Fundraising and investor relations in social enterprise: Marketing your way out of the pioneer gap in African off-grid renewable energy

Social enterprises apply the best of business for the pursuit of social or environmental mission while also generating revenues. Globally, nearly 1,3 billion people lack access to electricity, as well as another billion having access to only low quality and infrequent electricity. Off-grid renewable energy, like solar, will increasingly have a key role in the solution of the energy access issue. The pioneer gap in off-grid renewable energy consists of financing (or funding) gaps and capacity gaps, to do with both the early stage of the enterprises in question, as well as the early stage of the whole industry. The gaps are emphasised by specific characteristics of off-grid renewable energy business models and the requirements of operating in bottom-of-the-pyramid markets. The marketing perspective to fundraising is chosen to uncover the possible role enterprises themselves have in bridging the pioneer gap. The purpose of this thesis is to study how social enterprises operating in off-grid renewable energy in Africa utilise marketing activities in their investor relations in bridging the pioneer gap. This main research question is divided into the following sub-questions:  How does the pioneer gap affect fundraising for these enterprises?  How are the funding needs for these enterprises characterised?  How do these enterprises build trust in their investor relations? The theoretic framework is built on relationship marketing and investor relations, with an emphasis on creation of trust. The research is conducted as a thematical case study. Primary data is gathered via semi-structured interviews with six solar energy companies and two accelerators. According to the findings, the main components affecting trust-creation are diminished information asymmetry and perceived risk, mission alignment as well as a personal fit or relationship with the investor. Therefore, an enterprise can utilise e.g. the following marketing activities in their investor relations to bridge the pioneer gap: ensuring investor material, the enterprise story and presenting of them is clear, concise and complete to “package” the enterprise as an investment; taking investor needs and motivations into account as well as utilising existing investors as ambassadors.

Naudanlanta biokaasulaitosraaka-aineena, käsittely ja logistiikka

Maatalouden lietelannasta saatavien ravinteiden talteenotto ja kierrätys ovat viime aikoina nousseet yhä tärkeämmäksi tavoitteeksi. Ravinteiden tehokas kierrätystapa saadaan ai-kaiseksi käsittelemällä lietelantaa. Lannan käsittelyketjuja on monenlaisia; tässä työssä naudan lannan käsittelyketju muodostuu separoinnista ja mädätyksestä. Tämän diplomityön tarkoituksena oli selvittää naudan lannan mekaanisen separoinnin ja logistiikan kannattavuus märkämädätys- ja kuivamädätyskäsittelyketjussa. Käsittelyketju-jen kannattavuus tai kannattamattomuus on esitetty eri skenaarioissa muodostettujen kus-tannuslaskentojen perusteella. Skenaarioiden kustannuslaskelmat ovat toisiinsa verratta-vissa, jolloin ne voidaan asettaa niin ikään paremmuusjärjestykseen. Viides skenaario ei ole suoraan verrattavissa muihin skenaarioihin, koska siinä lannankäsittelyketjua on tar-kasteltu eri näkökulmasta, keskittämällä suurimmalle maatilalle. Mekaanisista separaattoreista tarkasteltiin työssä ruuvipuristinta, dekantterilinkoa ja ul-koistettua separointipalvelua. Lannan logistiikkakustannuksissa huomioitiin lannan kulje-tusta traktori- ja säiliöautolla tai traktorilla. Separoinnin kustannus liitettiin osaksi logis-tiikkakustannusta. Työn tuloksien perusteella voidaan todeta dekantterilingon separointi-kustannuksen olevan taloudellisesti kannattamattomin johtuen pienestä lantakapasiteetista ja separaattorin korkeasta investointihinnasta. Ravinteiden osalta linko osoittautui tehok-kaimmaksi menetelmäksi erottamaan ravinteet eri jakeisiin. Lannan käsittely separointipalvelulla oli edullisin skenaario, jonka vuosittaiseksi kustan-nukseksi saatiin säiliö- ja kuorma-autolla lantaa kuljetettaessa 58 700 € ja traktorilla kul-jetettaessa 60 400 €. Kallein lannan käsittely oli dekantterilingolla, jonka vuosittaiseksi kustannukseksi saatiin lantaa säiliö- ja kuorma-autolla kuljetettaessa 121 000 € ja trakto-rilla kuljetettaessa 123 300 €. Lannan separointi maatilalla osoittautui kannattavammaksi kuin käsittelemättömän lietteen kuljetus biokaasulaitokselle.

Adventures of Ludom: a Videogame Geneontology

Within the last few decades, the videogame has become an important media, economic, and cultural phenomenon. Along with the phenomenon’s proliferation the aspects that constitute its identity have become more and more challenging to determine, however. The persistent surfacing of novel ludic forms continues to expand the conceptual range of ‘games’ and ‘videogames,’ which has already lead to anxious generalizations within academic as well as popular discourses. Such generalizations make it increasingly difficult to comprehend how the instances of this phenomenon actually work, which in turn generates pragmatic problems: the lack of an applicable identification of the videogame hinders its study, play, and everyday conceptualization. To counteract these problems this dissertation establishes a geneontological research methodology that enables the identification of the videogame in relation to its cultural surroundings. Videogames are theorized as ‘games,’ ‘puzzles,’ ‘stories,’ and ‘aesthetic artifacts’ (or ‘artworks’), which produces a geneontological sequence of the videogame as a singular species of culture, Artefactum ludus ludus, or ludom for short. According to this sequence, the videogame’s position as a ‘game’ in the historicized evolution of culture is mainly metaphorical, while at the same time its artifactuality, dynamic system structure, time-critical strategic input requirements and aporetically rhematic aesthetics allow it to be discovered as a conceptually stable but empirically transient uniexistential phenomenon that currently thrivesbut may soon die out.

Show me your brain! Stories of interdisciplinary knowledge creation in practice. Experiences and observations from Aalto Design Factory, Finland.

This dissertation centres on the themes of knowledge creation, interdisciplinarity and knowledge work. My research approaches interdisciplinary knowledge creation (IKC) as practical situated activity. I argue that by approaching IKC from the practice-based perspective makes it possible to “deconstruct” how knowledge creation actually happens, and demystify its strong intellectual, mentalistic and expertise-based connotations. I have rendered the work of the observed knowledge workers into something ordinary, accessible and routinized. Consequently this has made it possible to grasp the pragmatic challenges as well the concrete drivers of such activity. Thus the effective way of organizing such activities becomes a question of organizing and leading effective everyday practices. To achieve that end, I have conducted ethnographic research of one explicitly interdisciplinary space within higher education, Aalto Design Factory in Helsinki, Finland, where I observed how students from different disciplines collaborated in new product development projects. I argue that IKC is a multi-dimensional construct that intertwines a particular way of doing; a way of experiencing; a way of embodied being; and a way of reflecting on the very doing itself. This places emphasis not only the practices themselves, but also on the way the individual experiences the practices, as this directly affects how the individual practices. My findings suggest that in order to effectively organize and execute knowledge creation activities organizations need to better accept and manage the emergent diversity and complexity inherent in such activities. In order to accomplish this, I highlight the importance of understanding and using a variety of (material) objects, the centrality of mundane everyday practices, the acceptance of contradictions and negotiations well as the role of management that is involved and engaged. To succeed in interdisciplinary knowledge creation is to lead not only by example, but also by being very much present in the very everyday practices that make it happen.

Sustainable Development – the Key to Competitiveness CSR as an added value to Alstom’s corporate performance

Corporate social responsibility or CSR is today a widely recognized concept which is receiving in- creasing popularity extremely rapidly, especially in the business world. The pressure on companies to carry out their business practices in ethical manners, which promote the wellbeing of the environment and society, is coming from all directions and all stakeholders. Alstom, a French multinational conglomerate operating in the rail transport and energy industry, is no exception to this norm. This company, which will be used as the case example in this thesis, is being brought to bay in terms of engaging in CSR practices and practicing business with high ethics. It is surely not a negatively conceived phenomenon that CSR is being put on a pedestal – quite the opposite. Instead of corporations practicing CSR only to meet their stakeholder requirements through practicing window dressing, many corporations actually strive to benefit from the practice of corporate social business. In addition to bringing benefit to externals a corporation such as Alstom itself can benefit from being involved in CSR. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the current strategic values and the future perspectives of CSR at Alstom and moreover the added value which the practice of CSR could bring Alstom as a business. A set of perspectives from a futures studies viewpoint is looked at, with critical examination of the company’s current corporate practices as well as the CSR related studies and theories written for corporations. Through this, some solutions and practices will be suggested to Alstom in order for it to fully utilize the potential of corporate social business and the value it can bring in the most probable futures that the company is expected to face. By utilizing the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), a method mainly used in organizations to solve problematic issues in management and policy contexts, a process is developed to see what improvements could be of help in improving Alstom and its way towards involving CSR in its business practices even more than it currently does. Alstom is already deeply involved in the practicing of CSR and its vision has a strong emphasis on this popular concept of today. In order to stay in the game and to use CSR as a competitive advantage to the company, Alstom ought to embed corporate social practices even deeper in its organizational culture by using them as a tool to reduce risk and costs, increasing employee commitment and customer loyalty and to attract socially responsible investors, just to name a few. CSR as a concept is seen to have great potential in the future, an opportunity Alstom will not miss.

Continuity of patient care in day surgery

Continuity is a part of high-quality patient care. The purpose of this study was to analyse what factors are important in the continuity of patients’ care, and how well continuity is achieved in different stages of the care of day surgical patients. Day surgery has become significantly more prevalent in the past few decades, and in order for it to be carried out successfully, continuity in care is particularly essential. The study was carried out in two stages. In the first stage (2001–2005) of the study, continuity was examined through a review of literature from the perspective of critical pathways, naming the continuity categories of time flow, coordination flow, caring relationship flow, and information flow. The first stage also entailed an analysis of matters important to the patient and problems concerning the achievement of care continuity, carried out by interviewing 25 day surgical patients. In the second stage (2006–2015), the degree to which the continuity of day surgical patient care was achieved was analysed from the perspective of patients (n=203, 58%) and nurses working in day surgery units (n=83, 69%), and suggestions for developing the continuity of day surgery patient care were made. In this study continuity of care was examined through a review of literature from the perspective of critical pathways, naming the continuity categories of time flow, coordination flow, caring relationship flow, and information flow. Within these categories, several important factors for the patient were found. According to both patients and nurses, continuity of care is generally achieved to a high degree. Continuity of care is improved by patients being acquainted with and meeting the staff attending to them (nurse and surgeon) before and after the operation. From patients’ perspective, there is room for improvement especially in terms of being admitted to care and in the carer-patient relationship. From nurses’ perspective, there is room for improvement in terms of the smoothness of care. Nurses evaluated the continuity of care to be the least successful before and after the operation. An extensive social and health care reform is planned in Finland in the coming years, aiming to enhance social and health care services and to create smoothly functioning service and care. As a topic of further study supporting the development of the service system, it is important to follow the patient’s progress throughout the entire chain of care, e.g. as a case study. On the other hand, there is also a need to study the views of nurses and other health care professionals in health care, e.g. in primary health care.

Influencing Perceived Agency: A Study into User Experiences in Digital Interactive Storytelling

User experience is a crucial element in interactive storytelling, and as such it is important to recognize the different aspects of a positive user experience in an interactive story. Towards that goal, in the first half of this thesis, we will go through the different elements that make up the user experience, with a strong focus on agency. Agency can be understood as the user’s ability to affect the story or the world in which the story is told with interesting and satisfying choices. The freedoms granted by agency are not completely compatible with traditional storytelling, and as such we will also go through some of the issues of agency-centric design philosophies and explore alternate schools of thought. The core purpose of this thesis is to determine the most important aspects of agency with regards to a positive user experience and attempt to find ways for authors to improve the overall quality of user experience in interactive stories. The latter half of this thesis deals with the research conducted on this matter. This research was carried out by analyzing data from an online survey coupled with data gathered by the interactive storytelling system specifically made for this research (Regicide). The most important aspects of this research deal with influencing perceived agency and facilitating an illusion of agency in different ways, and comparing user experiences in these different test environments. The most important findings based on this research include the importance of context-controlled and focused agency and settings in which the agency takes place and the importance of ensuring user-competency within an interactive storytelling system. Another essential conclusion to this research boils down to communication between the user and the system; the goal of influencing perceived agency should primarily be to ensure that the user is aware of all the theoretical agency they possess.

Peeps into fairyland : a panorama picture book of fairy stories

Kansikuva, kolmiulotteinen pop-up-kirja

Motor Types Comparison Determining Efficiency in Pumping Systems

Pumping, fan and compressor systems consume most of the motor electricity power in both the industrial and services sectors. A variable speed drive brings relevant improvements in a fluid system leading to energy saving that further on can be translated into Mtons reduction of CO 2 emissions. Standards and regulations are being adopted for fluid handling systems to limit the less efficiency pumps out of the European market on the coming years and a greater potential in energy savings is dictated by the Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) requirements for the whole pumping system and integrated pumps. Electric motors also have an International Efficiency (IE) classification in order to introduce higher efficiency motors into the market. In this thesis, the applicability of mid-size common electric motor types to industrial pumping system took place comparing the motor efficiency characteristics with each other and by analyzing the effect of motor dimensioning on the pumping system and its impact in the energy consumption.

Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea - How place brands are perceived differently from the points of view of a local and a tourist

Tämä tutkielma käsittelee paikkamarkkinointia ja paikkabrändäystä. Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan paikallisen ja turistin tapoja muodostaa kaupunkibrändi; mistä palasista brändi muodostuu kirjallisuuden ja haastateltavien mukaan, koetaanko eri palaset vaihtelevissa määrin tärkeiksi riippuen siitä, tarkastellaanko paikkaa paikallisena vai turistina, ja löytyykö jotain yhteisiä retorisia nimittäjiä sille, miten kotikaupungista puhutaan verrattuna lomakaupunkiin. Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin yli kolmeakymmentä henkilöä heidän kotikaupungeistaan ja kaupungeista, joihin he olivat matkustaneet lomalle. Haastateltavat olivat suurinpiirtein samanikäisiä, mutta eri kaupungeista ja matkustaneet eri paikkoihin. Haastateltavia pyydettiin ensin kuvailemaan vapaasti kotikaupunkiaan ja sen jälkeen kaupungista kysyttiin kirjallisuuteen perustuen kysymyksiä. Sama menetelmä toistettiin lomakohteen suhteen. Tutkimuksesta selvisi, että paikkabrändi muodostetaan samoista komponenteista, mutta joidenkin komponenttien merkitys on tärkeämpi kotikaupungissa, kun taas toiset komponentit ovat tärkeitä lomakohteen suhteen. Ihmiset ja kulttuuri yleisesti koettiin tärkeinä komponentteina molemmista paikkabrändeistä puhuttaessa, kun taas kotikaupungin brändinmuodostukseen kuului vahvemmin lait ja muut käytännölliset menettelytavat kuten liikenteen toimivuus. Lomakohteen brändinmuodostuksessa vapaudella tehdä mitä haluaa oli suuri merkitys ja vapautta nähtiin eri muodoissa. Retoriikka kotikaupungista puhuttaessa oli selvästi negatiivista, kun taas lomakohteesta puhuttiin yleisesti ottaen positiiviseen sävyyn. Suhde kotikaupunkiin oli ambivalentti, sillä huonojakin puolia mainittaessa niitä puolusteltiin, tai kotikaupungista mainittiin loppujen lopuksi jotain hyvää. Tutkimusten tuloksiin perustuen toimenpidesuosituksina ehdotetaan olemassaolevan autenttisen kulttuurin ylläpitämäistä, korostamista ja kaupungin orgaanista kehittämistä suuntaan, jossa se on hyvä paikka niin elämiseen kuin lomailuun. Identiteetti, imago ja ihmiset kietoutuvat tiiviisti yhteen, minkä vuoksi kaupunkisuunnittelun- ja kehittämisen tehtävänä on pitää huolta, että kaupunki on onnistunut molempien ryhmien suhteen, ja molemmat ryhmät levittävät kaupungista positiivista sanomaa.

NEGOTIATING IN FINNISH GROCERY RETAIL - Negotiation Narratives of S-group, Kesko and Lidl

In this research retail negotiations are explored through the question: What characteristics are distinctive to negotiating in Finnish grocery retail trade? To shed light on the research question I interviewed experienced retail negotiators and mapped out the most important characteristics of the retail negotiations. I described through examples the most prominent challenges negotiators face in their negotiations and elaborated what kind of tools the experienced negotiators use to overcome those challenges. The research results add up to a groundwork frame for retail negotiations with which further research can be more easily directed to any area of interest in the Finnish grocery retail negotiations. The framework can give ideas or frames for further research, or function as a general guideline of factors to consider when negotiating in Finnish retail field. The results were divided into 3 sections: Characteristics, Challenges and Tools. Different negotiation models help negotiators and researchers understand negotiation dynamics. This research adds to that pool by focusing on elements essential to consider specifically in the context of Finnish retail. Finland offered an exceptionally interesting setting to study negotiation, as grocery retail trade in Finland is highly centralized. Especially for those interested understanding a centralized setting such as Finland’s retail field, the framework presented in this research might provide a valuable spectrum of essential negotiation elements. Learning is a lifelong process, but that path can be evened by tuning in on what others have learned during their own endeavors in similar situations. Seasoned negotiators have many stories to tell about negotiating that can be drawn upon and by doing so, we can avoid having to spend time learning the same insights twice. This research drew on narrative, case-research and interviewing to find out how seasoned negotiators in the field of Finnish retail experienced negotiation, what challenges negotiations pose and what tools can be used to overcome them