Business Strategy
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This thesis addresses the relationship between sustainability action and firm competitiveness. Through the analysis of literature and by conducting a survey on consumer demands and preferences, the question whether sustainability action can help companies in the consumer electronics sector gain a competitive advantage is answered.
This thesis comes to the conclusion, that sustainability action can yield many advantages for companies, when executed properly. In general, companies with a strong sustainability performance reduce their production cost, have easier access to capital and labor, show financial and stock performance on the same level or higher than less sustainable companies, reduce stakeholder risk and gain consumer goodwill which can materialize into a competitive advantage. Regarding the consumer electronics sector,
this thesis shows that most consumers would prefer more sustainable products over less sustainable ones and would be willing to pay a price premium. What seems to be a big issue in the consumer electronics market is, that even though companies like Apple already act on the issue of sustainability, they are either doing a bad job or having a hard
time communicating their sustainability initiatives to consumers.
The aim of this paper is to examine the role of packaging design as a strategic marketing tool in the fast-moving consumer goods industry and how this can be done most effectively to appeal to multiple generations. The research question is: how could companies in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry design their packaging to appeal to different generations?
To answer the research question, a quantitative online survey was carried out targeting consumers of generations X, Y, and Z in order to find out what they expect from product packaging. In addition, qualitative expert interviews were conducted to gain a deeper insight into the FMCG market and the role of packaging.
Empirical research showed that packaging is an essential marketing tool when it considers certain conditions, such as general consumer demands and important megatrends. In addition, it was found that neither consumers nor brands place much value on different generational backgrounds in packaging but rather on common values across generations. However, the generational background of the consumers could serve as a guideline for concrete target group definitions.
This shows that packaging is essential for consumers and brands today. On this basis, it is advisable to follow a packaging strategy that combines generations and common consumer values in order to be as competitive as possible in the FMCG market.
Einfluss des Klimawandels auf die deutsche Weinindustrie - Zukunftsanalyse für die deutschen Winzer
(2022)
Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit gibt einen Überblick über die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die deutsche Weinindustrie. Das Ziel war es, die zukünftigen Risiken wie auch Chancen für die deutschen Winzer zu ermitteln und anhand der Ergebnisse Handlungsempfehlungen für die zukünftige Weinindustrie zu entwickeln. Um die Forschungsfragen zu beantworten, wurde eine Szenario- Analyse durchgeführt, welche sich an den deutschen Winzern orientiert. Dabei wurden die Einflüsse betrachtet und anhand dieser wurden unterschiedliche Zukunftsprojektionen erstellt. Die Szenario-Analyse zeigte, dass die deutsche Weinindustrie bei den aktuellen Entwicklungen des Klimawandels deutlich als Gewinner hervorgeht. Dennoch müssen Winzer und andere Akteure der Wein- industrie heute bereits wichtige Entscheidungen treffen und sich den Bedingun- gen anpassen um in der Zukunft die entstehen Chancen nutzen zu können.
Als einer der größten Automobilzulieferer weltweit, ist auch die ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF) ein Unternehmen, das sich maßgeblich von der Transformation in Richtung E- Mobilität beeinflusst sieht. Gerade die Erweiterung des Produktportfolios um Komponenten für die E-Mobilität, wie beispielsweise dem elektrischen Motor oder der Leistungselektronik, bringt eine Vielzahl an internen Herausforderungen für die Organisation mit sich. Eine dieser Herausforderungen ist die Schaffung von Transparenz hinsichtlich der zukünftig benötigten Ressourcen, sowie die effiziente Nutzung der vorhandenen Ressourcen im globalen Produktentstehungsprozess. Ziel ist es einerseits das konventionelle Produktportfolio weiterzuentwickeln und andererseits die Entwicklung neuer Anwendungen weiter vorantreiben zu können, die das Unternehmen auf lange Sicht wettbewerbsfähig halten sollen.
Die Erstellung dieser Arbeit wurde dabei im Rahmen der operativen Planung der Division E des ZF-Konzerns angestoßen und soll die Entscheidungsfindung in der Budgetierung für diesen Planungsprozess maßgeblich verbessern. Konkret befasst sich diese Arbeit daher mit der Entwicklung eines potenziellen Konzepts, das neben der Erstellung eines Forecast Modells (im Deutschen: „Vorschaurechnung“) auch die Implementierung eines Regelprozesses am Beispiel der ZF Friedrichshafen AG vorsieht. Grundlage des Forecasts bildet ein qualitativer Ansatz, dessen Ziel es ist für jeden Produkttyp, der sich im Projektportfolio einer Organisation befindet, eine Schablone des Ressourcenbedarfs jeder beteiligten Funktion für ein tendenziell einfaches/mittleres und schweres Projekt zu generieren. Die Schablone soll dabei den Ressourcenbedarf über die gesamte Projektlaufzeit hinweg betrachten und abhängig von den unterschiedlichen Phasen im Projekt ausgefüllt werden. Durch die Klassifizierung aller relevanten Projekte einer Organisation in eine Komplexitätsstufe entsteht ausgehend von den Projektstart Daten ein aggregiertes Gesamtkapazitätengebirge, dass den Gesamtressourcenbedarf bis zu einem spezifischen Zeitpunkt abbilden kann. Das erstellte Konzept ist dabei aus den Erkenntnissen einer wissenschaftlichen Literaturrecherche und den Anforderungen aus der Praxis resultiert und soll durch eine Evaluierung mögliche weitere Verbesserungspotentiale für die Anwendung in anderen Organisationen prüfen.
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.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine how process mining might enhance and benefit processes to increase the competitive advantage, while also examining the difficulties businesses are facing when implementing process mining and the purpose for which they have implemented it. Presentations of cases from various industries are backed up by in-person interviews with representatives of various businesses. The findings show that process mining is a tool that users highly recommend since it produces results that have never been seen before, regardless of the field in which it is used and regardless of their initial purpose for choosing such a concept. It also emphasizes the importance of the staff and people in putting a new idea into practice, as well as their obstacles embracing anything new.
Businesses that are competing for an advantage knock on many doors. The last ten years have seen many businesses of all kinds open their doors to process mining. A notion that identifies their shortcomings, provides them with room to grow and gives them transparency. One would assume that firms' focus is on keeping costs low in today's environment, where expenses climb enormously daily, therefore that's why they introduce innovative concepts. That may be true at first, but once the concept's genuine usefulness is realized, their focus is simple to change. Companies today recognize the need of process optimization if they wish to operate with a competitive edge and have a sound business plan. Until businesses decide to test the idea themselves, the network effect is important in such situations.
Since the concept hasn't been on the market for very long and not many companies have had experience with it thus far, it was observed that the results of the literature review with regard to the content of the interviews were practically comparable.
Finally, this paper provides recommendations for a transition from the conventional business models that firms are still using to more modern technical, data-based approaches. Only a broad analysis and conclusion are possible with the sample size of eleven companies and ten specialists.
Die Kooperation zwischen Start-ups und etablierten Unternehmen in Form von Corporate Venturing hat in den letzten Jahren weiter an Interesse gewonnen. Diese Zusammenarbeit ist mit zahlreichen vorteilhaften Aspekten für beide Parteien verbunden, die die Unternehmen für sich zu nutzen versuchen. Um die Zusammenarbeit so erfolgreich wie möglich zu gestalten, war das Ziel dieser Arbeit, die Beantwortung folgender Forschungsfragen: Zunächst galt es herauszufinden, welche Corporate Venturing Instrumente von Start-ups im verarbeitenden Gewerbe bei der Kooperation mit etablierten Unternehmen eingesetzt werden. Darauf aufbauend wurde die Frage „Welche Handlungsempfehlungen können Start-ups im verarbeitenden Gewerbe zum Einsatz von Corporate Venturing Tools gegeben werden?“ beantwortet.
Eine qualitative Studie unterstützt die Beantwortung der Forschungsfragen, indem sie Einblicke in die praktische Anwendung von Corporate Venturing bei Kooperationen mit befragten Start-ups im verarbeitenden Gewerbe gibt. Die Fragen in den Interviews und Online-Umfragen wurden sowohl offen als auch geschlossen gestellt und richteten sich nach der Innovationsphase, in der sich das Unternehmen befindet, sowie den Motiven für eine Zusammenarbeit, der Art und Dauer der Kooperation und den Erfahrungen mit den eingesetzten Corporate Venturing Tools. Demnach können Start-ups nach Innovationsphase, Innovations- und Kooperationszielen sowie dem damit verbundenen Bedarf an individueller Unterstützung den einzelnen Kooperationsinstrumenten zugeordnet werden, um durch den gezielten Einsatz dieser Instrumente eine effiziente und zielgerichtete Zusammenarbeit beider Parteien zu ermöglichen.
This paper aims to create a foundation for further, in-depth research of the topic Indigenous entrepreneurship in Colombia and other countries, as well as to facilitate the analysis of obstacles in Indigenous businesses. To answer the research question, seven experts are interviewed using semi-structured interview guides based on several deductive categories. The findings are then analysed through a thematic content analysis before they are presented and discussed.
The results show that there are various inter-connected obstacles impeding more success of Indigenous businesses in Colombia, which are not sufficiently studied and addressed. The most important obstacles are corruption and marginalization, as well as resulting conditions like a lack of infrastructure and education. This study emphasizes the importance of, and encourages the realization of further,
profound research regarding this and related topics.
The sale of insurance policies through the payment of commissions to intermediaries, such as agents, is a common practice in the insurance sector. As a consequence of this compensation method, intermediaries must weigh-off between increasing their commission-based income and offering clients suitable low-priced policies. A novel business model seeks to address this issue by substituting this commission-fee-based approach with a subscription-based approach. Although a company already applies this business model with a minor customer base, there is a lack of information about whether and under which circumstances it can be financially profitable. To obtain transparency about the financial prospects of this business model, a corporate financial model was created, through which seven scenarios were modeled and financial key figures compared. Three scenarios simulate distribution via a direct sales channel through the company workforce, and four scenarios via an indirect sales channel consisting of external intermediaries. The comparison of the scenarios indicates that this commission- free business model can be profitable in the long term regardless of the sales channel selection. Yet the results show that distribution via the indirect channel can be perceived as more profitable. By optimizing processes in both channels and by adjusting the remuneration for intermediaries in the indirect channel, the financial prospects for all scenarios can be further increased.
The aim of the thesis is to apply the theoretical ideas of the internal analysis and the blue ocean strategy to the case of Nintendo and their then newly released Wii console. In doing so the author will address the question about the success of a console that became a worldwide success despite its technical inferiority compared to its competitors based on the swift in the corporate strategy including the internal strengths of the company.
It will explain in detail how the internal analysis can be used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a company which when combined with a specific business strategy, can lead to sustainable competitive advantage and the creation of a blue ocean.
For this purpose, the author uses the internal analysis tools of the value chain such as the VRIO framework as well as the blue ocean strategy derived by Kim and Mauborgne.
In the context of the Thesis I helped myself above all with the books of the creators of the models. In addition, from Internet sources and newspaper reports since one finds in the context of the investigation for consoles few technical literature.
During my application of the models I finally came to the conclusion that Nintendo has implemented the theoretical models in the best possible way and on the basis of these it is possible to follow the process of company restructuring. Moreover, through the theoretical models it was possible to validate the strengths and weaknesses of the company and to put them in context.