In reviewing the literature, I have found it fascinating to investigate the models it offers for supporting growth management. What specific characteristics does growth management entail in different contexts? What happens in a growing company, and how do management priorities shift as the company expands? Furthermore, what should management prioritize in a growing company?
Context indeed matters in managing business growth. Context-sensitive research introduces unexplored perspectives to management literature and offers valuable insights for practitioners. Companies grow in diverse environments—different countries and cultural settings, growth hubs and sparsely populated regions, technology and service sectors, or combinations and, spanning multiple industries.
Context affects the unique characteristics of growth management in a company, and the attributes of the entrepreneur are also significant.
At the University of Oulu Kerttu Saalasti Institute, we have studied growth management processes and specific characteristics in various contexts. Approximately 15 years ago, we began by using case studies to explore the experiences of the owner-managers of growing technology business in Finland, Thailand, Taiwan, and the United States. This was based on a comprehensive review of literature covering company growth stages, which we compared to practical experiences in management. It was fascinating to learn about the impact of culture and operating environments on growth management.
In Finland’s knowledge-oriented environment, owner-managers emphasized product development, whereas networking was prioritized in Thailand and Taiwan, and commercialization in the United States. Shortly thereafter, we refined the perspective of service companies by examining growth management priorities in digital health startups in Finland, Sweden, and the United States. Over the years, we have expanded our research on growth management across numerous contexts within a broad international network.
Currently, my focus is on a study examining the growth priorities of Generation Z-led digital startups across the Nordic countries. This study includes around 40 interviews gathered through visits to Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as well as interviews in Finland. Preliminary findings suggest that growth represents a means for these young entrepreneurs to realize essential dreams, often aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals—addressing major challenges of our time, from climate change to equality issues. The Nordic countries excel in many sustainability indicators, and young entrepreneurs in these nations seem motivated to contribute to these important goals through entrepreneurship and growth. Supporting their success is thus of great societal importance.
I am also currently studying the growth management priorities of refugee-background entrepreneurs in their new host countries.
Recently, we have produced several survey and data-based research studies on business growth at international, national, and regional levels. Examples include our involvement in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which analyzes global entrepreneurial climate, aimed at providing current insights for policymakers. It is essential that societal measures promoting business growth are evidence-based and that a globally comparable understanding is available for informed decision-making. Understanding our position in comparison to peer countries is crucial.
Since 2022, I have served on the Advisory Board for Entrepreneurship, a body advising the Finnish government on strategic directions for entrepreneurship in Finland. The Advisory Board for Entrepreneurship operates under the leadership of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the appointment of the Advisory Board is based on the Government Resolution on Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and profitable business growth form the cornerstone of our well-being. Key goals identified for new growth within the Finnish entrepreneurship strategy include:
The strategy also emphasizes solutions such as:
Research highlights challenges in Finland, such as the considerably lower new business density compared to peer countries. News reports indicate a decline in the number of Finnish startups. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, fear of failure has risen—half of Finland’s working-age population cites fear of failure as a barrier to starting a business, with 40% of men and 60% of women affected, reflecting a gender gap.
Another challenge is the decline in employer microenterprises. Both the number of employer microenterprises and the employees they hire have been decreasing for over a decade, with only one-fifth of microenterprises employing staff in addition to the entrepreneur.
A third challenge is Finland's reliance on exports for economic success. The export activity of Finnish microenterprises, relative to population size, ranks among the lowest in Europe’s small, advanced economies.
However, there have been positive trends as well. The number of solo entrepreneurs has more than doubled since the early 2000s, and knowledge-sharing among entrepreneurs has become more flexible and often cost-effective for microenterprises. “Light entrepreneurship” boosted by several online platforms is also rapidly increasing, enabling rapid experiments with real customers and real money—even for academic entrepreneurs.
Much of the research on growth management and its practical applications has been conducted in Western countries, with a natural focus on regions experiencing growth, such as Silicon Valley in California. Examination of the distinctive characteristics of emerging economies and Nordic countries has been comparatively limited. A notable challenge has been that applications designed to support growth management may not perform as intended when transferred to different business environments and cultures. Research has shown that a growth stage model based on data from Silicon Valley adds value in a Finnish context only up to a certain point. When contextual characteristics are disregarded, results remain at a general level, yielding universal models with limited practical relevance.
Increasing contextual understanding in growth management research enables sustainable growth across diverse settings. Context-aware research better considers the distinctive attributes of entrepreneurs, companies, and varying operational environments. Conducting such research requires a bit of courage, curiosity, robust international networking, and often extensive fieldwork, yet it offers the opportunity to expand our understanding of growth management on this diverse and context-rich planet.
Investing in contextually smart growth research allows us to build a knowledge base that supports more diverse, equal, and inclusive growth, from Silicon Valley to Northern Finland.
This text is based on the inaugural lecture by Professor Matti Muhos for new professors at the University of Oulu’s Linnanmaa campus on April 10, 2024.
Author:
Matti Muhos, D.Sc. (Tech.), Professor of Growth Management, Renewing Business, and Digitalization at the University of Oulu, Director of the Kerttu Saalasti Institute at the University of Oulu.
In Kerttu Saalasti Institute's blog we write about the topics of the Institute's research groups, micro entrepreneurship education and the Institute's general topics. The authors are researchers, experts and members of networks.
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