[jolepp]

HS: Doctoral thesis argues that Finnish family entrepreneurs value free time, while for their American counterparts money is everything

[Jasvox]

Interesting read, although it seems a little infomercial'ish.

I think Europeans in general value their free time or leisure time more than Americans, regardless if they are entrepreneurs or not. Of course this is a generalized statement, but gathered from my last 25 years of travel and from living in various places. I wonder how the Finns compare to Canadians, or Australians, or British or was this just an American comparison, which seems like a low hanging fruit for such a study.

Jason

[jolepp]

From the dissertation itself:

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on entrepreneurial identity constructions in the family business context through a cross-cultural lens. The study is interdisciplinary by nature aiming at contributing to the added understanding of how family business entrepreneurs construe their entrepreneurial identities. The empirical materials for this piece of research were gathered through thematic interviews from two different business cultural groups representing two different generations of family business entrepreneurs; ten family business members in Louisiana, USA and nine in Finland.

The empirical materials of this study were analyzed interpretatively and cross-culturally resulting in interpretations of entrepreneurial identity constructs in the family business context. The interpretations are indicative of identity structures that are temporal, culturally embedded and situated. The value systems of the two groups seem fairly similar in building on honesty, hard work and family as values.

The Louisianans appear to construct their entrepreneurial identities on portfolio entrepreneurship, money as value and networking skills expressed through a confident self-portrayal whereas the Finns appear to build theirs on being promoters of corporate entrepreneurship, having tolerance for envy, and seeing time as a value, expressed through a modest self-portrayal. Not all family business entrepreneurs perceive themselves as having an entrepreneurial identification as a part of their overall identities.

This study suggests that identity work can be valuable as a thinking tool for family business consultancy

http://julkaisut.jyu.fi/index.php?page=product&id=19671 (The study itself seems to be available for a fee here, I would imagine that this applies to a printed copy from the Uni press, but then I was unable to find a downloadable version with a quick Google around, which is a bit strange actually, I mean if I took the trouble to write something like this I would very much like as many people as possible to read it ).

The hack writing the HS piece seems to have been a bit smug about it . Also, I'm not so sure if entepreneurs who appear to have money as their primary goal are not in for the game, so to speak. Also, in general, it is very satisfying to toil to set up something and see it to work even if that something is completely virtual (?).

[Nesster]

Interesting... Dan Rather had a show on Finnish schools last night.
Dan Rather Reports – HDNet
Unlike e.g. in the US, time isn't spent on prepping for standardized tests... the school days are shorter than in most places, and teachers have time to work on stuff other than lecturing in front of the class... with all that the kids learn, Finland is at the top of PISA surveys


There's more than just the European preference for time over money... also Finnish society and behavioral norms are somewhat different. I find a lot of parallels between the schools and the entrepreneurs.

[jolepp]

It seems that we have (somehow ) managed to get much right about the public schools: the results are good, yet the schools are not terribly expensive to run (*). One aspect of it is that the system trusts the teachers, also adminstration is minimal (typically one of the teachers acting as a principal is all the local administration there is, the rest of it is also fairly lightweight). Teacher's salaries are also decent (that is, not terrible in comparison to other jobs requiring a college/university degree); the profession is also highly appreciated, the education to become a primary shcool teacher is one of the tougher ones to get in.

(*) Primary Level > Public Spending Per Student statistics - countries compared - NationMaster

[GeneV]

This seems to be something of a European model. It is similar to the outlook I perceived among my German friends. The Germans had quite a focus when at work, but tended to leave it behind when work was over.

[Nesster]

I think my grade would have been one of the last to go through the old way... after 4th grade you had to take academic tests, which then determined which 'high school' you went to, or if you went on the vocational track. At this point, on the academic track, you started all over again in 1st grade! I left after 3rd grade... on a visit back, I think everyone was in something like 10th then, there was a lot of vodka.

The learning back then was more rote, you had your lessons and the teacher spent his/her time asking questions - for which you raised your hand - and my friends told me that the year after I'd left the teachers would still call my name for answers out of habit. Oh yes, the old days American school was so easy after that, though the emphasis was on critical thinking rather than facts.

[mikemike]

I think the focus on money making would be more intense if they studied an american site other than LA where the culture is much more materialistic like Houston or DC. Louisiana and New Orleans have a very different culture than most places, there are lots of extremely successful businesses here that steadfastly refuse to grow because they are very happy with where they are. Many restaurants are extremely popular and have been for decades and continue with their original site and style instead of opening new locations, expanding, extending their hours (one of my favorites, Bon Ton Cafe doesn't even open on the weekends), or increasing their prices; if they were in any other place, they would be opening new locations in every zip code.

The examples they give really speak more to diversification, real estate and fast food franchises are one of those investments that are fairly straight forward if you've got the capital. When you look at family businesses, you also have sometimes a case where you have family members who may not be any good at or not interested in going down the same path, such as law, so one family member might get staked to start a business they would like or can handle, like a pest control company, and full or partial ownership of that business remains in the hands of the person who funded the business. I don't know how that kind of situation would be handled by a finnish family business, possibly putting that person on the payroll for a no show job, sending them out to find work with another employer, or just staking them and not retaining any ownership of the new business.

According to Laakkonen, the Louisiana business types are so-called portfolio entrepreneurs, who, in addition to the company that is based on their core competences, also have several other businesses on the go.
For example, a father and son who are trained lawyers run not just a legal practice but also a pest control company and real estate investments.
A father and daughter, who consider themselves morticians, have not just a funeral home but also oil & gas and warehouse businesses, plus a fast food chain.
“Often people like that do not have formal education in anything like all of the fields they specialise in, but their style of doing business has been inherited from previous generations.”
What characterises the American entrepreneurial identity is strong self-confidence and immeasurable belief in one’s own abilities.
“Without fear they are ready to expand their business into any field”, Laakkonen charges.

The Finns, in turn, stick to their own field, acquire education in it and develop their competence from the point of view of just one business activity.
In their value system, modesty is emphasised. The business activities are not something one brags about.
“What also emerged was the strong sense of responsibility that the Finnish entrepreneurs feel towards their employees”, Laakkonen says.

[wildman]

It is the age-old dichotomy between wealth being an end in itself or a means to an end.

In general, it is clear where Americans are along this continuum compared to Europeans.





"Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's"

[les3547]

Interesting... Dan Rather had a show on Finnish schools last night. .

Dan Rather Reports is the best news feature program I've ever seen. Rather consistently covers important events/subjects I had no clue were going on. FYI, the feature on Finnish schools will be repeated Saturday 1/21 at 12PM EST on HDNet TV.

[Nesster]

there are lots of extremely successful businesses here that steadfastly refuse to grow because they are very happy with where they are. Many restaurants are extremely popular and have been for decades and continue with their original site and style instead of opening new locations, expanding, extending their hours (one of my favorites, Bon Ton Cafe doesn't even open on the weekends), or increasing their prices; if they were in any other place, they would be opening new locations in every zip code.

This got me to thinking...

One could boil down business to the discovery of a process or product that attracts customers and provides a good return, and the subsequent replication of the same as often as possible (if maximizing return is the primary goal).

So what is this in the financial industry? I'll take the leveraged buyout firms aka vulture capitalists as an example, but a similar analysis would work for the CDO/mortgage market, and just about anything else in the industry.

The product is the 'unlocking of shareholder value' via a leveraged buy-out and subsequent restructuring of a company. Who are the customers?
a. the equity investors in the firm, both insiders and outsiders... i.e. the proprietors are also customers
b. the banks arranging the financing (for the banks, the firm is a customer)
c. the fixed income investor market

The demand, as long as c. is strong, is from a. and b. - one deal has to follow another in order to keep the income / capital gains pipeline full and at the levels required by the companies involved. In other words, a cycle starts with easy money (and arguably these may provide real economic value) and progresses towards less easy / less necessary (from the POV of the company being restructured) deals as supply starts to dry up.

There is nothing in this mechanism intrinsically to self limit until a series of failures provokes the market... this is otherwise known as a market melt down, a break, a crisis, and of course comes in various sizes from a small firm failure to a market-wide, global crisis.

So what else limits this replicating tendency of business? The attitude of the principals is one. The attitude of the society and public is another. This second is variously expressed, but in essence comes down to regulations and their enforcement. A third would be if another mechanism or product is introduced that now begins to extinguish the first.