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- International Business and Consulting: Human Resource Management M.A. (7) (remove)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.