Strategic and operative management

In the fall, the university preview assesses the assumptions related to the university's operating environment to support next year's planning process. This is an inclusive foresight process in which members of the Aalto community play a key role in identifying and analyzing emerging signals and trends. This analysis is carried out only at the university-level.

In the beginning of the calendar year, the university's units self-assess their strategy implementation with the help of the previous year's results, key performance indicators (KPIs) and feedback. These self-assessments are gathered together and reviewed as a whole by the President's Management Team (PMT) in the university review. The school's own annual review is discussed in the school's Management Team and Education Management Team early in the year.

After the annual review the units start revising their strategic implementation plans. The school's plan is a roadmap on how we improve our activities and functions, presented by concrete milestones and KPI targets. In the School of Electrical Engineering the planning follows a biennale cycle. The plan is thoroughly discussed and revised by the Management Team in collaboration with shareholders from ELEC and Aalto every other year. We also collect feedback from our community.  Every other year we only make necessary adjustments to the plan itself but organise a tenure track seminar for all the professors of the school and Dean's visits to the departments. The tenure track seminar enables a wider discussion on the proposed new tenure track positions and the research areas of the school. 

The school's strategic implementation plan serves as the foundation of the university dialogue, which is held between the university leadership and the school in late spring. The university dialogue centres on setting objectives for the next year and agreeing on a joint plan for the following three years. The next year's objectives and resources are finalised by the PMT and documented in the university's target agreement. The university's budget is approved by the Aalto University Board in early June and the school's funding allocation to departments is finalized in late June.

Each member of our community contributes to the execution of the strategic plan with their work and duties. The quality system is embedded in all our processes and daily activities and concern each member of Aalto community.