Hiljaisen tiedon muuttaminen näkyväksi

Tutkimus kuuluu tietojohtamisen aihealueeseen. Tutkimusongelmana on tutkia, miten hiljaista tietoa muutetaan näkyväksi tiedoksi. Lisäksi tutkitaan strategian, yrityskulttuurin sekä yksilön ja tiimin halua oppia ja jakaa tietoa. Tavoitteena on tutkia prosessia, jossa hiljainen tieto muutetaan näkyväksi tiedoksi sekä miten prosessi saataisiin tehokkaammaksi. Tutkimusstrategia on normatiivinen, koska pyritään vastaamaan kysymykseen, miten pitäisi olla. Tutkimuksessa käytetään case-tutkimusta. Empiirinen osa on kerätty haastatteluin ja omin havainnoin. Tutkimus on rajattu koskemaan pieniä perheyrityksiä eli se on tehty perheyrityksen näkökulmasta. Tieto muuttuu näkyväksi tiedon luomisen, hankkimisen, varastoimisen, jakamisen ja soveltamisen kautta. Tähän prosessiin vaikuttavat mm. yrityksen visio ja strategia, jotka antavat suuntaviivat yrityksen toiminnalle. Myös yrityskulttuuri vaikuttaa prosessiin ja siinä mm. arvot ja palautejärjestelmä. Yksilön ja tiimin vuorovaikutus on merkityksellinen tiedon muuttamisessa näkyväksi tiedoksi. Nämä kaikki tekijät yhdessä vaikuttavat tiedon muuttamiseen näkyväksi tiedoksi. Keskusteleminen on väline, jolla hiljaista tietoa voidaan muuttaa näkyväksi.

Teollisuusvaihteen kokoonpanoprosessin laadun parantaminen

Paperikoneen telalle integroitujen mekaanisten käyttölaitteiden valmistuksen siirtoprojektin yhteydessä on raportoitu huomattavan paljon valmistuksen aikaisia poikkeamia. Poikkeamien juurisyyn hahmottamiseksi tehtiin kvantitatiivinen analyysi raportoiduista poikkeamista ja kvalitatiivinen analyysi kokoonpanon nykytilasta. Kokoonpanotyöstä suuri osa on tällä hetkellä arvoa jalostamatonta työtä. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin valmistusprosessissa kaikkia kokoonpanon poikkeamien perustyyppejä ja näitä poikkeamia olivat aiheuttaneet kaikki mahdolliset aiheuttajat. Etenkin hankittavien osien laatua tulisi käsitellä poikkeamien aiheuttamien kokonaiskustannusten kautta. Kokoonpanon tarvitsema tieto on olemassa täsmällisessä muodossa, mutta sen luoksepäästävyys on huono. Prosessin kuvauksella, hiljaisen tiedon kirjaamisella ja täsmällisen tiedon julkistamisella voidaan parantaa tuotannon laatua tuotetuntemuksen parantuessa. Käyttökohteen tunteminen parantaa vaatimusten ymmärtämistä. Tutkimuksessa havaittujen poikkeamien analysoinnin perusteella erityistä huomiota tulisi kiinnittää tarkastusvaiheiden olemassa oloon, sijoitukseen ja niiden laatuun. Suuri osa poikkeamista oli edennyt kokoonpanoon jonkin tarkastusvaiheen läpi. Tarkastusvaiheiden laatutason tulee parantua, jotta moninkertaisesta tarkastuksesta voidaan luopua.

Role of culture in knowledge transfer and sharing - case ERP implementation

The main objective of this study was to examine how culture influences knowledge transfer and sharing within multicultural ERP project implementation in China. The main interest was to explain how national culture and knowledge are linked by understanding how culture influences knowledge transfer and sharing in a project organization. The other objective of this work was to discuss what Chinese cultural characteristic inhibit and en-hance knowledge sharing in ERP project. The perspective of this study was qualitative and the empirical material was collected from theme interviews among Stora Enso employees. Conclusion of this thesis is that Finns have a very direct style of communication and sharing knowledge whereas Chinese respect face shaving and indirect communication. Another conclusion is that knowledge sharing does not “just happen”, it is needed that project members understand national culture to get all project members commitment to project. In China most important is understand local business processes and understand role of trust and guanxi.

Tiedonvaihdolla kilpailuetua: Tiedonvaihdon toteuttaminen ostopalvelurajapinnassa

Tutkimus rakentaa konstruktiivisella tutkimusotteella monenkeskisen tie-donvaihdon mallin, missä sovelletaan Toyotan tuotantojärjestelmässään käyttämiä toimittajaohjauksen ja tiedonvaihdon prosesseja, sekä tiedosta ja tiedonvaihdosta käytyä tieteellistä keskustelua ja tutkimuksia. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen osuus selvittää tiedon luonteen vaikutusta tiedon jakamisen ja tiedonvaihdon toteutukseen ja toteaa, että tiedonvaihdon menetelmiin tulee sisältyä muodollisia kanavia eksplisiittisen tiedon ja vastaavasti epämuodollisia kanavia hiljaisen tiedon jakamiseen joko käsitteellistettynä tai hiljaisessa muodossaan. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osa koostuu viiden palveluntuottajaverkostossa toimivan tulos- tai kehitysvastuullisen henkilön haastatteluista. Teemahaastattelut selvittävät konstruktiivisen tutkimusotteen vaatimusten mukaisesti olisiko haastateltava valmis ottamaan konstruktion esittämän mallin käyttöön omalla vastuualueellaan. Tutkimuksen tuloksena Case-yrityksen palveluntuottajaverkostossa voi-daan saada hyötyä toteuttamalla operatiiviseen ongelmanratkaisuun mo-nenkeskisen tiedonvaihdon käytäntöjä. Nykyinen verkoston ohjausmalli ja kilpailutilanne eivät toistaiseksi anna tilaa muille monenkeskisen tiedonvaihdon toimintamalleille.

Challenges in transferring the hydropower control centre

Euroopan sähkömarkkinat ovat viime vuosikymmeninä olleet suurien muutoksien kohteena näiden yhtenäistämisprojektin seurauksena. Fortum, yksi Euroopan johtavista energia-alan yrityksistä valmistautuu tähän muutokseen toteuttamalla omia yrityksen sisäisiä muutoksia, tavoitteenaan yksinkertaistaa organisaatiorakennettaan ja parantaa tehokkuuttaan. Yksi suuri muutos tähän liittyen on vesivoimavalvomojen lokalisaatioprojekti. Vesivoimavalvomojen uudelleenlokalisaation ja vesivoiman käytönvalvojien ikääntymisen myötä nähtiin tarpeelliseksi tehdä tutkimus käytönvalvojien hiljaisesta tiedosta. Näin ollen, tässä diplomityössä perehdyttiin Fortumin vesivoiman käytönvalvojien kompetensseihin ja näiden hiljaiseen tietoon. Tutkimusaiheena oli selvittää minkälaista hiljaista tietoa käytönvalvojat omaavat, ja mikä osa tästä tiedosta muodostaa sen kriittisen osaamisen, jota halutaan säilyttää ja kehittää. Tutkimustyypiksi muodostui kvalitatiivinen, jonka päämetodi oli puoli-avoin haastattelu. Tutkimus koostui seuraavista vaiheista: tarkkailu, tekstianalyysi, haastattelu, transkriptio ja data analyysi. Haastatteluja tehtiin kahdeksan, joista kerääntyi yli 24 tuntia haastattelumateriaalia. Tästä materiaalista muodostettiin analyysien avulla taulukko, jonka avulla tunnistettiin ne osa-alueet, joihin käytönvalvojan tärkeimmät kompetenssit liittyvät. Tuloksilla saatiin myös kerättyä lista korjaus- ja kehityskohteista, sekä tarkemmat määritykset jatkotutkimukselle.

Thinking Outside the Box: Enhancing Science Teaching by Combining (Instead of Contrasting) Laboratory and Simulation Activities

The focus of the present work was on 10- to 12-year-old elementary school students’ conceptual learning outcomes in science in two specific inquiry-learning environments, laboratory and simulation. The main aim was to examine if it would be more beneficial to combine than contrast simulation and laboratory activities in science teaching. It was argued that the status quo where laboratories and simulations are seen as alternative or competing methods in science teaching is hardly an optimal solution to promote students’ learning and understanding in various science domains. It was hypothesized that it would make more sense and be more productive to combine laboratories and simulations. Several explanations and examples were provided to back up the hypothesis. In order to test whether learning with the combination of laboratory and simulation activities can result in better conceptual understanding in science than learning with laboratory or simulation activities alone, two experiments were conducted in the domain of electricity. In these experiments students constructed and studied electrical circuits in three different learning environments: laboratory (real circuits), simulation (virtual circuits), and simulation-laboratory combination (real and virtual circuits were used simultaneously). In order to measure and compare how these environments affected students’ conceptual understanding of circuits, a subject knowledge assessment questionnaire was administered before and after the experimentation. The results of the experiments were presented in four empirical studies. Three of the studies focused on learning outcomes between the conditions and one on learning processes. Study I analyzed learning outcomes from experiment I. The aim of the study was to investigate if it would be more beneficial to combine simulation and laboratory activities than to use them separately in teaching the concepts of simple electricity. Matched-trios were created based on the pre-test results of 66 elementary school students and divided randomly into a laboratory (real circuits), simulation (virtual circuits) and simulation-laboratory combination (real and virtual circuits simultaneously) conditions. In each condition students had 90 minutes to construct and study various circuits. The results showed that studying electrical circuits in the simulation–laboratory combination environment improved students’ conceptual understanding more than studying circuits in simulation and laboratory environments alone. Although there were no statistical differences between simulation and laboratory environments, the learning effect was more pronounced in the simulation condition where the students made clear progress during the intervention, whereas in the laboratory condition students’ conceptual understanding remained at an elementary level after the intervention. Study II analyzed learning outcomes from experiment II. The aim of the study was to investigate if and how learning outcomes in simulation and simulation-laboratory combination environments are mediated by implicit (only procedural guidance) and explicit (more structure and guidance for the discovery process) instruction in the context of simple DC circuits. Matched-quartets were created based on the pre-test results of 50 elementary school students and divided randomly into a simulation implicit (SI), simulation explicit (SE), combination implicit (CI) and combination explicit (CE) conditions. The results showed that when the students were working with the simulation alone, they were able to gain significantly greater amount of subject knowledge when they received metacognitive support (explicit instruction; SE) for the discovery process than when they received only procedural guidance (implicit instruction: SI). However, this additional scaffolding was not enough to reach the level of the students in the combination environment (CI and CE). A surprising finding in Study II was that instructional support had a different effect in the combination environment than in the simulation environment. In the combination environment explicit instruction (CE) did not seem to elicit much additional gain for students’ understanding of electric circuits compared to implicit instruction (CI). Instead, explicit instruction slowed down the inquiry process substantially in the combination environment. Study III analyzed from video data learning processes of those 50 students that participated in experiment II (cf. Study II above). The focus was on three specific learning processes: cognitive conflicts, self-explanations, and analogical encodings. The aim of the study was to find out possible explanations for the success of the combination condition in Experiments I and II. The video data provided clear evidence about the benefits of studying with the real and virtual circuits simultaneously (the combination conditions). Mostly the representations complemented each other, that is, one representation helped students to interpret and understand the outcomes they received from the other representation. However, there were also instances in which analogical encoding took place, that is, situations in which the slightly discrepant results between the representations ‘forced’ students to focus on those features that could be generalised across the two representations. No statistical differences were found in the amount of experienced cognitive conflicts and self-explanations between simulation and combination conditions, though in self-explanations there was a nascent trend in favour of the combination. There was also a clear tendency suggesting that explicit guidance increased the amount of self-explanations. Overall, the amount of cognitive conflicts and self-explanations was very low. The aim of the Study IV was twofold: the main aim was to provide an aggregated overview of the learning outcomes of experiments I and II; the secondary aim was to explore the relationship between the learning environments and students’ prior domain knowledge (low and high) in the experiments. Aggregated results of experiments I & II showed that on average, 91% of the students in the combination environment scored above the average of the laboratory environment, and 76% of them scored also above the average of the simulation environment. Seventy percent of the students in the simulation environment scored above the average of the laboratory environment. The results further showed that overall students seemed to benefit from combining simulations and laboratories regardless of their level of prior knowledge, that is, students with either low or high prior knowledge who studied circuits in the combination environment outperformed their counterparts who studied in the laboratory or simulation environment alone. The effect seemed to be slightly bigger among the students with low prior knowledge. However, more detailed inspection of the results showed that there were considerable differences between the experiments regarding how students with low and high prior knowledge benefitted from the combination: in Experiment I, especially students with low prior knowledge benefitted from the combination as compared to those students that used only the simulation, whereas in Experiment II, only students with high prior knowledge seemed to benefit from the combination relative to the simulation group. Regarding the differences between simulation and laboratory groups, the benefits of using a simulation seemed to be slightly higher among students with high prior knowledge. The results of the four empirical studies support the hypothesis concerning the benefits of using simulation along with laboratory activities to promote students’ conceptual understanding of electricity. It can be concluded that when teaching students about electricity, the students can gain better understanding when they have an opportunity to use the simulation and the real circuits in parallel than if they have only the real circuits or only a computer simulation available, even when the use of the simulation is supported with the explicit instruction. The outcomes of the empirical studies can be considered as the first unambiguous evidence on the (additional) benefits of combining laboratory and simulation activities in science education as compared to learning with laboratories and simulations alone.

Cross-cultural knowledge transfer within a multinational company

The ability to share knowledge efficiently is vital in day-to-day operations of multinational companies. Therefore, the tools for the effective knowledge sharing along with the transfer knowledge models are of a primary interest for the companies. Knowledge transfer often involves participants of different cultural background. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the cross-cultural knowledge transfer in a multinational corporation takes place and how the successful knowledge transfer is ensured. The four sub-questions will help to answer the research question. Firstly, the author will try to identify what difficulties might occur while transferring knowledge in a multicultural environment. Secondly, the cultural differences’ impact on cross-cultural communication will be explored. Thirdly, the tools and models for effective tacit knowledge transfer will be covered by the author. Lastly, the methods of assessing if a knowledge transfer was successful or not will be discussed. The focus of this thesis is on knowledge transfer within a multinational setting. A multinational corporation is used as a practical example for this study; namely the Training Centre of the multinational corporation. The study was carried out by using a qualitative research approach. The four employees of the Training Centre were interviewed in order to obtain the answers to the research questions. The complete idea of the data gathering process can be obtained by reading through the first part of the methodology section Furthermore, the matters of transferability, confirmability, trustworthiness and objectivity were discussed in the methodological section. The study indicates that in order to carry out the successful and efficient knowledge transfer several requests have to be met. Mutual motivation, e.g. the motivation of both knowledge sender and knowledge receiver is one of the most important determinants of knowledge transfer. Sufficient and bearable workload for the knowledge senders is important to ensure the quality and involvement of the knowledge sender into knowledge transfer process. Course contents, infrastructure and other matters will be discussed further on in relation of successful knowledge transfer. Influences of cultural differences on knowledge sharing were studied in this thesis. At the end of the empirical study- a model used to transfer knowledge in Training Centre will be presented. The model created proves to be functional and appropriate for transferring knowledge to representatives of different cultures.

Service innovation development and knowledge integration practices - a comparative case study on KIBS sector

Academic research on services and innovations on services has significantly grown during recent years. So far research concerning management of knowledge intensive work on service development activities is very limited. The objective of this study was to examine knowledge integration practices that support service innovation development and to the best of knowledge such studies have not been previously published in academic literature. In the theoretical part of the study a review of state‐of‐the‐art literature was conducted, research gap was indicated and a framework for analysis was built. In the empirical part an explorative comparative multi‐case study was carried out in KIBS sector. Four companies were selected and four service development projects were inspected. The service development activities and knowledge integration practices were identified. The cases were carefully compared and results formed. The empirical results indicated that service innovation development is partly linear and partly incremental flow of activities where knowledge integration practices have important role supporting the planning and execution of tasks. Knowledge integration practices supporting planning and workshops are close interaction, interpretation, project planning and sequencing of work tasks. The identified knowledge integration practices supporting building service solution were careful role and competence management, routines and common knowledge. The main implication is that to manage knowledge intensive service innovation development a firm should carefully develop and choose relevant knowledge integration practices to support the service development activities.

Organisational learning and knowledge acquisition. A case study of internationalising manufacturers of wood-based prefabricated buildings

The study investigates organisational learning and knowledge acquisition of wood-based prefabricated building manufacturers. This certain group of case companies was chosen, because their management and their employees generally have a strong manufacturing and engineering background, while the housing sector is characterised by national norms, regulations, as well as local building styles. Considering this setting, it was investigated, how the case companies develop organisational learning capabilities, acquire and transfer knowledge for their internationalisation. The theoretical framework of this study constitutes the knowledge-based conceptualisation of internationalisation, which combines the traditional internationalisation process, as well as the international new venture perspective based on their commonalities in the knowledge-based view of the firm. Different theories of internationalisation, including the network-perspective, were outlined and a framework on organisational learning and knowledge acquisition was established. The empirical research followed a qualitative approach, deploying a multiple-case study with five case companies from Austria, Finland and Germany. In the study, the development of the wood-based prefabricated building industry and of the case companies are described, and the motives, facilitators and challenges for foreign expansion, as well as the companies’ internationalisation approaches are compared. Different methods of how companies facilitate the knowledge-exchange or learn about new markets are also outlined. Experience, market knowledge and personal contacts are considered essential for the internationalisation process. The major finding of the study is that it is not necessary to acquire the market knowledge internally in a slow process as proposed by the Uppsala model. In four cases companies engaged knowledge in symbiotic relations with local business partners. Thereby, the building manufacturers contribute their design and production capabilities, and in return, their local partners provide them with knowledge about the market and local regulations; while they manage the sales and construction operations. Thus, the study provides strong evidence for the propositions of network perspective. One case company developed the knowledge internally in a gradual process: it entered the market sequentially with several business lines, showing an increasing level of complexity. In both of the observed strategies, single-loop and double-loop learning processes occurred.

Knowledge, processes and relationships in organizational change: Understanding how to facilitate management of intellectual capital in diverse organization structures and cultures.

This study examined relationships of organizational dependencies, change management and developed intellectual knowledge resources, in different intellectual capital based development programs on ICT-sector. Study was carried out in a research context, where high degree of external organizational contingencies existed and lots of changes in several development programs had taken place in the last years. From a scientific perspective the main contribution was that evidence between relationships of organizational dependencies, change model portfolio and developed knowledge resources could be suggested. From managerial perspective the primary implication was that in situations where sustainable competitive advantage is pursued by means of increasing knowledge based productivity of labor, firms should seek to pursue organizational settings where external dependencies have minimal amount of effect.

Searchig the links between "knowledge governance mechanisms", "the individual conditions of knowledge sharing", and "individual's knowledge sharing behaviour".

The objective of this study was to understand how organizational knowledge governance mechanisms affect individual motivation, opportunity, and the ability to share knowledge (MOA framework), and further, how individual knowledge-sharing conditions affect actual knowledge sharing behaviour. The study followed the knowledge governance approach and a micro-foundations perspective to develop a theoretical model and hypotheses, which could explain the casual relationships between knowledge governance mechanisms, individual knowledge sharing conditions, and individual knowledge sharing behaviour. The quantitative research strategy and multivariate data analysis techniques (SEM) were used in the hypotheses testing with a survey dataset of 256 employees from eleven military schools of Finnish Defence Forces (FDF). The results showed that “performance-based feedback and rewards” affects employee’s “intrinsic motivation towards knowledge sharing”, that “lateral coordination” affects employee’s “knowledge self-efficacy”, and that ”training and development” is positively related to “time availability” for knowledge sharing but affects negatively employee’s knowledge self-efficacy. Individual motivation and knowledge self-efficacy towards knowledge sharing affected knowledge sharing behaviour when work-related knowledge was shared 1) between employees in a department and 2) between employees in different departments, however these factors did not play a crucial role in subordinate–superior knowledge sharing. The findings suggest that individual motivation, opportunity, and the ability towards knowledge sharing affects individual knowledge sharing behaviour differently in different knowledge sharing situations. Furthermore, knowledge governance mechanisms can be used to manage individual-level knowledge sharing conditions and individual knowledge sharing behaviour but their affect also vary in different knowledge sharing situations.

Spontaneous Focusing on Quantitative Relations and the Development of Rational Number Conceptual Knowledge

The aim of the present set of studies was to explore primary school children’s Spontaneous Focusing On quantitative Relations (SFOR) and its role in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge. The specific goals were to determine if it was possible to identify a spontaneous quantitative focusing tendency that indexes children’s tendency to recognize and utilize quantitative relations in non-explicitly mathematical situations and to determine if this tendency has an impact on the development of rational number conceptual knowledge in late primary school. To this end, we report on six original empirical studies that measure SFOR in children ages five to thirteen years and the development of rational number conceptual knowledge in ten- to thirteen-year-olds. SFOR measures were developed to determine if there are substantial differences in SFOR that are not explained by the ability to use quantitative relations. A measure of children’s conceptual knowledge of the magnitude representations of rational numbers and the density of rational numbers is utilized to capture the process of conceptual change with rational numbers in late primary school students. Finally, SFOR tendency was examined in relation to the development of rational number conceptual knowledge in these students. Study I concerned the first attempts to measure individual differences in children’s spontaneous recognition and use of quantitative relations in 86 Finnish children from the ages of five to seven years. Results revealed that there were substantial inter-individual differences in the spontaneous recognition and use of quantitative relations in these tasks. This was particularly true for the oldest group of participants, who were in grade one (roughly seven years old). However, the study did not control for ability to solve the tasks using quantitative relations, so it was not clear if these differences were due to ability or SFOR. Study II more deeply investigated the nature of the two tasks reported in Study I, through the use of a stimulated-recall procedure examining children’s verbalizations of how they interpreted the tasks. Results reveal that participants were able to verbalize reasoning about their quantitative relational responses, but not their responses based on exact number. Furthermore, participants’ non-mathematical responses revealed a variety of other aspects, beyond quantitative relations and exact number, which participants focused on in completing the tasks. These results suggest that exact number may be more easily perceived than quantitative relations. As well, these tasks were revealed to contain both mathematical and non-mathematical aspects which were interpreted by the participants as relevant. Study III investigated individual differences in SFOR 84 children, ages five to nine, from the US and is the first to report on the connection between SFOR and other mathematical abilities. The cross-sectional data revealed that there were individual differences in SFOR. Importantly, these differences were not entirely explained by the ability to solve the tasks using quantitative relations, suggesting that SFOR is partially independent from the ability to use quantitative relations. In other words, the lack of use of quantitative relations on the SFOR tasks was not solely due to participants being unable to solve the tasks using quantitative relations, but due to a lack of the spontaneous attention to the quantitative relations in the tasks. Furthermore, SFOR tendency was found to be related to arithmetic fluency among these participants. This is the first evidence to suggest that SFOR may be a partially distinct aspect of children’s existing mathematical competences. Study IV presented a follow-up study of the first graders who participated in Studies I and II, examining SFOR tendency as a predictor of their conceptual knowledge of fraction magnitudes in fourth grade. Results revealed that first graders’ SFOR tendency was a unique predictor of fraction conceptual knowledge in fourth grade, even after controlling for general mathematical skills. These results are the first to suggest that SFOR tendency may play a role in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge. Study V presents a longitudinal study of the development of 263 Finnish students’ rational number conceptual knowledge over a one year period. During this time participants completed a measure of conceptual knowledge of the magnitude representations and the density of rational numbers at three time points. First, a Latent Profile Analysis indicated that a four-class model, differentiating between those participants with high magnitude comparison and density knowledge, was the most appropriate. A Latent Transition Analysis reveal that few students display sustained conceptual change with density concepts, though conceptual change with magnitude representations is present in this group. Overall, this study indicated that there were severe deficiencies in conceptual knowledge of rational numbers, especially concepts of density. The longitudinal Study VI presented a synthesis of the previous studies in order to specifically detail the role of SFOR tendency in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge. Thus, the same participants from Study V completed a measure of SFOR, along with the rational number test, including a fourth time point. Results reveal that SFOR tendency was a predictor of rational number conceptual knowledge after two school years, even after taking into consideration prior rational number knowledge (through the use of residualized SFOR scores), arithmetic fluency, and non-verbal intelligence. Furthermore, those participants with higher-than-expected SFOR scores improved significantly more on magnitude representation and density concepts over the four time points. These results indicate that SFOR tendency is a strong predictor of rational number conceptual development in late primary school children. The results of the six studies reveal that within children’s existing mathematical competences there can be identified a spontaneous quantitative focusing tendency named spontaneous focusing on quantitative relations. Furthermore, this tendency is found to play a role in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge in primary school children. Results suggest that conceptual change with the magnitude representations and density of rational numbers is rare among this group of students. However, those children who are more likely to notice and use quantitative relations in situations that are not explicitly mathematical seem to have an advantage in the development of rational number conceptual knowledge. It may be that these students gain quantitative more and qualitatively better self-initiated deliberate practice with quantitative relations in everyday situations due to an increased SFOR tendency. This suggests that it may be important to promote this type of mathematical activity in teaching rational numbers. Furthermore, these results suggest that there may be a series of spontaneous quantitative focusing tendencies that have an impact on mathematical development throughout the learning trajectory.

Balancing creativity and risk intelligence in professional knowledge-intensive business services

The main strengths of professional knowledge-intensive business services (P-KIBS) are knowledge and creativity which needs to be fostered, maintained and supported. The process of managing P-KIBS companies deals with financial, operational and strategic risks. That is why it is reasonable to apply risk management techniques and frameworks in this context. A significant challenge hides in choosing reasonable ways of implementing risk management, which will not limit creative ability in organization, and furthermore will contribute to the process. This choice is related to a risk intelligent approach which becomes a justified way of finding the required balance. On a theoretical level the field of managing both creativity and risk intelligence as a balanced process remains understudied in particular within KIBS industry. For instance, there appears to be a wide range of separate models for innovation and risk management, but very little discussion in terms of trying to find the right balance between them. This study aims to shed light on the importance of well-managed combination of these concepts. The research purpose of the present study is to find out how the balance between creativity and risk intelligence can be managed in P-KIBS. The methodological approach utilized in the study is strictly conceptual without empirical aspects. The research purpose can be achieved through answering the following research supporting questions: 1. What are the characteristics and role of creativity as a component of innovation process in a P-KIBS company? 2. What are the characteristics and role of risk intelligence as an approach towards risk management process implementation in a P-KIBS company? 3. How can risk intelligence and creativity be balanced in P-KIBS? The main theoretical contribution of the study conceals in a proposed creativity and risk intelligence stage process framework. It is designed as an algorithm that can be applied on organizational canvas. It consists of several distinct stages specified by actors involved, their roles and implications. Additional stage-wise description provides detailed tasks for each of the enterprise levels, while combining strategies into one. The insights driven from the framework can be utilized by a vast range of specialists from strategists to risk managers, and from innovation managers to entrepreneurs. Any business that is designing and delivering knowledge service can potentially gain valuable thoughts and expand conceptual understanding from the present report. Risk intelligence in the current study is a unique way of emphasizing the role of creativity in professional knowledge-intensive industry and a worthy technique for making profound decisions towards risks.

Employees’ continuous learning and job satisfaction - effects on productivity

In today’s knowledge intense economy the human capital is a source for competitive advantage for organizations. Continuous learning and sharing the knowledge within the organization are important to enhance and utilize this human capital in order to maximize the productivity. The new generation with different views and expectations of work is coming to work life giving its own characteristics on learning and sharing. Work should offer satisfaction so that the new generation employees would commit to organizations. At the same time organizations have to be able to focus on productivity to survive in the competitive market. The objective of this thesis is to construct a theory based framework of productivity, continuous learning and job satisfaction and further examine this framework and its applications in a global organization operating in process industry. Suggestions for future actions are presented for this case organization. The research is a qualitative case study and the empiric material was gathered by personal interviews concluding 15 employee and one supervisor interview. Results showed that more face to face interaction is needed between employees for learning because much of the knowledge of the process is tacit and so difficult to share in other ways. Offering these sharing possibilities can also impact positively to job satisfaction because they will increase the sense of community among employees which was found to be lacking. New employees demand more feedback to improve their learning and confidence. According to the literature continuous learning and job satisfaction have a relative strong relationship on productivity. The employee’s job description in the case organization has moved towards knowledge work due to continuous automation and expansion of the production process. This emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and means that productivity can be seen also from quality perspective. The normal productivity output in the case organization is stable and by focusing on the quality of work by improving continuous learning and job satisfaction the upsets in production can be handled and prevented more effectively. Continuous learning increases also the free human capital input and utilization of it and this can breed output increasing innovations that can increase productivity in long term. Also job satisfaction can increase productivity output in the end because employees will work more efficiently, not doing only the minimum tasks required. Satisfied employees are also found participating more in learning activities.

Show me your brain! Stories of interdisciplinary knowledge creation in practice. Experiences and observations from Aalto Design Factory, Finland.

This dissertation centres on the themes of knowledge creation, interdisciplinarity and knowledge work. My research approaches interdisciplinary knowledge creation (IKC) as practical situated activity. I argue that by approaching IKC from the practice-based perspective makes it possible to “deconstruct” how knowledge creation actually happens, and demystify its strong intellectual, mentalistic and expertise-based connotations. I have rendered the work of the observed knowledge workers into something ordinary, accessible and routinized. Consequently this has made it possible to grasp the pragmatic challenges as well the concrete drivers of such activity. Thus the effective way of organizing such activities becomes a question of organizing and leading effective everyday practices. To achieve that end, I have conducted ethnographic research of one explicitly interdisciplinary space within higher education, Aalto Design Factory in Helsinki, Finland, where I observed how students from different disciplines collaborated in new product development projects. I argue that IKC is a multi-dimensional construct that intertwines a particular way of doing; a way of experiencing; a way of embodied being; and a way of reflecting on the very doing itself. This places emphasis not only the practices themselves, but also on the way the individual experiences the practices, as this directly affects how the individual practices. My findings suggest that in order to effectively organize and execute knowledge creation activities organizations need to better accept and manage the emergent diversity and complexity inherent in such activities. In order to accomplish this, I highlight the importance of understanding and using a variety of (material) objects, the centrality of mundane everyday practices, the acceptance of contradictions and negotiations well as the role of management that is involved and engaged. To succeed in interdisciplinary knowledge creation is to lead not only by example, but also by being very much present in the very everyday practices that make it happen.