@phdthesis{Raue2021, author = {Raue, Steve}, title = {Making Sense of Complexity in Projects - A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Discourses about Complexity and Project Management}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-1225}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-12258}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, year = {2021}, abstract = {In Zeiten steigender Komplexit{\"a}t und der kontinuierlichen „Projektifizierung" unserer Gesellschaft (Midler, 1995) ist Projektmanagement in einer paradigmatischen Sackgasse angelangt (Kuhn, 1970). In komplexen Organisationsformen haben die theoretischen und methodischen Fundamente des Projektmanagements wom{\"o}glich die Grenzen ihrer derzeitigen Funktionalit{\"a}t erreicht (Atkinson, 1999; Flyvberg, 2006; Flyvberg et al., 2005; Winch, 1996). In dieser Arbeit wird die Frage gestellt, ob Projektmanagement weiterhin den Umfang seiner Methoden und Werkzeuge erweitern sollte, um mit Komplexit{\"a}t umgehen zu k{\"o}nnen und ob die derzeitigen normativen Grundlagen in Frage gestellt und f{\"u}r neue Paradigmen {\"u}berworfen werden sollten (Whitty \& Maylor, 2009, Geraldi \& Adlbrecht, 2007; Whitty, 2005). Es wird argumentiert, die bestehenden Paradigmen konventionellen und agilen Projektmanagements neu auszurichten. Um die paradigmatische Krise zu bew{\"a}ltigen, wird die Integration der verschiedenen Projektmanagementans{\"a}tze im Rahmen einer systemisch integrierten Projektmanagement-Praxis eingef{\"u}hrt. Die Studie bedient sich mit einer Diskurs-Praxis-Analyse eines unkonventionellen Ansatzes zur Untersuchung von Projektmanagement (Boje, 2014; Van Leeuwen, 2008). Sie basiert auf der systemtheoretischen Annahme, das Projekte sozial konstruierte Formen von Organisation sind (Luhmann, 1995). Wenn Projekte das Results wiederkehrender, anschlussf{\"a}higer und organisierter Konversationen sind, ist Projektmanagement die Konvention, diese Konversationen zu leiten (Bredillet, 2012 \& 2006). Die Studie verwendet eine systemtheoretische Beobachtung zweiter Ordnung, um die Selbstbeobachtung und Selbstbeschreibung von Projektmitarbeitenden in der Anwendung von Projektmanagement, insbesondere in komplexen Umfeldern, zu analysieren (Kiehne \& Klein, 2006). Es wird das linguistische Konzept der Meme angewendet, um wiederkehrende Attraktoren in den Sprachmustern Projektbeteiligter zu identifizieren, welche sowohl die Projektpraxis, als auch dominante Narrative zu identifizieren (Boje, 2007; Whitty, 2005). Das Konzept der generischen Unterscheidung wird angewendet, um Fokuspunkte in der Entscheidungslogik von Projektmanagern zu identifizieren (Spencer-Brown, 2010). Die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit st{\"a}rken die Annahme, dass Diskurse im konventionellen und agilen Projektmanagement vorrangig die Unterscheidung ihrer eigenen Ans{\"a}tze von anderen Ans{\"a}tzen suchen. Es ist dennoch feststellbar, dass diese unterschiedlichen Ans{\"a}tze auf den gleichen dominanten Narrativen basieren, wie Projekte durchzuf{\"u}hren sind. Es legt den Schluss nahe, dass die Reproduktion dieser Narrative nicht unbedingt einer funktionalen Logik in der Durchf{\"u}hrung von Projekten folgen, sondern der Logik, den einen oder anderen Projektmanagement-Ansatz zu legitimieren (Whitty, 2005). Es wird argumentiert, dass Projektmanagement prim{\"a}r als Konvention verstanden wird, um {\"u}ber Projekte zu sprechen. In Zeiten steigender Komplexit{\"a}t st{\"o}ßt dieses Paradigma an seine Grenzen. Um die ontologisch-normativen Tendenzen von Projektmanagement zu {\"u}berwinden wird argumentiert, dass Projekte in ihrer sozialen Dimension als Konversationen wiederentdeckt werden sollten und Projektmanagement als Grundlage, diese Konversationen sinnvoll zu gestalten. Die k{\"u}nstliche Unterscheidung verschiedener Projektmanagement-Ans{\"a}tze sollte {\"u}berwunden werden, f{\"u}r eine systemisch integrierte Projektmanagement-Praxis. Dieser paradigmatische Wandel k{\"o}nnte es erm{\"o}glichen, Projektmanagement in der sozialen Dimension einzuordnen (Klein, 2012 \& 2013), um als Mittel f{\"u}r die strukturierte Selbstbeobachtung und Selbstbeschreibung von Projektmitarbeitenden f{\"u}r eine sinnvolle Projektdurchf{\"u}hrung entdeckt zu werden.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{AlMasoudi2020, author = {Al Masoudi, Yassir}, title = {Business Models in the Eyes of National Culture: A Cross-Cultural Study}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-986}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-9863}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, pages = {225}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Despite a vast body of work published on the business model—a concept used to generally refer to how a firm conducts business and how it creates and captures value —remarkably, the literature to date has not yet explored the business model from a national culture perspective. Therefore, this PhD dissertation seeks to explore the business model concept through the lens of national culture, posing the following research questions: Do actors in different cultural settings experience their concepts of business ("their business models") differently? If they do, what are the differences, and how and why do these differences occur? To address these research questions, I adopt a qualitative multiple case study of three restaurants: a German restaurant in Germany, an Arab Yemeni restaurant in Jordan, and an Arab Syrian restaurant in Germany. My analysis is based on data collected from a range of sources, including 34 semi-structured interviews, informal follow-up interviews, direct observations, restaurants' documents, and archival materials, such as press coverage, restaurants' websites, restaurants' social media postings, and video excerpts. The emergent findings reveal eight dimensions and their constitutive themes, which shed light on how German and Arab actors experience the business models. While German and Arab actors show a common understanding of some themes relevant to the business model concept, they differ significantly in many themes, suggesting considerable differences in pursuing value creation and capture. Overall, this PhD dissertation makes several contributions to the business model and national culture literatures. More specifically, I contribute to the business model literature by delineating the nature of activities and classifying them into structured and semi-structured activities performed by German and Arab actors, respectively, refining the revenue concept, introducing the concepts of Al-Niyyah (good intention) and fated revenues, and providing insights into the different relationships between the business model participants. In addition, this PhD dissertation adds to the limited antecedent literature of business model innovation by indicating that a firm operating in a new national culture is more likely to innovate its business model. Further, this V PhD dissertation provides insights into the national culture literature by suggesting that Arab culture seems to be a culture of intention, fatalism, and particularism. Finally, this PhD dissertation offers insights for practitioners and concludes with limitations and suggestions for future research.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Breternitz2020, author = {Breternitz, Katharina}, title = {Creating Shared Value: A Conceptualization and Empirical Investigation of the Dynamic Stakeholder Management Capability}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-798}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-7989}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, pages = {205}, year = {2020}, abstract = {This dissertation introduces the construct of dynamic stakeholder management capability (DSMC) by joining the stakeholder management capability defined by Freeman (1984) and the dynamic capabilities approach by Teece et al. (1997). The DSMC enables firms to adapt their stakeholder relationships to external changes over time and to specific local contexts of different countries. Through these adaptations firms are better able to link stakeholder demands to business opportunities and create shared value - value for stakeholders and the firm. The study applies factor analysis for generating and confirming latent constructs and it applies hierarchical regression analysis, floodlight analysis (Spiller et al., 2013), and mediation analysis (Baron \& Kenny, 1986; Hayes, 2013) for testing the hypotheses. Analyzing more than 400 German firms with stakeholder relationships in multi-national supply chains the study confirms the positive effect of the DSMC on stakeholder value and firm value. As the first study of its kind, it supports the fundamental, yet not sufficiently verified assumption in stakeholder theory that positive stakeholder relationships relate to stakeholder value creation and, in turn, to firm value creation.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Suarsana2019, author = {Suarsana, Denis}, title = {Facilitating Worker Participation in the EU through an optional Common European Regime on Employee Financial Participation}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-772}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-7724}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, pages = {196}, year = {2019}, abstract = {This study examines how cross-border barriers to the implementation of Employee Financial Participation (EFP) schemes in the EU may be alleviated. It is argued that an optional regime would represent the most appropriate policy-option to this challenge. Finally, a blue-print for such a Common European Regime on EFP is developed drawing upon the results of a comprehensive comparison of the legal regulations on EFP in all EU Member States. (1) The study sheds light on the potential of optional regimes in the context of European civil law. (2) It provides a systematic overview of the incidence and political implications of EFP in the EU. Following this, (3) it discusses the barriers to cross-border EFP schemes in the EU as an infringement to the Right of Establishment of European companies. The study then (4) makes a point for an optional regime as the most appropriate instrument to overcome these barriers in comparison to traditional legal instruments in the EU. After that (5) a blue-print for a Common European Regime on EFP is developed. Finally, (6) the study takes a look beyond and discusses additional policy-meassures to promote EFP on the EU level.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Ramesh2019, author = {Ramesh, Rajyashree}, title = {Sensing and Shaping - the emotive-kinetic grounding of meaning. A cross-disciplinary analysis of Indian Dance Theatre}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-485}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-4856}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Indian dance theatre is known for its extensive and differentiated use of corporeal means to depict any given narrative content in the context of a performance. Its theory (Nāṭyaśāstra, Bharata, ca. 3BC- 5AD) and practise reveal thereby what can be defined as two approaches to meaning, one as evoked through the gestures of the hands, and the other by way of emotive expression, which is also corporeal and gestural, but pertaining to emotional states. These two approaches together offer a comprehensive notion on meaning that leads from linguistic to emotive meaning, and from conceptual to embodied meaning-making processes. And in doing so, they point to the very notion of embodied meaning grounded in movement-based experiences. In particular, meaning evoked by emotional states is given a central place, pointing to a fundamentality of movement-based experiences grounded in emotions for meaning. Pursuing this question of movement-based experiences grounded in emotions thus indicated from the performing arts perspective is of particular interest, considering it offers insights into the role of both emotions and movement in enabling meaning. Of further interest is how understanding embodied meaning as grounded in movement-based experiences connects and thus contributes to studies addressing this question, such as Linguistic Gestures Studies, Cognitive Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Neuroscience. In particular the form-based linguistic approach to gestural meaning (M{\"u}ller, 1998, 2009, 2010a/b, 2013), the cognitive linguistic approach to embodied meaning-making (Johnson, 1987, 2007) and brain research on emotions (Damasio, 1999, 2003, 2010) reveal correspondences to the understanding of meaning and its corporeal dimension in the theory and practise of Indian performing arts. These will be laid out in this study. Whereas the role of emotions and movement are referred to in many of these studies, they are not pursued in terms of the movement itself that is considered central. As the perspective provided by a corporeal tradition such as Indian performing arts with its two-fold notion of meaning reveals, movement is a complex theme and needs to be approached in its own terms. Therefore the study aims to take a movement-based approach to address the notion of an embodied meaning and its grounding in embodied experiences. For instance, in instantiating the relevance of movement, also for emotive meaning to emerge, it enables looking beyond the sensorimotor notion of embodied experiences discussed, in particular, in the cognitive take on embodied meaning. At the same time examining the role of felt quality, also discussed thereby, is enabled directly, when looking at actual executed movement. The study is, thus, a cross-disciplinary empirical analysis of both gestural and emotive meaning based on analysing how these need to be brought forth in movement terms. In doing so it draws from data collected over several years in class, where a movement-analytic approach was applied for teaching the dance theatre tradition of Bharatanatyam. Teaching this in the West triggered the initial interest to delve deeply into the fundamentals of human movement itself. Insights provided by the study of Laban Movement Analysis, Bartenieff Fundamentals and current research on fascia have been used. These enable not only observation and analysis, but also movement facilitation, which in turn supports the analysis of actual executed movement. The fundamentally movement-based approach, in as much, has implications for Embodiment Studies, Gesture Studies, Cognitive Linguistics, Dance Studies, Movement Studies, Neuroscience Research and finally Cultural Studies. It instantiates, in this sense, how a dialogue between these can take place.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Akdemir2017, author = {Akdemir, Fahri}, title = {Choreographing Complexity : A Cross-Cultural Study on Authentic Leadership in Contemporary Dance Projects}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-483}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-4834}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, pages = {236}, year = {2017}, abstract = {Abstract Project leadership is known as one of the key factors in project success. There are solid bodies of work on leadership, project management, and cultural studies. Yet, in spite of the great amount of literature, there exist only a few works about leading creative personalities that are known by their complex behavioural traits in the cross-cultural context. This research aims to illuminate leadership in behaviourally complex cross-cultural projects and propose a better understanding of dealing with complex situations. With this aim in mind, it argues the impact of authentic leadership on project success and dealing with behavioural complexities in cross-cultural complex projects. A multi-disciplinary study was conducted in order to fulfil the research goals. Two contemporary dance creation projects were selected as case studies from the creative industry field. These cases were chosen to show cross-cultural preferences for having a cultural reference on the topic. Participated observation was applied as the core method of data collection and semi-structured interviews were conducted as the supportive method. The epistemological design of the research focused on two aspects: Polyscopic view and common patterns. To create a polyscopic view on the cases and issues observed in these cases, the data provided views from three different perspectives: observer, dancer, and choreographer. The collected data was analysed through the authentic leadership perspective, and the impacts of presence and absence of authentic leadership were studied in correlation to each other. Additionally, the choreographers' common behavioural patterns were noted and analysed through the authentic leadership perspective. According to the research findings, there is a strong correlation between the authentic leadership style and dealing with complex issues generated by behavioural complexity of creative personalities. Also, there is considerable evidence of the project success and the applied authentic leadership. The research reveals supporting evidence of the impact of the authentic leadership style on preventing future complexities}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Nagel2018, author = {Nagel, Agata}, title = {Essays on Taxes and Organizational Form Choice: Evidence from Poland}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-468}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-4683}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, year = {2018}, abstract = {This thesis explores analytically and empirically the impact of taxes on the choice of organizational form of business owners using evidence from Poland. It focuses in general on the influence of tax legislation on the choice of legal forms that offer considerable tax benefits compared to other legal organizations. Furthermore, it tackles the question of how tax law ambiguity and resulting court decisions as well as changes in tax legislation affect the choice with regard to a tax-preferred organizational form. Tax law ambiguity presents a dimension of empirical tax research that has not received much attention yet. Two essays in this thesis deal in particular with the Polish partnership limited by shares as a tax optimal business organization and with the aspect of the tax law ambiguity during the period from 2003 to 2014, whereas the other two studies analyze the organizational shifts to the Polish special form of limited partnership in the context of the changes in tax legislation during the period from 2001 to 2015.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Amigoni2019, author = {Amigoni, Gaja}, title = {"Creative workspace: Talk vs. Action - A qualitative study on the substantive and symbolic roles and effects of creative workspaces in modern organizations"}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-461}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-4617}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, pages = {198}, year = {2019}, abstract = {In recent decades, workspace design, as an enabling factor for creativity and innovation, has become the focus of organizational efforts in many firms and among practitioners who are showing a growing interest in the design of creative work environments. This research developed from the observation that firms can design creative workspaces to foster everyday creativity in work-related settings (action - substantive role) and/or to strengthen the company´s corporate image in order to appear as creative to the eyes of a targeted audience (talk- symbolic role). This study explored and assessed the relations existing between creative workspaces and everyday creativity and corporate image respectively. The substantive and symbolic roles and effects of creative workspaces were addressed through qualitative interviews with nineteen informants working for sixteen selected organizations. Data collected was triangulated with additional material gathered through field notes, on-site observations in 32 German companies, written as well as photographic documentation. The results led to a comprehensive, scientific definition of the creative workspace. Empirical findings informed the process of creation and the spatial characteristics of creative workspaces fostering or hindering everyday creativity in work-related settings. Not only, companies were categorized according to the roles, aimed effects and spatial configurations of their creative workspaces and four aspects were identified as been conducive to everyday creativity together with workspace design. As for the symbolic side, six different plausible roles of creative workspaces were proven to have an impact on corporate image. This study confirmed that creative workspaces designed for symbolic purposes can affect and provoke the reactions of external, targeted groups of stakeholders. A three-layer model of engagement informing and guiding companies´ communication strategy in relation to creative workspaces was also suggested. Understanding the substantive and symbolic roles and effects of creative workspaces in relation to creative performances (action) and perceptions (talk) is meant to provide academic knowledge and clearance on the strategic intents and objectives guiding organizations in relation to the design of their physical environments. The increased knowledge and awareness gained in relation to creative workspaces will also allow practitioners and organizations to make more conscious and informed decisions by taking into account a broader spectrum of stakeholders, spanning from the internal focus on individuals at work to external stakeholders such as investors and young talents.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Reschke2018, author = {Reschke, Monika}, title = {Entrepreneurial Founder Teams: An Empirical Investigation of the Cofounder Relationship in the Course of Venture Creation and Growth}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-420}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-4204}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, pages = {251}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Several contributions from organizational, strategy and entrepreneurship research emphasize the cofounder relationship as a promising concept to explain the success of growing companies and acknowledge its peculiarities in contrast to conventional group or team behavior. Despite the recognized relevance of the cofounder relationship for organizational success, there has not been any systematic attempt to examine how a cofounder relationship develops in the course of venture creation and growth, even though most start-up teams split up in their first years of founding. As a result, key questions about the origins, evolution and stabilization of the cofounder relationship remain unresolved and a profound understanding of what dynamics of a relationship affect relationship maintenance and business innovation is missing. Drawing on insights from two different research disciplines, couple research and management research, I place the cofounder relationship as a central theoretical concept in the foreground of my research, especially the development of the quality of interaction among the members of a team from the perspective of the founders' subjective expectations of the relationship itself as well as the joint start-up project in order to find out how the founder's relationship and capabilities develop and stabilize over time. To examine these questions, I focus on the most prominent form of cofounder teams, i.e. dyadic team constellations, and draw on the findings of six case studies from a qualitative-exploratory and procedural analysis design to shed light on the phenomenon under study. Based on the theoretical and empirical investigations, this work shows that (1) the cofounder relationship may be better understood by examining the founders' individual expectations of autonomy and connection in their relationship (relationship expectation) as well as their expectations on the development and growth of their organizations (business expectation) over time, (2) relationship expectations in early stages of business creation are proximity-oriented, whereas cofounders place greater emphasis on autonomy in later stages of development and, ultimately, on achieving a balance of closeness and distance, (3) business expectations in early start-up phases are generally illusory and cofounders focus on converging and overly optimistic goals, whereas over time, individual business expectations are weighted more and the tolerance to accept expectations discrepancies decreases, (4) adapting and synchronizing diverging goal expectations and entrepreneurial actions becomes a critical skill for stable teams, (5) relationship expectations and growth expectations co-evolve in a dynamic way and cofounder relationships embrace contradictory needs that are constantly present and striving for balance, (6) relationship stability can only be achieved by maintaining relationships through an ongoing dialectical flux and by reaching a dynamic equilibrium in relationship definition and satisfaction levels of individuals. Overall, the findings of this dissertation offer contributions to better understanding the complex and multi-dimensional nature of the cofounder relationship as well as the development of internal relationship structures and provide a number of implications for further empirical research.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Botts2019, author = {Botts, Moritz Martin}, title = {The Role of Individual and Country Level Variables on Perceived Psychic Distance}, doi = {10.11584/opus4-4173}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:521-opus4-4173}, school = {Europa-Universit{\"a}t Viadrina Frankfurt}, pages = {200}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Despite increasing globalization and decreasing transportation costs, distance remains an essential element of international management. This work discusses different concepts of distance with a focus on individual level psychic distance. The inconsistency of previous psychic distance concepts, and therefore their operationalization, leads to a new framework to differentiate between levels of analysis of distance origins and objects. Possible individual level antecedents of psychic distance can be inert, trained, or experiential, while country level distance antecedents tend to be more stable. This work employs a quantitative study with a quasi-experiment, where respondents gave answers to distance perceptions and different possible antecedents at the beginning and end of a stay abroad. Results derived from different regression models show almost no effects of individual level variables on psychic distance, while country level distances have a strong influence on individual level psychic distance. Implications for research are a more concise concept of distance in international management and a thorough discussion of different kinds of distance antecedents. Empirical findings show counterintuitive effects for cultural backgrounds of respondents, which point to an affective and cognitive element of psychic distance. For management practice, distance should be considered as not only concerning the different levels of analysis and the possible different meanings of distance, but also in regards to how an organization can influence distance perceptions. Since experience and training have hardly any effect, the inert antecedents show that employment policies need to take a more active role.}, language = {en} }