Jouni Kimmo Alajoutsijärvi

Professor Department of Management and Innovation

Email: kimmo.alajoutsijarvi@uia.no
Phone: +47 38 14 14 23
Mobile phone: +358 40 5047418
Office: 9I272 (Universitetsveien 19, 4630 Kristiansand, Norway)

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Background and experience

Various positions in academia, e.g. dean, department head, professor, program manager. In business: partner in a consulting company, consultant, chairman and member in board of trustees, executive education.

Areas of responsibility

Kimmo Alajoutsijärvi is Professor at the Department of Management and Strategy at the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Jyväskylä (Finland).

Alajoutsijärvi has a passion for research, doctoral education and tutoring. He has always been interested in conceptual innovations and discovery research. His research interest can be grouped into four domains in the area of business studies:

· Industrial business relationships and networks

· Strategies in project-based industries

· Business cycles, bubbles, booms and busts

· An important side-track: research on business schools and higher education

Alajoutsijärvi has published his work in journals such as Academy of Management Learning and Education, International Business Review, Information & Management, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business to Business Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Management Inquiry and International Journal of Project Management.

Alajoutsijärvi has worked as a professor in several countries, e.g. Finland, Russia, UK, UAE and Indonesia. He is also the former Dean of Oulu Business School in Finland and the leader of Finnish Graduate School of Marketing.

In addition to his academic work, Alajoutsijärvi has been consulting large and medium sized industrial corporations, as well as acted as chairman or member of management boards in a number of companies.

Teaching

Project business, Bachelor thesis, Branding

Research

Business relationships and networks, business cycles, booms and busts, research on higher education and management development.

Academic interests

Interorganizational relationships and networks, branding and social evaluation constructs, business cycles and bubbles, competition, and ideologies in business.

Research on universities, business schools, and project-based industries.

Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Ojansivu, Ilkka (2025). Social Evaluations Shaping an Industry: The Rise of the Dominated and the Fall of the Dominant Firm. Academy of Management Proceedings. 2025(1). doi: https:/journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/AMPROC.2025.24629abstract. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2025). Competition in the Global Business School Field. In Rao, Madasu; Singh, Abhilash & Rao, Pulaparthi (Ed.), Worldviews and Values in Higher Education: Institutional Governance, Leadership, and Capacity Building. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. ISSN 9781835496350. p. 151–166. doi: 10.1108/978-1-83549-634-320251010. Full text in Research Archive
Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Möller, Kristian; Tikkanen, Henrikki & Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2025). Doctors for Status or for Society? History of Doctoral Education in Finnish Business Schools. Academy of Management Proceedings. 2025(1). doi: https:/viewpaper.aom.org/2025/check.aspx?action=op&c=p&a=BJBJWSCFMA. Full text in Research Archive
Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Inkpen, Andrew; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Alon, Ilan (2025). Stop Devaluing My Degree! Stakeholder-Led Stigmatization to Save Business School Status. Academy of Management Learning & Education. ISSN 1537-260X. 24(2), p. 149–174. doi: 10.5465/amle.2024.0066. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper explores organizational stigma, an important yet underexamined phenomenon in business schools, and its role in the preservation of institutional status and prestige. Through a case study of a prestigious U.S.-based business school, we examine the stigmatization process initiated by alumni stakeholders following the announcement of an alliance with a global conglomerate that operates a network of for-profit universities. Our study contributes to existing research on the critical role of stakeholder evaluations in shaping and maintaining business schools’ status, reputation, and legitimacy. By analyzing the stigmatizers’ perspective, we propose a process model for the alumni-led stigmatization. We highlight how these stakeholders, particularly in the era of social media, can disrupt strategic decision-making at business schools by triggering and enacting stigmas across multiple levels both within and outside the institution.
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina & Pinheiro, Romulo (2024). Ideologies shaping university competition. Studies in Higher Education. ISSN 0307-5079. 49(10). doi: 10.1080/03075079.2024.2397048. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This conceptual study explores the dominant ideologies influencing the economic governance of higher education (HE) and shaping competition within the sector and among universities. It delineates and contrasts four key ideological positions – neoliberalism, managerialism, shareholderism, and stakeholderism – and outlines four corresponding types of university competition: signaling, intraorganizational, interorganizational, and priority competition. The paper contributes to the discourse on university competition as a macro trend in HE by examining its ideological underpinnings. Notably, it observes that real-life outcomes often diverge from the idealized visions these ideologies promote. The study concludes by illustrating how these four types of competition coexist in HE and discussing how shifts in coordination or decision-making mechanisms can influence which ideology gains prominence in shaping competition.
Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Hunnes, John Arngrim & Pinheiro, Romulo (2022). Emergence and early institutionalization of competition in higher education: evidence from Finnish business schools. Tertiary Education and Management. ISSN 1358-3883. doi: 10.1007/s11233-022-09104-9. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
This paper investigates the emergence and early institutionalization of competition in higher education (HE), specifically in business schools. First, building on key contributions from economics, management studies, sociology, and HE research, we develop propositions on competition in HE and formulate our theoretical framework. Second, we apply this framework to explore competition in Finnish business schools. We argue that business schools constitute an interesting field for studying competition in HE because they are the frontrunners and champions of competition-based views in HE. Our main contribution is a novel explanation of the preconditions, emergence, and early processes of institutionalization that drive HE institutions to compete and collectively produce the observed competitive transformation.
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina & Siltaoja, Marjo (2022). Grandiose branding: World-class aim and its organizational consequences. Scandinavian Journal of Management. ISSN 0956-5221. 38(4). doi: 10.1016/j.scaman.2022.101245. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Juusola, Katariina & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2022). Business Schools in Their Ideological Prison: Why Sustainability Challenge Is Our Next Legitimacy Crisis. In Örtenblad, Anders & Koris, Riina (Ed.), Debating Business School Legitimacy: Attacking, Rocking, and Defending the Status Quo. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783031127243. p. 67–86. Full text in Research Archive
Ojansivu, Ilkka; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina & Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2021). At the temporary-permanent interface: Overcoming knowledge boundaries with boundary objects. Scandinavian Journal of Management. ISSN 0956-5221. 37(2). doi: 10.1016/j.scaman.2021.101150. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Alon, Ilan & Pinheiro, Romulo (2021). The Marketisation of Higher Education: Antecedents, Processes, and Outcomes. In Branch, John D. & Christiansen, Bryan (Ed.), The Marketisation of Higher Education: Concepts, Cases, and Criticisms. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030674403. p. 17–45. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-67441-0_2. Full text in Research Archive
Juusola, Katariina & Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2019). Revisiting Dubai’s Business School Mania. Academy of Management Learning & Education. ISSN 1537-260X. 18(3), p. 484–492. doi: 10.5465/amle.2018.0287. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2018). “We are better than Harvard”: Organizational grandiosity and narcissism. Academy of Management Annual Conference, Chicago 2018, in symposium titled: Aspirations, Bullshit, Grandiosity, and Post-truths: Jargon in Organizational Life. Academy of Management Proceedings. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Kettunen, Kerttu & Sohlo, Sauli (2018). Shaking the status quo: Business accreditation and positional competition. Academy of Management Learning & Education. ISSN 1537-260X. 17(2), p. 203–225. doi: 10.5465/amle.2015.0199. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Davies, Julie & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2017). London's Business Schools: The good, the bad and the ugly? Academy of Management Annual Conference, Atlanta, 2017. Academy of Management Proceedings. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2016). The "Dean's Squeeze" revisited: a contextual approach. Journal of Management Development. ISSN 0262-1711. 35, p. 326–340. doi: 10.1108/jmd-02-2015-0017. Full text in Research Archive
Juusola, Katariina; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina & Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2015). Accelerating the Americanization of Management Education: Five Responses From Business Schools. Journal of Management Inquiry. ISSN 1056-4926. 24(4), p. 347–369. doi: 10.1177/1056492615569352. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Ojansivu, Ilkka & Salo, Jari (2015). Business relationships during project afterlife: antecedents, processes, and outcomes. The journal of business & industrial marketing. ISSN 0885-8624. 30(5), p. 572–583. doi: 10.1108/jbim-05-2013-0111. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Ojansivu, Ilkka (2015). Inside service-intensive projects: Analyzing inbuilt tensions. International Journal of Project Management. ISSN 0263-7863. 33(4), p. 901–916. doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.11.001. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Juusola, Katariina & Siltaoja, Marjo (2015). The legitimacy paradox of business schools: Losing by gaining? Academy of Management Learning & Education. ISSN 1537-260X. 14(2). doi: 10.5465/amle.2013.0106. Full text in Research Archive
Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Juusola, Katariina (2015). What Happens to the Professor? Business Schools, Corporatization, and Eroding Professionalism. In Bowden, Bradley & Lamond, David (Ed.), Management History: Its Global Past & Present. Information Age Publishing. ISSN 9781681231853. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Juusola, Katariina & Lamberg, Juha-Antti (2014). Institutional logic of business bubbles: Lessons from the dubai business school mania. Academy of Management Learning & Education. ISSN 1537-260X. 13(1), p. 5–25. doi: 10.5465/amle.2012.0036. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2013). vaan kuinkas sitten kävikään? (What happened?). Liiketaloudellinen Aikakauskirja. ISSN 0024-3469. p. 92–102. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Ojansivu, Ilkka & Salo, Jari (2013). The development of post-project buyer–seller interaction in service-intensive projects. Industrial Marketing Management. ISSN 0019-8501. 42(8), p. 1318–1327. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2013.06.009. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Juusola, Katariina & Siltaoja, Marjo (2013). Academic Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Birth of Acamanic Capitalism. In Virpi, Malin; Murphy, Jonathan & Siltaoja, Marjo (Ed.), Dialogues in Critical Management Studies. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. ISSN 9781781909546. p. 91–121. doi: 10.1108/s2046-6072(2013)0000002010. Full text in Research Archive

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Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2018). A vision for future business schools (in Finnish) pp. 48-88. Painosalama. ISBN 9789512973002. 40 p. Full text in Research Archive

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Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2024). Social evaluations, competition, and structuration of a project industry: A rise of Valmet and the fall of Beloit. Full text in Research Archive
Inkpen, Andrew; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Alon, Ilan (2023). Stakeholder Stigmatization and social media communities. Full text in Research Archive
Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Ojansivu, Ilkka (2023). Strateginen kehittämisprojekti yliopistossa vaatii pelisilmää. Projektitoiminta. ISSN 1455-4178. 1(1). Full text in Research Archive
Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Hunnes, John Arngrim & Pinheiro, Romulo (2022). Presentation at EGOS Colloquium: Emergence and early institutionalization of competition in higher education: Evidence from Finnish business schools. Full text in Research Archive
Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Inkpen, Andrew; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Alon, Ilan (2022). Presentation at SCANCOR workshop: Stigmatization and stakeholder activism. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Juusola, Katariina & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2020). Presentation at NEON conference: What ails contemporary business schools? Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Juusola, Katariina & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2019). Presentation at the Nordic Academy of Management Conference: What ails contemporary business schools? Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2018). Work and Career in Business Schools. The doctoral course at Aalto Business School. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2018). Article in conference proceedings Aspirations, Bullshit, Grandiosity, and Post-truths: Jargon in Organizational Life : “We are better than Harvard”: Organizational grandiosity and narcissism. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina & Ojansivu, Ilkka (2018). Presentation at EGOS Colloquium: Shifting boundaries: renewal projects within hybrid organizations. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2018). The transformation of universities in Nordic countries (in Finnish). Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2018). Business Schools' implicit ideologies (in Finnish). Kauppatieteellisiä kaikuja. 1(1). Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2018). Analytics for Management and Economics Conference. A member of programme committee. My duty was to evaluate papers. Full text in Research Archive
Ojansivu, Ilkka; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina & Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2018). Shifting boundaries: renewal projects within hybrid organizations. The 34th EGOS Colloquium 2018, Tallinn. Full text in Research Archive
Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo; Davies, Julie & Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina (2017). Institutional logics and regulatory changes: A case study of new entrants in the UK’s management education field. British Academy of Management annual conference, 5th-7th September 2017, University of Warwick, UK. Full text in Research Archive
Ojansivu, Ilkka; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina & Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2017). Project organizing under institutional complexity: comparative analysis of three AACSB accreditation projects in Nordic business schools. The 33rd EGOS Colloquium 2017, Copenhagen. Full text in Research Archive
Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Tikkanen, Henrikki (2017). The past, present and future of doctoral education in Finnish business schools. The 24th Nordic Academy of Management Conference, 23rd-25th August 2017, Nord University Business School, Bodø, Norway. Full text in Research Archive
Davies, Julie; Kettunen, Kerttu Pauliina & Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo (2016). Business School Strategies and Simon’s Vision: Empirical Comparisons of Two London-based Business Schools. British Academy of Management annual conference 2016, Newcastle, UK. Full text in Research Archive
Due, Anne Lise; Alajoutsijärvi, Jouni Kimmo & Knudsen, Harald (2023). Revisiting Theory Y: Exploring the impact of positive leader assumptions on leadership for intrinsic motivation in followers. Universitetet i Agder. ISSN 9788284271514. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Intrinsic motivation is a powerful but often underutilised resource in today’s workplace. Organisations may therefore miss out on a key contributor to creativity, productivity, and profitability, while employees miss out on a source of meaning, fulfilment, and well-being in their work. Leaders play an important role in influencing employee motivation. Although previous research has produced a wealth of knowledge about how to promote intrinsic motivation, it appears that few leaders fully translate this knowledge into practice. It is therefore timely to revisit McGregor’s (1960/2006) Theory Y, which proposes that having positive assumptions about human nature and human behaviour can influence leaders to engage in practices that promote intrinsic motivation in followers. This study explores the lived experience of twelve Norwegian top leaders to understand how having positive assumptions about human nature and human behaviour can help leaders promote intrinsic motivation in followers. The methodology is interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings support that the informants have positive assumptions about human nature and human behaviour, and that they translate these assumptions into practice by engaging in an extensive range of practices that promote intrinsic motivation in followers. Additionally, this study identifies a set of mediating personal convictions that help explain whether and to what extent leaders translate their assumptions into practice. This study contributes to understanding of McGregor’s theory in two ways. Firstly, it proposes an intermediate step in the process of translating leader assumptions into leader practices, and identifies five personal convictions involved in this step. Secondly, it proposes a model that further explains the role of these personal convictions in determining whether and to what extent leader assumptions are translated into leader practices that promote intrinsic motivation in followers. The study thereby advances our understanding of the relationship between Theory Y assumptions and Theory Y practices.

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Published Apr. 16, 2024 11:12 AM