Laboratory projects using inquiry-based learning: an application to a practical inorganic course

This paper reports how laboratory projects (LP) coupled to inquiry-based learning (IBL) were implemented in a practical inorganic chemistry course. Several coordination compounds have been successfully synthesised by students according to the proposed topics by the LP-IBL junction, and the chemistry of a number of metals has been studied. Qualitative data were collected from written reports, oral presentations, lab-notebook reviews and personal discussions with the students through an experimental course with undergraduate second-year students at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia during the last 5 years. Positive skills production was observed by combining LP and IBL. Conceptual, practical, interpretational, constructional (questions, explanations, hypotheses), communicational, environmental and application abilities were revealed by the students throughout the experimental course.

Alueellisen innovaatiojärjestelmän kehityspolku - case Kouvolan seutu

Tutkimus on esiselvitystyö, jonka tavoitteena oli selvittää miten luoda innovaatiojärjestelmä Kouvolan seudulle. Lisäksi tavoitteena oli selvittää alueen innovaatiojärjestelmän nykytila, tutkia miten toimijat saadaan sitoutumaan ja toimimaan kohti yhteistä päämäärää sekä kuvata prosessi kehitystyölle. Kouvolan seudulla on tapahtunut lähiaikoina runsaasti muutoksia, jotka vaikuttavat myös innovaatiotoimintaan. Kehitystä on tapahtunut, mutta kehitystä on kiihdytettävä, jotta alue on tulevaisuudessa elinvoimainen seutu asua ja yrittää. Suoritettujen kahdeksan asiantuntijahaastattelun pohjalta voidaan todeta, että Kouvolan seudulla ei nykyisellään ole innovaatiojärjestelmää. Kouvolan seudulla on innovaatiojärjestelmän osia, mutta toiminta on hajanaista ja toimijoilla ei ole selkeää kuvaa omasta roolistaan osana kokonaisuutta. Innovaatioiden syntyä ei voi jättää sattuman käsiin, vaan uusien innovaatioiden syntyminen vaatii yhteistyötä ja vuorovaikutusta eri yritysten ja organisaatioiden välillä. Innovaatiojärjestelmän luomiseen Kouvolan seudulle ei ole yhtä oikeaa ja helppoa tietä. Harmaakorven alueellinen kehitysalustamenetelmä tarjoaa selkeän prosessin kehitystyöhön, mutta onko Kouvolassa tarvittavia resursseja ja osaamista prosessin läpivientiin? Tulisiko lähteä liikkeelle pienistä asioista, yhteisesti määritellyistä käsitteistä, päämääristä ja rooleista. Yhtenä ratkaisuna on Kouvolan seudun innovaatio-ohjelman rakentaminen, jossa nämä määritellään. Ohjelman kehittämisessä on syytä olla mukana mahdollisimman laajalti innovaatiojärjestelmän toimijoita, mutta kehittämisprosessin on syytä olla kevyt. Jo ohjelmaa kehittäessä tarvitaan erilaisia pilot-projekteja ja foorumeita, joiden kautta Kouvolan seudun innovaatiojärjestelmää saadaan kehitettyä ja pikku hiljaa rakennettua luottamusta ja yhteistyötä. Tekemisen kautta tietoisuus toiminnasta ja sen eduista leviää, ja Kouvolan seudun saadaan luotua toimiva alueellinen innovaatiojärjestelmä.

Project owner’s and outside engineering consultant’s role in power plant implementation projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of co-operation between a project owner and an outside engineering consultant in combined heat and power plant implementation projects. Moreover, as another focal subject of the study was to familiarize the purchasing behavior of the energy producer and how an outside engineering consultant participated into different stages of the purchasing process. The study was carried out as a multiple case study including altogether six Finnish power plant implementation projects that had been taken into commercial use during 1995 – 2015. By adjusting the findings of empirical interview data and comparing those to the theoretical framework concerning, among others, Finnish energy production, engineering consulting businesses, delivery methods of construction project and finally the purchasing process, it can be concluded that especially in the power plant implementation projects in the past have a great influence to decisions made during the project. The role of the main engineering consultant is to act as an assistant, who helps to achieve the project goals successfully rather than an advisor who only knows how the project should be conducted. At least in these five project cases this was the case, meaning that the final decision power always remaining with project owner.

Evaluating the success of software development projects in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus

The size and complexity of projects in the software development are growing very fast. At the same time, the proportion of successful projects is still quite low according to the previous research. Although almost every project's team knows main areas of responsibility which would help to finish project on time and on budget, this knowledge is rarely used in practice. So it is important to evaluate the success of existing software development projects and to suggest a method for evaluating success chances which can be used in the software development projects. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the success of projects in the selected geographical region (Russia-Ukraine-Belarus). The second aim is to compare existing models of success prediction and to determine their strengths and weaknesses. Research was done as an empirical study. A survey with structured forms and theme-based interviews were used as the data collection methods. The information gathering was done in two stages. At the first stage, project manager or someone with similar responsibilities answered the questions over Internet. At the second stage, the participant was interviewed; his or her answers were discussed and refined. It made possible to get accurate information about each project and to avoid errors. It was found out that there are many problems in the software development projects. These problems are widely known and were discussed in literature many times. The research showed that most of the projects have problems with schedule, requirements, architecture, quality, and budget. Comparison of two models of success prediction presented that The Standish Group overestimates problems in project. At the same time, McConnell's model can help to identify problems in time and avoid troubles in future. A framework for evaluating success chances in distributed projects was suggested. The framework is similar to The Standish Group model but it was customized for distributed projects.

Coaching agile methods in research and development projects

Agile coaching of a project team is one way to aid learning of the agile methods. The objective of this thesis is to present the agile coaching plan and to follow how complying the plan affects to the project teams. Furthermore, the agile methods are followed how they work in the projects. Two projects are used to help the research. From the thesis point of view, the task for the first project is to coach the project team and two new coaches. The task for the second project is also to coach the project team, but this time so that one of the new coaches acts as the coach. The agile methods Scrum process and Extreme programming are utilized by the projects. In the latter, the test driven development, continuous integration and pair programming are concentrated more precisely. The results of the work are based on the observations from the projects and the analysis derived from the observations. The results are divided to the effects of the coaching and to functionality of the agile methods in the projects. Because of the small sample set, the results are directional. The presented plan, to coach the agile methods, needs developing, but the results of the functionality of the agile methods are encouraging.

Liikennemerkkien hankinta ja käänteinen huutokauppa

The aim of this study was to find out the benefits of centralized procurement. Research began with description of sourcing process and tools used in it. In this process the final tendering was done with e-auction. Due the fact that e-auction is unknown for most people, there is also need to explain when it can be used and what are the pros and cons. In the end of the study the pros and cons of the centralized sourcing process were analysed. This research was qualitative and that is why the results can’t be generalised to all other situations. Spend-analysis, Cost Break Down and Kraljic Matrix were used during the sourcing process. Process began with product group analysis- After that the financial and strategic significance was analysed. After analyses first quotations were asked and according to the results suppliers were eliminated and the selected ones were invited to e-auction. E-auction is an event where suppliers bid in a live online situation against each other to have the lowest current price. Benefits of it are fast sourcing process, discovering the true market price and information transparency. In the other hand the biggest problem comes from weakened supplier relationships. Average prices degreased 26 % from the 2009 price level and acquired price level was over 20 % lover that prices asked by individual projects. In a e-auction only moderate 1,34 % saving was acquired, but it also had other benefits as increasing the internal interest towards it.

Requirement management in nuclear power projects

Diplomityön tarkoituksena oli tutkia vaatimusten hallintaa suunnittelu- ja konsultointiyrityksen kannalta Suomen ydinvoimaprojekteissa keskittyen ydinturvallisuus- ja laatuvaatimuksiin. Ydinvoimaprojekteissa toimiminen on edellyttänyt menettelyohjeiden ja laatujärjestelmän uudelleen organisointia yrityksessä ja esiin on noussut haasteita liittyen muun muassa vaatimusten tunnistamiseen ja todentamiseen erityyppisissä ja erilaajuisissa projekteissa. Työ toteutettiin perehtymällä ydinvoimaan liittyvään lainsäädäntöön Suomessa, ohjeisiin ja standardeihin sekä haastattelemalla yrityksen omia asiantuntijoita. Viimeaikaisista sekä meneillään olevista projekteista kerättiin kokemuksia sekä arvioitiin ydinvoima projekteja varten laaditun projektin toteutusohjeen toimivuutta ja käytettävyyttä esimerkkiprojektin avulla. Suurimmiksi haasteiksi tunnistettiin lainsäädännöllisten vaatimusten, kuten ydinvoima- laitosohjeiden (YVL) muuttuminen ja tulkinnanvaraisuus sekä asiakkaiden perehtymät- tömyys Suomen lainsäädäntöön ja vaatimustasoon liittyen ydinturvallisuuteen. Työn tuloksena tunnistettiin hyviä vaatimusten hallintaan liittyviä projektinhallintaa ja ydin- turvallisuutta edistäviä asioita, kuten vaatimusten täsmentäminen jo sopimustasolla sekä niiden täyttymisen seuranta projektin aikana. Erillisen vaatimustietokannan luomista ydinvoimaprojekteja varten tutkittiin, mutta siitä luovuttiin teknisten vaatimusten osalta kannattamattomana, sillä standardien ja vaatimusten määrä kasvoi niin suureksi, että niiden hallitseminen vaatisi enemmän työtä kuin mitä projektien taso yleensä sallisi.

Moskovan nykytaiteen biennaali Rewriting Worlds, Special Projects Wrong Address

Kuraattorit Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger ja Tero Puha, Biennaalin pääkuraattori Peter Weibel

Integration in project business : mechanisms for integrating customers and the project network during the life-cycle of industrial projects

This thesis focuses on integration in project business, i.e. how projectbased companies organize their product and process structures when they deliver industrial solutions to their customers. The customers that invest in these solutions run their businesses in different geographical, political and economical environments, which should be acknowledged by the supplier when providing solutions comprising of larger and more complex scopes than previously supplied to these customers. This means that the suppliers are increasing their supply range by taking over some of the activities in the value chain that have traditionally been handled by the customer. In order to be able to provide the functioning solutions, including more engineering hours, technical equipment and a wider project network, a change is needed in the mindset in order to be able to carry out and take the required responsibility that these new approaches bring. For the supplier it is important to be able to integrate technical products, systems and services, but the supplier also needs to have the capabilities to integrate the cross-functional organizations and departments in the project network, the knowledge and information between and within these organizations and departments, along with inputs from the customer into the product and process structures during the lifecycle of the project under development. Hence, the main objective of this thesis is to explore the challenges of integration that industrial projects meet, and based on that, to suggest a concept of how to manage integration in project business by making use of integration mechanisms. Integration is considered the essential process for accomplishing an industrial project, whereas the accomplishment of the industrial project is considered to be the result of the integration. The thesis consists of an extended summary and four papers, that are based on three studies in which integration mechanisms for value creation in industrial project networks and the management of integration in project business have been explored. The research is based on an inductive approach where in particular the design, commissioning and operations functions of industrial projects have been studied, addressing entire project life-cycles. The studies have been conducted in the shipbuilding and power generation industries where the scopes of supply consist of stand-alone equipment, equipment and engineering, and turnkey solutions. These industrial solutions include demanding efforts in engineering and organization. Addressing the calls for more studies on the evolving value chains of integrated solutions, mechanisms for inter- and intra-organizational integration and subsequent value creation in project networks have been explored. The research results in thirteen integration mechanisms and a typology for integration is proposed. Managing integration consists of integrating the project network (the supplier and the sub-suppliers) and the customer (the customer’s business purpose, operations environment and the end-user) into the project by making use of integration mechanisms. The findings bring new insight into research on industrial project business by proposing integration of technology and engineering related elements with elements related to customer oriented business performance in contemporary project environments. Thirteen mechanisms for combining products and the processes needed to deliver projects are described and categorized according to the impact that they have on the management of knowledge and information. These mechanisms directly relate to the performance of the supplier, and consequently to the functioning of the solution that the project provides. This thesis offers ways to promote integration of knowledge and information during the lifecycle of industrial projects, enhancing the development towards innovative solutions in project business.

Success factors of commercial open source software projects

Open source and open source software development have been interesting phenomena during the past decade. Traditional business models do not apply with open source, where the actual product is free. However, it is possible to make business with open source, even successfully, but the question is: how? The aim of this study is to find the key factors of successfully making business out of commercial open source software development. The task is achieved by finding the factors that influence open source projects, finding the relation between those factors, and find out why some factors explain the success more than others. The literature review concentrates first on background of open innovation, open source and open source software. Then business models, critical success factors and success measures are examined. Based on existing literature a framework was created. The framework contains categorized success factors that influence software projects in general as well as open source software projects. The main categories of success factors in software business are divided into community management, technology management, project management and market management. In order to find out which of the factors based on the existing literature are the most critical, empirical research was done by conducting unstructured personal interviews. The main finding based on the interviews is that the critical success factors in open source software business do not differ from those in traditional software business or in fact from those in any other business. Some factors in the framework came out in the interviews that can be considered as key factors: establishing and communicating hierarchy (community management), localization (technology management), good license know-how and IPR management (project management), and effective market management (market management). The critical success factors according to the interviewees are not listed in the framework: low price, good product and good business model development.

Practical Framework for Monitoring the Performance of Agile IT Projects in an Output-Based Outsourcing Context

Over the past decade, organizations worldwide have begun to widely adopt agile software development practices, which offer greater flexibility to frequently changing business requirements, better cost effectiveness due to minimization of waste, faster time-to-market, and closer collaboration between business and IT. At the same time, IT services are continuing to be increasingly outsourced to third parties providing the organizations with the ability to focus on their core capabilities as well as to take advantage of better demand scalability, access to specialized skills, and cost benefits. An output-based pricing model, where the customers pay directly for the functionality that was delivered rather than the effort spent, is quickly becoming a new trend in IT outsourcing allowing to transfer the risk away from the customer while at the same time offering much better incentives for the supplier to optimize processes and improve efficiency, and consequently producing a true win-win outcome. Despite the widespread adoption of both agile practices and output-based outsourcing, there is little formal research available on how the two can be effectively combined in practice. Moreover, little practical guidance exists on how companies can measure the performance of their agile projects, which are being delivered in an output-based outsourced environment. This research attempted to shed light on this issue by developing a practical project monitoring framework which may be readily applied by organizations to monitor the performance of agile projects in an output-based outsourcing context, thus taking advantage of the combined benefits of such an arrangement Modified from action research approach, this research was divided into two cycles, each consisting of the Identification, Analysis, Verification, and Conclusion phases. During Cycle 1, a list of six Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) was proposed and accepted by the professionals in the studied multinational organization, which formed the core of the proposed framework and answered the first research sub-question of what needs to be measured. In Cycle 2, a more in-depth analysis was provided for each of the suggested Key Performance Indicators including the techniques for capturing, calculating, and evaluating the information provided by each KPI. In the course of Cycle 2, the second research sub-question was answered, clarifying how the data for each KPI needed to be measured, interpreted, and acted upon. Consequently, after two incremental research cycles, the primary research question was answered describing the practical framework that may be used for monitoring the performance of agile IT projects delivered in an output-based outsourcing context. This framework was evaluated by the professionals within the context of the studied organization and received positive feedback across all four evaluation criteria set forth in this research, including the low overhead of data collection, high value of provided information, ease of understandability of the metric dashboard, and high generalizability of the proposed framework.