Effects of Country of Origin on Consumer Product Evaluations: Finnish clothing products in the minds of Russian tourists

Companies operating in today’s highly internationalized markets consider product differentiation the key priority in pursue to attain a constant competitive advantage in challenging global environment (Baker and Ballington 2002, 158). The main driver affecting companies’ differentiation actions was described as early as 1912 by one of the marketing pioneers A. W. Shaw (1912, 710) as meeting human wants more accurate than the competition, and thus increasing customers’ perceived value and satisfaction. Dickson and Ginter (1987, 2) point out in their study based on earlier research by Chamberlin (1965) and Porter (1976) that differentiation can be based on either tangible characteristics of a product such as design or intangible characteristics such as a brand name and country of origin (hereafter referred to as COO). The concept of COO and its impact on consumers’ evaluation of a product as an extrinsic product cue has been one of the most noteworthy topics in international marketing, having been voluminously examined by over 780 authors in more than 750 academic publications in the past 40 years (Papadopoulos and Heslop 2002, 294). Many of these studies accentuate the significant effect the COO has on consumers’ product attribute evaluations. People routinely associate country images with products and services in order to judge and categorize them based on perceived quality and risk levels; thereby COO can influence the likelihood of a purchase (Peterson and Jolibert 1995, 883-884; Verlegh and Steenkamp 1999, 523). Based on the vast research related to COO in the field of international business, it is widely recognized that the country associated with a product can act in a similar way as the name of a brand and even become a part of product’s total image. Thereby depending on customer’s values and perceptions, the product-country image can either increase or decrease perceived value.

Stock Repurchase Authorizations - Finnish Companies

The aim of this study is to examine the abnormal market reaction caused by share repurchase authorizations. We study this abnormal reaction from five different angles. First four concentrate on average abnormal returns while the fifth concentrates on cumulative abnormal return. Data consists of 508 share repurchase authorization from Finnish stock market. Event study methodology is used to examine the stock price reaction and regression analysis is used to find correlation between actual buybacks and abnormal returns. The empirical results show that markets do usually react positively to share repurchase authorizations. There are some differences depending which of the five angles the abnormal returns are being examined. Statistically we can confirm that some authorization give positive reaction while others do not. Also we didn’t find a statistically significant positive correlation between actual buybacks and abnormal returns.

Automatisointiin ja monistettavuuteen perustuvan palvelumallin soveltaminen tietojärjestelmätoimituksissa

Ohjelmistotuotannon yleinen ongelma on se, että toimitusprojektien läpivientiajat pitkittyvät. Kilpailun kiristyessä ohjelmistoalalla on alettu kiinnittää erityistä huomiota projektien eri vaiheiden tehostamiseen. Process Vision Oy kehittää energiatietojärjestelmiä Suomen energia-alan yrityksille. Yrityksessä on kehitetty vuonna 2010 palvelumalli, jonka avulla pyritään nopeuttamaan toimitusprojektien eri vaiheita. Valtioneuvosto valmisteli vuonna 2009 tuntimittausasetuksen, joka määritti sääntöjä mittaustiedon hallintaan energia-alalla. Kyseisen asetuksen pohjalta Energiateollisuus julkaisi vuonna 2010 ohjeistuksen, joka selkeyttää asetuksen sisällön vaatimuksia jakeluverkonhaltijoille ja sähkön myyjille. Process Vision Oy on valmistellut ohjeistuksen pohjalta tuntimittauspaketin, joka sisältää ohjeistuksen mukaiset toiminnot GENERIS-järjestelmässä. Tässä diplomityössä määritellään Process Vision Oy:n palvelumallin mukaiset standardikomponentit tuntimittauspaketin toimitusprojekteja varten. Työn tavoitteena on kehittää mahdollisimman pitkälle tuotteistettu tuntimittauspaketin toimitus uusille ja vanhoille asiakkaille. Työn lopussa pohditaan miten hyvin palvelumalli soveltuu tuntimittauspaketin toimitusprojekteihin. Lisäksi työssä kartoitetaan yrityksessä käytössä olevien automatisointityökalujen kehitystarpeita. Työn tuloksena saatiin määriteltyä GENERIS-objektit ja konfiguraatiot, jotka toimitetaan tuntimittauspaketin mukana. Työn ohessa sisällytettiin yrityksen Suomen taseselvitysjärjestelmien asennusohjeeseen tuntimittauspaketin toiminnallisuuksien konfigurointi. Uusien vientimäärittelyjen avulla voidaan tuntimittauspaketin toiminnallisuudet toimittaa jatkossa tehokkaammin kuin aiemmin.

Hazard Risk Management in Large Nordic Companies' Operations in Russia

The objective of this research was to describe how Nordic companies manage hazard risks in their operations in Russia and how the local business environment is considered to affect the hazard risks. Research methods used in this research were literature review and expert interviews. Twelve Nordic industrial companies operating in different fields of industry were interviewed. Large Nordic companies typically guide risk management centralized from the parent company on behalf of the whole company group and the risk management standards and policies are integrated in all subsidiaries. Parent companies typically control hazard risk management in Russia by regular risk management reporting, auditing the Russian sites and by training local managers and employees to risk management work. Many companies have experienced several losses in the first years of operating in Russia before the risk management policies have been implemented in Russian subsidiaries. The companies have learned to take local characteristics better into account by experience and most companies are quite satisfied with their current risk management standards in Russia. The interviews indicate that companies experience especially the poor quality of infrastructure, some features in Russian organizational culture and high level of criminality to increase hazard risks in Russia. However, understanding these features and risks in the business environment makes the management of these risks possible. Risks related to infrastructure can be managed in advance by decreasing dependencies of infrastructure and considering the infrastructure quality already when planning the business operations. Also good local network is often considered critical in order to overcome the complications related to infrastructure. Russian personnel has typically different attitude towards risk management than Nordic personnel and neglecting safety and maintenance and concealing losses is more typical in Russia. By training and guiding the local personnel risk management and safety work and desired ways of actions these risks can be decreased. Criminality risks are often managed to certain extent by investing in security, increasing supervising and paying attention to reliability of the employees and other interest groups of the company.

SOCIAL MEDIA IN INTERNATIONAL BRAND COMMUNICATION OF SMES - A multiple case study of small Finnish design-intensive companies

Social media is a rather new phenomenon which has revolutionised the world of online communication. However, academic research on how companies can benefit from social media is lacking. The research objective of this thesis was to examine the use of social media in international brand communication of small Finnish design-intensive companies. Therefore, this research contributes also to the research gap in SME branding. The focus was on communication targeted at consumers. The research was carried out as a mixed methods research employing the questionnaire and multiple case study methods. The questionnaire was used to gather preliminary information on Finnish design-intensive companies and to provide an eligible list of companies for deeper examination. Then, four case companies were studied in more depth. The empirical evidence of the case companies was mainly gathered through theme interviews. The results of the questionnaire shed light on the internationalisation of small Finnish designintensive companies. On average, the companies had internationalised rather quickly after they had been founded. However, the share of exports was rather low in most of the companies. The results revealed also that social media was already used widely in the exporting companies and the use can be expected to grow in future. The findings of the multiple case study suggest that branding activities in small Finnish designintensive companies are constrained by limited resources and skills. In addition, the branding activities are strongly guided by the vision and values of the entrepreneur(s) rather than extensive marketing research. The brand structure was simple in all case companies and they aimed at having a standardised brand image across markets. However, all case companies had faced a need for some adaptation of their international brand communication. Internationally important brand communication channels were international fairs, the internet, word-of-mouth and social media. Social media offered a cost-effective brand communication channel for the case companies. It was used for various purposes, such as creating brand awareness and affecting how the brand is perceived. The entrepreneurs found the use of social media to be rather easy and the case companies had not faced any major challenges. However, the companies had recognised that communication in social media requires consistency and planning. The planning was rather informal and stayed on a general level. Overall, the utilisation of social media in the case companies was limited by a lack of resources. It seemed to affect especially the follow-up of brand communication in social media which stayed rather superficial.

THE IMPACT OF GUANXI TO MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES BUSINESS PERFORMACE, CORPORATE REPUTATION, NEGOTIATIONS AND MANAGEMENT IN CHINA

The modern business development of China began during 1978 and during the last decades Chinese have created one of the most dynamic and strongest economies in the world. China is now second largest trading power calculated in dollars. The special characteristic of this economic development is that it is not copy of any existing economy, instead the developments have been strongly influenced by the Chinese cultural characteristics. One cultural characteristic, guanxi, which is a “network of services and counter- services” is argued to be major component of successful business in China where these changes of services happen between people but also between companies. Obtaining introductions and the guanxi when doing business in China will give attentive audience and security for companies business. Despite the evidenced importance of guanxi, China´s business environment is rapidly changing towards Western economies, which might then reduce the importance of guanxi. Therefore the current impact of guanxi is a important topic to study. The main purpose of this study is to explore the impact of guanxi for Western big and small sized multinational companies´ business processes when doing business in China. This study looks What is the impact of guanxi in contemporary Chinese business environment for foreign companies doing business in China. Sub-questions in this research focus on what is the impact of guanxi on corporate reputation, management and negotiations. Findings present a mixed view where the importance of guanxi is not anymore critical, especially among younger people in the cities, however guanxi was clearly important outside the cities and when dealing with government officials. Efficient use of guanxi can be extremely profitable especially during early stages of business operations and guanxi plays role when bargaining prices and ensuring product quality from the factories. Therefore guanxi should be considered as essential element for successful business in China.

Arpajaislain uudistamisprosessi ja uudistusten vaikutukset rahapelien markkinointiin

Tutkielma kuvaa Suomen arpajaislain muutosprosessia ja sen taustalla olevia tekijöitä sekä muutoksen vaikutuksia rahapelien markkinointiin. Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan erityisesti vuoden 2010 arpajaislain uudistusta ja vaikutuksia. Rahapelejä on kohdeltu Europpan Yhteisöjen lainsäädännössä eri tavalla verrattuna muuhun liiketoimintaan eikä siihen ole sovellettu palveluiden vapaan liikkuvuuden periaatetta samassa mittakaavassa kuin muuhun kaupalliseen toimintaan. Rahapelipalveluiden tarjoaminen internetissä on asettanut valtioiden vanhat rahapelimonopolit uusien haasteiden eteen myös lainsäädännöllisesti. Suomessa valtio on lainmuutoksilla pyrkinyt turvaamaan vallitsevan tilanteen, jossa rahapelipalveluiden tarjoamisesta suomalaisille vastaavat tietyt yhtiöt ja yhdistykset yksinoikeudella. Tutkielma pyrkii kuvaamaan tätä prosessia käyden läpi sen syitä ja seurauksia. Erityishuomion kohteeksi on otettu lakimuutosten vaikutukset ulkomaisten rahapeliyhtiöiden mainontaan suomalaisessa mediassa. Lähteinä on käytetty pääasiassa viranomaislähteitä, mutta tutkielmassa on pyritty tuomaan esille myös rahapelialan toimijoiden näkökulmia.

Disruptive innovations at the bottom of the pyramid : can they impact the sustainability of today´s top companies?

Due to the different dynamics required for organizations to serve the emerging market which contains billions of people at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) coupled with the increasing desire for organizations to grow and be more multinational, organizations need to continually innovate. However, the tendency for large and established companies to ignore the BOP market and rather focus on existing markets, gives an indication of the existence of a vulnerability that potentially disruptive innovations from the BOP will not be recognized in good time for a counter measure. This can be deduced from the fact that good management practice advocates that managers should learn and listen to their customers. Therefore majority of the large existing companies continually focus on their main customer/market with sustaining innovations which leaves aspiring new entrants with an underserved BOP market to experiment with. With the aid of research interviews and an agent-based model (ABM) simulation, this thesis examines the attributes of BOP innovations that can qualify them as disruptive and the possibilities of tangible disruptive innovations arising from the bottom of the pyramid and their underlying drivers. The thesis Furthermore, examines the associated impact of such innovations on the future sustainability of established large companies that are operating in the developed world, particularly those with a primary focus which is targeted towards the market at the top of the pyramid (TOP). Additionally, with the use of a scenario planning model, the research provides an evaluation of the possible evolution and potential sustainability impacts that could emerge, from the interplay of innovations at the two pyramidal market levels and the chosen market focus of organizations – TOP or BOP. Using four scenario quadrants, the thesis demonstrates the resulting possibilities from the interaction between the rate of innovations and the segment focused on by organizations with disruptive era characterizing the paradigm shift quadrant. Furthermore, a mathematical model and two theoretical propositions are developed for further research. As recommendations, the thesis also extends the ambidextrous organizational theory, business model innovation and portfolio diversification as plausible recommendations to limit a catastrophic impact, resulting from disruptive innovations.

Palveluliiketoiminnan kehittäminen tuoteorientoituneessa teollisuuden yrityksessä

Työn tavoitteina oli (1) laatia prosessimalli teollisuuden palveluliiketoiminnan mahdollisuuksien kartoittamiseen sekä (2) rakentaa tuoteorientoituneelle yritykselle soveltuva palveluliiketoimintapolku, jota seuraamalla tunnistettu palveluliiketoiminnan potentiaali pystytään muuntamaan tulokselliseksi liiketoiminnaksi. Diplomityö toteutettiin Savonia-ammattikorkeakoulun hallinnoiman LEKA-hankkeen palveluliiketoiminnan tutkimusalueelle Pohjois-Savon teollisuusyrityssektorin tarpeet huomioiden. Työn teoreettisessa osiossa tarkasteltiin teollisuuden palveluliiketoiminnan perusteita, palveluliiketoiminnan kehittämistä tuoteorientoituneen yrityksen näkökulmasta sekä tunnettuja palvelujen kehittämisprosesseja ja työkaluja erityisesti konseptoinnin osalta. Empiirinen osuus keskittyi palveluliiketoiminnan kehittämiseen tapaustutkimuskohteena toimineessa tuoteorientoituneessa yrityksessä. Tutkimuksen tuloksena syntyi tapauskohtaisesti räätälöityvä konseptointiprosessimalli työkaluineen. Asiakkaat, työntekijät ja verkostokumppanit osallistuttavalla prosessilla palveluliiketoiminnan mahdollisuudet pystytään selvittämään luotettavasti riskit minimoiden. Lisäksi työn tuloksena luotiin tuoteorientoituneille yrityksille soveltuva palveluliiketoiminnan kehittämispolku, jossa palvelukonseptit toimivat alustana polun eri vaiheissa tehtäville päätöksille ja valinnoille sekä tarvittaville muutostoimenpiteille.

Measuring the performance of corporate events : an empirical study of measuring practices in Finnish companies

Corporate events as an effective part of marketing communications strategy seem to be underestimated in Finnish companies. In the rest of the Europe and the USA, investments in events are increasing, and their share of the marketing budget is significant. The growth of the industry may be explained by the numerous advantages and opportunities that events provide for attendees, such as face-to-face marketing, enhancing corporate image, building relationships, increasing sales, and gathering information. In order to maximize these benefits and return on investment, specific measurement strategies are required, yet there seems to exist a lack of understanding of how event performance should be perceived or evaluated. To address this research gap, this research attempts to describe the perceptions of and strategies for evaluating corporate event performance in the Finnish events industry. First, corporate events are discussed in terms of definitions and characteristics, typologies, and their role in marketing communications. Second, different theories on evaluating corporate event performance are presented and analyzed. Third, a conceptual model is presented based on the literature review, which serves as a basis for the empirical research conducted as an online questionnaire. The empirical findings are to a great extent in line with the existing literature, suggesting that there remains a lack of understanding corporate event performance evaluation, and challenges arise in determining appropriate measurement procedures for it. Setting clear objectives for events is a significant aspect of the evaluation process, since the outcomes of events are usually evaluated against the preset objectives. The respondent companies utilize many of the individual techniques that were recognized in theory, such as calculating the number of sales leads and delegates. However, some of the measurement tools may require further investments and resources, thus restricting their application especially in smaller companies. In addition, there seems to be a lack of knowledge of the most appropriate methods in different contexts, which take into account the characteristics of the organizing party as well as the size and nature of the event. The lack of inhouse expertise enhances the need for third-party service-providers in solving problems of corporate event measurement.

Marketers’ perception of the implementation of social media marketing: Evidence from large Finnish companies’ marketing campaigns

Social media is a multidimensional marketing and communications channel which can support and enhance a business’ reputation, sales and even longevity. Social media as a business tool encourages an interaction between customers and companies which gives opportunities for a company to better understand their customers, to target them more effectively and to collaborate and create dialogues with them which is not possible through traditional media channels. The aim of a social media strategy is to increase brand awareness, image, loyalty and recognition. The peer networks that social media creates allows a company to disseminate information through loyal customers to new and prospective customers to ultimately increase reach. The purpose of the study is to understand the marketer’s perspective of social media marketing use and how it is currently utilized in marketing and communications activities in Finland. Three companies were interviewed covering fourteen different implementations of social media marketing campaigns. These were then analysed to ascertain the utilization methods and experience gained on recent campaigns in the Finnish market The utilization of social media marketing was analysed using the methods of thematic analysis and inductive and abductive reasoning. Elements and themes were drawn out of the separate interviews to create a framework with which to explore, evaluate and match theories that define social media usage by companies. It became clear from all of the interviews that social media as a tool is most effective when it captures the viewer’s interest through rich and entertaining content. This directed the theoretical research towards Engagement Theory and Content Marketing which look to emphasize the importance of communities, collaboration, interaction, and peer-sharing as the key drivers of a social media marketing campaign.

Capital Structure and Firm Growth: R&D Intensive Companies

The purpose of this study is to examine and explain firm`s growth impact on capital structure decision-making in research and development intensive companies. Many studies claim that R&D has a pivotal impact on capital structure decisions, but corporate finance theories have often failed to explain these observed patterns. As sales growth is an important concept and objective for R&D firms, it is logical to assume that it plays a vital role in capital structure decisions. This study applies nomothetic research approach. The theoretical part employs a formal conceptual analysis in order to develop the propositions that are tested with empirical data. The empirical part consists of the analysis of three companies; the data is obtained from the annual reports over the period 2003 – 2008. The companies operate in IT- or ICT-industry and are publicly listed. The method for analyzing the case data is based on the financial indicators, which are obtained from the financials of the case companies. These economic indicators describe the capital structure and the financial decision-making of the firms. The method relates to the quantitative studies. Yet, this study extends the analysis beyond the indicators. Specifically, this study addresses the question of what is behind the economic indicators, therefore combining aspects of quantitative and qualitative analysis. The firms examined in this study seem to prefer internal finance during growth. However, external finance seems to be a catalyst for sales growth. Firms strongly prefer equity financing. In growth, the use of equity per capital either increases or stays in a constant level. Over the period 2003 – 2008, the firms were often associated to equity related transactions and short-term debt. Short-term debt was used as a substitute of long-term debt and equity. The case firms also adjusted their capital structure – these adjustments were carried out with short-term debt or equity. The case data also provides implications for the growth signal theory that was developed in this study. Based on the econometric indicators, arguments can be made that equity investors are `attracted` to growing R&D firms. This is because growth helps investors perceive the true type of firm. The findings of this study are best explained by the trade-off theory and the pecking order theory. These corporate finance theories are considered as mainstream. Little support can be found to the implications of the signaling theory and market timing theory.

DEVELOPING SOCIAL CAPITAL WITHIN COMPANIES THROUGH ENTERPRISE 2.0

Whereas external social media has been studied, hyped and integrated into companies´ strategies, an insignificant concentration has been put on internal social solutions, which companies provide increasingly to their personnel. An enterprise focusing solely on the benefits of external social media might end up underestimating the true potential embedded in social business. The purpose of this thesis was to examine how social collaboration can be depicted as a structuration process in an Enterprise 2.0 environment. Furthermore, this thesis sought to reveal the benefits, challenges and possibilities of social business. This thesis focused on researching Enterprise 2.0 at the workplace. The studied Enterprise 2.0 solution was IBM Connections. The qualitative research methodology was an extensive case study. Three companies took part into this thesis and all in all 12 employees were interviewed. Additionally, seven IBM Social Business Experts were interviewed in order to receive a better understanding of the phenomenon. Three research questions were designed to fulfill the purpose of this thesis. The research questions were: 1. How are the dimensions of social capital structured through collaboration? 2. How does agency form in Enterprise 2.0? 3. How does social collaboration emerge as a result of the interplay between agency and dimensions of social capital in an Enterprise 2.0 environment and creates outcomes such as trust, identification and knowledge? The main research findings indicate that social collaboration increases trust, identification and knowledge by giving employees more capabilities to do their work. Consequently, social collaboration increases company performance by making individuals and groups more effective. The support of top management is crucial in making Enterprise 2.0 successful, because it is more a cultural than a technological change. Power agency, the lack of top management support and old established work ways such as email and databases work as barriers to social collaboration.

Asunto-osakeyhtiön tilintarkastuksen erityispiirteet ja tarpeellisuus – empiirinen tutkimus

Asunto-osakeyhtiölain mukaan asunto-osakeyhtiössä ei tarvitse valita tilintarkastajaa, jos yhtiössä on alle 30 huoneistoa. Lisäksi tilintarkastajan valitsematta jättäminen edellyttää, että tilintarkastuslain mukaiset rajat eivät ylity eikä yhtiöjärjestys velvoita valitsemaan tilintarkastajaa. Jos tilintarkastajaa ei valita eikä yhtiöjärjestyksessä toisin määrätä, on asunto-osakeyhtiöön valittava aiemman maallikkotilintarkastajan korvaava toiminnantarkastaja. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli osoittaa asunto-osakeyhtiön tilintarkastuksen erityispiirteet. Lisäksi tavoitteena oli tutkia, onko asunto-osakeyhtiön tilintarkastus tarpeellista. Empiirinen osuus toteutettiin kvalitatiivisena tutkimuksena. Tutkimusaineistoa kerättiin teemahaastattelemalla asunto-osakeyhtiön tilintarkastajaa, toiminnantarkastajaa, kirjanpitäjää, osakkeenomistajaa ja pankin edustajaa. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella asunto-osakeyhtiön tilintarkastus ei eroa osakeyhtiön tilintarkastuksesta perusasioissaan. Asunto-osakeyhtiön tilintarkastuksen erityispiirteet muodostuvat sääntelyn lisäksi asunto-osakeyhtiöille ominaisista laskelmista kuten lainaosuus-, hankeosuus- ja vastikerahoituslaskelmista sekä talousarviovertailusta. Asunto-osakeyhtiön tilintarkastukseen tuovat erityispiirteitä myös osakeyhtiöstä poikkeavat tuloksenjärjestelykeinot kuten poistojen vapaaehtoisuus, erilaiset rahastoinnit ja asuintalovaraus. Lisäksi asunto-osakeyhtiöissä korostuu osakkeenomistajien yhdenvertaisuus. Tutkimus osoitti, että pienissä asunto-osakeyhtiöissä tilintarkastajan vapaaehtoinen valinta ei ole tarpeellista, jos asunto-osakeyhtiössä on vain perustoimintaa. Tilintarkastaja kannattaa valita vapaaehtoisesti, jos asunto-osakeyhtiössä on suuria remontteja tai lainaosuuslaskelmia. Tilintarkastuksesta hyötyvät erityisesti osakkeenomistajat, mutta myös isännöitsijä, hallitus, kirjanpitäjä ja verottaja.