Entry Modes for Finnish Firms into the Zambian Renewable Energy Industry

The renewable energy industry in Zambia is poised for growth and offers many possibilities for Finnish firms willing to enter the market. The Zambian government’s deliberate policy measures aim at attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) into this sector. This study rationalises that this could be the pull factor for Finnish firms. The thesis gives an overview of the industry and investigates an appropriate mode of entry, basing its arguments on the comparison analysis of the two economies with the use of the world forum’s stages of economic development as a framework. The theoretical part of the study examines internationalisation theories, entry mode choice and factors influencing the choice. The multiple case study approach is implored, analysing four case companies from Finland with the use of extant literature on internationalisation relevant to the study. The research design involves the use of documentation, secondary data, interviews and observation. The results of the case analyses show that the Finnish firm’s most preferred entry mode initially is exporting because it is considered to be less risky. Additionally, the findings also reveal that the selection of a suitable mode of entry is dependent on the firms’ size, orientation and international experience and could therefore be considered to be subjective. Paramount is the act of gaining market knowledge. The study shows that only hydro-electrical, solar energies and biomass are by far the most used and known forms of renewable energy in Zambia, while other alternative sources still remain un-exploited thus highlighting a growth potential. However, policy formulation and the regulatory framework in the renewable energy sector were found to be wanting.

Defining the keyhole modes – the effects on the weld geometry and the molten pool behaviour in high power laser welding of stainless steels

Keyhole welding, meaning that the laser beam forms a vapour cavity inside the steel, is one of the two types of laser welding processes and currently it is used in few industrial applications. Modern high power solid state lasers are becoming more used generally, but not all process fundamentals and phenomena of the process are well known and understanding of these helps to improve quality of final products. This study concentrates on the process fundamentals and the behaviour of the keyhole welding process by the means of real time high speed x-ray videography. One of the problem areas in laser welding has been mixing of the filler wire into the weld; the phenomena are explained and also one possible solution for this problem is presented in this study. The argument of this thesis is that the keyhole laser welding process has three keyhole modes that behave differently. These modes are trap, cylinder and kaleidoscope. Two of these have sub-modes, in which the keyhole behaves similarly but the molten pool changes behaviour and geometry of the resulting weld is different. X-ray videography was used to visualize the actual keyhole side view profile during the welding process. Several methods were applied to analyse and compile high speed x-ray video data to achieve a clearer image of the keyhole side view. Averaging was used to measure the keyhole side view outline, which was used to reconstruct a 3D-model of the actual keyhole. This 3D-model was taken as basis for calculation of the vapour volume inside of the keyhole for each laser parameter combination and joint geometry. Four different joint geometries were tested, partial penetration bead on plate and I-butt joint and full penetration bead on plate and I-butt joint. The comparison was performed with selected pairs and also compared all combinations together.

Manipulating Greek musical modes and tempo affects perceived musical emotion in musicians and nonmusicians

The combined influence of tempo and mode on emotional responses to music was studied by crossing 7 changes in mode with 3 changes in tempo. Twenty-four musicians aged 19 to 25 years (12 males and 12 females) and 24 nonmusicians aged 17 to 25 years (12 males and 12 females) were required to perform two tasks: 1) listening to different musical excerpts, and 2) associating an emotion to them such as happiness, serenity, fear, anger, or sadness. ANOVA showed that increasing the tempo strongly affected the arousal (F(2,116) = 268.62, mean square error (MSE) = 0.6676, P < 0.001) and, to a lesser extent, the valence of emotional responses (F(6,348) = 8.71, MSE = 0.6196, P < 0.001). Changes in modes modulated the affective valence of the perceived emotions (F(6,348) = 4.24, MSE = 0.6764, P < 0.001). Some interactive effects were found between tempo and mode (F (1,58) = 115.6, MSE = 0.6428, P < 0.001), but, in most cases, the two parameters had additive effects. This finding demonstrates that small changes in the pitch structures of modes modulate the emotions associated with the pieces, confirming the cognitive foundation of emotional responses to music.

Entry Modes of Finnish Food Enterprises in Chinese Market

China’s phenomenal economic growth and social development have brought along interesting opportunities for Finnish companies. One intriguing sector offering significant growth potential is the food industry. Due to the local food safety issues, rising disposable income level and changing consumer habits, the demand for foreign food is increasing. Finnish food companies have much to offer in terms of high quality, food safety in production, technological development and innovation. The purpose of this study is to examine how the Finnish food enterprises choose their entry modes in the Chinese market. This study increases understanding of entry modes the Finnish companies can use to successfully enter the unpredictable market of China in the food industry context. The study examines the industry specific challenges and the possible solutions to them. Qualitative research is selected as research methodology for this study because the intention is to understand the reasons behind the Finnish food enterprises’ entry mode choices in the Chinese market. The study is conducted as a qualitative case analysis. Six Finnish case companies operating in the food industry were interviewed. The results of the research indicate that most of the food industry companies use exporting as their entry mode to China; only one case company used an investment mode. This study illustrates the significance of the factors related to company’s background, mode concerns and Chinese market influences in the entry mode choice.

Failure modes of passive decay heat removing safety systems of modern nuclear power plants

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to gain an understanding of passive safety systems’ role in modern nuclear reactors projects and to research the failure modes of passive decay heat removal safety systems which use phenomenon of natural circulation. Another purpose is to identify the main physical principles and phenomena which are used to establish passive safety tools in nuclear power plants. The work describes passive decay heat removal systems used in AES-2006 project and focuses on the behavior of SPOT PG system. The descriptions of the main large-scale research facilities of the passive safety systems of the AES-2006 power plant are also included. The work contains the calculations of the SPOT PG system, which was modeled with thermal-hydraulic system code TRACE. The dimensions of the calculation model are set according to the dimensions of the real SPOT PG system. In these calculations three parameters are investigated as a function of decay heat power: the pressure of the system, the natural circulation mass flow rate around the closed loop, and the level of liquid in the downcomer. The purpose of the calculations is to test the ability of the SPOT PG system to remove the decay heat from the primary side of the nuclear reactor in case of failure of one, two, or three loops out of four. The calculations show that three loops of the SPOT PG system have adequate capacity to provide the necessary level of safety. In conclusion, the work supports the view that passive systems could be widely spread in modern nuclear projects.

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1832/07/10 (N3).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1832/12/25 (N51).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1832/12/11 (N47).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1833/02/19 (N67).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1833/01/22 (N59).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1834/10/05 (A3,N28).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1834/09/11 (A3,N21).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1832/09/01 (N18).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1834/09/25 (A3,N25).

Le Papillon : journal des dames, des salons, des arts, de la littérature, des théâtres et des modes, rédigé par une société d'hommes du monde, d'artistes et de gens de lettres ["puis" journal littéraire]

1832/12/04 (N45).