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SeAMKin podcastissa tutkijayliopettaja Sanna Joensuu-Salo ja BSTR luova markkinointitoimiston toimitusjohtaja Pauliina Hautamäki keskustelevat SeAMKin julkaisemasta tutkimuksesta, joka osoitti pk-yritysten henkilöstön kasvun olevan yhteydessä yritysten markkinointiosaamiseen. Podcastissa pohditaan, mitä tämä tarkoittaa alueen yritysten kehittämisen kannalta.
Higher education increasingly utilizes active modes of teaching and learning in connection with entrepreneurship education. In this paper we consider part-time entrepreneurship of students. Our questions are: What are the backgrounds of part-time student entrepreneurs? What explains their intentions for full-time entrepreneurship, compared to non-entrepreneur students? Are the antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions the same for part-time entrepreneurs as they are to non-entrepreneur students? We utilize two sets of Finnish data, the first drawn from a survey of an online panel, consisting of 79 responses from part-time entrepreneurs who indicate studying as their primary occupation, and the second from a survey of third year HEI students in 2020, consisting of the responses from 122 students who were neither working as an entrepreneur nor currently in the process of starting a business. The two groups are compared in relation to full-time entrepreneurial intentions and antecedents of intentions based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). In addition, we test how well the antecedents explain the variance in entrepreneurial intentions in these two groups with linear regression analysis. The results suggest that starting a business is a powerful means of learning about entrepreneurship. It is particularly interesting that the effect of gender, present in the non-entrepreneur population, disappears in the student entrepreneur group. Female students in higher education in particular need experiences to overcome mental barriers to entrepreneurship. We are not aware of any earlier work on full-time entrepreneurial intentions of part-time entrepreneurs who are also students, although graduates have been studied (Ruiz-Rosa et al., 2021). Hägg and Kurczewska (2020) suggest that EE in higher education of young adults should include guidance tailored by taking into consideration each students proficiency and knowledge in entrepreneurship. We also highlight the possibility of peer-to-peer learning, leveraging the experience of student entrepreneurs as vicarious learning. The paper was presented at 3E Conference – ECSB Entrepreneurship Education Conference on 11-13 May 2022 in Dijon, France.
The current megatrends offer many new innovation possibilities for women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs often operate in the service sector, where digitalization can transform the industry. However, it has been shown that gender is a constraining structure within innovation systems. The objective for this paper is twofold: 1) to examine the attitudes of women entrepreneurs related to future megatrends and the opportunities on offer for women entrepreneurs in particular and 2) to examine the attitudes of women entrepreneurs towards innovation processes in their own businesses. The data was gathered from women entrepreneurs and nascent women entrepreneurs in the region of South Ostrobothnia in Finland. The data consists of four focus-group interviews organized in February 2016. Altogether 28 entrepreneurs participated in the focus-group interviews. The results show that the attitudes related to future megatrends are positive rather than negative. Positive attitudes related to feminine traits and competence of female entrepreneurs, possibilities for firm growth, new ways of doing business and family and work integration. However, also negative attitudes existed. These related to well-being, unbelief towards the statement, job loss, demand for new skills and more work and masculine connotations. Some psychological factors hinder the innovation processes of women entrepreneurs. First, current mental models have an effect what kind of innovations they can perceive. The second factor of note is the gendered construction of technology
Firm growth has received wide attention from policy makers during recent years. However, there is a research gap in examining the value of entrepreneurial ecosystem related to growth firms. The concept of entrepreneurial ecosystem refers to the interaction that takes place between a range of institutional and individual stakeholders so as to foster entrepreneurship, innovation and SME growth (Isenberg 2010). The aim of this paper is to examine how the entrepreneurial ecosystem can either enhance or hinder firm growth. This paper contributes to understanding the effects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem related to growth firms using case study method. The objective of this study is to analyse how the entrepreneurial ecosystem related to growth firms supports 1) the motivation of entrepreneurs to grow the firm, (2) the organic and non-organic growth strategies of firms and (3) managing the consequences of firm growth. The data of this case study consists of thirteen interviews from different stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem related to growth firms in the region of South Ostrobothnia in Finland. The stakeholders represent the fields of finance, private and public experts, education and local universities as part of the ecosystem. Data is analysed using conventional content analysis. Results show that the entrepreneurial ecosystem acts in three levels: individual/firm level, micro-environmental level and macro-environmental level. The support of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is seen most difficult in the individual/firm level. Motivation of entrepreneurs to firm growth is hindered with different psychological factors of acting stakeholders. On micro-environmental level the support is active especially with non-organic growth strategies but there seems to be a problem with the connectivity and with the finance. Macro-environmental level refers to public policy and cultural attitudes to firm growth. These results shed the light on how to design growth policy initiatives and how such policies actually impact to the growth of SMEs.
Tämän selvityksen tarkoituksena oli saada tietoa maatilojen omistajanvaihdoksista. Selvityksessä vertaillaan maatilayritysten omistajanvaihdoksia kahden kohderyhmän kautta: 1) maatilayritykset, joilla omistajanvaihdos on toteutettu viimeisen 10 vuoden aikana ja 2) maatilayritykset, joilla omistajanvaihdos aiotaan toteuttaa seuraavan 10 vuoden aikana. Selvityksen kohdealueena on Etelä-Pohjanmaan maakunta. EU-komissio on edellyttänyt varhaiseläkkeen lopettamista maataloudessa. Siksi luopumistukijärjestelmä loppuu vuoden 2018 lopussa. Arviolta puolet sukupolvenvaihdoksista toteutetaan tällä hetkellä luopumistuen turvin. Mikäli maatilojen sukupolvenvaihdosten tukeminen lopetetaan, on vaarana, että tilojen sukupolvenvaihdokset siirtyvät myöhäisemmäksi ja niiden toteuttaminen vaarantuu kokonaan. Jatkajien ikä on viimeisten 10 vuoden aikana toteutuneissa omistajanvaihdoksissa korkeampi kuin aikaisemmin. Tulossa olevat muutokset saattavat vaikuttaa tähän niin, että jatkajan vastuunottoikä nousee edelleen. Kyselyyn vastanneista kaksi kolmasosaa arvioi tilan omistajanvaihdoksen tapahtuvan seuraavien viiden vuoden aikana, joten erilaisilla omistajanvaihdoksia tukevilla toimenpiteillä alkaa olla kiire. Maatilayrittäjät ovat tähän asti olleet eläkkeelle siirtyessään palkansaajia vanhempia, vaikkakin hieman nuorempia kuin yrittäjät keskimäärin. Fyysisesti raskas työ aiheuttaa useimmille myös terveydellisiä haittoja. Pitkittyessään omistajanvaihdokset aiheuttavat tilojen kehittämisen hiipumisen. Lisäksi ongelmaksi on nousemassa se, ettei jatkajia enää löydy omasta perheestä. Maatilojen jatkajaehdokkailla on muitakin uravaihtoehtoja tarjolla ja toisaalta maatalouden heikko kannattavuus ja epävarmat tulevaisuuden näkymät eivät jatkajaehdokkaita kiinnosta. Olisi siis mietittävä myös muita vaihtoehtoja toiminnan jatkamiselle.
Objectives SME growth and success has been seen as one of the most important factors in the economy. In Finland, much effort has been put to internationalization of SMEs as a way to grow. The Forest sector is particularly heterogeneous, in some industries the domestic market will not grow (for example, furniture sector) and, in turn, innovations in other industries enables the transition to international market (for example bioenergy).Existing research has shown that market orientation and marketing capability have either direct or indirect effect on the business performance and success (Narver & Slater, 1990; Vorhies, Orr & Bush, 2011). It could be assumed that when operating on foreign markets, these concepts are even more important. Firm’s global market orientation by itself is an idiosyncratic competence thereby supporting the firm’s activities in its markets. Market orientation can be embodied as an antecedent of the internationalization process of a SME (Wright, Westhead & Ucbasaran, 2007). The objectives of the present study are to analyse (1) the impact of market orientation and marketing capability on business performance with SMEs in the Forest sector and (2) the difference of this impact between internationalized SMEs and SMEs operating only in domestic markets in the Forest sector. Prior Work Market orientation (MO) is the basis of marketing and strategic planning (Narver & Slater, 1990) and entails the processes of a firm implementing marketing concepts in practice (Kohli, Jaworski & Kumar, 1993). Three different elements have been identified in MO: customer orientation, competitor orientation and interfunctional coordination (Narver & Slater, 1990). Previous studies suggest that MO is positively associated with general performance in firms (Kirca, Jayachandaran & Bearden, 2005), although the relationship between MO and performance can be moderated or mediated by different factors (see González-Benito et al., 2014; Kirca et al., 2005; Liao et al., 2011). According to Day (1994), capabilities are complex bundles of skills and knowledge accumulated in the firm and applied in organizational processes. The emphasis on dynamic capabilities highlights the importance of strategic level adoption of MO. Vorhies & Harker (2000) found in their study that firms with high MO also had higher levels of the six marketing capabilities, these being marketing research, product development, pricing, distribution, promotion and marketing management. Wilden & Gudergan (2015) found that marketing capabilities are positively associated with firm performance in highly competitive environments. In sum, it appears MO and marketing capability are linked, and have a connection with firm performance.There is not any single theory to explain the internationalization of the firms and it is better explained with an integrated combination of different approaches (Chetty & Campbell-Hunt, 2003). The most powerful theory is the resource-based view (RBV), which argues that when firms follow a global strategy, they favour high control modes, especially if they possess valuable resources and capabilities (Ekelero & Sivakumar, 2004). Market orientation is a valuable, rare, not interchangeable and imperfect imitable resource, which is considered to be one of the internal capabilities that can potentially bring about a sustainable competitive advantage (Hult,2 Ketchen & Slater, 2005; Zhou et al., 2008). Knight & Cavusgil (2004) argued that the basis from which the company interrelates with various external markets is offered by market orientation. Market orientation can be embodied as an antecedent of the internationalization process of a SME as: 1) Market orientation develops and facilitates the process of learning within foreign markets; and 2) highly market-oriented companies develop more robust capabilities (channel bonding, market sensing and customer linking) which allows the acquisition of foreign market knowledge as well as designing an appropriate market feedback (Wright, Westhead & Ucbasaran, 2007). Approach The data for this study comes from Finnish SMEs operating in the Forest sector. The data was gathered through a mail survey on spring 2016. Altogether 101 firms answered the questionnaire and the response rate was 24 %. 31 % were internationalized SMEs and 69 % operated only on domestic markets.MO was measured using 20-item MARKOR-scale (Kohli, Jaworksi & Kumar, 1993; Farrell & Oczkowski, 1997). Cronbach’s alpha for market orientation scale was .77. Marketing capabilities were measured using adapted scale from Vorhies and Harker (2000). It consisted of 24 items (Cronbach’s alpha for the scale .94). Business performance was measured by Chapman and Kihn’s (2009) 10 item survey instrument. The Cronbach’s alpha was .88.The data was analyzed using SPSS 22 and Amos. First a linear regression analysis was made. Analysis showed that market orientation did not have a direct effect on the performance but marketing capability did. Therefore, second, an indirect effect was tested using path analysis with Amos. The final empirical path model was tested separately for internationalized SMEs and SMEs operating only on domestic markets. In the final model marketing capability mediates the effect of MO on performance. Results Within internationalized SMEs, MO has an indirect effect on success, mediated by marketing capability. For this empirical model, all the fit measures are good (NFI = .98; CFI = 1.00; RMSEA = .000; CMIN/DF = 0.943, p=.332). The empirical model explains 36 % of the variance in the performance. MO has a significant and direct effect on marketing capability and explains 74 % of the variance in marketing capability. Marketing capability has a significant and direct effect on performance (standardized regression weight .60, p=.000). The standardized indirect effect of MO on performance is .52.The model differs from the model of SMEs operating only on domestic markets. Within these firms, the model fit is not good (NFI = .94; CFI = .95; RMSEA = .201; CMIN/DF = 3.776, p=.052). The model explains only 15 % of the variance in the performance. The effect of marketing capability on performance is smaller than with internationalized SMEs, although it is significant (standardized regression weight .39, p=.000). The standardized indirect effect of MO on performance is also smaller than with internationalized SMEs (.29). With domestic SMEs MO has a significant and direct effect on marketing capability and explains 54 % of the variance in marketing capability. Marketing capability mediates the effect of market orientation with both groups: internationalized SMEs and SMEs operating only on domestic markets. Marketing capability has a direct effect on business performance. However, the model fit is not good with domestic SMEs and standardized effects are smaller. Marketing capability and market orientation seem to be even more important factors when operating in foreign markets than in domestic markets. Implications and value. The results of this study are in line with previous research: market orientation and marketing capability have an effect on business performance (Kirca et al., 2005). In this study, market orientation has an indirect effect on performance mediated by marketing capability. Also other studies have shown that the effect of market orientation on performance can be mediated by different factors (González-Benito et al., 2014; Liao et al., 2011. Marketing capability had more value in explaining the business performance with internationalized SMEs than with SMEs operating only on domestic markets. This is in line with Wilden & Gudergan (2015), who found that environment has an effect on the importance of marketing capability. SMEs operating on foreign markets have more challenges with the environment than SMEs operating only on domestic markets. The value of this study is to show the importance of marketing capability and market orientation in the context of internationalization of SMEs in the Forest sector. Market orientation can be embodied as an antecedent of the internationalization like Wright et al. (2007) suggest, but it can also be seen as an antecedent of marketing capability with internationalized SMEs.
Tämä selvitys on toteutettu osana Seinäjoen ammattikorkeakoulun ja Suomen metsäkeskuksen Puutuotealan kasvuhanketta. Hanketta rahoittaa Manner-Suomen maaseudun kehittämisohjelma 2014-2020, Etelä-Pohjanmaan Ely-keskus ja Pohjanmaan Ely-keskus Euroopan maaseudun kehittämisen maatalousrahastosta. Selvityksen tarkoituksena on tuottaa uusinta tutkimustietoa puutuotealan pk-yrityksille erilaisista kasvuun ja kansainvälistymiseen vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Selvitykseen on haettu uusinta tutkimustietoa sekä kansallisista että kansainvälisistä tutkimuksista. Tutkimuksia yrityksen kasvuun ja kansainvälistymiseen vaikuttavista tekijöistä erityisesti puutuotealan yritysten äkökulmasta, mutta selvitykseen on tarpeen mukaan otettu näkökulmia myös yleisemmistä, ei alakohtaisista, tutkimuksista. Selvityksessä on esitetty ensin tilannekatsaus puutuotealan kasvun ja kansainvälistymisen osalta, jonka jälkeen erikseen on käyty läpi yleisesti pk-yritysten kasvua ja kasvustrategioita, niihin vaikuttavia tekijöitä sekä kansainvälistymistä. Puutuoteala kokonaisuudessaan on suurten muutosten äärellä. Kypsät teollisuuden alat tarvitsevat uusia tuotteita ja palveluja. Haasteita aiheuttavat myös uudet teknologiat ja digitaalisuus, sillä kuluttajat etsivät yhä enemmän tietoa verkosta ja ovat valmiita myös tekemään ostoksia siellä. Yritysten kansainvälistymisen osalta voi todeta, että kansainväliset kilpailijat rantautuvat Suomen markkinoille vähintäänkin siinä muodossa, että toimittavat verkon kautta löytyviä tuotteita. Uusia innovaatioita voi löytyä niin tuotteiden ja uusien materiaalien puolelta, mutta myös palveluista. Palveluiden osuus on korostumassa. Osin sen takia on hyvin olennaista panostaa markkinointiviestintään. Viestintää on muistettava suunnata niin jälleenmyyjille kuin loppukäyttäjällekin.
Purpose The European Commission has published a general framework of entrepreneurship competence, EntreComp, to create a shared definition and support its development. This study proposes and tests a scale to measure entrepreneurship competence based on the EntreComp framework and examines its relation to start-up behaviour using data from seven European countries. Design/methodology/approach The data was gathered from seven European countries and consists of 1128 answers from both secondary and higher education level students. We use explorative factor analysis, analysis of variance, and logistic regression analysis as data analysis methods. Findings The results show that entrepreneurship competence is related to start-up behaviour and sensitive to role models and prior experience of entrepreneurship but is not sensitive to gender or level of education. The results also show that although the framework proposes three distinct areas, entrepreneurship competence is unidimensional. Originality/Value The study tests the EntreComp framework and introduces a scale for measuring EC based on the framework. The results show that EC can be addressed as unidimensional construct, and that it explains start-up behavior and develops through enterprising activities. The study also shows the impact of role models on EC. No difference in EC between genders is observed, suggesting the gender differences in entrepreneurship arise from factors other than competence.
Tämä selvitys on toteutettu osana Seinäjoen ammattikorkeakoulun ja Suomen metsäkeskuksen toteuttamaa Puutuotealan kasvuhanketta vuonna 2017. Puutuotealan kasvuhankkeen rahoittaja on Manner-Suomen maaseudun kehittämis-ohjelma 2014-2020, Etelä-Pohjanmaan ELY-keskus ja Pohjanmaan ELY-keskus Euroopan maaseudun kehittämisen maatalousrahastosta. Selvityksen tarkoituksena on kartoittaa Ruotsin rakennusalan markkinatilannetta puurakentamisen näkökulmasta, ruotsalaista rakentamisen toimintakulttuuria ja väyliä Ruotsin markkinoille murtautumiseen. Selvityksen teemoja ovat kilpailutilanne Ruotsissa, rakentamisen toteutusprosessit, Ruotsin rakennusmääräykset ja normit, kulttuurierot kaupankäynnissä, rakentamisen kustannukset Ruotsissa, puurakentamisen näkymät sekä tärkeimmät neuvot rakennusalan yrityksille viennin käynnistämiseksi Ruotsiin. Selvitys on tehty kahdessa osassa. Ensimmäisessä osassa toteutettiin teemahaastatteluja neljälle Ruotsin rakennusalaa ja/tai yritystoimintaa tuntevalle asian-tuntijalle sekä yhdelle Ruotsin markkinoilla toimineelle yrittäjälle. Selvityksen toinen osuus toteutettiin ostopalveluna ja siinä selvitettiin ruotsalaisen konsulttiyhtiön toimesta rakentamiseen liittyviä puutuotealan markkinoita. Päätuloksena voi todeta, että rakentamisen sektori on Ruotsissa kasvanut viime vuodet ja kasvaa edelleen. Puurakentamiselle on tilausta. Markkinoilla on myös paljon kilpailua ja paikallisia toimijoita suositaan. Tämän vuoksi markkinoille pääsemiseksi tarvitaan henkilökohtaisia kontakteja ja yhteistyökumppaneita Ruotsista. Markkinoille pääsemisen varmistamiseksi kannattaa pohjatyö tehdä hyvin. Tämä koskee niin oman tuotteen hiomista, sen sovittamista kyseiselle markkina-alueelle sopivaksi, brändäystä ja tarvittavien lupien ja sertifiointien selvittämistä kuin markkinatilanteeseen tutustumista. Suomalaiset yritykset tarvitsevat usein lisää osaamista ja kovaa työtä kontaktien luomiseksi.
Hybrid entrepreneurs (HEs) represent a considerable share of all entrepreneurial activity. Yet little is known about the phenomenon. In this study we examine the differences between transitory HEs, who expect to make the transition to full-time entrepreneurship, and persistent HEs, who view their part-time status as permanent. With data collected from 848 academic HEs we find that only a small minority considers full self-employment likely in the near future and that self-fulfillment is the most significant motive for entrepreneurial activities. The results suggest that persistent hybrid entrepreneurship should be viewed as a form of entrepreneurship in its own right, and that even partial entrepreneurship has the potential to lengthen careers and improve wellbeing at work. Hybrid entrepreneurship offers the entrepreneurially inclined employees the best of both worlds. KEYWORDS: hybrid entrepreneurship, part-time entrepreneurship, survey