Refine
Year of publication
Document type
- Master's Thesis (160) (remove)
Is part of the Bibliography
- No (160)
Keywords
- India (4)
- Artificial intelligence (3)
- China (3)
- Consumer behavior (3)
- Crowdfunding (3)
- Germany (3)
- Innovation (3)
- Blockchain technology (2)
- Customer experience (2)
- Customer support (2)
- E-commerce (2)
- Entrepreneurship (2)
- INKA 4 (2)
- P2P (2)
- Personality (2)
- Pharmaceutical Industry (2)
- Satisfaction (2)
- Scenario Planning (2)
- Strategic management (2)
- Sustainability (2)
- A-la-carte options (1)
- ARIMA (1)
- Ability to innovate (1)
- Academic careers (1)
- Acculturation (1)
- Active neutral-point-clamped (ANPC) (1)
- Adhesion of silicone (1)
- Adhäsionskraft von Silikon (1)
- Affiliate marketing (1)
- Affiliate reviews (1)
- After-Sales-Service (1)
- Agile (1)
- Agile-Stage-Gate (Hybrid (1)
- Airlines (1)
- Analysis 32 bit block length (1)
- Ancillary services (1)
- Artificial Intelligence (1)
- Attitude - Behavior Gap (1)
- Automotive Industry (1)
- Automotive industry (1)
- Automotive service industry (1)
- Bank Performance (1)
- Banking business (1)
- Bases of power (1)
- Bekleidungsindustrie (1)
- Benutzeroberfläche (1)
- Bezahlsysteme (1)
- Bibliotheksmanagement (1)
- Big five inventory (1)
- Biodegradable cutlery (1)
- Biodegradable tableware (1)
- Block length 32 bit (1)
- Blockchain (1)
- Blue Ocean Strategy (1)
- Brand Analysis (1)
- Brand Strategy (1)
- Brand loyalty (1)
- Brand positioning (1)
- Brazil (1)
- Build-or-buy (1)
- Business in chaotic environment (1)
- Business process automation (1)
- Business process management (1)
- Business strategy (1)
- Business survival under civil war (1)
- COVID-19 (1)
- Capital raising (1)
- Carbon emissions (1)
- Cartel behavior (1)
- Chain management (1)
- Change Management (1)
- China Marketing Strategy (1)
- Choice complexity e-commerce (1)
- Choice overload (1)
- Circular economy (1)
- Claims ratio (1)
- Claims reserve (1)
- Clinical trials (1)
- Collection System (1)
- Commercial Entrepreneurship (1)
- Comparative analysis (1)
- Competitive advantage (1)
- Competitive analysis (1)
- Compliance, Compliance Risks (1)
- Computable General Equilibrium CGE (1)
- Consumer loans (1)
- Consumer preferences (1)
- Corporate debt (1)
- Corporate-startup collaboration (1)
- Cost drivers (1)
- Cost optimization (1)
- Cost reduction (1)
- Covid-19 pandemic (1)
- Credit rating (1)
- Cross-country analysis (1)
- Cross-cultural Leadership (1)
- Crowdlending (1)
- Cryptocurrencies (1)
- Cultural exchange (1)
- Culture (1)
- Customer (1)
- Customer Experience (1)
- Customer Relationship Management CRM (1)
- Customer attitude (1)
- Customer service (1)
- Cybersecurity (1)
- Cyberthreats (1)
- DFMA (1)
- Dairy supply cooperatives (1)
- Data quality management (1)
- Datendichte (1)
- Datenquelle (1)
- Debt overhang (1)
- Debt trap (1)
- Deep-learning (1)
- Design thinking (1)
- Developing countries (1)
- Diabetes segment (1)
- Diagnostic systems (1)
- Digital finance (1)
- Digital transformation (1)
- Digitization (1)
- Direct to consumer D2C (1)
- Disruptive Innovation (1)
- Diversity (1)
- Dollarization (1)
- Drivers of Innovation (1)
- Drug development (1)
- E-Medien-Portfolio (1)
- Ease of use (1)
- Economic History (1)
- Economic development (1)
- Economy of scale (1)
- Education Germany (1)
- Education diplomacy (1)
- Educational policy (1)
- Efficient portfolio allocation (1)
- El Salvador (1)
- Electric vehicles (1)
- Emerging Economics (1)
- Emerging market economics (1)
- Energy Transition (1)
- Enterprise service management (1)
- Entrepreneurial Opportunity Process (1)
- Entrepreneurial decision-making (1)
- Entrepreneurial mindset (1)
- Entrepreneurial neuroscience (1)
- Entrepreneurial support environment (1)
- Entreprenuer (1)
- Entropy (1)
- Environmental damage (1)
- Ethical consumption (1)
- European Countries (1)
- Exchange program administration (1)
- Expectations (1)
- Facebook (1)
- Fair trade (1)
- Feedback behavior (1)
- Female scientists (1)
- Field programmable gate array (FPGA) (1)
- Financial Intermediaries (1)
- Financial crisis (1)
- Financial institutions (1)
- Financial markets (1)
- Financial stability (1)
- Financialisation (1)
- Fintech (1)
- Fintech-based payment solutions (1)
- Five factor model (1)
- Food retail (1)
- Forecasting (1)
- France (1)
- Franchise models (1)
- Frequent flyer program FFP (1)
- Frugal innovation (1)
- Frugality (1)
- Gamification (1)
- Gender diversity (1)
- Gender equality (1)
- Gendered language (1)
- German (Mittelstand) Medical companies in India (1)
- German Economy (1)
- German Labor Market (1)
- German Manufacturing Industry (1)
- German banking sector (1)
- German start-up ecosystem (1)
- Graphische Benutzeroberfläche (1)
- Greece (1)
- Green Hydrogen (1)
- Green supply chain management (1)
- Grocery delivery service (1)
- Gross domestic product (GDP) (1)
- Group performance (1)
- Health Care (1)
- Helpdesk (1)
- Hidden Champions (1)
- Higher Education Exports (1)
- Hochschulbibliothek (1)
- Hochschule Furtwangen (1)
- Holistic Innovation Process (1)
- Hotel industry (1)
- Household debt (1)
- IT service industry (1)
- Image-analysis (1)
- Industrial research (1)
- Industry 4.0 (1)
- Industry 5.0 (1)
- Information load (1)
- Informationssicherheit (1)
- Informationsvisualisierung (1)
- Innovation Performance (1)
- Innovation management (1)
- Innovations (1)
- Innovative capability (1)
- Input-output Model (1)
- Instagram (1)
- Institutional Investors (1)
- Insurance (1)
- Integration (1)
- Integration Compliance & Growth Strategy (1)
- Intercultural Management (1)
- Interest coverage ratio (1)
- Interest rates (1)
- Internal company factors (1)
- International Education Management (1)
- International Trade (1)
- Internet Industry (1)
- Intrapreneurship (1)
- Investment Vehicle (1)
- Job posting (1)
- Job satisfaction (1)
- Kernzielgruppen (1)
- Kunden (1)
- Latin America (1)
- Leadership (1)
- Leadership theories (1)
- Life insurance (1)
- Loyalty (1)
- MBA (1)
- MSME (1)
- Machine learning (1)
- Macroeconomic Conditions (1)
- Macroeconomic implications (1)
- Managing Expectations (1)
- Markentreue (1)
- Market Efficiency Hypothesis (1)
- Market attractiveness (1)
- Market entry for German companies into India (1)
- Market entry strategy (1)
- Market entry strategy for India (1)
- Market segments (1)
- Marketing Strategy (1)
- Marketing Trend (1)
- Marketing strategy (1)
- Markowitz portfolio selection theory (1)
- Maschinelles Lernen (1)
- Material group strategy (1)
- Medical device directive (1)
- Medical device regulation (1)
- Medium-sized companies (1)
- Membership (1)
- Mergers & Acquisitions (1)
- Meta-analysis (1)
- Mexico (1)
- Millennials (1)
- Mobile Payment (1)
- Mobility as a service MaaS (1)
- Mobility concepts (1)
- Mobility ecosystem (1)
- Modulationsstrategien (1)
- National innovation systems (1)
- Nearshoring (1)
- Negative interest rate (1)
- Net Interest Income (1)
- Neuroentrepreneurship (1)
- Neuromarketing (1)
- New Product Development (1)
- New product development (1)
- Nigeria (1)
- Non-R&D-intensive firms (1)
- Normative scenario planning (1)
- Nutzungsaspekte (1)
- OER (1)
- OPEC (1)
- OTA (1)
- OTC segment (1)
- Off the grid (OTG) communities (1)
- Offline vs online channels (1)
- Oil price (1)
- Oligopoly models (1)
- Olympic Games Beijing 2008 (1)
- Online grocery shopping (1)
- Online reviews (1)
- Online shopping (1)
- Ontologie (1)
- Optimierung (1)
- Organic food market (1)
- Organizational power (1)
- Outsourcing (1)
- Outsourcing strategy (1)
- PEST Analysis (1)
- PESTEL (1)
- PET Bottles (1)
- PISA data (1)
- Parallel assembly (1)
- Parallele Fertigung (1)
- Parasitäre Kapazitäten (1)
- Path-goal theory (1)
- Patient centricity (1)
- Patriarchy (1)
- Pay for performance (1)
- Payment (1)
- Peer-to-Peer (1)
- Performance (1)
- Performance measurement (1)
- Platform (1)
- Platform business model (1)
- Plattform-Broker (1)
- Porter five force analysis (1)
- Porter five forces (1)
- Porter's Five Forces (1)
- Pricing (1)
- Pricing strategy (1)
- Process optimization (1)
- Process re-engineering (1)
- Product Development (1)
- Product Recovery (1)
- Product labels (1)
- Productivity (1)
- Professoren (1)
- Prostate (1)
- Purchase decision (1)
- Purchasing (1)
- Qualitative Studie (1)
- Qualitätskriterien (1)
- Recession (1)
- Recycling (1)
- Refugee Entrepreneurship (1)
- Refugees Crisis in Germany 2015 (1)
- Relevanzsystem (1)
- Remote learning (1)
- Rescaling Rijndael/AES (1)
- Retail format (1)
- Retail store support (1)
- Return on Assets (1)
- Return on equity (ROE) (1)
- Risikomanagement (1)
- Robotic process automation (1)
- Roles (1)
- SERVQUAL (1)
- Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) (1)
- Scenario planning (1)
- School closure (1)
- Security of supply (1)
- Segmentation (1)
- Semantik (1)
- Service Engineering (1)
- Shared Service Center (1)
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) (1)
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (1)
- Smart contract (1)
- Smart mobility (1)
- Social Entrepreneurship (1)
- Social Media (1)
- Social Media Marketing (1)
- Software comparison (1)
- Software-defined networking (1)
- Solar Energy in Germany (1)
- Solidarity economy (1)
- South Korea (1)
- Spain (1)
- Sports Event (1)
- Stage-gate process (1)
- Start-up (1)
- State of the art 32 bit block ciphers (1)
- Statistical analysis (1)
- Stempel (1)
- Strategic Competence Development (1)
- Strategic analysis (1)
- Strategy (1)
- Strategy, Growth Startegy, Sales Road Map (1)
- Studierende (1)
- Supply Chain Risk Management (1)
- Supply chain management (1)
- Supply chains (1)
- Sustainability-related purposes (1)
- Sustainable marketing (1)
- Switzerland (1)
- Sylgard 184 (1)
- Symmetric block cipher (1)
- Syrian Refugees (1)
- TAM (1)
- Tail risk (1)
- Technical communication (1)
- Thailand (1)
- Ticketing system (1)
- Time series analysis (1)
- Too-much-choice-effect (1)
- Touch points (1)
- Transaction Cost (1)
- Transaction efficiency (1)
- Transfer printing (1)
- Transportation (1)
- Travel Agencies (1)
- Travel and tourism industry (1)
- Trust (1)
- Turkey (1)
- Ultrasound (1)
- University (1)
- Urbanization (1)
- User satisfaction (1)
- VUCA (1)
- Vietnamese Stock Market (1)
- Vision 2030 (1)
- Visualisierung (1)
- Visualisierungselemente (1)
- Vocational education (1)
- Vocational exchanges (1)
- WTP (1)
- Waste picker (1)
- Wechselrichter-Topologien (1)
- Willingness to pay (1)
- Women empowerment (1)
- Women professionals (1)
- Young consumers (1)
- Zombie (1)
- asymmetric business partnership (1)
- business model (1)
- collaborative innovation (1)
- cyber physical systems (1)
- e-food (1)
- eCommerce (1)
- ePayment (1)
- employee satisfaction (1)
- international subsidiaries (1)
- knowledge management (1)
- knowledge workers (1)
- mRNA technology (1)
- market research (1)
- open innovation (1)
- pay equity (1)
- power electronics (1)
- process mining (1)
- robotic assisted surgery (1)
- sales organisations (1)
- semi conductor (1)
- startups (1)
- strategic implementation steps (1)
- supply chain (1)
Course of studies
- IMM - International Management (60)
- MBA - International Business Management (55)
- EMBA - Executive Master of International Business Management (15)
- INM - Informatik (8)
- MOS - Mobile Systeme (6)
- BAM - Business Application Architectures (2)
- IBM - International Business Management (2)
- IRCD - International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy (2)
- SSM - Security & Safety Engineering (2)
- BMP - Business Management and Psychology (1)
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.
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.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have become a driver motor of economies. Moreover, in developed countries, the manufacturing SMEs play an important role in the value creation and employment generation.O'regan et al. (2006) presents that constant innovation is a key component to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Raymond et al. (2010) claims that particular manufacturing SMEs should continuously improve their manufacturing processes in order to ensure long term sustainability. However, given the lack of resources and experience, SMEs find it difficult converting research and development into effective innovation (O’regan et al., 2006). Researchers have explained why certain firms innovate more than others by identifying a number of critical success factors or drivers of innovation such as strategy, social capital (Balachandra and Friar, 1997) or R&D (Becheikh et al., 2006a, Raymond et al.2010). The literature on the topic is diverse, there are different approaches and there is not a consensus on how those success factors can be measured. Therefore, the present thesis develops a meta-analysis study of the empirical research on the drives of innovation in manufacturing SMEs of developed countries. The result is a consolidated framework of the success factors and its measurements proposed by 49 authors, those were organized in the different phases of a holistic innovation process. The process considered was presented by Tidd and Bessant (2005). In consequence, the contribution of the present thesis is to serve as a starting point for future studies on drivers of innovation and its measurements, also, to serve as reference for future researchers that will develop a meta-analysis study.
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).
The purpose of this study was to work out structured ways to lead GVTs. The Model of Team Leadership, which has been worked on in chapter 5, has shown that a mental model that can be used by people leading a team is helpful also when applied for GVTs. This model for virtual leadership offers the possibility to locate possible issues and address upcoming problems that might hinder the project to succeed early enough, but with prior monitoring, surveying and examination. This model, which is based on the assumption that leaderships is being shared in teams and also multiple team members can execute leadership actions, can be applied in GVTs as a basic mental model by all team members. This helps creating a common understanding of team leadership and the areas where issues, misunderstandings and conflicts can stem from.
Secondly, this work showed that there is not one single form of GVT existing – as it is often the case in research work – and requires consequently different focus of leadership actions. The GVT Matrix is a first step, which tries to differentiate leadership challenges along the defined GVT types. This point can be addressed in future research to find respective data that are increasing the scientific relevance on the differences of leadership in GVTs that can then be applied in the model used in chapter 6.
This point is also the limitation of this research. As many data is available for general leadership of GVT, data on leadership issues relating special types of GVTs is relatively rare. The assumptions and validated findings that have been used to fill the GVT Matrix are not as fully scientifically reliable as it could have been. Future research can address this issue if new data is available which are examining the differences of GVTs.
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.
Aim: The research aims at contributing to the growing number of studies on banking performance by investigating empirically the effect of changes in the macroeconomic conditions on bank profitability in Europe for the period 1980-2009. For this purpose, data for banking systems of eight European countries on an aggregate national level are included in the analysis: Germany, France, Austria, Norway, Netherland, United Kingdom (UK), Spain and Italy. In addition to this, two measures are used to represent the bank profitability: net interest income (NII) and return on assets (ROA).
Methods: Panel regression models at three levels are deployed in order to estimate empirically the effect of the macroeconomic indicators on bank performance in Europa: individual estimations on a country level, cross-country estimations on a group level for Northern and Southern Europe and finally overall cross-country estimation on a European level.
Results: The estimation results suggest that macroeconomic conditions are able to explain most of the variation of the banks’ net interest income in European countries, as well as part of the variation of banks’ ROA. Additionally, they clearly indicate that GDP growth rate is the most significant factor influencing bank performance in Europe on all three levels of the model. The effect of the inflation rate is also considered for strongly significant and positive while the effect of the other macroeconomic variables included in this research is different and cannot be generalized probably as a result of the heterogeneity among European countries. Surprisingly, the results did not indicate any significant difference between Norther and Southern Europe, regarding the effect of the macroeconomic conditions on bank performance.
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.
Family businesses are major contributors of a strong and diverse society. Not only help to keep power in the hands of small units (families), they also foster innovation and personal freedom and this is necessary to maintain a healthy society, which is also necessary not only in Mexico but throughout Latin America and other regions where emerging countries tend to be a majority. The presence of strong private businesses in a society can reinforce the social values of their communities. Wealth and stability that they create can foster personal growth around them, especially if the owners are responsible for philanthropic activities and civic leadership. Thousands of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries are reaching a difficult phase. Most of the owners who founded the company on the 60s or 70s and made it to the next century are ready to retire without having a plan of succession to the one who will be taking over. Some of these enterprises are also struggling to find a strategic path among lots of heavy changes on the corporate world while others fight unexpected competition from abroad, normally from developed countries. it is also difficult for companies to face this sensation of isolation on a daily fight for survival and for standing out. At last, many of them end up selling their companies because of pressure or failure, being victims of a powerful tendency of family businesses to stop growing and develop their potential. 1.1 Objectives Provide an overview of the SMEs in Mexico and their current situation. Uncover the possible factors that cause their failure. Suggest a different solution through implementation of corporate governance, the way bigger companies do. Investigate and explore fears and advantages of implementing corporate governance. Analyze how corporate governance can be integrated to a SME in Mexico. 1.2 Limitations of the analysis This analysis considers that the reader has a short background on business, as the basic concepts will not be detailed. The study will focus on solving a specific problem that the author considers to be crucial for any SME in a developing country to solve, but from the perspective of corporate governance. The classification of the group of companies that have been analyzed may vary from country to country. 1.3 Methodology This project comprises a study of the presented bibliography on the situation of the corporate governance in Mexico and how can it be applied to small and medium size businesses in order to face the current challenges. The study focuses on the role of the board of directors in the company and how it can lead to a case of success by giving up some control by the business owners and pass it to the experienced advisors that will be part of the board. A document called “Código de Mejores Prácticas Corporativas” (Corporate Governance Codex) will serve as a big support for the research, since this is the official document companies must take a look at before even start thinking on implementing corporate governance practices. The research includes results form an annual survey presented by “PriceWaterhouseCoopers” in 2014 that was carried out all over the world including Mexico. This survey was done between May 30th and July 21st in 2014 to 122 companies from Manufacture, retail, finance, mining, construction, wholesale, and agriculture, and it is considered by many firms as the most important survey to consider when analyzing the current situation of family businesses in Mexico.
In this paper, I analyze the position of Indonesia current account during thirty five years from 1980 to 2015. The main findings may be summarized as follows:
(a)The movement of Indonesia CA position which interrelated mainly by the transaction of goods and services, and Ind IIP which interrelated to the getting indebtedness of the country.
(b)Indonesia as an open economy, for running CA position is determined by driving forces in macroeconomic scale, such as saving and investment, financial balance, real exchange rate, and trade balance. Indonesia recently is now more open to the free capital without strong foundation of financial system and human resources, so Indonesia suffers from the competitiveness problem.
In this paper, author was unable to find some data and interpretation. From policy recommendation, author strongly suggests government for some long-term policies.
2016 marks the 56th anniversary of the oil cartel: OPEC. It managed to increase prices in 1972. In doing so, it behaved in a manner consistent with a cartel, bringing about a wave of studies on it. This study provides an overview of Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s cartel behavior form 1980 to 2014/5, from five different perspectives. These perspectives, although have been studies individually, but never holistically.
This study grounds the research questions into the structure-conduct-performance paradigm for each of the five perspectives of cartel behavior. Each perspective is also backed by a theory of its own. The first perspective is that of the neo-classical theory of the firm, in that OPEC is deemed to be created for the purpose of creating profits for its members. The second perspective looks at whether or not OPEC is internally and externally stable by looking at economic and non-economic influences on the organization. The third perspective makes use of the theory of market contestability, in oder to determine which member in the cartel has had and still holds most influence within the cartel. The fourth perspective looks at entry and exit trends from OPEC, to determine what impact it has on the incumbent profits and that of the defectors. The fifth perspective uses the concept of black swan from the strategic management literature to discuss whether or not OPEC will dissolve in the next fifty years and whether this will bring about a golden or a black swan.
The methodology prevalent throughout the study is a case study analysis of the OPEC cartel behavior, however, two of the chapters also run a regression analysis (chapters 3 and 4), using variables identified from the structure-conduct-performance paradigm. The second and the third provide a descriptive overview via line graphs, while the last uses the methodology of observation.
It has been found that OPEC has earned abnormal profits which steadily increased, Saudi Arabia has been instrumental in managing quotas, and importance of each country is determined by the output it produced from one year to the next. In addition, economic influences are more important than the non-economic influences for OPEC's viability as a cartel, exit from OPEC is not advisable for the defector nor the incumbent firms and the cartel is not internally stable as barriers to entry are low and members can easily defect and can rejoin the cartel. Lastly, OPEC’s influence in the oil market is waning fast, which might lead to a black swan event.
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.
Organizational Development is a relatively newer concept in the corporate world. This concept continues to being explored by researches due its growing importance and fascination results. Many organizations strive to establish a competitive edge by the evolution and differentiation in not only the OD interventions but also in handling their effects. Due to its intriguing nature, it has been the focal point of this study/research.
Scope of this research is to explore the perceptions of employees, which are created over a course of time about certain dimensions related to Organizational development interventions in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan. Firstly Literature Review has been conducted to find out existing theory that has been explored and created over decades by past research about the OD interventions and also how the perceptions of employees/individuals are mapped with reference to Organizational Development and how it impacts their acceptance of these interventions. Secondly short interviews from the management (Directors/Heads of Organizational Development) of the key players of the telecommunication sector have been conducted to unfold the hidden issues, objectives, initiatives taken and hurdles faced by these players and hence has provided with certain issues on which substantial and extensive research has yet not been done. With the help of these interviews common objectives and common hurdles during OD implementation have also been identified among key telecommunication player of Pakistan. To limit the scope of the thesis, Acceptance of OD has been taken as the dependent variable while Perceptions of Organizational Development (Level of Uncertainty, Feelings about OD interventions, Opportunities for Growth & Development and Opportunities to Participate) were identified to be the independent variables with the help of literature review.
This study attempts to explore how the different dimensions of perceptions of Organizational Development exist amongst the employees of the telecommunication sector of Pakistan and how the negative/positive perceptions impact the acceptance level of these OD interventions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from 20 employees (Five from each organization) from the four major players of the telecommunication sector of Pakistan namely Warid, Telenor, Mobilink, and Ufone.
Rising globalization and digitization resulted in crises for the fashion industry. High competition and the interconnectedness of the consumers rule the market and put it under pressure. Owing to the growing power consumers possess, the requirements towards the fashion players are increasing. Customer experience is frequently discussed these days by academics as well as practitioners and emphasized as a competitive advantage. Yet, it is difficult to measure and to track its consequences.
Since customer experience is elusive and no industry specific measurement scale is defined, at first this work aims to identify relevant touch points of customer experience in the fashion industry by dint of a focused interview. The further objective of this paper is to enhance the comprehension of the touch points’ effects or rather the relationship of customer experience with brand loyalty. This is approached by a questionnaire based on the preceding qualitative analysis and the resulting model. This model defines the customer experience touch points as the independent variables while brand loyalty is examined as the dependent variable. The conducted linear regression analysis reveals a moderate effect of customer experience on brand loyalty and the touch points concerning the products as most relevant in this relationship. Additionally, the digitization aspect is addressed by the examination of the relationship in the offline and online channels separately. With respect to this, the present study recognizes that the extent of the customer experience’s impact on brand loyalty and the significant touch points vary across channels to a certain degree.
Die Vielfalt von heutzutage auftretenden Datenstrukturen schafft Bedarf für individu-
ell abgestimmte Analyseplattformen. Dabei benötigte Ressourcen sind vom jeweiligen
Anwendungsfall abhängig. Diese Arbeit diskutiert Broker für die Virtualisierung der
verarbeitenden Anwendungen, welche durch ein abstrahiertes Dashboard bedient wer-
den. Eine Domain Specific Language ermöglicht die Generierung eines Grundgerüsts
entsprechender Komponenten, die mit individueller Logik anzureichern sind. Die be-
schriebene Architektur bezieht sich zu großen Teilen auf den Umgang mit den flexiblen
Eingangsdaten von virtualisierten Verarbeitungsplattformen.
Im Rahmen dieser Master-Thesis wurden Verfahren zum Transfer eines Arrays kleiner Dies (unverkapselte Chips) mit einer Kantenlänge von 250 μm bis 300 μm untersucht. Die Dies sollten hierbei von UV-lichtempfindlicher Folie selektiv abgehoben und auf einem Zielsubstrat abgesetzt werden. Als Verfahren wurde die Stempeltechnologie gewählt. Zum Aufnehmen der Dies wurden Stempel aus Silikon gegossen. Als Substrate zum Absetzen der Dies wurden Gläser mit Zucker beschichtet. Zur Überprüfung des Verfahrens wurden Zugversuche durchgeführt. Die senkrechte Abzugskraft der verwendeten Folie und der Silikonstempel wurde ermittelt. Durch Abzugstests der Folie im belichteten und unbelichteten Zustand wurden die genutzten Belichtungsprozesse überprüft. Das Umsetzen wurde mit gesägten Stücken eines Siliziumwafers durchgeführt. Es konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass das Umsetzen mit Silikonstempeln möglich ist und die erzeugten Kräfte hierfür ausreichen. Die Herstellung und Vorbereitung der gesägten Siliziumwürfel erwies sich hierbei als kritischer Prozess, was die Reproduzierbarkeit der Umsetzung stark beeinträchtigt.
Mobile diagnostics – or mobile health in general – is highly appealing, not only for clinicians, but also for patients. It implies empowerment, in particular of those who are really in need, such as inhabitants of less developed regions within the world who have limited access to healthcare. It also implies simplification: Easy data management – a continuous flow of information. Therefore, development of miniaturized and highly integrated diagnostic systems allowing near patient “instant” diagnostics gain a lot of momentum since more than a decade. However, system integration requires time and a significant amount of investment. In addition, there is strong competition on resources from other emergent technologies, such as next generation sequencing which made the collection of e.g. human genome data less expensive and much faster. A more severe challenge is that mobile diagnostics require a change in healthcare management, e.g. towards integrated practice units. This, in turn, requires implementation of adequate reimbursement, standards of interoperability, training of staff, quality control. In 2010, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) launched the grant initiative Mobile Diagnostic Systems (MD, 2011─2015) as part of its high-tech strategy. MD aimed at generating knowledge on how microsystem technologies fit into German healthcare environments. On the basis of interviews with multidisciplinary MD actors, this thesis evaluated retrospectively how the publicly funded innovation network managed to overcome pre-defined external barriers of diffusion, including technology, regulatory affairs and market access. Retrospectives reveal internal barriers involving knowledge and technology transfer, negatively influencing generation of innovation. In particular, financing still represents a high hurdle for biotech innovators in Germany: Larger firms look predominately for market-ready or in-market technologies rather than prototypes and venture capitalists are rare or extremely risk-averse. Another important finding was, that actors involved were highly focused on individual work packages. This risks of not seeing the whole environment embedding MD. Consequently, potential opportunities may be missed, e.g. synergies with relatively close (DIALOC) or more distant initiatives (Global Health Delivery Project-based discussion rounds). This could be partly due to the fact that publicly funded networking activities provide less freedom-to-operate because of pre-defined milestones. In addition, further development of actors with respect to role playing (e.g. boundary spanning or innovation selling) is often not included in such “innovation packages”, but can help to maneuver change. Internal barriers need to be addressed first before targeting the major remaining external hurdle: Reimbursement. Although the latter was covered within MD, standardization of technology evaluation is still an unmet need which strongly influences the willingness-to-implement novel mobile diagnostics. Thus, the value added is to be demonstrated to justify adequate reimbursement. Achieving this goal can be successful, when innovation networking finds its path towards a common vision, e.g. towards value-based integrated healthcare. Pathfinding and visioning can be facilitated by process promoter with excellent network management capabilities. In addition, such a promoter could help to further develop engagement, openness and commitment of collaborators. Therefore, transfer of MD activities to established “top” networks or clusters is recommended for securing valuable knowledge generated. In this environment, an important next step – globalization of MD for ensuring future return on investment – could be triggered as well.
Since MD innovation was found to involve both product and service innovation, maneuvering change is particularly challenging for small and medium sized enterprises. These could benefit from engagement in innovation networking. Findings of this case study can help all direct and indirect actors in the field of MD innovation or in other high complex environments to reconsider pathfinding as well as role playing in networking.
This thesis has the purpose to investigate the oil price as the global economic factor but also to examine its implications on the worldwide economy. Thereby the determinants of the oil price are investigated by tackling the oil price itself from three different perspectives – the supply and demand framework, the prevailing world oil market structure as well as from the perspective of already statistically proven oil price determinants. In addition, the arising macroeconomic implications of oil price fluctuations on oil-importing and oil-exporting countries are examined. The investigation based on a thought experiment demonstrates the supply and demand framework to be unable to fully explain all past price changes. The examination on the prevailing market structure identifies the world oil market to be best described as a supply, pure, closed, partial and collusive form of an oligopoly. Analyzing the competitive behavior of the world oil market on three levels identifies non-OPEC producers’ competition to behave in a Cournot manner whereas among OPEC producers Saudi Arabia is identified to be a Stackelberg-follower with certain conditions while at the same time permanently bearing the ambition to become the Stackelberg-leader. The identification on the best describing oligopoly model for the overall industry is inconclusive. Investigating OPEC’s cartel hypothesis does not fully exclude its collusive behavior but denies the OPEC to be described as a prime example of a cartel. The examination of already existing econometric analyses identified a total of 13 determinants to play a key role in the oil price definition process. Investigating the arising macroeconomic implications of oil price fluctuations show oil price changes to be of great importance for the overall economic performance and is best described as a form of a positive of negative vicious circle in which the interconnected second or even third round effects intensify the implications on the macroeconomic activity.
Konzeption und Implementierung einer Cloud-basierten Sprachbedienung für das Smart Home-Labor
(2017)
This thesis investigates the effect choice options in e-commerce applications have on consumers’ decision making. Previous research showed that a large number of options
can affect consumers negatively. However, the conditions for such choice overload are unclear. After reviewing the existing research, the amount of information (entropy)
contained in a choice set and individual differences were determined as possible influencing factors in an online environment. In a choice experiment, choice sets with
varying information loads and an assessment of the Big Five personality traits were used to test the impact of the two identified factors on choice avoidance behavior. Results from chi-square-tests and a logistic regression model suggest choice overload but without entropy having an effect. A logistic regression model revealed that extraverted consumers are easier overloaded. A low Neuroticism score was found to be related to less occurrence of a too-much-choice-effect. Consumers with a high Openness score on the other hand choose one of the presented options more often and were therefore less often
overwhelmed by the assortment. An interaction effect between personality and the amount of entropy was not found. These findings extend the research on choice overload and offer valuable input for marketers targeting consumers online.
Subject of the thesis at hand is the analysis of symmetric block ciphers with a block length of 32 bit. It is meant to give a comprising overview over the topic of 32 bit block ciphers. The topic is divided in the examination of three questions. It contains a list of state of the art block ciphers with a block length of 32 bit. The block ciphers are being described, focussing on the encryption function. An SPN-based cipher with 32 bit block length is being proposed by rescaling the AES cipher.
The 32 bit block length results in certain security issues. These so called risk factors are analysed and mitigating measures are proposed. The result of the thesis is, that 32 bit block ciphers can be implemented in a secure manner. The use of 32 bit ciphers should be limited to specific use-cases and with a profound risk analysis, to determine the protection class of the data to be encrypted.
Die vorliegende Masterarbeit analysiert die Problematiken effektiver grafischer Repräsentationen in digitalen Informationssystemen, die mit besonders hoherund dynamischer Datendichte und Datenquellen einhergehen. Anschließend an die Analyse der Problematiken erarbeitet der Autor dieser Forschungsarbeit ein konzeptuelles Modell zur Bewältigung der geschilderten Problematiken, auf Basis von semantisch beschriebenen, wiederverwendbaren grafischen Visualisierungselementen und den ebenfalls semantisch beschriebenen in die Visualisierung zu überführenden Daten. Besonders hervorzuhebende Erkenntnisse dieser Masterarbeit sind die Identifikation von Qualitätskriterien zur Zielführung einer effektiven Visualisierung gemäß der visuellenWahrnehmung des menschlichen kognitiven Systems, die Notwendigkeit zur Erweiterung der Vokabularmenge der schema.org-Ontologie zur Anwendung der identifizieren Qualitätskriterien und das Auffinden geeigneter Visualisierungselemente sowie das Zuordnen der Daten zu entsprechenden Visualisierungselementen über den Aufbau und Vergleich einer Baumstruktur für sowohl die Daten als auch die der Visualisierungselemente. Diese Forschungsarbeit ist von besonderer Relevanz für Entscheider, Projektmanager und Softwareentwickler, die digitale Informationssysteme mit einer hohen Anzahl an heterogenen Datensätzen und Datenquellen entwickeln.
In this thesis, new methods for text classification are examined and compared to the current software of the DNB. Due to technical changes in the area machine learning in recent years, improvements in text classification have been achieved. The objective is to improve the subject groups allocation of the DNB and to allow a hierarchical classification based on the DDC system. The decision was made on the HDLTex tool, as the structure of the DNB data set and the DDC system, which supports a hierarchical classification, are perfectly designed for it. The use of RNN networks on both hierarchical levels improved the current software situation. Furthermore, the approach was examined, if a combination of the predictions of the two hierarchies levels leads to an additional improvement, which, however, produced a negative result. Both beginners and experts find themselves as readers of this master's thesis in the target group again.
In dieser Arbeit werden neue Verfahren zur Textklassifizierung untersucht und der aktuellen Software der DNB gegenübergestellt. Durch technische Veränderungen im Bereich Machine Learning in den letzten Jahren, konnten Verbesserungen in der Textklassifizierung erzielt werden. Dabei soll die Sachgruppenvergabe der DNB verbessert und anhand des DDC Systems eine hierarchische Klassifizierung ermöglicht werden. Die Entscheidung fiel auf das HDLTex Tool, da die Struktur des Datensatzes der DNB und das DDC System, welche eine hierarchische Klassifizierung unterstützt, perfekt darauf ausgelegt sind. Durch die Nutzung von RNN Netzen auf beiden Hierarchieebenen konnte eine Verbesserung zu der aktuellen Software erzielt werden. Weiterhin wurde der Ansatz untersucht, ob eine Kombinierung der Vorhersagen der beiden Hierarchieebenen zu einer aufbauenden Verbesserung führt, welches jedoch ein negatives Ergebnis hervorbrachte. Sowohl Anfänger als auch Experten finden sich als Leser dieser Masterarbeit in der Zielgruppe wieder.
Corporate debt volumes in emerging market economies have been increasing greatly post 2007-2008 financial crisis. Debt levels have increased across the globe however, the pace is faster in emerging markets than in advance markets. Major countries in emerging economies such as Brazil, Russian Federation, India and China (BRIC) have a large and concentrated share in growing corporate debts. Although, both company specific factors and macro level factors have impacted the corporate borrowings leading to depressed corporate earnings, financial strains and capital outflows in emerging markets the impact of company specific factors is highly pertinent and demands research. The rise in debt levels has affected the return on earnings (ROEs) of the corporate companies which in turn is adversely impacting emerging economy and its financial stability. This paper has empirically tested for the explaining effects of rising corporate debts and changing return on assets (ROAs) on ROEs of emerging market corporate by establishing a multiple regression model. A sample of 100 corporate companies from BRIC countries has been taken to test the model. The test results confirm the importance of corporate debts in predicting ROEs and possible financial strains. Finally, the regression model has been used to estimate ROEs of these corporate companies for the next 5 years with specific recommendation and policy implication to avoid financial crisis.
Die digitale Transformation stellt das Supply Chain Management vor große Herausforderungen. Es muss Antworten und Lösungen finden, um in einem global vernetzten Marktumfeld die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der Supply Chain sicherzustellen. Das Konzept der Blockchain und der Smart Contracts versprechen großes Potenzial. Gerade im Bereich der Prozessautomatisierung und der Kostensenkung, durch das Entfallen bisher notwendiger Clearingstellen. Allerdings stellt sich auch immer die Frage nach der Datensicherheit und Schutz vor unbefugter Manipulation. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und Potenziale einer Blockchain und Smart Contracts im Supply Chain Management zu identifizieren und zu beschreiben
In der vorliegenden Masterarbeit wurden verschiedene Ansteuerungsstrategien für den Betrieb von dreiphasigen Active-Neutral-Point-Clamped- (ANPC) Mittelspannungs-Netzumrichtern mit Siliziumkarbid (SiC) Halbleiterschaltelementen untersucht. Durch die Vielzahl an aktiven Schaltelementen können bei der ANPC-Topologie zur Modellierung des gewünschten Ausgangssignals zahlreiche unterschiedliche Ansteuerungsstrategien eingesetzt werden. Je nach gewählter Ansteuerungsstrategie können so unter anderem die Faktoren Schalt- und Durchlassverluste, Wirkungsgrad, Verlustverteilung, Schalter- und Ausgangsschaltfrequenz, der Oberschwingungsanteil des Ausgangssignals, sowie die maximale Spannungsbelastung der Halbleiter beeinflusst werden.
Neben der elektrotechnischen Beschreibung der aktuell eingesetzten Umrichter-Technologien wurden in dieser Arbeit primär aus aktuellen Veröffentlichungen und Dissertationen verschiedene Möglichkeiten für die Ansteuerung von ANPC-Umrichter zusammengetragen und insgesamt sieben Sinus-Pulsweiten-Modulationsstrategien (S-PWM) im Detail untersucht. Hierbei wurde für jede vorgestellte Modulationsstrategie das Grundfunktionsprinzip aufgezeigt und analysiert, sowie die sich daraus ergebenden Vor- und Nachteile herausgearbeitet.
Anschließend wurden alle vorgestellten S-PWM-Strategien in der Schaltungssimulationssoftware PLECS implementiert und diese in verschiedenen Betriebszuständen simuliert. Die Simulation ergab, dass sich bei der ANPC-ALD-Strategie eine bestmögliche Verlustverteilung zwischen den Halbleiterelementen einstellt, bei der ANPC-OOZS-Strategie die geringsten Durchlassverluste entstehen und bei den Strategien ANPC-DF, -12, -R2:1 und -SSLD im Bereich der Nulldurchgänge des Ausgangssignals an den inneren Halbleitern kurzzeitige kritische Überspannungen auftreten. Bei den Strategien ANPC-11-Sync, -ALD und -OOZS treten dagegen keine Überspannungen an den Halbleitern auf.
Ausgehend von diesen Simulationsergebnissen wurden die Strategien ANPC-DF, -ALD und -OOZS für den potentiellen Einsatz in Mittelspannungsumrichtern ausgewählt, auf einem FPGA-Board implementiert und damit eine geeignete Niederspannungstestplattform in Betrieb genommen. Durch praktische Messungen auf dieser Testplattform konnten die Simulationsergebnisse in einem ersten Schritt verifiziert werden. Sowohl das erstellte Simulationsmodell als auch die in Betrieb genommene Testplattform können somit zukünftig für weitere Untersuchungen im Bereich der ANPC-Umrichter-Ansteuerungsstrategien eingesetzt werden.
The aim of this study consists oftwo main objectives: First,to investigatethe penetration and preferences of fintech solutions from the payments sector within the studied population, as well as the elaboration of a forecast for the upcoming years.Second, to examinethe main elements that influence the intention of young customers when deciding to adopt fintech-basedpayment solutions. Existing research has tested several factorsfrom which the variables of trust, transaction efficiency and ease of use are included onthis paper. Additionally,the value-added propositionfrom this studyis represented by the incorporation of sustainability-related purposes into thisanalysiswith the intention of reflecting the increasing presence of efforts to integrate this component within thefinancial industryin recent years.A research model is proposed and tested by including elements based on theTechnology Adoption Model (TAM). By exploring the results of primary data through asurvey with 463 responses from university studentsandexamining secondary sourcesof information, the findings of this study demonstratethat all four tested variables have a positive impact on the intention of using fintech-based payment solutions.Sustainability-related purposes do not play a major role in the decision of using these apps, however, even with a minimal influence, theeffect on intention is positiveand statistically significant. The findings of this study pose important implications for stakeholders within the fintech spectrum whose purposes are related to increasing the intention of young consumers towards using these productsandto provide enoughevidence of the importance of designing incentives that fuel sustainability stewardshipwithin the financial sector.
Population growth, urbanization and climate change are regarded as the megatrends of today's society. This goes hand in hand with a high consumption of resources and pollution. Indeed, these megatrends are mutually reinforcing. A significant part of this is due to mobility in daily life. Technological change such as digitalization, creates innovative concepts to improve mobility and to deal with these changing circumstances. A comprehensive concept in this respect is mobility as a service. This thesis focuses on the identification of the mobility ecosystem and thus on the various stakeholders. First of all, it deals with the definition of mobility as a service in order to identify the ecosystem in particular in the second step. Mobility is classified and analyzed by working on the basis of secondary literature and a quantitative as well as qualitative methodology in expert interviews. This allows conclusions about the relationships, prerequisites and obstacles within the ecosystem and stakeholders.
The results of the thesis suggest that collaboration within the ecosystem is a prerequisite for the implementation of mobility as a service. Furthermore, that mobility as a service should ensure adaptability, since local infrastructures differ between Germany, USA and China, but also within these countries. This adaption process is iterative. The obstacles are interoperability and the willingness to cooperate. Moreover, the results imply that mobility as a service will assert itself more quickly in urban areas due to factors such as the pressure to act and the availability of mobility services as well as the number of customers.
Digital twin as a service : Ressourcenmanagement mit Energiedaten aus cyber-physischen Systemen
(2019)
Die Energiewende führt zu einer Paradigmenänderung. Der Zeitpunkt der Energieabnahme wird sich zunehmend an dem der Energieerzeugung orientierten. Die Steuerung des Energiebedarfs kann durch energieorientierte Produktionsplanung gesteigert werden. Dies erfordert eine Vorhersage des Energiebedarfs. Hierfür wird ein System entwickelt, das eine Modellierung mittels maschinellen Lernens nutzt. Die Datenbasis wird durch eine Vorgehensweise zur Abstrahierung von Fertigungsmaschinen erzeugt. Das System besteht aus gruppierten Microservices, es berücksichtigt die unterschiedlichen Anforderungen der Modelle an die Infrastruktur. Die Modelle sind in digitalen Zwillingen integriert, die als Dienst genutzt werden. Hierdurch ist eine effiziente Adaption von ˜Äderungen an Fertigungsmaschine oder Modell-Methodik möglich. Eine exemplarische Anwendung der Abstraktionsmethode und der Modellierung mittels neuronalen Netzes demonstrieren die Umsetzbarkeit.
The current master thesis makes an effort to investigate relationships between perceived service quality, membership satisfaction, and membership loyalty at “Gesellschaft für technische Kommunikation – tekom Deutschland e.V.”, applying adjusted SERVQUAL model. To attain the formulated objectives in scope of the current research, the “Satisfaction – Profit Chain” model is applied, consisting of “Attribute Performance”, represented by SERVQUAL service quality dimensions supposed to serve as antecedent of the second component of the chain “Membership Satisfaction”, and “Membership Loyalty” in order to investigate relations between these three. The findings of the study are supposed to serve as a basis for altering the existing CRM Strategy in order to eliminate current issues within the association, develop strategic marketing capabilities, and create value for members’ attraction and retention.
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 object of the present master thesis is to understand the environment of the sales channel of Global Projects, its opportunities and challenges for Hansgrohe SE in order to clearly formulate a practicable, medium-term strategy for the period of 2020-2023 for the referred sales channel. A mixed method approach was used in this thesis, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Raw data such as the channel’s net sales during 2016-2019 were observed from the internal sales system in order to understand the relevance in the past of the different business segments within the sales channel of Global Projects. Also, different external sources such as databases and reports from different consulting firms and international institutions were analyzed in order to determine the sales potential of the different business segments for the period of 2020-2023. A PEST analysis was conducted in order to identify the changes and effects of the external macroenvironment on the company’s strategic position. And finally, a competitor analysis was also conducted in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company’s main competitors and the areas where the company should aim to improve. All previous research and analysis was complemented with expert interviews that were conducted with experts from ten different subsidiaries of the company who are in charge or involved in the sales channel of Global Projects in their respective regions, who helped defining the sales potential of the existing business segments and relevance of new segments that should be considered in order to develop the channel’s strategy. The result of the study suggested that the residential segment will represent the biggest sales potential for the channel followed by the hospitality segment. While there are other segments such as marine, retirement homes and bathroom pods & modular buildings which are expected to gain relevance in the future in some specific regions. As result of all research and analysis conducted throughout this thesis, the strategy and plan for the sales channel of Global Projects for the period of 2020-2023 was designed in line with the company’s strategic position.
All the companies need to plan and budget for future. For planning they need sale forecasting so that accordingly they can manage their supply chain efficiently. Companies do have historical data which can be used for forecasting sale. However, the accuracy of the predictive model depends on the quality of data which is being fed to the model. Poor data quality may result in poor forecasting. Hence, there is need to work on data quality management and to formulate some generic approach for ensuring data quality. Besides, it is also required to detect abnormal sale from the past data, get the reason for those abnormal sale records and remove them from the data. Subsequently, cleaned data can be used to work on predictive modelling which will forecast sales with the most likelihood of near to accurate results. These historical data can be analyzed as a time series data by using as simple time series analysis as ARIMA or by using complicated neural network. Evaluation of these predictive models will help in making a decision of selecting a best fitted model for future forecasting. The thesis aims to work on data quality management of raw data and then analyze time series data to determine predictive model for forecasting. Besides, thesis also aims to understand how data is collected and how organization performs sales processes. This would not only facilitate in finding and bridging the gaps in the business processes but also in preparing the organization for the state-of-the-art technologies to enhance their business for future.
Life insurance penetration rate in Malaysia has been stagnant in the past few years although a few InsurTech companies set up in Malaysia recently. Prior researches on InsurTech fail to clarify the gap of the target customers’ and the insurance experts’ opinions on how to enhance the customer experience in online life insurance with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). To address this, a model is recommended based on the literature review on similar articles and survey results conducted on both target customers and insurance experts. The recommended model has four main components: official website by InsurTech companies collaborated with traditional life insurers, customer support, customer service and customer engagement.
Prostate segmentation is an essential part of brachytherapy treatment planning, in order to perform the procedure with required accuracy. Nowadays, segmentation of the prostate is still carried out manually during the planning steps, therefore it is a process that can be tedious, time-consuming and prone to inter-observer error. Much effort has been made in development of an computer-based algorithm that can perform prostate segmentation automatically, but only with appearance of deep learning methods, more promising algorithms emerged. So far, convolutional neural networks demonstrated excellent results in fully automatic prostate segmentation. Development of such an algorithm and training an efficient deep learning model is a challenging task, and requires a lot of optimizations. The objective of this study is development and evaluation of an algorithm for image processing based on deep learning methods that can perform fully automatic segmentation of the prostate gland in transrectal ultrasound images. Additionally, we made an overview of the development process, along with challenges and their solutions and demonstrated an algorithm implemented using Python and Tensorflow library, consisted of preprocessing, augmentation, training and validation, postprocessing and validation steps, which is able to successfully carry out fully automatic prostate segmentation with expert level of accuracy. Finally, we presented our implementation of fully convolutional neural network model and results that are encouraging to continue with model improvements and potential clinical application.
Entrepreneurship research faces a crossroads and a new approach is needed to better understand entrepreneurial behavior. Incorporating neuroscience to comprehend the entrepreneurial mindset seems promising. Nevertheless, the potential of neuroscience for entrepreneurship research is only slowly being realized. Based on an extensive literature review, this thesis examines the emerging role of neuroscience with respect to entrepreneurship. Referring to the model of the entrepreneurial process, this thesis investigates how entrepreneurs discover, exploit, and finally capture opportunities. In this context, explanations regarding trait, expertise, adaptation, and mindset of the entrepreneur are relevant for further examination. Moreover, decision-making in uncertain situations is analyzed. In this context, the dynamic interplay between the reflective and reflexive system is considered. Ultimately, this thesis provides recommendations for organizational innovation to enhance entrepreneurial
activity.
Over the past few decades, there has been an increasing amount of academic literature recognizing the significance of innovation systems. Entrepreneurship is an important component of an innovation system, contributing to the enhancement of regional as well as national innovation. The transfer of knowledge and technology between science and the economy has become particularly important to reinforce overall innovation performance. Today, universities and other institutions of higher education play a crucial role in the system of innovation and have evolved as active and highly relevant participants in the innovation system. Therefore, various supportive measures have been developed to increase the level of innovation at universities and to drive entrepreneurial activities. However, due to the ever-growing entrepreneurial support environment and the great variety of support programs,the distinction between support measures has become unclear. Consequently, the main objective of the present research work is to contribute to the overall understanding of supportive measures at German universities and other institutions of higher education.
Eight experts were interviewed to ensure the compilation of meaningful data. The research findings highlight the importance of a solid network of external experts as well as collaboration with other entrepreneurial institutions. Moreover, the research results indicated that an organizational structure with decentralized decision-making processes and a greater scope of actions enhances operational efficiency. While considering the indistinctness of different support programs and specific terms, although some significant differences were evaluated, overall, the results present a clear tendency toward a more cautious use of specialist terms, therefore substantiating the missing preciseness.
Financial technology, popularly known as Fintech, has disrupted and revolutionized the financial service sector. Today, institutions such as banks are adapting digital transformation with the help of technological devices. There is no doubt that Fintech has transformed the way we bank. Nevertheless, there has been a growing need of understanding the future of financial institution with a holistic approach. Regulatory and governmental support towards maximizing opportunity, minimizing risk, and integrating financial inclusion is needed to accelerate the economy and attain sustainable development.
The following thesis aims to study financial inclusion and how to achieve it in the Fintech industry. It comprises of four areas of influence; market, social, technology and regulatory while emphasizing on the economic development, social progress, uplifting digital finance and robust regulatory system in the globalized financial market. The research aims to close the gap among the regulatory, economic, technological and social aspects of Fintech and then develop a pathway to attain financial inclusion. In addition, the objective of the research is to provide a comprehensive strategic plan towards a prespecified future in finance. This was achieved with the help of normative scenario planning. The result was calculated using scenario planning software INKA 4. The result consisted of four distinct scenarios supporting the pathway to implement financial inclusion in Fintech sector by the year 2030.
Zombie companies are widely discussed ever since the ‘lost decade’ in Japan. The prolonged recession was experienced for almost two decades and in great deal attributed to the zombie companies. The Eurozone is currently in recession and is experiencing a growing incidence of zombie companies. If this trend is not stopped but encouraged by the negative interest rates, there is a possibility for a prolonged recession or even secular stagnation. This study aims to examine the reasons for the emergence and existence of zombie companies in the past. It discusses the implications zombie companies had on the aggregate macroeconomic indicators. In discusses how zombie companies should be treated and whether they must inevitably be foreclosed. To determine the severity of the problem, it examines the incidence of zombie companies in selected industries in the Euro periphery countries based on their interest coverage ratio (ICR). The results show that there is no significant incidence in the selected markets. It concludes whether currently, the zombie companies are a real threat to the economy of the Eurozone. Furthermore, it suggests ways how the problem of zombie companies should be prevented and treated.
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.