Representations of work and worker in the three generations of knowledge management. Critical Discourse Analysis of selected texts.

The thesis studies the representations of different elements of contemporary work as present in Knowledge Management (KM). KM is approached as management discourse that is seen to affect and influence managerial practices in organizations. As representatives of KM discourse four journal articles are analyzed, using the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis and the framework of Critical Management Studies, with a special emphasis on the question of structure and agency. The results of the analysis reveal that structural elements such as information technology and organizational structures are strongly present in the most influential KM representations, making their improvement also a desirable course of action for managers. In contrast agentic properties are not in a central role, they are subjugated to structural constraints of varying kind and degree. The thesis claims that one such constraint is KM discourse itself, influencing managerial and organizational choices and decision making. The thesis concludes that the way human beings are represented, studied and treated in management studies such as KM needs to be re-examined. Pro gradu-tutkielmassa analysoidaan työhön ja sen tekijään liittyviä representaatioita Tietojohtamisen kirjallisuudessa. Tietojohtamista tarkastellaan liikkeenjohdollisena diskurssina, jolla nähdään olevan vaikutus organisaatioiden päätöksentekoon ja toimintaan. Tutkielmassa analysoidaan neljä Tietojohtamisen tieteellistä artikkelia, käyttäen metodina kriittistä diskurssianalyysiä. Tutkielman viitekehyksenä on kriittinen liikkeenjohdon tutkimus. Lisäksi työssä pohditaan kysymystä rakenteen ja toimijan välisestä vuorovaikutuksesta. Tutkielman analyysi paljastaa, että tietojohtamisen vaikutusvaltaisimmat representaatiot painottavat rakenteellisia tekijöitä, kuten informaatioteknologiaa ja organisaatiorakenteita. Tämän seurauksena mm. panostukset em. tekijöihin nähdään organisaatioissa toivottavana toimintana. Vastaavasti representaatiot jotka painottavat yksilöitä ja toimintaa ovat em. tekijöille alisteisessa asemassa. Tapaa, jolla yksilöitä kuvataan ja käsitellään Tietojohtamisen diskurssissa, tulisikin laajentaa ja monipuolistaa.

The re-introduction of oral entrance examinations at a translation studies department

Abstract

Identification and Management of Operational Risks in IT Organization of Financial Service Provider

Työn tavoitteena on tunnistaa toiminnallisia riskitekijöitä rahoituspalveluita tarjoavan yrityksen IT-organisaatiossa sekä löytää arkipäiväisiä keinoja hallita näitä riskejä. Työssä riskejä on myös tarkasteltu mahdollisen ulkoistuksen yhteydessä. Fuusiot ovat yleisiä rahoitusalan yrityksissä. Yhteenliittymien tuloksena yritysten IT-arkkitehtuuri voi olla monimutkainen ja kulttuurierot yrityksessä suuria. Synergia- ja mittakaavaetuja saadakseen yritys keskittää toimintojaan ja IT-ratkaisujaan. Riskien tunnistaminen on riskienhallintaprosessin tärkein vaihe. Tässä tutkimuksessa riskit ja riskitekijät tunnistettiin itsearvioinnin avulla kysymyssarjoja hyväksikäyttäen. Monet riskitekijät liittyivät sisäisen valvonnan ja seurannan puutteisiin. Myöhemmin näille riskeille pohdittiin työryhmässä käytännönläheisiä hallintakeinoja. Yritys voi siirtää tai jakaa IT -riskejä ulkoistamalla. Ulkoistaminen voi kuitenkin tuoda mukaan myös uusia riskitekijöitä. Ennen ulkoistamispäätöstä yrityksen sisäisten prosessien ja organisaation on oltava järjestyksessä, jotta sopimuksen kannattavuutta voidaan verrata luotettavasti saman palvelun tuottamiseen sisäisesti.

Re-examination of Customer Satisfaction Measurement Results

Asiakastyytyväisyys on läheisesti yhteydessä yrityksen taloudelliseen menestykseen ja yrityksen yleisen laadun määrittämiseen. Asiakastyytyväisyyden mittaamista vaaditaan tällä hetkellä myös ISO 9001 laatujärjestelmästandardissa. Tämän vuoksi tarve tutkia ja mitata asiakastyytyväisyyttä on kasvanut yritysten ja yhteisöjen joukossa. Kokonaisvaltainen asiakastyytyväisyyden tutkiminen sisältää sekä asiakastyytyväisyyden mittaamista ja järjestelmällistä asiakaspalautteen tutkimista ja analysointia. Asiakastyytyväisyysmittaamisessa käytetään menettelytapoja ja tekniikoita, jotka ovat yleisesti käytössä markkinointitutkimuksessa. Menetelmiä on kuitenkin mukautettava, jotta ne sopivat asiakastyytyväisyyden mittaamiseksi. Asiakastyytyväisyysmittaustulosten perusanalyysit ovat helppo toteuttaa mutta tulokset voidaan helposti tulkita väärin ilman syvällisempiä tilastomatemaattisia analyysejä. Asiakastyytyväisyyden mittaaminen on helppo toteuttaa mutta tutkimussuunnitelma ja tulostenkeräysmenetelmä pitää suunnitella huolellisesti, jotta mittaustulosten luotettavuus ja validiteetti voidaan taata. Jotta asiakastyytyväisyyden tutkimisesta saataisiin maksimaalinen hyöty, pitäisi tutkimuksen myös tarkastella kuinka asiakastyytyväisyys, yrityksen sisäinen ja ulkoinen laatu sekä asiakaslojaalisuus ovat yhteydessä toisiinsa.

Mental Health of Expatriates in Finnish Enterprises in Brazil

Expatriation has become increasingly common due to the global trade expansion. Many large companies base their production facilities in far-flung countries, where experts are sent from their own countries to launch the operations. Working in a foreign environment demands from so-called expatriates considerable adaptability. This study aimed to investigate if following expatriation mental health difficulties were experienced by the employees themselves or their family members. This study investigated by a questionnaire and interviews how expatriate employees in Finnish companies operating in different regions of Brazil and their families adjusted. Investigated employees were required to be at least 6 months in expatriation. Data were collected in Brazil during their stay at least 3 months after the arrival. The survey covered 121 expatriate employees, that operated in 17 different companies, from which 71 employees from 10 different companies responded to the questionnaire. All the employees from the two largest enterprises and their spouses were invited to focus groups; in total 43 persons (22 employees and 21 employees’ spouses) participated in a group or individual interviews. No significant mental health difficulties were found among the expatriate employees. Only a tenth of the expatriate employees reported strain. The experience of strain symptoms was found to be related to long working days, intense working rhythm and lack of friends. Work satisfaction seemed to be an important mediator in the coping process. While abroad, the expatriate employees were highly recognized for their work. Due to the immature organization of work they could often use their creative capacities to improve the work flow. The opportunity to see the effects of their own contribution with their own eyes to the development of the enterprise made them feel good. The association between the expatriate employees’ adjustment and that of their spouses’ was evident. The spouses’ situation was markedly different than that of the expatriate employees’ themselves. Expatriation changed the family members’ previous division of tasks considerably. The expatriate spouses had to change their roles more than the expatriate employees themselves; since most of them were highly educated women, who were leaded through an identity crisis due to at least temporary renunciation of own work and career.

Tertiary Treatment and Re-use of Kraft Pulp Mill Effluent

The efficient use of materials and natural recourses, for ecological and economic reasons, has become more and more important in all industries. In the forest industries this means higher levels of closure in the material circulations of the mills. One possibility to reduce wastewater discharge is to re-use part of the 2nd clarifier effluent as process water. The main target of this thesis was to evaluate the technical suitability of several mechanical and chemical tertiary treatment methods for water re-use. Some of the tested methods seemed to have high potential for the removal of some specific constituents from the wastewater. Tertiary treatment is needed because higher levels of closure may cause problems with increasing amounts of non-process elements in different points of kraft pulp process. The aspect of sustainable development was taken into account by evaluating positive and negative environmental effects of the treatment processes. Environmental benefits can be gained by using some of the tertiary treatment methods tested. These methods should still be researched more for system optimization.

Organization of the marketing communication activities after fusion - the integration and the decision making processes

This master’s thesis was made in order to gain answers to the question of how the integration of the marketing communications and the decision making related to it in a geographically dispersed service organization could be improved in a situation where an organization has gone through a merger. The effects of the organizational design dimensions towards the integration of the marketing communications and the decision making related to it was the main focus. A case study as a research strategy offered a perfect frames for an exploratory study and the data collection was conducted by semi-structured interviews and observing. The main finding proved that from the chosen design dimensions, decentralization, coordination and power, could be found specific factors that in a geographically dispersed organization are affecting the integration of the marketing communications negatively. The effects can be seen mostly in the decision making processes, roles and in the division of responsibility, which are affecting the other dimensions and by this, the integration. In a post-merger situation, the coordination dimension and especially the information asymmetry and the information flow seem to have a largest affect towards the integration of the marketing communications. An asymmetric information distribution with the lack of business and marketing education resulted in low self-assurance and at the end in fragmented management and to the inability to set targets and make independent decisions. As conclusions it can be stated, that with the organizational design dimensions can the effects of a merger towards the integration process of the marketing communications to be evaluated.

The functional fit between collaborative software and work systems:Qualification of work system needs to software functionality

The study develops an approach that tries to validate software functionality to work systems needs in SMEs. The formulated approach is constructed by using a SAAS based software i.e., work collaboration service (WCS), and SMEs as the elements of study. Where the WCS’s functionality is qualified to the collaboration needs that exist in operational and project work within SMEs. For this research constructivist approach and case study method is selected because the nature of the current study requires an in depth study of the work collaboration service as well as a detailed study of the work systems within different enterprises. Four different companies are selected in which fourteen interviews are conducted to gather data pertaining. The work systems method and framework are used as a central part of the approach to collect, analyze and interpret the enterprises work systems model and the underlying collaboration needs on operational and project work. On the other hand, the functional model of the WCS and its functionality is determined from functional model analysis, software testing, documentation and meetings with the service vendor. The enterprise work system model and the WCS model are compared to reveal how work progression differs between the two and make visible unaddressed stages of work progression. The WCS functionality is compared to work systems collaboration needs to ascertain if the service will suffice the needs of the project and operational work under study. The unaddressed needs provide opportunities to improve the functionality of the service for better conformity to the needs of enterprise and work. The results revealed that the functional models actually differed in how operational and project work progressed within the stages. WCS shared similar stages of work progression apart from the stages of identification and acceptance, and progress and completion stages were only partially addressed. Conclusion is that the identified unaddressed needs such as, single point of reference, SLA and OLA inclusion etc., should be implemented or improved within the WCS at appropriate stages of work to gain better compliance of the service to the needs of the enterprise an work itself. The developed approach can hence be used to carry out similar analysis for the conformance of pre-built software functionality to work system needs with SMEs.