The success factors of the Danish energy service industry

The objective of the research was to understand the success factors of the Danish energy service industry. The research phenomenon was studied greatly but the aim was to examine it from the service logic point of view. The research was threefold and it examined the phenomena from the company, industrial and national levels. The purpose of the multi-level study was to understand all the success factors and to examine how they are combined together. First, the research problem was approached through the literature review. After that, the empirical part of the study was conducted as a case study and the data was collected by theme interviews. The collected data was analyzed through theoretical point of view and compared with earlier studies. This study shows that the most important success factor was the country, because it has affected to the other aspects of the success. Because the actors of the industry are linked together tightly, communication and common understanding of business is essential to the industry success. The new energy technologies do not produce directly added value for the customers. This has sifted energy business towards service business, and the customers have been included in the value creation process.

A design and a prototype for a mobile information service for tourists

Tourism is one of the biggest industry branches with billions of tourists traveling every year around the world. Therefore, solutions providing tourist information have to be up to date with both changes in the industry and the world’s technological progress. The aim of this thesis is to present a design and a prototype of a tourist mobile service which is individual-oriented, cost-free for the end user, and secure. On the information providers’ side, the solution is implemented as a Webbased database. The end users access the information through a Bluetooth application on their mobile devices. The Bluetooth-based solution allows to avoid any costs for the end users, that is tourists. The study shows that, even with small data transfers, the tourists could save significantly when compared to possible roaming charges for data transfer. Also, the proposed mobile service is not intrusive, as it is provided through an application installed by tourists voluntarily on their mobile devices. Through design and implementation this work shows that it is possible to build a system which can be used to provide information services to tourists through mobile phones. The work achieved a successful ongoing synchronization between the client and the server databases. Implementation and usage were limited to smart phones only, as they provide better technological support for the solution having features like maps, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Databases. Moreover, the design of this system shows how Bluetooth technology can be used effectively as a means of communication while minimizing its shortcomings and risks, such as security, by bypassing Bluetooth server service discovery protocol (SDP) and connecting directly to the device. Apart from showing the design and implementation of the end-user costfree mobile information service, the results of this work also highlight the possible business opportunities to the provider of the service.

Private Home Care in Municipal Service Systems – A Case Study among Finnish and Swedish Municipalities

The aim of this study is to assess the current and future preconditions for conducting private business in municipal service systems for home care in Lahti and Hyvinkää in Finland, and in Uppsala and Huddinge in Sweden. This study also aims to assess the implications of quality related issues on the preconditions for conducting private business in the service systems in question. The theories and the research methodologies of the study are based on the Business Model Generation and the Business Model Canvas -concepts. Also a couple of frameworks on implications of quality are applied and integrated into the study. The study is completed as a case study – with structured and identical approaches for all four municipalities. The analyses and assessments of the study are primarily qualitative, but supported by simple quantitative methodologies. The data of the study consists primarily of publicly available information, and secondarily of answers provided by the case-municipalities to multiple choice questions. The results of the study show that the service systems for home care among the case-municipalities are, from perspective of private companies, diverse with local characteristics. Both the premises for conducting private business and the quality-issues are in many respects different in the Finnish and the Swedish case-municipalities. This is partly due to differences in the national service systems; the service voucher system versus the system of choice. Still, it appears that the current preconditions for conducting private business in the service systems for home care, including the implications of quality, would be more favorable in Uppsala and Huddinge than in Lahti and Hyvinkää. On the other hand, the service systems are subject to changes, and the most positive and significant development is here forecasted for a Finnish case-municipality (Lahti). Communication of quality is clearly more advanced in the Swedish case-municipalities. The results of this study can be utilized in several ways, for instance by private companies interested in entering into service systems for home care, either in some of the case-municipalities, or in some other Finnish or Swedish municipalities. Also municipalities can apply the analyses of the study when designing, developing or evaluating their own service systems for home care.

The Dark Side of International Business? Stakeholder Approach to Human Trafficking in Finnish Construction and Service Sectors

Human trafficking is not a new phenomenon. It has existed in various forms for ages around the world. Some researchers have even compared it to slavery, calling it the modern form of slavery in the 21st century. This study is particularly interested in the role of work-related human trafficking in Finnish business. In order for something to be called work-related human trafficking, the concepts of forced labour and human trafficking have to overlap. From the economic point of view, human trafficking is governed by the laws of supply and demand. In many countries the global pressure on cutting costs has created two trends: the increased supply of migrant workers and the deregulation of labour markets. These competitive pressures can have an adverse impact on the conditions of employment and, in the worst cases, can lead to forced labour and trafficking. In fact, trafficking has become one of the most profitable illicit industries worldwide, generating tremendous profits due to its low costs and huge profits. Therefore, it is important to investigate the phenomenon from the business point of view. This study is a qualitative research conducted by using theme interviews as a research approach. Altogether 13 interviews have been conducted and some secondary data has been used in order to find out what the role of human trafficking is in Finnish business. The special sectors investigated are the Finnish construction and service sectors. The theory framework used in this study follows the stakeholder approach. The relevant stakeholder groups for this study are: ‘institutions and authorities’, ‘law enforcement’, ‘management’ and ‘employees – potential victims’ of trafficking. With the help of these stakeholder groups, a holistic picture of the phenomenon is formed. It can be concluded that the role of human trafficking is complicated but it does exist in Finnish business. It appears in low-cost business sectors where the demand for cheap labour is high. Thus, often the victims are foreigners who do not know the culture or the Finnish conditions of employment. Especially smaller Finnish companies are at risk of getting involved in human trafficking or related exploitation cases since monitoring is much more scarce in these firms than in larger companies. The risk of human trafficking and exploitation is also higher at the bottom of the complicated subcontracting chains or when using foreign recruitment agencies. Thus, the study believes that active and intensive collaboration between the company’s different stakeholder groups is needed in order to prevent work-related human trafficking from flourishing in Finland.

Stretching a service concept brand

Brands have become one of the most valuable assets for organizations, which is why organizations want to benefit from them in whole scale. However, service concept brands are still little researched. The purpose of this research is to study how brand stretching and co-branding strategies can help a service concept brand to attain wider target market. More specifically, this research aims to contribute the methods and their risks and benefits to different customer levels of a group fitness brand. This study is a qualitative single case analysis embedded with multiple units of analysis. The data used in this study was gathered by nine theme interviews. The interviewees are from one of the customer levels of the service concept provided by the case organization. The interviews are made in different geographical areas in Finland. The results of the study will clarify and illustrate the differences and similarities between the theoretical framework and practise. Several differences between traditional brand stretching and co-branding strategies and those that are possible to employ by a service concept brand were found. The answers of the interviewees were slightly different depending on their role in the organization and their experience from the branch. However, they proved that not all brand stretching or co-branding strategies are applicable in the group fitness brand. Nevertheless, also several similarities that benefit the group fitness brand were found.

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The value of digitalization of services in the new service development

The purpose of this thesis is to study factors that have an impact on the company’s capabilities to identify and analyze the value of digitalization of services during the early stages of service development process and evaluate them from the perspective of a case company. The research problem was defined: “How digitalization of services affects delivering the services of the future?” The research method of this thesis was based on the qualitative case study which aimed to study both company’s and customer’s set of values. The study included a literature review and a development study. The empirical research part consisted of analyzing three existing services, specifying a new digital service concept and its feasibility analysis as part of a business requirement phase. To understand the set of values, 10 stakeholder interviews were conducted and earlier customer surveys were utilized, and additionally, a number of meetings were conducted with the case company representatives to develop service concept, and evaluate the findings. The impact of the early stages of service development process discovered to reflect directly in the capabilities of the case company to identify and create customer value were related to the themes presented in the literature review. In order to specify the value achieved from the digitalization the following areas of strategic background elements were deepened during the study: Innovations, customer understanding and business service. Based on the findings, the study aims to enhance the case company’s capability to identify and evaluate the impact of the digitalization in delivering services of the future. Recognizing the value of digital service before the beginning of the development project is important to the businesses of both customer and provider. By exploring the various levels of digitalization one can get the overall picture of the value gained from utilizing digital opportunities. From the development perspective, the process of reviewing and discovering the most promising opportunities and solutions is the key step in order to deliver superior services. Ultimately, a company should understand the value outcome determination of the individual services as well as their digital counterparts.

Developing the measurement and management of knowledge: applying the constructive research approach in a knowledge intensive service environment

Intellectual assets have attained continuous attention in the academic field, as they are vital sources of competitive advantage and organizational performance in the contemporary knowledge intensive business environment. Intellectual capital measurement is quite thoroughly addressed in the accounting literature. However, the purpose of the measurement is to support the management of intellectual assets, but the reciprocal relationship between measurement and management has not been comprehensively considered in the literature. The theoretical motivation for this study rose from this paradox, as in order to maximise the effectiveness of knowledge management the two initiatives need to be closely integrated. The research approach of this interventionist case study is constructive. The objective is to develop the case organization’s knowledge management and intellectual capital measurement in a way that they would be closely integrated and the measurement would support the management of intellectual assets. The case analysis provides valuable practical considerations about the integration and related issues as the case company is a knowledge intensive organization in which the know-how of the employees is the central competitive asset and therefore, the management and measurement of knowledge are essential for its future success. The results suggest that the case organization is confronting challenges in managing knowledge. In order to appropriately manage knowledge processes and control the related risks, support from intellectual capital measurement is required. However, challenges in measuring intellectual capital, especially knowledge, could be recognized in the organization. By reflecting the knowledge management situation and the constructed strategy map, a new intellectual measurement system was developed for the case organization. The construction of the system as well as its indicators can be perceived to contribute to the literature, emphasizing of the importance of properly considering the organization’s knowledge situation in developing an intellectual capital measurement system.

Evolution in the profile of thyroid cancer cases treated in an oncology reference service: what changed in the last 20 years

Objective: To evaluate the characteristics of thyroid carcinoma cases treated at a reference hospital for cancer between 2008 and 2010.Methods: we studied 807 cases and analyzed the following clinicopathologic variables: symptoms, risk factors, diagnostic tests, staging, histological type, treatment performed and complications.Results: Females were more affected, with 660 cases (82%). The average age at diagnosis was 44.5 years. Prior exposure to ionizing radiation was reported by 22 (3%) patients, a family history of thyroid cancer by 89 (11%), and 289 (36%) individuals reported other types of cancer in the family. The fine needle aspiration biopsy was the main parameter for surgical indication and was suggestive of carcinoma in 463 patients (57%). Papillary carcinoma was the most common histological type, with 780 cases (96.6%). There were 728 (90%) total thyroidectomies, 43 (5.3%) reoperations or partial thyroidectomies followed by totalization, 23 (2.8%) extended thyroidectomies and only 13 (1.6%) partial thyroidectomies (lobectomy with isthmectomy). Neck dissection associated with thyroidectomy was done in 158 patients (19.5%). We observed a predominance of tumors classified as T1 in 602 (74.6%) patients. Transient hypocalcemia was the most frequent complication.Conclusion: The results show that the worldwide increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer has changed the profile of patients seen at a referral service. In addition, there were changes in the type of surgical treatment used, with increased use of total thyroidectomy in relation to partial and subtotal ones, and decreased use of elective neck dissections.