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Course of studies
Sales promotion are commonly used tool by marketers to manipulate consumer toward a certain offer or product. Attractiveness of a promotion can increase the demand of the promoted product. Monetary and non-monetary are considers the two main types of sales promotions. Monetary sales promotion, also known as price promotion, will provide immediate price discount upon purchase, for example 50% discount. Non-monetary sales promotions or premium promotion, on the other hand, usually grant consumer an extra free product or additional service for free. Previous studies also demonstrated that different sales promotion affect consumer behavior differently. Consumers’ value perception can be influenced by several factors. For instance, marketers use specific “phrase” such as “value pack” to influence consumer price perception. Rationally, consumers’ value perception should remain unchanged regardless of the phrases use to describe the promotion with same discount value. In this study, we examine the impact two sales promotion those are “50% discount” and “buy one get one free” on value perception of Thais consumers. These two deals have equal economic value but perceived differently by consumer. We aim to answer the question “does two different deals with the same value impact value perception of the same product differently?” In order to obtain logical answer, two set of questionnaires were send out to observe the maximum price which consumer willing to pay for “instant noodles” and “soy protein powder”. Unfortunately, the result from our survey were not significant enough for us to derive a concrete conclusion. We also discuss about potential cause of the unexpected result and interpret our result for better understanding. Even without a significant finding, this paper address that different sales promotions impact consumer in various ways supported by other literatures and also self-assumption.
Industry 4.0, a term coined at Hannover Messe in Germany in 2011, is believed to be the next disruptive force, driving human progress and innovation. The advent of technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Big Data, and new Mobile Technologies, fuel this disruption. To enable Industry 4.0, mankind is dependent on technological infrastructure, provided by companies, operating in the semiconductor industry. Over the last years, these companies have increased their profits and their stocks are currently trading near all-time highs. Yet, uncertainty created by the disruption of Industry 4.0, the growing influence of China on the semiconductor market, economic insecurities created by political uncertainties, like the 2020 US Presidential election, and the risk and implications of a second global wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, make the equity valuation of leading and established companies in the semiconductor industry exceptionally challenging. This paper examines, how different equity valuation methods compare under said circumstances and shows sophisticated valuation methods must be used to limit valuation error. Further, this paper gives an estimation of the possible ranges of value and suggests the industry may currently be overvalued.
This thesis examines the culture concerning the Celebrity-Endorsed Advertisements in Luxury Brands. Culture and its value have an impact on the effectiveness of the advertisement. Culture can also impact celebrity endorsement as a celebrity can be seen differently according to the cultural pattern. Luxury is also seen differently according to the cultural values, and brand can have an impact on the value of the luxury. Since the advertisement is a very crucial tool for marketing strategies, commercials should be made according to the values of the culture to increase its effectiveness. Culture is a group phenomenon, and it influences the behavior of an individual which impacts the brand and product. Culture creates a lifestyle and new markets; it also allows market adaptation according to the local taste. Culture helps us to understand the changing attitude of the market towards a product or service. Culture plays a role in the perception of the product and advertisement as people from a different country will perceive and interpret things differently according to their culture and experience.
This thesis addresses various diverse questions related to the culture regarding celebrity-endorsed advertisements in luxury brands. The foremost question which addressed is; the culture impact on the customer's perception of the brand image for celebrity-endorsed advertisements as to luxury brands. This thesis is based on the Qualitative research method, including descriptive case study-based research with observations, following an inductive approach to generate a theory, model, and explanation by analyzing the data to finding patterns. This thesis follows the research task based on theory and applying research models to new situations, explaining phenomena, and analyzing the relationships. The information and data for the research are taken from the online & social media platforms YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are used for TV commercials. The data is analyzed through observation by checking the advertisement like and dislike on the online platform. How often they are comment and what kinds of statements are used for an advertisement. Afterwards, the data is analyzed according to the culture models. The findings of this thesis answer and highlight the challenges along with the research questions. The study helps us to understand what culture is and how to target the market more effectively. It explains the importance of the brand and the value of the luxury associated with it. This thesis helps us to understand the impact of the celebrity in the advertainments and how to use them effectively. It also helps us to understand consumer behavior and the perception of the product value. This thesis highlights the fact that what can be seen offensive in the advertisement by a different culture and its impacts on the brand image.
This thesis explores the emerging phenomenon of second screen marketing, by providing a holistic view on this topic. The first part presents an extensive literature review, approaching second screen marketing from an advertiser’s view. Second screening and user groups are defined and common second screen measures are presented and evaluated.
The second part examines the consumer’s perception of a brand using second screen marketing, comparing two age groups (18 to 30 years and 50 to 62 years). Brand perception is measured following suggestions from Low and Lamb Jr. (2000), using a three-dimensional construct consisting of brand attitude, brand image and perceived quality. Main findings entail, that younger audiences perceive a brand using second screen marketing significantly more positive than the older generation. While perceived quality for both age groups is evaluated neutrally, brand image and brand attitude scores show more extreme values. This is relevant for advertisers, as indications about potential target groups, content creation and success of marketing campaigns can be derived: Especially younger consumers are potential target groups and perceive second screen marketing as modern and innovative, but dishonest. Concerning content, strong implications about quality, an uniform brand image and the communication of trustworthiness should be a focus to marketers.
Despite the fact, that women’s underrepresentation in finance is tried to be encountered by legal regulations, little research has been conducted on why most women still decide to not pursue a career in finance. Thus, finance currently remains to be a male-dominating sector. However, which potential consequences homogeneous versus heterogenous groups in finance have on the success of financial decision-making results in companies in the long term is still little studied. According to this research gap, this thesis sets out to research the cause of gender imbalance as well as the impact of the perception of gender differences in finance from a neuroscientific perspective.
First, it is examined whether distinct biological factors in men and women lead to different interests, skills, and abilities that explain a superior natural suitability to perform in finance. Further, it is discussed how the brain processes financial decisions and which internal- as well as external factors impact decision-making. This will be set in context with major findings from psychologist Iain McGilchrist and his hemispheres-approach, and Daniel Kahnemann and his dual-process theory. Further, it is investigated how particularly women respond to stereotype-threat, applying the latest theories by neuroscientist Gina Rippon, and how this influences women’s ability to perform in the financial sector. According to this, it is explained how deep-rooted gender roles, stereotyping and unconscious biases lead to self-fulfilling prophecies in performance, and thus, restrain the advancement of gender diversity in finance. Finally, it is researched in what way homogenous groups in finance are susceptible to overconfidence and groupthink and to what extend enhancing gender diversity can improve financial decision-making. According to this, neuroscientific strategies that counteract unconscious biases and irrational decision-making in finance are discussed.
Successful employee retention remains one of the most critical issues in human resource management. Various retention strategies have been proposed, examined, and empirically tested for centuries to retain valued employees. This research proposes a psychological explanation on the effectiveness of so-called pay-to-quit incentives and hypothesizes that such anti-incentives might be more beneficial than traditional incentives with regards to employee retention. Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Prospect Theory, and Social Identity Theory help to illustrate the underlying psychological mechanisms of pay-to-quit incentives and their impact on choice, attitudes, cognitions, and behavior.
Innovative and successful food waste management solutions often happened to have either an economic, ecological, or social positive impact. There are different types of food waste that are wasted at different stages of the supply chain and sustainable management treat this issue in its entirety.
A resource-efficiency handling of food creates and saves value in the food industry, helps reduce climate change and brings food security. Quantitative evidence from financial and nonfinancial benefits from business cases of countries such as the United Kingdom, proved that avoiding food wasting build a win-win situation for companies and consumers. Processes will be exposed to accelerate the implementation of food waste reduction policies at every stage of the supply chain and at every organization level.
This paper is aimed to measure the global degree of food waste and loss with trustworthy instruments and to provide a range of the most efficient and adapted ways to prevent it.
Some focus will be made in certain parts of the world because of the data’s availability and reliability. It also interests us to know what percentage of waste occurs, at which stage of the supply chain, what are the current existing solutions to avoid food waste and
loss and how is sustainable management playing the most efficient role.
Food wasting will be distinguished into two categories: organizations of entities (as countries, governments, cities, and companies) and individuals. Providing guidelines to be able to manage a sustainable production up till consumption will be the core concern of this paper.
When scaling, startups face managerial challenges and a downfall in innovation. A growing team and the resulting increased communication and organizational complexity bring issues previously not existing. Accountability Systems can assist startups overcome the mentioned issues and maintain their essence of innovation, vital for their success.
This paper discusses the relevance and benefits of implementing formal managerial systems in a growing startup. By mapping out the interdependence of culture, innovation and growth, it is demonstrated how Accountability Systems can support the preservation of an innovative culture when scaling a startup.
In a time when innovation is often disregarded due to a focus on process efficiency, Accountability Systems can provide a valuable tool for managing transition. This thesis serves as a general evaluation of Accountability Systems and their benefits. It is important to note that this paper is not intended to serve as a directly adaptable guide for startups.
Die Arbeitswelt wird zunehmend dynamischer und komplexer und was heute noch als neu gilt könnte morgen schon wieder veraltet sein. Im Rahmen dieser Ausarbeitung wird eine Bestandsaufnahme der drei Bereiche Führung-/Organisationstheorie, Digitaler Wandel und der Wertewandel erfasst und die aus jedem Bereich resultierenden Implikationen für Unternehmen und Führungskräfte ermittelt. Dabei wird in der Führungstheorie besonders der Ansatz der Ambidextrie-Führung betrachtet, dessen Modell der gleichzeitigen Ausrichtung eines Unternehmens auf explorative und exploitative Aktivitäten, in den letzten Jahren große Zustimmung erfahren hat. Um die praktische Umsetzung des theoretischen Konzepts der Ambidextrie-Führung untersuchen zu können wurden dabei die beiden Führungsstile der Transformationalen- und der Transaktionalen Führung auf die Aktivitätenfelder der Exploration und Exploitation übertragen. Damit Unternehmen und Führungskräfte einer ganzheitlichen Mitarbeiterführung nachgehen können und dadurch die wahrgenommene Qualität der Führung steigern ist ein holistisches Verständnis aller drei Bereiche notwendig.
This thesis tries to answer questions with respect to a future cultured meat industry, that is what influences consumer behavior and which consumers will be likely to buy cultured meat products. In addition I am trying to answer the question if there even will be a cultured meat industry in the future or whether the current developments can be seen more like a bubble that will disappear once enough money is burned with no profits made. Answering these research questions was quite a challenge, even though I did an extensive amount of research the lack of available data was not ideal. Therefore, I need to acknowledge that with more available data more precise conclusions could have been drawn. Nevertheless, through my research I could conclude that the cultured meat industry, which is shortly before bringing the first products to market is unlikely to disappear. The technology seems sound and the concept behind it seems to make sense. Regarding potential consumers I concluded that marketers should try to identify consumers who go through extensive problem solving when making food or rather lifestyle choices. These consumers might be best to approach when launching the first marketing campaigns for a cultured meat product.
This study is aimed at valuing two companies in the IT services industry with different valuation approaches. Therefore, the preconditions for an accurate and meaningful business value as well as the procedure, strengths and limitations of these approaches are examined. Additionally, the accuracy of the results is determined through comparison of valuation estimates with their corresponding stock prices occurring within the three months following the business valuations.
Furthermore, it is examined if one valuation approach is superior in terms of accuracy. Finally, to verify the quality and explanatory power of the valuation results, they are compared with the outcomes of the study on the information content of equity analyst reports by Paul Asquith, Michael B. Mikhail and Andrea S. Au. The results of the business valuations show that within the three-month period, no price target was exactly achieved by the corresponding stock prices.
Furthermore, no valuation approach could be determined that is significantly more accurate than the others. It can be concluded that despite some limitations in the explanatory power of the valuations, the average percentage approximations of Mastercard’s and Visa’s stock prices to target prices were only slightly below those of the comparative study. In view of the fact that the research capacities and experience behind these business valuations are significantly lower than those of the top analysts in the comparative study, the results are considered consistent with the outcomes of the study on the information content of equity analyst reports.
In recent decades, the topic of increasing wealth and income inequalities has received growing attention in research. The focus was frequently placed on examining past developments and influencing factors, which might have produced the present distributions.
This thesis attempts to summarize the effects of past developments and tendencies on the distribution of income and wealth of households based on the findings of existing academic literature. An understanding of the underlying forces is particularly important to respond correctly and effectively to rising inequality. In addition, this thesis aims at presenting the distribution of income and wealth in the euro area with respect to similarities and differences across euro area countries. For this purpose, data provided through the Household Finance and Consumption Survey has been used. Furthermore, the observations have been compared to corresponding data on income and wealth distributions in the United States, allowing for a better assessment of the circumstances in the euro area. The Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Census Bureau published data on household wealth and income in the United States, which has been utilized in this thesis. The observed points in time are 2010 and 2014.
The conducted investigations and analyses yielded the result that relevant developments have been the process of globalization, the technological advancement, the evolution of labour markets, the growing importance of capital, the changes in governmental policies and societal developments. Furthermore, it could be shown that both income and wealth tend to be unequally distributed within and between euro area countries. In fact, wealth appeared to be much more concentrated than income. Large heterogeneity across countries was detected. Nevertheless, the degree of inequality is less severe than the one observed in the United States.
The study analyses the German immigration profile and its impact on the labour market, put into a global context. An extensive literature review and an empirical analysis provide insights into the current situation of migration in Germany and on a global level. Furthermore, profiles of a global migrant and German immigrant will be created. For the analysis of the labour market, selected research articles provide econometric results that are being used to determine the impact of immigrants on the labour market on a global level as well as in Germany.
These two main areas of immigration are then basis for the comparison of Germany and the global level. The main goal is to find out, whether Germany is in a particularly challenging situation with migration and its impact on the labour market.
The results indicate firstly, it faces the second highest number of immigration worldwide as of 2019. Secondly, the recent high inflow of asylum-seekers has to be absorbed in society and labour markets and thirdly, Germany has to compete against other countries with more attractive pull-factors for highly-skilled workers. Indeed, it can be concluded that Germany is in a challenging situation regarding migration. Nontheless, the labour market impact results show little variation comparing Germany and the global level and indicate positive effects of immigration on certain skill-levels. However, there is no ultimate consensus reached so far.
The contributions of migrants will then be further elaborated, connected to migration patterns observed and result in an outlook on migration and in recommendations for policymakers.
An analysis of the inter-rater reliability of ESG ratings within the consumer staples industry
(2020)
The aim of this study is to gain further insights into whether ESG ratings of the same firms from different rating agencies differ. To this end, this study examines and compares in particular the ratings of the providers Bloomberg, Sustainalytics and MSCI for companies in the consumer staples industry. The study comes to the conclusion that there are in some cases significant differences between these three providers in terms of the respective ESG ratings. Furthermore, a company-size bias is shown for Bloomberg and Sustainalytics ESG ratings. It appears that these agencies rate companies with a large market capitalization better than firms with a lower market value. These large discrepancies in ESG ratings of companies within the consumer staples industry and individual rating problems, such as the company-size bias, mean that today's ESG ratings tend to be not reliable and not valid. The study shows that ESG ratings will have to change a lot in the near future in order to contribute positively to the investment selection of socially responsible investors.
This study aims to deliver a strategic and systematic analysis about the consumer loans banking business with the integration of industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 itself comprise of a lot of things in regards of advance technology being used in order to create more value to the company. The purpose of this study also determine which components of industry 4.0 are suitable and applicable in the consumer loans banking business. This thesis uses secondary data as a primary resource to provide research objective. The secondary data collected through the use of published journal literature as well as the academic literatures. The research starts by providing the general information and literature about the consumer loans banking business and the industry 4.0 as well. Following by the reason why the consumer loans banking business need the technological advancement of industry 4.0. Next, this thesis also gathers the quantitative data related to financial measurement to provide more understanding the consumer loans banking business. The analysis is carry out by using the three level of environmental analysist segmentation in which commonly use for the industry analysis. The first factor is the PEST analysis, it resembling the external factor of the industry, second is the Porter’s five forces to explaining the operating forces within the industry, the third is the value chain analysis. The findings of this thesis pose important implication for bank consumer loans business stakeholders with the purpose to integrate or related to industry 4.0 technological advancement, providing enough information about the keys factor and analysis behind the industry.
This thesis talks about the relation between investor sentiment, stock return and trading volume in the German stock market. Six Granger causality tests were performed in order to determine, whether one of the above mentioned factors is indicative of the others. The results imply that investor sentiment is indicative of both, stock return and trading volume in the specified time period. However, there is no further significant evidence for other relations among the variables. The results are mostly in line with the literature available on this topic and back up the importance of the concept of investor sentiment as investor sentiment delivers an attempt to explain why investors behave irrationally on the stock market. Hence, the factors influencing investor sentiment should be subject to further research in order to gain a broader understanding of the topic.
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.
The well-substantiated “cheerleader effect” proposes that individuals in groups are perceived to be more attractive compared to when they are presented in isolation. With the aim of finding out whether this effect is applicable to additional dimensions of social perception, we investigated attractiveness, salary, vanity and intelligence judgements in two methodologically distinct experiments. We could not detect differences in ratings between the isolated and group presentations of individuals in a between-subjects design but found evidence supporting the existence of the cheerleader and the “banker effect” in the within-subjects design. Besides an increase in attractiveness, replicating the cheerleader effect, individuals were as well perceived to be earning higher salaries when surrounded by others, thus establishing the banker effect and further emphasising the actual impact of group context on trait judgements. The supplementary finding that both effects do not occur simultaneously within the same person creates new pathways for identifying their underlying causes and deriving possible explanations.
Analyse der Einflussfaktoren auf die Zulassungen von privaten Personenkraftwagen in Deutschland
(2020)
Emissionen sind zu einem kontroversen Thema im Straßenverkehr avanciert, wodurch die Zulassungen von privaten Personenkraftwagen beeinflusst werden. Neben Emissionen beeinflussen weitere Faktoren die Zulassungen, wie Urbanisierung und Car-Sharing- Angebote. Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit untersucht, wie sich aktuelle Einflussfaktoren auf die Zulassungen privater Personenkraftwagen in Deutschland auswirken. Des Weiteren wird untersucht, welche Auswirkungen Restriktionen infolge von Emissionszielen auf herkömmliche Personenkraftwagen mit Verbrennungsmotoren haben. Restriktionen in Kombination mit industriellen Innovationen, gaben den Anstoß für die Einführung von Elektromotoren. Ziel ist es, den Stellenwert des Personenkraftwagens in Deutschland zu bewerten und Einflussfaktoren auf die Zulassungen nach Motorart zu analysieren. Aktuelle verkehrsbezogene Trends wurden recherchiert und mit Hilfe von aktuellen quantitativen sowie qualitativen Studien evaluiert. Die Ergebnisse geben Auskunft darüber, welche Faktoren die Zulassungen insgesamt und von Elektroautos beeinflussen und welche dieser Faktoren eine Auswirkung die nachhaltige Entwicklung des Personenverkehrs haben.
Die Automobilindustrie ist im Wandel. Die vorliegende Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die umweltpolitischen, gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftspolitischen Einflussfaktoren, die den Umstieg von Fahrzeugen mit Verbrennungsmotor auf Fahrzeuge mit nachhaltigeren, alternativen Antriebskonzepten mobilisieren. Die Elektrifizierung des Antriebsstrangs hat finanzielle Auswirkungen auf die Halter von batterieelektrischen Fahrzeugen, die in dieser Arbeit betrachtet werden.
Das Ziel der Bachelorthesis ist es, die Veränderung in der Cost of Ownership von Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV-Fahrzeugen) zu analysieren und deren Auswirkungen zur Sicherstellung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Porsche Fahrzeugen zu identifizieren. Dazu werden die Cost of Ownership-Berechnungen des Porsche Taycan mit seinen direkten Wettbewerbern aus dem Premiumsegment aufgestellt und miteinander verglichen. Anhand weiterer Cost of Ownership-Bewertungen von Fahrzeugen mit batterieelektrischem Antrieb, hybridem Antrieb und konventionellem Verbrennungsmotor aus dem Kleinwagen- und Geländewagensegment, sind die beeinflussbaren Kostentreiber der Cost of Ownership-Komponenten Versicherungskosten und Instandhaltungskosten bei BEV-Fahrzeugen identifiziert worden.
Die Resultate der Cost of Ownership-Vergleiche sind für den technischen Aftersales der Porsche AG im Rahmen der Produktbeeinflussung von großer Bedeutung. Die Versicherungskosten, Wartungskosten und Verschleißreparaturkosten können optimal beeinflusst werden, um in den Unterhaltskosten die Sicherstellung von Porsche Fahrzeugen im Wettbewerbsumfeld zu gewährleisten.
Allgeier ES has recently bought the company GES. This company focuses on software applications for the public sector. Therefore, the business model of GES differs from the business modell of Allgeier ES. Nevertheless, GES should be integrated into the reporting system of Allgeier under the name Business Unit Public Sector. In scope of this work the requirements for the reporting of the business unit public sector are identified. This thesis deals with the question how the theories of contribution margin accounting can be applied to improve the reporting of Allgeier ES, especially for the new Business Unit Public Sector. It also analyzes if a multi-level contribution margin accounting is necessary. The disadvantages of absorption costing are lined out together with the reason why contribution margin accounting might be the better choice to make short term business decisions. This thesis also describes how the calculation of the hourly cost rate affects the contribution margin for different reporting objects. The profit center and cost center structure also influences the contribution margin. Hence, in scope of this thesis, the effects of the profit and cost center structures on the contribution margin are lined out. This thesis also lines out how the multi-level contribution margin accounting can be applied on a profit center calculation. Additionally, there is a discussion if the company overhead should be allocated to the Business Unit. This Thesis considers the arguments against and for the allocation of company overhead.
A response to the Global Financial Crisis was the introduction of the Basel III regulatory requirements. The newly adapted Basel accord should incorporate lessons learned such as the need for counteracting the procyclicality of the previous Basel II regulation and the missing liquidity and leverage standards. Spain, however, had already implemented a countercyclical macroprudential instrument as well as granular credit register, for monitoring unfavourable credit developments before this regulation and was still not able to mitigate the double-tip recession that started in 2008.
Therefore, this thesis discusses the financial stability protection potential of macroprudential instruments like the ones implemented with Basel III and macroprudential statistic such as the new credit register AnaCredit. Spain has been taken as an empirical example for examining the instruments’ efficiency due to the pioneering steps towards macroprudential measures.
The results show that Spain had already implemented very useful measures which definitely have the potential of contributing to financial soundness. The amendment to the efficiency of these measures is the prerequisite of continuous improvement and complementary policy actions. Otherwise excessive credit growth developments, which can initiate financial instability, cannot be detected or controlled sufficiently as it was the case in Spain.
The limitation to this analysis is the need for further observation of the developments in the Euro system. This is important especially for the Liquidity and Leverage components of Basel III, as there have not been similar measures implemented in Spain. In the future it has to be monitored if the Basel III instruments and AnaCredit actually detect the vulnerabilities before a systemic collapse or whether the financial development of the countries remains similar to the Spanish development.
New developments in decentralized ledger technologies may have a huge impact on how we perceive and use money now and in the future. Most notably, it has led to the development of cryptocurrencies and a variation thereof –stablecoins. This thesis discusses the potential impact of Proof of Work based cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin on the money market and the central bank’s ability to maintain control over the money supply. The IS-LM model is used to evaluate the effects of a private-issued digital currency. However, due to the characteristics of POW based cryptocurrencies, their impact on the money market is neglectable. In contrast, private-issued stablecoins of large international businesses with the potential of gaining enough users to overcome hindering network effects may pose a serious threat to the financial system, if there is no regulation on their usage.
As a response to this development and combined with the phenomenon of a declining cash usage in many countries, central banks have started to conduct research in their own digital currency, namely central bank digital currency (CBDC). Countries such as Sweden or The Bahamas have already started with the implementation of trial phases of their respective CBDC. However, design choices of the country’s digital currency differ due to financial, geographical, and cultural circumstances, among others. Nevertheless, many countries have utilized decentralized ledger technologies as the underlying technology for CBDC, showing its promising potential for further research and future developments.
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.
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.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often said to increase efficiency which is why it is especially interesting to companies seeking possibilities to improve existing processes. Consequently, this thesis, written in cooperation with the Corporate Communications and Marketing / Public Affairs department at Marquardt GmbH, explores opportunities in this field by determining prerequisites that should be met when considering working with AI as well as risks that should be taken care of. In order to determine the department’s level and progress in the field of AI, the employees involved in the existing tasks and processes completed a questionnaire, resulting in the department being at the lowest level. Moreover, providers of tools within the fields of social bots, document classification, content marketing, media planning and sentiment analysis are compared with the help of utility analyses, allowing for a recommendation regarding what the next steps of the department should be. The fields were chosen premised on the emplyoees’ current tasks while information required for the analyses was obtained by contacting the providers as well as their websites. Based on findings of the thesis, the department is recommended not to follow the trend of AI immediately as the effort required would be disproportionate to the return.
Global agierende Unternehmen entsenden ihre Arbeitnehmer zur Weiterqualifizierung und Ausübung ihrer Tätigkeiten ins Ausland. Um die Arbeitnehmer zu schützen sowie die Dienstleistungsfreiheit weiter zu fördern wurde 2018 die Richtlinie 96/71/EG über die Entsendung von Arbeitnehmern im Rahmen der Erbringung von Dienstleistungen reformiert. In Deutschland wurde sie 2020 in das Arbeitnehmerentsendegesetz über-führt. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die allgemeinen Auswirkungen der Reform zu analy-sieren und Umsetzungsmöglichkeiten für die AUDI AG zu erarbeiten. Dazu werden fundierte Kenntnisse über die Richtlinien bezüglich Entsendungen in der Europäischen Union, insbesondere in Deutschland aufgebaut. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Entsendungen innerhalb des europäischen Wirtschaftsraumes aufgrund strengerer Regelungen und der Komplexität der Umsetzungsmaßnahmen abnehmen könnten.
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.
In dieser Arbeit geht es um das Thema „Bewertung und Entwicklung der Immobilienpreise in Europa von 1999 bis 2019“. Die Zunahme der Immobilienpreise hat große Auswirkungen auf alle Bevölkerungsschichten und Ihrer Kaufkraft. Immobilien sind durch ihre Eigenschaft an den Standort gebunden, dies macht einen Vergleich mit normalen Gütern schwerer. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit besteht darin, die Entwicklung von Deutschland und innerhalb der Europäischen Union zu untersuchen und Faktoren zu untersuchen, die für Veränderungen der Immobilienpreise verantwortlich sind. Zudemsoll durch die Anwendung nominierter Bewertungsmethoden, die Bewertung von Immobilien nachvollziehbar sein. Mit der Methode “Literaturrecherche” wird die Entwicklung der Immobilienpreise für Deutschland von 1999 bis 2019 untersucht. Im Theorieteil werden die nominierten Bewertungsmethoden für Deutschland dargestellt und im praktischen Teil angewendet. Es wird festgestellt, dass sich die Immobilienpreise in unterschiedlichen Regionen in Abhängigkeit ihrer Zu-bzw. Abwanderung stark veränderten. Großstädte mit einer starken Zuwanderung wachsen schneller als die Bautätigkeit neue Wohneinheiten erstellt. Dies führt zu einem Nachfrageüberschuss und zu stärker wachsenden Immobilienpreisen als in Städten mit geringerem Zuwachs. Das Land Deutschland wird daher in aktive und passive Räume unterteilt. Die Steigerung der Immobilienpreise in Deutschland ist im Verlauf der Jahre 1999 bis 2019 auf strengere Normen und Vorschriften für die Bautätigkeit, steigende Baukosten und strengere Energievorschriften zurückzuführen. Die Entwicklung innerhalb Europas von 1999 bis 2019 wird mit Deutschland verglichen. In Deutschland hat sich der Hauspreis innerhalb der letzten fünfzig Jahre kaum verändert, dies lässt sich auf die Vergabe von festen Zinsen für Kredite zurückführen. Es wurde bei der Analyse im europäischen Vergleich festgestellt, dass die Immobilienpreise stärker gestiegen sind als die Einkommen. Die Auswirkung ist eine Verschlechterung der Leistbarkeit und Erhöhung der Haushaltsverschuldung. Die Höhe des Bruttoinlandsprodukts, wird beeinflusst durch eine stark wachsende Wirtschaftund hat somit auch Einfluss auf die Arbeitslosenquote, welche sich in der Entwicklung der Immobilienpreise widerspiegelt. Die Krisen haben verschiedene Einflüsse auf den internationalen Immobilienmarkt. Hier ist die Höhe der Inflation ein Treiber für den Anstieg von Immobilienpreisen
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.
With the increasing environmental awareness and governmental regulations aimed at reduction of CO2 emissions car manufacturers who produce vehicles powered by diesel, or petrol engines, start to develop and produce electric vehicles in order to stay competitive in the market. However, not only conventional car manufacturers who have been successfully operating in the market for many years and do not want to lose their leading position because of this trend but also other companies and start-ups are trying to enter this industry or are already operating in the electric vehicle market. This raise the question whether the business models of the conventional car manufacturers are suitable for achieving success in the electric vehicles market.
This bachelor thesis compares the business models of the BMW Group and Tesla, Inc. in order to identify the differences between the business models of a conventional vehicle manufacturer and an electric vehicle manufacturer. Moreover, it examines the cost structure of both companies and reveals the differences.
Brand ambassadors have the power to have a positive influence on how consumers feel and their relationship with the brand. Despite the popularity of brand ambassadors and their effectiveness, a company's employees as brand ambassadors have an ideal and credible impact on consumers and how the brand is perceived.
This bachelor thesis reviews the literature of theoretical and empirical nature to identify how business leaders strengthen the image of their corporate brands the objective is to examine and compare the case of Microsoft Bill Gates and Apples Steve Jobs illustrate how they strengthen their respective brand image.
The results indicate that even though the risk of having CEO’s as ambassadors may tarnish the image of the company in case of unethical behaviors, celebrity CEOs such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have a positive impact on their respective companies and strengthen the brand image.
This thesis deals with the marketing of today and its benefits for companies and universities. The focus is on the recruitment of students at universities through the business platform LinkedIn. The tools offered by LinkedIn will be presented and the purpose for which they are beneficial will be determined. Surveys are used to clarify questions about the use of social networks for different activities. In addition, it will be worked out why students choose a university and how LinkedIn fosters this. These findings are then translated into marketing measures for the HFU Business School in Villingen-Schwenningen.
Die heutige globale Umweltproblematik ist ein Phänomen, welches in unserer Gesellschaft zunehmend eine zentrale Rolle spielt. Aufgrund der Bedrohung der Lebenssicherheit, der Lebensmittelversorgung sowie der Ressourcenknappheit auf unserem Planeten, ist es notwendig die Herausforderungen des Klimawandels zu bewältigen. Unternehmen stehen hierbei als Mitverursacher ebenso in der Verantwortung dieser Problematik. Ihr Beitrag zum Klimaschutz trägt zu einer wichtigen positiven Entwicklung bei. Wie kann ein Unternehmen der Verantwortung für die Bewältigung des Klimawandels nachkommen? Was wird dafür benötigt? Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert im ersten Schritt die Anwendung des Systems des Carbon Accountings für eine Unternehmung und legt einen speziellen Fokus auf die Methode der freiwilligen Kompensation. Hierzu werden Kriterien untersucht, welche für die Auswahl eines qualitativen Klimaschutzprojektes entscheidend sind. Abschließend wird am Beispiel des Schweizer Unternehmens Holle baby food AG ein regionales Klimaschutzprojekt, welches in das bestehende Kompensationsportfolio aufgenommen werden soll, analysiert und bewertet. Die Methodik dieser Arbeit basiert auf theoretischen Konzeptionen, woraus anschließend Handlungsempfehlungen erarbeitet werden. Die Herangehensweise und Gegebenheiten eines Unternehmens spielen bei der Anwendung des Carbon Accountings sowie der freiwilligen Kompensation eine entscheidende Rolle. Aufgrund nicht eindeutig definierter gesetzlicher Regelungen im Bereich der freiwilligen Kompensation wird Unternehmen empfohlen, sich an folgenden Kriterien zu orientieren: Zusätzlichkeit, Vermeidung von Doppelzählung, Standards und Zertifizierungen, Preise, soziale sowie nachhaltige Aspekte und Transparenz. Das regionale Kompensationsprojekt der Holle baby food AG erfüllt diese Kriterien. Dennoch ist es unabdingbar wichtig, dass sich das Unternehmen darüber hinaus mit der konkreten Minderung und Vermeidung der Treibhausgase im eigenen Wertschöpfungsprozess beschäftigt.
Chapter 1 will focus on explaining the main ideas around which this dissertation centers and explain individual terms that are crucial to understanding the problem of sustainability in the aviation industry and mention some measures that have been taken so far to tackle it. It will go through the development of aviation as we know it today, how climate change redefined business towards sustainability and modern trends among younger generations who fight for the protection of the environment and guarantee economic sustainability in order to provide future generations with a healthy planet to live and thrive on.
Chapter 2 will dive into the intricacies of taxing carbon emissions and its effects on the economy, the European Trading Scheme and how it has affected aviation in Europe and the world, as well as explaining what compensation initiatives are and focusing on atmosfair’s program to help offset carbon emissions.
Chapter 3 will finally present a set of new measures which would allow the aviation industry to be taxed more fairly and help reduce the amount of carbon emitted by relocating passengers to other modes of transport, motivate manufacturers to increase their innovativeness and come up with more efficient alternatives to fossil fuels, all of this without harming the global network of aviation that keeps our world united.
It will not focus on the politics behind the implementation of a new carbon compensation tax, only its economic impact. The cases and theoretical examples applied in the text will be centered on short-haul flights within the European Union and European Economic Area, although the covered initiative could also be applied to medium- and long-haul flights inside and outside of the EU.
With the advent of a worldwide internationalization and globalization companies around the globe have been looking to increase their market shares abroad (K Aiginger, H Handler, 2017).
For the German automotive industry in particular and therefore the German tool industry respectively, the Chinese market has become a very lucrative and important marketplace in recent years (A Fraß, 2016).
This thesis is presenting a case study for the German family-run business Hufschmied Zerspanungssysteme GmbH. It is meant as a foundation and guideline for any future business endeavors in the Chinese market for Hufschmied Zerspanungssysteme GmbH. This thesis consequently examines the current market situation for the tool industry in China and analyses Hufschmied´s competitiveness of its current product portfolio.
The German machine tool industry is supplying different branches in China, for this case study a closer look at the aviation industry and automotive industry will be taken.
The Chinese market has been exhibiting a large growth over the last few years, but current events such as the implementation of tariffs (UN, 2020) and the recent outbreak of the Covid-19 Virus (SM Iacus et al., 2020) might mitigate the attractiveness of the market. Without a doubt there are both Challenges and Opportunities for the German machine tool industry in the Chinese market.
Accordingly, the thesis will with the combination of empirical research data and a market analysis of the Chinese market draw a conclusion to which degree the Chinese market offers challenges and opportunities for the German machine tool industry. Additionally, a PEST-Analysis of the Chinese market will provide further insights regarding the market situation in the target market.
This thesis will employ qualitative research methods, the needed data is going to be acquired from primary and secondary sources. As for primary sources, observations and interviews will be used, secondary sources will consist of articles as well as related literature.
Stress is an omnipresent phenomenon that has been increasingly used in a daily context. The underlying concept and far-reaching consequences of prolonged stress however seem to be often underrated. Nevertheless, the digital transition and fast technological advancement have seemingly fuelled the stress experience and created new challenges such as information overload, dysfunctional detachment or far-reaching substitution potential of numerous jobs. In line with this development, there are several health insurance companies being growingly alarmed as a trend of incapacity to work stemming from mental disorders has assumed horrifying proportions. These present circumstances ought to urge employers greatly to take actions, given the fact that employees spend a considerable large percentage of their lifetime at work. Therefore, employers have to assume responsibility in protecting employee’s well-being. In this context, the present bachelor thesis aims to provide an action model for employers in how to establish a stress management model in the framework of a holistic operation health management. Furthermore, the established model shall address particularly young professionals who have recently entered the job market. This is justified by the major transitions a career starter usually undergoes which commonly constitutes a particular stressful time in an individual’s life. For this purpose, this scientific work further builds on creating a comprehension of the current state of research and literature that has been collected to date. Providing an updated literature review, this work builds on secondary analyses. The bachelor thesis emphasises the complex nature of stress depending on a wide range of influential factors that can be both internal and external (work design, technological advancement, inherent resources as well as social support). Accordingly, employers can take action in realising behavioural prevention measures (i.e. trainings in communication, time management and relaxation techniques) and environmental prevention measures (i.e. workplace improvements by reduction of noise/dirt pollution, ergonomic workplace design;work tasks improvementsby increased scope for control, flexible working and break times; supporting health-promoting behaviour, e.g. balanced and healthy canteen meals, fitness courses).
This bachelor thesis with the title Chatbots, Video Recruiting and Mobile Communication Channels: Würth Industrie Service in the field of tension between digital acquisition channels and the company philosophy ‘People are the center of attention’ deals with the implementation of digital personnel acquisition channels as well as with the conflict between digitalization and the focus on people. In particular, the communication between applicants and personnel acquisition is addressed.
Digitalization has been developing at a high speed and influences the entire working and living environment. This increasing process of change is also related to the job market and the communication process. Communication has changed in recent years and still does. Instead of the previous, purely functional exchange of information in text form, visual language is becoming increasingly important. Furthermore, the younger generation is used to speed and a quick reaction to messages through social media.
In addition to the change of traditional communication and the trend towards visual language, it must be concerned that human resources is still a people business. Digital processes can cause the actual focus on people to be lost.
Based on a qualitative research approach and the expert interview, three employees of Würth Industrie Service GmbH & Co KG and a service provider are interviewed about digital instruments and the risk of losing the focus on people through digital processes in personnel acquisition. With the help of the qualitative content analysis according to Mayring, it clearly shows how important personal contact with the applicant is in the selection process. Moreover, the personal fit of the candidate with the position and with the company can only be checked in a personal interview by HR Business Partner. Nevertheless, the introduction of a digital tool in the selection process for a pre-selection at Würth Industrie Service GmbH & Co. KG is important in order to relieve the HR Business Partners now and in the future when the number of incoming applications and hiring figures are increasing.
The recommendation to introduce video interviews rather than implementing WhatsApp and Chatbots at Würth Industrie Service GmbH at this point is based on the theoretical principles and the expert interviews.