The transfer of American management ideas was a central part of the Cold War struggle over ideologies. A key mediator was the European Recovery Program, which conveyed American influences to European management specialists. However, a direct influence was not always possible, as in Finland, which officially blocked assistance because of foreign policy considerations. Still, it was among the first countries to follow Harvard University’s lead in launching advanced management training. We examine how and why the focal actors adopted the American model of executive education, and how they managed to translate foreign ideas persuasively to the local business elite. The translation of executive education to Finland was a lengthy process that involved modification and readjustment of the original idea according to emerging needs. The Advanced Management Program became the core of the curriculum of Finland’s leading executive education institution and thus has influenced the emergence of new business culture.

美国管理思想的转移是冷战意识形态斗争的核心部分。一个关键的调解人是欧洲复苏计划，它将美国的影响传达给了欧洲的管理专家。然而，直接影响并不总是可能的，例如在芬兰，出于外交政策考虑，芬兰正式阻止了援助。尽管如此，它还是最早效仿哈佛大学开展高级管理培训的国家之一。我们研究了焦点参与者如何以及为何采用美国高管教育模式，以及他们如何成功地将外国思想有说服力地转化为当地商业精英。将高管教育转化为芬兰是一个漫长的过程，涉及根据新出现的需求修改和重新调整最初的想法。