Marketingeffizienzanalyse mittels Efficient Frontier Benchmarking : eine Anwendung der Data Envelopment Analysis

Knappere Budgets bei gleichzeitig steigenden Marketingkosten und wachsenden Kundenanforderungen setzen Unternehmen zunehmend unter Performancedruck. Nachdem in den meisten Unternehmensbereichen Kostensenkungspotenziale bereits ausgeschöpft sind, gewinnt eine stärkere Effizienzorientierung auch im Marketing - und speziell im Vertrieb - an Bedeutung. Manager stehen zunehmend in der Pflicht, den "Return on Marketing", d.h. den Wertbeitrag der Marketingaktivitäten und -instrumente nachzuweisen, um ihre Budgets zu legitimieren. Bislang besteht jedoch ein Mangel an einer einheitlichen und fundierten Methode zur Bestimmung der Performance der Marketingfunktion. Mit der Data Envelopment Analysis wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit ein aus der ökonomischen Produktionstheorie stammendes, universell einsetzbares Verfahren vorgestellt, welches sich gerade für eine Effizienzanalyse im Marketing eignet. Die DEA ermöglicht die Quantifizierung von Effizienzlücken von Marketingeinheiten (z.B. Werbekampagnen, Promotions, Produkten, Marken, Außendienstteams) unter simultaner Berücksichtigung mehrerer Input- und Outputgrößen. Grundlage ist die Schätzung einer Randproduktionsfunktion (Frontier Function), die als Referenzfunktion zur Effizienzbewertung herangezogen wird. Diese gibt an, wie die besten Einheiten Inputs in Outputs transformieren. Sie stellt somit ein ganzes Set potentieller Referenzpunkte bzw. effizienter Strategien dar, aus dem für jede ineffiziente Einheit entsprechend der spezifischen Stärken und Schwächen eine individuelle Referenzeinheit bestimmt wird. Diese dient dazu, die relative Effizienz zu messen, individuelle Zielvorgaben zu ermitteln, Ursachen festgestellter Ineffizienzen aufzudecken sowie Handlungsempfehlungen zur Effizienzsteigerung zu entwickeln. Die Praxistauglichkeit des Verfahrens wird anhand einer Anwendung im Vertrieb eines großen Pharmakonzerns demonstriert

Messung der Werbeeffizienz : eine Untersuchung am Beispiel von Online-Werbung

In neuester Zeit stehen Manager zunehmend in der Pflicht, den „Return on Marketing“, d.h. den Wertbeitrag der Marketingaktivitäten und -instrumente nachzuweisen, um ihre Budgets zu legitimieren. Auch im Werbebereich gehen Verantwortliche mehr und mehr dazu über, die erreichten Werbewirkungen (Outputs) mit den dafür inves-tierten Inputs ins Verhältnis zu setzen, um die Effizienz der Werbung im Sinne des „Return on Advertising“ zu evaluieren und eine effizienzorientierte Budgetierung der Kommunikationsausgaben zu gewährleisten. Der Return der Werbung ist dabei weit zu fassen und darf sich nicht nur auf ökonomische Erfolgsgrößen (etwa in Form induzierter Umsatzerhöhungen) beziehen, sondern muss vor allem psychographische Wirkungen (wie Werbeerinnerung, Einstellung zur Werbung oder ausgelöstes Produktinteresse) umfassen. Daher ist als Vorstufe zur Erreichung einer hohen ökonomischen Effizienz der Werbung eine hohe Werbewirkungseffizienz sicherzustellen.|In dieser Arbeit wird diese Problematik aufgegriffen und mit der Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) ein modernes Verfahren vorgeschlagen, welche sich eignet, eine große Anzahl unterschiedlich skalierter, ökonomischer und qualitativer Input- und Outputfaktoren simultan bei der Bewertung der Werbeeffizienz zu integrieren. Dabei wird der Effizienzgrad der untersuchten Werbemaßnahmen als Abstand zu den Best Advertising Practices quantifiziert, die die eingesetzten Werbeinputs effizient in Werbeoutputs transformieren. Als praktisches Einsatzgebiet der DEA innerhalb des Werbebereichs dient hierbei die Online-Werbung, welche bisher kaum Gegenstand von Effizienzanalysen war und ein nahezu unerschlossenes Problemfeld im Rahmen eines quantitativen Werbecontrolling darstellt. Dabei wird bei der Effizienzbewertung berücksichtigt, dass im Bereich der Online-Werbung die Steigung der Werberesponsefunktion abnimmt, d.h. mit steigenden Inputs die zusätzlich erzielte Werbewirkung nachlässt (wear out-Effekt)

Emergency-call Systems Based on Human Vital and System-technical Parameters in a Smart-home Environment

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Dank der Fortschritte in der Mikrotechnologie und in der Funktechnik ist es heute möglich, besonders zuverlässige Personennotrufsysteme zu realisieren. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden Systeme diskutiert,die im Wohnbereich Einsatz finden und zur Sicherheit und Unabhängigkeit in der gewohnten Umgebung beitragen. Speziell ältere Personen mit Behinderungen, Personen, die bereits durch Stürze oder Unfälle verunsichert sind, und hochbetagte Alleinstehende benötigen im Notfall schnelle Hilfe. Es wird der Stand der Technik bei Notrufverfahren unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Nutzens für ältere Menschen beschrieben. Bisherige Systeme verwenden fast ausschließlich einen sogenannten Funkfinger, mit dem ein Alarm manuell ausgelöst werden kann, was sich bei manchen Notfall-Situationen jedoch als nicht genügend zuverlässig erweist. Als Alternative oder auch Ergänzung werden daher Systeme vorgeschlagen,die einen Notfall automatisch durch Messen und Auswerten von Vitalparametern erfassen und selbsttätig einen Alarm auslösen können. Ergänzend dazu lassen sich in einer Smart-Home-Umgebung mit vernetzten Komponenten weitere Parameter (sogenannte Umwelt-Parameter) zur Notrufentscheidung verwenden.Dabei zeigt sich, daß die Erkennung einer Notfallsituation um so zuverlässiger wird, je mehr Einzelparameter man zur Entscheidung heranzieht.Progress in microtechnology and radio transmission technology has enabled the development of highly reliable emergency-call systems.The present article describes systems that have been specially designed to improve the safety and independence of handicapped and elderly persons living at home. For such persons immediate help in an emergency situation is of crucial importance. The technical state of the art of emergency-call systems specially developed for use by the elderly, is briefly discussed, in particular the well-known radio emergency-call button, with the aid of which an alarm canbe activated manually. This system, however, does not offer adequate safety in all emergency situations. Alternative or complementary systems designed to automatically trigger an alarm on the basis of the recording and evaluation of so-called vital parameters, are therefore proposed. In addition, in a smart-home environment with networked devices, further parameters - so-called environment parameters can be used. It is found that the identification of an emergency situation becomes more reliable as the number of parameters employed increases

Hazards and vulnerability in modern societies – using the example of a large-scale outage in the electricity supply. Summary

In modern, highly technical societies based on the division of labour, the supply of the population with (vital) goods and services is carried out by a highly developed, closely interwoven network of "critical infrastructures". These include information technology and telecommunications, transport and traffic, energy supply and health care. These are highly vulnerable due to their internal complexity and great interdependence. Terrorist attacks, natural disasters or particularly serious accidents have not only in the past decade made it clear what far-reaching consequences the impairment or failure of critical infrastructures can have for the social system as a whole. Due to the almost complete penetration of the living and working environment with electrically operated devices, the consequences of a prolonged and widespread power blackout would add up to a damage situation of special quality. All critical infrastructures would be affected, and a collapse of society as a whole could hardly be prevented. Despite this potential danger and catastrophe, society\u27s risk awareness is only rudimentary

Gas Phase Reaction of Silane with Water at Different Temperatures and Supported by Plasma

The interaction of silane and water is discussed controversially in literature: some authors suggest monosilane and water react kinetically and sufficiently fast enough to remove water, while others state the reaction occurs only at elevated temperatures. This question is of technological interest for the removal of unavoidable water residues in Ar gases. Thermodynamic calculations show that virtually complete removal of water is expected with superstoichiometric silane addition. However, mass spectrometric and infrared spectroscopic experiments give evidence that the addition of monosilane to such an Ar gas at room temperature is unable to remove residual water, which disagrees with some current hypotheses in the literature. This holds even for very high SiH4 concentrations up to 2 vol.-%. Silane reacts with water above temperatures of 555 °C, initiated by the thermal decomposition of silane. A cold dielectric barrier discharge-plasma used for silane and water dissociation enhances reactivity similar to elevated temperatures. Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy points toward silanol generation at temperatures between 400 and 550 °C, while quadrupole mass spectrometry indicates the creation of SiOH+, SiHOH+, SiH2OH+, and SiH3OH+. Cold plasmas generate smaller amounts of SiOH+, SiHOH+, and SiH2OH+ compared to elevated temperatures. Reaction products are hydrogen and nanoscaled particles of non-stoichiometric silicon oxides. The silicon-oxide particles produced differ in elemental composition and shape depending on the prevailing water content during decomposition: SiOx generated with residual water appears with relatively smooth surfaces, while the addition of water supports the formation of significantly rougher particle surfaces. Higher initial water contents correlate with higher oxygen contents of the particles

Laboratory alcohol self-administration experiments do not increase subsequent real-life drinking in young adult social drinkers

BACKGROUND: While the utility of experimental free-access alcohol self-administration paradigms is well established, little data exist addressing the question of whether study participation influences subsequent natural alcohol consumption. We here present drinking reports of young adults before and after participation in intravenous alcohol self-administration studies. METHODS: Timeline Follow-back drinking reports for the 6 weeks immediately preceding the first, and the 6 weeks after the last experimental alcohol challenge were examined from subjects completing 1 of 2 similar alcohol self-administration paradigms. In study 1, 18 social drinkers (9 females, mean age 24.1 years) participated in 3 alcohol self-infusion sessions up to a maximum blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 160 mg%. Study 2 involved 60 participants (30 females, mean age 18.3 years) of the Dresden Longitudinal Study on Alcohol Use in Young Adults (D-LAYA), who participated in 2 sessions of alcohol self-infusion up to a maximum BAC of 120 mg%, and a nonexposed age-matched control group of 42 (28 females, mean age 18.4 years) subjects. RESULTS: In study 1, participants reported (3.7%) fewer heavy drinking days as well as a decrease of 2.5 drinks per drinking day after study participation compared to prestudy levels (p < 0.05, respectively). In study 2, alcohol-exposed participants reported 7.1% and non-alcohol-exposed controls 6.5% fewer drinking days at poststudy measurement (p < 0.001), while percent heavy drinking days and drinks per drinking day did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that participation in intravenous alcohol self-administration experiments does not increase subsequent real-life drinking of young adults

Prevention of colitis-associated cancer by selective targeting of immunoproteasome subunit LMP7

Chronic inflammation is a well-known risk factor in development of intestinal tumorigenesis, although the exact mechanisms underlying development of colitis-associated cancer (CAC) still remain obscure. The activity and function of immunoproteasome has been extensively analyzed in the context of inflammation and infectious diseases. Here, we show that the proteasomal immunosubunit LMP7 plays an essential role in development of CAC. Mice devoid of LMP7 were resistant to chronic inflammation and formation of neoplasia, and developed virtually no tumors after AOM/DSS treatment. Our data reveal that LMP7 deficiency resulted in reduced expression of pro-tumorigenic chemokines CXCL1, CXCL2 and CXCL3 as well as adhesion molecule VCAM-1. As a consequence, an impaired recruitment and activity of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes resulting in decreased secretion of cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α was observed. Further, the deletion or pharmacological inhibition of LMP7 and consequent blockade of NF-κB abrogated the production of IL-17A, which possesses a strong carcinogenic activity in the gut. Moreover, in vivo administration of the selective LMP7 inhibitor ONX-0914 led to a marked reduction of tumor numbers in wild-type (WT) mice. Collectively, we identified the immunoproteasome as a crucial mediator of inflammation-driven neoplasia highlighting a novel potential therapeutic approach to limit colonic tumorigenesis

Influences of Extraction Techniques on the Quality of Measured Quantities of Pedestrian Characteristics

For the proper understanding and modelling of pedestrian dynamics, reliable empirical data are necessary. Trajectories of every person with a high temporal and spatial resolution allow a detailed analysis of movement as well as the calibration and verification of microscopic models in space and time.To extract individual trajectories on a microscopic level different techniques have been developed de- pending on miscellaneous requirements. In this paper we analyse how the quality of quantities like velocity or density depend on the technique chosen to track pedestrians. For this purpose, errors due to perspective distortion, use of markers, type of markers, and other conditions will be scrutinized.It turns out that the usage of imaging systems like cameras give currently the best results and that marker particularly structured marker for detecting a person in a crowd obtain the most accurate trajectory especially if the height of the person is coded by the marker or the distance to the camera is measured otherwise. To minimize the errors resulting from the perspective view a small angle of view and thus high mounted cameras should be used for capturing the whole area of interest. The small angle of view also decreases the risk of occlusion and lens systems for large focal lengths usually have a smaller optical distortion error

Particle Mass Concentrations and Number Size Distributions in 40 Homes in Germany : Indoor-to-outdoor Relationships, Diurnal and Seasonal Variation

Few studies investigated residential particle concentration levels with a full picture of aerosol particles from 10 mu m to 10 mu m size range with size-resolved information, and none was performed in central Europe in the long-term in multiple homes. To capture representative diurnal and seasonal patterns of exposure to particles, and investigate the driving factors to their variations, measurements were performed in 40 homes for around two weeks each in Leipzig and Berlin, Germany. These over 500 days' measurements combined PM10 and PM2. 5 mass concentrations, particle number concentration and size distribution (PNC and PNSD, 10-800 nm), CO2 concentration, and residential activities diary into a unique dataset. Natural ventilation was dominated, the mean ventilation rate calculated from CO2 measurements was 0.2 h(-1) and 3.7 h(-1) with closed and opened windows, respectively. The main findings of this study showed that, the residents in German homes were exposed to a significantly higher mass concentration of coarse particles than outdoors, thus indoor exposure to coarse particles cannot be described by outdoors. The median indoor PNC diurnal cycles were generally lower than outdoors (median I/O ratio 0.69). However, indoor exposure to particles was different in the cold and warm season. In the warm season, due to longer opening window periods, indoor sources' contribution was weakened, which also resulted in the indoor PNC and PNSD being very similar to the outdoors. In the cold season, indoor sources caused strong peaks of indoor PNC that exceeded outdoors, along with the relatively low penetration factor - 0.5 for all size ranges, and indoor particle losses, which was particularly effective in reducing the ultrafine PNC, resulting in a different particle exposure load than outdoors. This study provides a detailed understanding of residential particle exposure in multiple homes, facilitating future studies to assess health effects in residential environments.Peer reviewe