Culture as an individual process: Deficits of national cultural theories in management of cultural diversity

Most prevalent theories in cross cultural management reduce the variability of individual relations to one single category, the national culture. Based on the assumption that the national cultural values determine individual behavior the individual’s behavior in different national cultures becomes predictable. This over simplistic model pretends to provide “easy” answers for a complex world. In this article a new approach to culture is developed where culture is seen as a permanent individual process. The focus is the individual in its complex correlation to the society. This approach leads to a holistic view of a human being as it takes beside the social relations the individual's personality and it’s reflexivity into account.Cross Cultural Management, Cultural Theories, Culture, National Culture, Diversity Management, New Kantianism

Internationalization of Universities as Internationalization of Bildung

Internationalization receives top priority in nearly any university mission state-ment. But why? What is the value of internationalization for a university? Is the purpose to improve a university’s ranking, or to explore new revenue sources by entering foreign, mostly Asian, educational markets? Internationalization is not - or better - should not be an institutional end in itself. Internationalization is a powerful means to fulfill a university’s central task “Bildung of individuals” as it significantly contributes to the learning process of students and professors within the university system. By focusing on the individual’s learning process this article provides a new perspective to internationalization and develops a different ap-proach for reaching the university’s mission of internationalization.Internationalization, education, university systems, Bildung, formation, edification, cultural differences

Yield curve analysis

Die Renditestruktur determiniert die Relation zwischen Zinsänderungsrisiko und Zinsertrag bei Investitionen und Finanzierungen und ist insofern für die Wahl der Laufzeit von fundamentaler Bedeutung. Mit Hilfe der impliziten Terminzinssätze ist es möglich, die Entscheidungssituation des Investors und des Finanziers zu modellieren. Dabei lassen sich aus der Analyse der drei gestaltgebenden Merkmale der Renditestrukturkurve Niveau, Steigung und Krümmung Entscheidungsregeln für das bewusste Eingehen eines Risikos bei entsprechendem Mehrertrag durch die Wahl der Laufzeit ableiten. The shape of the yield curve determines the relationship between interest rate risk and return of investments. Should the investor or financier choose short- or long term bonds or loans? The management decision of the “right” maturity depends on three form-giving factors of the yield curve: general level of interest rates, the slope and the curvature of the curve. By using implicit forward rates the decision situation of investors and financiers is modeled and general decision rules for financial managers are derived.Renditestrukturkurve, yield curve, Laufzeitenstruktur, term structure of interest rates, implizite Forward rates, Erwartungstheorie, implicit forward rates, expectation theory

Yield Curve Analysis: Choosing the optimal maturity date of investments and financing

The shape of the yield curve determines the relationship between interest rate risk and return of investments. The analysis of the yield curve can help the investor or financier decide whether to take a short- or long term bond or loan. The management decision of choosing an optimal maturity depends on three form-giving factors of the yield curve: the general level of interest rates, the slope and the curvature of the curve. By using implicit forward rates the decision situation of investors and financiers is modeled and general decision rules for financial managers are derived

Analyse der Renditestrukturkurve: Zur Laufzeitenstruktur von Investitions- und Finanzierungsentscheidungen

Die Renditestruktur determiniert die Relation zwischen Zinsänderungsrisiko und Zinsertrag bei Investitionen und Finanzierungen und ist insofern für die Wahl der Laufzeit von fundamentaler Bedeutung. Mit Hilfe der impliziten Terminzinssätze ist es möglich, die Entscheidungssituation des Investors und des Finanziers zu modellieren. Dabei lassen sich aus der Analyse der drei gestaltgebenden Merkmale der Renditestrukturkurve Niveau, Steigung und Krümmung Entscheidungsregeln für das bewusste Eingehen eines Risikos bei entsprechendem Mehrertrag durch die Wahl der Laufzeit ableiten. The shape of the yield curve determines the relationship between interest rate risk and return of investments. Should the investor or financier choose short- or long term bonds or loans? The management decision of the “right” maturity depends on three form-giving factors of the yield curve: general level of interest rates, the slope and the curvature of the curve. By using implicit forward rates the decision situation of investors and financiers is modeled and general decision rules for financial managers are derived

The Logic of Merger and Acquisition Pricing

The valuation of synergy is vital to the success of any merger, however, given current valuation methodologies and the complexity of the task; it is also the most challenging element of merger and acquisition pricing. Conventional valuation methods assume that sales figures and market share of the acquiring company are easily transferable within the new entity. Current synergy practices also assume amalgamating various corporate functions will produce significant cost reductions. The key component missing from current methodologies is the failure to analyze every corporation as a complex system containing various elements and relations. If such a delicate system is segmented due to a merger, the outcome measured in turnover and profit figures can not be accurately forecasted by simply aggregating key financial figures. The goal of this article is to go beyond the simplicity of current methods in order to develop a methodology better suited for evaluating synergy effects. This new approach integrates elements from both the framework of knowledge management and the sociological theory of systems and elements. The alternative methods proposed in this article will simultaneously deliver creative and innovative solutions to enhance the success of mergers and acquisitions. These new proposals also help to clarify the short comings plaguing traditional methods which inevitably lead to the destruction of shareholder wealth

Culture as an individual process: Deficits of national cultural theories in management of cultural diversity

Most prevalent theories in cross cultural management reduce the variability of individual relations to one single category, the national culture. Based on the assumption that the national cultural values determine individual behavior the individual’s behavior in different national cultures becomes predictable. This over simplistic model pretends to provide “easy” answers for a complex world. In this article a new approach to culture is developed where culture is seen as a permanent individual process. The focus is the individual in its complex correlation to the society. This approach leads to a holistic view of a human being as it takes beside the social relations the individual's personality and it’s reflexivity into account

Get rid of banks and build up a modern financial world

The financial crisis has revealed fatal institutional and structural deficits at the finance market. Politics has reacted to the financial crisis with a sea of legal bills and regulations. But all regulating efforts are merely system-imminent reparation measures and do not solve the core problems. For this, a fundamental financial reform is needed. This article analyzes the finance system’s shortcomings, documents the reform approaches from the past three years, and designs a base structure for modern finance architecture without banks