Secondary analysis of an RCT on Emergency Department-Initiated Tobacco Control: Repeatedly assessed point-prevalence abstinence up to 12 months and extension of results through a 10-year follow-up.

INTRODUCTION:Emergency departments (EDs) are opportune places for tobacco control interventions. The 'Tobacco Control in an Urban Emergency Department' (TED) study, ISRCTN41527831, originally evaluated the effect of motivational interviewing on-site plus up to four booster telephone calls on 12-month abstinence. This study's aim was to evaluate the effect of the intervention on 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at 10 years follow-up (primary outcome) as well as on repeated point-prevalence abstinence at 1, 3, 6, 12 months and at 10 years (continual smoking abstinence, secondary outcome). METHODS:At the 10 years follow-up and after informed consent, study participants responded to a mailed questionnaire. The primary outcome was analyzed in observed-only and in all-cases analyses. The secondary outcomes were analyzed using a multiple adjusted GLMM for binary outcomes. RESULTS:Out of 1012 TED-study participants, 986 (97.4%) were alive and 231 (23.4% of 986) responded to the follow-up at 10 years. For observed-only and all-cases analyses, the effect of the baseline intervention on 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at the 10 years follow-up was statistically non-significant. However, when taking into account all repeated measures, the intervention significantly influenced continual abstinence with odds ratio 1.32 (95% CI: 1.01-1.73; p=0.042). Baseline motivation, perceived self-efficacy to stop smoking, and nicotine dependency were independently associated with long-term continual smoking abstinence (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:A conventional analysis failed to confirm a significant effect of the ED-initiated tobacco control intervention on the point-prevalence abstinence at 10 years. Results from a more integrative analysis nonetheless indicated an enduring intervention effect on continual abstinence among smokers first encountered in the emergency department setting 10 years earlier

Strategic alliances and competitive strategies in the European aerospace industry: the case of BMW Rolls-Royce GmbH

Strategic alliances are an important feature of the aerospace industry and there have been many studies that have sought to evaluate their performance. Most have taken a policy perspective exploring the economic and political benefits claimed for collaboration of this type. The perspective is a reflection of the political origins of many aerospace alliances. This study seeks to evaluate, from a managerial perspective, one of the newer alliances established on a strictly commercial basis,. It focuses on BMW Rolls-Royce GmbH, one of a small number of truly European alliances. The study concludes that although Rolls-Royce bought out its German partner after a decade of operation, the alliance was a success. The two engines developed by the alliance over this period were a technical success, overall sales were well on target and the alliance was about to break even. In addition, the study concludes that the alliance formed a key element in Rolls-Royce‟s successful strategy to extend its product portfolio, a strategy that elevated the company to second place in the global aero engine market

Politikrelevante Nachhaltigkeitsforschung : Anforderungsprofil für Forschungsförderer, Forschende und Praxispartner aus der Politik zur Verbesserung und Sicherung von Forschungsqualität - ein Wegweiser

Research aimed at helping to solve pressing societal problems must meet specific quality requirements: The knowledge it produces must not only be sound but also useable. This is particularly true of research that aims at bringing specific knowledge to bear on policy issues relating to sustainable development. This guide provides detailed actor-specific requirements profiles for this type of “policy relevant sustainability research.” This guide is aimed at research funding agencies and contracting entities, researchers themselves and policymakers1 who participate directly in the research process. It can be used both for cases where the research funding agency/contracting entity and the policymaker are different institutions or where they are identical. However, policy consulting by specialized agencies that do not perform original research is not addressed. The requirements profiles serve two functions. First of all, they should function as a guide for the three stakeholder groups, aiding them in their efforts to increase and ensure the quality of research processes and research outcomes. And, secondly, they should improve the reflexive communication among stakeholders regarding the means and the goals of research... The results presented here are part of a research and development project (Research Code Number: 3711 11 701) funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA). The project was carried out by the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE, project management), the Institute for Ecological Economy Research and the Environmental Policy Research Center for of the Freie Universität Berlin (FFU) (project duration: 09/2011-01/2013). The aim of the project was to develop concepts that can be used to increase the relevance of sustainability research for the design of environmental policy in Germany. In addition to the requirements profiles for a policy relevant sustainability research presented in this guide, recommendations, based on empirical studies, have been developed regarding how the coordination between different government departments with respect to funding such research can be optimized. The project's final report will be available starting March 2013 from the UBA.orschung, die einen unmittelbaren Beitrag zur Lösung drängender gesellschaft-licher Probleme leisten will, muss sich besonderen Qualitätsanforderungen stellen: Sie soll nicht nur gesichertes, sondern auch anwendbares Wissen bereithalten. Dies gilt besonders für Forschung, die darauf zielt, Politik in Fragen nachhaltiger Ent-wicklung mit spezifischem Wissen zu unterstützen. Für diesen Typ einer „politik-relevanten Nachhaltigkeitsforschung“ präsentiert der vorliegende Wegweiser ein detailliertes Anforderungsprofil. Der Wegweiser richtet sich an Förderer oder Auftraggeber einer solchen Forschung, an die Forschenden selbst und an Akteure aus der Politik1, die sich direkt an For-schungsprozessen beteiligen. Er kann dabei sowohl für den Fall genutzt werden, dass Forschungsförderer oder Auftraggeber und politische Praxispartner verschie-dene Institutionen sind, als auch für den Fall, dass sie identisch sind. Politische Beratung durch spezialisierte Agenturen, die keine eigene Forschung leisten, wird dagegen nicht adressiert. Die im Detail ausgearbeiteten Anforderungen haben zwei Funktionen. Sie sollen zum einen den drei genannten Akteursgruppen als Orientierung dienen, wie sie dazu beitragen können, die Qualität von Forschungsprozessen und Forschungs-ergebnissen zu erhöhen und zu sichern. Zum anderen sollen sie die reflexive Kommunikation zwischen den Akteuren über Mittel und Zwecke der Forschung verbessern.... Die hier vorgestellten Ergebnisse wurden im Rahmen eines vom Bundesministe-rium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit (BMU) und dem Umwelt-bundesamt (UBA) finanzierten Forschungs- und Entwicklungsvorhabens erarbeitet (Forschungskennzahl 3711 11 701). Das Vorhaben wurde vom Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung (ISOE, Vorhabenleitung), dem Institut für ökologische Wirt-schaftsforschung (IÖW) und dem Forschungszentrum für Umweltpolitik der Freien Universität Berlin (FFU) durchgeführt (Laufzeit: 09/2011–01/2013). Ziel des Vorhabens war es, Konzepte zu entwickeln, mit deren Hilfe die Relevanz der Nachhaltigkeitsforschung für die Gestaltung von Umweltpolitik in Deutschland erhöht werden kann. Neben dem hier vorgestellten Anforderungsprofil für eine politikrelevante Nachhaltigkeitsforschung wurden auf Basis empirischer Erhebun-gen auch Empfehlungen erarbeitet, wie die Abstimmung zwischen verschiedenen Bundesressorts bei der Förderung von Nachhaltigkeitsforschung optimiert werden kann. Der Abschlussbericht des Vorhabens kann ab März 2013 über das UBA bezo-gen werden

Generating and sustaining the image of Berlin: an empirical analysis of the city PR-strategy based on the groundes theory methodology

This thesis investigates the phenomenon of city PR. City PR is a complex, but not comprehensively examined phenomenon, which has been overlooked by PR-researchers. Within this work, the author aims at investigating the phenomenon by empirically analyzing the Berlin city PR-strategy. An empirical analysis on the Berlin PR-strategy with help of the Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM) was conducted. The author decided for GTM because this methodology is considered especially effective in areas which have not been that thoroughly researched yet – like the city PR phenomenon. Moreover, the methodology promises a great deal of flexibility within an iterative process of data collection, data analysis, and theory building. Several interviews with people who directly work within the system of Berlin city PR – from such organizations as the Senate Chancellery (Berliner Senatskanzlei), Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie GmbH, Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH – were conducted. The collected data provided rich insights and understanding of the phenomenon “from the inside”. During the analysis, gaps in the data were identified. In this way, document analysis was conducted. Relevant complementary data was collected from yearly reports, articles, press releases, websites, and so forth.  The guidelines of GTM were rigorously followed. The analytic process contained initial and focused coding, category development, and theoretical coding. The analytic process was accompanied by constant comparative method and memo-writing. All in all, seven major categories were developed. Afterward, two theoretical concepts arose – ‘collaboration’ and ‘core of city PR’.  As a result, a substantive theory of city PR was developed. What is more, the research gaps delineated at the beginning of the work were filled. Several insights into PR research were made. Besides, a series of practical insights, which is especially relevant in today’s situation of growing competition between cities, were provided.Diese Arbeit ist dem Phänomen Public-Relations von Städten (hier nachfolgend mit "City PR" bezeichnet) gewidmet. Das Thema City PR ist ebenso komplex wie es nicht erschöpfend untersucht worden ist. PR-Forscher haben jenem Phänomen bislang wenig Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird der Themenkomplex City PR anhand einer empirischen Analyse der PR-Strategie der Großstadt Berlin (hier Hauptstadt der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) erforscht. Vorgenannte empirische Analyse der PR-Strategie der Großstadt Berlin wird unter Anwendung der Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM) durchgeführt. Die Autorin dieser Dissertation hat sich für die Methode GTM entschieden, da diese in weitestgehend unerforschten Bereichen, wie im Feld der City PR, angewandt, besonders wirksam ist. Ferner hat die Autorin dieser Arbeit das Vorgehen GTM gewählt, da es innerhalb iterativer Datenerhebungs- und Analyseprozesse wie auch des iterativen Prozesses der Entwicklung der Theorie, die erforderliche Flexibilität aufweist. Im Rahmen der Dissertation wurden mehrere Interviews mit Personen, die unmittelbar am PR-Strategieprozess der Stadt Berlin mitwirken durchgeführt. Zu diesen zählen Beschäftigte der Berliner Senatskanzlei, der Unternehmen Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie GmbH und der Berlin Kulturprojekte GmbH. Auf Grundlage erhobener Daten werden ein umfassender Einblick und das Verständnis interner Prozesse (Innenansicht) des untersuchten Phänomens City PR herbeigeführt. Im Wege der Datenanalyse wurden Lücken der Datenerhebung identifiziert. Um die Lücken auszufüllen wurde eine Dokumentenanalyse vorgenommen. Dazu wurden einschlägige Dokumente - hier vor allem Jahresberichte, Veröffentlichungen, Pressemitteilungen und Webseiten - analysiert. Dem Vorgehen GTM konsequent folgend, basiert die Datenanalyse dieser Arbeit auf den Phasen initial, focused coding, category development und theoretical coding. Der Analyseprozess selbst, wurde durch constant comparative method und memo-writing begleitet. Im Ergebnis werden sieben Hauptkategorien beschrieben. Auf deren Grundlage werden zwei Konzepte - 'collaboration' und 'core of city PR' - vorgestellt. Abschließend wird die substantive theory of city PR dargelegt. Die in dieser Arbeit dokumentierten Forschungslücken wurden geschlossen. Ferner wurden neue Erkenntnisse auf dem Forschungsgebiet PR gewonnen. Darüber hinaus gewährt diese Arbeit praktische, aufgrund zunehmender Herausforderungen denen konkurrierende Städte ausgesetzt sind, aktuelle und nützliche Einblicke in die PR von Städten

Transparency of ownership and control in Germany

We first analyze legal provisions relating to corporate transparency in Germany. We show that despite the new securities trading law (WpHG) of 1995, the practical efficacy of disclosure regulation is very low. On the one hand, the formation of business groups involving less regulated legal forms as intermediate layers can substantially reduce transparency. On the other hand, the implementation of the law is not practical and not very effective. We illustrate these arguments using several examples of WpHG filings. To illustrate the importance of transparency, we show next that German capital markets are dominated by few large firms accounting for most of the market’s capitalization and trading volume. Moreover, the concentration of control is very high. First, 85% of all officially listed AGs have a dominant shareholder (controlling more than 25% of the voting rights). Second, few large blockholders control several deciding voting blocks in listed corporations, while the majority controls only one block

German and Israeli Innovation: The Best of Two Worlds

This study reviews – through desk research and expert interviews with Mittelstand companies, startups and ecosystem experts – the current status of the Israeli startup ecosystem and the Mittelstand region of North Rhine- Westphalia (NRW), Germany. As a case study, it highlights potential opportunities for collaboration and analyzes different engagement modes that might serve to connect the two regions. The potential synergies between the two economies are based on a high degree of complementarity. A comparison of NRW’s key verticals and Israel’s primary areas of innovation indicates that there is significant overlap in verticals, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), sensors and cybersecurity. Israeli startups can offer speed, agility and new ideas, while German Mittelstand companies can contribute expertise in production and scaling, access to markets, capital and support. The differences between Mittelstand companies and startups are less pronounced than those between startups and big corporations. However, three current barriers to fruitful collaboration have been identified: 1) a lack of access, 2) a lack of transparency regarding relevant players in the market, and 3) a lack of the internal resources needed to select the right partners, often due to time constraints or a lack of internal expertise on this issue. To ensure that positive business opportunities ensue, Mittelstand companies and startups alike have to be proactive in their search for cooperation partners and draw on a range of existing engagement modes (e.g., events, communities, accelerators). The interviews and the research conducted for this study made clear that no single mode of engagement can address all the needs and challenges associated with German-Israeli collaboration

Partnerships for Women's Health - Striving for Best Practice within the UN Global Compact / United Nations University Research Brief 1/2009 (www.unu.edu)

Every minute, at least one woman dies from pregnancy and childbirth complications; a further 20 suffer injury, infection or disease. Despite medical advances, and years of policy declarations, this tragic situation remains particularly severe in developing countries, violating a fundamental human right. Is a new approach possible, one that looks beyond common project paradigms and standards? What could such an approach look like, how might it operate, and what might be its effect? The Women’s Health Initiative, an innovative public private partnership that drew reference from the UN Global Compact, provides a possible model.Women's maternal mortality, women's health, reproductive health, Millennium Development Goals, human right to best attainable health care, India, endoscopy, minimal invasive surgery, access to health, SME, PPP, UN Global Compact, corporate social responsibility, costs, infrastructure, medical training, capacity building, poverty.

Encourage. Empowering People. Annual Report 2012

Peter Löscher, President of the Siemens Stiftung Board of Trustees, on behalf of the Board: Siemens Stiftung aims to contribute to positive changes in society with technical solutions, concrete concepts, and platforms for knowledge transfer. Cooperating with various stakeholders is a fundamental requirement for increasing the impact of its projects and anchoring them for the long term. For that reason, Siemens Stiftung seeks to cooperate with other foundations and non-governmental organizations as well as with government institutions, businesses, and the scientific community. Partnerships allow complementary approaches, skills, and resources to be bundled and sustainable programs to be developed. The previous fiscal year, in particular, delivers impressive examples of how such partnership models can increase the effectiveness of project work