Aino Tenhiälä

Aino Tenhiala is a Professor of Organizational Behavior at IE University. Before joining IE, Aino worked at Aalto University and Hanken School of Economics in Finland. She is a licensed psychologist by training and holds a PhD in work psychology.

Professor Tenhiala has two streams of research. In her first stream, focusing on employee compensation, she is particularly interested in developing our understanding around controversies with respect to pay structure (e.g., pay dispersion, pay disparities), organizational structure (e.g., hierarchies, task interdependence, autonomy), and employee attitudes (e.g., fairness, engagement). She studies peer-based compensation in self-managed organizations, whether pro-equality laws reduce gender pay gap, the impact of pay transparency on motivational climate, among others. Her work in this area has been published in many books and journals such as Strategic Management Journal, Human Resource Management, Human Relations, Organization Studies, Journal of Occupational and Organizational and Psychology. One of her papers, “Perceptions of politics and fairness in merit pay“ received the Emerald Literati Network Award for Excellence.

Prof Tenhiala has another, emerging stream of research. She has become increasingly interested in the wellbeing of entrepreneurs, and high-growth entrepreneurs in particular. Using unique records-based database, she studies questions related to the wellbeing of the entrepreneurs and possible dilemmas related to managing their companies and their personal lives.

In the classroom, Aino aims at creating a psychologically safe environment where students can discover, experiment, collaboratively contribute, and critically reflect. She is a believer in experiental learning methods, such as using cases as a tool for role-play, self-reflection surveys, and simulation. As a whole, her goal is to provide a student-centered, interactive learning environment, integrate theory with practice, provide a strong foundation for self-directed reflective learning, and strive for constructive alignment.

Academic Background

• Ph.D. in Work Psychology, Aalto University, Finland 2009

• Master in Psychology, University of Helsinki, Finland 2004

Academic Experience

• Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior, IE University since 2017

• Postdoctoral Researcher, Aalto University, Finland, 2011 - 2017

• Lecturer, Hanken School of Economics, Finland, 2009 - 2011

• Visiting Scholar, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, USA, 2008 - 2009

• Visiting Scholar, Fisher School of Business, the Ohio State University, USA, 2006 - 2007

Professional Experience

• Before joining the academia, Prof Tenhiala worked in headhunting, vocational guidance, and at a psychiatric clinic as a psychologist. More recently, she has consulted and collaborated with labor unions, employer organizations, firms in the service sector, manufacturing, and government about strategic reward management. She also cares deeply about contributing to entrepreneurial communities.

 Selected PUBLICATIONS

• Tenhiälä, A., Kepes, S. & Jokela, M. (2023) “Contingencies in the Effects of Job-Based Pay Dispersion on Employee Attitudes”. Forthcoming in Human Resources Management

• Tenhiälä, A. & Laamanen, T. (2018) “Right on the money? The contingent effects of strategic orientation and pay system design on firm performance”. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 39(13): 3408 - 3433

• Makarius, E., Stevens, C. & Tenhiälä, A. (2017) “Tether or stepping stone? The relationship between perceived external reputation and collective voluntary turnover rates”. Organization Studies, Vol. 38(12): 1665 - 1686

• Tenhiälä, A., Giluk, T.L., Kepes, S., Simón, C., Oh, I.-S. & Kim, S. (2016). “The research-practice gap in Human Resource Management: A cross-cultural study”. Human Resource Management, Vol. 55(2):179 - 200