Motivating Entrepreneurs Towards The "New Industrial Revolution" : A Multiple Case Study Of Sustainability-Driven Entrepreneurial And Institutional Motivations In Finland

Abstract: Sustainability and sustainable development are concerned as major topics in the current business and academic context. Although business entities are seen as a cause of the problem, they are similarly seen as a solution helping the world to survive from this enormous challenge. The current academic literature underlines the role of sustainable entrepreneurship as a decisive force, which helps to transform the profit-oriented paradigm into the “new industrial revolution”. In this context the motivating factors and their interactions behind the sustainable entrepreneurship are further unclear, which has lead to the following research questions: (1)  What entrepreneurial motivations in Finland affect entrepreneur’s decision to form and exploit sustainability-oriented opportunities? (2)  What institutional motivations in Finland affect entrepreneur’s decision to form and exploit sustainability-oriented opportunities? (3)  What are the interactions between entrepreneurial and institutional motivations affecting entrepreneur’s decision to form and exploit sustainability-oriented opportunities in Finland? The theoretical framework was constructed with a strong emphasis on entrepreneurial processes and opportunity theories. The main deviation from the conventional entrepreneurship towards the sustainable entrepreneurship was drawn through the wider nature of value creation in terms of triple bottom line approach. In addition the main motivational concepts were mirrored through the entrepreneurial motivations literature and the institutional theory, which provided effective theoretical lenses for the purpose of the empirical study.  The empirical study was conducted in Finland as a multiple case study with an exploratory research approach. The data was collected from sustainability-driven entrepreneurs and experts who had personal knowledge related to the phenomenon. More practical data collection methods were semi-structured interviews and questionnaires concerning entrepreneurial motivations. These selected methodological choices enabled accumulation of a rich set of data and provided further possibilities for fruitful data analysis.  The study indicated that human motivations related to the conventional entrepreneurship research are feasible in enhancing sustainable entrepreneurship. In the similar vein entrepreneurial motivations concerning self-realization, opportunities, personal values and prior experience have motivational effects on the sustainability-driven entrepreneur. Institutional motivations towards sustainable entrepreneurship are influential for the sustainability-oriented opportunity process. The analysis indicated that for example governmental incentives, consumption norms and social networks are motivating factors for sustainability-driven entrepreneurs. Finally the study indicated that both motivational sources have co-evolutive interactions throughout the process, but the intensity of these interactions similarly varied.