Configuring Health Care Services - Service Control Improvement

The costs of health care are increasing, and at the same time, population is aging. This leads health care organizations to focus more on home based care services. This thesis focuses on the home care organization of the South Karelian District of Social and Health Services (Eksote), which was established in 2010; how its operation is organized and managed, and which problem types are faced in the daily operation of home care. This thesis examines home care services through an extensive interview study, process mapping and statistical data analysis. To be able to understand the nature of services and special environment theory models, such as service management and performance measurement, service processes and service design are introduced. This study is conducted from an external researcher‟s point of view and should be used as a discussion opener. The outcome of this thesis is an upper level development path for Eksote home care. The organization should evaluate and build a service offering, then productize home care services and modularize the products and identify similarities. Service processes should be mapped to generate efficiency for repeating tasks. Units should be reasonably sized and geographically located to facilitate management and operation. All this can be done by recognizing the different types of service products: runners repeaters and strangers. Furthermore, the organization should not hide behind medical issues and should understand the legislative, medical and operational frameworks in health care.

Developing the measurement and management of knowledge: applying the constructive research approach in a knowledge intensive service environment

Intellectual assets have attained continuous attention in the academic field, as they are vital sources of competitive advantage and organizational performance in the contemporary knowledge intensive business environment. Intellectual capital measurement is quite thoroughly addressed in the accounting literature. However, the purpose of the measurement is to support the management of intellectual assets, but the reciprocal relationship between measurement and management has not been comprehensively considered in the literature. The theoretical motivation for this study rose from this paradox, as in order to maximise the effectiveness of knowledge management the two initiatives need to be closely integrated. The research approach of this interventionist case study is constructive. The objective is to develop the case organization’s knowledge management and intellectual capital measurement in a way that they would be closely integrated and the measurement would support the management of intellectual assets. The case analysis provides valuable practical considerations about the integration and related issues as the case company is a knowledge intensive organization in which the know-how of the employees is the central competitive asset and therefore, the management and measurement of knowledge are essential for its future success. The results suggest that the case organization is confronting challenges in managing knowledge. In order to appropriately manage knowledge processes and control the related risks, support from intellectual capital measurement is required. However, challenges in measuring intellectual capital, especially knowledge, could be recognized in the organization. By reflecting the knowledge management situation and the constructed strategy map, a new intellectual measurement system was developed for the case organization. The construction of the system as well as its indicators can be perceived to contribute to the literature, emphasizing of the importance of properly considering the organization’s knowledge situation in developing an intellectual capital measurement system.

Configuration management process improvement : a case study of a Pan-Nordic insurance company

Configuration management is often seen as an enabler for the main IT Service Management (ITSM) processes such as Incident and Problem management. A decent level of quality of IT configuration data is required in order to carry out routines of these processes. This case study examines the state of configuration management in a multinational organization and aims at identification of methods for its improvement. The author has stayed five months with this company in order to collect different sources of evidence and to make observations. The main source of data for this study is interviews with some of the key employees of the assigned organization who are involved into the ITSM processes. This study concludes the maturity level of the existing configuration management process to be repeatable but intuitive, and outlines the principal requirements for its improvement. A match between the requirements identified in the organization and the requirements stated in the ISO/IEC 20000 standard indicates the possibility of adopting ITIL guidelines as a method for configuration management process improvement. The outcome of the study presents a set of recommendations for improvement that considers the process, the information model and the information system for configuration management in the case organization.

A Framework for IT Service Management Integration

The objective of this Master’s Thesis is to find out best practices for IT service management integration. Integration in this context means process integration between an IT organization and an integration partner. For observing the objective, two different perspectives are assigned: process and technology. The thesis consists of theory, framework, implementation, and analysis parts. The first part introduces common methodology of IT service management and enterprise integration. The second part presents an integration framework for ITSM integration. The third part illustrates how the framework is used and the last part analyses the framework. The major results of this thesis were the framework architecture, the framework tools, the implementation model, the testing model, and the deployment model for ITSM integration. As a fundamental best practice, the framework contained a four-division structure between architecture, process, data, and technology. This architecture provides a baseline for ITSM integration design, implementation and testing.

Developing the Product Return Process of a Service Center With Lean Methods

Today lean-philosophy has gathered a lot of popularity and interest in many industries. This customer-oriented philosophy helps to understand customer’s value creation which can be used to improve efficiency. A comprehensive study of lean and lean-methods in service industry were created in this research. In theoretical part lean-philosophy is studied in different levels which will help to understand its diversity. To support lean, this research also presents basic concepts of process management. Lastly theoretical part presents a development model to support process development in systematical way. The empirical part of the study was performed by performing experimental measurements during the service center’s product return process and by analyzing this data. Measurements were used to map out factors that have a negative influence on the process flow. Several development propositions were discussed to remove these factors. Problems mainly occur due to challenges in controlling customers and due to the lack of responsibility and continuous improvement on operational level. Development propositions concern such factors as change in service center’s physical environment, standardization of work tasks and training. These factors will remove waste in the product return process and support the idea of continuous improvement.

The Purdue University Research Repository (PURR): An institutional data management service with a virtual research environment, data publication, and archiving

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

Value added KPI service delivery with quality function deployment: Multiple case study in asset & real estate management

The aim of this study is to investigate value added service concept for an asset and real estate management case company. The initial purpose was to recognize the most value adding key performance indicators (KPIs) information delivered for its customers, real estate investors with value added service. The multiple case study strategy included two focus group interviews with five case interviews in total. Additionally, quality function deployment (QFD) was used in order to form up the service process. The study starts with introduction and methodology explaining the demand for the thesis study. The subsequent chapter presents the theoretical background on real estate management KPIs in four main points of views and quality function deployment from the service development point of view. The chapter also defines research gap for the case study. According to the case study interviews, the most favored KPIs to deliver for the clients are income maturity of lease agreements and leasing activity. These KPIs and quality characteristics are translated into the QFD. In total, the service QFD explains the service planning, process control, and action plan phases.

Logistics service provider's strategy renewal

Tässä diplomityössä tutkitaan strategian määrittämistä. Tutkimus keskittyy logistiikkapalvelualan yrityksen strategian uudistamiseen ja strategiatyön kehittämiseen. Tutkimus pyrkii selvittämään miten yritys pystyy parhaiten saavuttamaan strategiset tavoitteensa. Lisäksi pyritään selvittämään miten yritys pystyy luomaan ja ylläpitämään kilpailuetua. Tutkimus toteutetaan tutkimalla ensin strategiaa, strategiaprosessia ja logistiikkapalvelualan liiketoimintaa kirjallisuudessa. Empiirinen osuus toteutetaan pääosin yrityksen johtoryhmän jäsenten kanssa strategiatyöpajoissa. Yrityksen hallitus asettaa strategiset tavoitteet ja myös hyväksyy projektin eri vaiheiden tulokset. Strategisissa analyyseissä otetaan huomioon sekä ulkoinen että sisäinen näkökulma, jotta saadaan kattava kuva yrityksen liiketoimintaympäristöstä sekä yrityksen vahvuuksista ja heikkouksista. Analyysejä hyödynnetään strategisten vaihtoehtojen muodostamisessa sekä yritys- että liiketoimintatasolla. Strategiset valinnat tehdään sen perustella, miten eri strategiset vaihtoehdot tukevat asetettuja strategisia tavoitteita. Tutkimuksen tuloksena määritellään yrityksen strategia, joka myös dokumentoidaan. Lisäksi luodaan strategisen suunnittelun ja johtamisen prosessi, joka mahdollistaa reagoinnin liiketoimintaympäristössä tapahtuviin nopeisiin muutoksiin.

Green supply chain management practices and firm performance: evidence from Finland

In order to address the increasing stakeholder requirements for environmentally sustainable products and processes, firms often need the participation of their supply chain partners. Green supply chain management has emerged as a set of managerial practices that integrate environmental issues into supply chain management. If implemented successfully, green supply chain management can be a way to achieve competitive advantage while enhancing the environmental sustainability of the firm. The overall purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the discussion on green supply chain management practices from the perspective of their drivers and performance implications. The theoretical background arises from the literature on competitive strategy, firm performance and green supply chain management. The research questions are addressed by analysing firm-level data from manufacturing, trading and logistics firms operating in Finland. The empirical data comes from two consecutive Finland State of Logistics surveys in 2012 and 2014, combined with financial reporting data from external databases. The data is analysed with multiple statistical methods. First, the thesis contributes to the discussion of the drivers of GSCM practices. To enhance the understanding of the relationship between competitive strategy and GSCM practices, a conceptual tool to describe generic competitive strategy approaches was developed. The findings suggest that firms pursuing marketing differentiation are more likely to be able to compete by having only small environmental effects and by adopting a more advanced form of external green supply chain management, such as a combination of strong environmental collaboration and the increased environmental monitoring of suppliers. Furthermore, customer requirements for environmental sustainability are found to be an important driver in the implementation of internal GSCM practices. Firms can respond to this customer pressure by passing environmental requirements on to their suppliers, either through environmental collaboration or environmental monitoring. Second, this thesis adds value to the existing literature on the effects of green supply chain management practices on firm performance. The thesis provides support for the idea that there is a positive relationship between GSCM practices and firm performance and enhances the understanding of how different types of GSCM practices are related to 1) financial, 2) operational and 3) environmental performance in manufacturing and logistics. The empirical results suggest that while internal GSCM practices have the strongest effect on environmentalperformance, environmental collaboration with customers seems to be the most effective way to improve financial performance. In terms of operational performance, the findings were more mixed, suggesting that the operational performance of firms is more likely to be affected by firm characteristics than by the choices they make regarding their environmental collaboration. This thesis is also one of the first attempts to empirically analyse the relationship between GSCM practices and performance among logistics service providers. The findings also have managerial relevance. Management, especially in manufacturing and logistics industries, may benefit by gaining knowledge about which types of GSCM practice could provide the largest benefits in terms of different performance dimensions. This thesis also has implications for policy-makers and regulators regarding how to promote environmentally friendly activities among 1) manufacturing; 2) trading; and 3) logistics firms.

Building Environmental Management System for Laboratory Products Manufacturing Company according ISO 14001-standard

Tutkielman tavoitteena on rakentaa toimiva ympäristöjärjestelmä Thermo Fisher Scientific Oy:lle. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on myös löytää kahdelle täysin erilaiselle toiminnalle yhtenäinen ympäristöjärjestelmä, jonka avulla pystytään ottamaan huomioon molempien toimipaikkojen hieman erilaiset vaatimukset. Lisäksi tavoitteena on muodostaa ympäristöjärjestelmälle oma organisaatio, jonka avulla ympäristöjärjestelmän integrointi yrityksen prosesseihin voidaan suorittaa sujuvasti. Aluksi tutkimusongelmaa lähestytään teoreettisesta näkökulmasta,jossa tarkastellaan ympäristöjärjestelmän historiaa, rakennetta, etuja sekä ISO 14001–standardin rakennetta ja sen etenemistä ympäristöjärjestelmän rakentamisen yhteydessä aina kolmannen osapuolen sertifiointiin asti. Empiria osa alkaa alustavalla ympäristökatselmuksella, jossa selvitetään ympäristöasioiden hoidon nykytaso ja luodaan pohja koko ympäristöjärjestelmän luomiselle, jonka vankimpana perustana on ympäristöpolitiikka. Johdon hyväksymä ympäristöpolitiikka varmistaa johdon sitoutumisen järjestelmään. Ympäristöjärjestelmän toimintarakenteen muodostaminen kahdelle erilaiselle toiminnalle onnistui tutkimuksessa kiitettävästi. Se miten ympäristöjärjestelmä toimii todellisuudessa, tullaan näkemään käytännön kokemuksien yhteydessä.

Release Process Effectiveness - Case of Operating Room Management Software

Työn päätavoitteena oli tuoda esiin tärkeimmät julkistamisprosessin tehokkuuteen vaikuttavat tekijät. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin aihetta julkistamisprojektien vetäjän näkökulmasta. Kirjallinen selvitys kattaa keskeisimmät ohjelmistoprosessin, palvelun laadun sekä projektihallinnan teoriat. Kokeellisena aineistona käytettiin asiakkailta ja myynnin sekä käyttöönoton organisaatioilta tullutta palautetta ja asiantuntijahaastatteluita. Case-tuotteena tarkasteltiin suuren kansainvälisen yrityksen jälleenmyymää leikkaussalihallinnan ohjelmistoa. Tärkeimpiä julkistamisprosessin tehokkuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä ovat tiekartan ja julkistamispakettien sisällön hallinta, projektin aikataulujen pitäminen, rehellinen ja nopea kommunikaatio myyntikanavaan ja asiakkaille, sekä hyvin toteutettu testaus. Työssä käydään läpi esimerkkistrategioita kehittymiseen näillä alueilla.