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Course of studies
Globalization brought high competition in the market. Therefore, international Marketers started to use a strategy of linking a product to its Country of Origin to get a potential competitive advantage on their product. Previous studies have found that the effect of Country-of-Origin on consumer´s product evaluation, perception and purchase intention. However, it was limited to find the County-Of-Origin effect on different age groups especially in Germany.
The purpose of this research was to analyze the effect of Country of Origin on German consumer´s product evaluation and different age groups. Projective test was adopted for designing the questionnaire and Italy, China and France were selected as the country. In the end, the data was represented by statistical analysis and graphic representation.
This research comes to the conclusion that the Country of Origin either has an impact or has no impact on German consumer´s product evaluation. Their evaluation showed various results based on country and product information such as Country image, Country of Manufacturer image, product category and brand. Therefore, this research was not able to define the general Country of Origin effect on German consumer´s product evaluation. However, this research will give an insight for designing a future research and a more comprehensive understanding of the Country of Origin effect on age groups.
In order to address the many challenges that the global population is currently facing, effective policies and therefore effective measurement concepts of development are necessary. However, disagreement regarding the methods to create and implement measurement concepts prevails. Furthermore, the abundance of development indicators makes it difficult to keep a clear overview of available measurement options. Therefore, this study clarifies the current status of the discussion regarding development. It also provides a comprehensible summary of the criteria that a valid development indicator should fulfill as well as a clearly structured overview of the most important development measures – divided into single and composite measures, then further broken down according to whether the components are aggregated and whether they are weighted. To make the results more tangible, this study assesses the Human Development Index and the World Happiness Report in greater detail and applies both to Germany and Bhutan. This is concluded by a set of general recommendations regarding the sensible application of development indicators.
This bachelor thesis is a comparative study between German and French consumers. Why do Germans spend less on food than French consumers? This question, which is the main one of this paper, leads to a subdivision in three other questions: How do the culture and some financial aspects of Germany and France impact their food buying decisions? German consumer vs. French consumer: how important are the characteristics of each consumer behaviour Profile? Are the other parameters being taken into account while buying food the reasons why French consumers spend more on food than Germans?
In order to answer the first two questions not only an analysis of both culture is required but also an examination of the consumption behaviours of each population. By means of qualitative and quantitative research methods the third question will be treated.
According to this comparative study, the results show that buying decision related to food is strongly influenced by some cultural aspects of each population. An answer of the main question of this study can also be derived after analysing the German consumer Profile.
While Africa presents huge markets for foreign software, sales in these markets have been decreasing over the years. This downward movement in sales can be attributed to the challenges software companies are facing in these markets.
Using the case of TeamViewer GmbH in South Africa and Nigeria, this paper seeks to examine these challenges and give possible recommendations on how to improve sale. It also would analyze the opportunities present in these markets for foreign software.
Through an interview with customers and re-sellers in the South African and Nigerian markets, we uncover that, high prices, competition, unawareness of subscription, to name a few, are some of the challenges resulting in poor sales. Also, using the political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) model of analysis, an overview of the socio-economic and political situation in these markets were examined. The findings from this paper would serve as a spring board for further research on this topic.
With today’s trends of higher flexibility in production processes and Industry 4.0, there is a heightened demand for flexible sensor solutions. SICK IVP is catering to this demand by providing highly customizable vision sensor systems. However, in the past, customization was mainly done by experts in the vision market and so, vision sensors were primarily sold in a B2B market. Recent development
towards easier to use micro-software solutions, so called apps, enable the end user to develop his own solutions. This allows SICK to market their vision products more directly to the end user, or in other words
in a B2C market.
These trends necessitate new marketing strategies and User Experience Design. Accordingly, this thesis evaluates the current marketing approach for the SICK vision apps, namely, the SICK AppPool and sick.com by mapping customer experience for a specific given task. In-depth empirical research on
customer experience was conducted. Finally, recommendations on a marketing approach for the SICK vision apps, including training, a pricing model and a UX Design concept are given.
Digitalization has made business virtual. As the current workforce is slowly adapting to it, the “digital natives” come into play.
We all know, that Millennials have a different approach to media and virtuality. They are practically born with it. But how would they perform if they had to use virtual media in a professional setting? Does the experience and the technology surrounded upbringing give them a clear advantage? Or will they struggle with this entirely new dimension of communication the same way older generations do? This Thesis focusses on the challenges of virtual teams, predominantly in cross cultural situations. But especially on how Millennials tackle virtual teams in a global setting, if they did not have extensive prior preparation.
The first part tries to identify the theoretical background of this paper – the classical challenges of cross-cultural communication in virtual teams but also the willingness of Millennials to use digital work tools for their future.
The main segment then introduces data and observations collected on the GVT project - a pilot project from the Hochschule Furtwangen University, where students from Spain, Finland and Germany took part in a simulation of virtual teamwork. In groups, these students had to develop a project about Erasmus at their university – but purely virtual to experience physical borders in teams.
A pre-survey and a post survey have been carried out on this group to analyze and investigate how perception and reality differ. Furthermore, the participants left testemonials and many virtual meetings were monitored.
This Thesis will conclude with chapter 3 to show if Millennials have a valid advantage in working with virtual teams. It will also show the necessity to train young people and change our education to a more digital approach, as business will inevitably become increasingly virtual.
After the global financial crisis of 2008, central banks in many advanced economies reacted with an expansionary monetary policy to counteract deflation. Various economies have reached the zero-lower bound ever since, but central banks have still been involved in asset purchase programs to further stimulate the economy and to reach price stability goals. This paper examines the changes in income structures commercial banks face because of the low interest environment. Concluding the theoretical impact of a low-interest environment, it can be said that banking profitability worsens in the interest business mainly because of the zero-lower bound whereas banks benefit in non-interest operations and loan loss provisions as they diversify their business and occur fewer nonperforming loans. Through the risk-taking channel, banks change their perception towards risk and are more willing to commit to riskier business but this increased risk-taking does not threat financial stability. The empirical analysis of 112 banks of the Euro area confirms that relevant bank key performance indicators deteriorate, especially after the global financial crisis in 2008. The conducted regression analysis indicates that the net interest margin is compressed because of the zero-lower bound and persistent low short-term rates and the shape of the yield curve. For key performance indicators of return on average assets and return on average equity the positive link is only given for the short-term interest rates but not the yield curve. For these key performance indicators, a sound economy is more important than the interest rate level. Overall, the banking sector of the Eurozone appears to be not immediately threatened by a low-interest environment as they were able to increase non-interest related income. In the long run, higher market interest rates, however, are needed to establish profitability in the interest business.
The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to find out whether there are indicators that point out a convergence of nonprofit and for-profit businesses. Therefore, various business concepts and the money markets of for-and nonprofit businesses are analyzed by implementing a qualitative content analysis. The results show that most of the concepts and both money markets show clear features of for- and nonprofit businesses. In conclusion, indicators of convergence could be identified.
The growing desire of firms to engage in international business, is the continuous need for growth. This paper is focus on designing an international market entry strategy for KARL OTTO BRAUN GmbH Co. & KG an OEM company, a producer of medical textile products. A prerequisite is market selection and entry, should only be possible with own branded products. As an OEM, KOB produces and packages medical textile products for other companies, who market and distribute the products under their own brand names. In this paper, qualitative and quantitative research methods are used. Expert interviews, desk research and questionnaires are employed, to gather evident data that will assisst in identifying a suitable market for KOB and determine an adequate market entry mode. Since KOB produces for other companies, caution is exercise not to enter markets, where existing key customers are present. This paper also studies market development strategies and in addition to questionnaire feedbacks, will support in elaborating a suitable market development strategy for KOB own branded products in a chosen market. The goal of the paper is to use the results of the empirical study to recommend KOB an international market entry strategy.
In 2016, Germany’s population consisted of 22.5% of individuals with a migration background and the share is expected to further grow in the future. Therefore, how to successfully integrate migrants is a recurring topic. This paper examines the labour market integration and identificative integration among one of Germany’s largest minorities, migrants from the former Soviet Union. Due to a lack of data on the second-generation migrants and outdated findings on older migrants, secondary research and primary research in form of an online survey is conducted to disclose the current integration status and how it is affected by the cultural background of both generations. Furthermore, possible differences in the integration process of migrants of different ages are investigated.
The results show that the integration of the target population is characterized by a relatively high employment rate, a positive attitude towards Germany and pursuit of the most rewarding acculturation strategy. However, the lack of interethnic networks and the strong presence in blue-collar jobs leave room for improvement. Through the deployment of migrant networks, the target group benefits from its cultural background but also feels discriminated because of it. Only a few significant differences between the integration of migrants of different ages are discovered, including the command and use of German as well as the role of migrant networks.
The purpose of the thesis is to recognize the huge potential of the mobile sales channel through mobile websites and/or apps for the mobile shops in the sporting goods industries. Many retailers and fashion brands have already recognized the huge market of the M-Commerce. Surprisingly, sport brands till now have largely missed out on the M-commerce market. Only few of them have a mobile store and none of them provides a satisfying user experience. Therefore, those sport brands that already have a mobile shop need to rework their concept, and those that have no m-channel so far need to establish one. Given the exponential market growth, waiting is no longer an option. Sports brands that delay or fail to strengthen their mobile presence will fall behind competitors and miss a major opportunity to maximize their sales.
Coworking spaces are known for providing the opportunity to network with the members of a coworking space and with the outside world. In order for this networking to happen, there must be a third person facilitating the relationship creation, which in this case is a Community Manager. As a result of this, this study aims to apply the concept of being a superconnector to the Community Managers in coworking spaces.
In order to prove this theory, the author of this paper carried out a qualitative research with eleven in-depth interviews. Seven of them were addressed to coworking members, while the other four to the Community Managers of four different coworking spaces. The coworking members were chosen through referral or through snowball sampling in order to acquire diverse results. Amongst these coworking members there were freelancers, start-up builders and employees from bigger companies. This variety provided the researcher with valuable information to understand how the different types of coworkers may benefit differently from the role of a Community Manager whilst networking. This research might also be helpful for other researchers since it provides information about the different sizes and populations of the coworking spaces.
The results of this study demonstrate the importance of the presence of a Community Manager in coworking spaces. This impacts mostly coworking spaces that focus on freelancers and start-up entrepreneurs that place a high value on networking.
The world is in a trend of urbanization, which leads to population surges in the major cities. The consequences are an increase in pollution and traffic congestion. With the rise of the sharing economy, bike sharing systems are a possible solution to the urban traffic problem, which at the same time is a sustainable “green” way of transportation. This trend is especially visible in China where the combination of bike sharing and the Internet of things has resulted in a new form of bike sharing: the free-floating bike sharing system. This paper seeks to analyse the new model, the underlying market conditions of China and Germany affecting the system and eventually tries to evaluate the chances and limitations of the FFBSS in the German market, considering the differences in the market and the opinions of expats who experienced the system first hand in China. This paper focuses on the two major operators of the free-floating bike sharing system, Mobike and Ofo bike, who have split most of the Chinese market between them, kicking out most of its competitors.
The demand and supply for clean label trend have been growing continuously during the last years. Consumers are increasingly choosing to buy products that contain health and sustainability information. The negative perception of additives, colorants, palm oil, gluten and Monosodium Glutamate has been discussed and has put the food industry for challenging and expensive product adaptations such as recipe changes and design rejuvenation. A literature review based on academic journals and books provides an understanding of the consumer action’s and the food industry’s reactions related to the clean label trend. Furthermore, factors that influence the rise of the clean label trend are discussed. Health and nutritional claims are defined. Additionally, the motivators of a food choice for German consumers are examined. Lastly, an eye-tracking study was conducted to gain insights into consumers visual attention to areas of interest on a stimulus.
Matured markets and rising global competition lead to new challenges for the
manufacturing industry. Lean Production provides an approach to meet those challenges,
even more, to gain competitive advantage by improving the efficiency of processes. As
implementation of Lean Production is associated with high investments in form of time
and money, there is a high demand to measure these improvements. But standardized
Balanced Scorecards (BSCs) and classical Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are not
designed to show those occurring changes.
This thesis reviews current literature researches and elaborates possible indicators to make
Lean efforts measurable. This approach is further analyzed based on the example of the
implementation of Shop Floor Management in a medium-sized, international automotive
supplier. The thesis results in a proposal of a concrete set of indicators.
People are surrounded by many offers every day, a discount, a gift or a special sale. A walk through a store can lead us to purchases which are not necessary but in our minds are worth it. Pricing may be one of the easiest ways to influence consumers and to make products more attractive.
This study compares the pricing practices “use of word free/free offers” for example buy one get one free and “discount.” Those two practices have different influences on the consumer behaviour and the product perception. A discount tends to be less worth it than a free offer if an average customer would be asked. A survey of over 200 people was made to witness this statement.
This number of people were divided into two groups which were asked different questions via an A/B testing survey. Group A was asked about a free product, and group B was asked about a discount. Additionally, this study includes a field validation in the form of observation. Customers of a transregional drugstore were observed when buying a product. This drugstore where the validation was made offers a bi-weekly brochure with promoted products. Among them are discounts and free offers. The number of sales was compared and analysed to confirm the results of the survey.
This bachelor thesis explores the opportunities of Talent Scouting at ZF Friedrichshafen AG in terms of a cross-divisional internal talent management measure in line with future requirements and the frame of a CoE function. It deals with the definition of talent within the scope of Talent Scouting, ZF specific demands with regard to matching internal talents with key positions and the general framework that must exist in order for Talent Scouting to be successful.
The thesis is supported with primary and secondary research data. A theoretical framework is set up through a comprehensive literature review and used as a foundation for a qualitative data research approach. The literature review comprises the talent definition within the business scope, the frameworks of TM and a first look at Talent Scouting. Furthermore, relevant internal TM measures at ZF are examined. The research includes expert interviews conducted with ZF internal employees. The gained insights are then discussed and concluded into recommended actions for a Talent Scouting process at ZF.
Major findings include a new understanding of talent and the need for a transparent process to encourage and enforce internal mobility division-wide. Additionally, the requirement for an overall coherent TM strategy is accentuated. This is emphasized with demands for a cultural and organizational mindset change. Additionally, a talent life cycle is established and the concept of a Talent Conference is considered. Further topics discussed include the use of big data, staffing rules in placement processes and possibilities on increasing visibility of talents.
Finally, the thesis provides a brief outlook on the potential of people analytics and system-aided processes for HRM in the future.
The real-world possibilities for blockchain applications are endless, yet few real-world use cases exist in early 2018 beyond cryptocurrency. Among the many newly initiated and emerging proposals for applications of this unique technology, the area of vehicle emissions provides an opportunity to bring the advantages of cryptography and decentralized databases to the collection and storage of scientific research data. The reporting of vehicle emissions has been a publicly acknowledged area of deceit and scandal, while the cornerstones of blockchain are transparency and consensus. There is, perhaps, a way for this newly expanding technology to provide a disruption to the automotive industry by efficiently and reliably reporting vehicle emissions.
This paper seeks to analyze: the capabilities of an emerging technology when applied to an existing older technology and its utilized environment as well as propose a system for efficiently and reliably collecting and reporting internal combustion engine based vehicle emissions data using blockchain; also, finally, theorize the impact of such a system on the automotive industry.
By combining multiple technologies which already exist in practice, as well as some which are expected to be massively implemented in the near future, it is theoretically possible to establish a blockchain based system for not only recording emissions from every participating vehicle, but also electronically executing a check against local emissions restrictions via smart contracts defined by geo-locational range and GPS referencing. The data can be processed and stored in a way that protects the identity and location history of the driver by assigning responsibility of compliance to the identity of the vehicle. The network can be protected from malicious actors by way of an emissions application specific protocol which involves unique GPS data.
While the short run effects of such a system may be met with pushback from the automotive industry because of increased regulation and impact on sales of internal combustion engine vehicle inventory, the long run effects parallel and may even supplement the future effects of the global trends which make the system possible.
Renewable energies play an increasingly significant role both in politics in Germany and especially in the energy market. The latter meanwhile is determined by the prices of the different energy sources in the mix of the German market. The goal of the present work is to analyse the influence of renewables on energy prices on the Spot and the Futures market and to find indicators, that help to better predict energy prices and therefore could be decisive for the time of purchase. Due to the limited scale of this thesis and because of the leading role of wind and solar energy, the main focus is on these two energy sources. Therefore, a quantitative data analysis by means of Pearson’s correlation coefficient is performed. The results are analysed to find main influencing factors on energy prices. Using the results, it can be concluded by what kind of event the resulting price changes are caused and how these events can be forecasted.
Social media is important to the private lives of people. Marketers can use this to sell their products and create a competitive advantage. This study’s research questions were formulated in order to examine this topic more closely. The aim of this thesis is to provide a theoretical background on social media and the influence of purchase decisions, as well as empirical evidence. Secondary data from various journals and articles was used to provide a theoretical framework based on the latest information. Empirical studies by researchers in different industries have examined the topic with a statistical approach. Their findings are used to provide a practical perspective. The results show that social media has a positive influence on consumers’ purchase behaviour. The conclusion discusses recommendations for future research, limitations and a critical view on existing empirical research and theory on this topic.
Through the worldwide changing world where the availability and accessibility of data becomes more and more important, companies have to take advantage of these new trends and embrace the change. The thesis aims to explore the evolution of the human resources department in organizations especially focusing on people analytics.
The objective of the presented study is to analyze the development of the human resources organization towards a more data-driven function. In addition to that, a practical study in cooperation with the corporate people analytics team at Nestlé was conducted. As the HR function of Nestlé goes through its global transformation between 2018 and 2020, one result is the changing role of the HR business partner. In the future, they will have to apply analytical skills such as sourcing data and analyzing data, and generating people and organization insights to enable high quality decision making. In order develop and train the HR business partner in these additional competencies, a training program on people analytics has been elaborated through this study. The research concludes with strategic recommendations how to incorporate the training within Nestlé.
Understanding consumer behavior is a crucial task for businesses as it is fundamental to analyze and implement successful marketing strategies. The following Bachelor thesis investigates the consumer behavior of Millennials, a consumer group that, due to its size and unique consumer patterns, has become ever more interesting for businesses in recent years. Firstly, this work gives an overview of the necessary steps to analyze consumer characteristics to understand the main concept of consumer behavior as analyzing consumer characteristics forms the basis of developing and finally implementing appropriate marketing strategies. Secondly, as modern technologies play an important role in consumer behavior, this Bachelor thesis analyzes the influence of advanced technological marketing tools on consumer behavior in greater depth. Thirdly, this paper takes a closer look at the millennial generation, thereby focusing on its distinct consumer behavior and its importance for businesses and societies – across time as customers as well as employees. To understand the significance of the millennial customer segment, it is not only important to contrast the consumer behavior of Millennials to those of other generations but to also get familiar with the Millennials’ main characteristics that define their consumption patterns such as their focus on status and sustainable consumption. Finally, this Bachelor thesis outlines potential opportunities and challenges for marketers today and in the years to come and provides suited recommendations on how to effectively target the millennial customer segment to best meet the expectations of Millennials.
This thesis analyzes reverse logistics exemplified by Kärcher, a manufacturer of cleaning devices, and elaborates a conceptual framework for developing a business model for reverse logistics. A literature review is undertaken for theoretical infor-mation; expert interviews and a quantitative study are carried out. The aim of the lit-erature research is to investigate the importance of reverse logistics and its future viability. Reverse logistics can be divided into two parts, the entry channel and the value-adding part, whereas this thesis focuses on the value adding part. Previous studies mention that reverse logistics is ignored and underestimated by companies; nevertheless it is important for a functioning returns process as return quantities are increasing in the future inter alia because of online retailing. Furthermore, the re-verse logistics process of Kärcher is compared to the industry-wide standards. For understanding the process at Kärcher, exploratory interviews with several SDCs and a census are conducted. To compare the Kärcher reverse logistics process with the industry, a benchmark is performed. The benchmark is carried out with competitors based on short expert interviews and two international companies are analyzed from the literature. The outcome of the benchmark is that until now, there are no industry-wide standards to be found and therefore Kärcher cannot adhere to standards. Last-ly the business model concept Canvas is investigated in theory and applied to the reverse logistics process at Kärcher with the objective to explore, to what extent Canvas can be implemented. In addition, the Canvas is used to define a conceptual framework for further elaboration with the aim to possibly regain value from returns in the future. Finally a recommended course of action for Kärcher concerning reverse logistics is derived.
The present work illustrates the challenges non-profit organizations are facing, especially in regard to marketing measures. Rapid technical advancements and the continuous development of digital assets opens new creative possibilities, which organizations must recognize in order to operate successfully.
Future philanthropists’ charitable contributions are shaped by generational characteristics. The new generation forces organizations to implement new strategies and to revise its approach in order to address given needs and to satisfy all participants. Social platforms, permanent internet access and specifically mobile phones influence promotional activities which emphasizes the great importance of a digital marketing concept. Furthermore, charity organizations need to adapt new ways of engaging with their donor base in order to build a sustainable and lasting relationship.
This paper aims to reveal generational impacts on charitable contributions. It focuses mainly on marketing measures and the upcoming challenges and specifically aims to examine existing evidence for the effectiveness of Video Marketing. Hence, the key question to be answered is if video illustrates the new sales tool to approach future philanthropists. Therefore, an interview with the expert Dennis van Dijk, the COO of MSSG B.V., is being conducted to support the possible result.
The practical applications of the PMBOK Guide for the events industry - an analysis and case study
(2018)
The goal of this thesis is the investigation and analysis of the PMBOK Guide for its feasibility in the development, planning and executing processes of events and the implications of its employment on the overall project success. The analysis includes findings on which guidelines are most applicable, which require modifications, and which are not or only limited useful for event planning. The different processes and their usefulness in the events context are outlined and recommendations for their use are made. For illustration purposes a case study based on a trade show launch was developed and appropriate guidelines were applied, resulting in specific recommendations to the project team. Additionally, key performance indicators and other success measurements were developed in the course of this work. Since events need to pivot and are set in an agile environment, it is challenging to apply a waterfall method such as the PMBOK Guide to the project procedures making it advisable to ultimately employ a hybrid or selective approach. The results of this research can enable project managers in the events industry to more easily apply a waterfall methodology as a whole or in parts to their projects and provides a variety of indicators and measurements for performance evaluation.
Optimization of an omni-channel strategy in fashion retail – the case of Hunkemöller International
(2018)
In fashion retail, omni-channel management has become an important strategy to offer the customer a seamless shopping experience across various channels. Customers want to shop from anywhere and at any time. Therefore, retailers integrate their operations among all channels and manage them simultaneously. The customer´s interaction with the brand along various touchpoints is thereby an important factor, since the number of touchpoints along a customer´s journey is increasing. This work analyzes a fashion retailer that is already executing an omni-channel strategy, to find challenges that the company is facing and thus an approach for optimization. This is done for the example of Hunkemöller International B.V., a Dutch lingerie retailer, which is dedicated to consistently improve its omni-channel strategy.
The following work examines current literature of omni-channel management in fashion retail and sets up a framework of success factors. These are compared to the current state of the company´s omni-channel strategy through qualitative research in form of an expert interview. This research is followed by more inter-views, which give insights to the challenges that stores are facing while execut-ing omni-channel activities. In addition, the work focuses on the purchasing phase of a customer´s journey and builds a framework to investigate customer touchpoints in the respective phase. Quantitative research is carried out through an in-store customer survey that gives insights on challenges from customer´s side and on customer´s attitude towards omni-channel. Thereby a customer touchpoint analysis is conducted. The conclusion presents recommendations for Hunkemöller on how to face the challenges and optimize the current omni-channel strategy. Limitations of the research and points for future research are discussed in the end.
The European Monetary Union is a unique monetary system that exists for nineteen years now. An ongoing discussion about the workings and the role of the European Monetary Union is being conducted by researchers, who come to various conclusions. The current crisis made it clear that the current construction is not ideal, and there is a certain room for improvement.
This thesis introduces an in-depth analysis of the current role and workings of European Monetary Union, as well as a potential consideration of the benefits and risks connected to a potential entry of Hungary into the Eurozone. The literature review discusses the inner working of the unique case of the EMU, which is a monetary union, without budgetary union obligations for its member states. The literature review highlights the general benefits and risks connected to the membership in a monetary union, as well as mentions the unique benefits and risks connected to a membership in EMU.
The second part is dealing with the research methodology; macroeconomic indicators of Lithuania, Slovakia, Germany and Italy are being examined and analyzed, in order to determine the degree of influence EMU is having on the chosen macroeconomic indicators and outliers. A summary of the knowledge from the literature review is being applied for the subsequent analysis.
The third part first introduces the macroeconomic situation of Hungary, analyses the development of such factors and contemplates the compliance with the Maastricht Convergence Criteria, which need to be fulfilled in order to become part of EMU.
The fourth part of the thesis concludes the research by combining the knowledge from the literature review and knowledge gained from the country analysis. A conclusion about the potential risks and benefits of EMU entry by Hungary is being drawn.
As the service industry continues to grow in all aspects it is becoming clearer that as consumers have more options companies have to find different ways to distinguish themselves from their competition. One of the ways to do this is pricing, although some firms are still using old forms of pricing most are now gravitating towards newer more unconventional methods.
The purpose of this research was to analyze different pricing strategies and how they affect consumer purchasing behavior. The study looked at new forms of pricing such as Pay what you want, more conventional pricing in the service industry which was Dynamic pricing and a controversial form of pricing which was partitioned pricing.
This thesis contains 6 chapters. The first chapter will be an introduction and literature review, Chapter 2, 3 and 4 will represent the different pricing mechanisms respectively Chapter 5 will compare and summarize the pricing strategies and Chapter 6 will provide the conclusion and limitations
This Thesis comes to the conclusion that different pricing strategies invoke different behavioral characteristics in consumers. Pricing strategies can either affect consumer behavior negatively or positively. Pay what you want pricing influences consumer behavior the most in a positive way whilst Partitioned pricing will cause increase consumers’ willingness to purchase a service. Traditional methods such as dynamic pricing affect consumer behavior to a lesser degree. In comparison with the other forms of pricing does not affect consumer behavior positively.
Fast and flexible – today's two most desired traits within the business environment. The quickly rising technological advancement makes it difficult for organizations to keep up with their productivity. Owing to the digitalization, organizations have to rethink their structures and processes to be able to adjust to the constantly changing environment and ultimately continue to stay a successful force. A “one-size-fits-all” solution does not exist, which makes the initiatives time-consuming and difficult.
Since digitalization comes with major challenges that have to be tackled to decrease the gap in potential business productivity, the first objective of this paper is to identify relevant action points for organizations, together with the examination of the best practice of agility and its structural and cultural traits.
Further, this work aims to comprehend the structural and cultural traits of the case of [company name]. This is approached by a mixed method empirical analysis. First, by qualitative in-depth interviews with the first and second level managers based on the preceding theoretical framework of Spiral Dynamics and a concept of organizational culture analysis. Second, by a quantitative online survey with the remaining workforce based on the model of Competing Values Framework, assessing not only the current but also the by the workforce desired structural and cultural traits.
The model of Spiral Dynamics defines differing predominant core value systems of mankind, whereas challenges that cannot be accomplished with current behaviors initiate the evolution to another core value system – just like digitalization does with the case of [company name]. The Competing Values Framework is a scientifically justified concept to analyze organizational culture.
The last objective of this paper is to develop a set of tailored recommendations towards agile work approaches for the case of [company name] based on the preceding analysis and the theoretical framework of a scientifically justified change management process.
The conducted research reveals that the organization’s culture mainly shows traits of a traditional organization, with top-down decision-making and task assignments, selective transparency, silo-communication and a lack of interdisciplinary collaboration, which results in the predominant core value system of Success. Additionally, the analysis of the desired traits reveals a congruency with agile organizational traits, or in other words, the predominant value system of Synergy. With respect to the results, the study makes seven recommendations, incorporating the theory of a successful change initiative. Together with specified action examples, the way towards the desired predominant value system is paved.
Global mobility in academia
(2018)
The influence of working mobility on perceived job satisfaction of academics stays incredibly unknown. This research paper has centred on the effect of traits of mobility at the perceived professional achievements of academics. External factors at the level of receiving high education institution, as well as internal factors at family and socio-cultural level were studied. Records had been gathered with the help of a web questionnaire from 10 academics from different countries at different stages of their career. Using data analyses, results have confirmed that successful socio-cultural integration is crucial for a positive perceived career success of academics.
Organized, competitive computer gaming, also referred to as eSports, are emerging sports within the sports entertainment industry. The industry generated almost 700 million U.S. Dollar in revenue and leading eSport titles attract millions of viewers to their events. This study aims to explore eSport live broadcasts of four leading titles and their appeal to be used as a communication media for marketers. It adopted secondary data from academic and scientific studies, journals and books from the fields of eSports, business and sports management to examine commercials, product placements, sponsorships and celebrity endorsements in regards of their applicability and effectiveness within eSports. Quantitative research in form of a survey among eSports viewership was carried out to gather data on viewership consumption patterns and perceptions towards said communication instruments and their effectiveness.
Findings suggest that the effectiveness of commercials rely on the timing shown during broadcasts. Product placements can be applied in many ways and show high effectiveness in terms of brand recognition in any form. Celebrity endorsements are highly ambiguous in terms of their applicability and effectiveness.
As banks have to close branches in the current low-interest environment and as customers show an increasing preference for online channels, existing channels of branch-centric banks no longer can guarantee to suffice the needs of the omni-channel consumer. Online consultation through video chat, called video banking, is a possible solution for these issues. In order to keep marketing activities effective and cost-efficient, it is of interest for the banking sector to define a socio-demographic target group for video banking.
Thus, the objective of this thesis is to find socio-demographic characteristics which influence the willingness to use video banking. The characteristics deemed as plausible predictors are then tested for their suitability as such through bivariate and multivariate analysis of an empirical study conducted among U.S. bank customers with internet access. The goal of the multivariate analysis is to find the regression model that best predicts the willingness to use video banking. Depending on the outcome, recommendations will be made about the definition of a target group for video banking.
For investors, it is common to have a look at the annual reports of the company of interest, before making an investment decision. But looking at the numerical data in isolation is not sufficient to get an impression on how the firm will develop in the future and if the investment might generate an appropriate return.
In this bachelor thesis, an approach to incorporate industry factors in the traditional financial statement analysis is tested. The structure-conduct-performance paradigm is used to justify the importance of the industry for a company’s performance. By identifying the critical success factors of the industry via a 5-forces and PEST analysis, and measuring the firms’ performance on this basis, a more comprehensive picture of a company can be drawn.
This method will be applied on the tire manufacturing industry, with Michelin and Bridgestone as examples, and the IT-service industry with Atos and Adesso.
The results of the analysis have shown that by regarding the industry CSF in the analysis, varying aspects besides the financials were taken into account, adding significant value to the analysis. After having identified trends and developments in the industry, it was also possible to better evaluate the financial performance of a company in the light of challenges that all firms of the industry will face in the next periods. With this new perspective, the possible future performance can be predicted more reliably.
The car business is confronting huge change, with expanding challenges in shopper requests, innovation advancement, globalization, incorporation, and joint effort. A new future is rapidly coming in which automotive industry is moving towards more digitalized & mobility world. Multimodular transportation will turn out to be progressively normal, and shrewd vehicles will oblige various customer requirements for data, ecological obligation, and security. Automotive organizations need to create new and advanced business models to maintain and gain sales growth. In this unique new age, I trust, an emphasis on the advancement of convincing individual versatility arrangements, retail change, worldwide execution and broad banding together will be the keys to accomplishment in 2020
In a worldwide accessible marketplace with numerous competitors who try to beat prices and quality of services and products, it is vital for online businesses to strive for strategies to be able to survive in a competitive environment and to sustain growth. The company Usbstick-Producer has gained numerous customers in the German market, but nevertheless competes against many businesses which offer similar products to similar prices. Therefore, it is highly important to defend gained market share. Appropriate strategies and investments are necessary to implement in order to attract and retain customers.
The bachelor thesis aims to explore the nature of customer retention and to give the company Usbstick-Producer recommendations regarding possible improvements and customer retention strategies for the German market. The company’s goal is to retain more customers and to ensure customer satisfaction in order to guarantee profitability for the business.
In order to attain the objective of the thesis, a multi-method approach is being used. A literature review is carried out in order to develop a comprehensive analysis and theoretical framework on the topic of customer retention and related concepts. An internal and external analysis are conducted which help to understand the key drivers and most important influencing factors for the business using the PEST analysis, Porter’s five forces analysis and SWOT analysis.
Qualitative research is utilised in order to investigate the practical aspects of the topic in direct relation to the company. Valuable insights and expert opinions as well as experiences are collected during expert interviews in order to develop appropriate strategic recommendations.
The research concludes with strategic recommendations for the company Usbstick-Producer using the collected and analysed data of the literature review and expert interviews. In the conclusion, possible further research topics are assessed and limitations of the research are discussed.
The development of social media platforms like YouTube gave marketers a possibility to share advertising content among hundreds of thousands of users globally. Many companies are searching for techniques and tools, which could help to create promotion that would “go viral”, and let the advertisement to be shared actively with low costs. Digital, storytelling advertisement is considered as one of these tools. Storytelling ads are broadly used for increasing brand awareness and establishing connections with the customers. However, the ability of “viral ads” to cross the borders of the countries, forces marketers to consider possible risks, which could occur when the same advertising content is perceived by people from different cultures.
This research represents the first attempt to define differences in the narrative composition of advertising videos from different countries and to determine whether or not these differences can influence the attitudes of international viewers. For the purposes of the research, a set of 34 advertising videos from India, Russia, Thailand and the United States was analyzed.
The results shows, that that the most significant differences in the narrative structures refer to the number and type of main characters, to the choice between single and multiple stories, and to the amount of brand appearance during the video.
Results of the semi-structured interviews shows, that frequency of the brand appearance can significantly influence the perception of the viewers, awake critics of the story flow and impact the desire to share the video.
Considering these research findings, it is recommended to pay particular attention on the structure as well as onto the content of the storytelling advertising.
Small and Medium Enterprises are facing challenges when it comes to outsourcing. This piece of work investigates the factors that are needed for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union to attain outsourcing criteria. Some of the challenges in the European Union face include; rising cost, risk uncertainty, large companies’ potency, internationalization and lack of entrepreneurship and innovation. Through understanding and choosing outsourcing criteria, they can select a type of outsourcing in line with their objectives and goals. Therefore, they end up achieving benefits. This could assist them in different sectors across the European Union ease risks. They find solutions to obstacles derived from within the different sectors located in the European Union.
This thesis analyses how the SMEs decide on outsourcing criteria challenges and how they can be changed into benefits. The literature findings help in contrasting sectors around the European Union to determine which outsourcing criteria could aid them in achieving resolutions. The complications and objections are due to the following outcomes which include; no loss or gain observation, no specific benefit construction, unexplored innovation strategies, supplier opportunism, outsourcing drivers and cultural fit.
The demand for talents especially in technical jobs such as Software developers or IT experts has significantly increased within the last few years. Many companies try to face both, the challenges on the German labor market and the so called “War for Talents” for these professions through becoming more active in Recruitment.
The theoretical part shows some of the issues companies have to deal with and presents possible Active Recruiting approaches which could be implemented. In order to do so, it is necessary to gain job-specific insights directly from this target group. For this matter, data was collected from 41 IT and Software experts by means of an executed employee survey at IDS. This survey should, inter alia, find out which incentives are valued the most for selecting an employer. Furthermore it should give an overview about the activity of each respondent in Social Media and business-related platforms and whether the employees would be willing to help recruiting talents.
The objective of this empirical research is to develop recommendations for actions for IDS in order to make the Recruitment of IT and Software experts more efficient.
On the basis of the above it was identified, that the Recruiting requires the inclusion of the specialist departments. The expansion of relations- and recommendation Management from employees to potential applicants could represent a supportive tool. Furthermore, Active Sourcing applied as a strategic component should find a more intense use since many of the respondents are actively using business platforms.
Keywords:
Experts who acquired extensive knowledge and skills through practising and studying over many years, are becoming increasingly important for companies. As in today’s world the products are getting ever more complex and technical driven. Therefore, it is important for Quality functions to have the best experts and develop them that they can actively shape the new product requirements.
The aim of this study is to investigate how to develop and design a Dual Career Ladder in the Q&R organisation in making the case for the HealthTech company Philips. The research intend is to explore the present state of the Dual Career Ladder in the HealthTech industry and recommending how to develop and design a Dual Career Ladder for the Q&R organization at Philips to increase the organisational effectiveness through winning, retain and develop Q&R experts.
The research adopted secondary data from academic journals, books, press articles and study reports. As well as primary data, interviews were undertaken with experts of companies that are operating in industries related to the health-technology industry. Through these succeeding interviews best practice examples could be evaluated. Afterwards the findings were translated into a Dual Career Ladder design for the Q&R function in Philips primary data was analysed and compared with secondary data.
A successful development and design of a Dual Career Ladder is based on a a diverse project team, clear requirements of the different levels of the Dual Career Ladder, definition of the new created roles and how the differentiate. Furthermore, it is important to have clear nomination and promotion procedure that are transparent. A well thought concept can help organizations attracting critical talents and keeping them by offering them development perspectives and attractive jobs.
The conclusion drawn describes possible outcomes for employee’s development and the organisations effectiveness to reach their desired business results. Followed by a recommendation on further action and closing with the limitation of this study
Even though women and men have entered the managerial ranks of organizations
to the almost same numbers, women still remain drastically underrepresented. Of
the Fortune 500 CEO positions only 5.2% and about 21.2% (Catalyst 2018) of the
board seats are held by female leaders. For women of color the numbers are
shockingly low. These women are almost absent on most Fortune 500 companies
and only hold 3.1% of board seats in this category (Catalyst 2015). In Europe
however, the percentage of female director at STOXX 600 companies has
increased constantly over the past years and therefore resulted in slightly better
numbers. By 2015 almost 25% of directors were female and the average
percentage of female holding board seats made 2.8% (EWoB 2015). Research of
Carter, N.M. and Silva, C. (2010) shows, that even if women are graduating from
global leading business schools their career progress lags in comparison to their
male counterparts. This means that despite the organizations efforts of
implementing gender discrimination policies and focusing on gender equality, they
have not been able to fuel women´s career development (Ely et al. 2011).
But why do organizations still struggle to increase the number of female leaders
today? This report will elaborate possible factors that are causing failing attempts
of organizations in general to then conclude a strategic solution for Philips to
successfully change their people strategy towards gender equality. Research
shifted from the assumption of intentional gender discrimination within companies
towards invisible barriers that cause thriving women not to reach the top (Ely et al.
2011). Those barriers are deeply rooted assumptions about gender that have a
long history in the evolution of our society. Starting with how society is influencing
how people think about women being leaders and the assumptions they make
about the ability one being a leader based on gender (Anderson et al. 2006; Eagly,
Carli 2003). The key to success might be a shift in people´s mindset. Here fore, this report will introduce the reader to the problematic of the unconscious bias
(Cheryl Staats 2014). Speaking of invisible barriers this theory might be the most
important factor for organizations to make a difference. However, the question of
why so many women get stuck in the c-suite remains unanswered. One answer to
this question repeatedly pops up in research reports and papers which is “Glass
Ceiling” (Susan Chira 2017).
Because gender equality becomes more and more important for organizations in
order to stay competitive, Philips decided to shift its people strategy towards
“Inclusion & Diversity” in 2017 (Jong, de 2017). The reason for this shift also lies
within the innovative aspect. Diversity fosters creativity and therefor innovation
which is a differentiator for Philips. However, this report tries to answer the
question on how Philips can actually increase the number of senior female leaders.
It will identify possible barriers that need to be removed in order to support the
development of female employees to the top ranks of management.
The structure or this report is as followed. Chapter 1 will introduce the reader to the
research structure to set expectations and give an overview about how the content
has been created. Chapter 2 will introduce Philips as an organization after the split
of Philips Lighting in 2012. Showing how the function of Human Resource
Management is structured and what parts of it are directly influenced by the set
KPI. To give an overview on the literature that has been conducted and therefore
methodology, chapter 3 will offer explanation on basic concepts that have a direct
impact on women in leadership. Here the report will start to focus on gender
diversity and two major obstacles women have to overcome in today’s workplace in
order to be successful. Chapter 4 will provide a deep dive into the internal talent
management processes of Philips and identify possible improvement areas.
Chapter 5 will then analyze common concepts on how to support the development
senior female leaders and show opportunities as well as limitations for Philips.
Moreover it will be discussed how to best merge external concepts with internal processes in order to build a framework for the organization and its workforce.
Finally, the importance of engaging men into the discussion of gender diversity will
be underlined. Analyzing possible barriers men experience to determine what
prevented them in the past to join the gender discussion. Possible solutions will be
identified on how to remove those barriers. Chapter 6 will summarize the findings
of this report. It will be discussed how the new approach can be realized for Philips
as an organization.
Social media has become inseparable from our daily lives thanks to the widely use of internet and mobile technological advancement. Travel and tourism has benefited a lot from social media, especially the travelers. Not only can they find travel-related information on social media platforms, but they can also discuss and exchange necessary and relevant opinions and information.
The purpose of this research study is to examine how social media influences where German millennials determine their holiday destination. This dissertation analyzes to what extend social media influences the individual German millennial’s decision and whether reviews and comments affect their decisions.
The research study comprises of 5 chapters which represent the analytical process from beginning to end. The first chapter is the introduction, then literature reviews, then the methodology for primary research of this research is identified and explained. Results from the online questionnaire are then presented followed by an analysis and interpretation. Finally, the conclusion and limitation of the research have been discussed.
This research study concludes that social media does influence German millennials when they use social media to compare the holiday destinations in comparison to those who do not use social media for this purpose. It is clear that social media is the main source of information when they are looking for holiday destination information and is preferred compared to travel books and travel agencies. The results have shown that TripAdvisor is the most used holiday destination information page among other social media platforms. Furthermore, most of German millennials are passive users of travel-related social media platforms. That means they only consume information but do not necessarily write reviews or comments after their holiday experience.
There was an increased in the number of high-skilled Spaniards that decided to leave their home country. The economic situation and the high unemployment rate have complicated the chances to find a well-paid job and responsibilities according to their level of education. Therefore, Spaniards with a tertiary education find new opportunities in foreign countries like Germany with a robust and stable labour market.
This issue is gaining importance and must be deeply analysed. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is, by the use of secondary and primary data, to describe what are the push and pull factors, and what are the consequences of the Spanish brain drain for Germany and Spain. The conclusion, will confirm and give possible recommendations that the Spanish government may apply in the future.
Surge pricing is a dynamic pricing strategy which has been developed by the American ride-sharing platform Uber. Based on demand and supply, the surge pricing algorithm calculates a trip fare for both, riders and drivers. In times when demand outstrips supply in a certain geographic area, the algorithm applies a so-called “surge factor” which is multiplied by the basic trip fare. This way, the provider can calibrate demand and supply until they reach the market equilibrium again. This paper examines whether dynamic surge pricing can also be applied to the offline food retail market. Consequently, it starts by giving some theoretical background on dynamic and surge pricing, and with the aid of a PESTEL analysis, highlights all the factors presenting opportunities and limitations for the implementation of surge pricing in supermarkets. In addition to that, by conducting a SWOT analysis of dynamic surge pricing, this thesis investigates what the prerequisites are to a successful implementation strategy. In the end, it outlines possible consequences for consumers if surge pricing is used in grocery stores. It will be found that, from a theoretic point of view, a dynamic surge pricing strategy is feasible in the offline food retail market. However, it does not present the optimal pricing method for neither of the market participants.
The awareness of environmental issues is growing worldwide. Accordingly, green marketing is becoming increasingly essential for the strategies and competitive advantage of international companies.
However, although the public is voicing concerns about the state of the environment and stating their intention to purchase green products, only a small percentage of consumers does so.
The analysis of several studies and relevant literature aims to find the barriers to green buying behavior, as well as counteractive influences. Additionally, opportunities for green marketing in China and the United States are explored.
The findings show relevant hindrances to green buying behavior, as well as influences, which could support the spanning of the green gap, and suggest significant opportunities for green marketing in the Chinese market.
The study explores the factors relevant to enticing consumers to purchase goods online at German drugstores and the measures the drugstores can take to address these factors. Based on the Online Shopping Acceptance Model and sector characteristics, enticing factors are derived and corresponding measures relevant to B2C e-commerce are identified. Qualitative research to support the validity is done in the form of in-depth and expert interviews, and of a case study on a company successful in e-commerce, Zalando SE. Results show that currently few factors are enticing and measures to target these are limited, and that only certain aspects of Zalando’s success can be transferred to drugstores. Given the current situation drugstores are advised not to aim at shifting large parts of their business to online channel. Nevertheless, the study provides drugstores a number of measures to improve their online offering in the context of their multi-channel strategy.
The influence of quality labels on perceived product value - Marketing to the conscious consumer
(2018)
Quality labels are an important cue for customers in their search for indications of product quality. They provide consumers with valuable information about production standards. Whether the value-added by labels directly translates into price premiums is still an open question, as researchers could not reach consensus so far. Moreover, the use of multiple labels on one product is another topic discussed controversially in the research literature. Current research has further identified multiple factors affecting consumers’ willingness to pay for labelled food products. For this paper, a survey among 400 shoppers from the Villingen-Schwenningen area has been conducted, in an attempt to identify the significance of various influencing factors on willingness to pay for labelled products. Four distinct food products have been tested in this survey, each in four different labelling situations. Two labels were used on the products, one indicating social standards and another certifying ecological production standards. The study identified the following factors as influential on participants’ expressed willingness to pay: product type, information and label type. The influence of missing reference prices could not be proven to be significant. The marginal effect of a second label was found to decrease for only two of the products. As the effects of each of the factors varied between the products, no general conclusion about the effects of either of them could be drawn. Therefore, the paper concludes on the note, that a general assumption about label value should not be made.
In times of talent shortage and increasing competition, companies are constantly
looking for methods to recruit better fits in a more time and cost-efficient manner. One
such method, which an increasing number of companies turn towards, are so called
“Robot Recruiters”, or more specifically, artificial intelligence enhanced digital
recruiting tools. However, the impact of the associated automation and dehumanization
of parts of the recruitment process on the candidate experience, remains unclear. In order to assess the potential influence of mentioned tools, candidate experience influencing factors are elaborated, to then analyze how these factors are affected in an artificial intelligence supported recruiting process.
The analysis has shown, that AI recruiting tools do have the potential to satisfy
candidates’ needs by automating simple, yet time consuming tasks like scheduling or initial communication. However, candidates are likely to show adverse reaction to their
usage in later stages of the recruitment process, which are traditionally characterized
by personal interaction.
The main goal of the study is to analyze students’ buying intention towards e-learning program by developing a structural model of e-learning acceptance by the students and analyzing perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitudes, subjective norms, motivations and buying intentions according to the developed model.
Digitalization is one of the global megatrends of the 21st century. With the increase of mobile technology, constant connectivity, and data analytics, organizations are forced to become more digital to keep up with the increasingly digital world.
This research addresses the changing role of leadership due to digitalization. It examines factors which need to be considered when driving digital transformation in organizations as well as leadership competencies necessary in the digital age. Finally, the research addresses the resistance to digital transformation in organizations.
To investigate how leadership is affected by digitalization, qualitative research is carried out. The research is based on published secondary data.
The findings of this research suggest the growing importance of leadership in the digital age. Leadership needs to approach digitalization actively, thus driving digital transformation in organizations to stay competitive in the increasingly digital world. Further, the research suggests six leadership competencies which are essential in times of digital transformation and identifies two leadership roles which have arisen in recent years due to digitalization. Finally, the research proposes ways to overcome resistance to digital transformation.