Open Access

The new VUCA world leads to faster processes in companies, why the strategic planning for employee training has changed. The company Continental AG in Villingen therefore wants to introduce an LMS in shopfloor. The introduction of a new learning platform leads to a change in the learning culture. This paper aims to answer the research question: “How can a learning culture be created with the help of the introduction of an LMS?” Thereby barriers and success factors that promote a learning culture by using an LMS will be noted. To answer the research question, a qualitative research study was conducted. Based on conducted expert interviews, formed categories were used to answer the research question. The analysis shows that marketing of LMS leads to an increase in acceptance of the LMS. Created frameworks support continuous learning and by means of the defined strategy the implementation of independent learning can take place. With the help of the effectiveness and the implementation of the goals, the learning culture can now be measured and promoted. Further research could be to determine the influence of voluntary use on the learning culture.

Important prior studies regarding customers purchasing behaviour proved that customers tend to avoid products showing extreme deflections in attributes and feel more comfortable purchasing articles with a balance in attributes (compromise option). Hence, for marketers, supermarket chains etc., it can be of an advantage knowing whether this effect can also be measured or even be amplified in where the spatial middle of a shelf is occupied with the compromise option. We hypothesized that the tendency towards the compromise option, eventually even higher in the spatial middle position, can also be observed in an in-store experiment with real-life circumstances. In order to fulfil our study, we worked with a hardware store in southern Germany. In total, we sold 610 items consisting of 5 different products with each 3 alternatives. The result corroborated our hypothesis partly as it showed in some cases, the compromise option was indeed preferred when in the middle of a choice set. Nevertheless, in many cases, products on extreme position with “extreme” attributes were preferred. Leading to the conclusion that other factors like the brand may have higher importance in purchasing decisions.

The aim of this study is to understand the concept of Ethical Branding from the perspective of Generation Z. This umbrella question was divided into three research questions: 1. What constitutes an ethical brand for Generation Z, 2. What is Generation Z´s attitude towards ethical brands, and 3. How will the future of ethical brands look like? For this, ten individual online interviews with undergraduate students were conducted. Findings reveal that young people view Ethical Branding as an important personal issue. Members of Generation Z view an ethical brand as holding values such as fairness, honesty, integrity, and consideration at its core and consistently acting according to these values. This manifests itself in the fulfillment of environmental, social, legal, and economic responsibilities. Participants depict a largely positive outlook for ethical brands as society – in particular young consumers – becomes more aware of the importance of mindful and responsible consumption, challenging existing brands in the future. Companies should therefore focus on delivering what they promise and aligning all business activities if they want to be perceived by Generation Z as a truly ethical brand.

In modern industrial production lines, the integration and interconnection of various different manufacturing components, like robots, laser cutting machines, milling machines, CNC-machines, etc. allows for a higher degree of autonomous production on the shop floor. Manufacturers of these increasingly complex machines are beginning to equip their business models with bidirectional data flows to other factories. This is creating a digital, cross-company shop floor infrastructure where the transfer of information is controlled by digital contracts. To establish a trusted ecosystem, the new technology "blockchain" and a variety of technology stacks must be combined while ensuring security. Such blockchain-based frameworks enable bidirectional trust across all contract partners. Essential data flows are defined by specific technical representation of contract agreements and executed through smart contracts.This work describes a platform for rapid cross-company business model instantiation based on blockchain for establishing trust between the enterprises. It focuses on selected security aspects of the deployment- and configuration processes applied by the industrial ecosystem. A threat analysis of the platform shows the critical security risks. Based on an industrial dynamic machine leasing use case, a risk assessment and security analysis of the key platform components is carried out.

This research examines whether a company's popularity is a determining factor for its attractiveness among employees. For this purpose, two groups of subjects were asked to rate the attractiveness of an identical job advertisement. The only difference between the groups was that one group was led to believe that it was the job advertisement of a well-known company, whereas the other group was presented with the advertisement of a rather unknown, but in terms of activity and prestige comparable company. The results suggest that the familiarity of the company does indeed influence popularity to a significant degree. Implications of this finding are also further explored.

Understanding how consumers choose between alternatives and how they use the context in doing so is the aim of numerous consumer behaviour studies. The effect of extremeness aversion has been found to be a replicable phenomenon in this field. According to this context effect, alternatives with extreme numerical attributes are less likely to be chosen than the alternative with intermediate attributes in a choice set. A new research direction regarding extremeness aversion considers not only these numerical attributes of a choice set but also the implications of the spatial dimension. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that there could also be a preference for the spatial middle in a choice set. As the phenomenon of extremeness aversion corresponds with decision uncertainty, this research aimed to investigate numerical and spatial extremeness aversion in a product class of high uncertainty and complexity. Thus, consumer preferences regarding the product class of wine were analysed in different choice architectures. Interviews in a wine specialist store and an online survey were conducted with a total number of 924 participants. The study’s results are not consistent over both data collection methods. However, independently of each other, they support the notion that consumer choices may be partly influenced by a preference for the numerical middle option, as well as by a preference for the spatial middle option.

This thesis explores how meat-eating consumers may be able to rationalize the consumption of conventional meat by believing to substitute a certain amount of it for organic meat. The underlying rationale is that the positive associations elicited by the organic label and the favorable beliefs consumers have formed about organic meat enable them to use it as a moral license. Building on cognitive dissonance theory, this work specifically investigated whether (1) meat-eaters perceive organic meat better than vegetarians and (2) meat-eaters overestimate how much organic meat they consume. German meat-eating and vegetarian participants were recruited for a study (n=156) to answer these questions. The results show, first, that organic was generally rated as better than conventional meat on all dimensions surveyed, and to a greater extent by meat-eating than by vegetarian respondents. Second, meat-eating participants on average reported estimates of organic meat consumption that were significantly higher than the population mean, indicating that consumers may not eat as much organic meat as they believe. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that organic meat might be used to rationalize unsustainable food choices.

Die bisherige Forschung zu nachhaltigen und sozial verantwortlichen Investitionen konnte finanzielle, nichtfinanzielle und soziale Einflussfaktoren für die Investitionsentscheidung nachweisen. Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Identifikation der wichtigsten Motiven und Barrieren, die junge Menschen in Deutschland beim Investieren wahrnehmen. Dafür wurde eine Umfrage mit 354 Teilnehmern, die zwischen 18 und 25 Jahre alt waren, durchgeführt. Es wurden Daten zu neun Motiven und elf Barrieren erhoben. Entgegen der Annahme, dass nichtfinanzielle Motive überwiegen, zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass junge Menschen vor allem an einen Trend von nachhaltigen und sozial verantwortlichen Geldanlagen glauben und davon profitieren möchten. Junge Menschen sind demnach vom Wachstum des Marktes überzeugt. Als wichtigste Barriere wurde Informationsdefizite der Anleger angenommen. Die Erkenntnisse aus der Studie zeigen jedoch, dass für junge Menschen die Intransparenz der Anlagen die relevanteste Barriere darstellt. Unternehmen, Anbieter und regulierende Marktteilnehmer sollten, um das Wachstum des Marktes zu fördern, Maßnahmen einleiten, die diese Barriere abbaut.

Can the different framing of price promotions decrease consumer value perception and their willingness to pay? Prior research provides evidence of differences in consumer perception of economically equivalent monetary and non-monetary price promotions. In detail, many research works suggest that non-monetary promotions positively affect consumer perception and are therefore preferred over monetary ones that are associated with a drop in quality. Results suggest that this biased consumer behavior is caused by the framing of the promotion, causing difference in cognitive processing and dissimilarities in perception of benefits and product quality. We put this theoretical foundation to the test on the Turkish consumer market of non-durable goods, in order to contrast effects on consumers of the economically equivalent formats ‘50% discount’ as a monetary and ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ as a non-monetary promotion. In particular, the focus was set on analyzing attractiveness perception of the two promotion types and the development of WTP pre- and post-promotion. To achieve this, the non-durable goods rice and antibacterial soap were selected as product stimuli to stage scenarios before, during and after a promotion period. Four sets of questionnaires were shared on social media and distributed to a total of 919 participants via randomization generator. The survey results put forward empirical validation of product-related decrease in value perception as a consequence of both promotion types, namely the ‘promotional effect’. Nevertheless, our data provide no evidence for the ‘framing effect’ in neither attractiveness perception nor post-promotional WTP. This paper aims to bridge the gap on empirical research of key theoretical implications of promotional impact on consumer behavior and to benefit domestic and foreign marketing managers conducting business operations on the Turkish market.

Zur Stabilisierung der Konjunktur im Zuge der Covid-19-Krise hat die Bundesregierung Deutschlands mit der vom 01. Juli bis 31. Dezember 2020 eingeführten temporären Mehrwertsteuersenkung auf ein noch neuartiges konjunkturpolitisches Instrument zurückgegriffen. Dieses ist zentraler Teil eines mit 130 Milliarden dotierten Konjunkturpakets. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist, die Wirksamkeit zentraler Elemente der Konjunkturpolitik anhand der damit verbundenen Anforderungen zu untersuchen und die Mehrwertsteuersenkung in diesem Kontext auf ihre Eignung zur Konjunkturstimulierung zu überprüfen. Zur empirischen Untersuchung wurden Experteninterviews mit Wirtschaftswissenschaftlern und betroffenen Verbänden durchgeführt. Die ersten richtungsweisenden Erkenntnisse aus den Interviews, Praxisbeispielen und bestehender Theorie zeigen, dass die Mehrwertsteuersenkung zwar zeitnah und temporär umgesetzt werden konnte, jedoch als wenig zielgerichtet und effektiv zu bewerten ist. Der von der Bundesregierung erhoffte Konjunktureffekt ist als gering zu beurteilen und kam Krisengewinnern stärker zu Gute als besonders betroffenen Branchen. Im Kontext der pandemiebedingten Krise wird zudem die grundsätzliche Wirksamkeit nachfrageorientierter Maßnahmen sowie die praktische Handhabung und zeitliche Koordinierung der Mehrwertsteuersenkung kritisch hinterfragt.

The topic of traditional fashion retailers fighting for their position against growing e-commerce suppliers has been omnipresent in recent years. Therefore, it is important to understand what possibilities modern technology and innovation has to offer, and how these innovative technologies can be leveraged to achieve traditional brick-and-mortar-retailer’s goal of staying relevant and competitive. The objective of this thesis is to examine and compare the effectiveness of different in-store digitalization concepts and technologies in retail organisations, analyzing different challenges such as the practical implementation in stores, customer adoption and acceptance factors in context of socio-demographic, and measuring the success of the concepts. Also, the current situation will be explored to see what is already being done today and where there is more potential using different approaches and technologies. For this purpose, a variety of studies, papers and other literature will be analyzed and put into context with the research topic. Concluding the thesis, we find that all technologies and its practical applications affect relevant variables in different models such as TAM, the convenience/social presence model, and the customer decision-making process. Besides that, the socio-demographic variables geography, age and gender all influence adoption and readiness towards technology to a certain extent. Finally, we give examples on how the technologies can influence classic fashion retail KPIs.

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.

In 2013 China's President Xi Jinping announced a new project. In his vision, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) creates and opens trade routes between China and western countries, mostly the Middle East, Central Asia, Afrika, and Europe, via maritime and land routes. These trade corridors should establish and improve trade relationships often by high investments in the infrastructure. The motivation behind the initiative is manifold. On the one hand, China wants to become more independent from the Western industrialized countries by building a new economic system. On the other hand, it wants to consolidate and expand its geopolitical influence. China's state-owned banks have been the largest investors in the Belt and Road Initiative so far, but China has also been able to attract major EU countries such as Germany, France, the UK, and others to jointly establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and invest in BRI projects through it. Although German companies are hoping to participate in the Belt and Road because they expect significant economic benefits, the German government is refraining from concluding an agreement with China for the time being. The EU is somewhat skeptical about the initiative, but no sanctions or interventions have been taken from its side so far. Yet, the EU is split, and countries such as Greece or Italy have already signed an agreement with China and thus received financial support for their infrastructure. This bachelor thesis explains the Belt and Road Initiative in detail, tries to highlight the motives behind it and illustrates the impact the Belt and Road Initiative has on Germany and the EU and which implications this has for the German economy.