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BUSINESS PROCESS AUTOMATION: ENHANCING EFFICIENCY AND COMPETITIVENESS IN MODERN ORGANIZATIONS
(2024)
The first section of the thesis provides a historical overview of automation, spanning from the first industrial revolution to the current era of highly advanced AI-driven technologies. It emphasizes how important Business Process Automation (BPA) is in today's hectic corporate climate when productivity and competitiveness are key factors. The main focus is on Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which is especially useful in situations with legacy systems since it effectively automates repetitive processes. This study explores the differences between terms and concepts related to automation, including business process automation (BPA), robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and business process management (BPM). Companies looking to optimize their processes face a changing landscape due to the involvement of various technologies. Using real-world case studies and industry best practices, the thesis provides a thorough examination of the effects of BPA, emphasizing the primary drivers, challenges, and benefits of BPA adoption. A mixed-methods approach integrating quantitative and qualitative research was used as the methodology. Surveys, case studies, and documentation from different organizations are included in the study, based on those who have implemented RPA at their work. This method enables a thorough analysis of BPA's effects on efficacy, productivity, and affordability. Case studies from prominent firms like Capgemini Consulting, PwC, and Deloitte are reviewed to gain insights regarding their BPA journey. Significant gains in customer satisfaction, cost savings, error avoidance, and operational efficiency are shown by this research. They also draw attention to difficulties like opposition from employees, problems with integration, and the requirement for upskilling. The thesis indicates that although big firms have similar motives for adopting BPA, the process of adopting BPA varies depending on the specific circumstances of each firm. Stakeholder engagement and change management are critical components of successful BPA programs, according to key results. The study highlights a balanced, strategic, and context-sensitive approach, offering a useful insight for companies in establishing their BPA strategy. It provides a comprehensive examination of the role that business process automation plays in modern companies, highlighting the ways in which it can radically alter corporate strategy and operations in the digital age. It gives a thorough examination of the challenges involved in putting BPA into practice and offers tactical advice to businesses hoping to use these tools to boost productivity and competitiveness.
Even though the idea of nearshoring is not new, it has attracted a lot of attention lately. This strategy entails moving corporate activities, such as IT services or manufacturing, to nearby countries in order to take advantage of a variety of competitive benefits. Nearshoring is a phenomenon that is intimately related to trade wars, regional trade agreements, and changing global economic dynamics. The objective of this research is to investigate the development of nearshoring, the forces that drive it, and the effects it has on various industries, economies, and geopolitical ties. The study is specifically focused on the automotive and semiconductor sectors. The study takes a broad approach, including case studies, economic strategies, and historical patterns. It examines the growth of nearshoring in different areas, such as the USA and Europe, and analyses its effects on global trade and economic stability. In accordance to the study, nearshoring has a number of advantages, including lower costs, less risk, and easier access to trained labour. But it also brings with it difficulties like disparities in culture and regulations as well as worries about data security. Nearshoring trends have had a substantial impact on the automotive and semiconductor sectors, leading to notable changes in supply chain strategy and production processes. In response to the requirement for operational flexibility and the pressures in the global economy, nearshoring has become a popular option for these two industries. The approach emphasizes the necessity for flexible and resilient company strategies in a constantly shifting economic environment and helps to reshape the dynamics of global commerce.
This master thesis explores the divergent consumer preferences within e-commerce sales funnels in China and Germany, two of the world's leading e-commerce markets. This comparative study explores the complexities of website design preferences, the influence of cultural elements on consumer decision-making, and the drivers of consumer loyalty and repeat purchases, with China's rapid adoption of digital technology and innovative marketing strategies set against Germany's mature market and consumer trust.
A mixed-methods approach is used in the research, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. Insights into consumer behaviors and preferences influenced by cultural, economic, and technical aspects are provided by a thorough analysis of scholarly literature, case studies, and consumer surveys from both nations. The report highlights the distinctive features of each market by examining important elements such as digital innovation, sustainability, social integration, data protection, and mobile commerce in e-commerce practices.
Remarkably, the thesis seeks to provide practical insights to German e-commerce practitioners. German businesses can learn more about properly aligning their marketing and operational goals with consumer expectations by studying the successful techniques employed in China. This research contributes to academic understanding while also having implications for marketers and e-commerce platforms looking to improve user engagement, conversion rates, and the overall online shopping experience in the dynamic global e-commerce world.
Industry 5.0 is a new age of production that combines human-machine cooperation with cutting-edge technologies. Despite all of Industry 5.0's advantages, there are new cybersecurity threats that need to be considered in order to maintain the stability and security of networked systems. In the first section of the thesis, Industry 5.0 is introduced, along with its benefits and features. Cyber threats posed by automation, robotics, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and networked systems are also noted.
The thesis delves deeply into the vulnerabilities and possible attack paths that hackers can use in Industry 5.0 settings. It looks at vulnerabilities in IoT devices, human mistakes, unprotected communication protocols, and supply chain vulnerabilities, giving a thorough grasp of the hazards involved. Case examples from the real world illustrate how cyberattacks affect Industry 5.0 systems, highlighting the necessity of strong defenses.
In order to develop recommendations for Industry 5.0 security, the thesis examines a number of cybersecurity best practices and standards, including the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and ISO 27001. It highlights how crucial it is to carry out thorough risk assessments and apply efficient risk management strategies in Industry 5.0 settings. The thesis recommends staff awareness and training, incident response strategies, and technology controls as ways to lessen cyber dangers.
The thesis also looks at innovative ways to improve Industry 5.0 cybersecurity, including secure communication protocols, blockchain for supply chain security, artificial intelligence (AI) for attack detection and response, and safe IoT device design. It also takes into account the legal and regulatory sides of cybersecurity, evaluating how well they work to handle privacy and ethical issues as well as lessen cyber threats.
To improve Industry 5.0 cybersecurity, the thesis also looks at cutting-edge technologies including blockchain for supply chain security, AI for threat detection and response, secure communication protocols, and safe IoT device design. It evaluates the efficacy of legal and regulatory measures in mitigating cyber dangers and resolving privacy and ethical issues while taking cybersecurity into account.
The thesis highlights the need of industry cooperation and information exchange in addressing Industry 5.0 cyber threats. It assesses initiatives, partnerships, and networks that support the sharing of best practices, information, and threat intelligence. In the conclusion, the thesis explores Industry 5.0's future orientations and offers academics, policymakers, and business experts’ advice on how to proactively mitigate new risks and guarantee the security of Industry 5.0 ecosystems.
Overall, the thesis contributes to a better knowledge of Industry 5.0 cyber dangers and provides practical solutions through the use of multidisciplinary research, real-world case studies, and examples. Its purpose is to encourage the secure and successful use of Industry 5.0 technology.
This thesis begins a theoretical investigation into leadership and organizational power by briefly examining the relevant academic literature. It then examines Robert House’s Path-Goal Theory, Bertram French, and John Raven’s Bases of Power frameworks. This study investigates the correlation between directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors and reward, coercive, legitimate, expert, and referent power within organizational set-tings by combining theoretical knowledge with empirical data gathered through questionnaires conducted with leaders and employees in the hotel sector. It also investigates how they impact the achievement of hotel goals.
Contributing to existing knowledge on leadership and power dynamics in the hotel industry, this research rigorously analyzes the compatibility and effectiveness of leadership behaviors with various power sources. The empirical backbone of this study comprises questionnaires conduct-ed across sixteen Southeast Asian hotels, yielding insights grounded in real-world organization-al settings. Based on 167 responses, this comprehensive investigation offers valuable implica-tions for practitioners and scholars, elucidating the intricate relationship between leadership be-havior and power sources. It underscores the strategic importance of aligning behavior with power sources to enhance leadership effectiveness and foster organizational success.
The financial markets are currently facing uncertain circumstances, which is increasing their tail risk. A recent study was conducted to measure the tail connectedness between North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The study looked at 18 stock market indices using a neural network quantile regression approach from January 4, 2012, to May 5, 2022. The study found that the North American, European, and Latin American stock markets had the highest exposure to tail risk, while Asia and Oceania showed no significant risk compared to the rest of the world indices and were independent. The study also identified the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic as intense events that yielded high tail risk. The Systematic Fragility Index ranked the pre-COVID period stock market and the Nasdaq during the COVID sample as the most susceptible markets. On the other hand, the Systematic Hazard Index identified the S&P as the chief risk contributor in the system.
The covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted economies all over the world, posing as a difficulty for companies all across the globe. The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India were one of the most affected. These Enterprises make a substantial contribution to India's economic output.
Despite their significance, these enterprises had faced immense challenges during the pandemic, such as disrupted supply chains, financial needs, loss of customer interest, and administrative problems as well.
This paper, has the intention of studying the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic on the MSMEs of India and is focusing on the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexities, and Ambiguity (VUCA) challenged encountered by them, the strategies that these businesses put into place to keep the organizations afloat, is also studied.
This paper includes a study spanning various fields, exploring the adaptive mechanisms, and strategies incorporated by MSMEs to manage and navigate through the turbulent business environment, sustaining operations and managing risks.
Furthermore, the thesis throws some light on the role of digital transformation in MSME resilience during the crisis, noting its effectiveness and potential barriers. The study aims to give insights and suggestions to better prepare MSMEs versatility against future disruptions, while also looking at government aid or help during the pandemic.
At last, this thesis adds to the understanding of challenges faced by MSMEs during the Covid-19 pandemic, while trying to offer valuable insights for the future.
Sustainability is a megatrend and has been a topic of great interest for decades. Even though, industrialization came forth with genius and profitable businesses it almost never took into consideration the value of natural capital and sustainability. According to a 2017 report by the UN, there are more than 51 trillion microplastic particles in the sea, more than 500 times the number of stars in the Milky Way. With the depletion of natural resources, increasing consumer education and the need for a better future the world has been prompted to take solid steps to control the menace that could be climate change and unsustainability. This paper makes an effort to understand the effect that sustainable marketing practices have on the profitability of an organization. The case studies of the three famous athleisure brands provides an insight into how sustainability can help companies drive towards a profitable and a circular future.
This thesis embarks on a comprehensive exploration of the Bosch Car Service (BCS) and Bosch Automotive Workshop Services (BAWS) concepts within the global automotive service industry, underpinned by the esteemed Bosch brand. Through a meticulous comparative analysis, enriched by insights from expert interviews, this study unveils the operational frameworks, strategic orientations, and value propositions that distinguish BCS and BAWS, highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities each model presents. The research identifies key market segments addressed by BCS and BAWS, emphasizing BCS's focus on connectivity and efficiency versus BAWS's standardized franchise operations. It further delves into the complexities of managing a centralized system like BAWS, the challenge of leveraging Bosch's extensive portfolio, and the role of digital tools in enhancing operational efficiency and customer engagement. This thesis proposes a strategic blueprint for innovation, brand management, and customer-centric services, aiming to guide BCS and BAWS towards sustained growth and competitiveness in the evolving automotive service sector. Through integrating theoretical analysis with practical insights, the study makes a significant contribution to the academic and practical understanding of automotive service franchise models, shaping future strategies for Bosch's continued success and leadership in the industry.
This research examines the impact of social media on consumer behavior, focusing on how consumer behavior and habits change after the use of social media by German and Chinese young consumers. A comparison of the differences between the two groups is also conducted. The study was conducted based on theoretical background and terminology, followed by six hypotheses. Then this research determined the scope, target population, and sample size before using focus groups and online questionnaires as survey methods. While analyzing the questionnaire data, the research tested the hypotheses and demonstrated the effects between the variables. The results indicated partial agreement with existing studies. Browsing time positively correlates with the purchase journey. The duration of online discounts negatively correlates with transaction speed. Young consumers' demand increases with the amount of time they spend browsing product advertisements. However, some findings ran counter to previous investigations. The impact of SMM on young consumers has no adverse effect on the time spent browsing products. Moreover, only in some cases, young consumers' purchase intentions are positively correlated with demand.
Keywords: Young consumers, Social media marketing, Consumer behavior, Purchase journey, Purchase intention, Online time-limited discounts, Demand
The aim of this research is to investigate the unique factors that affect the
adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in Greek
companies, with a specific focus on how they align with the overall business
strategy and performance. To achieve this objective, a "bottom-up" approach
is utilized, which involves conducting case studies to assess the status of
GSCM implementation in Greece. Additionally, the research seeks to identify
the key barriers that must be overcome for successful integration of GSCM in
Greek businesses.
A primary purpose of the study is to advance the field of Green Supply Chain
Management (GSCM) research by providing new and valuable insights on
the implementation of GSCM in a context that has received relatively minor
or even no attention in previous studies. The findings of this study have
practical implications for businesses operating in Greece and beyond, as
they offer recommendations, solutions and strategies for companies seeking
to implement GSCM practices. Eventually, this research aims to contribute to
the overall development and understanding of GSCM, as well as to promote
sustainable business practices in the region.
Keywords: Green supply chain management, Greece, business strategy,
implementation, barriers, case studies, bottom-up approach
In today's fast-paced business environment, customers expect more than just high-quality products or services. They also demand excellent customer support that is both efficient and personalized. With the growth of businesses and the increasing complexity of products and services, providing efficient customer support has become a critical component of any successful business strategy to fulfill customers and user’s expectations. The present study investigates the need for a technical support helpdesk solution within the business unit Industrial Hydraulics of Bosch Rexroth, a global leader in drive and control technology. The primary objective of this thesis is to assess the current state of the support processes, identify areas of weakness, and leverage these insights to optimize and enhance them. The focus will be on finding a way to enhance transparency of customer data.
Based on the theory to process optimization, a current state analysis was conducted, and expert interviews were carried out to identify weaknesses and potential solutions for improving customer support. The research question "How can the Industrial Hydraulics Services of Bosch Rexroth deliver more effective and efficient customer support?" is addressed through the findings that a central platform is necessary to handle customer inquiries more efficiently, given the diverse communication channels and varying modes of operation within the business unit. The use of the existing SAP CRM ticketing system Robin is suggested as an efficient solution path, which should be optimized for future use based on the identified optimization approaches. The results underscore the importance of a unified approach to working, which is vital for the success of the business unit, resulting in increased efficiency, quality, collaboration, scalability, and customer orientation.
This thesis examines causes and effects of El Salvador’s transition to official dollarization conducted in 2001. The document analyzes preliminary and final impacts in the real, financial, fiscal, and external sectors of the country, and it also provides an economic and social perspective on how these effects have caused little effect on Salvadoran society. Several authors remark official dollarization might have positive effects on countries with macroeconomic disorders such as high inflation rates and drastic exchange rate variations. After more than 20 years of adoption of the U.S. dollar, official dollarization does not appear to have affected positively life of Salvadoran citizens but rather has prevented governments from using monetary policy to apply irresponsible economic policies and has also helped to prevent high inflation rates. To take advantage of the benefits official dollarization can offer, it is highly recommendable for El Salvador to implement transformative social and economic investments and policies that boost human development and economic competitiveness.
In the contemporary business landscape characterized by global economic uncertainty and rapid technological advancements, companies face increasing complexity in meeting their innovation targets. To address this challenge, established firms are engaging in collaborative partnerships with external entities, particularly startups, to leverage their knowledge and capabilities to gain a competitive advantage. Despite the growing popularity of corporate-startup collaboration (CSC), there remains a noticeable gap in the literature regarding the analysis of the dynamics and key success factors that are relevant to enhancing the collaborative process between these asymmetric entities. This study aims to fill this research space by investigating the dynamics, motives, objectives, and challenges of CSC, with a specific focus on identifying the success factors crucial for achieving favorable outcomes. Drawing upon insights from eight expert managers using a mixed-method approach, the study highlights the significance of addressing internal barriers and prioritizing key success factors to ensure successful outcomes in CSC. The research methodology involves a literature review, a pre-stage questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews to gather comprehensive data. The researchers have synthesized the findings to enhance an existing Co-Canvas model in a way that it is specifically tailored for CSC, thereby offering managers a practical framework to effectively navigate the complexities of CSC. The findings of this research hold implications for scholars, corporate leaders, and entrepreneurs, enabling them to evaluate past collaboration initiatives, identify potential sources of errors, and devise strategies to enhance their collaboration performance. By shedding light on the dynamics and success factors of CSC, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge and offers valuable insights for strategically enhancing collaboration performance. However, the study refrains from making broad generalizations of the model due to the small sample size of experts.
After-sales services play a crucial role in companies’ profit. Their importance is expected to increase given the intensifying leveling of product competition and a shift toward a buyer’s market. Ticketing systems are increasingly integrated into these services because of their ability to bundle multiple support channels, enhance the support’s knowledge base, and cut costs.
This thesis aims to create a comparative overview of ticketing systems, which evaluates eight selected market alternatives and one tentative in-house solution according to their compliance with the requirements of the focus company. This comparison is made by exploring the literature concerning build-or-buy, software evaluation and selection, and analyzing several guided interviews.
The results seek to aid the company in deciding on a ticketing system that meets its requirements, as well as to act as a blueprint for other SMEs. The findings include two recommended alternatives in conjunction with further strategic and decision-making considerations. The study ends with an outlook for academia and businesses.
As a leading medical technology company, KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG continuously wants to bring innovations and applications into the market and expand its existing product portfolio. As strategic initiatives, the company has set priorities and goals to ensure its sustained success. One of those strategic initiatives is to start developing new products in the field of robotic surgery and compete in this segment. To achieve these ambitions, the company decided to spin off its robotic solutions department and establish a new business called KARL STORZ VentureONE Pte. Ltd. With a smaller and more agile structure, the new venture seeks to implement new ways of working and promote innovation.
This new-born company is playing in a fast-growing market that one single competitor has traditionally dominated. However, robotic surgery still has much potential, and existing suppliers have not yet reached different market segments. One segment that has called the attention of the spin-off is the ambulatory surgery centers in the US.
These surgical institutions are growing and gaining relevance in the American surgery landscape. Hence, the company is particularly interested in developing a robotic solution for this segment. Before introducing a product, the company must understand the target customer intended to address. Management at the new venture is also convinced that new business models can be successfully implemented in this segment. Thus, this academic work aims to evaluate the ambulatory surgery center market in the US and propose a suitable business model for this target customer.
For this purpose, this thesis was divided into two main parts. The first aimed to conduct market research on the ambulatory surgery centers in the US by collecting secondary data from articles, reports, and governmental publications. The second part focused on proposing a business model for the ambulatory surgery center segment. To do so, primary data was obtained by interviewing experts in this market.
The research found that the ambulatory surgery centers segment is a growing market where robotic surgery has not yet been fully implemented due to its high cost and reduced reimbursement rates for outpatient procedures. Another barrier to robotic surgery in surgery centers is the high upfront investment needed to buy the technology. Based on these insights, different business models, such as leasing, renting, pay-per-use, and subscription, were assessed. A subscription model was selected and further developed by presenting the most advantages. Using the “Business Model Navigator” methodology, this work defined and documented the target customer, the value proposition, the value chain, and the profit mechanism.
Abstract
In today's business world, it is evident how, thanks to digital transformation, new business models have emerged, especially in the retail industry. Changes in customer preferences have been one of the main reasons why the vast majority of companies within the retail industry have accelerated their digital transformation processes. Evidence has also been found that this change in consumer thinking is related to one of the side effects left by the Covid-19 pandemic, where digital channels gained more strength due to the limitations of physical contact between product providers and their customers. Therefore, changes in consumer thinking and the use of new digital platforms have brought new challenges for companies transforming their businesses from offline to online. The biggest challenges for those companies are not only related to implementing new business models such as online sales or so-called E-commerce platforms but also attributed to the creation of unique and invaluable experiences for the customer, allowing the companies to retain their consumers and create loyalty.
Creating an outstanding customer experience is not an easy task on these platforms since the reach of digital channels is almost infinite, which makes the new entrepreneurs in this industry rethink over and over again the best strategy to approach their customers so that they feel delighted in their customer journey. The present work seeks to provide a solution to the challenge evidenced in the E-commerce platforms, where the main objective is to recognize, through the customer journey, all the critical touchpoints and elements to add value to the shopping experience and to raise levels of customer satisfaction. With the help of tools that measure the levels of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, such as the Kano model, and through a recommendation system, the current paper provides com- panies that trade their products online with a detail of what services should be improved in the shopping experience to be highly attractive. In addition, a guide is provided where its application in each company will show in a quantitative way what the customer satis- faction levels are like. This work, through exhaustive research in academia, concludes that the factors that most stimulate customer satisfaction are those related to e-services quality and highlights the importance of “Personalized information”, “Online sales agent”, and “Website reviews and rating” services to add value to customers in one of the most competitive markets, such as E-commerce.
This study investigates the interrelationship between Knowledge Management (KM) and employee satisfaction and proposes strategic implementation steps for the further development and acceptance improvement of a new Operational Framework (Blueprint) at Robert Bosch GmbH, Power Electronics. Two primary research questions are addressed: (1) whether KM offers insights into and explanations for employee satisfaction issues, and (2) what strategic implementation steps can be derived for the development and acceptance of the Blueprint. The research commenced with an analysis of existing employee satisfaction surveys, supplemented by in-depth interviews, to understand the current state of employee satisfaction in the business unit undergoing transformation. The literature review was then conducted to ascertain the connection between KM and employee satisfaction. Subsequently, the study engaged in multiple interviews with top management in the Power Electronics business unit to identify implementation measures and best practices across various industries. A comprehensive set of practices was established and subsequently evaluated in a workshop involving line employees from the business unit, integrating theoretical findings with practical experiences. The final recommendations were grouped into three categories: Meeting Structure, Culture and Leadership, and Knowledge Management Guidance. The findings underscore the significance of KM in promoting employee satisfaction and suggest that the proposed strategic steps can foster the further development and acceptance of the Blueprint at Robert Bosch GmbH, Power Electronics.
Advantest Company ("the company") is the world’s leading manufacturer of automatic test and measurement equipment used in the design and manufacturing of semiconductors. Because of the complexity of technologies and the supply chain of the semiconductor business segment, the company depends on both internal and external suppliers to manage some aspects of the supply chain of its main product, the System on Chip (“SoC”) test system. As a result, it is of ongoing interest to the company to have tools to continually strive for increased quality, reliability, capacity, and speed. Above all, these tools must enhance the relationships with the suppliers, and ensure the profitability and the company's position in the future.
The goal of this thesis is to understand the supply chain procedure at Advantest Company’s current state from the data-driven perspective by using the process mining technique. This technique is an emerging discipline, providing a comprehensive set of tools to provide fact-based insights and support process improvement. This new discipline is built on process model-driven approaches and data mining.
In this thesis, we discuss opportunities for process mining with an approach to analyse the process and how it can help the company enhance the procedure. This approach, which consists of data extraction from both third-party and internal software solutions, provides better visibility and faster disruptive event notification of the supply chain at the company.
Platforms are increasingly playing a more critical role in companies’ activities. The intense competition in the market and the global economic situation have promoted the transformation of traditional business models, making enterprises adopt digital transformation solutions (Ot, 2022).
Nowadays, there is an increasing amount of data generated on the internet and mobile apps, which have allowed the exponential growth of platforms, allowing value cocreation and enabling an ecosystem composition that has transformed the linear value chain into a platform business model (Şimşek, Öner, Kunday, & Olcayc, 2022).
The healthcare industry has experienced significant changes in recent years, driven by technological advances, increasing focus on cost-effectiveness and quality of healthcare services.
The use of technology and digital platforms to offer care and enhance patient experience is one of the main areas on which healthcare organizations focus. There is a high potential for telemedicine and remote patient monitoring to revolutionize healthcare services (Sjöström, Lars, & Eva, 2017).
The creation of integrated care models, which combine various health providers to give patients a better treatment and service, is another important topic of interest for healthcare organizations. Integrated care models can enhance patient outcomes, save healthcare costs, and boost patient satisfaction. Integrated healthcare models can also help in reducing healthcare system division and enhancing the coordination of care services for patients (Kodner & Spreeuwenberg, 2002).
Other digital initiatives such as data analytics and artificial intelligence are also emerging as a promising approach to improve healthcare services' quality and support decision-making in healthcare. These technologies can provide more accurate and timely information to healthcare providers and enable more effective and efficient care delivery. Medical service transformation is a cross-departmental and cross-level collaboration that demands the participation of the government, firms, consumers, and other participants (Hughes, Shaw, & Greenhalgh, 2020). The Healthcare system has shifted its service from supply management to value cocreation, rebuilding the social framework through technological change. This new business model approach gives openings to different members to cocreate and add value to current products and services (Leone, Schiavone, Appio, & Chiao, 2021).
Despite the benefits of introducing digitalization and a multi-level business model to the healthcare system, its application has needed to be faster because of multiple factors, such as information integration and the application of connectivity technologies and the telematic infrastructure. Additionally, the healthcare system represents a complex structure regulated by the government and dynamized by the interaction of individuals and service providers. Therefore, some other challenges represent the governmental laws and regulations, patient information privacy concerns, and stakeholders’ willingness to adopt the business model. (Viswanadham, 2021).
Therefore, this study aims to research the Status Quo of the Health Care Industry and to explore the opportunities and challenges of platform business models in the healthcare industry.
The results of this study can provide insights into the critical success factors that can help to drive the adoption and implementation of multilevel business models. It also can inform the decision-making strategies and healthcare initiatives adopted by different countries due to digitalization.
The business environment has changed within the past few decades. Growing global competition and the trend of shortening product life-cycle have reshaped the market, coercing companies into reconsidering their business strategies and product development. Higher quality, better time-to-delivery, and cost optimization are crucial factors for firms to compete in this tumultuous market. Therefore, companies are adopting a New Product Development (NPD), which is agile and customer-centric. The path toward change, however, is not identical for every enterprise since companies have their own unique organizational architecture and culture, demanding a thorough consideration of various facets of change, which is the focus of this study. EKU Power Drives, the company case study for this research, is actively involved in innovating electrification solutions and embedded software control for mobile power generation in the oil and gas industry upstream segment. The firm is considering transforming to an agile-based framework to fulfill its vision, which is becoming the most preferred partner for the key players in the target markets. This study aims to investigate the optimal Agile methodology and framework for the case study according to its business context, identify the challenges and how to address them, and outline an implementation procedure.
The platform business model replaces the traditional linear value chain model, demonstrating how value can be created differently. The emergence of new platforms in various industries during the last decade has made it difficult to imagine a business without naming at least a handful of active platforms. The platform business model has been proven to revolutionize industries, and this study investigates the possibility of launching a platform business model in unprecedented arenas which still use conventional pipeline business models.
The study explores the process of generating ideas for a new opportunity in the platform business model. After generating 11 ideas, screening and evaluating methods were studied.
This study explores the complex dynamics influencing the establishment of secondary
vocational exchange programs, with an emphasis on identifying the barriers and
facilitators in this process. Adopting a qualitative research approach, the study seeks to
capture the rich, nuanced experiences of stakeholders and provide context-specific
insights. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals, administrators,
and officials associated with German and United States Vocational Education. Employing
a two-tiered participant selection strategy, a range of perspectives were captured. The
data were analyzed using an inductive approach to thematic analysis, aiming to identify
underlying patterns and themes. Preliminary findings indicate that funding, policy and
governance challenges, educational structures, administrative elements, corporate
attitudes, and socio-cultural influences play significant roles in the establishment of these
exchange programs. The research also underscores the importance of participant
preparedness, program structure, stakeholder interest and engagement, diversity and
inclusion, and innovative program approaches as vital facilitators. These insights can
influence the development of policies and practices for future secondary vocational
exchange programs, thus contributing meaningfully to the larger conversation
surrounding vocational exchange programs and international educational partnerships.
Cost Optimization is a persistent discipline to adjust expenses and reduce costs while maximizing business value, and it has proven to be one of the most influential strategies to generate profits and stay competitive in the market. In this study, technical and strategic solutions that can lead to manufacturing cost optimization were considered. For this purpose, a test environment was created according to the DFMA methodology using the DFMA Concurrent Costing V4.1 software developed by Boothroyd Dewhurst Inc. and the production expenses of a JED029M3 aluminum bushing product from WABCO Group were analyzed.
Results revealed that these charges can be assigned to five main cost drivers Material, Machine Setup, Process, Scrap and Tools, of which Tooling was the most influential driver at lower volumes, while Material and Process remained two of the considerably substantial drivers across all ranges of volumes produced. Furthermore, among the optimization alternatives, the right choice for machine and raw material shape demonstrated to have a relative effects of less than 5% in reduction of manufacturing cost for 1,000 pieces, while outsourcing to China and transitioning toward economies of scale lowered could impact the total costs by -40% and -70%, respectively.
In the Job Satisfaction- Performance literature largely, job satisfaction is portrayed and
discussed positively as a performance driver for organizations that embark on the journey
of progress. This research asks whether job satisfaction inevitably leads to negative
implementation outcomes and how. This research focuses on factors other than job
satisfaction that can be used to drive better performance of employees and how
satisfaction could also lead to negative outcomes. In an attempt to answer this question,
the research undertakes three key tasks. First, it contextualizes how job satisfaction has
minor affects on performance. Second, it outlines the factors that can increase
performance. Third, it discusses crisply the adverse affects on job satisfaction through
empirical evidence to provide focus and 'evidential grounding' for the research.
Essentially, the research contends that for institutions that are unable to manage and lead
productivity from employees, this research serves a powerful purpose ensuring the multi-dimensional approach to view employee performance and modelled to take account of
the people on whom it may impact as well as the overall value it may deliver.
This thesis analyzes the effects that product label certification of Fairtrade products and the retail format where they are bought by consumers (Supermarkets vs. Discounters) have on the Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) of common grocery store goods. The thesis builds on data obtained from an online-conducted survey where participants had to respond if a determined price point was deemed as cheap or expensive to them and based on the average reaction times of their answers we determined the individual WTP. Two-way ANOVA analysis were performed with this data and some interesting findings were discovered: while a difference can be observed in consumers WTP for goods depending on the retail environment where they are acquired, there is no evidence of multiplicative effect of product labeling and retail format.
Low profitability is one of the major problems of the airline industry and one approach to solve it is that selling ancillary services to passengers which is called a-la-carte pricing. While this strategy has had some success in terms of additional revenue generation, especially for the low-cost airlines, full-service airlines struggle to implement this approach since their brand image is equivalent to better comfort and complimentary services served to their customers. Therefore, a new and possibly more effective strategy about the ancillary services comes into play which is called the a-la-carte options strategy. This strategy suggests rather than removing the complimentary ancillary services, the airlines can offer a certain number of reward miles to their frequent flyer program members to not choose to use that free ancillary service. By doing that the customer would receive free reward miles and the airlines would save from a substantial cost factor from ancillary services since the reward miles are low-cost for them. In this research, the potential cost reduction of a-la-carte options, optimal mile offer, and the possible customer reaction for launching the strategy are examined. First, potential cost reduction is calculated with real scenarios and flights. Second, customer responses are assessed with a survey conducted. The results show that a-la-carte options strategy can be highly effective on cost-cutting and customers tend to accept and use this strategy. Therefore, a-la-carte options strategy is potentially a good and effective instrument to fight the sector’s long-standing profitability problem by decreasing ancillary service and other customer service operation costs.
This master´s thesis focuses on the development of a competitor analysis process as a proposal for the business unit “Power and Energy Solutions”. As a new business approach for the Marquardt Group in the fast-growing and trending electromobility market, it is essential to develop a process to optimize the identification and assessment of competitors in order to obtain relevant information needed to build competitive advantages and plan business strategy.
This study highlights the essential information to be collected on competitors as well as the importance and benefits of conducting an analysis. A proper competitive analysis consists of considering and understanding certain external aspects surrounding the competitor. The structure of the industry, the company's current position, the customers and suppliers are key factors that have to be considered in order to conduct a successful competitive analysis. In addition, this thesis shows the steps and the main elements to contemplate in order to successfully perform a process within the company.
A qualitative research methodology has been applied for this thesis, in which literature review has been conducted and expert opinions and experiences have been included. The information has been collected through primary and secondary sources, with the aim of understanding the current situation of the business unit and obtaining relevant literature on the topic from reliable and accurate sources. Moreover, action research has been carried out in order to link theory and practice to provide a solution.
This master's thesis offers a proposal for the competitor analysis process, outlining seven stages to be followed. They have been established as a result of the evaluation and integration of the literature review and the current situation of the business. In addition, a conceptual framework has been designed as a concentration and visual representation of the best practices and methods to provide structure and support each stage of the process.
The implementation and constant utilization of the process will allow the development of a standardized system that ensures effective analysis in the business context. Moreover, it will provide a comprehensive analysis of competitors and their surroundings, as well as improvements and transparency in collaboration and practices within the company. Consequently, it will ensure a positive impact on the business unit for decision making and building competitive advantages.
The sector of supply chain risk management has been expanding for several years now, with the goal to not only prepare organizations to recover after supply-chain disruptions but also mitigate risks to reduce losses.
One of the most remarkable techniques in the field is the Artificial Intelligence technology, which owing to its effectiveness and efficiency, allows humans to develop new solutions to predict or prevent a great variety of supply-chain disruptions.
This paper aims to forecast the future state of the Artificial Intelligence technology in Europe by 2035 with the use of the INKA 4 scenario manager software. A total of four areas of influence –– i.e., technological, financial, legal, and social –– were identified.
From those, 11 descriptors were created based on relevant scientific literature and were inserted in the INKA software to develop the scenarios. This process resulted in three clearly differentiated scenarios that exhibit high probabilities and positive outlook for the Artificial Intelligence technology to be widely integrated in supply chain risk management systems in Europe by 2035.
Frugality has become a prerequisite for success in a low-resource environment, a reality exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. When it comes to consumer needs, the priorities affordability and functionality are increasingly coming into focus. This study examines how frugal products are performing in developed markets, whether they meet consumer needs, and ultimately if there is a demand for these products.
The aim of this paper is to assess the status of Frugal Innovation (FI) in developed markets, using Germany as an example, and thus consumer behavior, in order to better evaluate the current status and related potentials based on this. The link between FI and environmental and social sustainability can be traced back to and limited to the minimal use of resources. Against the backdrop of the current economic and political situation, these factors represent one of the most significant competitive advantages of today.
This multi-method experiment helps to understand the consumer behavior towards frugal products as well as the opinions and attitude towards it. As a result, it can be said that there is interest in innovation in general as well as FI. The respective buying decisions were balanced, what means that frugal products do not necessarily outperform non-frugal ones, but they are in strong competition. It can be concluded that there will be an increasing demand for frugal products in developed markets such as Germany, especially for certain product categories.
The present thesis performs an actuarial work that intends to understand the premiums, expenses, and claims, including the reserves considered the most important technical variables in an insurance company. The company is located in Colombia and the work will be performed in 2 branches: Compliance and Liability.
The objective of the thesis has been set as to define and measure a claim ratio after remarking a lack of an indicator that describes the 3 most important technical variables altogether in the company. It has also defined to assess the current methodology that calculates the reserves for the claims occurred but currently unknown by the insurance company under the premise that there is a very low level of observed claims in the history of the company in both branches.
All the methodologies defined, assessed, and performed in this thesis have been compared to other methodologies implemented in journals, research papers and articles to align the conclusions and take the best practices from actuarial works previously done. They all also considered to keep homogeneous results that was considered as a very important achievement even by other sources.
A new methodology has been defined to calculate expenses related to administration, the ones used in the reserves and the ones related to claims. The new expenses level was used in 2021 and an impact of a tremendous increase in premiums was observed the same year as a reaction of the decrease in policy prices.
The conclusions derived from the work was to continue with the current methodology to calculate the incurred but not reported claims reserve according to the instability seen in the Chain-Ladder methodology until more homogeneous result could be seen that yield to a higher level of credibility.
Finally, among many possible claim ratios defined, a paid claim ratio has been considered. It includes the whole variables inside the premiums of the company and the most important variables inside the claims that were the claims paid and the proportional and non-proportional reinsurance effect.
Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular as an investment object due to the underlying promising blockchain technology, a growing number of use cases and especially because of their recent enormous price increases. As a young and emerging asset class, cryptocurrencies also face investors with several challenges and uncertainties.
This thesis investigates the impact of adding cryptocurrencies to diversified portfolios and whether cryptocurrencies can be a reasonable portfolio addition for investors. For this purpose, based on Harry Markowitz's Portfolio Selection Theory, a statistical analysis of portfolios with and without cryptocurrencies and different degrees of diversification was conducted for a 5-year-period. The portfolios were analysed in terms of return, risk and correlations and the efficient portfolio allocations as well as efficient frontiers were determined for different return and risk scenarios, both with and without the use of short sales.
The results of the statistical analysis showed that cryptocurrencies have significantly higher returns but also higher levels of volatility and risk than traditional asset classes. Although cryptocurrencies show less strong positive correlations with other traditional assets, they nevertheless correlate positively with the representatives of the traditional asset classes examined, which is why cryptocurrencies are only suitable to a limited extent as a means of risk diversification. Cryptocurrencies can be an attractive portfolio diversification but only for investors who are willing to accept higher risks for higher returns as the addition of cryptocurrencies significantly increases both the return potential and the risk of portfolios. Therefore, the higher an investor's expected portfolio returns and risk appetite, the higher should be the portion of cryptocurrencies in his portfolio.
As businesses advance toward globalization, their supply chains have expanded. Globalization has brought together varied marketplaces, but it also has consequences. The most significant of these impacts is environmental damage. As organizations and customers are becoming growingly aware of the extent of the damage, organizations are transitioning towards greener practices. However, the long, complex supply chains make visibility and transparency in the chain, particularly beyond the first tier of suppliers difficult. Managing companies at a global scale become complex due to differences in interests and difficulty in managing information, material, and financial flow that require rigorous validation and management from external participants. This is where Blockchain Technology has immense potential. Blockchain is a new, ground-breaking technology with applications primarily in the financial sector. This thesis is exploratory by necessity, as it is an early work on blockchain's influence on green supply chain management. The study employs the funnel technique, which begins with a broad and general perspective before moving on to more particular aspects of the subject. A framework is designed based on a thorough assessment of the literature and real-world applications of blockchain technology. The findings show that incorporating blockchain into supply chain management can potentially increase understanding of the supply chain's hidden layers and aid in the transformation of the existing supply chain to a green supply chain.
As prerequisite to final graduation of my master in international business management MBA at Business School, Hochschule Furtwangen University, I conducted this Thesis but also as a practical business case that match with the nature of my master’s focus of international business and could be used in real life.
I put myself as a member of project’s managing team for a pharmaceutical company, this team as a part of strategic decision-making process is responsible about assessing different potential international markets and segments as a part of the company plan to expand their operations, tape and penetrate new markets.
Narrowing down the options to two geographic markets (Germany & Saudi Arabia) and two pharmaceutical segments (Diabetes& OTC), starting this assessment with macro analysis (PESTEL) of Germany and Saudi Arabia followed by micro analysis (Porter’s five forces) of the pharmaceutical industry in the two markets of concern, having more in depth review of the two potential segments in each individual market then head to head attractiveness comparative analysis of the two potential segments in the two potential countries showing the pros and cons for each of the potential available opportunities and finally reach a conclusion to solve this business scenario.
In order to satisfy both scientific research basis and business need I utilized Data from both peer reviewed articles, reports from highly trusted international institutions and organizations for their data accuracy and few theoretical books.
Limitation of this paper: taking in consideration that some relevant data i.e., regarding specific market profitability are not accessible due to either company’s confidential policies or data consolidation for example the financial statements of Bayer, the pharmaceutical company shows consolidated data combining Europe and middle east allowing no possibility(for outsider) to directly compare profitability of each specific country, here in our research Germany and Saudi Arabia, also I tried my best to use the most recent accessible data , but some of the most updated relevant data is out of my reach either due to confidentiality or it is paid data that requires funding resources not available in my case as I am doing this Thesis independently not in partnership with a company, these limitations might to some degree affect the precision of the final conclusion.
Pricing is one of the foundations of any company’s market strategy and the only factor of the marketing mix that deals with revenue generation. The other three viz. product, promotion and place deal with expenditure. Pricing strategies provide varied degrees of flexibility based on organizational capabilities and customer segments. Pricing decisions are fundamental to a firm’s growth and are complex in implementation. Based on the author’s research, value-based pricing provides the best fit for all the important pricing factors like cost structure, profit margin, competition, supply and demand, etc. Despite this, cost-based and competition-based pricing strategies are still being widely used. The IT service industry in India has long focused on the competitive advantages of cheap and abundant manpower but the lack of focus on product development together with the emergence of other low waged countries and the growing nature of technology adaptation in the country have presented significant motivation to these IT firms to invest in research and development aimed at enhancing their product portfolio, which can be best taken advantage of by moving their pricing decisions towards a customer-value centric approach. Basing their prices on the different customer segments and focusing on value generation is the best way forward in the face of increased competition from both domestic and international organizations.
Through an extensive review of the literature, a research gap was identified concerning the knowledge around diversity and its impact on personality types and their influence on group performance. Previous literature revealed that diversity is a popular determinant for group composition, since it encompasses many different meanings and interpretations. Researchers would rather focus on easily measurable elements such as age or gender, but few studies have been conducted on deep-level diversity, such as personality traits or values. The aim of this study is to answer the research questions proposed concerning the effectiveness of homogeneous versus heterogeneous groups as well as the impact communication has on their performance. Through an analysis of previous studies and literature the research questions and hypotheses were formulated, and a methodology designed to answer them. The methodology used in this research was a variation of the Marshmallow Challenge. The groups were faced with two challenges. The first one was to build a 50cm-tall structure as quickly as possible, with a limited amount of material, including raw spaghetti, tape, rope and a marshmallow to test the stability of the structure. The second challenge was presented about one week later and involved the same materials, but the participants had to reach 70cm. Four teams of three were chosen. The personality tests had four possible outcomes: red, green, yellow, or blue. Each colour had specific characteristics and adjectives associated with it. The data collected revealed that the heterogeneous groups performed better overall. A slightly significant correlation was found between how well the teams performed and the words spoken per minute for the first experiment, but not for the second. The biggest limitation that hindered this study was the time pressure and limited sample size.
Climate change is currently one of the biggest challenges both in terms of danger to natural habitats, wildlife, and humanity. To tackle climate change, we need to reduce our carbon emissions in a fast and decisive way. This thesis studies one of the potential solutions to do so: green hydrogen. More specifically, its potential development by 2030 in Spain using INKA 4.0 scenario planning software.
Green hydrogen shows to have a wide range of applications, from transport to heating and industry with great potential to decarbonize many sectors. It does come, however with a number of important hurdles mainly related to cost, scalability and technical difficulties that will need to be addressed for it to be successful. With this, 10 descriptors were created generating three scenarios to be studied. The most consistent of them, a successful development of green hydrogen in Spain by 2030 is characterized by having all of its descriptors in a favoring state while the other two have some or all in a hindering state, making its development not successful within the established timeframe. Concluding that due to the great challenge the development of green hydrogen is, its success needs to have all factors supporting it.
In the quickly developing industry landscape of the organic food market, keeping pace with consumer demands and market growth can be a challenge. Organizations with long histories in the organic market, such as dairy supply cooperatives are facing difficulty to maintain their competitive advantage. These cooperative organizations are unique compared to traditional firms in their committed responsibility to multi-stakeholder value creation and protection as defining measures of successful operations.
The paper investigates what factors and principles could be implemented by a cooperative to establish a consumer retail brand in the organic food market. It also examines the effects of this strategic marketing decision on the relationship between, and outcomes for, several of their stakeholder groups. To balance between narrowing the variables and context, while still providing relevant findings on a national scale, a French organic dairy coop serves as a qualitative case study. In addition, a pool of expert semi-structured interviews was conducted, obtaining real time information applicable to the current case study situation.
The findings supported the development of a consumer retail brand to enhance competitive position in the French organic food market. Beyond organizational competitiveness, these results conclude that a retail brand presence for the cooperative could return synergistic additional value to the cooperative stakeholders, including the business, members and their social and biological environments. Finally, the outcome suggests a reciprocal, reinforcing relationship between a corporate brand strategy and the mission of the organic dairy cooperative case study subject. These findings are partially transferable to other organic cooperatives and add a cooperative organizational perspective to the brand strategy and development academic work.
Concerns about China’s currency intervention strategy against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies have been raised by many members of congress for more than a decade. They view it as one of several distorting economic policies China is employing to gain an unfair advantage over their competitors. Assuming the RMB is a freely traded currency, they argue that China’s currency strategy is designed to lower the cost of exports and raise the cost of imports greatly.
Problem and Objective: How is China competing with the USA to become the economic world leader? This paper examines the interconnection among three major economic components in the Chinese economy through financial development, international trade, and economic growth.
Method: The research method involved the exploration of articles authored by economic scholars who have concluded that productivity increases significantly contribute to China’s rapid economic expansion. Numerous articles were retrieved from the website to explain how China is slowly becoming the world economic giant overtaking the United States.
Findings: Scholars expect to have significant economic growth in China, surpassing the individual European countries in terms of ranks and G.D.P. size. The entry of China into the W.T.O. depends on the successful completion of the multilateral phase of accession negotiations. Its membership will significantly impact the international trading systems for numerous reasons. First, the admission serves as a template for various transition economies looking to join the W.T.O due to the increasing demand that the Chinese have accepted within the bilateral phase, the W.T.O. admission negotiations deter the entry of various new members. Secondly, China has taken critical steps towards meeting some of its W.T.O. obligations and the steps that can complete the process that may disappoint some individuals within the organization. Due to the large volume of international trade, there is a risk that trade conflicts can overburden the capacity of the W.T.O. to settle disputes. Third, China has a critical role in shaping various multilateral trade negotiations agendas. The developing nation is also one of the top trading countries, and China is a forceful advocate within the next round for the interest of various developing nations.
Conclusion: US congress has long been concerned about China’s currency policies and economic growth. The RMB’s value versus the dollar has risen by 34 percent nominal and 42 percent actual since 2003. Another concern is China’s use of industrial policies to subsidize priority domestic firms while restricting foreign market access. China’s financial system could be severely undermined if the proportion of non-performing loans increases dramatically due to policies that promote significant gross fixed investment and are primarily backed by low-cost credit policies.
In the opinion of many observers, RMB value is undervalued because of Chinese government restrictions on its value.
The present master thesis assesses the customer attitudes towards e-food in Germany. As more shoppers are ordering their groceries online, stationary food retailers are increasingly interested in the development and acceptance of e-food.
In the secondary literature review, the determining factors of the customer attitude towards ordering groceries online were identified through the Tricomponent Attitude Model, shopper characteristics and the Technology Acceptance Model. Additionally, potential changes in the customer attitude in the next five years were assessed. The theoretical findings were tested for their relevance and underlying motivations using qualitative in-depth expert and shopper interviews. Ultimately the results were analyzed, compared, and interpreted regarding their theoretical and managerial implications. As a result, a recommendation of action was derived for the Traders’ Cooperative Göppingen.
The findings suggest that the customer attitude depends on the perceived value of e-food based on its benefits and risks, the relationship quality built on emotions, satisfaction, and trust, and the switching intentions depending on the customer loyalty. The shopper’s motivation, situation, and technological abilities are stronger predictors than socio-demographic characteristics. Even though German shoppers are curious to try e-food occasionally, they are still skeptical and need to be convinced of the utility. The results indicate a slowly improving attitude in the next five years resulting in more hybrid cross-channel shoppers. As a result of the Covid pandemic, e-food became a convenient alternative for certain products and situations. As some shoppers and market shares are expected to drift online, stationary grocery stores like Edeka Staufers must focus on their advantages in terms of social interaction and multi-sensory shopping experience.
As a decisive factor for ongoing corporate success, companies are increasingly concerned with the possibilities of increasing their innovative ability. In connection with factors that can be influenced by internal company decisions, this work deals with the question of which factors are particularly effective in this context. The underlying hypothesis deals with the statement that the innovation performance can be fundamentally influenced by internal company decisions.
From the qualitative survey and study of three medium-sized companies from the districts of Schwarzwald-Baar and Rottweil, company-internal factors for increasing the ability to innovate and their relevance and practical application are examined. These companies are MinebeaMitsumi Technology Center Europe GmbH, Wiha Werkzeuge GmbH, and Hugo Kern und Liebers GmbH & Co. KG. In this context, several employees from the development and innovation teams of the companies were interviewed personally and other employees of one company were interviewed using an online survey. The questionnaire was further expanded on the basis of the information and results obtained. The results of this survey were critically reflected on by the project manager of the company surveyed first.
The seven internal factors identified from the literature are the Generation and Implementation of Ideas, Creativity and Time Pressure, the Use of External Information, Creation of Knowledge, Behavioral Patterns, Organizational Structures and the Composition of Teams. These factors were identified with different relevance and application in the practice of the examined companies. It cannot be conclusively clarified from the study whether the ability to innovate can be positively influenced, in particular by the factors identified. In this context, further investigations are necessary. Based on the literature review and experiences of the companies, this thesis presents a recommendation for measures relating to the positive influence of factors to increase the ability to innovate.
The study explores the use of gamification approaches in complex diagnostic systems. Based on theories of gamification, a concept for the feedback function within the diagnostic software ESI[tronic] of the Robert Bosch GmbH is developed with user interviews and the analysis of feedback data. Through this, feedback loops should be generated to enable further development taking the user perspective into account. The results show that the target group of the diagnostic software can be intrinsically motivated and the aspect of mutual assistance as well as recognition and appreciation is particularly important. Therefore, the use of gamification concepts in complex diagnostic systems contributes to increasing user satisfaction and ultimately to influencing feedback behavior.
This research thesis examines affiliate review’s role in the relationship between direct-to-consumers (D2C) brands and consumers. Three D2C brands were selected as case companies for the multiple-case study. Seventy-five affiliate reviews were analysed, out of which fifteen were analysed in-depth. Additionally, a share of voice analysis was performed to establish the market share of each case company. The research has shown that affiliate reviews play a dual role as recommenders and sellers, which D2C brands use to achieve competitive advantage. However, the dual role is created at the expense of review quality, which is low.
Organizations invest money, time and energy on fostering gender diversity at the workplace. Other than being fair, diversity has been proved to improve company performance, as it promotes innovation, creative thinking and decision-making capabilities, as an example. However, having said that, there are still some sectors or areas which lack of a fair representation between men and women. In order to build a more balanced workforce, it is necessary for the organization to find ways to be appealing to all groups. One way can be to focus on the recruitment process.
The recruitment process contains some major and minor biases, which can influence the hiring decision. In most recent years, it has been revealed that the words used in job postings can in fact encourage or discourage different groups of people, in this case, men and women. That is due to the fact that language is gendered, because men and women communicate who they are, what they want, what they need differently. Language is strictly related to how one person is perceived in the society and the role they have, with the risk of falling into a stereotype.
The objective of the paper is to study and explain the effect of wording in job postings. To do so, around 200 participants have replied to a questionnaire which presents ten sets of job descriptions containing and comparing gendered words. The questionnaire allows to compare the answers from men and women and assess to what extend wording influence the application decision. It appears that women are more reactive to biased language than men and they prefer female-themed terms; despite being more indifferent, men also lean towards feminine language in some cases.
The insurance industry in Germany has been dominated by a commission-based sales model for over seventy years. Intermediaries sell insurance contracts to end customers and are paid a commission depending on the value and type of insurance. This commission-based approach incentivizes salespeople to keep adding new policies to customers in order to make a living, and customers do not get the insurance solutions and advice that suit them the best. A financial services provider has now developed a novel business model that aims to disrupt the insurance industry in Germany. It replaces commission-based insurance with commission-free tariffs and instead includes a flat fee for managing the client's insurance policies. However, the business idea can only be realized profitably if the administrative expense per client is significantly reduced. Due to strict regulations in the insurance industry, many activities within the process are mandatory.
The goal of this work is to automate the business process behind the idea through the use of digital technologies and to reduce the workload in order to make the business model profitable. We used design thinking as a mental framework to carry out the digital transformation of the business model in a structured way. As part of this qualitative research, we conducted expert interviews and a document structure analysis to define hurdles for the realization and to develop detailed process maps. We carried out a process workshop, during which we analyzed the process and identified requirements for a digital prototype, which was developed using the low-code framework bubble.io.
Through workload time measurements, the impact of digital transformation on the performance of the process was confirmed. Finally, different digital options were compared with each other. The findings of this work support the thesis that design thinking has a positive influence on the success of digital transformation and in particular in the development of solutions tailored to people. This success is underlined by a reduction in workload times by 71,2% for bottleneck activities. The comparison of the various digital options implies that the development of customized digital applications is preferable for unique and complex problems.
As COVID-19 forces school to shutdown, distance learning or homeschooling is increasingly becoming the preferred and safest mode of delivering education. The new trend however, raises underlying questions on the implication it will have on the educational gap and attainment between advantaged and disadvantaged students in Germany, stemming from the diverse economic, cultural and social situation among the student population. This study presents results of a comparative analysis between advantaged and disadvantaged students in Germany using the PISA data 2018. The study investigated, how large the educational gap in Germany between advantaged and disadvantaged students is and what influences this gap. More specifically, what effect COVID-19 induced school interruption has in increasing the educational at- tainment between the student population. The findings show that there is an educa- tional gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students in Germany and socio- economic and cultural factors influence student performance which aligns with the findings in the literature review. Furthermore, school closures of 51 days result to a loss of 3.26, 3.37 and, 4.12 PISA point for advantaged students in maths, science and reading respectively and a loss of 8.4, 8.1 and 5.01 PISA points in maths, sci- ence and reading for disadvantaged students. The results show an increase in the educational outcome and inequality between advantaged and disadvantaged students in Germany. The findings, necessitate the need for policy makers to neutralize the learning losses resulting from the COVID-19 induced remote learning.
The present research sought to deepen the debates about how the collector of recyclable material, a subject that has built his political resistance in the Brazilian scenario from the process of re-signification of garbage and his profession. Its empowerment observed from the end of the 20th century was concomitant with the growth of environmental discussions and the strengthening of the solidarity economy as an alternative for economic emancipation in Brazil. In this context, the individual who used to live on the margins of society established himself as a fundamental factor in the recycling chain and became an environmental agent. The question that guided the investigation was "how has the pandemic influenced waste pickers' solidarity organizations, given their challenges and opportunities?". In this context, two specific objectives were determined to be answered in the course of the research. The first sought to understand the relationship between the solidarity economy and the formation of waste picker collectives; the second aimed to identify the challenges and opportunities that could arise from these solidarity organizations' experiences. A vast theoretical analysis was conducted to understand the
foundations of the Solidarity Economy, an alternative to the informal economy and a form of economic empowerment especially considered for vulnerable populations, as a
way to include them economically. Using the case study of Belo Horizonte, a city with a history of alternative economic expressions and strengthened waste pickers' movements, we approached various actors of the recycling chain through qualitative research, using
the in-depth interviews approach.
Among other findings, the research noted that one of the greatest challenges of the post-pandemic Solidarity Economy is related to the expansion of the capitalist market to areas traditionally aggregated by the Solidarity Economy, because they were previously considered to be on the “margins of society”. However, these threats also
give room for opportunities, from responses that reinforce the legitimacy of cooperatives and associations, through their contractual adequacy with the City Hall for
the payment of the environmental service rendered, disconnected from the number of solid waste collected. We have learned that in the daily struggles and achievements of
the waste pickers, challenges and opportunities go hand in hand.
The purpose of this study is to diffuse knowledge about the limited roles women still play in Nigeria, as opposed to the roles they could be playing if they were to be empowered,
especially in terms of local and national security. The research questions examined the different ways in which women in Nigeria are suffering the omnipresence of patriarchal beliefs and the norms they entail, which interviews with a sample of nine Nigerian women have testified for. It further analyzed the possible interdependence between patriarchy and insecurity levels, and how empowering women could help building peace in the region. Three experts on the topic were interviewed, and testified for this correlation between women and security, while also pointing out the need for governmental support in terms of financing and policing this inclusion of women. The paper finally proposes a set of recommendations to the different stakeholders of Nigeria, from the civil society and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to the Government itself, on how to reach empowerment and peacebuilding in a sustainable way. Structured mainly on the social and cultural determinants of women’s roles in Nigeria, the study revealed that such determinants need political and legislative will if they are to improve. There is an urgent need for the Nigerian Government to take responsibility for the insecurity the country is facing and acknowledge how this insecurity is curbing any improvement towards both women empowerment and peacebuilding at the national and regional levels. Some of the recommendations include the promotion of dialogue among stakeholders, the implementation of sport programs to diffuse values of tolerance and empowerment, and the alteration of discourse around women and girls to change the conceptualization of power and therefore the roles they play in the society.