Nordic Business Report 2022

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CONTENTS

Contents From the Editor

5

Foreword

7

Reinventing the wheel

8

Innovation, synergy, and understanding the big picture

12

The new generation of synergy

16

Small steps in IT can bring big wins to banks

20

Bursting the plastic bubble

21

Never too big or too old to innovate

22

New tricks for an old line of business

27

For the sake of agility, even company culture must be exposed

28

Bringing real value to finnish companies through it procurement

32

Breaking the code

34

InvestEU gives companies a nudge towards new growth

36

Digital commerce diversifies – how to keep customer experience consistent?

38

Internationalizing Finnish healthcare expertise through digitalization

39

Human skills solving complex logistics challenges in a responsible way

40

The natural way to invest in forests

42

The world evolves – how about the way you lead?

43

Competitive in chaos

44

The sound of success

46

Transformation and strategic foresight bring growth and competitiveness to Tamro

51

Knowledge-based management as a lever for future growth

52

Slowing down the drivers of cost

54

The new look of a used car salesman

56

Financial data fuels impactful decision-making

57

Confidence through testing

58

Lifelong health is here – and it’s for everyone.

60

Turning document creation from liability into opportunity

62

Integration is the key to retaining foreign talent

62

Workplace in transition

63

Decrypting the blockchain

64

The time has come to start playing to win

65

Publisher Nordic Business Report Production Nordic Business Report Press PunaMusta Joensuu 2022

Editor-in-Chief Timo Mansikka-aho, timo.mansikka-aho@nbreport.com Art Director Jenni Hyttinen Cover photo George Lange

Nordic Business Report Oy Kuortaneenkatu 1, 00520 Helsinki, Finland info@nbreport.com www.nbreport.com

FROM THE EDITOR

“

This Nordic Business Report is about people, from people, to people like you.

Enjoy.

Something old, plenty of new

T

hird time’s the charm when it comes to this printed edition of Nordic Business Report.

We started out in January 2020, setting our sights to the upcoming Nordic Business Forum, which was scheduled to take place in September. Following the globally renowned reputation of the event and its ambitious plans to further raise the bar, we wanted to lift the quality of the magazine to the level the event deserves. The concepts were created and re-created, the plans laid out, the sleeves rolled up.

We were raring to go.

Until it all came to a sudden halt.

Picking up where we left off, the work resumed in 2021. Little by little, the dust settled; the clouds vanished. The faith was restored. In 2021, we got close. So close.

The fact that you are reading this editorial proves that in 2022, we finally made it. The concept may have developed, and the stories changed, but deep down, it feels like the finish line of a three-year-effort. Nordic Business Report is finally out.

While some articles must bring back memories from the pre-pandemic editions, the approach is entirely new. We all are picking up the pieces after a massive turmoil, and while we realize that things will never be the same, the journey continues. We will move on, and we will find a way forward. This is what this edition of Nordic Business Report will address, hopefully in a way that can help you and your company do the same.

First and foremost, this magazine is about people. The thing is, only people can make companies thrive in chaos, so for those looking for new ways to prosper, advise from those who know a bit about the tricks of trade might come in handy.

We focus on stories from proven experts in their respective fields.

They shed light on issues today’s leaders must be wrestling with, providing insight and practical tools from their own perspective to take advantage of. We have young business owners to encourage and inspire – and one 68-year-old startup fellow who shows no signs of even thinking about downshifting. And quite a lot there in between.

The setting is wide and versatile, and it is our sincere wish that you will find plenty of choices both interesting, useful – and even entertaining.

We have tried to maintain the level of ambition, the determination and fighting spirit to make the magazine the best it can be. At this moment, engines running on fumes, and everything left on the floor, we certainly believe we have succeeded. However, as it always is at the end of the day, it is you – the readers – who will ultimately decide.

This Nordic Business Report is about people, from people, to people like you. Enjoy.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

timo.mansikka-aho@nbreport.com

NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT 2022

5

HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights Innovation, synergy, and understanding the big picture

Page

Aarno Palotie has worked strenuously with his colleagues to tear down the walls that he believes still significantly shrink the window of opportunity when it comes to taking innovations further.

Page

16

12

For the sake of agility, even company culture must be exposed “A culture simply cannot be something drawn up by the management only. It is a thing for everyone, and everyone should feel comfortable to fully commit to it”, explains Ilkka Paananen.

Page

28

InvestEU gives companies a nudge towards new growth “Being fully aligned with the overall growth strategy of the European Union, InvestEU is working on full steam to encourage companies look for new sources of success”, tells Teresa Czerwińska.

Page

36

The sound of success “Trust and respect have always been my driving principles when it comes to people management and business. You should always trust your instincts and how you feel about things. If you feel good about something, you are more likely to succeed”, says Reijo Karhulahti.

Page

46

FOREWORD

Getting back together could change the world Getting together. You’ve all gotten started with it in other circles. This tremendous opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and opinions was kind of taken away from us for quite a long while. When writing this, we are 15 days away from our big events – and opportunities to get together – in Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Oslo. The pandemic forced us to cancel two previous editions of Nordic Business Forum, so it is almost three years since the previous one. Our entire staff is excited, certainly a bit nervous as well.

Nordic Business Forum is a place to get inspired, learn and meet old and new business friends. We see

excitement building up via social media each day, and the pace is picking up as the big moment is getting closer. Being able to get together is really the bread and butter for many businesses, like ours; for several others, it is an important tool and a breath of fresh air. I attended my first business seminar when I was 19 and I found it to be perhaps the most effective way to learn and get new ideas for me. It continues to be the #1 way for me to experience cool business stuff and to network.

In every event, there is a bit of magic – let it be a wedding, a graduation party, a summer festival, or a

business conference. I tend to believe that the effects of a large-scale event like Nordic Business Forum are massive. Most people walk away with something valuable. A massive number of businesses take a leap thanks to some new idea. A leader might become a better leader. A company might end up becoming more attached to its purpose, which could end up in saving lives or preserving natural resources.

A good way to prepare for getting together is to think about how I can make the best out of this – not

only for me personally, but for others as well. What I could learn from others and give back to them. Each gathering becomes more valuable through the collective actions of each participant. You never know where that might end up. That is the magic of gatherings.

Thanks for showing your support in making this gathering possible!

Hans-Peter Siefen Group CEO of Business Forum Group

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7

STORY

Reinventing the wheel As companies look for ways to get back on track after times of turbulence, they should not underestimate the power of a great flywheel. Once you get the components right and understand how your specific flywheel turns, it can build compounding momentum over a very long time – even if, and when, that time will be full of more surprises.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho Photos: George Lange

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F

or most leaders, the past couple of years have been a struggle for survival. The reasons we all are too aware of have driven companies into turmoil. With all these unexpected incidents that seem to be completely out of our control, many have decided to simply lay low and wait for the storm to pass.

Little by little, we have grown to understand that this is not going to happen.

“A great history professor Edward T. O’Donnell once said that history is the study of surprises; we do not know what is coming next”, says Jim Collins – a renowned researcher, writer, and sought-after speaker whose studies have provided instructions and inspiration for leaders around the world.

Busy in the midst of his most recent research, Jim Collins took the time to have a conversation with Nordic Business Report about what the future looks like – and how leaders could successfully start taking their companies forward, through times that remain uncertain, if not entirely chaotic.

The success will not come by waiting for the perfect circumstances. “Life is uncertain, the future unknown”, Collins continues. “This is neither good nor bad. It just is, like gravity.

COVID is simply the latest manifestation of living history, surprise after surprise. And there are more surprises to come.

What’s coming next? All we know for sure is that no-one knows. Yet – and this is the key point – great companies well-led can master their own fate nonetheless.”

The trick may be old, but that is precisely why it works

“For great companies, times of turbulence prove to be ideal for pulling ahead of others”, Collins points out. “This is a perfect moment to rigorously think of the ways to build momentum.”

“

For great companies, times of turbulence prove to be ideal for pulling ahead of others.

This is where the famous flywheel concept comes in. Jim Collins designed it a couple of decades ago, yet it keeps building momentum – and success – to companies regardless of their size, industry, or market.

“If you want to build a great company or lead a company from good to great, harnessing the flywheel effect is one of the crucial ingredients”, Collins explains. “Breakthrough momentum – the flywheel effect – flows from a series of good decisions, supremely well-executed, that accumulate one upon another over a long period of time. Once you fully grasp how to create flywheel momentum in your particular circumstance, and apply that understanding with creativity and discipline, you get the power of strategic compounding.”

“

Every company should right now concentrate on getting their flywheel right and embrace it at full force.

Momentum can be built, but to succeed every company must begin with thoroughly thinking what their respective flywheel is. Getting the steps just right requires plenty of discipline and perseverance, but once that is done, the company will have a long-term momentum builder that can be extended and even renewed to fit other business areas.

“Every company should right now concentrate on getting their flywheel right and embrace it at full force”, Collins advises. “The big winners are those who take a flywheel from ten turns to a billion turns rather than crank through ten turns, start over with a new

flywheel, push it to ten turns, only to divert energy into yet another new flywheel, then another and another.”

To help us out, Jim Collins listed five things every flywheel should include: 1. It has an inexorable logic of momentum

If you want to build momentum, you have to get the logic right. A great flywheel is not merely a series of steps – the idea behind it is that at every step of the flywheel, you can say that if we do this, the next step is almost an inevitable consequence of the step that came before.

2. The top step should express something essential

If you can get the top of the flywheel work for you, then everything else works a lot smoother. Every company has their own starting point. It can begin with culture or anything else. The essential thing is to make a wise choice – something that genuinely represents the reason for existence.

3. Right side –contribution, left side – fuel

All great flywheels proceed so that the first half (12 to 6) is about what you do, create, and contribute to the world. It is how you practically bring your purpose to life. On the other side, this all converts to fuel. The top redeploys the fuel and make the flywheel go further and faster 4. It has empirical validation on actual successes

Identify and describe achievements that represent your company’s big successes – and make sure the flywheel reflects them.

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9

STORY

Empirical validation enables you to build big bursts of momentum with full confidence.

a 20-mile march – another one of his concepts designed to help companies thrive in a turbulent world. Success requires relentless consistency, every day, regardless of conditions. Disciplined action correlates strongly with achieving breakthrough performance and sustaining flywheel momentum.

Amazon pivoted Jim’s flywheel thinking further also in this sense.

As he talked to the executive team after the dot-com bust in the beginning of the century, he advised everyone not to approach it as a crisis. Instead, they decided to approach the flywheel principle by creating their own.

“The dot-com crisis could very easily have led to a situation where everyone panicked and abandoned the flywheel grasp-

confidence grew, extending to iTunes, iPhone, and iPad. “Apple followed exactly this pattern,” Collins explains. “In 5. It is an architecture, not 2002, nearly all of Apple’s flya single line of business wheel momentum came from its This is important when you think line of Macintosh personal comabout expansion, momentum and puters. But it had fired a bullet on stimulating progress: all great flythis little thing called an iPod. The wheels allow you to do various bullet hit, and Apple then fired businesses under the same prina cannonball – extending the ciples. An underlying, properly flywheel into smart handhelds. conceived flywheel architecture, And Apple kept extending the renewed and extended at need, flywheel, from iPod to iPhone, can guide and drive momentum from iPhone to iPad, and Apple’s even for decades. flywheel extension became the largest generator of momentum.”

Putting the flywheel Building a great company nevto work er happens instantaneously and The execution phase puts every thriving in chaos follows the same component of the flywheel to a principle. Leaders, organizations, rigorous test – just like a chain, and shareholders get impatient a flywheel is only as waiting for the most strong as the weakest current crisis to settle part. Every compoand are at the same time nent depends on all afraid of the next one. the others and if one Jim Collins urges Over time, great companies extend is a lot weaker than the everyone to not wait for others, the entire flya miracle, lucky break, their flywheel architecture far beyond wheel stalls. instant innovation, Jim Collins emphaor a miracle moment where they first began. sizes that to bring home that suddenly makes the results, it is essential everything alright. The to understand that the world has always been flywheel concept works over a ing desperately to anything that far beyond e-commerce with new full of surprises and unexpected long period of time. After thor- they’d think might be their instant technology accelerators such as incidents, and that is the kind oughly ensuring that every step savior, only to experience more machine learning and artificial of world where companies and has been built just right, the fly- disappointment”, Jim Collins re- intelligence, but the underlying human beings will have to move wheel has to start moving. At first, calls. “Amazon committed fully architecture would remain largely forward also from now on. it takes great effort to get the fly- and stuck with the game plan, intact.

The flywheel effect has what wheel to even inch forward, but becoming one of the most sucIn extending the flywheel, it takes to move companies forsoon as it starts moving, every cessful and enduring companies empirical validation assumes a ward, to new successes, business push makes it go faster. With to emerge from the dot-com era.” critical role as it helps make bold areas and sources of growth. To persistent effort, you can make moves with confidence. Empir- maximize the effect leaders must the flywheel complete turn af- Do not change, if you can ical validation is like calibrated first thoroughly understand how ter turn, picking up speed at the renew and extend line of sight: when you know for their specific flywheel should be same time. Long as you maintain To make the most of any flywheel a fact that you are going to hit the constructed, and how it turns. discipline and keep pushing, the that has been built right and ex- target, you can go all in and bring Then, through rigorous comflywheel eventually flies forward ecuted flawlessly, leaders should on the big guns. Apple is a great mitment and discipline, it is just with almost unstoppable mo- think about ways to further ac- example of this approach, start- a matter to push it to the point mentum. celerate momentum. There may ing their extension from person- of breakthrough, so that it starts Jim Collins mentions that exe- come a time when any company al computers first carefully with building momentum at an accelcuting the flywheel concept is like needs to renew its operational iPods, then, as experience and erating speed.

“

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principles. That does not mean a flywheel has come to the end of its existence.

“At its best, the underlying architecture of the flywheel is distinct from a company’s single line of business”, Collins points out. “Over time, great companies extend their flywheel architecture far beyond where they first began.”

As Intel moved its main focus from memory chips to microprocessors, the underlying flywheel architecture applied just as soundly. When the flywheel has been conceived the right way, even if it is continually renewed and extended, it can be remarkably durable.

Amazon also eventually renewed and extended the flywheel

“

I have never held a class or written a book with the primary goal to make money. It has all been about creating opportunities to satisfy my curiosity and to write and teach what I learn from my research.

Making companies – and individuals – greater

B

y providing structure and orderliness to strategic planning and management, the flywheel concept can help companies, societies – and individuals alike. Jim Collins emphasizes that it is by no means a tool designed exclusively for CEOs but to leaders at every level of every organization.

As an author and thinker, Collins is applying the very same flywheel principle to his own work.

“The same principle can provide answers to a wide variety of questions”, he

explains. “It is a useful, practical tool for anyone wrestling with the question of how to find ways to build momentum in a highly uncertain world.”

Jim Collins’ own flywheel starts with curiosity and the big question, to which he looks for answers through rigorous research. That research evolves into a concept, and the impact that teaching and writing about it creates is again used to generate funding for the next big question.

This flywheel has kept turning for

decades, resulting into several global best-sellers, masterclasses, and presentations, and to the delight of business leaders around the world, the momentum keeps growing. One of the principles of the flywheel is its nature and ability to keep going for a very long time, providing fuel for itself to be able to further pick up momentum.

Jim Collins certainly follows that principle to the point.

“I have never held a class or written a book with the primary goal to make money. It has all been about creating opportunities to satisfy my curiosity and to write and teach what I learn from my research, so as to have an impact through the power of ideas. In my flywheel, money is a means of providing fuel to pursue the next big question that captures my imagination and ignites my curiosity. You need fuel to keep the flywheel spinning, but fuel is not ultimate end point. For me, the greatest reward for my work is the opportunity to keep doing it.”

Jim’s current research is, for the first time, about individuals instead of companies. He is trying to find out why some of us can remain remarkably renewed in their framework.

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STORY

Aarno Palotie believes that applying the principles of collaboration in academic context can provide substantial benefits to both research and business.

Innovation, synergy, and understanding the big picture Establishing fruitful collaboration between academic circles and the business world has been work in progress for decades. Thanks to trailblazers such as Aarno Palotie and his colleagues, as well as successful proofs of new concept such as FinnGen, the old structures have finally begun to crack.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho Photos: Sami Perttilä

T

he modern society thrives on innovation. Innovations are essential in keeping the overall development in gear, companies in business and the entire economy on a positive spin. Thanks to innovations, companies are better equipped to provide added value to customers, and people have better tools and

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services to improve the quality of daily life. Innovations, to make a long story short, make the world a better place.

Traditionally, universities and research institutes around the world have been the ones responsible for innovations on the highest level. Companies have been handling their own share of research, yet their main focus has been – and still is – in commercial-

izing the academic findings. This involves functions such as manufacturing, branding, positioning, launching, marketing, selling, delivering, and maintaining what has been innovated.

A natural division of labor.

From many angles, especially when it comes to economics, it is just the way things should go.

The principle of relative advantage at work – everyone focusing on

what they do best.

What if they worked together?

Could the outcome become greater than the sum of the parts?

“Academic freedom was, for a long time, adamant about staying free from any financial restraints”, Aarno Palotie, Scientific Director of FinnGen at the University of Helsinki, recalls the scientific era of last millennium. “That was a pretty principle, but since those

“

Information-based capabilities and new ways to produce and refine information are examples of modern phenomena that simply require collaboration between organizations.

days, a lot of new needs have emerged into the society.”

Collaboration opens doors – and eyes

Information-based capabilities and new ways to produce and refine information are examples of modern phenomena that simply require collaboration between organizations – something the old academic world was not accustomed to. As a globally renowned medical scientist, a faculty member at the Center for Human Genome Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, an associate member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and research director of the Human Genomics Program at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) in Helsinki, Aarno Palotie has worked strenuously with his colleagues to tear down the walls that he believes still significantly shrink the window of opportunity when it comes to taking innovations further.

The thing is that in real life, the ceteris paribus vanishes.

Everything around us moves, changes, and, above all, must be taken into consideration. To the surprise of many, innovation does not work in an isolated tube, with an idea lightening up on one end

and a finished prototype, ready for the eagerly awaiting markets, pops up from the other. Quite on the contrary, there are numerous twists, turns, setbacks and hurdles to be faced along the way – if the idea ever proves to have what it takes to even move to the initial development stage.

“

Getting those innovations ready and out to the market as soon as possible becomes a cornerstone for any given business.

Time frames get shorter and customer patience seems to run out faster by the quartal, so getting those innovations ready and out to the market as soon as possible becomes a cornerstone for any given business. While the cycle from finding, let alone idea, to commercialization moves rather rapidly in areas such as technology, in medicine – Palotie’s field of specialty – the road is a lot longer and a lot more winding, both when it comes to medicines and diagnostics.

As a result, the world had gradually come to a point where things

simply had to change.

“As information became more varied, even the people in the academic circles realized that experiments that were sufficiently far-reaching for modern purposes also became too expensive to carry out alone,” Aarno Palotie describes the development. “The same was realized on the industrial side – the cost of producing medicines increased significantly so product development was due to a large-scale renewal; the kind that was too much for one company to handle.”

The beginning of a new era

As the projects grew bigger and more versatile, the need for a new kind of information infrastructure became evident. The days of a single company pursuing a single purpose had been left behind for good.

“What happened was a largescale cultural change,” Aarno Palotie points out. “And as the situation often is in changes of this magnitude, this one did not take place that smoothly, either.”

Palotie refers to the way pecking order in the academic world has typically been established: what matters the most is the number of publications as well as the order

of contributors for each. The more publications and pole positions a scientist has, the more clout he or she carries. This has been one of the most significant factors in taking any research project further by applying for funding, setting up specialist groups and so on. As work is typically carried out in research teams of 5 to 10 persons, everyone gets quickly accustomed to working in silos and guarding secrets, rather than sharing them.

“

Little by little, project by project, a new generation of medical scientists was born.

Little by little, project by project, a new generation of medical scientists was born. They realized that a lot more can be accomplished by sharing information than by concealing it. With so much at stake, the end gradually justified the means and new ways of working together were adopted.

Not entirely on a voluntary basis, but the more the results began to show, the more scientists got aboard. Little by little, it was realized that sharing information is one of the keys to everyone’s NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT 2022

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STORY

“

Collective trust was one of the most decisive factors in getting FinnGen started.

success, especially when there is a lot at stake.

Aarno Palotie has been in the group of global trailblazers for this new generation, establishing networks and acting as examples in building consortiums that have taken up research projects and initiatives too big for any individual operator to handle.

“

Changing the culture is a long road of trust and establishing that trust begins with personal relationships.

Paying attention to every participant’s objectives and sharing information for the best possible 14

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outcome, these scientists are living proofs of how the finest principles of collaboration can seamlessly be applied in academic context.

While the achievements are remarkable, Aarno Palotie emphasizes that at the end of the day, even this kind of transformation is, for the most part, down to quite straightforward and even self-evident issues. Such as seeing the big picture, paying attention to the participants’ needs and understanding the synergy opportunities a team can create.

“The traditional ways to measure academic credibility, such as the number of publications, create immense pressure to pursue one’s own interests”, Aarno Palotie reminds. “Changing the culture is a long road of trust and establishing that trust begins with personal relationships.”

Breakthroughs based on collective trust

That is precisely how Aarno Palotie’s most recent venture, FinnGen, got wind beneath its wings. Back in 2016, pharmaceutical companies had just begun establishing their own genetics units, having recruited specialists from the academic world to run them.

“

Selling the idea to people who are already familiar with each other took place naturally.

“Collective trust was one of the most decisive factors in getting FinnGen started”, Aarno Palotie recalls.

“There were plenty of researchers working at pharmaceutical companies who knew people from the academic circles; previous colleagues, attendees of the same education programs and so on. Selling the idea to people who are already familiar with each other took place naturally.”

Everyone knew that everyone can openly express their wishes and requirements, and every opinion was thoroughly noted and considered. As a result, a roadmap was smoothly drawn.

Today, FinnGen is already a global success story and an excellent benchmark for any organization about putting together a consortium of specialists in a way that adds value to everyone involved – including the society.

The matter alone that 13 pharmaceutical companies, fiercely

competing with each other, are involved, proves the point that when there are clear opportunities to benefits, a way to make it happen will be found.

“The sheer fact that we are operating on a 90 MEUR budget for the first six years justifies collaboration”, Aarno Palotie points out.

“With several companies investing in Finngen, it can grow big enough to produce enough data to

include plenty of meaningful and relevant findings for everyone.”

An entirely new kind of infrastructure has been created, and other large-scale ventures are already following suit with industrial and public sector working seamlessly together for a common goal. While the first phase of FinnGen is entering its final year, discussions about the extension have already been going

on. A well-functioning biobank network as well as skillful clinical researchers with genuinely topnotch data at their disposal are in place to ensure that the opportunities for further analysis and utilization are, to say the very least, extremely interesting. FinnGen has proven what collaboration and information sharing between companies and academic world can achieve. However, in the eyes

of a lifelong researcher, there is still room for improvement when it comes to the overall situation in medical sciences – and, hence, to the general attitude to the subject.

“There are still areas where sharing information causes plenty of pain”, Aarno Palotie says.

“We have to keep working and show the world what kind of a difference open collaboration can provide.”

“

We have to keep working and show the world what kind of a difference open collaboration can provide.

FinnGen - a rough diamond in the world of global collaboration A consortium that today includes 13 pharmaceutical companies, several top research institutes and Business Finland, the national government organization for innovation funding, was established in 2017 to discover consistencies in the genetic ancestry of Finns. The purpose for this is to better under-

stand causes for various diseases – which again serves as a tool for developing precision medication against them.

“

Finland possesses a long history in epidemiologic research.

Operating for the first 6 years on a 90 MEUR budget, FinnGen is an exceptional project in more

ways than one.

“Finland possesses a long history in epidemiologic research,” Aarno Palotie, Scientific Director of FinnGen at the University of Helsinki, points out. “We are a unique nation, also in the sense of genetic ancestry. Finns have lived in a type of pocket for generations, more or less secluded from the rest of the world. A small nation, far away from others, is able to provide a unique, thus ideal genetic environment.”

The data is collected by inviting

every Finn to become a biobank participant; all they need to do is give a blood sample at their local public hospital or blood donor center. This opens doors to pharmaceutical innovations that may one day revolutionize the way certain diseases can be cured.

So far, people’s favorable attitude has been a positive surprise; already 514.000 biobank samples have been collected. This is better than expected; the initial target is to produce genome data from 520.000 samples by the year 2023.

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YNEBO

The new generation of

SYNERGY

North European Young Business Owner Initiative encourages networking and learning As people and organizations are, largely due to factors beyond their own control, adopting remote working practices at an increasing speed, concern about diminishing opportunities to exchange ideas and opinions – and thus reach new levels of perspective and innovation – grows correspondingly.

W

hile there is no doubt about new technologies’ ability to enable handling routine matters and tasks that require full concentration efficiently regardless of location, things look different when creativity and teamwork assume principal roles. When it comes to groundbreaking innovations and exceptional synergy effects, even the most advanced video collaboration tools can’t entirely replace face-to-face interaction.

Success through innovation, innovation through sharing ideas

The North European Young Business Initiative aims to encourage business professionals of all ages and industries to discover new opportunities to thrive through networking and exchanging ideas.

One of the tangible outcomes of this initiative is a list of the top 35 most influential North European business owners under the age of 35 which a renowned jury has selected based on the candidates’ accomplishments, impact, responsibility, scale/growth rate of their business, and future potential. However, as jury chairman Hans-Peter Siefen, Group CEO 16

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of Business Forum Group, emphasizes, the list as such is by no means the end in itself. First and foremost, the initiative is about facilitating a platform for influential business owners to meet each other and generate new business opportunities and relationships.

That is why the selected business owners will be invited to meet on-site at Nordic Business Forum 2022 in Helsinki.

“We wanted to create a process to find the right personalities which we could then invite to work together to keep making the most of their business potential”, Siefen points out. “Especially considering the current situation in Europe, bringing these bright and accomplished minds together to tackle the problems at hand can translate into enormous opportunities.”

Hanna Moisander, member of the jury and co-founder of Swedish technology consultancy and business accelerator Hedy Tech, diverse executive boards, and Maya Impact fund, adds that in the selection process, the jury paid special attention to the potential impact of the candidates, putting high value in how they affect people both regionally and even

on a global basis. With an eye for impactful companies in terms of making the world better, the initiative should be able to provide valuable ingredients for tomorrow’s successful companies.

“We believe that bringing successful entrepreneurs together will inspire piers to dare to go after their dream, test their idea and endure when things are hard”, Moisander states. “We also see that it is important to learn from other countries and see what they are achieving.”

each other, the initiative builds a meaningful platform for people and organizations to be the best they can be.”

Creating forums for taking ideas further

Emelie Meurk Demerud, Co-Founder & CEO of Hedy Tech (Sweden)

Hans-Peter Siefen believes that learning is the most significant element in improving performance. Especially now, when organizations are looking for ways to thrive in chaos, networking is still one of the keys in bringing people and ideas together and making the overall outcome greater than the mere sum of the parts. At best, this kind of networking opportunities can bring value, benefits, and development opportunities to individuals, organizations, and entire societies alike.

“Providing a framework for exchanging ideas and learning from

Nicklas Östling, CEO of Bestseller PR AB (Sweden)

35 Young North European Business Owners Initiative – Jury members: Hans-Peter Siefen, Group CEO of Business Forum Group (Finland) Priit Liiv, Managing Director of Nordic Business Forum (Baltics) Christoffer Omberg, CEO & Co-Founder of Oslo Business Forum (Norway) Hanna Moisander, Co-Founder of Hedy Tech (Sweden)

Thomas Marschall, CEO & Founder of The Marschall Plan Holding (Denmark) Guðrún Snorradóttir, Founder and CEO of Human Leader (Iceland) Lauri Lugna, CEO of Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (Estonia) Mirjam Kristian, Head of Marketing at Enterprise Estonia (Estonia) Solvita Kabakova, Founder of Forums LĪDERE & CoFounder of BiSMART (Business Technology Platform) (Latvia) Roberta Rudokienė, Head of Startup Lithuania (Lithuania)

Young North European Business Owners: Markus Villig

Fredrik Hjelm

Sami Marttinen

Jonas Helmikstøl

Linnéa Kornehed

Lotta Rauseus Insurley

Bolt Markus Villig founded ride-sharing platform Bolt (formerly called Taxify) when he was only 19 years old in 2013. On January 2021, the Tallinn-based Bolt announced its largest-ever funding round of €628 million. Offering better and more affordable alternatives for almost every purpose a private car serves, Bolt is today valued at €7.4 billion.

Swappie Offering the best selection of refurbished iPhones that work like brand new but with smarter prices, Swappie is Europe’s leading technology company specializing in used iPhone sales. According to FT 1000, it is the fastest growing company in Europe in 2021 with a CAGR of 477 per cent.

Einride Einride is a freight technology company providing digital, electric and autonomous shipping. Through its electric and autonomous fleets, charging and connectivity networks, and operating system, Saga, Einride is not only providing cutting-edge products, but also creating the jobs needed for a rebuilt shipping industry.

Voi Voi was founded in 2018 in Stockholm, out of a group of young peoples’ vision for helping build cities made for living. Driven by its mission to provide a deliver safe, sustainable and reliable micromobility for everyone, Voi has raised 430 MUSD in total from investors since it was founded.

Easee Easee was established in January 2018 on an idea of creating the world’s smartest electric vehicle charger. Today the company continues to develop innovative solutions for charging and power management technology, to provide an ecosystem that will give customers an end-to-end seamless experience.

Insurely was founded in 2018 with the aim of making the insurance industry open and obvious. Utilizing open insurance solutions, Insurely offers an understanding of insurance to help customers make better choices, and partners understand their customers to increase conversion and satisfaction.

Johannes Schildt

Merit Valdsalu

Miki Kuusi

Fredrik Hamilton

Kaarel Kotkas

Rafal Modrzewski

Kry Kry provides timely, high-quality health care services via a mobile application, thus changing the health industry through digitalizion, and challenging a very traditional industry to renew its practices. Kry has grown global and is backed by 569 million USD in venture capital.

Wolt After acting as the CEO of Slush which has impacted the start-up ecosystem greatly, he founded a mega fast growing food delivery company Wolt that was sold to Doordash for 7 billion euros in November 2021, the transaction being verified in June 2022.

Veriff Veriff is a global AI-powered identity verification service company supporting the gigantic boom in digital services, allowing organizations and consumers to verify identities online – from onboarding remote employees, to creating a safe space for gaming in the metaverse, and conducting business fully online.

Single.Earth The world’s first nature-backed currency Single.Earth is an innovative startup that unites landowners, communities, and the private and public sectors for the purpose of nature and conservation. Still in its early stages, Single.

Earth managed to raise 7.9 million dollars in the seed round in 2021.

Budbee Budbee is a Sweden-based tech company with the mission to make online shopping easier. Through best-in-class machine learning algorithms, tech infrastructure, and seamless logistics network, Budbee provides the most accurate and green last-mile deliveries.

Iceye Addressing three key problems around Earth Observation Data – reliability, timeliness, and access – directly, the ICEYE radar satellite constellation changes the way we look at our world from space, and the way we are able to respond to natural disasters.

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Daumantas Dvilinskas

Aleksander Leonard Larsen

Stani Kulechov

Kristel Kruustük

Tom Okman

Niklas Nukari

Fredrik Haga

Karen Dolva

Davis Siksnans

James Berdigans

Martin Schütt

Joel Hellermark

TransferGo TransferGo wants to make a tangible difference to lives, reward hard work, and help everyone become more prosperous by making global money transfers as simple as sending a text.

Aave Founded in Finland and based in the UK, Aave is a massive lending service for cryptocurrencies. Aave also has a crypto currency in itself which has grown to a very significant size.

Nord Security Providing online privacy and security on a global scale in a world where safety and trust have been compromised by cybercrime and data protection issues, Nord Security has a mission to shape a more trusted and peaceful online future for people everywhere.

Dune Analytics Dune Analytics is one of the leaders when it comes to data literacy across the crypto market. It provides thousands of dashboards to explore, create and share crypto analytics.

Printful Printful is an on-demand printing and warehousing company that helps brands scale their businesses without inventory risks. The company fulfills and ships custom clothing, accessories, and home items – each item is made only when someone orders it.

Askeladden A&CO consists of business developers, analysts, marketers, tech developers, finance professionals, accountants, HR professionals & more. Their joint mission is to enable success by developing, financing, and scaling great companies.

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Sky Mavis Sky Mavis gamifies blockchain by creating games with real, player-owned economies – at the same time building both the virtual worlds of the future and the infrastructure that makes them possible.

Testlio Testlio brings together on-demand testing experts, strategic client services, and an integrated testing platform to reimagine software testing.

Autolle.com Autolle.com is an online platform that obviously sells cars, but also takes care of related needs, not to mention other ways to use a car. Selling, buying, leasing, insurance, condition inspection, sharing and all related paperwork can now take place as conveniently as any online shopping.

No Isolation No Isolation reducas loneliness and social isolation through developing warm technology that facilitates actual human contact, thus increasing our sense of belonging.

Printify Printify is a transparent print-on-demand platform, instantly connecting merchants to major printing service providers worldwide.

Sana Labs Learning is the foundation for human progress, and Sana Labs changes the way the world learns by providing AI-assisted, online learning platform. Sana recommends what each person should learn based on their specific role, skills, and interests.

Heikki Herlin

Multiple companies Substantial owner of Cargotec, Oriola and Alma Media, and also the majority owner of Kustannusosakeyhtiö Teos and board member of the production company Yellow Film. According to Herlin, ownership is about organization, use of capital and societal impact.

Emilie Stordalen

Nordic Choice Another kind of hotel chain, providing individual accommodation with focus on ethics and responsibility. The business is based on three equally essential and symbiotic pillars - people, planet and profit.

Bianca Ingrosso

CAIA Cosmetics CAIA is a Stockholm-based D2C beauty company offering top-quality products with uncompromized results at accessable prices. CAIA offers top quality formulations based on carefully selected ingredients - with a long list of ingredents they avoid.

Tuomo Riekki Smartly Automating every step of social advertising to unlock greater performance and creativity, Smartly allows brands to centralize, automate, and optimize their social advertising.

Kasper Ulrich

Shaping New Tomorrow Shaping New Tomorrow aims to change the way we think about traditional menswear. The company’s concept is based on the idea of being dressed for whatever the day may bring, challenging the traditions and reassessed how classic, timeless menswear should feel and look.

Fadumo Ali

Hoiwa Hoiwa is a domestic social and health care company that makes efficient use of technology and a system that’s based on platform economy, which allows even a large number of nurses to easily book the shifts they want, without hassle.

Jenny Wolfram BrandBastion BrandBastion helps brands and advertisers monitor and manage online conversations with ease. BrandBastion’s AI instantly analyzes and classifies thousands of comments to pinpoint what people are saying and to help brands take action.

Anna-Liisa Palatu

Woola Woola’s environmentally firendly solution replaces plastic based bubble wrap with locally sourced lamb wool that would otherwise be burned or buried. It is one of the most perfect examples of circular business model.

William Wolfram

Galton Voysey Galton Voysey’s vision is to be the leading developer of Direct-to-Consumer brands. The company builds, grows and scales exceptional direct-to-consumer brands while providing a legendary customer experience.

Saana Tyni

Koti Puhtaaksi After a good ten years, Koti Puhtaaksi has grown to Finland’s biggest home cleaning company with an 8,5 MEUR turnover and 450 employees. During the last four years, the company has grown by more than 500 per cent.

“

We believe that bringing successful entrepreneurs together will inspire piers to dare to go after their dream, test their idea and endure when things are hard.

Hanna Moisander Member of the jury and co-founder of Swedish technology consultancy and business accelerator Hedy Tech

Stefania Bjarney Ólafsdottir

AVO Avo is next-generation analytics governance that is changing the way product managers, developers, and data scientists plan, track, and govern analytics across organizations.

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Small steps in IT can bring big wins to banks

Samlink’s Arto Sorvoja believes this is just the right time for banks to take a good look at their IT infrastructure.

Interest rates have started climbing, inflation increases, and economic growth slows down; the overall atmosphere may not look that sunny from the banking world’s point of view. However, to regain competitiveness and find new ways to add value to their customers, banks must take a long look at their IT infrastructure – and renew it in a way that makes sense.

U

nder the light of recent development, it is also easy to understand why banks are reluctant to invest in largescale modernizations. As both economic and political landscape keep evolving in an unexpected manner, the modular path is the one that most likely leads to longterm success.

On the other hand, the pandemic has increased expectation level customers and users have for digital services. The pressure to modernize outdated systems is enormous – then again, pressure is where true diamonds are created.

Bank systems also must be agile enough to accommodate regulatory compliance while driving efficient business dev-ops. Welloiled compliance processes can create competitive advantage for the bank.

“Deep down, this is a good time to evaluate the level of digitalization within the finance sector”, says Arto Sorvoja, Senior Partner of Samlink, part of Kyndryl. “Global funds are in virtual streams as transactions and interaction to both customers 20

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and other banks are being carried out online. A well-functioning IT forms the basis of success for modern banking.”

Harnessing technology for the right things

In knowledge-intense work such as banking, automation and AI should be utilized to handle mundane, routine tasks, thus enabling people to do what people do best: think, imagine, use their intuition to foresee, analyze and interpret upcoming changes in the operating environment, customer needs, and trends, and so on. To add value to the overall experience and benefit the customers.

“The importance of the digital workplace has surged while outdated systems with clunky user experience put top experts off their jobs”, Sorvoja states. “In the new banking world, the time of experts must be directed to understanding customer needs – rather than operating vintage user interface.”

With justifiable and consistent small steps in developing the operating IT system, more value can be delivered, and profitable

growth sustained. At the very best, this development takes place in close collaboration between the solution provider, bank, and the bank’s customers.

Progressive, low-risk modernization is the winning formula

All in all, a significant crisis is an excellent opportunity to take decisive steps to stand out from the rest.

“It’s a careful balance that boils down to cost-to-income ratio”, Sorvoja explains. “Under these circumstances, the best choice is to allocate resources in the areas that return the investment fast, in the short and mid-term.”

Many leading banks are driving decisive transformation programs, focusing on digitalization initiatives aimed at automating processes and improving custom-

er experience. The overall objective is to secure profitability – the initiatives are expected to break even in a 3-to-5-year timeframe.

“In taking banks’ digital systems to the next level, taking lowrisk steps is the right approach”, Sorvoja concludes. “The goal should be a true transformation of processes and a better overall digital environment.”

Samlink is a Finland based full stack it services company and an experienced developer of IT solutions and services for the financial sector. Samlink’s customer base includes financial players, including banks, credit institutions and investment companies. Kyndryl now owns 100% of Samlink. Kyndryl was created from the spin-off of IBM’s infrastructure services business starting November 4, 2021. samlink.fi

YNEBO

Bursting the

PLASTIC BUBBLE The year 2030 marks a significant point in the global climate challenge. By then, Woola wants to get rid of half of the world’s plastic bubble wrap.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho Photo: Woola

T

he founder and CEO of Woola, Anna-Liisa Palatu, ran an ecommerce store as one of her previous ventures. That’s when she got first-hand experience in the extent of the problem with plastic bubble wrap. It was used generously, and the number of packages (and, hence the amount of wrap needed) was growing exponentially.

While people seemed to be willing to pay more for sustainable packaging materials, there was a limit to it. Current alternatives came at a cost that was significantly bigger than that of plastics. A solution that would be both affordable and scalable was in desperate demand.

Anna-Liisa began studying various options, tested several of them, even tried returnable boxes. Nothing seemed to be able to fulfil all the requirements of a sustainable, high-quality packaging material. Until she, quite randomly, discovered sheep wool.

Anna-Liisa happened to read an article that mentioned up to 90 per cent of Estonian sheep wool going to waste since its quality is not high enough for producing

yarn.

This wool keeps on growing, and the sheep must be sheared on a regular basis. The leftover wool, amounting up to 200.000 tons every year, only in Europe, is often burned or buried.

“

The year 2030 is a cut-off point in implementing action against climate change.

This sounded just about too promising to be true - plenty of soft and elastic material that would otherwise go to waste, available to be refined into a perfect replacement for plastic bubble wrap.

Anna-Liisa and her two business partners made a prototype and co-founded Woola. Woola shared their idea with Estonian Post and actually received a trial order almost immediately. After entering a couple of pitching contests, the idea was fully validated:

there was indeed something special in leftover sheep wool.

Woola managed to raise a seed round of 450.000 euros from angel investors to keep developing the products, but challenges were still to be solved. As investors today tend to better understand and hence invest in – software, turning a physical product into an international success story seemed to be a concept that still required further explanation. A high-quality, trustworthy supply chain was also required for wool, so Woola decided to set up a production facility.

Anna-Liisa’s experience in the startup world paid off as she knew how to navigate through some of the obstacles. Investors became convinced and today, her company Woola is setting its sights into international markets.

With the UK, Germany, France, and the Nordic countries next in line, the future looks promising.

Especially with online shopping growing at a mind-blowing rate, the demand for high-quality, sustainable packaging materials seems just about endless.

The year 2030 is a cut-off point in implementing action against climate change. That is also the time Woola expects to have reached one significant level: they want to see half of the plastic bubble wrap replaced by then. Not replaced solely with waste wool, but with any material that is more sustainable. Woola wants to become an example and encourage others to start looking for alternatives for plastic. The market is clearly there, and as Woola has so efficiently proven, so is the potential to become a true success story.

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STORY

Never too big or too old to innovate The more established a company gets, the more resistance towards innovation it seems to generate. Since, however, every company is increasingly dependent on new ideas, launches, business models and sources of growth, innovations are important regardless of age, size, business plan or market situation.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho Photos: Alina Yavtushenko

I

n fact, innovations are more essential than ever. One can’t help but wonder why it is so difficult for some organizations to recover the innovative, fearless, confident spirit that once carried them from a small startup to a well-established corporation.

What is it that happened along the way? How on earth can an established firm bring back even a small part of that entrepreneurial spark? Many leaders are pondering that very question as competition accelerates, markets remain restless and unpredictable, and customer loyalty vanishes in the front of our eyes.

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“As companies establish themselves and optimize the way they do business, they tend to become more resistant toward innovation”, Jim Euchner, former Vice President of Global Innovation at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, agrees. “The more optimized operations grow,” he says, “the more difficult it can be to go across functions to get something done.”

Jim Euchner has made breakthrough innovation happen inside large organizations, so he is fully aware of the challenges of building new businesses outside the existing core business.

His pragmatic approach is quite

different from what one might discover listening to the start-up circles that often see innovation as nothing short of rocket science.

“My work is about finding out and understanding what practices work in general – and secondly how they can be adapted so that they work inside a corporate context”.

From lean startup to large corporations

Why can’t companies be successful at both operating their core business and launching new innovations? At which point in the life of a company does the

step from ideas to implementation become so difficult to take?

With all of the assets at their disposal to support new ventures, why does it take large companies longer than it takes startups to innovate. Shouldn’t they be launching at shorter intervals?

Lean startup methods are built on what researchers such as Steve Blank, Eric Ries and Alex Osterwalder have done working primarily with startups. By adapting their findings, Jim Euchner has created practices that take the movement inside large corporations and make it work there.

“Overcoming resistance towards innovations is about

“

Overcoming resistance towards innovations is about discovering how innovation can induce corporate antibodies inside an existing firm.

discovering how innovation can induce corporate antibodies inside an existing firm,” Jim Euchner explains. “It is about experimenting with complementary practices that can overcome these reactions. Antibodies don’t have to be accepted; there are often simple things that you can do about them.”

As a company grows in size, innovation faces new challenges.

The optimization of core business as it grows makes it less responsive to change. Innovation gradually becomes slow and organizationally complicated, which is frustrating for developers who are at their most content NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT 2022

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when simply throwing out great ideas, picking the ones with the most potential – and seeing what happens next. Squeezing an idea through the internal approval process feels like the hardest part. As a result, far too many gems never get even close to being tested and evaluated against customer needs and requirements, let alone the competition.

Lean startup is all about learning - about understanding that at the beginning of an innovation effort there are many things you don’t know. Jim Euchner points out that the biggest mistake you can make is to assume that you know things that you don’t know.

“One of the hard things in large companies is when what you learn doing the lean startup takes you where you did not expect to go. That innovation trajectory has to be understood. As you learn about the customer value proposition, what business models might work, and how the business might grow, your assumptions change.”

The will is there, so there should be a way

Having earlier worked in process and product innovation, Jim Euchner’s most recent journey is to find ways to create entirely new businesses inside corporations. He has discovered that deep down, people really want to innovate outside the core. He has observed, however, that as a concept gets closer to fruition, there is a sort of approach-avoidance phenomenon.

This can manifest itself in many ways – as a need for more information, the need to get everyone on the executive team on board, or new questions about how the new concept fits within the overall business identity. All of these lead to delays.

He dealt with these avoidances and wondered why people are behaving this way – and what he might be able to do about it.

What he discovered at the root was fear.

“For the most part, resistance derives from the fears that arise in a smoothly-running business when it confronts innovation”, Jim Euchner explains. “This prevents companies from being the best that they can be.”

To compete more effectively with startups, companies must understand the natural fears that develop as new ideas challenge their established place in the. These are six types of fears must be overcome to re-discover the joy of new business innovation.

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Jim Euchner believes that by making lean startup methods work in large organizations, innovation can take place efficiently regardless of the company size.

The six fears that drive internal resistance 1. Fear of chaos Lean learning loops are a key, knowledge-gathering element in lean startup and other learning-based approaches to innovation. Unfortunately, they can lead to fears in established companies of an unmanaged and chaotic innovation process. Acknowledging this fear and creating processes that contain the chaos is the first requirement for new business innovation. This is the role of an Innovation Stage-Gate.

2. Fear of disruption Creation of Minimum Viable Products, another lean startup staple, can disrupt the operations of core internal functions. Managers working in departments other than innovation have commitments to the core business that they must meet, and they are often afraid that they will fail to meet these commitments if innovation interrupts their work. The approval and permission of these functions, however, is often required for the team to move forward.

The key is for the innovation team to start with an understanding of the situation from the perspective of those in the function. Game theory can help with this.

3. Fear of losing focus Creating a value hypothesis for a new venture without clear strategic direction can lead to opportunities that the company cannot or will not exploit. Successful innovation often starts with a clear focus on opportunities that are relevant for the business – what Jim calls asset-based opportunity spaces. Large companies must recognize that a focus on an opportunity spaces where your assets permit you to win increases the likelihood of future investment.

4. Fear of cannibalization There is a fear within established businesses that new ventures will succeed at the expense of the core business of the company – especially by cannibalizing sales. This needs to be acknowledged, but it should not drive your decisions: if you don’t meet an emerging customer need, someone else will. A key is to find the synergies between the old and the new. The new business may cannibalize one part of the business but help another. At best, you might be able to grow your core business as you build the new. Keep both eyes open, recognize the legitimate threat, and seek to find synergy between the business models.

5. Fear of draining resources Investing in a new venture can drain resources from the core that the core believes are essential for its success. This is deeper than the fear that you will throw money at a new venture that does not pay off. There is, in fact, a well-established bias in most companies toward investments in the core even when those investments yield diminishing returns. As a result, companies tend to overinvest in the old and underinvest in the new. A business structure that keeps the two ventures separate but connected helps to manage this fear.

6. Fear of making a blunder Investing in new spaces always introduces new risks. This fear, at its heart, comes from the lack of familiarity with the new market. These fears are best resolved by executives spending time in the new ecosystem, learning about its customers and their needs, getting familiar with the competition, and such. Operating and exploring at the same time is not easy, but it is possible. A key role of executives is becoming and becoming ambidextrous leaders.

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Making innovation work in corporate context

To overcome the inevitable fears of new business innovation, it is important for innovation teams to take the lead. They must first acknowledge the legitimacy of the fears and then seek to understand them from the perspective of the other actors required for successful innovation. Once the issues are on the table, leaders can discuss what the organization can do to address them.

Quite understandably, this often creates a series of heated debates. There are always plenty of other concerns to be taken care of in an operating business besides innovation itself: resource constraints, margins, near term profits, and so on.

“

To overcome the inevitable fears of new business innovation, it is important for innovation teams to take the lead.

“Anything you do that distracts from the core is going to be resisted at some level “, Jim Euchner points out. “You need to decide how to present the idea in fact-based ways that minimize the resistance and use those facts – and the stories around them – to get everyone on the same page.”

Dedicated resources for legwork and an overall framework to manage innovation are essential. It is also important to create approaches for leveraging resources such as legal, sales, procurement, and such – without disrupting them from their day jobs. Otherwise, there will

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be considerably more trouble ahead – and just when you are ready to incubate.

“Leaders must find ways to work with the existing resources to get stuff done and to find ways that reduce the issues that are causing them angst”, Jim Euchner emphasizes. “This calls for special skills, which are often not possessed by one person.”

Lean start-ups are founder-led and start with small teams. They are able to work in isolation, then scale and pivot. The corporate context is different. Changing something that has previously worked in large organizations

requires collaboration and managing resistance.

“

The organization needs to establish a set of practices that can work for everybody to encourage innovation.

To create a new business instead of expanding your product line, you will likely need a dedicated group with design and prototyping skills and other people that can build business models.

They need both an opportunity space to operate within and the freedom and resources to go where the opportunity leads them. Most large corporations don’t put all of the necessary elements in place.

“The organization needs to establish a set of practices that can work for everybody to encourage innovation,” Jim Euchner concludes. “Practices for addressing the fears must be created and tested, and used to address the concerns of all parties. From a leader’s point of view, this is about personal accountability for innovation.”

YNEBO

New tricks for an old line of business While most cleaning companies search success from lower cost structure, Saana Tyni has found competitive edge in excellent customer experience, efficient processes, and smart growth.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho Photo: Atte Leskinen

T

he beginning could not have been more traditional: Saana Tyni was selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door, competing with her husband (editor’s note: she won). While some bought and some did not, everyone seemed to bring up the same question: who would be the one actually using this? Would you?

There seemed to be a clear need for reliable home cleaning service.

Always known as a person willing to help, Saana went home pondering the situation that had occurred so surprisingly and unexpectedly. She calculated how much she would have to earn to make her share of the rent – and decided to accept three clients.

Without any kind of a longerterm plan in mind, Saana went to work. The word spread and in two months, she was fully booked.

She hired a part-time employee which was soon turned full-time, and the snowball was ready to roll. Today, after a good ten years, Saana Tyni’s home cleaning

company Koti Puhtaaksi Oy has grown to Finland’s biggest, with an 8,5 MEUR turnover and 450 employees. During the last four years, the company has grown by more than 500 per cent.

The growth has been purely organic, continuous balancing between demand and supply. Saana Tyni points out that thanks to her

aims to keep growing and even enter international markets. Saana Tyni explains that the high Finnish cleaning standards – as well as materials and equipment

“

The speed seems to be only increasing – Koti Puhtaaksi Oy aims to keep growing and even enter international markets.

excellent team and attitude that allows no compromises or shortcuts, the quality of work has been high and consistent. This has been raising attention and interest, and the client base has been growing at an accelerating rate.

The speed seems to be only increasing – Koti Puhtaaksi Oy

– should certainly open up opportunities to gain a foothold elsewhere as well.

As the company began to grow, Saana realized the essence of processes. She could not be personally responsible for everything anymore, yet the success path had been built on ideas and practices

that she had established and made her service known for. The bigger the company becomes, the more effort must be put on ensuring that wherever Koti Puhtaaksi Oy operates, the customer experience and level of service are precisely the same.

Koti Puhtaaksi Oy is a great example of how a company can thrive even in a traditional operating environment, as long as it develops practices and processes to always meet the evolving customer requirements and to discover new ways of improving both work quality and operating efficiency.

Unique customer experience has always been the company’s competitive edge, and the ability to keep that experience consistent even through the bursts of growth will be one of the most essential keys to future success.

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For the sake of agility, even company culture must be exposed In a world that is full of unexpected setbacks and vital decisions that must be made on a shorter notice than ever, companies simply must align their cultures accordingly. Culture can’t be carved in stone if a company wants to survive, let alone thrive – it must be continuously challenged and updated by the current employees to ensure everyone’s engagement and positive results.

Text and photos: Timo Mansikka-aho

Ilkka Paananen points out that a strong company culture starts with the people that work for the company.

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T

he benefits of company culture are available to any organization with patience and perseverance to make their culture strong, and agile enough to withstand the turbulent world in which the company must navigate these days.

While many pay plenty of attention to the way their culture is defined, what’s more important is that you actually have a culture – a reflection of values and objectives, and expectations towards employees when it comes to reaching those objectives.

The company’s culture is, in a way, the company’s personality.

To make things work, everyone should be able to relate to it,

1. Create At Supercell, the essence of company culture was recognized already at the initial stages – even though back then, the founders could not quite envision what the company would become, and what it would accomplish.

Luckily, they did know a couple of other things that were equally important in shaping up the road for future success.

“

Culture, again, starts with the people.

“Our very first idea was to make great games that people would play for years”, CEO Ilkka Paananen recalls. “To achieve this, we’d have to create a new kind of gaming company.”

The founders had been around the gaming block and realized that a strong culture was required to carry the company through thick and thin. Culture, again, starts with the people that work for the company.

“We understood that a globally renowned gaming company

stands or falls with its people”, Ilkka Paananen explains. “Therefore, it was essential to ensure a uniform way of looking at ourselves and what we want to become.”

2. Document Creating a company culture can be plenty of fun – especially at the early stages when literally everyone can be conveniently involved.

You make a collective escape from the office to a stimulating environment, arrange appropriate catering services – and simply start brainstorming ideas about what you would like this company to represent and achieve. Sure, there will be a disagreement or two, but among friends all details can be smoothly ironed out – by next morning at the very latest.

Starting from scratch possesses one additional opportunity that is often declined, trivialized, or simply forgotten – but, when utilized, could save the company tons of effort and headache in the upcoming years of growth.

Putting it all in writing.

“While we recognized that company culture is essential as such, we did not make a document

and play their part in taking it – and the company – further.

Supercell is a globally recognized and renowned gaming company with five mobile games boasting 1 billion USD in total gross sales each. There are almost 400 employees in Supercell’s four offices, so it should go without saying that a common playbook is required to keep everyone on track – and the company operating as a whole, towards the right direction in a way that brings in the desired results.

This is how Supercell has dealt with the issue of company culture, and made it work for their advantage in an agile, engaging way.

out of it until two years later”, Ilkka Paananen mentions. “By then, there were already 45 of us, and it took so much more time and effort to interview everyone and put it all together than it would have taken in the beginning.”

For some, bouncing ideas about culture back and forth between three friends who have just decided to go into business together may feel trivial and even pointless.

As Ilkka Paananen emphasizes – and the time has proven – this is as important for organizations of all kinds and sizes.

And, while you’re at it, do not succumb to the temptation to take shortcuts.

“Documentation should be done meticulously, turning every possible stone. It might end up being a massive task, but that is the only way to make the effort worthwhile.”

3. Engage Culture belongs to everyone in the organization. Engaging everyone is essential, not only when it comes to realizing the full potential of a strong culture, but to making it work in the first place.

Ilkka Paananen points out very clearly the essence of every employee committing to the same culture and values. This is something that is ensured at Supercell already during the recruiting process.

“

A culture simply cannot be something drawn up by the management.

“A culture simply cannot be something drawn up by the management only. It is a thing for everyone, and everyone should feel comfortable to fully commit to it.”

At Supercell, the employees have the freedom – even duty – to challenge the current culture and make suggestions for changing it.

As time goes on and people come and go, it soon becomes evident that the culture must evolve accordingly. It must reflect the values and beliefs of the current staff instead of those who worked for the company several years ago and were assigned to the task of setting up the principles.

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STORY

“

Documentation should be done meticulously, turning every possible stone. It might end up being a massive task, but that is the only way to make the effort worthwhile.

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4. Develop The fact that establishing a company culture is not a one-time project, but an eternally ongoing process simply cannot be overemphasized. Declaring a culture open for criticism is not enough, either – to fully capitalize into the opportunities a culture can provide, a company must show the agility of its culture on a daily basis.

Supercell’s culture has been widely praised, yet it has evolved quite a lot during the years. Only recently, a more significant change took place as the company found itself as a prisoner of previous success.

“We found ourselves focusing

on what there is to lose,” Ilkka Paananen recalls. “We did not experiment or take risks anymore, and that is when things tend to take a turn for the worse.”

The aim for this particular development project was to bring back the feeling of freedom that prevailed in the company during the early years. It all started with one simple question to the entire personnel.

Are our best days behind, or in front of us?

The process lifted the spirits, brought up new ways to boost business and laid down an even better foundation for creating games. All thanks to seeing things in a new light – and changing the culture accordingly.

5. Utilize Creating and documenting company culture is one thing. Putting it to work for the common good is another story.

If, even after thorough planning and meticulous documentation, company culture is perceived as something compulsory and ends up gathering dust deep in the organization’s archives, it really has no meaning at all.

Completing the creation and production stages means that the work has just begun.

The time has come to turn words into action and ensure that the fruits of the labor are being utilized efficiently.

It is not always fun, and for

a split second here and there, it may feel like not making any sense. Culture is, despite its modern role as an agile, practical tool that is utilized at every level of the organization, a long-term asset: its ultimate power is released only after it has been followed on a regular basis.

“The fact that it hurts every now and then to live according to the defined values only proves the point that those values are real”, Ilkka Paananen states. “We develop and test games committing to the task the deepest possible manner – and even at the beta stage, we simply kill some of them. Quality is so fundamental for us, that we keep doing this, no matter how much it hurts.”

“

The time has come to turn words into action and ensure that the fruits of the labor are being utilized efficiently.

Even when it comes to culture, one size does not fit all While the philosophy behind Supercell’s culture followed the classic principles, the execution was nothing short of exceptional. Loosely following the Freedom and responsibility approach introduced by Netflix, Supercell came out with cultural guidelines that, to this day, have not ceased to raise both attention and admiration.

The typical organization chart has been turned upside down, giving the creative people all the decision-making power, while the top priority task of the management is to simply stay as far out of the way as possible.

This was an entirely different approach in the gaming industry, where the management’s close involvement in deciding which games are being developed and launched had already become somewhat of a standard procedure.

There are other issues in Supercell’s company culture that

others may perceive as peculiar as well; complete team independence, tendency to avoid structured processes, replacing annual goals with the utmost commitment to simply create great games and so on. What a tempting box of tricks for any management team to toy around with. Ilkka Paananen, however, emphasizes that one size does not fit all. Even today, with all the success Supercell has achieved relying on its culture, there are gaming companies who follow entirely different principles – and thrive. That is also why Ilkka Paananen shies away from the role of a cultural prophet, rather encouraging everyone to discover their own paths.

“We at Supercell do what we believe works for us. Everyone should look at the big picture from their own respective angles and built their culture based on things that suit them the best.”

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BRINGING REAL VALUE TO FINNISH COMPANIES THROUGH IT PROCUREMENT Marietta Valle is the Country Manager of Markit Finland and has been working in IT procurement for the past 7 years.

Extremely passionate about the future of IT procurement, she plays a leading role in helping international companies save time and money and giving her expert opinion about how optimized IT procurement can bring added value.

Get in contact: marietta.valle@markit.eu

D

emand for IT products and services continues to grow in Finland and the rest of the world. What is Markit’s role in the IT industry?

Markit helps companies save money on their IT hardware and accessories. Markit Finland is part of Markit which is present in 39 countries. Our marketplace offers clients the ability to perform real-time tender enquiries for IT products, which means they can see the current availability of stocks and compare their prices and delivery times from hundreds of different distributors. Significantly, through our marketplace Finnish companies can see real time data on 90% of the stock in the country at any given moment.

What are most important considerations for Finnish IT buyers?

• •

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Price is still number one of course.

Delivery time. Delays in deliveries of essential equipNORDIC BUSINESS REPORT 2022

• •

ment to employees can cause significant productivity losses.

Speed and cost of set up. No hidden costs.

Fast OCI and CXML (punchout) integrations with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems e.g., to enable employee purchasing of a limited range of pre-approved products.

How have COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine affected Finnish companies IT requirements?

There have been two significant impacts. Covid-19 resulted in an explosion in demand for remote working equipment (laptops, headphones, microphones etc.).

Also, disruptions in the supply chains from Asia (many IT products came into Finland by train via Russia- this is no longer the case) have caused availability issues e.g., local Finnish IT stocks for some product categories have been fluc-

tuating leading to extended lead times. What used to be available in a few days, now could take months. This means some clients are having to consider buffer stocks, which is tricky when you need to predict demand in the current economic climate.

uine commitment to honesty, transparency, professionalism, and kindness with the clear goal of helping our clients succeed in saving time and money on their IT purchasing requirements.

How is Markit helping clients solve these challenges?

We serve hundreds of multinationals. Clients such as Danfoss, Revolut, ERGO, Innofactor and SEB have kindly shared their individual success stories that you can find on our website (www. markit.eu), but overall, the fact is that in 2021 on average our clients saved 11.7% against market average prices and thousands of hours on managing, centralizing, and streamlining their IT purchasing.

Well, our business model is perfectly suited to help. Clients not only see local Finnish stocks in our marketplace but also can see real time data across Europe. So, if a product is not available in Finland, the client can quickly and easily order cross-border deliveries (to multiple home offices or business locations) with minimum fuss or cost. This is possible as we have operations in 27 EU countries and access to stocks from 325 of the world’s largest IT distributors.

Technology and reach are only part of the equation. What really makes Markit different is a gen-

How successful have your clients been in making savings?

Can you please explain how successful IT procurement also creates value in areas of the business that sometimes get overlooked or misunderstood?

I think the best way to answer that

is to share some of the typical benefits that our clients have:

ment personnel possible.

Time savings using Markit means less people are needed for IT procurement.

IT benefits

•

•

•

Ability to compare prices and delivery times for millions of unique IT products, not just the top 10-30 % (which tends to be the average in Finland).

Fast deliveries i.e., the next business day for local stocks and 3–5 days for cross-border deliveries from Central Europe.

Simple, fast ERP/punchout integrations at no additional cost.

Finance/accounting benefits

•

•

•

•

A dedicated local account manager who speaks their language and can provide access to special pricing agreements thanks to Markit’s high level partnerships with numerous IT vendors e.g., HP, Lenovo, Jabra etc. and a wide variety of reporting options.

Considerable time savings so they can focus on more strategic issues (than IT purchasing).

Significant cost savings.

HR benefits

•

•

Increased employee satisfaction - End users get fast deliveries, local language support and an easy ordering system if allowed to purchase directly.

Redeployment of procureest. 210

MARKIT REVENUE million euros

109.4

112.1

2018

2019

178.7

122.5

93.4

2017

2020

2021

2022

It is a dilemma for many companies. The best answer is both!

“More suppliers” reduces the risk of supply, gives more choice and price comparison options. “A consolidated supplier” creates a long-term partnership with a trusted supplier - the way forward

“

In 2021 on average, our clients saved 11.7% against market average prices and thousands of hours on managing, centralizing, and streamlining their IT purchasing.

Procurement benefits

•

Significant IT spend savings (time and direct costs) and reduced maverick spending by employees.

Simple, compatible e-invoicing in client’s local currency (invoices always

Should IT buyers in multinationals have more local IT device suppliers? Or should they consolidate suppliers?

in the agreed format based on client preferences).

CEO benefits

•

•

Fully optimized and customized IT procurement solution with transparent evidence of savings and reduced risk of IT supply chain disruption impacts.

Partner (Markit) committed to compliant sustainable IT procurement options e.g., local to local deliveries and eco-label search filers can help companies meet environmental and CO2 emission targets.

Markit is growing fast. Why do you think Markit has been so successful in recent years?

Markit has always been growing.

30% per annum on average since 2003. The recent growth acceleration is largely due to growing recognition by multinationals that

to creating extra value and to save even more time and money. Both ARE possible, by using Markit as hundreds of multinationals in Finland and around the world already do. Markit is the “single consolidated supplier” providing access to stocks from hundreds of IT distributors. This gives clients the best of both worlds – a “marketplace as a supplier”!

The caveat of consolidating to use a marketplace-as-a-supplier is that the needs of the CPO (Chief Procurement Officer) and other company stakeholders must be met. With Markit they can be. using a “marketplace as a supplier” is a more time- and cost-effective way than traditional sourcing and tendering methods. Over the past 2 years growth has been further boosted because Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine that caused so many problems for companies

In our experience they need:

1. A reliable and tested single system where they can centrally log in to and see available stock and prices in real time from multiple sources (local distributors) in each of the countries they handle.

2. Access to an IT catalogue

that combines the stock of every major distributor in the countries they are in. Once the real-time price and stock comparison is done, they need to be able to consolidate the orders at national, regional, or international levels as required.

3. They need the option for each

local business entity to receive an invoice and customer support in their local currency and language.

They would want cast iron assurance or a tool to enable cross-border deliveries in crisis scenarios like the one we find ourselves in now and, whichever way the deliveries are made, they would need to be fast (days not weeks)!

4. They want zero set-up or

management fees for such a system, but still would like fast implementation and the ability to integrate with Ariba, Coupa, Ivalua or whichever punchout platform they use AND customizable purchase permissions and catalogue views for different entities and departments PLUS fully visualized spend data and reporting mechanisms. across the world and their traditional IT partners have not been able to supply reliably.

markit.eu/fi

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Breaking the code Tailored web-based services, mobile applications, sophisticated back-end systems, full stack, UI/UX and all other services, acronyms and other forms of digitalization provide immense opportunities to boost any organization’s business, in a wide variety of ways and from more angles than perhaps anyone can spontaneously fathom. As new solutions pour in and the ability to perceive very element’s role in the infrastructure, getting blinded by the sheer speed is understandable.

T

he big risk in the constantly evolving digitalization is that the organization loses the control of development. This results very quickly in inefficient, if not entirely needless investments in solutions which fail bring in the required return.

“Every day, many needless features are made, and many needless systems are created”, Ville Komulainen, Co-founder & CEO at Wunderdog declares.

“Instead of making a fancy execution a value in itself, the thinking should begin at the fundamentals – added value creation for the client and best return for the client’s investment.”

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Wunderdog is a company specializing in IT consulting and digital solutions, but Komulainen does not shy away from ruffling the feathers of the industry that provides livelihood to himself and Wunderdog’s well over 100 employees. At the end of the day, the best overall long-term solution works best for both the client and the consultants – even if that means that today, no code will be hacked in.

“In the long run, clients appreciate tailored solutions that are created and developed for the needs of their business and users”, Komulainen agrees. “Collaboration that is based on the client’s business strategy is the only way

to provide added value and return on investment.”

One size does not fit all

As companies look for ways to further strengthen their competitiveness and to get back on track after the times of extreme turbulence, digital strategy and infrastructure are at the core of their development work. However, with difficult times behind and uncertain ones ahead, everyone is paying an extremely close attention to every investment. Purposeful solutions take care of every necessary detail that benefits the client but leave out everything that is needless: providing the best return for the client they also ensure that the

solution provider is able to complete the project in a way that keeps the costs in control.

“

Long-term profitability for both parties is more important than a one-off design.

This is where creative outsidethe-box thinking is required.

Long-term profitability for both parties is more important than a one-off design and develpoment project that might not even be ideal in the first place.

“On the contrary to what

many believe, technology is not the hardest part in a challenging project”, Ville Komulainen points out. “Understanding the business and user goals, finding the problem worth solving – and creating the ideal solution to it is where true expertise counts.”

Wunderdog’s Ville Komulainen points out that even the most advanced technology projects should start with the client’s objectives – and with finding the best way to meet them.

“

Close collaboration with the client enables efficient exchange of ideas and fruitful, constructive challenging.

In finding that core, experience often turns out to be an irreplaceable asset. The ability to see the forest for the trees and understand the entire business environment helps avoid the common pitfalls and perceive what works under which conditions, and – even more importantly – what does not. Close collaboration with the client enables efficient exchange of ideas and fruitful, constructive challenging of each other. Exchanging experiences and sharing best practices with colleagues can save a significant amount of time.

Continuous iteration takes ideas further as the best ones are being screened by strict criteria.

Validating the business case and prototyping it with users provides confidence in the chosen solution, and that can be further strengthened with pilot releases that can already tell if everything works as planned, supporting the client’s strategy the best possible way. As the work continues, the issue of cost-efficiency becomes more significant.

“Cost-efficiency often comes down to two contributors”, Ville Komulainen explains. “First of all, we must be rigorous in scoping the project right - size is of es-

sence. Then, we have to be very careful in harnessing just the right kind of team for the implementation.”

With the latter, Komulainen refers to both the seniority and location of the people involved.

While the earlier phases typically require more experienced professionals – albeit not that many – that are located close and able to work together with the client, other requirements become more relevant as we get closer to implementation. Ability to create high-quality code is not directly related to seniority, and coding can be done more or less anywhere in the world.

It all comes down to what kind of resources a company has, and how efficiently it is able to harness those resources to work for the benefit of the client.

A matter of trust

When it comes to state-of-theart digital presence, we obvious-

ly speak about high-technology solutions – but that is only a part of the truth when it comes to making the most of the vast opportunities that can become within reach as a result of a thoroughly designed, superiorly implemented project.

Everyone should understand and respect the fact that the client is making a significant investment and expects a fair return to it.

This alone should make it evident that outcome-based approach is the only way to achieve the right kind of results.

The importance of the project also brings up the importance of trust. Trust can only be established between people, no matter how sophisticated the outcome of the project ends up. People design and implement everything, and trust is essential. Not only because of the significant investment, but also because of open, seamless communication which is required for the best possible flow – and,

hence, the best possible results.

That is why the project should include the right kind of people.

People that understand the situation at hand, with all the pain points included. People that have fresh ideas and ability to put them in perspective, to challenge and develop them up to the point where they can count on the idea’s ability to solve the challenge at hand.

Then, people who can make that happen in an efficient, purposeful manner.

People who the client trusts and wants to work with. Or, as Ville Komulainen puts it: “Old dogs that are able to continuously learn new tricks. That’s like bringing the best of both worlds to the table.”

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InvestEU gives companies a nudge towards new growth Exceptional times call for exceptional means, and to a surprise of many corporate executives, it is a financial institution from the public sector setting one of the strongest examples of stimulating investments and business recovery.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho Photo: European Investment Bank

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Nordic Business Report talked to prof.

Teresa Czerwińska, Vice-President of EIB overseeing InvestEU’s implementation.

T

he European Investment Bank (EIB) is the longterm lending institution of the European Union and is owned by the EU Member States.

It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals both in Europe and beyond.

Nordic Business Report talked to prof. Teresa Czerwińska, Vice-President of EIB overseeing InvestEU’s implementation. The InvestEU Programme is uniquely suited to provide long-term funding to companies and to support EU policies in a recovery from a deep economic and social crisis.

In the current crisis, the market allocation of resources is not fully efficient, and the perceived risk impairs private investment flow significantly.

A significant union-wide effort to put Europe’s economy back on track was launched in the spring as the European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) signed the Guarantee Agreement on a European Union budget guarantee of 19.65 billion Euros to support investment projects. The agreement intends to create a major snowball effect by increasing the risk-bearing capacity of the implementing partners, with the intention to mobilise altogether around 267 billion Euros worth of additional investment by 2027.

“Our intent is to show the kind of example that you would not always expect to get from public finance institutions”, European Investment Bank Vice-President, Professor Teresa Czerwińska, explains. “Uncertainty and unexpected events will stay with us, so we must find new ways to thrive, even though the overall environment might not look ideal.”

Czerwińska adds that when it

comes to financing investments on a bigger scale, guaranteed risk sharing instruments have proven to be more efficient than for example direct funding. One of the driving ideas behind InvestEU is the opportunity to create substantial multiplier effects with the initial guarantees.

Altogether, the scale of operations with InvestEU is nothing short of exceptional. The sheer fact that such a massive effort has been put together by the European Union and associated public finance organisations is a clear signal that determined action is required from everyone to survive – let alone thrive – under this kind of circumstances.

The programme consists of three components, each of which offering valuable support to companies. The actual InvestEU Fund aims to stimulate over 372 billion euros worth of public and private investment backed by an EU budget guarantee of 26,2 billion. As the main implementing partner for the fund, the EIB Group has access to 75% of this guarantee.

The focus of the investments eligible for this guarantee include areas where most added value can be expected: sustainable infrastructure; research, innovation, and digitalisation; small and medium-sized companies; and social investment and skills.

“

The time has come to turn words into action and ensure that the fruits of the labor are being utilized efficiently.

Building on three pillars

While InvestEU is a remarkable effort to kickstart the European economy, it is by no means first of its kind. Both the European Union and the EIB Group, who acts as the main financial partner in the implementation process, have been involved with similar plans, the most recent of which, the Investment Plan for Europe – also known as the Juncker Plan – came to conclusion in 2020.

Building on the successful model of the Juncker Plan, the InvestEU programme picks up speed by a few notches that just may prove decisive in getting the earlier mentioned snowball effect on a roll.

Teresa Czerwińska emphasizes that the focus areas have been chosen to ensure additional boost especially into business sectors that will become even more essential for both individual and societal well-being in the near future. Encouraging green transition is one of the Union’s priorities – this influences the tone of every decision and guides the direction to which the investment guarantees are being allocated.

In addition to the fund, the programme includes the InvestEU Advisory Hub as well as the InvestEU Portal. While the Advisory Hub acts as the main entry point for project promoters and intermediaries seeking advisory

support and technical assistance, the role of the Portal is to provide a single EU-wide database of available investment opportunities within the Union.

Approaching the extremely timely challenge from several angles, InvestEU encourages companies to capture new opportunities by discovering new investment targets, finding suitable partners – and receiving guaranteed funding.

According to Teresa Czerwińska, it is important to realize that InvestEU goes a lot deeper than simply financing investments within the four policy windows.

The programme is a comprehensive support vehicle for private companies to help them recover from extremely rough couple of years and even find new ways to grow and prosper.

Pulling together for a good cause

In addition to putting the programme together, InvestEU has been exceptionally active in delivering the message of encouragement throughout Europe.

The European Investment Bank in cooperation with the European Commission has toured the continent doing a series of promotional events and workshops to raise awareness as well as to activate companies to apply for funding.

“We plan to take the road show to every EU country to present the array of opportunities to potential clients”, Teresa Czerwińska mentions. “The interest towards InvestEU has been very promising during the first months, and we expect that to continue, even pick up.”

Teresa Czerwińska points out that the EIB Group has high expectations towards InvestEU’s ability to have a tangible impact on the economy for the benefit of citizens – especially those living NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT 2022

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STORY

under extremely challenging conditions. As hyperinflation, the war in Ukraine and other dramatic developments that have taken place during the spring – after the InvestEU programme was signed and put into action – keep making the overall economical development extremely difficult to predict, the time has come for public finance institutions to step in and provide support.

Even though EIB Group itself is by no means immune when it comes to the risks that rampage through the financial market at the moment.

Then again, as a strong financial institution backed by the European Union, EIB’s negotiating position is a lot stronger than, for example, that of any average SME. The backing from all members, along with top credit ratings and comprehensive risk assessment provides a solid foundation to work on and help private companies to get their respective businesses back on track.

The ambitious plans to pave way to a new economic environment according to the EU policy speaks clearly that EIB’s own goal is not about minimizing its own risk but to show the way to new sources of growth.

“Our role is to boost investments and mobilize private financing “, Teresa Czerwińska mentions. “Companies must be able to enter new markets, pilot new projects and create new financial power themselves. At times like this, local banks get quite understandably cautious. This means that regular investment projects are thoroughly evaluated and criteria for a loans become tighter.

That is where EIB’s role as a trustworthy guarantor is emphasized.”

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months, the InvestEU Programme has managed to create interest and applications in a scale that goes well above the initial expectations.

The three-legged structure where funding is backed by networking opportunities, technical advice, and such support, has proven efficient. When companies that become interested are provided a solid path to take their initial idea forward, the odds on making that an actual investment project increase significantly.

Teresa Czerwińska is impressed with the good start. However, she emphasizes that even though InvestEU does provide one-time shots in the arms of struggling companies, it also aims to pursue an enduring green, digital, and inclusive transition as Europe recovers from the latest crisis. With specific emphasis on the four focus areas, InvestEU wants to develop the European economical scenery towards a direction where it is better prepared to thrive, even in the long run.

“We expect to have tangible results and impact on the economy for the benefit of the citizens. Being fully aligned with the overall growth strategy of the European Union, InvestEU is working on full steam to encourage companies look for new sources of success.”

The stage has been set. The time has come for the companies to act.

The road to recovery may not be one of the shortest but getting to the finish line starts with taking the first step ahead.

If you are a potential client interested in support under InvestEU from EIB, you can contact the local office of the EIB in your country or the EIB Infodesk at info@eib.org.

Digital commerce diversifies – how to keep customer experience consistent?

More often than not, digital commerce and services already reach across a wide variety of devices and customer touch points.

T

he times when digital commerce was regarded simply as a website for online shopping are permanently gone, and the time has come to rethink the way digital commerce infrastructure should be set up to maintain its relevance regardless of where, when, and how it is encountered.

"At best, digital commerce creates lasting experiences – the kind that resonate with the brand in a way that makes a difference", says Marko Rytkönen, Country Manager for Vaimo Finland, one of the world’s most respected experts in digital commerce and experience.

"As the number of touch points increase, so does the risk of losing consistency in delivering that experience."

Different solutions require different components and changing these components as new user interfaces are being developed puts the entire infrastructure under tremendous pressure to change

Marko Rytkönen, Country Manager for Vaimo Finland

accordingly.

Unlike the most commonly used monolithic platform-based architecture, composable commerce is a concept built modularly using only the applications a company needs.

“Decoupled architecture is often the best solution for companies who look for high flexibility and scalability,” says Rytkönen.

“It enables individualized digital commerce and easy integrations with best-of-breed solutions.”

To further support consistent customer experience, composable commerce can be enhanced with features that, for example, support field sales in their traditional work, enable effective re-orders using NFC, and use product configurators to offer customizable complex products.

To succeed with composable commerce, a company needs proper organizational and cost management skills. Managing several technology stacks requires a different way of thinking as well. The digital world continues to evolve, and it is up to the leaders to ensure their business is fully future-proof – even and especially when it comes to their digital commerce infrastructure.

vaimo.fi

YNEBO

Internationalizing Finnish healthcare expertise through digitalization Fadumo Ali saw how daily problems made the situation intolerable for both the healthcare professionals and the patients. The good news is, she also saw how modern tools can provide a solution that benefits everyone.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho Photo: Hoiwa

I

t all became too evident too soon for Fadumo Ali as she was working in healthcare to finance her studies. Everyone was in a hurry, everyone felt stressed, the pay was low and the appreciation downright nonexistent.

From the patients’ point of view, the home care nurses did not have enough time to take sufficient care of the elderly. The family members were not either willing or able to provide adequate support.

the time. In addition, they should be able to work flexible schedules and be fairly paid. The services should also be developed so that the patients could take more care of themselves, perhaps the nurses assisting remotely.

Digitalization would help develop all this. Fadumo realized that what she needed was a mobile application. Or rather, money to have it designed and coded.

The needed capital was not raised overnight, so Fadumo

“

Fadumo Ali believes that in business, the targets must be set high enough to make a difference and to stand out from the competition.

The Finnish healthcare system was going through one of its worst crises and it simply could not go on like this.

Fadumo wanted to desperately develop the system so that the nurses would not have to hurry all

returned to work and started saving. The pandemic put things on a hold for a while, but soon as the situation eased, Fadumo picked up speed. She kept saving, marketed her services, recruited personnel, and got things on a roll.

It was time to get a good look at the application to make it stand out and offer nurses a practical tool that would comprehensively respond to their needs.

The designers were found close, as Fadumo’s two brothers were up to the task. The application enables the nurses to book shifts according to their own schedules and provides a wide variety of services to Hoiwa’s HR team and clients as well. It became an instant success and Hoiwa’s operations started to grow accordingly.

The second year produced a turnover of 4,2 MEUR and Fadumo kept going. She acquired new clients and invested in skills, branding, and growth.

Fadumo Ali believes that in

business, the targets must be set high enough to make a difference and to stand out from the competition. The Finnish healthcare sector is recognized for its high standards and professionalism, so there is every reason to feel proud about what has already been accomplished. That goes for any company and line of business.

International success requires plenty of work and perseverance, and disappointments are inevitable. The key thing is to learn from them and use those learnings in future encounters in a way that provides positive results.

The next step is to take Hoiwa abroad. Fadumo has already set her sights in Germany, with France England, and even the Asian market next in line.

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Human skills solving complex logistics challenges in a responsible way When competition becomes tougher and competitive edge is more difficult to establish, concentrating on core expertise has, once again, raised into one of the most hyped-up mantras. Often the best way to improve the efficiency of support functions is letting the experts handle them.

E

very company – especially the ones manufacturing or trading commodities – is a link in several logistics chains that move and store raw materials and products. When those chains can stick together, under all circumstances, withstanding abrupt changes, added value keeps accumulating to every link. They become genuine value chains, whose role in the modern society has grown more significant than anyone might have been able to predict.

Every company must handle a wide variety of goods: raw materials, supplies, components, food and so on. Their entire business may be based on manufacturing parts for a bigger entity: receiving components to make these parts in time and delivering them to be further refined, integrated, or installed according to schedule is an outright lifeline to these

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companies, even though it is far from its core expertise.

Efficient, reliable logistics is required everywhere – and most companies are begging for ideas to arrange this important support function in a way that would not end up costing too much.

Perhaps they should shift their focus and start to think what they might gain.

Committed specialist ensures quality, efficiency, and operational safety in a responsible way

“Companies who outsource their entire logistics operations to dedicated specialists typically increase their operational efficiency by 10 to 30 per cent,” says Jenni Ailio from Transval, Finland’s leading specialist in outsource logistics and the biggest in-house logistics company

Transval’s Jenni Ailio says that first and foremost, outsourcing is about growing competence. Working for a logistics specialist, employees continuously develop their skills and engagement.

in the Nordic countries. “In addition to people who are experts in what they do, this has to do with the ability to optimize logistic streams as well as the smart use of automated solutions.”

“

A big company such as Transval is an ideal way to develop both employee skills and engagement.

As the role of automation increases in logistics, turning to a specialist is the best way to ensure that a company can reap all the benefits of modern technology. An in-house staff in an organization whose core business is somewhere quite else is seldom as regularly and intensively trained and educated as staying on top of state-of-the-art solutions requires. A company who

specializes in logistics focuses on keeping both its service level as well as employee skills at the highest level.

“A big company such as Transval is an ideal way to develop both employee skills and engagement”, Jenni Ailio points out. “While our own Academy ensures continuous education, it also provides ambitious employees with numerous opportunities to career advancement.

The tasks may change, but the familiar employer remains with its familiar culture and values. Individual skills naturally develop every day, taking care of a wide variety of tasks.”

Speaking of employees, while many companies hesitate to outsource their logistics due to the impression that it leads to layoffs, Transval actually recruits these people. Working under Transval management, best prac-

Did you know?

Transval is part of Posti Group which is one of the leading delivery and fulfillment companies in Finland, Sweden and Baltics. The company focuses on optimising endto-end value chains from manufacturer to warehouses to retail and last mile.

Posti is also one of leading logistics companies in the world what comes to sustainability: it’s net-zero emission target was approved by the Science Based Targets initiative as the first logistics company in the world. Ecovadis, world’s leading organisation to asses sustainability, ranked Posti among the TOP 1 % of companies in all industries worldwide.

Posti’s strength as a company stems from a unique combination: its employees, as the best experts in their field, its capability of being pioneers in logistics and technology, and its comprehensive delivery network.

tices of the industry are naturally adopted. This increases the efficiency of logistics at very short notice.

Flexible solution – one clear target

While logistics can be outsourced in a wide variety of ways and extents, it should all aim to the same goal.

Optimization of material flows.

Obvious as that may sound, this goal includes one of the most essential keys to success. Not only for the company that has outsourced the logistics operations, but for all the other companies along the value chain as well.

“Logistics typically happens in chains, where every link is dependent on the others”, Jenni Ailio explains. “If one link breaks and fails to do its part in time, others must wait, or start looking

for other alternatives. This costs time and money to everyone.”

Good logistics starts with reliability. That can be complemented with solutions that further enhance productivity and operational efficiency. Every company has different logistics needs – a partner with comprehensive understanding and selection of services can put together a solution for every situation. At the end of the day, it is the people who make even the most complex logistics solutions work.

“The form and coverage of collaboration can vary a lot depending on the company’s needs”, Jenni Ailio says. “While some settle for leasing a logistics professional, others outsource entire in-house logistics of a factory or a construction site. Some abandon their own warehouses, and so on.”

Little by little, the range of out-

sourced front-line services can increase, based on what works best.

Improved balance sheet and customer satisfaction

One of the modern management principles and keys to building success in uncertain times is to minimize fixed costs and to assume a lean, agile way of operating.

Outsourcing logistics is an excellent way to help companies in this sense as well. It turns a substantial fixed cost into variable, lightening the balance sheet and providing the company with all new kind of flexibility to operate. Outsourced services respond very swiftly to changes in the overall business environment, freeing the company from any unnecessary overhead when it comes to logistics. This is a substantial asset when a company

is gathering its strength after challenging times and starts to prepare for the next productivity leap.

“Outsourcing adds a significant amount of flexibility to resourcing and ability to react to volume changes”, Jenni Ailio emphasizes. “When product flows can be optimized and unexpected downtime minimized, the financial importance is nothing short of significant. At the same time, outsourcing is a way to provide motivated professionals opportunities to develop their capabilities for further improved customer experience – in a way that resonates throughout the value chain.”

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YNEBO

The natural way to invest in forests Clear-cutting is the evident way to make money out of forest, but it is not always the optimal solution for the environment. Merit Valdsalu turned the approach around and made nature an asset in itself.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho

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or owners, forest in an investment that is expected to yield a reasonable return.

On the other hand, the more carbon forests can take in from the atmosphere, the better for the environment. Traditionally, these two viewpoints have been quite contradictory.

New ways to value wood were required to encourage forest owners to hold on to their trees and let them help us all in the fight against climate change. The ecosystem had to be monetized in a new way to provide incentives so that forest owners would refrain from excessive cutting.

Merit Valdsalu decided to go with blockchain technology to ensure the adequate scalability of the 42

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idea. An entirely new kind of ecosystem Single.Earth was created to help finance nature conservation.

The ecosystem is open for every landowner and organization interested in preserving the nature through sustainable practices.

To raise awareness and interest among investors and potential members, Merit Valdsalu took her idea into a hackathon that aimed to find new ways to value wood.

She explained her idea of thinking out of the box – that wood can be something else than mere raw material. A prototype was created, and the overall concept was gradually validated. Thanks to initial funding, the team was able to commit full-time to developing the idea further.

After a few months, Single.

Earth was introduced to investors that understood the idea – and trusted Merit Valdsalu and her team’s ability to make the most of it.

“

This way, consumers can give back to nature with every transaction.

The development continued at an increasing pace, and another seed round brought in other investors, even to the extent that allowed the developing team to grow from 8 people to 80.

Merit Valdsalu decided to go all-in and hire an own science team. This team created Digital

Twin – a virtual model of the planet, created with the help of satellite data, geospatial engineering, and machine learning to allow assessing each plot of land automatically for its forest coverage, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration.

Merit Valdsalu says that the big vision for Single.Earth is to roll MERIT tokens out as a global currency. This way, all consumers can give back to nature with every transaction and pave the way to a sustainable nature-based economy. As cryptocurrencies and payments are, step by step, becoming a part of everyone’s life, everyone will soon be able to invest into forests in a new way – to preserve them and keep them working for the environment.

The world evolves – how about the way you lead?

The last couple of years have shown the essence of self-leadership for any organization: as fixed structures collapse and the roles of individuals become driving forces, the entire concept of leadership must be redefined.

A

company that wants to succeed in today’s world of remote working and eternal change can’t be led top down”, Kaj Hellbom, CEO at BCI Business Coaching Institute says. “Leadership must take place collectively – within small networks and at every level of the organization.”

This approach applies not only to every organization but also to every department, business area – and stage of lifecycle.

Hellbom challenges startups, for example, to pay more attention to developing leadership already at the beginning to ensure a solid structure and systematic way of leading. While this may sound unnecessary in the beginning, things change soon as growth begins.

“The sooner a leadership culture that genuinely reflects the company’s mission and values is created, the better it can serve the purposes of various functions in the long run”, Hellbom emphasizes. “As the core skills improve and competence grows, the culture becomes so strong that it can withstand even the inevitable changes in personnel.”

Business coaching is an efficient way to take change forward and turn it into competitive advantage. Working closely together with leaders, challenging them to commit to change and making

timely, educational interventions help establish the kind of mindset that soon becomes both an asset and a pull factor, both when it comes to employees and customers.

“The sooner a leadership culture that genuinely reflects the company’s mission and values is created, the better it can serve the purposes of various functions in the long run”, says Kaj Hellbom, CEO at BCI Business Coaching Institute.

“

Our job is to help organizations discover their own strengths.

Speaking of customers, sales is one of the areas where business coaching can also make a significant difference. As sales is heading towards a more interactive and participatory approach as a function, management by coaching is required to establish an atmosphere that encourages dialogue.

While business coaching is widely recognized as a concept, organizations still seem to shy away from making the most of all the opportunities it can enable. Kaj Hellbom points out that at best, business coaching is a lasting investment that builds strong structures and practices: the kind that root deep and keep developing and helping the company thrive for a long time.

“Our job is not to create relationships of dependence. Our job is to help organizations discover their own strengths and give them wings to fly.”

Certified Business Coach® Certified Business Coach® is internationally accredited (ICF & EMCC) coaching program for coaches, managers, leaders and HR professionals. 3 options to study: Live training, Live + Online, Online Course. New program starting each month. Check out schedule at bci.fi/koulutuskalenteri Certified Executive Coach® High-Level coaching program for coaches, executives and professionals working closely with executives.

Third Certified Executive Coach® program starting in 2023. Learn more at bci.fi/certified-executive-coach

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Competitive in chaos The world full of unexpected incidents has proven to be a turbulent environment for leaders to navigate. An environment that changes constantly requires new kind of competencies – and, with most of the challenges originating from the society around us, companies must assume a lot more holistic approach to their strategies in order to stay competitive and thrive.

Text: Timo Mansikka-aho Photo: Stéphane Garelli’s archives

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isruption has driven companies out of their cozy operating environments”, Stéphane Garelli, a world authority on competitiveness agrees at an exclusive interview with Nordic Business Report. “The times when companies believed that it was sufficient to have a good knowledge of their products, markets, and customers and ignore the world around them do exist anymore.”

According to Garelli, the amount of interference from the environment has never been this high. The economic and business climates, the effect of technology and the ever-changing mindset in society are becoming more and more disruptive. More pressure is put on companies which must deal with an increasing number of issues that are not directly related to their business: governance, gender equality and climate change are examples of outside influence created by the society for the companies to deal with.

“

Companies must take a real good look at their culture.

As the global economy is changing completely, evolving technologies are breaking down the entry barriers. Competitors are coming from other, even quite surprising sectors and industries than what might be expected.

A wide array of things is appearing from the inside as well, requiring consideration and even changes in strategy. The employee expectations, for example, have changed dramatically.

“In the future, the value system of the company must be even more accurately aligned with the value system of the employees”,

Stéphane Garelli points out. “This means companies must take a real good look at their culture and ensure that it speaks the right language and tone of voice.”

Growth, competitiveness, and self-sufficiency

Traditionally, companies have been looking for competitiveness through growth – new markets providing opportunities to economies of scale, more has typically been more. Now, with parallel universes looming, some markets will simply become unavailable.

Gone are the days of low-cost globalization where everything was open and available. A new chapter where people and companies look for certain level of self-sufficiency has taken over, and this development is fueled by the growing concern of what kind of a crisis we will have to confront next.

This development is leading towards an even more fractured world where some countries refuse to have anything to do with some others. With completely different political and economic systems, they might simply decide to live happily in their own little worlds.

“In this light, it is no understatement to say that globalization, as we have known it for the past decades, is over”, Stéphane Garelli says. “The companies must realize and accept this and revise their thinking accordingly.”

One of the big issues for companies from their competitiveness’ point of view will be the capability to secure their assets for future growth. They have to decide for example, which countries cause acceptable levels of risk when it comes to issues such as operating a factory there. When the risk becomes too big, other ways of operating in those areas

must be adopted.

Reliability over efficiency

When companies used to strive for cost-efficiency in their operations, they are now entering the world of business reliability. With disruption going on at full speed over both the supply chain and the markets, the ability to deliver on time, at the cost that has been offered, has proven to be difficult to achieve. However, it is one of the most essential capabilities for companies looking to improve their competitiveness.

As uncertainty prevails and business reliability replaces cost-efficiency, the impact on customer prices is evident.

“We are living an era of shortage economy”, Stéphane Garelli emphasizes. “Inflation is extremely strong, and central banks are increasing interest rates everywhere. Certain products are even becoming less available, especially in poorer countries.”

Inflation typically begins very quickly. The problem with it is that getting rid of it takes a considerably longer time. When inflation gets into the decision-makers´ mindset, it easily starts fueling itself. Companies start to increase their offers by, say, 10 per cent just in case their own costs go up.

When everyone does this, that is precisely what happens, even though the rise is caused simply by the fear of it. When people consider inflation a fact of life, they start incorporating it everywhere.

The CEO task list – how to change the company’s course

Being the CEO of a company today is becoming increasingly complex, especially since it forces companies to review their structure and approach to work.

Stéphane Garelli points out that

to boost competitiveness or their respective organizations, leaders should assume an open mind and look at the world around them in a new way.

“The first thing every CEO should do in the prevailing situation is to recognize and accept the fact that the world is going to interfere with the strategy”, Garelli advises. “Then, a lot of time should be spent looking at things that are not directly related to the company’s core business.”

Today, there is no knowing where the competition is coming from, and who will be the company’s main competitor tomorrow.

As a Swiss himself, Garelli brings up an example from the watch industry where, to everyone’s surprise, the biggest watch producer in 2021 was Apple, surpassing the entire Swiss production. That was certainly the kind of development no one was able to predict.

That is one reason why every CEO should have discussions with other CEOs. Inside their own organizations, CEOs are often quite alone, with everyone telling them only positive things. Sharing ideas and experiences with people that can provide constructive criticism is essential in building competitiveness and developing business operations in general.

Inside their own companies, CEOs should talk to the younger generation.

“The idea of educating people inside a company should really be turned upside down”, Stéphane Garelli concludes. “The young ones who have just joined a company are the best tutors in the sense that they can provide insight on where the world is going and what the current expectations out there are. Learning about those things can provide valuable help in developing operations to the right direction.”

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STORY

The sound of

SUCCESS A seasoned businessman with a distinguished career is a living proof of how learning new things and building thriving companies can indeed be a lifelong journey.

Text and photos: Timo Mansikka-aho

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E

ntering the year 2020, Reijo Karhulahti knew just the very fundamentals of acoustics. He was a co-founder in a company specializing in acoustics solutions and installations, but as his time had been fully consumed running the radio station BusinessFM for the past few years, that ownership had been on a standstill mode, waiting for the right time to bloom.

In September 2019, Karhulahti had sold nationwide BusinessFM to Sanoma Media Finland. He spent the rest of the year travelling around the world reloading batteries and figuring out what to do next.

Everyone thought Karhulahti would simply take the money and run to retirement, and why not?

He had – technically – exceeded that age and already worked in demanding positions at companies such as Xerox, UPM, Philips, OP-Pohjola and Tele2. He had established a nationwide radio station from scratch and taken it to a level which raised a nationally renowned media conglomerate’s interest.

Little did everyone know – this was only the beginning.

It was time for a whole new adventure, in a whole new field of business. With an extremely limited knowledge – let alone experience – from neither acoustic material production nor export, Reijo Karhulahti set up a company together with his co-founder Matti Kilpeläinen – one of the most experienced acoustic professionals in the world.

Kilpeläinen came up with the idea of using wastepaper as raw material, and Karhulahti began to find out how that could be implemented.

The two-man team was able to build strong partnerships with Finnish factories and the concept

Reijo Karhulahti says that in international markets, there is no room for quality lapses.

began to take shape. The first projects were won in the UK, already in the first quarter 2021.

Today, Invisible Acoustic Ceilings Scandinavia Oy Ltd is still the only producer in the world that manufacture completely carbon-neutral acoustic products.

been executed for well-known and prestigious corporations, such as Amazon, Apple, Castellum Torsgatan 26, Channel4, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, JP Morgan Chase, Klarna Headquarter, Mercedez-Benz, Microsoft, Walmart, and Shell.

“

Operations are growing at a speed that makes one’s head spin.

The company aims to get one of the world’s most valued environmental certificate, Cradle-to-Cradle, this December as the first company in Finland.

In just a couple of years, business operations have been established in Finland, Sweden, and Baltics (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia), with distributors in countries such as India, United Arab Emirates, UK, Ireland, USA, and Latin America. Projects have

All this has been built out of scratch, during a time when – it seems like – the rest of the world has been caved in, waiting for the pandemic to finally leave us alone. Operations are growing at a speed that makes one’s head spin but there are still many upcoming challenges to overcome.

Reijo Karhulahti is as anxious and enthusiastic as any young business executive, ready to take on all the enormous challenges

that international construction business throws in every day.

Rolling up the sleeves

Returning from his world tour, Reijo Karhulahti’s knowledge of acoustic products and production was still extremely limited, and he had never been involved with exporting. Going all-in and learning an entirely new business simply felt like the thing to do.

As Reijo Karhulahti mentioned several times talking to Nordic Business Report, even for a seasoned businessman, feeling is surprisingly important. For one conscious thought, there are 280,000 thoughts in the subconscious.

“Inspiration serves as a fuel to go after great things”, Karhulahti points out. “Experience, on the other hand, gives confidence on your ability to pull it off. You can try to rationalize this kind of decisions all you want, but at the end of the day, there is no underestimating how you feel about it, and about your chances to achieve something.”

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“

Trust and respect have always been my driving principles when it comes to people management and business.

all his life, and he believes firmly in product development. With INVISIBLE® Acoustic Ceilings, the first thing to do was to develop an acoustic solution that everyone would genuinely believe to be the best in the world. This was the most difficult part as in the acoustic construction business all the materials must be certified.

“To make it in international markets, in any line of business, you must be able to deliver top quality product concept and customer support”, Karhulahti explains. “Only the champions will be recognized and remembered.”

Reijo Karhulahti adds that one of the most essential elements in building successful businesses is a strong team chemistry and common understanding amongst founders. Especially in the beginning where practices are being adopted on the run and mistakes 48

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are bound to happen, understanding that we are in this together provides essential confidence and support. Especially in the startup world, losing concentration for a split second may lead to a fall.

“

Only the champions will be recognized and remembered.

“Trust and respect have always been my driving principles when it comes to people management and business”, Karhulahti says.

“You should always trust your instincts and how you feel about things. If you feel good about something, you are more likely to succeed.”

The team, including the management and personnel on the

manufacturer’s side, was immediately engaged. Following rigorous product development and tests, the outcome was indeed technically superior. A carbon neutral acoustic spray concept for companies that value high quality, aesthetics, and environmentally friendly solutions.

The next challenge was the matter of letting the world know about it.

Service, trust, and insurance policies

The beginning was a combination of modern remote working tools and traditional legwork. Impressive sample boxes and stylish presentation materials were alike important than a comprehensive collection of documents and certificates. It soon became evident that communication had to take place very quickly, and answer

were required promptly, regardless of the time of day.

Last year, Karhulahti was celebrating his birthday on the Midsummer Eve in Finland when he realized that one missing acoustic spray machine nozzle in Bangalore would destroy a 10 000 m2 Walmart project. He had to leave his own party and travel immediately travel to Dubai, from where the nozzle was flown to Bangalore.

The trip was Karhulahti’s most difficult ever, but thanks to it the distributor won the project.

Little by little, doors began to open. Orders were received from Sweden and the UK, with India and the Middle East in tow.

Successful projects created noise in the market, the word spread, and the business grew – but not automatically. If things proceeded in a quite straightforward manner at the development

phase, entering international markets provided unexpected turns at every corner. At times, every negotiation seemed to bring up a new twist. Price sensitivity varies from country to country. Some customers insisted on fast deliveries and installation support.

Acquiring various certificates proved painstaking. In 2021 Karhulahti drove seven times to Jelgava, Latvia for fire test matters, battling different, constantly changing Covid test requirements.

Product tests were extremely challenging, time-consuming, and expensive. Everything moves ahead at a fast pace and the demands can be both tough and unexpected.

To top it all, he was strongly advised to get yet another insurance.

Against kidnapping.

Karhulahti says that especially in doing international business, the essence of reliability and respect simply can’t be overempha-

sized. Building a reputation of a trustworthy partner takes time and perseverance, but at the end of the day, it is the only way to succeed.

“

Building a reputation of a trustworthy partner takes time.

“I can honestly say I have never learned so much in such a short period of time. Then again, this business is so much about customer service. We must be on call at all times, as satisfied customers are our best form of advertising.”

INVISIBLE® Acoustic Ceilings has indeed received plenty of praise for their ability to go the extra mile to ensure that all customer requirements are met.

Making the most of overall circumstances

As people got used to remote meetings and presentations during the pandemic, scaling the business became possible without extensive traveling and need for an international network of offices.

“Carrying out negotiations and giving sales presentations online is efficient, but has its own requirements as well”, Karhulahti says. “Intonation, self-confidence, positive attitude, choice of words and even body language must be thoroughly redesigned to make the right kind of impact.”

Karhulahti believes that especially at the initial stages of any business relationship, there is no substitute for a face-to-face encounter. Meeting people in person creates trust efficiently, and after that trust has been established, it is a lot more convenient to take care of daily business matters online.

As a result, he has traveled a lot and learned about foreign cultures. In India he was, after a series of sales negotiations, invited to a week-long wedding of his client’s daughter.

“India is one of the toughest markets in the world. everything must happen instantaneously, and the haggle over price is overwhelming. But soon as you prove your worth, you are accepted and treated like a family member.”

Something about Karhulahti’s ability to deal with demanding buyers tells the fact that in India, he is currently known among some of his distributors as Warrior Reijo.

Right kind of help can take you further

In July 2022, INVISIBLE® Acoustic Ceilings expanded its operations to Latin America by signing the contract with a local agent in

“

Intonation, self-confidence, positive attitude, choice of words and even body language must be thoroughly redesigned to make the right kind of impact.

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STORY

Columbia. In Sweden, the company’s second market, the business strategy is now being redefined.

A long-term agreement with a renowned U.S. acoustics company, reaching throughout the United States, has been signed. the Middle East and Europe are growing as markets. The first projects in the Baltic region will soon be carried out.

A 22 000 m2 project for JP Morgan Chase in Mumbai was won in the beginning of August, along with projects in Bangalore, Stockholm, Dubai, Riad, Riga, Dublin.

It is by no means an overstatement to say that INVISIBLE® Acoustic Ceilings is on a roll, thriving in chaos at full speed.

Reijo Karhulahti has taken responsibility for the Swedish market. The work continues in a role where he can share his experience with younger employees,

helping others to succeed. He continues as a member of the boards of Finnish, Swedish and Baltic companies.

“

We already have a remarkable story to tell.

“As we started this two and a half years ago, I had no idea about how far dedicated team effort and confidence can take us”, Karhulahti says. “We already have a remarkable story to tell, filled with all kinds of challenges which we have overcome.”

Karhulahti points out that even in the toughest situations, his unwavering belief in their ability to survive has remained strong. That is the attitude he will continue to

use as the next chapter of INVISIBLE® Acoustic Ceilings is about to begin. A lot has been achieved, and the targets have been set even higher, with expansion to new markets as one of the primary strategies. Why stop now when things are looking bright?

That same principle goes for Reijo Karhulahti himself.

Whether his next career is in opera singing (he has trained for that rigorously for 3 years) or helping other startups conquer their own mountains, retirement is still a long way away for this 68-yearold.

While he has done a remarkable job in building a global success story in two and a half years, Karhulahti emphasizes the essence of good networks and professional help. INVISIBLE® Acoustic Ceilings was fortunate to find partners from traditional

Finnish industries to help create the world-class products as well as institutions such as Finnvera and Business Finland to help in internationalizing the business.

Banks, insurance companies and such also play a critical role.

The keyword is help, and that is something every business leader should not be afraid to ask. That is also what Reijo Karhulahti wants to provide.

“I have never approached this business from the point of what’s in it for me personally - if you don’t count the enthusiasm to learn new things and people.

I once heard from a well-known lawyer that a good worker always gets his salary. What I want to do is provide an example of how everyone should – and can – take responsibility of their own fortunes, at the same time helping the society to do better.”

W O R K H A R D . TA K E A B R E A K .

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Y R I T Y S M Y Y N T I @ F L A M I N G O S PA . F I

TRANSFORMATION AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT

In search for growth, Tamro’s Kai Kaasalainen decided to transform the company’s role from medicine wholesaler to a comprehensive service provider.

bring growth and competitiveness to Tamro

Tamro’s strategic journey from a traditional medicine supplier into a developer for the entire healthcare ecosystem proves that for even the most established companies, new opportunities await outside the comfort zone.

D

uring its 125 years of existence, Tamro had reached an impressive market share of close to 60 per cent as the leading wholesaler of medicines in Finland. As the management sat down six years ago to discuss new sources of growth, they realized that the company’s core business was becoming saturated.

The time had come to think outside the box.

“Given our dominant position, we had little opportunities to grow in our familiar market, so new ones had to be found”, Kai Kaasalainen, CEO of Tamro recalls. “This led to a decision to transform the company’s role from medicine wholesaler to a comprehensive service provider for the entire health value chain.”

The new, remarkably expanded role meant entering entirely new business areas, but thanks to Tamro’s long history in health care, logical connections were already in place.

From wholesaler to service provider

Tamro began to transform through organic growth, acquisitions, and partnerships. A subsidiary Medaffcon was acquired to support pharma industry in market access challenges and data-intesive Real World Evidence research.

“Getting new medicines in public hospitals that operate on strict budgets is always a challenge”, Kai Kaasalainen points out. One of innovations created jointly by Tamro and Medaffcon is Tamro LINK – a digital solution that enables efficiency-based pricing of medicines.

“Tamro LINK enables adopting new medicines and monitoring the treatment results among patients individually. Everyone wins: the industry gets new products into use; the patients receive better care – and the hospital pays only for the documented benefits.”

Tamro LINK is a great example of disruptive thinking that chang-

es business models. Another one is Smila – a medicine dispenser that serves the right medicines to the patient to be taken at the right time, enabling extended home care while lightening the personnel burden in healthcare.

The will – and the way – to stay one step ahead

Today, Tamro is a very much different company than what it was only 6 years ago as the saturation in the traditional business area was discovered. From the leadership point of view, it was essential to recognize that a wider role must be adopted as the number of variables grows and the entire healthcare sector is going through massive change.

“The changes in the operating environment made us look for methods to predict the upcoming

development”, Kai Kaasalainen says. “In this business, short and middle term are the most crucial when it comes to discovering new competitive edges.”

Strategic foresight has become an essential tool at Tamro for predicting the future of the healthcare industry – and find new innovative solutions to make the most of the opportunities that this development may create. Now that outside-the-box thinking has become a normal way of doing business and the comfort zones have been successfully stretched, time and again, there is no knowing how the 125-year-young company will surprise us next.

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Innolink’s CEO Pekka Vuorela urges companies to go well beyond their current comfort zone in search of new opportunities for growth.

Knowledge-based management as a lever

FOR FUTURE GROWTH Knowledge-based management is one of the most powerful instruments to long-lasting success, but as things so often go with instruments of power, also knowledge can be harmful used in a wrong way.

K

nowledge adds impact to decision-making, but one needs to be mindful of its application. The fact that today there is an endless amount of data available for any given decision, is a double-edged sword.

If this data cannot be properly filtered and turned into relevant information, data can work against quality decision making instead of offering tangible advise for business development. More turns out to be less.

“Leadership should be made as simple as possible”, Pekka Vuorela, CEO of Innolink Group 52

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elaborates. “For that to happen, it is necessary to recognize what data and insight are relevant for this particular organization, at this particular time.”

Knowledge-based management can revolutionize the way a company invests in future growth. Combining the NPS targets with commercial growth targets, the focus will be placed sharply on creating customer satisfaction that has commercial relevance.

This kind of an approach can be scaled to cover all the environments the company operates in,

taking country-specific market variables into account but focusing every activity to what matters the most: profitable growth.

Challenging your viewpoints

While operative data from CRM, ERP, and such systems, tell us precisely what has taken place, it is not capable of offering reasoning in support of decision making. Utility of the data must be analyzed with a human viewpoint, seamlessly and in real time.

A common pitfall at this point is building the analysis solely on

experience from the industry in which the company operates.

More beneficial insights can often be found from professionals who possess a wider perspective – like experience with similar situations in different business areas.

“If a company aims to become a market leader, it should seek lessons from outside its core business,” Vuorela explains. “Breakthrough insights are often found in places where others have not thought to look.” Yet benefits are evident also for internal process development - as companies begin analyzing their operations

and gathering data for improving them, combining outside experience with in-house substance is often the best way to ensure all viewpoints have been covered.

“A one-time survey to what has happened does not help, if the connection to business potential is missing”, Vuorela adds. “That is why no market or customer research should be carried out without both strategic business understanding and operational data to back it up.”

Customer experience, and its strong impact on business

Everyone speaks of customer experience, even makes efforts to improve it. But how many actually go beyond that, to the commercial impacts like reduced churn, better market position, boosted revenue, lowered cost to serve, increasing customer loyalty, up-selling, cross-selling and increased owner value?

Customer experience is a buzzword that is usually brought up as every business developer’s top priority – especially now as companies are outright begging for answers to help them find their way back to path of growth.

Every company’s success depends on its ability to get new customers, as well as maintaining the existing relationships in a way that keeps the customers satisfied. However, as companies often lack the adequate tools for well-organized knowledge management, even significant efforts to maintain those relationships often fail to transform into efficient growth.

Growth through customer relationships requires systematic nurturing models. For most companies even thinking and talking about the differences in conversion rates might be important when it comes to creat-

ing functioning sales pipelines for current and new customers.

Additionally, deep diving into data from specific stages of your sales pipeline, provides a valuable way to anticipate tomorrows purchase behavior.

Know ledge-based management that focuses on the various stages of the sales pipeline, and develops engagement in these, helps boost conversion rates. Yet even data assisted, sales is a challenging field which requires professionals with appropriate skills and abilities.

“Good farmers are not necessarily ideal hunters, as those two tasks are deep down quite different”, Pekka Vuorela points out. “The company must understand

er path – both to minimize churn and to find viable sources for growth. “While holding on to the

“

If a company wants to be successful it must actively seek data driven insights for growth.

what kind of patterns work in various situations and decide on the resourcing accordingly.”

Matching customer experience targets with potential growth

Those who want to be market frontrunners want a thorough grasp on all the stages of custom-

existing customer base requires less effort with the right instruments, if a company wants to be successful tomorrow it must also pay attention to actively seeking new sources of growth”, Pekka Vuorela emphasizes. ”Knowledge-based management helps you succeed on both fronts.”

Organizations and people

who are wrestling with these issues would do well to approach knowledge-based customer processes not as an expenditure, but as an investment for company’s commercial impact. The big picture should be about investing resources in a way that brings in the best growth and profitability.

Knowledge-based management should be approached with the same kind of target setting and return expectation as any other investment, with measurable growth and commercial impact being the key drivers to evaluate.

innolink.fi innolink.eu

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Slowing down the drivers of cost Inflation is picking up speed, which is clearly shown in purchasing prices of cars. Both vehicle manufacturing and logistics are going through significant problems, which keeps casting shadows over delivery times.

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t the same time, the ongoing uncertainty in the world has raised fuel prices to levels that have been outright impossible to fathom.

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the exercise of their profession?

Capital costs and expenses related to the use of cars keep increasing. Especially when it comes to vans, pickups and other vehicles that are acquired for commercial use, the price development of fu-

el is not the only thing to blame for the situation that seems to get worse by the day. The price of tires, for example, has risen by 15 per cent during 2022. This is especially significant for vehicles that spend a lot of time on the road.

It goes without saying that companies can’t transfer the vastly increased vehicle costs to their invoices. Getting the expenses under control is the only way to maintain competitiveness.

The first thing is to do is to get

speed saves fuel, checking pressure on a regular basis saves tires.

All service work does not have to be handled by authorized (i.e., more expensive) service center.

And so on.

“Planned, centralized management helps follow costs, as well as minimize them”, Vesa Kalske, Commercial Director at LeasePlan adds. “When the entire fleet can be taken into the same data system, advanced research tools and reports for follow-up become both available and useful.”

Shifting the focus to the long run

LeasePlan’s Vesa Kalske and Tiina Märijärvi believe that combining advanced reference data with comprehensive expertise can help optimize the fleet of commercial vehicles and keep the costs in control.

a thorough look at the big picture, with particular interest on all those hidden costs.

“Cutting down the number of kilometers driven is seldom an effective tool when it comes to decreasing the costs of commercial vehicles”, Tiina Märijärvi, Head of Commercial Development at LeasePlan points out. “The primary step is to find out, what the overall cost consists of and what elements can be addressed in a way that brings results.”

Cost savings can be achieved by paying close attention to a wide variety of details in the existing fleet – and by making the entire organization responsible for doing the same. Decreasing driving

The same data system adds value when the time comes to get a new car for commercial use. The key lies in the ability to look – and calculate – beyond the one-only moment of purchase.

“In choosing a new car, attention should be paid to total lifecycle cost”, Vesa Kalske explains.

“Commercial vehicles are often kept for a longer time than conventional company cars, so the role of purchase price in the total cost becomes less significant.”

Even a little improved fuel economy of a little more expensive car can add up to significant savings over a 5-year period – the more the vehicle is driven, the greater the savings. Maintenance cost and reselling price are other factors that must be carefully considered.

LeasePlan’s comprehensive data base includes detailed information of actual life cycle costs for most vehicle models – according to the purpose they have been acquired. Based on accumulated use costs, different models, fuel systems, motor sizes, contract periods, and other relevant variables, the ideal solution for every need can be discovered.

As electric vehicles are becom-

ing increasingly popular also in commercial use, the choice of the fuel system assumes a more significant role in both lifecycle costs and the organization’s responsibility targets.

“As of now, electric vehicles have a higher purchase price than their counterparts running on diesel”, Tiina Märijärvi agrees.

“However, in spite of the price of electricity rising sharply at the moment, the sheer cost of use is still significantly lower.”

“

The more a vehicle is driven, the greater the advantage of electricity becomes.

The more a vehicle is driven, the greater the advantage of electricity becomes. However, considering Finland’s cold winters and long distances there are still situations and types of use where diesel is, at the end of the day, more reliable and even less costly alternative.

Quite often, an electric vehicle is chosen for the responsibility’s point of view. In that sense, it is an investment that deserves an even wider interpretation than simply a tool for taking care of business.

The zero-emission target is excellent for the world in the long run but comes at a short-time cost. Then again, reaching that target may result in a payback with interest, in more ways than one.

Don’t follow the change – drive it!

The world is changing for good, and the market for commercial

vehicles is by no means different.

Companies should be able to leave themselves some leeway so that their financial situation would not end up in the limit even if the costs of doing business increased unexpectedly.

Even the most seasoned decision-makers find themselves in an entirely new situation. Best practices from others provide much needed support for determining what kind of an overall solution might work best.

The ability to anticipate what will come next becomes an essential tool also in fleet management.

The sheer fact that the demand for car leasing agreements is on a rise clearly proves this.

“The most important thing in choosing a commercial vehicle is to ensure that it is well suited to its purpose and correctly sized”, Vesa Kalske emphasizes. “This is where LeasePlan’s comprehensive cost and expense comparison system can be extremely helpful.”

“We have plenty of benchmarks that are set by similar companies who have been in similar situations and have made the same kind of decisions”, Tiina Märijärvi concludes. “They help understand the big picture – and that is essential in modern fleet management.”

Thorough planning based on comprehensive overview of the fleet is the best way to slow down the cost of driving. The earlier you can turn the plans regarding your fleet into action, the better chances you have to ensure the productivity of your commercial vehicles.

Once again, the best place to control the inevitable change is the driver’s seat.

www.leaseplan.com/fi-fi

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YNEBO

The new look of a used car salesman In setting up autolle.com that today is one of Europe’s leading digitalizers of used car business, Niklas Nukari followed a traditional principle: if you can’t solve a problem, you should simply get rid of it.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho

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irst, Niklas Nukari noticed that changing a car can be an expensive habit.

However, as a traveling salesman spending most of his time on the road, that habit had become a necessity.

Used car salesmen seemed to be able to make a decent cut out of their deals, and NIklas thought he could do the same. So he started a used car business, first in a quite conventional way.

Having the fleet of cars standing on a lot waiting for buyers became soon a challenge from the financial point of view. In addition, the need for presentable – and, thus, expensive – premises to attract potential buyers was evident. Niklas did his calculations and draw conclusions: there must be a way to handle all this online, without flashy premises and huge

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lots.

As a result, autolle.com was born: an online platform that obviously sells cars, but also takes care of related needs, not to mention other ways to use a car. Selling, buying, leasing, insurance, condition inspection, sharing and all related paperwork can now take place as conveniently as any online shopping.

A revolutionary operating model certainly raised attention, and unfortunately also some eyebrows. Customers were hesitant to buy a pig in a bag and traditional competitors, supported even by their central organization, attacked the idea of home delivery – one of the most groundbreaking elements of the entire concept. Niklas Nukari had to work strenuously to change the attitudes of both the industry and

customers.

One of the tricks was to turn home delivery into test drive service. The selected cars were still delivered, but initially for a non-binding test drive where the potential buyer could ensure that everything was indeed the way it should be. That lowered the threshold to order online, and little by little the wheels began to turn.

Niklas Nukari added fuel to the fire and kept digitalizing the business model. Remote work was introduced years before the pandemic, which helped gain foothold throughout Finland.

By 2018, autolle.com operated in an entirely paperless manner.

Today, everything takes place in a digital form and even software robotics has been introduced to transfer data between

various systems. The company even has its own coders – how many car shops can actually claim that?

As digitalization has become a common way to handle daily tasks in every sense, people have gotten used to online car shopping. Overall convenience, along with affordability created by lower cost structure are examples of benefits driving the development in attitudes. The popularity of home deliveries has been growing at an increasing speed, and thanks to years of practice, autolle.com is reaping the benefits efficiently.

This year, autolle.com will reach a turnover of 200 MEUR. The sights have been set to 2025, when that number should be 500 MEUR, with 70 per cent of that coming out of vehicles that use renewable energy.

Financial data fuels impactful decision-making To stay on top of things at the times of constant change, financial departments and business management must shift their focus from annual budgets to continuous knowledge-based management.

T

he earlier organizations are able to make business-critical decisions, the more impact those decisions are likely to have”, Terhi Porkka, Chief Financial Officer & COO, Advisory Services at financial and advisory service provider Gallant, says.

“The conventional way of calculating effects only after something has happened is too reactive and simply too late: the options for corrective action are far more limited than those available at the planning stage.”

Porkka adds that under uncertain circumstances, traditional fiscal reports alone are an outdated form of business management.

Knowing how the organization did last month, let alone last year, is less valuable when entirely new challenges already await.

“While change is constant, organizations can prepare for the unexpected with adequate data analysis – and by harnessing the results for predicting the future in a way that keeps them in control and able to react.”

As data is quite easy to gather, many organizations outright swear by knowledge-based management without properly trying to put it to work.

“The hype around knowledge-based management easily leads to excessive data collection, which is further boosted by automation,” Terhi Porkka agrees. “Without sufficient expertise to analyze all that information in a purposeful way, the benefits can’t be realized.”

Don’t make budgets – simulate the future

Every organization produces massive amounts

of financial data: basic bookkeeping and financial administration tasks alone create information that, when thoroughly analyzed and efficiently utilized, provide a solid foundation for reliable forecasts.

To make that happen, a sophisticated simulation tool is required, including all the variables relevant to the organization’s operations.

“In making business decisions, it is essential to know where the organization is at the moment, and where it is heading”, Terhi Porkka explains. “However, it is even more important to understand what kind of consequences certain changes will cause to the plans.”

The cost of energy and the average salary of certain specialists are examples of macroeconomic changes that have an immediate impact on surprisingly many lines of business, as well as organizations operating on those fields. A sharp rise in either one, let alone both, changes the financial outlook significantly.

Active communication between finance department and business units provides a comprehensive view on what kind of effect these kinds of changes have. In addition, it helps build a forecast model that shows how the situation will likely develop from this day onward.

Based on that information, the organization is a lot better prepared to make further decisions.

“Knowledge-based management is continuous, and it is also essential if an organization wants to succeed in the world that changes constantly”, Terhi Porkka points out. “The good news is that all the data that is needed

Gallant’s Terhi Porkka emphasizes the role of continuous forecasting in modern business management.

to build the model already exists.”

All it needs is a little insight, and ability to analyze that data in a way that makes sense.

Gallant’s CFO and advisory services provide a variety of tools and solutions for knowledge-based management and financial forecasting.

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YNEBO

Confidence through testing While working as a software tester, Kristel Kruustük had a lot of ideas. Ideas about how to make the work more efficient, more rewarding for testers and developers, more human, and more fun. But when looking for crowdtesting companies to take her ideas to, she found that nobody was really interested in listening.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho

S

o, she decided to establish a different kind of software testing company. One that did listen.

Kristel wanted to become the best software tester in the world.

She started exploring software testing on evenings and during weekends to finance her studies, and later began testing full-time in London, with various crowdtesting platforms. As her talents grew, she began to intuit more and more issues with how these more legacy platforms were set up.

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more global, and the number of devices they needed to test their applications grew at a remarkable speed, having coverage on all the possible device combinations was getting increasingly difficult.

On the other side, the work could be isolating. Testers needed a way to learn and share experiences with other testers from other parts of the world – to discuss their strategies, techniques, and best practices. There was no real way to simply connect with other people and establish a feeling of community.

Kristel could not find an appre-

ciation for these realities at any of the existing testing companies.

“

Something had to be done, and for Kristel that something became a monumental task: build the ideal software testing company – one focused on testers and clients – from scratch.

Quantity of bugs found was prioritized over quality, or skill.

The testers worked in isolation, completing test runs as fast as they could.

Another struggle she found she had in common with many testers: how they were compensated.

The focus was not on hourly or fair pay – it was on how many bugs one could find, sometimes no matter how big or how small.

Something had to be done, and for Kristel that something became a monumental task: build the ideal software testing company – one focused on testers and clients – from scratch.

Not long after that, at the An-

“

It’s a lot of work in a busy industry – but Testlio is determined to build and maintain its position as the place testers and QA professionals want to be at and do business with.

gelhack hackathon in London, Testlio turned a page from being a good idea into a solid reality.

Kristel and her co-founder and now husband, Marko, won the event. The seed money prize was important, but more importantly, the hackathon gave them confidence that the idea behind Testlio indeed had what it took to become a success story.

“

One of their best decisions was to actively reach out to other entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences.

Kristel quit her day job as the couple moved back to Tallinn to figure out how to proceed. One of

their best decisions was to actively reach out to other entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences. These efforts led them to meet many mentors and teachers, including the company’s current CEO, as they started to build their idea into reality.

The foundations were straightforward and still an important part of Testlio. Kristel wanted to build a platform that would help testers collaborate as groups, communicate with each other, and exchange ideas – and that would compensate the testers based on the time they spent working instead of how many bugs they found.

After the creation of the platform and securing of initial, key clients to show proof of concept, development teams around the world came to understand and appreciate the added value that

an engaged, people-first network of software testers could offer.

“

Over time, the service offering became more versatile, and Testlio started to establish its position as a highly regarded software testing company.

Over time, the service offering became more versatile, and Testlio started to establish its position as a highly regarded software testing company, including Series A and recent Series B rounds of funding, the addition of new operational leadership at the company, and growth to nearly 200 full time employees and thousands of freelance testers all over

the world.

Kristel is committed to helping turn Testlio into the benchmark for software testing and software quality industries. In a sentence: when people think about testing, they think about Testlio.

Right now, this means pushing the boundaries of innovation and challenging industry norms even more. An excellent service team, paired with a wider variety of technology, is key to delivering these innovations. Things like bridging the divide between manual and automated software testing, and helping companies understand the importance of making their software not just reliable, but accessible. It’s a lot of work in a busy industry – but Testlio is determined to build and maintain its position as the place testers and QA professionals want to be at and do business with.

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Lifelong health is here – and it’s for everyone.

Nightingale Health enables consumers to take their health into their own hands: discover risks early and change the course in time.

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he human mind tends to operate on reactive mode when it comes to health issues. Until we have definite proof, in the form of a test result or an intolerable ache, we like to think there’s nothing wrong with us. While this approach may not be that alarming when it comes to common acute situations such as a toothache or a sprained ankle, the importance of preventative health monitoring becomes more significant with the so-called lifestyle diseases that are more serious and chronic in nature.

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of diseases that develop in the human body over a long period of time without anyone noticing,” says Teemu Suna, CEO of Nightingale Health, a health technology company listed on Nasdaq First North in Finland. “But during the years, sometimes decades, the body is already giving signals on a molecular level about what’s happening. We should pay attention.”

Typically, the first time something is done to fight this kind of disease is after an acute diagnosis.

At that time, it is often too late for preventative measures – which in most cases would have helped to

considerably delay the illness, if not completely prevent it.

“

Lifestyle is one of the most significant contributors to chronic diseases.

While this may also have something to do with human nature or us not knowing about the potential need to act before something happens, it’s better to know what’s happening in your body – even if it isn’t visible yet.

“Lifestyle is one of the most sig-

nificant contributors to chronic diseases, both when it comes to causing and preventing them,” Suna points out. “If we can receive a heads-up in time that a disease is developing, or that there is even a risk of that, we can take action accordingly.”

Now we have a chance to know, thanks to the groundbreaking blood testing technology developed by Nightingale Health.

Making the most out of every drop

As a result of Nightingale Health’s rigorous development work, their

“Then, as you use this information to change your diet or increase exercising, it’s possible to see how the molecules in your body have reacted well before you see any changes in the mirror or on the bathroom scale.”

“

Nightingale Health’s blood test is an easy, reliable way to observe how your lifestyle affects your body.

Livit by Nightingale Health combines a revolutionary blood analysis technology with an at-home testing kit and a consumer-friendly mobile application.

blood test can pull more information out of a blood sample than its conventional counterparts. Taking advantage of artificial intelligence and the company’s access to a huge amount of data, the measurement results from the sample can be connected with future disease risks. The individual gets a clear overview of the risk levels for various diseases and can take preventative action early enough for it to have an impact.

“Nightingale Health’s blood test is an easy, reliable way to observe how your lifestyle affects your body,” Suna explains.

Nightingale Health has recently launched a consumer service, Livit by Nightingale Health, which combines the power of the revolutionary analysis technology with an at-home testing kit and a consumer-friendly mobile application. The Livit app empowers individuals to take control of their own health. Also employers can use the service to support the well-being of their employees.

It provides a big picture of the wellbeing of the heart, mind, immunity, and metabolism.

It also provides the user with something called Healthy Years – the estimated age they are likely to live to before getting a disease that significantly reduces their quality of life. By redoing the at-home test later, it’s possible to track the effect of changes to diet, exercise, sleep, or stress levels through the app.

How can such an easy, even affordable do-it-yourself test kit pull so much data out of a single blood sample – and even correlate that with future disease risks?

“Each blood sample is put inside a high-frequency magnet which makes the molecules in the blood resonate. As each molecule has its own resonance, and as all molecules are resonating simultaneously, we can capture the signals

Nightingale Health’s CEO Teemu Suna points out that the body gives signals about diseases on a molecular level long before symptoms develop.

from multiple molecules at once,” Suna explains. “The advanced AI algorithms then transform those resonance signals into units that are useful for health monitoring.

The molecules begin to have a meaning and they can be correlated with health risks, using data from some of the world’s largest biobanks.”

A health revolution on a global scale

Preventative health is a concept that can revolutionize primary care, including occupational health and wellbeing, on a global scale, and Nightingale Health is one of the trailblazers driving the entire industry forward. While human nature may still be a bit resistant towards preventative action, Suna believes that making

top-notch data easily available and understandable will change that attitude. That is why the company keeps building and developing its solution for everyone, so that as many as possible would have an opportunity to benefit from it.

“We don’t believe people simply refuse to change their lifestyle until they become sick. We believe they are not motivated to stay healthy because they have not been given the right tools. Sometimes the right tools may be as simple as an at-home testing kit and understandable health results via a mobile app.”

nightingalehealth.com

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Turning document creation from liability into opportunity Creating and editing documents takes large part of knowledge workers’ time. Yet document creation is largely full of varying manual practices that waste time, expose to unnecessary risks and makes document life cycle management difficult.

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reating company presentations, project documents, offers and fiscal reports on top of old documents is something most of us are accustomed to. We focus on the visual layer: edit it, recreate content, and fill in information – wasting time doing all that. The organization ends up with a collection of documents that resembles more of its creators than the organization’s intent.

Very few of us think where the document originates from and what it may contain. Behind the surface, at the metadata level, may

very well be critical information that should not be passed on.

“All documents contain surprisingly lot of invisible data to help manage its lifecycle”, Jarkko Ollikainen, CEO at Document House explains. “Thus, copying an old version or fetching a suitable template from the web exposes the organization to unnecessary risks.”

Ollikainen points out that every document should be considered a liability.

“There should be a commonly agreed procedure for publishing and maintaining templates and

Integration is the key to retaining foreign talent To maintain their competitive edge and thrive, Finnish companies are increasingly dependent on their ability to bring in and retain expert workers from abroad. Becoming a genuinely multi-cultural company takes time and commitment, with integration and culture playing a central role in successful relocation and employee retention.

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ntegrating employees into the Finnish working environment is a task that requires versatile capabilities and proper planning, “a process that should start way 62

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before the move”, says Glennon Kiernan, Digital Learning Manager at Acolad.

“Companies expect their new talent to hit the ground running

an easy way to use them – helped with automation, ensuring that only the master versions of the templates will be used to create new documents,” Ollikainen mentions.

“Varying manual practices in the most fundamental issues such as naming and saving a document should be made rule-based.

“

Getting the process on the right track at the very beginning is the key.

Jarkko Ollikainen emphasizes the importance of intelligent document creation in any organization’s productivity and information security.

The creation phase has a lot more impact on document management than most of us perceive. Getting the process on the right track at the very beginning is the key.”

In turning these visions into reality, easy and convenient practices with automation work better than strict instructions. As an outcome, the organization has an up-to-date collection of document templates

to drive business performance.

While this also helps manage the documents in a purposeful way, it saves plenty of time now that the employees do not have to wrestle with old templates or search for the latest versions.

and be productive immediately.

There are many things to learn and to take care of, and good spirit must be created for smooth integration,” Glennon adds.

There are many practical matters to handle: bank accounts, apartments and internet subscriptions are required, while transportation and even culture are unfamiliar to many who arrive.

All these aspects need to be addressed for a smooth employee experience.

The operating environment for many companies may be global but learning about Finnish work culture is an essential element in successful relocation.

“Language is the key to understanding the culture, even if Finnish is not used at the workplace”, Liisa Ohtonen, Head of Learning Services at Acolad explains. “When it comes to making people feel welcome – and in the

longer run, retaining them – there is simply no substitute for it.”

The ones that leave always have a reason, and the most common one is that they did not feel like a part of the work community.

As Finland’s largest and most experienced language and relocation service provider, Acolad has the tools and expertise to make the process as smooth as possible. However, as Liisa Ohtonen and Glennon Kiernan emphasize, integration does not become a strength automatically.

The more the management prioritizes integration as an integral element of the company culture, the more it can help in building a positive atmosphere and ensuring that foreign talent is retained for as long as possible.

www.documenthouse.fi

acolad.com/fi

Workplace in transition The world has been in a turmoil for the last couple of years, with offices as some of the most dramatically changed areas where we spend time. Remote work has come to stay, so as companies begin to take their next steps towards new sources of growth and prosperity, they must begin with redefining – and redesigning – the entire concept of workplace.

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im Reusch, who designs workplace concepts at Vitra, explains that the challenge, in fact, goes beyond an individual workplace to the entire culture of working. The pandemic has created plenty of volatility, and as operations resume, getting back to old habits feels like the safest thing to do.

That is exactly what organizations should avoid.

How fast are you able to react as an organization?

Reusch emphasizes that while this “survival of the fittest” game requires resilience and flexibility, it also creates opportunities to profit from disorder. In a world that changes fast and often in an unexpected way, workplace should be developed to a direction which helps crystallize its overall role, even purpose.

“We have researched the importance of physical and mental health and used the results in a way that pays more attention to issues such as ergonomics, lighting, quality of air, and movement

Vitra’s Tim Reusch says that organizations should be in a constant process of evolving. As new people come in, meeting them is the only feasible way to transfer culture in a way that makes a difference.

of employees. There are so many aspects where we can simply learn from the nature and transform that into better workplace atmosphere.”

“

Today the most essential thing is to give people an experience of what they represent and work for.

Another task of a modern workplace is related to employee engagement. If the old way of designing workplaces was about putting as many cubicles in a room as possible, today the most essential thing is to give people an experience of what they represent and work for.

“Space is a strong communicator of company culture”, Tim Reusch reminds. “It should help people understand why they show up at work every day.”

Establishing trust through emotional relationships

Reusch adds that at times when remote and hybrid work are gaining popularity, the visibility of people and their work is perhaps more essential than ever before.

Everyone should be able to see and feel how they all contribute to the organization’s success – even if that would cause the workplace to be a bit messy at times.

From the innovation point of view, the workplace should allow and encourage people to fulfil their need of belonging and to feel a part of the community. They should be able to have coffee and not talk about work issues – but connect emotionally instead. That helps establish a culture of trust and a unique kind of togetherness people are proud to be a part of

and eager to share.

The pandemic brought back the siloed way of working by creating models where the only regular contacts were between the immediate team members. For any organization to be successful, a much broader awareness of what is going on is required. Communicating that in a way that builds engagement and brings in results begins with taking a good look at the workplace.

Vitra is represented in Finland by its subsidiary Artek. vitra.com

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YNEBO

Decrypting the blockchain The blockchain gaming industry grew 2,000% in the past year and has attracted $2.5+ billion in investments. Unlike traditional gaming, blockchain gaming enables true digital ownership — players have the opportunity to own, sell, and trade their in-game assets and digital identities for real-world value.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho

O

ne company that is revolutionizing how people play, live, and earn within virtual worlds is Sky Mavis.

Founded in 2018, Sky Mavis is on a mission to create digital property rights for gamers by building games that are owned and governed by the communities that play them, which can only be done by tapping into the power of blockchain technology. Sky Mavis’ core business is developing video games with real, player-owned economies; creating marketplaces for trustless trading of unique digital assets; and building infrastructure which will power the games of the future.

The company’s flagship game,

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Axie Infinity: Classic (V2), has players in every country except North Korea and is the largest NFT gaming ecosystem, having done 10x more volume than the second largest gaming project.

Axie Infinity was built as a fun and educational way to introduce the world to Web3 and blockchain technology.

Sky Mavis Co-Founder and COO, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, had always been a gamer, representing Norway in international esports tournaments. In 2017, Larsen became a community moderator for CryptoKitties, which is where he met the other members of the Sky Mavis Founding team and began to truly understand the power of block-

chain and its potential impact on the gaming industry.

Larsen first offered his help to fellow co-founder, Trung Nguyen, and in January 2018 he began to give him advice on business, community building, and game development.

“

Today, Axie Infinity boasts over two million daily active users.

Eventually all founding members relocated to Ho Chi Minh City to join the Sky Mavis team and build the breakout title, Axie Infinity.

The team grinded through a bear market, worked without pay,

and was borderline bankrupt before they reached a breakthrough.

Despite the learning curve of downloading digital wallets and acquiring cryptocurrency, thousands of people began to flood into the game. Today, Axie Infinity boasts over two million daily active users and has $4B in total sales, making it the largest NFT gaming ecosystem in the world.

Sky Mavis has grown into a company of 170 employees and its first game, Axie Infinity generated over 1Bn USD in revenue last year.

As crypto enters another bear market, Sky Mavis is laying the groundwork and infrastructure to redefine the next evolution of blockchain gaming.

STORY

The time has come to start playing to win Let’s face it, leaders: you have run out of excuses. The truth, brutal as it may sound, is that right now, on the brink of the summer of 2022, is the last moment to get your act together and begin actually winning those battles that once, say, a couple of years ago, were deemed “must-win”, then put on hold for an undefined period of time, for reasons we are all too aware of.

Text: Timo Mansikka-Aho

A

s Terence Mauri, a best-selling author and founder of Hack Future Lab emphasized at an exclusive interview with Nordic Business Report, status quo may never have been so dangerous as it is today. Continuous search for better solutions and ways to do things differently are more essential than ever – making an impact on the way a company is performing begins with changing the way people perceive, think, and do things.

Out of old habits, onto a fresh re-start

“The idea that disruption simply happens to us is an example of how false constraints often emerge in organizations”, Terence Mauri points out. “Disruption can mean several things, but actually it is a code for learning and reimagination.”

As the world becomes more turbulent, even leadership models, business models and frameworks lose their relevance over time.

There is simply no other way to survive but to let go of the old ways that are no longer fit for the future.

This leads straight to one of Mauri’s favorite topics, scalable unlearning.

The first thing leaders should do is clear their minds and challenge every old assumption, every old way of thinking and every “best practice” there is. While the operating environment keeps becoming more complex, companies tend to remain incremental towards

change. Instead, they should be transformative and make bold decisions, even at a risk.

“Thinking and learning are important, but rethinking and unlearning are at least equally so”, Mauri states. “That seems to be a blind spot with most leaders and companies.”

Getting closer to value creation

Research carried out at Terence Mauri’s Hack Future Lab show that people focus too much on shallow work, shallow thinking, and shallow leadership. To efficiently unlock human potential in their respective organizations, leaders must make sure that people spend less time in meetings and more focusing on value creation.

The deeper the work, thinking, and leadership get, the better tools the organization has at its disposal for taking risks and thriving.

To sustain vitality, leaders must reimagine the relevance on how they lead and why they lead. Reimagination is a human force that leads to better reality. To ensure sufficient rethinking of assumptions and updating of opinions, leaders should pay attention to these accelerators: • The curiosity to learn • The courage to unlearn • The clarity to focus • The conviction to decide “As the world around evolves, the companies have no choice but to

evolve accordingly”, Terence Mauri says. “Outdated ways of thinking must be recognized and replaced with fresh approaches that are capable of opening doors to new possibilities.”

Solving the biggest problems requires building cultures where talent is empowered, while deciding future trends and their implications on strategy is dependent on collective conviction. The company must be fully aligned to turn words efficiently into action.

That requires a new perspective and courage to lead from the future.

“By default, most companies lead from the past”, Terence Mauri points out. “When you have a repeatable, profitable business model, you can continue repeating that model for a long time.”

The policy of sticking with the line-up that keeps winning is quite natural, even though that is about to change as today even the largest corporations and most conservative business areas can’t take anything for granted. Everyone is beginning to understand the essence of change.

Look bravely ahead – and lead from there “The idea on reimagination and reinvention is an essential part of vitality and resilience”, Terence Mauri says. “Leading from the future and reinventing value creation are gradually assuming a central role in the way successful companies are being run.”

Terence Mauri has done extensive research on how to lead from the future and discovered a number of insights. First of all, he advises everyone to learn aggressively with a strong viewpoint of the future.

“Organizations must be able to define whether they are a learning organization or a knowing organization”, Mauri emphasizes. “It is essential for every organization to be fully aligned, so that they have a collective conviction of a singular point of view in 5 to 10 years ahead.”

That point of view provides a foundation – a target towards which the organization can work back from.

Secondly, it is important to explore early to exploit knowhow sooner. The blind spots and early signals are easy to miss, yet they are vital to discover in a world full of all kinds of noise and chaos. It all begins with continuously evaluating best practices and creating an organization that truly empowers people.

Third, every leader and organization must understand that if their strategy is just to keep up, they just keep falling behind more. Thus, they should worry less about keeping up and more about aligning on collective view of the future.

“You can’t play zero sum game with disruptors”, Terence Mauri emphasizes. “Playing to win is the only way to succeed.”

Finally, everyone should understand that a new world can’t be navigated with an old map. Reflecting on their leadership against a future that is, inevitably, restless, leaders simply must be prepared with some turbulence. No matter how uncertain the times ahead may look like, companies must assume controls of their own destiny. This calls for certainty in leadership and commitment to bold action.

So, believe in yourself and just do it.

NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT 2022

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