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Das dynamische Verhalten von Werkzeugmaschinen ist für die Stabilität während der Bearbeitung sowie die Qualität der erzeugten Werkstücke von besonderer Bedeutung. Ein Einflussfaktor darauf ist die Dämpfung. Im Bereich der Maschinengestelle kommen seit langer Zeit unterschiedliche Materialien zum Einsatz. In diesem Fachbeitrag werden die Dämpfungskennwerte unterschiedlicher Gestellwerkstoffe an geometrisch gleichen Proben vergleichend gegenübergestellt. Als weitere Kenngröße wurde die Lage der (1. Biege-) Eigenfrequenz als Maß für die massebezogene dynamische Steifigkeit verwendet. Die Effekte beim Übergang von einfachen Bauteilen zu komplexen Strukturen runden den Fachartikel ab.
A concept for a slope shaping gate driver IC is proposed, used to establish control over the slew rates of current and voltage during the turn-on and turn off switching transients.
It combines the high speed and linearity of a fully-integrated closed-loop analog gate driver, which is able to perform real-time regulation, with the advantages of digital control, like flexibility and parameter independency, operating in a predictive cycle-bycycle regulation. In this work, the analog gate drive integrated circuit is partitioned into functional blocks and modeled in the small-signal domain, which also includes the non-linearity of parameters. An analytical stability analysis has been performed in order to ensure full functionality of the system controlling a modern generation IGBT and a superjunction MOSFET. Major parameters of influence, such as gate resistor and summing node capacitance, are investigated to achieve stable control. The large-signal behavior, investigated by simulations of a transistor level design, verifies the correct operation of the circuit. Hence, the gate driver can be designed for robust operation.
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 paper develops a new methodology in order to study the role of dynamic expectations. Neither reference-point theories nor feedback models are sufficient to describe human expectations in a dynamic market environment. We use an interdisciplinary approach and demonstrate that expectations of non-learning agents are time-invariant and isotropic. On the contrary, learning enhances expectations. We uncover the “yardstick of expectations” in order to assess the impact of market developments on expectations. For the first time in the literature, we reveal new insights about the motion of dynamic expectations. Finally, the model is suitable for an AI approach and has major implications on the behaviour of market participants.
Energy efficiency optimization techniques for steady state operation of induction machines are the state-of-the-art, and many methods have already been developed. However, many real-world industrial and electric vehicle applications cannot be considered to be in steady state operation. The focus of this contribution is on the efficiency optimization of induction machines in dynamic operation. Online dynamic operation is challenging due to the computational complexity and the required low sample times in an inverter. An offline optimization is therefore conducted to gain knowledge. Based on this offline optimal solution, a simple and easy to implement template based solution is developed. This approach aims at replicating the solution found by the offline optimization by resembling the shape and anticipative characteristics of the optimal flux trajectory. The energy efficiency improvement of the template based solution is verified by simulations and measurements on a test bench and using a real-world drive cycle scenario. For comparison, a model predictive numerical online optimization is investigated too.
In recent years the share economy has gained widespread success across different industries. Since small firms and new ventures obtain fewer resources, an increased focus on service allows them to differentiate and compete with cost pressure in traditionally manufacturing based industries. There still is a lack of understanding how these firms manage to successfully shift towards service-oriented business models. This paper adopts a dynamic capabilities approach to examine the particular microfoundations that underlie sensing, seizing and reconfiguring dynamic capabilities of early-stage service firms within a traditional retail market. The context of this study is the fashion industry. It is an ideal setting since it is characterized by severe competition, short life cycles, strong cost pressure and high volatility. There are few but increasing examples of entrepreneurial initiatives that try to compete by providing offers to resell, rent or swap clothes. Qualitative data of five early stage fashion ventures is analyzed. Findings reveal that the ability to develop and maintain long-term relationships is essential. It has also been found crucial to acquire knowledge from external network partners, delegate tasks and share information. Furthermore, skills for interacting with customers and adopting consumer feedback are critical. This study provides empirical evidence of dynamic capabilities of early-stage firms and contributes to knowledge on the factors that facilitate servitization in traditionally manufacturing based industries. For practitioners, the presented microfoundations provide a framework of critical tasks that allow them to develop and maintain a service oriented business model.
The paradigmatic shift of production systems towards Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPSs) requires the development of flexible and decentralized approaches. In this way, such systems enable manufacturers to respond quickly and accurately to changing requirements. However, domain-specific applications require the use of suitable conceptualizations. The issue at hand, when using various conceptualizations is the interoperability of different ontologies. To achieve flexibility and adaptability in CPPSs though requires overcoming interoperability issues within CPPSs. This paper presents an approach to increase flexibility and adaptability in CPPSs while addressing the interoperability issue. In this work, OWL ontologies conceptualize domain knowledge. The Intelligent Manufacturing Knowledge Ontology Repository (IMKOR) connects the domain knowledge in different ontologies. Testing if adaptions in one ontology within the IMKOR provide knowledge to the whole IMKOR. The tests showed, positive results and the repository makes the knowledge available to the whole CPPS. Furthermore, an increase in flexibility and adaptability was noticed.
Die steigende Personalisierbarkeit von Produkten fuhrt zu einem wachsenden Variantenspektrum in der Fertigung. Nicht zuletzt aufgrund der damit einhergehenden Produktionskomplexität und den hohen Wandlungsanforderungen an die Montage werden viele komplexe Stückgüter weiterhin überwiegend manuell montiert. Visuelle Assistenzsysteme geben den Mitarbeitern die nötige Handlungsunterstützung, wenn kein Produkt dem anderen gleicht und damit das Fehlerpotenzial steigt.
Melamine formaldehyde (MF) resins are widely used for the gluing and surface coating of wood-based consumer products in the interior design of living environments. MF resins are especially relevant in decorative laminate applications because of their good performance-to-price ratio. In their industrial processing, an important intermediate state is the liquid MF prepolymer that is used for decorative paper impregnation. Here, the drying of impregnated papers is investigated with respect to premature curing. A new method to quantify water release upon drying that allows estimation of the degree of undesired precuring is described. Since curing proceeds via polycondensation, crosslinking brings about the release of water molecules. By thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), drying was studied in terms of water release due to physical drying (elimination of “dilution water”) and chemical crosslinking of the prepolymer to a three-dimensional MF network (elimination of chemically liberated water). The results obtained by TGA/IR spectroscopic analysis of the liberated volatiles show that the emission of water from b-stage MF can be clearly analytically separated into a physical (evaporation of dilution water) and a chemical (liberation via condensation) sequence. TGA experiments were correlated with curing experiments performed with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to estimate the residual crosslinking capacities of the impregnated papers. The drying conditions used during the preparation of impregnated decorative papers seemed to significantly affect their remaining reactivity only when harsh drying conditions were used. Upon heat exposure for prolonged time, precuring of the oligomer units results in a shift of the temperature maxima in TGA.
In this article, liposome-based coatings aiming to control drug release from therapeutic soft contact lenses (SCLs) materials are analyzed. A PHEMA based hydrogel material loaded with levofloxacin is used as model system for this research. The coatings are formed by polyelectrolyte layers containing liposomes of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3- phosphocholine (DMPC) and DMPC1cholesterol (DMPC1 CHOL). The effect of friction and temperature on the drug release is investigated. The aim of the friction tests is to simulate the blinking of the eyelid in order to verify if the SCLs materials coated with liposomes are able to keep their properties, in particular the drug release ability. It was observed that under the study conditions, friction did not affect significantly the drug release from the liposome coated PHEMA material. In contrast, increasing the temperature of release leads to an increase of the drug diffusion rate through the hydrogel. This phenomenon is recorded both in the control and in the coated samples.
We examine the role of communication from users on dropout from digital learning systems to answer the following questions: (1) how does the sentiment within qualitative signals (user comments) affect dropout rates? (2) does the variance in the proportion of positive and negative sentiments affect dropout rates? (3) how do quantitative signals (e.g. likes) moderate the effect of the qualitative signals? and (4) how does the effect of qualitative signals on dropout rates change across early and late stages of learning? Our hypotheses draws from learning theory and self-regulation theory, and were tested using data of 447 learning videos across 32 series of online tutorials, spanning 12 different fields of learning. The findings indicate a main effect of negative sentiment on dropout rates but no effect of positive sentiment on preventing dropout behaviour. This main effect is stronger in the early stages of learning and weakens at later stages. We also observe an effect of the extent of variance of positive and negative sentiments on dropout behaviour. The effects are negatively moderated by quantitative signals. Overall, making commenting more broad-based rather than polarised can be a useful strategy in managing learning, transferring knowledge, and building consensus.
In 2016, German car manufacturer the Audi Group (AUDI AG) was working on an expanding array of digital innovations. The goals of these innovations varied, and included strengthening customer- and employee-facing processes, digitally enhancing existing products, and developing new, potentially disruptive business models. Audi’s IT unit was critical to each of these efforts. Based on personal interviews with 11 IT- and non-IT executives at Audi, this case examines the different ways in which digitization can help to enhance and transform an organization’s processes, products, and business models. The case also highlights the challenges that arise as large companies “digitize.”
Purpose – This paper aims to complement the current understanding about user engagement in electronic word-of-mouth (eWoM) communications across online services and product communities. It examines the effect of the senders’ prior experience with products and services, and their extent of acquaintance with other community members, on user engagement with the eWoM.
Design/methodology/approach – The study used a sample of 576 unique user postings from the corporate fan page of two German firms: a service community of a telecom provider and a product community of a car manufacturer. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the conceptual model.
Findings – Senders’ prior experience and acquaintance positively affect user engagement with eWoM, and these effects differ across communities for products and services and across their influence on “likes” and “comments”. The results also suggest that communities for products are orientated toward information sharing, while those discussing services engage in information building.
Research limitations/implications – This research explains mechanisms of user engagement with eWoM and opens directions for future research around motives, content and social media tools within the structures of online communities. The insights on information-handling dimensions of online tools and antecedents to their use contribute to the research on two prioritized topics by the Marketing Science Institute – "Measuring and
Communicating the Value of Online Marketing Activities and Investments" and "Leveraging Digital/Social/Mobile Technology".
Practical implications – This research offers insights for firms to leverage user engagement and facilitate eWoM generation through members who have a higher number of acquaintances or who have more experience with the product or service. Executives should concentrate their community engagement strategies on the identification and utilization of power users. The conceptualization and empirical test about the role of likes and comments will help social media managers to create and better capture value from their social media metrics.
Originality/value – The insights about the underlying factors that influence engagement with eWoM advance our understanding about the usage of online content.
The article discusses how drama can support language learning at the university level and how drama can also support learners in acquiring professional competences. In the first part, the article will briefly outline forms of drama in language teaching. It will discuss its benefits, such as putting language in context, making learning holistic and memorable, improving learners’ social and personal competences. The second part describes aspects of drama beneficial for language learning in a professional context and gives a concrete teaching example: theatre projects with a focus on business English.
The Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) track the performance of companies that lead in corporate sustainability in their respective sectors or in the geographies they operate. The Sustainable Asset Management (SAM) Indexes GmbH publishes and markets the indexes, the so-called Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes in collaboration with SAM. All indexes of the DJSI family are assessed according to SAM’s Corporate Sustainability AssessmentTM methodology.
In retail environments, consumers commonly evaluate products while standing on some type of flooring and concurrently being exposed to music; however, no study has examined the interaction of these two atmospheric cues. To bridge this gap, this research examines whether retailers can benefit from creating multisensory atmospheric congruent rather than incongruent retail environments of flooring and music. The results of an experiment in a real retail store reveal positive effects of multisensory congruent retail environments (e.g., soft music combined with soft flooring) on product evaluations. This study provides a new process explanation with consumers’ purchase-related self-confidence mediating these effects. Specifically, consumers in congruent rather than incongruent retail environments experience more purchase-related self confidence, which in turn leads to more favorable product evaluations. Furthermore, this study shows that consumers with a low rather than a high preference for haptic information are influenced more by multisensory atmospheric congruence when evaluating a product haptically.
The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of transparency on the political budget cycle (PBC) over time and across countries. So far, the literature on electoral cycles finds evidence that cycles depend on the stage of an economy. However, the author shows – for the first time – a reliance of the budget cycle on transparency. The author uses a new data set consisting of 99 developing and 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. First, the author develops a model and demonstrates that transparency mitigates the political cycles. Second, the author confirms the proposition through the econometric assessment. The author uses time series data from 1970 to 2014 and discovers smaller cycles in countries with higher transparency, especially G8 countries.
This study examines the relevance of integrated reporting quality (IRQ) to capital markets. We investigate whether IRQ benefits capital market participants by improving a firm's information environment, using analyst earnings forecast accuracy as a proxy. Our study focuses specifically on companies that publish integrated reports on a voluntary basis. Based on a scoring model, we assess IRQ and its effects with data from 2015 to 2019 of 101 companies. The results indicate no significant relationship between IRQ and analyst earnings forecast accuracy. Thus, IRQ does not appear to improve a firm's information environment, at least not currently in a voluntary setting. Drawing on previous literature in the field, this study further concludes that integrated reporting (IR) in general has not yet reached its full potential in benefitting capital markets. Potential implications of our results are that the standard setters should work to improve the specificity and rigor of their guidelines, and analysts should become more involved in developing IR guidelines to make them more relevant to their information needs. IR seems to unfold its benefits better in mandatory settings, which could call for regulators to make IR mandatory.
This paper studies the impact of governmental transparency on the political business cycle. The literature on electoral cycles finds evidence that cycles depend on the stage of the economy. However, we show a reliance of the cycle on transparency. We use data for G7 countries and compare it with less developed OECD countries. Our theory states that transparency reduces the political cycles due to peer pressure and by voting outs. We confirm the theory with an econometric assessment of 34 countries from 1970 to 2012. We discover smaller cycles in countries with a higher transparency, especially in G7-countries.
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.
Context
Web APIs are one of the most used ways to expose application functionality on the Web, and their understandability is important for efficiently using the provided resources. While many API design rules exist, empirical evidence for the effectiveness of most rules is lacking.
Objective
We therefore wanted to study 1) the impact of RESTful API design rules on understandability, 2) if rule violations are also perceived as more difficult to understand, and 3) if demographic attributes like REST-related experience have an influence on this.
Method
We conducted a controlled Web-based experiment with 105 participants, from both industry and academia and with different levels of experience. Based on a hybrid between a crossover and a between-subjects design, we studied 12 design rules using API snippets in two complementary versions: one that adhered to a rule and one that was a violation of this rule. Participants answered comprehension questions and rated the perceived difficulty.
Results
For 11 of the 12 rules, we found that violation performed significantly worse than rule for the comprehension tasks. Regarding the subjective ratings, we found significant differences for 9 of the 12 rules, meaning that most violations were subjectively rated as more difficult to understand. Demographics played no role in the comprehension performance for violation.
Conclusions
Our results provide first empirical evidence for the importance of following design rules to improve the understandability of Web APIs, which is important for researchers, practitioners, and educators.
This article explores the determinants of people’s growth prospects in survey data as well as the impact of the European recovery fund to future growth. The focus is on the aftermath of the Corona pandemic, which is a natural limit to the sample size. We use Eurobarometer survey data and macroeconomic variables, such as GDP, unemployment, public deficit, inflation, bond yields, and fiscal spending data. We estimate a variety of panel regression models and develop a new simulation-regression methodology due to limitation of the sample size. We find the major determinant of people’s growth prospect is domestic GDP per capita, while European fiscal aid does not significantly matter. In addition, we exhibit with the simulation-regression method novel scientific insights, significant outcomes, and a policy conclusion alike.
Mystery shopping (MS) is a widely used tool to monitor the quality of service and personal selling. In consultative retail settings, assessments of mystery shoppers are supposed to capture the most relevant aspects of sales people’s service and sales behavior. Given the important conclusions drawn by managers from MS results, the standard assumption seems to be that assessments of mystery shoppers are strongly related to customer satisfaction and sales performance. However, surprisingly scant empirical evidence supports this assumption. We test the relationship between MS assessments and customer evaluations and sales performance with large-scale data from three service retail chains. Surprisingly, we do not find asubstantial correlation. The results show that mystery shoppers are not good proxies for real customers. While MS assessments are not related to sales, our findings confirm the established correlation between customer satisfaction measurements and sales results.
Do Chinese subordinates trust their German supervisors? A model of inter-cultural trust development
(2023)
In this qualitative study based on 95 interviews with Chinese subordinates and their German supervisors, we inductively develop a model which advances theoretical understanding by showing how inter-cultural trust development in hierarchical relationships is the result of six distinct elements: the subordinate trustor’s cultural profile (cosmopolitans, hybrids, culturally bounds), the psychological mechanisms operating within the trustor (role expectations and cultural accommodation), and contextual moderators (e.g., country context, time spent in foreign culture, and third-party influencers), which together influence the trust forms (e.g., presumptive trust, relational trust) and trust dynamics (e.g., trust breakdown and repair) within relationship phases over time (initial contact, trust continuation, trust disillusionment, separation, and acculturation). Our findings challenge the assumption that cultural differences result in low levels of initial trust and highlight the strong role the subordinate’s cultural profile can have on the dynamics and trajectory of trust in hierarchical relationships. Our model highlights that inter-cultural trust development operates as a variform universal, following the combined universalistic-particularistic paradigm in cross-cultural management, with both culturally generalizable etic dynamics, as well as culturally specific etic manifestations.
Our paper investigates the response of acquiring firms’ stock returns around the announcement date in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) between listed Chinese acquirers and German targets. We apply an event study methodology to examine the shareholder value effect based on a sample of M&A deals over the most recent period of 2012-2018. We apply a market model event study based on the argumentation of Brown and Warner (1985) and use short-term observation periods according to Andrade, Mitchell, and Stafford (2001) as well as Hackbarth and Morellec (2008). The results indicate that the announcement of M&A involving German targets results in a positive cumulative abnormal return of on average 2.18% for Chinese acquirers’ shareholders in a five-day symmetric event window. Furthermore, we found slight indications of possible information leakage prior to the formal announcement. Although it shows that the size of acquiring firms is not necessarily correlated with the positive abnormal returns in the short run, this study suggests that Chinese acquirers’ shareholders gain higher abnormal returns when the German targets are non-listed companies.
Disziplinierung ohne politische Diskriminierung: warum es Marktkräfte in der Währungsunion bedarf!
(2019)
Die Reform der Währungsunion sollte folgende zwei Aspekte verknüpfen: einerseits die Übernahme einer stärkeren politischen Stabilitätsverantwortung und andererseits die Stärkung der Marktkräfte. Nur so kann das Prinzip von Eigenverantwortung und Haftung abgesichert werden. Zudem sollte die Politik im Euroraum einen Abwicklungsmechanismus für überschuldete Mitgliedsländer etablieren.
This article presents a two-level optimisation approach for the management of controllable and distributed converters with storage systems across different energy sectors. It aims at the reduction of electrical peak load and at the economical optimisation of the electrical energy exchange with the grid, based on a dynamic external incentive, e.g. through dynamic energy price tariffs. By means of a secure, standardised and lean communication with two different internal price signals, an optimal flexibility provision shall be achieved. The two-level optimisation approach consists of a centralised and several distributed decentralised entities. At the centralised level, the distributed flexibilities are invoked for optimal scheduling on the basis of an internal price algorithm for stimulating the decentralised entities. Based on that internal incentive and on the expected demands for electricity, heating and cooling, the decentralised optimisation algorithms provide optimal generation schedules for the energy converters. The suggested interaction between the central and decentral entities is successfully tested and the principle potential for peak shaving and the adaption to dynamic energy-related market prices could be demonstrated and compared to different energy management strategies such as the standard heat-led operation. Further, variations of the system parameters such as load shifting potential, installed capacity and system diversification are evaluated against cost saving potential for the energy supply and overall system performance.
Software development consists to a large extent of human-based processes with continuously increasing demands regarding interdisciplinary team work. Understanding the dynamics of software teams can be seen as highly important to successful project execution. Hence, for future project managers, knowledge about non-technical processes in teams is significant. In this paper, we present a course unit that provides an environment in which students can learn and experience the role of different communication patterns in distributed agile software development. In particular, students gain awareness about the importance of communication by experiencing the impact of limitations of communication channels and the effects on collaboration and team performance. The course unit presented uses the controlled experiment instrument to provide the basic organization of a small software project carried out in virtual teams. We provide a detailed design of the course unit to allow for implementation in further courses. Furthermore, we provide experiences obtained from implementing this course unit with 16 graduate students. We observed students struggling with technical aspects and team coordination in general, while not realizing the importance of communication channels (or their absence). Furthermore, we could show the students that lacking communication protocols impact team coordination and performance regardless of the communication channels used.
Distributed Ledger Technologies for the energy sector: facilitating interoperability analysis
(2023)
The use of distributed data storage and management structures, such as Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), in the energy sector has gained great interest in recent times. This opens up new possibilities in e.g. microgrid management, aggregation of distributed resources, peer-to- peer trading, integration of electromobility or proof-of-origin strategies. However, in order to benefit from those new possibilities, new challenges have to be overcome. This work focuses on one of these challenges, which is the need to ensure interoperability when integrating DLT-enabled devices in energy use cases. Firstly, the use of DLTs in the energy sector will be analyzed and the main use cases will be presented. Then, a classification of DLT-Energy use cases will be proposed. Secondly, the need for a common reference architecture framework to analyze those use cases with a focus on interoperability will be discussed and the current activities in research and standardization in this field will be presented. Finally, a new common reference architecture framework based on current activities in standardization will be presented.
Cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion regulates fundamental cellular functions and is crucial for cell-material contact. Adhesion is influenced by many factors like affinity and specificity of the receptor-ligand interaction or overall ligand concentration and density. To investigate molecular details of cell ECM and cadherins (cell-cell) interaction in vascular cells functional nanostructured surfaces were used Ligand-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with 6-8 nm diameter, are precisely immobilized on a surface and separated by non-adhesive regions so that individual integrins or cadherins can specifically interact with the ligands on the AuNPs. Using 40 nm and 90 nm distances between the AuNPs and functionalized either with peptide motifs of the extracellular matrix (RGD or REDV) or vascular endothelial cadherins (VEC), the influence of distance and ligand specificity on spreading and adhesion of endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) was investigated. We demonstrate that RGD-dependent adhesion of vascular cells is similar to other cell types and that the distance dependence for integrin binding to ECM-peptides is also valid for the REDV motif. VEC-ligands decrease adhesion significantly on the tested ligand distances. These results may be helpful for future improvements in vascular tissue engineering and for development of implant surfaces.
Im Rahmen der Vernetzung des Autos drängen neue Wettbewerber in die Automobilindustrie. Mittels disruptiver Innovationsmethoden haben Google, Apple, Facebook und Co. bereits Branchen grundlegend verändert und Marktführer wie Nokia oder Otto innerhalb weniger Jahre abgelöst. Die folgende Arbeit befasst sich mit diesen Methoden und der Fragestellung, wie sie in den automotiven Produktentstehungsprozess integriert werden können, um nachhaltig erfolgreiche Geschäftsmodelle am Markt platzieren zu können.
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 field of breath analysis has developed to be of growing interest in medical diagnosis and patient monitoring. The main advantages are that it’s noninvasive, painless and repeatable in flexible cycles. Even though breath analysis is being researched for a couple of decades there are still many unanswered questions. Human breath contains volatile organic compounds which are emitted from inside the body. Some of these compounds can be assigned to specific sources, such as inflammation or cancer, but also to non health related origins. This paper gives an overview of breath analysis for the purpose of disease diagnosis and health monitoring. Therefore, literature regarding breath analysis in the medical field has been analyzed, from its early stages to the present. As a result, this paper gives an outline of the topic of breath analysis.
Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) systems are key to managing risks threatening modern enterprises from many different angles. Key constituent to GRC systems is the definition of controls that are implemented on the different layers of an Enterprise Architecture (EA). Controls become part of a “concern” of the EA, which allows to use an EA viewpoint to cover control compliance assessments. In this article we explore this relationship further, derive a metamodel linking control and EA, and elicit how this linkage give rise to a hierarchic understanding of the viewpoint concept for EAs. We complement these considerations with an expository instantiation in a cockpit for control compliance applied in an international enterprise in the insurance industry.
The critical process parameters cell density and viability during mammalian cell cultivation are assessed by UV/VIS spectroscopy in combination with multivariate data analytical methods. This direct optical detection technique uses a commercial optical probe to acquire spectra in a label-free way without signal enhancement. For the cultivation, an inverse cultivation protocol is applied, which simulates the exponential growth phase by exponentially replacing cells and metabolites of a growing Chinese hamster ovary cell batch with fresh medium. For the simulation of the death phase, a batch of growing cells is progressively replaced by a batch with completely starved cells. Thus, the most important parts of an industrial batch cultivation are easily imitated. The cell viability was determined by the well-established method partial least squares regression (PLS). To further improve process knowledge, the viability has been determined from the spectra based on a multivariate curve resolution (MCR) model. With this approach, the progress of the cultivations can be continuously monitored solely based on an UV/VIS sensor. Thus, the monitoring of critical process parameters is possible inline within a mammalian cell cultivation process, especially the viable cell density. In addition, the beginning of cell death can be detected by this method which allows us to determine the cell viability with acceptable error. The combination of inline UV/VIS spectroscopy with multivariate curve resolution generates additional process knowledge complementary to PLS and is considered a suitable process analytical tool for monitoring industrial cultivation processes.
Direct observation of structural heterogeneity and tautomerization of single hypericin molecules
(2021)
Tautomerization is a fundamental chemical reaction which involves the relocation of a proton in the reactants. Studying the optical properties of tautomeric species is challenging because of ensemble averaging. Many molecules, such as porphines, porphycenes, or phenanthroperylene quinones, exhibit a reorientation of the transition dipole moment (TDM) during tautomerization, which can be directly observed in single-molecule experiments. Here, we study single hypericin molecules, which is a prominent phenanthroperylene quinone showing antiviral, antidepressive, and photodynamical properties. Observing abrupt flipping of the image pattern combined with time-dependent density functional theory calculations allows drawing conclusions about the coexistence of four tautomers and their conversion path. This approach allows the unambiguous assignment of a TDM orientation to a specific tautomer and enables the determination of the chemical structure in situ. Our approach can be applied to other molecules showing TDM reorientation during tautomerization, helping to gain a deeper understanding of this important process.
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.
DigiTraIn 4.0: Anwendungsorientierte Instrumente für die digitale Transformation der Arbeitswelt
(2019)
Im Projekt DigiTrain 4.0 werden anwendungsorientierte Instrumente entwickelt und erprobt, die Unternehmen dabei unterstützen, sich der komplexen Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt erfolgreich zu stellen, dabei Chancen zu nutzen und Risiken handzuhaben. Zentrales Element ist der sogenannte Digitalisierungsatlas, der die Komplexität der Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt in all ihren Dimensionen abbildet. Das Instrument des Digitalisierungsindex hilft dabei, den aktuellen Ist-Digitalisierungsgrad der Arbeitswelt individuell zu bestimmen. Diese Bestimmung ist Ausgangspunkt für das Instrument des Digitalisierungskompasses, der die Sollvorstellung der Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt illustriert und eine unternehmensspezifische Transformationsagenda ermöglicht. Die Erforschung und Entwicklung sowie die zentralen Elemente dieser anwendungsorientierten Instrumente werden in diesem Beitrag dargestellt.
Recent digital technologies like the Internet of Things and Augmented Reality have brought IT into companies’ core products. What were previously purely physical products are becoming hybrid or digitized. Despite receiving a lot of recent attention, digitized products have only seen a slow uptake in businesses so far. In this paper, we study the challenges that keep companies from realizing the desired impacts of digitized products and the practices they employ to address these challenges. To do so, we looked at companies from a set of industries that are highly affected by digital transformation, but at the same time hesitant to move to a more digitized world: the creative industries. Based on a literature review and twelve interviews in creative industries, we developed a conceptual model that can serve as a basis for formulating testable hypotheses for further research in this area.
Digitization in the energy sector is a necessity to enable energy savings and energy efficiency potentials. Managing decentralized corporate energy systems is hindered by a non-existence. The required integration of energy objectives into business strategy creates difficulties resulting in inefficient decisions. To improve this, practice-proven methods such as Balanced Scorecard, Enterprise Architecture Management and the Value Network approach are transferred to the energy domain. The methods are evaluated based on a case study. Managing multi-dimensionality, high complexity and multiple actors are the main drivers for an effective and efficient energy management system. The underlying basis to gain the positive impacts of these methods on decentralized corporate energy systems is digitization of energy data and processes.
Digitization is more than using digital technologies to transfer data and perform computations and tasks. Digitization embraces disruptive effects of digital technologies on economy and society. To capture these effects, two perspectives are introduced, the product and the value-creation perspective. In the product perspective, digitization enables the transition from material, static products to interactive and configurable services. In the value-creation perspective, digitization facilitates the transition from centralized, isolated models of value creation, to bidirectional, co-creation oriented approaches of value creation.
A holistic approach to digitization enables decision-makers to achieve new efficiency in corporate performance management. The digitalization improves the quality, validity and speed of information retrieval and processing. At present, most corporations are confronted with the problem of not being able to organize, categorize and visualize decision-relevant information. To meet the challenges of information management, the Management Cockpit provides an information center for managers. In accordance with the specific working environment of the executives, the Management Cockpit offers a quick and comprehensive overview of the company's situation. Today, the current situation of a company is no longer only influenced by internal factors, but also by its public image. Social media monitoring and analysis is therefore a crucial component for the external factors of successful management. Real-time monitoring of the emotions and behaviors of consumers and customers thus contributes to effective controlling of allbusiness areas. The intelligent factories promise to collect data for internal factors, but the current reality in manufacturing looks different. Production often consists of a large number of different machines, with varying degrees of digitization and limited sensor data availability. In order to close this gap, we developed a compact sensor board with network components, which allows a flexible design with different sensors for a wide variety of applications. The sensor data enable decision makers to adapt the supply chain based on their internal and external observations in the Management Cockpit. Due to the realtime and long-term monitoring and analytic possibilities the Management Cockpit provides a multi-dimensional view of the company and supports an holistic Corporate Performance Management.
Digitalization and enterprise architecture management: a perspective on benefits and challenges
(2023)
Many companies digitally transform their business models, processes, and services. They have also been using Enterprise Architecture Management approaches for a long time to synchronize corporate strategy and information technology. Such digitalization projects bring different challenges for Enterprise Architecture Management. Without understanding and addressing them, Enterprise Architecture Management projects will fail or not deliver the expected value. Since existing research has not yet addressed these challenges, they were investigated based on a qualitative expert study with leading industry experts from Europe. Furthermore, potential benefits of digitalization projects for Enterprise Architecture Management were researched. Our results provide a theoretical framework consisting of five identified challenges, triggers and a number of benefits. Furthermore, we discuss in what ways digitalization and EAM is a promising topic for future research.
Vielen Entscheidern fällt es aufgrund der hohen Komplexität schwer, die Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt gezielt im Unternehmen zu gestalten. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie bieten dafür einen empirisch fundierten strukturierten Rahmen. Der Digitalisierungsatlas zeigt auf, welche zentralen Dimensionen der Arbeitswelt sich wie verändern können, wie sie miteinander zusammenhängen und wie sie für digitale Arbeitswelten gestaltbar sind. So können Entscheider gezielt Veränderungsmaßnahmen unter Berücksichtigung aller relevanten Aspekte in ihrem Unternehmen planen und systematisch umsetzen. Dennoch ist der Digitalisierungsatlas nicht als Anleitung für die digitale Transformation zu verstehen, sondern als systematische Orientierungshilfe: Jede Veränderungsmaßnahme eines Unternehmens ist ein individueller Vorgang und kann verschiedene Aspekte der Arbeitswelt in unterschiedlichem Ausmaß betreffen. Dabei ist es wichtig, Aspekte gezielt und nur auf Basis begründeter Überlegungen anzupassen.
Wie kann die Digitalisierung in der Bauzulieferbranche erfolgreich gemeistert werden? Die Fülle und Komplexität der Fragen dazu lassen sich auf zwei zentrale Kernfragen reduzieren: Was sind die richtigen Inhalte und wesentlichen Werttreiber der Digitalisierung? Und wie muss zukünftig mit der steigenden Informationsflut, der rasant wachsenden Komplexität und der abnehmenden Planbarkeit umgegangen werden?
In diesem Beitrag wird ein Framework vorgestellt, das Bauzulieferern hilft, ihr digitales Zielbild mit seinen Werttreibern systematisch aus dem Kundennutzen abzuleiten. Das Framework berücksichtigt die Besonderheiten der Bauzulieferindustrie, kann aber mit leichten Anpassungen auch auf andere Branchen angewendet werden. Aufbauend auf dem Zielbild können Unternehmen definieren, welche technischen, personellen und organisatorischen Veränderungen für dessen Umsetzung erforderlich sind. Um flexibel mit den dynamischen Veränderungen in ihrem Ökosystem und kulturellen Herausforderungen umgehen zu können, werden zudem fünf Einflussgrößen identifiziert, die Unternehmen bei der Entwicklung der dafür benötigten Evolutionskompetenz berücksichtigen müssen.
Digitalisierung und Mediatisierung prägen die Gesellschaft und auch die Erwachsenenbildung/Weiterbildung. Der Beitrag geht der Frage nach, wie Digitalisierung in Angeboten der Erwachsenenbildung/Weiterbildung gelingt. Damit wird ein Fokus auf den Einsatz digitaler Medien gelegt. Dazu werden die Angebotsentwicklung für Adressatinnen und Adressaten sowie Teilnehmende, medienbezogene Inhalte, Lehr- und Lernarrangements mit digitalen Medien, der Einsatz digitaler Medien und die Zugänglichkeit von Lehr- und Lernmaterialien als relevante Merkmale identifiziert. Insgesamt zeigen die analysierten Interviewdaten, dass der Einsatz digitaler Medien in Angeboten eine Erweiterung der didaktischen Aufgaben darstellt, da Angebote mit digitalen Medien zielgenau auf die Bedarfe und Möglichkeiten von Adressatinnen und Adressaten sowie Teilnehmenden abgestimmt werden müssen.
Die Digitalisierung im Einkauf findet als schleichender Prozess statt, wird allerdings vom Vertrieb nur ungenügend wahrgenommen und genutzt. In Anbetracht der bereits hohen, weiter wachsenden Quote eingekaufter Waren und Leistungen an den Umsatzkosten ein kritischer Befund. Fehlinterpretationen der Anforderungen sind die Folge. Wie kann man hier Abhilfe schaffen? Eine Analyse der Entwicklungen im Einkauf zeigt Handlungsempfehlungen für den Vertrieb auf und fordert eine schnelle Reaktion.
Vielen Unternehmen gelingt es aufgrund der hohen Komplexität nicht, sich bietende Chancen der digitalen Transformation der Arbeitswelt auszuschöpfen und Risiken zu vermeiden. Um die Digitalisierung aktiv gestalten zu können, müssen die für die jeweiligen Digitalisierungsinitiativen relevanten Handlungsfelder identifiziert werden. Hier setzt die vorliegende Forschung an. Anhand einer Einzelfallstudie in einem mittelgroßen deutschen Versicherungsunternehmen werden im vorliegenden Beitrag die konkreten Auswirkungen der digitalen Transformation auf die beteiligten Mitarbeiter analysiert und Implikationen diskutiert. Hierzu wurde ein Digitalisierungsprojekt, und zwar die Digitalisierung der bislang papierbasierten analogen Geschäftsprozesse (E-Akte), in den Blick genommen. Auf Basis der Durchführung und Auswertung von 24 Interviews, in denen die direkten Effekte der Veränderungsmaßnahme aus Sicht der Mitarbeiter und Führungskräfte erfasst und analysiert wurden, ließen sich 10 Handlungsfelder identifizieren, in denen sich die Arbeitswelt des untersuchten Unternehmens durch die Digitalisierung des Geschäftsprozesses verändert.