Mental Well-being at Work. A Sign of a Healthy Organisation and a Necessary Precondition for Organisational Development

One of the aims of the study was to clarify the reliability and validity of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and the Eigenzustand (EZ) method as measures of the objective characteristics of work and short-term mental work load in the Finnish data. The reliability and validity were examined taking into consideration the theoretical backgrounds of the methods and the reliability of the measurements. The methods were used for finding out the preconditions for organisational development based on self-improvement and clarifying the impacts of working environment (organisational functioning and job characteristics) on a worker’s mental state and health. The influences were examined on a general level - regardless of individual personal or specific contextual factors. One aim was also to clarify how cognitions and emotions are intertwined and how they influence a person’s perception of the working environment. The data consisted of 15 blue-collar organisations in the public sector. The organisations were divided in target and comparison groups depending on the research frames. The data was collected by questionnaires by post. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (Lisrel) were used as the main statistical methods in examining the structures of the methods and impacts between the variables. It was shown that it is possible for organisations to develop their working conditions themselves on specific preconditions. The advance of the development processes could be shown by the amount of the development activity as well as by the changes of the mental well-being (ability to act) and sick absenteeism of the personnel. It was found that the JDS and the EZ methods were reliable and valid measures in the Finnish data. It was shown that, in addition to the objective working environment (organisational functioning and job characteristics), also such a personal factor as selfesteem influences a person’s perception of mental work load. However, the influence did not seem to be direct. The importance of job satisfaction as a general indicator of perceived working conditions was emphasised. Emotional and cognitive factors were found to be functionally intertwined constituting a common factor. Organisational functioning and the characteristics of work had connections with a person’s health measured by sick absenteeism.

Approaches to Supply Chain Risk Management: Identification, Analysis and Control

Supply chain risk management has emerged as an increasingly important issue in logistics as disruptions in the supply chain have become critical issues for many companies. The scientific literature on the subject is developing and in many respects the understanding of it is still in its infancy. Thus, there is a need for more information in order for scholars and practitioners to understand the causalities and interrelations that characterise the phenomenon. The aim of this dissertation is to narrow this gap by exploring key aspects of supply chain risk management through two maritime supply chains in the immediate region of the Gulf of Finland. The study contributes to the field in three different ways. Firstly, it facilitates the identification of risks on different levels of the supply chain through a systematic analysis of the processes and actors, and of the cognitive barriers that limit the actors’ visibility and their understanding of the operations and the risks involved. There is a clear need to increase collaboration and information exchange in order to improve visibility in the chain. Risk management should be a collaborative effort among the individual actors, aimed at obtaining a holistic picture. Secondly, the study contributes to the literature on risk analysis through the use of systemic frameworks that illustrate the causalities and linkages in the system, thereby making it easier to perceive the vulnerabilities. Thirdly, the study enhances current knowledge of risk control in identifying actor roles, risk visibility and risk controllability as being among the key factors determining risk-management effectiveness against supply-chain vulnerability. This dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part gives a general overview of the relevant literature, the research design and the conclusions of the study, and the second part comprises six research publications. Case-study methodology with systematic combining approach is used, where in-depth interviews, questionnaires and expert panel sessions are the main data collection methods. The study illustrates the current state of risk management in multimodal maritime supply chains, and develops frameworks for further analysis. The results imply that there are major differences between organizations in their ability to execute supply chain risk management. Further collaboration should be considered in order to facilitate the development of systematic and effective management processes.

Effective Message Design and Media Mix of Senior Mobile Phone in China

The present research focuses on the study of how to design message and select media in advertising to generate customer’s purchase intention towards senior mobile phone in China. The message design concentrates mainly on message framing and fear appeals study while the media selection method is only based on direct matching. For exploring the main research question, the study utilized qualitative methodology. The data collection consisted of a pre-interview questionnaire, interviews, and three sets of experiments. The experiments were designed to test the selected 18 participants’ responses toward different emotional appeals and message framings. The findings illustrate participants’ understanding of senior mobile phone and their media usage habits. Moreover, positive message framing and emotional appeals in advertising are more effective. Gender differences in responding to emotional appeals were explored as well.

The Dark Side of International Business? Stakeholder Approach to Human Trafficking in Finnish Construction and Service Sectors

Human trafficking is not a new phenomenon. It has existed in various forms for ages around the world. Some researchers have even compared it to slavery, calling it the modern form of slavery in the 21st century. This study is particularly interested in the role of work-related human trafficking in Finnish business. In order for something to be called work-related human trafficking, the concepts of forced labour and human trafficking have to overlap. From the economic point of view, human trafficking is governed by the laws of supply and demand. In many countries the global pressure on cutting costs has created two trends: the increased supply of migrant workers and the deregulation of labour markets. These competitive pressures can have an adverse impact on the conditions of employment and, in the worst cases, can lead to forced labour and trafficking. In fact, trafficking has become one of the most profitable illicit industries worldwide, generating tremendous profits due to its low costs and huge profits. Therefore, it is important to investigate the phenomenon from the business point of view. This study is a qualitative research conducted by using theme interviews as a research approach. Altogether 13 interviews have been conducted and some secondary data has been used in order to find out what the role of human trafficking is in Finnish business. The special sectors investigated are the Finnish construction and service sectors. The theory framework used in this study follows the stakeholder approach. The relevant stakeholder groups for this study are: ‘institutions and authorities’, ‘law enforcement’, ‘management’ and ‘employees – potential victims’ of trafficking. With the help of these stakeholder groups, a holistic picture of the phenomenon is formed. It can be concluded that the role of human trafficking is complicated but it does exist in Finnish business. It appears in low-cost business sectors where the demand for cheap labour is high. Thus, often the victims are foreigners who do not know the culture or the Finnish conditions of employment. Especially smaller Finnish companies are at risk of getting involved in human trafficking or related exploitation cases since monitoring is much more scarce in these firms than in larger companies. The risk of human trafficking and exploitation is also higher at the bottom of the complicated subcontracting chains or when using foreign recruitment agencies. Thus, the study believes that active and intensive collaboration between the company’s different stakeholder groups is needed in order to prevent work-related human trafficking from flourishing in Finland.

Music digitalization and its effects on the Finnish music industry stakeholders

For the past two decades the music digitalization has been considered the most significant phenomenon in the music industry as the physical sales have been decreasing rapidly. The advancement of the digital technology and the internet have facilitated the digitalization in the music industry and affected all stages of the music value chain, namely music creation, distribution and consumption. The newly created consumer culture has led to the establishment of novel business models such as music subscriptions and à-la-carte downloads websites and live streaming. The dynamic digital environment has presented the music industry stakeholders with the challenge to adapt to the requirements of the constantly changing modern consumers’ needs and demands. The purpose of this study was to identify how music digitalization can influence change in the Finnish music industry value chain; i.e. how digitalization affects the music industry stakeholders, their functions and inter-relatedness and how the stakeholders are able to react to the changes in the industry. The study was conducted as a qualitative research based entirely on primary data in the form of semi-structured interviews with experts from different units of the Finnish music industry value chain. Since the study offers assessment of diverse viewpoints on the value chain, it further provides an integrated picture of the Finnish music industry current situation and its competitive environment. The results suggest that the music industry is currently in a turbulent stage of experimentation with new business models and digital innovations. However, at this point it is impossible to determine which business model will be approved by the consumers in the longer run. Nevertheless, the study confirmed the claim that consumption of music in its digital form is to become dominant over the traditional physical copies sales in the nearest future. As a result the music industry is becoming more user-oriented; that is the focus is shifting from music production towards artist branding and management and visibility to the audience. Furthermore, the music industry is undergoing the process of integration with other industries such as media, social networks, internet services providers and mobile phone manufacturers in order to better fulfill the consumers’ needs. The previously underrated live music and merchandising are also increasing their significance for the revenues in the stagnant music markets. Therefore, the music industry is developing at present towards becoming an integrated entertainment industry deeply penetrating every point of modern people’s leisure activities.

The Finnish it industries in transition. Defining and Measuring the Finnish Software Product and IT Services Industries by Applying Theoretical Frameworks

The starting point of this study is that the prevailing way to consider the Finnish IT industries and industry information often results in a limited and even skewed picture of the sector. The purpose of the study is to contribute and increase knowledge and understanding of the status, structure and evolution of the Finnish IT industries as well as the Finnish IT vendor field and competition. The focus is on software product and IT services industries which form a crucial part of all ICT industries. This study examines the Finnish IT sector from production (supply) as well as market (demand) perspective. The study is based on empirical information from multiple sources. Three research questions were formulated for the study. The first concerns the status of the Finnish IT industries considered by applying theoretical frameworks. The second research question targets at the basis for the future evolution of the Finnish IT industries and, finally, the third at the ability of the available definitions and indicators to describe the Finnish IT industries and IT markets. Major structural changes like technological changes and related innovations, globalization and new business models are drivers of the evolution of the IT industries. The findings of this study emphasize the significant role of IT services in the Finnish IT sector and in connection to that the ability to combine IT service skills, competences and practices with high level software skills also in the future. According to the study the Finnish IT enterprises and their customers have become increasingly dependent on global ecosystems and platforms, applications and IT services provided by global vendors. As a result, more IT decisions are made outside Finland. In addition, IT companies are facing new competition from other than IT industries bringing into market new substitutes. To respond to the new competition, IT firms seek growth by expanding beyond their traditional markets.. The changing global division of labor accentuates the need for accurate information of the IT sector but, at the same time, also makes it increasingly challenging to acquire the information needed. One of the main contributions of this study is to provide frameworks for describing the Finnish IT sector and its evolution. These frameworks help combine empirical information from various sources and make it easier to concretize the structures, volumes, relationships and interaction of both, the production and market side of the Finnish IT industry. Some frameworks provide tools to analyze the vendor field, competition and the basis for the future evolution of the IT industries. The observations of the study support the argument that static industry definitions and related classifications do not serve the information needs in dynamic industries, such as the IT industries. One of the main messages of this study is to emphasize the importance of understanding the definitions and starting points of different information sources. Simultaneously, in the structure and evolution of Finnish IT industries the number of employees has become a more valid and reliable measure than the revenue based indicators.

Heat transfer inside internal combustion engine: modelling and comparison with experimental data

The paper is devoted to study specific aspects of heat transfer in the combustion chamber of compression ignited reciprocating internal combustion engines and possibility to directly measure the heat flux by means of Gradient Heat Flux Sensors (GHFS). A one – dimensional single zone model proposed by Kyung Tae Yun et al. and implemented with the aid of Matlab, was used to obtain approximate picture of heat flux behavior in the combustion chamber with relation to the crank angle. The model’s numerical output was compared to the experimental results. The experiment was accomplished by A. Mityakov at four stroke diesel engine Indenor XL4D. Local heat fluxes on the surface of cylinder head were measured with fast – response, high – sensitive GHFS. The comparison of numerical data with experimental results has revealed a small deviation in obtained heat flux values throughout the cycle and different behavior of heat flux curve after Top Dead Center.

Brand Identity and Image in B2B Factory Automation Context

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

Modeling and Parameter Estimation of Double-Star Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines

The power rating of wind turbines is constantly increasing; however, keeping the voltage rating at the low-voltage level results in high kilo-ampere currents. An alternative for increasing the power levels without raising the voltage level is provided by multiphase machines. Multiphase machines are used for instance in ship propulsion systems, aerospace applications, electric vehicles, and in other high-power applications including wind energy conversion systems. A machine model in an appropriate reference frame is required in order to design an efficient control for the electric drive. Modeling of multiphase machines poses a challenge because of the mutual couplings between the phases. Mutual couplings degrade the drive performance unless they are properly considered. In certain multiphase machines there is also a problem of high current harmonics, which are easily generated because of the small current path impedance of the harmonic components. However, multiphase machines provide special characteristics compared with the three-phase counterparts: Multiphase machines have a better fault tolerance, and are thus more robust. In addition, the controlled power can be divided among more inverter legs by increasing the number of phases. Moreover, the torque pulsation can be decreased and the harmonic frequency of the torque ripple increased by an appropriate multiphase configuration. By increasing the number of phases it is also possible to obtain more torque per RMS ampere for the same volume, and thus, increase the power density. In this doctoral thesis, a decoupled d–q model of double-star permanent-magnet (PM) synchronous machines is derived based on the inductance matrix diagonalization. The double-star machine is a special type of multiphase machines. Its armature consists of two three-phase winding sets, which are commonly displaced by 30 electrical degrees. In this study, the displacement angle between the sets is considered a parameter. The diagonalization of the inductance matrix results in a simplified model structure, in which the mutual couplings between the reference frames are eliminated. Moreover, the current harmonics are mapped into a reference frame, in which they can be easily controlled. The work also presents methods to determine the machine inductances by a finite-element analysis and by voltage-source inverters on-site. The derived model is validated by experimental results obtained with an example double-star interior PM (IPM) synchronous machine having the sets displaced by 30 electrical degrees. The derived transformation, and consequently, the decoupled d–q machine model, are shown to model the behavior of an actual machine with an acceptable accuracy. Thus, the proposed model is suitable to be used for the model-based control design of electric drives consisting of double-star IPM synchronous machines.

Social media and public libraries : exploring information activities of library professionals and users

Social media has become a part of many people’s everyday lives. In the library field the adoption of social media has been widespread and discussions of the development of “Library 2.0” began at an early stage. The aim with this thesis is to study the interface between public libraries, social media, and users, focusing on information activities. The main research question is: How is the interface between public libraries and social media perceived and acted upon by its main stakeholders (library professionals and users)? The background of Library 2.0 is strongly associated with the development of the Web and social media, as well as with the public libraries and their user-centered and information technological development. The theoretical framework builds on the research within the area of Library and Information Science concerning information behavior, information practice, and information activities. Earlier research on social media and public libraries is also highlighted in this thesis. The methods survey and content analysis were applied to map the interface between social media and public libraries. A questionnaire was handed out to the users and another questionnaire was sent out to the library professionals. The results were statistically analyzed. In the content analysis public library Facebook pages were studied. All the empirical investigations were conducted in the area of Finland Proper. An integrated analysis of the results deepens the understanding of the key elements of the social media and public library context. These elements are interactivity, information activities, perceptions, and stakeholders. In this context seven information activities were distinguished: reading, seeking, creating, communicating, informing, mediating, and contributing. This thesis contributes to develop the research concerning information activities and draws a realistic picture of the challenges and opportunities in the social media and public library context. It also contributes with knowledge on library professionals and library users, and the existing differences in their perceptions of the interface between libraries and social media.

Silk and ink. What were silk wallets, and what can they, together with Jacobina Charlotta Munterhjelm’s diary, tell us about the gentry women’s lives in the 18th and 19th century?

The subject of this thesis is the elaborate silk wallets and what can they tell about the gentry women’s lives in the 18th and 19th century Finland together Jacobina Charlotta Munsterhjelm’s diary. Silk wallets were made of silk and decorated by embroidering, they were used to preserve memorabilia and letters. Making these lavish items took time, skills and materials, and the decorations usually contained symbols and messages. As main source there are silk wallets from the collections of the National Museum of Finland and Satakunta Museum, as well as the diary of Jacobina Munsterhjelm from 1799 to 1801. By interpreting these items we can build a picture of gentry women’s lives. The culture of silk wallets is European, the silk wallet phenomenon studied is Swedish-Finnish, and the research is limited mainly in Finland by its sources. This research has been carried out by constructing a cultural context to the silk wallets with the help of Ginzburg’s methods from his work Juusto ja madot - 1500-luvun myllärin maailmankuva. Silk wallets represent the gentry as well as the communication culture in the 18th and 19th centuries, but have remained unstudied. The thesis consists of two parts, the first focuses on the silk wallets, from where were they developed, how they were made, and to their decorations. The silk wallet culture developed among the gentry handicrafts during the 18th century and faded during the early 20th century. The making of the silk wallets demanded time, skills and materials. The decorations contain messages and symbols – they contain the possible affections the makers might have toward the receiver, and reflect the status and qualities of the receiver. The second part examines the makers, the gentry women, and the handicraft culture which played a big role in their lives, through silk wallets and the diary of Jacobina Munstehjelm. From there it continues to the affections and meanings which can be found from the silk wallets.

Railways, Airports and Sea Container Operators as Publicly Listed Companies – Financial Performance and Shareholder Value Creation Perspective

Logistics infrastructure and transportation services have been the liability of countries and governments for decades, or these have been under strict regulation policies. One of the first branches opened for competition in EU as well as in other continents, has been air transports (operators, like passenger and freight) and road transports. These have resulted on lower costs, better connectivity and in most of the cases higher service quality. However, quite large amount of other logistics related activities are still directly (or indirectly) under governmental influence, e.g. railway infrastructure, road infrastructure, railway operations, airports, and sea ports. Due to the globalization, governmental influence is not that necessary in this sector, since transportation needs have increased with much more significant phase as compared to economic growth. Also freight transportation needs do not correlate with passenger side, due to the reason that only small number of areas in the world have specialized in the production of particular goods. Therefore, in number of cases public-private partnership, or even privately owned companies operating in these sub-branches have been identified as beneficial for countries, customers and further economic growth. The objective of this research work is to shed more light on these kinds of experiments, especially in the relatively unknown sub-branches of logistics like railways, airports and sea container transports. In this research work we have selected companies having public listed status in some stock exchange, and have needed amount of financial scale to be considered as serious company rather than start-up phase venture. Our research results show that railways and airports usually need high fixed investments, but have showed in the last five years generally good financial performance, both in terms of profitability and cash flow. In contrary to common belief of prosperity in globally growing container transports, sea vessel operators of containers have not shown that impressive financial performance. Generally margins in this business are thin, and profitability has been sacrificed in front of high growth – this also concerns cash flow performance, which has been lower too. However, as we examine these three logistics sub-branches through shareholder value development angle during time period of 2002-2007, we were surprised to find out that all of these three have outperformed general stock market indexes in this period. More surprising is the result that financially a bit less performing sea container transportation sector shows highest shareholder value gain in the examination period. Thus, it should be remembered that provided analysis shows only limited picture, since e.g. dividends were not taken into consideration in this research work. Therefore, e.g. US railway operators have disadvantage to other in the analysis, since they have been able to provide dividends for shareholders in long period of time. Based on this research work we argue that investment on transportation/logistics sector seems to be safe alternative, which yields with relatively low risk high gain. Although global economy would face smaller growth period, this sector seems to provide opportunities in more demanding situation as well.

Emotional intelligence and multicultural project leadership in Finnish-Chinese MNC context

The main goal of this thesis was to examine how the emotional intelligence skills and multicultural project leadership style of a project manager interrelate and affect the success of a project. The research methods used are literature review in theoretical part of the thesis and semi-structured interviews in empirical part of the thesis. This study is a single case study i.e. one case company was selected to be the secondary level of analysis. Within the case company, four project managers were selected as research units to form the primary level of analysis. Literature review formed the basis for the empirical research and the interview questions were derived from the literature. Findings from the interviews were mirrored against the literature review findings, based on which both conclusions and generalisations could be made. Thus, both deductive and inductive methods were utilised to get more complete picture about the research topic. In the first part of the literature review the general leadership theories and the project leadership terminology are introduced as a background for the concept of emotional intelligence and the integrated leadership model. Emotional intelligence and its interrelation to different leadership concepts are discussed during the literature review. Chinese cultural aspects affecting the way of making business, and the multicultural leadership styles of the Finnish project managers are introduced in the following part of the literature review. It was found that the most successfully used multicultural leadership styles in Finnish-Chinese context are synergistic and polycentric, and these require emotional intelligence skills. In the empirical part on this thesis the findings from the semi-structured interviews are introduced, discussed and analysed. Interviews were done in private meeting rooms, and they were recorded and transcripted to add reliability and validity. Although the sample was only four project managers, the results show that the sample is quite saturated as the responses to several questions followed the same pattern. It was found that Finnish project managers in the case company are democratic and take cultural differences into account in their project leadership. Both synergistic and polycentric leadership styles are used with Chinese team members. Emotional intelligence capabilities and the emphasis of those differ a bit depending on the interviewee. Though, the results show that EI skills and the multicultural project leadership style used in Chinese context are interrelated. The findings from the literature review and the empirical research in this thesis are similar. Though, there is need for further research as the sample was small, and this thesis is a single case study. It is recommendable to make a multi-company study with larger sample of project managers. Also multi-industry perspective is recommendable for further research.

Solar Twins and Solar Analogues in Galactic Surveys.

The Sun is a crucial benchmark for how we see the universe. Especially when it comes to the visible range of the spectrum, stars are commonly compared to the Sun, as it is the most thoroughly studied star. In this work I have focussed on two aspects of the Sun and how it is used in modern astronomy. Firstly, I try to answer the question on how similar to the Sun another star can be. Given the limits of observations, we call a solar twin a star that has the same observed parameters as the Sun within its errors. These stars can be used as stand-in suns when doing observations, as normal night-time telescopes are not built to be pointed at the Sun. There have been many searches for these twins and every one of them provided not only information on how close to the Sun another star can be, but also helped us to understand the Sun itself. In my work I have selected _ 300 stars that are both photometrically and spectroscopically close to the Sun and found 22 solar twins, of which 17 were previously unknown and can therefore help the emerging picture on solar twins. In my second research project I have used my full sample of 300 solar analogue stars to check the temperature and metallicity scale of stellar catalogue calibrations. My photometric sample was originally drawn from the Geneva-Copenhagen-Survey (Nordström et al. 2004; Holmberg et al. 2007, 2009) for which two alternative calibrations exist, i.e. GCS-III (Holmberg et al. 2009) and C11 (Casagrande et al. 2011). I used very high resolution spectra of solar analogues, and a new approach to test the two calibrations. I found a zero–point shift of order of +75 K and +0.10 dex in effective temperature and metallicity, respectively, in the GCS-III and therefore favour the C11 calibration, which found similar offsets. I then performed a spectroscopic analysis of the stars to derive effective temperatures and metallicities, and tested that they are well centred around the solar values.

Post-processing and analysis of tracked hand trajectories

In this thesis, the suitability of different trackers for finger tracking in high-speed videos was studied. Tracked finger trajectories from the videos were post-processed and analysed using various filtering and smoothing methods. Position derivatives of the trajectories, speed and acceleration were extracted for the purposes of hand motion analysis. Overall, two methods, Kernelized Correlation Filters and Spatio-Temporal Context Learning tracking, performed better than the others in the tests. Both achieved high accuracy for the selected high-speed videos and also allowed real-time processing, being able to process over 500 frames per second. In addition, the results showed that different filtering methods can be applied to produce more appropriate velocity and acceleration curves calculated from the tracking data. Local Regression filtering and Unscented Kalman Smoother gave the best results in the tests. Furthermore, the results show that tracking and filtering methods are suitable for high-speed hand-tracking and trajectory-data post-processing.