Good business is good business

When business goes well, everyone benefits. This is how it should be, but in today’s market economy, fairness seems to be the last issue on anybody’s mind.

However, South African Ayanda Nota sees studying marketing and administration as a gateway to a better world. This young woman who took part in the Business, Environment and Corporate Social Responsibility course believes that the marketplace is not solely driven by brands and trends - business ethics matter too.

- I want to bring humanity back to business. A good consult can teach that good business is beneficial for everyone, says Nota, who dreams of starting her own consulting firm in her native country.

This student from Stellenbosch University was brought up to appreciate the utmost importance of fairness. Her family always emphasised that success - especially in business - has to be shared with those around you.

- Naturally, you have to remember that a business has to make profit in order to have something to share. It is important to understand that even if people themselves are different, their motives can be united.

At the Summer School course this unity of motives was found. Also the lectures, the case studies and the feedback that students shared were of high quality, according to Nota.

- It was great networking. In our course there were people from many different fields, including engineers and representatives of the oil business. Teachers however were most important for they were able to pull all these different strands together.

This was Nota’s first time in Finland, but as someone who had travelled a lot in the European Union she had a good idea of what to expect from the far-off Helsinki.

- You Finnish people certainly seem to be doing things right! And in the future, Helsinki is going to be an even stronger business and engineering centre, if only you manage to take advantage of all your international contacts.

Also the Finnish character appealed to Nota. The first impression she got making new acquaintances was one of sincerity and openness.

- You give space to think. It was great to notice, that instead of constant prattle, you let people think over their answers before answering the question.

Text by Kai Maksimainen
Photo by Annika Rauhala