Social-business tensions and their management in social enterprise: evidence from Finland.

This thesis aims to provide insight into the social-business tensions the social enterprises face in their operation and how they manage them. The social-business tensions are examined from four theoretical perspectives using triangulation approach. The theoretical lenses chosen are organizational identity, stakeholder theory, paradox theory and institutional theory. The theories aim to clarify, how the tensions are formed, how they appear and how they are managed in social enterprises. One viewpoint of this thesis is to examine the competence of these theories in explaining the social-business tensions in practise. The qualitative data was collected by interviewing persons from the management of two social enterprises. The empirical evidence of this thesis suggests that the appearing of social-business tensions varies between the social enterprises and they can be seen both as an advantage and as a challenge. Most of the social-business tensions arise from the enterprise’s multiple incoherent objectives, their stakeholders’ various demands and the differing understanding of the company’s central operation among the members of the organization. According to this thesis, the theories of organizational identity, stakeholder, paradox and institution are all able to provide unique insight into the identification and management of the social-business tensions. However, the paradox theory turned out to be the most abstract of the theories and thus being the farthest from the practise.

Model of Big Data Failure: Review of Information System Failure

In the new age of information technology, big data has grown to be the prominent phenomena. As information technology evolves, organizations have begun to adopt big data and apply it as a tool throughout their decision-making processes. Research on big data has grown in the past years however mainly from a technical stance and there is a void in business related cases. This thesis fills the gap in the research by addressing big data challenges and failure cases. The Technology-Organization-Environment framework was applied to carry out a literature review on trends in Business Intelligence and Knowledge management information system failures. A review of extant literature was carried out using a collection of leading information system journals. Academic papers and articles on big data, Business Intelligence, Decision Support Systems, and Knowledge Management systems were studied from both failure and success aspects in order to build a model for big data failure. I continue and delineate the contribution of the Information System failure literature as it is the principal dynamics behind technology-organization-environment framework. The gathered literature was then categorised and a failure model was developed from the identified critical failure points. The failure constructs were further categorized, defined, and tabulated into a contextual diagram. The developed model and table were designed to act as comprehensive starting point and as general guidance for academics, CIOs or other system stakeholders to facilitate decision-making in big data adoption process by measuring the effect of technological, organizational, and environmental variables with perceived benefits, dissatisfaction and discontinued use.

Model of Big Data Failure: Review of Information System Failure

In the new age of information technology, big data has grown to be the prominent phenomena. As information technology evolves, organizations have begun to adopt big data and apply it as a tool throughout their decision-making processes. Research on big data has grown in the past years however mainly from a technical stance and there is a void in business related cases. This thesis fills the gap in the research by addressing big data challenges and failure cases. The Technology-Organization-Environment framework was applied to carry out a literature review on trends in Business Intelligence and Knowledge management information system failures. A review of extant literature was carried out using a collection of leading information system journals. Academic papers and articles on big data, Business Intelligence, Decision Support Systems, and Knowledge Management systems were studied from both failure and success aspects in order to build a model for big data failure. I continue and delineate the contribution of the Information System failure literature as it is the principal dynamics behind technology-organization-environment framework. The gathered literature was then categorised and a failure model was developed from the identified critical failure points. The failure constructs were further categorized, defined, and tabulated into a contextual diagram. The developed model and table were designed to act as comprehensive starting point and as general guidance for academics, CIOs or other system stakeholders to facilitate decision-making in big data adoption process by measuring the effect of technological, organizational, and environmental variables with perceived benefits, dissatisfaction and discontinued use.

Business models for Finnish biobanks

This study concentrates on developing a suitable business model for Finnish biobanks, with particular emphasis on value creation to stakeholders. The sub-objective of this thesis are to map the commercial possibilities of biobanks and potential barriers for business development. The study approaches the subject from the biobanks’ as well as the stakeholders’ point of view, integrating their hopes and needs considering current and future co-operation into the findings. In 2013 the Biobank Act came into effect, after which six biobanks have been established and several other pending biobank projects are in process. There is relatively little research in regard to the commercial opportunities of this newcomer of the biomedical industry, and particularly in the Finnish markets. Therefore, the aim of this study is to partially fill the research gap of the commercial potential of biobanks and particularly outline the problematic elements in developing business. The theoretical framework consists of a few select theories, which depict business modeling and value creation of organizations. The theories are combined to form a synthesis, which best adapts to biobanks, and acts as a backbone for interviews. The empirical part of the study was conducted mainly by seven face-to-face interviews, and complemented by two phone interviews and an e-mail questionnaire with four responses. The findings consist mainly of the participants’ reflections on the potential products and services enabled by consumer genomics, as well as perceptions on different obstacles for biobanks’ business development. The nature of the study is tentative, as biobanks are relatively new organizations in Finland, and their operation models and activities are still molding. The aim is to bring to surface the hopes and concerns of biobanks’ representatives, as well as the representatives of stakeholders, in order to transparently discuss the current situation and suggestions for further development. The study concludes that in principle, the interviewees’ agree on the need for development in order not to waste the potential of biobanks; regardless, the participants emphasize different aspects and subsequently lean on differing methods.

The Formation Of Internationalization Strategies Within The Construction Industry:Vision and Strategy

Internationalization represents a complex topic that has been researched for quite some time. However, since it continues to be extremely current a topic, its significance has not diminished, but maybe even increased in importance. Companies today face extreme pressure to enter new markets in the hope of growing, becoming more profitable, increasing market share, attracting new customers and meeting the requirements of its share- and stakeholders. In the increasingly global business environment of today, companies are facing both challenges and possible advantages of internationalization. Few companies are not operating internationally and it is becoming the question of ‘Why not?’ rather than ‘Why?’ to internationalize business operations. Internationalization and the importance of strategy are discussed in this research from the viewpoint of three case companies that were interviewed about internationalization strategies. This research project is a qualitative study that answers the research question of How is a business strategy constructed for entering a new market? The sub-questions are • How are goals set and what indicators are used to monitor the achievement of these goals? • What are the key characteristics of a strategy implementation process? The research method chosen for this study is a multiple-case study. Three case companies were chosen for the interviews in order to gain in-depth data of internationalization strategies within the construction industry.

Increased profitability and efficiency by improving the Meetings & Events Category S2P-process – Case Company

The purpose of this research was to examine the most optimal way to arrange meetings and events management and source to pay –process in a global company. The research is a qualitative multi-method case study and is a commission from a global company. The theoretical framework of this research structures around two approaches. First approach focus on a purchasing strategy and management that shows the current role of procure-ment and introduce different ways to organize purchasing functions. Second approach focus on purchasing process management and improvement methods. Annual spend analyze, external and internal interviews and internal survey were done to gain compre-hensive knowledge about the current state of operations and possible solutions. Gathered data were then combined to theoretical framework in order to create optimal solution for the case company. Based on the research a source to pay –process and global policy for meeting and event category was created. The solution includes all relevant matters that are needed in order to secure efficient and profitable operations. The results show that optimal way to arrange meetings and events structures around standardized source to pay –processes, central-ized procurement, preferred supplier and clearly defined roles and responsibilities be-tween different stakeholders.