Strategic Plan. Leading the. Way

Transcription

1 Strategic Plan Leading the Way 1

2 Aalto University School of Business Strategic plan Approved on June 18, 2013 Contents School of Business goal, mission and values 3 Academic environment 4 Core strategy 6 Research 6 Education and learning 10 Societal impact 16 Strategic enablers 19 Photos: Mikko Raskinen, Anni Hanén, Aino Huovio / Aalto University Communications 2

3 School of Business goal, mission and values Our goal Long-term goal: World-class comprehensive business school by The School aspires to be among the best business schools in Europe in terms of research excellence, a portfolio of pioneering B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D and management education programmes and societal impact. The School aims to continue to have EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA accreditations. Our missions Universal mission: Contributions to a better world. National mission: Competitiveness and welfare of Finland. Our values The School shares the following values with the Aalto University: Passion for exploration Freedom to be creative and critical Courage to influence and excel Responsibility to accept, care and inspire High ethics, openness and equality 3

4 Academic environment Governance and management The Aalto University School of Business formerly the Helsinki School of Economics was established in On January 1, 2010, Helsinki School of Economics merged with the Helsinki University of Technology and the University of Art and Design Helsinki to form Aalto University. Today, the School of Business is one of the six schools that comprise the university. Aalto University is a foundation university governed by a foundation Board. The executive bodies of the University are the Board, the President and the University Academic Affairs Committee. The Dean of the School is member of the President s executive team. At the School level, the executive bodies comprise the Dean and the Academic Affairs Committee for Business and Economics. The School has two advisory boards: an international Scientific Advisory Board and a Corporate Advisory Board. The School has two Vice Deans, one responsible for Research and International Cooperation, one responsible for Teaching and Learning. The School s Top Management Team includes heads of departments and other units of the School, Aalto University Executive Education and representatives of the student body. Structure The Aalto University portfolio of management education degree programmes is offered by Aalto University Executive Education, which is fully-owned by the Aalto University Foundation. The academic content of the MBA and DBA programmes is controlled by the School of Business through the Board of Studies which is appointed by and reports to the Dean of the School. The MBA and DBA programmes, although offered by Aalto EE, are thus integrated parts of the School s programme portfolio. The School comprises six academic departments from January 1, The department structure was revisited during 2013 based on the following criteria: 4

5 the structure should facilitate relevant research and teaching collaboration within the department and each department should be of a size that facilitates internal management processes and effective support from the service functions. The School has at present three centers alongside the academic departments. The centers do not have responsibility for teaching courses in the degree programmes. The Small Business Center (SBC) will continue to develop its activities through interaction and collaboration within the School, with relevant units from other parts of Aalto University as well as other relevant organisations. The Center for Markets in Transition (CEMAT) and Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research (CKIR) will focus increasingly on highquality research in their respective focus areas together with scholars affiliated with the academic departments. The focus of CEMAT is on business and economics in the context of Russia. The centers are to be largely self-financed. New research projects are to be led by or involve professors. New centers may be added if seen to add value. Management principles The School strives to continuously improve its operations. Central management principles of the School are Engagement and Openness. The School: organizes Strategy Dialogues (Spring) and Resource Dialogues (Fall) with the leadership teams of the departments, centers, and service units organizes Town Hall meetings (Dean s Coffee) where the items of the preceding Top Management Team meeting are discussed have Faculty Retreats every second year organizes regular meetings with the School s Professorial Council and student representatives organizes regular social activities for its employees strives to offer its employees possibilities for permanent employment The School regularly follows up and attempts to improve the engagement, competence, and well-being of its employees. 5

6 Core strategy Research In line with our vision to become a world-class business school we will continue our work towards research excellence. We define research excellence as high-quality scholarship through ambitious, rigorous and relevant research projects in business studies and economics dissemination of research findings through international publications in the most influential outlets, exemplified by articles published in the journals on the Financial Times (FT45) but also the JUFO level 3 1 -lists as well as books published by leading international publishers long-term academic leadership and extensive societal influence in Finland and abroad. We aim to increase the number of FT45 and JUFO3 -publications, books published by international publishers as well as the number of citations across all key business and economics disciplines. The number of FT45-publications is the most important measure of research output. Efforts are made to exploit the collaboration opportunities that exist within Aalto University to engage in high-quality multi-disciplinary research on critical societal issues. Key performance indicators: The number of publications in journals on FT45 list The number of publications in JUFO level 3 journals The number of citations 1 JUFO Publication Forum is a Finnish quality classification of scientific publication channels in all research fields that among others is used to assess the research performance of Finnish universities. More information is provided at 6

7 Faculty resources Our aim is to build an international research-based School of Business. We are currently in a transition to a new tenure track-based career system. Career counseling and support are offered to employees at the University, School and department levels. The transition to the new career system will be completed by The vision is to have 95 professors on tenure track or in tenured positions and 20 on the university lecturer track by the end of We aim to have a balanced personnel structure with a healthy mix of senior and junior tenure track faculty members. Investments in faculty resources will be made in core areas of business studies and economics. The School will support areas where we believe that we can achieve a global leadership position, including areas where there are potential synergies between different Aalto schools, our location, and/or where there are possibilities for access to unique and valuable research data. While tenure track positions constitute the core of the School s faculty, they are complemented with Professors of Practice and Executives in Residence (the latter being a part-time position) on fixed-term contracts. These positions assist the School in bridging theory with practice and strengthening our relationships with the corporate world and society at large. We also recruit selectively post-doctoral researchers who focus on research, but also have a light teaching load. We further plan to have a group of carefully selected Visiting and Adjunct Professors on 1-5 year contracts to complement our faculty resources. Faculty management We benchmark ourselves against the leading business schools in Europe when staffing new positions, conducting performance evaluations and making tenure decisions. 7

8 Faculty members are recruited to the tenure track system launched in The University tenure track guidelines provide the framework for a standardized process for recruitment and promotion. As a norm, Tenure Track positions are filled through international, open recruitment processes where the area of the Professorship as a general rule is specified in a broad and inclusive manner. The positions are advertised internationally in the most important channels which enhances our visibility in scientific communities. The purpose is to continuously raise the quality of the Tenure Track applicants and recruits. The value proposition to faculty members contains several key elements. We aspire to offer an English-speaking, agile and dynamic research environment for faculty members at all different stages of their careers. The School s objective is to be an attractive employer with close ties with the business world and society at large, providing our faculty members with good opportunities for carrying out collaborative research projects. There are good opportunities for crossdisciplinary work. The teaching load of the faculty is to remain relatively low in comparison with many international business schools. The development of the international brand of Aalto University and the School coupled with the high quality of life in Finland are used to enhance the attractiveness of the School as a workplace. The School offers professional support to faculty members applying for competitive funding from the EU, Academy of Finland etc. All proposals, evaluations and decisions with regards to recruitment, selection and tenure decisions are made through a careful, objective and fair consideration of each candidate s and future potential. A review is conducted through a comprehensive evaluation of the applicant s research output, teaching, and service, including the societal impact and academic leadership in scientific communities. The minimum requirement for being tenured is research excellence combined with high-quality teaching or alternatively high quality research combined with teaching excellence. Newly appointed faculty members receive access to the School Faculty handbook. An induction programme for new Tenure Track professors will be organized at regular intervalls. Special events targeted at foreign faculty are also organized at the University level. 8

9 In terms of training and development, pedagogical training for professors of the School forms an integrated part of faculty development. The expectation is that new faculty members do a course on university pedagogy during their first year at the School. A sabbatical system is also in place. Faculty members are entitled to a 6-month sabbatical every 6 th year or a 12-month sabbatical every 12 th year. Faculty members are strongly encouraged to spend time at a leading foreign university as part of their career development. Setting clear expectations and providing constructive feedback are key part of the performance management principles. Giving primacy to the goal of publishing articles in leading journals such as those included in the FT45and JUFO3-list and books published by prominent international publishers is communicated and followed-up in discussions with departments and in individual development discussions. Faculty members are encouraged to apply for external funding. Generally, the School follows the requirements for getting tenure at the top business schools in Europe. As to compensation and rewards, top performance in research and teaching/learning is both acknowledged to provide service in terms of salary levels, bonuses, and rewards. Faculty members are encouraged and rewarded for their service to the School, the University, the academic community and society at large. Research funding Our goal is to further facilitate faculty members access to research funding for ambitious research projects. Seed funding is available for the development of new, promising research initiatives. Professional services including grant writing support and coordination of large international research projects are provided for faculty members. University-level funding is offered to boost cross-disciplinary research programmes. In addition, faculty members have opportunities to apply for financial support for attending international conferences and workshops. The financing of visiting professorships also aims to enhance international collaborative research. Key performance indicators: The number of ERC grants The level of external competitive research funding 9

10 Education and learning Students are in focus of our activities and the School aims to be a pioneer in terms of how it supports student learning. This section focuses on the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. programmes while the management education programmes are discussed separately at the end of the section. Programmes While the School has a full portfolio of B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. programmes, there has been a recent shift towards a focus on graduate studies. The M.Sc. student cohort will continue to be considerably larger than the B.Sc. cohort during After the B.Sc. studies move to Otaniemi in 2015, the Töölö campus will become the setting of a full-fledged Graduate School. The B.Sc. and M.Sc. programmes are revised in The number of programmes is reduced and their profiles sharpened. Instead of six bachelor s programmes we have two programmes, one offered in the School s main campus in Helsinki (with courses in Finnish and English) and the other in the Mikkeli campus (entirely taught in English). In addition, instead of the current 13 master s level business programmes the School will offer nine master s programmes (mostly taught in English), each with its own admission criteria. At present, the School participates in three cross-disciplinary M.Sc. programmes with other Aalto schools. Additional cross-disciplinary programmes may be added. The School will continue to offer the CEMS Master s in International Management programme. The doctoral programme will be revised in Learning goals The learning goals of the new B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree programmes comprise of knowledge, skills and attitudes and the structure. The content and learning approach of each programme are planned with the programme-specific learning goals in mind. In regard to knowledge both professional knowledge within the field and multi-disciplinary understanding are considered important. General skills include analytical skills, problem solving capabilities, 10

11 critical thinking, team work capabilities as well as multi-lingual writing, presentation and communication skills. Attitudes in turn cover learning agility, global mindset, ethical attitude and aim to act as a change agent. Key performance indicators: The number of B.Sc. graduates, the percentage of students completing at least 55 credit units/year, the achievement of programme learning goals and objectives (rubrics) The number of M.Sc. graduates, the percentage of students completing at least 55 credit units/year, the achievement of programme learning goals and objectives (rubrics), employment and salary levels of the graduates The number of Ph.D. graduates, placement of the graduates 11

12 Student recruitment, intake and selection Our aim is to recruit high performers with excellent analytical skills to all programmes. In addition, we strive to increase the diversity of accepted students by balancing the intake of males and females in all programmes, and by increasing the proportion of international students in the B.Sc. programme in Mikkeli as well as the number of international M.Sc. students and Ph.D. students in Helsinki. The intake of new students is decided yearly with the student/faculty ratio and the quality of the applicants being the key considerations. Over the last years there has been a shift in the Helsinki campus from accepting new students mainly to the integrated B.Sc.-M.Sc. programme to enrolling a much larger number of students directly to M.Sc. programmes. In 2005, 435 (2011: 307; 2012: 304) new B.Sc. students enrolled in Helsinki while 95 (2011: 201; 2012: 218) students enrolled directly at the M.Sc. level. During , the intake of new B.Sc. students in Helsinki is likely to be approximately 300 students per year, while in Mikkeli the intake is likely to remain at approximately 80 students. The direct intake to the M.Sc. studies is likely to be approximately 200 per year. In the Ph.D. programme, the intake is likely to shrink to approximately full-time students per year due to the requirement of selecting only excellent research students and a commitment to funding their studies for at least the first two years. Validated selection mechanisms are used in order to choose the best possible students. The validated and internationally standard GMAT or GRE tests are used for the M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes, also to enable a comparison of applicants with different educational backgrounds. Student on-boarding, socialization and motivation The induction of new students is done effectively. For the B.Sc. and M.Sc. students, staff and faculty co-operate closely with The student association of the business school and The student union of the university. The departments are in turn responsible for on-boarding and socialization of Ph.D. students. The engagement and motivation of students are crucial for their study performance. Efforts are made to ensure that students know and internalize the learning goals across courses and programmes, and that they take active 12

13 ownership of their own learning process. Students make personal study plans that are revised yearly. Student motivation is promoted through extrinsic student incentive mechanisms related to the competitive selection of students for major subject in the B.Sc. and M.Sc. programmes in Helsinki, the choice of exchange location both in B.Sc. and M.Sc. programmes, the Dean s Lists of the best performing B.Sc. and M.Sc. students, and a new B.Sc. student award that will be introduced in Approaches to teaching and learning, methods and assessments When striving to strengthen our focus on student learning-centeredness, the School aims to increase the use of teaching/learning methods where practice, reflection and theory are tightly connected. For this purpose, the use of real company cases, teaching cases, company projects, capstone courses, students internships and learning reports is emphasized and encouraged. Faculty members are encouraged and financially supported to produce teaching cases. The use of small-class interactive learning situations is increased to stimulate reflection and facilitate individual and team feedback. The utilization of online learning methods and blended learning is also increased. We will develop on-line pedagogy and learning material for our programmes, and strive to collaborate within the area of e-learning with other parts of Aalto University and with suitable external partners. The learning assessments are to be tightly and transparently linked to the learning goals of the courses and programmes. Overall, the learning ambition level is increased as indicated by a plan to raise the minimum percentage of points for passing a course from 40 % to 50 %. Diverse individual and team assessment methods are applied, including exams, project work, written reports, learning diaries, presentations, and contribution to class discussion. In addition, skills and attitudes are selectively assessed in the programmes. Key performance indicators: The number of teaching cases produced The number of teaching cases sold 13

14 Language policy The language policy of the School focuses on Finnish and English. In the B.Sc. programme taught at the Helsinki campus the degree language is Finnish whereas it is English in the B.Sc. programme at the Mikkeli campus. In the M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes the language used is mainly English. In the coming years, roughly half of the courses at the B.Sc. level in Helsinki will be taught in English. All teaching in the International Business B.Sc. programme in Mikkeli will be offered in English. In order to improve the bilingual competencies on part of the students, B.Sc. and M.Sc. students are introduced to key professional terms in both Finnish and English in all programmes. B.Sc. and M.Sc. theses as well as doctoral dissertations may be written in English or Finnish. Resources for student-centered learning The student learning environments will be further developed through investments in modern learning environments with well-equipped auditoriums, improved student learning hubs, and improved 24/7 access to the premises. High-quality, motivated faculty and staff are essential. Investments will be made in the quality of faculty and staff through recruitment and tenure decisions where the candidate s merits in teaching/learning is an important element. The quality of teaching and learning is enhanced through provision of high quality pedagogical training and development, coaching, dissemination of best practices, and experiences in executive education. The studentorientation of both faculty and staff is emphasized. Our aim is to continuously improve our programme management practices within the framework of an Assurance of Learning system. Each B.Sc. and M.Sc. programme has a programme director and a programme committee consisting of faculty members, students and external experts. The programme committee is responsible for doing a yearly programme review. An information system for programme management is developed to improve data availability on study performance across courses and programmes. The system is also intended to assist in identifying good teaching/learning practices and areas of improvement. 14

15 Management education programmes MBA and DBA programmes are offered by Aalto Executive Education Ltd (Aalto EE). Aalto EE s activities are tightly integrated with those of the School, and the aim to further increase this integration in the years ahead. The portfolio of executive education degree programmes consists of the Aalto Executive MBA, the Part-time MBA, and the Executive DBA. The academic content of the programmes is controlled by the School through the Board of Studies which reports to the Dean of the School of Business, and the Managing Director of Aalto EE is member of the School s top management team. The MBA and DBA programmes, although offered by Aalto EE, are thus integrated parts of the School s programme portfolio. At the time of writing, we are investigating whether or not to launch a full-time MBA. A large majority of the Aalto faculty members teaching in the Aalto EE programmes come from the School of Business. The aim is to continuously increase the proportion of professors from the School participating in executive education. In order to involve more professors in executive teaching, we will continue to organize faculty development programmes and encourage new faculty members to become involved in Aalto EE programmes through monetary incentives. Faculty members will continue to be compensated separately for their teaching in management education programmes as well as executive programmes. Further, the number of faculty members participating in Aalto EE teaching is one of the department KPIs used as the basis for the yearly resource allocation to the departments. Key performance indicators: FT ranking positions The number of School faculty members teaching on management development programmes 15

16 Societal impact The School is committed to making significant contributions to society in Finland and world-wide in line with its mission. At the core of our societal contributions are student learning and high-quality research on relevant topics. Besides, the School has also other means for making a contribution to society as described below. Corporate connections To have close corporate connections continues to be a crucial part of the School s overall strategy. In teaching, the School strives among others to include corporate perspectives into the learning process by involving corporate representatives as members of Degree Programme Committees and by using real corporate cases, teaching cases, student projects and internships as important parts of the learning process. In research, we view partnerships with corporations as critical not only to ensure practical relevance, but also as a competitive advantage in terms of getting access to unique data. The School s researchers are encouraged to make contributions to practice through joint research projects with corporations and other stakeholders as well as executive education. Corporate partnerships The School aims to have partnerships with leading Finnish and international firms. The collaboration with partner firms aims partly to contribute to the research and teaching/learning within the School; in part to contribute to the development and competitiveness of the partner organizations. In teaching, the School strives among others to incorporate corporate perspectives in the learning objectives and contents of our programs, and to use real cases and student projects as important parts of the learning process. In research, we view partnerships with corporations as critical not only to ensure relevance but also as a competitive advantage in terms of getting access to valuable and unique data. We also stress the contributions to practice that the School makes through joint research projects with our partner corporations. 16

17 The partnerships are in part organized within the formal partnership programmes of the School. The goal is to further deepen the collaboration with the School s Full, Campus and CEMS partners. The aim is to have 16 such partners by the end of Key performance indicator: The number of Full, Campus and CEMS Partners Executive education Executive education is organized in Aalto University Executive Education (Aalto EE) Ltd. Aalto EE offers part-time MBA, Executive MBA and Executive DBA programmes as well as corporate-specific and open programmes. The goal is to improve the FT rankings of the management and executive education programmes and to further increase the contribution of the School s faculty members to the full range of Aalto EE programmes. The production of practitioner-oriented books and other learning material is encouraged. Active participation in societal activities The School increases the level of contribution of its faculty members and other employees across a range of societal activities. Such activities include commissions of trust, including the invited participation in the development of Finnish and international legislation, government and other societal committees and work groups, and corporate and non-profit boards. The School encourages and stimulates the participation of its experts in relevant public debates and discussions. Further, our experts are encouraged to take part in the development of corporations and other societal actors. The number of media hits is used as one of the departmental KPIs. Key performance indicator: The number of media hits 17

18 Contribution to entrepreneurship The stimulation of entrepreneurship in Finland in particular is viewed as a crucial societal task of the School. One part of this task will be carried out through the education taking place within B.Sc. and M.Sc. programmes, which aim at enhancing the knowledge and skills as well as attitudes of the students towards entrepreneurship, including social and sustainability entrepreneurship. The Small Business Center will continue to offer training and development services to start-ups and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The entrepreneurial activities of students, faculty members and other stakeholders will be supported in collaboration with other schools within the University. Alumni and open university The School will further enhance its efforts to build the human and social capital of its alumni. A major new activity will be a Home Coming for all alumni that will be organized at regular intervals beginning in The degree programmes are encouraged to systematically collect data on their alumni and to increase interaction with them. The School will continue to participate in the activities in the open university activities of Aalto University to increase its societal contribution. The School pays special attention to the quality of teaching and learning in the open university activities. Societal development projects The School aims to increase the contributions of its faculty members and students to societal development projects of different kinds in Finland and abroad. One example is the organising of cross-disciplinary field projects carried out in developing countries where students seek to create entrepreneurial solutions to poverty alleviation together with local universities and non-governmental organisations. 18

19 Strategic enablers Services The overall purpose of the service functions is to allow faculty members and students to focus on and to be effective in their core academic tasks. The efficiency and effectiveness of the service provision is assessed and further developed through benchmarking with other leading business schools and units of the university as well as through user surveys of the service provided. The general people management principles of faculty members (described above) are used, whenever applicable, also to service staff within the scope of the Service Career System of Aalto University. The aim is to use open recruitment processes to attract the best experts for jobs in support and service functions. Focus is on the personal development of service personnel, both through formal training and staff mobility within the University as well as internationally. Internationalisation We strive to build an inclusive, multicultural academic community with excellent students, faculty members and staff from different countries. Students At present, approximately 13% of the student body (B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D.) is international. The international atmosphere is complemented with more than 200 exchange students every year. The aim is to increase the student body represented by non-finnish degree students in the M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes. In addition to the internationalisation at home, we aim to have 2/3 of our students go on international exchange or do an internship abroad. Currently, around 60% of the students spend a full semester at a partner university (mandatory only 19

20 in the Mikkeli International Business B.Sc. programme). Our intention is to maintain a good balance between inward and outward going exchange students. We also intend to increase the number of international internships for Finnish students and the internships for international students in Finland through financial support and by increasing the number of jobs offered via the School s career services. We strive to maintain the current high level of motivation on part of our students to spend a semester at one of our partner schools abroad by continuing to make it easy for students to incorporate international studies as a minor in their degrees, by further developing our network of high-quality international partner universities covering a broad geographical scope (see also below), by continuing to have a transparent and merit-based student selection process, and by also in the future offering financial support to the selected students. While we plan to retain the current number of English-speaking courses at the B.Sc. level in Helsinki there will be a marginal increase in the proportion of courses taught in English in the M.Sc. programmes. Internationalisation of the curriculum also means adjustments to teaching/ learning approaches to accommodate students with diverse backgrounds. Services offered by the School, the university, and the student union (AYY) and student association (KY) aim at better integrating international students into the local academic environment, way of life as well as the broader Finnish society. 20

21 Management of the international partner university network In 2013 the School had a total of 172 partner universities out of which 73% had an international accreditation (AACSB, EQUIS or AMBA). Alongside international student exchange the international partnership network also serves the needs of faculty and administrative staff exchange. The plan is to have a roughly similar number of partners by 2016 but add selected top schools in relevant countries and regions, thus further increasing the percentage of partner universities with international accreditations to at least 80%. The School has double degree programmes with the University of Cologne, Louvain School of Management and Tongji University in Shanghai. New agreements are currently under preparation. We aim at increasing the number of double degree programmes in specific disciplines with carefully selected partner universities. In 2016, we expect the School to have approximately six well-functioning double degree programmes. Key performance indicators: The percentage of partner universities with international accreditations The number of double degree programmes Non-Finnish faculty and staff and international mobility The aim of the School is to attract top talent from Finland and abroad to fill our Tenure Track positions. Our policy is to fill each new position with the best possible candidate regardless of the person s passport. In March 2013, about 15 per cent of the core faculty was non-finnish. It is highly likely that the percentage of foreign faculty members will increase significantly during The first tenure-track positions were opened in May Services that take into consideration the specific needs of international faculty members will continue to be developed to support international faculty members including pre-arrival support, welcome events and assistance in finding suitable housing. In 2012 English was introduced as the working language of the School alongside Finnish to better integrate international faculty and staff members 21

22 into the community. The integration of international faculty members is a highpriority area during We will also increase the number of international long- and short-term visits by our faculty members during , rendering internationalisation a twoway process. In 2012, the International Visiting Professor and Nyberg s International Visitor s programme were introduced with the aim to contribute to the School s research excellence, educational quality and internationalisation. Visiting professors, who are internationally reputed and established scholars in their fields, are encouraged to develop joint research projects with our faculty members. During shorter or longer visits they are also to give research seminars, teach Ph.D. and other students and engage in Ph.D. supervision. These visits may be reciprocated by our own faculty members, thereby contributing to the development of international interpersonal links. Other resources The School aims to have sufficient resources which are purposefully and carefully allocated to reach the overall goal of the School and to fulfill its missions. Facilities The School aims to develop and maintain facilities that above all effectively support student learning but also faculty research and the societal contribution of the institution. During the School intends to improve the learning environment for students, and to upgrade its teaching facilities. The School will move its B.Sc. teaching to the Otaniemi campus in Of crucial importance will then be that the renovated facilities in Otaniemi effectively support student learning and the development of a School of Business identity among the B.Sc. students. In Töölö, the objective is to develop a more compact campus, where related functions are located close to each other and students, faculty members, 22

23 service staff, and other stakeholders have good opportunities for interaction and collaboration. The plan is that the service functions are located in the main building. The School aims to reduce the space that it uses. During the planning period, the HELECON Information Center will be closed and a smaller information and learning center will be established in the Main Building. In Mikkeli, no major changes are foreseen during Financial Resources The School intends to maintain a sound financial buffer as a safeguard against sudden shifts in funding. The aim is to obtain external funding for academic positions, including tenure track professorships and professor of practicepositions. The School aims to maintain a healthy level of high quality external research funding from sources like EU, the Academy of Finland, and TEKES, The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. Collaboration with other business schools and universities The School aims to collaborate and seek synergies with other business schools and universities whenever feasible. In Finland, the School will continue its collaboration with Hanken School of Economics in areas where there are significant synergies but we will also seek to deepen our collaboration with University of Helsinki. 23

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