Individual Perception of Organizational Values

The objective of this master’s thesis was to examine how corporate values come true among the white-collar employees in the case organization. It was also studied if values were perceived similarly in the different departments. Impact of organizational position and education on value orientation was tested through hypotheses based on earlier values research. There are only few value scales available for measuring organizational values. The empirical study results indicate that personnel’s perception of organizational values can be measured statistically. When defining the scale it is utmost important to link the questions and claims close to the employees’ daily working environment. In this study, Work ethic appeared as the strongest organizational value reflecting respondents’ commitment to their duties. Related to corporate values, Performance was perceived as the strongest value and Emphasis on people the weakest. Value consensus between the departments varied. According to the previous research organizational position and educational level has an impact on value perceptions. In this study, employees in superior position or with higher education perceived organizational values to come true better than subordinates or employees with lower education. Empirical data (N=229) was collected by a web-based survey questionnaire among white-collar employees in the case organization in April 2008. Statistical analyses were performed by SPSS programme.

Role of Selected Spectral Attributes in the Perception of Synthetic Vowels

This thesis is an experimental study regarding the identification and discrimination of vowels, studied using synthetic stimuli. The acoustic attributes of synthetic stimuli vary, which raises the question of how different spectral attributes are linked to the behaviour of the subjects. The spectral attributes used are formants and spectral moments (centre of gravity, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis). Two types of experiments are used, related to the identification and discrimination of the stimuli, respectively. The discrimination is studied by using both the attentive procedures that require a response from the subject, and the preattentive procedures that require no response. Together, the studies offer information about the identification and discrimination of synthetic vowels in 15 different languages. Furthermore, this thesis discusses the role of various spectral attributes in the speech perception processes. The thesis is divided into three studies. The first is based only on attentive methods, whereas the other two concentrate on the relationship between identification and discrimination experiments. The neurophysiological methods (EEG recordings) reveal the role of attention in processing, and are used in discrimination experiments, while the results reveal differences in perceptual processes based on the language, attention and experimental procedure.

Brain Dopamine and Serotonin Receptors in the Perception of Pain. Positron Emission Tomography Studies in Healthy Subjects

The role of dopamine and serotonin in spinal pain regulation is well established. However, little is known concerning the role of brain dopamine and serotonin in the perception of pain in humans. The aim of this study was to assess the potential role of brain dopamine and serotonin in determining experimental pain sensitivity in humans using positron emission tomography (PET) and psychophysical methods. A total of 39 healthy subjects participated in the study, and PET imaging was performed to assess brain dopamine D2/D3 and serotonin 5-HT_1A receptor availability. In a separate session, sensitivity to pain and touch was assessed with traditional psychophysical methods, allowing the evaluation of potential associations between D2/D3 and 5-HT_1A binding and psychophysical responses. The subjects’ responses were also analyzed according to Signal Detection Theory, which enables separate assessment of the subject’s discriminative capacity (sensory factor) and response criterion (non-sensory factor). The study found that the D2/D3 receptor binding in the right putamen was inversely correlated with pain threshold and response criterion. 5-HT_1A binding in cingulate cortex, inferior temporal gyrus and medial prefrontal cortex was inversely correlated with discriminative capacity for touch. Additionally, the response criterion for pain and intensity rating of suprathreshold pain were inversely correlated with 5-HT_1A binding in multiple brain areas. The results suggest that brain D2/D3 receptors and 5-HT_1A receptors modulate sensitivity to pain and that the pain modulatory effects may, at least partly, be attributed to influences on the response criterion. 5-HT_1A receptors are also involved in the regulation of touch by having an effect on discriminative capacity.

Marketers’ perception of the implementation of social media marketing: Evidence from large Finnish companies’ marketing campaigns

Social media is a multidimensional marketing and communications channel which can support and enhance a business’ reputation, sales and even longevity. Social media as a business tool encourages an interaction between customers and companies which gives opportunities for a company to better understand their customers, to target them more effectively and to collaborate and create dialogues with them which is not possible through traditional media channels. The aim of a social media strategy is to increase brand awareness, image, loyalty and recognition. The peer networks that social media creates allows a company to disseminate information through loyal customers to new and prospective customers to ultimately increase reach. The purpose of the study is to understand the marketer’s perspective of social media marketing use and how it is currently utilized in marketing and communications activities in Finland. Three companies were interviewed covering fourteen different implementations of social media marketing campaigns. These were then analysed to ascertain the utilization methods and experience gained on recent campaigns in the Finnish market The utilization of social media marketing was analysed using the methods of thematic analysis and inductive and abductive reasoning. Elements and themes were drawn out of the separate interviews to create a framework with which to explore, evaluate and match theories that define social media usage by companies. It became clear from all of the interviews that social media as a tool is most effective when it captures the viewer’s interest through rich and entertaining content. This directed the theoretical research towards Engagement Theory and Content Marketing which look to emphasize the importance of communities, collaboration, interaction, and peer-sharing as the key drivers of a social media marketing campaign.

Cultural distance and negotiation behavior : Perception of entrepreneurs operating in Turku

This thesis investigates the influence of cultural distance on entrepreneurs’ negotiation behaviour. For this purpose, Turku was chosen as the unit of analysis due to the exponential demographic change experienced during the last two decades that has derived in a more diversified local environment. The research aim set for this study was to identify to what extent entrepreneurs face cultural distance, how cultural distance influences the entrepreneur’s negotiation behaviour and how can it be addressed in order to turn dissimilarities into opportunities. This study presented the relation and apparent dichotomy of cultural distance and global culture, including the component of diversity. The impact of cultural distance in the entrepreneurial mindset and its consequent effect in negotiation behaviour was presented too. Addressing questions about the way individuals perceive, behave and interact allowed the use of interviews for this qualitative research study. In the empirical part of this study it was found that negotiation behaviour differed in terms of how congenial entrepreneurs felt when managing cultural distance, encompassing their performance. It was also acknowledged that after time and effort, some of the personal traits were enhanced while others reduced, allowing for more flexibility and adaptation. Furthermore, depending on the level of trust and shared interests, entrepreneurs determined their attitudinal approach, being adaptive or reactive subject to situational aspects. Additionally, it was found that the acquisition of cultural savvy not necessarily conveyed to more creativity. This experiential learning capability led to the proposition of new ways of behaviour. Likewise, it was proposed that growing cultural intelligence bridge distances, reducing mistrusts and misunderstandings. The capability of building more collaborative relationships allows entrepreneurs to see cultural distance as a cultural perspective instead of as a threat. Therefore it was recommended to focus on proximity rather than distance to better identify and exploit untapped opportunities and better perform when negotiating in whichever cultural conditions.

Perception of privacy in smartphone applications: profiling users based on personality types.

This document is focused on studying privacy perception and personality traits of users in the context of smartphone application privacy. It is divided into two parts. The first part presents an in depth systematic literature review of the existing academic writings available on the topic of relation between privacy perception and personality traits. Demographics, methodologies and other useful insight is extracted and the available literature is divided into broader group of topics bringing the five main areas of research to light and highlighting the current research trends in the field along with pinpointing the research gap of interest to the author. The second part of the thesis uses the results from the literature review to administer an empirical study to investigate the current privacy perception of users and the correlation between personality traits and privacy perception in smartphone applications. Big five personality test is used as the measure for personality traits whereas three sub-variables are used to measure privacy perception i.e. perceived privacy awareness, perceived threat to privacy and willingness to trade privacy. According to the study openness to experience is the most dominant trait having a strong correlation with two privacy sub-variables whereas emotional stability doesn’t show any correlation with privacy perception. Empirical study also explores other findings as preferred privacy sources and application installation preferences that provide further insight about users and might be useful in future.

A Comparative Study on the Homeroom Teachers’ Perception of the School guidance in Korea and Finland

This study has four major purposes. First, it compares school guidance of homeroom teachers in Korea and Finland, in order to understand the reality of education, based on the teachers’ perceptions. Secondly, it also considers the topic within its historical, social, and cultural backgrounds, from a critical standpoint. Thirdly, it investigates the direction of the improvement of school guidance, based on the analysis of similarities and differences between Korea and Finland, with regards to the meaning, practice, and environmental factors of the school guidance. Lastly, the influential factors surrounding the school guidance are noted by analysing empirical data from a microscopic approach, and extending the understanding of it into a social context. As for the methods, it employs thematic analysis approach through 10 homeroom teacher interviews in the lower secondary schools. As a result, firstly, the teachers in both countries assumed similarly, that the role of the teacher was not only to teach the subject, but also to care about every aspects of the students’ development in their school life. In addition, they accepted the fact that school guidance became more significant. However, the school guidance became the top priority for the Korean teachers, while teaching subject is the main task for the Finnish teachers. Secondly, the homeroom teachers in both countries hoped to have a better working environment, to perform school guidance concerning education budget for the resources of school guidance, tight curriculum, and increasing the teachers’ tasks. Thirdly, the school guidance in Korea seemed to be influenced by social expectation and government demand, whereas, the Finnish teachers considered school guidance in more aspects of adjustment and academic motivation, rather than resolving the social problems. Fourthly, the Korean teachers perceived that the trust and respect from the society and home became weakened, also expressing doubts about the educational policies and the attitude of the government with regards to school guidance. On the other hand, the Finnish teachers believed that they were trusted and respected by the society. However, blurred lines in the roles and accountability between the homeroom teachers, home, and the society were also controversial among the teachers in both countries. To sum up, Finland needs to ameliorate the system and conditions for school guidance of the homeroom teachers. The consensus on the role and tasks of Finnish homeroom teachers for school guidance seem to be also necessary. Meanwhile, Korea should improve the social system and social consciousness of the teacher, school guidance, and schooling, preceding the reform of the education system or conditions.

An Image Enhancement Technique using MTF of Human eye

Image filtering is a highly demanded approach of image enhancement in digital imaging systems design. It is widely used in television and camera design technologies to improve the quality of an output image to avoid various problems such as image blurring problem thatgains importance in design of displays of large sizes and design of digital cameras. This thesis proposes a new image filtering method basedon visual characteristics of human eye such as MTF. In contrast to the traditional filtering methods based on human visual characteristics this thesis takes into account the anisotropy of the human eye vision. The proposed method is based on laboratory measurements of the human eye MTF and takes into account degradation of the image by the latter. This method improves an image in the way it will be degraded by human eye MTF to give perception of the original image quality. This thesis gives a basic understanding of an image filtering approach and the concept of MTF and describes an algorithm to perform an image enhancement based on MTF of human eye. Performed experiments have shown quite good results according to human evaluation. Suggestions to improve the algorithm are also given for the future improvements.

Partnering in the International Marketplace: The Role of Culture for Trust Development in Multicultural Partnerships

Tutkimuksen tarkoitus oli kasvattaa tietämystä kultuurin vaikutuksesta luottamuksen rakentamiseen monikulttuurisissa partnerisuhteissa. Kulttuurin oletettiin aiheuttavan hankaluuksia pitkäaikaisen suhteen luomisessa, etenkin luottamuksen ollessa kyseessä, sillä kulttuurit ja tavat olivat erilaisia toimittajan ja asiakkaan päässä. Tutkimus käsitteli johtajan nakökulmaa: mikä oli johtajien mielestä kriittistä luottamuksen ja yhteistyön onnistumiselle. Empiirinen osa suoritettiin UPM-Kymmenellä ja sen kolme partneria valittiin case-esimerkeiksi. Tutkimus keskittyi ostaja-myyjä –suhteeseen. Materiaali kerättiin case-asiakkaista vastuussa olevia myyntijohtajia haastattelemalla. Tulos oli, että johtajille tärkeintä yhteistyössä olivat samanlaiset organisaatiokulttuurit sekä normit. Kansallisella kulttuurilla oli merkittävä vaikutus suhteen alussa sekä liikeasioiden mennessä huonosti. Luottamuksen havaitseminen eri kultuurien välillä todettiin vaikeaksi. Eri arvot, viestintätyylit, jopa kieli joissain tapauksissa vaikeuttivat luottamuksen rakentamista. Luottamus oli erilaista maasta riippuen, sen tyyli ja määrä vaihteli.

Factors Affecting Consumer’s Illicit Purchase of Copyrighted Digital Work

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology has revolutionized file exchange activities besides enhancing processing power distribution. As such, this technology which is nowadays made freely available to all internet users also imposes a threat as it enables the illegal distribution of copyrighted digital work. P2P technology continuously evolves in a greater pace than copyright legislation, leading to compatibility gaps between the applicability of copyright law and the illicit file sharing and downloading. Such issues give high incentives to consumers to practise piracy using P2P systems with a low perception of risk towards prosecution, leading to substantial losses for copyright owners. This study focuses on developing insights for content owners on consumer behaviour towards piracy in Finland, where quantitative analyses are assessed using a data set based on a survey conducted by the Helsinki Institute for IT. The research approach investigates the significance of three fundamental areas in relation to evaluate consumer behaviour as: environmental-related factors, innovation-related factors and consumer-related. each of these are integrates concepts derived in previous theoretical models such as the technology acceptance model, theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behaviour, the issue-risk-judgement model and the Hunt & Vitell’s model.

Expectations and Experiences of International Students in Information Technology Department

Education in Finland plays a significant role. International students are becoming an essential part of Finnish Educational system. The study was meant to examine their expectations and experiences in a Finnish University. As a case, Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) was chosen and, in particular, Information Technology (IT) Department. The main objectives of the study were to examine students’ satisfaction of their study experiences, their evaluation of the teaching quality of courses and last but not least the cultural impact on those. Data for the study were mainly collected with the help of three Internet surveys from a sample of 50 students – currently studying at LUT or already graduated. Response rate from questionnaire to questionnaire varied, however, still close to average and was considered as good and relevant enough. The study was initially meant as qualitative, however, a number of quantitative data analysis methods were used as well. Most of students’ expectations appear to become true, majority of students are satisfied with their experiences. Results show that teaching quality in LUT is evaluated as ‘good’. Nevertheless, students prefer particular courses to the other ones. In conclusion, it can be said that culture does affect students’ expectations, experiences, perception of the world, however, cultural differences do not cause any serious problems.

Quality and analysis of administration processes in server operations

IT outsourcing refers to the way companies focus on their core competencies and buy the supporting functions from other companies specialized in that area. Service is the total outcome of numerous of activities by employees and other resources to provide solutions to customers' problems. Outsourcing and service business have their unique characteristics. Service Level Agreements quantify the minimum acceptable service to the user. The service quality has to be objectively quantified so that its achievement or non-achievement of it can be monitored. Usually offshoring refers to the transferring of tasks to low-cost nations. Offshoring presents a lot of challenges that require special attention and they need to be assessed thoroughly. IT Infrastructure management refers to installation and basic usability assistance of operating systems, network and server tools and utilities. ITIL defines the industry best practices for organizing IT processes. This thesis did an analysis of server operations service and the customers’ perception of the quality of daily operations. The agreed workflows and processes should be followed better. Service providers’ processes are thoroughly defined but both the customer and the service provider might disobey them. Service provider should review the workflows regarding customer functions. Customer facing functions require persistent skill development, as they communicate the quality to the customer. Service provider needs to provide better organized communication and knowledge exchange methods between the specialists in different geographical locations.

On the impact of rigorous approaches on the quality of development

Software systems are expanding and becoming increasingly present in everyday activities. The constantly evolving society demands that they deliver more functionality, are easy to use and work as expected. All these challenges increase the size and complexity of a system. People may not be aware of a presence of a software system, until it malfunctions or even fails to perform. The concept of being able to depend on the software is particularly significant when it comes to the critical systems. At this point quality of a system is regarded as an essential issue, since any deficiencies may lead to considerable money loss or life endangerment. Traditional development methods may not ensure a sufficiently high level of quality. Formal methods, on the other hand, allow us to achieve a high level of rigour and can be applied to develop a complete system or only a critical part of it. Such techniques, applied during system development starting at early design stages, increase the likelihood of obtaining a system that works as required. However, formal methods are sometimes considered difficult to utilise in traditional developments. Therefore, it is important to make them more accessible and reduce the gap between the formal and traditional development methods. This thesis explores the usability of rigorous approaches by giving an insight into formal designs with the use of graphical notation. The understandability of formal modelling is increased due to a compact representation of the development and related design decisions. The central objective of the thesis is to investigate the impact that rigorous approaches have on quality of developments. This means that it is necessary to establish certain techniques for evaluation of rigorous developments. Since we are studying various development settings and methods, specific measurement plans and a set of metrics need to be created for each setting. Our goal is to provide methods for collecting data and record evidence of the applicability of rigorous approaches. This would support the organisations in making decisions about integration of formal methods into their development processes. It is important to control the software development, especially in its initial stages. Therefore, we focus on the specification and modelling phases, as well as related artefacts, e.g. models. These have significant influence on the quality of a final system. Since application of formal methods may increase the complexity of a system, it may impact its maintainability, and thus quality. Our goal is to leverage quality of a system via metrics and measurements, as well as generic refinement patterns, which are applied to a model and a specification. We argue that they can facilitate the process of creating software systems, by e.g. controlling complexity and providing the modelling guidelines. Moreover, we find them as additional mechanisms for quality control and improvement, also for rigorous approaches. The main contribution of this thesis is to provide the metrics and measurements that help in assessing the impact of rigorous approaches on developments. We establish the techniques for the evaluation of certain aspects of quality, which are based on structural, syntactical and process related characteristics of an early-stage development artefacts, i.e. specifications and models. The presented approaches are applied to various case studies. The results of the investigation are juxtaposed with the perception of domain experts. It is our aspiration to promote measurements as an indispensable part of quality control process and a strategy towards the quality improvement.

Mental Well-being at Work. A Sign of a Healthy Organisation and a Necessary Precondition for Organisational Development

One of the aims of the study was to clarify the reliability and validity of the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) and the Eigenzustand (EZ) method as measures of the objective characteristics of work and short-term mental work load in the Finnish data. The reliability and validity were examined taking into consideration the theoretical backgrounds of the methods and the reliability of the measurements. The methods were used for finding out the preconditions for organisational development based on self-improvement and clarifying the impacts of working environment (organisational functioning and job characteristics) on a worker’s mental state and health. The influences were examined on a general level - regardless of individual personal or specific contextual factors. One aim was also to clarify how cognitions and emotions are intertwined and how they influence a person’s perception of the working environment. The data consisted of 15 blue-collar organisations in the public sector. The organisations were divided in target and comparison groups depending on the research frames. The data was collected by questionnaires by post. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (Lisrel) were used as the main statistical methods in examining the structures of the methods and impacts between the variables. It was shown that it is possible for organisations to develop their working conditions themselves on specific preconditions. The advance of the development processes could be shown by the amount of the development activity as well as by the changes of the mental well-being (ability to act) and sick absenteeism of the personnel. It was found that the JDS and the EZ methods were reliable and valid measures in the Finnish data. It was shown that, in addition to the objective working environment (organisational functioning and job characteristics), also such a personal factor as selfesteem influences a person’s perception of mental work load. However, the influence did not seem to be direct. The importance of job satisfaction as a general indicator of perceived working conditions was emphasised. Emotional and cognitive factors were found to be functionally intertwined constituting a common factor. Organisational functioning and the characteristics of work had connections with a person’s health measured by sick absenteeism.