Refine
Year of publication
- 2017 (227) (remove)
Document type
- Bachelor Thesis (140)
- Contribution to a Periodical (23)
- Master's Thesis (17)
- Other (10)
- Conference Proceeding (9)
- Academic Papers (9)
- Article (peer-reviewed) (7)
- Report (5)
- Part of a Book (4)
- Book (2)
Is part of the Bibliography
- No (227) (remove)
Keywords
- Tageszeitung (6)
- Marketing (5)
- Big data (3)
- Prozessoptimierung (3)
- Social media (3)
- Arbeitszeitmodelle (2)
- Automated driving (2)
- B2B (2)
- B2C (2)
- Branding (2)
Course of studies
- IBW - Internationale Betriebswirtschaft (100)
- IBM - International Business Management (37)
- IMM - International Management (7)
- INM - Informatik (6)
- MOS - Mobile Systeme (6)
- OMB - OnlineMedien (3)
- BPT - Bio- und Prozess-Technologie (1)
- EMBA - Executive Master of International Business Management (1)
- MEB - Medical Engineering (1)
- MZ - Mikromedizin (1)
Today’s business and work environment has become increasingly exposed to the pressure of globalization and the steadily growing degree of virtuality. This is demonstrated by the rising number of global virtual teams (GVT) playing a crucial role in many internationally oriented organizations, with an ongoing upward trend. The purpose of this thesis is to promote a better understanding of how employees can be trained to collaborate successfully in a GVT, and whether this is possible at all. In this context, the paper primarily focuses on the social dimensions influencing successful virtual collaboration. A mixed methods approach of primary and secondary data was used in this thesis. Apart from a literature review providing a theoretical foundation of concepts concerning the key issues of the study, the paper examines two different perspectives. On the one hand, expert interviews with two European training companies and an active seminar participation enabled greater insight into the employee training industry. The objective was to discover the key sources of problems in GVTs leading companies to rely on professional help. A particular focus was laid on examining how trainers master the difficult task of preparing employees for global virtual teamwork as well as to collect information about the provided training services. As the interviews revealed, communication problems among the virtual team members (VTMs) display the main reason for a team’s low performance or failure. Concrete recommendations for actions have been described as a basis for optimizing the collaboration and to strengthen the social ties within a GVT. On the other hand, the main practical part of this thesis focuses on a GVT of a multinational business consultancy. An online survey and individual interviews with the team members have been conducted aiming at answering the following research questions: On the basis of which skills do present members of a GVT define successful virtual collaboration? How is the need for training services in general assessed? In addition, the empirical study examined the social dimensions among the VTMs and the team’s current work situation. On the basis of these insights, the team’s current need for training services has been analyzed and specific recommendations for actions have been proposed.
The study attempts to analyze the short-term effects of merger and acquisition bids of German acquirers on the stock prices of two involved companies. On the announcement day, a statistically significant average abnormal return of 11.5% is found for the target firms compared to an insignificant negative abnormal return of -0.28% for bidding firms, and the synergistic gain for involved firms is 5.72% on average. The strategy of specialization or diversification shows strong evidence that it has a large impact on the short-term stock returns with specialization triggering stronger abnormal returns than diversification bids for bidding firms and substantially smaller price reaction for target firms. The outcome also suggests that higher target cash-to-market-value ratio leads to significantly lower abnormal returns for target firms during the announcement period.
In an ever smaller and connected world, the need for instant access and communication is becoming more and more necessary. This is especially true in business, and no one understands this better than the people working at the Global Success Club. This is why they have decided to develop a mobile application specially catered to serve busy executives of innovative manufacturing companies, and help them find the right business partners for their next business venture or innovative collaboration. This thesis was written on the behalf of the Global Success Club to help them determine the optimal way to develop a mobile application that aims to connect innovative manufacturing companies in a global setting by looking at two research questions:
1. How to win B2B users/customers for a mobile application by focusing on smart user interface; and
2. Which method of marketing communication, direct marketing (emails & follow-up calls) or social media marketing, is more successful in winning over users in the internet affinitive US market.
This paper will accomplish its task by first looking over past research done by authors and researchers about how mobile applications are changing the way of the world and the way we communicate. The paper will also explore why businesses are now deciding to adopt new technologies to help them with business processes that were traditionally done offline. In order to answer the questions posed by this thesis, research was conducted on previous studies and what they have suggested pertaining to the research questions. Based on the research, hypotheses were made and those ideas implemented into the final plans by the company for the design and marketing communication strategy. Conclusions were made about the most effective user interface designs based on the hypotheses, and a study will be carried out at a later to judge their effectiveness. A study on the marketing strategy taken by the company was able to show that a more direct marketing message is optimal to win users and would be more effective if combined with wide spread and cost-effective online marketing.
The start of the financial crisis in 2007 and the collapse of Lehman Brothers the end of 2008 led to a severe global economic crisis. To counter the negative shocks of the crisis, central banks pushed their conventional monetary policy tools to their limits. As policy rates reached their zero lower bound and no further stimulation of the economy was possible through the standard operating framework, additional measures were needed to improve the overall situation of dislocated financial markets and liquidity shortages. Therefore, central banks in advanced economies implemented unconventional monetary policy measures called quantitative easing (QE). Quantitative easing mainly works through an expansion of a central bank’s balance sheets and is aimed to reach a desired inflation target of 2%. This thesis examines detailed introduction, procedures, risks, and exit strategy of QE. The focus of this thesis is on design and operation of QE conducted by the Bank of Japan, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank and on their achieved results regarding interest rates and broader economic effects. In addition, evidence for the effectiveness is analyzed with help of an event study. Key findings of this thesis demonstrate that by means of QE, positive development on economic indicators can be recorded but it also has limited impacts. If central banks conduct their stimulus for too long, it creates risks, and, for this reason, an appropriate exit strategy is required to avoid ineffectiveness of the monetary policy. To date, no country has completed their exit and, therefore, the future will illustrate the final consequences of QE.
The Revive Turbo Cleaner is a cleaning fluid which removes carbon deposits from inside petrol or diesel engine systems. It is distributed internationally through wholesalers and sales agents to workshops and private car owners. After the acquisition of Revive Automotive Solutions Ltd by Bartec Auto ID Ltd in summer 2016, the new owners decided to further develop the brand and to move into the promising German automotive aftermarket, as the Cleaner had shown good sales figures in the home market UK and in a number of international markets. This paper examines environmental factors influencing the German marketplace, analyses Revive’s actual customer segments including consumers and business clients, provides profiles of its competitors and substituting technologies, regards the characteristics of the specific industry and defines the product’s qualities in order to draw a conclusion on the appropriate Marketing Mix to employ for the German market. In advance to the analytical work, the paper critically considers the range of theoretical frameworks used for the analysis, namely PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, the SWOT Analysis and the Marketing Mix in order to define and update original concepts as wells as adapt them to the research requirements.
The aim of this piece of work is to elaborate a conceptual approach for supporting market development in Asia Pacific. It includes the investigation of relevant criteria for an objective analysis in terms of market attractiveness for eight markets. The first part of this research project describes the theoretical framework and concepts used in international market selection as well as international market development strategies. The second part of the study consists of defining relevant criteria in order to evaluate market attractiveness and competitive strength. In conjunction with this, the level of significance of each criterion is determined by the conception of an appropriate classification model. The results reveal that the levels of market attractiveness and competitive strength differ significantly in each market. Additionally, the country with the highest score in market attractiveness and competitive strength is being investigated in further depth with the aim to understand the market dynamics. The study then concentrates on determining strategic objectives and key performance indicators in order to improve the corporate’s strategy. Finally, research findings are discussed critically and several recommendations are formulated. To conclude the study, a conclusion is made followed by limitations and recommendations for further analysis.
Purpose: The goal of this paper is to develop a technology acceptance model for digital anamnesis and explore the factors that influence individual adoption behavior.
Methods: Through a literature review we identified important factors that influence acceptance. We then conduct an empirical study among patients with 115 respondents. Subsequently, we test the model using partial least squares path modelling.
Results: We found that performance expectancy, social influence, and trust are the most have significant influence on behavioral intention. A group comparison reveals significant differences between young and old patients. The model explained 57.5 % of the variance of behavioral intention.
Conclusions: This study helps us understand the key determinants of patient acceptance behavior, and enables us to give advice to businesses in the early stages of development.
Diese Bachelorthesis beschäftigt sich mit der Identifikation von Cross-Selling Potenzialen und der Auswirkung von Cross-Selling auf die Kundenbindung bei der Lenovo (Deutschland) GmbH. Da der Verkauf von PCs, dem Basisprodukt von Lenovo, unter einem großen Preisdruck steht, ist es dem Unternehmen sehr wichtig den Verkauf von Peripherieprodukten auszubauen. Das Problem dabei ist, dass der dem Unternehmen kein geeignetes Informationssystem zur Identifikation von Cross-Selling zur Verfügung steht. Nach einer Einleitung, folgen die Theoretischen Grundlagen zum Thema Cross-Selling und Kundenbindung. Anschließend wird Lenovo als Unternehmen und die von Lenovo produzierten und vertriebenen Produkte vorgestellt. Im Folgenden Kapitel wird, dass im Rahmen dieser Arbeit entwickelte Informationssystem vorgestellt. Dieses Informationssystem ermöglicht es, den Vertriebsmitarbeitern durch verschiedene Funktionen, Cross-Selling Potenziale bei Bestandskunden zu identifizieren. Dem Management bietet es Möglichkeiten zu Vertriebssteuerung. Diese Arbeit zeigt den Einsatz des Informationssystems, an zwei Beispielkunden. Um die aus dem Informationssystem gewonnen Daten zu validieren und weitere Cross-Selling Potenziale zu identifizieren, wurde bei den Großkunden der Lenovo (Deutschland) GmbH eine Kundenbefragung durchgeführt. Diese ergab, dass die Daten aus dem entwickelten Informationssystem valide sind. Darüber hinaus wurden weitere konkrete Cross-Selling Potenziale identifiziert. Am Ende dieser Arbeit werden konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen aufgestellt, wie die Vertriebsmitarbeiter Cross-Selling Potenziale identifizieren können. Als Erkenntnis steht am Ende, dass die Lenovo (Deutschland) GmbH nun Informationssystem zur Verfügung hat, das die Informationslücke schließt und eine hervorragende Methode zur Identifikation von Cross-Selling Potenzialen ist. Zudem hat sich die Kundenbefragung, als gute Ergänzung zu, Informationssystem erwiesen.
In this paper, different factors influencing the perceived data security (PDS) of online shoppers are analyzed. For this purpose, the authors first conduct a literature review and later analyze the results of an empirical study, by applying a regression analyses. Based on the findings of this research, the paper identified the frequency of gathering information on the topic of data security and the experience of being hacked as factors with a significant negative impact on PDS. In addition, a well perceived benefit and, in special cases, an e-Commerce business’ brand can positively influence PDS of customers. In conclusion, the paper delivers insights into the perceptions of data security and delivers some suggestions on how a company could improve the PDS of their customers.
Beginning in the mid 2007’s the US financial market started to slide into the “worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the early 1930’s” (Thakor, 2015: p.156). The domino effect of several events and occasions were leading first to a countrywide recession in the USA then later spreading globally. In the following this term paper will deal with the main causes and effects of 2008 financial crisis. Unlike other topics in literature there is no consensus about the question of guilt in this sense. Among economists there are different approaches to explain the main causes of the financial crisis.
Im Rahmen dieser Bachelorarbeit wird untersucht, ob kulturelle Faktoren einen Einfluss auf das Verhältnis zwischen in Deutschland lebenden türkischstämmigen Anwälten und Mandanten haben. Hierzu wird die ethnische Identität von Deutsch-Türken im Zusammenhang mit Generationsunterschieden untersucht. Zudem werden Akkulturationsmodelle, Kommunikationstheorien sowie Ziele und Möglichkeiten des ethnischen Marketings definiert.
Durch Anwendung qualitativer und quantitativer Forschungsmethoden werden jeweils aus Anwalts- und Mandantensicht die ethnische Identität sowie die für die Präferenz eines türkischstämmigen Anwalts relevanten Faktoren einzelner Einwanderergenerationen ermittelt.
Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Anwalts-Mandanten-Beziehung stark von kulturellen Aspekten beeinflusst wird und dass Änderungen im anwaltlichen Ethno-Marketing notwendig sind, da diese nicht von türkischstämmigen Mandanten wahrgenommen werden.
Rising globalization and digitization resulted in crises for the fashion industry. High competition and the interconnectedness of the consumers rule the market and put it under pressure. Owing to the growing power consumers possess, the requirements towards the fashion players are increasing. Customer experience is frequently discussed these days by academics as well as practitioners and emphasized as a competitive advantage. Yet, it is difficult to measure and to track its consequences.
Since customer experience is elusive and no industry specific measurement scale is defined, at first this work aims to identify relevant touch points of customer experience in the fashion industry by dint of a focused interview. The further objective of this paper is to enhance the comprehension of the touch points’ effects or rather the relationship of customer experience with brand loyalty. This is approached by a questionnaire based on the preceding qualitative analysis and the resulting model. This model defines the customer experience touch points as the independent variables while brand loyalty is examined as the dependent variable. The conducted linear regression analysis reveals a moderate effect of customer experience on brand loyalty and the touch points concerning the products as most relevant in this relationship. Additionally, the digitization aspect is addressed by the examination of the relationship in the offline and online channels separately. With respect to this, the present study recognizes that the extent of the customer experience’s impact on brand loyalty and the significant touch points vary across channels to a certain degree.
In a time, where supply increases and thus distinguishing oneself from the competition becomes increasingly important, different neuroscientific methods are being used in order to find out what consumers want, how they react to stimuli and how they make a decision. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to find out how neuroscience can help understand what happens in the human brain, and how neuromarketing influences the consumer behaviour, answering the question whether the drugstore chain ‘dm-drogerie markt’ has the key to the brain of their consumers. By clarifying the neuroeconomic foundations like the structure of the human brain and the human senses, and by explaining the modern measuring techniques which are being used nowadays, the foundation is laid which is needed in order to be able to understand the insights of neuromarketing, its prospects and limitations, as well as Limbic®. By understanding the influence of emotions and motives with regard to decision making, the four ways into the brain of a consumer, as well as the prospects and limitations of neuromarketing, the relevance and importance of neuromarketing becomes clear. Taking a closer look at Limbic® (Limbic® map, emotional systems and the Limbic® types) offers theoretical support, which is being combined with the results obtained from an online survey as well as a store analysis, allowing a clear idea of why ‘dm-drogerie markt’ is this successful and to what extend neuromarketing plays a role with regards to the success. In the end the conclusion is being drawn that ‘dm-drogerie markt’ has the key to the brain of their customers, and that using neuromarketing elements is one of the major reasons for the success.
The concept of Job Crafting was developed by Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane E. Dutton in 2001. It describes job alterations initiated by employees that can occur in three different ways: Task crafting, relational crafting and cognitive crafting. The aim of Job Crafting is the better alignment of employee needs and preferences to the job demands and rewards.
In this bachelor thesis, the concept of Job Crafting will be explained and will be put into the context of similar concepts. Both, positive and negative outcomes of Job Crafting behaviour will be explained and opposed. The outcomes can have the form of increased motivation, performance and person-job fit which are intended by the Job Crafting behaviour. But misalignments of Job Crafting with organisational goals and negative impacts on colleagues on the negative side can also occur and need to be considered. The bachelor thesis also illustrates important motivators for Job Crafting and the most important aspects that play a role in Job Crafting behaviour. In the end, the thesis provides an outlook of Job Crafting based on the information that was evaluated. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to provide an insight into the concept of Job Crafting and to inform about the recent state of research on the topic.
Job Crafting is considered to be a rather positive employee behaviour that mostly results in better outcomes for employees than before Job Crafting actions. As organisation in the current economic state need to be adaptive in order to stay competitive, Job Crafting offers a solution for organisations to provide their employees with enough freedom to stay flexible. Job Crafting is not to be considered as a substitute for common Job design but rather as a complement to it that can be used by employees to further enhance their behaviour and performance. Managers should be aware of its existence and even foster it into a direction that benefits the organisation.
The purpose of the following bachelor thesis is to provide a strategic marketing concept for PTC’s Augmented Reality software in the life science industry.
The first part deals with an introduction into the underlying process of strategic marketing planning.
The thesis then investigates the internal and external environment from a PTC perspective to draw conclusions on sources of competitive advantage. The market for Augmented Reality software is analyzed and provides a profound picture regarding industry structure and size. The life science industry is then narrowed down through segmentation and targeting based on potential buyer personas. Product positioning is followed by the definition of marketing objectives and key performance indicators to measure the success of the developed marketing actions according to the technology adoption lifecycle.
Research was gathered from secondary sources like industry analyst and technology reports, complemented with thoughts of potential target customers and experts.
To conclude, the thesis argues that the life science industry disposes of a high potential for Augmented Reality use cases with a strong ability to address industry trends. Combined with the attractiveness of a fast growing Augmented Reality software market and strong internal competencies, PTC seems to be in a favorable position for successful market entry. However, results also suggest that a high degree of industry adaptation is required for a better addressability of customer requirements and to gain trust among target customers.
Products and services do not have infinite lives. At some point, objects are not accepted by consumers anymore.
In order to hold up to ever increasing competition, many companies aim to introduce innovative technologies and products in ever decreasing intervals. However, companies cannot possess an infinite number of products in their product portfolio. Therefore, old products need to be eliminated to release capacity for newer ones. However, for many companies, phasing-out products does not count to core competencies and is perceived as unattractive. It is a common belief that only new product introductions have direct influence on turnover and profitability of a company. So at first, it seems reasonable to invest more resources in products that aim to make profits in the future rather than spending on outdated products. However, uncoordinated product phase-outs can as well have major negative impacts on the overall success of a company. Especially excess inventory and lack of communication during the whole process are seen as major issues. Literature conveys serious need of action concerning the subject.
The primary aim of this thesis is the evaluation and elaboration of the current state of the phase-out process of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, detect weaknesses and improvement potentials, and give improvement recommendations. These improvement recommendations aim to eliminate the detected weaknesses and realize unused potential.
The weaknesses and potentials are identified through face-to-face and telephone/Skype interviews and workshops. These interviews and workshops are conducted with a sample of employees from different departments, who are involved in the process.
Aktuell mangelt es an Transparenz und Einheitlichkeit im Customer Service der Robert Bürkle GmbH über seine Standorte hinweg. Dies reicht von der Nutzung unterschiedlicher Tools und Softwares bis hin zur Auftragsabwicklung und Einsatzplanung. Die Sprache und die Zeitverschiebung sind nicht das einzige Problem. Vielmehr ist die Kommunikation der Schwachpunkt, worunter auch die Motivation und das Engagement der Mitarbeiter leiden. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Problematik, ob und inwiefern die zuvor genannten Begebenheiten kulturbedingt sind. Schwerpunkt dieser wissenschaftlichen Arbeit liegt auf dem effektiven Informationsaustausch zwischen der deutschen Hauptstelle und der US-amerikanischen Niederlassung. Dem Standort in China wird hier weniger Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Zu Beginn der Arbeit wird das Unternehmen und dessen Situation vorgestellt. Über die theoretischen Grundlagen wird die wissenschaftliche Basis dieser Arbeit geschaffen. Mit Hilfe der Experteninterviews und der Durchführung einer Befragung wurde der Ist-Zustand definiert. Aufgrund dessen werden Handlungsempfehlungen ausgesprochen mit dem Ziel, den Customer Service erfolgreich zu platzieren. Das Augenmerk liegt auf der Absicht, wie das Unternehmen von den Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschieden bestmöglich profitiert. Die Ergebnisse aus der Forschung decken sich mit der beschriebenen Problemstellung. Es wird zu viel Zeit für die Kommunikation aufgebracht und der persönliche Umgang ist nicht einwandfrei. Jedoch liegt dies oftmals in der Persönlichkeit und den vorhandenen Tools und nicht zwingend in der Kultur.
Durch eine gesunkene Wertschöpfungstiefe und schlankes Lagern entsteht eine gewisse Abhängigkeit produzierender Unternehmen von ihren Lieferanten. Daraus ergibt sich im Falle einer Engpasssituation ein erhöhtes Risiko für alle Beteiligten. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Auswirkungen einer Verknappung am Beispiel der DBK EMS GmbH & Co. KG zu erörtern und Maßnahmen zu entwickeln, die das Unternehmen künftig vor der Problemsituation bewahren oder deren Folgen eindämmen.
Die betrieblichen Auswirkungen eines Versorgungsrisikos werden abteilungsspezifisch analysiert und dargestellt. Hierzu werden verschiedene Kennzahlen, Prozesse und Kalkulationen einem Soll/Ist-Vergleich unterzogen.
Anhand der Ergebnisse werden Maßnahmen konzipiert die eine Verknappung mithilfe eines Tools zur Früherkennung verhindern sollen. Zusätzlich wird ein Leitfaden erstellt der die strukturierte Erarbeitung eines Lösungsplanes beim Eintreten einer Verknappung erleichtern soll.
Economic growth in China is slowing down and China will no longer be the manufacturer of the world and consumers become more sophisticated. Therefore Chinese companies have to change strategies. This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the reasons for Chinese companies transitioning from equipment manufacturers to brand manufacturers, the phase of innovation in China, the internationalization of Chinese brands and accordingly the consumer behaviour. The change is fast and challenging and the Chinese companies have to overcome obstacles like culture, innovation and the country of origin effect. Chinese government is promoting innovation. The quality of Research & Development output lacks behind quantity and is often limited to technology improvements rather than basic research. Government is also pushing companies to go abroad. The biggest obstacle for Chinese consumer brands expanding internationally is the country of origin effect. To compete internationally and to be successful in the long run, Chinese companies have to deliver high product quality and use effective branding. After entering the market with low price products to gain market share, Chinese brands increase product quality and promote the consumer brand. By analyzing the smartphone market, this thesis evaluates the progress and sustainability of changing from low cost to high end manufacturing and branding.
The B. Braun Aesculap AG division “Degenerative Spinal Disorders” will be launching a new Spinal System mid 2017. A Spinal System is a combination of implants and instruments used to treat spinal disorders caused by deformity, tumors, trauma or via degenerative conditions.
The current industry standard is that manufacturers sell the implants necessary for these surgeries in non-sterile packs, which require sterilization by the client organizations. This is different in other orthopedic sectors such as hip or knee, where the use of sterile packed implants is the industry benchmark. As this is not the standard case for spinal surgery so far, all processes within the majority of client organizations are accustomed to using non-sterile packed spinal implants in their operating room processes and logistics.
The new Spinal System, being offered by Aesculap AG in the near future, is challenging this status quo, as it will be offering a system solution in which the implants will be sold in sterile packaging.
This new business model entails changes in the processes within the manufacturing and client organization. These changes need to be implemented and communicated correctly.
In this thesis both business models based on sterile and non-sterile packed implants and their respective processes are compared. Strategic and operative relevant aspects are analyzed to define strategic criteria necessary to appropriately implement and communicate the new system.
Ethnic Marketing Using Confectionery for Consumers of Turkish Origin Under the Age of 45 in Germany
(2017)
This bachelor thesis presents marketing strategies for the targeted address of consumers of Turkish origin between the age of 15 to under 45 by confectionery manufacturers in Germany. Both primary and secondary data are consulted to fulfill the objective of the thesis. This contribution combines the marketing instruments of ethnic marketing, the target group specifics and the product modification options for confectionery with the findings of an empirical study conducted by the author to examine the group’s consumer behavior for confectionery, to deliver an adjusted marketing mix for the forenamed target audience. This thesis determines the target group’s considerable potential for confectionery companies in Germany by confirming the group’s effectiveness for market segmentation through specific tests of Pires and Stanton (2005) and suitability for efficient ethnic marketing through the analysis method of Gerpott and Bicak (2015).
With the help of the culture-boundedness theory, the limited compliance of currently proffered confectionery items with the culture of the target group is evidenced, and solid product modification options are presented for the application by confectionery manufacturers in Germany. The findings of the previously mentioned empirical study reveal the high demand for special “Turkish” product variants and provide a broad range of valuable insights for an efficient implementation of strategies regarding the product, price, distribution, and promotion policy of confectionery companies in Germany.
Country risk affects cross-border investments significantly. Therefore, this paper aims to understand the concept of country risk and the available country risk assessments (models), by comparing and evaluating them. Secondly, the effectiveness of these assessments in predicting an economic downturn will be analysed. Lastly, this paper investigates the determinants behind the country risk models, using country credit ratings as a proxy.
The effectiveness analysis is based on the comparison of the credit ratings with the respective real GDP growth of Malaysia, Mexico, Japan and Portugal in a case study approach. Thereafter, Spearman’s rank order correlation coefficient analysis will be performed to investigate the determinants of the country risk models.
Results from the case study approach show that country risk assessments generally could not predict an impending economic slowdown. In addition, the correlation coefficient analysis illustrates that some variables have in general weak correlations to the credit ratings. For instance, the real GDP growth has mostly weak relationships with the ratings and tends to be statistically insignificant. On the other hand, lending and deposit interest rates have relatively strong correlations to the credit ratings and are significant at 0.01 level for some of the ratings. In addition, Mexico and Japan have the tendency to produce opposite results with the same set of indicators.
Even though investors should not rely on these country risk assessments to forecast a major crisis, the models could act as the basis of risk management. This is because these assessments do provide investors with some useful information.
Die vorliegende Bachelorthesis offenbart eine Einführung in die Thematik des Sound Branding. Denn zu Beginn der Arbeit wird der historische Entstehungsgrund, bis hin zur Entwicklung des heutigen Stellenwerts und Nutzens der akustischen Markenführung beschrieben. Um der Frage nachzugehen, wie neue Kommunikationsmedien in ein Sound Branding Konzept implementiert werden können, wird Social Media als neues Kommunikationsmedium des Sound Branding deklariert, denn die Bachelorarbeit verdeutlich, dass Social Media bereits ein wichtiger Kommunikationskanal zur Markenkommunikation ist. Als Fazit des Literatur-Reviews wird kritisiert, dass Sound Branding sich oftmals zu sehr auf die Terminologien bzw. Forschungen der Musikwissenschaften bezieht. Deshalb wird Sound Branding als einheitlicher Begriff beschrieben, der einen ausgeglichenen Anteil aus den Begriffen Sound und Branding beinhaltet. Dazu wird zunächst die identitätsbasierende Markenführung theoretisch beschrieben. Anschließend werden die akustischen Elemente des Sound Branding und deren Anwendungsbereiche dargestellt, die zur Kommunikation der akustischen Markenidentität zuständig sind. Denn die Aufführung der Elemente beantworten die Frage, welche akustischen Komponenten verwendet werden müssen, um eine akustische Markenidentität zu entwickeln. Zuletzt wird der akustische Managementprozess vorgestellt, welcher Notwendig ist um Sound Branding strategisch als ein intermodales Konzept anzuwenden. Denn durch den Managementprozess kann bei einer flexiblen und wiedererkennbaren Sound Identität, welche auch als Sound DNA bezeichnet wird, eine einheitliche akustische Markenidentität geformt werden, die langfristig und auf allen Anwendungsbereichen zu hören ist.
The present paper gives an overview about the different areas in the personnel recruiting of a company and the occurring bias during the staffing of vacancies. The aim of the paper is, to display possible actions in order to avoid these kinds of bias and to verify the gained theories, conclusions and possible actions through an analysis of the personnel recruiting process. For this purpose a literature analysis as well as an interview with a HR manager of a medium-sized local company was performed. The results confirm the usefulness of the possible actions however also the difficulty of some companies to implement these opportunities for actions. The present paper is attractive and interesting for students in the area of economics as well as for human resources managers.
Chronischer muskuloskelettaler Schmerz – Der zielgenaue Muskelspannungsauf- und abbau wird verlernt
(2017)
Diese Arbeit ist ein Projektendbericht und beschreibt die Vorbereitung einer englischen Buchveröffentlichung eines bereits existierenden deutschsprachigen Buches. Im genaueren handelt es sich um das das Buch „„Learning Management with the White Water Principles” von Prof. Dr. iur. Gerrit Horstmeier. Der Hauptaspekt der Arbeit liegt auf der detaillierten Projektplanung und auf deren Umsetzung; der Schwerpunkt des Projekts selbst liegt auf der Übersetzung des Skripts ins Amerikanische Englisch. Ebenso wurden die genauen Bearbeitungszeiträume und -abläufe dokumentiert. Im Anhang findet sich das Endergebnis, das fertige Skript wieder.
Nowadays international businesses are exposed to a constant change of regulations, regularly altering organisational structures and the pressure to continuously improve efficiency to stay competitive. It is no longer a secret for international companies that the ability to adapt, is a key success factor in managing globally connected processes. Facing this challenge, MTU Friedrichshafen, one of the leading manufacturer of diesel engines in the world, set a target of optimising core processes of License Management due to the fast growing number of international projects and related international regulations. This optimisation can be achieved by analysing weak points at all stages of the working processes and developing standardised approaches throughout the partner management cycle. The main purpose of this thesis, therefore, is to analyse and standardise core processes of the MTU License Management with a completely new approach in steering international projects.
After spending ten months at the MTU License Management Department, including mandatory six months internship, I was involved in different working procedures in a form of “internal job rotation” in order to have clear understanding over main processes at License Management. With all this knowledge in mind, a deep research about core processes has been conducted and individual improvement measures for each process were defined. These improvement measures are in line with the Global Strategy Program “Shaping Our Future 2018” that has been determined by Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG, MTU’s holding company. Also, during the research, it was obvious that combining several processes into one core tool was a major challenge. After brainstorming through various ideas with internal IT experts, a standardised approach by using Microsoft SharePoint has been identified as an effective way to enhance various processes.
Only with the proper implementation of the recommended optimisation process and continuous improvement, global organisations will succeed in responding to the increasing pace of changes in the business environment.
Die Produkteinheit DGS-EC bei der Robert Bosch GmbH steht vor der Problemstellung von Intransparenzen in den Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten im Regionen-Controlling. Primärkosten der Regionen sind nicht transparent genug, um eine aktive Steuerungs zu gewährleisten.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, den aktuellen Steuerungsprozess von Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten im Regionen-Controlling zu analysieren und optimieren, um mehr Transparenz zu schaffen. Das Ziel der Optimierung hängt stark von der Konzerngestaltung und Zusammenarbeit der zentralen und dezentralen Controllern ab.
Im ersten Schritt wird der Steuerungsprozess der Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten mit Hilfe von Transparenzkriterien aus der Literatur und abgestimmten Kriterien mit den Controllern sowie Interviews mit den dezentralen Controllern aus den Regionen analysiert und bewertet. In diesem Zusammenhang bestätigt die Wissenschaft, dass die Konzerngestaltung den Zentralisierungsgrad und Dezentralisierungsgrad im Regionen-Controlling vorgibt und die Zusammenarbeit der zentralen und dezentralen Controllern den weitergegebenen Informationsgehalt bestimmt. Analyse und Bewertung zeigen Optimierungspotenziale im Steuerungsprozess auf, die durch passende Ansätze ausgeschöpft werden. Die Ansätze sollen im ersten Schritt zu einer Optimierung des Steuerungsprozesses führen, um somit die Transparenz der Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten im Regionen-Controlling zu erhöhen und eine aktive Steuerung zu gewährleisten.
Analyse des Fintech-Sektors - Reaktionen der Banken und Auswirkungen auf die Finanzstabilität
(2017)
This Bachelor Thesis provides an overview of the growing Fintech-sector and analyses banks’ reactions and impacts on the financial stability. The examined aspects include findings about differences between banks and Fintech-companies, main success factors, banks’ reaction to new market participants and consequences for the financial stability.
Fintech describes the combination of innovative technology and financial services. Fintech-companies provide alternative financial services for private and corporate clients, which accelerate and simplify the access to financial resources, the investment of assets or the execution of transactions.
Both Fintech-companies and banks show a high degree of willingness to cooperate, which enables to benefit from synergy effects. Fintech-companies are the innovative driver, whereas banks provide the necessary expertise and a big customer base. In 2016 banks’ venture capital subsidiaries invested $ 13.6 billion in cooperation projects with Fintech-companies.
From today’s perspective, there are no concrete risks, which could imply foreseeable dangers for the financial stability. However, there are risks which could destabilize the financial system in the long-term, if the growth of the Fintech-sector continues steadily. At the same time, innovation in financial technology could have stabilizing implications for the financial system, because of higher efficiency, decentralisation, diversification and transparency.
Aufbau eines internen Kontrollsystems (IKS) im Finance-Bereich – am Beispiel der CTDI Europe Gruppe
(2017)
Eines der wichtigsten Unternehmensaufgaben ist die Erstellung eines korrekten Jahres- abschlusses. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Bachelorarbeit ist es daher, die Richtigkeit und Verlässlichkeit der Zahlen im Rechnungswesen sicherzustellen. Erreicht werden soll dies anhand der Implementierung von wirksamen Kontrollen in den Finanzprozessen (Internal Control over Financial Reporting).
Im Oktober 2017 erfolgt ein Unternehmenszusammenschluss der CTDI Europe (CTDI) und der Regenersis Gruppe. Im Rahmen des Zusammenschlusses werden Teile der Fi- nance-Abteilung von der Zentrale in Malsch in die neuen Niederlassungen im Ausland dezentralisiert. Die Dezentralisierung und die räumliche Trennung führen zu komplexe- ren Strukturen, längeren Kommunikationswegen und demnach auch zu weniger Transpa- renz. Dadurch steigt die Notwendigkeit eines formalisierten internen Kontrollsystems, das diese Aufgaben bewältigen und somit korrekte Zahlen und effiziente Prozesse sicher- stellen soll.
In dieser Arbeit wird ein Pilot-Prozess im Finanzbereich (monatliche Kontenabstimmung) untersucht. Dieser Prozess ist besonders wichtig hinsichtlich der Abbildung korrekter Zahlen im Jahresabschluss. Es erfolgt somit eine Optimierung dieses Prozesses, um Er- kenntnisse für die zukünftige Implementierung eines ganzheitlichen internen Kontroll- systems bei der CTDI zu erlangen. Hierzu wird ein Soll-Prozess mit den jeweiligen Zu- ständigkeiten und einzuführenden Kontrollen konzipiert. Dieser wird im Anschluss mit dem Ist-Prozess verglichen, um Schwachstellen identifizieren und den Kontrollbedarf er- mitteln zu können. Als Grundlage zur Konzeption des Soll-Prozesses gelten Expertenin- terviews bei der CTDI und das COSO-Rahmenwerk von 2013. Die Bachelorarbeit ist sowohl für Studierende im Bereich Wirtschaftswissenschaften als auch für Entschei- dungsträger im Bereich Finance interessant.
Football is unambiguously the national sport in Germany. No other sport attracts more people and has the power to connect more people of different ages, nationality or status. In football everyone is equal at least for 90 minutes. Having one favourite football club means having an emotional connection to it with celebrating the wins and suffering when the team loses. The German Bundesliga in particular is a magnet for fans coming into the stadium.
Managing employee engagement in high-growth companies: The case of Red Hat in high-growth companies
(2017)
Purpose
This thesis aims to analyze employee engagement in high growth companies with the case of Red Hat.
Methodology
Primary research involved the gathering of a mix of qualitative data in the open- source IT company Red Hat in the United Kingdom. Both an interview and a focus group methodology was applied. Literature from the research fields of employee engagement was reviewed and integrated into the primary research design.
Findings
The findings showed that fast-growing companies encounter many challenges in the fields of employee impact and purpose, recruiting and retaining, career development, leadership and management, and organizational culture. Best practices on how to scale culture were worked out. The findings concluded that actionable solutions such as modifying the recruiting process for cultural fit and giving more autonomy to regional leaders and teams, can help cope with the challenges of employee engagement in a fast-paced environment.
Limitations and implications for further research
One of the main limitations of this study is the lack of literature available to link organizational growth and employee engagement. Contrasting more stable environments with change environments or using a larger sample size may potentially add to this field with further reliable and insightful findings. This issue may be re-investigated in the future as well, as the nature of change environments can affect the findings. Red Hat is a very people-focused company with a flat hierarchy. Thus, investigating this issue in more hierarchical companies could lead to different findings with different challenges and would further complete this research field.
Auswirkungen der Kundensicht im Customer Journey Management auf die Prozesse im B2B-Marketing
(2017)
Die Customer Journey ist die gesamte „Reise“ eines Kunden hin zu einem Produkt oder Service vom ersten Kontakt bis zum Kaufabschluss. Das Customer Journey Management schlägt vor, die gesamte Kaufreise aus Sicht des Kunden zu betrachten um ihm seine Wünsche bestmöglich erfüllen zu können. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, die Kundensicht auf die Prozesse im Marketing zu untersuchen und daraus optimale Prozessdefinitionen abzuleiten. Aufgrund des Umfangs der Arbeit werden nur die drei Prozesse Content Management, Integriertes Lead Management und Event Management im Detail analysiert. Hierfür werden zehn Experten in qualitativen Interviews befragt und deren Aussagen zum aktuellen Aufbau und der Sicht des Kunden gegenübergestellt. Das Ergebnis der Befragung ist, dass sich das Kundenverhalten durch die Digitalisierung bereits sehr stark verändert hat, Unternehmen hingegen ihre Prozesse häufig noch nicht daran angepasst haben. Mithilfe dieser Ergebnisse werden Best-Practice-Modelle der behandelten Prozesse erstellt, die eine Vorlage für eine Neudefinition der Prozesse bilden.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit mit dem Titel „Pensionsrückstellungen nach HGB und Steuerrecht – Folge der niedrigen Zinssätze für die Unternehmensbilanzen“ behandelt die Thematik der bilanzierten Pensionsrückstellungen in sich verändernden Parameterkonstellationen, insbesondere der des sich absenkenden Zinssatzes in der Periode nach der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise beginnend mit dem Jahre 2007. Im Rahmen des geltenden Handels- und Steuerrechts werden Grundlagen und Besonderheiten der Bilanzierung herausgefiltert und dargestellt. Auch der praktischen Untersuchung wird ein Kernbestandteil dieser Arbeit gewidmet. So werden publizierte Jahresabschlüsse mehrerer Unternehmen einer Branche analysiert und u.a. anhand vereinfachter Annahmen Rechnungen zur Schilderung der Auswirkungen eines sinkenden Zinsszenarios unterzogen. Der konstatierte, in seiner Höhe nicht zu vernachlässigende Rückstellungsanstieg erfordert zur Zielerreichung des Instruments der direkten Pensionszusage als Altersabsicherung Denkansätze, die nicht bis zuletzt theoretischer Natur bleiben dürften. Die Last für Unternehmen in Folge der unmittelbaren Pensionszusagen muss für alle involvierten Parteien attraktiv gehalten werden, um nicht durch Umlagerung auf mittelbare Zusagewege in der Versenkung zu verschwinden.
The Sharing Economy: Bartering, Lending, Renting or Swapping peer-to-peer is an increasing phenomenon in Consumer Behaviour. As a result of overconsumption in society the past few decades and the financial crisis in 2008, consumers’ awareness towards consumption shifted to a more sustainable use of resources to prevent rising CO2 emission, climate change, global warming, pollution of oceans, massive interventions in ecosystems and to support global fairness.
Even though this Collaborative Consumption is still in its infancy, the participation of caring consumers is still rising.
But how sustainable is this new way of consumption, if it is a new phenomenon at all?
By describing the Sharing Economy as a rising business model, its history and the four major drivers for its success the topicality and brisance of this fast-changing appearance get illustrated. The Transportation Technology portrays, how intense Sharing, Bartering, Lending or Selling influences the daily consumer behaviour in twenty-first century.
Mostly, this Thesis evaluates advantages and disadvantages of the Sharing Economy, and finally concludes if Collaborative Consumption is as sustainable as it is proclaimed by its supporters and how influentially and environmentally-sustainable collaborative consumption might be for the future.
HomeMade, a Dutch producer of business-to-customer baking mixes established in 2004, belongs since July 2014 to the internationally operating company Royal Smilde bv with their business unit Smilde Bakery bv which is an industrial bakery for the business-to-business market. One of the countries HomeMade can introduce its products to is Germany as the mother company Smilde Bakery has a sales subsidiary in this country with an own sales force of which HomeMade can make use. One main research question and six underlying sub-questions are addressed in the research work. The main question is about “What marketing strategy should HomeMade adopt for their market introduction in Germany?” and the sub-questions are used to answer the main question by looking at macro-environmental factors, the performance of potential competitors, the market attractiveness, the characteristics of possible customers in Germany, the distribution channels available and the current performance of HomeMade on the Dutch market. To answer these questions, primary research (qualitative interviews and a survey) and secondary research (literature and desk) have been conducted. Each chapter of the research work is designed to answer one sub-question to make conclusions about the suitable marketing strategy of HomeMade in Germany. The strategy will be derived in the final part of the research work by comparing the identified strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats of all sub-questions and giving recommendations and plans for implementation as well as a cost estimation for the chosen marketing strategy of HomeMade’s market introduction to Germany.
In response to the global financial crisis, some of the major central banks in the world have implemented so-called unconventional monetary policy tools, in particular Quantitative Easing. These tools were aimed to improve conditions in financial markets, to provide liquidity and later on, in response to the European sovereign debt crisis, also to stimulate the economies. At the height of the European sovereign debt crisis Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, said that “…the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro” on 26 July 2012. How much will it take? What could be the negative side effects? And in particular, what are the implications for financial stability? These questions become increasingly important, as the balance between benefits and costs of such tools tends to worsen the longer QE is in place.
This paper wants to answer whether QE could have negative impacts on financial stability and if so, whether it could lead to another episode of financial instability, i.e. a financial crisis. First, it will explain what monetary policy is, which goals it has and what the conventional and unconventional monetary policy tools are, that central banks can use, e.g. QE. The next part will explain what financial stability is and which factors can lead to a financial crisis by using the most recent episode, the global recession.
This thesis will mainly focus on the negative impacts, the QE programme of the European Central Bank has on financial markets and the banking sector. Only in the analysis of the financial markets, it will make an exception and also include the programmes of the Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve. The analysis of the financial markets will include results of other research papers, studies and journal articles as well as a self-conducted event study, by analyzing QE announcements and their impact on bond yields and stock indices. The analysis of the banking sector will focus on financial stability indicators, their response to QE announcements and their development in the time QE was implemented incorporating results found by other researchers. In the final part, all results found here will be brought together to answer whether or not QE negatively affects financial stability.
The paper focuses on the complexity of effective cross-cultural communication and trust building (chapter 2). In chapter 2.1 the cultural and medial impact on communication is discussed. Different tools, their capability of transferring a message and culturally-based preferences are examined. In chapter 2.2 the paper continues with analyzing the importance of trust. High-Trust and Low-Trust Teams are analyzed, outlining the differences that lead to success. Furthermore, cultural implications on the trust behavior and relationship building capabilities are described. The theoretical part of the thesis concludes with chapter 2.3 by connecting effective cross-cultural communication and trust building, pointing out their interdependence.
The second part of the paper is based on the theoretical part one of the thesis. After introducing a focus group in chapter 3.1 from a German automotive company where team members are based across Europe, the virtuality of this HR team is analyzed. In order to derive best practices from the team, structured interviews are carried out in chapter 3.2. The online survey and the subsequent expert interviews with each of the 11 team members analyze their communication and trust behavior. The findings from the survey point out commonalities and differences with what can be found in literature.
The paper concludes with chapter 4, highlighting the importance of the topic and the relevance for today’s companies. Working virtuality becomes increasingly important and, therefore, understanding the communication and trust behavior in a VT is essential for both management and each member in the team. Ensuring accessibility of various tools, encouraging the members to share best practices and provide the team with cultural training, not only to raise awareness but also to strengthen the ties, is highly relevant in making a difference in today’s global and ever changing economy.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Analyse und Auswertung der Er-folgsfaktoren des Target Marketings für Frauen im Bereich der E-Mobilität. Der Sinn und Zweck der Arbeit gestaltet sich darin, die weibliche Zielgruppe für die Marke Tesla zu gewinnen und zu binden, um somit als Resultat die Verkaufszahlen zu erhöhen. Dies ge-staltet sich als zunehmend wichtiger, da die Frauen ein erhebliches Mitspracherecht im Bereich des Autokaufes haben, sie jedoch weniger mit dem Konzept der E-Mobilität ver-traut sind und diesem misstrauen. Im theoretischen Teil wird zunächst die Vorgehenswei-se einer Social Media Kommunikationsstrategie erläutert und auf einzelne Social Media Plattformen eingegangen. Daraufhin wird das Konsumentenverhalten anhand eines Mo-dells erklärt, sowie auf die Erkenntnisse der weiblichen Zielgruppe eingegangen. Im An-schluss werden die Inhaltsanalyse, das Expertengespräch und die großzahlige Befragung durchgeführt, um herauszufinden welche Strategie aktuell von Tesla verfolgt wird und welche Ausprägungen für die inhaltlichen Beiträge von Bedeutung sind, um eine erfolg-reiche Strategie zu entwickeln.
Vergleich maschineller Lernalgorithmen in Anwendung auf die 3D-Gestenerkennung per Leap Motion
(2017)
Die Gestensteuerung ermöglicht eine intuitive sowie natürliche Interaktion zwischen Mensch und Maschine. Um die Bewegungen des Nutzers im dreidimensionalen Raum erkennen und klassifizieren zu können, sind Sensoren nötig, deren Signale es gilt zu verarbeiten. Diese Verarbeitung geschieht mittlerweile überwiegend durch Algorithmen des maschinellen Lernens, welche mit Hilfe von eingelernten Daten selbstständig Vorhersagen über neue Eingabesignale treffen können.
In dieser Arbeit werden die Eigenschaften und die damit zusammenhängende Erkennungsgenauigkeit solcher Algorithmen untersucht und verglichen. Dabei sollen die Support Vector Machine und das neuronale Netz berücksichtigt werden, welche mit Hilfe der Open Source Bibliotheken TensorFlow und scikit-learn implementiert wurden. Als Untersuchungsgegenstand dienen die Positionskoordinaten von insgesamt 350 dynamischen Gesten. Diese wurden mit dem Tiefenensor Leap Motion mittels einer eigens entwickelten Software aufgezeichnet und entsprechend vorverarbeitet. Auf diese Software, sowie den Prozess der Datensammlung, der Vorverarbeitung und letztendlich der Klassifizierung wird in der Arbeit ausführlicher eingegangen.
Die durchgeführten Tests zeigen, dass beide Algorithmen in der Lage waren eine Erkennungsgenauigkeit von bis zu 93,40% zu erreichen. Die Support Vector Machine schnitt durchschnittlich mit 87,15%, gegenüber dem neuronalen Netz mit 80,47%, besser ab.
Großgruppenverfahren werden mittlerweile häufig im Rahmen von Veränderungs- und Ideengenerierungsprozessen in Unternehmen sowie auch in Gemeinden und öffentlichen Einrichtungen eingesetzt. Nachdem das Phänomen der Großgruppenverfahren sich Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts in den USA verbreitete, fand es schnell auch Einzug in deutsche Unternehmen und Einrichtungen. Unter den Großgruppenverfahren ist die Open Space Methode ein häufig eingesetztes und bewährtes Verfahren. Kein Wunder also, dass das Verfahren in der Beraterbranche einen hohen Bekanntheitsgrad hat.
Open Space Veranstaltung finden im Rahmen von mehrtätigen Konferenzen mit einer größeren Anzahl von Teilnehmern statt. Bisher wird die Methode überwiegend für Präsenzgruppen in einem realen Großraum gestaltet und durchgeführt. Globalisierung und Digitalisierung verlangen jedoch ein immer höheres Maß an zeitlicher und räumlicher Flexibilität von Unternehmen und dessen Mitarbeitern. Daher ist es in der heutigen Zeit normal, Gruppen- und Projektarbeiten zum Teil oder vollständig über virtuelle Kommunikationskanäle zu koordinieren, da die geografische Dispersität der Gruppen- und Projektmitglieder vor allem in internationalen und globalen Unternehmen keine Seltenheit mehr ist.
Unter diesen Umständen stellt sich die Frage, ob das Konzept der Großgruppenverfahren, und ganz konkret die Open Space Methode, auch im virtuellen Raum praktiziert werden können.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Potenzialanalyse virtueller Großgruppenverfahren am Beispiel der Open Space Methode.
In einem ersten Schritt wird eine Einführung in die Open Space Methode und den aktuellen Stand der Literatur gegeben. Dabei liegt der Fokus nicht auf dem praktischen Ablauf einer Open Space Veranstaltung, sondern vor allem auf dem Kerngedanken, den zentralen Elementen und den Strukturmerkmalen der Open Space Methode. Dies soll klar machen, was die Open Space Methode von konventionellen Konferenzen abhebt.
Im zweiten Schritt der Arbeit wird die Virtualisierung der Kommunikation im Unternehmen als eine Folge der zunehmenden Globalisierung und Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt analysiert. Dabei stellt sich zum einen die Frage, welche Formen der virtuellen Kommunikation es gibt und wie sich diese im Arbeitsalltag zeigen. Zum anderen wird eine Einführung in das Konzept der virtuellen Konferenz gegeben, worin deutlich wird, wie verbreitet dieses in der Arbeitswelt ist, welche Vorteile und Grenzen es mit sich bringt und welche Strukturmerkmale es kennzeichnet.
Im letzten großen Teil der Arbeit werden die zuvor erlangten Kenntnisse über die virtuelle Kommunikation im Rahmen von virtuellen Konferenzen auf die Open Space Methode übertragen. Dabei wird geklärt, ob und wie die Strukturmerkmale der Methode im virtuellen Raum abgebildet werden können und ob die virtuelle Kommunikation diese eventuell begünstigt. Letztendlich können daraus Chancen und Nutzen sowie Grenzen identifiziert, als auch Vorschläge für die Verlegung der Open Space Methode in den virtuellen Raum formuliert werden.
As part of the HR IT Strategy 2015 the management of Daimler AG decided to optimize existing HR IT systems and processes in personnel planning. HR ePlan (HR electronic planning and reporting) promised to be the best solution to standardize the HR planning and reporting landscape. A major change being introduced with this IT system is the active participation of operating departments in the personnel planning process. The goal of the system rollout throughout Germany is to unify the database for the top management to improve target-oriented steering with a high forecast quality.
In 2016 HR Daimler Trucks decided to launch the system in the Stuttgart plant, where inter alia the Truck product engineering and the Daimler Trucks headquarter are located.
The challenges with the implementation of this tool are discussed within the framework of this Bachelor thesis. This goes along with the development of an implementation and training concept. Moreover the process of planning indirect workforce measures is analyzed, evaluated and optimized within the new Business Intelligence solution.
Die Digitalisierung beeinflusst seit Jahren das Verlagswesen und die Präsenz gedruckter Bücher auf dem Buchmarkt. Immer häufiger greifen Leser zu digitalen Texten, wodurch die fortwährende Existenz des analogen Buches auf dem Markt hinterfragt wird. Auch die Fachverlage durchleben einen Wandel, durch die vermehrte Verwendung von digitalen Medien in Fachdisziplinen und müssen infolgedessen ihre Geschäftsmodelle überdenken und neu definieren. Auf Basis einer ausgiebigen Literaturrecherche, einer Online-Umfrage unter Studenten und Expertengesprächen mit Vertretern von Fachverlagen, wurde analysiert, inwiefern sich die Existenz von analogen Produkten auf dem Markt wandeln wird und mit welchen Herausforderungen und Chancen Fachverlage in Zukunft konfrontiert werden. Die Befragungen zeigen, dass bislang kein digitales Lesegerät das gedruckte Buch vollständig substituieren konnte. Daher wird das analoge Buch auch zukünftig auf dem Markt präsent sein. Analoge Leseerlebnisse können zudem heute durch digitale Ergänzungen, wie Augmented Reality, erweitert werden. Fachverlage müssen sich in Zukunft darauf fokussieren, die Autoren bei der Nutzung von multimedialen Texten zu unterstützen. Dadurch wird an der Erstellung eines Buches ein ganzes Projektteam mitwirken, deren Berufsbilder zunehmend von technologischer Affinität geprägt sein werden. Um an Popularität und Kunden hinzuzugewinnen und sich von Konkurrenz-Plattformen, wie Self-Publishing und Open-Access abzuheben, müssen sich Fachverlage differenzieren und vermehrt auf Social Media Plattformen aktiv werden. Ein potentielles
Geschäftsmodell entwickelt sich aus zugeschnittenen und für die jeweilige Fachrichtung
spezifischen Angeboten, beispielweise in Form von Abonnements. Durch die zunehmende digitale Informationsflut werden Fachverlage die Aufgabe übernehmen, diese zu filtern und anschließend passende qualitativ hochwertigen Werke und deren Nutzung, unter der Garantie von Rechtssicherheit, dem Leser anzubieten. Folglich ist die Rolle der Fachverlage in der Zukunft noch nicht eindeutig definiert und wird sich im Rahmen der Digitalisierung noch weiterentwickeln.
Outsourcing as a remedy to current challenges and profitability issues within the banking sector
(2017)
In addition to current market fluctuations, the Banking Sector continues to face emerging challenges such as low profitability, increasing cybercrime, more regulations to comply with, high-rocketing cost and a huge reliance on information technology. In tackling these challenges, several banks have come to realize that,this can no longer be a one man’s fight. Outsourcing a few functions such as Customer Management, Information Technology, Human Resources Management, Application Management, Payroll Operations, Marketing Activities, Research and Data Processing could help individual banks mitigate risks and solve current demanding problems resulting from complications and challenges within the entire banking sector.
This piece of work will examine the current situation and challenges within the Banking Sector. And with the help of a case study within the German Banking Sector, demonstrates how Outsourcing could serve as a solution to problems resulting from these challenges and complications. Such problems may include: increasing costs, low net-revenues/profitability and shareholder dissatisfaction.
This bachelor thesis is designed to develop a segmented sales approach using the target costing method. Herby it is important to note that this thesis is a practical one, on behalf of a German high-tech company. The assignment was to create feasible action points, which will later assist during the company's sales approach improvements.
The theoretical part of this thesis deals with the basics of product segmentation, process analysis and sales channel analysis. Afterwards, the theoretical background for the sales cost analysis, target costing method and sales scenarios is elaborated. The aim was to define major elements later applied in this thesis.
The second part of this thesis applies the theoretical knowledge established in the first chapter to the situation at the company. The results of the project show an importance to focus on one specific product, due to a high level of competition. Currently, the sales scenario consists of the direct and the indirect sales channel. As a consequence, sales costs are very high. The third chapter gives recommendations for each chapter. Results show the need for simplicity and less reporting as well as one maintained document archive system. The third part shows the importance of establishing an online channel. Furthermore, it is advised to establish one strategy for the sales channels and to communicate this to coordinate different sales channels effectively. The fourth and fifth parts deal with the sales cost and target costing recommendations, highlighting marketing and HR costs as the main cost driver. One solution to reduce the sales cost is to establish the online channel, saving travel costs and to reevaluate marketing activities. That way, the target of limiting the sales cost to 15% of the revenue could be met.
In the era of digitalisation, mobile devices are supporting us throughout the day, in any situation, at any place and any time. We purchase goods and services through our phones, communicate with others and can get information about anything we want. The mobile technology is the fastest growing industry the world has ever seen. Mobile technology is the most influential driver of current social and economic change. Therefore mobile marketing is already a major factor in today’s marketing mix. Nevertheless adaption of mobile marketing progresses differently in different parts of the world. China took on a leading role in mobile marketing without many people outside China noticing. The purpose of this paper is to examine and display the major differences between China and Europe when it comes to mobile marketing. Especially, I will focus on WeChat, a relatively new communication application in China that has shaped mobile marketing significantly since 2011, the year of its launch.
However, due to significant differences in market scale, market complexity and adoption of technology in Europe and China it is important for European companies to understand the potential power of WeChat if they want to do successful business in China. Therefore I will give a comprehensive overview on how to use WeChat for business. Additionally I will connect the mobile marketing aspect with Chinese language learning. Chinese language learning represents a global current trend and is building a bridge between China and Europe both culturally and economically. For this paper I conducted practical research in a Chinese language school under European management in Beijing/China. This way I was able to gain first-hand insight in the obstacles a European company faces when it comes to WeChat mobile marketing in China. This paper will cover the theoretical foundation of mobile marketing and will connect it with real recommendations for successful WeChat mobile marketing.
Diese Interventionsstudie untersucht die Auswirkungen eines Outdoor-Wildwassertrainings auf die Fähigkeiten des strategischen Planen und Denkens von Studenten an der Hochschule Furtwangen. Bei diesem Outdoor-Training handelt es sich um eine Wahlpflichtfach-Veranstaltung, die unter dem Titel „White Water Management – learning Management in a new way“ angeboten wird. Die Veranstaltung stellt eine Methode dar, in welcher die theoretischen Inhalte zum strategischen Planen und Denken den Studenten vorgestellt und im Anschluss auf dem Wasser in einem Kajak praktisch erprobt werden. Um einen Lernerfolg beurteilen zu können, wurden sowohl teilnehmende Studenten an dem Training sowie eine Kontrollgruppe, nicht-teilnehmenden Studenten, mittels eines standardisierten Fragebogens zu einem Zeitpunkt vor und nach dem Training befragt. Die Auswertungen der Daten zeigten größere subjektiv eingeschätzte Lernerfolge seitens der teilnehmenden Studenten im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe.
Changes are constantly accelerating. A major issue that companies are dealing with is how to communicate those changes in a way that is efficient and effective and therefore successful. Traditional models such as the ones by Lewin, Bridges or Kotter are reaching their limits due to the orientation on fixed vision, goals and processes. The time has come to change the way change is managed. New organizational structures are therefore required. An example of a new model to deal with the speed of change is agile management. Agility provides a platform for better communication, including the quantity and quality aspect. IMS Gear, an automotive supplier located in South Germany, is currently in the stage of a transition. Agile mindsets are anchored in their vision and strategy, yet the implementation of agile frameworks is still improvable. The PEP project is a first step into the direction of ensuring the future of the company despite all external and internal changes. Therefore, based on a model by Audi AG consultant Gergs, improvement approaches are developed.
Der SmartCrawler ist ein auf Java basierendes Programm, das von dem Unternehmen PAMA Technologies GmbH verwendet wird, um Bilder aus dem Internet zu laden. Diese Bilder werden im Anschluss daran benutzt, um bestimmte Personen oder Gegenstände wiederzuerkennen. Beim Herunterladen der Bilder, kommt es zu verschiedenen Fehlern, deren Ursache untersucht wurde. Daraufhin sind die Fehlerursachen benannt und der Zusammenhang erklärt worden. Die beschriebenen Fehler beim Herunterladen der Bilder, müssen behoben werden, um ein Modell zur Wiedererkennung bestmöglich zu trainieren.
In meiner Arbeit sollen der SmartCrawler-Prozess verbessert und Tools für weitere Aufgabenfelder untersucht sowie getestet werden. Ziel ist, Fehlerquellen des SmartCrawler zu identifizieren und mit geeigneten Vorschlägen zu beheben. Im Anschluss werden verschiedene Technologien in Bezug auf Gesichtserkennung, Bildbeschreibung und Machine-Learning- Tools getestet. Sie werden anhand von Beispielen zur Einsatzmöglichkeit von Gesichtserkennung und Bildbeschreibung dargestellt. Im Verlauf der Arbeit wird auch das Machine-Learning-Tool vorgestellt und exemplarisch hinterlegt. Da es sich hier um eine praktische Arbeit handelt, werden verschiedene Tools auf ihre Leistungen getestet und bewertet. Als Ergebnis wird dem Leser ein resultierender Workflow präsentiert. Der Workflow enthält den SmartCrawler-Prozess und das anschließende Training eines Modells mit CNTK.
Ein weiteres Ziel ist, dem Leser Möglichkeiten zu bieten, auf dieser Arbeit aufzubauen. Es soll für den Leser möglich sein, die richtige Anwendung für seine Bedürfnisse zu finden und eventuell eigene Projekte auf Basis dieser Arbeit zu erstellen. Weiterhin kann auch der Einsatz von CNTK vom Leser in eigenen Bereichen geprüft werden.
The vegan trend has experienced continuous growth in recent years, influencing companies inside and outside of the market due to shifts in consumer behaviour. This thesis investigates the perceptible success factors for entry into the healthy vegan snacks market and delivers promising implementation strategies. To identify and understand the market situation, current food trends are identified and described and detailed insights into the terminology of healthy vegan snacks are given. Subsequently, qualitative interviews with established companies and dieticians are conducted to better understand current food trends and to determine the most relevant success factors. Based on the findings, the author provides concrete strategy recommendations for established companies and newcomers in the market segment. The findings of the study show that the healthy vegan snacks market is very attractive and therefore offers several strategic options for successful market entry. However, newcomers have to face several challenges that should be considered and ideally overcome when planning market entry. Most successful entrepreneurs truly identify with their products and represent the customer groups themselves, enabling them to optimally understand and apply customer needs.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit beschreibt die Einführung der Kollaborationsplattform Microsoft SharePoint im Projekteinkauf der Firma Marquardt. Das Ziel ist es auf dieser Plattform alle Projekteinkäufer, die teilweise in unterschiedlichen Ländern bzw. Kontinenten arbeiten, zu vernetzen. Ein besonderes Augenmerk wird dabei auf die Arbeit mit Projekten gelegt. Es sollen in dieser Abschlussarbeit gemeinsame Standards bei der täglichen Arbeit mit Projekten geschaffen werden.
Die Bachelorthesis wird in einen theoretischen Teil und einen praktischen Teil aufgeteilt. Mit Hilfe des theoretischen Teils sollen wesentliche Grundlagen für das Verständnis der praktischen Arbeit aufgezeigt werden. Die praktische Arbeit dieser Abschlussarbeit dokumentiert die Vorgehensweise sowohl bei der Erstellung als auch bei der Implementierung der globalen Kollaborationsplattform Microsoft SharePoint. Ebenfalls umfasst sie eine Analyse des Mehrwerts durch den selbst erstellten, virtuellen Raum sowie eine Kritik der derzeitigen Funktionsweise SharePoints im Projekteinkauf Marquardts.
Freiwillige Selbstverpflichtungen sind Vereinbarungen, die aus freiem Willen eingegangen werden und dem Gemeinwohl dienen sollen. Dabei wird die These aufgestellt, dass Unternehmen bei freiwilligen Selbstverpflichtungen nicht die gesellschaftliche Verantwortung im Vordergrund sehen, sondern mit ihrem freiwilligen Engagement ökonomische Interessen verfolgen. Dieses Spannungsfeld von Verantwortung gegenüber der Gesellschaft und wirtschaftlichen Belangen eines Unternehmens wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit kritisch untersucht. Vor allem die Analyse der intrinsischen und extrinsischen Motivation der Unternehmen, sowie die Vorteile freiwilliger Selbstverpflichtungen gegenüber gesetzlichen Regelungen, sollen Aufschluss darüber geben, warum Unternehmen derartige Vereinbarungen eingehen. Um diese Problematik empirisch zu untersuchen, wurden Experteninterviews mit der Lebensmittelbranche geführt. Diese Interviews bestätigen, dass Unternehmen besonders aus der extrinsischen Motivation eines ökonomischen Nutzens, freiwillige Selbstverpflichtungen eingehen.
Most Western countries have very low percentages of women who study in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. These fields are of economic
importance as they are essential for innovation - the key to the creation of new products,
ideas and processes. Especially in developed countries, the STEM sector is one of the
largest growth factors. Having mainly men studying in STEM fields limits the available
talent and thus the quality of human resources; therefore, it is important that more
women study in STEM fields for more efficiency and increased economic development.
In contrast to Western countries, Muslim countries exhibit large numbers of women in
STEM majors. This thesis analyses different aspects of Muslim countries to determine
reasons for more women in these countries to study in STEM fields. The current study
is based on literature such as journal articles, textbooks and online sources. The
following factors are studied to answer the first research question: social reasons
(including religion, history, perception of women, wealth and social status, and
educational system), legal framework, technological reasons and economic reasons.
The findings indicate that a combination of aspects and circumstances leads to the large
numbers of women in Muslim countries in STEM majors. Among the analysed factors
the educational system and economic situation of Muslim countries seem to be the root
cause.
Furthermore, the current study analyses consequences of the high number of women in
STEM fields in Muslim countries in the labour market, to answer the following
questions: (1) Do educational opportunities lead to equal opportunities in the labour
market? (2) Is it respectable for women in Muslim countries to work? (This question
addresses factors such as Islam, tradition, a woman’s role as a mother, mixed-gender
workplaces, demography and legal restrictions) (3) In which sectors do women work?
(sectors and leadership positions) (4) What is the relation of female labour to the
economy? (impact of economic situation, economic landscape, globalisation, and
importance of female employment for the economy).
The result is that educational opportunities for women in Muslim countries do not
translate into equal chances in the labour market. Regarding STEM fields the
employment of women ranges from gender equality to nearly no opportunities at all,
depending on the country. The small numbers are most likely due to the lower position
of women in society, the generally less opportunities for women in the labour market
and women’s rights issues.
Mobile diagnostics – or mobile health in general – is highly appealing, not only for clinicians, but also for patients. It implies empowerment, in particular of those who are really in need, such as inhabitants of less developed regions within the world who have limited access to healthcare. It also implies simplification: Easy data management – a continuous flow of information. Therefore, development of miniaturized and highly integrated diagnostic systems allowing near patient “instant” diagnostics gain a lot of momentum since more than a decade. However, system integration requires time and a significant amount of investment. In addition, there is strong competition on resources from other emergent technologies, such as next generation sequencing which made the collection of e.g. human genome data less expensive and much faster. A more severe challenge is that mobile diagnostics require a change in healthcare management, e.g. towards integrated practice units. This, in turn, requires implementation of adequate reimbursement, standards of interoperability, training of staff, quality control. In 2010, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the grant initiative Mobile Diagnostic Systems (MD, 2011─2015) as part of its high-tech strategy. MD aimed at generating knowledge on how microsystem technologies fit into German healthcare environments. On the basis of interviews with multidisciplinary MD actors, this thesis evaluated retrospectively how the publicly funded innovation network managed to overcome pre-defined external barriers of diffusion, including technology, regulatory affairs and market access. Retrospectives reveal internal barriers involving knowledge and technology transfer, negatively influencing generation of innovation. In particular, financing still represents a high hurdle for biotech innovators in Germany: Larger firms look predominately for market-ready or in-market technologies rather than prototypes and venture capitalists are rare or extremely risk-averse. Another important finding was, that actors involved were highly focused on individual work packages. This risks of not seeing the whole environment embedding MD. Consequently, potential opportunities may be missed, e.g. synergies with relatively close (DIALOC) or more distant initiatives (Global Health Delivery Project-based discussion rounds). This could be partly due to the fact that publicly funded networking activities provide less freedom-to-operate because of pre-defined milestones. In addition, further development of actors with respect to role playing (e.g. boundary spanning or innovation selling) is often not included in such “innovation packages”, but can help to maneuver change. Internal barriers need to be addressed first before targeting the major remaining external hurdle: Reimbursement. Although the latter was covered within MD, standardization of technology evaluation is still an unmet need which strongly influences the willingness-to-implement novel mobile diagnostics. Thus, the value added is to be demonstrated to justify adequate reimbursement. Achieving this goal can be successful, when innovation networking finds its path towards a common vision, e.g. towards value-based integrated healthcare. Pathfinding and visioning can be facilitated by process promoter with excellent network management capabilities. In addition, such a promoter could help to further develop engagement, openness and commitment of collaborators. Therefore, transfer of MD activities to established “top” networks or clusters is recommended for securing valuable knowledge generated. In this environment, an important next step – globalization of MD for ensuring future return on investment – could be triggered as well.
Since MD innovation was found to involve both product and service innovation, maneuvering change is particularly challenging for small and medium sized enterprises. These could benefit from engagement in innovation networking. Findings of this case study can help all direct and indirect actors in the field of MD innovation or in other high complex environments to reconsider pathfinding as well as role playing in networking.
Diese Bachelorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Markenbildung der eigenen Person. Die Marke ist die Wiedererkennbarkeit, das Alleinstellungsmerkmal einer Firma und gilt als Orientierung für Kunden. Die Wichtigkeit eine Marke als Firma zu haben ist bekannt. Das Konzept der persönlichen Marke ist hingegen bisher relativ unbekannt und das Personal Branding, insbesondere in Deutschland, relativ neu. Sich selbst in der heutigen Arbeitswelt hervorzuheben wird immer wichtiger und zugleich immer schwieriger. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist somit, den Begriff Personal Branding zu erläutern und Gründe zur Motivation zum Aufbau einer eigenen Marke aufzuzeigen. Wie eine Personal Brand entwickelt werden sollte, wird anhand eines Literatur Review sowie eines Best-Practice-Beispiel aufgezeigt, um sich anschließend selbst wettbewerbsfähig am
Markt zu positionieren.
This research provides a comprehensive analysis on the relationship between reputation and brands image through a better understanding of the effect of corporate scandals on brand image. Secondary data taken from academic journals, academic books and press articles were used to develop this research. While some corporate scandals are the result of misbehaviour from inside the corporate, some are the result of external factors the corporate had nothing to do with and some are due to technological failures. However, irrespective from the source of the scandal, all types of scandals will change the consumer’s perception on the corporate’s brand. For example, a certain degree of brand distrust or brand hate might develop after the scandal. Nevertheless, a corporate can recover from any scandal through several appropriate strategies. While these strategies might differ in detail, they all must include addressing the public about the issues truthfully and adopting relevant corrective actions depending on the scandal’s type and scale. The main purpose of this thesis is to explore these concepts further in detail, to understand how a corporate can recover from a scandal and restore their pre-scandal brand position. Finally, a case study about Samsung’s recent exploding devices scandal will provide a current example on the topic. While this research will provide a summary on how will a scandal affect consumer’s perception and how could a corporate recover from a scandal, it is important to note that each scandal is unique and therefore will have unique effects on perception and will require a unique strategy to recover from it.
Cloudera Impala
(2017)
Die Entwicklung zu Industrie 4.0 stellt neue Herausforderungen an alle Bereiche eines Unternehmens. Gerade dem Supply Chain Management werden neue Anforderungen gestellt, um bei der globalen Vernetzung der Supply Chains nicht den Anschluss zu verlieren. Die Vernetzung zu cyber-physischen Systemen erzeugt große Menge an Daten, Big Data, aus denen die richtigen Informationen gewonnen werden sollten. Industrie 4.0 wird auch Einfluss auf den Arbeitsalltag, die Organisation und die Mitarbeiter nehmen. Den enormen Potenzialen stehen Risiken und hohe Investitionen entgegen. Vor allem das Thema Datensicherheit spielt gerade in Deutschland, eine wichtige Rolle. Neue Technologien, wie die Blockchain, stehen noch am Anfang der Entwicklung, werden aber schnell Einfluss auf das industrielle Umfeld und somit auch auf das Supply Chain Management nehmen.
Würth Elektronik eiSos GmbH & Co. KG ist ein Unternehmen mit mittelständischen Wurzeln, welches trotz seines rasanten Wachstums seine mittelständischen Strukturen und Charakteristika beibehalten hat. Viele solcher Unternehmen sehen sich aufgrund ihrer mittelständischen Besonderheiten gegenüber Großunternehmen anderen Herausforderungen konfrontiert – so auch in der Thematik Personalcontrolling. Diese Besonderheiten finden in der Literatur allerdings nur in den seltensten Fällen Beachtung. Es ergeben sich zwangsläufig andere Anforderungen an Personalcontrolling unter diesen Bedingungen. Diese Arbeit geht der Fragestellung nach, wie Personalcontrolling unter mittelständischen Bedingungen und somit unter Berücksichtigung der speziellen Rahmenbedingungen und Charakteristika gestaltet werden kann. Auf Basis eines Überblicks relevanter Literatur sowie einer Analyse des Ist-Zustands des aktuellen HR Reports der Würth Elektronik eiSos GmbH & Co. KG, soll diese Frage beantwortet werden.
“The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit” – Milton Friedman.
There has always been, across the history, a human side, an ideology, that people follow with the hope of finding justice and equity in the world. This concept has always been adapting to the culture, time, and situation it faces. In our actual economic system, this concept is known as social responsibility, and to adapt to the market necessities it has evolved to corporate social responsibility, but apparently, when the people want to see results this is not enough.
The markets are expanding, we live in a world where everything and everyone are connected, there is no more privacy, and therefore, no place to hide. Companies need to be honest with the information they share and should follow the international rules for environmental and social protection and development. People are demanding better quality, more innovation, and eco-friendly and socially responsible company. The people verify many factors before acquiring any product, starting with the quality, the suppliers, the factories conditions, the employee’s satisfaction levels, and the corporate responsibility of the company.
The central topic of this thesis is the so called “corporate volunteering” a concept that brings together the business necessities and ties them together with the social responsibility. In this concept, the company participates actively and directly to enhance the social and environmental situation, using their resources, and their human capital. There are many advantages of implementing the corporate volunteering, but also many factors to consider while changing the corporate culture, and transmitting values.
The idea of this text is to present the corporate volunteering as a new concept, highly efficient for the companies and communities, while analyzing its changes, objectives, implementations, benefits and challenges to face while implementing the corporate volunteering.
Corporate Culture is more and more becoming an important factor to be competitive in the constantly changing environment. Technology as well as generation (in this case generation Y/millennials) and organizational structures are influencing the organizational performance and culture. The shift from hierarchical to networked structured organizations has an impact on the collaboration within and outside the company. Organizations need to find new ways to transmit theirs corporate culture, reach their employees and support collaboration.
Enterprise 2.0 tools are one of the newest tools of this century. Facebook and other social media platforms are already celebrating great success. So why shouldn’t it be able to reach this success in terms of internal use of social tools? And how does Enterprise 2.0 tools influence others aspects of the organizations which may as well have an impact on the corporate culture?
This Bachelor Thesis gives an overview on the development of Dave Ulrich’s HR Business Partner Modell published in 1997. Main objective for this work is to depict the development history of the model over the past two decades. Taking into account criticism that has been created over the years; analysing the position of the model nowadays and which adaptions were made on company sides to successfully implement the organisational model. On the basis of many factors on the continuously changing labour force the model as well undergoes a constant alteration. Results of this thesis is an outlook on future adjustments within HR departments and on the HR Business Model that has been adapted to today’s standards.
Testing applications for SmartHome environments is quite complicated, since a real environment is not accessible or the conditions are not controllable during development time. The need to set up the whole hardware environment, increase the complexity of these systems enormously. Therefore, it is helpful to simulate the SmartHome hardware components and environment conditions (e.g. rain, heat, etc.). This paper contains an approach to improve the test and demonstration process of Internet of Things scenarios. A prototype (ScnSim: Scenario Simulator) was developed to set up scenarios. The user of the ScnSim can create her/his own scenario using items (sensors/actuators) and rules, which control the sensors and actors building the IoT enviornment. This simulator is supposed to support the user testing IoT applications or configurations of SmartHome platforms like openHAB. In addition, the ScnSim is supposed to help demonstrating showcases, for example, often demonstrated on a trade fair or as a proof of concept for a customer.
In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden empirische Ergebnisse aus einer Patientenbefragung und zwei Experteninterviews zu dem Thema Patientensicherheit und Versorgungsqualität im Bereich der Knieendoprothetik miteinander verglichen und ausgewertet. Zusätzlich werden die Ergebnisse dieses Vergleichs mit der Literatur verglichen und analysiert. Die verwendete Literatur besteht aus aktuellen Fachbüchern, Fachberichten sowie Fachpublikationen. Dabei sollen die zukünftigen Herausforderungen auf dem Gebiet der Knieendoprothetik herausgearbeitet und eine Patientenempfehlung in der Behandlung von Kniearthrose ausgesprochen werden.
Für die Patientenbefragungen und die Experteninterviews ist die sog. „Mixed-Methods“ – Methode angewendet worden, wobei es sich um die Kombination einer quantitativen (Patientenbefragung) und qualitativen (Experteninterview) empirischen Forschungsmethode handelt. Dabei sind insgesamt 31 Patienten, im Durchschnitt ein Jahr postoperativ, nach Einsatz einer Knieprothese anonym zu ihrem Beschwerdebild sowie ihrer Zufriedenheit mittels eines schriftlichen Fragebogens befragt worden. Anschließend sind zu kritischen Ergebnissen der Patientenbefragungen zwei Experten auf dem Gebiet der Knieendoprothetik per digitalem Interviewleitfragen, und einer davon auch persönlich, befragt worden.
Das Kniegelenk ist eines der komplexesten und kompliziertesten Gelenke unseres Körpers. Es ist das größte Gelenk unseres Körpers und verbindet die größten Knochen des Menschen miteinander. Umso wichtiger ist es, eine möglichst physiologische Wiederherstellung des Kniegelenks zu erreichen unter Beachtung einer genauen Selektion von geeigneten Patienten für den Kniegelenksersatz, geeigneter patientenindividueller Prothesekomponenten, der richtigen Operationstechnik sowie erfahrener Operateure. Verschiedene Akteure im Gesundheitswesen sollen genau dies regulieren um somit die Patientensicherheit und Versorgungsqualität zu gewährleisten. Eine verpflichtende Teilnahme am Endoprothesenregister Deutschland, um alle Knieendoprothesenverläufe zu dokumentieren, muss in Zukunft zur Pflicht werden. Mindestmengen, Ausbildungsanforderungen und definierte Behandlungsleitlinien müssen allem voran für die Operateure im Gesundheitssystem etabliert werden.
Durch die Patientenbefragung, das Experteninterview und Angaben in der Literatur hat sich eine sehr hohe Korrelation zwischen Übergewicht und der Entstehung von Kniearthrose ergeben. Eine stärkere Aufklärung in der Öffentlichkeit bzgl. Übergewicht und deren Folgeschäden durch die Politik wäre hier wünschenswert. Die Patienten müssen aktiv (z. B. Physiotherapie, Muskelaufbau) mehr für ein zufriedenstellendes Behandlungsergebnis tun, sowohl prä- als auch postoperativ, egal ob zur Schmerzreduktion oder zur Wiedererlangung von Funktionalität, Kraft und Sicherheit des Kniegelenks. Die Experten fordern eine bessere Aufklärung bzgl. einem realistischerem Behandlungsergebnis, was die Patientenzufriedenheit und Entscheidungsfindung für oder gegen einen Knieersatz maßgeblich mit beeinflusst.
Sehr vielversprechende Therapieansätze haben sich für die Patientenempfehlung ergeben. Dabei sei ganz besonders die SYSADOA-Medikamentengruppe („symptomatic slow acting drugs in osteoarthritis“) und die knorpelrehabilitativen und knorpelregenerativen Therapieverfahren („Tissue Engineering“, ACT, etc.) zu erwähnen.
Die Diagnose der Arthrose im frühen Stadium und der stetig wachsende Fortschritt im Bereich der Medizin, Biomolekularmedizin und Materialwissenschaften könnten die Therapien im Bereich der Knorpelrehabilitation im Hinblick auf die Kniearthrose revolutionieren.
Schlüsselwörter: Funktionelle Anatomie Kniegelenk, Biomechanik Kniegelenk, Arthrose, Kniearthrose, Gonarthrose, Rheuma, Rheumatoide Arthritis, SYSADOA, Endoprothetik, Knieendoprothetik, Kniegelenksersatz, Patientenbefragung Knieendoprothetik, Experteninterview Knieendoprothetik, Knorpelrehabilitität, Knorpelregeneration
The purpose of this paper has been to find out if the reengineering project at Daimler Trucks has been successful. In order to eloquently do so, the field of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) has been researched with regard to performance measurement. The theoretical part of the thesis concluded with choosing one methodology out of the findings.
The second part is about the consequences of Daimler AG top management’s decision, reacting to changes in business environment, to restructure the Finance organization of all its divisions. Daimler Trucks used that change which included office relocation of the accountants to where their controlling colleagues have been seated and the newly gained local proximity to execute the project Integration Accounting & Controlling (IAC). The goal has been to reengineer the closing process by eliminating redundancies and defining clear responsibilities.
The third part of the thesis is presenting the result of measuring process performance before and after reengineering according to the derived research methodology of part 1. Quantitative as well as qualitative evaluation shows an increase in efficiency and effectiveness. A conducted online survey, asking all involved employees, aligns with this result and names key success factors such as communication and transparency. Despite the undeniable success of IAC, maintaining a continuous improvement process is recommended.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit gibt praktische Übungsvorschläge zum Thema Lean Production. Dabei werden zu den Bereichen Wertstrom, Standard, Wertstromanalyse, Wertstromdesign und Rüsten jeweils eine praktische Übung vorgestellt, das Ergebnis erläutert und die Relevanz für Studenten und die Industrie analysiert. Die Übungen simulieren reale Abläufe und Situationen, wie zum Beispiel durch eine Produktionsnachbildung mit einfachsten Mitteln in Form von Legosteinen. Ziel ist es, fertige Trainingsmodule zur Anwendungen in Workshops oder Vorlesungen für Lehrende bereitzustellen. Auf spielerische Art und Weise werden theoretische Inhalte vermittelt und können zu schnellerem Festigen und Verstehen der Theorie beitragen. Die Übungsteilnehmer erarbeiten sich eigenständig Lösungsvorschläge in allen oben genannten Bereichen zum Thema Lean Production.
Der Tätigkeitsbereich des Mittelstandsunternehmens Armaturenfabrik Franz Schneider GmbH & Co. KG (AS-Schneider) liegt in der Herstellung von Industriearmaturen, sowie der Arbeit im Bereich von Mess- und Regeltechnik. Das Unternehmen gehört hier zu den führenden Unternehmen weltweit. Zudem ist das Unternehmen im Bereich Ventile für Großdieselmotoren (Schiffsantriebe, Stromerzeugung) Weltmarktführer. Dieses Unternehmen hat in den letzten Jahren den Sprung ins internationale Geschäft gewagt und sich etabliert. Mit der Eröffnung von insgesamt vier Vertriebs Auslandsgesellschaften und der Planung weiterer Eröffnungen möchte das Unternehmen die Internationalisierung vorantreiben. Um ein zwischenzeitliches Fazit im Bereich der Personalarbeit dieser Vertriebs Auslandsgesellschaften zu bekommen, sollten Informationen gewonnen werden, um eine Handlungsempfehlung geben zu können.
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how small and medium enterprises in Germany are dealing with the increasing importance of the cultural diversity within a company which is caused by the complex growth of the external economic factors through the rising internationalization as well as the demographical change, whereby the integration of international skilled employees is seen as a key role.
The first part of the thesis focuses on the framework between the basic component of the topic, the value of the company’s culture which is based on Hofstede´s theoretical approach, and diversity management. The following part indicates on one hand the opportunities as well as the threats which can arise when implementing an intercultural integration approach. This comparison should give the possibility to get a better overview of how complex the topic is and how many influencing factors are to be considered for a successful integration. The thesis then covers strategic aspects of how to proceed. Thereby it refers to the acculturation model of Berry and his four acculturation strategies. Furthermore, the comparison of the assimilation and segregation approaches are mentioned and analysed as well as their golden mean. The method to underline the theoretical part is supported by interviews. These interviews, which were held with two “best-practice” companies as well as one independent diversityexpert, give the possibility to get a real overview of how companies deal with this approach and which problems as well as advantages they are facing. The interviews which are not only held with the manager rather than German and foreign employees are important to get a feeling how companies handle the intercultural integration on different hierarchical levels which might prove useful in discovering potential in their own company.
The conclusion of the thesis is that cultural homogenous societies rarely exist today, which means that the cultural diversity shouldn’t be seen as a trend rather than a constant conditionality. Small and medium enterprises should also stop seeing the downside to their size rather than their advantages which also come with their size. Companies have to build a true understanding and consciousness in order to create a cultural diverse friendly environment. Nevertheless, in an ideal case a company does not see the cultural diversity as something special, but more likely as something normal, regardless from which cultural background an employee is, he or she is a member of the company.
Konzeption und Implementierung einer Cloud-basierten Sprachbedienung für das Smart Home-Labor
(2017)
Analyse von Sicherheitsanforderungen an Entertainment- und Steuerungskomponenten im Automobil
(2017)
Viele Lehrpflichtveranstaltungen behandeln theoretische Inhalte, ohne einen Bezug zur Praxis herzustellen. Ziel der von Prof. Dr. Horstmeier, M.M., und Dipl.-Päd. Arno Messerschmidt angebotenen HFU-Summer School ist es, einen Bezug zwischen dem in der Theorie gelernten Wissen und der Anwendung in der Praxis beim Kajakfahren im Wildwasser herzustellen. Um das Stattfinden der HFU-Summer School zu gewährleisten, müssen verschiedene Marketingmaßnahmen sowie organisatorische Maßnahmen getroffen werden. Ziel dieser Bachelorarbeit ist es, einen Überblick über die getroffenen Maßnahmen für das erfolgreiche Stattfinden der HFU-Summer School 2017 zu geben. Darüber hinaus soll diese Arbeit anhand einer durchgeführten Umfrage aufzeigen, welche Marketingmaßnahmen zur Teilnehmergewinnung erfolgreich waren und welche Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten es für die zukünftige Durchführung der HFU-Summer School gibt.
Apache Cassandra
(2017)
In der vorliegenden Bachelorarbeit werden Grundlagen und Ausführungsformen der sozialen Medien erläutert sowie eine Social Media Strategie für die Hess GmbH Licht + Form konzipiert. Diese Strategie basiert auf den Ergebnissen
einer Konkurrenz- und Zielgruppenanalyse, den Ressourcen und Fähigkeiten des Unternehmens und seiner konkreten Social Media Ziele. Ein positiver Social Media Auftritt beinhaltet interessante, kontinuierliche Beiträge. Um diesen zu
gewähren, werden in der folgenden Arbeit passende Social Media Kanäle und Inhalte erarbeitet. Abgestimmte Richtlinien und das Erkennen von Risiken und Chancen der Social Media Aktivitäten, stellen eine weitere Grundlage für eine
erfolgreiche Online Präsenz dar und sind deshalb ebenso Bestandteil der vorliegenden Strategie. Die anschließende Aufbereitung von Methoden der Erfolgsmessung ist für einen nachhaltigen Erfolg in den sozialen Medien von elementarer Bedeutung und wird dem Unternehmen empfohlen.