Creating a Performance Measurement System for Accounting Services of Large Paper Company

The main objective of this research is creating a performance measurement system for accounting services of a large paper industry company. In this thesis there are compared different performance measurement system and then selected two systems, which are presented and compared more detailed. Performance Prism system is the used framework in this research. Performance Prism using success maps to determining objectives. Model‟s target areas are divided into five groups: stakeholder satisfaction, stakeholder contribution, strategy, processes and capabilities. The measurement system creation began by identifying stakeholders and defining their objectives. Based on the objectives are created success map. Measures are created based on the objectives and success map. Then is defined needed data for measures. In the final measurement system, there are total just over 40 measures. Each measure is defined specific target level and ownership. Number of measures is fairly large, but this is the first version of the measurement system, so the amount is acceptable.

A recital by students of the Sibelius Academy, Finland

Sibelius-Akatemian oppilasvaihtokonsertti Manchesterissa 23.9.1975.

Cultural differences in web-based health information seeking of Finnish and Japanese students

Abstrakti

The effect of institutional settings on accounting conservatism – Empirical evidence from the Nordic countries and the transitional economies of Europe

The purpose of the dissertation is to investigate how different institutional settings affect accounting conservatism. These aspects are of interest because prior studies show that accounting quality is influenced not only by accounting standards, but also by incentives from the financial reporting environment. Accounting quality could be defined as the usefulness of financial reporting to investors and other parties in contractual relationships with the firm. In this thesis it is measured by a single, but important attribute, accounting conservatism. Conservatism is understood as asymmetric timeliness of loss and gain recognition. The study examines the role and the users of financial statements, and how changes in both respectively affect accounting conservatism. These two questions are explored in two different research environments, the Nordic countries and the transitional economies of Europe. The results of the dissertation indicate that the degree of accounting conservatism increases the closer the financial statement comes to fulfilling the informational role of financial reporting. Secondly, it is also implied that foreign investors demand conservative accounting numbers in order to mitigate the problem of information asymmetry. Overall, the findings suggest that earnings conservatism is useful and increases the quality of financial information for the purpose of decision-making and contracting. These results are of relevance to managers, investors and other users of financial reporting information, as well as to standard setters.

Mild developmental dyslexia in university students: diagnosis and performance features in L1, L2, and L3

Avhandling visar att lindrig dyslexi påverkar läs- och skrivprestationer hos högpresterare. Särdrag träder tydligast fram i främmande språk och vid hantering av språkljud i krävande testuppgifter. Även om dyslexirelaterade problem vanligtvis är lindriga hos universitetsstudenter, är det centralt att dessa identifieras, eftersom de ses påverka akademiska prestationer. Avhandlingen lägger fram det första finlandssvenska dyslexitestet normerat för universitetsnivå (FS-DUVAN) och ger verktyg för utredning av läs- och skrivsvårigheter hos unga vuxna i Svenskfinland. Avhandlingen utforskar också språkspecifika särdrag av dyslexi hos högpresterande finlandssvenska universitetsstudenter i läs- och skrivuppgifter i svenska, finska och engelska. Detaljerade felanalyser visar att studenter med dyslexi speciellt har problem med kopplingar mellan språkljud och bokstav i det främmande språket engelska, som också i detta avseende är komplext. Resultat i komplexa kognitiva testuppgifter som förutsätter hantering av språkljud pekar på svikt i fonologisk processering, som betecknas som den huvudsakliga underliggande kognitiva nedsättningen vid utvecklingsbetingad dyslexi.

Competence in intensive and critical care nursing - development of a basic assessment scale for graduating nursing students

Intensive and critical care nursing is a speciality in its own right and with its own nature within the nursing profession. This speciality poses its own demands for nursing competencies. Intensive and critical care nursing is focused on severely ill patients and their significant others. The patients are comprehensively cared for, constantly monitored and their vital functions are sustained artificially. The main goal is to win time to cure the cause of the patient’s situation or illness. The purpose of this empirical study was i) to describe and define competence and competence requirements in intensive and critical care nursing, ii) to develop a basic measurement scale for competence assessment in intensive and critical care nursing for graduating nursing students, and iii) to describe and evaluate graduating nursing students’ basic competence in intensive and critical care nursing by seeking the reference basis of self-evaluated basic competence in intensive and critical care nursing from ICU nurses. However, the main focus of this study was on the outcomes of nursing education in this nursing speciality. The study was carried out in different phases: basic exploration of competence (phase 1 and 2), instrumentation of competence (phase 3) and evaluation of competence (phase 4). Phase 1 (n=130) evaluated graduating nursing students’ basic biological and physiological knowledge and skills for working in intensive and critical care with Basic Knowledge Assessment Tool version 5 (BKAT-5, Toth 2012). Phase 2 focused on defining competence in intensive and critical care nursing with the help of literature review (n=45 empirical studies) as well as competence requirements in intensive and critical care nursing with the help of experts (n=45 experts) in a Delphi study. In phase 3 the scale Intensive and Critical Care Nursing Competence Scale (ICCN-CS) was developed and tested twice (pilot test 1: n=18 students and n=12 nurses; pilot test 2: n=56 students and n=54 nurses). Finally, in phase 4, graduating nursing students’ competence was evaluated with ICCN-CS and BKAT version 7 (Toth 2012). In order to develop a valid assessment scale of competence for graduating nursing students and to evaluate and establish the competence of graduating nursing students, empirical data were retrieved at the same time from both graduating nursing students (n=139) and ICU nurses (n=431). Competence can be divided into clinical and general professional competence. It can be defined as a specific knowledge base, skill base, attitude and value base and experience base of nursing and the personal base of an intensive and critical care nurse. Personal base was excluded in this self-evaluation based scale. The ICCN-CS-1 consists of 144 items (6 sum variables). Finally, it became evident that the experience base of competence is not a suitable sum variable in holistic intensive and critical care competence scale for graduating nursing students because of their minor experience in this special nursing area. ICCN-CS-1 is a reliable and tolerably valid scale for use among graduating nursing students and ICU nurses Among students, basic competence of intensive and critical care nursing was self-rated as good by 69%, as excellent by 25% and as moderate by 6%. However, graduating nursing students’ basic biological and physiological knowledge and skills for working in intensive and critical care were poor. The students rated their clinical and professional competence as good, and their knowledge base and skill base as moderate. They gave slightly higher ratings for their knowledge base than skill base. Differences in basic competence emerged between graduating nursing students and ICU nurses. The students’ self-ratings of both their basic competence and clinical and professional competence were significantly lower than the nurses’ ratings. The students’ self-ratings of their knowledge and skill base were also statistically significantly lower than nurses’ ratings. However, both groups reported the same attitude and value base, which was excellent. The strongest factor explaining students’ conception of their competence was their experience of autonomy in nursing. Conclusions: Competence in intensive and critical care nursing is a multidimensional concept. Basic competence in intensive and critical care nursing can be measured with self-evaluation based scale but alongside should be used an objective evaluation method. Graduating nursing students’ basic competence in intensive and critical care nursing is good but their knowledge and skill base are moderate. Especially the biological and physiological knowledge base is poor. Therefore in future in intensive and critical care nursing education should be focused on both strengthening students’ biological and physiological knowledge base and on strengthening their overall skill base. Practical implications are presented for nursing education, practice and administration. In future, research should focus on education methods and contents, mentoring of clinical practice and orientation programmes as well as further development of the scale.

Open-book accounting - hyödyt ja haasteet erityyppisissä liiketoimintasuhteissa

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan OBA:n soveltamisen hyötyjä ja haasteita erityyppisissä yritysten välisissä suhteissa.Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on vastata kysymykseen, mitä erilaisia tavoitteita liiketoimintasuhteiden taustalla esiintyy, tyypitellä liiketoimintasuhteet tavoitteiden ja yritysten välisten toimintojen näkökulmasta ja arvioida miten OBA voi auttaa erityyppisien suhteiden johtamista tukevan informaation tuottamisessa ja hyödyntämisessä. Markkinaperustaisissa suhteissa vaihdannan avulla tavoitellaan tehokkuutta jonka perustana on markkinoilla vallitsevan kilpailun tehokkuus. Neuvotteluvoimaan perustuvissa suhteissa tavoitteena on hankkia resursseja sisäisiä tuotantokustannuksia edullisemmin markkinavoimaa hyväksikäyttämällä. Yhteistyösuhteissa toimittajan kyky tuottaa resurssi sisäisiin tuotantokustannuksiin nähden kilpailukykyisellä hinnalla perustuu vallitseviin mittakaavaetuihin tai erikoistumisen tuomaan osaamiseen ja niissä pyritään saavuttamaan kilpailuetua yritysten osaamista ja resursseja yhdistämällä. Yhteistyösuhteet voidaan jakaa operatiivisiin, taktisiin ja strategisiin yritysten välisten toimintojen integroituneisuuden ja strategisen merkityksen perusteella. Tutkimus antaa viitteitä siitä että OBA:n soveltamisen suurin potentiaali liittyy taktisiin ja strategisiin yhteistyösuhteisiin, koska niissä yritysten välisten toimintojen määrä on merkittävä ja yhteiset tavoitteet lisäävät yritysten välistä luottamusta.