Plant communities of field boundaries in Finnish farmland

Appendix: List of species found in boundaries

The Boundaries of a Firm in the Pulp and Paper Industry: Complementarities of the Resource-Based View and Transaction Cost Economics

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tutkia sellu- ja paperiteollisuuden toimintojen luonnetta sekä miten yrityksen rajapinnat ovat muodostuneet ko. teollisuudenalalla. Tutkimus on eksploratiivinen ja luonteeltaan kvalitatiivinen. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin yrityksissä tehdyillä teemahaastatteluilla. Sellu- ja paperitehtaan toimintojen analysoinnissa käytetään resurssiperusteista näkemystä ja transaktiokustannusteoriaa. Tutkimuksen yritysten rakennetta voidaan pitää varsin konservatiivisena. Teoreettinen kehys pystyi selittämään varsinaisen tuotannon järjestämistä varsin hyvin. Tukitoiminnoissa löytyi ristiriitoja teorian ja todellisuuden välillä. Tuotantotoiminnot kannattaa pitää yrityksen sisällä, koska ne täyttävät VRIN-attribuutit ja niihin liittyy korkeita transaktiokustannuksia. Suurin osa tukitoiminnoista voidaan luokitella triviaaleiksi. Joitain tukitoimintoja voidaan kuitenkin luokitella strategisesti tärkeiksi, ja voidaan päätellä, että ne pitäisi pitää yrityksen sisällä. Tässä suhteessa tulokset olivat kuitenkin ristiriitaisia, ja lisätutkimuksia tarvittaisiin lopullisten johtopäätösten tekemiseen.

From the Resource-Base to Firm Boundaries in the Electricity Network Business - Case Lappeenrannan Energia Oy

Tutkielman tavoitteena oli selvittääcase -yrityksen resurssi- ja kyvykkyyspohjaa resurssiperustaisen näkemyksen mukaan, sekä yrityksen rajoja transaktiokustannusteorian mukaan. Tutkimusongelmia lähestyttiin kirjallisuuskatsauksella, puoli-strukturoiduilla teemahaastatteluilla, sekä kyselylomakkeilla. Tutkielman päätuloksiksi voidaan Tukea löydetty resurssikuilu, resurssien ja kyvykkyyksien tutkinta, sekä kyselylomakkeiden rakentaminen ja käyttö. Tutkielman paljastamasta kuilusta voidaan erottaa kolme päähaastetta; ikääntyvät sähköverkot, ikääntyvä henkilökunta ja liiketoimintaosaamisen puute. Lisäksi resurssien ja kyvykkyyksien tutkinta nosti esille organisaation rutiineja ja prosesseja, ja kyselylomakkeet osoittautuivat varsin toimiviksi tutkimuksen kontekstissa. Yhteenvetona voidaan todeta, että sähköverkkoliiketoiminta ja case yritys ovat suuren rakennemuutoksen alla, joka tuo mukanaan suuria haasteita myös lähitulevaisuudessa.

The Boundaries of the Firm from the Extended Transaction Cost Economics Point of View - Empirical Study

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tutkia yrityksen rajoja laajennetun transaktiokustannusteorian näkökulmasta. Tutkimus oli empiirinen tutkimus, jossa tutkittiin viittä toimialaa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli verrata paperiteollisuutta teräs-, kemian-, ICT- ja energiateollisuuteen. Aineisto empiiriseen osioon kerättiin puolistrukturoiduilla teemahaastatteluilla. Tutkimus osoitti, että laajennettu transaktiokustannusteoria soveltuu hyvinyrityksen rajojen määrittelyyn. Staattinen transaktiokustannusteorian selitysaste ei ole riittävä, joten dynaaminen laajennus on tarpeellinen. Tutkimuksessa ilmeni, että paperiteollisuudella verrattuna muihin toimialoihin on suurimmat haasteet tehokkaiden rajojen määrittämisessä.

Analysis on firm innovation boundaries

Innovation has been widely recognized as an important driver of firm competitiveness, and the firm’s internal research and development (R&D) activities are often considered to have a critical role in innovation activities. Internal R&D is, however, not the source of innovation as firms may tap into knowledge necessary for innovation also through various types of sourcing agreements or by collaborating with other organizations. The objective of this study is to analyze the way firms go about organizing efficiently their innovation boundaries. Within this context, the analysis is focused, firstly, on the relation between innovation boundaries and firm innovation performance and, secondly, on the factors explaining innovation boundary organization. The innovation literature recognizes that the sources of innovation depend on the nature of technology but does not offer a sufficient tool for analyzing innovation boundary options and their efficiency. Thus, this study suggests incorporating insights from transaction cost economics (TCE) complemented with dynamic governance costs and benefits into the analysis. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part introduces the background of the study, research objectives, an overview of the empirical studies, and the general conclusions of the study. The second part is formed of five publications. The overall results firstly indicate that although the relation between firm innovation boundary options is partly industry sector-specific, the firm level search strategies and knowledge transfer capabilities are important for innovation performance independently of the sector. Secondly, the results show that the attributes suggested by TCE alone do not offer a sufficient explanation of innovation boundary selection, especially under conditions of high levels of (radical) uncertainty. Based on the results, the dynamic governance cost and benefit framework complements the static TCE when firm innovation boundaries are scrutinized.

Ambivalent self-understanding? : change, language and boundaries in the Shetland Islands (1970–present)

Avhandlingen berör språkets roll på Shetlandsöarna från år 1970 till idag och shetländarnas självbild som shetländare och skottar. Öarna, som ligger i Storbritanniens nordligaste del, beskrivs ofta som kulturellt annorlunda och unika. Även om shetländarna uppfattar sig själva som annorlunda, har utomstående betraktare tidvis tonat ner, tidvis betonat öarnas kulturella särdrag. Shetlandsöarna utgör ett intressant undersökningsobjekt, eftersom shetländarnas uppfattningar om sig själva som en särskild grupp har genomgått en förändring under de fyra senaste årtiondena. Den ekonomiska högkonjunktur som var en konsekvens av oljefynden i Nordsjön och 1990-talets politiska förändringar på öarna och i Skottland har båda påverkat de sätt på vilka Shetland beskrivs och förstås. I den förändrade samhällssituationen tvingades shetländarna omvärdera sin relation till det skotska fastlandet. Man var också tvungen att hitta nya svar på frågan vilka shetländarna är och på vilka sätt man borde värna om den verkliga eller föreställda kulturella autonomin. Avhandlingens syfte var att undersöka och analysera de sätt på vilka de samhälleliga förändringarna har påverkat shetländarnas självförståelse, särskilt de uppfattningar som är kopplade till språket. Undersökningen visar att många av dagens uppfattningar om en kulturell särart kan spåras till slutet av 1800-talet och tiden efter andra världskriget. Som avhandlingen visar har språkhistorien spelat en viktig roll i den process i vilken shetländarna har särskilt sig som en separat grupp. Språkets betydelse kan förstås korrekt endast om man i stället för att betrakta shetländarna som en etnisk grupp betraktar Shetlandsöarna som en relativt sett autonom beslutför region. I detta fall fungerar dialekten som en symbol för regional samhörighet.

Thermal Stress in a Roll-to-Roll Printed Electronics Substrate

The Roll-to-Roll process makes it possible to print electronic products continuously onto a uniform substrate. Printing components on flexible surfaces can bring down the costs of simple electronic devices such as RFID tags, antennas and transistors. The possibility of quickly printing flexible electronic components opens up a wide array of novel products previously too expensive to produce on a large scale. Several different printing methods can be used in Roll-to-Roll printing, such as gravure, spray, offset, flexographic and others. Most of the methods can also be mixed in one production line. Most of them still require years of research to reach a significant commercial level. The research for this thesis was carried out at the Konkuk University Flexible Display Research Center (KU-FDRC) in Seoul, Korea. A system using Roll-to-Roll printing requires that the motion of the web can be controlled in every direction in order to align different layers of ink properly. Between printers the ink is dried with hot air. The effects of thermal expansion on the tension of the web are studied in this work, and a mathematical model was constructed on Matlab and Simulink. Simulations and experiments lead to the conclusion that the thermal expansion of the web has a great influence on the tension of the web. Also, experimental evidence was gained that the particular printing machine used for these experiments at KU-FDRC may have a problem in controlling the speeds of the cylinders which pull the web.

Magnetic properties of multi-walled nanotubes on polysterene substrate

Nanotubes are one of the most perspective materials in modern nanotechologies. It makes present investigation very actual. In this work magnetic properties of multi-walled nanotubes on polystyrene substrate are investigated by using quantum magnetometer SQUID. Main purpose was to obtain magnetic field and temperature dependences of magnetization and to compare them to existing theoretical models of magnetism in carbon-bases structures. During data analysis a mathematical algorithm for obtained data filtration was developed because measurement with quantum magnetometer assume big missives of number data, which contain accidental errors. Nature of errors is drift of SQUID signal, errors of different parts of measurement station. Nanotube samples on polystyrene substrate were studied with help of atomic force microscope. On the surface traces of nanotube were found contours, which were oriented in horizontal plane. This feature was caused by rolling method for samples. Detailed comparison of obtained dependences with information of other researches on this topic allows to obtain some conclusions about nature of magnetism in the samples. It emphasizes importance and actuality of this scientific work.

Breaking down the boundaries to storing, sharing and publishing research data

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

New methods for controlling twin configurations and characterizing twin boundaries in 5M Ni-Mn-Ga for the development of applications

Traditional methods for studying the magnetic shape memory (MSM) alloys Ni-Mn-Ga include subjecting the entire sample to a uniform magnetic field or completely actuating the sample mechanically. These methods have produced significant results in characterizing the MSM effect, the properties of Ni-Mn-Ga and have pioneered the development of applications from this material. Twin boundaries and their configuration within a Ni-Mn-Ga sample are a key component in the magnetic shape memory effect. Applications that are developed require an understanding of twin boundary characteristics and, more importantly, the ability to predictably control them. Twins have such a critical role that the twinning stress of a Ni-Mn-Ga crystal is the defining characteristic that indicates its quality and significant research has been conducted to minimize this property. This dissertation reports a decrease in the twinning stress, predictably controlling the twin configuration and characterizing the dynamics of twin boundaries. A reduction of the twinning stress is demonstrated by the discovery of Type II twins within Ni-Mn-Ga which have as little as 10% of the twinning stress of traditional Type I twins. Furthermore, new methods of actuating a Ni-Mn-Ga element using localized unidirectional or bidirectional magnetic fields were developed that can predictably control the twin configuration in a localized area of a Ni-Mn-Ga element. This method of controlling the local twin configuration was used in the characterization of twin boundary dynamics. Using a localized magnetic pulse, the velocity and acceleration of a single twin boundary were measured to be 82.5 m/s and 2.9 × 107 m/s2, and the time needed for the twin boundary to nucleate and begin moving was less than 2.8 μs. Using a bidirectional magnetic field from a diametrically magnetized cylindrical magnet, a highly reproducible and controllable local twin configuration was created in a Ni-Mn-Ga element which is the fundamental pumping mechanism in the MSM micropump that has been co-invented and extensively characterized by the author.