Immigrants can make the activity of Norwegian companies more effective, says the researcher from the University of Stavanger Business School. According to the statistic, firms that hire immigrants are more innovative and have more international partners and perspectives.
In recent years, the immigration is increasing, and the Scandivavian countries have the most mild conditions for thr refugees to stay. Marte Cecilie Wilhelmsen Solheim, the senior researcher from the University of Stavanger Business School, has analysed the staistical data regarding immigrants and the companies that hires them.
Solheim’s research shows how various types of diversity affect different kinds of innovation. In the frame of her research, Solheim has conducted surveys in more than 500 Norwegian companies and looked at the statistics for the entire country. Over 16 percent of the population is either an immigrant or was born in Norway of immigrant parents, according to figures from Statistics Norway.
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Internationally and kaleidoscopically
Solheim’s research prove that the companies that hire the immigrants are more innovative and open to the new perspectives. Their activity is developing like a kaleidoscop because the innovation means new combinations of knowledge that already exists. Any immigrant worker brings some new spirit and original way of thnking.
‘Imagine a kaleidoscope, with its countless tiny pieces in different colours and shapes which form a picture. The picture changes if you twist or shake the kaleidoscope’,
explains Solheim.
Immigrants sometimes see things in a different light and help Norwegians to put together knowledge in innovative ways. It can be extremely useful for the companies, which seek a lot of international partnerships.
