Aalto EE’s Geoeconomics for Executives and Strategic Foresight in Business Management programs delivered a wealth of benefits for Cimcorp, whose Head of Corporate Risk Management, Mika Martikainen, attended both programs.

“Geoeconomics for Executives provided a strong basis for identifying everything from weak signals to trends related to geoeconomics, geopolitics, and macroeconomics. In short, it gave us exactly the tools we needed to interpret this very uncertain world we live in and build future scenarios,” Martikainen says.

“Strategic Foresight in Business Management helped us take these skills a step further: identify what actions we should take in different eventualities and pinpoint our ‘no regret moves’ – things we must do no matter what the future brings – and incorporate them into our strategy process. Together, these two programs formed a very strong package.”

Aalto EE’s training directly met a real and timely need

Martikainen joined Cimcorp a few years after Murata Machinery acquired the company in 2014. While Cimcorp was already operating internationally, Murata’s ownership accelerated its growth.

Investing in our employees is a mindset we follow at Cimcorp: supporting lifewide learning for everyone, with fair opportunities to develop at any age or career stage."

“I came to Cimcorp with one primary objective: fostering this growth,” says Martikainen, whose decades-long career has taken him around the globe in sectors ranging from the chemical industry to mining.

“To support growth, it was the right moment to establish the company’s first formal, group-level risk management. Cimcorp has a rich 50-year legacy as an automation integrator, but the wider you reach, the broader your risk horizon becomes.”

Over the past two years, Cimcorp has worked to anchor risk management more strongly to strategy. Martikainen started exploring training opportunities both in Finland and abroad to support this development.

“I wanted a course that would enhance our preparedness to mitigate risks and seize opportunities in a business environment that has changed quite dramatically during the past few years. Globally, very few programs stood out – and almost none offered the depth that Aalto EE had developed. Geoeconomics for Executives seemed to cover everything I was looking for.”

This Geoeconomics for Executives program really made plain why companies can’t afford to underestimate the fusion of politics and economics. Today, every company is a player in the geoeconomic game."

“From earlier experience, I knew Aalto EE delivers first-rate training – and it was easy for my supervisors to approve the course as an investment, because it directly met a real and timely need. Investing in our employees is a mindset we follow at Cimcorp: supporting lifewide learning for everyone, with fair opportunities to develop at any age or career stage.”

Clear business benefits

Martikainen describes Geoeconomics for Executives as a strong experience.

“The instructors were excellent, and the entire content was highly beneficial. The real-life case studies were particularly eye-opening, showing how geoeconomic risks are reshaping corporate strategies and visibly impacting bottom lines.”

“This program really made plain why companies can’t afford to underestimate the fusion of politics and economics. Today, every company is a player in the geoeconomic game.”

Martikainen emphasizes that the program brought many clear business benefits. A few weeks after finishing Geoeconomics for Executives, Martikainen and Eeri Elohaka, Cimcorp’s Director of Strategy and Operational Excellence, facilitated a scenario exercise for top management.

“We incorporated the key ideas obtained from the program and created scenarios outlining plausible geoeconomic changes in the US and what they could mean for Cimcorp,” Martikainen explains.

“This was in 2024, during the height of the U.S. presidential race. After the election results, we already had a game plan for what Cimcorp needs to do to thrive in this new geoeconomic environment.”

Martikainen notes that for Cimcorp, Strategic Foresight in Business Management proved to be the perfect complement to the Geoeconomics program."

Martikainen highlights that the program also offered great frameworks and practical insights for bringing geopolitical, macroeconomic, and geoeconomic perspectives into risk management.

“Our reports now track external threats and opportunities, reviewing the business environment and geoeconomic trends. Our top management actively uses these insights in decision-making and strategic planning.”

“The final assignment was useful as well. It was built on discussions already underway at Cimcorp about integrating geopolitics into our strategy. It gave us a clear, shared framework, scenarios, early warning indicators, and trigger points, which we now use in management reviews,” Martikainen says.

Incorporating no-regret moves into strategy

Not long after attending Geoeconomics for Executives, Martikainen decided to gain further insights through the Strategic Foresight in Business Management program at Aalto EE.

It gave us all the tools we needed to identify our strengths and weaknesses in different future scenarios and plan actions accordingly.”

“I have to thank Tamro’s CEO Kai Kaasalainen for that,” Martikainen says with a laugh.

“We’ve exchanged thoughts on LinkedIn, as we are both AI enthusiasts. In some discussions, he mentioned another passion we share: strategy and strategic foresight. He spoke very highly of the Strategic Foresight in Business Management program and mentioned that his company, Tamro, regularly invests in sending employees to participate in it. My supervisor approved my participation, recognizing how valuable strategic foresight would be in our strategy work.”

Martikainen notes that for Cimcorp, Strategic Foresight in Business Management proved to be the perfect complement to the Geoeconomics for Executives program.

“It gave us all the tools we needed to identify our strengths and weaknesses in different future scenarios and plan actions accordingly. The notion of  ‘no regret moves’ was particularly valuable. The steps we should take in every future scenario are now woven into our strategy.”

“The instructors were, once again, outstanding – showing how effective scenario work merges creativity and analytics – and how a robust strategy holds in different scenarios, shaping the future.”

At Cimcorp, the ideas Martikainen obtained from Aalto EE’s Strategic Foresight in Business Management program have had a profound impact.

“If you are only planning for one possible future, it will influence all your actions – and if things go off script, the impact can be costly.”

“Strategic Foresight in Business Management is much more than a set of great tools. It’s a bold, creative way to view the future, or more likely alternative futures. It opened our minds to a range of potential tomorrows, revealing opportunities we might have missed. It challenged our thinking and brought new aspects to our leadership culture.”

Putting risk management front and center

Every executive team should have at least one member with the skills and insights these programs provide."

Martikainen says he is pleased to recommend both the Geoeconomics for Executives and Strategic Foresight in Business Management programs.

“Every executive team should have at least one member with the skills and insights these programs provide,” he emphasizes.

Beyond his work at Cimcorp, Martikainen is vice chairman of Finland’s Risk Management Association. In that role, he has seen firsthand how many companies keep risk management on the sidelines, separate from daily operations.

“For risk management professionals, these programs give the expertise and perspective needed to make a meaningful impact on decision-making – putting risk management front and center to guide strategy,” Martikainen concludes.

Geoeconomics for Executives Strategic Foresight in Business Management