Salesperson's customer orientation in the personal selling process and in the use of personal selling techniques in the business-to-business setting

Selling is much maligned, often under-valued subject whose inadequate showing in business schools is in inverse proportion to the many job opportunities it offers and the importance of salespeople bringing incomes to companies. The purpose of this research is to increase the understanding of customer-oriented selling and examine the influence of customer-oriented philosophy on selling process, the applicability of selling techniques to this philosophy and the importance of them to salespeople. The empirical section of the study is two-fold. Firstly, the data of qualitative part was collected by conducting five thematic interviews among sales consultants and case company representatives. The findings of the study indicate that customer-oriented selling requires the activity of salespeople. In the customer-oriented personal selling process, salespeople invest time in the preplanning, the need analysis and the benefit demonstration stages. However, the findings propose that salespeople today must also have the basic capabilities for executing the traditional sales process, and the balance between traditional and consultative selling process will change as the duration of the relationship between the salesperson and customer increases. The study also proposes that selling techniques still belong to the customer-oriented selling process, although their roles might be modest. This thesis mapped 75 selling techniques and the quantitative part of the study explored what selling techniques are considered to be important by salespeople in direct selling industry when they make sales with new and existing customers. Response rate of the survey was 69.5%.

High-Throughput Screening for Novel Prostate Cancer Drug Targets –Getting Personal

Prostate cancers form a heterogeneous group of diseases and there is a need for novel biomarkers, and for more efficient and targeted methods of treatment. In this thesis, the potential of microarray data, RNA interference (RNAi) and compound screens were utilized in order to identify novel biomarkers, drug targets and drugs for future personalized prostate cancer therapeutics. First, a bioinformatic mRNA expression analysis covering 9873 human tissue and cell samples, including 349 prostate cancer and 147 normal prostate samples, was used to distinguish in silico prevalidated putative prostate cancer biomarkers and drug targets. Second, RNAi based high-throughput (HT) functional profiling of 295 prostate and prostate cancer tissue specific genes was performed in cultured prostate cancer cells. Third, a HT compound screen approach using a library of 4910 drugs and drug-like molecules was exploited to identify potential drugs inhibiting prostate cancer cell growth. Nine candidate drug targets, with biomarker potential, and one cancer selective compound were validated in vitro and in vivo. In addition to androgen receptor (AR) signaling, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) function, arachidonic acid (AA) pathway, redox homeostasis and mitosis were identified as vital processes in prostate cancer cells. ERG oncogene positive cancer cells exhibited sensitivity to induction of oxidative and ER stress, whereas advanced and castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) could be potentially targeted through AR signaling and mitosis. In conclusion, this thesis illustrates the power of systems biological data analysis in the discovery of potential vulnerabilities present in prostate cancer cells, as well as novel options for personalized cancer management.

Developing customer need based services in personal security service industry

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how services can be developed and how the voice of the customer can be incorporated to the strategic planning of services. Furthermore, the objective is to investigate the methods of customer need analysis and service bundling. The data is collected from secondary and primary sources by reviewing the existing academic literature and by conducting in-depth interviews and surveys. The main findings of this research indicate that the service development in personal security service industry should be conducted through a formalized process and the process should begin with setting the strategic objectives. Moreover, the voice of the customer should be incorporated into all stages of the development process, especially into the front-end of the process. Furthermore, the information on customer needs should be gathered in a manner tailored for the purposes of service development.

Product placement on personal blogs: a multiple case study from companies’ perspective

As traditional advertising is losing its value in corporations’ marketing, new and growing social media marketing channels are increasing their importance. The growing interest in the media and the lack of research on the subject create a clear need for this study. The objectives are to increase understanding about product placement in personal blogs and examine the benefits as well as the downsides created by this marketing channel and present the requirements for success. The study also takes a stand on what kind of things a successful product placement strategy in personal blogs includes and what points should be considered when creating a strategy. The study’s empirical part consists of seven thematic interviews with case companies’ representatives and one agent. The study’s personal blogs were delimited to consist only lifestyle and fashion blogs. The results show that product placement on personal lifestyle and fashion blogs is a strongly growing marketing channel and it is best suited to reach young women. It is also a very good channel to change and improve brand image. Via personal blogs it is possible to reach a large number of consumers with a very cost-efficient manner. Thus utilizing the channel is suitable for all companies regardless of the size of the marketing budget. Of course, companies have to consider the suitability of their product to the themes of blogs. Executing a successful campaign in this media requires good relationship management skills and understanding of this particular media as the final content is not in advertiser’s hands. As a marketing channel, personal blogs differ highly from traditional marketing channels because of their constantly changing nature and multidirectional quality where several parties are in interaction.

Gamification as a means for employee motivation, personal engagement and behavioral outcomes: a gamification system developers’ perspective

A major challenge faced by companies today is the engagement gap at the workplace and how to motivate employees to engage in less intrinsically motivating work activities that are valuable for the organization. The objective of this study is to investigate gamification as a means for employee motivation and personal engagement that result in behavioral outcomes from the gamification developers’ perspective. Theories of work motivation and engagement are viewed in relation to gamification. The empirical part conducts a qualitative multiple-case study. The data is analyzed with the CAQDAS NVivo. The empirical findings suggest that gamification can enhance employee motivation, but careful consideration of extrinsic motivators is necessary to avoid their detrimental effect on intrinsic motivation. Employee self-determination is built through internalization of gamified system’s goals reaching autonomous motivation to engage in the target behavior. Employee engagement is built by fulfilling the psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability. The results suggest that gamification can build employee motivation and engagement leading to behavior change if designed with the business objectives in mind. Moreover, the gamified system needs to be renewed to address the changes in the business environment and reflect them in the employee behavior.

Kättelyn merkitykset suomalaisessa tapakulttuurissa 1800-luvulta 2000-luvulle

Tutkimuksen aiheena on kättely suomalaisessa tapakulttuurissa 1800-luvulta 2000-luvulle. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on ollut selvittää, mitä kättely on suomalaisille tutkimusajankohtana merkinnyt. Kättelyä suomalaisessa tapakulttuurissa on tarkasteltu muistitietoaineiston avulla.Ensisijainen aineisto sisältää kättelyyn liittyviä ajatuksia ja kokemuksia yli tuhannelta suomalaiselta. Aineiston käsittely ei kuitenkaan perustu niiden määrälliseen tutkimiseen, vaan tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty laadullista tutkimusotetta, jonka ytimessä on merkitysten tulkinta. Väitöskirjassa kättelyä lähestytään kulttuurihistoriallisena, monitasoisena ilmiönä, josta on erotettavissa kestoltaan eripituisia historiallisuuden tasoja. Myös väitöskirjan rakenne seuraa tätä historiallisen monikerroksellisuuden ajatusta. Ensiksi kättelystä on erotettavissa biologiaan perustuva niin kutsuttu syvän historian taso, joka tekee kättelystä merkityksellisen luottamuksellisten suhteiden ja yhteistoiminnan alueella. Toiseksi kättelystä voidaan erottaa rakenteiden tasolla ilmenevä ja hitaasti muuttuva tapakulttuurin taso. Mutta vaikka tapakulttuurin säännöt osaltaan vaikuttavat siihen, miten henkilö tietyssä tilanteessa käyttäytyy, on toimija kättelytilanteessa kuitenkin valintoja tekevä yksilö. Kolmas tutkimuksessa erotettu taso onkin tapahtumahetken taso, jolla historiallinen toimija suorittaa valintojaan oman henkilöhistoriansa ja elämänkokemuksensa avulla. Historialliseen monikerroksellisuuteen liittyvän ajattelun kautta tutkimus osoittaa kättelyn monisyiseksi ilmiöksi, joka vaikuttaa inhimilliseen vuorovaikutukseen olennaisella tavalla. Tutkimusote myös nivoo ihmisen kehityshistorian opittuun tapakulttuuriin sekä tapahtumahetken aktiiviseen kättelytoimijuuteen. Tuloksista voidaan päätellä, ettei kättely ole suomalaisille merkityksetön toiminto, vaan tärkeä sosiaalinen väline, jonka syvempi ymmärtäminen vaatii kaikkien historiallisten tasojen tarkastelua. Eri historian kerrokset voivat olla yksittäisessä kättelytapahtumassa kaikki läsnä. Julkisessa keskustelussa kättely on ollut esillä epähygieenisyytensä vuoksi. Väitöskirjatutkimuksessa pohditaan myös kättelyn suhdetta mikrobien leviämiseen. Tutkimus osoittaa, että kättelyllä on kahtalaisia turvallisuuteen liittyviä merkityksiä: toisaalta se on lääketieteellinen riski, mutta toisaalta se saa sellaisia tapoihin ja hyvinvointiin liittyviä merkityksiä kuten yhteisöllisyys ja luottamus. Pohdittaessa kättelyn ja käsihygienian suhdetta tulevaisuudessa nämä seikat tulisi tiedostaa ja tuoda selkeästi esiin.

Personal branding on social media - The characteristics of strong personal brands in Finland

The purpose of the study is to define the characteristics of strong personal brands on social media in Finland. Personal branding as a phenomenon is no longer limited to celebrities and political leaders. The digital revolution and the change in online behavior have created the need for a deeper investigation of the characteristics of strong personal brands on social media. The work of different academics on personal branding are examined to gain a comprehensive understanding on this research topic that has gone through a revolution during the last decade. Early impression management theory is refined to include elements from more modern literature related to personal branding, brand identity management and social media to create a theoretical framework that simplifies the process of personal brand building on social media. The framework consisting of three phases clarifies the process of modern personal branding. The results of the study are presented in line with three research themes derived from the theoretical framework: the background of the brand, the brand identity management and the social media behavior and activities. Mixed methods are used in the research as means to broaden perception on the subject. The quantitative part of the study defines general characteristics concerning the most follower personal brands in Finland in three social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The other part of the research was conducted by single case study including two Finnish personal brands cases to provide a deeper understanding of personal branding practices of strong social media personal brands. The results of the study show that the most used social media channels differ in terms of the personal brand characteristics and personal branding activities. Due to the characteristics of the channels also the post activities of the personal brands differ quite significantly. It can be also inferred that there is a difference between brands with an existing offline awareness and the brands with no awareness before joining the social media. In order to reduce the gap between the ideal brand image and the current image, the brand should have a clear vision as well as a good understanding of the target group and the value it creates for its target audience. The brand identity needs to be managed by communicating with the target audience authentically in the right channels, with relevant content. The dedication, the target group’s behavior and the ability to create valuable and relevant content determines the right tactics for social media personal branding.