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Funding is the key to success for a start-up. Since start-ups are often operating in innovative industries, they rarely receive loans from traditional debt lenders such as banks. However, start-ups do have the option of acquiring money for company growth through equity financing. One possibility for this is venture capital. In this scope, Germany is significantly behind the United States of America due to various aspects. This problem shows the relevance of the topic and justifies the critical examination of this subject. This work aims to analyze the German venture capital market, its development over the last 20 years, its advantages on the one hand and its disadvantages on the other hand as well as its future perspectives. Beyond that, the differences between the German and the American venture capital market and its success factors are presented. To answer all research questions, a broad literature review in combi-nation with several conducted expert interviews, which are evaluated on the principle of the qualitative content analysis according to Mayring, is applied. The results of the analysis indicate that there are mainly three fields that are crucial for a successful venture capital market: Political actions, attitudes of the society, and the economic situation. Within these fields, some aspects of Germany are considered worse than in the U.S. In the United States of America politics often intervenes to create better conditions for investments via venture capital. Besides, the risk affinity of society in the U.S. is a major advantage compared to the risk-averse society in Germany. This is complemented by a pronounced start-up mentality in the U.S. and the positive attitude of society towards the failure of a new start-up. In Germany, the opposite can be found in both aspects. Nevertheless, the German venture capital market has developed positively in recent years and has some advantages, such as a wide range of government grants for start-ups and the opportunity for investors to earn high returns on the initial investment. All experts that were interviewed are very confident that venture capital in Germany will continue to develop positively. They identified the reasons for this evolution in an increasing number of start-ups and better skills among the founders, which increases a start-ups' chances of success. For this reason, the experts forecast rising yield expectations, as well as an increasing number of venture capital providers, and venture capital takers. This research also indicates that the volumes of venture capital funds will rise, and the COVID-19-pandemic will accelerate the development of venture capital in Germany. The results of the research clearly show that despite some weaknesses, the German venture capital market has been on a good path for several years, and that there is a high probability that the growth will continue in the future.
Während der Digitalisierung stehen viele Bereiche des Unternehmens vor einer digitalen Transformation. Das Controlling steht auch vor großen Veränderungen, die viele Chancen und Risiken mit sich bringen. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung und der damit verbundenen neuen Technologien wie Big Data, Business Analytics und Machine Learning auf das Controlling zu übertragen. Es stellt sich die Frage, welche Auswirkungen die Digitalisierung auf das Controlling haben wird und wie sich die Rolle des Controllers in Zukunft ändern wird. Zur Beantwortung der Forschungsfrage wurden die neuen Technologien definiert und auf das Controlling übertragen. Mit Hilfe wichtiger Studien war es möglich, die Rollen des Controllers in der Zukunft zu definieren und die Chancen und Risiken zu erläutern. Als Ergebnis dieser Arbeit wurde festgestellt, dass das Controlling vor weitreichenden Veränderungen steht und der Einsatz neuer Technologien die Rolle des Controllers verändern wird. Die Ergebnisse sind im Fazit zusammengefasst.
The number of companies around the globe that are utilizing budgets to cut their costs is rising, especially in times of crisis. However, there seems to be an abundance of budgeting methods. Two of the most well-known methods are Traditional Incremental Budgeting and Zero-Based Budgeting. These two methods will be compared in this research paper on ‘How does Zero-Based Budgeting affect a company’s performance as compared to Traditional Incremental Budgeting?’. In order to give a satisfactory answer to this question annual reports and figures of Mondelez International, Inc. were utilized as the snack and food company has used both budgeting methods in the past.
The research showed that there is a measurable effect on which budgeting method is used by a company. However, the favourable option for one specific company depends on a variety of reasons.
For a couple of years, the comparison of active and passive investing has been a big topic in the financial world. For this reason, an abundance of literature on this topic exists and multiple studies have been carried out. The COVID-19 crisis came fast and only little is known about the impact on ETFs and active funds. This scientific paper critically examines both investment strategies during the COVID-19 crisis. The goal is to identify important factors and indicators for investors and whether ETFs or active funds are crisis-proof. To answer these questions a qualitative analysis was conducted. A sample of five experts regarding ETFs and active funds were interviewed with the same questions. The combination of the literature and the qualitative analysis shows that there is no crisis-proof strategy. Nevertheless, a broad and global diversified portfolio and a balanced asset allocation are important factors to make a fund more resistant against a crisis. In addition, the Sharpe ratio was identified as an important indicator for investors. The purpose of this paper is to add value for private investors and enable them to make rational decisions when choosing a fund based on the given indicators.
Die voranschreitende Globalisierung führt zu einer staatsübergreifenden Verschmelzung von Märkten, wodurch eine internationale Steuerplanung notwendig wird. Konzerne verlagern ihre Funktionen in das Ausland und gleichzeitig werden steuerrechtliche Anforderungen verschärft. Zusätzliche Vorschriften werden implementiert, um Gewinnverkürzungen oder Gewinnverlagerungen einzuschränken und um die Gefahr einer Doppelbesteuerung zu verringern. Neue Auflagen führen allerdings zu Zielkonflikten, was für Unternehmensgruppen steuerrechtliche Risiken und erhöhten administrativen Aufwand bedeutet. Mittelgroße international tätige Familienunternehmen wie die BLOCK Transformatoren-Elektronik GmbH stoßen dabei vermehrt auf Probleme und Unsicherheiten entstehen bei der Umsetzung von steuerrechtlichen Anforderungen, welche durch Betriebsprüfungen angestoßen werden. Die Motivation dieser Thesis ist demzufolge, sich ändernde unternehmensspezifische Anforderungen an ein Verrechnungspreissystem zur Vergütung von europäischen Konzern-Vertriebsgesellschaften in Einklang mit steuerrechtlichen Vorgaben zu bringen.
Das aktuell angewandte System wird dabei hinterfragt und es wird untersucht, ob eine geeignetere Verrechnungspreismethode für den vorliegenden Sachverhalt identifiziert und angewandt werden kann und dabei dem rechtlichen Rahmen gerecht wird. Auf die Definition des Sachverhaltes folgt eine Vergleichbarkeitsanalyse, welche eine Funktions- und Risikoanalyse der beteiligten Unternehmen, eine Untersuchung und Prüfung der betriebswirtschaftlichen Anwendbarkeit der vom Gesetzgeber zugelassenen Verrechnungspreismethoden und eine steuerrechtliche Überprüfung der potentiellen Methoden beinhaltet.
Als Ergebnis der Forschung wurden bei der aktuell angewandten Verrechnungspreismethode wesentliche Risiken und Probleme bei langfristiger Anwendung festgestellt. Des Weiteren wurde eine Methode identifiziert, welche in der Unternehmenspraxis anwendbar ist, den unternehmensspezifischen Anforderungen entspricht und steuerrechtlichen Anforderungen gerecht wird. Durch eine Umstrukturierung könnten die europäischen Vertriebsgesellschaften regelkonform vergütet und eine Planung und Kontrolle der Standorte eingeführt werden.
Many companies, especially in the United States, use share buybacks as part of their distribution policy to increase shareholder value. Even though share buybacks send a positive signal to the capital market participants often leading to higher stock prices, they are not always advantageous for investors. Little is known about share buybacks in the covid-19 pandemic 2020. This scientific paper aims to critically examine share buybacks concerning the current crisis by applying a benchmarking process to the performance of companies with huge share buyback programs. Moreover, experts in the field of study analyze the reasons for the performance and give an outlook as part of two further research questions. Using the S&P 500 as a benchmark, the analysis shows that these companies significantly underperformed during the crisis. According to the experts, capital-intensive, cyclical value stocks with low multiples and high debt have repurchased massive amounts in the past, leading to failure in investing in the business model's future viability and thus of the company. The crisis highlighted the weaknesses of share buybacks, which could lead to fundamental changes in the future. This research's findings are useful for investors who want to make more rational and differentiated investment decisions concerning share buybacks, as part of their due diligence process, during the next crisis.
This study is aimed at valuing two companies in the IT services industry with different valuation approaches. Therefore, the preconditions for an accurate and meaningful business value as well as the procedure, strengths and limitations of these approaches are examined. Additionally, the accuracy of the results is determined through comparison of valuation estimates with their corresponding stock prices occurring within the three months following the business valuations.
Furthermore, it is examined if one valuation approach is superior in terms of accuracy. Finally, to verify the quality and explanatory power of the valuation results, they are compared with the outcomes of the study on the information content of equity analyst reports by Paul Asquith, Michael B. Mikhail and Andrea S. Au. The results of the business valuations show that within the three-month period, no price target was exactly achieved by the corresponding stock prices.
Furthermore, no valuation approach could be determined that is significantly more accurate than the others. It can be concluded that despite some limitations in the explanatory power of the valuations, the average percentage approximations of Mastercard’s and Visa’s stock prices to target prices were only slightly below those of the comparative study. In view of the fact that the research capacities and experience behind these business valuations are significantly lower than those of the top analysts in the comparative study, the results are considered consistent with the outcomes of the study on the information content of equity analyst reports.
Despite the fact, that women’s underrepresentation in finance is tried to be encountered by legal regulations, little research has been conducted on why most women still decide to not pursue a career in finance. Thus, finance currently remains to be a male-dominating sector. However, which potential consequences homogeneous versus heterogenous groups in finance have on the success of financial decision-making results in companies in the long term is still little studied. According to this research gap, this thesis sets out to research the cause of gender imbalance as well as the impact of the perception of gender differences in finance from a neuroscientific perspective.
First, it is examined whether distinct biological factors in men and women lead to different interests, skills, and abilities that explain a superior natural suitability to perform in finance. Further, it is discussed how the brain processes financial decisions and which internal- as well as external factors impact decision-making. This will be set in context with major findings from psychologist Iain McGilchrist and his hemispheres-approach, and Daniel Kahnemann and his dual-process theory. Further, it is investigated how particularly women respond to stereotype-threat, applying the latest theories by neuroscientist Gina Rippon, and how this influences women’s ability to perform in the financial sector. According to this, it is explained how deep-rooted gender roles, stereotyping and unconscious biases lead to self-fulfilling prophecies in performance, and thus, restrain the advancement of gender diversity in finance. Finally, it is researched in what way homogenous groups in finance are susceptible to overconfidence and groupthink and to what extend enhancing gender diversity can improve financial decision-making. According to this, neuroscientific strategies that counteract unconscious biases and irrational decision-making in finance are discussed.
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.
An analysis of the inter-rater reliability of ESG ratings within the consumer staples industry
(2020)
The aim of this study is to gain further insights into whether ESG ratings of the same firms from different rating agencies differ. To this end, this study examines and compares in particular the ratings of the providers Bloomberg, Sustainalytics and MSCI for companies in the consumer staples industry. The study comes to the conclusion that there are in some cases significant differences between these three providers in terms of the respective ESG ratings. Furthermore, a company-size bias is shown for Bloomberg and Sustainalytics ESG ratings. It appears that these agencies rate companies with a large market capitalization better than firms with a lower market value. These large discrepancies in ESG ratings of companies within the consumer staples industry and individual rating problems, such as the company-size bias, mean that today's ESG ratings tend to be not reliable and not valid. The study shows that ESG ratings will have to change a lot in the near future in order to contribute positively to the investment selection of socially responsible investors.