Internationalisierung der Managementausbildung im Zeitalter der unvollständigen Globalisierung: eine Reflexion über 10 Jahre GlobalMBA

Wir wollen in diesem Aufsatz die Internationalisierungsimperative für die Hochschulausbildung und hier insbesondere die Managementausbildung reflektieren, die sich für uns aus der empirischen Analyse der gegenwärtigen weltwirtschaftlichen Integrationsprozesse und deren Folgen ergeben, und somit etwas zur Diskussion um das "Warum" und "Wie" der Internationalisierung der Managementausbildung beitragen. Diese Überlegungen sollen dann mit den praktischen Erfahrungen aus einem internationalen Studiengang abgeglichen werden; namentlich dem Master-Studiengang "Internationales Management und Interkulturelle Kommunikation" (kurz: GlobalMBA)

The geography of European cross-border banking : the impact of cultural and political factors

We investigate the determinants of European banking market integration with a focus on the potentially limiting role of cultural and political factors. Employing a unique data set of European cross-border loans and deposits, the study uses various gravity models that are augmented by societal proxies. While trade-theoretic reasoning can explain part of the surge in cross-border banking, we demonstrate that distance and borders still matter in the geography of European cross-border banking. Moreover, we can identify cultural differences and different legal family origin as important barriers to integration

Patching Neural Barrier Functions Using Hamilton-Jacobi Reachability

Learning-based control algorithms have led to major advances in robotics at the cost of decreased safety guarantees. Recently, neural networks have also been used to characterize safety through the use of barrier functions for complex nonlinear systems. Learned barrier functions approximately encode and enforce a desired safety constraint through a value function, but do not provide any formal guarantees. In this paper, we propose a local dynamic programming (DP) based approach to "patch" an almost-safe learned barrier at potentially unsafe points in the state space. This algorithm, HJ-Patch, obtains a novel barrier that provides formal safety guarantees, yet retains the global structure of the learned barrier. Our local DP based reachability algorithm, HJ-Patch, updates the barrier function "minimally" at points that both (a) neighbor the barrier safety boundary and (b) do not satisfy the safety condition. We view this as a key step to bridging the gap between learning-based barrier functions and Hamilton-Jacobi reachability analysis, providing a framework for further integration of these approaches. We demonstrate that for well-trained barriers we reduce the computational load by 2 orders of magnitude with respect to standard DP-based reachability, and demonstrate scalability to a 6-dimensional system, which is at the limit of standard DP-based reachability.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 202

Review of the scientific and institutional capacity of small island developing states in support of a bottom-up approach to achieve sustainable development goal 14 targets

Capacity building efforts in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are indispensable for the achievement of both individual and collective ocean-related 2030 agenda priorities for sustainable development. Knowledge of the individual capacity building and research infrastructure requirements in SIDS is necessary for national and international efforts to be effective in supporting SIDS to address nationally-identified sustainable development priorities. Here, we present an assessment of human resources and institutional capacities in SIDS United Nations (UN) Member States to help formulate and implement durable, relevant, and effective capacity development responses to the most urgent marine issues of concern for SIDS. The assessment highlights that there is only limited, if any, up-to-date information publicly available on human resources and research capacities in SIDS. A reasonable course of action in the future should, therefore, be the collection and compilation of data on educational, institutional, and human resources, as well as research capacities and infrastructures in SIDS into a publicly available database. This database, supported by continued, long-term international, national, and regional collaborations, will lay the foundation to provide accurate and up-to-date information on research capacities and requirements in SIDS, thereby informing strategic science and policy targets towards achieving the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) within the next decade

Identification of Value Proposition and Development of Innovative Business Models for Demand Response Products and Services Enabled by the DR-BOB Solution

The work presented is the result of an ongoing European H2020 project entitled DR-BOB Demand Response in Blocks of Buildings (DR-BOB) that seeks to integrate existing technologies to create a scalable solution for Demand Response (DR) in blocks of buildings. In most EU countries, DR programs are currently limited to the industrial sector and to direct asset control. The DR-BOB solution extends applicability to the building sector, providing predictive building management in blocks of buildings, enabling facilities managers to respond to implicit and explicit DR schemes, and enabling the aggregation of the DR potential of many blocks of buildings for use in demand response markets. The solution consists of three main components: the Local Energy Manager (LEM), which adds intelligence and provides the capacity for predictive building management in blocks of buildings, a Consumer Portal (CP) to enable building managers and building occupants to interact with the system and be engaged in demand response operations, and a Decentralized Energy Management System (DEMS®, Siemens plc, Nottingham, England, UK), which enables the aggregation of the DR potential of many blocks of buildings, thus allowing participation in incentive-based demand response with or without an aggregator. The paper reports the key results around Business Modelling development for demand response products and services enabled by the DR-BOB solution. The scope is threefold: (1) illustrate how the functionality of the demand response solution can provide value proposition to underpin its exploitation by four specific customer segments, namely aggregators and three types of Owners of Blocks of Buildings in different market conditions, (2) explore key aspects of the Business Model from the point of view of a demand response solution provider, in particular around most the suitable revenue stream and key partnership, and (3) assess the importance of key variables such as market maturity, user engagement, and type of blocks of buildings as drivers to market penetration and profitability. The work presented is framed by the expected evolution of DR services in different market contexts and the different relationships between the main stakeholders involved in the DR value chain in different EU countries. The analysis also relies on the results of interviews conducted at the fours pilot sites of the DR-BOB project with key representatives of the management, operations, and marketing. These are used to better understand customer needs and sharpen the value proposition

Sociocognitive Predictors of Condom Use and Intentions Among Adolescents in Three Sub-Saharan Sites

Many HIV intervention programs in sub-Saharan Africa have applied social cognitive theories such as the theory of planned behavior. However, a recent sub-Saharan African review was unable to show increased effectiveness for theory-based interventions. This study assessed whether the predictive value of attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and intention was similar to studies in Europe and the U.S., and whether there were differences between three sub-Saharan sites. Longitudinal multigroup structural equation modeling was used to assess whether attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy predicted condom use intentions and condom use (after 6 months) among adolescents in three sites, namely Cape Town (South Africa; N = 625), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania; N = 271), and Mankweng (South Africa; N = 404). Condom use intentions were predicted by subjective norms and self-efficacy in all three sites. Attitudes were not related to intentions in Dar es Salaam and were moderately related to intentions in Cape Town and Mankweng. The proportions of explained variance in intentions and behavior were decent (37–52 and 9–19 %, respectively). Although significant differences in predictive value were found between sites and in comparison to European and U.S. studies, intentions could adequately be explained by attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy. However, the limited proportions of variance in behavior explained by intentions could signify the importance of contextual and environmental factors. Future studies are recommended to use an integrative approach that takes into account both individual and contextual factors, as well as social and environmental differences

Towards a quality-controlled and accessible Pitzer model for seawater and related systems

We elaborate the need for a quality-controlled chemical speciation model for seawater and related natural waters, work which forms the major focus of SCOR Working Group 145. Model development is based on Pitzer equations for the seawater electrolyte and trace components. These equations can be used to calculate activities of dissolved ions and molecules and, in combination with thermodynamic equilibrium constants, chemical speciation. The major tasks to be addressed are ensuring internal consistency of the Pitzer model parameters (expressing the interactions between pairs and triplets of species, which ultimately determines the calculated activities), assessing uncertainties, and identifying important data gaps that should be addressed by new measurements. It is recognised that natural organic matter plays an important role in many aquatic ecosystems, and options for including this material in a Pitzer-based model are discussed. The process of model development begins with the core components which include the seawater electrolyte and the weak acids controlling pH. This core model can then be expanded by incorporating additional chemical components, changing the standard seawater composition and/or broadening the range of temperature and pressure, without compromising its validity. Seven important areas of application are identified: open ocean acidification; micro-nutrient biogeochemistry and geochemical tracers; micro-nutrient behaviour in laboratory studies; water quality in coastal and estuarine waters; cycling of nutrients and trace metals in pore waters; chemical equilibria in hydrothermal systems; brines and salt lakes

Parameters Governing the Community Structure and Element Turnover in Kermadec Volcanic Ash and Hydrothermal Fluids as Monitored by Inorganic Electron Donor Consumption, Autotrophic CO2 Fixation and 16S Tags of the Transcriptome in Incubation Experiments

The microbial community composition and its functionality was assessed for hydrothermal fluids and volcanic ash sediments from Haungaroa and hydrothermal fluids from the Brothers volcano in the Kermadec island arc (New Zealand). The Haungaroa volcanic ash sediments were dominated by epsilonproteobacterial Sulfurovum sp. Ratios of electron donor consumption to CO2 fixation from respective sediment incubations indicated that sulfide oxidation appeared to fuel autotrophic CO2 fixation, coinciding with thermodynamic estimates predicting sulfide oxidation as the major energy source in the environment. Transcript analyses with the sulfide-supplemented sediment slurries demonstrated that Sulfurovum prevailed in the experiments as well. Hence, our sediment incubations appeared to simulate environmental conditions well suggesting that sulfide oxidation catalyzed by Sulfurovum members drive biomass synthesis in the volcanic ash sediments. For the Haungaroa fluids no inorganic electron donor and responsible microorganisms could be identified that clearly stimulated autotrophic CO2 fixation. In the Brothers hydrothermal fluids Sulfurimonas (49%) and Hydrogenovibrio/Thiomicrospira (15%) species prevailed. Respective fluid incubations exhibited highest autotrophic CO2 fixation if supplemented with iron(II) or hydrogen. Likewise catabolic energy calculations predicted primarily iron(II) but also hydrogen oxidation as major energy sources in the natural fluids. According to transcript analyses with material from the incubation experiments Thiomicrospira/Hydrogenovibrio species dominated, outcompeting Sulfurimonas. Given that experimental conditions likely only simulated environmental conditions that cause Thiomicrospira/Hydrogenovibrio but not Sulfurimonas to thrive, it remains unclear which environmental parameters determine Sulfurimonas’ dominance in the Brothers natural hydrothermal fluids