Markus M. Mäkelä

Attracting cross-border venture capital: the role of a local investor

Examining an increasingly prevalent but under-researched phenomenon, cross-border venture capital investments, it is observed that local venture capitalists typically invest first, followed by foreign venture capitalists in later rounds. A model is developed that explains the role of a domestic venture capital investor in attracting foreign investors and which also accounts for the impact of various circumstances on the importance of this role. In our model based on analysis of nine cross-border venture capital-backed companies, local venture capitalists have several important roles in increasing the ventures cross-border investment readiness including advice to operational management and contributing contacts and local market knowledge. The importance of these roles is mitigated if the entrepreneurial team is highly experienced or if the home market is not important for the venture. The prominence of the local investor has signalling value. Finally, the local investors international social capital facilitates the formation of cross-border syndicates. Overall, the model developed in the paper contributes to a better understanding of cross-border venture capital and in particular to the division of labour between domestic and foreign venture capitalists in international venture capital syndicates. The paper also contributes to the emerging literature on international social capital.

Cross-Border Venture Capital and New Venture Internationalization: An Isomorphism Perspective

Abstract Many of the fastest growing global ventures are backed by cross-border venture capitalists. However, the role of foreign investors in internationalization has not been examined in prior research. To address this gap, we carried out a multiple case study to produce a grounded theory of the effects of foreign investors in new venture internationalization. Our findings suggest that foreign venture capitalists located in a ventures target market of internationalization can be valuable for the venture by legitimizing the unknown new venture in that market. However, foreign investors tend to drive portfolio companies towards their home markets, and the benefits may turn into disadvantages if the target market differs from the home markets of the foreign investors.

Interorganizational Commitment in Syndicated Cross-Border Venture Capital Investments

Cross–border venture capital has become increasingly common in recent years. Little is known, however, about the antecedents of venture capitalists’ commitment to portfolio firms in international settings. We used a multiple case study to build a grounded model of interorganizational commitment in cross–border syndication networks. The model proposes that changes in a ventures prospects influence investors’ commitment levels. This relationship is amplified by the remoteness of the investor and is mitigated by the investors embeddedness in local syndication networks and the relative investment size. The model contributes to the literature on cross–border venture capital and interorganizational commitment in international settings.

The role of personnel commitment to strategy implementation and organisational learning within the relationship between strategic planning and company performance

Purpose – The study seeks to add to the existing body of knowledge on the link between strategic planning and company performance by exploring the mediating role of personnel commitment to strategy implementation and organisational learning. To study the indirect link between strategic planning and company performance, the paper aims to introduce a participative strategic planning construct that may enable firms to: commit personnel to strategy implementation; increase organisational learning; and improve company performance.Design/methodology/approach – Using data from 160 small and medium‐sized Finnish IT companies, the authors conduct an Mplus‐analysis.Findings – The findings indicate that participative strategic planning positively affects personnel commitment to strategy implementation, which thereby increases company performance. However, according to the analysis, participative strategic planning does not impact organisational learning, although organisational learning does have a positive impact o...

Measuring and comparing the adoption of software process practices in the software product industry

Compatibility of agile methods and CMMI have been of interest forthe software engineering community, but empirical evidence beyond case studiesis scarce, which be attributed to the lack of validated measurement scales forsurvey studies. In this study, we construct and validate a set of Rasch scales formeasuring process maturity and use of agile methods. Using survey data from86 small and medium-sized software product firms, we find that the use of agilemethods and the maturity level of the firm are complementary in this sample. Inaddition to providing initial survey evidence of the compatibility of agile methodsand process maturity, our study provides a set of validated scales that canbe further refined and used in later survey studies.

Software Business Education for Software Engineers: Towards an Integrated Curriculum

All software is developed to create value to its stakeholders. Software engineering decisions and business value are closely linked with each other: technical decisions may have a profound impact on the business potential of software. Yet, software engineering education usually does not provide students with sufficient knowledge on business-related issues. We believe that the general business education is too abstract and unfocused to address the specific characteristics of software business. This paper suggests specific areas of business competencies that should be integrated into the software engineering curriculum. In addition, we compare these topics with software business curricula in three Finnish universities.

Current practices and research opportunities in software business models

This paper discusses the notion of a business model in the context of a software company, reviewing some common definitions for the term and then characterizing businesses according to different types of business models. We will conclude in discussing how different business models affect software engineering decisions and the software product itself.

Research in software business: implications of the special qualities of software as a good

In a number of ways, software is a special economic good. It has some familiar characteristics of both information and physical goods, and the characteristics come in combinations that are unique to software. This uniqueness of software results in many insights and problems for further inquiry for the research domain of software business. In this paper, we discuss the special features induced to business by software being the traded good. In addition, we elaborate on the position of the domain of software business in relation to other domains of business studies and, on the other hand, to the study of software engineering. The study of software business requires knowledge of basic theories underlying business research and empirical findings produced in the various domains of business research. In addition, the researcher has to master one or more research methodologies of social science. Knowledge of the most closely related technical field of software engineering is beneficial to fully appreciate the business implications of software technology and products.

Practical Knowledge and Collaboration in Engineering

This paper presents the results of a case study conducted in networked product development organisations. In this study, the emphasis is on various dimensions of collaboration and knowledge sharing. The results indicate that knowledge is shared quite fluently in this network of collaborating partners. However, the tacit dimension of knowledge is not yet given enough attention. The information systems and other tools supporting knowledge management are focused on document management and other explicit knowledge, whilst the tactical knowledge is still shared in immediate communication or face-to-face meetings in an unstructured manner. The support for sharing tacit knowledge should be improved for example by encouraging the creation of communities of practice and by providing technological platforms for them.

Cross-Border Venture Captalists’ Support for the Internationalization of New Software Ventures

This highly accessible book brings together the insights of leading academics and researchers to promote a better understanding of the role of private equity providers in the development of growth-oriented start-ups and the management of growth processes.