Funding for three projects at Hanken from the Foundation for Economic Education
The largest sum of 100,000 euros was granted to a project led by Johanna Frösén, Associate Professor in Marketing.
"We investigate how small and medium-sized companies can benefit from data analytics in their marketing. These companies do not have the same resources to experiment with data compared to large companies, therefore the solutions they choose must be cost-efficient and have guarantees of functioning."
The research project includes three different parts. One of them is a continuation of a research project that Frösén initiated earlier with colleagues from Aalto University. Within the framework of that project, all Finnish companies have been sent a survey investigating how they use data. The other two parts of the project focus on specific industries, especially trade.
“With the research project we want to promote a data-driven culture into marketing decision making. It is important that people working in the marketing departments also have strong analytical skills, as marketing decisions can no longer be made solely on intuition".
The two-year project will start next spring, involving also Hanken researchers Robert Ciuchita and Jaakko Aspara and doctoral student Valeria Penttinen .
Artificial intelligence and COVID-19
Another project that received funding from the Foundation for Economic Education this autumn is led by Mikko Vesa, Associate Professor in Management and Organisation at Hanken.
"We are investigating the development of artificial intelligence in Finland and China. What can and has to be done with this technology? How is the future of this technology perceived?"
In a world increasingly defined by geopolitical conflicts, the leading power blocks' perceptions of the future role of cutting-edge technology will differ, according to Vesa.
"We see three major deviating paths: the American, the European and the Chinese. We investigate how the Finnish view of the future of artificial intelligence both compares and differs from the Chinese one."
The research is conducted as a collaboration between Hanken and Loughborough University in Great Britain. The research results are important for technology companies that want to operate across increasingly sharp cultural boundaries.
"The research consists of interviews and fieldwork in Finland and China. We use the funding from the Foundation for Economic Education to attract new talent to the project through Hanken's PhD Programme."
The third project at Hanken that was granted financing from the Foundation for Economic Education this autumn is led by Assistant Professor Jesper Haga at Hanken in Vaasa. The project is a collaboration between Haga and researchers Kim Ittonen and Dennis Sundvik. The project investigates how companies were affected by COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. The survey is conducted from two different perspectives.
"The first one is to analyse what measures listed European companies used as a counter-reaction to the loss of income caused by the COVID-19 crisis. There, we are particularly interested in whether the reporting frequency of listed companies - quarterly or semi-annually - affected how quickly these measures were introduced. We examine, among other things, cost-saving programs and issues of corporate bonds."
The second sub-project has an auditing angle.
"We analyse what is characteristic of auditing companies that performed effective, high-quality auditing during the turbulent COVID-19 spring - a time when qualitative financial information was particularly important".
This year, the Foundation for Economic Education provided financing for 291 projects with a total cost of € 4,437,700 .