A project led by Professor of Practice Pekka Mattila received funding from the Academy of Finland

The Academy of Finland's Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment, and the Council for Culture and Society have granted funding to Aalto University for six new Academy Projects. The funding granted to these projects from the September 2019 call totals 2.1 million euros. The funding periods start on 1 September 2020 and the projects are for four years.

Consortium EXED, a project led by Professor of Practice Pekka Mattila from the School of Business, received funding. The full name of the project is Consortium EXED: Executive Education as Strategy Practice: Lessons from History and Prospects for the Future. The Department of Marketing at the School of Business was awarded 280,000 euros and their research partner Juha Kansikas from the University of Jyväskylä received the same amount.

Management training has a big impact

According to Postdoctoral Researcher Mikko Laukkanen, who has been involved in the project, the aim of this study is to explain the development of Finnish management training and to understand the factors that influence it. Like many other small countries, management training programmes in Finland have had a great impact on the formation of entire generations of managers. This is why training and development of business leaders has a great impact not only on business but also on the structural development of society.

‘Despite the importance of management training, little research has been carried out in the industry itself. This project puts that at the centre of our research. We examine management training in three different roles: As a gateway to the top of Finnish business, as a tool in business change processes, and as drivers of executive efficiency and societal impact. We have unique access to diverse achieve sources which we use as research material.  They form a picture of the past, but also provide a lens to the present: This is how leadership in Finland has taken shape,’ Pekka Mattila said.

Further information:
Professor of Practice Pekka Mattila
[email protected]