New Hanken rector Ingmar Björkman: “Entire organization to be involved in the decision-making”

“We need to be open about what Hanken is doing – open towards our stakeholders and the public. We need to keep track of the leading business schools globally, know what direction the world is heading in, and how that is reflected in our teaching and research. And there should be nothing happening at the rector's office that cannot be talked about,” says Björkman.

Hanken's new rector was born in Helsinki but grew up in Norway, speaking Norwegian as his first language. Ingmar Björkman chose to study in Finland, at Hanken, which subsequently became his workplace. Between 1983 and 2011, he worked at Hanken as head of department, professor and dean.

In 2012, Björkman was recruited to the Aalto University School of Business, where he served as dean and professor of international business management. As of 1 August 2022, Ingmar Björkman is now managing Hanken. “It's like coming home again,” says the new rector.

“This is my alma mater – I studied here, defended my PhD here and I used to work here. It feels like returning to your family after being away for a long time: it's familiar, but in some ways you are seeing it with a fresh pair of eyes.”

People are welcome to complain

Ingmar Björkman's academic background is in managing international organizations. His CV includes research on how organizations can work internally to create value for different groups of stakeholders. 

“How you work with the staff, and to what extent you manage to engage the employees, are even more pivotal at universities than in most other organizations. That's when you really make things happen,” says Björkman, who points out that rectors do not accomplish anything on their own.

“Although we do call them rectorate decisions, I hope no rectors make any decisions in total isolation. I want the entire organization to be involved in the decision-making. I want to strive to ensure that everyone is involved and takes ownership of Hanken becoming an even better business school.

Then he proffers a somewhat surprising opinion:

“I basically think the best thing is when people complain! It gives us the opportunity to think about what we can improve. Obviously, just complaining is not good either, but we ideally want a culture where people proactively identify issues and have a belief that these issues can be improved.”

Good rapport with the alumni

According to Björkman, Hanken's strengths include its rapport with its alumni and other Hanken supporters, as aptly evidenced by the latest fundraising campaign Count on Hanken .

“A further strength we have is that Hanken alumni do well professionally: their education gives them opportunities to find jobs and make a career for themselves. The mandatory exchange programme as part of the bachelor's – the fact that Hanken gives all its students international experience – is unique.” 

Another example of Hanken's successes Björkman mentions is the research at Hanken.

“In terms of research, there are many areas we are doing well in, and the research aspect is very important to Hanken. At the same time, we should expect the same quality and standards of our teaching as we do of our research. Ultimately, it is through our teaching that we make our greatest contribution to society.”

Björkman highlights Hanken's high placing in international rankings, although he does point out that one should be careful not to draw overly far-reaching conclusions. Of the approximately 14,000 university-level business schools in the world, Hanken most recently placed 55th in the Financial Times master's programmes ranking, and 110th in the US News ranking, which mainly focuses on research.

“What is of relevance about these rankings is that we are one of the leading business schools in the Nordics. That's where we want to be.”

Attracting more international students

Ingmar Björkman has extensive international experience, including at Stanford University in the USA, INSEAD in France and Fudan University in China. He is also on the board of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. He hopes that all this experience will be of use in the rector's office, also in terms of the accreditations essential for business schools. Hanken is among the one percent of the world's business schools to have obtained the three most prestigious accreditations EQUIS, AACSB and AMBA. 

One of Hanken's challenges, according to Björkman, will be to increase international exposure, as the university has not been good enough at recruiting foreign students.

“We have recently invested in and achieved some success in recruiting students from Sweden, but internationally, our Master's programmes have not been sufficiently competitive. We need to be able to offer a portfolio of dynamic programmes that provide students with the skills needed in the future, that attract students to Finland and to Hanken.”

Return to a vibrant academic environment

Ingmar Björkman is now heading a business school with campuses in two locations, Helsinki and Vaasa. While he says it has its advantages, it can of course also present challenges.

“The fact that we have a presence in Vaasa is a strength – we recruit locally and contribute to the Ostrobothnian community. Yet, since our operations are fragmented, it does of course result in some coordination issues and increased costs. Increasing digitalization during the pandemic has led to us getting used to working fairly streamlined, including between the two locations.”

Nevertheless, Björkman still hopes the operations will be less virtual in the future.

“It is important for us to have a vibrant campus, a meeting place for students and faculty members, but also for alumni and partners. The networks that students build up during their studies account for perhaps half of what they get out of their education. Our students and employees should strive to be on site and create a vibrant academic environment.”

Being the rector of a university means many hours of work, especially at the start, but Björkman finds it rewarding, adding that one has to set one's own boundaries. Two mixed-breed dogs (Lyra and Nala) and a parrot (Aiko) help him maintain that good work-life balance.

“Our parrot has its own little aviary at our place, but we do quite often let it fly around outside it, too. At our country house, it spends the summers in a chicken coop. My Norwegian upbringing comes through in my fondness for hiking and skiing in the mountains, and the dogs and I have a shared hobby: we go running. They love it, and get really excited every time they notice me putting on any kind of clothes that look like I'm going out for a run.”

Text: Jessica Gustafsson
Photo: Gustaf Hafström