Competitive flexibility in systems supplier companies in mechanical engineering industry

Systems suppliers are focal actors in mechanical engineering supply chains, in between general contractors and component suppliers. This research concentrates on the systems suppliers’ competitive flexibility, as a competitive advantage that the systems supplier gains from independence from the competitive forces of the market. The aim is to study the roles that power, dependence relations, social capital, and interorganizational learning have on the competitive flexibility. Research on this particular theme is scarce thus far. The research method applied here is the inductive multiple case study. Interviews from four case companies were used as main source of the qualitative data. The literature review presents previous literature on subcontracting, supply chain flexibility, supply chain relationships, social capital and interorganizational learning. The result of this study are seven propositions and consequently a model on the effects that the dominance of sales of few customers, power of competitors, significance of the manufactured system in the end product, professionalism in procurement and the significance of brand products in the business have on the competitive flexibility. These relationships are moderated by either social capital or interorganizational learning. The main results obtained from this study revolve around social capital and interorganizational learning, which have beneficial effects on systems suppliers’ competitive flexibility, by moderating the effects of other constructs of the model. Further research on this topic should include quantitative research to provide the extent to which the results can be reliably generalized. Also each construct of the model gives possible focus for more thorough research.

Blended learning and student time-use in engineering education

Aiheen laajempi artikkeli on julkaistu konferenssi-CD:llä.

Project owner’s and outside engineering consultant’s role in power plant implementation projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of co-operation between a project owner and an outside engineering consultant in combined heat and power plant implementation projects. Moreover, as another focal subject of the study was to familiarize the purchasing behavior of the energy producer and how an outside engineering consultant participated into different stages of the purchasing process. The study was carried out as a multiple case study including altogether six Finnish power plant implementation projects that had been taken into commercial use during 1995 – 2015. By adjusting the findings of empirical interview data and comparing those to the theoretical framework concerning, among others, Finnish energy production, engineering consulting businesses, delivery methods of construction project and finally the purchasing process, it can be concluded that especially in the power plant implementation projects in the past have a great influence to decisions made during the project. The role of the main engineering consultant is to act as an assistant, who helps to achieve the project goals successfully rather than an advisor who only knows how the project should be conducted. At least in these five project cases this was the case, meaning that the final decision power always remaining with project owner.

Engineering of Business Critical Web Applications

Research focus of this thesis is to explore options for building systems for business critical web applications. Business criticality here includes requirements for data protection and system availability. The focus is on open source software. Goals are to identify robust technologies and engineering practices to implement such systems. Research methods include experiments made with sample systems built around chosen software packages that represent certain technologies. The main research focused on finding a good method for database data replication, a key functionality for high-availability, database-driven web applications. Research included also finding engineering best practices from books written by administrators of high traffic web applications. Experiment with database replication showed, that block level synchronous replication offered by DRBD replication software offered considerably more robust data protection and high-availability functionality compared to leading open source database product MySQL, and its built-in asynchronous replication. For master-master database setups, block level replication is more recommended way to build high-availability into the system. Based on thesis research, building high-availability web applications is possible using a combination of open source software and engineering best practices for data protection, availability planning and scaling.

Segmentation of Industrial Customers – Case: Finnish Mechanical Engineering Companies

Segmentointi on perinteisesti ollut erityisesti kuluttajamarkkinoinnin työkalu, mutta siirtymä tuotteista palveluihin on lisännyt segmentointitarvetta myös teollisilla markkinoilla. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoite on löytää selkeästi toisistaan erottuvia asiakasryhmiä suomalaisen liikkeenjohdon konsultointiyritys Synocus Groupin tarjoaman case-materiaalin pohjalta. K-means-klusteroinnin avulla löydetään kolme potentiaalista markkinasegmenttiä perustuen siihen, mitkä tarjoamaelementit 105 valikoitua suomalaisen kone- ja metallituoteteollisuuden asiakasta ovat maininneet tärkeimmiksi. Ensimmäinen klusteri on hintatietoiset asiakkaat, jotka laskevat yksikkökohtaisia hintoja. Toinen klusteri koostuu huolto-orientoituneista asiakkaista, jotka laskevat tuntikustannuksia ja maksimoivat konekannan käyttötunteja. Tälle kohderyhmälle kannattaisi ehkä markkinoida teknisiä palveluja ja huoltosopimuksia. Kolmas klusteri on tuottavuussuuntautuneet asiakkaat, jotka ovat kiinnostuneita suorituskyvyn kehittämisestä ja laskevat tonnikohtaisia kustannuksia. He tavoittelevat alempia kokonaiskustannuksia lisääntyneen suorituskyvyn, pidemmän käyttöiän ja alempien huoltokustannusten kautta.

Utilizing online demand generation in an engineering company

Työn tarkoituksena on selvittää miten sähköistä kysynnän herättämistä voidaan hyödyntää Mantsinen Group Ltd Oy:ssä siten, että sillä pystytään tukemaan myyntiä. Lisäksi sähköisen kysynnän herättämisen tehokkuutta tutkitaan, jotta saadaan selville onko se kannattavaa ja kuinka hyvin se sopii yritykselle. Kysynnän herättämisjärjestelmän käyttö on määritelty kirjallisuuteen perustuen ja sen jälkeen järjestelmän käyttö on aloitettu. Sähköisen kysynnän herättämisen tehokkuus mitataan kolmen kuukauden tarkastelujakson todellisella datalla. Sähköisen kysynnän herättämisen sopivuutta arvioidaan perustuen sen kustannustehokkuuteen ja tuloksiin. Työn tulokset osoittavat, että sähköinen kysynnän herättäminen on kannattavaa ja se sopii yritykselle. Sillä voidaan parhaiten tukea myyntiä järjestelmän tuottaessa laadukkaita myyntimahdollisuuksia tasaisena virtana myynnille. Myös aiemmin manuaalisesti tehtyjä työtehtäviä voidaan automatisoida ja näin vähentää myyjien työtaakkaa.

Military crisis management in the next decade (2020-2030) : inducing consent or relying on compliance?

The most outstanding conceptual challenge of modern crisis management is the principle of consent. It is not a problem only at the operational level - it challenges the entire decision-making structures of crisis management operations. In post-cold war times and especially in the 21st century, there has been a transition from peacekeeping with limited size and scope towards large and complex peace operations. This shift has presented peace operations with a dilemma. How to balance between maintaining consent for peace operations, whilst being able to use military force to coerce those attempting to wreck peace processes? To address such a dilemma, this research aims to promote understanding, on what can be achieved by military crisis management operations (peace support operations) in the next decade. The research concentrates on the focal research question: Should military components induce consent or rely on the compliance of conflicting parties in crisis management operations of the next decade (2020 – 2030)? The focus is on military – political strategic level considerations, and especially on the time before political decisions to commit to a crisis management operation. This study does not focus on which actor or organisation should intervene. The framework of this thesis derives from the so called ‘peacebuilding space’, the scope of peace operations and spoiler theory. Feasibility of both peace enforcement and peacekeeping in countering future risk conditions are analysed in this framework. This future-orientated qualitative research uses the Delphi-method with a panel of national and international experts. Citation analysis supports identification of relevant reference material, which consists of contemporary literature, the Delphi-questionnaires and interviews. The research process followed three main stages. In the first stage, plausible future scenarios and risk conditions were identified with the Delphi-panel. In the second stage, operating environments for peace support operations were described and consequent hypotheses formulated. In the third stage, these hypotheses were tested on the Delphi-panel. The Delphi-panel is sufficiently wide and diverse to produce plausible yet different insights. The research design utilised specifically military crisis management and peace operations theories. This produced various and relevant normative considerations. Therefore, one may argue that this research; which is based on accepted contemporary theory, hypotheses derived thereof and utilising an expert panel, contributes to the realm of peace support operations. This research finds that some degree of peace enforcement will be feasible and necessary in at least the following risk conditions: failed governance; potential spillover of ethnic, religious, ideological conflict; vulnerability of strategic chokepoints and infrastructures in ungoverned spaces; as well as in territorial and extra-territorial border disputes. In addition, some form of peace enforcement is probably necessary in risk conditions pertaining to: extremism of marginalised groups; potential disputes over previously uninhabited and resource-rich territories; and interstate rivalry. Furthermore, this research finds that peacekeeping measures will be feasible and necessary in at least risk conditions pertaining to: potential spillover of ethnic, religious, ideological conflict; uncontrolled migration; consequences from environmental catastrophes or changes; territorial and extra-territorial border disputes; and potential disputes over previously uninhabited and resource-rich territories. These findings are all subject to both generic and case specific preconditions that must exist for a peace support operation. Some deductions could be derived from the research findings. Although some risk conditions may appear illogical, understanding the underlying logic of a conflict is fundamental to understanding transition in crisis management. Practitioners of crisis management should possess cognizance of such transition. They must understand how transition should occur from threat to safety, from conflict to stability – and so forth. Understanding transition is imperative for managing the dynamic evolution of preconditions, which begins at the outset of a peace support operation. Furthermore, it is pertinent that spoilers are defined from a peace process point of view. If spoilers are defined otherwise, it changes the nature of an operation towards war, where the logic is breaking the will of an enemy - and surrender. In peace support operations, the logic is different: actions towards spoilers are intended to cause transition towards consent - not defeat. Notwithstanding future developments, history continues to provide strategic education. However, the distinction is that the risk conditions occur in novel futures. Hence, lessons learned from the past should be fitted to the case at hand. This research shows compelling evidence that swaying between intervention optimism and pessimism is not substantiated. Both peace enforcement and peacekeeping are sine qua non for successful military crisis management in the next decade.

Commitment to military service among Finnish conscripts

This research establishes the primary components, predictors, and consequences of organizational commitment in the military context. Specifically, the research examines commitment to the military service among Finnish conscripts and whether initial affective commitment prior to service predicts later commitment, attitudes, behavior, and performance, and, furthermore, analyzes the changes in commitment and its possible outcomes. The data were collected from records as well as by surveys from 1,387 rank and file soldiers, immediately after they reported for duty, near the end of basic training, and near the end of 6 to 12 months of service. The data covered a wide array of predictor variables, including background items, attitudes toward conscription, mental and physical health, sociability, training quality, and leadership. Moreover, the archival data included such items as rank, criminal record, performance ratings, and the number of medical examines and exemptions. The measures were further refined based on the results of factor analysis and reliability tests. The results indicated that initial commitment significantly corresponded with expected adjustment, intentions to stay in the military, and acceptance of authority. Moreover, initial commitment moderately related to personal growth, perceived performance, and the number of effective service days at the end of service. During basic training, affective commitment was mostly influenced by challenging training, adjustment experiences, regimentation, and unit climate. At the end of service, committed soldiers demonstrated more personal growth and development in service, had higher-level expected performance, and less malingering during their service. Additionally, they had significantly more positive attitudes toward national defense. The results suggest that affective commitment requires adequate personal adjustment, experiences of personal growth and development, and satisfaction with unit dynamics and training. This research contributes to the theoretical discussion on organizational commitment and the will to defend the nation and advances developing models to support and manage conscript training, education, leadership, and personnel policy. This is achieved by determining the main factors and variables, including their relative strength, that affect commitment to the military service. These findings may also facilitate in designing programs aimed at reducing unwanted discharges and inadequate performance. In particular, these results provide tools for improving conscripts’ overall attachment to and identification with the military service.

Socially Competent Leadership - predictors, impacts and skilling in engineering

Earlier management studies have found a relationship between managerial qualities and subordinate impacts, but the effect of managers‘ social competence on leader perceptions has not been solidly established. To fill the related research gap, the present work embarks on a quantitative empirical effort to identify predictors of successful leadership. In particular, this study investigates relationships between perceived leader behavior and three selfreport instruments used to measure managerial capability: 1) the WOPI Work Personality Inventory, 2) Raven‘s general intelligence scale, and 3) the Emotive Communication Scale (ECS). This work complements previous research by resorting to both self-reports and other-reports: the results acquired from the managerial sample are compared to subordinate perceptions as measured through the ECS other-report and the WOPI360 multi-source appraisal. The quantitative research is comprised of a sample of 8o superiors and 354 subordinates operating in eight Finnish organizations. The strongest predictive value emerged from the ECS self- and other-reports and certain personality dimensions. In contrast, supervisors‘ logical intelligence did not correlate with leadership perceived as socially competent by subordinates. 16 of the superiors rated as most socially competent by their subordinates were selected for case analysis. Their qualitative narratives evidence the role of life history and post-traumatic growth in developing managerial skills. The results contribute to leadership theory in four ways. First, the ECS self-report devised for this research offers a reliable scale for predicting socially competent leader ability. Second, the work identifies dimensions of personality and emotive skills that can be considered predictors of managerial ability and benefited from in leader recruitment and career planning. Third, the Emotive Communication Model delineated on the basis of the empirical data allows for a systematic design and planning of communication and leadership education. Fourth, this workfurthers understanding of personal growth strategies and the role of life history in leader development and training. Finally, this research advances educational leadership by conceptualizing and operationalizing effective managerial communications. The Emotive Communication Model devised directs the pedagogic attention in engineering to assertion, emotional availability and inspiration skills. The proposed methodology addresses classroom management strategies drawing from problem-based learning, student empowerment, collaborative learning, and so-called socially competent teachership founded on teacher immediacy and perceived caring, all constituting strategies moving away from student compliance and teacher modelling. The ultimate educational objective embraces the development of individual engineers and organizational leaders that not only possess traditional analytical and technical expertise and substantive knowledge but are intelligent also creatively, practically, and socially.