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Solving Business Problems Together
Case: A master’s degree programme in Finland
Maria JAKUBIK
Research, Development and Innovation Services Department, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences
Helsinki, FIN-00520, Finland
This paper has been presented at the WMSCI conference, USA and it has been published in the respective proceedings in July 2017.
ABSTRACT
This descriptive, single, intrinsic case study seeks to answer the
following questions: Why should business practitioners and
educators work together in solving business problems? How are
the business problems of companies handled in a master’s degree
programme in Finland? The case study is based on multiple
sources of documents collected and developed during the ten
years of the programme. It demonstrates that solving authentic
business problems in a learning community of business
practitioners, i.e. students, as well as educators, i.e. teachers and
thesis advisors, leads to solutions that satisfy practitioners,
educators, and the business community. This case is an example
of how solving business problems together contributes to the
better performance of businesses and a better society in Finland.
Keywords: case study research (CSR), collaborative business
problem solving, community of business practitioners and
educators, master’s programme.
1. INTRODUCTION
In September 2016, Finland was ranked second after Japan on the
OECD’s top ten highest-performing graduates list [1] [2]. What
is the secret of Finland, where tuition in higher education is free?
Mr. Sowter, director of the QS World University Rankings,
argues that ‘the success of a country such as Finland in the quality
of its graduates could owe as much to its school system as its
universities’ [1] [3]. This paper presents a master’s degree
programme of a Finnish University.
The aim of this paper is to answer the following questions: Why
should business practitioners and educators work together in
solving business problems? How are the business problems of
companies handled in a master’s degree programme in Finland?
The research phenomenon is known as ‘collaborative business
problem solving’. The methodology is a descriptive case study,
which demonstrates this phenomenon in the ten-year-old
Master’s Degree Programme in International Business
Management [4] of Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences
in Helsinki, Finland [5]. The case is based on multiple on-line
sources and written documents of the IBMA.
The context of the case is a community where business
practitioners (students) and educators (teachers and thesis tutors)
work together on authentic business problems of companies in
which students are employed. The master’s thesis in this
programme is a work development project [6] that is based on the
collaboration of business practitioners and educators.
Participants are from the business world and academia in
Finland.
This paper has four parts (excluding the acknowledgements and
references). After the introduction, the design of the descriptive
case study is presented with arguments about methodology and
the type of case study followed in this paper. Next, to support the
argumentation, multiple sources of documents are introduced.
The following part describes the case in detail. In the final part
the conclusions and the two research questions are examined,
followed by an evaluation of the case study and its possible
implications for businesses, educators, and researchers.
2. DESIGNING THE CASE
The case study research (CSR) methodology is selected because
it shows a real example of the ‘collaborative business problem
solving’ phenomenon. This descriptive case has ‘why’ and ‘how’
questions, which concur with Yin’s [7, p. 8] view that the case
study researcher seeks to understand the why and the how of a
real, current business phenomenon. Myers [8, pp. 74-77],
however, criticizes Yin’s definition of CSR as being at the same
time ‘too broad’ and ‘too narrow’. He writes that Yin’s definition
of CSR ‘is not entirely appropriate for all qualitative researchers
in business’ [8, p. 76]. Myers argues that ‘The purpose of the case
study research is to use empirical evidence from real people in
real organizations to make an original contribution to knowledge’
[8, p. 73].
The next phase in CSR design is deciding on the philosophical
standpoint, type of the case study, and on research approach. CSR
can be implemented from different philosophical perspectives,
such as positivist, interpretive, and critical because ‘case study
research is philosophically neutral’ [8, p. 77]. Yin [7, pp. 46-60]
defined four types of case study design: (1) single-holistic, (2)
single-embedded, (3) multiple-holistic, and (4) multiple-
embedded. Alternatively, Stake [9] categorizes case study types
as (1) intrinsic – to better understand a specific case, (2)
instrumental – to provide generalization, and (3) multiple or
collective – to jointly research the phenomenon. The research
approaches in CSR can be exploratory, explanatory, or
descriptive. This paper presents a single-embedded, interpretive,
intrinsic, and descriptive case study, because the goal is to show
and better understand through this example why and how people
work together in solving actual business problems.
Case study research uses evidence from rich, multiple sources to
demonstrate the complexity and reality of real-life current
situations. In this case study the data sources are written
documents, on-line sources, surveys of participants (students and
educators), profiles of students and educators, examples the of
businesses involved, examples of authentic business problems to
be solved as research questions of theses, the IBMA 2014
curriculum, an example of an Applied Research and
Development course’s contents, the overall thesis process, thesis
assessment forms, and criteria.
3. THE CASE
The case will be described with the help of figure 1, which shows
the main phases of ‘collaborative problem solving’ in this
master’s programme.
Community of
business
practitioners and
educators
Applied R&D
process
Business
practitioners Education
practitioners
Society
Business world
Authentic
business
problems
Solving business problems
together
Figure 1. Solving business problems together
(source: created by the author)
The students, as business practitioners, join the IBMA from the
business world. The students employed by companies such as
Accenture Ltd, Airbus, Bank of Finland, Capgemini Finland Ltd,
Danone Finland, Deloitte & Touch Ltd, Fair Trade Foundation,
Fortum, Hewlett-Packard, Sodexho, Nordea Bank Finland Plc,
Sampo Bank Plc, The Walt Disney Company Finland, Waco
Logistics Finland, etc.
The students bring authentic business problems to be solved in
the master’s theses. These business problems are very diverse. In
the academic year 2015-2016, the following themes emerged:
branding, social media, customers, employees and HRM, and
international business [10].
Branding related business problems include the following: How
is the Disney Princess brand managed in the Nordic countries?
How do social media activities support employer brands? How
can fan/advocacy stories affect brand experience, brand trust, and
brand loyalty among innovators? What kinds of storytelling
methods work versus traditional product facts? What kinds of
stories influence brand experience, brand trust, and brand
loyalty?
Social media related business problems include the following:
How do competitors in the field of business law use social media
channels? How should digital marketing of Company X be done?
How can one provide practical knowledge for the case company
and create a digital B2B marketing plan?
Customer related business problems include the following: How
can one use customer feedback to bring optimum practices to a
company? How can one design the customer feedback process to
maximize positive customer experience? How satisfied are
customers with the updated web site? What are the most valued
characteristics of experiential shopping? How can such
characteristics be applied in a brewery department?
Employee related and HRM business-related problems include
the following: How can Company Y develop its internal
leadership talents and what are the critical elements of a
successful development program? How can one develop and
measure the necessary competencies and skills? How does the
business model of communicating change impact the
commitment of employees? How can one improve change-
related communications in the future? How do employees feel
about the future of the organization and about their own position?
Why do people get interested in, join and remain in an
organization?
International business management problems include the
following: What are the current waste management practices in
Russia? What type of recycling would be feasible to run from the
perspective of available utilization methods regarding legal
regulations? What are the critical success factors for offshore
software projects? How does the case company best manage
strategic accounts and improve strategic account performance?
From 2007 to 2011, 107 master’s students were involved in
research concerning IBMA [11]. Their profile shows that the
average age is 34 years and the average work experience is eight
years. Gender distribution shows that there are more women
(64%) than men. However, male students’ representation has
increased continuously, from 30% in 2007 to 45% in 2011.
These master’s students have middle managerial positions such
as the following: Credit Manager, Export Director, Finance
Manager, HR Partner, Key Account Manager, Project Manager,
Program Manager, Risk Analyst, Senior Product Manager,
Service Manager, Sales & Marketing Director, Sales &
Marketing Manager, Sales Operations Analyst for the Nordic
Region, Treasury Analyst, Quality & Performance Manager, etc.
Every autumn a new IBMA group starts their studies. The
cultural diversity profiles of students during the ten years of the
programme indicate that the proportion of foreign students is
around 40%. Students are from different cultural backgrounds:
Afghan, American, British, Chinese, Colombian, Finnish,
French, Georgian, Hungarian, Indian, Iranian, Nigerian,
Romanian, Russian, Swedish, etc. For example, from 2007 to
2011 there were students from 16 different cultures [11].
Nevertheless, in each group Finns are in the majority (around
60%).
The Webropol IBMA Educator’s Profile [12] shows that the
average age is 55 years, the gender distribution is about equal,
and the average business experience is over 20 years, from
different sectors such as banking, consulting, logistics, supply-
chain management, export-import, direct marketing, customer
service, research, HR, publishing, mass media and
communication, entrepreneurship, etc. IBMA educators worked
for companies such as ABB, Accenture, Asahi Television Japan,
Fazer, Getzner Textil AG Austria, Hilti Corporation
Liechtenstein, Hobby Hall, ICL, Nokia, Stockmann, Zumtobel
Group Germany, and several Finnish companies.
The cultural background of educators is also diverse, and
includes American, Austrian, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Irish,
Portugal, and Swiss. Their language skills are very strong:
English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese,
Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. They speak on average three or
more languages each; most have a Ph.D.
IBMA educators have positive feelings when working with these
master’s students. They commented that it has been a pleasure to
work with them for the following reasons: they have challenging
and interesting business projects as their thesis topics, they have
practical experience, they are motivated and eager to learn, they
have an ‘adult-like attitude’ towards learning, and they seem to
be very intelligent and talented. Educators think that the students
are engaged and motivated, but they of course realize that adult
students also must manage their work, family life, hobbies, and
their studies at the same time, which is challenging [12].
The next phase is the IBMA programme itself [4] and its
curriculum [13], where business and education practitioners form
a community (see figure 1) to work together in solving the
authentic business problems defined in the thesis. It needs to be
mentioned that the role of participants in this process is different,
as the students are integrated into the business context and
educators play the role of tutors, coaches or advisors.
The courses of the IBMA curriculum [14] support this process
because they equip students with the necessary skills and
knowledge, e.g. communication, project management,
forecasting and analysis, strategic management, leadership, and
research skills. For example, the Applied R&D course [15] is
indicated in figure 1 because it is directly connected to the
master’s thesis. The main goal of this course is to facilitate the
implementation of the applied R&D project/s selected by
students as their thesis topic. This course provides meaningful
input to the methodological section of the master’s thesis. The
course introduces research philosophies, qualitative research
methods and the two most frequently selected and applied
research approaches by business students, i.e. action research
(AR) and case study research (CSR). AR aims to change and
improve existing managerial practices and/or promote change in
one part of the organization. CSR explains or describes the
complex and current events in authentic business settings. [14].
Solving business problems together (see figure 1) happens in the
thesis process [16]. Participants in this process are the business
partners, i.e. business organizations, the head of the master
programme, thesis advisors, and students. The process has four
phases: planning, implementing, assessing, and developing.
In the planning phase students discuss the development needs of
their organisation, i.e. the authentic business problems that need
to be solved. Then they present their development ideas and write
their R&D plan as a thesis plan. When this plan is approved, an
advisor is assigned and the next phase starts.
In the implementation phase the business and education
practitioners work together, meeting several times to give and
receive feedback about the applied research process. When the
thesis has been written, the assessment phase begins.
The Assessment phase has several steps. The thesis is checked for
plagiarism with URKUND software. Then the advisor and an
outside educator assess the thesis based on the following criteria:
topic and objectives, conceptual framework based on the
literature review, research method, outcomes, reporting, and
management of the thesis project [17]. The final grade is given
with consideration of the work place assessment [17]. Here
employers assess the learning of the student during the
development project. They also indicate how the organization
has benefitted from the thesis, what was implemented in practice,
and what the possible long-term impact and value are for the
organization.
The last phase in the thesis process is the development phase,
when the thesis process itself and any businesses involved are
developed by implementing and utilizing the suggested business
problem solutions.
In brief, this part of the paper describes how business problems
are solved in this master’s programme in Finland. Figure 1 above
illustrates the process and the contexts of the collaborative
problem solving phenomenon. In presenting the case, multiple
sources, both printed and on-line, were utilized to support the
argumentation. Next, the conclusions and implications of this
case study are presented.
4. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
In this last part of the paper I first answer the two research
questions, after which I briefly discuss the quality of this
qualitative descriptive case study. Lastly, I indicate a few
implications for businesses, and educational practitioners, and
researchers.
The first question that this paper addresses is ‘Why should
business practitioners and educators work together in solving
business problems?’ The brief answer to this question is that
solving real business problems in a community of business and
education practitioners in IBMA – where practical skills and
experience are combined with research and theoretical
knowledge – leads to useful and valuable results. This can be
demonstrated by the positive feedback of organizations on the
students’ work development projects as theses [6]. Another
positive impact is that by sharing and collaborating all members
of the community learn; students learn about research
methodologies, processes, and theories, and educators learn
about current, actual business problems and practices.
The second question this paper seeks to answer is ‘How are the
business problems of companies solved in a master’s degree
programme in Finland?’ The process of collaborative business
problem solving in the IBMA programme is outlined in Figure 1
and presented in the previous part of the paper. Students bring
authentic business problems to be solved from their employers.
During their master’s studies, they work on possible solutions to
these problems, together with their teachers and thesis advisors.
Because the master’s thesis is a work development project it
makes practical contributions to employers and creates new
knowledge and skills for students and educators.
The case presented in this paper is a descriptive, intrinsic, single-
embedded case study. Myers [8, pp. 82-85] argues that the quality
of a case study in general can be assessed based on six criteria:
(1) The case study must be considered ‘interesting’. (2) The case
study must display sufficient evidence. (3) The case study should
be in some way ‘complete’. (4) The case study must consider
alternative perspectives. (5) The case study should be written in
an engaging manner. (6) The case study should somehow
contribute to knowledge [8, p. 83]. Based on Myers’ six criteria
it can be concluded that this paper: (1) is ‘interesting’ mainly to
business practitioners, educators and researchers, (2) is based on
multiple on-line and written sources as evidence, (3) is
‘complete’, as it uses all relevant data sources available to the
master’s programme at this time, (4) does not really consider
alternative perspectives, (5) is written in a clear, simple way by
clarifying the process and steps (cf. Figure 1) for the readers, and
(6) hopefully contributes to knowledge and to a better
understanding of the ‘collaborative business problem solving’
phenomenon.
It is very problematic to assess the construct validity and the
internal validity in this descriptive case study. I agree with Myers
[8, pp. 82-85], arguing that interpretive, intrinsic case studies
probably need other criteria than construct validity, internal
validity, external validity, and reliability, as has been suggested
by Yin [18]. That is the reason I assessed the quality of this case
using the six general criteria of Myers.
The case study’s quality depends on its objectivity and
generalisability as well. Because I am closely involved in the
development and implementation of this master’s programme it
was hard for me to take the role of an objective, neutral
researcher. As much as possible I tried to look at this case from
an outsider’s point of view. However, I should acknowledge that
there could be researcher bias in this case. The education
institution of the IBMA programme has other master’s
programmes in English as well. Because we developed together
some parts of our curricula, e.g. the master’s thesis process, core
courses, and thesis assessment criteria, it could be concluded that
this case can be partially generalized.
Using multiple sources in CSR is both an advantage and
disadvantage at the same time. It is beneficial because it shows
the complexity of the situation but the abundance of data and
documents could cause difficulties when trying to focus on
essentials and trying to clearly present the case. Gray [19, pp.
273-274] has the same view and writes that the large volumes of
data could make case study report writing difficult. He suggests
that the case study report should have a clear ‘chain of evidence’
referring to the documents when arguing and making
conclusions. This will increase case study reliability. However, it
requires that the researcher consistently follow this practice and
conducts the CSR in a very disciplined, rigorous way. When
describing the case I kept these principles in mind. Figure 1
helped me to focus on the essentials and it strongly supported the
logic involved in presenting the case.
This case has implications for business, education, and research.
The business implications are significant because they
demonstrate why business problems could be best solved by
bringing together business practitioners with their practical skills
and educators with their research and theoretical knowledge. It
demonstrates how this is done in one master’s degree programme
in Finland. The case calls for more collaboration of businesses
and academia. The benefits of this collaboration are obvious, as
the case provided evidence of how real business problems are
solved with real people in real organizations. The impact on
society was not analysed in this case, but one can assume that if
businesses benefit from this process then the impact on society
must be positive as well.
Implications for education can be that education cannot be
isolated from any current and authentic problems of society and
the business world. Universities of sciences and universities of
applied sciences can create value for businesses and society in
general if they support their students with both practical skills,
e.g. project management, research, communication, language,
and leadership, as well as with theoretical knowledge.
Theoretical knowledge needs to be integrated into work life. This
case study showed that all practitioners of the learning
community learn by sharing and combining their practical skills
and experiences with theoretical knowledge. In addition, it
demonstrated that both educators and students learn from each
other by being involved and engaged in solving real business
problems.
As further research, how business problem solving takes place
could be examined in the following contexts: (1) other master’s
programmes of the same institution, (2) other universities in
Finland, (3) other master’s programmes in different countries.
Other areas of research could be to study the real impact of this
specific case on business organizations after several years, to
study the impact of the problems solved in this way on society,
or on specific sectors of it. It would be interesting to find out how
business practitioners apply the knowledge gained in this
master’s programme to their everyday business practices.
This case study contributes to general knowledge by
demonstrating with multiple pieces of evidence and documents
the strengths and benefits of ‘collaborative business problem
solving’. This case might help to understand the secret as to why
Finnish graduates rank second in the world, per the current
Education at a Glance 2016 report of the OECD [20].
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author thanks her colleagues Ms Madeleine Vakkuri, Ms
Anna Kimberley, and Dr Gerard Danford for their participation
in the open, non-blind reviewing process. Special thanks go to
Mr Karl Robbins for proofreading this paper.
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