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The aim of this study consists oftwo main objectives: First,to investigatethe penetration and preferences of fintech solutions from the payments sector within the studied population, as well as the elaboration of a forecast for the upcoming years.Second, to examinethe main elements that influence the intention of young customers when deciding to adopt fintech-basedpayment solutions. Existing research has tested several factorsfrom which the variables of trust, transaction efficiency and ease of use are included onthis paper. Additionally,the value-added propositionfrom this studyis represented by the incorporation of sustainability-related purposes into thisanalysiswith the intention of reflecting the increasing presence of efforts to integrate this component within thefinancial industryin recent years.A research model is proposed and tested by including elements based on theTechnology Adoption Model (TAM). By exploring the results of primary data through asurvey with 463 responses from university studentsandexamining secondary sourcesof information, the findings of this study demonstratethat all four tested variables have a positive impact on the intention of using fintech-based payment solutions.Sustainability-related purposes do not play a major role in the decision of using these apps, however, even with a minimal influence, theeffect on intention is positiveand statistically significant. The findings of this study pose important implications for stakeholders within the fintech spectrum whose purposes are related to increasing the intention of young consumers towards using these productsandto provide enoughevidence of the importance of designing incentives that fuel sustainability stewardshipwithin the financial sector.
The current master thesis makes an effort to investigate relationships between perceived service quality, membership satisfaction, and membership loyalty at “Gesellschaft für technische Kommunikation – tekom Deutschland e.V.”, applying adjusted SERVQUAL model. To attain the formulated objectives in scope of the current research, the “Satisfaction – Profit Chain” model is applied, consisting of “Attribute Performance”, represented by SERVQUAL service quality dimensions supposed to serve as antecedent of the second component of the chain “Membership Satisfaction”, and “Membership Loyalty” in order to investigate relations between these three. The findings of the study are supposed to serve as a basis for altering the existing CRM Strategy in order to eliminate current issues within the association, develop strategic marketing capabilities, and create value for members’ attraction and retention.
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.
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.
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.
Aim: The research aims at contributing to the growing number of studies on banking performance by investigating empirically the effect of changes in the macroeconomic conditions on bank profitability in Europe for the period 1980-2009. For this purpose, data for banking systems of eight European countries on an aggregate national level are included in the analysis: Germany, France, Austria, Norway, Netherland, United Kingdom (UK), Spain and Italy. In addition to this, two measures are used to represent the bank profitability: net interest income (NII) and return on assets (ROA).
Methods: Panel regression models at three levels are deployed in order to estimate empirically the effect of the macroeconomic indicators on bank performance in Europa: individual estimations on a country level, cross-country estimations on a group level for Northern and Southern Europe and finally overall cross-country estimation on a European level.
Results: The estimation results suggest that macroeconomic conditions are able to explain most of the variation of the banks’ net interest income in European countries, as well as part of the variation of banks’ ROA. Additionally, they clearly indicate that GDP growth rate is the most significant factor influencing bank performance in Europe on all three levels of the model. The effect of the inflation rate is also considered for strongly significant and positive while the effect of the other macroeconomic variables included in this research is different and cannot be generalized probably as a result of the heterogeneity among European countries. Surprisingly, the results did not indicate any significant difference between Norther and Southern Europe, regarding the effect of the macroeconomic conditions on bank performance.
2016 marks the 56th anniversary of the oil cartel: OPEC. It managed to increase prices in 1972. In doing so, it behaved in a manner consistent with a cartel, bringing about a wave of studies on it. This study provides an overview of Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s cartel behavior form 1980 to 2014/5, from five different perspectives. These perspectives, although have been studies individually, but never holistically.
This study grounds the research questions into the structure-conduct-performance paradigm for each of the five perspectives of cartel behavior. Each perspective is also backed by a theory of its own. The first perspective is that of the neo-classical theory of the firm, in that OPEC is deemed to be created for the purpose of creating profits for its members. The second perspective looks at whether or not OPEC is internally and externally stable by looking at economic and non-economic influences on the organization. The third perspective makes use of the theory of market contestability, in oder to determine which member in the cartel has had and still holds most influence within the cartel. The fourth perspective looks at entry and exit trends from OPEC, to determine what impact it has on the incumbent profits and that of the defectors. The fifth perspective uses the concept of black swan from the strategic management literature to discuss whether or not OPEC will dissolve in the next fifty years and whether this will bring about a golden or a black swan.
The methodology prevalent throughout the study is a case study analysis of the OPEC cartel behavior, however, two of the chapters also run a regression analysis (chapters 3 and 4), using variables identified from the structure-conduct-performance paradigm. The second and the third provide a descriptive overview via line graphs, while the last uses the methodology of observation.
It has been found that OPEC has earned abnormal profits which steadily increased, Saudi Arabia has been instrumental in managing quotas, and importance of each country is determined by the output it produced from one year to the next. In addition, economic influences are more important than the non-economic influences for OPEC's viability as a cartel, exit from OPEC is not advisable for the defector nor the incumbent firms and the cartel is not internally stable as barriers to entry are low and members can easily defect and can rejoin the cartel. Lastly, OPEC’s influence in the oil market is waning fast, which might lead to a black swan event.
Corporate debt volumes in emerging market economies have been increasing greatly post 2007-2008 financial crisis. Debt levels have increased across the globe however, the pace is faster in emerging markets than in advance markets. Major countries in emerging economies such as Brazil, Russian Federation, India and China (BRIC) have a large and concentrated share in growing corporate debts. Although, both company specific factors and macro level factors have impacted the corporate borrowings leading to depressed corporate earnings, financial strains and capital outflows in emerging markets the impact of company specific factors is highly pertinent and demands research. The rise in debt levels has affected the return on earnings (ROEs) of the corporate companies which in turn is adversely impacting emerging economy and its financial stability. This paper has empirically tested for the explaining effects of rising corporate debts and changing return on assets (ROAs) on ROEs of emerging market corporate by establishing a multiple regression model. A sample of 100 corporate companies from BRIC countries has been taken to test the model. The test results confirm the importance of corporate debts in predicting ROEs and possible financial strains. Finally, the regression model has been used to estimate ROEs of these corporate companies for the next 5 years with specific recommendation and policy implication to avoid financial crisis.
The field of entrepreneurship and its framework, the entrepreneurial opportunity process, are still young and maturing research areas that receive increasing attention from numerous authors in their academic reviews. While some researchers focus on the generic entrepreneurial opportunity process in order to gain additional insights into the phenomenon, others examine one of the entrepreneurial directions, such as social entrepreneurship or commercial entrepreneurship more closely. So far, a dichotomous approach towards the two types of entrepreneurship has been postulated by contemporary researchers that distinguishes them as two varying approaches.
This master thesis comprises both entrepreneurial directions and investigates their course throughout the entrepreneurial opportunity process, including the nature of the opportunities, their discovery and the decision to exploit an opportunity. The aim is to get a broader picture of the phenomenon of social and commercial entrepreneurship, its differences and similarities throughout the process and thus, examine the dominant dichotomous approach.
Primary and secondary data is gathered from case studies and interviews with entrepreneurs and derived from the information obtained, as well as from existing literature. Seven propositions are postulated that indicate possible differences and similarities regarding the two entrepreneurial approaches. Based on the findings from the testing of the propositions, this research paper concludes that the concepts of social and commercial entrepreneurship hold certain differences, Nevertheless, similarities are prevailing so that a dichotomous approach cannot be supported. The entrepreneurial directions can be displayed on a continuum rather than on extreme ends.
Finally, in order to provide possible future research objectives, an outlook section, containing a critical view on the tie between the entrepreneur and the opportunity is enclosed. It is suggested that the entrepreneur-opportunity nexus is much stronger in the social entrepreneurial context than in the commercial entrepreneurial context.