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To Download a PDF of an Interview with Bente NORWAY NORWAY Pursuing a A Nobel Pursuit New Capitalism Oslo’s Secrets An Interview with Petter A. Stordalen, Owner and Chief Executive An Interview with Geir Lundestad, Offi cer, Home Invest, and Owner and Chairman of the Board An Interview with Director, Norwegian Nobel Institute of Nordic Choice Hotels, Home Properties, and Home Capital Bente Bratland Holm, Chief Executive Offi cer, VisitOSLO EDITORS’ NOTE Geir Lundestad also serves as the But they’re all members of the committee part time. You’re the EDITORS’ NOTE At 29, Petter Stordalen, with a EDITORS’ NOTE Bente Bratland Holm assumed her Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. However, glue that keeps everybody together? group of investors, formed what would become Steen & current post in August of 2013. She has extensive expe- he is not a member of the committee itself. Lundestad This is true. I’m the full-time person. They come in for the meetings, and Strøm Invest, Norway’s largest holder of commercial rience in various management positions in the Norwegian graduated from the University of Oslo in 1970 we normally have six or seven meetings per year. real estate. After leaving Steen & Strøm Invest, Stordalen tourism industry, including Marketing Director of the with a degree in history and, in 1976 with We don’t think there is necessarily anything wrong with controversy. Maybe struck out on his own, teaming up with another inves- Norwegian Tourist Board, CEO of TOP International a doctorate from the University of Tromsø, the our most successful prizes have been very controversial. The prize for 1935 went tor. At age 37, Stordalen became a billionaire. In 2012, Hotels Scandinavia, and Marketing Director at Best world’s northernmost university. From 1974 to to Carl von Ossietzky, who was the symbol of the opposition to Hitler, and Hitler he opened his biggest hotel to date, the Clarion Post Hotel Western, as well as several assignments related to lead- 1990, he held various positions as Lecturer and became furious over it. We awarded prizes to Andrei Sakharov and Lech Walesa, in Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2000, Stordalen formed the ership development and change. Holm is currently the Professor at the University of Tromsø before begin- and the old men in the Kremlin became furious over that. company Home Invest, consisting of the properties pre- Director of Norway Convention Bureau, which she has ning his positions with the Norwegian Nobel Institute We awarded prizes to the Dalai Lama and to Liu Xiaobo, and the not-so- viously owned by Choice Hotels Scandinavia. Home headed since 2003. She is a graduate of the Norwegian and Committee. Subsequently, he has been associated quiet old men in Beijing became furious over that. Invest invests through three separate entities: Nordic School of Management (BI) and has a management de- with the University of Oslo as an Adjunct Professor It’s not our objective to make all men as furious as possible, but we Choice Hotels, Scandinavia’s largest hotel chain with gree from the Solstrand Management Program (AFF). Geir Lundestad of International History. Lundestad spent several years should never be afraid to stand on principle. Petter A. Stordalen more than 170 hotels in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Bente Bratland Holm in the United States as a research fellow at Harvard This doesn’t mean that all controversial prizes are successful. But the and the Baltics; Home Properties, which owns 25 prop- ORGANIZATION BRIEF VisitOSLO (visitoslo.com) is the University and at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. He is a committee should not be afraid of controversy. erties including 20 hotels in Sweden in addition to four hotels and one offi ce offi cial marketing organization for Oslo and the surrounding regions. Their share- member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. You have an unusual sense of humor for someone in such a dis- building in Norway; and Home Capital, which invests in stocks, bonds, and holders and partners are local, regional, and national companies operating within tinguished position. You have written some books including one called derivatives. Through Home Properties, Stordalen owns 50 percent of PASAB, travel, tourism, and transportation. VisitOSLO is responsible for visitor’s services such ORGANIZATION BRIEF The Norwegian Nobel Institute (nobelpeaceprize.org) The Rise and Decline of the American “Empire”. a joint venture with Norwegian property developers, Anders and Arthur Buchardt, as the Tourist Information offi ces and the offi cial Web site, visitoslo.com. was established in 1904 in Kristiania (today Oslo), Norway. The principal duty I added “Empire” in quotation marks to offend the Americans. developing properties in Norway and Sweden. of the Nobel Institute is to assist the Norwegian Nobel Committee in the task of What is that book about? Has the U.S. fallen? In January 2013, Stordalen opened a new luxury hotel called The Thief What unusual meeting facilities are there in Oslo, particularly for board selecting the recipient(s) of the annual Nobel Peace Prize and to organize the No. Notice the title: it says the rise and decline, not fall. America’s (thethief.com), in the Tjuvholmen neighborhood in Oslo, which has gained interna- meetings? For example, can you go out on a Viking ship? Nobel award event in Oslo. The institute is situated in the center of the city, just position is still very strong; It is undoubtedly the leading power in the tional attention for its unique take on art and service, and frequent celebrity guests. Not on a Viking ship in the fjord, but you can have your board meeting by the side of the Royal Palace. The institute’s library is the largest of its kind in world even now. on a tiny island out here, which has all the required facilities, and also very Norway. The Nobel Institute also has its own research department, organizing But if you compare it with previous years, there has been a decline. In ORGANIZATION BRIEF The Stordalen Foundation (stordalenfoundation.no), high quality food, so you can have a dinner after your board meeting. research related to peace and war, and arranges meetings, seminars, and lec- 1945, the United States produced as much as the rest of the world together. initiated by the couple Gunhild (a medical doctor and international environ- It’s not without reason that we say, “the blue and the green and the city tures, in addition to holding the Nobel Symposia. Now, this percentage is 21, so it has declined from 50. America has also dis- mentalist) and Petter A. Stordalen, supports work aimed at solving health, en- in between,” because in the wintertime, you can actually have the board meet- covered that its military might is not quite as useful as it thought. vironmental, and climate challenges in Norway and abroad. The foundation ing in the mountains, which is only 20 minutes by tram from the city center. You have a great sense of humor. One would expect the Nobel Committee Afghanistan and Iraq showed their limitations. Nobody is going to fi ght a makes fi nancial contributions and provides expertise, either directly or indirectly, There are a lot of possibilities, because everything is so close and compact. to be very serious. Are they? full war with America – they fi ght asymmetrical wars and they present a huge through the Corporate Responsibility platform in Home Invest and its subsidiaries. You have so many new hotels now, including The Thief, which is We are. We have our serious moments and we like our decisions to be problem to America. ultra-modern and very green. This must provide a great vista of all the taken seriously, but we have a lot of fun when we meet. I come from the very America also has many other problems, including the debt and political How did you achieve so much at such a young age? big cruise ships that come in. northern part of Norway and we pride ourselves on many things, including system. All the companies I have been working in have been successful due to the Yes. We recently had one of the biggest come to Oslo, and I was able our sense of humor. So America is still number one and will remain number one, at least for people: Hire the right people; hire people better than yourself; hire people who to visit the ship. It’s nice to see Oslo from a cruise ship, but it’s also nice to A lot of people don’t understand that there are Swedish Committees the next decade or so, but it’s likely that within 10 years, China will have a are enthusiastic and have a lot of energy, and want to do something different. sit here at The Thief and watch the cruise ships as they come to visit our city. and a Norwegian Committee. higher production and a larger GDP than the U.S., which will be the fi rst time You have strong opinions on capitalism today. Can you elaborate There are so many typical sights in Oslo that tourists know about, Yes, the explanation is simple: This is the way Alfred Nobel wanted it since 1870 that a country has had a larger GDP than the U.S. on those views? like City Hall, which is famous for the Nobel Peace Prize. Norway is and spelled it out in his will from 1895. He was not married and he didn’t You must have some amusing stories about these high-level secret I want to change the capitalism we see today so, for the long term, we also known for having many beautiful wooden churches.
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