Performance Measurement Dynamism in Product Development

Guiding action with timely performance measures is crucial for attaining organisational goals. However, we lack an adequate theoretical understanding of the various loci of performance measurement dynamism to provide that timeliness. Consequently, longitudinal, qualitative studies of the notion of performance measurement dynamism have been sought in the literature. The literature has expected performance measurement dynamism to occur in situations characterised with high perceived environmental uncertainty, making product development a potential context for studying performance measurement dynamism. In product development, there are considerable uncertainties involved and also product development project controls should evolve over time to match their context. However, there is currently no adequate understanding of how organisations could maintain the timeliness of their performance measurement in product development. Contrary to some previous studies in performance measurement dynamism, this thesis takes an actor’s approach rather than a systems approach to performance measurement. By taking the actor’s approach, this doctoral thesis contributes to the literature on performance measurement dynamism by showing the various loci of performance measurement dynamism inside and outside the formal systems of performance measurement. This thesis also contributes to the literature on performance measurement dynamism by suggesting that in environments with low sophistication of performance measurement systems, the actor’s approach to performance measurement might particularly provide evidence of performance measurement dynamism. Furthermore, performance measurement dynamism is discussed along with other controls within a management control system package and as a phenomenon that is present when a management control system repair is made. This doctoral thesis draws its conclusions based on four original articles. The first and second original articles examine the area of product development project portfolio uncertainties. The findings of these two articles can be used to supplement the previous understandings of performance measurement dynamism drivers, especially in the context of product development. Interviews in Finnish industry serve as data in these articles. The conclusion based on the first two articles is that single-project-related uncertainties should also be considered as possible performance measurement dynamism drivers, supplementing the viewpoints of environment and organisational complexities as such drivers. Moreover, these original articles imply that various types of management control are applied to manage product development project portfolio uncertainties. The third original article provides a level structure of the loci of performance measurement dynamism. The loci of performance measurement dynamism provided are the role of performance measurement in a management control package, the use of measures, the selection of measures and the components of single measures. In the article, the level structure of performance measurement dynamism is illustrated by an interventionist case study at a geriatric healthcare provider. Furthermore, the positive effect of certain temporal, ad hoc measures is shown by the case study. The fourth original article examines the dynamics of repair of a management control system, particularly in product development. The article draws from an interventionist case study of the product development department within a machinery manufacturing company. The case study reveals that management control system repair takes place within the interplay of managers at different organisational levels. As a whole, this doctoral thesis contributes to the literature on performance measurement dynamism, accounting and control in new product development as well as product development project portfolio management. It provides new knowledge on performance measurement dynamism in the context of product development while taking the actor’s approach, supplementing the often-emphasised formal and process-related viewpoints to performance measurement dynamism with more informal viewpoints. With its original combination of performance measurement dynamism, product development, management accounting and control and project portfolio management literature, this doctoral thesis provides multiple further research avenues for researchers from these disciplines to draw from

Performance Measurement Dynamism in Product Development

Guiding action with timely performance measures is crucial for attaining organisational goals. However, we lack an adequate theoretical understanding of the various loci of performance measurement dynamism to provide that timeliness. Consequently, longitudinal, qualitative studies of the notion of performance measurement dynamism have been sought in the literature. The literature has expected performance measurement dynamism to occur in situations characterised with high perceived environmental uncertainty, making product development a potential context for studying performance measurement dynamism. In product development, there are considerable uncertainties involved and also product development project controls should evolve over time to match their context. However, there is currently no adequate understanding of how organisations could maintain the timeliness of their performance measurement in product development. Contrary to some previous studies in performance measurement dynamism, this thesis takes an actor’s approach rather than a systems approach to performance measurement. By taking the actor’s approach, this doctoral thesis contributes to the literature on performance measurement dynamism by showing the various loci of performance measurement dynamism inside and outside the formal systems of performance measurement. This thesis also contributes to the literature on performance measurement dynamism by suggesting that in environments with low sophistication of performance measurement systems, the actor’s approach to performance measurement might particularly provide evidence of performance measurement dynamism. Furthermore, performance measurement dynamism is discussed along with other controls within a management control system package and as a phenomenon that is present when a management control system repair is made. This doctoral thesis draws its conclusions based on four original articles. The first and second original articles examine the area of product development project portfolio uncertainties. The findings of these two articles can be used to supplement the previous understandings of performance measurement dynamism drivers, especially in the context of product development. Interviews in Finnish industry serve as data in these articles. The conclusion based on the first two articles is that single-project-related uncertainties should also be considered as possible performance measurement dynamism drivers, supplementing the viewpoints of environment and organisational complexities as such drivers. Moreover, these original articles imply that various types of management control are applied to manage product development project portfolio uncertainties. The third original article provides a level structure of the loci of performance measurement dynamism. The loci of performance measurement dynamism provided are the role of performance measurement in a management control package, the use of measures, the selection of measures and the components of single measures. In the article, the level structure of performance measurement dynamism is illustrated by an interventionist case study at a geriatric healthcare provider. Furthermore, the positive effect of certain temporal, ad hoc measures is shown by the case study. The fourth original article examines the dynamics of repair of a management control system, particularly in product development. The article draws from an interventionist case study of the product development department within a machinery manufacturing company. The case study reveals that management control system repair takes place within the interplay of managers at different organisational levels. As a whole, this doctoral thesis contributes to the literature on performance measurement dynamism, accounting and control in new product development as well as product development project portfolio management. It provides new knowledge on performance measurement dynamism in the context of product development while taking the actor’s approach, supplementing the often-emphasised formal and process-related viewpoints to performance measurement dynamism with more informal viewpoints. With its original combination of performance measurement dynamism, product development, management accounting and control and project portfolio management literature, this doctoral thesis provides multiple further research avenues for researchers from these disciplines to draw from

Balance revisited: towards deeply functioning practices for actors and organisations

This essay revisits the concept of balance and seeks to understand balance as a meta-level principle of any management control and performance measurement system. The essay builds a conceptual background for the concept of balance and unveils several perspectives to be taken to achieve balance, i.e., the different perspectives and viewpoints that should be somehow set into purposeful proportions regarding each other. The relevance of revisiting the concept of balance lies in the possibility to form practices that are deeply and sustainably functioning and constructive for different actors, organisations or other entities. This thought is addressed by using a lighthouse metaphor, in this essay

Editorial: Journal of Pragmatic Constructivism creates understanding about functioning practices

This editorial introduces the journal and the content of the issu

Climate partners of Helsinki : Participation-based structures and performance in a city-to-business network addressing climate change in 2011-2018

Private actors are important for urban climate action, because the public sector can control the carbon footprint of a city only partly. Public-private partnerships have been created through different voluntary approaches, such as city-level voluntary networks for companies with the aim to engage private actors in climate change mitigation and to support learning processes by bringing different actors together. If these processes are to happen, network members should connect with each other through voluntary networking activities. These connections can be studied using methods from network science. As a case example, we study the event-participationbased structures of the Climate Partners network of the City of Helsinki between 2011 and 2018, and develop an index to measure whether active event participation by a company is associated with taking more ambitious mitigation measures. The results show that the network manages to bring together companies from different fields but has difficulties with engaging them and encouraging ambitious climate goals. Our results can help to further develop networking activities. The tools we develop and share allow the replication of the analysis for other data sets, offering a basis for a comparative analysis of different networks. This opens new horizons for studying public-private networking and its effects.Peer reviewe

Säteilylähteitä varastoivat kauppiaat : Valvontaprojektin raportti

Säteilyturvakeskus kohdisti valvontaa vuosina 2022 ja 2023 toiminnanharjoittajiin, joilla on turvallisuuslupa säteilylähteiden kauppaan ja jotka varastoivat säteilylähteitä. Valvontaprojektin aikana tarkastettiin kuusi toiminnanharjoittajaa, jotka Säteilyturvakeskuksen rekisteritietojen mukaan varastoivat myymiään säteilylähteitä. Erityisesti korkea-aktiivisia umpilähteitä tai röntgenradiografialaitteita varastoivia toiminnanharjoittajia valikoitiin tarkastettavaksi. Projektin perusteella kaikkia säteilylähteitä kauppaavia toiminnanharjoittajia suositellaan huomioimaan laajemmin kauppatoiminnan erityispiirteet säteilylain mukaisissa dokumenteissa. Raportissa esitettyjä huomioita käytetään Säteilyturvakeskuksen valvonnan suunnitteluun

Anchor practices that guide horizontal performance measurement: an interventionist case study of the financial aspect of new technology implementation in healthcare

With the demand for elderly care increasing in many countries, digital technologies offer the potential for organising such care while also increasing value for money. However, public administrators need tools to make sense of their own complex environment and the possible impacts of new technologies. The current paper examines this issue by applying horizontal performance measurement, where practitioners can give financial value to issues that span across many functions and thus avoid sub-optimisation. We use an interventionist case study to illustrate a situation in which a Nordic city attempted to calculate the financial impact of introducing new digital technologies into elderly care. As our contribution to the literature on horizontal performance measurement, we show how economic (financial) and wellbeing anchors influence horizontal performance measurement in a healthcare digitalisation project. We also contribute to the development of our method theory, i.e., anchor practices, by providing evidence of the usage of multiple simultaneous anchors and make a methodological contribution by showing that interventionist researchers can support operationalising anchor practices.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

The lifetime risk of pneumonia in patients with neuromuscular scoliosis at a mean age of 21 years : the role of spinal deformity surgery

Peer reviewe

Ostoskassien ilmastovaikutusten vähentäminen

Ostoskassit ovat viime vuosina olleet paljon esillä keskusteluissa ja lehdistössä. Kansainvälisesti useissa maissa on otettu käyttöön tai harkittu kertakäyttökassien täyskieltoa tai haittaverotusta. Perusteina ovat olleet roskaantumisen välttäminen, öljyriippuvuuden vähentäminen sekä ilmastonmuutoksen hillintä. Joissain tapauksissa rajoituksia on perusteltu myös muoviroskien kertymisellä valtameriin ja merieläimille aiheutuvilla vahingoilla. Ostoskassien valmistuksen, käytön ja hävityksen ympäristövaikutukset eivät ole merkittäviä koko muun kulutuksen rinnalla. Ostoskassin valinta on kuitenkin viikoittain toistuva tilanne, jonka ympäristövaikutuksista kuluttaja on epävarma. Tämän epävarmuuden vähentämiseksi toteutettiin tässä julkaisussa raportoitava OPTIKASSI-tutkimus. Suomalaisissa päivittäistavarakaupoissa tarjolla olevien ostoskassivaihtoehtojen ilmastonmuutosvaikutuksista ja mahdollisuuksista niiden hillintään tuotettiin tietoa tutkimushankkeessa “Liiketoiminnan sopeuttaminen ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnän vaatimuksiin – case ostoskassi, OPTIKASSI-hanke”, jonka Suomen ympäristökeskus toteutti yhteistyössä Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston kanssa. Hanketta rahoitti Tekes Climbus-teknologiaohjelmastaan sekä ostoskasseja tai niiden materiaalia Suomessa valmistavat yritykset: Suominen Joustopakkaukset Oy, Plastiroll Oy, UPM-Kymmene Oyj Wisapaper ja Cabassi Oy. OPTIKASSI-hankkeen tavoitteena oli koota elinkaaripohjainen tieto Suomessa päivittäistavaroiden kantamiseen tyypillisimmin käytettyjen ostoskassien ilmastonmuutosvaikutuksista. Lisäksi tavoitteena oli löytää eri materiaaleista valmistetuille ostoskasseille ilmastonmuutosvaikutusten kannalta parhaiten soveltuvat käyttö- ja jätehuoltomallit. Vertailtavina tuotteina olivat neitseellisestä raaka-aineesta valmistettu muovikassi, kierrätysraaka-aineesta valmistettu muovikassi, paperikassi, kangaskassi sekä biohajoavasta muovista valmistettu ostoskassi. Koska ostoskassi on osa suurempaa kokonaisuutta, on kuluttajan syytä muuttaa ostoskassien avulla kaupassakäyntitottumuksiaan ja jätehuoltoaan ilmastoystävällisempään suuntaan. Tehokkaimmin ilmastovaikutusta voi vähentää ostamalla täysiä kassillisia, käymällä harvemmin kaupassa, kieltäytymällä ilmaisista kasseista ja vähentämällä sekajätteen määrää. Raportissa esitetään myös sekä liiketoiminnalle että valtionhallinnolle ehdotuksia toimenpiteiksi, joilla ostoskassien elinkaarenaikaisia ilmastonmuutosvaikutuksia voitaisiin vähentää