Soulaima Gourani – Nordic Thinkers 20

Soulaima Gourani from Denmark is one of the two women who did it to the Nordic Thinkers 20 list. We invited her to Finland for an interview. You can read the interview and check the list of the 20 greatest business thinkers in the Nordics at http://www.nbreport.com

Love to Speak, Dare to Fail!

By Juhana Torkki A guest at Nordic Business Forum 2012 told me why he came to Jyväskylä for two days. “There are so many top speakers. I also give a lot of speeches – I hope to get new ideas I can use!” I am sure he did. I am also glad that NBF strongly […]

The Internet’s Virtual Tour De Force

By Gina-Marie Cheeseman Wikipedia is a virtual tour de force on the internet. Jimmy Donal Wales, the man who created it in 2001, definitely created magic. On June 10th, 2013 we had a chance to have a discussion with this rainmaker.  At the very top of Wikipedia’s home page, it is proudly proclaimed that it […]

“Just Call Me Jack” – the Surprising Softer Side of Jack Welch

by Jukka Niemelä Mr. Hans-Peter Siefen and I had the unique opportunity of interviewing Jack Welch. Expecting to interview a cold-blooded businessman, we were disarmed by his warm laughter and a request: “Just call me Jack, ok.” What Makes a Good CEO? Straight to the point. Jack does not nominate any TOP CEOs. There are […]

Be Cool and Heat Things Up

by Kristal Davidson While the world is engaged in heated discussions on climate change, a kind of a business and management geologist Lynda Gratton propagates a rise in temperature: hot spots are her area of expertise. Iceland, the Galápagos Islands and Yellowstone National Park – three examples for what beauty hot spots can create. Not […]

From Chaos to Growth

By Esa Matikainen For the last few years Finland has been desperately searching for “a new Nokia”. We have already seen some successes, for which the companies Rovio and Supercell are the most prominent examples. With the right skills, timing, hard work, and in most cases with trial-and-error as well, these companies have grown from […]

Speed of Change Accelerates, Business Principles Remain

by Jukka Niemelä Mr. Tom Peters, a best-selling author of many business books, says most of the principles in his first masterpiece In Search of Excellence (1982) have held up “pretty well.” Most certainly they have. University students and young business professionals in their late 20’s, read that book, take the doctrines and adapt them […]

Persona in Canalibus

by Petri Parvinen Contemporary research on the efficiency and effectiveness of sales hovers above two key questions: adaptive interaction and value added.  Researchers and managers alike have noticed that the match between the customer’s and the salesperson’s personalities and interaction styles is more important than the salesperson’s personality or skills. “Lika bra leka bäst” (Swedish […]

Nordic Thinkers 20 – the Greatest Business Thinkers of the Nordics

Similarly to 2012, Nordic Business Report continues to follow the example set by its American counterparts and to produce various interesting ranking lists of the people in the business sphere. These rankings tend to be the most popular sections of the business magazines in the U.S.  Last year, we listed the 20 greatest thinkers in […]

Selling Is Purposeful Work

As we know, people commonly avoid sales. Sadly, the entrepreneurs themselves are the best ones to avoid it. It is easy to hire someone else to do the “dirty work”, even though selling, especially in the beginning, is the most important task of an entrepreneur. Selling is purposeful work in many ways. It is vital […]

We Have Got the Talent, Let’s Sell It!

Last year, foreign trade accounted for 40 % of Finland’s GDP. We are a small country with an open economy. We have benefitted greatly from the opening of world trade. Three factors speak in favour of that trend continuing further. One, Finland is stable. We are the only AAA-rated Eurozone country with a stable outlook […]