Timo Pihkala

Lappeenranta – Lahti University of Technology LUT · School of Engineering Sciences

Purpose: Vocational education and training (VET) in Finland takes place more and more at workplaces. Hence, the teachers' cooperation with companies has become important. Little research has been done on the teacher's activities in business cooperation and the factors affecting business cooperation. The teacher's decisions and choices are made poss...

This study focuses on entrepreneurship in vocational education and training (VET). Generally, teachers’ operations in entrepreneurship education (EE) have been researched widely from the perspective of teaching and working practices and pedagogy. However, there are only a few studies of EE from the VET teacher’s perspective. As a practice-oriented...

This study explores teachers’ professional development in entrepreneurship education (EE). It examines empirically the change in teachers’ EE practices among Finnish teachers in 2011–2017. Overall, the quantitative analysis reveals that entrepreneurship education practices are increasing, albeit unevenly. Three groups of teachers, EE experimenters,...

The purpose of this study is to add to the literature on entrepreneurial universities by investigating entrepreneurial culture (EC) in higher education institutions (HEIs). The authors investigate how students experience EC and which factors explain their perceptions of EC. The study is based on a survey of HEI students in Finland with 1277 respons...

This report highlights the results of the GUESSS (Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey) study in Finland. The survey was undertaken during the spring 2021. GUESSS 2021 survey measured the entrepreneurial intentions of Finnish university students. The number of respondents was 1094 in total. More information on the global GUESS...

The purpose of this study was to examine the utilization of the opportunities offered by teacher and school autonomy in entrepreneurship education with companies involved. The research question was: How do schools and teachers use their autonomy in the implementation of entrepreneurship education? This research question was complemented by two addi...

The objective of this case-based study is to understand how the dyadic interaction between the key governance actors can influence the decision-making aimed at directing and controlling a family firm. The study provides evidence that dyadic interaction at the back stage of the formal governance process can offer a privileged position for the family...

The objective of this case-based study is to provide insights into the advisory role of non-family board members in a family firm attempting strategic renewal. By studying the non-family board members of a family firm in a Nordic country, we suggest that non-family board members’ advisory role evolves in a dynamic way. We show at the micro-level ho...

Previous research into entrepreneurial learning has focused mainly on defining its aims; however, there seems to be little discussion on understanding the barriers or incentives involved when carrying out the pedagogical solutions that would enable entrepreneurial learning. In this study, we examine basic education level schools' cooperation with o...

We explore the process and consequences of family firm owners applying informal rules to decision-making in the context of later-generation family firms attempting strategic renewal. Based on the case studies of two firms in a Nordic country where the owners serve as non-executive board members, and following institutional action theory, we propose...

Purpose The purpose of this paper studies the role of paradoxes in the adoption of entrepreneurship education (EE) in schools. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research methods were used, and the data were collected via semi-structured interviews with Finnish teachers and principals. Findings Paradoxes are an important factor slowing the a...

The regional impact of entrepreneurial universities is a well-researched topic, but less attention is paid to the expectations of the regional policy institutes toward the university. This chapter investigates the regional policy expectations toward the university and what the influence of the university to these expectations is. This study is base...

This chapter highlights the phenomenon of family business groups as a research target and presents the vision for the book. The role of family business groups in different economies is a main reason for the need to understand the emergence and development of family business groups. Partly due to the invisibility of the family business group—the cur...

This chapter contributes to the existing research by providing an exhaustive theoretical overview of the family business group phenomenon. In this chapter, we present an overview of three parallel streams of literature which are relevant to the understanding of family business groups. These are the mainstream economic, management and organizational...

Family business groups are highly complex ownership structures. In this chapter, we suggest that owning a family business group needs to create benefits that overcome the transaction costs and ownership costs emerging from the complexities of ownership. We separate the effects of ownership into two main categories: the legal effects and the emotion...

In this chapter, we sum up the lessons learned about family business groups. The chapter highlights some of the contributions of the separate chapters in the book and shows that many of the chapters in fact open up new perspectives into studying family business groups, thus providing possibilities for further studies. We suggest that while this boo...

There are explicit calls for deeper understanding of the creation and development of family business groups. Responding to this gap in the body of knowledge, this chapter presents a case study highlighting the role of portfolio entrepreneurship in the development of a family business group. This chapter opted for an exploratory case study approach...

We draw insights from the perspective of theory of complex adaptive systems to gain knowledge about complex interactions and the dynamic nature of entrepreneurial family business groups. We develop a theoretical understanding of complex longevity in entrepreneurial family firms through a detailed analysis of a multigenerational family business grou...

This chapter focuses on the methodological issues of researching family business groups and portfolios. It identifies and discusses five areas which pose special methodological challenges for family business researchers. The field is still developing relevant research questions, and until these are clarified further, the field lacks an agreed theor...

This edited collection analyses the unexplored concept of the family business group, evaluating the opportunities and advantages that it creates for entrepreneurs. Raising a number of important questions, the authors construct a new research agenda for the complex topic of the family business group, which will ultimately assess its contribution tow...

In spite of the high failure rates of later-generation family companies, the research on family firm strategic renewals has been limited. The role of the owners in these situations, in particular, remains underexplored. We address this research gap and suggest that the owners of a family firm can take an active resource role in triggering and suppo...

The purpose of this study is to add to the literature on entrepreneurial university ecosystems by highlighting the ways in which academics engage or decouple in entrepreneurship processes an thereby in the emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem. The study extends our understanding of the emergence of an entrepreneurial university ecosystem by providing...

Artikli eesmärk on uurida koolijuhtide tegevust ettevõtlusõpet toetavate võrgustike arendamisel. Uurimuses keskendume sellele osale koolijuhtide tegevusest, mis on seotud ettevõtlusõppe arendamisega koolides. Täpsemalt öeldes vaatleme, kuidas kaasavad koolijuhid väliseid huvirühmi koolide tegevusse. Uurimuse ajendiks sai asjaolu, et kuigi ettevõtlu...

The purpose of this article is to examine the principals’ networking activities in entrepreneurship education. In this study, we are interested in the principals’ actions, when they aim at developing entrepreneurship education in their schools. More precisely, the focus is on how principals utilize external stakeholders in the school context. Our m...

By focusing on family owners’ perceptions and dynamics the aim of this paper is to understand the specific goals associated to their ownership status and whether and to what extend they impact on family firms’ growth and continuity. We use survey data on Finnish family firms and identify a set of differentiated family owners’ goals. Our findings co...

This study analyses entrepreneurship education and especially the role of principals affecting the practices used in schools. Particularly, we will analyse the relationship between principals' development activities and entrepreneurship education practices. In this study, we argue that school principals have a central role in managing and guiding t...

For the past 10–15 years, European universities have faced growing expectations for their role in promoting enterprise, innovation and small business development. As a response, European universities are rapidly developing new approaches to incorporate enterprise promotion in the university structure. The purpose of this study is to provide compreh...

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of head teachers' background characteristics on the entrepreneurship education of schools. The study analyzes how the background characteristics of head teachers explain the implementation of entrepreneurship education in schools. The methods applied were analysis of variance and linear regression...

This paper presents the interaction of different systemic elements in innovation activities in complex business portfolios. The interaction of innovation and portfolio transformation is highlighted based on two empirical case studies. Systemic challenges with different drivers and external impacts are presented. The managerial implication is to foc...

http://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/Entrepreneurial-Schools-pt1.pdf

The aim of this paper is to illustrate and model the construction of a measurement tool for entrepreneurship education where the tool itself is targeted toward Finnish teachers working in primary and secondary education. This study represents participatory action research (Argyris 1993) as the research context has been facilitated and provided by t...

Different approaches and methodologies for entrepreneurship education have been introduced for schools. However, a better theoretical and empirical understanding of the antecedents of entrepreneurship education is needed. The authors analyze what entrepreneurship education practices are used in schools and what role the school and the teacher are p...

Purpose – This study aims to highlight the entrepreneurship education practices teachers use in their work. Another target is to analyze how these practices differ based on a number of background factors. Design/methodology/approach – This article presents a quantitative analysis of 521 teachers and other entrepreneurship education actors. The pape...

The family system has a strong influence on the governance of the business, including the board of directors. Resulting from this, the family business boards differ clearly from those of non-family businesses. In earlier research the family business board has been assigned the role as an advisor, a strategic decision making group and a monitor of t...

Innovation processes can be regarded as complex, dynamic, and a result of cumulative dynamic interaction and learning processes involving many actors. In this setting, private small‐ and medium‐sized businesses (SMEs) can be considered a key factor – as generators of new ideas, as entrepreneurs carrying out new ventures, and as partners for other l...

This paper seeks to build an insight to the systemic models of family business from the closed-open systems perspective. We focus on family business system models, on the characteristics of open systems, and on the subsystems content of family system and ownership system in the family business context. The contemporary research on family business s...

The present paper seeks to build understanding of family business succession by focusing on knowledge transfer between the older generation and the younger generation. Following the literature on resources, competences and knowledge management, we suggest that the introduction of the second generation in a family business involves the transfer of b...

This article has two aims: First, the purpose is to outline the current state and development opportunities of national entrepreneurship education guidance. On the other hand, the aim is to put forward proposals for measures to systematise the national entrepreneurship education guidance system. Our article aims at two types of benefits: Progress i...

The recent theories of innovation suggest that there is great potential for innovation in the structural holes and weak links of the innovation system. Higher absorptive capacity enables an easier crossing over of structural holes in the innovation system, aided by social capital that is located in the social relationships of actors. However, the l...

In this paper, we study family business portfolios and illustrate ownership that connects family and business systems. Traditional family business research has assumed the one family/one business concept to be the main model. This study builds on the ideas of modern portfolio theory and behavioural finance theory and suggests that the portfolio eva...

In networked businesses, the HRM practices of the participating SMEs face serious challenges. The purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between employees' perceptions of their work conditions and their feelings regarding supporting work organisation within three different types of organisations: core organisations, SME subcontractors...

According to the theory of psychological ownership, the feeling of ownership does not necessitate legal ownership, and may emerge when a person gets to know the target intimately, controls it and invests in it. We focus in this study on owner-managers of small enterprises, and build on the fundamental assumption that psychological ownership and leg...

Paper published in the conference proceedings of the ESU conference 2009 on entrepreneurship, 8-12 September, Benevento, Italy, 19 p.

This paper focuses on the management of small businesses in Russia. Despite the growing importance of the Russian small business sector, there are surprisingly few empirical studies focusing on this topic. As the business environment in Russia is repeatedly noted to be in constant change, the purpose of the paper is to explore Russian owner‐manager...

The present study aims to present a theoretical framework for a network-level performance measurement system. The suggested framework for the performance measurement system is composed of the factors that enable and cause the productivity and profitability of the network form of organisation. The framework developed in this study can be divided int...

There has been hardly any research about the management tools and the holistic performance measurement systems which are very important when managing SME networks. The present study is based on two different perspectives to produce added value to discussion on networking. These perspectives are a system view and a view that considers networks as en...

A shift in the techno-economic paradigm will affect regions; regions, however, are path-dependent units. This path-dependency often leads to considerable socio-institutional inertia in the process of transformation whereby regions aim to remain competitive in the face of worldwide competition. The present article assesses the role of the dynamic ca...

This paper focuses on the relationship between the theory of psychological ownership and the concept of family business. The purpose of this paper is to study the "family business" dimension of small business owner-managers' ownership profiles. The research is conducted by studying the ownership profiles of entrepreneurs and the possible connection...

In presenting two perspectives through which SME networking can be discussed, namely a system view and a view that considers networks as entities, this paper aims to contribute to the current discourse on SME network resources. A network-level performance measurement system emphasizes win-win situations in a network between the leader company and t...

Motivated by concerns about the organizational and institutional conditions that foster research creativity in science, we focus on how creative research can be defined, operationalized, and empirically identified. A functional typology of research creativity is proposed encompassing theoretical, methodological and empirical developments in science...

Research on innovations and barriers to innovation has for a long time been concentrated on trying to find those mechanisms that would help in designing innovation-supporting policies at European, national and company level. Often these studies have, however, been looking at only one of the levels at a time, which has led to oversimplifications and...

Virtual organizations have been presented as one solution for SMEs aiming to increase their competitiveness. This paper seeks to clarify those preconditions that affect the abilities of SMEs to participate in virtual organizations. The reviews on the networking literature and the resource-based theory show that the demands that virtual organization...

In this study we focus on the relationship between a person's motivation structure and entrepreneurial intention. The data covers survey answers by 2899 people representing the normal population. The factor analyses identified the main factors behind the respondents' motivational structure and the respondents' subjective preferences for the work ch...

The research on entrepreneurship has for long been trying to find personality characteristics which could serve to explain business start-up. Often these studies have, however, been looking for only one stereotypical character, the classical entrepreneur, and contrasted this character with the non-entrepreneurial counterpart. This study focuses on...

This paper deals with a special case of virtual organisation and SME-networking -- a hotel of small firms. This kind of network organisation represents the latest stage of development in business where different kinds of resources and activities are scattered in separate units, i.e firms, and on the other hand where these small units endeavour to f...

Abstract

Utilising external relationships is one of the most important strategies and tools for small- and medium-sized firms to expand their business in a flexible way. The entrepreneurial search for new advantages and growth through cooperation has resulted in new hybrid forms of organizing. The objectives of the paper are threefold: (1) To briefly review...

Small and middle sized companies (SME) are important for local economies. Networking of SME is often considered to be a vital activity as well in production operations but also in innovation activities (Vesalainen 2006, Bessant and Tidd 2007.) From the perspective of small businesses the value networks (Vanhaverberke & Cloodt 2006) provide an inter...

The research on family businesses has traditionally followed a one company -one owner – paradigm. The basic idea of a family business is that there is the specific social group – the family – that collectively owns the firm; a fact that separates family businesses non-family companies. Family business research has specialized to study the specific...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Universitas Wasaensis, 2001. Includes bibliographical references. Introduction -- "A cube model for analyzing holistically interfirm cooperation" -- "The holistic development process of interfirm cooperation of SMEs : an explorative case study" -- "Modelling different types of multilateral interfirm cooperation in the SME-sector" /...