After the university mergers of the past year, Hanken is now unique in Finland: an independent business school. At Hanken's inauguration in Helsinki and Vaasa on Wednesday, 1 September 2010, Rector Eva Liljeblom addressed what the two concepts - an independent school and increased autonomy - mean in terms of opportunities and risks.

As her first point, Ms Liljeblom rejected as outdated thinking the claim that an independent business school would not be able to offer its students an interdisciplinary setting, a broad range of courses and attractive research opportunities comparable to those offered at a similar business school attached to a multidisciplinary university. Observations abroad show that you have to pay a price for an interdisciplinary academic milieu. Nor is merging several independent schools under one umbrella a guarantee for increased integration. Furthermore, there are numerous opportunities available through formal and informal networks. Hanken proves that, by networking, an independent school is able to generate both successful executive education as well as strong research and education networks. The Vaasa Consortium of Higher Education and the Helsinki Alliance serve as examples of this.

While the increased autonomy offers the universities and colleges in Finland many opportunities, it also involves risks and costs. Ms Liljeblom referred to an international study pointing out a positive connection between the degree of autonomy in universities in the USA and in Europe and their research success. In Finland, autonomy is still relatively limited although progress has been made. With the State being the biggest financier by far of most universities, the universities depend greatly on the policies and provisions defined by the State. Ms Liljeblom welcomed the introduction of research and teaching quality as criteria for the allocation of funding. She pointed out that a more versatile scope of measuring instruments would help the universities to establish their distinct profiles by creating tradeoffs between quality and quantity, hopefully with an increased focus on quality.

Ms Liljeblom noted that even if the financial autonomy is relative, it could be strengthened. Hanken has today exceeded its fundraising target of EUR 10 million. Moreover, Hanken has been able to attract a substantial portion of foreign funding, in accordance to the wishes of many public authorities. Hanken's strategy includes creating a profile of a genuinely international and research intensive school of economics that works in close cooperation with the business community. The successful fundraising enables Hanken to launch strategic ventures in order to strengthen this profile.