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Osuva on Vaasan yliopiston avoin julkaisuarkisto. Osuva sisältää Vaasan yliopiston omat julkaisut, opinnäytteet ja tieteellisten artikkeleiden rinnakkaistallenteet. Osuvaan sisältyy julkaisujen viitetietoja, tiivistelmiä ja kokotekstejä. Sähköisten arkistokokoelmien sisältö ei ole luettavissa verkossa.

Kokoelmat Osuvassa

Viimeksi tallennetut

  • “Do You Need a Little Help?”: A Mixed Methods Analysis of 961 Nudges for Blue-Collar and White-Collar Participants During a User Study of Two Digital Information Services
    Azem, Jinan Y.; Qadi, Leen F. Al; Rustom, Anas; Salminen, Joni; Jansen, Bernard J.; Yen, Ching Chiuan (toim.); Lee, Jung-Joo (toim.); Do, Ellen Yi-Luen (toim.); Zheng, Clement (toim.); Yoo, Daisy (toim.); Tang, Tony (toim.) (ACM, 2026)
    Artikkeli
    Usability studies often overlook valuable insights from moderator-to-participant interventions. This study proposes that these interventions, moderator-provided “nudges”, are a rich source of insights on user needs, cognitive load, and system design gaps. We analyzed transcripts from 86 sessions involving two digital library systems and 56 blue-collar (BC) and 30 white-collar (WC) participants, and identified 962 instances of moderator interventions (i.e., nudges). Findings show significant disparities in both the volume and composition of nudges across groups. BC participants required 21 times as many nudges (N=919) as WC participants (N=43). Of the BC participants’ nudges, 737 (80.2%) were system-related, and 182 (19.8%) were user-related. Treating nudges as usability insights for HCI research enables researchers to identify where system scaffolding, such as explicit language, progressive guidance, or simplified workflows, is necessary. The study contributes to inclusive design theory by demonstrating how occupational background influences interventions in user studies and provides design implications for making digital information services more inclusive across occupational groups.
  • Sustainable Energy Pathways in Ageing Societies: Heterogeneous Effects of Socioeconomic and Climate Factors
    Badeeb, Ramez Abubakr; Lin, Ziqing (John Wiley & Sons, 2026)
    Artikkeli
    This study investigates how population ageing shapes sustainable energy pathways and introduces a novel multidimensional index to measure sustainable energy performance. The index is constructed using an entropy weighting method and measures progress across the main pillars of SDG7. It captures renewable energy expansion, energy efficiency improvements and clean energy access. Using panel quantile regression in OECD countries, the results show clear heterogeneity. The effect of ageing varies across sustainable energy performance levels and depends on socioeconomic conditions and climate vulnerability. Ageing is associated with stronger sustainable energy outcomes in high-income and climate-resilient, countries, while it constrains sustainable energy performance with high urban pressure. These findings demonstrate that demographic structure interacts with socioeconomic capacity and climate exposure in shaping sustainable energy pathways. Policies that ignore this heterogeneity risk misallocating resources. The results provide a measurement framework and distributional evidence that can support more targeted and context-specific sustainable energy transition strategies.
  • Co-creating frugal innovation at the bottom of the pyramid
    Hossain, Mokter; Karami, Masoud; Shehryar Shahid, Muhammad; Javed, Nomah; Adomako, Samuel (Elsevier, 2026)
    Artikkeli
    Frugal innovation, characterised by affordable, cost-effective, resource-efficient solutions, has become increasingly significant for addressing the needs of the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) in emerging markets. It necessitates concerted efforts by key stakeholders with the shared goal of co-creating new solutions to enhance the quality of life at the BoP. However, the exploration of co-creation in devising affordable solutions for the underserved BoP market is limited in the literature. This study explores how entrepreneurs collaborate with key stakeholders to co-create frugal innovations for the BoP customers in an emerging market. We employed a multiple case study approach to address the research question. Analyzing data from 12 start-ups, including 43 interviews, our findings revealed the collaboration mechanisms in the frugal innovation process addressing BOP needs. We also demonstrate how start-ups form collaborative networks co-create frugal innovations, overcoming multiple constraints by utilising shared resources, knowledge, and capabilities. Furthermore, we reveal the key outcomes of frugal innovations. The findings advance the frugal innovation literature by incorporating co-creation as a strategic approach to addressing innovation challenges at the BoP. We extend both co-creation and frugal innovation literature by stressing the significance of co-creation in identifying problems, understanding complex scenarios, and devising affordable solutions.
  • Strategy Execution: Roles and Challenges of Middle Managers and Frontline Employees in Multinational Enterprises
    Mäklin, Senja (2026-06-05)
    Kandidaatintutkielma
    Strategy implementation is a critical yet challenging aspect of strategic management, especially in multinational enterprises (MNEs) where cultural diversity, geographic dispersion, and complex hierarchies can create a gap between top-level strategic plans and what is actually achieved at operational levels. In response, this thesis examines how middle managers and frontline employees in MNEs play distinct roles and face unique challenges in strategy execution. It investigates how differences at these levels contribute to a persistent implementation gap and explores ways to improve alignment across organizational levels. The research is based on a qualitative narrative literature review of peer-reviewed strategic management and organizational studies mostly from 2000 to 2026, some earlier foundational works included, and is interpreted through a strategy-as-practice lens. The findings indicate that middle managers primarily act as translators and coordinators, converting high-level objectives into actionable plans for their teams and relaying feedback upward, whereas frontline employees implement strategic changes through their daily work but often have limited involvement in planning and less visibility into the broader strategic context. These role-based differences can lead to miscommunication and misalignment that hinder effective execution, especially when vertical communication is weak, frontline involvement is low, or strategic messages are unclear. The comparative approach of analyzing both levels together highlights that bridging the middle–frontline gap requires robust two-way communication, effective leadership, and coordinated efforts across organizational levels. By adopting this dual-level perspective, the thesis contributes to the literature on strategy execution and underscores that successful strategy implementation in MNEs depends not only on a clear strategy but also on aligning organizational levels through communication, leadership, and coordination.Strategian implementointi on kriittinen, mutta haastava osa strategista johtamista erityisesti monikansallisissa yrityksissä. Näissä kulttuurinen monimuotoisuus, maantieteellinen hajaantuminen ja monimutkaiset hierarkiat voivat luoda kuilun ylimmän tason strategisten suunnitelmien ja operatiivisen tason todellisten saavutusten välille. Vastauksena tähän, tämä opinnäytetyö tarkastelee miten keskijohdon ja etulinjan työntekijöiden roolit eroavat toisistaan monikansallisissa yrityksissä, ja millaisia ainutlaatuisia haasteita nämä kaksi työntekijätasoa kohtaavat strategian toteuttamisessa. Tutkielmassa analysoidaan miten näiden tasojen eroavaisuudet vaikuttavat pysyvään toteutuskuiluun, sekä etsitään tapoja parantaa yhdenmukaisuutta eri organisaatiotasoilla. Tämä tutkimus perustuu laadulliseen narratiiviseen kirjallisuuskatsaukseen vertaisarvioiduista strategisen johtamisen ja organisaatiorakenteiden tutkimuksista, jotka ovat peräisin pääasiassa vuosilta 2000–2026, mukaan lukien joitakin aikaisempia perustavanlaatuisia töitä, ja sitä tulkitaan Strategia käytäntönä -näkökulmasta. Tulokset osoittavat, että keskijohdon edustajat toimivat ensisijaisesti kääntäjinä ja koordinaattoreina, muuntaen korkean tason tavoitteet toimintaohjeiksi tiimeilleen ja välittäen palautetta ylöspäin, kun taas etulinjan työntekijät toteuttavat strategisia muutoksia päivittäisessä työssään, mutta osallistuvat usein erittäin rajoitetusti strategian suunnitteluun ja omaavat vähemmän näkyvyyttä laajempaan strategiseen kontekstiin. Nämä roolipohjaiset erot voivat johtaa virheelliseen kommunikaatioon ja epäsuhtaisuuteen, jotka estävät tehokasta toteutusta erityisesti silloin kun vertikaalinen viestintä on heikkoa, etulinjan osallistuminen on vähäistä tai strategiset viestit ovat epäselviä. Tutkimuksessa esitetty vertaileva lähestymistapa, jossa molempia tasoja analysoidaan yhdessä, korostaa, että keskijohdon ja etulinjan välisen kuilun kurominen umpeen edellyttää vahvaa kaksisuuntaista viestintää, tehokasta johtajuutta ja koordinoituja toimia eri organisaatiotasoilla. Hyväksymällä tämän kaksitasoisen näkökulman, tämä tutkielma lisää strategian toteutusta käsittelevää kirjallisuutta ja korostaa, että strategian onnistunut toteuttaminen monikansallisissa yrityksissä ei riipu pelkästään selkeästä strategiasta, vaan myös organisaatiotasojen yhdenmukaisen ymmärryksen vahvistamisesta viestinnän, johtajuuden ja koordinoinnin avulla.
  • Skin lightening: The process of exploiting colorism-based opportunities
    Shepherd, Dean A.; Parida, Vinit; Sarjoo, Sarah; Wincent, Joakim (Elsevier, 2026)
    Artikkeli
    People with dark skin can be discriminated against, generating various adverse outcomes for them. Due to this colorism, entrepreneurs have exploited colorism-based opportunities—products and services that lighten skin color. Through an inductive qualitative study of skin-lightening businesses and their customers in cities across India, we move beyond supply and demand economics to theorize the psychological and social drivers that motivate people to treat the symptoms of this discrimination (yet, in doing so, reinforce this discrimination and exacerbate income inequality). Therefore, the study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature with new research on the process of exploiting colorism-based opportunities and their positive and (unintended) negative consequences.