Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 1,1, The University of Hong Kong, language: English, abstract: History plays a funny role in repeating itself. With light of the current trade frictions between theUnited States and China, their trading histories become increasingly relevant. Little did both sides knowthe substantial impact of President Nixon s 1972 meeting with Chairman Mao the event laid the basisfor growth and development between both countries for the next several decades: into a presentwhere the US dominates while China has the fastest growing financial market of the Twenty-firstCentury. Up until recently, their trade relations have been, if not smooth, at least civil. However, theincreasing number of disputes in trade and policy-making may adversely affect the development ofSino-US relations on the world market. As the international society turns their critiquing eyes towardsthe friction currently plaguing the US and China, the two world powers are placed in the precariousposition of settling these disputes to not only decide the future of their own fragile partnership, butthe ultimate direction of the world trading scene.

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, Reutlingen University, language: English, abstract: At some point in time, business students around the world will most likely be confronted with the famous product and industry life cycle. This tool is mainly used as a marketing instrument. It offers advertising and investment directions for each of the three to five stages of the cycle. Everything in this theory seems obvious and clear, until the "e;decline"e; stage of the cycle is reached. The question is, is there really only one option, namely to harvest and then divest, in the last phase of the life cycle? Is the decrease in revenues and profits inevitable?The past shows that this is not necessarily the case. Some companies actually did generate profits and proved to be quite successful in a difficult market environment. Take for example the fountain pen maker Mont Blanc. The market for fountain pens has been declining for decades due to technological change (invention of typewriters and computers) and also consumer preferences. However, Mont Blanc has set up a selective shrinkage ( niche ) strategy by attracting high-income professionals and promoting their fountain pens as a luxury good. As a result, the company has achieved stable revenues and high margins within a declining industry (Grant 2010). In the following, this paper will examine what a declining industry is, what characteristics a declining industry shows and what strategic options companies within such an industry environment have.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1,0, Northeastern University of Boston, language: English, abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyze the emergence and the characteristics of collaborative consumption. Moreover, this paper examines the causes and underlying motivations for using Couchsurfing as one particular form of collaborative consumption by focusing on consumers. Lastly, we will provide potential implications of this trend for commercial organizations. In recent years economic life has changed more radically than in the past century altogether. Consumers and firms are getting away from the typical capitalistic principle of buyers and sellers . The new economies are rather defined by users and suppliers . Ownership, which was the underlying principle of decades of capitalism is not desirable anymore as it is (..) considered outdated and out of place (..) (Rifkin 2000, p. 5). Nowadays, firms are outsourcing and leasing cars, electronics and even people. It is just not important to own things anymore, but simply to have access to resources. Product life-cycles are becoming shorter and shorter and especially electronic goods are almost outdated shortly after their release. Therefore, companies need to be flexible and react quickly. The principle of ownership can just not fulfil the requirements of an ever-changing and fast-paced economy (Rifkin 2000). While consumers are still more reluctant towards this trend, they are picking up on it. Car-sharing or bike-sharing, for example, is becoming more and more popular in order to (simply) save money and thus replace traditional ways of just buying goods. Furthermore, people are increasingly aware of their (negotiation) power. Groupon, for instance , is only able to offer all these blockbuster discounts because there is a huge mass of people behind (it) to negotiate big bargains. The rise of the internet and modern communication is an important building block of developing this kind of network economy. Without modern communication it is just impossible to coordinate a network economy and to identify suppliers, users and their needs (Rifkin 2000). This general trend of (either) sharing goods or getting access to it is called collaborative consumption .

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, Northeastern University of Boston, course: Cultural aspects in International Business, language: English, abstract: Over the past several decades, the global economy has become increasingly intertwined as emerging markets continue to grow. Trade barriers have been broken by free trade agreements and the creation of the World Trade Organization while advancements in technology have allowed for the instantaneous transmission of information across the world. In order to expand operations, companies are increasingly looking towards mergers and acquisitions to grow operations internationally. Over the past 10 years, there have been over 251,000 global merger and acquisition transactions valued at $23 trillion US dollars (Exhibit A). While the recent downturn in the global economy has seen transactions decline from a peak of over $4 trillion dollars in 2007 to $2.19 trillion in 2010, M&A activity is expected to rebound given high cash levels and strong fundamental support for M&A , stronger growth levels in emerging markets and a desire for international acquisitions in order to "e;mitigate the risks of expanding in the global market."e; While there is a strong demand to expand in the global market and technological advancements have allowed for ease of evaluating a potential M&A opportunity, there remains a wide cultural gap that one must understand and bridge in order to be successful. In this paper, we describe the phases of the merger process and show important factors that must be examined. We will not only focus on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede and other tools learned in class but also analyse the importance of premerger cultural due diligence and the post-merger integration process. Our extensive research on the post and pre-merger process is complemented by our examination of ASG, a company that has conducted numerous acquisitions over the past 20 years. The company is a software company founded in 1986. Our examination of ASG shows the ability of successfully evaluating the culture of the organization in the pre-merger process and furthermore, ASG s ability to successfully integrate the acquisition.

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, European School of Business Reutlingen, language: English, abstract: Management research is constantly criticized in the academic community to have very little impact on managers in practical life. This problem is highly discussed in academic circles and often referred to as the utilization problem (van Aken, 2004) or the rigor-relevance dilemma/gap (Fincham & Clark, 2009; Avenier, 2010). The problem is that the conducted management research is either scientifically verified, but not relevant for practice or practically relevant but not scientifically verified (van Aken, 2004). There are various explanations for this problem. Many researchers claim that a lack of sufficient communication presentation of management research is the root of the problem (Davies, 2007). This is in accordance with the so-called knowledge transfer problem (Shapiro, Kirkman, & Courtey, 2007). Others blame the little relevance of management research for practitioners (Denyer, Tranfield, & van Aken, 2007), which is reflected in the knowledge production problem (Shapiro, Kirkman, & Courtey, 2007). Furthermore, management research is claimed as too descriptive (van Aken, 2004), which means that management science is only describing and analyzing but not actually providing solutions to problems. Lastly, some researchers describe management research as too fragmented in terms of research groups and knowledge products (Denyer, Tranfield, & van Aken, 2007). The researchers claim that too little cooperation between researchers restricts knowledge solutions and weakens the position of management research. In order to increase relevance of management research and to create a clear academic identity (Tranfield & van Aken, 2006) academic community calls for new research approaches, particularly the so-called design science approach (van Aken, 2004). Design science helps to actually design solutions to field problems but still keeping academic relevance in order to fulfill Pettigrew s idea of accomplishing both, academic and practical relevance (Pettigrew, 1997). This paper aims to give the reader an overview on design science and its (possible) practical relevance in management research. First of all, the author will present the ideas of design science and its main determinants of major research contributors. Afterwards, a comparison between design science and the often with design science presented action research and evidence-based management approach is made. Chapter 3 will then present two examples of executed research and applied design science.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Economics - International Economic Relations, grade: 1,1, The University of Hong Kong, language: English, abstract: History plays a funny role in repeating itself. With light of the current trade frictions between theUnited States and China, their trading histories become increasingly relevant. Little did both sides knowthe substantial impact of President Nixon s 1972 meeting with Chairman Mao the event laid the basisfor growth and development between both countries for the next several decades: into a presentwhere the US dominates while China has the fastest growing financial market of the Twenty-firstCentury. Up until recently, their trade relations have been, if not smooth, at least civil. However, theincreasing number of disputes in trade and policy-making may adversely affect the development ofSino-US relations on the world market. As the international society turns their critiquing eyes towardsthe friction currently plaguing the US and China, the two world powers are placed in the precariousposition of settling these disputes to not only decide the future of their own fragile partnership, butthe ultimate direction of the world trading scene.

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, Reutlingen University, language: English, abstract: At some point in time, business students around the world will most likely be confronted with the famous product and industry life cycle. This tool is mainly used as a marketing instrument. It offers advertising and investment directions for each of the three to five stages of the cycle. Everything in this theory seems obvious and clear, until the "e;decline"e; stage of the cycle is reached. The question is, is there really only one option, namely to harvest and then divest, in the last phase of the life cycle? Is the decrease in revenues and profits inevitable?The past shows that this is not necessarily the case. Some companies actually did generate profits and proved to be quite successful in a difficult market environment. Take for example the fountain pen maker Mont Blanc. The market for fountain pens has been declining for decades due to technological change (invention of typewriters and computers) and also consumer preferences. However, Mont Blanc has set up a selective shrinkage ( niche ) strategy by attracting high-income professionals and promoting their fountain pens as a luxury good. As a result, the company has achieved stable revenues and high margins within a declining industry (Grant 2010). In the following, this paper will examine what a declining industry is, what characteristics a declining industry shows and what strategic options companies within such an industry environment have.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: 1,0, Northeastern University of Boston, language: English, abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyze the emergence and the characteristics of collaborative consumption. Moreover, this paper examines the causes and underlying motivations for using Couchsurfing as one particular form of collaborative consumption by focusing on consumers. Lastly, we will provide potential implications of this trend for commercial organizations. In recent years economic life has changed more radically than in the past century altogether. Consumers and firms are getting away from the typical capitalistic principle of buyers and sellers . The new economies are rather defined by users and suppliers . Ownership, which was the underlying principle of decades of capitalism is not desirable anymore as it is (..) considered outdated and out of place (..) (Rifkin 2000, p. 5). Nowadays, firms are outsourcing and leasing cars, electronics and even people. It is just not important to own things anymore, but simply to have access to resources. Product life-cycles are becoming shorter and shorter and especially electronic goods are almost outdated shortly after their release. Therefore, companies need to be flexible and react quickly. The principle of ownership can just not fulfil the requirements of an ever-changing and fast-paced economy (Rifkin 2000). While consumers are still more reluctant towards this trend, they are picking up on it. Car-sharing or bike-sharing, for example, is becoming more and more popular in order to (simply) save money and thus replace traditional ways of just buying goods. Furthermore, people are increasingly aware of their (negotiation) power. Groupon, for instance , is only able to offer all these blockbuster discounts because there is a huge mass of people behind (it) to negotiate big bargains. The rise of the internet and modern communication is an important building block of developing this kind of network economy. Without modern communication it is just impossible to coordinate a network economy and to identify suppliers, users and their needs (Rifkin 2000). This general trend of (either) sharing goods or getting access to it is called collaborative consumption .

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, Northeastern University of Boston, course: Cultural aspects in International Business, language: English, abstract: Over the past several decades, the global economy has become increasingly intertwined as emerging markets continue to grow. Trade barriers have been broken by free trade agreements and the creation of the World Trade Organization while advancements in technology have allowed for the instantaneous transmission of information across the world. In order to expand operations, companies are increasingly looking towards mergers and acquisitions to grow operations internationally. Over the past 10 years, there have been over 251,000 global merger and acquisition transactions valued at $23 trillion US dollars (Exhibit A). While the recent downturn in the global economy has seen transactions decline from a peak of over $4 trillion dollars in 2007 to $2.19 trillion in 2010, M&A activity is expected to rebound given high cash levels and strong fundamental support for M&A , stronger growth levels in emerging markets and a desire for international acquisitions in order to "e;mitigate the risks of expanding in the global market."e; While there is a strong demand to expand in the global market and technological advancements have allowed for ease of evaluating a potential M&A opportunity, there remains a wide cultural gap that one must understand and bridge in order to be successful. In this paper, we describe the phases of the merger process and show important factors that must be examined. We will not only focus on the cultural dimensions of Hofstede and other tools learned in class but also analyse the importance of premerger cultural due diligence and the post-merger integration process. Our extensive research on the post and pre-merger process is complemented by our examination of ASG, a company that has conducted numerous acquisitions over the past 20 years. The company is a software company founded in 1986. Our examination of ASG shows the ability of successfully evaluating the culture of the organization in the pre-merger process and furthermore, ASG s ability to successfully integrate the acquisition.

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, European School of Business Reutlingen, language: English, abstract: Management research is constantly criticized in the academic community to have very little impact on managers in practical life. This problem is highly discussed in academic circles and often referred to as the utilization problem (van Aken, 2004) or the rigor-relevance dilemma/gap (Fincham & Clark, 2009; Avenier, 2010). The problem is that the conducted management research is either scientifically verified, but not relevant for practice or practically relevant but not scientifically verified (van Aken, 2004). There are various explanations for this problem. Many researchers claim that a lack of sufficient communication presentation of management research is the root of the problem (Davies, 2007). This is in accordance with the so-called knowledge transfer problem (Shapiro, Kirkman, & Courtey, 2007). Others blame the little relevance of management research for practitioners (Denyer, Tranfield, & van Aken, 2007), which is reflected in the knowledge production problem (Shapiro, Kirkman, & Courtey, 2007). Furthermore, management research is claimed as too descriptive (van Aken, 2004), which means that management science is only describing and analyzing but not actually providing solutions to problems. Lastly, some researchers describe management research as too fragmented in terms of research groups and knowledge products (Denyer, Tranfield, & van Aken, 2007). The researchers claim that too little cooperation between researchers restricts knowledge solutions and weakens the position of management research. In order to increase relevance of management research and to create a clear academic identity (Tranfield & van Aken, 2006) academic community calls for new research approaches, particularly the so-called design science approach (van Aken, 2004). Design science helps to actually design solutions to field problems but still keeping academic relevance in order to fulfill Pettigrew s idea of accomplishing both, academic and practical relevance (Pettigrew, 1997). This paper aims to give the reader an overview on design science and its (possible) practical relevance in management research. First of all, the author will present the ideas of design science and its main determinants of major research contributors. Afterwards, a comparison between design science and the often with design science presented action research and evidence-based management approach is made. Chapter 3 will then present two examples of executed research and applied design science.