Die Betrachtung der Earned Value Methodik im agilen Projektumfeld hinsichtlich des Projekterfolgs

The Earned Value analysis has proven to be beneficial in waterfall and located software projects for monitoring the project management triangle. Nowadays, more and more virtual and agile project teams are used to manage the software requirements process. However, it remains unclear whether using the Earned Value metrics’ general positive effect generates project success in such an area too as additional challenges arise like communication or coordination difficulties. This thesis examines the assumption of a positive influence of the Earned Value technique on the project success during the software requirements process within a virtual, global project team in an agile software project environment. In addition, it should be clarified whether coordination and communication elements moderate this effect. The research is achieved with a sample size of 190,051 international people, mainly extracted from the consulting company Capgemini. Therefore, a mixed methods approach is used which consists of a partially-standardized and structured online survey as well as non-standardized and semi-structured guided interviews. The analyses of the latter ones are based on Mayring’s content analysis. This dissertation has not revealed any evidence of a positive influence on the project success by the Earned Value analysis during the requirements process in virtual project teams of an agile software project. This outcome is based on an inconsistent view of how to successfully apply this project controlling approach, whereby the subjective perception of project success played an important role. In this particular context, the Earned Value metrics reached their practical limits due to certain challenges named within this research. Although, the moderation analysis showed no significant effects of communication or coordination on the relation between the Earned Value method and the project success during the requirements process in a virtual agile software project team, a positive tendency emerged from both dimensions. The thesis presents some prerequisites that must be fulfilled in order to weaken or even reduce the problems in the application of the Earned Value analysis in this research context. Lastly, consistent definitions as well as standardized utilization understandings are required for a successful implementation of the Earned Value controlling instrument in this particular field

Mobility in a Globalised World 2014

The term mobility has different meanings in the following science disciplines. In economics, mobility is the ability of an individual or a group to improve their economic status in relation to income and wealth within their lifetime or between generations. In information systems and computer science, mobility is used for the concept of mobile computing, in which a computer is transported by a person during normal use. Logistics creates by the design of logistics networks the infrastructure for the mobility of people and goods. Electric mobility is one of today’s solutions from engineering perspective to reduce the need of energy resources and environmental impact. Moreover, for urban planning, mobility is the crunch question about how to optimise the different needs for mobility and how to link different transportation systems. In this publication we collected the ideas of practitioners, researchers, and government officials regarding the different modes of mobility in a globalised world, focusing on both domestic and international issues

The quality of in-company training – perspectives and effects

Vocational education and training plays a key role in providing a skilled workforce and in fighting youth unemployment (e.g., Dornmayr, 2016; OECD, 2019). However, vocational training systems throughout the world experience problems with ensuring high quality training and limiting drop-out. Additionally, gaps prevail in research on the impact in-company training quality exerts on the desired outputs, such as high competence levels and low drop-out rates. Resultingly, vocational training is sometimes referred to as a ‘black box’ (e.g., Beicht et al., 2009; Nielsen, 2013). Furthermore, studies suggest there are perceptual differences between different groups of actors, for example between trainees and training personnel. These different perspectives make interpreting the relevant research difficult since previous research has commonly concentrated on the trainee-related mono-perspective. Against this backdrop, further research aiming to overcome both shortcomings, (1) the mono-perspective approach that does not meet the challenges of an interactive training and (2) insufficient insights on the effects of in-company training quality on outputs (e.g., competence, drop-out), would be a good step toward making vocational training an attractive path for young adults and companies. To contribute to this objective, the four papers of this dissertation follow a two-step approach. Papers 1 and 2 investigate potential differences in the perception of in-company training quality between trainees and trainers. Papers 3 and 4 analyze the role of in-company training quality for specific outputs, namely drop-out intention and vocational competence. As theoretical foundations, this dissertation applies a pedagogical-sociological view on in-company training, mainly resting on and combining two models: Lempert’s (1998) interactionist framework for professional socialization and Tynjälä’s (2013) workplace learning model or, more precisely, Böhn and Deutscher’s (2019) adaption to the in-company training context. Methodologically, a quantitative empirical approach using the survey instrument “VET-LQI” (Böhn & Deutscher, 2021) is applied to two data sets: (1) A bilateral online survey on in-company training quality (papers 1 and 2), involving 311 trainees and 36 trainers from the same commercial companies, and (2) a two-year longitudinal project (papers 3 and 4), involving training quality surveys and competence tests, producing samples from 562 (Paper 3) and 458 (Paper 4) industrial business management trainees. The data sets are analyzed via, for example, regression and correlation analyses, structural equation modelling, and t-tests using the software R and SPSS. Paper 1 presents a novel multi-perspective approach to training quality using negative differences in perceptions between trainees and trainers. The analyses indicate that a multi-perspective assessment could be valuable particularly in cases where conflict potential is decisive: an increase of 10.6 percentage points in variance explanation of trainees’ drop-out intentions could be demonstrated compared to the conventional mono-perspective approach. Paper 2 complements that comparison by adding the trainer perspective, underlining that the multi-perspective approach shows the highest correlation to drop-out intention. Moreover, the paper reveals significant perceptual differences between trainees and trainers for 10 out of 15 quality criteria for in-company training: While the participants generally considered training quality to be relatively high (except for Autonomy and Involvement in Expert Culture), possibly due to relatively good training conditions within the sampled occupations from the business management domain, the trainees judged in-company training quality to be significantly lower than did their trainers. The differences in perception originate from different sources: a suboptimal choice of occupation and the year of training seem to increase differences whereas trainees’ socio-demographic characteristics and company size show no effect. Paper 3 operationalizes a four-directional approach to drop-out intention and indicates that the upward, downward, and horizontal (company vs. occupation change) directions of drop-out intention constitute distinct measures. The findings emphasize that in-company training quality appears to play a crucial role in the emergence of drop-out intention, showing a significant relation to all four directions, especially to the horizontal drop-out types. However, the relatively low explanatory power for upwards and downwards drop-out intention (R² < .1) force the conclusion that other factors might be missing. Additionally, more parsimonious regression models revealed a two-tier scheme with direction-typical factors and Social Involvement as overarching influencing factor. Further aspects such as trainees’ aspirations and education exert effects as well. Lastly, the findings of Paper 4 indicate that in-company training quality as a whole construct significantly impacts the development of vocational competence in both dimensions: While variance in domain-specific competence development can be explained to 27%, the model for domain-linked competence explains 86% of the variance (including control variables). Furthermore, the findings suggest that, for the domain studied, vocational competence can develop relatively independently of the individual starting level and background characteristics. The starting points, however, are influenced by the educational level, aspirations, and mathematical interest. Overall, the findings shed light into the black box of vocational training by yielding insights into perceptual differences of in-company training quality and the impact training quality exerts on key output targets such as drop-out (intention) and competence development. From a pedagogical perspective, the findings underline the importance of implementing a broad training quality assurance. In this regard, a practice of steady exchange between trainees and trainers based on a comprehensive quality conception should be established. Additionally, a socially involving environment as well as the training personnel’s professional pedagogical competences appear to be crucial to achieving high trainee competence development and low dropout intentions for in-company training