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.

Repair of segmental bone defects with fiber-reinforced composite: a study of material development and an animal model on rabbits

The Repair of segmental defects in load-bearing long bones is a challenging task because of the diversity of the load affecting the area; axial, bending, shearing and torsional forces all come together to test the stability/integrity of the bone. The natural biomechanical requirements for bone restorative materials include strength to withstand heavy loads, and adaptivity to conform into a biological environment without disturbing or damaging it. Fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) materials have shown promise, as metals and ceramics have been too rigid, and polymers alone are lacking in strength which is needed for restoration. The versatility of the fiber-reinforced composites also allows tailoring of the composite to meet the multitude of bone properties in the skeleton. The attachment and incorporation of a bone substitute to bone has been advanced by different surface modification methods. Most often this is achieved by the creation of surface texture, which allows bone growth, onto the substitute, creating a mechanical interlocking. Another method is to alter the chemical properties of the surface to create bonding with the bone – for example with a hydroxyapatite (HA) or a bioactive glass (BG) coating. A novel fiber-reinforced composite implant material with a porous surface was developed for bone substitution purposes in load-bearing applications. The material’s biomechanical properties were tailored with unidirectional fiber reinforcement to match the strength of cortical bone. To advance bone growth onto the material, an optimal surface porosity was created by a dissolution process, and an addition of bioactive glass to the material was explored. The effects of dissolution and orientation of the fiber reinforcement were also evaluated for bone-bonding purposes. The Biological response to the implant material was evaluated in a cell culture study to assure the safety of the materials combined. To test the material’s properties in a clinical setting, an animal model was used. A critical-size bone defect in a rabbit’s tibia was used to test the material in a load-bearing application, with short- and long-term follow-up, and a histological evaluation of the incorporation to the host bone. The biomechanical results of the study showed that the material is durable and the tailoring of the properties can be reproduced reliably. The Biological response - ex vivo - to the created surface structure favours the attachment and growth of bone cells, with the additional benefit of bioactive glass appearing on the surface. No toxic reactions to possible agents leaching from the material could be detected in the cell culture study when compared to a nontoxic control material. The mechanical interlocking was enhanced - as expected - with the porosity, whereas the reinforcing fibers protruding from the surface of the implant gave additional strength when tested in a bone-bonding model. Animal experiments verified that the material is capable of withstanding load-bearing conditions in prolonged use without breaking of the material or creating stress shielding effects to the host bone. A Histological examination verified the enhanced incorporation to host bone with an abundance of bone growth onto and over the material. This was achieved with minimal tissue reactions to a foreign body. An FRC implant with surface porosity displays potential in the field of reconstructive surgery, especially regarding large bone defects with high demands on strength and shape retention in load-bearing areas or flat bones such as facial / cranial bones. The benefits of modifying the strength of the material and adjusting the surface properties with fiber reinforcement and bone-bonding additives to meet the requirements of different bone qualities are still to be fully discovered.

Reflexive model of research-based theatre – processing innovation at the crossroads of theatre, reflection and practice-based innovation activities

Contemporary organisations have to embrace the notion of doing ‘more with less’. This challenges knowledge production within companies and public organisations, forcing them to reorganise their structures and rethink what knowledge production actually means in the context of innovation and how knowledge is actually produced among various professional groups within the organisation in their everyday actions. Innovations are vital for organisational survival, and ‘ordinary’ employees and customers are central but too-often ignored producers of knowledge for contemporary organisations. Broader levels of participation and reflexive practices are needed. This dissertation discusses the missing links between innovation research conducted in the context of industrial management, arts, and culture; applied drama and theatre practices (specifically post-Boalian approaches); and learning – especially organising reflection – in organisational settings. This dissertation (1) explores and extends the role of research-based theatre to organising reflection and reflexive practices in the context of practice-based innovation, (2) develops a reflexive model of RBT for investigating and developing practice-based organisational process innovations in order to contribute to the development of a tool for innovation management and analysis, and (3) operationalises this model within private- and publicsector organisations. The proposed novel reflexive model of research-based theatre for investigating and developing practice-based organisational process innovations extends existing methods and offers a different way of organising reflection and reflexive practices in the context of general innovation management. The model was developed through five participatory action research processes conducted in four different organisations. The results provide learning steps – a reflection path – for understanding complex organisational life, people, and relations amid renewal and change actions. The proposed model provides a new approach to organising and cultivating reflexivity in practice-based innovation activities via research-based theatre. The results can be utilised as a guideline when processing practice-based innovation within private or public organisations. The model helps innovation managers to construct, together with their employees, temporary communities where they can learn together through reflecting on their own and each others’ experiences and to break down assumptions related to their own perspectives. The results include recommendations for practical development steps applicable in various organisations with regard to (i) application of research-based theatre and (ii) related general innovation management. The dissertation thus contributes to the development of novel learning approaches in knowledge production. Keywords: practice-based innovation, research-based theatre, learning, reflection, mode 2b knowledge production

Integration of existing military capability models into the Comprehensive Capability Meta-model

Abstract—This paper discusses existing military capability models and proposes a comprehensive capability meta-model (CCMM) which unites the existing capability models into an integrated and hierarchical whole. The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture is used as a structure for the CCMM. The CCMM takes into account the abstraction level, the primary area of application, stakeholders, intrinsic process, and life cycle considerations of each existing capability model, and shows how the models relate to each other. The validity of the CCMM was verified through a survey of subject matter experts. The results suggest that the CCMM is of practical value to various capability stakeholders in many ways, such as helping to improve communication between the different capability communities.

The Impact of National Innovation System on Entrepreneurial Venture Creation Process

The important role of entrepreneurship in countries’ economic development and overall society well-being is widely recognized by researchers, experts as well as policy makers. Every phase of the process of starting a new business is related to the interaction with at least one player of country innovation system and therefore the efficiency of this interaction may have an influence on the success of whole entrepreneurial process and consequently on the willingness of potential entrepreneurs to engage into this process. The study proposes a System Dynamics model for studying the impact of National Innovation System (NIS) on the entrepreneurial venture creation process. The developed model also takes country population aspect into account and provides results for estimation the effect various demographic tendencies on the process performance. The special impact is made on possible ways to facilitate the development of entrepreneurial framework conditions. Business incubators are seen as one of the effective tool for accomplishing such task. The study also provides the result for estimation of possible impact arising from properly functioned Business Incubators.

The Role of Universities in the Triple Helix model of innovation management within the biotechnology industry, Case example: Turku Science Park Network

Biotechnology has been recognized as the key strategic technology for industrial growth. The industry is heavily dependent on basic research. Finland continues to rank in the top 10 of Europe's most innovative countries in terms of tax-policy, education system, infrastructure and the number of patents issued. Regardless of the excellent statistical results, the output of this innovativeness is below acceptable. Research on the issues hindering the output creation has already been done and the identifiable weaknesses in the Finland's National Innovation system are the non-existent growth of entrepreneurship and the missing internationalization. Finland is proven to have all the enablers of the innovation policy tools, but is lacking the incentives and rewards to push the enablers, such as knowledge and human capital, forward. Science Parks are the biggest operator in research institutes in the Finnish Science and Technology system. They exist with the purpose of speeding up the commercialization process of biotechnology innovations which usually include technological uncertainty, technical inexperience, business inexperience and high technology cost. Innovation management only internally is a rather historic approach, current trend drives towards open innovation model with strong triple helix linkages. The evident problems in the innovation management within the biotechnology industry are examined through a case study approach including analysis of the semi-structured interviews which included biotechnology and business expertise from Turku School of Economics. The results from the interviews supported the theoretical implications as well as conclusions derived from the pilot survey, which focused on the companies inside Turku Science Park network. One major issue that the Finland's National innovation system is struggling with is the fact that it is technology driven, not business pulled. Another problem is the university evaluation scale which focuses more on number of graduates and short-term factors, when it should put more emphasis on the cooperation success in the long-term, such as the triple helix connections with interaction and knowledge distribution. The results of this thesis indicated that there is indeed requirement for some structural changes in the Finland's National innovation system and innovation policy in order to generate successful biotechnology companies and innovation output. There is lack of joint output and scales of success, lack of people with experience, lack of language skills, lack of business knowledge and lack of growth companies.

Drivers and barriers of mobile travel and tourism service adoption : a study of individual perceptions and business model development in a travel and tourism context

The Travel and Tourism field is undergoing changes due to the rapid development of information technology and digital services. Online travel has profoundly changed the way travel and tourism organizations interact with their customers. Mobile technology such as mobile services for pocket devices (e.g. mobile phones) has the potential to take this development even further. Nevertheless, many issues have been highlighted since the early days of mobile services development (e.g. the lack of relevance, ease of use of many services). However, the wide adoption of smartphones and the mobile Internet in many countries as well as the formation of so-called ecosystems between vendors of mobile technology indicate that many of these issues have been overcome. Also when looking at the numbers of downloaded applications related to travel in application stores like Google Play, it seems obvious that mobile travel and tourism services are adopted and used by many individuals. However, as business is expected to start booming in the mobile era, many issues have a tendency to be overlooked. Travelers are generally on the go and thus services that work effectively in mobile settings (e.g. during a trip) are essential. Hence, the individuals’ perceived drivers and barriers to use mobile travel and tourism services in on-site or during trip settings seem particularly valuable to understand; thus this is one primary aim of the thesis. We are, however, also interested in understanding different types of mobile travel service users. Individuals may indeed be very different in their propensity to adopt and use technology based innovations (services). Research is also switching more from investigating issues of mobile service development to understanding individuals’ usage patterns of mobile services. But designing new mobile services may be a complex matter from a service provider perspective. Hence, our secondary aim is to provide insights into drivers and barriers of mobile travel and tourism service development from a holistic business model perspective. To accomplish the research objectives seven different studies have been conducted over a time period from 2002 – 2013. The studies are founded on and contribute to theories within diffusion of innovations, technology acceptance, value creation, user experience and business model development. Several different research methods are utilized: surveys, field and laboratory experiments and action research. The findings suggest that a successful mobile travel and tourism service is a service which supports one or several mobile motives (needs) of individuals such as spontaneous needs, time-critical arrangements, efficiency ambitions, mobility related needs (location features) and entertainment needs. The service could be customized to support travelers’ style of traveling (e.g. organized travel or independent travel) and should be easy to use, especially easy to take into use (access, install and learn) during a trip, without causing security concerns and/or financial risks for the user. In fact, the findings suggest that the most prominent barrier to the use of mobile travel and tourism services during a trip is an individual’s perceived financial cost (entry costs and usage costs). It should, however, be noted that regulations are put in place in the EU regarding data roaming prices between European countries and national telecom operators are starting to see ‘international data subscriptions’ as a sales advantage (e.g. Finnish Sonera provides a data subscription in the Baltic and Nordic region at the same price as in Finland), which will enhance the adoption of mobile travel and tourism services also in international contexts. In order to speed up the adoption rate travel service providers could consider e.g. more local initiatives of free Wi-Fi networks, development of services that can be used, at least to some extent, in an offline mode (do not require costly network access during a trip) and cooperation with telecom operators (e.g. lower usage costs for travelers who use specific mobile services or travel with specific vendors). Furthermore, based on a developed framework for user experience of mobile trip arrangements, the results show that a well-designed mobile site and/or native application, which preferably supports integration with other mobile services, is a must for true mobile presence. In fact, travel service providers who want to build a relationship with their customers need to consider a downloadable native application, but in order to be found through the mobile channel and make contact with potential new customers, a mobile website should be available. Moreover, we have made a first attempt with cluster analysis to identify user categories of mobile services in a travel and tourism context. The following four categories were identified: info-seekers, checkers, bookers and all-rounders. For example “all-rounders”, represented primarily by individuals who use their pocket device for almost any of the investigated mobile travel services, constituted primarily of 23 to 50 year old males with high travel frequency and great online experience. The results also indicate that travel service providers will increasingly become multi-channel providers. To manage multiple online channels, closely integrated and hybrid online platforms for different devices, supporting all steps in a traveler process should be considered. It could be useful for travel service providers to focus more on developing browser-based mobile services (HTML5-solutions) than native applications that work only with specific operating systems and for specific devices. Based on an action research study and utilizing a holistic business model framework called STOF we found that HTML5 as an emerging platform, at least for now, has some limitations regarding the development of the user experience and monetizing the application. In fact, a native application store (e.g. Google Play) may be a key mediator in the adoption of mobile travel and tourism services both from a traveler and a service provider perspective. Moreover, it must be remembered that many device and mobile operating system developers want service providers to specifically create services for their platforms and see native applications as a strategic advantage to sell more devices of a certain kind. The mobile telecom industry has moved into a battle of ecosystems where device makers, developers of operating systems and service developers are to some extent forced to choose their development platforms.

Licensing Model Development for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) - Focusing on the Finnish Regulatory Framework

Recently, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) have attracted increased public discussion. While large nuclear power plant new build projects are facing challenges, the focus of attention is turning to small modular reactors. One particular project challenge arises in the area of nuclear licensing, which plays a significant role in new build projects affecting their quality as well as costs and schedules. This dissertation - positioned in the field of nuclear engineering but also with a significant section in the field of systems engineering - examines the nuclear licensing processes and their suitability for the characteristics of SMRs. The study investigates the licensing processes in selected countries, as well as other safety critical industry fields. Viewing the licensing processes and their separate licensing steps in terms of SMRs, the study adopts two different analysis theories for review and comparison. The primary data consists of a literature review, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaire responses concerning licensing processes and practices. The result of the study is a recommendation for a new, optimized licensing process for SMRs. The most important SMR-specific feature, in terms of licensing, is the modularity of the design. Here the modularity indicates multi-module SMR designs, which creates new challenges in the licensing process. As this study focuses on Finland, the main features of the new licensing process are adapted to the current Finnish licensing process, aiming to achieve the main benefits with minimal modifications to the current process. The application of the new licensing process is developed using Systems Engineering, Requirements Management, and Project Management practices and tools. Nuclear licensing includes a large amount of data and documentation which needs to be managed in a suitable manner throughout the new build project and then during the whole life cycle of the nuclear power plant. To enable a smooth licensing process and therefore ensure the success of the new build nuclear power plant project, management processes and practices play a significant role. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of how licensing processes are structured and how they are put into action in practice. The findings clarify the suitability of different licensing processes and their selected licensing steps for SMR licensing. The results combine the most suitable licensing steps into a new licensing process for SMRs. The results are also extended to the concept of licensing management practices and tools.

Model-based estimation of liquid flows in the blast furnace hearth and taphole

This thesis presents a set of methods and models for estimation of iron and slag flows in the blast furnace hearth and taphole. The main focus was put on predicting taphole flow patterns and estimating the effects of various taphole conditions on the drainage behavior of the blast furnace hearth. All models were based on a general understanding of the typical tap cycle of an industrial blast furnace. Some of the models were evaluated on short-term process data from the reference furnace. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was built and applied to simulate the complicated hearth flows and thus to predict the regions of the hearth exerted to erosion under various operating conditions. Key boundary variables of the CFD model were provided by a simplified drainage model based on the first principles. By examining the evolutions of liquid outflow rates measured from the furnace studied, the drainage model was improved to include the effects of taphole diameter and length. The estimated slag delays showed good agreement with the observed ones. The liquid flows in the taphole were further studied using two different models and the results of both models indicated that it is more likely that separated flow of iron and slag occurs in the taphole when the liquid outflow rates are comparable during tapping. The drainage process was simulated with an integrated model based on an overall balance analysis: The high in-furnace overpressure can compensate for the resistances induced by the liquid flows in the hearth and through the taphole. Finally, a recently developed multiphase CFD model including interfacial forces between immiscible liquids was developed and both the actual iron-slag system and a water-oil system in laboratory scale were simulated. The model was demonstrated to be a useful tool for simulating hearth flows for gaining understanding of the complex phenomena in the drainage of the blast furnace.

Computational studies for the design of process equipment with complex geometries

This study combines several projects related to the flows in vessels with complex shapes representing different chemical apparata. Three major cases were studied. The first one is a two-phase plate reactor with a complex structure of intersecting micro channels engraved on one plate which is covered by another plain plate. The second case is a tubular microreactor, consisting of two subcases. The first subcase is a multi-channel two-component commercial micromixer (slit interdigital) used to mix two liquid reagents before they enter the reactor. The second subcase is a micro-tube, where the distribution of the heat generated by the reaction was studied. The third case is a conventionally packed column. However, flow, reactions or mass transfer were not modeled. Instead, the research focused on how to describe mathematically the realistic geometry of the column packing, which is rather random and can not be created using conventional computeraided design or engineering (CAD/CAE) methods. Several modeling approaches were used to describe the performance of the processes in the considered vessels. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to describe the details of the flow in the plate microreactor and micromixer. A space-averaged mass transfer model based on Fick’s law was used to describe the exchange of the species through the gas-liquid interface in the microreactor. This model utilized data, namely the values of the interfacial area, obtained by the corresponding CFD model. A common heat transfer model was used to find the heat distribution in the micro-tube. To generate the column packing, an additional multibody dynamic model was implemented. Auxiliary simulation was carried out to determine the position and orientation of every packing element in the column. This data was then exported into a CAD system to generate desirable geometry, which could further be used for CFD simulations. The results demonstrated that the CFD model of the microreactor could predict the flow pattern well enough and agreed with experiments. The mass transfer model allowed to estimate the mass transfer coefficient. Modeling for the second case showed that the flow in the micromixer and the heat transfer in the tube could be excluded from the larger model which describes the chemical kinetics in the reactor. Results of the third case demonstrated that the auxiliary simulation could successfully generate complex random packing not only for the column but also for other similar cases.

A Model-Based Development and Verification Framework for Distributed System-on-Chip Architecture

The capabilities and thus, design complexity of VLSI-based embedded systems have increased tremendously in recent years, riding the wave of Moore’s law. The time-to-market requirements are also shrinking, imposing challenges to the designers, which in turn, seek to adopt new design methods to increase their productivity. As an answer to these new pressures, modern day systems have moved towards on-chip multiprocessing technologies. New architectures have emerged in on-chip multiprocessing in order to utilize the tremendous advances of fabrication technology. Platform-based design is a possible solution in addressing these challenges. The principle behind the approach is to separate the functionality of an application from the organization and communication architecture of hardware platform at several levels of abstraction. The existing design methodologies pertaining to platform-based design approach don’t provide full automation at every level of the design processes, and sometimes, the co-design of platform-based systems lead to sub-optimal systems. In addition, the design productivity gap in multiprocessor systems remain a key challenge due to existing design methodologies. This thesis addresses the aforementioned challenges and discusses the creation of a development framework for a platform-based system design, in the context of the SegBus platform - a distributed communication architecture. This research aims to provide automated procedures for platform design and application mapping. Structural verification support is also featured thus ensuring correct-by-design platforms. The solution is based on a model-based process. Both the platform and the application are modeled using the Unified Modeling Language. This thesis develops a Domain Specific Language to support platform modeling based on a corresponding UML profile. Object Constraint Language constraints are used to support structurally correct platform construction. An emulator is thus introduced to allow as much as possible accurate performance estimation of the solution, at high abstraction levels. VHDL code is automatically generated, in the form of “snippets” to be employed in the arbiter modules of the platform, as required by the application. The resulting framework is applied in building an actual design solution for an MP3 stereo audio decoder application.

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.

Creating an open-books implementation framework for a maintenance-related value-based life-cycle model

This study is a qualitative action research by its nature with elements of personal design in the form of a tangible model implementation framework construction. Utilized empirical data has been gathered via two questionnaires in relation to the arranged four workshop events with twelve individual participants. Five of them represented maintenance customers, three maintenance service providers and four equipment providers respectively. Further, there are two main research objectives in proportion to the two complementary focusing areas of this thesis. Firstly, the value-based life-cycle model, which first version has already been developed prior to this thesis, requires updating in order to increase its real-life applicability as an inter-firm decision-making tool in industrial maintenance. This first research objective is fulfilled by improving appearance, intelligibility and usability of the above-mentioned model. In addition, certain new features are also added. The workshop participants from the collaborating companies were reasonably pleased with made changes, although further attention will be required in future on the model’s intelligibility in particular as main results, charts and values were all reckoned as slightly hard to understand. Moreover, upgraded model’s appearance and added new features satisfied them the most. Secondly and more importantly, the premises of the model’s possible inter-firm implementation process need to be considered. This second research objective is delivered in two consecutive steps. At first, a bipartite open-books supported implementation framework is created and its different characteristics discussed in theory. Afterwards, the prerequisites and the pitfalls of increasing inter-organizational information transparency are studied in empirical context. One of the main findings was that the organizations are not yet prepared for network-wide information disclosure as dyadic collaboration was favored instead. However, they would be willing to share information bilaterally at least. Another major result was that the present state of companies’ cost accounting systems will definitely need implementation-wise enhancing in future since accurate and sufficiently detailed maintenance data is not available. Further, it will also be crucial to create supporting and mutually agreed network infrastructure. There are hardly any collaborative models, methods or tools currently in usage. Lastly, the essential questions about mutual trust and predominant purchasing strategies are cooperation-wise important. If inter-organizational activities are expanded, a more relational approach should be favored in this regard. Mutual trust was also recognized as a significant cooperation factor, but it is hard to measure in reality.

Viral marketing in a Finnish medium sized gaming company: discovering, analyzing and building an improved management process for viral marketing campaigns, case: Nitrogames

The goal of this thesis is to build a viral marketing management framework for a Finnish medium sized gaming company. This is achieved by first finding and building a theoretical five step management process framework based on literature, analyzing current model and giving recommendations for the case company to develop its own management process. In addition, viral marketing research is still in early stage resulting this study to propose its own take on the definition in the theory part. Empirical part is based on qualitative interviews, campaign material and secondary sources and is aimed to find out and analyze the case company’s current viral marketing state and to give recommendations to it. The final outcome of the study is a general, theoretical management framework for viral marketing campaigns and specified recommendations for the case company.

Process modeling method for electric accessories manufacturing enterprise

The theoretical research of the study focused to business process management and business process modeling, the goal was to found a new business process modeling method for electrical accessories manufacturing enterprise. The focus was to find few options for business process modeling methods where company could have chosen the best one for its needs The study was carried out as a qualitative research with an action study and a case study as the most important ways collect data. In the empirical part of the study examples of company’s processes modeled with the new modeling method and process modeling process are presented. The new way of modeling processes improves especially visual presentation of the processes and improves the understanding how employees should work in the organizational interfaces of the process and in the interfaces between different processes. The results of the study is a new unified way to model company’s processes, which makes it easier to understand and create the process models. This improved readability makes it possible to reduce the costs that were created from the unclear old process models.