Turku UAS’ research group helps SMEs to grow and develop

Anette Kairikko started as the leader of the Entrepreneurship and Value Creation research group in August 2024, and under her leadership the group has clarified its objectives and activities. The plan is to increase the number of international projects. The group focuses on supporting entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking.

Anette Kairikko, who leads the Entrepreneurship and Value Creation research group, holds a PhD from the University of Westminster Business School. She is also a member of the University of Westminster’s Entrepreneurship Research Group.

Text and photo: Mari Loikkanen

One of the key tasks of the Entrepreneurship and Value Creation research group at Turku University of Applied Sciences is to support the growth of SMEs.

− Everything we do is aimed at supporting the creation of new businesses and fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among students and employees alike, says Anette Kairikko, who leads the research group.

The growth and development of SMEs is supported through various projects. Currently, the group is running projects such as the RDI-path for SMEs in South West Finland project, which aims to increase research, development and innovation in SMEs in Finland, and the Osaamisraketti project, which is is aimed especially at micro-enterprises.

The Osaamisraketti is an ESF-funded project that provides participants with coaching to develop their own skills and the company’s business. The project offers companies the opportunity to take part in coaching sessions that provide tools such as business renewal, customer acquisition and networking.

Kairikko explains that small businesses often have scarce resources and the main focus is on running the day-to-day business.

− Businesses are challenged by changes in the business environment. Entrepreneurs may know the world is changing: there is artificial intelligence and, for example, ever-increasing demands for sustainability, both from consumers and the supply chain. But often, the resources to develop the business that these changes require are not available in-house. This is when Turku UAS is a good partner for these companies, says Kairikko.

The Osaamisraketti project coaches companies in areas such as artificial intelligence and financial planning, and helps them to develop sales. Trainings also provide tools for the digital green transition.

− One of the important goals of our research group is to help companies embrace this change, which is related to the increase in digitalisation and the theme of sustainability, says Kairikko.

Multidisciplinary business cooperation

The Entrepreneurship and Value Creation research group collaborates with BusinessAcademy. Turku UAS’ BusinessAcademy serves both as a learning environment for students and as an RDI environment.

− At the BusinessAcademy students carry out assignments in the form of cooperatives, i.e. they sell services. BusinessAcademy can be a particularly good partner when a company needs a website or social media visibility, for example, says Kairikko.

A start-up pathway is being created alongside co-operative entrepreneurship in the Business Academy 3.0 project. The aim is to support the development of business ideas by student teams and growth entrepreneurship more broadly in the UAS.

According to Kairikko, Entrepreneurship and Value Creation research group is happy to work currently in multidisciplinary projects involving several research groups representing different fields within Turku UAS.

For example, SuFiRe, funded by Business Finland, is an interdisciplinary project. It examines how companies can promote the green transition and what kind of business opportunities the green transition can offer to manufacturing industries that are often described as conservative.

In the future, the research group will increasingly focus on internationality. The aim is to further increase the number of international projects and invest in research projects.

Different role models support diversity

Sustainable value creation refers to ecologically, economically and socially sustainable value creation in the context of entrepreneurship.

Diversity in entrepreneurship is a topical discussion in Finland. According to Kairikko, role models are of considerable importance in encouraging people to start a business. If role models and mentors are a very homogeneous group, it affects the way entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs are perceived.

− Discussion regarding role models is interesting. For example, we could ask whether the teaching materials should include more examples of entrepreneurs from different backgrounds, Kairikko says.