Putting Southern Sweden on the Map: A Case Study of Malmö as a Platform for Foreign-Owned Companies

Sammanfattning: Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden, located in the southern part of the country. It has become more common that established enterprises, both Swedish and foreign-owned, actively choose to relocate their businesses to Malmö. As foreign direct investment, FDI, plays an important role in a region’s globalization process, these establishments benefit the host region in several ways. Even though Malmö has the potential to serve new establishments and relocations of foreign-owned companies, Malmö is still a relatively small city compared to other, more well-known locations. The purpose of this thesis is thus to examine how international and foreign-owned companies in Malmö experience the city from the perspective of their own operations and business needs. A multiple case study is conducted, where three foreign-owned companies in Malmö express their views on the issue. It is found that Malmö’s close access to Copenhagen Airport, Scandinavia’s largest airport, is highly valuable for the three companies included in the study, for outgoing business trips as well as incoming visitors. Malmö’s direct linkage to Copenhagen and Denmark via the Öresund Bridge is also highly convenient for a fast and easy access to both Denmark and Copenhagen Airport. Despite Malmö’s close access to universities and research centers, the companies have all experienced some difficulties with finding qualified people when recruiting to certain positions. However, the companies still consider Malmö to have a promising potential in producing and appealing highly-skilled people in general. Obtaining local and physical resources, such as land and office facilities, is considered to be an easy-going process in Malmö in general. The city thus seems to have a sufficient capacity to provide both small and larger companies with business accommodations when settling in the city.