Effects of Privatization on the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises in Finland : An Empirical Analysis

Finland has a relatively large state-enterprise sector comparing to other OECD countries. The State has full ownership of 34 companies and a significant portfolio of holdings in listed companies, exceeding the value of EUR 37 billion. Due to the size of state ownership, the State plays a major role in the functioning of the markets and the economy. This study analyzes the effects of ownership structure, and particularly the impact of privatization on the performance of state-owned enterprises in Finland by comparing the pre- and post-privatization performance of 16 companies privatized between 1988 and 2018. The changes in profitability, operating efficiency, output and employment level are analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The results indicate no improvement in profitability or operating efficiency but find some evidence suggesting an increase in output and employment level.Suomessa on suhteellisen paljon valtionyhtiöitä, kun verrataan OECD-maita. Valtio omistaa täysin 34 yhtiötä, ja omistusten arvo pörssilistatuissa yrityksissä on huomattava, ylittäen 37 miljardia euroa. Yritysomistusten määrästä johtuen valtiolla on merkittävä vaikutus markkinoiden toimintaan sekä yleisesti maan talouteen. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitetään omistajuuden ja erityisesti yksityistämisen vaikutusta suomalaisiin valtionyhtiöihin vertaamalla 16 yrityksen taloudellista suoriutumista ennen ja jälkeen yksityistämisen. Yksityistämiset on toteutettu vuosien 1988 ja 2018 välillä. Muutoksia kannattavuudessa, operatiivisessa tehokkuudessa, tuottavuudessa ja työntekijöiden määrässä analysoidaan Wilcoxonin merkittyjen sijalukujen testillä. Tutkimuksessa ei löydetty näyttöä, että yksityistäminen parantaa kannattavuutta tai operatiivista tehokkuutta, mutta osa tuloksista viittaa tuottavuuden ja työntekijöiden määrän kasvuun

Management accounting in early-stage growth companies - A comparative case study of 5 Finnish early-stage growth companies

The purpose of this study was to investigate how early-stage growth companies take advantage of management accounting and which factors influence its development on a general level as well as in terms of specific management accounting segments. The study contributes in particular to management accounting literature but also to literature on new venture development. The study was conducted as a comparative case study of five Finnish early-stage growth companies. Four of the case companies were chosen from the software industry in order to gain insight into how management accounting develops in companies from similar industries. The final case company was chosen from the nanotechnology industry, which allowed investigation also across industry borders. The theoretical part of the study mainly consists of international academic journals and the empirical material was mainly gathered using theme interviews with the managers of the case companies, but also other sources were used. The empirical material was constantly reflected against existing theory and after all the material had been gathered, it was organized into company and management accounting segment specific categories and contrasted with existing theory. The results of the study are revealing as to which management accounting systems are used and which factors affect the development of management accounting in early-stage companies both at the general level but also in terms of specific systems. Budgeting was found to be particularly widely adopted and important. The most important roles that management accounting has were informing where the company is and where it is going, cash management, coordinating operations and planning for growth. Whereas support was found concerning the importance of many factors for management accounting development, particularly industry and the characteristics of management were found to have an effect. Industry and business model level characteristics were found to have an especially strong impact on the initial accounting needs of a business, that is, accounting needs that exist even when a company is very small. As the company grows control aspects become more important. Management characteristics on the other hand were especially important in determining how the management accounting systems develop, or how these management accounting needs are executed upon

Henkilöstön käsityksiä korkeakoululle ominaisesta opetuksen ja oppimisen laadusta ammattikorkeakoulussa

Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan suomalaisen, monialaisen ammattikorkeakoulun henkilöstön käsityksiä akateemisesta laadusta. Akateeminen laatu on moniulotteinen ja monimerkityksinen ja varsin jäsentymätön käsite, jonka merkitys korostuu kansainvälisissä auditoinneissa ja akkreditoinneissa. Ammattikorkeakoulukontekstin vuoksi käytämme sen synonyyminä korkeakoululle ominaisen laadun käsitettä. Tarkastelu fokusoituu siihen, miten henkilöstön jäsenet ymmärtävät akateemisen laadun opetuksessa ja oppimisessa. Tutkimuksen empiirinen aineisto koostuu 157 vastaajan vapaamuotoisia käsityksistä. Aineiston analysoinnissa on hyödynnetty Atlas.ti-ohjelmaa. Henkilöstön näkemykset voidaan jakaa kolmeen pääryhmään. Osa kuvailee akateemisen laadun edellytyksiä, toinen vastaajaryhmä tarkastelee sitä prosessimaisesti, ja kolmas joukko kuvailee sen lopputuloksia ja ilmenemismuotoja asiakasnäkökulmasta käsin. Näkemyksissä korostetaan laadun henkilöstölähtöisyyttä. Korkeakoululle ominaisen opetuksen ja oppimisen ytimessä on useimpien mielestä riittävän teoreettisen osaamisen varmistaminen ja työelämävaatimusten huomioiminen. Näiden yhdistäminen edellyttää riittävää pedagogista osaamista

PET-kuvantamisen menetelmät yleistajuisesti

Positroniemissiotomografia (PET) on kliinisessä lääketieteessä nopeasti yleistynyt isotooppikuvausmenetelmä, joka antaa tarkkaa tietoa elimistön toiminnasta, aineenvaihdunnasta ja biologiasta lyhytikäisten säteilevien merkkiaineiden avulla. Nykyisin kaikki kuvaukset tehdään yhdistelmälaitteella, jossa PET-kuvauslaitteeseen on yhdistetty joko tietokonetomografia- (TT) tai magneettikuvauslaite (MK), joka antaa samanaikaisesti tarkan kuvan elimistön rakenteesta. Kliinisistä PET-TT-kuvauksista jopa yli kaksi kolmasosaa liittyy syöpätautien diagnostiikkaan ja hoitoon. Lisäksi PET-kuvantamista käytetään muun muassa infektioiden ja tulehduksellisten tilojen selvittelyssä sekä neurologisissa ja kardiologisissa aiheissa. PET-kuvantaminen vaatii onnistuakseen tarkkaa esivalmistelua, josta on laadittu kirjalliset ohjeet hoitohenkilökunnalle ja potilaille

Kommunikation och samarbete över organisatoriska gränser - en studie inom ortopedin.

Sammanfattning I samhället pågår det ständigt en debatt om den svenska sjukvården och dess knappa resurser. Debatten tydliggör ett aningen bristande intresse för hur de olika professionerna verkligen försöker sammanfoga sina prestationer mot det gemensamma målet, patienten. Därför ämnar denna uppsats att ta reda på samt kartlägga kommunikationen mellan två olika professioner. Detta görs i syfte att ge ett bidrag till förståelse av vad som hindrar och möjliggör kommunikationen såväl som samarbetet mellan sjuksköterskor och läkare på en ortopedavdelning. Utifrån elva kvalitativa intervjuer med sjuksköterskor och läkare har vi kartlagt var, när och hur kommunikationen sker mellan professionerna samt hur samarbetet påverkas av professionernas olikheter. Tillsammans med en litteraturstudie har vi funnit samtliga kopplingar mellan kommunikation och samarbete samt vad som påverkar relationen mellan sjuksköterskorna och läkarna. I syfte att göra skillnaderna tydliga analyseras empirin ur ett stuprörsperspektiv. Slutsatserna av studien är att faktorer som påverkar professionernas olika sätt att kommunicera är relaterade till professionens utbildning, perspektiv och person samt organisation och organisatoriska gränser. Detta lägger även en grund för hur sjuksköterskor och läkare samarbetar. Faktorerna som påverkar samarbetet mellan professionerna, sett ur ett stuprörsperspektiv är deras olika ansvarsområde och arbetsuppgifter, utbildning samt normer och värderingar. Utifrån dessa faktorer kunde vi dra slutsatser att samarbetet mellan professionerna är beroende av deras kommunikation. Detta bekräftar även komplexiteten i professionernas relation, vilket kan förtydligas med att de uppfattar verkligheten olika. Avgränsningen i arbetet har gjorts till en ortopedavdelning inom Region Skåne i syfte att göra ett exempel av den svenska sjukvården. Analysen omfattar således även att avgränsa sig till den mest centrala relationen, mellan sjuksköterskan och läkaren. Nyckelord Kommunikation, samarbete, stuprör, profession, läkare, sjuksköterska, relationerAbstract The Swedish health system and its lack of resources is a much debated issue in today’s society. The ongoing debate demonstrates a lack of interest in the question of how the different professions actually try to focus their actions towards the common goal, the patient. For this precise reason this present study aims to examine and charter communication between two such professions. This in an attempt to understand what hinders and what facilitates communication as well as cooperation between nurses and doctors in a department of orthopedics. Based on eleven qualitative interviews with nurses and doctors we have chartered where, when and how communication is achieved between these two professions, as well as how cooperation is influenced by the differences between the professions. With the help of a literature study we have found the connections between communication and cooperation, as well as what influences the relationship between nurses and doctors. In our attempt to make the differences clearer we analyze the empirical results using a silo mentality approach. The conclusion of the study is that the factors that influence the professions’ different ways to communicate are related to the differences in education, perspective, personality, the organization, the time and the place, as well as the situation. This forms the basis of how nurses and doctors cooperate. The factors that influence the cooperation between the professions, analyzed in a silo mentality perspective, are the different areas of responsibility and work content, education, as well as norms and values. On the basis of those factors we could establish that cooperation between the professions depends on communication. This finding confirms the complexity of the relationship between the professions, which is elucidated by the fact that they have a different perception of reality. We have limited our study to a department of orthopedics in Region Skåne, with the purpose of using it as an example of a unit in the Swedish health care system. The analysis is further limited to one central relationship, that between nurses and doctors. Keywords Communication, cooperation, silo mentality, profession, doctors, nurse, relationship

The Molecular Basis for Oat Intolerance in Patients with Celiac Disease

BACKGROUND: Celiac disease is a small intestinal inflammatory disorder characterized by malabsorption, nutrient deficiency, and a range of clinical manifestations. It is caused by an inappropriate immune response to dietary gluten and is treated with a gluten-free diet. Recent feeding studies have indicated oats to be safe for celiac disease patients, and oats are now often included in the celiac disease diet. This study aimed to investigate whether oat intolerance exists in celiac disease and to characterize the cells and processes underlying this intolerance. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We selected for study nine adults with celiac disease who had a history of oats exposure. Four of the patients had clinical symptoms on an oats-containing diet, and three of these four patients had intestinal inflammation typical of celiac disease at the time of oats exposure. We established oats-avenin-specific and -reactive intestinal T-cell lines from these three patients, as well as from two other patients who appeared to tolerate oats. The avenin-reactive T-cell lines recognized avenin peptides in the context of HLA-DQ2. These peptides have sequences rich in proline and glutamine residues closely resembling wheat gluten epitopes. Deamidation (glutamine→glutamic acid conversion) by tissue transglutaminase was involved in the avenin epitope formation. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that some celiac disease patients have avenin-reactive mucosal T-cells that can cause mucosal inflammation. Oat intolerance may be a reason for villous atrophy and inflammation in patients with celiac disease who are eating oats but otherwise are adhering to a strict gluten-free diet. Clinical follow-up of celiac disease patients eating oats is advisable

Measurement of complement receptor 1 on neutrophils in bacterial and viral pneumonia

BACKGROUND: A reliable prediction of the causative agent of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is not possible based on clinical features. Our aim was to test, whether the measurement of the expression of complement receptors or Fcγ receptors on neutrophils and monocytes would be a useful preliminary test to differentiate between bacterial and viral pneumonia. METHODS: Sixty-eight patients with CAP were studied prospectively. Thirteen patients had pneumococcal pneumonia; 13 patients, influenza A pneumonia; 5 patients, atypical pneumonia, and 37 patients, aetiologically undefined pneumonia. Leukocyte receptor expression was measured within 2 days of hospital admission. RESULTS: The mean expression of complement receptor 1 (CR1) on neutrophils was significantly higher in the patients with pneumococcal pneumonia than in those with influenza A pneumonia. The mean expression of CR1 was also significantly higher in aetiologically undefined pneumonia than in influenza A pneumonia, but there was no difference between pneumococcal and undefined pneumonia. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the expression of CR1 is higher in classical bacterial pneumonia than in viral pneumonia. Determination of the expression of CR1 may be of value as an additional rapid tool in the aetiological diagnosis, bacterial or viral infection, of CAP. These results are preliminary and more research is needed to assess the utility of this new method in the diagnostics of pneumonia