In Mark Twain’s classic stories about Tom Sawyer’s adventures (1876-1896) there is an episode in which our teenage hero has been employed to paint a long wooden fence. For Tom, the task is terribly boring and takes a heavy toll; on such a beautiful summers day he’d much rather go fishing. Soon however, a crowd … Continued
There is no one recipe to renewing a business, there are however many ingredients that make renewal a success. Surprisingly, firm perceptions of what led to successful renewal are similar to entrepreneurial skills at the individual level. In the Renewal of Manufacturing -research project co-funded by Tekes, we identified differences in renewal between successful and … Continued
The second conference day’s keynote speeches delved into the concepts of work, technology and the economy from a social science point of view. The role of robots in future working life was also one of many things that sparked a lively discussion. Robots and the Future of Work The WORK2017 conference’s Robots and … Continued
Tomorrow begins the three-day conference WORK2017, bringing together over three hundred researchers, decision-makers and business representatives to discuss the digital future of work and the economy at the Turku School of Economics. The SWiPE project is one of the main organisers of the WORK2017 conference. The WORK2017 conference will provide an excellent opportunity to … Continued
We live at a time in which the global forces of change challenge our societies, businesses and us as individuals to adapt. The main driving forces of change are globalization and digitalisation accelerated by automation, robotization and revolutions in technology. As a result, two pervasive shifts can be identified: the first, a transformation in work … Continued
On last year’s entrepreneurship -award-winning Startup! course I have been observing how students brainstorm, test and bring to market new business ideas. At the same time, I have learned more from them in terms of human behaviour – the human factor – than about entrepreneurship. Interaction between students and understanding others often anticipates team success … Continued
In the future of work many professionals will face completely new challenges during their careers; challenges that do not have standard solutions. Solving these kinds of problems typically requires capabilities that combine different professional skills and academic knowledge with new ways of looking at the world. Depending on once learned skills is no longer enough: … Continued
Interviewed for an article in the Mercurius magazine of Turku School of Economics,University of Turku, SWiPE researcher Docent Seppo Poutanen discusses what digitalisation means for work, workers and organisations in the future, and how the coming changes require society to prepare to meet new challenges.
I’m known as something of a geek. I’ve been one since childhood. I spent my slow early years devouring every science book I could find on the shelves of Järvelä library. This choice of reading material may have been the single best investment of my life, in addition learning English. Let me tell you why. … Continued
Full-time teleworking as a part of the ongoing digital transofrmation is still a foreign concept to many, writes SWiPE researcher Mervi Hasu in a blog post for the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (in Finnish). “For more and more people work is no longer a place – that change is not new and has some … Continued