Trigger 4

The 4th trigger was all about country's economy. I wasn't there when the class opened trigger, but i looked the memo from moodle and i got a pretty good view what they were talking about.

They found these learning objectives;

1. In which ways can the government influence a country's economy?

2. How can a growing economy affect the sustainability of a country?

3. A) What are the different types of economy model?
    B) What is the most suitable economy model for a developing country?


1. In which ways can the government influence a country's economy?

I started to think this question trough compering Finland's and Estonia's government.

How much the government have money and for what they are using it? Is there any debt? From where is the money coming from? 

If you want to be an entrepreneur in Finland, there is so much bureaucracy you need to do and know about. And the governments attitude forward entrepreneurs, is it supportive or depressive?

In Estonia the profits that are left to the company's account, taxes are 0 %. In Finland it's 20 %. Whit this Estonia is hoping that company's will use their profits for investments.

In Estonia there is also low property tax, governments debt is lowest in the EU and governments budget is getting money from consumption tax and employer's payments.

But in the other hand, in Finland we are known from very good social system. Here men and women get almost equally the same salary when in Estonia women is getting 30 % less pay from the same job than men. We also have great system for family with kids, you will have about 100 € child benefit (plus 45 € if you are a single parent) when in Estonia it was earlier only 45 €. Now they have changed it rapidly and you will get more child benefit in Estonia than in Finland.

Maybe in Finland we could think about lowing the corporate taxes and by that way we could tempt more people to start business -> more job's -> employees get money -> they will spent the money to products etc.

2. How can a growing economy affect the sustainability of a country?

You have to get benefit from economic growth.

Employee gets a pay rise -> he / she will buy more products, food etc.

New companies will create new job's -> more products -> more professionals -> innovative -> even more job's.

The spiral of growth will create many new job's and the possibility of export to the world.

3. A) What are the different types of economy model?

When i searched information about economy models, there wasn't any particular model that would stand out. First i watched one video about economic models but there wasn't any different models, the idea about the video was just that there is so many different actors in economic field and it's quite complex in real world. The hint of the video was that you could try simplifying the assumptions.

    B) What is the most suitable economy model for a developing country?

"In just 10 years, Brazil has been able to use consistent economic growth to lift around 40 million people out of poverty. And while the "thought-leaders" at Davos have been wringing their hands about the perils of inequality, over the past 10 years all regions and ethnic groups in Brazil have seen their incomes rise, with the poorest benefiting significantly more than the richest." (Barrientos & Amann, 2014)

- Direct support to reduce poverty (invest in health + education)

- Investment in agriculture

- Political concensus



Resources:

1. Economic models (2017). URL:
 https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/ap-microeconomics/basic-economic-concepts/ap-economics-introduction/v/economic-models (accessed 25.9.2017)

1. Bäckren, N. (21.12.2015) Halvat palkat, vähän byrokratiaa, alhainen työttömyys, onko Virosta Suomen mallimaaksi? URL:
https://www.aamulehti.fi/maailma/halvat-palkat-vahan-byrokratiaa-alhainen-tyottomyys-onko-virosta-suomen-mallimaaksi-23308222/  (accessed 25.9.2017)

3. Barrientos, A & Amann, E. (17.4.2014). URL:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/apr/17/brazil-role-model-development-africa (accessed 26.9.2017)

Trigger 3

Third trigger seemed to be more interesting and easier than the second one.
After a quick brainstorming we came up with two learning objectives: How to share responsibilities and roles in a team? How to restructure a growing small company?

How to share responsibilities and roles in a team?

In one article there were mentions that in a good team there is five different roles:

- Leadership (core of the team, makes sure that all members know what's going on and what they should do)
- Creative director
- Networker (needs plenty of social skills, checking poteltial new openings)
- Cheerleader
-  Secretary (needs to log everything in brainstorms etc.)

"Most importantly, team member should be proactive, not reactive."

Ethics is also an important thing in team working. You have to have good attitude in your work place. Nobody likes the person who is always late, acts unprofessional in important situations or doesn't honor other people. Respect and trust others and be responsibility. Always be honest to your boss and co workers.

How to restructure a growing small company?

 "A startup is a company designed to grow fast."

- Medium term goals?

- Mentors help would be highly recommend

- Find out what is your "dream team"

- Keep it simple, don't try to create something too complex


Resources:

http://work.chron.com/roles-responsibilities-effective-teamwork-27655.html (readed 17.9.2017)

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/performance-management/reference-materials/historical/the-employees-role-in-a-team/ (readed 17.9.2017)

http://basicsofmanagement.com/positive_work_ethics.php (readed 16.9.2017)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2012/06/12/7-ways-to-restructure-your-company-for-opportunity-inspired-by-disney/#57e829ed6943 (readed 16.9.2017)

Trigger 2

Our second trigger was so much harder than the first one. 
After brainstorming we came up with two learning objectives: "Updating business strategy due to the chancing market" and "How to apply the business core competence to new markets / products?".

In the trigger we had Fujifilm as an example so i started to think some other companies that had done something like that. Fujifilm was losing their core business and was able to recover from that and thinked something new and innovative. First i was thinking about Nokia. In the beginning Nokia was in rubber industry but then at the 1960 they opened an electronics department and everyone knows how successfull they were in mobile phone industry. 
I thought that someone else has already had Nokia as an example so i continued thinking and i ended up picking Paulig as my example. It was a little bit easier to think the second question (also used Paulig in first question) through some company.

Updating business strategy due to the chancing market?

Here is some thoughts that i was able to find from different sources.

A good business plan is never done. Every business plan is wrong.

You have to update your business plan and strategy all the time because nobody knows what is going to happen in the future.

95 % of employees do not understand their company’s strategy. How are they supposed to execute a plan if they don’t understand it?

Create a clear strategy plan and make sure that everyone in the company knows what it means. Be innovative and try something new.

Mission, vision and strategy?

You can’t achieve your vision without a good strategic plan.

Paulig’s mission: “Exploring great taste.”
Paulig’s vision: “The Nordic challenger loved and valued for reshaping the world of pure taste experiences.”

How to apply the business core competence to new markets / products?

-          Paulig is a finnish family business of coffee and cocoa, founded in 1876.

-          They have 3 different industry:

1.    “World’s food and spices” (Santa Maria, Risenta)

2.    Coffee (most known about this)

3.    Snack food and naturally healthy food

Because of the climate change, growing coffee will be extremely difficult and expensive. Temperatures are rising, ground is changing so the suitable conditions for coffee cultivation are moving higher to the mountains. That means that the farming area is going to be smaller.

Paulig has noticed this and started to invest more money to healthy food.
A year ago they bought 51 % majority of the Gold & Green Foods company which created the pulled oat food.  Now they are opening a new factory to Sweden and trying to spread the business in to the Europe. Vegetable food will be a big thing in the future.

So they have already found something new and innovative and now they are part of that.

References:

Article: A coffee expert says the entire industry is in a very tricky spot.
http://www.businessinsider.com/sam-lewontin-future-coffee-global-warming-climate-change-2016-6?r=US&IR=T&IR=T (accessed 11.9.2017)

 Article: Paulig Group buys majority of pulled oats startup firm
https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/paulig_group_buys_majority_of_pulled_oats_startup_firm/9138362 (accessed 12.9.2017)

https://goldandgreenfoods.com/about/ (accessed 11.9.2017)

Article: Updating your business plan.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/159552 (12.9.2017)

 Article: 5 Key factors to successful strategic planning.
https://bia.ca/5-key-factors-to-successful-strategic-planning-2/ (12.9.2017)

http://www.pauliggroup.com/about-us/mission-vision-and-our-values/ (12.9.2017)

http://www.nokia.com/fi_fi/tietoa-meista/keita-olemme (11.9.2017)

Trigger 1

I started my research by searching some keywords from google. There is so much information in the internet and they are from very different kinds of websites so you have to be critical about the sources.

We had two learning objectives. First one was "How to keep up your motivation and wellbeing during your studies and work?" and second one "What are the needed career skills in the future for the business graduates?".

I started with the "how to keep up your motivation and wellbeing during your studies and work?". This question was a little bit easier to internalize, at least i think i know what the catch is in this question.
Hanna has a full-time job and she starts evening studies in Globba programme at Haaga-Helia. How can she handle all the homeworks, self-studies, stress from both school and work, does she have any time for herself or social life or is she going to be soon near to having mental breakdown?

I remember some lecture when we talked about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and i think it suits perfectly for Hanna's problem. There is five leyer of needs in pyramid and basically you have to fulfill the needs from the base of the pyramid in order to move up higher.

1^st level contains the basic needs. In this case i'm thinking is Hanna getting enough sleep and does she have time for eating proper meals? If you are hungry or haven't got enough sleep, that will definitely affect to your school and work behavior.

2^nd level covers safety needs. Is Hanna's health (especiality mentalhealth) good enough getting through this 3,5 year squeeze. If she switch from full-time job to part-time job is her financial security covered?

3^{rd is about social needs. You have to have time for family and friendships and getting support from them, otherwise you can feel loneliness, depression and anxiety. If Hanna has full-time job and evening school, i don't think she has enough time and energy to focus on social needs. This also supports the option to change the full-time job to part-time job.}

4^{th is self-esteem. If Hanna feels all stressed out, can she do her job and school good enough the way her self-esteem doesn't crack. Could she have time to go some hobbie that she really likes and that could also give her more confidence.} 

5^th  is self-actualization, this is the highest level of Maslow's hierarchy. Now we get to the point where Hanna wants more challenging position or promotion. If she can fulfill the other layers from the pyramid, she can reach for this one.

I also thought about the time management. Hanna could create somekind of schedul about her work and school. In work she could try to delegate some tasks if possible, that way she could ease her work pressure. In school she could do a to-do list and divide goals to smaller pieces. She also have to prioritize tasks, like what she really need to do now and what could be done a little bit later.

Then I moved on to the second question "what are the needed career skills in the future for the business graduates".
I studied the two sources given in trigger paper: "Graduate employability" and "Employability and finnish university graduates".
In the caption "Study findings graduate perspectives" many students told that the business degree is an advantage in order to get a job. Versatility of the degree is highly valued. Even if you don't enjoy ex. marketing, you can find it quite useful in other platforms.

Many students were pleased to learn the right way to wright accurate and detailed style. They also appreciated the teamwork experience, cause they had it lot in the university. In the other hand there were wishes that the oral communication skills would be provided more. In the university you get the opportunity to get know lots of different people from different backgrounds.

Work-based learning was also highly valuated from students point of view. You can have a great experience where you can apply theoretical skills to "real-life" employment.

From the employers' perspective they appreciate if students can combine things they have learned and see the big picture. Graduates are valued also because they are motivated to having a real job, they have analytical skills, problem solving skills and they have studied core business skills. There were some critic about lack of business acumen though. There were categorized as "hard business knowledge ans skills". From "soft business-related skills" employers valued presentation, communication and writing skills. Team-working skills and innovatively thinking were also highly valuated. Graduates and employers both tough that work placements or other part-time employment were highly valuated. Students learn very important things such as behaving in different situations, being on time, etiquette, real experiences of the work environment.

I also read about the Bologna process where they want to harmonise university education by creating a comparable degree system between European countries universities.
In the Bologna process employability was lifted to one of the core concepts because of the needs from labour markets. The process is shaping Finnish universities and the employment of graduates is a significant factor for the universities. When universities are making decisions about reforms, they should pay more attention to employers views. Students want that kind of education from university that they are ready to transfer the world of work and employers want graduates that are well suited for world of work. Also in this text there were references that the generic skills would be more important that vocational skills.




References:

Article about motivation theories URL:
http://www.leadership-central.com/motivation-theories.html#axzz4jUDNcZPP (accessed 02.09.2017)

Article about time management skills list and examples URL:
https://www.thebalance.com/time-management-skills-2063776 (accessed 02.09.2017)

J.Andrews, H.Higson (2008) Graduate Employability, ‘Soft Skills’ Versus ‘Hard’ Business Knowledge: A European Study1.

A.Puhakka, J.Rautopuro, V.Tuominen (2010) Employability and Finnish University Graduates.