A long-time Valmet employee Petri Paukkunen started working for the company as a specialist in 1991. Since then, he has worked in the development of process technology related to the production of cardboard and paper, product management, sales and customer relations.
Before moving to Asia, he led the global Paperboard and Paper business unit of 1200 professionals. His years of work also include a couple of years at Wiscons in the United States at the turn of the millennium.
"Working in the USA was pretty similar to working in Finland, except for less free time and shorter holidays. At least it was safe to live in Wisconsin at that time. My neighbor also said that he never locked his car," Petri Paukkunen recalls.
In Thailand, vacations are slightly longer. The amount of free time is significantly increased by various public holidays: there are almost 20 public holidays related to Buddhism and the royal family each year.
Leading different types of people
Regional Director Paukkunen works in Asia, a region home to 2,5 billion people, almost a third of the world's population. The work is very international.
“There are 10 different nationalities on the jury: two Finns, a South Korean and a Chinese, and one Indian, Australian, Indonesian, Japanese, Swedish, Brazilian and Thai,” Paukkunen lists.
Cultural differences are clearly visible. For example, in Japan's hierarchical workplace, people are very careful about who gets to meet with managers at the head office. The work is formal, and older people are respected.
Thai work culture, on the other hand, is more straightforward and free. People dress more casually, and ties, jackets, or suits are generally not worn at work.
Paukkunen's goal is to drive the Valmet corporate culture into work communities. However, it is not easy and requires a lot of shepherding. In Scandinavia, people operate in a strong matrix and you don't always need to be in a managerial position to be able to move things forward. In many Asian cultures, on the other hand, people are very hierarchical and everyone stays firmly in their own lane.
"I don't find cultural differences difficult at all. It just requires different leadership. Overall, we manage people here who come from different backgrounds and represent many different nationalities."
At the viewpoint
What makes Paukkunen's work interesting is that he gets to follow the industry's transformation closely. New areas are growing rapidly.
“Valmet's customers have previously invested in China, but now China's growth is slowing down, especially in the production of fiber raw materials and packaging technology. In contrast, India and especially Indonesia are growing rapidly.”
All kinds of activities related to sustainable development are on the agenda in Asia as well.
“The use of biofuels and the utilization of agricultural side streams in energy production will be significant issues here as well.”
Half of Paukkunen's working time is spent on two types of travel, when he flies to meet his clients or
Valmet's management team meetings. It's more pleasant to spend your free time back home in Bangkok, walking, jogging, going to the gym or playing golf.
Although Petri Paukkunen is having a great time in Thailand, there is one thing he misses about Finland: being able to thin the forests he owns with his adult children more often.
