Hartmut Wachter, Brita Modrow‐Thiel and Giselind Rossmann
Changing market demands in the metal‐working industry have led tothe implementation and development of flexible computer controlledcommunication and production technologies. The…
Abstract
Changing market demands in the metal‐working industry have led to the implementation and development of flexible computer controlled communication and production technologies. The presented method of job analysis, ATAA, is based on the theory of action regulation. ATAA aims to provide a planning instrument for future job structures and job requirements, and their consequences for qualification and human resource management, dependent on the choices in organization and job design. The instrument should provide decision makers in industry, both managers and works councils, with the knowledge and a procedure to perform the analysis without the help of an expert. The method is developed to analyse and design tasks in production and associated areas in mechanical engineering. It has been tested and the method was used by practitioners, for when it proved to be reliable, valid and useful for practitioners.
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Examines the pressures on the German co‐determination system in the context of the introduction of total quality management (TQM) in a German steel company. The case is a…
Abstract
Examines the pressures on the German co‐determination system in the context of the introduction of total quality management (TQM) in a German steel company. The case is a particularly interesting research site because the German steel industry is regulated by the most extensive co‐determination laws in Germany and the German company in question is French‐owned, enabling comparisons to be drawn with the introduction of new management methods in France. Outlines the positions of the works council and labour director towards TQM and the difficulties that they experienced when it was introduced. Concludes by portraying two possible scenarios of the effects of new management techniques on German co‐determination.
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Harmut Wächter and Theo Stengelhofen
From a comparative viewpoint, German personnel management can beseen as a configuration shaped by a specific form of“corporatism”, worker participation, and the educationalsystem…
Abstract
From a comparative viewpoint, German personnel management can be seen as a configuration shaped by a specific form of “corporatism”, worker participation, and the educational system (particularly the apprenticeship tradition). Although challenges from new technology and internationalization have prompted new concepts and negotiation patterns, the approach to personnel management in Germany has not changed drastically. This is reflected in a reluctance to accept, or translate, the label of “human resource management”. The historically unique constellation of a rapid integration of a previously separate and potentially hostile state (the GDR) into the Federal Republic has brought about new strategies and procedures of co‐operation between employers, unions, and state agencies. They also follow, however, the lines of German traditions and institutions.
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Hartmut Lehmann, Tiziano Razzolini and Anzelika Zaiceva
In the years 2003–2008, the Russian economy experienced a period of strong and sustained growth, which was accompanied by large worker turnover and rising informality. We…
Abstract
In the years 2003–2008, the Russian economy experienced a period of strong and sustained growth, which was accompanied by large worker turnover and rising informality. We investigate whether the burden of informality falls disproportionately on job separators (displaced workers and quitters) in the Russian labor market in the form of informal employment and undeclared wages in formal jobs. We also pursue the issues whether displaced workers experience more involuntary informal employment than workers who quit and whether informal employment persists. We find a strong positive link between separations and informal employment as well as shares of undeclared wages in formal jobs. Our results also show that displacement entraps some of the workers in involuntary informal employment. Those who quit, in turn, experience voluntary informality for the most part, but there seems a minority of quitting workers who end up in involuntary informal jobs. This scenario does not fall on all separators but predominantly on those with low human capital. Finally, informal employment is indeed persistent since separating from an informal job considerably raises the probability to be informal in the subsequent job.
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Hartmut Hoehle, John A. Aloysius, Frank Chan and Viswanath Venkatesh
Mobile technologies are increasingly used as a data source to enable big data analytics that enable inventory control and logistics planning for omnichannel businesses. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Mobile technologies are increasingly used as a data source to enable big data analytics that enable inventory control and logistics planning for omnichannel businesses. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the use of mobile technologies to facilitate customers’ shopping in physical retail stores and associated implementation challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors introduce three emerging mobile shopping checkout processes in the retail store. Second, the authors suggest that new validation procedures (i.e. exit inspections) necessary for implementation of mobile-technology-enabled checkout processes may disrupt traditional retail service processes. The authors propose a construct labeled “tolerance for validation” defined as customer reactions to checkout procedures. The authors define and discuss five dimensions – tolerance for: unfair process; changes in validation process; inconvenience; mistrust; and privacy intrusion. The authors develop a measurement scale for the proposed construct and conduct a study among 239 customers.
Findings
The results show that customers have higher tolerance for validation under scenarios in which mobile technologies are used in the checkout processes, as compared to the traditional self-service scenario in which no mobile technology is used. In particular, the customers do not show a clear preference for specific mobile shopping scenarios.
Originality/value
These findings contribute to our understanding of a challenge that omnichannel businesses may face as they leverage data from digital technologies to enhance collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment processes. The proposed construct and measurement scales can be used in future work on omnichannel retailing.
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The development in the German-speaking countries of International Management (IM) as an academic discipline is analyzed both from a research-oriented and an institutional…
Abstract
The development in the German-speaking countries of International Management (IM) as an academic discipline is analyzed both from a research-oriented and an institutional standpoint. This development is characterized by a relatively long run-up after early beginnings in the 1920s and a steep jump during the past 15–20 years. Business Administration and Strategic Management rather than Economics have influenced the IM field which is now an established subject in its own right. The resulting discipline is well on its way to overcoming an alleged “black hole-image” of international isolation on the part of German-speaking countries’ scholars.
Christian Scholz and Lisa-Dorothee Grotefend
Generation Z in Germany – born after 1995 – follows in many ways similar trends to be seen in other countries. Contrary to Generation Y, it is less career-focussed, less keen on…
Abstract
Generation Z in Germany – born after 1995 – follows in many ways similar trends to be seen in other countries. Contrary to Generation Y, it is less career-focussed, less keen on financial rewards and less willing to work flexible in a competitive world with total work–life blending. They look for structure, security and feeling good. What is different: Germany is one of the few countries in the world in which Generation Z in many cases can live up to their dreams. Germany has a prospering economy, a stable society and still a good educational system. Most important, for young people, it has an unemployment rate of virtually zero per cent. Therefore, companies definitely must engage in the war for talents and provide Generation Z with a fitting employer value proposition: Generation Z looks for meaningful and exciting work but seeks also meaning and excitement in private lives. In particular, they demand a clear separation of their private lives from their job. All this stands in contrast to the ambitions of the industrial sector in Germany promoting a more Generation Y-type environment with flexibility, agility and work–life blending. This conflict is not dealt with in an open way, since politics and media stand on the side of the large companies. Still, the power of Generation Z is not to be underestimated. Therefore, the chapter leaves it for the future to find out whether the Generation Z or other forces will win.