Viitotut elämät : Kuurojen nuorten aikuisten kokemuksia viittomakielisestä elämästä Suomessa

The goal of the study is to build an image of deafness and of the lives of the deaf from their own per-spectives. The lives of deaf sign language users are analysed through the concept of identity. The start-ing point for the study is the idea that identities are moulded and structured in action and interaction and are, therefore, continuous processes. The terminology and ideas used in the present study are mostly based on Erving Goffman s (1971, 1986) work in which he sees identity as a representation of self. Via our language and our actions we build and present an image of ourselves to others and to ourselves alike. The research aims at answering the following questions concerning the lives of deaf sign language users: how do deaf people build an image of themselves as deaf people, what kind of meanings does deafness acquire in their lives, and what opportunities do they have to be perceived by others as they feel they are, i.e. to present their true self . In order to answer these questions, the narratives provided by eighteen deaf young adults, aged 25 35, in narrative interviews carried out in sign language, have been analysed. The methodology used is that of a data-based, qualitative analysis and narrative analy-sis. The study follows the lines of prior qualitative research carried out in the field of sociology of health and in the study of everyday life. The subjects are divided into three groups according to the linguistic environment dominant in the family: 1) a deaf child in a deaf family, 2) a deaf child in a hearing family using sign language, and 3) a deaf child in a hearing family where sign language was not used. The childhood family has great significance in the way a child constructs his or her identity as a deaf person. The process of construct-ing an identity in the first group can be defined as being automatic or inherited, in the second group the process can be described as being a collective/joint identity-building process, whereas in the third group the process is ambivalent and delayed. The opportunities the deaf have in building their identi-ties as deaf people have been examined through the concept of a collective story reservoir. Research shows that the deaf have, at least partly, a different collective story reservoir that they can rely on from the one the hearing have. Interaction with other deaf people and access to the collective story reservoir is important, because it enables the deaf to form an idea of their own deafness and the life of a deaf person. Three different ways of understanding deafness can be conceptualized from the narratives of the inter-viewed deaf people. In the outdated counter-narrative and the reductive narrative of deafness as an abnormality, the subjects are not capable of seeing themselves as forming part of the narratives or identifying themselves with the ways the deaf are depicted. Yet, the characterizations prevalent in them are the ones that the deaf constantly come across in their day-to-day lives. The narrative through which the subjects depict themselves and their lives can be defined as a pluralistic narrative. The plu-ralistic narrative consists of three elements: the coexistence of the world of the deaf and that of the hearing, the orientation to sign language, and the replacement of local networks with global networks. Although modern Finnish society and its varied social services and subsidy systems enable the realiza-tion of the kind of life described in the pluralistic narrative, the issues of power and inequality still frequently emerge in the narratives in which the deaf young adults described themselves and their lives. Two kinds of power mechanisms can be perceived in the descriptions: belittling and excluding power. These considerably diminish the opportunities of sign language users to create the kind of life that would reflect their personalities while limiting the chances for presenting the self to others.

Genetic Mechanisms Underlying Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism is a childhood-onset developmental disorder characterized by deficits in reciprocal social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and dependence on routines and rituals. It belongs to a spectrum of disorders (autism spectrum disorders, ASDs) which share core symptoms but show considerable variation in severity. The whole spectrum affects 0.6-0.7% of children worldwide, inducing a substantial public health burden and causing suffering to the affected families. Despite having a very high heritability, ASDs have shown exceptional genetic heterogeneity, which has complicated the identification of risk variants and left the etiology largely unknown. However, recent studies suggest that rare, family-specific factors contribute significantly to the genetic basis of ASDs. In this study, we investigated the role of DISC1 (Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1) in ASDs, and identified association with markers and haplotypes previously associated with psychiatric phenotypes. We identified four polymorphic micro-RNA target sites in the 3 UTR of DISC1, and showed that hsa-miR-559 regulates DISC1 expression in vitro in an allele-specific manner. We also analyzed an extended autism pedigree with genealogical roots in Central Finland reaching back to the 17th century. To take advantage of the beneficial characteristics of population isolates to gene mapping and reduced genetic heterogeneity observed in distantly related individuals, we performed a microsatellite-based genome-wide screen for linkage and linkage disequilibrium in this pedigree. We identified a putative autism susceptibility locus on chromosome 19p13.3 and obtained further support for previously reported loci at 1q23 and 15q11-q13. To follow-up these findings, we extended our study sample from the same sub-isolate and initiated a genome-wide analysis of homozygosity and allelic sharing using high-density SNP markers. We identified a small number of haplotypes shared by different subsets of the genealogically connected cases, along with convergent biological pathways from SNP and gene expression data, which highlighted axon guidance molecules in the pathogenesis of ASDs. In conclusion, the results obtained in this thesis show that multiple distinct genetic variants are responsible for the ASD phenotype even within single pedigrees from an isolated population. We suggest that targeted resequencing of the shared haplotypes, linkage regions, and other susceptibility loci is essential to identify the causal variants. We also report a possible micro-RNA mediated regulatory mechanism, which might partially explain the wide-range neurobiological effects of the DISC1 gene.

Valittujen makrolidien ominaisuudet ja niiden vaikutukset fermentoinnin jälkeiseen jatkokäsittelyyn

Työn kirjallisessa osuudessa tarkasteltiin makrolideja yleisellä tasolla keskittyen kahden makrolidin ominaisuuksiin molekyylitasolla. Näiden tautomerisoitumista käsitellään tuoden esiin sekä yhdisteiden rakenteelliset yhteneväisyydet ja eroavaisuudet että niiden vaikutukset yhdisteiden vaikutusmekanismiin ja metaboliaan. Kirjallisessa osuudessa perehdyttiin myös makrolidien biosynteesiin ja tuotantoprosessiin keskittyen downstream-prosessointiin ja erityisesti biosynteesistä peräisin oleviin epäpuhtauksiin. Lisäksi kirjallisessa osuudessa käsiteltiin argentaatiokromatografian perusteita. Kokeellisessa osuudessa yhdelle makrolidille kehitettiin argentaatiokromatografiaan perustuva puhdistusmenetelmä. Perinteisillä kromatografisilla menetelmillä yhdistettä ei voida puhdistaa kaikista sen epäpuhtauksista. Makrolidin puhtaus argentaatiokromatografian jälkeen oli 98,6 %. Lisäksi kehitettiin uusi kiteytysmenetlmä, jossa yhdiste kiteytettiin anhydridina tavanomaisen monohydraattimuodon sijasta. Makrolidin analysointiin kehitettiin HPLC-menetelmä, joka validoitiin ICH:n ohjeiden mukaisesti. Yhditeen tautomeerimuodot ja siinä esiintyvät epäpuhtaudet tutkittiin käyttäen LC/MS-analyysia. Yhden epäpuhtauden rakenne varmistettiin eristämisen jälkeen NMR:n avulla. Saatavilla olevien tietojen mukaan yhdisteen tulkittuja NMRspektrejä ei ole julkaistu. Lisäksi aiemmin tuntematon epäpuhtaus identifioitiin perustuen retentioaikaan ja MS-analyysiin.

MECHANISMS AND EFFECTS OF MITOCHONDRIAL DNA INSTABILITY AND COPY NUMBER MANIPULATION

Defects in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) maintenance cause a range of human diseases, including autosomal dominant progressive external ophthalmoplegia (adPEO). This study aimed to clarify the molecular background of adPEO. We discovered that deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) metabolism plays a crucial in mtDNA maintenance and were thus prompted to search for therapeutic strategies based on the modulation of cellular dNTP pools or mtDNA copy number. Human mtDNA is a 16.6 kb circular molecule present in hundreds to thousands of copies per cell. mtDNA is compacted into nucleoprotein clusters called nucleoids. mtDNA maintenance diseases result from defects in nuclear encoded proteins that maintain the mtDNA. These syndromes typically afflict highly differentiated, post-mitotic tissues such as muscle and nerve, but virtually any organ can be affected. adPEO is a disease where mtDNA molecules with large-scale deletions accumulate in patients tissues, particularly in skeletal muscle. Mutations in five nuclear genes, encoding the proteins ANT1, Twinkle, POLG, POLG2 and OPA1, have previously been shown to cause adPEO. Here, we studied a large North American pedigree with adPEO, and identified a novel heterozygous mutation in the gene RRM2B, which encodes the p53R2 subunit of the enzyme ribonucleotide reductase (RNR). RNR is the rate-limiting enzyme in dNTP biosynthesis, and is required both for nuclear and mitochondrial DNA replication. The mutation results in the expression of a truncated form of p53R2, which is likely to compete with the wild-type allele. A change in enzyme function leads to defective mtDNA replication due to altered dNTP pools. Therefore, RRM2B is a novel adPEO disease gene. The importance of adequate dNTP pools and RNR function for mtDNA maintenance has been established in many organisms. In yeast, induction of RNR has previously been shown to increase mtDNA copy number, and to rescue the phenotype caused by mutations in the yeast mtDNA polymerase. To further study the role of RNR in mammalian mtDNA maintenance, we used mice that broadly overexpress the RNR subunits Rrm1, Rrm2 or p53R2. Active RNR is a heterotetramer consisting of two large subunits (Rrm1) and two small subunits (either Rrm2 or p53R2). We also created bitransgenic mice that overexpress Rrm1 together with either Rrm2 or p53R2. In contrast to the previous findings in yeast, bitransgenic RNR overexpression led to mtDNA depletion in mouse skeletal muscle, without mtDNA deletions or point mutations. The mtDNA depletion was associated with imbalanced dNTP pools. Furthermore, the mRNA expression levels of Rrm1 and p53R2 were found to correlate with mtDNA copy number in two independent mouse models, suggesting nuclear-mitochondrial cross talk with regard to mtDNA copy number. We conclude that tight regulation of RNR is needed to prevent harmful alterations in the dNTP pool balance, which can lead to disordered mtDNA maintenance. Increasing the copy number of wild-type mtDNA has been suggested as a strategy for treating PEO and other mitochondrial diseases. Only two proteins are known to cause a robust increase in mtDNA copy number when overexpressed in mice; the mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), and the mitochondrial replicative helicase Twinkle. We studied the mechanisms by which Twinkle and TFAM elevate mtDNA levels, and showed that Twinkle specifically implements mtDNA synthesis. Furthermore, both Twinkle and TFAM were found to increase mtDNA content per nucleoid. Increased mtDNA content in mouse tissues correlated with an age-related accumulation of mtDNA deletions, depletion of mitochondrial transcripts, and progressive respiratory dysfunction. Simultaneous overexpression of Twinkle and TFAM led to a further increase in the mtDNA content of nucleoids, and aggravated the respiratory deficiency. These results suggested that high mtDNA levels have detrimental long-term effects in mice. These data have to be considered when developing and evaluating treatment strategies for elevating mtDNA copy number.

Psychosocial processes of health behaviour change in a lifestyle intervention : Influences of gender, socioeconomic status and personality

Background: The onset of many chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes can be delayed or prevented by changes in diet, physical activity and obesity. Known predictors of successful behaviour change include psychosocial factors such as selfefficacy, action and coping planning, and social support. However, gender and socioeconomic differences in these psychosocial mechanisms underlying health behaviour change have not been examined, despite well-documented sociodemographic differences in lifestyle-related mortality and morbidity. Additionally, although stable personality traits (such as dispositional optimism or pessimism and gender-role orientation: agency and communion) are related to health and health behaviour, to date they have rarely been studied in the context of health behaviour interventions. These personality traits might contribute to health behaviour change independently of the more modifiable domain-specific psychosocial factors, or indirectly through them, or moderated by them. The aims were to examine in an intervention setting: (1) whether changes (during the three-month intervention) in psychological determinants (self-efficacy beliefs, action planning and coping planning) predict changes in exercise and diet behaviours over three months and 12 months, (2) the universality assumption of behaviour change theories, i.e. whether preintervention levels and changes in psychosocial determinants are similar among genders and socioeconomic groups, and whether they predict changes in behaviour in a similar way in these groups, (3) whether the personality traits optimism, pessimism, agency and communion predict changes in abdominal obesity, and the nature of their interplay with modifiable and domain-specific psychosocial factors (self-efficacy and social support). Methods: Finnish men and women (N = 385) aged 50 65 years who were at an increased risk for type 2 diabetes were recruited from health care centres to participate in the GOod Ageing in Lahti Region (GOAL) Lifestyle Implementation Trial. The programme aimed to improve participants lifestyle (physical activity, eating) and decrease their overweight. The measurements of self-efficacy, planning, social support and dispositional optimism/pessimism were conducted pre-intervention at baseline (T1) and after the intensive phase of the intervention at three months (T2), and the measurements of exercise at T1, T2 and 12 months (T3) and healthy eating at T1 and T3. Waist circumference, an indicator of abdominal obesity, was measured at T1 and at oneyear (T3) and three-year (T4) follow-ups. Agency and communion were measured at T4 with the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ). Results: (1) Increases in self-efficacy and planning were associated with three-month increases in exercise (Study I). Moreover, both the post-intervention level and three-month increases (during the intervention) in self-efficacy in dealing with barriers predicted the 12-month increase in exercise, and a high postintervention level of coping plans predicted the 12-month decrease in dietary fat (Study II). One- and three-year waist circumference reductions were predicted by the initial three-month increase in self-efficacy (Studies III, IV). (2) Post-intervention at three months, women had formed more action plans for changing their exercise routines and received less social support for behaviour change than men had. The effects of adoption self-efficacy were similar but change in planning played a less significant role among men (Study I). Examining the effects of socioeconomic status (SES), psychosocial determinants at baseline and their changes during the intervention yielded largely similar results. Exercise barriers self-efficacy was enhanced slightly less among those with low SES. Psychosocial determinants predicted behaviour similarly across all SES groups (Study II). (3) Dispositional optimism and pessimism were unrelated to waist circumference change, directly or indirectly, and they did not influence changes in self-efficacy (Study III). Agency predicted 12-month waist circumference reduction among women. High communion coupled with high social support was associated with waist circumference reduction. However, the only significant predictor of three-year waist circumference reduction was an increase in health-related self-efficacy during the intervention (Study IV). Conclusions: Interventions should focus on improving participants self-efficacy early on in the intervention as well as prompting action and coping planning for health behaviour change. Such changes are likely to be similarly effective among intervention participants regardless of gender and educational level. Agentic orientation may operate via helping women to be less affected by the demands of the self-sacrificing female role and enabling them to assertively focus on their own goals. The earlier mixed results regarding the role of social support in behaviour change may be in part explained by personality traits such as communion.

A Recursive Perspective on Discursive Legitimation and Organizational Action in Mergers and Acquisitions

This paper challenges the predominant view that legitimation is merely a specific phase in merger or acquisition processes. We argue that a better understanding of postmerger organizational dynamics calls for conceptualization of discursive legitimation as an inherent part of unfolding merger processes. In particular, we focus on the recursive relationship between legitimation and organizational action. We have two objectives: to outline a theoretical model that helps one to understand the dynamics of discursive legitimation and organizational action in postmerger organizations, and to examine a revealing case to distinguish the inherent risks and problems in discursive legitimation. Our case analysis focuses on the merger between the French pharmaceutical companies BioMérieux and Pierre Fabre. We adopt a critical multimethod approach and distinguish specific discursive dynamics and pathological tendencies in this case. The analysis highlights the unintended consequences of discursive legitimation, the central role of sensegiving and sensehiding in discursive legitimation, the inherently political nature of legitimation and the risks associated with politicization, the special problems associated with fashionable discourses and the role of the media, the use of specific discursive strategies for legitimation and delegitimation, and the crucial role of actual integration results. This analysis adds to the existing research on mergers and acquisitions by treating discursive legitimation as part of the merger dynamics. In particular, our case analysis provides a new explanation for merger failure. We also believe that the recursive model connecting discursive legitimation and delegitimation strategies to concrete organizational action makes a more general contribution to our understanding of organizational legitimation.

A recursive perspective on discursive legitimation and organizational action in mergers and acquisitions

This paper challenges the predominant view that legitimation is merely a specific phase in merger or acquisition processes. We argue that a better understanding of postmerger organizational dynamics calls for conceptualization of discursive legitimation as an inherent part of unfolding merger processes. In particular, we focus on the recursive relationship between legitimation and organizational action. We have two objectives: to outline a theoretical model that helps one to understand the dynamics of discursive legitimation and organizational action in postmerger organizations, and to examine a revealing case to distinguish the inherent risks and problems in discursive legitimation. Our case analysis focuses on the merger between the French pharmaceutical companies BioMérieux and Pierre Fabre. We adopt a critical multimethod approach and distinguish specific discursive dynamics and pathological tendencies in this case. The analysis highlights the unintended consequences of discursive legitimation, the central role of sensegiving and sensehiding in discursive legitimation, the inherently political nature of legitimation and the risks associated with politicization, the special problems associated with fashionable discourses and the role of the media, the use of specific discursive strategies for legitimation and delegitimation, and the crucial role of actual integration results. This analysis adds to the existing research on mergers and acquisitions by treating discursive legitimation as part of the merger dynamics. In particular, our case analysis provides a new explanation for merger failure. We also believe that the recursive model connecting discursive legitimation and delegitimation strategies to concrete organizational action makes a more general contribution to our understanding of organizational legitimation.

Finnish Short-Term Stock Returns

Functioning capital markets are a crucial part of a competitive economy since they provide the mechanisms to allocate resources. In order to be well functioning a capital market has to be efficient. Market efficiency is defined as a market where prices at any time fully reflect all available information. Basically, this means that abnormal returns cannot be predicted since they are dependent on future, presently unknown, information. The debate of market efficiency has been going on for several decades. Most academics today would probably agree that financial markets are reasonably efficient since virtually nobody has been able to achieve continuous abnormal positive returns. However, it is clear that a set of return anomalies exists, although they are apparently to small to enable substantial economic profit. Moreover, these anomalies can often be attributed to market design. The motivation for this work is to expand the knowledge of short-term trading patterns and to offer some explanations for these patterns. In the first essay the return pattern during the day is examined. On average stock prices move during two time periods of the day, namely, immediately after the opening and around the formal close of the market. Since stock prices, on average, move upwards these abnormal returns are generally positive and cause the distinct U-shape of intraday returns. In the second essay the results in the first essay are examined further. The return pattern around the former close is shown to partly be the result of manipulative action by market participants. In the third essay the focus is shifted towards trading patterns of the underlying stocks on days when index options and index futures on the stocks expire. Generally no expiration day effect was found. However, some indication of an expiration day effect was found when a large amount of open in- or at-the-money contracts existed. Also, the effects were likelier to be found for shares with high index-weight but fairly low trading volume. Last, in the forth essay the attention is turned to the behaviour of different tax clienteles around the dividend ex-day. Two groups of investors showed abnormal trading behaviour. Domestic non-financial investors, especially domestic companies, showed a dividend capturing behaviour, i.e. buying cum-dividend and selling ex-dividend shares. The opposite behaviour was found for foreign investors and domestic financial institutions. The effect was more notable for high yield, high volume stocks.

Essays on Stock Options, Incentives, and Managerial Action

Executive compensation and managerial behavior have received an increasing amount of attention in the financial economics literature since the mid 1970s. The purpose of this thesis is to extend our understanding of managerial compensation, especially how stock option compensation is linked to the actions undertaken by the management. Furthermore, managerial compensation is continuously and heatedly debated in the media and an emerging consensus from this discussion seems to be that there still exists gaps in our knowledge of optimal contracting. In Finland, the first executive stock options were introduced in the 1980s and throughout the last 15 years it has become increasingly popular for Finnish listed firms to use this type of managerial compensation. The empirical work in the thesis is conducted using data from Finland, in contrast to most previous studies that predominantly use U.S. data. Using Finnish data provides insight of how market conditions affect compensation and managerial action and provides an opportunity to explore what parts of the U.S. evidence can be generalized to other markets. The thesis consists of four essays. The first essay investigates the exercise policy of the executive stock option holders in Finland. In summary, Essay 1 contributes to our understanding of the exercise policies by examining both the determinants of the exercise decision and the markets reaction to the actual exercises. The second essay analyzes the factors driving stock option grants using data for Finnish publicly listed firms. Several agency theory based variables are found to have have explanatory power on the likelihood of a stock option grant. Essay 2 also contributes to our understanding of behavioral factors, such as prior stock return, as determinants of stock option compensation. The third essay investigates the tax and stock option motives for share repurchases and dividend distributions. We document strong support for the tax motive for share repurchases. Furthermore, we also analyze the dividend distribution decision in companies with stock options and find a significant difference between companies with and without dividend protected options. We thus document that the cutting of dividends found in previous U.S. studies can be avoided by dividend protection. In the fourth essay we approach the puzzle of negative skewness in stock returns from an altogether different angle than in previous studies. We suggest that negative skewness in stock returns is generated by management disclosure practices and find proof for this. More specifically, we find that negative skewness in daily returns is induced by returns for days when non-scheduled firm specific news is disclosed.

Knowledge Transfer within Western Multinationals' Subsidiary Units in China and Finland - The Impact of Headquarter Control Mechanisms, Subsidiary Location and Social Capital (summary section only)

It is suggested that the ability and practices of how the multinational corporation (MNC) manages knowledge transfer among its geographically dispersed subsidiary units are crucial for the building and development of firm competitive advantage. However, cross-border transfer of valuable organizational knowledge is likely to be problematic and laborious, especially within diversified and differentiated MNCs. Using data collected from 164 western multinational companies’ subsidiary units located in China and Finland, this study aims to investigate cross-border knowledge transfer within the MNC. It explores a number of factors that influence the transfer of knowledge among units in the differentiated MNC. The study consists of five individual papers. Paper 1 investigates a range of organizational mechanisms that may positively influence a subsidiary’s propensity to undertake knowledge transfers to other parts of the corporation. Paper 2 explores the impact of subsidiary location on the motivational dispositions of knowledge receiving units to value and accept knowledge from subsidiaries located in economically less advanced countries. Paper 3 examines the influence of social capital variables on knowledge transfer in dyadic relationships between foreign-owned subsidiaries and their sister and patent units. Paper 4 provides some initial insights into potentially different effects of trust and shared vision in intra-organizational vs. inter-organizational relationships. Using a case study setting, Paper 5 explores means and mechanisms used in transferring human resource management practices to Western MNCs’ business units in China from a cultural perspective. The results of the study show that MNC management through choices regarding organizational controls can encourage and enhance corporate-internal knowledge transfer. It also finds evidence that more knowledge is transferred from subsidiaries located in an industrialized country (e.g., Finland) than subsidiaries located in a developing country (e.g., China). While the study has highlighted the importance of social capital in promoting knowledge transfer, it has also uncovered some new findings that the effect of trust and shared vision may be contingent upon different contexts. Finally, in Paper 5, a number of mechanisms used in transferring selected HRM practices and competences to the Chinese business units have been identified. The findings suggest that cultural differences should be taken into consideration in the choice and use of different transfer mechanisms.

Towards Explaining the Use of Control Mechanisms in Foreign Subsidiaries of MNCs (summary section only)

Control is central to management and there is already a considerable body of research on control. However, the emergence and growth of multinational corporations (MNCs) has renewed the interest in control, as MNCs are complex (often large) organizations that face circumstances beyond those of national business organizations. The geographical dispersion of MNC activities means that the headquarters controls subsidiaries that differ with regard to power and that are embedded in different cultural, political, legal and educational systems. Foreign subsidiary control also takes place across language boundaries and physical (i.e. geographical) distances. In face of these challenges, how are foreign subsidiaries controlled? The thesis explores different types of control mechanisms and attempts to explain the degree to which they are used to control foreign subsidiaries. It contributes to existing knowledge on control by exploring how five different control mechanisms are related to each other. Previous research has tended to focus only on one or two control mechanisms and seldom has their effect on each other been explored. The thesis also contributes by including two central aspects of the MNC that have been neglected in much of the research on foreign subsidiary control: language competence of subsidiary staff and physical distance between the headquarters and its subsidiaries. The findings indicate that specific control mechanisms should not be studied in isolation as there are intricate relationships among the different control mechanisms. Language competence of the subsidiary staff can furthermore affect the type and degree of control that the headquarters can exercise over a subsidiary. The findings also indicate that changes in the physical distance between subsidiaries and its headquarters (i.e. a relocation of the headquarters as part of a restructuring process) can have great consequences for the headquarters-subsidiary relationship.

Service firms´ action upon negative incidents in high touch services: A narrative study

The study concerns service management, and specifically the action service firms take with regard to customer dissatisfaction, customer complaints and complaining customers in high touch services. Customer dissatisfaction, customer complaints and complaining customers are called negative incidents in the study. The study fills a research gap in service management studies by investigating negative incidents as a part of an open service system. In contrast to main stream service management studies defining service quality as how the customer as a consumer defines it, in the present study, the concept of interactive service quality is adopted. The customer is considered as a co-producer of service who thus has a role to play in service quality and productivity. Additionally, the study juxtaposes the often opposed perspectives of the manager and the customer as well as the often forgotten silent voices of service employees and supervisors. The study proposes that the service firm as an entity does not act but it is the actors at the different hierarchical layers who act. Additionally, it is acknowledged in the study that the different actors at the different hierarchical layers have different knowledge of the service system and different objectives for service encounters. Therefore, they interpret the negative incidents from different perspectives and their actions upon negative incidents are subsequently guided by their interpretations. The research question is: how do service firms act upon negative incidents in high touch services? In order to answer to the research question a narrative research approach was chosen. The actors at the different hierarchical layers acted as informants of the study and provided stories about customer dissatisfaction, customer complaining and complaint handling in high touch services. Through storytelling, access to the socially constructed reality of service firms’ action was achieved. Stemming from the literature review, analysis of empirical data and my theoretical thinking, a theory about service firms’ action upon negative incidents in high touch services was developed and the research question was answered. The study contributes to service recovery and complaint management studies as well as to studies on customer orientation and its implementation in service firms. Additionally, the study has a methodological contribution to service management studies since it reflects service firms’ action with narratives from multiple perspectives. The study is positioned in the tradition of the Nordic School of Marketing Thought and presents service firms’ action upon negative incidents in high touch services as a complex human-centered phenomenon in which the actors at the different hierarchical layers have crucial roles to play. Ritva Höykinpuro is associated with CERS, the Centre for Relationship Marketing and Service Management at Hanken School of Economics.

Customer asset management in action: using customers portfolio for allocating resources across business-to-business relationships for improved shareholder value

Suvi Nenonen Customer asset management in action: using customer portfolios for allocating resources across business-to-business relationships for improved shareholder value Customers are crucial assets to all firms as customers are the ultimate source of all cash flows. Regardless this financial importance of customer relationships, for decades there has been a lack of suitable frameworks explaining how customer relationships contribute to the firm financial performance and how this contribution can be actively managed. In order to facilitate a better understanding of the customer asset, contemporary marketing has investigated the use of financial theories and asset management practices in the customer relationship context. Building on this, marketing academics have promoted the customer lifetime value concept as a solution for valuating and managing customer relationships for optimal financial outcomes. However, the empirical investigation of customer asset management lags behind the conceptual development steps taken. Additionally, the practitioners have not embraced the use of customer lifetime value in guiding managerial decisions - especially in the business-to-business context. The thesis points out that there are fundamental differences between customer relationships and investment instruments as investment targets, effectively eliminating the possibility to use financial theories in a customer relationships context or to optimize the customer base as a single investment portfolio. As an alternative, the thesis proposes the use of customer portfolio approach for allocating resources across the customer base for improved shareholder value. In the customer portfolio approach, the customer base of a firm is divided into multiple portfolios based on customer relationships’ potential to contribute to the shareholder value creation. After this, customer management concepts are tailored to each customer portfolio, designed to improve the shareholder value in their own respect. Therefore, effective customer asset management with the customer portfolio approach necessitates that firms are able to manage multiple parallel customer management concepts, or business models, simultaneously. The thesis is one of the first empirical studies on customer asset management, bringing empirical evidence from multiple business-to-business case studies on how customer portfolio models can be formed, how customer portfolios can be managed, and how customer asset management has contributed to the firm financial performance.

Customer asset management in action: using customers portfolio for allocating resources across business-to-business relationships for improved shareholder value

Suvi Nenonen Customer asset management in action: using customer portfolios for allocating resources across business-to-business relationships for improved shareholder value Customers are crucial assets to all firms as customers are the ultimate source of all cash flows. Regardless this financial importance of customer relationships, for decades there has been a lack of suitable frameworks explaining how customer relationships contribute to the firm financial performance and how this contribution can be actively managed. In order to facilitate a better understanding of the customer asset, contemporary marketing has investigated the use of financial theories and asset management practices in the customer relationship context. Building on this, marketing academics have promoted the customer lifetime value concept as a solution for valuating and managing customer relationships for optimal financial outcomes. However, the empirical investigation of customer asset management lags behind the conceptual development steps taken. Additionally, the practitioners have not embraced the use of customer lifetime value in guiding managerial decisions - especially in the business-to-business context. The thesis points out that there are fundamental differences between customer relationships and investment instruments as investment targets, effectively eliminating the possibility to use financial theories in a customer relationships context or to optimize the customer base as a single investment portfolio. As an alternative, the thesis proposes the use of customer portfolio approach for allocating resources across the customer base for improved shareholder value. In the customer portfolio approach, the customer base of a firm is divided into multiple portfolios based on customer relationships’ potential to contribute to the shareholder value creation. After this, customer management concepts are tailored to each customer portfolio, designed to improve the shareholder value in their own respect. Therefore, effective customer asset management with the customer portfolio approach necessitates that firms are able to manage multiple parallel customer management concepts, or business models, simultaneously. The thesis is one of the first empirical studies on customer asset management, bringing empirical evidence from multiple business-to-business case studies on how customer portfolio models can be formed, how customer portfolios can be managed, and how customer asset management has contributed to the firm financial performance.