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As the next generation, Generation Z, enters the workforce, companies face a new set of challenges. Companies will now be composed of four distinct generations, each with different beliefs, values, and ambitions. It is critical for companies to understand the motivations and aspirations of Generation Z in order to effectively attract and retain them as a workforce. This study focuses on exploring the career incentives and priorities of female Generation Z business students to gain unique insights into their goals and preferred incentives. First, an understanding of generational cohorts, specifically Generation Z, is established. A literature review is then conducted to provide an overview of existing research on Generation Z's popular career incentives. Using a qualitative research design, the study is designed and performed.
Through qualitative research, including interviews, key findings emerged. A competitive salary, career development, and growth opportunities are crucial. Meaningful work, workplace culture, and teamwork opportunities are of extremely high importance in the decision-making process. Additional financial benefits, retirement plans, and social and environmental responsibility are somewhat important; health and wellness, paid time off, and more vacation days are not considered decision-relevant. while other incentives in between.
This study has important implications for employers seeking to create a work environment that meets the dynamic career goals of Generation Z female business students. With this research contribution, companies can more effectively attract and keep the talent of this part of Generation Z.
The interest in topics such as the environment, health and sustainability has increased dramatically in recent years, due to concerns about global warming and demographic change, giving way to the concept of “green branding”.
This bachelor thesis proposes the application of a green branding strategy in order to position Irish agri-food products in the German grocery retail market, and explores its potential effectiveness and current relevance. Firstly, this work intends to offer an overall understanding of the characteristics and implications of a green branding strategy. Secondly, it analyses the connection with Ireland as a country of origin for agri-food products, by putting forward the different arguments for its suitability for the respective products. Finally, the key learnings regarding the successful implementation of a green branding strategy are discussed, based on a real-life best-practice case.
This research employed previous academic and trade literature to develop a theoretical foundation for understanding the concept of green branding in a marketing context. Various forms of industry, consumer and retail insights were used to identify the extent of demand for green brands in Germany and to analyse strength and weaknesses of the Irish agri-food industry in this regard.
An expert interview with the Marketing Manager for Kerrygold in Germany was conducted to uncover points arising from the best-practice application of a green branding strategy.
The findings indicate that there is significant theoretical and practical evidence to suggest that the application of a green branding would be an effective positioning strategy for Irish agri-food in the German consumer market.
Die SICK STEGMANN GmbH verkauft ihre Motor-Feedback-Systeme als Komponenten zum Einbau in Servo-, Linear- und Torquemotoren verkauft. Die Motoren werden wiederrum in Maschinen und Anlagen verbaut. Vor allem Motoren mit Einkabeltechnologie, die durch die Schnittstelle HIPERFACE DSL® von SICK bereitgestellt wird, gelten als entscheidender Vorteil für den Maschinenbauer, der dadurch letztlich einen geringeren Verkabelungsaufwand hat. Das Problem entsteht dabei, dass der Maschinenbauer nur den fertigen Motor sieht und die Produkte von SICK als Komponenten für ihn nicht ersichtlich sind. Weiterhin gewinnen umfangreiche Servicestrukturen immer mehr an Bedeutung, diese hatten in der Vergangenheit in der Business Unit „Motor-Feedback-Systeme“ einen geringen Stellenwert. Die Thesis soll klären, inwieweit der Wandel vom Komponentenhersteller hin zum Service- und Solution Provider vollzogen werden kann und welche Positionierungsmaßnahmen dafür notwendig sind. Im Rahmen von Experteninterviews und einer internen Kundenbefragung mit Hilfe eines standardisierten Fragebogens wird der Ist-Zustand beschrieben und daraufhin eine Soll-Analyse zur Klärung der Forschungsfragen abgeleitet. Die Analysen zeigen, dass Veränderungen auf Produkt- und Serviceseite notwendig sind, um vermehrt Maschinenbauer anzusprechen und hier einen Kaufwunsch zu platzieren. Im Detail beschäftigt sich die Thesis mit der Ausarbeitung neuer Positionierungsstrategien für Motor-Feedback-Systeme und Services. Ferner werden Handlungsempfehlungen zu weiteren strategischen Überlegungen beschrieben. Die Evaluierung schließt die Bachelorthesis ab.
The presented paper analyzes share repurchase announcements of currently DAX, MDAX and SDAX listed companies during the 20-year span of 1998 to 2018. The findings show a significantly lower average abnormal return on the announcement day (1.937%) and a lower cumulative average abnormal return around the announcement day (1.943%) than previous studies reported. Moreover, the medium-term cumulative abnormal returns are found to be significant and positive (2.70%). This study finds evidence for the signaling hypothesis, which states the intention behind the repurchase of a company being a perceived undervaluation.
3D Fitting Room – Einstellungen und Bewertungen von Studierenden - Eine qualitative Untersuchung
(2023)
Der Online-Handel wächst auf der ganzen Welt weiter mit hoher Geschwindigkeit an. Im B2C (Business-to-Consumer) Sektor stellt dabei Mode das größte Segment überhaupt dar. Gleichzeitig weist dieses Segment mitunter die höchsten Rücksenderaten auf.
Diese Arbeit zielt darauf ab, die Rolle von virtueller Anprobe beim Online-Kleiderkauf heute und in der Zukunft am Beispiel von 3D Fitting Rooms zu beleuchten. Dafür werden qualitative Interviews mit Studierenden durchgeführt, in welchen diese zu ihren Erfahrungen, Einstellungen und Erwartungen in Bezug auf 3D Fitting Rooms befragt werden. Es soll herausgefunden werden, ob und aus welchen Gründen, die Befragten bereit sind den 3D Fitting Room zu nutzen. Hinzugezogen wird dabei die qualitativ strukturierende Inhaltsanalyse nach Kuckartz und das Technologieakzeptanzmodell nach Davis. Im Teil der theoretischen Grundlagen werden Trends in der Modeindustrie, das Problem der Retouren beim Online-Modehandel und das Technologieakzeptanzmodell beleuchtet.
Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Studierenden grundsätzlich Bereitschaft zur Nutzung der Technologie aufweisen, diese allerdings von einigen Bedingungen abhängt. Ebenso deuten die Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass die Anzahl der Rücksendungen durch 3D Fitting Rooms reduziert werden könnten. Zum Ende werden die Stärken und Schwächen der Forschung beleuchtet und ein Ausblick für die Branche und weitere Forschung dargestellt.
Sales promotion are commonly used tool by marketers to manipulate consumer toward a certain offer or product. Attractiveness of a promotion can increase the demand of the promoted product. Monetary and non-monetary are considers the two main types of sales promotions. Monetary sales promotion, also known as price promotion, will provide immediate price discount upon purchase, for example 50% discount. Non-monetary sales promotions or premium promotion, on the other hand, usually grant consumer an extra free product or additional service for free. Previous studies also demonstrated that different sales promotion affect consumer behavior differently. Consumers’ value perception can be influenced by several factors. For instance, marketers use specific “phrase” such as “value pack” to influence consumer price perception. Rationally, consumers’ value perception should remain unchanged regardless of the phrases use to describe the promotion with same discount value. In this study, we examine the impact two sales promotion those are “50% discount” and “buy one get one free” on value perception of Thais consumers. These two deals have equal economic value but perceived differently by consumer. We aim to answer the question “does two different deals with the same value impact value perception of the same product differently?” In order to obtain logical answer, two set of questionnaires were send out to observe the maximum price which consumer willing to pay for “instant noodles” and “soy protein powder”. Unfortunately, the result from our survey were not significant enough for us to derive a concrete conclusion. We also discuss about potential cause of the unexpected result and interpret our result for better understanding. Even without a significant finding, this paper address that different sales promotions impact consumer in various ways supported by other literatures and also self-assumption.
A behavioral finance: An analysis of investment decision making regarding psychological influences
(2016)
Anywhere humans are interacting, emotions and psychology are important determinants to consider. This statement is true for financial markets as well and often there are occurrences which are not explainable by using traditional theories. Therefore, behavioral finance aims at finding explanations for such occurrences, referred to as anomalies, by combining economic and psychological research. The literature review presented in here shows recent developments in the field and gives an overview of research evidence by reviewing studies from six of the most investigated facets of behavioral finance. The review includes evidence from a variety of studies performed in different contexts to disclose the importance of understanding human behavior, especially in terms of financial markets and economy. The closure of this review consists of an alternative model and concludes that there might be a new science entering the collaboration between economists and psychologist which is computer science.
The aim of this bachelor thesis is to provide ZF Friedrichshafen AG with a flexible Human Resource concept for the successful handling of future joint venture projects in China. In order that future JV are planned and conducted successfully, a structured HR approach built on a combination of ZF experience and academic evidence has been developed. It points out cultural differences, creates awareness of potential organizational issues and gives advice. This thesis draws upon various academic resources which are expanded through ZF knowledge. For this, eight expert interviews with China experienced ZF managers were held.
This blueprint covers several of the HR issues that arise when setting up new joint ventures in China. By shedding light upon success factors a necessary flexibility when dealing with different partner firms is provided. After a theoretical outset and a brief introduction of ZF Friedrichshafen and ZF Passau this thesis peaks in the HR blueprint for joint ventures in China. Worth notable factors in setting up the structure, when recruiting and inheriting staff from the joint venture partner as well as considerations of the new Labor Contract Law and for policies and practices allow an understanding of what Human Resource issues can be anticipated in Chinese joint ventures. These then can be planned adequately for.
The results of this work offer a strategical Human Resource framework on how to best approach a next joint venture project in China. A broad range of HR issues have been analyzed and the most critical for joint venture success found implementation in the blueprint. Arranging a working organizational structure with a Chinese partner and implementing uniform policies and practices while considering cultural factors as well as complying with the legal requirements of the Peoples Republic of China is a task which is not easily carried out. Yet while setting up joint ventures in China already is a complex project, the partnering with a Chinese state owned enterprise is a challenge that requires special attention by HR professionals. The blueprint gives insights and guidance for stated issues.
This thesis paper aimed to compare the marketing of wine in Germany and France. Though Germany and France are neighboring European countries, they are culturally, politically, socially, economically, geographically, and technologically different. These differences, directly and indirectly, affect the way both countries do business.
Three research questions helped to compare wine marketing in Germany and France. These questions are the following:
Factors that go into the wine production as well as certain indicators or characteristics inform the potential customers about the quality of the wine they have in their glasses. That is why the first question in this thesis focused on how the quality of wine is defined in Germany and France.
Wine Associations at different layers: regional, national, European, and international play an important role in wine promotion. So, the second re-search question was to investigate the contribution of these different wine co-operatives in wine marketing.
To market their wine, many countries put in place different marketing strategies to increase their wine image and customer base. That is why the Last part of this paper was to compare the different marketing strategies used in the wine sector in Germany and France.
This thesis ended up with a conclusion.
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.
Industry 4.0, a term coined at Hannover Messe in Germany in 2011, is believed to be the next disruptive force, driving human progress and innovation. The advent of technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Big Data, and new Mobile Technologies, fuel this disruption. To enable Industry 4.0, mankind is dependent on technological infrastructure, provided by companies, operating in the semiconductor industry. Over the last years, these companies have increased their profits and their stocks are currently trading near all-time highs. Yet, uncertainty created by the disruption of Industry 4.0, the growing influence of China on the semiconductor market, economic insecurities created by political uncertainties, like the 2020 US Presidential election, and the risk and implications of a second global wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, make the equity valuation of leading and established companies in the semiconductor industry exceptionally challenging. This paper examines, how different equity valuation methods compare under said circumstances and shows sophisticated valuation methods must be used to limit valuation error. Further, this paper gives an estimation of the possible ranges of value and suggests the industry may currently be overvalued.
New product development is essential for a company to grow and sustain itself. Usability testing is a crucial part of the new product development process, and it helps reduce product uncertainty and market failure. There are many methods available and they vary depending on the product development phase. This thesis focuses on methods used in the deployment phase, which is the final stage before mass production. The methods used differ subjecting to different customers.
A number of studies have suggested that marketing and sales should vary when the nature of customer differs. However, only a few studies focus on how the nature of customer influences new product testing. This research compares the involvement of B2B and B2C customers during the product innovation testing phase.
The comparison has been subcategorised into four smaller hypotheses. First, the methodologies used, such as virtual prototype testing, field testing, lab usability testing, and more, are discussed whether companies use them differently according to customers' nature. Second, the process of identifying and recruiting testers is examined. Third, testers' qualification is analysed, whether participants are ordinary users or professionals or companies prefer a mixture of both. Last, the sample size, which is simply the amount of testers who participated in the usability test.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine leadership trends in France and Germany. It is examined whether leadership in both France and Germany is going to become participative in the near future due to increasing internationalization and due to the emergence of a new leadership generation in France and Germany with different expectations and behaviors, namely
Millennials.
Design/methodology/approach – This thesis comprises three major parts: First, leadership career paths in France and Germany are compared. Second, French and German management cultures are compared and their likelihood of convergence examined. Third, a closer look is taken at inter- as well as intra-generational differences with particular focus on Generation Y/ Millennials – the new leadership generation. Their differences and similarities in comparison with older generations as well as across national cultures are presented and discussed.
Findings – The analysis shows that outstanding leadership in both France and Germany seems to be participative. Further, French and German Millennials tend to be more open towards participative leadership than older generations. Nevertheless, participative leadership is more likely to be practiced in Germany than in France. French top managers still share very distinct national career path patterns, providing an elitist reputation and certain privileges. This often leads to rather non-participative, but authoritarian command-and-control based leadership
practices in France.
Research limitations/implications – Limitations of this thesis include the enormous scope of the topic - not everything could be covered in depth. Further, the up-to-date nature of the data used must be questioned - the incredible speed of change in today’s business world makes even recent research studies outdated within a short period of time.
Originality/value – French and German top management career paths as well as French and German management practices have been examined individually as well as comparatively in countless studies. However, different than probably any research study so far, this thesis also
includes inter- generational as well as intra-generational differences and similarities in France and Germany in order to reveal future trends. All in all, this thesis provides a broad outline of leadership trends in France and Germany and points out where further research must be carried out in more depth.
The impact of store atmosphere elements on the purchase behaviour and emotions of customers has an important significance in modern marketing. How to design and conceptualize a store atmosphere in such a way that it provides an unforgettable experience for the customer and entices him or her to arouse an interest in the store environment is one of the most fundamental concerns merchants and marketers must ask and think through these days – likewise, the role of culture in connection with store atmosphere is necessary to understand. The goal of this paper is to answer the question on how behavioural and emotional responses to store atmospheric elements such as visual, aural, olfactory, tactile, social, exterior design, interior design and layout & design differ across individualist and collectivist cultures. A cross-cultural analysis between Germans and non-Germans is made in respect to the posed question. A quantitative online survey was conducted, in which a total of 99 valid participants took part, of which 57 were Germans and 42 were non-Germans. This research extended the study of Barros et al. (2019) and added two more separate store atmospheric elements which are the general exterior design and the general interior design. The data was then analyzed, and the findings were ultimately presented. The findings showed that overall store atmosphere elements have similar emotional and behavioural effects on individualist and collectivist cultures with the exception of the general exterior design element, where a significant difference was found. This paper gives a comprehensive overview on the importance of store atmospheric elements in retail and the comparison between Germany which acts as a country that scored relatively high on the Individualism dimension of Hofstede’s national culture model and the countries Turkey, Russia, Portugal, Albania, Bosnia, Romania, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Iraq which serve as a union of cultures that performed high on the Collectivism dimension. Additional research on the topic needs to be done on how culture affects shopper’s emotional and behavioural responses.
This thesis examines the culture concerning the Celebrity-Endorsed Advertisements in Luxury Brands. Culture and its value have an impact on the effectiveness of the advertisement. Culture can also impact celebrity endorsement as a celebrity can be seen differently according to the cultural pattern. Luxury is also seen differently according to the cultural values, and brand can have an impact on the value of the luxury. Since the advertisement is a very crucial tool for marketing strategies, commercials should be made according to the values of the culture to increase its effectiveness. Culture is a group phenomenon, and it influences the behavior of an individual which impacts the brand and product. Culture creates a lifestyle and new markets; it also allows market adaptation according to the local taste. Culture helps us to understand the changing attitude of the market towards a product or service. Culture plays a role in the perception of the product and advertisement as people from a different country will perceive and interpret things differently according to their culture and experience.
This thesis addresses various diverse questions related to the culture regarding celebrity-endorsed advertisements in luxury brands. The foremost question which addressed is; the culture impact on the customer's perception of the brand image for celebrity-endorsed advertisements as to luxury brands. This thesis is based on the Qualitative research method, including descriptive case study-based research with observations, following an inductive approach to generate a theory, model, and explanation by analyzing the data to finding patterns. This thesis follows the research task based on theory and applying research models to new situations, explaining phenomena, and analyzing the relationships. The information and data for the research are taken from the online & social media platforms YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are used for TV commercials. The data is analyzed through observation by checking the advertisement like and dislike on the online platform. How often they are comment and what kinds of statements are used for an advertisement. Afterwards, the data is analyzed according to the culture models. The findings of this thesis answer and highlight the challenges along with the research questions. The study helps us to understand what culture is and how to target the market more effectively. It explains the importance of the brand and the value of the luxury associated with it. This thesis helps us to understand the impact of the celebrity in the advertainments and how to use them effectively. It also helps us to understand consumer behavior and the perception of the product value. This thesis highlights the fact that what can be seen offensive in the advertisement by a different culture and its impacts on the brand image.
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.
Today’s workplace is composed of three different generations, which are considered to be substantially different from each other. Popular press and academics defend that neglecting to address these differences can generate negative organizational outcomes. Therefore, there is a growing body of research recommending generational specific practices to minimize the effects of generational differences in organizations. Nevertheless, not every practice tends to be based on empirical evidence on generational differences, which raises doubts about its effectiveness. The goal of this paper is to propose reverse mentoring as a practice to help organizations understand and manage generational differences better. To achieve this goal, a summary of published secondary data on empirical evidence of generational differences in the workplace was gathered, and the findings were linked to the function/outcomes of reverse mentoring, which allowed for the practice to be recommended based on substantial empirical evidence. Moreover, primary qualitative research was gathered through interviews to support the findings. Despite the limitations encountered, reverse mentoring is proved to be a long-term beneficial tool to understand and manage generational differences in the workplace.
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.
This thesis explores the emerging phenomenon of second screen marketing, by providing a holistic view on this topic. The first part presents an extensive literature review, approaching second screen marketing from an advertiser’s view. Second screening and user groups are defined and common second screen measures are presented and evaluated.
The second part examines the consumer’s perception of a brand using second screen marketing, comparing two age groups (18 to 30 years and 50 to 62 years). Brand perception is measured following suggestions from Low and Lamb Jr. (2000), using a three-dimensional construct consisting of brand attitude, brand image and perceived quality. Main findings entail, that younger audiences perceive a brand using second screen marketing significantly more positive than the older generation. While perceived quality for both age groups is evaluated neutrally, brand image and brand attitude scores show more extreme values. This is relevant for advertisers, as indications about potential target groups, content creation and success of marketing campaigns can be derived: Especially younger consumers are potential target groups and perceive second screen marketing as modern and innovative, but dishonest. Concerning content, strong implications about quality, an uniform brand image and the communication of trustworthiness should be a focus to marketers.
This paper examines the effect of ownership on strategic reasoning in the classical p-beauty contest game. While much literature focused on cognitive ability as the foundation for higher-order strategic play, we investigate whether a more motivational perspective can serve as a foundation for strategic reasoning as well. This is to be induced via the endowment effect by combining two market simulations with a p-beauty contest game in three experimental sessions. We conclude that while an endowment effect does not have a significant influence on first-round behavior, there are indications that it can influence the learning of endowed players as early as round two of a repeated p-beauty contest game. We find that possible differences in the degree of commitment substantially affect strategic behavior. The analyses ultimately suggest that strategic behavior possibly could occur not only on a cognitive level but also on a motivational level, provided that the motivation is powerful enough.
Despite the fact, that women’s underrepresentation in finance is tried to be encountered by legal regulations, little research has been conducted on why most women still decide to not pursue a career in finance. Thus, finance currently remains to be a male-dominating sector. However, which potential consequences homogeneous versus heterogenous groups in finance have on the success of financial decision-making results in companies in the long term is still little studied. According to this research gap, this thesis sets out to research the cause of gender imbalance as well as the impact of the perception of gender differences in finance from a neuroscientific perspective.
First, it is examined whether distinct biological factors in men and women lead to different interests, skills, and abilities that explain a superior natural suitability to perform in finance. Further, it is discussed how the brain processes financial decisions and which internal- as well as external factors impact decision-making. This will be set in context with major findings from psychologist Iain McGilchrist and his hemispheres-approach, and Daniel Kahnemann and his dual-process theory. Further, it is investigated how particularly women respond to stereotype-threat, applying the latest theories by neuroscientist Gina Rippon, and how this influences women’s ability to perform in the financial sector. According to this, it is explained how deep-rooted gender roles, stereotyping and unconscious biases lead to self-fulfilling prophecies in performance, and thus, restrain the advancement of gender diversity in finance. Finally, it is researched in what way homogenous groups in finance are susceptible to overconfidence and groupthink and to what extend enhancing gender diversity can improve financial decision-making. According to this, neuroscientific strategies that counteract unconscious biases and irrational decision-making in finance are discussed.
Successful employee retention remains one of the most critical issues in human resource management. Various retention strategies have been proposed, examined, and empirically tested for centuries to retain valued employees. This research proposes a psychological explanation on the effectiveness of so-called pay-to-quit incentives and hypothesizes that such anti-incentives might be more beneficial than traditional incentives with regards to employee retention. Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Prospect Theory, and Social Identity Theory help to illustrate the underlying psychological mechanisms of pay-to-quit incentives and their impact on choice, attitudes, cognitions, and behavior.
The main purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the customers’ motivation to participate in SAP‘s Influencing Programs and to subsequently generate suggestions for possible improvements.
The framework for the domains of interview design, analysis of conducted interviews, as well as the analysis of secondary sources is presented by theoretical analysis of both the involvement of business-to-business customers in the innovation process as well as the nature of motivation.
Empirical findings show that customers’ motivation to participate in SAP IPs consists of, in descending order of importance, the following motives: Influencing functionality, understanding functionality, learning about future functionality, contact to SAP, and contact to other companies. The design of SAP’s Influencing Programs is generally in line with the motivation of participating customers. Still, improvements could be realized in terms of customer involvement during the selection process, internal alignment between different Influencing Program teams, and mandatory training of Influencing Program moderators.
The leisure industry experiences a shift in selling their services online. While external sales channels have been dominating the online ticket sales in the last decade, a new trend of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) sales through individual platforms has been on the rise. This study aimed to research on the usage of external and direct sales channels in the leisure industry and tried to find reasons for the rapid increase of leisure venues shifting their sales channels on their own online platform and abandoning external sales channels. For this study, a primary research with leisure venues across Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the form of a questionnaire with 104 participants was conducted. The topic of the questionnaire was the usage of external and direct sales channels and ticket reseller as well as promotion methods of the leisure venues participating. Furthermore, an expert interview with the CEO of a wellness centre was conducted to gain first-hand knowledge on the research topic. The thesis ends with an analysis of the survey results and conclusions on what the usage of external and direct sales channels in the leisure industry are and how the DTC trend emerged from the state of the industry.
Global collaborations are becoming increasingly relevant in product projects. Therefore it is necessary to understand the different project management approaches on how global projects are carried out and what the differences are.
This bachelor thesis is a review of two project management manuals, which were designed by the company itself, on how project management at an internationally operating commercial vehicle manufacturer works with the focus being on time and risk management.
The aim of this thesis is to give recommended actions which improve the project steering, collaboration and the general approach in regards of time and risk management.
To achieve this goal a review of both project management manuals as well as expert interviews were carried out. Qualitative expert interviews were conducted with German- and English-speaking colleagues from different plant locations all around the world. Specifically, 12 questions included background knowledge and project work knowledge and were related to the two manuals, with the focus being on time and risk. The interviewees were required to be actively involved in at least one project and therefore have project work experience and thus are using one of the own project management manuals.
The answers of the interviews, as well as the current manuals contribute to the findings and based on the findings, it is recommended to create an example project for training purposes, to create a list of projects in order to divide the work, to use sprints or detailed planning, to focus on five top risks, to create a social intranet page dedicated to project management and to create a clear meeting plan in advance.
The use of social media for marketing purposes has already begun replacing virtually all traditional marketing practices in order to cater to a generation of digital natives and young festival goers – a trend that can be especially observed in the music industry today. For all that, not all marketers of music festivals are fully informed about the necessity of a well-developed and multifaceted social media strategy. The goal of this study was to explore the topic of strategic social media in music festival organizations and to derive a model upon which music festival organizations can establish and form their social media strategy more effectively. For this purpose, a literature review was conducted and a combined social media model for assessing social media strategies of music festival organizations was proposed. Six prevailing themes pertaining to social media strategy that were identified constitute the model: 1. Channel selection and evaluation, 2. Audience analysis, 3. Communication style, 4. Social media content, 5. Social monitoring and risk management, and 6. Roles and responsibilities. In the second part of this study, a qualitative research design employing interviews and a case study was used in order to explore strategic social media use in leading festivals in Serbia, Croatia and North Macedonia. The findings of this study reveal about the impact of specific social media platforms, the use of analytics tools for gathering audience insights, the two-way interactive communication with the fans, the efficiency of content resulting from co-creation, the role and importance of PR in social media, as well as the position of social media in the organization and the staffing approach for social media marketing.
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.
A Successful introduction of E-learning for Bosch Car Service and Auto Crew Workshops Worldwide.
(2016)
The purpose of this study is to determine how to introduce E-learning successfully for Bosch soft franchise workshops to maintain quality in services and a high level of customer satisfaction. The study focuses on two research question A) Should Bosch continue to invest in producing elearning course for workshops. B) How to increase workshop’s participation for e-learning. Regional Concept Managers from 14 countries evaluated the existing e-learning courses to define exclusively “E-learnings” pro and cons as per their marketplace to see if investing in elearning is beneficial. Secondly, the emphasis was placed on Regional Managers to brainstorm on what are the new strategies can be used to motivate the workshop to take part in e-learning. Broadly speaking, learning is an expensive and time-consuming activity that can be a disadvantage when it comes to teaching people. Bosch was one of the pioneer company after Daimler that uses e-learning platform to train their workshops- Bosch car Service and Auto Crew. The vision for e-learning was very innovative and useful for the workshops to teach the structured way of showing all the works that carried out in a workshop. However, low participation from the workshop in e-learning courses has been a challenge.
The first part of the thesis provides a theoretical understanding of the Automotive Aftermarket. It also gives detail introduction and usage of “E-learning” in 21st century. The second part explains the workshop concepts “Bosch Car Service” and “Auto Crew.” It also provides an overview of “how e-learning course is produced and used for workshops” and the final part consists of an “Empirical Research” that includes the findings from Expert Interview and survey with Regional Managers. The findings from empirical part reveal that E-learning courses are useful for the workshop. Therefore, Bosch should continue to invest in producing E-learning Courses. However, study shows the different areas that need improvement, therefore findings from the empirical research need to be considered by the Headquarter as well as the Regional Organization to successfully introduce “E-learning” for the workshops.
Innovative and successful food waste management solutions often happened to have either an economic, ecological, or social positive impact. There are different types of food waste that are wasted at different stages of the supply chain and sustainable management treat this issue in its entirety.
A resource-efficiency handling of food creates and saves value in the food industry, helps reduce climate change and brings food security. Quantitative evidence from financial and nonfinancial benefits from business cases of countries such as the United Kingdom, proved that avoiding food wasting build a win-win situation for companies and consumers. Processes will be exposed to accelerate the implementation of food waste reduction policies at every stage of the supply chain and at every organization level.
This paper is aimed to measure the global degree of food waste and loss with trustworthy instruments and to provide a range of the most efficient and adapted ways to prevent it.
Some focus will be made in certain parts of the world because of the data’s availability and reliability. It also interests us to know what percentage of waste occurs, at which stage of the supply chain, what are the current existing solutions to avoid food waste and
loss and how is sustainable management playing the most efficient role.
Food wasting will be distinguished into two categories: organizations of entities (as countries, governments, cities, and companies) and individuals. Providing guidelines to be able to manage a sustainable production up till consumption will be the core concern of this paper.
When 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.
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.
The cheerleader effect describes the phenomenon, where pictures of faces are rated to be more attractive when presented as part of a group, than when presented in isolation. This study employs electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERP) to explore the origins of the cheerleader effect. We found significant ERP differences which suggest that the cheerleader effect is not caused by perceptual differences, but instead through social cues which distort the decision-making process that gives rise to subjects’ trait judgments.
When scaling, startups face managerial challenges and a downfall in innovation. A growing team and the resulting increased communication and organizational complexity bring issues previously not existing. Accountability Systems can assist startups overcome the mentioned issues and maintain their essence of innovation, vital for their success.
This paper discusses the relevance and benefits of implementing formal managerial systems in a growing startup. By mapping out the interdependence of culture, innovation and growth, it is demonstrated how Accountability Systems can support the preservation of an innovative culture when scaling a startup.
In a time when innovation is often disregarded due to a focus on process efficiency, Accountability Systems can provide a valuable tool for managing transition. This thesis serves as a general evaluation of Accountability Systems and their benefits. It is important to note that this paper is not intended to serve as a directly adaptable guide for startups.
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:
Welche Tools und Methoden im Active Sourcing erleichtern die Besetzung von Engpassfunktionen und sind für den Bereich der Identifikation und Direktansprache geeignet?
Die Personalbeschaffung steht aufgrund verschiedener gesellschaftlicher Veränderungen, wie dem Fachkräftemangel oder dem demografischen Wandel, vor einer erheblichen Veränderung und fordert ein Umdenken seitens der Unternehmen. Kandidaten in Engpassfunktionen auf dem klassischen Weg durch z.B. Stellenanzeigen zu erreichen wird für Unternehmen immer schwerer. In aktuellen Diskussionen fällt dabei häufig der Begriff Active Sourcing als effiziente Methode der Personalbeschaffung. Active Sourcing beschreibt einen Prozess, der sich der Identifikation und Direktansprache externer Kandidaten widmet, welche auf dem Arbeitsmarkt stark nachgefragt sind. Das Ziel ist es dabei, diese durch persönlichen Kontakt langfristig an das Unternehmen zu binden, bis sie erfolgreich auf eine Vakanz vermittelt werden können.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Eignung verschiedener Tools und Methoden hinsichtlich der Identifikation und Direktansprache von Engpassfunktionen festzustellen. Diese werden zuerst mittels Fachliteratur analysiert und anschließend anhand der Engpassfunktionen der Daimler AG diskutiert. Im Rahmen einer Nutzwertanalyse wird festgestellt, welche Suchmaschine für die Identifikation komplexer Profile am geeignetsten ist. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf dem Prozess des Online Active Sourcings. Das Ergebnis dieser Arbeit zeigt, dass die Eignung der Tools und Methoden für die Identifikation und Direktansprache von Engpassprofilen abhängig von den Nutzerstrukturen, Intentionen der Mitglieder für die Nutzung des Mediums sowie den differenzierenden Funktionsweisen ist. Es stellt sich außerdem heraus, dass mit Hilfe unterschiedlicher Methoden die Nutzung der Tools unterstützt werden kann. Im Rahmen der Nutzwertanalyse wird festgestellt, dass Google für die Identifikation von Engpassprofilen der Daimler AG die geeignetste Suchmaschine ist. Während die Tools für Active Sourcing am Markt stark auf die Identifikation und Direktansprache ausgerichtet sind, gibt es für das Relationship Mangement separate Anwendungen. Da dieses für einen erfolgreichen Active Sourcing Prozess jedoch eine ebenso wichtige Rolle spielt wie die Identifikation und Direktansprache, kann eine dahingehende Angleichung der Tools erwartet werden.
Many Researches on values of IT investment have produced mixed results. There has never been a clear definition regarding what is the values of IT investment. Some researchers used productivity as an indicator for value, some other used financial figures to measure the value. However, the result is never consistent. This research investigates the value of Treasury Management System's implementation without limiting the definition of values. The findings show that IT investments are often followed by business process reengineering and have a role as decision support system. Furthermore, IT investments are most likely to improve the information quality produced from the system. Therefore, the evaluation of IT investments needs to consider the qualitative values as well
Hansgrohe SE will increasingly feel the consequences of the considerable decrease in the German labour force in the coming years. The company has therefore decided to approach the measure of recruiting labour from foreign countries to counteract the consequences already today. As a basis, information about the current situation in the German labour market and at Hansgrohe is provided. Moreover, this thesis proposes a way to analyse the potential of
highly skilled professionals in foreign labour markets and evaluate whether markets offer qualified professionals for specific occupations. The topic was initially approached by carrying out qualitative research within the company. By developing a funnel model that focuses on gathering an overview of a country’s stability and demographic patterns and analysing economic and educational variables, the groundwork for Hansgrohe in order to approach the process of international recruiting is established. The thesis outlines how an
assessment of foreign countries in terms of their availability of highly skilled professionals can happen by means of an example. The research results are used to derive recommendations for action, and an outlook on the future can act as a guide as the company continues to engage in this subject.
This study belongs to the field of innovation research and is based on the application of a theoretical concept of a technology acceptance. The theoretical concept developed in the context of this research work is investigating the connection between efficiency, quality, security and business process re-engineering and the intention to adopt mobile payments technologies by merchants within the retail industry. Mobile payments is an emerging topic which is currently experiencing a rise. Although there are significant differences in a level of mobile payments acceptance around the world, the widespread adoption of the technology has not prevailed yet. Moreover, more research is needed to investigate and explain retailers’ prospective on the mobile payments adoption. The growing scientific interest in this topic is relevant in terms of innovation development, theories of global competition platforms and evolving landscape of global payment systems.
From this holistic prospective the fundamental hypotheses and crucial questions in terms of mobile payments adoption by merchants were derived. The analysis of the data sample of 90 companies of various sizes and operating in different industries obtained by means of a survey conducted at one of the largest trade fairs in Munich, Germany in autumn 2015. The data was analyzed using descriptive univariate and multivariate methods and the significance of the conceptual framework was validated. A major positive trend in mobile payments adoption was indicated. The findings of this research suggest that efficiency had a significant positive influence on the intention to adopt mobile payments by merchants. Banks and credit card companies were recognized as the most preferred mobile payments providers among retailers with an increasing interest towards independent companies. Based on the findings, the scientific guidelines for the future research were outlined and the concrete recommendations from the managerial prospective for achieving a successful adoption of mobile payments among merchants were suggested.
Advanced sales approach to increase professional fairs participation: international experience
(2016)
The following bachelor thesis was written in cooperation with Hannover Fairs USA, Inc. (HFUSA), which is the Deutsche Messe AG’s (DMAG) U.S. subsidiary. DMAG in Hannover, Germany, is one of the biggest and most active event organizers in the world. The target region of the HFUSA office is North America. Their function is to host industrial trade shows in Chicago and to sell exhibit space at their parent company’s shows in Germany to American companies. The focus of the thesis will be on the DMAG’s CeMAT show which serves the intralogistic and material handling industry. The topic of the thesis is ‘Evolving a structured and advanced sales approach to enhance the number of American companies, participating at the Deutsche Messe’s CeMAT show.’ The research focus is on the intralogistic and material handling industry, the meaningfulness of trade shows and various skills and processes of sales theory. Furthermore, it places emphasis on corporate and sales strategy. The thesis offers possible measures which should serve c-level employees of the company as a basis for creating a more standardized corporate, marketing, and sales strategy to streamline the process amongst employees, to enhance sales processes, improve efficiency and therefore increase revenue in the long run. This will also positively influence the process of achieving their goal of enhancing the number of participating U.S. companies at the CeMAT show in Hannover.
The food delivery industry is growing rapidly. As the biggest delivery platform in the western world, Just Eat Takeaway.com (JET) must adapt its processes according to its growth. This growth is especially reflected in need for delivery drivers. To adapt to this increasing need, JETs current recruitment marketing affiliate campaign is examined by reviewing the literature, such as books, magazines, journals, and business reviews. Best practices and processes within JET are explained in depth to draw a picture of the current campaign status. Through this research, hypotheses on campaigns issues are drawn. Through a qualitative publisher survey, these hypotheses are either accepted or rejected. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the program. Finally, conversion strategies are used to discuss where JET can improve by highlighting potential plans for the optimization of recruitment marketing affiliate campaigns.
Im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung nimmt das Internet einen hohen Stellenwert in der heutigen Gesellschaft ein. Vor allem im Bereich Shopping ist das Internet von
besonderer Bedeutung. Hinsichtlich der Etablierung zahlreicher Online-Shops findet heutzutage der Großteil der Einkäufe über das Internet statt. Angesichts dieser Entwicklung hat auch die jüngste Marketingdisziplin, das Online-Marketing, in den letzten Jahren an Bedeutung gewonnen. Hierbei hat sich das Affiliate Marketing als eine der wichtigsten Online-Marketing Instrumente etabliert. E-Commerce-Unternehmen, wie bspw. Amazon oder eBay gehören in diesem Bereich zu den bekanntesten Werbetreibern. Folglich befasst sich diese Bachelorarbeit mit der umfassenden Darstellung des Affiliate-Marketings. Weiterhin werden die Online- Marketing-Instrumente, die im Rahmen des Affiliate Marketings eine zusätzliche Anwendung finden, dargestellt. Allerdings gibt es auch hier Betrüger, die durch den Einsatz betrügerischer Maßnahmen unberechtigte Provisionszahlungen beanspruchen. An dieser Stelle ist es für den Werbetreibenden von essentieller Bedeutung, betrügerische Handlungen zu erkennen und sich aktiv gegen diese abzusichern. Durch den Einsatz entsprechender Gegenmaßnahmen können
schwerwiegende Schäden vermieden werden.
This bachelor thesis deals with the use of the agile project management methodology in Enterprise Resource Planning implementations. With regards to the most recent trend of the use of the agile methodology for ERP Implementations, it will be examined if it plays a role as a critical factor for successful implementations.
The examination in the thesis will be divided into three steps.
Firstly, the theoretical foundations regarding the elements under examination will be laid by defining and analyzing the ERP Systems, the critical factors and the agile methodology.
Secondly, an empirical two-section examination will be held, with the aim of finding out which role the project management methodology plays for success in general, if the agile methodology proves to be more beneficial than other methods and if these advantages could be critical for success.
The last step involves the analysis and evaluation of the newly gained insights, their boundaries and a view on other potential research possibilities.
The objective of this piece of research was to find out; to what extent a Software Development Methodology be used in Finance and Controlling, if the perceived benefits of agile methodology (Scrum) are similar to those obtained in Software Development, to what extent the practice of agile scrum in Finance and Controlling deviates from the theory (Scrum Guide). The following was found out about the use of agile scrum in Finance and Controlling. It cannot work on all projects. It will only be effective for projects; with complex problems, with unknown solutions, in unstable environments, with motivated teams requiring input or feedback from end users. Moreover, the results of the conducted online survey helped in finding out that the benefits achieved from the use of agile scrum in Finance and Controlling are similar to those achieved in Software Development. Lastly, the use of scrum in an analysed example in Finance and Controlling was deviating from the theory (The Scrum Guide). For example, a team had three Product Owners responsible for decision making, whereas it is required by the scrum guide to have just one. This resulted to a slow decision making process.
AI in recruiting is used more and more in recruiting and for the evaluation of job interviews. Research has focused mainly on companies' side of AI implementation in recruiting. However, changes in demographics also make it important to look at it from the viewpoint of candidates. This thesis aims to explain how the perception of AI-evaluated job interviews influences the intention to apply. A survey is used as a data collection method with a sample of 105 participants. The results revealed that the perception of AI-evaluated job interviews positively influences the intention to apply in terms of organizational attractiveness, while anxiety negatively influences the intention to apply. However, in general, the positive effect is stronger. Other factors such as trust, fairness, intrinsic motivation, and novelty have no significant effect on the intention to apply.
Die Besetzung von Schlüsselpositionen in der IT-Branche, erfordert durch den akuten Fachkräftemangel eine aktive Herangehensweise in der Personalbeschaffung. Für das Herausfiltern aktuell vakanter Schlüsselpositionen der IBsolution GmbH, wurde diesbezüglich eine Schlüsselfunktions-Engpass-Matrix erstellt. Die daraufhin definierte Zielgruppe, wurde mithilfe von Experteninterviews anschließend analysiert. Aufbauend darauf, ergaben sich bezüglich den Faktoren Vorbereiten, Finden und Gewinnen konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen. Die Steigerung der Recruiter IT-Affinität, die Integration der Fachbereiche, das Nutzen ausgewählter Online Plattformen und die zielgruppenspezifische Förderung der Arbeitgebermarke stellen dabei die wesentlichen Aspekte dar.
With the increasing popularity of the home office model and the limited exploration of associated stressors necessitate a comprehensive investigation of potential drawbacks. This thesis embarks on an investigation of how the home office paradigm can be leveraged to alleviate distress, nurture mental well-being. Specifically, it delves into an analysis of five prominent stressors inherent in the home office context, identifying effective strategies for mitigating each one adeptly. The data and research in this thesis are drawn from existing literature on the work concept. The findings underscore the substantial influence of these stressors on employees’ mental health and productivity. However, specific measures to mitigate these challenges are identified and thoroughly expounded upon. This research provides valuable insights into optimizing the home office environment and promoting the holistic well-being of employees.
Die Arbeitswelt wird zunehmend dynamischer und komplexer und was heute noch als neu gilt könnte morgen schon wieder veraltet sein. Im Rahmen dieser Ausarbeitung wird eine Bestandsaufnahme der drei Bereiche Führung-/Organisationstheorie, Digitaler Wandel und der Wertewandel erfasst und die aus jedem Bereich resultierenden Implikationen für Unternehmen und Führungskräfte ermittelt. Dabei wird in der Führungstheorie besonders der Ansatz der Ambidextrie-Führung betrachtet, dessen Modell der gleichzeitigen Ausrichtung eines Unternehmens auf explorative und exploitative Aktivitäten, in den letzten Jahren große Zustimmung erfahren hat. Um die praktische Umsetzung des theoretischen Konzepts der Ambidextrie-Führung untersuchen zu können wurden dabei die beiden Führungsstile der Transformationalen- und der Transaktionalen Führung auf die Aktivitätenfelder der Exploration und Exploitation übertragen. Damit Unternehmen und Führungskräfte einer ganzheitlichen Mitarbeiterführung nachgehen können und dadurch die wahrgenommene Qualität der Führung steigern ist ein holistisches Verständnis aller drei Bereiche notwendig.
This thesis tries to answer questions with respect to a future cultured meat industry, that is what influences consumer behavior and which consumers will be likely to buy cultured meat products. In addition I am trying to answer the question if there even will be a cultured meat industry in the future or whether the current developments can be seen more like a bubble that will disappear once enough money is burned with no profits made. Answering these research questions was quite a challenge, even though I did an extensive amount of research the lack of available data was not ideal. Therefore, I need to acknowledge that with more available data more precise conclusions could have been drawn. Nevertheless, through my research I could conclude that the cultured meat industry, which is shortly before bringing the first products to market is unlikely to disappear. The technology seems sound and the concept behind it seems to make sense. Regarding potential consumers I concluded that marketers should try to identify consumers who go through extensive problem solving when making food or rather lifestyle choices. These consumers might be best to approach when launching the first marketing campaigns for a cultured meat product.
This thesis examines bank-internal, industry-specific and macroeconomic determinants of bank profitability in the Western European banking sector with specific focus on determinants related to risk management and regulation. A linear panel analysis and a dynamic panel data analysis are conducted based on a sample of 53 Western European banks over the post-crisis time period from 2011 until 2019. This time period lies in-between the end of the financial crisis and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the panel analysis show a stronger relationship between bank profitability and bank-internal determinants than bank-external determinants. Credit risk and operational efficiency are found to be the most significant determinants of profitability. This implies that especially factors in control of the bank management are central to safeguard and advance profitability but regulation is needed to prevent procyclical decision-making by managers.
This study is aimed at valuing two companies in the IT services industry with different valuation approaches. Therefore, the preconditions for an accurate and meaningful business value as well as the procedure, strengths and limitations of these approaches are examined. Additionally, the accuracy of the results is determined through comparison of valuation estimates with their corresponding stock prices occurring within the three months following the business valuations.
Furthermore, it is examined if one valuation approach is superior in terms of accuracy. Finally, to verify the quality and explanatory power of the valuation results, they are compared with the outcomes of the study on the information content of equity analyst reports by Paul Asquith, Michael B. Mikhail and Andrea S. Au. The results of the business valuations show that within the three-month period, no price target was exactly achieved by the corresponding stock prices.
Furthermore, no valuation approach could be determined that is significantly more accurate than the others. It can be concluded that despite some limitations in the explanatory power of the valuations, the average percentage approximations of Mastercard’s and Visa’s stock prices to target prices were only slightly below those of the comparative study. In view of the fact that the research capacities and experience behind these business valuations are significantly lower than those of the top analysts in the comparative study, the results are considered consistent with the outcomes of the study on the information content of equity analyst reports.
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.
This research paper aims to provide an overview of companies listed in the German DAX, MDAX and SDAX indices that have been involved in prosecution procedures directly contradicting their Corporate Social Responsibility strategies and how they present themselves as a Corporate Citizen. The terms Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Social Responsibility will be further defined and the reasons companies implement them elaborated. The results will be structured according to the stock index they belong to and whether they had any active prosecution procedures by government organizations against them during the last ten years that would go against their Corporate Citizenship strategy. The end result will be judged in terms of how a company can propagate certain values while being investigated for actions that directly contradict them and whether it could be considered hypocritical for companies to be involved in them while claiming to be a “good” Corporate Citizen.
An Analysis of Group Context Effects on Perceptions of Characteristics Relevant to Mate Choice
(2021)
Research on the perception of faces proposes a significant influence of social context on trait judgements. For instance, the “cheerleader effect” suggests an increase in the attractiveness of an individual based on the presence of additional faces. Further extensions to other trait characteristics have resulted inter alia in the awareness of the “banker effect”, which indicates that individuals in a group setting as opposed to in isolation are perceived to earn a higher salary. In light of recent findings in evolutionary psychology respective mate preferences, it is of interest to investigate potential nodes to social context effects. In addition to the replication of the cheerleader and banker effect, our study aimed to examine the effects of group context for characteristics relevant to mate choice. Besides the significance for attractiveness and salary, we were able to observe statistical significance for health and intelligence on both a subject and stimulus basis in a within-subjects design. However, we were not able to find significant differences in the isolated and group ratings for vanity, emotional stability, pleasing disposition, and unreliability. Furthermore, the evolutionary significance and the results of our study prompted us to address commonalities between the effects of social context on cognition and the social brain hypothesis and to reflect on possible underlying mechanisms and consequences.
In recent decades, the topic of increasing wealth and income inequalities has received growing attention in research. The focus was frequently placed on examining past developments and influencing factors, which might have produced the present distributions.
This thesis attempts to summarize the effects of past developments and tendencies on the distribution of income and wealth of households based on the findings of existing academic literature. An understanding of the underlying forces is particularly important to respond correctly and effectively to rising inequality. In addition, this thesis aims at presenting the distribution of income and wealth in the euro area with respect to similarities and differences across euro area countries. For this purpose, data provided through the Household Finance and Consumption Survey has been used. Furthermore, the observations have been compared to corresponding data on income and wealth distributions in the United States, allowing for a better assessment of the circumstances in the euro area. The Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Census Bureau published data on household wealth and income in the United States, which has been utilized in this thesis. The observed points in time are 2010 and 2014.
The conducted investigations and analyses yielded the result that relevant developments have been the process of globalization, the technological advancement, the evolution of labour markets, the growing importance of capital, the changes in governmental policies and societal developments. Furthermore, it could be shown that both income and wealth tend to be unequally distributed within and between euro area countries. In fact, wealth appeared to be much more concentrated than income. Large heterogeneity across countries was detected. Nevertheless, the degree of inequality is less severe than the one observed in the United States.
The study analyses the German immigration profile and its impact on the labour market, put into a global context. An extensive literature review and an empirical analysis provide insights into the current situation of migration in Germany and on a global level. Furthermore, profiles of a global migrant and German immigrant will be created. For the analysis of the labour market, selected research articles provide econometric results that are being used to determine the impact of immigrants on the labour market on a global level as well as in Germany.
These two main areas of immigration are then basis for the comparison of Germany and the global level. The main goal is to find out, whether Germany is in a particularly challenging situation with migration and its impact on the labour market.
The results indicate firstly, it faces the second highest number of immigration worldwide as of 2019. Secondly, the recent high inflow of asylum-seekers has to be absorbed in society and labour markets and thirdly, Germany has to compete against other countries with more attractive pull-factors for highly-skilled workers. Indeed, it can be concluded that Germany is in a challenging situation regarding migration. Nontheless, the labour market impact results show little variation comparing Germany and the global level and indicate positive effects of immigration on certain skill-levels. However, there is no ultimate consensus reached so far.
The contributions of migrants will then be further elaborated, connected to migration patterns observed and result in an outlook on migration and in recommendations for policymakers.
An analysis of the inter-rater reliability of ESG ratings within the consumer staples industry
(2020)
The aim of this study is to gain further insights into whether ESG ratings of the same firms from different rating agencies differ. To this end, this study examines and compares in particular the ratings of the providers Bloomberg, Sustainalytics and MSCI for companies in the consumer staples industry. The study comes to the conclusion that there are in some cases significant differences between these three providers in terms of the respective ESG ratings. Furthermore, a company-size bias is shown for Bloomberg and Sustainalytics ESG ratings. It appears that these agencies rate companies with a large market capitalization better than firms with a lower market value. These large discrepancies in ESG ratings of companies within the consumer staples industry and individual rating problems, such as the company-size bias, mean that today's ESG ratings tend to be not reliable and not valid. The study shows that ESG ratings will have to change a lot in the near future in order to contribute positively to the investment selection of socially responsible investors.
An Analysis of the Recent Developments in the Competitive Situation of the German Airline Industry
(2019)
This study analyzes the competitive situation of the German airline industry for short-and medium-haul flights. Developments within the industry’s market structure and its concentration as well as its attractivity are assessed with the help of a supply-and demand-model as well as an H.H.I. Index calculation and the utilization of the Five Forces Model. This is followed by an evaluation of the operations of the largest carriers in the course of a value chain, to determine how the incumbent operator Lufthansa is affected by the developments within the industry also in regard to competitive positioning. The study is finalized with a SWOT analysis in order to give recommendations as to how Lufthansa can improve its positioning and to see how the industry will develop further in the future. The results indicate a development from a monopoly to a Bertrand oligopoly with intense competition based on price, a trend that is further confirmed by high market concentration indicating an increase in power for the top three airlines but also more fierce rivalry between those carriers. The current market environment is notparticularly attractive and therefore difficult to operate in, especially for Lufthansa as a premium full-service carrier. Lufthansa’s largest difficulties are created by its high operational and personnel cost compared to its low-cost competitors. These expenses can be reduced by strategic investments into digitization and automation along with a fleet modernization in order to benefit from technological trends and meet the demand of the future’s passenger.
Over the decades, several reasons like globalization, pressure from large counterparts (SMEs suppliers and customers), outstanding performances and advantages of competitors have driven SMEs to adopt standardized and integrated Enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems. However, implementing an ERP system is a very complex and risky project mainly for SMEs which can lead to ERP implementation ineffectiveness. There are many causes of ERP ineffectiveness, but important one mainly for SMEs is a lacking connection to organizational behavior (including structure and culture) during the ERP implementation, which may lead to misfits between existing organization behavior (structure and culture) and ERP systems because of two separate characters. The integration and standardization nature of ERP systems may not be compatible with all aspects of existing organizational behavior, and it is likely that some aspects or dimensions in organizational behavior influence the ERP implementation success or failure. Based on the theory of organizational structure and culture and the prior literature, this study examines which traditional organizational structure indicators (centralization and formalization), and on the other hand, culture indicators (team orientation and change orientation) affect the implementation of an ERP system. The finding ensures that a high degree of centralization and formalization dimensions of organizational structure has a positive, significant influence on ERP implementation effectiveness. Likewise, there is a positive and significant relationship between team orientation and change orientation of organizational culture with ERP project success. By analysing two firms of Estonia and Germany, this study declares that SMEs have a moderate attention towards their ERP implementation projects which shows that it is not always a problem of ERP implementation failure and proves that SMEs should be focusing not only on technical aspects of ERP system but on organizational aspects particularly on structure and culture as well that may increase the success chance of ERP implementation.
Agriculture in Tanzania is not only the biggest employer, but also it is the highest contributor of the GDP. Apart from being an important sector in the country, it is characterized by small scale subsistence farming which is not mainly profitable. In order to transform the agriculture from traditional to commercial, young people, who make 35% of the entire population, are the main driver however they are facing many challenges. Having that in mind, Tanzanian government has enacted several policies whose main aim is to make it easy for young people to engage in agriculture.
In this bachelor thesis, the agricultural policies which have been enacted by the government to attract young people will be discussed and it will be analyzed if they have brought the impacts desired by the government. In order to do that, a survey was conducted in a district called Bukombe in Tanzania and in one agricultural university which is found in Eastern Tanzania.
The results of the above mentioned studies show that majority of youth policies which have been enacted in Tanzania do not involve youth from the beginning of the preparation. Also, there the general studies found that not many young people are aware of the policies which have been enacted to protect them or make their farming activities easier.
The limitation for this study is that the study sample which is used is from only one district and one university so it may be difficult to compare that the results represent the whole country. Also another limitation is that there are still not many studies which have been conducted in Tanzania for this matter so it is difficult to find the up to date resources. This leads to the resources used to be a bit older and in most of the time to depend on only resources from the websites of government institutions.
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
An average investor trying to allocate his wealth among multiple assets ideally has nearly infinite possibilities to do so. However, asset allocation strategies try to facilitate this process. Nevertheless, no consensus exists on which strategy is ideal and yields the best performance. Therefore, this paper aims to determine an ideal asset allocation strategy for an average investor by comparing two asset allocation strategies.
The focus is on comparing the practical application of Markowitz’s Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), a sophisticated asset allocation strategy, with an equally weighted asset allocation, namely the 1/N strategy. The past performance of these two strategies is compared with the help of a calculation example based on historical data. The quantitative analysis covers three time periods of different lengths between 1991 and 2022. Also, the strategies are applied to portfolios with different amounts of assets during these periods. Although the existing literature is very controversial concerning the performance of the two strategies, this research shows a clear result. Compared to the 1/N strategy, this study’s findings show an outperformance of the MPT strategy during every period and each portfolio combination. However, the difference in performance regarding return and risk is minimal in most scenarios and would not significantly affect an average investor who invests over a long-term horizon.
Im Rahmen dieser Bachelorarbeit wird untersucht, welche Chancen und Risiken ein Markteintritt in China für ein deutsches mittelständisches Unternehmen haben kann. Hierzu wird beispielhaft eine Internationalisierung für die S. Siedle & Söhne OHG betrachtet. Die Chancen und Risiken werden anhand der Analyse des Potenzials des chinesischen Marktes, der Analyse der Unternehmensstärken und –schwächen, sowie einem Vergleich der chinesischen mit der deutschen Kultur herausgearbeitet und anschließend einander gegenübergestellt. Die Arbeit wird in einen theoretischen und einen praktischen Teil gegliedert. Durch eine Kombination aus qualitativen und quantitativen Forschungsmethoden wird das theoretische Grundlagenverständnis eines Markteintritts gelegt, sowie eine Bestandsaufnahme der Unternehmenssituation erstellt. Anschließend werden diese beiden Themenbereiche kombiniert, woraus sich der praktische Teil der Arbeit, die Bewertung eines Markteintritts in China für die Siedle OHG, ergibt. Die Gegenüberstellung der zu erwartenden Chancen und Risiken zeigt, dass die Risiken eins Markteintritts in China die möglichen Chancen überwiegen, weshalb derzeit von einer Internationalisierung in China abgeraten wird.
Schlüsselwörter: Internationalisierung, Chancen, Risiken, Markteintritt, China
The title for this thesis “An Economic Analysis of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)” has been selected due to its topicality and its explosiveness. The stimulus to write this paper originates in the wish to get a deeper insight into the topic, which has been treated majorly under exclusion of the public, and to be able to make a clear statement whether to support or to oppose the partnership. In order to answer this final question, it is also tested whether results from former agreements like NAFTA or Mercosur can serve as a guideline to what can be expected of TTIP. Additionally, the paper aims at making a final statement about the implications of the partnership for the future. To do this, the present paper covers two main subjects. First, it provides an overview of the history of free trade, the different forms of agreements, as well as an insight into the experiences made with NAFTA and Mercosur. This first part is concluded with an estimation of the results and motivations of and for free trade agreements, as well as a transition to the second main subject by naming the impacts of the findings for the planned TTIP treaty. Secondly, after providing a broad overview of TTIP by giving an insight into the definition and the process of formation of the partnership, the benefits and concerns of the deal are revealed. This part is followed by a broad study of ten indicators, which outline the real effects of TTIP on the economy, by distinguishing between three different scenarios. The thesis is concluded by presenting the findings from the former analysis. Although NAFTA and Mercosur do not provide applicable experiences, they still serve as points of orientation and suggest that free trade should be supported. Thus, the planned partnership should also be agreed upon in order to go with the pace of time and to stay competitive. If this is the case, TTIP will be a leading example in the future, motivating more nations to either join the partnership or to form ones by themselves.
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.
An Empirical Investigation of the Effect of Packaging Design on Consumers' Willingness to Pay
(2021)
This study sheds light on the extent to which high-quality aesthetic packaging can positively influence consumer choice and raise willingness to pay at the point of sale. In two separate parts, we measure purchasing decisions and willingness to pay by contrasting high- and low-quality packaging of a pullover and a vodka bottle.
Findings show that, compared to cheap and standardized designs, visually appealing packages can significantly raise willingness to pay for a product. Besides, packaging design is crucial when consumers buy the product as a gift rather than for self-consumption. This research provides evidence that beautifully designed packages can positively influence consumer choice at the point of purchase. However, packaging can only influence purchase decisions within a specific price range. If prices are too high and above the individual’s accepted price limit, packaging cannot convince consumers to buy the product. Further, our investigation shows that consumers’ age, gender, educational level, and occupational status can be related to their package choices. The late adulthood, men, and individuals with higher education and professional status are likely to spend more on attractively packaged products than other demographic groups.
This thesis examines the relationship between environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores and portfolio returns using ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions and statistical tests. ESG scores were collected from Refinitiv Datastream between January 2007 and February 2023 and consist primarily of companies listed in the Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) Index. The risk factors were calculated using data from Kenneth R. French’s data library. OLS regressions are used to estimate abnormal returns. The portfolios are created by dividing stocks into five equal quantiles and allocating them to five portfolios according to their ESG scores. The portfolios were then reconstructed each year based on the company's ESG rating. This analysis concludes that there is no significant evidence of abnormal returns for high-rated ESG portfolios. Instead, it shows that the portfolio with the lowest 20% ESG ratings outperformed all other portfolios, including the sample market, over the indicated period.
The present study examines stock split announcements with regard to the semi-strong form of the efficient market hypothesis. Daily security price data and a sample of 262 stock split announcements observed on the New York Stock Exchange during the ten-year period from January 2006 to December 2015 are applied on parametric as well as nonparametric tests. The test results provide empirical evidence in favor of the semi-strong form of market efficiency. This implies that the marketplace immediately and efficiently reacts to stock split announcements by adjusting security prices. Therefore, it is not possible to generate significant abnormal returns by trading on the information content implicit in stock split announcements.
The impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has driven companies towards an ongoing digital transformation. This creates a considerable market push and pull from consumers for innovative technologies given the benefits they convey. In the corporate world this translates to the objectives of companies for gaining competitive advantages, created by the integration of new digital solutions, for the creation of value.
The advantages of a continuous integration of technologies within all areas of an organizations conveys the need for more adaptive resources. A major player in charge of leading said transformation for the obtention of unprecedented benefits is the Information Technology Department (IT). Therefore, the ongoing accelerated demand for digital solutions requires an accelerated delivery as well from the IT.
The limited resources, particularly from employees capable of continuously developing digital solutions, represents an unsustainable approach given the gap between growing demand and supply for new technological advancements.
Employees within the organizational context of MHP Management- und IT Beratung GmbH, who are addressed in this thesis as the customers of the MHP-IT, are presented with an alternative approach to fulfil the current demand for digital solutions through their integration in the process; this would empower them to contribute in the companies digital transformation journey. The proposed way of doing so is through the introduction of the Power Platform tools in corporate MHP.
The objective of this thesis focuses on the fundamental change that the incorporation of the Power Platform conveys on individuals within their work environment. This is aimed at the identification of possible approaches that can foment organizational acceptance, for the abovementioned platform, as an alternative way of creating value. This is achieved through the evaluation of individual values for their successful incorporation as citizen developers empowered to create.
The Organizational Cultural Assessment Instrument has been chosen as a methodology for answering the research objectives of identifying the current values that employees have in their work environment, as well as to bring forward tailored recommendations as adequate measures to drive the incorporation of the Power Platform. Complementing this is the identification of predispositions from potential users via qualitative and quantitative methods.
Given the benefits that the Power Platform creates in different operational fields, results indicate a premature acceptance for the introduction of the same as a suitable alternative for creating digital solutions. Furthermore, the conducted organizational environment study, also referred to as culture, highlights the dominant values present among the workers of MHP. This delineates a tailored approach of different measures that can be taken for introducing the Power Platform, as a digital transformation tool, and empowerment of citizen developers.
Emphasise is given to the identified inclinations from employees, as these constitutes the prioritization of procedures according to their values, through which the implementation of change can be coped with and the acceptance of the Power Platform tools increased.
This research explores the meaning of inclusive behavior of team leaders and members in the context of GVTs. The author focuses on implicit biases underlying inclusive behaviors. By investigating biases, this bachelor thesis provides a collection of exemplary behavior and best practices to overcome them.
As inclusive behavior in GVTs is a field of expertise that has not been explored extensively in relation to implicit biases, this research aims to add to the existing research.
It is based on primary and secondary data. The literature review is used to develop a comprehensive understanding of the challenges of GVTs, the leadership responsibilities, and building trust. It also investigates team effectiveness on the example of Project Aristotle as well as the impact of implicit biases on GVTs. Survey results and in-depth interviews with members of two GVTs uncover realistic examples for the aspects comprised in the literature review.
The results show that literature and reality correspond to a large extent. Furthermore, they reveal the impact of different levels of inclusive behaviors on teams’ ability to work together over a distance. While GVTs face many challenges, they see new opportunities in technology to extend beyond those.
The conclusion centers the importance of various communication channels and informal encounters as key to inclusive behaviors for GVT. Moreover, limitations to the research and a critical assessment for future research are discussed in the conclusion.
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
Important prior studies regarding customers purchasing behaviour proved that customers tend to avoid products showing extreme deflections in attributes and feel more comfortable purchasing articles with a balance in attributes (compromise option). Hence, for marketers, supermarket chains etc., it can be of an advantage knowing whether this effect can also be measured or even be amplified in where the spatial middle of a shelf is occupied with the compromise option. We hypothesized that the tendency towards the compromise option, eventually even higher in the spatial middle position, can also be observed in an in-store experiment with real-life circumstances. In order to fulfil our study, we worked with a hardware store in southern Germany. In total, we sold 610 items consisting of 5 different products with each 3 alternatives. The result corroborated our hypothesis partly as it showed in some cases, the compromise option was indeed preferred when in the middle of a choice set. Nevertheless, in many cases, products on extreme position with “extreme” attributes were preferred. Leading to the conclusion that other factors like the brand may have higher importance in purchasing decisions.
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.
In 2020 a pandemic caused the universities in Germany to close their doors for their
students. For the Hochschule Furtwangen University, it was the first time that online
classes were introduced on a large-scale. The objective of this thesis paper is to
investigate how international students at HFU Business School cope with having online
classes due to COVID-19 and to derive based on those findings a recommended course
of action.
The researcher conducted 32 semi-structured in-depth interviews with international
students, local students, professors, and university employees to examine the status quo.
A thorough literature review on studying and working from home formed the interview
questions' foundation. The interview covered several aspects of students' life, such as
studying, language development, or social factors.
Based on the findings, a recommended course of action was derived. Those 14
recommendations include practical suggestions covering different facets for the
university to implement to improve international students' ability to cope with the
restrictions caused by the pandemic and the resulting online classes successfully.
Prior research agrees that consumer choice is heavily influenced by the choice context.
According to the compromise effect, the middle alternative in attribute space is preferred over more extreme options. However, the role of the spatial order of alternatives seems to be neglected by most compromise effect studies. Usually, alternatives are ordered by attributes, meaning that the compromise option is placed in the spatial middle of the choice set, despite the fact that research indicates a consumer preference for the spatial middle of a choice set. To investigate this issue, we hypothesized that an alternative would be chosen more frequently when positioned in the spatial middle of a choice set versus at the edge of a choice set. We assumed that this effect would be stronger when consumers are unfamiliar with a product category. Therefore, we expected to observe a negative correlation between decision-makers’ familiarity with a product category and their tendency to choose an alternative more frequently when positioned in the spatial middle of a choice. To find out, we conducted an online survey targeting 907 university students. The results support our hypothesis and the notion that the compromise effect might be partly driven by a preference for the spatial middle position of a choice set rather than only by a preference for the compromise option.
Currently, a digital transformation is taking place in logistics and manufacturing environments of the Robert Bosch GmbH. This digital transformation consists of several central initiatives, resulting in big impacts on the organizations of the business units. This paper aims to provide an overview of these organizational changes with regard to the role of change management. After identifying the organizational setting at Bosch, the ongoing digital transformation at the business unit Powertrain Solutions is analyzed by focusing on the future collaboration strategy between logistics and manufacturing as well as the organizational transformation along the Value Stream Integrated Processes and IT program. The complexity of the ongoing transformation is narrowed down to the changes in processes and IT-landscapes before elaborating the future interaction between the landscape documentation tools “scout.it” and “Lean IX”. The readiness of plants in preparation for the Bosch Manufacturing and Logistics Platform is determined by creating a dashboard using Microsoft Power BI.
Ahead of the analytical work, the paper considers theoretical insights about the current state of research in terms of the digital development and change management to ensure successful planning, implementation and preservation of future organizational changes at Bosch.
The primary purpose of this thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of how factors influence sport sponsorship, especially in football. In order to fulfill this purpose the thesis identifies, describes and tries to explain sponsorship in general as a non-classical communication instrument, the selection of sponsorship objects, companies´ objectives of sport sponsorship activities. In addition, the thesis considers companies´ planning process of sport sponsorship and finally, an identification of several factors, which may have an impact on sport sponsorship. Two examples of application of a company in the telecommunication industry and of a company in the automobile industry are pointed out, where the aspects of sponsorship of the German Fußball Bundesliga respectively the German national team, are studied. The paper makes use of studies which shows how respondents remembered sponsorship activities. It is possible to conclude from the thesis that many factors will have an effect on sport sponsorship. The paper demonstrates that image, memorizing, duration and the fit between sponsor and event or sponsor and sponsee are relevant criteria. Finally, the thesis summarizes the results and outlines of the possible future of football sponsorship.
Analyse der Berufsgruppe Architekten zur Ermittlung einer zielgruppengerechten Kommunikation für einen Baustoffhersteller
Analysis of the occupational group of architects to determine a communication appropriate to the target audience for a building materials manufacturer
This thesis deals with the specialties of addressing the occupational group of architects in Germany. It examines their role and approach in the process of buying building material with the aim of finding out a suitable way for a building materials manufacturer to communicate with the target audience. For this purpose a secondary analysis of architects is carried out and replenished with a primary data acquisition.
After analyzing the work, role and way of obtaining information of the architect the theory of corporate communication is explained. This chapter shows the requirements and possibilities and examines the features of communication for a business-to-business company. Following the primary data acquisition in the form of expert interviews is carried out. In conclusion the outcome of the secondary and primary research is merged, which allows the derivation of a recommended course of action.
The results show that architects have a powerful role in the buying center and therefore a tremendous influence on the buying process of building materials. However it emerges to be difficult to address the target audience, since they communicate in a passive way. Furthermore the study identifies that architects are artists and builders in one person. This is why it is important to them that their projects do not only look good but are also functional. Another result is that architects often do not feel respected as experts, although they have a wide specialized knowledge. Moreover the research shows that the target audience has to face new challenges with every project, which is why they are always searching for new inspiration and ideas. Finally it emerges that architects feel a special enthusiasm for their occupation and work as well as architecture in general.
From the insights gained it could be derived that the appropriate way to communicate with architects is in two phases. On the first stage the attention of the target audience needs to be won in the right moment, which is why the manufacturer has to show a steady presence. In the second phase the company has to provide all information needed to the architect. In conclusion of this thesis it is highly recommended for building materials manufacturers to address architects in an appropriate way because in the long run it will improve the market position of the company.
Analyse der Einflussfaktoren auf die Zulassungen von privaten Personenkraftwagen in Deutschland
(2020)
Emissionen sind zu einem kontroversen Thema im Straßenverkehr avanciert, wodurch die Zulassungen von privaten Personenkraftwagen beeinflusst werden. Neben Emissionen beeinflussen weitere Faktoren die Zulassungen, wie Urbanisierung und Car-Sharing- Angebote. Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit untersucht, wie sich aktuelle Einflussfaktoren auf die Zulassungen privater Personenkraftwagen in Deutschland auswirken. Des Weiteren wird untersucht, welche Auswirkungen Restriktionen infolge von Emissionszielen auf herkömmliche Personenkraftwagen mit Verbrennungsmotoren haben. Restriktionen in Kombination mit industriellen Innovationen, gaben den Anstoß für die Einführung von Elektromotoren. Ziel ist es, den Stellenwert des Personenkraftwagens in Deutschland zu bewerten und Einflussfaktoren auf die Zulassungen nach Motorart zu analysieren. Aktuelle verkehrsbezogene Trends wurden recherchiert und mit Hilfe von aktuellen quantitativen sowie qualitativen Studien evaluiert. Die Ergebnisse geben Auskunft darüber, welche Faktoren die Zulassungen insgesamt und von Elektroautos beeinflussen und welche dieser Faktoren eine Auswirkung die nachhaltige Entwicklung des Personenverkehrs haben.
Public- Private Partnership sind aus der Welt der Zusammenarbeit zwischen der öffentlichen Hand und den privaten Partnern nicht mehr wegzudenken. Diese Art der Zusammenarbeit ist durch ihre verschiedenen Auslegungen sehr weit gegliedert. Die Arbeit gibt einen Überblick über PPP und ihre Risiken und Chancen und legt allgemeine Ziele für gelungene Projekt fest. Für die Überprüfung dieser Ziele wird das Projekt der „Konstruktion der Linie 2 und Zweiglinie Av- Faucett – Gambeta des Basisnetzwerks der Metro Linien in Lima und Callao“(vom spanischen: „Construcción de la Línea 2 y Ramal Av. Faucett – Gambeta de la Red Básica del Metro de Lima y Callao”) verwendet. Das Projekt wird mit den verwendeten Projektmanagementfaktoren aus dem theoretischen Teil (z. Bsp.: Risiken und Chancen, Ziele, Kriterien) vorgestellt. Abschließend erfolgt eine Analyse des theoretischen und praktischen Teils, um eine Aussage darüber zu treffen, ob PPP eine gute Finanzierungs- und Durchführungsmethode für die öffentliche Aufgabe darstellen. Diese Analyse wird durch die Anwendung des magischen Dreiecks des Projektmanagements (Leistung, Termin und Kosten) vertieft. Die Durchführung als PPP wird verglichen mit der theoretischen Durchführung als rein öffentliches Projekt. Um eine abschließende genaue Aussage treffen zu können, muss das Projekt über die Bau- und Betriebsphase weiterhin in regelmäßigen Abständen evaluiert werden. Zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt ist anzunehmen, dass ein öffentliches Projekt kostengünstiger, aber nicht leistungs- und termingerecht erfüllt werden kann.
Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit stellt das Kulturveränderungsprogramm High-Performance Culture (HPC) bei der Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG (RRPS AG) dar. Etwas mehr als zwei Jahre nach dessen Einführung wird der bisherige Verlauf von HPC analysiert. Durch die Auswertung von Sekundärdaten werden zunächst die Akzeptanz der Mitarbeiter in Bezug auf die HPC-Workshops erfasst und bereichsspezifische Unterschiede ermittelt. Die Sekundärdaten sowie die Primärdaten in Form von durchgeführten Mitarbeiterinterviews, welche anhand der Grounded Theory Methodik ausgewertet werden, bilden die Grundlage für die Bestimmung der Erfolgs- und Widerstandsfaktoren des Programms. Diese werden im Anschluss mit den bestehenden Faktoren aus der Literatur verglichen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Workshops bei den Führungskräften und Mitarbeitern überwiegend auf Akzeptanz stoßen. Es konnten sowohl unternehmensspezifische Erfolgs- und Widerstandsfaktoren, als auch Faktoren, die bereits in der Literatur existieren, nachgewiesen werden. Da manche Erfolgsfaktoren bei der Umsetzung von HPC unberücksichtigt geblieben sind und Widerstandsfaktoren auftreten, gestaltet sich der Transfer von HPC in den Arbeitsalltag als schwierig. Infolgedessen werden Handlungsempfehlungen für die Förderung von HPC aufgeführt.
Mit dem Ziel die Entwicklung der Kundenzufriedenheit bei der Gebrüder Martin GmbH & Co. KG seit der Befragung im Jahr 2013 aufzuzeigen und zu analysieren, wurde diese Bachelor - Thesis erstellt.
Diese Bachelorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Durchführung, Analyse und Auswertung einer Kundenbefragung, sowie der Entwicklung von Verbesserungsmaßnahmen und Lösungsansätzen.
Im ersten Teil dieser Thesis werden die theoretischen Grundlagen der Kundenzufriedenheit beschrieben.
Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wird die Kundenbefragung durchgeführt, analysiert und ausgewertet, bevor aufbauend auf den gewonnenen Erkenntnissen Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Kundenzufriedenheit entwickelt werden.
Weintouristen haben in deutschen Weinregionen einen besonders großen Einfluss auf die regionale Wirtschaft und sind daher von besonders hoher Bedeutung für diese Regionen. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es die aktuelle Marketingstrategie zur Ansprache der Weintouristen in der Weinregion Rheingau zu analysieren und diese mit den Marketingstrategien zweier konkurrierender nationaler Weinregionen Mosel und Rheinhessen zu vergleichen. Basierend auf diesen Ergebnissen wurden Handlungsempfehlungen für die zukünftige Marketingstrategie der Weinregion Rheingau abgeleitet. Hierfür wurden online zur Verfügung gestellte Informationen der Weinregionen und ihre Kommunikationskanäle analysiert und themenrelevante Studien untersucht. Die Weinregion Rheingau besitzt auch im Vergleich mit den beiden anderen Weinregionen eine robuste Marketingstrategie, die auf die selbst identifizierten Zielgruppen abgestimmt ist. Handlungsbedarf gibt es allerdings bei der Tiefe der Marketingstrategie besonders bezüglich der Zielgruppen und den gebotenen Aktivitäten,
die für diese von Interesse sein könnten. Ebenso wurde die Social Media Plattform LinkedIn als ungenutzte Ressource zur Kommunikation identifiziert.
Strom aus Photovoltaik-Anlagen spielt eine zentrale Rolle bei der Energiewende und auf dem Weg hin zur zukünftigen Energieversorgung Deutschlands aus erneuerbaren Energien. Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Photovoltaik-Branche und betrachtet sie dabei aus der Akteurs-Sicht von kleinen Solarbetrieben. Unter praktischer Anwendung von Analyse-Methoden aus dem strategischen Management wie einer Umweltanalyse und einer Branchenstrukturanalyse wird die aktuelle Situation hinsichtlich der gegebenen Umweltfaktoren und des Wettbewerbs charakterisiert und ausgewertet. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, den gegenwärtigen Zustand der Branche und des Wettbewerbs darzustellen, auf derzeitige Probleme und mögliche Lösungen hinzuweisen und zukünftige Möglichkeiten für kleine Solarbetriebe im Markt aufzuzeigen.
In einem ständig schneller werdenden Arbeitsumfeld, gewinnt heutzutage ein gutes Prozessmanagement immer mehr an Bedeutung um reibungslose, effiziente und schnelle Abläufe zu garantieren. Viele Unternehmen sind dazu angehalten, ihre Supply Chain und die dazugehörigen Prozesse zu optimieren um in den stark konkurrierenden Märkten eine gute Wettbewerbsposition zu besetzen (Becker, 2018).
Die Bacherlorthesis wurde bei der CeramTec GmbH, einem führenden Unternehmen in der Hochleistungskeramik, durchgeführt. Das Unternehmen konnte 2018 einen Umsatz von 600 Mio. Euro vorweisen und ist momentan stark interessiert daran, seine Prozesse an den unterschiedlichen Standorten zu standardisieren.
Im Zuge dessen wurde im Rahmen dieser Arbeit der Wareneingangs- und Versandprozess an vier Standorten zunächst analysiert und sowohl textuell, als auch graphisch in einem funktionsübergreifenden Flussdiagramm transparent dargestellt. Hierbei wurde bereits die unterschiedliche Handhabung sowie die nicht einheitliche Verantwortungsverteilung deutlich.
Nachfolgend wurden eine Schwachstellenanalyse und eine Gegenüberstellung der verschiedenen Standorte vollzogen. Dies dient der Übersicht und bietet die Grundlage für die Ableitung der Verbesserungspotenziale und der Erarbeitung von Handlungsempfehlungen.
Neben dem Prozesslebenszyklus bildet der PDCA-Zyklus, das Toyota Produktionssystem und das dazugehörige 3M – Modell die Basis der Prozessanalyse sowie der Prozessoptimierung.
Angesichts der Modellierung und der Gegenüberstellung konnten Ergebnisse generiert werden, die seitens des Unternehmens als Grundlage genutzt werden können, Maßnahmen in Richtung Standardisierung und Optimierung einzuleiten.
Die Automobilindustrie ist im Wandel. Die vorliegende Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die umweltpolitischen, gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftspolitischen Einflussfaktoren, die den Umstieg von Fahrzeugen mit Verbrennungsmotor auf Fahrzeuge mit nachhaltigeren, alternativen Antriebskonzepten mobilisieren. Die Elektrifizierung des Antriebsstrangs hat finanzielle Auswirkungen auf die Halter von batterieelektrischen Fahrzeugen, die in dieser Arbeit betrachtet werden.
Das Ziel der Bachelorthesis ist es, die Veränderung in der Cost of Ownership von Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV-Fahrzeugen) zu analysieren und deren Auswirkungen zur Sicherstellung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Porsche Fahrzeugen zu identifizieren. Dazu werden die Cost of Ownership-Berechnungen des Porsche Taycan mit seinen direkten Wettbewerbern aus dem Premiumsegment aufgestellt und miteinander verglichen. Anhand weiterer Cost of Ownership-Bewertungen von Fahrzeugen mit batterieelektrischem Antrieb, hybridem Antrieb und konventionellem Verbrennungsmotor aus dem Kleinwagen- und Geländewagensegment, sind die beeinflussbaren Kostentreiber der Cost of Ownership-Komponenten Versicherungskosten und Instandhaltungskosten bei BEV-Fahrzeugen identifiziert worden.
Die Resultate der Cost of Ownership-Vergleiche sind für den technischen Aftersales der Porsche AG im Rahmen der Produktbeeinflussung von großer Bedeutung. Die Versicherungskosten, Wartungskosten und Verschleißreparaturkosten können optimal beeinflusst werden, um in den Unterhaltskosten die Sicherstellung von Porsche Fahrzeugen im Wettbewerbsumfeld zu gewährleisten.
Das Unternehmen XYZ befindet sich in einer entscheidenden Phase in der Umsetzung der Digitalisierungsstrategie. Im Rahmen dieser Strategie wird die neue Unternehmenshomepage mit dem neuen Onlineshop gekoppelt. Die Plattform fungiert zum einen als zeitgemäßer Onlineauftritt und zum anderen soll dadurch ein neues Rollenverständnis für das Unternehmen geschaffen werden. Herzstück der Plattform ist die mit dem Onlineshop verbundene Onsite Suchfunktion.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist Teile der Strategie zu analysieren und teilweise kritisch zu würdigen. Um die Suchfunktion für den neuen Onlineshop neben grundlegenden sprachlichen Features zu erweitern, wurde eine Umfrage mit ausgewählten Mitarbeitern durchgeführt.
Die Ausgangssituation dieser Arbeit ist das Unternehmen zu präsentieren. Darauf aufbauend wird die Schnelllebigkeit der Digitalisierung erläutert, sowie die Reaktion des Unternehmens darauf. Kern der Arbeit ist die Analyse von User Experience (UX)- und User Interface (UI)-Komponenten des Shops sowie die Suchfunktion im Allgemeinen, als auch im Kontext von XYZ zu beschreiben.
Darauf erfolgt die Erklärung der Methodik der qualitativen Datenerhebung, welche für die Umfrage eingesetzt wurde. Anschließend werden Ablauf, sowie die dazugehörigen Ergebnisse dargelegt. Das letzte Kapitel liefert einen wertenden Ausblick auf Teile der Ergebnisse und fasst die gesamte Arbeit nochmals reflektierend zusammen. Abschluss der Arbeit bildet eine Diskussion, sowie ein persönliches Fazit.
Es gibt zahlreiche Beweggründe, um sich eine Fremdsprache anzueignen. Eine Herausforderung, vor der viele Sprachlernende dabei stehen, ist oftmals, dass die anfängliche Motivation im Laufe der Zeit verloren geht und dadurch der Antrieb zum Weiterlernen fehlt. Es stellt sich also die Frage, wie die Motivation aufrechterhalten werden kann. Ein Lösungsansatz in diesem Zusammenhang ist der Einsatz von Musik und Liedtexten als Lernmedium. Im Rahmen dieser Bachelorarbeit wird diese Idee aufgegriffen und das Erfolgspotenzial einer digitalen Umsetzung als mobile Sprachlernapplikation bewertet, um dem Risiko eines Misserfolges am Markt entgegenzuwirken. Für diesen Zweck wurde der Prototyp „Singuage“ entwickelt, der die Ausgangslage darstellt. Der Untersuchungsfokus dieser Arbeit liegt auf zwei Grundvoraussetzungen des Markterfolges: Auf der einen Seite wird die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit untersucht. Hierbei werden die Stärken und Schwächen sowie das Preis-Leistungs-Angebot von Konkurrenten analysiert, um Alleinstellungsmerkmale und mögliche Wettbewerbsvorteile zu identifizieren. Auf der anderen Seite werden im Zuge einer Zielgruppensegmentierung, zunächst relevante Zielgruppen bestimmt, deren Bedürfnisse mit dem Nutzen von Singuage am weitesten übereinstimmen. Ob Singuage tatsächlich den Bedürfnissen dieser Zielgruppen ent-spricht und die erforderlichen Vorteile bietet, wird anschließend im Zuge einer empirischen Akzeptanzanalyse überprüft.
Jährlich sterben etwa 3.000 Menschen bei Verkehrsunfällen in Deutschland. Trotz technischen Fortschrittes der Fahrzeuge und steigender Sicherheit im Straßenverkehr nimmt die Anzahl an Verkehrstoten nur minimal ab. Im Vergleich zu 1950 hat die Zahl an zugelassenen PKW in Deutschland deutlich zugenommen. Um die Anzahl der Todesfälle zu verringern, wurde durch die Europäische Union das 112-eCall Notrufsystem für alle PKW und leichten Nutzfahrzeugen mit einer vollen Typenzulassung ab dem 31.03.2018 verpflichtend eingeführt. Öffentliche Notrufleitstellen sowie der ADAC klagen über häufige Probleme mit dem eCall System. Fahrzeughersteller und andere Firmen dürfen auch ein eigenes eCall Angebot anbieten, wenn gewisse Bedingungen erfüllt sind. Bei Verkehrsunfällen ist eine schnelle Rettung und Transport in ein geeignetes Traumazentrum maßgeblich dafür verantwortlich, welche Überlebenschancen die verletzte Person hat. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die verschiedenen eCall Arten anhand von Leitstellendaten zu untersuchen und zu ermitteln, wie viele dieser Einsätze in den Leitstellen eingegangen sind. Es sollen außerdem die Qualität und die Unterschiede der beiden Systeme in einer örtlichen Analyse ermittelt werden.
Analyse des Fintech-Sektors - Reaktionen der Banken und Auswirkungen auf die Finanzstabilität
(2017)
This Bachelor Thesis provides an overview of the growing Fintech-sector and analyses banks’ reactions and impacts on the financial stability. The examined aspects include findings about differences between banks and Fintech-companies, main success factors, banks’ reaction to new market participants and consequences for the financial stability.
Fintech describes the combination of innovative technology and financial services. Fintech-companies provide alternative financial services for private and corporate clients, which accelerate and simplify the access to financial resources, the investment of assets or the execution of transactions.
Both Fintech-companies and banks show a high degree of willingness to cooperate, which enables to benefit from synergy effects. Fintech-companies are the innovative driver, whereas banks provide the necessary expertise and a big customer base. In 2016 banks’ venture capital subsidiaries invested $ 13.6 billion in cooperation projects with Fintech-companies.
From today’s perspective, there are no concrete risks, which could imply foreseeable dangers for the financial stability. However, there are risks which could destabilize the financial system in the long-term, if the growth of the Fintech-sector continues steadily. At the same time, innovation in financial technology could have stabilizing implications for the financial system, because of higher efficiency, decentralisation, diversification and transparency.
Innerhalb des Marktsegments der nachhaltigen Geldanlagen ergibt sich durch den fehlenden Schutz des Begriffs „nachhaltig“ eine gewisse Problematik. Von Vornherein ist somit oftmals nicht ersichtlich, ob die tatsächliche Nachhaltigkeitsperformance eines Unternehmens mit deren Angaben übereinstimmt. Für potenzielle Investoren, welche der Diversität dieses Marktes ausgesetzt sind, ist es daher elementar zwischen den verschiedenen Anbietern und deren Anlageprodukten differenzieren zu können.
Am Beispiel des deutschsprachigen sowie US-amerikanischen Marktes stellt sich in der vorliegenden Arbeit aus den genannten Gegebenheiten die Frage, inwieweit sich die Interessengruppen auf die Bezeichnung „nachhaltig“ verlassen können und wodurch sich eine glaubwürdige Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung seitens der Unternehmen auszeichnet. Des Weiteren zielt die Arbeit darauf ab, dem Interessenten Aufschluss darüber zu geben, ob nachhaltige Investitionen eine geeignete Alternative zu konventionellen Anlageformen darstellen oder ob sie lediglich im Universum der Nischenprodukte anzusiedeln sind.
In times of globalization the international market development poses one of the trend-setting challenges for many companies in the future. Companies are facing in an increasing intensity of competition in their market environment. This development is expedite by the growing technological exchangeability of products, so the differentiation on the technological dimension will be hampered significantly. All the more the necessity of the foreign sales come to the fore to counteract the degree of competition. The research question is: How can Kendrion IDS participate in the Northern European market to generate further growth?
The aim of this thesis is to detect the industry-specific market potentials for the target-oriented and strategic business development in Scandinavia.
In order to achieve the stated objective, the initial position of Kendrion IDS was investigated on the basis of a situation analysis. Within this analysis the internal strengths and weaknesses were examined. Afterwards the relevant markets and the industries were tested for opportunities in the market analysis and for external risks in the environmental analysis. The outcome of this is the developed SWOT-analysis, which states that depending on the country in Scandinavia there are potentials in different industries. The findings prove that different distribution channels lead to a different extent of success.
Allgeier ES has recently bought the company GES. This company focuses on software applications for the public sector. Therefore, the business model of GES differs from the business modell of Allgeier ES. Nevertheless, GES should be integrated into the reporting system of Allgeier under the name Business Unit Public Sector. In scope of this work the requirements for the reporting of the business unit public sector are identified. This thesis deals with the question how the theories of contribution margin accounting can be applied to improve the reporting of Allgeier ES, especially for the new Business Unit Public Sector. It also analyzes if a multi-level contribution margin accounting is necessary. The disadvantages of absorption costing are lined out together with the reason why contribution margin accounting might be the better choice to make short term business decisions. This thesis also describes how the calculation of the hourly cost rate affects the contribution margin for different reporting objects. The profit center and cost center structure also influences the contribution margin. Hence, in scope of this thesis, the effects of the profit and cost center structures on the contribution margin are lined out. This thesis also lines out how the multi-level contribution margin accounting can be applied on a profit center calculation. Additionally, there is a discussion if the company overhead should be allocated to the Business Unit. This Thesis considers the arguments against and for the allocation of company overhead.
In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird der Sales Support der Aesculap AG Tuttlingen, welcher im Juni 2017 als Servicecenter eingeführt wurde, sowie die Möglichkeit der Einführung eines First-Level-Supports analysiert. Da der Customer Service immer bedeutender wird und der Sales Support neu implementiert wurde stellt sich die Frage, welche Faktoren den optimalen Aufbau eines Servicecenters bestimmen. Hierfür werden zehn Schlüsselfaktoren definiert, um den Ist-Zustand des Sales Support zu bewerten. Durch qualitative und quantitative empirische Untersuchungen werden die Mitarbeiterzufriedenheit, die Kundenzufriedenheit sowie die Organisation der Abläufe und der Arbeitsaufwand untersucht. So können Rückschlüsse auf Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten gezogen werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich der Sales Support bisher gut etabliert hat und die optimale Strukturierung eines Servicecenters stets individuell an das Unternehmen angepasst ist. Des Weiteren wird deutlich, dass einige Maßnahmen notwendig sind, um zum einen die Bekanntheit des Sales Supports zu steigern und zum anderen effizientere Abläufe zu gewährleisten. Außerdem wird deutlich, dass kein Bedarf an der Einführung einer weiteren Level-Struktur besteht.
Finanzkrisen sind Störungen im gesunden Ablauf eines Finanzmarktes. Diese können negative Konsequenzen auf alle darin integrierten Akteure, wie auch auf die gesamte Wirtschaft haben. Die davon Betroffenen sind private Haushalte, Unternehmen und sogar Regierungen. Dies dürfte Grund genug sein, dieses Thema zu erarbeiten und, um eine potenzielle Krise zu verstehen, neue Lösungsansätze zu suchen. Da gerade Ökonomen vor der Gefahr der aktuellen Situation warnen, könnte eine derartige Krise in naher Zukunft entstehen. Die Bereiche welche instabil sein können, sind oft bekannt, trotzdem ist es schwierig zu wissen, wann und woher eine potentielle Krise entstehen könnte. Heutzutage sind Teile der Welt wie Europa, die Schwellenländer oder auch die U.S.A. vermehrt in diesem Fokus. Interessanterweise ist letztere der Entstehungsort der letzten großen Finanzkrise. Aufgrund dessen ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit die Situation dieses Marktes zu analysieren. Faktoren wie Konsequenzen für davon Betroffene, Veränderungen der Angebots- und Nachfragemenge von Anleihen und Aktien werden in Ansätzen analysiert. Desweiteren wird über Schulden, Zinssätze und auch Handelsentscheidungen zwischen den U.S.A. und China gesprochen. Hierzu wird vorab ein Finanzmarkt und dessen Ablauf definiert. Verschiedene Faktoren, die zu einer Finanzkrise führen könnten, werden dann erörtert und im Weiteren frühere Finanzkrisen in Bezug zum aktuellen U.S. Finanzmarkt betrachtet. Hierzu gehört eine genauere Analyse der Schuldenhöhe, des Angebots und der Nachfrage von Aktien und Anleihen, der Zinssätze, der BIP/Schulden Ratio und der Inflation.
Das Resultat der Analyse ergibt, dass die momentan finanzielle Situation der U.S.A. instabil ist und ein unvorhergesehenes Ereignis dort eine nächste Krise verursachen könnte. Zur Vermeidung letzterer wird nach eingehender Analyse ein besseres ethisches Verhalten aller Finanzakteure sowie eine strengere Kontrolle des Finanzmarktes vorgeschlagen. Nichtdestotrotz wird eine wahrscheinlich auftretende Krise von Drittländern ausgehen, die sich an einem kritischen Punkt vor der Insolvenz befinden.
Der Begriff Wissensmanagement bietet eine Fülle an unterschiedlichen Definitionen, Interpretationen, Auffassungen und Sichtweisen. Hierbei wird der Schwerpunkt oft auf ITgestützte Systeme gelegt und nicht auf den Menschen als Hauptwissensträger. Auch der Bedeutung der Wissensverteilung innerhalb des Unternehmens wird nicht ausreichend Beachtung geschenkt. Aus diesen Gründen legt die vorliegende Arbeit das Hauptaugenmerk auf die Wissensverteilung und den Mensch als Wissensträger im
Unternehmen. Im Rahmen der Ausarbeitung werden unterschiedliche Sichtweisen zum Thema Wissen und Wissensmanagement vorgestellt und anerkannte Modelle
beschrieben. Weiter liefert die Arbeit einen Überblick an Methoden und softwaretechnischen Unterstützung, die auf die Wissensverteilung abzielen. Fallbeispiele
zeigen, wie Wissensmanagement schon erfolgreich umgesetzt wurde aber auch wie die Umsetzung in Unternehmen scheiterte. Im Anschluss wird mit Hilfe von empirischen
Studien ein Vergleich zwischen den theoretischen Ansätzen und der Praxis gezogen.
Auf Grund der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse schließt die Arbeit mit einer Empfehlung für Unternehmen ab.
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit untersucht anhand einer E-Shop Analyse der Sick AG, Wachstums- und Umsatzpotentiale im E-Commerce Bereich zu optimieren. Durch den Einsatz von qualitativen Interviews wurden Erkenntnisse darüber gewonnen, welche Erfolgsfaktoren einen erfolgreichen E-Shop ausmachen und welche Optimierungsmöglichkeiten Einfluss auf das Wachstum- und Umsatzpotential haben. Die Arbeit untersucht, wie die Analyse eines E- Shops dienen kann, um eine Basis für einen Business Case zu Erstellen. Die Analyse des E- Shops umfasst eine Umfrage von Kunden, eine Wettbewerbsanalyse sowie eine SWOT- Analyse. Die Ergebnisse der E-Shop Analyse und der qualitativen Interviews werden genutzt, um die Forschungsfragen dieser Arbeit zu beantworten und eine Handlungsempfehlung für die Sick AG anzufertigen. Die Handlungsempfehlung basiert auf fundierten Erkenntnissen, die sich aus den Experteninterwies und der E-Shop Analyse ableiten lassen.
Abschließend kann festgehalten werden, dass die Analyse eines E-Shops und die darauf basierende Entwicklung einer Handlungsempfehlung für einen Business Case von großer Bedeutung sind, um das volle Potenzial des E-Shops auszuschöpfen. Durch die Optimierung der E-Commerce Strategie können Umsatzsteigerungen und Kundenzufriedenheit erreicht werden, was langfristig zu einem erfolgreichen und profitablen E-Shop führt.
Der demographische Wandel mit der immer älterwerdenden Gesellschaft, dem damit einhergehenden Anstieg an chronisch kranken Menschen und dem gleichzeitigen Mangel an Hausärzten kann dem Gesundheitswesen in Zukunft viele Schwierigkeiten bereiten. Die Einführung der Telemedizin in Deutschland soll diesen Problemen entgegenwirken.
Die Arbeit beschäftigt sich damit, aufzuzeigen, wie wichtig es ist in die Telemedizin zu investieren und welche Potenziale besonders in Hausarztpraxen genutzt werden könnten.
Um einen Einblick in die bisherige Integration der Telemedizin in Deutschland zu bekommen, wurde im Rahmen der vorliegenden Bachelorarbeit eine Befragung erstellt, die an Patienten von Hausarztpraxen gerichtet wurde. Daraufhin wurden Tiefeninterviews mit unterschiedlichen Akteuren des Gesundheitswesens geführt, um sowohl die Perspektive der Patienten als auch die Perspektive der Telemedizinanbieter, Hausärzte und Krankenkassen zu beleuchten. Nach der Analyse der Datenerhebung konnten darauf aufbauend Handlungsempfehlungen erarbeitet werden, um die Integration von telemedizinischen Anwendungen in Hausarztpraxen zu erleichtern und das Angebot an die Bedürfnisse der Patienten anzupassen.
Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Forschung belegen, dass die Mehrheit der Patienten offen für die Nutzung telemedizinischer Anwendungen ist, aber dennoch Handlungsbedarf auf Seiten der Hausärzte besteht aufgrund vieler unterschiedlicher Hürden, die noch bewältigt werden müssen, wie die geringe Akzeptanz gegenüber neuen telemedizinischen Möglichkeiten und die technischen Gegebenheiten in den Arztpraxen.
Beim Kauf eines Produktes achten Kunden heutzutage nicht mehr ausschließlich auf den Preis. Durch das Internet lassen sich alle Aspekte von Kaufpreis über Produktfeatures einfach und unkompliziert vergleichen. Vor allem in Krisenzeiten gewinnen Aspekte aus dem Servicebereich, wie Garantie, immer mehr an Bedeutung. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, für die KaVo Dental GmbH eine Strategie im Servicebereich mit Fokus auf die Garantiebestimmungen in der Business Unit Instrumente zu entwickeln, mit der die auftretenden Probleme minimiert werden können. Dazu wird der Dentalmarkt und der Wettbewerb analysiert und anhand eines definierten Produktportfolios die Probleme und Herausforderungen erarbeitet. Daraus resultieren zu kurze Garantiezeiten und hoher Druck der Konkurrenz. Mithilfe einer Unternehmen- und Complaintanalyse wird die interne Situation des Unternehmens betrachtet. In dieser Arbeit werden Ansätze erarbeitet, wie diesen Herausforderungen entgegengewirkt werden kann, Diese Ansätze werden mit einer Entscheidungsmatrix miteinander verglichen und bewertet. Aus dieser Bewertung lässt sich die Handlungsempfehlung für das Unternehmen ableiten. Mit der Umsetzung dieser definierten Empfehlung kann das Unternehmen und die Marke KaVo am Markt mit Innovation und „Service Excellence“ profitieren.
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.