Annual Report 2014

OULU

BUSINESS

SC HOOL REPORT

MART T I AH T I S A A R I I N S T I T U T E’S TOP FORU M S A N D S E M I NA R S

Mar tti Ahtisaari Institute and Oulu Business School have been active par tners in the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, GRLI, since 2011.

GRLI SEMINARS: NORTHERN LIGHTS SHINE ON GLOBALLY RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP The Leadership Forum: Responsible Leadership in Business and Society Structural Changes in the Global Economy New Technology & Digitalization as a Driver for Structural Change in Global Economy

MARTTI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES Current Issues in Corporate Loans, 21.8.2014 Re-shaping Service Business, 27.11.2014 Corporate Branding as a Competitive Strategy – Challenges and Opportunities, 10.12.2014

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CONTENTS

Oulu Business School..................................................................................5 Oulu Business School’s Important Milestones......................................6 A Message From the Dean........................................................................8 AACSB Accreditation............................................................................... 10 Organization and Management ............................................................. 12 Oulu Business School Key Facts............................................................ 14 Education In Oulu Business School....................................................... 17 Exchange Studies....................................................................................... 26 Finanssi – The Association of Oulu Business School Students....... 30 Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics......... 32 Alumni......................................................................................................... 44 Research...................................................................................................... 46 Spin-off enterprise QUUM international............................................. 55 Business Kitchen....................................................................................... 56

O U LU BUSINESS SCHOOL

O U L U BU S I N E S S S CHOOL

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The high quality of our research and education has been acknowledged with the esteemed AACSB accreditation, earned by only 5% of the world’s business schools.

Oulu Business School (OBS) at the University of Oulu is a truly international research and educational institute for business and economics.The high quality of our research and education has been acknowledged with the esteemed AACSB accreditation, earned by only 5% of the world’s business schools. We are based in Oulu, the lively capital of Northern Scandinavia and home to the multidisciplinary University of Oulu. Oulu Business School effectively collaborates with local businesses and the larger society.

Our students can choose from diverse study programme options. They can become top experts in business and economics by earning a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, or strengthen their professional expertise gained in working life — in English or Finnish.The international flavour of OBS is also evident in the Martti Ahtisaari Institute, with its focus on global business and economy

as well as the challenges posed by advancing sustainable and responsible business.

Oulu Business School is a young and dynamic community, but our success is grounded in decades of experience: economic sciences have been taught at the University of Oulu since 1959. Full degrees in economics and business administration have been in the study portfolio since 1991, and in 2000 the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration was established as an independent unit. In 2010, we changed our name to Oulu Business School to better match our mission and focus on business studies.

For OBS, the first decade of the century was a time when we saw significant growth and met ever-higher quality criteria. It is with the same forward-looking pioneer spirit, and positive and active attitude, that we will grasp future challenges.

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O U L U BU SINE SS SC HOOL’S IMP ORTANT MILESTON ES

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL’S I M P O RTA N T M I L E S TO N E S 1958 University of Oulu founded.

1959 Professorship in Economics established Students graduate with Bachelor of Science in Philosophy degree.

1980 First Bachelor of Social Science degree in Economics.

1992 Associate Professorship in Marketing established, followed by a full professorship in 1994.

2000 Faculty of Economics and Business Administration established in the University of Oulu.

2001 Degree programme in Logistics established.

1984 Associate Professorship in Business Economics in the field of development and management of business created.

2002 Degree programme in Management and Organization launched.

1991 Professorship in Corporate Economics and Business in the field of accounting established.

2007 International Business becomes the latest degree programme in Oulu Business School.

2008 MBA Programme launched.

2012 Management and International Business merge.

2012 Martti Ahtisaari International Doctoral Scholarship Programme launched.

2013 Oulu Business School earns AACSB Accreditation.

2014 April 2014 – Official AACSB Accrediation Recognition Ceremony Launch of the New Bachelor Programme

OUR VISION. As part of the University of Oulu, we aspire to be an international, multidisciplinary, research-based business school.

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A M E SSAGE FRO M THE DEAN

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

2014 was an excellent year for Oulu Business School.

Performance indicators show great results in both research and education, with record graduation numbers at all levels. We have to also remember that the success that we saw in 2014 was largely built on the foundations that were laid in recent years. In our business, production processes are long. Keeping that in mind, we continued to build foundations for the forthcoming years to implement our mission even better in the future.

Our mission is to generate business competencies in cooperation with the scientific community, business partners, and society at large. We strive to develop expertise, and foster the development of leadership qualities in our students.Through our actions and global mindset, we are participating in the development of the economy, especially in Northern Finland.

Petri SahlstrĂśm, Dean of Oulu Business School

In practice, this means that we will continue to take important steps in further improving the quality of our education programmes, research, and faculty qualifications, as well as the services to our students and other stakeholders.

We have completely renewed our Bachelor programme.

The major focus is to equip our students with the skills and competencies required in working life now and in

the future. The first cycle of the renewed programme attracted a strong student body, as the number of applicants increased – even though we now have only one BSc programme to offer, compared to the five tracks we had the year before. We also renewed all of our Master programmes. The major focus is to offer an international learning experience to students. Thus, all the programmes are available in English and are open to international students. We have high expectations that we will attract a great number of excellent international students. Of course, the over 400 applications that we received in 2014 is not a bad number either. In terms of our Doctoral degrees, we can be very happy with the progress of our Doctoral students and a record number of awarded degrees. Furthermore, last year almost half of our Doctoral degrees were awarded to international Doctoral students, which is another sign that our internationalisation efforts are yielding results.

In terms of attracting students, the AACSB Accreditation seems to be as valuable as we had assumed it would be when beginning the accreditation process in 2010. The effect of receiving the AACSB accreditation at the end of 2013 as the fourth business school in the Nordic countries can now be seen in student recruitment. Cooperation within the AACSB network has also expanded our international partner

A M E S S AG E F RO M T H E D E A N

network, which means even more interesting exchange opportunities for faculty and students, as well as research cooperation.

Furthermore, international cooperation within the GRLI, Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative brought an interesting event to Oulu in March 2014, when over 50 participants from all over the world took part in a series of seminars and workshops at the Martti Ahtisaari Institute and Oulu Business School.

In addition to GRLI collaboration, Martti Ahtisaari Institute was involved in several joint projects and partnerships, including Oulu Innovation Alliance activities and Business Kitchen that ensured its position as an open arena for creating and developing new businesses stemming from research and innovation.

Our Executive MBA programme is one of the oldest in Finland, and 2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the University of Oulu EMBA.The anniversary was celebrated in June at a festive alumni event, where Oulu Business School and EMBA alumni gathered together to reminisce and learn about Oulu Business School’s recent developments. Most importantly for executive education, the renewed EMBA OULU Programme was launched in fall 2014.

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Furthermore, last year almost half of our Doctoral degrees were awarded to international Doctoral students, which is another sign that our internationalisation efforts are yielding results.

Research in 2014 has seen positive development. A joint professorship in Energy Economy was established with SYKE, the Finnish Environment Institute. A European research consortium was established within the EU Horizon 2020 programme, and the project Peer to Peer Smart Energy Distribution Networks (P2P-SmartTest) was launched.

To ensure our positive development in the long run, a new body was established: the Board of Oulu Business School started its work on strategic goals at the beginning of 2014. We appointed excellent representatives to the board. I would like to warmly thank all of the board members for their dedication and excellent input into developing our school: Oulu Business School representatives Professor Vesa Puhakka, EMBA Programme Director Antti Kauppila, student

representative Nico Numminen and external board members Senior Vice President Sari Heinonen, Senior Partner Antti Hietala and Professor ErnoTornikoski.

Finally, I would like to thank all our staff and faculty, students, student organisation Finanssi and our international, national, and regional partners for their cooperation. Our success is greatly influenced by collaboration with partners such as the City of Oulu, the Oulu Chamber of Commerce, the Council of Oulu Region, as well as numerous individuals, companies and other organisations.

Petri SahlstrĂśm, Dean of Oulu Business School

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A AC S B ACCR ED ITATION

SPRING 2010

SUMMER 2 011

FALL 2011

FALL 2012

FALL 2012

WINTER 2012

SPRING 2013

FALL 2013

Full member of AACSB

Eligibility

Mentor appointed

SAP (Standards Alignment Plan) submitted

SAP accepted

PRT Chair appointed

SER (Self Evaluation Report) submitted

PRT (Peer Review Team) visit

BACK TO THE FUTURE OUTLOOK – TOWARDS NEW FRONTIERS WITH AACSB ACCREDITATION

2014 started with happy vibes for OBS, anticipating the upcoming official recognition of OBS gaining AACSB International Accreditation. So, off we went to receive the recognition at the ICAM (International Conference and Annual Meeting) in Singapore. You may notice how proud some members of our team look in the official photo that was taken at the event.

Meanwhile, the everyday work continued. With the AACSB representatives, we had discussed and agreed on specific continuous improvement objectives on which to focus our efforts during the upcoming years. So throughout the year we further developed our Assurance of Learning practices, and transformed our Faculty Qualifications framework, to match the recently updated AACSB standards. The internationalisation efforts actually got easier than before, and we received fast-growing interest from amongst other accredited schools, to build relationships with our own school. You could say that now we really got to enjoy the benefits of being AACSB-accredited.

When it comes to the assurance of learning, our team of dedicated university pedagogy professionals really did

a great job in getting everybody well seated in the same boat, and pulling in the same direction – forward. It is actually one of the strengths of the initial accreditation process, in that it changes the perspective of the faculty from “I” to “we”, especially in terms of teaching and learning. It strengthens the important idea, that it is ultimately the faculty and staff together with students who produce a high-quality Business School Degree Programme – with a little help from the stakeholders too.

As the new standards for AACSB accreditation were recently introduced, it was timely to enhance our Faculty Qualification framework as well. Now, this is a multifaceted issue! One must exercise great care and dedication, to align the business school mission and programme portfolio with faculty composition, as well as design a good balance between faculty incentives and individual faculty members’ roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, the FQ framework surely cannot be completely changed every year, otherwise it would jeopardise consistency in the management of the faculty and the school as a whole. So, you had better get it pretty much right the first time, and then adjust as needed.

A ACS B AC C R E D I TAT I O N

NOVEMBER 2013

APRIL 2014

Oulu Business School granted AACSB International Accreditation

Official Recognition Ceremony at AACSB ICAM, Singapore

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SUMMER AND FALL 2014

Work on continuous improvement objectives

As the new standards for AACSB accreditation were recently introduced, it was timely to enhance our Faculty Qualification framework.

To conclude, in 2014 we really got the AACSB activities well embedded in our everyday functions. By achieving this, we fulfilled one of the important aims of the whole accreditation journey. We did not want to “outsource accreditation” and have a separate building in front of the school, with people inside to take care of the accreditation issues. Rather we managed to attract and involve people from all units, to work with AACSB issues as part of their everyday work. So now that this Nordic Driving Machine is performing at its best, it is nice to speed around with all these good people, and do what we do best – research, educate and cooperate!

Sauli Sohlo Deputy Director of the Martti Ahtisaari Institute Head of Accreditation, Oulu Business School

(L-R) Executive Vice President and Chief Accreditation Officer AACSB International Robert D. Reid; Chair of the Board of Directors, AACSB International and Dean of the Stanley and Pauline Foster Endowed Chair Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego Robert S. Sullivan; Doctoral Student Kerttu Kettunen; Dean of Oulu Business School Petri Sahlström; Deputy Director of the Martti Ahtisaari Institute and Head of Accreditation, Oulu Business School Sauli Sohlo and President and Chief Executive Officer AACSB International John J. Fernandes.

OUR VALUES. In all our activities we follow the fundamental values of expertise, responsibility to ourselves and others, and a pioneering spirit.

O U L U BU S I N E S S S CHOOL

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OBS MANAGEMENT IN 2014 Professor Petri Sahlström, The Dean of Oulu Business School

DEAN Council

SUPPORT Staff

Professor Pauliina Ulkuniemi, The Vice Dean for Education.

The following are chairs of their departments: Professor Janne Järvinen, Department of Accounting

Marketing

Management & International Business

Accounting

Finance

Economics

Mar tti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics

Professor Rauli Svento, Department of Economics Professor Jukka Perttunen, Department of Finance Professor Tuija Mainela, Department of Management and International Business

Institute Research Groups and Educational Programmes:

Professor Jari Juga, Department of Marketing

OASIS, SHARP, SEED, Sustainable Corporate Governance, EMBA

Professor Veikko Seppänen, Director of the Martti Ahtisaari Institute

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O U L U BU SINE SS SC HOOL KEY FACT S

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL KEY FACTS 2014 FINANCIAL DATA (in Euros)

Budgetary state funding External funding Academy of Finland Tekes European Union Structural funds Foundation Municipality Other public Private companies Business activities (MBA, EMBA) Other income Total funding Operating costs Staff expenses Other expenses Depreciation Internal items Total operating costs Surplus/(deficit)

2013 5 744 662

64%

317 475 1 123 848

3.5% 12.0%

762 405 76 699 68 039 46 090 72 404 781 959 21 212 9 014 793

8.0% 1.0% 1.0% 0.5% 1.0% 9.0% 0.1%

6 657 490 1 684 508 1 052 840 919 9 183 969 (169 176)

Professors Teaching and research Other Total

EDUCATION ACTIVITIES OVER PAST 5-YEAR PERIOD

FACULTY & STAFF OVER PAST 5-YEAR PERIOD

Applications / accepted Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes Finnish Master’s programmes (+2) International Master’s programmes Degrees Bachelor of Science Master of Science Doctor of Science

2014 5 879 630

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDING 2014 75.5%

180 550 578 906 21 140 324 004 77 917 6 199 67 113 39 122 560 774 60 552 7 795 907

2.0% 7.5% 0.3% 4.0% 1.0% 0.1% 1.0% 1.0% 7.0% 1.0%

72.0% 18.0% 0.0% 9.0%

5 911 448 1 329 073 4 321 803 483 8 048 325 (252 418)

73% 17% 0% 10%

2010 16 56 18 90

2011 16 58 26 100

2012 16 70 28 114

2013 16 81 25 122

2014 15 72 18 105

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

1634/207 348/61 567/30

1856/216 290/56 515/36

2003/200 142/41 401/55

2049/190 171/30 392/53

2382/190 201/30 435/67

137 161 9

122 170 4

159 238 4

127 175 4

173 207 12

75,5%

Budgetary state funding 75.5% • 5 879 630 Academy of Finland 2% • 180 550 Tekes 7.5% • 578 906 European Union 0.3% • 21 140 Structural funds 4.0% • 324 004 Foundation 1.0% • 77 917 Municipality 0.1% • 6 199 Other public 1.0% • 67 113 Private companies 1.0% • 39 122 Business activities (MBA, EMBA) 7.0% • 560 774 Other income 1.0% • 60 552

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDING 2013

64%

Budgetary state funding 64% • 5 744 662 Academy of Finland 3.5% • 317 475 Tekes 12.0% • 1 123 848 European Union 0% • 0 Structural funds 8.0% • 762 405 Foundation 1.0% • 76 699 Municipality 1.0% • 68 039 Other public 0.5% • 46 090 Private companies 1.0% • 72 404 Business activities (MBA, EMBA) 9.0% • 781 959 Other income 0.1% • 21 212

O U L U B U S I N E S S S C H O O L K E Y FACT S

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FACULTY & STAFF

DISTRIBUTION OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OULU, 2014

90

Faculty of Humanities 13.5 % • 188 Faculty of Education 15.4 % • 214 Oulu Business School 14.9 % • 207 Faculty of Science 11.3 % • 158 Faculty of Technology 13.4 % • 186 Faculty of Medicine 16.2 % • 227 Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine 0.7 % • 10 Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering 11.4 % • 159 Oulu Mining School 0.8 % • 11 Oulu School of Architecture 2.4 % • 33

81

80

72

70

70 60

58

56

50 40 30 20

28

26 16

18

16

25 16

16

15

18

10

RESEARCH * ACTIVITIES OVER PAST 5-YEAR PERIOD

Scientific articles (refereed) Other scientific publications (refereed)** Activities in scientific publications*** Other publications Scientific presentations Activities related to scientific conferences OTHER *

International visits (own staff) International visits (foreign staff) Education in university pedagogy Impact on society ****

0

2010 27 38 55 81 45 23

2011 33 48 51 32 54 33

2012 46 48 50 38 44 20

2013 45 45 73 31 80 20

2014 41 57 45 22 35 7

17 15 12 51

25 2 8 81

24 1 8 78

17 2 7 74

15 5 3 46

*Figures are based on the Oulun yliopisto tutkii database **Includes refereed scientific conference papers and compliances ***Includes referee tasks, member of the editorial board, Editor ****Responsibilities outside the university including e.g. consulting, education and position of trust

2010

2011

Professors Professors Teaching Teaching and andresearch research Other Other

2012

2013

2014

OUR MISSION. We generate business competencies in cooperation with the scientific community, business partners and larger society. We strive to develop expertise, and foster the development of leadership qualities in our students. Through our actions and global mindset, we participate in the development of the economy, especially in Northern Finland.

E D U C AT I O N I N O U L U B U S I N E S S S C H O O L

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EDUCATION IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATIONS TO BACHELOR’S AND MASTER’S PROGRAMMES

DEGREE DISTRIBUTION

2500

250

2382

2000

2003

1856

2049

1634

207

1000

100

500

50

0

0

2011

2012

Applications Applications in 2010–2013 Applications in 2014

2013

2014

173

159

137

127

122

9 2010

175

170

161 150

2010

238

200

1500

Oulu Business School is responsible for developing the knowledge and competence of its students, and for equipping them to meet the criteria required of future leaders at home and abroad. Learning experience, where theoretical knowledge can be applied in actual business environments, is emphasized in the curriculum. OBS caters for the needs of its students by providing personal tutors to guide the preparation of personal study plans.

4 2011

Bachelor of Science Master of Science Bachelor Science Doctor of of Science

Doctor of Science

4 2012

4 2013

Master of Science

12 2014

Oulu Business School consists of five departments and students are offered studies in six different majors; Accounting, Economics, Finance, International Business, Management and Marketing. Studies in Oulu Business School lead to the following degrees: Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Economics and Business Administration Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Economics and Business Administration

STUDENTS IN 2014:

300 New Students Admitted: 220 into Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Programmes 67 International Master’s Degree Students 13 Doctoral Students

Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in Economics and Business Administration Along with the three international master´s degree programmes (Finance, Financial and Management Accounting and International Business Management), OBS has strengthened its position as an international, university-level business educator. It has become the most significant provider of courses and degree programmes taught in English in the University of Oulu.

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E D U C AT I O N I N O U L U B U S I N E S S S C H O O L

A MESSAGE FROM THE VICE DEAN F O R E D U C AT I O N

2014 WAS AN ACTIVE ONE IN TERMS OF DEVELOPING EDUCATION AT OBS. New students were enrolled to the renewed programmes in autumn 2014 and we were excited to finally start with the new students entering the new Bachelor’s programme. 190 students were accepted in the programme and the students were faced with intensive tutoring and carefully planned programme structures in the beginning of the academic year. The progress of their studies is being continuously monitored and feedback is being collected to ensure the quality of the programme and student learning.

The initiation of the new programmes also meant that the old students were faced with a new course palette. The transition to the new programme structures was carefully planned during spring 2014 and additional efforts were made to enable as smooth a transition as possible for the existing

The Assurance of Learning processes are built to support the continuous improvement of our education. students. Most importantly, continuous dialogue with the students through student guild Finanssi was fostered to ensure the success of the transition for the old students.

are built to support the continuous improvement of our education. Accordingly we continuously evaluate the soundness of our education and learning outcomes of our graduates.

The renewal of the programmes has been guided by three strategic aims: fluency of studies, internationalization and work-life relevance. To enhance these, we have renewed our programme portfolio, programme structures, course contents and teaching methods. For example, to enable fluency of studies, we have employed modular structures in our programmes to increase the coherence in terms of content of the courses as well as enable effective scheduling of teaching. Also, in terms of contents, our programmes are all built towards programme-level learning goals that are based on our school’s mission and requirements of the working life.

During 2014, we have actively worked towards establishing the continuous improvement processes as a part of our yearly cycle of curriculum management.

We are convinced that we have done good work on this and look forward to strengthening further our cycles of continuous improvement in terms of education.

At the heart of these developments we have focused on Assurance of Learning -processes that

Pauliina Ulkuniemi Vice Dean for Education

E D U C AT I O N I N O U L U B U S I N E S S S C H O O L

THE RENEWED EDUCATION AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

RENEWED PROGRAMME STRUCTURES

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PARTNER NETWORK & PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

Effective scheduling Modular study paths

FLUENCY OF STUDIES

RENEWED PROGRAMME STRUCTURES Finnish BSc programme 5 MSc programmes in English Renewing EMBA education Renewing DSc programmes

INTERNATIONALIZATION ASSURANCE OF LEARNING WORK-LIFE RELEVANCE

RENEWED CONTENTS:

RENEWED METHODS

Joint level elements in Master's programmes Mission-based contents Programme level learning goals

Pedagogical expertice Intellectual contribution requirements for teachers

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BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (BSc) IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS A D M I N I S T R AT I O N NEW PROGRAMME PORTFOLIO KICK-OFF 2014 The New Programme Portfolio came into effect in fall 2014. Instead of starting in a bachelor programme with chosen specialization, the whole cohort of 190 students in year 2014 is now studying in a generalized, interdisciplinary programme which consists of a balanced amount of studies from different disciplines (economics, international business management, finance, accounting and marketing). In addition, the programme includes basic-level academic studies like mathematics, statistics, language and communication studies.

There is one optional minor included which can be, for example, business law, mathematics and statistics, languages and communication skills, industrial engineering or entrepreneurship, to mention but a few possibilities our multi-disciplinary university has to offer to our students. After graduating from the generalized bachelor programme, students

continue to the master`s programme with a chosen specialization.

Considering this radical change in programme structure, the feedback from our new students has been very encouraging. The majority of them feel that instead of choosing their specialization when applying for a bachelor programme, it is beneficial for them to get familiar with a variety of disciplines more deeply. But the mere satisfaction of our students is not enough. In all of our programmes, we must be able to prove that real learning happens. From the programme director’s perspective, it has been a relief that there are now clearly defined guidelines to follow in running and developing our teaching: the learning goals of the programme. Recently, the most critical focus area of our pedagogical development has indeed been developing and conducting measurements for learning.

For example, according to learning goals defined for the bachelor programme we have to ensure and prove that our graduates have knowledge across a variety of business disciplines and they demonstrate knowledge of different business processes and key functions of organizations.

They have to demonstrate analytical thinking and oral and written communication skills appropriate to everyday business situations. In addition, we have given special emphasis to give our students understanding of the fundamentals of international business. It is not an easy task to measure learning in all these aspects. But it is possible with the help

of our skilled teachers and staff, as experiences from the last year show us. Furthermore, I feel that our present work in terms of specifying our mission and related learning goals has greatly increased our understanding of the curriculum development needs and helped us to see what is important in the present and future work.

EDUC ATION E D U C AT I O N I N O U L U B U S I N E S S S C H O O L

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In all of our programmes, we must be able to prove that real learning happens.

As stated in our continuous improvement objectives, also in the future we find it crucial to maintain and improve the good quality of our educational processes.

This includes further development of pedagogical methods and programme management, and for example developing student tutoring and study follow-up.

Developing an ever deeper connection to local business life related to teaching is one way to contribute to our region, which is part of our mission. One example of this kind of cooperation is a company project course where students conduct real-life projects for local organizations.

For many of our students, this is a powerful learning experience and, for many organizations, a valuable contribution to their development work. There is a similar kind of cooperation going on in many of our bachelor- and master-level courses. A real educational win-win situation!

All this is possible because of the hard work of our students, tutors, the programme´s teachers, support staff, the management of the faculty and collaborating organizations. My sincerest thanks to you all!

Satu Nätti BSc, Oulu Business School Programme Director

1ST YEAR

2ND YEAR

3RD YEAR

COMPULSORY STUDIES, 15 ECTS.:

ANALYTICAL SKILLS, 25 ECTS.:

Orientation to Studies, 3 ects Statistics and Mathematics, 12 ects

Finnish Economy and Economic Policy

Financial Statement Analysis

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES 20 ECTS:

Distribution and Retail Management

Portfolio Theory

Finnish and Swedish, 9 ects Optional Language Studies, 11 ects

Monetary Economics

BACHELOR’S THESIS, 10 ECTS

ONE MINOR SUBJECT, 25 ECTS.

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS STUDIES, 30 ECTS.:

BUSINESS PROCESSES, 30 ECTS.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES, 25 ECTS.

Introductory Economics

Organisations and Management

Strategic Management

Management Accounting

Global Economics

Managing Multinationals

Contract and Company Law

Bookkeeping and Financial Reporting

Practices in Marketing

Investment Decisions

Internationalisation

Strategic Marketing Management

Financial Decisions

Company Project OR Intership

Management Control

Principals of Marketing

EDUC ATION

MASTER OF SCIENCE (MSc) IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS A D M I N I S T R AT I O N MSc (ECON. & BUS. ADM.) IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT International business management education focuses on managing and leading international high technology, high context, or high touch businesses. The ideas that are taught are combined from different fields of managing business, which make international business management a truly multidisciplinary field of studies and a close connection between theory and practice is maintained in all research, teaching, and company projects. The distinctive nature of the education is manifested in the combination of the problematics of management and international business, especially from the viewpoints of innovativeness and entrepreneurship.

MSc (ECON. & BUS. ADM.) IN ACCOUNTING The degree programme in Accounting offers two fields of specialization: financial accounting and management accounting. Financial accounting covers the information and reporting systems

of a firm that are used by various interest groups outside the firm. Management accounting develops information and reporting systems needed in the decision-making inside the firm. Students can choose either option.

Financial accounting covers the information and repor ting systems of a firm that are used by various interest groups outside the firm.

MSc (ECON. & BUS. ADM.) IN MARKETING Marketing as research at Oulu Business School studies markets, including exchange of value, long-term customer and partner relationships and factors influencing the functioning of markets.

Marketing education develops students’ expertise

E D U C AT I O N I N O U L U B U S I N E S S S C H O O L

in the fundamentals of marketing, such as campaign design or branding. Moreover, students have the opportunity to explore organizational buying behaviour, logistics, and the digitization of business within changing global markets.

MSc (ECON. & BUS. ADM.) IN FINANCE A Master of Science (Econ. & Bus. Ad.) degree in finance provides students with a strong foundation in the theoretical and empirical tools of modern finance.

Topics covered include asset pricing, corporate finance, portfolio management and risk management. The approach is analytical and methodologically oriented.

The programme provides students with the knowledge and skills required to work in demanding specialist and executive positions in the financial sector, and also provides a good basis for further academic studies at postgraduate level.

MSc (ECON. & BUS. ADM.) IN ECONOMICS The Oulu Business School master’s degree in Economics offers students a strong theoretical and methodological knowledge of economics. The learning process in economics is based on a cumulative improvement in the understanding of economic processes.

Exercises and the production of term papers are included alongside the lecture series, and reading international scientific journals is an essential part of the study process.

Career opportunities for economists are typically broad, and include specialist and executive positions in both the private and public sectors.

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Career oppor tunities for economists are typically broad, and include specialist and executive positions in both the private and public sectors.

INTERNATIONAL MASTER’S PROGRAMMES In 2014 Oulu Business School offers three international master’s programmes taught completely in English.

FINANCE The MF Programme Focuses on understanding the financial markets and the actors in those markets.

Students will develop the skills necessary to analyse the interactions between those parties. The analytical and methodologically oriented programme provides a strong foundation in the theoretical and empirical tools of modern finance. Topics covered include asset pricing, corporate finance, portfolio management and risk management.

FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING The Master’s Programme in Financial and Management Accounting (FMA) provides a master’s degree of a high international standard and is ideal for applicants with a background in business studies, social sciences, education, natural sciences, mathematics, or engineering. During the programme, the students develop proficiency in the

analysis of accounting information, to meet the needs of both a company’s internal decision making and of investors.

Course modules reflect the recent trend in accounting towards the adoption of an international financial reporting system and the growing need for management control and accounting in internationalized firms.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT The IBM programme includes three core-learning themes: practices of international business, building up international businesses, and approaches to international business studies. During their studies, the students actively participate in assignments for both small and large companies. The companies offer master’s thesis assignments and joint research and development projects for the IBM students. The aim of this cooperation is to assist and accelerate companies’ internationalization and expand their existing international operations.

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EMBA EDUCATION IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL The renewed EMBA OULU programme was launched in September 2014 and follows the highest international standards in assurance of learning and quality under the supervision of the international accreditation body, AACSB International.

The new EMBA OULU programme means larger entities, i.e., modules and courses instead of seminars.

From now on, EMBA OULU means views on growth and business renewal, instead of enhancements in business processes and learning about, for example, different views on strategies. It means looking at learning outcomes instead of just passing the required seminars.

Additionally it means – just like before – interaction with peers representing different industries and backgrounds and world-class research-based knowledge of business development.

What has not changed is the fact that EMBA OULU is still planned to be studied while at work, is taught in

EMBA means interaction with peers representing different industries and backgrounds and world-class research-based knowledge of business development.

Finnish, is managed by the same committed personnel, and is helping businesses to prosper and overcome the competition in the markets, as well as helping students in acquiring relevant and up-to-date business knowledge.

The new programme structure is flexible time-wise, so that graduating quicker than planned is possible, but study pace can also be slowed down if being away from normal work duties is temporarily not possible.

In addition, instead of committing to the whole EMBA programme right away, it is possible to have a moduleby-module approach, and find proper time for each thematic module separately.

The Executive MBA OULU programme was founded 25 years ago, in 1989 at the Continuing Education Centre of the University of Oulu. Since then it has been restructured and reshaped many times.The transfer into its thematic surroundings and home – Oulu Business School and Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics – took place in 2010.

With both a Nordic and international spirit, we aim to provide the means for growth and renewal to all our collaborators!

Antti Kauppila Programme Director, Executive MBA

I N T E R N AT I O N A L O P P O R T U N I T I E S

INTERNATIONAL OP P O RT UNITIE S

Oulu Business School offers grants for its degree students to finance their international exchange and training in different organizations every year. The grants are intended for students who have completed around half of their degree course. Training grants are mainly offered to support organizations that would not hire interns without such a financial contribution. However, it is more important that the training supports the student’s study goals and future employment.

“I started my studies in Oulu Business School in 2010. I was studying abroad during the fall of 2014, and getting my master’s degree this spring. Although I’m majoring in accounting, during the exchange I studied information systems at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), North Carolina, United States of America.

When I started my studies at Oulu Business School, I didn’t even want to think about studying abroad. It felt such a big leap. Somehow, in the back of my head, I knew the time for it would come. When I was finishing my bachelor studies, the need for student exchange struck me, just as I was expecting. Suddenly, I was sure I wanted to go somewhere, and the destination had to be far away. I was thinking that since I was leaving, I might as well make it count as much as possible. First I applied to Australia, but so did many other students. I didn’t get the placement. But then I had one more year time to plan where I wanted to go and what to do. I was about to apply for Australia again, but I changed my plans at the last minute. Suddenly, I wanted to study in the USA. I went through all the possible universities and their curricula. I was interested in Accounting Information Technology, and to my surprise, Information Technology was offered at many Business Schools in the US. It was definitely something which wouldn’t overlap with my studies in Finland. The Bryan School of Business and Economics is a highly respected business school, which has, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, the 13th best MBA programme in the US. Even though I wasn’t studying in the MBA programme, I considered Bryan School a high quality school to study at.

Going abroad is a growing experience as a whole, especially when going far away. It is about exceeding your comfort zone and measuring your curiosity. It provides a

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lot of possibilities, which you must grasp. By ‘possibilities’, I mean possibilities to create a new network of other exchange students or the local students, possibilities to learn a new way to study, and possibilities to see and explore new places and cultures. As a location, North Carolina is great. It has a relatively short distance to many destinations on the East Coast. From UNCG, I received great basic knowledge about information systems and databases, which now are even more important in business environments. Professors were coaching students to meet the challenges of work life, not just telling the facts.

Going abroad is about exceeding your comfor t zone and measuring your curiosity.

The exchange period not only taught me about American culture, but also cultures around the world. I met people from Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and South America. I also traveled in the USA from coast to coast. Moreover, I got an opportunity to live an American campus life, which differs a lot from Finnish student life.The classes gave me a basic knowledge of information systems, which I will definitely use after graduation. I can recommend going abroad to everyone who is even slightly considering it.

Experiences from student exchange are something money can’t buy.”

Joona Lahti M.Sc. Student in Accounting, Oulu Business School

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E XC H A N G E S T U D I E S

EXCHANGE STUDIES Within Europe, Oulu Business School has around 40 par tner universities in the Erasmus exchange programme and several par tners outside Europe with bilateral exchange agreements.

The University of Oulu and Oulu Business School offer many different study opportunities for foreign exchange students. Within Europe, Oulu Business School has around 40 partner universities in the Erasmus exchange programme and several partners outside Europe with bilateral exchange agreements.

In addition, Oulu Business School degree students are offered many options for study exchanges all over the world. Different exchange programmes and agreements allow for exchange periods of varying duration.

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL’S STUDENT EXCHANGES IN 2014

Outgoing students Incoming students Outgoing and incoming students

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EXCHANGE FROM OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL Other • 21 Austria • 10 Germany • 9 United States • 7 France • 7 Italy • 6 Russian Federation • 6 Thailand • 5 Australia • 4 Hong Kong • 3 Canada • 2 Mexico • 2 Spain • 2 Czech Republic • 2

EXCHANGE TO OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL Germany • 26 France • 15 China • 10 Czech Republic • 7 Other • 6 Italy • 5 Belgium • 4 Spain • 3 Russian Federation • 2 Japan • 2 Hong Kong • 2 United States • 2

RESEARCH VISIT AT A D E L A I D E B U S I N E S S SCHOOL November 2014 was an uncommonly sunny and warm month for me. Supported by the Martti Ahtisaari Institute I had the opportunity to spend one month as a visiting doctoral student at Adelaide Business School in South Australia. Between the light blue waters of the Gulf of St Vincent and the vineyard hills lies the vibrant City of Adelaide, Capital of South Australia and home to the University of Adelaide. My host, a senior lecturer in Marketing, treated me on my the first day to a pizza-and-wine lunch, allowing me to catch a glimpse of Australia's positive and easy-going yet serious (work) culture.

Away from my familiar work environment in Oulu and regularly occurring additional tasks, I was able to concentrate on one of the last steps of my doctoral dissertation. During meetings over coffee with my host, we every so often delved into matters about research philosophy which both challenged my prevailing views and provided ideas on how to develop them further. I personally and academically enjoyed looking beyond the end of my own nose ‘down under’ and experiencing 'No worries, mate!'.

Jan Hermes Doctoral Student in Management and International Business, Martti Ahtisaari International Doctoral Scholarship Programme

E XC H A N G E S T U D I E S

I personally and academically enjoyed looking beyond the end of my own nose ‘down under’ and experiencing ‘No worries, mate!’

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL’S EXCHANGE STUDENTS 87

90 80 70 60

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50 40 30 20 10 0

2010 2007

2011

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Exchanges (own students) Exchanges (foreign students)

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FINANSSI – T H E A S S O C I AT I O N OF OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS Finanssi is the association of economics and business students at Oulu Business School.The association was founded in 1991 upon the commencement of business degree education at the University of Oulu, and currently has over 1,500 members.

The association, also referred to as a guild, uses purple as its identifying colour, which can be seen adorning the guild ribbon, for example. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the banknote with the highest face value in the history of the Finnish mark was purple.

The guild’s crest is based on the emblem of the University of Oulu, which is intertwined with two snakes to symbolize wisdom and proactivity.

Finanssi plays two significant roles in the daily life of its members.

First, Finanssi influences academic affairs proactively with the faculty in order to ensure a high quality of studies. Secondly, the association arranges all kinds of activities from soirées to excursions to local firms. The most notable event is the grand annual ball in which the faculty and students gather together to honor Finnish academic traditions. Finanssi also arranges an annual excursion to Helsinki where students meet with firms and explore career opportunities.

The association rules state that Finanssi may engage in organizing training courses, seminars and other similar events that promote the ability and well-being of members to the association as students and future graduates. Sporting, cultural and other leisure activities are also important to the association. Finanssi’s training course has been a very inexpensive way to participate in high-quality training sessions organized by business students to get enrolled

F I N A N S S I – T H E A S S O C I AT I O N O F O U L U B U S I N E S S S C H O O L S T U D E N T S

in a business school. This training course was previously part of Finanssi’s fund-raising, and participation fees were directed at creating and maintaining services for the members of the association. Because of the demand and growth of the training course, Finanssi decided to set up a private company in 2014, which can better continue to provide an exceptional quality of training at a competitive price for a growing audience. This company, Fixindex Ltd., is 100% owned and operated by Finanssi.

The association’s long-term plan for the establishment of the company is to eventually include many other activities to grow under the aegis of Fixindex.

Finanssi influences academic affairs proactively with the faculty in order to ensure a high quality of studies.

Because Finanssi is a non-profit organization, a private company may bring the association security, protecting the interests of business students in Oulu in the future by ensuring the continuity of Finanssi´s activities. After all, the association’s goal is to enrich the university life of the business students at Oulu – for freshmen, exchange students, and graduates, purple is the color that binds the guild members together, year after year.

Niklas Harki, Chairman of the Board in 2014

STUDENTS GAIN VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WORKING LIFE IN ANNUAL EXCURSION Finanssi ry, the association of Oulu Business School students, arranged its yearly excursion to Helsinki in March 2014. Nearly 50 students gained some valuable knowledge about job opportunities and working life after graduation. The three-day trip was financially supported by both Oulu Business School and Finanssi ry, so students get to experience the global atmosphere of top-notch firms at fairly reasonable costs.

The students were divided into two groups, so that the visits to firms would be most beneficial to students with different majors. Students majoring in accounting, finance or economics visited the Bank of Finland, Municipality Finance Plc and NASDAQ OMX Helsinki, more commonly known as the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Students majoring in marketing, management or international business visited Jolla, Rovio and Management Events. In addition, all students visited Accenture, the Embassy of the United States and KONE. There was also a more relaxed evening event organized by The Finnish Association of Business School Graduates, SEFE, where two graduates shared their thoughts and experiences about working life.

Students were warmly welcomed by the companies.

For example, at Rovio and Jolla, presentations were hosted by two “rock stars” of the Finnish mobile technology scene, Chief Marketing Officer Peter Vesterbacka from Rovio and Head of Software

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FINANSSI KEY FACTS:

FOUNDED 1991(Celebrated its 22nd anniversary in 2013) • Over 1,500 members currently • Almost 200 new members every year • 10 people in the board • 7 committees • Finanssi’s PRIVATE COMPANY FIXINDEX was established 2014 • DELIVERS four issues and hundreds of copies of Egonomi (Finanssi’s own guild magazine) • ORGANIZES the Oulu Pool Party at Eden Spa in March together with engineering students • INTERDISCIPLINARY party: 6 times a year involving thousands of students from Oulu • Organizes one of the biggest business school STUDENT EVENTS in Finland (VVV-cruise with over 700 students from all around Finland) • Organizes one BIG EXCURSION per year incorporating visits to some of the nation’s top companies such as Rovio, Kone, and Accenture • DOZENS of board MEETINGS and dozens of committee meetings per year • Produces two large QUESTIONNAIRES that focus on the development of education in OBS and the services Finanssi provides for its members • Publishes a WEEKLY NEWSLETTER • ACTIVE on Facebook, LinkedIn, Issuu, Twitter, Instagram and has its own picture gallery and exam archive.

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Development Marc Dillon from Jolla. CEO Lauri Rosendahl from the Helsinki Stock Exchange gave a profound overview of the mechanisms of modern stock trade. Last but not least, we got to take a look at Helsinki’s skyline from the upper balcony of KONE’s main branch, which is one of the tallest buildings of Helsinki.

The annual trip gives some fine examples of the broad possibilities Finnish business school graduates have in the job market. It is also the most popular working life-oriented activity Finanssi arranges, together with multiple visits to local companies every year.

MARTTI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE OF GLOBAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS Martti Ahtisaari Institute’s goal is to contribute to the Oulu Business School and the University of Oulu especially with regard to addressing developments in the global economy and international business, and helping companies to grasp the related opportunities.

The Institute acts in many regards as a hub that brings different parties in local, domestic and international networks together. Its role as one of the centres of the Oulu Innovation Alliance, its involvement in several joint research and development projects, and its active participation in international associations illustrate this very well.

With regard to digital business, the Institute has played an impor tant role in planning and conducting joint research projects.

A central matter in this is initiation and development and new areas of interest, competences and activities.

At present three specific focus areas are addressed by the Institute, Responsible Business, Energy Economy and Digital Business. Responsible Business is still in its early developing phase, but proceeding rapidly, in part based on collaboration with GRLI – the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative.

As an example, GRLI’s General Assembly with several associated events was held in Oulu in 2014, and the

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event attracted plenty of interest. Moreover, the Institute prepared and piloted the Finnish implementation of the global Sustainability Literacy Test, to be taken by all students of the business school and promoted to other relevant educational institutions.

The Institute is responsible for executive education at Oulu Business School.

With regard to digital business, the Institute has played an important role in planning and conducting joint research projects, involving not only a joint professorship in Digital Service Business with VTT, but also the first European H2020 project in which Oulu Business School participates, as well as a sizable portfolio of Tekes-funded (Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation) projects carried out with companies and other research institutions.

Energy Economy is a new area of interest in the Institute, based largely on the joint research professorship with the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, but also on one of the four research groups of the Institute devoted to this area. The other groups focus on new information system-driven applications, service architectures and businesses, and corporate governance.

In addition to the research groups and projects, the Institute provided several scholarships for selected doctoral students. The scholarships were spent on supporting personal scientific research towards

doctoral dissertations in a number of topics related to the global economy and international business and, in 2014, to facilitate visits to research institutions and conferences abroad.

Oulu universities’ entrepreneurship hub Business Kitchen – established and managed by the Institute together with other parties – represents a somewhat different setting in terms of new businesses. It has proven to be a very important regional asset and become known as a brand under which not only start-up companies but also entrepreneurship and open innovation in more

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general terms have emerged. In particular, students and young professionals have taken it as a place to co-create ideas, nurture new businesses and organize such breathtaking events as Polar Bear Pitching.

The Institute is responsible for executive education at Oulu Business School. In 2014, the EMBA programme was entirely renewed, including the first fully electronic course. The national Master of Safety executive programme was continued successfully and the international executive courses achieved a new record with several groups from China and France coming to Oulu for training.

Last but not least, the Institute organized quite a number of events in 2014, ranging from top-level international research seminars to public discussions on topical themes in economy and business.

Professor, Veikko Seppänen, Director of Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics

M A RT T I A H T I S A A R I I N S T I T U T E RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES Martti Ahtisaari Institute organized a series of open and free-of-charge research seminars that highlight current research topics and serve as a link between the international and local research community and industry. Martti Ahtisaari Institute Research Seminars in 2014: CURRENT ISSUES IN CORPORATE LOANS, 21.8.2014 Corporate Loan Securitization and The Standardization of Financial Covenants Florin P. Vasvari, Associate Professor of Accounting, London Business School & Coller Institute of Private Equity RE-SHAPING SERVICE BUSINESS, 27.11.2014 What service transition? Rethinking established assumptions about manufacturers’ service-led growth strategies.

Christian Kowalkowski (picture 1), Assistant Professor of Marketing, Hanken School of Economics

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Re-searching service business: On-going research projects in Sharp Research Group Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Professor of Marketing, Oulu Business School CORPORATE BRANDING AS A COMPETITIVE STRATEGY – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES, 10.12.2014 Making and Breaking Silos: Understanding how Mindsets Hinder Brand Orientation Dr Richard Gyrd-Jones (picture 2), Associate Professor of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School Employing Stakeholder Relationships in B2B SME Corporate Branding Minna Mäläskä (picture 3), Doctoral Student, Sharp Research Group, Oulu Business School

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The institute provides several scholarships for selected doctoral students.

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M A RT T I A H T I S A A R I I N S T I T U T E BUSINESS SEMINARS In 2014, the Institute was visited by a number of experts.

Oulu Business School and Martti Ahtisaari Institute hosted the former Prime Minister of Finland and CEO of the Finnish Family Firms Association Matti Vanhanen at a seminar 23rd January. Vanhanen gave a speech at the “Professional work at the Board of Directors in small- and medium-sized enterprises” seminar of the Board Partners of Northern Finland.

If one considers the first phase, disruption on monetary markets, as a wave, one could call financial crisis a tsunami”, ANTTI SUVANTO (Picture 1), Adviser to the Board of the Bank of Finland, together with Oulu Business School’s professors of economics, Mikko Puhakka and Rauli Svento discussed

the dynamics of the global economic crisis in the seminar “Five waves of the Economic Crisis” 29th January. The seminar gathered nearly 300 guests to the University of Oulu. “If one considers the first phase, disruption on monetary markets, as a wave, one could call financial crisis a tsunami”, Suvanto said. According to Suvanto, recovery of the economy will take some time, and he thinks it is not impossible that a “sixth wave” could be coming.

1.

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OLLI REHN (Picture 2), European Commission Vice-President and Commissioner responsible for economic and monetary affairs, spoke at the University of Oulu on 27th February in a seminar co-organized by the Martti Ahtisaari Institute and the Student Union of the University of Oulu. Commissioner Rehn’s speech focused on the economic outlook of the European Union.

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DR. SEPPO HONKAPOHJA (Picture 3), Member of the Board of the Bank of Finland, gave a lecture on 30th October on “Monetary policy in a low interest rate environment,” which covered the major financial crises of the last decade and the European Central Bank’s responses to these crises.

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GRLI: N O RT H E R N L I G H T S S H I N E O N G L O B A L LY R E S P O N S I B L E LEADERSHIP Martti Ahtisaari Institute and Oulu Business School have been active partners in the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, GRLI, since 2011. In March 2014, Oulu hosted the GRLI community’s 15th General Assembly, and participants from close to 20 countries gathered to Oulu to discuss responsible leadership from a Northern perspective. The full week of events introduced the participants to local industry and business life, Nordic nature, culture and food, and most importantly, to current issues in responsible leadership as experienced in Finland. In addition to new experiences and a walk on the frozen sea, participants were also offered to chance to think about responsibility in a whole new context: in the middle of nature instead of “traditional” meeting rooms.

THE LEADERSHIP FORUM: RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS AND SOCIETY kick-started the official programme with presentations and discussion by Mark Drewell, Executive Director of GRLI, Tomi Lantto, Managing Director of Antell Corporations, Eeva

Kiuru, Executive Director of Oulu Wellness Institute, Juha-Pekka Kallunki, Professor of Financial Accounting from Oulu Business School, Mary Godfrey, Director of Change & Performance of Bettys & Taylors Group and Aija Bärlund, Executive Director of SEFE.

Managers need to ensure that workers also take care of themselves and their families.

Tomi Lantto described how good leadership is put into action in Antell Corporations.

“Managers need to ensure that workers also take care of themselves and their families.”

According to Lantto, the well-being of workers also reflects on how they serve the customers.

Professor Juha-Pekka Kallunki told about

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leadership from another point of view. Specializing in Corporate Governance, Kallunki has investigated the adverse traits of management, auditors and major stockholders in publicly traded companies. The results are quite exciting: for example, about every fourth CEO from the group investigated had some sort of criminal history.

“People are what they are” was Kallunki’s bottom line. However, companies with “bad people” seem to be less successful.

Many companies act responsibly without telling much about it.

Aija Bärlund from theAssociation of Finnish Business School Graduates wondered why responsibility is not taken seriously. However, she presumed that consumers will become more interested about responsibility in the future. “Many companies act responsibly without telling much about it. It may be a Finnish characteristic,” Bärlund said.

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STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY and their effects in the local context were discussed at the start-up hub Business Kitchen, where Oulu Business School Dean Petri Sahlström lead the discussion.

On 27th March, the open seminar New Technology & Digitalization as a Driver for Structural Change in Global Economy raised a lively discussion on the future of Internet, new technology and social media. Guest speaker Marko Ahtisaari (Director’s Fellow at MIT Media Lab) talked about what is happening now in the digital world and what is going to happen in the future.According to Ahtisaari, social media has revolutionized the way we communicate.Ahtisaari also presumed that, because of these changes, some privately owned digital assets will become public goods. “It’s inevitable that something that was previously owned by someone becomes a shared asset,” Ahtisaari said.

Esko Kilpi, Managing Director at Esko Kilpi Ltd, expressed concern about reductionism in the post-industrial era: “We’re moving from an era of scarcity to an era of abundance.

Reductionist thinking is something that cannot be used as a model”.

Sasu Ristimäki, Equity Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, London, told about the value of networks and the change from tangible assets to intangible assets. Ristimäki believes that we need to develop new models and theories when working in a digital environment.

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It’s inevitable that something that was previously owned by someone becomes a shared asset.

“The value of network is not created by services it provides. Value is created by users of the network. Historical models do not apply when we are talking about these assets,” Ristimäki concluded.

G R L I 16 T H G E N E R A L A S S E M B LY, CLEVELAND. The year of GRLI activities was concluded in the best way imaginable, when President Martti Ahtisaari traveled to Case Western University in Cleveland USA, along with Martti Ahtisaari Institute and Oulu Business School representatives. The President was invited as the Opening Keynote Speaker in the 3rd Global Forum for Business as an Agent of World Benefit, with 700 representatives of the American business life.The President addressed the audience with his invigorating thoughts on building sustainable and responsible businesses, as well as on the modern challenges in building sustainable economies. During the event, the President also met with the leadership and members of GRLI, participating also the organization’s General Assembly meeting.

We’re moving from an era of scarcity to an era of abundance.

Reductionist thinking is something that cannot be used as a model.

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DIGITAL HEALTH REVOLUTION – PA R A D I G M S H I F T TO C O N N E C T E D P R E V E N T I V E H E A LT H S E R V I C E S Professor Timo Koivumäki, Mobile Service Business, Martti Ahtisaari Institute, Joint Professor with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

The Digital Health Revolution (DHR) project is aiming at changing how people think, act and access health-related services in their lives. The main drivers for new health care system approaches are global megatrends, such as prevention (or staying healthy), the need to cut health care costs, the personalisation of medicine and the convergence of the healthcare and wellbeing businesses. The project focuses on developing future My Data-based health services. The DHR project is being carried out in cooperation with a range of partners from Aalto University, the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), the National Consumer Research Centre, the Tampere University of Technology, the University of Lapland, the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the University of Oulu, and is one example of cooperation within the Oulu Innovation Alliance and its centres of expertise, the Martti Ahtisaari Institute and the Centre for Health and Technology.

My Data is a subset of personal data, which an individual can access and control. Research in DHR combines human-centric approaches, business insight and legal expertise with new technological

paradigms, such as the use of cloud infrastructures in service provisioning for public and private service networks. Multidisciplinary research in DHR will contribute to the change in the control of data in favour of the individual, explore health-related data from genomics to digital footprint, develop successful personal data movement across systems and services, create a My Data ecosystem and promote a My Data-based health business.

My Data is a subset of personal data, which an individual can access and control.

The research conducted by the SHARP research team and the Martti Ahtisaari Institute at Oulu Business School focuses on creating business impact for My Data ecosystem stakeholders. The goal is to identify future business opportunities and their potential respective value propositions,

M A RT T I A H T I S A A R I I N S T I T U T E O F G L O B A L B U S I N E S S A N D E C O N O M I C S

THE INTERVIEW: Joint Research Professor with the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE MARIA KOPSAKANGASSAVOLAINEN

business contexts and alternative business models and emerging business ecosystems related to future health-related My Data services.We also concentrate on the creation of new markets for digital health services by examining how emerging business models may be used to create and shape markets.

Strong emphasis is placed on identifying sources of value for end users and value co-creation.

During the digital service adoption, it is crucial for service providers to understand how to co-create real value for individuals in order to create longer relationships with them and to find new business opportunities. It is also important to understand what is needed for individuals to actually make changes in their daily lifestyles.

The research at OBS also has close ties to health and wellbeing companies through the eHealth Forum concept, a series of service design workshops. eHealth Forum was initiated with a twofold goal: 1) to establish a dialogue with industry and research organisations and 2) to establish a co-creation platform for health and wellness companies, including Connected Health start-ups and SMEs, and research organisations in order to generate and create new My Data health and wellbeing service concepts based on ideas and input from potential end users and research results.

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Seeking A Sustainable Energy Economy

It is crucial for service providers to understand how to co-create real value for individuals in order to create longer relationships with them and to find new business opportunities.

The energy business is facing great challenges.

Variable, or so called intermittent, energy production, such as wind and solar energy, is seen as a significant part of the future energy system. However, there are still many major unsolved questions regarding electricity production in future. Answers to these questions are being sought

by Maria Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Research Professor of Energy Economics at the Finnish Environment Institute and the Martti Ahtisaari Institute, and her research team.

The key focus of the research team is linked with efficient integration of variable energy production and the existing energy infrastructure. Variable energy production differs from conventional energy production in that the latter can be dispatched. For coal-fired and nuclear power plants, we can decide when to start production. It is different with wind and solar energy: we cannot decide when the wind is blowing or sun is shining.

Integration of variable energy production into the existing energy infrastructure is not simple. Even if a significant proportion of energy was produced by wind and solar energy in future, there will be situations in which conventional energy production may temporarily be the only possible means of production.

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“When it gets cloudy and the wind stops blowing, we will need to get energy from somewhere, and that is when we will start up the condensing power plant or another conventional unit. As the proportion of variable energy production increases, the utilisation rate of conventional energy production units decreases, meaning that its relative operating costs will increase. These long-term integration costs resulting from the production profile have not been researched much, either economically or technically,” Kopsakangas-Savolainen says.

An additional challenge in electricity production is the fact that electricity demand and supply has to be balanced second by second. Electricity itself cannot be stored to any significant extent using the current technologies (at least on decent costs).

According to Kopsakangas-Savolainen, one means of “storing” energy in addition to the development of storage technology is to use consumer’s demand behaviour as an active means of management.

“One of our research topics is highlighting the position of the consumer as a possible contributor to the future energy market as an active small producer and dynamic consumer of energy. This requires a smart electricity network, a reasonable ICT system and intelligent control, which enables the consumer/producer to manage his/her own consumption and supply of electricity.” Kopsakangas-Savolainen points out that while there have already been regional pilot projects for bidirectional communication, technical and legislative restrictions still exist – restrictions relating to incentives in particular. For example, the current compensation for solar energy produced to the grid is based on flat-rate and does not follow the dynamic market mechanisms of supply and demand. Current business model does not give the consumer a sufficient incentive to invest in the necessary equipment.

When asked about Finland’s role in the development of the future energy economy, Kopsakangas-Savolainen responds encouragingly and challengingly: “Finland is one of the few places in the world where practically all households are equipped with real-time electricity meters. This existing infrastructure should now be utilised in the development of new products. Finland has a great opportunity to develop new applications and technologies for variable and distributed energy production as export products, since these solutions are sorely needed – and fast.”

M A RT T I A H T I S A A R I I N T E R N AT I O N A L DOCTORAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME Martti Ahtisaari International Doctoral Scholarship Programme enhances high-quality research and education in challenges of sustainable and responsible business, as well as functioning of the global markets and economy as a whole. The programme supports the internationalization of the University of Oulu. Nine students were accepted into the programme in 2014: Anna Elsilä Eija-Liisa Heikka Jan Hermes Anne Keränen Irene Lehto Minna Mäläskä Waqar Nadeem Riikka Nuutilainen Michael Oduor

M A RT T I A H T I S A A R I I N S T I T U T E O F G L O B A L B U S I N E S S A N D E C O N O M I C S

RESEARCHER PROFILE: MINNA MÄLÄSKÄ You are part of the SHARP research group. What is your role in SHARP? I’m one of the doctoral students (of the Martti Ahtisaari Institute) and my main job is to finish my doctoral thesis and to contribute to the group’s research and other activities like organising this seminar. My study is about corporate branding in the B2B context and I’m now seriously concentrating on finishing my doctoral thesis. Some of my previous studies have related to digital marketing and, while writing this thesis, some follow-up study ideas have come up. As a research group, we try to be active in social media and we all write blogs. To sum up, I want to be an active member of SHARP and, personally and as a group member, to take our research work further.

What kind of corporate cooperation do you carry out?

Mostly we carry out corporate cooperation through Tekes. We take part in these research projects and normally there are project corporate partners included.

With them, we then try to find a research subject that interests all parties, both academically and theoretically.

In principal, the research institutes determine the subject and they then try to find suitable companies interested in the theme. After finding a partner(s), the search for common interests starts and active communication is carried out. The target is to benefit both sides.

What are the rising trends in the business sector of Oulu?

Technology know-how is still strong in the Oulu region.

Personally I’m very excited that entrepreneurship and start-up culture are on the rise in Finland and there is a lot of excitement in this area.With regard to research it is very interesting, especially in terms of brand research.

In the Oulu region, health and security studies are also very important as well as developing services around them. In the future, digitalising and theologising will also become increasingly important in terms of making compact solutions and making processes more efficient.

For this, not only technical know-how is important but also marketing expertise to combine customer needs and to make technology more compatible for customers and users. Then there is of course social media, which will also continue to be trendy. To sum up, people need to cooperate more and be able to see context in a wider context to make the best solutions possible.

Lastly, the last MarttiAhtisaari Institute research seminar of 2014 was on Wednesday 10 December, where corporate branding was discussed from different viewpoints. The keynote “Making and Breaking Silos: Understanding how mindsets hinder brand orientation” was given by Associate Professor Richard Gyrd-Jones

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It is crucial for service providers to understand how to co-create real value for individuals in order to create longer relationships with them and to find new business oppor tunities. from Copenhagen Business School. You gave the second presentation focusing on your PhD research: “Employing Stakeholder Relationships in B2B SME Corporate Branding”. How do you think the seminar succeeded?

The seminar met my expectations and we were happy with the large number of company participants.

According to Marja Aro, this was a record for MAI seminars. There were participants from different backgrounds, about half were from the university (students, faculty staff) and about half from outside (corporate people). The subject seems to be of interest.

The event was very interactive and many stayed behind after the seminar to chat, indicating that people found the theme fascinating.

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ALUMNI – C O M B I N I N G B U S I N E S S PROFESSIONALS,STUDENTS A N D F A C U LT Y The primary aim of our alumni activities is to substantially improve cooperation with alumni and their employers, and their influence on teachers, students and researchers. For students, teachers and researchers, the University of Oulu alumni are a significant and important link to the continuously changing business environment. Close cooperation with alumni also prompts ideas for master’s theses and improves the recruitment prospects of graduates.

Oulu Business School has the most significant alumni network of all the faculties at the University of Oulu. The increase in the alumni network has been impressive since 2008. OBS has produced almost 1,500 graduates since its foundation, about 490 of whom are currently active members of the alumni network. Our aim is to further expand that alumni network.

ALUMNI EVENT Executive MBA Oulu celebrated its 25th anniversary.The 25th anniversary of the executive MBA programme was held on Monday, 9 June in

For students, teachers and researchers, the University of Oulu alumni are a significant and impor tant link to the continuously changing business environment.

Saalastinsali lecture hall at the University of Oulu. In the same context, an alumni gathering of business school graduates was organized.

Rector Lauri Lajunen welcomed everybody with greetings from the University, and Unit Director Juha Honkatukia from National Economic Research Center gave a speech concerning the

Career Event 11th December: (L-R) Timo Huotari (Kaleva), Kirsi Jokikokko (Taminco Finland),

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business community. The alumni greeting was made by Jaana Karjalainen eMBA, Ph.D, M.D. from Pharmatory Oy. Professor Heikki Karjaluoto Ph.D. from the University of Jyväskylä received a “Trainer of the Year Award”. His field of teaching is marketing. Mari Kursukangas, EMBA programme, and Sebastian Mohr, International Fulltime MBA programme, were honored as the best in their classes.

13 Executive MBA and 7 Full-time MBA diplomas and 12 certificates from other business management training programmes for graduates were also awarded at the event.

Nearly 200 students attended the alumni career event to discuss career planning and hear advice from the panelists.

CAREER EVENT 11TH DECEMBER ALUMNI PANELISTS: Timo Huotari (Kaleva) Kirsi Jokikokko (Taminco Finland) Hanna-Kaisa Junes (Danske Bank) Tarmo Kokkola (Arina)

Hanna-Kaisa Junes (Danske Bank) and Tarmo Kokkola (Arina).

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RESEARCH AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL Oulu Business School produces high-quality and topical research knowledge both for the needs of business life and society at large. Internationally recognized and esteemed research is considered a fundamental basis of the high-quality economics and business education offered by Oulu Business School.

Research is conducted in the areas of Accounting, Economics, Finance, Logistics, International Business, Management and Marketing.

The main research focus areas of the school are: 1) “Sustainable and Efficient Economic Development and Business,” 2) “Corporate Governance in Accounting and Financing Context,” and 3) “The Complexities of Organizational Activities and Business Networks in International Context”.

These topics reflect the fields of expertise of our researchers, and are also related to the themes of the Martti Ahtisaari Institute’s research projects.

Oulu Business School produces international level research in all main business subjects. All five departments produce papers sought after by highquality international journals.

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IN 2014, MEMBERS OF THE OBS FACULTY PUBLISHED IN MANY SCHOLARLY JOURNALS INCLUDING: Australian Journal of Management Barents Studies: Peoples, Economies and Politics Biological Conservation Corporate Communications Drugs and Alcohol Today European Accounting Review European Journal of International Management Forest Policy and Economics IEEE Wireless Communication Magazine Industrial Marketing Management Interdisciplinary Studies Journal International Journal of Innovation Management International Journal of Management Reviews Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing Journal of Business Models Journal of Business Research Journal of Energy Journal of Environmental Management Journal of Forest Economics Journal of International Entrepreneurship Journal of Organizational Change Management Journal of Service Management Journal of Services Marketing Kansantaloudellinen aikakauskirja Management Decision Qualitative Market Research: an International Journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling Review of Accounting Studies Technovation

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MANAGEMENT & INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

COMPANION aims to improve the understanding of complex and challenging organizational activities and processes by asking thought provoking questions and challenging current views.

The research of the Department of Management and International Business is organized through the multidisciplinary research community (RC) of COMPANION, which includes researchers from international business, management and marketing. COMPANION aims to improve the understanding of complex and challenging organizational activities and processes by asking thought provoking questions and challenging current views.

Explanation building will emphasize contextuality and temporality and result in revealing causal mechanisms that explain the dynamics of organizational phenomena.The current conceptual understanding will be refined with new frameworks. Ontologically, the research primarily applies critical realism or social constructivism and epistemologically abductive research designs and processual methodologies.The RC views dynamics as created in the interaction of structure and process, and the interplay of individual agency and social structure are important elements of developments over time.

The research applies theoretical approaches from several disciplines to connect multiple partial explanations into a holistic view of the complexities of organizational activities.

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ECONOMICS Recent research at the Department of Economics focuses on environmental and energy economics, regional economics, long-run macrodynamics and decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. Heterogeneity is one current research topic very much on the agenda in all the research fields.This interest is based on theoretical breakthroughs, computational and methodological development and data availability. Methodological breakthroughs have made it possible to move from aggregate data to genuine individual and agentbased models and calculations. At the same time, the availability of micro data has increased markedly.

This development has opened new avenues including heterogeneity in research.

not properly taken into account. We also study the heterogeneity of the power system, especially as it relates to intermittent energy sources like wind and sun. In our regional economic development research, we focus on the role of innovations and diversity in regional economic growth. In macrodynamics, the emphasis has been on overlapping generational models applied to the issues of social security and renewable natural resources. Our economic decisionmaking research is based in a novel way on combining genuine economic risk-taking data with medical and psychological data received from the North-Finland Birth Cohort research project.

Heterogeneity is one current research topic very much on the agenda in all the research fields.

Recent years have seen an increasing demand for high-quality governance mechanisms in corporations covering financial reporting, management control, auditing, and executive compensation. Therefore, research activity at the Department of Accounting covers the design of these broadly defined governance mechanisms. Recent research explores how such governance mechanisms can be designed in a sustainable manner to meet the challenges of the current business environment. Moreover, this question is addressed in the context of public organizations.

The exploration of governance mechanisms covers both financial and management accounting points of view, and so approaches the issue of how to develop effective corporate governance mechanisms in private and public organizations from different angles.

In environmental economics, the main research themes of the department relate to attitudes towards environmental goods, and combining economic and biological factors in natural resource management. In our energy studies, we have shown how heterogeneity in utilities’ endowments makes it very possible that the wrong policy choices will be made, if that fact is

ACCOUNTING

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Recent research explores how such governance mechanisms can be designed in a sustainable manner to meet the challenges of the current business environment.

More specific research topics at the Department of Accounting include the effects of the personal attributes and traits of top executives, auditors and other corporate insiders on the accounting and financial decisions of the firms they are leading; the use of external environmental reporting information on corporate decision-making; the impact of cost management techniques on public sector governance; the transfer of management accounting from the private sector to the public sector; and the relationship between steering systems/IT infrastructure and management accounting.

MARKETING Research in marketing at the Oulu Business School has three focal areas. The first area is industrial marketing, especially business-to-business relationships and value-creating networks. The second area is electronic business, and has digital marketing, social media, and mobile commerce as its central research themes. The third area is logistics and supply chain management, specific areas of interest being logistics services and outsourcing. Services and service business

management is a cross-cutting theme that is explored in a multidisciplinary group, SHARP (Sensing and Shaping Service Business Relationships), selected as one of the Martti Ahtisaari Institute’s Research Groups for 2013–2015.

The research is being carried out in close cooperation with the business community and public organizations.

Active collaboration with national and international academic partners is being fostered in research projects, many of which are supported by external funding organizations such as the Academy of Finland and Tekes (the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation).

The goal is to produce high-level academic research of an international standard that is published in refereed international journals.

The Tekes-funded project Terveet tukipalvelut (Healthy Support Services) started at the beginning of 2014.

During the first year, researchers from different disciplines have focused on, among other things, value creation of logistics support services in healthcare, cost accounting in the care chain, the geographical locations of service centers and the division of labor between care

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personnel and support service personnel. Researchers have been collaborating with the hospital districts of Northern Ostrobothnia and Lapland, the City of Oulu and Posti (The biggest postal operator in Finland). As well as contributing to knowledge in different fields, the four work packages aim to give practical input into discussion about managing support services in over a wide area.

The Tekes-funded project Terveet tukipalvelut (Healthy Suppor t Services) star ted at the beginning of 2014.

FINANCE The discipline of Finance at the Oulu Business School educates professionals to meet the growing needs of the finance sector. The education is based on the latest research evidence covering all the most important financial branches with an emphasis on asset allocation, delegated portfolio management and behavioral finance. All topics are covered from an international perspective without neglecting the special features of our domestic economy. The approach ensures the relevance of our education for the domestic labour market as well as equipping our graduates to operate in an international business environment.

F I G S I B D O C TO R A L TUTORIAL 2014 31 Doctoral students, 24 commentators, 96 performances and 2 keynote speeches in 2 days.This is FIGSIB Doctoral Tutorial 2014.

Oulu Business School’s hallway was taken over by participants from six universities: Aalto University, Lappeenranta University of Technology, the University of Oulu, the University of Vaasa, the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi and by different country backgrounds. There were more than 15 nationalities present.

The programme started with welcoming words from the main organizer and the chair of the event Professor Tuija Mainela from the University of Oulu Business School. The other conference faculty members were Professor Pia Hurmelinna-Laukkanen and Professor Vesa Puhakka from the University of Oulu Business School and the Director of FIGSIB, Professor Jorma Larimo from the University of Vaasa.

Professor Mainela was followed by keynote speaker Professor Jan-Erik Vahlne from the University of Gothenburg. Professor Vahlne emphasized the fact that Business Schools are known to be good at teaching but we should do better in research. We need to have more work relevant but theoretical studies. We must create more theories that are useful for the companies.

After this welcoming session, the main programme started – the research proposal seminars. Based on the papers and their oral presentations, the students received advice and suggestions from two senior researchers both orally and in writing.Valuable comments were also given by peer students and the audience.

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COMMENTS:

Professor Vahlne emphasized the fact that Business Schools are known to be good at teaching but we should do better in research.

The daytime programme was continued with a lovely dinner at Tuba where participants were served a Christmas-themed dinner. The day was done and the atmosphere was relaxed.

Like the first day, the second day started with a keynote speech.This time the theme was International Entrepreneurship research in Finland: Past, present and future. The speech was given by Professor Niina Nummela from Turku University. Professor Nummela pointed out that the role of Finnish researchers in the emergence of the field has not been assessed before and, in the future, collaborative effort is required, meaning that the strengths are theory development and methodological competence. Nummela encouraged people to “go outside the box”.

The day continued with student presentations, and ended at 14:45, leaving everyone in a good mindset to continue with their research with new ideas and improvements.

Commentator from University of Vaasa (Pakistan) “The sessions are all different and the commentators are very good and have put lots of effort into this.”

Organizer and doctoral student Irene (Finland) ”Commentators were well prepared and really here to help us students.”

Doctoral student, Aalto University Elana (Germany) “So many different ways people go researching international business by still covering one area we are interested in.”

Doctoral student Anton (Kazakstan) “Communication inside the IB community is really important.”

Keynote speaker Jan-Erik (Sweden) “I’m in fact impressed by Finnish tutorial students, they are doing very well.”

Director of FIGSIB Jorma (Finland) ”The atmosphere has been very positive and there is nothing to complain about the food.”

Doctoral student Jhonatan (New Zealand) “This event has surpassed my expectations” Professor Kristiina (Finland) ”It is great to follow people’s development and the level has been very high among students.”

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HUMOR IN BUSINESS -SEMINAR 6.11.2014 November’s most bracing event brought about 80 business people to Oulu Business Kitchen.

The seminar was directed to anyone interested in using humor in developing businesses in their organizations. The event started right away with touch of humor: The event was hosted by Päivi Kuuva, a stand-up comedian and work well-being coach.

The seminar was directed to anyone interested in using humor in developing businesses in their organizations.

Juha Vidgrén Chairman of the board of Ponsse discussed the visibility of humor in the corporate culture and history of Ponsse. For example friendliness and fair play are a part of Ponsse’s mission.

The seminar was funded by Liikesivistysrahasto and Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics and organized by Oulu Business School and Oulu University of Applied Sciences.

Professor, consultant and researcher Liisa Välikangas from Aalto University and Svenska Handelshögskolan talked about fools, leadership and innovation. She pointed out that fools have been the most important counselors for monarchs’ trough time because they had the liberty of speech to criticize those in power. They have worked as mirrors. She asked: who are the present day’s jesters or are there any?

At the end of the seminar, Principal lecturer Taina Vuorela and doctoral student Eeva-Liisa Oikarinen presented the HURMOS-project: Developing Humor as a Strategic Tool for Creating Innovative Business, and extended an invitation for companies to join in on the project. The project later received funding from Tekes (The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation).

RESEARCH IN GLOBAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

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RESEARCH IN GLOBAL BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS Four research groups in global business and economics operate within at the Martti Ahtisaari Institute for the period 2013–2015.

OULU ADVANCED RESEARCH ON SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (OASIS) The Oulu Advanced Research on Software and Information Systems research group studies how software and information systems, in particular web-based services, can best serve people and organizations performing knowledge work and other similar activities.

The research activities in the group will focus on four research areas: (1) service design, (2) customer engagement, (3) social web innovation, and (4) the next generation of the web. Thus, the research emphasizes user behaviours, in particular consumer behaviour in modern business contexts; technologically, the group emphasizes the role

of the social network. Professor Harri OinasKukkonen acts as Project Leader.

team as Abdul Kareem Mohamed Ashraf defended his thesis.

SENSING AND SHAPING SERVICE BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS (SHARP)

During 2014, the SHARP research group invested heavily in applying external funding to create research opportunities for the team members.

For example, three Tekes-funded research projects were started. As a part of the Digital Health Revolution project, our research team is examining the value creation and market shaping future digital health services. Similarly, the ReDO (Redefining Digital Opportunities) project aims to grasp the future digital services and value creation around financial services. These two research projects strengthen the research team’s

The SHARP (Sensing and Shaping Service Business Relationships) research group aims to advance theoretical understanding and managerial knowledge of the area of business services.To contribute to the field of services business, in 2014 our researchers were involved in producing 12 accepted scientific Journal articles and numerous conference papers.

We were also proud to witness the first PhD graduating under the supervision of our research

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contribution, especially in the area of digitalization and its impact on businesses and markets. SHARP researchers are also involved in the BRIIF (Bridging International Fore-Runners) project in which our focus is on the innovation capability of the public procurement. The research projects connect our researchers nationally and internationally to several different research institutions, businesses and public organizations and enable us to have a real impact on the surrounding society at multiple levels. In 2014, we also gained a research grant from the Foundation for Economic Education, which further strengthened our research activities during 2014. We look forward to producing new knowledge through our research projects, knowledge that has an impact on both theory and practice.

The SHARP research group invested heavily in applying external funding to create research oppor tunities for the team members.

SUSTAINABLE AND EFFICIENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (SEED) The project looks at the basic principles of and opportunities for sustainable and efficient economic development in three topics.These are energy markets, regional development, and sound economic pathways for developing countries.

Sustainability has many dimensions and definitions, but current economic development clearly emphasizes the role of economic dimensions in sustainable development. Unless economic processes are based on sound and cost-effective principles, sustainability is not viable in terms of the other dimensions. Professor Rauli Svento acts as Project leader.

SUSTAINABLE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Sustainable Corporate Governance investigates how the personal characteristics of board members, CEOs (Chief Executive Officers), CFOs (Chief Financial Officers) and other top corporate insiders affect the two key decisions on stock-based executive compensation, that is, the design of their stock-based compensation schemes, and the subsequent insider trading of those stocks.

In particular, sustainable corporate governance explores whether insiders with certain personal characteristics opportunistically seek personal gain first by influencing the terms of their stock-based compensation systems, and then by timing their trading on the stocks they have received from those compensation systems.

Sustainable Corporate Governance contributes to the literature by conducting groundbreaking research on how corporate insiders´ personal traits measured using high-quality metrics explain insider trading behavior and the design of stock-based executive compensation systems. The results will moreover be useful for firms and regulatory bodies in developing corporate legislation and corporate governance codes. Professor Juha-Pekka Kallunki acts as Project leader.

Sustainable Corporate Governance uses the high-quality metrics to explain insider trading behavior and the design of stock-based executive compensation systems.

S P I N - O F F E N T E R P R I S E Q U U M I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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Sometimes, when chance leads to the right people being in the right place at the same time, a success story is born.

The story of QUUM started in 2008 when Petri Ahokangas was asked to build a new international business major for Oulu Business School. Petri assembled a group of pioneers and international business experts to develop the required programme. Besides education and research, Oulu Business School also cooperates with local business managers to develop existing business and to start new business.

This was also the way the new unit of International Business at Oulu Business School operated. While lecturing as a visiting expert in Northern Savonia, Petri’s unit was invited to join a local business development project. The task was to develop and strengthen the international business competences of local enterprises. Petri’s earlier experience in international business had clearly shown that traditional consulting work with personal interviews does not work well enough for fast international business development.

Typically traditional consulting consumes a lot of time when trying to find crucial development points, and provides little practical results.There had to be a better way.

KUVA: NIKO RAAPPANA, STUDIO P.S.V.

SPIN-OFF ENTERPRISE QUUM INTERNATIONAL

At the same time Sauli Pajari, Lauri Haapanen, Marjut Uusitalo, and Pertti Paakkolanvaara joined the unit.

Together they had a unique combination of experience in sales management, business management, process management and development, personnel management, quality system development, product management, and maturity models in software development. The synthesis between the extensive practical experience and the latest academic research in international business resulted in the first draft of QUAM. It was called IBAM®, International Business Assessment Model.

The IBAM model has been used since 2009 and its success exceeded the expectations of its developers.

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Oulu Business School also cooperates with local business managers to develop existing business and to star t new business.

The IBAM model has been used since 2009 and its success exceeded the expectations of its developers. Both the enterprises and the consultants and experts that have used the model have given very positive feedback. The positive reaction led to the decision to establish a company with the University of Oulu and to modernize and update the model. The name of the company is Quum, which is Latin, meaning ‘’along with’’ or to ‘’be with’’ which is both a good description for the company and the tool.

The model modernization and update became very significant and required much more work than anticipated, so the model received a new name: QUAM - Quadratic Assessment Model. Quam is also Latin and means ‘’how’’.

BUSINESS KITCHEN BUSINESS KITCHEN is the university entrepreneurship hub in the center of Oulu where anyone can come to develop their ideas or business with the support of a local and global network. Business Kitchen was established in 2012

by Oulu Business School and the Martti Ahtisaari Institute at the University of Oulu, together with Oulu University of Applied Sciences.

As an open innovative space, Business Kitchen offers working and co-location space for students and entrepreneurs in the heart of Oulu.

Several events, training sessions and collaborative networks are employed to strengthen the entrepreneurial orientation among students and to offer business development support to entrepreneurs. Business Kitchen is home to several organizations and services that promote entrepreneurship. Demola Oulu, an international innovation platform, facilitates multidisciplinary student teams that co-create innovative solutions for companies. In addition, OuluSES is a student-run entrepreneurship society that plays an active role in the Business Kitchen promoting entrepreneurship by organizing events, workshops, and competitions.

The aim of Business Kitchen is to act as a hub between universities and companies in the Oulu region. In line with the overall strategy, universities can offer their expertise and networks to support local companies and benefit from incorporating new-found knowledge of the reality of working life and its networks into their study programmes.

Business Kitchen is an important part of the Oulu Innovation Alliance collaboration, where the shared goal is to create the best ecosystem for growth-oriented SMEs to prosper in a lively research and innovation community.

Business Kitchen offers working and colocation space for students and entrepreneurs in the hear t of Oulu.

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BUSINESS KITCHEN’S NOTABLE EVENTS FROM 2014 EVENTS: POLAR BEAR PITCHING Business Kitchen arranges numerous events annually, and the most notable is Polar Bear Pitching. The coldest stage with the hottest spotlight for entrepreneurs is in Oulu, in the form of the Polar Bear Pitching event. On February 7, 2014, 27 entrepreneurs entered the ice-cold waters of Finland to pitch to investors standing by the ice-hole with hundreds of people watching live, and thousands following the internet livestream video. The coldest stage did not just attract the startups, but several thick-skinned investors and public figures entered the ice hole as well and delivered their inspiring messages. Even the melodies of Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia were heard emerging from the ice hole. To keep the audience warm, warm-ups for audience in the form of folk-dancing were arranged. After the Polar Bear Pitching outdoor event was a party with hot food and inspiring speeches followed by networking for the entrepreneurs, investors, and the audience.

This new and exciting pitching event is a concept created by Business Kitchen staff and warmly embraced by the Midnight Pitch Fest NPO. Community collaboration being the hallmark of the Business Kitchen, the organizing team included the Oulu Student Entrepreneurship Society and several other start-up organizations in Oulu who together carried the event from an idea to a real success.

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The event garnered the attention of the world’s press, with ar ticles about Polar Bear Pitching and Oulu even being written in The Times, Guardian and Techcrunch; in total with over 120 media hits.

The event garnered the attention of the world’s press, with articles about Polar Bear Pitching and Oulu even being written in The Times, Guardian and Techcrunch; in total with over 120 media hits. Polar Bear Pitching is now known around the world, attracts entrepreneurs and investors to Oulu, and is helping market Oulubased companies to the world. This event is one the ways Business Kitchen is doing its part in building Oulu’s business community.

STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION Business Kitchen has been in close collaboration with several stakeholders during 2014. For instance, collaboration has been close with the U.S Embassy in Finland. Mr. Rodney Hunter, Political and Economic Chief at the Embassy, broke the ice for collaboration at Polar Bear Pitching and Ambassador Bruce Oreck met university students at Business Kitchen in May. Ambassador Oreck’s inspirational talk encouraged students to take the initiative, to courageously step out of the comfort zone, and to learn from mistakes instead of being afraid of them. In the fall of 2014, Business Kitchen helped organize the regional competition for the Ambassador’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (AEC). In AEC, teams of 2-5 secondary and upper secondary school students tackle real-life problems, issues, or market opportunities and create innovative solutions for real-

life needs. During the regional competition at Business Kitchen, each team delivered a short pitch followed by questions from a panel of expert judges. Regional champions took part in a workshop at the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki.The winning team travels to the United States in the summer of 2015 for the LEADership, Education and Development Summer immersion programme.

PROMOTING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET One of the main focuses of Business Kitchen is to promote entrepreneurial mindset. Thus, in the fall term of 2014, Business Kitchen piloted LivingIDEA workshops, a series of free workshops for entrepreneurs, companies, and people thinking about establishing a company. The workshops allowed the participants to look at their business ideas from a different perspective and create new twists for them.The workshops gave the participants insights into creating effective business models and teams.

In addition to the workshops,Business Kitchen contributed actively to pioneering multidisciplinary entrepreneurship studies offered by the Oulu Extension School. The staff of Business Kitchen sought inspiration from the world’s first business school, the triple accredited ESCP Paris, and piloted a course that employed a creative method to learn and experience entrepreneurship through art.

The intensive course culminated in an entrepreneurial art exhibition and networking event.

WRITERS IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT 2014:

Managing Editor: Pasi Karjalainen • Editorial Assistant: Tero Huhtala • Texts: Petri Sahlström, Sauli Sohlo, Marja Aro, Pauliina Ulkuniemi, Satu Nätti, Joona Lahti, Jan Hermes, Niklas Harki,Veikko Seppänen, Timo Koivumäki, Petri Ahokangas, Johanna Bluemink, Eemeli Väyrynen, Maria Ronkainen, Tero Huhtala • Interviews: Maria Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Minna Mäläskä • Photographs: Niklas Harki, Eemeli Väyrynen, Maria Ronkainen, Tero Huhtala, Juha Sarkkinen, Henri Luoma, Niko Raappana - Studio P.S.V. • Layout: Pakkahuone Oy.

Nordic Spirit – International Heart

OULU

BUSINESS SCHOOL