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In contemporary entrepreneurship, leadership advances both internal and external stakeholders’ interests while safeguarding the broader interests of humanity and the planet. Responsible leadership (RL) considers both the shareholders and external communities. This study focuses on implementation of RL in small for-profit businesses that exhibit a commitment to community engagement. We analyse the value-driven purposes that small business managers pursue through RL, the communities in which they exercise leadership to promote desired change, and which RL roles they apply. Five managers of small businesses located in rural or small Finnish towns were purposefully selected for this multiple case study ensuring a representation of diverse small businesses that actively articulate their objectives in relation to their communities. Each enterprise exemplifies a distinct RL approach within a two-dimensional matrix: physical proximity (or distance) to their target community and level of reformation (or preservation) of their purpose. As the output, we propose a novel, empirically validated four-field typology for RL approaches: local reformers, local preservers, global reformers, and global preservers. Additionally, we present an adapted version of the three-role RL model adapted to small businesses. Notable modifications include the division of the original facilitator role into formal and informal employers and the incorporation of the four RL approaches under the citizen role. The novelty lies in a nuanced description of RL with regards to the community, purpose, and roles in the context of small businesses.

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.

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.

This research provides new information on the prerequisites for micro firms operating in sparsely populated areas. Micro-business constitutes a numerically dominant group in every economy. In recent years, small businesses and small and medium enterprises, the latter two of which form the backbone of many countries’ economies, have attracted considerable research attention. This study has a twofold aim: (1) to highlight the scant attention paid by researchers to micro-enterprises and (2) to investigate the growth of independently owned micro-businesses and compare self evaluated growth stages with the change in the turnover volume. This case study synthesises two empirical stage models into two self-evaluation frameworks used for 53 technology- and service-based firms. The results indicate that the selected growth stages correspond relatively well to the micro-businesses’ growth.

This paper views various management priorities used by service business entrepreneurs with a thematic analysis. Entrepreneurial behaviour is an individual-level phenomenon, which occurs over time, and results in an organization as the primary outcome of these activities. Entrepreneurs are necessary for entrepreneurial behaviour, and it is through actions of entrepreneurs that organizations come into existence. Thematic analysis is a search for themes that emerge as being important to the description of the phenomenon. Thus, this study sets focus on small business entrepreneur perspectives on entrepreneurship, innovation and management issues throughout business growth process. The focus is on how entrepreneurs generate knowledge themselves. This study focuses on an approach based on configuration theories that are concerned with the actual growth process, and how managerial problems appear and can be dealt with during a firm's growth through presumed typical stages of development. Muhos et al (2017) identified four stages of service business growth based on a literature review of empirically-based studies. The stages are presented as a framework with nine horizontal growth management themes across all growth stages. These themes are: Focus; Power; Structure; Decision-making systems; Strategic management; Service development and delivery; Marketing; Human resources, and; Growth. This paper aims to analyse how small business entrepreneurs in service business tell their business growth stories. More specifically, the aim is to analyse which growth management themes appear in open-ended growth stories told by entrepreneurs themselves. The data set consists of parts of semi-structured entrepreneur interviews in social and healthcare service business. Eight entrepreneurs in Northern Finland were requested to tell their business growth stories in their own words. We adopted an approach of thematic analysis based on recommendations of Miles and Huberman (1994) to compare entrepreneurs' open-ended growth stories to a pre-existing service business framework. More precisely, the growth stories were deductively analysed to meet a priori template of nine pre-conceived growth management themes. This study provides new understanding on business growth and growth management priorities from the often neglected perspective of small-business entrepreneurs themselves. This is important to create innovative platforms for enterprise growth and understanding business dynamics at the contextual level.

This paper describes the development process and the pilot use of an ethnography-inspired analysis method to investigate group reflection in group discussions. Reflection is the process of thinking, acting, experiencing, evaluating and analyzing alone or together tied to the surrounding social reality or context. Social relationships are an inherent feature of a group; these relationships refer to group dynamics, i.e. interpersonal processes in and between groups over time. The method is piloted on three lightly moderated microentrepreneur network meetings in Finland. The meetings provide microentrepreneurs with a forum where they get into social interaction with other entrepreneurs. Each meeting provides a single case with a different starting topic. The method development was an inductive and data-driven process. We adapted the double stimulation tool by Vygotsky to the situated event of this study by adding two further steps: analysis of the group reflection and finally the symbolic visualization of the group reflection path. Each case discussions provided a unique road related visualization that symbolizes the discussion flow, directions and process. The main finding of this study is that each case meeting formed a unique group reflection path. The analysis of what, how and why entrepreneurs are talking about topics related to business creates an understanding of how they construct the meaning of entrepreneurship and related factors as part of their culture.

The European Commission's Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan mentions school-based entrepreneurship education as a key issue in ensuring the development of the European welfare. Already in 2009, the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland announced national guidelines for reaching the objectives for entrepreneurship education by 2015. Therefore, regions started targeted development actions towards improved entrepreneurship education. In Northern Ostrobothnia, both a strategy and an operating model for entrepreneurship education were created as a participatory strategy process during 2015. A total of 200 individuals from education, private enterprises and the public sector were involved in the strategy process. Practitioners and researchers share a common understanding of the central elements to be included in entrepreneurship education. Presence of these central elements in different levels of education in northern Finland was investigated in 2013. The investigation showed that some central elements of the coherent pathway of entrepreneurship education were not being realized at the target region, and the resources were not optimally allocated between the central elements. Some of the central elements were repeated at almost all levels of education while others were nearly absent. The study pointed out there was need for a joint entrepreneurship education strategic action. This paper presents a cross-sectional multiple-case study seeking to form a whole picture of an entrepreneurship education pathway in Northern Finland in spring 2017, and to compare it with the earlier investigation from 2013. The aim of this study is to recognize and analyze potential changes in entrepreneurship education practices one year after the participatory strategy process and publication of the strategy. The data is based on a web-based semi-structured questionnaire, which was sent to headmasters and other management of basic and secondary level education, education planners, and study advisors. The units of analysis are different levels of education (comprehensive school, secondary school, polytechnics and universities). The findings will show whether entrepreneurship education strategy guides education practices in schools. The result will be useful in implementation of and informing on entrepreneurship education strategy.

The public sector uses abundant resources for small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) policies. Microenterprises, those with less than ten employees, account for a large majority of SMEs, and they are regarded as engines of growth. Micro-enterprises face many difficulties such as compensating for the 'liability of smallness'. Despite microenterprises' significant role in the economy, effectiveness evaluations of the public support activities directed toward them are relatively scarce. The objective of this study is to provide an evaluation of the actual effects of a publicly funded support project's activities for micro-enterprises. The purpose of the small-scale pilot project analysed in this study was to advance micro-enterprises' occupational welfare, profitability and collaboration. This study's research problem can be condensed into the following research question: What are the project-produced impacts perceived by entrepreneurs? Methodologically, qualitative data were utilized in conducting the present study. The data were collected from six semi-structured thematic interviews of micro-enterprise owners. Moreover, a survey targeted at micro-enterprises participating in the support project was utilized as a support data. The effectiveness evaluation was carried out in the middle phase of the pilot project. The results indicate that entrepreneurs perceive the project's activities to be well targeted. In relation to the starting point, entrepreneurs' wellbeing and willingness to collaborate were particularly improved during the project. Micro-enterprises involved in the project were networking and cooperating more actively with other companies and public advisory services. In addition, the project's activities contributed to the generation of new ideas, more enthusiasm and tools aiding business development from the perspective of micro-enterprises. However, its impact on profitability - the third object of the project - was not as apparent. This may be explained by the need for a longer timeframe to see results and the on-going status of the project. In addition to the original project context, the results of this study provide fresh ideas for public advisory services to improve on-going support actions and to plan new actions aimed at supporting micro-enterprises.

Numerous stage models have attempted to clarify management priorities during the early stages of companies. However, a need for more focused and context-specific studies exists. Context-specific viewpoints and their effect on the early stages of companies have not been widely studied. This study takes context into account and provides new insights into the early growth and management issues of technology-intensive start-ups in the studied contexts. This study explores the early stages of technology-intensive start-ups from conception and development to the edge of commercialisation in Californian and Finnish contexts. To summarise the research questions, the authors ask: How do the experiences of managers in early-stage technology-intensive start-ups relate to assumptions of stage of growth literature? What viewpoints should be considered when using stage framework in Californian and Finnish contexts? To answer these questions, this study devises a framework describing early stages of technology-intensive firms and reflects it through 19 case studies in the two contexts. This is a retrospective multiple case study. Sequential incident technique (SIT) and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. The first stage of the framework was found to be applicable in both contexts. Moreover, an analysis of context-specific viewpoints was provided. These viewpoints were deeply rooted in the characteristics of the Finnish and Californian business ecosystem. It is necessary to recognise the context when using the stages of growth frame in different contexts. The research focus of this study is limited by the context studied, the 19 cases and it is focused on the conception and development stage of business development.