Ett företag i förändring: en fallstudie av en riskkapitalbolagsdriven förändringsprocess

Sammanfattning: Venture capital firms and private equity firms have been the subject of much controversy in the last decade. During this period economies throughout the world have seen a steady increase of these types of firms as owners of companies. In Sweden this has certainly been the case and many argue that this trend will continue to grow stronger in the future. This trend is by many regarded as dangerous and as a threat to the ownership model that has characterized the Swedish economy for decades. Family ownership has been widely regarded as the most beneficial and responsible ownership model in Sweden. Venture capital firms and private equity firms have been looked upon with suspicion. But is this suspicion justifiable? This study aims, firstly, to find an answer to this question by investigating whether venture capitalist firms and private equity firms can contribute in change processes in companies. The study also, secondly, investigates if venture capitalist firms and private equity firms can implement new strategies in companies without access to the many invisible arenas that exist within companies, and if so, how this is possible. In this qualitative study the reader will be able to follow a change process in an industrial company that was initiated by a venture capital firm after it had become the principal owner of the company. The results of the study clearly show that the venture capital firm has contributed to the long term success opportunities of the industrial company. The study also show that the venture capital firm, in spite of lack of direct access to many of the invisible arenas in the industrial company, managed to influence the tone on these arenas, which in turn had beneficial effects on the change process.