The school aims to develop the learning process in such a way that creative thinking and critical reasoning are the guiding principles for the entire study programme. Our courses are based on the latest research. Close contacts with the worlds of business and research, both at a national and international level, allow us to offer a transnational education.

Our vision and mission reflects the emphasis placed by the institution on two essential concerns, research-driven pedagogy and positive societal impact, specifically in the area of sustainable development.

Stockholm Business School is respected for our recognised and relevant research as well as inspirational and research-driven learning experiences.

Vision

We support sustainable development in society by acting as a constructive discussion partner for business, public and third sector actors and Stockholm Business School should be the number one choice in Scandinavia for students in business administration who want to contribute to a sustainable future.

 

Our mission is outcome-based and focuses on the impact that Stockholm Business School seeks to have on graduating students. It is intrinsically related to the vision articulated above.

Mission

Stockholm Business School´s mission is to conduct engaging and research-driven education that will develop the student´s ability to meet todays and tomorrows local and global challenges in a responsible manner.

Introduction
Stockholm Business School (SBS) is Stockholm University's business administration department. With approximately 3,500 students, it is one of Stockholm University’s largest departments. SBS conducts research-based education at all levels, from undergraduate to postgraduate education. Activities also include commissioned education, such as the Director's Programme and our Executive MBA programme. SBS currently has about 30 active doctoral students. These doctoral students are divided into one of four sections: marketing, management, finance and accounting. External research funds received in 2021 amounted to a total of SEK 23.7 million. Of these, SEK 6.8 million were research grants.

SBS has many international collaborations and exchanges with reputable universities. In total, SBS currently has agreements with a number of universities around the world. This allows for an extensive student exchange constituting approx. 40% of all Stockholm University's total student exchanges. SBS has an active, appreciated collaboration with the Föreningen Ekonomerna association at Stockholm University, which is represented on the School Board, the Education Committee and in the work environment group. Since 2018, the department has received AMBA accreditation on two occasions, in 2018 and 2021. Currently, the department is working on applying for AACSB accreditation and is in the final stages of that process.

SBS also collaborates with businesses and the surrounding community. As part of this collaboration, SBS runs the research institutes Akademin för Ekonomistyrning i Staten (AES), the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship (SSES) and the Center for Monetary Policy and Financial Stability (CeMoF). These collaborative efforts are supported by our Advisory Board, consisting of representatives from academia, business, organisations and foundations.

The strategic plan presented below is based on SBS' vision and relates to the 2019–2023 period. The revised plan, which will be decided by the School Board in the spring of 2022, will be seen as giving the general direction for SBS during the 2019–2023 period. More concrete goals for the 2019–2023 period can be found in SBS's 2019–2023 Business Plan. The plan includes the following areas:

1. Research and education
2. Recruitment and skills development
3. International and national collaboration
4. Administration and operational support
5. Other

The SBS vision
Stockholm Business School is respected for our recognised and relevant research and for our inspiring and research-based education. We support sustainable development in society by acting as a constructive discussion partner to companies and organisations. Stockholm Business School should be the first choice in Scandinavia for business administration students who strive to contribute to a sustainable future.

The SBS mission
Stockholm Business School’s mission is to conduct engaging, research-based education that develops the ability of students to responsibly meet today's and tomorrow's local and global challenges.

SBS defines the term sustainability as follows:

Social sustainability    
Striving towards a society where basic human rights are obtained

Environmental sustainability    
Conserving human and material resources over time

Economic sustainability    
To combat poverty and to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to satisfy their basic needs in relation to the planet's finite resources; economic development that does not result in consequences for environmental or and social sustainability

1. Research and education

Research
SBS's strategy is to conduct nationally leading and internationally recognised research. SBS also strives to be a national leader in offering the best conditions for researchers to conduct substantial academic research. SBS traditionally has a broad field of research in the area of business administration. During the period of 2019–2023, it is of strategic importance that SBS ensures that the conditions for SBS's research staff are improved both in terms of research in their position and administrative support for research projects. As far as the results of research are concerned, quality takes precedence over quantity.

Education
SBS’ current education portfolio is extensive and our range of programmes is research-based, current, relevant and based on progression. This also applies to our commissioned education. SBS’ mission shall guide the design of both new and revised courses and programmes at all levels of education in order to highlight our uniqueness and profile.

In 2021, SBS moved into new premises with modern lecture halls and the latest technology. This provides good conditions for conducting pedagogically well-developed teaching in which lectures and seminars are combined with online teaching based on the experiences drawn from digitalisation during the 2020–2022 pandemic. In the coming years, SBS should also review the educational offer at SBS in order to ensure the quality of education. SBS’ doctoral education must have an international nature and doctoral students must be employable after graduation, within as well as outside academia.

SBS' quality development work in the field of education shall continue to be well developed and strive beyond national minimum standards (UKÄ) to enable our education portfolio to maintain a high level of quality, achieve set degree goals and be competitive. Marketing our specific and mission-based education portfolio is also a strategic choice aimed at attracting a greater number of motivated students.

2. Recruitment and skills development

SBS strives to improve the conditions for research-based education. Senior lecturers or professors at SBS should have substantial opportunities to conduct research in their position and be given opportunities to teach within the framework of their area of expertise. We shall therefore continue to maintain a high proportion of permanently employed senior lecturers, and not exceed a maximum of 10% fixed-term employees. As a consequence of the new hourly distribution system, the strategic focus will be on recruiting more permanent senior lecturers, thereby enabling that teaching be planned more long-term with a more targeted focus on quality, which is directly linked to the research of our senior lecturers and professors. By introducing the recently developed hourly distribution system in 2023, our academic staff's conditions for conducting research in their position will improve. As a result, we believe that the scope of skills development opportunities for academic staff will be generally satisfactory.

3. International and national collaboration

In recent years, SBS has had a large number of collaborations for student exchanges with international partner universities. On the national side, collaborations are highly satisfactory, including collaborations with other higher education institutions. Collaboration between Stockholm University departments should also be promoted. The strategy on the international side is to reduce the number of collaborations in order to focus more on specific collaborations that are in line with our mission. In this context, SBS also strives for balance in exchanges, i.e. the same number of incoming students as outgoing. However, while reducing the number of agreements in certain established geographical areas, we also intend to establish SBS and our research-based educational programmes in geographical regions where we are not represented. The KTH, KI and SU ‘Stockholm Trio’ consortium provides the opportunity to strategically choose partner universities. The CIVIS Alliance, of which Stockholm University is a member, also provides opportunities for European collaborations.

4. Administration and operational support

SBS' strategy in the area of administration and operational support is to strive for a stabilisation of the business while continuing to focus on streamlining by mapping administration and operational support costs. Research services will be prioritised as part of developing good collaborations and administrative support for external research funding and research in one’s position.

5. Other

Executive Education
SBS' strategy for Executive Education is to maintain and develop the existing education portfolio in line with SBS' mission. An investment is being made in a programme focusing on Artificial Intelligence. It is also important that the EMBA programme specifically maintains its high quality level and thus, also its ranking: best Executive MBA program in Sweden 2012–2016 according to Eduniversal. One means of achieving this has been to obtain accreditation (AMBA), which has succeeded on two occasions. Executive Education will continue to function as a bridge between SBS and stakeholders in public, private and non-governmental organisations and strengthen SBS' position vis-à-vis them. 

Research communication
SBS strives to have a clearer expert role vis-à-vis stakeholders in society. Therefore, external communication of our research is of strategic importance during the period of 2019–2023.

Gender equality and equal opportunities
SBS strives for an even gender distribution in all branches of activity, projects and groups. In recent years, SBS has primarily focused on activities aimed at women's academic careers, one example being a mentorship programme for women. When it comes to equal opportunity, SBS strives to be an inclusive environment characterised by an ethical approach.

Accreditation
SBS' strategy for creating good quality processes for the entire business over time is to strive for quality accreditations. In addition to the AMBA accreditation that SBS has held since 2018, SBS also aims to achieve AACSB accreditation in 2023. Another aim of pursuing accreditations is to reinforce the conditions for offering the best possible research-based education. This is made possible by potentially attracting motivated national and international students and teachers/researchers who strive to strengthen SBS and our research-based education. During the period 2019–2023, SBS will invest resources in the AACSB accreditation, which is in the final application phase. SBS also aims to use accreditation to identify and improve deficiencies, to achieve national quality goals for continued degree awarding rights (UKÄ), to achieve faculty/university-level quality goals and to ensure that SBS's activities are in line with its vision and mission.

An accreditation process is built on self-evaluation and peer-review. Gaining accreditation is a quality mark testifying that a university, a department/school or educational programme(s) have achieved the level of quality that is defined and sought after by a specific accrediting body.

SBS Executive MBA is today accredited by AMBA (The Associations of MBAs; London, UK).

AMBA

Scope: Accredits specific programmes such as Executive MBAs.
Timespan: 9-18 months.
Possibility for renewed status: Every 3-5 years.
Status for SBS: Accredited in June 2021.

Stockholm Business School was founded at the end of the 1950s and initially operated on a small scale as part of the Stockholm School of Economics. It became an independent department of Stockholm University in July 1962. By the end of the 1960s, the School had grown significantly in size and is now one of the largest departments at the University with around 3,500 students and some seventy lecturers/research staff, thirty doctoral students and about thirty administrative staff. Stockholm Business School is part of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Stockholm University.

Business Administration in Sweden

The academic subject of Business Administration was first introduced in Sweden when Stockholm School of Economics was founded in 1909. Marcus Wallenberg played an important role in the early days of the School of Economics. At that time the subject was known as Commercial Studies and it focused mainly on accounting. The School of Economics in Gothenburg was founded in 1923, and by the end of the 1950s there were also Business Administration departments at Uppsala and Lund Universities.

A modest start in the 50s

SBS had a modest start in the end of the 1950s at the University College of Stockholm (upgraded to Stockholm University in 1960). Teaching was offered through an arrangement with the Stockholm School of Economics. It consisted of a half term course that combined Accounting and Statistics with a basic course in Business Administration.  This was followed by studies in Accounting and Finance, Management Accounting, Administration, and Marketing. Studies for higher levels than two semesters were not possible until 1966 after the appointment of the first professor, Bertil Näslund.

Towards independence as a separate department

In 1960 Stockholm University College recieved university status and became Stockholm University. Two years later SBS became an independent department at the university. Two people in particular were of great significance during the establishment of Stockholm Business School as a department of Stockholm University; Professor Gerhard Törnquist and Professor T. Paulsson Frenckner. The latter became responsible for both the organisation and the administration of the School’s activities during the first few years. In a University memorial publication from 1967 this is confirmed:

”During the eight years that followed the introduction of Business Administration at the Stockholm University College/University the organisation and the full responsibility for teaching and examination fell on the School of Economics professor Paulsson Frenckner, who took on this burden due to his own personal interest. The University is very grateful for all of his efforts in this regard”.

Facilities through the years

In 1962 SBS moved into its first premises at Fredsgatan 10. The building, which had only one lecture hall and around a dozen rooms, was destined for demolition and the School left the 850 square meter venue in June 1964 and instead moved into an apartment with seven rooms on Upplandsgatan 32.  In January the following year the department moved again, this time to facilities on Hagagatan 23 where it remained until the summer of 1970 when space became available in the South buildings of Frescati. Finally, in the year 2000, SBS could move into the Veterinary College’s old but restored buildings in Kräftriket, beautifully located in Brunnsviken.  The department has remained in this location and has developed into one of Northern Europe’s largest teaching departments.

Here is a summary of how many students, educations and employees there are at the department.

Students and education

3 500 students
10 programs at basic and advanced level
about 120 courses

Employees

Approximately 150 employees (in various forms of employment) of which
about 93 in teaching and research (professors, assistant professors and lecturers)
about 22 PhD students
35 administrative staff

 

2024

Dissertations

Anna Felicia Enhage, "Paradoxical consumer enjoyment: A cultural perspective on cigarette consumption"
Desirée Ödén, Time to Work - Responsibilization and Reification in the Swedish Welfare State
Chengcheng Qu, Competition, Division and Unity - The Impact of Market Structures on Trading Quality
Reema Akhtar, "What if your world is outside the oyster? How highly educated and skilled first-generation immigrant entrepreneurs develop opportunities in knowledge-intensive sectors"

2023

Dissertations

Christoph Baldauf, Empirical Essays on Retail Logistics and Customer Behavior
Amelia Olsson, Political Dimensions of Entrepreneurship - Exploring Competing Discourses in a Marginalized Urban Community Aspiring for Social Change
Neslihan Özlü, The Heterogeneity of Behaviour in Operations Processes
Markus Oljemark, Lonely in Company: A qualitative study of loneliness, belonging, and the passion for recognition at work
Oscar Wandery, The Ecstasy of Tragedy – An Ethnography of Hospice
Gulnar Nussipova, "Unpacking the Value of Emerging Technologies: Experimentation, Communication and Knowledge Brokering
Yu Xiang, Intricate Involuted Intertwinings: On Accounting, Technology, and Materiality

2022

Dissertations

Jonatan Södergren, "Woke" Authenticity in Brand Culture: A Patchwork Ethnography
Fatemeh Aramian, Off-exchange Trading in Modern Equity Markets: A Market Microstructure Perspective on Systematic Internalizers
Matilda Eriksson, Entreprenörskapets tysta(de) röster: En narrativ studie om kvinnor som delar sitt liv med en man som är entreprenör
Mohamed Mahieddine, Before Audit. Essays on the necessity of imagination

Ballerina Award

Nick Butler and Anselm Schneider

2021

Dissertations

Anton Borell, In Between Competing Ideals: On the Relationships among Accounting, NPM and Welfare
Aylin Cakanlar, Essays on consumers’ socially responsible decision making
Kim Eriksson, Att anordna styrning - tillblivelse av mångfald av styrteknologier
Elina Malmström, An audit is an audit

Ballerina Award

Bino Catasus

2021 Best Critical Dissertation Award

Yashar Mahmud, Organizing Refugees

2020

Dissertations

Amir Kheirollah, The Art of Discretion
Emelie Adamsson, The Construction of Corporate Irresponsibility
Yashar Mahmud, Organizing Refugees
Ian Khrashchevskyi, Essays on Risks in Investment Strategies
Wenderson Raimundo De Lima, Modern Missionaries

2019

The University Association's award for the best dissertation within the Faculty of Social Sciences

Maíra Magalhães Lopes for dissertation The Making of Us: How Affects Shape Collective Bodies Resisting Gentrification.

Dissertations

Petter Dahlström, New Insights on Computerized Trading
Anton Hasselgren, Essays on Investor Behavior and Trading Strategies in International Financial Markets
Ester Félez Viñas, Changing the Rules of the Game: A market microstructure perspective on the effects of regulating financial markets

2018

Teacher of the year

Iñaki Rodriguez Longarela, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, Finance Section.
Read more about Iñaki Rodriguez Longarela

Dissertations

Christopher Lokatt, Auditors’ Constitution of Performance – A Study on the Duality of Performance in Auditing Profession
Sara Öhlin, An improvisational, practice-oriented approach to innovation: examples from the fashion industry
Luigi Servadio, Customer Rituals: Ethnographic explorations of wine rituals with families and friends
Peter Markowski, Collaboration Routines – A Study of Interdisciplinary Healthcare
Emma Stendahl, Headquarters’ Involvement in Managing Subsidiaries
Liesel Klemcke, The Quirky Character Camouflaged in the Conceptual Framework – A study of the financial statement user
Abu Chowdhury, Essays on Insider Trading and Initial Public Offerings
Maíra Magalhães Lopes, The Making of Us. How affects shape collective bodies resisting gentrification