Unraveling mechanisms of value co-creation in festivals

The aim of this qualitative case study is to explore the mechanisms underlying value co-creation in the context of networked festival productions. Applying the managerial perspective, this study particularly explores why co-creation represent a valuable factor in networked festival productions and how the activities are conducted in the value creative platform, namely conversational space. Considering festivals as services in their host destinations, this study applies the context of three festivals in one city in Finland and draws on the literature on festival management, service experience, and value co-creation. The study shows that the co-creation of conversational space fosters value co-creation as an interactive process, that is, as a mechanism of value co-creation. Conversational space is found to intertwine the festival with its host community and therefore influencing to the justification of a festival’s existence by empowered legitimacy. Festival managers need to consider conversational space as strategically crucial because of the need to gain public support for festival and to enhance the justification and existence of festival in its destination

Effectiveness of Promotive and Preventive Psychosocial Interventions on Improving the Mental Health of Finnish-Born and Immigrant Adolescents

BackgroundSchools are considered natural environments in which to enhance students' social-emotional skills and mental health in general, but they can be especially important for students with refugee and immigrant backgrounds. The current study tested the effectiveness of two school-based interventions in enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of adolescents of native, refugee, and immigrant backgrounds. It further analyzed the role of age, gender, daily stressors, and discrimination in affecting the interventions' effectiveness.MethodsA three-arm cluster RCT with parallel assignment was applied among the 16 schools. Schools were randomized to three conditions of two active interventions and a waiting-list control condition. Students (n = 1974) filled in an online questionnaire at baseline before the interventions, after the interventions, and at follow-up an average of 9 months after the interventions. The effectiveness criteria were internalizing and externalizing problems, resilience, and prosocial behavior.ResultsInterventions were generally not effective in decreasing mental health problems and increasing psychosocial resources. The expected positive intervention effects were dependent on students' age and gender and exposure to socioeconomic daily stressors.ConclusionInterventions enhancing teacher awareness and peer relationships at school should be carefully tailored according to the strengths and vulnerabilities of participating students, especially their daily stress exposure, but also age and gender.</p

Genetic and Epigenetic Characteristics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease–Associated Colorectal Cancer

doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2021.04.042Background & Aims Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disorder associated with an elevated risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). IBD-associated CRC (IBD-CRC) may represent a distinct pathway of tumorigenesis compared to sporadic CRC (sCRC). Our aim was to comprehensively characterize IBD-associated tumorigenesis integrating multiple high-throughput approaches, and to compare the results with in-house data sets from sCRCs. Methods Whole-genome sequencing, single nucleotide polymorphism arrays, RNA sequencing, genome-wide methylation analysis, and immunohistochemistry were performed using fresh-frozen and formalin-fixed tissue samples of tumor and corresponding normal tissues from 31 patients with IBD-CRC. Results Transcriptome-based tumor subtyping revealed the complete absence of canonical epithelial tumor subtype associated with WNT signaling in IBD-CRCs, dominated instead by mesenchymal stroma-rich subtype. Negative WNT regulators AXIN2 and RNF43 were strongly down-regulated in IBD-CRCs and chromosomal gains at HNF4A, a negative regulator of WNT-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), were less frequent compared to sCRCs. Enrichment of hypomethylation at HNF4α binding sites was detected solely in sCRC genomes. PIGR and OSMR involved in mucosal immunity were dysregulated via epigenetic modifications in IBD-CRCs. Genome-wide analysis showed significant enrichment of noncoding mutations to 5′untranslated region of TP53 in IBD-CRCs. As reported previously, somatic mutations in APC and KRAS were less frequent in IBD-CRCs compared to sCRCs. Conclusions Distinct mechanisms of WNT pathway dysregulation skew IBD-CRCs toward mesenchymal tumor subtype, which may affect prognosis and treatment options. Increased OSMR signaling may favor the establishment of mesenchymal tumors in patients with IBD.BACKGROUND & AIMS: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disorder associated with an elevated risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). IBD-associated CRC (IBD-CRC) may represent a distinct pathway of tumorigenesis compared to sporadic CRC (sCRC). Our aim was to comprehensively characterize IBD-associated tumorigenesis integrating multiple high-throughput approaches, and to compare the results with in-house data sets from sCRCs. METHODS: Whole-genome sequencing, single nucleotide polymorphism arrays, RNA sequencing, genome-wide methylation analysis, and immunohistochemistry were performed using fresh-frozen and formalin-fixed tissue samples of tumor and corresponding normal tissues from 31 patients with IBD-CRC. RESULTS: Transcriptome-based tumor subtyping revealed the complete absence of canonical epithelial tumor subtype associated with WNT signaling in IBD-CRCs, dominated instead by mesenchymal stroma-rich subtype. Negative WNT regulators AXIN2 and RNF43 were strongly down-regulated in IBD-CRCs and chromosomal gains at HNF4A, a negative regulator of WNTinduced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), were less frequent compared to sCRCs. Enrichment of hypomethylation at HNF4 alpha binding sites was detected solely in sCRC genomes. PIGR and OSMR involved in mucosal immunity were dysregulated via epigenetic modifications in IBD-CRCs. Genome-wide analysis showed significant enrichment of noncoding mutations to 50 untranslated region of TP53 in IBD-CRCs. As reported previously, somatic mutations in APC and KRAS were less frequent in IBD-CRCs compared to sCRCs. CONCLUSIONS: Distinct mechanisms of WNT pathway dysregulation skew IBD-CRCs toward mesenchymal tumor subtype, which may affect prognosis and treatment options. Increased OSMR signaling may favor the establishment of mesenchymal tumors in patients with IBD.Peer reviewe

Lasten -ja nuorten tapahtuman järjestäminen : Case: Puistorieha 5.7.2017

Tiivistelmä Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli käydä läpi tapahtuman tuottamista ja kuvata, kuin-ka se konkreettisesti tapahtuu. Opinnäytetyössä käydään läpi tapahtumatuotannon vaiheita. Opinnäytetyön tukena on käytetty kotimaisia sekä ulkomaisia lähdeteoksia. Tämän työn toimeksiantajana toimi Mikkelipuistoyhdistys ry. Opinnäytetyön teoriaosassa käydään läpi tapahtumatuotannon perusteita, erilaisia tapah-tumalajeja ja tapahtuman toteutusta. Pääsimme kokeilemaan kulttuuritapahtuman toteu-tusta järjestämällä Mikkelipuistossa lasten ja nuorten tapahtuman, nimeltään Puistorieha 2017. Samalla saimme konkreettista kokemusta tapahtuman tuottamisesta. Tapahtuman suunnittelu ja toteutusvaiheessa saimme materiaalia tapahtumatuotannon käsikirjaa varten. Tutkimuksessa käytimme kvantitatiivista menetelmää. Laadimme kyselyn Mikkelin alueen nuorisotaloille. Kyselyllä kartoitettiin nuorison kiinnostuksen kohteita ja halukkuutta osal-listua ulkoilmatapahtumaan. Kyselystä saaduista ideoista rakennettiin Puistoriehaan nuorisolle ohjelmaa. Käytimme lisäksi havainnointia tapahtumapäivänä kerätäksemme tietoa tapahtuman onnistumisesta, yleisestä ilmapiiristä ja siitä riittäisikö kävijöitä tapahtumaan, jos siitä tulisi jokavuotinen perinne. Opinnäytetyön liitteeksi kirjoitimme tapahtumatuotannon käsikirjan Mikkelipuistoyhdistyksen hallinnoimaan Mikkelipuistoon, joka sijaitsee Pursialassa. Käsikirjan tarkoitus on olla aloittelijan apuvälineenä tapahtumien tuottamisessa Mikkelipuistossa. Käsikirja on tehty selkolukuiseksi ja siihen on sisällytetty hyödyllisiä linkkejä, sekä huomioita pienistä asioista jotka herkästi unohtuvat tapahtumaa järjestäessä. Käsikirja etenee käytännönläheisesti tapahtuman suunnittelusta loppupalaveriin.Abstract The purpose of this thesis was to get acquainted with event management and to describe the concrete ways to do it. In this thesis we went through the different stages of event management. We have used both domestic and foreign soures to find information on this matter. The client of this thesis was Mikkelipuisto ry. In the theory section of this thesis we look through the elementary knowledge of event management, different types of events and the ways to put event theories in practice. We got to try event management in real life as we produced an event for children and teenagers. This event was named Puistorieha 2017. While doing so we gained practical knowledge about event management and producing an event. Through the planning and implementing stages of this event we got plenty of material for our handbook of event management. We used a quantitave method as our research method as it was the most fitting to our purposes. We compiled a question form which was delivered to three different youth clubs in Mikkeli. The purpose of this survey was to get knowledge about the interests of youngsters and to find out if they were interested in participating in an outdoorevent if one was arranged to them. With the help of these answers we created different programmes for the teenaged visitors of our event. To get information about the successfulness of our event, we created an observation form for ourselves which we filled up during the event. We were interested in whether the event was successful enough to become an annual thing. We also wanted to observe the general ambiance during the event day. As an appendix to our thesis we wrote a handbook for beginners to help managing an event at Mikkelipuisto. Mikkelipuisto is located in Pursiala area. The handbook is easy to read and it contains helpful links and tips for beginners. We also listed little but meaningful things that one easily forgets during producing an event. The handbook starts with the planning stage and ends with the ending meeting of the event and goes through all the stages in between

Exploring the value creation in a long-term support services for solo entrepreneurs and micro firms (Esitys Nordic Academy of Management conferencessa, Vaasa, Finland 22.-24.8. 2019)

Business service for solo entrepreneurs and micro firm leaders are often standardized and thus run a risk of producing less value than expected. This study explored three different long-term support service concepts and analyzed how value is co-created in them together with business coaches and entrepreneurs, what kind of value-in-use emerges for the entrepreneurs and for his or her business and to what extent perceptions of perceived value are aligned between coach and entrepreneur. The results revealed the essence of constant customization of the process and concentration, on not only business development, but also on supporting entrepreneurs as a person in a dialogical process. Keywords: Value creation, Entrepreneurship, Business coaching</p

Pitkäkestoinen yrittäjyysvalmennus mikroyrittäjän tukena (Työelämän tutkimuspäivien abstrakti, Tampere 7.-8.11. 2019)

Tällä hetkellä mikroyrityksille liiketoiminnan kehittämiseen tarjotut standardoidut, lyhytkestoiset ja poikkileikkaavat palvelut eivät välttämättä vastaa yrittäjän kokemiin yksilöllisiin haasteisiin. Yksinyrittäjien kohdalla yrittäjyys ja yksityiselämä väistämättä kietoutuvat yhteen. Tällä on vaikutusta heidän kokemiinsa haasteisiin ja siihen, minkä tyyppiset palvelut parhaalla tavalla ottavat huomioon heidän tarpeensa kokonaisvaltaisesti ja motivoivat liiketoiminnan kehittämisessä. Pitkäkestoisessa valmennuksessa on aikaa selvittää yrittäjän todelliset tarpeet ja räätälöidä menetelmät vastaamaan niihin. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tarkastella, miten pitkäkestoinen yrittäjyysvalmennus mahdollistaa arvonluontia yrittäjälle. Kiinnostuksemme kohteena on yrittäjien kokema arvo. Kehitämme ja testaamme kolmea palvelukonseptia (Yrittäjäluotsi, Osaamisklinikka ja Minicamp) ja niiden avulla mallinnamme pitkäkestoista yrittäjälähtöistä valmennusta. Tutkimuksemme tuo yrittäjyyden ja yrittäjyysvalmennuksen keskusteluun arvonluonnin lähestymistavan markkinoinnin kirjallisuudesta. Tutkimuksen teoreettisia ja käsitteellisiä välineitä ovat arvon yhteisluonnin kirjallisuus (mm. Grönroos, 2008; Grönroos & Voima, 2013) ja yrittäjyysvalmennuksen kirjallisuus (mm. Katz and Miller, 1996; Bacon, 2003). Laadullisen tapaustutkimuksemme (Piekkari et al., 2009; Eriksson & Kovalainen, 2008) aineisto koostuu yrittäjille järjestettyjen työpajojen havainnoinnista ja teemahaastatteluista yrittäjille ja valmentajille sekä muusta materiaalista, jota yrittäjien kanssa on pitkäkestoisen prosessin aikana työstetty. Kaksi vuotta kestävään kehittämisprosessin osallistuu 50 eri toimialojen mikroyritystä/yksinyrittäjää. Tutkimuksen tuloksena on geneerinen mallinnus pitkäkestoisesta yrittäjälähtöisestä tuesta/valmennuksesta. Tuomme esiin arvonluonnin viitekehyksen empiiristen esimerkkien kautta: arvo-odotukset ja käännekohdat prosessissa, jossa yhteinen arvonluotin tapahtuu. Tulokset nostavat esiin räätälöinnin tärkeyttä, dialogin merkitystä sekä yrittäjän kohtaamista kokonaisvaltaisetsi huomioiden sekä yksityiselämään että yrittäjyyteen ja yrityksen johtamiseen liittyvät teemat ja haasteet.  </p

PENG-ANALYYSI ALUETIETOJÄRJESTELMÄN NETTOHYÖTYVAIKUTUKSISTA : Pyörteen jatkotutkimushanke: kuvantaminen Hyvinkään sairaanhoitoalueella

Hyvinkään sairaanhoitoalueella toteutettiin vuosina 2002 – 2005 laaja Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulun ja julkisen terveydenhuollon seudullinen kehittämishanke. Peng-analyysi aluetietojärjestelmän nettohyötyvaikutuksista tehtiin tämän hankkeen pohjalta. Peng-analyysin tavoitteena oli selvittää edellä mainitussa hankkeessa mukana olleiden kuntien suunnitteleman tietotekniikkainvestoinnin kustannusvaikuttavuutta, tarkemmin sanottuna alueellisen tietojärjestelmän kustannusvaikutusta. Peng on tietotekniikkainvestointien kustannusvaikuttavuuden arviointiin kehitetty menetelmä. Sen erilaisia käyttötapoja ovat esim. suunnitellun investoinnin kannattavuuden arviointi, vaihtoehtoisten investointien vertailu, suunnitellun investoinnin nettohyödyn lisääminen, vanhan investoinnin hyötyjen arviointi tai mahdollisesti lisähyötymahdollisuuksien selvittäminen. Peng-analyysillä saatiin osoitettua aluetietojärjestelmästä aiheutuvat suorat, epäsuorat ja vaikeasti arvotettavat hyödyt. Suoritetun analyysin tulosta voidaan arvioida merkittäväksi. Merkittävyyttä lisää vielä se, että Peng-analyysia käytettiin nyt ensimmäistä kertaa Suomessa. Lisäksi analyysi toteutettiin kansallisesti tärkeässä vaiheessa, kun pohditaan koko Suomen kattavaa potilashakemistoa

Exploring the intertwined processes of strategy and knowledge management in micro firms: a case study from professional service context (Esitys Nordic Academy of Management Conferencessa, Vaasa, Finland 22.-24.8. 2019)

In our qualitative study, we explore the strategy development and knowledge management in micro firms. The data for our study is collected through observing workshops and interviewing owner-managers of 21 micro firms offering various professional services. Through our empirical study we have identified components that affect both the strategy development and knowledge management of owner-managers in micro firms. They are: reflecting the role of collaboration networks, reflecting about one´s role in the market, reflecting about the customers, reflecting entrepreneurial identity, and reflecting self-management. These components can be comprised to two 1) Environment and stakeholders reflected in strategic reasoning and knowledge management in micro firm, and 2) The entrepreneurial identity and managing oneself reflected in strategic reasoning and knowledge management in micro firm.</p

RENT XXXI: Relevance in Entrepreneurship Research

Despite the fact that micro and small firms have an acknowledged role in economic growth and innovation, in the literature of strategic management the focus of theory development has been on larger companies and established organizations. Also the literature about small business strategy can be seen to draw on perspectives developed for larger firms.  This study, thus, aims to shed a light on the way in which strategy and knowledge management are intertwined in micro firms. The objective of our qualitative study it to explore the link between strategy and knowledge management in micro firm context. Micro firms in this study were mostly entrepreneurs offering professional services (e.g. management consulting, coaching, advertising, professional guidance, services for career planning and recruitment, services for financial management). The strategies of the microfirms were strongly based on the core capabilities of the entrepreneurs´ and the vision of creating customer value was also closely linked to strategy reasoning. In addition to this, five other influencing factors effecting simultaneously on both strategy and knowledge management could be recognized from the data: networks, entrepreneurial identity, market environment, customers and self-management. Instead of knowledge management being based on strategic decisions, in micro organizations it is likely to be opposite. Strategy is developed and evolved not systematically or in linear fashion but instead as mundane behavior. This study sheds a light on the knowledge management in micro firms and elaborates the intertwined relationship of strategy and knowledge management in small firms. It also provides practical implications as it describes practical benefits that are available from systematic analysis of qualifications and competences for micro firms. </p