CSR and CSR communication’s effect on prospective employees

The aim of this Master’s Thesis was to examine whether corporate social responsibility and CSR communication has effect on company’s image in the eyes of 18-25 year olds young job seekers and thus study young adults perceptions on these issues. By utilizing previous academic literature a through picture of the main topics was built and by conducting quantitative research, research’s aim was sought to answer. The framework defines the link between research’s main concepts corporate image, CSR and CSR communication and how this can lead to attracting prospective employees. A quantitative research method was applied and an online survey was sent to people whom had applied for L&T by June during the year 2015. Out of these people, those who were aged 18-15 and had vocational education were qualified to answer the survey. The data was analyzed by utilizing statistical analysis and causal relationships were found though which the explanation of perceptions and impacts was possible. The results showed that young adults are influenced by CSR and CSR communication and thus these factors have an impact on prospective employees.

Yritysvastuun rooli rakennusalalla nykypäivänä ja tulevaisuudessa

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tarkastella yritysvastuun roolia rakennusalalla sekä kirjallisuuden että empiirisen tutkimuksen avulla. Tutkimuksen avulla hahmoteltiin, millainen on yritysvastuun rooli nykypäivänä ja millainen sen arvioidaan olevan vuonna 2030. Tutkimuksen tutkimusmenetelmänä oli kyselytutkimus. Kyselyyn osallistui 125 rakennusalan työntekijää. Kyselyssä oli 37 kysymystä, joissa tarkasteltiin rakennusalan yritysvastuun nykytilaa ja tulevaisuutta vuoteen 2030 asti. Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta, että yritysvastuuta pidetään tärkeänä rakennusalalla ja sen uskotaan olevan entistä tärkeämpi tulevaisuudessa. Rakennusalan yrityksillä on monia eri syitä, miksi ne panostavat yritysvastuuseen. Tärkeimmiksi syiksi tutkimuksen mukaan nousivat yritysmaineen/imagon rakentaminen, lainsäädännön noudattaminen ja tulevaisuuden toimintaedellytysten turvaaminen.

The effect of brand trust on satisfaction, trust, and loyalty on a consumer magazine website

Internetin käyttö on yleistynyt valtavasti viimeisen kymmenen vuoden aikana. Internetissä kuluttajalta puuttuu kasvokkainen kontakti myyjään, mikä voi vähentää kuluttajan luottamusta myyjää kohtaan. Tällaisessa tilanteessa kuluttaja voi käyttää brändejä viitteenä myyjän luotettavuudesta. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena on tutkia brändiluottamuksen vaikutusta kuluttajan tyytyväisyyteen, luottamukseen ja uskollisuuteen Internet-sivuja kohtaan. Tutkielman kysely (n=875) toteutettiin Vauva-lehden Internet-sivuilla. Tutkielman tulokset paljastavat, että brändiluottamuksella on merkittävä myönteinen vaikutus kuluttajan tyytyväisyyteen, luottamukseen ja uskollisuuteen Internet-sivuja kohtaan. Internet-sivujen aikaisempikäyttö sekä rekisteröityminen sivuille vaikuttavat myös luottamukseen Internet-sivuja kohtaan. Lisäksi brändiluottamuksen vaikutus brändiuskollisuuden osoittautui erittäin merkittäväksi.

Yliopisto-opiskelijoiden sosiaalisen median käyttö, sosiaalinen verkostoitumien ja stereotypiat eri koulutusohjelmien opiskelijoista

Tämä diplomityö tutkii Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston opiskelijoiden sosiaalisen median palvelujen ja sovellusten käyttöä. Se tekee myös selvyyttä tavoista, joiden avulla opiskelijat muodostavat sosiaalisen verkostonsa muihin opiskelijoihin ja muihin ihmisiin. Se tutkii myös opiskelijoiden stereotypioita ja mielikuvia eri koulutusohjelmien opiskelijoista. Työn päätarkoitus on tutkia sosiaalisen median roolia opiskelijoiden elämässä. Tutkimustyö tehtiin verkossa täytettävällä kyselylomakkeella. Tutkimuksen tulokset esitellään työn loppupuoliskolla. Alkupuolisko esittelee sosiaalisen median käsitteitä ja palveluita sekä valaisee tietotekniikan roolia sosiaalisessa mediassa. Se käsittelee myös sosiaalista verkostoitumista opiskelijan näkökulmasta ja esittelee aikaisemmin tehtyjä tutkimuksia opiskelijoiden sosiaalisen median käytöstä.

Maksullisen verkkopalvelun konsepti mediayhtiölle

Mediayhtiöt miettivät keinoja joilla saataisiin lukijat maksamaan myös verkkopalveluihin julkaistavista sisällöistä. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin tilaajapohjaisen maksullisen verkkopalvelu-mallin soveltuvuutta Talentum Media Oy:lle sekä kehitettiin yritykselle maksavia asiakkaita houkuttelevan sisältötuotteen konsepti. Tutkimuksessa ei ilmennyt syitä, joiden takia yrityksen olisi syytä lykätä maksullisen verkkopalvelun kehittämistä. Perinteistä lehteä ja sen verkkopalvelua ei kannata nähdä toistensa kilpailijoina. Käyttäjät ovat yhä valmiimpia maksamaan sisällöstä verkossa, kun se on järjestelty houkutteleviksi kokonaisuuksiksi ja paketoitu oikein, sekä kun he säästävät aikaa tai vaivaa verkkopalvelun käytöllä. Verkkopalvelun muuntaminen maksulliseksi on kuitenkin suunniteltava erittäin tarkkaan, muuten käyttäjät saattavat siirtyä ilmaisiin palveluihin. Talentumin verkkopalveluiden käyttäjille tehdyn kyselytutkimuksen mukaan yrityksen verkkopalveluiden käyttäjät maksaisivat mieluiten verkkokoulutuksista, erityisraporteista ja tutkivasta journalismista, ammattikirjojen tiivistelmistä, opastavista tietopaketeista, pörssi- ja yritystiedosta sekä näköislehdistä. Tutkimuksessa kehitettiin maksullisen verkkopalvelun konsepti, joka tarjoaa lukijoille itsensä kehittämisen välineitä sekä informaatiota nopeasti ja vaivattomasti heidän haluamaansa aikaan ja valitsemallaan päätelaitteella. Konseptia seuraavan tuotekehityshankkeen tuloksena syntyvästä verkkopalvelusta odotetaan saatavan merkittävää lisäliikevaihtoa yrityksen online-toiminnoille.

Yksityisen päiväkotihoidon kiinnostavuus Lahdessa

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, millainen Lahteen mahdollisesti perustettava yksityinen päiväkoti toiminnaltaan olisi, eli millaisia ominaisuuksia päiväkotilasten vanhemmat sellaisessa arvostaisivat. Toisaalta vertailukohdaksi otettiin, miten he näkevät tämänhetkisen tilanteen kunnallisissa päiväkodeissa. Teoriaosuus perustui viiden kilpailuvoiman malliin ja siinä erityisesti differointiin. Empiriaosuudessa tutkittiin kvantitatiivisella lomaketutkimuksella vanhempien mielipiteitä. Kunnallisten päiväkotilasten vanhempien tietämys yksityisistä päiväkodeista oli heikkoa, joten tutkimus perustui tältä osin pääasiassa mielikuviin. Mielikuva yksityisistä päiväkodeista oli positiivinen, mutta lähes kaikessa heikompi kuin kokemukset kunnallisista päiväkodeista. Ryhmäkoot, päiväkotien koot ja henkilökunnan määrä sekä hoidon rauhallisuus nähtiin yksityisellä puolella parempina. Mikäli yksityiset päiväkodit haluavat saada aikaan paremman mielikuvan ja tulevaisuudessa toimia jopa brändeinä, niiden on luotava itsestään positiivisempi mielikuva.

Intra-organizational knowledge transfer in a Finnish multinational company

The ability of a multinational company to effectively transfer knowledge from one unit to another can create a great source of competitive advantage and is crucial for long-term success. However, in their attempts to disseminate existent knowledge across national boundaries, organizations encounter several obstacles. Especially challenging is the transfer of tacit knowledge, the most valuable kind, as it is embedded in the minds and the behavior of people. The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors and challenges to be considered in intra-organizational knowledge transfer and consequently develop a framework that could be utilized to improve the process. The research is of qualitative nature and it adopts an exploratory approach. The study was further conducted as an intensive single-case study through studying a Finnish multinational company, and the researcher adopted a role as a participant observant in the research setting. Other data collection methods include semi-structured interviews and an online survey. The research findings show that knowledge transfer is currently challenging within the international sales organization of the case company. The majority of knowledge is currently concentrated in the company headquarters, and it is not always systematically distributed to the regional offices abroad. The main factor affecting knowledge transfer seems to be the organizational culture, which does not support or encourage knowledge sharing. The company is struggling in having a common place for information and employees that lack proper social networks have difficulties accessing relevant knowledge. Some recommended improvement suggestions include the institutionalization of knowledge transfer by turning it into an articulated organizational goal, and the implementation of a reward system that includes soft factors, such as teamwork and knowledge sharing behavior. Furthermore, the organizational culture should be more open and supportive in order to reinforce trust. Individuals in regional offices should be given better support by offering them dedicated mentors and increasing the amount of expatriation. Finally, knowledge should actively be codified and stored in commonly shared platforms where it is easily accessible by all employees.

Profiling the Value of Industrial Maintenance Services

Industrial maintenance can be executed internally, acquired from the original equipment manufacturer or outsourced to a service provider, and this concludes in many different kind of business relationships. To maximize the total value in a maintenance business relationship it is important to know what the partner values. The value of maintenance services can be considered to consist of value elements and the perceived total value for the customer and the service provider is the sum of these value elements. The specific objectives of this thesis are to identify the most important value elements for the maintenance service customer and provider and also to recognize where the value elements differ. The study was executed as a statistical analysis using the survey method. The data has been collected by an online survey sent to 345 maintenance service professionals in Finland. In the survey, four different types of value elements were considered: the customer’s high critical and low critical items and the service provider’s core and support service. The most valued elements by the respondents were reliability, safety at work, environmental safety, and operator knowledge. The least valued elements were asset management factors and access to markets. Statistically significant differences in value elements between service types were also found. As a managerial implication a value gap profile is presented. This Master’s Thesis is part of the MaiSeMa (Industrial Maintenance Services in a Renewing Business Network: Identify, Model and Manage Value) research project where network decision models are created to identify, model and manage the value of maintenance services.

Brand Identity and Image in B2B Factory Automation Context

The goal of this thesis is to study how a solution-oriented business-to-business company can utilize its brand as a strategic asset by using the concepts of brand identity and brand image. The study analyses the intended brand message (identity) contrasting it with the customer perceptions (image) to reveal points of parity and congruence. The study uses a case company as an example and discusses the benefits of brand management as well. Internally, brands can be studied by performing a set of interviews amongst top and middle management. The interviews need to consider the various elements of branding from associations to differentiation and value creation. Customers’ perceptions can be reliably studied via online survey designed to compare the intended brand message with customers’ experiences. From the perspective of industrial management the incentive for brand development lies in both monetary and managerial benefits. In literature the four essential benefits of B2B branding are risk dilution, efficiency of communications, strategic direction and price premiums. As a result, suggestive models for brand identity and image were devised and compared. The Case Company perceives itself as a technically oriented open-integrator, with a strong focus on reliability and customer service. Customers agree with the picture in general, but there are some points of parity as well: they are quite satisfied with the company and perceive it as reliable and providing the promised value. The problematic areas revolve around customer interaction and maintaining the leadership position. The results confirm previous findings in B2B branding theory, where the reliability and credibility of the supplier are in major role. The results also suggest a holistic, corporate approach on branding.

Toward a-state-of-the-art IR copyright management system: a needs assessment

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Recommendations for Preservation Data Policies

Poster at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Let Go and Remember. How Finnish Communities Experienced and Memorialized School Shootings

This study examines the aftermath of mass violence in local communities. Two rampage school shootings that occurred in Finland are analyzed and compared to examine the ways in which communities experience, make sense of, and recover from sudden acts of mass violence. The studied cases took place at Jokela High School, in southern Finland, and at a polytechnic university in Kauhajoki, in western Finland, in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Including the perpetrators, 20 people lost their lives in these shootings. These incidents are part of the global school shooting phenomenon with increasing numbers of incidents occurring in the last two decades, mostly in North America and Europe. The dynamic of solidarity and conflict is one of the main themes of this study. It builds upon previous research on mass violence and disasters which suggests that solidarity increases after a crisis, and that this increase is often followed by conflict in the affected communities. This dissertation also draws from theoretical discussions on remembering, narrating, and commemorating traumatic incidents, as well as the idea of a cultural trauma process in which the origins and consequences of traumas are negotiated alongside collective identities. Memorialization practices and narratives about what happened are vital parts of the social memory of crises and disasters, and their inclusive and exclusive characteristics are discussed in this study. The data include two types of qualitative interviews; focused interviews with 11 crisis workers, and focused, narrative interviews with 21 residents of Jokela and 22 residents of Kauhajoki. A quantitative mail survey of the Jokela population (N=330) provided data used in one of the research articles. The results indicate that both communities experienced a process of simultaneous solidarity and conflict after the shootings. In Jokela, the community was constructed as a victim, and public expressions of solidarity and memorialization were promoted as part of the recovery process. In Kauhajoki, the community was portrayed as an incidental site of mass violence, and public expressions of solidarity by distant witnesses were labeled as unnecessary and often criticized. However, after the shooting, the community was somewhat united in its desire to avoid victimization and a prolonged liminal period. This can be understood as a more modest and invisible process of “silent solidarity”. The processes of enforced solidarity were partly made possible by exclusion. In some accounts, the family of the perpetrator in Jokela was excluded from the community. In Kauhajoki, the whole incident was externalized. In both communities, this exclusion included associating the shooting events, certain places, and certain individuals with the concept of evil, which helped to understand and explain the inconceivable incidents. Differences concerning appropriate emotional orientations, memorialization practices and the pace of the recovery created conflict in both communities. In Jokela, attitudes towards the perpetrator and his family were also a source of friction. Traditional gender roles regarding the expression of emotions remained fairly stable after the school shootings, but in an exceptional situation, conflicting interpretations arose concerning how men and women should express emotion. The results from the Jokela community also suggest that while increased solidarity was seen as important part of the recovery process, some negative effects such as collective guilt, group divisions, and stigmatization also emerged. Based on the results, two simultaneous strategies that took place after mass violence were identified; one was a process of fast-paced normalization, and the other was that of memorialization. Both strategies are ways to restore the feeling of security shattered by violent incidents. The Jokela community emphasized remembering while the Kauhajoki community turned more to the normalization strategy. Both strategies have positive and negative consequences. It is important to note that the tendency to memorialize is not the only way of expressing solidarity, as fast normalization includes its own kind of solidarity and helps prevent the negative consequences of intense solidarity.

Influencing Perceived Agency: A Study into User Experiences in Digital Interactive Storytelling

User experience is a crucial element in interactive storytelling, and as such it is important to recognize the different aspects of a positive user experience in an interactive story. Towards that goal, in the first half of this thesis, we will go through the different elements that make up the user experience, with a strong focus on agency. Agency can be understood as the user’s ability to affect the story or the world in which the story is told with interesting and satisfying choices. The freedoms granted by agency are not completely compatible with traditional storytelling, and as such we will also go through some of the issues of agency-centric design philosophies and explore alternate schools of thought. The core purpose of this thesis is to determine the most important aspects of agency with regards to a positive user experience and attempt to find ways for authors to improve the overall quality of user experience in interactive stories. The latter half of this thesis deals with the research conducted on this matter. This research was carried out by analyzing data from an online survey coupled with data gathered by the interactive storytelling system specifically made for this research (Regicide). The most important aspects of this research deal with influencing perceived agency and facilitating an illusion of agency in different ways, and comparing user experiences in these different test environments. The most important findings based on this research include the importance of context-controlled and focused agency and settings in which the agency takes place and the importance of ensuring user-competency within an interactive storytelling system. Another essential conclusion to this research boils down to communication between the user and the system; the goal of influencing perceived agency should primarily be to ensure that the user is aware of all the theoretical agency they possess.

Grassroots Charity in China: Case Analysis of a Charity Project Organised by Jane Zhang Fan Club

As unregistered grassroots charities do not appear in official statistics in China, they tend to remain unnoticed by scholars. Also as they operate unofficially and avoid publicity, their work is usually not reported by the media. In this research I explore the grassroots charity activity of one pop music fan club from the viewpoint of trust as a sociological concept. I will also establish the general situation on charity in China. By using textual analysis on internet blogs and discussion forums I map the charity project from the discussion of the original idea to the execution and follow up phase. I study the roles the fan club members assume during the project as anonymous participants of internet conversations, as well as concrete active charity volunteers outside of the virtual world. I establish parties, other than the fan club, which are involved in the charity project. Interviews with one of the participant of the project in 2010, 2014 and 2015 bring valuable additional information and help in distributing the questionnaire survey. A quantitative questionnaire survey was distributed among the fan club members to get more detailed information on the motives and attitudes towards official and unofficial charity in China. Because of the inequality in China, the rural minority areas do not have similar educational opportunities as the mostly majority inhabited urban areas, even though the country officially has a nine year compulsory education. Grassroots charities can operate in relative freedom taking some of the government’s burden of social responsibilities if they are not criticizing the authorities. The problem with grassroots charity seems to be lack of sustainability. The lack of trust for authorities and official charities was the reason why the Jane Zhang fan club decided to conduct a charity case unofficially. As a group of people previously unknown to each other, they managed to build mutual trust to carry out the project transparently and successfully, though not sustainably. The internet has provided a new and effective platform for unofficial grassroots charities, who choose not to co-operate with official organisations. On grassroots level charities can have the transparency and trust that lack from official charities. I suggest, that interviewing the real persons behind the internet aliases and finding out what happened outside the discussion forums, would bring a more detailed and outspoken description of the project concerning of the contacts with the local authorities. Also travelling to the site and communicating with the local people in the village would establish how they have experienced the project.

Consumer’s purchase intention of ethical fashion. Examining beliefs about fashion industry and attitudes towards ethical fashion

Globalization and the developments of supply chain have made inexpensive labor and the low production costs of developing countries available to businesses worldwide. Unfortunately, these developments have also led to the exploitation of human and natural resources. The increasing supply of cheap and fashionable clothing has created a contradiction between consumers’ concerns for sustainability and their purchase behavior in the fashion industry. Since the uncovering of several sweatshop scandals in the 1980’s and 1990’s ethical fashion brands have started to emerge. Ethical fashion has sparked the interest of consumers and studies have shown promising positive attitudes towards it. However, these attitudes have failed to translate into action and purchase behavior of ethical fashion has not reached the expectations. In order to translate the positive attitudes into buying companies must understand consumer’s motivations and reasons behind the purchase decision. The objective of this study is to understand the antecedents behind young consumer’s purchase intention of ethical fashion. The study is based on the theory of planned behavior which has been widely used to study consumer behavior and purchase decisions. The theory has also been used in ethical decision-making and fashion context before. According to the theory, in order to understand purchase intentions consumer’s attitudes toward buying ethical fashion were studied. The theory also states that attitudes are formed from beliefs, thus, consumer’s beliefs about the fashion industry were studied. To contribute to existing research, the effect of sweatshop issues and environmental issues were compared. The data was collected from university students (n=617) with an online survey. The results were analyzed by statistical methods and they revealed that young Finnish consumers hold positive attitudes towards buying ethical fashion as well as positive purchase intentions of ethical fashion. A strong relationship was found between positive attitudes and positive purchase intentions. Also, the more negative consumers’ beliefs of the fashion industry were the more positive their attitudes toward buying ethical fashion were. In contradiction to previous research this study revealed that environmental issues had greater effect on attitudes than sweatshop issues. Interesting differences between consumers were found depending on their field of education. Students from humanities and social sciences held the most negative beliefs as well as most positive attitudes and purchase intentions of ethical fashion.