General Business Area Subfield of General Area

General Business Area
International Business/
Management
Subfield of General Area
Global Management
Strategic Management
Knowledge Management
Multinational Corporations
Operations Management and
Logistics
Selected Thesis Topics in the Subfield
The future of food – wild cards and weak signals of changing food consumption
The future of food production – alternative scenarios until 2035 consumption
The utilization of locality as a competitive advantage in global food business (case or area)
Evolving health care access dilemmas in emerging as well as developed economies
Business potential of the nanotechnology in environmental engineering
Commercialization of the real time environmental monitoring systems
Impact of climate change on water resources/local economies
How should absenteeism at work be managed?
Firm capability (or knowledge/resources/innovations etc.) development for competitive
advantage
Foresight methods/tools in developing business strategy
Testing business strategy with scenario planning (case or general)
Alternative business concepts of local food supply (case or general)
Strategy processes
How should an energy management strategy be developed for a manufacturing firm and
what should it include?
An attention based view of knowledge and decision making in firms: Knowledge
characteristics
What types of knowledge are driving value creation in firms?
Knowledge challenges faced by first-time CEOs
Role of information alignment in managerial decision making to internationalize
Exploring the evolution of becoming a center of excellence
Parent-subsidiary relationships in MNCs
MNC organizational complexities-Challenges for Managing the MNC
Disruption of logistics by fast production methods (e.g. 3D printing)
Value creation in the local food business chain
How well does “lean” work in service operations?
What service infrastructure is required for electric vehicles?
Innovation Management
Network and Relationship
Management
Corporate Social Responsibility
Internationalization Process
Project Management
International Business/
Marketing
International Marketing
Strategic Marketing Management
Consumer Behavior
Customer driven innovation
Green innovation strategies
Project level innovation (knowledge) development and the case of issue selling to decision
makers
Team innovativeness - the case of absorptive capacity and learning
Knowledge protection in networks - going beyond IPR regimes
Orchestration of Innovation networks
Value creation in a renewable energy production chain/network
Investigating relationship partnering in a company’s supply chain
Base of the pyramid (BOP) Strategies
Sustainable Tourism Development
The quantifiable importance of culture for the internationalization process (2 countries)
Home country explanations to firm internationalization
Drivers of internationalization choice and the intensity of internationalization
Why, how and when firms are using projects in their business/international business
Possible challenges of managing international business projects
What kind of project selection methods firms are using and why?
International project teams
Project cost and performance management
Project resource management
Project risk management
Influence of culture concerning advertising strategies of international companies
Marketing to different cultures within a country (e.g., Russian speakers in Finland)
Assessing the value of transformative events in building a sustainable competitive
advantage in global markets
A marketing view of transforming news into entertainment
The influence of Guerilla Marketing on consumer perception
Nostalgia as a marketing strategy
Understanding the role of competitive intelligence strategies in achieving market success
Bottom of the Pyramid markets and consumers: Role of MNCs as well as local firms
Consumer commitment to luxury branding
Impact of organizational efforts on consumer concerns online
Why do people show off?
Impression management motives to conspicuous consumption
Role of envy in consumer choice
Antecedents and consequences of consumer confusion
Emotions that drive luxury consumption
Branding and Promotion
Environmental and Ethical
Marketing
Sales Management
Entrepreneurial Marketing
E-marketing Issues
International Business/
Business Culture and
Communication
Business Culture
Business Communication
Gender Issues
Conspicuous consumption and social media
Impulse buying
Aesthetics and the packaging of luxury products
Positioning of brands
Planning/developing a service design for SMEs
B-to-B branding
Social media and brand perception
Co-creation and crowdsourcing in brand management
Transferability of brand image across product categories
Brand personality
Ethics and branding
Marketing and Branding in Art Organizations: The Case Study of Kiasma
Role of B2B and B2C Branding in building customer retention
Use of Social Media in generating awareness, brand equity, and trials of new and existing
products Investigating relationship partnering in a company’s supply chain
Developing a Branding Campaign in a cross-cultural setting Investigating relationship
partnering in a company’s supply chain
Green marketing
Ethics of big data marketing
Socially responsible marketing
Use of technology in maintaining and motivating an international sales force
Entrepreneurial selling: Pushing the Lean Startup Paradigm
Entrepreneurial marketing
Social media as a marketing tool in the music industry
Digital Marketing Strategies in Service Industries
ROI of Social Media
Does politics influence business culture? (e.g. comparison Russia-Finland)
Asian Business Culture
Relationship management
Design management: corporate image of an international company
Communication of environmental issues
Gender and leadership style
Work-life balance
Creating/sustaining an equitable workplace
Negotiating differences in gender norms in an intercultural workplace
Gender and expatriate work experience
Women entrepreneurs
International Business/
Accounting and Finance
Intercultural communication
Managerial Accounting
Financial Accounting
Taxation
Financial Management
Financial Markets
International Business/
Human Resources
Human Resource Management
Human Resource Policies and
Practices
International Business/
Economics
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Applications of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to the international workplace
Methods to determine the pricing of services
Methods used to determine pricing of a product
Institutions, standards and international agreements influencing firm accounting behavior
Corporate tax payments of foreign-owned vs. domestic companies
Short-term finance and related management challenges
Cash holdings
Cash management
Trade credit
Short versus long term debt decision
Leasing obligations
Receivable financing
Derivate usage
Nonprofit/Social Enterprise financial management & performance
Transition from domestic to MNC
Stock market performance given the above
Comparative analysis of the delivery of HRM/D services
Critical evaluation of the effectiveness of managing coaching
Evaluating the methods and effectiveness of learning in the workplace
Cultural comparisons in leadership preferences and/or effectiveness
Results of an acquisition: How can HR contribute to create a common corporate feeling?
Born globals, internationalization and the development of HR structures
Ageing workforce implications
Evaluating workforce diversity and inclusion policies
Performance management and organisational justice
Evaluation of employee engagement strategies
Approaches to employee participation and involvement in business decision making
Trade and investment opportunities between Finland and China
What are the drivers of productivity in organic farming?
The impact of multinationals on host countries?
The effectiveness of the international response to Climate change
Asset price Inflation: A monetary perspective
Should developing countries to adopt nuclear energy as an alternative energy source?
Labor productivity: US vs. EU
What future for the Eurozone?
Access to higher education in Finland: An international comparison
Peak oil and the development of alternative sustainable energy sources
International Business/
Entrepreneurship
Internationalization of SMEs
Strategic Entrepreneurship
High-Tech Entrepreneurship
Social Entrepreneurship
International Business/
Regional Development and
Area Studies
Entrepreneurship Policy,
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and
Support
Regional Development Policies
Asia/Africa/Latin America
Russia
Environmental-related topics
Born globals, internationalization and the relevance of country culture
Internationalization among Finnish new technology based firm new technology based firms
Firm growth strategies
Innovation and international competitiveness
The impact of networks on small firm success/growth
Market orientation and market communication in SMEs
Ecopreneurship
A business concept development of producing renewable energy consumption (case or
general)
Cooperatives as business model to produce renewable energy (case or general)
Business models for the commercialization of the research results
Develop a business plan for 3D printing shop/company/service
Innovation and technological orientation in Finnish new technology based firms
Appropriation of innovation benefits in Finnish new technology based firms
Growth orientation and risk seeking attitudes among Finnish new technology based firms
The role of resources in new technology based firms
Goal setting and ability to achieve goals in entrepreneurial high-tech firms new technology
based firms
The concept and strategies of social entrepreneurship
The role of social media in social entrepreneurship
Business acceleration/incubation models
External environments of new technology based firms new technology based firms
The Political-Legal Context of International Business: The case of Company xx
Evaluation of national Arctic strategies
Market studies concerning areas of Asia/Africa/Latin America
Does company culture influence national culture and what are the implications for business
activities?
Influence of culture concerning advertising strategies of international companies
Environmental Policy
Natural resources
Climate change
Water resources management