Ketjumainen toimintamalli henkilöstöravintolayrityksessä

Tutkimuksen tavoitteet Tutkimuksen tavoitteina oli selvittää millaisella toimintamallilla voidaan varmistaa asiakaslähtöinen ja kustannustehokas toimintatapa, joka tuottaa tasalaatuiset palvelut sekä varmistaa yhteisesti sovittujen toimenpiteiden toteutumisen case-yrityksen ylläpitämissä henkilöstöravintoloissa nopeasti ja tehokkaasti. Tutkimusongelmaa lähestyttiin strategisesta näkökulmasta. Kilpailustrategian avulla yritys asemoidaan ympäristöönsä sekä valitaan käytettävät kilpailukeinot. Kilpailuetua haetaan toimintamalleja ja niiden osia kehittämällä. Tällaisia ovat esimerkiksi oppiminen, organisaatiorakenne ja asiakkuuden hallinta. Kustannustehokkuus aikaansaadaan ketjuohjauksella ja asiakaslähtöisyys hyväksikäyttämällä massaräätälöintiä. Asiakasryhmien määrittämiseen käytettiin segmentoinnin teoriaa. Lähdeaineisto Teoriaosuudessa lähdeaineistona käytettiin kotimaista ja ulkomaista kirjallisuutta, jotka käsittelevät strategista ajattelua, kilpailustrategiaa, kilpailuetua, ketjutoimintaa, massaräätälöintiä, segmentointia ja asiakkuuden hallintaa. Empiriaosuuden lähdeaineistona toimivat case-yrityksen strategiaprosessia varten keräämät materiaalit sekä tutkijan omat kokemukset projektin vetäjänä. Tulokset Lopputuloksena case-yritykselle ehdotetaan tutkimuksessa rakentuneita valikoimien- ja toiminnanohjausmalleja. Valikoimien ohjausmallin muodostamiseen käytettiin massaräätälöinnin teoriaa. Toiminnanohjausmalli rakennettiin puolestaan ketjutoiminnan teoriaan perustuen.

Naisyrittäjien välinen vertaistuki, Case: Yrittäjyyden Tuki-projekti

Yrittäjyyden Tuki - projekti toimi osana valtakunnallista WomEqual - kehittämiskumppanuushanketta vuosina 2005-2007 tavoitteenaan tukea naisyrittäjien toimintaedellytyksiä kehittäen heille vertaisryhmätoimintaan perustuvaa tukimallia. Tässä tutkimuksessa ensisijaisena tavoitteena on selvittää, miten kyseisen projektin vertaisryhmätoimintaan osallistuneet naisyrittäjät kokivat naisyrittäjien välisen vertaistuen toimintamuotona. Pyrkimyksenä on myös ymmärtää, mitkä seikat sitouttivat naisyrittäjiä vertaisryhmätoimintaan ja mitä he kokivat oppineensa vertaisryhmätoiminnan seurauksena. Lisäksi kiinnostuksen kohteena on tarkastella, kuinka vertaistukiryhmä toimii naisyrittäjien välisen verkostoitumisen välineenä. Tutkimus on laadullinen ja aineistolähtöinen. Tutkimuksen primääriaineisto on kerätty puolistrukturoiduin teemahaastatteluilla ja sekundaariaineisto kyselytutkimuksen avulla. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että naisyrittäjät kokevat henkisen ja sosiaalisen tuen tärkeäksi. Toiselta naisyrittäjältä, vertaiselta, saatu tuki koettiin vertaistukiryhmän vahvuudeksi. Vertaisryhmässä oppiminen tapahtui kokemusten jakamisen kautta. Uusien verkostojen luomisessa vertaistukiryhmä ei täysin vastannut odotuksia.

Best practice report on policy learning infrastructures in innovative labour market policies

This report synthesizes the findings of 11 country reports on policy learning in labour market and social policies that were conducted as part of WP5 of the INSPIRES project, which is funded by the 7th Framework Program of the EU-Commission. Notably, this report puts forward objectives of policy learning, discusses tools, processes and institutions of policy learning and presents the impacts of various tools and structures of the policy learning infrastructure for the actual policy learning process. The report defines three objectives of policy learning: evaluation and assessment of policy effectiveness, vision building and planning, and consensus building. In the 11 countries under consideration, the tools and processes of the policy learning, infrastructure can be classified into three broad groups: public bodies, expert councils, and parties, interest groups and the private sector. Finally, we develop four recommendations for policy learning: Firstly, learning processes should keep the balance between centralisation and plurality. Secondly, learning processes should be kept stable beyond the usual political business cycles. Thirdly, policy learning tools and infrastructures should be sufficiently independent from political influence or bias. Fourth, Policy learning tools and infrastructures should balance out mere effectiveness, evaluation and vision building.

Policy learning in Europe : social policy and labour market reforms in 11 countries

This report compares policy learning processes in 11 European countries. Based on the country reports that were produced by the national teams of the INSPIRES project, this paper develops an argument that connects problem pressure and politicization to learning in different labor market innovations. In short, we argue that learning efforts are most likely to impact on policy change if there is a certain problem pressure that clearly necessitates political action. On the other hand, if problem pressure is very low, or so high that governments need to react immediately, chances are low that learning impacts on policy change. The second part of our argument contends that learning impacts on policy change especially if a problem is not very politicized, i.e. there are no main conflicts concerning a reform, because then, solutions are wound up in the search for a compromise. Our results confirm our first hypothesis regarding the connection between problem pressure and policy learning. Governments learn indeed up to a certain degree of problem pressure. However, once political action becomes really urgent, i.e. in anti-crisis policies, there is no time and room for learning. On the other hand, learning occurred independently from the politicization of problem. In fact, in countries that have a consensual political system, learning occurred before the decision on a reform, whereas in majoritarian systems, learning happened after the adoption of a policy during the process of implementation.

Student Journalism 2.0 : Testing Models for Participatory Learning in the Digital Age

Many educators and educational institutions have yet to integrate web-based practices into their classrooms and curricula. As a result, it can be difficult to prototype and evaluate approaches to transforming classrooms from static endpoints to dynamic, content-creating nodes in the online information ecosystem. But many scholastic journalism programs have already embraced the capabilities of the Internet for virtual collaboration, dissemination, and reader participation. Because of this, scholastic journalism can act as a test-bed for integrating web-based sharing and collaboration practices into classrooms. Student Journalism 2.0 was a research project to integrate open copyright licenses into two scholastic journalism programs, to document outcomes, and to identify recommendations and remaining challenges for similar integrations. Video and audio recordings of two participating high school journalism programs informed the research. In describing the steps of our integration process, we note some important legal, technical, and social challenges. Legal worries such as uncertainty over copyright ownership could lead districts and administrators to disallow open licensing of student work. Publication platforms among journalism classrooms are far from standardized, making any integration of new technologies and practices difficult to achieve at scale. And teachers and students face challenges re-conceptualizing the role their class work can play online.

The use of future-oriented knowledge in regional innovation processes: Research on knowledge generation, transfer and conversion

The importance of the regional level in research has risen in the last few decades and a vast literature in the fields of, for instance, evolutionary and institutional economics, network theories, innovations and learning systems, as well as sociology, has focused on regional level questions. Recently the policy makers and regional actors have also began to pay increasing attention to the knowledge economy and its needs, in general, and the connectivity and support structures of regional clusters in particular. Nowadays knowledge is generally considered as the most important source of competitive advantage, but even the most specialised forms of knowledge are becoming a short-lived resource for example due to the accelerating pace of technological change. This emphasizes the need of foresight activities in national, regional and organizational levels and the integration of foresight and innovation activities. In regional setting this development sets great challenges especially in those regions having no university and thus usually very limited resources for research activities. Also the research problem of this dissertation is related to the need to better incorporate the information produced by foresight process to facilitate and to be used in regional practice-based innovation processes. This dissertation is a constructive case study the case being Lahti region and a network facilitating innovation policy adopted in that region. Dissertation consists of a summary and five articles and during the research process a construct or a conceptual model for solving this real life problem has been developed. It is also being implemented as part of the network facilitating innovation policy in the Lahti region.

eLab, a Personal Learning Environment for the Green Open Innovation Platform

Open Innovation is a relatively new concept which involves a change of paradigm in the R+D+i processes of companies whose aim is to create new technologies or new processes. If to this change, we add the need for innovation in the new green and sustainability economy, and we set out to create a collaborative platform with a learning space where this can happen, we will be facing an overwhelming challenge which requires the application of intelligent programming technologies and languages at the service of education.The aim of the Green IDI (Green Open Innovation) ¿ Economic development and job creation vector in SMEs, based on the environment and sustainability project is to create a platform where companies and individual researchers can perform open innovation processes in the field of sustainability and the environment.The Green IDI (Green Open Innovation) project is funded under the program INNPACTO by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain and is being developed through a consortium formed by the following institutions: GRUPO ICA; COMPARTIA; GRUPO INTERCOM; CETAQUA and the Instituto de Investigación en Inteligencia Artificial (IIIA) from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). Also the consortium include FUNDACIÓ PRIVADA BARCELONA DIGITAL; PIMEC and UNIVERSITAT OBERTA DE CATALUNYA (UOC).Sustainability and positive action for the environment are considered the principle vector of economic development for companies. As Nicolás Scoli says (2007) ¿in short, preventing unnecessary consumption and the efficient consumption of resources means producing greater wealth with less. Both effects lead to reduced pollution linked to production and consumption¿.The Spanish Sustainable Development Strategy (EEDS) plan defends consumption and sustainable production linked to social and economic development by adhering to the commitment not to endanger ecosystems and abolishing the idea that economic growth is directly proportional to the deterioration of the environment.Uniting the Open Innovation and New Green Economy concepts leads to the "Green Open Innovation¿ Platform creation project.This article analyses the concept of open innovation and defines the importance of the new green and sustainable economy. Lastly, it proposes the creation of eLab. The eLab is defined as an Open Green Innovation Platform personal and collaborative education space which is fed by the interactions of users and which enables innovation processes based on new green economy concepts to be carried out.The creation of a personal learning environment such as eLab on the Green Open Innovation Platform meets the need to offer a collaborative space where platform users can improve their skills regarding the environment and sustainability based on collaborative synergies through Information and Communication Technologies.

Enhancement of R&D project management system

Stora Enso has research centres in Finland, Sweden and Germany. The research centres use PIMS as a research project invoicing and monitoring system. Possible reorganization and new financing model for R&D functions have been considered and the project management system should be developed to support the new operation model. The objective of this thesis is to find a model for R&D project management, and to present the project management system of Stora Enso, and to discuss if the current system could be developed to respond to the new needs or should it be replaced with another system. The theoretical part of the study describes challenges in R&D project management, and presents different project characteristics, and methods for managing R&D project portfolio. It is also described how the project management system can support project monitoring and controlling, and how inter-project learning can be enhanced. The empirical part of the study presents the current project management system of Stora Enso and how the system should be developed to support Stora Enso’s R&D functions better. In conclusion, it is stated that there is no relevant reason to replace PIMS with another system, because PIMS can be developed to support R&D project management better with a hybrid system. It is also suggested that the new financing model should not be implemented before more comprehensive analysis of its effects is conducted.

PROPUESTA DE UN AMBIENTE E-LEARNING PARA EL FORTALECIMIENTO DE LAS HABILIDADES DE ALFABETIZACIÓN VISUAL E INFORMACIONAL: CASO LICENCIATURA EN ELECTRÓNICA - UPN.

El proyecto "Propuesta de un ambiente e-learning para el fortalecimiento de las habilidades de alfabetización visual e informacional: caso Licenciatura en Electrónica - UPN" fortalece la investigación alrededor de ambientes e-learning de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Con la investigación se buscó determinar las estrategias organizativas, pedagógicas y tecnológicas a implementar en el diseño y desarrollo de un entorno e-learning que promueva las habilidades de alfabetización visual e informacional en estudiantes de primer semestre de la Licenciatura en Electrónica de la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de Colombia. La investigación realizada fue de tipo cualitativo a través de un estudio de caso.

Efficiency and Equity in Learning Communities and schools

Traditionally, school efficiency has been measured as a function of educational production. In the last two decades, however, studies in the economics of education have indicated that more is required to improve school efficiency: researchers must explore how significant changes in school organization affect the performance of at-risk students. In this paper we introduce Henry Levin’s adoption of the X-efficiency approach to education and we describe the efficient and cost-effective characteristics of one Learning Communities Project School that significantly improved its student outcomes and enrollment numbersand reduced its absenteeism rate to zero. The organizational change that facilitatedthese improvements defined specific issues to address. Students’ school success became the focus of the school project, which also offered specific incentives, selected teachers, involved parents and community members in decisions, and used the most efficient technologies and methods. This case analysis reveals new two elements—family training and community involvement—that were not explicit parts of Levin’s adaptation. The case of the Antonio Machado Public School should attract the attention of both social scientists and policy makers

Student experiences in a course blended learning

Fascination is a project for design students, developed jointly by the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) and the University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), which works with two groups of students, one group of participants in Spain and another group in Thailand where, hands-on activities, a range of technologies are used to prepare students for the lessons, through learning activities and content. This research paper presents the test of both a general model and a tool for measuring the participants’ experiences in a course that uses a blended learning methodology, with the aim of collecting empirical evidence to justify the effort of applying this methodology, based on the participants’ satisfaction. The procedure used in the conceptualization of the survey, the generation of topics, the collection of data, and the validation of the scale of various items are described here. The information, provided by the 26 people surveyed about the course and the virtual environment that was used, was analyzed to measure their perceptions and explore possible relations. Finally the conclusions of the research and the future work are presented.

Agile CRM System Implementation Project

The application of information technology (IT) in customer relationship management (CRM) is growing rapidly as many companies implement CRM systems to support their numerous customer facing activities. However, failure rates of CRM projects remain notably high as they deliver scant solutions and poor user acceptance. As a consequence, it is justified to study previously researched CRM success factors and apply them to CRM system implementation. The aim of this master’s thesis was to get acquainted with relevant academic theories, frameworks and practices concerning CRM and agile development, and use them to generate a modified CRM project strategy to support the successful execution of the case company’s, Process Vision Oy, CRM implementation project. The empirical CRM system implementation project was conducted simultaneously with writing this thesis. Its theoretical findings could be transferred into practice through active participation in the CRM system development and deployment work. The project’s main goal was to produce and take into use a functioning CRM system. The goal was met, since at the time of printing this thesis the first system release was successfully published to its users at Process Vision’s marketing and sales departments. The key success elements in the CRM project were cyclic, iterative system development, customer oriented approach, user inclusion and flexible project management. Implying agile development practices ensured being able to quickly respond to changes arising during the progress of the CRM project. Throughout modelling of the core sales process formed a strong basis, on which the CRM system’s operational and analytical functionalities were built. End users were included in the initial specification of system requirements and they provided feedback on the system’s usage. To conclude, the chosen theoretical CRM roadmaps and agile development practices proved as beneficial in the successful planning and execution of the agile CRM system implementation project at Process Vision.

Conditions for EFL learning and professional development : Finland-Swedish learner and teacher perspectives

Engelskans dominerande roll som internationellt språk och andra globaliseringstrender påverkar också Svenskfinland. Dessa trender påverkar i sin tur förutsättningarna för lärande och undervisning i engelska som främmande språk, det vill säga undervisningsmålen, de förväntade elev- och lärarroller, materialens ändamålsenlighet, lärares och elevers initiala erfarenheter av engelska och engelskspråkiga länder. Denna studie undersöker förutsättningarna för lärande och professionell utveckling i det svenskspråkiga nybörjarklassrummet i engelska som främmande språk. Utgångsläget för 351 nybörjare i engelska som främmande språk och 19 av deras lärare beskrivs och analyseras. Resultaten tyder på att engelska håller på att bli ett andraspråk snarare än ett traditionellt främmande språk för många unga elever. Dessa elever har också goda förutsättningar att lära sig engelska utanför skolan. Sådan var dock inte situationen för alla elever, vilket tyder på att det finns en anmärkningsvärd heterogenitet och även regional variation i det finlandssvenska klassrummet i engelska som främmande språk. Lärarresultaten tyder på att vissa lärare har klarat av att på ett konstruktivt sätt att tackla de förutsättningar de möter. Andra lärare uttrycker frustration över sin arbetssituation, läroplanen, undervisningsmaterialen och andra aktörer som kommer är av betydelse för skolmiljön. Studien påvisar att förutsättningarna för lärande och undervisning i engelska som främmande språk varierar i Svenskfinland. För att stöda elevers och lärares utveckling föreslås att dialogen mellan aktörer på olika nivå i samhället bör förbättras och systematiseras.

Solving the puzzle of mobile learning adoption

The dissertation seeks to explore how to improve users‘ adoption of mobile learning in current education systems. Considering the difference between basic and tertiary education in China, the research consists of two separate but interrelated parts, which focus on the use of mobile learning in basic and tertiary education contexts, respectively. In the dissertation, two adoption frameworks are developed based on previous studies. The frameworks are then evaluated using different technologies. Concerning mobile learning use in basic education settings, case study methodology is utilized. A leading provider of mobile learning services and products in China, Noah Ltd., is investigated. Multiple sources of evidence are collected to test the framework. Regarding mobile learning adoption in tertiary education contexts, survey research methodology is utilized. Based on 209 useful responses, the framework is evaluated using structural equation modelling technology. Four proposed determinants of intention to use are evaluated, which are perceived ease of use, perceived near-term usefulness, perceived ong-term usefulness and personal innovativeness. The dissertation provides a number of new insights for both researchers and practitioners. In particular, the dissertation specifies a practical solution to deal with the disruptive effects of mobile learning in basic education, which keeps the use of mobile learning away from the schools across such as European countries. A list of new and innovative mobile learning technologies is systematically introduced as well. Further, the research identifies several key factors driving mobile learning adoption in tertiary education settings. In theory, the dissertation suggests that since the technology acceptance model is initiated in work-oriented innovations by testing employees, it is not necessarily the best model for studying educational innovations. The results also suggest that perceived longterm usefulness for educational systems should be as important as perceived usefulness for utilitarian systems, and perceived enjoyment for hedonic systems. A classification based on the nature of systems purpose (utilitarian, hedonic or educational) would contribute to a better understanding of the essence of IT innovation adoption.

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.