The Many functions of contracts : How companies use contracts in interorganizational exchange relations

Contracts are fundamental for today’s networked business practices. Various professionals plan, design, and implement contracts, yet many of them find contracts difficult or even impossible to understand. Furthermore, contracts are mostly designed to safeguard parties’ rights––not to support collaboration. In this dissertation, I argue that many counterproductive contracting practices stem from traditional economic and legal theories. Drawing on alternative approaches to contracting, such as transaction cost economics, the relational view, functional contracting, the relational contract theory, and proactive contracting, I explore how organizations use contracts in their interorganizational exchange relations and how these different uses affect relational governance, for example, trust and social norms, and relationship performance. The methodological standpoint of the dissertation is American New Legal Realism (ANLR). The dissertation consists of a summary and four Publications. The first and second Publication rely on an action research case study and explore how the functional contracting approach could facilitate a business model transition which is often plagued by a number of barriers. The third Publication draws on an expert interview study of 24 contracting professionals. It examines how companies use contracts and how these uses affect relational governance and exchange performance. Finally, the fourth Publication examines how companies utilize the various functions of contracts and frame their purchase contract documents. Overall, this study found that in addition to the three established functions–– safeguarding, adaptation and coordination––contracts are used to serve at least four additional functions: codification, internal management, collaboration, and policy. Even though organizations use all these functions, safeguarding seems to be the most common. Overemphasis of the safeguarding function has negative impacts on both theory development and contracting practice. Thus, I urge both academics and practitioners to adopt the functional contracting approach to design contracts that comprehensively meet the specifics of the exchange and enhance business success.Sopimusten monet funktiot: Miten yritykset käyttävät sopimuksia liikesuhteissaan Sopimukset ovat välttämättömyys nykypäivän verkostoituneessa liike-elämässä. Niitä suunnittelevat ja käyttävät eri alojen ammattilaiset. Silti monilla on vaikeuksia ymmärtää vaikeaselkoista sopimuskieltä. Lisäksi sopimukset laaditaan usein turvaamistarkoituksessa eikä tukemaan osapuolten välistä yhteistyötä. Esitän väitöskirjassani, että useat haitalliset sopimuskäytännöt juontavat juurensa perinteisistä taloustieteellisistä ja oikeustieteellisistä teorioista. Tukeudun tutkimuksessani näille vaihtoehtoisiin teorioihin, kuten transaktiokustannusteoriaan, relationaaliseen sopimusteoriaan, proaktiiviseen sopimiseen sekä funktionaaliseen sopimiseen, ja tutkin, miten yritykset käyttävät sopimuksia liikesuhteissaan. Selvitän myös, millaisia vaikutuksia niillä on liikesuhteen muille hallinnan muodoille, kuten luottamukselle, sekä liikesuhteen toiminnalle. Tutkimuksen metodologisena viitekehyksenä toimii amerikkalainen uusi oikeusrealismi. Väitöskirja koostuu yhteenvedosta ja neljästä osajulkaisusta. Toimintatutkimukseen perustuvissa ensimmäisessä ja toisessa julkaisussa tutkitaan, miten funktionaalinen sopimisprosessi voi tukea liiketoimintamallin muutosta, johon liittyy usein monia haasteita. Kolmas julkaisu perustuu 24 sopimusasiantuntijan haastattelututkimukseen. Siinä selvitetään, miten haastateltavien edustamat yritykset käyttävät sopimuksia liikesuhteissaan ja millaisia vaikutuksia niillä on suhteen muille hallinnan muodoille ja toiminnalle. Neljännessä julkaisussa analysoin yritysten ostosopimusasiakirjoja selvittääkseni, mitä funktioita niissä hyödynnetään ja miten ne on kehystetty. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että jo tunnistettujen funktioiden eli turvaamisen, mukauttamisen ja koordinoinnin lisäksi sopimuksia voidaan käyttää ainakin kodifiointiin, sisäiseen johtamiseen, yhteistyön johtamiseen sekä menettelytapojen ohjaamiseen. Vaikuttaa kuitenkin siltä, että sopimuksia käytetään yhä eniten turvaamistarkoituksessa. Turvaamisfunktion ylikorostamisella voi olla negatiivisia vaikutuksia sekä sopimusteorioiden kehittämisen että käytännön sopimustoiminnan näkökulmasta. Kannustankin tutkijoita ja käytännön toimijoita omaksumaan funktionaalisen sopimuskäsityksen ja muotoilemaan sopimuksia, jotka vastaavat parhaiten kunkin liikesuhteen erityispiirteitä ja tukevat niissä onnistumista

Why all this talk about change?

The aim of this study is to give an understanding of employees’ interpretations of working in an organization undergoing change

The functions of contracts in interorganizational relationships: A contract experts’ perspective

Previous research has shown how contracts are used together with relational governance (RG) mechanisms to manage interorganizational relationships (IORs). Moreover, research has found that contracts are used in safeguarding, adapting, and coordinating business relationships. Based on the findings of an interview study with 24 contract experts, we argue that, in addition to safeguarding, adaptation, and coordination, firms use contracts to: codify their deals; steer their internal work; and plan, promote, and steer collaboration. On the one hand, when used intelligently, contractual techniques that reflect different functions can enhance IOR performance. On the other hand, the careless use of contracts can negatively affect RG and IOR performance. Our research has notable theoretical and managerial contributions, as it develops the theory of the functions of contracts and argues that the functions are fundamental to designing a contract that aims to complement RG and support IOR performance.</p

Early clinical features of new-onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE) in adults

Peer reviewe

Use of primary health care services among older patients with and without diabetes

Background The aim of this study was to compare the utilization of primary healthcare services by older patients with and without type 2 diabetes. Methods Electronic patient records were used to identify persons over 65 years of age with a diagnosis of diabetes. Two age- and sex-adjusted controls without diabetes were extracted for each person with diagnosis of diabetes. A health questionnaire was sent by mail to 527 people with diabetes and 890 controls. Of the persons who answered the questionnaire, 518 persons were randomly selected to participate in a health examination. The study group in this analysis consisted of 187 persons with diabetes and 176 persons without diabetes who attended the health examination. The data on primary health care utilization were extracted from electronic patient records one year before and one after the health examination. Results Before the onset of the study, the patients with diabetes had more doctor's appointments (p < 0.001), nurse's appointments (< 0.001) and laboratory tests taken (p < 0.001) than those without diabetes After 1-year follow-up period the patients with diabetes had more doctor's appointments (p = 0.002), nurse's appointments (p = 0.006), laboratory tests taken (p = 0.006) and inpatient care at the community hospital (p = 0.004) than patients without a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. The use of the community hospital increased significantly among patients with diabetes (ratio 2.50; 95% Cl 1.16-5.36) but not by patients without diabetes (ratio 0.91; 95% Cl 0.40.2.06). The number of nurse's appointments increased for patients without diabetes (ratio 1.31; 95% Cl 1.07-1.60) but not for those with diabetes (ratio 1.04; 95% Cl 0.88-1.24). Conclusions Patients with diabetes visit more often physicians and nurses compared with those without diabetes. During a 1-year follow-up, the use of community hospital care increased significantly among patients with diabetes. In addition to focusing on prevention and care of diabetes, these results suggest the importance of diabetes in planning community-based health care services.Peer reviewe

Glycemic control and health-related quality of life among older home-dwelling primary care patients with diabetes

Aims: To evaluate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and functional capacity in relation to glycemic control among older home-dwelling primary care patients. Methods: Electronic patient records were used to identify 527 people over 65 years with diabetes. Of these, 259 randomly selected subjects were invited to a health examination and 172 of them attended and provided complete data. The participants were divided into three groups based on the HbAlc: good (HbAlc 57 mmol/mol (N=29)) glycemic control. HRQoL was measured with the EuroQol EQ-5D questionnaire. Functional and cognitive capacity and mental well-being were assessed with the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). Results: EQ-5D scores for good, intermediate and poor glycemic control were 0.78; 0.74 and 0.70, p=0.037. Sub-items of mobility (p=0.002) and self-care were the most affected (p=0.031). Corresponding trend was found for IADL, p=0.008. A significant correlation was found between MMSE scores and HbAlc. Conclusion: Older primary care home-dwelling patients with diabetes and poorer glycemic control have lower functional capacity and HRQoL, especially in regard to mobility and self care. (C) 2017 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Kriittinen yhteiskuntatieteellinen matkailututkimus Suomessa

Tässä katsausartikkelissa Lapin yliopiston matkailututkijat tarkastelevat teemoja, joiden voidaan katsoa sijoittuvan suomalaisen kriittisen yhteiskuntatieteellisen matkailututkimuksen keskiöön. Uuden työn, matkailun vastuullisen talouden, hitauden ja läheisyyden, monilajisuuden, osallisuuden ja kulttuurisensitiivisyyden teemojen kautta on viime vuosina rakennettu aktiivisesti tutkimusta, jota voisi kuvailla Matkailututkimuksen pohjoista koulukuntaa (Nordic School of Tourism Research) edustavaksi tutkimukseksi – tutkimukseksi, joka pyrkii muun muassa purkamaan vastakkainasetteluita (kuten me ja toiset, luonto ja kulttuuri) ja ottaa aktiivisesti kantaa siihen, millaisia matkailun maailmoja tutkijat ovat tutkimuksen kautta luomassa. Kriittinen yhteiskuntatieteellinen tutkimusote näkyy käsillä olevan katsauksen teemoissa myös siinä, että useampi teemoista tuo esiin myös muiden kuin ihmistoimijoiden roolin yhteiskuntatieteellisiä kysymyksiä käsiteltäessä

Natural history of KBG syndrome in a large European cohort

KBG syndrome (KBGS) is characterized by distinctive facial gestalt, short stature and variable clinical findings. With ageing, some features become more recognizable, allowing a differential diagnosis. We aimed to better characterize natural history of KBGS. In the context of a European collaborative study, we collected the largest cohort of KBGS patients (49). A combined array- based Comparative Genomic Hybridization and next generation sequencing (NGS) approach investigated both genomic Copy Number Variants and SNVs. Intellectual disability (ID) (82%) ranged from mild to moderate with severe ID identified in two patients. Epilepsy was present in 26.5%. Short stature was consistent over time, while occipitofrontal circumference (median value: -0.88 SD at birth) normalized over years. Cerebral anomalies, were identified in 56% of patients and thus represented the second most relevant clinical feature reinforcing clinical suspicion in the paediatric age when short stature and vertebral/dental anomalies are vague. Macrodontia, oligodontia and dental agenesis (53%) were almost as frequent as skeletal anomalies, such as brachydactyly, short fifth finger, fifth finger clinodactyly, pectus excavatum/carinatum, delayed bone age. In 28.5% of individuals, prenatal ultrasound anomalies were reported. Except for three splicing variants, leading to a premature termination, variants were almost all frameshift. Our results, broadening the spectrum of KBGS phenotype progression, provide useful tools to facilitate differential diagnosis and improve clinical management. We suggest to consider a wider range of dental anomalies before excluding diagnosis and to perform a careful odontoiatric/ear-nose-throat (ENT) evaluation in order to look for even submucosal palate cleft given the high percentage of palate abnormalities. NGS approaches, following evidence of antenatal ultrasound anomalies, should include ANKRD11.</p