Seasonal dynamics of autotrophic respiration in boreal forest soil estimated by continuous chamber measurements

Peer reviewe

Pienyrityksen pankkipalveluiden sitouttaminen : Case: Nordea Pankki Suomi Oyj

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli tehdä perusteellinen tutkimus pienyrityksen pankkipalveluista ja pankkiasioinnin sitouttamiseen vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Työn toimeksiantajana toimi Nordea Pankki Suomi Oyj:n Tampereen yrityspalvelukonttori. Työssä tutkittiin pienyritykselle tarjolla olevia pankkipalveluita, palvelukanavia ja toimintatapaa Tampereen alueen vahvimpien yrityspankkien välillä. Työssä tutkittiin pankin ja pienyrityksen välistä asiakassuhdetta ja asiakkuuden sitouttamista pankkiin. Työssä selvitettiin mitkä asiat erityisesti vaikuttavat pienyrityksen pankin valitsemisessa ja sitoutumisessa. Tarkastelun keskipisteenä oli Nordea Pankki Suomi Oyj, jonka toimintaa vertailtiin kilpailijapankkeihin. Tavoitteena oli selvittää miten Nordean tulisi kehittää toimintaansa ja pienyrityksille tarjoamiaan palveluita sitouttaakseen pienyrityksiä paremmin ja hankkiakseen lisää uusia asiakkaita Tampereen alueella. Teoriapohjana tutkimuksessa käytettiin asiakassuhteen syntymistä ja asiakkuudenhallintaa. Pankkipalveluvertailun perusteella voidaan sanoa, että pankit tarjoavat palveluita tasavahvalla ja pienyritysten tarpeet täyttävällä valikoimalla. Pankkikohtaisia eroja esiintyy kuitenkin hinnoittelun eri kategorioissa. Asiakkuus tulee yritykselle kannattavammaksi useita palveluita sisältävillä palvelumaksupakettiratkaisuilla. Pankkeihin tehdyt neuvotteluvierailut osoittivat, että pankit lähestyvät potentiaalisia pienyritysasiakkaita eri tavalla. Yrityksille tehdyn haastattelututkimuksen perusteella pienyritykset suosivat itsepalveluita, vaikkakin luottavat edelleen perinteisiin laskutustapoihin. Tutkimuksen mukaan yritykset haluavat mieluiten ottaa yhteyttä pankkiin konttoreissa ilman ajanvarausta. Yrityksille on tärkeää saada laadukasta ja kokonaisvaltaista palvelua. Pienyritykset valitsevat pankkinsa ensisijaisesti palveluiden ja hinnoittelun perusteella ja kokevat olevansa sitoutuneita pankkiinsa. Pankin tulee täyttää pienyrityksen tarpeet palveluillaan ja samalla tarjota enemmän kuin kilpaileva pankki. Pankin tulee olla saavutettavissa palvelukanaviensa kautta ja tarjota korkealaatuista sekä asiakaslähtöistä palvelua asiakassuhteen syntymiseksi ja asiakastyytyväisyyden kohottamiseksi. Pienyrityksen sitouttamiseksi pankin on hinnoittelun ja palveluiden lisäksi luotava sosiaalisia siteitä yrityksen ja pankin välille sekä palveltava yritystä perusteellisesti. Uusien asiakkuuksien houkuttelemiseksi ja nykyisten kehittämiseksi Nordean tulee miettiä e-laskutuksen hinnoittelua ja palvelun sisällyttämistä pakettiratkaisuihin. Nordea Pankin tulee varmistaa yrityksen palveluneuvojien koulutuksella, että jokainen pienyritys saa asiakaslähtöistä ja yrityksen toimintaa tukevaa palvelua.The objective of this thesis was to make thorough research about small corporate banking services and factors that have effect on engaging small corporate to a bank. Co-operating bank was Nordea Bank Finland Plc. and its Tampere Corporate Branch. Research was made of what customership small corporate and bank have and what engages customer to a bank. This thesis concentrated on comparing what kind of services and service channels strongest corporate banks offer in Tampere region. The aim was to find out how banks work with small corporate and what factors influence when small corporate is choosing a bank. Nordea Bank Finland and its operation is an example in this thesis. The aim was to benchmark Nordea to its rivals and find suggestions for development. The theory basis for this work covers both customer related management and birth of customership. Every bank fulfills small corporates needs and big difference between banks services was not found out in the banking services comparison. Pricing has variety between banks and between service categories and it seems that service fee package is the most profitable choice for corporate customers. Negotiation visits in banks reveal that banks approach potential small corporate customer in a different way. On the basis of interviews small corporate customers widely prefer self services and at the same time they trust on billing in traditional ways. Negotiations and meetings between bank and corporate are most favored channel to contact the bank. Small corporate prefer to have these meeting without scheduled time. Interview analysis tells that small corporate is often tightly engaged to its bank and will choose the bank by comparing services, products and the pricing of them. Findings indicate that bank has to fulfill small corporates needs with quality services and offer more than its rivals do. Bank needs to be easily approached through its service channels and branches. High level customer satisfaction is guaranteed with service that is based on customer’s needs. It is necessary for a bank to concentrate on forming social connections and bonds to small corporate customers because customers will be even more strongly engaged to the bank. Nordea Bank should take closer look to e-billing service pricing as it is the most popular billing service in the near future. Including e-billing service to the banks service fee packages could be a vital decision for competitiveness. Nordea must invest to the training of corporate banking advisors to ensure high quality customer based service with every small corporate customer

The interaction between baseline trait anxiety and trauma exposure as predictor of post-trauma symptoms of anxiety and insomnia.

In this study a prospective design was used to investigate the interaction between baseline trait anxiety and exposure to traumatic situations on post-trauma symptoms of anxiety and insomnia in a sample of Swedish peacekeeping soldiers serving in Kosovo. The result showed that pre-trauma trait anxiety interacted with exposure to traumatic situations predicting a higher post-trauma distress. Further, baseline trait anxiety and baseline symptoms of anxiety and insomnia predicted post-trauma symptoms of anxiety and insomnia. The results support a diathesis stress model in which high trait anxiety interacts with trauma exposure in the elicitation of anxiety-related distress but the study needs to be replicated before further conclusions can be drawn

Increase in Hippocampal Volume After Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients With Depression A Volumetric Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Background: Major depression has traditionally been regarded as a neurochemical disease, but findings of a decreased hippocampal volume in patients with depression have turned the pathophysiological focus toward impairments in structural plasticity. The mechanisms of action of the most effective antidepressive treatment, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), still remains elusive, but recent animal research has provided evidence for a cell proliferative effect in the hippocampus. The aim of this prospective study was to determine if hippocampal volume changes after ECT in patients with depression. Methods: Twelve patients with depression and ongoing antidepressive pharmacological treatment were investigated with clinical ratings and 3 T magnetic resonance imaging within 1 week before and after the ECT series. Each hippocampus was manually outlined on coronal slices, and the volume was calculated. Results: The left as well as the right hippocampal volume increased significantly after ECT. Conclusions: The hippocampal volume increases after ECT, supporting the hypothesis that hippocampus may play a central role in the treatment of depression

The long-term impact of low-intensity surface fires on litter decomposition and enzyme activities in boreal coniferous forests

In boreal forest ecosystems fire, fungi and bacteria, and their interactions, have a pronounced effect on soil carbon dynamics. In this study we measured enzymatic activities, litter decomposition rates, carbon stocks and fungal and microbial biomasses in a boreal subarctic coniferous forest on a four age classes of non-stand replacing fire chronosequence (2, 42, 60 and 152 years after the fire). The results show that microbial activity recovered slowly after fire and the decomposition of new litter was affected by the disturbance. The percent mass loss of Scots pine litter increased with time from the last fire. Slow litter decomposition during the first post-fire years accelerates soil organic matter accumulation that is essential for the recovery of soil biological activities. Fire reduced the enzymatic activity across all the enzyme types measured. Carbon-degrading, chitin-degrading and phosphorus-dissolving enzymes showed different responses with the time elapsed since the fire disturbance. Microbial and enzymatic activity took decades before recovering to the levels observed in old forest stands. Our study demonstrates that slower post-fire litter decomposition has a pronounced impact on the recovery of soil organic matter following forest fires in northern boreal coniferous forests.201