Sanna Joensuu-Salo

This study adopts a systems perspective to examine the transition to circular-economy (CE) practices in the textile industry. It explores how a small business, understood as a localized system, can influence broader interconnected systems and catalyze systemic change. The analysis is based on a longitudinal single‑case study of a Finnish textile company's ten‑year transition toward CE principles, using a critical-events approach. Key events shaping the transition included rising customer demand for sustainable products and a carbon‑footprint analysis showing that transport was the company's largest source of emissions. These insights prompted a strategic shift from global to local production. Over time, the firm also engaged in societal initiatives, such as reviving traditional Finnish textile craftsmanship and highlighting the loss of industry skills due to offshoring. It collaborated with national institutions to create training in sustainable textile production and invested in a local facility to reduce environmental impacts and improve resource efficiency. The chapter illustrates how critical events connect local decisions with global sustainability goals. It offers insights for understanding how localized actions, such as redesigning supply chains or adapting production, can advance circular principles and generate scalable, lasting impacts for businesses seeking greater sustainability and resource efficiency.

This study examines how entrepreneurship promotion within universities influences organizational-level innovation capability. Innovation capability is defined as an institution’s capacity to foster innovation through the effective use of knowledge, resources, and collaboration, resulting in outcomes such as new products, processes, systems, research outputs, and innovative teaching methods (Lawson & Samson, 2001; Bartoloni et al., 2021). Rather than focusing on individual or team-level innovation, the study investigates how university staff perceive their institution’s overall ability to innovate. The study is grounded in the entrepreneurial university framework, which highlights universities’ evolving role as active contributors to innovation, economic development, and societal change (Clark, 1998; Etzkowitz, 2003). Building on prior research on organizational innovation capability (Lawson & Samson, 2001; Hero et al., 2017), this study addresses calls for a deeper understanding of its determinants in higher education contexts (Mendoza-Silva, 2021). Empirically, the study focuses on two organizational drivers of innovation capability: perceived management support for entrepreneurship and institutional support for student entrepreneurship. These dimensions reflect both strategic leadership and the entrepreneurial culture embedded in university structures and practices. Data were collected from two Finnish universities of applied sciences between November 2024 and January 2025, yielding responses from 134 staff members, including teaching and RDI personnel across disciplines. Organizational-level innovation capability, management support, and support for student entrepreneurship were measured using validated multi-item scales. Linear regression analysis was conducted, with the university included as a control variable. The results show that the model explains 56.2% of the variance in perceived innovation capability. Both management support for entrepreneurship and support for student entrepreneurship are positively and significantly associated with organizational-level innovation capability, with management support emerging as the strongest predictor. The control variable indicates some institutional differences, while the overall pattern of relationships is consistent across both universities. The findings contribute to research on entrepreneurial universities by demonstrating that innovation capability is embedded in organizational leadership and culture rather than solely in individual initiatives. Practically, the study highlights the importance of integrating entrepreneurship into institutional strategies and support structures to enhance universities’ long-term competitiveness, relevance, and societal impact.

This research examines how teachers’ entrepreneurial traits and institutional support influence their promotion of entrepreneurship in HEIs. Data from 778 Finnish HEI teachers representing various educational fields were analysed using quantitative methods. In this study, traits refer to teachers’ entrepreneurial characteristics, including innovation ability, risk-taking propensity and problem-solving skills, which can be developed over time. Trait activation theory is applied as a framework to explain the relationship between teachers’ entrepreneurial traits, institutional support, and teachers’ actions promoting entrepreneurship. Findings show that both teachers’ entrepreneurial traits and institutional support from the university have positive effects on teachers’ promotion of entrepreneurship in their HEI. Thus, teachers are more likely to become promoters of entrepreneurship if they themselves have entrepreneurial traits. In addition, if the university’s management and structural systems support entrepreneurship, it will have a positive effect on teachers’ activity in the promotion of entrepreneurship. This study contributes to the literature by showing that organisational context can encourage teachers to act as promoters of entrepreneurship in HEIs. Teachers’ promotion of entrepreneurship is stimulated by structural and managerial support as contextual variables, and structural support mechanisms especially have direct and indirect effects in activating teachers’ entrepreneurial traits.

Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) - the belief in one’s ability to perform entrepreneurial tasks - is a well-established predictor of entrepreneurial entry, persistence, and outcomes (Chen et al., 1998; Zhao et al., 2005; Newman et al., 2019). A large body of research shows systematic gender gaps in ESE, with women consistently reporting lower entrepreneurial confidence than men (Wilson et al., 2007; Shinnar et al., 2012). Yet most evidence comes from Anglo-American contexts, while Nordic welfare states such as Finland, globally recognized for gender equality, remain understudied. Moreover, although ESE is often treated as an antecedent of entrepreneurial behavior, fewer studies examine how entrepreneurial experience itself may reinforce ESE, potentially creating a self-reinforcing cycle that disadvantages women. This study addresses these gaps by analyzing data from the 2025 Finnish Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Adult Population Survey (N = 2,050). We investigate how gender, age, household size, income, role model exposure, and business ownership predict ESE, and whether ownership mediates gender differences. Multinomial logistic regression results show that gender, age, role model exposure, and business ownership significantly predict ESE, while household size and income do not. Women are markedly less likely than men to report moderate (OR = 0.38, p < .001) or strong (OR = 0.67, p < .001) self-efficacy. Business ownership is the strongest predictor: owners are over three times more likely to report moderate ESE and more than eleven times more likely to report strong ESE compared to non-owners (p < .001). Bootstrapped mediation analysis further demonstrates that ownership partially mediates the gender gap: men are more likely to own businesses, and this experience significantly strengthens self-efficacy. While ESE clearly influences entrepreneurial entry, our findings also highlight the reverse pathway: entrepreneurial experience reinforces ESE (Markman et al., 2002). By situating Finland in global debates on gender and entrepreneurship, this study contributes new evidence from a high-equality context and underscores the dynamic interplay between self-belief and entrepreneurial experience. The results suggest that policy measures enabling women to gain entrepreneurial exposure early, even through small-scale or low-risk ventures, could help break the cycle in which lower ESE reduces entrepreneurial engagement and lack of experience further suppresses confidence.

This study examines whether strategic planning explains gender differences in environmental responsibility among owner-managers in small and medium-sized food sector enterprises. While prior research has produced mixed findings regarding gender and pro-environmental behavior, little is known about the managerial mechanisms through which such differences translate into firm-level sustainability practices. Drawing on survey data from 202 Finnish food sector SME owner-managers, the study employs hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation modelling with bias-corrected bootstrapping, controlling for firm size and entrepreneurial status. Initial regression results showed that men reported higher environmental responsibility than women (M = 4.26 vs. 3.72), but this effect became non-significant once strategic planning was included. In the SEM analysis, gender significantly predicted strategic planning (B = –0.504, p = .011), and strategic planning strongly predicted environmental responsibility (B = 0.484, p < .001). The indirect effect of gender on environmental responsibility through strategic planning was statistically significant (95% BC CI [–0.475, –0.054]), indicating full mediation. These findings suggest that gender differences in environmental responsibility are not primarily attitudinal but embedded in organizational decision-making systems. By identifying strategic planning as a mediating managerial capability, the study contributes to gender and sustainability research and highlights the importance of strengthening strategic capabilities to support environmentally responsible practices in SMEs.

This study explores how digitalisation and digital technologies impact SME business models and competitiveness. It examines the relationship between SME owner–manager attitudes towards digitalisation, the level of digitalisation, and competitive performance. Drawing on Upper Echelons Theory (UET) and SME digitalisation literature, the study employs a quantitative survey of 269 Finnish SME managers, analysed through structural equation modelling. A positive owner–manager attitude towards digitalisation enhances SME digitalisation levels. This attitude indirectly impacts competitive performance, mediated by the firm’s digitalisation level. The findings demonstrate the influence of individual cognitive processes on firm-level digitalisation and performance, highlighting the significant role of owner–manager attitudes in SME digitalisation and competitive advantage. Furthermore, the results emphasise a micro-foundations perspective on the antecedents of digitalisation in SMEs.

Amid rapidly accelerating environmental challenges, the proactive engagement of businesses in environmental matters is crucial. While previous research has examined the relationship between environmental proactivity and performance, findings have been inconsistent. This study introduces organizational ambidexterity as a novel mediating factor in this relationship, building on its previous exploration in business research. In addition, this research shifts focus to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute the majority of businesses but remain underrepresented in existing research on this topic. Survey data was collected from 174 SME owner‐managers in Finland. Consistent with the natural‐resource‐based view, findings suggest that environmental proactivity alone does not guarantee success; rather, the link between proactivity and performance is mediated by SMEs' ability to integrate exploitative and exploratory innovation. This research provides valuable insights for SMEs on how proactive environmental initiatives can enhance performance, while also offering actionable guidance for policymakers and stakeholders committed to promoting sustainability.

Previous research has demonstrated that female students exhibit lower entrepreneurial intentions compared to their male counterparts, with these intentions also developing less significantly over the course of their studies (Joensuu et al, 2013). However, the precise reasons for this disparity remain unclear. This study examines the issue from two perspectives: entrepreneurship competence and support from one's immediate social circle. The aim of the research is to investigate gender differences in entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurship competence, and the perception of social support. Additionally, the study explores the influence of gender, entrepreneurship competence, and social support (subjective norm) on entrepreneurial intentions. The data for this study were collected in Finland over four different years (2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023) from first-year higher education students. The dataset includes a total of 2,795 respondents, with 1,430 men and 1,339 women. The results indicate that women consistently have lower entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurship competence, and subjective norm scores than men in every year of data collection. Moreover, linear regression analysis reveals that gender, entrepreneurial competence, and subjective norm explain 51% of the variance in entrepreneurial intentions, with subjective norm being the most significant factor in explaining these intentions. Furthermore, the regression analysis shows that gender moderates the effect of entrepreneurship competence—this effect is stronger for men than for women. For women, subjective norm is particularly significant. The experience of support for entrepreneurship is lower among women, which negatively impacts their entrepreneurial intentions. The findings suggest that societal support for entrepreneurship still favours men, which in turn influences entrepreneurial outcomes. It is possible that families continue to raise children differently based on gender, with entrepreneurship being perceived as more masculine and therefore more suitable for men than for women.

Entrepreneurship is inherently shaped by gender, with norms and expectations influencing how women experience their roles as entrepreneurs. Traditionally, entrepreneurship has been aligned with masculine traits such as assertiveness and risk-taking, perpetuating stereotypes that often conflict with societal perceptions of femininity. This disconnect frequently gives rise to biases and structural barriers, including significant disadvantages in securing financing. Beyond financial challenges, women entrepreneurs also contend with gender discrimination and issues related to work-life balance. While there is evidence of a gradual shift toward a more inclusive entrepreneurial image, entrenched gender biases continue to shape the experiences of women in this field. Nevertheless, some scholars argue that entrepreneurship can offer women a means to navigate and counteract gender discrimination. It provides a degree of flexibility and autonomy, enabling a more favorable work-family balance. For many women, entrepreneurship not only serves as an escape from workplace biases but also creates opportunities to assert greater agency and independence in their professional lives. This study seeks to explore how gender influences women’s experiences as entrepreneurs. Using a qualitative approach, interviews with 12 growth-oriented women entrepreneurs reveal complex gendered discourses that both reflect and challenge the dominant, traditionally masculine narrative of entrepreneurship. Through discourse analysis, three distinct discourses were constructed, highlighting how deeply embedded gender norms shape women’s entrepreneurial journeys. These findings provide valuable insights into the unique challenges women encounter and highlight the potential of entrepreneurship as a strategic avenue for achieving work-life balance and personal agency. By examining these gendered discourses, the study contributes to a broader understanding of how entrepreneurship can evolve to be more inclusive, recognizing and addressing the distinct obstacles women face. This research thus underscores the importance of shifting away from a monolithic entrepreneurial model to a more diverse, inclusive one that respects and supports varied gendered experiences in the entrepreneurial landscape.