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Expat Oulu Conference 2007
Promoting mutual cooperation, economic and social development.
 Day One, Friday 7.9.2007
Living in Oulu.
9.30-9.45 Welcome and opening words
Dr. Mikko Karvo Director of Economic Development
City of Oulu
Central Administration, Innovations and Marketing
9.45-10.15 Oulu - out the back of beyond?
 Bruce Wakelin has been living and working in Finland for the last 10 years (for
Nokia). He tackles the perception that Oulu is somehow at the end of the world.
He knows something about the end of the world; after all he was born there!
Career-wise, Bruce has worked in the telecommunication industry since graduating
with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of
Canterbury. He is currently Director for Market Integration Process development
in Nokia.
>> Presentation slides (pdf)
For those interested in South side up maps, please visit ODT Maps
http://odtmaps.com/
 10.15-10.45 Oulu, A city with a mission!
Anne Rännäli
City of Oulu
International Affairs Manager
>> Presentation slides (pdf)
10.45-11.15 Coffee/Tea Break
11.15-12.30 How to live and thrive in the community?
Panel discussion under guidance of Ildikó Hámos
>> Panel members (pdf)
12.30-13.30 Lunch
Global Employee mobility and practices.
13.30-14.15 Beyond Diversity Management: Reconceiving Culture and
Ethnicity for the ”Post-Impivaara” Finland
Marja-Liisa Trux
 An ethnographic account of a Finnish based high tech company demonstrates
that not all employers hesitate to welcome the late modern call for diversity
management with discriminatory motives, but some do so for reasons of democracy.
There are potentials in the idealistic avant-garde of Nordic management, to
create solutions more akin to listening the workers than to looking at them with
the classificatory gaze. On the way towards more inclusive organisational forms,
however, much in the understanding of ethnicity, culture, Finnishness and the
foundations of trust needs to be reconsidered.
Ms. Marja-Liisa Trux (Lic.Psy.) has made her interdisciplinary career trough
psychology, cultural anthropology and organisational studies. She has worked
among immigrants struggling with learning problems, as well as initiated the
field of inquiry into transnational and multiethnic workplaces in Finland, in
the sectors of cleaning industry and high tech industry. Her academic activity
contributes to the discussions on cross-cultural contact zones, questions of
power and agency, Finnishness in the present world, late modern ideologies such
as diversity management, and possible dialogising moves. She is currently
preparing her doctoral dissertation on the meanings of ethnicity in a Finnish
based high tech company for HSE /Organisations and Management. She has also
lived the so called transnational moment in world history trough her private
life. Her family of four holds nine passports.
>> Presentation and literature (pdf)
14.15-15.00 On why the unemployed are unemployable and what Finland
can do about it.
Professor Ajeet N. Mathur
 To understand how foreign enterprises cope and adapt to differences in
employment regulations, business practices, laws, institutions, organization
structures, public systems, and management processes in penetrating business
opportunities in a foreign country and identify difficulties faced by firms in
choosing and
implementing GATS entry modes for structuring international business. The
presentation draws upon data from the Finland-India Economic Relations project
to share insights about Finland and India.
Project Director, Finland-India Economic Relations
Professor, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Director, Institute of Applied Manpower Research
>> Presentation slides (pdf)
>> More about the topic (pdf)
15.00-15.30 Coffee/Tea break
15.30-16.15 The power of global citizens
Michael Bell (Global Recruiters)
 Born in San Diego, Michael grew up primarily in the Southeastern section of
the US. After completion of high school studies at Southern Arizona School in
Tucson, Arizona and Lynn Classical near Boston, he started formal education at
Boston University.
In 1970 Michael joined the Eastern Airlines sales organization in Washington
DC where, responsible for agency sales development in Northern Virginia, and
eventually progressing to Senior Account Executive handling all Commercial and
Association sales activities in the Washington area.
After joining Lufthansa German Airlines in 1974 as Commercial Sales Executive
for Greater Metropolitan Chicago area he was transferred to a headquarters staff
position New York in 1976 as Manager Sales Training Development for the entire
North American region. In this capacity Michael was instrumental in developing
sales training modules for both internal and external use, eventually working at
Lufthansa’s training facilities in Seeheim, Germany.
Michael joined the Lonrho Corporation in 1979 working with their Tradewinds
Airways division based out of Gatwick Airport London as Sales Manager Express
Services Northern Europe. In 1981 the US company Gelco Express International
started operations at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and Michael joined the
company as General Manager. Gelco went on to become the European foundation for
FedEx’s international operations in 1984 when Michael became their first Country
Manager in the Netherlands and one of their first employees in Europe.
A career spanning almost 10 years with FedEx took Michael from the
Netherlands to Country Manager France, Director of Operations Nordic Region and
finally as Director of Operations for FedEx’s subsidiary company FedEx
Logistics.
In 1993 Michael set up his own business in Amsterdam and worked as a
consultant to major companies like KLM, Yellow Freight Services and represented
the interests traveling abroad for the Holland International Distribution
Council promoting The Netherlands as the logistics gateway to Europe in the US
and Far East.
Since 1998 Michael has focused his business activities exclusively on middle
management level recruitment handling search and selection assignments,
primarily for US companies operating in Europe.
In 2004 he combined his efforts together with Global Recruiters where he
continues to support their Dutch operations.
Day Two, Saturday, 8.9.2007
8.45-9.45 Expatriate Business Breakfast. By invitation only.
Health management for successful adjustment
9.45-10.30 Adjusting to Expatriate Life
Ulla Niemi-Ylänen (M.Sc.,MBA)
 - How can cultural self-knowledge shape expatriate experience
- Expectations versus reality
- Managing oneself, adjusting, and improving life satisfaction
Mrs. Ulla Niemi-Ylänen has personally experienced, on
different occasions, several roles of expatriate life: as a child,
an employee, and most recently as the mother of an expatriate family.
She is currently teaching as well as preparing her doctoral
dissertation on expatriates, at Tampere University of Technology.
 10.30-11.30 Proactive health Management in a Globalized World
Key note speaker: Duncan Westwood
Conference participants will be introduced to three distinctions of proactive expatriate health management.
(1) Different starting assumptions; (2) The need for a continuity of care; and (3) Three critical phases of the expatriate journey: Pre-Departure,
Overseas Assignment and Re-Entry.
Dr. Duncan Westwood is the Clinical Director of Expatriate Care and Development at Toronto-based International Health Management (IHM). IHM is the only interdisciplinary outpatient expatriate health care facility of its kind in North America and serves expatriates from over 25 sending organizations.
Duncan was born and raised in England, met his Canadian wife in Taiwan, and they and their two TCK sons have lived in the USA and now in Canada. Professionally, Professionally, “Dr. Westwood has been involved in expatriate care for over three decades with overseas sojourns in the educational, travel, mission and corporate sectors. His doctoral research was in clinical psychology and cross-cultural expatriate studies. His clinical work seeks to promote expatriate endurance and effectiveness through assessing health risks and developing resiliency. He has a passion for supporting expatriate families/TCKS and serves on the Board of FIGT".
>> Presentation outline (pdf)
>> Presentation slides (pdf)
11.30-12.00 Documentary Unelma Onnesta
This documentary is going to show the life of a young Chinese entrepreneur in
Oulu.
The makers of this documentary are expatriate women living in Oulu. Besides
contributing ideas and writing the script for the film they did the casting and
handled the camera.
Marion Eichhorn
Antje Neumann
Caroline Liebenow
Sandra Grötsche
Sandrine Boumard
equipment: Poem
editing: Vaskifilmi
12.00-13.00 Lunch
Cultural awareness
13.00-13.45 “The role of 3rd Place in intercultural encounters”
Nicholas Longhurst
 The term “third place” or “third culture” is increasingly coming to the fore
in the academic world, as it provides a valuable way of examining what happens
when people who do not share the same historical and social traditions, beliefs
or attitudes attempt to communicate across multiple boundaries. Not least, the
term “third culture” describes the intercultural personality who operates in an
increasingly complex world, where identities are fluid and hybrid. Instead of
relying on broad national and ethnic generalizations as guides to understanding
and communicating with the foreign other, the intercultural personality attempts
to locate and explore the fault-lines that emerge in intercultural encounters.
This requires more than good-will and knowledge about other (national) cultures;
it requires a mental stance that is often neglected in the rush for
"internationalization" at the local and national levels. It requires the
creation of a critical “third place”. What can this concept offer to those
living in the new times?
>> abstract (pdf)
13.45-14.30 The impact of mobility on global families
Aaltje Bos
 Ata is project manager for the city of Oulu. She initiated the Oulu
International Womensclub, the Expatriate Family Adjustment project, 65 Degrees
North and Oulu Expat City. Ata has moved extensively as an accompanying partner.
She acquired new career skills and interest during assignments in Groningen,
Heidelberg, Calgary and Oulu while raising three, third culture kids. Ata speaks
about issues related to a global lifestyle.
>> Presentation slides (pdf)
14.30 Closing ceremony
Coffee/Tea
14.30 Ceol agus craic
Traditional Irish music session by local Oulu
musicians of the Irish Music Society of Oulu: Anthony Johnson, Mervi Heinonen
and Brent Cassidy. |
