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The present thesis performs an actuarial work that intends to understand the premiums, expenses, and claims, including the reserves considered the most important technical variables in an insurance company. The company is located in Colombia and the work will be performed in 2 branches: Compliance and Liability.
The objective of the thesis has been set as to define and measure a claim ratio after remarking a lack of an indicator that describes the 3 most important technical variables altogether in the company. It has also defined to assess the current methodology that calculates the reserves for the claims occurred but currently unknown by the insurance company under the premise that there is a very low level of observed claims in the history of the company in both branches.
All the methodologies defined, assessed, and performed in this thesis have been compared to other methodologies implemented in journals, research papers and articles to align the conclusions and take the best practices from actuarial works previously done. They all also considered to keep homogeneous results that was considered as a very important achievement even by other sources.
A new methodology has been defined to calculate expenses related to administration, the ones used in the reserves and the ones related to claims. The new expenses level was used in 2021 and an impact of a tremendous increase in premiums was observed the same year as a reaction of the decrease in policy prices.
The conclusions derived from the work was to continue with the current methodology to calculate the incurred but not reported claims reserve according to the instability seen in the Chain-Ladder methodology until more homogeneous result could be seen that yield to a higher level of credibility.
Finally, among many possible claim ratios defined, a paid claim ratio has been considered. It includes the whole variables inside the premiums of the company and the most important variables inside the claims that were the claims paid and the proportional and non-proportional reinsurance effect.
In the 21 century, global companies are spreading all over the world for the sake of chasing profits. Driving by the desire of new market & profitability, they struggle in the business world by competition, merge, innovation and utilize all the resources that available. Among them, hidden champions are winners in this period. However, it also needs to be asked for the hidden champions, will they been succeed in a totally different market? The answers came with new market in China, which will verify their belief. Coming into China, into different markets, is an inevitable step for most hidden champions, for development and defend themselves as champions.
This thesis mainly gives the hidden champions that working on Chinese market or going to this market a brief intro about the local situations, competition existed, entry & marketing strategy, and hidden champion real cases. In the following chapters, you could found: The definitions & characteristics of hidden champions, learning that what build the family business into the most successful business in niche industries;
The Chinese business historical moments, what makes the Chinese business culture today, and today’s business situations in China.
The entry strategies for foreign companies getting into China, discussing the different forms from licensing business to the wholly-owned subsidiary and their pros & cons.
The marketing strategies typically for hidden champion companies in China, applying the classic marketing management theories & localization situations in China.
Real hidden champion company case in hidden champion cluster in China, the current situation and value chain analysis.
New trend marketing risks & chances in China for 21 century, digitalization & cyber – physical system development.
As a leading medical technology company, KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG continuously wants to bring innovations and applications into the market and expand its existing product portfolio. As strategic initiatives, the company has set priorities and goals to ensure its sustained success. One of those strategic initiatives is to start developing new products in the field of robotic surgery and compete in this segment. To achieve these ambitions, the company decided to spin off its robotic solutions department and establish a new business called KARL STORZ VentureONE Pte. Ltd. With a smaller and more agile structure, the new venture seeks to implement new ways of working and promote innovation.
This new-born company is playing in a fast-growing market that one single competitor has traditionally dominated. However, robotic surgery still has much potential, and existing suppliers have not yet reached different market segments. One segment that has called the attention of the spin-off is the ambulatory surgery centers in the US.
These surgical institutions are growing and gaining relevance in the American surgery landscape. Hence, the company is particularly interested in developing a robotic solution for this segment. Before introducing a product, the company must understand the target customer intended to address. Management at the new venture is also convinced that new business models can be successfully implemented in this segment. Thus, this academic work aims to evaluate the ambulatory surgery center market in the US and propose a suitable business model for this target customer.
For this purpose, this thesis was divided into two main parts. The first aimed to conduct market research on the ambulatory surgery centers in the US by collecting secondary data from articles, reports, and governmental publications. The second part focused on proposing a business model for the ambulatory surgery center segment. To do so, primary data was obtained by interviewing experts in this market.
The research found that the ambulatory surgery centers segment is a growing market where robotic surgery has not yet been fully implemented due to its high cost and reduced reimbursement rates for outpatient procedures. Another barrier to robotic surgery in surgery centers is the high upfront investment needed to buy the technology. Based on these insights, different business models, such as leasing, renting, pay-per-use, and subscription, were assessed. A subscription model was selected and further developed by presenting the most advantages. Using the “Business Model Navigator” methodology, this work defined and documented the target customer, the value proposition, the value chain, and the profit mechanism.
International higher education has growing precedence in a global society where the world’s most pressing challenges are increasingly interlinked across borders. Thus, strategic initiatives are necessary to further open the industry in order to achieve its purpose of integrating an international,intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, function, and delivery of education programs. The purpose of this project is therefore to apply the tools and frameworks of Blue Ocean Strategy to the international higher education industry to determine how and in what directions the industry can improve its value proposition to customers and further expand the market. The macro environmental factors surrounding the international higher education industry indicate that it has high potential for continued growth. Political evidences of this include the governments of importing countries instigating programs to send students abroad. Exporting countries with political environment in support of a unified national strategy are at an advantage to capitalize on these opportunities. Economic trends indicate that the global education market is expanding, and that there is increasing demand combined with financial capability for importers as their economies continue to develop and emphasize further investment in socio economic growth through education. Furthermore, the economics of education in the United States indicate a growing imperative to increase foreign enrollment as education costs spiral and financial support from the government declines. Technological innovations are also helping to open up cross-border educational opportunities. The social platforms of Web 2.0 are allowing greater collaboration with open source information, effectively flattening the playing field and opening international higher education to the masses. Despite these opportunities, a micro environmental analysis indicates the industry is currently trapped in a quagmire of hypercompetition. Industry rivalry is high and concentrated, and the United States is overall losing market share to other exporting countries. Individual institutions face high threats from new entrants as the majority of incumbents are not reaching their export potential and have few barriers to entering the market more fully. However, as start-up enterprises face high barriers, to market entry, innovation will likely come from the incumbents within the industry. As competition intensifies in the face of a growing education bubble, the United States higher education industry is poised for disruption. A new educational model that starts at the bottom of the pyramid and moves upmarket can decidedly disrupt the status quo in order to create an improved, efficient global educational system; one that will help the industry break out of the state of hypercompetition and elevate it to fulfill the values and needs of society. Blue Ocean Strategy provides the solution to this problem as it analyses an industry not by looking at its current state in comparison with its competitors, but rather what the industry can become by looking beyond the competition to unknown market space. Successful implementation of Blue Ocean Strategy can bring the high financial impact needed to save the higher education industry from collapse. Frameworks guiding value innovation can simultaneously pursue low costs while increasing value for a large volume of customers. The strategy canvas and four actions framework of Blue Ocean Strategy provide effective analytical tools that help to clarify the process of strategy development, and empower visionary educational leaders to focus one what factors need to be eliminated, reduced, raised, and created in order to achieve a leap in value for buyers within and beyond the boundaries of the higher education export market.
Improving conditions for economic growth in Colombia, Investment opportunity in Infrastructure
(2015)
The purpose of this thesis is to get a clear understanding of the situation of transport infrastructure of Colombia. Examine the reasons and the current situation of the country´s background that explains the delay in infrastructure development and the poor quality of the transport networks, being able to find objective arguments to suggest certain type of investment for the coming years that will help to improve the conditions for economic growth. The research goes deep in to the evolution of the country and the role of transport infrastructure in Colombia, highlighting the most important facts and types, to get an overall understanding of the actual situation. The objective is to identify which is the line of investment that will best fit the country´s development in the time where globalization and free trade agreements take active part of Colombia´s growth in the last years, however threatening the industries pushing them to a more efficient and productive environment. On the basis of the results of this research, it can be concluded that Colombia needs heavy investments in the future years to try closing the breach left behind decades of inefficient policies and strategies. The involvement of the private sector in transport infrastructure projects is necessary to fund the type of investments that the country needs. Furthermore, there has to be continuity in the actual concession programs for the road network plus a big investment to bring back the railroad network into an efficient long lengths transport for both passengers and products.
Digital Transformation is gradually changing the ways of operating the business. With the advancements and innovations in technology and changing customer preferences, it is essential to adapt to these changes. Digital transformation has the capability to impact nearly every line of business but one of the most significant impact is on Customer Experience. Embracing new technology and processes provides opportunity to create better experience for customers by focussing on automation, self-service, value, quality, customer expectations etc. Advanced systems or solutions that fulfil these requirements can be incorporated in the technology and process landscape of an organization who is supporting customers. This thesis aims at conceptually integrating the Customer Service and Retail Store Support processes at HUGO BOSS into the new Enterprise Service Management (ESM) tool which will in turn drive the digital transformation at HUGO BOSS. Moreover, the purpose of the study is to provide a recommendation if the new ESM tool can replace the existing Retail & Customer Care ticketing tool, thus enabling the Retail & Customer Care team and their respective processes to be fully onboarded and implemented in future into the new tool. This thesis is a qualitative research. At first, qualitative data about the existing ticketing tools used to provide customer service and retail store support is gathered through secondary data collection methods. Secondly, in-depth semi structured interviews with nine respondents from Retail & Customer Care team and IT Support teams were conducted to collect their feedback and analyse the benefits and drawbacks of these tools. Next, the thesis introduces the new ESM tool followed by its evaluation using Fit-Gap Analysis method. Further, the thesis includes the concept of ideal customer service and retail store support processes to be supported by the new tool using process flowcharts. In conclusion, the results of the thesis are presented based on which a future recommendation is provided.
The thesis provides analysis if the traditional automotive distribution model, defining the position of automotive dealers in the distribution channel. Their business model is analyzed from the perspective of value-adding activities performed at each stage of the distribution process and from the perspective of the profit centers existing generally in the business model at present. The research further turns to the automotive distribution in Belarus. The analysis of the Belarusian automotive market cannot be thoroughly accomplished without analysis of the Russian market, since the two countries belong to the common free economic area. The current condition of the Belarusian automotive dealers is considered in context of the macroeconomic downturn and obscure prospects, which is certainly one of the major challenges the industry is facing. The decreasing purchasing power of the population, high interest rates and exacerbating competition negatively influence the performance measures of the automotive dealers and their growth potential. Apart from the currently unfavorable macroeconomic situation, which is generally considered as temporary, the analysis takes into consideration basic transformation trends observed in social and technological spheres. The developments in the technological sphere also bear conflicting implications for the Belarusian automotive dealers and should be therefore thoroughly analized. In order to understand the potential of the Belarusian automotive dealers to introduce the necessary changes to the existing business model the balance of power analysis will be carried out according to Porter’s Five Forces methodology. The analysis is important from the point of view of the extent of the changes, which dealers are able to accomplish with a reasonable level of risks. The SWOT analysis will be further carried out to highlight the existing advantages and disadvantages of the Belarusian automotive dealers combined with external factors, which might influence positively or negatively their position. This chapter deals with the actual implications of the trends highlighted previously for the automotive dealers and provides the basis of the analysis of a sample strategy, currently implemented by the leading Belarusian automotive dealer, which is elaborated on in the last chapter.
This thesis is based upon an interest in the field of neuromarketing and a desire to depict which is the most advisable strategy to implement in a situation, where there is a potential introduction of a methodology coming from that field in a new / foreign market. Special emphasis is put on the market entry strategy (modes of entry and marketing strategy).
At the beginning of the thesis, there is a brief inspection of the neuromarketing field according to the nowadays situation that lead to the creation of a methodology, which is called neuromerchandising®. This methodology is the competitive advantage of a German consultant company called neuromerchandisinggroup GmbH&Co.KG. With this patented methodology, this consultant company provides strategic solutions to numerous companies mainly in the field of retail.
The main purpose of the thesis is to define which are the decisions to be made while introducing this methodology to a foreign country and in particular to Greece, in order to improve the Greek retail situation.
This thesis provides an analysis of the tools necessary to speculate whether Greece is the appropriate country to introduce this methodology. After this analysis, the thesis provides solutions of the potential market entry strategy putting emphasis on the marketing strategy of introducing this methodology.
Internal documentation of this company, market reports and analyses are used to provide a professional framework of the dynamic capabilities in the venture of introducing this methodology to Greece.
Patient engagement is the most important element in the process of research/development of medicinal products and healthcare management in today’s times. In a country like India which has a huge population and limited state of regulatory affairs it becomes important to walk the extra mile to protect the patient lives and truly serve them. Time and again it is seen that there is no or limited focus on patient centric processes and we still tend to focus on sponsors as the key stakeholder.
The author in this thesis aims to focus on the clinical trial landscape of India and determine if there is a need to improve the clinical trial processes. If yes, then what type of change is the audience looking for.
The author tries to introduce the human element in the process and remind us all that it is the ‘patients’ who are the centre for the drug development process and serving them and alleviating their pain in the true purpose of the process.
The author along with the helping us find a definition of patient centricity in India, also proposes a model that can be used by the Indian pharmaceutical companies to focus on patient centricity at different stages of the drug development cycle within their organisations.d
The financial markets are currently facing uncertain circumstances, which is increasing their tail risk. A recent study was conducted to measure the tail connectedness between North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The study looked at 18 stock market indices using a neural network quantile regression approach from January 4, 2012, to May 5, 2022. The study found that the North American, European, and Latin American stock markets had the highest exposure to tail risk, while Asia and Oceania showed no significant risk compared to the rest of the world indices and were independent. The study also identified the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic as intense events that yielded high tail risk. The Systematic Fragility Index ranked the pre-COVID period stock market and the Nasdaq during the COVID sample as the most susceptible markets. On the other hand, the Systematic Hazard Index identified the S&P as the chief risk contributor in the system.
The thesis emphasizes on the scale of production and waste of plastics, market share of single use plastics and attempts to find alternatives to one of the most problematic single use plastic marine litter items – single use plastic tableware and cutlery. The thesis is further narrowed to one of the Biodegradable tableware and cutlery BIOTREM from Poland that produces single use or disposable tableware and cutlery with the raw materials wheat bran and bioplastics PLA.
A study involved in the internationalization of BIOTREM is carried out based on the guidelines and principles of Global Marketing by Hollensen (2014). The study includes the important steps in internationalization process such as decision whether to internationalize, factors affecting internationalization, internationalization models suitable for BIOTREM.
Germany is considered as a hypothetical target market for the expansion of BIOTREM and the challenges for internationalization to Germany is analyzed with the help of Porter’s Five Force framework and SWOT Analysis. Further, various types of entry modes and factors that would influence the strategy for BIOTREM’s entry into German Market are studied and the suitable options are recommended.
A few recommendations w.r.t elements of marketing mix – product, place and promotions are suggested and also included are the general recommendations regarding company’s website contents. A recommendation is made on new form of crowd funding option – Security Token Offerings (STO’s) for BIOTREM expansion plan.
Finally, it is concluded with enlisting the answers found for the research questions and the message on taking responsibility for single use plastic pollution problem.
In the past decade the world saw an unprecedented economic boom followed by a similar bust. Most economies are still recovering and some experiencing sluggish growth. Various reasons have surfaced as to the cause of this economic boom. However, this paper explores the build-up of excessive debt as a result of financial development in spurring up the economy. This paper identified that the financial deepening coupled with other macro-economic factors have expanded credit in the economy. All sectors accumulated high levels of debt. As part of this study, an analysis of household debt was carried out, using a dataset of 30 European countries in order to ascertain determinants of debt. The results showed that household debt has a statistically significant positive correlation with Gross Domestic Production per capita and Life Expectancy at Birth. Additionally, Gross Savings and Gross Domestic Savings also had a positive correlation. This paper concludes by submitting that financial development should be reset to what it was best at doing in the first place, that is intermediation of finance so that efficiency of investment can be improved. Hence economic development.
This thesis begins a theoretical investigation into leadership and organizational power by briefly examining the relevant academic literature. It then examines Robert House’s Path-Goal Theory, Bertram French, and John Raven’s Bases of Power frameworks. This study investigates the correlation between directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors and reward, coercive, legitimate, expert, and referent power within organizational set-tings by combining theoretical knowledge with empirical data gathered through questionnaires conducted with leaders and employees in the hotel sector. It also investigates how they impact the achievement of hotel goals.
Contributing to existing knowledge on leadership and power dynamics in the hotel industry, this research rigorously analyzes the compatibility and effectiveness of leadership behaviors with various power sources. The empirical backbone of this study comprises questionnaires conduct-ed across sixteen Southeast Asian hotels, yielding insights grounded in real-world organization-al settings. Based on 167 responses, this comprehensive investigation offers valuable implica-tions for practitioners and scholars, elucidating the intricate relationship between leadership be-havior and power sources. It underscores the strategic importance of aligning behavior with power sources to enhance leadership effectiveness and foster organizational success.
As businesses advance toward globalization, their supply chains have expanded. Globalization has brought together varied marketplaces, but it also has consequences. The most significant of these impacts is environmental damage. As organizations and customers are becoming growingly aware of the extent of the damage, organizations are transitioning towards greener practices. However, the long, complex supply chains make visibility and transparency in the chain, particularly beyond the first tier of suppliers difficult. Managing companies at a global scale become complex due to differences in interests and difficulty in managing information, material, and financial flow that require rigorous validation and management from external participants. This is where Blockchain Technology has immense potential. Blockchain is a new, ground-breaking technology with applications primarily in the financial sector. This thesis is exploratory by necessity, as it is an early work on blockchain's influence on green supply chain management. The study employs the funnel technique, which begins with a broad and general perspective before moving on to more particular aspects of the subject. A framework is designed based on a thorough assessment of the literature and real-world applications of blockchain technology. The findings show that incorporating blockchain into supply chain management can potentially increase understanding of the supply chain's hidden layers and aid in the transformation of the existing supply chain to a green supply chain.
The platform business model replaces the traditional linear value chain model, demonstrating how value can be created differently. The emergence of new platforms in various industries during the last decade has made it difficult to imagine a business without naming at least a handful of active platforms. The platform business model has been proven to revolutionize industries, and this study investigates the possibility of launching a platform business model in unprecedented arenas which still use conventional pipeline business models.
The study explores the process of generating ideas for a new opportunity in the platform business model. After generating 11 ideas, screening and evaluating methods were studied.
This thesis analyzes the effects that product label certification of Fairtrade products and the retail format where they are bought by consumers (Supermarkets vs. Discounters) have on the Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) of common grocery store goods. The thesis builds on data obtained from an online-conducted survey where participants had to respond if a determined price point was deemed as cheap or expensive to them and based on the average reaction times of their answers we determined the individual WTP. Two-way ANOVA analysis were performed with this data and some interesting findings were discovered: while a difference can be observed in consumers WTP for goods depending on the retail environment where they are acquired, there is no evidence of multiplicative effect of product labeling and retail format.
A contract as one of the essential means which regulates national and international commercial transactions, intended to determine the rights and responsibilities of the parties and protect their assets. Parties to international business transactions may freely choose the law governing their contract. As a result, parties are free to choose a contract law which best fits their needs, irrespective of its connection to the particular transaction. The market of contracts offers a choice among the laws of national jurisdictions and uniformed commercial contract law drawn up by intergovernmental organizations. Even application of a reputable national law or uniformed contract law does not guarantee eligible certainty. In particular, uncertainty is not admissible in transactions of industrial products and technologies, where protection of intellectual properties is one of the crucial aspects. In the aforementioned conditions, it might be a problem for businesses to make an appropriate choice of an applicable law of a contract, which is less complex, involves adequate efforts of contract enforcement and costs of dispute resolution. The task of this research is an analysis of different legal environment and making suggestions to a business in a subsequent strategy, depended on scopes of business transactions, national or international, and power levels of the involved parties. The research to be carried out in the following four parts, problem setting, theoretical study, empirical study and implementation. Solutions of the problems related to making and enforcement of a contract and dispute resolutions, basically may be divided into preventive and reactive actions. The preventive actions include choice of an applicable contract law, involving various mechanism to ensure that each party will stick to the contract terms, like self-enforcement, reputation, third party audits. As the reactive actions there may be considered, formal litigation through the judiciary system, which might be costly and slow, and alternative dispute resolution, such as an arbitration, mediation and conciliation hearings.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study and understand the theoretical model of New Product Design and Development Process and New Product Development Process followed by Automobile Manufacturing Companies in order to understand the similarities and differences between the theoretical model and practical process of New Product Development.
Key Concepts
The main concepts reviewed in the paper are theoretical “Stage – Gate model” of New Product Design and Development, New Product Development Process followed in automobile industry, role of various departments in the New Product Development Process.
Methodology
The methodology used to review the concepts exposed in this paper was theoretical research.
Conclusion
Generic product development process as described by Ulriche & Eppinger sets up overall framework of the product development process but it does not describe the micro-level activities of the new product development process. Whereas the practical process of new product development works out on very micro-level details of the task and activities in new product development process.
Generic product development process is a simple framework and hence it is common for any organisation, but actual process of new product design and development is worked out to the very detail level according to functions in an organisation and hence it changes from product to product and organisation to organisation.
Even though the idea of nearshoring is not new, it has attracted a lot of attention lately. This strategy entails moving corporate activities, such as IT services or manufacturing, to nearby countries in order to take advantage of a variety of competitive benefits. Nearshoring is a phenomenon that is intimately related to trade wars, regional trade agreements, and changing global economic dynamics. The objective of this research is to investigate the development of nearshoring, the forces that drive it, and the effects it has on various industries, economies, and geopolitical ties. The study is specifically focused on the automotive and semiconductor sectors. The study takes a broad approach, including case studies, economic strategies, and historical patterns. It examines the growth of nearshoring in different areas, such as the USA and Europe, and analyses its effects on global trade and economic stability. In accordance to the study, nearshoring has a number of advantages, including lower costs, less risk, and easier access to trained labour. But it also brings with it difficulties like disparities in culture and regulations as well as worries about data security. Nearshoring trends have had a substantial impact on the automotive and semiconductor sectors, leading to notable changes in supply chain strategy and production processes. In response to the requirement for operational flexibility and the pressures in the global economy, nearshoring has become a popular option for these two industries. The approach emphasizes the necessity for flexible and resilient company strategies in a constantly shifting economic environment and helps to reshape the dynamics of global commerce.
With the ever increasing global competitive business environment, capturing new lucrative markets has taken the forefront for Multinational Entities (MNE’s). In the recent past, emerging countries have gained prominence as a focal growth destination for many MNEs. Despite the business opportunities that they offer, they still remain complex markets in which to do business. Consequently, for the MNEs that have made entry into these markets, adequate growth strategies designed to include sets of activities that deliver a unique mix of value to the organization are imperative.1 This therefore calls for such organisations to adapt their existing growth strategies in emerging markets to various demands. This is in order to maximise performance through well-orchestrated growth agendas that work in concert with the overall corporate strategy. Nevertheless, for overall success, businesses are becoming more aware that operational and control failures can be extremely costly.2 This is because growth comes with increased risks hence a need for new solutions to mitigate and manage the risks. Consequently, the discipline of compliance which is designed to mitigate risks through adherence of; legal requirements, internal and external policies is no longer a second-thought function that requires action down the road. Corporate leaders now recognize that it is important for business expansion and the protection of shareholder value.3 In these markets, compliance related issues have proved to be difficult hurdles for many organisations and they are widely viewed high risk compliance markets. 4 Despite this, many MNEs that venture into such markets fail to integrate their growth strategies and compliance programmes/strategies.
This paper explores the hypothesis that for organisations to optimise performance, their compliance programmes/strategies should work in concert with their broader strategic goals, e.g. growth. This thesis aims to show how the two can be integrated by using Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ AG (RRPS) growth strategy in China and its compliance programme as a case study. The hypothesis is that, if successfully integrated, RRPS can maximise its growth performance in China. Secondly the study seeks to provide a flexible check list or template that RRPS can adapt in its future Integrated Sales Road Maps (ISRMs) in other targeted countries or regions.