The Core Emphases of Corporate Social Responsibility by the Biggest Organizations in the Finnish Banking Sector

It is a broadly accepted notion today that companies are increasingly facing an intensive pressure by society to engage socially responsible business policies. In addition, the significant social power of the banking industry in society and the irresponsible use of this power on several occasions over history have especially put the issue of responsible banking high on the public conversation. The purpose of this hermeneutics research is to interpret an understanding of how the biggest organizations in the Finnish banking industry have approached the increased demand for socially responsible banking activities and policies. The method is a qualitative content analysis targeting to corporate social responsibility reports by Nordea, OP Financial Group and Danske Bank. The empirical findings suggest that all of the analyzed organizations have adopted very similar approach to answer the pressure of responsible banking. These emphases are responsible business connection, compliance culture, environment, responsible employer and community engagement. Furthermore, it is argued here that the analyzed organizations have incorporated broadly different socially responsible business emphases, found in the literature, into their frameworks of socially responsible banking activities and policies.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Business Information Driven Approach for EA Development in Practice

In this paper, we extrapolate findings of using the Genre and Ontology based Business Information Architecture Framework (GOBIAF) as a methodology to approach enterprise architecture (EA) development from business perspective. GOBIAF seems to contribute as the first business critical information driven framework for EA development, addressing the importance on integrating (information creation) context to (information) content. GOBIAF was developed for and applied in a knowledge intensive, heterogeneous, and geographically dispersed environment in process industries. In the context, GOBIAF increased our knowledge of complex relationships between business, information, and technical domains. Further, GOBIAF provided needed structure for evaluating and developing difficult and heterogeneous issues in relation to organizational strategies

Speech and Language difficulties : An assessment of the parents experiences who have children with speech and language difficulties and services provided in northern part of Finland

Degree Program: Bachelor of social services Author Faith Kilpeläinen Thesis title: Speech and language difficulties Pages 56 Date: 05.10.12 Thesis instructor(s): Leppälä Sari & Vinkki Kaisu Thesis Description. This research is intended to access the experiences encountered by parents who have children with speech and language difficulties, and how such children and parents are supported in Finland. Theoretical summary. This research brings the parents and early childhood educators together, through the concept of care partnership. Theoretical part includes also a description of children speech and language disorders, This chapter serves as a basis of understanding the various difficulties children may experience. The research questions for this research are what the experiences of parents are when children develop language difficulties and how such children are and parent supported in early childhood and care partnership in Finland. Research Method. The method of this research is qualitative and interviews were conducted face to face with parents and special kindergarten teacher. The interviews were recorded and later translated and coded in handwritten. I used content data analysis method to interpret and present the findings. Main Results. The main results for this research are:, parent experiences of identification process, they have to join in care partnership and getting special needs support. There is quality services provided for these families which includes speech therapist, children neurologists, psychologists, children doctors, healthcare nurses, social workers, special kindergarten teachers and kindergarten teachers. KEYWORDS speech, language, earlychildhood, special needs.KEMI-TORNION AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU, Koulutusohjelma: Sosionomi Opinnäytetyön tekijä: Kilpeläinen Faith Opinnäytetyön nimi: Puheen ja kielen ongelmat Sivuja: 56 Päiväys: 05.10.2012 Opinnäytetyön ohjaajat: Leppälä Sari ja Vinkki Kaisu Opinnäytetyön kuvaus Tämä tutkimus kuvaa niiden vanhempien kokemuksia, joiden lapsilla on puhe- ja kieliongelmia. Tutkimuksessa kuvataan myös sitä, miten lapsia on tuettu Suomessa. Teoreettinen ja käsitteellinen esittely. Tutkimus yhdistää vanhemmat ja varhaiskasvatustyöntekijät kasvatuskumppanuusperiaatteita noudattaen. Teoreettinen osio sisältää myös kuvauksen lasten puhe- ja kielihäiriöstä. Tässä osiossa tarjotaan perusteet ymmärtää erilaisia vaikeuksia, joita lapset voivat kokea. Tutkimuksessa etsitään vastauksia seuraaviin tutkimusaiheisiin: Millaisia kokemuksia vanhemmilla on, kun lapselle kehittyy puhe- ja kielihäiriö? Miten tällaisia lapsia ja heidän vanhempiaan tuetaan Suomessa? Metodologinen esittely. Qualitiivisen tutkimuksen menetelmänä käytettiin haastatteluja. Sekä vanhempien että lastentarhanopettajien haastattelut äänitettiin ja kirjoitettiin myöhemmin tekstiksi. Tiedot analysoitiin ja esitettiin content-menetelmällä. Tärkeimmät tutkimustulokset. Tämän tutkimuksen tärkeimmät tulokset olivat vanhempien kokemukset tunnistamisprosessissa, hoitokumppanuudessa ja tuen saamisessa. Näillä perheillä on mahdollisuus saada laadukkaita tukipalveluja, muun muassa puheterapeutteja, lasten neurologeja, psykologeja, lasten lääkäreitä, hoitajia, sosiaalityöntekijöitä, erikoislastentarhanopettajia sekä lastentarhanopettajia. Asiasanat: varhaiskasvatus, puhe, kieli, erityistarpee

Value creation through API ecosystem : Case KONE

ABSTRACT: Digitalization and technological disruption have become prominent drivers of change in multiple industries around the world. New business models enable companies both to benefit from the possibilities enabled by digitalization and technological disruption, and to defend their existing core business against market disruptions. In a fast-paced digital world, it is exceedingly important to innovate faster. These developments have led to new business principles where value is created in networks between multiple companies rather than alone by a single actor. This thesis asks how such value creation happens specifically in the scope of a traditional industry going through change enabled by digitalization. The research focuses on ecosystems enabled by application programming interfaces (APIs) acting as boundary resources between different companies. It explores how value is created in such an ecosystem and how that value can be monetized to generate new revenue streams for the companies in question. This research is a qualitative study and was done by conducting semi-structured interviews to explore the views towards the case study company’s API ecosystem both from the perspective of the company’s own employees and company external representatives from the ecosystem. The interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis to identify thematic categories emerging from the similarities and differences in perspectives raised by the interviewees. This thesis finds that value creation is a very multifaceted topic. Value creation through API ecosystem is a trade-off encompassing multiple elements where openness and flexibility are key in enabling modular services that can serve different types of customer segments with an offering fitting for their unique needs. Furthermore, five different models of monetization were identified, however, it is recommended that there is no single correct model, but rather the monetization model depends on the maturity of the company itself and the market where it operates. Based on the study, it becomes clear that companies need to learn and adapt when they approach new business models. The importance of APIs and ecosystems require companies to think beyond their own value creation process and consider a thematic, stepwise approach towards new markets and business opportunities.TIIVISTELMÄ: Digitalisaatiosta ja teknologisesta murroksesta on tullut vahvoja muutoksen ajureita useilla toimialoilla ympäri maailmaa. Uudet liiketoimintamallit mahdollistavat sen, että yritykset voivat hyötyä digitalisaation ja teknologisen murroksen tuomista uusista mahdollisuuksista, sekä myös puolustaa olemassa olevaa ydinliiketoimintaansa. Nopealiikkeisessä digitalisoituvassa maailmassa on erityisen tärkeää pystyä innovoimaan nopeasti. Nämä kehitykset ovat johtaneet uusiin liiketoimintaperiaatteisiin, joissa arvonluonti ei enää tapahdu yhden yrityksen toimesta, vaan arvo luodaan verkostoissa. Tämä opinnäytetyö kysyy, miten edellä kuvattu arvonluonti tapahtuu erityisesti digitaalisen muutoksen läpikäyvän perinteisen yrityksen näkökulmasta. Tutkimus keskittyy digitaalisiin ekosysteemeihin, joissa resursseja jaetaan ohjelmointirajapintojen (application programming interface, API) kautta eri ekosysteemitoimijoiden välillä. Se tutkii, miten arvonluonti tapahtuu tällaisissa ekosysteemeissä ja miten arvo voidaan muuntaa rahaksi, luoden uusia liikevaihtovirtoja kyseisille yrityksille. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen haastattelututkimus. Se toteutettiin hyödyntäen semi-strukturoituja haastatteluja tutustuen näkemyksiin tapausyrityksen API ekosysteemistä niin yrityksen omien työntekijöiden kuin myös ekosysteemin muiden toimijoiden edustamien henkilöiden näkökulmista. Haastattelut analysoitiin perustuen laadulliseen sisällönanalyysiin ja sen pohjalta löytyneisiin temaattisiin kategorioihin pohjautuen haastateltavien perspektiivien samankaltaisuuksiin ja erilaisuuksiin. Tämä opinnäytetyö osoittaa, että arvonluonti on hyvin monisäikeinen aihealue. Arvonluonti API ekosysteemin kautta on valinta sisältäen monia elementtejä, joista avoimuus ja joustavuus ovat avainasemassa mahdollistaen modulaariset palvelut, jotka voivat palvella erilaisia asiakassegmenttejä ja heidän ainutlaatuisia tarpeitaan. Lisäksi tunnistetaan viisi eri arvoon pohjautuvaa hinnoittelun mallia. Suositus kuitenkin on, että ei ole olemassa yhtä oikeaa mallia, vaan sopiva malli perustuu kyseessä olevan yrityksen sekä sen kohdemarkkinan digitaaliseen kypsyyteen. Perustuen tutkimukseen, johtopäätös on, että yritysten täytyy oppia ja mukautua lähestyessään uusia liiketoimintamalleja. APIen sekä ekosysteemien tärkeys vaatii yrityksiä miettimään arvonluontiaan yrityksen omien prosessien ulkopuolelta ja harkitsemaan temaattista, askelittaista lähestymistapaa uusia markkinoita ja liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia kohti

Developing Nordic Cooperation in Renewable Electricity Policy: Exploring Views from Finland and Sweden

Calls for extending Nordic cooperation in the energy sector consider increased cooperation to be a tool to further support the creation of a smart Nordic energy system and realize the sustainable energy transition. To enhance our understanding of the state of Nordic energy cooperation, this article focuses on renewable electricity policy development in Finland and Sweden against the backdrop of facilitating and accelerating the Nordic energy transition. Building on previous research, the respective policy landscapes in Finland and Sweden will be scrutinized with insights from expert interviews, allowing the highlighting of the role of the actors in shaping the national and international energy transition policy. Ultimately, the article will explore the possibilities to enhance Nordic cooperation and question a possible future institutionalization of Nordic energy cooperation from the perspectives of Finland and Sweden. The aims of the article are twofold. First, to analyze the current policy mixes in Finland and Sweden with a special focus on bottlenecks and development needs and, second, to explore the viewpoints of the stakeholders from these two countries regarding potential and bottlenecks for developing Nordic energy cooperation

From Genre-based Ontologies to Business Information Architecture Descriptions

A high cohesion of business and information needed to operate the business provide the fundamental basis for approaching Enterprise Architecture (EA) development. The aim of the Business Information Architecture (BIA) presented in this paper is to support the development of holistic information management principles in geographically dispersed environments. BIA contributes as a shared mechanism to support business information based strategic and operational thinking, forcing isolated business units to become aware of, understand, structure, and present local business critical information using ontologies and communication genres to aid EA development, implementation, and management to support business objectives

At the Meetin’ Tree: Reading, Storytelling, and Transculturation in Daniel Black’s They Tell Me of a Home

This article offers a transcultural reading of the issues of cultural trauma and mobility in Daniel Black’s novel They Tell Me of a Home (2005). The protagonist, T.L., returns to his agrarian home community, Swamp Creek, in Arkansas, after a ten-year absence in which he received a PhD in black studies in New York. His homecoming foregrounds the cultural clash between the patriarchal black community and the elitist academic world that T.L. represents. This is articulated in the novel at the aesthetic level as the tension between the oral storytelling tradition of the black community and the literary expression favored by T.L. The opposite sides of the cultural clash and their respective modes of cultural production are understood as ways of dealing with the cultural memory of slavery and its aftermaths. The Meetin’ Tree, the site of storytelling in Swamp Creek, becomes a transcultural space where these issues are negotiated. T.L. eventually adopts a newfound appreciation for his cultural roots and also initiates a change in the negative attitudes of the community towards education and reading. He thereby becomes a transcultural mediator between these conflicting cultures, aiming to stress and combine their strengths and to negotiate their weaknesses