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Institute
Strategy development is one of the crucial factors for a firm's performance. For it
to be developed, a strategic analysis has to be conducted first. It enables
companies to gain a deeper understanding of their internal and external
environment. In the present work, the specialty coffee market is closely analyzed through a strategic analysis. The focus of this study is the young company Tikuna, a coffee producer that aims to enter the German market. In this context, Tikuna's possible entry into the German market and the companies competitive capacities are analyzed. In order to implement the different tools of the analysis, extensive literature research, as well as one expert interview and a survey were conducted.
It was found that Tikuna possesses all characteristics to enter the German
market. However, due to the lack of a differentiation factor in Tikuna's value
proposition, its competitive capacity is limited to a short period of time. In this
sense, different recommendations are given in order to ensure long term success
in the market. The central one being that Tikuna has to use its main strength and
bring innovation to the market.
The present study deals with the topic how a town can use its cultural heritage or,
more precisely, its industrial culture as a means to market itself as an innovative
business location and to foster a more pronounced sense of civic cohesion among
residents. Economic theory suggests that, nowadays, traditional location factors
such as access to resources and a performant infrastructure are less important than
in the industrial age. Recently, factors like a city’s potential to generate and retain
human and creative capital have emerged. Accordingly, the economic and social
role of cities has shifted – from a place where workers lived and manufactured
goods towards a deeply interwoven ecosystem of knowledge-intense value creation.
The question at the root of the present study is how Heidenheim’s rich industrial
cultural heritage can be used as a future-pointing source of power for rebranding
the town. This rebranding concept has to be developed according to the town’s role
in past, present and future, thus creating actual economic and societal value.
Industrial culture bears branding potential and is closely related to various aspects
of modern life and work. The study examines possibilities to create awareness for
these relations connecting past, present and future. Their relevance shall be
emphasized in order to establish both points of orientation and authenticity of place
in times when macroeconomic and societal trends are difficult to predict. Ideally,
residents shall be given a sort of local identification to hold on to, and potential
investors and entrepreneurs shall be encouraged to sustainably experience the
innovation-based DNA of Heidenheim. Therefore, the study searches for a value
proposition that takes into account the points mentioned above on terms of an
innovative theoretic framework. As a result of this thesis, precise suggestions for
the implementation of a new branding strategy based on the conceptual guidelines
developed in this study will be proposed to the municipality of Heidenheim and, in
addition, an interface using principles of virtual and augmented reality will be
introduced.
This research looks into the question of where and how Artificial Intelligence and Big Data can be usefully implemented into Affiliate Marketing. By consulting relevant literature and qualified experts, this work identifies 6 areas, where Artificial Intelligence can be beneficial. These areas were found to be Affiliate Recruitment, Affiliate Management, Product Data Feed Optimization, Tracking, Attribution and Forecasting.
The implementation of Artificial Intelligence in these areas revealed 3 advantages to the Affiliate Marketing channel: Saving of time, support of decision-making, and incentivizing of publishers. While a more detailed study of this research topic would be necessary for validating the results, the findings show that the implementation of Artificial Intelligence technology can help a business gain competitive advantage.
This paper describes an application analysis of one important topic of diversity
marketing – gender marketing. With the help of two surveys and content analyses
in two different media sectors – television and print media – the general trend of
gender representation in advertising could be located. While most survey
respondents are still using characteristics for males and females which were
shaped by traditional gender roles, most of them believe that the roles from the
1950s are outdated and that the media should adapt to the changes in societies in
regard to gender roles. However, the content analyses have shown that the
marketers have already adapted and are primarily presenting the viewers
contemporary images of men and women instead of the stereotyped ones from the
1950s. The only issue that has not changed yet is the color coding which starts to
differentiate between males and females since childhood. The findings of this
paper suggest that the perception and the reality do not always correspond with
each other and that, although the adoption of the change of gender roles is
advancing, it is still not completed yet.
Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive literature review about albinism as an inherited metabolic disorder of melanin synthesis along with those related conditions impacting the visual system. As such, it addresses eye care emphasizing the visual consequences of albinism along with diagnostic and treatment options.
Methods: Background knowledge about ocular development is given as well as information about etiological biochemical and genetic processes. The current classification, clinical findings and their assessment and management options are presented based on recent results of research. In conclusion, two case reports are described as examples of visual care options.
Results: Melanin plays a big role in the retinal and chiasmal development. Melanin biosynthesis can be disrupted by different genes in various ways which leads to the current classification of albinism. Clinical findings include fundus hypopigmenta-tion, nystagmus, iris transillumination, photophobia, foveal hypoplasia, excessive chiasmal decussation, reduced visual acuity, high astigmatism (with-the-rule), strabismus and decreased stereopsis. Treatment options to improve visual acuity, fixation and binocularity are (tinted) prescription lenses and contact lenses, low vision aids, surgical procedures and vision therapy. Medication and supplementa-tion for increased pigmentation are currently being tested on mice.
Conclusions: Albinism is caused by genetic mutations resulting in ocular and cutaneous hypopigmentation. It establishes various phenotypes that require different therapy approaches in order to improve vision and therefore quality of life.
Purpose
To determine the stereo threshold and inherent variability with a monitor-based two-rod test at various eccentricities of the visual field. Additionally, to evaluate the duration of this procedure.
Subjects and methods
A pilot trial was conducted in five ophthalmologically normal subjects (2 male and 3 female) aged 21 – 23 years. Two black rods on white background, which appeared under an angle of 1° were presented in a viewing distance of 5.0 meters. The right rod was stationary, whilst the left rod appeared under a stereoscopic parallax, with an either proximal or distal displacement to the image plane. Threshold determination was assessed at seven eccentricities of the visual field by a staircase method. Eccentricities were 0° centrally, 5° to the right and left, 10° to the right and left and 15° to the right and left of the visual field. Proximal and distal displacement as well as the sequence of eccentricities were presented in random order. Stereo acuity was measured in two different sessions for four subjects and in five different sessions for one subject. For all sessions the duration was recorded. All sessions were separated by a time interval of at least 24 hours and no longer than 7 days. Evaluation was made by Wilcoxon test and Kruskal Wallis test at the 95% confidence level (CI) and the median was assessed for all thresholds.
Results
Stereo acuity declines with increasing eccentricities of the retina similar to visual acuity. While at 0° eccentricity thresholds were found to be lowest with (median) 5.0 seconds of arc (‘’) and the CI (0.5’’, 30.5’’) for all measurements, they increased to 112.2’’ at 15° eccentricity to the left in proximal displacement. Distal it was 19.9’’ centrally and 112.2’’ to the right at 15° eccentricity with CI (0.5’’, 30.5’’) for all measurements.
Repeatability of the threshold determination was found to be best at 0° eccentricity with proximal displacement showing the exact same result in the repetitive session and poorest repetition was found at 15° eccentricity to the left with distal displacement. Distal repeatability was worse than proximal. Median and CI of duration time was 5.3 (3.2, 8.3) minutes.
Conclusion
Stereo acuity thresholds are repeatable however increase with increasing eccentricity. Repetitions of the threshold determination do not vary considerably. The duration of these measurements indicates the monitor-based two-rod test as a fast procedure, that can be applied in future studies. The test program is limited by an imperfect algorithm and the stereoscopic images evoke cues, this should be reworked.
Ophthalmic lenses are ideally measured in accordance with the center of rotation of the eye. Therefore a measuring device was constructed due to this principle to measure lenses with a focimeter. In this work that measuring device was validated. Lenses of ± 4 dpt in spherical and aspherical design were measured across a field of 9x9 measuring points being at 5° distance from each other. This corresponds to a field of view of 40°. The measurement points in x- and y- direction were theoretically calculated to validate the measurement results. Regarding angles of incidence up to 20° it was supposed that the main optical aberration depends on a change in the sagittal and tangential sphere powers which is also defined as astigmatism. Therefore the calculation presents the tangential and sagittal oblique sphere powers depending on the different angles of the line of vision. On average the measurement results and the calculated data of the spherical designed lenses coincide quite good (correlation at 0,98), the systematic deviation of both values on average is 0.01 dpt and the random error (standard deviation) amounts 0.03 dpt on average. The minimum deviation is -0.06 dpt and the maximum is 0.09 dpt. Common focimeters have a measuring inaccuracy of up to 0.06 dpt (Diepes, Blendowske 2002). Therefore the quality of the measured data should be reliable. The aspherical designed lenses were compared to the spherical designed lenses. With increased angles of incidence the astigmatism of the aspherical lenses leads to lower values than the astigmatism of the spherical lenses
The present thesis deals with alternative powertrains, focusing on electric vehicles
and hybrid vehicles and which of those alternative powertrains is considered as
sustainable for the future. It explores the question, which alternative powertrain is
worthwhile investing in for German automotive suppliers. The aim is to clarify
which of the two powertrains is already established on the market and what the
future prospects of those powertrains are. The question here is evaluated based on
the analysis of current literature as well as through the use of a SWOT analysis
and the use of the scoring model.
As a result it is clear that there is a need for alternative powertrains and the entire
automotive industry invests a lot in the development and research of alternative
powertrains. According to the German Federal Government, one million electric
vehicles should be on German roads by 2020. With pure electric vehicles, however,
the goal will be difficult to reach. Therefore, there is a lot of vested interest in
the development of hybrid vehicles on the market. It shows that the hybrid vehicle
has considerable advantages over the electric vehicle and the hybrid vehicle is
already seen as a transitional solution for pure electric vehicles. The hybrid vehicle
is also already established in the market and has better chances on the market
in the future. Therefore, it makes sense for German automotive suppliers to invest
in hybrid vehicles and to focus on this market, since there the chances of success
are greater and the future potential of this market is higher.
This paper aims to provide essential information about the formal aspects of the adjustment process companies in Southern Germany utilize to adjust their employees to new surroundings. In particular, it shall be investigated and defined what formal aspects are and when firms apply them. Literature shows that companies do implement language courses, intercultural trainings or provide further information about the host country before a stay abroad. Nevertheless, the phases during and after the assignment are not taken into account with the required importance. Additionally, since national culture can be broken down into different layers, the organizational culture as one layer was analyzed, too.By conducting a quantitative research among companies in Baden-Württemberg, this paper shows the different approaches for dealing with a stay abroad. Scientific literature about the topic of adjustment of globally assigned workers shall help emphasizing the need of a deeper cultural insight. Furthermore, by attempting to explain the organizations’ culture, a better understanding of the chosen training methods shall be created. Definitions in the beginning helped to understand the concept of culture, the notion and the phases of adjustment. Almost all collected data has been accessed either through JSTOR (a digital library founded to help academic libraries or publishers) or similar databases, through the companies’ websites or through the survey results it selves.The results of this research show that the phase before the stay abroad is organized well. Companies offer pre-departure training, but during and after the expatriate time a lack of support is being observed. The firms obviously underestimate the necessary help needed during the assignment and in the return phase, which is why the thesis attempts to fill this gap. Through the organizational culture, described on the companies’ webpages the author was able to draw a conclusion to the applied training methods, which results in a consistent overall picture of the described firms. Companies from the automotive sector had the highest return rate in the survey, which is why particular attention was paid to it.
This paper deals with the question of which factors have to be given for
successful share repurchases that create long-term shareholder value. Center of
the thesis is the agency theory and its influence on share repurchases. Based on
theoretical findings success factors for share repurchases are derived and then
verified by case studies.
The main drivers for a successful share repurchase elaborated by this paper are a
suitable long-term executive compensation, an independent board of directors and
a shareholder structure without a majority shareholder. Additionally the findings
show that tying repurchases to certain share price thresholds improves the quality
of share repurchases.
Aim Patrick J. Caroline and Mark P. Andre first reported about soft lens orthokeratology in 2005. In a number of articles in the past five years, they reported about their research on this topic and their new findings. The aim of this study was to continue the research of Patrick J. Caroline and Mark P. Andre and to collect more information about the outcome of the technique. Methods Ten subjects with low myopia from -0.25 D to -1.25 D and a refractive astigmatism from plano to -0.75 D were fitted with a -10.00 D CIBA VISION AIR OPTIX® NIGHT&DAY® silicone hydrogel contact lens and were told to wear the lenses over night and everted. Corneal topography and refraction measurements were taken after one night, one week and one month of contact lens wear. Results Eight out of ten subjects finished the study, six female and two male. The mean age of the subjects was 23.9 years. With the eight subjects who finished the study, the mean change in subjective refraction was about +1.00 D in the sphere and +0.22 D in the cylinder, with maximum changes of +1.75 D sphere and +0.75 D cylinder. The mean apical power change, measured with the topographer, was 1.11 D. Changes in K - readings ranged from slight corneal steepening in both of the meridians to 0.23 mm of corneal flattening in the horizontal meridian and 0.27 mm of corneal flattening in the vertical meridian. Corneal eccentricity decreased about 0.65 on average. The main complaints and problems were the high minus power and the decentration of the contact lens and the occurrence of ghosting at night. Conclusion The results of this study show that everted wear of a high minus silicone hydrogel contact lens can lead to orthokeratology - such as changes in corneal topography and subjective refraction. These changes range from plano to +1.75 D sphere and +0.25 D to +0.75 D cylinder but are unpredictable and vary from subject to subject. Additional studies regarding the contact lens decentration and the unpredictability of the outcome need to be done to optimize the process.