IBM - International Business Management
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Measuring the Carbon Footprint in the Financial Sector: Standardization and Risk Assessment Analysis
(2024)
This bachelor thesis examines the role of the PCAF Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard in the financial sector and highlights its granularity in measuring the carbon footprint for different financial activities. Despite its adaptability, the credibility of the standard is impaired by the minimal involvement of regulators and low compliance by signatories, leading to transparency and data quality concerns. The results underline the need for standardized carbon footprint measurement to improve transparency, comparability, and accountability in the financial sector.
Further research within this thesis investigates how banks incorporate carbon footprint data into their risk assessment models for lending and investment decisions. Banks are increasingly using ESG ratings derived from detailed questionnaires, emphasizing environmental factors such as carbon emissions, while encouraging a shift towards more sustainable business practices without sanctioning existing shortcomings. Sustainability criteria do not have an impact on lending conditions so far. Some banks apply exclusion criteria to prevent the financing of certain harmful business areas. At the same time, awareness of climate-related risks, including physical and transition risks, is growing, requiring banks to improve their risk assessment models to effectively integrate these considerations and strengthen the resilience of their portfolios to climate-related risks.
The thesis ultimately concludes that despite significant progress within the financial sector, further sophistication of reporting standards and risk assessment models is essential to support the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon economy.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a disruptive technology and gaining more and more importance all around the globe. However, the impact of AI on intercultural communication is still quite unexplored, even though it gets increasingly integrated into corporate communication strategies, which why it is important to understand their effects on intercultural interactions. In this paper a detailed literature review is combined with qualitative research, including semi-structured interviews with managers from a multinational company to explore the impacts of AI on intercultural communication in a business context. With this approach the research explores how AI tools are being used to improve communication efficiency and address cultural differences, but also to identify challenges such as the potential for cultural homogenization, over-reliance on AI, and ethical concerns related to data privacy and bias.
The analysis concluded that while AI offers significant benefits for enhancing intercultural communication it is important to manage it carefully in order to reduce potential risks. Hence this thesis contributes to the ongoing discussion about AI's role in global business, whilst providing insights into its impact on intercultural dynamics and concludes in suggesting areas for further research.
The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of herding bias, loss aversion and overconfidence bias on the investment decision-making of business students. For this purpose, a pre-defined survey was distributed among business faculty students of the Furtwangen Business School. These three behavioral biases were then examined with the assistance of the gathered data. The study found that overconfidence bias is more prevalent among male students and that financial literacy, measured by the educational level of the students plays a role in reducing the effect of loss aversion.
This thesis examines Life Cycle Costing through a literature review and a fictional case study. It explores key challenges faced in implementing and utilizing Life Cycle Costing, proposes strategies for overcoming these challenges, and evaluates the potential impact of early integration of this technique on decision-making processes. Additionally, by use of the case study, the thesis exemplifies how Life Cycle Costing identifies trade-offs that would otherwise have remained unnoticed. The case study highlights how the implementation of the technique unveils that the option initially expected to be more costly turns out to be more economical. The findings underscore the superiority of the Life Cycle Costing methodology, questioning the narrow focus on immediate costs in traditional cost accounting, opening the door to a business model where long-term cost savings are recognized and valued.
The dynamic and constantly changing global competitive environment requires the development of advanced technologies and new operating procedures for a company´s internal processes. Human Resource Management bears the responsibility of assisting the organization in overcoming these challenges and effectively reshaping its procedures. This bachelor's thesis investigates the detailed process of implementing a Global Job Catalogue (GJC) at a company. The purpose and goal of this study is to evaluate whether the implementation of a GJC offers advantages, using an automotive company as an example. It analyses the practical application of a GJC and its integration into the Human Resources Department. Furthermore, a focus on the challenges and benefits of the implementation and integration process will be provided, including the use of innovative technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Skills Management. To achieve the stated goal, semi-structured interviews with HR personnel from the automotive company have been carried out. The results of the study identify the benefits of a comprehensive GJC for each stakeholder, such as increased transparency, efficiency, and consistency across the organization. However, it also highlights the challenges associated with the implementation process, including the strict timeframe and the simultaneous pursuance of multiple relevant project components. Based on these findings, recommendations for the use case are derived, and a thorough conclusion is provided.
The aim of this study is to investigate how cultural diversity is implemented and promoted in German startups and what best practices can be derived from these insights. The research question is: How is cultural diversity being implemented and promoted in German startups? Challenges and best practices.
As an empirical method to address the research question, expert interviews were conducted to gain precise insight into the strategies and initiatives of startups related to cultural diversity.
The results of the research have shown that cultural diversity has a significant impact on fostering innovation and creativity in startups. It also became clear that leadership within the company plays a crucial role in implementing cultural diversity and creating an inclusive environment. Research also showed that the implementation of formal initiatives in startups is limited due to company size and resource constraints.
Overall, the study has demonstrated that cultural diversity plays an important role in startups that should not be overlooked. Based on theoretical insights as well as findings from the study, best practices have been derived to serve as guidelines for startups aiming to efficiently and resourcefully implement cultural diversity.
Hybrid work is an increasingly common model of work applied around the globe and is expected to be continuously gaining importance. This thesis is aimed at identifying what impacts hybrid work has on international companies. A literature review was conducted to provide findings of recent research to identify possible positive as well as negative impacts. Furthermore, a survey was distributed to 150 employees with leading positions in international companies, resulting in 16 responses, which were analysed using metrics of multiple regression. The qualitative part of the survey was assessed as well. The small sample size only allows for an indication that hybrid work might impact sick days of the workforce in a negative way and that less business trips are taken due to hybrid work. The other impacts that were identified through the survey suggest impacts on a larger scale than simply human resources, indicating that hybrid work can impact the entire profitability of a company and should therefore be properly assessed and managed with a broad view on all possible impacts on different levels in mind.
AI in recruiting is used more and more in recruiting and for the evaluation of job interviews. Research has focused mainly on companies' side of AI implementation in recruiting. However, changes in demographics also make it important to look at it from the viewpoint of candidates. This thesis aims to explain how the perception of AI-evaluated job interviews influences the intention to apply. A survey is used as a data collection method with a sample of 105 participants. The results revealed that the perception of AI-evaluated job interviews positively influences the intention to apply in terms of organizational attractiveness, while anxiety negatively influences the intention to apply. However, in general, the positive effect is stronger. Other factors such as trust, fairness, intrinsic motivation, and novelty have no significant effect on the intention to apply.
Employee engagement is crucial for companies because of its positive influence on performance, retention, and profitability. However, the rising appearance of hybrid workplaces and generational changes have presented challenges in maintaining employee engagement. Leadership has been shown to play an important role in developing engaged employees. This paper examines the relationship between transformational leadership and employee engagement and whether gender, presented as male, diverse and female, impacts this relationship.
A sample of 118 respondents, that have worked for over one year under a leader, has been analyzed through simple and multiple regressions. The relationship between transformational leadership and employee engagement proved significantly positive, highlighting the key role leadership plays when fostering engaged employees. However, the moderating relationship of all three genders was not significant. These results suggest that companies should focus on training transformational leaders and engaging employees regardless of the employee's gender.
Total Hip Arthroplasty is a highly effective procedure. Precise preoperative planning is crucial for a positive patient outcome. One approach to improve patient outcomes is preoperative planning of hip implants, which could replace the currently dominant 2D planning and improve processes in dealer markets by enabling more efficient delivery. The objective of this study is to survey and measure dealers’ acceptance of a patient-specific delivery and operating room setting. The evaluation is based on the Technology Acceptance Model. A recommendation for action will be derived from the evaluation.
This study examines the acceptance of new technologies through a systematic literature review utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model. Additionally, it presents the current state of 2D and 3D planning for hip implants and analyzes the Italian and Brazilian dealer markets. The target group was surveyed quantitatively, and their acceptance was analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistical evaluation.
The two markets share similarities in their current requirements and conditions. In Italy and Brazil, planning is done intraoperatively by surgeons, which has been identified as an obstacle on several occasions. Acceptance of the new process is therefore mixed and requires supportive measures.
The similarities between the two markets allow for uniform comparability and interpretation. However, the acceptance can be traced back to the lack of preoperative planning among surgeons. It is clear that both markets are rather critical of a switch to preoperative planning, especially 3D planning. Therefore, some measures and further research on surgeons must first be taken before a successful implementation is possible.