Social Solidarity and Fear of Crime - Community and Individual Approaches in Responses to Mass Violence after School Shootings

The aim of this study was to examine community and individual approaches in responses to mass violence after the school shooting incidents in Jokela (November 2007) and Kauhajoki (September 2008), Finland. In considering the community approach, responses to any shocking criminal event may have integrative, as well as disintegrative effects, within the neighborhood. The integration perspective argues that a heinous criminal event within one’s community is a matter of offence to collectively held feelings and beliefs, and increases perceived solidarity; whereas the disintegration perspective suggests that a criminal event weakens the social fabric of community life by increasing fear of crime and mistrust among locals. In considering the individual approach, socio-demographic factors, such as one’s gender, are typically significant indicators, which explain variation in fear of crime. Beyond this, people are not equally exposed to violent crime and therefore prior victimization and event related experiences may further explain why people differ in their sensitivity to risk from mass violence. Finally, factors related to subjective mental health, such as depressed mood, are also likely to moderate individual differences in responses to mass violence. This study is based on the correlational design of four independent cross-sectional postal surveys. The sampling frames (N=700) for the surveys were the Finnish speaking adult population aged 18–74-years. The first mail survey in Jokela (n=330) was conducted between May and June 2008, approximately six months from the shooting incident at the local high-school. The second Jokela survey (n=278) was conducted in May–June of 2009, 18 months removed from the incident. The first survey in Kauhajoki (n=319) was collected six months after the incident at the local University of Applied Sciences, March– April 2009, and the second (n=339) in March–April 2010, approximately 18 months after the event. Linear and ordinal regression and path analysis are used as methods of analyses. The school shootings in Jokela and Kauhajoki were extremely disturbing events, which deeply affected the communities involved. However, based on the results collected, community responses to mass violence between the two localities were different. An increase in social solidarity appears to apply in the case of the Jokela community, but not in the case of the Kauhajoki community. Thus a criminal event does not necessarily impact the wider community. Every empirical finding is most likely related to different contextual and event-specific factors. Beyond this, community responses to mass violence in Jokela also indicated that the incident was related to a more general sense of insecurity and was also associating with perceived community deterioration and further suggests that responses to mass violence may have both integrating and disintegrating effects. Moreover, community responses to mass violence should also be examined in relation to broader social anxieties and as a proxy for generalized insecurity. Community response is an emotive process and incident related feelings are perhaps projected onto other identifiable concerns. However, this may open the door for social errors and, despite integrative effects, this may also have negative consequences within the neighborhood. The individual approach suggests that women are more fearful than men when a threat refers to violent crime. Young women (aged 18–34) were the most worried age and gender group as concerns perception of threat from mass violence at schools compared to young men (aged 18–34), who were also the least worried age and gender group when compared to older men. It was also found that concerns about mass violence were stronger among respondents with the lowest level of monthly household income compared to financially better-off respondents. Perhaps more importantly, responses to mass violence were affected by the emotional proximity to the event; and worry about the recurrence of school shootings was stronger among respondents who either were a parent of a school-aged child, or knew a victim. Finally, results indicate that psychological wellbeing is an important individual level factor. Respondents who expressed depressed mood consistently expressed their concerns about mass violence and community deterioration. Systematic assessments of the impact of school shooting events on communities are therefore needed. This requires the consolidation of community and individual approaches. Comparative study designs would further benefit from international collaboration across disciplines. Extreme school violence has also become a national concern and deeper understanding of crime related anxieties in contemporary Finland also requires community-based surveys.

Conceptualizing and counteracting the bullying dynamic: Classroom and school contexts matter

Guided by the social-ecological conceptualization of bullying, this thesis examines the implications of classroom and school contexts—that is, students’ shared microsystems—for peer-to-peer bullying and antibullying practices. Included are four original publications, three of which are empirical studies utilizing data from a large Finnish sample of students in the upper grade levels of elementary school. Both self- and peer reports of bullying and victimization are utilized, and the hierarchical nature of the data collected from students nested within school ecologies is accounted for by multilevel modeling techniques. The first objective of the thesis is to simultaneously examine risk factors for victimization at individual, classroom, and school levels (Study I). The second objective is to uncover the individual- and classroom-level working mechanisms of the KiVa antibullying program which has been shown to be effective in reducing bullying problems in Finnish schools (Study II). Thirdly, an overview of the extant literature on classroom- and school-level contributions to bullying and victimization is provided (Study III). Finally, attention is paid to the assessment of victimization and, more specifically, to how the classroom context influences the concordance between self- and peer reports of victimization (Study IV). Findings demonstrate the multiple ways in which contextual factors, and importantly students’ perceptions thereof, contribute to the bullying dynamic and efforts to counteract it. Whereas certain popular beliefs regarding the implications of classroom and school contexts do not receive support, the role of peer contextual factors and the significance of students’ perceptions of teachers’ attitudes toward bullying are highlighted. Directions for future research and school-based antibullying practices are suggested.

eWOM communication in social media: A study of its antecedents in higher education context

The aim of this master’s thesis was to examine antecedents of eWOM communication in social media in the higher education context. In order to achieve this goal, eWOM communications of the students’ of international master’s programmes at Lappeenranta University of Technology were studied. The main research question was formulated as follows: What kind of effect do service-, brand-related antecedents, contextual antecedents and moderating factors have on LUT’s international master’s degree students’ eWOM communication in social media regarding their studies? The theory part of the master’s thesis was focused on the discussion of service- and brand related eWOM antecedents, contextual antecedents, as well as moderating relationships between them. The empirical part of the master’s thesis was based on quantitative research method. A web-based survey was carried out among current students of international master’s degree programmes at LUT. Out of 712 e-mail invitations sent, 159 responses were received in total. Thus, response rate was 22%. The results of the study showed that satisfaction, commitment, virtual brand community commitment, need for an advice, positive altruistic concerns, negative altruistic concerns, and attitude towards eWOM communications have an effect on eWOM in higher education context. Several moderating effects on eWOM were determined in the present study as well. On the other hand, it was found that dissatisfaction, loyalty, brand identification, desire to help the organization, need for positive self-enhancement, and social risk perception do not have an effect on eWOM in higher education context.

Lauseen aspektin ilmaiseminen suomen kielessä. Tutkimus olla-, tehdä- ja tulla-verbillisistä tekstilauseista käyttökonteksteissaan

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan lauseen aspektin ilmaisemista suomen kielessä. Aspektia käsitellään merkityskategoriana, joka osoittaa lauseen kuvaaman asiaintilan ajallisen keston, ja perustavanlaatuisena aspektuaalisena erontekona pidetään rajattuuden ja rajaamattomuuden vastakohtaisuutta. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään, millä perusteella lauseet saavat joko rajatun tai rajaamattoman aspektitulkinnan ja miten konteksti vaikuttaa tähän tulkintaan. Lauseen kontekstina käsitellään kielellistä kontekstia eli tekstiä. Työ on aineistopohjainen tutkimus kirjoitetusta nykysuomesta, ja tarkastelun kohteena on sanomalehtiteksteistä koottu lauseaineisto. Lauseiden pääverbit ovat olla, tehdä ja tulla. Aineistosta on mahdollista esittää sekä kvalitatiivisia että kvantitatiivisia huomioita. Tutkimuksen teoreettisen ja metodologisen taustan muodostavat eräiden kognitiivisen kielitieteen suuntausten kuvauskäsitteet ja -metodit sekä fennistinen aspektin kuvaamisen perinne. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan kahta fennistiikassa esitettyä tapaa määritellä lauseen aspektimerkitys ja osoitetaan, että ne ovat toisiaan täydentäviä. Molemmat lähestymistavat huomioon ottamalla on siis mahdollista kuvata lauseen aspektimerkityksen määräytyminen täsmällisemmin kuin vain yhteen kuvaustapaan keskittymällä. Lisäksi osoitetaan, että keskeisinä aspektin ilmaisemisen keinoina pidetyt keston ja toistuvuuden adverbiaalit jäävät aineistossa marginaalisiksi. Ajankohdan adverbiaaleja puolestaan käsitellään aiemmasta tutkimuksesta poiketen rajattuina tarkastelunäkökulmina kuvattuun asiaintilaan, ja ne toimivat tässä tehtävässä liittyessään aspektiltaan rajaamattomiin lauseisiin. Lisäksi tutkimus osoittaa, että aspektin ilmaisemisen kerroksellisuutta voidaan aspektin ilmaisemiseen osallistuvien lauseenjäsenten kerrostumisen ohella tarkastella lausekokonaisuuden eri semanttisten tasojen kerrostumisena. Lausetta laajemman kontekstin vaikutusta aspektitulkintaan ei ole aiemmin tutkittu suomen kielessä. Tutkimus osoittaa, että aspektiltaan monitulkintaisten lauseiden konteksti voi selventää tulkinnan tai mahdollistaa samanaikaisesti vaihtoehtoiset tulkinnat. Lisäksi erilaisten lauseenulkoisten rajan ilmausten avulla on mahdollista osoittaa lauseen aspektin rajattuutta siinä tapauksessa, että lause muutoin ymmärrettäisiin aspektiltaan rajaamattomaksi.

Hälsa i vårdande gemenskap : gemenskapens betydelse för äldre

The aim of the study and research questions: The aim of this study is to illuminate how caring communion can aid in promoting health as becoming in elderly people in the context of natural caring. The target group of the study consists of elderly citizens living at home. The focus of this thesis is on the concept of communion and how caring communion can affect the inner health resources in a patient’s inner health domain, as well as how caring communion can support health as becoming and inner health resources in the elderly. The main research questions of this study are the following: 1) what does communion mean? 2) what does caring communion mean? 3) what is the connection between caring communion and health? Theoretical perspective: The theoretical perspective of this qualitative study relies on the caritative caring theory as developed by scholars of caring sciences at the Åbo Academi University’s Vasa unit. The caritas motive is based on an ethos built on a consideration of togetherness, i.e. caring communion, a place where one feels at home and where one can be the person one was meant to be. Methodology: A hermeneutic research approach based on Gadamer (1997) permeates the study. This entails that understanding and interpretation become central. The study conducted in the thesis is divided into three sub-studies. Sub-study one and two are based on ontological determination whereas the third sub-study is carried out by contextual determination. The first sub-study is conducted by etymological and semantic analysis of the concept of communion (gemenskap) based on Koort (1975) and the second sub-study by determining the basic epistemological category of the concept based on Eriksson (2010b). Sub-study three is conducted through content analysis of 18 multidisciplinary and 13 caring science articles and dissertations based on Kvale (2009). The aim in the third sub-study is to define caring communions in various contexts of meaning based on Eriksson´s model of conceptual determination (2010b). All studies are interpreted through hermeneutic interpretation where the continuous movement from a part of a whole, to the whole, to part again, leads to new understanding. Finally, the findings from all the three sub-studies are compared to the concepts of pre-understanding and the inner-health-domain model of Wärnås (2002). Results: The results of the study offer a description of the dimensions of caring communion and a model that illuminates how caring communion can further health as becoming. The fundamentals of caring communion rest on the idea of a human being’s absolute right to dignity as a base for communion. The concept of communion contains a moral, an ethical, and a spiritual component. In communion, there exists a moral and ethical responsibility and a willingness to commit oneself. The individual is part of a connection or relation and knows the aim and course for the communion. A caring connection, a caring culture, a caring atmosphere and caring listening are characteristics of caring communion. In caring communion, the elderly feel trusting and see themselves as unique, powerful, and valuable. The model demonstrates that when the elderly are able to rest in caring communion, the virtues of courage and faith become strong and desire for life awaken within the elderly and health as becoming becomes possible. Conclusions: The outcome of the study is that all communion is not necessarily caring communion. In order for communion to be caring and for the elderly to achieve health as becoming, there are certain criteria that must be met. This is especially important when designing activities for the elderly in the context of natural caring.

Representations of cultural encounters in the global business press – The importance of cross-cultural competence

This qualitative study has started from the interest to examine how the reality of crosscultural encounters is presented in the global business press. The research paper emphasizes different ways to classify culture and cross-cultural competency, both from the point of view of individuals and organizations. The analysis consists of public discourses, where cross-cultural realities are created through different persons, stories and contexts For data collection, a comprehensive database search was performed and 10 articles from the widely known worldwide business magazine The Financial Times were chosen as the data for the study paper. For the functions of addressing the research study questions, Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) and also Discourse Analysis (DA) are utilized, added with the continuous comparison method of grounded theory in the formation of the data.The academic references consist of literary works and articles presenting relevant concepts, creating a cross-cultural framework, and it is designed to assist the reader in the navigation through the topics of culture and cross-cultural competency. The repertoires were formed from the data and following, the first repertoire is contrast difference between home and target culture that the individual was able to discern. As a consequence of the first repertoire, the companies then offer cultural training to their employees to prepare them to situations of increasing levels of cultural variation. The third repertoire is increased awareness of other cultures, which is conveyed as a result of cultural training and contextual work experience. The fourth repertoire is globalization as an international business environment, where the people in the articles perform their job functions. It is stated in the conclusions that the representations emphasize Western values and personal traits in leadership.

Model of Big Data Failure: Review of Information System Failure

In the new age of information technology, big data has grown to be the prominent phenomena. As information technology evolves, organizations have begun to adopt big data and apply it as a tool throughout their decision-making processes. Research on big data has grown in the past years however mainly from a technical stance and there is a void in business related cases. This thesis fills the gap in the research by addressing big data challenges and failure cases. The Technology-Organization-Environment framework was applied to carry out a literature review on trends in Business Intelligence and Knowledge management information system failures. A review of extant literature was carried out using a collection of leading information system journals. Academic papers and articles on big data, Business Intelligence, Decision Support Systems, and Knowledge Management systems were studied from both failure and success aspects in order to build a model for big data failure. I continue and delineate the contribution of the Information System failure literature as it is the principal dynamics behind technology-organization-environment framework. The gathered literature was then categorised and a failure model was developed from the identified critical failure points. The failure constructs were further categorized, defined, and tabulated into a contextual diagram. The developed model and table were designed to act as comprehensive starting point and as general guidance for academics, CIOs or other system stakeholders to facilitate decision-making in big data adoption process by measuring the effect of technological, organizational, and environmental variables with perceived benefits, dissatisfaction and discontinued use.

Detecting Deceit – Guessing or Assessing? Study on the Applicability of Veracity Assessment Methods in Human Intelligence

Intelligence from a human source, that is falsely thought to be true, is potentially more harmful than a total lack of it. The veracity assessment of the gathered intelligence is one of the most important phases of the intelligence process. Lie detection and veracity assessment methods have been studied widely but a comprehensive analysis of these methods’ applicability is lacking. There are some problems related to the efficacy of lie detection and veracity assessment. According to a conventional belief an almighty lie detection method, that is almost 100% accurate and suitable for any social encounter, exists. However, scientific studies have shown that this is not the case, and popular approaches are often over simplified. The main research question of this study was: What is the applicability of veracity assessment methods, which are reliable and are based on scientific proof, in terms of the following criteria? o Accuracy, i.e. probability of detecting deception successfully o Ease of Use, i.e. easiness to apply the method correctly o Time Required to apply the method reliably o No Need for Special Equipment o Unobtrusiveness of the method In order to get an answer to the main research question, the following supporting research questions were answered first: What kinds of interviewing and interrogation techniques exist and how could they be used in the intelligence interview context, what kinds of lie detection and veracity assessment methods exist that are reliable and are based on scientific proof and what kind of uncertainty and other limitations are included in these methods? Two major databases, Google Scholar and Science Direct, were used to search and collect existing topic related studies and other papers. After the search phase, the understanding of the existing lie detection and veracity assessment methods was established through a meta-analysis. Multi Criteria Analysis utilizing Analytic Hierarchy Process was conducted to compare scientifically valid lie detection and veracity assessment methods in terms of the assessment criteria. In addition, a field study was arranged to get a firsthand experience of the applicability of different lie detection and veracity assessment methods. The Studied Features of Discourse and the Studied Features of Nonverbal Communication gained the highest ranking in overall applicability. They were assessed to be the easiest and fastest to apply, and to have required temporal and contextual sensitivity. The Plausibility and Inner Logic of the Statement, the Method for Assessing the Credibility of Evidence and the Criteria Based Content Analysis were also found to be useful, but with some limitations. The Discourse Analysis and the Polygraph were assessed to be the least applicable. Results from the field study support these findings. However, it was also discovered that the most applicable methods are not entirely troublefree either. In addition, this study highlighted that three channels of information, Content, Discourse and Nonverbal Communication, can be subjected to veracity assessment methods that are scientifically defensible. There is at least one reliable and applicable veracity assessment method for each of the three channels. All of the methods require disciplined application and a scientific working approach. There are no quick gains if high accuracy and reliability is desired. Since most of the current lie detection studies are concentrated around a scenario, where roughly half of the assessed people are totally truthful and the other half are liars who present a well prepared cover story, it is proposed that in future studies lie detection and veracity assessment methods are tested against partially truthful human sources. This kind of test setup would highlight new challenges and opportunities for the use of existing and widely studied lie detection methods, as well as for the modern ones that are still under development.

Model of Big Data Failure: Review of Information System Failure

In the new age of information technology, big data has grown to be the prominent phenomena. As information technology evolves, organizations have begun to adopt big data and apply it as a tool throughout their decision-making processes. Research on big data has grown in the past years however mainly from a technical stance and there is a void in business related cases. This thesis fills the gap in the research by addressing big data challenges and failure cases. The Technology-Organization-Environment framework was applied to carry out a literature review on trends in Business Intelligence and Knowledge management information system failures. A review of extant literature was carried out using a collection of leading information system journals. Academic papers and articles on big data, Business Intelligence, Decision Support Systems, and Knowledge Management systems were studied from both failure and success aspects in order to build a model for big data failure. I continue and delineate the contribution of the Information System failure literature as it is the principal dynamics behind technology-organization-environment framework. The gathered literature was then categorised and a failure model was developed from the identified critical failure points. The failure constructs were further categorized, defined, and tabulated into a contextual diagram. The developed model and table were designed to act as comprehensive starting point and as general guidance for academics, CIOs or other system stakeholders to facilitate decision-making in big data adoption process by measuring the effect of technological, organizational, and environmental variables with perceived benefits, dissatisfaction and discontinued use.

Utstillingens retorikk : et bidrag til en retorisk didaktikk for kunst og håndverk

The topic of this dissertation is the didactic exhibition in the Arts and Crafts subject. Exhibiting student work and art and form culture is part of a long professional tradition in the field. Yet, exhibition as form and as a way of learning are inadequately explored and debated. The didactic problem area of the thesis, where studies of formative practices are central, place it within the research field of Educational Slojd. The didactic standpoint and main theoretical perspective relate the project to the Arts didactics research field at the University College of Bergen where the aim is to develop an alternative didactics thinking for the arts; a rhetoric arts didactics. Didactic focus is shifted from the relationship between teacher – pupil – teaching materials, to studies of how knowledge is formulated in specific practices. The thesis has a premise that every exhibition has its own rhetoric and that didactics is inscribed in this rhetoric in the broadest and cultural sense. Through impulses from classical rhetoric and recent text theory, the thesis challenges the Arts and Crafts’s own idiom, its theoretical foundation and didactic grasp such as shown in the discourse established by the discipline and its specific exhibitive practices, as well as studying the relationship between verbal language and the discipline’s own register. The overall objective is to develop knowledge about exhibition rhetoric and its potential as a knowledge and learning arena in this field, and thereby contribute to developing a rhetoric didactics for the Arts and Crafts subject. This raises questions such as: How is an exhibition considered to be used and understood in the subject’s didactics texts and texts about didactics? How do different exhibition spaces inscribe conditions for exhibition work? How can a rhetoric perspective of didactics make aspects of an exhibition’s form register visible and contribute to knowledge of the creative processes in an exhibition? How do some selected exhibitions inscribe creativity and learning? What can a rhetoric perspective bring to the Arts and Crafts? A rhetoric didactics perspective includes knowledge of the tradition. A historical-ideological overview traces how exhibition, of both pupil/student work and of art and form culture, are used and considered as used in the discipline over time. This part can be read separately, but in this thesis, is primarily conceived as a backdrop for the development of the dissertation’s main rhetoric perspective. The empirical data are collected from my teacher training institution and consist of specific exhibition spaces and practices, of which my own production of two exhibitions can link the research to artistic development work. A rhetoric didactics is concrete, specific and contextual. The rhetoric readings are descriptive and show how culture and nature, temporality, materiality and technology are inscribed in the exhibition’s form. Didactic reflection develops from, and close to, the rhetoric readings of the exhibition’s form and content to finally arrive at a rhetorical concept for creativity and learning.

Exploring Relationship between Pakistani Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs and ICT Use for Teaching and Learning

Background: The aim of present study is to investigate relationship between Pakistani teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and ICT use for teaching and learning. Previous studies found close relationship between pedagogical beliefs and teaching practices including use of ICT. However, variation in results is also reported and attributed to cultural and contextual differences. Methodology: Quantitative approach was used to study a sample of 231 Pakistani basic education teachers from middle and upper-middle range private schools, mostly from large urban centres. Results: This study confirmed previously study results that constructivist-compatible pedagogical beliefs are significantly related to both traditional and constructivist use of ICT. However, it is also found that traditional-transmission pedagogical beliefs are significantly related to traditional use of ICT – a finding not reported in previous studies. Some amounts of ICT training for pedagogical purpose exhibit significant impact on ICT use, in particular constructivist use of ICT. Similarly age also play a role as younger teachers are more likely to use ICT, however, no significant difference of pedagogical beliefs and ICT use was found between male and female teachers. Recommendation for practice and further investigation are made in chapter 5.

Institutional environment in North Korea: market structure and overcoming institutional voids

Tutkimus sai innoituksensa, kun tutkija huomasi tarpeen liiketaloudelliselle, ajantasaiselle ja realistiselle tutkimukselle Pohjois-Korean markkinoista, joka kuvailisi markkinoiden olemassaolevia ja puuttuvia rakenteita sekä tutkisi mahdollisuuksia ylittää puuttuvat rakenteet. Institutionaalinen teoria valittiin sopivaksi viitekehykseksi kuvailla ja tutkia markkinarakennetta. Tutkimuskysymys muotoiltiin seuraavasti: “Miten ulkomaiset yritykset voivat reagoida puuttuviin markkinarakenteisiin Pohjois-Koreassa?”. Tutkimuskysymys jaettiin kolmeen osakysymykseen: (1) Millainen on Pohjois-Korean markkinoiden institutionaalinen ympäristö? (2) Mitkä ovat merkittävimmät puuttuvat markkinarakenteet Pohjois-Koreassa? (3) Mitä mahdollisuuksia ulkomaisilla yrityksillä voisi olla reagoida puuttuviin markkinarakenteisiin? Tutkimus toteutettiin kvalitatiivisena, koska tutkimuskysymys on deskriptiivinen. Aineisto kerättiin asiantuntijahaastattelun ja kvalitatiivisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Primääriaineiston muodostavat 2 asiantuntijahaastattelua ja sekundääriaineiston muodostavat 95 artikkelia, jotka kerättiin 40 lähteestä. Aineisto analysoitiin kvalitatiivisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Aineisto koodattiin, luokiteltiin ja esitettiin kokonaisuuksina luokittelurungon avulla, joka laadittiin tutkimusta varten muodostetun teoreettisen viitekehyksen mukaan. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset voidaan tiivistää seuraavasti. (1) Pohjois-Korean markkinan instituutioihin vaikuttaa kaksoisrakenne, jossa muodollinen, sosialistinen rakenne ja epämuodollinen, markkinalähtöinen rakenne toimivat päällekkäin. (2) Puuttuvia rakenteita on sekä markkinan kontekstissa että markkinatasolla. Puutteet ovat osittain seurausta vanhojen rakenteiden korvaantumisesta uusilla, jotka eivät ole institutionalisoituneet. (3) Yritykset voivat käyttää samoja mahdollisuuuksia reagoida puuttuviin markkinarakenteisiin Pohjois-Koreassa, joita kehittyvien markkinoiden yhteydessä on esitetty. Sen tulkittiin vähentävän käsitystä, jonka mukaan Pohjois-Korean markkina on liian erikoinen yritystoiminnalle. (4) Kasvava keskiluokka sekä yrittäjyyden ja naisten yhä merkittävämpi rooli liike-elämässä aiheuttavat alhaalta ylöspäin suuntautuvaa kehitystä markkinoilla. Nämä ovat merkkejä viimeaikaisesta kehityksestä, jotka eivät ole saaneet laajaa huomiota länsimaisessa mediassa. Se korostaa tarvetta liiketaloudelliselle, ajantasaiselle jatkotutkimukselle Pohjois-Korean markkinoista.

Institutional environment in North Korea: market structure and overcoming institutional voids

The research was sparked by an exchange in South Korea, as the author identified a gap in research that provides economic, up to date and realistic information about the North Korean market in English language. A need for a research was identified that would describe the market’s existing and missing market structures and explore possibilities to overcome the missing market structures. Institutional theory was chosen as a suitable framework to describe and explore the market. The research question was formulated as follows: “How can foreign companies overcome institutional voids in the North Korean market?”. To answer the research question, it was divided into three sub-questions as follows: (1) What is the institutional environment in North Korea like? (2) What are the major institutional voids in the North Korean market? (3) What possibilities do foreign companies have to overcome institutional voids? The research is qualitative by nature due to the descriptive and exploratory nature of the research question. Data collection consisted of expert interview and content analysis, resulting in primary data of two interviews and secondary data of 95 articles from 40 different sources. The data was analyzed with the systematical technique of content analysis. The data was coded, classified and presented as concepts with the help of a classification system that was build following the theoretical framework adapted for this study. The findings can be summarized as follows. (1) The market institutions are characterized by an overlapping dual system of formal, socialist structures and informal, market-oriented structures. (2) Institutional voids prevail on both the market’s contextual and on the market level. They are partly result of old institutions being replaced by new institutions that lack institutionalization. (3) Identified possibilities to overcome institutional voids correspond with possibilities drawn from previous research. This decreases the image of North Korea as an impossibly unique market to operate in. (4) Emerging middle class, rapidly growing entrepreneurial activities and women’s increasing role in business drive a down-to-up change in the market. This signals the recent development of the market, yet has been overlooked in the Western media. Thus there is a need for further economic, up to date research concerning North Korea.

Pk-yrityksen jatkajaksi mielivän kasvuorientaatio

In Finland, entrepreneurship policy priorities are encouragement and support for business innovation, growth and internationalization. SMEs are having economically significant employment and wealth creation potential. During the following years, there will be plenty of businesses for sale on the Finnish market. The challenge is to find and identify growth-oriented, talented, innovative, capable to rapid experimentation new entrepreneurs, in whose hands the company's growth targets are going to be realized. In these research is examined frameworks of the company's growth and the factors influencing growth on the basis of previous studies and literature. In addition, the aim is to create a suitable framework to identify the early stage of entrepreneurs, who are growth-oriented. The other aim is create the supposed directions of influences for growth-orientation. The objectives of the work of the results is to act as an umbrella topic, contextual analysis and forming a new applied framework for further studies. The results of these research are the background variables, the desire for growth are composed of motives, attitudes and desires; the skills for growth are composed of capabilities, experiences, self-efficacy and the willingness for risk-taking; the opportunities for growth are composed of IPR, financing, megatrends and other observed chances.