Material for New Degree Students: Business Informatics, MEng & MBA

Welcome to study Master’s Programme in Business Informatics

Dear Master’s student in Business Informatics,

Welcome to study – you have made a good professional choice! Congratulations for passing the Entrance examination! Please read this letter carefully. It will inform you how you will study in your 1st semester at the Master´s Programme in Business Informatics at Metropolia University of Applies Sciences, and about your summer assignments and recommended readings.

Online & face-to-face groups and the Opening Day

BI Master's students study in 2 concurrent groups, one online and one face-to-face. You will find the Schedules for both groups below. You will be registered to either one or another group for your 1st year. The Schedule is organized in such a way that a face-to-face group will always be first, followed by the online implementation. Please plan your autumn time carefully!

If you want to change the mode of your studies, you can do it before the next semester (for the whole semester). When studying, in those rare cases when you are not able to join some particular class, you can join the other group (exceptionally, as a guest), rather than skip a class. But this should not interfere with the studies of other students in any way, or instructors, or staff, so that your personal schedule will never affect or cause any inconvenience to others. In simple words, act responsibly, plan in advance, be independent, care for others. You will learn more about “The BI Code of Conduct” at the Opening day.

You will start your Master’s studies on 25th August (f2f group) and 1st September (online group), Fridays, 9 am in Myyrmäki campus, Vantaa. This is your Opening day for the Programme. After that, your studies will always happen on every second Friday, 9-16 pm (8 times in autumn 2023). In spring 2024, you will also have a few additional evenings (2-3 Wednesday evenings for thesis seminars).

We welcome you to activate your Metropolia's student account in August 2023 either via your Finnish banking codes, or via contacting Metropolia´s Admissions (in case you are an international student). You can find instructions on activating your Metropolia's account here.

Your summer assignments and recommended readings

Notice that, even before starting the school, we warmly encourage our students to begin their Master’s studies immediately after their acceptance. Feedback from our previous students clearly advises to start your studies right away, so that to make your academic journey smooth and rewarding. Our graduates also confirm that it is necessary to use the summer months for getting into the right mindset.

What are our objectives for your summer learning? There are three of them:

1. We need you to be good at absorbing knowledge effectively from articles and books. This is why you are advised on how to read extensively and pick up key messages (read clever). Therefore, as your summer task, you will have a few articles and one book to read and absorb. Notice that asking questions (why?) is often more important than getting quick-fix answers to questions. Use your summer time to absorb the readings in own pace.
2. Secondly, some of our students ask if there is any online course in the summer time to take up as a fast lane to your studies. This year we can recommend short & easy online courses (2 credits each) that can be included as part of your studies, see below.
3. Thirdly, we need your time to think about a good topic for your Master’s Thesis. This is why we ask you to think about possible options and discuss with your colleagues and manager(s).

The details of these three tasks are provided below. Use the summer time to absorb the articles and book in own pace, take online courses if interested, and - importantly - discuss your possible Master’s thesis topic. We are sure that accomplishing these tasks will help you to advance in your autumn Master’s studies!

We look forward to an intellectually inspiring year with you! Our address is Leiritie 1, Vantaa, Myyrmäki campus (12 min. from Myyrmäki railway station).

A warm welcome to study in the Master’s Programme in Business Informatics! You will get another letter from us before the Opening day in mid August. We look forward to meeting you at the Opening day!

Kind regards,

Nea Kivekäs, Study Coordinator
mbsmasters [at] metropolia.fi

Zinaida Grabovskaia, PhL, Senior Lecturer
Head of BI Master’s Programme
+358 40 198 4008 (sms)
zinaida.grabovskaia [at] metropolia.fi

Please note that owing to summer holidays there may be delays in answering your emails between 23rd June and 8th August.

Summer Task 1

Summer reading
Course: “Business Modeling and Competitive Environment in the Digital Era”, 5 cr & also for other BI courses

Read and absorb the book for your course in autumn 2023

Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur, Y. (2010, or any later editions). Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Wiley.
See also https://www.strategyzer.com/books & videos by Osterwalder in YouTube.

“Business Model Generation” by Alexander Osterwalder is one of the most important business books published in the 3rd millennia. Osterwalder together with Yves Pigneur & Tim Clark created the concept of the Business Model Canvas (BMC), which has taken the world of strategic management and business modelling by the storm during the last ten years. (Borrow from a library or buy own copy).

This book will be your textbook for the course "Business Modelling & Competitive Environment in the Digital Era". You also will find the BMG useful in your other courses. The book will be available as an e-book from Metropolia library, once you enroll and get your access codes to Metropolia’s learning platform OMA. (Note, you will be able to activate your personal student account since mid August via either your Finnish banking codes, or by obtaining a password from Metropolia´s Admissions office).

Read and absorb these articles; prepare for extensive reading in your BI Master’s studies

TIPS for extensive reading: How to read fast

Klein, P. (2010). How to Read an Academic Article: Blog.

Summer Task 2

Summer reading
Course: "Applied Strategic Management and Analysis” (5 ECTS, mandatory course in Spring 2024)

Read and absorb the book; prepare for the Business game.

Rice, Anthony (2011 or any later editions). Accounts Demystified: The Astonishingly Simple Guide to Accounting. Pearson Education

Specifications for Pre-assignment:

1. read extensively and absorb the book, take notes when reading (of terms and important topics) related to financial performance of a company.
2. notice, you will apply the knowledge gained from the book for competing in a Business game conducted in teams.

Where to get the book from

• Metropolia Library: in Myyrmäki library after getting your Metropolia account and password (10 copies). You are welcome to get your library card and book it from any of Metropolia’s campuses, starting from August 15th! Check Library info and locations
• Additionally, the book is also available in Haaga-Helia AMK’s library (5 copies) and in Laurea AMK (2 copies). Metropolia, Haaga-Helia and Laurea have a joint library system, so you can borrow books from all these libraries with the same library card.
• Finally, we warmly recommend to buy your own copy. The book is available from Akateeminen Kirjakauppa -webstore and also from Amazon.com

Understanding of financial performance of a company is a requirement for your participation in the Business game!

Summer Task 3

Consider taking an online course “Elements of AI” (2 cr, virtual, non-stop)

Course named “Artificial Intelligence in Finance” is one of elective (optional) courses that you can select. The course will be implemented in spring 2023. The aim of the course is to understand the philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. Upon completing the course the student will understand various ways how AI is used and its importance and implications for the field of Finance.

Part of this course is the online course “Elements of AI. Part 1: Introduction to AI” offered by University of Helsinki and Reaktor. This online course is free and you can take it any time before the beginning of the “AI in Finance” optional course. Even if you do not plan to take the “AI in Finance” course, it is worth your while to do the online AI course that will benefit your understanding of key BI topics.

Specifications for the course:

1. follow the guidance on the home-page of the course
2. upon completion of the course “Introduction to AI”, obtain a course certificate with 2 cr and inform the Program about your completion.
3. Additionally, if you want to continue after completing the “Introduction to AI” course and have time in the summer for more online courses, we warmly welcome you to explore further and check also these:
   • “Ethics of AI”
   • “Building AI” (Part 2 of Elements of AI)

This knowledge will make a great investment into your BI studies across all the courses!

Summer Task 4

Mandatory task - Master’s Thesis: Search for a topic
Course: ‘Research Methods and Skills’

Think about and discuss at work your possible Master’s thesis topic

This task is done individually. Due date for initial ideas by September 22nd, Friday.

Tips for a Master’s topic search:

1. reflect on an actual business need/challenge(s) that your company is now facing
2. you are recommended to hold preliminary discussions on potential Master’s topic(s) with your team, superiors or management
3. make a list of possible topics that both the company and you yourself would be interested to investigate in your Master’s project
4. please name your file with the list of topics as: Surname- Fist name-BI-Possible Master’s topics.docx. Upload into your course by Friday, 22nd September
5. This list will make the first step in thinking about your Master’s topic. This discussion will continue after the first instructions in class.

These questions might guide you in search for a possible Master’s topic:

• The (business) issue is ………….. (statement about the problem).
• This is important because …. (the impact of this issue / cost of the problem / what happens if not fixed).
• Given this, the objective of this study is… (to develop/improve/propose/change what?).
• The output of the study will be… (how do you see a possible solution; give an example).
• This solution will help (the company/unit/society) because… (link back to number 2, contribution).

To find an engaging topic, it is important to start thinking on it in advance! No delivery needed right after the summer, but an initial idea by 22nd September and a good suggestion for a Master’s topic by 27th October 2023.

For an example of a Master’s topic, you can take a brief look at the thesis example below:

• Thesis by Hans Kanerva (2021): Data Management Plan for the SGTS Nordic & Baltic PC Factory. Theseus.
• Thesis by Elena Kosonen (2020): Dynamic pricing of airline ancillaries: co-creating a machine learning model to price ancillaries in the case company. Theseus.
• Thesis by Debora Guimaraes de Sousa (2022): Using Machine Learning to Predict On-Time Delivery. Theseus.
• Thesis by Teemu Riekkinen (2022): Integration of Planning Processes : Linking Business Planning and Sales Forecasting in a Case Company. Theseus.
• Thesis by Aleksi Pietikäinen (2021): Measuring Agility of Teams in a Contact Center Environment. Theseus.
• Thesis by Linda Hämäläinen (2022): How to Lead a Hybrid Team. Theseus.
• Thesis by Kimmo Kalaja (2022): Sales Management Tool for ABB Oy. Theseus.
• Thesis by Anastasia Voropaeva (2022): Developing a Framework for Enhanced Data Pipeline Quality Management System. Theseus.
• Olli Koutonen (2020): Pros and Cons of Self-direction. Metropolia Masterminds -blog.
• Karen Espiritu (2022): Designing for Sustainability in Berlin. A master´s study trip to “International Week on Sustainability 2022”. Metropolia Masterminds -blog.

This early discussion at work will help you to identify an interesting and relevant Master’s topic. We wish you a nice and rewarding summer learning 2023!