Esa Matikainen & Kari Mikkelä: Supporting the Business Ecosystem – Internationalisation of Finnish Digital Learning Business Cluster

Supporting the Business Ecosystem
1
Supporting the Business Ecosystem –
Internationalisation of Finnish Digital Learning Business Cluster
Dr. Esa Matikainen1
, Fennia Consulting Oy
Executive Producer Kari Mikkelä2
,Tomi Järvelin Desing Oy
Digital learning business, eLearning, is in Finland, a fragmented industry cluster where
internationalisation is critical for companies due to the small size of domestic markets. This article
describes the overall business ecosystem and stakeholder map of the emerging cluster of Finnish
digital learning business, and uses them to examine companies’ internationalisation paths and
enhancement of the internationalisation process. Variant internationalisation paths and strategies put
emphasis on different stakeholders.
For science parks to be useful from entrepreneurial perspective, they need to understand the
ecosystem where the entrepreneurial companies operate. Science parks need to determine their own
role in the ecosystem and improve their ability to provide the crucial links that the companies need to
succeed in both the regional and international marketplace. In practice this means moving from
facility to service focus, from passive actor to proactive orchestrator, and from marketing the science
parks to promoting the ecosystem development.
BACKGROUND
Digital learning business, eLearning, is an extremely fragmented industry cluster characterized by a
large number of micro companies and diverse customer segments. Fragmentation characterizes the
field also on the EU level (Massy 2005). According to a survey on Finnish learning business industry
(Lith, 2005, www.learningbusiness.fi), around 150 studied Finnish companies had a total turnover of
139 MEUR in 2003. Approximately 70 % of the companies operate in the capital region. (Table 1).
Company size, employees Number of
companies
Number of
employees
Turnover
(MEUR)
50 - 7 1040 59,4
20 - 49 14 344 32,1
10 - 19 17 226 19,8
5 – 9 28 186 13,3
Under 5 98 143 14,3
Total 164 1939 139,0
Table 1: Finnish Learning Business Clusters companies 2003.
1 Esa Matikainen has a doctoral degree from Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration. He has over ten years of experience in consulting assignments
including strategic measurement, stakeholder management and growth strategies of technology companies. Matikainen acts as a partner and board member of selected
growth companies such as an eLearning company Apprix that focuses on edugaming, and a management consultancy Fennia Consulting that specializes in e.g. board
and management development. During 1994-2001 Matikainen acted e.g. as a partner and Chairman of the Board at Nedecon, an Internet company listed in the NM list of
Helsinki Exchanges in 1999.
2 Kari Mikkelä, M.Sc. (Tech), post-graduate studies at Helsinki University of Technology, acted during the study as the Executive Producer of the Centre of Expertise for
Digital Media, Content Production and Learning Services in Finland. He is responsible for business growth and internationalization support for the Finnish digital learning
services industry. He is engaged in several national and international initiatives related to the business development of ICT-enabled services. From the late 1980’s Kari
Mikkelä has been the responsible partner in many telematic R&D programmes of the European Commission and Finnish authorities. He is an active board member of
several Finnish associations such as the Finnish eLearning Association, ISOC Finland and Finnish Association of Distance Education (FADE).

2
Due to the small size of domestic markets, the success of internationalisation is critical for both the
growth of companies and for the field to develop into a successful sub-cluster of the ICT field. The
current status and future vision of the cluster shares considerable similarities with the software
business as described in the Vision 2015 report of the software business, Ohjelmistoliiketoiminnan
osaamiskeskus 2005).
The strengths of the companies typically include product, technology and related competencies. Also
Finland’s strengths in the ICT sector and in international competitiveness studies can be considered as
strengths regarding internationalisation (see e.g. Tieke 2005). The commonly mentioned weaknesses
include the lack of financial resources, business competencies and awareness of the target markets as
well as low recognition of the companies (see e.g. Finpro 2005).
In addition to traditional means of internationalisation like exports, establishment of sales and
production units and product licensing, new forms of internationalisation are emerging, such as project
cooperation, internationalisation through customers, as well as customer acquisition and learning
through alliances and networks (see also Finnvera 2001).
OBJECTIVES
This paper aims to set the scene for understanding the overall business ecosystem and stakeholder map
of the emerging cluster of the Finnish digital learning businesses, thus helping science parks to
understand and find their role in the ecosystem of which they are part of. What can be done to enhance
the growth and successful internationalisation of small companies?
This article describes the stakeholder map of the emerging cluster of Finnish digital learning business,
and uses it to examine companies’ internationalisation paths and enhancement of the
internationalisation process. Obtaining access to customers in the target markets is a costly and time-
consuming process. Taking into account the characteristics of the field, this study aims to answer the
question: “What can nevertheless be done to enhance success of companies’ internationalisation?”
An additional objective is to improve the holistic view of the field and provide some concrete thoughts
for company management for business development and internationalisation planning. Also
recommendations for industry development (see also Koskinen et al. 2004 and Ohjelmistoliike-
toiminnan osaamiskeskus 2005) and public actions (see also Markkula 2004) are provided.
RESEARCH METHOD
The research was conducted in spring 2005, deepened through six case studies and 17 expert
interviews. The research has been conducted as part of the GENRE program as a joint project by
Culminatum and Fennia Consulting.
The research was conducted as a case study, where preliminary conclusions drafted based on literature
and researcher’s pre-understanding were modified, deepened and sharpened through case studies. The
purpose was to produce as practicable conclusions tied to companies’ real-life situation as possible.
In selecting the case studies it was considered important that the case companies differ in both the
nature of business, and the degree and strategies of internationalisation. In that way, variant
internationalisation paths could be described, hopefully resulting in increased awareness of companies
regarding the means and opportunities for internationalisation.
Due to the nature of the research method, the article cannot and does not intend to present statistically
valid paths to success. Each company needs to make its own choices from its own starting points, but
the study is expected to provide stimulus for internationalisation planning in the companies. Various
forms of internationalisation such as joint ventures, exports, OEM manufacturing and franchising have
been dealt with in e.g. Finnvera’s workbooks for internationalisation (Finnvera 2001). This article

3
examines in particular the internationalisation paths described through the stakeholder map, and the
stakeholders, which have proved critical for case companies in the various phases of their
internationalisation.
The study is not intended to function as a guide to target market choices, which require first hand
knowledge on the target markets conditions collected from each company’s starting points. The
market areas of selected companies vary considerably, one generates most of the revenue from US and
England, another operates mainly in the Arab Emirates, and yet another emphasizes EU projects and
nearby territories in their international operations.
Six case company representatives were interviewed in the study. In addition, the subjects were
discussed with 17 other experts of the field. The interviews overhauled among others the following
questions:
Views on the stakeholder map: Is the preliminary division sound and practicable? Are essential or
potentially useful stakeholders missing? The main objective of this was validation of the starting
points of the study.
Internationalisation strategy: What are the key success factors for the company in international
operations? What is the current phase of internationalisation and how it has proceeded? What are the
aims and goals of internationalisation?
Internationalisation path and cooperation with stakeholders: Which stakeholders have been the most
important ones in each of the internationalisation steps? What are the stakeholders with whom it
is/would have been useful to cooperate more deeply with? What kind of problems has been observed
in cooperation with stakeholders?
Decision making: How is the decision making / planning process related to internationalisation or the
start thereof? Which have been the key milestones?
Competencies: What kind of competencies is required by internationalisation and how those should be
developed?
In each case, the questions were adapted in open format discussions with the case company
representatives to the issues, which were considered important. The experience of the researcher, and
an entrepreneur type of involvement in the industry helped in understanding the starting points and in
concentrating on the essential matters.
THEORETICAL APPROACH: BUSINESS ECOSYSTEMS AND RELATIONSHIP
GOVERNANCE
A business ecosystem means broadly the various actors, the companies’ stakeholders, and their
interrelationships in the field. James Moore book “The Death of Competition, Leadership and Strategy
in the Age of Business Ecosystems” (Moore 1996) can be considered as one corner stone of the
business ecosystems perspective. The key concepts of the perspective have been borrowed from
biology, where a large multitude of species lives in a balanced, symbiotic interaction.
According to the ecosystem thinking, the success of one particular company depends on the
development of the whole business ecosystem. Iansiti and Levian (2004) note in their Harvard
Business Review article ”Strategy as Ecology”, that “stand-alone strategies don’t work when your
company’s success depends on the collective health of the organisations that influence the creation and
delivery of your product. Knowing what to do requires understanding the ecosystem and your
organisation’s role in it.”
The basis of ecosystems perspective is the relationships and networks of relationships between the
stakeholder organisations. Interorganisational relationships have been intensively examined since the
1980’s (e.g. Jarillo 1988, Oliver 1990). The relationships between the company and its stakeholders
can be examined as a continuum from short-term competitive relationships to long-term relationships

4
emphasizing cooperation and mutual benefits (e.g. Morgan & Hunt 1994, Duncan & Moriarty 1998).
The relationships between the company and its stakeholders have also been examined from the
perspective of economic theories such as transaction cost theory, agency theory, game theory and
contract law. According to those, the key issue is to define an efficient governance mechanism for
each relationships depending on the characteristics of that particular relationship (Matikainen 1998).
Network approach is a similar perspective, and has been increasingly studied since the 1990’s (e.g.
Håkansson & Snehota 1995, Möller & Wilson 1995). Network approach has also been adapted in
several studies in the ICT sector (McGee & Bonnici 2002 among others), and several public actors
such as Tekes and Culminatum see themselves as orchestrators of the network formed by the players
in the Finnish innovation environment.
From company management perspective it is important to notice that design and management of
interorganisational relationships has become a strategic decision variable on its won right (e.g. Heide
1994). This kind of stakeholder management seeks for an optimal, “efficient” relationship with each
stakeholder and fit between the different actors in the network of stakeholder relationships (e.g.
Kankkunen et al. 1995). The company management needs to determine those stakeholders in the
operating environment with whom it primarily wants to operate, and what kind of relationship it wants
to have with each stakeholder at a given time. The selection is affected by the current and desired
nature of the company, and the business context including the level of turbulence and the complexity
of its relationships with others in the ecosystem (Iansiti & Levian 2004).
Iansiti and Levian (2004) have also examined company’s choice of ecosystems strategy, which is
governed primarily by the kind of company it is or aims to be, but also the general level of turbulence
and the complexity of its relationships with others in the ecosystem. If your business faces rapid and
constant change and, by leveraging the assets of other firms, can focus on a narrowly ad clearly
defined business segment, a niche strategy developing your own specialized expertise may be most
appropriate. If your business relies on a complex network of external assets but operates in a mature
industry, you may choose a physical dominator strategy, moving to directly controlling the assets your
company needs by acquiring your partners or otherwise taking over their functions. If your business is
at the center of a complex network of asset-sharing relationships and operates in a turbulent
environment, a keystone strategy may be the most effective. By carefully managing the widely
distributed assets your company relies on – in part by sharing with your business partners the wealth
generated by those assets – you can capitalize on the entire ecosystem’s ability to generate, because of
its diversity, innovative responses to disruptions in the environment. If, however, your business
chooses to extract maximum value from the network of assets, the value dominator strategy, you may
end up starving and ultimately destroying the ecosystem of which you are a part. This makes the
approach a fundamentally flawed strategy. The strategy choices are illustrated in the following figure.

5
Figure 1 Matching your ecosystem strategy to your environment (Iansiti & Levian 2004)
Trust and reputation are essential factors in development and management of relationships (e.g.
Ganesan 1994, Matikainen 1998). Building of trust in customer-supplier relationships is a process,
where trust and reputation are built based on several interactions and deliveries. Especially gaining
access to a foreign target market is a costly and time-consuming process. The process can be
accelerated by creating trust/credibility links through cooperation with parties, who already have
(directly or through one or several links) good connections with the customers in the target market.
Norms and common values guiding the cooperation have already developed in ongoing long-term
relationships. Those guarantee the continuation of the relationship and gaining long-term benefits
(Husted 1994, Heide 1994), thus providing the other party with the trust required to recommend
cooperation to be build with other parties as well.
Sawhney and Parikh (2001) state the in a networked world, value is created at the ends of the networks
which are closest to the customer, shared infrastructure enabling flow of information, modular
competencies and operations, which fit well to as many value chains as possible, and by orchestration,
that is the ability to coordinate and connect the parts of the value chain. They even state, that: ”in a
networked world, more money can be made in managing interactions than in performing actions (p.
82)”.
According to the perspectives presented, this study examines specifically the cooperative
interorganisational relationships, and links through which a Finnish eLearning company can gain
access to the customers in the target market.
THE FINNISH ELEARNING ECOSYSTEM
The Finnish eLearning ecosystem is founded on four faster than GNP growing business clusters
ostensibly developing separately: i) The ICT cluster (15 Billion Euro), ii) the content production
cluster (5 Billion Euro) and iii) the KIBS (Knowledge Intensive Business Services) cluster (9 Billion
Euro).
The fourth ”cluster” contains the customer organizations. One of their role is to act as buyers:
consuming services provided by other clusters (i, ii, iii) developing knowledge, competences and the
productivity of knowledge work; another one of their roles is to produce these solutions also
internally. Several surveys estimate that approximately a half of the added value of the field is created
expressly within the customer organizations. The customer cluster is therefore a significant creator of
value within the eLearning field, even though it is difficult to measure its exact volume by using
existing economic measures.
The eLearning ”field” has grown interwoven into the clusters mentioned above. It is the glue tying the
value of the various clusters into solutions meeting the needs of the customers. The vendors operating
within the eLearning field can either be focused solely on eLearning, or they offer eLearning as an
alternative service or product within their product portfolio, or then they are companies, which deliver
other solutions which have externality value when used for competence development purposes by the
customers. The companies working within the eLearning field possess different competences
separating them from other actors.
From a more granular view the Finnish eLearning ecosystem consists of a large number of different
actors, which have been classified as illustrated in the following Figure 2. The actors have been
divided into 12 categories, which are customers, training organizations, public organizations,
authorities, financers, owners, personnel, content partners/competitors, technology
partners/competitors, support services, media, and traditional distributors. In addition, the ecosystem
has been divided into five levels (circles) according to the degree of involvement in the day-to-day
operations of the companies in the field.

6
A more specific description of each of the categories and levels is presented in the following. It should
be noticed, that the borders between the categories and the levels are fluctuant and change from one
company and situation to another. The purpose is to illustrate the ecosystem and the stakeholders
therein, and the division should not be read in absolute terms.
The division is described in the following. The board or management of the internationalising
company being the key decision maker when it comes to strategy and internationalisation within the
limits of shareholders’ vision and risk-taking capability, has been placed in the core of the map.
• 1st level: A partnering level actively involving in a company’s operations, mainly its own
personnel, active owners, (hopefully) customers’ internal teams and strategic partners. Main
challenge on this level: creating sustainable customer-vendor mini-clusters.
• 2nd level: The traditional industry level, including among others a customer’s personnel
participating in decision making, other eLearning companies, and public organisations with
continuous involvement in the field such as Culminatum and Association of Finnish eLearning
Center. Main challenge on this level: developing industry-specific core competences.
• 3rd level: A cluster level including actors with strong relationships with each other. The cluster
includes several industries such as publishers and IT system integrators, KIBS companies as well
as direct support services, TE-Centres and media services companies. Main challenge on this
level: positioning the industry among other clusters and developing viable business models.
• 4th level: Finnish ecosystem level, which forms the general operating environment, the reality
without which the system is not functional. The ecosystem level includes, among others, the
general financers and authorities who have no active role in the field or direct impact on the
companies, but which are there when needed. The actors in the ecosystem often have a strong
indirect impact on the companies. Main challenge on this level: embedding the eLearning
ecosystem into the national innovation environment.
• 5th level: International level, which often operates as a link to the similar ecosystems on the
foreign target markets. Main challenge on this level: using existing domestic strengths when
leveraging growth internationally. Strategic choice as to whether intensive growth is to rely on
content, technology, service or customer-intimacy.

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OWNERS
PERSON-
NEL
CUSTO-
MERS
AUTHORITIES
TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS/COMPETITORS
PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS
SUPPORT SERVICES
FINANCERS
TRAINING ORGANISATIONS
CONTENT PARTNERS/
COMPETITORS
MEDIA
Customer’s contact
persons
Participants/IT personnelBoard/mgmt of
the intl company
Internet
ecommerce
sties
IT system
integrators
Suppliers of
programming
services
Research institutes
Professional
organizations
and unions
Suppliers of news
services
Software
suppliers
Part-timers and
freelancers
Continuous work as
subcontracting
Own employees
Other ministries
Culminatum Ltd.
Tax authorities
Ministry of Trade and
Industry
Participating venture
capitalists
Partners/o
wners
Potential new shareholding
partners
Decision makers/
Purchasers
Book stores
TEKES
Passive owners
Occational work as
subcontracting
Work for hire
companies
Potential
employees
Media companies
Citizens
TE-Centres
Finnvera
Universities
Polytechnics
and vocational
institutions
Intl media
Industry’s media
Courts of law
Law firms
Management
consulting
PR, communications
and advertising
Business angels
Current financiers
Chambers of
Commerce
Company-specific
content partners
Media services
companies
Import companies in
specific industries
Internet
companies
Stock
exhanges
Banks/financial
institutions
End users
Parent and/or
subsidiaries
EU structural funds
Industry
associations
Recruiting
services
Alumni
Schools
Other personnel
in customer
organizations
National
media
Other SME
eLearning
companies
Head hunters
Finpro
Intl venture
capitalists
Other intl
financial
markets
Itnl locations of
customer
organizations
Intl parents of
customer
organizations
Related industries and
networks of customer
organizations
Foreign research
institutes and
organizations
Foreign universities
Multinational
content producers
Related intl
organizations
and networks
Foreign locations and networks
of support services
organizations
IT equipment and
software stores
Company’s
personnel
abroad
EU and Nordic
financial institutes
Incubators
Foundations
Sitra
Finnish
Industry
Investment
Association of
Finnish
eLearning
center
Potential
managers
Multinational technology
companies
Publishers
eLearning
units of large
companies
EU projects and
networks
Private training
organizations.
Teleoperators
Potential board
members
Organizers of export
rings
TRADI-
TIONAL DISTRI-
BUTORS
Figure 2 The Finnish eLearning ecosystem
A brief description of the 12 categories and their main interests is presented in the
following.Customers: Customers’ main interest is to implement and exploit learning solutions that
benefit their operations. Several parties are involved in the purchasing process including customer’s
contact person (e.g. HR Manager or eLearning Manager), purchaser, and IT personnel. The key issues
are purchasing competence and the ability to implement and gain wide acceptance in their
organisations.
Training organisations: Training organisations’ main interest is to support their own training activities
with eLearning solutions. The field of training organisations is also fragmented ranging from schools
to higher education and to private training organisations. Some eLearning companies consider training
organisation or a particular sub-segment thereof as the key customer base.
Public organisations: The main interest of these organisations is to promote national prosperity and
competitiveness through innovations, commercialisation and international success of industry clusters.
eLearning is one interesting field for these organisations as a sub-cluster of the ICT sector.
Owners: Basically the main interest of the owners is to increase the value of the company. Owners’
risk taking ability and willingness, as well as the desired future regarding realisation of the value
gained, vary to a large extent. Venture capitalists’ interest towards the field has decreased due to
slower than expected development and losses occurred over the first years.
Financers: Financers’ interest is to invest capital either with strictly commercial terms or with various
forms of subsidies. Unlike venture capitalists, the financers operating on commercial terms seek for
relatively low risk companies and demand guarantees for their investment. eLearning companies’ debt
ratios are typically low compared to traditional industries due to small investment need when setting
up a company.
Authorities: The main interest of authorities is to control the legitimacy and improving the conditions
of business in general. There are no special regulations in the field and the relationships are normal

8
business-authority relationships, except regarding authorities in the field of education, which have
special interests towards the eLearning field.
Personnel: Personnel’s main interests are typical work related factors such as work motivation, work
atmosphere, salary and other incentives. Deviating from traditional business operations, e.g. free-
lancers and part time employees are used to a large extent. There the division between subcontracting
and employment relation is often a line drawn in the water.
Content partners/competitors: The main interest of these organisations is profitable growth of their
own business. eLearning companies, their products and services may at the same time be both partners
and competitors. The precise line between competition and cooperation is hard to define.
Technology partners/competitors: The organisations in question may serve as one distribution channel
to the eLearning companies although the established practices have not developed to such for the
present. Some of the big technology suppliers have their own units, which have specialised in
eLearning solutions and are often relatively large compared to the micro companies of the field.
Support services: The main interest of these companies operating on commercial basis is sales of own
know-how and services. The eLearning companies do not form a major customer group even to any
provider of support services but on these there is valuable know-how, which helps companies forward
better than doing all the matters themselves.
Media: The main interest of the media is to offer its target group information, story or another
message, which sells. The possibility offered by the media is especially in expanding recognition,
which has been identified as one the central obstacles of the internationalisation. The entrance to the
medium requires attention value.
Traditional distributors: The traditional distributors' interest is to get an own margin by bringing the
principals' products and services within the reach of the customers. Certain type of products such as
teaching material packed on the CDs are suitable to be distributed through traditional distribution
channels such as bookshops (or the online stores), but there are no established distribution channels to
a large part of the products/services of eLearning companies.
The Ecosystem as a forum of cooperation
Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004) presented a model according to which the role of the markets
changes from a forum of exchange to a link in a creative process (value network) and a customer
forum. Interaction between the provider and the customer must be improved (Harju et al., 2004). The
customer-driven approach requires closer cooperation with the customer networks, allowing
intensified dialogue and integration of customer organisations into industrial value networks.
Necessitating interaction is the only way to enhance mutual understanding of the benefits of digital
learning solutions between the provider and the customer. The Centre for Digital Media, Contents
Production and Learning Services aims at supporting interaction between the customer and the
provider, and at forming customer communities sharing best practices. As a facilitator it provides fora
and channels for support services and monitors the industry in cooperation with R&D organisations
and other players within the Finnish innovation environment.
The question is how could science parks support interaction between the customer and the provider,
and linking the customer communities to providers.
INTERNATIONALISATION OF CASE COMPANIES
Each target market has its corresponding ecosystem. Paths of the internationalisation of companies are
defined from the way and from those stakeholders with which the company gets access to the
customers in the target market. Sometimes this path goes through traditional distribution channels to
the end customers, but often the paths are found in a different combination of technology and/or

9
content partners, public and private support parties committed to the internationalisation project, as
well as other stakeholders.
Figure 3 Summary of the internationalisation of the examined case companies
Each case company has been examined through the aims, stages and paths of the internationalisation.
Furthermore it has been identified, which stakeholders are central from the point of view of the
internationalisation path, which are the key factors connected to the decision-making, and which
capabilities are needed. In the following these matters have been described separately from the point
of view of each case company. The summary is shown in Figure 3.
Fountain Park
Fountain Park is a 25 person company established in 2000 whose turnover is approximately 2,5
million euros. The staff owns 87 % of the company and 10 outside investors own 13 %. The business
of the company is divided into two parts, into the web-aided change consultancy services on the
domestic market and into an expansive software product business on the international market.
The company has utilised an external experience in its board of directors already from the outset in,
and aims to grow on the selected target markets. The company has a strong desire on the US and
Sweden's market. The ways of internationalisation vary depending on the market area.
The internationalisation is not carried out with venture capital but organically with a small risk, in
which case cost-efficient solutions are necessary. The desire, or vision, is important so that the right
possibilities can be identified. There must also be space for utilising emerging opportunities. As
capabilities and properties, which are central from the point of view of internationalisation the
company mentions, among others, healthy self-esteem, the knowledge of the culture (negotiation
culture, the rules of the business, jurisprudence etc.) and unyieldingness. The homework must be made
and proceeding must be step by step.

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Customer’s local
contact persons
Participants/IT
personnel
Kansain-
välistyvän
yrityksen
paikallinen
toiminta
IT system
integrators
Suppliers of
programming
services
Research institutes
Professional
organizations
and unions
Suppliers of
news services
Software
suppliers
Part-timers and
freelancers
Continuous work
as subcontracting
Own
employees
Ministries
Tax
authorities
Local shareholding
partners
Potential new
owners
Decision makers/
Purchasers
Local TEKES
etc. offices
Passive
shareholders
Occational work
as subcontracting
Work for hire companies
Potential
employees
Media companies
Citizens
Finnvera
Universities
Polytechnics and
vocational institutions
Intl media
Industry’s
media
Courts of law
Law firms
Management
consulting
PR, communications
and advertising
Potential
equity
investors
Current investors
Chambers of
Commerce
Company-
specific content
partners
Media
services
companies
Internet
companies
Stock
exchange
Banks and other
financial institutions
End users
Own parent/
subsidiaries
EU projects
Associations in
related industries
Recruiting
services
Alumni
Schools
Other personnel
in customer org.
National
media
Local
eLearning
companies
Head hunters
Finland
Trade
Centers
Intl equity
investors
Intl financial
markets
Itnl locations of
customer
organizations
Intl parents of
customer
organizations
Related industries
and networks of
customer
organizations
Foreign research
institutes and
organizations
Foreign
universities
eLearning
organisations
Related intl
organizations
and networks
Foreign locations and
networks of support services
organizations
Company’s
personnel abroad
Finnish
associations,
individuals
Embassies
Potential JV
partners
Internet
ecommerce
sties
Book stores
Import companies
in specific
industries
IT equipment and
software storesPotential
managers
Multinational
content producers
Multinational
technology
companies
Publishers
eLearning
units of large
companies
EU institutions
and networks
Potential board
members
Development
communities
Equipment
manufacturers
OWNERS
PERSON-
NEL
CUSTO-
MERS
AUTHORITIES
TECHNOLOGY
PARTNERS/COMPETITORS
SUPPORT SERVICES
FINANCERS
TRAINING
ORGANISATIONS
CONTENT
PARTNERS/
COMPETITORS MEDIA
Customer’s
contact persons
Participants/IT
personnel
Board/mgmt
of the intl
company
Internet
ecommerce
sties
IT system
integrators
Suppliers of
programming
services
Research institutes
Professional
organizations
and unions
Suppliers of
news services
Software
suppliers
Part-timers and
freelancers
Continuous work
as subcontracting
Own
employees
Other ministries
(Education, Labour etc.)
Culminatum
Tax authorities
Ministry of Trade
and Industry
Participating
venture capitalists
Partners/
owners
Potential new
shareholding partners
Decision makers/
Purchasers
Book stores
TEKES
Passive owners
Occational work
as subcontracting
Work for hire
companies
Potential
employees
Media companies
Citizens
TE-Centres
Finnvera
Universities
Polytechnics
and vocational
institutions
Intl media
Industry’s
media
Courts of law
Law firms
Management
consulting
PR, communications
and advertising
Business angels
Current financiers
Chambers of
Commerce
Company-specific
content partners
Media
services
companies
Import companies in
specific industries
Internet
companies
Stock
exhanges
Banks and other
financial
institutions
End users
Parent and/or
subsidiaries
Diges
EU projects
EU structural funds
(e.g. ESR, EAKR)
Technology
Industries of
Finland
Recruiting
services
Alumni
Schools
Other personnel
in customer
organizations
National
media
Other SME
eLearning
companies
Head hunters
Finpro
Intl venture
capitalists
Other intl
financial
markets
Itnl locations
of customer
organizations
Intl parents of
customer
organizations
Related industries and
networks of customer
organizations
Foreign research
institutes and
organizations
Foreign
universities
Multinational
content producers
SATU
Related intl
organizations
and networks
Foreign locations and
networks of support services
organizations
IT equipment and
software stores
Company’s
personnel
abroad
Nordic financiers
(Nopef, NIB, NICe)
EU financial
institutes (e.g.
EIP, EIF)
Incubators
Foundation for
Finnish Inventions
Sitra
Finnish
Industry
Investment
Association
of Finnish
eLearning
center
Potential
managers
Multinational
technology companies
Publishers
eLearning
units of large
companies
EU networks
(EIfEL, ELIG etc.)
TIEKE
Private training
organizations.
Teleoperators
Potential board
members
Organizers of
export rings
SME Foundation
TRADI-
TIONAL
DISTRI-
BUTORS
Private training
organizations.
Teleoperators
OWNERS
PERSON-
NEL
CUSTO-
MERS
AUTHORITIES
TECHNOLOGY
PARTNERS/COMPETITORS
SUPPORT SERVICES
FINANCERS
TRAINING
ORGANISATIONS
CONTENT
PARTNERS/
COMPETITORS MEDIA
TRADI-
TIONAL
DISTRI-
BUTORS
CASE: Fountain Park
USA
Ruotsi
Japani
Suorat projektit
GSW-ohjelma
FINNISH ELEARNING ECOSYSTEM
ELEARNING ECOSYSTEM OF THE TARGET MARKET
Figure 4 Links between the company and the target market ecosystem, Fountain Park, USA

11
US. On the US market the effort was begun at the end of 2003 in the Global Software programme. The
programme and network brought by it (among others, the new American member of the board who
opens the door) are considered central in order to succeed, although more cost-efficient ways are
looked for. In the US there is an office lead by one Finnish partner of the company in San Jose in
Silicon Valley. The help is a half-day consultant and the new board member locally. Also the local
process support of Tekes has been important.
First the market was entered with one product. Now this approach has been seen too narrow and stated
that one must go with a wider selection from which the customer can choose the ones which best
respond to the need. It also is important to show that the technological base develops all the time. The
first customer project started through a consultant company acting as a VAR (value-adding reseller).
Proceeding via VARs is considered as a good possibility.
The path of Fountain Park to the US market, the stakeholders and cooperation links, which are
important from the point of view of the market in question, are illustrated by Figure 4.
The corresponding descriptions have also been drawn up of other case companies and paths of their
internationalisation. From two to four different paths were typically perceived with each case company
varying depending on the target market and on the business models. Due to limited space available, is
not possible to present all the descriptions in this article.
HCI Productions
HCI Productions is a small and innovative company specialising in the Internet based learning and
performance solutions. The company offers solutions based on the customers' needs in following
areas: eLearning, eHR solutions, electronic performance support systems, data collection, professional
portals and project applications. The long time experience and network of the principal owner have a
crucial effect from the point of view of the success of the company.
The internationalisation takes place moderately with the operational cash flow. There are several
forms of international operation. The company attempts actively to be a project supplier of the UN
organisations and the World Bank, it seeks markets independently according to its strong areas,
participates in the EU and neighbouring area projects with cooperation partners, and furthermore, has
developed a product called Online International Project Management, which it is possible to utilise
internationally.
Good partnering skills, a strong knowledge of the clientele (public administration, EU and
neighbouring areas) and monitoring and interpretation ability of the field are considered as key
capabilities for internationalisation. Furthermore, the CVs and references must be in order and the
product/service offering must be clear.
Mediamaisteri Group
Mediamaisteri Group is the expert company of the eLearning whose objective is to support the
processes of web-based learning. The business of the company consists of training and consultation,
content production and technology. The company has 18 workers and its growth is self-financed.
The consultation and training take place in the domestic market. Internationalisation is seen necessary
in order to grow the next level, to a few million euros of revenue.
The internationalisation is carried out at the moment in two ways. In the content production an
interactive web-based training package has been built for the training of the data terminal equipment
of the TETRA authorities’ network, THR 880. For the technology the emphasis is on the Moodle open
source learning platform and related services.
The strategic objective of the company is to get to the international mass market on which there are
big volumes. The price of the products must be competitive and the cost structure of the company
must be correct. In the company it is seen that the quick development of the business requires a
straightforward approach.
The THR 880 training package combines from Mediamaisteri’s perspective in a promising way the
following:

12
1. Product along the famous partner's side. The demand for the product will follow the demand for the
authorities’ network directly and the partnership with the famous player enables success when the
authorities’ networks are sold with extensive resources.
2.Precise selling. The company knows precisely who have acquired authorities’ network, in which
case the sales are not shots in the dark but the sales efforts can be targeted very carefully. The
company tries to tie distribution partnerships with the same parties, which sell data terminal equipment
as Telering in Finland.
3. Mass market. Mediamaisteri estimates that there are tens of millions of authorities in the world, who
are potential customers to the training package.
4. Showing of the value. It is a question of a very specific training need. In any case the introduction
of the authorities’ network and of the related data terminal equipment requires training. The
advantages of the web-based training package for the cost and time savings as well as accessibility can
be more easily shown than in many other eLearning solutions.
Prewise Group OyPrewise is the expert company of information marketing offering its customers the
consultancy, content and technology solutions to the area of eLearning and ePublishing. In the
company there are 35 employees. Prewise began its operations through an MBO 1.4.2004 when the
technology functions and part of the team of the digital communication of Evia Helsinki withdrew to
be its own company. In June 2004 an eLearning company Knowledge Capital Communications with a
few employees was connected Prewise with an acquisition.
The functions of Prewise Group are divided into three affiliated companies for which Prewise Finland
is responsible for Finland's business activities. UAB Prewise in Vilnius (Lithuania) and Prewise
Middle East Oy in Abu Dhabi (the United Arab Emirates) are responsible for business activities in
their own market areas.
The international operation is relatively large-scale project deliveries in the eLearning scale. In each
market area it is important to find a so-called core revenue stream, with which a cash flow maintaining
the business is guaranteed. The internationalisation is conducted with self-financing and it is often
challenging to arrange guarantees and project financing. Capabilities which are important for
internationalisation include, among others, language skills, understanding of the international frame of
reference and basis for business as well as negotiation skills. In the board of directors the outside
members of the company are used as sparring help.
Promentor Solutions
Promentor Solutions has been established in 1987 and is thus one of the oldest companies of the
eLearning field in Finland. The company has 11 employees at the moment. It is a family business in
which the decision making power has concentrated to the owner entrepreneur.
The product of the company is a Promentor training solution and related language course modules, and
other tailored educational materials. The ready language products fit into company use, into
educational institution use and for home users. Promentor has gained hundreds of companies and
educational institutions as its customer in Finland. The support parties and EU projects in which the
company has been actively involved also have had strong significance in operations.
The company attempted entry to German market in the early 1990's but withdrew in 1995. The
company decided to try possibilities in 2000 on Norway's market at very limited costs. Norway was
approached in a similar way as Germany earlier. As the activator of Norway's operation a Finn who
moved to Norway was found. His task was sales to the local client organisations. Norway's operation
was organised with an own sales office instead of a subsidiary. The company withdrew from the
market after an experiment period of 6 months. The sales efforts were seen as a cost-efficient market
research.

13
At the present the company has got already about 200.000 users to its products in Finland and sees
internationalisation as a possibility if the right methods and resources are found. The possible methods
for the internationalisation are, among others, the utilising of Internet online stores. The product is sold
to the companies partly as tailored parcels, but it is saleable also as packages sold directly to the users.
It also is important to get wider access to the customers' through their Intranets and other similar
solutions. As capabilities, which are central for the internationalisation, the company mentions, among
others, language skills, understanding of the local market and partnership know-how. Furthermore, the
product must be made a marketable product up to the end (the brochures etc.).
SANAKO Corporation
Sanako is one the biggest companies of the eLearning field in Finland with its turnover of 11 million
euros. The company develops and implements technological solutions of language teaching and is the
world's leading supplier of high level language laboratories. The company has delivered its systems to
altogether 16.000 different universities, schools or to another educational institutions in nearly 100
countries.
The company began its business in 1961 when a Norwegian technology company Tandberg
implemented the first language laboratory. In the mid 1980's Finnish Teleste bought the teaching unit
of Tandberg and produced in 1991 the worlds' first language laboratory with a PC based graphic user
interface as well as other innovations during the 1990's. The Norwegian root broke but left the global
distribution channel and the brand stayed. In 2001 an MBO was carried out in this unit of Teleste with
support of capital investors. As a consequence of which an independent company Divace was born,
which in the autumn of 2003 was named again as SANAKO.
The business of the company has changed strongly in the course of the years from traditional
instruments of language teaching to the progressive technologies such as virtual language laboratories.
For example the share of hardware in the deliveries has fallen from more than 80 % to about 10 %.
The unit prices have fallen and the competence requirements have grown. The sales cycles are long
and the building of the customer portfolio on a target market takes 2-3 years typically.
The company has its own sales offices in Bradford in UK in New York in US and Shanghai in China.
US and England both establish about a third of company’s turnover. Furthermore the company has
roughly 80 distributors in different parts of the world. The company sees that it is relatively easy to tie
distribution partnerships but the real challenge is how it would make the channels do the active selling.
It is difficult to find the surplus value for the distributors when the unit price falls, and when Sanako’s
share in the deliveries can be even only a few thousands.
For the creation of the demand important are connections to the opinion influencers and press as well
as participation in the events of the field. Also World Bank and development banks such as IDB and
ADB are important, because they govern projects in which there are considerable amounts of money.
Correspondingly reaching to the school level e.g. Foreign Ministry’s and development aid projects are
significant. Sanako also cooperates worldwide with the significant technology suppliers (e.g. VoIP)
and contents partners such as BBC and Prentice Hall regarding product development.
The case companies represent a variety of different business models, and thus have different
challenges in the process of internationalization. The key challenges for the case companies are
summarized in the following.
Fountain Park could be considered mainly as a service company. Its main challenge in
internationalisation is that instead of just the software product it should be able to copy the whole
business network to a foreign business ecosystem in order to gain clients and credibility. This is a
time-consuming process.

14
HCI Produtions is a craftsman type of company relying heavily on the experience and contact network
of the owner-entrepreneur. The main challenge in order to gain larger international presence is to
develop HCI Production as a company gaining value independent of the ownership.
Mediamaisteri Group relies on a partnership approach both regarding its TETRA training package and
partnering with the Moodle development community. The main challenge is to manage the
partnerships at different levels of own and partners’ organization with the aim of establishing a
position as a serious and equal partner to the large companies.
Prewise Group is mainly a project business. The main challenges in internationalisation and business
in general is the competence perspective, how to recruit, maintain and develop highly skilled people
for the projects, as well as access to large customer projects.
Promentor Solutions represents a product business. Among the companies examined its success is
most purely dependent on success in the pure product/market competition. It has gained a strong
foothold in the Finnish market but can it build competitive advantage in the heavily competed foreign
target markets.
SANAKO Corporation a product concept, language laboratories. Of the companies examined it has
longest roots in history and has been transforming its business along with the technological
development. It operates in a partly matured client industry and most clearly faces the challenge of
being able to expand the size of its current markets.
From the ecosystem perspective the remaining question is, what the Finnish companies could do
together in order to gain international presence. For example could Sanako’s existing sales channels be
capitalized by selling other companies’ solutions to already existing customer base. Referring to
Iansiti’s and Levian’s (2004) ecosystem strategy, all the companies are clearly in a niche category.
The question is, could one of them or some of them jointly become a keystone player and gain
international credibility by closer collaboration, sharing information, aligned decision making and
focused efforts based on a common interest and vision.
CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions for Company Management, Industry Development and Public Actions
The management has to identify the whole stakeholder environment and to define an optimal
relationship with each separate type of actors. The best ways for the internationalisation are still being
searched for. The company can accelerate access to the customers of the target market by creating
cooperation links through stakeholders, which already have credibility on the market. Companies
should form strong and wide support networks of different actors such as science parks who know the
aims of the company and from whom the company acquires help at the separate stages of the
internationalisation process. The possibilities of the internationalisation along with the customers have
not been sufficiently utilised at present.
Lack of focus hinders cooperation between companies in the field where the companies' day-to-day
operations are quite overlapping. In the joint cooperation projects it is possible to distribute costs and
to get a bigger attention value on the target market. In the digital learning markets there is room for
support services enhancing the linking of demand and supply.
The development of the industry is likely to follow the change model (see HBR 2004) in which the
fragmented or emerging industry is followed by expansive convergence and “shake-out” stage, in
which the best ways for the internationalisation are found. Science parks need to able to adjust their
role and services along with the industry change phases. The different phases of development are
illustrated in Figure 5.

15
• A large no. of small
companies (150-200)
• Traditional “big
players” implement
related solutions
Fragmentation/
Emergence
Shake-out/
Convergence
Maturity/
Coexistence
Decline/
Dominance
Financial
perspective
Customer
perspective
Operations and
processes
Organisation,
learning and
development
Emerging Industry
Established Industry
?
• Small companies
growing to a few million
euros
• Core business
profitable but growth
ties up resources
• Succeeding compa-
nies grow and some
qualify for IPOs
• Coexistence with
large consulting,
content and IT
companies
• Field’s total revenue in
Finland a few billion
euros
• Sub markets, niches,
formed with blurred
boundaries
• Search of reference
customers
• Customers mainly
“early adopters”
• Intl. customers
increasingly
important
• Consciousness
about the benefits
increases
• Large global
customers
• Almost all
companies have
planned solutions in
the field
• “e”-solutions impro-
ving performance
embedded in day-to-
day operations
orchestrators in key
roles within
organisations
• SME’s business and
operational models
emerging
• Large companies’
operating models
based on their core
business
• Viable business
models stand out,
growth management
critical
• eL. increasingly
important among large
players
• Consolidation
becomes significant
• Continuous
improvement of
processes and value
chains
• Reorganisation and
consolidation
• Management of intl
operations common-
place
• Competent,
innovative and
entrepreneurial
persons
• Versatile
employment relations
• Sales and business
skills needed
• No. of personnel
grows from a few to
some tens in small
companies
• Management
competence, middle
management is built
• Utilisation of
competences
• Organisational
challenges due to
increased company
size
• Strategic renewal to
sustain
competitiveness
Figure 5: Industrial development model in the eLearning field in Finland.
The public actions must be compatible with the phase of development of the field. At this
development stage the present support and service forms enable experimentation, meaning among
other things small input into the numerous different targets.
At the second phase of development the focus moves to the collaborative mini-cluster and customer
network projects. In addition to domestic networking, the public bodies such as science parks could
serve more effectively as link builders in the business ecosystems of the target markets. At later phases
of the development the requirements continue to change and the renewal demands of the field tighten.
The embedding of the ecosystem to the national innovation environment should be considered
carefully.
Reflections for Science Parks
Also the science parks need to plan the their actions to promote the ecosystem so that they are
compatible with the phase of development of the field. For science parks to be useful from
entrepreneurial perspective, they need to understand the ecosystem where the entrepreneurial
companies operate.
Science parks need to determine their own role in the ecosystem and improve their ability to provide
the crucial links that the companies need to succeed in both the regional and international marketplace.
Science parks must also improve their expertise as an organizer providing enabling structures and
services. In practice this means moving from facility to service focus, from passive actor to proactive
orchestrator, and from marketing the science parks to promoting the ecosystem development.

16
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