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Otakaari 1 grandhall. Photo: Esa Kapila
 

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Environmentally and economically sustainable business via commercial and contract management as a leadership strategy instrument
(Aalto University, 2024) Hirvonen-Ere, Suvi; Kauppi, Katri, Assoc. Prof., Aalto University, Department of Information and Service Management, Finland; Tieto ja palvelujohtamisen laitos; Department of Information and Service Management; Kauppakorkeakoulu; School of Business; Kuula, Markku, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Information and Service Management, Finland
While the imperative to advance sustainability and fight the grand challenges of our time is widely acknowledged, effective response has been lagging. In parallel with companies thriving to meet their environmental sustainability targets, their leadership has to achieve economical business goals. As companies globally lose a sum equivalent to 9.2 % of their annual revenues due to poor contract management (International Association for Contract and Commercial Management, 2012; World Commerce and Contracting, 2020), a systemic framework and coherent corporate governance are required. As the company is as sustainable as its supply chain, the impact of greening supply chains can be immense. While battling value leakage, contract value erosion and cost of poor quality, and improving contractual quality, cost efficiency and risk management throughout the contract lifecycle, could commercial and contract management be used in an expanded and enhanced manner, outside of and in addition to its core functions, to help organizations achieve also their sustainability goals? This question illustrates the overarching theme of this thesis. First, Article I explores how businesses could promote (transport) sustainability and incentivize the green economy via contract management. Second, Article II explores how companies could move toward environmentally sustainable supply chains and how contract management can help them along in their transformation. Third, Article III examines how contract management could advance environmentally sustainable development. Here, the term 'sustainable business' is twofold: first, the term refers to environmental sustainability, and second, to producing economically sustainable, profitable business growth. Commercial and contract management is examined as the systemic and efficient business framework and coherent private governance to achieve both environmentally and economically sustainable business. The approach is multidisciplinary. Article I utilizes the goal-oriented teleological method under the socio-economic and socio-legal umbrella. Article II uses empirical qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews and a multiple case study. Article III draws from literature from sustainability practices. The findings indicate that while there is room for expanded utilization for commercial and contract management to accelerate sustainability in businesses, it already shows potential as a future success factor. The articles present several managerial implications for business practice. The gains are achievable, if companies started using contract management as proposed in this dissertation.
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Navigating Cloud-Based Integrations: Challenges and Decision Factors in Cloud-Based Integration Platform Selection
(IEEE, 2024-08) Hyrynsalmi, Sonja M.; Koskinen, Kari; Rossi, Matti; Smolander, Kari; Department of Information and Service Management; LUT University
Companies are trying to keep up with the growing number and variation of digital systems. As the number of systems grows, so does the number of integrations, the connections and data flows between systems. This makes integration management more difficult. To improve integration management, companies are using cloud-based integration platforms, but with varying success. To understand the challenges and decision-making processes of integration platform projects, we interviewed 20 software vendors and 20 customers who have recently completed an integration platform project. In our grounded theory analysis, we discovered that software vendors and their customers had repeatedly faced similar cloud-based platform challenges in their integration platform projects. These included requirements, pricing, features, and data management challenges. In addition, we discovered that there is no common understanding of the meaning and features of a cloud-based integration platform, which can also mislead companies during their decision-making. We also form a categorization for the cloud-based integration platforms and discover their advantages and disadvantages. Our results highlight the crucial need for businesses to understand and carefully examine their cloud-based integration solutions. The summary of the results serves as the foundation for our cloud-based integration platform decision model, which helps navigate through common challenges, avoid extra costs and delays, and ensure projects align with their overall needs and strategies.
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Hydrothermal treatment of laser micro-textured Ti6Al4V systems for osseointegration of orthopaedic implants
(Elsevier Ltd, 2024-12) Melo-Fonseca, Francisca; Gasik, Michael; Freitas, Paulo P.; Carvalho, Duarte Nuno; Pinto, Inês Mendes; Silva, Filipe S.; Miranda, Georgina; Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering; Materials Processing and Powder Metallurgy; University of Minho; International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory; University of Porto; University of Aveiro
New orthopaedic implant designs, coupled with tailored surface enhancements, strive to accelerate initial bone formation by enhancing the interface with the adjacent bone tissue. In this study, we report the conceptualization and in vitro testing of Titanium 6-Aluminium 4-Vanadium (Ti6Al4V) systems, focusing on the formation of a pyramid-inspired architectural structure integrating the precision of laser surface texturing with hydrothermal treatment and biofunctionalization with human fibronectin. This configuration features micro-scaled pillars with uniform width and height, accompanied by grooves of diverse dimensions, providing spatial confinement for human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Textured Ti6Al4V systems were profiled in terms of physicochemical characteristics (surface roughness, chemical composition, crystalline structure, and wettability) and in vitro mineralization capacity in comparison with conventional sand-blasted, large-grit, acid-etched (SLA). Notably, textured Ti6Al4V systems exhibited robust MSC adhesion, and their mineralization capacity was on par with, or even exceeded, that of the SLA Ti6Al4V surfaces. Together, the findings presented in this work indicate that engineering pillar micro-structures with controllable dimensional features coupled with hydrothermal treatment and fibronectin coating is a promising strategy to modulate MSC activation for potential enhancement of osseointegration.
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Correction to : Assignment of a Synthetic Population for Activity-Based Modeling Employing Publicly Available Data (ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, (2022), 11, 2, (148), 10.3390/ijgi11020148)
(MDPI AG, 2024-08) Agriesti, Serio; Roncoli, Claudio; Nahmias-Biran, Bat Hen; Department of Built Environment; Planning and Transportation; Ariel University
In the original publication [1], there was a mistake in Figure 12b as published. The results reported in Figure 12b mistakenly compare the total origins (residences) from each district in the synthetic population with the total destinations (workplaces) from the baseline dataset. This is due to a transposed table in the QGIS software tool (version 3.34.3) used to produce the picture. The picture should have been updated, but due to human error, this correction was lost in the proof-reading phase. The old and incorrect picture reports underperformance of the proposed models, as it compares two different quantities (origins and destinations) between datasets. When the destinations are compared between the synthetic population and the baseline dataset, as in the corrected picture below (Figure 12b), it can be seen that the performance of the algorithm is actually better than reported. The authors state that the scientific conclusions are unaffected. This correction was approved by the Academic Editor. The original publication has also been updated.
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Physicians' Experiences of EHR Technical Quality : Results from Four Large Cross-Sectional Surveys in 2010-2021
(2024-08-22) Lääveri, Tinja; Viitanen, Johanna; Reponen, Jarmo; Renko, Jari; Department of Computer Science; Professorship Viitanen Johanna; Computer Science Professors; Computer Science - Digital Ethics, Society and Policy (Digital-ESP); Computer Science - Software and Service Engineering (SSE); Computer Science - Human-Computer Interaction and Design (HCID); University of Oulu; Oy Apotti Ab
Unexpected downtime and long response times of electronic health record (EHR) systems not only impact user satisfaction and clinicians' work efficiency but also bring about potential harm for patients. Despite improvements in the performance of EHR systems' architecture, hardware, and networks, technical challenges continue to cause problems. We explored the end-user experiences of EHR technical functionality and quality from four large national cross-sectional surveys conducted among Finnish physicians in 2010-21. The results were analyzed by healthcare sector/specialty groups. In most groups, the experiences of stability and reaction speed became worse in 2010-17, which is readily explained by the implementation of the national patient data repository services, but improvements were seen in 2021, suggesting that EHR vendors have solved at least some of the slowness problems. The proportion of physicians reporting having experienced faulty system function with potential or actualized harm for the patient had decreased in operative and medical specialties and in the private sector but remained stable in other groups. Our findings underline the importance of continuing to develop technical qualities - including the implementations of national integrations.