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- International Business and Consulting: Human Resource Management M.A. (15) (remove)
Virtual reality is a technology that is becoming more and more popular and available due to recent breakthroughs and the technological progress. There is evidence that this technology can does provide value to organizations and how business is conducted. However, little is researched how this technology can have an impact on training and development in organizations. This thesis tries to identify the possibilities and limitations of virtual reality for training and development. The author used qualitative structured interviews to get recent insights from experts in this field. It was found that the advantages of virtual reality as a method for training and development are that it can provide motivating immersive learning experiences for a great variety of scenarios while also allowing to the possibility to evaluate these trainings in detail. The limitations are that it still is connected to high costs and that technology, especially in regards of usability, has its flaws. Furthermore, there are also people who cannot use virtual reality due to medical conditions or motion sickness. Nonetheless, it can be a very effective method for training and development as it provides unique possibilities that enable organizations that can afford the technology to prepare their employees for a broad array of situations.
Driven by digitalization, the emerging sharing economy and the associated change in values, the concept of coworking spaces is gaining importance, as well as economic and scientific relevance.
However, despite the increasing popularity of this topic in the media there are hardly any scientific data about working conditions in coworking spaces from the user perspective.
This paper examines the experiences from the perspective of dependent employees in more detail. This group of people did not choose to work in such an environment but do so because of their employer. Working in a coworking space presents a range of new opportunities and at the same time new challenges for employees, which shall be discussed in this paper.
In the course of the analysis, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted and then analyzed based on Mayring's qualitative analysis.
The results show that most importantly, employees benefit from coworking spaces due to the networking and socializing component which is a vital part of this specific working environment. Consequently, the various possibilities for distraction that often accompany the social component pose a considerable challenge.
Interestingly, the majority of participants confirmed that they enjoy working in a coworking space despite the challenges involved. Nobody stated the opposite.
Given that an increasing number of people request a flexible work environment it is most likely that coworking spaces will gain more importance for organizations and therefore will continue to impact workspaces in the future.
This thesis and the results of the qualitative analysis are beneficial for scientific use, coworking space owners, for organizations as well as entrepreneurs.
The purpose of this thesis is to enhance knowledge in the field of foreign assignments and the thereto relating cultural aspects. More in detail, this research will examine the question of what makes international assignments special, with a strong focus on cultural challenges and the subsequent adjustment process linked to coping strategies and methods. The author chose a qualitative research method to receive in-depth and rich data from the participants of the study and decided for semi-structured interviews.
The 25 interviews have been mostly done in a face-to-face manner and through the telephone, as the expatriates were located in different countries around the globe. Most of the interviews were done on-site in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and in Berlin, Germany during spring 2019. Based on 25 semi-structured interviews, findings uncovered a diverse range of challenges and coping strategies in work and non-work-related
contexts. Different perceptions of time, interpersonal interactions and efficiency were outstanding challenges, whereas the chosen coping strategy was related to the type of challenge someone faced. Active and passive coping was discovered, as well as strategies of avoiding.
The aim of this research is to examine the potential of blended learning concepts for the development of future skills, which has not been sufficiently investigated. This subject is analyzed on the fundamentals of the behaviorist, the cognitivist, the constructivist and the connectivist learning theory.
For this purpose, the following research question was raised:
(How) Can relevant future skills be developed through blended learning concepts?
In order to obtain more precise results, the future skills were divided into technological, knowledge-based, digital and social skills. A qualitative content analysis was carried out on the basis of seven expert interviews.
Findings regarding the development of future skills suggest that blended learning concepts have a high potential to prepare students for the modern working world. Particularly with its focus on self-organized learning in cooperative and collaborative learning environments, blended learning proves to be more suitable for the development of future skills than purely analog or purely digital learning formats.
Digitalization has started to affect healthcare sectors around the world. Due to the aging population, healthcare expenses have been rising for years in Germany. Health insurers who pay the major share of these expenses have thus started to adopt new technologies to decrease costs, enhance efficiency and generate additional customer value. Artificial Intelligence (AI), a frequently discussed topic nowadays, has therefore also become interesting for health insurers. As AI technologies are still new to the German health insurance industry, this dissertation gives an overview of the current application status of AI. For this purpose, a mixed method research approach was chosen. By administering an online survey and conducting ten expert interviews, the main external forces that foster and inhibit digitalization and AI adoption among German health insurers are identified. Furthermore, organizational factors that need to be considered when deciding whether to adopt AI are pointed out. Opportunities for AI and a shift in the health insurer’s focus towards becoming a customer-centric service provider become evident in the course of this piece of work. This provides the basis for a market outlook.
Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility in the context of SMEs in Developing Countries
(2018)
The research shows that there are as many definitions for the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as there are companies implementing these programs. As a matter of fact, there are firms that have implemented practices, which are related to CSR, even though they were not fully aware of it. This is mostly the case of Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), that either do not have the knowledge and preparation to pursue this implementation or they do not have the resources to formalize CSR programs. Additionally, research also shows that there is not a consensus yet regarding the role that HR and HRM play on the implementation and maintenance of these programs. Therefore, this thesis aims to outline how could HR contribute to the achievement of a well-established CSR program in SMEs in developing countries.
To address the research question and objectives of this thesis, an exploratory and qualitative research was conducted, having as guidelines the case study strategy developed by Yin (2009). Moreover, a process of data triangulation was followed to prove the validity of the evidence found. This research project consisted of several phases through which data was collected to describe and compare two situations:
(i) situation 2, represented by companies already
implementing CSR programs and
(ii) situation 1, represented by an Argentinean SME that has not implemented CSR yet. For the description of situation 2, secondary sources were analyzed, together with the information obtained from a semi-structured interview with an expert in CSR and a questionnaire answered by a specialist. As for the company in situation 1, it was approached as a case study, for which semistructured interviews with members of the company were conducted.
The analysis of the information showed that HR could play an important role in the implementation of CSR programs in SMEs in developing countries. HR department should be involved in the daily operations of the company and through HRM, generate the conditions that would allow the implementation of these programs. Finally, as this was an exploratory project, it would be recommended that further research is
conducted.
The frequently changing environment forces organizations to adapt, resulting in the emergence of evolutionary forms of organizational design. Evolutionary organizations take actions based on the requirements of their environment, such as variation, selection, and retention. Designing their structures and processes to be adaptive (organic), evolutionary organizations react to their complex environments with social complexity. They are characterized by red uced standardization, formalization as well as wide configurations and decentralized authority. Complemented by their holistic perspective they represent a new and interesting field of research. Due to the high degree of informal structures in such organizations, organizational behavior is from major importance. In this context, psychological ownership has been credited to support several positive organizational behaviors, helping organizations to adapt. This thesis examines the relationship of both concepts, placing psychological ownership into the context of evolutionary organizations. A literature review and an empirical study (sample) have been conducted. As a result of the literature review, five behaviors of evolutionary organizations have been identified, such as innovation, careful resource handling, anticipation, selection, and preservation. The empirical study consisted of four open-ended interviews, exploring the link between psychological ownership and the evolution driven behaviors. As a result, a positive relationship between psychological ownership and each of the evolution driven behaviors has been hypothesized. Implications for evolutionary forms of organizational design have been d iscussed .
Driven by the decrease in the fertility rate, the increase in life expectancy, and, therefore, the shift of the demographical structure, the topic of labor shortage is gaining more importance worldwide, and in the context of the present paper, in Europe and Germany. More precisely, this paper deals with the labor shortage in the field of nursing in Germany.
The lack of nurses and geriatric nurses is not only due to the demographical change. Moreover, it’s a result of the poor working conditions, the negative image of the profession, and other factors that will be examined in the paper in every detail.
Further, the paper examines the labor shortage in nursing out of the perspective of several actors, including the state, institutions, and literature, in consideration of political, sociological, economical, and technological factors. In the course of this analysis, five semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed within the paper.
All these attempts aim to answer the research question: "What are the causes and the effects of the shortage of skilled labor in the nursing sector in Germany?" The answer to this question considers a variety of different components.
Concerning the effects, several activities and measures to counteract the shortage of nursing workforce in Germany are presented, including, among other things, the project “Konzertierte Aktion Pflege”, various legislations, activities driven by human resources. Overall, the thesis and the results are beneficial for everyone that is influenced by the topic (including nurses, governmental institutions, employers, and employees in nursing), along with everyone in society. This is because anyone, either as a relative or as a patient, can be confronted with the need for care.
This research paper fills in the gap on the effectiveness of freemium business models by investigating the impact on consumer behavior resulting from the use of a mobile game for a limited period of time. It investigates if the endowment effect can explain the potency of freemium models in application software. This research study is based on experimental design, followed by a survey of hypothetical nature that tests the willingness to pay, enjoyment factor and the Net Promoter Score of two groups of participants: an endowed group and a non-endowed group. Contrary to the initial hypotheses, the results show that the participants endowed with a Feature-Limited-Freemium digital good have a lower Willingness to Pay, a lower enjoyment factor and lower Net Promoter Score compared to the non-endowed group. These findings imply the non-existence of the endowment effect with digital applications. The results underpin the assumption that Time-Limited-Freemium models are more profitable than the Feature-Limited-Freemium models. In addition, the study suggests the development of artificial lock-in mechanisms to enforce loss aversion for freemium software applications in order to increase profitability. The results of the research paper are limited by the fact that the experiments were conducted in artificial conditions and, therefore, the participants might not exhibit the same behavior in life scenarios. Since there are no similar studies, the present research can constitute a benchmark for further considerations.
The EU-China Trade and Economic Relations Under The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Background
(2019)
Ever since the European Union(EU) and China established comprehensive strategic partnership in 2003, the relationship between the two sides have been deepened and developing towards a more matured level, especially in trade and economic cooperation sector. After the China’s Belt and Road Initiative(BRI) was firstly unveiled in 2013, the infrastructure connectivity, trade relation, bilateral investment, etc., between the EU and China have achieved significant improvement after 5 years’ implication of the BRI. While it is obviously that the EU-China trade and economic relation benefit from the improvements and opportunities brought by the BRI, there are still challenges and different views exist. This research analyzes of the situation of the EU-China trade and economic relation under the BRI background, including improvements, opportunities, as well as problems and challenges that the BRI brings, in the view from both sides, thus look for common grounds for the two sides among the divergent viewpoints, and strengthen the EU-China trade and economic relations.
Artificial Intelligence and Data Science are transforming the businesses of today, and it is contributing significantly in Human resource management as well. Data science has paved the way to workforce analytics or people analytics, and Artificial Intelligence is supporting the HR department in various human resource management processes. Through this study, the author is exploring the impact of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science in Human Resource Management by analysing the underlying opportunities, challenges, and threats. It also focuses on recommending the skills, competencies, and capabilities that will be required by the HR department in the future to implement AI and Data Science systems. The review of the literature and expert interviews form the base for the research findings and recommendations. Furthermore, the study covers insights about the application of AI and Data Science tools and techniques in processes such as recruitment and selection, onboarding, performance management, employee engagement, training and development, and strategic decision making. Finally, the thesis concludes by addressing the practical implications, limitations, and the scope for future research.
Although most people are given the intellect to distinguish right from wrong at an early age, ethical development cultivates throughout life, and occurs at different periods of growth as people mature and pass through different stages of their life. In today’s world, ethical standards is constantly redefined and exhausted in today’s literature that one may be lured to consider them as mere and simple commonsense. Corporates all around the world develop and implement code of ethics but only recently stern attention has been devoted to the rising ethical problems that are confronted by startups and their founders. The question stands valid, what is the role that ethics play in startup organizations?
Have been existing a considerable amount of literature in entrepreneur and an interest of late in management consultant, however, studies of the two professions' relationship are limited to the form of client-consultant solely. This dissertation discusses another relationship between management consulting and entrepreneurship, in which it investigates how the previous roles of the management consultants are employed when the consultants become entrepreneurs. In addition, this research dedicates another part to explore which factors may influence that transition process and to what extent they may impact. The
contribution not only is to fill in the gap in literature but also holds important implications for current consultant-turned-entrepreneurs or nascent entrepreneurs. By qualitatively investigating three entrepreneurs who have transitioned from management consultants, the researcher seeks to dissect from documentation of the firms and semistructured interviews with the entrepreneurs and their co-founders in order to answer the above research question.
In the end of the research, the inquirer found out that the roles of management consultants not only appeared but contributed critically in the process of entrepreneurship. However, which roles were employed and how much they contributed were ranged widely in different cases but less diversified between phases in one case. The investigator also ascertained a variety of influencing factors of the transition process, including intrinsic motivation, seniority, cognitive ability, start-up community, industrial context and even gender.
In conclusion, the dissertation recommends that in order to benefit the most from their prior experience, consultant-turned-entrepreneurs have to apply fully and adaptively those skills in start-up environment rather than as straightforwardly as in consulting firms.
Furthermore, the positive relationship between the roles of management consultants and the entrepreneurial process can be a suggestion to mid-career consultants who are thinking about changing career direction. The last but not least, the study reminds these entrepreneurs pivotal influencing factors in order to maximise their advantages and not to neglect negative effects.