Areas of expertise
Biography
Before and after defending my doctoral thesis in marketing in 2004 I focused in investigating entrepreneurship at the individual, firm, and societal levels. Already during that very period of time I worked as a researcher/senior researcher at the Entrepreneurship Unit, School of Economics at the University of Turku. In 2007-2009 I worked as a visiting research scholar at the George Mason University (VA, USA).
Currently, I work as an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Pori Unit at the University of Turku. In my current research endeavors I focus on entrepreneurial behavior and nascent venturing, the environment of student entrepreneurship and education (OpiToi!), and youth entrepreneurship and education in rural areas. Moreover, I currently work for DISCE-project (H2020) which focuses on renewal and entrepreneurship in creative industries.
Teaching
I teach entrepreneurship at University of Turku, School of Economics' Pori and Turku campuses. My pedagogical approach is not to teach.
Most rewarding teaching load has been our star, Startup! course, during which students from the University of Turku, University of Applied Sciences, University of Human Applied Sciences and Åbo Akademi, are exposed to entrepreneurial behavior, idea validation and similar magic.
I have also had a privilege to participate in the Business Innovation Camps organized by Turku School of Economics' CCR, University of Turku's Graduage School's courses and TSE exe's MBA-education.
Research
Well, it varies, but currently I investigate among others novice entrepreneurs' failure, how entrepreneurs construct luck, organizational orchestration under disruption, the role of emotions in building entrepreneurial passion, the development of entrepreneurial identity in entrepreneurship education, and entrepreneurs' sense-making of consumer environment.