Human Resource Management

About the research group

Leadership carries great responsibility, and effective management of human resources is a responsibility at the core of every successful organisation.

The Human Resource Management Research Group, consisting of four professors, seven doctoral researchers, and around 20 active postgraduate students, is the largest research group in Finland focused on human resource management. We produce high-quality research data that helps companies build competitiveness through skilled and committed personnel, as well as through strategic and efficient HR processes.

The group’s three main themes are:

International human resource mManagement
Strategic human resource management
Leadership research

We conduct research-based development work in companies and public organisations. The group carries out joint research projects with other high-level foreign and domestic universities and higher education institutions, as well as with companies and business development networks. These projects combine scientific expertise with practical relevance.

Research findings are utilised in various HRM-related educational programs at the University of Vaasa:

Master’s Programme in Human Resource Management
Master’s Degree Programme in International Business
HRM MBA (continuing education, Levón Institute)
Doctoral Programme at the University of Vaasa (Business Studies, Management)

Postgraduate studies in HRM offer pioneering and up-to-date knowledge for organizations and the academic community both in Finland and internationally. Each doctoral student is assigned two supervisors, but they have an independent role in tailoring their study program according to their own needs and opportunities. Students participate in a research seminar held twice a year. Our doctoral program follows the structure of the university’s doctoral program.

Latest updates

Dissertation 13.04.2026

Exhausted supervisors pose a financial risk to companies – cynical leadership suppresses team work engagement

Dissertation 29.09.2025

How to solve the remote work stalemate – dissertation offers tools for successful hybrid work

Dissertation 22.09.2025

Moving abroad as a child is difficult at first, but becomes a professional superpower in adulthood

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Research projects

Project	Duration	Actors
Generative AI Pioneers: Exploring and Developing Innovation Capabilities	09/2025 - 08/2027	Management, Human resource management
Developing digital skills for work coordination in remote work (DigiPaikka)	01/2024 - 12/2026	Management, Human resource management
Strengthening Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Education and SME Management (DEI4SME)	12/2023 - 12/2026	Strategic business development, Human resource management, Management, InnoLab
From survival to renewal: Leading learning and innovation in crisis (UUDIS)	02/2023 - 08/2024	Human resource management, Management
Working remotely and hybrid together! A study on loneliness at work and the development of a preventive and remedial approach (LEADIS 2)	01/2022 - 12/2022	Human resource management, Management
Investigating the distinctive features and resilience of human resource management in the Nordic countries: A longitudinal and cross-national study	01/2022 - 12/2024	Human resource management, Management
Brothers from a different mother? How businesses and public sector organizations develop leadership competencies and change processes for blockchain implementation (BizPub)	02/2021 - 12/2022	InnoLab, Technology and Innovations, Management, Marketing and Communication, Networked value systems NeVS, International business and marketing, Human resource management
Global mobility of employees - GLOMO	01/2018 - 12/2021	Human resource management, Management

Publications

Publication year	Publication	Authors
2026	Beyond Management: Leading with purpose to engage employees	Laker, Benjamin; Ogbonnaya, Chidiebere; Degbey, William
2026	Reframing Leadership in Organizations: Formal Leaders’ Perceptions and Utilization of Informal Leadership in the Technology Sector	Leino, Tiina; Urrila, Laura; Veledar, Omar; Volpe, Margherita; Macher, Georg; Morton, Jane
2026	Examining the Structure of Work Motivation: The Curious Case of Introjected Regulation	Karkkola, Petri; Lehtivuori, Aki
2026	Asiantuntijatyön arkkityypit	Kallio, Tomi J.
2026	Tekoäly muuttaa työn sisältöä, osaamisvaatimuksia ja organisaatioiden toimintatapoja	Vilpponen, Hannu; Känsälä, Marja; Kangas, Hilpi; Söderlund, Kati; Lehto, Kirsi
2026	Supervisors’ Role in Mitigating Coworker Incivility: Implications for Workplace Ethics	Sarfraz, Muhammad; Degbey, William Y.; Sufyan, Muhammad; Kundi, Yasir Mansoor; Laker, Benjamin
2026	Putting sustainable human resource management and workplace eudaimonic well-being into cross-cultural context	Wojtczuk‐Turek, Agnieszka; Turek, Dariusz; Jurek, Paweł; Edgar, Fiona; Okay-Somerville, Belgin; Podgorodnichenko, Nataliya; Fu, Na; Järlström, Maria; Popov, Boris; Hutchings, Paul; Sullivan, Katie; Hafstad, Marius Duhović; Shkoda, Tetiana; Savych,…
2026	A Multilevel Model of Team-Level Work Engagement Emergence	Urien, Begoña; Rico, Ramón; Demerouti, Evangelia; Bakker, Arnold B.
2026	The role of unit and individual ambidexterity in enhancing employee task performance: the moderating effect of cross-training	Melkić, Sara; Hernaus, Tomislav; Bakker, Arnold B.
2026	Burnout in Cardiovascular Care: Prevention Through Job Demands-Resources Theory	Bakker, Arnold B.; Demerouti, Evangelia; Siu, Oi Ling