Constructing and Leveraging “Flight and Expulsion”: Expellee Memory Politics and Victimhood Narratives in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1944-1970

My dissertation examines the construction, instrumentalization, and institutionalization of a homogenized “master narrative” of “flight and expulsion” in West Germany between 1945 and 1990. I argue that expellee groups, historians, and politicians cemented a victimhood narrative and idealized past that emphasized German suffering and Soviet barbarity in museums, literature, and the media in order to underpin arguments for social, material, and political claims. In this manner, the expellee organizations fashioned a central concept of “flight and expulsion” and colonized public debates for decades, leaving a lasting impact on how contemporary Germany remembers the war and the integration of 10-12 million refugees. By examining the trajectory of the expulsion narrative, I seek to show the layering of memory, how it was used over time, and the defining impact that this victimhood discourse has had on German public memory and academic interpretation of the phenomenon. My work investigates the origins and evolution of a discourse that continues to inform German historical consciousness, thereby providing fresh insights into the relationship between memory politics, the production and narration of history, and political interest group advocacy.Doctor of Philosoph

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Business Complaint Management Expectations

This paper is in closed access until 9th Dec 2016.Copyright © Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. This study explores the complaint management expectations of 72 British and 74 German organizational buyers using automated online means-end laddering and a Hierarchical Value Map presentation. It conceptualizes the links between expected complaint resolution attributes by the buyer (i.e., means) and the buyer's value perceptions (i.e., ends). Unlike previous research, we highlight similarities and differences in the drivers behind and attributes of complaint management expectations across two countries (Germany and the United Kingdom). Even in countries appearing to be similar economically and culturally, we find differences in the desired attributes. British buyers, for example, emphasize softer complaint resolution attributes compared to Germans. Our study is the first to present a model of complaint management expectations incorporating the role of culture, and it provides managerial directions on standardization and adaption of complaint resolution attributes. Furthermore, it evaluates justice dimensions (especially interactional justice) and their impact on perceptions of complaint management

Valores do aditivo: o comportamento do consumidor de gasolina aditivada na perspectiva da Teoria das Cadeias Meios-Fins Values of the additive: the purchase behavior of midgrade gasoline consumers from the perspective of Means-End Chain Theory

O propósito da presente pesquisa foi identificar e descrever as relações associativas entre os valores, benefícios e atributos percebidos por consumidores de gasolina aditivada. Amparada pela Teoria das Cadeias Meios-Fins, a investigação acessou a estrutura cognitiva de tais consumidores mediante entrevistas em profundidade do tipo Laddering, por meio das quais se identificou 5 atributos, 22 benefícios e 13 valores pessoais. As inter-relações entre esses elementos foram representadas em um Mapa Hierárquico de Valores, a partir do qual 8 diferentes grupos de consumidores de gasolina aditivada puderam ser reconhecidos. A análise das motivações subjacentes aos valores pessoais citados revelou que parte considerável da opção por gasolina aditivada está relacionada à busca por estabilidade e conservação, o que sugere a existência de um nicho de mercado passível de atuação por parte das companhias distribuidoras. A partir dos resultados obtidos, implicações gerenciais e sugestões para futuras pesquisas foram apontadas.<br>The main objective of this research is to identify and describe the associative relationships among personal values, benefits, and attributes perceived by midgrade gasoline consumers. The laddering interview technique was used to access consumers' cognitive structure. Hence, it was possible to identify 5 attributes, 22 benefits, and 13 personal values. The inter-relationships among these elements were represented in a Hierarchical Value Map (HVM), from which eight different groups of midgrade gasoline consumers were identified. The analysis of motivations behind the mentioned personal values revealed that a relevant part of the option for midgrade gasoline is related to the search for stability and conservation, which suggests the existence of a niche market that can be explored by fuel companies. From those and other findings, managerial implications and suggestions for future studies were presented

AID protein expression in chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma is associated with poor prognosis and complex genetic alterations

The biological behavior of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma is unpredictable. Nonetheless, non-mutated IgV(H) gene rearrangement, ATM (11q22-23) and p53 (17p13) deletion are recognized as unfavorable prognosticators in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The mRNA expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), an enzyme indispensable for somatic hypermutation processes, was claimed to be predictive of non-mutated chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells in blood. Here, we evaluated AID protein expression compared with known molecular and immunohistochemical prognostic indicators in 71 chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma patients using a tissue microarray approach. We found AID heterogeneously expressed in tumor cells as shown by colocalization analysis for CD5 and CD23. Ki-67 positive paraimmunoblasts of the proliferation centers displayed the highest expression. This observation is reflected by a significant association of AID positivity with a high proliferation rate (P=0.012). ATM deletion was detected in 10% (6/63) of patients and p53 deletion in 19% (13/67) of patients. Moreover, both ATM (P=0.002) and p53 deletion (P=0.004) were significantly associated with AID. IgV(H) gene mutation was seen in 45% (27/60) of patients. Twenty-five percent (17/69) of patients with AID-positive chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma displayed a shorter survival than AID-negative chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma patients (61 vs 130 months, P=0.001). Although there was a trend, we could not show an association with the IgV(H) gene mutation status. Taken together, our study shows that AID expression is an indicator of an unfavorable prognosis in chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma patients, although it is not a surrogate marker for the IgV(H) status. Furthermore, the microenvironment of proliferation centers seems to influence AID regulation and might be an initiating factor in its transformation.Modern Pathology advance online publication, 6 November 2009; doi:10.1038/modpathol.2009.156