Big Datan liiketoiminnalliset mahdollisuudet ja haasteet

Tämän kandidaatintutkielman tarkoituksena oli selvittää minkälaisia liiketoiminnallisia mahdollisuuksia ja haasteita Big Dataan ja sen ominaispiirteisiin liittyy, ja miten Big Data määritellään nykyaikaisesti ja ajankohtaisesti. Tutkimusongelmaa lähestyttiin narratiivisen kirjallisuuskatsauksen keinoin. Toisin sanoen tutkielma on hajanaisen tiedon avulla koostettu yhtenäinen katsaus nykytilanteeseen. Lähdeaineisto koostuu pääosin tieteellisistä artikkeleista, mutta käytössä oli myös oppikirjamateriaalia, konferenssijulkaisuja ja uutisartikkeleja. Tutkimuksessa käytetyt akateemisen kirjallisuuden lähteet sisälsivät keskenään paljon samankaltaisia näkemyksiä tutkimusaihetta kohtaan. Niiden perusteella muodostettiin kaksi taulukkoa havaituista mahdollisuuksista ja haasteista, ja taulukoiden rivit nimettiin niitä kuvaavien ominaispiirteiden mukaan. Tutkimuksessa liiketoiminnalliset mahdollisuudet ja haasteet jaettiin viiteen pääkategoriaan ja neljään alakategoriaan. Tutkimus toteutettiin liiketoiminnan näkökulmasta, joten siinä sivuutettiin monenlaisia Big Datan teknisiä aspekteja. Tutkielman luonne on poikkitieteellinen, ja sen avulla pyritään havainnoimaan tämän hetken yhtä uusinta tietojenkäsittelykäsittelytieteiden termiä liiketoiminnallisessa kontekstissa. Tutkielmassa Big Dataan liittyvillä ominaispiirteillä todettiin olevan mahdollisuuksia, jotka voitiin jaotella korrelaatioiden havaitsemisen perusteella markkinoiden tarkemman segmentoinnin mahdollisuuksiin ja päätöksenteon tukena toimimiseen. Reaaliaikaisen seurannan mahdollisuudet perustuvat Big Datan nopeuteen ja kokoon, eli sen jatkuvaan kasvuun. Ominaispiirteisiin liittyvät haasteet voidaan jakaa viiteen kategoriaan, joista osa liittyy toimintaympäristöön ja osa organisaation sisäiseen toimintaan.

Organisational purchasing of service design – Agency and client perspectives

There has been an increase in the interest in service design, as companies have become more customer-centric and their focus has shifted to customer experiences. The actual organisational purchasing of service design has been given little attention, until recent years. The purpose of this study is to explore the purchasing of service design from the perspectives of sellers (service design agencies) and buying clients (business organisations). In order to understand the phenomenon, also agencies and clients’ approaches to service design discipline, purchasing processes, challenges related to purchasing and ways of facilitating the purchasing are explored. The research follows qualitative research method and utilises abductive reasoning. A proposition framework was formed by combining services marketing, design and organisational buying behaviour literatures, and was tested against real-life business cases. Empirical data was gathered by interviewing eight service design agency representatives and five client representatives in Finland. The results of semi-structural interviews were analysed by finding repetitive themes. The proposition framework was updated according to interview findings. There were both similarities and differences in service design agencies and clients’ approaches to service design. Service design represents a strategic activity to both parties, and it helps in clients’ business development and in discovering opportunities. It is an ideology; a way of thinking and working. The driving force for purchasing service design seemed to be something else than service design itself. Projects have been bought for 1) change and innovation related development, 2) channel related development or for 3) customer experience related development. Seven purchasing challenge themes were recognised: 1) poor or differing service design understanding, 2) selling of service design, 3) varying expectations, 4) difficulty of pre-evaluation, 5) buyers and buying companies, 6) project process and nature and 7) unclear project results. These all can be considered to cause challenges in organisational service design purchasing. Challenges can be caused by either participant, the agency or the client, and take place at any point of the purchasing process. Some of the challenges could be considered as barriers to purchasing or they play a role in an unsuccessful service project – and therefore, result in an unsuccessful organisational purchase. Purchasing could be facilitated in various ways by either participant; some ways are more attitude based, others actionable improvements. Thesis’s theoretical and managerial findings can be utilised to both improve the selling and purchasing of service design services.

Prospects of Bitcoin diffusion

Currency is something people deal with every day in their lives. The contemporary society is very much revolving around currencies. Even though technological development has been rapid, the principle of currency has stayed relatively unchanged for a long time. Bitcoin is a digital currency that introduced an alternative to other digital currencies, and to the traditional physical currencies. Bitcoin is peer-to-peer, open source, and it erases the need of a third party in transactions. Bitcoin has since inception gained certain fame, but it has not established itself as a common currency in the world. The purpose of this study was to analyse what kind of potential does Bitcoin have to become a widely accepted currency in day-to-day transactions. The main research question was divided into three sub questions: • What kind of a process is the diffusion of new innovations? • What kinds of factors speak for the wider adoption of Bitcoin? • What kinds of factors speak against the wider adoption of Bitcoin? The purpose of the study was approached by having diffusion of innovations as the theoretical framework. The four elements in diffusion of innovations are, innovation, communication, time, and social system. The theoretical framework is applied to Bitcoin, and the research questions answered by analysing Bitcoin’s potential diffusion prospects. The body of research data consisted of media texts and statistics. In this study, content analysis was the research method. The main findings of the study are that Bitcoin has clear strengths, but it faces a large amount of uncertainty. Bitcoin’s strong areas are the transactions. They are fast, easy, and cheap. From the innovation diffusion perspective Bitcoin is still relatively unknown, and the general public’s attitudes towards it are sceptical. The research findings purport that Bitcoin has potential demand especially when the financial system of a region is dysfunctional, or when there is a financial crisis. Bitcoin is not very trusted, and the majority of people do not see a reason to start using Bitcoin in the future. A large number of people associate it with illegal activities. In general people are largely unaware of what Bitcoin is or what are the strengths and weaknesses. Bitcoin is an innovative alternative currency. However, unless people see a major need for Bitcoin due to a financial crisis, or dysfunctionality in the financial system, Bitcoin will not become much more widespread as it is today. Bitcoin’s underlying technology can be harnessed to multiple uses. Developments in that field in the future are something that future researchers could look into.

Digital Content Marketing in the Business-to-Business Context. A Case Study on Marketing Communications Agencies.

Marketing has changed because of digitalization. Marketing is moving towards digital channels and more companies are transitioning from “pushing” advertising messages to “pull” marketing, that attracts audience with the content that interests and benefits the audience. This kind of marketing is called content marketing or “inbound” marketing. This study focuses on how marketing communications agencies utilize digital content marketing and what are the best practices with the selected digital content marketing channels. In this study, those channels include blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The qualitative research method was utilized in order to examine the phenomenon of digital content marketing in-depth. The chosen data collecting method was semi-structured interviewing. A total of seven marketing communications agencies, who currently utilize digital content marketing, were selected as case companies and interviewed. All the case companies are from the marketing communications industry because that industry can be assumed to be well adapted to digital content marketing techniques. There is a research gap about digital content marketing in the B2B context, which increases the novelty value of this research. The study examines what is digital content marketing, why B2B companies use digital content marketing, and how should digital content marketing be conducted through blogs and social media. The informants perceived digital marketing to be a fundamental part of their all marketing. They conduct digital content marketing for the following reasons: to increase sales, to improve their brand image and to demonstrate their own skills. Concrete results of digital content marketing for the case companies include sales leads, new clients, better brand image, and that recruiting is easier. The most important success factors with blogs and social media are the following: 1) Audience-centric thinking. All content planning should start from figuring out which themes interests the target audience. Social media channel choices should be based on where the target audience can be reached. 2) Companies should not talk only about themselves. Instead, content is made about themes that interests the target audience. On social media channels, only a fragment of all shared content is about the company. Rather, most of the shared content is industry-specific content that helps the potential client.

Commitment in Finnish–Japanese strategic alliances

Finnish companies have usually formed a strategic alliance as entry mode when entering the Japanese market. However, these strategic alliances have not been studied in a general level and it remains unknown, what kind cooperation the Finnish companies are operating with their Japanese partners. Especially Finnish companies that aims to penetrate the Japanese market are eager to know more about this. The recent studies on topic have focused on a single industry or company and that is why more general level study was needed. The purpose of this study is to analyze types of Finnish–Japanese strategic alliances from the Finnish point of view. The analysis is conducted by answering the questions what strategic alliance types appear in the strategic alliances between Japanese and Finnish companies, and how commitment affects strategic alliance type. This study also examines how committed Finnish–Japanese strategic alliances are. In this study multiple case study was selected as research method. The data is collected by interviewing six representative of Finnish companies in Japan individually. Multiple case study was chosen for this study, because this study is interested in the topic in general level and this research method is suitable for this kind of research. From the interviews common attributes were pointed out and from them the big picture of the topic was created. Types of strategic alliances were determined by using previous literature on that topic. Two different types of strategic alliance were discovered: supplier alliance which is the most common one and learning alliance. The commitment of strategic alliance was measured visually by utilizing a figure that was modified for this study. The figure is originally based on earlier studies on strategic alliance types and their connection to ownership and commitment. By utilizing the figure it was noticed that commitment affects strategic alliance types: the more there is commitment involved, the more there is cooperation. Finnish–Japanese strategic alliances are not very committed despite they have existed for a long time. However, there is potential to be more committed. That is why Finnish companies should increase the commitment and attract the partners to develop the strategic alliances, because it would possible increase competitive advantage. This would be beneficial to all members within the strategic alliance.

Juridisen kaksinkertaisen verotuksen problematiikka kansainvälisessä yritystoiminnassa

Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan kansainvälisessä yritystoiminnassa esiintyviä juridisen kaksinkertaisen verotuksen ongelmatilanteita suomalaisten yritysten näkökulmasta. Tutkielmassa pohditaan lisäksi yritysten omaa roolia osana kaksinkertaisen verotuksen tilanteita. Juridista kaksinkertaista verotusta muodostuu, kun sama yhtiö maksaa samasta tulosta veroa kahteen valtioon. Teoriaosio etenee verotusoikeuden määrittämisestä kaksinkertaisen verotuksen muodostumiseen. Kaksinkertainen verotus pyritään poistamaan poistomenetelmällä, joka on Suomessa tavallisesti hyvitysmenetelmä. Ongelmatilanne muodostuu, kun kaksinkertaista verotusta ei saada tehokkaasti poistettua tulon lähdevaltion ja yhtiön asuinvaltion välillä. Tämä tutkielma on laadullinen tutkimus ja tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty teemahaastattelua. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että kvalifikaatiokonflikteissa juridisen kaksinkertaisen verotuksen ongelmatilanne esiintyy pääsääntöisesti rojalti-liiketulo -luokitteluristiriidan seurauksena. Kiinteän toimipaikan kvalifikaatio on harvinaisempi ongelmatilanne. Hyvitysmenetelmän suurimmat ongelmat esiintyvät puolestaan pääliikkeen tappiollisen liiketoiminnan johdosta. Toinen hyvitysmenetelmän ongelmakohta esiintyy, kun lähdeveron alainen tulo huomioidaan bruttotulosta, mutta ulkomaisen tulon hyvitys suoritetaan nettotulosta. Haastatteluiden perusteella on selvää, että yritysten oma rooli kaksinkertaisen verotuksen ehkäisyssä on merkittävä. Yrityksen omia vaikutusmahdollisuuksia ovat muun muassa riittävä ennakointikyky, dokumentointi, selkeät sopimukset ja asiantuntijuus.

Suorituskyvyn johtamisen ja mittaamisen kehittäminen suuren yrityksen tutkimus- ja tuotekehitystoiminnassa

Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin, miten suorituskyvyn johtamista ja mittaamista käytännössä toteutettiin suuressa tutkimus- ja tuotekehitystoimintaa Suomessa harjoittavassa elintarvikealan yrityksessä. Tutkimuksessa kartoitettiin tärkeimpiä suorituskykyyn vaikuttavia tekijöitä suorituskyvyn johtamisen ja mittaamisen näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli saada kooste suosituksista tutkimus- ja tuotekehitystoiminnan suorituskyvyn johtamisen ja mittaamisen kehittämiseksi. Tutkimuksen laajuus rajattiin neljään case-yritykseen. Tutkimuksessa tehtiin empiirinen puolistrukturoitu kyselytutkimus, strukturoidut haastattelut sekä tulosten arviointi. Tutkimusote oli lähinnä toiminta-analyyttinen, koska tutkimuksessa käsiteltiin organisaation toimintaa, johtamista, ongelmanratkaisua, päätöksentekoprosesseja sekä kehitys- ja muutosprosesseja. Tutkimustulosten perusteella suorituskyvyn johtamista ja mittaamista case-yrityksissä toteutettiin BSC:n yleisten näkökulmien mukaisesti. Tutkimus- ja tuotekehitystoiminnan mittauksen tavoitteet poikkesivat toisistaan niiden toiminnan luonteesta johtuen. Tutkimustoiminnassa suorituskyvyn mittauksen tavoitteet painottuivat lähinnä innovatiivisuuteen, oppimiseen ja motivointiin. Tuotekehitystoiminnassa mittauksen tavoitteet olivat enemmän diagnostisia. Tuotekehitystoiminnassa tavoitteena olivat projektien seurantaan, toiminnan tulostenarviointiin, talouteen sekä koordinaatioon ja kommunikointiin liittyvät tekijät. Tutkimustulosten perusteella puutteita havaittiin suorituskyvyn viestinnän riittävyydessä ja vaikuttavuudessa, mittaustiedon hyödynnettävyydessä, aineettoman pääoman mittauksessa, projektien arviointikriteerien viestinnässä, prosessien selkeydessä ja toimivuudessa, projektiosaamisessa, suorituskyvyn mittauksessa, vaikutusmahdollisuuksissa, johtamisessa ja esimiestyössä.

Yritysvastuu osuuskaupan toimitusketjussa –Tapaustutkimus

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tarkastella, minkälainen merkitys yritysvastuulla on osuuskaupan toimitusketjussa. Case-yritykseksi valittiin Etelä-Karjalan osuuskauppa, joka on S-ryhmän yksi alueosuuskaupoista. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin puolistrukturoitua haastattelua, joka suoritettiin case-yrityksen paikallisille tavarantoimittajille joko puhelimitse tai sähköpostitse. Lisäksi analysoitiin S-ryhmän vuoden 2014 vastuuraportti, johon Etelä-Karjalan osuuskaupan yritysvastuuohjelma perustuu. Haastatteluihin pyydetyistä viidestä tavarantoimittajasta vain kaksi suostui haastateltavaksi. Yritysvastuuraportin analyysin perusteella S-ryhmä ja sen alueosuuskaupat pitävät toimitusketjun vastuullisuutta erittäin tärkeänä. Raportissa korostetaan tavarantoimittajan edellyttämistä rehelliseen ja vastuulliseen toimintaan sekä toimitusketjun tarkkaa tuntemista, jotta vastuullisuuden tasoa voidaan kehittää yhteisvoimin. Tavarantoimittajien haastattelujen perusteella toimittajayrityksissä harjoitetaan yritysvastuutoimintaa, mutta ei kuitenkaan tarkkaan tiedetä termin sisältöä, vaan toimitaan omien eettisten arvojen ja taloudellisten intressien perusteella. Molemmat haastateltavat totesivat, ettei osuuskauppa edellyttänyt tiettyä yritysvastuun tasoa, eikä varmentanut toimittajan vastuullisuutta. Tämän pienimuotoisen tapaustutkimuksen perusteella voi todeta, ettei Etelä-Karjalan osuuskauppa ole huomioinut yritysvastuuta tavarantoimitussopimuksia laatiessaan. Kyse voi olla joko siitä, ettei alueosuuskauppaa ole sitoutettu S-ryhmän vastuuohjelmaan tarpeeksi hyvin, tai että vastuuraportissa mainitut asiat huomioidaan vain globaaleissa toimitusketjuissa.

Interactions of decision mechanisms in an entrepreneurial firm’s journey to become a major player in its industry

This study discusses the interactions of different decision-making mechanisms in the process of change of a successful entrepreneurial dairy firm in Vietnam. The purpose of the study is to construct a theoretical framework, which explains the interactions between effectual and causal decision-making processes in different phases of business, and to provide a real life example with practical recommendations for entrepreneurs and managers. In order to achieve this purpose, a preliminary theoretical framework was built, using process theories applied to different decision making modes, referred to as causation and effectuation. The case was studied through ethnographic research method, with three semi-structured interviews, one unstructured interview, secondary data and observations within four months in 2013-2014. After the data was analyzed, a modified framework was drawn from the result. The finding of this study shows that there was an interaction between effectual and causal decision-making processes in different stages of the company’s development. The entrepreneur applied effectual decision-making process to develop a unique business model and a new dairy market segment. However, when a new market demand arose, the company’s resources became insufficient, they thus had to shift to causation process to adapt to market change. Simultaneously, with better-accumulated resources, the entrepreneur continued the effectuation process to create another brand new dairy market segment. This study, thus, contributes to effectuation theory, emphasizing the necessity of combining effectual and causal decision-making processes in different phases of business. It is suggested that business would develop with an effectual process until a business model is viable for growth. It continues to use this process up to a certain degree. When the market changes, the company needs to collect more means to adapt to the changes. They need to set new goals and this is a shift to the use of causal process, which builds on prediction. It uses goals and teleology as driving mechanisms and tries to exploit and fill potential resource gaps to achieve these goals. At the same time, there are new iterations that look to establish new lines or types of business with the given means, which are now well established. This again employs effectual mechanisms, which are based on evolutionary process, until they reach the stage of viable tested business model. Moreover, this study hopes to provide know-how to entrepreneurs and managers of small companies in similar situations, suggesting how to combine effectual and causal decision-making processes to deal with various circumstances in different times.

Lohkoketjuteknologian soveltaminen finanssisektorille

Tämän kandidaatintutkielman tarkoituksena on tutkia, miten lohkoketjuteknologiaa voi soveltaa finanssisektorille. Tutkimus tarjoaa yleiskuvan lohkoketjuteknologista, sekä sen sovelluskohteista finanssisektorilla. Tutkimusmenetelmä on kvalitatiivinen ja se toteutettiin haastattelemalla pankkeja, jotka osallistuvat Distributed Ledger Group (DLG)-konsortioon. Kyseinen konsortio pyrkii 42 pankin ja R3cev nimisen yrityksen välisessä yhteistyössä soveltamaan lohkoketjuteknologiaa pankkisektorille. Haastattelujen perusteella pankit pitävät lohkoketjuteknologian potentiaalia pitkällä aikavälillä suurena. Erityisesti lohkoketjuteknologian odotetaan laskevan kustannuksia, sekä nopeuttavan toimintoja useiden eri tuotteiden kohdalla. Pelkästään pankkisektorilla tutkitaan tällä hetkellä kymmeniä eri sovelluskohteita. Ennen kuin lohkoketjulla voidaan nähdä kaupallista toimintaa, tulee haasteita ylittää sekä teknisellä, että säädännöllisellä puolella. Vielä on liian varhaista arvioida, milloin lohkoketjuteknologiaa tullaan soveltamaan laajemmin finanssisektorilla. Pankkien oma tutkimus aiheesta oli vielä suhteellisen varhaisessa vaiheessa. Lohkoketjuteknologian potentiaali voidaan nähdä tutkimuksen perusteella valtavan suurena. Vielä on kuitenkin vaikea arvioida tullaanko tähän potentiaaliin tulevaisuudessa yltämään. Finanssisektorilla on monia toimijoita, jotka tutkivat lohkoketjuteknologiaa ja se vauhdittaa kehitystä. Lohkoketjuteknologia saattaa tulevaisuudessa mullistaa monia finanssisektorin osa-alueita tai jopa korvata ne kokonaan.

Tilintarkastajan vastuu kurinpidollisesta näkökulmasta

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää millainen on tilintarkastajan kurinpidollinen vastuu lakisääteisessä tehtävässä. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa selvitettiin, miten tilintarkastajan vastuu voi realisoitua ja millaisia kurinpidollisia seuraamuksia tilintarkastajille määrätään Suomessa. Tutkimuksen aineistona on käytetty TILA: n valvonta-asioiden ratkaisuja vuosina 2007 - 2014. Patentti – ja rekisterihallitus on vastannut kurinpidollisista asioista vuoden 2016 alusta lähtien. Tutkimuksessa noudatetaan käsitteellistä lähestymistapaa: tilintarkastajan vastuun ohella työssä on käsitelty muun muassa lakisääteistä tilintarkastusta, hyvää tilintarkastustapaa ja ammattieettisiä periaatteita. Työ on toteutettu laadullisena tutkimuksena ja aineisto koostuu dokumenteista koskien kurinpidollisia ratkaisuja vuosina 2007 - 2014. Tutkintatapausten käsittelyssä huomiota kiinnitettiin tutkinnan aloittamisen syihin ja tutkinnan seurauksena määrättyihin sanktioihin. Tutkintaan johtaneiden syiden väliltä pyrittiin löytämään yhteisiä tekijöitä. Lisäksi huomiota kiinnitettiin tutkintatapausten ja sanktioiden määrien kehitykseen. Tarkasteluaikavälillä yleisin syy tutkinnan aloittamiselle oli hyvän tilintarkastustavan tai tilintarkastuslain vastainen toiminta. Sanktiomuodoista varoituksia annettiin hieman enemmän kuin huomautuksia, hyväksymisen peruuttamiseen päädyttiin vain kahdeksassa tapauksessa. Yli puolessa tutkintatapauksissa sanktioita ei määrätty ollenkaan. Kaiken kaikkiaan sanktioiden ja tutkintatapausten määrässä ei havaittu tapahtuneen suurta vaihtelua tarkasteluaikavälillä.

A Drop of Success – Internationalization Readiness of a Young Finnish Company

This study analyzes a young Finnish micro-sized firm that is attempting to reach internationalization readiness in the pre-internationalization stage. The purpose of this research is to analyze and better understand how a young firm reaches internationalization readiness in the pre-internationalization stage. Small firm internationalization is a vastly researched topic. Little emphasis has been placed on the specific antecedents that help the firm reach internationalization readiness in the pre-internationalization stage. The contribution of this research is thus two-fold. First, the research contributes to known theories of firm internationalization. Second, the research further extends knowledge related to how firms reach internationalization readiness specifically in the pre-internationalization stage. The theoretical background of the research involves the traditional stage theory (Uppsala model), pre-internationalization stage theory, international entrepreneurship theory and dynamic capabilities theory. With the help of these four relevant theories, empirical data was collected. The research method utilized in this study was a qualitative single case study combined with critical realist philosophy. The data analysis of this research was conducted using abduction in order to allow freedom in the analysis of the research findings. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. The key respondents in this study were the two managers of the case company. The findings of this study revealed four important themes from the case company’s perspective towards reaching internationalization readiness in the pre-internationalization stage. Extensive knowledge of the home market and target market were the two most important themes in this research. The next most relevant theme for reaching internationalization readiness in the pre-internationalization stage was the managers’ previous international business experiences. The final theme affecting the firm’s ability to reach internationalization readiness was the firm’s specific resources. Even though the research findings of this study are case sensitive, the research insights and explanations have the potential to be transferred to similar firms and contexts. Future research should therefore aim towards more longitudinal studies in which the context is emphasized. This should include a variety of firms in similar stages of internationalization and contexts. Future studies of this kind would be of great benefit to academia.

Finnish Maritime Personnel's Conceptions on Safety Management and Safety Culture

The purpose of this thesis is to explore Finnish maritime personnel’s conceptions of safety management and its relationship with the concept of safety culture. In addition, the aim is to evaluate the impact of the ISM Code on the prevailing safety culture in the Finnish shipping business. A total of 94 interviewees and seven Finnish shipping companies were involved in this study. Thematic interviews were applied as the main research method for the study. The results were analysed qualitatively. The results indicate that maritime safety culture can simultaneously demonstrate features of integration, differentiation and ambiguity. Basically, maritime personnel have a positive attitude towards safety management systems since they consider safety management beneficial and essential in general. However, the study also found considerable criticism among the interviewees. The interviewed maritime personnel did not criticise the ISM Code as such, yet they criticised the way the ISM Code has been applied in practise. In order to understand the multiple perspectives of safety culture more comprehensively, multiple theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches are needed. This study indicates that safety culture and the impacts of the ISM Code should not be unambiguously studied solely quantitative methods or qualitative methods. By examining safety culture from several methodological and theoretical perspectives, one may gain a more versatile and holistic overview of safety culture.

The role of public export promotion in Finland Industry view of public export promotion in Southwest Finland

The role of the public export promotion in Finland needed more research. The part of the public sector export promotion in the overall export is significant. In an ever more global world not only the companies but also the counties compete against each other and the governments have an interest to boost their economy as much as they are able to. Every industrialized country has export promotion services in some form or another. In the 21st century the tendency has been the bundling of the services and this has also been done in Finland with Team Finland. The role and the efficiency of the services provided deserve more research. The research question of this study is: What is the role of the public export promotion services in Finland? The question is researched primary by expert interviews conducted for this study. The situation in Southwest Finland is studied from the viewpoint of the companies of the region by conducting a survey aimed to the successfully internationalized companies of the region and asking them on their views on the impact and role of public export services in their internationalization. The theory base is formed out of various export promotion studies, studies monitoring the effects of the promotion and theories of the internationalization process of companies. The primary material for the study are the three expert interviews conducted and the answers to the survey conducted. The research method in the first part is a constructive qualitative research. The research approach in the second part, where the views of the companies in Southwest Finland are studied, is quantitative. The study findings from the expert interviews: the aligning of the public export promotion done in Finland to the previous research and the addition of the role of the public sector in classical frameworks. The study findings from the survey: the utilizing of the public export promotion services is heavily delayed and the internationalizing companies start to utilize the services very late in their internationalization process, the average being 10,3 years from the beginning of the internationalization. Another central finding from the survey is that the successfully internationalized companies see the public export promotion services generally as highly beneficial but in the light of the answers the effect on their own company is not as significant. Concluding can be stated that the public export promotion is seen as beneficial, but the monitoring of the efficiency is complicated in the case of services. Getting the companies to start utilizing the services earlier in their internationalization needs attention from the service providers. By communicating the achieved results and benefits better to the potential users of the services the internationalization process of the companies could be accelerated

Internal communication during an organizational change: An ethnographic case study

This study discusses the importance of internal communication during organizational change of a case study company X. The purpose of this study is to find out how to use internal communication effectively during organizational change. This study is an ethnographic cade study where a unique case of an organizational change was chosen as the research object. The theoretical background of this study consists of literature relating to the concepts of communication, organizational communication, organizational change, change management and communication of change. The empirical research conducted for this study is based on an ethnographic research method where data was collected through participant observation, informal interviews and field records in the form of a research diary. The research data was collected between September and December 2015. During this period the researcher was working within the case study organization while observing the internal communication during the organizational change process. Triangulation was used to analyze the research data in order to build a united and theoretical picture of the topic. The study finds that without clear internal communication strategy the effectiveness of communication is ought to be poor, which may lead to resistance of change, lack of trust and lower level of overall job satisfaction. Moreover the study findings highlight the importance of managerial presence during an organizational change process and consistency in using formal and informal communication and utilizing multiple communication channels. Based on the findings of this research the study suggests that during an organizational change process a clear internal communication strategy should be carefully planned and executed. The goals of internal communication should be clearly stated and communicated to the company’s employees. The findings of this study enhance importance of managers promoting sense of belonging, developing awareness of the overall change process and contributing to the manager employee relationships and trust. In addition this study points out the key factors that should be included in the internal change communication strategy which are how to ensure that the communications, both vertical and horizontal, are constant. Future research is however necessary in order to gain a more comprehensive view of the research and wider perspective of the case study. Nevertheless, this study deepens the understanding of how to use internal communication effectively during organizational change.