[gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ

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Browsing [gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ by Department "Department of Management Studies"

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  • 3D printing as an enabler for service business design in the digitizing healthcare
    (2015) Kinnunen, Juho
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    As a fast and ductile process, 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) is increasingly becoming more utilized method in manufacturing and service production. Despite the on-going 3D printing hype, recent breakthroughs set also high future expectations. Continuously digitizing healthcare industry offers an interesting and fertile ground to explore this opportunity further, and provide strategic value for Finnish healthcare service providers. How this emerging technology affects in healthcare service providers' business models has yet remained unexplored, and offers a great research gap for further study. The objective of this study is to understand how 3D printing impacts currently on service business models - specifically in healthcare sector. The objective is also to find out how Finnish healthcare service providers can exploit 3D printing as a part of their strategic business modeling now and in the future. A theoretical framework applies existing theories in 3D printing, business models and strategy. This framework enables empirical research, exploring the impacts of 3D printing in business models. The qualitative research uses both primary and secondary data, including semi-structured interviews, observations during company visits, as well as literature sources news articles, industry reviews and company websites. The results indicate that currently 3D printing impacts on business model components in general level as well as specifically in healthcare industry. To manage 3D printing successfully in the business model, high importance is given especially to additive manufacturing knowledge as well as to multidisciplinary collaboration. Based on findings, a seven-step model is suggested for Finnish healthcare service providers to explore and implement 3D printing as part of their capabilities. The model highlights the need for close collaboration between involved stakeholders in order to implement 3D printing as part of strategic business design efficiently and successfully. Finally, in the analysis, three main areas for additive manufacturing breakthroughs are emphasized and discussed. Namely software, materials, as well as health-tech and devices that not only improve but also transform service providers' processes seem to have currently great potential for future healthcare service business models.
  • Acquisition process: The banker's perspective
    (2013) Daoud, Ben
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Tutkimuksen tavoitteet Tässä tutkimuksessa käsittelen yritysostoja suomalaisten pankkiirien näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on lisätä ymmärrystä niistä asioista, jotka ovat tärkeitä pankille määrittäessä yritysoston rahoittamisen järkevyyttä pankin näkökulmasta. Tutkimuskysymys selvittää niitä kriteereitä, joita pankki pitää tärkeänä yritysostojen menestystä arvioidessaan. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää ja syventää tietämystä pankin prosesseista rahoittaessaan yritysostoja sekä keskittyä yritysostojen arviointiin pankin näkökulmasta. Tutkimusmenetelmät Pankin ydinosaamista ovat erilaiset lainat ja tässä tutkimuksessa on haastateltu pankin asiantuntijoita, jotka ovat erikoistuneet yritysostojen rahoittamiseen. Yritysostot ovat hyvin laaja kokonaisuus ja tästä syystä tutkimuskysymystä on lähestytty kahden erillisen teeman kautta. Ensimmäinen teema on pankin prosessi ja toinen teema on yritysoston sopimukset. Tässä tutkimuksessa on syvennytty pankin prosessiin ja otettu yritysostojen sopimukset tätä teemaa kattavaksi teemaksi johtuen siitä, ettei haastateltavat olleet yritysostojen lakiasioiden asiantuntijoita. Tiedonhankinnan tapana on tässä laadullisessa tutkimuksessa käytetty teemahaastattelua. Keskeiset tutkimustulokset Pankki pitää tärkeänä selkeyttä, aikaisuutta, kattavien laskelmien tuottamista, logiikkaa yritysoston taustalla, kiireettömyyttä, avainhenkilöstön sitouttamista, avainasiakkaiden ja avaintuottajien sopimuksellista kiinnittämistä, riidattomuutta, ylimääräistä riskittömyyttä, hyvää dokumentointia, hyviä takuita, ja veroetujen hyödyntämistä, sekä tulevien mahdollisten ongelmien kartoittamista ja sopimuksilla suojautumista niiltä.
  • Adaptation of corporate brand development models in the SME context
    (2015) Lebedev, Dmitry
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Corporate brand development within the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a phenomenon that has been largely understudied in the academic literature on both entrepreneur-ship and marketing. Modern theoretical brand development models are mainly based on the ex-amples of large corporations and are not entirely suitable for the application by the smaller compa-nies. The current thesis uncovers the apparent theoretical gap that has emerged and answers the question of how exactly can the existing brand development models be adapted in the SME con-text. In order to form a theoretical basis of the thesis, four such models were thoroughly analyzed and compared to one another. Further, the context of SMEs was preliminary examined to highlight the particularities of brand building approaches of SMEs and their larger counterparts. Examination showed considerable differences between brand building tactics, based on the size of the company and its available resources. This allowed projecting the characteristics of an SME on to the main components of the theoretical models, thus forming a proposition for a revised framework. Then, a data collection in a form of an extensive review of multiple case studies has been carried out in order to empirically investigate the issues of corporate brand building in SMEs. 26 academic arti-cles were reviewed uncovering the results of the studies of 1782 SMEs from 11 countries. Results of the analysis allowed forming an updated version of corporate brand development framework for SMEs that was especially created to suit the needs of an SME. Research findings have indicated significant differences between SMEs and large organizations, especially in the ways their brands are developed. Numerous benefits of early brand orientation in SMEs have been indicated. The central role of the entrepreneur in the process of the SME corpo-rate brand building as well as the importance of internal communication has been emphasized. Most importantly, the contemporary theoretical brand development models have been adapted in the SME context by means of a new corporate brand development framework for SMEs.
  • Agency compensation models in search engine advertising - a multiple case study
    (2015) Heinonen, Karoliina
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate what agency compensation models are available for search engine advertising (SEA) in the Finnish market and explain the rationale and selection process for why certain models are being used. This is deemed highly important and current as SEA is now globally estimated to be the most popular form of digital marketing available for firms of all sizes, and these functions are suggested to be often outsourced to advertising agencies due to their high complexity. This study uses and tests agency theory as a theoretical lens to examine how the interests of an advertising client and its agency can be aligned to motivate the agency to work in the client's best interest. Agency theory was deemed a particularly useful framework to examine SEA compensation models as it has been often used for the similar objective of examining what compensation schemes are most suitable for various contexts and helping predict how various models affect managerial behaviour. Methodology: The empirical research was conducted as a multiple case study. The primary, qualitative data for the study was gathered through themed interviews with key model selection influencing respondents from 8 search engine marketing, digital and media agencies operating in the Finnish market. The study is primarily deductive whereby a theoretical model is developed by combining both agency theory and related theoretical extensions. The model is then retrospectively tested in the empirical setting to evaluate its ability to predict and explain compensation model selection decisions for the SEA context. Key Findings: The findings of this study revealed 7 different compensation models being used in the Finnish market with one of them, namely the New Commission, being completely new to extant literature. The findings revealed that no compensation models was considered ideal and that the model selection decision is driven by agencies and clients making tradeoffs between what desirable features they consider most important. The importance of each desirable feature is affected by a large number of moderating and boundary contextual factors that affect desirable feature valuation both in the beginning of the relationship as well as when the relationship progresses. Agency theory was found to be a sound predictor of the nature of compensation models in the beginning of the relationship but its predictive and explanatory capabilities reduced as the relationship progressed. This is due to the theories inability to explain the changes in feature evaluation over time or encompass the meaning of trust in the agency-client relationship.
  • Agendasta ämpäriin- esimiesten näkemyksiä palaverien roolista johdon työkaluna
    (2014) Mäkelä, Tuuli
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää esimiesten näkemyksiä palaverien roolista organisaatioiden arjessa sekä johtamisen välineenä. Tutkielma keskittyy erityisesti esimiesten rooliin sisäisten palaverien vetäjänä ja miten he edistävät omalla toiminnallaan palaverien tehokkuutta. Lisäksi tutkimus pyrkii selvittämään minkälainen rooli fasilitoinnilla on esimiesten palaverikäytännöissä. Näitä tuloksia pyritään heijastamaan organisaatiokulttuurin näkökulmasta kilpailevien arvojen mallia hyödyntäen. Tutkimusaineisto on kerätty haastattelemalla kahdeksaa johtotehtävissä toimivaa henkilöä, jotka työskentelevät Suomen parhaat työpaikat 2014-listaukseen kuuluvissa organisaatioissa. Tutkimus on toteutettu semistrukturoituna teemahaastattteluna AI- lähestymistapaa hyödyntäen. Tutkimuksen teoriaosuudessa esitellään palavereihin liittyvää aiempaa tutkimusta siitä, miten palaverit kytkeytyvät organisaatioiden sisäiseen viestintään, johtamiseen sekä organisaatiokulttuuriin. Lisäksi palavereja tarkastellaan Return on Investment-näkökulmasta, ja kuvataan mitkä tekijät ja miten ne vaikuttavat palaverien kokonaiskustannuksiin. Tutkimuksen keskeisin löydös liittyy siihen, että palaverien rooli organisaatioissa riippuu pitkälti siitä, mielletäänkö palaveriin osallistuminen varsinaiseksi työksi vai tukeeko se palaverin ulkopuolista työtä. Palavereihin ei kiinnitä organisaatioissa erityisesti huomiota esimerkiksi ohjeiden, seurannan tai koulutuksen näkökulmasta, vaan ne muodostuvat pitkälti vetäjiensä näköisiksi. Palaverien tehokkuus lepää siten pitkälti palaverin pitäjän kompetenssin varassa. Tutkimustulosten perusteella esimiehet painottavat perinteiseen palaverijohtamiseen liittyviä tekijöitä, kuten agendan, valmistautumisen, ajankäytön ja fokuksen säilyttämisen merkitystä. Fasilitoinnin rooli palaverityöskentelyssä on melko vähäinen. Palaverien kehittämistarpeet vaihtelivat organisaatiokulttuurin olemuksesta riippuen, mutta yleisesti haastateltavien kehittämistarpeissa painottui palaverityöskentelyn kokonaisvaltaisempi johtaminen sekä luovuuden edistäminen palavereissa.
  • AIDS galas and meat free mondays - a case study on the promotional CSR communication of luxury fashion brands
    (2014) Hindrén, Noora
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    The objective of this study was to find out how luxury fashion brands communicate CSR to the consumers. Because covering all the communication channels was not feasible, the research was narrowed down to CSR advertising in print media and CSR communication in Facebook. These two media were selected because they both target the big audience,and there was only little previous research on CSR communication in those contexts, and even less from the perspective of luxury fashion brands. The type of communication studied can be referred to as promotional CSR communication, which differs from informative CSR communication in terms of communication goals and means of persuasion: promotional CSR communication aims at improved CSR image and increased sales, and it takes advantage of all three means of persuasion, ethos, pathos and logos. Based on the literature review credibility was recognized as the most important aspect in the promotional CSR communication of modern luxury fashion brands. Thus, the empirical analysis focuses on the elements influencing the credibility of communication. Those elements were divided into two groups: 'context-dependent factors', and 'general guidelines and means of influencing'. From the context dependent factors themes communicated were the main object of analysis the key questions being how the themes fit the brand image and the actual CSR performance of the brand. Third party endorsement and factualness were identified as concrete means for enhancing the credibility of communication. The study was conducted as a case study and the research method was qualitative content analysis. Two quite different brands were selected as case companies in order to see whether the CSR strategy and motivations are reflected in the communication. Both of the case companies communicated themes with somewhat vague connection to the brands, however, also examples of good cause-brand fit were found. The case companies did not use factual claims, and concreteness in broader terms was also rare. One of the brands took advantage of third party endorsement, where as the other one did not. The brand with CSR engagement stemming from the founder's values and integrative CSR strategy had more variation in its communication and the messages supported an image that CSR was an integral part of the brand identity. The brand without such background communicated mostly about charity involvement. Both of the case companies appeared to be holding back their promotional CSR communication one way or another, which might be explained by the prioritization of a luxurious image over CSR messages.
  • Äijä äijien joukossa? Narratiivinen tutkimus naisasiantuntijoiden myönteisten identiteettien rakentumisesta miesvaltaisessa työympäristössä
    (2015) Hyytiä, Pauliina
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä naisasiantuntijoiden myönteisten identiteettien rakentumisesta miesvaltaisella alalla sekä näiden identiteettien lähteistä. Keskityn erityisesti siihen, miten naiset puhuvat itsestään ja miten he asemoivat itsensä kertomuksissa. Tutkimukseni nojaa sosiaalisen konstruktivismin tieteenfilosofiaan, jossa tiedon ajatellaan rakentuvan ihmisten välisissä suhteissa ja vuorovaikutuksessa. Tästä näkökulmasta tarkastelen myös käyttämääni teoreettista viitekehystä: identiteettien rakentumista kertomuksissa tapahtuvan asemoinnin kautta. Tutkimustani varten olen haastatellut kahdeksaa naisasiantuntijaa, jotka työskentelevät miesvaltaisen yrityksen liiketoiminnassa. Lähestyin naisasiantuntijoiden identiteetin rakentumisen prosessia narratiivisen analyysin keinoin. Sovelsin sekä aineistoni keräämisessä että sen analysoinnissa narratiivisen tutkimuksen suuntaviivoja identiteetin rakentumista kuvaavien identiteettipositioiden löytämiseen. Aloitin analyysini etsimällä aineistosta kertomuksia, joissa haastattelemani naisasiantuntijat asemoivat itseään kerronnan käytäntöjen avulla. Kokosin niitä yhteen esiintyneiden teemojen kautta, mutta säilytin samalla jokaisen yksittäisen haastatellun kertomukset myös kokonaisuuksina. Lopuksi erittelin vielä positioiden syntymiseen vaikuttaneet identiteettien lähteet. Tunnistin haastatteluista kolme identiteettiasemaa, jotka löytyivät kaikkien haastattelemieni naisten kertomuksista. Näitä identiteettipositioita olivat pätevä ammattilaisuus, äijyys sekä erityinen asema naisena. Tutkimuksessani nousi esille, että naisasiantuntijat asemoivat itsensä tietoisesti ja ensisijaisesti päteviksi ammattilaisiksi. Miesvaltainen työympäristö asetti kuitenkin monenlaisia haasteita, vaikka toisaalta se vaikutti sopivan paremmin useille haastattelemilleni asiantuntijoille. Analyysissä esille nousseet erilaiset identiteettiasemat kuvasivat naisten identiteetin tasapainottelua miesvaltaisen työympäristön luomien ja heidän omien käsitystensä välillä. Positiiviset identiteetit miesvaltaisella alalla rakentuivatkin vahvasti sukupuolittuneiden käsitysten varaan - siis suhteessa ympäröivään maailmaan ja alalla vallitseviin käsityksiin.
  • Alcohol advertising restrictions in Finland: How changes in the operating environment affect business strategy
    (2015) Länsiö, Lotta
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Research Objectives: The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of change in the operating environment on the strategy of firms acting in that environment. To study this phenomenon, this research addresses the effects of the new alcohol advertising restrictions (instated in 2015) on the business strategy of alcoholic beverage producers in Finland. To understand how a regulatory change in the environment impacts Finnish alcoholic beverage producers' strategies, the study aims to find out what the firms' strategy processes are, what the relationship between the operating environment and the firm is and how they impact each other, and how change is dealt with in the current dynamic environment. Methodology: The empirical data for this study was compiled from six semi-structured interviews with top management team members from some of the largest Finnish alcoholic beverage producing firms. The respondents were selected as they have thorough knowledge and insight on the inner-workings of their respective firms' strategy processes and relationships with the operating environment, and are the central decision makers in the industry and thus play a direct role in the future of the business. The interviews were interpreted through thematic analysis using a systematic coding process. Findings: The findings of the study indicate that change in the operating environment has an impact on firm strategy. It is suggested that the greatest impact of environmental change is on the execution of firm strategy, rather than the strategic visioning and position of the firm in the market. Changes in the environment require firms to either adapt their internal resources or obtain new, relevant ones in order to meet the demands of the changed environment, which in turn requires close monitoring of the environment. The findings also suggest that feedback effects exist between firm behavior and the environment. Frequent environmental change results in firms developing resources that help them impact the environment in the longer-term.
  • Aligning IT strategy with business strategy: A case study of global IT consultancy firms
    (2015) Mazumder, Maitreyee
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Traditionally IT played a supportive and administrative role within organizations, however the increasing complexity in business environment and rapid development of IT has empowered IT to play a strategic role that leverages and sustains organisational strategy. Furthermore, alignment or fit between IT strategy and business strategy is very significant and both researchers and practitioners advocate such alignment. The main objective of this thesis is to acquire in-depth insight on how three major IT consultancy firm Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services, and Cognizant Technology Solutions headquartered in three different continents leverage IT strategy to reinforce business strategy for clients. In addition, the study also aims to deduce how the case companies comprehension and approach to strategic themes related to IT strategy diverge and converge from each other. The literature review acquaints the readers with the origin of the term strategy and how the meaning of the term itself has evolved and undergone several changes over time. Furthermore the review also sheds light on how scholars and academics elucidate, describe and portray "strategy". Besides the literature review also expands on various strategic themes that are significant for business like strategic change and its protagonists, connection between strategy and organizational structure, significance of strategic alliances and partnerships ,strategic decision making under uncertainty and significance of performance measurement and goal setting for strategy work. Additionally the review also examines how scholars elucidate and describe information technology and various dimensions, levels and significance of business -IT alignment. The research methodology chosen for this thesis is qualitative multiple case study of case companies. The research utilizes secondary data accumulated from case company's official website. The empirical research section mainly comprises of three parts : description of case companies elucidation of IT strategy to potential clients, thematic content analysis of various strategic IT services offered by case companies to sustain and reinforce business strategies, and cross case analysis of three case companies. The research has revealed that the case companies are quite similar in their perception and description of IT strategy. A closer look at the data yielded by the study indicates that the case companies describe IT strategy as tool, formula or package of services that helps companies in pursuing and attaining superior competitiveness. Furthermore, the research also provides important insights on key themes within strategic IT services offered by case companies to sustain and reinforce business strategies. In essence, the key themes are strategic change, organizational structure re-design, strategic partnership, decision making under uncertainty, performance measurement and goal setting. Besides, the data yielded by this study appears to suggest that the case companies offer strikingly similar services related to IT strategy . Services albeit are titled and marketed differently, but if one scrutinizes the offerings in details, one will easily come to conclusion that the core services are quite similar. In addition, it is worth noting that the case companies comprehension and approach to key themes within strategic IT services is strikingly similar to academic research on similar strategic themes.
  • Aligning sourcing activities with corporate strategy
    (2014) Buczek, Kristopher
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    In this paper I set out to discover how global firms ensure that sourcing activities are aligned with corporate strategy. In order to understand this, I broke the problem down into three specific questions, which were: 1) How does strategy flow through the sourcing departments of large firms? 2) What hurdles do sourcing departments face when trying to implement corporate strategy? 3) What tools are available in improving the alignment between corporate strategies and sourcing activities? Specifically, I wanted to answer these questions by using the example of a real life case company, and was fortunate enough have in-depth access to a large European manufacturing and engineering firm (referred to as Company X) which has implemented global sourcing operations. I answered the first question by developing a model of how strategy flows through the sourcing operations of large firms. In order to do so, I studied both the relevant literature (discussed in detail in Section 2) and the real-life operations of Company X. My model, referred to as the strategy flow model throughout the paper, was by no means perfect or inclusive of every single factor involved in that very complex process, but it certainly helped to set the framework needed to answer the latter questions. Interviews with employees of Company X provided answers to the second question. The major hurdles faced by sourcing departments when trying to implement corporate strategy were identified as (1) the difficulty in balancing the need of global leveraging with the need for local responsiveness, (2) challenges faced by data quality and availability, and (3) communicating corporate strategy and initiatives throughout the organization. Interviews with employees of Company X also helped to answer the third question. The tools used by the firm to align sourcing activities with corporate strategy were directly related to the hurdles identified in the second question. Regarding the global vs. local conundrum, Company X has successfully implemented a matrix-structured category management approach. Regarding the issues related to data quality and availability, Company X has taken actions such as installing well-defined processes and creating specific job roles which focus on sourcing process management. Regarding the issue of communicating corporate strategy throughout organizations, Company X had found great success through the use of a visual tool which depicts the major elements of their strategy (such as vision, targets, industry trends and major initiatives). The vast majority of this research was completely focused on a single firm's sourcing department. This means that while it allowed for great depth in explaining the situation of one firm, there are limitations in being able to generalize the findings to other functions, firms or industries. For that to be done, future quantitative analyses could be completed which would ask similar (but more generalizable) questions across a much wider data set.
  • Antecedents of SME internationalization: multiple case study of Finnish SMEs' expansion into Estonia
    (2014) Öhman, Elena
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    This thesis studies the phenomenon of SME internationalization in the context of the Finnish me-chanical engineering and metals industry. The first objective of the study is to identify and examine the Finnish mechanical engineering and metals industry SMEs' antecedents of internationalization. The second objective is to examine why these SMEs decide to expand their operations into Estonia in particular. The topic of this study is very timely, as the high interest towards Estonia as a target market for Finnish SMEs' international expansion is expected to continue. The theoretical framework of this study is formed by taking a look at the earlier literature focus-ing on antecedents of SME internationalization. Existing models, as well as major internationaliza-tion theories, are discussed in the light of the research questions and objectives of the study. Since there is a relatively limited amount of data on Finnish SMEs' internationalization to Estonia avail-able, a broader range of literature on SME internationalization to the CEEC is examined. The empirical research was conducted as a multiple case study of three Finnish mechanical en-gineering and metals industry SMEs. All of the case companies had expanded into Estonia after the country gained its independence in 1991. The data was collected through personal interviews with the case companies' founders and key executives. Moreover, some additional and corrective ques-tions were placed by e-mail. Secondary sources were used to complement the data. The results of this study indicate that an in-depth understanding of internationalization anteced-ents in the Finnish mechanical engineering and metals industry SMEs requires an analysis at three different levels: environmental level, firm level and managerial level. At all levels of the analysis, internationalization antecedents can be divided into two interlinked groups. The first group consists of internationalization antecedents of primary importance. Among other things, the entrepreneur's prior international experience and commitment to internationalization, the company's networks, as well as several host country and home country related factors fall into this category. The second group consists of internationalization antecedents of secondary importance, and includes factors such as the global mindset of the entrepreneur, the strategic orientation of the company, and costs of the target market. The key findings of this research show that existing customer networks and the increasing de-mand for the industry products, in particular, appear to be the most important factors for Finnish mechanical engineering and metals industry SMEs to expand into Estonia. Lower labour and pro-duction costs, the Estonian taxation system, and financial benefits for investing companies, in turn, seem to help SMEs make the final internationalization decision in favour of Estonia
  • Any volunteers to go? Attractiveness of international assignments in Russia and the Baltic countries among Finnish employees
    (2015) Haapala, Miika
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Objectives: International assignments and expatriates have been among the most popular themes of international HRM-literature for decades. However, the perspective of earlier expatriate literature is slightly narrow because instead of individuals' motives to go, studies are mainly focused on multinational corporations' assignment practices. There are also some studies about Finnish companies and expatriates in the field but even if Russia and the Baltic countries are really important market areas for several Finnish companies, research in these contexts hardly exists. Because many companies have recently faced challenges in attracting the best possible professionals to international assignments, the objective of this study is to figure out from the employee's perspective, how the organizational, individual and location specific factors influence the perceptions of attractiveness of international assignments and willingness to work in Russia, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. In addition, based on the empirical findings of the study, this thesis aims at offering some improvement ideas for the case company concerning how to increase the attractiveness of their international assignments as well as get the best possible assignees to work in their international subsidiaries. Methodology: The earlier research on international assignments has been done mainly with large quantitative surveys but their reliability is sometimes questioned. Because of that, the research method of this study is a qualitative case study, which is executed by interviewing ten potential assignees from the case company during the Spring 2015. In addition to semi-structured interviews, another data sources were the historical data about career plans and earlier international assignments, and company documents. The three sources together form the triangulation of the data collection, which was analyzed with thematic analysis methods. Findings of the study: The empirical findings of this thesis are mainly in line with earlier expatriate literature. The most influential factors to relocate, as expected, were factors related to the job, professional development and future career possibilities, while the family factors were the main reason to stay in Finland. However, the role of organization's assignment practices was relatively small because interviewees just expected them to be proper. Only the repatriation process aroused some concerns. Also the influence of the location specific factors that have been neglected in many studies, was evidently a really important factor in the decision-making process. The more familiar is the host location, the more attractive it is. Based on these findings, finally some improvement ideas for the case company were presented. By developing communication, continuously improving the assignment practices but also taking the uniqueness of every case into account, they can surely increase the perception of attractiveness of international assignments in Russia and the Baltic countries.
  • Asiakaslähtöinen rakentamispalveluprosessin kehittäminen ja digitalisointi
    (2016) Tuomainen, Sanni
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Tutkimus käsittelee rakennuspalveluprosessin kehittämistä erityisesti asiakkaan arvonluonnin näkökulmasta. Rakennuspalveluprosessi eroaa sarjatuotantoteollisuudesta erityisesti sillä, että liiketoiminta on projektiluontoista ja sidosryhmät hankkeessa vaihtuvat projekteittain. Osapuolia on paljon ja palvelu tuotetaan vahvasti yhteistyössä asiakkaan, aliurakoitsijoiden, alihankkijoiden ja muiden tahojen kanssa. Digitaalinen murros on kuitenkin alalla kuin alalla väistämätön ja digitaalisia toimintamalleja kehittäessä tulee erityisesti keskittyä niihin toimintoihin, jotka tuottavat asiakkaalle arvoa. Tutkimusaiheeseen liittyvää teoriaa tutkittiin kirjallisuuslähteistä liittyen digitalisaatioon, arvoketjun ja arvon muodostukseen sekä asiakkaan ja palvelutuottajien toimintaketjuun ja prosesseihin. Arvoketjun analysoinnissa ollaan siirtymässä arvoverkonanalysointiin joka kuvaa paremmin nykyajan verkostoitunutta yritysmaailman ekosysteemiä. Tutkimusaineiston analyysissä käytettiin viitekehyksenä palvelun mallintamiseen käytettyä uudistettua palvelumallityökalua "service blue printiä", jossa toiminnot analysoidaan asiakkaan näkökulmasta ja jaetaan mm. asiakkaalle näkyviin ja yrityksen sisäisiin, asiakkaalle näkymättömissä oleviin tukitoimiin ja kumppanisuoritteisiin. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin kvalitatiivista puolistrukturoitua haastattelututkimusta. Tutkimusta varten haastateltiin valikoitua asiakasryhmää ja yrityksen sisällä asiakasrajapin-nassa toimivia henkilöitä. Lisäksi lähtöaineistona käytettiin yrityksen sisäisiä dokumentteja. Tutkimuksen keskeisiä löydöksiä olivat kauppakeskusasiakkaan arvoketjun muodostaminen, arvoverkkomallin osapuolten, tietovirtojen ja riippuvuuksien määrittely ja asiakkaan päätösprosessin mallintaminen. Konkreettiset kehitysehdotukset yrityksen sisältä hyödynnettiin osana asiakkaan hoitomallia, jonka keskeiset toiminnot olivat asiakkaan sitouttaminen yhtei-siin tavoitteisiin hankkeen alussa, avoin, säännöllinen ja vuorovaikutteinen yhteydenpito hankkeen aikana ja sen jälkeen sekä proaktiivinen ennakoiva viestintä ennalta sovitulla intensiteetillä ja kanavien kautta. Lisäksi löydettiin toimintoja, joiden digitalisoiminen voidaan vaiheittain aloittaa.
  • Asiantuntijatyön käytänteet ja niiden rakentuminen
    (2016) Silvennoinen, Anne
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Tämän tutkielman keskeisenä tavoitteena on ollut kasvattaa ymmärrystä asiantuntijan työn käytänteiden rakentumisesta ja tähän prosessiin vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Toteutin tutkielmani laadullisen tutkimuksen periaatteisiin nojaten ja käytin teemahaastatteluja tiedontuottamisen menetelmänä. Haastattelin 12 henkilöä, jotka toimivat kolmessa eri asiantuntijatehtävässä organisaatiossa. Tutkielmani toteutus oli empiria-lähtöistä, tavoitteena painottaa nimenomaan asiantuntijoiden näkökulmasta nousevia, heille merkittäviä teemoja käytänteiden rakentumiseen liittyen. Tutkielmani noudatti pitkälti myös laajenevan oppimisen periaatteita. Asiantuntijuutta ei ole olemassa ilman käytänteitä. Käytänteet ovat siis asiantuntijuuden ytimessä, asiantuntijuus "kehystää" käytänteitä. Osaaminen puolestaan liittyy sekä asiantuntijuuteen että käytänteisiin ja niiden rakentumiseen. Sekä asiantuntijuus että käytänteet osana käytännöllistä toimintaa ovat kontekstisidonnaisia ja rakentuvat vuorovaikutuksessa osana yhteisöä. Organisaatio-näkökulmasta johtajuus ympäröi ja vaikuttaa niin käytänteisiin, asiantuntijuuteen, näiden rakentumiseen ja osaamisen kasvuun, työyhteisöön sekä muihin yhteisöllisen toiminnan muotoihin organisaatiossa. Organisaatiossa ilmenevät makro- ja mikrotason muutokset saavat aikaan, usein edellyttävätkin, osaamisen ja asiantuntijuuden kasvua sekä vaikuttavat käytänteisiin ja niiden rakentumiseen. Asiantuntijan käytännöllinen toiminta pinnalta katsottuna yhtenäistä, mutta syvältä tarkasteltuna yksilöllistä paljon hallintaa. Osa toiminnasta on helposti tunnistettavissa, osa toiminnasta on automatisoitunutta, jota ei tule havainneeksi, eikä siitä pysty välttämättä edes kertomaan, niin syvälle se on meihin jo kehollistunut. Käytännöllinen toiminta herättää paljon myös tunteita, arjessa pyritään pärjäämään ja itselle asetetut tavoitteet saavuttamaan. Konkari-asiantuntijat toimivat oman osaamisensa ja oikeassa olemisen ymmärryksessä. Hyvä fiilis ja yhteishenki pelastavat monelta. Käytänteet rakentuvat ylhäältä alas johdettujen makrotason muutosprojektien myötä. Haastatteluissa tämä näkökulma tuli selkeästi esille. Asiantuntijat sopeuttavat käytännöllisen toimintansa näiden muutosten mukaisesti. Asiantuntijan ääni ei näissä muutosprojekteissa kuulu. Myös mikrotason muutoksista syntyy impulsseja käytänteiden rakentumiselle. Näiden merkitys on haastattelujen perusteella kuitenkin vähäinen. Tutkielmani peräänkuuluttaa moniäänisyyttä, makro- ja mikrotasojen muutosten ymmärtämistä organisaation toiminnan kehittämisessä, käytännöllisen toiminnan ja asiantuntijuuden roolien ja merkityksen nostamista niille kuuluvaan arvoon johtamiskulttuurissa. Asiantuntijuuden ja osaamisen kasvaminen on nostettava johtamisen agendalle. Tämä mahdollistaa muutoskykyisemmän ja ketterämmän käytännöllisen toiminnan organisaatiossa, jolloin organisaation strategisten tavoitteiden realisoituminen voi tapahtua nykyistä nopeammin ja suoraviivaisemmin.
  • Attracting gen Y business graduates to small businesses
    (2014) Niiranen, Kirsi
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    The main objective of this thesis is to understand better the process of attracting Gen Y business graduates to small businesses. Small firms need to recruit new employees in order to grow, and Gen Y business graduates are very interesting potential employees for them due to their technical skills, internationality and their willingness to succeed. However, small businesses face many challenges in recruiting when compared to larger companies: Limited resources affect also their possibilities in recruiting. Therefore, the secondary object of this thesis is to find practical suggestions and advice for managers who are aiming to attract Gen Y business graduates. Some research around this topic exists but there is room for more qualitative studies that can deepen the understanding around this topic. Qualitative method is thus chosen. Six recent business graduates are interviewed on this topic. Their overall perceptions on employers are discussed and their personal decision-making in employment described. Common views and perceptions are summarized and compared with the existing research. From the point of view of a small business the following themes should be analyzed and discussed when aiming to recruit Gen Y business graduates: 1) Possibilities for learning and advancement, 2) Importance of the personal performance on the whole business, 3) Consideration of personal well-being of employees and communicating it, 4) Extended personal networks of the managers and current employees as a source of applicants, and 5) Targeting of a specific group of graduates. Shortly, there are graduates who prefer working for small businesses and generally many positive sides are identified. Finally, it is the job itself that matters. The findings presented should be taken into consideration to make the job as interesting as possible.
  • Attracting talents: understanding companies' social media usage in recruitment communication: the study of recruitment communication in Finnish companies
    (2016) Juutinen, Sara
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Research Objectives The objective of the research is to understand the phenomenon of social media usage in recruitment communication to attract talents. It aims to understand Finnish companies' social media usage for recruitment communication purposes. The research concentrates on recruitment communication that aims to attract job applicants to apply a position in a company and thus the framing of the study is in job marketing and employer branding. Research explores ways of using social media for recruitment communication and the main purposes behind that. In addition it explores the main challenges of using social media in recruitment communication purposes. Data and Methodology This research is qualitative and interpretive in nature as it aims to explore core meanings and themes of the phenomenon recruitment communication in social media in data-driven manner. Research data was collected in five semi-structured theme interviews. The themes for interviews were recruitment communication, employer branding and social media. The interviewees were from five well-known Finnish companies who have a strong employer brand already and who are using social media in their recruitment communication in some level. The interview data is then analyzed by thematic analysis. Key Findings The main findings of the research are that companies want to increase their visibility through social media presence and thereby attract potential job applicants. However, visibility of the companies is still quite unilateral. In order to gain more visibility in the future, companies need more resources and skills to create interesting and relevant content into social media channels. Also, better understanding towards the importance of employer branding from management of the company is needed. The whole company should be engaged to employer branding in order to convey it genuinely to potential job applicants and attract them. Also, understanding the target audiences in different situations is needed in order to create relevant content for each target and to reach them. Even though social media usage in recruitment communication has some challenges, it also offers opportunities to attract and inform job applicants in an efficient way.
  • "Bet on the Race, not the Horse": Radical Innovation Capability in Established Corporations
    (2016) Vuorilehto, Pirkko
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    The purpose of this article is to leverage the recent advances in dynamic capability theory to increase our understanding of how established companies can initiate and develop sustainable capability for radical innovations (RI) and create new businesses to match market change. The study digs deeper into what effective RI looks like in established corporations and what capabilities their RI units have found necessary for finding new business opportunities. This thesis reports the results of qualitative research in 5 established, Finnish-based companies that operate globally in manufacturing industry. 7 managers of radical innovation programs were interviewed about their perceptions of RI and organization's capabilities to systematically produce RI. To build a systemic view of the RI, a new theoretical framework was build using Eisenhardt and Martin's (2000) reconceptualized framework of the dynamic capability view (DCV). Firstly, the findings suggest that in practice RI is more relative and subjective concept than the theoretical definitions imply and thus difficult to identify in real-life context. Secondly, the study found a strong theoretical linkage and explanatory power between the reconceptualized DCV and RI. The theories were linked through 1) simplicity of routines 2) explorative knowledge-creation and 3) unpredictability outcomes. Thirdly, the necessary components of organizational RI capability were identified and described here. The study found that the components clustered around the purposes for creating a separate RI unit in the first place. The three purposes for the separate RI unit were finding new business opportunities, improving 'intrapreneurial' culture and providing an agile decision-making process. The study clarifies the vague concept and methodology to identify RI. Furthermore, linking DCV and radical innovation offers much-needed systemic view into RI capability management. In the process the study offers an indication how the two conceptually separated DCV views could be merged back together. The study also provides much needed empirical evidence on what dynamic RI capabilities look like in practice and how they link to one- another creating organizational RI capability. This improves our understanding of organizational adaptation on both theoretical and empirical level, and shows interesting opportunities to further research the applicability of the two DCV concepts into the field of innovation studies.
  • Biofuels sustainability regulation and innovation effect
    (2014) Virtanen, Elina
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    European Union aims to decrease the consumption of fossil fuels with the objective of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and improving security of supply. One method to achieve this is to increase the share of renewable resources in producing transport fuels. To prevent negative environmental or social impacts, the European Union has determined minimum criteria for the sustainability of biofuels. This thesis reviews the objectives of the European Union regulation on promoting the use of biofuels and analyses, how the regulation supports or prevents innovations related to biofuels. The data used for this thesis includes European Union regulation as well as national regulation in Finland. In addition, requirements of a voluntary scheme were analysed. The material also included company publications, reports of governmental and interviews of national regulator as well as a case company producing biofuels in Finland. After setting targets for increasing share of biofuels in European Union, the Commission increased the targeted share and set sustainability requirements for biofuels. The requirements include minimum greenhouse gas reduction over the lifecycle of the product, ban of use of land with high biodiversity value and ban of converting high carbon stock land areas. Thereafter, there has been discussion on changing the sustainability requirements. The national regulation in Finland is based on the European Union regulation and the national authority is Energy Authority. The authority decides on the approval of sustainability management systems as well as what feedstock is considered to be waste or residue. Characteristics that are considered to promote the development of innovations include flexibility, predictability and gradual tightening. Biofuels regulation can be considered to be flexible, as it does not stipulate the production technology. On the other hand, the regulatory framework does not take into account the special characteristics of some new feedstock. In practice, this can lead to barriers for development. Even though the regulation has been clear, there has been a constant uncertainty on whether it will be changed in the future. The development of the regulation has in practice lead to gradual tightening, but these steps have not been known for the market in advance. Current regulation only includes a step of gradual tightening for the minimum greenhouse gas reduction of the biofuels. Based on the companies analysed, it is clear that the regulation has led to development of new feedstock alternatives based on wastes and residues. This can be considered to be an innovation effect of the regulation. On the other hand, the uncertainties related to regulation as well as practical barriers related to the use of feedstocks with complex supply chains, may have prevented the development of innovative new products.
  • Bridging the divide between start-up and corporate communication: Conceptualizing growth communication with a focus on Finnish companies
    (2016) Castillo, Karyn
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    Objective of the study This study seeks to construct a concept that explains the nature of communication in growth companies, i.e. organizations undergoing the transition from start-up to a corporation. The goal is to converge recent theoretical findings related to managing communication in start-ups with existing theories of corporate communication so as to identify those which are suitable for the environment of growth organisations. The academic intent is to conceptualize the practice that bridges the existing research gap between start-up and corporate communication. The outcome is intended to help both communication and business practitioners better understand the nature of growth organizations and thus the most appropriate communication strategy and practices to apply within such environments. Methodology and analytical framework The research design for this study is qualitative, based on a conceptual framework derived from recent academic theories in start-up and corporate communication as well as data collected from interviews based on structured and semi-structured questions with members of four (4) Finnish growth companies. Directed content analysis is used to code and analyze the data collected. Findings and conclusions This study finds that there is a clear divergence between the practice of corporate communication and start-up communication, and identifies key patterns specific to communication practices in growth companies from the findings of the data collected. Furthermore, a definition for the concept of growth communication is proposed, as follows: ''Growth communication is the practice of ensuring effective internal and external knowledge transfer at the macro and micro level of a rapidly expanding organization via continuous stakeholder identification & channel formalization, with the goal of strategically building and establishing the organization's internal and external corporate identity.''
  • Building capacity in Africa through expatriation: The case of Uganda insurers association
    (2015) Karhu, Heikki
     School of Business | Master's thesis
    The thesis is driven by the issue of deficient management capacity across Africa, which has many implications for the continent's development. The objective is to understand how expatriates may contribute to building capacity in African host organizations. The thesis is focused on examining the impacts and dynamics of knowledge transfer between an expatriate and the host organization in the framework of capacity development. It investigates the means through which an expatriate manager's knowledge transforms into capacity in the host organization, as well as the factors affecting the success of such contribution. Particular attention is paid to capacity development in the context of business associations. The thesis is a qualitative single case study. It focuses on the case of Uganda Insurers Association (UIA) and, more specifically, the assignment of a Nordic executive to work as UIA's Chief Executive Officer, in the framework of African Management Services Company's (AMSCO) capacity building programme. The research data was obtained from semi-structured interviews with the relevant expatriate, two former members of UIA's governing body, and UIA's current CEO. While hardly generalizable, the findings of the study provide interesting implications. An expatriate can efficiently build capacity in the host organization through various knowledge transfer mechanisms. The value of knowledge transfer, from the perspective of capacity development, depends partly on the extent to which the expatriate's knowledge is, in addition to being shared with other individuals, put into practice and translated into institutional assets improving capacity and competitiveness. In the case of UIA, a range of organization-specific and industry-wide impacts were identified. It is noteworthy that in the context of a business association knowledge was transferred and capacity developed in a catalytic manner, across organizational boundaries. The success of knowledge transfer depends on several factors relating to the context of the assignment. The expatriate needs to be provided with sufficient autonomy and power and be trusted by the local colleagues to be able to use his or her knowledge to build capacity. The expatriate also needs social and disseminative capacities in building capacity. Further, it is important that the process of local succession is carefully prepared.