S T A R T
FAC T S A B O U T T H E 1 9 8 9 – 9 0 G RO U P : On average a director with a wife and two children. Two women in the group. Average monthly salary just over 24,000 Finnish marks (equivalent to an indexed salary of EUR 6,612 in 2017). Education in economics, and work experience of about 17 years. For as many as 66 per cent, the program was funded by the employer. Many signed an agreement with their employer to promise to stay in employment for 2–5 years after completing the EMBA program. The youngest had been in employment for 4–6 years, the most senior participant for 33 years.
groups were male-dominated during the first few years, with only two women taking part on the first course. In addition to Finns, participants came from Estonia and other Baltic countries. Language skills were a bigger challenge than today. Since 1988, a new program has been launched every year. The group was smallest in 2009 after the financial crisis.
1990 Jorma Piippo describes the program: “The program has included week-long study trips to Paris, New York, Peking and Moscow. The groups being made up of people of different ages and from different fields makes cooperation and studying effective. Everyone shares their knowledge:
senior participants share their experiences and younger ones enrich the learning process with their open-minded enthusiasm.” Program director Veikko Jääskeläinen commented that studies in foreign universities were used as a form of quality control.The results were rewarding: “Our best students were among the best also abroad.”
1995
EMBA launched in South Korea. A Korean professor wanted to import the same training to Koreans that he was teaching in Finland. Collaboration with Korea has been a success. By 2018, 4,000 Koreans will have completed the Aalto Executive MBA.
entered with a strong emphasis on eCommerce, a buzzword that interested both expats and locals in Singapore. The groups were international, and the teaching staff,“flying faculty”, came from all over the world. Cooperation with China was also launched from Singapore. Activities in China ceased later on due to for instance inadequate language skills among participants – although interpreters and language courses were offered, results were not as desired. In 2018, Aalto EE announced its return to China, where a great deal has changed in 20 years.
2000
EMBA programs launched in Poland.
1998 When participants began 2004 on the program in 1998, they did not all have email addresses. Participants had access to a few computers in a classroom along Työpajankatu street in the Kalasatama district of Helsinki, where the modules were taught. Participants were of an average age of 38 years. Professor Eero Kasanen began his foreword for an Executive MBA program brochure in 1998 with words that are still true 20 years later: ”Change is just about the only constant in today’s business world.”
1999
EMBA prog rams launched in Singapore. Asia was
a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
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vol 7
EMBA programs launched in Taiwan.
2007 Joint seminars were arranged as a result of increasingly
1998 EMBA LEARNING P H I LO S O P H Y: • Create goals, evaluate results. • Be active, ask questions. • Participate in class discussions. • Contribute to teamwork. • Search for additional information. Participants were instructed to ”focus on learning rather than knowing!”.