Austria: A Prime Location for Headquarters in the Digital Age?:Study Report 2023

Austria has emerged as a prominent hub for headquarters (HQs) of multinational corporations (MNCs). Those HQs contribute significantly to the country’s economy, therefore research on these HQs and their (re)location decisions is vital, especially in the digital age. Previous studies have shed light on the profound impact of digitalization on business models, operations, and the role of HQs. However, further research is necessary to explore how digital technologies, including big data analytics, automation, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, will shape the attractiveness of Austria as an HQ location and how this attractiveness will change in the future. To enhance our understanding in this area, this study examines responses from 140 managers from HQs in Austria. The findings suggest that Austria will continue to be an appealing HQ destination in the digital age, with a majority of participants envisioning the retention of existing HQs or even an attraction of more HQs. While Austria exhibits strengths in technological infrastructure and digitalization expertise, there is room for improvement in access to digitalization talent including data scientists or digital marketing experts. The study underscores the importance of increased investments in training and development of digitalization talent by policymakers, universities, and firms

Headquarters of tomorrow: Structures, value-added, and processes in the digital future

Digitalization, driven by big data analytics, automation, the internet of things, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), is reshaping company structures and processes. This transition is particularly impactful for headquarters (HQs), as digitalization affects, for instance, their roles, relationships with subunits, and value-adding capacities. While existing research has explored traditional HQ functions like subunit coordination and resource allocation, the impact of digitalization on HQ roles remains less understood. Our study, based on a survey with 220 managers from Austrian firms across various industries, addresses this gap by analyzing how digitalization is transforming HQs in terms of their structure, value creation, operational efficiency, and strategic decision-making. Our findings reveal a shift in HQ functions due to digitalization, with an emphasis on enhancing value creation over solely driving cost efficiency. Strikingly, more than half of the firms are not well prepared for these changes, which might also limit their expectations of potential benefits. Moreover, digitalization is expected to increase the strategic power and decision-making capacity of HQs, despite different perspectives on the future size and structure of HQs in this digital age. By depicting the transformative effect of digitalization on HQs, this study serves as a vital guide for policymakers and corporate decision-makers navigating this digital shift

Biotechnologien für die ’Dritte Welt’ - Eine entwicklungspolitische Perspektive?

Die rasanten Fortschritte in der modernen Biotechnologie eröffnen ein weites Spektrum von Anwendungsmöglichkeiten in der Landwirtschaft, der Industrie, der Medizin, im Umweltschutz und bei der schonenden Nutzung von Ressourcen. Entsprechend verheißungsvoll erscheinen Überlegungen, mit diesen Technologien zur Lösung oder zumindest Linderung zentraler Probleme von Entwicklungsländern wie Armut, unzureichende Ernährung und schlechte gesundheitliche Versorgung beizutragen. Andererseits verbindet sich mit ihrem Einsatz aber auch die Sorge, daß sich die technologische und wirtschaftliche Kluft zwischen armen und reichen Ländern noch weiter vertiefen könnte. Um das Potential moderner Biotechnologien für Entwicklungsländer, d.h. ihre sozioökonomischen Chancen und Risiken, beurteilen zu können, analysiert diese Studie, ausgehend vom Stand der biotechnologischen Forschung und ihren derzeitigen Einsatzmöglichkeiten, erwartbare Folgen für die ökonomische, ökologische und soziale Situation der Staaten der "Dritten Welt". Eine darauf folgende Bewertung der Biotechnologie im Lichte entwicklungspolitischer Zielsetzungen dient als Ausgangspunkt, um Schlußfolgerungen für die zukünftige deutsche Entwicklungszusammenarbeit zu ziehen und Anregungen hierfür zu formulieren

Comparison of "Live High-Train Low" in Normobaric versus Hypobaric Hypoxia.

We investigated the changes in both performance and selected physiological parameters following a Live High-Train Low (LHTL) altitude camp in either normobaric hypoxia (NH) or hypobaric hypoxia (HH) replicating current "real" practices of endurance athletes. Well-trained triathletes were split into two groups (NH, n = 14 and HH, n = 13) and completed an 18-d LHTL camp during which they trained at 1100-1200 m and resided at an altitude of 2250 m (PiO2  = 121.7±1.2 vs. 121.4±0.9 mmHg) under either NH (hypoxic chamber; FiO2 15.8±0.8%) or HH (real altitude; barometric pressure 580±23 mmHg) conditions. Oxygen saturations (SpO2) were recorded continuously daily overnight. PiO2 and training loads were matched daily. Before (Pre-) and 1 day after (Post-) LHTL, blood samples, VO2max, and total haemoglobin mass (Hbmass) were measured. A 3-km running test was performed near sea level twice before, and 1, 7, and 21 days following LHTL. During LHTL, hypoxic exposure was lower for the NH group than for the HH group (220 vs. 300 h; P<0.001). Night SpO2 was higher (92.1±0.3 vs. 90.9±0.3%, P<0.001), and breathing frequency was lower in the NH group compared with the HH group (13.9±2.1 vs. 15.5±1.5 breath.min-1, P<0.05). Immediately following LHTL, similar increases in VO2max (6.1±6.8 vs. 5.2±4.8%) and Hbmass (2.6±1.9 vs. 3.4±2.1%) were observed in NH and HH groups, respectively, while 3-km performance was not improved. However, 21 days following the LHTL intervention, 3-km run time was significantly faster in the HH (3.3±3.6%; P<0.05) versus the NH (1.2±2.9%; ns) group. In conclusion, the greater degree of race performance enhancement by day 21 after an 18-d LHTL camp in the HH group was likely induced by a larger hypoxic dose. However, one cannot rule out other factors including differences in sleeping desaturations and breathing patterns, thus suggesting higher hypoxic stimuli in the HH group

Direct Optical Coupling to an Unoccupied Dirac Surface State in the Topological Insulator Bi2_2Se3_3

We characterize the occupied and unoccupied electronic structure of the topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ by one-photon and two-photon angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and slab band structure calculations. We reveal a second, unoccupied Dirac surface state with similar electronic structure and physical origin to the well-known topological surface state. This state is energetically located 1.5 eV above the conduction band, which permits it to be directly excited by the output of a Ti:Sapphire laser. This discovery demonstrates the feasibility of direct ultrafast optical coupling to a topologically protected, spin-textured surface state.Comment: Accepted to Physical Review Letter

Polariton condensation and lasing in optical microcavities - the decoherence driven crossover

We explore the behaviour of a system which consists of a photon mode dipole coupled to a medium of two-level oscillators in a microcavity in the presence of decoherence. We consider two types of decoherence processes which are analogous to magnetic and non-magnetic impurities in superconductors. We study different phases of this system as the decoherence strength and the excitation density is changed. For a low decoherence we obtain a polariton condensate with comparable excitonic and photonic parts at low densities and a BCS-like state with bigger photon component due to the fermionic phase space filling effect at high densities. In both cases there is a large gap in the density of states. As the decoherence is increased the gap is broadened and suppressed, resulting in a gapless condensate and finally a suppression of the coherence in a low density regime and a laser at high density limit. A crossover between these regimes is studied in a self-consistent way analogous to the Abrikosov and Gor'kov theory of gapless superconductivity.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, submitted to PR

Chemical Fractionation and Abundances in Coronal Plasma

Much of modern astrophysics is grounded on the observed chemical compositions of stars and the diffuse plasma that pervades the space between stars, galaxies and clusters of galaxies. X-ray and EUV spectra of the hot plasma in the outer atmospheres of stars have demonstrated that these environments are subject to chemical fractionation in which the abundances of elements can be enhanced and depleted by an order of magnitude or more. These coronal abundance anomalies are discussed and some of the physical mechanisms that might be responsible for producing them are examined. It is argued that coronal abundances can provide important new diagnostics on physical processes at work in solar and stellar coronae. It seems likely that other hot astrophysical plasmas will be subject to similar effects.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Adv.Sp.Re

Exciton Spin Dynamics in Semiconductor Quantum Wells

In this paper we will review Exciton Spin Dynamics in Semiconductor Quantum Wells. The spin properties of excitons in nanostructures are determined by their fine structure. We will mainly focus in this review on GaAs and InGaAs quantum wells which are model systems.Comment: 55 pages, 27 figure