Jaakko Aspara is an Acting Professor of Marketing/Sales Management at Helsinki School of Economics HSE, Department of Marketing and Management. During 2008-2009, he acts as a Visiting Scholar at New York University's Stern School of Business. Aspara received his doctor's degree in economics and business administration at HSE in 2007; he has also a master's degree in technology from Helsinki University of Technology (2004). Aspara has versatile expertise about market-oriented and management perspectives to firm resources, capabilities, stakeholders, and strategies.This shows in the many scientific articles that he has published or under review in a variety of journals such as European Journal of Marketing, Business Strategy Series, Long Range Planning, Academy of Marketing Science Review, Journal of Business & Psychology, and Journal of Behavioral Finance. To GloStra, Aspara brings in expertise particularly on financial markets and investing, as well as the coordination of firm market and R&D strategies with finance. In addition to his active research efforts, Aspara is active in development and consultancy projects in varied industries. He also presents his view and opinions often in Finnish media.

Institute:

- Acting Professor and Senior Researcher at Helsinki School of Economics HSE, Department of Marketing and Management
- Visiting Scholar at New York University, Stern School of Business

Current research:

I. The relationships between investments and firm profitable growth
Research questions:

1. What kind of investments do (internationalizing) firms make in today's global and knowledge-intensive business environment? [typology of investments in (intangible) processes? typology of investments in one-off actions]

2a. In what kind of (resource/capability) situations do firms invest in certain kinds of processes or one-off actions? [situation amidst the evolution of the business model]

2b. What kinds of and what levels of investments produce the best results (return-risk, growth, profitability) in what kind of situations?

3a. How do firms coordinate the raising of external capital with their investments in and processes of acquiring and transforming resources? [including the processes of selling one's products or knowledge; exploration-exploitation; offering to product markets vs. offering to financial markets]

3b. What kind of coordination produces the best results (return-risk, growth, profitability)?

Main methods:

- Survey studies targeted to managers of firm populations - Case studies (growth firms that have successfully coordinated their financing concept with their product market and R&D strategies)

II. The offering and selling of firms in the financial market

Research questions

1. How do investors' attitudes towards companies' product domains influence their willingness to invest in the companies' stocks?

2. How do investors' attitudes towards companies' brands influence their willingness to invest in the companies' stocks?

3. How can companies segment investors and position themselves in certain targeted segments in order to effectively and efficiently promote themselves as investment targets and raise capital?

Main method:

- Survey studies of individual investors - Interview studies of financial market professionals

Current teaching:

- supervision of Master's Theses at Helsinki School of Economics HSE
- Marketing Management at HSE
- Brands in Strategic Marketing at HSE

Expertise:

- (strategic) sales and marketing management
- marketing-finance interface
- commercial and R&D investments
- investment psychology/behavior (and its impact on corporate behavior)
- financial market assessments of companies' new product development and design
- exploration-exploitation in corporate strategies
- use experiences of consumers
- consumers' affective affinities for brands and companies
- role of managerial cognitions in business models
- orchestration of (stakeholder) strategies, corporate marketing

Awards:

2007. Best Paper Award, BAI 2007, International Conference on Business and Information, 11.-13.2007, Tokyo, Japan.

Postal Address:

Helsinki School of Economics HSE
Department of Marketing and Management
P.O. Box 1210
FI-00101 Helsinki
FINLAND

Email Address:

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