Avainhenkilöiden sitouttaminen organisaatioon

Tutkielman tavoitteena oli tarkastella ja tuoda esiin sitouttamisen merkitys organisaatioille, selvittää yritysjohtojen avuksi avainhenkilöiden sitoutumista ja löytää parempia keinoja organisaatioon sitouttamiseen. Lähtökohtana oli tarkastella sitouttamista henkilöstövoimavarojen johtamisen ja sitoutumisen kautta. Viitekehykseksi valittiin Allenin ja Meyerin (1990) sitoutumismalli. Sitouttaminen vaikuttaa organisaation taloudelliseen, laadulliseen, tuotannolliseen ja kilpailulliseen menestykseen. Empiirinen tutkimus suoritettiin puolistrukturoiduilla haastatteluilla ja kyselylomakkeella. Aineisto käsiteltiin teemoittelun kautta. Empiirisen tutkimuksen mukaan tärkeimmät sitoutumista nostavat tekijät liittyvät esimiestoimintaan ja johtamiseen, työn piirteisiin ja työoloihin sekä vaikutusmahdollisuuteen. Tärkeimmät sitoutumista nostavat tekijät vaikuttivat tunnepitoisen sitoutumisen muodostumiseen. Erityisesti esiin nousivat työtehtävässä viihtymisestä muodostunut ”5 vuoden- sääntö”, organisaatioiden järjestämien vapaa-ajan tapahtumien vähäinen tärkeys sekä halu pitää perhe- ja työelämä erillään. Järjestettyjen vapaa-ajan tapahtumien merkityksen vähyys liittyy haluun viettää aikaa perheen kanssa. Organisaatioiden tulisi ottaa selvää oman henkilöstönsä sitoutumiseen vaikuttavat tekijät, jolloin organisaation käyttämät sitouttamiskeinot toimisivat parhaiten ja vastaisivat henkilöstön tarpeita.

Quality of Disease Management and Risk of Mortality in English Primary Care Practices

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether better management of chronic conditions by family practices reduces mortality risk. DATA: Two random samples of 5 million patients registered with over 8,000 English family practices followed up for 4 years (2004/5-2007/8). Measures of the quality of disease management for 10 conditions were constructed for each family practice for each year. The outcome measure was an indicator taking the value 1 if the patient died during a specified year, 0 otherwise. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-section and multilevel panel data multiple logistic regressions were estimated. Covariates included age, gender, morbidity, hospitalizations, attributed socio-economic characteristics, and local health care supply measures. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Although a composite measure of the quality of disease management for all 10 conditions was significantly associated with lower mortality, only the quality of stroke care was significant when all 10 quality measures were entered in the regression. CONCLUSIONS: The panel data results suggest that a 1 percent improvement in the quality of stroke care could reduce the annual number of deaths in England by 782 [95 percent CI: 423, 1140]. A longer study period may be necessary to detect any mortality impact of better management of other conditions.

Preservation and Management of Added Value in Networked R&D environment

Tämä tutkielma käsittelee lisäarvon syntymistä, ylläpitämistä ja hallintaa verkostoi-tuneessa tuotekehitysympäristössä. Teemahaastattelu-menetelmää käyttäen, tavoitteena on tunnistaa ja kuvata ne prosessit, käytännöt ja toimintatavat, joissa kohdeyritys on onnistunut ja joissa lisäarvoa on syntynyt. Toinen keskeinen tavoite on löytää ongelmalliset alueet lisäarvon tuottamisessa ja analysoida, miksi nämä alueet ovat ongelmallisia. Käsitteiden arvo, arvoketju ja arvoverkosto, sekä viitekirjallisuuden esimerkkien perusteella muodostetaan teoreettinen viitekehys ja kuvataan niitä hyödyllisiä toimintatapoja ja käytäntöjä, joihin panostamalla lisäarvoa syntyy. Erityisesti informaatioteknologian alalla verkostoituminen ja arvoverkosto ovat yhä merkittävämpiä tuotekehityksen toimintatapoja, mihin horisontaalisen yhteistyön kehittyminen, globalisoituminen ja informaatioteknologian nopea kehitys on johtanut. Keskeisiä tuloksia ovat tarve yhtenäisempään, prosessinomaisempaan toimintatapaan ja liiketoimintaprosessien muokkaamiseen verkostoituneen T&K ympäristön vaatimusten mukaisesti. Myös tarve paremman näkyvyyden luomiseen sekä aktiviteettien hallintaan uudentyyppisen arvoverkoston vaatimusten mukaisesti korostui tuloksissa.

CREATING A MODEL FOR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Tutkielman tarkoituksena oli mallintaa varastonhallintajärjestelmä, joka olisi sopiva case yritykselle. Tutkimus aloitettiin case yrityksen varastonhallinan nykytilan kartoituksella, jonka jälkeen tutkittiin varastonhallinnan eri osa-alueisiin. Varastonhallinnan osa-alueista käsiteltiin varastotyyppejä, motiiveja, tavoitteita, kysynnän ennustamista sekä erilaisia varastonhallinnan työkaluja. Sen lisäksi tutkittiin erilaisia varaston täydennysmalleja. Teoriaosuudessa käsiteltiin lisäksi kolmea erilaista tietojärjestelmätyyppiä: toiminnanohjausjärjestelmää, sähköisen kaupankäynnin järjestelmää sekä räätälöityä järjestelmää. Tutkimussuunnitelmassa nämä kolme järjestelmää rajattiin vaihtoehdoiksi, joista jokin valittaisiin case yrityksen varastonhallintajärjestelmäksi. Teorian ja nykytilan pohjalta tehtiin viitekehys, jossa esiteltiin varastonhallintajärjestelmän tieto- ja toiminnallisuusominaisuuksia. Nämä ominaisuudet priorisoitiin neljään eri luokkaan ominaisuuden kriittisyyden mukaan. Järjestelmävaihtoehdot arvioitiin viitekehyksen kriteerien mukaisesti, miten helposti ominaisuudet olisivat toteutettavissa eri vaihtoehdoissa. Tulokset laskettiin näiden arviointien perusteella, jonka jälkeen tulosten analysoinnissa huomattiin, että toiminnanohjausjärjestelmä sopisi parhaiten case yrityksen varastonhallintajärjestelmäksi.

Developing a theoretical framework using a nursing perspective to investigate perceived health in the "Sandwich Generation" group

Coexisting workloads from professional, household and family, and caregiving activities for frail parents expose middle-aged individuals, the so-called "Sandwich Generation", to potential health risks. Current trends suggest that this situation will continue or increase. Thus SG health promotion has become a nursing concern. Most existing research considers coexisting workloads a priori pathogenic. Most studies have examined the association of one, versus two, of these three activities with health. Few studies have used a nursing perspective. This article presents the development of a framework based on a nursing model. We integrated Siegrist's Effort-Reward Imbalance middle-range theory into "Neuman Systems Model". The latter was chosen for its salutogenic orientation, its attention to preventive nursing interventions and the opportunity it provides to simultaneously consider positive and negative perceptions of SG health and SG coexisting workloads. Finally, it facilitated a theoretical identification of health protective factors.

Representations of work and worker in the three generations of knowledge management. Critical Discourse Analysis of selected texts.

The thesis studies the representations of different elements of contemporary work as present in Knowledge Management (KM). KM is approached as management discourse that is seen to affect and influence managerial practices in organizations. As representatives of KM discourse four journal articles are analyzed, using the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis and the framework of Critical Management Studies, with a special emphasis on the question of structure and agency. The results of the analysis reveal that structural elements such as information technology and organizational structures are strongly present in the most influential KM representations, making their improvement also a desirable course of action for managers. In contrast agentic properties are not in a central role, they are subjugated to structural constraints of varying kind and degree. The thesis claims that one such constraint is KM discourse itself, influencing managerial and organizational choices and decision making. The thesis concludes that the way human beings are represented, studied and treated in management studies such as KM needs to be re-examined. Pro gradu-tutkielmassa analysoidaan työhön ja sen tekijään liittyviä representaatioita Tietojohtamisen kirjallisuudessa. Tietojohtamista tarkastellaan liikkeenjohdollisena diskurssina, jolla nähdään olevan vaikutus organisaatioiden päätöksentekoon ja toimintaan. Tutkielmassa analysoidaan neljä Tietojohtamisen tieteellistä artikkelia, käyttäen metodina kriittistä diskurssianalyysiä. Tutkielman viitekehyksenä on kriittinen liikkeenjohdon tutkimus. Lisäksi työssä pohditaan kysymystä rakenteen ja toimijan välisestä vuorovaikutuksesta. Tutkielman analyysi paljastaa, että tietojohtamisen vaikutusvaltaisimmat representaatiot painottavat rakenteellisia tekijöitä, kuten informaatioteknologiaa ja organisaatiorakenteita. Tämän seurauksena mm. panostukset em. tekijöihin nähdään organisaatioissa toivottavana toimintana. Vastaavasti representaatiot jotka painottavat yksilöitä ja toimintaa ovat em. tekijöille alisteisessa asemassa. Tapaa, jolla yksilöitä kuvataan ja käsitellään Tietojohtamisen diskurssissa, tulisikin laajentaa ja monipuolistaa.

Classification and inventory management of abnormal demand items

The main objective of the study is to form a framework that provides tools to recognise and classify items whose demand is not smooth but varies highly on size and/or frequency. The framework will then be combined with two other classification methods in order to form a three-dimensional classification model. Forecasting and inventory control of these abnormal demand items is difficult. Therefore another object of this study is to find out which statistical forecasting method is most suitable for forecasting of abnormal demand items. The accuracy of different methods is measured by comparing the forecast to the actual demand. Moreover, the study also aims at finding proper alternatives to the inventory control of abnormal demand items. The study is quantitative and the methodology is a case study. The research methods consist of theory, numerical data, current state analysis and testing of the framework in case company. The results of the study show that the framework makes it possible to recognise and classify the abnormal demand items. It is also noticed that the inventory performance of abnormal demand items differs significantly from the performance of smoothly demanded items. This makes the recognition of abnormal demand items very important.

Innovation process management of complex consumer products and services in new innovation paradigm – case location based business

Innovation is the word of this decade. According to innovation definitions, without positive sales impact and meaningful market share the company’s product or service has not been an innovation. Research problem of this master thesis is to find out what is the innovation process of complex new consumer products and services in new innovation paradigm. The objective is to get answers to two research questions: 1) What are the critical success factors what company should do when it is implementing the paradigm change in mass markets consumer business with complex products and services? 2) What is the process or framework one firm could follow? The research problem is looked from one company’s innovation creation process, networking and organization change management challenges point of views. Special focus is to look the research problem from an existing company perspective which is entering new business area. Innovation process management framework of complex new consumer products and services in new innovation paradigm has been created with support of several existing innovation theories. The new process framework includes the critical innovation process elements companies should take into consideration in their daily activities when they are in their new business innovation implementing process. Case company location based business implementation activities are studied via the new innovation process framework. This case study showed how important it is to manage the process, look how the target market and the competition in it is developing during company’s own innovation process, make decisions at right time and from beginning plan and implement the organization change management as one activity in the innovation process. In the end this master thesis showed that all companies need to create their own innovation process master plan with milestones and activities. One plan does not fit all, but all companies can start their planning from the new innovation process what was introduced in this master thesis.

Professionalisation of sport federations - a multi-level framework for analysing forms, causes and consequences

Research question: International and national sport federations as well as their member organisations are key actors within the sport system and have a wide range of relationships outside the sport system (e.g. with the state, sponsors, and the media). They are currently facing major challenges such as growing competition in top-level sports, democratisation of sports with 'sports for all' and sports as the answer to social problems. In this context, professionalising sport organisations seems to be an appropriate strategy to face these challenges and current problems. We define the professionalisation of sport organisations as an organisational process of transformation leading towards organisational rationalisation, efficiency and business-like management. This has led to a profound organisational change, particularly within sport federations, characterised by the strengthening of institutional management (managerialism) and the implementation of efficiency-based management instruments and paid staff. Research methods: The goal of this article is to review the current international literature and establish a global understanding of and theoretical framework for analysing why and how sport organisations professionalise and what consequences this may have. Results and findings: Our multi-level approach based on the social theory of action integrates the current concepts for analysing professionalisation in sport federations. We specify the framework for the following research perspectives: (1) forms, (2) causes and (3) consequences, and discuss the reciprocal relations between sport federations and their member organisations in this context. Implications: Finally, we work out a research agenda and derive general methodological consequences for the investigation of professionalisation processes in sport organisations.

Prototype of a web-based participative decision support platform in natural hazards and risk management

This paper presents the current state and development of a prototype web-GIS (Geographic Information System) decision support platform intended for application in natural hazards and risk management, mainly for floods and landslides. This web platform uses open-source geospatial software and technologies, particularly the Boundless (formerly OpenGeo) framework and its client side software development kit (SDK). The main purpose of the platform is to assist the experts and stakeholders in the decision-making process for evaluation and selection of different risk management strategies through an interactive participation approach, integrating web-GIS interface with decision support tool based on a compromise programming approach. The access rights and functionality of the platform are varied depending on the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in managing the risk. The application of the prototype platform is demonstrated based on an example case study site: Malborghetto Valbruna municipality of North-Eastern Italy where flash floods and landslides are frequent with major events having occurred in 2003. The preliminary feedback collected from the stakeholders in the region is discussed to understand the perspectives of stakeholders on the proposed prototype platform.

Prise en charge des facteurs de risque des maladies cardiovasculaires: qu'est-ce qui a vraiment changé en 15 ans [Management of cardiovascular diseases in adults from 1999 to 2014: what has really changed?].

Every year, a considerable number of clinical guidelines for the management of cardiovascular risk factors are issued. It may give the idea that this area is constantly evolving with regular changes for ambulatory clinical practice, including family medicine. Sometimes important differences between the various recommendations are observed. This led us to wonder about the evolution of recommendations for the management of diabetes, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure over time. This article presents a historical review of US and European recommendations between 1999 and 2014 to highlight what has actually changed.

Nouveautés dans l'ostéogenèse imparfaite: de la recherche à la prise en charge multidisciplinaire [News in osteogenesis imperfecta: from research to clinical management]

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic disease. Today we are able to propose an adapted and efficient management to the patients with this rare disorder (and their families) thanks to a strong collaboration of clinicians and researchers. Recent knowledge regarding the genetics of OI permits an accurate diagnosis of the specific type of OI and its own molecular mechanism, a genetic counseling for family planning and prenatal diagnosis, and in addition more targeted therapeutic options. A specific support with re-education for patients with OI is necessary and efficient. To optimize patient care, a multidisciplinary consultation is proposed at the CHUV, moreover a web site is available for patients, families and therapists: www.infomaladiesrares.ch

A measurement framework for quality health care for adolescents in hospital.

PURPOSE: Despite growing interest in measurement of health care quality and patient experience, the current evidence base largely derives from adult health settings, at least in part because of the absence of appropriately developed measurement tools for adolescents. To rectify this, we set out to develop a conceptual framework and a set of indicators to measure the quality of health care delivered to adolescents in hospital. METHODS: A conceptual framework was developed from the following four elements: (1) a review of the evidence around what young people perceive as "adolescent-friendly" health care; (2) an exploration with adolescent patients of the principles of patient-centered care; (3) a scoping review to identify core clinical practices around working with adolescents; and (4) a scoping review of existing conceptual frameworks. Using criteria for indicator development, we then developed a set of indicators that mapped to this framework. RESULTS: Embedded within the notion of patient- and family-centered care, the conceptual framework for adolescent-friendly health care (quality health care for adolescents) was based on the constructs of experience of care (positive engagement with health care) and evidence-informed care. A set of 14 indicators was developed, half of which related to adolescents' and parents' experience of care and half of which related to aspects of evidence-informed care. CONCLUSIONS: The conceptual framework and indicators of quality health care for adolescents set the stage to develop measures to populate these indicators, the next step in the agenda of improving the quality of health care delivered to adolescents in hospital settings.

Entrepreneurial Initiative Selling Within Organizations: Towards a More Comprehensive Motivational Framework

We develop and test a motivational framework to explain the intensity with which individuals sell entrepreneurial initiatives within their organizations. Initiative selling efforts may be driven by several factors that hitherto have not been given full consideration: initiative characteristics, individuals' anticipation of rewards, and their level of dissatisfaction. On the basis of a survey in a mail service firm of 192 managers who proposed an entrepreneurial initiative, we find that individuals' reported intensity of their selling efforts with respect to that initiative is greater when they (1) believe that the organizational benefits of the initiative are high, (2) perceive that the initiative is consistent with current organizational practices (although this effect is weak), (3) believe that their immediate organizational environment provides extrinsic rewards for initiatives, and (4) are satisfied with the current organizational situation. These findings extend previous expectancy theory-based explanations of initiative selling (by considering the roles of initiative characteristics and that of initiative valence for the proponent) and show the role of satisfaction as an important motivational driver for initiative selling.

Developing a conceptual framework to analyse professionalisation in sport federations

Existing research on sport organisations is imprecise in the use of the concept 'professionalisation'. Furthermore, we do not know if analytical concepts of professionalisation correspond with the understanding in practice. This study explores the perceptions of practitioners and proposes a framework to analyse professionalisation in national sport federations. Expert interviews were conducted with six key people from Swiss national sport federations and then analysed these for characteristics of professionalisation using a hermeneutic approach. The characteristics were divided into three areas: (1) changed management philosophy, (2) functional differentiation and specialisation, and (3) application of management tools. However, professionalisation is primarily perceived to be a matter of 'professional' attitude that transforms into federation culture. The practitioners disclose an ambivalent view of professionalisation, e.g. business-like culture vs. voluntarism, for-profit vs. non-profit orientation, autonomy vs. control. A framework is developed that synthesises analytical concepts and practitioners' perceptions to support future comprehensive research into causes, forms and consequences of professionalisation in national sport federations.