The ability to internationalize has become a competitive necessity for many firms, and one important for survival and growth in the era of globalization. At the same time, digitalization is transforming the locus of entrepreneurial opportunities and entrepreneurial practices, thus offering new perspectives on internationalization. Internationalization requires marketing capability as well as market orientation. However, there is a gap in the literature exploring the interplay of digitalization, market orientation and marketing capability in the internationalization process. The objective of the present study is to improve our understanding of (1) the impact of market orientation, marketing capability and digitalization on firm performance among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and (2) the differences in this impact between internationalized SMEs and SMEs operating only in domestic markets. The data were gathered from 101 Finnish SMEs in the wood-product industry, and analyzed with AMOS using path analysis. The results show that marketing capability mediates the effect of market orientation on firm performance. For internationalized firms, market orientation and marketing capability are crucial to their success in foreign markets. However, digitalization has no effect on firm performance with internationalized firms. With other firms, the effect is direct and significant.

The aim of this paper is to understand how sustainable entrepreneurship competence impacts entrepreneurial intentions in two educational contexts: in higher education and in secondary education. We applied the sustainable entrepreneurship framework, which includes six competencies of sustainable entrepreneurship, and the Theory of Planned Behavior. The data were gathered from seven European countries and consist of 486 responses from higher education students and 642 responses from secondary-level students. The results show that sustainable entrepreneurship competence (SEC) is a significant factor that can explain entrepreneurial intentions. It has a significant direct effect on entrepreneurial intentions in both educational contexts. Perceived behavioral control (PBC) moderates the relationship between SEC and entrepreneurial intentions; the effect of SEC decreases when PBC increases. The moderating effect was found only with higher education students, not with secondary-level students. This study demonstrates a connection between sustainable entrepreneurship competence and entrepreneurial intentions and contributes to a better understanding of the role of sustainable entrepreneurship competence in shaping students’ aspirations for an entrepreneurial career in different educational contexts.

This paper focuses on a theoretical modelling of multilateral SME co-operation. A major part of the previous research has been done on dyadic or bilateral relationships between two partners in a vertical chain although new co-operative ventures increasingly involve multiple partners. The objectives of the paper are to accomplish a conceptualization of different types of multilateral co-operation between SMEs as a synthesis of longitudinal empirical observations and selected theoretical discussions of inter-firm co-operation, to bring out possible advantages and prerequisites of successful co-operation of these types, and to show how co-operation can develop from one basic model to another. The main point in the modelling of SME co-operation is that those who plan, promote or build up co-operative arrangements must know right from the beginning what kind of co-operative model a group of firms will strive for, because the prerequisites of successful co-operation are emphasized differently in different types of co-operation. The empirical examples also suggest that co-operation leads to co-operation, i.e. when a company once joins a net, it is more probable that the company gets access to other nets as well. The basic challenge thus is to get the small or medium-sized company to enter its first co-operative arrangement.

Virtual organizations have been presented as one solution for SMEs aiming to increase their competitiveness. This paper seeks to clarify those preconditions that affect the abilities of SMEs to participate in virtual organizations. The reviews on the networking literature and the resource-based theory show that the demands that virtual organizations set to the SMEs are substantial, and that from this point of view getting access into this type of networking is possible only for those SMEs that are competitive already. In the theoretical part of the paper a typology of SMEs is created, highlighting the resource base and networking capabilities of different MEs. The paper presents four illustrative cases, reflecting the theoretical types. The cases bring out the nature of SME networking as an iterative process: the more the firm participates in networking the better it is capable of creating new co-operation. On the other hand, if the firm is either unwilling or incapable of networking with other firms the preconditions for participating in a virtual organization become unreachable.

Entrepreneurial intentions have been extensively studied, but little is known about the intended mode of entry into entrepreneurship and its antecedents. This study tests the utility of the theory of planned behavior in a new, more specific context, namely business takeover intentions. The impact of entrepreneurship competence on antecedents of takeover intentions is explored. Entrepreneurship competence is measured using a scale based on the EntreComp framework. Data (N = 1373) were gathered from two institutes of higher education in Finland and analyzed using logistic regression. The results show that the TPB can be useful in investigating takeover intentions. The subjective norm has a notable and direct effect on takeover intentions, but the effect of entrepreneurship competence is mediated by attitudes and perceived behavioral control. The effect of parental role models on takeover intentions is significant, although the study is not limited to family successions; gender is also significant. The results show that the relationship between takeover intentions, entrepreneurship competence, and family role models is a complex one. Future studies on entrepreneurial intentions should pay attention to the differences in antecedents of entry modes.

Purpose: The European Commission has published a general framework of entrepreneurship competence (EC), EntreComp, to create a shared definition and support its development. This study proposes and tests a scale to measure EC based on the EntreComp framework and examines its relation to start-up behaviour using data from seven European countries.Design/methodology/approach: The data were gathered from seven European countries and consist of 1,128 answers from both secondary and higher education level students. The authors use explorative factor analysis (EFA), analysis of variance and logistic regression analysis as data analysis methods.Findings: The results show that EC is related to start-up behaviour and sensitive to role models and prior experience of entrepreneurship but is not sensitive to gender or level of education. The results also show that although the framework proposes three distinct areas, EC is unidimensional.Originality/value: The study tests the EntreComp framework and introduces a scale for measuring EC based on the framework. The results show that EC can be addressed as unidimensional construct and that it explains start-up behaviour and develops through enterprising activities. The study also shows the impact of role models on EC. No difference in EC between genders is observed, suggesting the gender differences in entrepreneurship arise from factors other than competence.