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Course of studies
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sustainability first caught greater attention when the Brundtland commission first published their report “Our Common Future”. Since then, a lot has been done to fight against climate change. Sustainability has become one major issue in the daily business of companies. One industry that is surely going to change as a cause of the increased awareness of sustainability issues is the automotive industry. The disruptive electrification push plays an important role in the fast changing industry. E- mobility solutions as a means for more sustainable mobility are demanded more and more by customers. Also, governments shape the change in the industry with new regulations, bonus payments for buying electric cars and their emission targets. All this might sooner or later push traditional combustion engine cars out of the market. New players like Tesla focusing only on electric vehicles are entering the market and traditional car companies are changing their business towards e-mobility as well. That this change works well, companies also will need a well-developed marketing as well as brand positioning strategy and this is where the concept of green marketing kicks in. Broadly spoken, green marketing is the marketing of products that minimize the negative effects on our environment. Therefore, the thesis is generally researching the details of literature on green marketing and brand positioning. Later on, a detailed transition to the automotive industry is made with the analyzing of the three companies Volkswagen, BMW and Tesla. The thesis works out how those three companies managed to transfer their marketing mix into a green one and how this then affected their brand positioning. The thesis discusses the findings critically and gives implications for theory and practice as well as a guide to what needs to be done to be recognized as a green player in the automotive industry.
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.
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.
Change from face-to-face to online mode of lectures due to the Covid-19 pandemic affected greatly the day-to-day life of students of Hochschule Furtwangen University. Therefore, this research paper aims to find out how student productivity has been affected by switching from face-to-face lectures to online or hybrid lectures. In this context, student productivity is defined through input and output, where input is students' time invested in lectures, research, group work, learning, and participation in class, and where output comes from the knowledge that the student has acquired as a result, measured by the grades of the examination or study performance. Hypothesis that the switch from face-to-face lectures to hybrid or fully online lectures has led to an increase in student productivity was formed for this research paper and for that reason, empirical research was conducted. Interviews with several students were performed to identify dimensions affecting student productivity as the basis for the student survey. Dimensions identified are Learning Facilities, Technology Use, Interaction Process, Student Participation and Study Time. The survey was conducted with a random sample of 149 students and analysed using SPSS software. Interviews with HFU professors were carried out to present experts’ opinions on this topic. Lastly, the grade statistics of HFU programmes were analysed to identify output of productivity. Results of the student survey suggest that a total of four dimensions were identified as relevant components of the input and output of the productivity of the students at HFU in connection with the change of the lecture mode, while the dimension Learning Facilities did not show a correlation to the student productivity. Grade statistics improved in winter semester 2020/2021 compared to the winter semester 2019/2020. Expert interviews suggested that the improvement in grades could be attributed to more time spent studying or lower standards of grading. Main hypothesis cannot be completely accepted or rejected, therefore, future research on whether students’ productivity increased in the switch from face-to-face to online mode is necessary.
The purpose of the study is to identify the profile of a start-up founder. In particular, it investigates whether there are some determined personality characteristics which are common among start-up founders. The present paper is questioning which neuropsychological traits and brain areas are responsible for entrepreneurial behavior. Therefore, the main focus was on the correlation between brain areas and individual attitudes or behaviors. After explaining the related basics about the human brain, it is important to locate some key tasks or activities in specific brain regions. Neuroimaging tools such as fMRI and EEG are particularly helpful to explain the reason for specific behaviors because they determine the presence of connection between cognitive processes and brain areas. In the present paper, EEG will be taken into consideration since this method can provide some practical insight into differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. The most important characteristics of entrepreneurs are defined in order to show theoretically whether there is a fundamental difference between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs on a neuropsychological level. Even though there are elements which are emphasized in the personality of start-up founders, further research is required to prove that these aspects determine indisputably entrepreneurial behavior.
The longevity industry has been expanding for several years now, with the goal to prolong not only the lifespan of people but also their healthspan. One of the most remarkable techniques in the field is the CRISPR Cas-9 gene-editing tool, which owing to its flexibility and efficiency, allows humans to develop new treatments to prevent or cure a great variety of diseases. This paper aims to forecast the future state of the CRISPR Cas-9 technology in Germany in 2035 by using the INKA 4 scenario manager software. A total of five areas of influence –– i.e. scientific, economic, demographic, ethical, and legal –– were identified. From those, 11 descriptors were created based on relevant scientific literature and were introduced in the INKA software to develop the scenarios. This process resulted in three clearly differentiated scenarios that exhibit high probabilities of a positive outlook for the CRISPR-Cas9 technology in Germany by 2035.
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.
Financial technology, popularly known as Fintech, has disrupted and revolutionized the financial service sector. Today, institutions such as banks are adapting digital transformation with the help of technological devices. There is no doubt that Fintech has transformed the way we bank. Nevertheless, there has been a growing need of understanding the future of financial institution with a holistic approach. Regulatory and governmental support towards maximizing opportunity, minimizing risk, and integrating financial inclusion is needed to accelerate the economy and attain sustainable development.
The following thesis aims to study financial inclusion and how to achieve it in the Fintech industry. It comprises of four areas of influence; market, social, technology and regulatory while emphasizing on the economic development, social progress, uplifting digital finance and robust regulatory system in the globalized financial market. The research aims to close the gap among the regulatory, economic, technological and social aspects of Fintech and then develop a pathway to attain financial inclusion. In addition, the objective of the research is to provide a comprehensive strategic plan towards a prespecified future in finance. This was achieved with the help of normative scenario planning. The result was calculated using scenario planning software INKA 4. The result consisted of four distinct scenarios supporting the pathway to implement financial inclusion in Fintech sector by the year 2030.
The German banking landscape is currently undergoing a paradigm shift of an unprecedented magnitude. As the financial world is changing, the future of German banks is highly uncertain. A multitude of present-day driving factors will shape the banking world of tomorrow. Therefore, this thesis aims to investigate and analyze the future of the German banking sector until 2030. The concept of scenario planning serves as underlying method for this research. Based on current factors influencing the German banking sector, the present thesis systematically develops coherent future scenarios. The generation of these scenarios is performed with the help of the scenario software INKA 4. This enables to assess a comprehensive picture of the future environment and the interactions between external influencing factors. Based on the most consistent future scenario, implications for the strategies of German banks are derived. As a result, German incumbents can question their strategic orientation and position themselves optimally for the future.
Entrepreneurship research faces a crossroads and a new approach is needed to better understand entrepreneurial behavior. Incorporating neuroscience to comprehend the entrepreneurial mindset seems promising. Nevertheless, the potential of neuroscience for entrepreneurship research is only slowly being realized. Based on an extensive literature review, this thesis examines the emerging role of neuroscience with respect to entrepreneurship. Referring to the model of the entrepreneurial process, this thesis investigates how entrepreneurs discover, exploit, and finally capture opportunities. In this context, explanations regarding trait, expertise, adaptation, and mindset of the entrepreneur are relevant for further examination. Moreover, decision-making in uncertain situations is analyzed. In this context, the dynamic interplay between the reflective and reflexive system is considered. Ultimately, this thesis provides recommendations for organizational innovation to enhance entrepreneurial
activity.
Over the past few decades, there has been an increasing amount of academic literature recognizing the significance of innovation systems. Entrepreneurship is an important component of an innovation system, contributing to the enhancement of regional as well as national innovation. The transfer of knowledge and technology between science and the economy has become particularly important to reinforce overall innovation performance. Today, universities and other institutions of higher education play a crucial role in the system of innovation and have evolved as active and highly relevant participants in the innovation system. Therefore, various supportive measures have been developed to increase the level of innovation at universities and to drive entrepreneurial activities. However, due to the ever-growing entrepreneurial support environment and the great variety of support programs,the distinction between support measures has become unclear. Consequently, the main objective of the present research work is to contribute to the overall understanding of supportive measures at German universities and other institutions of higher education.
Eight experts were interviewed to ensure the compilation of meaningful data. The research findings highlight the importance of a solid network of external experts as well as collaboration with other entrepreneurial institutions. Moreover, the research results indicated that an organizational structure with decentralized decision-making processes and a greater scope of actions enhances operational efficiency. While considering the indistinctness of different support programs and specific terms, although some significant differences were evaluated, overall, the results present a clear tendency toward a more cautious use of specialist terms, therefore substantiating the missing preciseness.
Individual medicine gained increasing popularity in the medical industry in the past years. Especially oncology plays a major role in individual medicine, as significant research has been done in this area in the last decade. In order to provide individual treatment to patients, individualized medicine in cancer therapy uses molecular genetic examination of blood or tumor tissue.
This paper discusses individual treatment approaches for the selected diseases of prostate cancer and leukemia. Individual medicine in prostate cancer is still considered to be in its infancy whereas in leukemia it is already advanced. Conventional treatment in prostate cancer is highly standardized and well-developed and thus, individual approaches in PCa are not yet well-established or well-researched. Therefore, the relevance of individual treatments in prostate cancer is still to be discussed. In contrast to that leukemia has a promising future in the area of individualized medicine. However, individualized treatments are still very expensive and health insurances only cover a limited amount of financial expenses. As genetic testing is becoming more significant and is likely to be used more often in the future, the cost for individual treatments are expected to decrease over time. Also, this paper suggests future implications for the application of individual medicine in Germany in the areas of health care promotion, disease prevention and disease management until the year 2030.
Highlights of the paper:
• Individual medicine in leukemia is already well-established, however necessity of individual approaches in prostate cancer is discussed
• Individual medicine is currently very cost-intensive but increases the quality of life and the lifespan.
• In order to implement individual medicine in the future it is anticipated to improve health care promotion, disease prevention and disease management.
Germany has a long history in the car sector. However, today’s car industry is drastically changing, triggered by the accelerated rise of new technologies, sustainability policies and changing consumer preferences. The purpose of this research project is to forecast, by using the scenario planning software INKA 4, the future of cars in Germany in 2035. The research project focused mainly on cars based on internal combustion engines (ICE), fuel cell vehicles (FCV), battery electric vehicles (BEV) and Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and their charging infrastructure in Germany. Also, the future of autonomous driving vehicles, public transportation and carsharing in Germany were taken into consideration. Considering these factors following four areas of influence were chosen: Technology, Economics, Politics and Social. Within these areas of influence thirteen input factors (descriptors) were defined by research on current literature. The results show three distinct scenarios that reflect a possible shift towards electric mobility, autonomous driving, and an increase in the use of car sharing.
Key findings
The future of cars in Germany is affected by four areas of influence: Technology, Economics, Politics and Social. Among those four areas, a total of thirteen descriptors were selected as an input for the scenario building.
With the software INKA 4 five different scenarios were generated. Three distinctive scenarios were chosen and described to outline the future of cars in Germany in 2035.
It is highly probable that the future cars will be electrified and autonomous and that shared mobility will increase. The extent of the aforementioned change until 2035 depends highly on the German government and customer preferences.
Introduction: Since the first revolution of robotic-assisted surgery officially happened in 2000, the healthcare service worldwide has transformed into a new era due to its superior technological advancements, particularly in laparoscopic surgery. Da Vinci which is seen as a master-slave system and Kymerax which is categorized as a hand-held device are commonly used in robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Whilst a conventional or open method requires a large incision to perform a surgery, laparoscopy - a minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is an advantageous surgical method which reduces an abdominal incision to a minimum, and effectively exploited with robots.
Methods: Based on available articles with the object of robotic surgical surgery, two SWOT analysis for Da Vinci and Kymerax were formulated to understand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each system in comparison with the traditional laparoscopic surgery. From that, the future outlook is anticipated based on the scientific background.
Results: Alongside technological advantages of Da Vinci mainly known as 6-degree of freedom, dexterity enhancement, stereovision, tremor filtering and especially minimal invasive surgery, it still has disadvantages that are not neglectable such as huge investment and lack of haptic feedback. Although the malfunction rate of Da Vinci is not significantly high, surgeons should be aware of it to fix or alter instruments in time. Kymerax is not as advanced as Da Vinci but it can fill in the gap of the Da Vinci which includes thelarge investment and bulky instruments. The Kymerax is the low-cost hand-held device allowing multiple degrees of freedom. It is an optimal combination between traditional performance and robotic performance allowing surgeons to manipulate in their hands and ensure haptic feedback.
Conclusions: Both Da Vinci and Kymerax systems offer superior benefits for medical service due to the ongoing technological growth. The cost-effectiveness of Da Vinci system is currently a problematic issue when medical institutions consider to install them. The surgical instruments market, however, has become highly competitive which is likely leading to the decline of the costly investments. In the digital world nowadays, it will be a promising future for more integrated medical inventions.
Common problems that urbanized areas have to face are an increase in accidents, air and noise pollution, traffic jams, lower road security and reduced available space. The increased amount of carbon emissions (CO2) is creating severe consequences that can be observed in climate change. Smart Mobility can help to put under control and lower the CO2 emissions derived from the transport sector. Thus, the paper investigates the benefits and challenges of Smart Mobility. Then, through a confrontation of two benchmark areas which are successfully adopting Smart Mobility techniques, and the utilization of SWOT and data analysis, it shows that Smart Mobility can effectively lower CO2 emissions from transport. Ultimately, the NEXT-Future Transportation project is proposed as an innovative solution that addresses most of the mobility challenges and incorporates the needs for future transportation.
Iraq offers the two extremes: It is extremely rich on everything from history, people, water, culture and natural resources, and it is extremely instable. Both factors offer the perfect working atmosphere for someone loving risk, challenging danger and wanting to change something on big scale. Having the comfort of living in Germany and writing my Thesis, it allowed me to analyze the following research question: “Is working in Iraq, despite the circumstances, possible?” The answer to this question cannot be black and white. It needs a 360 degree analysis including the political situation, the legal situation, the security situation and many other factors that influence “working in Iraq”.
This Bachelor Thesis therefore moves from broad to specific. First, Iraq is being split up and the specific parts are being described. This serves the intention to clarify how difficult the situation in Iraq is. Then, an outlook on the coming months is given according to my own opinion. Going from Iraq to Italy and back intensifies the view on what was done elsewhere to overcome the “postwar status” and tries to find parallels. Going from broad to specific, the example of a planned German Bakery Shop in Nasiriya allows measuring the ability to work in Iraq on a real example. Therefore, the a Business Plan was conducted. In order to understand if such Business Plan can be applied, interviews were conducted. The interviewees are Samer and Hadeel, a restaurant owner in Nasiriya and a lawyer in Baghdad and Amman (Jordan). 19 questions were asked, summing up the issues discussed in the Bachelor Thesis and giving a clear picture what someone has to deal with when working in Iraq. The result is that working in Iraq as a German graduate is possible.
Concluding, working anywhere around the world is possible as long as someone prepares sufficiently. Personally I decided against opening a German Bakery Shop in Iraq because of several reasons which have nothing to do with the possibility of working in Iraq or not.
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.
How will the future of business schools in Germany look like in 2035? Scenario Planning with INKA 4
(2019)
Business schools have been largely successful in attracting students and producing publications in the last few decades. Nevertheless, this success has raised several concerns. With many variables influencing business schools, it is useful to predict how the future of business schools might look like. Hence, this paper aims to detect current trends in order to forecast and examine the future of German business schools by the year 2035. With the help of the scenario software INKA 4, future scenarios were generated. In order to develop these scenarios, various areas of influence, e.g. Environment, Supply, Demand, Pedagogy, and Technology were identified and conceptualized with regard to current research and literature. The final result consists of four distinct scenarios, which reflect the potential pathway of German business schools in the future.
The notion of frugal innovation or how to do more with less becomes increasingly relevant in a world which faces many severe health care challenges. In general, frugal innovations have the potential to provide low-cost, simple, and valuable solutions to these challenges. Therefore, this research aims to shed light on key success factors and patterns of frugal innovations in the Indian health care sector. For this reason, the research analyzes a sample of nine selected frugal innovations. The frugal innovation examples are examined with respect to their innovation characteristics. Further, the examination of success patterns allows to investigate the potential of reversed innovation in developed countries in order to improve global health. To sum up, the research provides profound insights on the subject of frugal innovations and conclusions on the research questions. Finally, an outlook on future developments in the health care sector and future research are given.
Entrepreneurship is being characterized by innovation and change. An entrepreneurial mindset possesses the ability to simplify business operation processes and consumer products as well as improving service features. Furthermore, entrepreneurship does not only result in economic growth and prosperity, it also accelerates and promotes research and development.
The economy as well as individuals benefit from such innovative inventiveness. Many governmental departments recognize the positive and advantageous effects and therefore want to support and stimulate entrepreneurial activities right from the outset. Therefore, governmental authorities introduced a numerous of different funding pro-grams in recent years, specifically designed for young entrepreneurs.
To enhance start-up activities and to increase the overall entrepreneurial spirit in Ger-many, universities need to expand their educational framework by one component, namely the Third Mission. Hence, universities are not only responsible to promote ed-ucation and research, but also to create an entrepreneurial culture as well as anchoring it in the educational system. The objective is to support and expedite entrepreneurship from its very beginning.
This paper aims to analyze current entrepreneurial business activities, specifically at German universities. Moreover, key success factors, for instance, state subsidy pro-grams as well as business cooperation’s will be presented and analyzed. Hence, the essential objective of this paper is to find appropriate and successful entrepreneurial approaches which are feasible at the Hochschule Furtwangen University.
The phenomenon of social innovation is becoming an increasingly important topic with an increasing number of people implementing different types of social innovation projects. So far, little research has been carried out to understand the structure of the projects and the characteristics of the entrepreneurs and initiators behind. This study aims to close this gap by analyzing 80 social innovation projects in the fields of housing, poverty, immigration and environment as well as by examining 117 founders behind these projects. The main results suggest that the projects are clustered around the metropolitan areas of Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart and tend to be founded relatively recently. No clear tendencies and distinctive characteristics in terms of financing and organization could be observed. The social entrepreneurs tend to be of a younger age and most notably, an overwhelming majority are academics holding at least a bachelor’s degree and even more frequently a master’s degree. Generally, some field-specific differences could as well be observed, such as more engineers being active in the field of environment and more individuals with a social sciences background being active in the poverty sector. However, the findings of this study should not be generalized to the entire social innovation scene in Germany and to all its social entrepreneurs.
Population growth, urbanization and climate change are regarded as the megatrends of today's society. This goes hand in hand with a high consumption of resources and pollution. Indeed, these megatrends are mutually reinforcing. A significant part of this is due to mobility in daily life. Technological change such as digitalization, creates innovative concepts to improve mobility and to deal with these changing circumstances. A comprehensive concept in this respect is mobility as a service. This thesis focuses on the identification of the mobility ecosystem and thus on the various stakeholders. First of all, it deals with the definition of mobility as a service in order to identify the ecosystem in particular in the second step. Mobility is classified and analyzed by working on the basis of secondary literature and a quantitative as well as qualitative methodology in expert interviews. This allows conclusions about the relationships, prerequisites and obstacles within the ecosystem and stakeholders.
The results of the thesis suggest that collaboration within the ecosystem is a prerequisite for the implementation of mobility as a service. Furthermore, that mobility as a service should ensure adaptability, since local infrastructures differ between Germany, USA and China, but also within these countries. This adaption process is iterative. The obstacles are interoperability and the willingness to cooperate. Moreover, the results imply that mobility as a service will assert itself more quickly in urban areas due to factors such as the pressure to act and the availability of mobility services as well as the number of customers.
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.
Vehicles powered by electricity are the future of mobility in Germany. At the present
time, electromobility is rather hesitantly implemented in Germany, particularly due to
concerns regarding charging infrastructure and battery power/technology.
The purpose of this research project is to forecast – by using scenario planning techniques - how electromobility will influence the way we move in Germany by 2035. The outcome are three distinct scenarios that reflect the possible shift towards E-Mobility in Germany, especially taking into consideration the charging infrastructure, different battery technology and type of electric vehicle. In order to generate scientifically significant scenarios, input factors (Descriptors) were designed in accordance with the newest research findings from literature. Additionally, special ratios between all possible manifestations of input factors were defined, compared and evaluated.
Social Innovations in the extended Lake Constance area – an overview of the current activities
(2018)
In recent years the importance of social innovation for societies is rising. Therefore, the European Union realized, that political goals can be successfully achieved through social innovations.1 The concept is offering solutions for social challenges broadly based and in a variety of different fields Thus, the focus of this paper will be to identify social innovation activities in the Lake Constance area and the problems which are being solved through those activities. It will therefore provide a quantitative analysis of the identified projects including the main idea of the activity as well as information about the innovators. The key outcomes of this paper are, that social innovators are mainly focusing on current political challenges such as the refugee crisis. Problems which the society is already facing for a longer period of time, are less focused. It could further be identified, that the majority of social innovators are students or graduates. Also, most of the activities have their origin in bigger cities such as Stuttgart, Karlsruhe or Heidelberg.
The relation between Frugal Innovation and Sustainability is a widely discussed topic in current academic literature. To assess the correlation between these two concepts, a sample of the most frequently mentioned Frugal Innovations was selected. The criteria to evaluate the sustainability potential for each of these cases was built upon the UN Sustainable Development Goals, a global reference indicator. Frugal Innovations among the banking, transport, energy, ICT, water, appliances and healthcare sectors were evaluated. The results suggested a positive contribution and impact of Frugal Innovations towards economic, social and environmental development.
This thesis investigates the effect choice options in e-commerce applications have on consumers’ decision making. Previous research showed that a large number of options
can affect consumers negatively. However, the conditions for such choice overload are unclear. After reviewing the existing research, the amount of information (entropy)
contained in a choice set and individual differences were determined as possible influencing factors in an online environment. In a choice experiment, choice sets with
varying information loads and an assessment of the Big Five personality traits were used to test the impact of the two identified factors on choice avoidance behavior. Results from chi-square-tests and a logistic regression model suggest choice overload but without entropy having an effect. A logistic regression model revealed that extraverted consumers are easier overloaded. A low Neuroticism score was found to be related to less occurrence of a too-much-choice-effect. Consumers with a high Openness score on the other hand choose one of the presented options more often and were therefore less often
overwhelmed by the assortment. An interaction effect between personality and the amount of entropy was not found. These findings extend the research on choice overload and offer valuable input for marketers targeting consumers online.
Rising globalization and digitization resulted in crises for the fashion industry. High competition and the interconnectedness of the consumers rule the market and put it under pressure. Owing to the growing power consumers possess, the requirements towards the fashion players are increasing. Customer experience is frequently discussed these days by academics as well as practitioners and emphasized as a competitive advantage. Yet, it is difficult to measure and to track its consequences.
Since customer experience is elusive and no industry specific measurement scale is defined, at first this work aims to identify relevant touch points of customer experience in the fashion industry by dint of a focused interview. The further objective of this paper is to enhance the comprehension of the touch points’ effects or rather the relationship of customer experience with brand loyalty. This is approached by a questionnaire based on the preceding qualitative analysis and the resulting model. This model defines the customer experience touch points as the independent variables while brand loyalty is examined as the dependent variable. The conducted linear regression analysis reveals a moderate effect of customer experience on brand loyalty and the touch points concerning the products as most relevant in this relationship. Additionally, the digitization aspect is addressed by the examination of the relationship in the offline and online channels separately. With respect to this, the present study recognizes that the extent of the customer experience’s impact on brand loyalty and the significant touch points vary across channels to a certain degree.