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The digital age makes it possible to be globally networked at any time. Digital communication is therefore an important aspect of today’s world. Hence, the further development and expansion of this is becoming increasingly important. Even within a wireless system, copper channels are important as part of the overall network. Given the need to keep pushing at the current limitations, careful design of the cables in connection with an adapted coding of the bits is essential to transmit more and more data.
One of the most popular and widespread cabling technologies is symmetrical copper cabling [1, pp. 8-15]. It is also known as Twisted Pair and it is of immense importance for the cabling of communication networks.
At the time of writing this thesis, data rates of up to 10 GBit/s over a transmission distance of 100 m and 40 GBit/s over a transmission distance of 30 m are standardized for symmetrical copper cabling [2]. Other lengths are not standardized. Short lengths in particular are of great interest for copper cables, because copper cables are usually used for short distances, such as between computers and the campus network or within data centres.
This work has focused on the transmission of higher order Pulse Amplitude Modulation and the associated transmission performance. The central research question is:“how well can we optimize the transmission technique in order to be able to maximise the data bandwidth over Ethernet cable and, given that remote powering is also a significant application of these cables, how much will the resulting heating affect this transmission and what can be done to mitigate that?”
To answer this question, the cable parameters are first examined. A series of spectral measurements, such as Insertion Loss, Return Loss, Near End Crosstalk and Far End Crosstalk, provide information about the electromagnetic interference and the influence of the ohmic resistance on the signal. Based on these findings, the first theoretical statements and calculations can be made. In the next step, data transmissions over different transmission lengths are realized. The examination of the eye diagrams of the different transmission approaches ultimately provides information about the signal quality of the transmissions. An overview of the maximum transmission rate depending on the transmission distance shows the potential for different applications.
Furthermore, the simultaneous transmission of energy and data is a significant advantage of copper. However, the resulting heat development has an influence on the data transmission. Therefore, the influence of the ambient temperature of cables is investigated in the last part and changes in the signal quality are clarified.
Im Frühjahr 1817 unternahm der damalige Professor Friedrich List an der Universität Tübingen eine Reise nach Frankfurt a. M., wo zu dieser Zeit die berühmte Ostermesse stattfand. Dort traf er mit den Anführern der Kaufleute zusammen, die darüber klagten, dass die zaghafte wirtschaftliche Entwicklung unter den vielen Zollschranken und den Billigimporten aus England stark zu leiden habe. Deshalb forderten sie die Abschaffung der Binnenzölle und die Bildung einer Wirtschaftsunion. Im Auftrag der Kaufleute verfasste List seine berühmt gewordene Petition an die Bundesversammlung, die lose Interessenvertretung des Deutschen Bundes in Frankfurt. Als die Petition mit großem Beifall aufgenommen wurde, gründete List im Hochgefühl seines Erfolges spontan den "Allgemeinen Deutschen Handels- und Gewerbsverein" – die erste Interessenvertretung deutscher Kaufleute. Er legte damit den Grundstein für den politischen Prozess zur Gründung des Zollvereins von 1834, der wiederum die Vorstufe zur Gründung des Deutschen Reiches von 1871 bildete. Lists damalige Forderungen sind zurzeit wieder hoch aktuell.
Das Pariser Klimaschutzabkommen von 2015 fordert die Begrenzung der globalen Erwärmung auf "deutlich unter" 2 Grad Celsius gegenüber der vorindustriellen Zeit. Zwar wurde es von der internationalen Staatengemeinschaft anerkannt, jedoch reichen die national festgelegten Beiträge (NDCs) bisher nicht aus, um das Ziel zu erreichen. Neben der "Emissionslücke" besteht eine große Kluft zwischen naturwissenschaftlichem und öffentlichem Verständnis über den Klimawandel. Während die Besorgnis über den Klimawandel steigt, sehen die meisten Menschen den Klimawandel nicht als ernsthafte Bedrohung für sich selbst und Ansichten über den Klimawandel sind politisch polarisiert. Konventionelle Kommunikationsansätze haben die Lücke zwischen dem wissenschaftlichen und öffentlichen Verständnis über die durch den Klimawandel entstehenden Bedrohungen nicht geschlossen. Hier wird mit dem simulationsbasierten Rollenspiel World Climate ein innovativer Ansatz für die Klimakommunikation vorgestellt: ein soziales, einnehmendes Rollenspiel bei der Entscheidungsfindung im Klimaschutz ist mit einem interaktiven Computermodell kombiniert, das eine sofortige Rückmeldung über die erwarteten Ergebnisse von Entscheidungen liefert. Die Teilnehmenden erfahren mehr über den Klimawandel und erleben sogleich die soziale Dynamik der Verhandlungen. In diesem Beitrag werden die Ergebnisse einer Studie über Auswirkungen von World Climate präsentiert.
The paper analyses the importance of List's views on growth and integration from the perspective of modern approaches to economic growth and international economics. Furthermore, some ideas will be presented on how List's ideas could help to explain and understand current economic developments, such as the crisis of the European Union or the new form of isolationism of the United States of America.
The economic thought of Friedrich List. - (Routledge studies in the history of economics ; 16)
(2019)
Friedrich List is, besides Karl Marx, one of the most important economists of the 19th century in Germany. Probably most modern economists know List for his idea of educational tariffs that protect infant industries from international competition an help them to become competitive before their country opens the domestic market for foreign rivals. Furthermore, List is still popular because of his contribution to establishing a railway system in the USA and Germany. However, a closer look at his work reveals that his ideas about the economic system could enrich the current theoretical and political debate on international trade and integration as well as economic growth.
Companies are continuously changing their strategy, processes, and information systems to benefit from the digital transformation. Controlling the digital architecture and governance is the fundamental goal. Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) systems are vital for managing digital risks threatening in modern enterprises from many different angles. The most significant constituent to GRC systems is the definition of controls that is implemented on different layers of a digital Enterprise Architecture (EA). As part of the compliant aspect of GRC, the effectiveness of these controls is assessed and reported to relevant management bodies within the enterprise. In this paper, we present a metamodel which links controls to the affected elements of a digital EA and supplies a way of expressing associated assessment techniques and results. We complement a metamodel with an expository instantiation of a control compliance cockpit in an international insurance enterprise.
Business process models provide a considerable number of benefits for enterprises and organizations, but the creation of such models is costly and time-consuming, which slows down the organizational adoption of business process modeling. Social paradigms pave new ways for business process modeling by integrating stakeholders and leveraging knowledge sources. However, empirical research about the impact of social paradigms on costs of business process modeling is sparse. A better understanding of their impact could help to reduce the cost of business process modeling and improve decision-making on BPM activities. The paper constributes to this field by reporting about an empirical investigation via survey research on the perceived influence of different cost factors among experts. Our results indicate that different cost components, as well as the use of social paradigms, influence cost.
Due to the consequential impact of technological breakdowns, companies have to be prepared to deal with breakdowns or even better prevent them. In today's information technology, several methods and tools exist to downscale this concern. Therefore, this paper deals with the initial determination of a resilient enterprise architecture supporting predictive maintenance in the information technology domain and furthermore, concerns several mechanisms on how to reactively and proactively secure the state of resiliency on several abstraction levels. The objective of this paper is to give an overview on existing mechanisms for resiliency and to describe the foundation of an optimized approach, combining infrastructure and process mining techniques.
Beim Guerilla Marketing handelt es sich um die Auswahl untypischer und undogmatischer Marketingaktivitäten, die mit einem oftmals vergleichsweise geringen Mitteleinsatz eine möglichst große Wirkung erzielen sollen. Im Kern zielt Guerilla Marketing darauf ab, anders zu sein und aufzufallen. Der Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über Methoden und Instrumente des Guerilla Marketing-Mix, die sich insbesondere (aber nicht nur) für Startups im Wettbewerb gegen etablierte, mit entsprechenden finanziellen Ressourcen ausgestattete Unternehmen eignen.
Because of saturated markets and of the low profit margins in the sales of cars, car manufacturers focus more and more on profitable product related services. This paper deals with the question how to classify product related services in the automotive industry and which characteristic product related services are offered to the end-users (consumers) in a standardized format. Two research studies on the provided product related services in 2010 und 2017 by 15 car manufacturers and 20 exemplary automotive brands in Germany revealed that the application degree by the OEM (original equipment manufacturers) in these years increased considerably. While in 2010, the average range of services only amounted to 33%, the value in the automotive industry increased until 2017 to 57%.
Established companies are facing two transformations involving digital technologies: becoming digitized and becoming digital. The platforms enabling these transformations are fundamentally different in their purpose, target state, success metrics — and especially, in the key responsibilities of senior leaders. Because of these differences, companies will need to apply new rules new roles, processes, metrics, and norms — to the new digital platform. To develop new rules leaders should (1) separate the teams working on the digital platform, (2) allow digital platform leaders to experiment with new rules, and (3) identify new leaders and coach them to succeed with new rules. Given the time it takes to establish new rules, companies need to start breaking old rules now.
Digital technologies are moving into physical products. Smart cars, connected lightbulbs and data-generating tennis rackets are examples of previously “pure” physical products that turned into “digitized products”. Digitizing products offers many use cases for consumers that will hopefully persuade them to buy these products. Yet, as revenues from selling digitized products will remain small in the near future, digitized product manufacturers have to look for other sources of benefits. Producer-side use cases describe how manufacturers can benefit internally from the digitized products they produce. Our article identifies three categories of such use cases: product-, service-, and process-related ones.
Ein Markenzeichen der Hochschule Reutlingen ist die enge Kooperation zwischen Forschern, Lehrenden, Praktikern und Studierenden. Professor*innen der Hochschule Reutlingen bieten neben dem so genannten „State-of-the-Art“- Managementwissen systemische Strukturaufstellungen als „komplementäre Medizin“ für Führungskräfte an.
Smart Stadiums eignen sich als Testfeld für die Smart City, um die Lücke zwischen der Forschung und der Anwendung von Internet of Things Technologien in der Praxis zu schließen. Gleichzeitig können Stadionbetreiber durch die Monetarisierungspotenziale des Smart Stadium Konzeptes ihre Arena zu einem Profit Center ausbauen. Die Erreichung einer Technologieakzeptanz bei den Zuschauern durch die Schaffung von Synergieeffekten zwischen Stadionbetreibern, Technologieanbietern und der Wissenschaft unter Berücksichtigung der kulturellen Besonderheiten im jeweiligen Markt kann dabei als kritischer Erfolgsfaktor für die Nutzengenerierung der verschiedenen Stakeholder eines Smart Stadiums angesehen werden.
Increasing flexibility, greater transparency and faster adaptability play a key role in the development of future intralogistics. Ever-changing environmental conditions require easy extensibility and modifiability of existing bin systems. This research project explores approaches to transfer the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm to intralogistics. This allows a synchronization of the material and information flow. The bin is enabled by the implementation of adequate hardware and software components to capture, store, process and forward data to selected system subscribers. Monitoring the processes in the intralogistics by means of the smart bin system ensures the implementation of appropriate actions in case of defined deviations. By using explorative expert interviews with representatives from the automotive and pharmaceutical industries, seven practical application scenarios were defined. On this basis, the requirements of smart bin systems were examined. For each individual case of application, a system model was created in order to obtain an overview of the system components and thus reveal similarities and differences. Based on the similarities of the system models, a general requirement profile was derived. After the hardware components of the bin system had been determined, a utility analysis was carried out to find the adequate IoT software. The utility analysis was conducted with a focus on data acquisition and data transfer, data storage, data analysis, data presentation as well as authorization management and data security. The results show that there is great interest in easily expandable and modifiable bin systems, as in all cases, the necessary information flow in the existing bin system has to be improved by means of new IoT hardware and software components.
The global demand for individualized products leading to decreasing production batch sizes requires innovative approaches how to organize production and logistics systems in a dynamic manner. Current material flow systems mainly rely on predefined system structures and processes, which result in a huge increase of complexity and effort for system and process changes to realize an optimized production and material provision of individualized products. Autonomous production and logistics entities in combination with intelligent products or logistic load carriers following the vision of the “Internet of Things” offer a promising solution for mastering this complexity based on autonomous, decentralized and target size-optimized decision making and structure formation without the need for predefined processes and central decision-making bodies. Customer orders are going to prioritize themselves and communicate directly with the required production and logistics resources. Bins containing the required materials are going to communicate with the conveyors or workers of the respective intralogistics system organizing and controlling the material flow to the autonomously selected workstation. A current research project is the development of a collaborative tugger train combing the potential of automation and human-robot collaboration in intralogistics. This tugger train is going to be integrated into a self organized intralogistics scenario involving individualized customer orders (low to high batch sizes). To classify the application of self-organization within intralogistics systems, a criteria catalogue has been developed. The application of this criteria catalogue will be demonstrated on the example of a self-organization scenario involving the collaborative tugger train and an intelligent bin system.
The 21st century: an era where emojis and hashtags find their way into every sentence, where taking selfies, live tweeting and mining bitcoin are the norm, and where Insta-culture dictates what we say and do. This is the era into which the digital native was born. With so many changes in every aspect of our lives, how is it that one of the most influential aspects, our education, has remained unchanged? Our education system not only fails to appeal to today’s students, but more importantly, it fails to equip them with the skills required in the 21st Century. It is thus of no surprise that industries feel graduates entering the workplace lack skills in critical thinking, problem solving and self-directed learning. AI, machine learning and big data: Tools and mechanisms we so eagerly incorporate to create smart factories yet are hesitant to use elsewhere. Gamification and games have shown great results in education and training; with most research suggesting a stronger focus on personalization and adaptation. When combined with analytics and machine learning, the potential of games is yet to be realized. A real-time adaptive game would not only always present an appropriate degree of challenge for the individual but would allow for a shift in focus from the recitation of facts, to the application of information filtered to solve the particular problem at hand. South Africa, a country faced with a severe skills gap, could benefit greatly from games. If used correctly, they may just offer a desperately needed contribution toward equipping both current and future employees with the skills needed to survive in the 21st century. This paper explores the feasibility of using such games for enhanced knowledge dissemination and the upskilling of the workforce.
Due to Industry 4.0, the full value creation has the chance to undergo a fundamental technological transformation, the realisation of which, however, requires the commitment of every company for its own benefit. The new approaches of Industry 4.0 are often hardly evaluated, let alone proven, so that SMEs in particular often cannot properly estimate the potentials and risks, and often waiting too long with the migration towards Industry 4.0. In addition, they often do not pursue an integrated concept in order to identify possible potentials through changes in their business models. . As part of the research project "GEN-I 4.0 – Geschäftsmodell-Entwicklung für die Industrie 4.0” ", the ESB Business School at Reutlingen University of Applied Sciences and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization FHG IAO were engaged by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation from 2016 to 2018 to develop tools and an approach how the local economy can develop digital business models for itself in a methodical, beneficial and targeted manner. Through international analyses and interviews GEN-I 4.0 gained and concretized the knowledge required for the evaluation and selection of solutions and approaches for the transfer to develop digital business models. Together with the know-how of the project partners on Industry 4.0 and business model development, the findings were incorporated into the development of two software tools with which SMEs are shown the potentials of Industry 4.0 for their individual business model, online and in selfassessment, and given a comprehensive structured, concrete approach to development, as well as their individual risk. Users of the tools are supported by the selected platform for the networking of different players to implement innovative business models accompanied by coaching concepts for the companies in the follow-up and implementation of the assessment results.
Changing requirements and qualification profiles of employees, increasingly complex digital systems up to artificial intelligence, missing standards for the seamless embedding of existing resources and unpredictable return on investments are just a few examples of the challenges of an SME in the age of digitalisation. In most cases there is a lack of suitable tools and methods to support companies in the digital transformation process in the value creation processes, but also of training and learning materials. A European research project (BITTMAS - Business Transformation towards Digitalisation and Smart systems, ERASMUS+, 2016-1 DE02-KA202-003437) with international partners from science, associations and industry has addressed this issue and developed various methods and instruments to support SMEs. Within the scope of a literature search, 16 suitable digitalisation concepts for production and logistics were identified. In the following, a learning platform with a literature database with multivariable sorting options according to branches and keywords of digitalisation, a video gallery with basic and advanced knowledge and a glossary were created in order to provide the user with consolidated and structured specialist knowledge. The 16 identifying concepts for transforming value-added processes in the context of digitalisation were transferred to a learning platform using developed learning paths in coaching and training to online course modules including test questions. A maturity model was developed and implemented in a self assessment tool for the analysis to identify the potential of digitalisation in production and logistics in relation to the current technological digitalisation level of the company. As a result, the user receives one or more of the 16 potential digitalisation concepts suggested or the delta for the necessary, not yet available enabler technologies is presented as a spider diagram. For a successful implementation of the identified suitable digitalisation concepts in production and logistics, a further tool was developed to identify supplementary requirements for all company divisions and stakeholders in relation to the "digital transformation" in the form of a self-evaluation. This paper presents the methods and tools developed, the accompanying learning materials and the learning platform.
Die Faszination des "Touchpoint Airport" und der Trend hin zu immer mehr Mobilität machen Flughäfen für die werbungtreibende Wirtschaft zunehmend interessanter. Das belegen die Wachstumsraten der Out-of-Home-Werbung an Flughäfen und die Investitionen der Airports in analoge wie innovative digitale Medien. Der Grund dafür ist einfach: überdurchschnittlich kaufkräftige Zielgruppen lassen sich mit Flughafenwerbung über ihre gesamte Customer-Journey in einem besonderen Umfeld emotional ansprechen. Starken Brands bieten Airports die ideale Bühne für eine nachhaltige Markeninszenierung. Doch wie genau funktioniert Airport-Werbung, für welche Unternehmen eignet sich ein werblicher Auftritt am Flughafen, welche Zielgruppen lassen sich am Airport erreichen und wer sind die kompetenten Ansprechpartner für Airport-Werbung? Diese und viele weitere Fragen beantwortet das Jahrhuch Aiport Marketing 2020.
It is expected that ongoing digitalisation will drive the merger between the manufacturing world and the internet world, possibly leading to a next industrial revolution, currently called “Industry 4.0”. The driving forces behind this development are new business opportunities and competition advantages arising from mass production customisation as well as rapid individual product development and manufacturing. Key factors of the development towards Industry 4.0 are discussed. Threats and opportunities arising from these developments for future production are discussed. Actual examples from real-time customized manufacturing of consumer products are given. As mechatronic systems and industrial robots are widely used in manufacturing and in particular in assembly, it is discussed how they can be connected to and used in digitalised industrial systems. Different examples of remote controlled systems are presented, like remote controlled KUKA robot for handling and quality control, PLC-controlled equipment, drive systems, FESTO handling system and others. The architecture of an assembly cell is presented, where industrial robots are set-up for batch-one production or can directly receive control / production information on-line and in real-time over the factory network. Methods for remote maintenance and monitoring of systems over the internet and production operator support over the internet are presented as well.
Social Selling – ein innovativer Vertriebsansatz, der die Prinzipien des digitalen Marketings auf den Vertrieb anwendet – findet in der Unternehmenspraxis zunehmend Beachtung. Die Forschung, insbesondere zur Ausgestaltung von Social Selling, steht allerdings noch am Anfang. Mit Hilfe der Daten der Social-Media-Kanäle Facebook und LinkedIn von zwei Industriegüterunternehmen wird in einer explorativen Studie herausgefunden, dass eine direkte Vernetzungsanfrage zur Erweiterung des Netzwerks effizient ist und dass Social-Selling-Beiträge, die zu Beginn und Ende einer Woche vor allem vormittags als visuelles Format (Fotos, Videos) veröffentlicht werden, am erfolgversprechendsten hinsichtlich Klicks, Likes, Shares und Comments sind.
Digitale Transformation: Können Sie den Begriff noch hören, ohne mit den Augen zu rollen? Auch wenn der Begriff in aller Munde ist, besteht immer noch große Verwirrung darüber, was eigentlich so neu daran sein soll. Immerhin setzen Unternehmen ja (digitale) Informationstechnologien (IT) seit Jahrzehnten ein, um Geschäftsprozesse zu verbessern.
Indicators of disruption potentials - analysis of the blockchain technology’s potential impact
(2019)
The goal of this paper was to answer the question whether blockchain has the potential to become a disruption according to Clayton Christensen’s disruption theory. Therefore, the theory and the five characteristics that define the process of disruption were outlined in the first part of the paper. That and the following explanation of the blockchain technology served as the basis for the analysis and evaluation in chapters four to seven. For the analysis, three applications of the DLT, namely payment methods, intermediaries, as well as data storage and transfer, were considered. The fulfillment of the five characteristics of disruption was assessed using an example for each of the three applications.
Additionally, the paper might serve as a basis for future research on the topic, once the technology develops further, since it is generally hard to tell whether the fourth and fifth characteristics are fulfilled by blockchain at this point. Therefore, the results of the paper also back criticism of Christensen’s theory regarding its usefulness for predictions.
This paper suggests that, in the financial services industry, too, the impact of blockchain will be significant. However, given the manifoldness of the services that are part of the industry, it cannot generally be concluded whether the DLT will disrupt the industry. For example, in services related to payment methods, blockchain is unlikely to follow disruptive pattern, despite the recent hype surrounding blockchain-based cryptocurrencies. However, regarding data storage and transfer, the technology might as well follow disruptive pattern in the financial services industry just as the application of blockchain solutions has been doing in the healthcare industry.
Recently, practitioners have begun appraising an effective customer journey design (CJD) as an important source of customer value in increasingly complex and digitalized consumer markets. Research, however, has neither investigated what constitutes the effectiveness of CJD from a consumer perspective nor empirically tested how it affects important variables of consumer behavior. The authors define an effective CJD as the extent to which consumers perceive multiple brand-owned touchpoints as designed in a thematically cohesive, consistent, and context-sensitive way. Analyzing consumer data from studies in two countries (4814 consumers in total), they provide evidence of the positive influence of an effective CJD on customer loyalty through brand attitude — over and above the effects of brand experience. Importantly, an effective CJD more strongly influences utilitarian brand attitudes, while brand experience more strongly affects hedonic brand attitudes. These underlying mechanisms are also prevalent when testing for the contingency factors services versus goods, perceived switching costs, and brand involvement.
This paper presents the preliminary results of a setof research projects being developed at the distributed resources laboratory at the University of Reutlingen. The main aim of these projects is to couple distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) with distributed control of microgrids. Firstly, a DLT based solution for a local market platform has been developed. This enables end customers to participate in new local micro-energy-markets by providing them with a distributed, decentralized, transparent and secure Peer to Peer (P2P) payment system. Secondly, this solution has been integrated with an autonomous (agent-based) grid management. The integrated solution of both marked platform as well as agent based control has been implemented and tested in a real microgrid with different distributed components such as PV System, CHP and different kinds of controllable loads. This microgrid is located in the distributed energy resources laboratory at the University of Reutlingen. Thirdly, the resulting solution is being implemented as an easy to customize market solution by AC2SG Software Oy, a Finland based software company, developing solutions for the Indian market. In a next phase, the solution is going to be tested in real environment in off-grids systems in India.
Purpose – Many start-ups are in search of cooperation partners to develop their innovative business models. In response, incumbent firms are introducing increasingly more cooperation systems to engage with startups. However, many of these cooperations end in failure. Although qualitative studies on cooperation models have tried to improve the effectiveness of incumbent start-up strategies, only a few have empirically examined start-up cooperation behavior. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from a series of qualitative and quantitative studies. The scale dimensions are identified on an interview based qualitative study. Following workshops and questionnaire-based studies identify factors and rank them. These ranked factors are then used to build a measurement scale that is integrated in a standardized online questionnaire addressing start-ups. The gathered data are then analyzed using PLS-SEM.
Findings – The research was able to build a multi-item scale for start-ups cooperation behavior. This scale can be used in future research. The paper also provides a causal analysis on the impact of cooperation behavior on start-up performance. The research finds, that the found dimensions are suitable for measuring cooperation behavior. It also shows a minor positive effect on start-up’s performance.
Originality/value – The research fills the gap of lacking empirical research on the cooperation between start-ups and established firms. Also, most past studies focus on organizational structures and their performance when addressing these cooperations. Although past studies identified the start-ups behavior as a relevant factor, no empirical research has been conducted on the topic yet.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of psychological contract breach on the relationship between job insecurity and counterproductive workplace behavior (CWB) and the moderating effect of employment status in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 212 supervisor–subordinate dyads in a large Chinese state-owned air transportation group. AMOS 17.0 software was used to examine the hypothesized predictions and the theoretical model.
Findings – The results showed that psychological contract breach partially mediates the effect of job insecurity on CWB, including organizational counterproductive workplace behavior and interpersonal counterproductive workplace behavior. In addition, the relationships between job insecurity, psychological contract breach and CWB differ significantly between permanent workers and contract workers.
Originality/value – The present study provides a new insight into explaining the linkage between job insecurity and negative work behaviors as well as suggestions to managers on minimizing the harmful effects of job insecurity.
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.
Design thinking
(2019)
Design Thinking als eigenständige Disziplin gibt es bereits seit den sechziger Jahren, aber erst 2005 wurde die Managementlehre darauf aufmerksam. Seitdem wird das Konzept in der Wirtschaft und an den Hochschulen immer populärer, da sich "thinking like a designer" als erfolgreiche Methode erwiesen hat, um Innovationen anzustoßen und Probleme zu beseitigen. Zu den zahlreichen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten von Design Thinking zählt das Design neuer Produkte und Dienstleistungen, die Prozessentwicklung und -implementierung sowie die Organisationsgestaltung.
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.
»Flexible Arbeitspraktiken: Eine Analyse aus pragmatischer Perspektive«. Traditional human resource management (HRM) research can hardly relate to today's developments in the world of work. Organizational boundaries are blurred because of the complexity due to globalization, digitalization, and demographic changes. In practice, new ways of organizing work can be found that depend on the specifics of the work situation. In this paper, we build on the economics of convention (EC) to elaborate on the current challenges HRM scholarship is confronted with and provide a theoretical lens that goes beyond the tension between market and bureaucracy principles in actual employment settings. We apply EC’s situationalist methodology to examples of the challenging coordination of flexibility in the workplace. We explain two hybrid forms of coordination – compromises and local arrangements – and highlight the dynamics of employment practices in organizations related to these forms. Thereby, we show that different modes of coordination in employment are applied in a fluctuating manner that depends on the specific situations. In doing so, we further seek to remind HRM scholars of the fruitfulness of the pragmatist perspective in analyzing work practices, as well as extending its conceptual toolkit for future analysis.
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 paper studies option pricing based on a reverse engineering (RE) approach. We utilize artificial intelligence in order to numerically compute the prices of options. The data consist of more than 5000 call- and put-options from the German stock market. First, we find that option pricing under reverse engineering obtains a smaller root mean square error to market prices. Second, we show that the reverse engineering model is reliant on training data. In general, the novel idea of reverse engineering is a rewarding direction for future research. It circumvents the limitations of finance theory, among others strong assumptions and numerical approximations under the Black–Scholes model.
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.
Die Passagierzahlen an deutschen Flughäfen steigen konstant. Flughafenmedien bieten daher ein großes Potenzial für Werbetreibende, eine hohe Reichweite zu generieren sowie hochwertige Zielgruppen spezifisch anzusprechen. Insbesondere digitale Werbemedien genießen an Flughäfen eine große Beliebtheit und werden von der Mehrzahl der Reisenden in der Regel stärker wahrgenommen als analoge Werbung. Sie bleiben besser im Gedächtnis und sorgen für eine willkommene Abwechslung während der oftmals langen Verweildauer am Flughafen.
Collaborative apparel consumption is proposed as more sustainable alternative to conventional consumption. The purpose of this study is the exploration of consumers’ motives to participate in collaborative apparel consumption. Findings suggest that consumers’ intention to participate in collaborative apparel consumption is mainly influenced by financial benefits, convenience and sustainability awareness.
Today many vertical retailers are operating different sales channels at the same time and are respon-sible for the range of products in all sales channels. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether for vertical fashion retailers a format-specific assortment policy can be observed on the German mar-ket. To investigate this topic in addition to secondary data of a literature research, quantitative prima-ry data was collected through a structured observation by conducting store checks. The combination provides insights into the research topic, allows to build hypotheses and to get a current and specific answer on the research topic. The study revealed all vertical retailers exploit the advantage of unlim-ited capacity of the online shop by offering in this channel mainly the broadest and deepest assort-ment. Within the retail store the vertical retailers focus on offering full-price goods for the current season in full size sets. Compared to the online shop here are less styles sophisticated presented and adjusted on the sales floor. For the outlet channel all brands showed a higher density of products and at least a price reduction of 30 per cent. The present paper is limited by time, depth and language of secondary data collection. As the study only conducted quantitative data within limited observations additional visual data over a longer period is necessary.
Die digitale Transformation verändert branchenübergreifend Geschäftsmodelle und ist damit ein Schlüssel für den langfristigen Unternehmenserfolg. In der Praxis scheitert sie jedoch häufig an der richtigen Umsetzung. Der Digital-Business-Excellence-Ansatz soll Unternehmen helfen, den digitalen Wandel erfolgreich zu gestalten.
Angesichts großer globaler Herausforderungen wie z.B. dem Klimawandel befindet sich die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit im Wandel und sieht sich zunehmend der Frage ihrer Wirksamkeit gegenübergestellt. Dieser Beitrag diskutiert, welchen Beitrag Sustainable Entrepreneurship zu einer Verbesserung ihrer Wirksamkeit leisten kann. Im Rahmen dessen wird zunächst die Ethik Albert Schweitzers und ihre Bezüge zu Konzepten der Nachhaltigen Entwicklung beleuchtet und im nächsten Schritt kriteriengeleitet diskutiert, inwieweit Albert Schweitzer als Prototyp eines Sustainable Entrepreneurs bezeichnet werden kann und was dies für die Konzeption und Ausrichtung der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit bedeuten könnte. Ebenso wird diskutiert, inwieweit Nachhaltige Entwicklung, insb. die Nachhaltigkeitsziele der Vereinten Nationen (SDG) als Orientierungsrahmen für die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit dienen kann. Ausgehend von dem Befund, dass für Sustainable Entrepreneurs die Finanzierung ihrer Aktivitäten ein erheblicher Engpassfaktor darstellt, wird diskutiert, inwiefern Sustainable Finance-Instrumente dazu beitragen können, die Finanzierungsbedingungen für Sustainable Entrepreneurs und damit den Impact ihrer Aktivitäten zu verbessern. Abschließend wird anhand eines aktuellen Fallbeispiels der Impact aufgezeigt, den Sustainable Entrepreneurs, die nach dem Vorbild Albert Schweitzers agieren, erzielen können.
After definition and the history of podcasts, in this book the role of podcasts in the communication strategy is mapped out. Podcast production, podcast types, podcast structures, and podcast advertising are explained. Podcast audiences and podcast in the fashion industry are introduced.
In a thorough explorative analysis, a general exploration of the podcast offering of the fashion sector was conducted. Then a selected podcast analysis with evaluation and conclusion, including a discussion of the future use of podcasts closes this book.
100 Jahre nach der Gründung des Bauhauses betrete ich die Bauhaus Universität Weimar und frage mich, wie das wohl damals war? Vor 100 Jahren haben Gropius, Muche, Mies van der Rohe, Schlemmer und Itten Vorlesungen hier gehalten und jetzt bin ich dran. Wir schreiben Geschichte! Deren Geist weht immer noch in den original erhaltenen Gebäuden und Räumen. Bei der genaueren Betrachtung des Bauhauses, das Weltruhm erlangt hat, kann man einiges lernen. Beispielsweise lohnt die Überlegung, was das Marketing vom Bauhaus lernen kann.
Welche Trends beeinflussen die Customer-Journey im B-to-B und wie wird sie in naher Zukunft aussehen? Dieser Beitrag wirft einen Blick auf zukünftige Trends, welche die Customer-Journey im B-to-B erheblich beeinflussen werden. Exemplarisch wird die Ausgestaltung und Optimierung der zukünftigen Customer-Journey mittels Lead-Profiling am Beispiel der Künstlichen Intelligenz aufgezeigt, bei der neue Technologien Daten nutzbringend verwenden. Darüber hinaus steht die Customer-Journey-Transformation im Mittelpunkt. Schließlich ist es doch gerade die komplexe Transformation der Customer-Journey, die aufgrund ihrer Komplexität häufig von den Unternehmen vernachlässigt wird.
Social Selling gewinnt im B-to-B-Vertrieb immer mehr an Bedeutung. Um auf dem globalen Wettbewerbsfeld mithalten zu können, genügt es nicht mehr, seine Kunden über die traditionellen Verkaufskanäle zu identifizieren und zu erreichen. Für diesen Zweck bietet LinkedIn das Vertriebstool Sales Navigator an. Doch wo ist dieses Tool im Social Selling einzuordnen? Können dadurch Mehrwerte im Vertriebsprozess generiert werden? Mithilfe von Experteninterviews werden diese Fragen im Folgenden erörtert.
Design thinking is inherently and invariably oriented towards the future in that all design is for products, services or events that will exist in the future, and be used by people in the future. This creates an overlap between the domains of design thinking and strategic foresight. A small but significant literature has grown up in the strategic foresight field as to how design thinking may be used to improve its processes. This paper considers the other side of the relationship: how methods from the strategic foresight field may advance design thinking, improving insight into the needs and preferences of users of tomorrow, including how contextual change may suddenly and fundamentally reshape these. A side-by-side comparison of representative models from each field is presented, and it is shown how these may be assembled together to create foresight-informed design-based innovation.
Zur Ermittlung des Quo Vadis bewerten die Teilnehmer mit „trifft zu“ bis „trifft nicht zu“, inwieweit sie die neun Trends als Kerntrend der Digitalisierung ansehen. Auf Basis der Antworten werden ein bis vier Punkte vergeben und ein Ranking erstellt. Die Auswertung ergibt, dass Vernetzte Produktion, gefolgt von Big-Data-Analytics und digitale Kommunikation als wichtigste Kerntrends gesehen werden. Cloud Computing, Internet der Dinge und Digitale Geschäftsmodelle werden dagegen weniger als Kerntrends angenommen.
Der Halo-Effekt im Fußball
(2019)
Der Halo-Effekt ist eine aus der Sozialpsychologie bekannte kognitive Verzerrung. Er tritt dann auf, wenn ein globaler Eindruck oder eine Information über ein hervorstechendes Merkmal die Beurteilung anderer Eigenschaften prägt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag soll der Frage nachgegangen werden: Gibt es einen Halo-Effekt im Fußball? Überstrahlt der sportliche Erfolg bzw. Misserfolg eines Vereins andere sportliche Aspekte? Verzerrt der sportliche Erfolg bzw. Misserfolg die Wahrnehmung der Fans hinsichtlich nicht-sportlicher Aspekte?
Die meisten Manager-Jobs im Bundesliga-Fußball gehen an ehemalige Spieler. Also an Männer, die ihr Leben früh dem Fußball gewidmet und auf eine spezifische Sportmanagement-Ausbildung verzichtet haben. Bei den Vereinen findet heute ein Umdenken statt - ein erster Club bietet durch ein Konzept ganz neue Möglichkeiten: Der VFB Stuttgart hat mit der "VfB Stuttgart Akademie" ein regionales Netzwerk für Bildung geschaffen, das in Deutschland einzigartig ist.
Das Flaggschiff der VfB Stuttgart Akademie ist der sogenannte "VfB-Master", ein berufsbegleitendes Masterstudium namens "MBA Leadership and Sports Management", das eigens für die VfB Stuttgart Akademie von der HfWU Nürtingen-Geislingen und dem Deutschen Institut für Sportmarketing in enger Abstimmung mit dem VfB Stuttgart maßgeschneidert entwickelt wurde und das die beiden Themen Sport und Wirtschaft auf außergewöhnliche Art und Weise miteinander verknüpft.
Eine hohe Werbewirkung erreichen, die sich durch Kreativität von Wettbewerbern absetzt und das mit geringen finanziellen Mitteln - das ist eine Wunschvorstellung für viele Start-Ups. Doch offen bleibt die Frage nach dem Wie. Eine Möglichkeit, dieses Ziel zu erreichen, bildet das Low Budget Guerilla Marketing.
Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich damit, wie Guerilla Marketing mit einem überschaubaren Budget erfolgreich umgesetzt werden kann. Den Rahmen für die Analyse bildet die Erfolgsfaktorenforschung. Erarbeitet werden entscheidend Erfolgs- und Misserfolgsfaktoren des Low Budget Guerilla Marketing.
Candidate experience
(2019)
Die Auswirkungen der digitalen Revolution sind vielfältig. So gibt es inzwischen immer ausgefeiltere Möglichkeiten, um mit Kunden in den Dialog zu treten. Unternehmen stehen deshalb vor der Herausforderung, die verschiedenen Kanäle und Kontaktpunkte mit ihren Kunden systematisch zu managen. Im Mittelpunkt steht dabei der Informations- und Entscheidungsprozess des Kunden - die Customer Journey. Sie gilt im Marketing als Königsdisziplin, bei der es darum geht, wie man am besten die "Reise des Kunden" erfasst, um Zielgruppen genau an der richtigen Stelle anzusprechen und Budgets gezielt in bestimmte Kanäle zu steuern. Marketing- und Vertriebsverantwortliche müssen sich daher Folgendes fragen: Was erwartet der Endkunde an den verschiedenen Touchpoints und wie sieht seine Customer Journey aus? Wie werden Unternehmen diesen Anforderungen gerecht?
For the widespread establishment of a circular economy, the acceptance of used products among consumers is a prerequisite. This paper investigates the customer experience of product service systems related to used products (PSSuP), such as renting, remanufacturing, and second-hand models, and aims to point out the offering characteristics that effect customer response and customer engagement. This study was conducted by means of a content analysis-based literature review of 69 empirical PSSuP studies. A frequency analysis of the categories that determine customer experience creation was conducted, as well as a contingency analysis to reveal the interrelationship between these categories. On this basis, the different PSSuP types were compared, and four strategic orientations of customer experience creation in PSSuP are pointed out: price, confidence, convenience, and delight orientation. For each of these strategic orientations, supportive PSSuP offering characteristics are specified. Building on the findings of this study, theoretical and managerial implications for product–service systems marketing are pointed out, and the need for research on the role of information and communication technology as an enabler of customer experience creation in PSSuP is highlighted.
Contemporary public enterprises differ from their forebears. Today, they are more similar to private enterprises, receiving far more attention than previously, when privatization processes all over the world were in the spotlight. Furthermore, the broad research stream of entrepreneurship has so far neglected the consideration of public enterprises. To set a future research agenda, the author examines the dispersed literature using an integrative and organizing framework to identify major topics and research findings. This paper reviews articles that investigate the entrepreneurship in contemporary public enterprises. Despite the growing scholarly interest globally, this systematic literature review indicates there is no more than a loose connection between the literature streams of public entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship. Specifically, the review shows that the multidimensional concept of entrepreneurial orientation has thus far been ignored, although autonomy plays a significant role in the literature review, namely in the context of the interference of the public owner. It also reveals other essential research gaps, such as the development of a modern theory of public enterprises. The linked research stream of public-sector corporate entrepreneurship offers a broad area of scholarly research and should encourage further investigation.
Defining the antecedents of experience co-creation as applied to alternative consumption models
(2019)
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework of experience co-creation that captures the multi-dimensionality of this construct, as well as a research process for defining of the antecedents of experience co-creation.
Design/methodology/approach – The framework of experience co-creation was conceptualized by means of a literature review. Subsequently, this framework was used as the conceptual basis for a qualitative content analysis of 66 empirical papers investigating alternative consumption models (ACMs), such as renting, remanufacturing, and second-hand models.
Findings – The qualitative content analysis resulted in 12 categories related to the consumer and 9 related to the ACM offerings that represent the antecedents of experience co-creation. These categories provide evidence that, to a large extent, the developed conceptual framework allows one to capture the multi-dimensionality of the experience co-creation construct.
Research limitations/implications – This study underscores the understanding of experience co-creation as a function of the characteristics of the offering – which are, in turn, a function of the consumers’ motives as determined by their lifeworlds – as well as to service design as an iterative approach to finding, creating and refining service offerings.
Practical implications – The investigation of the antecedents of experience co-creation can enable service providers to determine significant consumer market conditions for forecasting the suitability and viability of their offerings and to adjust their service designs accordingly.
Originality/value – This paper provides a step toward the operationalization of the dimension-related experience co creation construct and presents an approach to defining the antecedents of experience co-creation by considering different research perspectives that can enhance service design research.
In der Vergangenheit ist der Materialfluss meist mit der Produktion gewachsen. Mit steigender Produkt-Individualität erhöht sich die Anzahl der zu fertigenden Varianten in der Produktion und somit die Komplexität der Materialflüsse. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden Möglichkeiten und Methoden zur Aufnahme und Optimierung von Materialflüssen im Zusammenhang mit hoher Variantenvielfalt untersucht.
Um sich den neuen Herausforderungen zu stellen und eine wettbewerbsstarke Position im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung zu schaffen, wird vermehr in Digitalisierungsvorhaben investiert und digitale Geschäftsmodelle werden entwickelt. Was brauch ein mittelständisches Unternehemen, um sich erfolgreich in das digitale Zeitalter aufzumachen?
Sowohl die Zahl als auch die Relevanz gemeinnütziger Vereine in und für Deutschland ist immens. Gleichwohl erstaunt, dass die Rechnungslegung gemeinnütziger Vereine nur rudimentär geregelt ist und in der Forschungspraxis bisher eher wenig beleuchtet wird. Vor allem für die oftmals nur ehrenamtlich tätigen Vereinsvorstände stellt dies eine Herausforderung dar. Der vorliegende Beitrag schafft einen Überblick über die aktuelle Situtation der Vereinsrechnungslegung in Deutschland und erhebt im Rahmen einer empirischen Untersuchung die aktuellen Herausforderungen. Aus den Ergebnissen lassen sich wichtige Implikationen für die rechnungslegenden Vereine, die Adressaten dieser Rechnungslegung, den Gesetzgeber und die Prüfer der Berichte ableiten.
Auch das Liquiditäts- und Working Capital Management unterliegt einem ständigen Wandel. So hatte die Liquiditätssicherung nach Ausbruch der Finanzkrise 2008/09 in vielen Unternehmen höchste Priorität. In Zeiten niedriger Zinsen können die Kapitalkosten vernachlässigt werden, wodurch die Notwendigkeit sinkt, Bestände des Working Capital zu reduzieren. Bei steigenden Zinsen und/oder einer schwachen konjunkturellen Entwicklung verschärft sich dagegen der Zielkonflikt zwischen Sicherheit und Rentabilität.
Mögliche Verbesserungen ergeben sich beim Liquiditäts- und Working Capital Management durch die Digitalisierung, die den Informationsaustausch zwischen dem Unternehmen und seinemn Supply-Chain-Partnern beschleunigt. Damit lässt sich an vielen Stellen des Wertschöpfungsprozesses die Effizienz steigern.
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.
Based on a survey among customers of seven German municipal utilities, we estimate hierarchical multiple regression models to identify consumer motivations for participating in P2P electricity trading and develop implications for marketing strategies for this currently relatively unknown product. Our results show a low importance of socio-demographics in explaining differences between consumer groups, but high influence of attitudes, knowledge and likelihood to purchase related products. The most valuable target groups for P2P electricity trading marketing strategies of municipal utilities first and foremost should aim at are innovators, especially prosumers. They are well-informed about and open minded concerning electricity sharing and highly environmentally aware. They ask for transparency and are willing to purchase related products. They are attracted by the ability to share generation and consumption and to a lesser extent by economic reasons. Our results indicate that the marketing efforts should to a special degree take peer effects into account, as they are found to wield great influence on general openness towards and purchase intention for P2P electricity products. Finally, municipal utilities should build on the high level of satisfaction and trust of consumers and use P2P electricity trading as measure to keep and win customers willing to change their supplier.
The sound of brands
(2019)
The aim of this research paper is to both examine and conceptualise the concept of audio branding. Audio branding is an important part of the overall brand management concept and corporate identity. Strong brands ease the choice for customers and convey values and a certain quality promise. Branding is of vital importance. It needs to be acknowledged that only 0.004% of all outer stimuli reach the human consciousness. Therefore, audio branding is a way to further strengthen the overall brand awareness. This leads to an emotional connection with a brand.
This study strives to determine the characteristics of audio branding and to analyse the corporate audio branding of Audi. The result of this research study is the suggestion of the use of audio branding in a way that fits the overall brand picture. Otherwise, the brand communication is inconsistent, and this could lead to a misunderstanding of the brand values for customers. The analysis of the Audi corporate sound design might be beneficial for practitioners. The overall evaluation of the concept of audio branding contributes to the existing body of literature in branding.
Purpose of the research paper is to illuminate the subject of assortment policy in the German fashion e‐commerce market. A short literature review is conducted in order to set up a system of characteristics to contemplate assortments on a strategic level. In a second step, structured observations are conducted to quantitatively analyze and compare the assortments of the leading online fashion retailers within Germany. Based on literature, the following characteristics for a classification of assortments can be identified: assortment structure, assortment size, assortment width, assortment depth, assortment consistency and rotation, price level, quality mix, fashion degree as well as the mix of private labels and manufacturer brands. Furthermore, the results of the empirical analysis show that there are currently five leaders within the nalyzed market: Amazon, Otto, Zalando, Baur and About You. Among these five market leaders, Amazon positions itself as a retailer that not only offers an enormous assortment size, but also the lowest entry prices as well as the broadest price dispersion. Through the development of the system of characteristics for assortment analysis and the examination of the current market environment, the findings of this paper contribute to the current state of the art in both theoretical and practical aspects.
Der vorliegende Artikel untersucht die Möglichkeiten des Trendthemas Chatbots und bietet gleichzeitig einen Orientierungsrahmen für Unternehmen. Um die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit im digitalen Zeitalter weiterhin gewährleisten zu können, müssen Unternehmen auf die wachsenden Ansprüche der Kunden reagieren. Hierfür sind Chatbots eine ideale Variante, die Kundenkommunikation effizienter, individueller und kostengünstiger zu gestalten. Chatbots könnten sich in Zukunft zur wichtigsten Schnittstelle zwischen dem Unternehmen und seinen Kunden entwickeln. Die durchgeführten Expertenbefragungen und Tests kommen allerdings zu dem Ergebnis, dass die Potenziale der Chatbots noch nicht voll ausgeschöpft werden. Insbesondere in den Bereichen Natural Language Processing, Intelligenz und Automatisierung stoßen aktuelle CHatbots an ihre Grenzen und finden somit in der Gesellschaft nur bedingt Akzeptanz.
Research organisations are not only contributing to sustainable development but also contribute to scientific findings. As key influencers of innovation; employers and publicly funded research organisations not only have the social mandate to deal with their responsibilities regarding the environment and society, but also drive to understand their social responsibility for their employees and the impact on research and operational processes. Sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), this paper presents the results of the joint research project; LENA—Guidelines for Sustainability Management and describes how 3 of Germany’s biggest research organisations (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Leibniz Association and Helmholtz Association) face current challenges in human resource management of research organisations by the integration of a common understanding of sustainability and a broad-based framework. The empirical basis is built by a qualitative organisational ethnographical study which reflects the expert knowledge, everyday experiences and the subject-oriented interpretation of sustainability in human resource management. The result derives concrete recommendations for the institutional practice and offers structured and methodologically proven options for action addressing the stakeholders in human resource management in research institutions.