Relevanz, Qualität und Determinanten der externen Unternehmenspublizität zum Humankapital: Eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme der HDAX-Unternehmen

Theorie und Unternehmenspraxis weisen auf die hohe Relevanz des Humankapitals für den Unternehmenserfolg hin. Investitionen in die Ressource Mensch werden im Jahresabschluss allerdings mit wenigen Ausnahmen als Aufwendungen erfasst. Das Humankapital ist somit nicht als Vermögensgegenstand in der Bilanz für die Adressaten sichtbar, weshalb eine verbale Darstellung des Humankapitals geeignet erscheint. Vor diesem Hintergrund dokumentiert der vorliegende Beitrag die Qualität der verbalen mitarbeiterbezogenen Unternehmenspublizität der HDAX-Unternehmen, welche mithilfe eines auf Basis der bestehenden Literatur entwickelten Scoringmodells ermittelt wird. Darüber hinaus wird analysiert, welche Determinanten die Qualität der Humankapital- Berichterstattung beeinflussen. Als wesentliche Erkenntnis kann festgehalten werden, dass trotz der hohen Bedeutung die Qualität der mitarbeiterbezogenen Publizität in den Geschäftsberichten eher gering ausfällt. So wird ein nennenswerter Anteil wesentlicher Aspekte in den Berichten überhaupt nicht angesprochen. Vor allem Aspekte, die für eine breite Anzahl von Stakeholdern wichtig sind, werden selten thematisiert. Wesentliche Determinanten der Qualität der Humankapital-Berichterstattung stellen mit der Höhe des Personalaufwands sowie der Bedeutung patentgeschützten Wissens unternehmensbezogene Charakteristika dar.Theory and practice indicate that human capital is crucial for company success. However, financial accounting treats investments in human capital as expenses rather than assets appearing on the balance sheet. Hence, verbal explanations are critical for addressees. This paper extends the literature on voluntary disclosure by investigating human capital disclosure measured by a disclosure index score of the German HDAX companies. In addition, determinants of human capital disclosure are examined. The results show a rather low reporting quality since many essential aspects are not even mentioned. Particularly, aspects relevant to a broader range of stakeholders are not covered in annual reports. Key determinants of reporting quality were found to be the level of personnel expenses and the importance of patented knowledge in companies

Relevanz, Qualität und Determinanten der externen Unternehmenspublizität zum Humankapital: Eine empirische Bestandsaufnahme der HDAX-Unternehmen

Theorie und Unternehmenspraxis weisen auf die hohe Relevanz des Humankapitals für den Unternehmenserfolg hin. Investitionen in die Ressource Mensch werden im Jahresabschluss allerdings mit wenigen Ausnahmen als Aufwendungen erfasst. Das Humankapital ist somit nicht als Vermögensgegenstand in der Bilanz für die Adressaten sichtbar, weshalb eine verbale Darstellung des Humankapitals geeignet erscheint. Vor diesem Hintergrund dokumentiert der vorliegende Beitrag die Qualität der verbalen mitarbeiterbezogenen Unternehmenspublizität der HDAX-Unternehmen, welche mithilfe eines auf Basis der bestehenden Literatur entwickelten Scoringmodells ermittelt wird. Darüber hinaus wird analysiert, welche Determinanten die Qualität der Humankapital-Berichterstattung beeinflussen. Als wesentliche Erkenntnis kann festgehalten werden, dass trotz der hohen Bedeutung die Qualität der mitarbeiterbezogenen Publizität in den Geschäftsberichten eher gering ausfällt. So wird ein nennenswerter Anteil wesentlicher Aspekte in den Berichten überhaupt nicht angesprochen. Vor allem Aspekte, die für eine breite Anzahl von Stakeholdern wichtig sind, werden selten thematisiert. Wesentliche Determinanten der Qualität der Humankapital-Berichterstattung stellen mit der Höhe des Personalaufwands sowie der Bedeutung patentgeschützten Wissens unternehmensbezogene Charakteristika dar.Theory and practice indicate that human capital is crucial for companies' success. However, financial accounting treats investments into human capital as expenses rather than assets appearing on the balance sheet. Hence, verbal explanations are critical for addressees. This paper extents the literature on voluntary disclosure investigating human capital disclosure measured by a disclosure index score of the German HDAX companies. In addition, determinants of human capital disclosure are examined. The results show a rather low reporting quality since many essential aspects are not even mentioned. Particularly, aspects being relevant to a broader range of stakeholders are not covered in annual reports. With regards to the determinants of the reporting quality, a better human capital disclosure is due to the increasing importance of personnel expenses and found in sectors with lower levels of patented knowledge

Finding the missing link between landscape structure and population dynamics: a spatially explicit perspective

We construct and explore a general modeling framework that allows for a systematic investigation of the impact of changes in landscape structure on population dynamics. The essential parts of the framework are a landscape generator with independent control over landscape composition and physiognomy, an individual-based spatially explicit population model that simulates population dynamics within heterogeneous landscapes, and scale-dependent landscape indices that depict the essential aspects of landscape that interact with dispersal and demographic processes. Landscape maps are represented by a grid of 50#50 cells and consist of good-quality, poorquality, or uninhabitable matrix habitat cells. The population model was shaped in accordance to the biology of European brown bears (Ursus arctos), and demographic parameters were adjusted to yield a source-sink configuration. Results obtained with the spatially explicit model do not confirm results of earlier nonspatial source-sink models where addition of sink habitat resulted in a decrease of total population size because of dilution of high-quality habitat. Our landscape indices, which describe scale-dependent correlation between and within habitat types, were able to explain variations in variables of population dynamics (mean number of females with sink home ranges, mean number of females with source home ranges, and mean dispersal distance) caused by different landscape structure. When landscape structure changed, changes in these variables generally followed the corresponding change of an appropriate landscape index in a linear way. Our general approach incorporates source-sink dynamics as well as metapopulation dynamics, and the population model can easily be modified for other species groups

Novel strategies to target the survivin pathway in cancer – interference with nuclear export prevents the tumor promoting activites of survivin : meeting abstract

Survivin functions as an apoptosis inhibitor and a regulator of cell division during development and tumorigenesis. Since survivin is a highly relevant target for tumor therapy, we investigated whether interference with it’s dynamic cellular localization represents a novel strategy to inhibit survivin’s cancer promoting functions. We confirmed survivin overexpression in head and neck as well as in colorectal cancers and identified an evolutionary conserved Crm1-dependent nuclear export signal (NES) in survivin. Importantly, nuclear export was required for survivin mediated protection against chemo- and radiotherapy-induced apoptosis by securing efficient interference with cytoplasmic caspases. In dividing cells, the NES was required for tethering of survivin and of the survivin/Aurora-B kinase complex to the mitotic machinery, which was inevitable for proper cell division. The clinical relevance of our findings was supported by showing that preferential nuclear localization of survivin correlated with enhanced survival in a cohort of colorectal cancer patients. Targeting survivin’s nuclear export by the application of NES-specific antibodies promoted its nuclear accumulation and inhibited its cytoprotective function. We here show that nuclear export is essential for the tumor promoting activities of survivin and encourage the identification of chemical inhibitors to specifically interfere with survivin’s nuclear export as a novel class of anticancer therapeutics

First record of bat-pollination in the species-rich genus Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae)

Background and Aims Bromeliaceae is a species-rich neotropical plant family that uses a variety of pollinators, principally vertebrates. Tillandsia is the most diverse genus, and includes more than one-third of all bromeliad species. Within this genus, the majority of species rely on diurnal pollination by hummingbirds; however, the flowers of some Tillandsia species show some characteristics typical for pollination by nocturnal animals, particularly bats and moths. In this study an examination is made of the floral and reproductive biology of the epiphytic bromeliad Tillandsia macropetala in a fragment of humid montane forest in central Veracruz, Mexico. Methods The reproductive system of the species, duration of anthesis, production of nectar and floral scent, as well as diurnal and nocturnal floral visitors and their effectiveness in pollination were determined. Key Results Tillandsia macropetala is a self-compatible species that achieves a higher fruit production through outcrossing. Nectar production is restricted to the night, and only nocturnal visits result in the development of fruits. The most frequent visitor (75 % of visits) and the only pollinator of this bromeliad (in 96 % of visits) was the nectarivorous bat Anoura geoffroyi (Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae). Conclusions This is the first report of chiropterophily within the genus Tillandsia. The results on the pollination biology of this bromeliad suggest an ongoing evolutionary switch from pollination by birds or moths to bat