Exploration of the social dimension of corporate responsibility in a welfare state

This study focuses on corporate social responsibility (or CSR)as the latest dimension to emerge in the corporate responsibility and sustainability agenda, which in the recent past has rapidly risen to the top of the list of concerns for civil societies worldwide. Despite the continuing debates and discussions about the scope, benefits, and impacts of CSR to business and community in various sectors, levels, and types of society, many companies have moved forward to confront the opportunities and challenges of CSR. Thus, this study is about those proactive companies with a focus on the importance of CSR and its management inside and outside the company. It is an exploration and learning from the experience of Finnish companies, as well as other actors interested or involved in shaping the course of CSR, locally and globally. It also looks closely at how national culture affects the views, thinking, and management of CSR in a welfare state. This dissertation primarily draws on the analyses of information collected from a series of qualitative interviews and the existing literature in the area. This is complemented by an analysis of written and published documents on CSR from various sources. The results of the study give insightful information and detailed descriptions of a roadmap useful in learning and understanding CSR in Finnish companies. Despite the varying conceptual connotations, essential roadmap indicators point to the importance of framing CSR within the corporate responsibility concept, Finnish development and the welfare state system, globalization, stakeholders, and the pursuit of sustainable development as the main drivers of CSR, the remarkable progress of CSR in companies, and identification of key management areas and practices relevant to CSR. Similarly,the study reveals the importance of culture as essential in understanding and learning CSR. Finnish culture has a positive influence on the views, thinking, and management practices of CSR issues. Such a positive influence of culture, therefore, makes it easy for business people to discuss and understand CSR, because those CSR issues are already considered common and taken-for-granted by Finns and are implicit in the welfare state provisions. The experience of Finnish companies in implementing CSR policies in the supply chain is a concrete proactive step in advancing the message of CSR, that is, to bring companies and suppliers together to work on improving and strengthening relationships towards socially responsible practices worldwide. Such a forward step to deal with CSR issues in the supply chain reflects the companies' commitments and belief that CSR can be managed with the suppliers and gain positive benefits. Despite the problems and complexities, particularly in the global supply chain, managing CSR for Finnish companies presents new opportunities and challenges that are expected to intensify in the near future. The focus on CSR policy implementation inthe supply chain points to the importance of companies taking initiatives and forging cooperation with suppliers with the aim of addressing and improving CSR questions in the supply chains. The proactive stance of Finnish companies toward CSR is complemented by the active supporting role of important societalactors such as the government and NGOs. These actors carry out various promotional efforts and campaigns, thus bringing CSR into the mainstream of Finnish companies and strengthening the synergistic learning about CSR within the Finnish business and civil circles. The efforts of the government and NGOs to promote CSR are indicative of the importance of multipartite involvement and the emergence of better civil regulations. Likewise, their drive to learn from each other, exchange experiences, and contribute in CSR debates facilitated the evolution of CSRnetworks in the country. The results of this study add to the mounting evidence that CSR, in general, has created a new dimension in managing corporate sustainability. This study provides compelling empirical evidence and some direct quotations about CSR in the Finnish context. This information can be used to learn and gain new useful insights, approaches, and concepts for managing CSR.

Romance ur "Ur lifvets strid"

Soitinnus: lauluääni, piano.

Choice of Business Process Modeling Methodology - Case Northern Dimension Research Centre (NORDI) in Lappeenranta University of Technology

The main outcome of the master thesis is innovative solution, which can support a choice of business process modeling methodology. Potential users of this tool are people with background in business process modeling and possibilities to collect required information about organization’s business processes. Master thesis states the importance of business process modeling in implementation of strategic goals of organization. It is made by revealing the place of the concept in Business Process Management (BPM) and its particular case Business Process Reengineering (BPR). In order to support the theoretical outcomes of the thesis a case study of Northern Dimension Research Centre (NORDI) in Lappeenranta University of Technology was conducted. On its example several solutions are shown: how to apply business process modeling methodologies in practice; in which way business process models can be useful for BPM and BPR initiatives; how to apply proposed innovative solution for a choice of business process modeling methodology.

Du kan om du vill : lärares tankar om fostran till företagsamhet

The overall purpose of this dissertation is to better knowledge and understanding of enterprise education and investigate how such can be expressed in a school environment. The study’s research objective focuses on what teachers think and value about enterprise education and how they feel they are able to support students in their development towards an enterprising initiative. In the study’s theoretical background description, enterprise education, which was introduced into the Finnish national curriculum in 1994, is investigated outgoing from six so-named paths: linguistic, economic, educational-political, cultural, psychological, and the pedagogical, which is the main focus of the study. In the theoretical background, different characteristics have been identified; these are functional, social, and individual enterprise. The study’s empirical foundation consists of interviews with thirty teachers working at comprehensive and upper secondary schools. Two research efforts are combined: a phenomenographic and a phenomenological. In both efforts, a hermeneutic analysis takes place. Five principles that facilitate interpretation are presented and used: the indispensability of pre-understanding, the indispensability of the dimension of time, the indispensability of totality, the indispensability of negativism, and the indispensability of rationality. One study result is that teachers understand enterprise education as immanent, technical, and/or cooperative activity. The majority of teachers choose to emphasize that the purpose of activity is comprised of individual and social activity that is directed towards personal development, in contrast to functional enterprise, which is directed towards a technical form of activity and business-related, entrepreneurial knowledge. The question of how teachers understand the phenomenon is of significance for how they value it. The results also show that teachers’ abilities to reassess and change their manner are influenced by their knowledge/skills and awareness that they have of the interpretive possibilities that enterprise education manifests. In order to stimulate students to enterprising initiatives, teachers stress activity-promoting methods, authenticity, and an auspicious atmosphere in educational activities.

The cultural dimension in focus : promoting awareness of diversity and respect for difference in a Finland-Swedish EFL classroom

This study addresses the role of EFL education, its potential and shortcomings, and the challenges the future of EFL education will bring. It is argued that new societal demands and the limited time we have at our disposal in the classroom make it necessary to rethink goals and content and move away from the transmissionof limited sets of facts and information to helping students develop awareness and competences that can be applied in many different situations, also in a perspective of lifelong learning. The overall aim of the current study is to problematize and increase understanding of the implementation of cultural aspects in the language classroom by addressing the interrelated what, why and how of the cultural dimension within EFL education. This has been conducted by means of theoretical explorations into the area, alongside an attempt at promoting intercultural competence (IC) in a more systematic and insightful manner within my own educational praxis. The focus of the intercultural work in the classroom was on the promotion of awareness of difference and diversity, as well as respect for such difference through the ability to decenter from cultural norms and behavior that previously have been taken for granted. These are two elements that have been suggested as fundamental for other work with IC in the classroom and for the realization of important aspects of the underlying values of basic education. In the context of this study, IC comprises several interconnected components supportingeach other in a variety of ways, with the further aim being interaction with and respect for difference in general, not only concerning e.g. representatives ofcertain English-speaking communities. The methodology was informed by action research, with myself in the role of the teacher-researcher or the reflective practitioner. For the purpose of the project I was authorized to take on the EFL education for the three years of upper comprehensive school of one random class of students originally assigned to one of the language teachers of the selected Finland-Swedish school. Thus, the class of 17 students was not specifically chosen for the project, and the aims and contents chosen for the development project were placed within the framework of the ordinary curriculum. By exploring the students¿ insights concerning different English-speaking cultural groups, mainly through a set of questionnaires, it was possible to outline the work with the cultural dimension in the classroom for the following three years. Work progress was evaluated at specific stages, and the final project evaluations were conducted through individual student interviews in grade 9. The interviews were focused on possible development of students¿ insights concerning different aspects of the cultural dimension. In particular this concerned awareness of difference and diversity, including modification of stereotypes, as well as the ability to decenterin order to be better able to respect such difference. I also explored students¿ awareness and views of the activities and approaches used in class, as well asaffordances both inside and outside the EFL classroom in relation to these intended insights. A further focus area was the perceived relevance to students of different aspects of the cultural dimension. The frameworks and approaches adopted for the work in the classroom all have in common that they are based on a constructivist framework, where knowledge is constructed and reconstructed through interaction with one¿s social and cultural environment, including interaction with others. Reflective processes precede or are simultaneous with the learning of basic factual knowledge. This entails a view of learning as a progression from simple to more complex models rather than as a progression from facts to understanding and analysis. Here, the development of intercultural competence is seen asa cyclical process, or along a spiral curriculum, from simple to more complex levels through a combination of cognitive, affective and behavioral elements within a framework of experiential learning. This project has shown one possible wayforward concerning the development of intercultural competence within EFL education through a more systematic and comprehensive approach regarding linguistic and cultural aspects. The evaluation of the educational process explored in the study suggests the possibilities for work with the promotion of awareness of difference and diversity concerning some specific context that, based on students¿ prior knowledge and preconceptions, would benefit from further work. In this case, the specific context primarily concerned different aspects of both cultural and linguistic conditions in the UK. It is also suggested that many students developed the ability to decenter, described in the study as integral to being able to respect otherness. What still remains to be explored are more individualized approaches considering students¿ different levels of departure. Further work alsoneeds to be put into how to apply insights gained in these specific situations to more general contexts. It is also necessary to explore the use of the suggested approaches in a wider range of different contexts.

In pursuit of an intercultural dimension in EFL-teaching : exploring cognitions among Finland-Swedish comprehensive school teachers

This thesis is about the educational purpose of foreign language teaching (FLT) in an increasingly internationalised world.The past 20-30 years have witnessed a fundamental rethinking of the aims of FLT, entailing a shift in emphasis from linguistic competence over communicative competence to intercultural competence. The growing emphasis on cultural issues, called for by research and international curricular documents, places new demandson language teachers. The overall aim of this study is to deepen the knowledge about the attitudes of teachers at the upper level of the Finland-Swedish comprehensive school towards the treatment of culture in English foreign language (EFL) teaching. The questions in focus are: 1) How do teachers interpret the concept"culture" in EFL-teaching?, 2) How do they specify the cultural objectives of their teaching? and 3) What do they do to attain these objectives? The thesis strives to reveal whether or not language teaching today can be describedas intercultural, in the sense that culture is taught with the aim of promotingintercultural understanding, tolerance and empathy. This abductive and largely exploratory study is placed within a constructivist and sociocultural framework,and is inspired by both phenomenography and hermeneutics. It takes its starting-point in language didactics, and can also be regarded as a contribution to teacher cognition research. The empirical data consists of verbatim transcribed interviews with 13 Finland-Swedish teachers of English at grades 7-9. The findings are presented according to three orientations and reviewed with reference to the 2004 Finnish National Framework Curriculum. Within the cognitive orientation, "culture" is perceived as factual knowledge, and the teaching of cultureis defined in terms of the transmission of knowledge, especially about Britain and the USA (Pedagogy of Information). Within the action-related orientation, "culture" is seen as skills of a social and socio-linguistic nature, andthe teaching aims at preparing the students for contacts with people from the target language areas (Pedagogy of Preparation). Within the affective orientation, which takes a more holistic approach, "culture" is seen as a bi-directional perspective. Students are encouraged to look at their own familiar culture from another perspective, and learn to empathise with and show respect for otherness in general, not just concerning representatives of English-speaking countries (Pedagogy of Encounter). Very few of the interviewed teachers represent the third approach, which is the one that can be characterised as truly intercultural. The study indicates that many teachers feel unsure about how to teach culture in an appropriate and up-to-date manner. This is attributed to, among other things, lack of teacher insights as well as lack of time and adequate material. The thesis ends with a set of recommendations as to how EFL could be developed ina more intercultural direction.

Förverkligande av språkliga rättigheter i Finland. En studie av svenskans ställning i polisens verksamhet i det tvåspråkiga Vanda

Tämän tutkielman aiheena on suomenruotsalaisten kielellisten oikeuksien toteutuminen poliisin toiminnassa. Tutkimuksen lähtökohtana on v. 2004 uudistunut kielilaki, jossa säädetään yhtäläisestä oikeudesta käyttää suomea ja ruotsia Suomen viranomaisissa. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kartoittaa ruotsinkielisten palvelujen nykytilannetta kaksikielisessä Vantaan poliisissa. Tutkimukseen osallistui 27 Vantaan poliisiasemalla työskentelevää poliisia. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytetään kvalitatiivista teemahaastattelua sekä laajemmalle joukolle suunnattua kyselylomaketta. Kyselylomakkeen avulla kartoitetaan, kuinka usein ja millaisissa tilanteissa poliisit käyttävät ruotsia työssään, ja kuinka he menettelevät asioidessaan ruotsinkielisten kanssa. Lisäksi selvitetään poliisien kielitaidon tasoa ja mahdollisuuksia ruotsin taitojen ylläpitämiseen ja kehittämiseen. Tarkoituksena on myös selvittää, missä määrin poliisit kokevat arvioidun kielitaitonsa vastaavan työelämässä selviytymisen haasteita, sekä heidän näkemyksiään kielellisistä oikeuksista ja virkamiehille asetetuista kielitaitovaatimuksista. Haastattelujen tavoitteena on saavuttaa syväluotaavaa ja kokemuksellista tietoa ruotsin merkityksestä poliisiorganisaatiossa ja poliisin arjessa. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että useimmat tutkimukseen osallistuneet poliisit pitävät tärkeänä ruotsinkielisten oikeutta saada palvelua omalla äidinkielellään. Niin poliisijohdon kuin poliisien näkökulmasta keskeistä palvelun järjestämisessä on, ettei asiakkaan oikeusturva kärsi. Poliisit eivät kuitenkaan tavallisesti käytä ruotsia työssään, sillä he arvioivat kohtaavansa ruotsinkielisiä asiakkaita harvoin ja painottavat poliisin ja ruotsinkielisen asiakkaan välisen kanssakäymisen tapahtuvan usein suomeksi. Poliisit arvioivat ruotsin kielen taitonsa yleisesti melko puutteellisiksi ja riittämättömiksi kyetäkseen tarjoamaan hyvätasoista palvelua ruotsiksi. Erityisesti puhuminen ruotsiksi tuottaa monelle vaikeuksia. Tulosten perusteella ehdotamme, että poliisien todelliset ruotsin taidot selvitettäisiin työhönottohaastattelussa. Lisäksi olisi tärkeää, että poliisien kielitaidon tasoa pyrittäisiin tarvittaessa nostamaan poliisitoimen sisäisen jatkokoulutuksen avulla. Mielestämme poliisien kenttätehtävissä tulisi myös sijoittaa vähintään yksi ruotsinkielinen/-kielentaitoinen poliisi joka partioon. Poliisit voisivat myös hyödyntää mahdollisuutta antaa ruotsinkielisen asiakkaan puhua ruotsia ja itse puhua suomea, mikäli tilanne sen käytännössä sallii, ja yhteisymmärrys voidaan näin saavuttaa.