Foreign Operation Mode Strategies of Finnish Companies in Russia

The object of this study was to examine foreign operation mode strategies used by Finnish companies in Russia. Thus, it was necessary to understand how Finnish companies have used foreign operation modes and which factors have influenced on their foreign operation mode strategies in Russia. Moreover, the purpose was also to find out that have Finnish companies switched, stretched or combined their foreign operation modes. The study's empirical part was conducted as a semi structured qualitative within-case and cross-case analysis of seven case companies that are selected to represent different industries. There are five Finnish LSEs and two Finnish SMEs as case companies. The results of this study indicated that Finnish companies have mainly used exporting as their initial entry mode to the Russian market. After they had gained understanding and experience of the Russian market, they switched from non-equity and simple foreign operation modes to more challenging and equity demanding foreign operation modes, and established wholly owned operations.

The early activities of front end of innovation in oem companies using a new fei platform as a framework for renewal

The main goal of this study is to create a seamless chain of actions and more detailed structure to the front end of innovation to be able to increase the front end performance and finally to influence the renewal of companies. The main goal is achieved through by the new concept of an integrated model of early activities of FEI leading to a discovery of new elements of opportunities and the identification of new business and growth areas. The procedure offers one possible solution to a dynamic strategy formation process in innovation development cycle. In this study the front end of innovation is positioned between a strategy reviews and a concept creation with needed procedures, tools, and frameworks. The starting point of the study is that the origins of innovation are not well enough understood. The study focuses attention on the early activities of FEI. These first activities are conceptualized in order to find out successful innovation initiatives and strategic renewal agendas. A seamless chain of activities resulting in faster and more precise identification of opportunities and growth areas available on markets and inside companies is needed. Three case studies were conducted in order to study company views on available theory doctrine and to identify the first practical experiences and procedures in the beginning of the front end of innovation. Successful innovation requires focus on renewal in both internal and external directions and they should be carefully balanced for best results. Instead of inside-out mode of actions the studied companies have a strong outside-in thinking mode and they mainly co-develop their innovation initiatives in close proximity with customers i.e. successful companies are an integral part of customers business and success. Companies have tailor-made innovation processes combined their way of working linked to their business goals, and priorities of actual needs of transformation. The result of this study is a new modular FEI platform which can be configured by companies against their actual business needs and drivers. This platform includes new elements of FEI documenting an architecture presenting how the system components work together. The system is a conceptual approach from theories of emergent strategy formation, opportunity identification and creation, interpretation-analysis-experimentation triad and the present FEI theories. The platform includes new features compared to actual models of FEI. It allows managers to better understand the importance of FEI in the whole innovation development stage and FEI as a phase and procedure to discover and implement emergent strategy. An adaptable company rethinks and redirects strategy proactively from time to time. Different parts of the business model are changed to remove identified obstacles for growth and renewal which gives them avenues to find right reforms for renewal.

Cooperative strategy in emerging markets - analysis of interfirm r&d cooperation and performance in Russian manufacturing companies

Emerging markets have come to play a significant role in the world, not only due to their strong economic growth but because they have been able to foster an increasing number of innovative high technology oriented firms. However, as the markets continue to change and develop, there remain many companies in emerging markets that struggle with their competitiveness and innovativeness. To improve competitive capabilities, many scholars have come to favor interfirm cooperation, which is perceived to help companies access new knowledge and complementary resources and, by so doing, enables them to catch up quickly with Western competitors. Regardless of numerous attempts by strategic management scholars, the research field remains very fragmented and lacks understanding on how and when interfirm cooperation contributes to firm performance and competiveness in emerging markets. Furthermore, the reasons why interfirm R&D sometimes succeeds but fails at other times frequently remain unidentified. This thesis combines the extant literature on competitive and cooperative strategy, dynamic capabilities, and R&D cooperation while studying interfirm R&D relationships in and between Russian manufacturing companies. Employing primary survey data, the thesis presents numerous novel findings regarding the effect of R&D cooperation and different types of R&D partner on firms’ exploration and exploitation performance. Utilizing a competitive strategy framework enables these effects to be explained in more detail, and especially why interfirm cooperation, regardless of its potential, has had a modest effect on the general competitiveness of emerging market firms. This thesis contributes especially to the strategic management literature and presents a more holistic perspective on the usefulness of cooperative strategy in emerging markets. It provides a framework through which it is possible to assess the potential impacts of different R&D cooperation partners and to clarify the causal relationships between cooperation, performance, and long term competitiveness.

Yksityisen osakeyhtiön onnistunut sukupolvenvaihdos verotuksellisesta näkökulmasta: case-tutkimus

Sukupolvenvaihdoksella tarkoitetaan yrityksen omistajasuhteiden vaihtumista sukupolvelta toiselle liiketoiminnan jatkamiseksi yrityksessä. Tutkielmassa tutkitaan sukupolvenvaihdosta koskevaa verokohtelua ja muita omistajavaihdokseen liittyviä tekijöitä, joita yrityksissä kohdataan omistajavaihdosprosessin aikana. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on löytää paras ratkaisu sukupolvenvaihdoksen toteutukseen kohdeyritykselle. Tutkimus toteutettiin tapaustutkimuksena ja aineistona käytettiin pääasiassa kohdeyrityksen tilinpäätöksiä viime vuosilta sekä omistajan ja jatkajan haastatteluja. Tutkimuksessa esitetyt laskelmat perustuvat kohdeyrityksen tilinpäätöstietoihin. Laskelmien tarkoituksena on selkeyttää sukupolvenvaihdoksen verotuskäytäntöä ja avustaa koituvan kokonaisrahoituksen tarpeen arvioinnissa. Sukupolvenvaihdokseen tulee valmistautua riittävän ajoissa ja etenkin verotukseen liittyviin ratkaisuihin tulee valmistautua ennakkoon. Yrityksen käypä arvo ja omistajavaihdoksen toteutustapa määrittävät pitkälti kokonaisverotuksen määrän. Kohdeyritykselle sopivin ratkaisu riippuu myös jatkajan mahdollisuuksista rahoittaa omistajavaihdos. Kohdeyrityksen tapauksessa kokonaisrahoituksellisesti edullisin vaihtoehto olisi maksaa käypään arvoon nähden alhainen kauppahinta.

Chart of a portion of North-West Greenland : altered according to the positions and measurements obtained by the Swedish expedition of 1870

Kartta kuuluu A. E. Nordenskiöldin kokoelmaan

Family ownership – a source of sustainable success in listed companies

Extant research on exchange-listed firms has acknowledged that the concentration of ownership and the identity of owners make a difference. In addition, studies indicate that firms with a dominant owner outperform firms with dispersed ownership. During the last few years, scholars have identified one group of owners, in particular, whose ownership stake in publicly listed firm is positively related to performance: the business family. While acknowledging that family firms represent a unique organizational form, scholars have identified various concepts and theories in order to understand how the family influences organizational processes and firm performance. Despite multitude of research, scholars have not been able to present clear results on how firm performance is actually impacted by the family. In other words, studies comparing the performance of listed family and other types of firms have remained descriptive in nature since they lack empirical data and confirmation from the family business representatives. What seems to be missing is a convincing theory that links the involvement and behavioral consequences. Accordingly, scholars have not yet come to a mutual understanding of what precisely constitutes a family business. The variety of different definitions and theories has made comparability of different results difficult for instance. These two issues have hampered the development of a rigorous theory of family business. The overall objective of this study is to describe and understand how the family as a dominant owner can enhance firm performance, and can act a source of sustainable success in listed companies. In more detail, in order to develop understanding of the unique factors that can act as competitive advantages for listed family firms, this study is based on a qualitative approach and aims at theory development, not theory verification. The data in this study consist of 16 thematic interviews with CEOs, members of the board, supervisory board chairs, and founders of Finnish listed-family firms. The study consists of two parts. The first part introduces the research topic, research paradigm, methods, and publications, and also discusses the overall outcomes and contributions of the publications. The second part consists of four publications that address the research questions from different viewpoints. The analyses of this study indicate that family ownership in listed companies represents a structure that differs from the traditional views of agency and stewardship, as well as from resource-based and stakeholder views. As opposed to these theories and shareholder capitalism which consider humans as individualistic, opportunistic, and self-serving, and assume that the behaviors of an investor are based on the incentives and motivations to maximize private profits, the family owners form a collective social unit that is motivated to act together toward their mutual purpose or benefit. In addition, socio-emotional and psychological elements of ownership define the family members as owners, rather than the legal and financial dimensions of ownership. That is, collective psychological ownership of family over the business (F-CPO) can be seen as a construct that comprehensively captures the fusion between the family and the business. Moreover, it captures the realized, rather than merely potential, family influence on and interaction with the business, and thereby brings more theoretical clarity of the nature of the fusion between the family and the business, and offers a solution to the problem of family business definition. This doctoral dissertation provides academics, policy-makers, family business practitioners, and the society at large with many implications considering family and business relationships.

Limited-sampling strategy models for estimating the pharmacokinetic parameters of 4-methylaminoantipyrine, an active metabolite of dipyrone

Bioanalytical data from a bioequivalence study were used to develop limited-sampling strategy (LSS) models for estimating the area under the plasma concentration versus time curve (AUC) and the peak plasma concentration (Cmax) of 4-methylaminoantipyrine (MAA), an active metabolite of dipyrone. Twelve healthy adult male volunteers received single 600 mg oral doses of dipyrone in two formulations at a 7-day interval in a randomized, crossover protocol. Plasma concentrations of MAA (N = 336), measured by HPLC, were used to develop LSS models. Linear regression analysis and a "jack-knife" validation procedure revealed that the AUC0-¥ and the Cmax of MAA can be accurately predicted (R²>0.95, bias <1.5%, precision between 3.1 and 8.3%) by LSS models based on two sampling times. Validation tests indicate that the most informative 2-point LSS models developed for one formulation provide good estimates (R²>0.85) of the AUC0-¥ or Cmax for the other formulation. LSS models based on three sampling points (1.5, 4 and 24 h), but using different coefficients for AUC0-¥ and Cmax, predicted the individual values of both parameters for the enrolled volunteers (R²>0.88, bias = -0.65 and -0.37%, precision = 4.3 and 7.4%) as well as for plasma concentration data sets generated by simulation (R²>0.88, bias = -1.9 and 8.5%, precision = 5.2 and 8.7%). Bioequivalence assessment of the dipyrone formulations based on the 90% confidence interval of log-transformed AUC0-¥ and Cmax provided similar results when either the best-estimated or the LSS-derived metrics were used.

The Arctic Ocean between Greenland and Nova Zemla and between the 60th and 82d parallel of latitude from Swedish, Danish, British, Russian and German surveys and explorations up to 1871

Kartta kuuluu A. E. Nordenskiöldin kokoelmaan

Företagsamhet i skola och utbildning : lärares tankar om förutsättningarna att nå målen i temaområdet Deltagande, demokrati och entreprenörskap

Developing students’ enterprise and proactive approaches to life have been goals of Finnish public education since its introduction. Still, education in Finland today is criticized for not reaching these goals and for overlooking the development of students’ enterprise. The role of enterprise education is ambivalent. On the one hand, enterprise education is advocated as the solution to many of the alleged problems in public education; on the other hand, the pedagogical ideas that enterprise education builds on appear to coincide with the contemporary understanding of “good education.” The thesis discusses what sets enterprise education apart from other types of education and teaching. Notably, the pedagogical foundations for enterprise education are not necessarily solid or sufficiently explored. Thus, the overall aim of the thesis is to explore the conditions for developing enterprise in education. Sloyd, as a school subject that promotes handicraft-based education, has long been attributed as having the potential to develop students’ character and person; similarly, it is also identified as being well suited for developing student enterprise. Enterprise education is not specific to sloyd, however. In fact, developing enterprise is a cross-curricular goal for basic education. In a subject-focused educational structure and culture, the development of an enterprising mindset in students is a common concern for all teachers. Thus, an understanding of the conditions for enterprise education must not be limited to one school subject; rather, the nature of the phenomenon requires a cross-curricular approach. Altogether, the conditions for enterprise education appear to be in need of further research. In addition to a subject-focused structure, other influencing factors that are mentioned in discussions on enterprise education include the need for a more enterprising working culture in school. Importantly, another key factor is the individual teacher’s pedagogical philosophy, which constitutes the frame of reference that informs how he or she understands and interprets his or her profession. Notably, the conditions for enterprise education are poor unless a teacher’s pedagogical philosophy emphasizes a focus on enterprise. The empirical research uses a hermeneutical approach and focuses on exploring teachers’ views on the conditions for reaching the national goals related to students’ enterprise. The interview study was conducted among class and subject teachers around Swedish-speaking Finland. The study shows that teachers view themselves as the most important factor for a focus on enterprise. Teachers have also identified a vast number of contextual factors that influence, support, or counteract a focus on enterprise. Structure, culture, resources, and curriculum, as well as numerous societal factors, all interact to affect the conditions for enterprise education. The prevailing culture of subject focus poses a challenge to enterprise education. At the same time, however, a focus on enterprise can be seen as a natural tendency in grades one to six. Indeed, teachers of all grade levels interpret the development of a proactive approach to life as one of education’s core values. Altogether, the thesis offers a deepened and nuanced understanding of the conditions for enterprise education. While the public education system in Finland seems to have some favourable basic conditions for enterprise education, multifaceted challenges must be faced if the national goals related to enterprise are to be reached.

Kestävyysstrategioiden arviointi pk-yrityksissä

Yrityksien vastuullinen liiketoiminta ja kestävä kehitys ovat nousseet esille sekä julkisessa keskustelussa että tieteellisessä tutkimuksessa. Tehty tutkimus on painottunut suuryrityksiin ja eri viitekehykset ja työkalut on luotu suuryrityksien näkökulmasta. Kuitenkin suurten ja pk-yritysten toiminta eroaa huomattavasti toisistaan, minkä vuoksi erilaiset mallit ei ole suoraan sovellettavissa pk-yrityksille. Tämä diplomityö pyrkii vastaamaan tähän ongelmaan tarkastelemalla kestävyyttä pk-yrityksien näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on arvioida, miten kestävyys näkyy pk-yrityksien toiminnassa sekä pohtia, miten kestävien strategioiden syntymistä saadaan edistettyä. Tutkimus koostuu kirjallisuustutkimuksena tehdystä teoriakatsauksesta sekä empiirisestä osuudesta, joka pohjautuu haastatteluihin sekä kyselytutkimukseen. Tarkastelun tuloksena muodostuu ymmärrys siitä, miten kestävyys ilmenee pk-yrityksissä ja miten pk-yrityksien ominaispiirteet vaikuttavat kestävyyden huomioimiseen. Tulokset osoittavat, että kirjallisuudesta tunnistetut kestävyysstrategiatyypittelyt ovat sovellettavissa suomalaisiin pk-yrityksiin, mutta selvää rajaa kestävyysstrategiatyyppien välille on vaikea vetää. Samassa yrityksessä voi olla tunnistettavissa useita strategiatyyppejä riippuen tarkasteltavasta osa-alueesta. Pk-yrityksissä kestävyyden huomioimiseen vaikuttavat merkittävästi myös niiden ominaispiirteet, mitkä erottavat pk-yritykset suuryrityksistä. Merkittävimmiksi ominaispiirteiksi tässä tutkimuksessa tunnistettiin omistajien asenteet, likviditeettiongelmat, resurssien sekä tiedon ja osaamisen vähyys.

Lean Innovation in Large Companies: a Case of Implementation in R&D

The main objective of the study is to evaluate the impact of Lean Innovation management philosophy on the creativity potential of the large multinational enterprise. A theory of Lean Innovation indicates that the modern company in any industry can successfully combine both waste-decreasing approach and innovative potential promotion through creativity cultivation or, at least, preservation. The theoretical part of the work covers the main factors, pros and cons of Lean thinking and Innovation management separately, along with generalized new product development overview. While the modern international market becomes more accessible for entrepreneural initiatives, small enterprises and start-ups, large international corporations are more subject to adopt the Lean Innovation approach in both operational and product development sectors due to extended resources and capabilities. Moreover, a multinational enterprise is a highly probable pioneer in Lean innovation implementation. The empirical part of the thesis refers to a case of large European enterprise, operating in many markets around the globe, that currently undergoes innovation management adjustments and implementations in product development while already have related themselves with operational process optimization process through Lean thinking. A goal of the work is to understand what kind of difficulties and consequences a large international firm faces when dealing with Lean Innovation to improve own performance, if they can be sealed for generalized approach.

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN B2B COMPANIES – The Roles of Marketing Communication Tools in the Digital Age

Marketing communications has gone through significant changes during the last decades and new online tools have been leading this change for the last decade. Now, in the digital age, if wanting to be successful companies need to experiment new things and seize the opportunities online provides and adapt to the new environment. However, during this time the marketing communication mix and the meanings given to the various components of it have not changed dramatically, and personal selling, direct marketing, sales promotion, advertising and public relations activities are still regarded as important tools in the marketing communications mix. The purpose of this study was to examine business-to-business marketing communications and the tools used by companies in their marketing communications efforts in the digital age and in a global environment. The research questions dealt with the marketing communication tools and their roles as well as the role of online marketing communication and the way it has shaped the field of b2b marketing communications. In order to answer these questions, qualitative approach was chosen and the data was collected by theme interviews with six representatives of Finnish global companies from the b2b sector being interviewed. The theoretical framework covers the general field of b2b marketing communications and its main elements. The online environment as well as the concept of a global marketplace and integrated approach to marketing communication activities is also discussed. The theory was supported by the interviews regarding the activities and roles of the marketing communication tools and both theory as well as the interviews found personal selling to be a vital tool. However, the importance of online has grown and online marketing activities have risen right next to personal selling. The use of analytics and marketing automation was found to be of great interest in the interviews and they were seen as a growing domain in b2b marketing communications. The importance of targeted and personalised messages from relevant medias was a repeating theme as was the customer-centric approach in marketing communication activities. Also, offline and online tools and channels were seen as something that should be treated together as an entity rather than as separate activities. Relevant content created according to the needs of the customer with the gathered data from analytics were seen as the future of b2b marketing communications. Online has added its input to the more traditionally perceived tools and they are executed within the framework of the digital age. Nevertheless, even though online has increased its presence in the b2b marketing communications mix, the more traditionally perceived marketing communication tools, especially personal selling, have not lost their meaning or place in the b2b marketing communication mix.

Craft distillery internationalization - Case: Kyrö Distillery Company

The purpose of this thesis is to identify attractive foreign markets for Kyrö Distillery Company. A small company with limited resources, it needs to make the right choices in their internationalization process to be able to succeed. Market research is needed. The amassed theory at the beginning gives insight and a general framework that we follow later in the empirical part; should they go abroad, where should the go and how are answered. After analyzing the company, the industry and all the necessary forces affecting the environment it was evident that they are ready to start their internationalization process and that the time is opportune. They have a quality brand that will not shy away even under closer inspection and their biggest impediment is access to distribution channels. After concluding that the company is fit to enter foreign markets a system of ranking countries in our target region was formed. Market data was painstakingly collected and analyzed resulting in an a priori list of attractive foreign market options to aid in the company's decision making. Finally we concluded that according to the transaction cost theory, it is beneficial for Kyrö Distillery Company to engage in partnerships, where local companies handle logistics and sales on their behalf.