Bård Tronvoll, Professor of Business Administration

Bård Tronvoll is from Lillestrøm in Norway. He began his studies with a vocational course in marketing and went on to a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Norwegian School of Economics, a Degree of Master of Political Science from the University of Oslo, a master’s degree in applied statistics from the University of Essex, and a PhD from Karlstad University. Since 2008, he is employed at the Service Research Center, CTF, at Karlstad University.

"My doctoral thesis examined customers’ complaint behaviour. This is a subject I have continued researching after finishing my thesis, to an extent. At the same time, I have also conducted research within several other areas. My main research area, however, is value creation through service, service ecosystems and digitalisation. I aim for my studies to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges that businesses will face in the future. I want to understand how value is created in conjunction with customers and other actors within the ecosystem, and how you can utilise customers’ interests even in conflict situations. In recent years, much of my research has been connected to digitalisation and the challenges companies face when they implement new technology. How should the companies be organised and how do they work within the ecosystem?"

Bård Tronvoll’s research has often been used by companies on the verge of starting, or are in the middle of, a digitalisation process.

"There are huge challenges for management in such companies, both in terms of making the employees involved in the transformation and how to create good working relations with other companies."

Bård Tronvoll’s academic background is multidisciplinary, which he believes has affected and contributed to his research. This is evident in his publications, as he often refers to social science theories when discussing economics and macro accounting theories.

"The Service Research Center, CTF, has been crucial to my research career. Here, I work in a very good organisational culture, focused on publications, internationalisation and curiosity. I have received much support from my colleagues. A key figure in all this has been Professor Bo Edvardsson, who was my principal supervisor and co-author for many years. Long term, I hope my research will make an impact for businesses and public authorities. Some of our biggest challenges are digitalisation, sustainability and innovation. I believe that my research will encompass these three concepts and show how innovation and digitalisation enable sustainability."