Annual Report: Commercial and international operations 2021
Lead paragraph
The commercial operations of Haaga-Helia were reorganised at the start of 2021. In domestic sales, we combined the sales operations previously housed in different units into one Sales and Partner Operations team.
We identified the interesting networks and participated in their operations. We assumed a leading role in the China network of universities of applied sciences. We also participated actively in development of network cooperation of the national student recruitment by organising a gathering of student recruitment professionals at Finnish universities of applied sciences.
As a result of the cooperation, a new cooperation network called the Higher Education Recruitment Network (HERENET) was established in the recruitment field of higher education students.
In Haaga-Helia’s pedagogical continuing education, we reached the pre-pandemic level in both diversity of operations and in turnover. In Ukraine, we started the EU4Skills project, coordinated by Omnia Education Partnership and funded by the EU. In the project, we are in charge of teacher education and we contribute to the development of the curricula and training for education institution management.
In South Africa, we started two teacher education programmes as online implementation and a new Education Management programme.
We expanded our networks in a diverse way
We were active in the creation of networks and applying for financing for the training of education personnel in February 2021 and in the additional application in August 2021. Through them, we grew our project portfolio and profile nationally in the field of educational institutions.
We implemented several trainer and facilitation training courses for companies and expert organisations from which we received excellent feedback and new customer relationships.
In the European Ulysseus university alliance, we created, in cooperation with our five Ulysseus partners, new mobility opportunities for students and personnel, and practices that enhance responsible mobility. In the Ulysseus network, International Services are responsible for achieving the targets of the Mobility and International Outlook work package.
The Mob4All project funded by Erasmus+ began. In the project, we promoted the mobility opportunities of learners with special needs by, for example, developing the competence of those supervising the students. We were also successful in the Team Finland Knowledge Network (TFK) funding application and received funding for international course cooperation and mobility in Russia.
We were active participants in the education reform. Together with the competence areas and degree programmes, we developed the competence targets and criteria of the Haaga-Helia polytechnic degrees for the assessment of competence development. Haaga-Helia graduates are experts who have the skills to operate in international environments both in Finland and abroad.
Education exports grow and develop
During the pandemic, the export of education faced significantly changed conditions. Personal sales work and customer meetings were replaced by virtual fairs and digital meetings. The results of the year of operations for education exports were good and we achieved the targets set. The number of students paying tuition fees increased to 125.
The number of arriving exchange students returned to its pre-pandemic level. The number of leaving exchange students continued to be less than half of the 2019 level. Many students had to postpone or cancel the planned exchange. We started personnel mobility conservatively in autumn 2021. We also provided diverse opportunities for virtual studies abroad and Haaga-Helia’s virtual International Staff Week in May was a success.
We increased the training agent cooperation significantly. At the end of the year, the number of agents was 49, 10 of which were agent contracts concluded in 2021.
We opened new markets in South Korea and actively enhanced our presence by campaigning in Russia, India, China and Vietnam. Regarding Latin America, we initiated operations in cooperation with Haaga-Helia’s vocational teacher education. This included participation in a public competitive tendering in Honduras and developing a new Spanish-language online course for the Haaga-Helia Online platform.
We built the Pathway programme. For students who pass the programme, we guarantee a place in the programme of their choice at Haaga-Helia. A fourth year of students graduated from the Vietnam Pathway programme. The students will continue as degree students at Haaga-Helia and Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences.
Our close cooperation with our partial holder company EduExcellence Oy has continued. Thus we have enhanced our presence in the Asian and African markets through new contracts and started tailored degree programmes and joint degrees.
Education, research and cooperation
The impacts of the pandemic could be seen in decreased sales of education, especially in restaurant, hotel and travel sector companies. We continued the renting of facilities within the limits defined by the pandemic. During the autumn, we organised the extensive degree events of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office and the Finnish National Agency for Education on the Pasila campus. In partner cooperation, we met the companies halfway by invoicing only a quarter of the partner fee.
We launched and opened the commercial Haaga-Helia Online training platform. At the end of the year, the number of online courses was about 20. In addition to B2C sales, we use the courses as part of education exports and the Hospitality Management degree that is being constructed and will be implemented online.
We engaged companies in reforming the partner programme through service design, and we will be piloting the more comprehensive programme in 2022. In June, we completed the ‘Uusi ammatillinen kasvu’ project for the automotive industry.
Researched information was in high demand. We achieved record-breaking sales in Haaga-Helia’s commercial research services. The working life surveys, income and employment surveys in the travel industry, and customer surveys interested companies.
We contributed to the planning of the Haaga-Helia Business Innovation Conference and the joint Pedaforum 2022 seminar of universities and universities of applied sciences. We started preparations for the Haaga-Helia SalesMorning 2022 event.
During the year, we polished internal and external sales processes and dismantled obstacles to sales. By reforming the website, we improved the accessibility of commercial services aimed at companies. We strived to facilitate understanding of the fast model for education exports within the organisation. The total turnover of education exports during the year was about EUR 2 million.