Towards east or west? : Defence planning in Finland 1944-1966

Finnish Defence Studies is published under the auspices of the National Defence University, and the contributions reflect the fields of research and teaching of the University. Finnish Defence Studies will occasionally feature documentation on Finnish Security Policy. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily imply endorsement by the National Defence University.

Benefits and challenges of Enterprise Resource Planning for Pakistani SMEs

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is used to combine all the functions happening inside the organization with the help of one software. All the data is centralized which makes it easy to manage information for all participants. The literature on ERP is studied thoroughly the whole process of adoption till the implementation and final evaluations. But studies that focus on small and medium sized enterprises are limited in number when compared to the large scale enterprises. In case of Pakistan, research is very limited. In this thesis, the author tries to analyze the current status of SMEs usage of ERP system. The benefits obtained and challenges faced by SMEs of Pakistan are studied. Framework presented by Shang and Seddon (2000) is used to understand the benefits obtained by the SMEs in Pakistan. This is a comprehensive framework that classifies the benefits obtained by the ERP adoption, into five categories: operational benefits, managerial benefits, Strategic benefits, IT benefits, and Organizational benefits. The results show that SMEs of Pakistan are also getting many benefits after adoption of ERP. Most of the firms had implemented SAP software. Operational benefits were mentioned by all the firms. The most important benefits were report generation, quick access to critical information, better product and cost planning. Respondents also mentioned that they had reduced corruption as a result of ERP implementation. It is also an important benefit considering high corruption rate in Pakistan. Along with benefits, challenges faced by Pakistani SMEs included infrastructure problems like electricity, difficulties with integration of one module with other module, costs of adoption and lack of skilled ERP consultants. Further studies in this regard can be conducted on cloud based ERP which is fast growing all around the world.

EXPLOITING SCENARIO PLANNING FOR STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT OF THE EXTERNAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Future insights of the European pet food sector

The purpose of this study is to explore how scenarios can be exploited in strategic assessment of the external business environment. One of the key challenges for managers worldwide is to adapt their businesses to the ever-changing business environment. As the companies’ external business environment is constantly presenting new opportunities and threats, it is extremely important that companies continuously monitor the possible changes happening around it. As the speed of change rises, assessing the future has become more and more vital. The study was conducted as an exploratory research and the research strategy was influenced by scenario planning and case study strategy. The study examined the European pet food sector from the future point of view. Qualitative study was chosen as research approach and empirical data was collected primarily by seven expert interviews. The secondary data about the sector was applied as complementary empirical data. In the theoretical part of the research it was discovered that nowadays, traditional analysis frameworks are ill-suited for strategic assessment of the external business environment. This is why a self-created combination framework for analysis was employed both as study’s theoretical framework and analysis technique. Furthermore, the framework formed the base for interview questions. Both in theoretical and the empirical part of the study it was found that today, in strategic assessment of the external business environment, besides setting focus on the current situation, it is important to concentrate also on the future. The traditional analysis frameworks offer a good starting point for collecting relevant data but they do not encourage conducting a deeper analysis. By adding characteristics from scenario planning to these more traditional tools, a new analysis framework was created, which ensured the more comprehensive analysis. By understanding the interconnections between discovered phenomena and changes, and by recognizing uncertainties, the user is helped to reflect the environment more profoundly. The contributions of the study are both theoretical and managerial. A new analysis framework strives to answer to the current needs for strategic assessment of external business environment and the framework was tested in the context of European pet food sector. When it comes to managerial contributions, the importance lies in understanding the future. Managers must take future into account and understand that future includes various possibilities which all must be reflected

Life-related negative customer emotions in real estate agent encounters

The goal of this study was to explore how do customers’ life-related negative emotions affect real estate business. This was divided into two research questions: 1. What life-related negative emotions can be recognised in real estate customer encounters? 2. How do the recognised emotions affect customer encounters and the realtor’s work? 3. How can the realtor take the emotions into account in customer service? The theoretical background consists of two main lines of study: emotions and customer encounters. A wide literary review on emotions research was conducted from a cognitive psychology point of view, focusing on negative emotions. Emotions research was then combined into the field of customer encounters. Qualitative study was chosen as the methodological basis of the study. Empirical material of this study was collected through in-depth interviews with 13 successful Finnish real estate agents. Narrative research was used as a method for the study. Four life-related emotion categories were recognized in real estate customer encounters: sadness, anger, anxiety and shame. These emotions rose from issues varying from death of a close one to divorce and from major changes in life stages to deep emotional attachment to an old home. The study also found that these incidental negative emotions do affect customer encounters and realtors’ work. The emotions affected the decision making of customers and sometimes overshadowed reason. Some emotions made the customer passive and slow to make any decisions, while others made their decision making fast and hasty. Even though the incidental emotions might not have had anything to do with the real estate deal, they could affect the outcome of the customer encounter and the whole real estate deal. Interestingly enough, the study found that not all successful real estate agents knowingly serve customers in an emotional level. The study does, however, suggest that in fact it may be an ethical decision of the customer server to take into account the emotional state of the customer. Attending to the emotional side of customers does not only increase pleasantness of the customer encounter, but may improve and balance customer decision making and prevent hasty decisions possibly leading to improved customer satisfaction. This study also gave practical managerial implications to customer service providers on how negative incidental emotions can be attended to in a customer encounter. This study could be useful not only to real estate agents, but also in other types of customer service, especially with vulnerable populations or other types of home-related business.

Development of internet-based value added services in housing estate business in Russia

Value added services are becoming increasingly popular as they increase the perceived value of the core product and can be a strong method of attracting customers and motivating them to make a choice. The purpose of this research is to develop internet-based value added services for housing estate business in Russia. The research is a case study of Russian housing estate market utilising a triangulation of methods for better results. For the qualitative data analysis, 7 interviews with heads of regional departments of construction companies from different regions of Russia were conducted. For the quantitative data analysis, a survey of 128 inhabitants of Saint-Petersburg housing estates was held. Factor analysis and descriptive statistics including cross-tabulations and chi-square tests for significance were used to analyse the results. In this study, a list 19 value added services that can be provided through online platforms in housing estate market was developed. These services fall into three big groups: social networking services, compulsory and additional services. Additionally, the question of monetisation of online platforms in housing estate market was discussed and three business models were suggested.