intentional routine change under digital transformation
2021
Reconsidering Bartlett & Ghoshal’s role typology: a sense-making approach to subsidiary role change
2020
Designing value: Design protection and the market value of firms
2019
Temporary Organizing and Technological Change: A Two-edged Sword?
2019
2019
Designing routines in the digital age
2019
Designing routines in the digital age
2019
Designing Routines in the Digital Age: A Tale of Two Processes
2019
Dependent Invention and Dependent Inventors: Evidence from Historical Swedish Patent Data
2018
From Fighting Monopolies to Promoting Industry: Patent Laws and Innovation in Sweden, 1819-1914
2018
In search for future paths of project management research
2018
2018
Understanding the construction of temporal structures in Megaprojects
2018
2018
2018
Subsidiary Strategies of MNCs in emerging economies: The case of Brazil
2017
A reappraisal of the sources of invention: Patent statistics, inventors and factories, 1834-1914
2016
A REAPPRAISAL OF THE SOURCES OF INVENTION: PATENT STATISTICS, INVENTORS AND FACTORIES, 1834-1914
2016
Financing Innovation: The Size and Structure of Markets forTechnology in Sweden, 1885-1914
2015
Open Innovation: Managing knowledge integration across multiple boundaries
2015
Embedding R&D units in emerging economies: The case of Brazil
2015
The Structure of Markets for Technology in Sweden, 1885-1914
2015
Organizing the Temporary Permanently? On the Governance of P-form Corporations
2015
Approaches to theorizing Large Projects: A commentary
2015
Open Innovation: Managing knowledge integration across multiple boundaries
2015
2014
Embedding R&D units in emerging economies: The case of Brazil
2014
Determinants of reverse knowledge transfer in emerging market multinationals
2014
The role of knowledge governance in open innovation
2014
Embedding R&D units in emerging economies: The case of Brazil
2014
3D Open Innovation – Practices and Outcomes
2014
Patent Agents and Patenting in Sweden, 1885-1914
2013
2013
The Door to Sweden: Patent Agents and (Foreign) Patenting in Sweden (1885-1909)
2013
Integrating knowledge on knowledge integration
2012
In search of innovations: Intermediaries and external knowledge acquisition
2012
In search of innovations: Intermediaries and external knowledge acquisition
2012
Balancing Exploration and Exploitation: The Moderating Role of Market Dynamism
2011
The Effects of Knowledge Integration on New Product Performance
2011
Strategy and Capabilities in the P-form Corporation
2011
The Effects of Knowledge Integration on New Product Performance
2011
The Dynamics of P-form Organizations: Project Epochs in the History of Asea/ABB, 1950-2000
Part of RADMA Workshop on Knowledge Integration,2008, 2008
Part of Vision ERA-Net Conference,2008, 2008
Exploring the dynamics of the P-form organization: Project epochs in Asea/ABB 1950-2000
Part of European Academy of management,2008, 2008
Knowledge integration at the edge of technology
Part of The Advanced RD Management Workshop, 2008, 2008
Part of The Platforms, Markets, and Innovation Conference,2008, 2008
Decomposing and Recomposing - On Anatomies and Integration
Part of International Continuous Innovation Network CINet Conference,2007, 2007
Managing Near Decomposability in Complex Platform Development Projects
Part of the RD Management Conference,2007, 2007
Part of the Project-Based Organizations workshop, 2007, 2007
Diversification, Learning, and Corporate Coherence
Part of Strategic Management Society International Conference, 2007, 2007
Part of the International Research Network on Organizing by Projects IRNOP Conference,2007, 2007
Part of European Group on Organization Studies EGOS Colloquium, 2007, 2007
Part of Cass Workshop on Scientific and Managerial Knowledge, 2007, 2007
Part of European Conference on Organizational Knowledge, Learning and Capabilities, 2005, 2005
Part of European Group on Organization Studies EGOS Colloquium,2005, 2005
Interacting and interrelating in projects: exploring the individual-collective cynamic in teamwork
2004
Do Innovation Strategies Matter?
Part of International J.A. Schumpeter Society,2004, 2004
2004
Processes of Interacting and Interrelating in Projects
Part of The European Academy of Management Conference, 2004, 2004
Complexity and learning in projects
Part of R&D Management Conference, 1996, 1996
Monograph doctoral thesis
Monograph licentiate thesis
Reports
Other
En strävan efter sanning: Vetenskapens teori och praktik: Kristensson Uggla, Bengt
Part of Organisation & Samhälle: Företagsekonomisk tidskrift, 2020
Part of Organisation & Samhälle: Företagsekonomisk tidskrift, p. 12-13, 2017
Part of Journal of Economic History, p. 530-532, 2010
Martin Jes Iversen, GN Store Nord – A Company in Transition, 1939-1988
Part of Scandinavian Economic History Review, p. 212-213, 2009
John Roberts, the Modern Firm: Organizational design for performance and growth
Part of Journal of Management and Governance, p. 455-458, 2006
Part of Business History, p. 131-132, 2003