Teemu Makkonen – författare

Enterprises located in rural regions face various challenges in the globalised and digitised world. This book offers comprehensive answers to the question of what makes up the rural enterprise economy in the contemporary business world. It addresses the competitiveness and viability, strategic management and strategic change, and marketing issues for both incumbent and start-up companies in rural regions. The book presents new concepts that shed light on the rural enterprise economy with its entrepreneurs.

With a broad range of cases from European regions, the book provides theoretical insights for scholars, practical case-based evidence for lecturers and teachers, and practical knowledge for business practitioners and planning specialists. Academic experts from European universities and research institutes provide compelling answers to this under-researched topic in business studies and economics.

Enterprises located in rural regions face various challenges in the globalised and digitised world. This book offers comprehensive answers to the question of what makes up the rural enterprise economy in the contemporary business world. It addresses the competitiveness and viability, strategic management and strategic change, and marketing issues for both incumbent and start-up companies in rural regions. The book presents new concepts that shed light on the rural enterprise economy with its entrepreneurs.

With a broad range of cases from European regions, the book provides theoretical insights for scholars, practical case-based evidence for lecturers and teachers, and practical knowledge for business practitioners and planning specialists. Academic experts from European universities and research institutes provide compelling answers to this under-researched topic in business studies and economics.

Enterprises in rural regions must now act in a globalized world and face global challenges, such as climate change, resource scarcities and social inequalities or the sustainability preferences of consumers. Rural start-up enterprises often strive to contribute to the solutions of global-scale problems, for example, the issues expressed by the United Nation´s Sustainable Development Goals, and for getting skilled labor into urban regions in order to make rural regions appealing to young people again. This book explores the management of sustainability issues in the context of the rural enterprise economy.

It sheds light on these challenges and opportunities by linking the rural enterprise economy and sustainability management. It provides practical evidence about how rural enterprises and rural entrepreneurs can handle sustainability requirements and contribute to sustainability transformations in terms of economic, environmental and social stability. In addition to its practical relevance, the motivation of the book is first and foremost to develop a common understanding of the necessary key terminology and core concepts in a still largely underexplored, yet rapidly expanding research field and contribute to theory development by employing a multidisciplinary approach. It offers state-of-the-art cases from various countries to question and approach unresolved research questions related to sustainability issues and the management of sustainability, which are both a requirement and an opportunity for entrepreneurs and enterprises in a rural context.

The book primarily targets scholars and researchers in economics and business research, entrepreneurship, innovation, regional planning, economic geography and sustainability management. It is also aimed at practitioners committed to enterprise development or entrepreneurship in rural regions and elsewhere, and policymakers and policy actors at different levels.