Utilizing social media in software documentation and knowledge management

This Master’s thesis studies the possibilities that social media tools can bring to help knowledge management in software development companies. It will introduce the most popular tools of social media and their usage possibilities in companies, not forgetting the possible downsides. One relevant aspect in this study is to investigate the possibilities of social media to help converting existing tacit knowledge into explicit. The purpose of the work is to create a proposal of social media utilization for a mid-sized software company, which has not utilized social media tools before. To be able to create the proposal, employees of the company are interviewed and a survey is executed to analyze the current situation. In addition a pilot project for trying out new social media tools is executed. The final result of this thesis introduces a tailored solution for the target company to start utilizing social media in its documentation and knowledge sharing processes. This new solution consists of multiple individual suggestions that are categorized and prioritized based on the significance and benefit that they bring to the company.

The role of business information and knowledge in sales steering

The objective of this study is to find out how sales management can be optimally supported with business information and knowledge. The first chapters of the study focus on theoretical literature about sales planning, sales steering, business intelligence, and knowledge management. The empirical part of the study is a case study for which the material was collected through interviews with the selected people of the company. The findings from the interviews were analyzed, and possible suggestions for solving the problems were made. The case study revealed that sales management requires a multitude of metrics and reports to steer the sales to the desired direction. The information sources can be internal and external, and the optimal solution for satisfying the information needs is a combination of both of these. The simple information should be turned into knowledge by merging the intellectual assets with the information from the firm’s transaction processing systems, in order to promote organizational learning and effective decision-making.

Organisational learning and knowledge acquisition. A case study of internationalising manufacturers of wood-based prefabricated buildings

The study investigates organisational learning and knowledge acquisition of wood-based prefabricated building manufacturers. This certain group of case companies was chosen, because their management and their employees generally have a strong manufacturing and engineering background, while the housing sector is characterised by national norms, regulations, as well as local building styles. Considering this setting, it was investigated, how the case companies develop organisational learning capabilities, acquire and transfer knowledge for their internationalisation. The theoretical framework of this study constitutes the knowledge-based conceptualisation of internationalisation, which combines the traditional internationalisation process, as well as the international new venture perspective based on their commonalities in the knowledge-based view of the firm. Different theories of internationalisation, including the network-perspective, were outlined and a framework on organisational learning and knowledge acquisition was established. The empirical research followed a qualitative approach, deploying a multiple-case study with five case companies from Austria, Finland and Germany. In the study, the development of the wood-based prefabricated building industry and of the case companies are described, and the motives, facilitators and challenges for foreign expansion, as well as the companies’ internationalisation approaches are compared. Different methods of how companies facilitate the knowledge-exchange or learn about new markets are also outlined. Experience, market knowledge and personal contacts are considered essential for the internationalisation process. The major finding of the study is that it is not necessary to acquire the market knowledge internally in a slow process as proposed by the Uppsala model. In four cases companies engaged knowledge in symbiotic relations with local business partners. Thereby, the building manufacturers contribute their design and production capabilities, and in return, their local partners provide them with knowledge about the market and local regulations; while they manage the sales and construction operations. Thus, the study provides strong evidence for the propositions of network perspective. One case company developed the knowledge internally in a gradual process: it entered the market sequentially with several business lines, showing an increasing level of complexity. In both of the observed strategies, single-loop and double-loop learning processes occurred.

Lectio praecursoria : Systems between information and knowledge : in a memory management model of an extended enterprise

VTT Jouni Meriluodon valtio-opin alaan kuuluva väitöskirja Systems between information and knowledge : in a memory management model of an extended enterprise tarkastettiin 21.6.2011 Helsingin yliopistossa.

Local Embeddedness and Knowledge Acquisition and How They Affect Finnish Business Operations in Russia

This pilot project aims examine the factors of the Finnish subsidiaries local embeddedness, their knowledge creation capabilities and the transfer mechanisms of new practices in the context of the Russian market. The research is designed as a multiple case study conducted with a qualitative approach. The empirical data consists of the interviews of the four Finnish case companies operating in the Kaluga region and three local partner companies. The deductive and inductive approaches were employed to conduct the analysis of the data. The propositions for the future study were developed in the conclusive chapters of the research, where we propose that the factor of the economy growth and industrialization matters in terms of subsidiaries’ role dedication, their knowledge creation capabilities, and direction of the knowledge flow within the local environment.

Open innovation model for a large company in the ICT industry: Case Ericsson LMF

Open innovation paradigm states that the boundaries of the firm have become permeable, allowing knowledge to flow inwards and outwards to accelerate internal innovations and take unused knowledge to the external environment; respectively. The successful implementation of open innovation practices in firms like Procter & Gamble, IBM, and Xerox, among others; suggest that it is a sustainable trend which could provide basis for achieving competitive advantage. However, implementing open innovation could be a complex process which involves several domains of management; and whose term, classification, and practices have not totally been agreed upon. Thus, with many possible ways to address open innovation, the following research question was formulated: How could Ericsson LMF assess which open innovation mode to select depending on the attributes of the project at hand? The research followed the constructive research approach which has the following steps: find a practical relevant problem, obtain general understanding of the topic, innovate the solution, demonstrate the solution works, show theoretical contributions, and examine the scope of applicability of the solution. The research involved three phases of data collection and analysis: Extensive literature review of open innovation, strategy, business model, innovation, and knowledge management; direct observation of the environment of the case company through participative observation; and semi-structured interviews based of six cases involving multiple and heterogeneous open innovation initiatives. Results from the cases suggest that the selection of modes depend on multiple reasons, with a stronger influence of factors related to strategy, business models, and resources gaps. Based on these and others factors found in the literature review and observations; it was possible to construct a model that supports approaching open innovation. The model integrates perspectives from multiple domains of the literature review, observations inside the case company, and factors from the six open innovation cases. It provides steps, guidelines, and tools to approach open innovation and assess the selection of modes. Measuring the impact of open innovation could take years; thus, implementing and testing entirely the model was not possible due time limitation. Nevertheless, it was possible to validate the core elements of the model with empirical data gathered from the cases. In addition to constructing the model, this research contributed to the literature by increasing the understanding of open innovation, providing suggestions to the case company, and proposing future steps.

The impact of industrial context and institutional factors on innovation and internationalization of Russian companies

Innovation and internationalization nowadays play significant role in formation of the competitive advantage for the companies and it is important to explore these processes deeply and use their potential. Such parameters, as industrial context and institutional factors, are essential parts of the business life and their influence may be crucial for the company’s performance. The Master’s Thesis explores impact of industrial context and institutional factors on innovation and internationalization of Russian companies. This research is quantitative and based on the analysis of the relevant scientific literature and results of the survey, conducted among Russian manufacturing companies. Findings show positive influence of industrial context factor “international threat” and institutional environment factor “lack of resources and the market imperfections” on internationalization of innovative Russian companies.

Liber fostering Open Science and Knowledge Discovery

Presentation of Kristiina Hormia-Poutanen at the 25th Anniversary Conference of The National Repository Library of Finland, Kuopio 22th of May 2015.

Modelling the simultaneous effects of intellectual capital and knowledge management on the organisational performance of Finnish companies

The aim of this study was to contribute to the current knowledge-based theory by focusing on a research gap that exists in the empirically proven determination of the simultaneous but differentiable effects of intellectual capital (IC) assets and knowledge management (KM) practices on organisational performance (OP). The analysis was built on the past research and theoreticised interactions between the latent constructs specified using the survey-based items that were measured from a sample of Finnish companies for IC and KM and the dependent construct for OP determined using information available from financial databases. Two widely used and commonly recommended measures in the literature on management science, i.e. the return on total assets (ROA) and the return on equity (ROE), were calculated for OP. Thus the investigation of the relationship between IC and KM impacting OP in relation to the hypotheses founded was possible to conduct using objectively derived performance indicators. Using financial OP measures also strengthened the dynamic features of data needed in analysing simultaneous and causal dependences between the modelled constructs specified using structural path models. The estimates were obtained for the parameters of structural path models using a partial least squares-based regression estimator. Results showed that the path dependencies between IC and OP or KM and OP were always insignificant when analysed separate to any other interactions or indirect effects caused by simultaneous modelling and regardless of the OP measure used that was either ROA or ROE. The dependency between the constructs for KM and IC appeared to be very strong and was always significant when modelled simultaneously with other possible interactions between the constructs and using either ROA or ROE to define OP. This study, however, did not find statistically unambiguous evidence for proving the hypothesised causal mediation effects suggesting, for instance, that the effects of KM practices on OP are mediated by the IC assets. Due to the fact that some indication about the fluctuations of causal effects was assessed, it was concluded that further studies are needed for verifying the fundamental and likely hidden causal effects between the constructs of interest. Therefore, it was also recommended that complementary modelling and data processing measures be conducted for elucidating whether the mediation effects occur between IC, KM and OP, the verification of which requires further investigations of measured items and can be build on the findings of this study.