ANNUAL REPORT Entrepreneurship - utu · Entrepreneurship Unit for putting your valuable effort to our joint ... Vice-Head of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship. 4 Employs

ANNUAL REPORT

Entrepreneurship2015

CONTENTS

REVIEW OF THE RECENT PAST AND THE WAY FORWARD ......................................................... 3

RESEARCH WITH IMPACT ............................................................................................................................. 4

STATE-OF-ART RESEARCH ........................................................................................................................... 5

Highlights from our research projects in 2015 .............................................................................................. 5

Other research projects ..................................................................................................................................... 9

Seminars in entrepreneurship ......................................................................................................................... 13

Conferences....................................................................................................................................................... 15

Appointments ................................................................................................................................................... 16

International research and teaching cooperation ......................................................................................... 18

Positions of trust in scientific community .................................................................................................... 21

INSPIRING LEARNING EXPERIENCES .................................................................................................. 23

Entrepreneurship studies ................................................................................................................................ 24

Other entrepreneurship education activities ................................................................................................ 28

INTERACTION WITH SOCIETY – BUILDING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY ...... 29

Building the entrepreneurial University of Turku ....................................................................................... 29

Events ................................................................................................................................................................ 31

Professional and community relations .......................................................................................................... 33

University administration ................................................................................................................................ 34

ENTREPRENEURSHIP UNIT IN FIGURES ............................................................................................. 35

PUBLICATIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 36

3

REVIEW OF THE RECENT PAST AND THE WAY FORWARD

During 2015 the University of Turku and all its departments conducted a Research Assessment Exercise

(RAE) the outcomes of which were announced at the beginning of this year. Based on the lessons learned I

take this opportunity to reflect upon the development of the Entrepreneurship Unit during a longer period

of time; not just 2015 which is the focus of this annual report. The RAE encompassed the years 2010–2013

starting, thus, from the year the Turku School of Economics merged with the University of Turku.

During the assessed period the Entrepreneurship Unit moved to the Department of Management and

Entrepreneurship (with ‘entrepreneurship’ added to the name as part of the restructuring). “The addition of the

dedicated Entrepreneurship research unit has made a quite difference to the profile of the Department in this period.” (p. 2)

concludes the RAE report of the restructuring. Although the Entrepreneurship Unit is small in terms of

students majoring in the subject, the Unit has a very strong and internationally active research profile and

networks which were recognised by the review team. The reviewers also insightfully noticed that our “…plans

are ambitious and not without risk. In particular the absence of a Major subject makes them more vulnerable to funding cuts,

unless their strategy, which offers some distinction to the university, is built into the university strategy.” (p. 14). Indeed, in

2015 the University accepted and launched the strategy for Entrepreneurship Education and

Entrepreneurship, which was prepared by a working group that I was privileged to chair. Most importantly

the strategy for the Entrepreneurial University is a part of the new strategy of the University, which has

decided to strengthen its profile as an Entrepreneurial University. I consider this a great achievement and a

recognition of the School of Economics and its Entrepreneurship Unit within the greater university!

These university-level strategic challenges fit extremely well with the ideas of the Entrepreneurship Unit. We

continuously strive for multidisciplinary research locally, nationally and internationally as the review team also

noticed: “The unit suggests that collaboration on research with ‘the best’ partners they can find internationally, nationally and

locally is an appropriate strategy, which seems reasonable.” (p. 13) Within the University existing good collaboration is

to be further enhanced. We also expect our rigorous research to have continuing scientific and societal impact

in the future.

“The project focus seems to have worked very well for this unit. They have gained a range of projects, including prestigious AoF

professorship and grants… the continued success is also ongoing, for example, a 5 year FiDiPRo from 2015.” (p. 5) state the

reviewers. Despite our notable achievements and even some success, if I may, we need to be humble in the

current situation. University budgets continue to shrink while competition for competitive research funding

has become even fiercer. The Entrepreneurship Unit balances between university budget and external funding

having a roughly 50% share of each. I consider this to be reasonable grounds for building the future in a

changing academic world. Nothing can be taken for granted, but we need to always strive ambitiously for a

better future in terms of impactful research, responsible teaching, and accelerating societal well-being and the

economy as stated in the new strategy of the University of Turku.

I wish to thank all our partners, collaborators and students for all the support you have given us in our

entrepreneurial endeavours. Most importantly, my warmest thanks go to the staff members of the

Entrepreneurship Unit for putting your valuable effort to our joint venture. I am positive that the future will

bring great achievements for us despite the challenges ahead, but at the same time I reckon that we need to

strive even harder to keep up our momentum.

Jarna Heinonen

Professor in Entrepreneurship, Director of the Entrepreneurship Unit and Vice-Head of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship

4

Employs 14 entrepreneurship

professionals

NINE competitively funded

research projects

9 peer-reviewed

journal articles

238 reviews

to journals and conferences

23 presentations

in TWELVE international conferences Several

international visitors

RESEARCH WITH

IMPACT Research on entrepreneurship and new working modes

Entrepreneurship is one of the areas of strength at the Turku School

of Economics. Research activities at the Entrepreneurship Unit

focus on two themes in particular: entrepreneurship and new

working modes; and, entrepreneurial behaviour and business

growth. The two main fields are connected through theoretical

approaches in entrepreneurship and sociology, research

methodology, science and technology studies, governance studies,

and empirical studies. Research encompasses the processes of

entrepreneurship and innovation as well as entrepreneurial

behaviour from the point of view of business creation, growth,

internationalisation, and renewal in different contexts in both

private and public sector organisations. The Entrepreneurship

research group consists of about a dozen researchers with various

scientific backgrounds.

Multidisciplinary scholarly excellence and international cooperation

We work internationally and emphasise scholarly excellence and

policy relevance based on solid scientific knowledge particularly in

entrepreneurship. The cornerstones of our entrepreneurship

research are well-established multidisciplinary research groups,

high-profile international research initiatives and networks such as

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and the European

Council for Small Business (ECSB), a strong track record in

competitive research funding as well as close cooperation with

policy-makers.

Implementing the entrepreneurial strategy

In 2015 the University of Turku prepared and published the Strategy

on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship to strengthen

the profile of the University as an entrepreneurial university. The

Entrepreneurship Unit was intimately involved with the preparation

of the strategy and with our longstanding work and varied activities

in entrepreneurship we support the University of Turku in its

endeavours to respond to the challenges of the future work and

society.

5

STATE-OF-ART RESEARCH Highlights from our research projects in 2015

Gender and growth in family firms: from 1750 until present

This international research project (2011–2015) took a multidisciplinary approach to analysing gender

and growth in a family business context. The research project, funded by the Academy of Finland, was

run in close collaboration with the department of Finnish History at the University of Turku. The project

was headed by professors Jarna Heinonen from the Entrepreneurship Unit and Kirsi Vainio-Korhonen

from the Finnish History respectively. The uniqueness of the project lied in its attempt to focus on the

element of time and place in understanding gender and growth.

In the School of Economics, the project employed four part-time senior research fellows of which two

were from Norway, Bodø University and the Nordland Research Institute, as well as one PhD candidate.

The project produced one special issue on Gender and Innovation in the International Journal of Gender

and Entrepreneurship (eds. Alsos, G.A., Hytti, U. & Ljunggren, E.), numerous international conference

papers and a number of journal articles with more in the pipeline. Researchers in the team have also

contributed to editing books focusing on gender and family business, entrepreneurship, growth and

innovation. For example, the Research Handbook on Gender and Innovation (eds. Alsos, G.A., Hytti,

U. & Ljunggren, E.) is being published by Edward Elgar in 2016. The multi-disciplinary contributions of

the Handbook discuss topics such as gender and innovation in new and small businesses, as well as

growth businesses; addressing innovation in different organisations and researching gender in innovation

policy. In addition, the project contributes through the preparation of a teaching case on Women and

Leadership: Challenges for Daughters Taking Over Family Businesses, which is to be published in 2016

in the Sage Business Cases Series.

The project organised an international closing research seminar in June 2015 in Turku, Finland with about

20 participants discussing the topics of heroic women entrepreneurs, the visibility of women in business

as well as family business succession. The contributions of the research seminar form the basis for the

work-in-progress book “Gender in Business Families – From past to present”. The book balances

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historical and contemporary analyses. It integrates the

notions of time and gender in focusing on family

businesses or business families in the past and in the

present. In addition, other relevant contributions from

the international research networks of the project have

been invited to contribute to the book.

The project has also organised other international

workshops on gender, innovation and growth in

various conferences, such as in the Academy of

Management. In the Department of Finnish History,

the project has already contributed to two doctoral

dissertations and a third will be defended in April 2016.

Overall, the project has strengthened and widened the

international networks of the Unit particularly in the

field of gender and family business studies. The

project has supported research mobility and genuine

research collaboration the outcomes of which are

visible in joint seminars, workshops, and publications.

(Pictures by Veli Pekka Toropainen)

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Social science for the twenty-first century – FiDiPro research project

Social science for the twenty-first century (2015–2019) is funded by the

Academy of Finland and is led by Distinguished FiDiPro Professor Lisa

Adkins. The Academy of Finland FiDiPro scheme aims to build

research capacity in Finland by bringing high profile international

scholars to Finland, funding their research projects and offering support

to capacity building activities. Adkins’ FiDiPro is jointly hosted by the

Centre for Labour Studies in the Department of Management and

Entrepreneurship at the University of Turku and by the Research Centre

for Knowledge, Science, Technology and Innovation Studies in the

School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Tampere.

Adkins is an internationally recognised sociologist with specialisms in

economic sociology (especially the sociology of labour), social theory

and feminist theory.

Adkins’ FidiPro research project focuses on shifts in the economy-society relation in the context of

economic turbulence, austerity and ongoing financialisation. Building on Adkins’ existing insights into

the restructuring of labour in the context of post-Fordist capitalism, the project takes unemployment as

its object of study. It considers how changes to the materiality and lived experiences of unemployment

are part of a broad scale restructuring of labour in which more and more activities outside of the formal

labour process and the labour market are qualified as economic.

In 2015 Adkins launched the Rethinking Economies seminar series as part of the FiDiPro. The series

runs from 2015–2019. Bringing high profile international social science scholars to Finland, the seminar

series addresses the range of challenges that recent and ongoing economic events pose for the social

sciences. The series aims not only to map these challenges but also to consider how the social sciences

can re-orient themselves to meet them. It asks: should sociologists open up new dialogues with

economists? Are the tools of economic sociology sufficient for this task? Do the social sciences need to

be revitalise their commitment to understanding the economy? If so, what would such a revitalised social

science look like? In 2015 the Rethinking Economies seminar series hosted the Sociologist Dr Rebecca

Coleman (Goldsmiths, University of London) and the Geographer, Dr Derek McCormack (University

of Oxford) who debated austerity as mood and the affective relations of price respectively.

In 2015 the FiDiPro project also co-organised a workshop on the theme of ‘rethinking activation’. The

workshop was designed to bring together the FiDiPro project and the Academy of Finland funded

“Recognition” project based at the University of Helsinki. It explored how ubiquitous employment

activation measures operate beyond governance, the disciplining of the subject, and the commodification

of labour and are implicated in the reformatting of the economy-society relation.

Finally, in 2015 Social Science for the Twenty-First Century launched its project blogsite:

http://socialscienceforthec21st.com. To date the blogsite has recorded more than 5000 views from over

1000 visitors.

FiDiPro Professor Lisa Adkins

http://socialscienceforthec21st.com/

8

Knowledge Governance – Strategic research project

In January 2015, a new strategic research project Knowledge Governance was launched in the

Entrepreneurship Unit. The project analyses new forms of academic knowledge production with a special

focus on the modes of collaboration of the academy/university with its external partners. Another

emphasis is on developing innovative and multidisciplinary research initiatives between different faculties

and units at the University of Turku and fostering international cooperation.

Professor Anne Kovalainen, Professor Jarna Heinonen and Senior Researcher Seppo Poutanen (the main

researcher) are leaders of the project, and Matti W. Karinen acts as Research Assistant. The key partners

at the University of Turku include Professor Hannu Salmi (Faculty of Humanities), Professor Markku

Wilenius (Finland Futures Research Centre) and FiDiPro Professor Lisa Adkins (Newcastle University,

Australia), who is attached to Turku School of Economics. The project has a number of international

collaborators among them Professor Henry Etzkowitz (Stanford University, USA), Professor Helen E.

Longino (Stanford University, USA), Professor Martha Russell (Stanford University, USA), Professor

Denis Gray (North Carolina State University, USA), Professor Robert J. W. Tijssen (Leiden University,

the Netherlands), Professor Rosemary Deem (Royal Holloway University, UK), and Professor Robert

Blackburn (Kingston University, UK) and others.

In 2015 the project produced several papers presented at international conferences. In addition, Anne

Kovalainen and Seppo Poutanen planned and chaired a well-attended session titled “Epistemic

Governance in the Times of Austerity” at 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science) Annual Meeting on

11–14 November in Denver, Colorado. More information on the project is available at

http://knowledge-governance.org.

Entrepreneurship is a strong unit and

has learned to develop high quality

research outputs from its policy-

oriented and practice beginnings. It is

a strong player internationally.

– Feedback given to Entrepreneurship Unit in RAE2015 of

the University of Turku Peer-Evaluation Report, p. 2

http://knowledge-governance.org/

9

Other research projects

AGILE – Co-creation practices for business and service development

AGILE (2014–2015) was a multidisciplinary project that aimed at

generating new knowledge of the co-creation practice(s) of business

development that take place in the interaction between service providers

and their customers. The project engaged researchers from five Finnish

universities as well as service providers and service provider networks

and their employees together with their customers in different parts of

Finland.

Each operative research team had specific research questions which they

studied in cooperation with their business partners. The shared

questions for the whole project were (1) How business development is

co-created in inter-organisational business-to-business relationships, in

relationships between businesses and consultants/business developers,

and in networks supported by development organisations? and (2) How

to create more agile co-creation practices for generating more profitable

(new) business?

Alongside researching co-creation, researchers from five universities

engaged in co-creating a service and tool based on the research results.

Hence, in addition to many academic outputs, an internet based guide

called Agile-mobile (www.agilemobile.fi) was produced for SMEs and

other organisations. It provides some practical examples of co-creation

processes and guides the user through the most essential topics and

questions that need to be taken into account when managing a co-

creation process. The main clientele for the tool are Finnish businesses

and business developers and therefore the tool is available in Finnish

only.

The universities participating AGILE project were Aalto University,

Lappeenranta University of Technology, University of Eastern Finland,

University of Lapland and the University of Turku, which was also the

coordinating university. The project was part of the Tekes Liideri –

Business, Productivity and Joy at Work Programme 2012–2018.

Entrepreneurial renewal and design thinking in the organisational renewal (DESI2)

The aim of the project Entrepreneurial renewal and design thinking in organisational renewal (DESI2)

(2015–2016) is to help organisations to identify and utilise workers' tacit knowledge and vocational know-

how, and to incorporate their ideas in the developing of new services or work practices.

The project examines the employee-driven renewal of organisations from the perspectives of

entrepreneurship and design thinking. A virtual tool, “Idea Window”, was developed in an earlier Tekes

project (DESI, during the years 2012–2014). The tool has been developed to support spontaneous

http://www.agilemobile.fi/

10

ideation, visualisation of complex matters and joint

development processes. The previous project indicated that the

“Idea Window” might be useful in generating and developing

new ideas at the work place due to its anonymity. The DESI2

project has brought the “Idea Window” and renewal

experiments to a new sector – to primary and secondary schools

– and based on experiences the “Idea Window” will be further

developed during the project. Research-wise the project tackles

the questions of employee-driven innovation through co-

creation as well as the management of such development

projects supported by a virtual tool.

DESI2 is a two-year Tekes project, which is conducted in collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä.

Evaluation of public business services for immigrant entrepreneurs in Finland

The aim of the project was to analyse both the demand and supply of business services targeted to

immigrant entrepreneurs in Finland. The study focused on public business services and was funded by

the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. The study was conducted in 2014–2015.

The report “Service needs of immigrant entrepreneurs and promotion of entrepreneurship”

(https://www.tem.fi/ajankohtaista/julkaisut/kaikki_julkaisut/maahanmuuttajayrittajien_palvelutarpeet

_ja_yrittajyyden_edistaminen.100721.xhtml, report with English executive summary) shows that

promoting immigrant entrepreneurship in Finland does not require new services specifically directed at

immigrants but that immigrant entrepreneurs would benefit rather from cooperation and networking

with the native population in general. This involves building the trust and credibility needed in business

activities in which the entrepreneurs themselves are key players. Based on the findings it is suggested that

immigrants would cooperate with the native population and integrate with their business peers, rather

than their immigrant peers.

The Finnish business service system offers good starting points for immigrant entrepreneurship but does

not yet guarantee the effective integration of immigrant entrepreneurs to Finnish society and the

community of entrepreneurs. In addition, measures are needed to find an active and equal role for

immigrant entrepreneurs. Based on the findings, recommendations were made for the development of

services and for the promotion of immigrant entrepreneurship. After the study was finalised it turned out

to be highly topical due to the European wide refugee challenge. Numerous researchers and journalists

have requested more information on how to integrate immigrants to the labour markets and

entrepreneurship, for example.

Strengths of Entrepreneurship: strong identity, international networks,

research practice doctoral support, external funding, research

publication. – Feedback given to Entrepreneurship Unit in RAE2015 of the University of Turku Peer-Evaluation Report, p. 2

Idea Window in use in the Tampere University

Hospital (Picture by Minna Tuominen, 2014)

https://www.tem.fi/ajankohtaista/julkaisut/kaikki_julkaisut/maahanmuuttajayrittajien_palvelutarpeet_ja_yrittajyyden_edistaminen.100721.xhtml

https://www.tem.fi/ajankohtaista/julkaisut/kaikki_julkaisut/maahanmuuttajayrittajien_palvelutarpeet_ja_yrittajyyden_edistaminen.100721.xhtml

11

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)

GEM is a major research project aimed at describing and analysing annually

different phases of entrepreneurship as well as the profile of entrepreneurs within

a wide range of countries. The number of countries covered in the global GEM

project is over 100. Now for its eleventh year at the Turku School of Economics,

the Entrepreneurship Unit has been in charge of the project and its practical and

scientific outcomes. The GEM Finland team is led by Professor Anne

Kovalainen. The two key researchers for the past ten years have been senior researcher, Dr. Pekka

Stenholm and researcher Tommi Pukkinen. Currently other team members are also university teacher

Sanna Suomalainen and Professor Jarna Heinonen. GEM data is robust harmonised data providing a

more detailed picture of entrepreneurial activity not otherwise found in official national registry data sets.

GEM’s contribution to the knowledge and understanding of the entrepreneurial process is unique since,

to date, no other data set exists that can provide consistent cross-country information and measurements

of entrepreneurial activity in a global context.

Renewal of manufacturing – Study on the role of pioneering firms as engines of industry renaissance

(ReInRe)

In the ReInRe -research project (2015–2016 co-funded by Tekes) we focus on recognising successful

firms and comparing their strategic choices to their less successful peers. We investigate how successful

firms can possibly shape the renewal of manufacturing in selected industries. Accordingly, we define the

potential for industry-level renewal based on the firm-level prevalence of new methods and processes of

production, such as the use of new technologies, strategies supporting learning and resource

reconfiguration, and firms’ innovation capability. These manifest in entrepreneurial behaviour as firms’

strategy. More specifically, the ReInRe-project aims at:

1) Exploring the strategies of successful (pioneering) firms and their peers in selected industries.

2) Investigating the deeper insights of the agents of change (firms) and what kind of relationship

they have with their socio-technical and institutional surroundings.

3) Assessing the role of pioneering firms and their peers in the industry-level renewal.

We concentrate on the food industry and industries related to ship building because both are vital for the

Finnish economy, and both face on-going change. Empirically, the project comprises two intertwined

phases: quantitative analysis and qualitative studies which cover both case studies and workshop-based

data collection.

Our findings thus far suggest that firms’ strategic choices, which are assumed to enable above average

performance, seem not to be robust enough predictors of business performance over time. Even if some

differences were found, they were not statistically significant. That being said, predicting the industry-

level change from the strategies of successful and less successful firms is not straightforward. Instead,

our findings illustrate how firms, despite their categorisation, emphasise different strategies that generate

varying financial performance. Moreover, the findings suggest that strategies are not stagnant, but instead

they need to be revised, adapted or sometimes even improvised in order to find a way to overcome

barriers of success. Based on the above, our findings highlight that in policy making cherry-picking might

not work. Even if directing public policy interventions to the best and the brightest makes sense while

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the public finance is limited, the on-going challenge stems from a difficult decision: To whom public

support should be directed? Our findings highlight that it is difficult, if not impossible, to find robust

predictors of business performance which could later ease the pain of public policy making. As such, the

question remains: Where should policy makers look if they intend to pick winners among a certain

population of firms?

Valuable, Intangible and Prestigious Service Experiences

In 2015, the joint project Valuable, Intangible and Prestigious Service Experiences (2012–2015), of the

Entrepreneurship Unit and University of Vaasa was completed. The research was funded by Tekes and

the participating universities. The focus of the project was the phenomenon of social prestige. The aim

of the project was to discover how social prestige could be used to strategically increase a company’s

value creation, competitive advantage and growth.

In total the project resulted in five article manuscripts, a number of presentations, and popular articles.

The study shows that consumers are looking for unique experiences with others. Legitimacy, status,

reputation and uniqueness are the key features of socially prestigious products and services. Not all

products will become socially valued prestige products, although, there is great potential for small

business owners with high quality and authentic products. Therefore, it would be important for small

business owners to understand the value of consumer experience, as it may lead to better ideas, products

and services.

Staff of the Entrepreneurship Unit

13

Seminars in entrepreneurship

2015 was an active year in terms of seminar organisation. We had several interesting guests visiting us to

share their knowledge and discuss current topics in entrepreneurship. In addition to open seminars we

continued research seminars where the doctoral candidates of Entrepreneurship have a possibility to

present their PhD project and gain valuable feedback from professors, researchers and fellow students.

This year we also started a new internal initiative, “Poster day”, where our staff present and discuss on-

going research projects.

Teaching entrepreneurship in North Korea

In March 2015 the Entrepreneurship research seminar audience heard a fascinating presentation by

Research Fellow Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä (Aalto University and Newton Fellow of the Royal Society and

the British Academy) who shared his experiences on teaching and living in North Korea. Heikkilä has

taught information science, international business and entrepreneurship at Pyongyang University of

Science and Technology since 2012. His Venture Ideation course in the autumn of 2014 was the first

entrepreneurship course taught in North Korea.

Entrepreneurship teaching at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology focuses on creativity

and the development of new ideas and business models instead of actual business. Sometimes power cuts

bring extra challenges to the teaching; then creative solutions, such as the question-and-answer sessions,

are needed to enable teaching to continue. Practical, experiential methods, like group work, presentations

and theatre, are often used in teaching. Heikkilä describes the atmosphere at his courses as enthusiastic

and open. Students' background knowledge on subjects taught is low, but the students are highly

motivated, hardworking and also demand a lot from the teacher. The highlight of the entrepreneurship

course was a pitching competition and the winner was a recycling company.

Entrepreneurial journey of Linda Liukas

Linda Liukas, cofounder of Rails Girls and a Kickstarter-heroine,

paid a visit to the Entrepreneurship Unit at Turku School of

Economics on 11 March 2015. During the event Liukas told a lot

about herself and her entrepreneurial journey through Rails Girls

and current projects. After the presentation participants had a

chance to ask questions and discuss with her about school, studies

and career. The story of Linda Liukas surely inspired many

participants. Linda has studied in the Turku School of Economics

but confesses that she is a business school drop-out.

The event was open to students and staff members who were

curious to hear the story of Linda Liukas. In addition, students of

the new entrepreneurship course “Informal Entrepreneurship”

participated in the event. The goal of the course was to introduce

students to informal entrepreneurship and companies that can

facilitate informal ways of doing business in developed countries. Linda Liukas

14

Changing relationship between universities, businesses and state

Professor Emeritus Henry Etzkowitz from Stanford

University visited Turku and the Turku School of Economics

between the 13–21 June to work with the Knowledge

Governance project. Professor Henry Etzkowitz is renowned

for the Triple Helix model of University-Industry-

Government relationships, and has done important work on

developing the notion of the Entrepreneurial University. As a

part of Professor Etzkowitz’s visit to Turku, university

faculty, students and partners were invited to attend a lecture

where Professor Etzkowitz elaborated on the central topic of

the changing relationship between universities, businesses and

state. The lecture generated valuable discussion about the role

and future of the university in today’s society. Especially

important were the many informative examples and the

underlining of an important realisation that the university as

an institution retains and is gaining increasing value within the

knowledge society.

Poster day focusing our on-going research projects

The Poster day was initiated by the fact that in our hectic daily

work we are often not having enough time to discuss our on-

going research projects, share experiences and present the latest

research findings among our own staff. That is why we reserved

one day in May, prepared posters and got together at the Auriga

Business Center. All the posters covering for example on our on-

going research projects and PhD projects, manuscript ideas for

articles or teaching cases were presented and discussed. The

poster day proved very fruitful and we plan to make it a tradition.

Professor Henry Etzkowitz

Poster day at Auriga Business Center

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Conferences

Paper presentations at research conferences

3E Conference – ECSB Entrepreneurship Education Conference, April 22–24, Lüneburg,

Germany

4S (Society for Social Studies of Science) Annual Meeting 2015, November 11–14, Denver, USA

25th Annual RESER Conference, September 10–12, Copenhagen, Denmark

Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, June 10–13, Natick (MA), USA

ECER 2015 Conference, September 7–11, Budapest, Hungary

ESA2015 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association, August 25–28, Prague, the

Czech Republic

ICSB 2015 International Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship World Conference,

June 6–9, Dubai, UAE

Nordic Academy of Management (NFF) Conference, August 12–14, Copenhagen, Denmark

RENT XXIX Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Conference, November 18–20,

Zagreb, Croatia

Triple Helix International Workshop “Entrepreneurial University Metrics: State of the Art and

Future Directions”, June 22–23, Leiden, the Netherlands

WORK2015 Conference, August 19–21, Turku, Finland

YKTT 2015 Enterprise Education Conference, September 24–25, Pori, Finland

Plenary presentations


Keynote Speech “Speculative Futures in the Time of Debt” at Sociology Days 2015, 5–6 March

2015, Helsinki, Finland

Keynote speech “Unemployment and Its Discontents: From Drift to Securitization” at

WORK2015 Conference, 19–21 August 2015, Turku, Finland

Organisation of conferences

Professor Jarna Heinonen

Member of Scientific Committee at WORK2015 Conference, 19–21 August 2015, Turku, Finland

Professor Ulla Hytti

Conference chair at YKTT 2015 Enterprise Education Conference, 24–25 September 2015, Pori,

Finland

Professor Anne Kovalainen

Conference chair at WORK2015 Conference, 19–21 August 2015, Turku, Finland

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Organisation of conference tracks, seminars and workshops


Rethinking Economies Seminar Series (FiDiPro Series), University of Tampere/University of

Turku, Finland

Rethinking Activation Workshop, 28–29 May 2015, University of Tampere, Finland


Organiser and chair of a session ”Epistemic Governance in the Times of Austerity” in the annual

international conference of 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science), 11–14 November 2015,

Denver, USA. Together with Seppo Poutanen

Senior Researcher Seppo Poutanen

Organiser and chair of a session ”Epistemic Governance in the Times of Austerity” in the annual

international conference of 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science), 11–14 November 2015,

Denver, USA. Together with Anne Kovalainen

Appointments

Senior researcher of the Entrepreneurship Unit, Dr. Pekka Stenholm was appointed as Adjunct Professor

in Entrepreneurship at Management and Organisations in the Oulu Business School at the University of

Oulu.

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Exploring the New Meanings of Work

– WORK2015 Conference

On 19–21 August the University of Turku organised the second

interdisciplinary international conference WORK2015 on the

theme “the New Meanings of Work”. Pressing issues in work and

working life were addressed with the help of leading researchers in

the field.

How will work be changed by shifts in the economy and

technology? How and in what ways does technology bring about

change in society and in individual behaviour? And why is

entrepreneurship still thought of as being different from salaried

employment when they are becoming ever more intertwined in

daily life?

Among many others, these were the questions that the

interdisciplinary WORK2015 conference sought to address. The

conference brought forward the latest research into working life

and offered new perspectives for dealing with changes. Working

life was addressed from, among others, the points of view of social

sciences, business and medical sciences.

The conference brought to Finland almost 400 researchers from

over 30 countries. Plenary speakers represented a group of the

leading researchers of change in work and society: Stephen R.

Barley (Stanford University), Linda McDowell (Oxford

University), Lisa Adkins (Newcastle University, University of

Turku), Rosemary Deem (London University), Pertti Koistinen

(University of Tampere), Steven Vallas (Northeastern University),

Asley Mears (Boston University), Paul Leonardi (Northwestern

University) and John Zysman (Berkeley University).

The conference was of high academic standard and very

successful. The conference was organised by the Turku Centre for

Labour Studies, TCLS, and was convened and academically

curated by Professor Anne Kovalainen.

The conference was supported by, among others: The Finnish

Work Environment Fund, Sitra, The Federation of Finnish

Learned Societies, Turun kauppakorkeakoulun tukisäätiö (Turku

School of Economics Support Foundation) and Turku City.

www.utu.fi/work2015

http://www.utu.fi/work2015

18

International research and teaching cooperation

International cooperation has always been an

important part of our work. We have had

international faculty both in research and

teaching positions. In addition to

international faculty, we consider researcher

and teacher mobility to be very important and

encourage our doctoral students, as well as

post-doc researchers, to utilise the benefits of

international visits. Our unit has also been an

attractive location for visiting researchers. In

2015 we hosted several international

researchers.

Researchers visiting us in 2015

Dr. Elisabet Ljunggren (May–June 2015), Nordland Research Institute, Norway

Ass. Prof. Francesca Maria Cesaroni (June 2015), University of Urbino, Italy

Dr. Catriona M. Macleod (June 2015), University of Glasgow, UK

Dr. Annalisa Sentuti (June 2015), University of Urbino, Italy

Professor Deborah Simonton (June 2015), University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Dr. Natalia Vershinina (June 2015), De Montfort University, UK

Dr André Panke (June 2015), IfM Bonn, Germany

Professor Henry Etzkowitz (June 2015), Stanford University, USA

Reader in Entrepreneurship Jonathan Scott (July–Aug 2015), Teesside University, UK

Professor Luke Pittaway (Sept 2015), Ohio University, School of Business, USA

Associate Professor Maija Renko (Sept–Oct, Nov 2015), University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Doctoral Candidate Inna Kozlinska (Oct 2015), University of Tartu, Estonia

Professor Robert Blackburn (Oct 2015), Kingston University, UK

Senior Lecturer Marco van Gelderen (Nov 2015), VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Professor George Saridakis (Nov 2015), Kingston University, UK

Doctoral Candidate Mohammad Alemzadeh (Nov 2015), Kingston University, UK

Doctoral Candidate Yanqing Lai (Nov 2015), Kingston University, UK

Doctoral Candidate John Pereira (Nov 2015), Kingston University, UK

Doctoral Candidate La Toya Quamina (Nov 2015), Kingston University, UK

Clearly the Department [of

Management and Entrepreneurship] is

highly active in national and

international research networks, most

notably in Entrepreneurship. The team

of visiting academics in

Entrepreneurship is strong.

– Feedback given to Entrepreneurship Unit in RAE2015

of the University of Turku Peer-Evaluation Report, p. 7, 9

19

Research collaborators

We are active in the international scientific community and collaborate actively with a number of other

national and foreign universities, other institutions and networks. In 2015 we have conducted joint

research projects at least with the following partners:

Aalto University, Finland

CWTS - Centre for Science and Technology

Studies, the Netherlands

Kingston University, UK

Lappeenranta University of Technology,

Finland

Leiden University, the Netherlands

Newcastle University, Australia

Nordland Research Institute, Norway

North Carolina State University, USA

Panteia, the Netherlands

Royal Holloway University, UK

George Mason University, USA

Stanford University, USA

Teesside University, UK

University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Umeå University, Sweden

University of Eastern Finland, Finland

University of Jyväskylä, Finland

University of Lapland, Finland

University of Nordland, Norway

University of Southern Denmark

University of Tampere, Finland

University of Vaasa, Finland

20

The Entrepreneurship Unit hosts or is a national partner in four research networks that work as platforms

for active collaboration in research, knowledge dissemination, teaching and data collection:

European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB)

We host the Secretariat of the European Council for Small Business and

Entrepreneurship (ECSB). The ECSB is a non-profit organisation whose

main objective is to advance the understanding of entrepreneurship and

to improve the competitiveness of SMEs in Europe. The ECSB is an

affiliated with the International Council for Small Business and

Entrepreneurship (ICSB). Research Director Ulla Hytti is a member of

the ECSB Board. Through the ECSB and ICSB we reach a network of

about 2000 entrepreneurship researchers and educators world-wide.

European Network for Social and Economic Research (ENSR)

We are a Finnish member in the European Network for Social and

Economic Research (ENSR) - a network of member-organisations in 33

EU and EEA countries specialised in applied social and economic

research. In total, more than 600 highly qualified researchers cooperate

in the network. Main clients include the European Commission, national

governments, business associations, and the like.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)

GEM project is an annual assessment of the entrepreneurial activity,

aspirations and attitudes of individuals across a wide range of countries.

As the Finnish National Team we are part of a network of over 100

‘National Teams’ all over the globe participating in the project. The

network of National Teams represents over 500 experts in

entrepreneurship research.

Turku Centre for Labour Studies (TCLS)

We host the Turku Centre for Labour Studies (TCLS) research network

which gathers multidisciplinary research on work and working life,

including entrepreneurship and self-employment. TCLS acts at the

University level and connects the seven faculties of the University of

Turku, Åbo Akademi University and several other Research Units

nationally and internationally. TCLS organises an international

multidisciplinary research conference every second year as well as local

seminars and does outreach activities locally and nationally, following the

third task of the University.

21

Positions of trust in scientific community

In the Entrepreneurship Unit we continue to devote increasing efforts towards the impact of our

activities on the scientific community. Our staff has various important positions of trust in the scientific

community. Professors and researchers serve in numerous scientific expert tasks, including acting as

preliminary examiners and opponents for Doctoral Dissertations, giving statements for funding

applications for various research foundations and having editorial board memberships and acting as

referees for journals and conferences.

Expert assignments


Expert statement on docentship in Renewal strategies, venturing and entrepreneurship, Tampere

University of Technology

Opponent for Doctoral dissertation at the University of Helsinki

Evaluation statements given to several funds and foundations. Due to confidentiality all

foundation and fund details withdrawn.


Preliminary examiner and opponent for Doctoral Dissertations at Lappeenranta University of

Technology, Jönköping International Business School


Opponent for Doctoral dissertation at Linnaeus University


Opponent for Doctoral dissertation at the University of Helsinki

Editorial board memberships

FiDiPro Professor Lisa Adkins: Co Editor-in-Chief in Australian Feminist Studies

Professor Jarna Heinonen: International Small Business Journal; Journal of Global Entrepreneurship

Research; Journal of Small Business Management

Professor Ulla Hytti: Journal of Small Business Management, International Journal of Entrepreneurial

Behaviour and Research, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation,

Yrittäjyyskasvatuksen aikakauskirja

Professor Anne Kovalainen: International Small Business Journal, Academy of Management Perspectives,

Research in the Sociology of Work (book series), Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research

Senior Researcher Pekka Stenholm: Management Decision

22

Ad hoc referee for journals

American Journal of Entrepreneurship

Baltic Journal of Management

Barents Studies

British Journal of Management

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An

International Journal

European Journal of Cultural Studies

Gender in Management

Gender, Work and Organization

International Journal of Entrepreneurial

Behaviour and Research

International Journal of Entrepreneurship &

Innovation

International Journal of Gender and

Entrepreneurship

International Small Business Journal

Journal of Business Venturing

Journal of Enterprising Communities

Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research

Journal of Small Business and

Entrepreneurship

Journal of Small Business Management

Journal of Technology Transfer

Management Decision

Management Research Review

Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research

Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and

Tourism

Scandinavian Journal of Management

Small Business Economics

Technology Analysis & Strategic Management

Theory, Culture and Society

The Sociological Review

Työelämän tutkimus

Referee for book proposals and chapters

Review statements on book proposals for Routledge

Reviews on book chapters for Edward Elgar

Referee for conferences

3E Conference (ECSB Entrepreneurship Education Conference)

Academy of Management Annual Meeting

Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference

British Academy of Management

Diana International Research Conference

European Academy of Management Annual Meeting

ICSB World Conference

IMP Conference

Nordic Conference on Small Business Research

RENT Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Conference

WORK2015 Conference

YKTT 2015 Enterprise Education Conference

23

2429 ECTS

accomplished

Balance between academia

and business life

Offering of 14 bachelor and master level

courses

TWO courses entirely online

15 dissertations

in progress

Several

participative methods employed in each course

INSPIRING LEARNING

EXPERIENCES

In entrepreneurship we offer education at all academic degree levels.

In addition, our faculty is active in training programmes offered for

executive education, TSE exe, and in the Open University, for

example. The strength of entrepreneurship education is embedded

in the faculty’s close connection to research in entrepreneurship. We

also collaborate closely with student associations and Boost Turku

– an open student-based entrepreneurship society for new start-ups.

Guest lecturers from business life and international faculty are a

regular part of courses. For example, Professor Thomas Cooney

from the Dublin Institute of Technology has been teaching and

facilitating the course YR2 Venture Creation. Senior Lecturer Marco

Van Gelderen (VU University Amsterdam) on the other hand has

participated in teaching in the course YR1 Opportunity creation and

assessment. Marco has facilitated a successful intensive week for

students’ which culminates to a full day event called “Opportunity

Day” which takes teams of participants around Turku for a full day

to accomplish a variety of challenges showcasing enterprising

behaviour.

In Entrepreneurship studies we aim to advance students’ skills and

know-how to recognize, create and exploit new business

opportunities in all kinds of companies. In our teaching we believe

that entrepreneurship is about how you create a successful

organisation in a dynamic and constantly changing business

environment; how to recruit innovative employees, how to

coordinate their work and how to build a productive entrepreneurial

organisational culture. In addition, we offer students both individual

and societal views of entrepreneurship, for example what kind of

career opportunities entrepreneurship offers and how

entrepreneurship is promoted in society.

Entrepreneurship as a discipline is highly research-oriented with its

numerous international research projects and outcomes (e.g.

publications, scientific and societal impact). Consequently,

Entrepreneurship is a relatively small discipline at the Turku School

of Economics in terms of the number of subject major graduates. It

is however, a popular minor subject and also single courses reach

wider audiences. Furthermore, the staff has contributed to guiding

and supervising degree students across disciplines.

24

Entrepreneurship studies

Bachelor studies

Our aim at the bachelor level is to provide students with a

theoretical and practical knowledge of entrepreneurship. Our

bachelor studies focus on the entrepreneurial process and

understanding the role of entrepreneurship at an individual and

at a societal level. Entrepreneurship studies provide tools for

students to work in a constantly changing, innovative business

environment after graduation no matter their career choice.

During entrepreneurship studies we emphasize active

connections to business life e.g. through visiting lecturers and

excursions.

Masters studies

Our master studies focus on enhancing research skills

through courses related to theoretical perspectives,

classics and current issues in entrepreneurship research

and research methods. Master studies provide a

possibility to specialize in an interesting research area.

Development of Entrepreneurship studies in terms of study credits and degrees 2010–2015

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Study credits (ECTS) 3613 4329 4166 2454 2590 2429 Graduated students (B.Sc.) 1 1 3 1 5 1 Graduated students (M.Sc.) 1 1 - 1 2 4 Graduated students (D.Sc.) - 1 - - - -

I learnt much from the course.

I had totally different pre-

conceptions about

entrepreneurship, and it really

improved my entrepreneurial

skills and thinking.

– Feedback from a Master student

I learnt how to be

perseverant and I have

more courage to show

my ideas and exploit

them.

–Feedback from a Bachelor student

25

A course for feeding university students’ hunger for entrepreneurship

A hands-on course in entrepreneurship for university students has been implemented already for nine

years, and every year teams from Turku have been successful among their Finnish peers.

This course, entitled Startup!, is organised in collaboration with the three local universities – University

of Turku, the Turku University of Applied Sciences and Humak University for Applied Sciences – and

the Young Entrepreneur Association. In addition, Boost Turku has been strongly involved in the course

by arranging e.g. pitching-lessons for the students and providing possibilities for us to use their innovative

premises. The course has been modified to fit university students, and its special feature is the cross-

sectoral entrepreneurial teams formed by students from different schools.

– Students' ideas can be anything, and the point of all is that the viable idea arises when expertise in

various fields is combined, says one of the coaches, Senior Researcher Pekka Stenholm from the

Entrepreneurship Unit at the Turku School of Economics.

Co-operation is of great importance both within teams and between them. In addition, the experiences

of entrepreneurial activity and thinking as well as applying the knowledge in new ways are the most

common benefits that students highlight in their feedback. The Start Up course and entrepreneurship

education in general is not intended to turn students into entrepreneurs directly. Instead, students will

understand that their own expertise can be processed into any shape, when one feels free to experiment

and create new opportunities for a business.

– It's great to see how the students' strengths, expertise and enthusiasm are modified into new ideas and

new business models during the course, says Researcher Tommi Pukkinen from the Entrepreneurship

Unit.

The best student company from 2015 course was Activer, which won the nationwide NY Start Up contest

of the Young Entrepreneur Association in May. Activer develops a mobile application which connects

people interested in fitness and sports. Activer represented Finland in the European Championships in

Lisbon in July. In addition, many other teams in Turku discovered their place, and they set up new

businesses. These include, for example, video marketing firm Videobranding and Kaffillari, which sells

coffee in a cafe bike around the city.

In 2016, the Start Up course is modified in length to fit in the spring semester and lessons are also held

in English. After these adjustments the course will be more compact and at the same time open also to

international students.

Kaffillari, Activer and Videobranding pitching at the NY Start Up contest

26

PhD studies

The primary purpose of PhD studies is the preparation of a piece of original entrepreneurship research.

Our PhD studies are designed to train doctoral candidates as independent researchers, so that they can

claim professional standing as academic staff or in a profession requiring skills in entrepreneurship

research. PhD studies consist of a dissertation and PhD courses. The entrepreneurship research seminar

series provides our doctoral candidates excellent learning opportunities and also possibilities to discuss

their PhD projects with peers and senior researchers and professors. Additionally, international research

visits and fellowships are encouraged during the PhD process.

Entrepreneurship research seminars

In 2015 we held four research seminars where PhD students

presented their PhD projects. The first seminar was organised

as a part of Inna Kozlinska’s (University of Tartu/University

of Turku) visit to the Entrepreneurship Unit on 6–10

October. In the seminar Inna shared preliminary results of her

PhD project "Linkages between entrepreneurial education

and entrepreneurship: evidence from two post-transition

countries". In the next seminar Doctoral Candidate Anne

Paavolainen presented her early-stage PhD project “Citizen

activity via environmental monitoring”. Professor Robert

Blackburn from the Kingston University, Small Business

Research Centre was visiting us the same week and also joined the research seminar to provide his

valuable feedback.

Professor George Saridakis from the Kingston University Small

Business Research Centre visited Turku School of Economics

with four PhD students – John Pereira, Mohammad Alemzadeh,

La Toya Quamina and Yanqing Lai – in the end of November.

The purpose of the visit was to deepen research cooperation

between the entrepreneurship research groups of the universities

and also to intensify our collaboration in terms of PhD studies

and supervision. In addition to joint meetings, two related

research seminars were organised. The seminar on 24 November

was dedicated to the presentations of the PhD students from

Kingston University.

In the seminar on 26 November Professor Saridakis gave a lecture

on academic publishing and two doctoral students of TSE, Kirsi

Peura and Gospel Oparaocha presented their PhD research projects.

Kirsi’s PhD project is titled “Possibilities for Entrepreneurship

Development in Institutionally Unstable Environment – A Narrative

Approach” and Gospel’s “Institutional Networks Perspective on the

International Entrepreneurship of SMEs”. In addition to the visitors

from the Kingston University, Associate Professor Maija Renko

(University of Illinois at Chicago) participated in the research seminar as a guest.

Research seminar on 24 November

Research seminar on 26 November

Anne Paavolainen giving her presentation

27

Dissertations in progress at the Entrepreneurship Unit

There are around 15 PhD students in Entrepreneurship. The following six doctoral candidates were

employed by the Entrepreneurship Unit in 2015:

Jatta Jännäri: Doing gender in media: gendered representations of business leaders in media

Thomas Lemström: Entrepreneurship and institutions in health care

Katri Luomala: Mumpreneurs? Everyday complexities of Finnish mother-entrepreneurs

Laura Niemi: Entrepreneurial value creation: Co-creating socially constructed prestige value

Tommi Pukkinen: Firm renewal and performance: the relationship between entrepreneurial

orientation, dynamic capabilities, innovation and performance

Sanna Suomalainen: Decision making logic in a nascent venturing process in a university startup course

PhD Students of the Entrepreneurship Unit: Sanna Suomalainen, Tommi Pukkinen, Katri Luomala,

Jatta Jännäri and Laura Niemi (Picture by Antti Tarponen)

28

Other entrepreneurship education activities

Entrepreneurship in executive education

Entrepreneurship has an important role in

most of executive education programmes

offered by TSE exe. Members of our staff

work as teachers and experts in the

programmes and also supervise eMBA and

JOKO theses. Most importantly

entrepreneurship and innovation is one key

ILO (Intended Learning Outcome) of the

eMBA programme of the Turku School of

Economics. Regarding entrepreneurship,

the main themes studied in the eMBA

programme and other executive programmes

include entrepreneurial swing and corporate entrepreneurship, new business opportunities and

opportunity creation as well as entrepreneurial work and growth. In addition, Professor Jarna Heinonen

serves as a Chair of the eMBA Programme Committee which is responsible for increasing faculty

commitment in the eMBA programme of TSE.

Entrepreneurship in Open University and for other faculties

Open University education is open to all regardless of age

or educational background and the educational objectives

and requirements correspond to regular degree studies.

Our collaboration with the Open University of Turku has

enabled us to provide a total of seven courses to over a

hundred non-degree-students.

We have provided our courses for degree students of

other faculties mainly as a part of the Business

Competence -module, which offers basic knowledge of

business administration to participants. In the Faculty

of Medicine we run entrepreneurship seminars for

students of nursing science. The seminars are

integrated to the entrepreneurship course in Business

Competence -module. In addition, some

entrepreneurship courses are open for other faculties

through JOO studies.

“I learnt that there are

opportunities everywhere!” –Feedback from a student of nursing science

“Excellent seminars, supportive

and relaxed atmosphere,

teacher´s own interest and

expertise, as well as working life

experience of the peer students

supported my learning.” –Feedback from a student of nursing science

Jarna Heinonen lecturing to eMBA students

(Picture by Timo Oksanen)

29

INTERACTION WITH SOCIETY – BUILDING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY

Our activities contribute significantly to the third task of the university: societal impact and interaction

with society. Our close relations with business life and policy makers indicate that our expertise in

entrepreneurship research, education and development is relevant for and appreciated by society in

general, and our customers in particular. Our staff serve as board members in different organisations and

their expertise is continuously requested in national and international expert assignments such as for the

OECD and the European Science Foundation.

The research done in the Entrepreneurship Unit has wider impact as the outcomes have contributed to

societal policies and decision-making. The research has been used, for instance, in designing legislation,

re-organising the activities of specific public agencies supporting SMEs, and informing entrepreneurship

policy makers of research findings. For example, the study on service needs and experiences of public

business services of immigrant entrepreneurs finalised in 2015 gave suggestions for the development of

services and for the promotion of immigrant entrepreneurship.

Discussing and presenting the research findings in professional magazines and popular press such as

Helsingin Sanomat, Kauppalehti and Taloussanomat, as well as in national and international events are

also a way for us to make a societal impact.

Building the entrepreneurial University of Turku

In 2015 the Strategy on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship was launched at the University

of Turku. The purpose of the strategy is to increase awareness of entrepreneurship in the academic

community, to diversify and increase entrepreneurial training as well as to promote and strengthen an

entrepreneurial attitude and activities that support entrepreneurship.

Professor Jarna Heinonen chaired the working group which prepared the strategy and the plan for its

implementation. Based on the strategy, the University of Turku will strengthen its profile as a modern

academic actor willing to make societal impact. The entrepreneurship strategy promotes the strategic

goals set in the new strategy of the University of Turku for 2016–2020. Indeed, the University of Turku

has many advantages in the field of entrepreneurship in comparison to other Finnish universities. The

seven faculties of the university, as well as its genuine multidisciplinarity, provide excellent grounds for

promoting entrepreneurship across disciplines and therefore the University of Turku has excellent

opportunities to strengthen its profile as an entrepreneurial university.

The special challenge of the University of Turku in becoming an entrepreneurial university is to raise

awareness of entrepreneurship among students and faculty. There are many entrepreneurship courses

available in various faculties, but the supply had not been sufficiently communicated or promoted. In

addition, due to the lack of entrepreneurial attitudes as well as thinking and working modes, new ideas

were not created naturally. It is of utmost importance to reach those individuals who do not consciously

search for entrepreneurship training or other related activities but who still have entrepreneurial potential.

30

Therefore, the majority of students and faculty members of the university belong to the target group of

the entrepreneurship strategy. Exploiting this latent potential in the university is a huge opportunity and

also widens the understanding and applications of entrepreneurship in the university. The

entrepreneurship strategy also widens the university’s outreach in society as it implies close collaboration

with businesses and other stakeholders.

Heinonen’s working group prepared a concrete plan on the steps to be taken in order to become an

entrepreneurial university. The leading idea is to build on the strengths and activities already in progress.

The entrepreneurship strategy is led from top-down by the rectorate but implemented bottom-up by

faculties, staff and students. The strategy emphasises the different focuses in different faculties as well as

collaboration between faculties. Multidisciplinarity is of importance as new innovations tend to be created

at the boundaries of different disciplines.

The Entrepreneurship Unit is actively involved in the implementation of the Entrepreneurship strategy

alongside university faculties. The Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Humanities have been chosen

as pilot faculties where hands-on work started during 2015.

The Knowledge Governance -strategic research project of the Entrepreneurship Unit is tightly integrated

to the Entrepreneurship strategy as the project conducts a longitudinal study on the implementation of

the strategy in collaboration with other universities, such as CWTS, Leiden University, Stanford

University and North Carolina State University. The aim is to study how innovations and

entrepreneurship emerge in universities and how these activities are embedded in the local and national

economy. The ultimate aim is to create new knowledge on how to create entrepreneurial activity and

innovations in research universities.

31

Events

University as an accelerator of the economy – Launching seminar of the entrepreneurship strategy of

the University of Turku

The University of Turku launched its new strategy on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship

on 22 September in a high-profile seminar that was attended by 120 university stakeholders. The seminar

programme included keynote speeches by University Rector Kalervo Väänänen and Professor Luke

Pittaway from Ohio University. Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen sent her video

greetings regarding university and industry collaboration, and the role of universities in promoting

entrepreneurship to the seminar audience. In addition, case examples of existing entrepreneurial activities

from different faculties were presented. Senior Researcher Pekka Stenholm from the Entrepreneurship

Unit presented the Start Up course - a hands-on course in entrepreneurship organised in collaboration

with three local universities and the Young Entrepreneur Association. The seminar ended with an

arresting panel discussion on the ways and conditions of promoting entrepreneurship at the university.

The panel members were Permanent Secretary Jari Gustafsson from the Ministry of Employment and

the Economy, Mayor of Turku Aleksi Randell, Managing Director Antti Viitanen from Novartis Finland

Oy and Professor Jarna Heinonen from the Entrepreneurship Unit. The discussion was moderated by

the Editor of the Turun Sanomat newspaper, Riitta Monto.

Moderator of the panel discussion Riitta Monto and the panelists Mayor Aleksi Randell, Managing Director Antti Viitanen,

Professor Jarna Heinonen and Permanent Secretary Jari Gustafsson (Picture by Hanna Oksanen)

As a part of the seminar the University of Turku's Entrepreneurial Act of the Year award – Intoa! - was

launched. The Intoa! - prize can be awarded as an encouragement and acknowledgement to a member of

the University staff or a group, which can also include students, who has successfully and independently

promoted an entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial activities in the University. The act can involve,

for example, entrepreneurial training or education, education based on working life, entrepreneurial

working methods and leadership or innovative and creative way of carrying out collaboration with

32

business or promoting awareness of entrepreneurship in a multidisciplinary university. The University's

Entrepreneurial Act of the Year award is worth 30,000 Euro. The Intoa! - prize is intended to be awarded

annually. The University’s partner in awarding the Entrepreneurial Act of the Year for the academic year

2015–2016 is TOP Foundation which supports and promotes scientific research as well as culture and

arts in South-West Finland.

Breakfast seminar on Changing working life

The Finnish Business School Graduates of the Turku Region offered a breakfast seminar series to its

members in cooperation with the Turku School of Economics. In March the seminar covered the topic

of changes in working life. Professor Anne Kovalainen from the Unit was invited to introduce the theme

and in her presentation she reflected on the constant changes taking place in working life and addressed

the question of what is actually changing when working life changes - education, know-how, demands or

organisations – or all together.

eMBA 2015 Forum on Opportunity creation and organisational renewal

In March, TSE exe – the executive education and development unit of Turku School of Economics -

organised the annual eMBA Forum. The theme of the eMBA 2015 Forum was closely related to

entrepreneurship, namely Opportunity creation and organisational renewal. The Entrepreneurship Unit

was heavily involved in planning and implementing the seminar. Professor Anne Kovalainen delivered a

keynote address on "Flexible working life – flexible careers?". Professor Jarna Heinonen challenged the

audience by her opening on "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone". Senior Researcher Pekka

Stenholm contributed by commenting about serial entrepreneur Mohamed el-Fatatry. An amazingly vivid

presentation was also given by former student of the Turku School of Economics, children’s book author

and illustrator Linda Liukas who shared her entrepreneurial endeavour with eMBA students.

See more about the exiting and fruitful atmosphere of the eMBA Forum from TSE exe’s video on

YouTube (https://youtu.be/99JlvS7atvQ)

Professors Anne Kovalainen and Jarna Heinonen at eMBA Forum 2015 (Pictures by Timo Oksanen)

https://youtu.be/99JlvS7atvQ

33

Professional and community relations

Project Researcher Satu Aaltonen

European Council of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB), Member


Interdisciplinary Panel on Gender Studies, Academy of Finland Research Council, Division of

Culture and Society, Chair

The Australian Research Council: Future Fellowships, Assessor

The Qatari National Research Fund: National Priorities Research Program (NPRP), Assessor


Turun Seudun Osuuspankki (Turku Area Co-operative Bank), Board Member and Chair

TOP-säätiö (TOP Foundation), Board Member and Vice chair

OP osuuskunta (OP co-operative), Member of Supervisory Board, Chair of the Auditor

Committee of the Supervisory Board

Member of Economic Policy Working Group, Turku Chamber of Commerce

The Research Committee of the Finnish Family Firm Association, Member

Working Group for Policy relevant research on entrepreneurship and SMEs, EU Commission,

Member



European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB), Board Member for the

period of 2013–2016.

Scientific Association for Entrepreneurship Education, founding member and President (2014–

2015)

European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship(ECSB), Academy of Management

(AoM), Member


Sitra (Finnish Innovation Fund), Member of Board

Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, Member and Member of Board European Science

Foundation (ESF), Review Panel Member

Review Panel Member of several Academies of Sciences

Evaluation of national University System and national R&D Units, Portuguese Foundation for

Science and Technology, Review Panel Member

International Sociological Association (ISA), European Sociological Association (ESA), American

Sociological Association (ASA), Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), Member

Researcher Coordinator Elisa Akola

European Network for Social and Economic Research (ENSR), Finnish contact person

European Council of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB), Executive Secretary and

Member

34


European Sociological Association(ESA), British Sociological Association (BSA), American

Sociological Association (ASA) and Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), European Council of

Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB), Member

Senior Researcher Pekka Stenholm

Academy of Management (AoM), Member

Finnish Social Enterprise Research Network (FinSERN), Member

University Teacher Sanna Suomalainen


University administration


Committee for Research and Doctoral Studies, University of Turku, School of Economics,

Member

eMBA Programme Committee, University of Turku, School of Economics, Member and Chair

Turku Centre of Labour Studies, University of Turku, Member of Board

Vice-Head of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship


University of Turku, Member of Board

Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS), University of Turku, Founding Member and Member of

Board

Turku Centre for Labour Studies, University of Turku, Director and Chair of Board

Senior Researcher Pekka Stenholm

Research Evaluation Committee, Turku School of Economics, Member

John Morton Center for North American Studies, University of Turku, Member of Board

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP UNIT IN

FIGURES

About three-fifths of our 1 million EUR revenues come from the Ministry of Education and Culture and

two-fifths were won through competitive tendering and research proposals. We are, thus, relatively

dependent on competitive research funding and have, fortunately, been successful in gaining it. In

addition to the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Academy of Finland and Tekes and are our most

important sources of funding.

Main sources of finance in 2015

Financially the Entrepreneurship Unit has always created some surplus. This has given us the possibility

to invest in international research collaboration and competence building and to secure a solid grounding

for project-based academic research even with decreasing budgetary frames. In 2015 our research team

in Entrepreneurship consisted of two professors, a FiDiPro professor, three doctors, seven researchers

and a research assistant. In addition, we employed administrative staff and trainees.

Ministry of Education and Culture 62%

Academy of Finland17%

Tekes 13%

Other Ministries 5%

Other 2%EU financing 0,1 %

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PUBLICATIONS Journal articles and editorials

Aaltonen, S. – Heinze, A. – Ielpa, G. – De Tommaso, D. (2015) Enterprise cultural heritage. The source for sustainable competitive advantage and survival for food sector SMEs. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol. 16, No. 2, 73–83.

Adkins, L. (2015) Disobedient workers, the law and the making of unemployment markets. Sociology. DOI: 10.1177/003803851559276

Adkins, L. (2015) What are post-Fordist wages? Simmel, Labour Money and the Problem of Value. South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2, 331–353. DOI: 10.1215/00382876-2862740

Adkins, L. (2015) What does money do? Feminist theory in austere times. Feminist Review, Vol. 119, 31–48. DOI: 10.1057/fr.2014.37

Adkins, L. – Dever, M. (2015) Academic labour on-the-move. Australian Feminist Studies, Vol. 30, No. 84, 105–108. DOI: 10.1080/08164649.2015.1046303

Adkins, L. – Dever, M. (2015) Feminism re-engaged. Australian Feminist Studies, Vol. 30, No. 83, 1–2. DOI: 10.1080/08164649.2015.1011486

Adkins, L. – Dever, M. (2015) It's not about the women: Gender equality in research. Australian Feminist Studies, Vol. 30, No. 85, 217–220. DOI:10.1080/08164649.2015.1132507

Dever, M. – Adkins L. (2015) All male panel. Australian Feminist Studies, Vol. 30, No. 85, 283–288. DOI: 10.1080/08164649.2015.1107943.

Hytti, U. – Kuoppakangas, P. – Suomi, K. – Chapleo, C. – Giovanardi, M. (2015) Challenges in delivering brand promise – focusing on municipal healthcare organisations. International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 28, No. 3, 254–272.

Jännäri, J. – Kovalainen, A. (2015) The research methods used in “doing gender” literature. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 7, No. 2, 214–231. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-04-2014-0012.

Stenholm, P. – Pukkinen, T. – Heinonen, J. (2015) Firm growth in family businesses — The Role of entrepreneurial orientation and the entrepreneurial activity. Journal of Small Business Management. DOI: 10.1111/jsbm.12166 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jsbm.12166/abstract

Suomalainen, S. – Laalo, H. (2015) Henkilökunnan näkemyksiä yrittäjyyskasvatuksen edellytyksistä yliopistossa (in English: University staffs views on the preconditions for entrepreneurship education at the university). Hallinnon Tutkimus, Vol. 34, No. 4, 297–309.

Books, book chapters and book reviews

Aaltonen, S. – Hytti, U. (2015) Practices hindering employee innovative behaviour in manufacturing SMEs. In: Context, process and gender in entrepreneurship. Frontiers in European entrepreneurship research, eds. R. Blackburn – U. Hytti – F. Welter, 153–171. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, UK.

Blackburn, R. – Hytti, U. – Welter, F. (Eds.) (2015) Context, process and gender in entrepreneurship. Frontiers in European entrepreneurship research. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, UK.

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Eriksson, P. – Kovalainen, A. (2015) Qualitative methods in business research. 2nd Edition. SAGE, London.

Hytti, U. (2015) Gendered understanding of recruitment processes: Applications and résumés. In: Handbook of Gendered Careers in Management: Getting In, Getting On, Getting Out, eds. A. Broadbridge – S. L. Fielden, 74–89. Elgar Original Reference Series, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Stenholm, P. (2015) Book review: How to get published in the best entrepreneurship journals: A guide to steer your academic career (eds. A. Fayolle and M. Wright). International Small Business Journal, Vol. 33, No. 6, 667–668.

Stenholm, P. –Ács, Z. J. – Wuebker, R.(2015) Exploring country-level institutional arrangements on the rate and type of entrepreneurial activity. In: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives by Zoltán J. Ács, 387–404. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltemham, UK.

Research reports

Aaltonen, S. – Heinonen, J. – Valtonen, E. (2015) Maahanmuuttajayrittäjien palvelutarpeet ja yrittäjyyden edistäminen (in English: Service needs of immigrant entrepreneurs and promoting entrepreneurship). Työ-ja elinkeimoministeriön julkaisuja, Työ ja yrittäjyys 23/2015.

Hakala, H. – Kantola, J. – Nummelin, L. (2015) Prestige – Yhteisöllinen arvokokemus. Vaasan yliopiston julkaisuja, Selvityksiä ja raportteja 201.

Stenholm, P. – Saarni, J. – Akola, E. – Heinonen, J. (2015) Finding a needle in a haystack – Do strategic choices help in recognizing the best and the brightest firms? Tekes Policy Brief 11/2015.

Stenholm, P. – Suomalainen, S. – Kovalainen, A. – Heinonen, J. – Pukkinen, T. (2015) Global Entrepreneurship Monitor – Finnish 2014 report. Turku School of Economics, University of Turku.

Conference proceedings

Aaltonen, S. – Akola, E. (2015) The role of trust in immigrant business owners’ start-up process. Paper presented at RENT XXIX Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Conference, November 18–20, Zagreb, Croatia.

Deem, R. – Kovalainen, A. – Poutanen, S. (2015) Words and money – Ethnography of science evaluation in austere times. Paper presented at 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science) Annual Meeting 2015, November 11–14, Denver, USA.

Heinonen, J. – Stenholm, P. (2015) Familiness and socioemotional wealth in family businesses’ economic and non-economic performance. Paper presented at RENT XXIX Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Conference, November 18–20, Zagreb, Croatia.

Hytti, U. – Nieminen, L. (2015) Participation and learning in a training programme for self-employed entrepreneurs. Paper presented at RENT XXIX Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Conference, November 18–20, Zagreb, Croatia.

Jännäri, J. (2015) Gendered recruitment practices in Finland and Estonia. Presentation at WORK2015 Conference, August 19–21, Turku, Finland.

Kovalainen, A. – Heinonen, J. – Poutanen, S. (2015) Entrepreneurial university – Nightmare or dream come true? Paper presented at 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science) Annual Meeting 2015, November 11–14, Denver, USA.

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Kovalainen, A. – Poutanen, S. (2015) Entrepreneurial university situation in Finland. Invited paper presented in Triple Helix International Workshop ”Entrepreneurial University Metrics: State of the Art and Future Directions”, June 22–23, .Leiden, the Netherlands.

Laalo, H. – Heinonen, J. (2015) University Students’ Definitions of Entrepreneurial Subjectivity. Paper presented at ECER 2015 Conference, September 7–11, Budapest, Hungary.

Lahtinen, K. – Aaltonen, S. – Järvinen, M. – Teittinen, O. – Pirttimäki, M. (2015) Frameworks towards a virtual co-creation tool for fuzzy front-end of service development in health care context. Paper presented at the 25th Annual RESER Conference, September 10–12, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Lepistö, T. – Aaltonen, S. – Hytti, U. (2015) The situated construction of the future – A case study of strategy work between partner entrepreneurs. Paper presented at RENT XXIX Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Conference, November 18–20, Zagreb, Croatia.

Niemi, L. – Aaltonen, S. – Lepistö, T. (2015) Negotiating and making sense of joint value proposition as part of service development process. Paper presented at the 23rd Nordic Academy of Management Conference, August 12–14, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Niemi, L. – Kantola, J. (2015) Creating value in contemporary small business environment. Paper presented at the 23rd Nordic Academy of Management Conference, August 12–14, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Nieminen, L. – Hytti, U. (2015) Entrepreneurial learning and belonging to a community of practice. Paper presented at the 3E ECSB Entrepreneurship Education Conference, April 23–24, Lueneburg, Germany.

Nieminen, L. – Hytti, U. (2015) Yrittäjyyskasvatuksen erilaiset tavoitteet ja niiden mittaaminen. Paper presented at YKTT 2015 Enterprise Education Conference, September 24–25, Pori, Finland.

Poutanen, S. (2015) Domesticating global science policy model. Paper presented at 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science) Annual Meeting 2015, November 11–14, Denver, USA.

Poutanen, S. – Kovalainen, A. (2015) Helix system in the changing research landscape: case Finland. Paper presented at RENT XXIX Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Conference, November 18–20, Zagreb, Croatia.

Poutanen, S. – Kovalainen, A. (2015) What is new in the new economy? Care as critical nexus challenging rigid conceptualisations. Paper presented in the ESA2015 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association, August 25–28, Prague, the Czech Republic.

Poutanen, S. – Kovalainen, A. – Jännäri, J. (2015) Third spirit of capitalism and gendered mediatization – Enactment of women managers in the economist journal. Paper presented at WORK2015 Conference, August 19–21, Turku, Finland.

Stenholm, P. – Nielsen, MS. – Klyver, K. (2015) Emotional support and passion matters: how emotional support impacts survival through entrepreneurial passion. Paper presented at Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, June 10–13, Natick, MA.

Suomalainen, S. – Laalo, H. (2015) Henkilökunnan näkemyksiä yrittäjyyskasvatuksen edellytyksistä yliopistossa. Paper presented at YKTT 2015 Enterprise Education Conference, September 24–25, Pori, Finland.

Suomalainen S. – Laalo, H. (2015) Yrittäjyyskasvatuksen edellytykset yliopistossa. Paper presented at TiedeAreena (Science Arena) 2015, September 25, Pori, Finland.

Suomalainen, S. – Stenholm, P. (2015) Alternative paths for venture formation. Paper presented at RENT XXIX Research in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Conference, November 18–20, Zagreb, Croatia.

Suomalainen, S. – Stenholm, P. (2015) The recognition of entrepreneurship within a multiversity. Paper presented at the 60th ICSB World Conference, June 6–9, Dubai.

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Contact

Entrepreneurship

Turku School of Economics, University of Turku

Visiting address: Rehtorinpellonkatu 3

20500 Turku, Finland

Postal address: Turku School of Economics

FI-20014 Turun yliopisto


Tel. +358 2 333 9577, +358 50 5631713, e-mail: [email protected]


Tel. +358 2 333 9311, e-mail: [email protected]

Coordinator Anu-Minna Ainikkamäki

Tel. +358 2 333 9104, [email protected]

Research Coordinator Elisa Akola

Tel. +358 2 333 9626, e-mail: [email protected]

www.utu.fi/entrepreneurship

mailto:[email protected]




http://www.utu.fi/entrepreneurship

Documents

ANNUAL REPORT Entrepreneurship - utu · Entrepreneurship Unit for putting your valuable effort to our joint ... Vice-Head of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship. 4 Employs