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Network Marketing is a form of the direct selling retail channel of distribution and is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. It has dramatically changed the way traditional businesses operates by mainly focusing on the success of his partners, their sales representatives to market their quality products provided. This industry produces billions of sales annually; however the lack of studies and information available on this field has led to lack of understanding and attack of being pyramid schemes. In this new era of technology, this profession continues to thrive as many people in particular women are looking for alternatives to the traditional corporate lifestyle. Furthermore, it has been found that becoming independent business owners in Network Marketing attracts the majority of women. Therefore, analyzing the characteristics of Network Marketing and the strategies deployed for their success is important to understand the reasons why women are willing to change their career path.
For these reasons, the thesis focuses on Network Marketing in order to provide an understanding of its rapid growth with an overview of its different phases from the beginning to the effect of the evolution of the Web 2.0 and social media. It goes forwards by investigating the characteristics of Network Marketing which appeal to women; by first examining their actual situation in the workplace in order to perceive their choice for leaving everything behind to start anew. Finally, a case study provides actual visibility and the new lifestyle of women being active in Network Marketing.
In the pursue of findings, the thesis includes primary research by conducting interviews with German and international independent network marketers, all women, and secondary research covering literature review on relevant topic.
In the end, it has been concluded and proved, despite the constant allegations, that Network Marketing is a serious and effective business model which benefits the company, the customers and the independent distributors. Moreover, it has been observed that this field fulfills the expectations of those women who want to escape from the challenges faced in the corporate world and desire an industry without barriers, as a result them being the majority and successful in this field.
Cost accounting is one of the main sources of information for the management in the company. A correctly designed cost accounting system may address the most important issues in order to support effective and successful decision-making, which among others include price building, efficiency measurement and profit evaluation. In order to enable the full functioning of the system the company should ensure that the system is designed according to the company’s size, operations and processes, as well as information needs. For Testo Sensor GmbH the optimization of cost accounting system became essential, as the information it provides at the moment is not sufficient and reliable for decision-making. Obviously, the reason for this is that the system was not correctly and thoroughly designed at the times of the company foundation. Therefore, the goal of current paper is to develop and adjust the cost accounting system to the company’s operations in order to fulfill the information needs. In order to reach this goal the following objectives were defined: to analyze the current state of cost accounting system of Testo Sensor to reveal its weaknesses and incompatibilities to address these incompatibilities by developing the improvements and possible optimization potentials In order to fulfill these objectives, the review of the German and English literature on the current topic was made in order to identify possible approaches and methods and provide a theoretical background for solutions of the existent problem. In addition to this, a number of interviews was held with the employees of Testo Sensor, as well as the parent company. Finally, the exact data for 2011 – 2015 for cost analysis was taken from the company’s database systems and other documentation. The result of the current paper represents a number of the optimization potentials, which relate to all elements of the cost accounting system. In addition to this, a proposal for implementation of cost center planning and control, which currently is not implemented in the company, was designed. The optimization proposals were developed with the consideration of the theoretical methods applied in German companies, as well as the company’s particular needs and possibilities.
Entrepreneurs are the people who start their own businesses, who take risk, find solution of problems and come up with idea which gives them financial benefits. The purpose of writing this thesis to find out the value business schools are providing to the entrepreneurs. Do the entrepreneurs get the right skills from the business schools? To find out the reason, which skills business schools are lacking to provide to the entrepreneurs. Why still now a day’s world leading companies are invented by the entrepreneurs who dropped out of college or who quite from their education which was not important for them for example Microsoft, Apple, McDonald, Facebook and many other successful brands in the world are being led by the people who has no good education. To find out the reasons and opinion from students a questionnaire was prepared to get results from people belong to different background, different nationalities and different cultures. 84% participants were students from business schools. The outcome of survey shows that business schools are not transferring value to the entrepreneurial mind students; many students also supported idea to start your own business during your studies. It lead to the pathway which had chosen by the successful entrepreneurs, in the other words if you find opportunity to start your own business then leave your studies behind and go for it. 69% respondents vote in favor that the universities should start degree in entrepreneurship; moreover 52% respondents want to become entrepreneurs. Furthermore, least important entrepreneurial characteristic is Good Education as well as good education is also least important to start your own business. It indicates that there is serious need to start entrepreneurial education in the schools and universities. The curriculum of business schools need to be review according to the needs of entrepreneurial mind students.
The primary objective of this study is to determine the direction of Bosch
workshop service concepts in India. The approach is based on Classic Bosch Car
Service, one of the world’s largest independent workshop concept owned by
Robert Bosch GmbH. In the era of high competition where the mindset of
customers is rapidly changing and technology is evolving; therefore, Bosch is
continuously working on developing new workshop service concepts such as
Franchise Bosch Car Service and Digital Bosch Car Service. Therefore, this study
examine two research question a) on which workshop service concept Bosch
should focus in India b) how to increase the number of franchisees for the future
concept. This study focuses on India because it is an emerging market where car
repair industry is growing rapidly.
The first part of the thesis explains the concept of workshop service and
franchising. The second part provides a complete overview (franchise model,
value proposition, etc.) of three concepts. The final part consists of empirical
research which includes the findings from end customer and franchisee surveys.
The findings from practical and empirical part revealed that Franchise Bosch Car
Service (FRC BCS) is ideal for the Indian market and end customer. Therefore,
Bosch should focus on developing its network of FRC BCS in the short term. The
usage of different marketing tools, partnership with financial institutes, individual
onboarding program and approaching private investors will help to increase the
number of franchisees.
In the long-term, Bosch should consider going in the direction of Digital Bosch
Car to increase market share and maintain its competitiveness.
Quality Management has attained top priority in many sectors, notably in the airspace industry. A thereby integrated mechanism to ensure the containment and correction of production errors should include a consistent and effective tracking system to maximise business process efficiency on the internal as well as overall company level.
The A350 Doors Program of Airbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH has identified the need for an improvement project to augment the quality of the associated summary report in terms of time, money and scope. This research aims to document as well as evaluate the effectiveness of this optimisation through the measurement of key indicators.
Through the application of various project and business process management tools this research measures the consumption of financial and time resources as well as the change in the quality of the reported outcome. Thereby it found that the optimisation achieved a radical reduction in scope of the document, thus limiting the amount of time and financial resources consumed. Similarly, previous tracking errors were corrected and the procedure altered, increasing the decision-making quality of the content. These results and their attainment process are to be considered for future company internal optimisation projects.
The purpose for researching the topic of the globalization of sport, is to examine the extent to which baseball is a global sport. While many writers in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and the history of baseball have studied countries around the world on an individual basis; little to no research on globalization has been pursued. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of baseball around the world is the focal point of this paper. This study is based on the work of Roland Robertson in the field of globalization and Richard Giulianotti in the field of soccer. Robertson, a professor of sociology at
Aberdeen University, developed a Five-Phase model of globalization which identifies key turning points in the evolution of globalization around the world. Giulianotti applied the Five-Phase model to the game of soccer to determine which factors played an essential role in the globalization of the sport.
The author has derived a list of critical research statements to guide the hypothesis that baseball is a global sport. This study considered literature of baseball around the world. Topics included the significance of Spalding’s Great Baseball World Tour,
examples of countries where baseball has been played, international baseball governing bodies and events, and baseball celebrities that have influenced the
game. Also, the author interviewed Nate Fish, Co-Director of the Israeli National Baseball team, and Tom Gillespie, International Baseball Scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, to supplement the analysis.
The evidence of the global significance of baseball includes the prominence of an international governing body World Baseball Softball Confederation, international baseball events World Baseball Classic / Premier 12, and a large body of membership in internationally sanctioned events. Interest in the game is growing internationally, evidenced by the fact that 72% of the world recognizes the game of
baseball, online subscriptions for premium content are trending up, and records in attendance, viewership, sponsorship, and social media activity were achieved during the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The findings of this research suggest that there is an emerging market for international baseball.
In this paper the author will look at the development of industrial parks with case study of Ethiopia and Kenya since this are the developing countries and with a blue print to industrial parks in which the authors main objective is to establish the industrial park planning and development of Industrial Parks in Africa, establish the importance of ICT as a response to the sustainable planning of industrial areas in Africa and to establish the issue of environment sustainability in Africa. The problems in implementing the industrial parks the mismanagement of funds, challenges faced by foreign investors, not usage of ICT knowledge, threats from the terrorist groups and the recess in support by the government. Hence the need to address these issues in this research work. Threat analysis will be addressed in consideration to Kenyan economy that brings in a recession to the country such as Al-Shabaab. Finally conclusion and recommendation are made in which in the author’s findings is that the governments are eagerly working to put their country modernized and with high security. Revenue made by the government is set to put security measures to make more revenue from tax in by implementing the police reforms. Hence the conclusion that investing in industrial parks are of great benefit for foreign investors, the governments and will aid in poverty eradication in Kenya and Ethiopia.
The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the need and prospects of implementing a Social Media advertising strategy in order to increase customer awareness in the United States for an innovative scuba diving product called “Buddy-Watcher”. This product was introduced to the German market in November 2014 by Free-Linked GmbH, which specializes in scuba diving communication and comfort equipment.
The employed investigation approach includes a quantitative research conducted by means of an online survey among a nonprobability sample via self-administered questionnaires. By collecting and analyzing primary data, this exploratory study aims to provide first insights on the value and the perception of potential customers towards Social Media advertising activities. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis was carried out based on the theoretical research as well as the findings of the survey to deliver a specific recommended course of action for businesses like Free-Linked GmbH. The results provide indications for the effectiveness of Social Media advertising regarding the creation of awareness for a product, yet not necessarily its purchase. Small and medium sized businesses have the opportunity to benefit from this type of advertising, if the preferences of the target group can be identified and taken into consideration. Hence, this work serves as a basis for further decision-making, whereas future research could consider the effect of various advertisement options or other Social Media alternatives for targeting US customers by employing a combination of quantitative and qualitative research designs.
In the current difficult climate for international aviation especially in Europe and the USA, one sector is performing extremely well, the so-called low cost carriers. While the flagcarriers are experiencing severe difficulties, withdrawing from routes and cutting staff, the low cost sector continues to expand at a tremendous pace. Since their entry in various countries in the late 90’s, low cost carriers have grown to even become dominant players on a significant number of intra-national short haul routes. Although the severe competition of low-cost airlines is observable in many industrialized countries nowadays, our focus in this paper will be restricted to the US market which at many levels appear to be interesting and the perfect case to illustrate the impact of low-cost carriers on the domestic aviation market. The extent to which this expansion affects the traditional airline networks in other terms the so-called legacy or network carriers, poses interesting questions for the US airline industry and policy makers. As a pre-requisite to analyze the current situation of the US airline market with regards to the impact low-cost carriers, it is crucial to have a historical background on the domestic US aviation and to understand the role of antitrust policies. First of all, until 1978 the US airline industry was regulated by the US government, allowing only few carriers, the network carriers. Those carriers are therefore the historical carriers. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was the economic regulatory body for airlines that controlled airline schedules, fares, and routes, which essentially allowed U.S. airlines to exercise monopoly power. In 1975, the CAB’s Special Staff did a self-study of the organization and concluded that the amending federal law to eliminate “protective entry, exit, and price control” would be beneficial for the airline market. It was believed that the industry was naturally competitive and there did not appear to be any significant barriers to entry nor substantial economies of scale that would limit the number of efficient and profitable firms. Therefore, the Airline deregulation Act of 1978 eliminated economic regulation of the airline industry. The deregulation allowed many carriers to enter the industry, existing carriers to expand their operations, competition to flourish and air fares to
fall. Monopoly markets were now only present on the smallest city-pair markets which lacked enough traffic to support more than one airline. After deregulation, Southwest Airlines initiated the budget flight in Dallas, Texas.
With flights turning profitable in 1973 and remaining so ever since, former lawyer Herb Kelleher proved the viability of low cost flights. In terms of passengers carried each year, Southwest is now the biggest airline in the USA and the second biggest airline in the world. Although entering the airline industry was relatively easy, successfully overcoming the advantages of larger incumbents proved to be more difficult. The deregulation greatly illustrated the relevance of Paul Gerdoski’s arguments about the effect of market entry. Firstly, market entries increased industry competition and forced the traditional network carriers to increase their efficiency leading to lower fares and better service on many routes. Secondly it fostered industry innovation with the appearance and growth of low cost carriers.
Crowdfunding is one of the greatest financial innovations in finance today, which acts as a financing alternative for start-ups. The advantages provided in this financial structure not only enable entrepreneurs to realise their dream of raising capital but it also enables them to learn more about their product, establish a pre-customer base, pre-sales as well as build their brand though leveraging the internet as a marketing platform for their projects. Start-ups that have succeeded in raising their target funds, acknowledge the benefits they received. Even those that did not achieve their goal still appreciate the experience because through the feedback they receive from the public, they are able to enhance their product and make better decisions for their next projects. Also backers benefit significantly depending on their position; for instance, upon success startups acquire funds, donors on reward- and support-based platforms receive small gifts such as Tshirts, acknowledgements, on pre-purchase platforms backers receive discounts on pre-purchases and in a special case of crowdinvesting, investors receive dividends or equity from the start-up. Also, crowdfunding platform-administrators benefit from it when start-ups accomplish their goal. Start-ups may approach investors, business angels and banks for capital; however, the probability of acquiring funds is subsided and they also do not provides them additional benefits like those crowdfunding delivers. The crowdfunding process is one of the easiest means of funding startups’projects in comparison to that involved whilst seeking funds from banks and venture capitalists as well as business angels.
The major aim of this paper is to analyse how crowdfunding has simplified the means of raising capital for start-ups and how this modern financial instrument is anticipated to develop in the next five years. Withal, the paper seeks to show how crowdfunding has enabled startups to curb their financial predicaments. The paper will firstly, provide the foundation of crowdfunding, including success factors of start-ups. Next the author will analyse how crowdfunding platform operate, then its significance to start-ups including the risks involved. The author will investigate crowdfunding in Europe, America and Australia. Results from the Interviews conducted with start-up founder Dominick Solenick and platform CEOs from Switzerland will be illustrated. Finally, a conclusion based on this research will be provided.
"Social Business Concept" is a concept of blending innovation in the field of social media in Business. This thesis aims in establishing an opinion that the "Social Business Concept" is very much relevant for the HFU just like for other business organizations. In this thesis, one can get the basic understanding of the concept, its origin and development as well as some case studies about the successful implementation. This thesis further shows the initiatives that the HFU has taken in the direction and the progresses made so far. Furthermore, it suggests some steps that are to be taken to make further improvements in the direction of establishing the HFU as a well-connected organization. The theories presented in the thesis and conclusion drawn by this thesis is based on the various literature reviews, e-mail correspondences with the HFU staffs and online survey where the students studying at the HFU in different faculties participated.
Advanced sales approach to increase professional fairs participation: international experience
(2016)
The following bachelor thesis was written in cooperation with Hannover Fairs USA, Inc. (HFUSA), which is the Deutsche Messe AG’s (DMAG) U.S. subsidiary. DMAG in Hannover, Germany, is one of the biggest and most active event organizers in the world. The target region of the HFUSA office is North America. Their function is to host industrial trade shows in Chicago and to sell exhibit space at their parent company’s shows in Germany to American companies. The focus of the thesis will be on the DMAG’s CeMAT show which serves the intralogistic and material handling industry. The topic of the thesis is ‘Evolving a structured and advanced sales approach to enhance the number of American companies, participating at the Deutsche Messe’s CeMAT show.’ The research focus is on the intralogistic and material handling industry, the meaningfulness of trade shows and various skills and processes of sales theory. Furthermore, it places emphasis on corporate and sales strategy. The thesis offers possible measures which should serve c-level employees of the company as a basis for creating a more standardized corporate, marketing, and sales strategy to streamline the process amongst employees, to enhance sales processes, improve efficiency and therefore increase revenue in the long run. This will also positively influence the process of achieving their goal of enhancing the number of participating U.S. companies at the CeMAT show in Hannover.
The access to the Internet has enabled various peer-to-peer marketplaces to develop with fast pace and complete with traditional businesses by offering broader range of goods and services. In some cases peer-to-peer markets offer a solution to a problem, going beyond the capabilities of a traditional business. This thesis studies a particular peer-to-peer market called crowdfunding that offers a solution to individuals who require funds and has been a subject of experts’, regulators’ and media attention. In particular, the paper studies the way crowdfunding websites Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Crowdfunder match buyers and sellers and discovers that some websites might have an incentive to manipulate matching. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the pricing structure these websites use and learns that price discrimination is present in crowdfunding. Additionally, the paper investigates the most fundamental mechanism that allows Internet platforms to function, which is reputation. In particular it uncovers that the way trust is built in crowdfunding differs to certain extant to other peer-to-platforms and that this questions requires further research. Finally, after looking at the arising regulatory issues, it becomes clear that there are opposing opinions of experts and regulators about regulation of crowdfunding that create both fear and hope. Privacy and data usage by the crowdfunding websites seems to be an issue that also requires further attention.
This study belongs to the field of innovation research and is based on the application of a theoretical concept of a technology acceptance. The theoretical concept developed in the context of this research work is investigating the connection between efficiency, quality, security and business process re-engineering and the intention to adopt mobile payments technologies by merchants within the retail industry. Mobile payments is an emerging topic which is currently experiencing a rise. Although there are significant differences in a level of mobile payments acceptance around the world, the widespread adoption of the technology has not prevailed yet. Moreover, more research is needed to investigate and explain retailers’ prospective on the mobile payments adoption. The growing scientific interest in this topic is relevant in terms of innovation development, theories of global competition platforms and evolving landscape of global payment systems.
From this holistic prospective the fundamental hypotheses and crucial questions in terms of mobile payments adoption by merchants were derived. The analysis of the data sample of 90 companies of various sizes and operating in different industries obtained by means of a survey conducted at one of the largest trade fairs in Munich, Germany in autumn 2015. The data was analyzed using descriptive univariate and multivariate methods and the significance of the conceptual framework was validated. A major positive trend in mobile payments adoption was indicated. The findings of this research suggest that efficiency had a significant positive influence on the intention to adopt mobile payments by merchants. Banks and credit card companies were recognized as the most preferred mobile payments providers among retailers with an increasing interest towards independent companies. Based on the findings, the scientific guidelines for the future research were outlined and the concrete recommendations from the managerial prospective for achieving a successful adoption of mobile payments among merchants were suggested.
This paper analyzes automated advisory services, a new business model developed by Fintech start-ups in the USA. The markets for automated advisory services (AAS) in the USA, where it is most established, and in Germany, where the market is still in the infancy stage, are examined and compared. The aim of the paper is to identify the market conditions determining user acceptance of automated advisory services in the USA and comparing the German market conditions to the US market in order to predict consumer acceptance in Germany. The markets are examined using the PEST analysis and Porter´s five forces framework. Recent market data, mainly from online media like online newspapers and studies, is collected and applied to the models. The data reveals that the market conditions for AAS are similar in both markets but in Germany there are some negative factors restraining growth. The second part of the paper is a technology acceptance analysis of automated advisory services using the UTAUT2 model. The UTAUT2 model is first applied to and extended for the automated advisory services market. Afterwards, the market data is applied to the model, confirming that the market data and theoretical framework of the model are conform. Finally, an outlook into the future of AAS in Germany and the USA is given, showing that the German market has the potential to develop similar to the US market once the negative influences on technology acceptance are diminished Further research into the aspects individualization of automated advisory services, web 3.0 applications and security of the algorithms and user data should be conducted.
The goal of this thesis is to provide information on how the music distribution has evolved throughout the years since the internet and computers have brought a
new digital ear to the music industry. This gave unlimited access to vast amount of information, creating new methods of communication and connecting to thousands of music lovers with only one mouse click. Technological and social changes have
followed ever since the beginning of the 20th century with significant impact on different business aspects like Marketing, Communication and Pricing. In the following years illegal downloading has brought the music industry to a crash with sales dropping
almost double in only one year. This, however, led to the idea of legal downloading and later in 2008 to the birth of the most used music streaming service Spotify. The bundle paying method of this new service has not only put the industry back on its feet
but it has also brought the interest in the consumers back. A monthly “flat rate” in exchange of a vast music catalogue of more than 30,000 songs, albums and artists with the ability to listen to it offline turned out to be the better alternative.
The purpose of this paper is to conduct an explorative research on the current situation of the music business and the business models of the new trend “music streaming” by using different analytical methods. The research results show a significant change in the way Marketing and Communication are being done by labels, brands and the streaming services due to the rapid technological progress and the new social habits born with it. Using the experience of listening to music, data and audience intelligence provided by the services, brands are now able to communicate their exact message in front of the right person and in the right time. Pricing of music has also gone through a big transition
since music streaming has become the preferred way of listening to and exploring new music. The effect of the bundles provides users with unlimited usage of the music streaming service and its catalogue in exchange of a monthly fee also called “flat rate”.
Each service decides on the price and the subscription method to be offered. To give a more comprehensive picture on what the future of music streaming
is, this paper is using not only secondary data but primary data as well. In order to generate free discussion, the study refers to the media and an expert to give answer on what are the signs pointing the direction the music business is headed towards.
In the context of dynamic and unstable business environment companies tend to more flexible performance management system. Being a central element in a performance management framework, forecasting practice becomes a major concern for business organizations. The practitioners claim that there is a significant gap existing between the development and the application of forecasting activities. In this respect strong bridges are required to connect theory and practice. Through an expert interview method author investigates how forecasting activities contribute to business performance. The main purpose of this research paper is to investigate the problem statement by answering the questions concerning how planning activities have changed in the last few years and what is the current attitude and commitment to forecasting tool. Furthermore, this study explores how forecasting is integrated in the decision-making process and how it affects business decisions. Finally research investigates whether companies apply a rolling forecast as well as the reasons for and against using a rolling approach are also considered. The main findings of the research show that companies have altered their planning activities to improve forecast effectiveness, to reduce uncertainty and risks, to enable a more flexible resource allocation. Interviewed companies expressed growing interest and commitment to forecasting as an instrument of control. Moreover, results demonstrate that forecasting plays a crucial role for the business organization by facilitating business decisions and providing assumptions for business plans. Also different practices show, the more complex and larger organization is the more scrutinized and granular the forecast process should be. Regarding a rolling forecast, only two interviewed companies use this approach. All respondents found a rolling forecast beneficial for the business, however, in order to be successful companies are required to put more efforts and gain more experience with this method.
The assembly process of the coverings of side members is the most defective process at the Plant Consolidation Center in Malsch. The difficulty is the high level of variance, the manual process control and that the components do not have a barcode. Since the labelling with a barcode is out of the question, an innovative process assurance for non system-based components by an automated photo documentation and photo plausibility should be found. The following specific questions have been posed:
1. What are the main sources of error in this process?
2. What innovative possibilities do exist to eliminate these main sources of error?
3. Is the installation of a process assurance technologically possible and economically efficient?
The main sources of error have been identified by an error analysis. These are: Taking out the right colour and variation of the coverings of side members, the assembly of the right or no trim and the right positioning of the components in the carrier of charge. The study concluded that the necessary functions of the innovative process assurance are the recognition of the colour and variation of the coverings of side members and the verification of their positions in the carrier of charge. To find out what innovative possibilities for a new process assurance do exist, the logistics trade fair „Motek“ has been visited and 13 providers has been invited to a viewing appointment. In practice, only one inspection system has achieved reliable process results. In order to that only one out of 13 providers submitted an offer. Since the payback and implementation period exceeds the contract period with the Daimler plant in Rastatt, it is not possible to generate savings within this time period. For that reason, the recommended course of action of this study is that fort he company the inspection system is only economically efficient in case of a contract extension.
This thesis examined the stages problem recognition, search for information, pre-purchase evaluation and purchase of the decision-making process for productivity / utility applications. Firstly, the characteristics of mobile applications, the past literature of the stages of the decision making process and technology acceptance theories were reviewed. Based on the findings a new model, based on the particular stages and its relations to each other, was developed. Of all 15 hypotheses, which described the model, 8 were found to be statistically significant. The consumers’ interest in a productivity / utility application is caused by the desire for higher work efficiency or practicality, if the consumer believes that the application has the ability to fulfil this desire. This provides several practical implementations for marketers regarding the channel and type of promotions. Having interest in a mobile application, the application store and internal search are relevant information sources for the consumers to search for information. Especially the relevance of the internal search, emphasizes the importance of brand awareness for productivity / utility applications. Additionally, if the consumers search third-party independent sources, they inspect only a small number of the available relevant applications. Furthermore, involvement in mobile applications has a positive impact on the consumers’ extent of search. Finally, concerning the evaluation of the inspected productivity / utility applications, the performance expectancy, the ease of use and the price are relevant criteria for the consumer. This provides practical implementations for marketers and developers regarding development and promoting of productivity / utility applications.
Automated Advisory Services. An investigation of Efficiency on Using the Black-Litterman Model
(2016)
This thesis seeks to investigate efficiency of current portfolio theory, using the Black-Litterman Model, for creating portfolio recommendations as offered by Automated Advisory Services. These services have recently appeared, offering wealth management through a digital store front. As the human component has been removed from the equation, algorithms based on portfolio theory provide portfolio recommendations upon profiling the user of such services. Tests on parameters of the Black-Litterman Model will be run between September 2007 and December 2009, the financial crisis. The aim is to understand how efficient the parameters are able to steer the model to reflect the investor preferences, and how Black Litterman portfolios would have performed during turbulent economic times to test the efficiency claim by providers of automated advisory services.
The topic of the thesis is ‘‘Identification of success patterns of the most successful SAP SFSF VARs as a base to recruit new high-potential partners. A way to achieve time to revenue efficiency for new partners joining the SAP ecosystem.’’. The whole approach is based on SAP SE, an international company providing enterprise application software with a focus on cloud solutions. The objective of the thesis is to help SAP SE to expand their cloud partner ecosystem and achieve time to revenue efficiency for new partners joining SAP ecosystem. The research question explores what are the success patterns of SAP TOP 20 SuccessFactors (SFSF) value-added resellers (VARs). The aim is to use the insights as a template to recruit new partners who show high potential for future success in reselling SAP SFSF (cloud) solutions. Currently, SAP is facing a challenge to recruit partners who are successful as VARs for cloud solutions in the small and medium size enterprises (SME) market. So far, SAP focused on increasing its market coverage by continuously expanding its Ecosystem, while the quality of the recruited partners was neglected. As a result, SAP invested a lot of resources in terms of time and money trying to onboard partners who could not deliver the expected impact. Recruiting partners who have the right patterns will decrease the resources that SAP spends on onboarding and training process while at the same time the partners will generate the revenue faster. However, SAP needs to have a clear view what a high-potential partner looks like. Therefore, it could be said, that the topic of the thesis is crucial for SAP further channel development and expansion, invested resources and indirect revenue. In order to answer the research question, the whole study is divided into seven chapters. The theoretical framework provides a general idea about the importance of partners for reselling cloud services to SMEs and what are the factors and practices that make partners successful. The empirical research explores the common success patterns of the Top 20 most successful SAP SuccessFactors value-added resellers. The author came to the conclusion that in order to be achieved time to revenue efficiency, the company should recruit only those partners who are representing the following set of success patterns: international presence, quality webpage, human capital management as a core line of business, strong digital and event marketing.
The present study was conducted in the International Purchasing Department at the Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG which is the headquarters of the international grocery retail discounter Lidl. The subject was defined by the author in cooperation with Mr. Robert Maier, executive manager for non-food and brand, and Ms. Silvia Carazo Soto, manager for the product range development in the Lidl non-food sector. The present study has two major purposes: Firstly, to investigate how customers perceive the non-food products and sector at Lidl and secondly, to identify what characteristics they value and would like to see improved in the Lidl stores.
The goal of this present study is to determine various proposals to optimize the non-food sector of Lidl stores in order to increase customer satisfaction and sales. Data and information material for this research were gathered through the author’s mentors, colleagues, meetings, an empirical survey, internal company presentations, the company homepage, the university’s EBSCO online research database, various business press as well as scientific publications.
In the first part, a theoretical background on the subject as well as company insights into the non-food division is provided. These show that the spending power of consumers has increased, consumers are becoming progressively demanding and that Lidl is faced by strong competitors on the food retail market.
The thesis then presents the empirical study conducted by the author from 30 November 2015 until 12 December 2015. Three hundred customers in ten different Lidl stores in four German federal states were interviewed face-to-face. The survey included fifteen questions regarding the customer’s shopping behavior at Lidl, the customer’s satisfaction with regards to a non-food purchase as well as customer expectations, experience and improvement proposals of the non-food sector.
The survey results show that 77% of all participants had bought non-food products at Lidl during the six months before the survey date. Of all these participants, 75% were either very satisfied or satisfied with their non-food purchase. Furthermore, it was concluded that Lidl lives from its price-performance ratio and promotion via the Lidl leaflet in-store or distributed to home. Inferential, the survey results suggest that the product presentation and the store atmosphere need to be optimized as well as the product availability. Moreover, the results indicated that customers think that up-to-date Lidl leaflets, information boards, product brochures and a mirror need to be available at the non-food sector.
In conclusion, on the basis of the results of this research, the author recommends optimizing the non-food sector in the Lidl stores by means of five different proposals. First of all, to improve the customer experience in a Lidl store by providing a “five senses experience” and secondly to optimize in-store promotion by integrating speed-bumps and optimizing the creation and presentation of product posters, banners and product paper models. Thirdly, the author recommends introducing a digital terminal as an operation tool to order and purchase non-food products that are sold out or not available in a Lidl store with the possibility to choose a home or store delivery, to search products on the Lidl homepage and to watch non-food product videos. Furthermore, the terminal includes a built-in shelf to collect paper product brochures. Fourthly, in order to optimize the product presentation of non-food products, two proposals for a sample product presentation are made. Primarily by means of a non-food module which is attachable to a non-food table in order to present a sample either on a coat hanger or a built-in shelf or by means of a hallstand with an integrated mirror. In addition, the author presents the option of a digital mirror. The fifth proposal is a category management LED lighting module installed above the non-food tables to facilitate the customer orientation in the non-food sector. In addition, the author presents three further proposals including executing customer satisfaction survey periodically, optimizing employee training and improving the Online Shop.
In conclusion, the thesis argues that Lidl is prepared to optimize the non-food sector in the interest of increasing customer satisfaction, attracting new customers, staying competitive and trendy and increasing sales. The author recommends focusing on providing an optimized customer experience in the Lidl stores, thereby primarily focusing on the most important sense, sight. For this, an optimized sample product presentation is primarily of highest interest followed by a better in-store promotion. The present thesis hopes to offer the Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG useful ideas on how to optimize the non-food sector and thus contribute to Lidl’s company success.
Strategic Responses of Premium-Segment German Autos to The Global Climate Change for Thai market
(2016)
The global climate change has become an important challenge in automotive industry because CO2 emissions from the fossil fuel combustion of vehicles contribute very much to climate change, especially global warming. Consequently, the world automotive trend is moving to environmental friendly cars. Thailand has faced various catastrophes caused by climate change, especially hazard drought, floods and heat waves, so environmental friendly cars are also needed in Thailand. Since Thailand is one of the major markets of the German luxury automakers in Southeast Asia, this study investigates the competitive environments of Thailand automotive industry and forecasts the implementation of environmental friendly cars, especially flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), hybrid cars and electric vehicles (EVs). The analysis is based on the integration of valid secondary sources and expert interviews. It is found out that Thailand automobile industry is significantly attractive for the German luxury automakers in both production and domestic sales because of the availability of skilled labour, the rise of middle and upper middle class income earners, the integration of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), better developed infrastructure than other ASEAN countries, the government supports and the increasing demand of autos in Thailand and other ASEAN countries. Furthermore, Thailand can be further developed to be a production centre to export cars to other ASEAN countries and to be a market leader to align other ASEAN markets for a better and effective management as one big market. In order to respond to the force of new tax policy based on CO2 emissions, issues of climate changes and not to lose their competitive position to those Japanese automakers, within the next 5 years, the German luxury automakers should increase their product portfolio of hybrid cars in Thailand, especially plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Simultaneously, flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) should be also launched because of the already existing flexible fuel products of the German luxury automakers as well as the high capability of ethanol production and the increasing use of E85 in Thailand. After 2020, some EV models should be launched in Thailand. The demand for EVs in Thailand will rise because people will be willing to adopt EV technology after the launch of PHEVs in 2016 and the number of charging stations will be increased. Moreover, the use of solar cells to produce electricity for EV charging will increase because Thailand is a hot country and it is very environmental friendly.
Stakeholder analysis as an instrument for a successful development for a departmental strategy
(2016)
Functional strategy development is a vital key lever for any manager to provide direction, and to define the purpose and the value contribution of his organization. In this context, the increasing usage of stakeholder analysis in today's business world confirms the realization that stakeholders' input is an essential tool to shape and influence the decision making process. To that effect, obtaining input on their perceptions, beliefs, intentions and interests represents a valuable instrument for managers to furthermore facilitate the implementation of organizational objectives and the development of a functional strategy.
This paper reviews the fundamental aspects of functional strategies and stakeholder analysis, followed by theoretical approaches of research design and data collection methods, as well as organizational change. In relation to these concepts, it introduces a business area of concern and explains the research framework. A thorough investigation of the research outcomes, their potential origins and boundary conditions will lead to recommendations of corrective measures.
The paper proposes the business area concerned to face a major root problem, which suggests being the main cause for multiple related problems that were all detected in the course of the research.
Development of a strategic control concept to monitor and steer strategy executive in the STO Group
(2016)
This thesis aims to find out what are the career related self-perceptions of female researchers and scientist working or studying in the biomedical field in Finland and Germany. The literature research, statistics and empirical evidence collected by in-depth interviews are used to enlighten the cultural differences, environmental influencers and importance of self-esteem in career development. These in-depth interviews are arranged as individual narratives, which are then further analyzed in the data part. The main findings in the paper point out, that the support from the system provides better chances for women in Finland to combine family and the career, but many of the challenges are still rising form the lack of self-confidence and the tendency to avoid self-promotion. The both sides of working in the industry versus academy are as well looked into. Suggestions for new policies include better information for academics about employment possibilities in industrial the sector, positive role models who especially encourage women to combine work and family, and feedback and coaching in order to motivate women.
The field of entrepreneurship and its framework, the entrepreneurial opportunity process, are still young and maturing research areas that receive increasing attention from numerous authors in their academic reviews. While some researchers focus on the generic entrepreneurial opportunity process in order to gain additional insights into the phenomenon, others examine one of the entrepreneurial directions, such as social entrepreneurship or commercial entrepreneurship more closely. So far, a dichotomous approach towards the two types of entrepreneurship has been postulated by contemporary researchers that distinguishes them as two varying approaches.
This master thesis comprises both entrepreneurial directions and investigates their course throughout the entrepreneurial opportunity process, including the nature of the opportunities, their discovery and the decision to exploit an opportunity. The aim is to get a broader picture of the phenomenon of social and commercial entrepreneurship, its differences and similarities throughout the process and thus, examine the dominant dichotomous approach.
Primary and secondary data is gathered from case studies and interviews with entrepreneurs and derived from the information obtained, as well as from existing literature. Seven propositions are postulated that indicate possible differences and similarities regarding the two entrepreneurial approaches. Based on the findings from the testing of the propositions, this research paper concludes that the concepts of social and commercial entrepreneurship hold certain differences, Nevertheless, similarities are prevailing so that a dichotomous approach cannot be supported. The entrepreneurial directions can be displayed on a continuum rather than on extreme ends.
Finally, in order to provide possible future research objectives, an outlook section, containing a critical view on the tie between the entrepreneur and the opportunity is enclosed. It is suggested that the entrepreneur-opportunity nexus is much stronger in the social entrepreneurial context than in the commercial entrepreneurial context.
Although the market share of a specific airline is very often a rough estimation, it is still of great importance for the airline top management. In order to make the right strategic decision, management should be aware of its current position and its competitors. This information is important to decide on the airline’s fleet assignment, revenue management and planning and scheduling. A variety of different models exists for market size and market share forecasting. Since no single model provides accuracy, airlines usually combine and compare the results of different approaches. Generally speaking, market share can be estimated using different starting parameters, such as flight frequency, fare, quality of service, number of airplane’s seats, time of departure, etc. The market share depends also on its competitors’ strategy and current economic situation. As it is almost impossible to take into consideration all these parameters in one model, different techniques very often provide different results, and it is the task of the airline network planners to calibrate and validate the model. In this Master Thesis I consider market share as a parameter whose value is between 0 and 1 and which is calculated as a ratio of passengers travelled by a specific airline to a total number of passengers travelled between a given pairs of cities. This Master Thesis presents two objectives. First, it gives an introduction to the history of the airline industry. It analyzes the main factors affecting the demand, gives and overview of the airline network management and presents the most popular models for market size and share forecasting. Second, it estimates the airlines’ market shares for a given set of city pairs for 2013 and 2014 and finds the formula which can be used for future network planning. The estimation is conducted using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) model.
Crowdlending is a growing business model that originated from the new crowdfunding phenomenon. It consists of funding companies’ loans through joining money from many investors in exchange for regular payments. One important key value in this model is the speed of the credit approval and the investment choice. The upcoming crowdlending platforms facilitate their growth through the automation of those processes. This study explores the creation of a credit-scoring model for an entrepreneurial platform, in order to fulfill the necessity of quickly determining the risk and the characteristics of loan applications for SME companies. This study will also analyze the pricing loan strategy based on the risk of the operations. Finally, the thesis suggests a of the loans and concludes with a series of improvement measures for the model.
Today the author bought six jackets. A friend asked her if she needed six jackets, and if she had this money to pay to all of them. She said that she had only 35 euros and among those six jackets, she will (because they haven’t arrived yet) choose only one. The others five will be returned, because she has this option for free. Then, a friend of her asked: “But what are you doing?!” She answered: “Shopping. I am shopping and writing my thesis.” With pleasure, the author brings to this abstract a concept of brick-and-algo. Pure algorithm – pretty new – any barrier, (brick, the store itself). Experience that brings to the costumer the same feeling as shopping!
Concrete walls also refers to the corporate world, which “bricks” have become glass or simply partitions between one table and another in business in general. The bricks really have fallen apart and companies are going toward a horizontal way, where everybody talks to everybody; again without any brick or any barrier. The hierarchy exists, but in a different level as before. The physical point card became virtual badge, enabling the famous “home office”. Employees began to be evaluated and separated between generations, such as generation X and generation Y or Z (starting in corporations). Consumers have more rights about products and the economy and changing behaviors frantically.
With competitiveness, organizations rely on investing in strategies, assuming new responsibilities, performance necessary for the personal fulfillment of goals and objectives. Promoting the growth and development of its employees, through a model based on mission and values. The quests for survival of organizations have changed the organizational paradigms, in the sense that if before it was necessary to motivate the employees and that today need also to get their commitment. This makes companies to wake up to importance of positive environments, where employees can find favorable conditions to work more effectively.
With globalization and rapid growth of corporations via innovations, talent retention becomes a very important factor for the survival and growth of organizations. At present, the people of organizations must have the ability to manage competently, in order to satisfy and retain their employees, which represent values invaluable to the company. One of those values is the power to renew, create, innovating and to intrapreneur.
Stimulate the entrepreneurial capacity, then by inducing behaviors favorable to systematic innovation, by creating a dynamic of continuous improvement and speed up the process of modernization is a current world. In this sense, the author of the thesis, decided to already introduce innovation, even in the abstract, through another author, or more than an author, a poet and brilliant mind, Fernando Pessoa, when he said:
"There is a time when humans should abandon the used clothes, which already have the shape of their bodies, and forget their paths, which always leads to the same places. It is the time of looking forward: and, if humans don't dare to do it, they will have been, forever, on the sidelines of themselves. " (Fernando Pessoa)
In this context, this thesis proposes to treat about entrepreneurship in general, proposes to talk about intrapreneurship, about corporations, the individuals; and finally, the author tries to makes suggestions for the current decade.
A behavioral finance: An analysis of investment decision making regarding psychological influences
(2016)
Anywhere humans are interacting, emotions and psychology are important determinants to consider. This statement is true for financial markets as well and often there are occurrences which are not explainable by using traditional theories. Therefore, behavioral finance aims at finding explanations for such occurrences, referred to as anomalies, by combining economic and psychological research. The literature review presented in here shows recent developments in the field and gives an overview of research evidence by reviewing studies from six of the most investigated facets of behavioral finance. The review includes evidence from a variety of studies performed in different contexts to disclose the importance of understanding human behavior, especially in terms of financial markets and economy. The closure of this review consists of an alternative model and concludes that there might be a new science entering the collaboration between economists and psychologist which is computer science.
How can Holidog use its touchpoints more efficiently in order to improve its performance in Germany?
(2016)
The main aim of this dissertation is to study how the company Holidog can improve the customer journey of customers in the German market, with a special focus on the evaluation of present touchpoints and actionable possibilities to create new touchpoints.
Holidog is an online platform for petsitting, present amongst others in the German market. This study focusses on improving the performance in this market by increasing traffic on the website and converting more of this traffic into bookings. Besides, it is evaluated which touchpoints are not efficient in order to free resources for more relevant touchpoints.
The sub-questions researched are:
How can Holidog increase the number of searches on the website?
How can Holidog convert more of the searches into bookings?
Which touchpoints are not efficient and could be abandoned?
The research has been conducted in the period from September 2015 to February 2016. Market information as well as company-specific information has been collected mainly through secondary data provided by the company next to eternal sources providing data about the industry. For testing new approaches, primary research through quantitative observation has been conducted.
The dissertation is structured in five main chapters: (I) Introduction presenting the research topic; (II) Theoretical basis about the petsitting industry and the company Holidog; (III) The current customer journey and all touchpoints created; (IV) Additional touchpoints the company could consider creating; (V) Overall recommendations and conclusion.
Expatriation
(2016)
We are taking a look at the global deployment cycle, more precisely, the repatriation stage. Today many MNCs underestimate the challenges and difficulties returning assignees face upon return. MNCs have recognized the importance of support services and assistance before and during the international assignment. Even though literature findings have confirmed repatriation to be more difficult than expatriation, only a minority of MNCs invests resources in creating an effective repatriation program. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the repatriation phase within the global deployment cycle. Different factors influencing repatriation are analyzed and essential key action steps for a successful repatriation are identified. Also a closer is taken at how expectations and the commitment of international assignees are related to repatriation. In addition, the importance of cultural agility is discussed.
The importance of internationalization to achieve a competitive advantage in the business world has increased greatly in recent years. Especially in the fashion industry, where competition has increased tremendously and globalization plays a more important role, it is essential to find new ways in order to be unique. To succeed in internationalization in the fashion industry, companies must have a basic knowledge of their markets and follow clear strategies. The purpose of this thesis is to answer the question why fashion companies nowadays need to create a competitive advantage and expand their market internationally. In addition, it will also address the challenges that an American brand can face in the European fashion industry. The company chosen for this research is Shoshanna LLC, a contemporary American women’s wear brand based in New York City.
With regard to methodology, a multi-‐purpose approach has been conducted. The conclusions have been reached with theoretical knowledge, personal experience, a survey and interviews with experts in this industry. The conclusions of this thesis will give Shoshanna LLC a better understanding of internationalization processes in the fashion industry and the strategies required. It will also answer the question of how the chosen strategies can be a guideline for the company.
Today’s era is marked by high volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity – VUCA. As the global reach of businesses increases, the need for competent managers to take on cross-border assignments grows. Even though the results can be key to organizational effectiveness, global mobility remains a low priority on the list of strategic imperatives. This thesis will explain why and how companies should consider a strategic approach to global mobility in a VUCA environment discussing links between today’s turbulent times and global mobility. It will combine theory with practice, point out the key factors global mobility strategies must focus on in today’s VUCA environment and use these findings to develop a set of assignment types beneficial in the VUCA era. The study is based on qualitative research methodology using primary and secondary data. A literature review was used to gather theoretical information comparing various sources from academic journals and books on relevant topics. Case studies featuring Budenheim and Hewlett Packard shall give an insight into which methods companies are using in order to survive in this chaos and relate discussed theories to practical situations. It has been revealed that the three main factors responsible managers must focus on strategically when sending employees abroad are developmental value, cost effectiveness, and flexibility of cross-border assignments. The need for developmental value of assignments stems from an increased involvement of employees in their own development as well as the need for competent global managers. The need for cost effectiveness results from fierce global competition, and flexibility is highly important due to all of the VUCA forces creating turbulence around the globe. Based on these results the most advantageous assignment types are found to be developmental assignments, extended business travels and project assignments.
As this paper study how a brand can differentiate itself to stand out among the competitions for better growth opportunities, focus is given to two emerging trends in the market, the halal skincare and also functional skincare brand. Halal skincare stands for the skincare product that is permissible for Muslim consumption from the religious perspective. This trend is growing tremendously as Muslim is the second biggest religion in the world with high fertility rate. In skincare, the concept of halal would exclude the use of alcohol and pig-derives material in the product. This market amount to $46 billion in 2013 and is growing at 8% annually. This undercapitalised halal skincare market with few competition provides good opportunities for a brand to grow and develop. The functional skincare on the other hand, is a trend emerged over time where products provide additional benefits on top of basic function. This skincare trend is basically driven by modern technology that leads to many innovations of these multi-featured products. Example of the additional benefits that will be the focus in this study are the anti-aging and the sun care protection. Both trends gained enough attention by demonstrating a strong growth in the respective segments. This study will provide a snapshot of the current growing trends in the market and provide the key steps to position and differentiate a brand in order to stand out against the competitors with reference to the halal and functional skincare. The key objective here is to understand the determination of the brand positioning through the analysis of competitors, the target consumer and formulation of own brand differentiations. As every brand will be given a variety of judgements by the consumers, it is essential that a brand is position properly in the mind of the consumer in order to be successful in the market.
This project builds an understanding on the evolution of financial intermediaries and its actors based on financial intermediation theory. By discussing the perspectives of borrowers and lenders within the crowdfunding industry, this study advises a way to create a competitive advantage for emerging Crowdlending platforms by leveraging on institutional investors.
This study recommends an inductive analysis of the crowdfunding industry, based on studies of other authors, observations of the industry and academic papers regarding investment behaviours. This leads to a Porter’s Five Forces analysis, which depicts the linkages among the actors of the business. The previous analysis suggests that institutional investors create positive linkages within the business; therefore, the project continues to explore the requirements of these agents when employing crowdfunding platforms as an effective investment vehicle.
As an investigation tool, a questionnaire is designed and delivered to institutional investors in the Latin American region. Results show that institutional investors lean towards short term credit operations structured under a monthly cash flow arrangement. While investors do care about the established communication channels and management of cash flows towards borrowers; support activities are susceptible of outsourcing and may constitute a value-added opportunity for financial intermediaries.
The context of this project is a study of the business expansion and development of the Becual Chile crowdlending platform as a young company in the market. The study is led by the Hochschule Furtwangen University and complemented by other two theses: ‘Credit Risk Model for a SME Crowdlending Platform’ (Aravena) and ‘Growth Strategies for SME Crowdlending Platform’ (Beltran).
A contract as one of the essential means which regulates national and international commercial transactions, intended to determine the rights and responsibilities of the parties and protect their assets. Parties to international business transactions may freely choose the law governing their contract. As a result, parties are free to choose a contract law which best fits their needs, irrespective of its connection to the particular transaction. The market of contracts offers a choice among the laws of national jurisdictions and uniformed commercial contract law drawn up by intergovernmental organizations. Even application of a reputable national law or uniformed contract law does not guarantee eligible certainty. In particular, uncertainty is not admissible in transactions of industrial products and technologies, where protection of intellectual properties is one of the crucial aspects. In the aforementioned conditions, it might be a problem for businesses to make an appropriate choice of an applicable law of a contract, which is less complex, involves adequate efforts of contract enforcement and costs of dispute resolution. The task of this research is an analysis of different legal environment and making suggestions to a business in a subsequent strategy, depended on scopes of business transactions, national or international, and power levels of the involved parties. The research to be carried out in the following four parts, problem setting, theoretical study, empirical study and implementation. Solutions of the problems related to making and enforcement of a contract and dispute resolutions, basically may be divided into preventive and reactive actions. The preventive actions include choice of an applicable contract law, involving various mechanism to ensure that each party will stick to the contract terms, like self-enforcement, reputation, third party audits. As the reactive actions there may be considered, formal litigation through the judiciary system, which might be costly and slow, and alternative dispute resolution, such as an arbitration, mediation and conciliation hearings.
The thesis provides analysis if the traditional automotive distribution model, defining the position of automotive dealers in the distribution channel. Their business model is analyzed from the perspective of value-adding activities performed at each stage of the distribution process and from the perspective of the profit centers existing generally in the business model at present. The research further turns to the automotive distribution in Belarus. The analysis of the Belarusian automotive market cannot be thoroughly accomplished without analysis of the Russian market, since the two countries belong to the common free economic area. The current condition of the Belarusian automotive dealers is considered in context of the macroeconomic downturn and obscure prospects, which is certainly one of the major challenges the industry is facing. The decreasing purchasing power of the population, high interest rates and exacerbating competition negatively influence the performance measures of the automotive dealers and their growth potential. Apart from the currently unfavorable macroeconomic situation, which is generally considered as temporary, the analysis takes into consideration basic transformation trends observed in social and technological spheres. The developments in the technological sphere also bear conflicting implications for the Belarusian automotive dealers and should be therefore thoroughly analized. In order to understand the potential of the Belarusian automotive dealers to introduce the necessary changes to the existing business model the balance of power analysis will be carried out according to Porter’s Five Forces methodology. The analysis is important from the point of view of the extent of the changes, which dealers are able to accomplish with a reasonable level of risks. The SWOT analysis will be further carried out to highlight the existing advantages and disadvantages of the Belarusian automotive dealers combined with external factors, which might influence positively or negatively their position. This chapter deals with the actual implications of the trends highlighted previously for the automotive dealers and provides the basis of the analysis of a sample strategy, currently implemented by the leading Belarusian automotive dealer, which is elaborated on in the last chapter.