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- IBM - International Business Management (38) (remove)
New product development is essential for a company to grow and sustain itself. Usability testing is a crucial part of the new product development process, and it helps reduce product uncertainty and market failure. There are many methods available and they vary depending on the product development phase. This thesis focuses on methods used in the deployment phase, which is the final stage before mass production. The methods used differ subjecting to different customers.
A number of studies have suggested that marketing and sales should vary when the nature of customer differs. However, only a few studies focus on how the nature of customer influences new product testing. This research compares the involvement of B2B and B2C customers during the product innovation testing phase.
The comparison has been subcategorised into four smaller hypotheses. First, the methodologies used, such as virtual prototype testing, field testing, lab usability testing, and more, are discussed whether companies use them differently according to customers' nature. Second, the process of identifying and recruiting testers is examined. Third, testers' qualification is analysed, whether participants are ordinary users or professionals or companies prefer a mixture of both. Last, the sample size, which is simply the amount of testers who participated in the usability test.
The food delivery industry is growing rapidly. As the biggest delivery platform in the western world, Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) must adapt its processes according to its growth. This growth is especially reflected in need for delivery drivers. To adapt to this increasing need, JETs current recruitment marketing affiliate campaign is examined by reviewing the literature, such as books, magazines, journals, and business reviews. Best practices and processes within JET are explained in depth to draw a picture of the current campaign status. Through this research, hypotheses on campaigns issues are drawn. Through a qualitative publisher survey, these hypotheses are either accepted or rejected. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the program. Finally, conversion strategies are used to discuss where JET can improve by highlighting potential plans for the optimization of recruitment marketing affiliate campaigns.
This research paper aims to provide an overview of companies listed in the German DAX, MDAX and SDAX indices that have been involved in prosecution procedures directly contradicting their Corporate Social Responsibility strategies and how they present themselves as a Corporate Citizen. The terms Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Social Responsibility will be further defined and the reasons companies implement them elaborated. The results will be structured according to the stock index they belong to and whether they had any active prosecution procedures by government organizations against them during the last ten years that would go against their Corporate Citizenship strategy. The end result will be judged in terms of how a company can propagate certain values while being investigated for actions that directly contradict them and whether it could be considered hypocritical for companies to be involved in them while claiming to be a “good” Corporate Citizen.
An Analysis of Group Context Effects on Perceptions of Characteristics Relevant to Mate Choice
(2021)
Research on the perception of faces proposes a significant influence of social context on trait judgements. For instance, the “cheerleader effect” suggests an increase in the attractiveness of an individual based on the presence of additional faces. Further extensions to other trait characteristics have resulted inter alia in the awareness of the “banker effect”, which indicates that individuals in a group setting as opposed to in isolation are perceived to earn a higher salary. In light of recent findings in evolutionary psychology respective mate preferences, it is of interest to investigate potential nodes to social context effects. In addition to the replication of the cheerleader and banker effect, our study aimed to examine the effects of group context for characteristics relevant to mate choice. Besides the significance for attractiveness and salary, we were able to observe statistical significance for health and intelligence on both a subject and stimulus basis in a within-subjects design. However, we were not able to find significant differences in the isolated and group ratings for vanity, emotional stability, pleasing disposition, and unreliability. Furthermore, the evolutionary significance and the results of our study prompted us to address commonalities between the effects of social context on cognition and the social brain hypothesis and to reflect on possible underlying mechanisms and consequences.
Agriculture in Tanzania is not only the biggest employer, but also it is the highest contributor of the GDP. Apart from being an important sector in the country, it is characterized by small scale subsistence farming which is not mainly profitable. In order to transform the agriculture from traditional to commercial, young people, who make 35% of the entire population, are the main driver however they are facing many challenges. Having that in mind, Tanzanian government has enacted several policies whose main aim is to make it easy for young people to engage in agriculture.
In this bachelor thesis, the agricultural policies which have been enacted by the government to attract young people will be discussed and it will be analyzed if they have brought the impacts desired by the government. In order to do that, a survey was conducted in a district called Bukombe in Tanzania and in one agricultural university which is found in Eastern Tanzania.
The results of the above mentioned studies show that majority of youth policies which have been enacted in Tanzania do not involve youth from the beginning of the preparation. Also, there the general studies found that not many young people are aware of the policies which have been enacted to protect them or make their farming activities easier.
The limitation for this study is that the study sample which is used is from only one district and one university so it may be difficult to compare that the results represent the whole country. Also another limitation is that there are still not many studies which have been conducted in Tanzania for this matter so it is difficult to find the up to date resources. This leads to the resources used to be a bit older and in most of the time to depend on only resources from the websites of government institutions.
An Empirical Investigation of the Effect of Packaging Design on Consumers' Willingness to Pay
(2021)
This study sheds light on the extent to which high-quality aesthetic packaging can positively influence consumer choice and raise willingness to pay at the point of sale. In two separate parts, we measure purchasing decisions and willingness to pay by contrasting high- and low-quality packaging of a pullover and a vodka bottle.
Findings show that, compared to cheap and standardized designs, visually appealing packages can significantly raise willingness to pay for a product. Besides, packaging design is crucial when consumers buy the product as a gift rather than for self-consumption. This research provides evidence that beautifully designed packages can positively influence consumer choice at the point of purchase. However, packaging can only influence purchase decisions within a specific price range. If prices are too high and above the individual’s accepted price limit, packaging cannot convince consumers to buy the product. Further, our investigation shows that consumers’ age, gender, educational level, and occupational status can be related to their package choices. The late adulthood, men, and individuals with higher education and professional status are likely to spend more on attractively packaged products than other demographic groups.
The impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has driven companies towards an ongoing digital transformation. This creates a considerable market push and pull from consumers for innovative technologies given the benefits they convey. In the corporate world this translates to the objectives of companies for gaining competitive advantages, created by the integration of new digital solutions, for the creation of value.
The advantages of a continuous integration of technologies within all areas of an organizations conveys the need for more adaptive resources. A major player in charge of leading said transformation for the obtention of unprecedented benefits is the Information Technology Department (IT). Therefore, the ongoing accelerated demand for digital solutions requires an accelerated delivery as well from the IT.
The limited resources, particularly from employees capable of continuously developing digital solutions, represents an unsustainable approach given the gap between growing demand and supply for new technological advancements.
Employees within the organizational context of MHP Management- und IT Beratung GmbH, who are addressed in this thesis as the customers of the MHP-IT, are presented with an alternative approach to fulfil the current demand for digital solutions through their integration in the process; this would empower them to contribute in the companies digital transformation journey. The proposed way of doing so is through the introduction of the Power Platform tools in corporate MHP.
The objective of this thesis focuses on the fundamental change that the incorporation of the Power Platform conveys on individuals within their work environment. This is aimed at the identification of possible approaches that can foment organizational acceptance, for the abovementioned platform, as an alternative way of creating value. This is achieved through the evaluation of individual values for their successful incorporation as citizen developers empowered to create.
The Organizational Cultural Assessment Instrument has been chosen as a methodology for answering the research objectives of identifying the current values that employees have in their work environment, as well as to bring forward tailored recommendations as adequate measures to drive the incorporation of the Power Platform. Complementing this is the identification of predispositions from potential users via qualitative and quantitative methods.
Given the benefits that the Power Platform creates in different operational fields, results indicate a premature acceptance for the introduction of the same as a suitable alternative for creating digital solutions. Furthermore, the conducted organizational environment study, also referred to as culture, highlights the dominant values present among the workers of MHP. This delineates a tailored approach of different measures that can be taken for introducing the Power Platform, as a digital transformation tool, and empowerment of citizen developers.
Emphasise is given to the identified inclinations from employees, as these constitutes the prioritization of procedures according to their values, through which the implementation of change can be coped with and the acceptance of the Power Platform tools increased.
In 2020 a pandemic caused the universities in Germany to close their doors for their
students. For the Hochschule Furtwangen University, it was the first time that online
classes were introduced on a large-scale. The objective of this thesis paper is to
investigate how international students at HFU Business School cope with having online
classes due to COVID-19 and to derive based on those findings a recommended course
of action.
The researcher conducted 32 semi-structured in-depth interviews with international
students, local students, professors, and university employees to examine the status quo.
A thorough literature review on studying and working from home formed the interview
questions' foundation. The interview covered several aspects of students' life, such as
studying, language development, or social factors.
Based on the findings, a recommended course of action was derived. Those 14
recommendations include practical suggestions covering different facets for the
university to implement to improve international students' ability to cope with the
restrictions caused by the pandemic and the resulting online classes successfully.
Prior research agrees that consumer choice is heavily influenced by the choice context.
According to the compromise effect, the middle alternative in attribute space is preferred over more extreme options. However, the role of the spatial order of alternatives seems to be neglected by most compromise effect studies. Usually, alternatives are ordered by attributes, meaning that the compromise option is placed in the spatial middle of the choice set, despite the fact that research indicates a consumer preference for the spatial middle of a choice set. To investigate this issue, we hypothesized that an alternative would be chosen more frequently when positioned in the spatial middle of a choice set versus at the edge of a choice set. We assumed that this effect would be stronger when consumers are unfamiliar with a product category. Therefore, we expected to observe a negative correlation between decision-makers’ familiarity with a product category and their tendency to choose an alternative more frequently when positioned in the spatial middle of a choice. To find out, we conducted an online survey targeting 907 university students. The results support our hypothesis and the notion that the compromise effect might be partly driven by a preference for the spatial middle position of a choice set rather than only by a preference for the compromise option.
The project business in the packaging machine industry is highly volatile. Although the industry is steadily growing, firms face increasing financial constraints due to external, difficult to control, factors. This thesis examines the underlying concepts and processes of a Supply Chain Finance implementation, using the Syntegon Group as an empirical example. Due to the extended payment terms of customers and the currently undergoing refinancing measures, the analysis about potential liquidity increasing measures becomes extremely relevant for Syntegon. The research questions covered focus on cash liquidity increases, working capital improvement and alternatives to Supply Chain Finance solutions.
This research aims to provide an informed recommendation about the implementation of Supply Chain Finance. The research is divided into two major parts. The first part discusses the underlying theoretical frameworks to understand the concept of working capital and supply chain management. These concepts are of great importance for the understanding of Supply Chain Finance and its relevance in today’s globalized world. The second part focuses on a detailed empirical analysis of the Syntegon Group. Hereby, the qualitative research involves expert interviews with various departments of the Syntegon Group. The answers of the interviewees are evaluated based on the different categories. This allows for a direct comparison of the interviewee’s answers.
The quantitative analysis consists of the key figure analyses. These allow an informed statement about the current financial situation of the group. By calculating potential payment term extensions and the consequential cash flow opportunities, an estimation about the benefit of the implementation of Supply Chain Finance can be made. Lastly, the cost-benefit analysis of implementing such a solution versus receiving the money as a bank loan is determined.
The results of the calculation and analyses have shown that payment term extensions offer large cash flow opportunities for the Syntegon Group. Receiving a bank loan in the same amount as the unlocked working capital would result in a lower benefit.
Although further research beyond this thesis is needed, the clear benefits of implementing a Supply Chain Finance solution to increase liquidity are demonstrated.
Over many decades, greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity have been increasing and negatively impacting the environment and promoting climate change. One sector that contributes heavily to these emissions is the food industry.
With the aim of reducing these environmental impacts, climate labeling has been introduced as one possible approach to target emissions related to consumer purchasing behavior. This thesis investigates consumer responses to the possible introduction of climate labeling of food products. Moreover, necessary criteria for such an implementation and the potential consequences in terms of increasing sustainability in the food industry are evaluated.
Findings indicate that a label can be effective and change consumer behavior if food labels meet specific label criteria such as an attractive design and little but comprehensible information. Moreover, other factors such as pricing of products can influence the success of food labels.
Regarding the overall food industry, a label could have positive effects but is dependent on changes on both consumer and producer sides following the label introduction. However, it is difficult to exactly evaluate the impact of a label on an entire industry, as green-house gas reductions caused by a label would be hard to measure specifically. Due to the lack of data, it is impossible to predict the actual impact of a climate label on the food industry, but it is possible to assume a positive tendency towards more sustainability.
This thesis deals with the CO2 footprint of the Porsche Taycan. Porsche aims to become a carbon neutral company by 2030 and is therefore looking for potentials of improvement. This thesis intends to find solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of the Porsche Taycan over its entire life cycle.
First, the thesis deals with the theoretical framework of conducting a Life Cycle Assessment based on the DIN EN ISO 14040 and DIN EN ISO 14044 standards. Then, the Porsche Taycan and its battery system are introduced.
A CO2 hotspot analysis is carried out for the entire life cycle of the battery of the Porsche Taycan Turbo S and thus potential for improvement is identified. The main CO2 hotspots are… [DELTED FOR CONFIDENTIALITY REASONS].
Furthermore, an Excel tool is built to model the entire life cycle of the Taycan. This tool is used to carry out a sensitivity analysis for selected parameters. The analysis shows how sensitive the carbon footprint reacts to changes and thus helps making decisions upon where improvements can be made.
Based on the two analyses it is, among other things, recommended that Porsche… [DELTED FOR CONFIDENTIALITY REASONS].
Customer Relationship Management has focused on numerous data privacy practices in the current information and big data era. The present study focuses exclusively on the declaration of consent (DoC) in the context of the automotive industry, particularly in the sector of premium car manufacturing. A DoC is an individual's authorization to an organization for data processing; within the context of this study, a DoC is referred to as the authorization of an individual for processing its personal data in order to receive personalized marketing communications. Not much is known about the factors that influence individuals to grant such permission. Relevant literature on consumer behavior, permissions marketing, and psychology is reviewed from a marketing perspective to develop a framework based on the privacy calculus, which distinguishes individuals' costs and benefits based on assessing selected cost and benefit drivers. The influence of perceived benefits, incentives, both monetary and non-monetary, consumer control, trust, information protection, and transparency is identified as benefit-associated factors, whereas the influence of opportunity costs entitled to the providing the consent, privacy concerns, intrusiveness, and the quantity of the information supplied by the organizations during the consent collection is identified as costs-associated factors. In accordance with the literature, several hypotheses were formulated to estimate the consumers' intention to consent. This study supports Mercedes-Benz AG to improve its consent capturing management and related processes.
This thesis is written based on secondary research to understand the main determinants of purchase intention of Generation Y women towards Fast Fashion products and how important is sustainability among those determinants. There are many different studies dedicated to Generation X and Z, however, when it comes to Generation Y there are not many sources available. I decided to put them together in this study.
This thesis consists of secondary researches, mostly journal articles and case studies from different countries, with detailed specific information.
The gathered information is categorized into 3 small hypotheses, which include theoretical and practical approaches.
More research can be made conducting primary research in different countries using physical stores and online stores.
Recent years have shown a shift in consumer demand in favor of environmentally and consumer-friendly products. These dynamics can be observed in the market through the rapid growth of the natural cosmetics segment. To highlight the ecological products, producers increasingly use ecolabels. The objective is to facilitate vertical product differentiation and to attract the environmentally aware consumer. This research aims at analyzing whether the natural cosmetics user is aware of the implications of the different ecolabels and whether the knowledge depends on demographical factors. The overall result indicates that the consumer possesses a superficial knowledge about ecolabels, which is not correlated to the purchasing behavior or demographic factors. The profusion of ecolabels hinders consumers from taking advantage of the information provided by the ecolabels. In the future, efforts should be made to improve the knowledge of the consumer, which will boost purchasing behavior.
This thesis aims to investigate the presence of herding behaviour in the German DAX40 market during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Herding behaviour is a phenomenon in behavioural finance where investors ignore their own information and base their decisions on fellow market participants. This behaviour most often presents during times of high market volatility. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a critical effect on the German financial markets, making it an appropriate time period to detect herding behaviour among investors of the DAX40.To begin this investigation, a literature review is used to build a good understanding of the causes and effects of herding behaviour. The literature review also presents some of the most influential models which aim to explain herding behaviour in financial markets. This is followed by using the methodology of the Cross-sectional standard deviation (CSSD) and the cross-sectional absolute deviation (CSAD), two empirical models to detect herding in financial markets. For the investigation, daily stock data of the DAX40 performance index and the DAX40 companies was collected for two years surrounding the pandemic's beginning in March 2020. No significant evidence of herding was detected in the DAX40 market during the sampling period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In light of the rising commoditization of products, manufacturers worldwide are adopting the strategy of offering value-added services to remain competitive. With the emergence of the new single-use technology, it is becoming increasingly difficult for traditional endoscope manufacturers to create competitive advantage by enhancing the product quality.
The aim of this paper is to investigate how value-added services can effectively differentiate the company KARL STORZ in the single-use endoscope market. In this
regard, insights into the decision-making process of customers in the medical technology industry are provided.
Qualitative exploratory research in form of in-depth expert interviews with KARL STORZ sales & marketing managers and physicians were conducted to gather new ideas and perspectives about the research topics.
The number of companies around the globe that are utilizing budgets to cut their costs is rising, especially in times of crisis. However, there seems to be an abundance of budgeting methods. Two of the most well-known methods are Traditional Incremental Budgeting and Zero-Based Budgeting. These two methods will be compared in this research paper on ‘How does Zero-Based Budgeting affect a company’s performance as compared to Traditional Incremental Budgeting?’. In order to give a satisfactory answer to this question annual reports and figures of Mondelez International, Inc. were utilized as the snack and food company has used both budgeting methods in the past.
The research showed that there is a measurable effect on which budgeting method is used by a company. However, the favourable option for one specific company depends on a variety of reasons.
Many entrepreneurs are still conducting business today according to the principle "the purpose of business is business". The focus here is primarily placed on the corporation’s profits while human relations within the enterprise are almost completely ignored. Humanity and business are, after all, seen as two mutually exclusive concepts. However, results of studies undertaken by well-known research institutes, such as Gallup, indicate this management style to be inefficient for businesses in the long run as the resulting low emotional bond of employees with their companies generates high costs for organizations.
For this reason, the present paper examines the extent to which humanity and business are really two mutually exclusive ideas and provides an answer to the research question of whether taking a human approach in a business is a crucial factor for its success. In addition, the possible effects resulting through the integration of humanity in business are analyzed.
To provide an answer to the research question, the currently most recent working challenges in organizations as well as their corresponding demands were first worked out. Subsequently, the human being - with a specific focus on human emotions and emotional needs – was closer examined due to its significance in the company. Finally, the possible effects achieved by taking a human approach in a business were presented on the basis of two already human-oriented corporations. All researches were predominantly based on primary sources as well as on the results of a self-conducted qualitative interview.
The results of all investigations clearly suggest that taking a human approach in an organization is a decisive factor for its success. In addition, it was established that human interactions even help enterprises in achieving astonishingly quick and long-lasting financial successes.
It is therefore plain that it is necessary for companies pursuing the goal to be successful in the long-term to break free from the common principle of "the purpose of business is business" and instead be more open to new forms of management, such as "Humanity and Business".
Identifying the Core Competencies of European Low-Cost Airlines – An Exemplary Analysis of Ryanair
(2021)
This paper analyses the European industry for short- and medium-haul flights and determines the core competencies of the largest operating low-cost carrier, Ryanair. It further raises the question of whether the successful low-cost business model can be applied to long-haul sectors. The industry analysis utilises Porter’s five forces model and evaluates the factors of change along the PESTLE dimensions. Additionally, a thorough analysis of Ryanair is conducted, including a SWOT analysis and an identification of the airline’s core competencies. Finally, the viability of low-cost long-haul operations is discussed by assessing key low- cost carrier success factors' transferability. The results indicate that the European airline industry is fiercely competitive and largely unattractive to operate in. Ryanair’s core competencies, which are identified within the areas of operations, procurement and management, enable the airline to, nonetheless, operate profitably. This paper also finds that low-cost long-haul routes can be successful when learnings from previous mistakes are made. As the impact of the global pandemic will continue to disrupt long-haul flight operations, it is likely to take until the recovery of travel demand and the delivery of narrow-body long-range aircraft until a successful low-cost long-haul airline erupts. Given the less severe impact on short- to medium-haul flights in Europe, the large and financially strong low-cost carriers may benefit and find themselves in a stronger position relative to full-service airlines upon recovery of travel demand.