Global signals 2016

Signals

Global

HAAGA-HELIA'S STAKEHOLDER MAGAZINE

2016

Hungry for Finland Enticing tourists with unique culinary delights

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Events hotel a startup success

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Developing an innovation ecosystem

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Photo: Jussi Hellsten

Students active at Slush 2015 In 2015 the leading European startup conference Slush brought over 1,700 startup companies, 800 venture capitalists, and 630 journalists to Helsinki. Haaga-Helia StartUp School staff and several Haaga-Helia teachers participated in the event. Slush 2015 inspired them to come up with new ideas to develop the StartUp School and Haaga-Helia. It also afforded them the opportunity to expand their networks and meet StartUp School students at the event. Haaga-Helia takes particular pride in the fact that almost 200 Haaga-Helia student volunteers worked at Slush 2015!

In May 2016 Slush Helsinki will export its entrepreneurial spirit to Slush Asia in Tokyo, Japan. Founding a startup is still a rare career choice in Japan, 2

Global Signals 2016

and Slush Asia is revolutionary there. This year over 5,000 attendees with over 400 startups and 200 investors are expected from all over the world.

CONTENTS

2 STUDENTS ACTIVE AT SLUSH 2015

Haaga-Helia globally Haaga-Helia is present on all continents.

In this issue we stop by the following locations:

5 FROM THE PRESIDENT 6 NEWS AND NOTES 8 - 13 INNOVATIONS AND STARTUPS Finland: a great ecosystem for innovation

The Netherlands (p 22)

Finland Estonia (p 26) China (p 16)

South Korea (p 23)

Malaysia (p 18)

Innovation through problem solving The dream of a “foreign chick”

Australia (p 19)

Haaga-Helia StartUp School 14 FINLAND Hungry for Finland

Malaysian cooperation breaking new ground From Brisbane to Vierumäki From Haaga-Helia to the top of the sporting world 22 Students dive into the daily usage of English at work 24 The business of mastering five disciplines 26 Exchanging ideas across the bay

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Global Signals 2016

Many of the foods produced in Finland are not found anywhere else on the planet. Haaga-Helia has started building on this concept by creating the first food tourism strategy for Finland. It aims to make food memorable and profitable part of Finnish tourism.

Another innovation promoting Finnish food culture is Restaurant Day, launched in Finland in 2011. One-day restaurants have so far popped up in 72 different countries.

p

Photo: Roy Bäckström / Restaurant Day

16 EDUCATION EXPORT Sports education agreement with Chinese operator

14-15

From th e

Preside nt

In praise of entrepreneurship In August 2015, Haaga-Helia introduced a new strategy based on a very simple idea: “Haaga-Helia opens doors to future careers.” Although the idea also refers to concrete opportunities – in other words, employment – it has a strongly symbolic meaning. Haaga-Helia wants to maintain an open door policy with industry to ensure that our collaboration with enterprises is dynamic and up-todate.

At the core of the strategy are sales and services as well as entrepreneurship, which offers the best approach to the working life in today’s society. There is growing evidence that most success stories will be underpinned by entrepreneurship in the future. For that reason, it is only natural for us as the university of applied sciences with the strongest business profile in the country to place a prime focus on entrepreneurship.

We have already achieved a lot in this regard.

Entrepreneurship is integrated into all study programmes offered by Haaga-Helia. It is fostered through commercial activities and supported by various startup and project

activities. Entrepreneurship education is based on the competencies of our staff. In continuous and further education of our staff, entrepreneurship is given special attention.

Entrepreneurship can be thought of as a state of mind. It requires openness, the willingness to embark on new journeys, and the ability to tolerate uncertainty.

Strong competencies, self-confidence and opportunities to test ideas during studies are all helpful. However, the main factor is an open attitude which influences entrepreneurial capability.

We must support this capability by inspiring our students and leading by example. This is vital to our country as a whole. Entrepreneurship should continue to be praised, because it leads to great things.

TEEMU KOKKO President & CEO Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences

Signals

Global

Haaga-Helia Global Signals ▪ Publisher Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Ratapihantie 13, 00520 HELSINKI, Finland, tel. +358 9 229 611, www.haaga-helia.fi ▪ Editor in Chief Ari Nevalainen, ari.nevalainen@haaga-helia.fi ▪ Editorial team Sirpa Holmström, Kaija Lindroth, Ari Nevalainen, Laura Niemi, Pirkko Salo; Anneli Frantti/Otavamedia OMA Oy ▪ Layout Otavamedia OMA Oy ▪ Paper G-Print 170 g/m2 and LumiForte 130 g/m2 ▪ Printing Newprint Oy, Raisio, Finland ▪ Cover Image Vastavalo and Vesa Tyni.

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NEWS and

NOTES

Texts Ari Nevalainen, Laura Niemi Photos Haaga-Helia

Co-creation at Professional Summer School 2016 Three universities of applied sciences in the Helsinki area, Haaga-Helia, Metropolia, and Laurea have jointly organized a two-week long summer school called “Digital Wellbeing, Co-creation and Startup Summer School”. The school will be held in the summer of 2016.

Participating students will have an opportunity to work in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural professional teams and create innovations together with other students, companies, the public sector, and NGOs. The school is meant for Finnish and international bachelor’s and master’s degree students, exchange students, and Alumni.

“Do it for real and properly with new entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial spirit!”

More information: http://www.haaga-helia.fi/en/ education

Integrating innovation and learning Haaga-Helia creates innovations in co-operation with Finnish companies and assists them to commercialise their inventions.

Jatta Jussila-Suokas is the new Director of Innovation at the Research, Development and Innovation Services Unit at Haaga-Helia. She started in her new position in October last year.

“Our department supports R&D&I, which is continuously being done in every sector of education at HaagaHelia. It is an integral part of every subject we teach and students take part in R&D&I in various projects that involve real customer cases. The teachers are responsible for quality control. Our role is to coordinate and do strategic development. We also support our own StartUp School,” Jussila-Suokas says.

Haaga-Helia helps companies to bring their inventions to the market as products and services.

Jatta Jussila-Suokas “When a company is looking for a way to commercialise their invention, we’re here to help them to design their business model. Haaga-Helia provides expertise in many fields of knowledge, such as service designs, sales, entrepreneurship and digital solutions. We can also analyse the international market situation. The results of our work can serve one specific company or many companies in a certain field.” 

Tuition fees for students from outside the EU and EEA in 2017 In 2017 Haaga-Helia will introduce tuition fees for students from outside the EU and EEA. The fee collection will be implemented for courses starting in August 2017, with the exception of the Aviation Business programme, for which the fee will be introduced in January 2017. The fees will only be applicable to students from outside the EU and EEA and to degree programmes in foreign languages.

The fee will be 8,500–9,500 euros.

All Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences have begun charging tuition fees: the legal amendment came into force on 1 January 2016.

President and CEO Teemu Kokko thinks that the change will benefit the export of education. ”Haaga-Helia has been active in education export and tuition fees are a good opportunity to promote it,” says Kokko. 

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Global Signals 2016

Haaga-Helia will start educating business professionals for the aviation industry Aviation is a growing industry for the future. There are more than 58 million people working within aviation, of which 8 million in the air. Many airlines are in the need of business professionals and developers that understand the aviation context.

To respond to the needs of the aviation industry, Haaga-Helia has developed a degree programme called Aviation Business (210 ECTS). The aim is to develop more comprehensive education in this expertise area.

After having completed Aviation Business studies and graduating as a Bachelor of Business Administration, one can do expert tasks within sales and customer service and work generally in various commercial expert positions and as entrepreneur in the aviation service chain.

The application period will be in autumn 2016 and the programme will start in January 2017. The programme fee is 8,500 euros. 

Apply!

Fulbright–Haaga-Helia Scholar Award The Fulbright–Haaga-Helia Scholar Award application period for the 2017–18 academic year has started.

The application period is 1 February 2016 - 1 August 2016.

The Fulbright–Haaga-Helia Scholar Award enables American scholars to undertake teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level at the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences for a period of 3–10 months.

Award applications can be submitted by scholars in any field of studies at Haaga-Helia: Business, Information Technology, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Tourism, Journalism, Sports and Leisure and Vocational Teacher Education.  More information:

• Haaga-Helia Fulbright Broschure

Sirpa Holmström

• The Fulbright Center

Head of International Relations

• Instructions and application

sirpa.holmstrom@haaga-helia.fi

materials

Tel. +358 50 3100 711

More information: www.haaga-helia.fi/en/education/

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INNOVATIONS

and STARTUPS

Finland: a great ecosystem for innovation Finland supports private companies with publicly funded research. State funding can be used for uplifting startups, or for creating commercial adaptations based on inventions. Finnish companies actively utilize scientific information and conduct R&D to generate innovations.

Text Päivi Brink | Photo TEM | Illustration 123 RF

F

inland has been ranked highly in many different innovation studies. Just recently Finland was named the third most innovative country in the EU in the European Commission’s Innovation Union Scoreboard 2015.

The report indicates that Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Germany are “innovation leaders” with innovation performance well above the EU average.

“We can be proud of how well we’re doing in these studies, but it doesn’t really make sense comparing very different countries, for instance, the USA, China and Finland to each other. I’d rather compare different innovation hubs or ecosystems like Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Finland to each other. Our small and unified country of 5,5 million inhabitants can be seen as one ecosystem for innovation. Co-operation is built between these hubs, not necessary between countries,”

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Global Signals 2014 2016

Undersecretary of State in The Ministry of Employment and The Economy Petri Peltonen says.

According to him the Finnish education system is the basis of all innovation in the country.

“We have a good and equal education system at all levels. It provides students and employees with the ability to absorb and analyse information. We have an open Nordic society where information is shared between the government, business, universities and polytechnics.

Scientific information is efficiently utilized in creating innovations via co-operation between publicly funded research institutions and private companies.”

Public funding for R&D&I and startups The State of Finland uses 1% of its GDP to support research, development and innovation, which amounts to about two billion euros annually.

Technological solutions for the experience industry Launched in Haaga-Helia at the beginning of the year, The Box research project is aimed at exploring and developing sensory technological solutions for use in service design, marketing and product development in the hotel, restaurant, tourism and experience industries.

The Ministry of Employment and The Economy Petri Peltonen

“The state invests a lot in R&D and we have effective funding agencies for innovation, in particular The Finnish funding agency for innovation Tekes. It’s the most important publicly funded organisation for financing R&D&I in Finland and it works with innovative companies and research units. Every year, Tekes finances some 1,500 business research and development projects and hundreds of public research projects,” Peltonen explains.

In recent years the state has built a supportive ecosystem for startups.

“Finland is genuinely one of the hottest startup communities in the world right now and public funding of start-ups plays an important role in this regard. This, however, only helps in the early stages of growth. When companies try to grow on an international scale they need to attract international capital. There are an increasing number of innovations-based companies in the market today in Finland,” Peltonen says. 

More information State support for innovations: Tekes www.tekes.fi/en/ The Academy of Finland www.aka.fi/en Finnvera www.finnvera.fi/eng VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd www.vttresearch.com

Funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation Tekes, the project promotes service and product development in cooperation with enterprises.

The enterprises receive assistance from Haaga-Helia experts to develop service concepts and products and test them in simulations.

“In practice, this means that businesses can develop their products and services in the experience simulator to test how consumers’ senses can be influenced in various ways. This way businesses can get feedback on their products before the launch.

Senses can be influenced by adaptable space solutions, visual solutions, scents, sounds and tactile experiences,” says Project Manager Pasi Tuominen.

The project explores how customer experiences can be created through a multidisciplinary approach from the perspectives of futures studies, marketing, product development, service design and technology.

Outputs so far include examples of technologies that can be used to influence the senses. In addition, the project has already produced a model for product and service testing and measurement, a multi-sensory testing system for products and services, and nine simulations.

The project will continue until June 2018. The research partners include, among others, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), the University of Algarve (Portugal) and Hotelschool of the Hague (Netherlands). 

More information www.thebox.fi

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INNOVATIONS

and STARTUPS

Innovation through problem solving In the corporate world problems are often viewed in a negative light. By contrast, Innovation Expert Pekka Koivukunnas embraces them as working material, and a concrete starting point for creating something new.

Text Päivi Brink | Photo Pekka Nieminen | Illustration 123 RF

I

nnovation Expert – or Professional Innovator as he prefers to be called – Pekka Koivukunnas works at Elomatic Ltd, an engineering and consulting company in Espoo, Finland. His role is to help customers overcome problems in their innovation processes.

“Usually I help our customers to solve technical problems. They present a raw idea to our team and we transform it into an idea that can be put into practise.

The problem needs to be thoroughly analysed and only after that can it be solved. We have tools to study and solve the problem at hand,” Koivukunnas explains.

While the team solves the problem they also educate the customer about the innovation process.

“We bring systematic working methods to innovation processes that are often unstructured and even chaotic. We usually generate 1–3 solutions, which we then discuss and develop further with the customer

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for as long as is needed to create some value for their company.”

The Elomatic innovation team works mainly at the front end of innovation.

“It’s the most creative part of innovation, where the first ideas are born. We recognise the needs and possibilities of our customer and start a product development process that can lead to an innovation,” Koivukunnas explains.

Inventions don’t always lead to innovations Often when technical problems are solved, new inventions are created. Koivukunnas has more than a hundred patents to his own name, so he is well qualified to assist customers with intellectual property rights and patent applications. But what is the difference between an invention and an innovation?

“An innovation is a new invention that profoundly changes and takes over the market.”

“By definition an invention needs to be patentable. An innovation is a new invention that profoundly changes and takes over the market. If you just make a product better, but it doesn’t have an effect on the market, it’s not an innovation.”

Intuition and feelings deserve our attention Feelings are a big taboo in the world of engineering, where it is claimed that all decision making is rational.

“Our feelings, like fear, shame, anger and guilt dominate the world of business and innovation. If we don’t recognise, analyse and accept our feelings, we make bad decisions. Only after accepting our fears we can rationally analyse how plausible the threats really are. Intuition is also an important part of the innovation process, and we make better decisions when we rely on it. In R&D we need to use intuition consciously. Intuition can, however, also be false. There is no fool proof method,” Koivukunnas concludes. 

More information www.elomatic.com/en/

The Finnish Inventors National Federation named Pekka Koivukunnas the Inventor of the Year in 2013 for his pioneering work as a professional innovator.

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INNOVATIONS

and STARTUPS

The dream of a “foreign chick” When you have a dream, you have to give it your best shot. Evon and Jussi Söderlund have done just that and transformed Huone Events Hotel into a flourishing business. They received support for their business idea at the Innoplaza, the forerunner of the Haaga-Helia StartUp School.

“M

y mentor once said that everyone who wants to become an entrepreneur has a mental disorder. He was absolutely right,” Evon Söderlund laughs.

Evon, from Malaysia, arrived in Finland in 2004. The plan was to meet her friend Jussi for a brief visit. Then life got in the way.

Evon and Jussi fell in love and got married. While celebrating their marriage in Malaysia, they found and developed a business idea, which they desperately wanted to work in Finland; an events hotel.

No trouble, just party

Text Maija Kajanto | Photo Vesa Tyni

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Global Signals 2016

They got the original idea for an events hotel from Asian karaoke boxes. It is a place where you can invite all your friends, have a

party and an after party in a nice space without having to clean, cook or worry.

Evon completed a degree in hospitality management at Haaga-Helia. She also attended the Innoplaza, the forerunner of the StartUp School and received a lot of support from her teachers regarding the business idea. When Jussi graduated from the Helsinki School of Economics, it was time to put on their best suits and approach the banks.

“We had no funds and we estimated that we needed at least 500 square metres of business space. The bank managers were often clearly wondering if we were just joking.”

Evon and Jussi explained their plans over and over again, but were repeatedly rejected. Finally, they sold their apartment in order to get a loan.

Starting up the Events Hotel was not easy. Neither the media nor customers showed much interest and bills started piling up.

“The worst was facing your own employees, people who had worked hard for you and tell them that you could not

pay their wages that month. That was heartbreaking. Then Jussi had to make the difficult call to his pensioner father to ask for a loan,” Evon says.

Then one of the partners sued Evon and Jussi for bankruptcy.

“If our partner had won the case, we would have ended up 600 000 euros in debt. Among others, it would have meant never being able to visit my family in Malaysia.”

What do you need to become an entrepreneur?

1) Believe in your dream.

2) Try harder.

3) Great people and team.

4) Never give up.

And the winner is…

Things however started getting better.

Huone Events hotel became increasingly popular and a week after the district court decided to throw out the charges against the Söderlunds, Evon won an award for being PwC’s Most Valuable Entrepreneur of the year.

“When I heard my name at the Nordic Business Forum, I broke down and cried. Among all those entrepreneurs they chose a foreign chick who was in the middle of a court case!”

Haaga-Helia also gave recognition to Evon’s efforts by awarding her the

Hospitality Bachelor of the Year award in 2015.

The business is now operating steadily and Evon and Jussi are planning to open a new Events Hotel in Singapore. In Finland the Events Hotel is an innovative one-stop solution for any business and private events.

It has been a bumpy ride, but Evon has no regrets.

“I only have one life, so I better make it interesting!”  Tommi Lalu © Design 2015

Haaga-Helia StartUp School Good business ideas can be generated, for example, in study groups or when finalizing course projects. But how does one start a business?

Haaga-Helia StartUp School is ready to help students become entrepreneurs. Currently there are over 300 students in the StartUp School community and about 30 new companies are founded every year.

“We meet a lot of students with different subject areas and unique ideas. A discussion about a student’s background and goals helps us understand how to proceed. We

are able to provide individual coaching and everyone develops at their own pace to become entrepreneurs,” explains StartUp School Program Manager Tommo Koivusalo.

He underlines that coaching is not about talking but learning by doing. The students earn ETCS credits too.

“Together with the student we enter the field, meet potential customers, look for partners or sometimes for more work experience. We have a hands-on approach all the time.” 

START

UP

SCHOOL Haaga-Helia

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FINLAND

Pure, wild and local -

hungry for Finland In recent years Finland has developed a food tourism strategy, which is currently being implemented. It aims at increasing the attractiveness of Finland as a tourist destination and enhancing the competitiveness of the Finnish tourism and food sector.

A further goal is increasing the appreciation of Finnish food among Finns and tourists alike.

Text Marko Uutela | Photo 123rf

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H

aaga-Helia was actively involved in developing the strategy for the advancement of Finnish food tourism. The project, which started in 2012, involves representatives from governmental ministries, companies and tourism developers.

Project Manager Kristiina Havas from Haaga-Helia explains the major points of the strategy.

“The strategy consists of three major principles. The first is: Taste of place, Finnish origin and the way of life taste good. The second is: Pure pleasure, pure Finnish food is good for the body and soul. The third is: Cool and creative from Finland, we

can provide internationally renowned culinary experiences.”

Various networks and events are included in the strategy, such as the Karelia à la Carte food tourism network, the Food Tour to Häme, Åland Island’s Harvest Festival, Restaurant Day, the Fiskars food market, the Mangsgård local food market and the Slow Food Västnyland local food market.

Furthermore, top Finnish restaurants such as Ask and Olo are involved. They have been included in The Michelin Guide and listed in The White Guide Nordic.

Speciality foods have also been highlighted, such as gluten-free Karelian pie, blueberries, and other

At the national level, Visit Finland is a very important collaborator,” Havas says.

“The next step is to distinguish Finland from the rest of Scandinavia and to present the unique aspects of Finnish food culture. ” wild berries, which can be presented as superfoods. Other examples include “Säräpirtin Särä” lamb specialities and Black Sausage.

From strategy to reality The basic research and strategy planning was completed in 2015. It is now time to implement it.

Haaga-Helia, Visit Finland and The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry were the main contributors in developing the strategy. Visit Finland is a government-funded organisation that promotes Finland as an attractive tourist destination. A number of students have also been involved throughout the process.

“We have integrated this project very well into Haaga-Helia’s studies. This has contributed much to the students’ studies and to the project. The students have been essential and have, for instance, participated in organizing different kinds of events,” says Haaga-Helia’s Project Coordinator Kristiina Adamsson.

Haaga-Helia is currently contacting people who work in Finnish tourism to inform them about the strategy and to provide training regarding the strategy implementation.

“This includes working with local companies and other actors to focus on the image and specialities of each region.

Strong demand for regional specialities Scandinavia is usually seen in a positive light, also with regards to its food. The next step is to distinguish Finland from the rest of Scandinavia and to present the unique aspects of Finnish food culture.

This also includes the different regions of Finland, which have their own culinary specialities.

“Many food tourists want to discover regional specialities. We have so far had three regional workshops and we are going to have at least seven more,” Adamsson says.

“The feedback from the project and workshop participants has been extremely positive,” Havas adds. 

In the first part of the Food & Tourism project 14 case companies were visited and best practices researched (2012–13). The over 200 students that participated gained valuable knowledge from real life cases by carrying out their thesis studies.

With the help of the research, the first Food & Tourism strategy for Finland was completed. It will now be introduced, in particular to tourism operators working in the field. This means that workshops will be held in each region of Finland (2015–17).

The Food & Tourism project in Finland is financed by Ministry of Agriculture and Forest and Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences.

Essi and Markus Seppälä enjoy the servings of B-Smokery. Photo Roy Backström / Restaurant Day

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EDUCATION

EXPORT

Students of the Guangzhou Polytechnic of Sports presenting the school flag at the opening ceremony of the cooperation.

Sports education agreement with Chinese operator 2015 Haaga-Helia’s Sport Business School in Vierumäki concluded an agreement with the Chinese Guangzhou Polytechnic of Sports.

Text Kati Laitinen | Photos Vili Nurmi

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T

he contract period with the Guangzhou Polytechnic of Sports spans from 2015 to 2020. A total of 75 students will attend the training programme. The first students were selected last summer and the rest will be admitted in 2016 and 2017.

Each group completes a three-year study programme including two years of studies in China and one year of studies in Finland.

The sport management study module includes teaching in sport management, sport entrepreneurship and sport marketing.

“A former student of mine contacted us four years ago and asked us to present our education and operations in Guangzhou. Our Chinese counterparts visited us twice after that,” says Principal Lecturer Kari Puronaho.

According to Puronaho, matters progressed step by step. During the process the Chinese programme administrators looked into different alternatives to come up with the optimal package for their students.

“We were not the only place they visited.

They toured Europe and had negotiations with many operators.”

Kari Puronaho and Vili Nurmi cutting the seal, when the new classroom was opened for the use of the Sport Business School.

The principal of the partner school, Kong Maosheng, was involved in making the decision. Kong has previously served as Director General of the Asian Games.

Puronaho thinks that their Chinese partners liked the way the Sport Business School integrates practical training and other study activities. The Sport Business School produces a significant amount of its own teaching material. Thus, Vierumäki does not rely on obsolete information, but has access to the most recent information, for example concerning the organisation of a specific type of sports event.

“Moreover, Finland has a great reputation in terms of education, impartiality and safety, and the availability of our English-language education and

The students’ response to their new, European style classroom.

The education has received an excited welcome in China after just the first intensive teaching period. top-notch teachers must have affected the decision-making.”

Unique study programme in two countries The education has received an excited welcome in China after just the first intensive teaching period.

“I am very pleased with the accomplishments of our partner in China.

They have constructed separate teaching facilities for us and hired an Englishspeaking teacher for the students. When the students come to Finland in their third year of studies, a few of their teachers will accompany them.”

The agreement with China is unique in the field of sport management. According to Puronaho, this is only the beginning of more extensive cooperation. 

The students organized a basketball tournament at the end of the first study module.

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EDUCATION

EXPORT

Exporting degree programmes

Malaysian cooperation breaking new ground Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences and the Malaysian Disted College concluded an education agreement in 2015.

Students in Malaysia can now complete a Bachelor of Hospitality Management degree.

Text Kati Laitinen | Photos Pasi Halmari

T

he degree programme, specialised in Food and Beverage Management, is the first Haaga-Helia has sold abroad. The programme takes three and a half years and approximately 30% of the training is provided by teachers from Haaga-Helia.

The preparatory work for the cooperation was launched in 2011, when Haaga-Helia participated in a ministerial visit to Malaysia.

A statement of intent was concluded with the Malaysian Lincoln College after the visit, but the cooperation was not started.

Malaysia’s Ambassador to Finland at the time, Cheah Choong Kit, recommended that Programme Manager Pasi Halmari visits the Wawasan Educational Foundation, the owner of Disted College.

“In February 2012 I visited approximately twenty Malaysian universities to present the Finnish education system. I also met people from the local ministry with my supervisor at the time, Lars Eltvik,” says Halmari.

In autumn 2012, there was a return visit from Malaysia. The visit led to an educational cooperation agreement concerning the hotel, restaurant and tourist industries. The final agreement was signed in October 2015.

Exporting top-notch Finnish education Halmari believes that the good quality and reputation of Finnish education were the most important reasons why their Malaysian partners were interested in the cooperation.

“We have a strong status as a leading country in education. Finns do not really understand the level of prestige we enjoy globally.”

Halmari believes that the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences is sufficiently big to attract interest. The institution also has great international contacts with over 200 partner universities as well as active corporate cooperation.

“Our competence-based and problemoriented teaching methods are new to our Malaysian counterparts.”

A teacher form Haaga-Helia will go to Malaysia for a period of at least three years to launch the degree programme. The teacher will participate in teaching work and pave the way for future teachers. According to Halmari, the goal is to transfer know-how so that Disted College can eventually perform the teaching work independently.

“However, Haaga-Helia will always control the quality. The degree must correspond to the degree that can be completed in Finland.”

Halmari believes that the agreement is only the beginning of degree sales operations.

“We are hoping to engage new degree programmes. There has already been some talk on the matter. We are also not ruling out a joint project with Disted College in a third country in South-Eastern Asia.” 

Dr Seah Soo Aun President and CEO of Disted College and Mr Jouni Ahonen Project Director of Haaga-Helia.

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Haaga-Helia´s Erasmus+ Global Mobility partner universities: • The University of Queensland, Australia • Prince of Songhla University, Thailand • Universidad Andres Bello, Chile • Universidad San Ignacio de Lloyola, Peru • The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at Wingate Institute, Israel

From Brisbane to Vierumäki – Haaga-Helia welcomes sports coaching experts from Australia

Erasmus+ offers opportunities for partnerships outside Europe.

Text and Illustrations Saija Sillanpää The new co-operation will bring two sports coaching experts from The University of Queensland to Haaga-Helia.

The co-operation has been made possible by external funding from the Erasmus+ Global Mobility program. Head of International Relations, Sirpa Holmström, is happy about the funding and better mobility opportunities Erasmus+ offers.

“Until recently the Erasmus+ program offered possibilities for co-operation only between European countries. The new Erasmus+ Global Mobility program allows

us to create partnerships outside Europe as well,” says Holmström.

Exchanging information on common interests The primary target of the exchange is the Degree Programme in Sports and Leisure Management at the Vierumäki Campus. In this case both exchange partner universities have at least one thing in common: significant expertise in the field of sports coaching.

“The University of Queensland is a pioneer in autonomy-supportive coaching in

the field of sports. In recent years HaagaHelia has been a strong developer of sports coaching in Finland. The aim is to develop this knowledge and prevalent working life practice even further through shared functional ideology and partnership,” says Jukka Tiikkaja, Programme Director of the Degree Programme of Sports and Leisure Management at Haaga-Helia.

The first visit from Australia will be arranged in the spring semester of 2016.

The exchange periods are planned for the 2016–2017 academic year. 

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From Haaga-Helia to the top of the sporting world Ville Vihola studied coaching at Haaga-Helia and after that found himself working with some of the best professional athletes in the world.

Text Marko Uutela Photos Ville Vihola and Hoch Zwei / Lehtikuva

S

ometimes a career path takes people from their home environment and allows them to travel around the world doing something they love. This has happened in the case of Haaga-Helia alumnus of the year, Ville Vihola. Today, Ville works with the famous Hintsa Performance coaching team.

“As a senior performance coach my job is to take care of my clients in a holistic way. What this means is that I not only take care of my clients’ physical health, but I try to teach them how to live better lives and how to perform better,” Ville explains.

“It’s impossible to describe my job in a few words. Every day is completely different.”

Travelling 300 days a year The job takes Ville around the globe, which is of course exciting and wonderful for a person who loves travelling, but it also presents some challenges.

“The best and the worst part of my job is travelling. I love travelling, but when you travel 250–300 days a year and go to 3–4 countries a week, it can become a bit tiring. I’ve got my suitcases packed all the time. I live in hotels and planes around the 20

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world. I might be skiing in Colorado or surfing in Hawaii, or I might be working in the F1 paddock in Singapore or Japan. You meet new people and get to go to the most amazing places, but at the same time you don’t have much time to spend with your friends and family,” Ville says.

Fortunately, the work itself is rewarding.

“I love the challenges my job brings.

Every day is different and you have to perform 100% every day. I work with high profile clients so there´s no room for mistakes. You have to be professional and educate yourself all the time. Luckily I have a great team at Hintsa to help me whenever I need.”

International career from the start Ville’s roots are in Jämsänkoski where his family currently lives, but he was actually born in Nepal.

“We lived around the world when I was a kid because of my dad’s work. We came back to Finland for a longer period when I was ten,” Ville says.

Ville has always loved sports and nature.

These hobbies and interests have led to a life and career filled with international travel and work in exotic places.

“After my military service in Finland I travelled a few years and worked as a guide

Ville Vihola (FIN) and Lewis Hamilton (GBR, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team) at the FIA Formula One World Championship 2015, Grand Prix of Russia.

in the Azores and as a destination manager in Egypt,” Ville says. “During this time I really got to understand how much the world has to offer. I learnt new sports and got to know a lot of people.”

I work with high profile clients so there´s no room for mistakes. You have to be professional and educate yourself all the time.

Coaching, teaching and coordinating After living abroad for a while, he came back to Finland and began studying at Haaga-Helia’s Vierumäki Campus. Even then, he took the opportunity to see what was on offer outside Finland.

“After my time in Egypt I started studying sport and leisure management in Haaga-Helia, with a specialization in

coaching. During my studies I used all the international opportunities the University had to offer. I was an exchange student in Spain and did my internship in Portugal and two intensive courses abroad.”

While growing up one of his passions was skiing. After graduating he decided to look for work as a skiing instructor – and went where there was snow.

“I graduated in May when the skiing season was starting in the southern hemisphere. I applied for a job as a skiing instructor in New Zealand and got it. I worked for a couple of seasons in New Zealand and later in Switzerland.”

After a few years, however, Ville became restless and decided to try something else. He returned to Finland and to Vierumäki.

“I went back to Vierumäki Resort, The Sport Institute of Finland, where I had studied and worked before. International Coordinator Mairit Pellinen, who I knew well, asked if I would like to have her job for a year. I thought it would be nice to try something completely different and accepted her offer,” Ville says.

After only a few months on the new job he received a phone call that changed everything. The caller was Aki Hintsa, a well-known doctor specialized in sports medicine who has worked with top Formula 1 stars. He offered Ville a job, which he accepted.

Now, after achieving success, Ville has returned to Haaga-Helia. He started his “Masters of Sports” studies at Vierumäki in September 2015. He will continue working at Hintsa while he completes his studies.  21

Students dive into the daily usage of English at work An international group of students have delved into how companies actually use English in today’s business life.

Text Marko Uutela Photo Haaga-Helia

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tudents from The Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (Porvoo Campus) and from The Stenden University of Applied Sciences (Emmen Campus) in the Netherlands combined forces in international teams to investigate the use of English at work in a recent collaboration project.

The study showed that there commonly are very few formal rules that define how English should be used, especially in internal communication. The larger the company, the more likely it is to use English instead of local languages in communications and marketing. Also roughly 90% of the companies had webpages in both English and local languages.

Thirty Finnish and Dutch companies shared their practices on how they use English in their organizations. Companies such as the cruise operator Eckerö Line, Posti (The Finnish Mail), Glo Hotels, Nordic Business Forum, VR (The Finnish Railways), Finnmatkat travel agency and Orange took part in the project.

Ivan Berazhny, Julia Huisman and Liisa Wallenius acted as course instructors on the programme.

“We wanted a very concrete project where the students and teachers participated actively. Our role as teachers was to coach the teams. The student groups selected their own project leaders and team leaders and each team focused on a separate topic,” says Wallenius.

Progress documented in social media The field research uncovered how companies use English in eight different application areas. The areas included online and offline marketing, B2C and B2B communications, internal e-mail, and meeting practices. In addition, the language practices concerning training, recruitment, and work tools were studied.

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The course gave students an exceptional chance to immerse themselves completely in the project. The group documented their progress on social media sites like Instagram and Twitter.

“The methods the students used included interviews and visits to companies. They also made use of their contacts to find the required information. Many students gained great insights into working on an actual project during the course,“ Wallenius adds.

At the end of the 16-week project the Dutch group visited Porvoo. The groups presented the project outcomes at an event at The Haaga-Helia Porvoo Campus where also representatives from the Netherlands Embassy were present. The results were shared with the companies interviewed in the study. 

Renny Lindberg and Jungryul Seo presented their projects in the Haaga-Helia meeting in January. Prof. Teemu H. Laine coordinates the project.

South Korean ICT research group Ubilife visits Haaga-Helia Text and Photo Laura Niemi In January 2016 Haaga-Helia welcomed visitors from Ajou University in South Korea. Prof. Teemu H. Laine and his research students from the Ubilife research group presented their latest research at the Pasila campus. Ajou University is one of Haaga-Helia’s partner institutions abroad.

The team works in the Department of Information and Computer Engineering at Ajou University. They presented their ongoing projects on using games and ubiquitous technologies and services in the fields of education and wellbeing at Haaga-Helia. The team was invited to Haaga-Helia by lecturer Amir Dirin. This was the team’s second visit to HaagaHelia; in January 2015 they presented their work for the first time.

Learning by gaming The group has numerous projects going on at the moment. A major part of the research concerns using games in education and learning.

“We focus on games simply because we like games. Also children love playing games,” the team states.

In the Leometry project the group is currently developing a story-based geometry learning game featuring animal characters, intriguing challenges, and augmented reality.

“The name of the project comes from the words ‘leopard’ and ‘geometry,” says Renny Lindberg, who presented the team’s latest project in the Haaga-Helia meeting.

Lindberg developed the idea and the technical implementation for the Leometry game when working on his thesis at Haaga-Helia. He graduated a year ago and is now working on his master’s degree on Laine’s project.

“The basic idea in most of our games is to track the surrounding context, or situation of the learner and to understand the different ways a person can learn and play. For different kinds of learners in different situations the game would be a bit different,“ Lindberg says.

Jungryul Seo, on the other hand, presented his work on sensor-driven recognition of emotions, which is also one of the key elements in the team’s work.

In his research, Seo explores learners’

physiological responses to emotions in order to adapt learning games to the learners’ current emotional states.

To the next level Laine believes that the already fruitful collaboration between Ajou University and Haaga-Helia will expand in the future.

“Co-operation between universities should not be regarded only as sending people back and forth between two countries, but more deeply rather, as joint collaboration and common projects conducted together,” he states.

If students hesitate to move abroad and wonder whether they’ll be able to adapt to a new culture, the best way is to get them to apply for an exchange program for a couple of months.

“After that, if they are still interested, they can decide to continue with a master’s degree. This would actually be the perfect scenario since they already have a history with the home school.

In this case, Haaga- Helia students can represent their school in the other country as ambassadors of Haaga-Helia”, Laine suggests.  More information: www.ubilife.net

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FULBRIGHT

The business of mastering five disciplines Modern pentathlete Eevi Bengs is a student in the English-language Degree Programme for Management Assistants at Haaga-Helia. Modern pentathletes have to master five disciplines and their training schedules can be hectic. Despite the demands, Eevi has managed to successfully combine studying and competitive sport.

Text Jenni Neuvonen | Photos Päivi Tanninen, UIPM and Eevi’s album

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evi Bengs, 25, got into modern pentathlon as a teenager in 2004 when she and her sister went on an introductory course. The modern pentathlon consists of fencing, 200m freestyle swimming, show jumping, pistol shooting and cross-country running.

In show jumping the horse can be unpredictable, but Eevi has a strong background in horse riding. The shooting and running are combined into one event comprising four

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800-metre cross-country runs, interspersed with sets of laser pistol shooting. The total length of the cross-country run is 3.2 kilometres.

The combined event is the last event of the pentathlon and takes the form of a chase.

The starting positions are determined by the competitors’ scores in the previous events, and the winner of the combined running and shooting event wins the pentathlon title.

Eevi has competed in the modern pentathlon since 2005, and her training schedule has

The most important factor for Eevi was that Haaga-Helia is part of URHEA, the Metropolitan area sports academy, and thus committed to offering flexibility to athletes. become increasingly busy. In an average week she trains 25 to 30 hours – slightly less during the season. There are seven or eight competitions this spring. In addition, about ten international competitions are held each year.

Eevi is a multiple Finnish and Nordic champion in the pentathlon. The combined shooting and running event is her strongest discipline. She achieved good results last autumn, winning a World Championship silver in the Laser-Run event in France.

Currently her main goal is the Olympics.

The athletes for the Olympics are chosen based on this spring’s competition results.

“It’s going to be an exciting and interesting spring. I’m really looking forward to it,” says Eevi.

Her overall goal is to have a long career as an athlete and do well in the European Championship, World Championship and World Cup series.

Flexibility makes studying possible Eevi started in the Degree Programme for Multilingual Management Assistants at the Pasila campus in autumn 2011. The most important factor for Eevi was that HaagaHelia is part of URHEA, the Metropolitan area sports academy, and thus committed to offering flexibility to athletes. The location of Haaga-Helia’s Pasila campus also played an important role, since it’s near her training facilities and her home.

Despite her busy schedule, Eevi has managed to fit in her studies. She plans her study schedule based on the amount of free time available each semester. For example, with all the upcoming competitions, Eevi is taking fewer courses this spring.

“It has all worked out surprisingly well.

The lecturers have been very flexible. As long as you have alternative ideas about how to complete your courses, it’s usually possible.”

Eevi enjoys studying at Haaga-Helia, although she can’t necessarily see herself as a management assistant.

“This programme offers so many career opportunities. Language and IT skills will definitely benefit me in the future,” she points out.

countries. According to Eevi, pentathletes tend to have a great team spirit in competitions: they are one big international family.

The best thing about the pentathlon for Eevi is its versatility.

“It’s great how, in a competition, you don’t know your final standing until you cross the finish line in the combined event on the last day,” she concludes. 

A diverse sport tests the limits According to Eevi, the best thing about sport is the way it allows you to develop yourself continuously. You can test your limits by seeing how far you can go in each discipline.

“You are always thinking about how to better your performance: swim faster, hit the target more accurately, or get more points in fencing. Sport involves a huge range of emotions, from top-of-the-world moments to massive disappointments,” Eevi explains.

Sports also offers opportunities to make friends with athletes from different

 Eevi Bengs has competed in the modern pentathlon for over 10 years. Fencing is one of her strengths.

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MEETING

POINT

Exchanging ideas Collaboration between Haaga-Helia and Estonia Business School benefits the Finnish and Estonian hospitality industries.

Text Minttu Käenmäki | Photos Tommi Lalu and 123 RF

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aaga-Helia has launched cooperation with the Estonia Business School (EBS). The firstyear programme of the Tallinnbased Haaga-Helia Hospitality Competence Center offers educational packages to businesses and EBS students. It also includes research and development cooperation.

“This is an easy way to gain access to the Estonian market and create contacts with industry representatives,” Haaga-Helia Sales Manager Elisa Aunola explains.

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ESB is a well-known business school, but it lacks hospitality expertise. Educational opportunities in hospitality are sparse in Estonia, and there are virtually none at the higher education level. In contrast, Haaga-Helia has a high profile specifically as a hospitality education provider.

According to Aunola, Estonia was a natural choice as the first export market thanks to its geographical and cultural closeness.

“Estonians are open and they are interested in Finnish people and Haaga-Helia. We have

across the bay Estonia was a natural choice as the first export market thanks to its geographical and cultural closeness.

Maria Velez, Ain Hinsberg, Elisa Aunola and Sven Lööndre strengthen cooperation between Haaga-Helia and Estonia Business School.

two local employees, and their contribution has been highly valuable to our success in Estonia,” Aunola says.

The Hospitality Insiders Club brings professionals together The activities of the Hospitality Competence Center got into full swing last autumn.

There will be four meetings of the Estonian Hospitality Insiders Club and six intensive courses this year.

The Hospitality Insiders Club is an opportunity for hospitality professionals to meet and exchange ideas and the latest news.

Haaga-Helia has been running the club in Finland for a number of years now and the concept has received a lot of recognition.

“Through the club we can reach industry professionals and invite them to our training events. Our next goal is to bring the Finnish and Estonian clubs together.”

Each intensive course lasts two days and focuses on a specific topic, such as management or service design.

Haaga-Helia will assess the performance of its Estonian business at the end of the academic year. Aunola believes that the activities will continue into the future.

Estonia’s growing restaurant business The collaboration has so far focused on the sharing of Finnish best practices with the Estonians, but Aunola anticipates that the roles will be reversed in the near future.

“The restaurant business is developing at a rapid pace in Estonia, and many international hotel chains have opened hotels in Tallinn before Helsinki. There is a highperformance mentality.”

The Hospitality Competence Center has given Haaga-Helia a great vantage point of the Estonian hospitality industry and contacts with key movers. 

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r o f r e f f o Special s r e m o t s new cu

HAAGA-HELIA

eMBA in SERVICE EXCELLENCE

Special offer for new customers until the end of April 2016.

One module per customer 640 euros (+ VAT 24%) (List price 800 euros). For more info please contact katariina.ronnqvist@haaga-helia.fi

www.haaga-helia.fi/emba