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Although the market share of a specific airline is very often a rough estimation, it is still of great importance for the airline top management. In order to make the right strategic decision, management should be aware of its current position and its competitors. This information is important to decide on the airline’s fleet assignment, revenue management and planning and scheduling. A variety of different models exists for market size and market share forecasting. Since no single model provides accuracy, airlines usually combine and compare the results of different approaches. Generally speaking, market share can be estimated using different starting parameters, such as flight frequency, fare, quality of service, number of airplane’s seats, time of departure, etc. The market share depends also on its competitors’ strategy and current economic situation. As it is almost impossible to take into consideration all these parameters in one model, different techniques very often provide different results, and it is the task of the airline network planners to calibrate and validate the model. In this Master Thesis I consider market share as a parameter whose value is between 0 and 1 and which is calculated as a ratio of passengers travelled by a specific airline to a total number of passengers travelled between a given pairs of cities. This Master Thesis presents two objectives. First, it gives an introduction to the history of the airline industry. It analyzes the main factors affecting the demand, gives and overview of the airline network management and presents the most popular models for market size and share forecasting. Second, it estimates the airlines’ market shares for a given set of city pairs for 2013 and 2014 and finds the formula which can be used for future network planning. The estimation is conducted using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) model.
Crowdlending is a growing business model that originated from the new crowdfunding phenomenon. It consists of funding companies’ loans through joining money from many investors in exchange for regular payments. One important key value in this model is the speed of the credit approval and the investment choice. The upcoming crowdlending platforms facilitate their growth through the automation of those processes. This study explores the creation of a credit-scoring model for an entrepreneurial platform, in order to fulfill the necessity of quickly determining the risk and the characteristics of loan applications for SME companies. This study will also analyze the pricing loan strategy based on the risk of the operations. Finally, the thesis suggests a of the loans and concludes with a series of improvement measures for the model.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis in Germany has been lately a constant research topic in many fields; politics, economics, cultural, social and safety aspects etc. popping up in all the news worldwide. Everybody is concerned about it and tackling it from a different point of view. Some believe that it a mutual benefit to both the country (Germany) and the refugees. As Germany benefits a lot form the cheap labor of migrant workers in the different industries. Specially the fast growing industries like the rural ones. Others fear that they will weaken the German culture and economy. And that they are burdens on the national people and will cause many problems.
In this paper two aspects of the challenges facing the Syrian refugees in Germany are discussed: the first is their integration and acculturation with the German society and the second is the challenges facing the refugees in entering the German labor market and case studies of Syrian entrepreneurs who developed their own family businesses in Germany are presented. The interviews were held with Syrian refugees in the state of Baden-Württemberg in 2015/2016 in Arabic language. The groups that were interviewed were in Villingen-Schwenningen and Stuttgart. An analysis of the cases presented along with the findings of the surveys and interviews are presented and finally some recommendations are suggested.
High voltage insulation properties of DLC-Parylene multilayer films for microsurgery instruments
(2016)
Real‐Time NMR Studies of Oxyamine Ligations of Reducing Carbohydrates under Equilibrium Conditions
(2016)
Quality Management has attained top priority in many sectors, notably in the airspace industry. A thereby integrated mechanism to ensure the containment and correction of production errors should include a consistent and effective tracking system to maximise business process efficiency on the internal as well as overall company level.
The A350 Doors Program of Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH has identified the need for an improvement project to augment the quality of the associated summary report in terms of time, money and scope. This research aims to document as well as evaluate the effectiveness of this optimisation through the measurement of key indicators.
Through the application of various project and business process management tools this research measures the consumption of financial and time resources as well as the change in the quality of the reported outcome. Thereby it found that the optimisation achieved a radical reduction in scope of the document, thus limiting the amount of time and financial resources consumed. Similarly, previous tracking errors were corrected and the procedure altered, increasing the decision-making quality of the content. These results and their attainment process are to be considered for future company internal optimisation projects.
A shortage of skilled workers is a problem which many organizations face when expanding their plants abroad. In Germany, for many organizations it is comparatively easy to prevent this problem by constantly training their own employees in the apprenticeship system but in their plants abroad this option is commonly not available. The only way to achieve the same option abroad is to implement the apprenticeship program in the plants independently. That bears many challenges but also many opportunities. This thesis focuses on the implementation of the apprenticeship in Mexico and seeks to examine the main challenges which arise before, during and after the implementation. After the examination of these and explaining their root cause, various solution approaches are analyzed and recommended based on the case of IMS Gear SE & Co. KGaA.
Stakeholder analysis as an instrument for a successful development for a departmental strategy
(2016)
Functional strategy development is a vital key lever for any manager to provide direction, and to define the purpose and the value contribution of his organization. In this context, the increasing usage of stakeholder analysis in today's business world confirms the realization that stakeholders' input is an essential tool to shape and influence the decision making process. To that effect, obtaining input on their perceptions, beliefs, intentions and interests represents a valuable instrument for managers to furthermore facilitate the implementation of organizational objectives and the development of a functional strategy.
This paper reviews the fundamental aspects of functional strategies and stakeholder analysis, followed by theoretical approaches of research design and data collection methods, as well as organizational change. In relation to these concepts, it introduces a business area of concern and explains the research framework. A thorough investigation of the research outcomes, their potential origins and boundary conditions will lead to recommendations of corrective measures.
The paper proposes the business area concerned to face a major root problem, which suggests being the main cause for multiple related problems that were all detected in the course of the research.
The e-Commerce market is continuously gaining importance, leading to a fast market development and to equally rapid transition in business models. This thesis analyses the impact of the e-Commerce sector on stationary trade, based on a case study of an internationally established retailer with focus on the Swiss market. The paper builds up on the explanation of the term e-Commerce and the e-Commerce sector, then evaluates the effects of e-Commerce on stationary trade. Based on this information, a case study will be analysed using specific key performance indicators. The aim is to clarify whether the e-Commerce sector is a threat for stationary trade and to elaborate recommendations for retailers. Therefore, innovative concepts of retail stores are mentioned and applied to the case study, in order to give concrete recommendations for further development of multi channel strategies. It can be concluded that although e-Commerce is a growing business model, stationary trade is indispensable. Both sectors should be understood as complementary concepts. Consequently, strategies for implementing multi-channel schemes should be implemented in order to stay competitive and satisfy customer needs.
Scenario Planning: How is big data going to influence the future of smart mobility in Germany?
(2016)
Smart mobility is the future of transportation services in Germany. The implementation and management of smart mobility is impossible without using big data. At the present time,the analysis of big data in Germany is not fully implemented due to existing challenges. The purpose of this research project is to forecast the impact of big data on smart mobility in Germany with the use of scenario planning. In order to receive the most actual scenarios, the input factors were designed in accordance with extensive literature research, and then ratios between all specifications of input factors were compared and evaluated. Thus four unique scenarios were selected for further detailed interpretation to suggest possible influences of big data on smart mobility in Germany
Effects of Different Models and Different Respiratory Manoeuvres in Respiratory Mechanics Estimation
(2016)
Cost accounting is one of the main sources of information for the management in the company. A correctly designed cost accounting system may address the most important issues in order to support effective and successful decision-making, which among others include price building, efficiency measurement and profit evaluation. In order to enable the full functioning of the system the company should ensure that the system is designed according to the company’s size, operations and processes, as well as information needs. For Testo Sensor GmbH the optimization of cost accounting system became essential, as the information it provides at the moment is not sufficient and reliable for decision-making. Obviously, the reason for this is that the system was not correctly and thoroughly designed at the times of the company foundation. Therefore, the goal of current paper is to develop and adjust the cost accounting system to the company’s operations in order to fulfill the information needs. In order to reach this goal the following objectives were defined: to analyze the current state of cost accounting system of Testo Sensor to reveal its weaknesses and incompatibilities to address these incompatibilities by developing the improvements and possible optimization potentials In order to fulfill these objectives, the review of the German and English literature on the current topic was made in order to identify possible approaches and methods and provide a theoretical background for solutions of the existent problem. In addition to this, a number of interviews was held with the employees of Testo Sensor, as well as the parent company. Finally, the exact data for 2011 – 2015 for cost analysis was taken from the company’s database systems and other documentation. The result of the current paper represents a number of the optimization potentials, which relate to all elements of the cost accounting system. In addition to this, a proposal for implementation of cost center planning and control, which currently is not implemented in the company, was designed. The optimization proposals were developed with the consideration of the theoretical methods applied in German companies, as well as the company’s particular needs and possibilities.
This bachelor thesis aims at investigating relevant factors in performance management at the logistics service provider Kuehne + Nagel (AG & Co. KG) in Altenwerder, Hamburg. A shop floor management approach is developed and adjusted to specific requisites of the contract logistics warehousing environment.
Key performance indicators are identified and adapted to the requirements of shop floor employees. Thereby, shop floor management ought to serve as process optimization and establishment of regular communication structures involving operative personnel as well as local management. The literature research examines the shop floor management approach in line with lean and Kuehne + Nagel Production System principles. Corporate communication types as well as change management processes for the operative level in the warehousing industry are pointed out.
Furthermore, two surveys with operative employees of the pilot project are conducted, researching their perceptions before and after project implementation. Due to the nature of the qualitative analysis with Kuehne + Nagel employees, findings of this thesis are subjective. This work attempts to provide Kuehne + Nagel with project guidelines for an adjusted shop floor management approach as well as underline required procedures within human resource and change management.
Today the author bought six jackets. A friend asked her if she needed six jackets, and if she had this money to pay to all of them. She said that she had only 35 euros and among those six jackets, she will (because they haven’t arrived yet) choose only one. The others five will be returned, because she has this option for free. Then, a friend of her asked: “But what are you doing?!” She answered: “Shopping. I am shopping and writing my thesis.” With pleasure, the author brings to this abstract a concept of brick-and-algo. Pure algorithm – pretty new – any barrier, (brick, the store itself). Experience that brings to the costumer the same feeling as shopping!
Concrete walls also refers to the corporate world, which “bricks” have become glass or simply partitions between one table and another in business in general. The bricks really have fallen apart and companies are going toward a horizontal way, where everybody talks to everybody; again without any brick or any barrier. The hierarchy exists, but in a different level as before. The physical point card became virtual badge, enabling the famous “home office”. Employees began to be evaluated and separated between generations, such as generation X and generation Y or Z (starting in corporations). Consumers have more rights about products and the economy and changing behaviors frantically.
With competitiveness, organizations rely on investing in strategies, assuming new responsibilities, performance necessary for the personal fulfillment of goals and objectives. Promoting the growth and development of its employees, through a model based on mission and values. The quests for survival of organizations have changed the organizational paradigms, in the sense that if before it was necessary to motivate the employees and that today need also to get their commitment. This makes companies to wake up to importance of positive environments, where employees can find favorable conditions to work more effectively.
With globalization and rapid growth of corporations via innovations, talent retention becomes a very important factor for the survival and growth of organizations. At present, the people of organizations must have the ability to manage competently, in order to satisfy and retain their employees, which represent values invaluable to the company. One of those values is the power to renew, create, innovating and to intrapreneur.
Stimulate the entrepreneurial capacity, then by inducing behaviors favorable to systematic innovation, by creating a dynamic of continuous improvement and speed up the process of modernization is a current world. In this sense, the author of the thesis, decided to already introduce innovation, even in the abstract, through another author, or more than an author, a poet and brilliant mind, Fernando Pessoa, when he said:
"There is a time when humans should abandon the used clothes, which already have the shape of their bodies, and forget their paths, which always leads to the same places. It is the time of looking forward: and, if humans don't dare to do it, they will have been, forever, on the sidelines of themselves. " (Fernando Pessoa)
In this context, this thesis proposes to treat about entrepreneurship in general, proposes to talk about intrapreneurship, about corporations, the individuals; and finally, the author tries to makes suggestions for the current decade.
A behavioral finance: An analysis of investment decision making regarding psychological influences
(2016)
Anywhere humans are interacting, emotions and psychology are important determinants to consider. This statement is true for financial markets as well and often there are occurrences which are not explainable by using traditional theories. Therefore, behavioral finance aims at finding explanations for such occurrences, referred to as anomalies, by combining economic and psychological research. The literature review presented in here shows recent developments in the field and gives an overview of research evidence by reviewing studies from six of the most investigated facets of behavioral finance. The review includes evidence from a variety of studies performed in different contexts to disclose the importance of understanding human behavior, especially in terms of financial markets and economy. The closure of this review consists of an alternative model and concludes that there might be a new science entering the collaboration between economists and psychologist which is computer science.
The research is the basis for a recommendation for an advantageous positioning of the research sponsor in its business line corporate banking on the issue; the business of sustainability with corporate clients. Simultaneously it gives an impression about the positioning of the research sponsor’s competitors in this business. The research is structured in three research questions; “How do ING WB and its competitors differentiate in their positioning, what are the needs of the clients a corporate bank is serving and how far are the actions of ING WB and of its competitors in consistence with what they are communicating?” The research questions are composed based on a positioning model. The outcome of the research questions provides data needed to formulate the recommendation for ING WB’s positioning. The research is comprised of a comparative analysis based on a desk research and secondary data analysis. The study revealed that the positioning of banks differ slightly from each other. Therefore a good positioning, which can be achieved by taking the outcome of the three research questions into consideration, is advantageous to be able to stand out in a competitive business.
Oxidized Phospholipids Inhibit the Formation of Cholesterol-Dependent Plasma Membrane Nanoplatforms
(2016)
How can Holidog use its touchpoints more efficiently in order to improve its performance in Germany?
(2016)
The main aim of this dissertation is to study how the company Holidog can improve the customer journey of customers in the German market, with a special focus on the evaluation of present touchpoints and actionable possibilities to create new touchpoints.
Holidog is an online platform for petsitting, present amongst others in the German market. This study focusses on improving the performance in this market by increasing traffic on the website and converting more of this traffic into bookings. Besides, it is evaluated which touchpoints are not efficient in order to free resources for more relevant touchpoints.
The sub-questions researched are:
How can Holidog increase the number of searches on the website?
How can Holidog convert more of the searches into bookings?
Which touchpoints are not efficient and could be abandoned?
The research has been conducted in the period from September 2015 to February 2016. Market information as well as company-specific information has been collected mainly through secondary data provided by the company next to eternal sources providing data about the industry. For testing new approaches, primary research through quantitative observation has been conducted.
The dissertation is structured in five main chapters: (I) Introduction presenting the research topic; (II) Theoretical basis about the petsitting industry and the company Holidog; (III) The current customer journey and all touchpoints created; (IV) Additional touchpoints the company could consider creating; (V) Overall recommendations and conclusion.
The main objective of this thesis is to investigate and analyze the professional journey of thirteen foreign doctors and the opinion of a German doctor, to explore how their integration process has been into the German labor market, taking into account their personal experiences; especially what they thought was helpful and the obstacles that they encountered during their journey, and to make recommendations for hospitals to help them address the integration of foreign doctors, something that should be done as soon as possible, due to the rising amount of foreign physicians coming to Germany to cover the many open positions that can no longer be filled by the local population.
The thesis is divided in four large sections; the first serves as a basis to understand the problem of the shortage of physicians in Germany; the second one is a literature review taking into account the migration of health professionals, cultural standards, intercultural competence and communication, the different acculturation strategies that immigrants use, inpatriation and integration, and last the management of diversity in healthcare; the third one has to do with the methodology that was used; and the last two parts encompass the findings and recommendations.
In conclusion, it can be said that recruiting foreign physicians is a very good way of approaching the actual shortage of physicians that exists in Germany. However, it is imperative that health care organizations, are aware that the integration process of foreign doctors and the adaptation of the whole organization to this new working environment is of extreme importance to provide the quality care that is expected at any health care institution, and it is imperative that hospitals recognize the need to include diversity management and a Willkommenskultur as vital pillars for the organization.
Due to continuous changes in consumer needs, new product development (NPD) and innovation are some of a company’s key factors of success and competitiveness. In order to be successful, companies have to understand consumer needs and ‘translate them into new products’1. If changing consumer perceptions and their requirements are not respected by a firm, a product’s sales will decrease as people no longer feel satisfied with the old product and require new functions. Therefore, a major task in business is being close to the customer. In order to collect ideas about product perceptions, institutions and departments within a company staying in direct contact with consumers can be essential. One department that represents a customer-oriented sector is sales, as their day-to-day business includes communication with customers.
However, failure rates of new product launches are still very high. According to a study of Serviceplan and Gfk where 265 newly launched products were analyzed, 70% of these failed and were no longer bought after only one year.2 A firm’s difficulties in generating ideas in the early stages of NPD have been ‘identified as major cause of notoriously high failure rates of new products’3. One possible reason is that information received by the sales department is not communicated clearly enough to Research & Development (R&D), which is in charge of developing new products. For this reason consumer needs are often not adequately integrated into the process of new product development and relevant information concerning their requirements can get lost.
The question as to how the customer-oriented sales department can be better involved into the process of new product development in order to ensure the success of new product introductions will be discussed in the following.
Purpose: This research aims to analyze Generation Y, also known as Millennials in order to understand how companies can successfully address the members of the Generation, when introducing new technology. As Generation Ys influence on the market will be tremendously increasing it is important for marketing to understand the trends and behaviors that drive the Millennials buying decisions. The aim is to create understanding about changing trends and dependants that play a role in the Millennials behaviors and determine their values and attitudes towards new technology products.
Method: Best practices were elaborated from secondary data in form of scientific literature, primary data in form of research though a survey on Uber and case studies on Apples iWatch as well as Googles "Google Glass"
Conclusion: Millennials are a very complex generation. Therefore there is a lot to consider when marketing to Millennials should be effective. As Millennial cohorts change rapidly, marketers need to address its members in the right way to ensure sustainable results and effectiveness. In a changing environment they need to be one step ahead of trends and act as peers rather than treating Millennials as their target group. Millennials like experiences, therefore a good brand communication is essential to create trust and brand commitment.
Acid Sphingomyelinase Promotes Endothelial Stress Response in Systemic Inflammation and Sepsis
(2016)
The purpose for researching the topic of the globalization of sport, is to examine the extent to which baseball is a global sport. While many writers in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and the history of baseball have studied countries around the world on an individual basis; little to no research on globalization has been pursued. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of baseball around the world is the focal point of this paper. This study is based on the work of Roland Robertson in the field of globalization and Richard Giulianotti in the field of soccer. Robertson, a professor of sociology at
Aberdeen University, developed a Five-Phase model of globalization which identifies key turning points in the evolution of globalization around the world. Giulianotti applied the Five-Phase model to the game of soccer to determine which factors played an essential role in the globalization of the sport.
The author has derived a list of critical research statements to guide the hypothesis that baseball is a global sport. This study considered literature of baseball around the world. Topics included the significance of Spalding’s Great Baseball World Tour,
examples of countries where baseball has been played, international baseball governing bodies and events, and baseball celebrities that have influenced the
game. Also, the author interviewed Nate Fish, Co-Director of the Israeli National Baseball team, and Tom Gillespie, International Baseball Scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, to supplement the analysis.
The evidence of the global significance of baseball includes the prominence of an international governing body World Baseball Softball Confederation, international baseball events World Baseball Classic / Premier 12, and a large body of membership in internationally sanctioned events. Interest in the game is growing internationally, evidenced by the fact that 72% of the world recognizes the game of
baseball, online subscriptions for premium content are trending up, and records in attendance, viewership, sponsorship, and social media activity were achieved during the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The findings of this research suggest that there is an emerging market for international baseball.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have become a driver motor of economies. Moreover, in developed countries, the manufacturing SMEs play an important role in the value creation and employment generation.O'regan et al. (2006) presents that constant innovation is a key component to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Raymond et al. (2010) claims that particular manufacturing SMEs should continuously improve their manufacturing processes in order to ensure long term sustainability. However, given the lack of resources and experience, SMEs find it difficult converting research and development into effective innovation (O’regan et al., 2006). Researchers have explained why certain firms innovate more than others by identifying a number of critical success factors or drivers of innovation such as strategy, social capital (Balachandra and Friar, 1997) or R&D (Becheikh et al., 2006a, Raymond et al.2010). The literature on the topic is diverse, there are different approaches and there is not a consensus on how those success factors can be measured. Therefore, the present thesis develops a meta-analysis study of the empirical research on the drives of innovation in manufacturing SMEs of developed countries. The result is a consolidated framework of the success factors and its measurements proposed by 49 authors, those were organized in the different phases of a holistic innovation process. The process considered was presented by Tidd and Bessant (2005). In consequence, the contribution of the present thesis is to serve as a starting point for future studies on drivers of innovation and its measurements, also, to serve as reference for future researchers that will develop a meta-analysis study.
Generation X and Y are going to dominate the workplace. With these generations the trend to better education especially for females is evident. Longer education and equal job opportunities of male and female is one reason for increasing assortative mating. This on the other hand leads to an increasing number of Dual Career Couples, meaning relationships where both partners aim to realize an own professional career. Dual Career Couples are challenged, when the company requires them to be mobile and one of them is offered an international assignment. While companies offer attractive mobility and partner support for the old classical family model with a bread-winner and an accompanying spouse, the new couples expect that also the partner has an attractive job opportunity at the new host location. Most organizations are not yet prepared to deal with those expectations adequately, in-house competence and infrastructure have to be developed. Universities discovered Dual Career Couples as attractive target group and have established a supporting infrastructure. Networks seem to be the most promising solution so far wherefore they will to be further expanded and supported.
Expatriation
(2016)
We are taking a look at the global deployment cycle, more precisely, the repatriation stage. Today many MNCs underestimate the challenges and difficulties returning assignees face upon return. MNCs have recognized the importance of support services and assistance before and during the international assignment. Even though literature findings have confirmed repatriation to be more difficult than expatriation, only a minority of MNCs invests resources in creating an effective repatriation program. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the repatriation phase within the global deployment cycle. Different factors influencing repatriation are analyzed and essential key action steps for a successful repatriation are identified. Also a closer is taken at how expectations and the commitment of international assignees are related to repatriation. In addition, the importance of cultural agility is discussed.
Development of a strategic control concept to monitor and steer strategy executive in the STO Group
(2016)
The paper intends to analyze the application of change management in family-owned businesses in the engineering industry of Baden-Württemberg. A lack in literature implies the necessity to specifically regard change management in this sector. The investigations are concerned with particularities in cultural dimensions of family-owned businesses and how these might affect the application of change management. The aim is to identify factors which enable businesses in this sector to improve change management and to maintain or enhance their effectiveness. On the basis of an analysis of relevant literature, assumptions for the application of change management in family-owned businesses in Baden-Württemberg’s engineering industry are derived. Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG is proved representative for this type of business. By means of a case study, the implementation of the tool Team Foundation Server at Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG, the change approach is applied in practice. To gain quantitative data, the change implementation is monitored. A survey is conducted and statistically investigated to examine the importance of applied factors during the change initiative. The research at Bizerba reveals several substantial results for the application of change management in this context. A universally applicable approach for change plays a minor role in this context. Rather, the application of specific factors is crucial for a successful implementation of change. During the change initiative the importance of factors modifies. “Soft factors” gain in relevance with the project’s progress. In this connection, the integration of the individual employee plays a significant role. The research results advise the application of individual stakeholder interviews and continuous communication. Commitment to change by formal leaders and informal leaders’ positive participation in the change initiative help overcome prevailing resistance to change. An explicit triggering event for change is not necessary in the context of the family-owned business. Though, the definition of a clear vision and objectives is of primary importance to achieve the understanding for change necessity amongst target group members. However, the sample size is too small for the research outcomes to be representative for all family-owned businesses in Baden-Württemberg’s engineering industry. Still, the research displays several factors and instruments which help establish effective internal change management capabilities for family-owned businesses in the engineering industry of Baden-Württemberg.
Network Marketing is a form of the direct selling retail channel of distribution and is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. It has dramatically changed the way traditional businesses operates by mainly focusing on the success of his partners, their sales representatives to market their quality products provided. This industry produces billions of sales annually; however the lack of studies and information available on this field has led to lack of understanding and attack of being pyramid schemes. In this new era of technology, this profession continues to thrive as many people in particular women are looking for alternatives to the traditional corporate lifestyle. Furthermore, it has been found that becoming independent business owners in Network Marketing attracts the majority of women. Therefore, analyzing the characteristics of Network Marketing and the strategies deployed for their success is important to understand the reasons why women are willing to change their career path.
For these reasons, the thesis focuses on Network Marketing in order to provide an understanding of its rapid growth with an overview of its different phases from the beginning to the effect of the evolution of the Web 2.0 and social media. It goes forwards by investigating the characteristics of Network Marketing which appeal to women; by first examining their actual situation in the workplace in order to perceive their choice for leaving everything behind to start anew. Finally, a case study provides actual visibility and the new lifestyle of women being active in Network Marketing.
In the pursue of findings, the thesis includes primary research by conducting interviews with German and international independent network marketers, all women, and secondary research covering literature review on relevant topic.
In the end, it has been concluded and proved, despite the constant allegations, that Network Marketing is a serious and effective business model which benefits the company, the customers and the independent distributors. Moreover, it has been observed that this field fulfills the expectations of those women who want to escape from the challenges faced in the corporate world and desire an industry without barriers, as a result them being the majority and successful in this field.
A Coherent Set of Customer Experience Factors for the Developers of Industrial Product Services
(2016)
Nowadays, teams and projects are becoming more and more relevant in the business industry. The increasing internationalization and globalization of the economy leads to a more interconnected and globalize business and therefore also increasing competition. This requires new approaches for a more faster, flexible and innovative way to finding solutions. For this reason, there is an increase of international cooperation that can open up new opportunities, as well as generate challenges.
The purpose of this assignment is to identify the cultural differences between Germany and China and to determine the key aspect, which has to be considered in performing project management in a multicultural context. Furthermore, this assignment should demonstrate how cultures can affect the cooperation and if there is a potential way to standardize a multicultural cooperation to reduce the challenges that arise in multicultural teams.
The work is based on literature research using secondary data. In addition, an empirical study has been carried out to create a case study of an executed project with German and Chinese team members in China. The empirical study has been carried out as an expert interview with the German project manager who is currently working as an expatriate in China. This interview has been used to collect information about the plant relocation of a German-based company located in China.
The literature research has shown that political, technological, cultural, as well as communication aspects have to be considered in performing project management in a multicultural context. Also cultural difference affects leadership style. Therefore, the knowledge of different leadership styles is beneficial. Standardization for a multicultural cooperation is not possible due to the different situation in different context with different people. However, the knowledge about the effects of cultural values on the mindset and behavior can ease the teamwork. The case study confirms the findings as the project manager also had to deal with cultural, communication, and leadership issues, as well as dealing with cultural differences and the respond to it encourage the teamwork.
An Object Oriented Library for Acoustics Simulation Based on the Physolator Simulation Framework
(2016)
This study examines growth adventure of Turkey and South Korea that both tried to narrow the economical gap between them and developed countries. Although Turkey was in a better situation than South Korea in the beginning of their convergence experience, and they had similar growth and development levels at the end of 1950s, South Korea outperformed Turkey in almost every economic indicator and realized an economic miracle in a very short time. As South Korea is one of developed countries now and Turkey is still in the league of developing countries trying to be a developed one, South Korea model, is worth to be analyzed in detail. In this paper, the similarities and differences in South Korea’s and Turkey’s economic history, the comparison of their long term growth performance and the reasons why Turkey could not accomplish what South Korea did in the similar period of time, were put together in order to find answers to question of applicability of South Korean economic miracle to other economies, along with the question whether it was indeed a miracle. While comparing two countries, existing literature and similar studies were scanned. With the help of both qualitative and quantitative historical data, common issues of comparison, namely policies, international trade, education and innovation, were selected and these issues were analyzed deeper. In the last part of the study, a simple econometric model was built by using OLS regression, in order to see if the presented ideas could be supported with econometric approach. Although model did not provide enough information about reasons of growth in South Korean economy, the findings confirmed the problems of Turkish economy and success of South Korean economy. This study is a contribution to a broader understanding of comparison of two economies, which is an issue that attracts attention of several related people, especially in Turkey.
Unsustainable production- and lifestyle patterns which are reaching into present have destroyed the global environment to such a degree, that severe consequence already became visible. Albert Einstein once said “A new way of thinking is necessary if humanity wants to live on.” Seeing themselves confronted with an enormous climatic change, scarce resources, and increasing inequalities, people became aware of the need for this new way of thinking - sustainable thinking. As agriculture is the sector which uses the largest amount of land it is essential that agricultural practices be performed sustainably. Instead of using more resources, farmers are called to increase their productivity by applying more efficient farming practices. By increasing productivity and efficiency, farmers could “close the gap between their actual and potential yield”. As if things weren’t tough enough as they are, the world population is increasing exponentially. As the world’s population increases, so too does the number of hungry. Therefore, the agricultural productivity needs to be increased by 70%. To achieve this goal, the smallholder sector – 84% of all people active in agriculture – needs to be empowered, enabling smallholder farmers to successfully contribute to global food security. This collaboration would generate four winners: The environment, as agricultural practices would be performed more sustainably, the world population, as there would be more food available, the smallholder farmers themselves, as they would generate more income by selling higher yields and would therefore be lifted out of poverty, and the agricultural companies, as they would gain additional trading partners. As worldwide smallholder situations differ substantially a tool – called the “Smallholder Maturity Model” - is needed to analyze the actual empowerment level of a specific smallholder population and by doing so, enabling agricultural institutions to address smallholders’ real needs and empower them long-term. The development of the aforementioned tool is based on reports published by esteemed agricultural organizations, articles written by research specialists, namable databases and interviews with internal and external specialists disposing about high class agricultural knowledge. According to the analysis-results of the present work, the smallholder farmers’ empowerment level strongly depends on being supported– in terms of financial support as well as trainings. Only smallholder farmers who are supported are able to apply good and sustainable agricultural practices, increase their efficiency and sell their yield more competitively. Therefore, the “Smallholder Maturity Model” is a helpful tool to generate a picture of the actual smallholder situation and facilitate the decision-making process of agricultural institutions interested in developing adequate supporting-strategies. In order to get country or crop specific survey results, the rating of the several possible answers could be adjusted to the specific regional conditions As the only objective is finding an effective way to empower smallholder farmers and improve their situations, both application methods are acknowledged.
The importance of internationalization to achieve a competitive advantage in the business world has increased greatly in recent years. Especially in the fashion industry, where competition has increased tremendously and globalization plays a more important role, it is essential to find new ways in order to be unique. To succeed in internationalization in the fashion industry, companies must have a basic knowledge of their markets and follow clear strategies. The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question why fashion companies nowadays need to create a competitive advantage and expand their market internationally. In addition, it will also address the challenges that an American brand can face in the European fashion industry. The company chosen for this research is Shoshanna LLC, a contemporary American women’s wear brand based in New York City.
With regard to methodology, a multi-‐purpose approach has been conducted. The conclusions have been reached with theoretical knowledge, personal experience, a survey and interviews with experts in this industry. The conclusions of this thesis will give Shoshanna LLC a better understanding of internationalization processes in the fashion industry and the strategies required. It will also answer the question of how the chosen strategies can be a guideline for the company.
This research aims to study transactional cost and organizational change management in a pharmaceutical company that had gone through the SSC implementation process through different regions, including Latin America. Eli Lilly SSC in Latin America is located in Mexico and was aimed to centralize standard routines and administrative transactions related to finance and accounting back office services for the entire region. In implementing changes of this magnitude, it is necessary to be prepared to encounter the transaction costs related to this strategic decision and for the internal resistance applied in organizational change process. In this sense, this research aims to study what are the main challenges and transaction costs involving a process of re-structuring the organization to the SSC business model, especially in Latin America. Taking as a base the change resistance elements mentioned by Burns and Scapens (2000) and transaction costs theory basis by Williamson (1981). The SSC, a relatively recent business model and a trend between multinational organizations, was implemented in Lilly across 4 different regions to support over 70 countries in all continents. Latin America the last region to be implemented had a proposed migration schedule within less than one year. The findings show that the main resistance to the existing process is related to lack of competence/information and attachment to control and existing routines. In addition, the transaction costs are closely related to the dimensions of asset specificity and uncertainty. We must consider that the lack of a formal change management strategy, within the LATAM region, was a risky move and had impacted the implementation process and stabilization period results. The chronogram had also to be changed due to unexpected details in the region. Latin America was more complex than expected due to the differences in regulations and culture between countries, also expressed a non-verbal resistance that was probably expressed through the lack of commitment of some personnel. The results of this research raise inputs to the next researchers and bring elements to be considered by organizations when implementing the SSC business model. It is useful to direct actions and strategies to control de change impact and possible transaction costs. Additionally, through the research we filled the purpose to build an overview on shared services model and discuss the main points that should be considered when taking into consideration to re-structure the business with this model, characterized as a centralization of services that are provided from one single point to multiple business units in order to avoid activities duplication, optimizing resources through the integration of technology, people and standardized processes (Deliotte, 2007).
In the wake of the financial crisis of 2007, the largest economies of our times struggled hard with adverse economic shocks. Several central banks (CBs) employed their conventional monetary policy tools to their limits and beyond. When failing in their attempt, unconventional monetary policies got gradually introduced in order to stimulate the overall economy, to alleviate market dysfunctions and to reduce liquidity shortages. Building on diverse research conducted by international researchers and data provided by international economic institutions, this paper gives a comprehensive overview of different types of unconventional monetary policy tools that were, and still are, broadly employed. The concept of Quantitative Easing (QE) with its opportunities and risks will be elaborated, as well as appropriate exit strategies from these unconventional monetary policy measures. Putting a special focus on the QE programs run by the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, the successes and failures of real-world examples of unconventional monetary policies will be analyzed in detail. In order to evaluate the usefulness of QE, a comparison of theoretical and real-world results will be conducted. The paper finds that even though QE had a broad range of positive effects on selected economic aspects, the risks of both over-indebtedness and a too strong dependence of economies on highly accommodative monetary policies prevail. Before considering an exit from QE – if still possible at all – many years of further monetary easing and economic stimulus will pass. The raison d’être of unconventional monetary policies, mainly QE, over an extent period of time is doubtful and will have to be closely monitored in the years to come.
The present paper identifies appropriate communication strategies to support the implementation of Cross Selling (CS) in the sales organization illustrated on the example of Robert Bosch GmbH. Therefore the focus is on the analysis of internally applied communication media in order to determine strong and weak points. In the first instance, an extensive literature research with respect to CS is conducted and a theoretical framework of effective communication provided. Subsequently, an empirical study is being carried out. Surveys are sent worldwide to the CS Coordinators at Bosch in order to analyse currently applied communication media and identify possible communication gaps. Furthermore, an expert interview with CS project leader Paulo Ferreira is conducted in order to gain additional insights into the CS field within Bosch. In the process, it results that the CS project team already makes an adequate use of communication means; but nevertheless there is still potential for improvement with respect to certain communication activities. The results indicate that the most effective communication techniques are based on face-to-face interaction with a high degree of social presence and information richness. By the application of theoretical foundations combined with knowledge obtained through primary research, a recommended course of action is issued on how to further optimize the communication within the central CS project team. On this basis, the recommendation is given to develop an internal integrated marketing communication program which takes a number of additional measures into consideration. In addition, limitations of this study as well as future perspectives are being discussed.
The recruitment and selection process in the mining sector in Zimbabwe has proven to be a challenge to both the management and the prospective employees. The mining sector is one industry that is of interest to the author as it contributes over half of the country’s Gross Domestic product. Employment in Zimbabwe is very high in the world due to the poor performance of the economy which is a result of mismanagement of the country. This paper seeks to examine the challenges that are faced by the prospective employees when seeking for jobs in the mining sector and also the challenges that the management faces in the recruitment and selection process. After the examination of those challenges, the author will provide a detailed analysis of the root causes of these challenges and then at the end provide recommendations in order to fix the challenges. This paper will also serve as one of the basis of further study of the recruitment and selection process in the mining sector in Zimbabwe
Many employees use the internet for non-work related activities nowadays. This cyberslacking behaviour is put into connection with flexible work arrangements, in which the employee also completes work tasks outside of the workplace in a sort of balancing act between work and non-work. Many companies perceive cyberslacking to be deviant and counterproductive and battle it with internet monitoring systems. Other companies perceive cyberslacking to be beneficial for learning, creativity and productivity. This thesis will use Douglas McGregor’s ‘Theory X and Theory Y’ and the concepts of the Psychological Contract and Corporate Culture in order to understand the psychological background these of opposing opinions on cyberslacking and its effects on company and employee attitudes and behaviours following monitoring or acceptance of cyberslacking in a company. The results show a considerable fit to the three concepts presented in this thesis. The results suggest that the acceptance of cyberslacking has the effect of increased motivation and productivity and that monitoring and control reduce trust and productivity in total which is the opposite of the goal of monitoring systems. Future research should be conducted on the discrepancy of the positive effects of permitting cyberslacking and the increasing number of companies which use control and monitoring systems to fight it and on the underlying reasons why productivity is reduced through cyberslacking (the effect of perceived mistrust etc.).
BCR and chemokine responses upon anti-IgM and anti-IgD stimulation in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
(2016)
The population in the U.S. is getting more and more characterised by cultural diversity. “By 2020, minority groups will account for the majority of the U.S. population.” Especially, the Hispanics are becoming more significant as they represent the biggest minority. To successfully adapt to the changing composition of the population, marketers should adapt and segment the marketers according to the individual taste and preferences of the targeted consumers. Nevertheless, some companies ignore these developments and still use mass marketing to reach the consumers. In the following, the impact and importance of Hispanic-Americans will be examined. Is the Hispanic population worth pursuing? By giving some information on ethnic marketing and ethnic groups, the background and the sub-cultures of Hispanic Americans, evoking the characteristics of the Hispanic shopper and the importance of the Hispanics for the U.S. market, the previous question can be clarified at the end.
The Potential of Household Specific Feature Selection for Analysing Smart Home Time-Series Data
(2016)
A physically inspired model of Dip d792 and d1519 of the Kepler light curve seen at KIC8462852
(2016)
Business Process Management (BPM) is a systematic approach to analyze, optimize, standardize and control business processes. It proves to be an effective tool in order to attend to growing customer requirements and the need for process performance improvements. Hence, it is the objective of the division of Customer Supply Chain Service (CUS) of the Automotive Aftermarket at Robert Bosch GmbH to implement standardized business processes in all European CUS regional organizations. Combining the findings from literature, group discussions and the results from Business Process Optimization workshops, this thesis aims to collect important data for the creation of value stream maps with Microsoft VISIO. As a result, all AS-IS and TO-BE core business processes of CUS were modelled. Additionally, the TO-BE business processes were integrated and visualized as one Business Process Model framework for all CUS organizations across Europe for the purpose of showing interrelations of the business processes, standardization, documentation and transparency enhancement.
Ensuring that the optimized business processes are not only documented, but successfully rolled-out across all European regional organizations of CUS is an immense challenge which many companies in the past have failed to overcome. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to empirically research the critical success factors and challenges for the implementation of redesigned and standardized business processes as well as the organizational changes of CUS. The research method involved half-structured interviews with experts in the field of BPM taking recourse to a literature review. These factors need to be considered and strategically catered to since they have a strong signaling effect for the further success of the change project. Findings of the research reveal a demand for improvement of communication to affected employees and the call for a successive roll-out plan for the implementation as opposed to a radical “Big Bang” change of all business processes across all regional organizations. By applying a gradual step-by-step implementation strategy, “quick wins” in terms of easy-to-implement business processes can be achieved. These instant optimizations lead to employees losing resistance and hesitation towards the change project. Limitation to the research is the application to a single case of one specific organizational unit in the Automotive Aftermarket.