Finnish forest-based companies in transition to the circular bioeconomy : drivers, organizational resources and innovations
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Finnish o es -based companies in ansi ion o he ci cula bioeconomy : d i e s,
o ganiza ional esou ces and inno a ions
© 2019 Else ie B.V.
Accep ed e sion (Final d a )
Näyhä, Annukka
Näyhä, A. (2020). Finnish o es -based companies in ansi ion o he ci cula bioeconomy :
d i e s, o ganiza ional esou ces and inno a ions. Fo es Policy and Economics, 110, A icle
101936. h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j. o pol.2019.05.022
2020
Finnish o es ‐basedcompaniesin ansi ion o heci cula bioeconomy:D i e s,
o ganiza ional esou cesandinno a ions
ABSTRACT
Fo es ‐basedbusinessesa e hecen e o he ansi ion o hesus ainableandcompe i i e
ci cula bioeconomyinFinland.Thiss udyexplo es he ansi iono FinnishFBS i ms onew
businessmodels,wi ha ocuson heo ganiza ional esou cesandcapabili iesneeded o
ansi ion.I alsoiden i ies heimpo an elemen sin hebusinessen i onmen and he ole
o inno a ionsin hisp ocess.Thes udyuses hema icin e iewswi hmanage s om a ious
FBS i msandcompanies omin e acingsec o s,allo whichha eope a ionsinFinland.
Despi e hedi e encesbe ween i ms, hes udy indsmanycommond i e sand esou ces
ha FBScompanieshighligh assigni ican in he ansi ion.Thes udy esul sindica e ha
in angibleandhuman esou cesa eessen ial o he ansi ion.Aninno a i e,agile, lexible
andencou agingo ganiza ionalcul u eisac ucial esou ce.Thecul u eshouldbesuppo ed
by non‐hie a chical op managemen and inspi ing employees (so‐called powe people).
Communica ion and ma ke ing skills, and inno a ions de eloped by eams wi h di e se
knowledge a e essen ial. To success ully manage he ansi ion, companies need a deep
unde s andingo wha hema ke sandsocie y equi e,and heymus de eloplong‐ e m
compe i eness h ough u u e‐o ien ed s a egic hinking. Pu suing sus ainabili y and
inno a i eness in in e nal as well as ex e nal o ganiza ional en i onmen a e essen ial
ac o s.Thes udyp esen sinsigh s o he esea che communi yandmanysocie alac o s
aswellas ecommenda ions o heFBScompanies o acili a e he ansi ion onewci cula
bioeconomy businesses.I also con ibu es o he esou ce‐based pe spec i es li e a u e,
pa icula ly hedynamiccapabili iesapp oach.
Keywo ds:Fo es ‐basedsec o ,Finnishcompanies,T ansi ion,Ci cula bioeconomy,
Resou ces,Inno a ions
1.In oduc ion
Socie iesandeconomiese e ywhe ea ein ansi ion.Inaddi ion o hemanywidelyknown
global ac o s, he e is also a ange o local, mo e mino change agen s a ec ing he
en i onmen .Thee o oc ea emo esus ainablesocie iesandeconomies equi esnew
ypes o hinking. The ansi ion is also a ec ing a ious businesses, o cing hem o
econside business s a egies and models. Eme ging new business models need o be
sus ainable,ci cula , enewable, esou ce‐e icien ,inno a i eandinclusi e(see,e.g.,Boons,
2013;Bockene al.,2014;Wells,2016;He emäkie al.,2017).Esposi oe al.(2018)conclude
ha oadop aci cula economymodelcompaniesneed ode elopdis up i e echnology
andbusinessmodelsbasedonlonge i y, enewabili y, euse, epai ,upg ade, e u bishmen ,
se i iza ion,capaci ysha ing,anddema e ializa ion.Con empo a yunde s andingso alue
and hemeaningo aluec ea iona ealsounde goingchanges.Acco ding oDeBacke e al.
(2015),mos OECDcoun iesa echa ac e izedbyadec easingsha eo manu ac u ingin
o alemploymen and alueadded,whe eas he oleo se icesisg owinginimpo ance.
Inno a ionsinmanu ac u ingandse icesa eexpec ed obecomeinc easinglybundledin
p oduc sandp ocesses.
A i m’sex e nalen i onmen ,i sco po a eand businesss a egies,andi s esou ceand
capabili ybaseneed obecloselylinked oeacho he (G an ,2010).Fo a i m osus aini s
compe i i e ad an age, i needs o cons an ly upg ade i s business s a egies, models,
esou ces and capabili ies. This means ha i ms become able omee hechallengeso
de eloping old esou ces and capabili ies while c ea ing new ones when iden i ying and
esponding ochangingdemandsandoppo uni iesin hebusinessen i onmen (Teecee
al., 1997; Eisenha d and Ma in, 2000). Di e en i ms ha e di e en app oaches in
de elopingcapabili ies,bu ineme gingand echnology‐basedindus iesinno a ions emain
hec i icalsou ceo compe i i ead an ageand hekeygoalso s a egy o mula ion(G an ,
2010).Tosucceed,companiesdependon indinginno a i esolu ions ha espond oglobal
challengesaswellas os akeholde s’demands(Hansen,2016;Pinka dandO’G ady,2016;
He emäkie al.,2017).
The business en i onmen o o es ‐based sec o (FBS) companies1 is changing apidly,
becomingmo emul i ace edwi hinc easingcomplexi ies(e.g.,UNECE/FAO,2011;Hansene
al., 2013; Hu mekoski and He emäki, 2013; He emäki e al., 2017).Theconcep so
sus ainabili y, bioeconomy and ci cula economy a e ecei ing signi ican a en ion in he
public discou se, pa icula ly in many public and p i a e sec o s a egies (de Besi and
McCo mick,2015;Ghisellinie al., 2016; Baumga ne and Rau e , 2017). He emäkie al.
(2017)a gue ha o e a chingsocie alobjec i es o u u edecades equi ea ansi ion oa
ci cula bioeconomy.Thisindica es ha connec ing hebioeconomy o heci cula economy
concep isc i icalbecause,whencombined, he woapp oachesa es onge inad ancing
hesegoals.Thismeans ha FBScompaniesneed o es uc u e hei businessesandc ea e
no elbusinessmodelsalongwi h hedemandsse by hesu oundingen i onmen .
Ye in heli e a u e heFBSisdesc ibedasama u esec o wi ha adi ionalbusinesscul u e
ha is ocused on cos s and engaged in high‐ olume p oduc ion and esis an o change.
Thesecha ac e is icsa eno linked oinno a i eness(Hansen,2016).Hansen(2016,p.246)
s a es ha “inno a ionin hebioeconomywillhappenwi ho wi hou cu en o es sec o
companies,” and pa icipa ing in he bioeconomy is no possiblewi hou inno a ionin
p oduc s,p ocessesandbusinessmodels.Thes udiesindica e ha c ea inginno a ioncalls
o expe ise om a ious ields,c oss‐sec o alcollabo a ionandne wo ks,and hec ea ion
o new ypeso conso ia(NäyhäandPesonen,2014;Toppinene al.,2017).I isclea ha
FBS i msha ebecomein e connec edwi ho he sec o sandwillbecomemo esoin he
u u e (Hu mekoski and He emäki, 2013; Näyhä e al., 2015). Facili a ing inno a ion in
adi ional i ms should begin by emphasizing o ganiza ional cul u e and he op
managemen ’scommi men o he ansi ion(Hansene al.,2014;NäyhäandPesonen,2014;
Hansen,2016).
Finland’scul u alandeconomicde elopmen hasbeenbasedon o es s o cen u ies.Pa h
dependency(seeDosi,1982;NelsonandWin e ,1982)isawell‐ ecognizedchallenge o he
1In his esea ch, he e m“ o es ‐basedsec o (FBS)companies”isunde s ood oinclude,inaddi ion o
companiesin hesec o ,companieswhichin e acewi h heFBSo u ilize awma e ialandside‐s eams om
heFBS.
adi ional Finnish o es indus ies. Fo example, Poesche and Lilja (2016) desc ibe pas
capi alin ensi yandhea yin es men s,in a‐andin e con inen algamesinme ge sand
acquisi ions, and he na owly specialized uni e si y p og ams inpape echnologyas
p e iouskeyd i e s o pa hdependency in he Finnish o es indus y. Howe e , o es ‐
basedbusinessesha emo e ecen lybeen he ocuso he ansi ion o hesus ainableand
compe i i eci cula bioeconomy(Minis yo EconomyandEmploymen o Finland, 2014;
He emäkie al.,2017;Näyhä,2019)andmanyFBScompaniesa ede elopingnewp oduc s
omwood‐basedbiomass,suchasbioene gy, awma e ial o ex ileindus ies,nano ibe s,
biocomposi es,biodeg adableplas ics,polyme s, oodaddi i eso pha maceu icalp oduc s.
Apa omla ge‐scalebio e ine ies, he eisalsopo en ial o smalle ‐scale,decen alized,
highe alue‐addedp oduc ion,aswellasbusinessesbasedonse ices(e.g.,Ollikainen,2014;
Näyhäe al.,2014;Näyhäe al.,2015;He emäki,2017;Hu mekoskie al.,2018).Al oge he ,
i isbelie ed ha heFinnishFBSwillin he u u ep oduceno elhigh alue‐addedp oduc s
inconjunc ionwi h adi ional o es ‐basedp oduc s(He emäki,2014;Minis yo Economy
andEmploymen o Finland,2014;He emäkie al.,2017;Näyhä,2019).
Wiebkee al.(2018)conclude ha aholis icpe spec i eon he oleo businessmodels o
hesuccess ul ansi ion oa o es ‐basedbioeconomyiso enlackingin heli e a u e,and
manys udiesonlyimplici lyadd essce ainaspec s ela ed obioeconomybusinessmodels.
This s udy explici ly explo es he ansi ion o Finnish FBS i ms onewsus ainableand
compe i i e business models as hey espond o cu en socie al ini ia i es o ci cula
bioeconomy businesses. The s udy asks how companies can a ain long‐ e m
compe i i eness, wha he impo an elemen s in he business en i onmen a e, and
especiallywha kindo o ganiza ional esou cesandcapabili iesa eneeded o he ansi ion.
Inaddi ion, he oleo inno a ionsandinno a i enessin hisp ocesswillbee alua ed.The
aimis oc ea eaholis icpic u eo a a o ablebusinessen i onmen and esou ces o he
FinnishFBScompaniesas hispic u eisde inedandunde s oodby heFBS i ms hemsel es.
E en hough heFinnishFBSisane wo ko ac o swi ha angeo iewsandunde s andings
ha canalsobecon lic ing(Näyhä,2019), heaimis op esen aholis icunde s andingo
heseissuesbyincludingdi e en ac o s.
Businesss a egiesandmodels,o ganiza ional esou cesanddynamiccapabili iesand hei
in e dependen ela ionshipsha ebeenadd esseda he heo e icalle el.Howe e , he e
emainsaneed oexplo e hesephenomenaa hep ac icalle el oimp o eandupda e
heo e icalunde s andings,andlink hem onewsocie alchallengessuchassus ainabili y.
This empi ical s udy add ess his need by p o iding a be e unde s anding o hese
phenomena,p esen inga angeo de ailsanddi e en aspec s ela ed ocompany esou ces
andcapabili iesin ans o mingo ganiza ions.Asp ac icalcon ibu iono hes udy,insigh s
o esea che communi ybo hin o es andmanagemen sciences,andsocie alac o scan
be in oduced. C ucially, he s udy p esen s ecommenda ions o he FBS companies o
acili a e i ms’ ansi ion onewci cula bioeconomybusinesses.I alsocon ibu es o he
li e a u eon esou ce‐basedpe spec i esbyex ending heunde s andingo hedynamic
capabili iesapp oach.
2.Theo e icalbackg ound
2.1O ganiza ionalen i onmen , esou ces,capabili iesandcul u e
The i m’s ex e nal en i onmen and i s s a egies, esou ces and capabili ies ha e o be
connec ed oeacho he .Fo companies,pa icula ly o companymanage s,i isimpo an
o analyze en i onmen al ac o s a ound hei o ganiza ion. Fo hem,i ise enmo e
impo an oanalyzehow he ac o sa echangingandwha hei likely u u ede elopmen
lookslike.Fu he mo e, hehigh‐impac ac o s— hekeyd i e s o change ha willlikely
ha e signi ican impo ance o he companies’ success o ailu e—should be ecognized.
Typically,keyd i e sa ein e ela ed,and heya especi ic oace ainindus yo sec o
(Johnsone al.,2008).
Johnsone al.(2008)di ide ac o sa oundo ganiza ionsin odi e en laye s.Themac o‐
en i onmen is he highes le el, consis ing o b oad en i onmen al ac o s ha ha e an
impac onnea lyallo ganiza ions.Theindus yo sec o comp ises he ollowinglaye ,andi
iscomposedo i msp oducing hesamep oduc so se ices.Theinne mos laye a ound
heo ganiza ionsconsis so compe i o sandma ke s.Wi hinmos indus iesandsec o s,
he ewillbea a ie yo o ganiza ions ha ha edi e en cha ac e is icsandcompe i i e
bases.Fu he mo e,in hema ke s he equi emen sandexpec a ionso hecus ome sa e
di e en (Johnsone al.,2008).The u he om hecen e , helessimpac hecompanyhas
o e hebusinessen i onmen whe ei ope a es(Cashian,2007).
S a egiescanbeseenasalinkbe weencompaniesand hei en i onmen (i.e., he eneeds
obeas a egic i be weenacompanyandi sen i onmen )(G an ,2010).Du ing he1990s,
heemphasisins a egyanalysiss a ed oshi inc easingly o esou cesand hecapabili ies
o hecompany,and hesebecameseenas hemainsou ceo compe i i ead an age.This
emphasishascome obeknownas he esou ce‐based iew(RBV)o he i m(Collinsand
Mon gome y,1995;Ba ney,2001).O e all,indi idual esou cesmus wo k oge he ino de
oc ea eo ganiza ionalcapabili ies,and he esou cesandcapabili ies o m hebasis o
building compe i i e ad an age (G an , 2010). Hel a and Pe e a (2003, p. 999) de ine
o ganiza ionalcapabili ies:“Theabili yo o ganiza ion ope o macoo dina edse o asks,
u ilizing o ganiza ional esou ces, o he pu pose o achie ing a pa icula end esul .”
O ganiza ional capabili ies a e o en used in e changeably wi h he e m “compe ence”
(Hamel and P ahalad, 1992). Fu he mo e, o ganiza ional esou cescanbeca ego izedin
a iousways.Fo example,G an (2010)di ides hemin o angible( inancialandphysical
esou ces), in angible ( echnology, epu a ion, cul u e) and human (skills/know‐how,
capaci y o communica ion and collabo a ion, mo i a ion) esou ces. G an also (2010)
highligh s ha in he apidly changing business en i onmen , s a egies a e less abou
de elopingposi ionso sus ainedcompe i i ead an ageandmo eabou c ea ing lexibili y
and esponsi eness o de elop successi e empo a y ad an ages. Johnson e al. (2008)
emphasize heimpo anceo heno iono s a egymo eas“s e ch” han“ i ,”meaning
ha a i m’s in e nal esou ces need o be cons an ly de eloped o mee en i onmen al
changes.Acco dingly,Hel a andPe e a (2003)ca ego izecapabili iesas“ope a ional”o
“dynamic.”
Thedynamiccapabili iesapp oachcanbe iewedasanex ensiono heRBVo he i m,in
which hee olu iono o ganiza ionalcapabili iesin hechangingbusinessen i onmen a e
included(Teecee al.1997;Hel a andPe e a ,2003).Acco ding oZah aandGeo ge(2002),
dynamiccapabili iescanbeseenaschange‐o ien edcapabili ies,whichenablecompanies o
es uc u e hei esou cebaseso ha heya eable omee changingcus ome s’needsand
compe i o s’s a egies.Shuene al.(2014)no es ha whendynamiccapabili iesa ejoined
wi hs a egy, hecombina ionenablescompe encies obebuil and es uc u ed o espond
o changing ma ke s. Teece (2007) has iden i ied h ee clus e s o dynamic capabili ies:
sensing change, seizing oppo uni ies and ans o ming ( econ igu ing) o ganiza ions.
Schoemake e al.(2018)emphasizes ha in u bulen en i onmen si isimpo an osense
ma ke changes be o e i als do. Ye sensing oppo uni ies and h ea s is no enough.
Companies ha e o seize hose oppo uni ies in a imely manne by inno a ing and
implemen ing new sys ems. In addi ion, u bulen en i onmen s o en call o pe iodic
enewal o company, ins ead o mo e inc emen al change o o ganiza ional capabili ies.
Teece (2018) s a es ha wi h s ong dynamic capabili ies, companies can c ea e and
implemen businessmodelse ec i ely,andacompany’sdynamiccapabili iesa ec ucialina
a ie y o ways o i s abili y o main ain long‐ e m p o i abili y.Schoemake e al.(2018)
conclude ha dynamiccapabili ies,businessmodel enewal,andleade shipha e obeclosely
connec ed op oduce heinno a ionswhicha eneededincomplexbusinessen i onmen s.
Acco ding oAmuie al.(2017),due ocomplexbusinessen i onmen s,manyo ganiza ions
ha ebeensea ching o ways omakesus ainabili yadynamiccapabili ywhichisin eg a ed
in i ms’s a egiesaswellasin hei businessmodels.Fo i obecomeacompe i i e ac o ,
sus ainabili yhas obeinno a i eandadynamicpa o hes a egy.Inlinewi hAmuie al.
(2017),Mousa ie al.(2018)a gues ha sensing,seizingand econ igu ingcapabili iesand
ela edo ganiza ional ou inesallha eanessen ialimpac ona i m’ssus ainableinno a ion
ac i i ies.Theyiden i ysensingas hemos in luen ialdynamiccapabili ybecausei hasa
di ec e ec on i ms’sus ainableinno a ion(Mousa ie al.,2018).
The li e a u e p esen s a a ie y o de ini ions o o ganiza ional cul u e and models o
assessing i . O ganiza ional cul u ewas ecen lyde inedbyG oysbe ge al.(2018,p.4):
“Cul u eis he aci socialo de o ano ganiza ion:I shapesa i udesandbeha io sinwide‐
anginganddu ableways.Cul u alno msde inewha isencou aged,discou aged,accep ed,
o ejec edwi hinag oup.Whenp ope lyalignedwi hpe sonal alues,d i es,andneeds,
cul u ecanunleash emendousamoun so ene gy owa dasha edpu poseand os e an
o ganiza ion’scapaci y o h i e.”Fu he mo e,G oysbe ge al.(2018)ha eiden i ied ou
gene ally accep ed a ibu es o o ganiza ional cul u e: sha ed, pe asi e, endu ing and
implici .Sha edmeans ha cul u ecanno exis solelywi hinasingleindi idual,bu i liesin
sha ed beha io s and alues. Pe asi e indica es ha cul u e pene a es he whole
o ganiza ion.Endu ingindica es ha o ganiza ionalcul u ecandi ec i smembe s’ac ions
and hough so e helong un.Wi hcollec i eexpe iencesand hee ec so lea ningoni ,
o ganiza ionsa emo elikely oselec employeeswhoappea o i in heo ganiza ion.O e
ime, i ms become esis an o change and ex e nal in luences. Fou h, an o en oo
unno icedaspec o cul u eisimplici ,conce ning heabili y o espond oand ecognize
cul u e ins inc i ely. Since he abili y o sense cul u e appea s obeuni e sal,pa icula
hemesshouldbeexpec ed o akeplaceac oss he a ie yo de ini ionsandmodelsin he
ield. Fu he mo e, i is pe cei ed ha o ganiza ional cul u eg ea lyin luences he
de elopmen o capabili ies. Fo example, Hock e al. (2015) ound in hei analysis ha
no el y‐o ien ed cul u al alues p omo e capabili ies (s a egic sensi i i y, collec i e
commi men , esou cefluidi y),whichad ancesbusinessmodelinno a ion,bu e ficiency‐
o ien edcul u al aluesdono indica eposi i ee ec s.
2.2Inno a ionsandinno a i eness
Recen discussionson u u e iewso FBSa eine i ablylinked wi h inno a ions and
inno a i eness.Likewise, he eha ebeen a iousa emp s op omo einno a ionsin his
sec o .Thesea emp sha ebeen acili a edbya angeo ounda ionsandp og ams,such
as heEU’sFo es ‐BasedTechnologyPla o m(FTP,2018).
Thede ini ionso inno a ionsandinno a i enessgi eninFBSs udiesla gelycomplywi h he
de ini ionsgi enino he ieldsaswell.Acco ding oHansene al.(2006,p.4),“Inno a ionis
c ea ionand/o adop iono newideas,p ocesses,p oduc s,o se ices ha a ein ended o
inc ease alue o hecus ome andcon ibu e o hepe o manceo e ec i enesso he
i m”.Hansene al.(2014,p.1344)de ineinno a i enessas ollows:“aninno a i eindi idual
o i m ends obeanea lyadop e o newconcep s,p oduc sand echnologies; ends o
de elopo c ea enewideas,concep sandp oduc s;o somemixo he wo”(seealsoGebe
e al., 2003; Roge s, 2003). Fu he mo e, he di e ence be ween inno a i eness and
inno a ioniscla i iedbyHansene al.(2014,p.1344):“inno a i enessischa ac e is ico an
indi idualo company,whileaninno a ionisanou come,no acha ac e is ic.”Howe e ,in
hiss udy, he esponden spa ly end ouse hesede ini ionsin e changeably.
The le el o inno a ion ac i i y wi hin an indus y sec o di e s gene ally based on he
indus y li e‐cycle (namely, in oduc ion, g ow h, ma u i y anddecline;U e back,1994).
P oduc inno a ionin ensi yisgene allyhighe in heea lyphaseso heli ecycle,whe eas
p ocess inno a ions become mo e impo an as p oduc inno a ion declines (U e back,
1994).I hasbeenindica ed ha FBScompaniesa einno a i ein e ms o hei
manu ac u ing p ocesses, bu less p o icien in e ms o p oduc and business sys ems
inno a ion,despi e he ac ha heselas woa e heinno a ion ypesmos c uciallyneeded
in he ansi ion oabioeconomy(Hansen,2016).
Hansen e al. (2014) indica ed ha wi hin he o es sec o , cul u e is a key d i e o
inno a ion.O he s udiesha eno ed ha opmanagemen hasacen al oleinc ea ingan
inno a i eo ganiza ionalcul u e(Bjö kdahlandBö jesson,2011;NäyhäandPesonen,2014;
Hansen,2014;2016).Inaddi ion,i hasbeenindica ed ha companymanage smayw ongly
belie e ha whenindus yhas eached he“ma u e”phaseo heli e‐cycle,i isalsobeyond
inno a ion(McGahan,2000).These ypeso manage ialchallengesha ealsobeen oundin
he FBS; p e ious s udies ha e indica ed challenges in inno a i eness and inno a ion
managemen in adi ionalFBS(e.g.,NäyhäandPesonen,2014;Bulle al.,2015).
In hepas ,en i onmen alpe spec i esha ela gelybeenneglec edininno a ion esea ch
agendas,bu nowadayssus ainabili yiso enseenasamaind i e o inno a ions(Nidumolu
e al.,2009;Adamse al.,2012).Va ious e ms,suchas“eco‐inno a ion,”“g eeninno a ion,”
“sus ainableinno a ion”and“en i onmen alinno a ion,”isused o e e ing oinno a ion
wi h an emphasis on en i onmen al sus ainabili y (Va ada ajan e al., 2017; Xa ie e al.,
2017).Va ada ajan(2017)applies he e m“sus ainableinno a ions”inhiss udy,highligh ing
ha mos sus ainable inno a ions dec ease he impac o he company’s ac i i ies on
ecosys ems, a he hanbeingsus ainableinno a ionin hes ic es sense.
2.3Theo e ical ame o hes udy
In hiss udy, i s heJohnsone al.(2008)modelisapplied o o ganizing a ious ac o sin
hebusinessen i onmen ,which he esponden sindica easkey ac o s o acili a ing he
ansi ionp ocessin heFBS.Howe e ,i has obeno ed ha heau ho hasloosely ollowed
hep esen edmodeland, o example,combined woo heinne mos laye s.Secondly, he
o ganiza ional esou ces o he companies needed o he ansi iona eo ganizedin o
angible,in angibleandhumancapabili ies, ollowing oughly hedi isionp esen edbyG an
(RBV,p.127,2010).Figu eA.1illus a es he amewo kdesc ibedabo e,andalso e e s o
henumbe ingin he esul ssec ionwhe e he indingsinques iona ep esen ed.
The ea u eso o ganiza ionalcul u ehighligh edin hiss udya ediscussedin ela ion o
a ibu esiden i iedbyG oysbe ge al.(2018).The ocuso hiss udyis oiden i yFBS i ms’
change‐o ien edcapabili ieswhichwillenable hem o es uc u e hei esou ces o new
business models. Resou ce‐based pe spec i es, pa icula ly he dynamic capabili ies
app oach, a e hus used o o m he heo e ical basis o e lec ion on he indings. The
indingso hiss udya e u he discussedin e mso o he ecen s udiesconduc edon he
FBS.
Fig.A.1.F amewo k o s uc u ingen i onmen ald i e sando ganiza ional esou cesand
capabili ieso ans o mingFBScompanies.Thenumbe ingin he igu eco espondswi h he
numbe ingin he esul ssec ions(modi ied omJohnsone al.2008;G an ,2010).
3.Ma e ialsandme hods
Theme hodologyusedhe ehasalsobeendesc ibedea lie inNäyhä(2019),because heda a
o bo h manusc ip s we e ga he ed om he same in e iews. In sp ing 2017, semi‐
s uc u ed hema icin e iewswe econduc edwi h18companyexecu i esandmanage s
om17 i ms ep esen ing a ious o es ‐basedindus iesandin e acingsec o s.Allo he
pa icipa ingcompanieswe ede elopingo in ol edin hede elopmen o newp oduc s
andse icesasei he supplemen s o hei po olioo asmainp oduc s.Allo hemu ilized
wood‐based aw ma e ial, ando en he use o side‐s eams was indica ed as playing an
impo an olein hei p oduc ion.Addi ionally, hein e iewed i msallha eope a ionsin
Finland.Thecompanieswe echosenso ha asmanydi e en ypeso companiesaspossible
we ein ol edin hes udy.Thus, heFBScompaniesand he i msin e acingwi hin heFBS
ha pa icipa ed ha e di e en business s a egies, models, ea u es and p oduc s. The
companies a ied, o example,inma u i y,size,g ow hplans,ma ke o ien a ionand he
ole o new p oduc s e sus old p oduc s in hei po olio and exchanges (business‐ o‐
business/business‐ o‐consume s).Inaddi ion o adi ionalFBSp oduc s, he ewe emany
newwood‐basedp oduc sandse ices ela ed o hoseunde s a egicplanning, esea ch
andde elopmen ,comme cializa ionand/o p oduc ion.Theseincludedbio uels,bioene gy,
biochemicals,biocomposi es, ex ile ibe s,biomedicines,heal hca ep oduc s, oodindus y
addi i es, new ypes o cons uc ion and building ma e ials, in e io design p oduc s, and
packagingma e ialsandsolu ions.O e all, hescaleo hepa icipa ingcompanies a ied
omla ge, adi ionalandma u eFBScompanies ansi ioning onewbusinesses osmall
s a ‐upcompanies.Mos o hecompaniesca ego ized hemsel esp ima ilyasbioeconomy
ac o s,andmanyconside ed hemsel esbo hasbioeconomyandci cula economy i ms.
(Fo mo eoncompanype spec i eson hebioeconomy,ci cula economyandsus ainabili y,
seeNäyhä,2019.)
Thein e ieweeswe egi en hemainin e iew opicsbe o ehanddu ing heini ialinqui y,
so ha heywouldbeable oassesi heywe elikely opossessadequa eknowledgeabou
hein e iew hemes.Ino he wo ds,a equi emen o hein e ieweeswasknowledge
abou he esea ch opics.Thepe sonnelcon ac edheldleadingposi ionsin he i ms(e.g.,
CEO,chie de elopmen o ice o chie sus ainabili yo ice ).
Asawhole, hein e iewques ionnai econsis edo h eepa s:1)businessmodelsand
concep ualiza ion;2) olein hema ke s,compe i i enessand esou ces;and3) o eseeing
he u u e.Thismanusc ip isbasedmainlyon hesecondpa , and speci ic in e iew
ques ions a e p esen ed in Appendix A. Depending on he esponden ’s knowledge and
willingness oelabo a eonce ainques ionso hemes,addi ionalques ionsmayha ebeen
askedo , espec i ely,ce ainques ionswe ele ou .
O e all, heda awe eapp oachedmainlyinduc i ely(seePa on,2002,p.56;Thomas,2006,
“gene alinduc i eanalysis”),meaning, o example, ha hecoding(seealso“opencoding”,
inS aussandCo bin,1998;Ko alainenandE iksson,1998)wasno limi ed o he
p ede e mined hemeso heo e ical amewo ks.Aninduc i eapp oachwasseenas he
bes applicableop ion o examining heongoingno el ansi ionphenomenaand ela ed
limi edanddispe sedin o ma ionon heissuesbeings udied.Howe e , i needs o be
men ionedin hiscon ex ha apu elyinduc i eapp oachisno possibleinany esea ch,
becausei would equi e ha he esea che hasnop econcep ionson hes udied opic(see
Pa on, 2002; E iksson and Ko alainen, 2008). In his s udy, elemen s o he deduc i e
app oachwe eincluded, o example,whenin e iewques ionswe e o mula edand he
esul swe ep esen edandin e p e ed,asp e iouss udiesand heo e ical amewo kswe e
explo ed o inding a iousangles oapp oach heissuesbeingconside ed(seealsoPa on,
2002, p. 56). O e all, esea che s o en apply bo h induc ion and deduc ion in di e en
phasesin hei s udies,asis hecasein hecu en s udy,some imes e e ing o“abduc ion”
asanapp oach ocombineinduc ionanddeduc ioninone esea chp ojec (Ko alainenand
E iksson,1998).
Theda awe eexaminedusing hema icanalysis(B aunandCla ke,2006;Gues e al.,2006).
Thein e iewswe e ansc ibedandATLAS. iwasusedasananalysis ool. The analysis
loosely ollowed hes ep‐by‐s epguidep esen edbyB aunandCla ke(2006).Basic ules o
opencodingc ea edbyE ikssonandKo alainen(2008,p.164,modi ied omS auss,1990;
S aussandCo bin,1998)we ealsoapplieddu ing heanalysisp ocess.Thein e iewswe e
i s ead h oughino de oob ainano e allunde s andingo hecon en s(simila ly o
opencoding).Thenex phasewas ocodep elimina y hemes(no e ha ca ego iesa eused
in e changeablywi hcodesin hiss udy)in heda a ha we ee alua edasbeingo cen al
impo ancein ela ion o he esea chgoal(i.e.,unde s anding he hemeissimila o he
desc ip ion p esen ed by B aun and Cla ke (2006, p. 10): “A heme cap u es some hing
companies,andalsobe ween i msand hei po en ialcus ome s,shouldbes a edea lie
hancu en lyis hep ac ice;b ains o mingo ini ialideasshouldal eadybedone oge he .
Po en ials ela ed o small‐scale p oduc ion, u ilizing mino aw ma e ial s eams and
p oducing highe alue‐added p oduc s should be explo ed ca e ully. Some o he
esponden sc i icized ha la gecompanies(which adi ionallybase hei businessesonbulk
p oduc ion)dono knowhow omanage hep ocesseso highe alue‐addedp oduc s,no
do hey ha e he pa ience o esou ces o conduc R&D i he e is no p o i in a sho
ime ame. In addi ion, some esponden s poin ed ou ha la ge companies o en lack
knowledgeabou heendma ke so hesep oduc s(seealso4.4.2).Alsoin hiscon ex , he
esponden s ecommendedcollabo a ion,pa icula lywi h hoseac o swhicha eclose o
hecus ome sandendma ke s.
4.4.2Knowledgeo newma ke s,o ganiza ionalcul u es,communica ionandma ke ing
Acco ding o his s udy, a needed knowledge base and echnical skills a e o en ound in
Finnishcompanies,compa ed ocommunica ionandma ke ingskills,whicha eindica ed o
be inadequa e in many ways. The esponden s poin ed ou ha communica ing and
ma ke ing a e especially p oblema ic o small companies because hey do no ha e he
esou cesneeded o de eloping hoseskills.
Quo a ion8
The knowledge o alue chains andin e na ional ma ke s is c ucial o hose companies,
ansi ioning owa dnewbusiness.Thechallengesiden i iedincluded he equen need o
indnewma ke sand helacko alidi y o oldwayso ma ke ing adi ional p oduc s.
The e o e, alongside communica ion and language skills, knowledge o di e en
o ganiza ional and na ional cul u es is impo an when en e ingnewma ke s.Di e en
cus ome so enneedma ke ingmessagesands a egies ha a especi icallymodi iedand
a ge ed o hei needs.Thein e ieweess essed ha some imesissuesconside edsel ‐
e iden by he companies a e di icul o hei cus ome s o unde s and. They also
emphasized ha i msshouldma ke o hei cus ome s he ea u esand alues(seealso
Sec ion4.2.) ela ed oace ainma e ial,p oduc o se ice,no onlyp oduc so se icesas
such.
Quo a ion9
The esponden s emphasized ha Finnish people a e oo modes when ma ke ing hei
knowledgeandnewp oduc s,aquali y ha iswidely ecognizedasachallenge o Finnish
companies in a ious ields. The in e iewees highligh ed, howe e , ha he eisanew
gene a ioneme gingwi h newcapabili ies,con idenceandabolde a i ude. O e all, he
esponden s emphasized ha an unde s anding o he business en i onmen , i s
equi emen sandma ke dynamicsis hebasis o asuccess ulnew business. A lack o
ma ke ingskillsand esou ces o de eloping hose,aswellas heneed o mo econ iden
a i udeha ebeen ecognizedasachallengeinFinlandina a ie yo con ex s,suchasin
nume ousminis y epo s(Lah inene al.,2016;Rikama,2017),publicdiscussion(Kalliola,
2018;Laaksonen,2018)andacademics udies(Kauppinen,2017;Nu mi,2004).
4.4.3Flexibleemployeesandmul idisciplina y eams
Employeesa e hec ucial esou ce o companiesand hewellbeingo hepe sonnelwas
highligh edin hes udy.
Quo a ion10
Agileo ganiza ionscanno exis wi hou lexibleemployees.A eadiness o e hinkand he
abili y olea na eimpo an ea u es o employeeswo kingin he ans o mingcompany.
Ma kelo a E ans and Salaiz (2018), among o he s, a gue ha in as changing business
en i onmen s,u ilizingemployees’abili ies osenseandseizenewoppo uni iesisa aluable
in angibleo ganiza ionalasse whichcanhelp i msc ea edynamiccapabili ies.The esul s
o hecu en s udysugges ha heseabili iesa especi icallyimpo an o peopleal eady
wo kingin he ieldo assenio sin he i ms.This e lec s he ac ha adi ionallyin he
Finnish o es indus y,leade sandmanage sha ebeenhi ed ominside heo ganiza ion,
o enmeaning ha heyha elongca ee pa hsin hesamecompany.Some esponden s
di e en ia edbe ween he oleso employeesin heinno a ionp ocess,di iding hemin o
employees who inno a e and people who conduc he ac ual esea ch and de elopmen
wo k;a hesame ime, heys essed ha bo h ypeso employeesa eneeded.Independen
hinking, no leaning oo much on supe iso s, was highligh ed by he esponden s. In
addi ion,commi men o he aska handwasseenasanimpo an abili y.Unde s anding
egula o y amewo ksin hedi e en businessen i onmen saswellasbeing amilia wi h
sus ainabili y aluesand hegoalso heci cula bioeconomywe ealsoseenasimpo an
capabili ieso employees.
Employeesa eneededwhoha eanin e disciplina ybackg oundand/o ce ainspeci icskills
(such as design and a chi ec u al know‐how, elec ic au oma ion skills, logis ical
unde s anding,labo a o yskills,ecological,mic obiologicalandbiochemicalknowledgeand
knowledge o con e sion echnologies) ha can espond o he a ious needs o he
ans o ming companies. Na u ally, speci ic know‐how in wood‐based aw ma e ial is
impo an ,bu employeesou side heFBS(e.g., omcosme icso ca o oodindus ies)
shouldalsobe ec ui edino de oc ea enew ypeso syne gies.
Quo a ion11
Theimpo anceo he e ogeneoushumancapi al o de elopingcapabili ieshaslongbeen
ecognizedin hecon ex o RBV(seeBa neye al.,2011).
In ela ion o unde s anding cus ome demands (see 4.4.2 abo e), he in e iewees
emphasized a cus ome ‐o ien ed app oach and se ice skills, e e ing o he abili y o
employees o conduc success ul dialogue and in e ac ions wi h cus ome s. Ma ke ing
expe ienceandabe e unde s andingo newma ke scouldbea ainedalsobyhi ingpeople
ou side heFBSo h oughpa ne s.O e all, he oleo in a‐andin e ‐o ganiza ional eams,
combiningdi e en ypeso know‐how,washighligh ed.
4.4.4 Non‐hie a chical op managemen and “powe people” as a sou ce o inno a i e
a mosphe e
Thec ucial esou cein e mso success ul ansi ionis heleade shipo heo ganiza ion.The
esponden semphasized ha compac ,no o e lyhie a chical opmanagemen isneeded o
suppo inding new di ec ions. Top‐down managemen and hie a chical and/o a ma ix
o ganiza ionals uc u e(whe esepa a e eamsa e esponsible o inno a ing)we eseenas
p oblems,pa icula lyinla gecompanies.Thisconnec swi h he iew ha smalle companies
ands a ‐upcompaniesa eo enalsoseen obemo e lexibleandmo eagile o eac o
changes.
The esponden s indica ed ha he main asks o managemen a e o gua an ee
inno a i enessand heagili yo hecompanybymeanso anencou aginga mosphe eand
key esou ces.Managemen needs oindica eencou agemen and us is‐à‐ isemployees’
inno a i eness,and heyha e ochallengeemployees o hinkdi e en ly.
Quo a ion12
Inaddi ion, ec ui ingnewemployeeswi h a iousbackg oundsandnewideaswasindica ed
o be an impo an esponsibili y o company managemen . Schoemake e al. (2018)
highligh heimpo anceo leade sando s a egicleade shipskillssuchas heabili y o
challengecu en mindse s,engageo he s ode elopnewinsigh sandp o idecompelling
s a egic isions.
Someo he esponden salsos essed ha smalls a ‐upcompanieso enha e esea che s
in he lead posi ions o he o ganiza ion, which may no be an ideal solu ion. O e all, i
appea s ha hemanagemen o s a ‐upcompaniesneed omanage“ hewholepic u e”;
heyo enneed e sa ileskillss a ing omini ialinno a ionde elopmen and inding isk
unde s ope sonnelmanagemen ,scaling‐upandma ke ing.Acco dingly,Schoemake e al.
(2018,p.37)poin ou ha asingle isiona yleade inasmalls a up“isapossiblesho cu ”,
bu inmos casesi equi es ime,e o ,and eamwo k.These indingsin u npoin s o he
need o suppo mechanisms o s a ‐upcompaniesa bo h helocalandna ionalle els.
Impo an ly,i wasb ough up ha e e yo ganiza ionneeds“powe people,” hosewhoa e
pa icula lyen husias icandinspi eo he s ouse hei c ea i enessand obeinno a i e.
5Discussion
Fo i msand hei manage s,RBV(seeG an ,2010)emphasizes ha i isimpo an oanalyze
en i onmen al ac o sa ound heo ganiza ion.Thedynamiccapabili iesapp oach(seeTeece
2007;2018)highligh scompanies’abili ies oadd essen i onmen alchangeand enew hei
esou cesinaway ha heycaninno a eand espond ochangewhilemain aining hei
compe i i eness.Thiss udyindica es ha la ge‐scalecompaniesandSMEsinFBSa eable
ecognizeandanalyzep esen businessen i onmen al ac o swell.The i msseem oha ea
ho oughunde s andingo he esou cesandcapabili iesneeded o ansi ion,and heya e
able o ecognize ela edbo lenecksandchallenges.Though hechallengesha ela gely
been iden i ied, his s udy demons a es ha he de elopmen al pa hways and conc e e
p ocesses osol e hechallengesandde elopnewcapabili iesa eo eninsu icien .In e ms
o clus e o dynamiccapabili ies(Teece,2007,seealsosec ion2.1),“sensing”appea s obe
heleas challenging o companies,whe easac ual“ ans o ming”ismuchmo edi icul .In
addi ion, hecompaniesha edi icul yanalyzing u u ede elopmen sin hei su ounding
en i onmen and e o mula ing hei businessmodelsandac ionsacco dingly.
5.1In angibleandhuman‐ ela edcapabili iesas acili a o s o ansi ion
Thiss udyemphasizesse e alin angibleandhuman‐ ela edcapabili ieso heo ganiza ions
askey acili a o s o he ansi iono hecompanies.
Thecu en s udyindica es ha aninno a i e,agileandencou agingo ganiza ionalcul u e,
whichin u n acili a es hede elopmen o needed esou ces,capabili iesandinno a ions,
c ea es hebasis o success ul ansi ions.Al houghse e alo he FBSs udiesalsoindica e
heimpo anceo o ganiza ionalcul u eanda mosphe eon hede elopmen o capabili ies,
inno a i eness and inno a ions (see Bjö kdahl and Bö jesson, 2011; Hansen e al., 2014;
PesonenandNäyhä,2014;Toppinene al.,2017),i issomewha su p ising ha hecul u al
pe spec i e was highligh ed so p ominen ly in his s udy. E iciency goals and e iciency‐
o ien ed cul u al alues ha e been indica ed o ha e nega i e e ec s on business model
inno a ion,whe eascapabili iessuchas esou ce luidi yands a egicsensi i i yp omo e
inno a ions(Hocke al.,2015).In hiss udy,e iciencyo ien a ionwasseenasa ypical
ea u emo e o la ge ,ma u ecompanies,a ec ing i ms’inno a i enessaswell.P e ious
s udies also sugges ha sys ema ic s a egies, s uc u ed p ocesses and implemen a ion
guidelinesoninno a ion‐ ela edac ionsa elackingincompanies,andmanagemen should
paymo ea en ion o hisaspec (Hansene al.,2007;2014;Bjö kdahlandBö jesson,2011).
Rela ed o his,Hansene al.(2010)highligh ha mo einno a ion‐ ocusedo ganiza ional
cul u e is needed in companies, which in u n should be suppo ed by policies and mo e
indus y‐ ocusedacademic esea chandeduca ion.Thiscu en s udy ullysuppo s hese
iews.
Acco ding o hiss udy, opmanage sand“powe people”a easou ceo inno a i eand
encou aging a mosphe e in companies. The op managemen ’s key ole in c ea ing an
inno a i e o ganiza ional cul u e has been highligh ed in o he FBSs udiesaswell(e.g.,
Bjö kdahl and Bö jesson, 2011; Näyhä and Pesonen, 2014; Hansen, 2014; 2016). I is
no ewo hy,howe e , ha hecu en s udyindica es ha i isno only he opmanage s,
who ha e a g ea impac on a mosphe e and cul u e, bu also o he inspi ing employees
(“powe people”) who encou age hei colleagues.In addi ion, hiss udy poin s omul i‐
skilledemployeesand eams,whichcanbesuppo edbynon‐hie a chicals uc u esin he
companies,asc i ical esou ces.
Thekey oleo human esou ces,pa icula ly ha o o ganiza ionleade sandemployees,as
asou ceo dynamiccapabili ieshasbeen ecognizedinnume ouso he s udies,as epo ed
in se e al con ex s in he esul s sec ion al eady. Teece (2007; 2018) s a es ha s ong
dynamiccapabili iesa eno a ainedwi hou businessmodels ha suppo inno a i eness.
In mos cases manage ial compe encies a e c ucial o e ining business models so ha
inno a i eness is possible in companies (Teece, 2007; 2018). Since dynamic capabili ies
encompassa a ie yo o ganiza ionalp ocesses, hey equi eleade swhoa eable odesign
and ope a ionalize hem in a speci ic o ganiza ional con ex (Schoemake e al., 2018).
Wolgemu h e al. (2019) indica es ha manage s can acili a e employee pa icipa ion
h ough us andin o malcon olo hei employees.Ye heyalsoconclude ha dynamic
capabili iesa eno onlyamanage ial ask,asiso enp esen edin heli e a u e;ins ead,
employee in ol emen helps companies unleash he s a egic alueo hedynamic
capabili ies.Theyp opose ha companieswhichin ol eemployeesindecisionmakingand
ansi ion p ocesses seem o make mo e conside ed decisions, adjus mo e quickly, and
acili a e he ansi ionp ocessmo ee icien ly.O e all, he esul so mys udyando o he s
sugges ha ans o mingFBScompaniesshould ocuson hecapabili iesandskillso hei
leade sandmanage ssince heyha eac ucial oleinc ea ing he a mosphe e and
encou aging hei employees.
Fu he mo e, he indingso hiss udy e lec ha success ulde elopmen o compe encies
equi es common, c oss‐o ganiza ional alues, goals and cul u al unde s anding. These
indings b ing o he o e he o ganiza ional cul u e a ibu es o sha ed and pe asi e
(iden i iedbyG oysbe ge al.2018),whichmeans ha cul u eexis sincommon aluesand
beha io s ha pene a e he whole o ganiza ion and u he in luence hecapaci y
de elopmen .G oysbe ge al.(2018)also ecognizedendu ingasoneo hea ibu eso he
o ganiza ionalcul u e.Oneo hedange s ela ed o hisa ibu eis ha in helong un
companiescanbecome esis an ochange.Thisphenomenonhasbeenclea ly ecognizedin
ea lie s udiesinma u e o es indus ycompanies(seeNäyhäandPesonen2012;2014).As
p e iously no ed abo e, inno a ions, lexibili y and agili y we e aised as impo an
capabili ies o i ms’ ansi ions,and heywe eseenaschallenges o la ge companies(see
alsoPoescheandLilja,2016).I isin e es ing,howe e , ha in hecu en s udyla geFinnish
FBScompanieswe ea hesame imealsoconside edas o e unne sin e mso new o es ‐
basedbusinesseswhencompa ed oo he coun ies(seealsoNäyhä,2019).
The esponden s ecognized he need o mul idisciplina y knowledge, e e ing o
ec ui men sou side heFBSand hec ea iono in a‐andin e ‐o ganiza ional eamsand
pa ne ships, which in u n can acili a e he adop ion o new p ac ices and ansi ion.
C ea ingpa ne shipsino de op omo ein ellec ualcapaci iesandinno a ions a e also
emphasizedinea lie s udies.Fo example,Dangelico(2016)emphasizesbuildingne wo ks
andc oss‐ unc ionalin e ac ionwhende elopingsuccess ulg eenp oduc inno a ions.Roos
e al.(2014)conclude ha makingcon ac sandsha ingknowledgea eimpo an o he
inno a ion p ocess and ma ke launch. The use o open inno a ionin hecon ex o
sus ainabili y inno a ions has also been s udied (e.g., Rau e e al., 2018), and he
in ol emen o di e en pa ne sin he i ms’p ocessescanp o idebene icialknowledgein
e mso companies’inno a ionac i i ies.Howe e , hiss udyalsob ingsup helacko us
be ween he ac o s as a challenge, and he e o e, genuine collabo a ion and in o ma ion
sha inga e heissueswhichshouldde ini ely ecei emo ea en ionin heFinnishFBSin he
u u e.
Thiss udyiden i ieschallengesincommunica ion,ma ke ingandcomme cializa ion.Deepe
in e ac ionbe ween hecompaniesand hei cus ome s,andbe ween he i msand hei
o he s akeholde s,shouldbees ablished,so ha i mswouldbeable ounde s andand
espond o s akeholde s’ cu en and u u e needs and alues.In addi ion, Finnish ac o s
o en lack he cou age and bold a i ude when ma ke ing hei p oduc s and know‐how.
Thesephenomenaha ebeenwell epo ed in se e al o he FBSs udies (e.g.,Näyhäand
Pesonen,2014;Hansene al.,2014;Toppinene al.,2017).Fo example,Roose al.(2014)
emphasize companies’ knowledge abou end‐use s in he comme cializa ion o new
ma e ials.The ypeso skillsandma ke expe iseneededa edi e en han hoseusedwhen
ma ke ing adi ionalbulkp oduc s.They u he sugges ha p oduce sneed oiden i ynew
alues ela ed onewma e ials(Roose al.,2014).Thisimpo an pe spec i eisindica edby
hecu en s udyaswell: i msshould amilia ize hei cus ome sbe e wi h he aluesand
ea u esspeci ic oace ainma e ial,p oduc o se ice.Thiss udyalsopoin sou ha he
same aluebasisconnec scompanies and hei cus ome s, c ea ing unique, long‐ e m
ela ionships.Thisindica es ha s ongs akeholde o ien a ionisessen ial o ans o ming
companies.(Seesec ion5.2 o amo ede aileddiscussionon o es indus y’ss akeholde
o ien a ion.)O e all,challengesincommunica ingandma ke ingseem obewell ecognized
among hecompanies,bu o some eason hese emainunsol edin heFinnishFBSandin
Finnishsocie ya la ge.Thisissu p isingbecausepayinga en ion o heseisc ucial o he
successo newbusinesses.Fo companiesi wouldbeimpo an o ecognize hesha ed
alues and communica e hese o hei cus ome s. Fi ms should also s i e o o e
al e na i es o p oduc sandse icesino de omee needs ha cus ome sdono e enye
ecognize hemsel es.Theaimshouldbe o ul ill hei cu en needsaswellas hei u u e
ones(seealsoHameland P ahalad, 1994).This equi es ha companiesha ea ho ough
unde s andingo hei cus ome s’ aluesanddemandswhilemakingane o ounde s and
u u eneeds h oughs a egic o esigh p ac ices(seealsoVecchia oandP o e a,2010).
T ans o mingFBScompaniesshouldalsop oudlyma ke hei newp oduc s(seealsoTable
2).
Ye alongsidein e nal esou cesandcapabili ies,suppo om hebusinessen i onmen and
in e ac ion be ween di e en ac o s is needed o acili a e ansi ionThiss udyiden i ies
global sus ainabili y goals and he aims o sus ainable ci cula bioeconomy—indica ed in
many e msbyEUandna ionalle elpolicies—asd i e s o FBS ansi ion.Co eissues ha
alsoneed obegi enmo eemphasis,andwhicha especi icallyconnec edwi h heFinnish
socie y and men ali y, a e he gene al a i ude owa d en ep eneu ship, and how he
unsuccess ulen ep eneu sa e ea ed.Bank up ciesa eo enseenasmassi e ailu es,and
losing aceinunsuccess ulbusinessesisseen obe oo isky(seeNu mi,2004).Theseha ea
nega i ee ec ones ablishingnewFBSini ia i esands a ‐ups,e en houghade elopable
ini ialideawouldexis .Howe e , hesea e e ychallengingissues,deeply oo edinFinnish
cul u e, o be in luenced. The esponden s exp essed hope in a new, bolde gene a ion
b inging a change in a i udes, bu such a shi ha dly occu s unaided. De eloping and
es ablishingasuppo sys emands uc u eswill acili a e hede elopmen .Fo example,
be e isk‐ inancingandlocalne wo kswouldbeimpo an o SMEs.I isalsoclea ha
beha io alchanges, eamwo kskills,encou agemen o sel ‐es eemandposi i ea i udes
owa den ep eneu shipshouldbeincludedineduca iona anea lyphase.Ingene al, he
Finnisheduca ionsys emisseen obeo ahighquali y,bu heemphasismigh be oomuch
on echnicalskillsandno enoughonma ke ingandcommunica ionskills.
5.2 S a egic e olu ion and u u e de elopmen o FBS businesses: c ea ing s onge
s akeholde andsus ainabili yo ien a ion
Ass a edinsec ion5.1,FBScompanies acechallengesinexplo ingand o eseeing u u e
de elopmen s in hei business en i onmen , which in u n c ea es di icul ies in hei
s a egicplanning.
Acco ding oToppinene al.(2013), hes a egico ien a iono he o es indus y has
de eloped h ough ou dis inc s ages. The i s s a ed in he 1950s om o es y
o ien a ion, con inued h ough p oduc ion o ien a ion, ma ke /cus ome o ien a ion, and
sus ainabili y and inc eased s akeholde o ien a ion in 2010s, along wi h g owing se ice
o ien a ion.Respec i ely, o he u u e,Toppinene al.(2013,pp.419–420)highligh he
impo ance o h ee de elopmen a eas in o es indus y’s s a egic o ien a ion: “(1)
con inuingo he equi edadjus men s a egiescoupledwi h hechanginggeog aphic ocus
in he ace o changing indus y demand and ela i e compe i i eness be ween di e en
p oduc ionandconsump ion egionsin hewo ld,(2)add essing he oleo indus yin he
o e allgoalsandagendas owa dg eeningeconomiesandglobalsus ainablede elopmen ,
and(3) o eseeablesocie alde elopmen owa dg owingse iceo ien a ioninbusiness‐ o‐
businessma ke s”.
When heya eexaminedin heligh o s a egice olu ionand u u ede elopmen pa hs
p esen ed by Toppinen e al. (2013), he esul s o his s udy sugges ha he s udied
companiescon inue o elyoncus ome o ien a ion osomeex en .Thisappea s obe he
casee en hough he i msclea lyindica ed hei ambi ion oincludeb oad iewsand he
demands o a ious s akeholde sin hei s a egic de elopmen . S ong s akeholde
o ien a ion,howe e , equi esdeepin e ac ionandsha ed aluesbe ween hecompanies
and hei cus ome sando he s akeholde s.F oma esou ce‐basedpe spec i e,s akeholde
managemen and ela ionswi hkeys akeholde sha elongbeen ecognizedasoneo he
c ucials a egic esou cesa ec ing hecompany’scompe i i eness(seeHillmanandKeim,
2001). Teece (2018) emphasizes ha designing good business models equi es a deep
unde s andingo cus ome s’needsaswell.Oneo hemainchallengesinFBSis ha ansi ion
owa dsmo e e sa ilebusinessmodelsandexpandedp oduc po oliosalsomeansg ea e
a ia ions in s akeholde s’ iews, which in u n c ea es u he challenges o ul illing he
possiblycon lic ingdemandso s akeholde s(Mikkilä,2006;Joensuue al.,2018).
I isno able ha hecu en s udyindica es ha company ep esen a i esassessus ainabili y
asbeinga heco eo hei i ms’ isions,s a egiesandbusinessmodels.Theybelie e ha
sus ainabili yaspec sa econside ed h oughou he ansi ionp ocessesin hecompanies
(seeNäyhä,2019).Fo example,being amilia wi hsus ainabili y aluesandgoalsaswellas
wi h hep incipleso heci cula bioeconomyisseenasanimpo an se o capabili ies o
employees o possess. The objec i i y o hese esponden s’ e alua ions on hei own
company’ssus ainabili ymanagemen andimplemen a ioncanbeques ioned.Ye i isclea
ha sus ainabili yhas,nowandinc easinglyin he u u e,ap edominan oleasad i e and
asachallenge o FBScompanies.Likewise,sus ainabili yisanimpo an pa o hes a egy
o mula ion p ocesses as well as o he ac ual s a egies o i ms in a as ‐changing
en i onmen .Thisimpo ancemakesi adynamiccapabili y ha enables u u esuccessand
long‐ e m p o i abili y (see also Amui e al., 2017; Teece, 2018). Aligning u he wi h
esou ce‐based pe spec i es, CSR and sus ainabili y‐ ela ed ac i i ies a e seen o p o ide
bo hin e nalandex e nalbene i s o hecompanies.Thesebene i scanhelpcompanies o
de elopnew esou cesandcapabili ies(suchasknow‐how,co po a ecul u e, epu a ionand
employeemo i a ion) ha acili a ecompanies’s a egic,sus ainablecompe i i ead an age
(B ancoandRod iquez,2006;Ba ney,2011;WilliamsandSiegel,2011).Toppinene al.(2013)
u he s a e ha , in he u u e, co po a e esponsibili y ac i i ies will inc easingly be an
insepa ablepa o o es indus ycompanies’s a egicmanagemen .Sus ainabili yisalso
nowadayso enseenasamaind i e o inno a ions(Nidumolue al.,2009;Adamse al.,
2012).
In his s udyse ices‐based business we e discussed ela i ely li le (which is na u ally
a ec ed also by he selec ion o he in ol ed companies), indica ing ha he hi d
de elopmen alpa hp esen edbyToppinene al.(2013)iss illla gelyun ealizedamong he
FinnishFBScompanies.Howe e ,o he s udies(suchasNäyhäe al.,2015;Pellie al.,2018;
Pelli,2018)ha edemons a ed ha hesigni ican po en ial ela ed oFBSse icesbusiness
shouldbegi enmo eemphasis.
6Conclusionsand ecommenda ions
FinnishFBScompaniesindica e,inbo h hei cu en ac ionsand hei u u eplans,as ong
willingness opa icipa einasus ainableci cula bioeconomy(seealsoNäyhä,2019).This
s udyexplo ed he ansi iono FBS i ms owa dnewbusinessmodelsascompaniesseek o
espond ocu en socie alendea o s o mo esus ainableeconomies.Thespeci icaimo
hiss udywas oanalyzekeybusinessen i onmen d i e sando ganiza ionalcapabili iesas
wellasexplo e he oleo inno a ionsandinno a i enessin i ms’ ansi ions.
This s udy suppo s he iews o p e ious FBS s udies in many ways, bu i also p esen s
in e es ing indings ha a especi ic o heFinnishFBS.Di e en FBSac o sha e a ious
goalsandbusinessmodelsin hei pu sui o ul ill hedemandsandexpec a ionso hei
cus ome sands akeholde s,andawide a ie yo capabili iesandexpe isea eneededin
companies.Thiss udyshows,howe e , ha he ea emanycommon esou ces, ea u es,
challengesandd i e s ha a iousFBScompanieshighligh assigni ican in he ansi ion
p ocess, a su p ising inding conside ing he many di e ences in he ea u es o he
pa icipa ing i ms. Impo an ly, in his s udy a ious in angible and human‐ ela ed
o ganiza ional capabili ies and esou ces we e gi en he mos no ably emphasis by he
esponden s.Insho , ansi ion equi es lexibleemployeesandmul idisciplina y eamsand
collabo a ionnou ishedbyaninno a i eo ganiza ionalcul u e,whichin u nissuppo ed
byencou aging opmanagemen and“powe people.”O e all,pu suingsus ainabili yand
inno a i enessinin e nalaswellasex e nalo ganiza ionalen i onmen a eessen ial ac o s
o company ansi ions,andbo hneed opene a e h ough i msandallen i onmen al
laye sa ound hem.Table1summa izes hekeyex e nal ac o sin hebusinessen i onmen
and c ucial o ganiza ional esou ces and capabili ies acili a ing he i ms’ ansi ions and
u u ecompe i i eness.(No e ha Table1 ollows he amewo kandnumbe ingp esen ed
inFigu eA.1andco espondswi h henumbe ingo he esul ssec ions).Thekeychallenges
a esumma izedin he ollowingpa ag aphs.
Table 1. Key business en i onmen ac o s and o ganiza ional esou ces and capabili ies
a ec ingFBS i ms’ ansi ionandinno a ionp ocesses(Numbe ingin he igu eco esponds
oFigu eA.1and he ela ed esul ssec ions)
I is demanding o any o ganiza ion o es uc u e i s s a egies and business models o
ma ch hechangingbusinessen i onmen .Ap ominen challengein hecon ex o Finnish
FBS i ms is ha companies o en s uggle wi h hei s akeholde ela ionships. The
companiesshouldbeable oconduc amo esuccess uldialoguewi h hei s akeholde s,and
op imizeandposi ion hei p oduc sandse icesinaway ha ul ills heexac equi emen s
o he a ge ma ke , hei cus ome s and o he s akeholde s.Mo e open dialogue and
in ensi ecollabo a ionshouldalsobees ablishedwi ho he FBS i ms,a oidingano e ly
cau iousa i ude.Theseissueshighligh he ac mo e lexibili yandagili ya eneededin
companies,bu heywe eo enseenaslackingespeciallyinla ge‐scale (hie a chical)
companies.Mo eo e ,achallengeinFinnishcul u eis ha en ep eneu shipischa ac e ized
bya ea o ailu eandanxie yo e big isks.Inaddi ion,despi e he ac ha Finnishac o s
we ee alua ed obegooda inno a ing,handling echnicalsolu ionsandmanagingsmall‐
scale demons a ions, p oblems eme ge in he scale‐up phase, meaning ha p oduc ion
quan i iesanddi e en usagesa edi icul oex end.The isk inancing‐ ha isc ucial o
s a ‐ups is o en also lacking. Companies ace challenges when comme cializing and
ma ke ing hei newp oduc s.
E en hough s a egies, esou ces and dynamic capabili ies and hei in e dependen
ela ionshipsino ganiza ionsa eadd esseda he heo e icalle elinli e a u e, he eiss ill
a need o examine hese issues om an empi ical pe spec i e. As a key heo e ical
con ibu ion, hiss udyshows ha in angibleandhuman ela eddynamiccapabili iesa e
necessi ies o success ul ansi ion.Companyleade sandemployeesshould o m heco e
o hemos aluableasse o hecompanies.Thei combinedands ongdynamiccapabili ies
o lead, manage, collabo a e, inno a e, communica e, ma ke , and c ea e he o e all
o ganiza ioncul u e,allo whichsuppo s he enewal,a e hekey.Thesecapabili iesenable
heagile ansi iono hecompanyi sel while acili a ing he ansi iono hesocie ywhe e
i ope a es.
On hebasiso his esea ch(aswellaso heo he s udies e e ed oin hiss udy),se e al
ecommenda ions o acili a e FBS i ms’ ansi ion o new businesses can be p esen ed
(Table2).
Table2.Recommenda ions o acili a eFBS i ms’ ansi ion onewFBSci cula bioeconomy
businesses
O e all, hiss udyindica es ha ino de osuccess ullymanage he ansi ion,companies
need oha eadeepunde s andingo wha isneeded, equi edandaccep edby hema ke s
andsocie y,and heymus de elop heo ganiza ional esou ces and capabili ies o
sus ainably espond o hese equi emen s.I isimpo an ono e,howe e , ha inaddi ion
o hecu en needs,companiesmus p epa e o u u eneedsandchallenges,meaning ha
achie inglong‐ e mcompe i eness equi es u u e‐o ien eds a egic hinking.I alsoneeds
obe emembe ed ha his ansi ionisno dependen onlyon hecompanies;wide‐scale
socie ale o isalsoneeded.
Re e ences
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sus ainabili y:Asys ema ic e iewo bodyo knowledge.Ne wo k o Sus ainabili y.
h ps://o e.exe e .ac.uk/ eposi o y/handle/10036/4105.Accessedda e:June12,2018.
Amui,L.B.L.,Jabbou ,C.J.C.,deSousaJabbou ,A.B.L.,Kannan,D.,2017.Sus ainabili yasa
dynamico ganiza ionalcapabili y:Asys ema ic e iewand u u eagenda owa da
sus ainable ansi ion.Jou nalo Cleane P oduc ion,142,308–322.
DeBacke ,K.,Desnoye s‐James,I.,Moussieg ,L.,2015.Manu ac u ingo se ices– ha is
(no ) heques ion:The oleo manu ac u ingandse icesinOECDeconomies.In:OECD
Science,TechnologyandIndus yPolicyPape s19.h ps://www.oecd‐
ilib a y.o g/docse e /5js64ks09dmn‐
en.pd ?expi es=1523880309&id=id&accname=gues &checksum=DDC1169654C24C023D166
B935319F04E,Accessedda eAp il16,2018.
Ba ney,J.B.,2001.Resou ce‐based heo ieso compe i i ead an age:A en‐yea
e ospec i eon he esou ce‐based iew.Jou nalo Managemen 27,643–650.
Ba ney,J.B.,2011.TheFu u eo Resou ce‐BaseTheo y:Re i aliza iono Decline?Jou nalo
Managemen 37,1299‐1315.
Baumga ne ,J.,Rau e ,R.,2017.S a egicpe spec i eso co po a esus ainabili y
managemen ode elopasus ainableo ganiza ion.Jou nalo Cleane P oduc ion140,81–
92.
deBesi,M.,McCo mick,K.,2015.Towa daBioeconomyinEu ope:Na ional, egionaland
indus ials a egies.Sus ainabili y7,10461–10478.
Bjö kdahl,J.,Bö jesson,S.,2011.O ganiza ionalclima eandcapabili ies o inno a ion:A
s udyo nine o es ‐basedNo dicmanu ac u ing i ms.Scandina ianJou nalo Fo es
Resea ch26,488–500.
Zah a,S.A.,Geo ge,G.,2002.Abso p i eCapaci y:ARe iew,Reconcep ualiza ion,and
Ex ension.Academyo Managemen Re iew27,185–203.
Xa ie ,A.F.,Na ei o,R.M.,Aoussa ,A.,Reyes,T.,2017.Sys ema icli e a u e e iewo eco‐
inno a ionmodels:Oppo uni iesand ecommenda ions o u u e esea ch.Jou nalo
Cleane P oduc ion149,1278–1302.
AppendixA.Semi‐s uc u edin e iewques ionnai e: hemesandques ions
1.Compe i i eness
1.1.Whoa e hemos impo an compe i o s o you o ganiza ion?A e he eanychanges
obeexpec edin he u u e?
1.2.Wha a e heco ne s ones o hecompe i i enesso you o ganiza ion?
2.Resou ces
2.1.Desc ibe he a o ableope a ionalen i onmen o you o ganiza ion(youcanapp oach
heissuea di e en le els).
2.2. Wha kind o key esou ces, capabili ies and ins umen s a e needed in he
ans o ma ion obio‐andci cula economiesandin hechangingbusinessen i onmen ?
3.Inno a ions
3.1.Wha is hesigni icanceo inno a ionsandinno a i eness o you o ganiza ionin he
changingbusinessen i onmen (pa icula ly ega dingbio‐andci cula economies)?
3.2.Wha kindso d i e sandchallengesdoyouseein hesi ua ion(desc ibedabo e)?
3.3Doyousee ha alacko lexibili yand hecau iousnesso o ganiza ions/managemen
c ea esba ie s o ans o ma ion/inno a i eness?
AppendixB.Quo a ions
4.1
Quo a ion1:
( esponden B)
Byca ica u ingabi ,ins eado some
commi ees ying oin en how osol e
someissues, heyshouldin en whe e o
aimandwhicha e hebounda ycondi ions.
And hen hesea eindica ed o heac o .
[…]Inmyopinion, hisisabig h ea o
de elopmen .Legisla o sandspecialis s
ha ea endency oaim ode ine
be o ehandhow hispa icula p oblem
shouldbesol ed.Thislimi sde elopmen .
4.2
Quo a ion2:
( esponden E)
Peopleandcompanieswhichsha e he
same aluebasein hei businesseswillbe
ai h ulcus ome s o us.
4.3
Quo a ion3:
( esponden F)
Inmyopinion, hep oblem ela ed o isk
inancingandscien i icandinno a i e
inancinginFinlandisagain,whe ecanyou
ge iskmoneyi no om isk unde s,
because he eis oomuch isk.Inmy
opinion, ha desc ibes hissi ua ionas
well.
Quo a ion4:
( esponden D)
I ook10yea s omcomingupwi h he
idea oac ualbusiness,so ha i s a ed o
makep o i .I akespe se e anceand
pe sis ence.
Quo a ion5:
( esponden C)
Fo example,i isno unde s ood ha in
p ocessindus ywedon’ p oducesomany,
i any(newp oduc s),likeinca gogoodso
in hechemicalindus y,whe e enso
hund edso newp oduc scomee e yyea .
Inou case,i canbeanimp o edp oduc
o imp o edp ocess.Andwhenwea e
esea chingsomeen i elynewissue, he
de elopmen wo kwilleasily ake10yea s.
I isdi e en han, o example,changing
heappea anceo akeyboa do
some hing.
4.4.1
Quo a ion6:
( esponden E)
S ongbelie innewness, ha youcan
change.Some imesyoujus need o y
you wingsandseei his hingiswo king.
Thisapplies osocie y,la geo ganiza ions,
e e y hing.Su e, he ea epeoplewhoa e
esis an ochange.Bu wedon’ ha eany
o he choice hanchange.And o es
indus yhaschangedinag ea way.
Quo a ion7:
( esponden A)
In ac ,asigni ican ba ie o apidchange
inou indus yis ha weha ein es edso
muchmoneyin hesela gep oduc ion
acili ies.Wecanno simplychangeou
p oduc ionac i i iesjus like ha .Wea e
in eg allybound oou cu en asse s.
S a ‐upscanchangedi ec ion a he as ,i
he i s ideadoesno wo k.
4.4.2
Quo a ion8:
( esponden F)
I is hequali yand eliabili yo Finnish
science.E e ybody alksabou i like his.
Nobodydeniesi .And hecoun y’s
epu a ionissocool ha e e ybody
wonde showwecanno sellou p oduc s.
Quo a ion9:
( esponden E)
Lea n oma ke andsellce ain ea u es o
hecus ome s.Ins eado ma e ial,sell he
ea u es ela ed owood ibe .Andyou
need oshi om hes ic habi so he
o es indus y.[…]Andexplain aluesand
wha heya e ela ed o.Dependingon he
di e en ma ke s,youneed o akea
ce ains anceinyou ma ke ing.
4.4.3
Quo a ion10:
( esponden D)
O cou se,pe sonnelisade ini e esou ce.
Wi hou people,wecanno doany hing.
Wi hou knowledge,wecanno do
any hing.Pa icula lyi we alkabou new
p oduc sandhow heya ede eloped.Ideas
come ompeople.
Quo a ion11:
( esponden E)
Andwhenweknow o es , ibe ,pulppa s
andwea ejoinedwi hpeople om he
cosme ics,ca o oodindus y,g ea hings
willbec ea ed.
4.4.4
Quo a ion12:
( esponden E)
I wes a wi h heo ganiza ion, he e
needs obeenough esou ces,ideasand
unlimi edinno a i eness.Le peoplein en
eely.Andin he i ms,weneeds ong
suppo om he opmanagemen o us o
mo e owa dnew hings.