Motives and influencing factors of corporate regional engagement: industry and company specific patterns

Traditionally, regional endowments are viewed as external variables when it comes to location choices of companies. In most concepts on location choices and regional economics companies are thought to view the local labour market, the local innovation system or the general quality of life in a region as given and chose the location that best suits the company’s needs. Increasingly however, scholars from different research fields are providing arguments to reverse that view and show that there can be good reasons for a company to engage in improving its location despite implicit externalities. In this paper we try to systematically analyse issue of corporate engagement in regions. We will show how strong and in which fields companies engage in their respective region, how this engagement can be related to their existing regional integration and what differences appear between industries and types of companies in this respect. In this study we draw upon extensive interviews with over thirty companies from three industrial sectors in the Austrian region of Styria: the metals industry, which dates back to medieval times and has gone through a deep process of economic restructuring, the automotive industry, the first industry in which a comprehensive cluster policy approach was applied in Austria and the software industry, a rather young industry that experienced high growth rates in the past years. We will conclude that even though there are differences between the industries and types of companies in terms of scope and scale of regional integration and regional engagement, there is a strong correlation between the two: the higher the regional integration, the higher corporate regional engagement and vice versa.

Data : a multifaceted, multilayered analysis of the concept of data : a qualitative approach

Data is becoming ever more important in the modern world. Phrases such as “data-driven world” “data society” or “data economy” are common. However, when talking about data there is general confusion as to what this abstract concept refers to specifically and what it means for different perspectives, for companies as data users in contrast to private people or end-users. The purpose of this study was a multifaceted multilayered analysis of “data''. To have a better command on this topic and focus research, four aspects of particular relevance to data have been determined: the potentiality, the economical worth, arguments for the debate on the ownership and, the effects of the legal framework for data. These four aspects were guiding the author in determining the significance of data for two perspectives. This prompts the research question: What is data to the end user and to companies, considering potential, legal, economic and proprietary aspects? To answer the research question, a theoretical framework highlighting each of the four aspects, contrasting between companies and private persons, was established. In an effort to not only have theoretical findings but rather real life practical statements an empirical qualitative study was constructed. Firstly a questionnaire consisting of 19 questions separated by four parts was designed, each part corresponding to one of the aspects. Next a diverse group of 15 participants was recruited and were asked for their expert opinions in regards to their companies´ perspectives and their perceived user perspective. Analysis was done with the help of MAXQDA software following the structured content analysis by Kuckartz (2018). Starkly contrasting viewpoints for aspects such as potential and legal framework could be identified, prevalent confusion and indifference about data for private people can be confirmed with this research. Additionally, recommendations were formulated on the basis of the expert interviews.Termos como "data-driven world", "data society" ou "data economy" são cada vez mais comuns. Com tudo, quando se fala de dados há uma confusão geral quanto ao que este conceito abstracto se refere especificamente a partir de diferentes perspectivas e com diferentes aspectos. O objetivo deste estudo foi uma análise multicamadas de "dados". Para ter pesquisa focada, foram determinados quatro aspectos de particular relevância para os dados: o potencial, o valor económico, os argumentos para o debate sobre a propriedade e, os efeitos do quadro jurídico dos dados. Estes quatro aspectos orientaram o autor na determinação do significado dos dados em perspectivas. Isto suscita a questão da investigação: O que são os dados para o utilizador final e para as empresas, considerando aspectos potenciais, jurídicos, econômicos e de propriedade? Para responder à pergunta de investigação, foi construído um quadro teórico destacando cada um dos quatro aspectos, contrastando empresas e pessoas privadas. Com a intenção de não ter apenas conclusões teóricas, mas sim afirmações práticas da vida real, foi construído um estudo qualitativo empírico. Em primeiro lugar, foi construído um questionário constituído por 19 perguntas separadas por quatro partes, cada parte correspondendo a um dos aspectos. Em seguida, foi recrutado um grupo diversificado de 15 participantes, os quais foram questionados sobre as suas opiniões de especialistas no que diz respeito às perspectivas das suas empresas e à sua percepção da perspectiva do usuário. A análise foi feita com a ajuda do software MAXQDA, seguido da análise de Kuckartz, 2018. Pontos de vista muito contrastantes para os aspectos de potencial e de enquadramento legal puderam ser identificados. A discordância prevalecente e a indiferença sobre os dados para pessoas privadas também podem ser confirmadas com esta investigação. Além disso, as recomendações de ação foram formuladas com base nas entrevistas dos especialistas

Combining Occupancy Grids with a Polygonal Obstacle World Model for Autonomous Flights

This chapter presents a mapping process that can be applied to autonomous systems for obstacle avoidance and trajectory planning. It is an improvement over commonly applied obstacle mapping techniques, such as occupancy grids. Problems encountered in large outdoor scenarios are tackled and a compressed map that can be sent on low-bandwidth networks is produced. The approach is real-time capable and works in full 3-D environments. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated under real operational conditions on an unmanned aerial vehicle using stereo vision for distance measurement

The Steiner Formula for Minkowski Valuations

A Steiner type formula for continuous translation invariant Minkowski valuations is established. In combination with a recent result on the symmetry of rigid motion invariant homogeneous bivaluations, this new Steiner type formula is used to obtain a family of Brunn-Minkowski type inequalities for rigid motion intertwining Minkowski valuations

Fuel stores, fuel accumulation, and the decision to depart from a migration stopover site

Birds usually migrate by alternating flight bouts and stopovers for refueling. The decision when to leave a stopover place is of paramount importance for the success of migration. Despite its importance, little is known about which factors influence the departure decision. Using capture-recapture data of passerines from 3 stopover sites, we investigate by capture-recapture models whether this decision is dependent on actual fuel stores and fuel deposition rates. Individuals that accumulated fuel stores at medium rates departed later than individuals that either lost fuel stores during their stopover or able to increase their fuel stores quickly. This pattern was consistent among all sites. The departure decision was not dependent on actual fuel stores at 2 stopover sites. At the site facing an ecological barrier, emigration probability increased with increasing fuel stores, indicating that birds wait until they reach a threshold of fuel stores before departing. There was a positive correlation between departure fuel load and fuel deposition rate at all sites, which is in accordance with the time-minimizing hypothesis. These results suggest that the decision to depart from a stopover site is based on rather simple behavioral rules: birds that lose fuel stores or that increase fuel stores at a high rate would leave a site quickly, whereas birds increasing fuel stores at intermediate rates would stay for a longer time. The departure decision is shaped also by the position of the stopover site in relation to the next one and may be affected further by environmental factor