The research group approaches responsible business and sustainable value creation from a phenomenon-based and multidisciplinary perspective, addressing themes such as responsible working life, environmental management, sustainable business models, and social responsibility. We help companies to increase their understanding of responsibility and sustainability issues, and assists them in finding innovative solutions which are responsible, create sustainable value and are financially profitable. This strengthens the role of companies as contributors to economically, socially and environmentally sustainable growth.
Members of the research group
Päivi Karhunen
Chief Specialist, D.Sc. (Econ. & Bus Adm), Leader of the Research Group. Päivi has studied responsible business from the perspective of economic responsibility and business ethics. She is currently pursuing research on topics related to sustainable working life, including the management of multinational and multilingual organizations.
Johanna Heinonen-Kemppi
Senior Lecturer, D.Sc (Econ. & Bus Adm), an expert in service business and RDI activities. Johanna’s research interests focus on enhancing experiential value and customer experience through digitalization. She is also keen on advancing digital marketing communication and its role in promoting business responsibility and competitiveness.
» ORCID
» ResearchGate
» LinkedIn
Meri Jalonen
Chief Specialist, D.Sc (Tech), a scholar of work and organizing specialized on sustainability issues. Meri’s research focuses on developing sustainable production and consumption practices, including circular economy, smart city development and the automation of work. She also studies experiments as vehicles of innovation and RDI collaboration.
» ORCID
» ResearchGate
» LinkedIn
Heli Kasurinen
RDI Specialist, D.Sc. (Tech) in the field of environmental technology. Heli is interested in research on the interaction and harmony between human actions and the natural environment. She has expertise in developing holistically sustainable business and systematic life cycle based sustainability assessment.
» ORCID
» ResearchGate
» LinkedIn
Heidi Myyryläinen
RDI Specialist, M.Sc (Econ. & Bus Adm), doctoral candidate. Heidi is a pathfinder, who is enthusiastic toward interdisciplinary, practical research and experimental, participatory methods. She is interested in applying behavioral sciences to create sustainable business models and ecosystems which benefit individuals, communities and regions.
» ORCID
» ResearchGate
» LinkedIn
Terhi Saarijärvi
RDI Specialist, D.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm). Terhi is interested in issues related to CSR, sustainable business models (e.g. cooperatives), well-being and organizational behavior. She has scientific and teaching experiences in the field of co-operatives and CSR. She has also worked in the entrepreneurship development projects to Zambia and Namibia.
» ORCID
» ResearchGate
» Google Scholar
» LinkedIn
Ville Sarpo
Senior lecturer, business, D. Sc. (Econ.). Ville is researching the organizational structures and design and their relationship with the organizational strategy. His particular interest is the perspective of responsible business in relation with the organizational structures.
Mika Tonder
Principal lecturer, D.Soc.Sci. Expert in leadership and entrepreneurship, specializes in the study of discourses of interaction and the individual's world of experience. Mika touched sustainability issues in his doctoral dissertation on the protection of the Saimaa ringed seal. As an entrepreneur, Mika has founded and managed five growth companies.
Related projects
Distance LAB -projekti
Distance LAB co-develops tools for SMEs to improve their remote innovation capabilities, hybrid business strategies, and sustainability.
ForestAgriGreenNudge project
The ForestAgriGreenNudge is project aims to promote sustainable practices in agriculture and forestry by addressing behavioral and cognitive biases that hinder optimal decision-making.
Smartville project
Smartville project is an EU Commission funded project, aimed at developing Sustainable and Entrepreneurial Villages through Educational Living Labs in Namibia and Zambia.
Publications
Karhunen, Kankaanranta & Räisänen 2023 Towards a richer understanding of language and identity in the MNC: Constructing cosmopolitan identities through “English” https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11575-023-00504-6
Karhunen, Ledyaeva & Brouthers 2022 Capital round-tripping: Determinants of emerging market firm investments into offshore financial centers and their ethical implications https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-021-04908-y
Heinonen & Sthapit 2024 Service agent driven co-created caring in chat-based customer service encounters https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15332969.2023.2288733
Weck, Jalonen & Kerkola 2024 Supporting adoption of circular business models in small and medium enterprises: Circular readiness assessment framework https://openaccess.cms-conferences.org/publications/book/978-1-964867-11-3/article/978-1-964867-11-3_11
Kasurinen H., Uusitalo V., Grönman K., Väisänen S., Soukka R. 2020. Environmental impact assessment. Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer, Cham. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_624-1
Myyryläinen & Torkkeli 2024 Co-designing tools for assessing sustainability in SMEs and public organizations: negotiating a social setting for a codesign study. In Sage Research Methods Cases Part 1. SAGE Publications, Ltd.
https://methods.sagepub.com/case/co-designing-tools-for-assessing-sustainability-in-smes-and-public
Huhtala, Tuominen & Tuominen (Saarijärvi). (2023). Factors in the board governance of cooperatives: a systematic review
http://njb.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/1_Huhtala_et_al.pdf
Contact info
lab [dot] fi