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Aufgrund der Überalterung der Gesellschaft wird der Generationenvertrag für jüngere Generation zu einem Problem. Da nicht genügend Kapital in die gesetzliche Rentenversicherung fließt, werden spätere Rentennehmer kaum bis keine gesetzlichen Rentenansprüche geltend machen können. Somit müssen andere Rentensparmodelle in Betracht gezogen werden, wie beispielsweise private Altersvorsorgemodelle. Im Fall der privaten Altersvorsorge bieten fondsgebundene Lebens-und Rentenversicherungen eine Alternative. Vor dem Hintergrund der Niedrigzinsstände und den daher renditeschwachen Kapitalmärkten gilt es alternative Anlageklassen in Erwägung zu ziehen. Die hierbei betrachtete Anlageklasse ist Private Equity. Private Equity Fonds zählen zu der Klasse der alternativen Investmentfonds und bieten Aussichten auf positive, reale Renditen. Im Zuge dieser Arbeit wird eine Beurteilung über die Dienlichkeit und Eignung der Anlageklasse im Rahmen der privaten Altersvorsorge getroffen. Dazu wird das private Altersvorsorgemodell der fondsgebundenen Lebensversicherung erläutert sowie die Anlageklasse Private Equity detailliert betrachtet. Anhand von 6 Kriterien wird zuletzt untersucht, ob eine Investition im Rahmen einer Lebensversicherung sinnvoll ist. Dabei ergibt sich der Fakt dass Private Equity als Anlageklasse für fondsgebundenen Lebensversicherungen gut geeignet ist, während das Produkt der fondsgebundenen Lebensversicherung jedoch signifikante Schwächen aufweist. Diese Schwachpunkte führen dazu, von einer Private Equity Investition im Rahmen eines Fondsdepots einer Lebensversicherung abzusehen. Stattdessen ist es sinnvoller als Privatanleger in Private Equity Dachfonds anzulegen und dies komplementär zu anderen geeigneten Vorsorgemodellen zu betreiben.
Der Erhalt von Wissen gewinnt in der heutigen Zeit kontinuierlich an Bedeutung. Durch die Entwicklung neuer Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien steigen die Komplexität der Aufgaben und die Anforderungen an die Mitarbeiter. Arbeit ist nicht mehr orts- und zeitgebunden und Informationen werden global geteilt. Der Wissensaustausch findet dezentralisiert über Netzwerke und Social Software statt. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert in einem ersten Schritt, welche Unternehmenskulturen das interne Wissensmanagement begünstigen und wodurch die Motivation des Mitarbeiters zum Teilen von Wissen gesteigert werden kann. Anschließend werden Einsatzmöglichkeiten und Erfolgsfaktoren von Social Software im Unternehmenskontext erörtert. Das Ziel der Bachelor-Thesis ist es, im Rahmen dieser Erkenntnisse eine mögliche Basis für ein strukturiertes und funktionales Wissensmanagement unter Einbeziehung von Social Software zu erstellen.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit untersucht die Forschungsfrage „Wie sieht eine passende Vermarktungsstrategie für die Marke IDEAL Health aus?“
Zunächst wurde im Theorieteil die Luftreinigungsbranche analysiert und die Marke IDEAL Health charakterisiert. Daraufhin wurden Experteninterviews und eine Umfrage zur Kundenzufriedenheit durchgeführt. Deren Analyse ergab unter anderem, dass der Markt für Luftreiniger wächst, doch ein Großteil der Bevölkerung im Unwissen über Möglichkeiten zur Luftreinigung ist. Diese und weitere Erkenntnisse wurden in Handlungsempfehlungen für die Firma Krug & Priester eingebunden, wobei verschiedene Werbekonzepte und auch das Risikomanagement thematisiert wurden. Insgesamt wird eine differenzierte Vermarktungsstrategie für Krug & Priester dargestellt, um das Bewusstsein der Menschen zu wecken und die Marke IDEAL Health weiterhin erfolgreich in der Luftreinigungsbranche zu etablieren.
Die immer schneller werdende Bekleidungsindustrie verlangt von Modeunternehmen eine sehr hohe Flexibilität und schnelle Reaktionszeiten auf neue Trends. Dies setzt eine reibungslose Lieferkette in allen Bereichen voraus. Die hier fokussierte Warenbereitstellung mit Zutaten für die Konfektionsbetriebe bildet einen wichtigen Bereich dieser Lieferkette. Folglich wird untersucht welche Voraussetzungen und Vorbereitungen getroffen werden müssen um den Materialfluss im Zutatenlager der Marc Cain GmbH anhand eines automatisierten Kleinteilelagers zu optimieren. Nachdem eine theoretische Vertiefung in den Fachbereich der Logistik und explizit in die Lagerhaltung und Kommissionierung durchgeführt wurde, konnten anhand einer Wertstromanalyse Optimierungspotenziale für das Zutatenlager ermittelt werden, welche folglich die Einführung eines automatisierten Kleinteilelagers als Ergebnis hatte. Mit einer Nutzwertanalyse konnten in Zusammenarbeit mit unterschiedlichen Lagersystemherstellern verschiedene automatische Lagersysteme verglichen und abgegrenzt werden. Als Ergebnis stellte sich das AutoStore System als geeignetes Lagersystem heraus. Durch die Einblicke in alle gängigen automatischen Lagersysteme werden sowohl klare Grenzen der Systeme als auch unterschiedliche Kriterien für die Lagersystembewertung dargestellt. Das AutoStore System der Firma Hatteland bietet demnach die besten Voraussetzungen für eine optimierte Lagerlösung im Zutatenlager der Marc Cain GmbH. Die Voraussetzungen und Vorbereitungen sowie der finanzielle Aspekt der Amortisationszeit, wurden dementsprechend am AutoStore Lagersystem analysiert. Daraus resultieren sowohl einige prozessorientierte als auch technische Anpassungen die für eine Implementierung erforderlich sind.
Die vorliegende Arbeit hat das Ziel, den Best Practice Austausch im Marketing durch eine dialog-optimierte Plattform zu verbessern. Dazu wurde die definierte Plattform umstrukturiert, um eine gezieltere Nutzung gewährleisten zu können. Außerdem wurde eine Handlungsempfehlung zur Förderung des Austauschs auf lange Sicht abgegeben.
Im theoretischen Abschnitt der Arbeit wurde die Verbindung von Wissensmanagement und Best Practice beleuchtet und ihre Auswirkung auf die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit eines Unternehmens illustriert. Darüber hinaus wurde die Rolle der internen Kommunikation in einer allgemeinen Community of Practices thematisiert. Daraufhin wurden die Funktionen von Web 2.0 erläutert, die in Unternehmen den Austausch von Informationen, Erfahrungen und Wissen unterstützen.
Zur Ermittlung des aktuellen Ist-Zustands von Best Practice Austausch auf einer Plattform, wurden im praktischen Abschnitt dieser Arbeit drei qualitative explorative empirische Forschungsmethoden angewendet: Datenanalyse anhand eines Reportings der aktuell genutzten Plattform, Experteninterview mit Mitarbeitern vom Marketing (aus der Zentrale und international) sowie der technischen Abteilung Business Process und eine Fallstudienanalyse über Austausch auf einer internen Plattform. Die Umstrukturierung und die Handlungsempfehlung basieren auf diesen gewonnenen Daten.
Schlussfolgernd kann behauptet werden, dass eine Plattform den Best Practice Austausch nur unterstützen und nicht antreiben kann, wenn die interne Kommunikationskultur den Austausch und die Zusammenarbeit nicht fördert. Außerdem spielt Wissensmanagement dabei eine wichtige Rolle, damit Mitarbeiter die festgelegte Plattform effizient nutzen können. Anreiz und Belohnungssysteme zum Austausch vervollständigen diese Maßnahmen.
Die vorliegende Bachelor-Thesis behandelt die Thematik der Frau als Selbstständige und Unternehmerin. Neben wichtiger, theoretischer Grundlagen, die auf einer Literaturanalyse basieren, befasst sich der praxisorientierte Teil mit der vom BMWi gegründeten Initiative „FRAUEN unternehmen“, die das Bild der Unternehmerin vorantreiben soll. Das Ziel der Arbeit ist es, die Unterschiede zwischen männlichem und weiblichem Unternehmertum darzustellen, sowie den aktuellen Stand und die sich daraus ergebende Zukunftsperspektive der Initiative zu betrachten.
84 Telefoninterviews und ein Workshop mit den Mitgliedern der Initiative machen ein zerrissenes Stimmungsbild, allerdings mit vorhandenem Potential für die Zukunft, deutlich. Auch einige der im theoretischen Teil ausgearbeiteten Unterschiede zum männlichen Unternehmertum, wie beispielsweise Motivation oder Verhalten, konnten durch die Telefongespräche bestätigt werden.
Zusätzlich zu dieser Initiative bedarf es zur nachhaltigen Modernisierung des Unternehmerinnenbildes in Deutschland jedoch weitere, durchschlagende Aktionen.
In the wake of the financial crisis of 2007, the largest economies of our times struggled hard with adverse economic shocks. Several central banks (CBs) employed their conventional monetary policy tools to their limits and beyond. When failing in their attempt, unconventional monetary policies got gradually introduced in order to stimulate the overall economy, to alleviate market dysfunctions and to reduce liquidity shortages. Building on diverse research conducted by international researchers and data provided by international economic institutions, this paper gives a comprehensive overview of different types of unconventional monetary policy tools that were, and still are, broadly employed. The concept of Quantitative Easing (QE) with its opportunities and risks will be elaborated, as well as appropriate exit strategies from these unconventional monetary policy measures. Putting a special focus on the QE programs run by the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, the successes and failures of real-world examples of unconventional monetary policies will be analyzed in detail. In order to evaluate the usefulness of QE, a comparison of theoretical and real-world results will be conducted. The paper finds that even though QE had a broad range of positive effects on selected economic aspects, the risks of both over-indebtedness and a too strong dependence of economies on highly accommodative monetary policies prevail. Before considering an exit from QE – if still possible at all – many years of further monetary easing and economic stimulus will pass. The raison d’être of unconventional monetary policies, mainly QE, over an extent period of time is doubtful and will have to be closely monitored in the years to come.
Low organizational commitment of employees is a well-known challenge for organizations nowadays. In order to actively manage and promote organizational commitment, organizations need to be aware of its most important influencing factors. This thesis focuses on the exploration of the potential of human resource development to improve employee commitment. An empirical study has been conducted at the shop floor area of the project partner thyssenkrupp Aufzugsweke GmbH in order to investigate the negative influences on organizational commitment, identify the potential positive impacts of human resources development practices and provide the organization with a recommendation about suitable measures to retain and develop organizational commitment.
The following bachelor thesis was written in cooperation with the company GF Automotive AG located in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. It is a worldwide recognized development and serial production partner of the automotive industry. The thesis covers the topic ‘The potential of gaining competitive advantage through Green Marketing’. The purpose of this thesis is to research if sustainability within the automotive supply industry is of high importance and can be used to gain competitive advantage. The thesis offers possible measures to implement successful practices that were detected in the conducted benchmark. It points out that green marketing in the B2B business can support companies to differentiate and it illustrates how marketing communication of the company GF Automotive AG can be adapted in order to succeed and remain leader in the highly competitive automotive supply market
Digitalisation has great impact on employee-employer relationships. With Web 2.0 modern features like flexibility and mobility influence the organisational structure. Crowdsourcing is a new form of remote employment which will be analysed in this work. This system consists of several anonymous freelancers taking part in task collaboration via the internet. It is a process of connecting with a large group of unknown people in order to find solutions for a certain problem. This phenomenon describes several possibilities and challenges for Human Resources Management.
Based on the main literature two hypotheses were stated: The first one assumed that this certain success is dependent on participation and the second hypothesis proposes the dependence of the digital community itself. This bachelor thesis tries to investigate the influential factors contributing to a successful crowdsourcing initiative in the context of HR. The essence of this lies in motivational aspects therefore first crucial features were determined that lead to and result from motivation. Next, desirable characteristics of the crowd itself were identified such as diversity and autonomy. This all was concluded with the assumption that HR’s responsibility is developing novel possible practices in order to cope with the new challenges crowdsourcing presents. How those mentioned processes and suggestions might be put into practice maintains a suspect matter which requires more investigation in the future.
Network Marketing is a form of the direct selling retail channel of distribution and is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. It has dramatically changed the way traditional businesses operates by mainly focusing on the success of his partners, their sales representatives to market their quality products provided. This industry produces billions of sales annually; however the lack of studies and information available on this field has led to lack of understanding and attack of being pyramid schemes. In this new era of technology, this profession continues to thrive as many people in particular women are looking for alternatives to the traditional corporate lifestyle. Furthermore, it has been found that becoming independent business owners in Network Marketing attracts the majority of women. Therefore, analyzing the characteristics of Network Marketing and the strategies deployed for their success is important to understand the reasons why women are willing to change their career path.
For these reasons, the thesis focuses on Network Marketing in order to provide an understanding of its rapid growth with an overview of its different phases from the beginning to the effect of the evolution of the Web 2.0 and social media. It goes forwards by investigating the characteristics of Network Marketing which appeal to women; by first examining their actual situation in the workplace in order to perceive their choice for leaving everything behind to start anew. Finally, a case study provides actual visibility and the new lifestyle of women being active in Network Marketing.
In the pursue of findings, the thesis includes primary research by conducting interviews with German and international independent network marketers, all women, and secondary research covering literature review on relevant topic.
In the end, it has been concluded and proved, despite the constant allegations, that Network Marketing is a serious and effective business model which benefits the company, the customers and the independent distributors. Moreover, it has been observed that this field fulfills the expectations of those women who want to escape from the challenges faced in the corporate world and desire an industry without barriers, as a result them being the majority and successful in this field.
A shortage of skilled workers is a problem which many organizations face when expanding their plants abroad. In Germany, for many organizations it is comparatively easy to prevent this problem by constantly training their own employees in the apprenticeship system but in their plants abroad this option is commonly not available. The only way to achieve the same option abroad is to implement the apprenticeship program in the plants independently. That bears many challenges but also many opportunities. This thesis focuses on the implementation of the apprenticeship in Mexico and seeks to examine the main challenges which arise before, during and after the implementation. After the examination of these and explaining their root cause, various solution approaches are analyzed and recommended based on the case of IMS Gear SE & Co. KGaA.
The aim of this thesis is to gain an understanding of why and how electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is influencing consumers buying decisions, and to furthermore describe the opportunities and limitations, which using electronic word of mouth on YouTube as marketing tool represent. This thesis is a compilation of the most important studies and finding conducted in this field. It discusses the concept of word of mouth and some dimensions in which eWOM differs from its traditional counterpart and describes the most important criteria related to the influence of eWOM on consumers buying behaviours. It provides an overview of relevant studies regarding the impact of eWOM on the buying behaviour and discusses YouTube as a marketing platform. Finally, it identifies opportunities and limitations based on the previous findings related to using eWOM on YouTube as part of the marketing mix. The findings suggest that eWOM differs from its traditional counterpart mainly due to its wide and fast spread and is therefore perceived as more influential. Its influence was furthermore found to depend on factors related to the eWOM valence, the product or service addressed, the eWOM source and sender, as well as the platform used. Further, using eWOM shared on YouTube as marketing tool was identified to offer companies the opportunity to reach a wide and also usually hard-to-reach audience, increase awareness, interest and influence on consumers buying behaviour. Limitations were identified to be the uncontrollable spread, the target audience, the constant availability and uncertain credibility, risking authenticity as well as the interdependent influence.
Globalization and digitalization are two major trends shaping organizations today. Information systems are heavily influenced by globalization because of the crucial role they play in many organizations operating in an increasingly international environment. One way this is demonstrated is through different usage behaviour displayed in different cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this study is to determine how cultural differences influence the use of information systems through the Technology Acceptance Model. Insights into differences in user behaviour are able to contribute to a better understanding of operating, developing and managing information systems.
The study is based on a mixed methods approach to empirical research using primary and secondary data. A literature review was used to establish a theoretical foundation of concepts regarding the key points of the study. Subsequently, two expert interviews have been conducted with the departments responsible for most of the information systems operated at the Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences with the objective to collect information about the provided services. It has been revealed that there is a movement towards expanding services to mobile devices. A survey was carried out to measure and analyze usage behaviour and attitudes of business faculty students towards the information systems. Based on path analysis of the collected data, an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model has been developed with social influence as additional variable. The results show that different cultural dimensions impact the approach to use an information system differently characterized by the degree of support for the Technology Acceptance Model and the emphasis on either traditional factors or social influence. Finally, the survey has revealed general support for mobile learning information systems as an instrument to access information.
This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic analysis about the growing popularity of Korean pop music (K-pop) worldwide in recent years. On one hand, the international expansion of K-pop can be understood as a result of the strategic planning and business execution that are created and carried out by the entertainment agencies. On the other hand, external circumstances such as the rise of social media also create a wide array of opportunities for K-pop to broaden its global appeal. The research explores the ways how the interplay between external circumstances and organizational strategies has jointly contributed to the global circulation of K-pop. The research starts with providing a general descriptive overview of K-pop. Following that, quantitative methods are applied to measure and assess the international recognition and global spread of K-pop. Next, a systematic approach is used to identify and analyze factors and forces that have important influences and implications on K-pop’s globalization. The analysis is carried out based on three levels of business environment which are macro, operating, and internal level. PEST analysis is applied to identify critical macro-environmental factors including political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological. On the industrial level, major forces that shape the music industry in which K-pop’s business operates are evaluated based on the framework of Porter’s Five Forces. External environmental analysis is followed by the review of the global strategies of major Korean entertainment companies in achieving their organizational objective of turning K-pop into a successful global business. We identify all the key value-creating activities ranging from talent acquisition to customer relationship management in the value chain of K-pop’s industry, and analyze how each of these activities have contributed to K-pop’s success in the global market. In conclusion, the recent success of K-pop on the global stage can be understood as the rewards for the capability of its internal strategy to anticipate and capitalize new opportunities in external environment.
The goal of this thesis is to provide information on how the music distribution has evolved throughout the years since the internet and computers have brought a
new digital ear to the music industry. This gave unlimited access to vast amount of information, creating new methods of communication and connecting to thousands of music lovers with only one mouse click. Technological and social changes have
followed ever since the beginning of the 20th century with significant impact on different business aspects like Marketing, Communication and Pricing. In the following years illegal downloading has brought the music industry to a crash with sales dropping
almost double in only one year. This, however, led to the idea of legal downloading and later in 2008 to the birth of the most used music streaming service Spotify. The bundle paying method of this new service has not only put the industry back on its feet
but it has also brought the interest in the consumers back. A monthly “flat rate” in exchange of a vast music catalogue of more than 30,000 songs, albums and artists with the ability to listen to it offline turned out to be the better alternative.
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an explorative research on the current situation of the music business and the business models of the new trend “music streaming” by using different analytical methods. The research results show a significant change in the way Marketing and Communication are being done by labels, brands and the streaming services due to the rapid technological progress and the new social habits born with it. Using the experience of listening to music, data and audience intelligence provided by the services, brands are now able to communicate their exact message in front of the right person and in the right time. Pricing of music has also gone through a big transition
since music streaming has become the preferred way of listening to and exploring new music. The effect of the bundles provides users with unlimited usage of the music streaming service and its catalogue in exchange of a monthly fee also called “flat rate”.
Each service decides on the price and the subscription method to be offered. To give a more comprehensive picture on what the future of music streaming
is, this paper is using not only secondary data but primary data as well. In order to generate free discussion, the study refers to the media and an expert to give answer on what are the signs pointing the direction the music business is headed towards.
Many employees use the internet for non-work related activities nowadays. This cyberslacking behaviour is put into connection with flexible work arrangements, in which the employee also completes work tasks outside of the workplace in a sort of balancing act between work and non-work. Many companies perceive cyberslacking to be deviant and counterproductive and battle it with internet monitoring systems. Other companies perceive cyberslacking to be beneficial for learning, creativity and productivity. This thesis will use Douglas McGregor’s ‘Theory X and Theory Y’ and the concepts of the Psychological Contract and Corporate Culture in order to understand the psychological background these of opposing opinions on cyberslacking and its effects on company and employee attitudes and behaviours following monitoring or acceptance of cyberslacking in a company. The results show a considerable fit to the three concepts presented in this thesis. The results suggest that the acceptance of cyberslacking has the effect of increased motivation and productivity and that monitoring and control reduce trust and productivity in total which is the opposite of the goal of monitoring systems. Future research should be conducted on the discrepancy of the positive effects of permitting cyberslacking and the increasing number of companies which use control and monitoring systems to fight it and on the underlying reasons why productivity is reduced through cyberslacking (the effect of perceived mistrust etc.).
The economic impacts of tourism on regional, sustainable development - The case of the Swabian Alb
(2016)
The goal of the work was to determine the economic impacts of tourism on a region. Several models are described and the tourism value chain was chosen and employed for determining the economic effects tourism spending has on a region. The region chosen was the Swabian Alb which is located in the South of Germany. Many complex tools such as Input Output approaches or Tourism Satellite Accounts exist in tourism economic impact studies but for a small region such as the Swabian Alb those are too time-consuming. The value chain has proven to be an easy and effective tool in improving the positive economic effects of tourism such as multipliers and reducing negative effects such as leakages. The findings showed that the Swabian Alb is a sustainable region and does also research on economic impacts. However, there are gaps in this research and for a small region like the Swabian Alb is it is hard to measure indirect effects of tourism as those effects are not easy to capture especially in numerical terms. Therefore the value chain was developed and along the value chain potential sources of leakages and linkages can be found and ways to improve the sustainability can be formulated.
The recruitment and selection process in the mining sector in Zimbabwe has proven to be a challenge to both the management and the prospective employees. The mining sector is one industry that is of interest to the author as it contributes over half of the country’s Gross Domestic product. Employment in Zimbabwe is very high in the world due to the poor performance of the economy which is a result of mismanagement of the country. This paper seeks to examine the challenges that are faced by the prospective employees when seeking for jobs in the mining sector and also the challenges that the management faces in the recruitment and selection process. After the examination of those challenges, the author will provide a detailed analysis of the root causes of these challenges and then at the end provide recommendations in order to fix the challenges. This paper will also serve as one of the basis of further study of the recruitment and selection process in the mining sector in Zimbabwe
The Syrian Refugee Crisis in Germany has been lately a constant research topic in many fields; politics, economics, cultural, social and safety aspects etc. popping up in all the news worldwide. Everybody is concerned about it and tackling it from a different point of view. Some believe that it a mutual benefit to both the country (Germany) and the refugees. As Germany benefits a lot form the cheap labor of migrant workers in the different industries. Specially the fast growing industries like the rural ones. Others fear that they will weaken the German culture and economy. And that they are burdens on the national people and will cause many problems.
In this paper two aspects of the challenges facing the Syrian refugees in Germany are discussed: the first is their integration and acculturation with the German society and the second is the challenges facing the refugees in entering the German labor market and case studies of Syrian entrepreneurs who developed their own family businesses in Germany are presented. The interviews were held with Syrian refugees in the state of Baden-Württemberg in 2015/2016 in Arabic language. The groups that were interviewed were in Villingen-Schwenningen and Stuttgart. An analysis of the cases presented along with the findings of the surveys and interviews are presented and finally some recommendations are suggested.
The access to the Internet has enabled various peer-to-peer marketplaces to develop with fast pace and complete with traditional businesses by offering broader range of goods and services. In some cases peer-to-peer markets offer a solution to a problem, going beyond the capabilities of a traditional business. This thesis studies a particular peer-to-peer market called crowdfunding that offers a solution to individuals who require funds and has been a subject of experts’, regulators’ and media attention. In particular, the paper studies the way crowdfunding websites Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Crowdfunder match buyers and sellers and discovers that some websites might have an incentive to manipulate matching. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the pricing structure these websites use and learns that price discrimination is present in crowdfunding. Additionally, the paper investigates the most fundamental mechanism that allows Internet platforms to function, which is reputation. In particular it uncovers that the way trust is built in crowdfunding differs to certain extant to other peer-to-platforms and that this questions requires further research. Finally, after looking at the arising regulatory issues, it becomes clear that there are opposing opinions of experts and regulators about regulation of crowdfunding that create both fear and hope. Privacy and data usage by the crowdfunding websites seems to be an issue that also requires further attention.
The purpose for researching the topic of the globalization of sport, is to examine the extent to which baseball is a global sport. While many writers in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and the history of baseball have studied countries around the world on an individual basis; little to no research on globalization has been pursued. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of baseball around the world is the focal point of this paper. This study is based on the work of Roland Robertson in the field of globalization and Richard Giulianotti in the field of soccer. Robertson, a professor of sociology at
Aberdeen University, developed a Five-Phase model of globalization which identifies key turning points in the evolution of globalization around the world. Giulianotti applied the Five-Phase model to the game of soccer to determine which factors played an essential role in the globalization of the sport.
The author has derived a list of critical research statements to guide the hypothesis that baseball is a global sport. This study considered literature of baseball around the world. Topics included the significance of Spalding’s Great Baseball World Tour,
examples of countries where baseball has been played, international baseball governing bodies and events, and baseball celebrities that have influenced the
game. Also, the author interviewed Nate Fish, Co-Director of the Israeli National Baseball team, and Tom Gillespie, International Baseball Scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, to supplement the analysis.
The evidence of the global significance of baseball includes the prominence of an international governing body World Baseball Softball Confederation, international baseball events World Baseball Classic / Premier 12, and a large body of membership in internationally sanctioned events. Interest in the game is growing internationally, evidenced by the fact that 72% of the world recognizes the game of
baseball, online subscriptions for premium content are trending up, and records in attendance, viewership, sponsorship, and social media activity were achieved during the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The findings of this research suggest that there is an emerging market for international baseball.
The abolition of the minimum exchange rate between the Swiss Franc and the Euro and its consequences
(2016)
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) abolished the minimum exchange rate between the Swiss Franc and the Euro of 1.20 CHF/€ at the beginning of 2015. The ensuing appreciation of the Franc against the Euro was not to be without consequences. This Bachelor´s thesis examines these consequences and to whom they may apply on the basis of a wide range of literature. Firstly, the author explains the theoretical basics of exchange rates, from the different exchange rate regimes to the appreciation and depreciation of currencies. The following chapter deals with background information of the Swiss Franc and the minimum exchange rate. Furthermore, this thesis looks at the consequences of the abolition of the minimum exchange rate and focuses, amongst other things, for example on the economy in Switzerland and the bordering Euro countries. The last part consists of a conclusion. Since the beginning of World War I, and through economic and political stability, the Swiss Franc became stronger and stronger and finally became a safe-haven-currency. During the financial crisis Switzerland received huge capital imports. To stop the on-going appreciation of the Franc, the SNB introduced the minimum exchange rate in 2011 which lasted until January 2015. For reasons like a weakening Euro and the announcement of the ECB´s quantitative easing, the SNB decided to let the Franc float freely again as it would have been too expensive for the SNB to keep the exchange rate constant at 1.20 CHF/€. Swiss exporters and hoteliers are affected by the consequences of this decision as their goods and hotel prices have become much more expensive for clients from the Euro area. The Swiss retail in the bordering area loses its clients to the other countries as they can shop cheaper over there. And everyone who has a loan or mortgage denominated in Swiss Francs and without having insured the exchange rate risk will have to pay back higher interest and loan amount. Hence,this Bachelor´s Thesis came to the conclusion that the negative consequences for the Swiss economy are still strong but the Franc devalued subsequently through a lower attractiveness and the negative interest rates which the SNB established.
Beherrscht man die Suchmaschinen, so beherrscht man auch den Online-Markt.
Wie man im Allgemeinen Suchmaschinen-Optimierung betreibt, beschreiben bereits viele verlässliche und fundierte Quellen. Eine oft ungeklärte Fragestellung bleibt jedoch: Wie betreibt man Suchmaschinen-Optimierung für einen Online-Shop, der international und mehrsprachig vertreten ist? In dieser Thesis möchte ich auf die Besonderheiten eingehen, die man bei einer erfolgreichen und langfristigen Suchmaschinen-Optimierung im internationalen Kontext beachten sollte. Als Hauptquelle möchte ich hierbei die offiziellen Angaben seitens Google und einiger Experten vorstellen und analysieren.
Ein Problem welches beispielsweise entsteht, wenn mehrere URLs zu gleichen Inhalten führen, ist der sog. Duplicate Content. Ein weiteres Problemfeld der Online-Anbieter liegt bei der Keyword-Kannibalisierung. Gemeint ist jene Situation, dass verschiedene Produkte eines Online-Shops mit weiteren ähnlichen Produkten desselben Anbieters (beispielsweise ein USB-Stick in verschiedenen Farb- und Kapazitäts-Ausführungen) bei Suchmaschinen untereinander konkurrieren.
Diese Thesis geht zum einen hauptsächlich darauf ein, wie man Duplicate Content und Keyword-Kannibalisierung bei internationalen und gleich- sowie mehrsprachigen Online-Shops und Webseiten vermeidet. Ein weiterer Kernpunkt dieser Thesis ist es, ein Domainkonzept und eine Content-Strategie zu entwickeln, die für einen Erfolg von internationalen Webauftritten unabdingbar sind. Ziel dieser Thesis ist es SEO-Maßnahmen zu erarbeiten, die das Ranking aller internationalen Ableger eines internationalen Online-Shops gleichermaßen, zeitgleich und langfristig verbessert.
This bachelor thesis aims at pointing out the importance of sustainability in the apparel industry. Furthermore it contains tools which help companies to implement, improve and monitor social and ecological behaviour within the supply chain of the apparel industry.
The three tools examined are the following:
- conducting audits at the suppliers’ production facilities, - obtaining certifications and - recycling of used textiles.
They mainly refer to improving the suppliers’ ability to act in a sustainable way. The third tool, recycling, aims at building a cycle of resources. After a theoretical presentation, the companies Hess Natur Textilien GmbH and Hennes & Mauritz AG are analysed regarding to their sustainability strategies in their supply chains. Hessnatur is seen as pioneer in the market for natural textiles and H&M is offering low-price clothing.
The results show, that the apparel industry is highly affected by unsustainable behaviour. Manufacturing clothes is labour-intensive, it is consuming many resources and therefore has consequences for people and the environment.
Audits and certification proved to be important tools for implementing sustainability in supply chains. Both companies use them, but they have different approaches. The idea of sustainability is characteristic for the whole business policy of Hessnatur, while H&M added this concept to its existing policy some years ago. Due to those different starting points, Hessnatur was able to build closer relationships with their suppliers than H&M. To sum up, there is not one perfect strategy for sustainability, but every company has to engage in increasing sustainability within the supply chain according to individual circumstances and to the firm’s individual character.
There is an increase in concern for the environmental impact such as GHGs emission and hazardous chemicals discharge along with the wastewater, from the product production process. Likewise the concern in the social impact also rises, in which it include the use of forced and child labor, unfair wages and inhumane treatment of worker in the production process of various industry.
Moreover, with the change in business strategies to fast fashion, in which new product collections are launch four times a year. In response, company have change the structure of their supply chain to shorten lead-time, higher inventory turnover, high order fulfilment and lower price for their customer. However, while focusing on these factors, environmental and ethical are being overlooked.
With the pressure from the public, laws mandate by the government, as well as the foreseen market opportunity make many of the large company to start thinking about a way to eliminate environmental and ethical impact from their supply chain. Various techniques and instruments are developed in order to help the company to analyze and abolish these problems.
Two companies are used as an empirical studies, which are H&M and Inditex. Though the analysis the challenges they faced and instruments and technique they used in response to the challenges, one can clearly observe the different approach in handling the challenges of these two companies. Nevertheless, positive improvement in eliminating environmental and social impact from their supply chain can clearly be seen from their effort.
The main question of the thesis is whether streaming in the future will be able to establish itself as a sustainable model for the music industry and what present obstacles there are as well as possible solutions to these.
As extant research has not yet extensively examined streaming or only partial aspects of it, the goal is to look at the results in context and thus create a more complete picture. To achieve this a wealth of secondary data is analyzed for example a great number of studies and surveys are included.
One of the main results is that streaming in its current form is not yet able to capture wide parts of the consumers in the market. Moreover, it is shown that the industry’s structures, especially in regards to licensing and income distribution, are quite complex and lead to uncertainties. This creates mistrust among the artists, whose support is vital if the model is to be successful. Not all of the actions within the industry concerning substitution or complementation are well informed and constructive.
The conclusion can thus be drawn that various aspects of the streaming model are still in need of being revised to make it an essential part of the music industry in the long run. This is especially true for transparency between the different actors and the extension of the currents offers to expand the user bases.
Strategic Responses of Premium-Segment German Autos to The Global Climate Change for Thai market
(2016)
The global climate change has become an important challenge in automotive industry because CO2 emissions from the fossil fuel combustion of vehicles contribute very much to climate change, especially global warming. Consequently, the world automotive trend is moving to environmental friendly cars. Thailand has faced various catastrophes caused by climate change, especially hazard drought, floods and heat waves, so environmental friendly cars are also needed in Thailand. Since Thailand is one of the major markets of the German luxury automakers in Southeast Asia, this study investigates the competitive environments of Thailand automotive industry and forecasts the implementation of environmental friendly cars, especially flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), hybrid cars and electric vehicles (EVs). The analysis is based on the integration of valid secondary sources and expert interviews. It is found out that Thailand automobile industry is significantly attractive for the German luxury automakers in both production and domestic sales because of the availability of skilled labour, the rise of middle and upper middle class income earners, the integration of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), better developed infrastructure than other ASEAN countries, the government supports and the increasing demand of autos in Thailand and other ASEAN countries. Furthermore, Thailand can be further developed to be a production centre to export cars to other ASEAN countries and to be a market leader to align other ASEAN markets for a better and effective management as one big market. In order to respond to the force of new tax policy based on CO2 emissions, issues of climate changes and not to lose their competitive position to those Japanese automakers, within the next 5 years, the German luxury automakers should increase their product portfolio of hybrid cars in Thailand, especially plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Simultaneously, flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) should be also launched because of the already existing flexible fuel products of the German luxury automakers as well as the high capability of ethanol production and the increasing use of E85 in Thailand. After 2020, some EV models should be launched in Thailand. The demand for EVs in Thailand will rise because people will be willing to adopt EV technology after the launch of PHEVs in 2016 and the number of charging stations will be increased. Moreover, the use of solar cells to produce electricity for EV charging will increase because Thailand is a hot country and it is very environmental friendly.
The e-Commerce market is continuously gaining importance, leading to a fast market development and to equally rapid transition in business models. This thesis analyses the impact of the e-Commerce sector on stationary trade, based on a case study of an internationally established retailer with focus on the Swiss market. The paper builds up on the explanation of the term e-Commerce and the e-Commerce sector, then evaluates the effects of e-Commerce on stationary trade. Based on this information, a case study will be analysed using specific key performance indicators. The aim is to clarify whether the e-Commerce sector is a threat for stationary trade and to elaborate recommendations for retailers. Therefore, innovative concepts of retail stores are mentioned and applied to the case study, in order to give concrete recommendations for further development of multi channel strategies. It can be concluded that although e-Commerce is a growing business model, stationary trade is indispensable. Both sectors should be understood as complementary concepts. Consequently, strategies for implementing multi-channel schemes should be implemented in order to stay competitive and satisfy customer needs.
This thesis is concerned with the analysis and the improvement design of the Disposal Structure Optimization Process (DSOP) which is used by Global Flow GmbH (GF) within the waste consulting services conducted for its clients. The study is elaborated on behalf of GF that desires formalizing its procedure in order to identify deficiencies and yet unrecognized potentials to be leveraged. Thus, a process analysis according to Harrington was applied to the DSOP, in which the process was first documented through description and visualization and then evaluated in order to eventually come up with suggestions for improvement. The process-related data was drawn from interviews with GF management and evaluated from the author’s perspective. The subsequent design of an advanced DSOP was based on the previous evaluation and focused on the enhancement of the process’ value creation by providing improvement measures concerning knowledge-creation for customers, work organization for consultants and decision-making support for management. Hence, four measures were elaborated for purposeful process improvement and designed into the advanced process model: knowledge management, software support, performance measurement and a process infrastructure of standardized information flows. If implemented, the advanced process could enhance GF’s performance and support proactive consideration of strategic stakes.
Stakeholder analysis as an instrument for a successful development for a departmental strategy
(2016)
Functional strategy development is a vital key lever for any manager to provide direction, and to define the purpose and the value contribution of his organization. In this context, the increasing usage of stakeholder analysis in today's business world confirms the realization that stakeholders' input is an essential tool to shape and influence the decision making process. To that effect, obtaining input on their perceptions, beliefs, intentions and interests represents a valuable instrument for managers to furthermore facilitate the implementation of organizational objectives and the development of a functional strategy.
This paper reviews the fundamental aspects of functional strategies and stakeholder analysis, followed by theoretical approaches of research design and data collection methods, as well as organizational change. In relation to these concepts, it introduces a business area of concern and explains the research framework. A thorough investigation of the research outcomes, their potential origins and boundary conditions will lead to recommendations of corrective measures.
The paper proposes the business area concerned to face a major root problem, which suggests being the main cause for multiple related problems that were all detected in the course of the research.
Diese Arbeit erläutert anhand einer vergleichenden Analyse zweier Streikfälle, welche Nachteile sich aus dem System der industriellen Beziehungen in Großbritannien ergeben und welche Vorteile die gesetzliche Mitbestimmung in der Bundesrepublik bietet. Es soll damit die übergeordnete Frage untersucht werden, ob eine Einführung des deutschen Systems in Großbritannien von Nutzen ist. Grund dafür ist der unverhältnismäßig große Unterschied der Haltung zur Mitbestimmung dieser beiden europäischen Staaten. Zunächst wird dazu der Mitbestimmungsbegriff definiert. Es folgen Definitionen von Gewerkschaft und Betriebsrat sowie den Repräsentationsorganen der Mitbestimmung. Des Weiteren werden zum einen der Begriff des Streiks erklärt und zum anderen die verschiedenen Betrachtungsweisen der industriellen Beziehungen von Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer nach Alan Fox (1966). Es werden außerdem die Beziehungen zwischen Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer in beiden Ländern ausführlich behandelt. Betrachtet werden dabei die politischen und historischen Hintergründe sowie die heutigen Mitbestimmungsmöglichkeiten der Arbeitnehmerschaft. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt dabei auf der Entwicklung der Repräsentativorgane der Arbeitnehmer beider Länder. Im Anschluss werden zwei Streikfälle aus dem Jahr 2015 miteinander verglichen. Die Resultate zeigen wirtschaftliche und soziale Nachteile bei einer Streiksituation zwischen Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer im Vereinigten Königreich ohne eine gesetzliche Mitbestimmung. In der Bundesrepublik zeigen die Ergebnisse auf Grund der gesetzlichen Mitbestimmung in einer komplizierten Streiksituation einen wirtschaftlich und sozial nachhaltigeren Lösungsweg auf. Die gesetzliche Mitbestimmung schafft Gerechtigkeit zwischen Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer in einem Wirtschaftssystem das sonst weitestgehend von der unsichtbaren Hand der Marktregulierung beherrscht wird. Darüber hinaus bringt sie wirtschaftliche Vorteile mit sich, da sie das Konfliktpotential innerhalb der Belegschaft auf ein erträgliches Maß senkt. Beides sind Gründe, die Großbritannien durchaus zum Nachdenken über ein gesetzliches Mitbestimmungssystem anhalten können.
This research aims to study transactional cost and organizational change management in a pharmaceutical company that had gone through the SSC implementation process through different regions, including Latin America. Eli Lilly SSC in Latin America is located in Mexico and was aimed to centralize standard routines and administrative transactions related to finance and accounting back office services for the entire region. In implementing changes of this magnitude, it is necessary to be prepared to encounter the transaction costs related to this strategic decision and for the internal resistance applied in organizational change process. In this sense, this research aims to study what are the main challenges and transaction costs involving a process of re-structuring the organization to the SSC business model, especially in Latin America. Taking as a base the change resistance elements mentioned by Burns and Scapens (2000) and transaction costs theory basis by Williamson (1981). The SSC, a relatively recent business model and a trend between multinational organizations, was implemented in Lilly across 4 different regions to support over 70 countries in all continents. Latin America the last region to be implemented had a proposed migration schedule within less than one year. The findings show that the main resistance to the existing process is related to lack of competence/information and attachment to control and existing routines. In addition, the transaction costs are closely related to the dimensions of asset specificity and uncertainty. We must consider that the lack of a formal change management strategy, within the LATAM region, was a risky move and had impacted the implementation process and stabilization period results. The chronogram had also to be changed due to unexpected details in the region. Latin America was more complex than expected due to the differences in regulations and culture between countries, also expressed a non-verbal resistance that was probably expressed through the lack of commitment of some personnel. The results of this research raise inputs to the next researchers and bring elements to be considered by organizations when implementing the SSC business model. It is useful to direct actions and strategies to control de change impact and possible transaction costs. Additionally, through the research we filled the purpose to build an overview on shared services model and discuss the main points that should be considered when taking into consideration to re-structure the business with this model, characterized as a centralization of services that are provided from one single point to multiple business units in order to avoid activities duplication, optimizing resources through the integration of technology, people and standardized processes (Deliotte, 2007).
Scenario Planning: How is big data going to influence the future of smart mobility in Germany?
(2016)
Smart mobility is the future of transportation services in Germany. The implementation and management of smart mobility is impossible without using big data. At the present time,the analysis of big data in Germany is not fully implemented due to existing challenges. The purpose of this research project is to forecast the impact of big data on smart mobility in Germany with the use of scenario planning. In order to receive the most actual scenarios, the input factors were designed in accordance with extensive literature research, and then ratios between all specifications of input factors were compared and evaluated. Thus four unique scenarios were selected for further detailed interpretation to suggest possible influences of big data on smart mobility in Germany
This research is aimed at analyzing social media patterns of consumers in Russia and in Germany, and social media strategy of automakers. The purpose of the paper is to observe social media presence of three major car manufacturing companies and see what the social media preferences of consumers are during purchasing journey. Furthermore, the results include comparison between Russia and Germany as well as social media best practices of automakers. For this, data was collected from a random sample of people in Russia and in Germany through online questionnaire. After that an analysis of secondary data on social media presence of automakers was done. A total of 650 people participated in the online questionnaire. The data was analyzed for each country and compared with each other. The results revealed that there are a lot of similarities in social media usage. However, existing differences are very drastic and needed to be considered by companies when it comes to establishing a social media strategy in a specific country. Furthermore, selected car manufacturing companies have a relatively strong social media presence but are different among each other with some gaps that can be improved.
Ein kleiner Brand bei einem Zulieferer, eine Grenzsperrung auf dem Transportweg oder ein Erdbeben wie 2011 in Japan. Welche Auswirkungen haben solche Geschehnisse auf Unternehmen? Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit liegt auf einem mittelständischen Unternehmen, das bereits ein Supply Chain Risikomanagement installiert hat aber immer noch von Störungen in seiner Lieferkette betroffen ist. Ziel ist deshalb, dem Unternehmen Optimierungspotentiale seines Risikomanagements aufzuzeigen. Zur Identifizierung der Verbesserungspotentiale werden die aktuell verwendeten Instrumente des Risikomanagements anhand einer Befragung und Gesprächen mit Mitarbeitern dargestellt. Die Schwachstellenanalyse zeigt auf, was bei den Instrumenten optimiert werden sollte. Zur Ausarbeitung einer Empfehlung wird zum einen eine Literaturstudie, bei der Methoden und Instrumente für das Risikomanagement genannt und auf ihre Anwendbarkeit in der Praxis geprüft werden, durchgeführt. Zum anderen werden Instrumente verändert, um sie für das Risikomanagement in dem mittelständischen Unternehmen anzuwenden. Die Literaturstudie zeigt, dass das Supply Chain Risikomanagement theoretisch sehr weit entwickelt ist, allerdings die praktische Anwendung bei mittelständischen Unternehmen erhebliche Mängel aufweist. Die Einführung des in der Theorie angewendeten Vier-Phasen-Modell des Risikomanagementprozesses erscheint in Hinblick auf die internen Gegebenheiten bei dem Unternehmen, nicht sinnvoll. Deshalb werden stattdessen Instrumente wie ein Lieferantenportal, eine Monitoringsoftware, ein Lieferantenaward und ein erweitertes Bewertungsschema empfohlen, da diese auf die Bekämpfung der aktuellen Probleme zugeschnitten sind.
The continuous growth of e-commerce combined with new developments in mobile technology make it vital for sporting goods retailers to look for strategies to increase their online competitiveness. Dynamic pricing is a powerful strategy to increase revenue and at the same time ensure price competitiveness. With this in mind, the aim of this thesis is to explore revenue maximization in e-commerce sporting goods retail through dynamic pricing of product inventories. To do so, a multi-method approach was performed using three parts, namely a literature review on e-commerce sporting goods retail and various dynamic pricing strategies, an analysis of empirical sales data, and an interview segment amongst experts from e-commerce sporting goods retail.
The research in this thesis has produced two key findings. In theory, inventory and demand-based dynamic pricing is the optimal choice for revenue maximization of product inventories in e-commerce sporting goods retail. In practice, inventory and demand-based dynamic pricing can only be used for revenue maximization of clearance inventories. The reason for this is because the multichannel pricing strategies used by sporting goods retailers prohibit inventory and demand-based pricing of all product inventories in e-commerce.
Future research should seek to combine multichannel pricing strategies with dynamic pricing, and doing so would enable e-commerce sporting goods retailers to exploit the full potential of revenue maximization through dynamic pricing of product inventories.
Quality Management has attained top priority in many sectors, notably in the airspace industry. A thereby integrated mechanism to ensure the containment and correction of production errors should include a consistent and effective tracking system to maximise business process efficiency on the internal as well as overall company level.
The A350 Doors Program of Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH has identified the need for an improvement project to augment the quality of the associated summary report in terms of time, money and scope. This research aims to document as well as evaluate the effectiveness of this optimisation through the measurement of key indicators.
Through the application of various project and business process management tools this research measures the consumption of financial and time resources as well as the change in the quality of the reported outcome. Thereby it found that the optimisation achieved a radical reduction in scope of the document, thus limiting the amount of time and financial resources consumed. Similarly, previous tracking errors were corrected and the procedure altered, increasing the decision-making quality of the content. These results and their attainment process are to be considered for future company internal optimisation projects.
Business Process Management (BPM) is a systematic approach to analyze, optimize, standardize and control business processes. It proves to be an effective tool in order to attend to growing customer requirements and the need for process performance improvements. Hence, it is the objective of the division of Customer Supply Chain Service (CUS) of the Automotive Aftermarket at Robert Bosch GmbH to implement standardized business processes in all European CUS regional organizations. Combining the findings from literature, group discussions and the results from Business Process Optimization workshops, this thesis aims to collect important data for the creation of value stream maps with Microsoft VISIO. As a result, all AS-IS and TO-BE core business processes of CUS were modelled. Additionally, the TO-BE business processes were integrated and visualized as one Business Process Model framework for all CUS organizations across Europe for the purpose of showing interrelations of the business processes, standardization, documentation and transparency enhancement.
Ensuring that the optimized business processes are not only documented, but successfully rolled-out across all European regional organizations of CUS is an immense challenge which many companies in the past have failed to overcome. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to empirically research the critical success factors and challenges for the implementation of redesigned and standardized business processes as well as the organizational changes of CUS. The research method involved half-structured interviews with experts in the field of BPM taking recourse to a literature review. These factors need to be considered and strategically catered to since they have a strong signaling effect for the further success of the change project. Findings of the research reveal a demand for improvement of communication to affected employees and the call for a successive roll-out plan for the implementation as opposed to a radical “Big Bang” change of all business processes across all regional organizations. By applying a gradual step-by-step implementation strategy, “quick wins” in terms of easy-to-implement business processes can be achieved. These instant optimizations lead to employees losing resistance and hesitation towards the change project. Limitation to the research is the application to a single case of one specific organizational unit in the Automotive Aftermarket.
Personalarbeit in der Industrie 4.0: Einführung einer digitalen Personalakte in der Zimmer Group
(2016)
Die vorliegende Thesis thematisiert die aufkommenden Herausforderungen, welche sich für die Personalarbeit im Zuge der Einführung von Industrie 4.0 ergeben werden. Neue Technologien werden definiert und in Gartner’s Hype Cycle eingeordnet, um sie auf ihre Realisierbarkeit in der Praxis hin zu untersuchen. Zudem werden Grenzen der Einsatzmöglichkeiten dieser Technologien ausgewertet. Anschließend erläutert der Praxisteil die aktuelle Situation hinsichtlich des Standes der Industrie 4.0 und der Digitalisierung in der Personalabteilung der Zimmer Group. Des Weiteren werden die Projektphasen, welche sich auf die Einführung einer digitalen Personalakte beziehen, aufgeführt sowie analysiert, ob die Einführung einer digitalen Personalakte eine sinnvolle Investition für die Zimmer Group darstellt. In welcher Weise neue Technologien zukünftig in der Personalabteilung gewinnbringend eingesetzt werden können, wird abschießend dargestellt.
The aim of this bachelor thesis is to research a way to implement mobile work successfully into the department of IDS Sales Service at Roche Diabetes Care Germany GmbH. To achieve this objective, a literature review was done that identifies the most expected threats and determines strategies to overcome them. In the practical part, the tasks in the department in question are categorized and it is analyzed which threats are most significant in this case. Further, using the outcomes of a department survey and pilot days, policies are formulated to reduce these probable threats and to define the terms and conditions of the arrangement. Due to the findings in this thesis, mobile work was successfully implemented into the department of IDS Sales Service.
Neuromarketing ist ein relativ neues Forschungsgebiet, welches die Erkenntnisse der Neurowissenschaft für Marketingzwecke nutzt. Durch den großen Stellenwert des Inter-nets in der heutigen Gesellschaft, wird vermehrt nach Optimierungsmöglichkeiten des Webauftrittes gesucht. Ein Ansatz dabei ist die Anwendung von Neuromarketing im Webdesign. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es ein Verständnis für das Themengebiet des Neuro-marketings zu vermitteln und Anwendungsmöglichkeiten von Neuromarketing im Web zu verdeutlichen, welchen in der Literatur bisher nur wenig Beachtung geschenkt wur-de. Die Erkenntnisse dieser Arbeit wurden durch Auswertung einschlägiger Literatur gewonnen. Des Weiteren wurde eine Analyse von der Anwendung des Neuromarke-tings an expliziten Beispielen des Webdesigns der Tourismusbranche vorgenommen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit zeigen auf, dass ein herausragendes Webdesign für den Erfolg der Webseite von großer Bedeutung ist und die Anwendung des Neuromarke-tings dabei eine wesentliche Optimierungsmöglichkeit bietet. Insofern liefert diese Ar-beit einen praktischen Wert für interessierte Unternehmen und Webdesigner.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Optimierung des EDI-Implementierungsprozesses eines Unternehmens. Für den vorgegebenen Prozess konnte sich bisher noch keine Routine in dem Unternehmen entwickeln und es liegt keine Prozessdokumentation vor. Daher ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit den Prozess zu analysieren, Optimierungsstrategien zu entwickeln und durch eine Prozessdokumentation einen gewissen Grad an Standardisierung sicherzustellen. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen setzt sich diese Arbeit mit der Theorie des Geschäftsprozessmanagements auseinander und erarbeitet Möglichkeiten, durch eine Schwachstellen- sowie eine Fehleranalyse, einen optimierten Soll-Prozess der EDI-Implementierung zu präsentieren.
Open Educational Resources (OER) in der Hochschullehre - Anwendungsfall Informationssicherheit
(2016)
Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Chancen von Open Educational Resources (OER) im Bereich Informationssicherheit festzustellen und zu fördern. Dabei liegt der Hauptfokus auf Bildungsmaterialien für die Hochschullehre. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, wird eine analytische Bestandsaufnahme der aktuellen Quellenlage von Materialien der Informationssicherheit durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse werden in einer Datenbank festgehalten und theoretisch ausgewertet. Dies zeigt, dass aktuell nur wenige OER im Bereich Informationssicherheit verfügbar sind. Es stehen jedoch vielseitige Ausgangsmaterialien zur Verfügung. Um diese verarbeiten zu können, wird ein Handbuch für OER-Ersteller erarbeitet. Dieses bietet didaktische und lizenzrechtliche Hinweise für die OER-Erstellung. Als Beispiel zur Umsetzung dient das erstellte OER "Risikomanagement in der Informationssicherheit - Risikoidentifikation". Abschließend evaluiert diese Arbeit in theoretischer Form eine Möglichkeit, studentische Arbeiten unter einer freien Lizenz zu veröffentlichen.
Due to OMEN by HP's status as a fairly new gaming brand, this paper focuses on evaluating the company's definition of their target segments, as well as actions regarding current trends. In addition, it aims at identifying further opportunities in the German gaming market concerning untargeted segments and emerging trends.
Research relies on books and scientific publications, as well as websites, newspaper articles and forum discussions. HP's target segments are examined using behavioural and profile based segmentation variables; the results of this re-segmentation are summarized graphically. An analysis of major trends includes a SWOT analysis for each trend in order to identify the course of their development.
Research has shown that families and silver gamers will become increasingly important in the future. Additionally, further studies should be conducted concerning HP's target segments and mobile gaming. HP performs quite strong in terms of identifying the overall needs of its target segments, as well as regarding technological trends. The company should, however, increase its efforts concerning trends that go beyond technology, such as eSports.
A good piece of research should be simple to understand, inspiring and encourage further researchers to keep developing the topic in focus. An unexplored field such as the motivational drivers and traits of social entrepreneurs involved in the arising opportunities from the refugee crisis in Germany is a research piece that has never been done before. Breaches and insufficient information in this topic was meant to be coped with qualitative research methods. In-depth interviews allow gaining first-hand insights into what factors drive a social entrepreneur to create, develop and sustain a venture directly involved in the refugee crisis sector. The tools used in this research were meant to understand a variety of social entrepreneur’s meanings and perspectives to generate a conceptual framework and a theoretical contribution. Due to the fact that no studies had been carried to enhance the understanding of what traits and characteristics do social entrepreneurs involved in the refugee crisis possess. This research found more than 15 traits and 20 motivational drivers that society’s heroes possess and conceive a new type of entrepreneur, the “Type S” entrepreneur. This study navigates through the differences and overlaps between for-profit’s and social entrepreneur’s motivations. Followed by an exploration of a social entrepreneur’s motivational drivers and traits using the refugee crisis in Germany as mean and lens. Concluding with a suggestion of a new breed of entrepreneurs.
Although the market share of a specific airline is very often a rough estimation, it is still of great importance for the airline top management. In order to make the right strategic decision, management should be aware of its current position and its competitors. This information is important to decide on the airline’s fleet assignment, revenue management and planning and scheduling. A variety of different models exists for market size and market share forecasting. Since no single model provides accuracy, airlines usually combine and compare the results of different approaches. Generally speaking, market share can be estimated using different starting parameters, such as flight frequency, fare, quality of service, number of airplane’s seats, time of departure, etc. The market share depends also on its competitors’ strategy and current economic situation. As it is almost impossible to take into consideration all these parameters in one model, different techniques very often provide different results, and it is the task of the airline network planners to calibrate and validate the model. In this Master Thesis I consider market share as a parameter whose value is between 0 and 1 and which is calculated as a ratio of passengers travelled by a specific airline to a total number of passengers travelled between a given pairs of cities. This Master Thesis presents two objectives. First, it gives an introduction to the history of the airline industry. It analyzes the main factors affecting the demand, gives and overview of the airline network management and presents the most popular models for market size and share forecasting. Second, it estimates the airlines’ market shares for a given set of city pairs for 2013 and 2014 and finds the formula which can be used for future network planning. The estimation is conducted using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) model.
Modern Customer Relationship Management is becoming more and more demanding. Instead of creating competitive advantages through prices, it is more effective to focus on customer relations and their maintenance. Therefore, corporations have to manage a large amount of information to appeal and to tie customers. Simultaneously, due to the huge spread of mobile devices and the extension of broadband networks communication habits are changing and speed of communication is increasing continuously. Clients and co-workers expect faster responses, not only because of the use of the internet but even more because of the use of mobile services. Finally, the way of working has changed considerably during the past years. Nowadays, employees need flexible access to organizational data as they can manage their working time mostly by themselves. Flexible access may be necessary at customer appointments, at the home office or during business trips. Accordingly, mobile software solutions which are easily operable and tailored to individual requirements are in great demand. Mobile CRM is supposed to accommodate this demand. However, the question arises as to whether mobile CRM is really able to meet the companies’ needs and to solve these issues.
This study explores the attitudes and perceptions of consumers of the baby boomer generation (age 50-62) concerning contents on the social media channels of Facebook and YouTube. Ten in-depth interviews are conducted in which representatives of the target group perform tasks on the two platforms such as gathering information about a firm or comparing advertisements. The main finding of the empirical research conducted is a set of preferences and attitudes about social media contents classified in following categories: 1) company profiles on Facebook 2) company channels on YouTube 3) sponsored posts on Facebook 4) sponsored search results on YouTube and 5) navigation on the two platforms. The obtained results significantly complement existing research on firm-supplied contents on social media for several reasons. Firstly, baby boomers represent a highly valuable target group as they possess immense consumption power and demonstrate high willingness to try new products and services, as well. Moreover, they increasingly join social networks, first of all Facebook,and they browse other social media channels, but they have been mostly neglected in research about social media in Germany. Secondly, this study links inbound marketing via social media to small and medium-sized enterprises. For the latter, this holds substantial benefits to facilitate being found by consumers on social media platforms in order to compete against larger firms. Therefore, implications for small business managers and marketing representatives are given. Thirdly, the study focuses on the attitudes and perceptions of consumers in order to replenish data on consumer behavior on Facebook and YouTube obtained by the algorithms of the platform providers. Therefore, it complements extensive existing studies focusing on analyzing the latter. Furthermore, the distinct advertising and targeting functions of Facebook and YouTube have been considered in the creation of the interview in pursuance of pertinent practically oriented results.
Maßnahme einer Social Media Marketing Strategie des Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseums Vogtsbauernhof
(2016)
Nowadays, in times of saturated markets, there may be observed an intensified competition among companies, while at the same time needs and demand of the customers are increasing as well. To counteract this growth of competition, companies need to continuously implement new and innovative strategies, if they don’t want to lose any market share among their market competitors. Under such conditions, innovated business modules and new market technologies have to be developed through the usage of Digitalization and the Internet and, especially the usage of Social Media; creating a new Touchpoint to deal with the customers, where companies can better get to know their requirements, enabling them better to serve the market and satisfy customer needs. Keeping this in mind, many large international companies already recognized the importance of Social Media within their business model, but until now they don’t have any real strategic plan yet in place to backup, utilize and exploit the situation over longer periods of time. The Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, also recognized this important aspect and is already using Social Media, but until now, without any Strategic Plan or Model too. Beyond this the objective of this Bachelor Thesis is to create a complete a Strategic Model as well as some further strategic actions for the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, to adapt to changing market conditions and not to fall behind the competition but to excel above them. To achieve this objective, a Company and Competitor Analysis has to be carried out as an answer, if such a strategic implementation in Social Media might be useful for the business model of the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof or not. Verifying this analysis, some Strategic Models from the literature will be presented, and applied as a combination at the business model of the company. As a different point of view, an empirical study will be used to apply the created Strategic Model in a suited way into practice. Due to this application, as well as due to some further Strategic Actions, there will be improved some already existing Social Media channels. Furthermore there will be established one completely new Social Media channel. To prove the success of the Strategic Model and its additional actions, a second empirical study and some Monitoring tools will be used as a measurement at the end of the Thesis. The results of the Company Analysis could be interpreted as first evidence, that a general strategic implementation of Social Media for the business model of the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof might be useful. Additionally both methods of measuring results and performance show a partial success of the implemented Strategic Model which could be interpreted as a competitive advantage at least in the short run. This Thesis is especially written for the Online Marketing department of the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, but it doesn’t mean that for any other person, which isn’t part of the company, it might be completely useless. The Thesis is also directed to all the people, which already had recognized that classical Marketing methods won’t work any longer, and because of this, are looking for some digital alternatives. Because of this the results might be used as an inspiration or as a special kind of guide to establish a strategic presentation within Social Media.
Die Zielsetzung dieser Bachelorarbeit ist es, die Grundlagen der Globalisierung und Internationalisierung und dessen Bedeutung für Unternehmen zu beleuchten. Nach dem die Internationalisierungsstrategien bspw. Strategien der Markterschließung und Markeintrittsformen mit ihren jeweiligen Vor- und Nachteilen vorgestellt wurden, soll anhand einer PEST- Analyse das Land Russland als potenzielles Land für den Markteintritt analysiert werden. Des Weiteren sollen relevante Informationen über den russischen Markt, im allgemein sowie im Bereich der Medizintechnik, gesammelt werden. Zusätzlich sollen die Ergebnisse des Experteninterviews, nach der Analyse und Bewertung, in die Marktanalyse mit einfließen, um in der Folge eine erfolgreiche Markteintrittsstrategieempfehlung für iSYS Medizintechnik GmbH zu entwickeln.
In Deutschland werden im Durchschnitt täglich 121 Liter Trinkwasser pro Person verbraucht, dabei fallen jedes Jahr mehr als 700 Liter Regen pro Quadratmeter an. Der Großteil des Regenwassers fließt jedoch ungenutzt in die Kanalisation. Durch das steigende Bewusstsein für Klima- und Umweltschutz führt der Trend heutzutage mehr denn je zum schonenden Umgang mit Ressourcen. Doch gilt dies auch für die Nutzung von Regenwasser? Im Rahmen einer Marktanalyse zur Regenwassernutzung in Deutschland werden in dieser Arbeit Umfeldbedingungen sowie die Attraktivität des Marktes untersucht, um dadurch Chancen und Risiken sowie das Potential der Regenwassernutzungsbranche abzuleiten. Dabei wird insbesondere auf das Forschungsziel eines komparativen Konkurrenzvorteils unter Berücksichtigung des steigenden Online-Handels und daraus resultierender Preistransparenz eingegangen. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit liegt auf einem mittelständischen Unternehmen der Umwelttechnikbranche, das sich in einigen Bereichen der Regenwasserbewirtschaftung als Marktführer behaupten kann. Um die Konkurrenz der Firma besser verstehen zu können, werden die Wettstreiter bestimmt und auf verschiedenen Ebenen wissenschaftlich untersucht. Durch eine umfassende Analyse des Vertriebes der Mall GmbH können grundlegende Maßnahmen für eine Marketingstrategie geschaffen werden. Im Rahmen einer Befragung, bei der Kunden und Interessenten zu Themen wie Kaufentscheidung und Kaufabwicklung befragt werden, können Wünsche, Bedürfnisse, Nutzung und der Grad der Zufriedenheit der Kunden eruiert werden. Aus der Analyse werden abschließend Handlungsempfehlungen für Marketing und Vertrieb der Mall GmbH abgeleitet. Dabei wird insbesondere auf eine Neupositionierung der Regenspeicher sowie auf eine Preisanpassung, die auf strengem Preiswettbewerb, Preistransparenz und Kundenzufriedenheit basiert, eingegangen. Des Weiteren wird durch die Prognose zum steigenden Online-Handel im Industriegüterbereich ein eigenständiger Webshop empfohlen. Die Abwicklung des Kaufprozesses sollte aufgrund des indirekten Vertriebs über den Baustoffhandel erfolgen.
This paper was written for the Häfele GmbH & Co KG during the period from October 2015 to February 2016. In 2016 the Häfele group wants to start business activities in the Spanish project business. The market entry should be carried out by the Spanish subsidiary Häfele Herrajes S.L. For that reason, the purpose of this bachelor thesis is to realize a market analysis and to develop suitable strategies for the Spanish market. Through the application of analytical tools of strategic management the business environment and the company have been analyzed.
After an introduction a PEST-Analysis has been carried out to assess the macroenvironment of the company. Additionally, an industry structure analysis should give an overview of the characteristics of the project business and the actual situation of the Spanish construction sector. A more detailed analysis including a potential sales volume calculation has been carried out of the hotel construction segment due to the reason that the Häfele group has already established business relations in this segment through operations in other markets. Furthermore, a competition analysis has been realized which focuses on the three most important competitors of the market. In this context the largest competitor is compared with the Häfele Herrajes S.L. The comparison is based on the key success factors of the industry which have been determined beforehand with experts of the Häfele group. A SWOT-Analysis is used to elaborate strategic actions by summarizing the results of the previous insights. The main conclusions of the thesis for the Häfele Herrajes S.L. are that the subsidiary should focus on the hotel construction market in the regions of Madrid, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands. Moreover, the subsidiary should concentrate on the construction of hotels in four and five star segment. Besides that, the company wide corporation and the use of established business relations will be necessary to establish the Häfele Herrajes S.L. in the long term on the Spanish project market.
Mit der hier vorliegenden Bachelorarbeit sollte herausgefunden werden, ob der deutsche Leuchtenmarkt ein potenzieller Markt für den Einsatz von Kleb- und Dichtstoffen ist. Ziel war es, der Sika Deutschland GmbH, nach durchgeführter Forschungsarbeit eine klare Empfehlung für oder gegen einen Einstieg am deutschen Leuchtenmarkt aussprechen zu können. Um diese Aussage zu tätigen, wurden zahlreiche Informationen über die Leuchtenindustrie gesammelt. Diese Informationen wurden durch Analysen und Expertengespräche beschafft. Anschließend wurde die Sika Deutschland GmbH über verschiedene Analysen genauer betrachtet. Im Anschluss wurden die gewonnen Informationen, über das Unternehmen und über die Leuchtenindustrie, miteinander abgestimmt.
Ziel der vorliegenden Bachelor Thesis war es, festzustellen, ob die derzeitige strategische Ausrichtung der vollautomatischen Preisauszeichnungssysteme der Firma Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG im Fresh Food Markt weiterverfolgt werden kann oder diese durch Veränderungen entsprechend angepasst werden muss. Die Marktanalyse stellt statistisch belegtes Basiswissen aus verschiedenen Aspekten des Marktes bereit, um zukünftig als Hilfsmittel bei der strategischen Entscheidungsfindung zu dienen.
Im ersten Schritt wurde eine Analyse des Fresh Food Marktes und der darin enthaltenen Lebensmittel vorgenommen. Dabei wurden die einzelnen Lebensmittelsparten im Detail aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln betrachtet und daraus Prognosen des zukünftigen Potenzials der Preisauszeichnungssysteme hergeleitet.
Außerdem wurde eine Analyse der stärksten Wettbewerber im Profil angefertigt und parallel dazu eine SWOT Analyse der Firma Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG erstellt. Anschließend wurde aus den Ergebnissen eine mögliche Strategie hergeleitet.
Der letzte Schritt der Marktanalyse befasst sich mit der Erstellung, Durchführung und Auswertung einer Kundenumfrage. Es konnten bestehende Erwartungen und Anforderungen an die Preisauszeichnungssysteme seitens der Kunden erörtert und zukünftige Optimierungsmöglichkeiten und Trends in Bezug auf die Geräte ermittelt werden.
Das Ergebnis der gesamten Marktanalyse zu Preisauszeichnungssystemen im Fresh Food Markt bietet sowohl einen aktuellen Überblick als auch einen umfassenden Ausblick auf Trends der Fresh Food Branche, das zukünftige Verkaufspotenzial und die möglichen Optimierungsmöglichkeiten der Preisauszeichnungssysteme der Firma Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG.
Purpose: This research aims to analyze Generation Y, also known as Millennials in order to understand how companies can successfully address the members of the Generation, when introducing new technology. As Generation Ys influence on the market will be tremendously increasing it is important for marketing to understand the trends and behaviors that drive the Millennials buying decisions. The aim is to create understanding about changing trends and dependants that play a role in the Millennials behaviors and determine their values and attitudes towards new technology products.
Method: Best practices were elaborated from secondary data in form of scientific literature, primary data in form of research though a survey on Uber and case studies on Apples iWatch as well as Googles "Google Glass"
Conclusion: Millennials are a very complex generation. Therefore there is a lot to consider when marketing to Millennials should be effective. As Millennial cohorts change rapidly, marketers need to address its members in the right way to ensure sustainable results and effectiveness. In a changing environment they need to be one step ahead of trends and act as peers rather than treating Millennials as their target group. Millennials like experiences, therefore a good brand communication is essential to create trust and brand commitment.
Current work aimed to conduct the market research for premium surgical power systems market segment in China. Qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary researches were completed in order to set the right strategical direction for service, weight the opportunities in the market, set the right models and methods for service. Research results are describing the demand on service, mechanics of the business and the benchmark of the segment. Customer's profile, sales channels, service portfolio and 5 Ps for the service of surgical power systems were completed.
In the current difficult climate for international aviation especially in Europe and the USA, one sector is performing extremely well, the so-called low cost carriers. While the flagcarriers are experiencing severe difficulties, withdrawing from routes and cutting staff, the low cost sector continues to expand at a tremendous pace. Since their entry in various countries in the late 90’s, low cost carriers have grown to even become dominant players on a significant number of intra-national short haul routes. Although the severe competition of low-cost airlines is observable in many industrialized countries nowadays, our focus in this paper will be restricted to the US market which at many levels appear to be interesting and the perfect case to illustrate the impact of low-cost carriers on the domestic aviation market. The extent to which this expansion affects the traditional airline networks in other terms the so-called legacy or network carriers, poses interesting questions for the US airline industry and policy makers. As a pre-requisite to analyze the current situation of the US airline market with regards to the impact low-cost carriers, it is crucial to have a historical background on the domestic US aviation and to understand the role of antitrust policies. First of all, until 1978 the US airline industry was regulated by the US government, allowing only few carriers, the network carriers. Those carriers are therefore the historical carriers. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was the economic regulatory body for airlines that controlled airline schedules, fares, and routes, which essentially allowed U.S. airlines to exercise monopoly power. In 1975, the CAB’s Special Staff did a self-study of the organization and concluded that the amending federal law to eliminate “protective entry, exit, and price control” would be beneficial for the airline market. It was believed that the industry was naturally competitive and there did not appear to be any significant barriers to entry nor substantial economies of scale that would limit the number of efficient and profitable firms. Therefore, the Airline deregulation Act of 1978 eliminated economic regulation of the airline industry. The deregulation allowed many carriers to enter the industry, existing carriers to expand their operations, competition to flourish and air fares to
fall. Monopoly markets were now only present on the smallest city-pair markets which lacked enough traffic to support more than one airline. After deregulation, Southwest Airlines initiated the budget flight in Dallas, Texas.
With flights turning profitable in 1973 and remaining so ever since, former lawyer Herb Kelleher proved the viability of low cost flights. In terms of passengers carried each year, Southwest is now the biggest airline in the USA and the second biggest airline in the world. Although entering the airline industry was relatively easy, successfully overcoming the advantages of larger incumbents proved to be more difficult. The deregulation greatly illustrated the relevance of Paul Gerdoski’s arguments about the effect of market entry. Firstly, market entries increased industry competition and forced the traditional network carriers to increase their efficiency leading to lower fares and better service on many routes. Secondly it fostered industry innovation with the appearance and growth of low cost carriers.
Highlighted as a promising field that targets cost related problems and high research costs, the concept of Lean Management is applied in the biotechnology sector. Specifically, the thesis aims to develop and test a Lean Management implementation model suitable for biotechnological research laboratories. Using multiple mixed methods, a deductive case study approach is taken to investigate requirements for an improvement model. The use of observations and interviews deliver findings which enable the comprehension of the implementation environment. The review of academic literature provided the basis to conceptualize, develop and test a new model, called Biotechnological Laboratory Implementation Model or BLIM. Overall, the results of the implementation can be described as successful since the BLIM meets all requirements fully or with minor restrictions. Effects of the Lean Management implementation are positive and promise to deal with the mentioned cost related problems and high research costs. The findings of this thesis challenge preexisting views on the argument that the success of Lean Management models is subject to the individual characteristics of the organization. As the newly developed BLIM is separated into structured and agile implementation phases, this joint characteristic represents a contribution to research in the field of Lean Management implementations as such and proposes further areas to be researched on.
Die vorliegende Bachelor-Arbeit beschreibt die Konzeption und prototypische Entwicklung einer Web-Applikation für kollaboratives Schreiben fiktiver Texte im Rollenspiel-Stil. Sie klärt dabei die Frage, wie eine Web-Applikation für kollaboratives Schreiben fiktiver Texte im Rollenspiel-Stil funktions-technisch und software-technisch umgesetzt werden kann. Die Applikation soll sowohl sequentielles als auch reagierendes kollaboratives Schreiben unterstützen.
Der Prototyp dieser Applikation wurde mittels Requirements Engineering entwickelt. Bei der Analyse wurden funktionale und nicht-funktionale Anforderungen über die Definitionen für Rollenspiele (J. Arjoranta, 2011) und kollaboratives Schreiben (Paul Benjamin Lowry, Aaron Curtis und Michelle René Lowry, 2004) aufgestellt. Anschließend wurde ein Funktionsumfang der Grundfunktionen und Erweiterungen erarbeitet. Zudem wurden vorhandene und aktuell verwendete Applikationen für kollaboratives Schreiben und Schreibrollenspiele auf ihren Funktionsumfang analysiert. Durch den Vergleich der Funktionsumfänge wurde so herausgestellt, dass eine Applikation für kollaboratives Schreiben fiktiver Texte benötigt wird.
Im praktischen Teil der Thesis wurden Entwurfsmuster für die Web-Applikation er-stellt. Dazu wurden Use-Case-Diagramme und -Beschreibungen angefertigt. Außerdem wurden Sequenzdiagramme der technischen Abläufe der einzelnen Use-Cases beschrieben.
Implementiert wurde die Web-Applikation ausgehend von der Anforderungsanalyse mit einem RESTful Web-Service und Web-Client. Der Web-Service basiert auf Java Spring und einer relationalen Datenbank. Der Web-Client wurde auf Basis von JavaScript, Backbone.js, jQuery, HTML 5 und CSS 3 entwickelt.
Der vorläufige Prototyp wurde auf Basis einer qualitativen und quantitativen Umfrage evaluiert. Auf Grundlage der Evaluationsergebnisse wurde der Prototyp angepasst. Ergebnis der Arbeit ist ein evaluierter und verbesserter Prototyp für kollaboratives Schreiben fiktiver Texte im Rollenspiel-Stil.
Die vorliegende Arbeit gibt industriellen Entscheidern, Softwareentwicklern, Geräteherstellern und Standardisierungsgremien einen Überblick über die Problematiken bei der Entwicklung plattformübergreifender Anwendungen zum Abruf, zur Visualisierung und zur Modifizierung heterogener Informationen von unterschiedlichen Geräten über standardisierte Kommunikationstechnologien unter mit Einbezug etablierter Geräteintegrationstechnologien. Zum Aufzeigen der Problematiken wurden exemplarisch die Technologien Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture für den standardisierten Kommunikationsaustausch und Field Device Tool als etablierte Geräteintegrationstechnologie zur Umsetzung der prototypischen Implementierung verwendet. Die wichtigsten Erkenntnisse dieser Arbeit sind neben der Notwendigkeit eines auf plattformübergreifenden Plattformen lauffähigen Toolkits, die Erfordernis zur dynamischen Visualisierung der Daten asymmetrischen Typs, die aufgrund der Informationstypenvielfalt des Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture Standards bestehen. Weiterhin zeigen die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit die Möglichkeit zur Integration etablierter Geräteintegrationsstandards, sofern diese Integration von den Standardisierungsgremien der etablierten Technologien korrekt realisiert wurde.
The aim of this bachelor’s thesis was to identify possible measures for the competence development of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in small and medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs), with a focus on the development of interdisciplinary competences. It is solely based on already existing research results and publications and shall provide an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding the issue.
To be able to find possibilities to develop interdisciplinary competences, essential terms as competence, knowledge and competence management as well as the target group of unskilled and semi-skilled workers and their specific learning needs have to be clarified. Under consideration of all relevant aspects, recommendations for interdisciplinary com-petence development, which fit to the target group, can be made. The results of this paper show that in comparison with other occupation groups unskilled and semi-skilled workers need more support regarding their learning process, as for ex-ample through the definition and control of fixed goals. Apart from continuous learning and sufficient time, especially forms of learning which are close to the workplace are appropriate. Despite all learning difficulties which characterize the target group, they rep-resent a not inconsiderable potential and an opportunity for enterprises to successfully overcome challenges such as globalisation, demographic change and the lack of qualified personnel.
Der moderne Kühlschrank von heute hat viele Funktionen, die einige Jahre zuvor unvorstellbar waren. Die modernen Kühlschränke können sich selbst regulieren, sich selbst reinigen und können die Kühlluft gleichmäßig verteilen. Eine Innovation entsprang vom Unternehmen Samsung und seinem Modell T9000. Ein Kühlschrank, der mit dem Internet verbunden wird und somit das Leben von früher auf den Kopf stellt. Es besitzt ein Display mit dem alle Geräte im Haushalt gesteuert werden können. Die Voraussetzung ist jedoch, alle Geräte müssen mit dem Internet verbunden und auch steuerbar sein. Was der moderne Kühlschrank bis heute jedoch nicht kann, ist die Unterstützung der Menschen beim Einkaufen.
Das Schreiben von Einkaufslisten und der ständige Überblick was im Kühlschrank oder Speiseschrank ver-blieben ist und welche Produkte bereits konsumiert wurden, fällt vielen schwer oder ist einfach nur lästig. Beim Einkaufen werden benötigte Produkte vergessen und jene Produkte, die nicht benötigt werden, werden einge-kauft. Das Führen von Einkaufslisten ist nervenzerreißend, da die Listen bis zum Einkauf gefüllt sind, jedoch beim Einkaufen entweder Zuhause oder im Auto vergessen werden. Dabei würde eine automatische Listenführung das Leben von vielen Menschen erleichtern. Die Einkaufsliste muss nicht mehr geführt werden. Sie aktualisiert sich selbst, wenn ein Produkt nicht mehr vorhanden ist und wird von dem Einkäufer aktualisiert, wenn das fehlende Produkt eingekauft worden ist.
Die vorliegende Thesis behandelt die Thematik „Java Programmierung im Bereich Internet of Things - Ver-wendung eines Raspberry Pi zur Erstellung von digitalen Einkaufslisten - Kann mit Hilfe eines Raspberry Pi das Einkaufen revolutioniert werden?“. Dabei wird in Kombination eines Raspberry Pi und einem Barcode-Scanner ein System entwickelt, das digitale Einkaufslisten erstellt und die Pflege der Produkte über das Internet ermög-licht.
Das Ziel dieser Bachelorthesis ist es, ein System zu entwickeln, das den Benutzer beim Einkaufen unter-stützt und das Kaufen von falschen oder unnötigen Produkten vermeidet. Dabei wird aus der Kombination eines Raspberry Pi und einem Barcode-Scanner eine Produktverwaltungskomponente erstellt, die die verbrauchten Produkte einscannt und dabei automatisch eine Einkaufsliste erstellt, die die benötigten Produkte beinhaltet.
The major objective of this thesis is to analyse the given investment incentives for renewable energies, especially for photovoltaics, in Germany and to make recommendations for potential investors who are willing to invest. For this reason the author decided to check the incentives for profitability.
In the first part, the origins of and present strategies for structural changes in the energy sector are explained. The fact is that global warming mainly is man-made. Green house gas emissions should be reduced by focusing on the expansion of renewable energies. The paper then identifies the provided investment incentives and further highlights the
advantageousness of each incentive. In a detailed central section the thesis examines six model calculations. The applied method to carry out a valuation of the investment is the net present value method. Payments-in and payments-out of the potential investment are compared and discounted to determine the net present value. The results of the calculations demonstrate that selling the generated electric power completely is uneconomically due to the declining feed-in compensation. The associated investment incentives were unable to improve the result. By contrast, private consumption of the generated electric energy is gaining in importance. Energy storage devices are installed and promoted correspondingly. Consequently, the provided investment incentives are profitable and favorable. On the basis of the results of these calculations, it can be concluded that the expansion of renewable energies is an ongoing process characterized by changes in the structure of provided investment incentives. These data support the view that in the future there is going to be a strong tendency to store the electric energy generated by renewable energies.
The importance of internationalization to achieve a competitive advantage in the business world has increased greatly in recent years. Especially in the fashion industry, where competition has increased tremendously and globalization plays a more important role, it is essential to find new ways in order to be unique. To succeed in internationalization in the fashion industry, companies must have a basic knowledge of their markets and follow clear strategies. The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question why fashion companies nowadays need to create a competitive advantage and expand their market internationally. In addition, it will also address the challenges that an American brand can face in the European fashion industry. The company chosen for this research is Shoshanna LLC, a contemporary American women’s wear brand based in New York City.
With regard to methodology, a multi-‐purpose approach has been conducted. The conclusions have been reached with theoretical knowledge, personal experience, a survey and interviews with experts in this industry. The conclusions of this thesis will give Shoshanna LLC a better understanding of internationalization processes in the fashion industry and the strategies required. It will also answer the question of how the chosen strategies can be a guideline for the company.
The ongoing globalization process facilitates the internationalization of operations, and therefore, intensifies the competition in almost every industry. Innovation is a key factor for companies to defy the competition of multinational organizations in highly competitive markets, especially considering that multinational ones are able to benefit from economies of scale due to their total market size. Technological progress is a significant driver for innovation and a result of intense research and development. In a country with comparatively high wages like Germany, research and development is an expensive issue for domestic companies, above all for the small and medium-sized ones. Considering also higher technological standards in some other countries, German companies have to search for opportunities to carry out research and development activities abroad in order to stay competitive. Especially China and India, which are mainly known as popular target countries for carrying out production due to low labor costs, became important locations for technology development activities. If companies plan to relocate their research and development activities in those countries, they have to choose an appropriate entry mode. Therefore, companies should take into consideration the desired level of control over operations, institutional restrictions and the availability of monetary resources. In addition to the difficulty in measuring precisely the impact of innovations on a company’s success, particularly in the long run, attractive location factors are volatile and can change due to new trade and tariff agreements, political tensions between countries or economical changes, complicating future predictions. Furthermore, the relocation represents a major challenge to the organizational structure as the degree of decision-making authority given to the subsidy determines whether operations abroad will lead to success and ensure the backflow of knowhow. Thus, innovation management’s tasks consist of adjusting processes and structures in order to promote the dispersion of this critical information within the entire organization.
Generation X and Y are going to dominate the workplace. With these generations the trend to better education especially for females is evident. Longer education and equal job opportunities of male and female is one reason for increasing assortative mating. This on the other hand leads to an increasing number of Dual Career Couples, meaning relationships where both partners aim to realize an own professional career. Dual Career Couples are challenged, when the company requires them to be mobile and one of them is offered an international assignment. While companies offer attractive mobility and partner support for the old classical family model with a bread-winner and an accompanying spouse, the new couples expect that also the partner has an attractive job opportunity at the new host location. Most organizations are not yet prepared to deal with those expectations adequately, in-house competence and infrastructure have to be developed. Universities discovered Dual Career Couples as attractive target group and have established a supporting infrastructure. Networks seem to be the most promising solution so far wherefore they will to be further expanded and supported.
Due to the increasing internationalisation and globalisation of competition, companies become more and more international. The commercialisation of products and services in different countries means, that companies are often confronted with cultural differences. By reason of these cultural differences it can happen, that the advertising remains inefficient, because the target group can’t understand the message. The most failures in international marketing happen because of the neglect of cultural differences. Therefore every international company should carefully think about a differentiation or standardisation of their products and advertising in other countries. The aim of this work is to identify the cultural differences in communication and advertising and therefore show the difficulties which can be connected with international products and advertisement. Furthermore this work should demonstrate how culture can affect advertisement and explore if there is a potential for standardisation in international marketing. The focus of this work is on cultural diversity and the impact on international marketing. To find out more about the perception of international advertisement an online questionnaire was created. Therefore it was possible to gain important information. This questionnaire and the literature research lead to the conclusion of this work. The questionnaires as well as the literature research are showing that it is very difficult to achieve a total standardisation in international marketing. Although people are using worldwide almost identical products, the cultural differences are still too great for a global market. Advertisement which is created for a specific market seems more often reliable and comprehensible. However for some parts of the marketingmix a standardisation is definitely possible. Therefore the best strategy for companies is to use a mix between differentiation and standardisation. Cultural differences will still remain in the future. The consideration of cultural differences in the future will therefore lead to a competitive advantage. Companies should pay attention to culture diversity, although it can lead to higher costs, to achieve the best results in international markets.
Die vorliegende wissenschaftliche Arbeit entstand im Rahmen einer Kooperation mit der Infoman AG, einem Beratungs- und IT-Lösungshaus im Bereich CRM. Angesichts kontinuierlicher Veränderungsprozesse und Innovationen im Bereich der Informationstechnologie, welche auch, verstärkt durch die enorme Geschwindigkeit des Marktes, eine hohe Komplexität der Branche nach sich ziehen, kommt der zu analysierenden Thematik eine hohe Aktualität zu. Die Ermittlung von Rahmenbedingungen und die Ableitung sich daraus ergebender Handlungsempfehlungen zur erfolgreichen Integration von Junioren (Hochschulabsolventen) in wissensintensive IT-Strukturen, stellt das primäre Ziel dieser Arbeit dar. Langfristig soll der Einarbeitungsprozess von Junioren bei der Infoman AG optimiert werden, damit Hochschulabsolventen in Zukunft eine Alternative zu erfahrenen Wissensarbeitern darstellen können, welche in der aktuellen Situation nur schwer am Arbeitsmarkt zu finden sind. Mithilfe qualitativer Leitfaden-Interviews mit den Führungskräften der Infoman AG, konnten wichtige Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich bisheriger Vorgehensweisen, Problemen und Verbesserungspotenzialen im Einarbeitungsprozess von Junioren gewonnen werden. Handlungsbedarf wurde v.a. in der Anpassung der Rahmenbedingungen durch das Unternehmen erkannt. Bei zukünftigen Modifizierungen des Einarbeitungskonzepts von Junioren sollten daher v.a. Einarbeitungsinstrumente und das Zielerreichungs-Modell (aufeinander) abgestimmt und angepasst sowie das Vorhandensein eines für den Junior passenden Projektes gewährleistet werden.
Due to continuous changes in consumer needs, new product development (NPD) and innovation are some of a company’s key factors of success and competitiveness. In order to be successful, companies have to understand consumer needs and ‘translate them into new products’1. If changing consumer perceptions and their requirements are not respected by a firm, a product’s sales will decrease as people no longer feel satisfied with the old product and require new functions. Therefore, a major task in business is being close to the customer. In order to collect ideas about product perceptions, institutions and departments within a company staying in direct contact with consumers can be essential. One department that represents a customer-oriented sector is sales, as their day-to-day business includes communication with customers.
However, failure rates of new product launches are still very high. According to a study of Serviceplan and Gfk where 265 newly launched products were analyzed, 70% of these failed and were no longer bought after only one year.2 A firm’s difficulties in generating ideas in the early stages of NPD have been ‘identified as major cause of notoriously high failure rates of new products’3. One possible reason is that information received by the sales department is not communicated clearly enough to Research & Development (R&D), which is in charge of developing new products. For this reason consumer needs are often not adequately integrated into the process of new product development and relevant information concerning their requirements can get lost.
The question as to how the customer-oriented sales department can be better involved into the process of new product development in order to ensure the success of new product introductions will be discussed in the following.
The main objective of this thesis is to investigate and analyze the professional journey of thirteen foreign doctors and the opinion of a German doctor, to explore how their integration process has been into the German labor market, taking into account their personal experiences; especially what they thought was helpful and the obstacles that they encountered during their journey, and to make recommendations for hospitals to help them address the integration of foreign doctors, something that should be done as soon as possible, due to the rising amount of foreign physicians coming to Germany to cover the many open positions that can no longer be filled by the local population.
The thesis is divided in four large sections; the first serves as a basis to understand the problem of the shortage of physicians in Germany; the second one is a literature review taking into account the migration of health professionals, cultural standards, intercultural competence and communication, the different acculturation strategies that immigrants use, inpatriation and integration, and last the management of diversity in healthcare; the third one has to do with the methodology that was used; and the last two parts encompass the findings and recommendations.
In conclusion, it can be said that recruiting foreign physicians is a very good way of approaching the actual shortage of physicians that exists in Germany. However, it is imperative that health care organizations, are aware that the integration process of foreign doctors and the adaptation of the whole organization to this new working environment is of extreme importance to provide the quality care that is expected at any health care institution, and it is imperative that hospitals recognize the need to include diversity management and a Willkommenskultur as vital pillars for the organization.