The growth strategies of women-controlled SMEs:A case study on Finnish software companies

This article addresses the issue of excellence through the analysis ofthe growth strategies and practices performed in women-controlled companiesoperating in a high-growth industrial context. Taking the strategy-as-practiceperspective and drawing on qualitative and interpretative methodologies,the article examines how women owner-managers view themselves as strategymakers and how they describe their strategy practices as well as theirgrowth strategies in relation to the rapidly growing Finnish software industry.The results show that in a high-growth industrial culture, the womenowner-managers articulate growth as a taken-for-granted objective and as anunquestionable source of future success for their companies. Furthermore, thewomen owner-managers position themselves as experienced and competentleaders of various types of growth strategies.