Selviytyjän syndrooman yhteys henkilöstön demografisiin ominaisuuksiin:keinoja onnistuneempiin henkilöstösaneerauksiin

Henkilöstökulut muodostavat usein merkittävän osan yrityksen kiinteistä kustannuksista, joten niiden leikkaamista irtisanomisten avulla saatetaan erehtyä pitämään pikaratkaisuna kulujen karsintaan ja sitä kautta kasvun ja kilpailukyvyn luomiseen. Kuitenkin, kun leikkaukset suoritetaan vailla tarkkaa suunnitelmallisuutta, johtavat ne kasvun sijaan yrityksen tuottavuuden heikkenemiseen. Ilman riittävää ennakkosuunnittelua työt kertyvät jatkavan henkilöstön niskaan. Henkilöstöä kuormittaa myös entisten työtovereiden menettämisestä johtuva suru. Heidän kohteluaan voidaan jatkavan henkilöstön keskuudessa pitää epäkunnioittavana, ellei kaikille organisaation jäsenille ole alusta asti täysin selvää, mistä on kyse ja miksi muutoksia joudutaan tekemään. Ilman riittävää kommunikaatiota tilanne johtaa epäreiluuden kokemukseen ja johdon päätösten kyseenalaistamiseen. Henkilöstö oirehtii työsitoutumisen ja -motivaation laskulla, sekä painii erilaisten negatiivisten tunteiden ja asenteiden, kuten syyllisyyden, kuormittuneisuuden, väsymyksen ja epävarmuuden kanssa ja saattaa jopa sairastella tilanteen johdosta. Myös yhteishenki ja johdon uskottavuus kärsivät. Ilmiötä nimitetään selviytyjän syndroomaksi. Tarkoitukseni oli tilastollisin menetelmin vertailla ilmiön oirehdintaa erilaisten demografisten ominaisuuksien perusteella jaetuissa ryhmissä. Kartoitin lisäksi korrelaatiokertoimen avulla, ovatko jotkut työnantajan toimet yhteydessä oireiden vähenemiseen tai yltymiseen, ja helpottaako tutkimuskirjallisuudessa esitettyjen torjuntakeinojen runsaampi käyttö tilannetta organisaation kannalta. Tämän ohella keräsin avoimin tekstiosioin käsityksiä siitä, millaiset tekijät johtavat onnistuneisiin ja reiluihin henkilöstösaneerauksiin ja mitkä taas takaavat epäonnistumisen. Tulosten mukaan oireilu ei hypoteesini vastaisesti yksiselitteisesti liity mihinkään demografisista ryhmistä, vaikka jotkut ominaisuudet, kuten korkeampi koulutus tai palkka, sekä työorganisaation pohjoinen sijainti yhdistyvät hieman positiivisempiin asenteisiin. Selviytyjän syndrooman hillitsemiseksi kehitetyt keinot ovat ainakin osittain odotetusti toimivammat naisilla, vaikka useampien keinojen käyttöönotto parantaakin tilannetta koko henkilöstön kannalta. Reiluiksi ja taloudellis-strategisesti pitäviksi arvioidut henkilöstösaneeraukset, sekä toimiva kommunikaatio odotetusti lisäävät tyytyväisyyttä henkilöstösaneerausten onnistumiseen, mikä taas vähän lievensi oireita, kuten johdon uskottavuuden, työsitoutuneisuuden, sekä -motivaation ja yhteishengen rapistumista. Keinoja, jotka johtavat reiluihin ja onnistuneisiin henkilöstösaneerauksiin ja näin mahdollisesti oireiden laantumiseen ovat irtisanomisten oikeanlainen kohdennus ja toteutus, toimien välttämättömyys, toimiva informaationvälitys ja tilanteen ratkaiseminen erilaisin järjestelyin. Epäonnistumiseen taas tuomitsevat henkilökohtaiset ominaisuudet irtisanomisvalintojen takana, johtoportaan suosiminen tuottavan työvoiman kustannuksella, satunnaisvalinnat, töiden kertyminen, lyhytkatseisuus sekä turhat näennäistoimet, sydämettömyys, epäinhimillisyys, kunnioituksen puute ja muu epäreiluus, toimimaton kommunikaatio tai puutteellinen tuki irtisanotuille. Tutkimusaiheeni ajankohtaisuudesta johtuen sen johtopäätökset tarjoavat mielenkiintoisen panoksen sekä aiheeseen liittyvään teoreettiseen keskusteluun, että käytännön liikejohdon ohjenuoraksi.Personnel often forms a significant portion of the company’s fixed expences, which makes cutting the employee costs a tempting option while reducing overall costs to boost growth, and hence, create competitive advantage. However, in case the reduction of personnel is done without an accurate program, instead of growth, it will decrease the productivity of the company. Without proper planning the workload will pile up. In addition, the employees will be burdened with the sorrow of losing their former go-workers and may consider their treatment disrespectful unless throughoutly made to understands what is going on and why the changes are inevitable. Lacking communication may leads to the experience of unfairness and to questioning of the managerial decisions. The personnel will experience decrease in commitment and motivation, and will demonstrate various negative emotions and attitudes such as guilt, stress, fatigue and uncertainty. They may even fall ill due to the situation. Additionally, the team spirit and credibility of the management will suffer. The phenomenon is known as survivor syndrome. My aim is to statistically compare the appearance of the symptoms of the syndrome in the groups formed according to demographic qualities. In addition, using the correlation coefficient I will examine whether some of the actions taken by management are in connection to the decrease or increase in the symptoms, and will more abundant use of these methods offered in the literature to cure the syndrome be beneficial for the organization. Moreover, utilizing open questions, I will collect perceptions of what leads to either both successful and fair personnel reductions, or on the other hand, what guarantees redundancy failure. According to the results, unlike I hypnotized, the emergence of the syndrome is not unambiguously connected to any of the demographic groups although some qualities such as higher education or salary, and more Northern location of the organization can be related to slightly more positive attitudes. The methods to control the survivor syndrome are expectedly at least partially more efficient on women than on men but can be an enhancement for the whole personnel. Once the personnel reduction is evaluated as fair and economically and strategically justifiable, and the communication is functioning the personnel is expectedly more satisfied with the situation. This decreases the symptoms such as deterioration of management credibility, commitment, motivation or team spirit. Appropriately targeted and executed downsizing (rightsizing), functioning information flow and resolving the situation using various arrangements may lead to fair and successful redundancy, and thus possibly to decrease in symptoms. Failure succeeds using either random selection or personal instead of professional qualities to nominate those to be laid off, favouring the managers to the detriment of the producing workforce, piling up of chores, short sighted thinking, unnecessary quasi-actions, callousness, inhumanity, lack of respect and other unfairness, dysfunctional communication or inefficient support for those laid off. The topic of my thesis is highly current. Due to this its results offer an interesting contribution to both the theory and practical guidance of the managers

Osteobiography of Vicar Rungius:analyses of the bones and tissues of the mummy of an early 17th-century Northern Finnish clergyman using radiology and stable isotopes

Abstract This dissertation is a pioneering effort in a project to document, preserve and study the human remains found beneath old Northern Finnish churches. These remains have spontaneously mummified as a result of the early modern elite’s practice of burying under church floors. The main subject of the study is an early 17th-century Vicar of the Kemi parish, Nikolaus Rungius, and his mummified remains. His mummy that still is an important tourist attraction and a popular character in local lore, has a unique history as it has been exhibited since the 18th-century. The computed tomography scanning performed on the mummy revealed pathological findings suggesting that the Vicar suffered from obesity-related conditions. The most convincing of these was the manifestation of DISH in his thoracic spine. There were also indications of tuberculosis, such as a probable Pott’s spine, as well as calcifications, for example, in subareolar regions. The latter may also represent gynaecomastia, which currently is a rather common finding in elderly men. The scans also provided information concerning the preservation. In addition to the right forearm that was lost by the mid-19th-century, six cervical vertebrae are missing. The head still appears to be attached through a continuous band of soft tissue, and has likely belonged to the same person as the rest of the body. Both the Vicar’s dental health examined through the scans, and the results of the stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ15N) of his nail keratin, along with the obesity-related findings, indicated a rather heavy diet rich in protein. This is in line with what is known about the early modern Northern Finnish diets. They were mainly based on foodstuffs acquired by hunting, fishing and animal husbandry. These interpretations also comport with the Vicar’s status, and assumed wealth. Typically, the clergy could maintain abundant diets. Even manifestations of DISH are rather commonly found in remains from monastery sites. The Vicar’s δ15N value was elevated in comparison to the values of the control group comprised of other early modern human remains in Northern Finnish churches. This discrepancy may be due to a stronger input of dietary protein sourced from top aquatic predators, such as the seal. Another plausible explanation could be the connection between the elevated δ15N value and DISH previously found by several authors.Tiivistelmä Tämä väitöstutkimus on osa projektia, jonka päämääränä on vanhojen pohjoissuomalaisten kirkkojen alla lepäävien muumioituneiden vainajien dokumentointi, säilyttäminen ja tutkimus. Muumioitumisen taustalla on varhaisen uuden ajan eliitin tapa haudata kirkkojen lattioidenalaisiin tiloihin. Tutkimuksen pääkohteena on 1600-luvun alun Kemin seurakunnan kirkkoherran, Nikolaus Rungiuksen hyvin säilynyt ruumis. Kirkkoherran muumiolla on ainutlaatuinen historia, sillä se on ollut nähtävillä 1700-luvulta lähtien. Tämä paikallistaruston hyvin tuntema hahmo on edelleenkin tärkeä turistikohde. Muumion tietokonetomografinen kuvantaminen paljasti useita patologisia löydöksiä. Osa niistä vihjaa kirkkoherran kärsineen tiloista, joilla on yhteys ylipainoon. Kaikista vakuuttavimmin siihen viittaisi hänen rintarangassaan havaittu diffuusin idiopaattisen skeletaalisen hyperostoosin (DISH) aiheuttama leesio. Myös tuberkuloosista havaittiin viitteitä, kuten mahdollinen Pottin tauti, sekä subareolaariset kalkkeumat. Jälkimmäiset voivat tosin olla gynekomastiankin aiheuttamat. Kuvantaminen tarjosi tietoa myös muumion säilyneisyydestä. Pitkään kadoksissa olleen oikean kyynärvarren lisäksi kuusi kaulanikamaa puuttuivat. Pää ja torso näyttäisivät kuitenkin edelleen yhdistyvän toisiinsa niskassa, mikä tarkoittaisi molempien osien kuuluneen samalle yksilölle. Sekä kirkkoherran hammasterveys, että kynnen keratiinin isotooppianalyysit (δ15N, δ13C) indikoivat, että hänen ruokavalionsa lienee ollut raskas ja proteiinirikas. Rintarangan DISH-leesio tukee tätä päätelmää, joka sopii yhteen myös aiempien pohjoissuomalaista varhaisen uudenajan ruokavaliota koskevien tietojen kanssa. Ravinto hankittiin lähinnä metsästämällä, kalastamalla ja karjanhoidolla. Tulokset yhtenevät kirkkoherran sosiaalisen statuksen ja oletetun vaurauden kanssa: papisto kykeni tyypillisesti nauttimaan runsaasta ruokavaliosta. Jopa ylipainoon yhdistetty DISH on erityisen tyypillinen löydös nimenomaan luostarikaivauksien vainajissa. Stabiili-isotooppianalyysit paljastivat kirkkoherran typpiarvon merkittävästi muista pohjoissuomalaisista muumioista koostuvan verrokkiaineiston arvoja korkeammaksi. Ero selittynee ravinnon suuremmalla määrällä vesistöjen huippusaalistajien, kuten hylkeiden proteiinia. Toinen mahdollinen selitys voi liittyä kohonneiden typpiarvojen ja DISHin väliltä aiemmin löydettyyn yhteyteen

Pappissäädyn haudat Pohjois-Pohjanmaan kirkkojen lattioiden alla:tapaustutkimuksia 1300–1700-luvuilta

Abstrakti Aina 1800-luvun alkupuolelle saakka Suomessa oli tapana haudata yhteisöjen korkeimmassa asemassa olevat henkilöt kirkkojen lattioiden alle. Eri puolilla Suomea, erityisesti Pohjois-Suomessa, näitä kirkkohautauksia on säilynyt erinomaisessa kunnossa, mikä on mahdollistanut niiden tarkan analysoinnin. Tässä artikkelissa perehdymme pappien ja heidän perheidensä hautauksiin 1300–1700-luvuilta. Pohdimme papillisiin kirkkohautauksiin liittyviä perinteitä erityisesti pappien aseman näkökulmasta sekä miten pappien asema näkyi heidän perheenjäsentensä hautauksissa. Varhaisimmat pappeihin yhdistettävät hautaukset on löydetty Keminmaan Valmarinniemestä. Nämä nuoret aikuiset on haudattu Kristus-aiheiset sormukset käsissään. Kuuluisin suomalainen kirkkohautaus kuuluu Kemin kirkkoherralle Nikolaus Rungiukselle (noin 1560–1629), jonka muumioituneet jäännökset ovat nähtävillä Keminmaan keskiaikaisessa kirkossa. Hänen hauta-asuaan, elintapojaan ja ruokavaliotaan koskevat tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että hän eli yltäkylläistä elämää, jota ei suinkaan haluttu peitellä hautajaisten aikana. Myös pappien lapset saivat isänsä aseman mukaisen hautauksen. Tämän voimme todeta Haukiputaan kirkon alle haudattujen kappalainen Frosteruksen lasten hautojen perusteella. Haudattujen yhteiskunnallisen statuksen lisäksi kirkkohautojen tarkastelu avaa mahdollisuuden ymmärtää myös niitä uskonnollisia lähtökohtia, joiden perusteella vainajat ja arkut valmistettiin hautaamista ja ylösnousemusta varten

Notes on early childhood diets in early modern Oulu, Finland, based on the stable isotope case studies of archeological dentin

Abstract In mid-18th-century Sweden, the newly enhanced census records revealed higher-than-expected infant mortality rates in certain regions of the kingdom. This convinced contemporary elite men of common women deliberately refusing to breastfeed out of vanity and lack of care. One of the worst regions in terms of infant mortality was the province of Ostrobothnia, located in the area of what is now Finland. To explore the allegations, we measured the carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) stable isotope ratios in the collagen of incremental crown dentin segments of the permanent first molars (M1) of six individuals excavated from the early modern churchyard of the town of Oulu, Ostrobothnia. The results do not directly support the worries over the lack of breastfeeding but imply a variety of related practices in Oulu at the time

Breastfeeding in low-income families of the turn of the 19th-century town of Rauma, Southwestern Finland, according to stable isotope analyses of archaeological teeth

Abstract We explore breastfeeding practices among low-income families in the late 18th to early 19th-century town of Rauma in Southwestern Finland. The breastfeeding practices in the area of the current nation of Finland (at the time belonging to first Sweden and then Russia) had been under debate. While in certain regions artificial infant feeding was common and was linked to high infant mortality, breastfeeding was also known to be practiced in certain regions of Finland. To explore this, we analyzed the δ15N and δ13C values in collagen of horizontally cut dentin segments of permanent first molars (M1; n = 7) collected from 19th century human skeletal remains from the deconsecrated Holy Trinity churchyard excavated in 2016. The resulting isotopic profiles were similarly patterned across the seven individuals. The emerging pattern revealed a period of exclusive breastfeeding during approximately the first six months of life, followed by weaning until the latter half of the second year. We further investigated diet during mid-childhood by comparing the stable isotope ratios in collagen of the M1 and premolar roots. This comparison suggested that the mid-childhood diets may have contained more plant-based foods than those consumed earlier in childhood

Potential case of gynecomastia in mummified remains of an early modern period Northern Finnish vicar

Abstract We report possibly the oldest evidence of gynecomastia in mummified human remains. Computed tomography was performed on the mummified remains of an early 17th century Northern Finnish vicar. The examination of the scans revealed large bilateral subareolar irregular masses resembling female mammary glands. The nearly septuagenarian vicar appears to have had gynecomastia, as it is a common condition in elderly men, and is sometimes associated with obesity. Gynecomastia is the most likely explanation for these findings. Clin. Anat. 31:641–644, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Possible case of partial postmortem fetal extrusion:preliminary observations on the mummified remains of a turnof-the-19th-century noblewoman in Finland

Abstract We report a plausible case of partial postmortem fetal extrusion dating to the turn of the 19th century. A fetal skull protruded from the obstetric canal of the partially mummified remains of an adult woman buried in a private burial chapel in Vihti, South Finland. The fetal size implies the mother having died during the early third trimester of her pregnancy. The cause of death was not obvious from the limited external examination of her remains, but the underdeveloped state of the fetal remains renders it unlikely that this case represents a maternal death resulting from dystocia. Rather, the finding should be interpreted as a case of partial postmortem fetal extrusion, a process probably interrupted by decelerated decomposition of the maternal remains before full expulsion of the fetus

Temperature and humidity in the base-floors of three northern Finnish churches containing 17th–19th-century burials

Abstract Natural mummification occurs in various favorable conditions. Cold environments have produced mummified human remains in northern Finland. These remains buried under the church floors mummified naturally probably through a process resembling freeze-drying. This chapter explores the conditions that led to the mummification of dozens and potentially hundreds of human remains. To conduct our study, we installed logging temperature and humidity measuring devices under the floors of three churches located by the shore of Bothnian Bay in northern Finland. Even our preliminary results show that the humidity and temperature conditions differ between these churches. It is also clear that relative humidity remains very high under the floors of each church. It appears that mummification has occurred in almost “cellar like” conditions. The preservation process was probably aided by the loose laid constructions allowing the air to freely move in the graves carrying the moisture from the remains

Temporal trends in vertebral dimensions:a case study from Finland

Abstract Vertebral fractures and other back problems represent a major, increasing worldwide health problem. This has increased the need to better understand the reasons behind this phenomenon. In addition to a reduction in bone mineral density and overall size of the vertebral body, research has indicated a possible association between the shape of the endplate and spinal disorders. As one previous study has shown changes in vertebral body dimensions between contemporary people and their medieval counterparts, we wanted to examine the potential temporal trends in vertebral size and dimensions in Finnish samples of archaeological and contemporary individuals. To conduct this study, we utilized three archaeological populations from the 16th–19th century and clinical materials from two population-based Finnish birth cohorts. As the average height of people has increased greatly since the first time period, we also height-adjusted the dimensions to provide a clearer picture of the dimensional changes that have occurred in the later temporal group. Our results were in agreement with those of the earlier study. The archaeological samples had a larger vertebral size than the contemporary population when height was adjusted for. Vertebral mediolateral width in particular had decreased, and the shape of the vertebral body had changed

Stable isotope analyses of carbon and nitrogen in hair keratin of suspected man-eating wolves from 1880s

The so-called man-eating wolves of Turku, a pack of three wolves, reportedly killed 22 children in South-Western Finland in 1880–1881. Enormous efforts were carried out to eradicate them. In January 1882 the last remaining wolf was killed. Since then, there has been considerable debate regarding the validity and extent of the man-eating behaviour. This study aims to clarify whether man-eating behaviour can be observed from the remains of these wolves. One of the wolves was mounted in 1882 and is on display at St. Olaf’s school in Turku, enabling us to collect hair keratin samples. Additionally, hair keratin was collected from two other suspected man-eaters. We analysed carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope values to study the wolf’s diet during the last months of its life. Samples from seven temporally concurrent wolves were used to construct reference values. Our analyses indicated that δ15N values of suspected man-eaters were relatively low compared to the reference sample. We could not detect clear trends in isotope ratios associated with potential man-eating behavior. We believe that this lack of distinctive patterns can be explained by the relatively minor role that man-eating played in their overall diet.Peer reviewe