The role of import intermediary companies in the Russian imports from the EU A case study of a Russian industrial company’s point of view on import intermediaries

The literature on agency suggests different implications for the use of export intermediaries. However, only few studies provide a view on import intermediaries. This thesis tries for its part to fill this research gap by studying the import intermediaries in the EU–Russia trade from a Russian industrial company’s point of view. The aim is to describe import intermediation and explain the need for import intermediary companies in the EU–Russia trade. The theoretical framework of this thesis originates from an article by Peng and York (2001), in which they study the performance of export intermediaries. This thesis applies resource-based theory, transaction cost theory and agency cost theory, following the idea of Peng and York. The resource-based theory approach is utilised for describing an ideal import intermediary company, and transaction cost theory provides a basis for understanding the benefits of using the services of import intermediary companies, while agency cost theory is applied in order to understand the risks the Russian industrial company faces when it decides to use the services of import intermediaries. The study is performed in the form of a case interview with a representative of a major Russian metallurgy company. The results of the study suggest that an ideal intermediary has the skills required specifically for the imports process, in order to save time and money of the principal company. The intermediary company helps reducing the amount of time the managers and the staff of the principal company use to make imports possible, thus reducing the salary costs and providing the possibility to concentrate on the company’s core competencies. The benefits of using the services of import intermediary companies are the reduced transaction costs, especially salary costs that are minimised because of the effectiveness and specialisation of import intermediaries. Intermediaries are specialised in the imports process and thus need less time and resources to organise the imports. They also help to reduce the fixed salary costs, because their services can be used only when needed. The risks of being misled by intermediaries are minimised by the competition on the import intermediary market. In case an intermediary attempts fraud, it gets replaced by its rival.

ATTITUDES TOWARD RUSSIAN CUSTOMERS IN THE FINNISH RETAIL TRADE SECTOR – A salesperson’s point of view

The amount of Russian tourists in Finland has increased significantly in the past years. The impact of Russian tourism to the Finnish retail trade sector is enormous, since Russian tourists often spend a lot of money particularly on shopping. Shopping tourism is mainly focused in the near border cities, such as Imatra and Lappeenranta, and in addition in Helsinki metropolitan area. The purpose of this study is to map the attitudes and perceptions of the sales personnel who are working in the Finnish retail trade sector towards Russian customers and to discover which elements affect these attitudes. The theories in this study are based on cultural elements and elements related to sales behavior and performance. Cultural differences between Finland and Russia, cultural distance and cultural intelligence form the cultural aspect of this study. Customer orientation vs. sales orientation (SOCO), adaptive selling, selling skills and job competency, salesperson’s affect and empathy toward customers, and job autonomy form the elements concerning sales behavior and performance. Furthermore, the attitude – behavior link, based on social psychology is addressed. A survey was conducted in two retail trade chains operating in Finland. These retail companies have stores and department stores in different geographical areas in Finland and the survey was conducted in altogether 19 cities. In addition to the theories that were discussed, two expert interviews were conducted in order to get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon at hand. Moreover the interviews helped in the formulation of the hypotheses and the questionnaire design. The questionnaires were sent directly to the stores, where they were placed so that they were available for the sales personnel. Altogether 487 usable responses were collected. The returned questionnaires were analyzed with IBM SPSS 21 statistics program. The results of this study indicated that the attitudes toward Russian customers are more negative compared to other foreign customers. However, the respondents’ attitudes toward and perceptions of Russian customers varied a lot. From the background variables age, education level, length of employment in current workplace, and length of experience in customer service had an effect on the attitudes of the respondents. In addition, the perceptions of Russian customers were more positive in the Eastern Finland compared to Helsinki metropolitan area. The cultural elements; cultural knowledge, cultural distance and cultural intelligence all affected the attitudes of the respondents. From the elements related to sales behavior and performance customer orientation, salesperson’s affect and empathy toward customers, and perceived job autonomy had an effect on the attitudes

Sähkön kysyntäjouston kannattavuus teollisuuskiinteistössä

Tässä kandidaatintyössä tutkittiin sähkön kysyntäjouston kannattavuutta teollisuuskiinteis-tössä. Tutkimus suoritettiin tutkimalla vuosien 2014 ja 2015 sähkön käyttöraportteja sekä toteutuneita Elspot hintoja. Lisäksi suoritettiin mittauksia ilmalämpöpumpuista, joiden pe-rusteella selvitettiin ilmalämpöpumppujen soveltuvuutta kysyntäjoustoon. Työssä käydään läpi kysyntäjouston vaikutuksia sekä eri kuormanohjaus mahdollisuuksia asiakkaan näkökulmasta. Lisäksi tuodaan esille Elspot hinnan muodostuminen sekä Elspot hintaan vaikuttavat tekijät. Työssä vertaillaan esimerkkikiinteistön sähkönkulutuksen suh-detta toteutuneisiin Elspot hintoihin. Lisäksi tutkitaan lämmityskuormien ohjauspotentiaalia kysyntäjouston näkökulmasta. Potentiaalin kartoittamiseksi suoritettiin mittauksia sekä teh-tiin esimerkkilaskelmia kysyntäjouston kannattavuudesta. Tutkimusten perusteella voidaan huomata, että vuositasolla saavutetut säästöt jäävät pienik-si. Huomioiden riskit Elspot hinnan vaihteluissa voidaan todetta, ettei siirtyminen tuntihin-noiteltuun sähköenergiaan ole kannattavaa esimerkkikiinteistössä. Lämmityskuormien oh-jauksesta tuntitiedon mukaan saatavien lisäsäästöjen jäädessä vähäisiksi kiinteistöön ei ole järkevää investoida erillisiä järjestelmiä kuormien ohjaukseen.

Convenience of scallops in plate structures

In this thesis was performed comprehensive study about the convenience of scallops in plate structures. A literature review was performed and lack of knowledge was fulfilled with fatigue tests performed in the laboratory of Steel Structures at the Lappeenranta University of Technology and with finite element method. The aim of this thesis was to produce design guidance for the use of scallops for different structural details and different loading conditions. An additional aim was to include more precise instructions for scallop design to produce good fatigue resistance and appropriate manufacturing quality. The literature review was performed searching bridge engineering and maritime standards and design guides and studies from scientific databases and reference lists from the literature of this field. Fatigue tests were used to research the effect of using scallops or not using scallops to fatigue strength of bracket specimen. Tests were performed on three specimens with different scallop radii and to five specimens without scallops with different weld penetration depths. Finite element method using solid elements, symmetry and submodels was used to determine stress concentration factors for I-beams with scallops. Stresses were defined with hot spot stress method. Choosing to use a scallop or not in the structure is affected by many factors, such as structural and loading conditions and manufacturability. As a rule of thumb, scallops should be avoided because those cause stress concentration points to the structure and take a lot of time to manufacture. When scallops are not used, good quality welding should be provided and full weld penetration is recommended to be used in load carrying corner weld areas. In some cases, it is advisable to use scallops. In that case, circular scallops are recommended to be used and radius should be chosen from fatigue strength or manufacturing point of view.

Arrêt du conseil d'Etat du roi qui ordonne que les instances sur le fait des Aides, seront portées aux élections et par appel en la cour des Aides et que les secrétaires du roi et leurs veuves ne jouiront point des entrées et détail des dits droits d'aides ailleurs qu'à Paris

[Acte. 1716-03-17. Paris]