PRIME Research

PRIME Research is the name of a research group at the Swedish Business School, Örebro University. PRIME Research stands for "Program in Innovation, Marketing & Entrepreneurship".

Who are we?
PRIME Research consists of a team of researchers: Claes Hultman, Nina Hasche, Linda Höglund, Mari-Ann Karlsson, Jim Andersén, Per Frankelius, Claes Gunnarsson, Conny Johanzon, Johan Kask, Pia Lindell, Gabriel Linton, Madelen Lagin and Olle Westin. All members of the group are highly-skilled scholars with substantial cooperation across universities as well as in the business world.

Our core competence
We specialize in analysis of innovation and dynamic value creation processes from a marketing theory perspective. We focus on how organizations can achieve change and renewal in a way that extends customer (or user) value. This in turn, can secure growth and other kinds of favourable de-velopments in the business community. In other words, we are interested in business development and user value formation as two interconnected processes.

Our theoretical frame of reference
Marketing, innovation and entrepreneurship theory form the conceptual frame of reference of PRIME Research. When studying the boundary between these fields, unique results can be achieved. For example, Claes Hultman has together with a team of international researchers com-bined the fields of marketing and entrepreneurship, which has formed the new research domain of "Entrepreneurial Marketing".

Our study objects
We study companies, public organizations, innovation systems as well as clusters and regions. Most research projects connect to growing companies, innovative companies and/or entrepreneurial com-panies. One of our ongoing projects focuses on innovative cleantech companies.

Company-customer relationships are very important study objects for this research group, and not least the connection between such relationships and value creation, as perceived from both sides.

Innovation processes are analysed from a market and marketing perspective (compare the com-mon technology push perspective). We maintain that innovation is fulfilled when a new concept has created user value. This view is connected to some of the original thoughts of the term innovation. Creating value (of economic or other kind) out of advanced knowledge is one of our key concepts, which we term valorisation.

How do we create new knowledge?
Our model of knowledge creation and knowledge transfer, is based on collaboration with universi-ties and with actors outside the academic world. We are proud of our wide network in private and public sector, and we use this resource for stimulating the core of our research processes. In our view this model is a strategic method for exchange resulting in high-level capacity extension for us and our partners.

We also consider the model of a knowledge triangle that consists of three cornerstones: Research, education and innovation. It is important for us to connect research and education, and we strive to foster innovation processes in different parts of society.

Where have we presented our research?
We have presented our research in many countries around the world: Switzerland, USA, Russia, Sweden, Hungary, Dubai, Italy, Iceland, Finland, Turkey, Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, Latvia, UK ...and more.