Rate My Professor Tiina Ritvala

Tiina Ritvala is an Associate Professor of International Business and Assistant Dean for Teaching and Education in the Department of Management Studies at Aalto University School of Business. She holds a D.Sc. (Econ.) from Helsinki School of Economics, awarded in 2008, and a Master's degree in Business and Economics from the same institution in 1996. Before entering academia, Ritvala spent ten years in business consulting and engaged in volunteer work. Her academic visits include positions as Visiting Scholar at the SCANCOR/Weatherhead Center at Harvard University and Queen's University in Canada in 2016, as well as at WU Vienna in 2019.

Ritvala's research centers on cross-sector collaborations involving multinational corporations, cities, and nonprofits amid high institutional complexity, particularly in sustainable cities, energy transitions, and cultural sectors. Her scholarship bridges organizational theory, international business, and social purpose. Notable publications include co-authoring "A review of location, politics, and the multinational corporation: Bringing political geography into international business" in the Journal of International Business Studies (2023), "Multinational energy utilities in the energy transition: A configurational study of the drivers of FDI in renewables" in Journal of International Business Studies (2021), "A processual view of organizational stigmatization in foreign market entry" in Journal of International Business Studies (2021), and editing "Future-fit: expanding the boundaries of international business" (2026). Additional contributions encompass "Multinational Corporations in Sustainable Cities: The Case of a Sustainable Headquarters Building" (2023) and "Theorizing MNE-NGO conflicts in state-capitalist contexts" in Journal of World Business (2020). Ritvala has received the Best Paper Award at the EIBA 2017 Milan Conference in the track "MNEs and Sustainable Development," the Distinguished McKinsey Award for highest performing graduates at Helsinki School of Economics in 1997, and distinguished paper recognition in the EDAMBA Thesis Competition in 2009. Her publications have attracted over 900 citations and media coverage on topics like the Guggenheim Helsinki stigmatization.