Measuring Brand Equity and Analyzing Its Relationship with Key Marketing Mix Elements

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of price and advertising on brand equity. The dimensionality of brand equity is thoroughly examined, and the effect price, price deals, perceived advertising spending and advertising appeal have on the dimensions of brand equity are analyzed using multiple regression analysis as well as other supporting analyses. Price and advertising are found to be of great importance to brand equity. Arguably the most influential finding is the strong positive effect low prices – an integral brand element – have on the case company brand equity, even though a negative effect was hypothesized based on prior research. The results also support separating advertising appeal from perceived advertising spending, as well as linking service quality as part of the overall perceived quality in the context of service-intensive firms.

A practice perspective on organizational implementation of information technology

Implementering av ett informationssystem ur en organisatorisk synvinkel initieras av en idé om ett system och avslutas då användningen av det inte längre kräver en medveten ansträngning. Ifall tolkningen av implementering är denna, är det fråga om en långsam och komplicerad process, som berör organisationens alla parter. Ny informationsteknologi anses påverka flertalet arbetsprocesser och organiseringen av det dagliga arbetet. Möjligheterna att ta i bruk systemet och utnyttja det är många. I avhandlingen undersöks implementering av ett system för att administrera hemvårdsbesök där hemvårdare använde handdatorer för att registrera information om besökens längd och innehåll. I avhandlingen observeras vilka förändringar som sker i arbetets praxis p.g.a. det nya systemet och hur dessa förändringar påverkar vårdarbetet. Forskningen inleds med att strukturera teorier om arbetspraxis för kommande analys. Arbetspraxis är inarbetade och rutinmässiga arbetssätt i arbetets sociomateriella omgivning. Arbetspraxis i avhandlingen innebär hemvårdarens praxis och upplevd erfarenhet, där verksamheten informeras av gemensamma arbetssätt, projekt, identiteter och intressen. Organisationens auktoritet kommer även fram i den förverkligade arbetspraxisen. Forskningen genomfördes som en etnografisk longitudinell studie under åren 2001-2004. I studien observerades hur nyttjandet av handdatorerna framskred ur ett organisatoriskt perspektiv. Hemvårdares arbete och verksamhet (arbetspraxis) observerades både under vårdsbesök och under pauser. Därtill intervjuades hemvårdarna för att erhålla en bättre förståelse för de rationaliteter som styr arbetet och hur systemet togs i bruk. Dokument relaterade till projektet att införa ett nytt system och administrativa dokument har utnyttjats som källmaterial. Analysen av källmaterialet styrdes av det teoretiska tillvägagångssättet att undersöka arbetspraxis. Problem som identifierades i samband med införandet av systemet och de förändringar som det medförde analyserades i detalj. Parallellt analyserades organisatorisk makt, kontroll och arbetsidentitet. Undersökningen beskriver hur det nya systemet gradvis anpassades till hemvården efter ett initialt motstånd. Under själva implementering av systemet ifrågasattes tidigare arbetspraxis och inställningen till den eftersom arbetspraxisens materiella omgivning förändrades. Det teoretiska tillvägagångssättet i att undersöka arbetspraxis framhäver vårdarens agerande i förändringsprocessen. Resultatet av forskningen visar vikten av realistiska målsättningar, givande av gruppstöd med återkoppling samt förmåga att anpassa sig till det oväntade vid införande av informationssystem.

Targeting of caries prevention at preschool children, a practice based study

Aim and design: To evaluate an oral health program directed to expecting families and their children. The intervention was carried out in one of the four health care areas of the city of Turku. Another area acted as a control. Subjects and methods: Children (n = 1217), born between January 1, 1998 and June 30, 1999, in the respective health care areas were screened for mutans streptococci bacteria (MS), and their caretakers were interviewed when the child was 18 months old. MScolonization was used as the child’s risk indicator. Intensified health education and the use of xylitol lozenges targeted at the children at risk were the main elements of the program. Controls and the non-MS-colonized children received routine prevention –examination and education at the ages of three and five years. Altogether 794 subjects were followed for 42 months after receiving consent from their caretakers. Associations of oral-health-related factors with MS colonization and caries increment were studied inside the control group. Results: MS colonization associated with the occupation of the caretaker and ethnicity. The program was effective in white-collar families; prevented fraction being 67 %. In blue-collar families no effect was achieved. At the age of five years, caries increment was strongly related to the occupation of the caretaker, MS at 18 months, child’s sugar use, night feeding, use of thirst quencher at the age of 18 months, and father’s reported oral health. Conclusions: Programs targeted at MS-colonized children can reduce caries in whitecollar families. A program mainly based on activity at home seems to favor white-collar families, whereas different kind of support is needed for the blue-collar families.

Subwoofer suunnittelu - mallinnus ja vasteen analysointi erityisesti impulssivasteen kannalta

Tämä kandidaatintyö käsittelee subwoofer-kaiuttimen mallinnusta ja analysointia impulssivasteen perusteella. Refleksikoteloidulle kaiuttimelle muodostetaan siirtofunktio ja sen avulla simuloidaan kaiuttimen impulssivasteen käyttäytymistä erilaisilla kotelon virityksillä. Simuloinnit toteutetaan kolmella erilaisella kaiutinelementillä käyttäen kullekin viittä erityyppistä viritystä. Simulointien toimivuutta käytännössä yritetään todistaa mittauksilla, joissa simulointien pohjalta toteutetaan viisi viritystä rakentamalla refleksikotelo Seas P11RCY-kaiutinelementille ja mittaamalla kunkin virityksen tuottama askelvaste. Tämän jälkeen mitatuista askelvasteista määritetään impulssivasteet laskennallisesti ja verrataan niitä toisiinsa sekä simulointien tuloksiin yrittäen löytää mahdollinen korrelaatio simulointien ja mittausten välille. Määritetään myös mikä käytetyistä viidestä virityksestä tuottaa parhaimman vasteen kullekin kolmelle kaiutinelementille.

Analyzing the efforts in furrow openers used in low power planters

The furrow openers for no-till system should be easy to penetrate the soil, generate low levels of soil mobilization and require a little traction force. Thus, the aim of this research was to compare six hoe-type furrow openers, four of industrial manufacturing and two handcrafted models, which were used in planters in the region of Pelotas, Brazil. The parameters for comparison among these furrow openers were the horizontal (Fh) and vertical (Fv) forces acting on the tip of the hoe and the cross-sectional area mobilized in the furrow. The experimental design was randomized, with six treatments (furrow openers) from T1 to T6, with four repetitions, constituted by their passage through plots of 20 x 3 m. The force data were collected by load cells and a signal conditioner. The determination of the mobilized area in the furrow was done by a micro soil profilometer. It was concluded that the furrow openers T1, T4 and T6 presented the lowest values of horizontal force (statistically equal and ranging between 1,034 and 1,230 N) and that T1 and T2 produced the highest vertical forces downwards (statistically identical and varying between 749 and 845 N). The furrow openers T1, T2, T4, T5 and T6 generated soil mobilization statistically equal and between 0.006993 and 0.008933 m².

Swine manure post-treatment technologies for pathogenic organism inactivation

Swine manure agricultural use is a common practice in Brazil. Their physic-chemical characteristics favor its use as biofertilizer, but the presence of pathogens may become a risk to human health. This research presents a qualitative study of the main alternatives of pig manure disinfection, analyzing efficiency, advantages and limitations of each procedure. The disinfection studies reported in literature are based on the following treatments: alkaline, thermal, biological, chemical, and physical. The greater efficiencies are in thermal treatment (> 4 log: 60 °C), chemical treatment (3 to 4 log: 30mg Cl- L-1; 3 to 4 log: 40 mg O3 L-1) and physical treatment (3 a 4 log: 220 mJ UV radiation cm-2). The biological treatment (anaerobiosis) also promotes the pathogen reduction of swine manure, however with lower efficiency (1 to 2 log). The selection of the treatment should consider: implementation and operation cost, necessity of preliminary treatment, efficiency obtained and destination of the treated manure (agricultural use, water reuse). Brazilian regulation does not have specific guidelines for the microbiological quality of animal production effluents that is very important to be considered due to confined animal feeding operation transformation in the last years in the country.

Creating possibilities for collective creativity : Brokerage Functions in Practice-Based Innovation

In the network era, creative achievements like innovations are more and more often created in interaction among different actors. The complexity of today‘s problems transcends the individual human mind, requiring not only individual but also collective creativity. In collective creativity, it is impossible to trace the source of new ideas to an individual. Instead, creative activity emerges from the collaboration and contribution of many individuals, thereby blurring the contribution of specific individuals in creating ideas. Collective creativity is often associated with diversity of knowledge, skills, experiences and perspectives. Collaboration between diverse actors thus triggers creativity and gives possibilities for collective creativity. This dissertation investigates collective creativity in the context of practice-based innovation. Practice-based innovation processes are triggered by problem setting in a practical context and conducted in non-linear processes utilising scientific and practical knowledge production and creation in cross-disciplinary innovation networks. In these networks diversity or distances between innovation actors are essential. Innovation potential may be found in exploiting different kinds of distances. This dissertation presents different kinds of distances, such as cognitive, functional and organisational which could be considered as sources of creativity and thus innovation. However, formation and functioning of these kinds of innovation networks can be problematic. Distances between innovating actors may be so great that a special interpretation function is needed – that is, brokerage. This dissertation defines factors that enhance collective creativity in practice-based innovation and especially in the fuzzy front end phase of innovation processes. The first objective of this dissertation is to study individual and collective creativity at the employee level and identify those factors that support individual and collective creativity in the organisation. The second objective is to study how organisations use external knowledge to support collective creativity in their innovation processes in open multi-actor innovation. The third objective is to define how brokerage functions create possibilities for collective creativity especially in the context of practice-based innovation. The research objectives have been studied through five substudies using a case-study strategy. Each substudy highlights various aspects of creativity and collective creativity. The empirical data consist of materials from innovation projects arranged in the Lahti region, Finland, or materials from the development of innovation methods in the Lahti region. The Lahti region has been chosen as the research context because the innovation policy of the region emphasises especially the promotion of practice-based innovations. The results of this dissertation indicate that all possibilities of collective creativity are not utilised in internal operations of organisations. The dissertation introduces several factors that could support collective creativity in organisations. However, creativity as a social construct is understood and experienced differently in different organisations, and these differences should be taken into account when supporting creativity in organisations. The increasing complexity of most potential innovations requires collaborative creative efforts that often exceed the boundaries of the organisation and call for the involvement of external expertise. In practice-based innovation different distances are considered as sources of creativity. This dissertation gives practical implications on how it is possible to exploit different kinds of distances knowingly. It underlines especially the importance of brokerage functions in open, practice-based innovation in order to create possibilities for collective creativity. As a contribution of this dissertation, a model of brokerage functions in practice-based innovation is formulated. According to the model, the results and success of brokerage functions are based on the context of brokerage as well as the roles, tasks, skills and capabilities of brokers. The brokerage functions in practice-based innovation are also possible to divide into social and cognitive brokerage.

MASTER DATA MANAGEMENT MATURITY AND TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT - From theory to practice, case Ineo Oy

After decades of mergers and acquisitions and successive technology trends such as CRM, ERP and DW, the data in enterprise systems is scattered and inconsistent. Global organizations face the challenge of addressing local uses of shared business entities, such as customer and material, and at the same time have a consistent, unique, and consolidate view of financial indicators. In addition, current enterprise systems do not accommodate the pace of organizational changes and immense efforts are required to maintain data. When it comes to systems integration, ERPs are considered “closed” and expensive. Data structures are complex and the “out-of-the-box” integration options offered are not based on industry standards. Therefore expensive and time-consuming projects are undertaken in order to have required data flowing according to business processes needs. Master Data Management (MDM) emerges as one discipline focused on ensuring long-term data consistency. Presented as a technology-enabled business discipline, it emphasizes business process and governance to model and maintain the data related to key business entities. There are immense technical and organizational challenges to accomplish the “single version of the truth” MDM mantra. Adding one central repository of master data might prove unfeasible in a few scenarios, thus an incremental approach is recommended, starting from areas most critically affected by data issues. This research aims at understanding the current literature on MDM and contrasting it with views from professionals. The data collected from interviews revealed details on the complexities of data structures and data management practices in global organizations, reinforcing the call for more in-depth research on organizational aspects of MDM. The most difficult piece of master data to manage is the “local” part, the attributes related to the sourcing and storing of materials in one particular warehouse in The Netherlands or a complex set of pricing rules for a subsidiary of a customer in Brazil. From a practical perspective, this research evaluates one MDM solution under development at a Finnish IT solution-provider. By means of applying an existing assessment method, the research attempts at providing the company with one possible tool to evaluate its product from a vendor-agnostics perspective.

Exploring the role and transformative potential of human rights in development practice and food security : case study from Malawi

Avhandlingen är en analys av den roll som mänskliga rättigheter spelar i utvecklingssamarbete i allmänhet och tre matsäkerhetsprojekt i Malawi i synnerhet. Författaren undersöker huruvida mänskliga rättigheter kan bidra till samhälleliga förändringsprocesser. Undersökningen har en diskursiv syn på mänskliga rättigheter; rättigheter ses som sociala konstruktioner skapade av människor, konstruktioner som förändras i takt med att aktörerna ger dem ny mening. Människorättsbaserade utvecklingsstrategier riktar uppmärksamheten mot olika aktörers skyldigheter samt vikten av att mänskliga rättigheter inte kränks genom utvecklingspolitiska beslut. En analys som utgår från mänskliga rättigheter kan leda till att nya frågor lyfts fram: vem har skyldigheter, vem har rättigheter, och varför förverkligas inte dessa? Fokus flyttas till hur politiska, ekonomiska och juridiska strukturer kan förändras så att de främjar mänskliga rättigheter. Författaren använder empiriskt material från Malawi för att visa vilken roll mänskliga rättigheter och så kallade människorättsprinciper spelar inom tre projekt: (1) ett mathjälpsprojekt; (2) ett rättighetsbaserat projekt med fokus på att stärka strategier för livsuppehälle; (3) ett juridiskt projekt inom ramen för vilket man skapat ett lagförslag om rätten till föda. Analysen visar att det rättighetsbaserade projektet strävade efter den mest djupgående samhälleliga förändringen. Människorättsprinciperna ansvarighet och deltagande handlade inte endast om verksamheten inom projektet utan man strävade även efter att stärka dessa principer mellan medborgare och myndigheter. Rättigheter, som ett sätt att tala, tänka och handla, inte som abstrakta juridiska normer, påverkade de lokala aktörernas sätt att kräva bl.a. tjänster av lokala myndigheter. Teoretiskt kan man säga att det rättighetsbaserade projektet representerar ett aktörsperspektiv på mänskliga rättigheter där aktörernas egna uppfattningar om vad de är berättigade till samt krav på myndigheters ansvar formade vilken mening rättigheterna kom att få.