Aspects of Cooperation and Corporate Governance in the Swedish Regional Newspaper Industry
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Aspects of Cooperation and Corporate Governance in the Swedish Regional Newspaper Industry Aspects of Cooperation and Corporate Governance in the Swedish Regional Newspaper Industry Dissertation Christoffer Rydland ii Dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Economic History), Ph.D. Stockholm School of Economics, 2013 Aspects of Cooperation and Corporate Governance in the Swedish Regional Newspaper Industry © SSE and the author, 2013 ISBN 978-91-7285-885-1 (printed) ISBN 978-91-7258-886-8 (pdf) Printed by: Ineko AB, Göteborg, 2013 Keywords: Business history, Corporate governance, Interfirm cooperation, Media history, Newspaper industry. To my father Foreword This volume is the result of a research project carried out at the Department of Marketing and Strategy at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE). This volume is submitted as a doctor’s thesis at SSE. In keeping with the policies of SSE, the author has been entirely free to conduct and present his research in the manner of his choosing as an expression of his own ideas. SSE is grateful for the financial support provided by Ridderstads stiftelse för historisk grafisk forskning and Sparbankernas forskningsstiftelse which has made it possible to fulfill the project. Göran Lindqvist Richard Wahlund Director of Research Professor and Head of the Stockholm School of Economics Department of Marketing and Strategy Acknowledgements Many scholars have said that academic work is inspired by others. The following persons have at various times served as prime supervisors, Professor emeritus Håkan Lindgren, Professor Hans Sjögren, Professor Mats Larsson, and Professor Richard Wahlund. I thank all of them. I would also like to thank Dr. Daniel Nyberg, who was the secondary advisor in the beginning of my studies, and Professor Robert Picard and Professor Hans Sjögren who later assumed this role. I would like to thank my fellow doctoral students at EHFF: Bengt-Åke Berg, Carl-Magnus Bjuggren, Therese Broman, Harald Edquist, Anders Engvall, Axel Hagberg, Martin Korpi, Martin Kragh, Erik Lakomaa, Mikael Wendschlag, and Anders Ögren, all of them now doctors. My former roommate Krim Talia and my current roommate Carl-Magnus Bjuggren have both been invaluable, so skillful at keeping my spirit up. Britt-Marie Eisler and May Björklund have both been exemplary secretaries at EHFF. I would also like to thank the staff at the new Research Office at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) for its kind assistance. I am thankful for the discussions I have had with Karl-Erik Gustafsson, Stefan Melesko, Örjan Sjöberg, Göran Lindqvist, Johan Hvenmark, Vicky Long, and especially Stefan Jonsson, who once made me believe in the source material for this dissertation. Jan Jörnmark and Martin Kragh did valuable final readings of parts of this dissertation. My father Göran Rydland helped out with maps and figures with an inborn sense for details. I would like to thank economic licentiate Jesper Fagerberg, who once was a doctoral student in economic history here at the SSE, for many challenging discussions over the years. I have always felt welcomed with warmth at my visits at JIBS/MMT Center in Jönköping, where I have been an affiliated PhD Candidate. Other inspiring environments have been UCBH at Uppsala University, the IDA seminars at KTH, and the seminars here at the Institute for Economic and Business History Research (EHFF). I would like to thank Carl-Gustaf Carlson for allowing me to use the records of the Lindesberg Group. In the same way, I am also grateful to Bengt Björklund at Centertidningar AB for making the archive of Centertidningar AB accessible to me. viii Financial support from Ridderstads stiftelse för historisk grafisk forskning is gratefully acknowledged as well as Sparbankernas forskningsstiftelse. Stockholm, May 2013 Christoffer Rydland Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Relevance for business history .................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Purpose and methodology........................................................................................................... 3 1.3. Definitions and delimitations ...................................................................................................... 5 1.4. Outline of the dissertation ........................................................................................................... 6 1.5. Theory and previous literature .................................................................................................... 7 1.6. Specific research questions ........................................................................................................ 35 1.7. Method and sources ................................................................................................................... 36 1.8. Historical context ....................................................................................................................... 39 2. The Lindesberg Group .............................................................................................. 53 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 53 2.2. The origin of the group ............................................................................................................. 53 2.3. Formal and informal rules ......................................................................................................... 57 2.4. Membership and social life ........................................................................................................ 66 2.5. Benchmarking ............................................................................................................................. 74 2.6. Ownership and the objectives of the newspaper company .................................................. 79 2.7. Other discussions ....................................................................................................................... 81 2.8. The demise of the group ........................................................................................................... 87 2.9. Categorization of the Lindesberg Group ................................................................................ 94 2.10. Other functions of the Lindesberg Group ......................................................................... 102 2.12 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 105 3. Centertidningar AB .................................................................................................. 107 3.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 107 3.2. The history of the owner ......................................................................................................... 108 3.3. The formation of Centertidningar AB ................................................................................... 110 3.4. Constitutive meeting with the managers ............................................................................... 116 3.5. The creation of a financial manager for the group (CFO) .................................................. 122 3.6. Meetings between the managers during the first years ........................................................ 124 3.7. Profit and non-profit objectives of Centertidningar AB ..................................................... 147 3.8. Profit sharing schemes for employees and dividends to owners ....................................... 151 3.9. Managers and the journalists ................................................................................................... 153 3.10. The managers lose control over assets ................................................................................ 155 3.11. A consulting firm evaluates the board ................................................................................. 158 3.12. Organizing discussions: meetings between managers ....................................................... 160 3.14. Selling newspapers for profit: the decision to sell Centertidningar AB .......................... 166 3.15. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 168 4. Comparative analysis and discussion ..................................................................... 177 4.1. General comparative observations ......................................................................................... 177 4.2. Comparison of evolution ......................................................................................................... 184 4.3. Corporate governance and self-governance .......................................................................... 191 5. Summary .................................................................................................................... 201 5.1. Answers to research questions ................................................................................................ 201 5.2. Contribution to the literature on interfirm cooperation ..................................................... 202 5.3. Contribution to media history