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The role of entrepreneurship has changed to include issues beyond economic growth. This has turned attention toward the drivers of entrepreneurial intentions across entrepreneurship types, particularly in sustainable entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers of entrepreneurial intentions in sustainable entrepreneurship. In particular, the paper aims to extend the existing intention models to include work values and attitudes toward sustainability, thereby bringing the model into the context of sustainable entrepreneurship.

Using a quantitative research design, data were collected in three European countries through anonymous questionnaires. The data consist of responses from 393 university students.

The results show that attitude toward sustainability and perceived entrepreneurial desirability enhance sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, adding sustainability into the regression equation adds explanation power, hence suggesting that the theory of planned behavior needs to be adapted when applied to sustainable entrepreneurship. Attitudes toward sustainability are positively impacted by altruism, while perceived entrepreneurial desirability is driven by intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

The study focuses on one particular type of entrepreneurship and one particular age group.

The paper contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by applying the entrepreneurial intention model to sustainable entrepreneurship. The results imply that it may be the time to consider the variance in entrepreneurial opportunities in intention models as well as the need to address the conflict between work values. The results show that sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions are driven by attitudes toward sustainability and perceived entrepreneurial desirability. These two attitudes are driven by altruism and extrinsic rewards, and, especially, extrinsic reward plays an opposite role in both drivers of sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial intentions.

This study aims to examine relational norms in cross-cultural business settings. Cross-cultural business partners may differ in their normative orientations toward relational exchange. Owing to the high extent of international trade, there is a need for developing a more nuanced understanding of cross-cultural relational exchange.

The repertory grid method was used to elicit the personal constructs characterizing the perceptions of business-to-business (B2B) relational exchange for 22 Russian and Finnish managers. These items were further categorized into categories of relational elements drawn from relational exchange literature using a content analysis. Then, the category means of scored importance and scored evaluations of domestic and foreign business partners were tested statistically.

Relational norms of flexibility, information exchange, long-term orientation, mutuality and solidarity were equally important to both Russian and Finnish managers. The importance of a business partner’s ability seems to be culturally dependent. Sharing the same cultural background might have an adverse effect when evaluating poorly functioning business relations.

The validity of these findings is limited to this context and material. Future research should repeat cross-cultural comparisons of the relational norms with more data and other nationalities.

Firms should focus on long-term orientation and mutual targets to form well-functioning cross-cultural business relationships.

This study provides new knowledge into B2B marketing literature by revealing the role of relational norms, business partner’s ability and shared cultural background on functionality of cross-cultural business relations. It also demonstrates the use of the repertory grid method in studying perceptions of relational norms.

In response to the increasing interest in entrepreneurs' well-being in both the entrepreneurship and management research fields, this study builds and tests a research model on the role of entrepreneurial passion for inventing in work engagement in the context of modern knowledge work. The research argument is built on the job demands–resources model, the most commonly used frame for measuring employee well-being in work and organization psychology. The research setting in this study compares digital entrepreneurs and freelancers with traditional knowledge workers and part-time platform workers in terms of passion and engagement.

Using a quantitative research design, the authors collected data from 349 highly specialized knowledge workers through anonymous questionnaires. The research hypotheses were tested with linear and logit models.

The results show that entrepreneurial passion is positively related to increased job demands and work engagement and that job demands can have a positive effect on work engagement in highly complex knowledge work.

The study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by expanding the analysis of entrepreneurial passion outside the entrepreneurship context and into work engagement theory by adding passion for inventing as an important motivational factor in modern knowledge work. Extant literature on the consequences of work digitalization is still scarce, and this study provides insights into successful working on digital platforms.

This article addresses the need for further conceptual development of the factors that influence the development of the entrepreneurial mindset. It focuses on finding a link between the classic mental models of entrepreneurship and those that are employed during video game play to explore if similarities exist.

Using theories of entrepreneurship and opportunity recognition, the study examines a sample of 217 video gamers.

The results of this study suggest that an individual who exhibits a high level of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has an enhanced opportunity recognition capability when the intensity of playing video games is also high. Various genres of games were controlled for; however, it was found that shooting games have the highest effect on the emergence of opportunity recognition.

Thus, the study reveals that some game activities can be linked to entrepreneurial cognitions. This has implications for the entrepreneurial intent literature as it reveals certain actions can be linked with entrepreneurial information processing. These findings are useful for game designers and managers as well.

In this study, the authors explore how sensing and seizing of market opportunities, asset reconfiguration and top management team (TMT) consensus on these elements jointly relate to a firm's international expansion. By doing this, the authors contribute to the existing literature by addressing dynamic managerial capabilities at the TMT level instead of considering them as individual executives' traits. The authors use the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method to analyze our data from 261 TMT executives in 63 firms. The findings indicate that sensing, seizing and reconfiguration capabilities are highly relevant for internationalization but in different configurations for specific stages and elements of international business. Presence of sensing as a part of configurations is observable, especially in connection to a firm having foreign customers and explicit internationalization strategies, while configurations where seizing and reconfiguration emerge are connected to firms showing continuity in the international markets. The authors’ results also indicate that a lack of TMT consensus in connection to dynamic managerial capabilities is a driving force that allows the firm not to stagnate with regards to internationalization. Yet, lack of TMT consensus combined with low reconfiguration capabilities seems to generate negative results, which suggests that different views are not helpful if the firm is incapable of changing its approaches.

This study uses data gathered with a questionnaire where the executives select either “yes” or “no” in response to statements describing the firm situation with regard different managerial aspects and progress of international growth. The authors analyze these data from 261 TMT executives from 63 firms using the QCA method.

The findings indicate that sensing, seizing and reconfiguration capabilities are highly relevant for internationalization but to different extents for specific elements of international business; generally, while sensing is needed, in particular, for having foreign customers and internationalization strategies in the first place, seizing and reconfiguration became relevant for continuity in the international markets. Consensus or rather lack of it on these elements also plays a role. It seems that some disagreement is a driving force that allows the firm not to stagnate with regards to internationalization. However, TMT disagreement combined with low reconfiguration capabilities seems to generate negative results, which suggests that different views are not helpful if the firm is incapable of changing its approaches.

The findings contribute to existing knowledge by exploring how managerial capabilities influence firm-level dynamic capabilities from the point of view of the TMT. The authors also add to existing research that has often focused on the relationships between TMT executives' demographic traits and TMT consensus and, further, the (subsequent) firm performance by looking at different configuration rather than linear linkages. Together, these notions further mean that the authors change the point of view on diversity. The authors consider the consensus on existing managerial dynamic capabilities rather than evaluate the functional diversity or the TMT executives' agreement on strategic moves.

All capabilities are important. TMT does not need to agree on everything, as long as they acknowledge where their problem areas are, and they can capture at least some of the relevant trends and opportunities. In fact, having some lack of consensus seems to be a driving force that allows capabilities to be questioned and potentially keeps (false) under-appreciation of existing capabilities from becoming a barrier to international expansion.

Unlike previous studies that have focused on the relationship between the TMT executives' demographic characteristics and firm performance or the relationship of the demographics and TMT strategic consensus at a general level – or studies that have explained international performance with TMT consensus (or with dynamic managerial capabilities), this study brings forth how the dynamic managerial capabilities and the TMT executives' strategic consensus with regard to these capabilities influence the firm's international expansion. Here, the authors consider internationalization widely, looking at whether the firm has foreign customers or international expansion strategy in place, and whether there this activity is sustained and continuous (with repeated trading and long-term international contracts, in particular). To our knowledge, there is no research on TMT strategic consensus that explains how the unanimity among executives on dynamic managerial capabilities connects to the firm's international expansion.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of institutional environment on the international performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and how this relationship is influenced by network competence.

This study uses a quantitative approach. In total, 119 internationally operating Finnish SMEs from five industry sectors are sampled via a cross-sectional survey. Data are analysed through regression modelling.

The international performance of SMEs is influenced directly and indirectly by institutional drivers. The results show that network competence mediates the positive relationship between institutional drivers and international performance.

Network capability development can help SMEs leverage more or less favourable institutional environments for successful internationalisation. Perceived institutional drivers directly result in higher performance, but the effect can be partially mediated by dynamic capabilities. The limitations of the study include its single-country context and the cross-sectional nature of the data.

SMEs should take their home countries’ institutional environments into account, but for long-term success, they should develop the ability to manage their business networks. A conducive institutional environment may help develop competence, which in turn can enable more successful internationalisation in terms of scale, scope and satisfaction.

Decision-makers may benefit from knowing that, in addition to capabilities, an institutionally conducive environment that drives domestic SMEs towards international markets may be an antecedent of successful internationalisation in the SME sector.

This is one of the few studies to illustrate how network capabilities can mediate the influence of institutional factors on entrepreneurial internationalisation. It combines institutional theory and the dynamic capabilities view to explain successful SME internationalisation.

Purpose – The role that network competence, environmental hostility and knowledge intensiveness of the industry have on the propensity of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to internationalise is examined.

Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses are developed, based on earlier literature on the subject. Subsequently, binary logistic regression modelling using SPSS software is applied to test the hypotheses on a sample of 224 Finnish SMEs representing five industries, two of which are characterised by knowledge intensiveness and three of which are from less knowledge-intensive ones.

Findings – The propensity of SMEs to internationalise depends on both their level of network competence and their lack of perceived environmental hostility. Knowledge intensiveness of the industry is found to moderate the effect that network competence has on the internationalisation propensity.

Research limitations/implications – The present study indicates that possessing higher levels of network competence helps domestic SMEs in their efforts to turn international, and that its beneficial effect is especially important for small firms in industries characterised by high knowledge intensity. Possible limitations of the study are the small cultural context and inclusion of firms from only five industries.

Originality/value – This study is the first linking measurable network competence to internationalisation decisions of SMEs, while also including environmental and industry considerations. It also provides further evidence for the importance of networks in SME internationalisation theory, but indicates that it is not only the business networks themselves but also the competence in developing and maintaining those networks that help SMEs internationalise.

Purpose – This study analyzes international new ventures (INVs) by means of the classification developed by Oviatt and McDougall (1994): global start-ups (GSUs) are compared with other types of INVs.

Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data for the study were collected via a Web-based survey of Finnish ICT companies. Particular emphasis was placed on the operationalization of the key constructs as well as on the sample formation, in which both the number of international markets served and the coordination of international activities were taken into consideration.

Findings – The findings of this study indicate that GSUs are particularly driven by the international growth orientation of the top management. They also seem to perform better than other types of INVs.

Practical implications – From the managerial point of view, the findings of this study indicate that managers of INVs should be encouraged to internationalize their value chain as a whole, despite the risks. However, those managers making these decisions should also be aware of the capabilities needed for managing the global value networks they create.

Originality/Value – This exploratory study reveals that studying INVs from a holistic perspective – including both inward and outward activities – produces interesting findings and opens new avenues for future research. This theme clearly deserves more attention. Our classification of INVs into smaller subgroups also proved to be fruitful, not least concerning GSUs.

The establishment and growth of new ventures play a major role in wealth creation in most industrialized economies. Consequently, there is much emphasis these days on how to foster their growth, and on determining the fundamental prerequisites. The purpose of this paper is to propose an evolutionary knowledge‐based framework for understanding and testing the linkage between the nature of the firm's knowledge and its growth.

The empirical analysis is based on an extensive survey of 171 new ventures in the information and communications technology industry.

The findings indicate the existence of a relationship between some of the proposed knowledge determinants and new venture growth. For example, the ability to scale the firm's knowledge‐based resources in economic terms has an effect on past and future growth as well as on growth orientation.

Whereas there is growing interest in the growth of entrepreneurial new ventures, emerging theories in the area of strategic management, such as the knowledge‐based view (KBV) of the firm, have not often been applied as theoretical bases in studies focusing on this phenomenon. This paper broadens the understanding of new venture growth by scrutinizing the main knowledge determinants, including appropriability (tacitness and patent protection), the threat of opportunism, economies of scale, economies of scope/synergies, and asset specificity.

The notion that different knowledge is needed in the different phases of the new‐venture life cycle is important for practitioners seeking growth. Managers need to analyze the context and business environment with care, and accordingly to choose the right strategy.

This paper broadens the thinking on new venture growth in analyzing the influence of knowledge inside the firm in terms of various theory‐based determinants.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in global economic crisis and whether it can mitigate the negative effects of economic crisis both on firm's operations and on firm's financial performance.

A quantitative approach is used to test the hypotheses. Principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis are used on the empirical survey data.

Results based on a sample of almost 200 Finnish small and medium‐sized enterprises indicated that the different dimensions of the EO can have diverging effects on how firms are impacted by the recession. In general, the more innovative and proactive the firm is, the less its operations are affected by the recession and the more risk‐taking the firm is, the more its profitability is affected by recession.

A longitudinal design – rather than the current cross‐sectional design – would give a better premiss to explore the causal relationships among the research variables.

The paper is one of the first works linking EO with the effects of recession at the firm's operational level and the paper expands prior knowledge by taking the EO‐performance relationship into the context of recession.