I am Associate Professor in Marketing at BI Norwegian Business School. I am also Associate Dean for the Bachelor of International Management, which includes overall responsibility for the academic and pedagogical quality and relevance of the programme. I have a PhD in Marketing, International Business and Strategy from Manchester Business School and an MSc in Marketing from University of Manchester (UMIST). I teach at Executive, Master and Bachelor programs. From 2011 – 2020 I was adjunct professor at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondmeim.
I have wide industry experience. Before joining academia, I worked as a manager and and marketing consultant in marketing communication, advertising and executive training. I give regular presentations and workshops to the industry.
Research areas
My research interests are in the field of industrial marketing. I am particularly interested in how companies interact and manage their business relationships in networks of suppliers, customers and other interconnected parties, with particular focus on managerial cognition and sensemaking.
Research projects
My current research involves investigating procurement of innovations in public health care. My previous projects have focused on international marketing and distribution of Norwegian seafood (farmed salmon and pelagic fish) to markets in Japan, Germany, Poland and Russia and has been funded by the Norwegian Research Council and the Norwegian Seafood Research Council. My research has been accepted for publishing in leading international journals and books.
Teaching areas
Marketing management, industrial marketing/B2B marketing, international marketing, research methodology, services marketing and economic history.
Purpose – This study aims to investigate how companies’ understanding of the business network influences the creation of value in business-to-business relationships. The authors do this by analysing dimensions in actors’ “network pictures” and illustrating how value perception and network understanding influence actors’ mutual effort to create value. Approaching relationship value from the point of actors’ cognitive understanding of their business network has so far been largely overlooked in relationship value research. Design/methodology/approach This study applies a qualitative case study methodology whereby dyadic data from a well-established business-to-business relationship is collected from 18 company representatives through personal interviews and group interviews supplemented by participant observations and company data. Findings The findings contribute with new insight into how companies’ understanding of their surrounding network influence (facilitates or limits) relationship value creation. The authors find that companies continuously reflect on changes in their networks and the related changes in partners’ value perceptions. Through value articulations, companies seek to explicitly express their value perception. Value reflections and value articulations create a dynamic process formed not only by the individual actor but also through their relationship and engagement in their network environment. This requires companies to develop their networking capabilities. Research limitations/implications This paper presents findings, insights and contributions limited to a case study of a particular business relationship within an industrial setting. Although the findings and contributions are valid and in line with the criteria for rigorous qualitative research, the authors advocate and call for additional studies that investigate relationships value creation and address the interplay between actors’ network understanding and their actions and behaviour. One way to approach this would be to test the four propositions derived and presented as part of the present study. Practical implications The findings imply that management needs to be aware not only of the value created and delivered to a specific partner but also of how the partner’s understanding of the wider network will influence the value delivering and capturing process. Originality/value This study contributes to the growing literature on relationship value creation by outlining a dynamic process where relationship partners reflect upon and articulate value. Such activities are influenced by the partners’ network understanding and form the basis of the mutual relationship value creation effort. The findings also contribute to the network pictures literature by emphasizing insights into the formation of value perceptions through actors’ understanding of their surrounding networks. Keywords Network understanding, Value creation, Relationship value, Network pictures, Business relationships, Value perceptions
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Halinen, Aino & Naudè, Peter (2023)
The role of visioning in business network strategizing
Visioning the future is an essential aspect of strategizing. However, how managers make sense of their networked business environment, future changes in it, and how this visioning informs their interaction and networking has hardly been explored. Drawing on organizational foresight and business network research, we enhance the visioning concept by conducting an abductive qualitative case study on its role in business network strategizing. By comparing forward-looking and backward-looking perspectives of managers in companies within a particular business network, the study reveals what managers can foresee, what limits their visioning, and to what extent visioning informs network strategizing. Our findings suggest that visioning helps managers to openly contemplate the future, to envisage structural changes, detect probable trends, and form strategic intentions, but individual cognitive frameworks and network constraints limit their visioning. The study contributes to the current sensemaking view of network strategizing by proposing a conceptual model where visioning forms an important step in between reflection and networking, and by showing how managers consciously prepare for the future.
Håkansson, Håkan & Snehota, Ivan (red.). No Business is an Island: Making Sense of the Interactive Business World
In this chapter, the authors focus on three challenges related to the attributes of the interactive business world and on the related implications for methodology. The first challenge is how to capture the continuity of business relationships, which implies: (1) Taking a two-sided (bilateral) view when researching business relationships, (2) collecting data on content and consequences of business relationships and (3) developing a research design to capture development over time. The second challenge is how to set boundaries and trace network-like structures, which implies: (1) identifying the relevant relationships that appear to affect each other in a network-like manner, (2) capturing interdependences among relationships (how they affect each other) and (3) researching forces generating network dynamics (how these interdependencies are established and change over time). The third challenge is how to observe and research interaction processes in business relationships, which leave little traces and are difficult to record. This requires the attention on (1) the choice of point(s) of observation, (2) the handling of the subjective understanding of interaction and (3) researching how interaction unfolds. The authors conclude with a discussion on the complexity of handling these challenges, and related methodological choices, when ‘research objects’ are interconnected.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2016)
Researching business interaction: introducing a conceptual framework and methodology
Purpose This paper introduces a conceptual framework and a methodology for researching business interaction. Design/methodology/approach The paper briefly presents what business interaction is from an IMP perspective. It then discusses some epistemological and methodological challenges that this understanding implies, particularly concerning the time- (when) and space- (where) dimensions of interaction, the unit of analysis when researching interaction (who interacts), how the actors explain or make sense of interaction (why they interact), and the way in which (how) they interact). The paper subsequently introduces a conceptual framework that enables analysing interaction on the principal dimensions of time (past, present and future) and space (actor, dyadic and network level), and the ascription or explanation of these dimensions by the actors involved. Findings This framework is then applied to interview data from an empirical case study that demonstrates its methodological as well as practical application as a research technique. The paper ends with a discussion of how this framework can enhance our understanding of business interaction as researchers. Originality/value The data collection and analysis technique represents a novel way to collect, systematize and analyse qualitative data that hopefully will add to our understanding of business interaction.
Our paper is concerned with how managers understand their surrounding network and what strategic actions they take based on this insight. Recent research in the areas of network management and business relationships shows increasing interest in the interplay between cognition and action, particularly on how managers relate perceptions about their business network (“network picturing”) to decision-making and strategizing activities. In this study, we apply a novel research approach combining process research and action research methodology. Our sample is introduced to business network theories and concepts, and the use and adaptation of these concepts results in managerial options being articulated and applied. Our findings add new insight in the field of network strategy and network picturing. Network picturing represents a way to understand the boundaries of the firm and how this understanding affects managers' decisions. This differs from the fundamental distinction between the external and the internal environments of classical strategy analysis. In terms of network picturing, strategizing is a way to understand the resulting actions or network outcomes that managers see as viable within their surrounding network. We also provide a conceptual process exercise as an example of how this insight can be relevant for managers in their decision-making processes.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2015)
Caught in the middle: Buying from markets and selling to networks
The purpose of this paper is to look at how relationships between buyers and sellers are affected when on the supply side the most important resource is available only through a trading system created from a market perspective, whereas on the customer side the interaction resembles a network where relationships are long-term and complex. The empirical setting of the study is the pelagic industry, where this situation represents a challenge for the Norwegian herring exporters as they try to bridge these two types of interactions. In this industry, the purchasing of the herring is subject to a blind auction by law. At the same time, Norwegian exporters have customers in European seafood markets characterised by long-term relationships and close cooperation between importers, processors, producers and retailers. To analyse this situation, the study applies a qualitative research design including personal interviews with selected respondents in Norway and the three largest Norwegian herring export markets: Germany, Poland and Russia. The authors find that the interaction in these particular supplier–customer relationships is not extended to its full potential. It seems that the market-type transactions create “spillover-effects” to the other relationships, meaning that it is difficult to maintain high-involvement relationships when interaction in connected relationships is limited. Keywords Markets; Networks; Business relationships; Interaction
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2015)
Resource heterogeneity and its effects on interaction and integration in customer-supplier relationships
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the phenomenon of customer-supplier interaction and integration from a resource perspective. In economic terms, a fish may be seen as a more or less homogeneous resource. If the herring is seen as a homogeneous resource, a market should be the best way to handle the selling and buying. However, if the herring is seen as a heterogeneous resource, a more extensive type of interaction is needed. One interesting aspect with herring is that different business actors apparently see this resource in different ways. Thus, the authors will have a mixed situation, creating possible difficulties for the actors involved. Design/methodology/approach – The authors start this study in Germany, one of the most important export markets for Norwegian herring. Today, Norwegian legislation hinders the possibility of vertical integration and cooperation at the supply side of the network. However, the industry sees opportunities for growth and integration on the marketing side. To examine this issue, the study uses a qualitative design methodology, incorporating personal in-depth interviews with selected respondents in Norway and Germany. Secondary data is also used. To analyse the data, the authors introduce five interaction and integration patterns termed pure exchange – no integration; limited interaction and integration; extensive interaction and developed integration and; indirect interaction and structural integration; and full integration. Findings – The findings suggest that there is a link between how the actors perceive herring as a resource and how they interact with counterparts. The authors find that the actors who see the resource as homogeneous have limited interaction and little or no integration, whereas the actors who see the resource as heterogeneous have a much more extensive interaction and closer ties. Originality/value – The paper is an investigation of the link between the resource heterogeneity and the patterns of customer-supplier integration. Keywords Resources, Norway, Fish, Heterogeneity, Interaction, Exports
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2013)
Norwegian salmon exporters and the changing structure of Japanese seafood distribution
Økonomisk fiskeriforskning: Ledelse, marked, økonomi, 23(1), s. 28- 36.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2013)
Strategi i et nettverksperspektiv
Magma forskning og viten, 16(4), s. 22- 28.
I denne artikkelen skal vi se nærmere på relasjoner i industrielle nettverk. Vi skal vise hvordan økt forståelse for bedrifters relasjoner til kunder, leverandører og samarbeidspartnere kan hjelpe bedrifter til å ta bedre strategiske beslutninger. Vi skal se at bedriftens oppfatning av sin posisjon i nettverket, dvs. dens nettverksbilde, spiller en viktig rolle i dette arbeidet. På slutten av artikkelen introduseres et strategisk rammeverk som kan brukes til å gi bedre innsikt. Til å underbygge dette skal vi bruke empiriske data fra en studie av norske lakseeksportørers forsøk på å endre det japanske distribusjonsnettverket for sjømat.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2012)
Networks in transition
The IMP Journal, 6(3), s. 194- 209.
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Henneberg, Stephan C. & Naudè, Peter (2012)
Sensemaking in Business Networks: Introducing Dottograms to Analyse Network Changes
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Naudè, Peter & Henneberg, Stephan C. (2011)
Network change as a battle of ideas? Analysing the interplay between idea structures and activated structures
The IMP Journal, 5(2), s. 122- 139.
How should a network be organised? In what direction should it change? In networks actors have distinct network positions which are defined by their connected relationships. If an actor wants to change this network position by altering his connected relationships or respond to the actions of others, he will most likely face differing and perhaps conflicting views and ideas about how the network should be organised. This “battle of ideas” will arguably have an effect on the resulting network reconfiguration. To understand network dynamics we therefore need to understand how interaction reflects the actors’ perceptions, ideas and knowledge of their network. This interplay between ideas and action is the focal point of this paper. After expanding on a theoretical framework provided by Håkansson and Waluszewski (2002) which highlights this interplay, we apply it to an empirical study of the Japanese distribution networks of Norwegian fresh salmon. Here, traditional fish distribution is undergoing increasing pressure to change by actors questioning its efficiency.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2011)
Sensemaking in Networks: Using Network Pictures to Understand Network Dynamics
Baxter, Roger & Woodside, Arch G. (red.). Interfirm Networks: Theory, Strategy, and Behavior
The study here examines how business actors adapt to changes in networks by analyzing their perceptions or their network pictures. The study is exploratory or iterative in the sense that revisions occur to the research question, method, theory, and context as an integral part of the research process. Changes within networks receive less research attention, although considerable research exists on explaining business network structures in different research traditions. This study analyzes changes in networks in terms of the industrial network approach. This approach sees networks as connected relationships between actors, where interdependent companies interact based on their sensemaking of their relevant network environment. The study develops a concept of network change as well as an operationalization for comparing perceptions of change, where the study introduces a template model of dottograms to systematically analyze differences in perceptions. The study then applies the model to analyze findings from a case study of Norwegian/Japanese seafood distribution, and the chapter provides a rich description of a complex system facing considerable pressure to change. In-depth personal interviews and cognitive mapping techniques are the main research tools applied, in addition to tracer studies and personal observation. The dottogram method represents a valuable contribution to case study research as it enables systematic within-case and across-case analyses. A further theoretical contribution of the study is the suggestion that network change is about actors seeking to change their network position to gain access to resources. Thereby, the study also implies a close relationship between the concepts network position and the network change that has not been discussed within the network approach in great detail. Another major contribution of the study is the analysis of the role that network pictures play in actors' efforts to change their network position. The study develops seven propositions in an attempt to describe the role of network pictures in network change. So far, the relevant literature discusses network pictures mainly as a theoretical concept. Finally, the chapter concludes with important implications for management practice.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Smith, Mike (1992)
Patterns of selection in six countries
The Psychologist, 5(5), s. 205- 207.
Despite difficulties in comparing results from different researchers in different countries it would seem that patterns of selection in Western Europe and Israel are very similar with the main exceptions of the greater use of graphology in France and the greater use of references in the UK. It would seem that the frequency of use of selection methods is not strongly related to their validity or the time they require from either candidates or selectors. It would seem that selection devices are used because they are non-technical and because they are not new.
Olsen, Per Ingvar; Sande, Jon Bingen & Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2020)
Tre tiltak som gir helsevesenet utstyret det trenger
Stavanger Aftenblad [Kronikk]
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Huemer, Lars (2017)
Blikk for bedre beslutninger
Ukeavisen ledelse [Kronikk]
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2016)
Bli en god nettverksbygger!
Stavanger Aftenblad [Kronikk]
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2011)
Fra norsk fjord til japansk bord
Dagens næringsliv [Kronikk]
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2011)
Nettverksregionen - vindu eller speil?
Stavanger Aftenblad [Kronikk]
Abrahamsen, Morten Høie; Clarke, Ann & Evald, Majbritt R. (2023)
Managing the Fuzzy Front-End of Public Procurement of Innovation
[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management (AOM) 2023.
Resource Interaction: Towards a common understanding?
[Academic lecture]. IMP conference.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Olsen, Per Ingvar (2020)
The role of innovation partnerships as a public innovation policy tool
[Academic lecture]. Nordic Public Procurement of Innovation Workshop.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2019)
The role of innovation partnerships in healthcare innovations
[Academic lecture]. 35th IMP Conference.
The public health sector faces significant challenges in the coming years as an ageing population requires improved services. Parallel to this development are innovations on two frontiers: One is the increase in innovations in healthcare technology (eg. Hoholm, Larocca and Aanestad, 2018), the other is the increase in innovations in how the public sector is organising its procurements of such technology (Axelsson and Torvatn, 2017). In industrial markets, the development of and access to new technology is increasingly taking place in close collaboration and interaction with actors outside own organization (Håkansson and Waluzewski, 2002). Alternative ways of organizing this are through arms-length relationships with suppliers (transactions or “market arrangements” where the opportunities for innovation is often limited) or utilising internal capabilities and resources (which requires costly investments) (Axelsson and Torvatn, 2017). In the public health sector, the possibilities for interacting with key suppliers to create innovative solutions and new technology have so far been limited due to a strict regulatory framework for public procurement. However, the regulations now open up for hybrid solutions or "innovative procurement", i.e. new ways of cooperating that provide opportunities for closer dialogue between customers and suppliers throughout the development process. There are several ways to organize innovative procurement, of which "innovation partnerships" are the most comprehensive. The innovation partnership has however received little attention by researchers so far, and we know little about how this particular procurement procedure enables innovative solutions for the public sector. This is the background for this paper which reports findings from an ongoing longitudinal research project of a Norwegian innovation partnership organised between a municipality and a hospital with the intention of developing innovative solutions for rehabilitation of stroke patients. The research design is exploratory and processual where key actors are follow during the course of the project. Data collection methods include personal interview, group interviews and non-participant observation in addition to secondary data sources such as internal documents and reports.
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Halinen, Aino & Naudè, Peter (2018)
The opportunities and limitations of network visioning – the case of strategizing in a distribution network
[Academic lecture]. 34th IMP Conference.
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Halinen, Aino & Naudè, Peter (2018)
Making sense of the future: The role of visioning in network strategizing
[Academic lecture]. 24nd Workshop on Interorganisational Research.
Huemer, Lars & Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2016)
Interdependencies between first nations and salmon farming companies
[Academic lecture]. IMP Asia in Africa 2016.
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Naudè, Peter & Halinen, Aino (2016)
How far can managers see? The role of visioning in network strategizing processes
Resource heterogeneity and patterns of customer-supplier integration
[Academic lecture]. IMP Journal Seminar 2014.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. & Håkansson, Håkan (2014)
Integrasjon og samarbeid på pelagiske eksportmarkeder
[Report]. Handelshøyskolen BI.
Denne forskningsrapporten er sluttrapport for prosjektet “Økt integrasjon og samarbeid mot eksisterende og nye målmarkeder for pelagisk industri”, gjennomført av BI på oppdrag for Fiskeri- og Havbruksnæringens Forskningsfond (FHF). Norsk pelagisk industri ønsker i dette prosjektet å se på mulighetene for økt integrasjon og samarbeid i de viktigste markedene for pelagisk konsumfisk, hvor sild og makrell representerer de største eksportvolumene. Rapporten konkluderer med at utviklingen i pelagisk industri går mot en økende grad av spesialisering og konsentrasjon av et mindre antall store og dominerende aktører. I en slik sammenheng er det den enkelte bedrifts evner og muligheter til å tilpasse sine aktiviteter og ressurser til de øvrige aktørene som avgjør om den får innflytelse. For å få dette til må bedriftene utvikle interaktive holdninger og kapabiliteter (evner), og vi gir flere anbefalinger om hvordan dette kan gjennomføres på bedriftsnivå. Vi peker også på to strukturelle svakheter på bransjenivå som må håndteres dersom bransjen skal videreutvikle sine relasjoner mot de viktigste markedene. Den ene er eksistensen av et system som forhindrer all integrasjon bakover mot råvareleddet, og den andre er overkapasitet på produksjonssiden i Norge. På sikt står bransjen ovenfor betydelige endringer.
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Henneberg, Stephan C., Huemer, Lars & Naudè, Peter (2012)
Perceiving Network Opportunities – An Action Research Study of Strategizing in Business Networks
[Academic lecture]. 28th IMP Conference.
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Henneberg, Stephan C. & Naudè, Peter (2010)
Time and Space Dynamics in Networks – An Analysis of the Impactof Network Position on Actor’s Change Perceptions
[Report]. Handelshøyskolen BI.
Abrahamsen, Morten H. (2010)
Dottograms: Using Visual Methods to Collect and Analyse Data
[Report]. Handelshøyskolen BI.
Abrahamsen, Morten H.; Henneberg, Stephan C. & Naudè, Peter (2010)
Time and Space Dynamics in Networks: Does Network Perceptions Reflect Network Position?