Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Mining Industry

Corporate Social Responsibility is company’s interest and actions towards its environment and the society that the company takes from its free will, to give back to the community and environment. Corporate Social Responsibility is current topic as companies are challenged to take responsibility for their action, due to the constant tightening environmental legislations and raising pressure for transparency from the public. The objective of this Master’s Thesis research is to study if Corporate Social Responsibility affects suppliers’ brand image and mining companies’ buying decisions within global mining industry. The research method is qualitative and the research is conducted with secondary and primary research methods. The research aims to find out what are the implications of the research for the case company Larox. The objective is to answer to the question; how should case company Larox start to develop Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program of its own, and how the case company could benefit from CSR as a competitive advantage and what actions could be taken in the company marketing. Conclusions are drawn based on both the secondary and primary research results. Both of the researches imply that CSR is well present in the global mining industry, and that suppliers’ CSR policy has positive effect on company image, which positively affects company’s brand, and furthermore brand has a positive effect on mining companies buying decision. It can be concluded that indirectly CSR has an effect on buying decisions, and case company should consider developing a CSR program of its own.

Defining the location factors of new manufacturing site in chemical industry

The objective of this thesis is to examine the factors that have an impact on the location decision of new manufacturing site and to create the relative order of importance of these factors by analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The decision making process especially related to the location selection and the measurement of the location factors are also examined. In theoretical part the character of decision making process and the relevant methods are introduced. Based on the previous studies of other researchers, the location factors are examined and the main research method, analytic hierarchy process, is also introduced. The empirical part of the study mainly follows the phases of decision making process and is emphasized on the main stages of analytic hierarchy process; building the hierarchy, defining the priorities and analyzing the results. The hierarchy is constructed from seven main criteria which all have several sub criteria. The evaluation of the hierarchy is implemented at the group decision making –laboratory and there can be seen significant differences between the importance of criteria. The final stage in the study is to create the appropriate measurement scales to the chosen criteria.

Harmonized performance measurement system for basic industry's service centers

The objective of this study is to create measurement system that is capable to measure performance in basic industry’s service centers. First it is examined what is performance and how it can be measured. The study also introduces commonly known measurement frameworks. After theory the study investigates how companies in the field of basic industry measure their operations in practise. The investigation is done examining three case examples and by analyzing survey results from basic industry companies. On the survey results focus is on what meters and measurement systems companies use. It is also viewed what measurement problems companies have faced. In the applied part of the study harmonized performance measurement system is created. The framework of the measurement system is introduced and measurement system for the target company is created. The target company felt that the harmonized performance measurement system has good potential and continues to develop it further.

The oxygenation in biological wastewater treatment of pulp and paper industry

The UPM-Kymmene Oyj Pietarsaari pulp and paper Mill biological wastewater treatment plant was built in the 1980's and the plant has been in use ever since. During the past years there have been problems with deviations. The wastewater treatment plant needs update, especially the aeration basin, where the old surface aerators cannot produce enough mixing and indroduce oxygen enough to the wastewater. In this thesis how extra aeration with oxygen affects the wastewater treatment plant effluent was studied. In the literature part the main focus is in aeration devices, which can be used in biological wastewater treatment. The target is to compare different kind of aerators, which are suitable for pulp and paper wastewater treatment. Studies show, that EDI-aerators are commonly used and also most suitable. In the experimental part, the focus is on the Pietarsaari Mills wastewater treatment plant and oxygen aeration during autumn 2008. This thesis presents the results of the trial run. Studies show, that extra oxygen devices can produce lot a of mixing and the oxygenation capacity was more than what the micro-organisms needed. The effect on sludge quality could not been seen during the trial runs.

Design of Installation for Transport Measurements

In the present work the aim was to prepare an automatic installation for studies of galvanomagnetic effects in solids and to test it by calibration measurements. As a result required automatic installation was created in this work and test measurements were performed. Created setup automatically provides measurements of the magnetoresistance of the Hall effect with an accuracy of ± 2 µV in the temperature range 2 – 300 K and steady magnetic fields up to 6 T. The test measurements of the glassy carbon samples showed that the setup is reliable, has high sensitivity and is easy to use. The results obtained in the research process are pioneer and will be separately analyzed.

A generalized 1D particle transport method for convection diffusion reaction model

This work is devoted to the development of numerical method to deal with convection diffusion dominated problem with reaction term, non - stiff chemical reaction and stiff chemical reaction. The technique is based on the unifying Eulerian - Lagrangian schemes (particle transport method) under the framework of operator splitting method. In the computational domain, the particle set is assigned to solve the convection reaction subproblem along the characteristic curves created by convective velocity. At each time step, convection, diffusion and reaction terms are solved separately by assuming that, each phenomenon occurs separately in a sequential fashion. Moreover, adaptivities and projection techniques are used to add particles in the regions of high gradients (steep fronts) and discontinuities and transfer a solution from particle set onto grid point respectively. The numerical results show that, the particle transport method has improved the solutions of CDR problems. Nevertheless, the method is time consumer when compared with other classical technique e.g., method of lines. Apart from this advantage, the particle transport method can be used to simulate problems that involve movingsteep/smooth fronts such as separation of two or more elements in the system.

Biokaasulaitoksen energiatalouden tarkastelu

Biokaasulaitosala ja tuotosten hyötykäyttömarkkinat kasvavat ja kehittyvät tiukentuneiden ilmastotavoitteiden, liikenteen biopolttoaineiden lisäämisvelvoitteiden sekä jätehuoltoratkaisujen uusiutumisen myötä. Tässä työssä tarkasteltiin biokaasulaitoksen toimintaa, energiataloudellisuutta sekä biokaasulaitoksen talouteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä, kuten porttimaksuja ja toiminnan mahdollistavaa logistiikkaa. Lisäksi työssä on laskettu biokaasun hyötykäytöstä aiheutuvat päästövähenemät, kun biokaasulla korvataan fossiilisia polttoaineita sähkön- ja lämmöntuotannossa tai perinteisiä liikennepolttoaineita. Työn keskeisemmät tulokset osoittivat, että biokaasulaitoksen energiatase on positiivinen, biokaasulaitosprosessin kuluttaessa noin 40 %:a biokaasulaitoksen kokonaisenergiantuotosta, kun kuljetuksia ei huomioida. Kuljetuksien kuluttama energiaosuus vastaa noin 20 %:a biokaasulaitoksen tuottamasta energiasta. Biokaasun hyötykäytöstä aiheutuvat vuosittaiset päästövähenemät vaihtelivat tarkastelluissa tapauksissa 6 600-7 800 tCO2-ekv välillä hyötykäyttömuodosta riippuen. Työn tulokset auttavat Biovakka Suomi Oy:tä tulevissa päätöksentekovaiheissa sekä investointikysymyksissä.

An Overview Of British Automotive Industry: Implications From History and Recommendations for Future

This thesis is a literary research, which aims to uncover reasons for the downfall of automotive industry in the United Kingdom in the late 20th century. First, there is a short review on the history of the industry in the UK and then there are more present cases presented in the form of BMW-Rover and Tata-Jaguar Land Rover. Finally, the thesis suggests some ideas to which the UK should work towards in order to ensure future competitiveness. The automotive industry in the United Kingdom is one of the oldest in the world, but as the end of last millennium was approaching it was not doing too well. Industry that was still flourishing in the mid-century was soon heading down river and by the end of the century all large English car manufacturers had either closed down or were forced under foreign ownership. The thesis suggests possible targets for future prospects from the literary review and from the conclusions made. These are to ensure the continuity of the industry and the competitiveness on an international level. The suggestions are for long term and are mainly focused around research and development of renewable energy forms.

Utilization of Incident Reporting in The Finnish Maritime Industry

Marine traffic is expected to increase rapidly in the future, both in the Baltic Sea and in the Gulf of Finland. As the number of vessels in the area increases, so does the risk of serious marine accidents. To help prevent such accidents in the future, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has put forth the International Safety Management Code (the ISM Code), which aims to improve the safety of the vessels. The second work package of the Development of maritime safety culture (METKU) project investigates the effects of the ISM Code and potential areas of improvement in maritime safety. The first phase in the work package used a literature review to determine how maritime safety culture could be improved. Continuous improvement, management commitment and personnel empowerment and motivation were found to be essential. In the second phase, shipping companies and administrators were interviewed. It was discovered that especially incident reporting based on continuous improvement was felt to be lacking. This third phase aims to take a closer look at incident reporting and suggest improvements based on the findings. Both the IMO and national legislation encourage shipping companies in incident reporting, and on the national level a shared incident reporting system (ForeSea) is being pushed forward. The objective of this research project was to find out the IMO’s attitude towards incident reporting, to establish a theoretical framework of reference in incident reporting, and to observe how reporting is actually being employed on the seas. Existing incident reporting systems were also researched. The study was carried out using a literature review and the results previously gathered in interviews. The results of phase two were elaborated further for themes relating to incident reporting. According to the findings of this research, the theoretical background of incident reporting dates back to the early 20th century. Although some theories are widely accepted, some have also received criticism. The lack of a concise, shared terminology poses major difficulties in maritime incident reporting and in determining its efficiency. A central finding is the fact that existing incident reporting focuses mostly on information flow away from the ship, whereas the backward information flow is much less planned and monitored. In incident reporting, both nationally and internationally, stakeholders are plenty. The information produced by these parties is scattered, however, and thus not very usable. Based on this research, the centralizing of this information should be made a priority. Traditionally, the success of incident reporting has been determined statistically, from the number of reported incidents. Yet existing reporting systems have not been designed with such statistical analysis in mind, so different methodologies might yield a more comprehensive view. The previous findings of seafarers and management (including shipping companies and administration) having differing views on safety work and safety management were backed up by the results of this study. Seafarers find seamanship and storytelling important, while management wants a more systematic and broad approach on safety matters. The research project was carried out by the Centre for Maritime Studies of the University of Turku, in the Kotka unit (Maritime Logistics Research), with coordination by the Kotka Maritime Research Centre. The major financiers of the project were the European Union and the city of Kotka. The financing authority was the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme. Partners in the project were the shipping companies Finnlines Oyj, Kristina Cruises Oy, Meriaura Oy and VG-Shipping Oy, and the ports of Helsinki, Kotka and Hamina. The partners provided both funding for the project and information for the research.

Mobiiliavusteisen rakennusprojektin seurantajärjestelmän suunnittelu ja toteutus

In the construction industry, the role of project management and monitoring is emphasized, because the responsibilities have been carefully planned and divided. A concrete element factory manufactures the units based on construction drawings, while a transport company is responsible of transporting the elements to the worksite. At the worksite, an installation team assembles the elements according to plans. Usually, there are several manufacturers and transport companies involved in the construction process and the distances between different parties can be rather long. Therefore, the role of information exchange is critical in order to control, for example, schedules and exceptions. From the viewpoint of project management, the whole process should be controlled and monitored in realtime - in such a way that the managers are able to analyze and report the data afterwards. In this master’s thesis, a mobile-aided construction project monitoring system is designed and implemented. The monitoring system consists of three main components: mobile phone application, server software and an interface application to Tekla Structures BIM-software. Precast construction components, projects and users are identified by using 2D-barcodes that are read with the camera of a mobile phone. An option would be to use RFID tags and readers. After successful identification, the precast component can be tagged with monitoring data, including state acknowledgments and error reports that are sent and saved to the server. Collected data can be viewed through the www-pages of the monitoring system. In addition, the data can be synchronized to the Tekla Structures-software that is running the 3D-model of the whole building. Synchronization maintains and enhances the traceability of monitoring data, as well as, helps to visualize the progression of the project.

Cultural aspects of globalizing university-industry knowledge interaction in China

Previous studies of the local involvement of multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries focus on host-country firms and local business partners such as suppliers and customers. The role of host-country universities in the same context of innovation networks is neglected. Furthermore, there are many organizational culture- and knowledge-related differences between universities and companies, and this is likely to pose additional challenges for successful collaboration. Early university-industry (U-I) studies have primarily been limited within a national boundary, being concerned with a single level of culture (i.e., at an organizational level) and one-way knowledge transfer from university to industry. Research on more dynamic knowledge interaction in multinational settings is lacking. This is particularly true in the business context of China. In today’s globalizing and rapidly changing organizations, addressing cultural differences and clashes is an everyday reality, and inter-cultural U-I collaboration is becoming a key asset for gaining global competitiveness. This study deals with Finnish MNC subsidiaries’ research collaboration with Chinese universities. It aims to explore the essence of such U-I collaboration and knowledge interaction, uncovering the deep functioning mechanisms of culture underlying effective collaborative knowledge creation and innovation. The study reviews critically different bodies of literature including knowledge management theories and studies, U-I collaboration and knowledge interaction, and cross-cultural research in terms of organizational knowledge generation and utilization. It adopts a case study strategy with qualitative research methods, and data is collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation. The study presents the following major findings: 1. In the light of a comprehensive analysis of U-I collaboration, an effective matching strategy is proposed, in the assumption that good alignment of knowledge interaction strategies and approaches with their corresponding knowledge type, capability development and research task may greatly enhance the effectiveness of cross-cultural U-I collaboration and knowledge interaction. 2. It is proposed that in the Chinese MNC context more dynamic types of knowledge interaction like knowledge co-creation should be of key concern particularly when dealing simultaneously with multi-disciplinary applied research of human factors and technologies. U-I knowledge interaction, otherwise, pays attention only to the study of one-way technology and knowledge transfer. 3. It is posited that the influence of culture on collaborative knowledge interaction can be studied in a valuable way when knowledge-related variables are simultaneously taken into account. A systematic analysis of the role of knowledge in cross-cultural knowledge interaction could best be approached from multi-aspects of knowledge including not only nature, characteristics and types of knowledge but also the process of knowledge (e.g., intensifications of knowledge interaction). 4. The study demonstrates the significant role of aspects of the host-country culture (e.g., Chinese guanxi) in U-I collaboration and knowledge interaction. This is evident, for instance, in issues related to interpersonal relationships and trust, true interest and the relatedness of the research, mutual commitment and learning, communication intensity and interaction, and awareness of cultural and knowledge-related differences between collaboration partners. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are suggested and discussed.

Magnetic and transport properties of LaMnO3+δ, La1-xCaxMnO3, La1-xCaxMn1-yFeyO3 and La1-xSrxMn1-yFeyO3

Interest to hole-doped mixed-valence manganite perovskites is connected to the ‘colossal’ magnetoresistance. This effect or huge drop of the resistivity, ρ, in external magnetic field, B, attains usually the maximum value near the ferromagnetic Curie temperature, TC. In this thesis are investigated conductivity mechanisms and magnetic properties of the manganite perovskite compounds LaMnO3+, La1-xCaxMnO3, La1-xCaxMn1-yFeyO3 and La1- xSrxMn1-yFeyO3. When the present work was started the key role of the phase separation and its influence on the properties of the colossal magnetoresistive materials were not clear. Our main results are based on temperature dependencies of the magnetoresistance and magnetothermopower, investigated in the temperature interval of 4.2 - 300 K in magnetic fields up to 10 T. The magnetization was studied in the same temperature range in weak (up to 0.1 T) magnetic fields. LaMnO3+δ is the parent compound for preparation of the hole-doped CMR materials. The dependences of such parameters as the Curie temperature, TC, the Coulomb gap, Δ, the rigid gap, γ, and the localization radius, a, on pressure, p, are observed in LaMnO3+δ. It has been established that the dependences above can be interpreted by increase of the electron bandwidth and decrease of the polaron potential well when p is increased. Generally, pressure stimulates delocalization of the electrons in LaMnO3+δ. Doping of LaMnO3 with Ca, leading to La1-xCaxMnO3, changes the Mn3+/Mn4+ ratio significantly and brings an additional disorder to the crystal lattice. Phase separation in a form of mixture of the ferromagnetic and the spin glass phases was observed and investigated in La1- xCaxMnO3 at x between 0 and 0.4. Influence of the replacement of Mn by Fe is studied in La0.7Ca0.3Mn1−yFeyO3 and La0.7Sr0.3Mn1−yFeyO3. Asymmetry of the soft Coulomb gap and of the rigid gap in the density of localized states, small shift of the centre of the gaps with respect to the Fermi level and cubic asymmetry of the density of states are obtained in La0.7Ca0.3Mn1−yFeyO3. Damping of TC with y is connected to breaking of the double-exchange interaction by doping with Fe, whereas the irreversibility and the critical behavior of the magnetic susceptibility are determined by the phase separation and the frustrated magnetic state of La0.7Sr0.3Mn1−yFeyO3.

Carbon footprint as part of a company’s external environmental communication

The aim of this thesis was to find out how the carbon footprint calculations can be utilized in the company’s external environmental communication, what is the demand for carbon footprint from the market, and how the other actors in the forest industry have approached the issue. The aim was to recognize the best practises to communicate carbon footprints and to find possibilities to extend the UPM-Kymmene Wood Oy’s mill specific carbon footprints. This research included a literature review, an inquiry to the UPM-Kymmene Wood Oy’s sales offices, and Internet survey concerning the external environmental communication in the forest industry and three small case studies based on mill specific parameters. The inquiry to the sales offices showed that the carbon footprint is not yet a common demand from the customers in the wood product sector. In addition, the Internet survey showed that generally in the forest industry, not much has been done concerning carbon footprint communication so far. The biggest challenge in carbon footprint communication is the variation in the knowledge level of the receivers. In addition btob and btoc communication situations demand a different approach to the issue. Carbon profile brochures developed in the company can be seen as suitable for btob communication situations. Case studies have shown that the contribution of final product transport to the overall carbon footprint was significant. It was recommended to include post mill transport in the carbon footprint information supplied to the btob customers. When discussing environmental communication on a general level it can be stated that a good external environmental communication is based on facts, is open and proactive and takes into account the needs of the receiver. However, the openness and the quality of external environmental communication are essentially strategic decisions. The significance of internal communication as well as the knowhow in the communication and marketing networks play a major role in achieving success in external environmental communication. Carbon footprints are only one part of good balanced external environmental communication. One specific environmental feature like carbon footprint should not be over emphasized to the detriment of other important environmental aspects.

Working capital management in the value chain of automotive industry

The objective of this Master’s thesis is to examine working capital management in the automotive industry in years 2006-2008. The study is conducted by the analysis of financial statements. The sample consists of 65 companies that represent different stages in the value chain of automotive industry beginning from raw material suppliers and ending to car dealers. Working capital management is studied by the cash conversion cycle (CCC). The results show that the average CCC of the value chain is 67 days. Car manufacturers had the longest CCC, 106 days, whereas the CCC of oil companies was the shortest, 22 days. The findings suggest that the cycle time of working capital usually follows the cycle time of inventories, since the changes in cycle times of accounts receivable and payable compensate each other. Improvements in working capital management could be achieved by sharing more accurate information in the chain for example about inventory levels and order points of customer. It could also be discussed within the automotive industry, if the long credit periods, which tie up working capital, are really needed. New technologies enable faster payments, which would reduce the cash conversion cycles, improve the profitability of companies, and increase the competitiveness of the value chain. Working capital should not be reduced at the expense of value chain partners, because nowadays the competition is rather between the value chains than between the companies. Similar research design is applied earlier to study working capital management in the value chain of pulp and paper industry. Even if the industries and the structures of the chains differ from each other, results were surprisingly similar. In future research, working capital management in other industries’ value chains could still be studied and compared to previous studies. ICT industry, for example, could be an interesting object.

Finnish Critical Industries, Maritime Transport Vulnerabilities and societal Implications

Maritime transports are very essential for Finland as over 80% of the foreign trade in the country is seaborne and possibilities to carry out these transports by are limited. Any disruption in maritime transports has negative consequences to many sectors in the Finnish economy. Maritime transport thus represents critical infrastructure for Finland. This report focuses on the importance of maritime transports on security of supply in Finland and for the so called critical industries in particular. The report summarizes the results of the Work Package 2 of the research project STOCA – “Study of cargo flows in the Gulf of Finland in emergency situations”. The aim of the research was to analyze the cargo flows and infrastructure that are vital for maintaining security of supply in Finland, as well as the consequences of disruptions in the maritime traffic for the Finnish critical industries and for the Finnish society. In the report we give a presentation of the infrastructure and transport routes which are critical for maintaining security of supply in Finland. We discuss import dependency of the critical industries, and the importance of the Gulf of Finland ports for Finland. We assess vulnerabilities associated with the critical material flows of the critical industries, and possibilities for alternative routings in case either one or several of the ports in Finland would be closed. As a concrete example of a transport disruption we analyze the consequences of the Finnish stevedore strike at public ports (4.3.–19.3.2010). The strike stopped approximately 80% of the Finnish foreign trade. As a result of the strike Finnish companies could not export their products and/or import raw materials, components and spare parts, or other essential supplies. We carried out personal interviews with representatives of the companies in Finnish critical industries to find out about the problems caused by the strike, how companies carried out they transports and how they managed to continue their operations during the strike. Discussions with the representatives of the companies gave us very practical insights about companies’ preparedness towards transport disruptions in general. Companies in the modern world are very vulnerable to transport disruptions because companies regardless of industries have tried to improve their performance by optimizing their resources and e.g. by reducing their inventory levels. At the same time they have become more and more dependent on continuous transports. Most companies involved in foreign trade have global operations and global supply chains, so any disruption anywhere in the world can have an impact on the operations of the company causing considerable financial loss. The volcanic eruption in Iceland in April 2010 stopping air traffic in the whole Northern Europe and most recently the earth quake causing a tsunami in Japan in March 2011 are examples of severe disruptions causing considerable negative impacts to companies’ supply chains. Even though the Finnish stevedore strike was a minor disruption compared to the natural catastrophes mentioned above, it showed the companies’ vulnerability to transport disruptions very concretely. The Finnish stevedore strike gave a concrete learning experience of the importance of preventive planning for all Finnish companies: it made them re-think their practical preparedness towards transport risks and how they can continue with their daily operations despite the problems. Many companies realized they need to adapt their long-term countermeasures against transport disruptions. During the strike companies did various actions to secure their supply chains. The companies raised their inventory levels before the strike began, they re-scheduled or postponed their deliveries, shifted customer orders between production plants among their company’s production network or in the extreme case bought finished products from their competitor to fulfil their customers’ order. Our results also show that possibilities to prepare against transport disruptions differ between industries. The Finnish society as a whole is very dependent on imports of energy, various raw materials and other supplies needed by the different industries. For many of the Finnish companies in the export industries and e.g. in energy production maritime transport is the only transport mode the companies can use due to large volumes of materials transported or due to other characteristics of the goods. Therefore maritime transport cannot be replaced by any other transport mode. In addition, a significant amount of transports are concentrated in certain ports. From a security of supply perspective attention should be paid to finding ways to decrease import dependency and ensuring that companies in the critical industries can ensure the continuity of their operations.