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Already having surpassed the previous generation in terms of size of the workforce, Millennials have received extensive attention in media and literature. As critical as this generation might be portrayed in media and sometimes also academic literature, the reality and underlying message of it all is that this generation is rapidly entering the workforce with high expectations, implications are made and companies need to react and adapt accordingly. For a company like thyssenkrupp Presta North America, consisting mainly of employees with an engineering background and seeking for these in a highly competitive job market, understanding this generation, specifically the Millennial Engineers, in order to successfully recruit and retain candidates is imperative for successfully operating in the future. Being natives to information technology, highly motivated, ambitious and determined, Millennials have the potential to have an extremely positive impact on the success of businesses. Reported high self-esteem and narcissistic characteristics make this generation require extensive adaptation and adjustment. Change in the engineering role is happening towards a more dynamic workplace. A modern engineer works in a team environment and interfaces with many different stakeholders. With this development in recent years away from the very traditional role of an engineer, the importance of social and soft skills greatly increased. In order to facilitate this, the processes of organizational socialization play a major role and are an opportunity for employers to influence and shape the adjustment. A well-structured process facilitates adjustment and positive long term outcomes. The question was raised, whether the high expectations of Millennial engineering graduates before their first job reported in literature will change once the work life has been entered. Through a series of qualitative interviews with Millennial engineers at thyssenkrupp Presta North America, the high expectations reported previously were not found. The main objective for the employees surveyed was to simply get started in the work life. In regards to change of expectations, however, much greater emphasis on career progression and training and development possibilities was placed.
Model-based setting of inspiratory pressure and respiratory rate in pressure-controlled ventilation
(2014)
The subject of this bachelor thesis is a review of literature concerning the development of methods for the improved estimation and management of employee relocation costs. According to the reviewed literature, the problems of developing a uniform method are determined including the lack of standard practices, guessing costs rather than estimating them, the lack of metrics for both costs and benefits and the difficulty of collecting all relevant data. Moreover the approaches of creating a uniform process, the expatriate return on investment as the most important one, are discussed.
As a result, this thesis presents recommendations for establishing an improved employee relocation cost management.
The leisure industry experiences a shift in selling their services online. While external sales channels have been dominating the online ticket sales in the last decade, a new trend of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) sales through individual platforms has been on the rise. This study aimed to research on the usage of external and direct sales channels in the leisure industry and tried to find reasons for the rapid increase of leisure venues shifting their sales channels on their own online platform and abandoning external sales channels. For this study, a primary research with leisure venues across Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the form of a questionnaire with 104 participants was conducted. The topic of the questionnaire was the usage of external and direct sales channels and ticket reseller as well as promotion methods of the leisure venues participating. Furthermore, an expert interview with the CEO of a wellness centre was conducted to gain first-hand knowledge on the research topic. The thesis ends with an analysis of the survey results and conclusions on what the usage of external and direct sales channels in the leisure industry are and how the DTC trend emerged from the state of the industry.
Living in times when the Internet and Social Media is changing customer’s behavior, Customer Relationship Managers face the question how to deal with those changes and how to optimize their strategy to remain attractive for the customers. The behavior of people is changing immensely as customers do not prefer to be influenced by companies which are pushing products and brands to them. The force and pressure of customers towards brands is rising steadily, since they expect them to actively engage with them and to offer high quality information rather than a brand who is trying to make the purchase decision for the customer. These times, ordinary customers turn into active influencer who could reach a huge number of people and potential customers and therefore influence their purchase decision. Therefore understanding the current customer behavior and the way how, when and why they make a purchase and what could influence their decision is crucial to businesses. Consequently, businesses have to start managing the complete Customer Decision Journey of each target group and customer. On this account, this Thesis will cover each step of the Customer Decision Journey – Formulation, Pre-Purchase, Purchase, and Post-Purchase - and its influence factors. Thus the key success factors will be indicated, afterwards the Thesis will continue with the concept of corporate Online Shops and Multichannel Retailing and two Case Studies will finish this paper. After a secondary research, findings show that the participation of a certain generation and culture, as well as product reviews on the Internet and Social Media peers are influencing the Customer Decision Journey tremendously. Thus, Online Shops are playing an important role in the first two stages of the Customer Journey and the second Case Study shows the importance of the post-purchase stage. On the one hand side, all those new channels that are influencing and changing the customer and his/her behavior could be a big challenge for businesses. But on the other hand, businesses could start to modify their strategy and approach towards its customers, make use of new possibilities the Internet is offering and start creating a positive, memorable and shareable customer experience.
Internationally standardized POS layout considering success factors - the example of Würth Group
(2017)
This work is part of the project “International expansion – Standards”. The overall objective of this thesis is to develop an internationally standardized POS layout which ensures a uniform international appearance. The situation in Germany as the headquarters and development center and the surrounding countries Austria, Switzerland and France has been taken into consideration. An analysis of the current layouts regarding shelving system, arrangement of the product groups, guidance system and design factors has been carried out in selected pick-up shops in these countries. In addition, a customer survey has been conducted whereby orientation, overview and legibility of the store have been focal points. As a third analysis the assortments of the respective countries have been analyzed and compared. It was found that some areas at the POS vary from country to country. Major differences exist in the assortments of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. Among the areas of arrangement of the shelves and product groups, size of the sales area, guidance system and coloring scheme, differences have been revealed as well. Taking into consideration the differences and similarities in the layouts and assortment optimization possibilities have been worked out. As a result an ideal layout has been developed on the basis of the conducted analyses. The layout itself can be implemented cross-nationally. Due to limitations in the analysis of the assortment, it must be analyzed in more detail in order to implement it for the new shop concept. However, a cross-national uniform appearance can only be reached if in addition to the new stores all existing pick-up shops are adapted to the ideal layout.
In 2016, Germany’s population consisted of 22.5% of individuals with a migration background and the share is expected to further grow in the future. Therefore, how to successfully integrate migrants is a recurring topic. This paper examines the labour market integration and identificative integration among one of Germany’s largest minorities, migrants from the former Soviet Union. Due to a lack of data on the second-generation migrants and outdated findings on older migrants, secondary research and primary research in form of an online survey is conducted to disclose the current integration status and how it is affected by the cultural background of both generations. Furthermore, possible differences in the integration process of migrants of different ages are investigated.
The results show that the integration of the target population is characterized by a relatively high employment rate, a positive attitude towards Germany and pursuit of the most rewarding acculturation strategy. However, the lack of interethnic networks and the strong presence in blue-collar jobs leave room for improvement. Through the deployment of migrant networks, the target group benefits from its cultural background but also feels discriminated because of it. Only a few significant differences between the integration of migrants of different ages are discovered, including the command and use of German as well as the role of migrant networks.
Currently, inflation is rising again at a pace not observed since the decade of high inflation in the 1970s, and consumer sentiment is falling to record lows. This work seeks to understand the extent and potential differences of how inflation impacts consumer behavior in these two inflation periods. To this end, we employ an adaptive theory of consumer behavior using a variant of a stimuli-response model.
We analyze stimuli of behavioral changes along two dimensions. We describe consumers’ ability to buy by external factors and their willingness to buy by internal influences. Relevant quantities for each are determined, and their time series are investigated. We investigate responses to the stimuli in two categories. We assess adaptions in behavioral patterns by reviewing research studies and surveys. We analyze salient responses via times series.
The results of this work reveal that inflation does have a significant impact on consumer behavior. Many effects of inflation on consumer behavior are similar for both inflation periods. External and internal factors are needed to explain behavioral changes. This work also finds different responses for the two inflation periods, although internal influences are very similar. Qualitatively, we can explain these different responses by external factors that differ between the two time periods. For more quantitative conclusions, one would have to consider additional internal factors. Further longitudinal studies to identify internal stimuli and consumer responses would also be of great value.
A simulation study on the ventilation inhomogeneity measured with Electrical Impedance Tomography
(2017)
The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the impact the choice of registered cooperatives as legal form for start-ups can have on the success of crowdfunding campaigns regarding information asymmetry and agency costs. The theoretical analysis argues that due to the reduction of information asymmetry between founders and contributors, agency costs should be reduced,and success of their crowdfunding campaigns should be more likely. This result is confirmed with some caveats with the help of expert interviews. In conclusion, only companies that aim for additional benefits of registered cooperatives are eligible to be founded as registered cooperatives in order to decrease information asymmetry and increase chances of success in crowdfunding.
Throughout the paper, the different concepts are applied to the practical example of the founding process of a social start-up, the Zeitcafé Freiburg, which results in the recommendation of registered cooperatives as legal form and crowdfunding as one source of capital.
With the increasing popularity of the home office model and the limited exploration of associated stressors necessitate a comprehensive investigation of potential drawbacks. This thesis embarks on an investigation of how the home office paradigm can be leveraged to alleviate distress, nurture mental well-being. Specifically, it delves into an analysis of five prominent stressors inherent in the home office context, identifying effective strategies for mitigating each one adeptly. The data and research in this thesis are drawn from existing literature on the work concept. The findings underscore the substantial influence of these stressors on employees’ mental health and productivity. However, specific measures to mitigate these challenges are identified and thoroughly expounded upon. This research provides valuable insights into optimizing the home office environment and promoting the holistic well-being of employees.
Adaptation of Blood Volume and Cardiac Dimensions to Endurance Training in Paraplegic Athletes
(2008)
Respiratory system inertance corresponds to extravascular lung water in surfactant-deficient piglets
(2008)
Pressure loss caused by pediatric endotracheal tubes during high-frequency-oscillation-ventilation
(2008)
The aim of this paper is to explore factors driving and affecting motivation of workers for participating in Crowdsourcing platforms and propose adequate incentive mechanisms. A general definition what mainly motivates crowd workers, poses a difficult task, as it depends on a diversity of opportunities and challenges, which entail Crowdsourcing systems. Although they represent a common notion for the majority of crowd workers, these opportunities and challenges do not have the same effect on their motivation, as crowd workers are in different situations and differ in their influenceability. Thus, creating incentive mechanisms for such a heterogeneous pool of people with different backgrounds, holding different reasons and motivations concerning their participation at Crowdsourcing platforms represents a major challenge. In any case, incentives should meet the needs of the increasing number of remote workers in order to motivate them participating in Crowdsourcing platforms and contribute with quality work. This in return will ensure the sustainability of the Crowdsourcing system.
Today’s era is marked by high volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity – VUCA. As the global reach of businesses increases, the need for competent managers to take on cross-border assignments grows. Even though the results can be key to organizational effectiveness, global mobility remains a low priority on the list of strategic imperatives. This thesis will explain why and how companies should consider a strategic approach to global mobility in a VUCA environment discussing links between today’s turbulent times and global mobility. It will combine theory with practice, point out the key factors global mobility strategies must focus on in today’s VUCA environment and use these findings to develop a set of assignment types beneficial in the VUCA era. The study is based on qualitative research methodology using primary and secondary data. A literature review was used to gather theoretical information comparing various sources from academic journals and books on relevant topics. Case studies featuring Budenheim and Hewlett Packard shall give an insight into which methods companies are using in order to survive in this chaos and relate discussed theories to practical situations. It has been revealed that the three main factors responsible managers must focus on strategically when sending employees abroad are developmental value, cost effectiveness, and flexibility of cross-border assignments. The need for developmental value of assignments stems from an increased involvement of employees in their own development as well as the need for competent global managers. The need for cost effectiveness results from fierce global competition, and flexibility is highly important due to all of the VUCA forces creating turbulence around the globe. Based on these results the most advantageous assignment types are found to be developmental assignments, extended business travels and project assignments.
Purpose - The venture capital (VC) company Antler is striving for a gender balanced start-up program. Nevertheless, with average numbers of 21% - 32% of female founders within their programs in Europe, Antler can still improve their numbers of female entrepreneurs. The purpose of this thesis is to conduct general research on women entrepreneurship and to develop a strategy on how Antler could increase their numbers of female business founders in their programs.
Methods - The thesis reviews literature on female entrepreneurship to conduct general research and internal company data is used to analyse the current position of Antler with regard to their female company founder representation within their programs. Expert interviews are conducted to gain information about biases at Antler and the significance of females within the entrepreneurial industry.
Findings – In order to increase their ratio of female entrepreneurs in their start-up programs, Antler should focus on a long-run approach and stay in contact with the women who did not join Antler initially, as many of them need more time to be convinced. Media coverage can raise awareness, educate and give women role-models of successful female company founders. Quotas and legal guidelines could change the numbers of female entrepreneurs right now, until a change in the mindset and social views towards women is created.
Limitations - As this thesis is based on internal company data, it is only covering the perspective of the venture capital company Antler and the European market. Further research would be needed to widen the conclusions.
Value - This thesis shows the importance of female entrepreneurs and the difficulties they face. It provides Antler with information and a strategy on how to increase their numbers of female entrepreneurs in their start-up programs.
Prophylaxis in pink: Susceptibility of human oral bacteria to roseoflavin, a vitamin B2 analogue
(2023)
Transcultural Student Research on SDGs - A Higher Education Project for Sustainable Development
(2023)
Strategic Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
(2015)
Although the Balanced Scorecard, designed by Kaplan and Norton in 1992, seems to be established as accepted performance measurement and management tool, a minority of small and medium-sized enterprises were recognised using it. Thus, further investigation of this minority was seen as interesting. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to demonstrate and examine possible drivers and challenges within small and medium-sized enterprises using a Balanced Scorecard and additionally provide areas of improvement for the analysed company, tecnotron. In order to reach this, a company study was conducted, clustering around three types of data collection, including the analysis of company documents, information obtained from general managers, and semi-structured personal interviews with six key persons of the middle management. This enabled to create a holistic view of the current practices used at tecnotron and revealing possible issues with regard to their performance measurement framework and system. The results of the study demonstrated that quality certification norms are supportive approaches and can be seen as drivers to succeed in developing and using a Balanced Scorecard in small and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, the study results primarily indicated challenges regarding the selection of measures and the movement towards a strategically linked Balanced Scorecard with the perception as strategic management tool. For tecnotron it was recommended that the consideration of establishing linkages among their objectives, with the help of a strategy map, could be advantageous for their future development.
This thesis has the purpose to investigate the oil price as the global economic factor but also to examine its implications on the worldwide economy. Thereby the determinants of the oil price are investigated by tackling the oil price itself from three different perspectives – the supply and demand framework, the prevailing world oil market structure as well as from the perspective of already statistically proven oil price determinants. In addition, the arising macroeconomic implications of oil price fluctuations on oil-importing and oil-exporting countries are examined. The investigation based on a thought experiment demonstrates the supply and demand framework to be unable to fully explain all past price changes. The examination on the prevailing market structure identifies the world oil market to be best described as a supply, pure, closed, partial and collusive form of an oligopoly. Analyzing the competitive behavior of the world oil market on three levels identifies non-OPEC producers’ competition to behave in a Cournot manner whereas among OPEC producers Saudi Arabia is identified to be a Stackelberg-follower with certain conditions while at the same time permanently bearing the ambition to become the Stackelberg-leader. The identification on the best describing oligopoly model for the overall industry is inconclusive. Investigating OPEC’s cartel hypothesis does not fully exclude its collusive behavior but denies the OPEC to be described as a prime example of a cartel. The examination of already existing econometric analyses identified a total of 13 determinants to play a key role in the oil price definition process. Investigating the arising macroeconomic implications of oil price fluctuations show oil price changes to be of great importance for the overall economic performance and is best described as a form of a positive of negative vicious circle in which the interconnected second or even third round effects intensify the implications on the macroeconomic activity.
The present study examines stock split announcements with regard to the semi-strong form of the efficient market hypothesis. Daily security price data and a sample of 262 stock split announcements observed on the New York Stock Exchange during the ten-year period from January 2006 to December 2015 are applied on parametric as well as nonparametric tests. The test results provide empirical evidence in favor of the semi-strong form of market efficiency. This implies that the marketplace immediately and efficiently reacts to stock split announcements by adjusting security prices. Therefore, it is not possible to generate significant abnormal returns by trading on the information content implicit in stock split announcements.
The primary purpose of this thesis is to examine if the implementation of process mining significantly impacts a company’s competitive advantage, what challenges organizations face during that process and while using the tool as well as to identify drivers for business value generation and for which purposes and in which areas process mining is applied along the value chain. Therefore, an exploratory case study was conducted based on ten in-depth expert interviews containing representatives of various industries.
Today’s business environment of uncertainty and increasing volatility demands for organizational resilience and adaptability. Businesses recognize the importance of effective process execution and management based on the necessity of process optimization in order to sustain competitive. Due to its universality of application and its ability to deliver ubiquitous value in ways that never have been possible before, process mining is gaining vast popularity across various domains.
Findings appear to show that process mining is seen as modern, innovative, and supportive means to gain transparency over processes’ complexity by facilitating the ease of identifying improvement areas on a holistic end-to-end perspective of a company’s value chain.
Thus, businesses use process mining to yield the creation of monetary and non-monetary values by deploying an iterative cycle of continuous improvement. Hence, value potentials are realized by transforming actionable insights obtained into suitable actions serving as enablement for value capture. Despite that, process mining impacts organizations on different levels, whereas such impacts potentially affect a company’s competitive advantage through several paths. The study further explores a variety of success factors consisting of antecedents for effective usage and drivers for consistent value creation of process mining. The analysis depicts moderating effects of success factors on several challenges, whereas organizational challenges clearly overweight technical’s. Ultimately, implications for further research and managerial actions are presented focusing on the organizational perspective of process mining.
The aim of this thesis is to gain an understanding of why and how electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is influencing consumers buying decisions, and to furthermore describe the opportunities and limitations, which using electronic word of mouth on YouTube as marketing tool represent. This thesis is a compilation of the most important studies and finding conducted in this field. It discusses the concept of word of mouth and some dimensions in which eWOM differs from its traditional counterpart and describes the most important criteria related to the influence of eWOM on consumers buying behaviours. It provides an overview of relevant studies regarding the impact of eWOM on the buying behaviour and discusses YouTube as a marketing platform. Finally, it identifies opportunities and limitations based on the previous findings related to using eWOM on YouTube as part of the marketing mix. The findings suggest that eWOM differs from its traditional counterpart mainly due to its wide and fast spread and is therefore perceived as more influential. Its influence was furthermore found to depend on factors related to the eWOM valence, the product or service addressed, the eWOM source and sender, as well as the platform used. Further, using eWOM shared on YouTube as marketing tool was identified to offer companies the opportunity to reach a wide and also usually hard-to-reach audience, increase awareness, interest and influence on consumers buying behaviour. Limitations were identified to be the uncontrollable spread, the target audience, the constant availability and uncertain credibility, risking authenticity as well as the interdependent influence.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine leadership trends in France and Germany. It is examined whether leadership in both France and Germany is going to become participative in the near future due to increasing internationalization and due to the emergence of a new leadership generation in France and Germany with different expectations and behaviors, namely
Millennials.
Design/methodology/approach – This thesis comprises three major parts: First, leadership career paths in France and Germany are compared. Second, French and German management cultures are compared and their likelihood of convergence examined. Third, a closer look is taken at inter- as well as intra-generational differences with particular focus on Generation Y/ Millennials – the new leadership generation. Their differences and similarities in comparison with older generations as well as across national cultures are presented and discussed.
Findings – The analysis shows that outstanding leadership in both France and Germany seems to be participative. Further, French and German Millennials tend to be more open towards participative leadership than older generations. Nevertheless, participative leadership is more likely to be practiced in Germany than in France. French top managers still share very distinct national career path patterns, providing an elitist reputation and certain privileges. This often leads to rather non-participative, but authoritarian command-and-control based leadership
practices in France.
Research limitations/implications – Limitations of this thesis include the enormous scope of the topic - not everything could be covered in depth. Further, the up-to-date nature of the data used must be questioned - the incredible speed of change in today’s business world makes even recent research studies outdated within a short period of time.
Originality/value – French and German top management career paths as well as French and German management practices have been examined individually as well as comparatively in countless studies. However, different than probably any research study so far, this thesis also
includes inter- generational as well as intra-generational differences and similarities in France and Germany in order to reveal future trends. All in all, this thesis provides a broad outline of leadership trends in France and Germany and points out where further research must be carried out in more depth.
The marketing strategies concerning the establishment of a brand originally come from the business sector. Because of the differences between non-profit organizations (NPOs) and companies they are not equally applicable to the non-profit sector. This thesis examines the applicability of these strategies and also looks at their possibilities of adaptation to fit the characteristics of the NPOs. Apart from that it shows the operationalisation by means of the communication. In the practical part of the thesis the findings are applied to the example of the Spanish NPO Iniciativa Internacional Jóven. Starting with the organization’s mission and vision it is explained how the organization’s purpose, values and principles, and the view of the future evolve during the phase of foundation and which requirements have to be met. Subsequently the development of marketing objectives is shown. The following chapter of the marketing strategy is divided into four parts: segmentation and target groups, differentiation, brand identity and image and lastly positioning. Concerning the segmentation and target group this task is more complicated for NPOs because NPOs have to pay attention to the three different target groups of the users, volunteers and donors. However, the definition of target groups can support the efficient use of resources because of the focus on narrowly defined groups of persons. With regard to the differentiation the competitive advantages are examined. Those result from the combination of core competencies and their respective contribution to the value for the target groups. That way NPOs can discover where to focus their resources and an additional connection to the target groups can be established. The brand identity corresponds to the self-image of an organization. By investigating this self-image in a structured way and elaborating an extensive and at the same time consistent brand identity the basis for a favourable brand image can be created. The brand image is equivalent to the brand perception on the side of the stakeholders. The link between the brand identity and image is the positioning. Within the positioning strategy the various characteristics of the identity are transformed into a few positioning features, depending on their relevance for the target groups and the prevailing market conditions. The marketing strategy lays the foundation for the strategy of communication. Within the scope of this strategy those communication instruments are selected which best contribute to the achievement of the communication goals, which for their part allow the marketing objective achievement. In addition the communication message can be developed so that it can be perceived, remembered and associated with the organization the best way possible. The application of the findings leads to the impetus to two communication campaigns for the non-profit organization Iniciativa Internacional Jóven.
As machine learning becomes increasingly pervasive, its resource demands and financial implications escalate, necessitating energy and cost optimisations to meet stakeholder demands. Quality metrics for predictive machine learning models are abundant, but efficiency metrics remain rare. We propose a framework for efficiency metrics, that enables the comparison of distinct efficiency types. A quality-focused efficiency metric is introduced that considers resource consumption, computational effort, and runtime in addition to prediction quality. The metric has been successfully tested for usability, plausibility, and compensation for dataset size and host performance. This framework enables informed decisions to be made about the use and design of machine learning in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner.
Digital transformation strengthens the interconnection of companies in order to develop optimized and better customized, cross-company business models. These models require secure, reliable, and trace- able evidence and monitoring of contractually agreed information to gain trust between stakeholders. Blockchain technology using smart contracts allows the industry to establish trust and automate cross- company business processes without the risk of losing data control. A typical cross-company industry use case is equipment maintenance. Machine manufacturers and service providers offer maintenance for their machines and tools in order to achieve high availability at low costs. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate how maintenance use cases are attempted by utilizing hyperledger fabric for building a chain of trust by hardened evidence logging of the maintenance process to achieve legal certainty. Contracts are digitized into smart contracts automating business that increase the security and mitigate the error-proneness of the business processes.
Travel bans, lockdowns, and social distancing shape the daily pandemic rou- tine and force marketers, producers, business, and consumers to changed buying behavior and disrupted buying habits. Online sales are sky rocking and hence the comprehension of changes in consumer behavior towards online shopping play an important role for the economy. The aim of the present thesis is to investigate changes in consumer behavior due to COVID-19 and give insights whether these changes last or not. Subordinately, it is examined whether – and if, how – online and offline buying motives are linked to possible lasting changes. Therefore, a deductive quantitative method, namely an online questionnaire, was chosen to conduct, and descriptive statistics to display and analyze data. The conducted data confirms a surge in online shopping fre- quency during the pandemic, but also shows that the respondents will not re- turn to old buying frequency habits and keep buying online as much as during the pandemic. Besides that, the present work confirms the assumption that COVID-19 raised awareness to support local stores. I further conclude that the research subjects gain trust in shopping online and will repeat new online shopping experiences. Hence, adopted consumer behavior will be repeated respectively and old buying habits are being refrained.
Automated Advisory Services. An investigation of Efficiency on Using the Black-Litterman Model
(2016)
This thesis seeks to investigate efficiency of current portfolio theory, using the Black-Litterman Model, for creating portfolio recommendations as offered by Automated Advisory Services. These services have recently appeared, offering wealth management through a digital store front. As the human component has been removed from the equation, algorithms based on portfolio theory provide portfolio recommendations upon profiling the user of such services. Tests on parameters of the Black-Litterman Model will be run between September 2007 and December 2009, the financial crisis. The aim is to understand how efficient the parameters are able to steer the model to reflect the investor preferences, and how Black Litterman portfolios would have performed during turbulent economic times to test the efficiency claim by providers of automated advisory services.
SPACs are an alternative way for companies to access the capital market. They have experienced a boom since 2020, and in the following year 613 SPACs raised more than $160 billion in the US. However, SPACs are controversial and have been criticized for bad performance and incentive misalignments. This bachelor thesis aims to examine whether the current US SPAC boom is a temporary phenomenon or whether SPACs represent a long-term alternative to the traditional IPO process. To answer this research question, a literature review and 14 semi-structured expert interviews were conducted to explore the reasons for the boom, the advantages and disadvantages for companies seeking to go public, and the winner and losers of the SPAC process. This work shows that SPACs had already gained acceptance in the market before the boom, and it argues that SPACs are a viable alternative to the traditional IPO process for young, risky companies due to the regulatory advantages and the support of SPAC sponsors. In addition, the majority of key SPAC stakeholders are winning in the SPAC process and are likely to continue to support the market in the future. At the same time, this paper finds that the Corona pandemic was an important catalyst for the SPAC market, but that the associated reasons for the boom will probably recede. Moreover, PIPE investors will be more selective in the future and sponsors without appropriate expertise and network will have to liquidate their SPACs more often. This bachelor thesis therefore concludes that SPACs will continue to exist. However, there will be fewer and higher quality SPACs in the future.
The purpose of this study was to work out structured ways to lead GVTs. The Model of Team Leadership, which has been worked on in chapter 5, has shown that a mental model that can be used by people leading a team is helpful also when applied for GVTs. This model for virtual leadership offers the possibility to locate possible issues and address upcoming problems that might hinder the project to succeed early enough, but with prior monitoring, surveying and examination. This model, which is based on the assumption that leaderships is being shared in teams and also multiple team members can execute leadership actions, can be applied in GVTs as a basic mental model by all team members. This helps creating a common understanding of team leadership and the areas where issues, misunderstandings and conflicts can stem from.
Secondly, this work showed that there is not one single form of GVT existing – as it is often the case in research work – and requires consequently different focus of leadership actions. The GVT Matrix is a first step, which tries to differentiate leadership challenges along the defined GVT types. This point can be addressed in future research to find respective data that are increasing the scientific relevance on the differences of leadership in GVTs that can then be applied in the model used in chapter 6.
This point is also the limitation of this research. As many data is available for general leadership of GVT, data on leadership issues relating special types of GVTs is relatively rare. The assumptions and validated findings that have been used to fill the GVT Matrix are not as fully scientifically reliable as it could have been. Future research can address this issue if new data is available which are examining the differences of GVTs.
Detection of Concept Drift in Manufacturing Data with SHAP Values to Improve Error Prediction
(2021)
How much blood is needed?
(2010)
The rapid development of digital technologies has stimulated the shift from real life interaction to online communication. Internet audience is rapidly growing every day, while cost of reaching it is remains affordable.
Transformational changes in business environments, skills and cultures have led to the shift from product-based to knowledge-based economies.
New models of employment are getting more and more common, non-standardized employment has risen. The work lifecycle is changing. Instead of linear pattern— education, work, and retirement— there is a move to “cyclic life plans,” with periods of education, work and recreation overlapped and interspersed across a lifetime. This trend challenges standardized career paths, development programs and incentive systems. “Employee consumerism” is rising, especially for those with in-demand skills and experience.
All the above trends in global economy bring a new challenge for the individuals who want to succeed in their careers and personal development. This challenge is decent self-promotion on a labor market, which can be achieved by using efficient self-marketing channels and tools, in particular online.
The Elephant in the Room - Educating Practitioners on Software Development for Sustainability
(2021)
The financial markets are currently facing uncertain circumstances, which is increasing their tail risk. A recent study was conducted to measure the tail connectedness between North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The study looked at 18 stock market indices using a neural network quantile regression approach from January 4, 2012, to May 5, 2022. The study found that the North American, European, and Latin American stock markets had the highest exposure to tail risk, while Asia and Oceania showed no significant risk compared to the rest of the world indices and were independent. The study also identified the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic as intense events that yielded high tail risk. The Systematic Fragility Index ranked the pre-COVID period stock market and the Nasdaq during the COVID sample as the most susceptible markets. On the other hand, the Systematic Hazard Index identified the S&P as the chief risk contributor in the system.
2016 marks the 56th anniversary of the oil cartel: OPEC. It managed to increase prices in 1972. In doing so, it behaved in a manner consistent with a cartel, bringing about a wave of studies on it. This study provides an overview of Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s cartel behavior form 1980 to 2014/5, from five different perspectives. These perspectives, although have been studies individually, but never holistically.
This study grounds the research questions into the structure-conduct-performance paradigm for each of the five perspectives of cartel behavior. Each perspective is also backed by a theory of its own. The first perspective is that of the neo-classical theory of the firm, in that OPEC is deemed to be created for the purpose of creating profits for its members. The second perspective looks at whether or not OPEC is internally and externally stable by looking at economic and non-economic influences on the organization. The third perspective makes use of the theory of market contestability, in oder to determine which member in the cartel has had and still holds most influence within the cartel. The fourth perspective looks at entry and exit trends from OPEC, to determine what impact it has on the incumbent profits and that of the defectors. The fifth perspective uses the concept of black swan from the strategic management literature to discuss whether or not OPEC will dissolve in the next fifty years and whether this will bring about a golden or a black swan.
The methodology prevalent throughout the study is a case study analysis of the OPEC cartel behavior, however, two of the chapters also run a regression analysis (chapters 3 and 4), using variables identified from the structure-conduct-performance paradigm. The second and the third provide a descriptive overview via line graphs, while the last uses the methodology of observation.
It has been found that OPEC has earned abnormal profits which steadily increased, Saudi Arabia has been instrumental in managing quotas, and importance of each country is determined by the output it produced from one year to the next. In addition, economic influences are more important than the non-economic influences for OPEC's viability as a cartel, exit from OPEC is not advisable for the defector nor the incumbent firms and the cartel is not internally stable as barriers to entry are low and members can easily defect and can rejoin the cartel. Lastly, OPEC’s influence in the oil market is waning fast, which might lead to a black swan event.
In the Job Satisfaction- Performance literature largely, job satisfaction is portrayed and
discussed positively as a performance driver for organizations that embark on the journey
of progress. This research asks whether job satisfaction inevitably leads to negative
implementation outcomes and how. This research focuses on factors other than job
satisfaction that can be used to drive better performance of employees and how
satisfaction could also lead to negative outcomes. In an attempt to answer this question,
the research undertakes three key tasks. First, it contextualizes how job satisfaction has
minor affects on performance. Second, it outlines the factors that can increase
performance. Third, it discusses crisply the adverse affects on job satisfaction through
empirical evidence to provide focus and 'evidential grounding' for the research.
Essentially, the research contends that for institutions that are unable to manage and lead
productivity from employees, this research serves a powerful purpose ensuring the multi-dimensional approach to view employee performance and modelled to take account of
the people on whom it may impact as well as the overall value it may deliver.