People

Responsibilities

- Professor and CITER CIRQ team leader in Industrial Engineering and Management

- Consortium leader in national CICAT2025 project (Strategic Research Council)

- Project management and research within externally funded research projects CICAT2025, UPCE, CIRCVOL, ROBINS, UPCE, ILPO

- Research in technology business and management and circular economy

- International and national research collaboration

- Teaching: Turning technologies into business; Turning Circular Economy technologies into business, Kasvuyritysten ekosysteemit; Contemporary Circular Economy challenges and solutions, Circular Economy study module 

- Master thesis supervision

Field of expertise

- Business approach to the circular economy and environmental sustainability, circular economy business in technology and service companies

- Ecosystems and networks

- Marketing and commercialization of innovations, creation of markets

- Value creation and customer value

Research unit

CITER: Center for Technology and Innovation Research

Responsibilities

• Research
• Teaching (Business Management Cases, MSc)

Research topics

• Circular Economy and Sustainability (transitions)
• Sustainability Paradox
• Customer Value and Sales
• Interventionist Research
• Pragmatic Constructivism

Research unit

Cost Management Center (CMC)

Field of expertise

Sustainable business, corporate social responsibility, strategic change, sustainability transitions, service-based value creation

Research topics

Circular Economy Business

- value creation

- business insentives

Research unit

CITER – Center for Innovation and Technology Research

Research topics

Multi-actor circular economy systems

- organization

- circular economy business

- public-private collaboration

- industrial symbiosis

Research unit

CITER – Center for Innovation and Technology Research

Research topics

Circular economy, carbon management (CCUS), value creation

Research unit

CITER – Center for Innovation and Technology Research

About me

Doctoral researcher at the Industrial Engineering and Management unit, faculty of management and business. 

As part of the eColabor project, my research focuses on sustainability-oriented business ecosystem governance and the circular economy. I am part of the CITER research group (Center for Innovation and Technology Research).

Research topics

• Sustainability-oriented ecosystems
• Ecosystem governance
• Circular economy

Research unit

Industrial Engineering and Management, CITER research group (Center for Innovation and Technology Research)

Research career

Having worked as a research assistant at Tampere University from June 2023 to January 2024, I submitted a commissioned master's thesis on academic travel emissions at the university, awarded a grade of 5.

Since January 2025, I work as a doctoral researcher at the industrial engineering and management unit, studying ecosystem governance for the sustainability transition.

About me

Ulla Saari is Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering & Management specializing in Industrial Product and Service Systems and Docent (Adjunct Professor) of Industrial Engineering & Management at the University of Oulu with a focus on circular economy and development of sustainable technology and innovations.

She is also currently a visiting researcher at The University of Tokyo and an affiliated researcher at Hamburg University of Technology and Jönköping International Business School.

Research unit

Sustainable Industrial Transformation Research Team | Operations and Supply Chain Group (OSCG) | Industrial Engineering and Management

About me

By working for Tampere University, in cooperation with numerous actors, I wish to support managing and developing profitable, sustainable businesses across sectors. Besides, I wish to support and help people engaging values and facts in managing and developing their individual and professional life.

Responsibilities

Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management

Director of Cost Management Center (CMC) research team

Field of expertise

Profitability Management, Management Accounting and Control, Decision-Making in multiple industries and organizational contexts, especially regarding service and innovation activities.

Research fields

Industrial Engineering and Management

About me

I focus on the management of complex projects of significant societal significance, as well as the ongoing transformation of project business, which is affected by, among other things, rapidly developing digital technologies, and increasing demands for sustainability

Responsibilities

Research (leading and preparing research projects)

Teaching (supervision of academic theses, TUTA.240 Projektinhallinta / Project Management, TUTA.344 Yritysverkostot projektiliiketoiminnassa)

Societal influence

Field of expertise

Management of complex projects, project governance, management of project business, sustainability of project business

More information in Research Portal:

https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/tuomas-ahola

Research unit

Industrial Engineering and Management, Center for Research on Project and Service Business (CROPS)

About me

I work as a postdoctoral researcher in the unit of industrial engineering and management and CROPS research group. My research topics are related to project business, project marketing and sales and collaboration in various size projects. 

Research unit

CROPS (Center for Research on Project and Service Business)

Research fields

Project management and project business

About me

Currently working as Dean in the Faculty of Management and Business (April 1, 2025 onwards). In addition, I am a Professor of industrial management, interested in the following themes (not limited to):

- digital platforms and new kinds of value creation mechanisms

- building ecosystems, especially in bio- and circular economy

 - technology management and innovations

- new business development and business transformation 

Responsibilities

Professor of environmental policy

Leader of the Politics of Nature and the Environment research group (PONTE).

Field of expertise

Expertise:

environmental governance, urban sustainability;

consumption and the environment, circular economy;

climate policy, natural resource policy, food policy, biodiversity policy; 

case study approach.

About me

Dr. Johanna Kujala is a Professor of Management and Organizations and Vice Dean for Research at the Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business. She has a Title of Docent in Business Administration (Stakeholder Management and Business Ethics), and she is the director of the RESPMAN Responsible Management Research Group at the Tampere University. Johanna has directed several cross-disciplinary research projects, and currently, she is the PI of the Academy of Finland research project titled B2N Business to Nature: Stakeholder Driven Value Creation in Ecosystem Services, as well as a WP leader in the CICAT2025 Circular Economy Catalysts: From Innovation to Business Ecosystems research project funded by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland. She has acted as a visiting scholar at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019, and at the University of Chieti and Pescara, Italy, in 2015 and 2017. Johanna has published over 50 scholarly articles in international peer-reviewed journals and volumes. Her current research interests focus on stakeholder engagement and value creation, circular economy and strong sustainability, as well as on case studies on corporate responsibility and sustainability.

Responsibilities

Current position

01.01.2019– Vice Dean for Research, Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University (TAU)

01.03.2017– Professor (Management and Organizations), Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University (TAU)

Previous work experience

2014–2017 Associate Professor (tenure track), School of Management, UTA

2017, 2015 Visiting research scholar, University of Chieti and Pescara, Italy

2019, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2013 Visiting research scholar, University of Virginia (UVA), USA

2012–2014 Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Social Research (IASR), UTA

2008–2012 Professor of Management and Organizations (acting), UTA

2006–2007 Lecturer of Management and Organizations, UTA 

2003–2006 Senior Researcher, Tampere University of Technology (TUT)

2002–2003 Post-doctoral researcher, TUT

About me

University teacher and PhD researcher on sustainable value creation and stakeholder relationships

Research

Research projects: Business to Nature (B2N) (www.b2n.fi) and CICAT2025 Circular Economy Catalysts (www.cicat2025.fi)

Research group: RESPMAN Research Group (http://www.uta.fi/jkk/en/research/themes/respman.html) 

Teaching 2019-2020

KATVAS12 Sidosryhmäteoria ja -johtaminen

KATJOS44 Henkilöstöjohtamisen ajankohtaisia teemoja

About me

I work as a Project Manager in the AACSB accreditation process at the Business Studies Unit. 

I also work as a Doctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Management and Business in the field of Management and Organizations. My research focuses on stakeholder engagement in the context of sustainability, especially in the mining industry and circular economy. I am currently part of Action4Commons research project where we study stakeholder engagmenet in biodiversity protection in the Finnish mining industry. In addition, we study the justifications on biodiversity in sustainability reports. 

In addition to research, I have had teaching responsibilities as I worked three years as a University Instructor in the Responsible Business Master's Degree Programme.

Research topics: Stakeholder engagement, stakeholder theory, sustainability, responsible business, biodiversity, circular economy

Research interests: How can companies address sustainability with stakeholder engagement? How is sustainability understood differently and how does it show in stakeholder engagement? How can we understand the complexity of biodiversity and how to enhance biodiversity protection with stakeholder engagement?

Research projects: 

Current

Action4Commons Collective stakeholder action for commons: Integrating business-stakeholder value creation with polycentric governance

Past

CICAT2025 Kiertotalouden katalyytit: Innovaatioekosysteemeistä liiketoimintaekosysteemeihin (2019–2024)

Other responsibilities: 

Organizer of the annual Responsible Business Research Conference

About me

My doctoral research focuses on multi-level stakeholder engagement and joint value creation for advancing sustainability transitions. The empirical research is targeted to the opportunities and tensions in business-stakeholder relationships among mining companies and their local and regional stakeholders when addressing biodiversity and circular economy solutions in Finland.

My doctoral research relates to
Action4Commons Research project
https://www.action4commons.fi

My research group 
RESPMAN Responsible Management Research Group
https://research.tuni.fi/respman/

My profile at researchportal.tuni.fi
Inka Lappalainen - Tampere University Research Portal

About me

I am Professor of Services and Retailing at Tampere University and Docent of Consumer Behavior and Consumer Research at University of Jyväskylä. My research profile is interdisciplinary, and I focus especially on interpretive approaches to consumer and service research. I mainly use qualitative research methods to investigate topics including food waste and the circular economy from the perspectives of consumption and business, customer and consumption communities as part of marketing, and branding in services and retailing fields. I am the leader of Wastebusters research group at the Faculty of Management and Business.

Field of expertise

Marketing, service research, sustainable consumption and circular economy, consumer behavior, consumption and customer communities, brand management, qualitative research methods (interviews, ethnography and netnography, narrative research, frame analysis)

Research topics

Sustainable consumption, circular economy, consumption communities, consumption practices, branding

Research unit

Business Studies

About me

I work as a University Lecture in marketing. I also hold a title of Docent at University of Vaasa (related to sustainable circular consumption). My research interests include sustainable circular economy, especially from the perspective of consumers.  

My profile at researchportal.tuni.fihttps://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/persons/nina-mesiranta

My research groupshttps://research.tuni.fi/wastebusters/https://research.tuni.fi/markkinointi/

Responsibilities

Research and teaching

Field of expertise

CIrcular economy; Sustainable consumption; Food waste; Clothing consumption; Social media; Qualitative resesarch methods

Research unit

Business studies

Research fields

Marketing; Consumer research

About me

Educational background and teaching themes:

I hold a Doctor of Science in Economics and Business Administration. I also serve as a Docent (adjuct professor) in Digital and Sustainable Business at LUT University’s School of Business, Finland.

I work at the Faculty of Management and Business as a University Lecturer and Academic Director of the international Master’s Degree Programme in Leadership for Change (LFC).

My teaching focuses on themes such as sustainability and the circular economy, case study research, platform business, and supervision of master’s theses.

Research interests:

My research combines themes from strategic business management, strategic marketing, sustainability, consumption, sociomateriality, and (emerging) technology business. I aim to promote the development of sustainable business solutions and consumption practices in society. You can find my latest publications below (please scroll down to view them).

I am one of the founding members of the research group on food waste and the circular economy, known as WASTEBUSTERS. Our group seeks to address various sustainability challenges through research and to support the transition toward a sustainable circular economy.

Ongoing research projects where I am involved with:

• CARE Project: Promotes household-level transition to the circular economy in five countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Estonia), focusing on food waste and clothing consumption. Funded by the European Union (2024–2027).
• CIRCEX Project: Investigates human experiences of the circular economy in the context of plastics. Funded by the Academy of Finland (2024–2027).

Completed research projects:

• LOWINFOOD Project: Focused on reducing food waste and related innovations. Funded by the European Union (2020–2025).
• IN2FOOD Project: Concentrated on managing food waste by creating and developing interdisciplinary courses, a research center, and a master’s programme. Conducted in collaboration with Indonesian university partners and funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Capacity Building for Higher Education programme (2021–2024).
• WASTE MATTERS Project: Used qualitative research methods to explore the role of change agents in the circular economy transition. Funded by the Foundation for Economic Education (Liikesivistysrahasto) from 2020 to 2023.

About me

I am a doctoral researcher in marketing with an interest in consumption phenomena, culture, and sustainability. In my dissertation, I study consumer collectives that advance the circular economy, such as repair cafés and social media communities. These groups facilitate the sharing of materials and resources, create inspiring meanings around circular solutions, and teach consumers skills such as repairing and maintenance. Thus, they create a social change towards circularity. My expertise focuses particularly on interdisciplinary circular economy research, qualitative social media research methods, and developing deep consumer insights.

Responsibilities

I have the pleasure of working as a member of both the Customer Oriented Marketing research group and the Wastebusters research group at Tampere University. 

Within Wastebusters, I have contributed to the Waste Matters: Change Agents’ Engagement in Circular Economy Transformation project, where we examined circular startups and social media influencers in sustainable fashion. I have also been involved in the EPELI project, which identified national guidelines for regulating the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

In addition to research, I teach on bachelor-level courses in the marketing programme. I also took part in launching the Digital Commerce study module (Digitaalisen kaupan opintokokonaisuus), organised in collaboration with the Finnish Commerce Federation and five Finnish universities.

Furthermore, I have worked as the conference coordinator for the Nordic Retail and Wholesale Conference (NRWC) 2022, hosted at Tampere University.

Field of expertise

Circular economy, consumer collectives, waste reduction, anti-consumption, sustainable consumption, netnography, interpretative consumer research, qualitative methods

Research unit

Customer oriented marketing research group

About me

Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko is a faculty member and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Management and Business (MAB), Tampere University, Finland. He holds a PhD (Administrative Sciences) and MPhil and Licentiate (Philosophy) degrees. Anttiroiko has conducted and directed several research projects on various aspects of the development of local government, collaborated with academics and experts all over the world, conducted expert work in Namibia and Vietnam, and contributed to the World Bank’s Shanghai 2050 Project with a focus on the building of global city brand. Anttiroiko’s academic contributions include in a nutshell some 35 monographs and a number of articles, chapters and conference papers. He has memberships in several editorial boards of international journals. His major edited work is Electronic Government: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, published in six volumes (IGI Global 2008). His co-edited books include Innovations in Financing Public Services (Palgrave 2010), Innovations in Public Governance (IOS 2011), Innovative Trends in Public Governance in Asia (IOS 2011) and Organizational Innovation in Public Services (Palgrave 2013). His latest authored books include The Political Economy of City Branding (Routledge 2014), New Urban Management: Attracting Value Flows to Branded Hubs (Palgrave 2015) and Wellness City: Health and Well-being in Urban Economic Development (Palgrave 2018).

About me

I work as a Research Specialist in the Faculty of Management and Business (MAB). My task is to assist Vice Dean for Research in the development of the research activities and help the faculty's researchers in research-related matters, such as funding applications. 

I have worked in different research and teaching positions at Tampere University and at the University of Jyväskylä. I have received my PhD in Business studies in 2012 and I am a docent in organizational behaviour at Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics. 

Responsibilities

• Supporting funding applicants (eg. EU, Academy of Finland) together with the Research Services
• Informing researchers about research-related matters
• Developing the follow-up of research activities
• Faculty’s science communication (e.g. Influencer blog) and its development
• Developing faculty’s open access -policies
• Coordinating the work of the faculty's research development group
• Processing the research permits related to the faculty
• Secretary of the faculty’s Docent Committee