Einsatz von Spielmechaniken in Ideenwettbewerben: Einsatzmotive, Wirkungen und Herausforderungen

Kunden generieren, entwickeln und bewerten Ideen für Produkte und Dienstleistungen in Online-Ideenwettbewerben und verhelfen Unternehmen so zu einem entscheidenden Wettbewerbsvorteil. Der Einsatz von Spielmechaniken bietet eine Möglichkeit dieser Herausforderung zu begegnen. Im Rahmen dieser Studie wurden Experten zum Einsatz und zu den gewonnenen Erfahrungen mit Spielmechaniken in Ideenwettbewerben befragt. Spielmechaniken erweisen sich dabei als hilfreiches Instrument, um Motivation und die Qualität der Teilnahme zu beeinflussen. Allerdings zeigen die Erkenntnisse ebenfalls, dass der Einsatz von Spielmechaniken bisher noch wenig fundiert erfolgt, die Messung des Erfolgs verbessert werden kann und der Einsatz von Spielmechaniken Unternehmen und Wissenschaft mit neuen Herausforderungen konfrontiert

Covid-19 triage in the emergency department 2.0: how analytics and AI transform a human-made algorithm for the prediction of clinical pathways

The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed many hospitals to their capacity limits. Therefore, a triage of patients has been discussed controversially primarily through an ethical perspective. The term triage contains many aspects such as urgency of treatment, severity of the disease and pre-existing conditions, access to critical care, or the classification of patients regarding subsequent clinical pathways starting from the emergency department. The determination of the pathways is important not only for patient care, but also for capacity planning in hospitals. We examine the performance of a human-made triage algorithm for clinical pathways which is considered a guideline for emergency departments in Germany based on a large multicenter dataset with over 4,000 European Covid-19 patients from the LEOSS registry. We find an accuracy of 28 percent and approximately 15 percent sensitivity for the ward class. The results serve as a benchmark for our extensions including an additional category of palliative care as a new label, analytics, AI, XAI, and interactive techniques. We find significant potential of analytics and AI in Covid-19 triage regarding accuracy, sensitivity, and other performance metrics whilst our interactive human-AI algorithm shows superior performance with approximately 73 percent accuracy and up to 76 percent sensitivity. The results are independent of the data preparation process regarding the imputation of missing values or grouping of comorbidities. In addition, we find that the consideration of an additional label palliative care does not improve the results

El Mittelstand alemán: datos y reflexiones sobre un modelo de éxito

El éxito de la economía alemana es la respuesta que se ha logrado con el ordenamiento económico-social que introdujo el Prof. Ludwig Erhard bajo la conceptualización de una "economía social de mercado" basada en el desarrollo de la Escuela de Freiburgo. Una de las bases societarias, económicas y empresariales determimantes del éxito económico-social ha sido el desarrollo del Mittelstand, de las empresas medias y pequeñas, en la articulación de una consistente calse media empresarial. El Prof. Kai-Ingo Voigt, Catedrático de la Universidad de Nuremberg ha realizado una magnífica síntesis integral de lo que es, de lo que ha logrado y de los factores que han hecho posible el desarrollo de esta estructuración de la economía alemana en su base fundamental que es el Mittelstand. Esas múltiples empresas medianas, familiares, dinámicas y fuertemente orientadas al desarrollo de las personas en una "visión global", globalizadora que lo ha hecho posible. Una magnífica, comprensiva y aleccionante contribución a lo que debería ser el armazón de las empresas medias españolas, búsqueda del "Mittelstand" español. Esta sería la respuesta a la modernización realista de la sociedad española

Supplier Integration in Industry 4.0 – Requirements and Strategies

Cross-company networking is essential to successfully implement Industry 4.0. In this context, numerous new demands on suppliers arise leading to integration challenges that require specific integration strategies. While these topics are important in business practice, an aggregated holistic overview is still missing. Therefore, this article examines new demands on suppliers, challenges in the implementation process, and integration strategies for supplier integration in the context of Industry 4.0. Expert interviews with 15 different industrial companies from the sectors mechanical and plant engineering, electronics and electrical engineering, automotive, and information and communication technology serve as an empirical basis. This study provides insights into the challenges and strategies of supplier integration, helps academia to understand this topic, and indicates need for future research. Furthermore, this paper develops implications for corporate practice in the area of supplier management

What Drives the Implementation of Industry 4.0? The Role of Opportunities and Challenges in the Context of Sustainability

The implementation of Industry 4.0 has a far-reaching impact on industrial value creation. Studies on its opportunities and challenges for companies are still scarce. However, the high practical and theoretical relevance of digital and connected manufacturing technologies implies that it is essential to understand the underlying dynamics of their implementation. Thus, this study examines the relevance of Industry 4.0-related opportunities and challenges as drivers for Industry 4.0 implementation in the context of sustainability, taking a differentiated perspective on varying company sizes, industry sectors, and the company’s role as an Industry 4.0 provider or user. A research model comprising relevant Industry 4.0-related opportunities and challenges as antecedents for its implementation is hypothesized. In order to test the model, partial least square structural equation modeling is applied for a sample of 746 German manufacturing companies from five industry sectors. The results show that strategic, operational, as well as environmental and social opportunities are positive drivers of Industry 4.0 implementation, whereas challenges with regard to competitiveness and future viability as well as organizational and production fit impede its progress. Moreover, it is shown that the perception of Industry 4.0-related opportunities and challenges as antecedents to Industry 4.0 implementation depends on different company characteristics

Cooperation strategies among SMEs for implementing industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is expected to bring several conversions for industrial value creation, encompassing entire value-added networks. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which play an important role for both the German as well as the European economy, struggle to integrate the concept of Industry 4.0 within their value creation. However, due to the high importance of SMEs for industrial value creation networks, their integration is essential to successfully establish Industry 4.0 across value chains. Several SMEs struggle to obtain the resources required for equipment and machinery or do not possess the required market shares or market access to establish new business models. Large enterprises are often seen as too powerful to be a partner for a SME. Nevertheless, cooperation strategies among SMEs may present a viable alternative to successfully implement Industry 4.0 across the value chain. In this context, literature lacks of a well-founded investigation of this topic. Therefore, this study attempts to close the present the present research gap. Due to the exploratory nature of the underlying topic, we conduct a multiple case study with 68 SMEs in Germany. This paper comes up with cooperation strategies and presents the interviewees’ answers regarding potentials and challenges of common technology purchasing as well as for common business models. Subsequently, we present implications for both research and practice

Designing Activity-based Workspaces – An Analysis of Creativity Enhancers and Inhibitors in Physical Work Environments

Employee creativity is the origin of every innovation and therefore crucial for a company's success. For this reason, the promotion of employee creativity is gaining more and more attention among practitioners and companies are increasingly implementing activity-based workspaces (ABWs) to improve the creative performance of their employees. Based on desk sharing and a mix of open and closed spaces, ABWs allow employees to select optimal working conditions for the task at hand. Nevertheless, literature is divided on whether ABWs effectively promote employee creativity and which ABW elements enhance or inhibit creativity. To close this research gap, we conducted interviews with ABW experts (N = 101). In the experts’ accounts of creativity enhancers and inhibitors, the former were emphasized more strongly. Most of the identified enhancers and inhibitors were related more to the area of human resources and work practices (e.g., territorial flexibility, bustling activity) than physical layout and facilities (e.g., inspirational design, the person-environment fit) and organizational culture and structure (e.g., atmosphere, mindset), which indicates that employees and appropriate ABW use are the crucial factors for promoting creativity, while facilities serve mainly as enablers. These findings offer valuable guidance in designing and developing ABWs to foster employee creativity. Keywords: activity-based workspace, physical work environment, creativity, innovation, qualitative study DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/14-4-01 Publication date: February 28th 202

Sharing information across company borders in industry 4.0

Purpose: Industry 4.0's potentials can only unfold exhaustively if information is shared across company boarders and along supply chains. Exchanging information, however, implies several challenges for companies. This holds especially true if it is transmitted automatically and digitally, as promoted by the concept of Industry 4.0. In response to these challenges, this paper analyzes how information sharing changes in Industry 4.0 contexts. Methodology: Expert interviews with 17 representatives from supply chain management departments of German industrial enterprises provide the study's database. Hereby, the renowned SCOR-model serves as a theoretical foundation to classify the insights gained during the interviews. Findings: The types of information shared in supply chains, changes in the way information is shared, and initiatives to intensify information exchange in Industry 4.0 contexts are identified. These findings are analyzed against the background of the SCOR-dimensions plan, source, make, deliver and return. Originality: Information sharing, a vital basis for intended horizontal and vertical integration within the concept of Industry 4.0 has scarcely been investigated in extant literature