Academic Year 2016/17

Author: Adele Theiler, BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

This master thesis deals with the anomaly of excess stock returns after earnings announcements, widely known as the post-earnings announcement drift (PEAD). Earnings are one of the most important numbers available to investors and thus earnings information should be reflected in stock prices if markets are efficient. However, firms with a positive earnings surprise tend to have higher returns whereas firms with a negative earnings surprise suffer from returns lower than predicted for about 6 months after an earnings announcement. In an efficient capital market such an observation would be impossible since the prices would adjust rapidly to the earnings news and return movements would be independent of previous earnings announcements. The PEAD is a very famous anomaly since it has not disappeared after its discovery. The thesis explains the effect in detail as well as giving an overview of the event study methodology, which is the standard procedure of analysing the PEAD. As a comparison to the event study the few existing experiments on the matter are also described. The main part of the thesis is concerned with the literature on the explanations on the PEAD that have been suggested thus far. Different theories have been developed throughout the years to explain the PEAD and yet no prevalent theory exists. Among other factors the most important ones are: risk-based explanations, underreaction to autocorrelation in earnings, information uncertainty, limits to arbitrage, behavioural biases, liquidity, inflation and accounting measures. Especially autocorrelation in earnings proposed by Bernard and Thomas (1989) and information uncertainty by Francis et al. (2007) have gained popularity in explaining the PEAD. The last section of the thesis reviews other financial anomalies and their connection to the PEAD as well as related issues. Eventually, further research and new, perhaps behavioural approaches are required to resolve the PEAD puzzle.

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Author: Ines Wöckl, BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

This thesis analyzes performance attribution as it applies to single currency fixed-income portfolios. The aim is to provide a compact overview of existing fixed-income performance attribution models and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages as well as their suitability for different investment scenarios. At first, the thesis highlights the distinguishing characteristics of fixed-income securities and explores the basic requirements for an accurate performance attribution analysis. The thesis then briefly introduces the most important equity performance attribution approaches. A sound understanding of these methodologies is very important, since many fixed-income performance attribution models evolved out of the intuitive equity attribution approaches. In a detailed central chapter, the thesis describes the unique requirements for fixed-income performance attribution and examines the main bond return components. Additionally, the two basic types of fixed-income performance attribution methodologies, sector-based and factor-based performance attribution, are explored in detail. In the empirical part of the thesis the results of three sector-based attribution models applied to a sample portfolio and benchmark are analyzed from the point of view of a portfolio manager at a small to medium-sized investment firm. The results show that different performance attribution methodologies lead to largely diverging results for the same portfolio. The implications for strategy amendment and portfolio manager remuneration also vary considerably depending on the model used. In conclusion, the thesis highlights the importance of using a performance attribution approach that incorporates the unique fixed-income performance drivers and is representative of the active investment process of the manager under evaluation. Only then will the fixed-income performance attribution analysis deliver reliable results.

Autor: Patrick Mellacher, B.A. (Econ.) M.Sc. (Econ.)

Study Program: Political and Empirical Economics

Abstract:

The main focus of this thesis is to find out if and to what degree neoliberal ideology influenced the design of the German pension reform 2001. The reform led on the one hand to a cut in the pension levels and on the other hand to the introduction of state-subsidised private pension schemes. To separate economic necessity and neoliberal ideology, the discussions about the reform, its implementation and its effects are analysed using economic models and empirics. Furthermore, statements from the SPD and their officials about the (then planned) reform are analysed to search for the emergence of neoliberal concepts in the party. To better answer the research question, six theses about neoliberalism are presented in the beginning to be tested later on. Throughout the thesis a lot of evidence is collected that hints to a large ideological influence on the design of the reform. It is undisputed that the German pension system faced a lot of challenges prior to the reform. In the discussions an imminent rise in the costs of the younger generations played a huge role. Because the non-wage labour costs were seen as an obstacle to higher employment, however, the employers were not required to contribute directly to the new private pension schemes. This led to a situation where the working generations had to face even larger costs for their pension insurance in total after the reform than before. Furthermore, the average returns on the private pension schemes were and are very small, which can be traced back partly to the design of the reform in which the principle of “individual responsibility” played a huge role. As it is shown in the thesis, it is therefore hard to find workers who benefit from the reform. Winners, however, were companies in general (because of the limitation of non-wage labour costs) and the finance and insurance industry in particular (because of the high costs of the new pension schemes).

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Author: Nadja Schattleitner, BSc MSc MSc

Study Program: Business Admnistration

Abstract:

Today businesses and Social Media are more diverse than ever before. On the one hand, this diversity influences the development of society; on the other hand, it also entails changes in Communication Behaviour. Currently Weblogs, already described as dead web-matter, are experiencing a new renaissance. Through high-quality contributions, Corporate Blogs offer the opportunity to interact with different groups of addressees, to communicate up-to-date information and, moreover, to actively manage Customer Knowledge. Therefore, this master thesis asks the research question of how Corporate Blogs can be used to improve Customer Communication and what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks of Corporate Blogs for a company’s Customer Knowledge Management. In order to provide a general understanding, an insight into the subject matter of Web 2.0 is given. Subsequently, the possibilities of an interactive Knowledge Management in External Corporate Communication are clarified. In particular, the company's Customer Knowledge Management and Customer Communication will be discussed. Furthermore, the history of Corporate Blogging is described and the importance of the Social Media Instrument Corporate Blog is shown. The empirical part of this master thesis provides information on how companies can use blogs as an eCKM- Tool in External Corporate Communication. Based on a content analysis, communication-relevant possibilities of corporate blogs are presented. By using a SWOT-Analysis, the potential of Corporate Blogs is shown.

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Author: Gerald Glaser, BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

Current megatrends, such as demographic change, have a huge impact on a wide range of industries. To a certain extent, the voluntary sector needs to adjust to changes in its structure of employees in the future. NPOs, which in any case are faced with a critical financing situation, also depend heavily on voluntary helpers whose acquisition (at least to a large extent) can not be carried out through traditional job vacancies. The health and social sector in particular plays a special role in this field, since the ratio of full-time employees to voluntary workers is almost one, and in this sector especially the area of elder care follows other rules than, for example, the area of paramedics. This is also accompanied by other motives regarding the donation of time. A presentation of different segmentation criteria, on the basis of which donations can be differentiated, is intended to clarify what can be understood under these aspects. As far as the donors are concerned, it is analyzed who can be considered as such at all. For this purpose, the literature provides many definitions but the contents of them are sometimes very different. The research on this topic is carried out by means of a partly structured guideline in the form of a personal survey. Using the Volunteer Functions Inventory as well as further motifs from the literature, the most important motives for a voluntary activity in the elderly sector are examined. The results show that the internalization is the main motivation. The results with regard to the also investigated framework conditions demonstrate that in this context, the approach of potential voluntary employees, by means of a positive word of mouth of the already engaged, represents the most effective method of acquiring.

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Author: Florian Langmann, BA BSc MA MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

Based upon an extensive analysis of the existing literature on cultural economics, the present master’s thesis investigates the particularities of the trade in art and the problems these particularities entail. Further, it provides suggestions how these problems could be mitigated by use of governance mechanisms. Works of art display complex and unique features, a fact that makes their evaluation very complicated. As a consequence, most collectors rely on the advice of art market experts to determine the quality and appropriate price of an artwork. The relation between collectors on the one hand and experts on the other is thus characterized by a high degree of asymmetric information. Because the incentives for art experts to exploit their informational advantage opportunistically are substantial, the art market is regularly afflicted with scandals. Five large-scale scandals that shook the art world in recent years are presented and analyzed in detail to give the reader a better understanding of the potential scope of art crime. Since neither market participants nor regulatory authorities seem to be bothered enough about the status quo to undertake any corrective measures, the aim of this thesis is to show how governance mechanisms could help to increase the efficiency of the trade in art. To achieve this aim, a closer look is taken on corporate scandals as they receive greater attention from both regulators and academics. Here, the scandal caused by the energy company Enron is of particular interest as it presents not only one of the biggest corporate scandals of all time but also triggered the most far-reaching reform of the corporate governance system to date. The provisions included in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed by US Congress in 2002 as a response to Enron, are examined to deduce recommendations on the application of governance mechanisms in the market for art.

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Author: Simona Hermus, BA BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

According to recent studies, women are underrepresented in the first management level of the Austrian companies. However there is a lack of research on the percentage of women in the second management level in Austria and on the reasons for the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, especially on the level of the Austrian federal states. This master thesis aims at closing these research gaps by analyzing the numerical representation of women in leadership positions in the top 100 companies of Styria in terms of revenue as well as by discussing the reasons for the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions from the perspective of the HR managers. For this purpose a telephone survey with the HR managers of the top 100 companies of Styria in terms of revenue is conducted. The results of the survey show that women are strongly underrepresented in the first and in the second management level of the top 100 Styrian companies. Based on these findings, it can be assumed that women are not only hindered by the so called “glass ceiling” after the second management level but that there are also barriers before the second management level that impede women in their career development. Additionally women work in committees more often than in single power positions and they are more often involved in the support than in the P&L functional areas of the Styrian companies, which supports the theory of the “glass walls”. The surveyed HR managers consider the lack of qualified women, the difficulty of balancing family and work and women’s lack of leadership traits as the major reasons for the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in Styria. Thus, the results of the empirical study support the theoretical approaches of the trait theory, the pipeline argument and the human capital theory.

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Author: Martin Gutjahr, BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

The problem of scheduling jobs and machines in flexible manufacturing systems has been addressed in a vast amount of complex variations in scientific papers. One of the big issues in this category of problems is, that even very basic variations of the problems connected with such systems are NP-complete. Most papers focus on trying to schedule the jobs on the machines optimally. This thesis tries to approach the underlying problem from an entirely different perspective: The schedule of jobs at each stage is considered given, only the amount and starting times of transportation vehicles can be varied. In addition to the constraint of the jobs being in a set order, the transportation vehicles are only allowed to follow a set circuit, visiting all the machines in the order in which the jobs need to be processed, in order to finally return to the depot and start a new lap. For the means of solving this problem, a heuristical approach is made: an Iterative Local Search for a two-dimensional objective function minimizing the amount of machines and the makespan. This heuristic is then applied in two ways, with differences in the perturbation phase. In addition to the general heuristical approach, a Brute Force algorithm is used to solve a test case, enabling a comparison between the solutions and run-times of the heuristics and an approach that returns the optimal solution. The heuristic variations and the brute force algorithm were implemented using Python.  

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Author: Dr. Matthias Duller, MA

Study Program: Sociology

Abstract:

This article thesis contributes to the literature on Cold War social science, which deals with the causal implications of the Cold War on the development of the social sciences after 1945. It comprises four historical-sociological studies in which the social sciences in Western democracies and in real socialism are compared. (1) “Area studies, history of” covers the emergence of interdisciplinary area studies in the USA that was closely linked to the rising aspirations of the USA of becoming a leading power in the world. These developments are contrasted with the emergence of area studies in the Soviet Union that had started 20 earlier. (2) ”Internationalization of Cold War systems analysis“ deals with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), where hundreds of scientists from countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain cooperated in research on global problems. The article contains a sociological explanation of the methodological innovations taking place at IIASA in the field of systems analysis. (3) “Regime and Sociology” ventures a systematic comparison of institutionalization patterns of sociology in 25 European countries, 1945-1968, with Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). Successful and inhibited institutionalization is explained by the interplay of five historical conditions, including: political regime, continuity of an older sociological tradition, enticement and fertilization effects of culturally similar neighboring countries and Catholicism. Finally, (4) “Yugoslav sociology” uses a case study to deal with the problem of autonomy of social science disciplines. Contrasting Yugoslavia with Scandinavian and East European countries, the article concludes that sociology could exist as an autonomous and critical discipline despite Yugoslavia’s single-party regime.

Author: Mag. Dr. Otto Bodi-Fernandez

Study Program: Sociology

Abstract:

The study deals with the impact of social inequality on the everyday life of children in modernized societies. Styria was chosen as research area with the state capital Graz and its rural surroundings. The study is intended as a contribution to the "new" approaches of childhood research, which focuses on children's perspective. For the description and analysis of social inequality the concept of life circumstances is applied. In contrast to traditional class or stratification approaches, which describe social structures primarily via occupational and economic dimensions, this is a multi-dimensional concept that also includes non-economic dimensions and focuses on both objective as well as subjective variables. The research objectives are (1) to provide a general presentation of the lifeworlds of children from their own perspective in different areas of life such as family, friends, school or leisure; (2) the investigation of the links between social structure, dimensions of life circumstances and childhood wellbeing as different aspects of the overall life situation of children and (3) the study of interactions between social structure and dimensions of life circumstance and their impact on childhood wellbeing. The target group of the study were Styrian children at lower school age, who were recruited via different school types. A total of 1,756 children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 15 were interviewed in the nine participating schools. The survey was carried out by means of questionnaires, which included different dimensions of the three levels of social structure, life circumstances and subjectively experienced consequences in the life areas of family, school, leisure and peers as well as personality traits of the children and other questions.

Authors: Dominic Marold, BSc MSc und Michael Mochart, BSc BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

Nowadays, an efficient warehouse logistics system is crucial for companies for being competitive. Blue Tomato, a sporting goods selling company with strong e-commerce business, faces this challenge as well and wants to increase the functionality of its warehouse logistics system, which is done manually by an order picking process. To improve the warehouse performance, there are two major tasks to be investigated: the order batching and the picker routing problem. This thesis deals with the order batching problem, whereas our partner thesis of Hampersberger (2016) focuses on the routing problem. In general, this thesis deals with an order batching algorithm in a non-standard warehouse with two floors in a real-world situation. Different orders are assigned into groups that allow advantageous picker routing tours, thus minimizing the total route distance to cover. One of the main challenges, beside the non-standard layout of the warehouse, is the fact that most products are stored on several (sometimes numerous) different storage locations. The result of our work is a sophisticated solution process, the so called “Gun-Shot-Optimization” (GSO) algorithm, which works by "shooting" an order with the storage locations of its products into the warehouse and then trying to find other orders that consist of storage locations in a close spatial neighborhood of the first order. These orders will be grouped into a picklist (or order batch). The neighborhood is described by zones that are developed individually for every picklist on a dynamic and intelligent basis. Numerical tests demonstrated that results provided by our GSO-algorithm in combination with the routing algorithm of Hampersberger (2016) consistently outperform solutions created by the currently used Blue Tomato picklist generating and routing process between 33.1% and 34.4% on average. This can be seen as a significant improvement of the warehouse logistics system.

Author: Johannes Leopold Kapsamer, Bakk. MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

Change is an inevitable, constant factor in history as well as in the presence. This affects especially economies and in this way companies, representing the center of the economic world. For supporting the planning, implementation and stabilization of an intended change in companies, several models for an incremental management of change have been developed. Throughout this thesis, one of these models will be focused on and should be applied for the strategic development of the Sales Department of the furniture manufacturer Joka-Werke Johann Kapsamer GmbH & Co KG. Concerning this matter the theoretical basics will be initially discussed and four promising models will be compared with each other. After examining the intern and extern environment of the company, the best fitting process model is picked by using a use-value analysis. Following this, the model will be specifically applied for the intended change in the Sales Department of the company. By attending the company throughout the changing process, it’s possible to give design recommendations for the future leading and organizational structure of the Sales Department of the discussed company. To verify the usability of this model for the Sales Department of a furniture manufacturer, the success of the changing process will be measured by an evaluation in consideration of the field staff. In assistance of this evaluation, advice for the further progress can be given, particularly valuable steps of the model can be highlighted and opportunities as well as risks regarding the changing process can be responded to. Subsequently, farther analysis of the changing process in the company allows giving recommendations for the application of the changing model in a comparable context.

Author: Johanna Santner, BA BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

The concept of Integrated Reporting (IR) is currently discussed as a new form of reporting for companies. IR should help to develop corporate reporting as well as improve the quality of available information by combining all key financial and non-financial performance indicators in one report, and communicating the interdependences between them. The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the development of the <IR> Framework promote this new approach. Introductorily, this thesis illustrates the current state of empirical research and aims to explain the concept of IR. Furthermore, it gives an insight into the development, the benefits and the consequences of IR. Studies have revealed that often firm-specific determinants influence the implementation of IR and that there are positive economic consequences associated with it. The main part of this thesis is the presentation of a study on the implementation level of the content elements of the <IR> Framework based on Austrian listed companies. The study reveals that content elements such as ‘Organizational overview and external environment‘ and ‘Risks and opportunities’ are high, whereas ‘Outlook’ and ‘Strategy and resource allocation‘ are less considered in the annual business reports. Besides, an additional study analyses whether firm-specific determinants (company size, profitability, ownership structure, business sector) are associated with the implementation level of IR. The outcome shows that the determinants company size, profitability and ownership structure do not have an impact on the implementation level for financial firms. Contrarily, there is a positive association between the implementation level, the company size and the ownership structure for non-financial companies.

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Author: Sarah Andrea Reifbäck, BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

Corporate crises are a major challenge for the management staff of a company. The key factors to prevent or handle crises are a good crisis management and an efficient crisis communication. A transparent communication in a crisis situation with the current and potential investors is of special importance. They gather their information from ad-hoc announcements, media and the annual report of the company concerned. Since annual reports are subject to audits, they are the preferred information source. Therefore, there is the requirement to analyze how companies represent the crisis occurred in the annual report. Thus, it is important to determine how measures to cope with the crisis, its impacts and risks are described. Furthermore, it is important to investigate whether the risk of such a crisis is already mentioned in the annual report one year before the crisis occurs. The result of the carried out investigation is that the representation in the annual report depends on the type of crisis. If the crisis occurs suddenly, there will be a specific section, which focuses on the crisis, especially on measures and effects. However, crises not occurring suddenly will be described in the general parts of the annual report. The explanation of the risks resulting from the crisis is insufficiently as most companies are not able to estimate them due to high uncertainties. A consideration of the risk of such a crisis one year before entering is hardly made and depends again on the type of crisis. Considering the results of the analysis it can be stated that companies, which are affected by a crisis, represent the measures and the effect transparently. The mention of the risks is inadequate although this would be of great interest for the investors and other stakeholders.

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Author: Martina Pfarrhofer, BA MA

Study Program: Global Studies

Abstract:

This master’s thesis provides an interdisciplinary and broad overview of economic and social challenges of our time as well as feasible solutions. While the current economic system focuses on growth, especially on increasing a few economic indicators, changes in the environment become more and more obvious. Some pools of global material cycles shift and topics like climate change or the extinction of species have been discussed in a more critical light. In order to establish a correlation between these phenomena of the economic and ecological system Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory is used for this master’s thesis. According to this theory, the relation between the current economic system and the ecological system will be analyzed with regard to the prevailing growth paradigm. To do so, this master’s thesis consists of three main parts: The first one describes relevant aspects of Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory. Additionally, the economic and ecological system will be introduced in order to provide basic information for later correlations. The second part is dedicated to an interference analysis of both, the economic and ecological, systems. This analysis describes how the two open systems are linked to each other, although they are two differentiated systems. Moreover, it shows how the systems interact and influence each other. In conclusion, the analysis reveals that there are destructive tensions between the two systems which might and should lead to different reactions. Therefore, the third part of this master’s thesis not only sheds light on several approaches to resolve the above mentioned tensions but also illustrates the latter by using practical examples. These approaches and examples also follow the principles of the systems theory.

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Author: Dr. Peter Krenn, MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

This doctoral thesis investigates the impact of taxes on incentives and compensation of managers who are in an agency relationship with firm owners. The first part summarizes and evaluates results of prior literature where agency models are used to research this topic. The literature review shows that so far researchers have investigated the impact of corporate income taxes, wage taxes, bonus taxes, and shareholder taxes on decisions regarding compensation design, investments and capital structure, tax avoidance, and transfer pricing. The second part of this thesis investigates the impact of international differences of wage taxation on the firms’ competition for highly skilled human resources, like CEOs. For this purpose, the paper uses an agency model. It shows that a sufficiently high tax rate differential affects a CEO’s hiring decision. This result indicates that countries are able to attract a highly qualified workforce by appropriate tax incentives. The last part of the thesis addresses the question of how managers’ characteristics as well as their incentives, corporate tax avoidance, and tax compliance are interrelated. The theoretical analysis shows that compliance activities such as the implementation and maintenance of a ‘Tax Compliance Management System’ (TCMS) may have a positive impact on the level of corporate tax avoidance. Moreover, the managers’ personal characteristics affect crucially corporate tax avoidance behavior and the quality of a TCMS.

Author: Jasmin Christa Degen, BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

Research and development costs are necessary investments in company’s future earnings, which are becoming more and more important in view of the service and technological society of today. Therefore their accounting standards play a substantial role in the external accounting and their addressees. The international accounting standards require the separation between research and development costs. Development costs are recognized as an intangible asset only if all the criteria for recognition of IAS 38.57 are met. Due to the scope for interpretation regarding these criteria, there is a de facto option to capitalize. This room in interpretation can be used by the management for the desired presentation of the company’s situation. Empirical studies within German-speaking areas, which are 8–13 years old, identify industry-typical behaviour. As investments in this area have grown strongly over the last few years, the values typical of the industry might be out-of-date. To get a current image, the master thesis analyses financial reports of Austrian listed companies over the period 2011–2015. At the beginning the accounting standards concerning research and development are presented in detail. The following part deals with the scope for interpretation regarding the capitalization of development expenditures and the accounting policy effects as well as the accounting practice. The focus of this thesis is centred on the analysis of financial reports, which include an extensive evaluation of key figures and an analysis of certain disclosures in the notes. It might be unexpected that the capitalization of development costs has increased from 2013 onwards, which was the year of the introduction of the enforcement process. The results of this study are only partially identical to the results of preceding studies.

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Author: Dr. Maximilian Gödl, M.A. (Econ.)

Study Program: Economics

Abstract:

This dissertation deals with three issues of public debt that emerged during the recent financial and economic crisis in the Eurozone. It first investigates the question whether the interest rates on government bonds in a monetary union are determined by economic fundamentals or market sentiments. For this purpose it uses event study techniques to analyze the reaction of long-term government interest rates to different categories of news about changes in fundamentals. It concludes that there is a significant reaction to some such events, but that there is no tight empirical link between changes in fundamentals and interest rates that is stable across countries. The second part of the dissertation addresses the question how the sustainability of government finances can be assessed empirically. It develops and estimates an empirical model of government debt that is able to characterize the probability distribution of the debt-GDP ratio at any future date. For the case of Austria, debt projections based on this model indicate that the increase in the debt–GDP ratio that occurred in the aftermath of the Eurozone crisis should be seen as a transitory tail event rather than a sign of long-run unsustainability. The third issue concerns the transmission of government default risk to the rest of economy. The dissertation studies this issue by building a business cycle model with a financial sector that holds government bonds as collateral. In this model, an increase in the probability of default can lead both to a credit crunch and a decline in output. It shows that, when calibrated to Eurozone data, the model is able to explain some key stylized facts of the Eurozone crisis.

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Author: Mag. Dr. Michaela Hohenwarter

Study Program: Business Administration

Abstract:

Although demographers have been interested in studying the transition from traditional to modern demographic conditions (first demographic transition) since the beginning of the 1930s, there is still a lack of studies on disaggregated patterns of skilled workers in rural areas. The identification of these patterns, which were influenced by profession and religion, contributes to an enhanced understanding of the mechanisms behind the transition of the social class of woodcutters in Austrian national forests. Therefore, the study investigates the development of a certain rural population during the first demographic transition with an emphasis on the decline in fertility. On the basis of this analysis preliminary hypotheses on the class difference between farmers and state-owned woodcutters will be tested. The study uses data from the Pfarrregister (parish register) of Frein an der Mürz from 1880 to 1938. The statistical analysis on the micro level makes comparisons between socially different rural groups during the modernization process possible. The results confirm only partly the assumption that there were differences between the rural groups of farmers and state woodcutters in terms of demographic change. Profession and religion were not the most dominant influences. The observed patterns rather suggest that the transfer of fertility is generally due to innovation diffusion and adaptation to new socio-economic conditions.

Author: Patrick Harg, BSc MSc

Study Program: Business Education and Development

Abstract:

Handling with money, life risks and loan as well as the asset growth and the retirement provision, are parts of financial literacy. Due to economic and social developments, the importance of this topic increased over time, so it is necessary to advance students’ financial literacy. The recent teaching of economics is contributing less to this advancement. It focuses just on cognitive aspects. Instead of that, it is necessary to teach financial literacy under emotional, motivational and volitional aspects to encourage students to manage financial challenges. These non-cognitive aspects are relevant in the context of self-competence. In this connection, the following research question arises: What influence has self-competence on financial literacy and what are the implications for the arrangement of teaching economics? First, the term financial literacy will be discussed and differentiated from other terms. Based on the terminologies and the results of diverse studies, the contents of financial literacy are described and integrated into economic education. In this process, multiple perspectives are considered. In the following section of this master thesis, the impacts of self-efficacy expectations, motivation, goals, self-esteem and identities on financial literacy are described. These factors are components of the self-competence. Based on the findings, the requirements for the arrangement of teaching economics are characterized. For this purpose, implications for the teacher-student relation and for the subject matter are presented. There are consequences for the handling with motivation, the self-reflection and the teaching methods. These aspects are considered in the concluding case study, which can be used in business courses to advance financial literacy.

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Author: Bettina Anna Scheiber, Bakk. MSc

Study Program: Business Education and Development

Abstract:

Industry 4.0, one of the headwords at the beginning of the 21st century, confronts companies and their employees with different challenges. Developments, like the growing technologization and interconnection, keep entering the companies and face employees with new requests. To remain competitive on the market, the companies have to deal with the new parameters and start getting active. This master thesis investigates the question, which measures of human resource development can support employees in the best manner on the way to Industry 4.0. First an introduction of the concept Industry 4.0 as well as its development in Germany and Austria will be given, to be able to show the different aspects of Industry 4.0, like cyber-physical systems and big data in a next step. To demonstrate the broadness of personnel development in companies, the following chapter starts with a conceptual definition and a view on the development of this division in companies. Further on human resource development is characterized based on five different research and design contexts. In the last chapter human resource development is shown in the context of Industry 4.0. First the challenges for human resource development, like technologization, complexity, demographic change and the call for lifelong learning, are explained. The following part focusses on the requests for employees, which are displayed as competences, for example the technological competence, the information literacy and the health literacy. Based on the findings of this master’s thesis, different measures of human resource development, which are particularly well suited to support employees on the way to Industry 4.0, are identified.

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