Building a bridge between academic rigour and corporate relevance

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International benchmarks and accreditation play an important role in helping students assess and compare the quality of education offered at different institutions. They also allow employers to make informed hiring decisions about candidates by considering the reputation and quality of education provided by the institutions they attended.

LUT Business School at Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT University) in Finland acknowledges that its global reputation has a huge impact on the career trajectories of its students and focuses on incorporating industry skills and experiences into educational programmes.

“We are ranked among the top 150 business schools in the world, according to Times Higher Education’s 2023 World University Rankings. This is a great signifier of our quality,” says Sami Saarenketo, dean of LUT Business School. “When combined with our prestigious accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development [EFMD] and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business [AACSB], this demonstrates that the education we provide meets internationally recognised standards.”

These affirmations of the quality of education and research at LUT Business School open up diverse opportunities across various industries and international job markets for graduates. This is reflected in its high employment rate, with 97 per cent of LUT Business School graduates finding employment that corresponds to their areas of study within a year of graduation.

“It’s important for us to make sure that all the knowledge and skills we impart to our students correspond to the needs of an employer – now and in the future,” says Saarenketo. “We have several methods for achieving this, such as the inclusion of corporate boards in our programmes to discuss industry needs and ensure that our content and curriculum meet them.”

In addition, LUT Business School participates in many international conferences and workshops associated with accreditations such as the AACSB and EFMD. This helps the institution stay aware of the latest developments in the field and benchmark its teaching methods and academic content against the global business school landscape.

“Quality is very important to us. We employ various strategies to ensure we maintain high quality in all aspects of the learning experiences we offer,” says Saarenketo. “The accreditations are a big part of this but feedback is important too. This encompasses feedback from students on individual courses, the opinions of our graduates and employer observations. By canvassing the opinions of various stakeholders, we place a lot of emphasis on continuous improvement.”

Application for master’s programmes at LUT Business School for the 2025 academic year is open until 17 January 2024. The business school offers specialised programmes and initiatives aimed at enhancing the professional prospects and skill sets of students. “As a research-based business school, we place a high importance on academic rigour. We closely align our research with the needs of the professional world,” says Saarenketo. “Beyond that, we have entrepreneurs, managers and guest lecturers from industry joining our classes. We want our students to solve real-world problems. It’s all about balancing academic rigour and corporate relevance.”

Keeping close ties with the professional world is important to LUT Business School, which is demonstrated by the high number of master’s theses that are done as assignments for companies. “Through a combination of guest lecturers, real-life cases and company assignments, we ensure that our curriculum is tailored to meet evolving industry demands and improve students’ skill sets as we build a bridge to the corporate world.”

Find out more about LUT University.