Wirtschaftswissenschaften
Refine
Document Type
- Working Paper (4)
- Report (1)
Language
- English (5) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (5)
Keywords
- Auftragsabwicklung (1)
- Betriebswirtschaftliches Studium (1)
- Brand analysis (1)
- Brand awareness (1)
- Brand equity (1)
- Brand image (1)
- CES production function (1)
- Corporate Social Responsibility (1)
- Cross-country comparison (1)
- Deutschland (1)
The term "global brand" has become widely used by the media and by consumers. Business week publishes annually its widely known ranking of the "Best Global Brands" (with Coca-Cola as number 1 in the past years) and consumers on summer vacations purchase brands such as Heineken or Marlboro they are familiar with from their home country. Although media and consumers call these brands "global" and centralized marketing departments manage these brands globally – are these "global brands" really global? Are they really perceived everywhere in the same way by the customers? Can we talk about truly global brand equity? And if there were brand image differences between countries, which factors causes them? The authors conducted an empirical research during May and June 2009 with similarly aged University students (bachelor students at business school) in Germany (n=426) and Mexico (n=296). The goal was to identify if brand awareness rates differ between Germans and Mexicans, if the brand image of Apple iPod is perceived in the same way in Germany and in Mexico and what influencing factors might have an impact on any brand image discrepancy between the countries. Results prove that brand recall rates differ between the two countries (with higher rates in Mexico) as well as brand image attributes vary significantly (28 out of 34 brand image attributes are significantly different between Germany and Mexico), with Mexico showing higher levels of favorable brand image attributes. Key influencing factors on the different brand image perceptions are perceived quality, satisfaction and the influence of reference groups (such as friends and family). The results suggest that so-called "global brands" are not perceived the same way in Germany and Mexico. As a consequence, brand management using standardized marketing instruments for its presumable "global brands" might be better off with a more differentiated approach that takes account a specific local brand image.
In 2000, the European Council set its sights on becoming the world’s top knowledge-based economy. To that end, they aimed to achieve a goal of spending 3% of GDP on research and development by 2010. Their Lisbon Strategy recommended a number of efforts on the European Union and national levels, including encouragement of public-private collaboration. Examination at the regional level indicates the need for R&D and innovation policy to help stimulate growth. Current theory turns attention to the effect of system failure in the regions.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research developed a typology for the regions of the European Union. Using performance results, this paper identifies US states that correlate to the typology. Comparative analysis of these states based on key industries and actors, major programs and instruments, successes, failures, impact of federal programs, and best practices then informs discussion of the implications on policymaking.
If regional variances represent the most important factor influencing the development of an appropriate policy mix, local specializations, along with regionalized institutional factors, must be considered when codifying the main objectives for policymakers, such as stimulating the efficiency of the system, encouraging dynamic connection among the actors, and reducing the risk of lock-in. This, in turn, affects selection of the instruments that may or may not benefit the region and the indicators with which the impact of public action may be measured. Considering this, particularly challenging for the EU is the need to balance decentralization of action in the regions and coordination at the Union level.
Pforzheim University was one of the first 100 participants to sign the PRME initiative in March 2008. When we first learned about PRME we were immediately convinced that it was worthwhile joining it. It perfectly reflects our tradition and our mission statement. In the mission statements of our university and of the Business School we address our responsibility to society and we emphasize that our graduates should be able to contribute to corporate responsibility.
Management education at Pforzheim University is mainly concentrated in the Business School. At the Engineering School the Business Administration and Engineering program is focused on Engineering as well as on Management. Furthermore, some of the graduates from the Design School and from the Mechanical and Electrical Engineering programs at the Engineering School also find themselves in management positions and hence aspects of responsible management are also relevant for their curricula. However, the focus of our commitment and of our reporting is on the Business School.
In the mid 1980s the Business School started to offer classes in Environmental Management as an elective. We gradually extended this to a module called “Ethics and Social Responsibility” which is compulsory for all undergraduates. Moreover, all our programs have integrated aspects of CSR related to their field of expertise - from accounting to marketing and to business law. The challenge now is to integrate these elements in a more systematic way and to define the learning goals and expected learning outcomes more clearly.
In order to implement this process the Business School formed a group of professors (with Dr. Jürgen Volkert as head; juergen.volkert@hs-pforzheim.de) supported by a newly hired PRME Coordinator, Kerstin Anstätt (kerstin.anstaett@hs-pforzheim.de). This group will systematically investigate the ideas of our faculty members in various fields of expertise and initiate a discussion process on how to integrate and add to the given elements - especially based on the wealth of experience and insights we have gained from best practice of our partners in the PRME network.
We are convinced that our participation in the PRME initiative will contribute to improving our education, the learning experience of our students and their future contributions to solving pressing problems in companies and society.
This paper addresses the relationship between technical change and the elasticity of substitution between factors of production. It is shown how the elasticity within a CES production setting can change due to technical change. Technical change is interpreted in the spirit of horizontal differentiation as in many growth models. Cases for positive and negative returns to differentiation are analyzed which can be understood as progress or complexity congestions. It is shown how the elasticity changes due to technical choices for each of them.
Logistics processes are strongly affected by automation but due to the prevailing conditions the demand for human labor will still remain in intralogistics, in particular in manual order picking. While the results of previous research work on learning processes in manual order picking are mainly available in the form of learning curves, the present research project focuses on the qualitative dimension of these learning processes. Based on current teaching-learning research, suitable learning formats were devel-oped and consolidated as learning packages for practical use. We have considered a variety of learning methods, from enhanced instruction methods common in many companies to the use of modern learn-ing media such as tablets or Virtual Reality. These can be used in companies today and in the future.
An extensive study with test persons in a laboratory environment called LernLager (Learning Ware-house) focused on and optimized those learning packages, looking particularly at four different picking technologies: Pick-by-Light, Pick-by-Scan, Pick-by-Voice and Pick-by-Vision. In order to reflect on the results of the test persons’ experiments and to prepare transferring the results into practice, hands-on experts subsequently discussed the practicability and transferability of the learning packages in work-shops.
The results of the research project show that if methodologically and didactically elaborated learning formats are adapted to practical situations and target groups, they can significantly promote the learning process. At the same time, new employees are motivated to play an active role in the learning process and to acquire new knowledge and skills in the long run.