Jouni Ahola

Management

Reflecting management

definition in a big company

and a small company 12.10.2017

About myself • Jouni Ahola

• Bachelor of Science, Information Processing Science

(studies 1993 – 1997), graduated at 2015

• Industrial Engineering and Management studies 2013-2014

• Master's Programme student in IEM 2017 - 2018

• Managerial positions during 1997 – 2017

– MSG Software Oy, Tieto Oyj, VALO Company Oy

• Own business 2014 –

– Management Consultant, Consilium Jouni Ahola

Agenda

• Tieto Oyj in nutshell

– My role as R&D Manager

• VALO Company in nutshell

– My role as CEO

• Reflecting my management experiences

– Tieto Oyj 2005 - 2012

– VALO Company 2015 - 2017

Tieto Oyj in nutshell

• IT software and service company providing IT

and product engineering services

• More than 20 countries, 13,000 employees

• One of the largest IT service providers in

Europe, domiciled in Helsinki

• Company's shares are listed on the NASDAQ

OMX Helsinki and Stockholm

R&D Manager position in Tieto

• Years 2002 – 2012 (10 years)

– Several different roles and responsibilities in

multi-cultural environment

– Domains: IT, mobile phones, mobile solutions

– Site manager, line manager, project owner,

delivery manager, personnel coach, offering

development, customer relations and sales

VALO Company in nutshell

• Startup company with own SW products

• Utilized Virtual Reality (VR) in hospital

design, sales and marketing

• Oulu based, six employees

• VALO Company (VALO) is currently part

of architect company UKI Arkkitehdit Oy

CEO position in VALO Company

• Years 2015 – 2017 (1,5 years)

– Several different roles and responsibilities

– Domains: IT, architectural and functional

design, healthcare

– General & line management, vision and

strategy creation, offering development,

marketing, customer relations and sales

Management basic functions

Planning

• Henri Fayol: “Deciding what needs to happen in

the future and generating plans for action

(deciding in advance).”

• Involves projecting the future course of action

for the business as a whole and also for the

different sections within it

• Permeates all levels in an organization

Planning in Tieto

• Example: Sudden need to start new business

with new competencies

– Plan & execute internal training program to acquire

new skills to unit employees

• Example: Strategy implementation

– To discuss, understand and decide what renewed

strategy means to our Oulu R&D site

– Action planning & execution with colleagues

Planning in VALO

• Starting point (when I started)

– Mainly new customers, new product, new business

logic, updated vision and strategy

• Lots of Planning (what, how, and when) before execution

• Biggest decisions first, then agree who tries what in action

• Anssi Tuulenmäki & Experimental Development in use

– Anssi: “You can’t design or plan totally new value. It requires

Experimental Development”

– In Finnish: Anssi Tuulenmäki ja Kokeilemalla Kehittämisen filosofia

Organizing

• Henri Fayol: ”Making sure the human and

nonhuman resources are put into place”

• Involves breaking a plan into activities, grouping

those activities, and allocating resources to them

• Structuring the functions and duties to be

performed by a group of people for the purpose

of attaining the objective of the enterprise.

Organizing in Tieto

• Example: Building capability to sell turn-key

SW projects together with other SW companies

– Start and complete negotiations with potential

suppliers and partners

– Sign frame agreements with suppliers

– Establish a new role: Subcontracting Manager

– Agree rules and responsibilities with subcontractors

e.g. for information exchange and tendering

Organizing in VALO

• Example: Establishing an ecosystem

– Find partners (external companies) that could benefit

virtual reality in e.g. hospital design

– Agree mutual benefits and solve conflicts

– Define shared functions (part of marketing and sales)

– Start service design activities to make each company

offering compatible with other players in ecosystem

– Agree commissions and other rules for cross-sales

Staffing

• Luther Gullick: “Manning different positions in

organizational structure”

• Staffing process provides the organization with adequate,

competent, and qualified personnel at all levels.

• Project business recognizes two levels in staffing

– Permanent staffing: Manning positions in organizational structure

– Temporary staffing: Manning positions in project organizations

Staffing in Tieto

• Example: Growing business (10 -> 150 people)

– Define what roles and positions you need

– Open positions and get those manned

• Permanent needs: Internal and external recruiting

• Temporary needs: Use Subcontractors and consultants

– Utilize Tieto internal subcontracting (mainly for

projects only)

• Nearshore (The Czech Republic and Poland)

• Offshore (China and India)

Staffing in VALO

• Example: How to meet varying demand of

creating 3D models cost effectively?

– Nominate a person to plan the overall process

– Find a pool of students with suitable backgrounds

– Build internal training program for students

– Train students to Junior 3D Artists

– Invite students to projects as needed

Directing

• Henri Fayol: ”Determining what must be done in a

situation and getting people to do it.”

• Directing (also commanding and leading) consists of

1. Issuing orders and instructions

2. Guiding and counseling the subordinates in their work with a

view to improve their performance

3. Supervising the work of subordinates to ensure that it

conforms to orders and instructions issued

Directing in Tieto

• Tieto is an expert organisation. Direct orders and

supervisioning were seldom in use. Empowerment rules!

• Example: Turn project organisation to team organisation

– More authorities and accountabilities to individuals

– Lean principles taken in use: Team is responsible of its own work

– Scrum (agile method) taken in use: Focus on doing, not planning

– Project Manager role become obsolete

– Scrum Masters role: Remove obstacles Team can succeed

– Line Managers role: Nominate right people, train, monitor results

Directing in VALO

• VALO personnel: Highly skilled professionals

with high motivation and ambition to success

• Example: Handover from sales to delivery

– Select project team (consult team as necessary)

– Transfer all relevant information from sales to project

team (if not already done during sales)

– Communicate targets to project team: Hour budget,

milestones, delivery schedule, expected quality level

Controlling

• Henri Fayol: ”Checking progress against plans.”

• Steps

1. Measurement of accomplishments against pre-determined

standards and recording of deviations

2. Analysing and probing the reasons for such deviations

3. Fixing of responsibility in terms of persons responsible for

negative deviations

4. Correction of employee performance so that group goals are

achieved through effective implementation of plans devised to

attain them.

Controlling in Tieto

• Development discussions (line manager role)

– Success for People system

– Individual targets & Stretched goals

• Project steering groups (project owner role)

– Track progress & budget, make decisions, steering

• Forecasting (unit manager role, project owner role)

– Unit estimates its revenue and profit (rolling 12 months) + updates

• Unit level targets (with incentives)

– Poor side-effect: Sub-optimization

Controlling in VALO

• Example: Monthly board meeting

– CEO as presenter

– Standard agenda

– Business status update for board

– Opportunities

– Risks

– Decisions

Coordinating

• Henri Fayol: ”Creating a structure through which an

organization's goals can be accomplished.”

• Lately scholars of management combined the

commanding and coordinating function into one

leading function.

Coordinating in Tieto

• Example: Coordination and roles of

Finnish mobile development R&D Sites

– Starting point: Roles defined and agreed

– Information sharing practises

– Active prevention of sub-optimization

– Joint planning sessions

– Mgmt monthly meetings each city in turn

Coordinating in VALO

• No extra efforts needed, since small

organisation: Two rooms side by side

• Sharing same cafeteria and restaurant is

enough to keep everyone on same page

• Open discussion: Coordinating in business

network, with ecosystem partners, how?

Thank You!