Oulu Business School Annual Report 2018

Oulu Business School

Annual Report 2018

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

2 3

WRITERS IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT 2018

4

Content

Oulu Business School

5

Managing Editor: Marja Alatalo | Texts: Marja Alatalo, Andrew Conlin, Anna-Maria Hietapelto, Laura Himanka, Sanna Huikari, Janne Järvinen, Kalle Kaisko, Antti Kauppila, Timo Koivumäki, Sonja Madetoja, Alexandra Middleton, Satu Nätti, Timo Pohjosenperä, Mikko Puhakka, Saila Saraniemi, Veikko Translation & Language Revision: AAC Global Oy | Cover: Mikko Törmänen | Photographs: Marja Alatalo, Rami Hanafi / Rami Hanafi Photography, Timo Heikkala / Studio Timo Heikkala Oy, Pirjo Jaukkuri, Studio Ilpo Okkonen Oy, Mauro Ruiz, Juha Sarkkinen / Studio Juha Sarkkinen, Mikko Törmänen / Mikko Törmänen Photography | Layout: Siberia

Cover picture: President Ahtisaari celebrated the 10th anniversary of Oulu Business School’s Martti Ahtisaari Institute in May 2018 at the Special Forum in the University of Oulu.

Nordic Spirit – International Heart

5

16

6

28

8

30

Oulu Business School

Milestones

A Word From the Dean

10

AACSB Accreditation

12

Management and Organization

13

Key Facts

Education

Exchange Studies

Finanssi – The Association of Oulu Business School Students

34

Research

48

Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics

Oulu Business School (OBS) at the University of Oulu is an 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 collaborates with local businesses and the larger society.

Our students can choose from diverse study programmes. 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 face future challenges.

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

Seppänen, Sauli Sohlo, Milka Väinämö |

Oulu Business School’s Important Milestones

6

7

Re-evaluation of AACSB Accreditation.

2018

Our Vision

2014

Renewal of the international Master’s programmes.

2015

Implementation of the University’s new strategy into the Business School plan.

2016

Decision on merging discipline-based departments into three research units.

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

Our Mission

2017

Name changed to Oulu Business School.

Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics established within Oulu Business School.

International Business degree program launched.

Degree program in Management and Organization launched.

Degree program in Logistics established.

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration established.

2010

2008

2007

2002

2001

2000

University of Oulu founded.

Professorship in Economics established.

First Bachelor of Social Science degree in Economics.

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

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

Associate Professorship in Marketing established.

1958

1959

1980

1984

1991

1992

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.

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

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

2013

Launch of the new Bachelor Programme.

PHOTO: RAMI HANAFI

2012

Oulu Business School to earn AACSB Accreditation.

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

Martti Ahtisaari International Doctoral Program launched

From the Dean

We have been continuously sharpening our research focus. Merging the previous five research units into three larger units at the beginning of the year will encourage our faculty to engage in further research collaboration in the future. Our current collaboration is being conducted with a range of partners, for example, with the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Oulu as well as other research institutions. International research collaboration continued in 2018, as well.

A few examples of this include the Business Index North project and participation in the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium.

Our efforts were acknowledged in many other ways, too. Times Higher Education ranked us among the top 250 business schools in the world based on the level of our education and research, as well as our international outlook and reputation. Our researchers received awards for their high-quality papers, and we succeeded in achieving external research funding as well as internal strategic funding within the University of Oulu. Cooperation and education around the theme of responsible business were developed further. An example of this is our participation in the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative.

I extend my thanks to our faculty, staff and students for their essential input to the activities of the Oulu Business School. The support of our alumni, friends and the surrounding community is crucial. Any success we achieve will belong to us all.

Mikko Puhakka Dean

A WORD FROM THE D E A N

The peer review team encouraged us to gain a stronger position within the University and to renew our strategy accordingly. We are in the process of renewing our mission, vision, and strategy. At the same time the University is also revising its own strategy. Indeed, we want to be a more ambitious business school especially in the international context. I see many exciting opportunities and opportunities for our school in the near future, and especially in the longer term. Many economic

In 2018 we did a stellar job in education. Our students continue to progress well in their studies, and our teaching methods are continuously being developed. We received a record number of applications for our international master’s programmes. In addition, the International Business Management programme was the most popular of all the international master’s programmes at the University of Oulu. We remained attractive also at the national level – the number of applications for our bachelor’s programme increased by 5 %.

9

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

In 2013 our school received AACSB accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). One of the highlights of the year was the Continuous Improvement Review (CIR) visit of the AACSB peer review team in November. The team recommended the extension of accreditation for the degree programmes in business offered by our school. The AACSB International Board of Directors ratified the extension in March 2019. Ratification is a testament to our efforts, and our ability to continuously improve our work.

and business opportunities will arise with a more international emphasis on the northern dimension.

A WORD FROM THE D E A N

During 2018 we continued our organisational restructuring efforts at the Oulu Business School.

We also adapted well to University level changes such as the recent move of the support functions for education.

8

SUMMER 2011 Eligibility

FALL 2011 Mentor appointed

FALL 2012 SAP (Standards Alignment Plan) submitted

FALL 2012 SAP accepted

WINTER 2012 PRT Chair appointed

SPRING 2013 SER (Self Evaluation Report) submitted

FALL 2013 PRT (Peer Review Team) visit

When you have a deadline for something, it always seems to come sooner than expected. When 2018 started, we knew that in the autumn term it was going to be 5 years since our last AACSB Accreditation review in 2013. We knew we had prepared ourselves well throughout the years. As part of the AACSB process, we had agreed in 2013, to focus on a number of continuous improvement objectives. These included further improvement of our research, internationalization of our student and faculty bodies, and further improvements in our assurance of learning practices. The efforts paid off with improvements in all areas. To take an example, in internationalization, the share of the international faculty grew from under 5% to nearly 20% over the five years, and the number of international M.Sc. students increased from 80 to nearly 120 in the same period. If you set your mind on specific targets, you can make a difference!

in research and education, through attracting OBS members to work together across discipline and unit boundaries. Great examples of this include the Globally Responsible Business course for our master’s students, and the interdisciplinary research initiatives within the Connected Health Consortium seeking new digital solutions and services in the health care and well-being sector. Ultimately, the increased interest in cross-sectoral cooperation has also led to the structural renewal of the school, now with three instead of the earlier five units.

But what we had not anticipated were the effects of accreditation and improvement efforts on our school culture – the way we do things at Oulu Business School. Accreditation has increased cooperation

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

NOVEMBER 2013 Oulu Business School granted AACSB International Accreditation

APRIL 2014 Official Recognition Ceremony at AACSB ICAM, Singapore

At the Oulu Business School we were originally the fourth school in the Nordic countries to be accredited by AACSB. Now we are one of the longest accredited, and the number of AACSB accredited schools has grown to 11 schools in the Nordics. We warmly welcome the new schools into the Nordic AACSB family!

SUMMER & FALL 2014 Work on continuous improvement objectives

YEAR 2015 Renewal of the International Master’s Programmes

YEAR 2016 Implementing New Faculty Qualifications Framework

YEAR 2017 Enhancing our Engagement, Innovation and Impact

FALL 2018 Peer Review Team Visit

A AC S B ACCREDITATION

SPRING 2010 Full member of AACSB

Getting AACSB Accredited – again!

11

PHOTO: STUDIO TIMO HEIKKALA OY

PHOTO: RAMI HANAFI

10

12

Oulu Business School Key Facts 2018 FINANCIAL DATA (in Euros)

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDING 2017

Budgetary state funding

6 036 454

2018

2018 75%

5 998 314

DEAN Council

Academy of Finland (5%) Tekes (4%)

2017 77%

Academy of Finland

551 947

7%

406 522

5%

Tekes

445 187

6%

303 310

4%

59 710

0,7%

49 261

1%

330 769

4%

87 120

1%

Foundation

9 153

0,1%

69 556

1%

Municipality

78 898

1%

56 130

1%

Other public

94 134

1%

53 711

1%

European Union Structural funds

Professor Janne Järvinen The Vice Dean for Education

SUPPORT Staff

Private companies

The following are chairs of their departments:

Business activities (MBA, eMBA)

Martti Ahtisaari Institute

Professor Veikko Seppänen Martti Ahtisaari Institute

Department of Economics, Accounting & Finance

Department of Marketing, Management & International Business

Research Groups and Educational Programmes: Energy Economics, Futuralis, Innovation Appropriability and Appropriation, SHARP, Sustainable Corporate Governance, EMBA, Master of Safety, Entrepreneurship Minor

Total funding

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

Professor Juha-Pekka Kallunki Department of Economics, Accounting and Finance Professor Vesa Puhakka Department of Marketing, Management and International Business

Other income

12 026

0,1%

21 600

0%

384 293

5%

463 100

6%

45 425

1%

325 061

4%

8 047 998

7 833 685

5 486 848

73%

5 637 312

74%

Other expenses

1 844 423

25%

1 749 566

23%

7 868

0,1%

7 868

0,1%

167 337

2%

188 695

2%

Total operating costs

Surplus/(deficit)

Foundation (1%) Municipality (1%) Other public (1%) Private companies (0%) Business activities (MBA, eMBA) (6%) Other income (4%)

2017

Budgetary state funding (75%) Academy of Finland (7%) Tekes (6%) European Union (0,7%) Structural funds (4%)

Staff expenses

Internal items

European Union (1%) Structural funds (1%)

75%

Operating costs

Depreciation

Budgetary state funding (77%)

77%

External funding

Professor Mikko Puhakka The Dean of Oulu Business School

13

7 506 476

7 583 441

541 522

250 244

Foundation (0%) Municipality (1%) Other public (1%) Private companies (0%) Business activities (MBA, eMBA) (5%) Other income (1%)

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL K E Y FAC T S

OBS Management in 2018

60 50 40 80

30

70

14

60

40

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

15

14

17

19

18

3080

Teaching and research

72

74

74

68

65

2070

Other

18

22

23

10

11

1060

Total

105

110

114

97

94

050

193

into Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Programmes

128

International Master’s Degree students

11

Doctoral students

3000

2018

Applications /accepted 2382/190 2643/190 2531/180

2692/180

2825/181

Finnish Master's Programmes (MSc)

201/30

55/10

65/11

93/10

51/12

International Master's Programmes (MSc)

435/67

730/111

738/115

477/103

1716/128

2000

10 4000 0

1000 2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Professors Teaching and research 2000 5000 Other

173

247

224

214

193

Master of Science

207

182

228

214

205

Doctor of Science

12

8

9

7

9

RESEARCH* ACTIVITIES

2015

2016

2017

2018

Scientific articles (refereed)

35

45

47

48

74

Other scientific publications (refereed)**

38

22

43

22

40

Activities in scientific publications***

45

55

50

43

36

Other publications

22

43

50

67

23

Scientific presentations

35

37

25

19

12

7

17

8

13

3

*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

0 3000 DEGREE DISTRIBUTION 2000 250

150

2017

100 250 50 200

2014

2015

100 Bachelor of Science Master of Science Doctor of Science 50

0

2018

2016

2017

2018

2018

50 Faculty of Humanities

189

14%

170

13%

Faculty of Education

200

15%

228

17%

Oulu Business School

214

16%

205

16%

0

Faculty of Science

113

8%

94

7%

Faculty of Technology

279

21%

230

17%

Faculty of Medicine

200

15%

248

19%

16

1%

21

2%

121

9%

119

9%

Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering Total

1 332

Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (9%)

Faculty of Humanities (13%)

Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (2%)

100

0

0 150

2017

150 DISTRIBUTION OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREES

1000 200

2014

2016

200

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL K E Y FAC T S

Bachelor of Science

2015

Applications 250

1000 4000

Degrees

2014

0

3000

Faculty of Medicine (19%)

Faculty of Education (17%)

Faculty of Technology (17%)

Oulu Business School (16%)

1315 Faculty of Science (7%)

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL K E Y FAC T S

2017

4592

2016

3262

2015

3334

2014

500020

3428

30

EDUCATION ACTIVITIES

Activities related to scientific conferences

NEW STUDENTS ADMITTED

4000

40

Bachelor's and Master's programmes (BSc + MSc)

STUDENTS IN 2018

5000

3018

Professors

10 0 APPLICATIONS TO BACHELOR’S AND MASTER’S PROGRAMMES

50 FACULTY & STAFF

FACULTY & STAFF

15

20

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

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

Our students continue to progress well in their studies

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

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.

PHOTO: RAMI HANAFI

Education

Education in Oulu Business School

17

A Message from the Vice Dean for Education Education at Oulu Business School advanced on many frontiers in 2018. This was most apparent in reforming our admissions as well as continuing our high emphasis on the quality of education.

DEGREE PROGRAM PORTFOLIO BACHELOR’S PROGRAMME

DOCTORAL PROGRAMME

Economics and Business

Accounting

Administration

Economics Finance

Accounting Economics Finance International Business Management Marketing

International Business Management Marketing

OTHER Entrepreneurship Minor Business Law Minor

MBA & EXECUTIVE EDUCATION Executive MBA

PHOTO: RAMI HANAFI

Client Specific Executive Education Programmes

National online business minor studies module LITO

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

MASTER’S PROGRAMMES

Business studies have been at the forefront of higher education admissions reform in Finland, and last year the reforms were fully in force. This meant that the majority of students were admitted solely on the basis of their matriculation examination, and the entrance exam was based on the contents of high school courses. In the future, our admissions will expand to encompass an open university, which will offer a way for those students who may have just missed the admission threshold but who are motivated enough to undertake basic business courses and complete them successfully.

In 2018, our application pressure remained strong. This was markedly so in applications to our international master’s programmes, where almost 1,700 applicants from all over the world competed for the total of 80 places in accounting, economics, finance, international business management and marketing programmes. Our emphasis on international education was also evidenced in OBS being the most active faculty in both incoming and outgoing student exchanges.

As for our commitment to teaching excellence, 2018 was characterized by the renewal of our AACSB –accreditation. This was the time to check that the learning goals for all programmes and individual courses had been considered carefully, and that we were able to measure how well students learn what we expect them to. Likewise, we have reviewed our system for evaluating the quality of our teaching faculty, ensuring that the expertise of our teachers is constantly updated and developed.

This illustrates how the quality of higher education is a broad concept that entails many more things than student satisfaction – which also has remained at a very high level. It also illustrates how creating excellence in teaching is not a top-down process.

While systematic management practices can no doubt help to foster and nurture quality, at the end of the day a business school is as good as its students and faculty are. Here, the continued success of OBS’s year in 2018 was built on the success of our previous years. The hard work we did this year allows us to look forward to the future with optimism.

Janne Järvinen Vice Dean for Education

19

Creating excellence in teaching is not a top-down process E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

18

In an AACSB accredited business school like ours and in all of our programmes, we must be able to prove that real learning happens according to the learning goals defined. In our Bachelor’s Programme we have to ensure that our graduates have knowledge across a variety of business disciplines and that they demonstrate knowledge of different business processes and key functions of organization. They have to demonstrate analytical

Satu Nätti Oulu Business School Bachelor’s Programme Director

21

1st YEAR

2nd YEAR

COMPULSORY STUDIES, 15 ects.:

Continuous improvement is one of our core values and in the future, we consider it crucial to maintain and improve the high quality of our educational processes. This includes further development of pedagogical methods, programme management, student tutoring and digitalization in education, just to mention a few examples. Developing an everdeeper connection to local business life is one way to contribute to regional development, which is also part of our mission.

PHOTO: MIKKO TÖRMÄNEN

LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES 20 ects: • Finnish and Swedish, 9 ects • Foreign Language Studies, 11 ects

ONE MINOR SUBJECT, 25 ects.

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS STUDIES, 30 ects.: • • • • • •

Introductory Economics Contract and Company Law Principals of Marketing Organisations and Management Bookkeeping and Financial Reporting Financial Markets

3rd YEAR

ANALYTICAL SKILLS, 25 ects.:

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

PHOTO: RAMI HANAFI

thinking and oral and written communication skills appropriate to everyday business situations. In addition, we have given special emphasis to giving our students an understanding of the fundamentals of international business.

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

Our Bachelor’s Programme is a generalized, interdisciplinary programme that is based on a balance 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 communications studies. There is one optional minor included that can be, for example, in business law; mathematics and statistics; languages and communication skills; industrial engineering; or entrepreneurship, to mention but a few possibilities that our multi-disciplinary university has to offer to our students. After graduating from the generalized Bachelor’s Programme, students continue to the Master’s Programme with a chosen specialization.

20

BUSINESS PROCESSES, 30 ects.

• • • • • •

Strategic Management Practices in Marketing Financial Decisions Management Accounting Investment Decisions Company Project OR Intership

• • • • •

Finnish Economy and Economic Policy Distribution and Retail Management Monetary Economics Financial Statement Analysis Portfolio Theory

BACHELOR’S THESIS, 10 ects.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES, 25 ects.

• Global Economics • Internationalisation • Management Control • Managing Multinationals • Strategic Marketing Management

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Economics and Business Administration

Master of Science (MSc) in Economics and Business Administration

22

23

The Master’s Programme in F I N A N C E focuses on understanding the financial markets and financial market participants. The programme covers the core areas of finance, investment management, and corporate financial management, thus providing a strong foundation in the theoretical and empirical tools of modern finance. Students gain special insight into individual investor behaviour and alternative investments. The programme provides students with the skills and knowledge required to work in specialist and executive positions in the financial sector, as well as a good basis for further academic studies.

The Master’s Programme in I N T E R N AT I O N A L B U S I N E S S M A N AG E M E N T combines international business and management from the viewpoints of strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. The programme focuses on developing, managing and leading international businesses by combining various topics through a multidisciplinary approach. It emphasises an understanding of the complexities in international for-profit companies and non-profit organisations, their relationships, and wider business networks or economic areas. The aim is to provide students with the tools needed in managing, creating, and developing a variety of international organisations, including new ventures.

The primary focus in the Master’s Programme in M A R K E T I N G is on business-to-business relationships and networks. The programme offers a broad understanding of the interaction and processes between the organisations in business networks. Students develop expertise in fundamental marketing areas such as campaigns, branding, procurement and logistics, and digital marketing practices. The programme not only develops the professional capabilities necessary in customer and network relationship management but also the ability to apply scientific knowledge in the practice of marketing.

We educate experts for rapidly changing business challenges

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

The Master’s Programme in E C O N O M I C S offers expertise in a wide range of specialisations in economics. Rigorous theoretical and empirical studies in the programme incorporate the latest research. The studies are comprised of microand macroeconomics, quantitative methods and elective field specific courses, such as international macroeconomics, environmental economics, industrial organization and regional economics.

Students can also specialise in energy or finance related studies. The programme gives hands-on experience in developing economic models and using econometric methods to perform economic and financial analysis.

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

The Master’s Programme in Financial and Management AC C O U N T I N G concentrates on developing proficiency in the analysis of accounting information for the needs both of a company’s internal decision-making and of the investors.

The programme provides students with relevant expertise and core knowledge towards the adaption of an international financial reporting system and helps develop skills which match the growing need for management control and accounting for internationally operating firms. The programme also provides a solid foundation for further scientific research.

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

The Master’s Programmes in Business and Economics at the Oulu Business School educates experts for rapidly changing and internationalising business challenges. The students specialise in economics, finance, accounting, international business management, or marketing.

Learning Service Design in Theory and Practice

Students familiarised themselves with academic research as well as with practical examples of design thinking and service design, with the help of experts. In addition, they conducted service design projects for case companies.

Our service concept is based on customisation and ease. The price of the trip includes bus transportation and accommodation. In addition, participants can pick activities such as a visit to a husky farm or a cooking class in a Laplander’s hut, to customize the trip according to their tastes.

The weekend exceeded our expectations and the most important feedback was the joy of the participants and the numerous thanks we received.

We have many new ideas and development areas in mind for the upcoming trips.

One of the companies was OTP Travel, for which OBS students Sonja Madetoja and Laura Himanka planned and implemented a new service concept – a winter adventure for international students.

The project was a valuable learning experience as we were able to create a brand from the beginning and to test the concept in practice. In our opinion, this was an excellent example of what universitycompany collaboration can be at its best,” Sonja and Laura describe.

“On the way back to Oulu after the first trip, we looked at each other in disbelief. Countless hours of work, meetings, planning, marketing and so on

Marja Alatalo, Oulu Business School Sonja Madetoja, student Laura Himanka, student

25

This is universitycompany cooperation at its best E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

“There’s a huge demand for service design courses,” said Kristiina Nurmenniemi, one of the course instructors and a service design expert.

“Companies are investing more and more inservice design in order to improve their customer experience and this trend is here to stay.”

had finally paid off when we took 65 international students to spend a winter weekend in the beautiful scenery of Syöte in collaboration with OTP Travel.

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

Oulu Business School’s department of Marketing, Management and International Business organised a summer course on service design in summer 2018.

The course received an enthusiastic reception from students as well as from service design experts.

24

Public-private Partnership – Regional Reform

In 2018 national reforms to social and healthcare as well as regional and municipal administrations were on the agenda of the Finnish government and regional authorities. The media coverage of the subject has been extensive and the pressure to plan and carry out the reforms has also been substantial.

A task force at the Ministry of Finance targeted some actions and funds to enhance the awareness of regional authorities and personnel to better face the challenges which will be brought by the reforms and the requirements to carry out planning and implementation of the reforms. Some measures have channelled through five business schools covering the whole country to train regional personnel in planning and adjusting to the new public-private ecosystem, in which services provision will be open to actors from both sectors, including new actors.

At OBS Executive Education measures were taken to provide a full ten-day pilot programme targeted at key personnel in regional authorities from the northern regions of Finland, covering five districts and the area from the furthest regions in Lapland to Ostrobothnia on the Finnish coastline. The pilot programme was discussed and planned by the selected business schools and the planning was conducted and monitored by a task force.

All in all, twenty-five key persons attended the pilot programme offered by OBS Executive Education, representing the districts of Lapland, Kainuu, Northern Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia and Ostrobothnia. The themes included strategy work, customer experience, building competitive advantage, ecosystems and new models of business, management systems, and managing profitability, renewal and leadership.

The co-creation and planning of the pilot programme was an interesting effort. It was clearly the first time that several business schools set up a joint executive education programme together. The learning outcomes and the module structure were set to be identical in all five regional programmes, but running the actual pilots was given to the business schools themselves. This meant that the teachers in all five programmes were different, but the contents and the structure throughout the programmes were agreed to be similar.

27

The pilot programme helped key regional personnel to understand the new reform structures and opportunities for co-operation in public-private partnerships and across sectors. The programme shone further light on operating in the new ecosystems of the service providers, in which the actors differ from the past.

Antti Kauppila Programme Director Executive Education

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

26

Oulu Business School’s Exchange Students 30

University of Saskatchewan

25

University of North Dakota

20 15 10

Regis University

5 35

Outgoing students

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

STUDENT EXCHANGES TREND 25

Monterrey Tech

150 15 10 120

Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration

5 90 0 60

2014

2015

2016

2017

Northumbria University

2018

* statistics do not include short exchange periods (less than 3 months) from China (63 students in 2017 and 142 students in 2018)

University of Groningen

University of Limerick University of Liège

San Ignacio de Loyola University

EXCHANGE FROM OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL 20 0

Grenoble Ecole de Management Kedge Business School

15

Toulouse Business School

Warsaw School of Economics

Udayana University

University of Padova, 'Il Bo'

Montpellier Business School University of Siena

University Viña del Mar 5

5

120

Nicolaus Copernicus University

Goethe University Frankfurt University of University of Economics, Prague (VSE) Kaiserslautern Normandy Business School Pforzheim University Masaryk University University of University of Stuttgart University of East Paris Créteil Val de Marne Strasbourg The University of Passau ESC Rennes School of Business Group ESC Troyes Technical University of Munich University of Tübingen University of Nantes University of Graz University of Bergamo University of Ljubljana University of Pécs EMLYON Business School

10

150

University of Münster RWTH Aachen

The Catholic University of Lille

0

15

University of Southern Denmark, Odense

0

University of Porto

Autonomous University of Madrid King Juan Carlos University

University of Canberra RMIT University

OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL’S E XC H A N G E S T U D E N T S

0 120

20

0

Stockholm University

Jiangsu University Shanghai University University of Shanghai for Science and Technology Zhejiang University City College Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics Central South University Feng Chia University Jinan University Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Baptist University Hainan University The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

30 150

5

10

Keio University Yokohama National University Yokohama City University

Linköping University University of Gothenburg

10

25

Dalian University of Technology

Zhongnan University of Economics and Law Yangtze Southwest Jiaotong University University University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Southwest University

Umeå University

30

30

Beihang University

University of North Carolina at Wilmington

60 15

35

Outgoing and incoming students

State University of New York at Albany Pittsburg State University Washington College

20

90 20

EXCHANGE TO OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

Incoming students

Lakehead University

East Tennessee State University

0 30

The University of Oulu and Oulu Business School offer many different study opportunities for foreign exchange students. Within Europe, Oulu Business School has around 50 partner universities in the Erasmus exchange program and several partners outside Europe with bilateral exchange agreements. In addition, the University of Oulu offers business students many other options for study exchanges all over the world, via university level exchange agreements.

Different exchange programs and agreements allow for exchange periods of varying duration.

29

Financial University, Moscow

35

Finanssi ry 2018 – Reboot

30

31

FINANSSI KEY FACTS •

Over 1600 MEMBERS currently

•

Almost 200 new members every year

•

12 people on the board

Kalle Kaisko Chairman of the Board 2018

•

9 committees

•

Finanssi’s PRIVATE COMPANY FIXINDEX was established in 2014

•

Delivers four issues and hundreds of copies of guild

•

INTERDISCIPLINARY PARTY: 6 times a year

MAGAZINE EGONOMI a year involving thousands of students from Oulu •

Organizes a huge 1ST OF MAY EVENT for over 500 university students

•

Organises 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

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

In conclusion, Finanssi took important steps in 2018 towards our long-term goal of what we aim to be in

•

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

In 2018, Finanssi and the Oulu Business School continued the great collaboration that has benefited both parties over the years. In February, the traditional excursion to Helsinki took place and 40 students were able to connect classroom theory to real work, to meet Oulu Business School graduates and obtain first-hand knowledge of working life.

Together with Oulun Ekonomit and OBS, the Nordic Spirit Forum was organised for the first time. The event was a success as we heard intriguing stories from professionals facing the problems of rapidly evolving business environment. During the autumn, Finanssi and OBS organised the Kauppatietelijän Urapolut event, where we had the great opportunity to hear four career stories from OBS alumni. Finanssi was also pleased offer its help to OBS in the late autumn when the AACSB Peer Review Team paid their first visit after the accreditation back in 2013.

October 2018

2020 - Oulu’s most booming student organisation with a professional touch, a solid financial situation and to focus sturdily in the future.

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

The starting point for 2018 was interesting because no member of the new board of Finanssi had any previous experience of board work, which has not happened in a while. But we didn’t let the lack of experience hold us down and quickly embraced a questioning attitude, trying and eventually succeeding in cutting down impractical habits and implementing new ways of doing things. Master’s and international students played a big role in 2018 for Finanssi, for example, with the increasing number of events for master’s students and

investment in Kummi training. Developing Finanssi’s communication was an important goal for 2018, too, and after the year it is easy to say that our communication has never been as professional as it is today.

PHOTO: MAURO RUIZ

Finanssi ry is the student organization for Oulu Business School students. The organisation was founded in 1991 when the business school programme began at the University of Oulu, and today, the association has over 1,650 members.

The organisation, also referred to as the ‘guild’, can be recognised by its very own purple colour, which adorns the guild’s ribbon and the members’ overalls.

Finanssi’s purple colour originates from the era of the Finnish markka. The banknote with the highest face value in the history of the Finnish markka was purple.

Finanssi plays a major role in the life of its members, whether it is supervising the interests in educational matters or organising those unforgettable student events.

FOUNDED 1991: celebrated its 27th anniversary in

The Oulu Business School and the student association Finanssi together organise annual events aimed at highlighting the wide variety of career opportunities for business school graduates and to strengthen alumni relationships. The Nordic Spirit Forum and Alumni Career Paths events are good examples of this collaboration.

In September 2018, the Alumni Career Paths event focused on the early career stages of business school graduates. The event gathered a good number of students and staff at the main building at the University of Oulu.

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

Speaking about the first steps of their careers were marketing alumni Aino Toppi (OP Lab / OP Group) and Tuuli Turunen (Coca-Cola Finland), economics alumnus Sami Väänänen (Investment Intelligence), and management alumnus Niklas Harki (Lidl Suomi).

They all had a flying start to their careers, but no two stories at the event were similar. The panellists emphasised that the MSc degree in itself does not determine a career path – even though having it will benefit you – but finding your own thing and having the courage to seize opportunities matter more.

The audience was particularly interested in how the knowledge and skills learned at the university matched the demands of working life. The panellists all agreed they had benefited from the skills gained during their studies – the skills learned at the university provide a good foundation for internalising and applying new knowledge. They also emphasised that studying does not end in getting the degree certificate but continues throughout life.

The theme of youth was also visible otherwise: Finanssi’s board member Elina Pakkanen was the main organiser of the seminar, and MSc student Ilona Huovinen moderated the discussion on stage.

From the faculty’s point of view, giving responsibility to students to organise events is only natural – they know best what students want and how to make the event interesting to them. It is a good opportunity for young people to gain experience and to build networks for the future. After a successful event, it is easy to praise cooperation with Finanssi, which works well from year to year.

Skills learned at the university provide a good foundation for the future

E D U C AT I O N IN OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

The Wide Variety of Alumni Career Paths

33

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

Recent years have seen an increasing demand for high-quality governance mechanisms in corporations covering financial reporting, management control, auditing, and executive compensation. Accounting research at the OBS covers the design of these broadly defined governance mechanisms.

Research in marketing at the OBS focuses primarily on business-to-business relationships and networks. It has three focal areas: industrial marketing, electronic business, and logistics and supply chain management.

The current research in economics at OBS focuses on environmental and energy economics, regional economics, social economics, long-run economic development, and decision-making under uncertainty.

Research in management and international business at the OBS has two primary research themes: organizational entrepreneurship with international, institutional and innovation focuses, and strategic practice with focus on organization and network level dynamics and discourses.

Finance research at the OBS focuses on two research areas: hedge funds and behavioral finance. In hedge fund research, the aim is to increase understanding of hedge funds’ role in financial system, whereas in behavioral finance research we add to the knowledge of investment decision-making.

OUR MAIN RESEARCH FOCI ARE: 1.

The effects of chief executive officers’, board members’ and auditors’ traits and other personal characteristics on various corporate outcomes of their firms.

2.

Organizational entrepreneurship and strategic practices.

3.

Sustainable and efficient economic development and business.

4.

Service business from the perspective of customer experience, value formation and service network orchestration.

5.

Business dynamics, models and ecosystems, responsible management.

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

Research

35

36

IN 2018, OBS FACULTY HAVE PUBLISHED IN A VARIETY OF SCHOLARLY JOURNALS • Journal of Product & Brand Management

• Accounting in Europe

• International Journal of Bank Marketing

• Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing

• Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

• International Journal of Business Innovation and Research

• Journal of Business Ethics

• Journal of Service Science Research

• International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management

• Journal of Business Research

• Computers in Human Behavior • Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) • Ecological Economics • Energy • Energy Economics • Energy Policy • Environmental and Resource Economics • European Accounting Review • European Journal of Marketing • Global change biology bioenergy • Health Marketing Quarterly

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

• Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries

• International Journal of Innovation in the Digital Economy • International Journal of Innovation Management

• Journal of Business Models • Journal of Business Venturing • Journal of Cooperative Organization and Management • Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management

• Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development

• Nordic Journal of Business

• International Journal of Management Education

• Journal of Financial Services Marketing

• Research on the Sociology of Organizations

• International Journal of Procurement Management

• Journal of Financial Stability

• Review of Accounting Studies

• Journal of Innovation Management

• Review of Income & Wealth

• International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development

• IEEE Power and Energy Magazine

• International Journal of Strategic Change Management

• IEEE Transactions on Power systems

• Journal Medical Internet Research

• Scandinavian Journal of Management • Small Business Economics

• Journal of Management Accounting Research

• Technology Analysis & Strategic Management

• Journal of Management Control

• The IMP Journal

• Journal of Population Economics

Eeva-Liisa Oikarinen, Marketing, Perspectives on humor in recruitment advertising on the Internet

• Marketing Intelligence & Planning • Public Management Review

• Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money

Marko T. Heikkinen, Marketing, Managing in R&D nets: roles, processes, benefits and challenges

• Journal of Technology in Human Services

• Journal of Financial Economics

• International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences

The following students of Oulu Business School successfully defended their dissertations in 2018:

• Tourism Management

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

• Advances in Consumer Research

Sanna Huikari, Economics, Empirical studies on economics of suicides and divorces Pauliina Pikkujämsä, Marketing, Place marketing and foreign direct investments in the changing ICT era

Irina Atkova, International Business, From opportunity to business model - an entrepreneurial action perspective

Anna Alapeteri, Marketing, The effects of using English as a business lingua franca on spoken brand co-creation communication – a discursive approach

Teck Ming Tan, Marketing, Humanizing brands: The investigation of brand favorability, brand betrayal, temporal focus, and temporal distance

Tuomo Haapalainen, Finance, Essays on the effects of past gains on subsequent risktaking and stock returns

Irene Tan, Accounting, Essays on the effects of investor protection and financial structure on firm decisions and outcomes

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

• Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change

PHOTO: JUHA SARKKINEN

• Industrial Marketing Management

37

PHOTO: O.W. KINNUNEN / STUDIO P.S.V.

• Academy of Management Learning & Education

OBS Doctoral Degree Programme

Fascinated by Economics

39

In view of the title of my doctoral thesis Empirical studies on the economics of divorces and suicides, I have had to answer many types of questions, some of them showing slight confusing. How can economics relate to divorces and suicides? Why should economics investigate matters like this?

research hypotheses. Although Becker has been criticised for ”economics imperialism”, the tradition of theoretical model building in economics and the long history of applying statistical methods also make an economics-based approach usable beyond traditional questions in economics.

focuses on assessing factors contributing to physical activeness and the costs resulting from insufficient physical activity, and on investigating the relationship between mental health and labour market outcomes. This means that I can continue to be fascinated by economics over and over again!

My answer is that in my role as an economics researcher, I have felt that one of my duties is to offer research-based information that can be used among other things to assess the impacts of financial crises on well-being or factors contributing to the integrity of families. Empirical data on the connections between macro-economic factors and health or the impacts of socio-economic factors on decisions related to family life at best promote understanding of the behaviour of people, households and communities.

Partly building on the legacy of Becker’s pioneering research, my doctoral thesis makes use of an economics approach and analysis for investigating factors that affect both subjective well-being and family life. On the other hand, my doctoral thesis deals with the number of socio-economic factors affecting the number of divorces, and the relationship between macroeconomic factors and suicides. In fact, my doctoral thesis reflects the idea that during my master studies made me more and more interested in economics as the studies proceeded, finally leading to a dream of entering postgraduate studies and pursuing research culminating in writing a doctoral thesis. I still very vividly remember how fascinated I was in master’s thesis seminars by the wealth of topics available to the students of economics for writing their master’s thesis.

Sanna Huikari Postdoctoral Researcher

Gary S. Becker, who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize on Economic Sciences, extended the neo-classical approach of economics to research topics closely related to people’s everyday lives.

Becker’s basic idea was that rational decisionmaking also affects behaviour that can generally be considered to be based on emotions or even irrational, such as deciding to marry or take a divorce.

Based on Becker’s views, expanding the field of application of economics to the investigation of several spheres of life has allowed creating novel

After my thesis defence last September and graduating as a doctor, I have been pleased to find out that I can continue research at Oulu Business School at the University of Oulu. My work currently

How can economics relate to divorces and suicides?

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

PHOTO: PIRJO JAUKKURI

38

BrandEx

Saila Saraniemi Principal investigator of BrandEx Docent, University Lecturer in Marketing Oulu Business School

BrandEx explores the formation of digital transformative brand experiences R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

A range of online or other digital health services increasingly form part of health ecosystems, providing a platform for consumers that potentially empower them and improve their health and wellbeing. The BrandEx project explores the formation of these digital transformative brand experiences. In 2019 we will start data collection in the project and continue to create the theoretical foundation for the research.

41

PHOTO: MIKKO TÖRMÄNEN

BrandEx centers on key themes of digitalization, branding and healthcare services that form the main empirical context of the project. The project started in September 2018 when doctoral student Milka Väinämö also started her doctoral studies in the project. “Through my involvement in the

BrandEx project I hope to gain an understanding of the ways in which consumers interact with digitalized healthcare services and about how such services contribute to their health and overall wellbeing. The multidisciplinary focus of BrandEx presents an interesting challenge both empirically and theoretically and I look forward to gaining insights for my own research from the collaborative projects,” Milka says.

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

The Eudaimonia institute at the University of Oulu has named the BrandEx project as one of the five “emerging projects” for 2018 – 2022. BrandEx – “Temporal construction of brand experience: towards trusted digital transformative services” is part of Eudaimonia’s emerging project programme, whose goal is to support starting research group leaders and to extend them the opportunity to develop alongside internationally top-level research groups at the University of Oulu. At BrandEx, we engage in collaboration particularly with Sherloc and TrustedMaaS spearhead projects at the Eudaimonia and Infotech institutes. With Sherloc we share information and empirical knowledge in health services contexts, whereas with TrustedMaaS we are building a better understanding of blockchain technology and aim to bring customer and branding perspectives to the mobility as a service context.

Thus, the project is multidisciplinary and seeks synergies in the fields of business and information technology.

40

Sustainable Development and Value Creation in the Arctic

Alexandra Middleton engaged in communicating the project’s results to policy-makers, researchers and other Arctic stakeholders on international professional and research forums. In 2018, she

In April 2018 the UK Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee launched an inquiry on “The Changing Arctic”. Alexandra provided oral evidence to the committee on the issues of human capital development, sustainable business and connectivity in the Arctic. Alexandra and Jaakko presented results of the BIN project to the Council of Oulu Region. In 2019, the project is seeking a funding extension for the next two years.

Alexandra Middleton Assistant Professor in Accounting Oulu Business School

BIN focuses on the socioeconomic trends and sustainable business opportunities in the Arctic

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

BIN provides a set of indicators and indexes that measure socio-economic development in the Arctic.

These indicators reflect demographic and human capital trends, employment, business, innovation potential, maritime transportation and connectivity in the North. The report covers eight northern regions of Norway (Finnmark, Troms, Nordland), Sweden (Norrbotten and Västerbotten), Finland (Lapland, Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu) and two Russian regions (Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions). In the future, the project will include territories in the US and the Canadian Arctic.

moderated a panel discussion at the “High North Dialogue” conference in Bodø and contributed to a round table discussion organized by the Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow.

PHOTO: MIKKO TÖRMÄNEN

“Business Index North” (BIN) is a project extending from 2016 to 2019 and focuses on the socio-economic trends and sustainable business opportunities in the Arctic. The project is financed by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norland County Council, and implementing partners. The partners contributing to the project have first-hand familiarity with the local conditions. From Oulu Business School, researchers Alexandra Middleton and Jaakko Simonen are contributing to the project.

43

Alphabet Soup?

OBS, SSGAC, DNA, NFBC

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

Professor Rauli Svento and postdoctoral researcher Andrew Conlin were part of an international research group that recently published a paper on the association between DNA and risky behavior. The paper was published in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics.

The research provides evidence that our genes influence our tolerance towards risk, in terms of our stated willingness to take risks and in terms of specific behaviour such as investing, the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, and sex. It is one of the largest genetic studies to date and is based on the genetic information from over one million individuals with European ancestries — much larger than any previous study on the genetics of risk tolerance.

45

in starting the collaboration between OBS and the Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC) researchers at the medical faculty here in Oulu. This collaboration provided unique data that Andrew Conlin used in his dissertation on investor behaviour.

In our work with the NFBC, we were able to design questions about risky behavior for one of the 1966 cohort follow-up surveys. The medical faculty performed the DNA tests on thousands of the cohort members. Rauli contacted the SSGAC and we started working together.

No genetic variant on its own meaningfully affects a particular person’s risk tolerance or tendency to make risky decisions, and non-genetic factors matter more for risk tolerance than genetic factors. Yet, taken together, the genetic variants identified in the study shed light on some of the biological mechanisms that influence a person’s willingness to take risks.

With our colleagues from the medical faculty, Minna Ruddock and Ville Karhunen, we analysed the NFBC data. We then shared the results with the principal investigators at the SSGAC, who combined the results from multiple sources. The combined results are shared with the group, and we all contribute to final papers as necessary. For Rauli and Andrew, the chance to work with genetic and geno-economic experts has been rewarding, and not only have we been part of this pioneering research, we have also developed our research network, which increases the chances of future collaboration.

Our work with the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC) stems from Professor Svento’s outreach. He was the key figure

Andrew Conlin Postdoctoral Researcher Oulu Business School

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

44

46

47

Healthcare Logistics Research in the SOLOGS-project

The project is associated with public and private healthcare providers in the area of Northern Osthrobothnia including PPSHP, City of Oulu, Coronaria Hoitoketju Oy and most of the surrounding municipalities. These collaborators are both co-funding and involved in the research and development of the project. The research is conducted in a multidisciplinary manner by scholars from both logistics and geoinformatics.

The first phase of the project has focused on finding new optimal sites for primary healthcare services in view of potential public transport, passenger cars and a combination of both. This is highly relevant to business partners and society as the Finnish healthcare system is being currently reformed.

In the next steps, the project will also focus on CO2 emissions in healthcare material logistics and mobile healthcare facilities.

More information Timo Pohjosenperä, Project manager, OBS Jari Juga, Director of the SOLOGS project, Professor of logistics, OBS Ossi Kotavaara, Postdoctoral Researcher, Geography research unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu Jarmo Rusanen, Professor Emeritus, Geography research unit, Faculty of Science, University of Oulu Juha Putkonen, Chair of the SOLOGS project´s steering group, Procurement manager, PPSHP

SOLOGS is carried out in collaboration with the Faculty of Science at the University of Oulu

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

R E S E A R C H AT OULU BUSINESS SCHOOL

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

Research in healthcare logistics is currently ongoing (2018-2020) in the European Union Regional Development (ERDF) -funded Low Carbon Logistics in Local Social and Health Care Services (SOLOGS) project.

The Martti Ahtisaari Institute is a research and education unit at the Oulu Business School established in 2008. The tenth anniversary of the institute was celebrated in 2018 mainly in connection with daily activities, but also by having President Ahtisaari himself to take part in a top forum held in the spring.

The institute has conducted research ranging from joint European and domestic programmes to regional projects focusing on the business dynamics in global markets. The role of value-based ecosystems was addressed from the viewpoint of novel business models. The application domains included various digital systems, wireless communications, health care and wellbeing, energy, environment and smart cities. Regarding smart cities, the institute contributed together with the City of Oulu to the EU’s Urban Agenda Digital Transition Action Plan. In addition, the institute worked for a national agenda for digital security.

Connected health related research remained strong locally and internationally, with several projects and partners in Finland, Europe, Asia, USA and Australia.

The research results have already proven to be considerable in health service management and innovation. Additionally, they have had a positive impact on the growth and internalisation of participating companies and the patient care of involved hospitals.

Research on fifth-generation wireless mobile networks reached a milestone when a joint project on micro-operators was completed. The business ecosystem and model related results provided by the institute were globally acknowledged. This provided a good impetus for the new Academy of Finland flagship programme on the coming sixthgeneration wireless network technologies, solutions and services.

Also the institute’s offering in entrepreneurship education proved to be very popular. Almost 200 students from as many as 27 different study fields participated in the academic year 2017-2018 in minor entrepreneurship studies. The institute contributed to the successful re-accreditation of the Oulu Business School by AACSB International.

Furthermore, the institute contributed in AACSB working groups by mentoring and facilitating them.

An example of special openings was a new project in Business Finland´s TUTLI programme that focuses on creating new business from research. The institute received funding from the programme together with the Centre for Wireless Communications CWC. The research addresses a proprietary low-cost solution that can transform and digitalise the electric charging infrastructure.

International collaboration continued in many projects but also included research visits to several foreign universities and a visiting researcher from the Tianjin University joining the institute. In executive education groups of foreign students came over to learn business the Nordic way, and the EM Lyon Business School remained a key partner.

A change management programme funded by the Ministry of Finance was a new a joint activity involving several Finnish business schools targeted at public organisations. The institute serves participants of the programme from Southern Ostrobothnia all the way to the northernmost part of Lapland.

The institute’s role in responsible business was strengthened in the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative GRLI. Moreover, the three-year international joint fPlaza project conducted with the Oulu University of Applied Sciences and foreign partners was launched to address responsible leadership and business. Close to 300 students enrolled on the course on globally responsible business, which is an all-time high attendance record.

Veikko Seppänen Professor Director of Martti Ahtisaari Institute

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

Martti Ahtisaari Institute

Embracing the New and Innovative

49

50

The Martti Ahtisaari International Doctoral Scholarship Programme was launched in 2012 to support high-quality scientific research on global business and the economy, as well as to help doctoral students with international collaboration related to their research.

ECONOMIC FORUM,

TOP FORUM,

20 February 2018

23 May 2018

Finland’s history and future – societal and economic success factors and pain points

World now!

Finnish society and the economy have seen a wide range of periods within the last few decades. Our recent past has marked economically challenging years, and we are currently living in a time of growth.

Finnish society has experienced the effects of global megatrends both in domestic and international markets. In his speech, the governor of the Bank of Finland Erkki Liikanen reviewed the success factors and pain points of society and the economy from the point of view of Finland’s past, present and future.

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

In 2018, Antti Alakiuttu, Bianca Beyer, Julius Gomes, Santtu Karhinen, Erkki Lassila, Janne Lehto, Syed Mubaraz, Hannu Savolainen, Hannu Torvinen and Jialei Yang participated in the programme. Irina Atkova (international business) and Sanna Huikari (economics) completed their studies and earned their doctoral degrees in 2018.

PHOTO: STUDIO ILPO OKKONEN OY

Martti Ahtisaari Institute Research and Business Seminars

Erkki Liikanen, Governor, Bank of Finland

At the main event of the Martti Ahtisaari Institute’s 10th anniversary, President Ahtisaari shared his views on the current state of the world. In addition, expert panellists discussed the role of science and education as the builders of future.

World now: Society, economy and environment 2018 Martti Ahtisaari, President Interviewer, Elina Lehtinen, Crisis Management Initiative Science and education as the builders of future Kimmo Alajoutsijärvi, Professor in Marketing, University of Jyväskylä Karita Kasurinen, Customer Success Manager, Iris.ai Matti Latva-aho, Academy Professor in Communications Engineering, University of Oulu Tytti Tuppurainen, Member of Finnish Parliament Seppo Vainio, Professor in Developmental Biology, University of Oulu

51

The institute’s 10th anniversary was celebrated with President Ahtisaari in the Special Forum MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

Martti Ahtisaari International Doctoral Scholarship Programme

52

53

The digital seminar organized by the DIMMY and DIGILEAP projects of the University of Oulu, VTT and the Oulu University of Applied Sciences focused on the potential of digitalization and digital marketing, as well as threats posed to information security and solutions.

Digital Kaleva path Tommi Silfverhuth, Director, development and technologies, Kaleva Media

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

PHOTO: MARJA MIKKO TÖRMÄNEN ALATALO

DigiLeap – Controlled digital leap Jukka Kääriäinen, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Dimmy – Digital Sales and Marketing Training Project Mika Määttä, Oulu University of Applied Sciences Utilizing marketing automation for managing customer relationships Mika Tiainen, Sales Manager, Liana Technologies Digital technologies as part of sustainable growth in the gaming business Marika Iivari, Business Development Executive, Fingersoft

Digileap safely Jari Still, Chief Information Officer, F-Secure

Impact research in medical contexts Risto Roine, University of Eastern Finland

Analytics in Digital Marketing Management Jonna Muurinen, CEO , Kuulu

National impact evaluation methods and criteria Petra Falkenbach, Oulu University Hospital

Search engine as a digital advertising tool Jaakko Heikkinen, CEO, Digizer

Preventive Impact evaluation in healthcare Peter Ylen, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Final words and look to the future Tua Huomo, VP, Data-driven solutions, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

HEALTH IMPACT SEMINAR, 29 November 2018 The goal of the seminar was to discuss recent methods and cases related to the evaluation of the impact of health services and health technology solutions. The presentations included the following: Impact evaluation, examples from nursing science from Singapore hospitals He Hong-Gu, National University of Singapore

Digital health solution impact evaluation Marja Harjumaa, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Decision support system impact evaluation Mark Van Gils, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland National health solutions impact evaluation Jarmo Reponen, University of Oulu Service innovation impact evaluation Kirsi Hyytinen, VTT

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

BENEFIT FROM DIGITALIZATION, 1 November 2018

President Ahtisaari: The Nordic Model is Worth Keeping To celebrate the 10th jubilee year, the Martti Ahtisaari Institute had the pleasure to have President Martti Ahtisaari speaking at the Maailma Nyt Special Forum at the University of Oulu on May 23 2018.

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

PHOTO: MIKKO TÖRMÄNEN

President Martti Ahtisaari believes it is important to promote the Nordic social model. He said that he tirelessly highlights Nordic and Finnish values when travelling round the world, because these values resonate positively, and they promote the activity and objectives of the mediation-focused Crisis Management Initiative ry (CMI) established by Martti Ahtisaari 18 years ago.

“I do all I can to help us maintain and preserve a fair society. In Finland, we identify ourselves as a Nordic country, and this makes me very happy.”

Ahtisaari emphasised strongly that it is not a matter of Western values, but rather of UN-approved global values. These values must be fought for and held onto tightly, he said. Martti Ahtisaari has spent most of his international career working for the UN. Now, he serves as a senior advisor for CMI. At the opening of the forum, President Ahtisaari reflected warmly on his youth and years of study in

Oulu. He attended Oulu Lyseo and graduated from the University of Oulu as a primary school teacher in 1959.

In his youth, he was also a keen basketball player.

“When we lost a game, I started looking out for others straightaway in the changing room. I would tell the boys that this is not decisive, that we just need to play better.”

He reminded the audience that people need each other and that we should be grateful for the support of others. This same truth holds at the global level.

55

UN-approved global values must be fought for and held onto tightly

Ahtisaari said he is always pleased to come to Oulu.

He said, “This trip has strengthened my belief that here in Oulu you have the capacity to develop your region in a truly admirable way. Here you are always able to overcome difficulties and keep moving forward.”

Known to be a music lover, Ahtisaari responded to an audience question about his favourite song by bursting into a song which he currently finds very pleasant. The song was ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’, a song which the President had last sung to celebrate the 80th birthday of the UN’s former Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Anna-Maria Hietapelto, University of Oulu

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

54

Bright Views for the Near Future

Liikanen looked at the development of the Finnish society over a period of 100 years, starting from the 1860s. During that time, Finland struggled its way

Liikanen also talked about the importance of education in innovation and maintaining competitiveness. Students among the audience were keen to hear the Governor’s opinion about digitalisation, the crypto currency as well as mobility.

According to Liikanen, it is difficult to measure the impacts of digitalisation on productivity growth and he is moderately optimistic about its benefits. Liikanen considers the crypto currency an investment instrument and investment target, whose users must trust each other. ”It is likely that

Bitcoin will never replace the existing effective systems.”

Liikanen gave the students the same advice that he himself received in the Parliament’s cafeteria when he was a young MP: ”Get to difficult places, for there is always room.”

Anna-Maria Hietapelto, University of Oulu

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

The euro area is doing surprisingly well. Growth differences have diminished, inflation is low and investments have grown. However, wages are going up slowly. ”We must ensure that everybody can keep up with the growth”, Liikanen said.

To ensure Finland’s success in global competition, companies need initial funding in the form of investments and risk capital investors in order to secure their future. ”There are both prosperity and initial investors in Finland, but it should be possible to increase the share of public funding. We need more action, such as the Slush event.”

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

Erkki Liikanen first looked at the state of the global economy, which currently has a stable, positive outlook. However, uncertainties are introduced by the political situation. One of the most prominent global risks is climate change, whose economic impacts are difficult to estimate. Drought, for example, reduces investments and slows down productivity growth.

57

We need more action!

to the group of developed countries. An important single factor in the course of events was electricity, which among other things introduced washing machines for household and gave women more time to do other things.

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

Production and the economy continue to grow in all sectors in Finland even though the strongest growth phase has already been passed. Employment is improving. Such positive views about the near future were presented by Erkki Liikanen, Governor of the Bank of Finland, at Martti Ahtisaari Institute’s Economic Forum at the University of Oulu on 20 February.

56

59

Do You Know Digi?

The DigiLeap project helps companies make the most out of digitalisation.

business potentials and models and changes the roles of operators in value networks.

Launched by the Martti Ahtisaari Institute and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland in 2018, the DigiLeap project focuses on the practical challenges posed by digitalisation to companies. Digitalisation has been recognised for a long time as a primary trend that shapes the society and business now and in the near future. In terms of scale, its impact is often compared with that of the change caused by the industrial revolution. A key challenge for companies is how they can prepare for change: how the digital transformation or digital leap is performed in practice and systematically?

The need of companies for versatile digital expertise has come up in earlier research. The survey conducted by the Martti Ahtisaari Institute and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, for example, pointed out four challenges related to digitalisation: 1) Lack of understanding of the benefits that digital technologies could offer to company’s business, 2) Lack of time to become familiar with and learn about the opportunities offered by digitalisation, 3) Lack of competent personnel with respect to digitalisation and 4) Customers are not ready enough for digitalisation and the opportunities offered by new technologies.

Research into digital transformation is scattered, sector-specific and technology-oriented. For this reason, too, there is need for a better understanding of the digital transformation among companies, especially in order to increase understanding of its practical implementation and effects.

Digitalisation affects processes, working methods and the business environment, calling for courage and a new way of thinking. The worst scenario is that companies overlook digitalisation, which in turn will risk their business on the constantly evolving and competed markets. Digitalisation allows for new

In the DigiLeap project, the Martti Ahtisaari Institute and VTT unite their forces and make the knowledge of digitalisation they have generated in earlier research projects available to companies.

The goal of the project is to help companies systematically proceed towards their chosen objectives on the digitalisation path. A large number of different types of companies from different industries will be involved in validating the service package during the project.

The project will result in a public webbased digitalisation support solution https://www.apuadigiin.fi/, which among other things consists of the DigiLeap transformation model, an application for assessing the company’s situation with digitalisation, an analysis of digitalisation in Northern Ostrobothnia and Finland as well as a databank containing experiences and information about the digital transformation. The web service is in constant development in terms of new surveys and the available digital transformation support tools, for example.

The project will be implemented by the Martti Ahtisaari Institute and VTT Technological Research Centre of Finland. The members of the project’s financier consortium are ERDF/Council of Oulu Region, II Micropolis Oy, Naturpolis Oy, BusinessOulu, PipeLife Oy, Raahe District Business Services, University of Oulu and VTT. Contact persons of the DigiLeap project: Jukka Kääriäinen VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd jukka.kaariainen@vtt.fi Timo Koivumäki Martti Ahtisaari Institute, Oulu Business School at the University of Oulu timo.koivumaki@oulu.fi

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

58

Just Cook It!

The Avanto Business Accelerator, the Venturing Research Challenge for commercializing research results and the International Business Corridor for internationalization of companies brought together students, researchers and partners from both Central Europe and Nordic countries.

The Brandathon event, in turn, attracted local participants to develop brands in the hackathon style.

Altogether over 130 people took part in the Avanto accelerator programme. Up to twenty companies and five foreign universities were involved in internationalization activities, and eleven new companies were created in connection with the project. At the same time, a lot of experience was gained of the opportunities and practical challenges of network-like collaboration.

PHOTO: MIKKO TÖRMÄNEN

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

The project implemented by the University of Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences and supported by the European Structural Fund created solutions for the needs of entrepreneurship and new business, including the operations of Business Kitchen, the entrepreneurship hub of both universities.

61

Development work and its results have been prominently featured in the media and at various stakeholder events. The International Business Corridor was introduced to Norwegian King Harald V and Queen Sonja among others. The activity was awarded as the Oulu University of Applied Sciences’ best service for companies.

Oulu Business School’s Martti Ahtisaari Institute implemented the development work and Johanna Bluemink and Minna Törmälä from the University of Oulu were the project managers. On behalf of Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Terho Jylhälehto was responsible for the development work. The project steering group was chaired by director Juha Karjalainen from OP Oulu.

The Business Kitchen, which has already become widely known, was incorporated into the core action of both universities. Its role as a common operational environment for entrepreneurial activities will continue to strengthen when the joint campus of the University of Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences in Linnanmaa takes place in 2020.

Veikko Seppänen Professor Director of Martti Ahtisaari Institute

MART TI AHTISAARI INSTITUTE

60

PHOTO: MARJA ALATALO

University of Oulu, Oulu Business School P.O. Box 4600, 90014 Oulu, Finland Tel. +358 294 48 0000 oulubusinessschool@oulu.fi oulu.fi/oulubusinessschool