Essays on Managing Knowledge and Work Related Wellbeing

This study explores the relationship between Intellectual Capital and Maintenance of Work Ability. Intellectual Capital is the central framework for analysing the increasing knowledge-intensiveness of business life. It is characteristic of Intellectual Capital that the intersection of human capital, internal structures and external structures is essential. Maintenance of Work Ability, on the other hand, has been the leading paradigm for Finnish occupational health and safety activities since the late 1980s. It is also a holistic approach that emphasises the interdependence of competence, work community, work environment and health as the key to work-related wellbeing. This thesis consists of five essays that scrutinise the focal phenomena both theoretically and empirically. The conceptual model that results from the first research essay provides a general framework for the whole thesis. The case study in the second essay supports a division of intangible assets into generative and commercially exploitable intangibles introduced in the first essay and further into the primary and secondary dimension of generative intangibles. Further scrutiny of the interaction of generative intangible assets in essay three reveals that employees’ wellbeing enhances the readiness to contribute to the knowledge creation process. The fourth essay shows that the MWA framework could benefit knowledge-intensive work but this would require a different approach than has been commonly adopted in Finland. In essay five, deeper analysis of the MWA framework shows that its potential results from comprehensive support of the functioning of an organisation. The general conclusion of this thesis is that organisations must take care of their employees’ wellbeing in order to secure innovativeness that is the key to surviving in today’s competitive business environment.

Leader - Follower Relations In An Intercultural Chinese Context - Personal, Interpersonal and Behavioural Influences and Impact on Work Contribution

The successful interaction between leaders and their followers is central to the overall functioning of a company. The increasingly multinational nature of modern business and the resulting multicultural and increasingly heterogeneous workforce imposes specific challenges to the development of high-quality work relationships. The Western multinational companies that have started operations in China are facing these challenges. This study examines the quality of leader-follower relationships between Western expatriate leaders and their Chinese followers as well as between Chinese leaders and their Chinese followers in Western-owned subsidiaries in China. The focus is on the influence of personal, interpersonal and behavioural factors (personality, values, cultural knowledge, perceived and actual similarity, interactional justice, and follower performance) and the work-related implications of these relationships (job attitudes and organisational citizenship behaviour). One interesting finding of this study is that Chinese followers have higher perceptions of their Western than their Chinese leaders. The results also indicate that Chinese and Western leaders’ perceptions of their followers are not influenced favourably by the same follower characteristics. In a similar vein, Chinese followers value different traits in Western versus Chinese leaders. These results, as well as the numerous more specific findings of the study, have practical implications for international human resource management and areas such as selection, placement and training. Due to the different effect of personal and interpersonal factors across groups, it is difficult to achieve the “perfect match” between leader and follower characteristics that simultaneously contribute to high-quality relationships for Chinese and Western leaders as well as for followers. However, the results indicate that the ability of organisations to enhance the quality of leader-follower relations by selecting and matching people with suitable characteristics may provide an effective means for organisations to increase positive job attitudes and hence influence work-related outcomes.

Managing in the “Golden Cage” An Ethnographic Study of Work, Management and Gender in Parliamentary Administration

Parliaments are political institutions, but they are also places where people work; the MPs and the people who are employed there work, albeit in rather different ways. In this research the focus is on those in a Parliament who work there as employees and managers, and thereby, in some senses, run the organisation. Accordingly, this involves seeing the Parliament as a working environment, for MPs and employees, for men and women. The institution of Parliament is thus here examined by looking at it from a different and new angle. Instead of the usual focus on politicians the focus is on the administration of this institution. The aim is, amongst other things, to increase knowledge and offer different perspectives on democracy and democratic institutions. Unpacking the nearly mythical institution into smaller, more digestible, graspable realities should at the very least help to remind the wider society that although nations, to a certain extent, do need national institutions they should not become mystified or seen as larger than life. Institutions should work on behalf of people and thus be accountable to these same people. The main contribution of this work is to explore and problematise how managing and working is done inside an institution that both largely fulfils the characteristics of a bureaucracy and yet also has added special features that seem to be rather far removed from clear bureaucratic structures. This research offers a new kind of information on working life inside this elite institution. The joys and the struggles of working and managing in this particular public sector organisation are illustrated here and offer a view, a glimpse, into the experiences of managing and working in this House.

ICT and the Shaping of Society: Exploring Human -ICT Relationships in Everyday Life (summary section only)

This thesis explores the relationship between humans and ICTs (information and communication technologies). As ICTs are increasingly penetrating all spheres of social life, their role as mediators – between people, between people and information, and even between people and the natural world – is expanding, and they are increasingly shaping social life. Yet, we still know little of how our life is affected by their growing role. Our understanding of the actors and forces driving the accelerating adoption of new ICTs in all areas of life is also fairly limited. This thesis addresses these problems by interpretively exploring the link between ICTs and the shaping of society at home, in the office, and in the community. The thesis builds on empirical material gathered in three research projects, presented in four separate essays. The first project explores computerized office work through a case study. The second is a regional development project aiming at increasing ICT knowledge and use in 50 small-town families. In the third, the second project is compared to three other longitudinal development projects funded by the European Union. Using theories that consider the human-ICT relationship as intertwined, the thesis provides a multifaceted description of life with ICTs in contemporary information society. By oscillating between empirical and theoretical investigations and balancing between determinist and constructivist conceptualisations of the human-ICT relationship, I construct a dialectical theoretical framework that can be used for studying socio-technical contexts in society. This framework helps us see how societal change stems from the complex social processes that surround routine everyday actions. For example, interacting with and through ICTs may change individuals’ perceptions of time and space, social roles, and the proper ways to communicate – changes which at some point in time result in societal change in terms of, for example, new ways of acting and knowing things.

The Physical Strenuousness of Work is Slightly Associated with an Upward Trend in the Body Mass Index

This paper explores the relationship between the physical strenuousness of work and the body mass index in Finland, using individual microdata over the period 1972-2002. The data contain self-reported information about the physical strenuousness of a respondent’s current occupation. Our estimates show that the changes in the physical strenuousness of work can explain around 8% at most of the definite increase in BMI observed over the period. The main reason for this appears to be that the quantitative magnitude of the effect of the physical strenuousness of work on BMI is rather moderate. Hence, according to the point estimates, BMI is only around 1.5% lower when one’s current occupation is physically very demanding and involves lifting and carrying heavy objects compared with sedentary job (reference group of the estimations), other things being equal. Accordingly, the changes in eating habits and the amount of physical activity during leisure time must be the most important contributors to the upward trend in BMI in industrialised countries, but not the changes in the labour market structure.

Sukupuoli ja organisaatiot liikkeessä? Gender and Organisations in Flux?

Viimeaikainen sukupuolta ja organisaatiota käsittelevä tutkimus ja kirjallisuus on saanut paljon (toisinaan epäsuoria) vaikutteita feminismiä ympäröivistä keskusteluista. Lisäksi naisten aseman ja kokemuksien tunnistaminen organisaatioissa ja johtamisessa on vaikuttanut tutkimukseen. Erilaisten kansainvälisesti tutkittujen aiheiden kirjo on laaja: sukupuolisuhteet organisaatioiden ja johtoryhmien kulttuureissa ja kommunikaatiossa; sukupuolittunut työnjako; sukupuolittuneet hierarkiat, valta, auktoriteetti ja johtajuus organisaatioissa ja johtamisessa; sukupuolittuneet markkinat; sukupuolittuneet kuvat, symbolit ja mainokset; sukupuoli ja IT teknologia; seksuaalisuus, häirintä, kiusaaminen ja väkivalta organisaatioissa; työn ja kodin yhteensovittaminen; ja niin edelleen. Myös akateemiset organisaatiot sekä niiden sukupuolittuneet valtasuhteet ja johtaminen kaipaavat kipeästi huomiota. Useimpia mainituista alueista on tutkittu ainakin jonkin verran mutta paljon työtä on vielä myös jäljellä. Tämä kokoelma esittelee ajankohtaista suomalaista tutkimusta seuraavista teemoista: tasa-arvo organisaatioissa, naisjohtajuus, yrittäjyyden sukupuoli, verkostot, sukupuolen representaatio sekä sukupuoli ja uusi teknologia. Kokoelma on työryhmän yhdessä koostama joten se on ennen kaikkea yhteistyön tulos. Recent research and literature on the gendering of organisations has been strongly influenced, though sometimes indirectly, by debates in and around feminism, and on recognising women and women’s situations, experiences and voices in organisations and management. The range of topics and issues that have been studied internationally is vast: gender relations in organizational and management groups, cultures and communication; gender divisions of labour; gender divisions of hierarchy, power, authority and leadership in organizations and management; gendered markets; gender imagery, symbols and advertising; gender and information technology; sexuality, harassment, bullying and violence in organisations; home-work relations; and so on. There are also key issues of gender power relations in academic organizations and management themselves, which need urgent attention. Though most of these areas have been researched to some extent, much remains to be done. This collection brings together current Finnish research on: Equality in Organisations, Women in Management, Gender and Entrepreneurship, Networks, Representation of Gender, Gender and ICTs. The book has been put together by an editorial team and is thus first and foremost a collective effort.

Leadership through the Gender Lens: Women and Men in Organisations

Leadership and management remain highly gendered. Recent decades have seen a major international growth of studies on gender relations in leadership, organisations and management, in both empirical research and theoretical analysis. The differential relations of women and men to leadership and management are a key question for both theory and practice. Recent research and discussion on the gendering of leadership have been influenced by and have addressed: feminism; recognition of women and women’s situations, experiences and voices in leadership; organisational culture; communication; divisions of labour, hierarchy, power and authority; imagery and symbolism; information technology; sexuality, harassment, bullying and violence in organisations; home-work relations; men and masculinities in leadership; globalisation, transnationalism, intersectionality and post¬¬colonialism – amongst other issues. Having said that, the vast majority of mainstream work on leadership retains little or no gender analysis. In most business schools and other universities the position of gender-explicit work on leadership is still not well established. Leadership through the Gender Lens brings together critical analyses and debates on gender, leadership and management with contributions from 13 countries and five continents. How leadership and management are gendered can mean more gender equal or more gender unequal conditions for women and men. This includes how education and training can contribute to gendered leadership and management. The volume is organised in three main sections, on: careers and leadership; management, hierarchy and leadership: and interventions in leadership.

Organisation Carescapes: Researching Organisations, Work and Care

This working paper develops an approach to the analysis of care as it is evident in the policies and practices of employing organisations. We identify how notions of care are incorporated in myriad and multi-faceted ways that may support, survey and control workers, as well as having implications for employers, managers, employees and workers. Aspects of care can be found in a range of statutory duties, policies and related activities, including: health and safety, equality and diversity, parental leave, religious observance, bullying and harassment, personal development, voluntary redundancy, early retirement, employer pension schemes, grievance procedures, and dismissal. The conceptual framework of organisation carescapes is offered as an aid to the analysis of employee policies and services. These policies and services are transformed by shifts in supranational and national policies such as European Union (EU) economic strategies and national legislation on disability rights legislation, age discrimination and flexible working, and changes in labour market competitiveness. In conclusion, we consider how the framework of organisation carescapes is informing research design in our and our colleagues’ ongoing programme of research.

Work/Family Reconciliation: Corporate Management, Family Policies, and Gender Equality in the Finnish Context

Work/family reconciliation is a crucial question for both personal well-being and on societal level for productivity and re-production throughout the Western world. This thesis examines work/family reconciliation on societal and organisational level in the Finnish context. The study is based on an initial framework, developing it further and analysing the results with help of it. The methodology of the study is plural, including varying epistemological emphasis and both quantitative and qualitative methods. Policy analysis from two different sectors is followed by a survey answered by 113 HR-managers, and then, based on quantitative analyses, interviews in four chosen case companies. The central findings of the thesis are that there indeed are written corporate level policies for reconciling work and family in companies operating in Finland, in spite of the strong state level involvement in creating a policy context in work/family reconciliation. Also, the existing policies vary in accessibility and use. The most frequently used work/family policies still are the statutory state level policies for family leave, taking place when a baby is born and during his or her first years. Still, there are new policies arising, such as a nurse for an employee’s child who has fallen ill, that are based on company activity only, which shows in both accessibility and use of the policy. Reasons for developing corporate level work/family policies vary among the so-called pro-active and re-active companies. In general, family law has a substantial effect for developing corporate level policies. Also headquarter gender equality strategies as well as employee demands are important. In regression analyses, it was found that corporate image and importance in recruitment are the foremost reasons for companies to develop policies, not for example the amount of female employees in the company. The reasons for policy development can be summarized into normative pressures, coercive pressures and mimetic pressures, in line with findings from institutional theory. This research, however, includes awareness of different stakeholder interests and recognizes that institutional theory needs to be complemented with notions of gender and family, which seem to play a part in perceived work/family conflict and need for further work/family policies both in managers’ personal lives and on the organisational level. A very central finding, demanding more attention, is the by HR managers perceived change in values towards work and commitment towards organisation at the youngest working generation, Generation Y. This combined with the need for key personnel has brought new challenges to companies especially in knowledge business and will presumably lead to further development of flexible practices in organisations. The accessibility to this flexibility seems to, however, be even more dependent on the specific knowledge and skills of the employee. How this generation will change the organisations remains to be seen in further research.

Micropillar and macropillar compression responses of magnesium single crystals oriented for single slip or extension twinning

Uniaxial compression experiments were conducted on two magnesium (Mg) single crystals whose crystallographic orientations facilitate the deformation either by basal slip or by extension twinning. Specimen size effects were examined by conducting experiments on mu m- and mm-sized samples. A marked specimen size effect was noticed, with micropillars exhibiting significantly higher flow stress than bulk samples. Further, it is observed that the twin nucleation stress exerts strong size dependence, with micropillars requiring substantially higher stress than the bulk samples. The flow curves obtained on the bulk samples are smooth whereas those obtained from micropillars exhibit intermittent and precipitous stress drops. Electron backscattered diffraction and microstructural analyses of the deformed samples reveal that the plastic deformation in basal slip oriented crystals occurs only by slip while twin oriented crystals deform by both slip and twinning modes. The twin oriented crystals exhibit a higher strain hardening during plastic deformation when compared to the single slip oriented crystals. The strain hardening rate, theta, of twin oriented crystals is considerably greater in micropillars compared to the bulk single crystals, suggesting the prevalence of different work hardening mechanisms at these different sample sizes. (C) 2013 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Forced extension of P-selectin construct using steered molecular dynamics

P-selectin, a 70-nm-long cellular adhesive molecule, possesses elastic and extensible properties when neutrophils roll over the activated endotheliam of blood vessel in inflammatory reaction. Transient formation and dissociation of P-selectin/ligand bond on applied force of blood flow induces the extension of P-selectin and relevant ligands. Steered molecular dynamics simulations were performed to stretch a single P-selectin construct consisting of a lectin (Lec) domain and an epithelial growth factor (EGF)-like domain, where P-selectin construct was forced to extend in water with pulling velocities of 0.005-0.05 nm/ps and with constant forces of 1000-2500 pN respectively. Resulting force-extension profiles exhibited a dual-peak pattern on various velocities, while both plateaus and shoulders appeared in the extension-time profiles on various forces. The force or extension profiles along stretching pathways were correlated to the conformational changes, suggesting that the structural collapses of P-selectin Lec/EGF domains were mainly attributed to the burst of hydrogen bonds within the major beta sheet of EGF domain and the disruptions of two hydrophobic cores of Lee domain. This work furthers the understanding of forced dissociation of P-selectin/ligand bond.