Teemu Kautonen

Enterprise support for older entrepreneurs: the case of PRIME in the UK

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to examine the potential for and barriers to older enterprise as well as the role and contribution of specific enterprise support policy, focusing in particular on socially disadvantaged older people.Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a single case study of the Princes Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME) with multiple data sources, including a synthesis of current literature, PRIME self‐evaluation reports, interviews with PRIME personnel and results of a recent survey of 283 individuals who had contacted PRIME for enterprise advice and support.Findings – The paper finds that, with respect to older enterprise support policy, the tentative results presented in this study seem encouraging in terms of a positive social and economic role for older enterprise support work. However, due to the limitations of the data, a number of questions need additional clarification in future research. Longitudinal research designs are required to investiga...

Development of Cooperation in New Venture Support Networks: The Role of Key Actors

Purpose – New venture support networks (NVSN) are an instrument of enterprise policy with the aim of effectively coordinating the activities of different organisations involved in new venture support. This paper aims to illuminate the role of certain key actors in facilitating and maintaining cooperation in such networks, which are characterised by a heterogeneous actor structure and a lack of a network culture due to having been established by political initiative.Design/methodology/approach – This paper discusses case studies in five German NVSN, which are all part of the governmental initiative “EXIST – Entrepreneurs from Universities”, established in 1998.Findings – Identifies three general functions for key actors: generating benefits for the member organisations from without and within the network; communicating these benefits to the member organisations; and maintaining a balance between the heterogeneous interests of the network partners.Research limitations/implications – The study identifies the...

Permission‐based mobile marketing and sources of trust in selected European markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a three‐country comparison of personal and institutionally based trust as factors affecting consumers willingness to participate in permission‐based mobile marketing.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model of different dimensions of personal and institutionally based trust and their effect on the consumers willingness to provide personal information and the permission to use it is tested with data from surveys of young consumers in Finland, Germany and the UK. The data were analysed by structural equation modelling (LISREL8.7).Findings – The main factor affecting the consumers decision to participate in mobile marketing is the companys media presence, which is a significant factor in all three countries.Research limitations/implications – While the results of this study establish the sources of trust that play a role in permission‐based mobile marketing, the study of trust in the context of mobile marketing would greatly benefit from research ...

Strategy in Small Growth-Oriented Firms in Finland: A Discourse Analysis Approach

This paper seeks to increase understanding of strategic planning in small growth-oriented firms by focusing on what strategy actually means in their everyday business practice. The results of a discourse analysis of 22 interviews with Finnish small business managers show three different approaches to strategy: (1) strategy as an emergent process of reactive problem solving, (2) strategy as a formal planning process, and (3) strategy as a shared process. The results can be used as a starting point in further research to study the impact of strategy on business growth and performance.

Conceptualising the dimensions of sourcing strategy: a governance-based approach

The application of the transaction cost economics based governance framework as a tool for developing sourcing strategy has received limited attention in the literature so far. Synthesising previous literature and analysing multiple-case study data from 16 subcontracting partnerships in the Finnish metal and electronics industries, this paper develops a conceptual framework defining and empirically illustrating the subdimensions constituting each of the commonly discussed governance mechanisms: price, authority and social governance. In so doing, the paper provides a conceptual basis for future research, and a basis for the development of a management tool for structuring the process of developing a coherent sourcing strategy.

ORGANIZING NEW VENTURE SUPPORT IN REGIONAL NETWORKS: EXPLORING EVIDENCE FROM 'EXIST – ENTREPRENEURS FROM UNIVERSITIES' IN GERMANY

New Venture Support Networks (NVSN) are a political instrument with the aim of improving coordination between private and public organizations involved in new venture support in a region. Cooperation between these organizations should improve the overall quality of new venture support and increase its transparency to potential entrepreneurs. However, achieving cooperation between organizations with heterogeneous interests is particularly difficult when the network has been initiated artificially as part of a political programme. This paper examines the concept of NVSN theoretically focusing on network cooperation, and illustrates the concepts with empirical examples from exploratory interviews conducted in five NVSN established in 1998 in Germany within the government initiative EXIST – Entrepreneurs from Universities. The preliminary conclusions suggest that there is a need for improvement and further investigation concerning the framework of rules and incentives set by the political programme, and the roles of certain key actors as motors of self-organization in NVSN.