Alf-Erik Lerviks and Christian Junnelius new jubilee doctors at Hanken School of Economics
Alf-Erik Lerviks was Hanken's rector from 1985 to 1993 and professor of marketing from 1975 until his retirement in 2004. Lerviks has held many national and international honorary positions and has been a visiting professor at the University of South Carolina. During his time at Hanken, he has, among other things, worked to increase the number of PhDs, developed the marketing department, promoted international co-operation and student exchange, and fought for Hanken's status as a stand-alone business school in both Helsinki and Vaasa.
What do you remember about your defence day?
“It was in early May 1973. Professor Lars Wahlbeck was the custos, and the opponent was Professor Erik Johnsen from Copenhagen. As far as I can remember today, the discussion was calm and factual, nothing out of the ordinary happened and I did not feel nervous. I do remember, however, that I probably expected more questions about the core diffusion model of the thesis. I have quite vague memories of the rest. It was a long time ago. Afterwards we threw a party at home.”
What was the thesis about?
“In the thesis entitled A socio-economic diffusion model for new consumer durables a simulation and forecasting model for new durables was developed. The thesis focused specifically on the diffusion of television sets among households in Porvoo between1958, the introduction year, and 1968. The study was based on a random sample covering 20 percent of the households in the city. A key factor in the diffusion model was how knowledge of the new product spread between households and affected the diffusion process. In simulations using real data for the first two years, i.e. how many households actually bought TVs in those two years, the model was able to predict ownership trends up to 1968 very well, i.e. nine years ahead.”
How relevant would you say your thesis is today?
“In the mid-1970s, I developed the educational business simulation game Dynama, which is built around the diffusion model of my doctoral thesis. For many years, the game has been used in marketing education programmes in Finland, Sweden and Estonia. In the game, a number of fictitious companies compete with each other in a new consumer durable market. Within the game, the companies can freely develop new models or brands of the durable in question, market them and so on.”
What does a jubilee doctor do these days?
“My wife and I have a summer house with a garden where we spend all summers. I am interested in gardening. I also enjoy building miniature models of sailing ships, which I keep here and there.”
What would you like to say to the new doctors?
“I wish all of you new doctors success and a good life in the future. Never forget science though. Remember Benjamin Britten's words ‘Learning is like rowing against the current. As soon as you stop you drift backwards’.”
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Christian Junnelius received his PhD from Hanken in 1974 as part of Professor Lars Wahlbeck's doctoral research group, which also included Alf-Erik Lerviks. Junnelius has degrees also from Harvard and Berkeley and has, among other things, worked as a teacher at the Lifim Management Institute, started the Swedish consulting and research institute SIAR's operations in Finland and later worked as director of the institute. Junnelius is one of the authors of the book Business Idea Development: An Introduction (Swe: Affärsidéutveckling: en introduktion), which has been published in eight editions, translated into four languages and used as a course book in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and St. Petersburg. He was also the first opponent from Hanken at what was then known as Helsingin kauppakorkeakoulu.
What do you remember about your defence day?
“In those days, one person defended their thesis every two years at Hanken, so it was a special event. Professor Eric Rhenman was my opponent, and the custos was Professor Lars Wahlbeck. What I didn't know then was that I would be Professor Rhenman's colleague and later successor at SIAR. I don't remember much about the actual defence but it was preceded by the usual academic hassle and concluded with a pleasant dinner at a venue in Kruununhaka.”
What was the thesis about?
“The thesis is called Investment process design in different types of organisational structures and deals with investment decisions in an organisation. There was a notion that you can make mathematical investment calculations and make decisions accordingly. It turned out that it does not work like that in reality. It is not possible to present numbers as the absolute truth or eliminate genuine uncertainty with calculations. Judgement and experience are also needed. I collaborated with several companies on the thesis and the benefit of getting out into the real world as a researcher is crucial for knowledge.”
How relevant would you say your thesis is today?
“The thesis touches on one of the major critical issues in business decision-making even today. Every day you can read about it in the newspapers, how large investments should be assessed and evaluated.”
What does a jubilee doctor do these days?
“I'm doing what a major scientific study in Sweden on people's health status emphasises as the healthiest thing: cottage life. You get to be out in nature, move around and use your head. I also have a “corporate vehicle” that people envy, a Trabant!”
What would you like to say to the new doctors?
“There is no app for experience and judgement, it is only through involvement in the business world that you can acquire it. Always rely on your gut feeling and intuition when recruiting because misjudgements can cost you dearly. As far as start-ups are concerned, I would like to highlight that you can only talk about a company when all three factors are in place: you have a market, a product and an organisation, that is to say, a viable business idea. Avoid corporate cancer, that is, a corporate culture of stupidity, arrogance and self-interest. And lastly, get an international degree and don't just engage in conference tourism.”
Text: Jessica Gustafsson
Photo: Vilhelm Sjöström
The photo gallery from Hanken’s conferment of doctoral degrees is found here.