Measuring Processes of a New Packaging Solutions with the Balanced Scorecard, case DigiCup

The aim of this study was to create a Balanced Scorecard to the DigiCup solution. The first goal was to create process descriptions to the few critical processes. The second goal was to define appropriate measurements, according to customer survey as well as following the Balanced Scorecard process description, to manage the critical success factors. The overall goal of this study was to create a performance measurement system for the solution which guides the operation towards continuous improvement. This study was conducted by using both qualitative and quantitative methods, and the analysis was done by using a case study method. The material was gathered from the current customers, the management and the employees using structured, semi-structured and open group and individual interviews. The current customers were divided into retailers and direct customers of the DigiCup solution. The questions which the customers were asked were related to the information about interviewee, company, business strategy, market, satisfaction survey and future requirements. The management defined the strategy and took part in specifying the perspectives, objectives and measurements to the Balanced Scorecard of the DigiCup solution. The employees participated into the choosing of the metrics. The material consisted from altogether sixteen interviews. At the beginning of the study the product development, the order-delivery as well as the printing processes was chosen to be the critical processes of the DigiCup solution. These processes were concentrated on already in the literature review while trying to find the characteristics of these processes as well as the critical success factors and the appropriate measurements, which could be utilized when creating the Balanced Scorecard to the DigiCup solution according to the customer survey. The appropriate perspectives, objectives and measurements were found to the DigiCup solution. The chosen measures works as a basis for the development of IT-reporting tool. As a conclusion it can be stated that when discussing a new business, where the objectives are changing according to which development’s phases the company is in, the measurement should be updated often enough.

The Productivity, Economy and Quality of Welding in the Different Geographical Areas of China - Today and in the Future

This master’s thesis gives out the real situation of the China welding industry and factories nowadays in different geographical areas, in order to inform the Finnish companies who have the willing to find a Chinese welding subcontractor a proper and correct selection concept by analyzing and supplying the information of different scale and form welding factories in different Chinese areas. The first section of this thesis gives out the general situation about the co-operation between China and Finland in the welding industry, also includes the general introduction of the Chinese welding industry. The second section gives out the geographical compartmentalization result of Chinese welding industry, which is where and how many areas will be studied in this thesis. The main body of this thesis is the real information of welding productivity, welding cost, and welding quality in China. All the information was collected from real factories in China by the author. The last section of this thesis is the improvements to the Chinese welding factories that have the willing to become a subcontractor, and the suggestions to the Finnish companies who may find a Chinese welding factory as their subcontractor in future.

Future revenue models: Transformation from textbooks to digital solutions in the educational publishing industry, Case Sanoma Learning

This study was conducted in order to learn how companies’ revenue models will be transformed due to the digitalisation of its products and processes. Because there is still only a limited number of researches focusing solely on revenue models, and particularly on the revenue model change caused by the changes at the business environment, the topic was initially approached through the business model concept, which organises the different value creating operations and resources at a company in order to create profitable revenue streams. This was used as the base for constructing the theoretical framework for this study, used to collect and analyse the information. The empirical section is based on a qualitative study approach and multiple-case analysis of companies operating in learning materials publishing industry. Their operations are compared with companies operating in other industries, which have undergone comparable transformation, in order to recognise either similarities or contrasts between the cases. The sources of evidence are a literature review to find the essential dimensions researched earlier, and interviews 29 of managers and executives at 17 organisations representing six industries. Based onto the earlier literature and the empirical findings of this study, the change of the revenue model is linked with the change of the other dimen-sions of the business model. When one dimension will be altered, as well the other should be adjusted accordingly. At the case companies the transformation is observed as the utilisation of several revenue models simultaneously and the revenue creation processes becoming more complex.

Suomen ja Viron tehtaiden välisen uistinliiketoiminnan suorituskyvyn ja kannattavuuden kasvattaminen

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää Päijät-Hämeessä toimivan uistimia valmistavan tehdasyksikön sekä saman konsernin Virossa toimivan tehdasyksikön välisen uistinliiketoiminnan kannattavuuden ja suorituskyvyn mahdollinen kasvattaminen. Konsernilla on käytössään kannattavan kasvun strategia, johon tämäkin yksi liiketoiminnan kehittämishankekin omalta osaltaan myös tähtää. Kannattavuutta tarkasteltiin tehtaiden välisen päätoimialan ja sen tuottavuuden ja suorituskyvyn näkökulmasta. Työssä on lähdetty rakentamaan tehtaiden väliselle uistinliiketoiminnalle uudenlaista mittaristoa operationaalisen johdon käyttöön. Suorituskykymittaristossa otetaan huomioon suunnittelutiimin avulla määritellyt avainmittarien osa-alueet ja niiden kehittäminen tulevaisuudessa. Työ käsittelee myös hieman toimipisteissä tapahtuvan muutosten hallitsemista sekä kehittävän ilmapiirin kasvattamista. Tässä tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että suorituskyvyn mittaamisesta oli hyötyä niin operationaaliselle toimipaikkakohtaiselle johdolle kuin tuotannon työntekijällekin. Tehtaiden välisestä suorituskyvystä saatiin vertailevaa tietoa, jota voidaan käyttää hyödyksi tulevaisuudessa. Tulevaisuudessa tästä järjestelmästä saatava tieto helpottaa tuotantolaitoksissa tapahtuvaa työvaiheiden kokonaisvaltaista prosessointia josta kuitenkin pitkällä tähtäimellä suurimmat kustannussäästöt tulevat yritykselle.

Employer Branding in Power Industry

Companies invest in employer branding in order to get good applicants, retain employees and create the image of a great employer. Employer branding will become more prominent in the future because companies strive to gain competitive advantage. Power industry is an internationally remarkable field of business. Energy and the solutions of power technology are always needed and there is a major need for new experts in power industry. The competition of talented workforce will increase because of the decrease in working-age population. The fundamental purpose of this study is to examine what kind of motives and practices company has for employer branding in power industry. The objective is to find out the benefits of employer branding and how it is targeted towards potential and current employees. In addition, the aim is to examine whether companies see employer branding as a process and what kind of processes they have for employer branding. The theoretical contribution of this study is based on literature review, which provides a better understanding of employer branding. The empirical part is a qualitative case study of two large and international companies in the field of power industry. Employer branding in the case companies is examined using theme interviews. According to this study, employer branding is a significant part of companies’ business in power industry. The main motives for employer branding are better employer image, more efficient recruitment and improved job satisfaction. Employer branding is communicated and targeted according to target group. Recruitment and educational co-operation are the main objects of employer branding towards potential employees, whereas training and development are an essential part of employer branding towards current employees. This study also discovers that there is some kind of process aspect in the background of employer branding.

Future prospects of short distance rail based passenger transport in Northern Europe

The worlds’ population is increasing and cities have become more crowded with people and vehicles. Communities in the fringe of metropolitans’ increase the traffic done with private cars, but also increase the need for public transportation. People have typically needs traveling to work located in city centers during the morning time, and return to suburbs in the afternoon or evening. Rail based passenger transport is environmentally friendly transport mode with high capacity to transport large volume of people. Railways have been regulated markets with national incumbent having monopoly position. Opening the market for competition is believed to have a positive effect by increasing the efficiency of the industry. National passenger railway market is opened for competition only in few countries, where as international traffic in EU countries was deregulated in 2010. The objective of this study is to examine the passenger railway market of three North European countries, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia. The interest was also to get an understanding of the current situation and how the deregulation has proceeded. Theory of deregulation is unfolded with literature analyses and empirical part of the study is constructed from two parts. Customer satisfaction survey was chosen as a method to collect real life experiences from the passengers and measure their knowledge of the market situation and possible changes appeared. Interviews of experts from the industry and labor unions give more insights and able better understanding for example of social consequences caused from opening the market for competition. Expert interviews were conducted by using semi-structured theme interview. Based on the results of this study, deregulation has proceeded quite differently in the three countries researched. Sweden is the most advanced country, where the passenger railway market is open for new entrants. Denmark and Estonia are lagging behind. Opening the market is considered positive among passengers and most of the experts interviewed. Common for the interviews were the labour unions negative perspective concerning deregulation. Despite the fact deregulation is considered positive among the respondents of the customer satisfaction survey, they could not name railway undertakings operating in their country. Generally respondents were satisfied with the commuter trains. Ticket price, punctuality of trains and itinerary affect the most to customer satisfaction.

The effectiveness of vocationally oriented multidisciplinary rehabilitation (ASLAK®) amongst public sector employees

In Finland, vocationally oriented medical rehabilitation (ASLAK®) is a common preventive rehabilitation measure with the primary goal of preserving and improving work ability. The ASLAK® programme has been used for almost 30 years, although limited data exist on its effectiveness. The aims of this study were to determine whether the increased risk of work disability predicts the participants’ likelihood to be granted ASLAK® rehabilitation and to assess the effectiveness of the programme in decreasing the risk of work disability and modifying health-risk behaviours. This study is a part of the on-going Finnish Public Sector Study conducted by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. Data on 53 416 employees (81% women) were gathered from employers’ records, national health registers and repeated survey responses. During the 5-year follow-up, increased levels of the risk factors for work disability did not predict participation in the rehabilitation programme. During the 2.8-year followup (range 0.04–5.0 years), the risk of long-term work disability (sick leave >90 days or retirement) overall or, more specifically, due to musculoskeletal or mental diseases did not differ between the rehabilitants who participated in ASLAK® in 1997–2005 and their propensity score matched controls. There was no evidence of ASLAK® being effective in changing participants’ health-risk behaviours or in improving perceived general or mental health. The results suggest that potential participant recognition, mainly taking place in occupational health care, may fail to identify those with a higher risk of work disability. No evidence on the effectiveness of the programme was found in the study cohort when measured by the selected indicators.

Development of a project control procedure

The aim of this study is to develop a suitable project control procedure for a target company that can be used in engineering, procurement, and construction or con-struction management contracts. This procedure contains suitable project control software and a model for the use of the software in practice. This study is divided into two main sections. Theoretical part deals with project management, focusing on cost and time dimensions in projects. Empirical part deals with the development of the project control procedure for the target compa-ny. This development takes place in two parts. In the first part, semi-structured interviews are used to find out the company’s employees’ demands and desires for the project control software which will then be used in the developed procedure. These demands and desires are compared to available software in the market and the most suitable one will be chosen. Interview results show that important factors are cost tracking, integration with other software, English language availability, references, helpdesk, and no need for regular updates. The most suitable one is CMPro5 cost control software. The chosen software is used in a pilot project, where its functions and use are analyzed. Project control procedure which will be used in the future is developed based on these procedures. The five steps in developed procedure include employment of a cost engineer, whose task is to maintain the procedure in the target company.

Rewards for Motivating Employees

When considering ways to motivate employees, one must keep in mind that each individual is different and therefore everyone is motivated in different way. Employees can have quite different motivators, for example, more money, more recognition, flexible working hours, promotions, opportunities for learning, or discounts for employee and his/her family. Therefore, when attempting to help motivate people, it is important to discover what the individual motivation factors are for each one personally. Another key factor is the variation over time. Nobody experiences a constant set of needs over time, it will change slowly. One of the most fundamental concerns of reward management is how it can help to motivate people so that they achieve their full potential. The development of a performance culture is a typical aim of reward strategy. It is therefore necessary to understand the factors that motivate people and how, in the light of these factors, rewarding process and practices that will enhance motivation, commitment, job engagement and positive discretionary behavior, can be developed. The purpose of this research is to examine more in detail of the total reward systems which are used in two public sectors and their cultural differences and/or similarities. The study is focused on two different public sectors; Vantaa City Authority (Finland) and Hertfordshire County Authority (the United Kingdom). The research questions are: How do public sector employers attempt to reward their employees with a total reward system? • What are the different ways to motivate employees? • What is the reward system in the public sector based on? • What characteristics are included in the total reward system? • How does the culture affect the ways of motivation and rewarding? The benefits of a total reward approach are, for example, the greater impact which means that the combined effect of the different types of rewards will make a deeper and longer-lasting impact on the motivation and commitment of people. It also enhances the employment relationship, meaning that the employment relationship created by a total rewards approach makes the maximum use of relational as well as transactional rewards and will therefore appeal more to individuals. The research findings point out that in Finland rewards are based on just for the employees, recognition of individuals is high, in several cases they reward teams, and organisation climate is important issue for them. In the United Kingdom, the reward system is based on rewarding employees and their families, employer offer several discounts for employees and families, and flexible working hours are favourable.