Balanced Scorecardin tuottama lisäarvo strategian implementoinnissa

The objective of this study was to define the benefits of using the Balanced Scorecard in strategy implementation in general and evaluate its suitability and potential benefits for a case organization. In the theoretical part of the study, a framework for the benefits of using the Balanced Scorecard in strategy implementation was constructed on the basis of several earlier studies. The framework was also used to assist in the evaluation in the empirical part of the study. The case organization was one business area of a Finnish industrial corporation. The study was carried out before implementing the Balanced Scorecard in the case organization. This study revealed that the Balanced Scorecard can generally benefit the strategy implementation in several ways. It could also be applied to the case organization. The potential benefits that the system can bring to the case organization are to assist standardizing operating methods, to intensify communication and steering and to concretize goal-setting and tracking. Some specific demands were also revealed for the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard.

Opettajan monikulttuurinen työ

Teacher's multicultural work The purpose of the present study is to explore teachers’ conceptions of their work as teachers of multicultural students. Teachers’ experiences of multicultural work and conceptions derived from them are part of the teacher’s multicultural competence which is seen as a key component of the teacher’s multicultural teachership. The teacher’s multicultural competence consists of the teacher’s cultural knowledge, pedagogical skills and experiences and attitudes related to multiculturalism. The teacher’s multicultural competence constitutes the basis on which the teacher implements multicultural education. The foundation for the teacher’s work is laid by laws and decrees, curricula, regulations issued by authorities in charge of the education of immigrant students, resources available and other demands and expectations set by the ambient society. The study was conducted in the city of Turku, Finland. The sample consisted of class teachers who taught both immigrant and majority students. Main objects of study in the theoretical part are the multicultural and pluralistic school and the multicultural teachership. The basic assumption is that the multicultural and pluralistic school forms the frame of activity in which the teacher implements multicultural teaching. The research strategy is based on methodological triangulation. The quantitative part of the study was carried out using a questionnaire typical of survey methods. The questionnaire was returned by 71 teachers. The qualitative part was conducted using theme-based interviews typical of phenomenological philosophical research. Of the total of teachers who returned the questionnaire, twelve (12) teachers were selected for interviews. According to the results, the participating teachers enjoyed their work regardless of the ample extra work caused by the students with immigrant backgrounds. The teachers experienced their work as teachers of multicultural student groups as strenuous, yet challenging. Students with immigrant backgrounds had caused many changes in the teacher’s work. The teachers regarded their multicultural skills as inadequate in relation to the demands of the work. They had not received education related to teaching students with immigrant backgrounds, but they were ready for in-service education. The teachers’ previous attitudes concerning immigrant students had been enforced. Teaching experiences strengthened the earlier, both positive and negative, attitudes. The central problems related to multiculturalism in the teacher’s work were caused by the deficient Finnish skills of the students with immigrant background. This was apparent in both teaching and learning as well as in contacts with parents. The teachers reported on relatively few inclusions of multicultural angles in their teaching. However, they believed that they could aid students with different cultural backgrounds in their integration process. At the same time they felt that their own chances to enhance the students’ cultural identities were slim. On the basis of the interviews conducted in connection with the teacher’s multicultural competence, the teachers were divided into three groups: assimilative, indeterminate and integrating multicultural teachers. The present study provides a strong indication that teachers tend to interpret multiculturalism in narrow terms. School activities, such as Finnish as a second language, first language and religious instruction, which were targeted exclusively at immigrant students were in most cases considered adequate. A holistic, cross-disciplinary, all-inclusive multicultural education that would permeate all school activities remains largely unimplemented.

Tutkintotavoitteisen aikuiskoulutuksen vaikuttavuus Case: Lappeenrannan teknillinen yliopisto/Koulutus- ja kehittämiskeskus/Metallitekniikka

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää ja arvioida kahden konetekniikan maisteriohjelman vaikuttavuutta ohjelmiin osallistuneiden opiskelijoiden ja heidän työnantajiensa näkökulmasta. Aikuiskoulutuksen vaikuttavuutta arvioidaan teemoilla osaaminen, tiedon siirtyminen yrityselämään ja työura. Lisäksi tarkastellaan millaista tukea aikuisopiskelija saa ja arvioidaan jatkotarpeita vastaaville koulutuksille. Tutkimus toteutettiin opiskelijoille tehdyn kvantitatiivisen kyselylomaketutkimuksen ja työnantajille tehdyn kvalitatiivisen teemahaastattelututkimuksen avulla. Menetelmät täydentävät tutkimuksessa toisiaan ja antavat eri näkökulmia käsiteltäviin aiheisiin. Tulokset esitetään rinnakkain, joten samalla on mahdollisuus vertailla niiden tuloksia keskenään. Opiskelulla on selvästi vaikutusta ammatilliseen ja muuhun osaamiseen. Opiskellessa tullutta tietoa siirtyy työyhteisöön harjoitustöiden, palaverien ja varsinkin epävirallisten keskustelujen kautta. Uraan opiskelu vaikuttaa selvästi edistävästi, yritysten onkin syytä antaa valmistuneille uusia haasteita jos haluavat pitää nämä itsellään. Tukea aikuisopiskelija kaipaa monelta suunnalta, mutta erityisesti perheeltään. Vastaavanlaiselle, ja myös muulle alueelliselle koulutukselle on selkeä tarve myös jatkossa.

Tasasähköjakelu ja kiinteistöjen tasasähköverkot

Perinteisesti sähkönjakelu on toteutettu vaihtosähköjärjestelmänä, mutta varsinkin tehoelektroniikan kehittymisen ja halpenemisen myötä on paljon keskusteltu tasasähköisistä jakelujärjestelmistä. Tässä työssä on tutkittu ja koetettu tuoda esille tasasähkön hyödyntämismahdollisuuksia sähkönjakelussa, sekä erityisesti kiinteistöjen kuten kotien ja toimistojen sähköverkoissa. DC-verkko parantaa mm. järjestelmän luotettavuutta ja jännitteenlaatua. Myös hajautetun energiantuotannon ja energiavarastojen lisääminen sähkövoimajärjestelmään olisi yksinkertaisempaa tasasähköiseen verkkoon. Monet nykyajan kotien ja toimistojen sähkölaitteista olisi nykyiselläänkin ilman modifikaatioita liitettävissä DC-verkkoon. Monien laitteiden sisäinen käyttöjännite on nykyään tasajännitettä kuten esimerkiksi tietokoneiden ja viihde-elektroniikan. Näiden laitteiden tarvitsemissa lukuisissa tasasuuntaajissa hukataan paljon energiaa. Yhdistämällä laitteet DC-verkkoon voitaisiin suuntauksista luopua, jolloin järjestelmän kokonaishyötysuhde paranisi. Lisäksi kiinteistöissä tasajännitteellä voitaisiin hyödyntää entistä paremmin muun muassa aurinkoenergiaa, polttokennoja ja energiavarastoja eli uusiutuvia ja ympäristöystävällisiä energialähteitä.

Adaptive MCMC methods with applications in environmental and geophysical models

This work presents new, efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation methods for statistical analysis in various modelling applications. When using MCMC methods, the model is simulated repeatedly to explore the probability distribution describing the uncertainties in model parameters and predictions. In adaptive MCMC methods based on the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, the proposal distribution needed by the algorithm learns from the target distribution as the simulation proceeds. Adaptive MCMC methods have been subject of intensive research lately, as they open a way for essentially easier use of the methodology. The lack of user-friendly computer programs has been a main obstacle for wider acceptance of the methods. This work provides two new adaptive MCMC methods: DRAM and AARJ. The DRAM method has been built especially to work in high dimensional and non-linear problems. The AARJ method is an extension to DRAM for model selection problems, where the mathematical formulation of the model is uncertain and we want simultaneously to fit several different models to the same observations. The methods were developed while keeping in mind the needs of modelling applications typical in environmental sciences. The development work has been pursued while working with several application projects. The applications presented in this work are: a winter time oxygen concentration model for Lake Tuusulanjärvi and adaptive control of the aerator; a nutrition model for Lake Pyhäjärvi and lake management planning; validation of the algorithms of the GOMOS ozone remote sensing instrument on board the Envisat satellite of European Space Agency and the study of the effects of aerosol model selection on the GOMOS algorithm.