Hallituksen ja toimitusjohtajan välisen suhteen kehittäminen listaamattomissa suomalaisissa osakeyhtiöissä

Työn tavoitteen oli selvittää mitä erityspiirteitä suomalaisissa listaamattomissa osakeyhtiöissä on ja niiden pohjalta ymmärtää minkälainen hallituksen ja toimitusjohtajan välinen suhde on. Tutkimusmetodologia oli empiirinen eksploratiivinen tutkimus ja tutkimusmenetelmä oli kvalitatiivinen perustuen seitsemään teemahaastatteluun. Tutkimuksen tuloksena oli, että osakeyhtiöt ovat erilaisia perustuen yhtiön omistajamäärään, omistuksen hajaantumiseen ja omistajien aktiivisuuteen. Pääsääntöisesti omistajat ovat lähellä yhtiön toimin- taa. Omistajat rakentavat yrityskulttuuria palkkaamalla hallituksen jäseniksi kulloiseenkin tilanteeseen sopivimmat henkilöt. Suomalaisia toimitusjohtajia pidetään ihmiskäsitykseltään pääsääntöisesti stewardeina ja ihmiskäsitykseen vaikuttaa olennaisesti kulttuurimme. Luottamus on hallituksen ja toimitusjohtajan välisen suh- teen kulmakiviä.

Trolley R&D project for a small portal log yard crane

This master’s thesis was done for Andritz Inc. Atlanta Georgia. The purpose of the thesis was to develop a new trolley for a small portal log yard crane. In the beginning of the thesis the basic principles of the systematic design processes have been described, along which the design work of the trolley has proceeded. The second literature part consists of the design and dimensioning of the welded steel structures under fatigue loading. The design work of the trolley consists of the engineering and the selection of the mechanical components and the design of the load carrying structure for the trolley. The realization of the steel structure of the trolley is based on the fatigue and static dimensioning. The fatigue dimensioning is grounded in the life expectations estimated for the trolley and the static dimensioning is based on the CMAA guidelines. The computer aided element method was utilized in the design of the steel structure. The effective notch method and the hot spot method were used in the fatigue calculations. The trolley structure was carried out by using the sheet metal parts in order to manufacture the structure as effective and low cost way as possible. The corner stone of the dimensioning of the trolley structure was the utilization of the open profiles made of welded or cold formed sheet metals, which provide better weldability, weld inspection, access for repairs and corrosion protection. As a last part of the thesis a new trolley traveling system was developed. The distribution of the wheel loads of the trolley bogies on the main girder was also studied, which led to an innovative suspension arrangement between the trolley leg and the bogie. The new bogie solution increases the service life of the main girder of the crane and improves the stability of the bogies. The outcome of the thesis is an excellent trolley structure from the weight and the service life point of view.

Treatment of Fe-containing Acid Mine Waters in Fixed Bed Adsorption Column with Calcite Side-Stone

The acid mining drainage is considered the most significant environmental pollution problem around the world for the extensive formation acidic leachates containing heavy metals. Adsorption is widely used methods in water treatment due to it easy operation and the availability of a wide variety of commercial adsorbent (low cost). The primary goal of this thesis was to investigate the efficiency of neutralizing agents, CaCO3 and CaSiO3, and metal adsorption materials with unmodified limestone from Company Nordkalk Oy. In addition to this, the side materials of limestone mining were tested for iron adsorption from acidic model solution. This study was executed at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. The work utilised fixed-bed adsorption column as the main equipment and large fluidized column. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determine ferric removal and the composition of material respectively. The results suggest a high potential for the studied materials to be used a low cost adsorbents in acid mine drainage treatment. From the two studied adsorbents, the FS material was more suitable than the Gotland material. Based on the findings, it is recommended that further studies might include detailed analysis of Gotland materials.

Development of a Ceramic Membrane Filtration Equipment and Its Applicability for Different Wastewaters

In this thesis the membrane filtration equipment for plate type ceramic membranes was developed based on filtration results achieved with different kinds of wastewaters. The experiments were mainly made with pulp and board mill wastewaters, but some experiments were also made with a bore well water and a stone cutting mine wastewater. The ceramicmembranes used were alpha-alumina membranes with a pore size of 100 nm. Some ofthe membranes were coated with a gamma-alumina layer to reduce the membrane pore size to 10 nm, and some of them were modified with different metal oxides in order to change the surface properties of the membranes. The effects of operationparameters, such as cross-flow velocity, filtration pressure and backflushing on filtration performance were studied. The measured parameters were the permeateflux, the quality of the permeate, as well as the fouling tendency of the membrane. A dynamic membrane or a cake layer forming on top of the membrane was observed to decrease the flux and increase separa-tion of certain substances, especially at low cross-flow velocities. When the cross-flow velocities were increased the membrane properties became more important. Backflushing could also be used to decrease the thickness of the cake layer and thus it improved the permeate flux. However, backflushing can lead to a reduction of retentions in cases where the cake layer is improving them. The wastewater quality was important for the thickness of the dynamic membrane and the membrane pore size influenced the permeate flux. In general, the optimization of operation conditions is very important for the successful operation of a membrane filtration system. The filtration equipment with a reasonable range of operational conditions is necessary, especiallywhen different kinds of wastewaters are treated. This should be taken into account already in the development stage of a filtration equipment.

Knowledge Sharing between Generations in an Organisation - Retention of the Old or Building the New?

The study explores knowledge transfer between retiring employees and their successors in expert work. My aim is to ascertain whether there is knowledge development or building new knowledge related to this organisational knowledge transfer between generations; in other words, is the transfer of knowledge from experienced, retiring employees to their successors merely retention of the existing organisational knowledge by distributing it from one individual to another or does this transfer lead to building new and meaningful organisational knowledge. I call knowledge transfer between generations and the possibly related knowledge building in this study knowledge sharing between generations. The study examines the organisation and knowledge management from a knowledge-based and constructionist view. From this standpoint, I see knowledge transfer as an interactive process, and the exploration is based on how the people involved in this process understand and experience the phenomenon studied. The research method is organisational ethnography. I conducted the analysis of data using thematic analysis and the articulation method, which has not been used before in organisational knowledge studies. The primary empirical data consists of theme interviews with twelve employees involved in knowledge transfer in the organisation being studied and five follow-up theme interviews. Six of the interviewees are expert duty employees due to retire shortly, and six are their successors. All those participating in the follow-up interviews are successors of those soon to retire from their expert responsibilities. The organisation in the study is a medium-sized Finnish firm, which designs and manufactures electrical equipment and systems for the global market. The results of the study show that expert work-related knowledge transfer between generations can mean knowledge building which produces new, meaningful knowledge for the organisation. This knowledge is distributed in the organisation to all those that find it useful in increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of the whole organisation. The transfer and building of knowledge together create an act of knowledge sharing between generations where the building of knowledge presupposes transfer. Knowledge sharing proceeds between the expert and the novice through eight phases. During the phases of knowledge transfer the expert guides the novice to absorb the knowledge to be transferred. With the expert’s help the novice gradually comes to understand the knowledge and in the end he or she is capable of using it in his or her work. During the phases of knowledge building the expert helps the novice to further develop the knowledge being transferred so that it becomes new, useful knowledge for the organisation. After that the novice takes the built knowledge to use in his or her work. Based on the results of the study, knowledge sharing between generations takes place in interaction and ends when knowledge is taken to use. The results I obtained in the interviews by the articulation method show that knowledge sharing between generations is shaped by the novices’ conceptions of their own work goals, knowledge needs and duties. These are not only based on the official definition of the work, but also how the novices find their work or how they prioritise the given objectives and responsibilities. The study shows that the novices see their work primarily as maintenance or development. Those primarily involved in maintenance duties do not necessarily need knowledge defined as transferred between generations. Therefore, they do not necessarily transfer knowledge with their assigned experts, even though this can happen in favourable circumstances. They do not build knowledge because their view of their work goals and duties does not require the building of new knowledge. Those primarily involved in development duties, however, do need knowledge available from their assigned experts. Therefore, regardless of circumstances they transfer knowledge with their assigned experts and also build knowledge because their work goals and duties create a basis for building new knowledge. The literature on knowledge transfer between generations has focused on describing either the knowledge being transferred or the means by which it is transferred. Based on the results of this study, however, knowledge sharing between generations, that is, transfer and building is determined by how the novice considers his or her own knowledge needs and work practices. This is why studies on knowledge sharing between generations and its implementation should be based not only on the knowledge content and how it is shared, but also on the context of the work in which the novice interprets and shares knowledge. The existing literature has not considered the possibility that knowledge transfer between generations may mean building knowledge. The results of this study, however, show that this is possible. In knowledge building, the expert’s existing organisational knowledge is combined with the new knowledge that the novice brings to the organisation. In their interaction this combination of the expert’s “old” and the novice’s “new” knowledge becomes new, meaningful organisational knowledge. Previous studies show that knowledge development between the members of an organisation is the prerequisite for organisational renewal which in turn is essential for improved competitiveness. Against this background, knowledge building enables organisational renewal and thus enhances competitiveness. Hence, when knowledge transfer between generations is followed by knowledge building, the organisation kills two birds with one stone. In knowledge transfer the organisation retains the existing knowledge and thus maintains its competitiveness. In knowledge building the organisation developsnew knowledge and thus improves its competitiveness.

Treatment of NI-containing acidic mine waters with calcite side-stones

Acid mine drainage (AMD) presents a serious problem for the environment for the massive formation of acidic leachates containing heavy metals. The present work deals with the AMD treatment using neutralizing limestone side-products. The conventional methods for prevention, mitigating and control of AMD formation are described. The experimental testing of Nordkalk Oy calcite-containing side-stones for acid neutralizing and removal of nickel from solutions presents the research objective. The batch experiments in acid neutralizing with subsequent metal content analysis were carried out. The results showed the dependence of pH on the dose of neutralizing material and the exposure time. The nickel removal, unlike iron, within the pH range from 1.2 to 6.0 appeared to be inadequate. The further research on nickel co-precipitation with iron and aluminium may appear to be necessary together with testing of alkalinity strengthening materials.

Remembering the War and Aggression: A Discourse Analysis of Japan’s State Apologies and Commemoration Speeches on August 15th 1995-2015

Memories of historical injustices affect contemporary politics from local to global level. In East Asia, questions of commemoration and historical responsibility have turned into international and domestic controversies. The main focus has been and still is in apologies conducted by Japanese prime ministers in regards to the war, aggression and colonialism during the era of Imperial Japan. Although it is granted that state apologies are not a crucial part of reconciliation, they can be analysed as a linked but separate process within the context of memory and international relations. The purpose of this study is to examine the discourses of history in Japanese prime ministers’ commemoration speeches on Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead from 1995 to 2015 in order to analyse how the Japanese government is reflecting on its past. In particular, attention is paid on what is being commemorated and how, whether it is the war and its victims or Japan’s post-war era of peace. As an apology is a reciprocal activity, responses from Japan’s most vocal former victims, South Korea and China, were also examined. Discourse analysis was used to identify and examine the different representations of the past. In addition, the apology statements of Japanese prime ministers were analysed in the Many to Many apology framework developed by Tavuchis (1991). Primary material consisted of 21 prime ministers’ speeches from the annual Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead on August 15th and from three apology statements made in 1995, 2005 and 2015. Further international context was primarily collected from newspaper articles of The New York Times and The Times throughout the examined period. It can be concluded from the findings that in the official Japanese remembrance of the past war from 1985’s annexation of Taiwan to the atomic bombings in 1945, both discourses that reinforce apology and remorse over Japan’s past aggressions and discourses that consciously avoid doing so are used. The commemoration speeches and apology statements consistently assert that Japan has acknowledged its past and expresses regret over the acts of aggression. At the same time, the speeches and statements strengthen the narrative that Japan was a victim of circumstances as well as turn the focus on post-war peace-making or on Japan’s own victimhood.