Browsing by Subject "change"

Managing uncertainty in change: a case study on communication and uncertainty in the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District Besides the changes that have occurred in the Finnish security authorities’ operational environment, cuts in the financial resources of the Finnish Border Guard have intensified internal pressures for change in the line-and-staff organisation and the need to create new modes of operation. In this Master’s Thesis, the relationship between the uncertainty associated with change and the internal communication of the organisation was examined from the viewpoint of the complexity theory. The purpose of this case study was to extend our understanding of the phenomenon of uncertainty and to try and find better ways of managing uncertainty arising from change in the communication processes of the Finnish Border Guard. From the perspective of the philosophy of science, this study is based on hermeneutical thinking, in which knowledge is constructed through interpretation, layer by layer, from preliminary understanding to conclusions. The empirical data consist of eleven themed interviews of employees of the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District, which were analysed by means of theory-led content analysis. The interview data were supplemented with documentary material, including a plan for economic and financial adjustment drawn up within the Finnish Border Guard. The perceptions of the interviewees were structured as narratives formed at different administrative levels of the organisation and were examined through the lenses of uncertainty, complexity, and change. The attained understanding of the uncertainty arising from change was deepened by means of a complexity-theoretical framework and the concept of sensemaking. It was found that the problem of managing a complex communication network and dynamic organisational processes boils down to information and interaction amongst the various actors. The experience of uncertainty is situative and subjective. Regardless of whether uncertainty in the organisation was examined from the point of view of external or internal change, uncertainty was seen as a factor impairing the organisation’s performance. The conclusion was drawn in the study that the uncertainty arising from change can be managed more effectively if the narrative of change is created from the points of view of both the organisation and the individual employee. Other helpful measures are ensuring the continuity of the communicative narrative and promoting multifaceted dialogue and interaction amongst the administrative levels. The results indicate that the organisation’s problem-solving ability is largely based on the management of uncertainty, i.e., that the organisation lends a sensitive ear to the dynamism of social systems and harnesses the information transmitted through the feedback processes into a part of the narrative of change-management communication. When communication is understood as an ever-changing and evolving narrative process, the management of uncertainty becomes closely linked with the management of complexity and the strengthening of the organisation’s resilience. This study supplements the scholarly discourse on the management of uncertainty and functions as an empirical window into the application of complexity-theoretical concepts to organisation research.

The number of Finnish pupils attending special education has increased for more than a decade (Tilastokeskus 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005a, 2006b, 2007b, 2008b, 2008e, 2009b; Virtanen ja Ratilainen 1996). In the year 2007 nearly third of Finnish comprehensive school pupils took part in special needs education. According to the latest statistics, in the autumn of 2008 approximately 47 000 pupils have been admitted or transferred to special education and approximately 126 000 pupils received part-time special education during the 2007-2008 academic year. (Tilastokeskus 2008b, 2009b.) The Finnish special education system is currently under review. The Reform, both in legislation and in practice, began nationwide in the year 2008 (e.g. Special education strategy document, November 2007 and the development project Kelpo). The aim of the study was the statistical description of the Finnish special education system and on the other hand to gain a deeper understanding about the Finnish special education system and its quantitative increase, by analysis based on the nationwide statistical information. Earlier studies have shown that the growth in special education is affected by multiple independent variables and cannot be solely explained by the pupil characteristics. The statistical overview and analysis have been carried out in two parts. In the first part, the description and analysis were based on statistical time series from the academic year 1979-1980 until 2008. While, in the second, more detailed description and analysis, based on comparable time series from 1995 to 2008 and from 2001-2002 to 2007-2008, is presented. Historical perspective was one part of this study. There was an attempt to find reasons explaining the observed growth in the special needs education from late 1960s to 2008. The majority of the research was based on the nationwide statistics information. In addition to this, materials including educational legislation literature, different kind of records of special education and preceding studies were also used to support the research. The main results of the study, are two statistical descriptions and time series analysis of the quantitative increase of the special needs education. Further, a summary of the plausible factors behind the special education system change and its quantitative increase, is presented. The conclusions coming from the study can be summarised as follows: the comparable statistical time series analysis suggests that the growth in special education after the year 1999 could be a consequence of the changes in the structure of special education and that new group of pupils have been directed to special needs education.

This study focused on the relations of interest and self-efficacy beliefs of students. The aim was to specify how interest and self-efficacy beliefs are independently and reciprocally related to mathematical performances, and conversely, how changes in achievements influence changes in motivation. Theories that support the developmental tendencies of interest and self-efficacy are emphasized in the theoretical frame. Previous studies have shown that individual levels of interest and self-efficacy beliefs significantly influence learning. Research concerning the interaction effects of the factors has been scarce. In addition, the research on the motivational factors has mostly been quantitative. This study aims to complement the existing conceptual and methodological approaches. The study was conducted by qualitative methodological principles. Six (6) students participated for the interviews. They were selected from a larger sample of student participants based on their achievements in mathematics. The interviews were executed with a semi-structured interview method. The data were analyzed by using content analysis. The research was explorative within its topic and hence, the analysis was not based on any preconceived hypotheses. The individual manifestations of interest and self-efficacy in relation to students' mathematical performances were highlighted in the explorative analysis of this study. The experiences reflected the interactive relationships of the particular motivational factors; with each other and in respect of math performances. According to the views of the students, changes in one phenomenological factor commonly result in changes in another. Within the individual perspectives of this study, no general conclusions can be drawn. However, the previously empirically established significances of interest and self-efficacy in learning were reflected in the experiences of the interviewed students. The interconnection of the motivational factors in relation to mathematics is essential to consider in education. Their predisposition for change offers opportunities to generate new learning experiences, which then again, may improve the feelings of interest and self-efficacy of even older students in relation to mathematical learning.

Changing work as well as changing expertise requirements are an often discussed topic in our current public discussion. In this study, the main interests were the conceptions of expertise and experiences of changing work and expertise requirements. The participants of the study (n=12) were a group of professionals working in a company providing language services. The aim of the study was to analyse how the participants understand expertise and what kind of changes and new expertise requirements they have experienced at their work. The main analytical concept of the study is expertise, and the theoretical framework consists of research literature on expertise on individual and collective dimensions which were compared to the conceptions of expertise among the sample group. The changes the research subjects have experienced at work were thematically analyzed by mirroring their views against some viewpoints on changing work and the historical work types. The study is based on a qualitative research strategy and the material was analysed by applying phenomenographic content analysis. The material was collected through one-to-one interviews. The work related expertise as described by the participants is presented through examples, whereas the phenomenographic analysis focuses on the participants’ conceptions of expertise and on experiences of changes of work. To conclude, the results of the study were collected to categories of description. The results clearly showed that the contextual dimension of expertise as experience in the professional field was considered as one of the most important element of expertise. In addition to knowledge, skills, self-awareness and education, expertise was also related to learning new things as a prerequisite for expertise development. Also, knowing the customer was seen as expertise. In addition, respect from others was also seen as part of being an expert. In this material, expertise was portrayed more as an individual rather than a collective quality, even though the work was considered a team effort. The changes at work were related to increasing customer demands, changing technology and financial pressures. Despite these changes, the underlying nature of work was seen as unchanged and overall, the changes were not considered to lead to any completely new expertise requirements.

This study focused on the relations of interest and self-efficacy beliefs of students. The aim was to specify how interest and self-efficacy beliefs are independently and reciprocally related to mathematical performances, and conversely, how changes in achievements influence changes in motivation. Theories that support the developmental tendencies of interest and self-efficacy are emphasized in the theoretical frame. Previous studies have shown that individual levels of interest and self-efficacy beliefs significantly influence learning. Research concerning the interaction effects of the factors has been scarce. In addition, the research on the motivational factors has mostly been quantitative. This study aims to complement the existing conceptual and methodological approaches. The study was conducted by qualitative methodological principles. Six (6) students participated for the interviews. They were selected from a larger sample of student participants based on their achievements in mathematics. The interviews were executed with a semi-structured interview method. The data were analyzed by using content analysis. The research was explorative within its topic and hence, the analysis was not based on any preconceived hypotheses. The individual manifestations of interest and self-efficacy in relation to students’ mathematical performances were highlighted in the explorative analysis of this study. The experiences reflected the interactive relationships of the particular motivational factors; with each other and in respect of math performances. According to the views of the students, changes in one phenomenological factor commonly result in changes in another. Within the individual perspectives of this study, no general conclusions can be drawn. However, the previously empirically established significances of interest and self-efficacy in learning were reflected in the experiences of the interviewed students. The interconnection of the motivational factors in relation to mathematics is essential to consider in education. Their predisposition for change offers opportunities to generate new learning experiences, which then again, may improve the feelings of interest and self-efficacy of even older students in relation to mathematical learning.

The formation of urban structure is a complicated process and its outcome, that cannot be easily forecast, is not necessarily optimal. This creates a need to understand the process and gives a reason to control it by urban planning. As the circumstances are in constant change, the plans have to anticipate the time to come – partly far into the future. Research is needed to support planning to understand the factors that affect the urban structure better. Accessibility, that seems to be one of the key factors in the processes of land use change, seems to provide a suitable tool for planning and research: when suitably defined, it can connect the properties of transport and land use systems as well as the economic, social and environmental goals. The availability of services is closely connected to the quality of living environment, so studying the accessibility of them can produce new notable information for the needs of urban planning. The aim of this study was to explain how changes in urban structure cause changes in the accessibility of services by walking, mass transit and car in the long term, and study how these changes could affect the use of the services both from the perspectives of the users' possibilities and the potential the services produce. The public library network in Helsinki region was studied as an example. Studying the accessibility of public libraries is useful as such, as they provide many types of positive impacts, but public libraries are also a convenient example in studying the accessibility of services as they are a service actively used in everyday life and information about the use is available. Distances in the accessibility measures were measured as travel time. Accessibility was measured both in travel times to the nearest library and in potentials of making a library trip calculated by library trip forecasting models based on the real behaviour of their users. Comparison was made between the years 2014 and 2050, during which the population and the transport system are expected to change as in the created scenarios, which are based on the new Helsinki City Plan. In addition, the possible effects to the accessibility of the public libraries by possible cost cuts in the service network were inspected by simulating the effects of the cuts. Based on the results the public libraries in the study area seem to be relatively well accessible by all the inspected transport modes. The changes in the transport systems seem to have minor effects on the accessibility when measured in travel time to the nearest library, but when the effects are measured in the potentials of making a library trip, they seem to be a bit more significant – by mass transit, accessibility would improve and by car, it would deteriorate. The forecast change in the population would increase the number of people accessing the nearest library in half an hour, but the proportion of this group to the total population in the area would be smaller than before. The attraction of libraries affect to the potentials they produce, but the impacts are concentrated on the surrounding areas of the libraries and on the traffic routes, where the accessibility is relatively good to begin with. Even though excluding some of the smallest libraries from the service network would have relatively small effects on the accessibility in the aggregate, the effects on individual level and for sustainable accessibility could be significant. Based on the study results more significant than the changes in the transport system or in the attraction of the services seem to be how near population and services are located each other: the prerequisites for multimodal accessibility cannot necessarily be guaranteed if the distances are long. Based on the study results, to prevent the deterioration of the preconditions of the goals of Finnish regional planning and the qualifications for sustainable accessibility due to the forecast population change – in other words to keep the current standard of service – some changes in the service network would be needed. However, as there was only one type of service inspected in this study and as there is uncertainty if the scenarios will happen in the future, the conclusions that can be drawn from the results are restricted. Still, studying the accessibility of a single service is useful as such as the needs for different type of services are different, and if it will give some hints of the future accessibility of services in general at the same time, even though just in a few scenarios, it can be easier to be prepared for the future.

During its history China has seen growing numbers of immigration of its population to other countries in hopes of increased opportunities abroad or when returning to China. Finland on the other hand has shifted from an emigration country into an immigration country in the last few decades with immigration numbers increasing. The growing immigration flows and decreasing birth rates have become a source of discussion and dispute. As both China and Finland face similar demographic changes, the migration tendencies along with policies relating to migration and discussion and attitudes surrounding them, have been in change. With Finland’s decreasing fertility rate and workforce, the demand for skilled workers remains high and is expected to keep increase further. As a country with a good reputation for high language skills in English for a non-Anglophone country, peaceful society and good enough reputation in the academic field, this study aims to reflect the experience of ten Chinese and Hong Kong students to previous research while highlighting the possible issues for retaining these Chinese students, and furthermore international students and to some extent, highly skilled migrants in Finland. The socio-political environment in Finland, together with consideration to migration theories, the environment was explained to the extent allowed by this thesis. The case study on Chinese and Hong Kong students was correlated to previous studies on the topic to give a reflection of the lived experience of these individuals in the contemporary setting and how well it correlates with the findings of the previous studies from five or more years ago. The socio-political environment in which Finland is in now, as understood through media, and has been in the past when it comes to the topic of immigration and integration will be evaluated and correlated to the new government plan (2023) with the findings reflected on for a better understanding on the possible challenges that they might bring. The findings of this study show that for these Chinese and Hong Kong students the main concerns for staying in Finland after graduation concern language abilities, employment possibilities, and the social and political environment. While there have been active attempts to increase language learning possibilities by higher education institutions in Finland, it was found that many degree programs don’t allocate enough room and encouragement for language learning. For employment possibilities the main concerns were related to the forming of networks and mastering one of the national languages, Finnish or Swedish, as well as the possible changes to residence permit as proposed by the new government plan. When it comes to the political environment the new government plan has caused much worry for both work-based and study-based migrants and thus decreasing the change of these students staying in Finland after graduation.