Status-Quo des Prozessmanagements deutscher Erstversicherungsunternehmen im Kontext der MaRisk (VA)

Since their legal force at the beginning of year 2009 within the scope of minimum requirements for risk management of German insurance companies (MaRisk (VA)), German insurers are discussing the following issues: The implementation of a risk strategy consistent with business strategy and the development of controlling instruments to manage risks resulting from this strategy. There is often undervalued the circumstance that due to MaRisk (VA) there is given an increased need for action concerning the organizational framework, especially process organisation. Each process material to a specific risk has to be identified, documented and permanently monitored. This survey shows that process management has a too small importance within the German insurance industry. These preconditions do not suffice to be compliant with the organizational framework of MaRisk (VA).     

Volatility transmission between oil prices and equity sector returns

This paper employs bivariate GARCH models to simultaneously estimate the mean and conditional variance between five different US sector indexes and oil prices. Since many different financial assets are traded based on these market sector returns, it is important for financial market participants to understand the volatility transmission mechanism over time and across these series in order to make optimal portfolio allocation decisions. We examine weekly returns from January 1, 1992 to April 30, 2008 and find evidence of significant transmission of shocks and volatility between oil prices and some of the examined market sectors. The findings support the idea of cross-market hedging and sharing of common information by investors.     

Impact of Celebrity Endorsements and Brand Mascots on Consumer Buying Behavior

ABSTRACT

Celebrity and brand mascot endorsements are very popular and often-used techniques by marketers. Marketers believe that celebrity and brand mascot endorsements provide a higher degree of appeal, attention, and customer recall ability compared with when this technique is not used. Marketers also claim that a celebrity affects the credibility of claims about a product and increases the memorabilia factor of the message, which may provide a positive effect that could be generalized to the brand. Primarily this essay has been designed such that it examines various parameters related to advertisements containing celebrity and brand mascot endorsements. Data were been collected from 150 respondents through questionnaire and subjected to t test, χ² test, and difference of means test to enforce the hypotheses that celebrity endorsements have impacts on customers’ perceptions and their purchase intentions. The findings of this study provide insights for marketing and brand managers to design and market their campaigns effectively.     

A pattern of enhancing innovative knowledge capabilities: Case study of a Chinese telecom manufacturer

During the 1990s Chinese telecommunication (telecom) manufacturing firms attempted to enhance their innovative knowledge capabilities by concentrating efforts on technological importation and assimilation. In order to improve indigenous technological innovation capability, Chinese firms enhanced their capabilities by accumulating and reactivating firm-specific knowledge. This paper attempts to explore the growth trajectory of some Chinese telecom firms' technological capabilities. Often the catching-up of a firm's technological capability is a trade-off process between the frequent accumulation of technical knowledge and the infrequent leapfrogging of the comprehensive technological capability. To explain the catching-up trajectory of technological evolution the Chinese telecom manufacturing sector was selected. A conceptual framework of the catching-up of technological capabilities is proposed. The framework and the implicit logic of technological catching-up are analyzed through a theoretical lens. A detailed empirical study of a Chinese telecom manufacturer is then presented to validate the capability catching-up pattern.     

Operational complexity of foreign innovation projects and the inter-organisational alliance in the biopharmaceutical industry in China

Contrary to the perceived assumption that operational complexity of innovation projects predicts operations inside the organisation, we propose the opposite argument that operational complexity of foreign innovation projects increases the inter-organisational alliance formation. The evidence from the clinical trials innovation projects in the biopharmaceutical sector supports the operational complexity-alliance (OCA) proposition in China at three levels: institutional (legal and cultural), technological (purpose and methodology) and dispositional (organisation type and its experience). Institutional complexity shows that the legal difference between the home and host country positively predicts the inter-organisational alliance. Similarly, in national cultural differences, power distance, uncertainty and long-term orientation support the OCA proposition. Technological complexity reveals that explorative purpose and complex methodologies support the OCA proposition. The organisation’s disposition reveals that the industrial firm predicts the inter-organisational alliance more than the non-industrial organisation does. Concerning the organisation’s experience, it negatively predicts the inter-organisational alliance. Therefore, it appears that organisational discretion from the operational complexities leads to the structural change to reduce the cost of operations through externalisation rather than internalisation.     

The sourcing of technological knowledge: distributed innovation processes and dynamic change

This paper outlines the knowledge and technology sourcing practices of a range of key firms and organisations across the UK based on primary research, and analyses the key factors related to managing the technological knowledge boundaries of the firm. In particular, the paper considers the dynamic dimension considerations to such issues. As such it outlines important differences between short and long time horizons, before analysing in more detail some of the implications for firms of technological change over the long term. The paper seeks to highlight the importance of the time dimension in helping to explain why and how firms source technological knowledge externally and how they align their sourcing activities to their strategies associated with developing current and future capabilities.     

Disclosure of reserve quantum in the extractive industries

We explore why some firms in the extractive industries disclose mineral reserve quantum in their annual reports and others do not. We propose that the firms' reserve disclosure policies are a function of the extent of information asymmetries, as well as information production, litigation and proprietary costs. More specifically, we propose that a firm's decisions to disclose reserves in the annual report are a function of the stage of the firm's operations, use of project financing, and the cost of measuring reserves. Empirical tests are confirmatory.     

Employee experience –the missing link for engaging employees: Insights from an MNE's AI-based HR ecosystem

Analyzing multiple data sources from a global information technology (IT) consulting multinational enterprise (MNE), this research unpacks the configuration of a digitalized HR ecosystem of artificial intelligence(AI)-assisted human resource management (HRM) applications and HR platforms. This study develops a novel theoretical framework mapping the nature and purpose of a digitalized AI-assisted HR ecosystem for delivering exceptional employee experience (EX), an antecedent to employee engagement (EE). Employing the theoretical lenses of EX, EE, AI-mediated social exchange, and engagement platforms, this study's overarching aim of this article is to establish how AI-assisted HRM fits into an organization's ecosystem and, second, how it impacts EX and EE. Our findings show that AI-assisted applications for HRM enhance EX and, thus, EE. We also see increases in employee productivity and HR function's effectiveness. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.