Saara is professor of business administration and subject responsible professor of entrepreneurship at Linnaeus University. Saara's research interests lie in connection between everyday life and innovation, boundary conditions of creativity and management, and roles of affective networks in post-industrial economy. Saara's research currently focuses on the role of gaming in the creation of entrepreneurial networks, and the impact of generative AI in work organizations. Her research has been published in journals such as Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Management and Organizational History, Philosophy of Management and the International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy.
Saara was the holder of Linnaeus University's IKEA professorship (2011-2019), which focused on innovation and life at home.
Teaching
5FE07E Innovation Master’s thesis seminar
5FE06E Entrepreneurship Master's thesis seminar
4FE146 Internship Project
4FE147 Entrepreneurship, Sustainability and Social Change
4FE148 Entrepreneurship Process and Practice
4FE151 Contemporary Entrepreneurship Research
4FE150 Entrepreneurship and Social Change
4FE113 Organisation and Wicked Problems
Research
Artificial Intelligence as a risk and opportunity for the authenticity of archives. (Together with Profs. Koraljka Golup, Digital Humanities, and Marcelo Mildrad, Media Technology at LNU, and Anna Foka, Digital Humanities, Uppsala University. Wallenberg Foundation WASP-HS NetX Program for Humanities and Social Sciences.
https://wasp-hs.org/project/artificial-intelligence-as-a-risk-and-opportunity-for-the-authenticity-of-archives/
AI Futures of Culture and Memory (FAIM)
The research cluster will investigate how AI-driven technologies are transforming not only the ways in which we create, curate, and preserve cultural memory but also how they are reshaping creative professions, organizations, and the very institutions at the heart of cultural life.
The cluster collaboration at LNU is Digital Humanities, Department of Cultural Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Entrepreneurship, Department of Management, School of Business and Economics.
FAIM univeristies: Uppsala University (coordination); Linnaeus Univeristy; Lund University; Umeå University; KTH Royal Institute of Technology; Chalmers University of Technology
https://lnu.se/en/research/research-projects/project-ai-futures-of-culture-and-memory/
Commissions
Subject responsible professor for Entrepreneurship 2023-
Prodean for School of Business and Economics 2021-2023
Reseach leader Leadership and Organizational Renewal 2019-2021
We are accredited
The School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, AACSB. Only 6 percent of the world’s leading business schools achieve this accreditation, making us one of a few schools that are trailblasers in teaching, research, and societal impact.
My ongoing research projects
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Project: Artificial Intelligence as a risk and opportunity for the authenticity of archives The purpose of this project is to conceptualise and guide the design of AI based methods which embody and…
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Research cluster: AI Futures of Culture and Memory This research cluster will investigate how AI-driven technologies are transforming not only the ways in which we create, curate, and preserve…
Publications
Chapter in book (Refereed)
- Taalas, S.L. (2020). Witnessing Eve : Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Gender, embodiment and fluidity in organization and management. Abingdon, Routledge. 75-91.
- Mitchell, L., Taalas, S.L. (2020). ‘It’s not fair!’ : game and affective communities of entrepreneurship. Passion and entrepreneurship : contemporary perspectives and new avenues for research. London, Palgrave Macmillan. 113-136.
- Olaison, L., Taalas, S.L. (2017). Game of gamification : marketing, consumer resistance and digital play. The business of gamification : a critical analysis. New York, Routledge. 59-80.
- Taalas, S.L. (2013). Creativity and the post-original : Maritime Centre Vellamo and Kotka-Hamina Region. The Value of Arts and Culture for Regional Development : A Scandinavian Perspective. Oxford, UK, Routledge. 147-160.
- Taalas, S.L., Bakker, P. (2011). Il business dell’adult content : Una rilettura del concetto di innovazione. Il porno espanso : Dal cinema ai nuovi media. Milano, Mimesis edizioni.
- Häkkinen, L., Nummela, N., Taalas, S.L. (2010). Motives and boundary conditions of mergers and acquisitions in media : a Nordic perspective. Media mergers and the defence of pluralism. Göteborg, Nordicom. 21-40.
- Häkkinen, L., Nummela, N., Taalas, S.L. (2009). On motives for acquisition activity in the media sector : understanding actions through contextualization. The media as a driver of the information society. Lisbon, MediaXXI. 157-178.
- Taalas, S.L. (2009). Notes on Fan Organization : Organization of Consumption in Copyrighted Economy. What about Cultural Policy? : Interdisciplinary perspectives on culture and politics. Helsinki & Jyväskylä, Minerva Kustannus. 233-249.
Conference paper (Refereed)
- Klintman, M., Olaison, L., Taalas, S.L. (2017). ‘The mad, the stupid and the morally degenerate’ : stodge food vegans and sustainable food consumption revisited. SCOS 2017: Carne - flesh and organization : book of abstracts. 60-61.
- Olaison, L., Taalas, S.L. (2015). Anxiety and Trust in Systemic Forms of Entrepreneurship : The Case of the 'Sharing Economy'. Paper presented at the 6th Australasian Caucus of the Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, Sydney, Australia, November 30-December 2, 2015.
- Taalas, S.L., Olaison, L. (2015). The liminal space of gamification : interrupted rituals of failed online marketing campaigns. Paper presented at the APROS/EGOS Conference, Sydney, Australia, December 9-11, 2015.
- Cassinger, C., Taalas, S.L., Vazques, C. (2011). Branded space-times : narrative production of organisational identity and image. 7th Global Brand Conference of the Academy of Marketing’s Brand Corporate Identity and Reputation Special Interest Group, Oxford, April 6-9, 2011.
Conference paper (Other academic)
- Karlsson, M., Taalas, S.L. (2015). Social Entrepreneurship Breaking Bad : Reflexive creative subjectivity of 'Friendly Rebels'. Paper presented at the 10th OS Summer Workshop 2015: Organizational Creativity, Play and Entrepreneurship, Chania, Crete, Greece, May 21–23, 2015.
- Taalas, S.L. (2013). Situating life at home in management studies : from Mrs. Beeton to fan innovation. .
- Taalas, S.L., Sandberg, D. (2011). Bridging life at home and sustainable production.. Rediscovering Wood : The Key to a Sustainable Future.
- Taalas, S.L. (2011). Notes on the materiality of the immaterial. .
Conference proceedings (editor) (Refereed)
- Ropo, A., Taalas, S.L., Mäenpää, M. (2010). Creative economy and beyond : conference proceedings. Helsinki, Creative Industries Finland. 361.
Report (Other academic)
- Taalas, S.L. (2010). Kohti hybriditalouden haastetta : keskustelua luovasta taloudesta Suomessa . Helsinki, Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön julkaisuja. 59.