The Design of a Software Lifecycle Management Framework to a Configuration Management System

Keeping track of software assets and managing software installations in IT environments can be a hard endeavor, especially when the size and diversity of the environment grows. How to install and uninstall software efficiently and cost effectively? Are there too few or too many software licenses purchased? If installed, is the software actually in use? Software Asset Management (SAM) is a process that involves managing and optimizing the purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications within an organization. This master’s thesis describes a special Software Lifecycle Management Framework to provide solutions to the multitude of challenges within SAM. The main objectives when designing the framework was to provide a set of tools to control the software assets during their entire lifecycle while trying to minimize the costs related to owning and managing them.

Toimintajärjestelmän toteuttamissovellus ja -menetelmä

Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena on kehittää QPR Software Oyj:n (QPR) tuotteiden avulla geneerinen tietotekninen sovellus toimintajärjestelmän toteuttamiseen sekä laatia sovelluksen ominaisuuksien mukaisen toimintajärjestelmän toteuttamismenetelmä. Työn tavoitteena on lisäksi vertailla toimintajärjestelmiin liittyvän empiirisen tutkimustiedon luonnetta työssä kehitettyyn sovellukseen ja toimintajärjestelmiin liittyvään kirjallisuuteen. Työn keskeinen sisältö muodostuu toimintajärjestelmän luonnetta kuvaavan teorian esittelemisestä, työssä kehitettyjen toimintajärjestelmäsovelluksen ja -menetelmän kuvaamisesta, työhön liittyvän kyselytutkimuksen keskeisten havaintojen esittelemisestä ja tutkimuksen havaintojen ja kehitetyn sovelluksen vertailusta. Tämän diplomityön tuloksena syntyi QPR:n tuotteisiin pohjautuva toimintajärjestelmäsovellus sekä menetelmä, jonka avulla kehitetyn sovelluksen ominaisuuksien mukainen toimintajärjestelmä voidaan toteuttaa. Työhön liittyvässä kyselytutkimuksessa tehtiin lisäksi arvokkaita havaintoja toimintajärjestelmien tilasta suomalaisten organisaatioiden keskuudessa.

Quasi-objects and actors in the web of belief. Formation of a national nuclear waste management system: the case of Finland

Paper presented in ISA RC23 meeting, Gothenburg July 16th 2010

Integrating environmental education in primary school education in Tanzania : teachers’ perceptions and teaching practices

The study focuses on primary school teachers’ perceptions of environmental education, its integration into primary school education and teachers’ teaching practices in Tanzania. The thesis is based on empirical research. The theoretical underpinnings of the study are based on Palmer’s (1998) model of environmental education. According to the model, meaningful environmental education should include education about, in or through and for the environment. The study is supported by national and international literature from research done on environmental education and education for sustainable development and policy statements. The study is qualitative in nature, adopting phenomenography and phenomenology as points of departure. The empirical data was collected from four primary schools in Morogoro region in Tanzania. The study sample consisted of 31 primary school teachers. Data was collected through interviews and lesson observations. According to the results of the study, primary school teachers expressed variations in their perceptions of environmental education and education for sustainable development. Most of the teachers focused on the aspect of knowledge acquisition. According to Tanzanian education and training policy, environmental education has to be integrated into all subjects. Although there is environmental education in the primary school curriculum, it is not integrated on an equal footing in all subjects. Some subjects like science, social studies and geography have more environmental content than other subjects. Teachers claim that the approach used to integrate environmental education into the school curriculum was not favoured because many claimed that what is to be taught as environmental education in the various subjects is not shown clearly. As a result, many teachers suggested that to ensure that it is taught properly it should be included in the curriculum as an independent subject or as specific topics. The study revealed that teachers’ teaching practices in integrating environmental education varied from one subject to another. Although most of the teachers said that they used participatory methods, lesson observations showed that they limited themselves to question and answer and group discussion. However, the teachers faced a number of barriers in the teaching of environmental education, some of which include lack of teaching and learning resources, time and large class size. The role of teachers in the implementation of environmental education in developing an environmentally literate citizenry is of great significance. The responsibility of the government in developing a curriculum with clear goals and content, developing teachers’ capacity in the teaching of environmental education and provision of teaching and learning materials needs to be taken seriously by the government in educational plans and programs.

Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment : Prosperity, competitiveness, sustainable development

Broschure of Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

Battery Cell Modeling for Battery Management System

Usage of batteries as energy storage is emerging in automotive and mobile working machine applications in future. When battery systems become larger, battery management becomes an essential part of the application concerning fault situations of the battery and safety of the user. A properly designed battery management system extends one charge cycle of battery pack and the whole life time of the battery pack. In this thesis main objectives and principles of BMS are studied and first order Thevenin’s model of the lithium-titanate battery cell is built based on laboratory measurements. The battery cell model is then verified by comparing the battery cell model and the actual battery cell and its suitability for use in BMS is studied.

Ympäristö- ja energianhallintajärjestelmän suunnittelu valaisinpylväitä valmistavalle yritykselle

Diplomityön tavoitteena oli tutkia, miten ympäristö- ja energianhallintajärjestelmät tulisi yrityksessä rakentaa. Tarkoituksena oli myös analysoida toimipaikkojen ominaisuuksien perusteella, olisiko Tehomet-konsernin tehtaille kannattavampaa rakentaa yhteinen vai oma hallintajärjestelmä. Lisäksi analysoitiin ympäristö- ja energianhallintajärjestelmien integroimista olemassa olevaan laatujärjestelmään. Kansainvälisten ISO-standardien pohjalta rakennetaan hallintajärjestelmä, joka toimii johtamisen työkaluna. Järjestelmä sisältää käytännössä sovitut toimintatavat ja kirjatut menetelmät, joilla voidaan hallita yrityksen todettuja ja mahdollisia ympäristövaikutuksia. Työssä keskityttiin yrityksen toiveiden mukaisesti erityisesti ympäristöjärjestelmään. Tapaustutkimuksen menetelmänä käytettiin kyselyä, haastatteluja ja tehdaskatselmuskierrosta. Standardien sisältöjen ja toimijan nykytilanteen kartoittamisen sekä jatkotoimenpiteiden pohtimisen tuloksena syntyivät teoriakatsaus järjestelmistä, alustavan ympäristökatselmuksen tulokset sekä toimintamalli ympäristöjärjestelmän käyttöönottamiseksi. Toimintamallin esimerkkien avulla yrityksen on mahdollista rakentaa ympäristöjärjestelmä. Työn sovellusosassa kerrottiin, miltä osin energiajärjestelmä eroaa ympäristöjärjestelmästä, eli mitkä asiat tulisi vielä huomioida, jotta energia-asioita voitaisiin jatkossa hallita standardin mukaisesti. Työn toimenpidesuositusten avulla on siten annettu ohjeet myös energianjärjestelmän rakentamiseksi. Järjestelmän rakentamisen jälkeen alkaa ylläpitotyö jatkuvan parantamisen periaatteen mukaisesti.

Supply chain performance management system

The purpose of the study is to determine general features of the supply chain performance management system, to assess the current state of performance management in the case company mills and to make proposals for improvement – how the future state of performance management system would look like. The study covers four phases which consist of theory and case company parts. Theoretical review gives understanding about performance management and measurement. Current state analysis assesses the current state of performance management in the mills. Results and proposals for improvement are derived from current state analysis and finally the conclusions with answers to research questions are presented. Supply chain performance management system consists of five areas: perfor-mance measurement and metrics, action plans, performance tracking, performance dialogue and rewards, consequences and actions. The result of the study revealed that all mills were quite average level in performance management and there is a room for improvement. Created performance improvement matrix served as a tool in assessing current performance management and could work also as a tool in the future in mapping the current state after transformation process. Limited harmonization was revealed as there were different ways to work and manage performance in the mills. Lots of good ideas existed though actions are needed to make a progress. There is also need to harmonize KPI structure.

Improving the Supply Chain Performance Management System in a Finnish paper mill

This Master’s Thesis studies performance management system and its benefits, risks and costs. Objective of the thesis is to describe and evaluate currently used supply chain performance management system (SCPMS) in a Finnish paper mill and its interfaces with its business unit’s SCPMS. As a result, the host company has improvement road map for improving its SCPMS. Used SCPMS in the host company and its interfaces to business unit’s SCPMS are described based on interviews held in the host company and the business unit. Evaluation of the host company’s SCPMS is based on literature study. For improvement road map, three areas in need of improvements are chosen. The study shows the need of high level top management commitment in successful performance management system implementation and usage, especially when the system is deployed to lower levels in the organization.

Toward a-state-of-the-art IR copyright management system: a needs assessment

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