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Deal Logic Sprint / T-Mobile
(2019)
The two major US mobile operators, T-Mobile US Inc (T-Mobile) and Sprint Corp (Sprint), announced the merger of both firms in April 2018. The merger was initiated by T-Mobile that recently ranked as the third largest player in the US mobile telecommunication market. The transaction supports T-Mobile's aim to build the most extensive mobile network with the highest transmission capacity until 2024.
Deutsche Telekom AG and SoftBank will hold 42.0% and 27.0% of the new firm respectively. As a consequence of the deal, the new entity will challenge the top two market leaders Verizon and AT&T and reform the current telecommunication business landscape in the USA.
Deal Logic WABCO / ZF
(2019)
Anticipating future developments is not only a key task of every successful management team but also one of the most challenging ones. Sometimes, the pace of the markets towards a specific development can surpass the capable speed of change within a firm. In this case, acquisitions are a good option to not fall behind new or more agile competitors. The electrification of the automotive industry calls for new, innovative parts beyond the combustion engine. Due to the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) low Real Net Output Ratio, the automotive suppliers will be required to do most of the anticipation. ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF) is betting on breaks to be vital demand driver of the future, with their acquisition of WABCO Holdings Inc. (WABCO).
Amazon is entering the stationary food trade in the US on a large scale. The world's largest online retailer acquires the organic chain Whole Foods Market for around USD 13.6bn. It is by far the largest acquisition in the company's history only followed by its purchase of the video game streaming platform Twitch and the online pharmacy PillPack, each for approximately USD 1 bn. Amazon had put pressure on stationary retailers in recent years and has shown an increasing interest in getting involved in their own business. Amazon opened several bookstores and also drives plans for high-tech supermarkets, which can be operated by only few employees. The group has also been expanding in the fresh food trade and the insurance sector for some time.
Nursing without caring?
(2019)
We know that existing professions in the health care sector value work environment and job conditions to a great extent. However, we are also witnessing an expansion of new roles into the health care sector, many of which substitutie the tasks of existing professions. This may be efficient, in that it releases professionals’ time. However, there is little understanding of what motivates these new professions in entering or remaining in these newly created roles. This study tries to evaluate the preference structure of one of these new staff groups, surgical technologist, through examining the preferences of trainees, defined over a number of attributes, in this group. The DCE study covers 80% of the target population. The results show a vigorous disfavour towards any perceived nursing job characteristics such as caring activities, hierarchical work environment or shift types. The results inform policy makers and hospital manager about the importance to focus not only on the nursing profession but also to take into account the existence of a group of people who is willing to work within the health care system however, associated with strong preferences against nursing activities, especially caring. Implementing and further development of new and specialised profession through reallocating former nursing tasks- should be considered while coping with labour shortage.
Supply chain complexity
(2019)
Supply chain management (SCM) is known as a competitive strategy in today’s business. Through increasing product variety, structures and processes, managers struggle with an increase in supply chain complexity (SCC), which leads to a negative influence on a firm’s efficiency in terms of lead times, flexibility and costs. In order to manage complexity, supply chain managers need to know its drivers or define appropriate management measures. However, managers can no longer manage SCC internally. In order to cope with this challenging issue and achieve overall benefits, it is necessary that the complete supply chain is involved in optimising supply chain processes. An aligned supply chain should ensure that supply chain partners benefit from cost savings. At the same time, supply chain processes should be agile to respond to market volatility, while also being cost-efficient to survive in the highly competitive world.
In this dissertation, three research cases are conducted with different focus areas whereby first drivers for internal and external SCC are explored in a single case study. In order to gain a representative overview of relevant drivers, not only interviews with top managers from a manufacturer are held but also with key managers from suppliers and customers. With the interviews held from the upstream to downstream supply chain, this part of the dissertation sheds light on topical SCC drivers and provides some hypotheses for managing detailed and dynamic SCC. With this case, an academic contribution is provided to better understand the relevance of SCC.
In a second step, another qualitative study addresses the requirements of a supply chain. The basis for this part is the triple-A supply chain of Hau Lee (2004), where he states from a theoretical perspective the prerequisites of a supply chain, namely agility, adaptability and alignment. In this dissertation, this approach is reviewed from a managerial perspective. It is analysed which key performance indicators of a firm are affected by the three aforementioned qualities. Finally, it is presented how agility, adaptability and alignment are linked together. In order to gain a common understanding, semi-structured interviews are conducted to extend literature through managerial experience.
In a third step, a quantitative simulation creating a discrete-event simulation model is provided to evaluate inventory and logistics costs’ effects in a company that faces significant SCC. The target is to align the supply chain by changing the existing distribution channel to direct delivery. The result shall demonstrate the financial benefit for the supply chain partners, as well as illustrating the conditions and risks when changing supply chain processes.
This dissertation shows that companies are increasingly faced by SCC. In order to respond flexibly to market volatility, supply chains must be agile to ensure that financial risk shall not alarm a company’s existence. Therefore, it is recommended to align the supply chain with a collaborative supply chain model.
This paper examines the role of uncertainty in the context of the business cycle in the Eurozone. To gain a more granular perspective on uncertainty, the paper decomposes uncertainty along two dimensions: First, we construct the four different moments of uncertainty, including the point estimate, the standard deviation, the skewness and the kurtosis. The second dimension of uncertainty spans along three distinct groups of economic agents, including consumers, corporates and financial markets. Based on this taxonomy, we construct uncertainty indices and assess the impact on real GDP via impulse response functions and further investigate their informational value in rolling out-of-sample GDP forecasts. The analysis lends evidence to the hypothesis that higher uncertainty expressed through the point estimate, a larger standard deviation among confidence estimates, positive skewness and a higher kurtosis are all negatively correlated with the business cycle. The impulse response functions reveal that in particular the first and the second moment of uncertainty cause a permanent effect on GDP with an initial decline and a subsequent overshoot. We find uncertainty in the corporate sector to be the main driver behind this observation, followed by financial markets’ uncertainty whose initial effect on GDP is comparable but receding much faster. While the first two moments of uncertainty improve GDP forecasts significantly, both the skewness and the kurtosis do not augment the forecast quality any further.
Essays on health economics
(2019)