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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.
Personal and professional development is a great incentive for many employees to apply for a job with a company. If this is lacking, however, it can also be a reason to look for a new employer. Now it can be assumed that personnel development looks different in every company. Given this diversity, how can you choose a company if you want to continue your education? How should one know how the personnel development in a company is regulated? One can divide company structure and culture into hierarchical, traditional, or agile, known as dynamic and adapting. Are there differences in their ways to develop their employees that could help applicants to know how their development will be in a company? The paper deals with the theoretical investigation of possible differences between the human resource development in agile and in hierarchical organisations, followed by partly-structured expert interviews with experts out of eight companies about how they manage their employee development and exchange of knowledge. They were categorized in agile and hierarchical according to some structural and cultural questions at the beginning.
The question of this paper is, if there are tendencies of the same kind of organization in terms of structure and culture, to also have the same approach of Human resource development. Further the study is conducted to find out if there are differences in the tendencies between hierarchical and agile organizations, as well as where they lie.
The results suggest that there are tendencies of the same kind of organization to have a similar approach to their human resource development. Differences could be found in terms of distribution of responsibility, frequency and content of feedback meetings and used methods for training and knowledge exchange. This is important for companies who want to compare and improve their approach and for people who want to apply to companies but want to know beforehand their responsibility for their training and how the process is going to be.
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.
This thesis examines the added value of modern approaches of balance sheet analysis for the external analyst. When talking about modern approaches of balance sheet analysis, scoring models, qualitative analysis, discriminant analysis and artificial neural networks are meant. On the basis of an extensive literature research, it is examined to what extent these approaches can overcome the weaknesses of the traditional balance sheet analysis.
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 bachelor’s thesis deals with the question of whether a treatment with neurofeedback could provide a benefit for the members of an organization during a change process.
In particular, the motives and challenges of change projects were identified. Furthermore, the methods which can be used to reduce and even prevent these problems were examined. The non-achievement of basic human needs, the associated fear, the loss of trust and stress plays a major role here. A good change management is able to address some of these issues, for example through good communication and the implementation of a change vision. The difficulty is that people may be too stuck in their views, including previous bad experiences, to be helped by current methods. It could be shown, that the training with neurofeedback achieves positive and fast lasting effects. The thesis explains how the person to be treated must be prepared and what a training might look like. Various areas in which neurofeedback has already been successfully used are briefly described and it is investigated whether there are treatments for disorders that are similar for the resistances in change processes. Expert interviews have examined these assumptions more closely and provided a practical and concrete perspective on the treatment with neurofeedback in an organizational context.
Finally, it was found that training with neurofeedback in companies is quite an interesting option. At this stage, however, there is a lack of studies that can prove the concrete benefits. Until now, neurofeedback has been applied almost exclusively to the medical field and this will probably not change in the upcoming years due to the high complexity of the procedure. Other methods, such as yoga or meditation, are on the one hand easier to carry out and the other hand already established in society. However, since positive results have already been achieved with biofeedback and people are beginning to take an interest in it, this could be a first step towards neurofeedback.
The goal of this research is to find out whether the hierarchical leadership style
of the German Bundeswehr influences their soldiers in a way, that they develop
certain competencies that are highly demanded in the agile companies in the free
market economy. For this purpose, the following question was asked: In which
ways does the leadership style of the German Bundeswehr influence the
motivation of the soldiers, their ability to work in a team and the relationship to
the direct leader?
To be able to answer this question in a proper way, scientific literature was used
to built a theoretical background. It was completed by a semi-structured,
qualitative interview with an expert of the German Bundeswehr. With nearly three
decades of experience, he is responsible for the coaching of leaders and has a
broad knowledge about the leadership culture of the German Bundeswehr.
Both, the literature and the expert are in agreement about the fact, that being a
soldier is more than a job, but a calling. Being a soldier means living for the higher
mission. Meaning, that the motivation for completing a task has to be higher than
the one of civil workers, because it is based on intrinsic motivation. Also, in the
Bundeswehr, it is essential to be able to work in a team, no matter if one has a
sympathy for the others or not. In contrast to the agile way of team work, the
military does not put a lot of effort in figuring out the best team constellation, but
rather focus on the best way to achieve the goal. So, for the soldiers it is inevitable
to be able to work in a team with all different kinds of people. Additionally, to be
able to go through privation and hard times together, the soldiers build close
connections among themselves and to their leaders. So, in comparison to a
mostly professional relationship between colleagues and superiors in the free
market, the soldiers often are friends in their personal life as well.
Based on the mentioned findings, it is possible to expect soldiers to be attractive
potential applicants for leading positions in agile organizations.
Games are characterized above all by the fact that players naturally show a very high willingness to play. By using Gamification, one attempts to transfer this high motivational potential to other contexts by integrating elements of a game in a non-playing situation.
This bachelor thesis deals with the research question of how Gamification can influence the motivation and performance of users. It discusses how a gamified system must be designed in order to get the best possible benefit. Furthermore, the risks of Gamification are named and measures to reduce these risks are mentioned.
The methodology used is a literature search in which Gamification and its components are first defined, followed by a definition of motivation and performance. Furthermore, typically used game elements are presented and their effects are explained. Gamification is categorized according to two different approaches, differentiating between various types of Gamification. In order to explain the motivational effect, various psychological motivation theories are presented. The focus is on the self-determination theory according to Deci and Ryan, where the fulfilment of the needs of competence, autonomy and social relatedness are crucial for the emergence and maintenance of motivation. This theory is also used to understand performance improvements.
By presenting practical experiments in which Gamification systems have been developed, it becomes apparent that Gamification can have positive effects on the motivation and performance of users, provided that the basic psychological needs mentioned above are addressed. However, negative effects and various risks that Gamification can entail were also identified. For example, the ability to work in a team, the self confidence of the users, and the quality of the work can suffer if Gamification is implemented incorrectly.
For future research, it is essential to focus more on the interaction of different game elements, to differentiate between the quantity and quality of the achieved results, and to observe the long-term effects of a gamified system.
This literature review-based study reveals that there are reasons for the acceptance of the effectiveness of equine-supported leadership trainings. Results show that people are able to transfer knowledge to a situation which is different from the learning situation (Baldwin & Ford, 1988). Additionally, this research deals with the assumption that empathy can be raised through the equine-facilitated trainings. This hypothesis is proven by the results of empathy improvement in autistic people during equine-assisted activities (Malcolm, Ecks and Pickersgill, 2018).
This thesis aims to explain corporate visions from a psychological perspective to examine its effects for the individual and the organization.
Therefore, the existing literature on the topic of vision and psychological theories has been reviewed. Psychological theories from cognitive, social, and positive psychology, as well as the psychology of emotion, have been applied to the topic of corporate vision.
Derived from complexity theory, visions can function as positive emotional attractors (PEA), which trigger various psychological processes. Visions activate the default mode network and lead to mental simulations, such as the simulation of a best possible self, which contribute to perceived meaning in life and lead to an increase in positive affect. Further, the PEA leads to adapting a promotion focus. Affective forecasting of the future serves as a motivator. Anticipated emotions can lead to the impact bias and emotional contagion, which are important for the communication of the corporate vision. From the perspective of social psychology, Schwartz’s theory of values and social identity theory can explain the effects of corporate visions. Growth-oriented values can trigger a promotion focus in the individual, therefore being motivating.
Social Identity theory further states, that if an organization’s values are similar to those of the individual, the individual can experience organizational identity.
What happens in a situation in which an individual is given a quality task for no compensation while knowing that someone else receives a reward for the same effort? If a performance drop occurs, does the individual's fairness sensitivity play a dependent role? These questions are approached theoretically and experimentally within this thesis. As a foundation, the most critical insights from the psychological investigation of extrinsic rewards and its impact on intrinsic motivation and performance are reviewed. Furthermore, relevant findings regarding fairness are introduced from varying fields of research. The conducted double-blind experiment suggests with limited confidence that the higher an individual's fairness sensitivity in a situation of perceived unfair treatment, the lower the performance.
This paper proposes to consider the influence of transparency in leadership styles on work performance and satisfaction. In an experimental setting, a pair of strangers were advised to solve a Sudoku in a digital environment under time pressure. With an induced hierarchy, the leader was able to view the task and the timer, whereas only the subordinate was enabled to actively edit the riddle. The treatment group was told to transparently communicate the intended leadership style during the preparation phase. The results indicate that transparency has a significant positive effect on the performance and the satisfaction of the teams. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that transparency may not be the direct cause of improved performance and satisfaction. Yet it might be crucial in establishing trust between the leader and subordinate, causing a positive effect on the two dependent variables. The paper is concluded by discussing limitations, practical implications and considerations for future research.
The literature on feedback was reviewed with respect to its effectiveness. The argument was made that the effectiveness is determined by the recipient´s feedback orientation (openness to feedback). The factors were explored by answering three questions derived from the hypothesized feedback orientation theory from Trost (2020). The research indicated two factors that contribute to employee feedback orientation. The first factor is the feedback source who should have a coach leadership style. The second factor is the feedback environment which should have the element of learning and coaching.
The objective of this thesis is to determine whether or which of the two types of praise effort-based or ability-based – has more positive psychological effects on humans.
Therefore, various study results on these two types of praise will be summarized and compared. This comparison shows that in the short-term, ability-based praise can have a more positive effect on the performance of a person, but in the long-term, effort-based praise has a much better effect. In order to explain this effect, the following two theoretical approaches are examined in more detail: theory of fixed and growth mindset and the effort-ability-relation. Although theory and study results suggest that effort-based praise is the better option, there are some reasons why using only effort-based praise can be harmful. To overcome these harmful effects, it is important to use praise responsibly and accordingly as well as to be aware of its powerful influence.
Vision statements are one powerful tool in visionary leadership that have to be communicated regularly in order to create purpose for employees. In the past decades, it was underestimated to achieve a greater understanding for a collective sense of purpose that is equally understood by many employees to increase organizational performance and especially coordination of work. To examine the role of values and mental imagery within vision statements, the concepts are more closely elaborated to develop more certainty in creating the right vision. Additionally, an archival study from the medical sector is portrayed which included vision statements and other performance relevant data of 151 hospitals in the US. The researchers found evidence for a strong interaction and imagery effect when four or fewer values were used within vision statements. The interaction resulted in a higher performance and work coordination of the organization and therefore functions as evidence for a shared sense of purpose. Besides, many leaders rather provide conceptual visions and communicate several values that distort the effect of vision imagery and decrease a collective sense of purpose.
Since the introduction of the concept of Emotional intelligence (EI), there has been affective turbulence in the past decades in the scientific community. The interest in the concept has been growing since the popularization of it in 1995 by Goleman (Goleman, 1995). It has been claimed to be a new way to success, as it was being linked to performance, job satisfaction, many other work-related constructs (Wong & Law, 2002; Bozionelos & Singh 2017; Miao et al., 2018; Prentice, 2016) and even health-related benefits (Goleman, 2020).
On the other side, the concept of Social Intelligence (SI), which was first introduced and used by Thorndike in 1920, has been around in the scientific community for quite some time as well. It is known for reducing conflict, creating collaborations and mobilizing people towards a common goal (Albrecht, 2005).
There has been a perplexing use of them in the field of research. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to examine conceptual issues as the similarities and differences between the two constructs and drawing a clear line between the two. A theoretical review has been conducted for independently understanding each concept. Different conceptual models have been analyzed for differences and similarities, in terms of definition, use, skill, problem-solving area, depth of the construct and aim of reasoning. The conceptual analysis shows there are some distinct differences. In addition to that, the results indicate that both concepts are multidimensional, overlapping and interdependent.
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.
This study examines the current human capital management software market with integrated people analytics module and their targeted type of human resource management. The study is guided by the research question: Does the current human capital management software with people analytics module market target their data usage towards hierarchical or agile type of human resource management? To answer the research question a content analysis of 12 websites of human capital management software providers with integrated people analytics module was conducted. The findings were evaluated based on a scale of 4 prototype approach.
The study revealed that the majority of human capital software providers aim their data usage towards hierarchical organizations. A large part of the examined companies run a mixed approach and try to aim their software towards both hierarchical and agile organizations with different tendencies. The findings of this study align with the literature and suggest to organizations seeking to implement a human capital management suite to choose the software that supports their human resource type and strategy the best.
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.
The aim of this research is to provide a holistic overview of the influences on the intention to invest in the context of behavioral finance. For this purpose, a model was created in which the effects of the theory of planned behavior, financial risk propen-sity, and the self-determination theory on the intention to invest were examined. With the help of nine hypotheses, the significance of the relations within the model, as well as a mediation effect were analyzed. In order to test these hypotheses, a quantitative survey querying the above-mentioned possible factors and further questions about the participants' investment behavior was created and sent to all students at Furtwangen University. Results showed that all relations within the model were significant and that especially attitudes and financial risk propensity had a pronounced influence on the intention to invest. However, several variables for self-determination theory had to be eliminated to guarantee validity and reliability of the model. The findings of this study enable financial institutions, such as banks, to actively influence and en-courage customers to invest or to purposefully develop new investment products to gain additional customers.
This bachelor thesis is about the digital transformation and the resulting need for new business models. Additionally, the Servitization is changing the business environment as well. Together with new technologies such as the Internet of Things, this digital Servitization is creating threats and new opportunities for businesses. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to conceptualize a Smart Home as-a-Service business model for a drive- and control technology manufacturer with the example of Somfy and to test it in qualitative expert interviews with potential Business-to-Business customers.
The research questions addressed and answered in this thesis are:
(a) „How can a concept of an as-a-Service business model in the field of smart home to expand the market segment from single to multi-family houses by a new target group of a drive and control technology manufacturer look like?“
Question (a) is answered with a concept based on the Service Business Model Canvas. It is a Business-to-Business-to-Consumer business model, where the residential construction companies build in the necessary hardware in new residential buildings. This is the prerequisite for the focal company Somfy to offer tenants smart home applications in a subscription model.
(b) „How is the relevance, value, and feasibility of the Smart Home as-a-Service concept assessed by residential construction companies?“
Question (b) is tested with qualitative expert interviews. The results indicate a high relevance for the Business-to-Business customers. Additionally, offering Smart Home as-a-Service would create various values for residential construction companies, such as an additional selling feature, while the model is being assessed as generally feasible. Further research is suggested for example in the take-rate of the tenants.
The aim of this study is to understand the concept of Ethical Branding from the perspective of Generation Z. This umbrella question was divided into three research questions: 1. What constitutes an ethical brand for Generation Z, 2. What is Generation Z´s attitude towards ethical brands, and 3. How will the future of ethical brands look like? For this, ten individual online interviews with undergraduate students were conducted. Findings reveal that young people view Ethical Branding as an important personal issue. Members of Generation Z view an ethical brand as holding values such as fairness, honesty, integrity, and consideration at its core and consistently acting according to these values. This manifests itself in the fulfillment of environmental, social, legal, and economic responsibilities. Participants depict a largely positive outlook for ethical brands as society – in particular young consumers – becomes more aware of the importance of mindful and responsible consumption, challenging existing brands in the future. Companies should therefore focus on delivering what they promise and aligning all business activities if they want to be perceived by Generation Z as a truly ethical brand.
The present paper aims to identify role conflicts according to social role theory that leaders acting as managerial coach might be exposed to during their work. Therefore, several behavioral approaches that are characterizing for managerial are identified through literature assessment. These distinctive behavioral patterns are analyzed upon alternative reasonable expectations that role senders might have in regard of leadership.
Hereby this study can identify several potential sources of person-role conflict due to incongruencies between expectations of role senders and the actual leadership behavior of a managerial coach. As literature indicates that role conflicts have serious impacts on the effectiveness of leadership behavior, this study furthermore presents a guideline for organizations and managerial coaches on how to support the acceptance of coaching.
When translanguaging, individuals use and combine all their available language repertoires in order to increase comprehension. The use of different languages together
implies that there is no strict language separation. First studied in a school context, the primary purposes of this concept are the complete understanding of subject matter and the simultaneous development of additional languages. Recent studies in different business contexts show the concept’s transferability to other environments. This brings forth questions about, firstly, the implementation of translanguaging in a workplace and, secondly, the possible effects of translanguaging on interpersonal relationships in work teams. The focus of the analysis hereby lies on work teams with intellectual and creative
tasks. The transferability of International High School’s eight core principles, which are meant to improve students’ translanguaging skills, into a business context is discussed. The theoretical analysis results show that the eight principles are, in theory, all applicable
to creative and intellectual teams, but further challenges may arise. No definite answer is presented regarding the effect on interpersonal relationships; both positive and negative effects are possible. Results are all context-dependent, and further empirical research is needed to study the theoretical assumptions made in the present paper.
In times of demographic change, globalization, digitalization and change in the coming generations, human resources development with the qualification and further development of executives is becoming increasingly important. The company Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG has introduced the new management level of team leader for sales and administration since the beginning of 2021. In addition to the team leaders in sales and administration, there is an unofficial management level in logistics. The team leader level at Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG has already existed for several years but has received little attention in terms of development and qualification.
The topic of the paper deals with the importance of the qualification of managers on team leader level in the logistics of Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG. Thereby the work deals with the construct of leading, the manager in general and the development measures in a company. A deeper insight is given in this area into the various qualification programs of Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG.
The qualitative content analysis according to Mayring is applied for the question to be answered, whether the qualification of the managers on team leader level is attributed an importance and if so, how this is weighted. The results of the interviews indicate that the Würth company attaches great importance to the qualification of managers at team leader level, and thus a high significance. This is made clear by appropriate points, such as the influence on the employees by their shown behavior and actions. Furthermore, this is in direct connection with the leadership styles and leadership behavior, which can be influenced by the development and promotion of competencies.
This paper investigates the influence of manipulated attention on the perceived severity of financial risks. Participants undertake an online survey where they get exposed to images of various financial risk sources, while their attention is directed towards one of five available visual images of financial risk hazards.
Beforehand, they are instructed to remember and repeat the respective labeling of all pictures. It is ensured that the attended picture is randomly chosen, and the participants are aware of the corresponding names. Subsequently, participants are asked to rate the risk on four related characteristics.
Considering the responses of 292 people, only the numerical values indicate differences between attended and unattended risks, but the applied statistical measures provide no evidence for this hypothesis.
This paper reflects the topic of risk regarding an individual’s propensity to engage in risky behavior. Therefore, a survey was conducted among four different cultures to study cultural effects on risk-taking behavior. These contained Germany, France, China, and Latin America with a total sample size of 655. The applied questionnaire covered seven different domains regarding social, recreational, health/safety, ethical, investment, gambling, and business risk for which the participants had to assess the likelihood to engage in theoretical situations on a scale of 1 to 6. Significant cultural differences, as well as domain-specificity, could be confirmed using several one-way ANOVAs for the statistical evaluation. In this case, in comparison with the other cultures, Germany showed the highest risk propensity in the social domain, France for recreational and ethical risk, Latin America in the business as well as health/safety sector, and China in the investment and gambling domain.
Do Meat-Eating Consumers Use Organic Meat to Rationalize the Consumption of Conventional Meat?
(2021)
This thesis explores how meat-eating consumers may be able to rationalize the consumption of conventional meat by believing to substitute a certain amount of it for organic meat. The underlying rationale is that the positive associations elicited by the organic label and the favorable beliefs consumers have formed about organic meat enable them to use it as a moral license. Building on cognitive dissonance theory, this work specifically investigated whether (1) meat-eaters perceive organic meat better than vegetarians and (2) meat-eaters overestimate how much organic meat they consume. German meat-eating and vegetarian participants were recruited for a study (n=156) to answer these questions. The results show, first, that organic was generally rated as better than conventional meat on all dimensions surveyed, and to a greater extent by meat-eating than by vegetarian respondents. Second, meat-eating participants on average reported estimates of organic meat consumption that were significantly higher than the population mean, indicating that consumers may not eat as much organic meat as they believe. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that organic meat might be used to rationalize unsustainable food choices.
Sustainability, encompassing the economy, the environment, and society in equal parts, is an increasingly prominent topic that is gaining in importance and awareness due to the climate crisis and the resulting urgent need for action. It is essential to simultaneously focus on the global and on the local scale in order to create a paradigm shift. This study addresses the attitude-behavior gap of employees in the daily operations within companies and evaluates how nudges can be implemented to narrow this gap. A literature review was conducted to understand the separate topics of sustainability, the attitude-behavior gap, and nudging. Based on these three topics and their interrelation, exemplary nudges on habits and on infrastructure to be applied in a company and modified to its needs are developed. The method of implementation of nudges cannot be generalized because (1) attitudes and behavior and their interrelation are individual and influenceable factors and (2) the corporate context and how nudges are communicated impact the effectiveness of the interventions. Investing in internal sustainability practices in combination with indispensable external practices leads companies to a holistic, authentic, and successful approach towards becoming a sustainable business.
Keywords: Attitude-Behavior Gap, Nudging, Corporate sustainability
There is a growing trend for multinational enterprises to send their expatriate employees on international assignments to achieve corporate development, human resource goals and to gain a competitive advantage in the global context. Therefore, the performance and productivity of international assignees play a major role for them and the organization. However, expatriate research has so far rarely taken into account the factors that do not directly relate to expatriate performance. Instead, research has focused on expatriate success and failure. However, the literature shows that neither can yet be clearly defined. Therefore, this study instead focuses on expatriate performance and productivity by placing special emphasis on literature gaps. Hence, in this study the importance of several factors is tested, namely: 1) overall international experience, 2) informal social networks, and 3) expatriate family. As this research aims to develop practical approaches to managing critical circumstances when relocating overseas, a link between theory and previous study findings has been established. To provide a point of departure for Global People Transitions GmbH, a special focus has been placed on organizational support and intercultural training. The data have been collected through guided expert interviews with six participants, three of them expatriates, two expatriate spouses, and one repatriate. The study results have found that the tested factors have an impact on expatriate adjustment and, consequently, on expatriate performance and productivity. In addition, several aspects to improve expatriate performance and productivity have been identified, such as providing organizational support or creating structures and routines. Lastly, it has become clear that research on international assignments is very elusive due to several underlying factors that influence the matter.
Der Frauenanteil in den Führungsetagen der deutschen Wirtschaft stagniert seit Jahren auf einem niedrigen Niveau und spiegelt nicht im Entferntesten den Anteil weiblicher Beschäftigter wider (vgl. Tonn 2016, S. 11). Vor allem im Top-Management sind Frauen deutlich unterrepräsentiert. Die Grundannahme dieser Bachelorarbeit besteht darin, dass Frauen grundsätzlich motiviert sind, Führung zu übernehmen und die gleichen Potentiale wie Männer besitzen. Um eine Führungsposition einzunehmen, müssen die Rahmenbedingungen passen. Aufgrund biologischer Unterschiede und der Sozialisation präferieren Frauen andere Rahmenbedingungen als Männer. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Frage untersucht, was sich aus Sicht der Frauen verändern müsste, damit sie ihr Potential entfalten können. Dazu wurden 50 weibliche Probandinnen aus unterschiedlichen Branchen befragt. Die systematische Betrachtung der Aussagen ergab im Wesentlichen folgende sieben Aspekte: Gestaltungsfreiheit, Unterstützung zu Beginn und in der Führungsposition, Vertrauen, eine gute Feedback- und Fehlerkultur, die Vereinbarkeit mit dem Privatleben, Menschlichkeit im Fokus und attraktive Anreize. Des Weiteren konnten durch die Ergebnisse Handlungsoptionen abgeleitet werden, um strukturelle und kulturelle Rahmenbedingungen zu gestalten, die talentierten und motivierten Frauen einen einfacheren Zugang zu mehr Führungsverantwortung verschaffen.
Durch die Covid-19 Pandemie kam das Thema Home-Office in aller Munde. Die Arbeitsweise des mobilen Arbeitens eignet sich hierbei nicht für jede Tätigkeit gleichermaßen.
In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden die Führungskräfte betrachtet. Das Ziel ist es zu untersuchen, ob ein bestimmter dominierender Führungsstil sich besonders für das Führen von Mitarbeitenden im Home-Office eignet und ob Führungskräfte mit verschiedenen Führungsstilen diese Arbeitsweise anders einschätzen. Dafür wurde eine quantitative Studie durchgeführt, die von Führungskräften Einschätzungen zur Eignung von kreierten Szenarien sowohl im Büro als auch im Home-Office einholt. Spezifisch wurden die Teilnehmenden dabei in die dominierenden Führungsstile des Bosses und des Coaches klassifiziert und anschließend zu ihrer Einschätzung der Eignung des Arbeitsortes in verschiedenen Szenarien befragt. Diese Studie zeigte, dass die hier betrachteten Führungsstile und der Arbeitsort einen Effekt auf die Einschätzung der Eignung hatten. Hierbei zeigte sich, dass die Teilnehmenden, die mit dem dominierenden Führungsstil des Coaches klassifiziert wurden, die Eignung der Szenarien für die Arbeit im Home-Office positiver einschätzten.
Weitere Forschung hierzu könnte sich sowohl mit der Sicht der Mitarbeitenden auf die Führungsstile beschäftigen als auch weitere spezifische Gruppen und Tätigkeiten betrachten.
Die COVID-19-Pandemie ist Treiber der Digitalisierung, welcher das Verhalten von Menschen nachhaltig beeinflusst und Organisationen vor neue digitale Herausforderun-gen stellt. Diese Forschung untersucht hierzu 75 Sparkassen aller Größenklassen und Regionen Deutschlands auf deren Digitalisierungsstand während der COVID-19-Pandemie. Der DSV-Gruppe als zentraler Lösungsanbieter der Sparkassen, liegt derzeit keine aktuelle Forschung zu Einstellungen und Maßnahmen bezüglich der Digitalisie-rung in den Sparkassen vor. Daher sollen die Forschungsfragen „Welche digitalen Her-ausforderungen bestehen zum aktuellen Stand bei den Sparkassen?“ und „An welchen Punkten kann die DSV-Gruppe ansetzen, um die Sparkassen bestmöglich in ihren digita-len Herausforderungen zu unterstützen?“, durch eine quantitative Online-Umfrage be-antwortet werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die befragten Sparkassen Unterstüt-zungsbedarf in der Digitalisierung von Prozessen, vor allem für Beratungsgespräche und Home-Office, aufweisen. Zudem wurden Defizite in der Agilität und Gewinnung digi-tal geschulter Mitarbeitenden identifiziert. Die DSV-Gruppe könnte den befragten Sparkassen in der Digitalisierung mehr Führung durch zentralere Steuerung zeigen und eine individuellere strategische Beratung bieten. Außerdem könnte die Schulung von Mitarbeitenden in ihrer digitalen Fitness unterstützt und tiefergehende Forschungen zum Zusammenhang zwischen dem Kostendruck, der digitalen Einstellung und den digitalen Maßnahmen der befragten Sparkassen angestellt werden. Die Forschung erkennt Relati-onen, welche die DSV-Gruppe in weiteren Forschungen auf Kausalität untersuchen soll-te, um die untersuchten Sparkassen bei der Anpassung ihrer Geschäftsmodelle an die veränderten Gegebenheiten der Digitalisierung zu unterstützen und somit die Ge-schäftsbeziehung zu den Sparkassen nachhaltig zu festigen.
This research examines whether a company's popularity is a determining factor for its attractiveness among employees. For this purpose, two groups of subjects were asked to rate the attractiveness of an identical job advertisement. The only difference between the groups was that one group was led to believe that it was the job advertisement of a well-known company, whereas the other group was presented with the advertisement of a rather unknown, but in terms of activity and prestige comparable company. The results suggest that the familiarity of the company does indeed influence popularity to a significant degree. Implications of this finding are also further explored.
The world is constantly changing, and cosmetic companies need to adapt to these changes to survive. In particular, cosmetic companies should not underestimate changes in how customers value information from different sources because proper marketing can lead to increased sales. Therefore, this thesis aims to determine which information sources customers of Generation Y are using and how they weight the information from these different sources. A survey was conducted with people of Generation Y to answer the research question. The survey showed that the most frequently used and highest weighted sources for getting information are search engines, friends and family, and product ratings. Furthermore, the results indicate that information gathered from offline sources has a more significant impact on purchase behavior than information gathered from online sources. Potential customers using search engines are more likely to buy a product online. However, the price of a product does not influence how consumers weight the opinions of friends and family, and age does not impact the weighting of social media or the total number of sources a customer uses. To conclude, a company should not ignore the importance of offline information sources because the data shows that offline sources significantly impact buying behavior. They should also aim to have their online shop appear as one of the top search engine results because this will impact the likelihood that customers visit their websites and buy their products.
A Descriptive Study on Customer Attitudes towards Green Branding in the Fashion Industry in Germany
(2021)
This paper attempts to provide an up-to-date representation and analysis of customers' attitudes towards green branding in the fashion industry and their willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainable and ethical clothing in Germany. Related literature strands are reviewed to understand how the fashion industry works, what green branding means, and how customer attitudes are shaped. After creating an attitude measurement model, an online questionnaire was designed and sent to Furtwangen University students, with 153 valid responses returned. The descriptive analysis sheds light on the three attitudinal components related to sustainability and ethics in the fashion industry. It is noted that customers do not hold a definite attitude. However, a tendency towards the positive end is ascertained. Significant gaps still exist in terms of knowledge and awareness of some commitment by fashion brands. Another huge factor influencing attitudes appears to be a lack of trust. The behavioral component showed that customers are trying to contribute through proper disposal and are willing to buy sustainable and ethical clothing more often. However, there is still some room for improvement in terms of customer education. Nevertheless, it is found that they are willing to accept an additional contribution for sustainable and ethical clothing. In general, it can be concluded that there is a foundation to improve the fashion industry towards more sustainability. However, all stakeholders, i.e., customers and fashion brands, as well as the government, need to work together to change the industry in the long run.
Differences in the perception and their effects on the implementation of organizational agility
(2021)
This thesis paper investigates the differences in organizational agility implementation and links practical approaches to complex theory. Several agile transformations have been studied to provide an overview of the common guidelines that foster agile working. In alignment with the ambivalence of agility, the results show that a symbiotic mixture of bottom- up and top-down features in the application is required. Especially in traditional organizations, where hierarchical structures prevail, the practical implementation requires the approval of managers and the active involvement of employees to be successful. Additionally, companies cannot apply a uniform approach to achieving agile but must alter practices to fit their specific needs. Consequently, this paper can be particularly beneficial to companies attempting an agile change.
This thesis refers to Western multinational corporations (MNCs) that expanded their business activities in China significantly within recent years. These organizations operate in highly complex cultural environments, based on the infinite number of teachings drawn from past dynasties. The culture scope is difficult to assess, which explains the limited research available. The thesis examines whether classic performance evaluation systems in German MNC’s operating in China prove to be efficient. Furthermore, reference is drawn to the influences of controversial discussions on performance appraisals in German headquarters, whereby it is examined if Western alternatives would be compatible within a Chinese setting. Underlying cultural concepts; Confucianism, face dynamics, etc., and their implications are studied due to their high impact on the regulation of social interactions between German expatriates and Chinese business leaders. As part of the research, qualitative expert interviews were conducted with expatriates in China originating from both German SME’s and corporations. The results showed that hierarchies largely dominate corporate culture, which is partly due to partisan influences on the organization. Traditional performance appraisal systems largely prove to work efficiently. Lateral collaboration is evaluated as close to non-existent. Praise is rarely expressed. Furthermore, Chinese leaders and cultural, political underpinnings consolidate companies within their strict hierarchy and largely prevent the introduction of agile approaches, therefore alternative approaches can only be partially implemented.
Pricing decisions are some of the most important marketing considerations and require knowledge on the value that customers associate with a company’s offerings when optimizing revenues and product positioning in a market. However, measuring the customers’ willingness to pay (WTP) remains a challenging task, because numerous biases, psychological phenomena, and social norms cause distorted answers in methods that are commonly used to assess the WTP, which leads to misguiding data and false assumptions with regard to price-sales relationships. This study recognizes the importance of reliable and accurate data that adequately reflects the real market situation. In this context, controlling as a business function plays a major role, being the intersection between financial consideration and business functions such as marketing and sales, providing important data that is used as a foundation for strategic decision-making. Therefore, this study has the objective to investigate how implicit price research can support the planning of strategic decisions in the context of digitized controlling by implementing an online reaction time tool as an integrated module into a controlling software.
The present paper proposes to contribute to this topic by applying an experimental pricing research method – NeuroPricing® Online – using implicitly assessed reaction time data to investigate the subjects' unconscious willingness to pay in two distinct case studies in the mineral water market.
The results of the first case study indicate the existence of the willingness to pay a price premium for organically labeled water but suggest a strong dependence on the container type and the distinct price segment in which the water is offered. The second case study revealed that the perceived value of identical products of a brand could be considerably different between potential customers in established and new sales regions.
Our research contributes to a better understanding of consumers’ valuation and emphasizes the importance of implicit pricing research as a method to support digitized controlling as an interconnecting business function between financial considerations, consumer behavior, and strategic management.
Forecasting demand is a mission-critical but non-trivial pursuit in strategic planning for any brand. However, long-established explicit pricing research methodologies suffer from well-described biases, thus posing a significant obstacle to accurate forecasting. One way to tackle this challenge is resorting to implicit measures inspired by paradigms from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Hence, as carried out with NeuroPricing Online, implicit price research can help identify a consumer's Willingness to Pay (WTP) for a product or service. Consequently, the entire sample´s distribution of WTPs can be converted into a population model of demand vs price. A subsequent model of revenue has, to date, in marketing research, typically been based on indexed values, providing the user of the data with non-intuitive and rather abstract measures. Here, using the case of a Mineral Water bottler, we have integrated the demand model directly in a well-maintained digital controlling tool of said cooperation. Central figures such as gross sales and contribution margin were modelled based on realistic cost and market estimates. Thus, assuming the same conditions, the data leads to a fact-based and accurate prediction of the results of a price change. The insights allow the company to gain concrete insights into the context of its pricing strategy and, if necessary, reposition itself to achieve a competitive advantage. For instance, the pricing model integrated into the controlling tool allows for comparing various bottle types in terms of revenue and contribution margin. As such, the specific impact on the financial performance of, say, a revenue maximising or contribution margin maximising strategy can be predicted.
Pro-environmental attitude is, on many occasions, a weak indicator for pro-environmental behavior. Personal interests interfere with the human desire to follow normative goals during the decision-making process, which may result in the unpleasant state of attitudinal ambivalence. The more balanced two contrary attitudes are, the higher is the chance for external persuasion as it may decrease the internal ambivalent conflict. However, moral informational interventions seem not to cause the desired behavioral change but may instead increase the sense of resignation and guilt. This paper aims to set focus on the attitude-behavior relationship in the concrete example of plastic-packed food and how post-decisional evaluations vary when either individual (hedonic or gain goal) or collective motives (normative goal) are being followed. Measured indications for actual disengagement or attitude adaption are relatively weak but felt ambivalence in the case of immoral decisions could be demonstrated in the form of response times. Practical conclusions that may facilitate pro-environmental behavior are being presented at the end of the work.
Understanding how consumers choose between alternatives and how they use the context in doing so is the aim of numerous consumer behaviour studies. The effect of extremeness aversion has been found to be a replicable phenomenon in this field. According to this context effect, alternatives with extreme numerical attributes are less likely to be chosen than the alternative with intermediate attributes in a choice set. A new research direction regarding extremeness aversion considers not only these numerical attributes of a choice set but also the implications of the spatial dimension. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that there could also be a preference for the spatial middle in a choice set. As the phenomenon of extremeness aversion corresponds with decision uncertainty, this research aimed to investigate numerical and spatial extremeness aversion in a product class of high uncertainty and complexity. Thus, consumer preferences regarding the product class of wine were analysed in different choice architectures. Interviews in a wine specialist store and an online survey were conducted with a total number of 924 participants. The study’s results are not consistent over both data collection methods. However, independently of each other, they support the notion that consumer choices may be partly influenced by a preference for the numerical middle option, as well as by a preference for the spatial middle option.
Seit Ausbruch der Covid-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Krise Ende 2019 hat sich nicht nur das Privatleben, sondern auch der Arbeitsalltag von Menschen auf der ganzen Welt
drastisch verändert. Seither setzen viele Unternehmen auf Homeoffice (HO), um das
Infektionsgeschehen einzudämmen. Diese Arbeit widmet sich der Frage, ob HO für Arbeitnehmende ein Arbeitsmodell darstellt, welches von Unternehmen auch in einer Zukunft nach der Covid-19-Krise weitreichend ermöglicht werden sollte. Hierzu wird zunächst die Entwicklung von HO vor und während sowie die prognostizierte Entwicklung nach der Covid-19-Krise aufgezeigt. Eine Untersuchung des aktuellen Forschungsstandes liefert einen weitreichenden Überblick über die Chancen und Risiken,
welche das Arbeitsmodell HO für Arbeitnehmende birgt. Dabei wird festgestellt, dass es sowohl umfassende Chancen als auch Risiken gibt, deren Erfüllung jedoch stark von
verschiedenen Faktoren, wie beispielsweise der Aufgabentätigkeit, abhängt. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit werden daher sechs Hypothesen, mit Fokus auf den Faktoren HO-Intensität und Wohnsituation, anhand eines Online-Fragebogens unter 147
Arbeitnehmenden getestet. Dabei stellt sich heraus, dass die HO-Intensität und die
Wohnsituation die Konstrukte Produktivität, berufliche Isolation, Konflikte zwischen
Familie und Arbeit und HO-bedingte Erschöpfung bei ungleichen Rahmenbedingungen
kaum beeinflussen. Im Allgemeinen sollten Unternehmen in einer Zukunft nach der Covid-19-Krise HO insofern ermöglichen, dass sie den Arbeitnehmenden individuell angepasste Regelungen anbieten. Diese müssen sowohl den Bedürfnissen und Kompetenzen der Arbeitnehmenden als auch an die Unternehmens- und Führungskultur angepasst werden.
Die Verfolgung einer klaren Transferstrategie kann laut mehreren Studien den sportlichen und wirtschaftlichen Output eines Fußballklubs erhöhen. In dieser Arbeit sollen die relevanten Faktoren für die Entwicklung und Verfolgung solcher Transferstrategien herausgearbeitet werden. Hierfür wird das Thema durch den Literaturteil in den Gesamtkontext des Profifußballbereichs eingebettet, wobei verschiedene Aspekte wie zum Beispiel die Kommerzialisierung des Fußballs oder der Ablauf des Transferprozesses betrachtet werden. Danach werden im empirischen Teil die Durchführung und Ergebnisse von neun Interviews mit Experten aus dem Bereich der Kaderplanung dargestellt. Die Interpretation und Diskussion der Ergebnisse sowie der Vergleich mit der Literatur zeigen, dass Alter, Entwicklungsstand und Kosten eines Spielers für strategische Transferentscheidungen relevant sind. Entscheidend ist außerdem die Ausrichtung der Strategie nach den Zielsetzungen und Rahmenbedingungen des Vereins. Zu beachten ist schließlich, dass eine klare Definition der Strategie zwar sinnvoll ist, eine flexible Anpassung an externe und interne Veränderung dabei aber gewährleistet bleiben muss.
Aufgrund des fortschreitenden demografischen Strukturwandels erhöht sich bereits heute und vor allem auch in der Zukunft der Stellenwert der Personalbeschaffung in einem Unternehmen, da sich immer weniger qualifizierte Arbeitskräfte auf dem Arbeitsmarkt befinden. Um die wenigen Arbeitskräfte als Bewerber zu gewinnen, beziehungsweise den Bewerberkreis zu erhöhen und möglichst groß zu halten, können unterschiedliche Kanäle genutzt werden. Zahlreiche vorhandene Studien hierzu betrachten den Einsatz solcher Kanäle. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es herauszufinden, welcher Kanal die meisten Bewerbungen hervorbringen und somit auf ein Unternehmen oder auf eine offene Stelle aufmerksam machen kann. Dabei wird zwischen traditionellen offline Kanälen und internet-basierten online Kanälen unterschieden. Die empirische Forschung setzt sich zusammen aus einer Befragung von 10 Unternehmen sowie einem Fragebogen aus Sicht der Bewerber mit 163 Teilnehmenden. Beide Methoden kommen schlussendlich zu dem Ergebnis, dass die internet-basierten online Kanäle (Unternehmenswebsite, Internet-Stellenbörsen und soziale Medien) mehr Bewerbungen im Unternehmen generieren und auch durch Bewerber mehr genutzt werden, um bei der Stellensuche auf ein Unternehmen aufmerksam zu werden, als die traditionellen offline Kanäle (Printmedien, Mitarbeiterempfehlung, eigene Netzwerke, Karrieremesse und Bundesagentur für Arbeit). Dennoch sollte ein Unternehmen nicht nur einen Kanal bewerben, sondern je nach offener Stelle einen Mix aus den verschiedenen Kanälen einsetzen.
Year after year, global warming, and plastic output increase, and massive volumes of carbon dioxide (CO2) are being released into the atmosphere. Even though humans are aware of their environmental impact, they do struggle to change their behavior. But what is the reason for this?
The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the factors that make it difficult for people to demonstrate pro-environmental behavior (PEB) and to form ideas from the field of nudging to assist in guiding humans to a better PEB. As a result, a meta-analysis was created from a multitude of papers on the issues of PEB and nudging. The proposals presented in this work serve as an impetus for future studies in the field of PEB nudging.
This thesis aims to ascertain whether the concept of job sharing might be a solution for organizations to adapt their company values to meet the changing principles of society. The shift in demands results from the younger generations seeking different values in their free time, which also influences the demands at work. The disbalance between organizational and individual values leads to employee dissatisfaction and increasing turnover rates. The part-time concept of job sharing is on the rise regarding new work opportunities. Therefore, subtopics including flexibility, work-life balance, gender balance, and diversity in the workforce are positively encouraged through job sharing. The data and research in this thesis are obtained from existing literature on the work concept. Most previous research has focused on the influences on individuals and less on multiple levels within a company. The findings of this paper state that job sharing can significantly impact the value shift of a company in many different facets. Nevertheless, the concept also provides a large number of requirements on several levels which need to be adjusted to benefit from the concept.
The term quiet quitting was discussed on social media platforms, but also in a lot of business-related articles. Hence, because of the novelty of this concept, there are hardly specific empirical studies on this concept. In the following thesis an empirical study is done and analysed to answer the research ques-tions if there is any coherence between the concept of quiet quitting and af-fected generations. But beforehand, the term quiet quitting will be defined, as there is not an official definition yet. Furthermore, the issues for the economic environment and companies presented. After this, possible reasons and causes for quiet quitters are collected.
The market for foods and beverages is one of the largest worldwide. Thus, there is a lot of interest in understanding and predicting consumer behavior. Two subjects that have gained attention recently in the food sector are perceived naturalness and high-tech eco-innovations like cultured meat. This work addresses how the preference for natural products and the inference of product attributes via perceived naturalness causes problems for novel technological food products. By reviewing existing literature following questions will be answered: (1) What do most people assume about the health, taste, sustainability, and safety of food products based on perceived naturalness? (2) How is the public acceptance of high-tech food eco-innovations influenced by a lack of perceived naturalness? (3) How can these challenges be addressed by food businesses? It will first be determined what natural means for customers and how it influences food choices in general. The main findings based on the currently available market research are consumers do not desire to consume any highly unnatural foods including technological eco-innovations and it might be more efficient in terms of sustainability gains and customer needs to commit resources to developing existing products or eco-innovations that are perceived to be natural.
In der heutigen Wirtschaftslage ist es für Unternehmen zunehmend wichtig sich aufgrund von einem zunehmend gesättigten Markt und steigendem Wettbewerb klar zu positionieren. Eine Grundlage für das strategische Marketing kann zum Beispiel durch ein Marketingkonzept geschaffen werden. Es dient als Leitfaden für weitere unternehmerische Marketingaktivitäten. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden die Grundlagen für ein Marketingkonzept analysiert und aufgezeigt, mit dem Fokus auf der Kommunikationspolitik. Für die Ausarbeitung wird beispielhaft ein Produkt des kroatischen Unternehmens Terra Marascae d.o.o. verwendet. Die Kommunikationspolitik ist auf den unternehmenseigenen Online-Shop sowie die Gewinnung von Neukunden ausgerichtet. Die Informationen werden anhand des AIDA-Modells gewonnen. Auf dieser Grundlage kann die Kommunikationspolitik des Marketingkonzepts weiterführend abgeleitet werden. Dazu wird in Interviews sowie theoriegeleiteter Konzeption konkret ausfindig gemacht, welche Informationen für den Kunden und dessen Kaufprozess relevant sind. Die Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, dass es wesentlich ist, die Besonderheiten der Produkte in der Kommunikationspolitik klar zu kommunizieren.