Aaltodoc

Aaltodoc is the institutional repository of Aalto University.

Aaltodoc has a new updated appearance. Instructions for searching and more information is available here.

Otakaari 1 grandhall. Photo: Esa Kapila
 

Communities in DSpace

Select a community to browse its collections.

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13

Recent Submissions

Theorizing in strategy research with analytically structured history approach using a relational database method - Essays on Telecom Finland’s strategizing between 1981–1998
(2025) Aalto, Eero
School of Science | Doctoral thesis (article-based) | Defence date: 2025-11-24
This dissertation builds on our analytically structured history approach, which applies a relational database method in organizational and management research. The approach aims to fulfill the demands of conceptual rigor necessary for advancing theory, while also ensuring historical veracity essential for conducting authentic historical analysis. With the dissertation, I extend the methodological foundations of our analytically structured history approach into a theoretical project that examines how our historical approach can be integrated with the theorizing process to advance theoretical understanding. I argue that such integration requires a respect for both the core characteristics of historical analysis—namely, historical evidence, contextual analysis and nonreductionist view—and the essential features of theorizing, including theoretical frameworks, the seek for parsimony and a reductionist orientation. The overarching aim of the dissertation is to contribute to the ongoing discussions on integrating historical methods into organizational and management research. Since the 1990s, there have been increasing calls for a “historical turn” in the field to integrate historical methods more closely into research practice. These calls acknowledge the untapped potential of historical approaches to enrich and extend theoretical understanding. Nevertheless, historical methods have remained largely peripheral in theory development. This is due, in part, to still existing methodical divide between historical methods and rigorous standards for producing generalizable theoretical claims. The three essays in the dissertation demonstrate how historically authentical analysis of extensive digitized archival records can be combined with conceptually grounded and parsimonious theoretical arguments. The research context is the telecommunications industry in Finland between 1981 and 1998— a period during which drastic changes in technological, market, and regulatory environments occurred in the industry. The essays focus on a distinct aspect of strategic decision-making: regulatory strategy (Essay 1), internationalization strategy (Essay 2) and strategic change (Essay 3). While each essay contributes distinctively our understanding of strategy, I synthesize the essays to derive implications detailing how the strengths of our approach can be applied to theorizing process. I contribute by outlining how historical contextualism can be centered around multilevel historical analysis that captures the contextually embedded dynamics from the relationships, interactions and multidirectional links within and across levels. These opportunities for theoretical contributions are exemplified with the essays and examples of resource and capability legacies and dynamics of historical contingencies. The main conclusion of this dissertation is that bridging the methodical divide between historical methods and organizational and management research lies at the intersection of historical contextualism and reductionist position in theorizing. I demonstrate that achieving this integration needs to emphasize the trustworthiness and accuracy of theoretical claims while maintaining the authenticity of historical analysis.
Crisis Performance of ESG Funds
(2025) Rytsä, Urho
School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
This thesis examines how European Environmental Social Governance (ESG) funds perform during crisis periods through their comparison to standard investment fund results. The research investigates two recent economic downturns which include the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict to establish whether ESG integration provides protection to investment portfolios during market volatility. The study examined group of mutual funds which divided into two equal groups based on Morningstar Sustainability Ratings from 2019 to 2023 between ESG and non-ESG funds. The evaluation process employed the Sharpe ratio and Sortino ratio and alpha and beta and maximum drawdown metrics to evaluate risk-adjusted performance. The evaluation of statistical significance included t-tests and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and variance analysis. ESG funds demonstrated superior performance than non-ESG funds throughout the COVID-19 pandemic based on their better Sharpe and Sortino ratios and reduced drawdowns although their performance gap narrowed during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The research demonstrates ESG integration delivers better protection against market declines and risk management advantages during specific crisis events, yet its performance depends on the nature of the crisis. The research adds evidence to European market sustainable investing discussions through its empirical findings.
“Please wait patiently”: When bureaucratic waiting becomes the service
(2025-10-24) Kalashnyk, Yevhenii
School of Business | Master's thesis
Waiting for citizenship is not just a delay but an experience influenced by uncertainty and limited information. This thesis examines how Finnish citizenship applicants navigate bureaucratic waiting through qualitative interviews and observations of online communities. It focuses on how individuals manage uncertainty, search for updates, cope with emotional strain, and maintain agency in a high-stakes service context. The study draws on public administration and service research to show how waiting becomes a lived and strategic part of the citizenship process. Five response strategies are identified: Enduring, Connecting, Investigating, Escalating, and Disengaging. These themes reflect how applicants co-create value (and sometimes co-destruction) through peer support and advocacy while also showing the limits of co-creation under extreme power imbalances. The findings revel tensions between consumer behaviour literature, which often assumes short and voluntary waiting, and real-world bureaucratic delays that put people’s lives on hold. This thesis contributes theoretical insights into value co-creation in public services and has practical implications for making bureaucratic waiting more humane. The thesis argues that treating applicants as partners and providing transparency and support can transform waiting from a period of despondency into a more managed service experience.
Electrochemically-assisted aqueous reduction and its application for surface functionalization
(2025) Herrala, Reima
School of Chemical Engineering | Doctoral thesis (article-based) | Defence date: 2025-11-21
Precious metals like gold and platinum have long been in demand for their aesthetic, technological, and economic value. In modern society, these metals can also be applied to prepare functional materials used in advanced technologies such as fuel cells, chemical conversion, sensors, and more. However, their use is limited by high cost combined with environmentally burdensome primary production, which are both linked to their low concentration in ore. Furthermore, ore grades are declining as rich deposits are used up. Therefore, precious metals within secondary resources and as by-products in the processing of more abundant metals are becoming increasingly important alternative sources, yet their recovery is often impeded by low concentration relative to other elements. The focus of this thesis is in combining the selective recovery of gold and platinum with the preparation of functional surfaces to be used in electrocatalysis. Specifically, the research focuses on the development of a novel electrochemical recovery method named electrochemically-assisted aqueous reduction (EAR), which utilizes short cathodic pulses to generate reductants from concentrated metal ions, such as Cu1+ from Cu2+, to enhance recovery. The studied solutions mimic oxidative chloride leach solutions found in hydrometallurgy, where the concentration of precious metals is in ppm range while base metals can be present in some grams per liter. The results are presented in three parts. First, the EAR method is validated for the selective recovery of Au (5 mg L-1) from cupric chloride (20 g L-1) solutions and Pt (10 – 50 mg L-1) from ferric chloride (1 – 10 g L-1) solutions. These two systems are compared, and the key reactions involved in recovery are studied. In the following section, EAR is combined with bio-based carbon fiber electrodes prepared by electrospinning lignin. This approach is used to form functional surfaces to be used in electrocatalysis of ethanol oxidation and CO2 reduction. Increasing the carbonization temperature (700, 900, 1100 °C) is shown to make gold recovered via EAR more evenly distributed on the fibers and improve electrocatalytic activity. Finally, the impact of both electrochemical parameters and solution composition on the efficiency of EAR is investigated. It is shown that optimal pulse time and potential depend on the solution composition, with more oxidative solutions requiring larger pulse amplitudes and leading to lower current efficiencies. Au recovery is achieved with current efficiencies up to 70% from Cu-Cl solutions and up to 25% from multimetal (Cu-Fe-Al-Ni-Zn-Ag-Pd-Pt) solutions. Selectivity for Au over other precious metals is demonstrated, while the EAR of Pt is strongly inhibited by high chloride concentration and competing reactions. Together, the results demonstrate EAR and carbonized lignin substrates as promising approaches for advancing circular economy practices in the material economy. The future scale up and integration will depend on the prevalence of suitable, chloride-based feeds containing gold or platinum. The studied aqueous reduction phenomena can provide valuable insights in the development of such processes.
Geothermal energy piles design, sizing and modelling
(2025) Fadejev, Jevgeni
School of Engineering | Doctoral thesis (article-based) | Defence date: 2025-11-20
This thesis addresses the challenges associated with the design, sizing, and modelling of geothermal energy piles (GEPs), the lack of validated methods for their use as a renewable heating and cooling solution for nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEBs). GEPs provide both load-bearing and ground heat exchange functions, making them well-suited for use with ground source heat pumps (GSHPs). However, their designs have often relied on assumptions originating from borehole heat exchangers (BHEs), which differ considerably from GEPs in geometry, thermal boundary conditions, and placement, as the layout of GEPs is dictated by the building’s foundation plan. This research aimed to develop and validate a modelling method for assessing the performance of GEPs with thermal storage coupled with a detailed whole building simulation model for a parametric study. The method was developed in IDA ICE and validated using COMSOL Multiphysics and realworld measurement data. The research methodology combined a systematic literature review, model development, validation, and demonstration of the modelling method’s performance using an as-built calibrated model with measured performance data from a commercial NZEB in Finland for energy analysis. A parametric study was conducted to support the development of a tabulated GEPs sizing method for early-stage design, considering factors such as heat pump sizing power, pile spacing and depth, soil type, and the presence of a thermal storage. The findings confirmed that conventional BHE-based modelling approaches are unsuitable for GEP systems due to major differences in thermal boundary conditions, particularly the influence of building floor slabs on ground temperature distribution. The validated GEP modelling method, implemented in IDA ICE and verified with COMSOL simulations, accurately captured these effects and showed strong agreement with measured data from a monitored NZEB in Finland. The model calibration procedure revealed unexpected plant operation due to improper control algorithms, highlighting the importance of monitoring and logging systems in buildings with unconventional plant designs to ensure proper operation and maintain long-term efficiency. According to parametric study results, seasonal thermal storage demonstrated notable improvements in energy efficiency and enabled a reduction in required pile length by over 50% in a specific case. A tabulated GEP sizing guide was developed to support early-stage design, enabling engineers to estimate system configurations effectively without relying on complex simulation tools. The method demonstrated in this thesis can be extended to any climate region and building type.