Value added logistics in supply and demand chain. Smile. Part 2. eBusiness in a service business. Case: A maintenance and operations network in forest industry

VVALOSADE is a research project of professor Anita Lukka's VALORE research team in the Lappeenranta University of Technology. The VALOSADE includes the ELO technology program of Tekes. SMILE is one of four subprojects of the VALOSADE. The SMILE study focuses on the case of the company network that is composed of small and micro-sized mechanical maintenance service providers and forest industry as large-scale customers. The basic principle of the SMILE study is the communication and ebusiness in supply and demand networks. The aim of the study is to develop ebusiness strategy, ebusiness model and e-processes among the SME local service providers, and onthe other hand, between the local service provider network and the forest industry customers in a maintenance and operations service business. A literature review, interviews and benchmarking are used as research methods in this qualitative case study. The first SMILE report, 'Ebusiness between Global Company and Its Local SME Supplier Network', concentrated on creating background for the SMILE study by studying general trends of ebusiness in supply chains and networks of different industries. This second phase of the study concentrates on case network background, such as business relationships, information systems and business objectives; core processes in maintenance and operations service network; development needs in communication among the network participants; and ICT solutions to respond needs in changing environment. In the theory part of the report, different ebusiness models and frameworks are introduced. Those models and frameworks are compared to empirical case data. From that analysis of the empirical data, therecommendations for the development of the network information system are derived. In process industry such as the forest industry, it is crucial to achieve a high level of operational efficiency and reliability, which sets up great requirements for maintenance and operations. Therefore, partnerships or strategic alliances are needed between the network participants. In partnerships and alliances, deep communication is important, and therefore the information systems in the network also are critical. Communication, coordination and collaboration will increase in the case network in the future, because network resources must be optimised to improve competitive capability of the forest industry customers and theefficiency of their service providers. At present, ebusiness systems are not usual in this maintenance network. A network information system among the forest industry customers and their local service providers actually is the only genuinenetwork information system in this total network. However, the utilisation of that system has been quite insignificant. The current system does not add value enough either to the customers or to the local service providers. At present, thenetwork information system is the infomediary that share static information forthe network partners. The network information system should be the transaction intermediary, which integrates internal processes of the network companies; the network information system, which provides common standardised processes for thelocal service providers; and the infomediary, which share static and dynamic information on right time, on right partner, on right costs, on right format and on right quality. This study provides recommendations how to develop this system in the future to add value to the network companies. Ebusiness scenarios, vision, objectives, strategies, application architecture, ebusiness model, core processes and development strategy must be considered when the network information system will be developed in the next development step. The core processes in the case network are demand/capacity management, customer/supplier relationship management, service delivery management, knowledge management and cash flow management. Most benefits from ebusiness solutions come from the electrifying of operational level processes, such as service delivery management and cash flow management.

Entrepreneurship Education in Basic and Upper Secondary Education – Measurement and Empirical Evidence

The starting point of this study is to direct more attention to the teacher and those entrepreneurship education practices taking place in formal school to find out solutions for more effective promotion of entrepreneurship education. For this objective, the strategy-level aims of entrepreneurship education need to be operationalised into measurable and understandable teacher-level practices. Furthermore, to enable the effective development of entrepreneurship education in basic and upper secondary level education, more knowledge is needed of the state of affairs of entrepreneurship education in teaching. The purpose of the study is to increase the level of understanding of teachers’ entrepreneurship education practices, and through this to develop entrepreneurship education. This study builds on the literature on entrepreneurship education and especially those elements referring to the aims, resources, benefits, methods, and practises of entrepreneurship education. The study comprises five articles highlighting teachers’ role in entrepreneurship education. In the first article the concept of entrepreneurship and the teachers role in reflection upon his/hers approaches to entrepreneurship education are considered. The second article provides a detailed analysis of the process of developing a measurement tool to depict the teachers’ activities in entrepreneurship education. The next three articles highlight the teachers’ role in directing the entrepreneurship education in basic and upper secondary level education. Furthermore, they analyse the relationship between the entrepreneurship education practises and the teachers’ background characteristics. The results of the study suggest a wide range of conclusions and implications. First, in spite of many outspoken aims connected to entrepreneurship education, teachers have not set any aims for themselves. Additionally, aims and results seem to mix. However, it is possible to develop teachers’ target orientation by supporting their reflection skills, and through measurement and evaluation increase their understanding of their own practices. Second, applying a participatory action process it is possible to operationalise teachers’entrepreneurship education practices. It is central to include the practitioners’ perspective in the development of measures to make sure that the concepts and aims of entrepreneurship education are understood. Third, teachers’ demographic or tenure-related background characteristics do not affect their entrepreneurship education practices, but their training related to entrepreneurship education, participation in different school-level or regional planning, and their own capabilities support entrepreneurship education. Fourth, a large number of methods are applied to entrepreneurship education, and the most often used methods were different kinds of discussions, which seem to be an easy, low-threshold way for teachers to include entrepreneurship education regularly in their teaching. Field trips to business enterprises or inviting entrepreneurs to present their work in schools are used fairly seldom. Interestingly, visits outside the school are more common than visitors invited to the school. In line, most of the entrepreneurship education practices take place in a classroom. Therefore it seems to be useful to create and encourage teachers towards more in-depth cooperation with companies (e.g. via joint projects) and to network systematically. Finally, there are plenty of resources available for entrepreneurship education, such as ready-made materials, external stakeholders, support organisations, and learning games, but teachers have utilized them only marginally.

Development of e-Service tools for customer services and processes, Case: KONE Oyj Finland

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää miten kehittää yrityksen nykyistä e-palvelujärjestelmää, Internet -teknologiaan perustuvaa sähköisiä kommunikaatio- ja tiedonjakojärjestelmää, yrityksen business-to-business asiakkuuksien johtamisessa. Tavoitteena oli myös luoda ehdotukset uusista e-palvelusopimusmalleista. Tutkimuksen teoriaosuudessa pyrittiin kehittämään aikaisempiin tutkimuksiin, tietokirjallisuuteen ja asiantuntijoihin perustuva viitekehysmalli. Empiirisessä osassa tutkimuksen tavoitteisiin pyrittiin haastattelemalla yrityksen asiakkaita ja henkilöstöä, sekä tarkastelemalla asiakaskontaktien nykyistä tilaa ja kehittymistä. Näiden tietojen perusteella selvitettiin e-palvelun käyttäjien tarpeita, profiilia ja valmiuksia palvelun käyttöön sekä palvelun nykyistä houkuttelevuutta. Tutkimuksen teoriaosan lähdeaineistona käytettiin kirjallisuutta, artikkeleita ja tilastoja asiakashallinnasta sekä e-palveluiden, erityisesti Internet ja verkkopalveluiden markkinoinnista, nykytilasta sekä palveluiden kehittämisestä. Lisäksi tutkittiin kirjallisuutta arvoverkostoanalyysistä, asiakkaan arvosta, informaatioteknologiasta, palvelun laadusta ja asiakastyytyväisyydestä. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osa perustuu yrityksen henkilöstöltä sekä asiakkailta haastatteluissa kerättyihin tietoihin, yrityksen ennalta keräämiin materiaaleihin sekä Taloustutkimuksen keräämiin tietoihin. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin case -menetelmää, joka oli yhdistelmä sekä kvalitatiivista että kvantitatiivista tutkimusta. Casen tarkoituksena oli testata mallin paikkansapitävyyttä ja käyttökelpoisuutta, sekä selvittää onko olemassa vielä muita tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat asiakkaan saamaan arvoon. Kvalitatiivinen aineisto perustuu teemahaastattelumenetelmää soveltaen haastateltuihin asiakkaisiin ja yrityksen työntekijöihin. Kvantitatiivinen tutkimus perustuu Taloustutkimuksen tutkimukseen ja yrityksen asiakaskontakteista kerättyyn tietoon. Haastatteluiden perusteella e-palvelut nähtiin hyödyllisinä ja tulevaisuudessa erittäin tärkeinä. E-palvelut nähdään yhtenä tärkeänä kanavana, perinteisten kanavien rinnalla, tehostaa business-to-business -asiakkuuksien johtamista. Tutkimuksen antamien tulosten mukaan asiakkaiden palveluun liittyvän tieto-, taito-, tarpeellisuus- ja kiinnostavuustasojen vaihtelevaisuus osoittaa selvän tarpeen eritasoisille e-palvelupaketti ratkaisuille. Tuloksista muodostettu ratkaisuehdotus käsittää neljän eri e-palvelupaketin rakentamisen asiakkaiden eri tarpeita mukaillen.

Customer Driven Service Development – Technology-based Care and Services for the Elderly

The objective of this master’s thesis was to examine technology-based smart home devices and services. Topic was approached through basic theories, transaction cost theory and resource-based view in order to build basis for this thesis. Conceptual framework was discussed by means of networks, value networks and service systems which provide a useful framework for service development. The needs of the elderly living at home were discussed in order to find out which technology-based services could be used to satisfy the needs. Segmentation and need data collected previously during proactive home visits was exploited and additionally a survey targeted to experts and professionals of social and health care sector was done to verify the needs. Finally, the results of the survey were analyzed using quality function deployment method to figure out the most important and suitable service offerings for the elderly. As a conclusion of analysis, social media and monitoring services are the most useful technology-based services. However, traditional home services will still maintain their necessity too.

The effects of the service process on satisfaction, trust and value as creators of customer loyalty in a daily deals concept

This study aims at applying the customer behaviour studies of satisfaction, trust, perceived value and loyalty to a daily deals concept. The goal is to find out whether the relationships are the same in this specific context when compared to previous e-commerce studies. The study examines how the daily deals service process affects customer satisfaction, trust and value, and how these in turn impact customer loyalty and each other. The data was collected via e-mail survey from case company customers, and research was conducted on a quantitative basis by using multivariate methods as tools. The results suggest that daily deals service process and service quality do have a direct and positive effect on customer satisfac-tion, trust and value. Additionally, positive correlations between the latter variables and customer loyalty were found. The results imply that the daily deals concept does not differ from other e-services when considering the studied factors. The results also emphasize the importance of recognizing what determinants have the greatest impact on customer loyalty in this specific context.

Exploring two cases of Piano Teacher Education in Finland and Germany

Research about music instrument teacher education is scattered and fairly recent, especially in the European context. The purpose of this study was to explore two cases of piano teacher education programs at higher music education institutions, one in Finland, and one in Germany, to gain insights into the preparation of piano teachers for their professional working life. The aim was to identify issues for consideration in curriculum development of piano teacher education to enhance the teaching and learning of piano playing, and to ultimately increase musical practice and engagement among young learners. Nine semi-structured interviews with piano teacher educators, heads of program, other lecturers within the program, and student piano teachers in both cases were analyzed using applied thematic analysis. Three main themes with subcategories emerged: (1) the organization of the piano teacher education program, such as the structure, the content, the learning environments provided, and the development mechanisms of the program; (2) the views on the piano teacher profession, the working environment and resulting requirements, including further education during professional life; and (3) the professional skills and teacher identity development of student teachers. While the supposed working environments and requirements of future piano teachers, the student teachers' development characteristics, and the content were found reasonably concurrent in both cases, the structure of the teacher education program, and the organization of learning environments presented notable differences. While the complete teacher qualification in the Finnish case was offered as option in the Bachelor and Master of Music program within the piano department, the German case offered a separate program for music instrument educators. Other main differences concerned the organizations of practical teaching experiences, and the linking of practical with theoretical pedagogy. Conviction and enthusiasm for improving piano and other music instrument teacher education seemed remarkable. These improvements could include the development of a comprehensive teacher education pedagogy for music instrument teacher educators, intensified cross-linking within and of higher music education institutions in local contexts, and the expansion of professional development opportunities.

The typical dilemma between university expansion and rationalization : Belgium (and Finland) since the 1960s

Referee-artikkeli