Hanken alumnus Michael Seelen shares what he has worked with during the past month
The corona crisis has fundamentally shaken business life. Some industries are down on their knees, while others experience exponential growth.
- I think the Covid-crisis has generally facilitated direct sales, as many customer groups have become more accessible. From our perspective, selling has increased considerably thanks to the fact that more people are cooking at home, says Michael Seelen.
His employer, Hy Cite Enterprises, sells utensils in North and South America and has recently had an annual turnover of just over $ 400 million. This year's figures are thus expected to be significantly higher.
According to Seelen, the future of companies depends a lot on how they handle their data. If they work hard to map out a data strategy and use it for supporting their business model, they will be well-equipped for the future. Otherwise, they risk being excluded.
- This autumn, we have started building a data warehouse in order to be able to fully utilise the collected data. We have a lot of data, but we need the right infrastructure to squeeze every drop of value out of it.
As many of his colleagues, Seelen works mainly from home during the pandemic.
- Our children are currently participating in distance education from home. It has been mentally exhausting, but despite all the challenges this year, we have also appreciated that we have had more time to be with the family. We have also taken advantage of cheap airline tickets to visit relatives.
Seelen was interviewed only about a week before the Presidential election in the USA. He comments that the election has also left its mark on everyday life.
- Every Presidential election evokes strong emotions, but this election seems to surpass all previous elections regarding that. I think people here in the United States will be happy to go on with their lives when the election is over.
Seelen reminisces about his time at Hanken in Vaasa with joy.
- From what I learned in the classroom, I appreciate particularly the combination of practical skills I got in programming and the theoretical concepts in Finance and Economics. Outside the classroom, I got to know wonderful people and gained new perspectives.
The text has been published in the Hanken magazine 1/2020, that came out in the end of November 2020. You can read the magazine via this link.
Text: Johan Svenlin