Improving the inventory management and valuation process, Case: The Switch Drive Systems

The goal of this study is to create a new inventory valuation process for The Switch Drive Systems and to improve its inventory management practices. In the matter of inventories the main problems in the case company are that it doesn’t have consistent valuation methods throughout the company and that information received in ERP system isn’t trustful. The research is qualitative case study. The empirical data is gathered through observing and unstructured interviews. The research shows that material flow process and the inventory valuation must be divided and handled separately but they should interact with each other. The result is a new inventory valuation process which takes many factors of material process under the consideration in order to receive reliable value for inventories.

Strategic Innovation Management Based on Three Dimensions

This thesis examines innovation development needs of firms in a remote rural region. The perspective of the study is in strategic innovation management and three dimensions of innovation development: innovation environment, value delivery and innovation capability. The framework is studied with a theoretical and methodological approach in the context of the development of a regional innovation system and the defining of innovation development needs. The thesis is based on existing innovation management literature, expanding it by examining the features of the three dimensions. The empirical data of the study comprise 50 purposefully selected firms within the region of Pielinen Karelia located in Eastern Finland. Most of the firms (70%) included in the study represent manufacturing firms, and over 90% are small and medium-sized enterprises. The research data consist of two questionnaires and an interview, which were done during 2011 in the connection of a regional development project. The point of view of the research is in regional development and harnessing the innovation capability of the firms within the region. The principal research approach applies soft systems methodology. The study explores the means to foster the innovativeness of firms from the viewpoints of innovation environment, innovation capability and value delivery. In closer detail, the study examines relations between the innovation capability factors, differences in innovation development needs within the value delivery system, between sectors and between firm size categories. The thesis offers three major contributions. First, the study extends earlier research on strategic innovation management by connecting the frameworks of innovation capability, innovation environment and value delivery process to the defining of innovation development needs at the regional level. The results deepen knowledge especially concerning practice-based innovation, peripheral regions and smaller firms. Second, the empirical work, based on a case study, confirms the existence of a structural connection integrating five factors of innovation capability. Statistical evidence is provided especially for the positive impacts of the improvement of absorption capability, marketing capability and networking capability, which are the main weaknesses of firms according to the study. Third, the research provides a methodological contribution by applying the innovation matrix in the defining of the innovation development needs of firms. The study demonstrates how the matrix improves possibility to target policy instruments and innovation services more efficiently through indicating significant differences between the innovation support needs regarding various time horizons and phases of innovation process.

Innovation in a Non-Formal Adult Education Organisation – Multi-Case Study in Four Adult Education Centres

More than ever, education organisations are experiencing the need to develop new services and processes to satisfy expanding and changing customer needs and to adapt to the environmental changes and continually tightening economic situation. Innovation has been found in many studies to have a crucial role in the success of an organisation, both in the private and public sectors, in formal education and in manufacturing and services alike. However, studies concerning innovation in non-formal adult education organisations, such as adult education centres (AECs) in Finland, are still lacking. This study investigates innovation in the non-formal adult education organisation context from the perspective of organisational culture types and social networks. The objective is to determine the significant characteristics of an innovative non-formal adult education organisation. The analysis is based on data from interviews with the principals and fulltime staff of four case AECs. Before the case study, a pre-study phase is accomplished in order to obtain a preliminary understanding of innovation at AECs. The research found strong support for the need of innovation in AECs. Innovation is basically needed to accomplish the AEC system’s primary mission mentioned in the ACT on Liberal Adult Education. In addition, innovation is regarded vital to institutes and may prevent their decline. It helps the institutes to be more attractive, to enter new market, to increase customer satisfaction and to be on the cutting edge. Innovation is also seen as a solution to the shortage of resources. Innovative AECs search actively for additional resources for development work through project funding and subsidies, cooperation networks and creating a conversational and joyful atmosphere in the institute. The findings also suggest that the culture type that supports innovation at AECs is multidimensional, with an emphasis on the clan and adhocratic culture types and such values as: dynamism, future orientation, acquiring new resources, mistake tolerance, openness, flexibility, customer orientation, a risk-taking attitude, and community spirit. Active and creative internal and external cooperation also promote innovation at AECs. This study also suggests that the behaviour of a principal is crucial. The way he or she shows appreciation the staff, encouragement and support to the staff and his or her approachability and concrete participation in innovation activities have a strong effect on innovation attitudes and activities in AECs.

On state and parameter estimation in chaotic systems

State-of-the-art predictions of atmospheric states rely on large-scale numerical models of chaotic systems. This dissertation studies numerical methods for state and parameter estimation in such systems. The motivation comes from weather and climate models and a methodological perspective is adopted. The dissertation comprises three sections: state estimation, parameter estimation and chemical data assimilation with real atmospheric satellite data. In the state estimation part of this dissertation, a new filtering technique based on a combination of ensemble and variational Kalman filtering approaches, is presented, experimented and discussed. This new filter is developed for large-scale Kalman filtering applications. In the parameter estimation part, three different techniques for parameter estimation in chaotic systems are considered. The methods are studied using the parameterized Lorenz 95 system, which is a benchmark model for data assimilation. In addition, a dilemma related to the uniqueness of weather and climate model closure parameters is discussed. In the data-oriented part of this dissertation, data from the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS) satellite instrument are considered and an alternative algorithm to retrieve atmospheric parameters from the measurements is presented. The validation study presents first global comparisons between two unique satellite-borne datasets of vertical profiles of nitrogen trioxide (NO3), retrieved using GOMOS and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III (SAGE III) satellite instruments. The GOMOS NO3 observations are also considered in a chemical state estimation study in order to retrieve stratospheric temperature profiles. The main result of this dissertation is the consideration of likelihood calculations via Kalman filtering outputs. The concept has previously been used together with stochastic differential equations and in time series analysis. In this work, the concept is applied to chaotic dynamical systems and used together with Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods for statistical analysis. In particular, this methodology is advocated for use in numerical weather prediction (NWP) and climate model applications. In addition, the concept is shown to be useful in estimating the filter-specific parameters related, e.g., to model error covariance matrix parameters.

Distributed document migration between ERP systems by means of messaging and event sourcing

This bachelor’s thesis, written for Lappeenranta University of Technology and implemented in a medium-sized enterprise (SME), examines a distributed document migration system. The system was created to migrate a large number of electronic documents, along with their metadata, from one document management system to another, so as to enable a rapid switchover of an enterprise resource planning systems inside the company. The paper examines, through theoretical analysis, messaging as a possible enabler of distributing applications and how it naturally fits an event based model, whereby system transitions and states are expressed through recorded behaviours. This is put into practice by analysing the implemented migration systems and how the core components, MassTransit, RabbitMQ and MongoDB, were orchestrated together to realize such a system. As a result, the paper presents an architecture for a scalable and distributed system that could migrate hundreds of thousands of documents over weekend, serving its goals in enabling a rapid system switchover.

Managing innovation in oil and gas companies: A proposed framework for the management of innovation at Ecopetrol S.A.

Actually, the term innovation seems to be one of the most used in any kind of business practices. However, in order to get value from it, companies need to define a systematic and structured way to manage innovation. This process can be difficult and very risky since it is associated with the development of firm´s capabilities which involves human and technical challenges according to the context of a firm. Additionally, it seems not to exist a magic formula to manage innovation and what may work in a company may not work in another, even though in the same type of industry. In this sense, the purpose of this research is to identify how the oil and gas companies can manage innovation and what are the main elements, their interrelations and structure, required for managing innovation effectively in this critical sector for the world economy. The study follows a holistic single case study in a National Oil Company (NOC) of a developing country to explore how innovation performs in the industry, what are the main elements regarding innovation management and their interactions according to the nature of the industry. Contributory literature and qualitative data from the case study company (with the use of non-standardized interviews) is collected and analyzed. The research confirms the relevance and importance of the definition and implementation of an innovation framework in order to ensure the generation of value and organize as well as guide the efforts in innovation done by a firm. In this way based on the theoretical background, research´s findings, and in the company´s innovation environment and conditions, a framework for managing innovation at the case study company is suggested. This study is one of the few, if not only one, that has reviewed the way as oil and gas companies manage innovation and its practical implementation in a company from a developing country. Both researchers and practitioners will get a photograph of understanding innovation management in the oil and gas industry and its growing necessity in the business world. Some issues have been highlighted, so that future study can be focused in those directions. In fact, even though research on innovation management has significantly grown, there are still many issues that need to be addressed to get insight about managing innovation in various contexts and industries. Studies are mostly performed in the context of large firms and in developed countries, so then research in the context of developing countries is still almost an untouched area, especially in the oil and gas industry. Finally, from the research it seems crucial to explore the effect of some innovation-related variables such as: open innovation in third world economies and in state-own companies; the impact of mergers and acquisitions in innovation performance in oil and gas companies; value measurement in the first stages of the innovation process; and, development of innovation capabilities in companies from developing nations.

Comparison between dSPACE and NI systems based on real-time intelligent control of a teleoperated hydraulic servo system

The Laboratory of Intelligent Machine researches and develops energy-efficient power transmissions and automation for mobile construction machines and industrial processes. The laboratory's particular areas of expertise include mechatronic machine design using virtual technologies and simulators and demanding industrial robotics. The laboratory has collaborated extensively with industrial actors and it has participated in significant international research projects, particularly in the field of robotics. For years, dSPACE tools were the lonely hardware which was used in the lab to develop different control algorithms in real-time. dSPACE's hardware systems are in widespread use in the automotive industry and are also employed in drives, aerospace, and industrial automation. But new competitors are developing new sophisticated systems and their features convinced the laboratory to test new products. One of these competitors is National Instrument (NI). In order to get to know the specifications and capabilities of NI tools, an agreement was made to test a NI evolutionary system. This system is used to control a 1-D hydraulic slider. The objective of this research project is to develop a control scheme for the teleoperation of a hydraulically driven manipulator, and to implement a control algorithm between human and machine interaction, and machine and task environment interaction both on NI and dSPACE systems simultaneously and to compare the results.

Decision making and decision support in service systems

This thesis is a literature study that develops a conceptual model of decision making and decision support in service systems. The study is related to the Ä-Logi, Intelligent Service Logic for Welfare Sector Services research project, and the objective of the study is to develop the necessary theoretical framework to enable further research based on the research project results and material. The study first examines the concepts of service and service systems, focusing on understanding the characteristics of service systems and their implications for decision making and decision support to provide the basis for the development of the conceptual model. Based on the identified service system characteristics, an integrated model of service systems is proposed that views service systems through a number of interrelated perspectives that each offer different, but complementary, implications on the nature of decision making and the requirements for decision support in service systems. Based on the model, it is proposed that different types of decision making contexts can be identified in service systems that may be dominated by different types of decision making processes and where different types of decision support may be required, depending on the characteristics of the decision making context and its decision making processes. The proposed conceptual model of decision making and decision support in service systems examines the characteristics of decision making contexts and processes in service systems, and their typical requirements for decision support. First, a characterization of different types of decision making contexts in service systems is proposed based on the Cynefin framework and the identified service system characteristics. Second, the nature of decision making processes in service systems is proposed to be dual, with both rational and naturalistic decision making processes existing in service systems, and having an important and complementary role in decision making in service systems. Finally, a characterization of typical requirements for decision support in service systems is proposed that examines the decision support requirements associated with different types of decision making processes in characteristically different types of decision making contexts. It is proposed that decision support for the decision making processes that are based on rational decision making can be based on organizational decision support models, while decision support for the decision making processes that are based on naturalistic decision making should be based on supporting the decision makers’ situation awareness and facilitating the development of their tacit knowledge of the system and its tasks. Based on the proposed conceptual model a further research process is proposed. The study additionally provides a number of new perspectives on the characteristics of service systems, and the nature of decision making and requirements for decision support in service systems that can potentially provide a basis for further discussion and research, and support the practice alike.

Organizing for Systemic Innovations – Research on Knowledge, Interaction and Organizational Interdependencies

Systemic innovation has emerged as an important topic due to the interconnected technological and sociotechnical change of our current complex world. This study approaches the phenomenon from an organizing perspective, by analyzing the various actors, collaborative activities and resources available in innovation systems. It presents knowledge production for innovation and discusses the organizational challenges of shared innovation activities from a dynamic perspective. Knowledge, interaction, and organizational interdependencies are seen as the core elements of organizing for systemic innovations. This dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part introduces the focus of the study and the relevant literature and summarizes conclusions. The second part includes seven publications, each reporting on an important aspect of the phenomenon studied. Each of the in-depth single-case studies takes a distinct and complementary systems approach to innovation activities – linking the refining of knowledge to the enabling of organizations to participate in shared innovation processes. These aspects are summarized as theoretical and practical implications for recognizing innovation opportunities and turning ideas into innovations by means of using information and organizing activities in an efficient manner. Through its investigation of the existing literature and empirical case studies, this study makes three main contributions. First, it describes the challenges inherent in utilizing information and transforming it into innovation knowledge. Secondly, it presents the role of interaction and organizational interdependencies in innovation activities from various novel perspectives. Third, it highlights the interconnection between innovations and organizations, and the related path dependency and anticipatory aspects in innovation activities. In general, the thesis adds to our knowledge of how different aspects of systems form innovations through interaction and organizational interdependencies. It highlights the continuous need to redefine information and adjust organizations and networks based on ongoing activities – stressing the emergent, systemic nature of innovation.

Marketing of fire suppression systems: customer value and institutional aspects

The paper studied marketing of automatic fire suppression systems from the perspectives of customer value and institutions. The object of the study was research the special features of the sales and marketing of fire suppression systems, and find some practical applications for sales, and for lobbying of a new fire suppression technology. The theoretical background of the study was in the customer value literature and the theoretical concept of institutional entrepreneurship. The research was conducted as an electronic survey for three different groups of respondents; end customers, solution integrators, and re-sellers. From the answers was gathered generalisations about the customer value assessment and communication of the value related to the sales and marketing processes of the fire suppression systems. In addition, there was observed manners to receive information about the systems, and effects caused by institutions to the decision making of the different parties involved. The findings of the study support companies that are launching a new safety technology to the market focus their marketing, and help to understand institutional forces that are affecting to a safety related product.

Viologen based electroactive polymers and composites for durable electrochromic systems

Electrochromism, the phenomenon of reversible color change induced by a small electric charge, forms the basis for operation of several devices including mirrors, displays and smart windows. Although, the history of electrochromism dates back to the 19th century, only the last quarter of the 20th century has its considerable scientific and technological impact. The commercial applications of electrochromics (ECs) are rather limited, besides top selling EC anti-glare mirrors by Gentex Corporation and airplane windows by Boeing, which made a huge commercial success and exposed the potential of EC materials for future glass industry. It is evident from their patents that viologens (salts of 4,4ʹ-bipyridilium) were the major active EC component for most of these marketed devices, signifying the motivation of this thesis focusing on EC viologens. Among the family of electrochromes, viologens have been utilized in electrochromic devices (ECDs) for a while, due to its intensely colored radical cation formation induced by applying a small cathodic potential. Viologens can be synthesized as oligomer or in the polymeric form or as functionality to conjugated polymers. In this thesis, polyviologens (PVs) were synthesized starting from cyanopyridinium (CNP) based monomer precursors. Reductive coupling of cross-connected cyano groups yields viologen and polyviologen under successive electropolymerization using for example the cyclic voltammetry (CV) technique. For further development, a polyviologen-graphene composite system was fabricated, focusing at the stability of the PV electrochrome without sacrificing its excellent EC properties. High electrical conductivity, high surface area offered by graphene sheets together with its non-covalent interactions and synergism with PV significantly improved the electrochrome durability in the composite matrix. The work thereby continued in developing a CNP functionalized thiophene derivative and its copolymer for possible utilization of viologen in the copolymer blend. Furthermore, the viologen functionalized thiophene derivative was synthesized and electropolymerized in order to explore enhancement in the EC contrast and overall EC performance. The findings suggest that such electroactive viologen/polyviologen systems and their nanostructured composite films as well as viologen functionalized conjugated polymers, can be potentially applied as an active EC material in future ECDs aiming at durable device performances.

Memory effects and geometrical considerations in open quantum systems

This thesis discusses memory effects in open quantum systems with an emphasis on the Breuer, Laine, Piilo (BLP) measure of non-Markovianity. It is shown how the calculation of the measure can be simplifed and how quantum information protocols can bene t from memory e ects. The superdense coding protocol is used as an example of this. The quantum Zeno effect will also be studied from the point of view of memory e ects. Finally the geometric ideas used in simplifying the calculation of the BLP measure are applied in studying the amount of resources needed for detecting bipartite quantum correlations. It is shown that to decide without prior information if an unknown quantum state is entangled or not, an informationally complete measurement is required. The first part of the thesis contains an introduction to the theoretical ideas such as quantum states, closed and open quantum systems and necessary mathematical tools. The theory is then applied in the second part of the thesis as the results obtained in the original publications I-VI are presented and discussed.

The Design and Implementation of a SD Card File System

SD card (Secure Digital Memory Card) is widely used in portable storage medium. Currently, latest researches on SD card, are mainly SD card controller based on FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Most of them are relying on API interface (Application Programming Interface), AHB bus (Advanced High performance Bus), etc. They are dedicated to the realization of ultra high speed communication between SD card and upper systems. Studies about SD card controller, really play a vital role in the field of high speed cameras and other sub-areas of expertise. This design of FPGA-based file systems and SD2.0 IP (Intellectual Property core) does not only exhibit a nice transmission rate, but also achieve the systematic management of files, while retaining a strong portability and practicality. The file system design and implementation on a SD card covers the main three IP innovation points. First, the combination and integration of file system and SD card controller, makes the overall system highly integrated and practical. The popular SD2.0 protocol is implemented for communication channels. Pure digital logic design based on VHDL (Very-High-Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language), integrates the SD card controller in hardware layer and the FAT32 file system for the entire system. Secondly, the document management system mechanism makes document processing more convenient and easy. Especially for small files in batch processing, it can ease the pressure of upper system to frequently access and process them, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency of systems. Finally, digital design ensures the superior performance. For transmission security, CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) algorithm is for data transmission protection. Design of each module is platform-independent of macro cells, and keeps a better portability. Custom integrated instructions and interfaces may facilitate easily to use. Finally, the actual test went through multi-platform method, Xilinx and Altera FPGA developing platforms. The timing simulation and debugging of each module was covered. Finally, Test results show that the designed FPGA-based file system IP on SD card can support SD card, TF card and Micro SD with 2.0 protocols, and the successful implementation of systematic management for stored files, and supports SD bus mode. Data read and write rates in Kingston class10 card is approximately 24.27MB/s and 16.94MB/s.

The role of knowledge management and renewal in building innovation performance

Tämän työn tavoitteena oli selvittää tietojohtamisen eri käytäntöjen vaikutusta oppimiseen, uudistumiseen sekä yrityksen innovaatiokyvykkyyteen. Työssä on keskitytty erityisesti sellaisiin tietojohtamisen käytäntöihin, jotka edistävät oppimista ja uusiutumista yrityksissä. Työssä on käytetty tilastollisia menetelmiä, muun muassa faktorianalyysia, korrelaatioanalyysia sekä regressiota, analysoitaessa 259 suomalaisesta yrityksestä kerättyä kyselydataa niiden tietojohtamisen käytöntöihin ja aineettomaan pääomaan liittyen. Analyysi osoittaa, että useat tietojohtamisen käytännöt vaikuttavat positiivisesti yrityksen uudistumiseen ja sitä kautta innovaatiokyvykkyyteen. Henkilöstön kouluttaminen sekä parhaiden käytäntöjen kerääminen ja soveltaminen yrityksessä ovat positiivisesti yhteydessä innovaatiokyvykkyyteen. Henkilöstön kouluttamisella on merkittävin suora vaikutus innovaatiokyvykkyyteen ja tässä työssä on esitetty, että koulutuksen tarjoamisen suurin vaikutus on oppimismyönteisen kulttuurin kehittyminen yrityksiin sen sijaan, että koulutuksella pyrittäisiin vain parantamaan tehtäväkenttään liittyviä taitoja ja tietoja. Henkilöstön kouluttaminen, parhaat käytännöt sekä sosialisaatiossa tapahtuva tiedon vaihto ja suhteiden solmiminen vaikuttavat positiivisesti uudistumispääomaan. Työn tulosten perusteella uudistumispääomalla on merkittävä rooli innovaatioiden syntymisessä yrityksissä. Uudistumispääoma medioi koulutuksen, parhaiden käytäntöjen ja mahdollisesti myös sosialisaation vaikutusta innovaatiokyvykkyyteen ja on näin merkittävä osa innovaatioiden syntyä yrityksissä. Innovaatiokyvykkyyden osatekijöiden ymmärtäminen voi auttaa johtajia ja esimiehiä keskittämään huomionsa tiettyihin tietojohtamisen käytäntöihin edistääkseen innovaatioiden syntymistä yrityksessä sen sijaan, että he pyrkisivät vain vaikuttamaan innovaatioprosessiin.

Refocusing regulatory exclusivities: Regulatory data protection and marketing exclusivity as forms of pharmaceutical innovation policy

Protection of innovation in the pharmaceutical industry has traditionally been realised through protection of inventions via patents. However, in the European Union regulatory exclusivities restricting market entry of generic products confer tailored, industry specific protection for final, marketable products. This paper retraces the protection conferred by the different forms of exclusivity and assesses them in the light of recent transparency policies of the European Medicines Agency. The purpose of the paper is to argue for rethinking the role of regulatory data as a key tool of innovation policy and for refocusing the attention from patents to the existing regulatory framework. After detailed assessment of the exclusivity regime, the paper identifies key areas of improvement calling for reassessment so as to promote better functioning of the regime as an incentive for accelerated innovation. While economic and public health analysis necessarily provide final answers as to necessity of reform, this paper provides a legal perspective to the issue, appraising the current regulatory framework and identifying areas for further analysis.