Melanie Hagen, Beatrice Faust, Nina Kunzelmann, Ozan Y. Tektas, Johannes Kornhuber and Helge H.O. Müller
Factitious disorder, commonly called Munchhausen's syndrome, is a rare disorder that lacks evidence-based guidelines. Reporting clinical cases is important for sharing clinical…
Abstract
Factitious disorder, commonly called Munchhausen's syndrome, is a rare disorder that lacks evidence-based guidelines. Reporting clinical cases is important for sharing clinical experiences and treatment strategies. The symptoms and progression of the following case have not been previously reported in the literature. Here, we report a case involving a 41-year-old Caucasian with a suspected psychosomatic disorder. After intensive multi-professional diagnostics, we concluded that the patient had factitious disorder. The symptoms in this case changed rapidly during treatment, which posed a challenge. For factitious disorder, establishing interdisciplinary exchange is important. Symptoms that are normally treated by internists are most commonly described in the literature. This case demonstrates that psychiatrists are challenged by this diagnosis and should consider the possibility of factitious disorder when seeing patients diagnosed with somatoform disorders. The most important clinical conclusion was the importance of involving the patients' relatives in the treatment of patients with factitious disorder.
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Melanie Malczok and Sabine Kirchhoff
At the beginning of any conceptual work concerning communication management, there is a demand for a deeper understanding of the problem that needs to be addressed and for the…
Abstract
At the beginning of any conceptual work concerning communication management, there is a demand for a deeper understanding of the problem that needs to be addressed and for the context in which it occurs. Communication management practice mostly relies on instruments like briefings, structured interviews or classic controlling data, when it comes to an analysis of organisational structures. This chapter shows that the potentials of a more constructivist perspective and a qualitative methodology can be useful to find out what is really at stake. It presents creative visualisation of organisational contexts and visual grounded theory methodology by the example of internal communication management.
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Markus Gerschberger, Stanley E. Fawcet, Amydee M. Fawcett and Melanie Gerschberger
Complexity has been called the 21st-century supply chain (SC) challenge. Most SC managers view it as a necessary evil, ever-present, costly and tough to manage, and few prioritize…
Abstract
Purpose
Complexity has been called the 21st-century supply chain (SC) challenge. Most SC managers view it as a necessary evil, ever-present, costly and tough to manage, and few prioritize it. Still, anecdotes suggest some leverage it to drive operational excellence. This study aims to explore how they do it, delving into the development of a complexity management capability, under what circumstances it emerges and its effect on competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
To better understand why, and how, companies develop (or not) a distinctive SC complexity management capability, this study employed an inductive study of 10 leading European companies, each operating a complex SC.
Findings
Although SC complexity raises costs, increases disruptions and makes decision-making difficult, few companies have made complexity management a priority. Among those, most focus on reducing or absorbing complexity to improve operational excellence. A few invest to develop a distinctive SC complexity management capability. They manage complexity for market success. The interaction among competitive pressures, managerial attitudes and investments delineate a dynamic capability development process.
Research limitations/implications
Despite extensive research on complexity drivers, the tools used to manage SC complexity and the impact of SC complexity on performance, the interplay among factors that promote, or hinder, the development of an SC complexity capability continues to be poorly understood. By mapping the complexity capability development process, this study explicates a more nuanced approach to managing SC complexity that can yield a competitive edge.
Practical implications
SC complexity prevails because the dynamic, iterative complexity capability development process is overlooked. Managers can use the complexity capability roadmap to assess the cost/benefits of pursuing a distinctive complexity management capability more accurately.
Originality/value
This study demystifies the development of a complexity management capability, showing how some companies develop the capability to distinguish between value-added and value-dissipating complexity and thus become empowered to leverage SC complexity for competitive advantage.
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Melanie Luise Krenn, Guido Bortoluzzi and Dietmar Sternad
Building on recent developments in the Uppsala model, we first examine the role of business model innovation (BMI) in the internationalization process of firms and then determine…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on recent developments in the Uppsala model, we first examine the role of business model innovation (BMI) in the internationalization process of firms and then determine to what extent international experience and psychic distance have a moderating effect between BMI and the success of a firm’s international initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
We apply a multiple hierarchical regression model to a sample of 168 firms of two border regions in Italy (Friuli Venezia Giulia) and Austria (Carinthia).
Findings
We find empirical support for the moderating role of both psychic distance and international experience in the relationship between business model innovation and the success of internationalization initiatives.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the evolutionary perspective of the internationalization process of firms by adding new aspects related to the role of business model innovation to the most re-cent developments of the Uppsala model. From an empirical point of view, the paper contributes to the literature by identifying and testing two boundary conditions that shape the relationship between BMI and international success.