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The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of labour market outcomes after the initial vocational basic education (ISCED 3).

A multinomial logit model is used for examining the effect of school resources and other factors on students' post‐schooling outcomes defined as employment, further studies, non‐employment and dropping out. Analysis has been done by using unique linked register data on students, their parents, teachers, educational organisations and business companies in Finland.

The results indicate that teaching expenditures do not matter but teachers' characteristics have a role to play. Teachers with a university degree increase the employment probability of the students, whereas the formal competence of the teachers does not have such positive effects. The students' characteristics and performance in comprehensive schools play an important role in determining the outcomes. Local business conditions affect the outcomes of boys but less those of girls. The official quality evaluations adopted in recent years seem to pay attention especially to such aspects of education production that are important for providing capabilities for further studies but less so for employability.

Employability seems to be a great challenge to the initial vocational basic education. The findings for local business conditions give support to the view that measures of education policy do not suffice but need to be complemented with those of regional or employment policy, for example, policies aiming to increase regional mobility of the labour force. Such complementary tools are particularly important for boys.

Effective customer‐specific knowledge transfer is the cornerstone of customer value creation in professional service organizations. In order to formulate a coherent service offering across different expertise areas, it is crucial to share customer‐specific knowledge between professionals, business functions and units. The purpose of this study is to offer insights into the role of key account management (KAM) systems in facilitating this process.

The work is based on an explorative case study in which the implementation of the KAM system in two consulting and training companies was investigated. Comparison of the two cases in terms of KAM design and success in knowledge transfer enabled conclusions to be drawn about the role of KAM as a knowledge carrier and a “linking pin” in a loosely coupled organization.

Organizational fragmentation and insufficient communication channels among experts and subgroups of professional organizations cause problems in relation to knowledge transfer. This also makes it more difficult to combine expertise and to create innovative service concepts for customers. A KAM system, if managed effectively, provides a powerful tool for counteracting these problems. It functions as a linking pin in a loosely coupled organization, helping to maintain customer‐specific knowledge transfer and continuity in customer relationships.

Very little research has been conducted on customer‐specific knowledge transfer in professional service organizations in spite of its central role in the creation of customer value. This study is unique in offering empirical evidence of the role of KAM systems in facilitating knowledge transfer. In the future, it would be interesting to study the role of different organizational conditions and practices, including organizational structures, the use of technological knowledge tools and cooperative working methods. The effectiveness of KAM systems in terms of financial performance and the creation of value for clients also deserve more research attention.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the country image of Finland among potential travellers and potential consumers of Finnish products. Three research questions are addressed, each of which contributes to the overall aim: What is the level of awareness about Finland among the respondents? How is the awareness constructed in terms of dimensions? Where does the image stem from (the source)?

A survey was conducted among US, French and Swiss university students. Given the high number of respondents who had not visited Finland, the analysis focused on non‐visitors. Six hypotheses were formulated based on existing theory.

Awareness is a key indicator of people's knowledge about the existence of a country. Branding may be an elementary tool in enhancing awareness as well as altering or reinforcing stereotypical views. The results of this study bring out the cross‐cultural aspects.

Including the respondents’ sources of information enhances the results of previous studies on country image. The findings contribute to the theoretical discussion on the source of the image and the factors that affect it.

Knowledge of the information sources and their role in image building will help destination marketers to influence potential travellers, including non‐visitors, and thereby increase the likelihood of a first or repeat visit.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to focus on awareness of a country among non‐visitors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key contemporary paradigms of management and leadership based upon an evolving linguistic analysis that is rich in the development of these concepts. Following this examination, the justification of the perspective of managerial leadership is put forth as a legitimate combination of these two concepts for usage in the modern global context.

From a European perspective, the paradigms of management and leadership are based upon a rich linguistic heritage that bridges the boundaries of several basic languages. These linguistic bases are examined; and following that, an extensive analysis of the relationship between the functions of management and leadership is presented, and a unique justification of the contemporary perspective of managerial leadership is developed.

In essence, the changes that have typically occurred regarding the paradigms of management and leadership have evolved from linguistic bases that have treated the two conceptual frameworks to be quite similar, and in some contexts virtually interchangeable, to paradigms of understanding that now treat them as being quite distinctive in scope and meaning. This treatise presents an exploration into the conceptual changes that have occurred in the linguistic cross‐cultural meanings of management and leadership, and shows that the distinction between the responsibilities of these two organizational roles, although not universally recognized, does exist in reality.

The basic value of this analysis rests with the examination of the distinct contemporary paradigms of management and leadership, and the case made for managerial leadership as a necessary ingredient for organizational success.