Managerial Careers in the IT Industry: Women in China and in Finland

This research focuses on the career experiences of women managers in the IT industry in China and Finland, two countries with different cultures, policies, size of population, and social and economic structures regarding work-life support and equal opportunities. The object of this research is to present a cross-cultural comparison of women’s career experiences and how women themselves understand and account for their careers. The study explores how the macro and the micro levels of cultural and social processes become manifested in the lives of individual women. The main argument in this thesis is that culture plays a crucial role in making sense of women’s career experiences, although its role should be understood through its interrelationship with other social processes, e.g., institutional relations, social policies, industrial structures and organizations, as well as globalization. The interrelationship of a series of cultural and social processes affects individuals’ attitudes to, and arrangement and organization of, their work and family lives. This thesis consists of two parts. The first part introduces the research topic and discusses the overall results. The second part comprises five research papers. The main research question of the study is: How do cultural and social processes affect the experiences of women managers? Quantitative and qualitative research methods, which include in-depth interviews, Q-methodology, interpretive analysis, and questionnaires, are used in the study. The main theoretical background is culturally sensitive career theory and the theory of individual differences. The results of this study are viewed through a feminist lens. The research methodology applied allows new explorations on how demographic factors, work experiences, lifestyle issues, and organizational cultures can jointly affect women’s managerial careers. The sample group used in the research is 42 women managers working in IT companies in China (21) and Finland (21). The results of the study illustrate the impact of history, tradition, culture, institutional relations, social politics, industry and organizations, and globalization on the careers of women managers. It is claimed that the role of culture – cultural norms within nations and organizations – is of great importance in the relationship of gender and work. Women’s managerial careers are affected by multiple factors (personal, social and cultural) reflecting national and inter-individual differences. The results of the study contribute to research on careers, adding particularly to the literature on gender, work and culture, and offering a complex and holistic perspective for a richer understanding of pluralism and global diversity. The results of the study indicate how old and new career perspectives are evidenced in women managers in the IT industry. The research further contributes to an understanding of women’s managerial careers from a cross-culture perspective. In addition, the study contributes to the literature on culture and extends understanding of Hofstede’s work. Further, most traditional career theories do not perceive the importance of culture in determining an individual’s career experience and this study richens understanding of women managers’ careers and has considerable implications for international human resource management. The results of this study emphasize the need, when discussing women managers’ careers, to understand the ways by which gendering is produced rather than merely examining gender differences. It is argued that the meaning of self-knowledge is critical. Further, the environment where the careers under study develop differs greatly; China and Finland are very different – culturally, historically and socially. The findings of this study should, therefore, be understood as a holistic, specific, and contextually-bound.

Intellectual Capital Measurement in IT industry

The goal of this research – which is to critically analyze current theories and methods of intangible assets evaluation and potentially develop and test new methodology based on the practical example(s) in the IT industry. Having this goal in mind the main research questions in this paper will be: What are advantages and disadvantages of the current practices of measurement intellectual capital or valuation of intangible assets? How to properly measure intellectual capital in IT? Resulting method exhibits a new unique approach to the IC measurement and potentially even larger field of application. Despite the fact that in this particular research, I focused my attention on IT (Software and Internet services cluster – to be exact), the logic behind the method is applicable within any industry since the method is designed to be fully compliant with measurement theory and thus can be properly scaled for any application. Building a new method is a difficult and iterative process: in the current iteration the method stands out as rather a theoretical concept rather than a business tool, however even current concept totally fulfills its purpose as a benchmarking tool for measuring intellectual capital in IT industry.

Green Service Level Agreement under Sustainability Lens in IT Industry

Nowadays, when most of the business are moving forward to sustainability by providing or getting different services from different vendors, Service Level Agreement (SLA) becomes very important for both the business providers/vendors and as well as for users/customers. There are many ways to inform users/customers about various services with its inherent execution functionalities and even non-functional/Quality of Services (QoS) aspects through negotiating, evaluating or monitoring SLAs. However, these traditional SLA actually do not cover eco-efficient green issues or IT ethics issues for sustainability. That is why green SLA (GSLA) should come into play. GSLA is a formal agreement incorporating all the traditional commitments as well as green issues and ethics issues in IT business sectors. GSLA research would survey on different traditional SLA parameters for various services like as network, compute, storage and multimedia in IT business areas. At the same time, this survey could focus on finding the gaps and incorporation of these traditional SLA parameters with green issues for all these mentioned services. This research is mainly points on integration of green parameters in existing SLAs, defining GSLA with new green performance indicators and their measurable units. Finally, a GSLA template could define compiling all the green indicators such as recycling, radio-wave, toxic material usage, obsolescence indication, ICT product life cycles, energy cost etc for sustainable development. Moreover, people’s interaction and IT ethics issues such as security and privacy, user satisfaction, intellectual property right, user reliability, confidentiality etc could also need to add for proposing a new GSLA. However, integration of new and existing performance indicators in the proposed GSLA for sustainable development could be difficult for ICT engineers. Therefore, this research also discovers the management complexity of proposed green SLA through designing a general informational model and analyses of all the relationships, dependencies and effects between various newly identified services under sustainability pillars. However, sustainability could only be achieved through proper implementation of newly proposed GSLA, which largely depends on monitoring the performance of the green indicators. Therefore, this research focuses on monitoring and evaluating phase of GSLA indicators through the interactions with traditional basic SLA indicators, which would help to achieve proper implementation of future GSLA. Finally, this newly proposed GSLA informational model and monitoring aspects could definitely help different service providers/vendors to design their future business strategy in this new transitional sustainable society.

How Cloud Services may Enable SMEs to Overcome International Growth Challenges: Finnish SMEs in the IT Industry

Digitalization and technology megatrends such as Cloud services have provided SMEs with a suitable atmosphere and conditions to internationalize and seek for further business growth. There is a limited amount of research on Cloud services from the business perspective and the limitations and challenges SMEs encounter when pursuing international business growth. Thus, the main research question of this study was how Cloud services may enable Finnish SMEs to overcome international growth challenges. The research question was further divided into three sub-questions dealing with matters related to features and characteristics of Cloud services, limitations and challenges Finnish SMEs experience when pursuing international growth of business, and benefits and advantages of utilizing Cloud services to mitigate and suppress international growth challenges. First, the theoretical framework of this study was constructed based on the existing literature on Cloud services, SMEs, and international growth challenges. After this, qualitative research approach and methodology were applied for this study. The data was collected through six semi-structured expert interviews in person with representatives of IBM, Exidio, Big Data Solutions, and Comptel. After analyzing the collected data by applying thematic analysis method, the results were compared with the existing theory and the original framework was modified and complemented accordingly. Resource scarcity, customer base expansion and retention, and lack of courage to try new things and take risks turned out to be major international growth challenges of Finnish SMEs. Due to a number of benefits and advantages of utilizing Cloud services including service automation, consumption-based pricing model, lack of capital expenditures (capex) and huge upfront investments, lightened organization structure, cost savings, speed, accessibility, scalability, agility, geographical expansion potential, global reaching and covering, credibility, partners, enhanced CRM, freedom, and flexibility, it can be concluded that Cloud services can help directly and indirectly Finnish SMEs to mitigate and overcome international growth challenges and enable further business growth.

Technology Choice in the IT Industry and Changes of the Trade Structure

In the IT industry, there has been a remarkable increase in the demand for system LSI. A system LSI must be produced, tailor-designed for each electrical appliance. It is said that this production method has made the IC cycle ambiguous in recent years. It can be sought that the choice of whether the economy pursues a development path centering on technology which is tradable or technology which is embodied in labor, depends on the historical background. The relationship between these two types of technologies is changing rapidly every one or two years. In this background, the analysis is focused on the new trend of technology. In the section 2, the newest trend of technology in the field of system LSI is explained. Then, which kind of technology will be developed and how it will have an affect in the near future, is considered.

The Finnish it industries in transition. Defining and Measuring the Finnish Software Product and IT Services Industries by Applying Theoretical Frameworks

The starting point of this study is that the prevailing way to consider the Finnish IT industries and industry information often results in a limited and even skewed picture of the sector. The purpose of the study is to contribute and increase knowledge and understanding of the status, structure and evolution of the Finnish IT industries as well as the Finnish IT vendor field and competition. The focus is on software product and IT services industries which form a crucial part of all ICT industries. This study examines the Finnish IT sector from production (supply) as well as market (demand) perspective. The study is based on empirical information from multiple sources. Three research questions were formulated for the study. The first concerns the status of the Finnish IT industries considered by applying theoretical frameworks. The second research question targets at the basis for the future evolution of the Finnish IT industries and, finally, the third at the ability of the available definitions and indicators to describe the Finnish IT industries and IT markets. Major structural changes like technological changes and related innovations, globalization and new business models are drivers of the evolution of the IT industries. The findings of this study emphasize the significant role of IT services in the Finnish IT sector and in connection to that the ability to combine IT service skills, competences and practices with high level software skills also in the future. According to the study the Finnish IT enterprises and their customers have become increasingly dependent on global ecosystems and platforms, applications and IT services provided by global vendors. As a result, more IT decisions are made outside Finland. In addition, IT companies are facing new competition from other than IT industries bringing into market new substitutes. To respond to the new competition, IT firms seek growth by expanding beyond their traditional markets.. The changing global division of labor accentuates the need for accurate information of the IT sector but, at the same time, also makes it increasingly challenging to acquire the information needed. One of the main contributions of this study is to provide frameworks for describing the Finnish IT sector and its evolution. These frameworks help combine empirical information from various sources and make it easier to concretize the structures, volumes, relationships and interaction of both, the production and market side of the Finnish IT industry. Some frameworks provide tools to analyze the vendor field, competition and the basis for the future evolution of the IT industries. The observations of the study support the argument that static industry definitions and related classifications do not serve the information needs in dynamic industries, such as the IT industries. One of the main messages of this study is to emphasize the importance of understanding the definitions and starting points of different information sources. Simultaneously, in the structure and evolution of Finnish IT industries the number of employees has become a more valid and reliable measure than the revenue based indicators.

Att tillämpa återkommande mätning av kundnöjdhet i IT-projekt : En vidareutvecklad modell baserad på modellerna American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) och SERVQUAL

I dagens samhälle är det allt viktigare för företag att behålla sina existerande kunder då konkurrensen blir allt hårdare. Detta medför att företag försöker vidta åtgärder för att vårda relationer med sina kunder. Detta problem är även högst relevant inom IT-branschen. Inom IT-branschen är det vanligt att arbeta agilt i IT-projekt. Vår samarbetspartner har sett ett ökat behov av att mäta servicekvalitet på ett återkommande sätt inom IT-projekt, detta för att mäta relevanta variabler som sträcker sig utanför kravspecifikationen. För att mäta framgång gällande detta arbetssätt vill man kunna mäta Nöjd Kund Index (NKI) för att kunna jämföra IT-projekt internt i företaget. Då tidigare forskning visat avsaknad av modeller innehållande både mätning av servicekvalitet samt NKI har lämplig litteratur studerats där det framkommit att modellen SERVQUAL är vedertagen för mätning av servicekvalitet och modellen American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) är vedertagen för mätning av NKI. Detta har legat till grund för arbetets problemformulering och syfte. Syftet med arbetet är att skapa en vidareutvecklad modell för mätning av NKI för att jämföra IT-projekt internt samt återkommande mätning av servicekvalitet inom IT-projekt. Framtagande av denna modell har sedan skett genom forskningsstrategin Design and Creation. Intervjuer har genomförts för kravfångst till den vidareutvecklade modellen. Resultatet av denna forskningsstrategi blev sedan en vidareutvecklad modell baserad på ovan nämnda modeller med återkommande förhållningssätt för mätning av servicekvalitet inom IT-projekt och mätning av NKI för att jämföra IT-projekt internt i företaget. Den framtagna modellen har sedan verifierats genom ytterligare intervjuer med respondenter som innehar god erfarenhet från kundsidan av IT-projekt. Från dessa intervjuer kunde sedan slutsats dras att denna modell är att anse som applicerbar i empirin gällande IT-projekt.

IT Clusters in India

One of the facilitating factors that enabled the rise of IT industry in India is the evolution of IT clusters. A study of these clusters can provide interesting insights. The rise of the Banglaore IT cluster was due, among other things, to some of the policies the Indian government took three decades or earlier. It would be difficult to talk of "benign neglect" of the government towards this sector. Different factors worked in the case of Hyderabad. A comparison between the IT clusters in India has much to tell the new emerging IT clusters in India as well as those outside of it.

Product and Process Innovation: Antecedents and Performance outcomes in small IT firms in India

Innovation is a strategic necessity for the survival of today’s organizations. The wide recognition of innovation as a competitive necessity, particularly in dynamic market environments, makes it an evergreen domain for research. This dissertation deals with innovation in small Information Technology (IT) firms in India. The IT industry in India has been a phenomenal success story of the last three decades, and is today facing a crucial phase in its history characterized by the need for fundamental changes in strategies, driven by innovation. This study, while motivated by the dynamics of changing times, importantly addresses the research gap on small firm innovation in Indian IT.This study addresses three main objectives: (a) drivers of innovation in small IT firms in India (b) impact of innovation on firm performance (c) variation in the extent of innovation adoption in small firms. Product and process innovation were identified as the two most contextually relevant types of innovation for small IT firms. The antecedents of innovation were identified as Intellectual Capital, Creative Capability, Top Management Support, Organization Learning Capability, Customer Involvement, External Networking and Employee Involvement.Survey method was adopted for data collection and the study unit was the firm. Surveys were conducted in 2014 across five South Indian cities. Small firm was defined as one with 10-499 employees. Responses from 205 firms were chosen for analysis. Rigorous statistical analysis was done to generate meaningful insights. The set of drivers of product innovation (Intellectual Capital, Creative Capability, Top Management Support, Customer Involvement, External Networking, and Employee Involvement)were different from that of process innovation (Creative Capability, Organization Learning Capability, External Networking, and Employee Involvement). Both product and process innovation had strong impact on firm performance. It was found that firms that adopted a combination of product innovation and process innovation had the highest levels of firm performance. Product innovation and process innovation fully mediated the relationship between all the seven antecedents and firm performance The results of this study have several important theoretical and practical implications. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this is the first time that an empirical study of firm level innovation of this kind has been undertaken in India. A measurement model for product and process innovation was developed, and the drivers of innovation were established statistically. Customer Involvement, External Networking and Employee Involvement are elements of Open Innovation, and all three had strong association with product innovation, and the latter twohad strong association with process innovation. The results showed that proclivity for Open Innovation is healthy in the Indian context. Practical implications have been outlined along how firms can organize themselves for innovation, the human talent for innovation, the right culture for innovation and for open innovation. While some specific examples of possible future studies have been recommended, the researcher believes that the study provides numerous opportunities to further this line of enquiry.

SHõWA: A Self-healing Framework for Web-based Applications

The complexity of systems is considered an obstacle to the progress of the IT industry. Autonomic computing is presented as the alternative to cope with the growing complexity. It is a holistic approach, in which the systems are able to configure, heal, optimize, and protect by themselves. Web-based applications are an example of systems where the complexity is high. The number of components, their interoperability, and workload variations are factors that may lead to performance failures or unavailability scenarios. The occurrence of these scenarios affects the revenue and reputation of businesses that rely on these types of applications. In this article, we present a self-healing framework for Web-based applications (SHõWA). SHõWA is composed by several modules, which monitor the application, analyze the data to detect and pinpoint anomalies, and execute recovery actions autonomously. The monitoring is done by a small aspect-oriented programming agent. This agent does not require changes to the application source code and includes adaptive and selective algorithms to regulate the level of monitoring. The anomalies are detected and pinpointed by means of statistical correlation. The data analysis detects changes in the server response time and analyzes if those changes are correlated with the workload or are due to a performance anomaly. In the presence of per- formance anomalies, the data analysis pinpoints the anomaly. Upon the pinpointing of anomalies, SHõWA executes a recovery procedure. We also present a study about the detection and localization of anomalies, the accuracy of the data analysis, and the performance impact induced by SHõWA. Two benchmarking applications, exercised through dynamic workloads, and different types of anomaly were considered in the study. The results reveal that (1) the capacity of SHõWA to detect and pinpoint anomalies while the number of end users affected is low; (2) SHõWA was able to detect anomalies without raising any false alarm; and (3) SHõWA does not induce a significant performance overhead (throughput was affected in less than 1%, and the response time delay was no more than 2 milliseconds).

Business Sphere, Vol. 18, no.1

Information technology is a strong and important sector of the Iowa economy employing 30,000 Iowans at more than 2,000 companies, according to a new analysis from Battelle Institute consultants. The strength of Iowa’s IT industry is based in the service-segment. Internet and data services, communications network services, and software and computer services constitute 81 percent of all IT employment. Slightly ahead of U.S. trends, these service sectors compose the backbone of Iowa’s IT industry,