Projektinhallintaprosessin suorituskykymittariston kehittäminen

Yritysten toimintaympäristöjen muuttuminen, organisaatioiden rajojen hämärtyminen ja aineettoman pääoman merkityksen korostuminen vaikeuttavat sekä onnistuneen strategian luontia, että sen toteuttamista. Strategisten mittausjärjestelmien avulla pyritään kehittämään ja varmistamaan strategian toteutuminen liiketoiminnassa. Parhaimmillaan hyvä mittaristo kertoo mitkä ovat yrityksen strategiset tavoitteet ja mihin yritys tulevaisuudessa haluaa panostaa. Suorituskyvyn mittaamisessa on perinteisesti keskitytty taloudellisiin mittareihin. Taloudelliset luvut ovat usein menneeseen viittaavia seuraustekijöitä, ei tulevaisuuteen katsovia mittareita. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli projektiliiketoimintaa harjoittavan yrityksen projektinhallintaprosessin suorituskykymittariston kehittäminen. Tavoitteena oli rakentaa projektinhallintaprosessille tasapainoinen suorituskykymittaristo, joka ottaa huomioon myös aineettoman pääoman. Tutkimuksen tutkimusote oli toimintaanalyyttinen, jonka lisäksi tutkimus sisältää konstruktiivisen ja kvalitatiivisen tutkimusotteen piirteitä. Tutkimuksen tuloksia arvioitaessa havaitaan, että valitut mittarit ovat kiinteästi sidoksissa projektinhallintaprosessin kriittisiin menestystekijöihin. Kriittiset menestystekijät puolestaan valittiin tunnistetuista menestystekijöistä, jotka määriteltiin yrityksen strategiaan ja visioon perustuen. Mittariston tasapainoisuus näkyy aineettoman ja aineellisen pääoman mittareiden välillä kattaen samalla tasapainon ennakoivien ja seurausmittareiden kesken. Haasteellisinta oli projektinhallintaprosessin aineettoman pääoman mittaaminen, jota ei aikaisemmin ole mitattu. Aineettoman pääoman mittaaminen tasapainoisen mittariston viitekehyksessä on mahdollista, mutta vaatii organisaation ymmärryksen miksi aineetonta pääomaa mitataan ja miten se vaikuttaa kokonaisvaltaiseen suorituskykyyn.

Asuntosijoittaminen: demografisten ja taloudellisten muuttujien vaikutus asuntojen hinta- ja vuokrakehitykseen Suomessa

Tutkielman tavoitteena on tehdä katsaus asuntosijoittamiseen sekä löytää asuntosijoittajalle tärkeää tietoa asuntojen hinta- ja vuokrakehitykseen vaikuttavista alueellisista tekijöistä. Asuntojen hintoihin vaikuttavia tekijöitä tutkitaan sekä kasvukaupungeissa että rakennemuutosalueilla. Asuntojen vuokrakehitykseen vaikuttavia selittäviä tekijöitä tutkitaan koko Suomen, pääkaupunkiseudun ja muun Suomen alueilla. Tutkimus toteutetaan käyttäen lineaarista regressioanalyysiä ja käytettävä aineisto koostuu muuttujien aikasarjoista vuosilta 1988–2010 sekä 1996–2009. Saatujen tulosten perusteella nettokansantulolla ja asuntokunnan käytet-tävissä olevalla rahatulolla on selkeä vaikutus asuntojen hintakehitykseen kasvukeskuksissa. Rakennemuutosalueilla työllisyyden ja teollisuuden vaikutukset ovat vahvoja. Asuntojen vuokriin vaikuttavista tekijöistä mm. asuinkerrostalokannalla, aloittaneiden yritysten määrällä ja asuntokunnan käytettävissä olevalla rahatulolla voidaan nähdä olevan selkeä vaikutus neliövuokran kehitykseen.

Sahan ohjausjärjestelmä myynti- ja toimitusketjun apuvälineenä sahan kannattavuuden kehittämisessä

Diplomityössä tarkasteltiin sahalaitokselle investoidun tuotannon ohjausjärjestelmän toimivuutta ja käytettävyyttä. Tutkimuksessa vertailtiin aikaisemmin suunnittelun apuna toimineita järjestelmiä uuteen ohjausjärjestelmään. Tavoitteena oli selvittää onko uuden järjestelmän sisäänajo onnistunut niin, että se tuottaisi oikeaa tietoa sahausprosessista. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin myös kuinka sahan uutta ohjausjärjestelmää voitaisiin hyödyntää yrityksen myynti- ja toimitusketjun kannalta parhaiten ja huomioiden erityisesti kannattavuuslaskennallinen näkökulma. Lisäksi pohdittiin integraatiomahdollisuuksia yrityksessä käytössä oleviin muihin suunnittelujärjestelmiin. Tutkimuksen taustalla on sahateollisuuden entisestäänkin kiristynyt tilanne ja toisaalta tarve tulevaisuuden suunnitelmallisuuden parantamiseen. Kilpailussa mukana pysyminen edellyttää sahausprosessista saatavan tietomäärän keräämistä, tallentamista ja ennen kaikkea tiedon parempaa hyväksikäyttöä. Tutkimuksen kohteena ollut sahalaitos vastasi tulevaisuuden tiukentuneisiin olosuhteisiin investoimalla uuteen ohjausjärjestelmään ja uskoi siitä saatavan hyödyn auttavan heitä parantamaan sekä yksittäisten tuotteiden että koko tuotevalikoiman kannattavuutta. Ohjausjärjestelmän toivottiin tuovan todenmukaisempaa ja monipuolisempaa tietoa yrityksen suunnittelutyölle. Sahalaitoksen kannattavuuden parempi seuraaminen ja tuotevalikoiman sekä suunnittelun parempi kohdentaminen helpottuu sähköisen ohjausjärjestelmän avulla huomattavasti. Ohjausjärjestelmän kautta kannattavuuden tunnusluvut saadaan nopeammin myynti- ja toimitusketjun tietoon, poikkeamiin pystytään puuttumaan ajoissa ja yleinen tietoisuus sahausprosessista paranee. Ohjausjärjestelmän avulla mahdollistetaan entistä joustavampi koesahaus ja reklamaatioeriin porautuminen onnistuu niin ikään vaivattomammin. Yksi hyödyllinen integraatiomahdollisuus olisi SAP:n ja uuden ohjausjärjestelmän yhdistäminen, jossa hinta- ja reklamaatiotieto saataisiin yhteneväksi. Kun ohjausjärjestelmä saadaan varmuudella tuottamaan oikeaa tietoa sahausprosessista, on siitä saatava hyöty myynti- ja toimitusketjulle todellinen. Kalliin raaka-aineen entistä tehokkaampi hyödyntäminen, tuotepaletin suunnittelu ja myynnin kohdentaminen kannattavimpiin tuotteisiin, ovat tärkeä osa niitä asioita joihin järjestelmä tuo helpotusta. Tulevaisuudessa ohjausjärjestelmän jatkokehitykseen tulisi kiinnittää erityistä huomiota, jotta voitaisiin taata asiakaslähtöisyys ja kannattava tuoterakenne osana menestyksekästä liiketoimintaa.

Ylioptimismin Vaikutus Listautumisantien Alihinnoitteluun Suomen Markkinoilla

Osakeyhtiöiden pörssiin listautumisia tutkittaessa on yleisesti huomattu, että ensimmäisen listautumispäivän aikana kyseisten yhtiöiden osakkeiden tarjoamat tuotot ovat poikkeuksellisen suuria. Kyseinen ilmiö tunnetaan yleisesti listautumisannin alihinnoittelun anomaliana. Listautumisista keskusteltaessa teorioita on luotu kolmesta eri anomaliasta; (i) uusien osakkeiden alihinnoittelu, (ii) alihinnoittelun syklisyys (Ritter, 1984) ja (iii) alihinnoitellun listautumisannin pitkän aikavälin huono menestyminen (Ritter, 1991). Useat tutkimukset (mm. Beatty ja Ritter, 1986) osoittavat, että ainoastaan maltillinen alihinnoittelu on edukasta listautuvalle yritykselle, mutta ennen kaikkea annin järjestäjälle. Lisäksi mm. Shillerin (1990) tekemä kyselytutkimus, jonka mukaan suurin osa sijoittajista ei perusta listautuvaan yritykseen kohdistuvia sijoituksiaan fundamentteihin, osoittaa, että tuotot eivät ole puhtaasti seurausta ainoastaan alihinnoittelusta. Tämä tutkimus pyrkii määrittelemään aiemmin vähäisesti tutkittua markkinoiden ylioptimismin vaikutusta listautumisannin jälkeisiin ensimmäisen päivän tuottoihin (alihinnoitteluun), käyttämällä aiempien tutkimusten tuloksia ja perusteltuja päätelmiä teoriapohjan luonnissa. Luotua teoriaa testataan empiirisesti käyttäen hyödyksi Helsingin pörssiin (OMXH) listautuneista yrityksistä vuodesta 1998 vuoden 2007 loppuun kerättyä dataa. Aineiston tuottamat tulokset tukivat aiempaa kirjallisuutta. Lisäksi tutkimuksista kyettiin toteamaan, että ylioptimismilla on vaikutusta listautumisantien jälkeisissä lyhyen aikavälin tuotoissa. Tuloksiin on kuitenkin suhtauduttava kriittisesti pienen aineistokoon takia.

Suomalainen yksityismetsäsijoittaminen ja siihen vaikuttavat

Tutkimus suomalaisesta yksityismetsäsijoittamisesta ja siihen vaikuttavista Suomen sisäisistä ja ulkoisista tekijöistä.

Hazard Risk Management in Large Nordic Companies' Operations in Russia

The objective of this research was to describe how Nordic companies manage hazard risks in their operations in Russia and how the local business environment is considered to affect the hazard risks. Research methods used in this research were literature review and expert interviews. Twelve Nordic industrial companies operating in different fields of industry were interviewed. Large Nordic companies typically guide risk management centralized from the parent company on behalf of the whole company group and the risk management standards and policies are integrated in all subsidiaries. Parent companies typically control hazard risk management in Russia by regular risk management reporting, auditing the Russian sites and by training local managers and employees to risk management work. Many companies have experienced several losses in the first years of operating in Russia before the risk management policies have been implemented in Russian subsidiaries. The companies have learned to take local characteristics better into account by experience and most companies are quite satisfied with their current risk management standards in Russia. The interviews indicate that companies experience especially the poor quality of infrastructure, some features in Russian organizational culture and high level of criminality to increase hazard risks in Russia. However, understanding these features and risks in the business environment makes the management of these risks possible. Risks related to infrastructure can be managed in advance by decreasing dependencies of infrastructure and considering the infrastructure quality already when planning the business operations. Also good local network is often considered critical in order to overcome the complications related to infrastructure. Russian personnel has typically different attitude towards risk management than Nordic personnel and neglecting safety and maintenance and concealing losses is more typical in Russia. By training and guiding the local personnel risk management and safety work and desired ways of actions these risks can be decreased. Criminality risks are often managed to certain extent by investing in security, increasing supervising and paying attention to reliability of the employees and other interest groups of the company.

Observations of Industry Momentum Effect in European Equity Indices

This thesis examines the existence and nature of momentum effect in European equity indices. A set of predefined indicators is used to compose momentum portfolios and different holding periods are used to test the strategies over variable time periods as well as under different economical conditions. The data consists of daily closing prices of STOXX Europe 600 index and its 18 super sector indices. Over the study period we follow the performances of a long position in the Winner portfolio, a position in the market neutral zero-cost portfolio and also a position in the risk-controlled zero-cost portfolio. The investment ratio of the risk-controlled zero-cost portfolio is negatively correlated with the realized market volatility. The results show that momentum effect is present in European industries and is most prominent in the short-term. Indicators that are based on short-term performance tend predict the over- and underperformers for the 1-month holding period more reliably than any other indicator/holding period combination. The examination of the strategies under different economical conditions shows that the market neutral approach can create significant returns in times of recession but in times of economic boom the long position in Winner portfolio outperforms the market neutral portfolio by an extensive margin.

Pricing anomalies in the Finnish stock market

The aim of this thesis is to examine whether the pricing anomalies exists in the Finnish stock markets by comparing the performance of quantile portfolios that are formed on the basis of either individual valuation ratios, composite value measures or combined value and momentum indicators. All the research papers included in the thesis show evidence of value anomalies in the Finnish stock markets. In the first paper, the sample of stocks over the 1991-2006 period is divided into quintile portfolios based on four individual valuation ratios (i.e., E/P, EBITDA/EV, B/P, and S/P) and three hybrids of them (i.e. composite value measures). The results show the superiority of composite value measures as selection criterion for value stocks, particularly when EBITDA/EV is employed as earnings multiple. The main focus of the second paper is on the impact of the holding period length on performance of value strategies. As an extension to the first paper, two more individual ratios (i.e. CF/P and D/P) are included in the comparative analysis. The sample of stocks over 1993- 2008 period is divided into tercile portfolios based on six individual valuation ratios and three hybrids of them. The use of either dividend yield criterion or one of three composite value measures being examined results in best value portfolio performance according to all performance metrics used. Parallel to the findings of many international studies, our results from performance comparisons indicate that for the sample data employed, the yearly reformation of portfolios is not necessarily optimal in order to maximally gain from the value premium. Instead, the value investor may extend his holding period up to 5 years without any decrease in long-term portfolio performance. The same holds also for the results of the third paper that examines the applicability of data envelopment analysis (DEA) method in discriminating the undervalued stocks from overvalued ones. The fourth paper examines the added value of combining price momentum with various value strategies. Taking account of the price momentum improves the performance of value portfolios in most cases. The performance improvement is greatest for value portfolios that are formed on the basis of the 3-composite value measure which consists of D/P, B/P and EBITDA/EV ratios. The risk-adjusted performance can be enhanced further by following 130/30 long-short strategy in which the long position of value winner stocks is leveraged by 30 percentages while simultaneously selling short glamour loser stocks by the same amount. Average return of the long-short position proved to be more than double stock market average coupled with the volatility decrease. The fifth paper offers a new approach to combine value and momentum indicators into a single portfolio-formation criterion using different variants of DEA models. The results throughout the 1994-2010 sample period shows that the top-tercile portfolios outperform both the market portfolio and the corresponding bottom-tercile portfolios. In addition, the middle-tercile portfolios also outperform the comparable bottom-tercile portfolios when DEA models are used as a basis for stock classification criteria. To my knowledge, such strong performance differences have not been reported in earlier peer-reviewed studies that have employed the comparable quantile approach of dividing stocks into portfolios. Consistently with the previous literature, the division of the full sample period into bullish and bearish periods reveals that the top-quantile DEA portfolios lose far less of their value during the bearish conditions than do the corresponding bottom portfolios. The sixth paper extends the sample period employed in the fourth paper by one year (i.e. 1993- 2009) covering also the first years of the recent financial crisis. It contributes to the fourth paper by examining the impact of the stock market conditions on the main results. Consistently with the fifth paper, value portfolios lose much less of their value during bearish conditions than do stocks on average. The inclusion of a momentum criterion somewhat adds value to an investor during bullish conditions, but this added value turns to negative during bearish conditions. During bear market periods some of the value loser portfolios perform even better than their value winner counterparts. Furthermore, the results show that the recent financial crisis has reduced the added value of using combinations of momentum and value indicators as portfolio formation criteria. However, since the stock markets have historically been bullish more often than bearish, the combination of the value and momentum criteria has paid off to the investor despite the fact that its added value during bearish periods is negative, on an average.

Measuring effects of strategic utilization of social media in business-to-business marketing: Case Greenlux Finland Oy

Utilization of social media is increasingly common in B2B marketing. Social media is an efficient and cheap marketing and communication channel available for everyone, and thus extremely attractive marketing medium. The more companies get involved in social media the more failures are reported. It is not enough for a company to just be present in social media. Succeeding on it requires hard work, investing time and money, and ability to measure and to monitor performance. With an increasing number of companies failing in utilizing social media, together with lack of research on strategic utilization of social media focusing on B2B marketing, measuring, and monitoring create a purpose for this research. The aim of this research is to discover methods for measuring and monitoring effects of strategic utilization of social media in B2B marketing. Most relevant financial and non-financial indicators are discussed, and the methods by which these can be monitored and measured. In addition, effects of strategic utilization of social media on the case company are measured and analyzed. The research methodology used in this research is a participatory action research, which includes elements of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The case company examined in the research provides a unique opportunity to follow through all phases of strategic utilization of social media for B2B marketing purposes concluding real effects of social media to the case company, and thus gain a deep understanding about this new marketing medium in the perspective of B2B marketing. Duration of the research period is seven months. During this time, information is collected, measured, and analyzed. Case company does not have any other marketing activities simultaneously which makes it possible to examine social media apart from effects of other visible marketing activities. Effects of strategic utilization of social media can be monitored and measured in many ways. Methods that should be used depend on goals set for social media. Fundamental nature of social media requires multidimensional assessment, and thus effects should be measured, and monitored considering both financial and non-financial indicators. The results implicates that effects of strategic utilization of social media are relatively wide ranged. According to the findings, social media affects positively on brand, number of web page visitors, visitor behavior, and on distribution of awareness. According to investment calculations social media is a legitimate investment for case company. Results also implicate that by using social media case company gains conversation, arouses interest, gets attention, and creates interactivity. In addition and as a side note, winter holiday season appears to have a great effect on social media activity of B2B companies’ representatives.

The us subprime crisis and stock market integration: evidence from the BRICS

The aim of this study is to examine the level of stock market co-movement in the BRICS countries and three major industrialized countries (Japan, UK and USA). While analyzing the interdependence and integration of markets, two subsets are examined: before (2000 – 2007) and during the global financial crisis (2007-2011). Generally, interdependence across markets is likely to increase during a highly volatile period. This is problematic because if it were true, the main benefit of international diversification would be reduced at times when it is most needed. The results reveal the dominant role of the US financial markets over the examined time period. Empirical studies of this research paper indicate that cross-market linkages have become slightly stronger during the ongoing subprime crisis than before crisis. However, results also show that an investor may obtain some international diversification benefits by investing especially in the BRICS countries despite the fact of unstable economic condition and growing globalization.

Interdependence of Emerging Eastern European stock markets

One of the main developments in the global economy during the past decades has been the growth of emerging economies. Projections for their long-term growth, changes in the investment climate, corporate transparency and demography point to an increasing role for these emerging economies in the global economy. Today, emerging economies are usually considered as financial markets offering opportunities for high returns, good risk diversification and improved return-to-risk ratios. However, researchers have noted that these advantages may be in decline because of the increasing market integration. Nevertheless, it is likely that certain financial markets and specific sectors will remain partially segmented and somewhat insulated from the global economy for the year to come. This doctoral dissertation investigates several stock markets in Emerging Eastern Europe (EEE), including the ones in Russia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Slovenia. The objective is to analyze the returns and financial risks in these emerging markets from international investor’s point of view. This study also examines the segmentation/integration of these financial markets and the possibilities to diversify and hedge financial risk. The dissertation is divided into two parts. The first includes a review of the theoretical background for the articles and a review of the literature on EEE stock markets. It includes an overview of the methodology and research design applied in the analysis and a summary of articles from the second part of this dissertation and their main findings. The second part consists of four research publications. This work contributes to studies on emerging stock markets in four ways. First, it adds to the body of research on the pricing of risk, providing new empirical evidence about partial stock market segmentation in EEE. The results suggest that the aggregate emerging market risk is a relevant driver for stock market returns and that this market risk can be used to price financial instruments and forecast their performance. Second, it contributes to the empirical research on the integration of stock markets, asset prices and exchange rates by identifying the relationships between these markets through volatility and asset pricing. The results show that certain sectors of stock markets in EEE are not as integrated as others. For example, the Polish consumer goods sector, the Hungarian telecommunications sector, and the Czech financial sector are somewhat isolated from their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. Nevertheless, an analysis of the impact of EU accession in 2004 on stock markets suggests that most of the EEE markets are becoming increasingly integrated with the global markets. Third, this thesis complements the scientific literature in the field of shock and volatility spillovers by examining the mechanism of spillover distribution among the EU and EEE countries. The results illustrate that spillovers in emerging markets are mostly from a foreign exchange to the stock markets. Moreover, the results show that the effects of external shocks on stock markets have increased after the enlargement of the EU in 2004. Finally, this study is unique because it analyzes the effects of foreign macroeconomic news on geographically closely related countries. The results suggest that the effects of macroeconomic announcements on volatility are significant and have effect that varies across markets and their sectors. Moreover, the results show that the foreign macroeconomic news releases, somewhat surprisingly, have a greater effect on the EEE markets than the local macroeconomic news. This dissertation has a number of implications for the industry and for practitioners. It analyses financial risk associated with investing in Emerging Eastern Europe. Investors may use this information to construct and optimize investment portfolios. Moreover, this dissertation provides insights for investors and portfolio managers considering asset allocation to protect value or obtain higher returns. The results have also implications for asset pricing and portfolio selection in light of macroeconomic news releases.

Towards conceptually comprehensive and integrated theory of entrepreneurial opportunity

Insufficient understanding of entrepreneurial opportunities characterizes entrepreneurship research (Companys & McMullen 2006, 302). Subsequently, the purpose of this study was to analyze the concept of entrepreneurial opportunity and to explore and synthetize the integrated theory of entrepreneurial opportunity. A theoretical and concept analytical approach was adapted. Findings of this study was that entrepreneurial opportunity concept was used for variety of different phenomena. No commonly accepted definition existed. Altogether 24 attributes that described the concept were found. The most frequently attached attributes were agent and action, new goods and services, market, value, new means ends or both, and future. Further, the results implied that opportunity could be best understood as a part of a process. Opportunity emerges out of intervened factors. Changes in the environment together with factors related to knowledge, cognition and social ties are the most important drivers of opportunity. Preventing factors that impeded the emergence of opportunity were typically related to cognitive and organizational factors. This study found a tendency towards more integrated theory of entrepreneurial opportunity. The integrated theory acknowledged the usefulness of both discovery and creation theories of opportunity in explaining opportunity. Yet three argument types of integrating two different opportunity theories were identified. These were process category, contextual category and complementing category. Opportunity is at the same time cognitive, social and linguistic construct, although it is shaped by the objective environment. Opportunity requires linguistic endeavors to become explicit. Materialization of opportunity occurs in a social context. Moreover, it is always characterized by some extent of subjectivity, as opportunities cannot appear without the agent and their action. Due to these the concept remains always to some extent ambiguous. Tolerating and harnessing change and investing in human and social capital create the preeminent environment for the entrepreneurial opportunity to be identified.