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Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem neuen elektronischen Personalausweis. Zum einen werden in diesem Paper die Sicherheitsziele des Personalausweises und die technische Umsetzung der Architektur und Protokolle erklärt. Es wird der Ablauf einer Online-Identifizierung für einen Nutzer mithilfe des Ausweises aufgezeigt. Risiken und Schwachstellen der Technologie im Software- und Hardwarebereich werden diskutiert und die bereits erfolgten Hack-Angriffe aufgezeigt. Die Arbeit legt Möglichkeiten dar, wie sich der Nutzer vor Angriffen schützen kann. Es werden die Gründe genannt, warum der neue Personalausweis online nur schwar Anklang findet und warum die Aufklärung über die zur Verfügung stehenden Anwendungen, eine Preisreduzierung der Lesegeräte sowie die vom Europa-Parlament und Europarat erlassene eIDAS-Verordnung nicht helfen werden, um die Nutzung voranzutreiben. Ergebnisse hierfür liefert eine Nutzerstudie. Zum anderen werden Ideen genannt, wie die Nutzung der elektronischen Funktionen des Ausweises stattdessen zu fördern ist.
Database management systems (DBMS) are critical performance components in large scale applications under modern update intensive workloads. Additional access paths accelerate look-up performance in DBMS for frequently queried attributes, but the required maintenance slows down update performance. The ubiquitous B+ tree is a commonly used key-indexed access path that is able to support many required functionalities with logarithmic access time to requested records. Modern processing and storage technologies and their characteristics require reconsideration of matured indexing approaches for today's workloads. Partitioned B-trees (PBT) leverage characteristics of modern hardware technologies and complex memory hierarchies as well as high update rates and changes in workloads by maintaining partitions within one single B+-Tree. This paper includes an experimental evaluation of PBTs optimized write pattern and performance improvements. With PBT transactional throughput under TPC-C increases 30%; PBT results in beneficial sequential write patterns even in presence of updates and maintenance operations.
Der B-to-B-Vertrieb hat sich durch neueste Informationstechnologien stark verändert und ist wesentlich komplexer geworden. Gleichwohl haben sich die Möglichkeiten dadurch auch dramatisch verbessert. International agierende, virtuell zusammenarbeitende Teams haben die Entscheidungsprozesse und Kompetenzen verschoben. Mit Social Selling bietet sich jetzt eine Möglichkeit, die neu entstandenen Herausforderungen im Vertrieb besser zu meistern.
Wege der Gewinnermittlung
(2017)
Macht ein Unternehmen Gewinn, heißt dies nicht notwendigerweise, dass alles „in trockenen Tüchern“ ist. Die entscheidende Frage ist, wie der Gewinn ermittelt wurde, denn nur mit dem richtigen Verfahren erhält man auch den geeigneten Blickwinkel – auf den Erfolg eines einzelnen Geschäfts, auf den Gewinn einer Periode, auf das Betriebsvermögen, auf die Liquidität oder auf die Bilanz.
Der folgende Artikel befasst sich mit Wearables für Pferde. Ziel ist es, die Sicherheit der Tiere bei einem Ausbruch von einer Weide zu erhöhen und damit Personen- und Sachschäden zu minimieren. Hierzu wird der Stand der Technik zur Standortbestimmung im Freien zusammengetragen und durch eine Klassifizierung der unterschiedlichen Ansätze ermittelt, welche Standortbestimmung pferdegerecht erscheint. Zudem soll ein Fragebogen konzipiert werden, um Charakteristiken und Funktionalitäten für einen Prototypen festzustellen.
Purpose: Human breath analysis is proposed with increasing frequency as a useful tool in clinical application. We performed this study to find the characteristic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled breath of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) for discrimination from healthy subjects. Methods: VOCs in the exhaled breath of 40 IPF patients and 55 healthy controls were measured using a multi-capillary column and ion mobility spectrometer. The patients were examined by pulmonary function tests, blood gas analysis, and serum biomarkers of interstitial pneumonia. Results: We detected 85 VOC peaks in the exhaled breath of IPF patients and controls. IPF patients showed 5 significant VOC peaks; p-cymene, acetoin, isoprene, ethylbenzene, and an unknown compound. The VOC peak of p-cymene was significantly lower (p < 0.001), while the VOC peaks of acetoin, isoprene, ethylbenzene, and the unknown compound were significantly higher (p < 0.001 for all) compared with the peaks of controls. Comparing VOC peaks with clinical parameters, negative correlations with VC (r =−0.393, p = 0.013), %VC (r =−0.569, p < 0.001), FVC (r = −0.440, p = 0.004), %FVC (r =−0.539, p < 0.001), DLco (r =−0.394, p = 0.018), and %DLco (r =−0.413, p = 0.008) and a positive correlation with KL-6 (r = 0.432, p = 0.005) were found for p-cymene. Conclusion: We found characteristic 5 VOCs in the exhaled breath of IPF patients. Among them, the VOC peaks of p-cymene were related to the clinical parameters of IPF. These VOCs may be useful biomarkers of IPF.
In times of dynamic markets, enterprises have to be agile to be able to quickly react to market influences. Due to the increasing digitization of products, the enterprise IT often is affected when business models change. Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM) targets a holistic view of the enterprise’ IT and their relations to the business. However, Enterprise Architectures (EA) are complex structures consisting of many layers, artifacts and relationships between them. Thus, analyzing EA is a very complex task for stakeholders. Visualizations are common vehicles to support analysis. However, in practice visualization capabilities lack flexibility and interactivity. A solution to improve the support of stakeholders in analyzing EAs might be the application of visual analytics. Starting from a systematic literature review, this article investigates the features of visual analytics relevant for the context of EAM.
The purpose of this paper is to determine the relevance of social media for luxury brand management. It employs both a multi-methodological approach: After analyzing the online performance of the three luxury brands Burberry, Louis Vuitton and Gucci, the empirical research includes a survey as well as an eye tracking test executed with Tobii Studio. The findings reveal that online and social media have given luxury fashion businesses the opportunity to establish a sustainable interaction with their customers and distinguish themselves from the competition. Still, the online business holds many challenges for luxury companies to overcome. This paper gives instructions as to how social media can be effectively incorporated into a luxury company.
Using measurement and simulation for understanding distributed development processes in the Cloud
(2017)
Organizations increasingly develop software in a distributed manner. The Cloud provides an environment to create and maintain software-based products and services. Currently, it is widely unknown which software processes are suited for Cloud-based development and what their effects in specific contexts are. This paper presents a process simulation to study distributed development in the Cloud. We contribute a simulation model, which helps analyzing different project parameters and their impact on projects carried out in the Cloud. The simulator helps reproducing activities, developers, issues and events in the project, and it generates statistics, e.g., on throughput, total time, and lead and cycle time. The aim of this simulation model is thus to analyze the tradeoffs regarding throughput, total time, project size, and team size. Furthermore, the modified simulation model aims to help project managers select the most suitable planning alternative. Based on observed projects in Finland and Spain, we simulated a distributed project using artificial and real data. Particularly, we studied the variables project size, team size, throughput, and total project duration. A comparison of the real project data with the results obtained from the simulation shows the simulation producing results close to the real data, and we could successfully replicate a distributed software project. By improving the understanding of distributed development processes, our simulation model thus supports project managers in their decision-making.
This paper examines the efficacy of social media systems in customer complaint handling. The emergence of social media, as a useful complement and (possibly) a viable alternative to the traditional channels of service delivery, motivates this research. The theoretical framework, developed from literature on social media and complaint handling, is tested against data collected from two different channels (hotline and social media) of a German telecommunication services provider, in order to gain insights into channel efficacy in complaint handling. We contribute to the understanding of firm’s technology usage for complaint handling in two ways:
(a) by conceptualizing and evaluating complaint handling quality across traditional and social media channels and (b) by comparing the impact of complaint handling quality on key performance outcomes such as customer loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and crosspurchase intentions across traditional and social media channels.
Afrika ist aufgrund überdurchschnittlicher Wirtschaftswachstumsraten und als die weltweit letzten unbearbeiteten Märkte seit einigen Jahren ein populäres Thema der Wirtschaft. Deutsche Unternehmen sind allerdings mit ihrem Engagement auf den afrikanischen Märkten sehr zurückhaltend. So schwankt der Anteil der deutschen Exporte nach Afrika an den deutschen Gesamtexporten seit zehn Jahren um die zwei Prozent; betrachtet man nur Subsahara‐Afrika, so waren es sogar nur 0,5 % in 2014 (Allafi und Koch 2015, S. 3). Bezüglich der Direktinvestitionen (nur Beteiligungskapital, ohne Direktinvestitionskredite) spielt Afrika eine noch geringere Rolle mit nur 1,5 % aller deutschen Investitionen in 2014, wobei hiervon so gut wie alle nach Nordafrika und Südafrika geflossen sind (Deutsche Bundesbank 2015, S. 12 f.). Neben den Standardgründen wie beispielsweise politischen Risiken, schlechter Infrastruktur, schwacher institutioneller Rahmenbedingungen und Governance‐Problemen (vgl. zum Beispiel World Bank 2016a), ist ein gängiges Markteintrittsproblem die fehlende Verfügbarkeit von lokalen Partnern in den Bereichen Vertrieb, Logistik und teilweise auch Produktion (vgl. zum Beispiel Carlowitz und Röndigs 2016). Aktuell ist ein Markteintritt in Afrika ohne lokalen Partner aufgrund der völlig anderen und schwierigen Rahmenbedingungen fast unmöglich.
Umsatz und Gewinne stagnieren auf hohem Niveau, und dennoch steigen der Aktienkurs und der Gewinn pro Aktie – eine Entwicklung, die sich etwa bei Apple oder Ebay beobachten lässt. Aktionäre sollten wissen, welche Arithmetik sich hinter solchen Entwicklungen verbirgt und mit welchen Verfahren sie den Unternehmenswert am besten ermitteln können.
Strategic alliances have become important strategic options for firms to achieve competitive advantage. Yet, there are many examples of alliance failures. Scholars have studied this phenomenon and identified many reasons for alliance failure, including lack of trust between the partnering firms. Paradoxically, the concept of trust is still not fully understood, specifically how and under what conditions trust comes to break down within the broader process of alliance building. We synthesize a process model that describes the “alliance capability”, including trust, openness, partner contributions, and relational rents. We then translate this framework into a formal simulation model and analyze it thoroughly. In analyzing trust dynamics we identify and explore a tipping boundary, separating a regime of alliance failures and successes. We apply our core findings to openness strategies – decisions about how much knowledge to share with partners. Our analyses reveal that strategies informed by a static mental model of trust, contributions, and openness, under undervalue openness. Further, too little openness risks early failure due to the being trapped in a vicious cycle of trust depletion.
Royal Philip's goal was to use innovation to improve the lives of three billion people a year by 2025. To reach that goal, the company was shifting from selling medical products in a transactional manner to providing integrated healthcare solutions based on digital health technology ("HealthTech").
This shift required a dual transformation. On one hand, the company needed to transform how healthcare was conducted. Healthcare professionals would have to change the way they worked and reimbursement schemes needed to change to incentivize payers, providers, and patients in vastly different ways. On the other hand, Philips needed to redesign how it worked internally. The company componentized its business, introduced digital platforms, and co-created solutions with the various stakeholders of the healthcare industry.
In other words: Royal Philips was transforming itself in order to reinvent healthcare in the digital age.
Towards a practical maintainability quality model for service- and microservice-based systems
(2017)
Although current literature mentions a lot of different metrics related to the maintainability of service-based systems (SBSs), there is no comprehensive quality model (QM) with automatic evaluation and practical focus. To fill this gap, we propose a Maintainability Model for Services (MM4S), a layered maintainability QM consisting of service properties (SPs) related with automatically collectable Service Metrics (SMs). This research artifact created within an ongoing Design Science Research (DSR) project is the first version ready for detailed evaluation and critical feedback. The goal of MM4S is to serve as a simple and practical tool for basic maintainability estimation and control in the context of BSs and their specialization
microservice-based systems (μSBSs).
The conventional view of the value-creation chain suggests offering high-value propositions at the product level (in terms of benefits provided by elements of the product) to attain high-value perceptions at the customer level, which should ultimately result in high-value appropriation at the firm level (i.e. relationship, volume, pricing and financial success). This study challenges this view and provides a differentiated understanding of the value creation chain. With a multi-industry sample of 339 companies and a sample of 626 customers to validate managerial assessments, the authors apply a configurational approach to identify whether and to what extent offering high-value propositions at the product level is necessary or sufficient for achieving superior value perceptions at the customer level and high-value appropriation at the firm level. Taking into account the company-internal and company-external environment of the value-creation chain, the study identifies seven value creation chain constellations.
This paper investigates the electrothermal stability and the predominant defect mechanism of a Schottky gate AlGaN/GaN HEMT. Calibrated 3-D electrothermal simulations are performed using a simple semiempirical dc model, which is verified against high-temperature measurements up to 440°C. To determine the thermal limits of the safe operating area, measurements up to destruction are conducted at different operating points. The predominant failure mechanism is identified to be hot-spot formation and subsequent thermal runaway, induced by large drain–gate leakage currents that occur at high temperatures. The simulation results and the high temperature measurements confirm the observed failure patterns.
Thematic issue on human-centred ambient intelligence: cognitive approaches, reasoning and learning
(2017)
This editorial presents advances on human-centred Ambient Intelligence applications which take into account cognitive issues when modelling users (i.e. stress, attention disorders), and learn users’ activities/preferences and adapt to them (i.e. at home, driving a car). These papers also show AmI applications in health and education, which make them even more valuable for the general society.
The purpose of this paper is to study the recycling form of reusing second hand clothing from a conventional fashion brand’s perspective. It should clarify which measures and activities a fashion company needs to integrate in its value chain in order to offer branded second hand merchandise in a self-operated store. The research paper relies on a desk-based research and aims to illustrate the topic by means of a descriptive approach, processing the existing literature. Key findings demonstrate that fashion brands need to integrate complete lifecycle strategies, sustainability communication, and reverse logistics structures, like take-back schemes, for offering second hand clothing. The main limitations evolve from the research design. Further, empirical evidences need to be conducted for a more fundamental understanding of the new business model.
The success of an autonomous robotic system is influenced by several interdependent factors not easily identifiable. This paper is set to lay the foundation of a new integrated approach in order to deeply examine all the parameters and understand their contribution to success. After introducing the problem, two cutting edge autonomous systems for the process of unloading of containers will be presented. Then the STIC analysis, a recently developed method for modelling and interpreting all the parameters, will be introduced. The preliminary results of applying such a methodology to a first study case, based on one of the two systems available to the authors, will be shortly presented. Future research is in the end recommended in order to prove that this methodology is the only way to efficiently and effectively mitigate the risk that stops potential users from investing in autonomous systems in the logistics sector.
The second hand concept indicates a growing trend in clothing recently, leading to growing numbers of second hand shops and developments of new second hand retail forms. This paper concentrates on the current second hand market for fashion products and presents the different motives toward second hand consumption as well as alternative consumption channels for second hand products. The findings of the paper are founded on literature research of academic articles and case studies. Results show that there is a high potential for the second hand market due to the increasing interest of consumers in buying second hand products. The paper concentrates on the second hand market for fashion products in the western society. This means that there was no research on second hand products for disadvantaged people in poor countries. Furthermore, the paper focuses the formal second hand retail channels to see what is already on the market.
This study focuses on the different roles of social media for the promotion of a sustainable lifestyle, behaviour and consumption, especially with regard to the typically non-ethical fashion industry. Research findings include eight roles of social media influencing a sustainable consumption contrary to prior research naming one to five impacts. Results show that social media educates and engages the young and ethically interested target group besides increasing supply chain transparency and brand or theme awareness. Furthermore, social media provides a platform for organisations’ relationship management and social interaction since users get empowered to share experiences which leads to a higher level of trust.
Context: Development of software intensive products and services increasingly occurs by continuously deploying product or service increments, such as new features and enhancements, to customers. Product and service developers must continuously find out what customers want by direct customer feedback and usage behaviour observation. Objective: This paper examines the preconditions for setting up an experimentation system for continuous customer experiments. It describes the RIGHT model for Continuous Experimentation (Rapid Iterative value creation Gained through High-frequency Testing), illustrating the building blocks required for such a system. Method: An initial model for continuous experimentation is analytically derived from prior work. The model is matched against empirical case study findings from two startup companies and further developed. Results: Building blocks for a continuous experimentation system and infrastructure are presented. Conclusions: A suitable experimentation system requires at least the ability to release minimum viable products or features with suitable instrumentation, design and manage experiment plans, link experiment results with a product roadmap, and manage a flexible business strategy. The main challenges are proper, rapid design of experiments, advanced instrumentation of software to collect, analyse, and store relevant data, and the integration of experiment results in both the product development cycle and the software development process.
Due to rapidly changing technologies and business contexts, many products and services are developed under high uncertainties. It is often impossible to predict customer behaviors and outcomes upfront. Therefore, product and service developers must continuously find out what customers want, requiring a more experimental mode of management and appropriate support for continuously conducting experiments. We have analytically derived an initial model for continuous experimentation from prior work and matched it against empirical case study findings from two startup companies. We examined the preconditions for setting up an experimentation system for continuous customer experiments. The resulting RIGHT model for Continuous Experimentation (Rapid Iterative value creation Gained through High-frequency Testing) illustrates the building blocks required for such a system and the necessary infrastructure. The major findings are that a suitable experimentation system requires the ability to design, manage, and conduct experiments, create so-called minimum viable products or features, link experiment results with a product roadmap, and manage a flexible business strategy. The main challenges are proper, rapid design of experiments, advanced instrumentation of software to collect, analyse, and store relevant data, and integration of experiment results in the product development cycle, software development process, and business strategy. This summary refers to the article The RIGHT Model for Continuous Experimentation, published in the Journal of Systems and Software [Fa17].
The purpose of this paper is to highlight potentials and limitations of the prosumer concept in fashion retail. The paper illustrates the evolution of prosumption and in which directions the concept is being developed. The primary research is based on a literature review containing different sources of academic and non-academic references. Findings suggest that the prosumer concept is no new phenomenon. Recently, it has moved into the focus of companies that have noted that it is efficient when engaging with customers in order to strengthen their brand loyalty. An increasing number of companies offer innovative business models that underlie the concept. However, lately smart prosuming machines are changing the objectives of the concept. Even if the prosumer concept exists since many years and scholars investigate its potentials continuously, it is the fashion industry that has been researched comparatively little up to now.
THE PROBLEM: Companies create problems for customers and employees when product innovation goes unmanaged. Eventually, excessive operational complexity hurts the bottom line.
THREE SOLUTIONS: Focus on product integration, not product proliferation. Make sure your product developers work closely with customerfacing and operational employees. And settle on a high-level purpose that can guide decision making.
Steady growing research material in a variety of databases, repositories and clouds make academic content more than ever hard to discover. Finding adequate material for the own research however is essential for every researcher. Based on recent developments in the field of artificial intelligence and the identified digital capabilities of future universities a change in the basic work of academic research is predicted. This study defines the idea of how artificial intelligence could simplifiy academic research at a digital university. Today's studies in the field of AI spectacle the true potential and its commanding impact on academic research.
IT Governance (ITG) is crucial due to its significant impact on enabling innovation and enhancing firm performance. Hence, in the last decade ITG has become important in both academic and in practical research. Although several studies have investigated individual aspects of ITG success and its impact on single determinants, the causal relationship of how ITG promotes firm performance remains unclear. Thus, a more comprehensive understanding about the link between ITG and firm performance is needed. To address this gap, this research aims at understanding how ITG and firm performance are related. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review (1) to create an overview on how current research structures the link between ITG mechanisms and firm performance, (2) to uncover key constructs as potential mediators or moderators on the general link between ITG and performance, and (3) to set the basis for future studies on the ITG-firm performance relationship.
Digitization transforms business process models and processes in many enterprises. However, many of them need guidance, how digitization is impacting the design of their information systems. Therefore, this paper investigates the influence of digitization on information system design. We apply a two-phase research method applying a literature review and an exploratory case study. The case study took place in the IT service provider of a large insurance enterprise. The study’s results suggest that a number of areas of information system design are affected, such as architecture, processes, data and services.
The European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has been in turmoil for more than six years. The present governance rules do not seem to solve the problems neither permanently nor effectively. There is no vision about the future of Europe in the 21st century. This article describes a realignment of the economic governance, which does not necessarily lead to a transfer or political union. However, it solves the current and future challenges. In fact, the redesign of present rules is the most likely as well as legally and economically option today. The key ideais the detachment from the compulsive idea of an ever closer union. However, this vision requires boldness towards greater flexibility together with an exit clause or a state insolvency procedure for incompliant member states.
Background. The application of lean management is standard in many companies all over the world. It is used to continuously optimise existing production processes and to reduce the complexity of administrative processes. Unfortunately, in higher education, the awareness of lean management as a highly effective methodology is quite low.
Research aims. The research aim is to show how the lean strategy can be applied in university environments. Finally, this paper addresses the question why it is so difficult to implement lean in a university environment and how an institution of higher education can move forward towards becoming a lean university.
Methodology. Based on a literature review, five key lean principles are presented and examples of their implementation are discussed using short case studies from our own institution. We also compare our findings with those in the literature.
Key findings. Lean offers the chance to improve the management of higher education institutions. This requires a commitment on the part of the university top management aiming at convincing all stakeholders that a culture of lean helps the institution to be able to adapt to the rapidly changing environment of higher education.
In recent years, significant progress was made on switched-capacitor DCDC converters as they enable fully integrated on chip power management. New converter topologies overcame the fixed input-to-output voltage limitation and achieved high efficiency at high power densities. SC converters are attractive to not only mobile handheld devices with small input and output voltages, but also for power conversion in IoTs, industrial and automotive applications, etc. Such applications need to be capable of handling high input voltages of more than 10V. This talk highlights the challenges of the required supporting circuits and high voltage techniques, which arise for high Vin SC converters. It includes level shifters, charge pumps and back-to-back switches. High Vin conversion is demonstrated in a 4:1 SC DCDC converter with an input voltage as high as 17V with a peak efficiency of 45 %, and a buckboost SC converter with an input voltage range starting from 2 up to 13V, which utilizes a total of 17 ratios and achieves a peak efficiency of 81.5 %. Furthermore a highly integrated micro power supply approach is introduced, which is connected directly to the 120/230 Vrms mains, with an output power of 3mW, resulting in a power density >390μW/mm², which exceeds prior art by a factor of 11.
This publication gives a short introduction and overview of the European project SCOUT and introduces a methodology for a holistic approach to record the state of the art in technical (vehicle and connectivity, human factors regarding physiologic and ergonomic level) and non-technical enablers (societal, economic, legal, regulatory and policy level) of connected and automated driving in Europe. The paper addresses beside the technical topics of environmental perception, E/E architecture, actuators and security, the state of the art of the legal framework in the context of connected and automated driving.
Social sustainable supply chain management in the textile and apparel industry : a literature review
(2017)
So far, a vast amount of studies on sustainability in supply chain management have been conducted by academics over the last decade. Nevertheless, socially related aspects are still neglected in the related discussion. The primary motivation of the present literature review has arisen from this shortcoming, thus the key purpose of this study is to enrich the discussion by providing a state of-the-art, focusing exclusively on social issues in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) by considering the textile/apparel sector as the field of application. The authors conduct a literature review, including content analysis which covers 45 articles published in English peer-reviewed journals, and proposes a comprehensive map which integrates the latest findings on socially related practices in the textile/apparel industry with the dominant conceptualization in order to reveal potential research areas in the field. The results show an ongoing lack of investigation regarding the social dimension of the triple bottom line in SSCM. Findings indicate that a company’s internal orientation is the main assisting factor in sustainable supply chain management practices. Further, supplier collaboration and assessment can be interpreted as an offer for suppliers deriving from stakeholders and a focal company’s management of social risk. Nevertheless, suppliers do also face or even create huge barriers in improving their social performance. This calls for more empirical research and qualitative or quantitative survey methods, especially at the supplier level located in developing countries.
In the lights of an increasing digitalization of companies, the sales process might experience changes in the usage and the influence of digital tools. In order to examine the status quo of German companies in this regard, a study was conducted between 235 participants. The results of this study will be outlined in the article at hand.
IT platforms as the foundation of digitized processes and products are vital in a digital economy. However, many companies’ platforms are liabilities, not strategic assets because of their complexity. Consequently, companies initiate IT complexity reduction programs. But these technology-centric programs at best provide temporary relief. Soon after, companies’ platforms become just as complex as before. Based on four case studies, we identify three non-technical drivers of platform complexity: (1) Lacking awareness of consequences business decisions have on platform complexity, (2) Lacking motivation to avoid platform complexity, (3) Lacking authority to protect platforms from complexity. We propose measures to address these drivers that can help achieve more sustainable impact on platform complexity: (1) Removing information asymmetries between those creating complexity and those dealing with complexity, (2) Redefining incentives to include long-term effects on platform complexity, (3) Redressing power imbalances between those who create complexity and those who have to manage it.
Smart meter based business models for the electricity sector : a systematical literature research
(2017)
The Act on the Digitization of the Energy Transition forces German industries and households to introduce smart meters in order to save engery, to gain individual based electricity tariffs and to digitize the energy data flow. Smart meter can be regarded as the advancement of the traditional meter. Utilizing this new technology enables a wide range of innovative business models that provide additional value for the electricity suppliers as well as for their customers. In this study, we followed a two-step approach. At first, we provide a state-of-the-art comparison of these business models found in the literature and identify structural differences in the way they add value to the offered products and services. Secondly, the business models are grouped into categories with respect to customer segmetns and the added value to the smart grid. Findings indicate that most business models focus on the end-costumer as their main customer.
A sleep study is a test used to diagnose sleep disorders and is usually done in sleep laboratories. The golden standard for evaluation of sleep is overnight polysomnography (PSG). Unfortunately, in-lab sleep studies are expensive and complex procedures. Furthermore, with a minimum of 22 wire attachments to the patient for sleep recording, this medical procedure is invasive and unfamiliar for the subjects. To solve this problem, low-cost home diagnostic systems, based on noninvasive recording methods requires further researches.
For this intention it is important to find suitable bio vital parameters for classifying sleep phases WAKE, REM, light sleep and deep sleep without any physical impairment at the same time. We decided to analyse body movement (BM), respiration rate (RR) and heart rate variability (HRV) from existing sleep recordings to develop an algorithm which is able to classify the sleep phases automatically. The preliminary results of this project show that BM, RR and HRV are suitable to identify WAKE, REM and NREM stage.
Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist, die Infrastruktur einer modernen Fahrzeug-zu Fahrzeug-Kommunikation auf ihre Sicherheit zu prüfen. Dazu werden die Sicherheitsstandards für die Funkkommunikation genauer beschrieben und anschließend mit möglichen Angriffsmodellen geprüft. Mit dem erläuterten Wissen der VANET Architektur werden verschiedene Angriffe verständlicher. Dadurch werden die Schwachstellen offengelegt und Gegenmaßnahmen an passenden Punkten in der Architektur verdeutlicht.
Die Arbeit stellt die Vision des Internet of Things (IoT) vor und betrachtet sowohl Möglichkeiten der Nutzung als auch Gefahrenpotentiale für die Sicherheit der Nutzer. Insbesondere wird hierbei der Anwendungsfall Smart Home näher betrachtet und am Beispiel ZigBee gravierende Schwächen dieser Geräte aufgezeigt.
Asymmetric read/write storage technologies such as Flash are becoming
a dominant trend in modern database systems. They introduce
hardware characteristics and properties which are fundamentally
different from those of traditional storage technologies such
as HDDs.
Multi-Versioning Database Management Systems (MV-DBMSs)
and Log-based Storage Managers (LbSMs) are concepts that can
effectively address the properties of these storage technologies but
are designed for the characteristics of legacy hardware. A critical
component of MV-DBMSs is the invalidation model: commonly,
transactional timestamps are assigned to the old and the new version,
resulting in two independent (physical) update operations.
Those entail multiple random writes as well as in-place updates,
sub-optimal for new storage technologies both in terms of performance
and endurance. Traditional page-append LbSM approaches
alleviate random writes and immediate in-place updates, hence reducing
the negative impact of Flash read/write asymmetry. Nevertheless,
they entail significant mapping overhead, leading to write
amplification.
In this work we present an approach called Snapshot Isolation
Append Storage Chains (SIAS-Chains) that employs a combination
of multi-versioning, append storage management in tuple granularity
and novel singly-linked (chain-like) version organization.
SIAS-Chains features: simplified buffer management, multi-version
indexing and introduces read/write optimizations to data placement
on modern storage media. SIAS-Chains algorithmically avoids
small in-place updates, caused by in-place invalidation and converts
them into appends. Every modification operation is executed
as an append and recently inserted tuple versions are co-located.
Structural and functional thermosetting composite materials are exposed to different kinds of stress which can damage the polymer matrix, thus impairing the intended properties. Therefore, self-healing materials have attracted the attention of many research groups over the last decades in order to provide satisfactory material properties and outstanding product durability. The present article provides a critical overview of promising self-healing strategies for crosslinked thermoset polymers. It is organized in two parts: an overview about the different approaches to self-healing is given in the first part, whereas the second part focuses on the specific chemistries of the main strategies to achieve self-healing through crosslinking. It is attempted to provide a comprehensive discussion of different approaches which are described in the scientific literature. By comparison of the advantages and disadvantages, the authors wish to provide helpful insights on the assessment of the potential to transfer the extensive present knowledge about self-healing materials and methods to surface varnishing thermoset coatings.
In the present paper we demonstrate the novel technique to apply the recently proposed approach of In-Place Appends – overwrites on Flash without a prior erase operation. IPA can be applied selectively: only to DB-objects that have frequent and relatively small updates. To do so we couple IPA to the concept of NoFTL regions, allowing the DBA to place update-intensive DB-objects into special IPA-enabled regions. The decision about region configuration can be (semi-)automated by an advisor analyzing DB-log files in the background.
We showcase a Shore-MT based prototype of the above approach, operating on real Flash hardware. During the demonstration we allow the users to interact with the system and gain hands-on experience under different demonstration scenarios.
The digital transformation of the automotive industry has a significant impact on how development processes need to be organized in future. Dynamic market and technological environments require capabilities to react on changes and to learn fast. Agile methods are a promising approach to address these needs but they are not tailored to the specific characteristics of the automotive domain like product line development. Although, there have been efforts to apply agile methods in the automotive domain for many years, significant and widespread adoptions have not yet taken place. The goal of this literature review is to gain an overview and a better understanding of agile methods for embedded software development in the automotive domain, especially with respect to product line development. A mapping study was conducted to analyze the relation between agile software development, embedded software development in the automotive domain and software product line development. Three research questions were defined and 68 papers were evaluated. The study shows that agile and product line development approaches tailored for the automotive domain are not yet fully explored in the literature. Especially, literature on the combination of agile and product line development is rare. Most of the examined combinations are customizations of generic approaches or approaches stemming from other domains. Although, only few approaches for combining agile and software product line development in the automotive domain were found, these findings were valuable for identifying research gaps and provide insights into how existing approaches can be combined, extended and tailored to suit the characteristics of the automotive domain.
Die meisten Unternehmen steuern ihr operatives Marketing, ohne die Effektivität und die Effizienz der dabei eingesetzten Instrumente zu quantifizieren - in Anbetracht der Höhe typischer Marketingbudgets ein kritischer Befund. Wie kann man hier Abhilfe schaffen? Ein Blick auf eines der Schlüsselkonzepte von Industrie 4.0 zeigt einen möglichen Weg auf.