GOFORE PLC COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT 13 DECEMBER 2018 AT 15:10
Strategy clarified and changes in the Management Team
Gofore Plc’s Board of Directors has clarified the company’s strategy. The company reaffirms its ambition as to what it aims to be going forward, possibly as a larger company:
1. Evolution and renewability, permanently a future company
We strive to continuously develop as a company, a community, and as individuals. We want to enable the continuous reshaping of the company and the services as well as the development of individuals in the best possible way. We want to be known for our current expertise excellence, equally by employees and customers.
2.Impactfulness and responsibility
We want our services and expertise to have a positive impact on our customers and on society – we strive to create value around us, caring for people, communities, and organisations. We believe that the world is changing for the better through technological progress and that we have the possibility to make an impact for it with our customers.
3.International dimension
We want to be a genuinely international and internationally significant company, operating in wider market areas. We want to serve globally operating customers and grow with them. Our way of working is network-based and, in principle, international.
4.Growth and profitability
We pursue continuous organic growth and growth through acquisitions, profitably. We believe that the need for digital transformation expertise services will continue to grow and that we will be able to grow faster than the market. We strive to deliver exceptional customer value through shared successes, thereby deepening customer relationships. We ensure that profitability is maintained at each growth stage, with costs and support structures in proportion to business growth.
As the most important success factor in achieving this four-way vision, the company perceives its own corporate culture as one that encourages self-directedness and inspires shared success. The management model is based upon a flat and open organisational structure, on enthusiasm and communality, on rich dialogue and transparent internal communication, as well as on automated information processing. Such a strong corporate culture enables, besides the employee experience, a higher quality of customer and stakeholder experience.
Other identified success factors include the company’s operational capability, ability to conduct mergers and acquisitions, the way people evolve, the way in which services evolve, the continuous focus on customer value, and a viable way of managing international business.
The company has launched strategic development programs for 2019-2020. The development programs aim to maintain the identified success factors as well as their best possible development as the company grows and the organisational structure becomes more complex.
The company has also specified its customer relations strategy. The aim is to deepen the customer understanding and the customer value in the following three business areas: Society, Industry, Business.
As a result of the clarified strategy, Erkki Salminen, the current Director for Culture and Competences and a member of the Management Team, changes his duties. From 1 January 2019, he will act as the Development Director with responsibility for managing the “Digital Gofore” and “Capability Accelerator” strategic development programs.
The company’s Board of Directors has appointed Director for M&A Mikael Nylund as a deputy CEO.
The company’s Management Team as from 1 January 2019:
· Timur Kärki (Chairman), CEO;
· Petteri Venola, CFO;
· Topi Koskinen, COO;
· Ville Tuominen, Director, International Operations;
· Erkki Salminen, Director, Development (formerly Director for Culture and Competences);
· Kristiina Härkönen, Business Director, Cloud Services;
· Mikael Nylund, Business Director, M&A; deputy CEO);
· Juha Virtanen, Director, Sales;
· Riikka Nurminen, Director, Marketing and Communications (on study leave in 2019, substituted by the CEO).
Erkki Salminen’s previous responsibilities are divided into separate management functions: HR, Competence Development, Recruitment, and Site-specific HR Management. The persons in charge of these functions participate in the Extended Management Team. The persons in charge of Marketing and Communications functions also participate in the work of the Extended Management Team.
Further enquiries:
Timur Kärki, CEO, Gofore Plc
tel. +358 40 828 5886
timur.karki@gofore.com
Certified Adviser: Evli Pankki Plc, tel. +358 40 579 6210
Gofore Plc is a digitalisation specialist operating since 2002. We offer modern services that help operators in the private and public sectors to move with the times. Our mission is to change the world for the better through digitalisation and by renewing the ways of working. Our services cover the entire value chain – from management consultation to service design and implementation as well as cloud services. Gofore currently employs close to 500 people in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Turku, London, Swansea, Munich, Madrid and Tallinn. Gofore was chosen as the best workplace in Finland and the second-best workplace in Europe in the Great Place to Work® 2017 survey. In 2017, our net sales were EUR 34 million. Gofore Plc’s shares are quoted in the First North Finland market administered by Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. More information is available at www.gofore.com.