Navigating doctoral studies in Operations Management and Industrial Engineering

This short guidebook aims to address some frequently asked questions about doctoral studies in industrial management/industrial engineering and the related subjects. The purpose of this guide is to provide practical information with some background justification for each of the items. This is not a replacement for any university official instructions, degree structures or courses offered by the university. The contents of the guide consist of following: positioning what is our field of study, writing and defending a research plan, conducting a literature review and founding on theoretical framework, addressing questions related to research methods, discussing academic publications in conferences and journals, and outlining what constitutes a dissertation in a doctoral level. We hope that this book will demystify the process of doctoral studies, give practical advice of selecting the right journals, conferences, helping to handle review feedback, and other essential parts of the doctoral studies.fi=vertaisarvioimaton|en=nonPeerReviewed

Mountaineering – A Combinatory Approach for Identifying Lead Users and Other Rare Research Subjects

User innovation is common in many domains, and has been found concentrated in few individuals, lead users. Particularly with regard to a given product or service development project, such rare research subjects can be difficult and resource intensive to identify. Several alternative methods are common in the lead-user identification process, but according to dominant practitioner experience, the searches tend not to follow just one of them, but rather are inclined to involve the integration of several methods. This integration of alternative search methods has not, however, been discussed properly to date. The present state of affairs can make the lead-user identification process appear either as simple recipe following or as a mysterious process. We argue for a realistic middle ground between these extreme depictions, and propose an integrative search strategy labeled “mountaineering” towards users with the sought-after characteristics, lead userness in case of lead users. Through four principal and two supportive cases of mountaineering search, we elaborate some of the alternatives and choices in moving from one search method to another as responses to contingencies in particular searches. This elaboration of actual search experiences complements established depictions of ideal search processes and analytical comparisons between particular search methods

Everyday experimentation in energy transition:A practice-theoretical view

Research on sustainable practices has attracted increasing interest as a way to understand energy demand and transitions towards sustainability. In this paper we elaborate on how practice theories can inform the discussion of experimentation. Practice theory suggests that the everyday life of people appears recalcitrant. Practices are robust, resilient and have multiple, historically formed constituents and are thereby difficult to destabilize and change quickly. The making and breaking of links inside and between practices is highlighted, as is the need for enduring, multi-sited change efforts. Practice theory further helps us to better understand the constitution of new, levelled forms of expertise, the distributed nature of experimentation and the enrolment of citizens as active participants in sustainability transitions. We have operationalized and examined these suggestions in a Finnish research project related to climate change mitigation and energy use in detached houses. We report specific modes of experimentation and innovation, including user innovations, and the shared resources of situated expertise, the collective and shared processes of empowerment and the ways in which normality is challenged by ruptures in everyday life. Based on the results, we derive suggestions for effective policy interventions. We also bring forward a set of generic suggestions for more sensitive, appreciative and effective public policies on sustainability transitions and cast experimentation in a particular and partial role in such policies

Energy internet forums as acceleration phase transition intermediaries

Citizen users play important roles in the acceleration phase of energy transitions, during which small-scale renewable energy technologies (S-RET) become taken up more widely. From users’ perspective, turning the early, and typically slow, proliferation into a more rapid and widespread diffusion requires not only the adoption of S-RET but also the adaptation, adjustment, intermediation and advocacy of S-RETs. These activities become necessary because S-RET face a variety of market, institutional, cultural and environmental conditions in dif- ferent countries. New Internet-based energy communities have emerged and acted as key user-side transition intermediaries that catalyse these activities by qualifying market information, articulating demand and helping citizen users to reconfigure the standard technology to meet the specificities of different local contexts. In doing so, Internet communities foster an appreciatively critical discourse on technology. Such user intermediation is important in expanding the markets for S-RET beyond that of enthusiasts, environmentalists and other early adopters, to the early majority of adopters who demand more exposure, clearer information and less uncertainty about new technology options

Kuluttajat tuottajina - Käyttäjäinnovointi ja uudet energiayhteisöt uusiutuvan energian pientuotannossa

In the energy sector, the end-user role is changing from passive consumer to active co-provider with decentralized technologies. This enables new forms of collaboration and active engagement with technology. This thesis examines energy prosumers' active engagement with renewable micro-generation technologies and draws from and contributes primarily to research on energy consumption, social shaping of technology, and user innovation research. Based on 52 interviews and ethnography on large Finnish online forums conducted during years 2011-2012, this study addresses the following question: What kind of forms of active energy usership emerge with renewable micro-generation?  The key findings demonstrate how homeowners have an evolutionary approach in building and configuring residential energy systems. The trust in new small-scale renewable energy technologies is built gradually and capacity is scaled up along with accumulating trust. New micro-generation technologies tend to become supporting sources besides existing technology and the use of one renewable technology easily leads to the use of other renewable sources later on. The concept of 'domestication pathways' describes this phenomenon. Furthermore, the findings reveal the emergence of new types of energy communities. Traditionally, community energy has been seen as local activity. However, user-run online forums play key role by providing advanced peer support and demonstrate how community energy can take highly dispersed structure and virtual form. These Internet communities support both domestication of micro-generation technology and creative user projects, which range from do-it-yourself copy systems to new inventions spreading out in various ways. The study charted user inventions in heat pump and wood pellet burning systems and found 192 inventions or modifications that improved either efficiency, suitability, usability, maintenance, or price of the micro-generation systems.  The gradual development of domestic energy systems should be recognized in energy policy. Flexibility to adapt to changes is an important factor and it fosters sustainable development pathways for housing energy systems and proliferation of renewable energy generation in households. Regulatory actions can open the existing lock-ins and support hybridization of the systems and the use of various renewable energy sources. Consequently, for the manufacturers hybridization points towards increased importance of modularity and multi-purposing of micro-generation products.Loppukäyttäjien rooli energiamarkkinoilla on muuttunut passiivisesta kuluttajasta aktiiviseksi energian yhteistuottajaksi. Muutoksen taustalla ovat energian pientuotantoteknologiat, jotka muuttavat kotitalouksien roolia energiajärjestelmässä. Tässä väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan energian tuottaja-kuluttajien ja pientuotantoteknologioiden välistä aktiivista vuorovaikutusta sekä järjestelmien ympärille rakentuneita uudenlaisia yhteistyömuotoja. Työ perustuu ja kontribuoi energian kulutusta, teknologian sosiaalista rakentumista ja käyttäjäinnovaatioita koskevaan tutkimukseen. Sen aineisto muodostuu 52 haastattelusta ja suomalaisilla käyttäjäfoorumeilla vuosina 2011–2012 toteutetusta etnografiasta. Tutkimus pyrkii selvittämään, millaisia uudenlaisia aktiivisen käyttäjyyden muotoja uusiutuvan energian pientuotanto synnyttää.   Tutkimus osoittaa, että kotitalouksien energiajärjestelmät rakentuvat evolutionaarisesti: luottamus uusiin pientuotantoteknologioihin kasvaa vähitellen ja tuotantokapasiteettia kasvatetaan luottamuksen vahvistuessa. Uudet pientuotantoteknologiat tulevat usein lisälähteiksi vanhojen rinnalle, ja yhden uusiutuvan energiantuotantoteknologian käyttö johtaa helposti muiden uusiutuvien energialähteiden käyttöönottoon. Kyseistä ilmiötä voidaan kutsua kotouttamispoluksi.  Tutkimus valottaa lisäksi uudenlaisten energiayhteisöjen syntymistä käyttäjätukea tarjoavien internetin keskusteluryhmien pohjalta. Perinteisesti paikallisena pidetty yhteisöenergia voi ottaa hajautetun, virtuaalisen toimintamuodon. Yhteisöt tukevat pientuotantoteknologian kotouttamista ja käyttäjien innovatiivisia projekteja, jotka vaihtelevat tee-se-itse-kopioinnista täysin uusiin keksintöihin. Tässä tutkimuksessa tunnistettiin 192 keksintöä tai muutosta, jotka joko paransivat pientuotantoteknologian järjestelmien tuottavuutta, sopivuutta, käytettävyyttä tai huollettavuutta tai alensivat niiden kustannuksia.   Kestävän kehityksen tukemisen ja uusiutuvan energian käytön lisäämisen kannalta on olennaista ottaa huomioon joustava sopeutuminen muutoksiin kotitalouksien energiajärjestelmissä. Energiapoliittisten säännösten avulla tulisi tukea järjestelmien riippuvuussuhteiden avaamista ja sellaisten järjestelmien käyttöä, jotka hyödyntävät useita uusiutuvia energialähteitä. Energiajärjestelmien valmistajille tämä tarkoittaa modulaarisuuden ja monikäyttöisyyden merkityksen kasvamista energian pientuotantoteknologioiden kehittämisessä

Internet Forums and the Rise of the Inventive Energy User

While climate and energy policy voice concerns about citizen’s lack of improving their houses and heating systems, some citizens by far exceed the expectations. Our research on heat pumps revealed over a hundred inventions by citizen users in Finland alone, despite the technology being in many respects uninviting to modify. Users’ capacity to carry out these modifications owes much to their exchanges at userrun Internet forums, a new and proliferating type of setting. These online forums help otherwise dispersed and heterogeneous users to create a specific kind of learning space that helps some users to “grow inventive” even as the majority of users therein remain indifferent towards their specific projects. These findings open a discussion on how the actions of typically a small group of inventive users are embedded in and supported by the activities of a broader user base

Capturing the micro-level of intermediation in transitions: Comparing ethnographic and interview methods

To date, a major portion of sustainability transition research has relied on retrospective methods to generate encompassing macro-level views of transitions. However, such methods may have considerable impacts on the insights generated in the study of intermediation, action and agency by actors on the micro-level of transitions. In this article, we compare retrospective interviews and real-time ethnography to understand how they portray micro-level transition processes and intermediation. The empirical context of our study is energy retrofitting, which we use to illustrate three structural and three process aspects that distinguish the findings from retrospective interviewing and real-time ethnography. Ethnographic methods can provide significant new detail on the uncertainty and complexity of micro-level transition processes while interviews facilitate cross-case comparison and understanding of commonalities in micro-level transition intermediation processes better.Peer reviewe

Identifying latent classes to successful AEC innovation through a survey of Finnish construction companies

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe latent classes explaining the innovation logic in the Finnish construction companies. Innovativeness is a driver of competitive performance and vital to the long-term success of any organisation and company. Design/methodology/approach: Using finite mixture structural equation modelling (FMSEM), the authors have classified innovation logic into latent classes. The method analyses and recognises classes for companies that have similar logic in innovation activities based on the collected data. Findings: Through FMSEM analysis, the authors have identified three latent classes that explain the innovation logic in the Finnish construction companies — LC1: the internal innovators; LC2: the non-innovation-oriented introverts; and LC3: the innovation-oriented extroverts. These three latent classes clearly capture the perceptions within the industry as well as the different characteristics and variables. Research limitations/implications: The presented latent classes explain innovation logic but is limited to analysing Finnish companies. Also, the research is quantitative by nature and does not increase the understanding in the same manner as qualitative research might capture on more specific aspects. Practical implications: This paper presents starting points for construction industry companies to intensify innovation activities. It may also indicate more fundamental changes for the structure of construction industry organisations, especially by enabling innovation friendly culture. Originality/value: This study describes innovation logic in Finnish construction companies through three models (LC1–LC3) by using quantitative data analysed with the FMSEM method. The fundamental innovation challenges in the Finnish construction companies are clarified via the identified latent classes

The holistic effects of climate change on the culture, well-being, and health of the Saami, the only indigenous people in the European Union

Abstract Purpose of Review: (1) To develop a framework for understanding the holistic effects of climate change on the Saami people; (2) to summarize the scientific evidence about the primary, secondary, and tertiary effects of climate change on Saami culture and Sápmi region; and (3) to identify gaps in the knowledge of the effects of climate change on health and well-being of the Saami. Recent Findings: The Saami health is on average similar, or slightly better compared to the health of other populations in the same area. Warming climate has already influenced Saami reindeer culture. Mental health and suicide risk partly linked to changing physical and social environments are major concerns. Summary: The lifestyle, diet, and morbidity of the Saami are changing to resemble the majority populations posing threats for the health of the Saami and making them more vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Climate change is a threat for the cultural way of life of Saami. Possibilities for Saami to adapt to climate change are limited