[kand] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ (Open Access)

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 1420
  • Study on the responsiveness of U.S. stock market (S&P 500) to monetary expansion (M2) and real economic growth (Real GDP) across different monetary/fiscal policy eras.
    (2025) Nygård, Vilpert
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis examines how U.S. stock market returns (S&P 500) relate to monetary expansion (M2) and real economic growth (real GDP growth) over 1960-2025 and assesses which variable provides greater explanatory content for stock return dynamics. Using reduced-form vector autoregression (VAR) framework, the results indicate that neither M2 nor real GDP meaningfully predicts stock returns at quarterly horizons. At annual horizons, predictability becomes detectable, and real GDP exhibits stronger incremental explanatory content than M2 when both variables are included jointly, with the sign of the estimated relationship being negative. Multiple-break testing using the Bai-Perron procedure finds no statistically significant structural breaks in the conditional-mean relationships, although subsample evidence suggests that any predictability weakens in the later part of the sample.
  • OPERATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR EMISSION REDUCTION IN HEAVY-DUTY FREIGHT
    (2026) Ruckenstein, Jonatan
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Heavy duty vehicle fleets are facing mounting pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,especially in the European Union. Battery electric trucks are thought to be the most effective wayfor fleet decarbonization in Europe, but fleet replacement is not available or viable for all fleets currently. This thesis identifies and evaluates operational strategies for cutting emissions, without fleet electrification. This was done by means of a structured literature review and grey literature to give broader context on the subject. The focus was on medium- and heavy-duty freight in urban and peri-urban environments in the EU, focusing on near-term strategies that can be achieved with operational changes. The main operational strategies identified with the aid of the materials were load consolidation, speed, time and traffic and behavioral strategies, such as idling reduction and eco-driving. The main findings were synthesized into tables presenting the emission reduction potential and the related prerequisites required for implementation. In terms of implementation potential, the strategies could be divided into high-impact and low-impact options. The former strategies enable bigger reductions but have more requirements for implementation, with the main one being co-operation across the supply chain. Low-impact strategies can be implemented unilaterally but they result in more modest emission reductions. The findings provide a structured overview of operational strategies to support fleet managers in planning short- and medium-term decarbonization strategies. They suggest that future research empirically validates these findings, while further examining how these strategies would interact with fleet electrification.
  • Tekoälyasetuksen vaikutukset rekrytointiprosessiin
    (2026) Haataja, Saku
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Tässä kandidaatintutkielmassa tarkastellaan tekoälyasetuksen (EU) 2024/1689 vaikutuksia tekoälyn käyttöön rekrytoinnissa. Tutkimus on toteutettu käyttäen lainopillista metodia tulkitsemalla systemaattisesti tekoälyasetusta. Tarkastelu on rajattu käsittelemään ainoastaan tekoälyasetusta. Muu soveltuva lainsää-däntö, kuten yleinen tietosuoja-asetus (GDPR), on rajattu tutkimuksen ulkopuolelle. Tekoälyasetuksen lähestymistapa on riskiperusteinen. Järjestelmät on luokiteltu kiellettyihin tekoälyjärjestelmiin sekä suuririskisiin tekoälyjärjestelmiin. Lisäksi luokittelua täydentää yleiskäyttöisiä tekoälymalleja koskeva sääntely. Valtaosa tekoälyasetuksen vaatimuksista ja velvoitteista kohdistuu suuririskisiin tekoälyjärjestelmiin. Tutkielmassa selvitetään, millaiset tekoälyjärjestelmät jäävät tekoälyasetuksen soveltamisalan ulkopuolelle. Tutkielmassa tulkitaan myös, millaiset tekoälyjärjestelmät ovat suuririskisiä ja millaiset ovat kiellettyjä. Lisäksi tässä tutkielmassa riskiperusteista luokittelua täydentää vähäisen riskin tekoälyjärjestelmien luokka. Rekrytointia tarkastellaan Armstrongin kymmenvaiheisen mallin pohjalta tätä tutkielmaa varten kehitetyn nelivaiheisen rekrytointiprosessin viitekehyksen kautta. Tämä tutkielma osoittaa, että rekrytoinnissa käytettävät tekoälyjärjestelmät ovat lähtökohtaisesti suuririskisiä ja niihin kohdistuu siten erityisiä velvoitteita ja vaatimuksia. Velvoitteet kohdistuvat eri tavoin vastuutahoille. Keskeisimmät vastuutahot rekrytoinnin kannalta ovat tarjoaja ja käyttöönottaja, koska tarjoaja kehittää tekoälyjärjestelmät ja käyttöönottaja käyttää niitä. Velvoitteet kohdistuvat EU:n tuotesääntelyn hengessä pääasiassa tarjoajalle. Käyttöönottajien velvoitteista keskeinen esimerkki on ihmisvalvonnasta huolehtiminen.
  • Do Foreign LPs Reduce Home Country Bias? Evidence from Finnish VC Funds, 2007–2024
    (2025) Peltola, Rasmus
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis examines whether foreign limited partners (LPs) reduce home country bias in Finnish venture capital (VC) funds. Using data on 50 Finnish VC funds founded between 2007 and 2024, linked to deal-level investment geography, the analysis shows a consistent and economically meaningful relationship: a one-percentage-point increase in foreign LP share is associated with a 0.55–0.59 percentage-point increase in the share of foreign portfolio companies. This effect remains robust when controlling for fund size, stage focus and vintage, and is confirmed across multiple robustness tests, including LP-type decompositions, fractional logit models, GP-vintage controls, and within-GP analyses. The results also show that LP identity matters: policy-driven foreign LPs are the strongest contributors to internationalisation, while other foreign LP types have weaker effects. Qualitative interviews with Finnish GPs reveal that internationalisation is typically GP-initiated, but foreign LPs can reinforce it by providing credibility, networks and specialised expertise. Overall, the findings suggest that foreign LPs act as accelerators, rather than initiators, of internationalisation, helping Finnish VC funds overcome structural constraints of a small domestic market
  • AI Capex Guidance and Stock Returns: Evidence from U.S. Megacap Technology Firms
    (2025) Vuorensola, Leo
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis examines how equity markets respond to capital-expenditure (capex) guidance disclosed in quarterly earnings announcements by five U.S. megacap technology firms from 2019–2025. Using earnings-call transcripts and press releases from Refinitiv, I hand-collect indicators for capex guidance direction (up, down, or flat/unclear) and whether management explicitly frames capex as AI-related versus broader technology infrastructure. I estimate announcement-window abnormal returns using a market-model event study and relate these returns to the capex indicators in event-level regressions. To control for earnings-related news, I use a price-scaled earnings surprise. I further implement a regression-based return decomposition that separates the two-day return into an earnings-aligned component, proxied by analyst forecast revisions from I/B/E/S, and a residual valuation component. The results show that announcement-window abnormal returns are more strongly associated with capex guidance direction than with explicit AI framing. Downward capex revisions are associated with higher abnormal returns relative to flat/unclear guidance, while capex increases and AI labeling show no robust incremental association once earnings surprise is controlled for. The return decomposition indicates that the capex-direction association loads primarily on the residual valuation component rather than on the earnings-aligned component. Overall, the evidence suggests that markets responded more to the pacing of large investment programs than to whether firms explicitly labeled capex as AI-related, consistent with capex cuts being interpreted as a recalibration of spending discipline and lower execution or overbuild risk rather than a retreat from AI investment.
  • Government Venture Capital and Exit Performance in European AI Start Ups
    (2025) Ahonen, Eemil
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis examines whether government-backed venture capital (GVC) and independent venture capital (IVC) investors differ in their ability to lead portfolio companies to successful exits in the European artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The sample consists of 948 first-round investments made in AI firms across the EU27 between 2011 and 2020. Investor type is determined based on the lead investor in the initial financing round. Firm-level investment and exit data are obtained from Refinitiv Workspace, and portfolio companies are classified as successful or unsuccessful depending on whether an IPO or merger and acquisition (M&A) exit is observed after allowing for a minimum four-year exit window through the end of 2024. Exit performance is evaluated with logistic regression models, where success is measured as a binary outcome, and Cox proportional hazard models are additionally employed to account for exit timing and right-censoring. Across all specifications, investment size emerges as the only statistically significant and robust predictor of exit success. The results do not support the conventional GVC underperformance hypothesis, although the estimated effects remain statistically insignificant.
  • The effect of geographical factors on football stadiums’ attendance
    (2025) Railo, Tomas
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis discusses the relation of a football stadium’s matchday attendance to three geographical factors: stadium’s distance to the centre of the corresponding town or city, distance to the nearest main railway station, and the number of same-city rivalries for the clubs playing in that stadium. The thesis collects average match day attendances from 20 top-ranked leagues in Europe, excluding the Ukrainian league where matches are held without specta-tors due to the current state of war. Attendances are from the season 2023-2024, or the season 2024 from countries where the season is played during summer. A multiple linear regression model is employed to analyse the effect of these geo-graphical factors on stadium attendance. The objective of the thesis is to evaluate whether we can affect future attendances by the placement of upcoming stadi-ums, or whether the only deciding factor is the clubs playing in them. The second objective is to evaluate the actual effect of same-city rivalries beyond the big news and media coverage.
  • Karismaattisuus transformationaalisessa johtajuudessa
    (2026) Manninen, Jere
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Tässä tutkielmassa käsitellään karismaattisuutta transformationaalisessa johtajuudessa. Tutkielmaa ohjaava kysymys on: mikä on karismaattisuuden rooli transformationaalisessa johtajuudessa? Työ tehtiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena, keräten kirjallisuutta niin liiketoiminnan kuin myös psykologian kentiltä. Karismaattisuus voidaan nähdä vaikuttamisen prosessina, jonka takana on voimakkaita psykologisia prosesseja liittyen seuraajien minäkäsityksiin. Karismaattiseen johtajuuteen voidaan liittää useita positiivisia vaikutuksia, kuten seuraajien sitoutuminen sekä negatiivisia, kuten seuraajien suurempi kuormitus. Karismaattisuuden rooli on vedota seuraajien minäkäsityksiin, jonka kautta seuraajat tekevät ryhmäidentiteetistä tärkeämmän osan itseään ja täten voivat asettaa ryhmän edun omien etujen edelle.
  • Lahjakkuuksien johtamisstrategiat suomalaisissa juniorijalkapalloseuroissa
    (2026) Leskinen, Iida
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Tämän tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat lahjakkuuksien johtamisstrategioihin suomalaisissa juniorijalkapalloseuroissa. Tutkielma toteutettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena lahjakkuuksien johtamisstrategioita käsittelevien kansainvälisten ja akateemisten lehtien sekä kirjojen avulla. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin suomalaista urheiluseuratoimintaa ja urheilujärjestelmää käsittelevää tutkimusta. Juniorijalkapalloseurojen toimintaympäristö poikkeaa selkeästi yritysmaailmasta tai huippu-urheilusta, mikä tekee lahjakkuuksien johtamisprosesseista ainutlaatuisen haasteen tutkielman käsittelemässä ympäristössä. Tutkielma käsittelee lahjakkuuksien johtamista kolmen keskeisen vaiheen kautta: tunnistaminen, kehittäminen ja sitouttaminen. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen perusteella voidaan sanoa, että yritysmaailman malleja ei sellaisenaan voida soveltaa yhdistyspohjaisessa junioriseurakontekstissa. Strategiat muodostuvat sisäisten tekijöiden, kuten rersurssien ja arvojen, sekä ulkoisten tekijöiden, kuten urheilujärjestelmän säädösten, yhteisvaikutuksesta. Junioriseurat samanaikaisesti tasapainoilevat laajan harrastajapohjan säilyttämisen ja systemaattisen lahjakkuuksien kehittämisen välillä.
  • Measuring the behavioural costs of FoMO in cryptocurrency markets
    (2026) Tapiala, Mirka
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis investigates the financial impact of the Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) phenomenon on cryptocurrency investment performance. The aim of the study was to quantify the potential behavioural costs of FoMO-driven trading decisions, compared to a passive buy-and-hold strategy. The research was conducted by using an empirical backtesting analysis based on the daily price and volume data for seven major cryptocurrencies between January 2018 and October 2025. The simulation approximated FoMO-driven investor behaviour by entering positions when increased trading volume occurred simultaneously with major short-term price increases. A stop-loss mechanism was also included to simulate the loss aversion of retail investors. The performance of the two strategies was evaluated through total cumulative returns, annualized volatility and the Sharpe ratio. The results indicate that the FoMO-driven strategy did not result in statistically significant financial underperformance or outperformance in total returns compared to the buy-and-hold benchmark. However, the study found a statistically significant reduction in average volatility across all examined market phases, including a bull and a bear period. These findings suggest that while FoMO-driven trading leads to individual asset-level performance deviations, the inefficiencies are not systematically market-wide.
  • AI for sustainability in supply chains of the cosmetics industry
    (2025) Jauhola, Anni
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis examines how artificial intelligence (AI) can support sustainability in the supply chains of the cosmetics industry. The industry is characterized by complex global supply chains and faces increasing environmental pressures related to resource consumption, plastic and water waste, as well as rising consumer and regulatory sustainability demands. As digitalization and Industry 4.0 technologies advance, AI offers new opportunities to improve supply chain transparency, efficiency, and environmental performance. The study is based on a literature review of academic research published mainly between 2018 and 2025. It identifies key sustainability challenges and drivers in cometic supply chains and analyzes how AI-based tools can address these issues across major supply chain stages, including sourcing, production, distribution, and postconsumer use. The thesis highlights the role of AI applications, such as machine learning and other predictive and optimization models, in supporting green supply chain management and circular economy practices. The findings suggest that AI can enhance sustainability through improved supplier evaluation, resource and energy optimization, demand forecasting, logistics route optimization, and waste management. However, barriers such as high implementation costs, data quality and privacy issues, scalability challenges, and organizational readiness remain. While AI is not a standalone solution, its strategic and responsible implementation can play a key role in improving the environmental sustainability and long-term competitiveness of cosmetic supply chains in the future.
  • Management of technical debt - Review of case studies
    (2025) Björnman, Robert
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Technical debt has been widely studied since its introduction in the 90s. previous research has been focused on definitions, taxonomies and identification. Managing TD in practise has been shown to be difficult according to previous research. The aim of this thesis is to systematically review and synthesize empirical case studies on technical debt management. This thesis is a structured literature review focusing on empirical case studies from 2015 to 2025 following PRISMA principles. 11 case studies were included in the review and represent different domains, organizations and sizes. The data was thematically synthesized using inductive and deductive coding, focusing on costs, obstacles and trade-offs. The key findings of this thesis highlight that direct costs are measurable and often up-front. Indirect and opportunity costs have a large long term economic impact. Cultural and organizational barriers often outweigh technical challenges in hindering technical debt management. Trade-offs show consistent favouring of short term benefits vs long term system health. The studies report that continuous TDM is associated with better quality, fewer errors, and even cost savings. This thesis further provides evidence-based recommendations for practitioners to make TD visible, measurable and be able to integrate into routine operations.
  • AI-driven approaches for sustainable inventory management in grocery retail
    (2025) Ilcheva, Snejana
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Grocery supply chains are under great pressure due to the large amount of food waste generated globally, resource scarcity and perishability. Inventory management in particular plays a key role in both preventing food waste and supporting the profitability of retailers. Digitalization and the development of artificial intelligence offer new opportunities to optimize inventory management processes and improve their sustainability. This literature review examines six AI-based models that have the potential to improve the efficiency and sustainability of grocery retail inventory management. The review focuses on three areas of inventory management: demand forecasting, inventory control, and inventory classification and visibility, and what role artificial intelligence could play in improving them. The main challenges for retailers can be considered the large number of per-ishable food products they handle, and the impact of potential errors in handling these products on the profitability and creation of food waste. Based on the review, AI-based models can streamline inventory management processes, which in turn can reduce the amount of food waste. However, the implementation and use of artificial intelligence are associated with challenges, such as technical, ethical, and organizational barriers. In addition, AI-based models are most suitable for larger retailers with strategic and organization readiness as well as sufficient resources.
  • The use of scrum framework in educational contexts
    (2025) Matinaho, Juha-Matti
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis delves into the implementation of a project management framework Scrum, familiar from software development, in an educational environment. The work examines how the method has been utilized at different educational levels and in different fields, what benefits, challenges, or limitations have resulted from it, and how the method has evolved during this process. The questions are approached through a literature review, which is used as a basis for synthesis and conclusions. The most significant findings are that the method has been refined in many ways and that it seems to prepare students for working life, especially in terms of soft skills.
  • Span of control: Manager skills and growing team sizes
    (2025) Heloterä, Joonas
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis discusses themes around span of control – factors affecting the span, the implications of span and ultimately how manager’s required skillset is affected by growing team sizes. The thesis is a literature review based on existing studies during the past hundred years. Main findings include 30 factors related to effective spans, how current management roles, especially in chief-levels, are getting more complex and fast-paced and which skills have heavier emphasis as the number of subordinates grow.
  • Tekoälyn rooli strategisessa päätöksenteossa ja sen eettiset vaikutukset
    (2025) Kultanen, Elisa
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Tämä opinnäytetyö tarkastelee tekoälyn roolia strategisen päätöksenteon tukena sekä siihen liittyviä eettisiä huolenaiheita. Tutkielman tutkimuskysymyksinä toimivat ”Kuinka tekoälyä hyödynnetään strategisessa päätöksenteossa?” ja ”Millaisia eettisiä huolenaiheita sen käyttöön liittyy? Tutkielma toteutettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena, hyödyntäen kansainvälisiä akateemisia artikkeleita ja tutkimuksia, jotka käsittelevät organisaatiotutkimusta, strategista päätöksentekoa sekä tekoälyä. Tutkielman perusteella tekoälyllä on nykyisin merkittävä rooli strategisessa päätöksenteossa, ja sen mahdollisuudet tehostaa ja tukea päätöksentekoa ovat selviä. Työssä tunnistettiin useita eettisiä haasteita, joita tekoälyn käyttö tuo mukanaan. Näitä haasteita voidaan kuitenkin ehkäistä ja minimoida vastuullisilla ratkaisuilla.
  • Stock price behaviour after extreme daily increases: Evidence of short-term reversal across market regimes
    (2025) Valkonen, Paavo
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This paper studies how U.S. stock prices behave after extreme price increases in 2010-2024 using the event-study framework. An extreme event is defined when the daily return exceeds +20%, with additional thresholds at 40%, 60%, and 80%. Expected returns are estimated with the Fama-French three-factor model and abnormal returns are measured using cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) over 1-, 5- and 21-day windows. We find that the prices systematically and significantly decrease (reverse) in the short run (a day to a month) after the event, and the magnitude of the reversal depends on the magnitude of the event. We also find some evidence that the returns differ among regimes depending on liquidity and investor sentiment. Overall, the findings are consistent with the view that extreme positive price movements reflect temporary overreaction that subsequently corrects, especially in high liquidity and risk-taking environments. Understanding the price behaviour of stocks in extreme situations may be very useful for investors and companies dealing in today’s modern fast-paced environment.
  • Leading without power: Rethinking authority in self-managing organizations
    (2025) Nieminen, Matias
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    This thesis examines the transformation of authority in self-managing organizations by means of a literature review. Building on classical theories of authority and more recent organizational research, it explores how authority shifts from formal, position-based structures toward informal, relational, and expertise-driven forms. As organizations increasingly integrate self-management into their structures, it becomes important to investigate the implications this fundamental change has. The main findings of this thesis are that authority becomes informal, elusive, and something that can be lost at any time when transitioning toward self-management.
  • Toimintaympäristön vaikutus julkisen kulttuurisäätiön strategiseen johtamiseen
    (2025) Appel, Mathias
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Tämän tutkielman tarkoitus on selvittää toimintaympäristön vaikutukset julk-sen kulttuurisäätiön strategiseen johtamiseen. Tutkielma toteutettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena, jonka keskiössä oli yleisen strategisen johtamisen sekä kulttuuriorganisaatioiden johtamisen tutkimus. Tutkielmassa pyrittiin soveltamaan yleisesti yksityiseen sektoriin perustuvien strategian määritelmiä julkisen kulttuurisäätiön kontekstiin. Strategian keskiöksi määritettiin organisaation arvopohja, joka julkisilla kulttuurisäätiöillä keskittyy laajalti ”aineettomiin” arvoihin (kuten esteettinen arvo tai pedagoginen arvo) taloudellisten arvojen sijaan. Jo strategian perusta on sidonnaista organisaation toimintaympäristöön, sillä kulttuurikentällä strategian toimivuutta havainnoidaan organisaation sidosryhmien vastaanoton kautta. Syventymällä organisaation sidosryhmiin voitiin havaita julkisen kulttuurisäätiön toimintaympäristön olevan strategisesti hyvinkin haastava tärkeiden sidosryhmien usein ristiriitaisten intressien vuoksi, ja poliittinen syklisyys vaikeuttaa strategian toteutumista ja sen pitkäjänteistä suunnittelua tehdessään keskeisimmän sidosryhmän (eli valtion) tuesta epävarmaa.
  • Itseohjautuvuus ja minäpystyvyys opiskelijaurheilijan kaksoisuran kontekstissa
    (2025) Turkkila, Juulia
    School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
    Tämä tutkielma käsittelee itseohjautuvuutta ja minäpystyvyyttä opiskelijaurheilijan kaksoisuran kontekstissa. Tutkielman tutkimuskysymyksenä toimi ”Miten minäpystyvyys ja itseohjautuvuus tukevat opiskelijaurheilijan kaksoisuran onnistumista?”. Tutkielma toteutettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena, jossa käytettiin hyödyksi pääosin tieteellisiä artikkeleita. Ensin aiheeseen perehdyttiin tarkastelemalla itseohjautuvuusteoriaa, minäpystyysteoriaa ja kaksoisuran käsitettä. Tämän jälkeen minäpystyvyyttä tarkasteltiin tarkemmin opiskelijaurheilijoiden näkökulmasta ja pohdittiin sen roolia opiskelijaurheilijan kaksoisuralla. Kirjallisuuskatsaksen perusteella voitiin havaita, että opiskelijaurheilijoiden kaksoisuran onnistumista voidaan tukea kehittämällä minäpystyvyyteen liittyviä sisäisiä ja ulkoisia tekijöitä. Tämä pitää sisällään erityisesti yksilön stressinhallinnan ylläpitämisen sekä ympäristöltä saadun sosiaalisen vakuuttelun ja tukirakenteet.