MASTER DATA MANAGEMENT MATURITY AND TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT - From theory to practice, case Ineo Oy

After decades of mergers and acquisitions and successive technology trends such as CRM, ERP and DW, the data in enterprise systems is scattered and inconsistent. Global organizations face the challenge of addressing local uses of shared business entities, such as customer and material, and at the same time have a consistent, unique, and consolidate view of financial indicators. In addition, current enterprise systems do not accommodate the pace of organizational changes and immense efforts are required to maintain data. When it comes to systems integration, ERPs are considered “closed” and expensive. Data structures are complex and the “out-of-the-box” integration options offered are not based on industry standards. Therefore expensive and time-consuming projects are undertaken in order to have required data flowing according to business processes needs. Master Data Management (MDM) emerges as one discipline focused on ensuring long-term data consistency. Presented as a technology-enabled business discipline, it emphasizes business process and governance to model and maintain the data related to key business entities. There are immense technical and organizational challenges to accomplish the “single version of the truth” MDM mantra. Adding one central repository of master data might prove unfeasible in a few scenarios, thus an incremental approach is recommended, starting from areas most critically affected by data issues. This research aims at understanding the current literature on MDM and contrasting it with views from professionals. The data collected from interviews revealed details on the complexities of data structures and data management practices in global organizations, reinforcing the call for more in-depth research on organizational aspects of MDM. The most difficult piece of master data to manage is the “local” part, the attributes related to the sourcing and storing of materials in one particular warehouse in The Netherlands or a complex set of pricing rules for a subsidiary of a customer in Brazil. From a practical perspective, this research evaluates one MDM solution under development at a Finnish IT solution-provider. By means of applying an existing assessment method, the research attempts at providing the company with one possible tool to evaluate its product from a vendor-agnostics perspective.

Suomen Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän evoluutio ilmasotateorian, kansallisten instituutioiden ja johtamisjärjestelmän ulkomaisen kehityksen näkökulmasta

Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmä on osa Ilmavoimien järjestelmäkokonaisuutta, jonka kaksi muuta osaa ovat taistelujärjestelmä ja tukeutumisjärjestelmä. Ilmavoimien materiaalista suorituskykyä rakennetaan tämän järjestelmäajattelun pohjalta. tässä tutkimuksessa Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmää tutkitaan kolmen kokonaisuuden, ilmavalvontajärjestelmän, ilmatilannekuvan muodostamisjärjestelmän ja tulenkäytön johtamisjärjestelmän, näkökulmasta. Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän laajuuden vuoksi tutkimusaluetta on jouduttu rajaamaan. Tutkimus perustuu evoluutioparadigmaan, jonka mukaisesti kaikki olevainen on evolutionaarista. Mikään tässä ajassa oleva ilmiö ei ole historiaton. Jokaisella ilmiöllä on nykyisyytensä lisäksi historia ja tulevaisuus. Evoluutioparadigman avulla laajennetaan Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän nykyisyyden ymmärtämistä kuvaamalla ja analysoimalla sen evoluutiota. Tutkimusaineistoa analysoidaan käyttäen hyväksi polkuriippuvuutta evolutionaarisena mallina. tätä mallia on käytetty uusinstitutionaalisessa ja evolutionaarisessa taloustieteessä ja taloushistoriassa tutkittaessa yritysten, toimialojen tai tuotteiden pysyvyyttä markkinoilla sekä erilaisten innovaatioiden vaikuttavuutta menestymiseen eri markkinatilanteissa. Tutkimusasetelman lähtökohtana on Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmäevoluution kuvaaminen kolmen tekijän tasapainoasetelman suhteen, joita ovat instituutiot, ilmasotateoria ja kansainvälinen ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän kehitys. tutkimuksen tavoitteena on löytää institutionaalinen logiikka Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän evoluutiolle sekä sen eri kehitysprosesseihin liittyvä mahdollinen polkuriippuvuuden logiikka. Tutkittavina instituutioina ovat kansallinen poliittinen päätöksenteko, joka ilmentyy erilaisina komiteamietintöjä, raportteina ja selontekoina. Sotilaallista instituutiota edustavat eri operatiiviset ohjeet, ohjesäännöt ja doktriinit, jotka ovat ohjanneet johtamisjärjestelmäkehitystä. Ilmasotateorian vaikuttavuuden analyysiä varten tutkimuskohteiksi on valittu seitsemän merkittävää ilmasotateoreetikkoa. Kenraalimajuri Giulio douhet, ilmamarsalkka Hugh Trenchard ja kenraalimajuri William Mitchell edustavat ilmasotateorian varhaista kautta. Kansallista ilmasotateorian kehitystä edustavat eversti Richard Lorentz ja kenraalimajuri Gustaf Erik Magnusson. Yhdysvaltalaiset everstit John Boyd ja John Warden III ovat uuden ajan ilmasotateoreetikkoja. Näiden henkilöiden tuottamien teorioiden avulla voidaan piirtää kuva muutoksesta, jota ilmasodankäynnin teoreetti- sessa ajattelussa on tapahtunut. Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän evoluutiolle haetaan vertailua kehityksestä, jota on tapahtunut Yhdysvalloissa, Isossa-Britanniassa ja Saksassa. Ilmavoimat on saanut vaikutteita muistakin maista, mutta näiden maiden kehityksen avulla voidaan selittää Suomessa tapahtunutta kehitystä. Tutkimuksessa osoitetaan, että kansainvälisellä johtamisjärjestelmäevoluutiolla on ollut merkittävä vaikutus suomalaiseen kehitykseen. Tämä tutkimus laajentaa prosessuaalista tutkimusteoriaa ja polkuriippuvuusmallin käyttöä sotatieteelliseen tutkimuskenttään. tutkimus yhdistää toisiinsa aivan uudella tavalla sotilasorganisaation institutionaalisia tekijöitä pitkässä evoluutioketjussa. Tutkimus luo pohjaa prosessuaaliseen, havaintoihin perustuvaan evoluutioajatteluun, jossa eri tekijöiden selitysmalleja ja kausaalisuutta eri periodien aikana voidaan kuvata. Tutkimuksen tuloksena ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmäevoluutiossa paljastui merkittäviä piirteitä. Teknologia on ollut voimakas katalysaattori ilmapuolustuksen evoluutiossa. Uusien teknologisten innovaatioiden ilmestyminen taistelukentälle on muuttanut oleellisesti taistelun kuvaa. Sodankäynnin revoluutiosta huolimatta sodankäynnin tai operaatiotaidon ja taktiikan perusperiaatteissa ei ole tapahtunut perustavanlaatuista muutosta. Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän kehitys on voimakkaasti linkittynyt ulkomaiseen johtamisjärjestelmäkehitykseen, jossa teknologiaimplementaatiot perustuvat usean eri ilmiön paljastumiseen ja hyväksikäyttöön. Sotilas- ja siviili-instituutiot ovat merkittävästi vaikuttaneet Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän kansalliseen kehitykseen. Ne ovat antaneet poliittisen ohjauksen, taloudellisten resurssien ja strategis-operatiivisten käskyjen ja suunnitelmien avulla perusteet, joiden pohjalta johtamisjärjestelmää on kehitetty. Tutkimus osoittaa, että Suomen taloudellisten resurssien rajallisuus on ollut merkittävin institutionaalinen rajoite Ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmää kehitettäessä. Useat poliittiset ohjausasiakirjat ovat korostaneet, ettei Suomella pienenä kansakuntana ole taloudellisia resursseja seurata kansainvälistä sotilasteknologiakehitystä. Lisäksi ulko- ja turvallisuuspoliittinen liikkumavapaus on vaikuttanut kehittämismahdollisuuksiin. Ilmasotateorian evoluutio on luonut johtamisjärjestelmän kehitykselle välttämättömän konseptuaalisen viitekehyksen, jotta ilmasota on voitu viedä käytännön tasolle. Teoria, doktriini ja instituutiot toimivat vuorovaikutuksessa, jossa ne interaktiivisesti vaikuttavat toinen toisiinsa. Tutkimus paljasti kuusi merkittävää sokkia, jotka saivat aikaan radikaaleja muutoksia johtamisjärjestelmän evoluutiopolulla. tutkimuksen perusteella vaikuttavimmat muutoksia aiheuttavat sokit olivat radikaalit turvallisuuspoliittiset muutokset kuten sota ja voimakkaat kansantalouden muutokset kuten lama. Sokkeja aiheuttaneet kuusi ajankohtaa olivat: 1. Puolustusvoimien rakentamisen aloittaminen vapaussodan jälkeen 1918 2. Maailmanlaajuinen lama 1929–1933 ja eurooppalainen rauhanaate 1928–1933 3. Talvi- ja jatkosota 1939–1944 4. Uusi alku Pariisin rauhansopimuksen 1947 ja YYA-sopimuksen 1948 varjossa 5. Kylmän sodan päättyminen ja Suomen lama 1990–1993 6. Maailmanlaajuinen lama 2008- Tutkimuksen perusteella voidaan todeta, että Suomen ilmavoimien johtamisjärjestelmän kehittäminen on perustunut rationaalisiin päätöksiin, jotka ovat saaneet vaikutteita ulkomaisesta ilmasotateorian ja -doktriinien kehityksestä sekä kansainvälisestä johtamisjärjestelmäkehityksestä. Johtamisjärjestelmän evoluutioon on vaikuttanut globaali konvergenssi, johon on tehty kansallisen tason ratkaisuja järjestelmien adaptaation ja implementaation yhteydessä.

Ydinvoimalaitoksen rakentamisen aikainen viranomaistoiminta ja -vaatimukset

Tässä diplomityössä on käsitelty ydinvoimalaitoksen rakentamisprosessin aikaista viran-omaistoimintaa, viranomaisten vaatimuksia sekä rakentamiseen liittyvää riskienhallintaa julkisesti saatavissa olevan materiaalin pohjalta. Ensin on käyty läpi johdannon ja tavoitteiden lisäksi ydinvoiman historiaa ja nykyhetkeä Suomessa. Tämän jälkeen työssä on käsitelty riskienhallintaa sekä siihen liittyvää yleistä teoriaa. Teoria toimii lisätukena viranomaisvaatimusten tarkastelussa sekä niiden toimien ymmärtämisessä. Ennen viranomaisvaatimuksia on tarkasteltu kuitenkin itse viranomaisia, niiden välisiä kytköksiä sekä sitä, mitkä eri viranomaiset vaikuttavat ydinvoimalaitoksen rakentamiseen. Tässä osiossa on tarkasteltu myös politiikan vaikutusta viranomaistoimintaan. Viranomaisten toimintaa ja vaatimuksia käsittelevässä osiossa on käyty läpi yleisesti ydinvoimalaitokseen liittyviin toimituksiin kuuluvat vaatimukset sekä yksityiskohtaisempia vaatimuksia aihealueittain. Tässä osiossa on myös käsitelty esimerkkejä Olkiluoto 3 –projektissa tehdyistä havainnoista ja toteutuneista riskeistä. Tämän jälkeen työssä on tehty tarvittavat johtopäätökset tutkimuskysymyksiin läpikäydyn materiaalin pohjalta. Johtopäätöksissä on myös käsitelty ydinvoimalaitokseen liittyvään toimitukseen sisältyviä riskejä sekä niiden hallintaa. Viranomaistyöstä korostuivat läpikäydyssä materiaalissa erityisesti suomalaisen viranomaistoiminnan tinkimättömyys ja korkea vaatimustaso. Tärkeimmiksi seikoiksi työssä nousivat ydinvoimalaitoksen rakentamiseen olennaisena osana kuuluva korkea turvallisuuskulttuuri sekä sen seurauksena yritysten toimivat johtamisjärjestelmät. Lisäksi hyvin tehty esi- ja perussuunnittelu helpottavat projektin eri osa-alueita. Huomioimalla nämä kolme seikkaa pystytään ydinvoimalaitoksen rakentamisen ja käytön aikaisia riskejä hallitsemaan tehokkaimmalla tavalla.

Yritysten eroavaisuuksien vaikutukset johdon ohjausjärjestelmiin - tapaustutkimus

Johdon ohjausjärjestelmät koostuvat yksittäisistä järjestelmistä, jotka muodostavat yrityksen ohjausjärjestelmäkokonaisuuden. Yksittäiset järjestelmät ovat sekä konkreettisia, kuten budjetit, mutta myös käsitteellisempiä tekijöitä, kuten henkilöstön ohjaus. Jokaisella yrityksellä on oma ohjausjärjestelmäkokonaisuutensa, joka riippuu esimerkiksi yrityksen toimialasta, strategiasta ja koosta. Menestyäkseen yrityksen on löydettävä mahdollisimman toimiva ja yhteensopiva ohjausjärjestelmäkokonaisuus juuri kyseiselle yritykselle. Tämän tutkielman ensisijaisena tavoitteena on selvittää miten yritysten eroavaisuudet vaikuttavat johdon ohjausjärjestelmiin. Tutkielma tehdään selvittämällä ensin mitä johdon ohjausjärjestelmät ovat ja tämän jälkeen haastattelemalla erilaisten yritysten talousjohtajia niiden ohjausjärjestelmistä. Tämän jälkeen vertaillaan tuloksia hallitsevaan teoriaan ja yritysten ohjausjärjestelmiä toisiinsa. Tutkielmassa havaittiin selviä eroja yritysten ohjausjärjestelmien välillä.

Reflexive Space. A Constructionist Model of the Russian Reflexive Marker

This study examines the structure of the Russian Reflexive Marker ( ся/-сь) and offers a usage-based model building on Construction Grammar and a probabilistic view of linguistic structure. Traditionally, reflexive verbs are accounted for relative to non-reflexive verbs. These accounts assume that linguistic structures emerge as pairs. Furthermore, these accounts assume directionality where the semantics and structure of a reflexive verb can be derived from the non-reflexive verb. However, this directionality does not necessarily hold diachronically. Additionally, the semantics and the patterns associated with a particular reflexive verb are not always shared with the non-reflexive verb. Thus, a model is proposed that can accommodate the traditional pairs as well as for the possible deviations without postulating different systems. A random sample of 2000 instances marked with the Reflexive Marker was extracted from the Russian National Corpus and the sample used in this study contains 819 unique reflexive verbs. This study moves away from the traditional pair account and introduces the concept of Neighbor Verb. A neighbor verb exists for a reflexive verb if they share the same phonological form excluding the Reflexive Marker. It is claimed here that the Reflexive Marker constitutes a system in Russian and the relation between the reflexive and neighbor verbs constitutes a cross-paradigmatic relation. Furthermore, the relation between the reflexive and the neighbor verb is argued to be of symbolic connectivity rather than directionality. Effectively, the relation holding between particular instantiations can vary. The theoretical basis of the present study builds on this assumption. Several new variables are examined in order to systematically model variability of this symbolic connectivity, specifically the degree and strength of connectivity between items. In usage-based models, the lexicon does not constitute an unstructured list of items. Instead, items are assumed to be interconnected in a network. This interconnectedness is defined as Neighborhood in this study. Additionally, each verb carves its own niche within the Neighborhood and this interconnectedness is modeled through rhyme verbs constituting the degree of connectivity of a particular verb in the lexicon. The second component of the degree of connectivity concerns the status of a particular verb relative to its rhyme verbs. The connectivity within the neighborhood of a particular verb varies and this variability is quantified by using the Levenshtein distance. The second property of the lexical network is the strength of connectivity between items. Frequency of use has been one of the primary variables in functional linguistics used to probe this. In addition, a new variable called Constructional Entropy is introduced in this study building on information theory. It is a quantification of the amount of information carried by a particular reflexive verb in one or more argument constructions. The results of the lexical connectivity indicate that the reflexive verbs have statistically greater neighborhood distances than the neighbor verbs. This distributional property can be used to motivate the traditional observation that the reflexive verbs tend to have idiosyncratic properties. A set of argument constructions, generalizations over usage patterns, are proposed for the reflexive verbs in this study. In addition to the variables associated with the lexical connectivity, a number of variables proposed in the literature are explored and used as predictors in the model. The second part of this study introduces the use of a machine learning algorithm called Random Forests. The performance of the model indicates that it is capable, up to a degree, of disambiguating the proposed argument construction types of the Russian Reflexive Marker. Additionally, a global ranking of the predictors used in the model is offered. Finally, most construction grammars assume that argument construction form a network structure. A new method is proposed that establishes generalization over the argument constructions referred to as Linking Construction. In sum, this study explores the structural properties of the Russian Reflexive Marker and a new model is set forth that can accommodate both the traditional pairs and potential deviations from it in a principled manner.

The sources of complementary competitive advantages for systems’ manufacturers in the aircraft modernization market

Being a top of high technology industries, the aerospace represents one of the most complex fields of study. While the competitiveness of aircraft systems’ manufacturers attracts a significant number of researchers, some of the issues remain to be a blank spot. One of those is the after-sale modernization. The master thesis investigates how this concept is related to the theory of competitive advantages. Finding the routes in the framework of complex technological systems’ lifecycle, the key drivers of the aircraft modernization market are revealed. The competitive positioning of players is defined through multiple case studies in a form of several in-depth interviews. The key result of the research is the conclusion that modernization should be considered as an inherent component of strategy of any aircraft systems’ manufacturer, while the master thesis aims to support managerial decision making.

Mitigating uncertainty in logistics outsourcing with ERP systems

Outsourcing is a common strategy for companies looking for cost savings and improvements in performance. This has been especially prevalent in logistics, where warehousing and transporting are typical targets for outsourcing. However, while the benefits from logistics outsourcing are clear on paper, there are several cases companies fail to reach these benefits. The most commonly cited reasons for this are poor information flow between the company and the third party logistics partner, and a lack of integration between the two partners. Uncertainty stems from lack of information, and it can cripple the whole outsourcing operation. This is where enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems step in, as they can have a significant role in improving the flow of information, and integration, which consequently mitigates uncertainty. The purpose of the study is to examine if ERP systems have an effect on a company's decision to outsource logistics operations. Along the rapid advancements in technology during the past decades, ERP systems have also evolved. Therefore, empirical research on the subject needs constant revision as it can quickly become outdated due to ERP systems having more advanced capabilities every year. The research was conducted using a qualitative single-case study of a Finnish manufacturing firm that had outsourced warehousing and transportation operations in the Swedish market. The empirical data was gathered with use of semi-structured interviews with three employees from the case company that were closely related to the outsourcing operation. The theoretical framework that was used to analyze the empirical data was based on Transaction Cost Economics theory. The results of the study were align with the theoretical framework, in that the ERP system of the case company was seen as an enabler for their logistics outsourcing operation. However, the full theoretical benefits from ERP systems concerning extended enterprise functionality and flexibility were not attained due to the case company having an older version of their ERP system. This emphasizes the importance of having up-to-date technology if you want to overcome the shortcomings of ERP systems in outsourcing situations.

Cell Model Systems in Characterizing Alpha2-Adrenoceptors as Drug Targets.

The three alpha2-adrenoceptor (alpha2-AR) subtypes belong to the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily and represent potential drug targets. These receptors have many vital physiological functions, but their actions are complex and often oppose each other. Current research is therefore driven towards discovering drugs that selectively interact with a specific subtype. Cell model systems can be used to evaluate a chemical compound's activity in complex biological systems. The aim of this thesis was to optimize and validate cell-based model systems and assays to investigate alpha2-ARs as drug targets. The use of immortalized cell lines as model systems is firmly established but poses several problems, since the protein of interest is expressed in a foreign environment, and thus essential components of receptor regulation or signaling cascades might be missing. Careful cell model validation is thus required; this was exemplified by three different approaches. In cells heterologously expressing alpha2A-ARs, it was noted that the transfection technique affected the test outcome; false negative adenylyl cyclase test results were produced unless a cell population expressing receptors in a homogenous fashion was used. Recombinant alpha2C-ARs in non-neuronal cells were retained inside the cells, and not expressed in the cell membrane, complicating investigation of this receptor subtype. Receptor expression enhancing proteins (REEPs) were found to be neuronalspecific adapter proteins that regulate the processing of the alpha2C-AR, resulting in an increased level of total receptor expression. Current trends call for the use of primary cells endogenously expressing the receptor of interest; therefore, primary human vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC) expressing alpha2-ARs were tested in a functional assay monitoring contractility with a myosin light chain phosphorylation assay. However, these cells were not compatible with this assay due to the loss of differentiation. A rat aortic SMC cell line transfected to express the human alpha2B-AR was adapted for the assay, and it was found that the alpha2-AR agonist, dexmedetomidine, evoked myosin light chain phosphorylation in this model.

Adaptive control of Hydraulic Drive

Adaptive control systems are one of the most significant research directions of modern control theory. It is well known that every mechanical appliance’s behavior noticeably depends on environmental changes, functioning-mode parameter changes and changes in technical characteristics of internal functional devices. An adaptive controller involved in control process allows reducing an influence of such changes. In spite of this such type of control methods is applied seldom due to specifics of a controller designing. The work presented in this paper shows the design process of the adaptive controller built by Lyapunov’s function method for the Hydraulic Drive. The calculation needed and the modeling were conducting with MATLAB® software including Simulink® and Symbolic Math Toolbox™ etc. In the work there was applied the Jacobi matrix linearization of the object’s mathematical model and derivation of the suitable reference models based on Newton’s characteristic polynomial. The intelligent adaptive to nonlinearities algorithm for solving Lyapunov’s equation was developed. Developed algorithm works properly but considered plant is not met requirement of functioning with. The results showed confirmation that adaptive systems application significantly increases possibilities in use devices and might be used for correction a system’s behavior dynamics.

Functional, Social and Emotional Values as Determinants of Environmentally Responsible Media Consumption

The primary purpose of this research is to develop an enhanced understanding of how consumption values influence environmentally responsible consumption of print and digital media. Theoretical elaboration considers the associations of functional, social and emotional consumption values, green consumer segmentation and media consumption. Additionally, the purpose is to identify consumer perceptions of print and digital media’s environmental responsibility. Empirical analysis was based on qualitative interviews with a sample of 20 Finnish consumers categorized in two segments: young adults and middle aged consumers. Primary data collection was conducted through individual, semi-structured interviews. To analyze the respondents’ approach on the topic, the interviews disclosed themes of media consumption, perceived environmental friendliness of media, norms of behavior and consumers’ general consumption patterns. The results implicate functional value dominated the consumption decision-making process both in a general level and in media consumption. In addition to functional value, environmental responsibility does provide consumers with both emotional and social values. Analysis on perceived environmental responsibility of media demonstrated consumers generally perceive digital media as an environmentally responsible alternative because it does not create physical paper waste. Nevertheless, the perceptions of environmental responsibility and media consumption patterns lacked a consistent connection. Though, both theory and empirical results indicated an average consumer lacks a comprehensive understanding of digital and print media’s life-cycle and hence their environmental advantages and disadvantages.

Development of project cash flow forecasting process

Process management refers to improving the key functions of a company. The main functions of the case company - project management, procurement, finance, and human resource - use their own separate systems. The case company is in the process of changing its software. Different functions will use the same system in the future. This software change causes changes in some of the company’s processes. Project cash flow forecasting process is one of the changing processes. Cash flow forecasting ensures the sufficiency of money and prepares for possible changes in the future. This will help to ensure the company’s viability. The purpose of the research is to describe a new project cash flow forecasting process. In addition, the aim is to analyze the impacts of the process change, with regard to the project control department’s workload and resources through the process measurement, and how the impacts take the department’s future operations into account. The research is based on process management. Processes, their descriptions, and the way the process management uses the information, are discussed in the theory part of this research. The theory part is based on literature and articles. Project cash flow and forecasting-related benefits are also discussed. After this, the project cash flow forecasting as-is and to-be processes are described by utilizing information, obtained from the theoretical part, as well as the know-how of the project control department’s personnel. Written descriptions and cross-functional flowcharts are used for descriptions. Process measurement is based on interviews with the personnel – mainly cost controllers and department managers. The process change and the integration of two processes will allow work time for other things, for example, analysis of costs. In addition to the quality of the cash flow information will improve compared to the as-is process. Analyzing the department’s other main processes, department’s roles, and their responsibilities should be checked and redesigned. This way, there will be an opportunity to achieve the best possible efficiency and cost savings.

Model-based testing of software systems : functionality and performance

Software is a key component in many of our devices and products that we use every day. Most customers demand not only that their devices should function as expected but also that the software should be of high quality, reliable, fault tolerant, efficient, etc. In short, it is not enough that a calculator gives the correct result of a calculation, we want the result instantly, in the right form, with minimal use of battery, etc. One of the key aspects for succeeding in today's industry is delivering high quality. In most software development projects, high-quality software is achieved by rigorous testing and good quality assurance practices. However, today, customers are asking for these high quality software products at an ever-increasing pace. This leaves the companies with less time for development. Software testing is an expensive activity, because it requires much manual work. Testing, debugging, and verification are estimated to consume 50 to 75 per cent of the total development cost of complex software projects. Further, the most expensive software defects are those which have to be fixed after the product is released. One of the main challenges in software development is reducing the associated cost and time of software testing without sacrificing the quality of the developed software. It is often not enough to only demonstrate that a piece of software is functioning correctly. Usually, many other aspects of the software, such as performance, security, scalability, usability, etc., need also to be verified. Testing these aspects of the software is traditionally referred to as nonfunctional testing. One of the major challenges with non-functional testing is that it is usually carried out at the end of the software development process when most of the functionality is implemented. This is due to the fact that non-functional aspects, such as performance or security, apply to the software as a whole. In this thesis, we study the use of model-based testing. We present approaches to automatically generate tests from behavioral models for solving some of these challenges. We show that model-based testing is not only applicable to functional testing but also to non-functional testing. In its simplest form, performance testing is performed by executing multiple test sequences at once while observing the software in terms of responsiveness and stability, rather than the output. The main contribution of the thesis is a coherent model-based testing approach for testing functional and performance related issues in software systems. We show how we go from system models, expressed in the Unified Modeling Language, to test cases and back to models again. The system requirements are traced throughout the entire testing process. Requirements traceability facilitates finding faults in the design and implementation of the software. In the research field of model-based testing, many new proposed approaches suffer from poor or the lack of tool support. Therefore, the second contribution of this thesis is proper tool support for the proposed approach that is integrated with leading industry tools. We o er independent tools, tools that are integrated with other industry leading tools, and complete tool-chains when necessary. Many model-based testing approaches proposed by the research community suffer from poor empirical validation in an industrial context. In order to demonstrate the applicability of our proposed approach, we apply our research to several systems, including industrial ones.

Formal development of resilient distributed systems

Resilience is the property of a system to remain trustworthy despite changes. Changes of a different nature, whether due to failures of system components or varying operational conditions, significantly increase the complexity of system development. Therefore, advanced development technologies are required to build robust and flexible system architectures capable of adapting to such changes. Moreover, powerful quantitative techniques are needed to assess the impact of these changes on various system characteristics. Architectural flexibility is achieved by embedding into the system design the mechanisms for identifying changes and reacting on them. Hence a resilient system should have both advanced monitoring and error detection capabilities to recognise changes as well as sophisticated reconfiguration mechanisms to adapt to them. The aim of such reconfiguration is to ensure that the system stays operational, i.e., remains capable of achieving its goals. Design, verification and assessment of the system reconfiguration mechanisms is a challenging and error prone engineering task. In this thesis, we propose and validate a formal framework for development and assessment of resilient systems. Such a framework provides us with the means to specify and verify complex component interactions, model their cooperative behaviour in achieving system goals, and analyse the chosen reconfiguration strategies. Due to the variety of properties to be analysed, such a framework should have an integrated nature. To ensure the system functional correctness, it should rely on formal modelling and verification, while, to assess the impact of changes on such properties as performance and reliability, it should be combined with quantitative analysis. To ensure scalability of the proposed framework, we choose Event-B as the basis for reasoning about functional correctness. Event-B is a statebased formal approach that promotes the correct-by-construction development paradigm and formal verification by theorem proving. Event-B has a mature industrial-strength tool support { the Rodin platform. Proof-based verification as well as the reliance on abstraction and decomposition adopted in Event-B provides the designers with a powerful support for the development of complex systems. Moreover, the top-down system development by refinement allows the developers to explicitly express and verify critical system-level properties. Besides ensuring functional correctness, to achieve resilience we also need to analyse a number of non-functional characteristics, such as reliability and performance. Therefore, in this thesis we also demonstrate how formal development in Event-B can be combined with quantitative analysis. Namely, we experiment with integration of such techniques as probabilistic model checking in PRISM and discrete-event simulation in SimPy with formal development in Event-B. Such an integration allows us to assess how changes and di erent recon guration strategies a ect the overall system resilience. The approach proposed in this thesis is validated by a number of case studies from such areas as robotics, space, healthcare and cloud domain.

Extreme Observables and Optimal Measurements in Quantum Theory

Optimization of quantum measurement processes has a pivotal role in carrying out better, more accurate or less disrupting, measurements and experiments on a quantum system. Especially, convex optimization, i.e., identifying the extreme points of the convex sets and subsets of quantum measuring devices plays an important part in quantum optimization since the typical figures of merit for measuring processes are affine functionals. In this thesis, we discuss results determining the extreme quantum devices and their relevance, e.g., in quantum-compatibility-related questions. Especially, we see that a compatible device pair where one device is extreme can be joined into a single apparatus essentially in a unique way. Moreover, we show that the question whether a pair of quantum observables can be measured jointly can often be formulated in a weaker form when some of the observables involved are extreme. Another major line of research treated in this thesis deals with convex analysis of special restricted quantum device sets, covariance structures or, in particular, generalized imprimitivity systems. Some results on the structure ofcovariant observables and instruments are listed as well as results identifying the extreme points of covariance structures in quantum theory. As a special case study, not published anywhere before, we study the structure of Euclidean-covariant localization observables for spin-0-particles. We also discuss the general form of Weyl-covariant phase-space instruments. Finally, certain optimality measures originating from convex geometry are introduced for quantum devices, namely, boundariness measuring how ‘close’ to the algebraic boundary of the device set a quantum apparatus is and the robustness of incompatibility quantifying the level of incompatibility for a quantum device pair by measuring the highest amount of noise the pair tolerates without becoming compatible. Boundariness is further associated to minimum-error discrimination of quantum devices, and robustness of incompatibility is shown to behave monotonically under certain compatibility-non-decreasing operations. Moreover, the value of robustness of incompatibility is given for a few special device pairs.

Economic and environmental evaluation of renewable energy systems

The main objective of this thesis is to evaluate the economic and environmental effectiveness of three different renewable energy systems: solar PV, wind energy and biomass energy systems. Financial methods such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR) were used to evaluate economic competitiveness. Seasonal variability in power generation capability of different renewable systems were also taken into consideration. In order to evaluate the environmental effectiveness of different energy systems, default values in GaBi software were taken by defining the functional unit as 1kWh. The results show that solar PV systems are difficult to justify both in economic as well as environmental grounds. Wind energy performs better in both economic and environmental grounds and has the capability to compete with conventional energy systems. Biomass energy systems exhibit environmental and economic performance at the middle level. In each of these systems, results vary.