Norway

Doing Business in Norway

Arguably one of the most scenic countries on earth due to its mountainous landscape, fjords and midnight sun, Norway is an attractive location for business ventures. With a relatively small population of only 5 million people it is surprising that Norway’s purchasing power can challenge even the largest of economies because of its high standard of living and minimal wealth gap. Indeed, Norway is home to one of the highest GDPs per capita globally.

Economically Norway has a sophisticated and stable free market with vast natural resources, efficient business culture and low levels of corruption. For foreign investors the main opportunities for development are seafood, timber and metal products, telecommunications, hydropower equipment and oil and gas. At present it is estimated that Norway has enough oil for the next 50 years and gas for the next 100 years. At present the government is keen to now begin a transition to more sustainable economic activities and is also reducing the long-standing transition of state-ownership. Most Norwegians are fluent in English with many speaking French and German too. For these reasons Norway continually scores in the top 10 in the Ease of Doing Business Index.

Despite the fact that Norway is not a member of the European Union (EU), it is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and still adheres to the same trading practices as the EU. For countries outside the European Union this can cause certain import and export challenges.

In terms of business culture, Norwegians generally adhere to Scandinavian work values. This means there is a large focus on equality in the workplace, particularly in terms of gender, so expect a lack of hierarchy in business and largely informal communication.

The World Business Culture website will help companies intent on doing business in Norway achieve maximum success with all the relevant information on business frameworks and cultural particulars.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Norway only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.