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§ 303 Schuldenkonsolidierung
(2020)
Krisenzeiten sind für die Wirtschaft durch immer kürzer werdende Zyklen mittlerweile zum Normalfall geworden. Auch im neuen Jahrtausend war die Weltwirtschaft schon mit mehreren schweren Krisen konfrontiert: Das Platzen der New-Economy-Blase zu Beginn des Jahrtausends oder die Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise 2008. In diese gesamtwirtschaftlichen Krisen mischen sich aktuell Branchen- und Unternehmenskrisen, häufig verursacht durch die disruptive Kraft der digitalen Transformation oder durch Managementfehler. Unternehmenskrisen sind somit gewissermaßen der Normalfall einer typischen Unternehmensentwicklung und treten in jedem Unternehmen früher oder später auf. Dementsprechend legen einige Modelle des organisationalen Lebenszyklus (Ringlstetter & kaiser, 2004) nahe, Unternehmenskrisen als wenig außergewöhnlich bzw. normale und permanente Begleiterscheinung unternehmerischen Handelns aufzufassen (insbesondere Greiner, 1972). Dabei kann man unter Krise allgemein den abrupten Bruch einer bis dahin kontinuierlichen Entwicklung (Krystek, 1987, S. 3) verstehen. Dieser Bruch markiert einen Wendepunkt in der Unternehmensentwicklung, dessen konkreter Ausgang nicht absehbar ist und der zudem die gesamte Unternehmung oder deren dominante Ziele gefährden kann. Es ist somit zu Recht auf die ambivalenten Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten in einer Krise hinzuweisen.
Zielgenau aus dem Hinterhalt
(2020)
Ambush-Marketing löst meistens heftige Reaktionen aus - bei Befürwortern und Gegnern. Die Idee des Ambush-Marketings ist es, von den Erfolgen des Sponsorings zu profitieren, ohne die Pflichten eines offiziellen Sponsors einzugehen. Ambusher besitzen keine Vermarktungsrechte an einer Veranstaltung, bauen aber dennoch durch ihre Marketingmassnahmen eine Verbindung zu einem Event auf. Der Grat zwischen der Verletzung von Sponsoren-Rechten und kreativ-innovativer Kommunikationspolitik ist dabei oft sehr schmal.
This study investigates how integrated reporting (IR) creates value for investors. It examines how providers of financial capital benefit from an improved firm information environment provided by IR. Specifically, this study investigates the effect of voluntary IR disclosure on analyst earnings forecast accuracy as well as on firm value. To do so, we use an international sample of 167 listed companies that voluntarily publish an integrated report. Our analysis shows no significant effect of a voluntary IR publication on analyst earnings forecast accuracy and no significant effect on firm value. We thus do not find evidence for the fulfillment of IR's promises regarding improved information environment and value creation of voluntary adopters. We conclude that such companies might already have a relatively high level of transparency leading to an absent additional effect of IR disclosure. Positive effects of IR appear to be more relevant in environments where IR is mandatory.
Für den Unternehmer wichtig ist, binnen welcher Fristen er als Käufer seine Rechte bei Sachmängeln geltend machen muss. Ist der Unternehmer Verkäufer, kann er sich erst nach Verjährungsvollendung endgültig zurücklehnen und sicher sein, dass keine Gewährleistungsansprüche gegen ihn mehr geltend gemacht werden können. Im nationalen Rechtsverkehr hat man sich auf Verkäufer- und Käuferseite mittlerweile an die zweijährige Regelfrist im BGB gewöhnt. Welche Fristen im Auslandsgeschäft gelten, ist dagegen oft unklar, weil sich die nationalen Verjährungsfristen oft unterscheiden: Allein in Europa gibt es bei der kaufrechtlichen Gewährleistung Verjährungsfristen zwischen sechs Monaten und sechs Jahren.
Das Value-Engineering in der Kundenkommunikation ist eine strukturierte Methode, Kommunikationsprozesse zwischen Unternehmen zu verbessern. Das Konzept greift bewährte Elemente der technischen Wertanalyse und der Gemeinkosten-Wertanalyse auf und überträgt sie auf die Kundenkommunikation. Der Ansatz bietet eine systematische Vorgehensweise, Kommunikationsprozesse zwischen Anbieter und Kunde zu durchleuchten und neu zu gestalten. Value-Engineering in der Kundenkommunikation schafft somit Wettbewerbsvorteile durch eine Optimierung der Kommunikation.
Process quality has reached a high level on mass production, utilizing well known methods like the DoE. The drawback of the unterlying statistical methods is the need for tests under real production conditions, which cause high costs due to the lost output. Research over the last decade let to methods for correcting a process by using in-situ data to correct the process parameters, but still a lot of pre-production is necessary to get this working. This paper presents a new approach in improving the product quality in process chains by using context data - which in part are gathered by using Industry 4.0 devices - to reduce the necessary pre-production.
Das Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgerichts (BVerfG) vom 5. Mai 2020 ist Schlusspunkt und zugleich Neuanfang nach einer jahrelangen verfassungsrechtlichen und ökonomischen Auseinandersetzung. Im Prinzip geht es um die konstituierenden Prinzipien der Eurozone sowie das Mandat der Europäischen Zentralbank (EZB). Der EU-Vertrag charakterisiert die Leitplanken der Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion (WWU) im Spannungsfeld der Art. 119, 123 und 125 des Vertrags über die Arbeitsweise der Europäischen Union (AEUV). Mithin liegt die wirtschaftspolitische Souveränität – nach dem Prinzip Haftung und Kontrolle – allein bei den Mitgliedstaaten. Die Organe der Europäischen Union (EU) sowie der Gerichtshof der Europäischen Union (EuGH) legen diese Leitplanken gemäß dem Leitgedanken in Art. 1 des Vertrags über die Europäische Union (EUV) einer „ever closer union“ regelmäßig mit weitem Ermessen aus.
Customer orientation should be the core engine of every organisation while IT can be considered as the enabler to generate competitive advantages along customer processes in marketing, sales and service. Research shows that customer relationship management (CRM) enables organisations to perform better and experience indicates that organisations that focus on customer orientation are more successful. With marketplace organisations such as Amazon, Alibaba or Conrad shaping the future of customer centricity and information technology, German B2B organisations need to shift their value contribution from product-centric to customer-centric. While these organisations are currently attempting to implement CRM software and putting their customers more into focus, the question remains how organisations are approaching the implementation of CRM and whether these attempts are paying off in terms of business performance.
This study investigates empirically the development of working capital management and its impact on profitability and shareholder value in Germany. We analyse panel data of 115 firms listed on the German Prime Standard, covering the period from 2011 to 2017. The results provide evidence that efficient working capital management, indicated by a shorter cash conversion cycle, deteriorated over time, but that a shorter cash conversion has a positive impact on profitability and shareholder value. The findings highlight the need that managers should give greater priority to working capital optimization, even in a low-interest environment. The paper contributes to the literature by advancing this research area in Germany, and it is the first study investigating shareholder relationship with working capital management and all its determinants.
Customer foresight is a relatively new research field. We introduce the customer foresight territory by discussing it localization between customer research and foresight research. For this purposse, we look at a variety of methods that help to understand customers and future realities. On this basis we provide an overwiew of customer foresight methods and outline an ideal-typical research journey.
Customer foresight is a relatively new research field. We introduce the customer foresight territory by discussing its localization between customer research and foresight research. For this purpose, we look at a variety of methods that help to understand customers and future realities. On this basis we provide an overview of customer foresight methods and outline an ideal-typical research journey.
Background. We describe and provide an initial evaluation of the Climate Action Simulation, a simulation-based role playing game that enables participants to learn for themselves about the response of the climate-energy system to potential policies and actions. Participants gain an understanding of the scale and urgency of climate action, the impact of different policies and actions, and the dynamics and interactions of different policy choices.
Intervention. The Climate Action Simulation combines an interactive computer model, En-ROADS, with a role play in which participants make decisions about energy and climate policy. They learn about the dynamics of the climate and energy systems as they discover how En-ROADS responds to their own climate-energy decisions.
Methods. We evaluated learning outcomes from the Climate Action Simulation using pre- and post-simulation surveys as well as a focus group.
Results. Analysis of survey results showed that the Climate Action Simulation increases participants’ knowledge about the scale of emissions reductions and policies and actions needed to address climate change. Their personal and emotional engagement with climate change also grew. Focus group participants were overwhelmingly positive about the Climate Action Simulation, saying it left them feeling empowered to make a positive difference in addressing the climate challenge.
In modernen Arbeitswelten werden zunehmend arbeitsplatzbezogene digitale Technologien eingesetzt. Wenngleich dies zahlreiche Chancen bietet, kann es auch negative Folgen für die Gesundheit von Mitarbeitenden haben. Diese Herausforderungen werden durch die aktuelle Corona-Krise für viele Unternehmen noch verschärft. Stress, der direkt oder indirekt durch den Einsatz von Technologien entsteht, wird als «Technostress» bezeichnet. Wichtige Hebel zu dessen Vermeidung umfassen die Gestaltung von Technologien sowie die Berücksichtigung verschiedener individueller und situativer Faktoren im Rahmen technologischer Veränderungsprozesse.
Der Anteil mittelständischer Unternehmen, die Standorte im Ausland unterhalten, nimmt seit einigen Jahren zu. Oft finden Auslandsaktivitäten dieser Art in Niedriglohnländern statt. Dort ergeben sich u.a durch die infrastrukturellen Gegebenheiten und durch die verfügbaren Personalressourcen diverse Herausforderungen, insbesondere für die Produktivitätsermittlung und -bewertung innerhalb der Produktion. Dieser Beitrag soll für diese Herausforderungen geeignete Technologien und eine mögliche Vorgehensweise für deren Auswahl vor dem Hintergrund der ländertypischen Herausforderungen aufzeigen.
The use of learning factories for education in maintenance concepts is limited, despite the important role maintenance plays in the effective operation of organizational assets. A training programme in a learning factory environment is presented where a combination of gamification, classroom training and learning factory applications is used to introduce students to the concepts of maintenance plan development, asset failure characteristics and the costs associated with maintenance decision-making. The programme included a practical task to develop a maintenance plan for different advanced manufacturing machines in a learning factory setting. The programme stretched over a four-day period and demonstrated how learning factories can be effectively utilized to teach management related concepts in an interdisciplinary team context, where participants had no, or very limited, previous exposure to these concepts.
In an increasingly competitive environment, suppliers are now seen as an important source of innovation. Long term partnerships enable companies to access the knowledge of suppliers to optimize their business. "Procurement 4.0" is one of the concepts that come to the fore when talking about digitalization of business processes. The major aim of this research is to discuss a conceptual model of "Procurement 4.0" and its potential to rethink the management of supplier relationships, which will be one of the main future tasks of procurement. The paper is based on a factual-analytical research approach that serves to continuously specify and supplement the elements of the frame of reference: Two challenging concepts, "Procurement 4.0" and Supplier Relationship Management, are merged to contribute to the fact that purchasing is indispensable as an "interface" within a global supply chain to reap the benefits of digitization. The factors that prove to be obstacles to digital supplier relationship management along the digital supplier journey - e.g. lack of guidelines, approaches or tools and a lack of understanding of the importance of long-term relationships - are reflected within the identified technologies of digital transformation. A comprehensive analysis of the given situation within digital supplier relationship management in Germany is provided. The most important digital supplier touchpoints are discussed in order to develop a traditional supplier relationship towards a digital relationship management. Thus, this paper succeeds in illustrating how the innovative concept of a supplier journey can be implemented in practice to counteract the future, entrepreneurial challenges.
This book presents an empirical investigation of the efforts that multinational pharmaceutical companies take in order to find a business model that allows for a profitable access to the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) markets. The Bottom of the Pyramid in Africa is frequently mentioned as an attractive market due to its sheer size. Yet most companies struggle to access it because of the low price level, difficult physical market access and challenges when it comes to payment.
More specifically, the book investigates the following business model-related questions: Do pharmaceutical companies provide products that meet the needs of the BoP? What characterizes the value generation of the company? What revenue model leads to a profitable business, and what role does a network of partners play in the business model?
Findings reveal that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer to these questions. Providing continuous availability, affordability at a good quality of goods and services, creating health awareness, as well as localizing business to achieve a level of inclusivenessare essential prerequisites for success. In the last chapter this book provides a business model prototype that accounts for these key success factors for business at the Bottom of the Pyramid and points to further research topics.
The SDGs give an overview of the world's development challenges of the present and the coming decades and set a new global agenda for more inclusive and sustainable development and growth. These challenges also represent opportunities for social innovations and the creation of scalable and financially self-sustaining solutions by businesses and (social) entrepreneurs. Examples of solutions to social and ecological challenges are for instance providing low-income communities with access to affordable, quality products and services in areas such as water and sanitation, energy, health, education and finance. New business models can meet customer demands by providing solutions and thereby create opportunities for low-income people as employees, suppliers and distributors.
Companies are becoming aware of the potential risks arising from sustainability aspects in supply chains. These risks can affect ecological, economic or social aspects. One important element in managing those risks is improved transparency in supply chains by means of digital transformation. Innovative technologies like blockchain technology can be used to enforce transparency. In this paper, we present a smart contract-based Supply Chain Control Solution to reduce risks. Technological capabilities of the solution will be compared to a similar technology approach and evaluated regarding their benefits and challenges within the framework of supply chain models. As a result, the proposed solution is suitable for the dynamic administration of complex supply chains.
Globalisation, shorter product life cycles, and increasing product varieties have led to complex supply chains. At the same time, there is a growing interest of customers and governments in having a greater transparency of brands, manufacturers, and producers throughout the supply chain. Due to the complex structure of collaborative manufacturing networks, the increase of supply chain transparency is a challenge for manufacturing companies. The blockchain technology offers an innovative solution to increase the transparency, security, authenticity, and auditability of products. However, there are still uncertainties when applying the blockchain technology to manufacturing scenarios and thus enable all stakeholders to trace back each component of an assembled product. This paper proposes a framework design to increase the transparency and auditability of products in collaborative manufacturing networks by adopting the blockchain technology. In this context, each component of a product is marked with a unique identification number generated by blockchain-based smart contracts. In this way, a transparent auditability of assembled products and their components can be achieved for all stakeholders, including the custome.
Service Blueprinting
(2020)
Ein Ansatz des Dienstleistungsmanagements, mit dessen Hilfe Gesundheitsleistungen ganz aus Perspektive der behandelten Person und ihrer Customer Journey durch den Leistungsprozess analysiert werden kann, ist das sogenannte Service Blueprinting. Die vorliegende Fallstudie beginnt mit einer kurzen Einführung zur Begründung und zum Vorgehen dieses Ansatzes. Im Anschluss wird der Ansatz anhand der holprigen Customer Journey des imaginären Patienten Torben Schulz im Rahmen einer Bandscheiben-Operation kritisch diskutiert und auf einen Teilaspekt dieser Dienstleistung angewendet.
The planning and control of intralogistics systems in line with versatile production systems of smart factories requires new approaches and methods to cope with changing requirements within future factories. The planning of intralogistics can no longer follow a static, sequential approach as in the past since the planning assumptions are going to change in a high frequency. Reasons for these constant changes are amongst others external turbulences like rapidly changing market conditions, decreasing batch sizes down to customer-specific products with a batch size of one and on the other hand internal turbulences (like production and logistic resource breakdowns) affecting the production system. This paper gives an insight into research approaches and results how capabilities of intelligent logistical objects (intelligent bins, autonomous transport systems etc.) can be used to achieve a self-organized, cost and performance optimized intralogistics system with autonomously controlled process execution within versatile production environments. A first consistent method has been developed which has been validated and implemented within a scenario at the pilot factory Werk150 at the ESB Business School (Reutlingen University). Based on the incoming production orders, the method of the Extended Profitability Appraisal (EPA) covering the work system value to define the most effective work system for order fulfilment is applied. To derive the appropriate intralogistics processes, an autonomous control method involving principles of decentralized and target-oriented decision-making (e.g. intelligent bins are interacting with autonomously controlled transport systems to fulfil material orders of assembly workstations) has been developed and applied to achieve a target-optimized process execution. The results of the first stage research using predefined material sources and sinks described in this paper is going to set the basis for the further development of a self-organized and autonomously controlled method for intralogistics systems considering dynamic source and sink relations. By allowing dynamic shifts of production orders in the sense of dynamic source and sink relations the cost and performance aims of the intralogistics system can be directly aligned with the aims of the entire versatile production system in the sense of self-organized and autonomously controlled systems.
In digital transformierten Arbeitswelten organisieren die Mitarbeitenden ihre Arbeitszeit, ihren Arbeitsort und die Art und Weise, wie sie Aufgaben erledigen, in größerem Umfang selbst. Unternehmen, die im Zuge des Transformationsprozesses den Grad der Selbstorganisation erhöhen möchten, stehen vor einer komplexen Herausforderung. Selbstorganisation betrifft zahlreiche Elemente der Organisation wie Arbeitsaufgaben und Rollen, Führung, Regeln und Kompetenzen. Auf Basis eines empirisch entwickelten Bezugsrahmens, dem Digitalisierungsatlas, können die verschiedenen Elemente integrativ betrachtet und die Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Dimensionen in den Blick genommen werden. Wird Selbstorganisation ausgehend von der Autonomie der Beschäftigten, Arbeitsaufgaben und die eigene Rolle in der Organisation selbst zu beeinflussen, in den Blick genommen, sind insbesondere die Wechselwirkungen zwischen den organisationalen Dimensionen sowie Führung relevant. Die Spannungen zwischen diesen Dimensionen werden näher fokussiert. Insgesamt zeigt der Beitrag auf, dass Selbstorganisation nicht als ein unabhängiges Phänomen verstanden werden kann, sondern stets in Wechselwirkung mit anderen Dimensionen steht.
Monday is unique for its reputation as a “bad” day—one that is characterized by pessimism and reluctance as noted by Rystrom and Benson (Financ Anal J 45(5):75–78, 1989). But the extent to which this applies to stock markets is still in dispute. While early evidence points to a Monday effect leading to negative returns, recent studies tend to suggest its disappearance or reversal.As a replication study, this paper searches for new evidence of this effect in the German stock market.We use data on the German blue-chip index DAX between 2000 and 2017 to test for the presence of a Monday effect by applying regression and controlling with GARCH analysis. The observation period provides a detailed insight into different market phases in one of the most liquid and information efficient international stock markets. Our results contribute no evidence to the persistent existence of a Monday effect on the German stock market. Our analysis is robust against the background of different market sentiments before, during and after the financial crisis.
The key aim of Open Strategy is to open up the process of strategy development to larger groups within and even outside an organization. Furthermore, Open Strategy aims to include broad groups of stakeholders in the various steps of the strategy process. The question at hand is how can Open Strategy be achieved? What approaches can be used? Scenario planning and business wargaming are approaches perceived as relevant tools in the field of strategy and strategic foresight and in the context of Open Strategy because of their participative nature. The aim of this article is to assess to what degree scenario planning and business wargaming can be used in the context of Open Strategy. While these approaches are suitable, their current application limits the number of potential participants. Further research and experimentation in practice with larger groups and/or online approaches, or a combination of both, are needed to explore the potential of scenario planning and business wargaming as tools for Open Strategy.
Resilienz und Stabilität? Weichenstellungen im Banken- und Finanzsystem in der Corona-Pandemie
(2020)
Seit der globalen Finanzkrise 2008/2009 hat es keine vergleichbare Herausforderung wie die Corona-Krise für das Finanz- und Bankensystem mehr gegeben.
Schwache Profitabilität, ungelöste Regulierungs-herausforderungen und steigende Konkurrenz im Digitalbereich stellen die Banken vor weitere Heraus-forderungen.
Die Stabilität des Finanzsystems und der Zugang zu den Finanzmärkten war während der Pandemie nicht gefährdet. Durch gemeinsame Bemühungen und bes-sere Bankenkapitalisierung ist das Finanzsystem heute widerstandsfähiger als zu Zeiten der Finanzkrise.
Sofern die Zuschüsse und Kredite im „Next Genera-tion EU“-Fund zielgerichtet für Strukturreformen und Zukunftsinvestitionen eingesetzt werden, dürfte dies einen Vertrauens- und Wachstumsimpuls darstellen.
Weitere Verbesserungen der Finanzstabilität, wie erhöhte Eigenkapitalunterlegungen, Regulierung von Schattenbanken oder Reformen im Bereich der Finanzaufsicht, sind jedoch von Nöten.
Since the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, there has been no challenge to the financial and banking system comparable to that during the Corona crisis.
Weak profitability, unresolved regulatory challenges and increasing competition in the digital sector pose further challenges for banks.
The stability of the financial system and access to financial markets was not at risk during the pandemic. Through joint efforts and better bank capitalisation, the financial system is now more resilient than during the financial crisis.
Provided that grants and loans in the “next generation EU” fund are well targeted for structural reforms and investments in the future, this should boost confi-dence and growth.
However, further improvements in financial stability, such as increased capital requirements, regulation of shadow banks or reforms in financial supervision, are needed.
Der Erfolg des Resales in der Modebranche wird vor allem durch das starke Wachstum verdeutlicht, denn im Vergleich zum Retail wuchs dieser im vergangenen Jahr 24 Mal schneller. Eine aktuell aufstrebende Form des Verkaufs, Resale, bezeichnet den Prozess, den Produkte durchlaufen, wenn diese ein zweites Mal verkauft, das heißt aus zweiter Hand wiederverkauft werden. Retail hingegen beschreibt den traditionellen Verkauf von Produkten über den (stationären) Einzelhandel. Es kehren also immer mehr Produkte, welche bereits im Besitz eines anderen gewesen sind, in den Handel zurück und stehen erneut zum Verkauf bereit. Womit diese Aufwärtsentwicklung in der Modebranche ermittelt werden kann und inwiefern der Resale auf den Retail trifft, wird im Folgenden beschrieben.
Relationship between a high-performance work system and employee outcomes: a multilevel analysis
(2020)
Although research on high-performance work systems (HPWS) is increasing, there are few studies in which the focus is on whether and how firm-level HPWS affect individual-level employee outcomes. Using social identity theory, we examined the relationship between HPWS and employee outcomes, and the role organizational identification plays as a mediator in this relationship. We used a multilevel research design and collected data at the organizational and individual levels from a sample of 485 employees of 32 companies in Guangdong Province, China. We used Amos 17.0 and hierarchical linear modeling 6.08 software to examine our hypotheses and the theoretical model. Results showed that organizational identification fully mediated the relationship between HPWS and employees’ job performance as well as that between HPWS and their turnover intention. Our findings provide new insights into the relationship between firm-level human resource management and individual-level employee outcomes, and highlight the importance of considering the implementation of HPWS practices to strengthen employees’ identification with the organization and improve their performance.
Die Produktindividualisierung, Digitalisierung und Automatisierung der Produktion erfordern eine ständige Anpassung der Produktions- und Intralogistikprozesse. Referenzmodelle unterstützen dabei Produktions- und Fabrikplaner mit Standards, Werkzeugen und vielem mehr. Eine Marktrecherche von Referenzmodellen zeigt erhebliche inhaltliche und methodische Unvollständigkeiten auf. Eine daraus abgeleitete Handlungsempfehlung für die Konstruktion eines Intralogistikreferenzmodells wir vorgestellt.
Projektmanagement
(2020)
Projektmanagement ist ein Werkzeug um singuläre Aufgaben interdisziplinär und unternehmensübergreifend strukturiert zu bearbeiten, die einmalig und extrem bedeutsam für das Unternehmen sind sowie nicht einfach in der bestehenden Linienorganisation bearbeitet werden können. Unter Projektmanagement versteht man ein Konzept für die Leitung eines komplexen Vorhabens und die Institution, die dieses Vorhaben leitet.
Planning of available resources considering ergonomics under deterministic highly variable demand
(2020)
In this paper, a method for hybrid short- to long-term planning of available resources for operations is presented, which is based on a known or deterministically forecasted but highly variable demand. The method considers quantitative measures such as the performance and the availability of resources, ergonomically relevant KPI and ultimately process costs in order to serve as a pragmatic planning tool for operations managers in SMEs. Specifically, the method enables exploiting the ergonomic advantages of available flexible automation technology (e.g. AGVs or picking robots), while assuring that these do not represent a capacity bottleneck. After presenting the method along with the necessary assumptions, mainly concerning the availability of data for the calculations, we report a case study that quantifies the impact of throughput variability on the selection of different process alternatives, where different teams of resources are used.
Since Adam Smith, the “homo oeconomicus” is the behavioural model in economics. Commonly this model characterizes a selfish individual, a kind of ruthless type, whose greed for profit seems to take precedence over moral values. Already 100 years ago, Max Weber provided a modernization of the model concerning the methodological individualism. Recent research in cognitive sciences reveals a further modernization of this standard model in economics. Neuro-economics, a highly interdisciplinary research field, is building a new behavioural consensus. This article examines the new properties of the “neuro-homo oeconomicus”. We show that the new behavioural model is rather similar to the long-standing economic prototype. To that extent, the neuro-model is more hype than hope. In principle, this article considers an ancient philosophical question about the nature of humans in general.
Personalmanagement
(2020)
Auch wenn der Wert in keiner Bilanz auftaucht: das Humankapital entscheidet über den Unternehmenserfolg. Während Kapital im Überfluss vorhanden ist, ist das Personal zunehmend der Engpassfaktor. Wurde bis in die 1980er-Jahre der Mensch als Produktionsfaktor und die Personalabteilung als seine Verwaltungsinstanz gesehen, so ist die Personalarbeit heute ein integratives Element des Managementprozesses und die Personalabteilung aktiver Teil des Managementteams (Scholz 2014c). Damit verbunden ist der begriffliche Wandel von Personalwirtschaft bzw. Personalverwaltung hin zum Personalmanagement bzw. Human Ressource Management (HRM). Die Begriffe signalisieren eine stärker strategisch ausgerichtete Auseinandersetzung mit allen Fragen, die den Einsatz von Personal und die Verknüpfung der Personal- mit der Unternehmensstrategie zum Gegenstand haben.
Wichtige Aufgaben der Personalarbeit sind Personalplanung, Personalbeschaffung, Personalentwicklung, Personaleinsatz, Personalkostenmanagement, Personalführung. Diese werden in der Regel von unterschiedlichen Stellen wahrgenommen – neben der Personalabteilung spielen dabei auch die direkte Führungskraft sowie die Unternehmensleitung eine wichtige Rolle.
Participation in fast fashion brands’ clothes recycling plans in an omnichannel retail environment
(2020)
The rise of the fast fashion industry allows more and more people to participate in fashion consumption, but goes along with negative consequences on the environment. To reduce wastage, fast fashion retailers have begun to offer used clothes recycling plans to which customers can submit clothes they no longer wear. Since these recycling plans have mainly been operated in offline stores so far, the rise of omnichannel retailing poses new challenges on retailers with regard to organizing the plan and motivating consumers to participate. On a sample of N=370 Chinese fast fashion consumers, this paper investigates, which factors determine consumers’ willingness to participate in fast fashion brands’ used clothes recycling plans in an omnichannel retailing environment. It finds that consumers’ clothes recycling intention is determined by individual predispositions (environmental attitude, impulsive consumption), as well as by organizational arrangements (channel integration quality), as well as by the outcomes of their interaction (consumer satisfaction, brand identification). Conclusions are drawn, implications for omnichannel fast fashion retailing practice, as well as for further research, derived, and limitations discussed.
Operational Excellence
(2020)
Als operative Exzellenz oder Operational Excellence (OPEX) wird oft die Fähigkeit eines Unternehmens bezeichnet, "Strukturen, Prozesse und Verhaltensweisen entlang der Wertschöpfungskette so auszurichten, dass eine lernende und sich kontinuierlich verbessernde Organisation entsteht, deren Fokus auf einer hocheffizienten Umsetzung der Kundenanforderungen liegt" (ROI Management Consulting). Am Ende steht die ganzheitliche Verbesserung aller direkten und indirekten Funktionen im Wetschöpfungsprozess. Während Operational Excellence bei Produktionsprozessen bereits zu großen Effizienzgewinn geführt hat, gibt es in Bereichen wie Verwaltung und Logistik noch Nachholbedarf.
Immer deutlicher zeigt sich, dass die Modeindustrie nicht nur vor enormen Herausforderungen steht, sondern dass hiermit auch enorme Umbrüche einhergehen. Vor diesem Hintergrund interessiert uns nicht nur die Frage, was diese Herausforderungen sind, sondern auch, wie sie die Modeindustrie verändern. Unter dem Titel New fashion business wollen wir in diesem Band verstehen, welche Veränderungen bedeutsam sind und wie Unternehmen bereits darauf reagieren bzw. wie sie reagieren könnten.
Gibt es einen Kauf-Knopf im Gehirn des Konsumenten? Und wenn ja, wie betätigt man diesen? Die Antworten auf diese Fragen könnte das Neuromarketing liefern. Das Neuromarketing ist Bestandteil der Neuroökonomie und eine relativ junge Disziplin an der Schnittstelle von Kognitionswissenschaften, Neurowissenschaften und der Marktforschung. Durch den technologischen Fortschritt können die Neurowissenschaften wichtige Erkenntnisse für das Marketing liefern, insbesondere Einblicke zur Erklärung des Konsumentenverhaltens. Durch den Blick in das Kundengehirn können beispielsweise Handelsunternehmen ihre Kunden gezielter ansprechen und sich so einen Vorteil gegenüber Konkurrenten verschaffen.
Die klassischen Vertriebsaufgaben verändern sich intensiv und schnell. Vertriebsmanager benötigen dringend neue strategische Ansätze, wie sie künftig Kundenkontakte gestalten, Distributionskanäle steuern und effektiver verkaufen können. Eine aktuelle Studie gibt Aufschluss, wie sich Unternehmen auf den Strukturwandel einstellen können.
To remain relevant and mitigate disruption, traditional companies have to engage in multiple fast-paced experiments in digital offerings—revenue-generating solutions to what customers want and are willing to pay for, inspired by what is possible with digital technologies. After launching several digital offering initiatives, reinsurance giant Munich Re noticed that many experienced similar challenges. This case describes how Munich Re addressed these common challenges by building a foundation to help its digital offerings succeed. The foundation provided prioritized and staged funding; dedicated, hands-on expertise; and a digital platform of shared services. By 2020, this foundation was helping to support over seventy initiatives, including several that were in the market generating new sources of revenue for the company by enabling its clients—insurance companies—to better service their own customers.
This paper studies the impact of financial liquidity on the macro-economy. We extend a classic macroeconomic modeland compute numerical simulations. The model confirms that persistently low inflation can occur despite a high degreeof financial liquidity due to a reallocation of cash, normal and risk-free bonds. In that regard, our model uncovers anexplanation of a flat Phillips curve. Overall, our approach contributes to a rather disregarded matter in macroeconomictheory.
The article studies a novel approach of inflation modeling in economics. We utilize a stochastic differential equation (SDE) of the form dXt=aXtdt+bXtdBtH, where dBtH is a fractional Brownian motion in order to model inflationary dynamics. Standard economic models do not capture the stochastic nature of inflation in the Eurozone. Thus, we develop a new stochastic approach and take into consideration fractional Brownian motions as well as Lévy processes. The benefits of those stochastic processes are the modeling of interdependence and jumps, which is equally confirmed by empirical inflation data. The article defines and introduces the rules for stochastic and fractional processes and elucidates the stochastic simulation output.
This article examines centralised and decentralised approaches towards managing internationalisation by means of a case study. Reutlingen University (Hochschule Reutlingen), a university of applied sciences in Southern Germany, has three decades of experience in managing internationalisation. Its strongly integrated and hybrid approach combines centralised and decentralised strategies with the aim of achieving responsiveness, innovation, transparency, quality, and goal alignment. Centralisation and decentralisation are manifested on two levels: university versus schools, and school versus individual programmes. Since internationalisation is embedded in virtually all areas of the university’s operations, examples will be provided ranging from administration and marketing to research, international programme management and curricula.
Purpose: Despite growing interest in the intersection of supply chain management (SCM) and management accounting (MA) in the academic debate, there is a lack of understanding regarding both the content and the delimitation of this topic. As of today, no common conceptualization of supply chain management accounting (SCMA) exists. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the research foci of SCMA in the scholarly debate of the past two decades. Additionally, it analyzes whether and to what extent the academic discourse of MA in SCs has already found its way into both SCM and MA higher education, respectively.
Design/methodology/approach: A content analysis is conducted including 114 higher education textbooks written in English or in German language.
Findings: The study finds that SC-specific concepts of MA are seldom covered in current textbooks of both disciplines. The authors conclude that although there is an extensive body of scholarly research about SCMA concepts, there is a significant discrepancy with what is taught in higher education textbooks.
Practical implications: There is a large discrepancy between the extensive knowledge available in scholarly research and what we teach in both disciplines. This implies that graduates of both disciplines lack important knowledge and skills in controlling and accounting for SCs. To bring about the necessary change, MA and SCM in higher education must be more integrative.
Originality/value: To the best of the authors knowledge, this study is first of its kind comprising a large textbook sample in both English and German languages. It is the first substantiated assessment of the current state of integration between SCM and MA in higher education.