Passionate bricoleurs and new venture survival

The impression of entrepreneurship as an intentionally orchestrated activity has been challenged by more creative approaches. In this study we investigate the previously unexplored relationships between entrepreneurial passion, bricolage, and entrepreneurial survival. In a sample of 2489 Finnish entrepreneurs who started new businesses between 2005–2010, we find higher levels of bricolage among those, whose businesses were still surviving in the end of 2011. Further, our analyses reveal that entrepreneurs who are passionate about inventing and developing their ventures are more likely to engage in bricolage and, combined, the affective state of passion and the “make-do” behaviors of bricolage help entrepreneurs keep their businesses going.</p

Social enterprise crowdfunding in an acute crisis

Social enterprises can play a pivotal role in mitigating the negative effects of major crises if these ventures are able to attract enough funding for their activities. Our research reflects on the experiences of a UK-based crowdfunding platform, UpEffect, to develop understanding of the key challenges for social enterprise crowdfunding at the time of COVID-19. Specially, we offer and synthesize three perspectives (social enterprises, funding crowd, and crowdfunding platforms) to illuminate key strategies that crowdfunding platforms, like UpEffect, can employ to support social enterprises in enacting solutions for COVID-19 affected people and communities.</p

Social enterprise crowdfunding in an acute crisis

Social enterprises can play a pivotal role in mitigating the negative effects of major crises if these ventures are able to attract enough funding for their activities. Our research reflects on the experiences of a UK-based crowdfunding platform, UpEffect, to develop understanding of the key challenges for social enterprise crowdfunding at the time of COVID-19. Specially, we offer and synthesize three perspectives (social enterprises, funding crowd, and crowdfunding platforms) to illuminate key strategies that crowdfunding platforms, like UpEffect, can employ to support social enterprises in enacting solutions for COVID-19 affected people and communities.The University of Turku, Finland Graduate School (2020) and the Academy of Finland (AoF).http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbvihj2021Economic

Xylitol-supplemented nutrition enhances bacterial killing and prolongs survival of rats in experimental pneumococcal sepsis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Xylitol has antiadhesive effects on <it>Streptococcus pneumoniae </it>and inhibits its growth, and has also been found to be effective in preventing acute otitis media and has been used in intensive care as a valuable source of energy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We evaluated the oxidative burst of neutrophils in rats fed with and without xylitol. The mean increase in the percentage of activated neutrophils from the baseline was higher in the xylitol-exposed group than in the control group (58.1% vs 51.4%, P = 0.03 for the difference) and the mean induced increase in the median strength of the burst per neutrophil was similarly higher in the xylitol group (159.6 vs 140.3, P = 0.04). In two pneumococcal sepsis experiments rats were fed either a basal powder diet (control group) or the same diet supplemented with 10% or 20% xylitol and infected with an intraperitoneal inoculation of <it>S. pneumoniae </it>after two weeks. The mean survival time was 48 hours in the xylitol groups and 34 hours in the control groups (P < 0.001 in log rank test).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Xylitol has beneficial effects on both the oxidative killing of bacteria in neutrophilic leucocytes and on the survival of rats with experimental pneumococcal sepsis.</p

Vammaisten henkilöiden yrittäjyys ja sen tuki

Tämä selvitys on tehty valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimustoiminnan (VN TEAS) vuoden 2016 teemassa Hyvinvointi ja terveys. Selvityksen päätavoitteena on löytää Suomeen soveltuva kustannusvaikuttava toimintamalli vammaisten henkilöiden yrittäjyyden lisäämiseksi. Selvitys liittyy hallitusohjelmassa toteutettaviin hyvinvoinnin ja terveyden kärkihankkeisiin ja niistä siihen, jossa tavoitteena on etsiä osatyökykyisille väyliä työhön. Osana kärkihanketta on tarkoituksena parantaa vammaisten henkilöiden toimintamahdollisuuksia yrittäjinä. Selvityksessä kuvataan vammaisten henkilöiden yrittäjyyden esteitä ja mahdollisuuksia, esitetään toimintamalli vammaisten henkilöiden yrittäjyyden lisäämiseksi sekä kuvataan mallin sisältämät toimenpiteet ja ehdotetaan niiden toimeenpanokäytännöt. Metodeina on käytetty kirjallisuuskatsausta, kyselytutkimusta, haastatteluja ja työpajatyöskentelyä. Työpajoihin on osallistunut kohderyhmään kuuluvia vammaisia henkilöitä, minkä kautta selvitykseen on saatu kokemusasiantuntijuutta mukaan. Käytetyt metodit eivät tarjonneet riittäviä tietoja vaikuttavuuden arviointiin, joten esitettävän toimintamallin kustannusvaikuttavuus perustuu selvityksen tehneiden tutkijoiden asiantuntijanäkemykseen

Vammaisten henkilöiden yrittäjyys ja sen tuki

Tämä selvitys on tehty valtioneuvoston selvitys-­ ja tutkimustoiminnan (VN TEAS) vuoden 2016 teemassa Hyvinvointi ja terveys. Selvityksen päätavoitteena on löytää Suomeen soveltuva kustannusvaikuttava toimintamalli vammaisten henkilöiden yrittäjyyden lisäämiseksi. Selvitys liittyy hallitusohjelmassa toteutettaviin hyvinvoinnin ja terveyden kärkihankkeisiin ja niistä siihen, jossa tavoitteena on etsiä osatyökykyisille väyliä työhön. Osana kärkihanketta on tarkoituksena parantaa vammaisten henkilöiden toimintamahdollisuuksia yrittäjinä.Selvityksessä kuvataan vammaisten henkilöiden yrittäjyyden esteitä ja mahdollisuuksia, esitetään toimintamalli vammaisten henkilöiden yrittäjyyden lisäämiseksi sekä kuvataan mallin sisältämät toimenpiteet ja ehdotetaan niiden toimeenpanokäytännöt. Metodeina on käytetty kirjallisuuskatsausta, kyselytutkimusta, haastatteluja ja työpajatyöskentelyä. Työpajoihin on osallistunut kohderyhmään kuuluvia vammaisia henkilöitä, minkä kautta selvitykseen on saatu kokemusasiantuntijuutta mukaan. Käytetyt metodit eivät tarjonneet riittäviä tietoja vaikuttavuuden arviointiin, joten esitettävän toimintamallin kustannusvaikuttavuus perustuu selvityksen tehneiden tutkijoiden asiantuntijanäkemykseen.</p

Market orientation in markets for technology : evidence from biotechnology ventures

siirretty Doriast

Market orientation in markets for technology : evidence from biotechnology ventures

siirretty Doriast

The role of market knowledge in recognizing and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities in technology intensive firms

Entrepreneurial opportunity recognition is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon. Of particular interest is the ability of promising technology based ventures to recognize and exploit opportunities. Recent research drawing on the Austrian economic theory emphasizes the importance of knowledge, particularly market knowledge, behind opportunity recognition. While insightful, this research has tended to overlook those interrelationships that exist between different types of knowledge (technology and market knowledge) as well as between a firm’s knowledge base and its entrepreneurial orientation. Additional shortfalls of prior research include the ambiguous definitions provided for entrepreneurial opportunities, oversight of opportunity exploitation with an extensive focus on opportunity recognition only, and the lack of quantitative, empirical evidence on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. In this dissertation, these research gaps are addressed by integrating Schumpeterian opportunity development view with a Kirznerian opportunity discovery theory as well as insights from literature on entrepreneurial orientation. A sample of 85 new biotechnology ventures from the United States, Finland, and Sweden was analyzed. While leaders in all 85 companies were interviewed for the research in 2003-2004, 42 firms provided data in 2007. Data was analyzed using regression analysis. The results show the value and importance of early market knowledge and technology knowledge as well as an entrepreneurial company posture for subsequent opportunity recognition. The highest numbers of new opportunities are recognized in firms where high levels of market knowledge are combined with high levels of technology knowledge (measured with a number of patents). A firm’s entrepreneurial orientation also enhances its opportunity recognition. Furthermore, the results show that new ventures with more market knowledge are able to gather more equity investments, license out more technologies, and achieve higher sales than new ventures with lower levels of market knowledge. Overall, the findings of this dissertation help further our understanding of the sources of entrepreneurial opportunities, and should encourage further research in this area

Sold, not bought:Market orientation and technology as drivers of acquisitions of private biotechnology ventures

Acquisitions are an important exit strategy for technology entrepreneurs and investors, but what can technology ventures do to increase their chances of achieving an acquisition? We draw on signaling theory to examine the role that market orientation plays behind acquisitions. We test our hypotheses in a sample of young biotechnology ventures, and our findings are three-fold. First, we show that a target's market orientation is an important direct driver of acquisitions, thus incorporating a marketing perspective into a literature that has hitherto focused primarily on technological and reputational factors. Second, we find a substitutive interaction effect between market orientation and new product development stage, indicating that for exits through acquisitions, a high level of market orientation can compensate for an early stage of product development. Third, a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) shows that in some contexts, the monopoly power afforded by patents can further amplify the positive effect of market orientation on acquisition likelihood. Taken together, our findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how different signals interact, and suggest that technology ventures should invest in market orientation early on in their life cycle