Martti Saarela

Public business services fostering growth - case studies in northern sparsely populated areas

The aim of this study is to describe public business services (PBSs) for early-stage small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in northern sparsely populated areas (NSPAs) of Northern Finland. These areas face challenges of globalisation, structural changes and demographic change. PBSs of these areas face special challenges including limited resources, remoteness, heterogeneous customer base, and long distances. This study describes how PBSs are organised and what kind of services is available for early-stage technology intensive companies in the three case NSPAs. The focus is on analysis and comparison of the supply of public business services in the three subregions of Oulu South region. As a result of this multiple case study, the services for SMEs and especially for early-stage technology intensive SMEs within the NSPA context are clarified.

Early stages of service business - review and synthesis

Many stage models have been introduced to clarify management priorities during the early stages of business growth. However, many of these models are conceptual and universal, providing only limited benefits to specific industries and business contexts. The early stages of technology-based ventures have attracted interest, while little attention has been paid to the early stages of service-based firms. This study examines the early stages of growth in service-based firms. The following research questions are posed: What are the basic characteristics of recent empirical studies on the early stages of service-based firms? What are the themes and sequential patterns in the early stages of service-based firms as revealed in the recent empirical literature? This study provides a meta-analytical review designed to answer the research questions. A group of recent empirical-stage models of the early stages of service-based business were selected for meta-analysis and synthesis. The meta-analysis integrates the findings of these models and introduces a self-evaluation framework for the early stages of service-based companies.

Micro-Enterprises’ Digital Marketing Tools for Building Customer Relationships

The digital marketing environment is changing rapidly, and, for micro-enterprises, digital marketing is currently a vitally important opportunity. However, most digital marketing studies have focused on larger companies, and, therefore, little research focused on micro-enterprises has been done in this area. Attracting customers, engaging customers’ interest and participation, retaining customers, learning customers’ preferences and relating to customers are key strategies in building strong customer relationships. However, many enterprises appear to focus only on attracting and engaging customers and ignore longer-term aspects of managing customer relationships. The existing research lacks information on how digital marketing tools are used by micro-enterprises when building customer relationships. The present study sought to contribute to a more in-depth understanding of microenterprises’ current strategies in terms of new digital marketing tools that foster stronger customer relationships. Based on interviews of two digital marketing service providers, this paper describes how their microenterprise clients use digital marketing tools through the selective lens of the five aforementioned elements of building customer relationships. The findings highlight the importance of a practical understanding of digital marketing tools, as the digital marketing environment continues to change rapidly. In particular, the smallest group of micro-enterprises – solo-entrepreneurs – do not utilise digital marketing tools effectively enough. The human capital and digital tool knowledge of micro-enterprises’ owner-managers have a great impact on these firms’ digital marketing and, ultimately, their success.

Growth management of eHealth service start-ups

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to focus on the early development of eHealth service start-ups. To elaborate the research problem, the study addresses the following research questions: How do managerial experiences in eHealth service start-ups relate to the central findings of the recent empirically based stages-of-growth literature? What context-specific viewpoints should be considered when using the stage framework in relation to eHealth service start-ups? Design/methodology/approach - In this explorative multiple case study, the authors test a growth framework describing the early stages of eHealth service firms through eight case studies. The authors utilise the critical incident technique and semi-structured interviews in the data collection. Findings - When taking into account the key contradictions assessed in the study as well as context-specific features of eHealth businesses, the empirically based stage framework seems to be a useful starting point for reflecting on and predicting the challenges faced during the early development of eHealth service start-ups. Slow growth due to several factors and the essential role of the public sector were commonly emphasised elements of the context-specific viewpoints of the eHealth service business. Practical implications - The results may be used in start-ups and intermediary organisations as a framework for predicting managerial challenges during the start-up stage of an eHealth service business. Originality/value - Numerous universal models and frameworks have attempted to clarify management priorities during the early stages of business. However, context-specific viewpoints and their effects on start-ups have not been broadly studied. This study provides new insights into growth management in the eHealth context.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises in public procurement in primary social and healthcare services

Small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policies tend traditionally to focus on supply-side support instruments. However, public procurement provides a potential demand-side SME policy tool to enhance SMEs and maintain competition in the market. SMEs are often under-represented in public procurement compared to their overall economic weight. Existing literature provides limited information on the instruments of public service providers to create business opportunities for SMEs. The aim of this single case study is to describe the role of SMEs in the statutory public service provision of primary social and healthcare. The study also provides insight into the public service providers ability to facilitate SME access to public procurement and thereby to enhance the efficiency of the local market. We found that a service voucher system could be an additional option for public procurement, as it allows more flexibility in involving small businesses in the production of public services.

Micro-Business Owner-Managers’ Growth Intentions in Sparsely Populated Areas in Northern Finland

This research provides new information on the prerequisites for micro firms operating in sparsely populated areas. Micro-business constitutes a numerically dominant group in every economy. In recent years, small businesses and small and medium enterprises, the latter two of which form the backbone of many countries’ economies, have attracted considerable research attention. This study has a twofold aim: (1) to highlight the scant attention paid by researchers to micro-enterprises and (2) to investigate the growth of independently owned micro-businesses and compare self evaluated growth stages with the change in the turnover volume. This case study synthesises two empirical stage models into two self-evaluation frameworks used for 53 technology- and service-based firms. The results indicate that the selected growth stages correspond relatively well to the micro-businesses’ growth.

Critical Incidents of Growth in Nordic eHealth Service Start-Ups

Technological development and digitalisation can revolutionise healthcare delivery and provide new business opportunities for innovative start-ups. Start-up businesses in the healthcare service sector are a promising source of new employment and innovations. The start-up stage is the most critical period for the survival of a business, as decisions made during the early stages have a definitive influence on success. This study seeks to clarify the early development of eHealth service start-ups. To summarise the research problem, the authors ask the following question: What are the critical incidents related to the early development of eHealth service start-ups? The units of analysis in this study are 14 Nordic eHealth service start-ups located in Sweden and Finland. The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) and semi-structured interviews were applied for data collection. The results are of interest to the public sector, which plays an essential role in healthcare as a service producer, but also as a creator of the business conditions of and opportunities for small businesses. EHealth service start-ups will provide fresh insights into the challenges and opportunities of the eHealth business sector.