Press Releases

22.5.2013: Dissertation: Businesses should understand that the family is the customer

Companies need a greater understanding of how customers experience service value and, in the case of families, who the customer is. The customer is not only the individual who appears at the customer interface: a family's service experience is a consequence of the combined experiences of all family members. This claim is made by Johanna Arantola-Hattab, who has researched banking services from a family perspective. Arantola-Hattab will defend her doctoral thesis on this topic at Hanken School of Economics on 7 June 2013.

A better understanding of families' everyday lives forms the basis of customer-oriented service. Arantola-Hattab's thesis suggests that families need solutions which make everyday life easier for all family members. Instead of individual, tailored solutions, customers seek the solutions which best suit their current situation.

The thesis is based on interviews with working mothers who run their families' practical affairs on an everyday basis. The interviewees wanted service providers to offer the best possible solutions for their situations in life, from both the individual and family perspective. "Many interviewees wondered, for example, why their bank had not spontaneously offered services, such as bank cards to young people, even when they are aware of the ages of the children", Johanna Arantola-Hattab says.

Businesses often have good solutions that make everyday life easier, but they need to introduce them actively, at the right time for the customer. "Service marketing is not about offering a teenager a bank card with a tempting picture, but how a teenager's bank card makes daily life easier for the whole family. Companies that go beyond the surface will gain significant competitive advantages," Arantola-Hattab concludes.

Johanna Arantola's doctoral dissertation in Marketing is titled ""Family as acustomer experiencing co-created service value"

Time: 7 June 2013 at noon

Place: Helsinki campus, Arkadiankatu 22, the Assembly Hall

Opponent: Adjunt Professor Bård Tronvoll, Hedmark University College, Rena, Norway

Custos: Professor Tore Strandvik, Hanken School of Economics

30.04.2013: Johan Sandell succeeds Mikael Lilius as the Chairman of the Board for Hanken & SSE Executive Education.

The CEO of IBM in Sweden, Johan Sandell has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Board for Hanken & SSE Executive Education. Johan Sandell succeeds Mikael Lilius as of 23.4.2013.

Mikael Lilius has resigned upon his own request after over 7 successful years as the Chairman of the Board. During Mr. Lilius tenure Hanken & SSE Executive Education has grown from a small unknown company into a strong established player on the Nordic executive education market.

During his long career, Johan Sandell has worked in many of the key business areas of IBM in different leadership positions. He has broad experience of the ICT industry and hands-on experience from business transformation and leadership. At IBM, he has also worked with customers from diverse sectors: finance, industrial, retail, travel & transportation as well as the public sector.
Mr. Sandell has also gained extensive international experience having worked for 14 years for IBM in various European locations as well as in the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Like Mr. Lilius, Mr. Sandell is also a graduate from Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki and holds a Master of Science degree in Economics.

For more information, please contact CEO, Hanken & SSE Executive Education, Sari Salojärvi on +358 414 666 064 and sari.salojarvi@hankensse.fi

10.04.2013: Hanken's research receive good grades from external panel

Hanken's research has been evaluated by an external committee with distinguished international academics. The purpose of the evaluation was to conduct a systematic and objective analysis of the research conducted at Hanken.

- The results of the evaluation are remarkably positive and shows that Hanken's research is of a high international standard, says Rector Eva Liljeblom.

The results presented in the report will serve as guidelines when Hanken will decide upon a new area of strength policy this spring. The evaluation report will also serve as a base for future strategy work.

In its report the evaluation committee has identified research areas where research is of highest international standard, areas where research has the potential to develop towards highest international standard, and areas where research is neither internationally nor nationally competitive.

- Of the ten areas of research conducted at Hanken, eight have been identified as being internationally competitive or having the potential to develop into one. This is a remarkably good result, says Rune Stenbacka, professor and Dean of Research.

Among research areas where research meets the highest international standard are Economics, Finance, Management and Organisation, and Marketing. Furthermore, the committee identified the subarea Intellectual Property Law (IP) to meet the highest international standards.

The report can be read by following this link

10.04.2013 Dissertation: Environmental and ethical labelling needs to meet consumer needs in order to make a difference

A substantial part of the environmental problems societies face today can be traced back to consumption patterns. In order to change those patterns, environmental and sustainability labelling has been increasingly employed to involve citizens and affect consumer behaviour. The effect, however, has been modest. Market shares for environmentally or ethically labelled products remain low and a positive attitude towards labelled products does not consistently translate into buying behaviour.

"Policies for environmental and ethical labelling should focus more strongly on consumers' needs in order to make the schemes efficient", says Linda Schollenberg. For her doctoral thesis at Hanken School of Economics she has studied Fair Trade-labelled coffee in Sweden and the attitude-behaviour gap with regard to purchasing organic food.

In addition to paying attention to consumer needs, high priority should be given to providing consumers with appropriate information to counteract consumer confusion when facing the multitude of labels used in the market", says Schollenberg.

A strong public sector involvement is of key importance in educating consumers, initiating information campaigns, defining reliable standards and in ensuring credible certification and monitoring.

Linda Schollenberg's doctoral thesis entitled "Essays on the Economics of Environmental and Sustainability Labelling" will be presented at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki.

Time: 12/04/13 at 12:00

Place: Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki

Opponent: Professor Kjell Arne Brekke, University of Oslo, Norway

Custos: Professor Tom Berglund, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki

Anders Wall rewards Hanken student with 14 000 EUR for new mobile way to measure health

Kenneth Salonius, a student in entrepreneurship at the Hanken campus in Helsinki is awarded this year's Anders Wall scholarship. The grant is 125 000 SEK (about 14 000 €), and among the largest awarded to students at Hanken. The scholarship was awarded at a ceremony in Stockholm on 11 March.

Kenneth Salonius has founded and successfully launched the highly promising start-up company Framgo AB, which develops medical technology for consumer use. The product has the shape of a belt and makes it possible to display images of the body's muscle and fat tissues on a mobile phone or tablet. This opens new possibilities including improving the follow up on your physical training.

- I have a passion for medicine and health, says Kenneth. The scholarship gives me the opportunity to participate in leading conferences of the Mobile Health-industry in the U.S., which will be very important for my future as an entrepreneur in the field of medical technology.

Kenneth Salonius placed among the top three among economics students in 2012 in a national evaluation conducted by newspaper Kauppalehti and consulting firm Universum. Anders Wall Foundations parts in year out over 2 million Swedish kronor in scholarships and education grants. Contractor targeted young people in research, entrepreneurship, international studies and culture received their awards in Stockholm on 11 March 2013. Anders Wall Foundations brings together a large group of young entrepreneurial people to a network whose members meet regularly.

21.02.2013 Frank den Hond appointed professor in Management and Organisation

- I see myself as a generalist in the study of organizations, says Frank den Hond, newly appointed Professor of Management and Organisation at Hanken School of Economics.

Frank den Hond moved to Hanken from the Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

With a background in chemistry and having embarked on an academic career at a Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, before moving onto Social Sciences and now Hanken, it is easy to agree with den Hond's description of himself as versatile.

Frank den Hond's current interests lay in the field of corporate social responsibility, social movements and legitimacy. 'We live in a world that is increasingly dominated by organizations, and by a logic of organization. Most of the times this is readily accepted, but sometimes there is resistance, for example when firms behave unethically in seeking lower production costs. I intend to pursue a research agenda on these themes, in collaboration with my new colleagues at Hanken.'

-We are delighted to acquire one of the European key researchers in management and organisation to Hanken, says Professor Saku Mantere. - He will add important expertise in the field of political strategy and into the interaction between business and society, Mantere adds.

08.02.2013: Björn Wahlroos continues as chairman of the board at Hanken

Ph.D. Björn Wahlroos has been elected chairman of the new board of Hanken School of Economics at its inaugural meeting held on Wednesday 6 February 2013.

Björn Wahlroos is chairman of the boards of Sampo Group, UPM-Kymmene Plc and Nordea Bank Plc. Wahlroos has been Professor in Economics at Hanken 1979-1986 and visiting associate professor at Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and Brown University, the United States.

In accordance with the University Law, Hanken School of Economics elected a new board on 20 November 2012 that began its term of office on 1 January 2013. The new board has 10 members: six are from the university community and four are external members.

The external members are Philip Aminoff, Jannica Fagerholm, Johanna Tidström and Björn Wahlroos.

17.01.2013: Pia Arenius appointed professor of entrepreneurship at Hanken

"This is sort of pioneering work. I feel abit as being an entrepreneur myself," says Dr Pia Arenius, newly appointed Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki. She will also have a prominent role in the Erling-Persson Centre for Entrepreneurship at Hanken, which will be inaugurated in February.

Arenius previously conducted research at the University of Turku. She was attracted to Hanken by the combination of the school's size, high research intensity and a strong international commitment.

- Hanken researchers carry out high class international research which I also want to participate in, she says.

Arenius is a strong supporter of an appropriate mix of research and teaching.
- In class you can turn research findings into practice and discuss them with students, says Arenius. Her aim is to give entrepreneurship more visibility at Hanken and also to introduce more international activity into entrepreneurship teaching.

Arenius emphasises that there is a need to give university education to entrepreneurs as they view business and entrepreneurship differently and will hopefully start businesses different from those without an education. Diversity, also among entrepreneurs, is a strength that society needs.