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Dear fellow INSEAD alumni,

We would like to introduce to you the new INSEAD NAA Finland Executive Committee, which was elected earlier in May. However, in the first place, we would like to thank Markku, Riku, Jani and Richard that ended their ExCo term this year. Thank you for the many years of steering the alumni association and organising so many excellent events for all of us!

Meet new ExCo!

The new ExCo is a great mix of new and previous members ensuring continuity and fresh ideas. The six members of the new ExCo members are:

• Jaani Pietikäinen, President: Jaani works at the Helsinki Office of the European Investment Bank. He did his MBA in Fontainebleau in 2001 (in fact, the first MBA students at the Singapore campus started at the same time in January). Fun fact: Jaani is a passionate supporter of Ipswich Town Football Club that was promoted to the second tier of English football this year.
• Michel Mercier, Events: Michel moved from France to Finland 25 years ago and has done Export all his working life. He has done his certificate in global management in Fontainebleau between 2016 and 2019. Fun fact: Michel wants to walk along the French coasts. He has done already 2000 km and he has still more than 2000 km to do.
• Tuomas Piirtola, Treasurer: Tuomas is Managing Director for NoHo Fast Food business. Tuomas did his MBA during 2006 both in Fontainebleau and Singapore campuses. Fun fact: Tuomas is a very active in skiing in all forms: slalom, telemark, cross country classic and skating. Every winter around 20 days is spent on the snow.
• Sofia Silberman-Hammer, Communications: Sofia helps shape the future of sustainable packaging at Huhtamäki. She is an MBA Class of 2021J and despite Covid pandemic has spent it in both Fontainebleau and Singapore. Fun fact: Passionate tech nerd in disguise who was choosing between pursuing Hive coding school and INSEAD.
• Jari Paakkarinen, Alumni Ball-organizer since 2017: Jari has retired from corporate life after doing business in >50 countries and INSEAD in 1999. Current focus is on investments to listed and unlisted companies. Fun fact: Jari’s passion is stretching between economics and ancient history. Done essays both of Uruk’s urban design (3500 BC) and macroeconomical development in Chile (1960 – 2015).
• Nilla Länsman, Events: Nilla is INSEAD MBA 14J. After careers in reindeer herding and international finance, these days I sell alcoholic beverages, i.e. run my own hard seltzer business called Nålla Kova Sooda from above the Arctic Circle. Fun fact: I have a BSc, two MScs, and an MBA degree from three different countries, am a CFA charter holder, and own a driver’s license.

What is next…

As the alumni association wants to offer activities that interest its members, we want to understand better what you expect from us. It would be great if you could participate in the poll and give us your opinion and preferences:
Click here to access the poll and help us create many exciting events! 

The poll is anonymous unless you voluntarily would like to share your contacts with us. It should only take ~3-5 minutes of your time. Please answer the poll by July 1st, 2023.

On this basis of your feedback, we will plan and organise an interesting mix of events after the summer break. Stay tuned!

We hope you already enjoy the sunshine and longer days after the sometimes challenging Finnish winter. We wish you relaxing summer holidays and hope to see you all soon at our events!

Kind regards,

Jaani, Tuomas, Sofia, Michel, Nilla and Jari

INSEAD National Alumni Association of Finland

INSEAD NAA Finland Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday May 4^th. This was the first face-to-face AGM after COVID. Big thank you for all participants.

Meeting followed the standard AGM agenda as presented in the meeting invitation. No additional topics were suggested to the agenda.

Alumni association president Markku Komsi presented the annual report of the Association from the previous term 2022-2023. After pandemic restrictions had been lifted, there have been organized several successful alumni activities as we have returned to normal operations. Treasurer Riku Rintanen presented the Association accounts from the previous term 2022-2023 and auditor’s note of approval for the Association’s books. Our financial position is stable, and we have some surplus from previous years.

The AGM approved the discharge of liability for the Executive Committee and decided annual activity action plan and budget for 2023. Alumni association membership fee stays unchanged at 50€.

Four new members were appointed to the alumni association executive committee. The new ExCo members are:

President            Jaani Pietikäinen (MBA´01J)                       (new)

Member              Tuomas Piirtola (MBA´06D)                         (new)

Member              Sofia Silberman-Hammer (MBA´21J)        (new)

Member              Michel Mercier (CGM-19)                             (new)

Member              Nilla Länsman (MBA’14J)                   (continuing)

Member              Jari Paakkarinen (IEP´99Apr)           (continuing)

Riku Rintanen (MBA’06D) was appointed as auditor. Tuomas Piirtola who has audited our accounts for many years joins the ExCo.

Markku Komsi Riku Rintanen, Jani Puroranta and Richard Jerome ended their term as executive committee members. The resigning members have served between seven to ten years in as ExCo members. A big thank you for your active support to INSEAD cause.

I have now been heading the National Alumni Association of Finland for almost ten years, including two years during covid, and it is high time to step down. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to be an alumni volunteer and alumni association president. And it has been great getting to know so many of you in person. I have truly enjoyed being actively engaged with local INSEAD alumni activities, and meeting with such smart and driven people.

The Finnish national alumni association continues as strong and vibrant as it has always been. Our membership rate has returned to same level where it was before covid, alumni association finances are solid, and there are exciting alumni events coming in the autumn.

I thank you all and wish the new ExCo all the best in leading the association successfully forward in the coming years.

Best regards,

Markku Komsi

Former President, INSEAD Alumni Association Finland

Annual General Meeting 2023_web

Dear INSEAD alumnus/alumna in Finland

We hope this message finds you safe and well! We are closing the second year with COVID-19 pandemic.  The vaccinations have proceeded well in Finland and despite latest news on new virus variants we believe that we will be able to return to arrange live events again in 2022. We will be following closely Finnish government restrictions and recommendations when arranging events with large audience. We may require EU Digital COVID certificate from all participants and use face masks when necessary.

Year 2021 has seen the introduction of extensive supply of online alumni events, lifelong learning webinars, and online speaker events. More than 15,000 alumni Worldwide participated at least one virtual event in 2021. This practise will continue in 2022. Please take advantage of this extraordinary service brought to you by the school, the International Alumni Association, and National Alumni Associations around the world.

We encourage you to renew your alumni association membership for 2022.

The local association is run entirely by a handful of volunteers, for the benefit of all its members. Our annual membership 50€ per calendar year, a part of which goes to the International Alumni Association for providing shared services to alumni worldwide. You can renew your membership, or become a member again, by using

• Online payment portal in MyINSEAD,
• MobilePay (recipient number / “vastaanottaja”: 88845)
• Bank transfer

Upon receiving your payment, we add you to the local association and its mailing lists and grant you the user rights to the Alumni database and various other services that INSEAD offers to all the paying members of the National Alumni Associations.

Optional donation to INSEAD Alumni Fund

We also encourage you to make optional donation to INSEAD Alumni Fund. Alumni fund donations are used for student scholarships, hiring special professors, INSEAD campus improvement projects, etc. Even 5€ donations make a difference and shows support to the cause. Finland has regularly been among TOP-10 nations in % of alumni members making donations.

We hope to meet you all again in out live events in 2022.

Your executive committee members,

Markku Komsi, Riku Rintanen, Jani Puroranta, Richard Jerome, and Jari Paakkarinen

Be a Member in a Powerful Alumni Network

You are one of INSEAD’s over 62 900 Alumni representing 167 nationalities in 177 countries! Every year more than 900 alumni events are organised and run all over the world by INSEAD, our national alumni associations and clubs.

In 2021 business school ranking Financial Times ranked INSEAD as #1 in MBA, #15 in EMBA, and Tsinghua-INSEAD Dual Degree Executive MBA (TIEMBA) as #11 in EMBA.

Alumni Membership Benefits

• Full access to online alumni database and networks. Free access to the BSP archives with >3,000 periodicals indexed, incl. full text of The Economist
• Exclusive access to INSEAD’s new online courses for alumni
• 30% discount for INSEAD alumni on all INSEAD Open Enrolment Programmes for executives
• Membership in different NAAs is reciprocal so members can access others’ events when abroad
• Lifelong career development support through Skype/telephone coaching
• Free use of the IAA Careers Service online for job search, reduced prices for recruiters
• Free/discounted tickets to INSEAD career webinar series

Alumni events arranged in Finland in 2021

• May 1^st Unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19 situation
• Aug – Nov IN-BOARD Nordic Academy 2021 (organised by NAA Norway)
• September 11^th Global INSEAD Day – Three digital events around the world broadcasting from Asia, Europe and the Americas.
• September 17^th Alumni Ball 2021 – Unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19 situation

Planned Alumni events for 2022

• January 27^th New graduate welcome
• January 27^th Alumni drinks in hotel St George’s bar
• March 4^th Alumni Ball 2021in co-operation with Harvard, IMD, London Business School, and London School of Economics alumni clubs
• March 22^nd Alumni visit to FIBAN pitching (www.fiban.org)
• April Alumni Association Annual General Meeting
• Aug – Nov IN-BOARD Nordic Academy 2022 (organised by NAA Norway)
• September 11^th Global INSEAD Day

Updating your contact information to get connected to alumni and invited to events

• Send an email to [email protected] to get your login details
• Go to https://my.insead.edu/ and login with your lifelong alumni email address ([email protected]) and password
• Click on ‘My Profile’ (at the top of the screen), in My Profile page, scroll down to ‘Contact information’ and fill the missing info. You have to click the ‘edit’ text in the end of line to open that field for editing.
• Click on ‘My Profile’ (at the top of the screen), in My Profile page go to ‘Memberships’ section and choose setting YES for option ‘I would like to receive the INSEAD Alumni Association membership renewal reminder emails.’
• Save your changes

The INSEAD family mourns the loss of First Dean and Founder

Dear Alumni,

I am deeply saddened to share news of the passing of Olivier Giscard d’Estaing, one of the INSEAD founders. His approach to business education truly laid the foundation for the INSEAD that we know today.

In this difficult moment, our thoughts are with the Giscard d’Estaing family. Together, we mourn the loss of a leader and innovator, a pioneer in management education and a dear member of our INSEAD family.

Olivier joined the INSEAD project when the school was still just an idea of Georges Doriot. It was while attending HBS that Olivier first met Doriot. In the summer of 1956, the two connected in Paris to discuss Doriot’s idea. At the time, Olivier was teaching at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques where he had established their first business course. As a firm believer in management education, he jumped at the chance to help make this new vision a reality.

As well as helping found the school, Olivier was appointed as Director of Studies shortly after it was established, making him the first Dean of INSEAD. He served in this role until 1963, when he was appointed as Director General of the school, a position he held until 1966.

Olivier was instrumental in almost every facet of turning the INSEAD vision into a reality – developing operational procedures and course outlines; finding and securing facilities; and recruiting top faculty talent and high-calibre students. During his spell as Director, he also planned the move of INSEAD from a rented wing of the Château de Fontainebleau to the purpose-built campus we still call home.

After stepping down as Director he continued to dedicate his time, energy and experience to this great project, serving as vice chairman of the board for 25 years, a member of the French Council and as the Honorary President of the INSEAD Foundation.

But INSEAD was just one of Olivier’s legacies. He authored six books and was widely published in academic and parliamentary journals. He was a member of the French Parliament from 1968 to 1973, the North Atlantic Parliament (1969-1973), the Conseil Economique et Social de France (1994-1999) and served as Mayor of Estaing for over ten years. An officer of the Legion of Honour, he was also a member of numerous associations and boards, including Generali, IBM, Johnson and the Société Internationale de Technologie.

Indeed, throughout his remarkable life and a career that spanned management education, industry and politics, he constantly demonstrated his willingness to support and serve others. France and INSEAD have both lost a dedicated servant who was a firm believer in the power of business to be a positive influence on society.

Today, we say goodbye to a great man and a dear friend of INSEAD. Rest assured his legacy lives on through this unique business school and the community that he helped to create and shape.

You may visit this site to learn more about Olivier’s life and post message of condolences.

Sincerely,

Ilian Mihov 
Dean of INSEAD

Dear all,

The Alumni Ball organizing committee – composed of representatives of the partnering Alumni Clubs – have decided to postpone this year’s event to early 2022. The new date for the Annual Alumni Ball is now set for Friday, March 4th 2022.

This decision was driven by a low number of registrations, which rendered the event financially unviable to proceed. From the received feedback, we understand this situation originates from an on-going concern about the COVID pandemic which, though it is showing positive trends, still does not motivate the majority of our Alumni base to attend large gatherings.

We expect the situation to continue improving over the coming months and hope to warmly welcome you to the Alumni Ball 2022.

We sincerely appreciate your interest and support, and wish you a pleasant autumn time.

INSEAD mourns the loss of founder and lifelong leader

No one has supported the INSEAD family and promoted its values-driven purpose with more flexibility, fidelity and efficacy than Claude Janssen. The most faithful of stewards and the very definition of effectiveness paired with discretion, Claude was always willing and amply able to take centre stage. But he was happiest when working behind the scenes to build momentum and consensus to propel our school to ever-greater heights of impact and excellence.

Claude’s commitment to INSEAD and its principles can be traced back to his early life. As a young scholar, he was never anything but exceptional, both in achievement and in imagination, as evidenced by his unique ability to think, then envision, then act, beyond the conventional. On graduating from the prestigious École Polytechnique in Paris, perhaps the grandest of France’s grandes écoles, Claude did not follow the prescribed path and immediately enter French industry. Instead, he chose to pursue an MBA at Harvard University.

Today, such a choice seems obvious, its value self-evident. But our current belief in the power of international business education owes much to the work of Claude and his co-founders. At the time it was nothing short of radical for a European to enrol on an MBA in the US.

While at Harvard, Claude encountered the legendary Georges Doriot, the first French graduate of the Harvard Business School and its first French professor. An inspiring teacher, he had long dreamed of bringing a graduate business programme to Europe. But his vision went far beyond the American model.

Having experienced the wholesale destruction of Europe by World War II in Europe and now confronted with the apocalyptic threats of the Cold War, General Doriot envisioned a revolutionary business school defined by internationalism, diversity, independence, entrepreneurism, and proximity to business. He believed that the interaction of this unique combination of core principles could help to transform a newly integrated Europe, stimulating economic growth and fostering peace and prosperity. It was a vision that was practical yet idealistic and, though daring, reflected the zeitgeist.

Claude did not simply believe in the idea that would become INSEAD; he gave his time, his energies, and his passions to manifest it. This generosity was always without financial recompense, free of any aspect of self-advancement, and often at great personal sacrifice.

In 1955, Claude returned to France and went to work for the Worms group, a prominent private Paris-based group active in banking, insurance, shipping, and industry. Here he would spend his entire career, becoming one of four managing partners before his retirement in 1996. Like all young executives in their first position, Claude faced long hours, a steep learning curve, and exhaustive demands.

Yet just when the requirements on his time were greatest, Claude – along with compatriots Olivier Giscard d’Estaing and Jean Raindre, both fellow Harvard graduates and Doriot disciples – threw himself into the INSEAD project. He was instrumental in finding and vetting candidates to become INSEAD’s first Director General, as well as scouring the Paris region for a potential home for the new school and serving on the Comité Technique, charged with constituting INSEAD’s operating policies and course outlines.

All of this effort was for the sake of a mere idea: a collective aspiration without precedent, a school offering a programme without accreditation, without proven demand, without financial backing, without faculty, even without permanent facilities. As with any entrepreneurial start-up, the likelihood of failure was high, and the chance for success slim. The scales were further weighted by the short-sightedness of some members of the French establishment, who contended that INSEAD’s multinational orientation would encourage a diaspora of domestic talent rather than concentrating it at home.

Nevertheless, the founders and early supporters – from General Doriot, to the French Chamber of Commerce, to far-thinking French and European industrial behemoths and captains of industry, to d’Estaing, Raindre and Janssen – held firm. They were confident that their convictions would attract likeminded pioneers. And on 12 September 1959, Janssen, Raindre and Doriot were finally able to cable the General: “The ship is launched. 57 registered today. Opening ceremonies completed. All engines turning.”

Two days later, Claude closed a longer communication to Doriot with, “It remains for us to thank you for starting up the whole idea and giving us the opportunity to contribute to an endeavour with so much future.”

Dear INSEAD Alumni

We wanted you to know that INSEAD has developed a new ground-breaking Executive Education Programme that focuses on Product Management and helps Product Managers prepare to make the transition to become Product Executives.

INSEAD has recently partnered with Product Management Festival to develop the Product Management Executive Programme (PMEP).  PMEP provides current and rising Product Managers with the tools, knowledge and know-how to lead effectively and to amplify their impact in the organisation.

There is a new call for Product Leaders within companies, reflecting the increasing importance of the product manager in today’s business environment.  As organisations shift from linear producers of products to ecosystems, capable of incorporating big data analyses into all facets of product design and execution, product managers are taking on bigger roles.

But many product managers face new challenges that they may not be ready for. They have to motivate their teams and an array of stakeholders inside and outside of the organisation, often without formal authority.  They may have become savvy at a technical craft that has enabled them to develop their organisation’s suite of products and move up the ranks, but the “management” side of product management is often (and understandably) under-developed.

We have attached a brochure on this new PMEP initiative that will hopefully answer your questions about the overall content, the benefits for participants and the recommended participant profile.

The deadline for individuals to apply for admission to the PMEP is 23 April.

For more information, we’ve attached a 2-page brochure on the Programme.  Also, here is a link that will take you to the appropriate section on the INSEAD website showcasing the PMEP.

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Dear INSEAD Alumni,

We are very pleased to invite you to join the:

IN-BOARD Nordic Academy 2018
An INSEAD Alumni Board Initiative

After two successful years, the IN-BOARD Nordic Academy will be continuing again in Oslo, Stockholm and Fontainebleau. The IN-BOARD academy aims to strengthen leaders for current and future board roles. The workshops sessions this year are:

• Fri, Aug 31 –  Sat, Sep 1 – Workshop 1 – Strategy with McKinsey in Oslo
• Fri, Sep 21 – Sat, Sep 22 – Workshop 2 – Legal & Compliance with PwC in Oslo
• Fri, Oct 12 – Sat, Oct 13 – Workshop 3 – Human Resources with Egon Zehnder and Communications with First House in Stockholm
• Nov 22-24 or 23-25 – Workshop 4 – Sessions at INSEAD Fontainebleau, France with other IN-BOARD groups from Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and the Nordics.

Our Partners:

Participation is open to all INSEAD Alumni with management experience.

With the support of INSEAD Alumni Association of Norway (IAAN) and partner companies, the cost of the academy is 950 EUR for the first 3 workshops in Oslo and Stockholm. The session at INSEAD in Fontainebleau is an additional 4400 EUR, and is optional. Participants are responsible for own travel and accommodation costs. The IN-BOARD is a non-profit initiative for IAAN.

Participation is limited and applications for the first 3 workshops in Oslo close on May 30, 2018. The application deadline for the 4th workshop in Fontainebleau will be on September 15, 2018.

For more information about the program, please go to https://www.insead.no/in-board.

We are now accepting registrations. If you are interested or have questions, please contact Wendy Lam at [email protected].

We look forward to building a stronger foundation for INSEAD leaders who desire to take on greater responsibilities on boards in the Nordics and internationally.

Best regards,

The IN-BOARD Nordic 2018 Programme Committee

Susanne Hannestad, AMP J06
Wendy Lam, MBA D03
Petter Mather Simonsen, MBA D87