Search

This study explores how health-tech small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) could better utilize the entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) around them in developing their business within this fast-growing yet under-researched industry. Based on the qualitative empirical study, we examine actor roles and related dynamics in the health-tech ecosystem to understand how firms could benefit from the ecosystem’s resources. The study contributes to EE research by providing an empirically grounded typology of ten actor roles and examining how an individual company could change and develop its role in the network to grow and succeed. Moreover, it extends the current research on role typologies by explaining the various roles in EEs and underlines the importance of ecosystem dynamics. Managerially, the study highlights the importance of recognizing the company’s role(s) and the roles of other ecosystem members, which further aids in their strategic decision-making and future planning.

The thesis examines how health technology SMEs utilise entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) in their business and internationalisation. Entrepreneurship is a cornerstone for economic growth in many countries and recently the EE concept has gained increasing attention as the systemic framework used for describing and explaining entrepreneurship development. An EE provides a supportive environment for new start-ups to emerge and grow and especially small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) can find this kind of environment beneficial to their business. Health technology can be identified as an emerging, fast-growing and strategically important business field that can offer numerous new business opportunities to different actors. Therefore, health tech SMEs provide a timely and fruitful context to study the different, lesser-known aspects of EEs. To increase our understanding of how SMEs benefit from the ecosystem around themselves, this thesis focuses on how research on EEs has evolved over time, what motivates health tech SMEs to engage in the EE, the orchestrator roles and related capabilities in the EE, and finally, what kind of role the EE plays in health tech SMEs’ internationalisation. The thesis consists of a literature review paper and three empirical papers. The empirical data comprises 19 semi-structured interviews conducted with the top management of health tech companies and members of the local ecosystem in northern Finland. The first paper was analysed using a systematic literature review, the second and third papers used the Gioia method, and the final paper used the content analysis method. The results of the thesis show that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is continuously emerging and gaining popularity among academics, practitioners and policymakers. Health tech SMEs are motivated to engage in ecosystems to benefit from various social, resource and cognitive benefits. The thesis discovers different orchestration roles and related capabilities in the, Tiivistelmä Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkitaan miten pienet ja keskisuuret terveysteknologiayritykset hyödyntävät yrittäjyysekosysteemiä liiketoiminnassaan ja kansainvälistymisessään. Yrittäjyys voidaan nähdä taloudellisen kasvun kulmakivenä ja viime aikoina yrittäjyysekosysteemi-käsitettä on alettu käyttää systeemisenä viitekehyksenä yrittäjyyden kasvun ymmärtämiseen. Erityisesti pk-yrityksille yrittäjyysekosysteemi tarjoaa hyödyllisen ympäristön kasvattaa liiketoimintaa. Terveysteknologia on eräs merkittävä, nopeasti kasvava ja strategisesti tärkeä liiketoiminta-alue, joka luo lukuisia uusia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia eri toimijoille, erityisesti pk-yrityksille. Näin ollen pienet ja keskisuuret terveysteknologiayritykset tarjoavat tälle työlle ajankohtaisen ja hedelmällisen kontekstin tutkia yrittäjyysekosysteemejä. Jotta ymmärrettäisiin paremmin pk-yritysten mahdollisuuksia hyödyntää ympäröivää yrittäjyysekosysteemiä, tässä väitöskirjassa tutkitaan, miten yrittäjyysekosysteemikirjallisuus on kehittynyt ajan myötä, mikä motivoi terveysteknologiayrityksiä liittymään yrittäjyysekosysteemiin, millaisia orkesterointirooleja ja niihin liittyviä kyvykkyyksiä yrityksillä on sekä lopuksi millainen rooli ekosysteemillä on näiden yritysten kansainvälistymisessä. Työ koostuu kirjallisuuskatsausartikkelista ja kolmesta empiirisestä artikkelista. Empiirinen aineisto on kerätty pohjoissuomalaisen terveysteknologiaekosysteemiin kuuluvien 19 yritysjohtajan haastattelusta ja sitä on analysoitu käyttäen menetelminä Gioia-menetelmää ja sisällönanalyysiä. Työn tulokset osoittavat, että yrittäjyysekosysteemit ovat jatkuvasti kasvavassa ja tärkeässä roolissa niin tutkimuksen kuin käytännön liiketoiminnankin kannalta. Pk-yritykset ovat motivoituneita liittymään ekosysteemiin useiden eri sosiaalisten, resurssi- ja kognitiivisten hyötyjen takia ja ekosysteemissä voidaan tunnistaa erilaisia orkesterointirooleja- ja kyvykkyyksiä, joiden avulla liiketoimintaa on mahdollista kehittää edelleen.

Purpose: Recent literature within public service logic has called for more explicit conceptualisation of customer value in public services. This study aims to fill this gap by examining how the customer value approach can be applied in the management of public health care services. Design/methodology/approach: This study is a qualitative case study of management of public health care services in Finland. The authors interviewed 17 regional health care service developers and analyzed the interview data using thematic analysis. Findings: The study suggests five propositions for applying customer value approach from the marketing literature in public health care service management. The study enables a deeper understanding of customer value creation in this context and improvement of public health care services. Originality/value: This study contributes to the public management research in general and public service logic research in particular by suggesting what constitutes customer value in public health care services.

The development and diffusion of sustainable innovations are of interest to various public and private sector actors. The diffusion of sustainable innovations into value networks facilitates and is facilitated by the change of markets towards sustainability; however, this interaction needs further investigation. We examine how combinations of value network actors’ intentions and activities affect market change for a sustainable innovation We empirically explore market change related to introducing bioplastics into plastic food packaging value networks. We increase the understanding of market change for a sustainable innovation by showing how not only the actors with direct intentions to support the innovation but actors and activities indirectly related to the sustainable innovation contribute to market change. Such indirectly supportive activities focus on broader sustainability aims and can, for example, change market representations, practices, and norms in favor of the sustainable innovation. We propose sustainability layers to understand the diverse sustainability focuses of actors and their relation to the market change in question. Specifically, we contribute to market change literature by broadening the examination scope beyond the most active actors driving market change for an innovation.

Purpose: The entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) literature is dominated by conceptual studies with insufficient theoretical foundations and empirical evidence on the micro-level. This study aims to explore the largely overlooked question of what the drivers that motivate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in an ecosystem are. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a qualitative exploratory approach. The empirical data consists of 19 semi-structured interviews with top management of SMEs in the health tech ecosystem in Finland. The data were analyzed using a thematic content analysis. Findings: This study reveals a typology of drivers that motivate SMEs to participate in an ecosystem. These include social drivers (networking and cooperation and communication and knowledge sharing), resource drivers (access to resources, formal and informal support and market access) and cognitive drivers (shared goals and common values). Research limitations/implications: The study contributes to the EE research by highlighting the drivers that motivate health tech SMEs to become members of the local ecosystem. It suggests that managers and entrepreneurs need to be aware of the factors related to social, resource and cognitive drivers to ensure the future success of their business. Originality/value The study draws evidence from a micro-level perspective which enriches the understanding of the EE phenomenon. It also explores an increasingly relevant but under-researched field, the health tech ecosystem.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the customer shopping experience in the innovative technology setting. Specifically, the purpose is to understand how do innovative technologies influence the customer shopping experience? Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative, explorative study has characteristics of a phenomenological research strategy. The data were collected from four focus groups and ten in-depth interviews with consumers. Abductive approach with an implementation of content analysis was used as a method of analysis. Findings: The results show that there are three critical factors in customer’s shopping experience in the context of innovative technologies; (1) channel choice, (2) value dimensions related to convenience and enjoyment, and (3) social interaction. All factors are highly intertwined and influence each other. Originality/value: This study contributes to customer experience literature by offering a framework for understanding customer shopping experiences in the innovative technology setting. These findings have important implications for retail managers seeking to enhance customer experience and achieve a competitive advantage by utilizing innovative technology.

Sustainable innovations in food packaging are important in terms of preventing food waste and reducing environmental impact, but existing industry regimes and networks may hinder their diffusion into established markets. However, research on reorientation of existing industries, and value networks in that situation, has been limited. This study examines the changes to existing industry value networks that can facilitate the diffusion of sustainable innovation in food packaging. Empirically, the transformation and distribution of agro-food waste into a new bioplastic packaging through the existing food packaging value network is investigated. As a result, the changes to the existing value network and their connections, facilitating the diffusion of the sustainable innovation, are identified at three levels — firm, network, and macro. The findings show the importance of opportunity recognition, but also the role of new actors, resources, activities, and relationships in the restructuring of the existing value network and actions creating supportive regulative framework and increasing market demand for such renewal. This creates understanding of how the adoption of sustainable innovations, such as new packaging materials, which might seem simple, is complicated by the broad changes required from the existing value network.

Entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) has emerged an important new concept within the entrepreneurship and innovation research literatures. It emphasises the supporting role of the local and regional environment for the entrepreneur and has a specific focus on high growth firms (HGFs). EE research has similarities with other literature streams specifically the innovation systems (IS) literature but the relationship between them is ambiguous, which hampers the theory development. Furthermore, it is unclear how internationalisation is approached by the IS and the EE research. To fill this gap, the current paper offers a systematic literature review (SLR) of the similarities and differences between the IS and the EE concepts in the specific context of HGFs’ internationalisation. We analyse 67 relevant peer-reviewed journal articles. The findings suggest that, on one hand, the EE has some similarities to IS due to their emphasis on the importance of the external business environment. On the other hand, EE is strongly centred on individual entrepreneurs and high growth ventures giving less importance to the government’s role, which has been the case in IS literature. We also found that the internationalisation of HGFs to be an under-researched area of research in this domain, which requires further empirical analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe persuasive speech and discourses in multi-professional organizational change facilitation meetings at a hospital through rhetorical discourse analysis. Previous research has often considered organizational change to be a managerial issue, with other employees given the rather passive role of implementators. This study takes an alternative approach in assuming that organizational change could benefit by involving those who are most familiar with the tasks to be changed. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed a qualitative, case study approach and focused on the construction of a hospitalist model within multi-professional change facilitation meetings. Eight videos of these multi-professional change facilitation meetings — which occurred between January and September 2017 — were observed and the material was analyzed by rhetorical discourse analysis. An average of 10–20 actors from different professional groups participated in the meetings. The change actors comprised physicians, nursing staff and nursing managers, along with a secretary and hospitalist. The meetings were conducted by a change facilitator. Findings: The persuasive speech in the analyzed organizational change meetings occurred within five distinct discourses: constructing the change together, positive feedback, strategic change in speech, patient perspective and driving change. The content of these discourses revealed topics that are relevant to persuading members of healthcare organizations to adopt a planned change. Originality/value: The presented research provides new knowledge about how persuasive speech is used in organizational change and describes the discourses in which persuasive speech is used in a healthcare context.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding about how to improve customer value and to make mobile banking services a profitable business for banks and other financial actors. The study explores the user experiences and related value of a new mobile banking service. Design/methodology/approach: The study is implemented as a case study that is phenomenological in nature and linked to an interpretive consumer study. Empirical data were collected through 14 semi-structured theme interviews and a diary method. The data were analysed by using a content analysis method. Findings: The findings illustrate the importance of customer centricity in the mobile banking context by identifying customer experience and related value in a new mobile banking service. The study extends current understanding of customer experience as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon by including value related to process, the use situation and the outcome, and it identifies temporality as influencing and connecting all these aspects. The study identifies several aspects that help us to understand what creates value for the customer while using mobile banking services. Research limitations/implications: As one limitation, this study was conducted in a developed country and the findings could be different in an emerging market context. Another limitation relates to the data, as the interviewees’ age range is quite limited, ranging between 20 and 40 years. However, they represent the consumers who normally use mobile services well and thus provide reliable data about their use experiences. Practical implications: As the banking industry is currently experiencing rapid and widespread changes and customers become more demanding, it is crucial for banks and other mobile service providers to understand the everyday lives of their customers and to integrate their future services into the customers’ value creation processes as smoothly and inseparably as possible. The findings of

The banking industry is experiencing rapid and widespread changes due to advances in technology that go hand-in-hand with the customer demands for real-time, personalized and seamless banking experience. Along with this development, omni-channel orientation is becoming an inherent feature of banking services. However, its role has not yet been thoroughly understood, specifically in this context. The purpose of this study is to create in-depth understanding of how do customers experience omni-banking services and what are the key factors related to their experiences. We identify both actual critical events and imaginings, positive and negative that are related to the forming of customer experiences and suggest both theoretical and managerial implications based on the results.

Digital innovation is gaining momentum among academics and business practitioners. Featuring increasingly cross-industry and multi-actor innovation processes, digital innovation reveals the inherent technology bias in the dominant perspectives on innovation. This study aims to transfer the focus from technology-centred ideas of digital innovation to a more balanced concept in which digital innovation is conceptualised as a combination of multiple needs and solutions linked to various actors and their behaviours. The study builds on a longitudinal case study. The article contributes by providing a partial response to the explicit calls for strategic frameworks that capture the process of digital innovation. Furthermore, the article explicates the market dimension of digital innovation and extends the analysis of the market dimension from a limited view of customer information and user knowledge to further include needs, actions, and behaviours of market actors directly or indirectly using, complementing, or substituting the digital innovation and innovation process.

Purpose: This study provides us with new knowledge in the form of conceptual framework of the contextual layers of service experience within professional business services. This study aims to answer the following questions: What kinds of contextual layers can be identified influencing service experience? How specific characteristics of professional service context may influence customer experience at these different layers? Design/methodology/approach: The framework is based on extensive literature review considering research in the fields of service and relationship perspectives, likewise professional services. Findings: The framework is based on extensive literature review in the fields of service and relationship perspectives, likewise professional services. Originality/value: Only a limited number of studies seem to address the highly topical context of professional/knowledge-intensive business services and relationships. The authors tie the discussion concerning different contextual layers of service experience to this specific operating context with the aim of identifying their importance and influence in service experience. Related to this context, this study highlights the importance of understanding role of individuals in service experience, rarely emphasized in B2B dyadic setting. The framework also contributes to current discussion regarding service experience and “zooms in” to the context and its detailed levels.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the customer value experience conveys the restructuring of the service network in the banking industry. The banking sector has often been one of the early adopters of IT in terms of connecting their services and customers. While developing digital services, however, banks are also concerned that they are losing contact with their customers. At the same time, fast developing technologies enable new companies to enter the industry to offer their services. As a result, the service supply chains in the banking industry appear to be restructured. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical data were collected by using a qualitative method of focus groups and interviews with end-users of banking services. Findings: According to findings, customers value a holistic approach to the services, and such a holistic value cannot necessarily be provided by a single banking service provider because the ecosystem around such services is becoming more complex. Practical implications: Service supply chains need to be restructured based on the end-customer value experience. Originality/value: This study contributes to value research and especially to the discussion in service experiences by addressing some of the disruptions happening at the industry level. The paper shows that the focus should be on customer value because banks should understand that their services are not enough for the customers—they are only seen as banks, not as providers of the holistic value that is required from the customer’s point of view.