TRaCE is a unique competence hub within the Finnish higher education landscape. It brings together expertise in innovation and strategic management research, sustainability transition studies, and art based methods.
The hub provides a platform for advancing multidisciplinary research on transformative value creation, developing innovative methods, and supporting the professional growth of researchers.
Research focus
The TRaCE research group generates new knowledge that is essential for renewing business models and value creation in a world shaped by geopolitical tensions, new forms of scarcity, the sustainability transition, and competitive pressures created by digital technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Our aim is to support the development of economically viable, scalable, and socially resilient models of value creation that can help renew the economy. Our research builds on multidisciplinary expertise in innovation management, strategic management, sustainability studies and art based development methods.
We work collaboratively with stakeholders and national and international research partners, and provide research based expertise on business, value creation and innovation management to other TAMK research groups.
Thematic focus areas
1. Transformative value creation as a driver of the sustainability transition
In close collaboration with TAMK’s experts in carbon neutral bio circular economy and manufacturing technologies, TRaCE produces new scientific and practice oriented knowledge on the business and sociocultural barriers and enablers that shape the adoption and scaling of sustainable circular economy solutions.
We have specific expertise in transformations in the production and consumption of products and services — including B2B services — that advance the sustainability transition.
2. Social innovations as a source of transformative value creation
We produce new knowledge on how to strengthen innovation capabilities that support the resilience of local communities and the renewal of SMEs.
Our work draws on research of citizen driven and community driven innovation, regional innovation ecosystems and social innovation. We also develop art based methods for inclusive innovation activities and work closely with TAMK’s social and health care projects.
3. Transformative value creation in the digital transition
Our research provides business decision makers with scientific and practical insights into the role and potential of innovative digital technologies — such as digital platform ecosystems and artificial intelligence — in inter organisational value creation.
Key areas of focus include:
- how digitalisation transforms value creation,
- the mechanisms and challenges of this transformation, and
- the strategic management capabilities required for digital transformation, including the development of dynamic and organisational capabilities that support changing value creation models.
4. Creative economy and transformative value creation
We broaden the research base of transformative value creation by applying methods from the creative economy, visual thinking and art based innovation.
Art based methods are used as strategic tools to examine and reshape organisational values, identities and cultures. As part of this work, we develop demonstration platforms that make visible the cultural, visual and experiential dimensions of the sustainability transition, help identify weak signals and value based meaning structures in economic transition, and support cultural security and societal resilience.