Building a Better World through Information Systems – An Explorative Survey among Leading IS Researchers

IS research and practice needs to take on the big questions and global challenges. While the IS community is well positioned to assist in addressing these challenges, IS research has been criticized to lack relevance. We investigate how and to which extent IS can contribute to build a better world, in particular with regard to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We therefore conduct an explorative survey among leading IS researchers on a global scale. Based on 171 responses, we employ qualitative and quantitative analysis methods to synthesize the survey data, document and discuss results, and derive implications. Besides positive aspects, the survey also reveals challenges and critique concerning IS research. We provide a starting point, create awareness, and stimulate further discussions and research. With the right focus and alignment, IS practice and research has the potential to take on the big questions and can help to build a better world

Tail risk managed investment strategies

This PhD thesis comprises three papers that develop tail risk managed investment strategies. Risk managed investment strategies have emerged as an important topic in practice and in academics. Especially during adverse market periods, like the global financial crisis or the recent corona crisis, the demand for tail risk mitigation tools increases. The first chapter summarizes the literature on volatility targeting and extends volatility targeting to tail risk targeting. Risk targeting aims to achieve a constant level of portfolio risk over time and is an easy but effective tail risk mitigation tool. Compared to volatility targeting, tail risk targeting is more successful in mitigating drawdowns and left tail risk, which leads to an enhanced risk-return relation. Chapter 2 applies risk targeting to momentum portfolios and develops strategies that dynamically switch between volatility and tail risk targeting. These switching strategies successfully mitigate momentum crashes and produce a better (risk-adjusted) performance than non-managed or volatility managed momentum portfolios. Chapter 3 develops an approach that simultaneously manages a portfolio’s individual asset risk and portfolio risk. This approach is applied to the momentum portfolio. Managing the individual assets’ tail risk outperforms non-managed or volatility managed portfolios. The best risk-return relation is achieved by strategies that simultaneously manage the individual assets’ tail risk and the whole portfolio’s risk. All three chapters show that investors are willing to pay economically high and statistically significant fees to have access to tail risk managed portfolios

Emphasizing the Honors College Experience

Thank you for taking the time to engage with our Innovation Portfolio chronicling our design challenge of improving the post-graduation preparation of Frederik Meijer Honors College students. This past semester we have conducted intensive research and utilized the design thinking process to arrive at a definitive solution. This portfolio presents the process that our team learned and implemented, and visualizes our innovations and prototype concepts. We know our solution will improve the readiness of Honors students for life after graduation, as well as continue to enhance the awesome FHMC experience! Thank you again for your interest in our design challenge

„Green by IT“ – Nachhaltiger Gütertransport durch Entscheidungsunterstützungssysteme

Der Beitrag stellt ein Software Artefakt vor, das Disponenten beim Routing von Aufträgen in einem Transportnetzwerk unterstützt. Grundlage ist ein problembezogenes Modell zur Beschreibung der Transportprozesse in intermodalen Netzstrukturen. Ein hybrider Routingalgorithmus zur Lösung des operativen Transportproblems setzt darauf auf. Dieser führt das Routing der Transportaufträge in einem Netzwerk aus Knoten und Kanten aus. Unser Ansatz optimiert den Mobilitätsmix und trägt zu effizienterem und nachhaltigerem Gütertransport bei

Development of a Novel Method for in vivo Determination of Activation Energy of Glucose Transport Across S. cerevisiae Cellular Membranes. A Biosensor-like Approach

Whereas biosensors have been usually proposed as analytical tools, used to investigate the surrounding media pursuing an analytical answer, we have used a biosensor-like device to characterize the microbial cells immobilized on it. We have studied the kinetics of transport and degradation of glucose at different concentrations and temperatures. When glucose concentrations of 15 and 1.5 mM were assayed, calculated activation energies were 25.2 and 18.4 kcal mol−1, respectively, in good agreement with previously published data. The opportunity and convenience of using Arrhenius plots to estimate the activation energy in metabolic-related processes is also discussed

Tail risk targeting: Target VaR and CVaR strategies

We present dynamic trading strategies that target a predefined level of risk measured by volatility, Value-at-Risk (VaR) or Conditional-Value-at-Risk (CVaR). Recent studies have shown that volatility targeting increases the risk-adjusted performance and heightens utility gains for mean-variance investors. We find that downside risk targeting outperforms volatility targeting in terms of a higher Sharpe Ratio, better drawdown protection and higher utility gains for mean-variance, CRRA and loss-averse investors. In particular, a loss-averse investor is not willing to pay a positive fee to switch from a static portfolio to a volatility managed strategy, whereas this investor would pay a fee of 18% per year to have access to the downside risk managed strategy. We also find that the performance of risk targeting can further be enhanced by switching between volatility and CVaR targeting based on estimates of whether the market will be in a bull or bear regime