The thesis cooperation between the University of Oulu and Arina bears fruit

The final seminar of the Arina Cooperative Association master’s thesis group was organised on Tuesday 24 May at the University of Oulu. The event had participants from both the cooperative association and the university.

Arina Cooperative Association and the University of Oulu have a long history of cooperation. Last spring, the organisations started a new project in the form of a master’s thesis group established through multidisciplinary cooperation, where even more master’s thesis students could delve into subjects provided by Arina.

The group was open to students of various disciplines who were at the final stages of their studies and ready to start work on their master’s thesis. This time, economists in particular were interested in participating in the project, and the group was assembled from students of the Oulu Business School.

How did the project proceed?

Arina provided a corporate supervisor to every student, while the university provided a thesis supervisor to support the project. Pauliina Ulkuniemi has served as the person responsible for the project on the University of Oulu side, and she shared some details about the timetable of the project cooperation.

The project’s call for applications was in the spring of 2021, at which time Arina offered various research topics it had collected. The introductory meeting for the thesis group was organised in the autumn, and the agenda for the rest of the year consisted of the students defining their more detailed research plans. The students got their hands dirty in early 2022 as they started to gather research material and the contents of the thesis. Now, in May, it was time to present the results of their projects.

Presentation of final results

Between interesting master’s thesis presentations, the students received feedback on their work from the supervisors from Arina and the university, and from the rest of the audience. There were plenty of nods from the audience during the thorough presentations. The subjects were clearly interesting and relevant. The participants also got to learn more about the cooperative’s business and how subjects like sustainability, circular economy and value creation relate to different stakeholders.

Arina’s participants said they got ideas for their own work on developing the cooperative’s operations. It was also stated that these four master’s thesis students had successfully delved into the secrets of cooperative society operations, a subject that has not been researched much.

The worldviews of the University of Oulu and Arina have expanded mutually thanks to thesis subjects and the work carried out for the theses. The participants’ discussions sparked by the event also led to practical ideas regarding potential new innovations for cooperative societies. Ideas for further research were also proposed based on the theses presented.

Master's student's own experience of the project

One of the project’s thesis students, International Business Management master’s degree student Emmi Maalismaa said after her presentation that the journey was very informative and memorable. The hard work bears fruit now that she has survived the anxiety over the final thesis presentation. Emmi wrote her thesis on sustainability and circular economy from the perspective of Arina’s personnel.

Emmi said that the opportunity of having two supervisors and bouncing ideas with them from their different perspectives was very productive. At the same time, it was initially difficult to find the specific subject where the thesis would fit in the frameworks of both the university and the company.  It was also important to keep in mind that the company’s data was sensitive, and that she should be careful in handling it. Successful cooperation is built on trust.

Emmi recommends her fellow students to write their theses in cooperation with companies. According to Emmi, it was particularly motivating to have a purpose for the thesis, and not just do it because it was required for the degree. At the same time, she was able to make useful contacts in the business world, and she did not need to write the thesis while just sitting at home. Scheduling is also easier to follow when you have the encouragement of others who are eagerly waiting for the results of the work.

We share Emmi’s hope that now that the cooperation model has been proved successful, it will be able to continue and help in maximizing students’ potential!

Key Account Manager Kaisa Still and trainee Emilia Hoikkaniemi participated the event from University Innovation Centre team.

Emilia Hoikkaniemi

Yliopistoharjoittelija // Intern
+358 50 346 9906
emilia.hoikkaniemi@oulu.fi

Innovaatioviestinnän harjoittelija kesällä 2022, blogitekstit, uutiset, sosiaalinen media, tapahtumaviestintä.

Innovation communications intern in Summer 2022, blog posts, news, social media, event communications.