Sony Acceleration Platformは、スウェーデンのルンドにも拠点があり、ヨーロッパを中心に世界の事業開発に挑戦するあらゆる企業の皆様を支援しています。
本連載「北欧に学ぶ！イノベーションレポート」では、北欧のイノベーション文化に気軽に触れていただけるよう、Sony Acceleration Platformヨーロッパ拠点のメンバーからのレポートを全編英語でお届けします。
イノベーション先進地域北欧の紹介とSony Acceleration Platformヨーロッパ拠点メンバーからのメッセージをまとめた記事は、こちらをご覧ください。
>> ヨーロッパ拠点からお届け！北欧におけるイノベーションを紹介する連載開始
北欧諸国でイノベーションがなぜ持続するのか、そして北欧諸国が常に先頭を走っているのはなぜか？本記事では、「信頼関係」、「フラットな組織構造」、「コンセンサスによる意思決定」などの文化的価値が、イノベーションにとってどのように理想的な環境を生み出すのかを探ります。また、これに関する重要な研究結果を紹介しながら、アイデアが育つ文化を育むために本当に必要な要素について考えていきます。
Fostering Innovation Culture: Lessons from the Nordics
Innovation culture is integral to the success of any new or ongoing business initiative. At the Sony Acceleration Platform Europe, based in Lund, Sweden, we’re committed to understanding and cultivating what it takes to build an environment where innovation can truly thrive.
It’s no coincidence that the Sony Acceleration Platform Europe team is headquartered in the Nordics. Countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Finland consistently rank among the top in global innovation indexes. Sweden spends one of the highest percentages of GDP on research and development in the world. This combined with a strong social safety net, flat hierarchies and a cultural tendency toward consensus, helps to build a vibrant startup ecosystem. It is no secret that this region is home to disproportionately high numbers of successful startups, from Spotify to Klarna, showing that size and location alone are not key factors when it comes to building the world’s next unicorn company.
Why does this matter? Because companies — whether big, small, local or global — that fail to innovate often stagnate and eventually decline. Market needs shift. Consumer expectations evolve. It’s up to business leaders to continually envision how they can foster a workplace that’s responsive to change.
Let’s be clear: innovation doesn’t "just happen." There are cultural and psychological factors that either support or stifle creativity. Research by organizational psychologist Göran Ekvall, who taught at Lund University based in Sweden, identified ten key dimensions that characterize a climate conducive to innovation:
These dimensions describe more than just a checklist. They represent the overall climate of an organization — the conditions that determine whether creativity is nurtured or neglected. Ekvall’s model gives us a practical framework for turning a fuzzy, often subjective idea like "culture" into something tangible and actionable.
So what does this mean for us?
It means asking ourselves: do we truly operate in an environment that invites innovation? How are new ideas received? Is there room for calculated risk-taking? When innovation isn’t actively cultivated, both employers and employees suffer. We’ve all seen the cautionary tales: newspapers that couldn’t pivot to digital and brick and mortar retailers that underestimated the power of e-commerce.
Whether you're a junior team member or a senior executive, translating Ekvall’s ten dimensions into real changes in your work culture is easier said than done. Ultimately, building an innovation-friendly culture is an ongoing process that demands reflection. It’s not about grand gestures or corporate slogans, but about the small, daily choices that shape how teams interact, share ideas and approach uncertainty.
To thrive in the current global market, we must remain committed to asking the right questions, learning from our environment and applying those insights in real, measurable ways. Innovation may be complex, but cultivating the right conditions for it shouldn’t be left to chance.
If you would like to learn more about implementing innovation into your business, do not hesitate to reach out!
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ヨーロッパに学ぶイノベーション文化の醸成に関して、貴社向けの講義の実施や支援のご相談を希望される場合には、以下のフォームよりお問い合わせください。
