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In today’s marketplace, the consumption of luxury goods is at a peak due to increasing global wealth and low interest rates, resulting in a vast supply of goods and services to which customer experiences are more relevant than ever before. One of the most recent developments in this field shows that consumers no longer simply purchase a product or service based on the fact sheet; they are also interested in the experience around the product. Successful brands must develop and maintain individual images to sustain their competitive advantage and build brand equity that is beneficial for customers and firms. Ideally, these will lead to satisfaction and loyalty between a brand, its products, and its customers. Existing research about brand experience and brand equity has mainly focused on functional aspects, which seem to differ for high-value luxury goods. Most studies have focused on industries like retail and fashion brands, sampling university students or visitors to shopping malls, and some have even mixed different types of industries together. This underpins the need for research within a single luxury industry with actual luxury customers who have a solid background with brand experiences.
The purpose of this study was to explore the brand experience spectrum within the automotive industry in Germany, particularly in the affordable luxury sport car sector. Identifying the factors and components that constitute, influence, or leverage/drive a brand experience from their perspective was a clear aim of the study. To achieve this, the study collected data from indepth interviews with German (n=60) respondents who had experience with affordable and luxury sport cars. The conceptual framework was based on two empirically tested models guiding this exploratory consumer research. The first model to build on was the consumerbased brand equity model, empirically tested by Çifci et al. (2016) and Nam et al. (2011). The second conceptual framework was Lemon and Verhoef’s (2016) customer journey model consisting of relevant touchpoints along the following three stages: pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase.
The findings of the research demonstrate that, although the six brand equity concepts – brand awareness, physical quality, staff behaviour, self-congruence, brand identification, and lifestyle – are broadly applicable in understanding customer experience in the affordable luxury car industry, the content of these dimensions differs from that suggested by the previous authors. The research established that cognitive and affective (or symbolic) components build the foundation of customer brand experience and supports Çifci et al.’s (2016) and Nam et al.’s (2011) study results. The study also identified brand trust as an important and highly relevant concept for customer brand experience in the luxury automotive car industry. Brand trust influences customer satisfaction and loyalty, therefore improving and complementing the existing model. Furthermore, the study confirmed Lemon and Verhoef’s (2016) process model of the customer journey and experience; however, it suggested two different customer journeys depending on the customers’ previous experience (first-time and experienced buyers). The differences between the two groups and the relevance of the journey touchpoints within the three purchase stages vary significantly in terms and are distinct. Identified key touchpoints for both groups are the contact to a dealer as well as information gathering online. Differences have been found in the length of purchase stages and across the customer journey. The study highlights the importance of trust, identification, and product quality for customer brand experience. Moreover, the findings of this study complement the brand equity model of Çifci et al. (2016) by adding the new concept of trust, which is highly relevant. The current knowledge is complemented by a new understanding and mapping of the customer journey for luxury sports cars in Germany. This study can assist practitioners and managers by providing a compass indicating which touchpoints are relevant to which customer group. Social value can be achieved by encouraging interactions between brand and consumer (e.g. central product launch events) and through brand-oriented interactions among consumers (e.g. dealer events, clubs, or communities). Customers are motivated to express their distinctiveness through product experience and brand identification (belonging/distinction) and to develop a loyal link to brands.
Wenn Unternehmen den Schritt in die digitale Arbeitswelt gehen wollen, stehen sie vor der Herausforderung, konkrete Vorstellungen, Ziele und Maßnahmen zu entwickeln und umzusetzen. Häufig fehlt es Unternehmen an Wissen, ihre Transformation der Arbeitswelt strategisch zu gestalten und zu planen. Das Projekt DigiTraIn 4.0 setzt hier an und bietet mit dem Digitalisierungskompass ein Instrument, welches Unternehmen dabei unterstützt, eine Vision und spezifische Ziele für die Digitalisierung ihrer eigenen Arbeitswelt zu entwickeln. Im Anschluss daran unterstützt die Transformationsagenda Unternehmen dabei, konkrete Handlungsmaßnahmen zu entwickeln und deren Ablauf zu planen.
Die digitale Arbeitswelt in ihrer Mehrdimensionalität verstehen: Digitalisierungsatlas und -index
(2021)
Die digitale Transformation der Arbeitswelt ist deshalb so herausfordernd, da die Arbeitswelt für sich bereits ein komplexes mehrdimensionales System ist, das sich kaum überblicken lässt. Für Unternehmen ist es deshalb wichtig, die Mehrdimensionalität und Komplexität der digitalen Arbeitswelt zu verstehen, hierfür ein gemeinsames Sprachspiel zu entwickeln und auf dieser Basis eine gemeinsame Einschätzung des Status quo der eigenen Arbeitswelt zu beschreiben. Mithilfe von zwei Instrumenten, dem Digitalisierungsatlas und dem Digitalisierungsindex, kann dies gelingen. In diesem Beitrag werden diese Instrumente im Detail dargestellt und es wird erklärt, wie sie Organisationen dabei helfen, zu beschreiben und zu verstehen, wo sie selbst in der digitalen Transformation der Arbeitswelt stehen.
Technologische, sozioökonomische und kulturelle Entwicklungen der letzten Jahrzehnte sowie zuletzt die Covid-19-Pandemie führten zu einer erhöhten Nachfrage nach flexiblen Arbeitsformen wie Homeoffice. In der Forschung wird danach gefragt, welche Faktoren die Umsetzung von flexiblen Arbeitsmodellen in Unternehmen beeinflussen und wie die Faktoren miteinander zusammenhängen. Bisher bietet die Forschung allerdings zu wenige Ansatzpunkte, um relevante Handlungsempfehlungen für eine erfolgreiche Umsetzung von Homeoffice für die Praxis abzuleiten. In dieser Fallstudie können auf organisationaler Ebene technologische, formelle und informelle Rahmenbedingungen, auf interaktionaler Ebene das Team und die Kommunikation sowie auf individueller Ebene Präferenzen, Kompetenzen und personenbezogene Rahmenbedingungen der Beschäftigten als relevante Einflussfaktoren identifiziert werden. Die Themenfelder sind eng miteinander verbunden, wobei sich vor allem stark vernetzte und einflussreiche Faktoren, wie formelle und technologische Rahmenbedingungen sowie Kommunikation, als Ansatzpunkte für die Gestaltung von Homeoffice eignen.
Die Corona-Pandemie hat zu einer Einschränkung des Alltags der medizinischen Versorgung geführt. Das zeigt sich u.a. in zum Teil erheblichen Zugangsbeschränkungen zu Krankenhäusern und Praxen mit stark reduzierter Einbestellung von Patienten, der Einhaltung von gesteigerten Hygienemaßnahmen mit entsprechend längeren Wartezeiten, dem Zugangsverbot für Begleitpersonen und nicht zuletzt der Angst vieler Patienten vor einer Ansteckung bei einem Aufenthalt in medizinischen Bereichen. Folge dessen war und ist, dass ein deutlich wahrnehmbarer Rückgang der Patientenzahlen in den Krankenhausambulanzen und Praxen zu verzeichnen war. Davon war die Augenheilkunde als Fachdisziplin mit einem hohen Anteil an ambulanten und geplanten, chirurgischen Eingriffen in besonderem Maße betroffen.
Das Projekt DigiTraIn 4.0 hat ein Beratungskonzept entwickelt und erprobt, das Unternehmen bei der erfolgreichen Digitalisierung ihrer Arbeitswelt unterstützt. Das Beratungskonzept basiert auf vier anwendungsorientierten Instrumenten: Der Digitalisierungsatlas bildet die Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt in all ihren Dimensionen ab und ermöglicht es, die Notwendigkeit sowie Chancen und Risiken der Veränderungen zu verstehen. Hierauf aufbauend können Unternehmen mit dem Digitalisierungsindex ihren aktuellen Ist-Digitalisierungsgrad der Arbeitswelt individuell bestimmen. Der individuelle Digitalisierungsgrad dient als Ausgangspunkt für den Digitalisierungskompass, der es dem Unternehmen ermöglicht, die Soll-Vorstellung der digitalen Arbeitswelt zu illustrieren und eine unternehmensspezifische Transformationsagenda abzuleiten. Der Beratungsprozess und die Entwicklung der zentralen Instrumente werden in diesem Beitrag dargestellt.
Kontrolle bei New Collaboration Work: Über die Fantasien von Purpose, Wachstum und Zugehörigkeit
(2021)
Derzeit geht es in vielen Unternehmen darum, Zusammenarbeit zukunftsfähig zu gestalten: Hierarchien werden flacher, Teams stärker selbstorganisiert, und Prozesse wie agile Frameworks regeln die Abläufe.
Was aber passiert in solchen kollaborativen Arbeitskontexten, wenn es um Kontrolle geht? In hierarchischen Organisationen ist das Thema vergleichsweise einfach zu greifen: Führungskräfte kontrollieren Arbeitsprozesse über Arbeitsteilung und -zuweisung, über disziplinarische Hoheit und motivierendes Führungsverhalten (Mitarbeitergespräche, Kritik, Lob).
Experimentelle Organisationsentwicklung : Perspektiven eines zukunftsfähigen Veränderungsansatzes
(2021)
Die Organisationsentwicklung selbst verändert sich und wird “zukunftsoffener”. In diesem Beitrag argumentieren die Autoren, dass die Idee des Experimentierens als zukunftsfähige Veränderungsmethode angewandt werden kann. Sie stellen zentrale Prämissen einer "experimentellen Organisationsentwicklung" und zeigen die Eckpunkte eines spezifischen Interventionsdesigns auf.
Organisationale Identität in digitalisierten Arbeitswelten: Grundlagen für gelingende Kooperation
(2021)
Organisationen bilden Identitäten aus und beantworten dabei die Fragen „Wer sind wir? Und wer sind wir nicht?“. Vorstellungen zur organisationalen Identität gehen zunächst von traditionellen Organisationen aus. Durch die Digitalisierung können bisher integrierte Aufgaben stärker modularisiert werden, sodass die Koordination der organisatorischen Gesamtaufgabe stärker sach- und weniger personenorientiert erfolgt. Zudem lassen sich organisationale Aufgaben zunehmend projektorientiert und virtuell abbilden, sodass externe Aufgabenträger leichter integriert werden können. Unsere Vorstellungen zu Organisationsgrenzen und -mitgliedschaften verändern sich dadurch. Dies wirft die Frage auf, inwiefern sich in solchen sach- und projektorientierten, grenzaufgelösten Organisationen eine gemeinsame organisationale Identität ausbildet. Im Beitrag wird argumentiert, dass sich die Wege der Identitätsentwicklung verändern, die Funktionen der organisationalen Identität für gelingende Kooperation aber erhalten bleiben.
Die digitale Transformation und gesellschaftliche Entwicklungen verändern die Arbeitswelt nicht erst seit der Corona-Pandemie. Kommunikation, Kreativität und agile Vorgehensweisen in der Arbeitsorganisation rücken in den Vordergrund und werden gerade in Krisenzeiten zu wichtigen Stärken von Unternehmen. Der Grad der Selbstorganisation von Teams steigt und erfordert mehr individuelle Selbstorganisation der Beschäftigten. Dies birgt neben vielen Chancen auch Gesundheitsrisiken.
Der Report beleuchtet die agile Organisation und weitere moderne Organisationsmodelle wie die Soziokratie, die Holokratie und die evolutionäre Organisation unter dem Gesundheitsaspekt. All diese Organisationsmodelle sind gekennzeichnet durch die Abflachung von Hierarchien, eine stärkere Sinnorientierung, mehr Flexibilität sowie die Integration von Leistungspotentialen der Beschäftigten. Die Gemeinsamkeiten, aber auch Unterschiede und Konfliktpotenziale werden ausführlich erklärt.
Mit diesem Hintergrundwissen können Beratende Gesundheitsthemen besser in Phasen gesundheitlicher Belastungen einbringen und richtig adressieren. Der iga.Report 44 gibt einen Überblick zum noch jungen Stand der Forschung und liefert zahlreiche Ansatzpunkte für die Präventionsarbeit und die Betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung in einer neuen Arbeitswelt.
This paper studies the power of online search intensity metrics, measured by Google, for examining and forecasting exchange rates. We use panel data consisting of quarterly time series from 2004 to 2018 and ten international countries with the highest currency trading volume. Newly, we include various Google search intensity metrics to our panel data. We find that online search improves the overall econometric models and fits. First, four out of ten search variables are robustly significant at one percent and enhance the macroeconomic exchange rate models. Second, country regressions corroborate the panel results, yet the predictive power of search intensity with regard to exchange rates vary by country. Third, we find higher prediction performance for our exchange rate models with search intensity, particularly in regard to the direction of the exchange rate. Overall, our approach reveals a value-added of search intensity in exchange rate models.
This study determines the correlation between industry-specific success patterns of Germany’s engineering industry and the business models applied within. In order to identify this correlation, the following objectives are addressed within the framework of this paper: (1) identification and description of business models used by Germany’s engineering industry; (2) analysis of industry-specific success patterns of Germany’s engineering industry by the usage of Key-Performance-Indicators (KPIs); and (3) determination of correlation between the KPIs and Germany’s engineering industry’s business models’ effectiveness. These objectives are mainly achieved by literature research and expert surveys. The findings highlight the KPIs (overall 41) that are relevant for the respective business models. This enables a better understanding of the interrelationships of the business model, in order to derive relevant conclusions. The paper contributes to the literature as it advances this field of research in Germany, and it is one of the first studies to examine the relationship between business models and industry-specific success patterns with relevant KPIs.
Reacting to ever-changing business environments, in the last decade complex systems of systems accomplished giant leaps forward leading to great technological flexibility. However, this dimension of flexibility is often limited by the rigidity of super-ordinated planning systems. Especially when hybrid teams of automated and human resources are in place, the dynamic assignment of tasks taking into account ergonomics remains a challenge. After exposing a gap in the state of the art on the topic, this paper presents an approach to include ergonomics in dynamic resource allocation models. Combining and complementing existing approaches, the presented method monitors the actual ergonomic burden of the resources during a shift and it provides a linear optimization model to steer the resource allocation process.
This article studies the effects of reverse factoring in a supply chain when the buyer company facilitates its lower short-term borrowing rates to the supplier corporation in return for extended payment terms. We explore the role of interest rate changes, rating changes, and the business cycle position on the cost and benefit trade-off from a supplier perspective. We utilize a combined empirical approach consisting of an event study in Step 1 and a simulation model in Step 2. The event study identifies the quantitative magnitude of central bank decisions and rating changes on the interest rate differential. The simulation computes with a rolling-window methodology the daily cost and benefits of reverse factoring from 2010 to 2018 under the assumption of the efficient market hypothesis. Our major finding is that changes of crucial financial variables such as interest rates, ratings, or news alerts will turn former win-win into win-lose situations for the supplier contingent to the business cycle. Overall, our results exhibit sophisticated trade-offs under reverse factoring and consequently require a careful evaluation in managerial decisions.
Autonomisierung von Shopfloor Management : Der Weg vom analogen zum autonomen Shopfloor Management
(2021)
Neue Technologien der Digitalisierung, Vernetzung und künstlichen Intelligenz werden zunehmend auch im Shopfloor Management (SFM) Einzug halten. Dieser Beitrag beschreibt in vier Stufen, wie sich das klassische SFM über das digitale SFM hin zu einem smarten und autonomen SFM entwickeln könnte. Darauf aufbauend wird diskutiert, welche Auswirkungen der Einsatz dieser neuen Technologien auf die operative Gestaltung der Durchführung eines SFM hätte und welche Konsequenzen somit auf Mitarbeiter und Führungskräfte zukommen würden.*)
Interkulturelles Management
(2021)
Kultur lässt sich beschreiben als „kollektive Programmierung des Geistes, die die Mitglieder einer Gruppe oder Kategorie von Menschen von anderen unterscheidet“ (Hofstede/Hofstede/Minkov, S.6). Die Muster des Glaubens, Denkens, Fühlens und Handelns, die diese mentalen Programme oder kulturellen Denkweisen ausmachen, werden von den Gruppenmitgliedern im Rahmen ihres Sozialisierungsprozesses erlernt. Sie sind die gemeinsamen „ungeschriebenen Regeln“, wie Dinge in diesem sozialen Umfeld gehandhabt werden (vgl. Hofstede/Hofstede/Minkov, S.6). Die Art und Weise, wie sich Menschen in einer bestimmten Kultur verhalten, ihre Praktiken und Normen, ist daher nicht willkürlich, sondern wird in hohem Maße von diesen erlernten Prinzipien und Werten beeinflusst. Das Wissen über eine Kultur ermöglicht es, Reaktionen ihrer Mitglieder zu erklären und vorherzusagen (vgl. Lewis, S. XII).
Covid-19 und die Maßnahmen zu Eindämmung der Pandemie wirkten für viele Menschen lebensverändernd und zwangen Unternehmen zu teilweise substantiellen Anpassungen ihrer gewohnten Praktiken. Sie führten jedoch auch zu Veränderungen, die sich weitgehend außerhalb der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung vollzogen haben. Ein Beispiel hierfür ist die deutliche Verschiebung der Kraftverhältnisse im Markt für Bannerwerbung, auf dem sich sowohl für Werbetreibende, als auch für Vermarkter zu deutlichen Veränderungen kam. Gleichzeitig verändert sich der Markt strukturell. Es kommt derzeit zu einer Professionalisierung, bei der Werbetreibende heute die richtigen Weichen stellen müssen, um in Zukunft zu den Gewinnern in diesem Markt zu zählen. Dieser Report fasst die wichtigen strukturellen und Corona-bedingten Veränderungen zusammen und erklärt die Implikationen für Werbetreibende.
The seamless fusion of the virtual world of information with the real physical world of things is considered the key for mastering the increasing complexity of production networks in the context of Industry 4.0. This fusion, widely referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT), is primarily enabled through the use of automatic identification (Auto-ID) technologies as an interface between the two worlds. Existing Auto-ID technologies almost exclusively rely on artificial features or identifiers that are attached to an object for the sole purpose of identification. In fact, using artificial features for the purpose of identification causes additional efforts and is not even always applicable. This paper, therefore, follows an approach of using multiple natural object features defined by the technical product information from computer-aided design (CAD) models for direct identification. By extending optical instance-level 3D-Object recognition by means of additional non-optical sensors, a multi-sensor automatic identification system (AIS) is realised, capable of identifying unpackaged piece goods without the need for artificial identifiers. While the implementation of a prototype confirms the feasibility of the approach, first experiments show improved accuracy and distinctiveness in identification compared to optical instance-level 3D-Object recognition. This paper aims to introduce the concept of multisensor identification and to present the prototype multi-sensor AIS.
Classification model of supply chain events regarding their transferability to blockchain technology
(2021)
The blockchain technology represents a decentralized database that stores information securely in immutable data blocks. Regarding supply chain management, these characteristics offer potentials in increasing supply chain transparency, visibility, automation, and efficiency. In this context, first token-based mapping approaches exist to transfer certain supply chain events to the blockchain, such as the creation or assembly of parts as well as their transfer of ownership. However, the decentralized and immutable structure of blockchain technology also creates challenges. In particular, the scalability, storage capacity, and the special requirements for storage formats make it currently impossible to map all supply chain events unrestrictedly on the blockchain. As a first step, this paper identifies important supply chain events for different use cases combining blockchain technology and supply chain management. Secondly, the supply chain events are classified in terms of their expected technical properties and their relevance for the respective use case. Finally, the identified supply chain events are evaluated regarding their transferability to blockchain technology and a classification model is introduced.
This article studies the hidden blemishes of two benchmark rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In 2015 and 2018, the ECJ approved two unconventional monetary instruments, among others ‘Outright Monetary Transactions’ and the ‘Public Sector Purchase Program’. Yet, there is a vigorous debate about both monetary operations in law and economics. In this interdisciplinary article, we address law and economic arguments in order to elucidate insights to the legal community. In particular, we elaborate on the legal implications of a variety of concerning issues such as public policy interference, effect on wealth redistribution, erosion of democratic legitimacy and lack of effectiveness of monetary policy. These topics remain disregarded in the ECJ rulings. Consequently, the verdicts do not identify the economic boundaries of the European Central Bank’s mandate appropriately.
Das Weltwirtschaftswachstum der vergangenen Jahrzehnte war durch die Dynamik der Digitalisierung und Globalisierung in den Lieferketten geprägt. Die Corona-Pandemie hat die Abhängigkeit und Verletzlichkeit der Lieferketten offengelegt. Trotz einer Vielzahl verbindlicher Standards haben Unternehmen die Digitalisierung und Arbeitsteilung auch für regulatorische Arbitrage genutzt. Einerseits erhöht das die Effizienz der Wirtschaft - was mithin ökologische Ressourcen schont - andererseits werden damit internationale Standards konterkariert. Globalisierung und Digitalisierung sind Segen und Fluch zugleich.
In this paper, we examine the political gridlock in reforming the Economic and Monetary Union. We utilize a two–stage game with imperfect information in order to study the optimal sequencing. The main results are: first, optimal sequencing requires for incompliant Member States a default option in stage–two, which in principle is related to the today's fiscal architecture (EMU-I). Second, we show that compliant countries prefer a reform equilibrium today if and only if they have a free choice about the preferred fiscal architecture at the end — either EMU-II with binding European coordination or EMU-I related to Maastricht. Noteworthy, our sequencing approach works for any design of the EMU-II architecture.
Die leistungsfähigen Verfahren des maschinellen Lernens halten unaufhaltsam Einzug in die verschiedensten Anwendungsbereiche im Finanzsektor. Während sie von einer großen Gemeinschaft von Forschern und Anwendern laufend weiterentwickelt werden, nimmt sich auch die Bankenaufsicht dieses Themas aktiv an und bezieht in Richtlinien und Diskussionspapieren Stellung.
Guerrilla marketing is the selection of atypical and non-dogmatic marketing activities that aim to achieve the greatest possible impact – in the ideal case with a comparable minimum investment. Guerrilla marketing has developed into a basic strategy overarching the marketing mix, a basic marketing policy attitude for market development that goes off the beaten track to consciously seek new, unconventional, previously disregarded, possibly even frown-upon possibilities for the deployment of tools. Digital marketing tools such as social media provide new ways and promising opportunities for innovative guerrilla marketing. This article provides an overview of innovative digital guerrilla marketing. It describes and structures guerrilla marketing in a novel form and shows illustrating examples as well as developmental trends.
Dieser Beitrag entwickelt ein Managementmodell, das Unternehmen dabei unterstützt, relevante Aktionsfelder zur nachhaltigen Steuerung von Konsumenten entlang der eigenen Customer Journey zu identifizieren. Aufbauend auf dem SHIFT-Modell, als strukturelle Abbildung des nachhaltigen Käuferverhaltens, wird die Customer Journey entlang der owned, paid und earned Touchpoints aufgezogen. Mithilfe des faktisch analytischen Ansatzes, der die Integration neuer Erkenntnisse in die Forschungsstrategie unterstützt, werden Aktionsfelder identifiziert, die als grundlegende Logik Unternehmen dazu anleiten sollen, bei der Ausgestaltung der eigenen nachhaltigen Customer Journey dieses Strukturraster anzunehmen.
The halo effect is a cognitive bias known from social psychology. A halo effect occurs when a global impression or information about a salient characteristic shapes the evaluation of other characteristics. In a sports-related context, the halo effect has hardly been researched so far, although this could contribute significantly to understanding the thinking and behavior of sports fans. In this research paper, the following questions are investigated: Is there a halo effect in soccer? Does the sporting success or failure of a club outshine other sporting aspects? Does sporting success or failure possibly even distort fans' perception of non-sporting aspects? The research paper reflects the current state of halo research and presents the results of an empirical study in which fans of soccer clubs from the German Bundesliga were interviewed. The results of the analyses substantiate the distortion of the fans’ perception with regard to a very diverse range of aspects that is triggered by the sporting success or failure of their favorite club.
Distributed ledger technologies such as the blockchain technology offer an innovative solution to increase visibility and security to reduce supply chain risks. This paper proposes a solution to increase the transparency and auditability of manufactured products in collaborative networks by adopting smart contract-based virtual identities. Compared with existing approaches, this extended smart contract-based solution offers manufacturing networks the possibility of involving privacy, content updating, and portability approaches to smart contracts. As a result, the solution is suitable for the dynamic administration of complex supply chains.
Ambitious goals set by the European Union strategy towards the emission reduction of multimodal logistic chains and new requirements for intermodal terminals set by the evolution of customer needs, contribute to a shift in the driver for the infrastructure development: from economy of scale to economy of density. This paper aims to present an innovative method for designing a process oriented technology chain for intermodal terminals in order to fulfill these new demanding requirements. The results of the case study of the Zero Emission Logistic Terminal Reutlingen are presented, highlighting how this particular context enables the design and development of a modular concept, paving the way for the generalization of the findings towards the transfer to similar contexts of other European cities.
Arbeitswelten strategisch entwicklen: mit den DigiTraIn-Instrumenten zur digitalen Transformation
(2021)
Der Weg in die digitale Arbeitswelt ist für viele Unternehmen eine herausfordernde und komplexe Transformation. Um diesen Weg erfolgreich zu beschreiten, benötigen Unternehmen funktionierende Managementinstrumente. Im Projekt DigiTraIn 4.0 wurden vier Instrumente für eine gelingende Transformation in das digitale Arbeiten entwickelt und in der Unternehmenspraxis erprobt. Diese Instrumente werden im vorliegenden Beitrag, ausgehend von der Zielsetzung des Projekts, einführend dargestellt. Zudem wird ein Überblick über die weiteren Beiträge in diesem Buch gegeben, in denen die Instrumente im Detail erläutert werden und spezifische Aspekte des Wandels in die digitale Arbeitswelt im Fokus stehen.
Die Annexion der Krim, die Kriegsführung in Syrien, das finanzielle Engagement in Zypern, das Tauziehen um die Ukraine und Weißrussland oder die Namensgebung Sputnik 5 für den Impfstoff gegen die Corona Epidemie sind eindeutige Belege für das aktuelle russische Machtstreben – und seine Expansionspolitik. Deshalb ist es nicht uninteressant zu fragen, welches Meinungsbild Friedrich List (1789–1846) von Russland hatte, zumal es heute noch so aktuell, wie vor 180 bis 190 Jahren erscheint und in seinen Schriften dargelegt ist. Dieses Meinungsbild wird in diesem Aufsatz erstmals untersucht und umfassend dargestellt.
Für die digitale 3D-VR-Fabrikplanung sind unterschiedliche Soft- und Hardwaresysteme am Markt verfügbar, die teilweise erhebliche Kompatibilitätsprobleme aufweisen. Für die Bewertung der Hardwareeignung für die 3D-VR-Fabrikplanung wird ein Bewertungssystem vorgestellt, das anhand konkreter Softwareapplikationen und einem passiven 3D-Stereo-Monitor mit Head-Tracking erläutert wird. Es wird dazu auch die Notwendigkeit des Einsatzes von Software-Middleware zur Nutzungssteigerung diskutiert.
Forschungsfrage: Was sind Motivationen, Bedenken und Karriereerwartungen von Hochschulabsolventen, die sich für eine selbstinitiierte Auslandsentsendung direkt nach dem Studienabschluss entscheiden?
Methodik: Quantitative Befragung unter Absolventen deutscher Hochschulen
Praktische Implikationen: Aus den Ergebnissen lassen sich Maßnahmen zur Gewinnung und Bindung von Hochschulabsolventen als selbstinitiierte Entsandte und damit zur Nutzung des Potenzials der selbstinitiierten Entsendung ableiten.
Conventional production systems are evolving through cyber-physical systems and application-oriented approaches of AI, more and more into "smart" production systems, which are characterized among other things by a high level of communication and integration of the individual components. The exchange of information between the systems is usually only oriented towards the data content, where semantics is usually only implicitly considered. The adaptability required by external and internal influences requires the integration of new or the redesign of existing components. Through an open application-oriented ontology the information and communication exchange are extended by explicit semantic information. This enables a better integration of new and an easier reconfiguration of existing components. The developed ontology, the derived application and use of the semantic information will be evaluated by means of a practical use case.
While there has been increased digitization of private homes, only little has been done to understand these specific home technologies, how they serve consumers, among other issues. “Smart home technology” (SHT) refer to a wide range of artifacts from cleaning aids to energy advisors. Given this breadth, clarity surrounding the key characteristics and the multi-faceted impact of SHT is needed to conduct more directed research on SHT. We propose a taxonomy to help outline the salient intended outcomes of SHT. Through a process involving five iterations, we analyzed and classified 79 technologies (gathered from literature and industry reports). This uncovered seven dimensions encompassing 20 salient characteristics. We believe these dimensions/characteristics will help researchers and organizations better design and study the impacts of these technologies. Our long-term agenda is to use the proposed taxonomy for an exploratory inquiry to understand tensions occurring when personal and sustainability-related outcomes compete.
Trotz Niedrigzinsphase bleibt das Working Capital Management ein wichtiger Treiber für Wertgrößen in Unternehmen und wichtiges Managementinstrument. Unsere Ergebnisse über 115 Unternehmen aus den wichtigsten deutschen Indizes in den Jahren 2011 bis 2017 zeigen, dass effektives Working Capital Management einen positiven Einfluss auf die Rentabilität und den Unternehmenswert haben kann. Gleichzeitig zeigen unsere Ergebnisse aber auch, dass dem Working Capital Management jüngst weniger Aufmerksamkeit zuteilgeworden ist und digitale Innovationen vermutlich noch nicht in dem Umfang zur Effizienzsteigerung eingesetzt werden, wie dies möglich erscheint. Selbst vor dem Hintergrund andauernd niedriger Kapitalmarktzinsen ist dies kritisch zu sehen.
It has always been interesting for scientists to look at economic indicators in order to explain current economic developments and to forecast a boom or a recession. In addition to classic, hard economic indicators such as the Gross National Product or the Ifo index, there are also a number of psychological and soft indicators that economists consult. The lipstick effect is one of these psychological indicators. The paper introduces the lipstick effect, explains the causes behind the phenomenon, shows the connection to brand management and provides references to the current Corona pandemic.
Teaching at assembly workstations in production in SMEs (small and medium sized companies) often does not take place at all or only insufficiently. In addition to the lack of technical content, there are also aggravatingly incorrect movement sequences from an ergonomic point of view, which "untrained" people usually automatically acquire. An AI based approach is used to analyze a definite workflow for a specific assembly scope regarding the behavior of several employees. Based on these different behaviors, the AI gives feedback at which points in time, work steps and movement’s particularly dangerous incorrect postures occur. Motion capturing and digital human model simulation in combination with the results of the AI define the optimized workflow. Individual employees can be trained directly due to the fact that AI identifies their most serious incorrect postures and provide them with a direct analogy of their “wrong” posture and “easy on the joints posture”. With the assistance of various test persons, the AI can conduct a study in which the most frequently occurring incorrect postures can be identified. This could be realized in general or tailored to specific groups of people (e.g. "People over 1.90m tall must be particularly careful not to make the following mistake...). The approach will be tested and validated at the Werk150, the factory of the ESB Business School, on the campus of the Reutlingen University. The new gained knowledge will be used subsequently for training in SMEs.
Manufacturing companies are confronted with external (e.g. short-term change of product configuration by the customer) and internal (e.g. production process deviations) turbulences which are affecting the performance of production. Predefined, centrally controlled logistics processes are limiting the possibilities of production to initiate countermeasures to react in an optimized way to these turbulences. The autonomous control of intralogistics offers a great potential to cope with these turbulences by using the respective flexibility corridors of production systems and applying intelligent logistic objects with decentralized decision and process execution capabilities to maintain a target-optimized production. A method for AI-based storage-location- and material-handling-optimization to achieve performance-optimized intralogistics system through continuous monitoring of performance-relevant parameters and influencing factors by using AI (e.g. for pattern recognition) has been developed. To provide the basis to investigate and demonstrate the potentials of autonomously controlled intralogistics in connection with turbulences of production and in combination with AI, an intelligent warehouse involving an indoor localization system, smart bins, manual, semi-automated/collaborative and autonomous transport systems has been developed and implemented at Werk150, the factory on campus of ESB Business School (Reutlingen University). This scenario, which has been integrated into graduate training modules, allows the analysis and demonstration of different measures of intralogistics to cope with turbulences in production involving amongst others storage and material provision processes. The target fulfilment of the applied intralogistics measures to master arising turbulences is assessed based on the overall performance of production considering lead times and adherence to delivery dates. By applying artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms the intelligent logistical objects (smart bin, transport systems, etc.) as well as the entire logistics system should be enabled to improve their decision and process execution capabilities to master short-term turbulences in the production system autonomously.
The production environment experiences copious challenges, but likewise discovers many new potential opportunities. To meet the new requirements, caused by the developments towards mass-customization, human-robot-cooperation (HRC) was identified as a key piece of technology and is becoming more and more important. HRC combines the strengths of robots, such as reliability, endurance and repeatability, with the strengths of humans, for instance flexibility and decision-making skills. Notwithstanding the high potential of HRC applications, the technology has not achieved a breakthrough in production so far. Studies have shown that one of the biggest obstacles for implementing HRC is the allocation of tasks. Another key technology that offers various opportunities to improve the production environment is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Therefore, this paper describes an AI supported method to improve the work organization in HRC in regards to the task-allocation. The aim of this method is to build a dynamic, semi-autonomous group work environment which keeps not just employee motivation at a high level, but also the product quality due to a decreased failure rate. The AI helps to detect the perfect condition in which the employee delivers the best performance and also supports at identifying the time when the worker leaves this optimal state. As soon as the employee reaches this trigger event, the allocation of the tasks adapts based on the identified stress. This adaptation aims to return the employee to the state of the optimal performance. In order to realize such a dynamic allocation, this method describes the creation of a pool with various interaction scenarios, as well as the AI supported recognition of the defined trigger event.
Today's logistics systems are characterized by uncertainty and constantly changing requirements. Rising demand for customized products, short product life cycles and a large number of variants increases the complexity of these systems enormously. In particular, intralogistics material flow systems must be able to adapt to changing conditions at short notice, with little effort and at low cost. To fulfil these requirements, the material flow system needs to be flexible in three important parameters, namely layout, throughput and product. While the scope of the flexibility parameters is described in literature, the respective effects on an intralogistics material flow system and the influencing factors are mostly unknown. This paper describes how flexibility parameters of an intralogistics system can be determined using a multi-method simulation. The study was conducted in the learning factory “Werk150” on the campus of Reutlingen University with its different means of transport and processes and validated in terms of practical experiments.
Coopetitive endeavors offer valuable strategic options for firms. Yet, many of them are failure-prone as partners must balance collective and private interest. While interpartner trust is considered central for alliance success, paradoxically, the role and dynamics of trust is still not understood. We synthesize a computational model, capturing relational dynamics of an alliance, encompassing coevolution of trust, partner contributions, and (relative) alliance interactions. Analyzing alliance dynamics using simulation we find and explore a tipping boundary, separating a regime of alliance failure and success. We identify implications for collaborative (aspirations) and private strategies (openness). Our analyses reveal that strategies informed by a static mental model of partner trust, contributions, and openness tend to yield subpar alliance results and hidden failure-risk. We discuss implications for management theory.
The maintenance of railway infrastructure remains a challenge. Data acquisition technologies have evolved because of Industry 4.0, expanding the capabilities of predictive maintenance. Despite the advances, the potential of these emerging technologies has not been fully realised. This paper presents a technology selection framework in support of railway infrastructure predictive maintenance, which is based on qualitative methods. It consists of three stages, including the mapping of the infrastructure characteristics with the identified technologies, the evaluation of the most appropriate technologies, and the sourcing thereof. This presents the collective decision support output of the framework.
The technologies of digital transformation, such as the Internet-of-Things (IoT), artificial intelligence or predictive maintenance enable significant efficiency gains in industry and are becoming increasingly important as a competitive factor. However, their successful implementation and creative, future application requires the broad acceptance and knowledge of non-IT-related groups, such as production management students, engineers or skilled workers, which is still lacking today. This paper presents a low-threshold training concept bringing IoT-technologies and applications into manufacturing related higher education and employee training. The concept addresses the relevant topics starting from IoT-basics to predictive maintenance using mobile low-cost hardware and infrastructure.
Maintenance is an increasingly complex and knowledge-intensive field. In order to address these challenges, assistance systems based on augmented, mixed, or virtual reality can be applied. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to present a framework that can be used to identify, select, and implement an assistance system based on reality technology in the maintenance environment. The development of the framework is based on a systematic literature review and subject matter expert interviews. The framework provides the best technological and economic solution in several steps. The validation of the framework is carried out through a case study.
Railway operators are being challenged by increasing complexity and safeguarding the availability of passenger rolling stock, bringing maintenance and especially emerging technologies into the focus. This paper presents a model for selection and implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies in rolling stock maintenance. The model consists of different stages and considers the main components of rolling stock, the related appropriate maintenance strategies and Industry 4.0 technologies considering the maturity level of the railway operators. Relevant criteria and main prerequisites of the technologies were identified. The model proposes relevant activities and was validated by industry experts.
Increasing complexity in manufacturing processes poses new challenges for industrial maintenance. In addition, advanced machine monitoring and lifetime forecasting options expand the tools and maintenance strategies available. Today, maintenance strategy selection is performed sequentially usually based on prioritised machines and components. These selections are optimized locally for each machine isolated, not considering the context of other machines within the value-adding network. To overcome these challenges, this paper presents an approach for an integrated maintenance strategy selection in one-step by an integrated model considering possible machine failures and the context of other machines within the value-adding network in parallel.
This paper presents the concept of the system architecture of a flexible cyber-physical factory control system. The system allows the automation of process structures using cyber-physical fractal nodes. These nodes have a functional and independent form and can be clustered to larger structures. This makes it possible to equip the factory with a flexible, freely scalable, modular system. The description of this system architecture and the associated rules and conditions is outlined in the concept.
Kopainsky et al., (2020) examines intended and unintended transition effects of the Swiss food system on the system's structure and the environment. Kopainsky et al.'s research refers to studies on and is embedded in research streams in global health (Jamison et al., 2013) and sustainable food systems (Willett et al., 2019). It also addresses many of Steffen et al.'s (2015) planetary boundaries, the United Nations' (2015) sustainability goals (SDGs), and potentially could address how they are interrelated, following Randers et al. (2019). It is furthermore embedded in research on natural and human systems, particularly in the intertwined business, supply and demand, governance, ecological and health feedback loops (Swinburn et al., 2019). This feedback view enhances understanding and assessment of drivers towards improving human and ecological health and mitigating climate change.
This article studies the renewed interest surrounding sustainable public finance and the topic of tax evasion as well as the new theory of information inattention. Extending a model of tax evasion with the notion of inattention reveals novel findings about policy instruments that can be used to mitigate tax evasion. We show that the attention parameters regarding tax rates, financial penalty schemes and income levels are as important as the level of the detection probability and the financial penalty incurred. Thus, our theory recommends the enhancement of sustainability in public policy, particularly in tax policy. Consequently, the paper contributes both to the academic and public policy debate.