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Vom Kapitalismus zur Marktwirtschaft durch Mitarbeiterteilhabe - Eine empirische Analyse von Kreditgenossenschaften zur Identifikation möglicher Konstruktionselemente für ein Mitarbeiterteilhabemodell
Get PDFThe starting point of this thesis is the fundamental criticism of capitalism: capitalists can engage in entrepreneurial activity; those who do not have enough money to run a business are excluded from competition and forced to find an entrepreneur to make a living, who makes them work to increase their profits.
The thesis aims to design an “employee-participation-model” that enables people to shape companies with their labour alone and to participate in the enterprise's earnings. The goal is to defuse the dominant position of capitalists, and also the inefficiency resulting from the principal-agent-problem, to strengthen the motivation of employees and to enhance their swarm creativity.
Worker cooperatives, kibbutzim, partnership companies and Titos workers' self-management companies came close to the desired “employee-participation-model”. Their failure was dominated by the members' unwillingness to altruistically retain profits to finance cooperative's investments.
In contrast, it is common practice for cooperative banks to retain most of their profits. Therefore, the secret to success inherent in cooperative banks is explored in order to apply it to the “employee-participation-model”. In view of the author’s expectation, the result of this investigation is disappointing: evidence suggests that entrepreneurial decisions in today's typical cooperative banks are formally made by members, but the direction is given to them by the management board, who pursue their own interests. Thus, the success of cooperative banks does not contribute to improving the “employee-participation-model”, because the participation of employees in decision-making is a key objective of the model.
A way out is provided by companies typical of our market economy: Shareholders and family entrepreneurs are willing to retain profits because they expect that, thanks to the investments financed with profits, their profit will increase when they sell their shareholding.
To ensure equality for employees and entrepreneurs, the cooperative model is developed further: employees have a say and participate not only in current profits, but also in the expected company results. They receive a payment when they leave the company that is based on expected profits. Then, when voting for profit retention, there is no need to appeal to the solidarity of the employees
Disruptiver Wandel der Automobilindustrie durch autonome Fahrsysteme - Reaktionsstrategien für etablierte Automobilhersteller
Get PDFThis thesis investigates response strategies of incumbent automotive companies are facing a disruptive change initiated by autonomous driving systems. Autonomous vehicles promise to bring great benefits to society, a promising business opportunity for mobility providers, but at the same time facing the incumbent automotive industry with the greatest technological challenge they ever had to manage. Technology companies are entering the industry as new competitors. They have started the autonomous system development hype, are well funded and able to attract crucial software talents.
This thesis analyze how incumbent OEM react to the disruptive change and why they use the strategic instrument acquisition. The research covers which internal and external challenges are being faced by incumbent OEM. Furthermore, an explanation of the role of corporate spin-offs, accompanying the technology company acquisition, is being given. This work also argues why autonomous driving systems can be located within the disruptive innovation theory. The research body on disruptive innovation provides different theories on how to classify a disruption. This thesis argues that autonomous driving system can be identified as High-end disruption as defined by Govindarains and Kopalles. Christensen propose three response strategies for incumbent companies to react to a disruption. This research focus on two of the strategies, the acquisition and spin-off, as both being identified as relevant based on market observation of incumbent automotive companies.
The empirical analysis is based on 16 expert interviews and four case studies of incumbent automotive companies, which acquired autonomous driving technology companies. The results indicate that incumbent OEM using the strategic response tool acquisition are able to hold up with technology companies, if they consider specific success factors for the implementation. The case studies also show that the response strategy does not necessarily lead to success. Incumbent firms are able to respond to disruption if they identify the threat early, acquire the right target and setup a balanced collaboration
Retribution Shaw-Style
No full textInterview for extras for the Blu-ray box set 'The Ti Lung / David Chiang Collection', published by Shout! Factory. The interview discusses the Film 'Vengeance!' (1970), placing this within the context of the career of its director Chang Cheh and leading actors David Chiang and Ti Lung. It explores its significance in the emergence of kung fu cinema and its context in the political unrest of the time within which it was made. The interview looks at the film's depictions of violence and masculinity, and its place within both Hong Kong / Chinese and global cinema histories
Adopting a citizen science approach in translational experimental medicine research in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a study protocol
Get PDFCitizen science approaches are widely and successfully used in biological, environmental, and ecological sciences; however, they are rarely applied in other domains, such as translational health research, notably in the field of liver disease and metabolism. We have designed a study that aims to explore the application of the citizen science approach in a translational experimental medicine study on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and a 12-week lifestyle and weight loss program. In this methodological paper, we describe the process of involving citizen scientists in the study.
We will recruit a convenience sample of 31 participants (with and without NAFLD) and a half-dozen citizen scientists (members of the public). Citizen scientists will work alongside clinical and non-clinical researchers in a translational experimental medicine study on NAFLD. Citizen scientists will be involved in the co-design and/or review of data collection tools (e.g., semi-structured open-ended questionnaire surveys and semi-structured wellbeing diaries completed by the participants), co-analysis of data on participants’ experiences and motivations, co-drafts of research findings and papers, and suggestions for policy recommendations. Citizen scientists will be trained in the research tasks they will undertake, and will be either co-authors or their names will be mentioned in the acknowledgements in research paper(s) based on the level of research contributions.
Lessons learned from implementing citizen science in this study will help to reveal the advantages, limitations, and implications of involving citizen scientists in the translational medicine research. Knowing citizen scientists’ motivations, expectations, training needs, and overall experience of involvement in this study could provide insights, which could inform the planning and conduct of future translational research studies.
Involving citizen scientists in translational medicine research is an important step in extending research opportunities for members of the public; however, there may be methodological challenges, which may be identified and resolved by more research studies
What incentives encourage local communities to collect and upload mosquito sound data by using smartphones? A mixed methods study in Tanzania
Get PDFBackground
To detect and identify mosquitoes using their characteristic high-pitched sound, we have developed a smartphone application, known as the ‘HumBug sensor’, that records the acoustic signature of this sound, along with the time and location. This data is then sent remotely to a server where algorithms identify the species according to their distinctive acoustic signature. Whilst this system works well, a key question that remains is what mechanisms will lead to effective uptake and use of this mosquito survey tool? We addressed this question by working with local communities in rural Tanzania and providing three alternative incentives: money only, short message service (SMS) reminders and money, and SMS reminders only. We also had a control group with no incentive.
Methods
A multi-site, quantitative empirical study was conducted in four villages in Tanzania from April to August 2021. Consenting participants (n = 148) were recruited and placed into one of the three intervention arms: monetary incentives only; SMS reminders with monetary incentives; and SMS reminders only. There was also a control group (no intervention). To test effectiveness of the mechanisms, the number of audio uploads to the server of the four trial groups on their specific dates were compared. Qualitative focus group discussions and feedback surveys were also conducted to explore participants’ perspectives on their participation in the study and to capture their experiences of using the HumBug sensor.
Results
Qualitative data analysis revealed that for many participants (37 out of 81), the main motivation expressed was to learn more about the types of mosquitoes present in their houses. Results from the quantitative empirical study indicate that the participants in the ‘control’ group switched on their HumBug sensors more over the 14-week period (8 out of 14 weeks) when compared to those belonging to the ‘SMS reminders and monetary incentives’ trial group. These findings are statistically significant (p 0.95 under a two-sided z-test), revealing that the provision of monetary incentives and sending SMS reminders did not appear to encourage greater number of audio uploads when compared to the control.
Conclusions
Knowledge on the presence of harmful mosquitoes was the strongest motive for local communities to collect and upload mosquito sound data via the HumBug sensor in rural Tanzania. This finding suggests that most efforts should be made to improve flow of real-time information back to the communities on types and risks associated with mosquitoes present in their houses
Constitutional monarchy in the UK as a populist mediator: the case of Brexit
No full textThe rise of populist parties and -figures usually indicate deepening polarisation among the citizens of a country, and indeed the outcome of the Brexit referendum signalled such a situation in the UK as well. In an increasingly polarized society, it could well be argued that this gap cannot be bridged by law alone, nor by politics, nor by a combination of the two. Something more is needed, a unifying factor that transcends politics, class, religion, financial status, all the things that divide people in a country. Perhaps the reason why the UK has not torn itself apart over Brexit can be attributed, at least partly, to the fact that it does indeed possess such a unifying factor in the form of an institution that has existed continuously in the country for more than a thousand years and which still plays an active albeit quietly constitutional role: the British Monarchy. This paper explores this thesis by briefly recapping what populism means and why it is seen as a problem for democracy before more closely examining Brexit as a case study of the tensions around sovereignty. It finishes by examining the role the British Monarch played before, during and after the Brexit process, and asks whether a constitutional Monarchy may be a mediating influence in a modern pluralist democracy such as the UK
Conceptual framework: Report of synthesis of recent theoretical developments
No full textThis paper looks at recent discussions and trends on African migration, and reviews recent theoretical and methodological developments on migration decision-making within and beyond Africa, focusing on trajectories, temporalities and dynamics. By doing so, it seeks to better understand the decision-making process of heterogeneous groups of aspiring migrants at different stages in their potential and actual journeys. This paper lays the basis for empirical research focused on migrants in selected African countries in different macro regions in Africa – Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria – and their diasporas in European countries, including Italy and the UK
Op-Ed: The Court of Justice and headscarves at work: discretion in EU anti-discrimination law: a dangerous precedent (Case C-148/22 OP v Commune d’Ans)
No full textThis Op ED discusses and criticises the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in OP v Commune d'Ans
A secure cooperative transmission of image super-resolution in wireless relay networks
Get PDFThe image transmission over wireless media experiences not only unavailable performance loss caused by the environment and hardware issues, but also information leakage to eavesdroppers who can overhear and attempt to recover the images. This paper proposes a secure cooperative relaying (SCR) protocol for the image communications in wireless relay networks (WRNs) where Alice sends high-resolution (HR) images to Bob with the assistance of a relaying user named Relay, and in the presence of an eavesdropper named Eve. In order to enhance the security of the image communications, random linear network coding (RLNC) is employed at both Alice and Relay to conceal the original images from Eve with RLNC coefficient matrices and reference images in the shared image datastore. Furthermore, the original HR images are downscaled at Alice to save transmission bandwidth and image super-resolution (ISR) is adopted at Bob due to its capability to recover the HR images from their low-resolution (LR) version, while still maintaining the image quality. In the proposed SCR protocol, Bob can decode both the original images transmitted from Alice over the direct link and the images forwarded by Relay over the relaying links. Simulation results show that the SCR protocol achieves a considerably higher performance at Bob than at Eve since Eve does not know the coefficient matrices and reference images used at Alice and Relay for the RLNC. The SCR protocol is also shown to outperform the counterpart secure direct transmission protocol without the relaying links and secure relaying transmission without the direct link. Additionally, an increased scaling factor can save the transmission bandwidth for a slight change in the image quality. Moreover, the impacts of direct, relaying and wiretap links are evaluated, verifying the effectiveness of the SCR protocol with the employment of Relay to assist the image communications between Alice and Bob in the WRNs
Musicology’s applied foundations (Or, how music was musealised)
No full textActs of musealisation have been apparent since ancient times across all areas of culture, including music. Musealisation is the effort to extract certain cultural elements in which value is recognised in order to preserve and use them further in new ways, including presenting them as evidence. In modern times, music’s musealisation has principally taken place at the service of cultural preservation, for example by museums, libraries, archives, and private collections. Yet, neither music museology, nor its practice of musealisation, have been examined or codified in any great detail in music or cultural studies. This volume’s aim to chronicle the true breadth of applied musicologies today is a timely opportunity to acknowledge music museology’s contemporary place as well as its rich history. To these ends, this chapter identifies two dominant, largely independent lines of development: the musealisation of musical instruments, which assumed a specific, international form during the nineteenth century when museums of musical instruments were founded; and the musealisation of musicalia, that is, musical texts in specific material forms. Musicologically, the first line of development is an auxiliary to organology, which is now safely established as a discipline in its own right. Indeed, the same can be said of the second line, which developed rapidly from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century and, being closely tied to developments in music historiography, serves as this chapter’s principal focus