Keskivartalon hallinnan testistö Levi Ski Clubille

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on luoda luotettava testistö, jolla mitataan keskivartalon hallintaa. Testistö on suunniteltu alppihiihtoseura Levi Ski Clubin käyttöön. Yhteistyötä tehtiin Levi Ski Clubin sekä lajin parissa toimivan lääkärin ja fysioterapeutin kanssa, jotta varmistuttiin testistön tarpeellisuudesta ja toimivuudesta. Levi Ski Club on alppihiihtoseura, jonka urheilijat kilpailevat niin kansallisella kuin kansainvälisellä tasolla. Levi Ski Clubin tavoitteena on saada nuoret jatkamaan kilpauraansa mahdollisimman pitkään. Lisäämällä keskivartalon hallintaa loukkaantumisriskin katsotaan pienenevän. Nuorten alaselkäkipujen katsotaan olevan yhteydessä heikkoon keskivartalon hallintaan. Testistön avulla pyrimme motivoimaan ja kannustamaan nuoria harjoittamaan keskivartalon hallinnan harjoitteita. Keskivartalon hallinnan testistöllä voidaan yksilöllisesti mitata sen hetkistä hallinnan tasoa monipuolisesti ja luotettavasti. Testistössä on viisi erilaista testiliikettä, joille on luotu vaikeustasot 1-3. Olemme testanneet testistön Levi Ski Clubin nuorilla kahdesti. Ensimmäisen testauskerran palautteiden pohjalta testistöä on muokattu yhteistyössä Levi Ski Clubin kanssa kohderyhmälle sopivammaksi. Tällöin luotiin vaikeustasot tuomaan haastetta testistöön. Vaikeustasot edesauttavat yksilöllisen kehittymisen seuraamista ja arviointia ilman varsinaisia viitearvoja. Seuralta saadun palautteen pohjalta varmistuttiin Levi Ski Clubille sopivien testien valinnasta. Opinnäytetyön tuloksena luotiin luotettava ja toistettava keskivartalon hallinnan testistö Levi Ski Clubin jatkuvaan käyttöön. Testistöön kuuluu viisi monipuolista ja toiminnallista keskivartalon hallinnan testiä, joissa kussakin on kolme taitotasoa. Jatkossa testistöä voi soveltaa erilaisille kohderyhmille.The purpose of this thesis was to create reliable core stability tests based on research data. The tests were designed for the use of the Levi Ski Club. The authors of this thesis co-operated with the Levi Ski Club personnel, as well as with an expert physician and physiotherapist in order to ascertain that the tests were both practical and functional for the target group. The Levi Ski Club is a club for alpine skiers and its athletes compete both on national and on international levels. The goal of the Levi Ski Club is to extend the competitive career of their athletes for as long as possible. Based on several studies, increasing core stability decreases the risk of injuries. Low back pain seems to have connections with poor core stability. The goal of the authors was to motivate and stimulate the young athletes to train their core stability by using these tests. Core stability tests are a reliable and versatile way to rate the current core stability of an individual. The test set had five different test movements. Each movement had three levels from one to three, one being the easiest and three hardest. The authors used these tests twice with the young skiers of Levi Ski Club. The feedback after the first tests with the young skiers helped the authors to develop the tests further to suit the needs of the Levi Ski Club. The different levels for the core stability tests were created after the first testing in order to bring further challenges to the test set. The levels helped to observe the individual development of these skiers without using any reference values. The feedback from the club facilitated the creation of a test battery tailored for its needs. The results of this thesis are reliable and repeatable core stability tests for the long term use of the Levi Ski Club. In these tests there are six comprehensive and functional core stability tests on three levels. In future the test set can be applied with different target groups

Socio-technological encounters and new discursive dynamics in social media spaces

Social media have become tightly integrated into contemporary work and organizational lives. Accessible on mobile devices, they are used at work and outside of work, for individual and organizational purposes. Social media are online interactive platforms where content is created and shared by users and steered by technologies such as algorithms and as such, they provide socio-technological spaces for interaction where new dynamics of interaction emerge. This thesis illustrates that there are new discursive dynamics at play in these spaces, and that their use blurs the boundaries of and widens the discursive grounds for organization and work. Work and organization increasingly take place in space, time, and language traditionally considered ‘extra-organizational’. This impact makes social media particularly relevant from a contemporary organization studies perspective. The thesis consists of three empirical and one conceptual paper. Paper 1 studies commentary on Twitter and Reddit revolving around Wall Street’s reactions to #MeToo and shows how it takes on new discourses and discursive practices which, in their tone and scope, effectively open up what goes on within organizations for public scrutiny on online arenas. Paper 2 studies citizens and politicians getting organized on Facebook to discuss a city merger process in Finland. In this debate, societal discourses like urbanization intertwine with citizens’ identity work and lead to complex, multimodally discursive struggles over identity. Paper 3 studies how professionals in the field of politics in Finland discursively draw and make sense of the digital boundaries between their work and personal lives on Instagram where the two increasingly overlap and collide. Paper 4 presents social media algorithms and algorithmic bias as an example of the overall changing dynamics of interaction on social media. This thesis contributes to the emerging stream in organization studies exploring the impact of social media spaces in work and organizational lives. First, it illustrates how the use of social media changes the where, how, and by whom of interaction in work and organizational contexts. Specifically, social media provide new, technologically embedded spaces where interaction is fundamentally socio-technological and as a result, new discursive dynamics emerge. Second, it provides insight into how the use of social media and these new discursive dynamics obscure the boundaries of and widen the discursive grounds for contemporary work and organizational lives. Third, it engages in the discussion on methodological development and research ethical concerns in social media research and argues for a need to catch up with the newly vast, dynamic, and open data available in online spaces

Kiss of death or a miracle cure? Metaphors as vehicles for legitimation in shutdown cases

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how shutdowns are legitimated in the media coverage of four recent shutdown cases. A specific approach to metaphors as vehicles of legitimation is adopted. Thereby, the study contributes to the research focusing on discursive construction of the sense of legitimacy in organizational restructurings. The research question the study aims at answering is: “How are metaphors used to legitimate shutdowns and related layoffs in Finnish media texts?” A critical discourse analysis approach is adopted and applied on a data set of 107 articles covering four Finnish shutdown cases and collected from five Finnish newspapers. The data set is analyzed by identifying metaphorical expressions and categorizing them into thematic groups. Finally, underly-ing metaphorical thought concepts are suggested and their potential implications for the sense of legitimacy of the shutdowns discussed. The findings reveal that metaphors are frequently used to discuss shutdowns and that the most recurring metaphors are those related to war, sports, journey, and life and death. Based on this observation, it is concluded that metaphors engage in both legiti-mating and resisting shutdowns by portraying them in terms of one or several of these categories

Social media and hyper-masculine work cultures

In this article, we aim to contribute to research on social media as an arena for gender relations and inequality by elucidating how social media and hyper‐masculine work cultures are interconnected. We focus empirically on the fiery social media commentary #MeToo sparked on Wall Street in New York. While the possibility of this movement backfiring has received relatively little research attention, we argue that online reactions illustrate the unpredictable nature of social media movements and their reception in organizations. Our analysis shows how they work to naturalize gender differences and polarize opinions, often with highly suspect humour. Focusing on interconnections of hyper‐masculine work cultures, on the one hand, and popular misogyny gaining ground online, on the other, offers ways to critically explore the constitutive role of social media as a medium in shaping contemporary workplaces and society. More research on social relations and technology is needed in organizations that are less obviously hyper‐masculine but deeply gendered nevertheless.peerReviewe

Social media and bias 2.0

This chapter discusses algorithmic bias on social media. It argues that while new technologies utilising advanced algorithms – often referred to as artificial intelligence – have inspired hopes of a world beyond bias, the reality is gloomier. On today’s social media, interaction, access, and visibility are largely orchestrated by algorithms that are not free from bias but, instead, have learnt to efficiently automate it. The chapter suggests that while designed with hopes of cherishing diversity and equality, social media have become a space of technologically administered homophily, where social injustice, exclusion, and discrimination remain and are reinforced. Social media reinforces “bias 2.0”: human bias translated into and reshaped by algorithms that replicate and reinforce it in the vastness of global social media spaces. Bias 2.0 works against achieving gender equality (United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, SDG 5) and reducing inequalities (SDG 10). Social media literacy and learning emerge as crucial questions (SDG 4).</p

Social media and bias 2.0

This chapter discusses algorithmic bias on social media. It argues that while new technologies utilising advanced algorithms – often referred to as artificial intelligence – have inspired hopes of a world beyond bias, the reality is gloomier. On today’s social media, interaction, access, and visibility are largely orchestrated by algorithms that are not free from bias but, instead, have learnt to efficiently automate it. The chapter suggests that while designed with hopes of cherishing diversity and equality, social media have become a space of technologically administered homophily, where social injustice, exclusion, and discrimination remain and are reinforced. Social media reinforces “bias 2.0”: human bias translated into and reshaped by algorithms that replicate and reinforce it in the vastness of global social media spaces. Bias 2.0 works against achieving gender equality (United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, SDG 5) and reducing inequalities (SDG 10). Social media literacy and learning emerge as crucial questions (SDG 4)

Added Value of Intangibles for Organizational Innovation

The purpose of this paper is to present the theoretical basis for a measurement and improvement system that will help organizations create a more innovative climate. The role of intangible assets in contributing to organizational innovativeness is clarified within six hypotheses on the basis of a cross-disciplinary literature review combining studies from psychology, human resources management, communication, information technology, and marketing. These factors range from the individual level to interaction with the environment surrounding the organization, and involve (a) individual psychological flexibility, (b) institutional and interpersonal trust, (c) diverse human resources, (d) strategic transformational leadership, (e) agile information and communication technology systems, and (f) coproduction of the brand with customers. The critical factors point out areas for organizational innovation, and we advocate a cross-disciplinary approach to ensure that diverse aspects of organizational life are considered. These hypotheses require testing in order to assist organizations in improving their innovativeness.peerReviewe