Jarna Heinonen

An entrepreneurial‐directed approach to teaching corporate entrepreneurship at university level

– The aim of this article is to explore the entrepreneurial‐directed approach to teaching within one university‐level course in corporate entrepreneurship (CE) for Masters‐level students, and to gain a deeper understanding of the viability of the pedagogical methods used in teaching CE. The paper seeks to describe and examine the approach in the light of the theoretical concepts behind it, the pedagogical methods and applications used to reach the course objectives, and the learning outcomes., – A combination of qualitative research methods and observation techniques were used during and after the course in order to explore the learning outcomes of the students and to evaluate the applicability of the approach in achieving the learning objectives. All of the research material was analysed in the context of the entrepreneurial‐directed approach., – The results reveal that the approach is well suited to teaching CE in a university setting, perhaps even better suited than it is to entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial‐directed approach may be a constructive, educational and fruitful experience for students and teachers., – Longitudinal research is needed in order to trace how the entrepreneurial‐directed approach has succeeded in fostering entrepreneurial behaviour in students., – The case study gives some practical ideas on how the approach could be used in teaching CE., – Few researchers have discussed and analysed how entrepreneurship is taught, and research on teaching CE is almost non‐existent. This study attempts to fill both of these gaps.

Perceived Learning Outcomes in Entrepreneurship Education: The Impact of Student Motivation and Team Behaviour

Purpose – This paper aims to address the impact of a persons motivation to study entrepreneurship on their subsequent levels of performance in terms of the generation of business ideas, while taking into account the effect of student team behaviour.Design/methodology/approach – The paper hypothesises that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well as team behaviour influence the learning outcome and that team behaviour moderates the relationship between motivation and learning outcomes. A survey was used to generate data. A total of 117 students, who participated in pre‐programme, and post‐programme surveys, provided the sample data. First, explorative factor analyses were employed to examine the latent variables. Second, hierarchical lineal regression analyses were carried out to test the proposed hypotheses.Findings – It was found that intrinsic motivation has a negative effect on the learning outcome while extrinsic motivation had a positive one. However, the team (and in particular the resources...

Back to Basics: The Role of Teaching in Developing the Entrepreneurial University

The literature on entrepreneurial universities focuses on the close collaboration between academia, industry and government, and on the contribution of tertiary level education to society and the economy. Little attention has been paid to the role of teaching in developing the entrepreneurial university, despite the active research on entrepreneurship education. In addressing this research gap, this paper provides a theoretical discussion of the role of teaching in this context. The authors suggest that the challenges are connected primarily to issues of content and pedagogy, depending on the tasks and the university setting.

The role of creativity in opportunity search and business idea creation

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the relationships between student creativity, various opportunity search strategies, and the viability of business ideas developed during an entrepreneurship education module.Design/methodology/approach – The paper sets out hypotheses on the associations between individual creativity, opportunity search strategies and the viability of business ideas generated. A group of 117 students provided the sample data by participating in pre‐programme and post‐programme surveys. Explorative factor analysis was employed to examine latent variables, and factor structures were confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modelling was then used to test the resulting hypotheses.Findings – The results show that creativity is not directly associated with the viability of the business idea. Creativity does, however, strengthen the creative opportunity search strategies and the use of opportunity identification strategies based on knowledge acquisition. Accordingly...

APPROACHING A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP - FOCUSING ON CO-EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES

Previous studies on CE behaviour and processes have neglected the role of employees, as the focus has been on one-way relationships (top-down) and the interaction between them. We question the straightforward model of CE implementation and suggest causality between different elements. This conceptual study discusses the different organisational and individual pre-requisites in order to promote understanding of how they confront in the CE context. We propose that top-down and bottom-up influences are parallel terms describing the co-evolution of managerial and employee behaviour and organisational structures. We conclude by introducing the concept of implementation and influencing modalities and conversational space, which enables the ‘voices’ of managers and subordinates to meet and negotiate. Finally, we argue that CE is a two-way interactive and recursive process in which structures and managerial initiatives affect individual behaviour, and individual behaviour affects structures and management behaviour. The paper discusses the implications and gives direction for further research endeavours.

Corporate entrepreneurs or silent followers

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to explore how employee attitudes affect management behaviour in the corporate entrepreneurship (CE) setting. The paper focuses on the co‐evolutionary processes of practices and elements of the social structure, i.e. simultaneous top‐down and bottom‐up influences.Design/methodology/approach – Organisation‐level data from individuals in the Finnish public‐sector health and social care organisation was obtained. The questionnaire comprised Likert‐scale attitude statements on different aspects of management behaviour, enabling structures, and individual attitudes. The data analysed consisted of 523 responses. Factor analysis and reliability tests were used to create aggregated measures for different CE antecedents and hierarchical regression analysis in order to test the causal model derived from the previous literature.Findings – Empirical evidence of the crucial role of individual attitudes and action in CE was found, thus indicating that certain attitude types inf...

Firm Growth in Family Businesses - The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Entrepreneurial Activity

Previous studies show that growth is an important goal for businesses, but little is known of how the entrepreneurial orientation–performance relationship works in family businesses and how this differs from their nonfamily peers. We examine that and how entrepreneurial activity mediates the relationship in family and nonfamily businesses. Our results on 532 firms show that family businesses benefit from innovative orientation, which is both directly and indirectly associated with firm growth via entrepreneurial activity. This association does not exist in nonfamily businesses. Furthermore, risk taking does not influence family business growth even if it does in nonfamily businesses.

Job satisfaction and retirement age intentions in Finland: Self-employed versus salary earners

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of job satisfaction on the intended retirement age of self-employed and organisationally-employed white-collar professionals. The analysis also examines potential boundary conditions imposed by other domains of life for the applicability of this relationship. Design/methodology/approach - The study employs ordered probit regressions to analyse primary survey data comprising 1,262 Finnish white-collar professionals. Findings - The econometric results suggest that job satisfaction is a significant determinant of the intention to retire later and thus prolong a career. The analysis does not find a difference in the effect of job satisfaction between salary earners and self-employed individuals. However, the analysis finds that other domains of life influence how job satisfaction affects retirement-age intentions, and that these influences differ between self-employed and salaried respondents. Practical implications - The findings imply that developing measures to improve the job satisfaction of (highly educated) older workers is an alternative to the widely debated regulatory approach of prolonging working careers by increasing the statutory retirement age. The principal limitation is the focus on white-collar professionals in a single country. Originality/value - This is the first empirical comparison of the effect of job satisfaction on the intended retirement age between salary earners and self-employed individuals. It is also the first examination of the effect of job satisfaction on retirement intentions or behaviour that accounts for the effects of other domains of life satisfaction.

The context matters

Purpose – The paper aims to describe the manner in which entrepreneurship policies are embedded in the national contexts and then through analysis offers a deeper understanding of the development of Finnish and Irish entrepreneurship policies. It seeks to focus on three questions: What is the context for entrepreneurship policies in the studied countries?; What kind of governance structure for entrepreneurship policy can be identified and derived from theoretical perspectives?; and What policy instruments and content are associated with governance rationale?Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data involve primary data on national entrepreneurship policy documents illustrating the governance structure for policy development and implementation, as well as policy objectives and targets. Additionally, concrete policy measures were studied within six sub‐areas of entrepreneurship. The analysis is based on a framework with two layers of policy: governance structure, and specific policy measures.Findings...

Morbidity in aged Finns: A systematic review

AIM The aim was to carry out a systematic review of original studies about morbidity in the aged in Finland. METHODS Publications with data on morbidity in the aged (≥65 years) in peer-reviewed scientific journals in Finnish and English were systematically searched for in literature databases, websites of National Institute of Health and Welfare (NIHW), National Public Health Institute (NPHI), and Stakes and reference lists of retrieved articles. Publications from 1990 onwards were included. RESULTS The search produced 39 publications about morbidity in the aged in Finland fulfilling the inclusion criteria. The most common disease categories in the aged were cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), hypertension, orthostatic hypotension (OH), insomnia, diabetes, articular diseases, diseases causing cognitive decline, and depression. The prevalence of many of these diseases increased with age. CONCLUSIONS The morbidity increases with aging, and even the oldest-old are not exceptionally healthy. Because of the increasing number of aged people, the absolute use of health and social services by this population sector will most probably increase in Finland and other developed countries.