In recent years, the role and importance of performance measurement in public organisations has been much emphasised. However, the discussion on the issue so far has been on a rather general level. This paper aims to understand the challenges faced by public organisations in developing performance measurement systems (PMSs) for a specific managerial purpose, to support outsourcing decisions. The objective of the paper is approached with a literature review and a single qualitative case study carried out as an action research. The case study introduces a detailed description of a PMS development project carried out in the support services of a Finnish university. A framework developed in prior research is utilised to analyse the impacts of two typical characteristics (conflicting stakeholder needs and undefined objectives) of public organisations in a PMS design project. The contribution of the paper is to extend the existing understanding about public sector PMS especially regarding two key points: 1) to understand the impact of different purposes for measurement (in this case the outsourcing context) on the PMS development process; 2) to understand the need to align the PMS system with the organisational culture and other managerial control systems in order to achieve desired performance outcomes.

The effect of digitalization on organizations has been studied separately but there has been very little research done on the overall “big” picture of the effects. However, the digitalization of society and business is marching forward at an ever increasing speed, calling for more converged research on the phenomenon. The main areas of effects elicited from the literature are organizational learning, digital innovations, organizational agility, business ecosystems, and organizational structures. More minor influences have been gathered in the framework of digitalization presented in this article. It can be seen as a tool for managers to explore their organizations capabilities on the digitalization front.

Purpose: Knowledge work productivity is a well-studied topic in the existing literature, but it has focussed mainly on two things. First, there are many theoretical models lacking empirical research, and second, there is a very specific research regarding how something impacts productivity. The purpose of this paper is to collect empirical data and test the conceptual model of knowledge work productivity in practice. The paper also provides information on how different drivers of knowledge work productivity have an impact on productivity. Design/methodology/approach: Through the survey method, data were collected from 998 knowledge workers from Finland. Then, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to confirm the knowledge work productivity dimensions of the conceptual model. Later, regression analysis was used to analyse the impacts of knowledge factors on productivity. Findings: This paper increases the understanding of what matters for knowledge work productivity, with statistical analysis. The conceptual model of knowledge work productivity consists of two major elements: the knowledge worker and the work environment. The study results showed that the knowledge worker has the biggest impact on productivity through his or her well-being and work practices. The social environment was also found to be a significant driver. The results could not confirm or refute the role of the physical or virtual environment in knowledge work productivity. Practical implications: The practical value of the study lies in the analysis results. The information generated about the factors impacting productivity can be used to improve knowledge work productivity. In addition, the limited resources available for organisational development will have the greatest return if they are used to increase intangible assets, i.e., management and work practices. Originality/value: While it is well known that many factors are essential for knowledge work productivity, relatively few studies have examined it from as many dimensions at the same time as this study. This study adds value to the literature by providing information on which factors have the greatest influence on productivity.

Purpose - Nowadays it is typical that the precise use of a building becomes clear during construction. Current building processes do not support this in Finland. The objective of this study is to present a novel systematic management of the design process for flexible construction projects, from the project programming stage through to overall design, detailed designs, procurement, and handover, in a situation where the final use of the building becomes clear only during construction. Design/methodology/approach - The development work included a constructive search for solutions to the problems presented above. The process developed in this study is illustrated with two case projects analysed retrospectively. Findings - According the open building principle, buildings should be divided into two parts: a permanent base building; and modifiable interior spaces. This division should apply throughout the building's entire life cycle, starting from the beginning of the construction project. The start of the project is the time when goals should be set for the flexibility of the building. The first step in this goal-setting procedure is to define the flexible modifiable spaces, and the second step is to dimension the permanent base building. A design procedure for this open building procedure has also been developed in the study. The study concludes that traditional boundaries and the content of design packages must be changed. These boundaries should be compatible with the appropriate bid packages and should support implementation of the construction work. The bid packages should follow the division to base building and spaces too. Originality/value - The procedure proposed forms guidelines for flexible programming, basic principles for design and procurement processes. In addition, it is the starting point to transforming the Finnish standard scope of work for design corresponding to the open building approach.

Purpose - Numerous studies have shown that indoor environment affects health and performance, which in turn affect productivity. Property owners have not utilized Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) as a value-added factor to market the office spaces. On the other hand, tenants have not had a tool to demand certain indoor conditions. The paper aims to present one market mechanism for including IEQ in office space supply: the office lease contract model entitled Indoor Environment Quality. Design/methodology/approach - The research included a constructive search for a lease contract model for the problems presented above. The need for this novel lease model is proved by the financial calculations. Findings - The lease contract procedure whereby a lessor issues a condition guarantee to a tenant consists of: technical building audit process; and entering the terms of the indoor condition guarantee in the lease contract. It makes sense for the owner to invest in a favourable indoor environment if the benefits are shared. An owner's monetary benefit from improved IEQ is also greatly related to longer lease periods. When tenants stay longer in the same facility there is less empty office space and less need for alterations by new tenants. Therefore, rental income is higher and alteration costs are lower, which in turn lead to higher profitability of the property owner's business. Originality/value - The lease model proposed forms guidelines for taking account of the indoor air quality in lease contracts.

Focusing on value creation in marketing has always been the key to success for companies. As a result, the definition, analysis and communication of value has gained importance. Companies are making an attempt to make a value proposition that is not only lucrative for the customer, but also has great returns for the company itself. Although this might sound simple on paper, since it is the basis for business logic, it is much more complicated in real life situations. With the service elements in the offering and the emergence of technologies such as smart and connected phenomenon, the business models become more innovative and more complexity is added to the analysis of value. The objective of this paper is to introduce a method for the dual perspective of value in a bundle of product and service in a smart and connected context. This method draws from the customer value and customer lifetime value concepts to offer an all-inclusive study on value. This assists companies in crafting an appealing value proposition in a cost-saving offering for a client that offers value to the company over its lifetime. This study specifically deals with the state of the arts smart and connected phenomenon and provides a view on how value works in that context. The framework created through this study serves to help the company choose a client that is of most value to the firm over the time of their cooperation. It then leads the company towards a better fabrication of the offering that is not only an attractive proposition to the client but also for the company. It gives a close insight onto where the benefit comes from and how a smart and connected bundle of products, services and relationships must be put together for maximum results in the modern age.

In today's dynamic business environment, firms are required to utilize efficiently and effectively all the useful resources to gain competitive advantage. Supplier development has evolved as an important strategic instrument to improve buyer supplier relationships. For that reason, this study focuses on providing the strategic significance of supplier development approaches to improve business relationships. By using qualitative research method, an integrated framework of supplier development and buyer-supplier relationship development has been tested and validated in a Finnish case company to provide empirical evidence. It particularly investigates how supplier development approaches can develop buyer-supplier relationships. The study present a set of propositions that identify significant supplier development approaches critical for the development of buyer-supplier relationships and develop a theoretical framework that specifies how these different supplier development approaches support in order to strengthen the relationships. The results are produced from an in-depth case study by implementing the proposed research framework. The findings reveal that supplier development strategies i.e., supplier incentives and direct involvements strongly effect in developing buyer-supplier relationships. Further research may focus on considering indepth investigation of trust and communication factors along with propositions developed in the study to find out general applicability in dynamic business environment. Proposed integrated framework along with propositions is a unique combination of useful solutions for tactical and strategic management's decision making and also valid for academic researchers to develop supplier development theories.

Reliable and good suppliers are an important competitive advantage for a customer and that is why the development of suppliers, improvement of performance and enhancement of customership are also in the interest of the customer. The purpose of this study is to clarify a customer's possibilities to increase the performance of a service provider and to develop the service process in FM services and thus help to improve partnership development. This research is a qualitative research. The research complements the existing generic model of supplier development towards partnership development by customer and clarifies the special features that facility management services bring to this model. The data has been gathered from interviews of customers and service providers in the facility management service sector. The result is a model of customers' possibilities to develop the performance of service providers from the viewpoint of value addition and relationship development and in that way ensure added value to the customer and the development of a long-term relationship. The results can be beneficial to customers when they develop the cooperation between the customer and the service provider toward being more strategic and more partnership focused.

RFID technology has been widely utilized for the tracking and identification of numerous stationary and moving objects. One of the most challenging RFID applications has to do with the improvement in reliability, scheduling and efficiency of large-scale transportation infrastructure. As an example, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in Ultra High Friency (UHF) frequencies (840-845MHz and 920-925MHz) is one of several technologies currently being utilized in China to monitor and regulate the railway system. Despite the very successful performance of ATIS RFID-based system for conventional trains with speeds up to 150kph, numerous challenges have to be resolved for the extension of this technology to modern high-speed and ultra high-speed railway systems with speeds up to 500kph. This paper identifies these issues, such as collision and insufficient reading time, and proposes various ways to alleviate their effect in UHF-RFID enabled railway systems.