Deskilling and Up-Skilling in an Information Systems Context

Information systems automation has been observed to cause changes in the skills of the employee ranging from loss of skills (deskilling) to learning new skills (up-skilling). This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive literature review of the prior research in the fields of deskilling and up-skilling effects caused by automation. Factors behind to the deskilling and up-skilling effects are identified and examined with frameworks and theories from prior research. The design of the automation system plays a crucial role in the way skills are affected, and thus research on the design of automation tools is also included in this review. Implementation of automation is the second key element and likewise included in the literature review. As knowledge is identified as the most valuable source of competitive advantage in many organizations, a thorough understanding of the deskilling and up-skilling effect is crucial to prevent the erosion of knowledge and skills of the employees

Finland: a tough Nordic accountant that is caught up by reality

Finland is a quite unlikely country to play a prominent role in policy-making around the Eurocrisis. It is, after all, a small country of just over 5 million inhabitants on the (geographical) fringe of the European union. But the country has two assets that propelled it to center stage in recent years: a triple-A status and a low debt-to-GDP ratio. Finland also had its own ‘our man in Brussels’, i.e. Commissioner Olli Rehn. Together with Germany, Austria and the Netherlands Finland has been instrumental in shaping the response to the Eurocrisis that began with troubles in Greece in 2008. One particular aspect of Finland’s ‘toughness’, the collateral demanded from Greece and Spain, including the domestic political discussions about this exceptional demand, is left out here, because it requires special attention

Finland’s economy is heading for a ’perfect storm’ of economic problems which risk undermining growth

Finland has traditionally been regarded as one of the better performing economies in the Eurozone, however the country has struggled with low growth figures over the last five years. Paul Jonker-Hoffrén writes that the country is facing a perfect storm of structural change in two key economic sectors (IT and forest industries), austerity policies, a potential housing bubble and the damaging effect of the euro on its exports

Finnish competitiveness-raising policies and their discontents

Although Finnish politics have been concerned about the country’s competitiveness for quite a while now, the public discussion reached a temporary climax with PM Juha Sipilä’s televised speech late September. In this widely discussed speech, he argues, through various clever rhetorical devices, that Finland’s competitiveness is at stake and that something has to be done about rising state indebtedness

The Finnish Paper Workers' Union at a crossroads: Labor union representativeness in a changing environment, 1980-2008

This thesis consists of four articles and an introductory section. The main research questions in all the articles refer to the changes in the representativeness of the Finnish Paper Workers' Union. Representativeness stands for the entire entity of external, internal, legal and reputational factors that enable the labor union to represent its members and achieve its goals. This concept is based on an extensive reading of quantitative and qualitative industrial relations literature, which includes works based on Marxist labor-capital relations (such as Hyman's industrial relations studies), and more recent union density studies as well as gender- and ethnic diversity-based 'union revitalization' studies. Müller-Jentsch's German studies of industrial relations have been of particular importance as well as Streeck's industrial unionism and technology studies. The concept of representativeness is an attempt to combine the insights of these diverse strands of literature and bring the scientific discussion of labor unions back to the core of a union's function: representing its members. As such, it can be seen as a theoretical innovation. The concept helps to acknowledge both the heterogeneity of the membership and the totality of a labor union organization. The concept of representativeness aims to move beyond notions of 'power'. External representativeness can be expressed through the position of the labor union in the industrial relations system and the economy. Internal representativeness focuses on the aspects of labor unions that relate to the function of the union as an association with members, such as internal democracy. Legal representativeness lies in the formal legal position of the union – its rights and instruments. This includes collective bargaining legislation, co-decision rules and industrial conflict legislation. Reputational representativeness is related to how the union is seen by other actors and the general public, and can be approximated using data on strike activity. All these aspects of representativeness are path-dependent, and show the results of previous struggles over issues. The concept of representativeness goes beyond notions of labor union power and symbolizes an attempt to bring back the focus of industrial relations studies to the union's basic function of representing its members. The first article shows in detail the industrial conflict of the Finnish paper industry in 2005. The intended focus was the issue of gender in the negotiations over a new collective agreement, but the focal point of the industrial conflict was the issue of outsourcing and how this should be organized. Also, the issue of continuous shifts as an issue of working time was very important. The drawn-out conflict can be seen as a struggle over principles, and under pressure the labor union had to concede ground on the aforementioned issues. The article concludes that in this specific conflict, the union represented its' female members to a lesser extent, because the other issues took such priority. Furthermore, because of the substantive concessions. the union lost some of its internal representativeness, and the stubbornness of the union may have even harmed the reputation of the union. This article also includes an early version of the representativeness framework, through which this conflict is analyzed. The second article discusses wage developments, union density and collective bargaining within the context of representativeness. It is shown that the union has been able to secure substantial benefits for its members, regardless of declining employment. Collective agreements have often been based on centralized incomes policies, but the paper sector has not always joined these. Attention is furthermore paid to the changing competition of the General Assembly, with a surprisingly strong position of the Left Alliance still. In an attempt to replicate analysis of union density measures, an analysis of sectoral union density shows that similar factors as in aggregate data influence this measure, though – due to methodological issues – the results may not be robust. On this issue, it can be said that the method of analysis for aggregate union density is not suitable for sectoral union density analysis. The increasingly conflict-ridden industrial relations predicted have not actually materialized. The article concludes by asking whether the aim of ever-increasing wages is a sustainable one in the light of the pressures of globalization, though wage costs are a relatively small part of total costs. The third article discusses the history and use of outsourcing in the Finnish paper industry. It is shown using Hyman's framework of constituencies that over time, the perspective of the union changed from 'members of the Paper Workers' Union' to a more specific view of who is a core member of the union. Within the context of the industrial unionism that the union claims to practice, this is an important change. The article shows that the union more and more caters for a core group, while auxiliary personnel is less important to the union's identity and constituencies, which means that the union's internal representativeness has decreased. Maintenance workers are an exception; the union and employers have developed a rotating system that increases the efficient allocation of these employees. The core reason of the exceptional status of maintenance personnel is their high level of non-transferable skills. In the end it is debatable whether the compromise on outsourcing solves the challenges facing the industry. The fourth article shows diverging discourses within the union with regard to union-employer partnership for competitiveness improvements and instruments of local union representatives. In the collective agreement of 2008, the provision regulating wage effects of significant changes in the organization or content of work was thoroughly changed, though this mainly reflected decisions by the Labor Court on the pre-2008 version of the provision. This change laid bare the deep rift between the Social Democratic and Left Alliance (ex-Communist) factions of the union. The article argues that through the changed legal meaning of the provision, the union was able to transform concession bargaining into a basis for partnership. The internal discontent about this issue is nonetheless substantial and a threat to the unity of the union, both locally and at the union level. On the basis of the results of the articles, other factors influencing representativeness, such as technology and EU law and an overview of the main changes in the Finnish paper industry, it is concluded that, especially in recent years, the Finnish Paper Workers' Union has lost some of its representativeness. In particular, the loss of the efficiency of strikes is noted, the compromise on outsourcing which may have alienated a substantial part of the union's membership, and the change in the collective agreement of 2008 have caused this decline. In the latter case, the internal disunion on that issue shows the constraints of the union's internal democracy. Furthermore, the failure of the union to join the TEAM industrial union (by democratic means), the internal conflicts and a narrow focus on its own sector may also hurt the union in the future, as the paper industry in Finland is going through a structural change. None of these changes in representativeness would have been so drastic without the considerable pressure of globalization - in particular changing markets, changing technology and a loss of domestic investments to foreign investments, which in the end have benefited the corporations more than the Finnish employees of these corporations. Taken together, the union risks becoming socially irrelevant in time, though it will remain formally very strong on the basis of its institutional setting and financial situation.Siirretty Doriast

Kivunhoitoprosessin kirjaaminen FinCC-luokituksen mukaisesti : Ylä-Savon SOTE Kuntayhtymä, Iisalmen terveyskeskus

Tässä opinnäytetyössä kuvataan, kuinka kivunhoidon kirjaamisen systematisointi toteutuu rakenteisia luokituksia käyttäen. Tavoitteena on antaa tietoa kivunhoitoprosessin näkyvyydestä FinCC -luokitusten (Finnish Care Classification) perusteella. Opinnäytetyö kohteena olivat Ylä-Savon SOTE kuntayhtymän Iisalmen terveyskeskuksen osastot 1 ja 3. Opinnäytetyön aineisto haettiin Pegasos-potilastietojärjestelmästä kolmen kuukauden ajanjaksolta. Hakusanoina käytettiin Aistitoiminta komponenttia ja sen kipuun liittyviä tarve (SHTaL)- ja toimintoluokituksen (SHToL) pää- ja alaluokkia. Opinnäytetyö on kvantitatiivinen ja sen aineisto analysoitiin SPSS 17.0 tilasto-ohjelmalla (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Tulosten perusteella tarkasteluajalla hoidossa olleista 420 potilaasta 34 %:lla kipua oli kirjattu luokituksia käyttäen. Aineistossa oli kirjaamiskertoja yhteensä 1 317. Tarveluokitusta oli käytetty 12 % kipupotilaista ja toimintoluokitusta vähintään kerran jokaisen kipupotilaan kohdalla. Osasto 3:lla luokkia oli käytetty monipuolisemmin kuin osasto 1:llä. Opinnäytetyön johtopäätösten mukaan hoitotyön tarve- ja toimintoluokitusten käytön tarkastelu kivunhoidon kirjaamisessa ei anna riittävän kattavaa tietoa toteutuneesta kivunhoidosta. Tarveluokituksen käytön vähäisyyden perusteella kivunhoidon tarvetta ei määritellä kansallisen hoitotyön kirjaamisen ohjeiden mukaisesti. Toimintoluokituksen käytön perusteella kipua on seurattu jokaisen kipupotilaan kohdalla, minkä perusteella kivun hoitoa ja vaikuttavuutta on arvioitu. Toimintoluokituksia tulisi kuitenkin käyttää enemmän kuin tulokset antavat ymmärtää. Kivunhoitoprosessin tarkastelu luokitusten käytön perusteella ei vastaa todellisuutta eikä anna selkeää kuvaa toteutuneesta hoitotyöstä. Opinnäyteyön luotettavuus luokitusten käyttökertojen osalta on melko luotettavaa. Huomioitavaa on mahdolliset kirjaajista johtuvat inhimilliset tallennevirheet. Kehittämisideana nostamme luokitusten monipuolisemman käytön kivunhoidon kirjaamisessa. Jatkotutkimusaiheena esitämme kivunhoitoprosessin ydintietojen mukaisen luokitusten käytön ja niihin liittyvien narratiivisten tekstien analysoinnin kuvaamaan toteutunutta kivunhoitoa.This thesis describes how pain management can be systemised by using structured classifications. The aim is to inform about the visibility of pain management processes according to FinCC -classifications (Finnish Care Classification). We analyzed how pain management processes were used in wards one and three in Ylä-Savo SOTE District Iisalmi Health Center. The material for the thesis was obtained from the Pegasos-patient in-formation system covering a period of three months. The search words used were The Sensory function and its’ pain related (SHTaL) classifications (SHToL) and sub-classifications. The study was quantitative, and it was analyzed with with SPSS 17.0-program. During the 3-month study period, 34 % of 420 patients had records of pain management using classifications. Altogether, there were 1317 records executed using the pain management classifications. In 12 % of the patients, the need-classification was recorded, and action-classification was used at least once for every patient. In the ward three, the use of classifications was more versatile than in ward one. We concluded that, observing the use of the need and action classifications does not offer adequate information about conducted pain management. According to the conclusions of the thesis using pain management classifications does not offer enough information of the actual pain management. According to the use of action-classification, pain was monitored for every patient, which means that the pain management and its effectiveness was evaluated. Despite the results, the action-classification should be used more often. Observing the use of pain management classifications does not offer adequate information of the actual care process. The reliability of the thesis in regards to the degree of classification usage is pretty accurate. Possible human errors may cause some discrepancies. Our suggestion for improvement is further development of the classifications. As further research we suggest studying and comparing texts about the use of pain management classifications compared to actual results

Finnish and Dutch Government budgets in the Eurocrisis: between fanaticism and belief in fair play

Autumn is a time for new plans to be made for the next year in national governments. Usually these new plans follow estimates by the national statistics office or the national central bank. This post compares the reactions of governments of Finland and the Netherlands, two of the remaining triple-A countries in the Eurozone, regarding the need to cut deficits. These two countries have seen similar budget negotiations this year, although their institutional set-up is in many ways quite different. Contrasting these two countries reveals different reactions to both government debt levels and ‘breaking the rules’ on budget deficits

Jokanaisen keinoja synnytykseen : - Tapahtumapäivä Savonlinnassa

Synnytyksenhoito on sairaalasynnytysten myötä medikalisoitunut. Luonnonmukaisemman, äitilähtöisen synnytyksenhoidon puolesta on otettu kantaa sekä kansainvälisellä että kansallisella tasolla. Kritiikitön medikalisaation ihannointi turvallisuussyihin vedoten saa meidät helposti unohtamaan synnytystapahtuman luonnollisuuden sekä synnyttäjien potentiaalin vaikuttaa itse synnytyksen kulkuun. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli tukea synnyttäjiä löytämään omat synnytys-voimavaransa sekä tarjota helppoja ja konkreettisia keinoja synnytyskivun lievittämiseksi ja synnytyksen edistämiseksi, joita voidaan käyttää kotona sekä sairaalassa. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin toiminnallisena ja sen tarkoituksena oli järjestää aktiivisen synnytyksen tapahtumapäivä Savonlinnassa. Yhteistyö-kumppanina oli Aktiivinen synnytys ry. Tapahtumassa oli mukana kaksi yhteistyö-kätilöä. Toiminnallisen osuuden pohjana oli kirjallisuuskatsaus. Tapahtumassa käsiteltiin hallinnan tunnetta, aktiivista synnyttämistä, tukihenkilön roolia ja luonnollisia keinoja synnytyskivun lievittämiseen. Mainittuja keinoja olivat muun muassa liikkuminen ja asennot, rentoutuminen, hengitys, äänen käyttö, kosketus ja hieronta, vesi, lämpö ja kylmä ja TENS-laite. Ohjelmaan kuului käytännön harjoitteita. Synnytysvalmennuksissa tulisi panostaa enemmän luonnonmukaisiin kivunlievityskeinoihin. Aiheesta ovat kiinnostuneita myös uudelleensynnyttäjät.Giving birth in hospitals has made childbirth a highly medical event. Declarations for a more natural and mother-centred childbirth have been given both internationally and nationally. If one idealizes medicalization by appealing to safety without criticism, one easily forgets the natural character of childbirth and a woman’s potential to affect the course of birth. The aim of this thesis was to help women to find their birth giving potential and to offer easy and concrete methods to cope with the pain and help the progress of childbirth. These methods should be easy to use both at home and in hospital. This was a functional thesis, and its purpose was to organize an event about active birth in Savonlinna. The partner to the thesis was an association called Aktiivinen synnytys ry (Active birth). Moreover, two midwives participated in the event. The functional part was supported by a literature review. The topics of the event were the sense of self-control, active childbirth, the role of a support person and natural methods to soothe pain during childbirth. These methods were moving and changing positions, relaxation, breathing, using one’s voice, touching and massage, water, warmth and cold and the TENS-device. The program included practical training. Birth training should focus more on the natural methods to soothe birth pain. Moreover, women who have already given birth are also interested in these methods

Thermal unmanned aerial vehicles for the identification of microclimatic refugia in topographically complex areas

Biodiversity loss is one of the most relevant consequences of climate change. Therefore, identifying areas and environmental features that allow certain organisms to be less exposed to the effects of the current global warming is priority for biodiversity conservation. In this study, we describe a novel approach for the identification of microclimatic refugia in rugged mountain areas, specifically for the detection of most thermally stable areas, using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of recording in the visible and thermal infrared spectral bands. We estimated land surface temperatures (LST) at very-high spatial resolution in six topographically complex sectors of the Pyrenees (NE Spain), across seasons with vegetative activity (summer 2020, autumn 2020, spring 2021, and summer 2021), and at two thermally contrasted times of the day (early in the morning: LSTmin, and in the afternoon: LSTmax). LST were validated with a network of miniaturized temperature sensors in the field. LSTmin and LSTmax allowed us to calculate the daily thermal range of each sector across the seasons, and thus the most thermally stable areas over the year. To reveal the importance of different variables on low and narrow thermal ranges we applied Gradient Boosted Models to seven terrain variables derived from ALS-LiDAR (slope, northness, eastness, heat load, wind exposure index, SAGA's topographic wetness index, and vector ruggedness measure) and a proxy of forest density through the three-dimensional point clouds of the UAV data. The northness was the variable that most promoted thermal stability, followed by the slope and forest density, so that microclimatic refugia resulted to be located in northern slopes, small sites under rocky cliffs, and forested areas. Our results demonstrate that thermal UAVs can become promising tools for the identification of microclimatic refugia in topographically complex areas, providing information at unprecedented spatial resolution, and thus of high interest for biodiversity conservation

The effect of iron injection at different ages on baby pig haemoglobin

Baby pigs were given an iron injection – 200 mg iron as iron dextrin intramuscularly at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 days of age. The pigs were weighed and their blood haemoglobin was determined at 2 and 42 days of age, in addition each group was treated in this way on the 2’nd, 4’th, 8’th and 14’th day after the injection. The haemoglobin values decreased with about 2 g % in a week when no iron was supplied. After the injection the haemoglobin increased with 2.44—4.71 g % in two weeks. The increases between different groups did not differ significantly from each other. Neither anaemia nor the iron injections had any significant influence on growth. In this study the blood haemoglobin remained at he highest level in pigs injected at the age of two days in the whole material during 42 days after birth but their growth was the smallest during that time. It can be concluded that a haemoglobin decrease can be prevented by iron injections but that iron can have a retarding effect on growth if injected at the age of two days, especially in herds where E vitamin and Se deficiency diseases are common