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S Group returned as one of the Premium Partners by making a three-year agreement with the School of Business.

S Group was among the first companies to join the Partnership Programme of the School of Business as early as in 2001. The current agreement on Premium Partnership continues this shared tradition for the following three years. Since the beginning of the cooperation, a lecture hall on the Töölö campus has also been named after S group.

'We want to have a visible role in the everyday practices of the students of the School of Business and at the same time provide information about the versatile and interesting work and career opportunities provided by S Group. For example, S Group has been hiring fresh graduates with university degrees through its S-Trainee programme for decades by now', notes Taavi Heikkilä, CEO of the SOK Corporation.

Several concrete actions related to the cooperation have already been started for this year. Among other things, S Group offered a case, i.e. a challenge related to its business activities for students to work on at the CapStone course realised in a cooperation of four master's degree programmes. Moreover, the S-Trainee programme is being further developed in cooperation with a jury consisting of students from the School of Business.

In previous years, S Group has realised a number of business projects together with students of the School of Business. In the projects, students led by their instructor have immersed themselves in certain development themes topical for S Group.

'The work produced by students has been high-quality and the projects have produced real-life benefits for us. For example, the students have participated in developing the concept of S Group's corporate customerships, surveying possibilities for implementing self-service checkouts as well as developing ideas for a multi-channel Prisma', explains Taavi Heikkilä.

'S Group is one of the most long-term partners of the School of Business. We are very happy that our cooperation continues', says Dean of the School of Business Ingmar Björkman. 

Through the partnership programme, companies get the chance to engage in long-term collaboration with the School of Business in many different areas. Possible forms of collaboration include developing the company employer brand, contributing to teaching, carrying out research cooperation, for instance in connection with student projects, and acting as a visiting lecturer. A total of 13 companies are currently involved in the programme.

Further information:
Anne Salonvaara
Corporate Relations Manager
School of Business
anne.salonvaara@aalto.fi
+358 50 590 5620

Karlos Kotkas
Development Director
SOK Strategy Services
karlos.kotkas@sok.fi
+358 10 768 0262.