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Background: According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children’s views should be heard in policymaking. But it remains unclear to what extent children’s wellbeing is considered in election promises Methods: We investigated the extent to which Finnish political candidates consider children and their wellbeing in their election promises. We used YLE, the national broadcaster’s voting advice application database, and analysed some 35,000 politicians’ election promises made in the 2015 and 2019 parliamentary and the 2017 and 2021 municipal elections. We calculated the proportion of candidates who mentioned children and examined the content of the election promises in which children were mentioned. Logistic regression models were used to examine the role of the background of the characteristics of candidates. Results: In the 2015 and 2019 elections, some 12% and 19% of candidates, respectively, mentioned children in their election promises. The figures for the 2017 and 2021 municipal elections were higher at 19% and 24%, respectively. In the 2021 election, the candidates considering children in their election promises were younger and had higher education qualifications. Inspection of a random set of 350 promises indicated that common issues mentioned in respect of children were education and hobby activities. Concrete proposals to improve the wellbeing of children were rarely put forward. Conclusions: Political candidates are increasingly considering children in their election promises but concrete proposals to improve the wellbeing and health of children are rare. Effective policy solutions to improve the health of children should be discussed in election debates.

This study is linked to previous research that approaches organisations as systems of shared meaning where ignorance is created and sustained, either unintentionally or deliberately, through various social interactions,symbolic processes, and organisational structures. While previous studies have touched upon organisational ignorance, there is a lack of systematically conducted research on its many forms and its many sources. This study analyses the causes, characteristics, and consequences of organisational ignorance. By reporting a systematic review of the literature, the paper contributes to the theory of organizational ignorance by developing a framework of organisational ignorance comprising the manageability (intentional or unintentional) and dynamics (bounded or expanding) of ignorance. Instead of framing ignorance as something that should be avoided, the study adopts anuanced approach to the organisation of ignorance.

Complexity concepts help to open the black box of social innovation for public sector managers and policy-makers and to understand why social innovation can simultaneously be both a solution and pr...

Co-creation assumes an interactive and dynamic relationship where value is created at the nexus of interaction. Co-creating value is challenging with marginalized youths. In this article, social media is seen as an underutilized resource for developing services. This article approaches social media as a context from which it is possible to derive information that would otherwise be unattainable. Using data from a Finnish discussion board, this article answers the following question: How can the experiences of socially withdrawn youth shared on social media be used to enrich the knowledge base on service co-creation processes? The empirical data consist of messages on the Hikikomero discussion forum, which were analysed using a combination of unsupervised machine learning and discourse analysis. The results show that social media provides a window into the everyday lives of socially withdrawn youths, offering information that could be used to develop public services

PurposeThis paper considers the potential of social media for developing public services. The paper approaches social media as a context that can provide information that might otherwise be unattainable. The focus of analysis is on a special hard-to-reach group of marginalized youths who appear to have isolated themselves from society.Design/methodology/approachThe authors answer the question: How can the experiences of socially withdrawn youth as shared on social media be used to enrich the knowledge base relating to the initiation phase of co-creation of public services? The data retrieved from the Finnish discussion forum are analyzed using the combination of unsupervised machine learning and discourse analysis.FindingsThe paper contributes by outlining a method that can be applied to identify expertise-by-experience from digital stories shared by marginalized youths. To overcome the challenges of making socially withdrawn youths real contributors to the co-creation of public services, this paper suggests several theoretical and managerial implications.Originality/valueCo-creation assumes an interactive and dynamic relationship where value is created at the nexus of interaction. However, the evidence base for successful co-creation, particularly with digital technology, is limited. This paper fills the gap by providing findings from a case study that investigated how social media discussions can be a stimulus to enrich the knowledge base of the co-creation of public services.

Public services face growing pressure to innovate but there is little agreement how this can be achieved (Hartley, 2014). Social innovation is explicitly about addressing human needs and its place in public policy is well established (Marques et al., 2017; Sabato et al., 2017). This Public Money & Management (PMM) theme puts a spotlight on the intersection of social innovation and co-creation. Co-creation is a more recent entrant to policy agenda than social innovation but also appears to have achieved the status of an orthodoxy (Osborne et al., 2016; Torfing et al., 2019). In the context of public services, co-creation is characterized as ‘active involvement of end-users in various stages of the production process’ (Voorberg et al., 2015, p. 1335).

Public innovation and digitalization are reshaping organizations and society in various ways and within multiple fields, as innovations are essential in transforming our world and addressing global sustainability and development challenges. This book addresses the fascinating relationship of these two contemporary topics and explores the role of digital transformation in promoting public innovation. This edited collection includes examples of innovations that emerge suddenly, practices for processing innovations, and the requirements for transformation from innovation to the "new normal". Acknowledging that public innovation refers to the development and realization of new and creative ideas that challenge conventional wisdom and disrupt the established practices within a specific context, expert contributions from international scholars explore and illustrate the various activities that are happening in the world of multiple digitalization opportunities. The content covers public administration, technical and business management, human, social, and future sciences, paying attention to the interaction between public and private sectors to utilize digitalization in order to facilitate public innovation. This timely book will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of technology and innovation management, as well as knowledge management, public service management and administration. publishedVersion

Ei abstraktia.

The world is changing rapidly. We face increasing and new social needs such as ageing populations; mass immigration; the rise of long-term, chronic health conditions such as diabetes; high rates of unemployment for young people; a mental health epidemic; increasing loneliness across the generations; homelessness; and, new trends in substance misuse. At the same time we have witnessed the rise of populism, nationalism and the erosion of public trust in government and public services. Economic shocks of recent years including the financial crisis that started in 2008 and the current COVID-19 crisis is making difficult decisions about the future of public services more immediate. If improvements in public wellbeing are to be achieved we need public services designed to deliver social outcomes more effectively for less resources and in more joined-up ways.However, the way that public institutions design and deliver these services also needs to change. Many models of innovation involve co-creation, which implies that people who use (or potentially use) public services work with providers to initiate, design, deliver and evaluate them. The goal of the Co-Creation of Public Service Innovation in Europe project (CoSIE) is to contribute to democratic renewal and social inclusion through cocreating innovative public services by more actively engaging diverse citizen groups and stakeholders in varied public services beyond traditional and less effective participation channels, such as consultative boards. This paper draws together key findings from CoSIE with a particular focus on what these imply for new policy and practice in public services in the form of a discussion paper aimed at European, national and regional policy-makers. The big ideas emerging from CoSIE can be grouped together as ideas associated with conceptualising co-creation, implementing cocreation and moving beyond piloting co-creation to extending co-creation across systems.

Artikkelissa rakennetaan systemaattinen lähestymistapa sosiaalisen median keskustelujen tutkimukseen. Tarkastelemme artikkelissa puhujaposition käsitteen avulla lapsi- ja perhenäkökulman ilmenemistä korona-aiheisissa sosiaalisen median keskusteluissa maalis–huhtikuussa 2020. Tarkoitamme puhujapositiolla niitä tapoja, joilla keskustelijat rakentavat argumentointiaan, käyttävät retorisia keinoja ja muodostavat puheenvuoroja. Puhujapositiot ovat ihmisten itselleen joko tietoisesti tai tiedostamattomasti valitsemia tapoja osallistua keskusteluun. Aineistolähtöisen sisällönanalyysin tuloksena artikkelissa muodostetaan kaikkiaan yhdeksän puhujapositiota: ’riidanhaastaja’, ’ilveilijä’, ’arvostelija’, ’ahdistuja’, ’huolestuja’, ’laajentaja’, ’tietäjä’, ’selviytyjä’ ja ’auttaja’. Puhujapositiot kuvataan artikkelissa yleisön, median, päätöksentekijöiden ja tiedeyhteisön yhteisvaikutuksesta syntyvinä affektiivisina hybrideinä sosiaalisen median performansseina.

This article considers the societal discussion revolving around e-sports to be a reflection of the incommensurability of different means of value justification. The article seeks an answer to the question of how e-sports operators can demonstrate that their work entails aspects, i.e. propose value to aspects that are generally valued. The article presents a theory-guided analysis of the means of value justification in the world of e-sports. The theoretical basis builds upon modern economic sociology. The esteem of e-sports is not generated spontaneously but requires active measures by operators within the e-sports field. This calls for an ability to recognise various means of value justification and the related value categories and conflicts in one’s own work. The attractiveness of e-sports in the eyes of the corporate world as well as the general public is proportional to how credibly the e-sports operators are able to demonstrate aspects of their work that are in line with things that are generally valued. The present article contributes to the collaboration between e-sports operators and stakeholders by verbalising the tensions and possibilities related to such collaboration. The article aids in recognising the value-creating interfaces and in fortifying the collaboration and finding synergy benefits.

Sport is a widely used as a vehicle for promoting business. Global brands invest tens of millions of euros in high performance athletes, top teams, and popular sporting events. Studies have also shown the potentiality of sport in the business context. However, relatively few studies have focused on the interaction of business and sport from a value-creation perspective. Knowledge focusing on value creation within and through sport is scattered throughout literature and a systematic understanding of how value creation manifests itself in a business context is lacking. Using a systematic literature review and inductive analysis of 44 empirical studies, the article presents six identified topics that represent the various angles to value creation in the nexus between sport and business. The topics are 1) the many shades of value, 2) brands and sponsorship as value-creators, 3) the value of CSR in and through sport, 4) sport as a network and platform, 5) sport for developing organisations internally, and 6) value congruence and identification. The article contributes to both business management and sports management. The article proposes theoretical and managerial implications and identifies avenues for further research.

The relationship between ubiquitous technologies and organisational matters remains under-theorised. In this article, ubiquitous revolution is scrutinised within the framework of the 'service space' concept. The article argues that the healthcare field evolves so rapidly because of the continual introduction of new technologies and disruptive innovations. The role of healthcare related technologies and the drive by service providers to incorporate them to internet of things systems is likely to herald a significant departure in service delivery in the healthcare sector. The Japanese case study suggests that ubiquitous technologies accelerate social and societal change by focusing greater emphasis on customers' voices in the healthcare 'service space'. Moreover, the complexity and dynamics of this evolving 'service space' provide pivotal challenges for organisational adaptivity challenging the traditional organisational business and knowledge management models used by technology providers in various ways. The article suggests that further research is required to place this topic more firmly on the healthcare agenda.

The potential of social media in marketing communications is widely acknowledged, but in terms of making use of social media enabled analytics there are still uncovered possibilities for marketers. The focus of this paper is on analyzing the customers’ affective experiences appearing in the social media content. Through action design research, a framework that enables to analyze affective experiences from social media content is developed. The novelty of the framework is that it takes into account the different emotion families as well as the intensity of the affective experience, taking a one step further of the generally used sentiment analysis techniques in social media context. Through this kind of framework, the marketers are able to better catch even the weak emotional signals of the customers and to guide the customer to more valuable emotional path. This paper presents the developed framework and its pilot testing, carried out as part of a wider research process involving two research projects and researchers from three different universities.

Predictive capability (when implemented in a business context) refers to the early recognition of business opportunities and threats, improved customer intimacy, and agile reaction to changes in the business environment. In this article, we propose that developing and implementing a predictive capability depends on a change process that is only implementable under certain conditions. Based on a review of the research literature and interviews, three critical success factors relating to the successful implementation of the relevant change process were identified. They are (1) identifying the change drivers; (2) organizing vision for the change; and (3) the capacity to execute change. These three factors were further divided into 11 dimensions, which are as follows: (1a) increasing networking; (1b) changing customer needs; (1c) increasing elements of the knowledge economy; (1d) development of the information technology; (2a) strategic benefits; (2b) transactional benefits; (2c) informational benefits; (3a) strategic capabilities; (3b) management capabilities; (3c) knowledge capabilities; and (3d) operational capabilities. The findings suggest that Finnish manufacturing companies are willing to start the change toward developing and implementing a predictive capability. However, they are currently only at the stage of orienting toward this new managerial paradigm. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper explores the potential for innovation in welfare services. Using the complexity lens, the paper presents a theoretically founded basis for enabling innovation in complex public-private welfare service systems. The empirical data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with leading office holders responsible for social services in the City of Helsinki (Finland) and executive managers of social services producer organizations. As a result, this paper presents and discusses pro-innovation conditions for innovations in welfare services. Pro-innovation conditions consist of four dimensions: 1) creating trust, 2) increasing communication responsiveness, 3) utilising connectivity and interdependencies, and 4) pursuing diversity. This paper claims that the interaction processes have an unknown potetial that can be translated into a resource for improving innovation performance in welfare services. The paper also presents research and managerial implications. It is argued that complexity thinking opens up potential for the movement of thought in innovation research. One avenue for future research could be to get more deeply understanding why some organizations are able to be more responsive to evolving innovations than others. In order to answer this question, we suggest elaborating the consequences the conventional management and administrative activities may have on innovation in complex welfare service systems. The paper reflects empirical findings on the literature of innovation and complexity, and thereby might open new insights for practitioners to interpret their own innovation environment. One of the most important issue linked to innovation management is the acceptance of the paradox of “being in charge but not in control”. Instead of equaling management with the elimination of uncertainty related to innovation processes, management should be seen consisting of activities that have effects on ongoing interaction processes within the complex welfare service system. These effects can be anticipated, but not fully known. We suggest that managing innovation in complex welfare service systems require the ability to articulate emerging themes, to stand “co-opetition” states of diversity, to acknowledge the boundaries of rational thinking and resist the urge to rapidly draw conclusions, and reflect on one’s own behavior and its consequences.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual analysis of the theoretical and managerial bases and objectives of predictive business. Predictive business refers to operational decision‐making and the development of business processes on the basis of business event analysis. It supports the early recognition of business opportunities and threats, better customer intimacy and agile reaction to changes in business environment. An underlying rationale for predictive business is the attainment of competitive advantage through better management of information and knowledge.Design/methodology/approachThe approach to this article is conceptual and theoretical. The literature‐based discussion and analysis combines the perspectives of business performance management, business intelligence, and knowledge management to provide a new model of thinking and operation.FindingsFor a company predictive business is simultaneously a practical challenge and an epistemic one. It is a practical challenge because predictive business presupposes a change in the company's modes of operation. It is also an epistemic challenge, since it concerns the company's ability to find appropriate balance between knowledge exploitation and knowledge exploration.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research should be carried out on the functionality of practical applications as well as the attitudinal and technical preparedness of companies to adopt a new mode of operation. As a subject of investigation, the world of business events offer interesting methodological possibilities, since the basis of the work is the gathering and analysis of large quantities of information on operational activities.Originality/valueThere has been little research concerning business events in knowledge management context. This article presents a theoretically founded basis for predictive business, combining the concept of analysing business events with previous research in the field of knowledge management.

Innovation is defined as a process that is fraught with uncertainty. This article’s aim is to diminish lack of knowledge of the factors that create uncertainty in innovation processes. The basic thrust of the present argument is that the potential value integral to innovation may or may not be materialized in the future. Given that the future entails uncertainty, it is reasonable to expect that uncertainty is inherent in every innovation process. Uncertainty results from the fact that, on the one hand, events in the future do not follow the course of past events, and, on the other, knowledge of the future is always incomplete. Using a systematic approach to reviewing the literature, eight factors which create uncertainty in processes of innovation were identified, namely: technological uncertainty, market uncertainty, regulatory/institutional uncertainty, social/political uncertainty, acceptance/legitimacy uncertainty, managerial uncertainty, timing uncertainty, and consequence uncertainty.