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Even though entrepreneurial work is stressful, health promotion interventions are seldom targeted at entrepreneurs, and we know little about how to reach and recruit this hard-to-reach group to such studies. We described and evaluated the recruitment process of a mobile health application intervention study aimed at enhancing work ability and recovery. Finnish microentrepreneurs (N = 1243) were registered for the intervention. We analyzed surveys, interviews, and registration data. Most participants registered through email invitations. The registered microentrepreneurs were not representative of all Finnish microentrepreneurs; females and highly educated individuals were overrepresented, and those working in agriculture were underrepresented. Differences be- tween registration routes were observed: females registered more often through the self-enrollment route, whereas males and older entrepreneurs registered more often through email invitations. The findings indicate that recruitment strategies are associated with participant characteristics. To increase participation rates, persuasive recruitment approaches are needed.

Digitalisation has revolutionised health service delivery, which has provided global business opportunities for start-ups that specialise in digital innovations. Such start-ups challenge the traditional healthcare service industry by introducing radical and sustainable innovations in the agile product development cycle and the creative acquisition of resources within their networks. Starting up is the most critical period in establishing a new digital health service company. However, little is known about the critical early growth processes of newly established digital healthcare service businesses. The aim of this study is to clarify the experience-based priorities of managers of digital health service businesses in California during the critical start-up stage. Based on this multiple case study, the qualitative and contextual characteristics of growth in California-based digital health service start-ups were clarified, and a framework of management priorities was formed. Network management is a high priority in digital service start-ups that are focused on bringing radical innovations to the complex and hard-to-access market where fundraising is an integral part of success.

Even though entrepreneurial work is stressful, health promotion interventions are seldom targeted at entrepreneurs, and we know little about how to reach and recruit this hard-to-reach group to such studies. We described and evaluated the recruitment process of a mobile health application intervention study aimed at enhancing work ability and recovery. Finnish microentrepreneurs (N = 1243) were registered for the intervention. We analyzed surveys, interviews, and registration data. Most participants registered through email invitations. The registered microentrepreneurs were not representative of all Finnish microentrepreneurs; females and highly educated individuals were overrepresented, and those working in agriculture were underrepresented. Differences between registration routes were observed: females registered more often through the self-enrollment route, whereas males and older entrepreneurs registered more often through email invitations. The findings indicate that recruitment strategies are associated with participant characteristics. To increase participation rates, persuasive recruitment approaches are needed.

Many stages of growth models have been introduced to clarify management priorities during the early stages of business growth. However, many of these models are conceptual and universal, providing only limited benefits to specific industries and business contexts. The early stages of technology-based ventures have attracted broad interest, while less attention has been paid to the early stages of service-based firms. However, in recent years, interest in service-based businesses, as well as servitisation, has grown. This literature-based study explores and compares the early stages of growth in service-based and technology-based firms. On one hand, this study condenses the basic characteristics of recent empirical studies on the early stages of technology- and service-based firms. On the other, this study clarifies the central themes, sequential patterns and central differences in the early stages of service- and technology-based firms. This study pinpoints the importance of contextual understanding related to the early stages of business growth and encourages the scholars towards bridging the contextual gaps of this stream of literature.

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

Industries linked to and built on creativity and design have been described as backbones of a modern economy by the likes of Florida (2002; 2005). This paper reviews the ways early-stage entrepreneurs of creative industries conceptualise knowledge and depict their development trajectory and practices in issues concerning knowledge. These entrepreneurs operate in the context of a knowledge economy that underlines the key role of knowledge as a source of advantage. As Moore (2000) claims, knowledge intensity creates entrepreneurial opportunities and results to offer an advantage. The current view of knowledge management (KM) stretches the realm of KM beyond the ability to create. Action on knowledge contains sub-processes of knowledge creation, maintenance, renewal, organisation, and transference, for example (Wiig, 1997). This multiple case study explores the way entrepreneurs express the nature of knowledge in the enterprise and in relation to their personal entfloridarepreneur role. Light is shed on the principles and practices of KM in entrepreneurial firms. The research is an exploratory and interpretative case study, revealing patterns of thoughts and behaviour in the companies studied. A sample of seven companies whose business activity is based on design and creativity were interviewed in-depth. The collected qualitative case data is thematically content-analysed to constitute a model of companies' development trajectory in relation to knowledge. The study contributes to academic knowledge both in the areas of entrepreneurial studies as well as in KM. The practical contributions serve creativity-connected industries and early-stage entrepreneurs who can use the results to plan and foresee their KM.

It is a core content of enterprise performance research evaluating and comparing enterprise performance in dynamic environment. In allusion to this problem, a variety of enterprise performance assessment methods and indexes systems are proposed. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a kind of effective mathematical model which is used for comparing the performance among enterprises or different units inside an enterprise, based on the real-world data. Through comparing the performance, DEA can evaluate the enterprise performance from scale effectiveness and technological effectiveness, and then get the performance optimization goals. Critical Factor Index (CFI) is a new enterprise performance assessment method proposed in recent years. This method, based on the performance perception of business leaders or staffs, evaluates the enterprise performance in different dimensions, and then gets the optimization strategy of enterprise resource allocation to improve integrated enterprise performance. This paper has structured a new evaluation and optimization system for performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which combine properly the DEA and CFI method to evaluate and optimize the SMEs’ performance comprehensively, and has confirm this system with data of 5 Finnish SMEs.

Virtual new product development (NPD) teams integrated via information and communication technology (ICT), can offer effective solutions to higher quality, service, customer responsiveness and individualized productization. Experts in NPD teams usually collaborate across the globe and across time zones by e-mail, tele- and web-conferencing, as well as other ICT, sometimes with inadequate language skills and with various ways of communicating and sharing information. Therefore, finding a shared understanding, relevant information, common language, and personal contacts across different sites may be challenging. The aim of this research was to study how communication practices are organized in virtual NPD. In addition to this, the scope was to study what kinds of competences are needed to enhance the efficiency of virtual communication in cross-cultural NPD. The authors conducted a multi-method case study of a global telecommunication company. The main findings were that members in virtual projects have different kinds of communication practices based on personal competences, habits, and preferences rather than company-level recommendations. The main contribution of this study is that virtual collaboration competences on a personal and organizational level play a significant role in enhancing efficiency in communication and when designing and utilizing communication practices. The authors' results may be used to support managerial decisions concerning practices of organizing global teams and when coordinating communication practices in complex global projects.

Purpose: This paper aims to present a fresh idea on how to model and examine the level of sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) with and without knowledge and /technology (K/T) effects in a case company’s operation by taking the manufacturing strategy’s development directions and the efficiency of resource allocation among its attributes into consideration. Design/Methodology/approach: In this paper, questionnaires are filled by two different managerial groups, company’s management team (G1) and company’s global directors (G2). The analyses based on G1, G2 and G1-G2 (mixed results) are performed and examined as well as the effect of knowledge and /technology rankings to observe the differences on how they effect on company’s operations strategy and what kind of strategy type that decision makers might follow. Besides, the effects of knowledge/technology rankings on SCA risk levels are examined on different case companies to perceive the similarities and differences with our case company. In this case study, the objectives are achieved based on several methodologies: manufacturing strategy index (MSI) [1] and sense and respond (S&R) methodology [2]. Findings: The achieved results through the model are found to be promising corresponding to the feedback from the respondents. Research limitations/implications: The model is applied only in a big sized B2B global company that produces power electronics products. Therefore, further tests need to be applied to the model in case of multiple companies from different sizes and areas to figure out the best formula in case of validation of strategic direction (MAPE, RSME or MAD). Practical implications: As a result of its wide applicability and its ease in arrangement the model has an enormous potential for strategic decision-making process and strategic analysis. Originality/Value:The model can provide a more dependable possibility of sustainable improvement to the corporate operational excellence and strategy

The goal of this paper is to help small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) to find operative competitive advantage. This paper introduces a new method which applies critical factor analysis, risk and opportunities analysis to measure and propose resource allocation for companies in couple of next years. this research shows Knowledge/Technology (K/T) Calculation effect on (Balanced) Critical Factor Index (CFIs) depending on the proportions allocated among the different technological levels (Basic, Core or Spearhead) for each attribute separately. Moreover it helps firms to take balance in resource allocation for each attribute in changing environments on the basis of different level of technology. This paper presents the ’first in the world’ case study on operative sustainable competitive advantage and corresponding risk levels by taking into account technology and knowledge effects for 7 SME companies