The role of entrepreneurship support partnerships in new venture development
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Said Business School
Abstract
The HM Government Industrial Strategy (HM Government, 2017) highlights how the productivity lag of the UK can to an extent be attributed to deficiencies in the access that young and small enterprises have to managerial training and mentoring (Bloom, Dorgan, Dowdy & Van Reenen, 2007; Bloom & Van Reenen, 2006; Office for National Statistics, 2017). The Government's Industrial Strategy proposes increased dissemination of best practice among small enterprises to offer one solution to address this training and productivity gap. During the proposed postdoctoral fellowship, I seek to respond to this call by communicating my research to a broad academic, practitioner and policymaker audience for evidence-based practice improvement.
My workplan builds on the DPhil research that I completed at the University of Oxford. This research explored how the business environment, specifically the national network of public and private sector partners promoting, co-ordinating and delivering business support, influenced the entrepreneurial practices of ventures founded by laidoff employees of a large corporation. In the remainder of the application, I will refer to the networks of public and private sector partners promoting, co-ordinating and delivering business support as entrepreneurship support partnerships.
Empirically, the research explored the development of circa 300 ventures that originated from a Nokia corporate redundancy programme in Finland between 2011 and 2014. I utilised interview and archival data to study how the ventures associated with their local entrepreneurship support partnerships and how their engagement with the partnerships subsequently influenced their development and productivity. The case of the Nokia post-redundancy ventures offered a good starting point to observe the role of business environments in shaping the development of young ventures, as the venture founders reflected highly homogeneous educational and professional backgrounds. They also all benefited from equal access to the services of the local entrepreneurship support partnerships.
The research found the entrepreneurship support partnerships to direct both the practices and the productivity of the new ventures. Unlike commonly assumed, the findings showed the entrepreneurship support partnerships not to form unitary entities but rather to split into separate clusters. The findings propose that the clusters of entrepreneurship support partnerships may reflect heterogeneous hierarchies and practices with direct influence on the practises and productivity of new ventures. Finally, the findings highlight how the entrepreneurship support partnerships, despite being designed to encourage entrepreneurial development, may, in fact, at times restrict the progress of young ventures.
The findings have implications for the policy and practice of entrepreneurship. For policymakers, the findings highlight how some aspects of entrepreneurship support partnerships may constrain venture development. For practitioners, the findings demonstrate the importance of sensitivity to the hierarchies and practices of the entrepreneurship support partnerships in order to utilise these to the ventures' full benefit. In response to the HM Government's call in its industrial strategy for improved managerial training and dissemination of best practice, the research thus offers evidence-based groundwork for increased awareness and improved skills of policymakers and practitioners.
In order to achieve increased awareness of the research and ultimate behavioural change, I have put in place a detailed impact delivery plan that engages a range of academics, policymakers and practitioners in discussion and diffusion of the research findings. The plan covers written and spoken communications in different media, training activity delivery as well as in person engagement with a Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Hub.
My workplan builds on the DPhil research that I completed at the University of Oxford. This research explored how the business environment, specifically the national network of public and private sector partners promoting, co-ordinating and delivering business support, influenced the entrepreneurial practices of ventures founded by laidoff employees of a large corporation. In the remainder of the application, I will refer to the networks of public and private sector partners promoting, co-ordinating and delivering business support as entrepreneurship support partnerships.
Empirically, the research explored the development of circa 300 ventures that originated from a Nokia corporate redundancy programme in Finland between 2011 and 2014. I utilised interview and archival data to study how the ventures associated with their local entrepreneurship support partnerships and how their engagement with the partnerships subsequently influenced their development and productivity. The case of the Nokia post-redundancy ventures offered a good starting point to observe the role of business environments in shaping the development of young ventures, as the venture founders reflected highly homogeneous educational and professional backgrounds. They also all benefited from equal access to the services of the local entrepreneurship support partnerships.
The research found the entrepreneurship support partnerships to direct both the practices and the productivity of the new ventures. Unlike commonly assumed, the findings showed the entrepreneurship support partnerships not to form unitary entities but rather to split into separate clusters. The findings propose that the clusters of entrepreneurship support partnerships may reflect heterogeneous hierarchies and practices with direct influence on the practises and productivity of new ventures. Finally, the findings highlight how the entrepreneurship support partnerships, despite being designed to encourage entrepreneurial development, may, in fact, at times restrict the progress of young ventures.
The findings have implications for the policy and practice of entrepreneurship. For policymakers, the findings highlight how some aspects of entrepreneurship support partnerships may constrain venture development. For practitioners, the findings demonstrate the importance of sensitivity to the hierarchies and practices of the entrepreneurship support partnerships in order to utilise these to the ventures' full benefit. In response to the HM Government's call in its industrial strategy for improved managerial training and dissemination of best practice, the research thus offers evidence-based groundwork for increased awareness and improved skills of policymakers and practitioners.
In order to achieve increased awareness of the research and ultimate behavioural change, I have put in place a detailed impact delivery plan that engages a range of academics, policymakers and practitioners in discussion and diffusion of the research findings. The plan covers written and spoken communications in different media, training activity delivery as well as in person engagement with a Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Hub.
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Lead Research Organisation)
- UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (Collaboration)
- Waseda University (Collaboration)
- Copenhagen Business School (Collaboration)
- Warsaw University of Technology (Collaboration)
- Stockholm School of Economics (Collaboration)
- University of Eastern Finland (Collaboration)
- University of Southampton (Fellow)
People |
ORCID iD |
Heli Maria Helanummi-Cole (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Kapturkiewicz, A.
(2022)
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Cities and Regions: Emergence, Evolution, and Future
Heli Helanummi-Cole
Biopolitics in entrepreneurial ecosystems (work in progress, target Organization Theory)
in Organization Theory
Helanummi-Cole, H.
(2023)
Routledge International Handbook of Failure
Helanummi-Cole, H.
From job creation to work in entrepreneurial ecosystems: A cross-disciplinary review and holistic framework for future research
in Journal of Business Venturing
Helanummi-Cole, H.
Freedom of movement in contemporary careers: Career capital transferability across contexts
in Human Relations
Helanummi-Cole, H
(2020)
Sustainable careers: Social capital in transitions between wage-employment and entrepreneurship.
Helanummi-Cole, H
Entrepreneurial entry: An integrative review, a model of push and pull, and future research agenda
in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
Helanummi-Cole H.
Entrepreneurial ecosystems and venture emergence: the role of institutional infrastructure
in Academy of Management Journal
Helanummi-Cole H
(2019)
The role of institutional fields in entrepreneurial emergence and venture mortality
Description | What were the most significant achievements from the award? The award has enabled me to translate my research findings to a broader audience, for example, in the form of book chapters. To what extent were the award objectives met? If you can, briefly explain why any key objectives were not met. The research translation work included in my plan is ongoing. Because of Covid-19, I was not able to carry out the practitioner engagements included in my plan. Instead, I developed book chapters that help to broaden the audience of my research. How might the findings be taken forward and by whom? The award enabled me to secure a permanent faculty role. Thanks to this, I am now able to continue the research translation and impact work and once the pandemic allows will be able to reinstate the plans for practitioner workshops.In the meantime, I am communicating my research through my teaching and further academic and pracitioner articles. |
Exploitation Route | Entrepreneurial ecosystem orchestrators can broaden their support offer to different types of entrepreneurs. |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Other |
Description | I drew up plans together with entrepreneurship support professionals to develop ecosystem workshops. I use the material in entrepreneurship education. I have been invited to contribute to a policy report in Finland. |
First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Other |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | Campfires and fireworks |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Policy report in Finland |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
Description | Contextual analysis of entrepreneurial failure |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Said Business School |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The collaboration combines my research with a colleagues research to form a more comprehensive view of entrepreneurial failure. I contribute my original research, analysis and writing effort. |
Collaborator Contribution | My partner Rohini Jalan contributes her research analysis and wriring effort. |
Impact | A book chapter in a Routledge Handbook. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Cultual entrepreneurship in the circular economy |
Organisation | University of Eastern Finland |
Country | Finland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Paper collaboration on the system-level change introduced by cultural entrepreneurship in the circular economy. My role is to support the team in Finland with theory development. |
Collaborator Contribution | My partners in Finland are collecting and analysing the data of 50 circular economy entrepreneurial ventures. |
Impact | Paper in development. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Entrepreneurial emergence and venture mortality: The role of institutional logics and infrastructure in heterogeneous organisational emergence |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Said Business School |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This collaboration was agreed to develop a paper based on my thesis research. I have conducted the analysis and am writing the paper. I am the first author of the paper. |
Collaborator Contribution | Professor Lawrence is mentoring me and co-authoring the paper with me. |
Impact | A academic publication targeted at the Administrative Science Quarterly. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Exits to hybrid entrepreneurship |
Organisation | Copenhagen Business School |
Country | Denmark |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This collaboration utilises the data I collected for my thesis to develop a new paper. I am conducting the analysis and am the first author. |
Collaborator Contribution | Professor Kristina Dahlin is co-authoring to develop my paper development skills. She is also mentoring me in a learning a new method. |
Impact | We currently have a preliminary analysis completed and the first drafts of the paper under development. Measuring innovation workshop organized in 2019. Journal of Management Studies proposal in 2020. Academy of Management Annals proposal in 2021. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Exits to hybrid entrepreneurship |
Organisation | Stockholm School of Economics |
Country | Sweden |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This collaboration utilises the data I collected for my thesis to develop a new paper. I am conducting the analysis and am the first author. |
Collaborator Contribution | Professor Kristina Dahlin is co-authoring to develop my paper development skills. She is also mentoring me in a learning a new method. |
Impact | We currently have a preliminary analysis completed and the first drafts of the paper under development. Measuring innovation workshop organized in 2019. Journal of Management Studies proposal in 2020. Academy of Management Annals proposal in 2021. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Exits to hybrid entrepreneurship |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Said Business School |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This collaboration utilises the data I collected for my thesis to develop a new paper. I am conducting the analysis and am the first author. |
Collaborator Contribution | Professor Kristina Dahlin is co-authoring to develop my paper development skills. She is also mentoring me in a learning a new method. |
Impact | We currently have a preliminary analysis completed and the first drafts of the paper under development. Measuring innovation workshop organized in 2019. Journal of Management Studies proposal in 2020. Academy of Management Annals proposal in 2021. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | International startup survival |
Organisation | Warsaw University of Technology |
Country | Poland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Research project in which each party brings data and knowledge of entrepreneurial ecosystems in their local contexts. |
Collaborator Contribution | Research project in which each party brings data and knowledge of entrepreneurial ecosystems in their local contexts. |
Impact | Work in progress - at least one academic publication in planning. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Studying place-based entrepreneurial ecosystems as organisational fields: how researchers can use the institutional infrastructure concept |
Organisation | Waseda University |
Country | Japan |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The collaboration combines my and my colleague's research to form a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurial ecosystems and develop further the concept of institutional infrastructure. I contribute my research data, analysis and writing effort. |
Collaborator Contribution | The project was initiated by my partner Agata Kapturkiewicz. She contributes her research data, analysis and writing effort as well as access to a book opportunity. |
Impact | A book chapter and a journal article in development. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Entrepreneurial ecosystem education |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | 65 students attended training on the entrepreneurial ecosystems. Many expressed surprise in the understanding the broad role of ecosystem and interest in learning more. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
Description | Entrepreneurship in context |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | 80 students attended a training session on contextual factors of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
Description | Kick-off for engagement activities among entrepreneurial community in Cumbria |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Kickoff meeting planning engagement activities for entrepreneurial community in Cumbria. Unfortunately, the planning had to be put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic and we were unable to proceed with the planned events. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
Description | Tampere University and Business Tampere Leadership Seminar |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | I was invited to talk about my research and join a debate panel at an event organized by a regional university and a regional government actor. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://events.tuni.fi/johtajuussymposium2019/ |