Russian Venture Capital Markets

Tämän työn tarkoituksena on arvioida riskipääomasijoittamisen kehitystä ja kasvua Venäjällä, sekä antaa kuva siihen vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Se myös arvioi Venäjän valtion toimintaa niin säätelijänä, kuin myös itsenäisenä sijoittajana. Saavutetut tulokset perustuvat haastatteluihin ja olemassa olevien tilastojen analysointiin. Vuoden 1998 rupla kriisin jälkeen riskipääomasijoittaminen lähti kasvuun joka on jatkunut tasaisella rauhallisella tahdilla. Alueellisista riskipääomarahastoista on siirrytty myös yksityisrahoitteisiin ja yksityishallinnoituihin rahastoihin omine kohde aloineen ja portfolioineen. Silti markkinat ovat säilyneet kyllästymättöminä. Kuluttajavetoiset toimialat ovat keränneet eniten investointeja talouden ja ostovoiman kasvusta johtuen. Alueellisesti Moskova erottuu sijoituskohteena, muiden suurempien kasvukeskusten seuratessa perässä. Venäjällä on vielä paljon heikkouksia jotka vaikuttavat sen houkuttelevuuteen sijoittajan näkökulmasta. Heikot instituutiot ja lainsäädäntö yhdistettynä riskipääomasijoittamisen luonteeseen tekevät Venäjästä arvaamattoman markkina-alueen. Se kuitenkin tarjoaa menestyville sijoittajille korkeat tuotot. Nähtäväksi jää kuinka valtion toiminta vaikuttaa markkinoiden kehitykseen lyhyellä ja pitkällä tähtäimellä, ja kuinka se onnistuu kehittämään Venäjän yleistä kilpailukykyä globaaleilla markkinoilla.

Public-Private Partnerships: Managing organizational change for acquiring value creative capabilities

The objective of the dissertation is to examine organizational responses of public actors to customer requirements which drive the transformation of value networks and promote public-private partnership in the electricity distribution industry and elderly care sectors. The research bridges the concept of offering to value networks where capabilities can be acquired for novel product concepts. The research contributes to recent literature, re-examining theories on interactions of customer requirements and supply management. A critical realist case study approach is applied to this abductive the research which directs to describe causalities in the analyzed phenomena. The presented evidence is based on three sources, which are in-depth interviews, archival analysis and the Delphi method. Service provision requires awareness on technology and functionalities of offering. Moreover, service provision includes interactions of multiple partners, which suggests the importance of the co-operative orientation of actors. According to the findings,portfolio management has a key role when intelligent solutions are implemented in public service provision because its concepts involve a variety of resources from multiple suppliers. However, emergent networks are not functional if they lack leaders who have access to the customer interface, have power to steer networks and a capability to build offerings. Public procurement policies were recognized to focus on a narrow scope in which price is a key factor in decisions. In the future, the public sector has to implement technology strategies and portfolio management, which mean longterm platform development and commitment to partnerships. On the other hand, the service providers should also be more aware of offerings into which their products will be integrated in the future. This requires making the customer’s voice in product development and co-operation in order to increase the interconnectivity of products.

Quantitative Sustainability Disclosure –An international comparison and its impact on investor valuation

This research focuses on the link between quantitative sustainability disclosure and information asymmetry. It builds upon previous research which links information asymmetry with voluntary disclosure. Stakeholders from the financial services sector claim that sustainability disclosure needs to be more numerical and comparable between companies. This research covers 111 firms from Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden from non-service industries and studies how quantitative their sustainability disclosure is, and whether or not there is a negative relation with information asymmetry. The results support the hypotheses, where two out of three information asymmetry proxies have a significant negative relation with quantitative disclosure. Size is supported as a moderating factor. Quantitativity also proves to have a significant link with third party sustainability ratings. The direct link between quantitativity and cost of capital is not however supported.

Public-private partnership in marine litter waste management

Marine litter is an international environmental problem that causes considerable costs to coastal communities and the fishing industry. Several international and national treaties and regulations have provisions to marine litter and forbid disposal of waste into the sea. However, none of these regulations state a responsibility for public authorities to recover marine litter from the sea, like they do for marine litter that washes up on public beaches. In a financial evaluation of a value chain for marine litter incineration it was found out that the total costs of waste incineration are approximately 100 ─ 200 % higher than waste fees offered by waste contractors of ports. The high costs of incineration are derived from the high calorific value of marine litter and therefore a high incineration cost for the waste, and long distances between ports that are taking part in a project for marine litter recovery from the sea and an Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility. This study provides a possible solution to diverting marine litter from landfills to more environmentally sustainable EfW use by using a public-private partnership (PPP) framework. PPP would seem to fit as a suitable cooperative approach for answering problems of current marine litter disposal in theory. In the end it is up to the potential partners of this proposed PPP to decide whether the benefits of cooperation justify the required efforts.

Private Home Care in Municipal Service Systems – A Case Study among Finnish and Swedish Municipalities

The aim of this study is to assess the current and future preconditions for conducting private business in municipal service systems for home care in Lahti and Hyvinkää in Finland, and in Uppsala and Huddinge in Sweden. This study also aims to assess the implications of quality related issues on the preconditions for conducting private business in the service systems in question. The theories and the research methodologies of the study are based on the Business Model Generation and the Business Model Canvas -concepts. Also a couple of frameworks on implications of quality are applied and integrated into the study. The study is completed as a case study – with structured and identical approaches for all four municipalities. The analyses and assessments of the study are primarily qualitative, but supported by simple quantitative methodologies. The data of the study consists primarily of publicly available information, and secondarily of answers provided by the case-municipalities to multiple choice questions. The results of the study show that the service systems for home care among the case-municipalities are, from perspective of private companies, diverse with local characteristics. Both the premises for conducting private business and the quality-issues are in many respects different in the Finnish and the Swedish case-municipalities. This is partly due to differences in the national service systems; the service voucher system versus the system of choice. Still, it appears that the current preconditions for conducting private business in the service systems for home care, including the implications of quality, would be more favorable in Uppsala and Huddinge than in Lahti and Hyvinkää. On the other hand, the service systems are subject to changes, and the most positive and significant development is here forecasted for a Finnish case-municipality (Lahti). Communication of quality is clearly more advanced in the Swedish case-municipalities. The results of this study can be utilized in several ways, for instance by private companies interested in entering into service systems for home care, either in some of the case-municipalities, or in some other Finnish or Swedish municipalities. Also municipalities can apply the analyses of the study when designing, developing or evaluating their own service systems for home care.

Public and Private Sector Decision Makers Within the Rail Baltica Growth Corridor

Transport volumes have increased and will continue to increase in European Union. Even though the growth has not been equal between different transport modes. Most of the growth has been faced on road transport. European Union aims to balance the unbalanced market shares between the modes by gaining and supporting the competitiveness of railway and waterway transport. In EU railway transportation is seen as solution to increase safety in traffic and decrease the environmental impacts of transportation. The aim of this research is to figure out how it is possible to decrease the environmental impacts by the technology already in use. Main focus of this research is in intermodality and combining the road and railway transportation. This study aims also to figure out demands and expectations towards new Rail Baltica railway route connecting Tallinn and Berlin. The research is conducted by performing a literature review about decreasing environmental impacts and combining road and rail transport. Another viewpoint is taken from the possible effects of tourism to the passenger transport on rails. Knowledge gained by literature review is deepened by additional internet questionnaire study and expert interview study. In decreasing the environmental impacts of transportation electric trains are definitely the best option providing that the electricity is generated from renewable or carbon dioxide free sources. Decrease of environmental impacts has been reached also with acceptance of larger road transport vehicles. According to interviewed passenger transport experts, the whole route from Tallinn to Berlin may not be convenient to be used in passenger transport, just because the route is too long.. In EU freight is transported mainly with semi-trailer combinations, and that is why it could be logical if huckepack trains would be used on Rail Baltica. Huckepack train allows semi-trailers to be transported on rails with time efficient loading-unloading process. Overall, Rail Baltica project is experienced as a future-oriented one and new railway alignment is seen as great alternative option for transport modes using fossil fuels.

Logistics of North-West Russia and Rail Baltica: Standpoints of Private Sector

The main aims of the present report are to describe the current state of railway transport in Russia, and to gather standpoints of Russian private transportation logistics sector towards the development of new railway connection called Rail Baltica Growth Corridor, connecting North-West Russia with Germany through the Baltic States and Poland. North-West Russia plays important role not only in Russian logistics, but also wider European markets as in container sea ports handling is approx. 2.5 mill. TEU p.a. and handling volume in all terminals is above 190 million tons p.a. The whole transportation logistics sector is shortly described as an operational environment for railways – this is done through technical and economic angles. Transportation development is always going in line with economics of the country, so the analysis on economical development is also presented. Logistics integration of the country is strongly influenced by its engagement in the international trade. Although, raw material handling at sea ports and container transports (imports) are blossoming, domestic transportation market is barely growing (in long-term perspective). Thus, recent entrance of Russia into World Trade Organization (WTO) is analyzed theme in this research, as the WTO is an important regulator of the foreign trade and enabler of volume growth in foreign trade related transportation logistics. However, WTO membership can influence negatively the development of Russia’s own industry and its volumes (these have been uncompetitive in global markets for decades). Data gathering in empirical part was accomplished by semi-structured case study interviews among North-West Russian logistics sector actors (private). These were conducted during years 2012-2013, and research compiles findings out of ten case company interviews. Although, there was no sea port involved in the study, most of the interviewed companies relied in European Logistics within significant parts in short sea shipping and truck combined transportation chains (in Russian part also using railways). As the results of the study, it could be concluded that Rail Baltica is seen as possible transport corridor in most of the interviewed companies, if there is enough cargo available. However, interviewees are a bit sceptical, because major and large-scale infrastructural improvements are needed. Delivery time, frequency and price level are three main factors influencing the attractiveness of Rail Baltica route. Price level is the most important feature, but if RB can offer other advantages such as higher frequency, shorter lead times or more developed set of value-added services, then some flexibility is possible for the price level. Environmental issues are not the main criteria of today, but are recognized and discussed among customers. Great uncertainty exists among respondents e.g. on forthcoming sulphur oxide ban on Baltic Sea shipping (whether or not it is going to be implemented in Russia). Rather surprisingly, transportation routes to Eastern Europe and Mediterranean area are having higher value and price space than those to Germany/Central Europe. Border crossing operations (traction monopoly at rails and customs), gauge widths as well as unclear decision-making processes (in Russia), are named as hindering factors. Performance standards for European connected logistics among Russian logistics sector representatives are less demanding as compared to neighbourhood countries belonging to EU.

Ihmisten johtaminen taistelussa : elokuva Saving Private Ryan johtamisen opettamisen työkaluna

Johtamisen opetuksessa yleensä käytetty menetelmä on pohjautunut dia- tai vielä perinteisempään kalvoesitykseen. Opetuksen elävöittämisessä sekä viretason ja motivaation ylläpitämisessä opetuksen aikana ei ole tapahtunut juurikaan kehitystä. Opiskelijoiden keskittyminen valuu hukkaan, kun kaikki tarmo pitää laittaa siihen, että pysyy hereillä opetuksen aikana. Elokuvien käyttö opetuksen apuna on hiljalleen vallannut jalansijaa itselleen. Kuitenkin niiden käyttö on edelleen hyvin rajallista, vaikka ne ovat äärimmäisen tehokas ja helppo keino sekä elävöittää että piristää opetusta. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on, selvittää yhden potentiaalisen vaihtoehdon, Saving Private Ryan – Pelastakaa sotamies Ryan, käytettävyyttä johtamisen opetuksen työkaluna ja apuvälineenä. Toisena tavoitteena tutkimukselle voidaan pitää ajatusta, että tämä tutkimus innostaisi aktiiviseen elokuvien tarkasteluun, varsinkin johtamisen opetuksen näkökulmasta sekä elokuvien käytäntöön soveltamiseen. Tutkimuksessa lähestyttiin edellä mainitun elokuvan kahta johtajaa, kapteeni Milleriä ja kersantti Horvathia. Tutkimuksen pääkysymykset oli suhteutettu heidän johtamiskäyttäytymisessä mahdollisesti esiintyvään syväjohtamiseen, syväjohtamisen malliin ja johtajalle luontaisiin ominaisuuksiin. Pääkysymysten tueksi tutkimukselle asetettiin myös alakysymyksiä, joiden avulla oli tarkoituksena selventää edellä mainittujen henkilöiden johtamisprosessin hallintaa, sotilaskuria ja alaisista huolenpitoa. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin perusanalyysimenetelmää, jota voidaan käyttää kaikissa laadullisissa tutkimuksissa. Kyseessä on sisällönanalyysi, tarkemmin sanottuna teorialähtöinen sisällönanalyysi. Tutkimuksen teoriaosan avulla rakennetut strukturoidut analyysirungot ohjasivat henkilöiden johtamiskäyttäytymisen analysointia. Tuloksien perusteella voidaan vilpittömästi todeta, että tulevaisuudessa elokuvien käyttö opetuksen apuna tulee näyttelemään suurta osaa. Elokuvat tuovat opetukseen tarvittavaa piristystä ja mahdollistavat esimerkiksi aktiivimonisteiden tehokkaan käytön.

Finnish game developers’ perception on public and private funding sources: a survey analysis

The aim of this study is to find out how game companies perceive the three traditional funding sources and how well their opinions and needs are reflected on the choices they make. To accomplish this, 20 game companies were questioned about multiple topics with the help of Tekes and Neogames. The results of this study show that game developers clearly differentiate the three major funding sources and the public sector ends up being the most significant source of external funding. This study also points out that most game companies are indeed facing issues in acquiring funding as well as various other resources.

Public and private sector cooperative opportunities in the Finnish healthcare internationalization : views from the public sector’s perspective

Traditionally mostly publicly provided Finnish healthcare services are confronted today by the evident challenge of rising healthcare costs as the expenditure on health and social case has exceeded Finland’s national GDP growth significantly since the new millennium. While the opening of the traditional barriers through the EU’s new patient directive resulting in increasing international competition and the free flow of patients within the EU present opportunities for the Finnish healthcare services industry there are also several challenges for the existing healthcare system as proposed by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy in 2011. Due to the structure and nature of the current Finnish healthcare service system the greatest potential for internationalization is seen from a joint cooperation of the public and private sectors in an internationalization network for Finnish healthcare services. As its formation has recently also taken as a strategic initiative to be completed by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy and no earlier research exists on how this is seen in practice by the network actors, the purpose of this study is to examine the proposed solution of forming an internationalization network between the public and private sector actors in Finland in practice from the viewpoint of public sector actors. The research relied heavily on the reports by the Finnish Ministries in understanding the current situation of the Finnish healthcare services internationalization and its potential. Suitable theories were also used to build a more comprehensive view of the matter. The study applied a qualitative research approach on the explorative research problem. The data collection was achieved through expert interviews in two of the largest Finnish public healthcare service providers; the Turku and Helsinki Central University Hospitals. Expert interviews were considered as the most suitable method for data collection in order to create an in-depth understanding of the topic within the limitations of this thesis. In turn, two different public healthcare service providers were chosen to give a broader view of the field instead of focusing on a specific unit and also to allow a possible comparison between the two different organizations. The latter however was shown not to be suitable for the purposes of this study as the opinions of the respondents varied largely also within their own organizations. The conclusion is that while the actors agree on the evident internationalization of Finnish healthcare services, there are several large-scale structural challenges effectively preventing such activities while at the same time the opportunities within Finland vary, as there are several niches but no real large-scale advantages in the highly competitive industry. Interest towards cooperation between the sectors are seen especially in exploiting the advantages offered by the private sector in commercialization and marketization, yet however no clear views exist on how these activities should be governed or structured in the short-term as a larger reform of the entire Finnish healthcare service sector is needed in the long-term.

Pääomasijoittamisen tehostaminen suomalaisen pkt-sektorin kehittämisessä

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli kehittää systemaattinen toimintamalli sekä luoda suorituskyvyn esi-merkkimittaristo pääomasijoittajan toiminnan tehostamiseksi. Pääomasijoittajan tärkein tehtävä on pyrkiä kasvattamaan sijoituskohdeyrityksen osakkeiden ja siten omistaja-arvoa keskipitkällä aika-jänteellä. Strategioiden kehittämistä ja toteuttamista on tutkittu sangen laajasti, mutta käytännölli-sempi lähestymiskulma hallitustyöskentelyn vaikutuksista sekä strategioiden toteutuksen varmis-tamisesta on jäänyt näissä aikaisemmissa tutkimuksissa vähemmälle huomiolle. Varsinainen perusta omistaja-arvolle ja sen kasvattamiselle suomalaisen pkt-yrityksen pääomasi-joittamisessa luodaan hyvien ja tulevaisuuden kasvupotentiaalia omaavien kohdeyritysten etsimisellä, riittävän tarkalla analysoinnilla sekä sijoitushetken kohtuullisella arvostuksella. Sijoitusaikana ei enää pystytä korjaamaan mahdollisia alkuvaiheen epäonnistumisia. Kun kohdeyhtiöön on valittu ammattitaitoinen ja motivoitunut hallitus, tulee pääomasijoittajan panostaa valittujen strategioiden toteuttamiseen havainnollisilla ja tehokkailla työkaluilla. Ne mahdollistavat kohdeyrityksen visioiden ja arvojen jakamisen edelleen helpommin ymmärrettäviksi avainmittareiksi ja –tavoitteiksi kaikille organisaatiotasoille. Suorituskyvyn mittaamisen ja analysoinnin päätehtävä sekä suurissa että pienissäkin yrityksissä on yritysjohdon päätöksenteon tukeminen luotettavan, säännöllisen ja riittävän tarkan informaation tuottamisella huolellisesti valituista mittauskohteista. Suorituskyvyn analysointi auttaa myös hahmottamaan paremmin kokonaisnäkemystä yrityksen menestykseen vaikuttavista tekijöistä sekä niiden välisistä syy-yhteyksistä. Alunperin suuryritysten tarpeisiin kehitetyt suorituskyvyn analysointi- ja mittausmenetelmät ovat poikkeuksetta liian monimutkaisia ja raskaita vastatakseen pienempien yritysten vaatimuksia. Liiketoiminnan seuraamisessa ja ohjaamisessa pkt-yrityksen hallituksen tulee ottaa perinteisten taloudellisten mittareiden lisäksi mukaan myös keskeisimpiä, ei-taloudellisia seurattavia asioita, joiden avulla muodostuu ajantasaisempi kuva kohdeyhtiön kilpailukyvystä sekä menestyksestä. Pääomasijoittajan toimintamallissa esitellään kansainvälisesti käytössä olevia menetelmiä strategian jalkauttamiseen, yrityksen liiketoimintamallin kehittämiseen sekä suorituskyvyn johtamisen tukemiseen. Pkt-yrityksille pyrittiin luomaan yksinkertainen mallimittaristo suorituskyvyn analysointiin ja yrityksen johtamisen tueksi. Sijoituskohdeyritysten hallituksilla on jo tällä hetkellä käytettävissään erilaisia kuukausittaisia taloudellisia tunnuslukuja sekä tilikauden tuloksestakin jotain ennakkotietoa. Näiden pohjalle olisi varsin yksinkertaista rakentaa myös yrityksen sisäisiä prosesseja, asiakkuustyöskentelyä, myyntiä ja markkinointia sekä toiminnan yleistä systemaattisuutta kuvaavia mittareita.

Private Equity Fund Performance Determinants: Evidence From Fund Characteristics

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether different private equity fund characteristics have any influence on the fund performance. Fund characteristics include fund type (venture capital or buyouts), fund size (sizes of funds are divided into six ranges), fund investment industry, fund sequence (first fund or follow-on fund) and investment market (US or EMEA). Fund performance is measured by internal rate of return, and tested by cross-sectional regression analysis with the method of Ordinary Least Squares. The data employs performance and characteristics of 997 private equity funds between 1985 and 2008. Our findings are that fund type has effect on fund performance. The average IRR of venture capital funds is 2.7% less than average IRR of buyout funds. However, We did not find any relationship between fund size and performance, and between fund sequence and performance. Funds based on US market perform better than funds based on EMEA market. The fund performance differs across different industries. The average IRRs of industrial/energy industry, consumer related industry, communications and media industry and medical/health industry are higher than the average IRR of other industries.

Family ownership – a source of sustainable success in listed companies

Extant research on exchange-listed firms has acknowledged that the concentration of ownership and the identity of owners make a difference. In addition, studies indicate that firms with a dominant owner outperform firms with dispersed ownership. During the last few years, scholars have identified one group of owners, in particular, whose ownership stake in publicly listed firm is positively related to performance: the business family. While acknowledging that family firms represent a unique organizational form, scholars have identified various concepts and theories in order to understand how the family influences organizational processes and firm performance. Despite multitude of research, scholars have not been able to present clear results on how firm performance is actually impacted by the family. In other words, studies comparing the performance of listed family and other types of firms have remained descriptive in nature since they lack empirical data and confirmation from the family business representatives. What seems to be missing is a convincing theory that links the involvement and behavioral consequences. Accordingly, scholars have not yet come to a mutual understanding of what precisely constitutes a family business. The variety of different definitions and theories has made comparability of different results difficult for instance. These two issues have hampered the development of a rigorous theory of family business. The overall objective of this study is to describe and understand how the family as a dominant owner can enhance firm performance, and can act a source of sustainable success in listed companies. In more detail, in order to develop understanding of the unique factors that can act as competitive advantages for listed family firms, this study is based on a qualitative approach and aims at theory development, not theory verification. The data in this study consist of 16 thematic interviews with CEOs, members of the board, supervisory board chairs, and founders of Finnish listed-family firms. The study consists of two parts. The first part introduces the research topic, research paradigm, methods, and publications, and also discusses the overall outcomes and contributions of the publications. The second part consists of four publications that address the research questions from different viewpoints. The analyses of this study indicate that family ownership in listed companies represents a structure that differs from the traditional views of agency and stewardship, as well as from resource-based and stakeholder views. As opposed to these theories and shareholder capitalism which consider humans as individualistic, opportunistic, and self-serving, and assume that the behaviors of an investor are based on the incentives and motivations to maximize private profits, the family owners form a collective social unit that is motivated to act together toward their mutual purpose or benefit. In addition, socio-emotional and psychological elements of ownership define the family members as owners, rather than the legal and financial dimensions of ownership. That is, collective psychological ownership of family over the business (F-CPO) can be seen as a construct that comprehensively captures the fusion between the family and the business. Moreover, it captures the realized, rather than merely potential, family influence on and interaction with the business, and thereby brings more theoretical clarity of the nature of the fusion between the family and the business, and offers a solution to the problem of family business definition. This doctoral dissertation provides academics, policy-makers, family business practitioners, and the society at large with many implications considering family and business relationships.