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Die vorliegende Bachelor-Arbeit beschreibt die Konzeption und prototypische Entwicklung einer Web-Applikation für kollaboratives Schreiben fiktiver Texte im Rollenspiel-Stil. Sie klärt dabei die Frage, wie eine Web-Applikation für kollaboratives Schreiben fiktiver Texte im Rollenspiel-Stil funktions-technisch und software-technisch umgesetzt werden kann. Die Applikation soll sowohl sequentielles als auch reagierendes kollaboratives Schreiben unterstützen.
Der Prototyp dieser Applikation wurde mittels Requirements Engineering entwickelt. Bei der Analyse wurden funktionale und nicht-funktionale Anforderungen über die Definitionen für Rollenspiele (J. Arjoranta, 2011) und kollaboratives Schreiben (Paul Benjamin Lowry, Aaron Curtis und Michelle René Lowry, 2004) aufgestellt. Anschließend wurde ein Funktionsumfang der Grundfunktionen und Erweiterungen erarbeitet. Zudem wurden vorhandene und aktuell verwendete Applikationen für kollaboratives Schreiben und Schreibrollenspiele auf ihren Funktionsumfang analysiert. Durch den Vergleich der Funktionsumfänge wurde so herausgestellt, dass eine Applikation für kollaboratives Schreiben fiktiver Texte benötigt wird.
Im praktischen Teil der Thesis wurden Entwurfsmuster für die Web-Applikation er-stellt. Dazu wurden Use-Case-Diagramme und -Beschreibungen angefertigt. Außerdem wurden Sequenzdiagramme der technischen Abläufe der einzelnen Use-Cases beschrieben.
Implementiert wurde die Web-Applikation ausgehend von der Anforderungsanalyse mit einem RESTful Web-Service und Web-Client. Der Web-Service basiert auf Java Spring und einer relationalen Datenbank. Der Web-Client wurde auf Basis von JavaScript, Backbone.js, jQuery, HTML 5 und CSS 3 entwickelt.
Der vorläufige Prototyp wurde auf Basis einer qualitativen und quantitativen Umfrage evaluiert. Auf Grundlage der Evaluationsergebnisse wurde der Prototyp angepasst. Ergebnis der Arbeit ist ein evaluierter und verbesserter Prototyp für kollaboratives Schreiben fiktiver Texte im Rollenspiel-Stil.
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.
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.
Entrepreneurs are the people who start their own businesses, who take risk, find solution of problems and come up with idea which gives them financial benefits. The purpose of writing this thesis to find out the value business schools are providing to the entrepreneurs. Do the entrepreneurs get the right skills from the business schools? To find out the reason, which skills business schools are lacking to provide to the entrepreneurs. Why still now a day’s world leading companies are invented by the entrepreneurs who dropped out of college or who quite from their education which was not important for them for example Microsoft, Apple, McDonald, Facebook and many other successful brands in the world are being led by the people who has no good education. To find out the reasons and opinion from students a questionnaire was prepared to get results from people belong to different background, different nationalities and different cultures. 84% participants were students from business schools. The outcome of survey shows that business schools are not transferring value to the entrepreneurial mind students; many students also supported idea to start your own business during your studies. It lead to the pathway which had chosen by the successful entrepreneurs, in the other words if you find opportunity to start your own business then leave your studies behind and go for it. 69% respondents vote in favor that the universities should start degree in entrepreneurship; moreover 52% respondents want to become entrepreneurs. Furthermore, least important entrepreneurial characteristic is Good Education as well as good education is also least important to start your own business. It indicates that there is serious need to start entrepreneurial education in the schools and universities. The curriculum of business schools need to be review according to the needs of entrepreneurial mind students.
The primary objective of this study is to determine the direction of Bosch
workshop service concepts in India. The approach is based on Classic Bosch Car
Service, one of the world’s largest independent workshop concept owned by
Robert Bosch GmbH. In the era of high competition where the mindset of
customers is rapidly changing and technology is evolving; therefore, Bosch is
continuously working on developing new workshop service concepts such as
Franchise Bosch Car Service and Digital Bosch Car Service. Therefore, this study
examine two research question a) on which workshop service concept Bosch
should focus in India b) how to increase the number of franchisees for the future
concept. This study focuses on India because it is an emerging market where car
repair industry is growing rapidly.
The first part of the thesis explains the concept of workshop service and
franchising. The second part provides a complete overview (franchise model,
value proposition, etc.) of three concepts. The final part consists of empirical
research which includes the findings from end customer and franchisee surveys.
The findings from practical and empirical part revealed that Franchise Bosch Car
Service (FRC BCS) is ideal for the Indian market and end customer. Therefore,
Bosch should focus on developing its network of FRC BCS in the short term. The
usage of different marketing tools, partnership with financial institutes, individual
onboarding program and approaching private investors will help to increase the
number of franchisees.
In the long-term, Bosch should consider going in the direction of Digital Bosch
Car to increase market share and maintain its competitiveness.
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.
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.
In this paper the author will look at the development of industrial parks with case study of Ethiopia and Kenya since this are the developing countries and with a blue print to industrial parks in which the authors main objective is to establish the industrial park planning and development of Industrial Parks in Africa, establish the importance of ICT as a response to the sustainable planning of industrial areas in Africa and to establish the issue of environment sustainability in Africa. The problems in implementing the industrial parks the mismanagement of funds, challenges faced by foreign investors, not usage of ICT knowledge, threats from the terrorist groups and the recess in support by the government. Hence the need to address these issues in this research work. Threat analysis will be addressed in consideration to Kenyan economy that brings in a recession to the country such as Al-Shabaab. Finally conclusion and recommendation are made in which in the author’s findings is that the governments are eagerly working to put their country modernized and with high security. Revenue made by the government is set to put security measures to make more revenue from tax in by implementing the police reforms. Hence the conclusion that investing in industrial parks are of great benefit for foreign investors, the governments and will aid in poverty eradication in Kenya and Ethiopia.
The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the need and prospects of implementing a Social Media advertising strategy in order to increase customer awareness in the United States for an innovative scuba diving product called “Buddy-Watcher”. This product was introduced to the German market in November 2014 by Free-Linked GmbH, which specializes in scuba diving communication and comfort equipment.
The employed investigation approach includes a quantitative research conducted by means of an online survey among a nonprobability sample via self-administered questionnaires. By collecting and analyzing primary data, this exploratory study aims to provide first insights on the value and the perception of potential customers towards Social Media advertising activities. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis was carried out based on the theoretical research as well as the findings of the survey to deliver a specific recommended course of action for businesses like Free-Linked GmbH. The results provide indications for the effectiveness of Social Media advertising regarding the creation of awareness for a product, yet not necessarily its purchase. Small and medium sized businesses have the opportunity to benefit from this type of advertising, if the preferences of the target group can be identified and taken into consideration. Hence, this work serves as a basis for further decision-making, whereas future research could consider the effect of various advertisement options or other Social Media alternatives for targeting US customers by employing a combination of quantitative and qualitative research designs.
In the current difficult climate for international aviation especially in Europe and the USA, one sector is performing extremely well, the so-called low cost carriers. While the flagcarriers are experiencing severe difficulties, withdrawing from routes and cutting staff, the low cost sector continues to expand at a tremendous pace. Since their entry in various countries in the late 90’s, low cost carriers have grown to even become dominant players on a significant number of intra-national short haul routes. Although the severe competition of low-cost airlines is observable in many industrialized countries nowadays, our focus in this paper will be restricted to the US market which at many levels appear to be interesting and the perfect case to illustrate the impact of low-cost carriers on the domestic aviation market. The extent to which this expansion affects the traditional airline networks in other terms the so-called legacy or network carriers, poses interesting questions for the US airline industry and policy makers. As a pre-requisite to analyze the current situation of the US airline market with regards to the impact low-cost carriers, it is crucial to have a historical background on the domestic US aviation and to understand the role of antitrust policies. First of all, until 1978 the US airline industry was regulated by the US government, allowing only few carriers, the network carriers. Those carriers are therefore the historical carriers. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was the economic regulatory body for airlines that controlled airline schedules, fares, and routes, which essentially allowed U.S. airlines to exercise monopoly power. In 1975, the CAB’s Special Staff did a self-study of the organization and concluded that the amending federal law to eliminate “protective entry, exit, and price control” would be beneficial for the airline market. It was believed that the industry was naturally competitive and there did not appear to be any significant barriers to entry nor substantial economies of scale that would limit the number of efficient and profitable firms. Therefore, the Airline deregulation Act of 1978 eliminated economic regulation of the airline industry. The deregulation allowed many carriers to enter the industry, existing carriers to expand their operations, competition to flourish and air fares to
fall. Monopoly markets were now only present on the smallest city-pair markets which lacked enough traffic to support more than one airline. After deregulation, Southwest Airlines initiated the budget flight in Dallas, Texas.
With flights turning profitable in 1973 and remaining so ever since, former lawyer Herb Kelleher proved the viability of low cost flights. In terms of passengers carried each year, Southwest is now the biggest airline in the USA and the second biggest airline in the world. Although entering the airline industry was relatively easy, successfully overcoming the advantages of larger incumbents proved to be more difficult. The deregulation greatly illustrated the relevance of Paul Gerdoski’s arguments about the effect of market entry. Firstly, market entries increased industry competition and forced the traditional network carriers to increase their efficiency leading to lower fares and better service on many routes. Secondly it fostered industry innovation with the appearance and growth of low cost carriers.
Crowdfunding is one of the greatest financial innovations in finance today, which acts as a financing alternative for start-ups. The advantages provided in this financial structure not only enable entrepreneurs to realise their dream of raising capital but it also enables them to learn more about their product, establish a pre-customer base, pre-sales as well as build their brand though leveraging the internet as a marketing platform for their projects. Start-ups that have succeeded in raising their target funds, acknowledge the benefits they received. Even those that did not achieve their goal still appreciate the experience because through the feedback they receive from the public, they are able to enhance their product and make better decisions for their next projects. Also backers benefit significantly depending on their position; for instance, upon success startups acquire funds, donors on reward- and support-based platforms receive small gifts such as Tshirts, acknowledgements, on pre-purchase platforms backers receive discounts on pre-purchases and in a special case of crowdinvesting, investors receive dividends or equity from the start-up. Also, crowdfunding platform-administrators benefit from it when start-ups accomplish their goal. Start-ups may approach investors, business angels and banks for capital; however, the probability of acquiring funds is subsided and they also do not provides them additional benefits like those crowdfunding delivers. The crowdfunding process is one of the easiest means of funding startups’projects in comparison to that involved whilst seeking funds from banks and venture capitalists as well as business angels.
The major aim of this paper is to analyse how crowdfunding has simplified the means of raising capital for start-ups and how this modern financial instrument is anticipated to develop in the next five years. Withal, the paper seeks to show how crowdfunding has enabled startups to curb their financial predicaments. The paper will firstly, provide the foundation of crowdfunding, including success factors of start-ups. Next the author will analyse how crowdfunding platform operate, then its significance to start-ups including the risks involved. The author will investigate crowdfunding in Europe, America and Australia. Results from the Interviews conducted with start-up founder Dominick Solenick and platform CEOs from Switzerland will be illustrated. Finally, a conclusion based on this research will be provided.
"Social Business Concept" is a concept of blending innovation in the field of social media in Business. This thesis aims in establishing an opinion that the "Social Business Concept" is very much relevant for the HFU just like for other business organizations. In this thesis, one can get the basic understanding of the concept, its origin and development as well as some case studies about the successful implementation. This thesis further shows the initiatives that the HFU has taken in the direction and the progresses made so far. Furthermore, it suggests some steps that are to be taken to make further improvements in the direction of establishing the HFU as a well-connected organization. The theories presented in the thesis and conclusion drawn by this thesis is based on the various literature reviews, e-mail correspondences with the HFU staffs and online survey where the students studying at the HFU in different faculties participated.
Advanced sales approach to increase professional fairs participation: international experience
(2016)
The following bachelor thesis was written in cooperation with Hannover Fairs USA, Inc. (HFUSA), which is the Deutsche Messe AG’s (DMAG) U.S. subsidiary. DMAG in Hannover, Germany, is one of the biggest and most active event organizers in the world. The target region of the HFUSA office is North America. Their function is to host industrial trade shows in Chicago and to sell exhibit space at their parent company’s shows in Germany to American companies. The focus of the thesis will be on the DMAG’s CeMAT show which serves the intralogistic and material handling industry. The topic of the thesis is ‘Evolving a structured and advanced sales approach to enhance the number of American companies, participating at the Deutsche Messe’s CeMAT show.’ The research focus is on the intralogistic and material handling industry, the meaningfulness of trade shows and various skills and processes of sales theory. Furthermore, it places emphasis on corporate and sales strategy. The thesis offers possible measures which should serve c-level employees of the company as a basis for creating a more standardized corporate, marketing, and sales strategy to streamline the process amongst employees, to enhance sales processes, improve efficiency and therefore increase revenue in the long run. This will also positively influence the process of achieving their goal of enhancing the number of participating U.S. companies at the CeMAT show in Hannover.
The access to the Internet has enabled various peer-to-peer marketplaces to develop with fast pace and complete with traditional businesses by offering broader range of goods and services. In some cases peer-to-peer markets offer a solution to a problem, going beyond the capabilities of a traditional business. This thesis studies a particular peer-to-peer market called crowdfunding that offers a solution to individuals who require funds and has been a subject of experts’, regulators’ and media attention. In particular, the paper studies the way crowdfunding websites Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Crowdfunder match buyers and sellers and discovers that some websites might have an incentive to manipulate matching. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the pricing structure these websites use and learns that price discrimination is present in crowdfunding. Additionally, the paper investigates the most fundamental mechanism that allows Internet platforms to function, which is reputation. In particular it uncovers that the way trust is built in crowdfunding differs to certain extant to other peer-to-platforms and that this questions requires further research. Finally, after looking at the arising regulatory issues, it becomes clear that there are opposing opinions of experts and regulators about regulation of crowdfunding that create both fear and hope. Privacy and data usage by the crowdfunding websites seems to be an issue that also requires further attention.
This study belongs to the field of innovation research and is based on the application of a theoretical concept of a technology acceptance. The theoretical concept developed in the context of this research work is investigating the connection between efficiency, quality, security and business process re-engineering and the intention to adopt mobile payments technologies by merchants within the retail industry. Mobile payments is an emerging topic which is currently experiencing a rise. Although there are significant differences in a level of mobile payments acceptance around the world, the widespread adoption of the technology has not prevailed yet. Moreover, more research is needed to investigate and explain retailers’ prospective on the mobile payments adoption. The growing scientific interest in this topic is relevant in terms of innovation development, theories of global competition platforms and evolving landscape of global payment systems.
From this holistic prospective the fundamental hypotheses and crucial questions in terms of mobile payments adoption by merchants were derived. The analysis of the data sample of 90 companies of various sizes and operating in different industries obtained by means of a survey conducted at one of the largest trade fairs in Munich, Germany in autumn 2015. The data was analyzed using descriptive univariate and multivariate methods and the significance of the conceptual framework was validated. A major positive trend in mobile payments adoption was indicated. The findings of this research suggest that efficiency had a significant positive influence on the intention to adopt mobile payments by merchants. Banks and credit card companies were recognized as the most preferred mobile payments providers among retailers with an increasing interest towards independent companies. Based on the findings, the scientific guidelines for the future research were outlined and the concrete recommendations from the managerial prospective for achieving a successful adoption of mobile payments among merchants were suggested.
This paper analyzes automated advisory services, a new business model developed by Fintech start-ups in the USA. The markets for automated advisory services (AAS) in the USA, where it is most established, and in Germany, where the market is still in the infancy stage, are examined and compared. The aim of the paper is to identify the market conditions determining user acceptance of automated advisory services in the USA and comparing the German market conditions to the US market in order to predict consumer acceptance in Germany. The markets are examined using the PEST analysis and Porter´s five forces framework. Recent market data, mainly from online media like online newspapers and studies, is collected and applied to the models. The data reveals that the market conditions for AAS are similar in both markets but in Germany there are some negative factors restraining growth. The second part of the paper is a technology acceptance analysis of automated advisory services using the UTAUT2 model. The UTAUT2 model is first applied to and extended for the automated advisory services market. Afterwards, the market data is applied to the model, confirming that the market data and theoretical framework of the model are conform. Finally, an outlook into the future of AAS in Germany and the USA is given, showing that the German market has the potential to develop similar to the US market once the negative influences on technology acceptance are diminished Further research into the aspects individualization of automated advisory services, web 3.0 applications and security of the algorithms and user data should be conducted.
The goal of this thesis is to provide information on how the music distribution has evolved throughout the years since the internet and computers have brought a
new digital ear to the music industry. This gave unlimited access to vast amount of information, creating new methods of communication and connecting to thousands of music lovers with only one mouse click. Technological and social changes have
followed ever since the beginning of the 20th century with significant impact on different business aspects like Marketing, Communication and Pricing. In the following years illegal downloading has brought the music industry to a crash with sales dropping
almost double in only one year. This, however, led to the idea of legal downloading and later in 2008 to the birth of the most used music streaming service Spotify. The bundle paying method of this new service has not only put the industry back on its feet
but it has also brought the interest in the consumers back. A monthly “flat rate” in exchange of a vast music catalogue of more than 30,000 songs, albums and artists with the ability to listen to it offline turned out to be the better alternative.
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an explorative research on the current situation of the music business and the business models of the new trend “music streaming” by using different analytical methods. The research results show a significant change in the way Marketing and Communication are being done by labels, brands and the streaming services due to the rapid technological progress and the new social habits born with it. Using the experience of listening to music, data and audience intelligence provided by the services, brands are now able to communicate their exact message in front of the right person and in the right time. Pricing of music has also gone through a big transition
since music streaming has become the preferred way of listening to and exploring new music. The effect of the bundles provides users with unlimited usage of the music streaming service and its catalogue in exchange of a monthly fee also called “flat rate”.
Each service decides on the price and the subscription method to be offered. To give a more comprehensive picture on what the future of music streaming
is, this paper is using not only secondary data but primary data as well. In order to generate free discussion, the study refers to the media and an expert to give answer on what are the signs pointing the direction the music business is headed towards.
In the context of dynamic and unstable business environment companies tend to more flexible performance management system. Being a central element in a performance management framework, forecasting practice becomes a major concern for business organizations. The practitioners claim that there is a significant gap existing between the development and the application of forecasting activities. In this respect strong bridges are required to connect theory and practice. Through an expert interview method author investigates how forecasting activities contribute to business performance. The main purpose of this research paper is to investigate the problem statement by answering the questions concerning how planning activities have changed in the last few years and what is the current attitude and commitment to forecasting tool. Furthermore, this study explores how forecasting is integrated in the decision-making process and how it affects business decisions. Finally research investigates whether companies apply a rolling forecast as well as the reasons for and against using a rolling approach are also considered. The main findings of the research show that companies have altered their planning activities to improve forecast effectiveness, to reduce uncertainty and risks, to enable a more flexible resource allocation. Interviewed companies expressed growing interest and commitment to forecasting as an instrument of control. Moreover, results demonstrate that forecasting plays a crucial role for the business organization by facilitating business decisions and providing assumptions for business plans. Also different practices show, the more complex and larger organization is the more scrutinized and granular the forecast process should be. Regarding a rolling forecast, only two interviewed companies use this approach. All respondents found a rolling forecast beneficial for the business, however, in order to be successful companies are required to put more efforts and gain more experience with this method.
The objective of this research paper is to analyse the current planning method of the Zumtobel Group AG with regards to traditional and more recent trends in the field of planning, more precisely budgeting and forecasting. Furthermore, a planning software tool is evaluated concerning its benefits and drawbacks for the Zumtobel Group AG. The aim is to find out whether the tool is appropriate for the company and if it is adding value to the planning process.
The first part of this research paper, which is analysing different approaches in budgeting and forecasting, is based on secondary data. In order to build the theoretical foundation of the paper, academic literature such as peer-reviewed journals, text-books and articles are used. The second part of the paper, which is focusing on the Zumtobel Group AG’s budgeting and forecasting process, as well as the software tool, is mainly based on primary data. First-hand interviews with experts of the Zumtobel Group AG are carried out along with supporting documents of the company.
The result of the research is that the planning approach of the Zumtobel Group AG reveals some advantages, but also disadvantages. However, a considerable percentage of these disadvantages can be eliminated by the implementation of a supportive planning software tool. As the optimal tool, SAP BPC is selected. This tool is able to depict the complex organisational structure of the company, as well as is adding value to the planning process by supporting planning and also reporting functionalities.
This research paper helps the Zumtobel Group AG first to make the decision in favour of implementing a planning software tool and second in making the decision which planning software tool is the most suitable one. The value which is added through the implementation can be better assessed.
Aufgrund der zunehmenden Bedeutung von Soft Skills in der beruflichen Praxis erfährt besonders die Ausbildung an Fachhochschulen eine Umstrukturierung, wozu die Implementierung von alternativen Lehrmethoden gehört, welche diese Schlüsselkompetenzen gezielter fördern sollen. Obwohl Unternehmensplanspiele zu diesen gehören, wurde deren Lernerfolg bisher jedoch nur durch eine begrenzte Anzahl von Studien wissenschaftlich untersucht, wobei besonders die langfristigen Effekte vernachlässigt wurden. Diese empirische Studie soll einen Beitrag dazu leisten, diese Lücke zu schließen, und zu zukünftigen Forschungen diesbezüglich anregen. Basierend auf theoretisch fundierten Fragebögen wurden zwei Stichproben, die sich aus Studenten einer Fachhochschule zusammensetzten, über den Lernerfolg bei der Anwendung des Unternehmensplanspiels „TOPSIM General Management II“ befragt. Obwohl durch den Planspieleinsatz hauptsächlich die fachlichen Fähigkeiten gestärkt wurden, verdeutlichen die Ergebnisse, dass zumindest aus kurzzeitiger Frist auch überfachliche Kompetenzen verbessert werden können und dass der Erfolg von zahlreichen Faktoren beeinflusst wird. Dagegen zeigen sich aus langfristiger Sicht nur geringere Effekte, sodass sich zukünftige Planspielveranstaltungen und Studien besonders auf die Langfristigkeit konzentrieren sollten.
Die vorliegende Bachelor-Thesis behandelt die Thematik der Frau als Selbstständige und Unternehmerin. Neben wichtiger, theoretischer Grundlagen, die auf einer Literaturanalyse basieren, befasst sich der praxisorientierte Teil mit der vom BMWi gegründeten Initiative „FRAUEN unternehmen“, die das Bild der Unternehmerin vorantreiben soll. Das Ziel der Arbeit ist es, die Unterschiede zwischen männlichem und weiblichem Unternehmertum darzustellen, sowie den aktuellen Stand und die sich daraus ergebende Zukunftsperspektive der Initiative zu betrachten.
84 Telefoninterviews und ein Workshop mit den Mitgliedern der Initiative machen ein zerrissenes Stimmungsbild, allerdings mit vorhandenem Potential für die Zukunft, deutlich. Auch einige der im theoretischen Teil ausgearbeiteten Unterschiede zum männlichen Unternehmertum, wie beispielsweise Motivation oder Verhalten, konnten durch die Telefongespräche bestätigt werden.
Zusätzlich zu dieser Initiative bedarf es zur nachhaltigen Modernisierung des Unternehmerinnenbildes in Deutschland jedoch weitere, durchschlagende Aktionen.
The assembly process of the coverings of side members is the most defective process at the Plant Consolidation Center in Malsch. The difficulty is the high level of variance, the manual process control and that the components do not have a barcode. Since the labelling with a barcode is out of the question, an innovative process assurance for non system-based components by an automated photo documentation and photo plausibility should be found. The following specific questions have been posed:
1. What are the main sources of error in this process?
2. What innovative possibilities do exist to eliminate these main sources of error?
3. Is the installation of a process assurance technologically possible and economically efficient?
The main sources of error have been identified by an error analysis. These are: Taking out the right colour and variation of the coverings of side members, the assembly of the right or no trim and the right positioning of the components in the carrier of charge. The study concluded that the necessary functions of the innovative process assurance are the recognition of the colour and variation of the coverings of side members and the verification of their positions in the carrier of charge. To find out what innovative possibilities for a new process assurance do exist, the logistics trade fair „Motek“ has been visited and 13 providers has been invited to a viewing appointment. In practice, only one inspection system has achieved reliable process results. In order to that only one out of 13 providers submitted an offer. Since the payback and implementation period exceeds the contract period with the Daimler plant in Rastatt, it is not possible to generate savings within this time period. For that reason, the recommended course of action of this study is that fort he company the inspection system is only economically efficient in case of a contract extension.
In times of globalization the international market development poses one of the trend-setting challenges for many companies in the future. Companies are facing in an increasing intensity of competition in their market environment. This development is expedite by the growing technological exchangeability of products, so the differentiation on the technological dimension will be hampered significantly. All the more the necessity of the foreign sales come to the fore to counteract the degree of competition. The research question is: How can Kendrion IDS participate in the Northern European market to generate further growth?
The aim of this thesis is to detect the industry-specific market potentials for the target-oriented and strategic business development in Scandinavia.
In order to achieve the stated objective, the initial position of Kendrion IDS was investigated on the basis of a situation analysis. Within this analysis the internal strengths and weaknesses were examined. Afterwards the relevant markets and the industries were tested for opportunities in the market analysis and for external risks in the environmental analysis. The outcome of this is the developed SWOT-analysis, which states that depending on the country in Scandinavia there are potentials in different industries. The findings prove that different distribution channels lead to a different extent of success.
This thesis examined the stages problem recognition, search for information, pre-purchase evaluation and purchase of the decision-making process for productivity / utility applications. Firstly, the characteristics of mobile applications, the past literature of the stages of the decision making process and technology acceptance theories were reviewed. Based on the findings a new model, based on the particular stages and its relations to each other, was developed. Of all 15 hypotheses, which described the model, 8 were found to be statistically significant. The consumers’ interest in a productivity / utility application is caused by the desire for higher work efficiency or practicality, if the consumer believes that the application has the ability to fulfil this desire. This provides several practical implementations for marketers regarding the channel and type of promotions. Having interest in a mobile application, the application store and internal search are relevant information sources for the consumers to search for information. Especially the relevance of the internal search, emphasizes the importance of brand awareness for productivity / utility applications. Additionally, if the consumers search third-party independent sources, they inspect only a small number of the available relevant applications. Furthermore, involvement in mobile applications has a positive impact on the consumers’ extent of search. Finally, concerning the evaluation of the inspected productivity / utility applications, the performance expectancy, the ease of use and the price are relevant criteria for the consumer. This provides practical implementations for marketers and developers regarding development and promoting of productivity / utility applications.
A comprehensive buying center analysis is an essential task for marketers who really want to understand the purchasing process of organizations which is usually characterized by group buying decisions. In the first step, it is important to identify the different stakeholders participating in a buying decision for a product or service, whereas in the second step the individuals’ relationships within the group structure and their influence behavior on the outcome should be analyzed. The obtained customer insights are key for prioritizing influential members and focusing marketing efforts on their criteria and interests to make sure that the final buying decision will positively affecting the selling organization. Due to the ongoing chances in healthcare, the medical device industry is one of the sectors increasingly dealing with complex buying center structures within hospitals. Therefore, also in the specific case of B Braun Aesculap and the development of its new orthopedic business model One Knee Vision for knee replacement procedures it has become indispensable to carry out an investigation of customer’s decision making unit. In order to a deliver a theoretical framework which enables to identify and analyze the buying center characteristics, the first part of this paper presents important fundamentals related to this research topic. It also covers the progressing digitalization aspect of sales activities and the resulting potential for supporting and optimizing buying center analyzes. Based on those theoretical facts, the second part focuses on B Braun Aesculap and the practical question of hospitals’ buying center in the United States regarding the purchase of a knee replacement system. In this context, a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods is employed. The findings are subsequently explained by specific influence factors and used to point out the effects for purchasing decisions which come along with the identified buying center structure. A closing interpretation of all results allows the derivation of recommendations for a successful One Knee Vision marketing strategy.
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.
The topic of the thesis is ‘‘Identification of success patterns of the most successful SAP SFSF VARs as a base to recruit new high-potential partners. A way to achieve time to revenue efficiency for new partners joining the SAP ecosystem.’’. The whole approach is based on SAP SE, an international company providing enterprise application software with a focus on cloud solutions. The objective of the thesis is to help SAP SE to expand their cloud partner ecosystem and achieve time to revenue efficiency for new partners joining SAP ecosystem. The research question explores what are the success patterns of SAP TOP 20 SuccessFactors (SFSF) value-added resellers (VARs). The aim is to use the insights as a template to recruit new partners who show high potential for future success in reselling SAP SFSF (cloud) solutions. Currently, SAP is facing a challenge to recruit partners who are successful as VARs for cloud solutions in the small and medium size enterprises (SME) market. So far, SAP focused on increasing its market coverage by continuously expanding its Ecosystem, while the quality of the recruited partners was neglected. As a result, SAP invested a lot of resources in terms of time and money trying to onboard partners who could not deliver the expected impact. Recruiting partners who have the right patterns will decrease the resources that SAP spends on onboarding and training process while at the same time the partners will generate the revenue faster. However, SAP needs to have a clear view what a high-potential partner looks like. Therefore, it could be said, that the topic of the thesis is crucial for SAP further channel development and expansion, invested resources and indirect revenue. In order to answer the research question, the whole study is divided into seven chapters. The theoretical framework provides a general idea about the importance of partners for reselling cloud services to SMEs and what are the factors and practices that make partners successful. The empirical research explores the common success patterns of the Top 20 most successful SAP SuccessFactors value-added resellers. The author came to the conclusion that in order to be achieved time to revenue efficiency, the company should recruit only those partners who are representing the following set of success patterns: international presence, quality webpage, human capital management as a core line of business, strong digital and event marketing.
The present study was conducted in the International Purchasing Department at the Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG which is the headquarters of the international grocery retail discounter Lidl. The subject was defined by the author in cooperation with Mr. Robert Maier, executive manager for non-food and brand, and Ms. Silvia Carazo Soto, manager for the product range development in the Lidl non-food sector. The present study has two major purposes: Firstly, to investigate how customers perceive the non-food products and sector at Lidl and secondly, to identify what characteristics they value and would like to see improved in the Lidl stores.
The goal of this present study is to determine various proposals to optimize the non-food sector of Lidl stores in order to increase customer satisfaction and sales. Data and information material for this research were gathered through the author’s mentors, colleagues, meetings, an empirical survey, internal company presentations, the company homepage, the university’s EBSCO online research database, various business press as well as scientific publications.
In the first part, a theoretical background on the subject as well as company insights into the non-food division is provided. These show that the spending power of consumers has increased, consumers are becoming progressively demanding and that Lidl is faced by strong competitors on the food retail market.
The thesis then presents the empirical study conducted by the author from 30 November 2015 until 12 December 2015. Three hundred customers in ten different Lidl stores in four German federal states were interviewed face-to-face. The survey included fifteen questions regarding the customer’s shopping behavior at Lidl, the customer’s satisfaction with regards to a non-food purchase as well as customer expectations, experience and improvement proposals of the non-food sector.
The survey results show that 77% of all participants had bought non-food products at Lidl during the six months before the survey date. Of all these participants, 75% were either very satisfied or satisfied with their non-food purchase. Furthermore, it was concluded that Lidl lives from its price-performance ratio and promotion via the Lidl leaflet in-store or distributed to home. Inferential, the survey results suggest that the product presentation and the store atmosphere need to be optimized as well as the product availability. Moreover, the results indicated that customers think that up-to-date Lidl leaflets, information boards, product brochures and a mirror need to be available at the non-food sector.
In conclusion, on the basis of the results of this research, the author recommends optimizing the non-food sector in the Lidl stores by means of five different proposals. First of all, to improve the customer experience in a Lidl store by providing a “five senses experience” and secondly to optimize in-store promotion by integrating speed-bumps and optimizing the creation and presentation of product posters, banners and product paper models. Thirdly, the author recommends introducing a digital terminal as an operation tool to order and purchase non-food products that are sold out or not available in a Lidl store with the possibility to choose a home or store delivery, to search products on the Lidl homepage and to watch non-food product videos. Furthermore, the terminal includes a built-in shelf to collect paper product brochures. Fourthly, in order to optimize the product presentation of non-food products, two proposals for a sample product presentation are made. Primarily by means of a non-food module which is attachable to a non-food table in order to present a sample either on a coat hanger or a built-in shelf or by means of a hallstand with an integrated mirror. In addition, the author presents the option of a digital mirror. The fifth proposal is a category management LED lighting module installed above the non-food tables to facilitate the customer orientation in the non-food sector. In addition, the author presents three further proposals including executing customer satisfaction survey periodically, optimizing employee training and improving the Online Shop.
In conclusion, the thesis argues that Lidl is prepared to optimize the non-food sector in the interest of increasing customer satisfaction, attracting new customers, staying competitive and trendy and increasing sales. The author recommends focusing on providing an optimized customer experience in the Lidl stores, thereby primarily focusing on the most important sense, sight. For this, an optimized sample product presentation is primarily of highest interest followed by a better in-store promotion. The present thesis hopes to offer the Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG useful ideas on how to optimize the non-food sector and thus contribute to Lidl’s company success.
Strategic Responses of Premium-Segment German Autos to The Global Climate Change for Thai market
(2016)
The global climate change has become an important challenge in automotive industry because CO2 emissions from the fossil fuel combustion of vehicles contribute very much to climate change, especially global warming. Consequently, the world automotive trend is moving to environmental friendly cars. Thailand has faced various catastrophes caused by climate change, especially hazard drought, floods and heat waves, so environmental friendly cars are also needed in Thailand. Since Thailand is one of the major markets of the German luxury automakers in Southeast Asia, this study investigates the competitive environments of Thailand automotive industry and forecasts the implementation of environmental friendly cars, especially flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), hybrid cars and electric vehicles (EVs). The analysis is based on the integration of valid secondary sources and expert interviews. It is found out that Thailand automobile industry is significantly attractive for the German luxury automakers in both production and domestic sales because of the availability of skilled labour, the rise of middle and upper middle class income earners, the integration of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), better developed infrastructure than other ASEAN countries, the government supports and the increasing demand of autos in Thailand and other ASEAN countries. Furthermore, Thailand can be further developed to be a production centre to export cars to other ASEAN countries and to be a market leader to align other ASEAN markets for a better and effective management as one big market. In order to respond to the force of new tax policy based on CO2 emissions, issues of climate changes and not to lose their competitive position to those Japanese automakers, within the next 5 years, the German luxury automakers should increase their product portfolio of hybrid cars in Thailand, especially plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Simultaneously, flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) should be also launched because of the already existing flexible fuel products of the German luxury automakers as well as the high capability of ethanol production and the increasing use of E85 in Thailand. After 2020, some EV models should be launched in Thailand. The demand for EVs in Thailand will rise because people will be willing to adopt EV technology after the launch of PHEVs in 2016 and the number of charging stations will be increased. Moreover, the use of solar cells to produce electricity for EV charging will increase because Thailand is a hot country and it is very environmental friendly.
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.
Maßnahme einer Social Media Marketing Strategie des Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseums Vogtsbauernhof
(2016)
Nowadays, in times of saturated markets, there may be observed an intensified competition among companies, while at the same time needs and demand of the customers are increasing as well. To counteract this growth of competition, companies need to continuously implement new and innovative strategies, if they don’t want to lose any market share among their market competitors. Under such conditions, innovated business modules and new market technologies have to be developed through the usage of Digitalization and the Internet and, especially the usage of Social Media; creating a new Touchpoint to deal with the customers, where companies can better get to know their requirements, enabling them better to serve the market and satisfy customer needs. Keeping this in mind, many large international companies already recognized the importance of Social Media within their business model, but until now they don’t have any real strategic plan yet in place to backup, utilize and exploit the situation over longer periods of time. The Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, also recognized this important aspect and is already using Social Media, but until now, without any Strategic Plan or Model too. Beyond this the objective of this Bachelor Thesis is to create a complete a Strategic Model as well as some further strategic actions for the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, to adapt to changing market conditions and not to fall behind the competition but to excel above them. To achieve this objective, a Company and Competitor Analysis has to be carried out as an answer, if such a strategic implementation in Social Media might be useful for the business model of the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof or not. Verifying this analysis, some Strategic Models from the literature will be presented, and applied as a combination at the business model of the company. As a different point of view, an empirical study will be used to apply the created Strategic Model in a suited way into practice. Due to this application, as well as due to some further Strategic Actions, there will be improved some already existing Social Media channels. Furthermore there will be established one completely new Social Media channel. To prove the success of the Strategic Model and its additional actions, a second empirical study and some Monitoring tools will be used as a measurement at the end of the Thesis. The results of the Company Analysis could be interpreted as first evidence, that a general strategic implementation of Social Media for the business model of the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof might be useful. Additionally both methods of measuring results and performance show a partial success of the implemented Strategic Model which could be interpreted as a competitive advantage at least in the short run. This Thesis is especially written for the Online Marketing department of the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, but it doesn’t mean that for any other person, which isn’t part of the company, it might be completely useless. The Thesis is also directed to all the people, which already had recognized that classical Marketing methods won’t work any longer, and because of this, are looking for some digital alternatives. Because of this the results might be used as an inspiration or as a special kind of guide to establish a strategic presentation within Social Media.
Due to the increasing internationalisation and globalisation of competition, companies become more and more international. The commercialisation of products and services in different countries means, that companies are often confronted with cultural differences. By reason of these cultural differences it can happen, that the advertising remains inefficient, because the target group can’t understand the message. The most failures in international marketing happen because of the neglect of cultural differences. Therefore every international company should carefully think about a differentiation or standardisation of their products and advertising in other countries. The aim of this work is to identify the cultural differences in communication and advertising and therefore show the difficulties which can be connected with international products and advertisement. Furthermore this work should demonstrate how culture can affect advertisement and explore if there is a potential for standardisation in international marketing. The focus of this work is on cultural diversity and the impact on international marketing. To find out more about the perception of international advertisement an online questionnaire was created. Therefore it was possible to gain important information. This questionnaire and the literature research lead to the conclusion of this work. The questionnaires as well as the literature research are showing that it is very difficult to achieve a total standardisation in international marketing. Although people are using worldwide almost identical products, the cultural differences are still too great for a global market. Advertisement which is created for a specific market seems more often reliable and comprehensible. However for some parts of the marketingmix a standardisation is definitely possible. Therefore the best strategy for companies is to use a mix between differentiation and standardisation. Cultural differences will still remain in the future. The consideration of cultural differences in the future will therefore lead to a competitive advantage. Companies should pay attention to culture diversity, although it can lead to higher costs, to achieve the best results in international markets.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Die immer schneller werdende Bekleidungsindustrie verlangt von Modeunternehmen eine sehr hohe Flexibilität und schnelle Reaktionszeiten auf neue Trends. Dies setzt eine reibungslose Lieferkette in allen Bereichen voraus. Die hier fokussierte Warenbereitstellung mit Zutaten für die Konfektionsbetriebe bildet einen wichtigen Bereich dieser Lieferkette. Folglich wird untersucht welche Voraussetzungen und Vorbereitungen getroffen werden müssen um den Materialfluss im Zutatenlager der Marc Cain GmbH anhand eines automatisierten Kleinteilelagers zu optimieren. Nachdem eine theoretische Vertiefung in den Fachbereich der Logistik und explizit in die Lagerhaltung und Kommissionierung durchgeführt wurde, konnten anhand einer Wertstromanalyse Optimierungspotenziale für das Zutatenlager ermittelt werden, welche folglich die Einführung eines automatisierten Kleinteilelagers als Ergebnis hatte. Mit einer Nutzwertanalyse konnten in Zusammenarbeit mit unterschiedlichen Lagersystemherstellern verschiedene automatische Lagersysteme verglichen und abgegrenzt werden. Als Ergebnis stellte sich das AutoStore System als geeignetes Lagersystem heraus. Durch die Einblicke in alle gängigen automatischen Lagersysteme werden sowohl klare Grenzen der Systeme als auch unterschiedliche Kriterien für die Lagersystembewertung dargestellt. Das AutoStore System der Firma Hatteland bietet demnach die besten Voraussetzungen für eine optimierte Lagerlösung im Zutatenlager der Marc Cain GmbH. Die Voraussetzungen und Vorbereitungen sowie der finanzielle Aspekt der Amortisationszeit, wurden dementsprechend am AutoStore Lagersystem analysiert. Daraus resultieren sowohl einige prozessorientierte als auch technische Anpassungen die für eine Implementierung erforderlich sind.
The main goal of this bachelor thesis is to examine whether pricing research methods are equally applicable in the Business-to-Business segment as they are in theory, using the example of MAN Truck & Bus AG. Based on the outcome, recommendations for action were made, which could be implemented into the specific case of National Key Accounts. Price research being conducted in the small business client area but not in the continuously growing key account field were the primary motivation of this paper. Analysis of literature and qualitative interviews with experts of sales force of three strategically important countries build the foundation to this thesis. Results show that there is no one solution, with which market price transparency can be achieved. Rather, a combination of methods currently used and existing but untested ones could achieve this goal. As a proposal to solve this issue, the author suggests a three-point plan consisting of a personal client interview with a behavioral pricing aspect, a follow-up phone interview and, finally, the creation of an interactively usable client database. This bachelor thesis may be of interest to business students with an affinity to the automobile industry as well as any company operating in the business-to-business sector.
In order to provide a platform for strategic decision-making and -implementation, regarding marketing strategy in a young and socially oriented business, this work has been elaborated mainly based on the theoretical guidelines for contemporary strategy provided by Robert Grant. Further there was realized an action research with the CEO’s of the respective company. The qualitative data was concluded from a strategy workshop with the decision-makers of the young and socially oriented fashion label GLIMPSE. The fashion is designed in Germany and produced in India, as GLIMPSE was found in 2012 in Stuttgart, in order to provide employment, education and a future for women in India that have been rescued out of forced prostitution. The results of this research describe a strategic process of formulation and implementation of marketing strategy for the company GLIMPSE, making use of continuous resource allocation through strategy meetings on a regular basis.
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.
Die Verlagerung ihres Absatzschwerpunktes in die Volksrepublik China und die Internationalisierung der dortigen Finanzmärkte sind Anlass für die Volkswagen AG den lokalen Markt vermehrt auch für Finanzierungszwecke zu erschließen. Diese Arbeit ermittelt das zu einem gegebenen Zeitpunkt optimale Finanzierungsinstrument für eine Investitionsfinanzierung der Volkswagen AG in der Volksrepublik China und prüft so, inwiefern die theoretischen Vorteile internationaler Finanzierung am chinesischen Bondmarkt realisiert werden können. In einer fiktiven Fallstudie der Konzerngesellschaft Volkswagen Automatic Transmission Tianjin kam eine gewichtete Nutzwertanalyse zum Einsatz, um die relative Vorteilhaftigkeit einer Finanzierung lokaler Investitionen mit Offshore RMB Bonds (DimSum Bonds) gegenüber einer Finanzierung mit Onshore RMB Bonds (Pandabonds), bzw. einer klassischen Eurobondfinanzierung mit Währungsswap zu bewerten. Als Ergebnis lässt sich sagen, dass für die Volkswagen AG unter den am 1. September 2015 herrschenden Marktbedingungen die Emission eines Eurobonds gegenüber der Begebung eines DimSum Bonds bzw. eines Pandabonds relativ vorteilhaft für eine Finanzierung der Konzerngesellschaft ist. Der Vorteil gegenüber dem DimSum Bond rührt i.W. von der Markt- und Preislage auf dem Offshore RMB Markt zum Emissionszeitpunkt her; gegenüber dem Pandabond ist die Vorteilhaftigkeit i.W. in der Ineffizienz begründet, die durch den dokumentarischen Aufwand beim Pandabond auftritt.
Dennoch herrscht am chinesischen Bondmarkt Potential, um bei einer Emission durch Hedging, Arbitrage von Zinsdifferentialen und Nutzung von Marktasymmetrien von den Vorteilen einer internationalen Außenfinanzierung zu profitieren. Die Vorteile gelten für den Onshore RMB Markt und den Offshore RMB Markt dabei jedoch in unterschiedlich starkem Ausmaß.
Die Zielsetzung dieser Bachelorarbeit ist es, die Grundlagen der Globalisierung und Internationalisierung und dessen Bedeutung für Unternehmen zu beleuchten. Nach dem die Internationalisierungsstrategien bspw. Strategien der Markterschließung und Markeintrittsformen mit ihren jeweiligen Vor- und Nachteilen vorgestellt wurden, soll anhand einer PEST- Analyse das Land Russland als potenzielles Land für den Markteintritt analysiert werden. Des Weiteren sollen relevante Informationen über den russischen Markt, im allgemein sowie im Bereich der Medizintechnik, gesammelt werden. Zusätzlich sollen die Ergebnisse des Experteninterviews, nach der Analyse und Bewertung, in die Marktanalyse mit einfließen, um in der Folge eine erfolgreiche Markteintrittsstrategieempfehlung für iSYS Medizintechnik GmbH zu entwickeln.
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.
Current work aimed to conduct the market research for premium surgical power systems market segment in China. Qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary researches were completed in order to set the right strategical direction for service, weight the opportunities in the market, set the right models and methods for service. Research results are describing the demand on service, mechanics of the business and the benchmark of the segment. Customer's profile, sales channels, service portfolio and 5 Ps for the service of surgical power systems were completed.
A good piece of research should be simple to understand, inspiring and encourage further researchers to keep developing the topic in focus. An unexplored field such as the motivational drivers and traits of social entrepreneurs involved in the arising opportunities from the refugee crisis in Germany is a research piece that has never been done before. Breaches and insufficient information in this topic was meant to be coped with qualitative research methods. In-depth interviews allow gaining first-hand insights into what factors drive a social entrepreneur to create, develop and sustain a venture directly involved in the refugee crisis sector. The tools used in this research were meant to understand a variety of social entrepreneur’s meanings and perspectives to generate a conceptual framework and a theoretical contribution. Due to the fact that no studies had been carried to enhance the understanding of what traits and characteristics do social entrepreneurs involved in the refugee crisis possess. This research found more than 15 traits and 20 motivational drivers that society’s heroes possess and conceive a new type of entrepreneur, the “Type S” entrepreneur. This study navigates through the differences and overlaps between for-profit’s and social entrepreneur’s motivations. Followed by an exploration of a social entrepreneur’s motivational drivers and traits using the refugee crisis in Germany as mean and lens. Concluding with a suggestion of a new breed of entrepreneurs.
Due to OMEN by HP's status as a fairly new gaming brand, this paper focuses on evaluating the company's definition of their target segments, as well as actions regarding current trends. In addition, it aims at identifying further opportunities in the German gaming market concerning untargeted segments and emerging trends.
Research relies on books and scientific publications, as well as websites, newspaper articles and forum discussions. HP's target segments are examined using behavioural and profile based segmentation variables; the results of this re-segmentation are summarized graphically. An analysis of major trends includes a SWOT analysis for each trend in order to identify the course of their development.
Research has shown that families and silver gamers will become increasingly important in the future. Additionally, further studies should be conducted concerning HP's target segments and mobile gaming. HP performs quite strong in terms of identifying the overall needs of its target segments, as well as regarding technological trends. The company should, however, increase its efforts concerning trends that go beyond technology, such as eSports.
Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt Herausforderungen im modernen Investitionsgütermarkt auf. Diese werden am Beispiel der KARL STORZ Industrial Group dargestellt, welche Endoskope für industrielle Anwendungen herstellt. Dabei nimmt die applikationsbezogene Vermarktung von Industrieendoskopen eine zentrale Rolle ein. In diesem Kontext wird die zunehmende Bedeutung von industriellen Dienstleistungen und insbesondere von Produktlösungen erläutert. Weiterhin wird der Zusammenhang von Produktlösungen mit modernen Ansätzen im Verkauf analysiert, was den großen Stellenwert von Kunden- und Anwendungswissen erkennen lässt. Dieses Wissen wird durch die Erarbeitung einer Methodik für das Anwendungsgebiet Fahrzeugtechnik und Verkehr systematisch generiert, was gleichzeitig die Basis für ein applikationsbezogenes Produktmarketing und der Generierung von weiterem Kunden- und Anwendungswissen darstellt.
Die Bearbeitung der genannten Thematiken wird auf der Grundlage der Auswertung aktueller Fachliteratur diskutiert. Weiterhin wurden zentrale Erkenntnisse anhand von Vertriebsmitarbeiterinterviews und einer Online-Kundenumfrage gewonnen.
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.
Diese Bachelor-Thesis wurde in Kooperation mit dem folienproduzierenden Unternehmen SÜDPACK Verpackungen GmbH & Co. KG in Ochsenhausen, Deutschland, angefertigt. Das Ziel des Unternehmens ist die Stärkung der internationalen Präsenz und deshalb ist es notwendig, ein internationales Marketingkonzept zu entwickeln. Die Forschungsfrage, die diese Bachelor Thesis leitet, ist: „welche länderindividuellen Marketingaktivitäten werden bei SÜDPACK durchgeführt und wie kann hieraus ein international integriertes Marketingkonzept entwickelt werden?“ Um eine internationale Marketingstrategie auszuarbeiten, basieren die theoretischen Grundlagen der Thesis unter anderem auf den Ausführungen der Autoren Bruhn (2014) und Schipanski (2012). Des Weiteren werden die besonderen Eigenschaften des Industriegütermarketings und der Einfluss von Kulturen berücksichtigt. Zudem beinhalten die Thesis die Analyse der internen Strukturen der Marketingabteilung und die Zusammenarbeit mit den ausländischen Niederlassungen, um Einblicke in die aktuellen Marketingaktivitäten im In- und Ausland zu erhalten und die Wünsche und Erwartungen für die Zukunft zu erfahren. Basierend auf den theoretischen Grundlagen und den praktischen Einblicke wird ein Konzept entworfen, welches die Ansätze der differenzierten Standardisierung und der “glokalen” Marketingorientierung enthält, da die Produkte teilweise kulturgebunden sind und die Marketingabteilung in der Zentrale in Ochsenhausen ist. Die theoretischen Prinzipien können bei SÜDPACK durch die Einführung einer Kommunikations- und Marketingplattform, Marketingplänen und Richtlinien, umgesetzt werden. Ein internationaler Marketingmanager sollte für die Einführung und Durchführung des Konzeptes verantwortlich sein.
Ziel dieser Bachelor Arbeit ist es, die Erreichung theoretischer Ziele der Kommunikationspolitik von Nonprofit-Organisationen empirisch auf Social Media Kanälen zu überprüfen. Dazu werden Social Media Marketing Modelle vorgestellt, anhand der Besonderheiten der Nonprofit-Organisationen bewertet und anschließend empirisch erforscht. Im empirischen Teil wird zum einen die Fallstudienanalyse anhand der Facebook Auftritte der Nonprofit-Organisationen durchgeführt und zum anderen die Inhaltsanalyse anhand der Kampagnenvideos auf YouTube. Abgerundet wird der empirische Teil mit einer Umfrage unter Nonprofit-Organisationen zu ihrem Social Media Auftritt. Abschließend werden anhand des Vergleichs der empirischen und theoretischen Erkenntnisse Handlungsempfehlungen ausgesprochen, die Nonprofit-Organisationen annehmen können. Die Bachelorarbeit ist für Studierende geeignet, die Interesse an Nonprofit-Organisationen oder Social Media haben.
Ziel der vorliegenden Bachelor Thesis war es, festzustellen, ob die derzeitige strategische Ausrichtung der vollautomatischen Preisauszeichnungssysteme der Firma Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG im Fresh Food Markt weiterverfolgt werden kann oder diese durch Veränderungen entsprechend angepasst werden muss. Die Marktanalyse stellt statistisch belegtes Basiswissen aus verschiedenen Aspekten des Marktes bereit, um zukünftig als Hilfsmittel bei der strategischen Entscheidungsfindung zu dienen.
Im ersten Schritt wurde eine Analyse des Fresh Food Marktes und der darin enthaltenen Lebensmittel vorgenommen. Dabei wurden die einzelnen Lebensmittelsparten im Detail aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln betrachtet und daraus Prognosen des zukünftigen Potenzials der Preisauszeichnungssysteme hergeleitet.
Außerdem wurde eine Analyse der stärksten Wettbewerber im Profil angefertigt und parallel dazu eine SWOT Analyse der Firma Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG erstellt. Anschließend wurde aus den Ergebnissen eine mögliche Strategie hergeleitet.
Der letzte Schritt der Marktanalyse befasst sich mit der Erstellung, Durchführung und Auswertung einer Kundenumfrage. Es konnten bestehende Erwartungen und Anforderungen an die Preisauszeichnungssysteme seitens der Kunden erörtert und zukünftige Optimierungsmöglichkeiten und Trends in Bezug auf die Geräte ermittelt werden.
Das Ergebnis der gesamten Marktanalyse zu Preisauszeichnungssystemen im Fresh Food Markt bietet sowohl einen aktuellen Überblick als auch einen umfassenden Ausblick auf Trends der Fresh Food Branche, das zukünftige Verkaufspotenzial und die möglichen Optimierungsmöglichkeiten der Preisauszeichnungssysteme der Firma Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG.
Die Abteilung Warranty Handling der MAN Truck & Bus AG strebt eine qualitativ höherwertigere Antragsbearbeitung im Rahmen der Gewährleistungsabwicklung an. Darauf aufbauend gerät das Thema der Kundenzufriedenheit zu einer zentralen Zielgröße für diese Abteilung. Dieses Ziel lässt sich in mehrstufigen Absatzsystemen erschwert steuern, da die Nutzfahrzeughersteller nur selten in direktem Kundenkontakt stehen. Die persönliche Kundeninteraktion findet vermehrt in der Werkstatt statt, insbesondere im Falle von Gewährleistungsreparaturen. In diesem Zusammenhang bestätigt die Wissenschaft, dass von einem positiven Effekt der Händlerzufriedenheit auf die Kundenzufriedenheit ausgegangen werden kann. Die vorliegende Arbeit gibt im ersten Teil einen Überblick über die theoretischen Grundlagen von händler- und kundenzufriedenheitsrelevanten Kriterien im Kundendienst und B2B Geschäftsbeziehungen. Hierbei werden die Strukturen und Beziehungen der Wirtschaftsakteure Hersteller-Händler-Kunde in der Nutzfahrzeugbranche näher betrachtet.
Der zweite Teil beschreibt die praktische Gewährleistungsantragsprüfung der MAN Truck & Bus AG und widmet sich den kundenzufriedenheitsrelevanten Zielen. Anschließend wurden – in Zusammenarbeit mit den nationalen Importeuren – zufriedenheitsrelevante Kriterien der Gewährleistungsabwicklung identifiziert. Aufbauend darauf wurde eine empirische Studie mit 169 Händlern durchgeführt, um mögliche Schwachstellen aufzudecken und diese zu optimieren. Die Umsetzung der Erkenntnisse und Empfehlungen sollen im ersten Schritt die Händlerzufriedenheit positiv beeinflussen und sich somit positiv auf die Zufriedenheit der Kunden auswirken.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit untersucht die Forschungsfrage „Wie sieht eine passende Vermarktungsstrategie für die Marke IDEAL Health aus?“
Zunächst wurde im Theorieteil die Luftreinigungsbranche analysiert und die Marke IDEAL Health charakterisiert. Daraufhin wurden Experteninterviews und eine Umfrage zur Kundenzufriedenheit durchgeführt. Deren Analyse ergab unter anderem, dass der Markt für Luftreiniger wächst, doch ein Großteil der Bevölkerung im Unwissen über Möglichkeiten zur Luftreinigung ist. Diese und weitere Erkenntnisse wurden in Handlungsempfehlungen für die Firma Krug & Priester eingebunden, wobei verschiedene Werbekonzepte und auch das Risikomanagement thematisiert wurden. Insgesamt wird eine differenzierte Vermarktungsstrategie für Krug & Priester dargestellt, um das Bewusstsein der Menschen zu wecken und die Marke IDEAL Health weiterhin erfolgreich in der Luftreinigungsbranche zu etablieren.
A Successful introduction of E-learning for Bosch Car Service and Auto Crew Workshops Worldwide.
(2016)
The purpose of this study is to determine how to introduce E-learning successfully for Bosch soft franchise workshops to maintain quality in services and a high level of customer satisfaction. The study focuses on two research question A) Should Bosch continue to invest in producing elearning course for workshops. B) How to increase workshop’s participation for e-learning. Regional Concept Managers from 14 countries evaluated the existing e-learning courses to define exclusively “E-learnings” pro and cons as per their marketplace to see if investing in elearning is beneficial. Secondly, the emphasis was placed on Regional Managers to brainstorm on what are the new strategies can be used to motivate the workshop to take part in e-learning. Broadly speaking, learning is an expensive and time-consuming activity that can be a disadvantage when it comes to teaching people. Bosch was one of the pioneer company after Daimler that uses e-learning platform to train their workshops- Bosch car Service and Auto Crew. The vision for e-learning was very innovative and useful for the workshops to teach the structured way of showing all the works that carried out in a workshop. However, low participation from the workshop in e-learning courses has been a challenge.
The first part of the thesis provides a theoretical understanding of the Automotive Aftermarket. It also gives detail introduction and usage of “E-learning” in 21st century. The second part explains the workshop concepts “Bosch Car Service” and “Auto Crew.” It also provides an overview of “how e-learning course is produced and used for workshops” and the final part consists of an “Empirical Research” that includes the findings from Expert Interview and survey with Regional Managers. The findings from empirical part reveal that E-learning courses are useful for the workshop. Therefore, Bosch should continue to invest in producing E-learning Courses. However, study shows the different areas that need improvement, therefore findings from the empirical research need to be considered by the Headquarter as well as the Regional Organization to successfully introduce “E-learning” for the workshops.
Aufgrund der Überalterung der Gesellschaft wird der Generationenvertrag für jüngere Generation zu einem Problem. Da nicht genügend Kapital in die gesetzliche Rentenversicherung fließt, werden spätere Rentennehmer kaum bis keine gesetzlichen Rentenansprüche geltend machen können. Somit müssen andere Rentensparmodelle in Betracht gezogen werden, wie beispielsweise private Altersvorsorgemodelle. Im Fall der privaten Altersvorsorge bieten fondsgebundene Lebens-und Rentenversicherungen eine Alternative. Vor dem Hintergrund der Niedrigzinsstände und den daher renditeschwachen Kapitalmärkten gilt es alternative Anlageklassen in Erwägung zu ziehen. Die hierbei betrachtete Anlageklasse ist Private Equity. Private Equity Fonds zählen zu der Klasse der alternativen Investmentfonds und bieten Aussichten auf positive, reale Renditen. Im Zuge dieser Arbeit wird eine Beurteilung über die Dienlichkeit und Eignung der Anlageklasse im Rahmen der privaten Altersvorsorge getroffen. Dazu wird das private Altersvorsorgemodell der fondsgebundenen Lebensversicherung erläutert sowie die Anlageklasse Private Equity detailliert betrachtet. Anhand von 6 Kriterien wird zuletzt untersucht, ob eine Investition im Rahmen einer Lebensversicherung sinnvoll ist. Dabei ergibt sich der Fakt dass Private Equity als Anlageklasse für fondsgebundenen Lebensversicherungen gut geeignet ist, während das Produkt der fondsgebundenen Lebensversicherung jedoch signifikante Schwächen aufweist. Diese Schwachpunkte führen dazu, von einer Private Equity Investition im Rahmen eines Fondsdepots einer Lebensversicherung abzusehen. Stattdessen ist es sinnvoller als Privatanleger in Private Equity Dachfonds anzulegen und dies komplementär zu anderen geeigneten Vorsorgemodellen zu betreiben.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Optimierung des EDI-Implementierungsprozesses eines Unternehmens. Für den vorgegebenen Prozess konnte sich bisher noch keine Routine in dem Unternehmen entwickeln und es liegt keine Prozessdokumentation vor. Daher ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit den Prozess zu analysieren, Optimierungsstrategien zu entwickeln und durch eine Prozessdokumentation einen gewissen Grad an Standardisierung sicherzustellen. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen setzt sich diese Arbeit mit der Theorie des Geschäftsprozessmanagements auseinander und erarbeitet Möglichkeiten, durch eine Schwachstellen- sowie eine Fehleranalyse, einen optimierten Soll-Prozess der EDI-Implementierung zu präsentieren.
Das Ziel der vorliegenden Bachelorarbeit ist es, innerhalb des Innovationsprozesses der Robert Bosch GmbH die Kundenanforderungen an eine zu entwickelnde hochautomatisierte Parkfunktion für PKW zu identifizieren. Zur Erreichung des nächsten Innovation Gates ist ebenfalls vorgesehen, einen wertbasierten Preis zu ermitteln. Der Forschungsbedarf geht dabei auf Studien mit einem Entwicklungsmuster zurück, die gezeigt haben, dass sich Kunden selbst in kritischen Situationen nicht mehr in der Verantwortung der Fahrzeugführung sehen und sich auf das System verlassen. Die empirische Datenerhebung erfolgt mittels qualitativer Interviews, zum Teil mit einem Prototyp, deren Ergebnisse in einer breit angelegten Online-Studie quantifiziert werden sollen. Zur Strukturierung der Anforderungen wird das Kano-Modell angewandt, während zur Bestimmung der Preisbereitschaft das Van-Westendorp-Modell angewandt wird. Aus den Erkenntnissen werden Handlungsempfehlungen abgeleitet, denen es in der späteren Entwicklung und Vermarktung zu begegnen gilt.
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
Mit der hier vorliegenden Bachelorarbeit sollte herausgefunden werden, ob der deutsche Leuchtenmarkt ein potenzieller Markt für den Einsatz von Kleb- und Dichtstoffen ist. Ziel war es, der Sika Deutschland GmbH, nach durchgeführter Forschungsarbeit eine klare Empfehlung für oder gegen einen Einstieg am deutschen Leuchtenmarkt aussprechen zu können. Um diese Aussage zu tätigen, wurden zahlreiche Informationen über die Leuchtenindustrie gesammelt. Diese Informationen wurden durch Analysen und Expertengespräche beschafft. Anschließend wurde die Sika Deutschland GmbH über verschiedene Analysen genauer betrachtet. Im Anschluss wurden die gewonnen Informationen, über das Unternehmen und über die Leuchtenindustrie, miteinander abgestimmt.
This thesis investigates what measures a third-party logistics (3PL) provider has to take in order to be able to acquire contracts in foreign countries for further growth of its business. This study is being carried out on behalf of a German medium-sized 3PL provider whose strategic objective is to acquire especially those contracts which have not been outsourced to other 3PL providers by the customer before. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to replace another 3PL provider owing to a customer’s high switching costs. A general global marketing process is being applied for investigation. This process is adapted to the specific case of a 3PL provider by results of expert interviews conducted with different employees at the headquarters as well as two foreign subsidiaries of the company. Based on this process, the author derives general recommendations for the company. The conclusion of this thesis is threefold. First, general recommendations including early market entry, preparation through intense market research and the creation of a competitive advantage are given. Second, a plan of action is proposed on what measures have to be taken when participating in a foreign tender. Finally, a decision tree on how foreign tenders can be evaluated with respect to the company’s strategic objective is suggested.
Globalization and digitalization are two major trends shaping organizations today. Information systems are heavily influenced by globalization because of the crucial role they play in many organizations operating in an increasingly international environment. One way this is demonstrated is through different usage behaviour displayed in different cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this study is to determine how cultural differences influence the use of information systems through the Technology Acceptance Model. Insights into differences in user behaviour are able to contribute to a better understanding of operating, developing and managing information systems.
The study is based on a mixed methods approach to empirical research using primary and secondary data. A literature review was used to establish a theoretical foundation of concepts regarding the key points of the study. Subsequently, two expert interviews have been conducted with the departments responsible for most of the information systems operated at the Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences with the objective to collect information about the provided services. It has been revealed that there is a movement towards expanding services to mobile devices. A survey was carried out to measure and analyze usage behaviour and attitudes of business faculty students towards the information systems. Based on path analysis of the collected data, an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model has been developed with social influence as additional variable. The results show that different cultural dimensions impact the approach to use an information system differently characterized by the degree of support for the Technology Acceptance Model and the emphasis on either traditional factors or social influence. Finally, the survey has revealed general support for mobile learning information systems as an instrument to access information.
Die vorliegende Arbeit hat das Ziel, den Best Practice Austausch im Marketing durch eine dialog-optimierte Plattform zu verbessern. Dazu wurde die definierte Plattform umstrukturiert, um eine gezieltere Nutzung gewährleisten zu können. Außerdem wurde eine Handlungsempfehlung zur Förderung des Austauschs auf lange Sicht abgegeben.
Im theoretischen Abschnitt der Arbeit wurde die Verbindung von Wissensmanagement und Best Practice beleuchtet und ihre Auswirkung auf die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit eines Unternehmens illustriert. Darüber hinaus wurde die Rolle der internen Kommunikation in einer allgemeinen Community of Practices thematisiert. Daraufhin wurden die Funktionen von Web 2.0 erläutert, die in Unternehmen den Austausch von Informationen, Erfahrungen und Wissen unterstützen.
Zur Ermittlung des aktuellen Ist-Zustands von Best Practice Austausch auf einer Plattform, wurden im praktischen Abschnitt dieser Arbeit drei qualitative explorative empirische Forschungsmethoden angewendet: Datenanalyse anhand eines Reportings der aktuell genutzten Plattform, Experteninterview mit Mitarbeitern vom Marketing (aus der Zentrale und international) sowie der technischen Abteilung Business Process und eine Fallstudienanalyse über Austausch auf einer internen Plattform. Die Umstrukturierung und die Handlungsempfehlung basieren auf diesen gewonnenen Daten.
Schlussfolgernd kann behauptet werden, dass eine Plattform den Best Practice Austausch nur unterstützen und nicht antreiben kann, wenn die interne Kommunikationskultur den Austausch und die Zusammenarbeit nicht fördert. Außerdem spielt Wissensmanagement dabei eine wichtige Rolle, damit Mitarbeiter die festgelegte Plattform effizient nutzen können. Anreiz und Belohnungssysteme zum Austausch vervollständigen diese Maßnahmen.
The economic impacts of tourism on regional, sustainable development - The case of the Swabian Alb
(2016)
The goal of the work was to determine the economic impacts of tourism on a region. Several models are described and the tourism value chain was chosen and employed for determining the economic effects tourism spending has on a region. The region chosen was the Swabian Alb which is located in the South of Germany. Many complex tools such as Input Output approaches or Tourism Satellite Accounts exist in tourism economic impact studies but for a small region such as the Swabian Alb those are too time-consuming. The value chain has proven to be an easy and effective tool in improving the positive economic effects of tourism such as multipliers and reducing negative effects such as leakages. The findings showed that the Swabian Alb is a sustainable region and does also research on economic impacts. However, there are gaps in this research and for a small region like the Swabian Alb is it is hard to measure indirect effects of tourism as those effects are not easy to capture especially in numerical terms. Therefore the value chain was developed and along the value chain potential sources of leakages and linkages can be found and ways to improve the sustainability can be formulated.
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.
Die geringe bis nicht vorhandene Nutzung von mobilen Zahlungssystemen in Deutschland ist der Grund für diese Studie. Allerdings macht es Sinn, sich mit dieser neuen Technologie zu beschäftigen, da mobile Endgeräte einen sehr hohen Verbreitungsgrad haben und somit auch für eine Anwendung im Bereich der Zahlsysteme optimal sind und auch die technischen Voraussetzungen mit sich bringen. Heutige mobile Geräte sind Internetempfangsbereit um Zahlungen auszulösen oder zu autorisieren oder mit anderen Empfängern ausgestattet (NFC-Chips). Der Großteil der Forschung richtet sich allerdings auf den Kunden und seine Gründe, mobile Zahlungssysteme anzunehmen oder abzulehnen. Dieser Entwicklung soll mit dieser Thesis entgegengewirkt werden, da sie sich mit den Unternehmen beschäftigt und damit, welche Anwendungsmöglichen mobile Zahlungssysteme noch bieten sollen. Die Forschung in dieser Arbeit hat ergeben, das Unternehmen mobile Zahlungssysteme für die weitere Kundenbindung nutzen wollen und die verwendete Applikation zu Werbezwecken sowohl als auch Lagerbestandskontrollen einsetzen wollen.
Die zukünftige Forschung in diesem Bereich sollte sich weiter auf diese Punkte und ebenfalls auf weitere Nutzungsabsichten konzentrieren, damit Unternehmen einen weiteren Mehrwert in dieser neuen Technologie sehen.
Beherrscht man die Suchmaschinen, so beherrscht man auch den Online-Markt.
Wie man im Allgemeinen Suchmaschinen-Optimierung betreibt, beschreiben bereits viele verlässliche und fundierte Quellen. Eine oft ungeklärte Fragestellung bleibt jedoch: Wie betreibt man Suchmaschinen-Optimierung für einen Online-Shop, der international und mehrsprachig vertreten ist? In dieser Thesis möchte ich auf die Besonderheiten eingehen, die man bei einer erfolgreichen und langfristigen Suchmaschinen-Optimierung im internationalen Kontext beachten sollte. Als Hauptquelle möchte ich hierbei die offiziellen Angaben seitens Google und einiger Experten vorstellen und analysieren.
Ein Problem welches beispielsweise entsteht, wenn mehrere URLs zu gleichen Inhalten führen, ist der sog. Duplicate Content. Ein weiteres Problemfeld der Online-Anbieter liegt bei der Keyword-Kannibalisierung. Gemeint ist jene Situation, dass verschiedene Produkte eines Online-Shops mit weiteren ähnlichen Produkten desselben Anbieters (beispielsweise ein USB-Stick in verschiedenen Farb- und Kapazitäts-Ausführungen) bei Suchmaschinen untereinander konkurrieren.
Diese Thesis geht zum einen hauptsächlich darauf ein, wie man Duplicate Content und Keyword-Kannibalisierung bei internationalen und gleich- sowie mehrsprachigen Online-Shops und Webseiten vermeidet. Ein weiterer Kernpunkt dieser Thesis ist es, ein Domainkonzept und eine Content-Strategie zu entwickeln, die für einen Erfolg von internationalen Webauftritten unabdingbar sind. Ziel dieser Thesis ist es SEO-Maßnahmen zu erarbeiten, die das Ranking aller internationalen Ableger eines internationalen Online-Shops gleichermaßen, zeitgleich und langfristig verbessert.
Der moderne Kühlschrank von heute hat viele Funktionen, die einige Jahre zuvor unvorstellbar waren. Die modernen Kühlschränke können sich selbst regulieren, sich selbst reinigen und können die Kühlluft gleichmäßig verteilen. Eine Innovation entsprang vom Unternehmen Samsung und seinem Modell T9000. Ein Kühlschrank, der mit dem Internet verbunden wird und somit das Leben von früher auf den Kopf stellt. Es besitzt ein Display mit dem alle Geräte im Haushalt gesteuert werden können. Die Voraussetzung ist jedoch, alle Geräte müssen mit dem Internet verbunden und auch steuerbar sein. Was der moderne Kühlschrank bis heute jedoch nicht kann, ist die Unterstützung der Menschen beim Einkaufen.
Das Schreiben von Einkaufslisten und der ständige Überblick was im Kühlschrank oder Speiseschrank ver-blieben ist und welche Produkte bereits konsumiert wurden, fällt vielen schwer oder ist einfach nur lästig. Beim Einkaufen werden benötigte Produkte vergessen und jene Produkte, die nicht benötigt werden, werden einge-kauft. Das Führen von Einkaufslisten ist nervenzerreißend, da die Listen bis zum Einkauf gefüllt sind, jedoch beim Einkaufen entweder Zuhause oder im Auto vergessen werden. Dabei würde eine automatische Listenführung das Leben von vielen Menschen erleichtern. Die Einkaufsliste muss nicht mehr geführt werden. Sie aktualisiert sich selbst, wenn ein Produkt nicht mehr vorhanden ist und wird von dem Einkäufer aktualisiert, wenn das fehlende Produkt eingekauft worden ist.
Die vorliegende Thesis behandelt die Thematik „Java Programmierung im Bereich Internet of Things - Ver-wendung eines Raspberry Pi zur Erstellung von digitalen Einkaufslisten - Kann mit Hilfe eines Raspberry Pi das Einkaufen revolutioniert werden?“. Dabei wird in Kombination eines Raspberry Pi und einem Barcode-Scanner ein System entwickelt, das digitale Einkaufslisten erstellt und die Pflege der Produkte über das Internet ermög-licht.
Das Ziel dieser Bachelorthesis ist es, ein System zu entwickeln, das den Benutzer beim Einkaufen unter-stützt und das Kaufen von falschen oder unnötigen Produkten vermeidet. Dabei wird aus der Kombination eines Raspberry Pi und einem Barcode-Scanner eine Produktverwaltungskomponente erstellt, die die verbrauchten Produkte einscannt und dabei automatisch eine Einkaufsliste erstellt, die die benötigten Produkte beinhaltet.
The aim of this bachelor’s thesis was to identify possible measures for the competence development of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs), with a focus on the development of interdisciplinary competences. It is solely based on already existing research results and publications and shall provide an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding the issue.
To be able to find possibilities to develop interdisciplinary competences, essential terms as competence, knowledge and competence management as well as the target group of unskilled and semi-skilled workers and their specific learning needs have to be clarified. Under consideration of all relevant aspects, recommendations for interdisciplinary com-petence development, which fit to the target group, can be made. The results of this paper show that in comparison with other occupation groups unskilled and semi-skilled workers need more support regarding their learning process, as for ex-ample through the definition and control of fixed goals. Apart from continuous learning and sufficient time, especially forms of learning which are close to the workplace are appropriate. Despite all learning difficulties which characterize the target group, they rep-resent a not inconsiderable potential and an opportunity for enterprises to successfully overcome challenges such as globalisation, demographic change and the lack of qualified personnel.
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.
The ongoing globalization process facilitates the internationalization of operations, and therefore, intensifies the competition in almost every industry. Innovation is a key factor for companies to defy the competition of multinational organizations in highly competitive markets, especially considering that multinational ones are able to benefit from economies of scale due to their total market size. Technological progress is a significant driver for innovation and a result of intense research and development. In a country with comparatively high wages like Germany, research and development is an expensive issue for domestic companies, above all for the small and medium-sized ones. Considering also higher technological standards in some other countries, German companies have to search for opportunities to carry out research and development activities abroad in order to stay competitive. Especially China and India, which are mainly known as popular target countries for carrying out production due to low labor costs, became important locations for technology development activities. If companies plan to relocate their research and development activities in those countries, they have to choose an appropriate entry mode. Therefore, companies should take into consideration the desired level of control over operations, institutional restrictions and the availability of monetary resources. In addition to the difficulty in measuring precisely the impact of innovations on a company’s success, particularly in the long run, attractive location factors are volatile and can change due to new trade and tariff agreements, political tensions between countries or economical changes, complicating future predictions. Furthermore, the relocation represents a major challenge to the organizational structure as the degree of decision-making authority given to the subsidy determines whether operations abroad will lead to success and ensure the backflow of knowhow. Thus, innovation management’s tasks consist of adjusting processes and structures in order to promote the dispersion of this critical information within the entire organization.
Studies show that happiness leads to success nearly in every life domain, including work. Employees who are happier have superior productivity, creativity, performance and are more satisfied with their jobs. All these perks make the topic of happiness highly relevant for the business world. This thesis aims to get a better understanding of how the job affects happiness by distinguishing between two different paths to happiness and well-being that origin from the philosophical terms hedonia and eudaimonia. Hedonia can be described as the pursuit of pleasure and eudaimonia as the pursuit of meaning. Hedonia and eudaimonia will be assessed in general and in job-settings in order to evaluate how these orientations affect the global happiness of individuals. By using the model of subjective well-being by Diener and by analyzing its hedonic facets of life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect, in general and on the job, it was determined under what conditions or in what situations on the job an individual will contribute to their happiness. The same approach was used to assess eudaimonic well-being. The dimensions of the model of psychological well-being by Ryff, were evaluated as facets and it was assessed how each of these dimension; environmental mastery, self-acceptance, positive relationships, growth, autonomy and purpose, affected global happiness in job-related settings. The results of the analysis of the facets are presented in a visual model that shows how these facets contribute positively to happiness. Nevertheless, this model has a lot of limitations that are a reflection of the challenges in the field, where there is a problem with the semantics, with the categories of analysis, with the research methods and biases, and all the differing perspectives of the leading researchers.
The present paper deals with the development of a marketing concept for the repositioning of the water brand Wittmannsthaler towards the young and modern Black Forest. The question of which communication activities are suitable for the orientation of Wittmannsthaler towards the young and modern Black Forest is researched. The purpose of the repositioning is to achieve an emotional communication that is more attractive for customers and consumers. It tries to improve the market position as well as to expand sales territories, using low budget marketing measures. Since the young and modern Black Forest has previously not been defined in literature, it is necessary to develop a suitable definition. This definition is developed by analysing selected expert interviews. Extensive research has revealed relevant elements of the young and modern Black Forest to act upon. These areas, as well as the definition, are the bases of the marketing concept elaborated in this paper. Further, they contribute the main content of the concept. The paper concludes that the young and modern Black Forest presents a variety of possibilities for the brand Wittmannsthaler to reposition itself. The product channel and the distribution channel can be expanded. The communication activity of the brand will become more attractive for the company’s target group. Targeted customer loyalty measures will be included in the future marketing concept in order to increase customer loyalty. The marketing concept is designed in a way that all communication tools and customer loyalty programs can be combined. By doing so, time for implementation can be reduced.
The main purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the customers’ motivation to participate in SAP‘s Influencing Programs and to subsequently generate suggestions for possible improvements.
The framework for the domains of interview design, analysis of conducted interviews, as well as the analysis of secondary sources is presented by theoretical analysis of both the involvement of business-to-business customers in the innovation process as well as the nature of motivation.
Empirical findings show that customers’ motivation to participate in SAP IPs consists of, in descending order of importance, the following motives: Influencing functionality, understanding functionality, learning about future functionality, contact to SAP, and contact to other companies. The design of SAP’s Influencing Programs is generally in line with the motivation of participating customers. Still, improvements could be realized in terms of customer involvement during the selection process, internal alignment between different Influencing Program teams, and mandatory training of Influencing Program moderators.
The subject of this thesis is the consideration of cultural aspects in the developmental leadership approach using the example of the LEAD concept. The questions were if the LEAD concept could also be used for leading different cultures and how the developmental leadership model could be combined with different cultures. To answer these questions the LEAD concept by Matthias Hettl with its four parts leader, principles of success, tasks and carrying out is introduced and combined with the topic culture. The most important part of this concept is the developmental theory about the seven stages of a leader by Torbert and Rooke. By means of the findings of the GLOBE study the different cultural dimensions and their leadership profiles are described. Afterwards the different stages of a leader are matched to the different leadership profiles, which shows that leaders have to adapt to the leadership preferences of the culture in order to successfully lead the people. Furthermore some important models about developmental leadership and culture are introduced in order to explain the importance of intercultural competence in the area of leadership.
E‐Collaboration and what it means for the modern business world is attracting more and more the attention of today’s leaders and professionals. Especially organizations whose products and services are interactively created and used by global teams consisting of customers and suppliers have every reason to understand E‐Collaboration for its many benefits and opportunities. This bachelor thesis investigates how E‐Collaboration can scale the information processing capacity of international sales organizations using the example of va‐Q‐tec Ltd ECollaboration tool requirements are defined taking the circumstances of va‐Q‐tec Ltd into consideration. The findings of the study show that an E‐Collaboration tool with resource management, workflow and dashboard tool features are most needed to scale va‐Q‐tec’s information processing capacity. Furthermore, this paper explores different aspects of ECollaboration including the basic components of collaboration, the incremental scaling of information processing capacity and the circumstances of today’s international sales organizations. Empirical findings reveal that scaling information processing capacity requires central storage and processor systems supported by information technology. Scaling information processing capacity by increasing the workforces is found to be inefficient. Selfservice interfaces allowing 24/7 information access and exchange are the new benchmark for sales organizations.
China hat es, durch die Öffnung des Landes und zahlreiche Reformen, geschafft, sich innerhalb von 40 Jahren von einer zerrütteten Gesellschaft in die zweitgrößte Volkswirtschaft der Welt zu verwandeln. Innerhalb der letzten 30 Jahre ist China zum größten Automobilmarkt geworden. Durch die allmähliche Ausprägung von Chinas Mittelschicht, Chancen die der Markt bietet und der immensen Marktgröße, ist die Zeit des Wachstums noch lange nicht vorbei.
Eine erfolgreiche Industrie basiert auf erfolgreichen Unternehmen; erfolgreiche Unternehmen stehen und fallen mit der Qualität seiner Mitarbeiter. So sollte man annehmen, dass die chinesische Automobilindustrie, die als erfolgreichste der Welt gilt, auch die fähigsten Ingenieure der Welt beschäftigt. Dem ist nicht so, denn in China herrscht Fachkräftemangel und die chinesischen Ingenieure genießen im Ausland einen sehr schlechten Ruf. Ihnen wird ein Mangel an Interesse, Innovationsfähigkeit und praktischen Fähigkeiten nachgesagt. Woran liegen das schlechte Ansehen der chinesischen Ingenieure, und die, im internationalen Vergleich, schlechte Leistung der sonst so ehrgeizigen Gesellschaft?
Um diese Frage zu beantworten wurden in dieser Bachelorthesis die Bereiche „Bildungssystem“, „das Recruiting“ und der „Automobilsektor“ untersucht. Die Antwort wurde letztendlich in der chinesischen Kultur, und ihrem Einfluss auf die Wirtschaftslage gefunden. Der kulturelle Einfluss auf das chinesische System und ihre Gesellschaft ist immens. Mit dem chinesischen System sind unter anderem Einrichtungen, wie z.B. Bildungseinrichtungen aber auch die Unternehmen, gemeint. In diesen herrschen eine starke Hierarchie, Kollektivismus, Respekt und Zurückhaltung und das Entwickeln und Einbringen eigener Ideen wird häufig nicht akzeptiert und schon im Keim erstickt.
Die Kultur beherrscht nicht nur das chinesische System, sie beherrscht den Alltag und beeinflusst die chinesische Gesellschaft von Kindesbeinen an. Die Orientierung an den Obrigkeiten und die Zurückhaltung der Chinesen sind also kein Indikator für eine allgemeine Unfähigkeit, oder schlechte Qualifikation. Sie sind lediglich das Resultat des Einordnens in eine Kultur, die auf eine 4000 jährige Geschichte zurückblickt.
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.
This thesis is concerned with the analysis and the improvement design of the Disposal Structure Optimization Process (DSOP) which is used by Global Flow GmbH (GF) within the waste consulting services conducted for its clients. The study is elaborated on behalf of GF that desires formalizing its procedure in order to identify deficiencies and yet unrecognized potentials to be leveraged. Thus, a process analysis according to Harrington was applied to the DSOP, in which the process was first documented through description and visualization and then evaluated in order to eventually come up with suggestions for improvement. The process-related data was drawn from interviews with GF management and evaluated from the author’s perspective. The subsequent design of an advanced DSOP was based on the previous evaluation and focused on the enhancement of the process’ value creation by providing improvement measures concerning knowledge-creation for customers, work organization for consultants and decision-making support for management. Hence, four measures were elaborated for purposeful process improvement and designed into the advanced process model: knowledge management, software support, performance measurement and a process infrastructure of standardized information flows. If implemented, the advanced process could enhance GF’s performance and support proactive consideration of strategic stakes.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit gibt einen Überblick darüber, inwiefern die gängigen Nachhaltigkeitslabels in Deutschland eine Hilfe für den nachhaltigen Konsumenten sind.
Dazu wurden 8 handelsübliche Labels miteinander verglichen. Das Hauptproblem der Labels war die fehlende Glaubwürdigkeit, aufgrund von fehlender Transparenz. In einem zweiten Schritt wurde ermittelt ob, und wenn ja, um wieviel sich die persönliche Zahlungsbereitschaft auch tatsächlich erhöht. Festgestellt wurde, durch Auswertung diverse Studien, dass sich die persönliche Zahlungsbereitschaft durchaus steigern lässt. Dazu muss die Preisbildung allerdings transparent nachvollziehbar sein. Es lässt sich sagen, dass sich die Zahlungsbereitschaft um ein Fünftel steigern lässt. Durch die Auswertung diverser Studien wurden Barrieren ermittelt, welche einen nachhaltigen Konsum erschweren. Auf Grundlage dieser Barrieren, wurden Handlungsempfehlungen entwickelt, durch die diese Barrieren überwindet werden könnten. Besonders interessant ist diese Arbeit für diejenigen, die den nachhaltigen Konsum fördern möchten. Dazu gehören die Initiatoren der bisherigen Labels, sowohl als auch zukünftige Initiatoren.
Innerhalb des Marktsegments der nachhaltigen Geldanlagen ergibt sich durch den fehlenden Schutz des Begriffs „nachhaltig“ eine gewisse Problematik. Von Vornherein ist somit oftmals nicht ersichtlich, ob die tatsächliche Nachhaltigkeitsperformance eines Unternehmens mit deren Angaben übereinstimmt. Für potenzielle Investoren, welche der Diversität dieses Marktes ausgesetzt sind, ist es daher elementar zwischen den verschiedenen Anbietern und deren Anlageprodukten differenzieren zu können.
Am Beispiel des deutschsprachigen sowie US-amerikanischen Marktes stellt sich in der vorliegenden Arbeit aus den genannten Gegebenheiten die Frage, inwieweit sich die Interessengruppen auf die Bezeichnung „nachhaltig“ verlassen können und wodurch sich eine glaubwürdige Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung seitens der Unternehmen auszeichnet. Des Weiteren zielt die Arbeit darauf ab, dem Interessenten Aufschluss darüber zu geben, ob nachhaltige Investitionen eine geeignete Alternative zu konventionellen Anlageformen darstellen oder ob sie lediglich im Universum der Nischenprodukte anzusiedeln sind.
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.
Der demographische Wandel hat einen starken Einfluss auf die Bevölkerung in Deutschland. Die Anzahl der Menschen wird dadurch abnehmen und es kommt zu einer zunehmenden Überalterung. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es interessant zu beobachten welche Auswirkungen diese Thematik sowohl auf dem Arbeitsmarkt als auch auf die Wirtschaft in Deutschland hat und welche Maßnahmen die Unternehmen und die Politik ergreifen können. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es herauszufinden, wie sich das Erwerbspersonenpotenzial in Deutschland entwickeln könnte, wie groß die Produktivität der wachsenden Anzahl von älteren Mitarbeitern noch ist und welche gesamtwirtschaftlichen Konsequenzen dies zur Folge hat. Anschließend werden Lösungsansätze und Strategien erläutert, die von den Unternehmen und der Politik durchgeführt werden können, um die Konsequenzen des demographischen Wandels abzumildern. Denn die Auswirkungen werden ansonsten den Arbeitsmarkt in den kommenden Jahren enorm prägen. Das liegt besonders daran, da das Erwerbspersonenpotenzial ab 2020 einbrechen wird. Deshalb müssen sich die Unternehmen Strategien überlegen, wie sie ihren Bedarf an Fachkräften decken können. Die Politik kann sie dabei unterstützen, indem sie durch geeignete Maßnahmen die Anzahl der Fachkräfte auf dem Arbeitsmarkt erhöht und damit auch gleichzeitig das Wirtschaftswachstum fördert. Die Folgen der steigenden Anzahl von älteren Erwerbstätigen sind im Verhältnis dazu nur gering. Ihre nachlassende Produktivität in manchen Bereichen, kann von ihrer Arbeitserfahrung kompensiert werden. Die Unternehmen müssen sich jedoch dieser Tatsache bewusst werden und die älteren Mitarbeiter gezielt dort einsetzen, wo sie ihre Stärken ausspielen können. Trotz geeigneter Maßnahmen von Unternehmen und Politik können die Auswirkungen des demographischen Wandels nicht aufgehalten sondern nur abgefedert werden.
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.
The primary purpose of this bachelor thesis is to explore the impact of information and communication technologies on the work-life boundary and to find out whether this impact constitutes a negative spillover. At the beginning of this paper, an examination of the general impacts, with an emphasis on flexibility and permanent connectivity, is conducted. In a second stage, these two major effects are assessed to find out in what way they influence the boundary between work and life. In a third stage, the finding is evaluated by analyzing the extent to which stress level, physical and mental health as well as work-life conflict and satisfaction are increased or decreased. Finally, the question concerning whether information and communication technologies are the only reason behind the change is addressed. The results of this thesis show that information and communication technologies indeed seem to lead to an increase in flexibility and permanent connectivity and therefore to a blurring of the boundary between work and life. This blurring is evaluated as being neither entirely good nor bad, as a dissolving boundary can have both positive and negative effects on stress, health, satisfaction and conflict. Furthermore, it is argued that technologies only enable change but cannot enforce it on their own. Instead, personal preference, institutional rules and culture play an important role in the determination of the extent to which individuals allow a blurring of their roles. Accordance between these factors is crucial to the health, productivity and motivation of employees.
Thus, it is recommended that employers analyze the preferences and cultural backgrounds of their employees in order to be able to provide tools and resources to blur or maintain boundaries depending on what is required
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.
This bachelor thesis aims at pointing out the importance of sustainability in the apparel industry. Furthermore it contains tools which help companies to implement, improve and monitor social and ecological behaviour within the supply chain of the apparel industry.
The three tools examined are the following:
- conducting audits at the suppliers’ production facilities, - obtaining certifications and - recycling of used textiles.
They mainly refer to improving the suppliers’ ability to act in a sustainable way. The third tool, recycling, aims at building a cycle of resources. After a theoretical presentation, the companies Hess Natur Textilien GmbH and Hennes & Mauritz AG are analysed regarding to their sustainability strategies in their supply chains. Hessnatur is seen as pioneer in the market for natural textiles and H&M is offering low-price clothing.
The results show, that the apparel industry is highly affected by unsustainable behaviour. Manufacturing clothes is labour-intensive, it is consuming many resources and therefore has consequences for people and the environment.
Audits and certification proved to be important tools for implementing sustainability in supply chains. Both companies use them, but they have different approaches. The idea of sustainability is characteristic for the whole business policy of Hessnatur, while H&M added this concept to its existing policy some years ago. Due to those different starting points, Hessnatur was able to build closer relationships with their suppliers than H&M. To sum up, there is not one perfect strategy for sustainability, but every company has to engage in increasing sustainability within the supply chain according to individual circumstances and to the firm’s individual character.
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 buzzword “smart city”, which describes the integration of digital technologies in different areas of cities, is on the rise worldwide. Even though there are various megatrends pushing towards the uptake of smart cities, both public sector and businesses struggle to indentify viable sources of financing and business models for smart city initiatives.
This also holds true for the smart city business of Bosch Software Innovations GmbH, which includes various smart city projects in initial stages. Therefore, the topic of business model development in the context of smart cities is being approached in this thesis, with the Gambit project in the City of York being examined as a reference project. The idea of Gambit – “Gamification for better living in cities by influencing tourist behaviour” - is based on a smartphone application for tourists, which aims to influence visitor behaviour through elements of gamification. Thereby city services should be assisted in mitigating the problem of local overcrowding in the city centre. In its initial phase, the project is financially supported by public authorities. The central question is how such a kind of project can be financially viable and how its commercial uptake can be achieved. With this in mind, the aim of this thesis is to explore business model development for smart city solutions based on the example of the Gambit project in York. To do so, a multi-method approach is used, comprising a literature review on the theoretical background of smart cities and business models, as well as empirical research based on interviews with the partner organisations of the project, as well as a workshop with other city stakeholders.
This key findings show that the attraction of additional stakeholder within cities is essential for the economic success of smart city projects. This implies multi-directional value streams and multiple sources of financing within smart city initiatives. In this context, various forms of financial contribution, such as indirect payments through other offerings and the provision of advertising space to co-finance solutions should be considered. Besides, linking smart city solutions to other services within cities might form the basis for financial viability. The findings produced stress the importance of collaboration and partnering. Furthermore, it can be concluded that the diversity of stakeholders implies a diversity of value streams in smart city business models.
The major objective of this thesis is to analyse the given investment incentives for renewable energies, especially for photovoltaics, in Germany and to make recommendations for potential investors who are willing to invest. For this reason the author decided to check the incentives for profitability.
In the first part, the origins of and present strategies for structural changes in the energy sector are explained. The fact is that global warming mainly is man-made. Green house gas emissions should be reduced by focusing on the expansion of renewable energies. The paper then identifies the provided investment incentives and further highlights the
advantageousness of each incentive. In a detailed central section the thesis examines six model calculations. The applied method to carry out a valuation of the investment is the net present value method. Payments-in and payments-out of the potential investment are compared and discounted to determine the net present value. The results of the calculations demonstrate that selling the generated electric power completely is uneconomically due to the declining feed-in compensation. The associated investment incentives were unable to improve the result. By contrast, private consumption of the generated electric energy is gaining in importance. Energy storage devices are installed and promoted correspondingly. Consequently, the provided investment incentives are profitable and favorable. On the basis of the results of these calculations, it can be concluded that the expansion of renewable energies is an ongoing process characterized by changes in the structure of provided investment incentives. These data support the view that in the future there is going to be a strong tendency to store the electric energy generated by renewable energies.
Strom aus Photovoltaik-Anlagen spielt eine zentrale Rolle bei der Energiewende und auf dem Weg hin zur zukünftigen Energieversorgung Deutschlands aus erneuerbaren Energien. Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Photovoltaik-Branche und betrachtet sie dabei aus der Akteurs-Sicht von kleinen Solarbetrieben. Unter praktischer Anwendung von Analyse-Methoden aus dem strategischen Management wie einer Umweltanalyse und einer Branchenstrukturanalyse wird die aktuelle Situation hinsichtlich der gegebenen Umweltfaktoren und des Wettbewerbs charakterisiert und ausgewertet. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, den gegenwärtigen Zustand der Branche und des Wettbewerbs darzustellen, auf derzeitige Probleme und mögliche Lösungen hinzuweisen und zukünftige Möglichkeiten für kleine Solarbetriebe im Markt aufzuzeigen.
This paper was written for the Häfele GmbH & Co KG during the period from October 2015 to February 2016. In 2016 the Häfele group wants to start business activities in the Spanish project business. The market entry should be carried out by the Spanish subsidiary Häfele Herrajes S.L. For that reason, the purpose of this bachelor thesis is to realize a market analysis and to develop suitable strategies for the Spanish market. Through the application of analytical tools of strategic management the business environment and the company have been analyzed.
After an introduction a PEST-Analysis has been carried out to assess the macroenvironment of the company. Additionally, an industry structure analysis should give an overview of the characteristics of the project business and the actual situation of the Spanish construction sector. A more detailed analysis including a potential sales volume calculation has been carried out of the hotel construction segment due to the reason that the Häfele group has already established business relations in this segment through operations in other markets. Furthermore, a competition analysis has been realized which focuses on the three most important competitors of the market. In this context the largest competitor is compared with the Häfele Herrajes S.L. The comparison is based on the key success factors of the industry which have been determined beforehand with experts of the Häfele group. A SWOT-Analysis is used to elaborate strategic actions by summarizing the results of the previous insights. The main conclusions of the thesis for the Häfele Herrajes S.L. are that the subsidiary should focus on the hotel construction market in the regions of Madrid, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands. Moreover, the subsidiary should concentrate on the construction of hotels in four and five star segment. Besides that, the company wide corporation and the use of established business relations will be necessary to establish the Häfele Herrajes S.L. in the long term on the Spanish project market.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit befasst sich mit dem Thema „Der Einfluss von Corporate Social Responsibility auf das Markenimage im Zwiespalt mit Profit und Moral“. Der Autor hat das Thema zum einen aufgrund der gestiegenen Relevanz von gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung seitens der Unternehmen und zum anderen aus persönlichem Interesse an Corporate Social Responsibility und Marken gewählt. Marken haben einen großen Einfluss auf die Menschen und auch Unternehmen, da sie Emotionen wiederspiegeln und eine Beziehung zu den Kunden herstellen können, die unter Umständen wiederum eine gewisse Loyalität gegenüber einer Marke entwickeln.
Die Bachelor-Thesis besteht im ersten Teil aus den theoretischen und historischen Grundlagen von Corporate Social Responsibility. Außerdem werden Richtlinien genannt, die eine nachhaltige und verantwortungsvolle Vorgehensweise seitens der Unternehmen sicherstellen sollen. Auch die Motive, die für CSR sprechen, werden vorgestellt. Der erste Teil soll dem Leser ein Basiswissen über Corporate Social Responsibility vermitteln und die Hinführung zu dem zweiten Teil der Thesis vereinfachen. Der Hauptteil beinhaltet die Auswirkung von Corporate Social Responsibility auf Marken und die Handlungsfelder von CSR. Abschließend wird eine Fallstudie auf Basis der theoretischen Grundlagen zeigen, wie ein Unternehmen Corporate Social Responsibility in seine Geschäftsstrategie integriert und erfolgreich umgesetzt hat. Als Praxisbeispiel dient hierbei die Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG mit ihrer Marke Ritter Sport.
Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Herausarbeitung einer Markt- und Nutzenanalyse von Smart Home Lösungen im privaten Kontext. Die Arbeit fokussiert sich aufgrund der Themenbreite auf den Bereich des Energiemanagements mit besonderem Augenmerk auf die Herausarbeitung von Möglichkeiten zur Effizienzsteigerung. Die Fragestellungen werden auf der Grundlage der Auswertung aktueller Fachliteratur diskutiert. Studien und Umfragen von Unternehmen des Smart Home Sektors stellen eine ergänzende Informationsquelle dar.
Der erste Teil der Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Entstehungsgeschichte der Vernetzung und dem daraus entstandenen Smart Home-Markt. Darauf aufbauend werden die wichtigsten Aspekte der von der Bundesregierung beschlossenen Energiewende aufgezeigt. Das Thema Smartes Energiemanagement vereint die Themen Smart Home, Energiewende und Energiemanagement im weiteren Verlauf der Arbeit und zeigt die Möglichkeiten einer intelligenten Vernetzung auf.
Die Analyse zeigt, dass durch den Einsatz intelligenter Steuerungssysteme im privaten Umfeld enorme monetäre Einsparungen im Bereich des Energiemanagements erreichen lassen. Zusätzlich kann die Installation intelligenter Steuergeräte zu einer Verringerung der eigenen CO2 Emission und somit zu einer niedrigeren CO2 Bilanz führen.
Ein kleiner Brand bei einem Zulieferer, eine Grenzsperrung auf dem Transportweg oder ein Erdbeben wie 2011 in Japan. Welche Auswirkungen haben solche Geschehnisse auf Unternehmen? Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit liegt auf einem mittelständischen Unternehmen, das bereits ein Supply Chain Risikomanagement installiert hat aber immer noch von Störungen in seiner Lieferkette betroffen ist. Ziel ist deshalb, dem Unternehmen Optimierungspotentiale seines Risikomanagements aufzuzeigen. Zur Identifizierung der Verbesserungspotentiale werden die aktuell verwendeten Instrumente des Risikomanagements anhand einer Befragung und Gesprächen mit Mitarbeitern dargestellt. Die Schwachstellenanalyse zeigt auf, was bei den Instrumenten optimiert werden sollte. Zur Ausarbeitung einer Empfehlung wird zum einen eine Literaturstudie, bei der Methoden und Instrumente für das Risikomanagement genannt und auf ihre Anwendbarkeit in der Praxis geprüft werden, durchgeführt. Zum anderen werden Instrumente verändert, um sie für das Risikomanagement in dem mittelständischen Unternehmen anzuwenden. Die Literaturstudie zeigt, dass das Supply Chain Risikomanagement theoretisch sehr weit entwickelt ist, allerdings die praktische Anwendung bei mittelständischen Unternehmen erhebliche Mängel aufweist. Die Einführung des in der Theorie angewendeten Vier-Phasen-Modell des Risikomanagementprozesses erscheint in Hinblick auf die internen Gegebenheiten bei dem Unternehmen, nicht sinnvoll. Deshalb werden stattdessen Instrumente wie ein Lieferantenportal, eine Monitoringsoftware, ein Lieferantenaward und ein erweitertes Bewertungsschema empfohlen, da diese auf die Bekämpfung der aktuellen Probleme zugeschnitten sind.
The abolition of the minimum exchange rate between the Swiss Franc and the Euro and its consequences
(2016)
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) abolished the minimum exchange rate between the Swiss Franc and the Euro of 1.20 CHF/€ at the beginning of 2015. The ensuing appreciation of the Franc against the Euro was not to be without consequences. This Bachelor´s thesis examines these consequences and to whom they may apply on the basis of a wide range of literature. Firstly, the author explains the theoretical basics of exchange rates, from the different exchange rate regimes to the appreciation and depreciation of currencies. The following chapter deals with background information of the Swiss Franc and the minimum exchange rate. Furthermore, this thesis looks at the consequences of the abolition of the minimum exchange rate and focuses, amongst other things, for example on the economy in Switzerland and the bordering Euro countries. The last part consists of a conclusion. Since the beginning of World War I, and through economic and political stability, the Swiss Franc became stronger and stronger and finally became a safe-haven-currency. During the financial crisis Switzerland received huge capital imports. To stop the on-going appreciation of the Franc, the SNB introduced the minimum exchange rate in 2011 which lasted until January 2015. For reasons like a weakening Euro and the announcement of the ECB´s quantitative easing, the SNB decided to let the Franc float freely again as it would have been too expensive for the SNB to keep the exchange rate constant at 1.20 CHF/€. Swiss exporters and hoteliers are affected by the consequences of this decision as their goods and hotel prices have become much more expensive for clients from the Euro area. The Swiss retail in the bordering area loses its clients to the other countries as they can shop cheaper over there. And everyone who has a loan or mortgage denominated in Swiss Francs and without having insured the exchange rate risk will have to pay back higher interest and loan amount. Hence,this Bachelor´s Thesis came to the conclusion that the negative consequences for the Swiss economy are still strong but the Franc devalued subsequently through a lower attractiveness and the negative interest rates which the SNB established.
Economics of war
(2016)
The twentieth century was a period of great agitation in terms of historical and political events. Two World Wars erupted between 1914 and 1945 in a world already changing. They were separated by both growth and depression. This deeply impacted economics worldwide. In order to understand how the events reshaped the economical world and what it modified, the available literature was reviewed and summarized to focus on the main changes. This helps us to better comprehend the situation for the people at the time, and the economic order as we know it today. The wars had different consequences on countries, as France hosted the fights, it was fully destroyed and its economy was a ruin, while the United States did not fight the war on its soil, the wars boosted its economy, and it exited as a major economic power. This paper showed that war economy is incredibly expensive and hard to finance, being a considerable burden on any economy. Trade appears as a superior choice for countries, because as exchanges increase, the life of population improves, alike the economic health of a country.
In Deutschland werden im Durchschnitt täglich 121 Liter Trinkwasser pro Person verbraucht, dabei fallen jedes Jahr mehr als 700 Liter Regen pro Quadratmeter an. Der Großteil des Regenwassers fließt jedoch ungenutzt in die Kanalisation. Durch das steigende Bewusstsein für Klima- und Umweltschutz führt der Trend heutzutage mehr denn je zum schonenden Umgang mit Ressourcen. Doch gilt dies auch für die Nutzung von Regenwasser? Im Rahmen einer Marktanalyse zur Regenwassernutzung in Deutschland werden in dieser Arbeit Umfeldbedingungen sowie die Attraktivität des Marktes untersucht, um dadurch Chancen und Risiken sowie das Potential der Regenwassernutzungsbranche abzuleiten. Dabei wird insbesondere auf das Forschungsziel eines komparativen Konkurrenzvorteils unter Berücksichtigung des steigenden Online-Handels und daraus resultierender Preistransparenz eingegangen. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit liegt auf einem mittelständischen Unternehmen der Umwelttechnikbranche, das sich in einigen Bereichen der Regenwasserbewirtschaftung als Marktführer behaupten kann. Um die Konkurrenz der Firma besser verstehen zu können, werden die Wettstreiter bestimmt und auf verschiedenen Ebenen wissenschaftlich untersucht. Durch eine umfassende Analyse des Vertriebes der Mall GmbH können grundlegende Maßnahmen für eine Marketingstrategie geschaffen werden. Im Rahmen einer Befragung, bei der Kunden und Interessenten zu Themen wie Kaufentscheidung und Kaufabwicklung befragt werden, können Wünsche, Bedürfnisse, Nutzung und der Grad der Zufriedenheit der Kunden eruiert werden. Aus der Analyse werden abschließend Handlungsempfehlungen für Marketing und Vertrieb der Mall GmbH abgeleitet. Dabei wird insbesondere auf eine Neupositionierung der Regenspeicher sowie auf eine Preisanpassung, die auf strengem Preiswettbewerb, Preistransparenz und Kundenzufriedenheit basiert, eingegangen. Des Weiteren wird durch die Prognose zum steigenden Online-Handel im Industriegüterbereich ein eigenständiger Webshop empfohlen. Die Abwicklung des Kaufprozesses sollte aufgrund des indirekten Vertriebs über den Baustoffhandel erfolgen.
Personalarbeit in der Industrie 4.0: Einführung einer digitalen Personalakte in der Zimmer Group
(2016)
Die vorliegende Thesis thematisiert die aufkommenden Herausforderungen, welche sich für die Personalarbeit im Zuge der Einführung von Industrie 4.0 ergeben werden. Neue Technologien werden definiert und in Gartner’s Hype Cycle eingeordnet, um sie auf ihre Realisierbarkeit in der Praxis hin zu untersuchen. Zudem werden Grenzen der Einsatzmöglichkeiten dieser Technologien ausgewertet. Anschließend erläutert der Praxisteil die aktuelle Situation hinsichtlich des Standes der Industrie 4.0 und der Digitalisierung in der Personalabteilung der Zimmer Group. Des Weiteren werden die Projektphasen, welche sich auf die Einführung einer digitalen Personalakte beziehen, aufgeführt sowie analysiert, ob die Einführung einer digitalen Personalakte eine sinnvolle Investition für die Zimmer Group darstellt. In welcher Weise neue Technologien zukünftig in der Personalabteilung gewinnbringend eingesetzt werden können, wird abschießend dargestellt.