Venture capital vs. equity crowdfunding in Finnish entrepreneurial ventures - the strategic reasons behind the choice of funding and the impact on company growth and international expansion

Entrepreneurial ventures are the key drivers of innovation, job creation and economic growth worldwide. These entrepreneurial ventures however require external assistance to be able to compete against bigger players in the global market. It has been recognized that the main issue in hindering growth of these entrepreneurial ventures relates to the lack of financial resources and also partly the lack of knowledge and expertise of global markets. Due to the shortages in available capital, alternative forms of financing have emerged in addition to the more traditional venture capital. One of these emerging forms of financing is called equity crowdfunding, which is essentially collecting monetary investments from a large pool of people through an online platform. With relation to the often highlighted resource shortages hindering the growth of entrepreneurial ventures, the objective of this study was to investigate the differences between venture capital and equity crowdfunding in the context of Finnish entrepreneurial ventures. In more detail, this research examines the strategic reasons that companies have on choosing their funding instruments and how this choice affects the company’s growth and internationalization in the subsequent years. The empirical part of this study has been conducted as a multiple case study with six entrepreneurial ventures all operating in the technology sector. In addition the empirical part of this study also utilizes three industry expert opinions in order to provide a more in-depth data collection process. Research data was collected through nine semi-structured thematic interviews, with six interviews with the entrepreneurs of the chosen case companies and three external industry experts, who represented the views and opinions of the venture capital and equity crowdfunding industries. The findings of this study demonstrate that Finnish entrepreneurial ventures primarily prefer venture capital as their financing instrument. The entrepreneurs perceive that venture capital aids them in their growth and international expansion through the connections and experience of the venture capitalist, while also future funding and exit opportunities were seen as major strategic reasons to choose venture capital. Equity crowdfunding on the other hand was primarily seen as a complicated financing instrument, which is still suffering from the previous legal restrictions, which prevented companies from utilizing online crowdfunding to the fullest potential. Strategic factors related to equity crowdfunding were focused on the additional visibility and market traction it creates, while also on the flexibility in terms of governance. Finally this study finds that both of these funding instruments can be seen to aid companies in growth and international expansion through the non-monetary assets they provide, however venture capital was found to provide even better foundations for this growth

The Possibilities of Smart Clothing in Adult Speech Therapy : Speech Therapists' Visions for the Future

The potential of technology in healthcare has been closely explored in recent years. Increasingly more innovative technology-Assisted rehabilitation methods for various customer groups are constantly being developed. However, the possibilities of smart clothing in adult speech rehabilitation have not been previously studied. The purpose of this study was to discover speech therapists' visions about the possibilities of smart clothing in adult rehabilitation. We organized an ideation workshop in December 2020 with four speech therapists who had worked in adult rehabilitation for at least five years. The workshop was held online on the Zoom platform. In the workshop we presented three questions for the speech therapists: 1) Which adult speech therapy clients could benefit from smart clothing? 2) What could smart clothing be used for in speech therapy rehabilitation for adults? and 3) How could smart clothing be used in speech therapy rehabilitation for adults? Qualitative data from this research was analyzed by thematic analysis. The main results of this study were that patients with dysphagia and patients with voice disorders were seen as the groups with the greatest potential use smart clothing, and continuous registration of various physiological functions of voice and swallowing were voted as the most usable applications of smart clothing. The most discussed topics were using smart clothing to monitor rehabilitation and using the clothing to activate and motivate the client by giving feedback. And finally, the easiest ways to control smart clothing were seen to be body movements, gestures, and touch.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Technology-related Challenges in Smart Clothing-Viewpoints from Ideation Workshops

Smart clothing is a booming, growing technology and business branch of wearables. Its users range from sports and entertainment customers to military, and new applications can be found, especially in the care sector, for example, in gamification for health and well-being. We organized 5 ideation workshops to gather ideas about the potential users and uses of smart clothing. The participants brought up several types of technology-related challenges during the workshops. This article introduces these challenges. The results were analyzed using inductive qualitative content analysis. Based on the gathered data, the main challenge groups were found to be ethical concerns, operating features and the technology's reliability, and, for example, the lack of a need-based and user-oriented design process.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Rapid switch from face-to-face workshops to online workshops

During 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic required many higher education institutes, including engineering education, to quickly switch all face-to-face lessons and meetings to remote meetings and teaching sessions. This situation forced us all to rapidly create new ways to interact, work and study remotely. We had planned to organize five face-to-face multiprofessional ideation workshops in spring 2020 to create unbiased and innovative ideas related to smart clothing. COVID-19 forced us to replace the planned face-to-face workshops with five online workshops. We chose one video meeting platform for that purpose. Overall, online workshops proved to be an effective way to gather diverse ideas. The work went smoothly, although the video meeting platform was new to some participants. Online workshops are an easy way to bring together people regardless of geographical distances. Even though the organized workshops were for research purposes, we think similar workshops are very suitable for online teaching as well. We believe online workshops will be here to stay after COVID-19, as they are a great option when hybrid teaching and working take place.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Asiantuntijanäkemyksiä älyvaatteesta puhetta tukevan ja korvaavan viestinnän apuvälineenä

publishedVersionPeer reviewe

E-textiles Assisting Healthcare, Rehabilitation, and Well-being - To whom, for What, and How?

The use of e-textiles in healthcare, rehabilitation, and well-being (referred here as assistive e-textiles) is spreading for its obvious benefits, such as monitoring of physiological signals and vital signs. Although there are versatile studies on individual applications of assistive e-textiles, there are not many that include in the design process a wide variety of stakeholders who have roles in development or use of assistive technology. To provide stakeholder-oriented design knowledge regarding the development of assistive e-textiles, we organized five multidisciplinary ideation workshops for 50 participants with different backgrounds and roles. Many distinct ideas were created that targets a diverse set of users from different age groups, ability levels and even for non-human actors. Participants came up with ideas related to work environment, rehabilitation, healthcare, and daily life. This article presents those findings and discusses how those can help designers and researchers in the field.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Neuronavigated Versus Non-navigated Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Chronic Tinnitus: A Randomized Study

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has shown variable effect on tinnitus. A prospective, randomized 6-month follow-up study on parallel groups was conducted to compare the effects of neuronavigated rTMS to non-navigated rTMS in chronic tinnitus. Forty patients (20 men, 20 women), mean age of 52.9 years (standard deviation [SD] = 11.7), with a mean tinnitus duration of 5.8 years (SD = 3.2) and a mean tinnitus intensity of 62.2/100 (SD = 12.8) on Visual Analog Scale (VAS 0–100) participated. Patients received 10 sessions of 1-Hz rTMS to the left temporal area overlying auditory cortex with or without neuronavigation. The main outcome measures were VAS scores for tinnitus intensity, annoyance, and distress, and Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) immediately and at 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment. The mean tinnitus intensity (hierarchical linear mixed model: F3 = 7.34, p = .0006), annoyance (F3 = 4.45, p = .0093), distress (F3 = 5.04, p = .0051), and THI scores (F4 = 17.30, p F3 = 2.96, p = .0451) favoring the non-navigated rTMS. Reduction in THI scores persisted for up to 6 months in both groups. Cohen’s d for tinnitus intensity ranged between 0.33 and 0.47 in navigated rTMS and between 0.55 and 1.07 in non-navigated rTMS. The responder rates for VAS or THI ranged between 35% and 85% with no differences between groups (p = .054–1.0). In conclusion, rTMS was effective for chronic tinnitus, but the method of coil localization was not a critical factor for the treatment outcome.</p

Ikääntyneen muistisairaan palliatiivinen hoitotyö : Kuvaileva kirjallisuuskatsaus

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli edistää ikääntyneen muistisairaan kokonaisvaltaisen palliatiivisen hoitotyön kehittymistä. Tavoitteena on lisätä hoitotyön ammattilaisten tietoa ikääntyneiden muistisairaiden palliatiivisesta hoitotyöstä. Tutkimuskysymys oli mitkä ovat ikääntyneen muistisairaan palliatiivisen hoitotyön erityispiirteet. Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin kuvailevan kirjallisuuskatsauksen menetelmällä. Opinnäytetyön aineistonhaku tapahtui viiden tietokannan avulla. Mukana oli sekä suomalaisia että kansainvälisiä tietokantoja. Käytetyt tietokannat olivat Cinahl, Cochrane, Medic ja Sage Journals. Lisäksi käytettiin Google Scholaria ja Suomen Lääkärilehden artikkelihakua. Aineistoon valikoitui viisi tutkimusta ja yksi suomenkielinen artikkeli. Tutkimukset olivat englanninkielisiä. Aineisto on julkaistu vuosina 2010-2017. Aineiston analyysi tapahtui induktiivisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Opinnäytetyön aineiston perusteella ikääntyneen muistisairaan kokonaisvaltaiseen hoitotyöhön näyttäisi vaikuttavan neljä pääkohtaa: yksilöllinen hoitotyö, oireiden arviointi, asiantuntijuus muistisairaan palliatiivisessa hoitotyössä ja palliatiivisen hoitotyön asema yhteiskunnassa. Opinnäytetyön tulokset auttavat hoitotyön ammattilaisia ymmärtämään palliatiivisen hoitotyön erityispiirteitä. Ymmärryksen kautta ikääntyneen muistisairaan hoitotyö kuoleman läheisyydessä voi kehittyä. Jatkotutkimusaiheeksi opinnäytetyöstä nousee esiin kuolevan muistisairaan oman äänen kuuluville saaminen. Aihetta ei juurikaan ole tutkittu, sillä vaikeaan vaiheeseen edennyt muistisairaus heikentää kognitioita, vaikuttaen sekä puheen tuottamiseen että ymmärtämiseen.The purpose of this thesis was to improve the development of comprehensive palliative care of elderly with advanced dementia. The aim was to increase knowledge of healthcare professionals about palliative care for the elderly with advanced dementia. The Thesis was executed using the literature review method. The material was collected for the thesis from five Finnish and international databases: Cinahl, Cochrane, Medic and Sage Journals. Additionally Google Scholar and Suomen Lääkärilehti (Finnish Medical Journal) were used. Five studies in English were selected and one article in Finnish. The materials were published 2010-2017. Material was analysed with inductive content analysis. Based on the results of the literature review, there are four main conclusions in comprehensive care of elderly with advanced dementia: individual nursing, symphton evaluation, expertise of the palliative care for elderly with advanced dementia and status of palliative care in society. Expertise and evaluation of healthcare professionals were emphasized in the results. The Results of the thesis will help healthcare professionals to understand special features of palliative care. Better understanding will develop the nursing of elderly with advanced dementia. A development idea that arises from this thesis is to emphasize listening to the voice of the elderly with advanced dementia. There is hardly any research about this subject, because advanced dementia will weaken cognition, which influencing both forming and understanding speach

"Vanhuksilla on hyvä kun meillä on hyvä" : ihmislähtöinen johtaminen elämänlaadun vahvistajana vanhuudessa

Ikääntyneiden palvelujen tarve kasvaa jatkuvasti ja vaatimukset johtamiselle lisääntyvät palvelujärjestelmän rakennemuutosten myötä. Myös kansainvälisessä terveyspolitiikassa osallistavan ja neuvottelevan johtamisen merkitystä korostetaan. Johtamisen yhteyttä vanhuksen kokemaan elämänlaatuun on kuitenkin tutkittu vasta vähän eikä tutkimusta ihmislähtöisestä johtamisesta ole aiemmin tehty. Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli selvittää ihmislähtöisen johtamisen vaikutuksia vanhusten elämänlaatuun ja arvokkaaseen vanhuuteen sekä henkilöstön näkemyksiä ja kokemuksia yhteistyössä Lapinjärven kunnan vanhuspalvelujen kanssa. Tutkimuksessa haettiin vastausta seuraaviin kysymyksiin: Mitä ihmislähtöinen johtaminen tarkoittaa, kun tavoitteena on vanhuksen elämänlaatu? Miten ihmislähtöisellä johtamisella voidaan tukea hoitotyön laatua lisäten samalla vanhuksen elämänlaatua? Miten ihmislähtöistä johtamista voidaan kehittää? Opinnäytetyön viitekehyksenä käytettiin ihmislähtöisyyden, gerontologisen johtamisen sekä vanhuuden elämänlaadun ja itsensä johtamisen käsitteitä. Työ toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena haastattelemalla vanhuspalvelujen työntekijöitä ja esimiehiä, jonka jälkeen Learning café -tilaisuudessa etsittiin yhdessä konkreettisia kehittämisen kohteita. Tuloksissa korostuivat yhteistyön merkitys sekä tavoitteiden asettamisessa että toiminnassa sekä kiitoksen ja luottamuksen merkitys yksilöitä ja yhteisöä tukevana tekijänä ja arvostava vuorovaikutus kaikissa yhteisön ihmissuhteissa. Ihmislähtöisellä johtamisella voidaan vahvistaa vanhusten elämänlaatua tukemalla ja kannustamalla henkilöstön vahvuuksia ja ainutlaatuisuutta. Hoitajien hyvinvointi heijastuu suoraan vanhuksiin lisäämällä arvokkuuden ja osallisuuden kokemusta sekä antamalla vanhuksille mahdollisuuden elää omannäköistä elämää. Työn tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää vanhuspalvelujen johtamisen kehittämisessä. Jatkossa tutkimuksen kohteena voisivat olla ihmislähtöisen johtamisen vaikutukset laajemmassa kontekstissa ja jaettu johtajuus.Management in elderly care is under pressure for change due to the growing demands and structural changes within the work with the aged. According to an international health political tendency both engaging and consulting leadership styles are seen significant. Person-centered management has not been researched before. The purpose of this thesis was hence to define the concept person-centered management and explain what it means in sustaining the quality of life at old age. The objective of the study was also to find out possibilities to promote high quality care with person-centered management and find ways to develop it further. This thesis was carried out in cooperation with elderly care services in Lapinjärvi Municipality, Finland. The data of the study were collected by interviewing the staff in groups and the supervisors individually. The study is qualitative and aims above all to bring out the experience and point of views of the interviewees. As theoretical frame of the study we used personhood, management in elderly care and quality of life at old age. According to the results the appreciative interaction with trust and open cooperation are emphasized concerning the person-centered leadership and community’s relations in general. The results lead to the conclusion that along with person-centered management there is a possibility to influence the quality of life at old age by supporting the staff with their strengths and uniqueness. We found that there is a clear connection between the well-being of the staff and maintaining the dignity and personhood with age. We hope that this study could possibly be of help in developing a new type of leadership in elderly care services in the future. Further studies could be made of shared leadership and of how person-centered management effects on a larger scale

Vieroitusoireista kärsivän vastasyntyneen hoitotyö - Verkko-oppimateriaalia Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulun hoitotyön opiskelijoille

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli tehdä vieroitusoireista kärsivän vastasyntyneen hoitotyöstä verkko-oppimateriaalia Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulun hoitotyön opiskelijoille. Tehtävinä oli selvittää, millainen on vieroitusoireista kärsivä vastasyntynyt, mitä asioita on huomioitava vieroitusoireista kärsivän vastasyntyneen hoitotyössä, millaista on vieroitusoireisen vastasyntyneen päihdeongelmaisen äidin tukeminen ja ohjaus sekä millaisia laatukriteereitä on hyvälle verkko-oppimateriaalille. Opinnäytetyö oli tuotokseen painottuva. Opinnäytetyön aiheen taustana oli materiaalin heikko saatavuus vieroitusoireisten vastasyntyneiden hoitotyöstä. Työelämäyhteistyötahon toiveesta tehtiin verkko-oppimateriaalia. Verkko-oppimateriaalissa vieroitusoireista kärsivän vastasyntyneen konkreettisen hoidon lisäksi, haluttiin herättää opiskelijat pohtimaan omia ammatillisia asenteitaan päihdeongelmaisia äitejä kohtaan sekä antaa keinoja tukea varhaisen vuorovaikutussuhteen muodostumista äidin ja vieroitusoireisen vastasyntyneen välille. Äidin käyttämien päihteiden takia vastasyntyneen elämän alkua vaikeuttavat vieroitusoireet, joiden vuoksi vastasyntynyttä seurataan vastasyntyneiden teho- ja tarkkailuosastolla. Vieroitusoireinen vastasyntynyt on itkuinen, vaikeasti lohdutettavissa ja hänen kykynsä säädellä omaa olotilaansa ovat vähäiset. Äidin päihteiden käytön vakavimmat seuraukset lapselle johtuvat nykykäsityksen mukaan äidin ja lapsen vuorovaikutussuhteen vääristymisestä, hoivaolosuhteiden puutteista ja niiden vaikutuksesta kiintymyssuhteen laatuun. Raskaus- ja vauva-ajan on todettu vaikuttavan myönteisesti päihdeongelmaisiin naisiin ja motivoivan heitä huolehtimaan itsestään sekä lapsestaan, mikäli heille tarjotaan sopivaa tukea. Hoitajan tulee huomioida hoitotyön perhekeskeisyys tukemalla päihdeongelmaista äitiä ja ottamalla hänet mukaan vieroitusoireisen vastasyntyneen hoitoon. Kehittämisehdotuksina tätä työtä tehdessä nousi omahoitajuuden tärkeys päihdeongelmaista perhettä hoidettaessa. Olisi hyvä tutkia, miten päihdeongelmaiset perheet kokevat saamansa hoidon ja, miten sitä kautta hoidon laatua voitaisiin parantaa. Lisäksi voisi olla tarpeellista selvittää hoitajien ajatuksia siitä, miten kohdata ja tukea päihdeongelmaista perhettä. Hoitajille olisi myös tarpeen tehdä opaskansio päihdeongelmaisen perheen kohtaamisesta sekä tämän vastasyntyneen hoidosta. Koska tässä työssä isä rajattiin pois, olisi hyvä saada materiaalia myös isän huomioimisesta vieroitusoireisen vastasyntyneen hoidossa.The purpose of this thesis was to produce e-learning material about nursing newborn withdrawal symptoms for the students of Degree Programme in Nursing and Health Care at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. The tasks were to clarify characteristics of a newborn suffering from withdrawal symptoms, the issues that must be observed in nursing a newborn suffering from withdrawal symptoms, the various forms of support and guidance provided for the drug abusing mother of a newborn suffering from withdrawal symptoms, and the quality criteria for good e-learning material. This thesis was output-oriented. Besides instructing with the practical nursing care of a newborn suffering from withdrawal symptoms, the e-learning material aimed at provoking students to consider their own professional attitudes towards mothers with substance abuse problems and at giving resources for supporting the early mother-child interaction. It is complicated for a newborn suffering from withdrawal symptoms to begin his/her life because of the mother’s use of intoxicants. A newborn suffering from withdrawal symptoms is tearful, hard to comfort, and the ability to control his/her own state is low. For the child, the most serious consequences of the mother’s drug abuse are in the present view the dysfunction of the mother-child interaction, the lack of caring circumstances, and their influence to the quality of the attachment relationship. Nurses need to take families into account when supporting the substance abusing mother and to include her in the care of a newborn suffering from withdrawal symptoms