A request to focus on factors that promote the possibility to realize opportunities Some aspects of the public discussion concerning future economic landscape in Finland draw my attention. Do we remember the factors that created success in the past? Are we able to identify the characteristics of current situation and issues that have significant effect on the future development? Do we acknowledge our core competencies and are we able to effectively utilize the assets we possess? Yes, I am also referring to intellectual assets. The ways to utilize these are many. Despite of certain extremely valuable arrangements concerning financing of entrepreneurship and other support activities for start-ups, it seems to me that our society still carries several factors that delay, or at least do not encourage, e.g. first phases of entrepreneurship, the transition of an individual from the support of society to self employment, or deployment of ideas and innovational efforts. Are those who did not yet find their place in working life bound to wait for others to act, or could they make their self-initiated effort for better future? To start with and without going into details: to what extent and in which context is it necessary to distinguish a person with entrepreneur status from an employed or unemployed one? I claim that a change has already started, and I strongly assume it would be nearly impossible to stop it. The factors behind that change may lay e.g. in the pace of development, structural issues, uncertainty related matters, and globalization. In other words, flexibility in skills market should increase abilities to respond to changes in situations where the related markets are shaping. I generally think that in most cases building productive commercial small scale activity and networks should not need extensive programs to be successful. I like to think that one who has e.g. expertise, skill, motivation, or an idea should be able to exploit that asset to succeed. In my opinion, it is possible to build a framework that provides information and suggests solutions to issues that fall out of one's capability. It is often also time that matters. When entering any activity, we often need to involve others. The relations and circumstances can be multifaceted and many issues may change as time lapses and situations develop. The number dimensions increase, when we operate in international environment. I am personally interested in services. Although by nature services are labor intensive and for that reason often do not contain same potential for high level growth than products, certain knowledge intensive services play an important role in innovative activity and economic development. I make a distinction between factors that are embedded in our system, i.e. legal framework and related or supporting programs, and those that reflect differences between different regions or countries. I am working mostly with issues related to international trade and co-operation in general. I intend refer to our domestic public system only in special occasions, since it is generally out of the scope of my projects. However, for the reason that I am looking forward to changes in certain rules initiated by public sector, I will be more than happy to share my thoughts upon request. In forthcoming writings, I will make an effort to explain the reasoning behind and contents of my ongoing projects. I will most likely focus on co-operation, intellectual assets, business processes, selected trends, and international characteristics. I will be delighted to get any comments or questions.​ ​ lähetetty: 19. helmikuuta 2014, 0:45 Johanna Sandman, luokassa Mielipiteet