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Real estate markets are known to fluctuate. The real estate market in Stuttgart, Germany, has been booming for more than a decade: square-meter price hit top levels and real estate agents claim that market prices will continue to increase. In this paper, we test this market understanding by developing and analyzing a system dynamics model that depicts the Stuttgart real estate market. Simulating the model explains oscillating behavior arising from significant time delays and endogenous feedback structures – and not necessarily oscillating interest rates, as market experts assume. Scenarios provide insights into the system's behavior reacting to changes exogenous to the model. The first scenario tests the market development under increasing interest rates. The other scenario deals with possible effects on the real estate market if the regional automotive economy suffers from intense competition with new market players entering with alternative fuel vehicles and new technologies. With a policy run we test market structure changes to eliminate cyclical effects. The paper confirms that the business cycle in the Stuttgart real estate market arises from within the system's underlying structure, thus emphasizing the importance of understanding feedback structures.
In daily life, people tend to use mental shortcuts to simplify and speed up their decision-making processes. A halo effect exists if the impression created by a dominant attribute influences how other attributes of an object or subject are judged. It involves a cognitive bias that leads to distorted assessments. However, the halo effect has barely been researched in a sports-related context, although it can substantially contribute to understanding how sport fans think and behave. The objective of this paper is to answer the question that is of interest for both theory and practice of sports marketing: Is there a halo effect in sports? Does the sporting success or failure of a professional soccer team radiate or even outshine other sports related and non-sports aspects and influence or distort how the club is perceived by its fans? Fans of six soccer clubs selected from the first German soccer league Bundesliga were interviewed. This paper presents the results of an empirical study based on a data set consisting of a total of 4,180 cases. 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.
Today 40 Gbps is in development at IEEE 802.3bq over four pair balanced cabling. In this paper, we describe a transmission experiment of 25 Gbps enabling either a single pair transmission of 25 Gbps over a 30 meter balanced cabling channel, or a 100 Gbps transmission via a four-pair balanced channel. A scalable matrix modeling tool is introduced which allows the prediction of transmission characteristics of a channel taking mode conversion into account . We applied this tool to characterize PCB-channels including the magnetics and PCB for a four-pair 100 Gbps transmission. We evaluated prototype cables and connecting hardware for frequencies up to 2 GHz and beyond. Finally we investigated possible line encoding schemes and provide measurement results of a transmission over 30 m with a data rate of 25 Gbps per twisted pair.
The 21st century: an era where emojis and hashtags find their way into every sentence, where taking selfies, live tweeting and mining bitcoin are the norm, and where Insta-culture dictates what we say and do. This is the era into which the digital native was born. With so many changes in every aspect of our lives, how is it that one of the most influential aspects, our education, has remained unchanged? Our education system not only fails to appeal to today’s students, but more importantly, it fails to equip them with the skills required in the 21st Century. It is thus of no surprise that industries feel graduates entering the workplace lack skills in critical thinking, problem solving and self-directed learning. AI, machine learning and big data: Tools and mechanisms we so eagerly incorporate to create smart factories yet are hesitant to use elsewhere. Gamification and games have shown great results in education and training; with most research suggesting a stronger focus on personalization and adaptation. When combined with analytics and machine learning, the potential of games is yet to be realized. A real-time adaptive game would not only always present an appropriate degree of challenge for the individual but would allow for a shift in focus from the recitation of facts, to the application of information filtered to solve the particular problem at hand. South Africa, a country faced with a severe skills gap, could benefit greatly from games. If used correctly, they may just offer a desperately needed contribution toward equipping both current and future employees with the skills needed to survive in the 21st century. This paper explores the feasibility of using such games for enhanced knowledge dissemination and the upskilling of the workforce.
Academic research is vital for innovation and industrial growth. However, a potential burden of processing ever more knowledge could be affecting research output and researchers’ careers. We look at a dataset of researchers who have published in journals in the field of economics during a period of 45 years. For a subset of these researchers, we amass data from journals listed in the EconLit database, supplemented with years of birth from public sources. Our results show an increase in the age of researchers at their first publication, in the number of articles referenced in debut articles, and in the number of co-authors. Simultaneously, we observe a decline in the probability of researchers changing research fields. Our findings extend earlier findings on patents and hint at a burden of knowledge pervading different areas of human progress. Moreover, our results indicate that researchers develop strategies of specialisation to deal with this challenge.
This article analyses and compares the performance of regulators in the fields of finance and sport, especially cycling. I hypothesize that the courses of crises or scandals is the best time to study the lessons of regulatory response. First, I take into account the differences in both finance and cycling by looking at the nature of the rules and institutions governing the field. Second, I estimate the attention effect on new regulation in response to crises or scandals. The interest of the paper is in the alignment of incentives to prevent regulatory capture and to ensure accountability and enforceability. The paper concludes that the differences hold important lessons that call for the reform of rules and institutions governing finance and cycling alike.
A closed-loop control for a cooperative innovation culture in interorganizational R&D projects
(2022)
Since project managers only have a limited authority in interorganizational R&D projects a cooperative innovation culture is essential for team cohesion and thus for achieving project scope in time and cost. For its development different factors depending on underlying values are essential. These factors must be learned iteratively by the project members so that they are living the values of a cooperative innovation culture. Hence, this paper raises the following research question: “How to control living the values of a cooperative innovation culture in interorganizational R&D projects?” To answer this question, a closed-loop control for a cooperative innovation culture is developed. The developed closed-loop control system includes several different functional units which show essential roles and several different variables which show what to consider and design in the control system. In addition, the developed closed-loop control system is generalized for other types of projects such as intraorganizational projects.
Towards a sustainable future, looking beyond the system boundaries of a single manufacturing company is necessary to promote meaningful collaborations in terms of circular economy principles. In this context digital data processing technologies to connect the potential collaborators are seen as enablers to make use of proven collaborative circular business models (CCBMs). Since most of such data processing technologies rely on features to describe the entities involved, it is essential to provide guidance for identifying and selecting the relevant and most appropriate ones. Defining critical success factors (CSFs) is considered a suitable instrument to describe the decisive factors. A systematic literature review (SLR), followed by a qualitative synthesis is investigating two scientific fields of work, namely (1) the general relevant features of CCBMs and, (2) methodologies for determining CSFs. This results in the development of a conceptual framework which provides guidance for digital applications that perform further digital processing based on the relevant CSFs relating to the specific CCBM.
In smart factories, maintenance is still an important aspect to safeguard the performance of their production. Especially in case of failures of machine components diagnosis is a time-consuming task. This paper presents an approach for a cyber-physical failure management system, which uses information from machines such as programmable logic controller or sensor data and IT systems to support the diagnosis and repairing process. Key element is a model combining the different information sources to detect deviations and to determine a probable failed component. Furthermore, the approach is prototypically implemented for leakage detection in compressed air networks.
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.
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.
Intralogistics operations in automotive OEMs increasingly confront problems of overcomplexity caused by a customer-centred production that requires customisation and, thus, high product variability, short-notice changes in orders and the handling of an overwhelming number of parts. To alleviate the pressure on intralogistics without sacrificing performance objectives, the speed and flexibility of logistical operations have to be increased. One approach to this is to utilise three-dimensional space through drone technology. This doctoral thesis aims at establishing a framework for implementing aerial drones in automotive OEM logistic operations.
As of yet, there is no research on implementing drones in automotive OEM logistic operations. To contribute to filling this gap, this thesis develops a framework for Drone Implementation in Automotive Logistics Operations (DIALOOP) that allows for a close interaction between the strategic and the operative level and can lead automotive companies through a decision and selection process regarding drone technology.
A preliminary version of the framework was developed on a theoretical basis and was then revised using qualitative-empirical data from semi-structured interviews with two groups of experts, i.e. drone experts and automotive experts. The drone expert interviews contributed a current overview of drone capabilities. The automotive experts interview were used to identify intralogistics operations in which drones can be implemented along with the performance measures that can be improved by drone usage.
Furthermore, all interviews explored developments and changes with a foreseeable influence on drone implementation.
The revised framework was then validated using participant validation interviews with automotive experts.
The finalised framework defines a step-by-step process leading from strategic decisions and considerations over the identification of logistics processes suitable for drone implementation and the relevant performance measures to the choice of appropriate drone types based on a drone classification specifically developed in this thesis for an automotive context.
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.
Rapidly growing population and increasing amount of shipments induced by the e-commerce are two of the main reasons for the constantly rising urban freight traffic. Cities are therefore overwhelmed by a growing stream of goods and the available infrastructure, shared between people and goods traffic, often reached its maximum capacity. Phenomena such as traffic congestion, pollution and lack of space are direct consequences of this trend and their impact on the quality of life in the city is not negligible. City administrations are keen to evaluate innovative city logistics concepts and adopt alternative solutions, to overcome the challenges posed by such a dynamic environment, constrained in existing infrastructure. In this paper, a heuristic method based on the utility analysis is presented. Thanks to a modular approach accounting for stakeholders´ requirements, possible different scenarios and available technologies, the development of new city logistic concepts is supported. The proposed method is then applied to a case study concerning the city of Reutlingen (Germany). Results are presented and a brief discussion leads to the conclusion.
Condition monitoring supported with artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and industrial internet of things (IIoT) technologies increases the feasibility of predictive maintenance. However, the cost of traditional sensors, data acquisition systems, and the required information technology expert-knowledge challenge the industry. This paper presents a hybrid condition monitoring system (CMS) architecture consisting of a distributed, low-cost IIoT-sensor solution. The CMS uses micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) microphones for data acquisition, edge computing for signal preprocessing, and cloud computing, including artificial neural networks (ANN) for higher-level information processing. The system's feasibility is validated using a testbed for reciprocating linear-motion axes.
The members of the European TRIZ Campus (ETC) have been learning from and working together with many honorable members of MATRIZ Official for many years and feel very connected to the official International TRIZ Association.
To further spread the TRIZ methodology and TRIZ teaching in the European area in the past 12 months the ETC has put a lot of thought in how making TRIZ accessible to a broader audi-ence and getting more professionals in touch with the methodology was one of the focal points.
To this end, we have developed new formats such as the "Trainer Day" to support trainers on their way into practice. We have drawn up detailed quality guidelines for the teaching of the TRIZ methodology, which are intended to provide orientation for the design of training classes and docu-mentation. We strive for exchange with representatives of "neighbouring" methods such as Six sigma, Lean, DFMA and Design Thinking to indicate synergies and added value among methods and approaches of different kinds. We are testing formats for community building, in order to connect users of all places more strongly with the TRIZ methodology through communication and information of-fers. If TRIZ users feel alone in their organizations, the exchange outside their organi-zation helps them to keep up with the TRIZ methodology. Moreover, the ETC strives to increase the ability to communicate the benefits of TRIZ-usage inside organizations. We discuss, how to reach teachers and students of all age, to make them the unique way of inventive thinking accessible.
In our paper we want to give other MATRIZ Official members insights and share our experi-ences and best practices with our fellow MO members.
In recent years, machine learning algorithms have made a huge development in performance and applicability in industry and especially maintenance. Their application enables predictive maintenance and thus offers efficiency increases. However, a successful implementation of such solutions still requires high effort in data preparation to obtain the right information, interdisciplinarity in teams as well as a good communication to employees. Here, small and medium sized enterprises (SME) often lack in experience, competence and capacity. This paper presents a systematic and practice-oriented method for an implementation of machine learning solutions for predictive maintenance in SME, which has already been validated.
The high system flexibility necessary for the full automation of complex and unstructured tasks leads to increased complexity, thus higher costs. On the other hand, the effectiveness and performance of such systems decrease, explaining the unfulfilled potential of robotcs in sectors such as intralogistics, where the benefits of a robotic solution rarely justify its costs. Taking the distance from the false idea that a task should be either fully automated, or fully manual, this aper presents a method for design of a lean human-robot interaction (HRI) withe the objective of the "right level of automation", where functions are divided among human and automated agends, so that the overall process gains in performances and/or costs. ... The 10 progressive steps of the method are presented and discussed with reference to their graphical tool: the House of Quality Interaction.
Parallel grippers offer multiple applications thanks to their flexibility. Their application field ranges from aerospace and automotive to medicine and communication technologies. However, the application of grippers has the problem of exhibition wear and errors during the execution of their operation. This affects the performance of the gripper. In this context, the remaining useful life (RUL) defines the remaining lifespan until failure for an asset at a particular time of operation occurs. The exact lifespan of an asset is uncertain, thus the RUL model and estimation must be derived from available sources of information. This paper presents a method for the estimation of the RUL for a two-jaw parallel gripper. After the introduction to the topic, an overview of existing literature and RUL methods are presented. Subsequently, the method for estimating the RUL of grippers is explained. Finally, the results are summarized and discussed before the outlook and further challenges are presented.
The financial crisis of 2007-2010 was probably one of the greatest, most lustrous black-swan events that people of our generation(s) will experience – and at its heart, it was a dynamic phenomenon. It is stated in the vision of the System Dynamics Society that we aspire to transform society by influencing decision-making. Yet, it seems as if system dynamics did not play any significant role in this crisis: we did not examine the markets, we did not provide insights to banks, and we did not warn governments or the people. In our presentation we describe the dynamics involved in a housing bubble, and describe what made the last one different. With the insights gained from this exercise we conclude that, from a system dynamics perspective, the dimension of the financial crisis of 2007-2009 was eminently foreseeable, which will lead us to pose the following question: where were we as a field while this crisis was unfolding, why were we not active players? We present a range of potential answers to this question, hoping to provoke some reflection… and maybe some (re)action.
In recent years, the numer of hybrid work systems using human robot collaboration (HRC) increased in industrial production environments - enhancing productivity while reducing work-related burden. Despite growing availability of HRC-suitable manipulation and safety technology, tools and techniques facilitating the design, planning and implementation process are still lacking. System engineers who strive to implement technically feasible, ergonomically meaningful and economically beneficial HRC application need to make design and technology decisions in various subject areas, whereas the design alternatives per morphological analysis is applied to establish a description model that can serve as both a supporting design guideline for future HRC application of value-adding, industrial quality as well as a tool to characterize and compare existing applications. It focuses on HRC within assembly processes, and illustrates the complexity of HRC applications in a comprehensible manner through its multi-dimensional structure. The morphology has been validated through its application on various existing industrial HRC applications, research demonstrators and interviews of experts from academia.
This article is a review of the book "Brain computation as hierarchical abstraction" by Dana H. Ballard published by MIT press in 2015. The book series computational neuroscience familiarizes the reader with the computational aspects of brain functions based on neuroscientific evidence. It provides an excellent introduction of the functioning, i.e. the structure, the network and the routines of the brain in our daily life. The final chapters even discuss behavioral elements such as decision-making, emotions and consciousness. These topics are of high relevance in other sciences such as economics and philosophy. Overall, Ballard’s book stimulates a scientifically well-founded debate and, more importantly, reveals the need of an interdisciplinary dialogue towards social sciences.
This paper is a brief review on the book ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’ by the French scholar Thomas Piketty. The book has started a new debate about inequality and capital taxation in Europe. It provides interesting empirical facts and develops a theory of the functioning of capitalist economies. However, I personally think the book is less convincing than recognized in the public debate. The demonstrated theory of economic growth in the book is elusive and lacks a psychological and behavioral underpinning. In fact, I do think that the increasing inequality and economic divergence are caused by capitalism but the psychological and behavioral aspects of humans are of similar or greater significance. Therefore, Piketty’s argument does not stimulate an open and scientifically founded debate in all aspects.
This paper is a commentary on the book ‘Probability and stochastic processes’ from Ionut Florescu. The book is an excellent introduction to both probability theory and stochastic processes. It provides a comprehensive discussion of the main statistical concepts including the theorems and proofs. The introduction to probability theory is easy accessible and a perfect starting point for undergraduate students even with majors in other subjects than science, such as business or engineering. The book is also up-to-date because it includes programming code for simulations. However, the book has some weaknesses. It is less convincing in more advanced topics of stochastic theory and it does not include solutions to excises and recent research trends.
A seamless convergence of the digital and physical factory aiming in personalized Product Emergence Process (PPEP) for smart products within ESB Logistics Learning Factory at Reutlingen University.
A completely new business model with reference to Industrie4.0 and facilitated by 3D experience software in today's networked society in which customers expect immediate responses, delightful experience and simple solutions is one of the mission scenarios in the ESB Logistics Learning Factory at ESB Business School (Reutlingen University).
The business experience platform provides software solutions for every organization in the company respectively in the factory. An interface with dashboards, project management apps, 3D - design and construction apps with high end visualization, manufacturing and simulation apps as well as intelligence and social network apps in a collaborative interactive environment help the user to learn the creation of a value end to end process for a personalized virtual and later real produced product.
Instead of traditional ways of working and a conventional operating factory real workers and robots work semi-intuitive together. Centerpiece in the self-planned interim factory is the smart personalized product, uniquely identifiable and locatable at all times during the production process – a scooter with an individual colored mobile phone – holder for any smart phone produced with a 3D printer in lot size one. Smart products have in the future solutions incorporated internet based services – designed and manufactured - at the costs of mass products. Additionally the scooter is equipped with a retrievable declarative product memory. Monitoring and control is handled by sensor tags and a raspberry positioned on the product. The engineering design and implementation of a changeable production system is guided by a self-execution system that independently find amongst others esplanade workplaces.
The imparted competences to students and professionals are project management method SCRUM, customization of workflows by Industrie4.0 principles, the enhancements of products with new personalized intelligent parts, electrical and electronic selfprogrammed components and the control of access of the product memory information, to plan in a digital engineering environment and set up of the physical factory to produce customer orders. The gained action-orientated experience refers to the chances and requirements for holistic digital and physical systems.
The usage of webinars is witnessing a resurgence in popularity, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now revealing itself to be an actual shift in how buyers and sellers do business in the future. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether webinars will continue to be a valuable tool in B2B sales in the future. Specifically, it aims to gain a deeper understanding of how the role of webinars evolved in recent years and analyze its future potential.
Webinars are an essential tool for a wide variety of different use cases. While they have been around for over a decade, webinars recently have seen a resurgence in popularity. As the COVID-19 pandemic strictly limited contact between people and made them work from home as an only option, hosting and participating in webinars has become more common than ever - whether in business, education, or leisure.
Webinars can be effective for various purposes as they are held in real-time and allow multiple engagement opportunities between attendees and hosts. Moreover, because of their remote nature, webinars are more cost-effective and time-saving in organizing and supervising. Consequently, it is cheaper and more convenient to reach your desired target group as a webinar host than to hold a seminar in physical form. Among other reasons, convenience and interaction seem to be the most potent aspects of cementing webinars as a tool in the digital world. Nevertheless, where exactly are they used, and how do they create value in their respective usage fields?
Using predictive maintenance, more efficient processes can be implemented, leading to fewer maintenance costs and increased availability. The development of a predictive maintenance solution currently requires high efforts in time and capacity as well as often interdisciplinary cooperation. This paper presents a standardized model to describe a predictive maintenance use case. The description model is used to collect, present, and document the required information for the implementation of predictive maintenance use cases by and for different stakeholders. Based on this model, predictive maintenance solutions can be introduced more efficiently. The method is validated across departments in the automotive sector.
This paper examines the determinants of Google search in the banking area. The weekly Google data from 2004 to 2013 used for this study consists of the 30 largest banks, the Federal Reserve, and the European Central Bank. To my knowledge, this is the first study on the determinants of Google data. Firstly the paper shows that Google searches are correlated with several performance variables and market data, such as asset prices and trading volume. Secondly it demonstrates that banks´ internal performance data has a major influence whereas market data is rather insignificant. Moreover it is shown that Google search for central banks is largely determined by the level of interest rates as well as the inflation and output gap. This is evidence that central bank attention is primarily driven by the policy targets. Accordingly Google data can be applied to analyze the timely impact of monetary policy.
Additive manufacturing is a key technology which applies the ideas of Industry 4.0 in order to enable the production of personalized and highly customized products economically. Especially small and medium sized companies often lack the competence and experience to evaluate objectively and profoundly the potential of additive manufacturing technologies in small and medium sized companies. Furthermore, the method has been validated in a small medical technology company evaluating the additive manufacturing potential of an existing surgery tool.
Blockchain is a technology for the secure processing and verification of data transactions based on a distributed peer-to-peer network that uses cryptographic processes, consensus algorithms, and backward-linked blocks to make transactions virtually immutable. Within supply chain management, blockchain technology offer potentials in increasing supply chain transparency, visibility, automation, and efficiency. However, its complexity requires future employees to have comprehensive knowledge regarding the functionality of blockchain-based applications in order to be able to apply their benefits to scenarios in supply chain and production. Learning factories represent a suitable environment allowing learners to experience new technologies and to apply them to virtual and physical processes throughout value chains. This paper presents a concept to practically transfer knowledge about the technical functionality of blockchain technology to future engineers and software developers working within supply chains and production operations to sensitize them regarding the advantages of decentralized applications. First, the concept proposes methods to playfully convey immutable backward-linked blocks and the embedment of blockchain smart contracts. Subsequently, the students use this knowledge to develop blockchain-based application scenarios by means of an exemplary product in a learning factory environment. Finally, the developed solutions are implemented with the help of a prototypical decentralized application, which enables a holistic mapping of supply chain events.
This white paper builds a new financial theory of euro area sovereign bond markets under stress. The theory explains the abnormal bond pricing and increasing spreads during the recent market turmoil. We find that the strong disconnect of bond spreads from the respective bonds’ underlying fundamental values in 2010 was triggered by an increase in asymmetric information and weak reputation of government policies. Both factors cause a normal bond market to switch into a crisis mode. Finally, those markets are prone to self-fulfilling bubbles in which the economic effects are amplified by herding behaviour arising from animal spirits. Altogether, this produces contagious effects and multiple equilibria. Thus, we argue that government bond markets in a monetary union are more fragile and vulnerable to liquidity and solvency crises. Consequently, the systemic mispricing of sovereign debt creates more macroeconomic instability and bubbles in the euro area than in a single country. In other words, financial markets are partly blind to national default risks in a currency union. Therefore, the current European institutional framework puts the wrong incentives in place and needs structural changes soon. To tackle the root causes we suggest more market incentives via consistent rules, pre-emptive austerity measures in good economic times, and a resolution scheme for heavily indebted countries. In summary, our paper enhances the bond market theory and provides new insights into the recent bond market turmoil in Europe.
Die weiterhin hohen Schulden in einigen Staaten der Europäischen Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion lassen nach wie vor staatliche Insolvenzen befürchten. Um die entstandenen Probleme zu bewältigen, aber auch damit eine solche Situation erst gar nicht eintritt, hält der Autor eine staatliche Insovenzordnung – mit Bail-out durch die anderen Mitgliedstaaten nur in Notfällen – für erforderlich. Er schlägt einen staatlichen Abwicklungsmechanismus für überschuldete Euro-Länder vor, der auf einem Konzept des Sachverständigenrates für Wirtschaft von 2016 beruht.
Lean Management hat in viele Unternehmen Einzug gehalten. Lean Konzepte stellen neue Anforderungen an die Art und Struktur der benötigten Kosteninformation, welche von traditionallen Kostenrechnungssystemen nicht unmittelbar erfüllt werden. Vertreter eines „Lean Accounting“ schlagen deshalb teils radikale Änderungen und eine Vereinfachung der Kostenrechnung vor. Der Beitrag diskutiert die Beschränkungen der traditionellen Kostenrechnung bei der Umsetzung von Lean Management und stellt ausgewählte Ansätze eines „Accounting for Lean“ vor. Die Analyse zeigt, dass Ansätze des Lean Accounting zu eng fokussiert sind und die in der Praxis vorhandene Pluralität der Kostenrechnungsfunktionen nicht adäquat abbilden können. Eine radikale Neugestaltung bestehender Kostenrechnungssysteme wird deshalb als unrealistisch und unbegründet verworfen. Der Beitrag entwickelt alternative Vorschläge, wie Konzepte des Lean Managements und die dafür benötigte Kosteninformation in traditionellen Kostenrechnungssystemen integriert werden können.
Adaptation of the business model canvas template to develop business models for the circular economy
(2021)
The Business Model Canvas as a template for strategic management serves the development of new or the documentation of existing linear business models. However, the change towards a Circular Economy requires new value creation structures and thus changed business models. To develop business models for circular economies, it is necessary to adapt the existing template, since the actors involved along the value chain take on changed roles. In the context of this paper, a template is presented, based on the existing Business Model Canvas, which allows to develop and document business models for a Circular Economy.
The aim of this work is to establish and generalize a relationship between fractional partial differential equations (fPDEs) and stochastic differential equations (SDEs) to a wider class of stochastic processes, including fractional Brownian motions and sub-fractional Brownian motions with Hurst parameter H ∈ (1/2,1). We start by establishing the connection between a fPDE and SDE via the Feynman-Kac Theorem, which provides a stochastic representation of a general Cauchy problem. In hindsight, we extend this connection by assuming SDEs with fractional and sub-fractional Brownian motions and prove the generalized Feynman-Kac formulas under a (sub-)fractional Brownian motion. An application of the theorem demonstrates, as a by-product, the solution of a fractional integral, which has relevance in probability theory.
Affordable Luxury Sports Cars in Germany : Investigating the Determinants of Customer Experience
(2022)
The article discusses the factors affecting the customer experience when buying affordable luxury sports cars in Germany by identifying differences between first-time and experienced buyers. It emphasizes the need for the creation of two different customer journeys based on different customer experience clusters, a touchpoint analysis from the customer perspective identified differences in purchase stages, and staff behaviour and brand trust for customer satisfaction and brand identification.
Parteien streiten oft darüber, ob sich Käufer bei Mängeln der Kaufsache vom Vertrag lösen können. Der Verkäufer will das meistens verhindern: Fallen die Preise, kann sich der Käufer etwa nach dem Rücktritt die Ware am Markt preiswerter verschaffen. Die Ware ist dann zum ursprünglichen Preis nicht mehr handelbar. Steigen die Preise, droht zusätzlich eine Schadensersatzforderung: Der Käufer muss sich die Ware zu einemhöheren Preis bei einem anderen Verkäufer verschaffen. Auch können beim Verkäufer zusätzliche Kosten–etwa Transport-oder Lagerkosten–entstehen. Verkaufsbedingungen machen es dem Käufer deshalb besonders schwer, sich vom Vertrag zu lösen, während Einkaufsbedingungen daran nur geringe Anforderungen stellen.
Wer Ein- und Verkaufsbedingungen für das Auslandsgeschäft gestaltet, muss wissen, wo der Gesetzgeber der Gestaltungsfreiheit Grenzen gesetzt hat. Gelten BGB/HGB, lässt die deutsche Inhaltskontrolle überschaubare Spielräume, beim Rücktritts-recht des Käufers von den gesetzlichen Regeln abzuweichen. Weitgehend ungeklärt ist bislang, welche Vertragsaufhebungsklauseln in AGB wirksam sind, wenn UN-Kaufrecht gilt: Zwar kann sich in diesen Fällen die Inhaltskontrolle wegen Art. 4Satz 2 lit. a) CISG auch nach § 307 Abs. 1 BGB richten. Dann ist aber bei der Klauselkontrolle auch den Wertungen Rechnung zu tragen, die dem UN-Kaufrecht–und eben nicht dem BGB–zugrunde liegen und in dessen Bestimmungen ihren Niederschlag gefunden haben. Bei der Gestaltung von AGB kann dies Freiräume schaffen.
With the digital transformation, companies will experience a change that focuses on shaping the organization into an agile organizational form. In today's competitive and fast-moving business environment, it is necessary to react quickly to changing market conditions. Agility represents a promising option for overcoming these challenges. The path to an agile organization represents a development process that requires consideration of countless levels of the enterprise. This paper examines the impact of digital transformation on agile working practices and the benefits that can be achieved through technology. To enable a solution for today's so-called VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity und Ambiguity) world, agile ways of working can be applied project management requires adaptation. In the qualitative study, expert interviews were conducted and analyzed using the grounded theory method. As a result, a model can be presented that shows the influencing factors and potentials of agile management in the context of the digital transformation of medium-sized companies.
Digitalization changes the manufacturing dramatically. In regard of employees’ demands, global trends and the technological vision of future factories, automotive manufacturing faces a huge number of diverse challenges. Currently, research focuses on technological aspects of future factories in terms of digitalization. New ways of work and new organizational models for future factories have not been described yet. There are assumptions on how to develop the organization of work in a future factory but up to now, literature shows deficits in scientifically substantiated answers in this research area. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to present an approach on a work organization design for automotive Industry 4.0 manufacturing. Future requirements were analyzed and deducted to criteria that determine future agile organization design. These criteria were then transformed into functional mechanisms, which define the approach for shopfloor organization design
Unternehmen, die restriktiv keinerlei Adaptionen innerhalb der Strukturen vornehmen, können angesichts der verschärften Wettbewerbssituation im tagtäglichen Business nicht bestehen. Warum Agilität ein geeignetes Tool für die Umsetzung einer innovativen Anpassung beschreibt und in zukunftsorientierten Unternehmen als Katalysator agiert, soll in diesem Artikel näher erläutert werden.
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.
Angesichts großer globaler Herausforderungen wie z.B. dem Klimawandel befindet sich die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit im Wandel und sieht sich zunehmend der Frage ihrer Wirksamkeit gegenübergestellt. Dieser Beitrag diskutiert, welchen Beitrag Sustainable Entrepreneurship zu einer Verbesserung ihrer Wirksamkeit leisten kann. Im Rahmen dessen wird zunächst die Ethik Albert Schweitzers und ihre Bezüge zu Konzepten der Nachhaltigen Entwicklung beleuchtet und im nächsten Schritt kriteriengeleitet diskutiert, inwieweit Albert Schweitzer als Prototyp eines Sustainable Entrepreneurs bezeichnet werden kann und was dies für die Konzeption und Ausrichtung der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit bedeuten könnte. Ebenso wird diskutiert, inwieweit Nachhaltige Entwicklung, insb. die Nachhaltigkeitsziele der Vereinten Nationen (SDG) als Orientierungsrahmen für die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit dienen kann. Ausgehend von dem Befund, dass für Sustainable Entrepreneurs die Finanzierung ihrer Aktivitäten ein erheblicher Engpassfaktor darstellt, wird diskutiert, inwiefern Sustainable Finance-Instrumente dazu beitragen können, die Finanzierungsbedingungen für Sustainable Entrepreneurs und damit den Impact ihrer Aktivitäten zu verbessern. Abschließend wird anhand eines aktuellen Fallbeispiels der Impact aufgezeigt, den Sustainable Entrepreneurs, die nach dem Vorbild Albert Schweitzers agieren, erzielen können.
Ambush Marketing im Sport : wie Nicht-Sponsoren Sportveranstaltungen zur Markenkommunikation nutzen
(2014)
Insbesondere internationale sportliche Großereignisse wie Fußball-Welt- und Europameisterschaften oder Olympische Spiele bilden für zahlreiche Unternehmen die ideale Plattform, um ihr Markenmanagement und ihre kommunikative Zielgruppenansprache in ein attraktives sportliches Umfeld einzubetten. Sport-Event-Veranstalter verkaufen deshalb privilegierte Vermarktungsrechte ihres Events an offizielle Sponsoren, die im Gegenzug exklusive Möglichkeiten erwerben, das Event werblich für sich zu nutzen. Ambush Marketing dagegen kennzeichnet die Vorgehensweise von Unternehmen, die keine Vermarktungsrechte an einer Veranstaltung besitzen, aber dennoch durch ihre Marketingmaßnahmen in unterschiedlicher Art und Weise eine Verbindung zu diesem Event aufbauen. Der Grat zwischen der Verletzung von Sponsorenrechten und kreativ-innovativer Kommunikationspolitik ist dabei oft sehr schmal, weswegen Ambush Marketing kontrovers diskutiert…diskutiert wird.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively characterise the interdisciplinary phenomenon of ambush marketing in sports, structure its manifestations, illustrate the consequences associated with ambush marketing and provide a critical evaluation from an objective perspective.
Design/methodology/approach: Various approaches to the definition of ambush marketing are presented and the objectives pursued with ambush marketing are identified. In this paper a new approach has been developed to structure the strategies and manifestations of ambush marketing.
Findings: It is a fine line between creative marketing and infringing on sponsorship rights. So the interdisciplinary phenomenon ambush marketing is discussed controversially. Ambush marketing is situated at the intersection of two opposing spheres of interest conducting a battle for shares of the marketing potential of a sports event. On one side there is the disparaging view of ambush marketing founded on legal and/or ethical considerations. On the other, the author has the respectful assessment of ambushers characterised by their innovative, creative marketing.
Practical implications: The analysis conducted in this paper leads to the conclusion that a general evaluation or condemnation of ambush marketing is not feasible. A four-field matrix emerges from the combination of a legal statutory consideration on one hand and an ethical-moral assessment on the other.
Originality/value: The paper describes and structures ambush marketing in a novel form and discusses illustrating examples from major sporting events. Ambush marketing is evaluated from a neutral perspective by summarising the opportunities and threats of ambush marketing which leads to a nuanced contemplation of ambush marketing.
This study empirically analyzes and compares return data from developed and emerging market data based on the Fama French five-factor model and compares it to previous results from the Fama French three-factor model by Kostin, Runge and Adams (2021). It researches whether the addition of the profitability and investment pattern factors show superior results in the assessment of emerging markets during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to developed markets. We use panel data covering eight indices of developed and emerging countries as well as a selection of eight companies from these markets, covering a period from 2000 to 2020. Our findings suggest that emerging markets do not generally outperform developed markets. The results underscore the need to reconsider the assumption that adding more factors to regression models automatically yields results that are more reliable. Our study contributes to the extant literature by broadening this research area. It is the first study to compare the performance of the Fama French three-factor model and the Fama French five-factor model in the cost of equity calculation for developed and emerging countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and other crisis events of the past two decades.
Global trade is plagued by slow and inefficient manual processes associated with physical documents. Firms are constantly looking for new ways to improve transparency and increase the resilience of their supply chains. This can be solved by the digitalisation of supply chains and the automation of document- and information-sharing processes. Blockchain is touted as a solution to these issues due to its unique combination of features, such as immutability, decentralisation and transparency. A lack of business cases that quantify the costs and benefits causes uncertainty regarding the truth of these claims. This paper explores how the costs and benefits of a blockchain-based solution for digitalising and automating documentation flows in cross-border supply chains compare to a conventional centralised relational database solution. The research described in this paper uses primary data collected through semi-structured interviews with industry experts, as well as secondary data from literature. Two models based on existing services were developed and the costs and benefits compared and then analysed using the Architecture Trade-off Analysis Method (ATAM) and the Analytic Network Process (ANP). Findings from the analysis show that a consortium blockchain solution like TradeLens is the favourable solution for digitalising and automating information flows in cross-border supply chains.