Semantic Web applications: a framework for industry and business exploitation – What is needed for the adoption of the Semantic Web from the market and industry

In recent years, Semantic Web (SW) research has resulted in significant outcomes. Various industries have adopted SW technologies, while the ‘deep web’ is still pursuing the critical transformation point, in which the majority of data found on the deep web will be exploited through SW value layers. In this article we analyse the SW applications from a ‘market’ perspective. We are setting the key requirements for real-world information systems that are SW-enabled and we discuss the major difficulties for the SW uptake that has been delayed. This article contributes to the literature of SW and knowledge management providing a context for discourse towards best practices on SW-based information systems.

Mobile E-commerce business model – A value web based approach to business models in mobile gaming industry

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tutkia langattomien internet palveluiden arvoverkkoa ja liiketoimintamalleja. Tutkimus oli luonteeltaan kvalitatiivinen ja siinä käytettiin strategiana konstruktiivista case-tutkimusta. Esimerkkipalveluna oli Treasure Hunters matkapuhelinpeli. Tutkimus muodostui teoreettisesta ja empiirisestä osasta. Teoriaosassa liitettiin innovaatio, liiketoimintamallit ja arvoverkko käsitteellisesti toisiinsa, sekä luotiin perusta liiketoimintamallien kehittämiselle. Empiirisessä osassa keskityttiin ensin liiketoimintamallien luomiseen kehitettyjen innovaatioiden pohjalta. Lopuksi pyrittiin määrittämään arvoverkko palvelun toteuttamiseksi. Tutkimusmenetelminä käytettiin innovaatiosessiota, haastatteluja ja lomakekyselyä. Tulosten pohjalta muodostettiin useita liiketoimintakonsepteja sekä kuvaus arvoverkon perusmallista langattomille peleille. Loppupäätelmänä todettiin että langattomat palvelut vaativat toteutuakseen useista toimijoista koostuvan arvoverkon.

Measuring organizational capabilities in the engineering and consulting industry

Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli tutkia kuinka organisaation kyvykkyyksiä voidaan mitata engineering- ja konsultointialalla käyttämällä ns. kyvykkyysauditointimenetelmää. Päämotiivit aineettoman omaisuuden mittaamiseksi tunnistettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksen pohjalta. Erilaisten menetelmien etuja ja haittoja tutkittiin, jotta kyvykkyysauditoinnin suorittamiseen liittyvät haasteet ja vaatimukset tulisivat tunnistetuiksi. Kyvykkyysauditoinnin rakentaminen vaati teollisuudenalan erityispiirteiden tunnistamista. Niiksi havaittiin tietointensiivisyys ja projektikeskeisyys. Auditoinnin implementaatioprosessi koostui neljästä osasta, joista kolmen ensimmäisen suorittamiseen case-yritys antoi merkittävän panoksensa. Kriittisten menestystekijöiden selvittämisen jälkeen voitiin niihin vaikuttavat organisaation kyvykkyydet tunnistaa ja arviointi suorittaa. Arvioinnit kerättiin sisäisiltä ja ulkoisilta arvioijilta, ja ne muodostivat pohjan analyysille, joka selvitti yrityksen kehittämistarpeita. Kyvykkyysauditoinnin hyödyiksi laskettiin kasvanut tietämys yrityksen vahvuuksista ja heikkouksista sekä mahdollisuus tarkkailla säännöllisesti sen kokonaissuorituskykyä ja parantaa sitä.

Managing R&D Content with Web-based KM Software

Työssä tutkittiin tehokasta tietojohtamista globaalin metsäteollisuusyrityksen tutkimus ja kehitys verkostossa. Työn tavoitteena oli rakentaa kuvaus tutkimus ja kehitys sisällön hallintaan kohdeyrityksen käyttämän tietojohtamisohjelmiston avulla. Ensin selvitettiin käsitteitä tietämys ja tietojohtaminen kirjallisuuden avulla. Selvityksen perusteella esitettiin prosessimalli, jolla tietämystä voidaan tehokkaasti hallita yrityksessä. Seuraavaksi analysoitiin tietojohtamisen asettamia vaatimuksia informaatioteknologialle ja informaatioteknologian roolia prosessimallissa. Verkoston vaatimukset tietojohtamista kohtaan selvitettiin haastattelemalla yrityksen avainhenkilöitä. Haastatteluiden perusteella järjestelmän tuli tehokkaasti tukea virtuaalisten projektiryhmien työskentelyä, mahdollistaa tehtaiden välinen tietämyksen jakaminen ja tukea järjestelmään syötetyn sisällön hallintaa. Ensiksi järjestelmän käyttöliittymän rakenne ja salaukset muokattiin vastaamaan verkoston tarpeita. Rakenne tarjoaa työalueen työryhmille ja alueet tehtaiden väliseen tietämyksen jakamiseen. Sisällönhallintaa varten järjestelmään kehitettiin kategoria, profiloitu portaali ja valmiiksi määriteltyjä hakuja. Kehitetty malli tehostaa projektiryhmien työskentelyä, mahdollistaa olemassa olevan tietämyksen hyväksikäytön tehdastasolla sekä helpottaa tutkimus ja kehitys aktiviteettien seurantaa. Toimenpide-ehdotuksina esitetään järjestelmän integrointia tehtaiden operatiivisiin ohjausjärjestelmiin ja ohjelmiston käyttöönottoa tehdastason projektinhallinta työkaluksi.Ehdotusten tavoitteena on varmistaa sekä tehokas tietämyksen jakaminen tehtaiden välillä että tehokas tietojohtaminen tehdastasolla.

Assessing intellectual capital in a research institute environment in steel industry

Diplomityön tavoitteena oli tutkia aineettoman pääoman hallintaa terästeollisuuden tutkimuslaitosympäristössä, sekä luoda mittaristo kuvaamaan sen tilaa ja kehitystä. Työn rajausten mukaan aineeton pääoma jaettiin Annie Brookingin jaottelun mukaan, ja tarkasteluun valittiin teollisoikeudet sekä henkilöstövoimavarat. Empiirinen osa työstä perustui pääasiassa haastatteluihin sekä Case –yrityksen sisäisiin julkaisuihin. Näitä pyrittiin tulkitsemaan kvalitatiivisten tutkimusmenetelmien oppien mukaan. Tutkimustulosten perusteella voidaan todeta teollisoikeuksien hyödyntämisen olevan suhteellisen vähäistä terästeollisuuden parissa. Syitä tähän on työssä käsitelty melko laajasti. Henkilöstön kehittäminen pitkällä tähtäimellä sekä tiedonkulun tehostaminen henkilöstön keskuudessa ovat puolestaan asioita, joihin kiinnitetään kyseisellä teollisuudenalalla kiitettävässä määrin huomiota. Työn loppupuolella esitelty aineettoman pääoman mittaristo tarjoaa yritykselle työkalun, jonka avulla voidaan monipuolisesti arvioida tätä yrityksille nykyisin elintärkeää asiaa. Lopullista ratkaisumallia se ei aineettoman pääoman mittaamiseen tarjoa, mutta luo kuitenkin tärkeän ensiaskeleen kohti tulevaisuuden yhä kehittyneempiä mittausmenetelmiä.

Scenario Analysis of the Location Based Services Industry

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli luoda erilaisia skenaariota paikka riippuvaisten palveluiden toimialan tulevaisuudesta. Tunnistamalla nykyisiä sekä tulevia alaa edistäviä ja rajoittavia tekijöitä kolme skenaariota luotiin, jotka mahdollisesti kuvaisivat paikka riippuvaisten palveluiden toimialaa viiden vuoden päästä: "Massa spämmaus", "Raju operaattori kilpailu - nousevia yksityisyyden huolia" sekä "Nokian ajama kolmannen sukupolven verkot tulevat ennen odotettua" Skenaarioiden luomiseksi ensimmäinen osa tutkimuksesta keskittyi erilaisiin skenaarioiden kirjoitus prosesseihin ja niissä huomioitaviin asioihin. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksiin sopiva skenaarion kirjoitusprosessi esiteltiin, minkä jälkeen| paikkariippuvaisten palveluiden toimialaa käsiteltiin. Lopuksi itse skenaariot esiteltiin ja nimettiin skenaarioiden teemojen mukaan. Tutkimuksen johtopäätös on, ettei toimialan tulevaisuutta voida ennustaa riittävällä varmuudella. Tutkimuksen arvo kuitenkin piilee sen antamassa ymmärryksessä liittyen tekijöihin, jotka tulevat päättämään alan tulevaisuuden sekä skenaariossa, joita nämä tekijät voivat muodostaa.

Enhancing Customer Knowledge and Its Sharing At a Paper Production Line

This study has been made for specific paper production line at an international forest industry company in Finland. The main purpose for the study was a need to examine the current situation of the customer knowledge and its’ sharing at case production line, recognize the problems in it and finally, find out the improvement actions. The study is composed of theoretical and empirical parts. In theoretical part, knowledge management and information sharing in addition to customer knowledge management are presented. Empirical data from case production line was collected by using survey questionnaires. The results are analyzed in discussion and conclusions and finally, study ends with summary which includes recommendations. Based on the study, the amount and quality of customer knowledge and gaining and transferring the customer knowledge were found as the main challenges. The proposed solutions were discovered from moving towards more dynamic operating environment and in the area of customer knowledge management, especially from the communities of creation.

Engendering Group Support Based Foresight for Capital Intensive Manufacturing Industries - Case Paper and Steel Industry Scenarios by 2018

In recent times of global turmoil, the need for uncertainty management has become ever momentous. The need for enhanced foresight especially concerns capital-intensive industries, which need to commit their resources and assets with long-term planning horizons. Scenario planning has been acknowledged to have many virtues - and limitations - concerning the mapping of the future and illustrating the alternative development paths. The present study has been initiated to address both the need of improved foresight in two capital-intensive industries, i.e. the paper and steel industries and the imperfections in the current scenario practice. The research problem has been approached by engendering a problem-solving vehicle, which combines, e.g. elements of generic scenario process, face-to-face group support methods, deductive scenario reasoning and causal mapping into a fully integrated scenario process. The process, called the SAGES scenario framework, has been empirically tested by creating alternative futures for two capital-intensive industries, i.e. the paper and steel industries. Three scenarios for each industry have been engendered together with the identification of the key megatrends, the most important foreign investment determinants, key future drivers and leading indicators for the materialisation of the scenarios. The empirical results revealed a two-fold outlook for the paper industry, while the steel industry future was seen as much more positive. The research found support for utilising group support systems in scenario and strategic planning context with some limitations. Key perceived benefits include high time-efficiency, productivity and lower resource-intensiveness. Group support also seems to enhance participant satisfaction, encourage innovative thinking and provide the users with personalised qualitative scenarios.

Cultural aspects of globalizing university-industry knowledge interaction in China

Previous studies of the local involvement of multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries focus on host-country firms and local business partners such as suppliers and customers. The role of host-country universities in the same context of innovation networks is neglected. Furthermore, there are many organizational culture- and knowledge-related differences between universities and companies, and this is likely to pose additional challenges for successful collaboration. Early university-industry (U-I) studies have primarily been limited within a national boundary, being concerned with a single level of culture (i.e., at an organizational level) and one-way knowledge transfer from university to industry. Research on more dynamic knowledge interaction in multinational settings is lacking. This is particularly true in the business context of China. In today’s globalizing and rapidly changing organizations, addressing cultural differences and clashes is an everyday reality, and inter-cultural U-I collaboration is becoming a key asset for gaining global competitiveness. This study deals with Finnish MNC subsidiaries’ research collaboration with Chinese universities. It aims to explore the essence of such U-I collaboration and knowledge interaction, uncovering the deep functioning mechanisms of culture underlying effective collaborative knowledge creation and innovation. The study reviews critically different bodies of literature including knowledge management theories and studies, U-I collaboration and knowledge interaction, and cross-cultural research in terms of organizational knowledge generation and utilization. It adopts a case study strategy with qualitative research methods, and data is collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation. The study presents the following major findings: 1. In the light of a comprehensive analysis of U-I collaboration, an effective matching strategy is proposed, in the assumption that good alignment of knowledge interaction strategies and approaches with their corresponding knowledge type, capability development and research task may greatly enhance the effectiveness of cross-cultural U-I collaboration and knowledge interaction. 2. It is proposed that in the Chinese MNC context more dynamic types of knowledge interaction like knowledge co-creation should be of key concern particularly when dealing simultaneously with multi-disciplinary applied research of human factors and technologies. U-I knowledge interaction, otherwise, pays attention only to the study of one-way technology and knowledge transfer. 3. It is posited that the influence of culture on collaborative knowledge interaction can be studied in a valuable way when knowledge-related variables are simultaneously taken into account. A systematic analysis of the role of knowledge in cross-cultural knowledge interaction could best be approached from multi-aspects of knowledge including not only nature, characteristics and types of knowledge but also the process of knowledge (e.g., intensifications of knowledge interaction). 4. The study demonstrates the significant role of aspects of the host-country culture (e.g., Chinese guanxi) in U-I collaboration and knowledge interaction. This is evident, for instance, in issues related to interpersonal relationships and trust, true interest and the relatedness of the research, mutual commitment and learning, communication intensity and interaction, and awareness of cultural and knowledge-related differences between collaboration partners. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are suggested and discussed.

Future prospects of short distance rail based passenger transport in Northern Europe

The worlds’ population is increasing and cities have become more crowded with people and vehicles. Communities in the fringe of metropolitans’ increase the traffic done with private cars, but also increase the need for public transportation. People have typically needs traveling to work located in city centers during the morning time, and return to suburbs in the afternoon or evening. Rail based passenger transport is environmentally friendly transport mode with high capacity to transport large volume of people. Railways have been regulated markets with national incumbent having monopoly position. Opening the market for competition is believed to have a positive effect by increasing the efficiency of the industry. National passenger railway market is opened for competition only in few countries, where as international traffic in EU countries was deregulated in 2010. The objective of this study is to examine the passenger railway market of three North European countries, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia. The interest was also to get an understanding of the current situation and how the deregulation has proceeded. Theory of deregulation is unfolded with literature analyses and empirical part of the study is constructed from two parts. Customer satisfaction survey was chosen as a method to collect real life experiences from the passengers and measure their knowledge of the market situation and possible changes appeared. Interviews of experts from the industry and labor unions give more insights and able better understanding for example of social consequences caused from opening the market for competition. Expert interviews were conducted by using semi-structured theme interview. Based on the results of this study, deregulation has proceeded quite differently in the three countries researched. Sweden is the most advanced country, where the passenger railway market is open for new entrants. Denmark and Estonia are lagging behind. Opening the market is considered positive among passengers and most of the experts interviewed. Common for the interviews were the labour unions negative perspective concerning deregulation. Despite the fact deregulation is considered positive among the respondents of the customer satisfaction survey, they could not name railway undertakings operating in their country. Generally respondents were satisfied with the commuter trains. Ticket price, punctuality of trains and itinerary affect the most to customer satisfaction.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Oil and Gas Industry: Environmental Management Systems as a Source of Sustainable Development

The environmental aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expressed through the process of the EMS implementation in the oil and gas companies is identified as the main subject of this research. In the theoretical part, the basic attention is paid to justification of a link between CSR and environmental management. The achievement of sustainable competitive advantage as a result of environmental capital growth and inclusion of the socially responsible activities in the corporate strategy is another issue that is of special significance here. Besides, two basic forms of environmental management systems (environmental decision support systems and environmental information management systems) are explored and their role in effective stakeholder interaction is tackled. The most crucial benefits of EMS are also analyzed to underline its importance as a source of sustainable development. Further research is based on the survey of 51 sampled oil and gas companies (both publicly owned and state owned ones) originated from different countries all over the world and providing reports on sustainability issues in the open access. To analyze their approach to sustainable development, a specifically designed evaluation matrix with 37 indicators developed in accordance with the General Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines for non-financial reporting was prepared. Additionally, the quality of environmental information disclosure was measured on the basis of a quality – quantity matrix. According to results of research, oil and gas companies prefer implementing reactive measures to the costly and knowledge-intensive proactive techniques for elimination of the negative environmental impacts. Besides, it was identified that the environmental performance disclosure is mostly rather limited, so that the quality of non-financial reporting can be judged as quite insufficient. In spite of the fact that most of the oil and gas companies in the sample claim the EMS to be embedded currently in their structure, they often do not provide any details for the process of their implementation. As a potential for the further development of EMS, author mentions possible integration of their different forms in a single entity, extension of existing structure on the basis of consolidation of the structural and strategic precautions as well as development of a unified certification standard instead of several ones that exist today in order to enhance control on the EMS implementation.

Developing customer need based services in personal security service industry

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how services can be developed and how the voice of the customer can be incorporated to the strategic planning of services. Furthermore, the objective is to investigate the methods of customer need analysis and service bundling. The data is collected from secondary and primary sources by reviewing the existing academic literature and by conducting in-depth interviews and surveys. The main findings of this research indicate that the service development in personal security service industry should be conducted through a formalized process and the process should begin with setting the strategic objectives. Moreover, the voice of the customer should be incorporated into all stages of the development process, especially into the front-end of the process. Furthermore, the information on customer needs should be gathered in a manner tailored for the purposes of service development.