Enhancing absorptive capacity in a non-research and development. An action research approach to converting individual observations into organisational awareness

The ability to recognize potential knowledge and convert it into business opportunities is one of the key factors of renewal in uncertain environments. This thesis examines absorptive capacity in the context of non-research and development innovation, with a primary focus on the social interaction that facilitates the absorption of knowledge. It proposes that everyone is and should be entitled to take part in the social interaction that shapes individual observations into innovations. Both innovation and absorptive capacity have been traditionally related to research and development departments and institutions. These innovations need to be adopted and adapted by others. This so-called waterfall model of innovations is only one aspect of new knowledge generation and innovation. In addition to this Science–Technology–Innovation perspective, more attention has been recently paid to the Doing–Using–Interacting mode of generating new knowledge and innovations. The amount of literature on absorptive capacity is vast, yet the concept is reified. The greater part of the literature links absorptive capacity to research and development departments. Some publications have focused on the nature of absorptive capacity in practice and the role of social interaction in enhancing it. Recent literature on absorptive capacity calls for studies that shed light on the relationship between individual absorptive capacity and organisational absorptive capacity. There has also been a call to examine absorptive capacity in non-research and development environments. Drawing on the literature on employee-driven innovation and social capital, this thesis looks at how individual observations and ideas are converted into something that an organisation can use. The critical phases of absorptive capacity, during which the ideas of individuals are incorporated into a group context, are assimilation and transformation. These two phases are seen as complementary: whereas assimilation is the application of easy-to-accept knowledge, transformation challenges the current way of thinking. The two require distinct kinds of social interaction and practices. The results of this study can been crystallised thus: “Enhancing absorptive capacity in practicebased non-research and development context is to organise the optimal circumstances for social interaction. Every individual is a potential source of signals leading to innovations. The individual, thus, recognises opportunities and acquires signals. Through the social interaction processes of assimilation and transformation, these signals are processed into the organisation’s reality and language. The conditions of creative social capital facilitate the interplay between assimilation and transformation. An organisation that strives for employee-driven innovation gains the benefits of a broader surface for opportunity recognition and faster absorption.” If organisations and managers become more aware of the benefits of enhancing absorptive capacity in practice, they have reason to assign resources to those practices that facilitate the creation of absorptive capacity. By recognising the underlying social mechanisms and structural features that lead either to assimilation or transformation, it is easier to balance between renewal and effective operations.

Designing the transformation from a boiler supplier into a solution seller

Competition for customers in business-to-business markets is rough, and in order to survive a seller has to be able to deliver more value to its customers than its competitors. This thesis is done for the sales department of an energy technology company operating in business-to-business markets. The company is a relatively small in its field, and it aims to expand internationally and differ itself from its competitors by providing better service for its customers and selling solutions. This study aims to design the transformation from a product seller into a solution seller by defining what is a solution and how solutions are sold, and creating an action plan for sales. Data for the study is collected in ten theme interviews, and analyzed with thematic and content analysis. The action plan is constructed based both on the data and theory. According to the findings of the study, solution is defined as a specially designed unique combination of elements – such as products, services, knowledge, experience and thinking – that work with and complement each other, and bring value to a particular customer. Solution sales requires capabilities to anticipate; build relationships with customers; identify needs and define requirements; cocreate solutions by customizing and integrating elements; and provide postdeployment support. Vision for the change is to sell solution through sensing customers’ needs and responding to them, and the steps of the action plan are to (1) cascade customer-focus, (2) involve other departments in solution sales, (3) develop customer relationship management, and (4) involve the whole organization in solution business.

Integration of existing military capability models into the Comprehensive Capability Meta-model

Abstract—This paper discusses existing military capability models and proposes a comprehensive capability meta-model (CCMM) which unites the existing capability models into an integrated and hierarchical whole. The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture is used as a structure for the CCMM. The CCMM takes into account the abstraction level, the primary area of application, stakeholders, intrinsic process, and life cycle considerations of each existing capability model, and shows how the models relate to each other. The validity of the CCMM was verified through a survey of subject matter experts. The results suggest that the CCMM is of practical value to various capability stakeholders in many ways, such as helping to improve communication between the different capability communities.

Accountability and corruption : a study into political institutions as referees between principals and agents

Representativ demokrati innebär att medborgare istället för att själv göra beslut i frågor som angår dem, ofta delegerar dylikt beslutsfattande till representanter. Det här betyder att viktiga beslut görs av personer som medborgarna i allmänhet inte känner speciellt väl, och i vars ageranden medborgarna endast har lite insyn. Vanliga medborgare och deras representanter har därtill ofta mycket olika intressen, d.v.s. har olika syn på vad som är viktigt. Representanterna har följaktligen både möjligheter och incitament att missbruka den makt som anförtrotts dem, bl.a. genom korrupt verksamhet. Denna avhandling analyserar mekanismer genom vilka korruption bland representanter kan förebyggas, och (då korrupta handlingar redan ägt rum) upptäckas. Avhandlingen granskar mekanismer som a) ger medborgare och andra ansvarsutkrävare mer information om representanternas målsättningar och ageranden, b) som tvingar representanterna att rättfärdiga sina ageranden gentemot medborgare och andra ansvarsutkrävare, och c) som gör det möjligt för medborgare och andra ansvarsutkrävare att straffa representanter som agerat korrupt. Avhandlingen hävdar att tillämpandet av dylika mekanismer minskar lockelsen för och möjligheterna att engagera sig i korrupta handlingar. Avhandlingen studerar de mekanismer för ansvarsutkrävande som skapas genom politiskt institutionsbyggande. Bl.a. analyseras i vilken grad olika valsystem och typer av maktfördelning gör det möjligt att hålla representanter till svars, och därmed förhindra och upptäcka korruption. Sambandet mellan institutionsbyggande, möjligheter till ansvarsutkrävande och förekomst av korruption studeras på såväl makro- som mikronivå. Studien på makronivå inkluderar ett flertal länder och analyserar sambandet med hjälp av statistisk analys. Studien på mikronivå däremot består av två fallstudier (Österrike och Botswana) och utgör en djupdykning i dessa länders politiska institutioner, möjligheter till ansvarsutkrävande inom ramen för institutionerna, och följder i form av korruption.

KPOW, CHINK, SPLAT: Translations of Sound Effects in Seven Comics

Tämä pro gradu -tutkielma käsittelee äänitehosteiden kääntämistä sarjakuvissa. Tutkimus perustuu seitsemän eri sarjakuvan äänitehosteiden ja niiden suomennoksien vertailuun. Tutkitut tehosteet on kerätty yhdeksi korpukseksi kolmesta Aku Ankka -tarinasta, Tenavat- ja Lassi ja Leevi -stripeistä sekä Batman- ja Vartijat sarjakuvaromaaneista.Sarjakuvat edustavat osittain eri genrejä, jotta saadaan tietoa erityyppisten sarjakuvien mahdollisesti erilaisista käännöskonventioista. Aku Ankka -sarjakuvien määrää on painotettu, jotta olisi mahdollista saada tarkempi kuva yhdestä yksittäisestä sarjakuvasta, jossa oletetaan äänitehosteiden pääsääntöisesti olevan käännettyjä. Äänitehosteita ja äänitehostekäännöksiä tutkitaan kahdesta eri näkökulmasta.Tutkielman ensimmäisessä osassa tarkastellaan äänitehosteissa käytettyjä käännösstrategioita ja etsitään seikkoja, jotka vaikuttavat eri käännösstrategioiden käyttöön ja tehosteiden kääntämiseen tai kääntämättä jättämiseen. Kaindlin (1999) esittelemää sarjakuvien käännösstrategiajaottelua verrataan Celottin (2008) kuvaan upotettuihin teksteihin soveltuviin käännösstrategioihin. Näiden pohjalta muokattua jaottelua käytetään käännösten analysointiin. Korpuksessa yleisimmin käytetyt käännösstrategiat olivat alkutekstin siirtäminen sellaisenaan käännökseen ja kääntäminen suomalaiseksi ilmaisuksi. Jonkin verran esiintyi myös tehosteiden poistoja, siirtämisiä ja jopa lisäyksiä. Paljon muutoksia tapahtui myös esimerkiksi tehosteiden ulkoasussa. Sarjakuvan tyyppi vaikutti oletusten mukaisesti käännösstrategioihin; selvimmin aikuisille suunnatuissa sarjakuvissa paljon tehosteita oli jätetty kääntämättä, kun taas erityisesti Aku Ankoissa tehosteidenkin käännöksiin oli kiinnitetty huomiota. Myös tehosteen sijainti puhekuplassa, kuplan ulkopuolella tai kuvaan upotettuna vaikutti siihen, oliko tehoste käännetty vai ei. Tutkimuksen toisessa osassa äänitehosteet jaotellaan semanttisen sisältönsä mukaan seuraaviin ryhmiin: iskut, rikkoutuminen, räjähdykset ja ampuminen, hankaus, ilmavirta, ruoka ja nesteet, pitkäkestoiset äänet sekä äänenkorkeudeltaan selvästi korkeat ja matalat äänet. Jaotteluperusteina toimivat äänten kuvaamat tapahtumat, äänen syntymiseen osallistuvat materiaalit tai äänitehosteiden itsensä ominaisuudet. Ryhmien esimerkeistä löytyi yhteisiä piirteitä, jotka selittynevät samanlaisten äänten samanlaisella äännesymboliikalla tai samankaltaisilla onomatopoeettisilla piirteillä.

Nordic banks’ entry into the Russian market: motives, processes and challenges

The importance of services in the global economy has grown steadily in the past decades and the growth of services sector’s direct investments has been increasing. Nowadays, all companies are influenced by the much changing global environment and the financial services companies are no exception. The internationalization of financial services companies is an expanding and accelerating phenomenon which has various motivations. The overall aim of this thesis is to shed light on the market entry processes of the Nordic financial services companies when they have entered the Russian market. In this study, the factors affecting Nordic banks’ market entry to Russia are presented in order to better understand what have been the main motives for market entry, what kind of processes the banks have used and what kind of challenges they have faced along the way. A case study approach was used in conducting the empirical research and it aims at investigating a specific case: Nordic banks’ entry into the Russian market. The empirical research was carried out by conducting qualitative interviews for employees involved in entry processes of the case banks. These interviews aimed at examining the Nordic banks’ motives for entering the Russian financial market. This includes reflections on the reasons why the studied banks have decided to enter Russia and what have been the motives behind these decisions. Also, the market entry processes the banks have used when they have entered the Russian market were investigated. The findings allowed comparing the related theories and different market entry modes the case banks have used. Furthermore, the market-related challenges faced by the case banks were mapped and described. In addition, the main factors related to the entry processes of the studied banks were identified and key elements of successful market entry were mapped. The findings suggest that the main motivator for banks have been to follow their customers and hence, increase the revenues and add the value to the shareholders; consequently, being a win-win-win situation to all the related parties. It was also discovered that the banks market entry processes have had resemblances but the banks have taken different paths to get where they are nowadays. As the Russian market environment differs from the one in Nordic countries, also challenges were faced by the case banks. However, the internal challenges were considered more troublesome than the external ones. As the foreign market entry process is complex as well as time and resources consuming, it is vital to understand the specifics of the target market, organizational capabilities and individuals enabling a successful entry process.

Coping with international atrocities through criminal law : a study into the typical features of international criminality and the reflection of these traits in international criminal law

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A Study of African American Vernacular English in Three Novels and Colloquial Finnish in their Translations – The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, A Time to Kill and Push

Pro gradu -tutkielma käsittelee afroamerikkalaisen puhekielen (African American Vernacular English, AAVE) käyttöä kolmen englanninkielisen romaanin dialogissa ja suomen yleispuhekielen käyttöä romaanien käännöksissä. Tutkimus on pääasiassa kvantitatiivinen ja deskriptiivinen. Romaanit ovat Stephen Kingin The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987) (Musta torni 2, Kolme korttia pakasta 2005, suom. Kari Salminen), John Grishamin A Time to Kill (1989) (On aika tappaa 1994, suom. Kimmo Linkama) ja Sapphiren Push (1996) (Precious – harlemilaistytön tarina 2010, suom. Kristiina Drews). Alkukielisten romaanien osalta Grisham ja Sapphire suosivat lauseopillisia kielenpiirteitä, kun taas King on suosinut äänteellisiä. Sen sijaan käännöksissä piirteistä yleisimpiä ovat äänteelliset ja harvinaisimpia lauseopilliset. Vaikka käännöksissä sanastolliset piirteet ovat taajaan esiintyviä, äänteellisiä piirteitä esiintyy niitä enemmän. Poikkeuksena on On aika tappaa, jossa sanastollisia piirteitä esiintyy enemmän kuin äänteellisiä. Tulos eroaa Sampo Nevalaisen vuonna 2003 tekemästä tutkimuksesta, jossa hän sai selville, että käännöksissä käytetyt piirteet olivat enimmäkseen sanastollisia, kun taas alun perin suomeksi kirjoitetussa kaunokirjallisuudessa puhekielisyyden vaikutelma saatiin aikaan pääasiassa äänteellisin keinoin. Mahdollinen selitys tässä tutkimuksessa havaitulle erolle on se, että kahdessa romaanissa esiintyvä leimallinen AAVEn käyttö on saanut kääntäjät käyttämään samanlaisia strategioita kuin suomalaiset kirjailijat murretta kirjoittaessaan.

Key factors in transforming university internationalization into commercial activity in Finland. Case of University of Turku

Globalization, developments in ICT, emergence of knowledge society and other changes have reformed the environment for international higher education during the past few decades. Consequently, higher education sector has moved towards more marketing-oriented system, and universities have started to undertake commercial activities as part of their internationalization. This development has emerged to Finland as well, which forms the basis for this study. The purpose is to examine commercialization in Finnish university landscape and to investigate the ways Finnish university could capitalize its international activities and educational knowledge for export. The research question of the study is: What are the key factors in transforming university internationalization into commercial activity in the Finnish university landscape? The main problem is further divided into three sub-questions: 1) How can a university internationalize; 2) what are the motivational factors behind university internationalization and commercialization; and 3) how can higher education be developed into export services and products? The research was conducted as a qualitative case study of University of Turku. Methods used for gathering and examining data were interviewing and document analysis. Primary data was collected through four individual semi-structured interviews, which were conducted face-to-face. Secondary data that included reports, articles and electronic materials such as university web pages, was used to complement the primary data. The results were analyzed by theming the data into three broader categories of internationalization activities; drivers and motivations and; education export activities. After the data was organized in themes, analysis continued by comparing different parts of data and finding patterns that would explain the phenomenon in Finnish universities. According to the empirical data, University of Turku is currently on the growth state of internationalization with strategies such as internationalization of curriculum, establishment of international research groups, mobility of students and academics, international networking and support services. Commercialization phenomenon is still rather new to the case university, but it has already developed educational products and services for export. The study concludes that university internationalization cannot be directly transformed into commercial activities in the Finnish context, but the universities need to be active in actually creating educational products. The key factors found in this study include: 1) the Finnish government policies behind the current hype of export education; 2) the potential and knowledge capacity of universities for exports; 3) need for additional profits; 4) further internationalization through commercial activities; 5) recognizing and exploiting the specific areas of strength and 6) establishing of cooperative partnerships for better products.

Integration of learning supportive applications into the development of the e-portfolio construction process

The portfolio as a means of demonstrating personal skills has lately been gaining prominence among technology students. This is partially due to the introduction of electronic portfolios, or e-portfolios. As platforms for e-portfolio management with different approaches have been introduced, the learning cycle, traditional portfolio pedagogy, and learner centricity have sometimes been forgotten, and as a result, the tools have been used for the most part as data depositories. The purpose of this thesis is to show how the construction of e-portfolios of IT students can be supported by institutions through the usage of different tools that relate to study advising, teaching, and learning. The construction process is presented as a cycle based on learning theories. Actions related to the various phases of the e-portfolio construction process are supported by the implementation of software applications. To maximize learner-centricity and minimize the intervention of the institution, the evaluated and controlled actions for these practices can be separated from the e-portfolios, leaving the construction of the e-portfolio to students. The main contributions of this thesis are the implemented applications, which can be considered to support the e-portfolio construction by assisting in planning, organizing, and reflecting activities. Eventually, this supports the students in their construction of better and more extensive e-portfolios. The implemented tools include 1) JobSkillSearcher to help students’ recognition of the demands of the ICT industry regarding skills, 2) WebTUTOR to support students’ personal study planning, 3) Learning Styles to determine students' learning styles, and 4) MyPeerReview to provide a platform on which to carry out anonymous peer review processes in courses. The most visible outcome concerning the e-portfolio is its representation, meaning that one can use it to demonstrate personal achievements at the time of seeking a job and gaining employment. Testing the tools and the selected open-source e-portfolio application indicates that the degree of richness of e-portfolio content can be increased by using the implemented applications.

Consistency of UML based designs using ontology reasoners

Software plays an important role in our society and economy. Software development is an intricate process, and it comprises many different tasks: gathering requirements, designing new solutions that fulfill these requirements, as well as implementing these designs using a programming language into a working system. As a consequence, the development of high quality software is a core problem in software engineering. This thesis focuses on the validation of software designs. The issue of the analysis of designs is of great importance, since errors originating from designs may appear in the final system. It is considered economical to rectify the problems as early in the software development process as possible. Practitioners often create and visualize designs using modeling languages, one of the more popular being the Uni ed Modeling Language (UML). The analysis of the designs can be done manually, but in case of large systems, the need of mechanisms that automatically analyze these designs arises. In this thesis, we propose an automatic approach to analyze UML based designs using logic reasoners. This approach firstly proposes the translations of the UML based designs into a language understandable by reasoners in the form of logic facts, and secondly shows how to use the logic reasoners to infer the logical consequences of these logic facts. We have implemented the proposed translations in the form of a tool that can be used with any standard compliant UML modeling tool. Moreover, we authenticate the proposed approach by automatically validating hundreds of UML based designs that consist of thousands of model elements available in an online model repository. The proposed approach is limited in scope, but is fully automatic and does not require any expertise of logic languages from the user. We exemplify the proposed approach with two applications, which include the validation of domain specific languages and the validation of web service interfaces.

[In a Persian market]

Soitinnus: orkesteri.

Extending the Hydra Head to Create a Pluggable, Extensible Architecture: Diving into the Technology of Hydramata

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014