Development of sales invoicing process in industrial services

The objective of this Master’s thesis is to find ways to streamline the invoicing process of the case company. In order to streamline the process, the bottlenecks and development areas of the present invoicing process needs to be identified. The bottlenecks are based on interviews made to personnel. The thesis also offers solutions to overcome the identified bottlenecks. The problem is the slowness of the invoicing process which should get rid off. The slow invoicing process causes delays in obtaining payments. There are many reasons for the slowness and inefficiency of the invoicing process. One of the biggest reasons is that the information systems are not deployed entirely. It causes additional work for everyone. Practices with the customers affect also to the smooth flow of invoicing. The contracts determine when the customer can be invoiced but also work approvals, missing work orders and customer’s own invoicing basis slow the process. The fastest and cheapest solution is to deploy the systems better and do things correctly. Thus duplicated work would decrease and resources would be saved. The work allocation should be modified and the practices with customer should be influenced too. In the future the meaning of IT should be highlighted and new devices exploited.

Toimitusketjun hallinnan erityispiirteet elintarvikepakkausalalla: lainsäädännön ja keskeisten standardien rooli

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on kuvata elintarvikepakkausalan keskeisen lainsäädännön ja laadunhallintastandardien vaikutusta elintarvikepakkausalan toimitusketjujen hallinnassa. Tutkielmassa sovelletaan kvalitatiivista analyysitapaa ja tutkimus aineistona on kirjallinen materiaali sekä teemahaastattelu.Tutkielman teoreettinen viitekehys rakentuu toimitusketjun hallinnan ympärille. Tutkielmassa kartoitetaan elintarvikepakkausvalmistajiin sovellettavan kontaktimateriaalilainsäädännön ja ISO 9001 laadunhallintastandardin keskeiset vaatimukset, ja tarkastellaan niiden roolia elintarvikepakkausalan toimitusketjun hallinnan välineenä. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksenä voidaan todeta, että vaikka sekä kontaktimateriaalilainsäädäntö että vapaaehtoiset laadunhallintastandardit tukevat elintarvikepakkausalan toimitusketjujen hallintaa, on niiden vaikuttavuus ja toimitusketjun koordinaation ja integraation kehittäminen pitkälti riippuvainen siitä, kuinka sitoutuneita toimitusketjuun kuuluvat yritykset ovat kehittämään toimi-tusketjun liiketoimintaprosesseja ja johtamiskäytäntöjä.

Asiakaskokemuksen vaikutus liiketoimintaprosessien kehittämiseen

Tämä diplomityö toteutettiin Auto-Kilta Trucks Oy:lle. Tutkimus toteutettiin kvalitatiivisena tapaustutkimuksena. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin havainnointia ja perehdyttiin nykyisiin prosessikuvauksiin. Lähivuosina yrityksessä tulee tapahtumaan asiakasrajapinnassa eläköitymisiä eikä samanlaista ammatillista kokemusta ole helposti saatavilla. Taloudellinen tilanne ei mahdollista lisäresurssien palkkaamista vaan yrityksen asiakasrajapintaan tulee saada yrityksen sisältä voimavaroja. Yrityksen mekaanikoista on tarkoitus saada ratkaisu asiakasrajapinnassa tapahtuviin muutoksiin. Asiakaskokemuksen kautta haetaan ymmärrystä oman toiminnan kehittämiseen. Liiketoimintaprosessien tulee tukea asiakaskokemuksen luomista. Muutosjohtamisen keinoin on tarkoitus viedä prosesseihin muutos työskentelytavoista sekä saada työntekijät ajattelemaan asiakaslähtöisesti. Lopputuloksena esitetään asiakasrajapintaan uusi prosessimalli, joka tukee asiakaskokemuksen luomista. Yrityksessä on tärkeää ymmärtää asiakkaan oikea tarve käyttää yrityksen palveluja.

Designing of Balanced Performance Measurement System to Purchasing Process

The performance measurement produces information about the operation of the business process. On the basis of this information performance of the company can be followed and improved. Balanced performance measurement system can monitor performance of several perspectives and business processes can be led according to company strategy. Major part of the costs of a company is originated from purchased goods or services are an output of the buying process emphasising the importance of a reliable performance measurement of purchasing process. In the study, theory of balanced performance measurement is orientated and framework of purchasing process performance measurement system is designed. The designed balanced performance measurement system of purchasing process is tested in case company paying attention to the available data and to other environmental enablers. The balanced purchasing performance measurement system is tested and improved during the test period and attention is paid to the definition and scaling of objectives. Found development initiatives are carried out especially in the scaling of indicators. Finally results of the study are evaluated, conclusions and additional research areas proposed.

Sisäisen logistiikan prosessien ja materiaalivirtojen tehostaminen

Työn tavoitteena on löytää kohdeyrityksen sisäisen logistiikan prosessien ja materiaalivirtojen tehostamiskohteita. Sisäisen logistiikan ja materiaalienohjauksen toimivuutta halutaan tutkittavan lähtötiedoksi prosessien ja materiaalivirtojen parantamiselle. Materiaalivirtojen tutkimisella saadaan selville tutkimuksen aikana suoritettavan kehitysprojektin aiheuttamat muutokset. Tutkimuksen aikana kehitetään kustannustyökalu, jolla voidaan määrittää materiaaliensiirroista aiheutuvia kustannuksia. Tutkimus suoritettiin käyttäen sekä kvantitatiivisia että kvalitatiivisia tutkimusmenetelmiä. Haastattelut ja keskustelut antoivat lähtötiedot materiaalivirtojen tutkimiselle, jonka vuoksi ne tukevat toinen toisiaan. Taustatiedoksi syvennytään kirjallisuudessa ilmenneisiin ohjeisiin prosessien ja materiaalivirtojen analysoimisesta, mittareista sekä kehitettävän kustannustyökalun kannalta toimintolaskennan menetelmistä. Tutkimuksen tuloksena pystyttiin havaitsemaan prosessien toimintoihin liityviä haasteita sekä turhia materiaalivirtoja. Materiaalivirta-analyysillä pystyttiin arvioimaan materiaalivirtojen merkitystä sekä kehitysprojektin aiheuttamien muutoksien luomia vaatimuksia. Lisäksi materiaalivirta-analyysin pohjalta pystyttiin muodostamaan skenaarioita materiaalivirtojen tehostamiseksi.

An examination of factors influencing ERP key-user satisfaction: A qualitative case study

Several companies are trying to improve their operation efficiency by implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that makes it possible to control the resources of the company in real time. However, the success of the implementation project is not a foregone conclusion; a significant part of these projects end in a failure, one way or another. Therefore it is important to investigate ERP system implementation more closely in order to increase understanding about factors influencing ERP system success and to improve the probability of a successful ERP implementation project. Consequently, this study was initiated because a manufacturing case company wanted to review the success of their ERP implementation project. To be exact, the case company hoped to gain both information about the success of the project and insight for future implementation improvement. This study investigated ERP success specifically by examining factors that influence ERP key-user satisfaction. User satisfaction is one of the most commonly applied indicators of information system success. The research data was mainly collected by conducting theme interviews. The subjects of the interviews were six key-users of the newly implemented ERP system. The interviewees were closely involved in the implementation project. Furthermore, they act as representative users that utilize the new system in everyday business processes. The collected data was analyzed by thematizing. Both data collection and analysis were guided by a theoretical frame of reference. This frame was based on previous research on the subject. The results of the study aligned with the theoretical framework to large extent. The four principal factors influencing key-user satisfaction were change management, contractor service, key-user’s system knowledge and characteristics of the ERP product itself. One of the most significant contributions of the research is that it confirmed the existence of a connection between change management and ERP key-user satisfaction. Furthermore, it discovered two new sub-factors influencing contractor service related key-user satisfaction. In addition, the research findings indicated that in order to improve the current level of key-user satisfaction, the case company should pay special attention to system functionality improvement and enhancement of the key-users’ knowledge. During similar implementation projects in the future, it would be important to assure the success of change management and contractor service related processes.

Teollisuuden palveluliiketoiminnan vaativien toimitusprosessien kehittäminen arvovirtakartoituksen avulla

Työssä kartoitettiin teollisuuden palveluliiketoiminnan vaativien toimitusprosessien kehittämistä Lean -ajattelu yritysympäristössä. Tavoitteena oli vaativien toimituspro-sessien ongelmien selvittäminen ja kehittämiskohteiden määrittäminen palveluliike-toiminnan tuottavuuden kehittämisen näkökulmasta. Lisäksi tutkittiin arvovirtakuvauksen soveltuvuutta teollisuuden palveluliiketoiminnan prosessien kehittämiseen. Kirjallisuusosuudessa selvitettiin teollisuuden palveluliiketoiminnan prosessien kehit-tämisen erityispiirteitä ja Lean -ajattelun periaatteita. Tavoitteena on löytää teollisuuden palveluliiketoiminnan kehittämisen erityispiirteet tuottavuuden kannalta ja arvioida niiden soveltuvuutta Lean -ajatteluun. Työn empiirisessä osuudessa kartoitettiin yrityksen vaativat prosessit. Menetelminä työssä käytettiin puolistrukturoitua kyselyä, ryhmähaastattelua, ja osallistuvaa ha-vainnointia. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella laadittiin kehityssuunnitelma. Diplomityö käynnisti kohdeorganisaatiossa prosessien päivitysprosessin, ja loi puitteet vaativien toimitusten kehityssuunnitelman toteuttamiselle.

Strategisen suorituskykymittariston luominen verkkoliiketoiminnan yritykselle – tapaustutkimus

Strateginen suorituskyvyn mittaaminen ja johtaminen ovat viimeisten vuosikymmenien aikana, nopeasti muuttuvassa toimintaympäristössä, nousseet tärkeiksi tekijöiksi liiketoiminnan kehittämisen kannalta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on luoda pienelle kaupan alan verkkoliiketoiminnan yritykselle strateginen suorituskyvyn mittaristo, jossa verkkoliiketoiminnan mittarit on integroitu mittariston eri näkökulmiin. Suorituskyvyn mittaristona tullaan käyttämään Balanced scorecardia eli tasapainotettua tuloskorttia. Tutkimus on laadullinen eli kvalitatiivinen tapaustutkimus. Tutkimuksessa tiedon-keruun pääasiallisena lähteenä toimivat puolistrukturoidut haastattelut. Muina tiedonkeruun lähteinä tutkimuksessa ovat case-yrityksen kahden viimeisimmän vuoden tilinpäätökset ja yrityksen omasta toiminnastaan käyttämät analysointityökalut. Lisäksi epäviralliset keskustelut omistajien kanssa, kuten mittariston mittareiden täsmentäminen, ovat toimineet tutkimuksessa aineistona. Tutkimuksen tuloksena on luotu case-yritykselle strateginen suorituskyvyn mittaristo, mikä käsittää talouden-, asiakkaan-, sisäisten prosessien sekä oppimisen ja kasvun näkökulmien mittareita. Mittaristossa on 12 mittaria. Mittaristossa toteutuu tasapaino ja syy-seuraussuhteet aina oppimisen- ja kasvun mittarista taloudellisiin mittareihin asti, strategian muodostaen mittareiden perustan. Johtopäätöksenä mittaristosta voidaan todeta sen keskittyvän mittaamaan case-yrityksen kannalta oleellisimpia seikkoja. Mittaristossa yhdistyvät yrityksen tavoitteet muun muassa kasvun suhteen ja verkkoliiketoiminnan huomioivat mittarit, joissa teknologialla on keskeinen rooli.

Verkkokaupan tarpeen kartoitus puualan konserniin

Tutkimusongelmana oli case-yrityksen tiedontarve verkkokaupan vaikutuksista sen liiketoimintaan, joten työn tavoitteena oli kartoittaa verkkokaupan tarve puualan yritykselle. Tutkimusmenetelmänä oli haastattelututkimus, joka suoritettiin yrityksen tulosyksiköille sekä asiakkaille. Yksiköiden erilaisista luonteista, toimintatavoista ja myyntistrategioista johtuen verkkokaupan hyödyt ja haitat olivat erilaisia eri yksiköille. Tutkimusongelmaa selvitettiin tutkimuskysymyksillä, jotka liittyivät myyntistrategioihin, tuotteisiin, tietojärjestelmien integrointiin sekä verkkokaupan hyötyihin ja haittoihin. Työ voidaan jakaa teoreettiseen ja empiiriseen osioon. Teoreettinen osuus koostuu yleiskatsauksesta sähköiseen liiketoimintaan sekä ostoprosessien ja verkkokauppojen tarkastelusta. Empiirinen osio sisältää verkkokaupan tarpeen tutkimuksen, johon yksiköiden vastuuhenkilöt sekä asiakkaat antoivat haastattelun. Tuloksista voidaan havaita, että kaikki haastateltavat pitävät verkkokaupan käyttöä tulevaisuuden trendinä, mutta välitöntä tarvetta verkkokaupan hankinnalle ei ilmennyt. Tuloksista kuitenkin ilmeni välitön tarve liiketoimintaprosessien tehostamiselle sekä muulle tietojärjestelmäpalvelulle.

The advancement of innovations in communications industry: A case study of Russian Post company

The purpose of this study is to provide a project aimed on solving the problem of advancement of innovations for Russian Post company that is the main actor on the Russian postal service market. This project is constructed through gathering and scrutinizing two essential informational packages, with first being precise information about Russian Post business processes and structure in order to find out the weak spots and hindering forces, and the second being benchmarking analysis of product and service portfolio of company's peers in Europe and Australia in order to evaluate existing experience and gather additional sources that can facilitate the advancement of innovations. These informational packages are studied and sent through the matrix analysis that must highlight customer and technical requirements which emphasize the innovativeness and problem-solving purpose of the project and lay stress on the assuring characteristics that must to be met in order to advance the project. The project itself is aimed on providing Russian Post company with several solutions, both managerial and engineering, which are aimed on easing problem-solving processes and lay the foundation for continuous innovation and value increase for Russian Post company, its partners and its customers. Project's payback period is been calculated as well.

Improving productivity by developing knowledge management practices for a consulting company

The objective of the research was to identify knowledge conversion states in consultancy sales and delivery processes for the company’s one business unit, to know where to store certain types of information and knowledge, and to create best practices for the company’s knowledge management activities in the selected business processes. The used research methodology was action research. The current business processes were analyzed by interviewing people involved in them. The results were documented and catego- rized, and based on them the target states of the processes were developed. Knowledge man- agement activities were integrated to the business processes. The main findings of the research were that roles and responsibilities in the processes were not clear to people, information systems did not fully support individuals and time was wasted searching for information and knowledge. There were also many variations of how the processes actually realized, which affected the overall quality of the process. The conclusions of the research were that knowledge management activities should be high- lighted in businesses where knowledge workers are the main assets of the company. Knowledge management practices can be supported by company culture, leadership and in- formation systems. However, one main factor is each individual’s willingness to share knowledge. By integrating knowledge management activities to business processes and hav- ing information systems supporting knowledge management, individual productivity can be improved.

Replacing traditional ERP with EAI - the next generation’s ERP

Organizations often consider investing in a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system as a way to enhance their business processes, as it allows integrating information used by multiple different departments into a harmonized computing system. The hope of gaining significant business benefits, such as reducing operating costs, is the key reason why organizations have decided to invest in ERP systems since 1990’s. Still, all ERP projects do not end up in success, and deployment of ERP system does not necessarily guarantee the results people were waiting for. This research studies why organizations invest in ERP, but also what downsides ERP projects currently have. Additionally Enterprise Application Integrations (EAI) as next generation’s ERP solutions are studied to challenge and develop traditional ERP. The research questions are: What are the weaknesses in traditional ERP deployment in today’s business? How does the proposed next generation’s ERP answer to these weaknesses? At the beginning of the thesis, as an answer to the first research question, the basics of ERP implementation are introduced with both the pros and cons of investing in ERP. Key concepts such as IS integration and EAI are also studied. Empirical section of the thesis focuses on answering the second research question from the integration approach. A qualitative research is executed by interviewing five experienced IT professionals about EAI benefits, limitations, and problems. The thematic interview and questionnaire follow the presented ERP main elements from literature. The research shows that adopting traditional ERP includes multiple downsides, e.g. inflexibility and requiring big investments in terms of money. To avoid these critical issues, organizations could find a solution from integrations between their current IS. Based on the empirical study a new framework for the next generation’s ERP is created, consisting of a model and a framework that deal with various features regarding IS adoption. With this framework organizations can assess whether they should implement EAI or ERP. The model and framework suggest that there are multiple factors IT managers needs to consider when planning their IT investments, including their current IS, role of IT in the organization, as well as new system’s flexibility, investment level, and number of vendors. The framework created in the thesis encourages IT management to assess holistically their i) organization, ii) its IT, and iii) solution requirements in order to determine what kind of IS solution would suit their needs the best.

Corporate social responsibility in online retail – Perceptions from online discussions on Amazon

Online retail has experienced substantial growth due to the increased utilization of digital technologies. The growth in the industry has created numerous multinational corporations, which serve customers all around the world. As a result, the online retailers’ efforts in sustainability have been more often in publicity. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the efforts going beyond the company’s interest in order to bring social good, have been discussed in the academic community for decades. While the various effects of CSR in retail and business generally have been realized, the research aims to make a contribution by examining the concept from the viewpoint of online retail by focusing on interaction at online discussion forums. The main research question asks: What is the role of online retailer CSR in the online discussion forum context? In order to answer this question, additional three sub-research questions are suggested: 1) What elements of CSR are relevant in the online retailer context? 2) How are discussion forums used in communication regarding CSR and online retail by different discusser types? 3) What kind of company perceptions and consumer behavior appear in online discussions of Amazon’s CSR? The study is qualitative of nature, using the content analysis research method to examine posts found from four different public online discussion forums. A qualitative, interpretative analysis was used, although quantitative measures regarding discussion posts were also presented. The analysis contains a coding process, where attributes are attached to discussion posts. As a result of the process, specific patterns can be indicated in order to categorize the posts. As the research uses Amazon as the case company, the case study method is also adopted. In the online retail context, ethics regarding the online retailer’s tax and labor policies are found as most relevant elements. Customers, using discussion forums to share their experiences and opinions regarding online retailer CSR efforts, are realized as the most prominent stakeholder. The research also highlights the role of online retailer employees providing details on internal business practices. However, the not realize the possibility to participate in discussions. Most discussion posts refer either to a positive, negative or mixed reaction towards CSR efforts, it is suggested that the concept is relevant also in online retail. Although online retailer CSR efforts are somewhat linked to company perceptions, the concept has a minimal role in consumer behavior. In online retail, CSR efforts can reduce the risk of being involved in discussions related to controversies. In addition, online retailer CSR efforts should communicate how the retailer contributes locally.

Replacing traditional ERP with EAI - the next generation’s ERP

Organizations often consider investing in a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system as a way to enhance their business processes, as it allows integrating information used by multiple different departments into a harmonized computing system. The hope of gaining significant business benefits, such as reducing operating costs, is the key reason why organizations have decided to invest in ERP systems since 1990’s. Still, all ERP projects do not end up in success, and deployment of ERP system does not necessarily guarantee the results people were waiting for. This research studies why organizations invest in ERP, but also what downsides ERP projects currently have. Additionally Enterprise Application Integrations (EAI) as next generation’s ERP solutions are studied to challenge and develop traditional ERP. The research questions are: What are the weaknesses in traditional ERP deployment in today’s business? How does the proposed next generation’s ERP answer to these weaknesses? At the beginning of the thesis, as an answer to the first research question, the basics of ERP implementation are introduced with both the pros and cons of investing in ERP. Key concepts such as IS integration and EAI are also studied. Empirical section of the thesis focuses on answering the second research question from the integration approach. A qualitative research is executed by interviewing five experienced IT professionals about EAI benefits, limitations, and problems. The thematic interview and questionnaire follow the presented ERP main elements from literature. The research shows that adopting traditional ERP includes multiple downsides, e.g. inflexibility and requiring big investments in terms of money. To avoid these critical issues, organizations could find a solution from integrations between their current IS. Based on the empirical study a new framework for the next generation’s ERP is created, consisting of a model and a framework that deal with various features regarding IS adoption. With this framework organizations can assess whether they should implement EAI or ERP. The model and framework suggest that there are multiple factors IT managers needs to consider when planning their IT investments, including their current IS, role of IT in the organization, as well as new system’s flexibility, investment level, and number of vendors. The framework created in the thesis encourages IT management to assess holistically their i) organization, ii) its IT, and iii) solution requirements in order to determine what kind of IS solution would suit their needs the best.

Corporate social responsibility in online retail – Perceptions from online discussions on Amazon

Online retail has experienced substantial growth due to the increased utilization of digital technologies. The growth in the industry has created numerous multinational corporations, which serve customers all around the world. As a result, the online retailers’ efforts in sustainability have been more often in publicity. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the efforts going beyond the company’s interest in order to bring social good, have been discussed in the academic community for decades. While the various effects of CSR in retail and business generally have been realized, the research aims to make a contribution by examining the concept from the viewpoint of online retail by focusing on interaction at online discussion forums. The main research question asks: What is the role of online retailer CSR in the online discussion forum context? In order to answer this question, additional three sub-research questions are suggested: 1) What elements of CSR are relevant in the online retailer context? 2) How are discussion forums used in communication regarding CSR and online retail by different discusser types? 3) What kind of company perceptions and consumer behavior appear in online discussions of Amazon’s CSR? The study is qualitative of nature, using the content analysis research method to examine posts found from four different public online discussion forums. A qualitative, interpretative analysis was used, although quantitative measures regarding discussion posts were also presented. The analysis contains a coding process, where attributes are attached to discussion posts. As a result of the process, specific patterns can be indicated in order to categorize the posts. As the research uses Amazon as the case company, the case study method is also adopted. In the online retail context, ethics regarding the online retailer’s tax and labor policies are found as most relevant elements. Customers, using discussion forums to share their experiences and opinions regarding online retailer CSR efforts, are realized as the most prominent stakeholder. The research also highlights the role of online retailer employees providing details on internal business practices. However, the not realize the possibility to participate in discussions. Most discussion posts refer either to a positive, negative or mixed reaction towards CSR efforts, it is suggested that the concept is relevant also in online retail. Although online retailer CSR efforts are somewhat linked to company perceptions, the concept has a minimal role in consumer behavior. In online retail, CSR efforts can reduce the risk of being involved in discussions related to controversies. In addition, online retailer CSR efforts should communicate how the retailer contributes locally.