Analytiikkajärjestelmän käyttöönottoprojekti, kustannukset ja kustannusten hallinta

Perinteisten kilpailuetujen katoaminen ja kilpailun kiristyminen haastavat yrityksiä etsimään keinoja kilpailukyvyn säilyttämiseksi. Tietotekniikan nopea kehitys ja liiketoiminnassa syntyvän datan määrän kasvu luovat yrityksille mahdollisuuden hyödyntää analytiikkaa päätöksenteon tukena ja liiketoiminnan tehostamisessa. Työ on kirjallisuuskatsaus ja sen tavoitteena on selvittää analytiikkajärjestelmän käyttöönottoprojektin vaiheet, käyttöönottoon liittyvät kustannukset ja miten kustannuksia voidaan hallita. Lisäksi esitetään tiivis katsaus analytiikan kehitykseen ja nykytilaan sekä tarkastellaan hankintamalleja, hankkeiden taloudellista arviointia ja käyttöönottoprojektin kriittisiä menestystekijöitä. Käyttöönottoprojekti on monivaiheinen ja se alkaa liiketoiminnan analysoinnista sekä järjestelmän suunnittelusta ulottuen aina sen toteutukseen ja jälkiarviointiin. Käyttöönottoon liittyy useita kustannuseriä, joita voidaan luokitella niiden ominaisuuksien perusteella. Projektin kustannusten hallinnan prosesseja ovat kustannusten hallinnan suunnittelu, kustannusten arviointi, budjetin määrittäminen ja kustannusten valvonta, jotka limittyvät käyttöönoton vaiheiden kanssa.

From Polymorph Screening to Dissolution Testing - Solid Phase Analysis during Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing

Solid materials can exist in different physical structures without a change in chemical composition. This phenomenon, known as polymorphism, has several implications on pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Various solid forms of a drug can possess different physical and chemical properties, which may affect processing characteristics and stability, as well as the performance of a drug in the human body. Therefore, knowledge and control of the solid forms is fundamental to maintain safety and high quality of pharmaceuticals. During manufacture, harsh conditions can give rise to unexpected solid phase transformations and therefore change the behavior of the drug. Traditionally, pharmaceutical production has relied on time-consuming off-line analysis of production batches and finished products. This has led to poor understanding of processes and drug products. Therefore, new powerful methods that enable real time monitoring of pharmaceuticals during manufacturing processes are greatly needed. The aim of this thesis was to apply spectroscopic techniques to solid phase analysis within different stages of drug development and manufacturing, and thus, provide a molecular level insight into the behavior of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) during processing. Applications to polymorph screening and different unit operations were developed and studied. A new approach to dissolution testing, which involves simultaneous measurement of drug concentration in the dissolution medium and in-situ solid phase analysis of the dissolving sample, was introduced and studied. Solid phase analysis was successfully performed during different stages, enabling a molecular level insight into the occurring phenomena. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was utilized in screening of polymorphs and processing-induced transformations (PITs). Polymorph screening was also studied with NIR and Raman spectroscopy in tandem. Quantitative solid phase analysis during fluidized bed drying was performed with in-line NIR and Raman spectroscopy and partial least squares (PLS) regression, and different dehydration mechanisms were studied using in-situ spectroscopy and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). In-situ solid phase analysis with Raman spectroscopy during dissolution testing enabled analysis of dissolution as a whole, and provided a scientific explanation for changes in the dissolution rate. It was concluded that the methods applied and studied provide better process understanding and knowledge of the drug products, and therefore, a way to achieve better quality.

Oppimisen kohteen ja oppijan vastavuoroinen kehitys : Teleyrityksen asiakaspalvelun työyhteisöjen oppimiskäytäntöjen uudistaminen osana teknologis-taloudellista kumousta

Reciprocal development of the object and subject of learning. The renewal of the learning practices of front-line communities in a telecommunications company as part of the techno-economical paradigm change. Current changes in production have been seen as an indication of a shift from the techno-economical paradigm of a mass-production era to a new paradigm of the information and communication technological era. The rise of knowledge management in the late 1990s can be seen as one aspect of this paradigm shift, as knowledge creation and customer responsiveness were recognized as the prime factors in business competition. However, paradoxical conceptions concerning learning and agency have been presented in the discussion of knowledge management. One prevalent notion in the literature is that learning is based on individuals’ voluntary actions and this has now become incompatible with the growing interest in knowledge-management systems. Furthermore, commonly held view of learning as a general process that is independent of the object of learning contradicts the observation that the current need for new knowledge and new competences are caused by ongoing techno-economic changes. Even though the current view acknowledges that individuals and communities have key roles in knowledge creation, this conception defies the idea of the individuals’ and communities’ agency in developing the practices through which they learn. This research therefore presents a new theoretical interpretation of learning and agency based on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. This approach overcomes the paradoxes in knowledge-management theory and offers means for understanding and analyzing changes in the ways of learning within work communities. This research is also an evaluation of the Competence-Laboratory method which was developed as part of the study as a special application of Developmental Work Research methodology. The research data comprises the videotaped competence-laboratory processes of four front-line work communities in a telecommunications company. The findings reported in the five articles included in this thesis are based on the analyses of this data. The new theoretical interpretation offered here is based on the assessment that the findings reported in the articles represent one of the front lines of the ongoing historical transformation of work-related learning since the research site represents one of the key industries of the new “knowledge society”. The research can be characterized as elaboration of a hypothesis concerning the development of work related learning. According to the new theoretical interpretation, the object of activity is also the object of distributed learning in work communities. The historical socialization of production has increased the number of actors involved in an activity, which has also increased the number of mutual interdependencies as well as the need for communication. Learning practices and organizational systems of learning are historically developed forms of distributed learning mediated by specific forms of division of labor, specific tools, and specific rules. However, the learning practices of the mass production era become increasingly inadequate to accommodate the conditions in the new economy. This was manifested in the front-line work communities in the research site as an aggravating contradiction between the new objects of learning and the prevailing learning practices. The constituent element of this new theoretical interpretation is the idea of a work community’s learning as part of its collaborative mastery of the developing business activity. The development of the business activity is at the same time a practical and an epistemic object for the community. This kind of changing object cannot be mastered by using learning practices designed for the stable conditions of mass production, because learning has to change along the changes in business. According to the model introduced in this thesis, the transformation of learning proceeds through specific stages: predefined learning tasks are first transformed into learning through re-conceptualizing the object of the activity and of the joint learning and then, as the new object becomes stabilized, into the creation of new kinds of learning practices to master the re-defined object of the activity. This transformation of the form of learning is realized through a stepwise expansion of the work community’s agency. To summarize, the conceptual model developed in this study sets the tool-mediated co-development of the subject and the object of learning as the theoretical starting point for developing new, second-generation knowledge management methods. Key words: knowledge management, learning practice, organizational system of learning, agency

Design and testing of stand-specific bucking instructions for use on modern cut-to-length harvesters

This study addresses three important issues in tree bucking optimization in the context of cut-to-length harvesting. (1) Would the fit between the log demand and log output distributions be better if the price and/or demand matrices controlling the bucking decisions on modern cut-to-length harvesters were adjusted to the unique conditions of each individual stand? (2) In what ways can we generate stand and product specific price and demand matrices? (3) What alternatives do we have to measure the fit between the log demand and log output distributions, and what would be an ideal goodness-of-fit measure? Three iterative search systems were developed for seeking stand-specific price and demand matrix sets: (1) A fuzzy logic control system for calibrating the price matrix of one log product for one stand at a time (the stand-level one-product approach); (2) a genetic algorithm system for adjusting the price matrices of one log product in parallel for several stands (the forest-level one-product approach); and (3) a genetic algorithm system for dividing the overall demand matrix of each of the several log products into stand-specific sub-demands simultaneously for several stands and products (the forest-level multi-product approach). The stem material used for testing the performance of the stand-specific price and demand matrices against that of the reference matrices was comprised of 9 155 Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) sawlog stems gathered by harvesters from 15 mature spruce-dominated stands in southern Finland. The reference price and demand matrices were either direct copies or slightly modified versions of those used by two Finnish sawmilling companies. Two types of stand-specific bucking matrices were compiled for each log product. One was from the harvester-collected stem profiles and the other was from the pre-harvest inventory data. Four goodness-of-fit measures were analyzed for their appropriateness in determining the similarity between the log demand and log output distributions: (1) the apportionment degree (index), (2) the chi-square statistic, (3) Laspeyres quantity index, and (4) the price-weighted apportionment degree. The study confirmed that any improvement in the fit between the log demand and log output distributions can only be realized at the expense of log volumes produced. Stand-level pre-control of price matrices was found to be advantageous, provided the control is done with perfect stem data. Forest-level pre-control of price matrices resulted in no improvement in the cumulative apportionment degree. Cutting stands under the control of stand-specific demand matrices yielded a better total fit between the demand and output matrices at the forest level than was obtained by cutting each stand with non-stand-specific reference matrices. The theoretical and experimental analyses suggest that none of the three alternative goodness-of-fit measures clearly outperforms the traditional apportionment degree measure. Keywords: harvesting, tree bucking optimization, simulation, fuzzy control, genetic algorithms, goodness-of-fit

Keittiömaailman matkassa 20 vuotta : Tutkimus erään keittiökalustevalmistajan johtavan markkina-aseman rakentamisesta ja säilyttämisestä

A View into the World of Kitchen: Development and retention of a leading position in the market of kitchen interiors - a case study of 20 years. This study focuses on the development of a kitchen interiors company, presently called Novart Inc., into the leading company of the industry from 1980´s to the present. The objective of the study is to describe the effects of strategic choices, the decisions of the management and the owner´s direction and control to the build up and the retaining of the leading position in the market. From theory point of view, strategic choices refer to com-pany purchases as corporate-level strategies, and business and marketing strategies. The empirical research was carried out in two phases and it is based on various company documents and records, and on the intensive interviews of seven key executives in the company. An abductive research design was utilized. The company gained the leading position in the kitchen market in Finland by company purchases, and the company has been able to retain the position. Firstly the goal was to expand to retail market and, secondly, the company has maintained the balance of supply and demand by closing the purchased production units when needed. The simultaneous use of these two strategic goals is a kind of a new observation, and the strategy may be suitable only for market leaders. During the latter part of the research period the strategy of com-pany purchases has been abandoned and the leading position in the market has been main-tained by developing systematically business and marketing capability. In the business and marketing strategies the distribution channels and the brands have been emphasized. During the research period the company has almost totally abandoned the long distribution channels and started to use its own channels built and named after the main brands. These are A la Carte, Parma and Petra. At the moment, in the beginning of the 21st century, a new distribution channel, the concept of the Kitchen World, is being built in addition to the channels mentioned above. The management´s decision making and the implementation the decisions have been well-considered. The executives emphasized the valuing of the importance of the decisions dif-ferently except the two decisions named the most important ones, i.e., the decisions to start own production of the raw material and to concentrate the business only to one company. The executive staff has also succeeded in managing crisis and threats of bankruptcy, and the company has been managed profitable. During all the four terms of ownership: Puolimatka Corporation, the Hankkija/Novera Corporation, the ownership period of the "bank", and the Nobia Corporate the ownership direction and control has been somewhat different. All the owners have paid attention to economic issues. The direction of cash flows and investments was at its strongest during the Hankkija/Novera term. For the last owner Nobia the production and marketing of the kitchen interiors has been the core business, which thus has strengthened the business and marketing capabilities of the target company of this research. A common denominator during all the four terms of ownership has been owners' trust gained by the professional skills of the management of the target company. This has lead to greater independence of the management of the company and less owners´ direction. Keywords: leading position, marketing strategy, management decisions, acquisition, corporate governance

Molecular Interactions Chlorin Assemblies and NMR Separations

Photosynthesis is a chemical process in which the energy of the light quanta is transformed into chemical energy. Chlorophyll (Chl) molecules play a key role in photosynthesis; they function in the antennae systems and in the photosynthetic reaction center where the primary charge separation (CS) takes place. Bio-inspired mimicry of the CS is an essential unit in dye-sensitized solar cells. Aim of this study was to design and develop electron donor-acceptor (EDA) pairs from Chls and fullerenes (C60) or carbon nanotubes (CNT). The supramolecular approach was chosen, as long synthetic sequences required by the covalent approach lead to long reaction schemes and low yields. Here, a π-interaction between soluble CNTs and Chl was used in EDA construction. Also, a beta-face selective two-point bound Chl-C60 EDA was introduced. In addition, the photophysical properties of the supramolecular EDA dyads were analyzed. In organic chemistry, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the most vital analytical technique in use. Multi-dimensional NMR experiments have enabled a structural analysis of complex natural products and proteins. However, in mixture analysis NMR is still facing difficulties. In many cases overlapping signals can t be resolved even with the help of multi-dimensional experiments. In this work, an NMR tool based on simple host-guest chemistry between analytes and macromolecules was developed. Diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY) measures the mobilities of compounds in an NMR sample. In a liquid state NMR sample, each of the analytes has a characteristic diffusion coefficient, which is proportional to the size of the analyte. With normal DOSY experiment, provided that the diffusion coefficients of the analytes differ enough, individual spectra of analytes can be extracted. When similar sized analytes differ chemically, an additive can be introduced into the sample. Since macromolecules in a liquid state NMR sample can be considered practically stationary, even faint supramolecular interaction can change the diffusion coefficient of the analyte sufficiently for a successful resolution in DOSY. In this thesis, polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyethyleneglycol enhanced DOSY NMR techniques, which enable mixture analysis of similar in size but chemically differing natural products, are introduced.

Mass spectrometry and n-in-one analytics in early drug discovery: Combinatorial chemistry libraries, lipophilicity and absorption screening

This thesis describes current and past n-in-one methods and presents three early experimental studies using mass spectrometry and the triple quadrupole instrument on the application of n-in-one in drug discovery. N-in-one strategy pools and mix samples in drug discovery prior to measurement or analysis. This allows the most promising compounds to be rapidly identified and then analysed. Nowadays properties of drugs are characterised earlier and in parallel with pharmacological efficacy. Studies presented here use in vitro methods as caco-2 cells and immobilized artificial membrane chromatography for drug absorption and lipophilicity measurements. The high sensitivity and selectivity of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry are especially important for new analytical methods using n-in-one. In the first study, the fragmentation patterns of ten nitrophenoxy benzoate compounds, serial homology, were characterised and the presence of the compounds was determined in a combinatorial library. The influence of one or two nitro substituents and the alkyl chain length of methyl to pentyl on collision-induced fragmentation was studied, and interesting structurefragmentation relationships were detected. Two nitro group compounds increased fragmentation compared to one nitro group, whereas less fragmentation was noted in molecules with a longer alkyl chain. The most abundant product ions were nitrophenoxy ions, which were also tested in the precursor ion screening of the combinatorial library. In the second study, the immobilized artificial membrane chromatographic method was transferred from ultraviolet detection to mass spectrometric analysis and a new method was developed. Mass spectra were scanned and the chromatographic retention of compounds was analysed using extract ion chromatograms. When changing detectors and buffers and including n-in-one in the method, the results showed good correlation. Finally, the results demonstrated that mass spectrometric detection with gradient elution can provide a rapid and convenient n-in-one method for ranking the lipophilic properties of several structurally diverse compounds simultaneously. In the final study, a new method was developed for caco-2 samples. Compounds were separated by liquid chromatography and quantified by selected reaction monitoring using mass spectrometry. This method was used for caco-2 samples, where absorption of ten chemically and physiologically different compounds was screened using both single and nin- one approaches. These three studies used mass spectrometry for compound identification, method transfer and quantitation in the area of mixture analysis. Different mass spectrometric scanning modes for the triple quadrupole instrument were used in each method. Early drug discovery with n-in-one is area where mass spectrometric analysis, its possibilities and proper use, is especially important.

Associations of interleukin-1 (IL-1) gene variation and IL-1 receptor antagonist phenotypes with immunological responses, metabolic dysregulation and type 2 diabetes

The upstream proinflammatory interleukin-1 (IL-1) cytokines, together with a naturally occurring IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), play a significant role in several diseases and physiologic conditions. The IL-1 proteins affect glucose homeostasis at multiple levels contributing to vascular injuries and metabolic dysregulations that precede diabetes. An association between IL-1 gene variations and IL-1Ra levels has been suggested, and genetic studies have reported associations with metabolic dysregulation and altered inflammatory responses. The principal aims of this study were to: 1) examine the associations of IL-1 gene variation and IL-1Ra expression in the development and persistence of thyroid antibodies in subacute thyroiditis; 2) investigate the associations of common variants in the IL-1 gene family with plasma glucose and insulin concentrations, glucose homeostasis measures and prevalent diabetes in a representative population sample; 3) investigate genetic and non-genetic determinants of IL-1Ra phenotypes in a cross-sectional setting in three independent study populations; 4) investigate in a prospective setting (a) whether variants of the IL-1 gene family are predictors for clinically incident diabetes in two population-based observational cohort studies; and (b) whether the IL-1Ra levels predict the progression of metabolic syndrome to overt diabetes during the median follow-up of 10.8 and 7.1 years. Results from on patients with subacte thyroiditis showed that the systemic IL-1Ra levels are elevated during a specific proinflammatory response and they correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Genetic variation in the IL-1 family seemed to have an association with the appearance of thyroid peroxidase antibodies and persisting local autoimmune responses during the follow-up. Analysis of patients suffering from diabetes and metabolic traits suggested that genetic IL-1 variation and IL-1Ra play a role in glucose homeostasis and in the development of type 2 diabetes. The coding IL-1 beta SNP rs1143634 was associated with traits related to insulin resistance in cross-sectional analyses. Two haplotype variants of the IL-1 beta gene were associated with prevalent diabetes or incident diabetes in a prospective setting and both of these haplotypes were tagged by rs1143634. Three variants of the IL-1Ra gene and one of the IL-1 beta gene were consistently identified as significant, independent determinants of the IL-1Ra phenotype in two or three populations. The proportion of the phenotypic variation explained by the genetic factors was modest however, while obesity and other metabolic traits explained a larger part. Body mass index was the strongest predictor of systemic IL-1Ra concentration overall. Furthermore, the age-adjusted IL-1Ra concentrations were elevated in individuals with metabolic syndrome or diabetes when compared to those free of metabolic dysregulation. In prospective analyses the systemic IL-1Ra levels were found as independent predictors for the development of diabetes in people with metabolic syndrome even after adjustment for multiple other factors, including plasma glucose and CRP levels. The predictive power of IL-1Ra was better than that of CRP. The prospective results also provided some evidence for a role of common IL-1 alpha promoter SNP rs1800587 in the development of type 2 diabetes among men and suggested that the role may be gender specific. Likewise, common variations in the IL-1 beta coding region may have a gender specific association with diabetes development. Further research on the potential benefits of IL-1Ra measurements in identifying individuals at high risk for diabetes, who then could be targeted for specific treatment interventions, is warranted. It has been reported in the recent literature that IL-1Ra secreted from adipose tissue has beneficial effects on glucose homeostasis. Furthermore, treatment with recombinant human IL-1Ra has been shown to have a substantial therapeutic potential. The genetic results from the prospective analyses performed in this study remain inconclusive, but together with the cross-sectional analyses they suggest gender-specific effects of the IL-1 variants on the risk of diabetes. Larger studies with more extensive genotyping and resequencing may help to pinpoint the exact variants responsible and to further elucidate the biological mechanisms for the observed associations. This would improve our understanding of the pathways linking inflammation and obesity with glucose and insulin metabolism.

Operatiivisen tilaus- ja toimitusprosessin kehittäminen sesonkityyppisessä liiketoiminnassa

Tämän tutkielman tutkimusongelmana on operatiivisen tilaus-toimitusprosessin ominaispiirteiden nimeäminen sekä kyseisen prosessin kehittäminen sesonkityyppisessä liiketoiminnassa. Tutkimuksen apuna käytetään prosessin uudelleensuunnittelun keskeisiä teorioita. Tutkielman tavoitteena on luoda viitekehys, jota voidaan soveltaa kehitettäessä tai uudelleen suunniteltaessa tilaus-toimitusprosessia erityisesti sesonkityyppisen liiketoiminnan parissa. Empiirisessä osuudessa testattiin viitekehyksen soveltuvuutta käytäntöön todellisen kohdetapauksen avulla. Tässä tutkimuksessa kehitettävänä oli toimeksiantajayrityksen Oyj Stockmann Abp:n ja sen yhteistyökumppanin Itella Logistics Oy:n välinen tilaus-toimitusprosessi. Useat organisaatiot kehittävät toimintojaan vain omista näkökulmistaan. Tämä johtaa siihen, että toimitusketjun jokainen osa optimoi vain omia toimintojaan ja lopulta asiakkaan tarpeet alkavat unohtua eikä ketjun toimintaa enää kehitetä asiakaslähtöisesti. Tästä syystä tilaus- ja toimitusprosessin kehittäminen tulee perustaa asiakaslähtöiseen prosessin analysointiin. Tässä tutkimuksessa painopistealueita ovat asiakkaalle arvoa tuottavat ja tuottamattomat toiminnot sekä informaation välityksen varmentaminen kaikilla prosessin tasoilla. Seikkaperäinen analysointi vaatii poikkeuksetta prosessin mallintamista ja tämän tueksi laadittavaa prosessia selittävää käsikirjaa. Teoreettisena lopputuloksena on tässä tutkimuksessa syntynyt viitekehys, joka perustuu näihin lähtökohtiin. Empiirisessä osassa todettiin, että tilaus-toimitusprosessia voidaan tehostaa minimoimalla useiden tietojärjestelmien aiheuttamaa ylimääräistä työntekoa. Käytännössä ongelmat ilmenivät järjestelmien rajapinnoissa, jonka takia useat tilaus-toimitusprosessiin liittyvät transaktiot oli syötettävä järjestelmään erikseen. Manuaalinen ja ylimääräinen työsuoritus lisäävät virheiden syntymisen mahdollisuutta, kuluttavat resursseja sekä lisäävät ihmisten työmäärää. Tutkimuksen kirjoittajan näkemyksen mukaan ihanne olisi, jos kaikki transaktiot tehtäisiin ainoastaan kerran yhdessä järjestelmässä. Tämä vaatii kuitenkin informaation vaihdannan lisäämistä, operatiivisten toimintojen uudelleen suunnittelua ja yhteistyön lisäämistä prosessin eri tasoilla.

Suomalaisten teollisuusyritysten ympäristöraportointi vuosina 1980 - 2009 : kolmen tapausesimerkin tarkastelu.

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan niitä muutoksia, joita suomalaisten yritysten ympäristöraportoinnissa 1980-luvulta eteenpäin on tapahtunut, ja uusinstitutionaalisen taloushistorian sekä legitimaatioteorian käsityksiin nojautuen pyritään selvittämään syitä näille muutoksille. Tutkimusaineiston muodostavat kolmen toimialaltaan erilaisen suomalaisen teollisuusyrityksen (KONE, Rautaruukki ja Metsäliitto) vuosikertomukset sekä erilliset yhtysvastuuraportit vuosilta 1980-2009. Aineiston avulla tarkastellaan sitä määrällistä ja laadullista muutosta, joka ympäristöraportoinnissa kolmen vuosikymmenen aikana tapahtui, ja muun lähdeaineiston avulla etsitään selityksiä näille muutoksille. Aineiston analyysimenetelmänä on käytetty sisällön analyysia. Tutkimuksen taustalla on ajatus, että institutionaalinen paine on saanut yritykset julkaisemaan ympäristöä koskevaa informaatiota enemmän kuin lainsäädännöllinen ohjaus tai perinteiset liike-elämän vaatimukset. Institutionaalisen paineen muodostumiseen puolestaan ovat vaikuttaneet muun muassa ympäristötietoisuuden lisääntyminen, liiketoiminnan kansainvälistyminen, ympäristöasioiden huomiointi mediassa, muutokset lainsäädännössä ja erilaisissa suosituksissa sekä muut liiketoimintaympäristön muutokset. Tässä työssä tarkasteltujen yritysten ympäristöraportoinnin kehitys on ollut hyvin paljon samansuuntaista, mutta jonkin verran eroja myös esiintyy. Pääasiassa ympäristöraportoinnin määrä lisääntyi nopeasti 1990-luvun alun jälkeen, jolloin ympäristöasioista alettiin raportoida monipuolisemmin, tavoitteena ilmeisesti oman yrityksen toiminnan puolustaminen. Vuosituhannen vaihteessa ympäristöraportointi omaksuttiin osaksi laajempaa yhteiskuntavastuun raportointia, ja raportoinnin teemoiksi nousivat muun muassa kestävän kehityksen tavoitteet, koko yrityksen sitoutuminen tavoitteisiin sekä ympäristöasioiden huomiointi yhtenä yrityksen perusarvoista. Tässä tutkimuksessa näitä tuloksia arvioidaan DiMaggion ja Povvellin organisaatioteorian käsittein, ja raportoinnin muutokseen vaikuttava institutionaalinen paine jaetaan kolmeen tämän teorian mukaiseen ryhmään: pakottava paine (lainsäädäntö ja pakottavat normit), mimeettinen paine (yritysten pyrkimys samanlaisuuteen muiden toimintaa matkimalla) sekä normatiivinen paine (ammattimaistuminen, asiantuntijoiden vallan kasvu). Kolmen tapausesimerkin tarkastelu osoittaa, että pakottava paine on koko ajan ollut tärkeä raportointiin vaikuttanut tekijä, mimeettinen paine korostui ympäristöraportoinnin lisääntymisen alkuaikoina ja normatiivisen paineen merkitys puolestaan on korostunut tarkasteluajanjakson loppupuolella.

Emerging bioenergy business at Finnish independent industrial sawmills

Finnish forest industry is in the middle of a radical change. Deepening recession and the falling demand of woodworking industry´s traditional products have forced also sawmilling industry to find new and more fertile solutions to improve their operational preconditions. In recent years, the role of bioenergy production has often been highlighted as a part of sawmills´ business repertoire. Sawmilling produces naturally a lot of by-products (e.g. bark, sawdust, chips) which could be exploited more effectively in energy production, and this would bring more incomes or maybe even create new business opportunities for sawmills. Production of bioenergy is also supported by government´s climate and energy policies favouring renewable energy sources, public financial subsidies, and soaring prices of fossil fuels. Also the decreasing production of domestic pulp and paper industry releases a fair amount of sawmills´ by-products for other uses. However, bioenergy production as a part of sawmills´ by-product utilization has been so far researched very little from a managerial point of view. The purpose of this study was to explore the relative significance of the main bioenergy-related processes, resources and factors at Finnish independent industrial sawmills including partnerships, cooperation, customers relationships and investments, and also the future perspectives of bioenergy business at these sawmills with the help of two resource-based approaches (resource-based view, natural-resource-based view). Data of the study comprised of secondary data (e.g. literature), and primary data which was attracted from interviews directed to sawmill managers (or equivalent persons in charge of decisions regarding bioenergy production at sawmill). While a literature review and the Delphi method with two questionnaires were utilized as the methods of the study. According to the results of the study, the most significant processes related to the value chain of bioenergy business are connected to raw material availability and procurement, and customer relationships management. In addition to raw material and services, the most significant resources included factory and machinery, personnel, collaboration, and geographic location. Long-term cooperation deals were clearly valued as the most significant form of collaboration, and especially in processes connected to raw material procurement. Study results also revealed that factors related to demand, subsidies and prices had highest importance in connection with sawmills´ future bioenergy business. However, majority of the respondents required that certain preconditions connected to the above-mentioned factors should be fulfilled before they will continue their bioenergy-related investments. Generally, the answers showed a wide divergence of opinions among the respondents which may refer to sawmills´ different emphases and expectations concerning bioenergy. In other words, bioenergy is still perceived as a quite novel and risky area of business at Finnish independent industrial sawmills. These results indicate that the massive expansion of bioenergy business at private sawmills in Finland is not a self-evident truth. The blocking barriers seem to be connected mainly to demand of bioenergy and money. Respondents´ answers disseminated a growing dissatisfaction towards the policies of authorities, which don´t treat equally sawmill-based bioenergy compared to other forms of bioenergy. This proposition was boiled down in a sawmill manager´s comment: “There is a lot of bioenergy available, if they just want to make use of it.” It seems that the positive effects of government´s policies favouring the renewables are not taking effect at private sawmills. However, as there anyway seems to be a lot of potential connected to emerging bioenergy business at Finnish independent industrial sawmills, there is also a clear need for more profound future studies over this topic.

HR-asiantuntijapalveluiden käyttö PK-yrityksissä. Case: Virvo Oy palveluiden tarjoajana

Tutkielma on kvalitatiivinen haastattelututkimus, jonka tavoitteena on tarkastella HR-asiantuntijapalveluiden;konsultoinnin, ulkoistamisen ja vuokrajohtajuuden käyttöä sekä mahdollisuuksia PK-sektorilla. Tutkimuksessa perehdytään myös työn toimeksiantajan, case-yritys Virvon liiketoimintaan HR-asiantuntijapalveluiden markkinoilla ja siihen, miten Virvo pystyy vastaamaan näihin haasteisiin. HR-asiantuntijapalveluiden markkinoiden selvittämiseksi on haastateltu neljää HR-asiantuntijaa. Tämän pohjalta on tehty 15 PK-yrityksen toimitusjohtajan haastattelua HR-asiantuntijapalveluiden käytön selvittämiseksi. Tehdyt haastattelut ovat olleet puolistrukturoituja, jolloin on käytetty valmiita kysymyspohjia. Tutkimuksessa on selvinnyt, että HR-asiantuntijamarkkinat ovat vasta muotoutumassa ja että ala on varsin uusi. PK-yritysten HR-toimintojen haasteisiin pystytään parhaiten vastaamaan HR-asiantuntijapalveluilla, jotka ovat selkeitä kokonaisuuksia ja järkevästi hinnoiteltuja. Tärkeinä asioina on nähty esimerkiksi käytännön toteutus sekä lisäajan saaminen varsinaisen liiketoiminnan hoitamiseen. Palveluiden käyttö korostuu erityisesti erilaisissa muutostilanteissa kuten esimerkiksi yrityksen kasvuvaiheessa. Voidaan todeta myös, että liiketoiminnan tila vaikuttaa HR-asiantuntijapalveluiden käyttöön.

Project Controlling and Management in IT Consulting Enterprise

Liiketoiminnan organisoiminen projekteiksi on erittäin yleistä nykyisin. Suuri osa projekteista erityisesti IT-alalla epäonnistuu kuitenkin saavuttamaan tavoitteensa. Projektin menestys on tyypillisesti mitattu budjetin, aikataulun, laadun ja sidosryhmien tyytyväisyyden perusteella. Tämän Pro Gradu -tutkielman tarkoituksena on etsiä tyypillisimpiä syitä projektien epäonnistumiseen ja löytää projektien seurannan ja mittaamisen avulla keinoja näiden epäonnistumisten ehkäisemiseen. Tutkimusmenetelmänä on laadullinen tapaustutkimus. Empiirinen aineisto on kerätty haastattelujen, eri materiaalien analysoinnin ja havainnoinnin avulla. Teoriaosuus tarjoaa kattavan yhteenvedon projektiliiketoiminnan ja yksittäisten projektien johtamiseen sekä projektien seurantaan ja mittaamiseen aikaisemman kirjallisuuden perusteella. Empiirisessä osiossa suoritetaan analyysi Case -yrityksen projektien seurantaan ja valittuihin projekteihin. Analyysien, haastattelujen ja havainnoinnin pohjalta tehdään johtopäätökset tyypillisimmistä, ongelmia projekteissa aiheuttavista tekijöistä sekä näiden esiintymisestä projektin elinkaaren eri vaiheissa. Mahdolliset ongelmia ehkäisevät keinot esitetään myös. Ehdotuksia kehityskohteiksi esitetään lopuksi teorian ja empirian pohjalta.

Improving reporting management with relational database management system

Data management consists of collecting, storing, and processing the data into the format which provides value-adding information for decision-making process. The development of data management has enabled of designing increasingly effective database management systems to support business needs. Therefore as well as advanced systems are designed for reporting purposes, also operational systems allow reporting and data analyzing. The used research method in the theory part is qualitative research and the research type in the empirical part is case study. Objective of this paper is to examine database management system requirements from reporting managements and data managements perspectives. In the theory part these requirements are identified and the appropriateness of the relational data model is evaluated. In addition key performance indicators applied to the operational monitoring of production are studied. The study has revealed that the appropriate operational key performance indicators of production takes into account time, quality, flexibility and cost aspects. Especially manufacturing efficiency has been highlighted. In this paper, reporting management is defined as a continuous monitoring of given performance measures. According to the literature review, the data management tool should cover performance, usability, reliability, scalability, and data privacy aspects in order to fulfill reporting managements demands. A framework is created for the system development phase based on requirements, and is used in the empirical part of the thesis where such a system is designed and created for reporting management purposes for a company which operates in the manufacturing industry. Relational data modeling and database architectures are utilized when the system is built for relational database platform.

Ekosysteemit yritysmaailmassa

Ekosysteemi-termin käyttö on yleistynyt viime aikoina yritysmaailmassa, mutta sitä käytetään eri tavoin eri lähteissä ja asianyhteyksissä eikä käsitteelle ole olemassa vakiintunutta määritelmää. Yritykset toimivat ekosysteemissä vuorovaikutuksessa, joten hyötyäkseen systeemistä tulee niiden tunnistaa ja ymmärtää kaikki muut systeemin osat ja toimijat. Tämä olisi helpompaa oikeellisen terminologian avulla. Kandidaatintyön tavoitteena on selvittää, missä eri yhteyksissä ekosysteemitermiä käytetään ja löytyykö termille yksiselitteistä määritelmää. Työssä esitellään eri lähteiden käyttämiä määritelmiä ekosysteemeille puhuttaessa yritysten välisistä verkostoista. Tutkimuksessa keskitytään kolmeen pääsysteemiin: liiketoiminnan ekosysteemiin, teolliseen ekosysteemiin sekä digitaaliseen ekosysteemiin. Lisäksi tarkastellaan muutamia pienempiä, sekä itsenäisiä että johonkin pääekosysteemiin pohjautuvia, ekosysteemikokonaisuuksia. Työ on toteutettu kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Verkostoissa kukin toimija ajaa omia etuuksiaan, kun taas ekosysteemissä kaikilla on yhteinen päämäärä, jota tavoitellaan yhdessä. Ekosysteemit ovat verkostoja laajempia ja ne pystyvät korvaamaan puuttuvia tekijöitä itsenäisesti. Keskenään ekosysteemit eroavat puolestaan toimijoiden ja niiden välisten virtojen laadun osalta. Lisäksi eri systeemeissä on erilaiset toimintaperiaatteet. Kaikki ekosysteemit kuitenkin perustuvat yhteistyöhön ja vuorovaikutukseen, joiden avulla luodaan arvoa. Myös uudet innovaatiot ja kustannustehokkuus yhdistävät kaikkia systeemejä. Ei kuitenkaan ole olemassa yksiselitteistä määritelmää, joka pätisi kussakin tilanteissa, mutta eri asianyhteyksiin liitettynä ekosysteemillä tarkoitetaan ydinajatukseltaan samaa asiaa.