Study blog by Kaisa Leinonen

In Trigger 2 we read an article about Kodak and Fujifilm, and how Fujifilm succeeded in the digital age but Kodak didn't. After the brainstorming, we defined the problem which is: How to succeed in fast changing markets? We categorised the concepts in internal and external factors affecting the company success and defined our learning objectives: Internal: What factors influence in company’s successful strategy? External: How to foresee changes in markets? 1.  What factors influence in company’s success? International business success is determined by the degree to which a firm achieves three skills: efficiency, flexibility and learning. Requisite dimensions of the successful international firm are: visionary leadership, strong organisational culture, superior organisational processes, appropriate organisational structure and strategies that optimise international operations. (Cavusgil, Knight, Riesenberg, Rammal & Rose 2015, 335-336.)

In PBL Trigger 1, we were thinking about Hanne’s problem. She wants to get more challenging positions at work and thinks that a degree could help her reach her goal. She was accepted to study at Haaga-Helia in Globba programme but is now pondering if the diploma is worth all the time and energy it requires. After a discussion, our group defined Hanne’s problem which is “Diploma or not?” After brainstorming, we defined three learning objectives which I am going to research in this blog post. First learning objective is: “ Do I have enough motivation and time for studies? ” I started to think about this through motivation theories. Growth or actualization motivation theories suggest that motivation is the pursuit of activities that lead to “Growth”, “Self-fulfillment”, and “Self-Actualization”. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, an individual can only reach his or her full potential once he or she has met all the needs from each level of the five-level pyramid. T