The Sharing Economy Platforms: Managerial perspective for peer-to-peer services

The increased usage of mobile devices and constant online presence as well as the changes in consumer values have helped the sharing economy platforms to grow significantly. The sharing economy platforms are not only competitors to one another but also to the incumbent companies. The sharing economy platforms benefit from the idle resources owned by the individuals willing to contribute to the platform, which means that value creation differs from traditional business models. This thesis presents the key differences between managing incumbent companies and managing the sharing economy platforms. This thesis provides a managerial perspective for peer-to-peer services by using two research methods: a literature review and an online study. The literature review focuses on academical studies and frameworks presented by researchers and the online study clarifies the current practices the sharing economy platforms are using to tackle some managerial issues relevant for sharing economy businesses. Moreover, some criticism the sharing economy has confronted is presented in the thesis. In addition to addressing the key differences and challenges in managing sharing economy platforms, this thesis provides suggestions on how to avoid common pitfalls and how to tackle common challenges

Factors contributing to perceived efficiency of telehealth chat e-consultations

Abstract The popularity of telehealth e-consultations between a patient and a medical staff member continue to grow while the most recent growth stems from COVID-19 pandemic. The need for telehealth services will most likely increase in the future with the aging population and the expansion of digitalized virtual services for consumers in general. In addition to video and phone mediated e-consultations, chat e-consultations will remain to be a part of this growth. This thesis is conducted as a case study with one case company from Finnish healthcare sector. The case company identified efficiency differences between its different chat e-consultation services. The growth of the e-consultations and the identified efficiency differences together led to further examine the perceived efficiency of chat e-consultations, its challenges, factors causing these challenges and its opportunities. This case study used semi-structured interviews and existing case company documentation in its empirical data gathering. The interview themes centred on e-consultation task requirements, technology, and user capabilities and on their total impacts on perceived efficiency when compared to other consultation forms. These themes were formed by combining Process Virtualization Theory, Task-technology Fit and Media Synchronicity Theory elements. The results from the study suggest that in chat e-consultations the perceived efficiency seems to depend more heavily on the exact case and especially on patient capabilities, patient commitment and the ailment. Limited sensory information and to some extent the regulation limit the treatable cases in chat e-consultations, and the results suggest that the nurses and the physicians balance their actions according to this limited sensory information. Despite the observation of limited sensory information changing the conversation by increasing the amount of information exchange via text and photos, the results suggest that the more profound factor explaining the challenges in perceived efficiency in chat e-consultations is the asynchrony. According to the results, the user beliefs and associations towards the chat conversations and the lack of chat technology to support synchronicity hamper the perceived efficiency when comparing to other consultation forms. The results show, however, that these factors also provide opportunities that the nurses and the physicians can exploit in order to enhance the chat e-consultation efficiency. Parallel chat conversations, canned messages and sharing links and tables provide a few examples of these chat enabled opportunities. This research provides suggestions for overcoming the current challenges and reaping the benefits of chat e-consultations

Mielenterveysasiakkaan kohtaaminen ensimmäisellä arviointikäynnillä : Ohje kuntouttavalle arviointiyksikölle

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli tuottaa ohje ammattikäyttöön Helsingin kaupungin Kuntouttavan arviointiyksikön hoitohenkilökunnalle heidän valmistautuessaan ensitapaamiseen ja kohdatessaan mielenterveyden ongelmia kokevia asiakkaita arviointikäynneillä. Ohjeen tavoitteena on tukea hoitajia kohtaamaan mielenterveysasiakkaita ensikäynnin aikana. Yhteistyökumppanina toimi Helsingin kaupungin sosiaali- ja terveystoimen alla toimiva Kuntouttava arviointiyksikkö. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin toiminnallisena opinnäytetyönä. Teoriaosuudessa käsiteltiin vuorovaikutustaitoja sekä mielenterveyden ongelmia kokevien asiakkaiden kohtaamisen erityispiirteitä. Ohje muodostui kaksisivuiseksi painottuen keinoihin, miten mielenterveyden ongelmia kokevia asiakkaita kohdataan ensikäynnillä. On myös huomioitu niitä keinoja, millä hoitohenkilökunta kykenee tekemään arviota asiakkaan kokemasta sen hetkisestä tilasta. Ohjeeseen tiivistettiin ensikäynnin tavoitteet, joita ovat asiakkaan tilanteen kartoittaminen, luottamussuhteen synty sekä asiakkaalle annettava ohjaus eri mahdollisuuksista jatkon suhteen. Opinnäytetyön tuotoksen arvioi arviointiyksikössä toimiva hoitohenkilökunta. Ohjeen arviointia varten hoitohenkilökunnalle laadittiin kysely. Valmiista ohjeesta saatu palaute oli tavoitteenmukaista ja ohje koettiin hyödyllisenä apuvälineenä. Jatkokehitysideana ohjetta voisi hyödyntää esimerkiksi ikääntyneiden kotikuntoutukseen liittyvissä projekteissa mielenterveys- ja päihdesektorilla. Ohje on herättänyt jo mielenkiintoa yksikössä ja sen käyttö ja jatkokehittäminen ovat yhteistyökumppanin mielestä mahdollista