POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARCTIC Strategic opportunities and threats for Finnish companies

The Arctic environment is changing constantly. There are several factors that constitute to the rate and immensity of the development. The region differs from the surrounding markets that most of the countries in the region have been used to. Therefore the purpose of the study was to understand how the political environment affects Finnish companies’ strategies and business operations. The issues analyzed were the political environment in the region, the business environment and economic development, and the opportunities and threats that the Finnish companies have in Arctic. The main theories were found from strategic management and market analysis tools. The different theories and definitions were gone through in order to understand the context of the study. This is a qualitative study that uses content analysis as its main method of analyzing the data. Therefore the data analyzed was gathered from already existing material and it was analyzed until the saturation point was found. This was done in order to minimize the risks related to using secondary data. The data collected was then categorized into themes accordingly. First the general political environment in the Arctic was studied, especially the Arctic Council and its work as the main political entity. From there the focus shifted to the business environment and the general opportunities and threats that are found from Arctic economic development. China offered another point of view to this as it represented a non-Arctic state with a keen interest on the region. Lastly the two previous objectives were combined and looked through from a Finnish perspective. Finnish companies have a great starting point to Arctic business and the operational business environment gives them the framework with which they have to operate in. As a conclusion it can be said that there are three main factors leading the Arctic economic development; the climate change, the development of technology, and the political environment. These set the framework with which the companies operating in the region must comply with. The industry that is likely to lead the development is the marine industry. Furthermore it became evident that the Finnish companies operating in the Arctic face many opportunities as well as threats which can be utilized, taken advantage of or controlled through effective strategic management. The key characteristics needed in the region are openness and understanding of the challenging environment and the ability to face and manage the arising challenges.

The Middle East in the American quest for world order : ideas of power, economics, and social development in United States foreign policy, 1953-1961

Doctoral dissertation, University of Tampere

Process Evaluation and Business Process Reengineering in Forest Industry

Pro gradu -tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittää millaisia muutoksia uusi SAP-pohjainen järjestelmä aiheuttaa metsäteollisuusyrityksen hankinta-prosesseissa ja ostajien työssä. Tilannetta tarkasteltiin myös liiketoiminta-prosessien uudistamisprojektina. Tutkimus oli kvalitatiivinen case-tutkimus, jonka lähteinä olivat haastattelut ja prosessikuvaukset. Hankintaprosessit on pyritty standardisoimaan ja kuvaamaan tarkasti, koska järjestelmä on tarkoitus ottaa vähitellen käyttöön yrityksen kaikissa toimipisteissä. Teoriaosassa käsiteltiin globaalia hankintaa, erilaisia tilauksia, sähköistä liiketoimintaa ja uudistettujen liiketoimintaprosessien käyttöönottoa sekä siihen liittyviä haasteita. Yritys pyrkii kehittämään hankintatoimintaansa ja hyödyntämään kokonsa tuomia mittakaavaetuja, uusi järjestelmä on merkittävä osa tätä kehitystyötä. Haastattelujen perusteella uusi järjestelmä on toivottu ja siihen kohdistuu paljon odotuksia. Järjestelmän käyttöönotto tulee olemaanhaastava tehtävä, koska järjestelmän käyttäjiä on paljon ja loppukäyttäjät tekevät entistä enemmän tapahtumia järjestelmään tilausaloitteiden ja kotiinkutsujenmuodossa. Tehdasostajien roolissa tapahtuu muutoksia, rutiinitilaamisen vähentyessä he toimivat tietoa molempiin suuntiin jakavina linkkeinä keskitetyn hankinta-organisaation ja tehtaan välissä.

Integrated Project Portfolio Management as a Tool for Strategic Steering and Business Control

Tutkielman päätavoitteena oli tutkia miten projektisalkun hallinnalla voidaan tukea organisaation strategista ohjausta ja liiketoimintaa. Tämän lisäksi avaintavoitteina oli kuvata projektisalkun hallinnan nykytilanne kohdeyrityksessä, paljastaa erityisiä kehitystarpeita ja lopulta luoda kohdeyrityksen projektisalkunhallinnalle tavoitetila. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa pohdittiin projektisalkun hallinnan roolia ja tavoitteita, projektisalkun hallinnassa käyttävää prosessia, sekä menetelmiä ja tekniikoita, joilla salkkua hallitaan. Työn empiirisessä osassa syvennyttiin tutkimaan projektinsalkun hallintaan liittyviä erityispiirteitä kohdeyrityksessä. Tutkimustulosten huolellinen analysointi osoitti, että aikaisempi kirjallisuus ei riittävästi huomioi kokonaisvaltaisen, integroidun lähestymistavan tarvetta ja viestinnän tärkeyttä projektisalkun hallinnassa. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksinä luotiin uusi integroitu projektisalkun hallintamalli ja määriteltiin kohdeyritykselle projektisalkun hallinnan tavoitetila sekä ne kehitysaskeleet, joita yrityksen tulisi lähitulevaisuudessa ottaa.

Technological and business challenges of smart grids

Growing recognition of the electricity grid modernization to enable new electricity generation and consumption schemes has found articulation in the vision of the Smart Grid platform. The essence of this vision is an autonomous network with two-way electricity power flows and extensive real-time information between the generation nodes, various electricity-dependent appliances and all points in-between. Three major components of the Smart Grids are distributed intelligence, communication technologies, and automated control systems. The aim of this thesis is to recognize the challenges that Smart Grids are facing, while extinguishing the main driving factors for their introduction. The scope of the thesis also covers possible place of electricity Aggregator Company in the current and future electricity markets. Basic functions of an aggregator and possible revenue sources along with demand response feasibility calculations are reviewed within this thesis.

Corporate responsibility guaranteed by dialogue? Examining the relationship between nongovernmental organizations and business

The main objective of this doctoral dissertation is to examine the relationship between non-governmental organizations and business in the context of academic discourse, corporate responsibility discourse, and stakeholder dialogue. More specifically, motivated by the increasing emphasis on stakeholder dialogue as a tool for corporate responsibility and accountability, the aim is to critically assess the role of stakeholder dialogue as a self-regulatory mechanism, in particular from the perspective of foreign direct investments. The study comprises two parts; an introductory essay containing the research objectives, theoretical foundations and methodological choices, and four research articles that address one sub-objective: 1) to review the literature on NGO-business relations in business and society, management, and international business journals from 1998–2007; 2) to critically analyze the academic discourse on NGO-business relations; 3) to analyze the problematic aspects of sustainable foreign direct investments as a conceptual construct; and 4) to analyze the problematic aspects of stakeholder dialogue in connection with a foreign direct investment. The ontological and epistemological foundations of this dissertation build on the social constructionist view of reality. The dialogue in this study is viewed as a legitimacy bargaining process that is actively shaped by societal parties in discourse. Similarly, articulations of ‘partnership’ and ‘adversarial’ in NGO-business relations in academic business and society discourse are viewed as competing hegemonic interventions in the field. More specifically, the methods applied in the articles are literature review (Article 1), discourse theory (Article 2), conceptual analysis (Article 3), and case study with document analysis (Article 4). This dissertation has three main arguments and contributions. First, it is argued that the potential of stakeholder dialogue as a tool for corporate responsibility and accountability is inherently limited in both contexts. Second, the study shows the power implications of privileging partnership oriented NGO-business relations over adversarial ones, and of placing business at the centre of governance discourse. The third contribution is methodological: a new way to analyze academic discourse is presented by focusing on the problem setting of an article.

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.

Innovation process development and business process integration - a multiple case study

The main objective of this study was to find out the bases for innovation model formulation in an existing organization based on cases. Innovation processes can be analyzed based on their needs and based on their emphasis on the business model development or R&D. The research was conducted in energy sector within one company by utilizing its projects as cases for the study. It is typical for the field of business that development is slow, although the case company has put emphasis on its innovation efforts. Analysis was done by identifying the cases’ needs and comparing them. The results were that because of the variances in the needs of the cases, the applicability of innovation process models varies. It was discovered that by dividing the process into two phases, a uniform model could be composed. This model would fulfill the needs of the cases and potential future projects as well.

The interconnections between customer loyalty, employee engagement and business performance

The interconnections of customer loyalty, employee engagement and business performance have been separately examined in several previous studies but actually a coherent study combining all of these components together has been lacking. This thesis aims to study all of these components and their interrelations at the same time in order to understand the organization as a one whole. The thesis includes an encompassing review of the previous studies related to customer loyalty and employee engagement. The theory presents both the theoretical approaches and the empirical findings from the earlier literature and builds therefore a strong fundament for the empirical part of this thesis. The empirical data in this thesis was provided by three case companies of a Nordic group operating in a business-to-business professional services branch and it used the Net Promoter Score method for measuring both customer loyalty and employee engagement. The thesis left interesting research questions open and provides therefore an intriguing study field for the future researches.

Helsinki hub – new traffic flows and business networks

This thesis is the Logistics Development Forum's assignment and the work dealing with the development of the Port of Helsinki as part of Helsinki hub. The Forum aims to develop logistics efficiency through public-private co-operation and development of the port is clearly dependent on both factors. Freight volumes in the Port of Helsinki are the biggest single factor in hub and, therefore, the role of the port of the entire hub development is strong. The aim is to look at how the port will develop as a result of changes in the foreign trade of Finland and the Northern European logistics trends in 25 years time period. Work includes the current state analysis and scenario work. The analyses are intended to find out, which trends are the most important in the port volume development. The change and effect of trends is examined through scenarios based on current state. Based on the work, the structure of Finnish export industry and international demand are in the key role in the port volume development. There is significant difference between demands of Finnish exporting products in different export markets and the development between the markets has different impacts on the port volumes by mass and cargo type. On the other hand, the Finnish economy is stuck in a prolonged recession and competition between ports has become a significant factor in the individual port's volume development. Ecological valuesand regulations have changed the competitive landscape and maritime transport emissions reductions has become an important competitive factor for short routes in the Baltic Sea, such as in the link between Helsinki and Tallinn.

Ekonomien ammatillisen kehittymisen tarpeet

Tämä pro gradu -tutkielma käsittelee ekonomien ammatillisen kehittymisen tarpeita muuttuvassa maailmassa, jossa ammatillinen erityisosaaminen vanhenee nopeasti. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan ekonomikunnassa koettuja ammatillisen kehittymisen tarpeita substanssin ja oppimistapojen näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, millaisia ammatillisen kehittymisen tarpeita ekonomeilla on ja miten näihin tarpeisiin voisi vastata. Tutkimuksen pyrkimyksenä on selvittää myös, miten Suomen Ekonomiliitto SEFE voisi auttaa jäseniään kehittymään edelleen ammatillisesti. Aikuisoppimis- ja motivaatioteorioita on olemassa lukuisia. Pro gradun teoriaosassa selvitetään, miten aikuisten oppiminen tapahtuu, mitä se pitää sisällään ja mikä motivoi oppimaan. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan työelämän ekonomeille asettamia vaatimuksia tänään ja tulevaisuudessa. Pro graduni tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin sähköistä kyselyä, ja otoksena oli 2000 SEFEn jäsenrekisteristä poimittua ekonomia. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että heterogeenisen ekonomikunnan näkemykset ammatillisen kehittymisen tarpeista ja varsinkin juuri itselle sopivista koulutusmuodoista eroavat melko paljon. Tärkeimmiksi ekonomiosaamisen osa-alueiksi nousivat seikat, joista on hyötyä muuttuvan maailman mukana pysymisessä, kuten valmius omaksua uusia asioita ja ongelmanratkaisutaito. Seuraavaksi tärkeimmäksi osaamisalueeksi nimettiin yleinen talouden tuntemus. Kehittää tulisi paitsi näitä osa-alueita, myös erilaisia johtamistaitoja. Tulosten mukaan suurin este ammatilliselle lisäkoulutukselle on ajan puute. Kyselyn vastauksissa painotettiin koulutuksesta saatavaa hyötyä suhteessa siihen laitettuihin panostuksiin. Kiireessä priorisoidaan työssä oppimista ja lyhyitä täsmäkoulutuksia.