Some time ago, even if the topic was not familiar to me, I always got all the Asian masters students to mentor. I asked why and the response was that “you are so good with Asians”. Poor students! They did not get the person most knowledgeable with their thesis topic but a person who had…
The rise of Femtech in a gender biased technology sector – cure or symptom?
Our culture puts high hopes on the role of technology in improving our lives. New solutions, devices and applications enter the market constantly, and many of their creators are seen as trailblazers, paving the way to a better future, with more well-being. The development and emergence of new technologies is almost seen as a force…
The many faces of customer orientation
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the role of customers in business. It has become dramatically clear to many that without customers there is no business. Now when everything is upside down it is timely and relevant to reflect on this old but fundamental issue. Not that managers would not know it, in principle. It has…
Is the human service employee really human?
All of us have heard this several times: robots and artificial intelligence (AI) will replace many of us, and this also goes for service employees who used to have face-to-face interaction with customers. Much research has already been carried out on what the new interfaces should be like to make us humans feel comfortable in…
Reality of social distancing and lockdown in low-income settings
The only known planet for human to survive naturally is experiencing a huge challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the challenge is still far away from similar past challenges in terms of its effect on human survival, it has already made considerable damages in terms of loss of lives, and deceleration in economic and…
Pandemics, environmental crises and consumption: Lessons to learn
In Finland, we consume on average almost four times the amount that is environmentally sustainable. Calls for changing our consumption patterns in response to the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and other environmental problems have for years resulted in only little change. The current global pandemic appears to have succeeded where threats of environmental crises have…
Muovipussit minimiin – mitä teki kuluttaja, hyötyivätkö yritykset?
Olemme hukkua muoviin! Sosiaalinen media on täynnä kuvia muovilautoista valtamerissä ja muoviin sotkeutuneista linnuista. Silti jokapäiväinen elämämme on täynnä muovia pakkausten sekä muovipussien ja -kassien muodossa. Jotain tulisi tehdä, ajattelemme. Maailmassa kulutetaan 500 miljardista biljoonaan muovipussia vuosittain, mikä tarkoittaa 1,4–2,7 miljardia muovipussia joka päivä tai miljoona muovipussia minuutissa. Luvut ovat pöyristyttäviä, ja siksi eri toimijat…
How will the COVID-19 impact consumer behavior in the long term?
Research institutions are proactively conducting research to inform us of fast-changing trends due to the pandemic. Research results confirm that people have already changed their shopping behavior in fundamental ways: stocking up on products they wouldn’t otherwise stock up on, purchasing products they wouldn’t otherwise have purchased, shopping online when they would usually shop in…
What is a tastefully decorated home?
Fiskars scissors, Moomin mugs and an Aalto vase? Maybe also striped towels from Marimekko and a stool with legs of bent plywood (be it Artek, or a replica). How about white kitchen cabinets, grey floor tiles in the bathroom, and one of those woven seagrass baskets, the ones with handles? A eucalyptus branch as decoration?…
The traditional internet forum: old but not forgotten
Our online activity is evolving and new forms of social media and online communication and interaction are constantly developing. Recent trends include, for example, continued growth of messaging platforms, the rise of augmented and virtual reality, TikTok’s rising popularity among Gen Z users, and increasing social (media) commerce. So, a lot of new exciting things…