Stora Enso establishes Pathfinders Shadow Management Team to challenge Chief Executive Officer and Group Executive Team in rethinking Group operations
Stora Enso has selected 12 talents from within the Group as Pathfinders to challenge and support the CEO and Group Executive Team in developing Stora Enso into an innovative renewable materials Group. The Pathfinders will operate as a Group Shadow Management Team focusing on two selected challenges, namely Innovation and Global Responsibility.
“The 12 Pathfinders were selected from over 150 applicants through a process open to all Stora Enso employees. We are convinced that through this selection process, including interviews and assessment centres, we have appointed a group of talented individuals who will form a very exciting and diverse team with every opportunity for thorough rethinking,” says Lars Häggström, Head of Group Human Resources.
In creating the Pathfinder programme, Stora Enso has decided to partner with one of the world’s most renowned business schools, IMD of Lausanne in Switzerland. IMD is currently ranked as the best executive education provider in Europe and the third best in the world. The Pathfinders will be guided by Professor Thomas Malnight of IMD.
The following persons have been appointed as Pathfinders:
James Barr, 39, General Manager, Stora Enso UK
Malin Bendz, 35, Director, Packaging Business Development, Sweden
Elina Gerdt, 31, Tax Manager, Finland
Risto Kallio, 48, Technical Customer Service Manager, Imatra Mills, Finland
Piotr Kuzebski, 41, Regional Sales Director, Packaging, Poland
Fredrik Lundeborg, 33, Vice President, M&A and Corporate Finance, Sweden
Duncan Mayes, 41, Director, R&D & Innovation, Wood Products, Finland
Tuomas Mustonen, 31, Director, Customer Service Centre, Publication Paper, Germany
Juliano Pereira, 32, HR Director Latin America, Brazil
Kaisa Tarna-Mani, 39, Vice President, Control & Finance, Biorefinery, Finland
Louie Wang, 44, Managing Director, China Sales, China
Patricia Wikström, 32, Director, Digital Channels and Development, Finland
“Stora Enso is facing big challenges as the world and consumption trends are changing. Our objective is to focus on some of these challenges and find ways to turn them into exciting business opportunities. I think we have been offered a unique opportunity to learn and deepen our understanding of the challenges around us,” says Fredrik Lundeborg, one of the Pathfinders.
The Pathfinders are expected to make exciting, innovative and thought-provoking recommendations to the Group Executive Team, recommendations that when put into practice will help make Stora Enso the leading rethinker in the industry, or wherever it chooses to compete.
“We have promised at Stora Enso to rethink, challenge and renew everything we do. We see a momentum in the Group accelerating change, which is never over. And this is where I believe the Pathfinders – a very diverse group of colleagues from all regions with different amounts and types of professional experience – can make a real difference. I have asked them to be direct, constructive and brave, and to challenge everybody, including myself, the Group Executive Team and each other. Questioning old ways of doing things and finding new and different solutions to delight our customers, shareholders and employees – that is the journey the Pathfinders and the Group are on,” says Stora Enso CEO Jouko Karvinen.