Establishing a battery manufacturing base in Sweden : Evaluating and analyzing the factors behind locational strategy of battery manufacturers

Abstract: Background: In the last few years, many of the risks of operating in a global supply chain or an offshore manufacturing strategy have become evident as they have been disrupted by accidents, pandemics, and conflicts. Multiple parties in global trade have also increased their talks about autonomy in strategic sectors or production of strategically important components. The theoretical problem of current literature is that there is a lack of research on the strategies of the manufacturing bases that are of strategical importance of nations. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to fill the theoretical gap by studying the factors behind the location decision which battery manufacturers consider when they decide to relocate production. Moreover, the study will explain the opportunities and implications that reallocating the production entails. Method: The approach of the study will be a comparative case based on qualitative data to explore and create an understanding and explanation to the research purpose. The design of the research has been based on and inspired by thematic analysis and the cases has been chosen through a purposeful sampling technique. The main form of data collection of this research will be secondary data. Conclusion: This study is increasing the understanding of reallocating battery manufacturing to Sweden. It adds to the existing literature in the field of IB and OSCM by the discovery of two new factors of opportunities behind locational decision. The first one was seeking municipalities with low permit process complexity in the due diligence process, and the second one was choosing a location that has possibilities for attaining more regional autonomy in material supply, as a strategic internal consideration.