A A LTO U N I V E R S I T Y E X E C U T I V E E D U C AT I O N
A F T E R M E AT This is a veggie burger. An estimated 70% of the world’s population plans to consume less meat. The transformation offers huge potential to the food sector. Pages 31–51.
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leaders h ip How to choose the best leader for different situations? s uper p ow e r Curiosity is good for your business. t ransformatio n Head of HR Kirsi Nuotto on how to lead change. IMPACT Participants and Aalto EE partners share experiences.
THE WORLD DEMANDS CHANGE. Join us in our efforts working together towards enabling sustainable societies with smart technology.
Find your calling. wartsila.com/careers
Aalto Leaders’ Insight is published and curated by Aalto University Executive Education. This magazine is a library of insights.The four long-form articles – we call them Books – focus on different aspects of leadership, talent management and transformation. Aalto University Executive Education offers high-quality executive education (Aalto EE), professional development services for specialists and managers (Aalto PRO), and creative solutions covering the entire entrepreneurship lifecycle (Aalto ENT). Aalto University brings to our offering a multidisciplinary approach, together with innovative learning methods; this provides a unique combination of practical expertise with latest research.
Vol 8 CONTENTS S TA R T
LO N G - F O R M
N E W S, C O L U M N S AND INSIGHTS
BOOK 1 V E G G I E B A L L V S . M E AT B A L L
Pages 10–30
Lunch at Ikea shows how the meat industry is changing. Transformation Pages 31–51
News, Columns and Insights 9–30 AI Can Help in Creative Work 10–11 My View: “A good director is a magician and bridge builder versed in the language of the data team and business alike.” 13–14 New Home for Aalto EE 14–15 Aalto EE is Determined to Grow 16 Figures: Aalto University 18 Tune in! Aalto EE Podcasts 24–25 Column by Susanna Pettersson 26 New in Science and Research Sisu: Hidden Energy in the Human System 22–23 Aalto University Contributes in Finding the Black Hole 28 Column by Mikko Laukkanen 29 Mind-Blowing books 30
BOOK 2 FIRED! HIRED! Choosing a CEO is one of the most important strategic decisions a company makes. Talent Management Pages 55–64
BOOK 3 THE FUTURE OF HR A train ride with Head of HR Kirsi Nuotto from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Leadership Pages 65–76
BOOK 4 OPEN THE DOOR FOR CURIOSITY Curiosity is good for your business. Superpower Pages 77–82
This issue is all about TRANSFORMATION What can we learn from the changing meat industry? How to communicate the need for transformation to everybody involved?
I M PAC T & E X P E R I E N C E Pages 74–109 Further Educated with Companies Program 75–77 Together: Aalto EE and Standford Center for Professional Development 78–79
Why is curiosity such a superpower?
Case Rapala: Looking for new customer orientation 80–81
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Three Companies Join the Same Program 82–83
Podcasts and more: aaltoee.com/insight
Case HUS: Doctor as a Leader 84–85
Figures: Aalto University Executive Education 98–99
— AALTO LEADERS’ INSIGHT Online Stream 97
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Participants Share Experiences 86–97
F O R E W O R D
For your inspiration: transformati on storie s
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his issue of Aalto Leaders’ Insight deals with disruption, transformation, and growth. It’s a fine illustration of the dark and bright sides of Schumpeterian creative destruction. At times, this destruction is gentle and driven by opportunities, while at other times, powerful trends challenge the existence of an entire industry. This magazine intends to present a forwardlooking take on topical themes and provide readers with frameworks for analysis and ideas for action. I hope this selection of case studies and interviews will be both inspiring and actionable. The First book disentangles the story of the meatball – one of the cornerstones of Nordic everyday cuisine made world-famous by Ikea. It is now being challenged by numerous vegetarian and vegan options appealing to younger audiences. The Second book is about creative destruction applying to leadership careers: people coming, growing, and going. What makes a good leader when the leadership context and strategic panorama change? Many legendary transformation stories of global giants are able to inspire time after time. But how do we actually make the change happen from beginning to end? In the Third book, we learn from the journey of innovation powerhouse VTT through cultural
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and HR lenses. What renewal really takes is an open mind – a learning mind. The Fourth book is all about curiosity and how to make the most of it. ◆ Pekka Mattila, Editor-in-Chief Group Managing Director, Aalto University Executive Education Professor of Practice, Aalto University
Read Aalto Leaders’ Insight online and order monthly highlights to your e-mail! aaltoee.com/insight
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S TA RT NEWS, COLUMNS & INSIGHTS
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Associate Professor Antti Oulasvirta researches intelligent user interfaces design and computational design.
OUT OF IDEAS? A S K A M AC H I N E ! Artificial intelligence can offer assistance in creative work. It learns what kind of design users appreciate and can help lower costs. “AI helps designers to come up with alternatives that might otherwise go unnoticed. It can provoke new ideas”, says Antti Oulasvirta from Aalto University.
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n determining the division of tasks for humans and robots, it is often said that machines handle technical questions well so they should take care of those, and the creative tasks should be left to humans. However, AI can be very helpful in creative work. It may not be “creative” as such, but AI can help humans seek out creative solutions that might otherwise remain hidden
in the vast pile of alternatives. Associate professor Antti Oulasvirta from Aalto University explains that AI can be used in creative design work to assist design professionals. He uses the process of conceptual design as an example. Machine intelligence can, for instance, help in developing a product portfolio. Oulasvirta has been involved in an initiative vol 8
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where the product portfolio of a streaming service was developed based on user data. “The machine produces, for example, ten different solutions that can then be tested. It finds ways to simplify the product and to lower costs. It uses cold logic to look for new methods and combinations. It is not fixed on certain pre-set ways of thinking. It can learn what users appreciate and >
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what the costs of different alternatives are.” Machine-assisted design is easier in the case of product design than conceptual design. Augmented intelligence could provide useful assistance in the product design process. All designers know the design guidelines of their company.They can be lengthy manuals of several hundred pages – all of which can be taught to machine intelligence.As the design process progresses, machine intelligence can spot the mistakes and propose a color, model, font etc. to match the guidelines. “The machine can also learn about a designer’s work, for instance which color harmonies they prefer.”
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ulasvirta says that machine intelligence is at its best when there is a well-defined problem with a clear aim. “Artificial intelligence helps the designer to come up with alternatives that might otherwise go unnoticed. It can provoke new ideas.” Machine intelligence can also assist in looking for images or patterns in a large data set. “The machine can be taught to find things that are hard for humans to spot. The machine takes care of the design mining.” The strength of computers often lies in number crunching. For example, a research team was
“Designers unfortunately often have a poor understanding of psychology.”
trying to develop a new keyboard standard for computers. The team noticed that there are 10200 alternatives, too many for a human to go through.When the problem was formulated as an algorithm for a computer that took into account specific goals, such as ergonomic qualities, the computer solved the problem in an instant. This was the first algorithmically designed keyboard.
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ulasvirta works at Aalto University and also holds a PhD in psychology.When discussing machine intelligence, the limits of machine creativity and comprehension are often mentioned. At the same time, humans do not necessarily understand one another either. “Designers unfortunately often have a poor understanding of psychology”, says Oulasvirta. Aptitude in psychology would
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be useful for understanding how human observation and perception function. “The aim of design is to create a better experience for a person, but if it is unclear how people observe, experience, feel and learn, this is all guesswork.” We have become accustomed to the idea that information technology users don’t need to understand IT, but human understanding is still needed when designing products and services for people. Data-driven design is a future vision where a machine collects data, and can then say something about the users based on this data – for instance where someone gets lost in a particular website. “Machine intelligence is a good partner, it can ‘understand’ people because it has learned about human behavior. It will, however, still take time to build an organization that utilizes machine intelligence efficiently. Designers must have a sufficiently good understanding of machine learning so that they can formulate problems that the machine can then actually solve. This necessitates new thinking in workplaces as well as in education.” One could think that, just as machines and humans can work together in symbiosis, information technology and humanistic sciences also need one another. They are neither alternatives nor opposites. ◆
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should a director know how to code? When management fails to understand new technologies and the principles of data analytics, business opportunities will be lost. “A good director is a magician and bridge builder versed in the language of the data team and business alike”, says researcher Jukka Luoma.
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hat does innovative use of analytics require from management? ”Applying data is linked to at least three areas of expertise: core competency, data science, and data engineering. All three areas are rarely found in one person, which creates problems. Innovation means creating something new, so these areas of expertise should be brought together in a new way. It requires management understanding the basic principles of data in order to be a bridge builder between different experts. At best, management understands all of the levels.” You have talked about magicians who get technology – who are they? ”A magician is a leader who is able to turn a business problem into a data problem, and vice versa. A magician knows how to combine different competencies, which won’t happen unless he or she speaks the language of diverse experts and understands the basics of their field.”
WHO? Jukka Luoma’s research interest and expertise focus on the use of data analytics and quantitative methods in strategic management and decisionmaking. He has received the Teaching Developer of the Year award and is interested in innovative teaching methods that support interactive and experiential learning. A large part of his work centers on competitive dynamics and datadriven decision-making among both individuals and businesses.
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How can a company benefit from top management understanding the role and use of technology? “Let’s take the example of management having to think about how to organize the data team: should there be a separate data scientist team in place, is the expertise outsourced, or something else? To make its decision, management needs to understand the basics of technology: what is possible, what is challenging, what can technology potentially do, and how does it affect us? Here’s another example: data is always created as a byproduct of digitalization. If management realizes what it can do with data, it is able to grasp how the company’s business model or market area might be changing in the future, or how the data can be used to increase customer insight, which then leads to personalization and customer satisfaction.” What level of expertise does top management need – should a boss know how to code? >
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”There’s no need to be a coding wizard but knowing the basics does help in communicating with people. Coding is like the physics of the digital world: it makes you see how the digital world works. Similarly, it’s useful to understand the basics of artificial intelligence: what it is and what it’s not.” What happens if top management has no clue about the impact and potential of technology as a strategic competitive advantage? ”Technological development becomes reactive if it’s about following that ’aha, our rival has grasped this or that, so I guess we should, too’”. It’s difficult to be a trailblazer without expertise. Technological transformation processes are slow. If you’re in the dark, you’ll be lagging years behind others before realizing it’s too late.” Are there still companies and directors who see technology as some sort of support function? ”Theoretically speaking, people usually see the potential of technology, but there are some defensive attitudes. People may repeat mantras like the importance of human interaction won’t disappear, which is why our business will never change. It may well be the case, but it could just as well change radically.” ◆
NEW HOME F O R A A LTO E E : A A LTO U N I V E R S I T Y TÖ Ö LÖ Aalto EE is moving to the School of Business’ old main building in Töölö, Helsinki.The building will be a vibrant meeting place for Aalto University and business life in the future, and a new home for leadership development.
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he legacy of the School of Business continues in Töölö in a new form, as the historically significant building provides a base for Aalto’s leadership development. “We now have an excellent opportunity to think about how to respond to the expectations of business and participants, and continue to offer exceptional customer ex-
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perience also beyond 2020,” says Dr. Pekka Mattila, Group Managing Director of Aalto EE. Aalto EE is the main tenant at the building, which boasts one of the most beautiful halls in Finland, and provides venues for events and a unique working environment in the stunning setting of T öölö. Renovation and modernization began
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Aalto University Executive Education (Aalto EE) will move in 2020, after the renovation and modernization with respect to the building’s historical importance is finished.
after the School of Business relocated to the Aalto University Campus in Otaniemi.With its new lease of life, the building will be named Aalto University Töölö. “It is important to keep the original spirit alive while offering diverse facilities for future use. After the renovation, the building will be a meeting place
for Aalto University and its partners, and will house a high-quality restaurant serving the area”, says Eetu Ristaniemi, Director of Real Estate Investments at Aalto University Campus and Real Estate. The building, designed by Woldemar Baeckman and Hugo Harmia, was completed in 1950. The last major renovation and vol 8
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extension of the stairwell were completed in 1996. The current renovation began in May 2019, and will be completed by the end of 2020. The repair and renewal plan is based on negotiations with the Finnish Heritage Agency and on-site inspections, as the building is listed in the Docomomo register specialized in conserving and documenting modern architecture. The building’s Assembly Hall is protected, and the yellowbrick facade will remain un altered, whereas the building service technology will receive a complete overhaul. T he renovation significantly improves the building’s energy efficiency and accessibility. ◆ The new address for Aalto EE is Runeberginkatu 14–16, Helsinki. The schedule of the renovation is May 2019 – October 2020.
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A A LTO E E I S D E T E R M I N E D TO G ROW Aalto EE is steadily improving its performance. Last year, the company reached a record turnover of EUR 21.7 million (EUR 20.4 million in 2017). Aalto EE is determined to grow in the following years as well. The market is fertile, as lifelong learning and self-development have become the new normal. In 2019, the company is poised to make new initiatives.
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very year, the operations of Aalto EE provide a sizeable income to the Aalto University community in various forms such as dividends, lecture fees as well as rent. The financial footprint in the Aalto community continued to grow in 2018,
amounting to approximately EUR 3.7 million (EUR 3.1 million in 2017). “We are only a small player in the Aalto University as a whole, but the role of Aalto EE is significant in strengthening its social impact. We provide a shortcut to corner rooms, reaching approximately 7,000 executives and key experts annually in different industries and countries”, Group Managing Director, Professor of Practice Dr. Pekka Mattila says. Aalto EE is determined to grow in the following years as well.The market is fertile, as lifelong learning and self-development have become the new normal. In 2019, the company is
poised to make new initiatives in the areas of new financial models, personal coaching and public management. In addition, the nature of Aalto EE’s activities in Asia is being re-established as increasingly network-based. A global MBA program, organized together with the ESADE Business School, commenced in November 2018. At the same time, a memorandum of understanding was signed with Singapore University of Technology and Design – one of Singapore’s ambitious national projects – on a comprehensive management and technology-focused program to be launched later in 2019.
A A LTO E E G RO U P – R E V E N U E 19,300
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FCAI AND A A LTO E E J O I N F O RC E S I N P RO G R A M S FOCUSED ON AI
GOING PUBLIC Public sector organizations and their management face new pressures as the operating environment changes, competition increases and new partnership models gain in popularity, while the population decline will push resource scarcity even further. In order to be a stronger partner in this transformation, Aalto University Executive Education launched a new Aalto PUBLIC Business Unit in February 2019.
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alto PUBLIC develops new concepts and implements public management coaching and development programs. Key themes include management of change and business, public-private operating models, and new management system and administration models.These areas also leverage the strong expertise Aalto has in technology and service design. “I’m convinced that we’ll be able to provide stronger support for the Finnish public sector as it faces these great changes. Instead of worrying about threats, we need to embrace more opportunities and a new culture of experimentation. The Nordic model can be utilized as an export product, as developing countries in par-
ticular are actively seeking benchmarks and best practices. Finland and Aalto PUBLIC can take the driver’s seat in this work and build a broader Nordic network”, says Dr. Pekka Mattila, Group Managing Director for Aalto EE. Aalto EE has trained thousands of leaders and experts in the sector, and the company has also implemented its own, tailor-made Aalto Executive MBA programs for the cities of Helsinki and Espoo. The latest development was a publicprivate partnership program concentrating on business expertise and operating in a multi-producer model. This program was created as part of the pilot training program jointly developed by Transformation Academy and five universities. vol 8
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Aalto University Executive Education (Aalto EE) and the Finnish Center of Artificial Intelligence (FCAI) are cooperating in AI training programs that are designed for executives, managers, and experts from different organizations. The programs have proven to be an impactful way of learning while working. The first deliveries of the programs have received excellent feedback and the next programs are coming up in the fall. For example, Diploma in Artificial Intelligence gives participants in-depth understanding of the topic and helps them to understand and apply contemporary AI technologies. What is AI, what are the current AI technologies and how can they be developed and deployed? The program utilizes experts in the field and it is a joint effort of Aalto PRO, University of Helsinki HY+ and FCAI.
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S T A R T / UNSRETEW N A/ SL FC E N F I G AS R : ITA TAIOC TU CNFEII VL &E R ? R SEI ST EY A R C H
A A LTO U N I V E R S I T Y – W H E R E M U LT I D I S C I P L I N A RY S C I E N C E A N D A RT M E E T T E C H N O L O G Y A N D B U S I N E S S
12,000 400 1,200 students, of whom
professors
are doctoral students
6 schools
THE FINANCIAL F O OT P R I N T O F A A LTO E E
Through its operations, Aalto University Executive Education Ltd contributed a total of approximately
in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, and with over 300 years of combined history: School of Business School of Arts, Design and Architecture
3.7 million euros
School of Science School of Chemical Engineering
back to the Aalto community in 2018, in various forms, including dividends, lecture fees, and rent.
Over
School of Electrical Engineering School of Engineering
100
bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs.
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ILLUSTRATION JARKKO HYPPÖNEN
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WA RG A M I N G W I N S Wargaming helps companies to uncover their vulnerabilities.The research conducted in executive programs on competitive dynamics resulted in an international award.
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alto EE’s customized collaborative training sessions and development programs help the senior management of dozens of organizations delve deep into competition strategy and success recipes. Cooperation with several leading global companies has also enabled the collection and analysis of exceptional research material. This year, the research done in executive programs on competitive dynamics and managerial cognition resulted in an international award in the annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Boston. “Study Consequences of CompetitorBased Thinking: Evidence from Participant Observation of Wargaming” is based on the work of Aalto University School of Business’ researchers Jukka Luoma, Mikko Laukka n en and Pekka Mattila. The study explores how gamified working and assuming the role of a competitor will help the top management of European and Asian
organizations build and strengthen their strategy. The article was awarded as one of the best in the conference. The Academy of Management is the most prestigious international publishing and discussion forum in the area of management research.This time, the annual meeting brings together over 11,000 researchers and experts. “Compared to other simulations, Aalto War Game is extremely realistic”, says Pekka Mattila, Managing Director of Aalto EE, who has led dozens of Aalto EE War Game simulations for different organizations. The exercise takes at least a couple of hours, with the longest iterations lasting for two days. The game is played in groups. A key feature of the War Game is to help a company uncover its vulnerabilities and pitfalls.When formulating a strategy, companies are often too preoccupied with themselves, and assume that the operating context vol 8
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is relatively stable.The War Game draws attention to competitors – enemies, in war terms – and the moves they are making. “Often a company is so selfinvolved during strategy work that it fails to notice competitors scheming their next moves right under its nose. The War Game challenges the notion that a company would be the sole actor on the market”, says Mattila. Aalto University Assistant Professor Jukka Luoma has been involved in developing and facilitating the War Game simulations. Luoma is interested in the psychology of competition. Seeing competitors only as threats and taking a ‘whatever it takes’ type of mentality to competition isn’t always ideal for a company. “Observing wargaming has shown us that companies tend to focus on their key competitors, forgetting about the rest. They formulate a strategy with a few competitors in mind, overlooking what else is going on around them.” ◆
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A H OY, A A LTO E E A L U M N I ! Aalto EE has more than 15,000 alumni around the world. We are extremely proud of our alumni and want to keep them updated on Aalto EE’s latest news, events, and programs, and make sure that all of them make the most of our excellent content and development opportunities. To keep in touch with all, we need e-mail addresses. While we know that there are many places where a new e-mail address needs to be informed, we would appreciate getting quite high on the list of “who I need to inform of my new e-mail address”. Only this way we can reach you. U P D AT E Y O U R C O N TA C T I N F O R M AT I O N
Has your contact information changed? Have you not received email from us for a while? Fill in the form and send us your new contact information. https://www.aaltoee.fi/alumnitoiminta https://www.aaltoee.com/alumni-activities
COME AND C E L E B R AT E J O KO ! U P D AT E Y O U R C O N TA C T D E TA I L S ONLINE
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alto Executive Education Academy in Singapore and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will be collaborating in the area of technology and management. The collaboration focuses on the development of new joint courses, modules, and programs, especially in the field of technology and management. In addition, the two institutions will seek to identify the need for further education and gaps in competencies and skills in various industries. “In collaboration with SUTD Academy, we can offer an even greater range of learning solutions for recognized talents in Singapore and Asia and together contribute to the development of individuals and organizations in the region”, says Tiina Haikola, Executive Director of Aalto Executive Education Academy Pte Ltd. Associate Provost, Undergraduate Studies and SUTD Academy, professor Pey Kin Leong says that SUTD Academy is excited to collaborate with Aalto EE to bring forth the capabilities of both universities in business and technology. “Modern leaders are dealing with data and technology advances in an increasingly dynamic and complex world, and this calls for a new breed of leaders with a strong technology appreciation, business acumen, and management expertise, who are able to optimize technology to drive their business decisions.”
2020 is an anniversary year for the JOKO program, marking 50 years since it was first launched, as AaltoJOKO®️ group number 100 kickstarts! The anniversary year will be commemorated in many ways, culminating in a main celebration in Helsinki on March 19, 2020, to
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which we gladly invite you. In order to keep you informed on important news, do make sure we have your contact details. Please update your contact details online at: https://my.surveypal.com/yhteys tiedot-AaltoJOKO.
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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y AT T H E H E A RT O F S T R AT E G Y AT A A LTO [ S U S TA I NA B I L I T Y ]
Aalto University ranked 5th in partnership in the Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Ranking. The overall ranking of Aalto University was 19th. THE Impact Rankings assess universities against the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019, with 48 disciplines, has been published. In the field of Art & Design, Aalto University climbed to 7th position, improving its ranking from last year by two spots. In Architecture / Built Environ-
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The ranking is based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, and for the inaugural University Impact Rankings,THE chose 11 of these goals. This is the first year the University Impact Rankings were released.A total of 560 universities from 75 countries participated. Aalto has signed an international Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Accord as the first Finnish university. By signing the Accord, Aalto commits to advancing the United
ment, Aalto stepped up from 46th place to 42nd. “Reaching 7th place in the field of Art and Design is a tremendous achievement for us, since global competition is strong. It is great to be recognised for our community’s skills and expertise”, says Anna Valtonen, Dean of the School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Aalto University reached the top 100 in the field of Business & Management Studies as well. Like last year, Business ranked in the range of 51–100. The QS World University Rankings by Subject emphasize both the university’s reputation in the world of academia and
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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Nations Sustainable Development Goals as part of its teaching, research, innovation activities, and campus development. The Aalto community has also chosen sustainable development to be at the heart of its ongoing strategy process.
among employers, as well as research publications and references. The weighting of these factors varies between subjects. The QS World University Rankings also compares universities overall. In the previous general ranking, Aalto University reached spot 140. In its June 2018 ranking of universities established less than 50 years ago, Aalto placed 9th in the world. As Aalto University specializes in technology, business and arts, rankings by field or subject are most meaningful for the university. Depending on the calculation method, there are approximately 17,000–22,000 universities in the world.
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S I S U – H I D D E N E N E RG Y I N THE HUMAN SYSTEM In 1940, during World War II,The New York Times declared sisu to be “the word that explains Finland”. And now, in 2019, we a have a study that explains what sisu actually is.
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f you ask Finns about what defines Finnishness, the word sisu is sure to come up. Sisu has traditionally been elusive and poorly defined but a new study from Aalto University is the first to break down the cultural construct in a systematic way to describe a universal phenomenon of hidden energy in the human system. “Sisu is a Finnish word that goes back hundreds of years and a quality that Finns hold dear but the phenomenon itself is universal”, says Emilia Lahti, a
doctoral student at Aalto University and author of the study. “Taking a close look at the concept reminds us that, as humans, not only are we all vulnerable in the face of adversity but we share unexplored inner strength that can be accessed in adverse times.” In her study, Lahti analyzed more than 1,000 responses from Finns and others knowledgeable about sisu on what the concept means. One of the most prominent aspects apparent in the data: extraordinary perseverance, in
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other words, an individual’s ability to surpass preconceived limitations, either mentally or physically, by accessing stored-up energy reserves. Lahti also found the concept to be marked in the responses by a consistent courageous approach to taking action against slim odds, in some cases appearing to the respondents almost as a magic source of power that can help pull through tremendous challenges. It is almost like a spare tank of gas, Lahti explains; its benefits are thanks to adver-
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W H AT T H E F * * * IS SISU?! In Finland, a cultural construct known as sisu has been used for centuries to describe the enigmatic power that enables individuals to push through unbearable challenges. Sisu, however, lacks a direct translation.The most prominent part of the conceptual core of sisu is the ability to surpass one’s preconceived limitations by acEmilia Lahti has recently explored sisu in her personal life by running the length of New Zealand in 50 days as part of her campaign that seeks to build cultures of zero violence.
sity, not in spite of it. Sisu is not always, however, for the better. Too much sisu can result in burnout, exhaustion, disconnection and even create an attitude of mercilessness as the individual imposes his or her own harsh standards on others. It seems that sisu is neither good nor bad, but a tool you must learn to master. “We need sisu, but we also need things like benevolence, compassion and honesty with ourselves”, Lahti says.“The study is basically an invitation to talk about balance.”
cessing stored-up energy reserves. Sisu is invoked by adversity and is more about finding energy in the moment than about long-term endurance, goal-setting and achievement.
Emilia Lahti: An Introduction To the Finnish Construct of Sisu
M A N AG E M E N T BY S I S U Forbes (5.5.2019) asked professors and other scientists about the different management styles in Europe. This is what Pekka Mattila commented about the Finnish management style: Flat hierarchies seem to be the key to the Finnish leadership style, leading to a short ‘power distance’ and relatively light organizational structures. And communication is consequently direct and straightforward – from both ends. “Communication is a two-way street, and initiatives can come from the grass root
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level as well as from the top tiers of the organization. Discussions are often open and frank, and decisions are typically made quite fast”, says Dr. Pekka Mattila, Professor of Practice at Aalto University School of Business. “Finnish companies and organizations tend to perform very well in times of crisis and ambiguity. Resilience and perseverance – ‘sisu’ as we call it in Finnish – is in the DNA of the nation. Hard times and obstacles unify rather than separate Finns.”
a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
TUNE IN! A A LTO E E PODCASTS Listen while running, commuting, cleaning, instead of the car radio: Aalto EE Podcasts. The podcasts are available for instance on Soundcloud and the Aalto EE website. Simply press play for your personal radio program to begin!
1 Susanna Pettersson and Gita Kadambi discuss passion for culture – and budgets. The culture industries are looking for leaders who are passionate about the world of art coupled with business expertise. In this podcast, Susanna Pettersson and Gita Kadambi discuss how the field is changing and how leaders will cope with the change. Susanna Pettersson is the Director General of Nationalmuseum, Sweden, while Gita Kadambi is the General Director of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. “We need more capable leaders in the field”, says Pettersson.
2
3
Jaakko Kopra and Ben Nothnagel: How to help leaders increase their daily performance at work?
Pekka Mattila: How to keep people motivated in the middle of change?
“Should I be irritated, should I be stressed?” These questions can lead you to become a better leader, according to Jaakko Kopra, medical advisor and former research scientist, and Ben Nothnagel, senior advisor at Aalto EE and developer of leadership programs. Together, Jaakko Kopra and Ben Nothnagel are developing tools to help leaders increase their daily performance at work. The tools are based on research on cortical connectivity and the impact that stress and habit may have on cortical connectivity and performance. In this podcast, Kopra and Nothnagel discuss decision-making, problem-solving and creative thinking, which are all linked to cortical connectivity. They also explain the concepts of ‘enoughness’ and ‘situation smart’, which Nothnagel has introduced during Aalto EE’s Leadership Development Programs. “If your mother taught you to count to ten when you got mad, she was on to something. She was actually giving you simple advice to activate your pre-frontal cortex, which limits habitual reaction”, explains Nothnagel.
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This episode of the Aalto Leaders’ Insight podcast talks about transformation – a situation where several simultaneous changes are taking place in a company’s playing field and operating environment: customer needs change, and new rivals suddenly emerge alongside traditional competition. Pekka Mattila, Managing Director at Aalto EE and Professor of Practice, mentions the aviation industry as an example, where budget airlines and increasing travel have significantly changed competition when it comes to pricing and quality. ”Many organizations won’t change before there’s a crisis. It’s handy for a lazy director: everyone sees you’re hurting, so you have to change”, says Mattila. Change brings about uncertainty and even confusion. How can you keep people motivated? ”People can cope for surprisingly long through times when there are a lot of question marks, as long as there’s a strong view that what they do matters. It’s important to keep returning to meaning and purpose.” This podcast is in Finnish.
PHOTOS TOUKO HUJANEN, HEIKKI TUULI
S T A R T
THE PODC A ST SERIES BY R E E T TA R ÄT Y A N D P A U L A S A L O VA A R A
T H E A A LT O LEADERS’ INSIGHT PODCAST SERIES OFFERS A R A N G E O F C U LT I V AT E D TA L K S A N D C O N V E R S AT I O N S O N E V E RY T H I N G F R O M L E A D E R S H I P T O R E C R U I T M E N T, T R A N S F O R M AT I O N O F W O R K , STRESS, AND GAME INDUSTRIES. T H E P O D C A S T S A R E AVA I L A B L E F O R I N S TA N C E O N I T U N E S , S O U N D C LO U D A N D T H E A A LT O E E W E B S I T E . vol 8
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The Meaning of McDonald ’ s
‘I
f you don’t study hard now, you’ll end up working at McDonald’s.” This is how my daughter’s class was encouraged during the first years of school. The message in my partner’s youth was similar, just replacing McDonald’s with the local shipyard. I was intimidated with the career of a vacuum cleaner salesperson.Well. I did not end up selling hoovers door-to-door. I became a director general, academic and mother. Finnish society appreciates professions in the education and health sectors. This is shown by a study conducted by the journal Suomen Kuvaleh ti (20.6.2018). The study ranked Finnish professions according to how respondents valued them. Surgeons took the first spot. Vocational teachers, special education teachers, and subject teachers placed amongst the 9th-12th spots. The rank of university teachers and researchers was the highest since 2001. Bloggers and face-to-face marketers found themselves at the bottom of the list. We all have ideas about which jobs are good and which are lousy. One’s personal experience of a job also differs.The anthropologist David Graeber addressed the topic in a book called Bullshit Jobs.A Theory (2018). According to Graeber, half of the British population do not know whether their job has any impact.The fields of culture and healthcare are exceptions here: they know what they are doing, why and for whom. Graeber also lists five categories of meaningless jobs. They are: people who are there to make others feel relevant (flunkies), aggressive marketers (goons), solvers of problems SUSANNA PETTERSSON Director General, Associate Professor, Vice Chair of the Aalto University Board.
a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
that could be prevented (duct tapers), spinners of pointless paperwork (box tickers), and creators of unnecessary extra work (task masters). I agree with the idea that an aggressive telemarketing call placed on Midsummer’s Eve on the topic of sewage maintenance might have been unnecessary. But I disagree with the thought that airport staff, categorized by Graeber as fixers of preventable problems, are useless… especially when a piece of luggage goes missing. The experience of meaningfulness does not only depend on how others grade them, but also on how one perceives one’s own work. And all jobs can teach something. I might claim that one of my most important work experiences took place at the Carrols fast-food restaurant in the 1980s where I managed all kinds of tasks, from unblocking sewers to frying burger patties. Most of all, the job taught me how working together helps to act fast and efficiently. Those skills turned out useful in managing different organisations: Alvar Aalto Museum, the Finnish Institute in London, Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki, and now Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Cooperation and the ability to appreciate your work are requirements for success in everything. My daughter is following in my footsteps. Before starting her university studies, she is on the path her teacher warned her about: selling hamburgers. She encounters people who think there is no dumber person than the McDonald’s cashier. The person on the other side of the counter is, however, very likely a business, engineering or humanities student. And even if they are not, everybody has the right to be valued in their profession. Otherwise there will be no burgers. ◆
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PHOTOS EEVA SUORLAHTI, VESA MOILANEN / LEHTIKUVA
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L E T ’ S C E L E B R AT E B I RC H - B A S E D FA B R I C [ I N N O VA T I O N ]
Jenni Haukio, spouse of Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, wore a gown made of 100% birch-based fabric to the Independence Day reception at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. The evening gown was designed and made at Aalto University. Textile design student Helmi Liikanen, who designed the unique fabric, shares: “I wanted to use Ioncell material in an elegant and festive way. I designed the weave to have a structural, living surface, which highlights the unique material.This project really brings tradition and innovation together.” Ioncell is an environmentally friendly process, developed at
Aalto University and the University of Helsinki, that produces high-quality textile fibres from wood, recycled cotton or paper waste.The dress is made of 100% Ioncell fabric with silk organza accents, and bringing it to reality was a team effort at Aalto. For young designers, paying attention to sustainability is the norm, not the exception. “It is really important to me to design products that are made from durable materials. In this sense, Ioncell has a lot of potential because it is a sustainable choice compared for example to cotton”, says Liikanen.
1. The Ioncell process is developed at Aalto University. 2. Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö and his wife Jenni Haukio. vol 8
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WA N T E D : E C O LO G I C A L TEXTILE FIBERS Aalto University is accelerating the development of the Ioncell fiber manufacturing method by building a pilot plant in the Aalto Bioproduct Centre in Otaniemi. “There is a strong interest in ecological textile fibers, and we get a lot of material requests from textile and fashion companies that we can’t meet. Thanks to the pilot plant, we can provide much larger quantities of fiber to be tested and collaborate with a growing number of companies”, says project leader Professor Janne Laine, Aalto University’s Vice President for Innovation. If all goes as planned, operation will start during 2020. The scale of the investment is about EUR 4 million, and the process of finding business partners is already underway.
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PHOTO EVENT HORIZON TELESCOPE
S T A R T
Messier 87(M87) is an enormous elliptical galaxy located about 55 million light years from Earth. M87 has a supermassive black hole at its center that has a mass 6.5-billion times that of the Sun.
A A LTO UNIVERSITY CONTRIBUTED IN CAPTURING T H E F I R S T I M AG E O F A B L AC K H O L E [ S PAC E ]
Aalto University contributed to paradigm-shifting observations of the gargantuan black hole at the heart of distant galaxy Messier 87. Using the Event Horizon Telescope, scientists obtained an image of the black hole at the center of galaxy M87.The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) – a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration – was designed to capture images of a black hole. In April 2019, EHT researchers revealed that they had succeed-
ed, unveiling the first direct visual evidence of a supermassive black hole and its shadow. “This is an extraordinary scientific feat accomplished by a team of more than 200 researchers”, says EHT Project Director Sheperd S. Doeleman of the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian. The EHT is the result of years of international collaboration, and offers scientists a new way to study the most extreme objects in the Universe predicted by Einstein’s general relativity during the centennial year of the historic experiment that first confirmed the theory. Creating the EHT was a formidable challenge which required upgrading and connecting a worldwide network of eight pre-existing telescopes deployed at a variety of chal-
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lenging high-altitude sites. These locations included volcanoes in Hawaii and Mexico, mountains in Arizona and the Spanish Sierra Nevada, the Chilean Atacama Desert, and Antarctica. Aalto University contributed to the analysis of the EHT data and reconstruction of the image. “Extreme care had to be exercised during image reconstruction to achieve full confidence in the extraordinary result – even if the process was, at times, painstakingly slow”, says Tuomas Savolainen of Aalto University Metsähovi Radio Observatory. “That diligence paid off in a fantastic way. At Metsähovi we have studied active galaxies for decades, and now we finally have direct evidence that they are indeed powered by supermassive black holes.”
S T A R T C O L U M N
Constrai nts Drive Creativity
F
ollowing Finland’s parliamentary elections in April 2019, the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Mr. Antti Rinne, held government negotiations. A much-publicized process innovation was to have the politicians and experts first ideate possible solutions to major societal challenges without the constraints of how their solutions would be funded. I assume this was done to not limit the negotiators’ creativity and thus to widen the scope of solutions, or as the cliché goes: think outside the box.While I understand the appeal of doing away with pesky constraints and realize that downplaying the role of financial consideration may also be political signaling in this case, if the aim was to truly ignite the full creative potential of the participants, then, in my role as an innovation researcher and trainer, I would not have recommended such an approach. The counter-intuitive finding in multiple studies looking at creativity and idea development is that constrained settings create more novel solutions than settings where the participants are freed from constraints. It seems that given an empty canvas on which to create something, we tend stick to the familiar and simply create a more costly and excessive version of an earlier model. When we are given a constrained context within which to create something new, we are forced to challenge existing forms
and find novel workarounds. Using existing resources in new ways is what the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss termed bricolage; an idea that business scholars have expanded on through the concept of entrepreneurial bricolage, which can be used to explain the innovativeness of seemingly resource-starved startups. More recently, this phenomenon has been demonstrated through experimental studies, which show that product ideation done under financial constraints produces not only more cost-efficient solutions, but also solutions with a higher degree of novelty. How should we use this insight to our advantage? One way to spark our creative impulses is to intentionally manage the constraints surrounding our creative process. As Patricia Stoke details in her book, many legendary artists have imposed constraints (such as a single material) on their own artistic process.When trying to create something new at work, we could also play around with constraints – for example, asking what a solution would look like if it could cost half of what it costs today. And remember, next time your colleague is venting about the small budgets as being constraints that are surely stifling your creativity, explain to them that without these irritating constraints you would be less likely to generate the next novel breakthrough - which is surely just around the corner. ◆
DR. MIKKO LAUKKANEN is the Academic Director at Aalto EE. He is also a Researcher at the Aalto University School
of Business and frequently lectures in Aalto EE’s programs around the world.
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S T A R T
MUST READ We asked Aalto University staff to share some reading tips. What has gripped them lately and why? A N T T I O U L A S V I RTA Associate Professor, User Interfaces
Kees Dorst: Frame Innovation: Create New Thinking by Design ”Design plays an increasingly important role in organizations. This book goes beyond traditional design thinking. Based on fifty years of research on expert designers, it describes strategies for thinking – and rethinking – what a product or design is for people. Frame creation is a fresh and practical look at design thinking.” H E RT TA V U O R E N M A A Research Director, Future of Work
Haruki Murakami: Norwegian Wood ”An unparalleled romance novel that’s also a story about friendship. Everyone should be reading novels. This particular one helps under-
stand humanity in a deeper way – something that would benefit anyone who works in an organization.”
KARI HIEKKANEN Research Fellow, Department of Computer Science
Seppo Lindblom & Pekka Korpinen: Merkillinen Mauno
Shoshana Zuboff: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism:The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
”A book in Finnish that offers a view into the life of former Finnish president Mauno Koivisto, who rose from humble beginnings to lead the country. Humility and continuous learning – key workplace and leadership skills.”
Marshall Goldsmith: What Got you Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful ”A classic that should be found on everyone’s bookshelf. Leadership and achieving goals go hand in hand with self-knowledge. It’s a continuous process of change and learning (about oneself).”
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”A thought-provoking book on digitalization, privacy, and the impacts of the new platform economy. The new digital economy is largely based on phenomena that can be characterized as commodification of human behavior. In her recent bestseller, Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff takes an indepth look into the value creation logic of new digital economies and their implications to users, consumers, and businesses alike. A must-read.”
BOOK 1 [ T R A N S F O R M AT I O N ]
VEGGIE BALL VS. M E AT B A L L The game is on! An estimated 70 per cent of the world’s population plans to consume less meat or quit eating it altogether. Big change offers huge potential for the food sector. Journalist Annukka Oksanen explores the transforming meat industry. Photos: Evelin Kask.
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T
en or fifteen meatballs? Until 2015, hungry furniture shoppers at Ikea restaurants faced an easy decision. Four years ago, veggie balls and chicken balls were added alongside meatballs, accompanied by salmon and cod balls in 2018. Ikea has a total of 420 restaurants in 52 countries around the world, which attract an annual 680 million customers. In 2018, IKEA Foods in charge of the restaurants had a turnover of EUR 2.15 billion, making up five per cent of Ikea’s total turnover.Their selection of ‘balls’ are so popular that IKEA Foods has gained a clear understanding of global food trends. It added the veggie balls to the selection simply to cater for the growing demand for plant-based options among customers. “We know that more and more people choose food based on how ethical, environmental or socially responsible that food product is”, explains Michael La Cour, Managing Director at IKEA Food Services. The choice of dishes is also increasingly influenced by the way food impacts personal health and wellbeing. Few dishes are wrapped up in as much coziness, love, and safety as the meatball. For Nordic people, meatballs and mashed potatoes are a timeless home cooking classic bordering on a national dish. Disruption may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about a meatball, but it’s simmering and steaming right there alongside mashed potatoes, gravy, and lingonberry jam on Ikea’s self-service line: meat industry in disruption.
If you think about a board game, transformation changes the entire board instead of the position of players in relation to each other”, says Pekka Mattila, Group Managing Director at Aalto EE and Professor of Practice at Aalto University School of Business. From the viewpoint of a company, the successfulness of transformation depends on how and when the company reacts to a changing situation. A well-managed, conscious change in a new type of business context is the easiest route. Researchers Stelios Kavadias, Kostas Ladas and Christoph Loch see a business model linking a new technology to an emerging market need contributing to successful transformation. New technologies come and go, and they do not achieve transformation on their own. In the trio’s widespread article titled The Transformative Business Model, the researchers from the University of Cambridge Business School analyzed 40 new business models and their transformative potential. They concluded that a higher chance of success at transformation required better tailored products, asset sharing, usage-based pricing, a more collaborative ecosystem, and an agile and adaptive organization. Also a closed-loop process is important for environmental and cost factors. It means materials that are used and arise in the production process are recycled back into the process as effectively as possible.
Disruption may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about a meatball.
I
n business terms, the meatball is in the middle of transformation. What’s the difference between transformation and change?
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he managing director of IKEA Food Servi ces quotes a report (Global Data 2018) according to which 70 per cent of the world’s population plans to reduce meat consumption or stop eating it altogether. Despite popular belief, it’s not just a phenomenon in the wealthy west. The figure sounds astounding.
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Meat in cold storage, LihaREM Oy, Kouvola
C O N S U M P T I O N O F M E AT
Figure 1
kg per capita, carcass weight equivalent
1964/66
1974/76 1984/86 1994/96 1997/99
2015
2030
World 24.2
27.4
30.7
34.6
36.4
41.3
45.3
10.2
11.4
15.5
22.7
25.5
31.6
36.7
9.9
9.6
10.2
9.3
9.4
10.9
13.4
11.9
13.8
20.4
19.7
21.2
28.6
35.0
31.7
35.6
39.7
50.1
53.8
65.3
76.6
34.1
37.5
39.6
42.4
45.4
56.4
67.7
3.9
3.9
4.4
5.4
5.3
7.6
11.7
8.7
10.0
16.9
31.7
37.7
50.0
58.5
9.4
10.9
14.7
21.9
22.7
31.0
40.9
61.5
73.5
80.7
86.2
88.2
95.7
100.1
28.5
32.6
34.3
34.1
34.2
36.9
40.3
Developing countries Sub-Saharan Africa Near East / North Africa Latin America and the Caribbean Latin America and the Caribbean excl. Brazil South Asia East Asia
East Asia excl. China
Industrial countries
World excl. China
M E AT C O N S U M P T I O N BY T Y P E kg per capita, carcass weight equivalent
1964 / 66 1974 / 76 1984 / 86 1994 / 96 1997 / 99
2015
2030
Bovine Ovine
10.0
11.0
10.5
9.8
9.8
10.1
10.6
1.8
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.8
2.1
2.4
9.1
10.2
12.1
13.7
14.6
15.3
15.1
3.2
4.6
6.4
9.3
10.2
13.8
17.2
SOURCE: FAO, 2019
Pork Poultry
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Figure 2
Spain (1) and Austria (2) have the highest average consumption on the European mainland, both well above this figure at 94 kg and 91 kg respectively. Among the lowest average consumers of meat are Bosnia and Herzegovina (3) 32 kg, Azerbaijan (4) 31 kg, and the lowest Georgia (5) 28 kg. 2 3
1
5 over 90 kg
over 70 kg
over 50 kg
over 80 kg
over 60 kg
20–50 kg
4
A L M O S T E V E RY F I F T H YO U N G F I N N I S A V E G E TA R I A N
S O U R C E : U N FO O D A N D AG R I C U LT U R E O R G A N I S AT I O N ( FAO ) , O U R WO R L D I N DATA , 2 0 1 3
A N N U A L M E AT C O N S U M P T I O N P E R P E R S O N I N E U RO P E
Figure 3
%
2012
17–24
25–34
35–44
45–54
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55–64
65–74
2016
75–
Age
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SOURCE: TILASTOKESKUS
18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Consumers’ taste buds are changing so rapidly that there’s a demand for new types of products, but even bigger pressure for the transformation comes from production. It all boils down to the climate crisis. At its current scale, meat production is destroying the planet. According to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC in 2018, longterm measures to reduce emissions must be carried out rapidly throughout society. It’s the only way to curb global warming to a tolerable level. If global warming continues at its current rate, an increase of 1.5 °C will already be a reality in thirty years’ time. Going over the threshold would pose significant risk to both humans and nature. So far, the IPCC report is the most comprehensive scientific report on climate change that exists. The climate crisis is acute. The impact on business has meant an increasing number of companies putting in every effort to reduce emissions or alter production to be completely emission-free. Now clearcut climate practices are seen as a competitive advantage and the way to survive on the whole. Without a tolerable climate, there’s no business. Of course, also Ikea restaurants have begun to calculate their carbon footprint. “The carbon footprint of veggie balls is about twenty times smaller than that of meatballs”, says La Cour. Companies are busy doing their calculations. It’s also a marketing gimmick. Save the planet, buy veggie balls! Food is different from other consumption because everyone needs to eat, every single day, where as it is easy to cut down on other types of consumption.The food business cannot disappear – but it’s changing.
P
rofessor of Sustainability Management at Aalto University Minna Halme says people are facing wicked problems, a term commonly used to mean interconnected problem clusters. There are no simple solutions or labs for testing them. A loss of biodiversity is another problem alongside the climate crisis. Droughts resulting in crop failure are an example of a wicked problem linked to the climate crisis, causing local wars, which lead to migration, which then contribute to the rise of populist movements. Huh.The entire planet stuffed inside a meatball. “These factors already have a strong impact on people’s lives. We don’t necessarily notice it here in the Nordic countries, but you don’t have to go far before it’s apparent. Finns live in an illusion if they don’t familiarize themselves with the global situation.” The required measures for combating the climate crisis are a cause for heated arguments, but the conclusion is always the same: something needs to be done. Despite chain reactions crisscrossing the planet, the situation is not hopeless. Solutions do, however, require fast, painful action. According to a study, an average person on the planet needs to eat 75 per cent less beef, 90 per cent less pork and half the number of eggs. These should be replaced by tripling the current consumption of beans and quadrupling the consumption of nuts and seeds. These actions would halve the emissions from livestock. According to another estimate, replacing half of the meat products consumed today with lab-produced meat, plant-based meat replacements and insects would reduce the need for agricultural land by 38 per cent. Land is a scarce resource, as pressures mount to use available forestland. For-
Without a tolerable climate, there’s no business.
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Pork neck, LihaREM Oy, Kouvola.
ests store carbon dioxide and shouldn’t be cleared for other use. Lab-grown meat would be effective, as it means only growing edible muscle, eliminating all livestock waste. The board game of the meat industry has reshuffled.
T
he groundbreaking transformation offers huge potential for the food industry. Investors have taken note, and there’s been as much buzz around funding food-related inventions as around Ikea’s meatball counter. Kitchens, fields, and labs are bubbling away, just like the technology industry in the late 1900s. Smelling the aroma of future profits, investors have rushed to the dinner table. When producer of protein meat substitute Beyond Meat joined Nasdaq in the beginning of May 2019, investors rushed to grab shares. With losses on a revenue of just under USD 90 million in 2018, the company’s market valuation was already close to 5 billion dollars a few weeks after going public. Expectations for future profits are sky high. The stocks continued to rise when investment bank Barclays projected that the market for “alternative meat” could reach USD 140 billion over the next decade, gaining a 10 per cent share of the world’s entire meat market. The forecast was backed up for instance by the plant-based dairy market having a 13 per cent share of the world’s dairy market. This is how the trend can be seen at a café: Coffee with oat milk please! According to the report by Barclays, animalbased protein will become increasingly controversial, as it is one of the most important sources
of greenhouse gas emissions, energy intensive and associated with health concerns. The transformation in food production has become an asset management trend, and now several investment banks are coming up with their analyses. Themes include solving the methane issue in rearing livestock, growing demand for meat protein and plant protein production. The popularity is also evident in business and financial data provider Bloomberg offering a chance to follow the Vegan Climate Index since June 2018. The passive index of large cap stocks only accepts companies screened according to vegan and climate-conscious principles. The index has fared better than the S&P 500, the common index used to track the performance of the stock market. A vegan ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is on its way.
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A
lso meat production itself is undergoing transformation. Meat giants are now either developing plant protein products themselves or buying out small alternative protein companies – disruptors. For example, Brazil-based JBS, one of the world’s biggest meat producers, has developed a meat-free burger made from soy, wheat, garlic, onion, and beetroot. The market for plant-based protein is on the rise even in Brazil. Food and drink company Nestlé and US meat giant Tyson alike are involved in development. Quitting meat has made its way to the heart of food culture also in Denmark, which is one of the world’s biggest consumers of meat: smørrebrød, firm favorite among Danes, can now be topped with meat-free, ham-resembling alternatives.They are manufactured by Tulip, which is part of Danish Crown, the world’s largest exporter of pork.
Over the next decade, the market for ”alternative meat” could reach USD 140 billion, gaining a 10 per cent share of the world’s entire meat market.
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Meat stock, LihaREM Oy, Kouvola.
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Figure 4
Soybean is the most important vegetable protein used in animal feed production. Soybean demand rises when meat consumption rises.
350
Production
Usage
07
13
Million metric tons
300 250 200 150 100 50 0
87
89
91
93
95
97
99
01
03
05
09
11
15
17
W O R L D S OY B E A N M E A L CONSUMPTION 2017/2018
Figure 5
Millions metric tons
an er O
th
Ru s
36.87
3.52
Jap
sia
3.60
d an ail
do In
4.30
Th
sia
4.35
ne
di
ico ex
5.45
a
6.05
m et Vi
az Br
EU
S U
hi C
Figure 6
6.11
In
17.48
M
30.34
na
31.12
il
73.87
na
SOURCE: SOYBEAN MEAL INFO CENTER
Crop year beginning
S H A R E P R I C E O F B E YO N D M E AT H A S M U LT I P L I E D Nasdaq 210.00 168.00 126.00
SOURCE: NASDAQ
84.00 June
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C O 2 E M I S S I O N S F RO M L I V E S TO C K
Figure 7
GHG emissions from global livestock supply chains (gigatons)
0.6
Buffalo (milk and meat)
0.7
0.4
Small ruminants (milk and meat)
Pig meat
1.4
Cattle milk
0.4
Chicken meat
2.9 Beef
0.2
Chicken eggs
0.4
Draft, fiber and manure used as fuel
Products 7.0 gigatonnes
Production activities
3.3
3.5
Feed production
Livestock production
0.2
Postfarm transport and processing
0.5
2.4
1.4
Beef from dairy herd
Milk
Beef from specialized herd
0.3
Draft and manure used as fuel
Products 6.4 gigatonnes
Production activities
2.0
Feed production
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2.5
Livestock production
0.1
Postfarm transport and processing
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SOURCE: FAO, TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH LIVESTOCK, 2013
Global flows of emissions in cattle supply chains (gigatons)
“Meat consumption is increasing on a global scale, but a major climate discussion is underway in our part of the world. Our angle to the discourse is: less, but premium-quality meat”, says Astrid Gade Nielsen,Vice President, Group Communications at Danish Crown. Disruption has happened also in the Finnish meat market. In Finland, the majority of pulled oats inventor Gold & Green Foods was acquired by food and drink company Paulig in 2016.Verso Foods, which invented “härkis” fava bean products, was sold to Norwegian Kavli in spring 2019. Plant-based, protein-rich pulled oats made from oat, fava beans and peas, and “härkis” made from ground fava beans can both be used similarly to ground meat. Leena Saarinen is the former chairman of the board of Verso Foods, now serving as an advisor and a board member. As she tells the story of Verso Foods, it sounds like straight out of a how-to manual for startups. Her background as a company director and professional board member makes her a solid pro in the Finnish food industry. She believes the business model defined early on was a crucial element for success. According to the business model, commercialization was kept in the company’s own hands, while production was outsourced. “We weren’t tied to a certain production technology. It’s been a clear advantage for us. We’ve managed to put lots of effort into product development despite the company being small. We’ve been able to buy exactly what we’ve needed at the time.” Startups have the advantage of being agile without a heavy balance sheet of machinery and
equipment. And there’s no “this is the way it’s always been done” mentality restricting innovation. Exactly in line with the lessons of transformation by researchers Kavadias, Ladas and Loch. It all started with an idea of a Finnish protein ingredient. “We first tested peas.” “At the time, we didn’t have a clue how we’d use fava beans. We didn’t know what we’d make and how it could be used by the food industry. We’ve used different technologies for the chopping, grinding and further processing of beans”, says Saarinen. Saarinen thinks it worked due to a fast commercialization process and continuously seeking funding alongside product development. “We discovered fava beans in 2013, and the first consumer products were launched in stores in summer 2014. It happened really fast.” A product that would resemble ground meat loved by Finns was flickering in the mind already back then, but the first tests didn’t take place until fall 2015. The first actual production tests were carried out in January 2016, and the products were presented to retailers in June 2016. “That’s the startup spirit.You put your sole focus on a single ingredient, and things begin to happen.” Now Verso Foods is owned by Norwegian Kavli, providing an extra boost for expansion. “Right now, the professional market is a strong stimulant for growth. Chain restaurants have found us”, Saarinen explains. The fava bean product is a small but fine example of the transformation in the protein industry: tiny meat alternatives are becoming staples no longer only eaten by vegans. According to Saarinen, retailers are increasingly interested in offering meat alternatives as
“Producer-owned meat companies have strongly centered on production.They don’t know how to read the market or where the market is heading.”
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Grasshoppers in a container, restaurant Ultima.
Grasshopper lamp, restaurant Ultima.
part of their own brands, which is a strong indicator of changed consumer behavior. It is believed that flexitarians – people who favor a more vegetarian diet with the occasional meat dish – will be causing a boom on the market. In the Nordic countries, the daily consumer goods sector is highly concentrated. Small producers face giants, and meat alternative manufacturers have to battle with large meat companies for shelf space. “Distribution channels play a huge role. We managed to get our “härkis” products side-by-side with ground meat, which had a significant impact also on consumer behavior.” The products being sold next to ground meat was like hitting jackpot. “Ground meat is the user interface for “härkis”. It’s a new type of ingredient, and consumers need a concept they can compare it to. Everyone knows what to do with ground meat, and recipes for flexitarians are based on ground meat recipes”, says Saarinen.
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products”, says Mattila. Now store shelves are stacked with the same stuff from different brands. Traditional, producer-owned meat companies have strongly centered on production.They don’t always know how to read the market or where the market is heading.” There’s not much time, but the situation isn’t impossible. Professor Minna Halme thinks the meat sector still has a chance to react smartly to the looming pressures. “There’s still time to come up with solutions. Now is the time to develop other products alongside meat products. Of course they can choose not to and focus on meat production that’s as sustainable as possible instead”, Minna Halme adds. Halme doesn’t see the meat industry as an industry of the future if “thinking specifically about meat”.“But if the companies are able to diversify and add to their offering, they come equipped with excellent marketing channels and a lot of muscle force. For them, it’s a totally different ball game than for small, new companies launching a new product on the market”, Halme estimates. On the other hand, the margins might improve for those traditional companies who manage to renew their production and brands, especially if and when meat becomes more of a luxury product. A successful change of strategy requires getting serious with product development and building relationships with new producers of raw materials. In the words of Kavadias, Ladas and Loch, the ecosystem needs to be more collaborative. “These are major investments and elements of a major transformation.” Self-motivated transformation cannot begin before realizing there’s a need to change. It’s
When the challenger becomes big enough, it starts to get ridiculed. There have been plenty of vegan jokes flying around.
s far as funding is concerned, parallels can be drawn between the transformation of the meat industry and the technology boom, although production differs due to the meat industry’s heavy infrastructure and slower pace affected by seasons for cultivating animal feed and breeding. “A pig won’t turn into a chicken at the click of the fingers. Meat production is both slow and fast. Altering the course of production is a time-consuming, expensive operation, and huge losses can ensue in a single day”, says Pekka Mattila from Aalto EE. The imminent shift is so enormous that it takes support from the EU, states, and stakeholders.The climate crisis affects us all. ”Meat companies need to reposition their
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Beyond Meat burger Ingredients: Water, pea protein isolate 18%, canola oil, refined coconut oil, natural flavor, smoke flavoring, stabilizer (cellulose, methylcellulose, gum Arabic), potato starch, maltoÂdextrin, yeast extract, salt, sunflower oil, yeast extract, antioxidant (ascorbic acid, acetic acid), color (beet juice extract), modified food starch, apple extract, citrus extract.
SOURCE: FAO
Figure 8
H OW M U C H G R E E N H O U S E G A S D O E S M E AT P RO D U C T I O N G E N E R AT E ? kg CO2e / kg of product
SOURCE: EUROSTAT
5.4
Figure 9
6.1
46.2
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IN EU 2017 10 % Agriculture
3 % Waste management
8 % Industrial processes and product use
54 % Fuel combustion and fugitive emissions from fuels (without transport)
25 % Transport (incl. international aviation)
Figure 10
T H E P RO D U C T I O N O F 1 KG B E E F G E N E R AT E S A B O U T 1 3 . 3 KG O F C O 2 CO2-Emissions (in g CO2e per kg food):
SOURCE: TIME FOR CHANGE / PENDOS CO2-ZÄHLER
FOOD GROUP
Meat and sausages Milk and dairy products Fruits Baked goods
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FOOD
CO2
Beef 13,300 Raw sausages 8,000 Ham (pork) 4,800 Poultry 3,500 Pork 3,250 Butter 23,800 Hard cheese 8,500 Cream 7,600 Eggs 1,950 Quark (curd) 1,950 Farmer cheese 1,950 Margarine 1,350 Yogurt 1,250 Milk 950 Apples 550 Strawberries 300 Brown bread White bread
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750 650
SOURCE: TILASTOKESKUS
Figure 11
90 kg 2010 1980
60 kg
2017
1990 2000
1970 30 kg 1950
0 kg
1960
5,000 €
10,000 €
15,000 €
20,000 €
25,000 €
Consumption per capita (inflation-adjusted)
T H E W E A LT H Y E AT M E AT
Figure 12
140 North America 120 100 80
Latin America China
East Europe and Central Asia
Euro Zone
60 APAC 40 20 0
Middle East and North Africa South Asia 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 GDP (US$ per person)
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S O U R C E : FAO, W O R L D B A N K , F R O S T & S U L L I VA N A N A LYS I S
Annual Meat Consumption (kg per person)
Total meat consumption kilo per capital, carcass weight equivalent
THE MORE AFFLUENT THE FINNS, T H E M O R E M E AT T H E Y E AT
something Mattila thinks hasn’t been fully grasped in Finland with the exception of a couple of small companies. He believes meat companies need to become profoundly consumer-oriented. “It all goes back to the consumer. Even if your shares in a sausage factory amount to dozens of per cents, you still don’t have much of a say in matters.You can dismiss and hire directors, but it’s consumers who have the power over consumer products”, says Mattila. The board game has shifted, but so has the position of meat on the plate. Mattila sees the evolution of the meat industry as “where vegetables were previously seen as a side dish, they now compete against meat for the prime spot on the plate”. “In a context like this, some directors foresee while others react. Hero stories are written about reactive directors who narrowly save a product or company after a crisis. But hero stories should be about directors who foresee; their companies haven’t ended up in crisis in the first place”, Mattila sums up. Minna Halme explains that transformation is kindled by pressures from a large interest group and customers voting with their wallets. “Even the dumbest company changes when customers disappear.” How long before customers are gone does transformation kickstart into motion depends on the level of awareness among management as well as the level of innovation. “And whether management is able to take strategic responsibility”, Halme adds. She has examined transformation in companies for a lengthy period of time. Leading strategy as a forerunner isn’t always easy. When customers or legislation do not yet demand, it’s all down to the director’s strategic capabilities.
“Yet there are those who understand and make a change ahead of others. I can’t think of any meat company in the world that would have done this”, Halme says. Attitudes towards lab-grown meat is a concrete example of how challenging strategic leadership can be. One can play it down and say it will take a long time before lab meat can be commercialized. And it sure will; around 5–20 years according to current estimates. One can doubt whether a T-bone steak can ever be produced in a lab, as it would require cultivating more than muscle, such as fat for flavor and to aid cooking. One can also say it’s too expensive if it doesn’t become a mass product. Expensive it is, just like plant-based meat alternatives for the time being. Then again, things may pan out similarly to the production of renewable energy: sudden giant technological leaps, an increase in volume, a reduction in unit costs. And lo and behold – suddenly energy production concentrated in large plants starts to seem clumsy, old-fashioned, and expensive. In a situation like that, cell-cultured meat becomes the new normal. There’s no way of knowing which alternative turns out to be the winning strategy.
Things may pan out similarly to the production of renewable energy: sudden giant technological leaps, an increase in volume, a reduction in unit costs.
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hen an established industry starts to veer towards a new position, technology developers and challengers of the prevailing business model are not taken seriously at first. They are downplayed. This was the case for renewable energy in the energy sector some time ago. Next up is denying the change: the newcomer is so insignificant that it doesn’t affect us.Take the Finnish media industry, which long into the 90s believed that the Finnish language would protect
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Beyond Meat burger, Helsinki
it from the impacts of the internet. Also solar and wind power have been downplayed in Finland for a longer time than elsewhere. When the challenger becomes big enough, it starts to get ridiculed. There have been plenty of vegan jokes flying around. ”Mocking is a sign the newcomer already poses a threat. Finland has gone past the mocking stage in the past few years. Or it might still occur at a men’s hunting club somewhere, but at least I
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haven’t seen it anymore”, says Halme, referring to the meat industry. Instead of mocking, people may have moved on to thinking about how they should relate and whether to do something themselves. This is true for the world’s biggest meat exporter Danish Crown. In 2018, it began a process of thoroughly examining the situation in the sector and its position in it. The Danish giant has even discussed whether it should start developing
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lab-grown meat. For now, the answer has been no. But Danish Crown has carried out something that is increasingly popular in transformation processes and mentioned as a criterion for success by Kavadias, Ladas and Loch. The company has opened up and taken interest groups actively onboard to grasp the change. Joint development with interest groups can be called open sourcing. According to professor Halme, it prevents from being misinformed or taking action based on inadequate knowledge. The method not only tolerates differences in opinion, but actively seeks out diverse views. Danish Crown held the MEAT2030 seminar in fall 2018, inviting 200 “inspiring people” to attend. These included people from the entire production chain as well as producers, customers, NGOs, bankers, Ikea personnel, politicians, and a representative from Chinese e-commerce platform Alibaba. The invitees included rivals. ”It was a little scary for some of my Danish Crown colleagues, who had never done anything like it before. We explained it’s good if everyone takes part. Danish Crown had to understand what our stakeholders are thinking – otherwise we cannot run a profitable business”, Astrid Gade Nielsen explains. Gade Nielsen left dairy company Arla, another Danish, globally operating agricultural giant, to join the meat heavyweight. Both companies are farmer-owned. Danish Crown hired her to open up the company, as stakeholders both on the inside and outside needed to hear what is going on in the world. Gade Nielsen states that during the process of opening up, the company noticed what a big concern the climate was for consumers. Consumers are worried about food production, biodiversity, everything. “Perhaps we need to eat less meat. Less, but extremely good meat.That’s our angle to the discussion”, Gade Nielsen explains, referring to the company’s vision. “We need to think about how we fit in the picture and what we can do about it.”
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For Danish Crown, the solution was to become a sustainable food company from farm to fork. “The carbon footprint poses a big challenge to the farms. We don’t yet know how we will become carbon neutral by 2050, but we will.” Carbon neutrality is a key sustainability aim at Danish Crown. The globally operating company has a clear view of the diversity of different markets around the world. Where the west is busy talking about veganism, the Chinese pork market is growing at an astounding rate. Danish Crown runs test production in China and its marketing message there focuses on food safety. It’s a way to start up a discussion on animal welfare and use of antibiotics. “From there, it’s only a small step to sustainable production. If you want to be a challenger, you need to also challenge customers.” Customers are challenged also in other parts of the world besides China, as the company arranges courses on sustainable sales for sales people. Danish Crown’s customers include large store and restaurant chains.
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ccording to Minna Halme, consumers choosing a vegetable protein burger instead of beef is a telltale sign that cultural norms are shifting. The board game is reshaping once again. “Among trendsetters, cutting down on meat consumption has become culturally popular and aspired. It’s talked about a great deal.” Cultural norms are part of the business ecosystem. The ecosystem also includes legislation, which, too, is showing signs of change.The European Parliament is currently considering whether calling vegetable protein products sausages or burgers is permissible. Consumption and environmental taxes are on their way. “For instance, Germany’s federal environment agency proposed raising taxes on meat. Steering behavior through taxation is on the rise”, Halme estimates. Halme and Saarinen from Verso Foods are surprised that a health perspective hasn’t sur-
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faced more strongly in connection to meat consumption. “The health perspective is interesting when it comes to the excess consumption of processed meat. Eating less red meat has health benefits. In research, the links are more evident than is the case with climate change”, says Halme.
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ransformation is a balancing act. There’s no way of knowing the right time to start. The cashflow needs to continue in motion, and existing production is coupled with developing something new – which creates transformation. It is not likely that transformation will proceed in a logical and straightforward manner in the meat industry. It almost never does. It can be fast or slow, leap sideways, and turn around. That’s what transformations are like. The crucial matter is to always take care of profitability. Minna Halme mentions Finnish corporation Wärtsilä as an example of successful change management.The company manufactures diesel engines but has a clear focus on the future of renewable energy in its investments and lobbying. Founded in 1834, Wärtsilä can easily be called a top expert in change management; it has seen plenty of fluctuations, lines of business and acquisitions during its 200-year journey. Transformation can create internal tension and processes that are extremely tricky to manage. “But failing to recognize upcoming change is what really makes things difficult. Defending the old inevitably leads to it all crashing down.” “It starts with finding a new identity”, says Halme. She sets the chain of thoughts on the future of the meat industry into motion like this: You can begin to search for a new identity by
thinking about the problem the company wants to solve and asking how it can create sustainable, eco-efficient innovation. “That’s when you begin to find answers to why the company exists on this planet. What do customers need? Protein.” A meat processing plant can be a provider of protein solutions rather than a meat company.
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here is the transformation in the meat industry heading? What view should one take when some consumers are only just getting into the habit of eating meat, while a large bunch decides to quit meat for good? How many are flexitarians, and how many players are competing for a share of the same dinner plate? What will we eat in the future? Transformation always comes with more questions than sure answers. The shift in the meat sector is the only thing that’s sure. Even Ikea is busy coming up with a ball for the next generation. In 2020, diners at the furniture store will get to taste the fifth version in line: “It looks and tastes like meat, but is made from plant-based, alternative proteins”, says Michael La Cour, Managing Director of IKEA Food Services. So in a course of five years, the selection of balls is growing from one to five. In transformation lingo, i.e. the words of Kavadias, Ladas and Loch: “consumers are offered more personalized products”. It’s pretty certain that Ikea won’t be stopping there and has probably begun to investigate lab-grown meat as we speak. A fig tree, recycled plastic storage boxes, a couple of candleholders, a new sofa cover, and two portions of techno meatballs please! ◆
“That’s when you begin to find answers to why the company exists on this planet.What do customers need? Protein.”
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BOOK 2 [ TA L E N T M A N A G E M E N T ]
FIRED! HIRED! How to choose the best possible leader for different situations? Annukka Oksanen interviewed talent management and recruitment experts to find out. The message was clear: it makes more sense to focus on future potential instead of the past. Illustrations: Tim Lahan
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ew challenges.Time to move on. A difference of views. Family reasons. A suitable successor came along. Fulfilling a dream. An offer too good to pass.The company leaping into a new stage. Burnout. Bonus date attained. Headhunted by a competitor. On a daily basis, headlines tell a message that directors come – and go. According to a study from 2018 by the Finnish Chamber of Commerce, the average tenure of a CEO in a Finnish public company is 5.1 years. The same average length applies to CEOs in the world’s 2,500 largest companies in the last decade, according to consulting company PwC.The term has shortened from an average of eight years at the beginning of the 2000s. In older, slower times, CEOs had decades to grow and refine themselves along with the company. Now, the market and operating environment
”The globalized market means people are moving around and changing jobs more than before, which, in order to survive, fuels a need for companies to pay increasing attention to who they appoint as directors”, says Vuori. These days, CEOs are often chosen for extremely clearly defined roles.
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hoosing a CEO is one of the most important strategic decisions a company makes. It requires the board to possess in-depth industrial knowledge, clear-cut strategic thinking, and relationship skills. “A rational model involves explicitly defining the characteristics required from the director before examining the candidates against the criteria”,Vuori explains. Top business consultant Ram Charan, who has mentored some of the world’s biggest companies for decades, has defined four ways for a board to
Choosing a CEO is one of the most important strategic decisions a company makes. are so fast-paced that directors have a hard time keeping up. Long-term CEOs have to either be exceptionally adaptable or surrounded by a power team that does the adapting for them. Timo Vuori, Assistant Professor, Strategic Management, at Aalto University, researches the way companies form and implement strategies. He is also a seasoned corporate consultant.
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succeed in picking the right CEO. Here’s his list: 1. Boards need to thoroughly examine and consider the key characteristics for the role. 2. Candidates should not be eliminated based on their background. 3. Boards must have in-depth understanding as to which candidates best fit the whole. 4. Candidates must not be expected to be perfect.
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In theory, the list sounds simple, but in practice, choosing a director is a tough job that involves finetuning a multidimensional puzzle. ”It’s the ideal model”, says Timo Vuori. ”In reality, the process is influenced by impressions and networks.The selection committee tends to favor characteristics it possesses itself. It’s also easier to listen to the recommendation of someone you know over that of a stranger. It’s cognitive biases like these.” Cognitive biases are surprisingly resilient, and studies show they are easily slipped into even if we are aware of them. A good example of cognitive bias is a situation where the board or executive management of a company is made up of people with a similar educational background. Likewise, people might sincerely think all the potential candidates just happen to be men or of a certain nationality. It may be fun to lead a group of friends, but it might also be an echo chamber that obstructs a clear and diverse view of the world – the company’s operating context.
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ccording to a report by the Finnish Chamber of Commerce, only 19 per cent of new CEOs in Finnish public companies were appointed internally in 2018. It might be because recruiting from the outside is in fashion, but also down to failing to raise new leaders in-house. Systematic business development has always been at the core of companies. HR policy – or talent management to be more specific – has on the other hand become a priority only in recent years. During her current role as consultant and partner at executive search company Amprop, Pii Kotilainen has managed 100–120 recruitment processes. She says that in an ideal situation, a company has such a good pool of people at its disposal as it is that it can decide separately when it makes strategic sense to recruit from the outside. “A situation like that isn’t easy to achieve, though.
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I’ve only witnessed it once”, says Kotilainen. There are still large companies that do not take systematic care about talent management. It’s odd considering companies are so eager to repeat that people are the company’s most valuable resource. What does talent management mean exactly? Riitta Lumme-Tuomala, Head of Growth at Aalto University Executive Education, has a doctorate in talent management. She defines it as: strategic thinking on how to get the right person in the right place at the right time. Pii Kotilainen talks about charting dynamic competencies.Timo Vuori from Aalto University says talent management is intended to result in people in the organization doing what’s needed as well as possible. This includes updating skills. According to PwC, CEO turnover hit 17.5 per cent in the world’s 2,500 largest companies in 2018. It’s a record high. Times are turbulent at the top.
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hen does it make sense to switch CEOs? There can be many reasons, and a switch doesn’t always help in tough times. An eyecatching dismissal and messianic appointment of a new leader can also be a panic reaction taken too far. ”Updating one’s competence may be a better way”, says Vuori. Riitta Lumme-Tuomala reminds that the stardom of a leader bought with big money to save the day isn’t necessarily transferred from one organization to another. A study conducted in the US found that the performance of heart surgeons varies when they move to another hospital. In other words, the results of their work vary even though the person and operation stay the same. “Leadership is tied to the context”, LummeTuomala explains. “The organization’s mission, structure, culture… It all has an effect.” Despite a switch of CEOs not always being the right medicine for problems,Timo Vuori does feel typically companies wait too long before chang-
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In choosing a new CEO, the selection committee tends to favor characteristics they possess themselves.
ing leadership. It is difficult to determine the exact right time to do it, though. A board stuck in its ways doesn’t recognize a need for change, but if it is up with the times, it will grasp what characteristics a new CEO needs to possess for the time at hand. If the organization is serious about talent management, choosing the right leaders should be an ongoing process. For example, each board meeting could involve taking a look at a list of five people according to certain criteria.The question is: what characteristics does the organization need from a leader in this particular situation? When a process is anticipatory without an acute need, it is proactive. A reactive process begins when the company is already in bad shape and
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there is less choice. Vuori thinks proactive talent sourcing is talked about a great deal but isn’t often systematically applied. Systematic successor planning does not mean constantly questioning current management, but an ongoing, proactive process teaches corporate management to discuss people, which is important. An ability to talk about people is worth its weight in gold when crisis strikes and cannot be developed if a crisis is the only time it is discussed.
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alent management is systematic and ongoing. It is a key part of the company strategy, with the aim to support the strategy execution. Recruitment expert Pii Kotilainen suggests using talent review as a tool, which involves corporate
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Age is not such a big deal these days. A desire and ability to learn are what count. management strategically analyzing the skills and suitability of personnel in relation to business needs. The focus is on the future and on defining the potential of the company and staff. Also Riitta Lumme-Tuomala pays attention to the time dimension in determining suitable candidates. ”Do we look at performance, i.e. backwards? Or potential that stretches forward? Formal competence and a rock-solid CV are established practices for determining the right candidate but can lead astray especially in rapidly developing industries. Lumme-Tuomala believes that ”fact-based engineer directors” are interested in what is and has been. They see hindrances and facts. Intuitive leaders see opportunities. ”Efficient leadership requires flexibility, delegation skills, proactiveness, and contextual insight”, Lumme-Tuomala outlines. It also takes humility and faith in others. Otherwise there is no trust.
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he world is changing at such a fast pace that companies do not necessarily understand what skills are needed. That is why LummeTuomala thinks potential plays a crucial role. ”Forget about lengthy lists of competencies and make sure the person has meta competence instead: emotional intelligence, smartness, an ability to learn, and agility”, Lumme-Tuomala encourages. Here lies one of the secrets behind profitable talent management: instead of past performance, focus on the future – potential.
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”Talent management is the key, as the 21st century is a century for talents; people who know how to solve problems”, Lumme-Tuomala describes. According to Pii Kotilainen, talent management is on the rise also because leadership processes are no longer about going with the flow in a “I like you” type of way, but about striving for objectivity and transparency.
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ompanies are well aware that they won’t manage without the right people and skills. But an awareness alone isn’t enough. LummeTuomala says “you need to dare track down” the right skills – find the potential. ”In practice it means seeing promise in someone and placing them in situations that bring completive advantage to the company. You pay more attention to them – and also expect more from them than others.” According to Lumme-Tuomala, an entire organization cannot be filled with talent. According to her, also employees who keep up the company’s competitive edge are key persons, whereas talents create competitive edge and grow possibly into leaders or become experts positioned in strategic key positions. Timo Vuori thinks an ability to work across different industries is important in leadership, as borders between sectors become increasingly blurred. Creating new combinations can bring a great deal of added value. In today’s world, there is a demand for leaders who are able to bring together different types of people. Professional leaders can do
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well in a field that’s new to them if they are surrounded by a good team.
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need to transform the industry and business is often a reason to switch CEOs. ”Often, organizational renewal requires a reshuffle of people. When a sector is going through transition, former management may not be totally familiar with new technology or competition, so a leader with the right understanding and skills is needed.” It’s not even necessarily about an understanding, but about interaction; how people work together. Lauri Järvilehto is Professor of Practice on the Aalto Ventures Program at Aalto University. He is also a startup entrepreneur, philosopher, consultant specialized in working life, and author of books on leadership. According to him, a largescale organizational reform can require new people. “If an organizational reform is carried out with the same people, there will be no significant change.” Companies often turn to consultants to help define potential and recruit management. Consultant Pii Kotilainen sees a leader leaving the top always as a new opportunity. She recommends kickstarting the recruitment process of a new leader by outlining the business context. She highlights the importance of management and the consultant having an in-depth understanding of the situation and culture of the company. ”It’s worth thinking about the strategy and organization. When someone leaves, it may for instance be possible to combine units.” Initial conversations are about ensuring an understanding of the type of person needed. Consultants are also sparring partners for management in figuring out the role of the future leader. ”Companies are getting better at grasping what type of director they need.” When the relationship with the client is built on trust, the consultant can also add out of the box candidates to the list.
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S TA RT, C H A N G E , R E O RG A N I Z AT I O N – D I F F E R E N T S TAG E S D E M A N D DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEADERSHIP Researchers say there is no one type of leadership personality, but it is a question of the right type of leadership for different situations.That is why recruitment needs to focus on suitable leadership for each development stage of a company.
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oogling ‘leadership types’ in different languages makes it seem like fun and games for the masses, as the search retrieves dozens of ways to categorize leaders into groups between three to fifteen. Visionary, growth leader, reorganizer. Authoritarian, democratic, laissez-faire. Coaching, serving, go-getter. Charismatic, delegator. Strategic, transformative, team leader… Although researchers point out that a certain leadership personality does not exist, suitable leadership for different situations does. It is important to think about what type of leadership is best suited for each development stage of a company. At the STARTUP PHASE, others need to be persuaded to believe in the vision. “The startup phase requires a crazy amount of faith to create something out of nothing. It’s easier to accelerate from one to ten than from zero to one”, Professor of Practice Lauri Järvilehto specifies. He has personal experience from founding a startup. ”Startup leaders need to make you believe in something that’s not even true yet”, Assistant Professor Timo Vuori adds. “They have an ability to imagine and make others believe. Or then they need to hire someone to do it for them.” The GROWTH PHASE requires organizational skills. ”The growth phase is chaotic. It requires the leader
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to be familiar with metrics and key performance indicators and have operative competence. It also takes vision; Tesla, for instance, doesn’t stay afloat because of its numbers but its vision”, says Järvilehto. How about the ESTABLISHED PHASE? Järvilehto laughs that he is not sure how much the leadership style of an established firm is even needed now that everything is constantly changing. “But factually, many large companies are led this way.” CHANGE MANAGEMENT requires stress tolerance and a clear direction. Järvilehto calls it ”wartime leadership”. He mentions how he has come to see the importance of keeping spirits up through his own work. ”If you arrive at work huffing and puffing, it immediately catches on. I used to think it was fake not to show all your feelings, but it’s not the case. It doesn’t mean polishing the surface, though.” The leader of a MATURE, DECLINING COMPANY needs to have empathy. Vuori says that an empathetic leader can fire people without destroying the whole organization in the process. Leaders can also be boxed into categories like people leaders, product leaders, customer leaders, and business leaders.
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A BUSINESS LEADER reshuffles when the economic cycle slows down, describes Järvilehto. The focus is below the line, which the leader uses to define his or her strategy and actions. A PEOPLE LEADER does the opposite. Järvilehto mentions Kone corporation’s handsome dramaturgy during the period of MATTI ALAHUHTA between 2005–2014. ”During the financial crisis, Alahuhta invested in retraining, innovation and product development while others were letting people go and cutting expenditure. He sought growth in a declining overall market. It was a genius move as the cycle turned.” A people leader puts people first. Another example of a people leader mentioned by Järvilehto is Supercell’s CEO ILKKA PAANANEN. “Paananen has claimed to strive to be the world’s least influential CEO. If you design the organization and recruit well, there’s no need to get involved. Leadership means getting involved only when needed. Paananen and Alahuhta have a strong human-centered approach and ability to get results. They take care of the organization and are systematic.” Järvilehto describes JEFF BEZOS from Amazon as a customer leader taken to the max. ”Even the wellbeing of his own staff comes second. The main thing is to deliver the package to the customer on time”, Järvilehto points out. Another leader who puts the customer above everything else is RICHARD BRANSON from Virgin, whose main concern is to offer the best possible flight experience to customers. STEVE JOBS from Apple and ELON MUSK from Tesla are examples of product leaders, meaning the focus is on the product or vision determined by the product. ”They are what hero myths are all about. People leaders often stay out of the spotlight, as taking care of the preconditions doesn’t look so interesting on the outside.”
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The required level of seniority determines whether the company is after a rising star, someone exactly at the height of their career, or an experienced senior. They all have their good points. Kotilainen debunks the persisting idea that women over forty would no longer be in the game. ”It’s not true by any means. Age is not such a big deal these days. What is crucial is a desire and ability to learn as well as the time dimension: the candidate being able to take charge of the role for 3–5 years”, says Kotilainen. Sometimes, a less senior person is sought to add diversity and a longer perspective to a rather homogeneous, agewise senior top team. According to Kotilainen, a challenging business situation or crisis shouldn’t be concealed from candidates, as it can actually be a useful way to sift out potential ones. Similarly, a candidate shouldn’t hide tough spots or shortcomings. In fact the opposite is true: experiencing a bankruptcy or other major crisis can turn the tables in favor of the candidate. After the financial crisis, a number of companies have arisen that have only seen a continuous rise without a clue about harder times. If a company like that is equipped with a smart board and management, it will make sure to hire leaders who have been through the mill, as there will be trouble sooner or later. In other words, the economic cycle determines the right leadership style. ”Five years ago, the transformation meant reorganization, optimization, and cuts. When a company is in problems, the time perspective shortens. Now, the time perspective has lengthened again”, Pii Kotilainen has noticed. The upswing has lasted so long that transformation is now sought strategically rather than by force.This situation requires directors who inspire change. The need for change is obvious in the middle of a crisis. It’s more demanding for a director to implement change proactively before times are hard. ◆
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C A N A N YO N E B E A L E A D E R O R G RO W I N TO O N E ? Just like any other work, leadership can be learned. For insight on transformation, take a look at the taxi, cell phone and hotel industries. ”They make you see how your own industry could be changing, too.”
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ssistant Professor Timo Vuori cannot name a single characteristic that a leader should definitely have. That’s how many pieces there are in the puzzle. ”Well I guess you have to be smart. But even that’s not always necessary; sometimes choosing the right strategy is down to luck. And as long as the leader manages to inspire others despite being dumb, it will work”, he provokes. Vuori does mention one absolute must for good leadership, though: the CEO needs to fit in with the rest of the organization’s management. That way, the management team can compensate what the CEO might be lacking. The leader having the right business, product and service competence for the situation is what matters. Also networks that support the company are beneficial. ”A situational appraisal must be carried out on who can achieve the most in the context”, says Vuori. As there are no clear-cut leader personalities, leadership can be learned just like any other job. A CEO is no longer an omnipotent go-getter yelling from the corner office, but smart leaders of today are ready to admit they have a lot to learn. ”Leadership is horribly lonely and extremely difficult. It’s important to have someone to call at nine in the evening after a terrible day. To have someone to turn for help”, says Lauri Järvilehto. Järvilehto himself calls Tom Kalinske, an American
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corporate director and former CEO of for instance toy company Mattel and game company Sega. Together, they might discuss work life problems and board work challenges. Järvilehto is currently a board member of company called Filosofian akatemia, specialized in work life issues, and Unicef of Finland. ”We skype at night. He’s an amazing gentleman in his seventies”, Järvilehto praises his mentor. Järvilehto plucked up the courage to ask Kalinske to mentor him when they sat down around the same dinner table in Salt Lake City once. Timo Vuori tips that for insight on transformation, you could look at the taxi, cell phone and hotel industries. ”They make you see how your own industry could be changing, too.” Riitta Lumme-Tuomala from Aalto EE would give people more of a chance to cross organizational boundaries, and, above, all, authority boundaries. ”I pay attention to the way people ask for help.” Asking for help means exposing yourself and thus says a lot about someone. ”Leaders only have one tool – themselves. If they don’t know themselves and how they affect others, they have no way of understanding other people”, Lumme-Tuomala says. Curious, energetic, empathetic, humble, and sophisticated. Through talent management, all these traits can be analyzed, just like the results of different business segments can be analyzed. A good leader works for the company and the company’s employees. Lauri Järvilehto describes leadership as follows: ”Ideally, a leader is like a lens which compresses light into a laser beam. But the light always emanates from people – employees.”
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BOOK 3 [ LEADERSHIP ]
THE FUTURE OF HR What lies at the heart of HR now that so many of the processes are automated? Journalist Reetta Räty jumped on a train with Kirsi Nuotto from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland to hear about the HR director’s thoughts on the changing field – and the key quality of a leader. Photography: Heli Blåfield
People need to be motivated, assured, and steered towards the future before trouble strikes. “Motivating people for an upcoming change requires a clear vision and extremely good communication skills”, Kirsi Nuotto says.
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irst it was pure chance, then a choice. Whenever Kirsi Nuotto changed jobs or responsibilities, she ended up in an organization that was in the midst of a major transformation. For an HR professional, it has meant organizational renewal, restructuring, hiring key people, redefining the direction, harmonizing work methods, and implementing changes, often together with the CEO. Sometimes, alongside all that’s inspiring, transformation has also meant letting people go, reorganization, and cutting back, while trying to keep up the faith in what’s to come. Already early on in her career, Nuotto learned to enjoy bringing about change. It gave a chance to create and learn something new in the process. She began to intentionally pursue tasks where standing still and sticking to a routine were not enough. Nuotto has now been a HR director for about two decades. The work has changed so much in the 2000s that you could say the entire profession
VTT’s researchers work in Tampere, just under two hours by train from Helsinki. Kirsi Nuotto is sitting on a train on her way home after spending the morning with her Tampere colleagues. Together with team leaders, they reflected on staff development and rewarding, employee wellbeing, and social media. On the return journey, we intend to talk about HR in an expert organization, and what Nuotto has learned about HR management through her work at the top level of large international organizations. When Nuotto joined VTT some years ago, a new strategy had just been implemented. The CEO had changed – and a transformation process was underway with staff. “Exactly the type of work that gets me excited”, exclaims Nuotto. Competition has toughened and become more international also in research. A typical feature of transformation is that competition no longer applies only to traditional rivals.
“Talent attracts talent, as they say. People want to be where things are happening.” is undergoing – you guessed it – transformation. “Now numbers are calculated by machines, processes are automated, and all data and personnel figures are readily available without someone in the HR department needing to add them up.” It begs to ask: what is the role of HR as we enter the 2020s?
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he train jolts into motion at Tampere railway station, headed towards capital city Helsinki. These days, Kirsi Nuotto is Senior Vice President, Human Resources, at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.VTT is a state-owned research, development and innovation partner with over 2,000 employees, mostly researchers. A number of
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New competitors – and possible business partners – include startups, which target the same markets as VTT in an attempt to solve the key problems of humankind. “Research can be bought from a number of instances, and just like other research institutes, VTT needs to think about how to remain relevant to customers”, Nuotto says. “For instance, we need to make sure we know how to communicate everything we do: our part in solving climate change, mobility transformation, the future of food, solutions of the energy sector… We are solving global challenges, but is everyone aware of this and do people grasp what we do in that respect?”
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hen competition gets tough, as an ‘expert on humans’, the HR director focuses even more closely on people – employees. On the train, Nuotto opens her laptop and displays her own guiding star, the VTT People Agenda, which defines VTT’s human resource policy for achieving the goals set out in the strategy. For example,VTT wants to be more customerdriven than in the past.The funding structure and field of science have changed, and this shift requires a new take on customer acquisition. For HR, increasing competition means having to carefully consider what type of HR policy will advance strategic aims.
longer enough for talented, ambitious people”, emphasizes Nuotto. She compares recruitment processes she has witnessed during the past 20 years in international companies. The roles of job seekers and the employer have changed significantly. “Employers used to dictate the conditions and say: come work here. Now employees consider where they want to work and issues they want to advance through their work.” According to Nuotto, also the questions asked by potential employees in a recruitment situation are completely different than during past decades. “In the past, they’d ask about the role and ben-
When changes are communicated to personnel, it’s important to remember that their thought process is only just beginning. “You can’t expect everyone to be immediately onboard and enthusiastic.” “Employing the best talent is absolutely crucial to us”, says Nuotto. Attracting talent is different for Nuotto at VTT compared to her previous workplaces, which were international listed companies. VTT is part of Finland’s official innovation system with a mandate to develop societal competitiveness. It is a fully state-owned and controlled non-profit limited liability company. In terms of rewarding systems, public ownership means that personnel cannot be lured in by fancy cars and hefty salaries. But there are other ways in which changes in the world of work benefit organizations like VTT: according to one study after the next, meaningfulness and good working conditions, including the opportunity to influence one’s tasks and maintain a good work-life balance, are increasingly important factors for employee motivation. “Merely implementing other people’s decisions without having a say in your own work is no
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efits. Now they ask about the management and working cultures, whether advancement is transparent, possibilities to impact decision-making at the workplace… Really good, relevant questions!” Nuotto mentions that nowadays many candidates ask why the interviewer wants to work there. In an expert organization, few would begin to list traditional benefits as the reason. An inspiring atmosphere, independent work, and much-discussed meaningfulness are more important: does this job have broader significance, and does it feel meaningful? hen Nuotto and her colleagues discuss the topic of rewarding, they do not only talk about salaries but “rewards as a whole”. In addition to meaningfulness, continuous learning – the opportunity for personal development at work –
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Rosaliina Turunen (left) and Juha Tähtiharju (above) work at VTT laboratories in Espoo, Finland.
is seen as important, whether through mentoring, coaching, further education possibilities, international conferences… The competence development of employees is vital in order to remain a top research center in the world, but it’s also something employees demand: people are after work that develops their expertise. The best talent is also lured in by paying attention to their leisure time.VTT offers slightly more days off than many private companies. “Holistic wellbeing” has been a big thing, which does not only mean occupational healthcare but also good leadership, work-life balance, fitness activities, and
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information on a healthy lifestyle, all designed to support occupational wellbeing. VTT’s own researchers have been involved in reflecting on employee wellbeing; its personnel after all includes experts on the future of work, psychology, and coping at work. Employees are hardly promised a stress- and pressure-free existence, but the fact that wellbeing is discussed in the context of rewarding is noteworthy. “When someone thinks about their workplace, they think about a whole lot more than their salary”, Nuotto says. A domino effect applies to attracting the best
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Kirsi Nuotto lives in Helsinki, Finland. Her VTT office is in Espoo, and it is easy to get there by metro.
“I ran to the bookstore, bought a pile of books on HR, and began to learn.” talent; when an organization manages to recruit a few top people, others follow. “Talent attracts talent, as they say. People want to be where things are happening.”
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he train journey from Tampere to Helsinki is a reflection of Finland: an urban landscape disappears in an instant, and the countryside begins.The windows offer views over fields and forest, followed by more fields and forest. The scenery is a far cry from a sea of lights and global metropoles. Kirsi Nuotto has had an international career, globetrotting between continents for work. She now works in Espoo in the Helsinki metropolitan region. Finland may be a little isolated from everything, but the scientific commu-
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nity at VTT is global: researchers hail from dozens of different countries, and studies aim to solve increasingly global challenges. Nuotto attended Helsinki’s French school when she was young. She had set her mind on an international career already back then. In the 1980s, she studied French and Spanish at the University of Helsinki and applied for minor studies at the Faculty of Sciences and School of Business. “It’s another way to becoming an HR director”, she laughs. Nuotto feels that her multidisciplinary, diverse background has opened doors. Even if this “jumble” of studies was sometimes met with a frown, it turns out a career does not have to follow a set path. When Nuotto graduated from university, she al-
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ready had two children. Her husband’s work as a doctor led the family to Chicago for two years. “It made me think about what to do now, and what it all meant for my career”, Nuotto reminisces. With her language skills, Nuotto found work as a translator at medical equipment manufacturer Datex owned by Instrumentarium. She translated anesthesia equipment manuals into French, sending the finished translations on disk to Europe. As in so many cases, chance led the way instead of plans, or at least alongside them. Nuotto got to know a French anesthesiologist, who noticed what many others would along her career later on: that Kirsi is a “people person”. What if she started training up the global sales network of Datex? Yes, why not? And so Nuotto landed a job that took her around the world from Korea to Colombia, Sydney to Reykjavik.When Instrumentarium acquired a major anesthesia equipment manufacturer, Nuotto was asked to get involved in the integration project. “It was a billion-dollar deal, which led to having to combine functions and arrange training.” While implementing the transformation, Nuotto got to know American HR directors – and saw her future. “That’s really interesting”, she thought about HR. She was attracted by its focus on people while considering the viewpoint of the entire organization. When she spotted an ad in a Finnish newspaper for the position of HR Director at GlaxoSmithKline, Nuotto exclaimed: I want that job. Her friends were quick to remind her she couldn’t apply as she had zero experience in HR. “I ran to the bookstore, bought a pile of books on HR, and began to learn.”
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laxoSmithKline develops and manufactures drugs and vaccines. When Nuotto joined the company, it was going through – you guessed it: a major change process. The corporation was established in 2000 when pharmaceutical companies Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham
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VTT IN FIGURES NET TURNOVER 1 6 0 M € O T H E R O P E R AT I N G I N C O M E 81 M€ GOVERNMENT GRANT 71 M€ R E V E N U E F R O M A B R O A D 73 M€ PERSONNEL 2,054 (31.12.2018) UNIVERSITY DEGREE 82.6% D O C T O R S A N D L I C E N T I AT E S 31.2% C U S TO M E R S 1 , 5 1 0 D O M E S T I C C O M PA N I E S 9 3 5 F O R E I G N C O M PA N I E S 3 5 5 P U B L I C O R G A N I Z AT I O N S I N F I N L A N D A N D A B ROA D 2 2 0 N O T I F I C AT I O N S O F I N V E N T I O N S 239 P U B L I C AT I O N S 1,049, O F W H I C H I N T E R N AT I O N A L S C I E N T I F I C A RT I C L E S 486
merged. The British-American company is listed in the New York and London stock exchanges. Along with the merger, the new, global company needed to execute large-scale integration and create new processes at the same time. “Everything was examined: how to lead performance, reward employees, implement integration, take
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care of talent management, organize new ways of working, and support good leadership. It meant selecting key people, launching board work, new regulations and ways of working… Nuotto says she learned something new every day. “It was the Harvard of HR.” Whenever a company merger is mentioned in the news, one can imagine all the HR activities involved. How will the organization be structured, will there be layoffs and for whom, how the two corporate cultures will strike a chord, and who will be responding to the fears, hopes and uncertainties of employees… All these areas lie at the heart of HR and are particularly visible during times of change. After her Harvard of human resources, Nuotto faced yet another challenge: following a selection
likes…” Change is never just fun and plain-sailing.
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hat is the hardest part of working in HR? Nuotto pauses to think for a good while. She continues by saying that lack of an acute crisis doesn’t mean change wouldn’t be needed. Change requires a proactive approach – before the market crashes, work is changed by digitalization, or the operating environment has totally transformed. People need to be motivated, assured, and steered towards the future before trouble strikes. The transformation of work is so subtle even in the era of digitalization that it’s easy to falsely assume that former practices and methods could still be used in the future. “Motivating people for an upcoming change requires a clear vision and extremely good com-
“I was amazed by all that was going on. You see the passion in people’s eyes when they tell you about what they are researching.” process kickstarted by a headhunter who got in touch, she was appointed Senior Vice President, Human Resources, at Cargotec. The company had 12,000 employees, and the new CEO had been given a mandate to execute a major transformation. Clearly right up Nuotto’s street! But Nuotto is not ashamed to admit the task was tough, at times even scary. “We created a global HR strategy from scratch. Sometimes I trembled at the thought of how many people the change affected. But it was incredibly fascinating at the same time.” Before joining VTT, Nuotto headed HR at Outotec. There, change took on a different form compared to her previous workplaces: “The market crashed, growth was needed, but things didn’t go to plan. There were plenty of layoffs and the
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munication skills”, Nuotto says. She reminds that management is aware of changes before staff: it knows the alternatives, discussions that have been held, and reasons behind each decision. When changes are communicated to personnel, it’s important to remember that their thought process is only just beginning. “You can’t expect everyone to be immediately onboard and enthusiastic.” In Nuotto’s experience, management is often just as concerned about the change as personnel. It has gone through the same fears and worries. “It’s a strange misconception that management would deal with change-related matters purely rationally. That’s not the case – they go through the same range of emotions.” Change highlights a need for communication,
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VTT laboratories conduct a range of testing and research on food, cars, fuels and other fields. Focus is on the future: making biofuel out of mold, non-dairy “milk” products from oats, etc. Juha Tähtiharju (left) and Simo Ellilä at VTT’s fermentation pilot plant in Espoo.
being heard, and repetition. After the information event for employees has been held, processing the change only begins – it’s not over. “Questions rarely arise in the auditorium. The situation needs to be discussed often, in small groups. It’s good to repeatedly go through the reasons for the change, the pros and cons, and why this particular decision was made this time round.” It’s another key tasks of HR: to deal with emotions related to change, time and again.
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uotto joined VTT a couple of years ago. She had her mind set on a career in multinational listed companies but changed her mind after delving into the work carried out by VTT, the thoughts of the new management, and the transformation underway. “I was amazed by all that was going on.You see the passion in people’s eyes when they tell you about what they are researching.” It’s easy to get a sense of this when you visit VTT’s labs, test kitchens, and fermentation halls.
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Kirsi Nuotto reminds that change highlights a need for communication. "The situation needs to be discussed often, in small groups. It’s good to repeatedly go through the reasons for the change, the pros and cons, and why this particular decision was made this time round.”
“Where there’s trust, it’s safe to disagree.” In Tampere, we witnessed robot cars being developed and tested, while in Espoo we saw equipment for manufacturing pulled oats and oat yoghurt and what’s needed for making food from air – no kidding! Solar Foods, originally established at VTT and LUT University, is currently investigating how ICT system administrators can make use of solar power in a 5G network, which will improve reliability and energy efficiency. VTT’s operations and research are wide-ranging. The research center has decided to focus on five social themes it calls lighthouses, which are seen as both challenges and growth opportunities. These are: climate action, resource sufficiency, good life, safety and security, and industrial renewal. In practice, the themes apply to healthcare costs, the manufacture of pulled herring, and utilizing cellulose alike.
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It’s not a question of creating curiosities or supporting certain lifestyle choices, but about how we eat, get around, and inhabit a post-fossil fuel world. VTT’s President and CEO is Antti Vasara, D.Sc. (Technology), who has a background in both the technology business and international companies. According to Nuotto, Vasara really understands how to make use of good HR. “When executing change, it’s vital for management to think along the same lines. It doesn’t mean someone else’s view couldn’t be challenged. Where there’s trust, it’s safe to disagree.” A HR director gets to see different types of CEOs from up close.What types of leadership has Nuotto come across over the years? All sorts. A certain personality type that would automatically make a good leader doesn’t exist.
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V T T – VA S T R A N G E O F I N V E N T I O N S A N D R E S E A RC H
SPEED LIMITS
bioreactor is not a new idea as such, but only the
The number of road traffic fatalities began to rise alarmingly in the 1960s. At the time, over a thousand lives a year were lost in traffic accidents. VTT began to study the problem and found that the number of accidents could be reduced significantly by imposing speed limits. The studies led to general speed limits ranging from 80-120 km per hour being introduced in Finland. HIGH-QUALITY BEER Completed in 1962, VTT’s test brewery enabled the study of industrial processes and the properties of yeasts and grains. Amongst other things, the laboratory clarified the quality and characteristics of oats. The studies revealed that the quality of Finnish oats was so good that it was even sold to Scottish whiskey distilleries. MOBILE PHONE VTT played an active role in the collaboration that led to the birth of the mobile phone. In the late 1970s, the Nordic countries developed the analogue NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephone) technology that no longer required a switchboard operator. VTT also developed the world’s first video phone already in 1984, but the time was not quite ripe for its commercialization. H O M E G ROW N B L U E B E R R I E S VTT and its plant biotechnology research scientists have the vision of developing a home appliance for the markets that makes it possible to grow healthy domestic berries at home. Growing plant cells in a
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latest technologies have enabled the development of a plant cell incubator for home use that yields a harvest within a week. VTT’s first prototype is currently producing a harvest in Otaniemi, Espoo. The appliance resembles a design lamp suitable for the kitchen table. R E N E WA B L E E N E RG Y UPM, VTT and VW-Autogroup initiated the first fleet tests of domestic, wood-based renewable diesel in spring 2013. The fleet tests were part of a larger project coordinated by VTT, which aims to encourage companies to commercialize renewable energy solutions in traffic. G L U T E N - F R E E FA B A B E A N S VTT has developed new food application technologies for faba beans – an ancient domestic protein crop. Nutritious and protein-rich faba beans have not traditionally featured on the dinner table and have mostly been used as animal feed. VTT developed a method that combines mechanical fractionation and bioprocessing, which enables using the beans as a food ingredient. This has resulted in tasty, nutritious, protein-rich faba bean bread and pasta. … A N D A N AT T R A C T I V E P L AC E TO WO R K VTT is considered one of the most attractive places to work among technology students in Finland. It has consistently ranked among the top three best places to work in Finland since the early 2000s.
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Some are a good fit for times of growth and others with the task of restructuring. There are charismatic charmers of the masses, and fact-oriented introverts. The right personality and style depend on the situation. “A good growth and change leader is not necessarily good at reorganizing”, says Nuotto. Instead, credibility and vision are required whatever the situation, and the need for excellent communication skills is on a constant rise. A good leader is able get others onboard. Authenticity is important; in a situation of change, people need to see that management believes in the change and stands behind it. Nuotto reminds that body
organization, this means a leader effortlessly interacting both with the management team and employees on any level. No false pretenses or favoritism according to official hierarchy. “It’s important to get to be human at work. Laugh, fail, get frustrated, and seek approval and direction for your work.” As the train embarked, we talked about the role of HR now that figures and processes have become automated. At the end of the journey, we return to the key question: What is HR as we enter the 2020s? Kirsi Nuotto has a short answer: presence. Automated routines mean HR has more time
“It’s important to get to be human at work. Laugh, fail, get frustrated, and seek approval and direction for your work.” language will reveal if a leader is insecure or leaves out something important. “Authoritarianism isn’t in fashion”, she highlights. The research community is a type of leadership test.The leader’s task is to create the preconditions for researchers to do their work as well as possible. Researchers are critical, which is a good thing. “Challenging is the name of the game here. Empty rhetoric doesn’t work.” Open, reciprocal, genuine, inspiring, credible, visionary – all hallmarks of good leadership of today. But Nuotto can think of another characteristic that applies to leadership and the role of HR as we enter the 2020s.
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…our next stops are Tikkurila and Pasila.” The train is approaching Helsinki. Nuotto explains that her mother taught her the importance of getting along naturally with different types of people from an early age. Within an
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to encounter people. Presence is especially important amid continuous change. “Along with artificial intelligence and robotization, HR has become increasingly people-oriented. It’s vital to understand what motivates people to work, and what types of emotional blockages can surface in times of change.” According to Nuotto, it’s no longer possible to hide behind administrative work. Just like any type of leadership, HR is about problem-solving. It takes presence and dignity: hearing out and interacting with people on every level. Nuotto believes that a workplace where the leader is genuinely present, listens to employees, and communicates clearly makes for a winning culture. “The best leaders always have time for people.” The train arrives at Helsinki Central Railway Station, and Kirsi Nuotto continues her commute to Espoo. Just another working day: problems to solve, people to meet, changes to execute – one step at a time. ◆
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BOOK 4 [ SUPERPOWER ]
OPEN THE DOOR FOR CURIOSITY Curiosity is seen as the new superpower in the workplace, with job ads on the search for “curious employees”. Why does curiosity matter in business? Words: Reetta Räty Illustration: Jarkko Hyppönen
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n television series Stranger Things, actress Winona Rider along with her friends and the police investigates supernatural events that are happening in the American town of Hawkins. Netflix hit a new record with the opening episode of the third season: 40 million viewers.When Joyce Byers played by Rider thinks she has discovered what the strange goings-on are all about, she turns to her children’s natural science teacher to see if he thinks her theory is possible. Although her theory is definitely odd, the teacher responds: “It is possible”. This is how he justifies it: “We cured polio in 53. Landed on the moon in 69. As I tell my students: Once you open up that curiosity door, anything is possible”. The same lesson is now being repeated in the business world and academic research: any invention or innovation is possible as long as we let curiosity run riot. So open that door!
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rofessor Francesca Gino from Harvard Business School has researched curiosity, claiming that more or less all innovation is connected to curiosity in one way or another. In an extensive article published in Harvard Business Review titled The Business Case for Curiosity (9-10/2018), she writes that curiosity has a much more significant role for an organization’s success than imagined. Her latest research sheds new light on the role of curiosity on business from three viewpoints. Firstly, curiosity helps leaders and employees adapt to uncertain, changing conditions and operating environments. Curious people come up with creative solutions to problems, and curious leaders are inspiring and trustworthy because they are open to the wildest ideas. Secondly, research shows that even minor changes to the organization and working culture can encourage curiosity, whether a question of the creative industries or routine jobs. The third, new research angle is that although leaders think they appreciate curiosity, they often act the opposite in practice. Gino’s
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comprehensive, cross-sectoral studies show that only an average of one in four employees feels they are curious at work, and as many as 70 per cent feel that even posing additional questions is met with restrictions. The professor sees it as a major problem, as being allowed to ask questions and question is vital. It’s also important to curiously head towards new alternatives – ones that wouldn’t even come to mind without endless curiosity. “What if…?” are the key words.
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ino justifies the importance of curiosity from a business point of view. In other words, it’s not about the fact that workplaces that encourage curiosity are exciting and come up with a constant influx of ideas, but about curiosity making good business sense. When the World Economic Forum listed the emerging skills for 2022 in its The Future of Jobs Report 2018, most future skills were connected to curiosity in some way: innovation, developing new ideas, active learning, critical thinking, problemsolving… Each of these areas requires a curious mind.The foundation is an idea of continuous learning, and knowledge and skills acquired at school in the past not being enough anymore.There is a constant need to learn new things and curiously seek new alternatives in a rapidly changing world.
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There is a constant need to learn new things and curiously seek new alternatives in a rapidly changing world. a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
“What the world of work needs right now is new learning – people with skills a machine cannot replace.” a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
“Curiosity is a superpower”, highlights Riitta Lumme-Tuomala, Head of Growth at Aalto University Executive Education. “If you lack interest and curiosity in what’s going on, you simply won’t succeed.” Curiosity is the cure or at least part of the solution to many problems related to the changing world of work. Studies have found that in order to succeed in a constantly changing operating environment, those with a desire to learn and learning agility do best. Curiosity has a direct effect: a curious person has a desire to learn, find new viewpoints and skills, and take a look around each corner. Many tasks require applying personal skills in a new situation. Curious people look at uncertainty more through a lens of enthusiasm than worry. They are quick to grasp the new context, sniff around, find out, and ask questions. Rapid change and uncertainty are a good match for a curious person, who sees it as an opportunity: when nothing is certain, everything is possible. Curiosity is a superpower also because it’s what gives humans an edge over robots. It explains why curiosity is now talked about more than before. “Machines will take care of whatever can be achieved by applying what’s old. What the world of work needs right now is new learning – people with skills a machine cannot replace. Curiosity is one of those skills. Robots aren’t curious”, says Riitta Lumme-Tuomala. When machines take care of processes, people are left with empathy, a human touch – and reaching out towards the future where robots cannot go alone. Curiosity generates that much talked about work engagement, a drive to go forward or deeper, whether in research, transformation, or an innovation process.“What are all the possible solutions for this particular problem? Just think of all the possibilities!”
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ob vacancies: Sweco is looking for a leading circular economy specialist! According to the ad, the desired candidate “has a suitable mix of curiosity, commitment, and responsibility”.
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Sweco specializes in the built environment and industry, planning and designing cities of the future: buildings, infrastructure, industry, and energy and water solutions. It has chosen curiosity as one of its values. Sweco Group has a total of 16,000 employees and carries out projects in 70 different countries around the world. It has a turnover of EUR 1.8 billion. Why is curiosity one of Sweco’s values? “When the entire business focuses on the future – something that doesn’t exist yet – curiosity is definitely an important quality”, says Markku Varis, President of Sweco Finland. At Sweco, curiosity is a value that pervades all activities. “We believe that a combination of expertise and curiosity is the key to something greater.” A company can of course have lofty-sounding values on paper, but Sweco has considered what curiosity means on every level of activities. Varis gives some examples of how curiosity is evident in practice at Sweco. Let’s take customer insight for instance. Sweco may be involved in designing a shopping center or residential area. “We need to understand the customer intent, goals, business, and entire value chain. We also need to grasp the end user and countless other instances involved: the investor, commissioner, constructor, authorities, maintenance company, and so on. Searching for future solutions in this context simply isn’t possible without curiosity. There are no off-the-peg solutions, as each situation is new.” His second example of curiosity is linked to the employer brand. Sweco mainly employs engineers and architects, but also chemists, microbiologists, coders and healthcare experts. The company has noticed the same as many other expert organizations: employees want to be engaged in work that has meaning and shows their imprint.They are eager to develop their competence, and value responsibility instead of orders. “Curiosity is a natural part of self-devel-
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opment. Our responsibility as a company is to ensure the preconditions for career advancement. Curiosity motivates constant learning.” And the third example about valuing curiosity: “We want to foster openness as far as our activities and culture are concerned.We want people to bring their ideas and thoughts to the table without someone immediately putting an end to them”, Varis illustrates. The company needs ideas both to develop its own activities and solve customer issues. “The culture needs to allow people to open their mouths. It shouldn’t be punished but praised.”
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arkku Varis is an engineer. Let’s ask him a cliché: Is an engineer inherently the opposite of curiosity – an “engineer brain” who thinks logically inside the box without glancing around? Familiar with the cliché, Varis is quick to respond: “We have a saying at Sweco that even an engineer is a human being!” On a more serious note, he adds that it’s actually a combination of engineering skills and curiosity that the company offers to its customers. “In addition to head knowledge and expertise, our commitment to projects is characterized by our knowledge combined with our heart and soul. Curiosity helps apply technical expertise.” In expert work, curiosity is a driving force. It fosters better business. If a job ad seeks a curious circular economy specialist, how does one know a candidate meets the criteria? Curiosity isn’t printed on a CV, or is it? Riitta Lumme-Tuomala from Aalto EE returns to the notion that recruitment needs to look ahead at the potential rather than behind at the CV. “A curious person asks a lot of “What if…?” questions while a person who will do the minimum effort will simply ask: “What…?” Google has come up with a list of questions to test the curiosity of applicants. The company is also renowned for its quirky job ads that get peo-
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No one can afford to say that a particular trend or issue wouldn’t be relevant to them.
ple to solve strange riddles appearing on roadsides that have no bearing on Google let alone recruitment. Only the most curious end up on a site where they can leave their application. As goes the famous quote by Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO in 2001-2011: “We run this company on questions not answers”.
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n a world of constant change and uncertainty, there’s a need for people who are passionately interested in the world around them and ask questions like children. No one can afford to say that a particular trend or issue wouldn’t be relevant to them. Arrogance will backfire. Curiosity cannot
be diagnosed as such, but the underlying attitude is easily detected. According to Lumme-Tuomala, curious people tend to use a conditional tense: “What if things were like this…?”, “What if it’s a question of that…?”, “How could this be relevant to us…?” A curious mind is on a constant lookout for alternatives. In her article in the Harvard Business Review, Francesca Gino recommends companies to have “What if…?”, “Why…?”, and “How might we…?” days at work to look at activities from new perspectives. Also Markku Varis admits that although job ads are on the hunt for curiosity, it cannot be measured in an interview. But the attitude is there. He reminisces on his own path from the University of Technology to the helm of Sweco’s Finnish operations. Transformations along the way have been huge, from adopting the first computer-aided systems to a globally networked world. “I’ve been involved in many research and development projects without a clue on the onset of how things will end. A passion for development has been strong.” Curiosity has led the way and helped relate to change. “Facing something new has never left me gasping for help.” ◆
W H AT A R E T H E B E N E F I T S O F C U R I O S I T Y ?
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rofessor Francesca Gino from Harvard Business School gives the following list of benefits based on new research: Curiosity leads to fewer decision-making errors because curiosity makes us less prey to stereotyping. A curious mind constantly develops new alternatives to old ways and thought patterns. Curiosity leads to more innovation and positive changes in the workplace. Studies show that people can be encouraged to be curious: to ask questions
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“why” and think up alternatives that wouldn’t first come to mind. According to Gino’s research, curiosity also reduces conflict at the workplace. Curiosity encourages people to put themselves in one another’s shoes and take an interest in another’s ideas rather than being on the defense. Teams perform better and their communication is more open when they are encouraged to be curious and listen to each other’s ideas without prejudice.
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DIPLOMA IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HARNESS THE POTENTIAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Artificial Intelligence brings rapid changes to all sectors of society opening opportunities and needs for new solutions. To succeed in the competition organizations and individuals need new technological skills as well as a clear understanding of the big picture of AI. Diploma in Artificial Intelligence gives you in-depth understanding of the topic and helps you to understand and apply contemporary AI technologies. www.aaltopro.fi/aidiploma
Artificial Intelligence is not a futuristic dream. It shapes our world at an unprecedented pace. This program is a deep dive into the latest trends of AI.
The program is a joint effort of Aalto PRO, University of Helsinki HY+ and Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence FCAI.
Aalto JOKO® In 2020 50 Years 100th Group
AaltoJOKO® has trained experienced leaders in challenging positions already for 50 years in 2020 when the group number 100 will start their journey. It is a program at the heart of strategic leadership training and a mothership behind all Aalto EE’s training programs. It is a program for those seeking in-depth, comprehensive, and strategy-based development of their leadership skills.
Read more at www.aaltoee.com/aaltojoko
The program offers a unique opportunity to focus on strategic leadership alongside top experts and familiarizes you with practices in various fields. You will network with other seasoned experts, working in teams on exercises while sparring in pairs. You will build up your leadership profile through fruitful interaction and gain new ideas across boundaries. A dialogoriented approach within an experienced and diverse group provides growth for participants from all backgrounds.
I M PA C T & EXPERIENCE PA RT I C I PA N T S , FA C U LT Y & A A LTO E E ALUMNI
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Pekka As Finnair Laitinen began to shiftthe (on from left) reorgani and zation Esa Vennola to a period from of growth,Partners Signal Eija Hakakari, Finnair’s are experts Senior in Vice President mobile solutions. (People & Culture), felt that new situation demanded new type of leadership.
Found: New Job Esa Vennola found a new workplace through Aalto PRO’s Further Educated with Companies (F.E.C.) program. CEO of Signal Partners Pekka Laitinen, who recruited the new employee, sees the program as an excellent opportunity for someone looking to switch direction: “The program provides candidates the opportunity to get to know a new industry and company.” vol 8
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sa Vennola previously worked in the transportation and logistics industry. When his employer initiated co-operation negotiations, Vennola began to think about heading another route.“The co-operation negotiations were partly a blessing in disguise. I’d been thinking about changing fields, and now it became a reality. I decided to take a risk: jump out of the old and think about something totally new.” Exploring study options, Vennola came across Aalto PRO’s Further Educated with Companies (F.E.C.) program, which has an aim of bringing together job candidates and companies looking to recruit. The program included both academic studies and a period working for the potential new employer. Vennola got in touch with Signal Partners, which he knew from his previous work. Could the company provide a placement for the program? They sure could. CEO of Signal Partners Pekka Laitinen sees the recruitment path that combines training and work life as an “excellent opportunity.”
1. Employment the main aim
70% Over 70% of participants sign an employment contract.
5,000 Over 5,000 companies have found an expert through the programs
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“The induction period needs to be longer than average when an employee switches into a new industry. Six months provides good time for the candidate to get to know the company and industry in peace. And there’s no financial pressure for the employer during the period, as it doesn’t involve paying a salary. For an SME like us, it’s a really good, risk-free, cost-effective way to find a competent employee.” According to Vennola, the period is beneficial also for the candidate: you become familiar with the job culture and begin to see how you could contribute to the business. “I got to see the company without restrictions. Especially when changing fields, it’s valuable to gain insight through practical work.” Signal Partners helps companies improve their operational efficiency through mobile solutions. It designs, builds, deploys, manages, and oversees its customers’ data networks and mobile solutions. Finding the right people to work in the industry is “one of the most challenging areas at the moment”, according to the CEO. The F.E.C. program provides enough time to get to know one another and learn. “I recommend it, absolutely”, says Laitinen. Esa Vennola now works as Business Support Manager at Signal Partners. He was particularly interested in the modules on change management. The program included about twenty face-to-face days at Aalto PRO’s premises. “The F.E.C. program merged together two areas: finding a new industry coupled with advanced studies in business development.” Since Vennola arrived, tendering has resulted in better suited logistics partners and savings in transportation costs. Also the company’s own preassembly, storage, and logistic premises have been developed. “Studies relating to Aalto PRO’s program have supported practical work, and in our case it’s pretty safe to say the program fulfilled expectations all round”, says Laitinen. ◆
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Aalto PRO’s Further Educated with Companies (F.E.C.) program has an aim of bringing together job candidates and companies looking to recruit. Esa Vennola asked CEO of Signal Parners Pekka Laitinen if he could work for them during the program.
E S TA B L I S H I N G A N E M P LOY M E N T C O N T R AC T T H E M A I N A I M The Aalto PRO F.E.C. programs aim to join a company looking to recruit a new employee with a competent, motivated jobseeker. During the training, the candidate diversely develops personal competence and works for the potential new employer. The concept is developed jointly with and funded by the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. More than 40 per
cent of the teachers on the programs are from Aalto University. The programs have helped companies find a new managing director, trained those who want to change industries, and assisted in the recruitment of recently graduated doctoral students. Aalto University Professional Development, Aalto PRO, has provided workforce training for more than 25 years. The Further
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Educated with Companies (F.E.C.) program is an approximately six-month, unpaid cooperation period with a potential employer. The aim of the program is to sign an employment contract. The program is based on a training contract, and includes induction and practical work in the company as well as training provided by Aalto PRO.
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Head of Business Development Katri Kennedy has versatile responsibilities at If P&C Insurance. The focal point of Kennedy’s work is leading strategy and business development in Finland. She is in charge of two units: one focusing on business development, and another providing business intelligence to support managerial decision-making.
Learning from the be st at standford and in he lsinki Katri Kennedy participated in the program held by Stanford and Aalto professors. Teaching at Stanford focused on innovation and business strategy, while face-to-face days in Helsinki had digital transformation as their focal point. “The program is a journey in itself. You can apply everything you learn and start reaping practical benefits right away.”
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“Some of the most direct benefits for my own leadership stemmed from the startup world – developmental insights that are just as relevant for a large company.”
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ead of Business Development Katri Kennedy participated in the Certificate in Digital Business Strategy and Innovation Agility program, which is jointly arranged by Aalto EE and Stanford Center for Professional Development. The six-month program includes face-to-face days in Silicon Valley and Helsinki, in addition to online courses, keynotes and webinars held by Stanford and Aalto professors. She says the program gave her valuable food for thought, new perspectives for leadership, and practical tools and methods that she is now incorporating into If ’s strategy and development work. “An insight I found particularly appealing was the idea of ‘Living at the intersection’ in innovation work. This means stepping outside your reference group and actively seeking new ideas. I am currently evaluating how we shall make the most of this idea at If.” Face-to-face days in California and Helsinki provided her with the exposure to new ideas she had sought for – and the online learning experience exceeded her expectations. “I had little experience of online learning. It turned out to be a very positive experience. Our professors prompted us to reflect on all issues from our own organization’s viewpoint and provided insightful feedback on everything we shared.” Kennedy describes learning on-site at Stanford campus as a particularly meaningful experience. The ecosystem Stanford has created with startups provides a unique atmosphere, which has strongly influenced how the professors think. vol 8
“Some of the greatest names Stanford has to offer were teaching us. They all live and breathe the startup world.They had an incredible sense of pedagogy, and extensive experience paired with vision about what will be the next breakthrough.All in all, I found Stanford extraordinarily inspiring”, she says. While the teaching at Stanford focused on innovation and business strategy, face-to-face days in Helsinki had digital transformation as their focal point. “In Helsinki, we again learned from the best in the business. The insights I gained have enabled me to have meaningful internal discussions about the role digital technology will play in our future and the pilots we will instigate next.” Kennedy asserts that she has already been able to introduce ideas from the program at work. “I have for example adjusted the way we look at strategy in different time horizons in our management team and applied certain frameworks I picked up during the program to our business development roadmap. Some of the most direct benefits for my own leadership stemmed from the startup world – developmental insights that are just as relevant for a large company.” Kennedy says she also gained a network of likeminded peers.“Our group was marvelous, and we got to know each other quite well.We came from companies of all sizes, and we all shared great enthusiasm toward innovation and development. This all led to rewarding discussions.” ◆
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“ We wante d to be shake n up, and that’s what we got ” Fishing lure manufacturer Rapala and Aalto EE tailored a program for Rapala’s global executives with an incentive of waking up leaders to the changing world. Customer orientation was a major takeaway. “We need to listen to our customers more closely”, says Rapala’s CEO and President Jussi Ristimäki.
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ussi Ristimäki was Rapala’s CFO before taking to the company’s helm. He knew the company well, but the wider world and development trends in the operating environment were a cause for concern. “I had big questions on how the world was changing and our role in it.” The CEO had a solid understanding that although the company needed to transform along with the changes in the world, he could benefit a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
from an outsider’s view: the bigger picture, and assurance on what was going on in the environment and the trends that needed to be recognized for the right reaction. The Rapala Navigator – Management Training program was tailored jointly with Aalto EE. The total of 30 participants included the company’s global executives. Rapala is the world’s leading fishing lure manufacturer, its selection covering almost every pos-
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sible product needed for fishing. The first lures were manufactured in 1936, and Rapala became a listed company in 1998. Today, Rapala has operations in more than 40 different countries covering the Nordics, USA, Canada and Asia.The company has expanded through acquisitions, and according to the CEO, has comprised an enthusiastic if somewhat dispersed group of people. A joint direction and steering have been missing at least in part. “It’s been proven that we are a really enthusiastic bunch, but the larger whole is characterized by partial optimization: everyone works really hard but within their own sphere.” The management training program was one way to help find a shared direction. “I wanted external, academically authorized instances to bring us their message on how the world is changing. I was looking for support to my own thinking that old tricks no longer work, and we need to come up with new ones together.” “The main purpose of the program was to wake us up to rethink issues from a new perspective. As the CEO, it was important to me to have the key leadership there to hear the same story.” The company’s executives reflecting on the changing world together was one of the strengths of the program. “This is the beauty of a tailored program: to be able to talk about issues affecting our company together, rather than sending each person somewhere for different types of training.” Ristimäki explains that the Aalto EE program confirmed his own thinking as well as sparked new directions. “It was good to hear how agile startups work. Falling in love with one’s own success is dangerous. Looking at the participants, we’re not exactly millennials – and yet the next generation of our customers needs to be approached in a new way.” The biggest practical lesson seemed to relate to customer orientation. vol 8
JUSSI RISTIMÄKI President and Chief Executive Officer Rapala VMC Corporation
RAPALA NAVIGATOR – MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAM What do customers need? Develop a common growth mindset and gain tools to promote Rapala’s market orientation and customer-centricity. How does digitalization affect us? Challenge Rapala leaders with the latest knowledge in global megatrends such as invariably changing consumer behavior and digitalization. The world is changing – how do we react? Provide the big picture and a sense of direction on Rapala’s strategic futures through understanding the dynamics in the macro environment, competition, and customer needs.
“We need to understand our customers better. We have a strong history in product orientation. You could be a little provocative and ask when was the last time we asked a real customer what they want.” “We need to be on our customers’ phone screens and hear them out on digital channels”, Ristimäki says. He feels the program opened new horizons both through concrete changes and a change of mindset. “I wanted us to be shaken up and even provoked, and that’s what we got.” ◆
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Thre e companie s training togethe r Aalto EE arranged the logistics training program “Future of Supply Chain Management and Logistics” with VR Transpoint, Metsä Group and SSAB. “When you discuss issues together with other companies, you can compare your own performance to others and see whether you reach the bar or not.”
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t all started with the idea that it might be beneficial to train the logistics teams and ensure that everyone is on the same page”, Jari Voutilainen, Metsä Group’s SVP, Corporate Affairs and former Logistics Director says. Voutilainen discussed this idea with Martti Koskinen, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, forVR Transpoint, who invited Voutilainen to contact Tarja Kemppi, a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
SSAB Europe Head of Supply Chain Management & IT. The idea was finally developed into a consortium of three companies, which together with Aalto EE designed a joint logistics training program. “The intention was that we would do benchmarking at the same time, and exchange ideas about shared issues with different companies. It’s
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Jari Voutilainen (on the right), Metsä Group’s SVP, Corporate Affairs and former Logistics Director took part in the program together with Martti Koskinen, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, for VR Transpoint, and Tarja Kemppi, SSAB Europe Head of Supply Chain Management & IT.
easy to become blind to your own way of thinking. Sometimes it’s good to step out of your bubble and see that there are other perspectives”, Kemppi says. According to Ilkka Anttila, V R Transpoint Head of Business Development, when you discuss issues together with other companies, you can also compare your own performance to others and see whether you reach the bar or not. “In logistics today, it’s critical to focus on technology development. On the other hand, technology also involves a lot of hype. When you have a chance to talk with other companies, you get to see what the other companies are actually doing and what sort of challenges there are.” “In principle, we all probably understand what is important to the customer. But when you get to talk about these issues with more people, it generates better understanding.” Each company sent between 5 and 12 people from very different backgrounds for the training. The training program had three different modules, and took about six months in all. During that time, the participants built the groundwork for common terminology and understanding, went through the current and future prospects of the logistics sector through theory and practice, considered the importance of interaction skills and vol 8
the impact of communication in the different interfaces of the logistics path, and did joint project work across company borders. The participants were free to share their ideas, because the companies involved were not competitors. “It was inspiring, new, and refreshing”, Jari Voutilainen says. “Training in itself does not necessarily help you find the right solutions or application areas, but it helps to understand that there are issues you should look into more deeply and see whether they might be useful.” Tarja Kemppi felt that learning from other companies and about their practices was at least as important in the training as the matter at hand itself. “Everyone doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel by themselves.We can do it together.We can learn how things are done from each other, and consider, for example, cost-effective solutions together.You don’t always realize what kind of information is important to the other party and what challenges they might face in their operations.” New contacts made during the training were important, and the participants have stayed in touch. “After the training, we have been thinking about the internal development of the organization and how to change processes. We can draw inspiration from the people who took part in the training and the contacts we made.” ◆
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“Sometimes it’s good to step out of your bubble and see that there are other perspectives.” a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
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Jyrki Salmenkivi is a clinician, and Chief Administrative Physician. “The combination is interesting. I get to see the grassroot work of physicians and the everyday life of patients, and I also see the larger picture where we operate as a part of the healthcare system and society."
AaltoJOKO ® : com pre he nsive outlook on leade r ship “In today’s complex, networked world, obtaining insights and broader perspective outside your own day-to-day work is imperative. AaltoJOKO® offered a comprehensive outlook on leadership”, says AaltoJOKO® participant, Orthopedist and Traumatologist Jyrki Salmenkivi.
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he AaltoJOKO® program is well-known at Helsinki University Hospital HUS. One of the program’s recent graduates is Jyrki Salmenkivi, who works as Head of Department and Chief Administrative Physician at the Department of Musculoskeletal and Plastic Surgery in Töölö Hospital. He describes his work as twofold. As a clinician he focuses on spinal surgery and traumatology, and as Chief Administrative Physician he also participates in board work in one of HUS’ profit areas. a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
“The combination is interesting. I get to see our organization’s core functions: the grassroot work of physicians and the everyday life of patients – which are supported for example through good leadership – and I also see the larger picture where we operate as a part of the healthcare system and society”, Salmenkivi explains. Salmenkivi says his supervisor offered him support and encouragement when he started contemplating leadership training. HUS and Aalto EE’s long-standing collaboration made Aalto-
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JOKO® a natural choice. Salmenkivi depicts AaltoJOKO® as a wellstructured program, and notes that the modular teaching eased learning. “The greatest takeaway was a broader perspective: AaltoJOKO® offered theoretical framework and expanded my outlook on leadership and related challenges beyond the realm of my own field.” “Despite our fairly large group, our interaction was good, thanks to excellent lecturers and teaching methods that incorporated a great deal of conversation and group work.” Salmenkivi notes that most topics in the program – be it economics, customers or for example global markets – were approached through three leading themes: people, trust and interaction. “In my own work at HUS, I’ve already incorporated insights I learned during the program, predominantly practices relating to personnel management and self-management.” HRD Manager at HUS Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa Salla Koivunen says that HUS has collaborated with Aalto EE ever since HUS was founded in 2000. “Our collaboration is quite versatile. Aalto EE has arranged tailored training programs for us, and we send employees to Aalto EE’s open programs. HUS also has internal training for supervisors, but we rely on external partners especially for longer training programs.” “We also send a few HUS employees to Aalto MBA and EMBA programs each year, and we have also found Aalto EE’s program focusing on leadership in the social and healthcare sector beneficial”, Koivunen remarks. Koivunen states that long-term personnel development is the foundation for HUS’ operations. “The competence of our personnel is the prerequisite to our success and to making the most of opportunities in a constantly changing operational environment. Developing leadership and vol 8
“In my own work at HUS, I’ve already incorporated insights I learned during the program predominantly practices relating to personnel management and self-management.”
supervisor work is equally important. HUS currently has circa 1000 supervisors and our goals is to safeguard high-quality and professional leadership in all our work environments.” Koivunen also reminds that good supervisor work influences staff retention, personnel development, wellbeing, and effective resourcing – and ultimately the success of customer and patient encounters. “Interactive, fair and transparent leadership also boosts work efficiency and coping with work load.” Salmenkivi concurs with Koivunen: long-term competence development is vital. “In today’s complex, networked world, obtaining insights and broader perspective outside your own day-to-day work is imperative. For me, program offered a comprehensive outlook on leadership. I am happy to endorse the program,” says Salmenkivi. ◆
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”The international atmosphere at the Aalto EE Executive Summit is completely unique and a valuable experience, which you could never learn from a book. I get to talk with people from all over the world and listen to top professors.”
Hsin-Chen ”Jo” Wu Director, PC Securities Financial Group EMBA
“ Whe n I study, I am more than just anothe r me eting machine ”
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’m Taiwanese and work in Taiwan and Hong Kong as the director of PC Securities Financial Group. My daily responsibility is to supervise several different divisions of the Group: asset management, the Taiwan insurance division, the marketing department, etc. I applied for the Aalto EMBA program because I wanted to develop myself as an employee, human being, mother, woman… At one time, I had two jobs, travelled a a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
great deal, and ended up too busy and uncertain about my skills.The studies give me self-assurance and time to think about ways to develop myself. I pay for the studies myself. I already know it’s a good investment. I don’t look at completing the EMBA only for the sake of my career but for my personal development on the whole. The EMBA program is a lot of work, but also a flexible way to study. It’s a special time in my life: time to refresh my own thoughts and think about the type of person I am and how I communicate with others. At work, I’m a meeting machine with no time to think about anything else than what’s at hand that day. This refreshes me as a person. So far, the main takeaway for me has been to realize that a director needs to constantly remember and remind others of the core value of doing this and that. Sometimes we are so engrossed in our work that we forget why we are there in the first place, what we aim for, and what is the core value of what we do.” ◆
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Susanna Tommila, Cultural Director of the City of Espoo, has taken part in an EMBA program tailored for the City of Espoo.
Susanna Tommila Cultural Director, City of Espoo EMBA
ing. Cooperation is easier when you meet the people behind their titles.” Susanna Tommila has built her entire career in the public sector. She says she is thankful to be part of a group that is renewing public leadership and creating joint ideas for which direction Espoo should take as part of the metropolitan region. “The work involved in completing the EMBA program is huge but it’s rewarding.You seize it with incredible motivation and enthusiasm. I’m eager to learn and increasingly curious.”
“ De spite a huge amount of work , the studi e s are rewardi ng ”
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usanna Tommila has taken part in an EMBA program tailored for the City of Espoo. The program aims to develop the strategic thinking of the city’s top leaders and support their growth. 25 leaders from the city’s different functions are currently taking part in the program. “I got to know people in my own organization during the program. It’s clear that in cross-sectoral work it is easier to understand the other person’s perspective when you know them and the framework and practices of their work. It’s very enrichvol 8
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ommila is most familiar with leadership and strategic questions, while economics poses more work. But you get through it all. “Studying as a grownup means you know what is particularly relevant, and what I can apply at work.” Tommila gives plenty of praise to the lecturers. Some have raised completely new topics, while others have brought new angles to familiar themes. “It can be good to hear something you have declared yourself for years. It confirms one’s own vision.” ◆
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Russian Anton Yakovlev works for Tieto. He took part in the Executive Summit after graduating from an Aalto EMBA program. “I wanted to update my knowledge on AI and related discussion. I work for a software company, although my customers represent the oil and gas industries.”
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Anton Yakovlev Regional Director Russia, Caspian & Middle East, Tieto Executive MBA Graduate
“ the EMBA Prog ram pushe s pe r sonal boundari e s ” “I work in a matrix organization with a complex environment. From the EMBA program, I was seeking tools for managing those complexities: leadership skills, strategic thinking, and expertise in the digital age”, explains Anton Yakovlev from St. Petersburg. a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
nitially, Russian Anton Yakovlev took part in the EMBA program offered by the Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University. Aalto University Executive Education works in partnership with St. Petersburg, and Yakovlev ended up completing some of his compulsory and elective modules in Helsinki and Singapore alongside Aalto EMBA students. “The Aalto EE modules were extremely useful for me.The programs in St. Petersburg are in Russian and the students local, mainly from St. Petersburg and some other Russian cities.The Aalto EE programs have an international approach: teachers and participants come from all over the world and people work for global companies.”
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akovlev works for Finnish software company Tieto Corporation, which serves customers in the forest & manufacturing industries, energy & utility sectors, banks, telecom companies, public administration, logistics, social welfare and health care, etc.Yakovlev works with oil and gas companies based in the Russia, Caspian and Middle East regions, with about half of his worktime spent overseas. In his line of business, it is important to quickly adapt to the different ways of working in different cultures and business environments. “In the Middle East, for instance, senior managers have graduated from expensive, western business schools, and the business culture there is one of a kind. People don’t drink alcohol, sometimes turn up 2–3 hours late to a meeting, drink a lot of tea, talk business for perhaps fifteen minutes before it’s time for another cup of tea… The pace is busy and very slow at the same time.” Yakovlev was raised and schooled in western Siberia, far away from St. Petersburg and Moscow. He has two master’s degrees. Education in Russia is of a high standard – especially in natural sciences. “Business skills are thinner and the startup scene undeveloped. MBA programs have begun to consider digitalization only recently.The Soviet times continue to leave their mark on traditions. That’s why EMBA programs generally and at Aalto EE in particular are useful; they provide business education of an international standard with a global coverage.” “I became really inspired by the modules promoting startups that I even became a sort of business angel for a micro venture. It left me feeling I wanted to do something on similar lines myself. Other particularly useful studies have included modules on leadership skills and lectures on the psychological side, economy, and marketing.”
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Grasping the bigger picture is what he sees as the main advantage of the EMBA program. Studying business from differing angles provides tools for the larger, more complex whole.
EMBA program. Studying business from differing angles provides tools for the larger, more complex whole. At times, the studies bring momentary distance from daily routines and you notice how important it is to give yourself time to think – for instance about how to put strategy into practice. “Execution is always the hardest part.” “I work as a regional director in a matrix organization with a complex environment. From the EMBA program, I was seeking tools for managing those complexities: leadership skills, strategic thinking, and expertise in the digital age. I’ve been able to put the lessons into practice straightaway. The EMBA program pushes personal boundaries and opens the mind.” ◆
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Ia Adlercreutz has held top management positions in companies such as Kekkilä, Hasselfors Garden, and Fiskars. She now runs her own company Co-founders.
Ia Adlercreutz CEO and Strategist at Co-founders EMBA
“ EMBA turns us into bette r thinke r s ” “The program has helped synthesize my own thoughts, which has strengthened the thinking and framework behind my own business”, says entrepreneur and CEO Ia Adlercreutz.
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’ve had a lengthy career in business development and brand management. The decision to take part in the Aalto EMBA program came naturally, as I’ve always studied in one way or another. I want to constantly develop myself. I have an unconventional background when it comes to business life: a university degree in communications and cultural history, and a degree from the University of Arts and Design in fine art. I see my diverse educational background as an advantage. I began my career as an entrepreneur, continuing at Kekkilä and Fiskars. In fall 2016, I decided to make my dream come true and return to having my own business again. Co-founders specializes in strategic brand management and in the development of company culture. I’m also a board member in several B2B and B2C companies. When I started my own company, I realized that I should complete an EMBA now if ever. The program has proved extremely interesting at this stage of my career when I’m building a business. Testing my thoughts and the idea behind my company with people who represent my customers is fulfilling. Personal thought processes benefit from the feedback and expertise of the 60 brilliant thinkers taking part in the program. During my studies, I’ve gotten my business up and running and worked – combining the two goes perfectly well.
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fter a long career, the program seems to bring everything together. I’ve been taken aback by how well the teaching resonates with my philosophy in life. I have a strong focus on contextual management in my company. I believe that valuing in-depth knowledge will be on the rise, and wisdom and a deep understanding will be increasingly significant alongside know-how. It’s a result of artificial intelligence and automation, and will shift the focus point in leadership. I believe that the moral judgement of leaders will be more and more important. vol 8
“At this stage of my working life when my company needs so much of my attention, having new information and food for thought constantly poured in has been enriching.”
The EMBA program is a good platform for reflection, and offers a chance to discuss the value basis and significance of organizational culture in leadership.You have to read through twenty or so books with depth and reflection. Everyone is interested in what you think, and you have time to be interested in the thoughts of others – it not only develops personal thinking, but also the ability to pause and listen. It has helped me synthesize my own thoughts, which in turn has strengthened the thinking and framework behind my own area of business in a concrete way. My group has a wonderful atmosphere of trust. With such tough competition in the business world, the incredible, genuine team spirit on the course came as something of a surprise. The two-year program has been very rewarding. At this stage of my working life when my company needs so much of my attention, having new information and food for thought constantly poured in has been enriching. My goals are ambitious, and I’m full of energy and fresh ideas.” ◆
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According to Tommi Berg, the EMBA program has provided plenty of food for thought on the lines of change at work. “When artificial intelligence takes care of certain areas, we need to re-examine how human labor can be used as smartly as possible.”
Tommi Berg Head of Service Operations at Elisa EMBA 2017
“ Exce lle nt discus sions on dig ital i zati on ”
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y colleague did the EMBA degree a couple of years ago, and the thought arose when we chatted about how I could develop myself. I picked the right program carefully: I shortlisted and compared accredited EMBA programs. The Aalto EE program seemed the best. The studies have been really interesting. I’ve learned a lot and met interesting people. Sometimes studying while working is tough and has a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
taken up a fair share of time at the weekends. There’s no need for extra hobbies when you work on pre-assignments, final assignments, read through materials in advance – and attend sessions of course. I’m Head of Service Operations at Elisa, and have worked in a range of positions at Elisa before my current position.When I began on the EMBA program, I was eager to deepen my skills in financial administration, strategy, and different areas of management.The strategy module was one of the most interesting and rewarding, giving plenty of food for thought. Each module has taught something I’ve been able to apply at work right away. The module on HR issues, for instance, explored change at work and competence development a great deal. How to ensure systematic competence development is one of my areas of focus also at work.” ◆
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“It was exciting to come to Helsinki, a place I’ve never visited before. The first impressions are positive: people trust each other, integrity is at heart, meaning you can even get on the metro without ticket inspection, but people still buy the tickets to get on… Distances are short and quick. At home in Jakarta, commuting takes me three hours every day.”
Shirley Pranoto Corporate Responsibility Coordinator, Jakarta, Indonesia EMBA
“ I wante d to e nrich myse lf ”
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hen I came across the EMBA program, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me. I want to learn something new every day. I work for one of the top four accounting firms in Indonesia, and was after international experience. I chose Aalto EE for completing the EMBA, as Finnish education has such a good reputation. I also wanted to visit Finland and have the real experience of being a part of a Finnish institution! vol 8
Completing the EMBA has been hard work, but so rewarding that I’m feeling a little sad now: it’s nearly the end. This is such a big investment for me, financially and emotionally. My superior at work has been supportive, making sure to ask me how the studies are going. I can put many of the theories into practice at work: either I’ve learned something new or felt assured that what I was doing already was smart. Perhaps the modules on Management Communications and discussing how to get the message across have been the most memorable. For instance, we’ve practiced how to get negative but important issues across. What methods should be applied for different people? I’ve received assurance that communication is my personal talent, something I’m good at. The feedback from professors has been also important: I believe in myself more than before.” ◆
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“I believe goals need to be set high”, says Yacine Samb.
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Yacine Samb Product Marketing Manager, Northern Europe, Google EMBA
“ The EMBA prog ram is a project for my pe r sonal and profe ssi onal g rowth ” “Complacency is the end to development. You have to dare to dream”, says Yacine Samb, who works for Google. She sees the EMBA program as an opportunity to challenge herself.
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have a distinct goal in my work: to empower companies to succeed online. I was attracted to the digital world and social media as a B2B marketing tool early on in my career. Online, everything can be measured. It’s easy to assess whether a client is succeeding or not, and discussion is transparent when results can be clearly analyzed. I studied international trade, and have worked at Google for about seven years. I decided to complete the Aalto EMBA program when I realized I was working in an industry where, along with a digital channel, technological development and the change in consumer behavior had already been talked about for decades. I wanted to calibrate myself into a more traditional world as it were, and see how leadership, strategies, and future work were discussed in other sectors. I wanted to immerse myself in basic concepts and structures. I work in a position where there are no hierarchies or structures. In this so-called adhocracy, one can begin to think about ways to introduce certain
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“An improved understanding of the needs of the market helped me create a more efficient strategy and team culture to back up the joint change.”
structures and processes.As a contrast, most EMBA students are interested in how to free people in their organization from structures and bureaucracy. For me, the EMBA program is a project for personal growth. I cover most of the cost myself. It’s an investment into myself and the future. The fees motivate to make the most of the studies.The investment can be compared to having a personal trainer: it has to cost enough to make sure you actually hit the gym. I’ve worked on personal growth for years, and the program provides tools for further reflection. It has made me think how many actually dare ask themselves personal and even painful questions, take a look in the mirror, open up, and examine what their purpose is – ‘am I on the right path?’. The group is wonderful! The program began in the spring, and it seems like we found a common language in no time at all for different types of people and personalities to work together. The dynamic in group work has taken me aback – synergies arise almost by themselves. Aalto EE deserves thanks, many of the teaching methods are a real success. It’s easy to talk and share personal thoughts and goals with this bunch. We can support each other in rethinking the route ahead and whether it’s the right way. I believe goals need to be set high and don’t even have to be achieved to the full. I want to enjoy the ride towards my personal goals. Complacency is an end to development; you have vol 8
to dare to dream.The EMBA program is a way to challenge yourself and test how far your own capacity can reach… Sometimes it’s like a life hack for your own body and mind: how little sleep is enough, how far can and should you stretch yourself? Hacking your life means throwing yourself passionately into personal development, learning, and growth. Lifelong learning is the way to go now, which means keeping the finger on the pulse. I feel people have no other option than to develop themselves.
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he EMBA program has already proven beneficial. In addition to personal development, I completed the final work in Management Accounting on my own role in heading the Northern Europe business unit: I analyzed how well key figures measure relevant areas and whether team members are able to impact what they are being measured for. An improved understanding of the needs of the market helped me create a more efficient strategy and team culture to back up the joint change. I immediately achieved personally rewarding gains. Sometimes I think I have nearly two years ahead to build and develop my own thinking. Something huge is simmering inside and it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I’m fond of the Japanese ikigai philosophy: that everyone has their personal ikigai, their ‘reason for being’, and actively finding it brings meaning and happiness to life. You can use the ikigai questions below when envisaging your own future: What you love (your passion) What the world needs (your mission) What you are good at (your vocation) What you can get paid for (your profession) What the world needs is the hardest question for me, and something I want to focus on in the next few years.” ◆
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“Working on assignments with a group of people from different sectors is rewarding”, says Markus Trontti.
Markus Trontti Nordic Business Line Manager, Philips Image Guided Therapy business MBA
“ This is my personal inve stme nt in knowledge, ski lls, and th e future ”
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he Aalto MBA program has taught me a great deal, especially about myself. Now I can see even more clearly that I’ll never be ready as a leader or employee. The MBA studies offer a good platform and foundation for self-development. For instance, I felt I was pretty sociable – a people person – but after the interviews with my colleagues and supervisors required in the personal development process, I realized I had plenty of work to do in that area, too. Time has become increasingly pressured in recent years, and I haven’t had enough time to listen to people in those chance encounters along corridors. A leader needs a alto leade r s’ i n si g h t
to give time to others – speed and performance are not enough. These are some of the thoughts the MBA program has raised, and I aim to apply new practices to my daily life immediately. I pay for the studies myself. This is my own investment in knowledge, skills, and the future. I’m pretty sure many others would have spent the money on something else, but I see this as a personal investment that’s right for me. Leadership is my ambition, and I’m ready to invest in it. The studies are time-consuming, which can be difficult at times, but the program has also taught me to manage my own time: for family, exercise, work and studies. In addition to the MBA program content, I value the group dynamic. We are all very different, from different sectors and countries. Working on assignments together makes one see issues and angles that would have gone unnoticed otherwise. The MBA program has a holistic approach, as if viewing the whole company or business potential from a balcony. It’s a big deal to see the whole and apply lessons learned from others to one’s own life.” ◆
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According to Vivien Zhou, the Aalto Executive Summit is like taking a peek in the future. “AI will be a part of everyone’s future. The Executive Summit gave me good insight and I feel a little better prepared.”
Vivien Zhou Kemira, Senior IT Sourcing Specialist MBA
Originally from China, Zhou has worked for Nokia and Microsoft. Last spring, she joined Kemira as Senior IT Sourcing Specialist. Zhou admits to initially thinking that the program would mean extra work and perhaps be a little boring. But the opposite was true: the modules were interesting, and she found herself learning new things and getting to know interesting people. “The Leading Change module made us think about how different organizations and people feel about and react to change. I had never thought about it from that angle.The module was nitially, Vivien Zhou took part in the Aalto EE useful for my work but also in my personal life. Global Leader program.Three modules into the The lessons will bear fruit for the rest of my life.” studies, she was so excited and impressed that she Zhou has lived in Finland for seven years. Bewanted to carry on. She is now an MBA student. fore the move, she worked for Nokia in Beijing. The international Global Leader program “I was educated in China, and studying in Finland strengthens the strategic skills of leaders who is different, encouraging free thinking.” work in different sectors in a multinational envi“Communication has been one of the most imronment. It has a similar structure, participant pro- portant MBA modules for me; how to make a file and study format as the Aalto MBA programs. presentation, what engaging storytelling is like.” ◆
“ The lecture s we re so impre ssive that I wante d to carry on ”
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In addition to Finland and Singapore, Aalto University Executive Education offers education programs in China, Estonia, Indonesia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Vietnam and the United States
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A A L TI O M P EA EC TI M &P AE CX TP EI RN I ENNUCME B E R S
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A A LTO L E A D E R S ’ I N S I G H T Vol 8: Fall 2019 Editor-in-Chief Pekka Mattila Executive Producer Riitta Lumme-Tuomala
Editor Reetta Räty
Producer Kati Kiviniemi
Creative Director Jarkko Hyppönen
Columnists Susanna Pettersson Mikko Laukkanen
Translations Rebecca Watson Simo Vassinen
Contributors Heli Blåfield Evelin Kask Tim Lahan Tiia Lappalainen Annukka Oksanen Joanna Sinclair Concept Räty-Salovaara-Blåfield Ateljee Hyppönen Publisher Aalto University Executive Education Ltd Mechelininkatu 3 C, 00100 Helsinki, Finland tel. +358 10 837 3700, www.aaltoee.com Aalto University Executive Education Pte Ltd 36 Armenian Street, Unit 01–08 & 02–08, Singapore 179934, Singapore tel. +65 6339 7338, www.aaltoee.sg Printed by Grano Oy, Helsinki, ISSN 2342-3986 Address Register aaltoleadersinsight@aaltoee.fi
SHARE INSIGHTS AND FIND MORE ONLINE
A A LTO LEADERS’ INSIGHT ONLINE STREAM: Heli Blåfield is a freelance photographer based in Helsinki. She specializes in portraits, fashion and reportage. Her photos have been published in Vogue.com, Helsingin Sanomat and Suomen Kuvalehti, among others.
W W W. A A LTO E E . C O M / B LO G Aalto University Executive Education hosts and curates a stream of varied content online. At www.aaltoee.com/blog you can find articles – i.e. the long-form Books from this magazine, easy to forward and share digitally – videos, podcasts, columns and blog posts by Aalto EE and Aalto University faculty, alumni and other guest writers invited to share their insights with the Aalto EE community.
E X A M P L E S F RO M T H E D I G I TA L C O N T E N T : Evelin Kask is a freelance photographer based in Helsinki. She currently works both in advertising and documentary photography.
Startups Stemming from Aalto MBA: Participants share their experiences. Cyber Security: Security expert Petteri Järvinen says that it is our responsibility to maintain our common information security: system updates and password management, but also being critical with media against psychological influencing. Karri Kaitue: “The most valuable asset of any organization is its human capital. And it is leadership that ensures that the performance of this human capital is maximized.”
Tim Lahan is an artist and illustrator based in California. He splits his time between commercial work and personal projects that include everything from self-publishing to painting. His work has been featured/ collected by Printed Matter, The New York Public Library, and the MoMA Library.
C O N N E C T W I T H A A LTO E E ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Find Aalto University Executive Education on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for more content and updated Aalto EE news: www.facebook.com/aaltoee https://www.instagram.com/aaltoee/ www.twitter.com/aaltoee (@aaltoee) www.linkedin.com/company/aalto-university-executive-education
Aalto Leaders’ Insight – the magazine by Aalto University Executive Education. Library of insights: What to do if your business is meat, but customers quit eating it? If the CEO has been around for more than five years, is it time for change? Let’s explore curiosity as an business asset. And finally: The art of communicating about big changes to personnel.