Title: Human resources for entrepreneurship: comparing orientations of Estonian and Finnish business students

Authors: Tiit Elenurm, Aarni Moisala

Addresses: Estonian Business School, Lauteri 3, 10114 Tallinn, Estonia. ' Turku School of Economics, Helsinki School of Economics, Pohjoisranta 11A, 28100 Pori, Finland

Abstract: This paper highlights innovative and imitative orientations that lead to different entrepreneurial principles and influence human resource management practices. The research questions are: (i) what are the main entrepreneurial orientations among business students in Estonia and Finland and (ii) in what respect are these orientations different? The self-assessment tool for analysing entrepreneurial orientations was used by 313 Estonian students studying at the Estonian Business School and the University of Tallinn and 105 Finnish students at the Haaga-Helia University of Business and Applied Sciences in Helsinki in 2005–2006. Despite having different track records with a market economy, only a minority of all business students both from Estonia and Finland are orientated towards imitative entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship educators and coaches can use the self-assessment tool to tailor their development efforts to business and management implications of different orientations in the European integration context.

Keywords: co-creation; comparative study; cross-cultural differences; entrepreneurial orientation; Europe; entrepreneurship education; human resources; networking; self-development; Finland; Estonia; business students; human resource management; HRM.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2008.021248

European Journal of International Management, 2008 Vol.2 No.4, pp.454 - 470

Published online: 13 Nov 2008 *

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