The overarching theme of Riikka's research is emotions, which she has explored in multiple ways, for example: emotion elicitation in individuals and groups at work, employees’ emotional bond to organizational identity, embodied emotions during leisure time activity, and work-related emotions in unforeseen circumstances. She is currently collaborating on projects on emotional dynamics in the life course of cosmopolitans, the influence of emotional attachment in family firm internationalization, and EDI in international business. She is an editorial board member for the Journal of Change Management.