What are the next steps for yourself as a Business School leader? We saw the first impact of Covid-19 on our operations in the early months of 2020. The 18 months since have been quite a ride. I’m proud of the way our organisation has been able to respond to the constantly changing situations and ensure continuity of operations without making any compromises on safety and wellbeing. Now, I feel that both the organisation and I need to take a breath and reassess where we are and start building a foundation for an interesting future. For me, that means reconnecting with colleagues and customers in the office and in other social settings, taking time to decompress and reflect, and exposing myself to new ideas and perspectives – usually through reading and meeting interesting people. Do you feel optimistic? Yes. A seismic event such as the pandemic is always a chance to reset – to stop doing things that don’t work and reassess what is truly valuable. US President Joe Biden talks about his ‘build back better’ plan. If businesses, Business Schools, and even us as individuals, all decide how we can build back better we could be in for a genuinely better (and more sustainable) future. Thanks for the opportunity to discuss these topics with you, and for the great work AMBA is doing.
currently reviewing our content and looking for ways to integrate the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in as much of it as possible. It’s been encouraging to see how issues of sustainability require less ‘selling’ every year, as almost all participants see their value before starting our programmes. Our job is then to give them more information and to show them how they can have a positive impact. This development has been partly helped by many of our client companies seeing the business potential in sustainability, while, of course, recognising its importance for the planet. Given the climate emergency, do you think Business Schools have a role in helping communities recover from natural disasters? Absolutely. As I referenced earlier, many of the companies for whom our participants work are extremely active in this space. Businesses can often move faster than national governments and international organisations. At this point, responding to the climate emergency is largely about how fast we can move towards zero carbon and stop our most harmful activities. Businesses will have to be a part of the solution and Schools have a role to play in multiplying the impact of those businesses doing the right thing by taking their message across industries and regions. If we, as Business School leaders, are not actively part of the
solution, we’ll have look back and admit that we were part of the problem.
Aalto is a triple accredited School. What would your advice be to other School leaders aiming to achieve the triple crown – as well as for other Schools that have it already? I get asked about accreditation quite often and that would be a whole other discussion, but let me take one key point here. Accreditation is useful for getting you to look beyond great individuals. Business Schools are full of smart and capable people. One potential risk when you have an organisation packed with smart people is that issues are easy to solve on an ad hoc basis between individuals – just put the people you need in a meeting room, and they’ll figure out whatever issues you’re having. This, is problematic in the long run when people leave your organisation, or you expand into new areas. Accreditation forces you to detail the processes, steps, and responsibilities that are part of your quality management and quality assurance. Hopefully, you’ll still have smart people working for you in the future, but even they will be more productive when you can offer them clear process maps and instructions. When aiming to gain accreditation for the first time, make sure you have all your processes detailed and responsibilities clearly defined. So, to put it bluntly, more boxes and arrows is always better.
Dr Mikko Laukkanen has been the Academic Director at Aalto University Executive Education (Aalto EE) since 2015, where his responsibilities include accreditations and the academic quality of all MBA, EMBA, DBA, open enrolment, and customised executive programmes. He also teaches and consults actively for Aalto EE’s corporate clients and conducts research at Aalto University School of Business on topics of strategy, innovation management, and the executive education sector.
| 31
Ambition | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online