Kataja Doctoral Course “Theories and research in business sustainability and responsibility”
Time and place: May 19-23, 2025, Turku School of Economics, Turku.
Learning goal and objectives: The aim of this course is to deepen the students’ understanding of key concepts, theories, and research traditions in business sustainability and responsibility. The course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to corporate sustainability and responsibility, sustainability science, and systems science, integrating the current debate and state-of-the-art from business in society, management and organization, and additional research fields. Special attention is devoted to the past development and evolution of these research fields, as well as current and emerging topics and debates. These include systemic and transformational change processes and other shifts that are needed in mindsets, actions, and interactions (at individual, organizational, and societal levels) to address global sustainability problems, business collective action, and grand challenges (e.g., nature regeneration/biodiversity loss, climate change, poverty, and social inequality).
During the one-week intensive course, the students will have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on various sustainability and responsibility-related challenges, issues, and topics (including social-ecological systems, planetary boundaries, business collective action, cross-sector partnerships/interactions, and sustainability-oriented innovation) with the other participants as well as established corporate sustainability and responsibility scholars. Moreover, the students will present their own research ideas and can further improve their projects and papers based on feedback from the faculty. Finally, the course enables the students to develop their scientific writing, research, and teamwork skills.
At the end of the course, the students will be able to understand and critically assess the main concepts, theories, and research traditions in this broad, multidisciplinary field. They will also be able to evaluate and justify the theoretical and methodological approaches used in their own studies on business sustainability and responsibility.
Instruction and examination:
The course includes three components:
1) Pre-course work: submitting an extended abstract and reading a package of research articles
2) Instruction: a one-week intensive course in May 2025 in Turku
3) Final research paper
The students are expected to read the reading package, consisting of scientific articles (ca. 500 pages) prior to the course, and submit an extended (paper or dissertation project) abstract to be discussed and receive feedback at a research development workshop during the course. All lectures (including class discussions, teamwork, and workshops) will be held during a one-week intensive course in Turku in May 2025. The students will write a 20-25-page final paper and submit it within one month after the intensive course. The course will be evaluated as pass or fail by the faculty, considering both the final paper and course participation.
Credits: 6 ECTS
Grading: pass/fail.
Prerequisites: The course is designed as cross-disciplinary. It is targeted at doctoral students doing research on topics related to corporate/business sustainability, CSR, systems change, corporate citizenship, cross-sector interactions, multi-stakeholder partnerships, sustainable supply chain management, sustainable/circular business models, MNE/global corporate responsibility, critical and political CSR, and global governance, among other topics. It is especially suitable for students majoring in management and organization studies, strategy, sustainability and CSR, supply chain management/logistics/purchasing, industrial engineering, international business, and environmental management, for example.
Admittance: Maximum number of participants is 25. Deadline for course applications: March 14, 2025. Applications should be sent by email to both of the course coordinators: Laura Albareda (laura.albareda@lut.fi) and Anne Quarshie (anne.quarshie@utu.fi).
Course application form:
Name:
Contact address:
Phone:
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University:
Department:
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When officially accepted to doctoral program:
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Motives for participating in the course:
Applicants are advised to complete the application form carefully as the number of applicants is likely to exceed the maximum number of participants. In that case, the KATAJA guidelines for student selection along with other criteria (incl. relevance and suitability of course for student, motivation, phase in the dissertation process, quality of application) will be used in selecting the participants. Acceptance notifications will be emailed directly to all the applicants by March 21, 2025.
Admitted students must submit an extended paper or dissertation project abstract (max. three pages incl. references, single-spaced) to be presented and discussed at a research development workshop during the course. The abstracts should be sent to the course coordinators (laura.albareda@lut.fi, anne.quarshie@utu.fi) by April 6, 2025. The abstract will be expanded to a 20-25-page final paper after the course.
Instructors:
Oana Branzei, Paul MacPherson Chair in Strategic Leadership / Professor of Sustainability and Strategy, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Canada
Anne Quarshie, Assistant Professor of Biodiversity and Business, Turku School of Economics
Laura Albareda, Professor of Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship, LUT Business School
Satu Teerikangas, Professor, Management and Organisation, Turku School of Economics
Ilari Sääksjärvi, Professor, Biodiversity Research, University of Turku
Laura Olkkonen, Associate Professor, LUT Business School
Asta Salmi, Professor, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu
Instructor Bios:
Oana Branzei, Paul MacPherson Chair in Strategic Leadership / Professor of Sustainability and Strategy. Director, Sustainability Certificate Program, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Canada.
https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/faculty/directory/oana-branzei/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1g9hoNgAAAAJ&hl=en
Oana Branzei is Paul MacPherson Chair in Strategic Leadership, Donald F. Hunter Professor of International Business and Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at the Ivey Business School at Western University in Canada. Professor Branzei, a Western Faculty Scholar (2018-2020), is currently cross-appointed with Western University’s Centre for Climate Change, Sustainable Livelihoods and Health and an Advisory Board member for the Africa Institute. She sits on the Steering Committee for Western’s Carbon Solutions Fund. Oana served as vice-chair of the Western University Research Board and adjudicator for the Ontario COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund. She has chaired the Social Sciences Panel for the Early Researcher Awards for Ontario’s Ministry of Innovation since 2018 and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Engage Grant Committee since 2022. Oana is also the founding Director of the HBA Sustainability Certificate program and the Master of Science Graduate Diploma in Sustainability; the founder, convener and host of PhD Sustainability Academy, an annual event of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability; and co-founder of the Spring Institute. As head of her global Regeneration lab, established with her 2010 Early Researcher Award, Oana leads rapid-response research teams collaborating on prosocial, circular, place-based, regenerative, and restorative organizing on five continents. She has convened communities of inquiry that actively promote positive social change through social innovation, social enterprise, sustainable communities, and cross-sector partnerships. Oana’s current research interests develop research and practice on regenerative economies, grand challenge innovation, and inclusive organizing. Professor Branzei has guest co-edited special issues on regeneration for Organization and Environment, the Journal of Business Ethics and the Journal of Supply Chain Management. She currently serves as a field editor for the Academy of Management Perspectives, Business and Society, and the Journal of Business Venturing. Her research has been published in the Academy of Management Discoveries, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Science, Strategic Organization, and Strategic Management Journal, among others.
Laura Albareda, Professor of Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship, LUT Business School
https://research.lut.fi/converis/portal/Person/9585024?auxfun=&lang=en_GB
https://scholar.google.fi/citations?user=eBhKu58AAAAJ&hl=en
Laura Albareda is Professor of Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship at LUT Business School (LUT University). Her research focuses on business collective action, commons organizing – commoning – and polycentric governance, business-nature regeneration, climate futures and circular economy. Laura is lead researcher of the project ACTION4COMMONS (2022-2026) funded by Research Council of Finland, to theorize on collective stakeholder action, while study business and biodiversity in the mining and circular economy. She sits on the board of the “Sustainable Circularity of Inorganic Materials Research Platform” (SCI-MAT) at LUT University where she leads the research team on sustainable and circular business models and value chains. Laura is also principal researcher of two EU Horizon Europe projects, RELIEF and REINFORCE, on sustainable mobility transitions and electrification exploring circular business models of Lithium-Ion Batteries for electrical cars, and the EU Horizon PRIMED project on sustainable business models in the bioeconomy studying living labs of organic waste and bioproducts in five EU countries. Previously, she has been assistant professor at Deusto Business School (where she is still visiting professor) and lecturer at ESADE Business School and post-doctoral fellow at Boston College. Her research on Polycentric governance of privately owned resources in circular economy systems published at the Journal of Management Studies has been awarded by the Dexter Award Best International Paper (2019) Best Business Ethics Paper (2019) at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting and the Distinguished Winner of Responsible Research in Management Award (2023), co-sponsored by the Academy of Management Fellows Group and the Community for Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM). She is co-editor of the book: Innovation for Sustainability: Business Transformation Towards a Better World (2019). Her research papers have been published in specialized journals such as Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Business Research, Business Ethics Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Technological Forecasting & Social Change and Industrial Marketing Management.
Anne Quarshie, Assistant Professor of Biodiversity and Business, Turku School of Economics
https://www.utu.fi/en/people/anne-quarshie
https://scholar.google.fi/citations?user=LTOEv5QAAAAJ&hl=fi&oi=ao
Anne Quarshie is an Assistant Professor of Biodiversity and Business at Turku School of Economics, Department of Management and Entrepreneurship. Previously, she has worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at LUT School of Business and Management, a Doctoral Researcher at Aalto University School of Business, and a Visiting Researcher at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey, USA. Her research interests include biodiversity-respectful, regenerative, and sustainable business and supply chain management, systemic change processes, interorganizational interactions, and humanitarian disaster response. She is involved in the BIODIFORM and BIODIFUL consortia, which investigate the interface between biodiversity and business, systemic transformations, and biodiversity-respectful leadership. She is also a vice program chair of the EU-funded MSCA Cofund Horizon 2022 UTU-GreDiT (Solutions for Green and Digital Transition) doctoral training program. Her research has received several recognitions, including the IPSERA Best Doctoral Dissertation in Purchasing Award 2017 and the Routledge Best Paper Award in Social Partnership 2016. Her work has appeared among other outlets in the Journal of Business Ethics, Organization & Environment, the Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Supply Chain Management, and Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management. She is also a co-author of the book “Corporate Social Responsibility in Finland: Origins, Characteristics, and Trends”. Prior to becoming a researcher, she worked for several years at Fairtrade Finland, where she managed relationships with Finnish retailers and food manufacturers.
Satu Teerikangas, Professor, Management and Organisation, Turku School of Economics
https://www.utu.fi/en/people/satu-teerikangas
https://scholar.google.fi/citations?user=2MZFIFcAAAAJ&hl=fi
Satu Teerikangas is Professor of Management and Organization, University of Turku (UTU), Finland and Honorary Professor, University College London, UK, where she was tenured (2010–15). Satu’s research centres on the management of strategic change, a research theme set at the frontiers of strategic management, organization theory and organization development. Her focus in the study of strategic change centres on the management of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and sustainability transitions. Within this remit, Satu’s empirical and conceptual contributions relate to the sociocultural dynamics of strategic change, change agents, and research methods. Her international academic journal publications appear in e.g. Journal of Management, British Journal of Management, Human Resource Management, International Business Review, European Management Review, European Journal of Management, Management International Review, and Sustainability. As an academic, her approach to scientific inquiry is collaborative and interdisciplinary. She is lead editor of the Research Handbook of Sustainability Agency (2021) published by Edward Elgar, and co-editor of the Handbook of Mergers and Acquisitions (2012) published by Oxford University Press. She bears in excess of 2M€ research funding. In 2021-2026, she is co-leading the Strategic Research Council funded research project BIODIFUL – Biodiversity respectful leadership, while also involved as one of the co-PIs in the Finnish Academy’s Profilation 6 (2021-2026)-funded BIODIFORM consortium connecting biodiversity and business in an interdisciplinary setting across University of Turku. She was awarded UTU’s Executive Educator as well as Impactful Business School Academic of the year (2020). Prior to an academic career, Professor Teerikangas worked in the oil and gas industry in the Netherlands and the UK.
Ilari E. Sääksjärvi, Professor, Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku
https://www.utu.fi/en/people/ilari-saaksjarvi
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4DtdiR4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Ilari E. Sääksjärvi is a Professor of Biodiversity Research at the University of Turku and the Vice Chair of the Finnish Nature Panel. He has especially done research on the biodiversity of Amazonian rainforests. He leads the multi-disciplinary BIODIFUL and BIODIFORM research consortia, which operate at the intersection of biodiversity, leadership and economy, and are funded by the the Strategic Research and The Academy of Finland, respectively.
Laura Olkkonen, Associate Professor, LUT Business School
https://research.lut.fi/converis/portal/Person/123728?page=pers_has_publ:3
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YIb7YgMAAAAJ&hl=en
Laura Olkkonen is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Business at LUT Business School and Docent of Corporate Communication at Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics. Her research focuses on business-society relations and CSR communication, especially in the context of corporate activism. Her research has been funded by the Research Council of Finland and Finnish foundations. She teaches courses related to sustainable business and business ethics, and supervises Doctoral and Master’s theses. Dr. Olkkonen also acts as a local coordinator of the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) at LUT. She is co-author for the book “Corporate Social Responsibility in Finland: Origins, Characteristics, and Trends”, and has published her research in journals such as Business & Society, Journal of Cleaner Production, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, and Journal of Communication Management.
Asta Salmi, Professor, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu
Asta Salmi | University of Oulu
https://scholar.google.fi/citations?user=va1Gyp0AAAAJ&hl=fi&oi=ao
Asta Salmi is a Professor (Sustainable Business) at University of Oulu. Her expertise areas include sustainable supply chains, cross-sector cooperation, dynamics of business networks, and collaborations related to environmental issues. Her recent research projects have focused on, e.g., advancement of wood construction and biodiversity management in supply chains. Salmi is Program Director of the research program “Innovative Materials and Services to Promote Resource Wisdom and Sustainable Development” funded by the Strategic Research Council. She serves as a Senior Associate Editor for Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management and is an active participant and member of the international business and industrial marketing research communities. She has published e.g., in Academy of Management Review, Organization & Environment, Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of Management Studies.
Course coordinators and contact information:
Anne Quarshie, Assistant Professor, Biodiversity and Business, Turku School of Economics, (anne.quarshie@utu.fi)
Laura Albareda, Professor, Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship, LUT School of Business and Management, (laura.albareda@lut.fi)