RESHORING : When Swedish Companies Move Back.

Purpose – The study aims to investigate the drivers and enablers Swedish companies’ have when reshoring. To fulfill the purpose of the study, two research questions have been formulated: What drivers do Swedish companies’ have for reshoring? What enablers do Swedish companies’ have for reshoring? Method – In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, a literature review and a case study of three manufacturing companies was conducted. The literature review was conducted to create a theoretical framework of drivers and enablers when reshoring and the case study consisted of interviews and document studies which generated empirical data. This data was analyzed and the theory of reshoring has been developed and updated through the results of this study. Findings – In this study, 19 of the 45 drivers and 7 of the 19 enablers identified in theory are confirmed. The study shows that it is not only one driver or one enabler behind Swedish companies' reshoring decisions, it is a combination of many. The study also identifies 15 new drivers and 12 new enablers to Swedish companies when reshoring. These new drivers and enablers are not considered specific for Swedish companies, but can be seen as general. However, further research is required to confirm this. The study shows that there are major differences in the drivers and enablers for Swedish companies when reshoring, as only four drivers and four enablers are confirmed by more than one case company. Even though the case companies all are manufacturing companies, they differ in several aspects and have different conditions. This has resulted in the study showing a variety of drivers and enablers and that a number of new drivers and enablers have been identified. This confirms that more research of this type, about reshoring in a Swedish context, is needed to identify more drivers and enablers and fill the gap that exists in the theory. Implications – Since research about reshoring is fairly unexplored, the theoretical implications of this study have been to partially fill the gap of knowledge about drivers and enablers, as new ones have been identified at the case companies. However, the study has also contributed with a new dimension as it separates drivers and enablers from one another, something that is not clearly made in the existing theory. Furthermore, a suggestion of how the drivers and enablers can be categorized is presented. From a practical perspective, this study has given companies wishing to reshore, other companies experiences of reshoring. This can facilitate decision making, as decisions to a greater extent can be based on facts rather than gut feeling. This may result in companies becoming more competitive and long-term strengthening their survival. Limitations – The limitations of the study consists of the fact that only three companies were included in the case study and that only one person was interviewed from each case company. Had more companies and more respondents been included in the case study, more drivers and enablers probably would have been identified. Furthermore, the generalization is also limited by the fact that only manufacturing companies have been included in the study. Companies in the service sector have been reshoring, and if any of these companies were included in the study, other drivers and enablers would probably have been identified.Reshorin