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Datenmodelle sind ein zentraler Bestandteil betrieblicher Informationssysteme. In der Praxis eingesetzte Datenmodelle erreichen oft eine erhebliche Komplexität. Eine Möglichkeit zur Reduktion der Komplexität besteht darin, gleiche oder ähnliche Teilstrukturen zu identifizieren. Durch Ausnutzung solcher Strukturanalogien kann dann das Datenmodell vereinheitlicht und vereinfacht werden. Ziel dieses Aufsatzes ist es, die bestehenden Ansätze zur Definition, Identifikation und Ausnutzung von Strukturanalogien in Datenmodellen weiterzuentwickeln.
Die Öffnung der Universitäten in Deutschland für nicht-traditionelle Zielgruppen schafft neue Bildungsmöglichkeiten für Studienanwärter mit beruflichen Vorbildungen. Eine entscheidende Funktion kommt hierbei den außeruniversitär akkumulierten Berufserfahrungen zu. Diese lassen sich mittlerweile auf Studienleistungen anrechnen. Vor dieser Ausgangslage werden Berufserfahrungen als berufliches Kapital verstanden, das verstärkt von dieser neuen und nicht homogenen Gruppe zukünftiger Studierender als Zugangsmöglichkeit zur Universität genutzt wird. Zudem bieten Universitäten in wachsendem Umfang weiterbildende Studiengänge an, die den Erwerb von beruflichem Kapital synchron zum Erwerb von universitärem akademischem Kapital ermöglichen. Das Auftauchen neuer, nicht-traditioneller Studierendengruppen führt zu Veränderungen im System der Universität, auf welche die bereits etablierten Akteure in diesem Feld, insbesondere die akademischen Mitarbeitenden, reagieren müssen. Die Dissertation untersuchte mit Hilfe eines Mixed-Method-Designs habitualisierte Verhaltens-, Denk- und Wahrnehmungsmuster von akademischen Hochschulmitarbeitenden im Hinblick auf Studierende mit beruflichem Kapital. Es wurde zum einen eine quantitative Befragung von akademischen Mitarbeitenden an einer Universität und zum anderen eine explorative qualitative Interviewstudie über akademische Hochschullehrende an insgesamt sechs deutschen Universitäten durchgeführt. Die Universitäten und Fächer in beiden Studien unterschieden sich in dem Grad, in dem die Hochschulöffnung bereits vorangeschritten war. In beiden Studien wurden geschlechtsbezogene, fachspezifische und organisationale Unterschiede analysiert, die Rückschlüsse auf den Habitus der Hochschulmitarbeitenden und deren Blick auf die (angehenden) Studierenden mit beruflichem Kapital ermöglichen. Die Analyse konnte in beiden Studien aufzeigen, dass akademische Hochschulmitarbeitende mehrheitlich Einstellungen geäußert haben, die zwischen Ambivalenz und einer ausgesprochen inklusiven Haltung gegenüber der Hochschulöffnung zu verorten sind. Durch die quantitative Studie ließ sich ermitteln, dass weibliche Befragte und Angehörige der sogenannten weichen Wissenschaften, hinsichtlich der Hochschulöffnung solche Positionen einnahmen, die durch ein hohes bzw. ein Höchstmaß an Inklusion gekennzeichnet sind. Die Auswertung der qualitativen Analyse konnte zeigen, dass Befragte, die ihrerseits offen auf die neuen Studierendengruppen zugehen, überwiegend auch eine konstruktivistische Lehr-Lern-Überzeugung haben und eine verstärkte Anwendungsorientierung in der Lehre praktizieren, organisationale Faktoren hatten hingegen einen vernachlässigbaren Einfluss auf die Einstellungen und den Habitus der untersuchten Wissenschaftler.
Space-related science and technologies affect our daily life. Many countries have already formulated national space regulations to regulate their space activities. China, as one space-faring country, has obtained several achievements in space science and technologies. In recent years, Chinese private space companies have sprung up quickly, which requires a stable and foreseeable legal framework to ensure development. However, compared to the other space powers, China is the only one that has not enacted any formal national space laws. Against the background of strengthening the rule of law in China, research on China's domestic space legislation is valuable and significant. The purpose of this thesis is two-fold. First, to find the legal basis and necessity of national space legislation and to extract the basic content of the existing national space legislation, simultaneously, to identify the new developments in the content of other States´ legislative practices. Second, based on the study of national space legislation, to propose the essential content of China's space legislation.
Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, ein Lernarrangement (=Modul) zur Gesundheitsförderung durch „Emotions-zentrierte Selbstreflexion und kollegiale Supervision“ zu entwickeln, zu erproben und hinsichtlich seiner Effekte auf die Gesundheit und Leistungsfähigkeit angehender Sozialassistentinnen und Erzieherinnen zu überprüfen. Mit dieser Untersuchung wurden außerdem erstmalig gesundheits- und leistungsrelevante Persönlichkeits- und Verhaltensvariablen angehender Sozialassistentinnen und Erzieherinnen erhoben, die als Ressourcen, Hilfen und Schutzfaktoren für die gesundheitsförderliche Bewältigung der beruflichen und privaten Anforderungen von besonderer Bedeutung sind. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde auch das Training der „Emotions-zentrierten Selbstreflexion und kollegialen Supervision“ konzipiert. Neben einer generellen und differenziellen Wirkungsanalyse im Hinblick auf das Modul „Emotionszentrierte Selbstreflexion und kollegiale Supervision“, realisiert durch ein Vorher-Nachher-Kontrollgruppen-Design an einer Stichprobe von knapp 400 Teilnehmerinnen, leistet die vorliegende Untersuchung vor allem einen Klärungsbeitrag darüber, über welche gesundheitsdienlichen Ressourcen Erzieherinnen und Sozialassistentinnen während ihrer Ausbildung verfügen, welche Beziehung zwischen diesen Ressourcen bestehen und welche Skalen sich für eine Eignungsanalyse eignen würden. Ferner wurde ein Instrument zur Erfassung der berufsspezifischen Selbstwirksamkeit von Erzieherinnen und Sozialassistentinnen in Anlehnung an ein Berufseignungsinventar für das Lehramtsstudium entwickelt und hinsichtlich seiner Korrelationen zu den bereits erprobten Skalen überprüft. Die erhobenen Persönlichkeits- und Verhaltensvariablen der Erzieherinnen und Sozialassistentinnen unterstreichen die Relevanz einer frühzeitigen Intervention zur Stärkung personaler Ressourcen, vor allem deshalb, weil einige Erzieherinnen und Sozialassistentinnen nur über besonders gering ausgeprägte personale Ressourcen verfügen. Wichtig wäre vor allem, dass schon zu Beginn der Ausbildung angehende Sozialassistentinnen und Erzieherinnen ihre Passung zwischen den künftigen Berufsanforderungen und ihrem individuellen Eignungsprofil selbst diagnostizieren und sie mit differenziellen Maßnahmen begleitet werden, damit sie sich in eine für sie und ihre Berufsaufgaben günstige Richtung entwickeln können. Gezielte Selbstreflexionen emotionsrelevanter Tagesereignisse und kollegiale Supervision sollten als ein Modul in Aus- und Fortbildung zur Steigerung der Reflexionsfähigkeit, der emotionalen Kompetenz und anderer personaler Ressourcen implementiert und intensiv trainiert werden.
Die Webbasierte Rehabilitationsnachsorge (W-RENA) unterstützt Patienten psychosomatischer Rehabilitation zum einen in der Vorbereitung auf den Transfer von in der Klinik erworbenen Strategien in den poststationären Alltag. Den Kern der Intervention bildet zum anderen die 3-monatige Begleitung über das Internet bei diesem Prozess des Anwendungslernens im Alltag. Damit bietet die W-RENA zugleich auch eine Überbrückung der Wartezeit auf einen ambulanten Therapieplatz, denen Patienten psychosomatischer Rehabilitation häufig ausgesetzt sind. Diese Arbeit fokussiert die Rolle von Selbststeuerungskompetenzen im Rahmen dieses Lerntransfers und prüft, ob die W-RENA hier eine förderliche Funktion einnimmt. Die Messung von Selbststeuerungskompetenzen erfolgte zu 4 Erhebungszeitpunkten mit dem SSI-K3 (Kuhl, 2004). Eindeutige Effekte konnten für die Subskalen Selbstregulation und Selbstzugang nachgewiesen werden. Dass Patienten der W-RENA stationär erlernte Strategien im poststationären Alltag auch 12 Monate nach Entlassung signifikant häufiger anwenden als Patienten der Kontrollgruppe konnte mit dem KFB-EQUA (Schmidt, 2003) nachgewiesen werden.
Subaquatic ammunition dumpsites of both, conventional as well as chemical ammunition do practically exist in every single ocean and even in a significant number of inland waters. Most of these dumpsites are based on related post world war dumping actions, when victorious and defeated states had to get rid of their enormous surplus stocks of ammunition and especially the not easy to be handled chemical warfare agents like mustard, phosgene and even nerve agents. After first attempts of conventional destruction like burning, explosion or even simple emptying of chemical agents into pits or holes in the ground, those attempts soon emerged to be very time-consuming and dangerous. Adequate destruction technologies of today’s standards like detonation chambers or plasma kiln did just not exist at that time. The persons in charge soon focused on a much more promising solution attempt: the dumping of this ammunition into surrounding water bodies. In the case of the post World War II dumping actions, the focusing on the former deep water sites soon turned out to be not practicable, based on related enormous costs and logistical problems. The Baltic Sea – with maximum water depths of about 150 m – seemed then to represent the easiest way to get rid of the problematic ammunition. By these activities 65,000 to up to 300.000 tons of chemical ammunition ended up in the Baltic Sea. Concerning conventional ammunition like water mines, torpedo warheads, high explosive devices etc., there is practically no information available but experts assume at least another 100.000 tons of conventional material in the Baltic Sea. Environmental aspects and the issue of protection of the sea were – like in other cases of subaquatic dumping actions worldwide – completely ignored at that time. Nevertheless, subaquatic dumping actions took place until the late 1980ies. Today these dumping sites – whether based on conventional or on chemical ammunition – do represent a very problematic and highly dangerous heritage to present and future generations: Corrosion of the containers and shells results in a not to be forecasted diffuse emission or rather leaking of the ammunition contents into the water body. Substances that are in most cases highly or even extremely toxic for humans, flora as well as fauna contaminate the marine environment with mostly unknown toxicological and ecotoxicological effects. The majority of these substances are known to have carcinogenic, teratogenic and/or mutagenic effects and practically nothing is known about the potential of these substances to end up in the food chains. Especially in recent years there are more and more findings of significantly increased arsenic values in fish that cannot be explained but there are strong signs that these values are based on ammunition dumpsites. Besides the mentioned toxicological and ecotoxicological effects, there are further significant risks as e.g. the possible access to the ammunition also in the context of terrorist and right-wing extremist activities, the continuous catching of and resulting injuring of fishermen by ammunition, the constant endangering of the civil and commercial shipping by direct contact or rather too close convergence to dumped ammunition especially in the context of self detonation or a sudden release of significant amounts of these substances e.g. in the context of an accident and last but not least the uncontrollable landing of containers and ammunition as well as already flushed out contents on coasts and beaches. Basically can be stated that there is still a significant need of action and scientific investigation in the general topic of subaquatic ammunition dumpsites and that related measures have to be taken immediately – especially concerning our sense of responsibility for future generations.
This study examines the perspective of German venture capitalists on the success factors of digital startups and follows an explorative three-dimensional research approach that integrates the micro perspective on the entrepreneurial personality, the macro perspective on the entrepreneurial context, and the meso perspective on the business model. Thus, the study operates in a very young field of entrepreneurship research. One of the purposes of this research project is to work out the significance of particular characteristics at each research level for the economic success of a digital start-up from the perspective of German venture capitalists. Furthermore, the study sheds light on the view of this group of experts on the relevance of an entire group of characteristics. To answer the central research questions, qualitative research methods and a mixed-methods approach are pursued, with quantitative and qualitative primary data being collected by means of theory-driven semi-structured expert interviews. As a result, a total of four articles have been produced: three articles that focus on presenting the results of qualitative research from only one of the three aforementioned research perspectives each, and a fourth article that combines methods from qualitative and quantitative research and derives an integrated, evidence-based working model of the economic success of digital startups from the perspective of German venture capital (VC) investors.
In dieser Arbeit wird das Thema der Suffizienz als Aspekt der Frage nach dem guten Leben betrachtet. Der Rekurs auf das gute Leben ermöglicht den Rückgriff auf die Konzeptionen des guten Lebens von Epikur und der Stoa. Diese Konzeptionen werden hinsichtlich ihrer Suffizienz untersucht und es wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob sich durch deren Aktualisierung individualethische Zugänge zu Suffizienz ergeben. Ergebnis der Arbeit ist, dass die von den Philosophen vorgeschlagenen Lebensweisen suffizient sind und sich unter verschiedenen Anknüpfungspunkten an heutige gesellschaftliche Probleme aktualisieren lassen. Über die in den Konzeptionen thematisierten Zielen des lustvollen Lebens (Epikur) und der Selbstmächtigkeit (Stoa) ergeben sich individualethische Zugänge zu Suffizienz. Diese benötigen nicht den Rückgriff auf das Konzept der Nachhaltigkeit.
Mental health is an important factor in an individuals' life. Online-based interventions have been developed for the treatment of various mental disorders. During these interventions, a large amount of patient-specific data is gathered that can be utilized to increase treatment outcomes by informing decision-making processes of psychotherapists, experts in the field, and patients. The articles included in this dissertation focus on the analysis of such data collected in digital psychological treatments by using machine learning approaches. This dissertation utilizes various machine learning methods such as Bayesian models, regularization techniques, or decision trees to predict different psychological factors, such as mood or self-esteem, dropout of patients, or treatment outcomes and costs. These models are evaluated using a variety of performance metrics, for example, receiver operating characteristics curve, root mean square error, or specialized performance metrics for Bayesian inference. These types of analyses can support decision- making for psychologists and patients, which can, in turn, lead to better recommendations and subsequently to increased outcomes for patients and simultaneously more insight about the interplay between psychological factors. The analysis of user journey data has not yet been fully examined in the field of psychological research. A process for this endeavor is developed and a technical implementation is provided for the research community. The application of machine learning in this context is still in its infancy. Thus, another contribution is the exploration and application of machine learning techniques for the revelation of correlations between psychological factors or characteristics and treatment outcomes as well as their prediction. Additionally, economic factors are predicted to develop a process for treatment type recommendations. This approach can be utilized for finding the optimal treatment type for patients on an individual level considering predicted treatment outcomes and costs. By evaluating the predictive accuracy of multiple machine learning techniques based on various performance metrics, the importance of considering heterogeneity among patients' behavior and affect is highlighted in some articles. Furthermore, the potential of machine learning-based decision support systems in clinical practice has been examined from a psychotherapists' point of view.
The challenges of sustainable development have spurred the complexity of management reality, unveiling considerable risks and opportunities for companies. The past twenty years of development in management science and practice have refined the understanding of the linkages between corporate success and sustainability aspects of business. Nevertheless, numerous management tools and concepts have been criticised for failing to contribute to improved sustainability performance. Management accounting is an indispensable system for generating, preparing and providing information for recognising decision situations and informing decisions. Building on the relevance of information, sustainability accounting has received considerable attention in the past decade. Related research has emphasised the contribution of sustainability accounting to tackling sustainability challenges in specific settings. A systematic investigation of the role of sustainability accounting is virtually non-existent to date. To overcome this limitation and provide an insight into the practice of sustainability accounting and its role in sustainability management and ultimately in corporate success, this doctoral thesis approaches the question How does sustainability accounting contribute to improved information management and management control? The direct contribution is two-fold. First, a number of decision situations are explicated. Examples for such decision situations include utilising certain types of information for specific decisions, engaging various functions in different ways, etc. Making a decision within these decision situations was observed to contribute to achieving corporate goals. Second, the overarching view on the results reveals an interesting pattern. It is the existence of this pattern that supports the view that sustainability accounting can help companies in the pursuit of improved sustainability performance and (thereby) corporate success. The findings enable both practitioners and researchers gain an insight into how sustainability accounting can be deployed so that the company’s limited resources are focused on the crucial decisions in information management and management control. Subsequent recommendations are supported by up-to-date examples. The nature and the scope of the research constituting this doctoral thesis also highlight the path for future research to expand and refine the propositions made herein.
Sustainability and Justice: Conceptual Foundations and Cases in Biodiversity and Fishery Policy
(2014)
Sustainability aims at justice in a threefold sense: intragenerational justice, intergenerational justice, and justice towards nature. However, the justification, specific content and practical implications of justice claims and obligations in the sustainability context often remain underspecified. This dissertation therefore asks: How can the concept of justice be structured systematically? How can justice be specified in the context of sustainability? Which specific problems of justice arise in sustainability policy? And what are the respective contributions of (sustainability) economics and (sustainability) ethics? The five papers of this cumulative dissertation approach these issues from different angles, working at the conceptual level and at the level of cases from biodiversity and fishery policy. In Paper 1, a formal conceptual structure of justice is developed, which lists the conceptual elements of justice conceptions: the community of justice including claim holders and claim addressees, their claims (and corresponding obligations), the judicandum (that which is to be judged as just or unjust), the informational base for the assessment, the principles of justice, and on a more practical level, the instruments of justice. By specifying these conceptual elements of justice, it is possible to analyse and compare different conceptions of justice. In Paper 2, the normative dimension of sustainability is discussed in terms of justice. Based on the identification of certain core characteristics of the concept of sustainability, we determine the specific challenges of justice in the context of sustainability along the conceptual structure of justice (from Paper 1). Inter alia, we show that sustainability calls for the integration of justice claims in the relationships with contemporaries, future humans and nature in a non-ideal context characterized by uncertainty, systemic mediation and limits. Paper 3 addresses the contribution of economics to the assessment of trade-offs between intergenerational and intragenerational justice. Economic analysis can delineate the opportunity set of politics with respect to the two justice objectives and identify the opportunity cost of attaining one justice to a higher degree. While the two justices are primary normative objectives, the criterion of efficiency - when directed at the attainment of these justice objectives - has the status of a secondary normative objective. Paper 4 constitutes a case study, reconstructing the ´biopiracy´ debate from a justice perspective. The paper links to the so called Access and Benefit-Sharing framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and addresses the question, which problems of justice arise regarding the utilization of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, especially if associated with patenting. It is shown that the predominant perspective of justice-in-exchange is insufficient and therefore complementary conceptions, namely of distributive justice, corrective justice and structural justice have to be taken into account. Paper 5 empirically assesses the justice notions of stakeholders in the Newfoundland fishery, building on qualitative semi-structured interviews and a combination of inductive and deductive coding. A central result is that inshore fishers are seen as the main claim holders, with a claim to participate and being listened to, and the opportunity to make a living from the fishery. Recognition, participation and distribution are all important domains of justice in the context of the Newfoundland fishery. The paper also discusses the relationship between normative theorizing and empirical justice research. Overall, this thesis integrates ideal and non-ideal normative theorizing, economic analysis, empirical justice research and hints at institutional implementation in the debate on sustainability and justice.
This thesis deals with sustainability in African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the influence of language in achieving sustainable development. Several authors highlight the existing imbalance of sustainability research in higher education, with most publications focusing on the so-called Global North. Little is known about sustainability in the so-called Global South, and in African educational institutions in particular. The first article of this thesis investigated existing sustainability activities in African HEIs. Rather than focusing on the shortcomings, the paper took a positive stance, opposing the predominant language of deficits in research on Africa. In the Delphi study conducted, 32 experts from 29 HEIs in 16 African countries described the sustainability activities they are engaging in. Experts provided information about their experiences in their respective HEI, while language and culture emerged as areas in need of further research. The second article therefore focused on the relationship between language and education for sustainable development in African educational institutions, and systematically reviewed scholarly literature regarding this connection. Authors of the reviewed 33 papers approached this connection mainly on a theoretical and philosophical level, focusing on education and Africa as a whole rather than specified forms of education in specific countries. The third article examined the views of Tanzanian higher education students and graduates regarding language and sustainability. Participants explained how they integrate sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their research and how they approach translations in the process. In the ensuing interviews, participants estimated that only a fraction of people outside of academia are aware of sustainability and the SDGs, rendering the achievement of target 4.7 unlikely. This thesis therefore contributes to a better understanding of the current challenges in implementing sustainability and the SDGs in African educational institutions. It highlights the need to integrate (local) African languages in order for sustainability activities as well as the SDGs to be successful.
This PhD thesis examines the connections between sustainability knowledge management (SKM) and sustainability management tools in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). While previous literature has established that knowledge is essential for the application of sustainability management tools, the effects of such tools on knowledge management are under-researched in the sustainability context. Drawing on multiple academic papers and utilizing various research methods, including a systematic literature review, several quantitative surveys and a multiple case study approach, the thesis systematically examines how such tools can facilitate the identification, acquisition, conversion, application and retention of sustainability knowledge, and potentially lead to the improvement of SKM effectiveness in SMEs. Furthermore, it examines how support functions for sustainability management tools and SKM correspond with each other. The findings reveal that sustainability management tools facilitate the SKM processes (identification, acquisition, conversion, application and retention), and align with the support factors (e.g. top management support, shared vision, employee qualifications) to advance SKM in SMEs. Particularly, such tools permit the institutionalization of sustainability knowledge into the daily routines and practices in SMEs. Additionally, tools create a support structure for SKM, embedding and preserving sustainability knowledge in documents, policies, procedures and norms for an enterprise´s collective knowledge for sustainability management. The thesis concludes with complementing areas of future research and offers practical implications for SME management.
The research aims to assess the sustainability of rural electrification efforts based on off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems in three Andean countries: Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Although deployment of off-grid PV solutions for rural electrification began in the early 1990s in the Andean region, most of the projects turned out to be unsustainable and did not last. Prior efforts have addressed the different issues and barriers that plagued these projects and inhibited their sustainability. However, these prior analyses were mostly quantitative; systematic qualitative evaluations have been scarce. In this thesis, the researcher addresses the following research question: "Are the rural electrification programs (based on off-grid PV Systems) in the Andean countries sustainable?" In order to answer this research question, he conducted an exhaustive qualitative document analysis complemented by semi-structured expert interviews. The interviewees included experts from different ministries, project managers from leading Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), public and private companies ' representatives, supervisors, and researchers. Although the author also describes several relevant PV-based electrification efforts in the Andean countries, the research was aimed at providing an overall picture of the rural electrification efforts in these countries, rather than measuring the success or failure of specific projects. The gathered information allowed me to assess the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in the Andean countries. This assessment was based on a set of indicators corresponding to the four dimensions of sustainability considered in this thesis: institutional, economical, environmental, and socio-cultural. It was found that Ecuador and Chile have consistently failed to ensure mechanisms for the operation and maintenance of the deployed off-grid systems, which has made these solutions in poor Chilean and Ecuadorian communities inevitably unsustainable. Although Peru has adopted a cross-tariff scheme, the Peruvian case shows that ensuring the funding of off-grid PV solutions is not enough. Peruvian officials appear to be unaware of the importance of local participation (local values and lifestyles are constantly disregarded) and most of the projects have been designed without the participation and engagement of the communities, which has often led to project failures and payment defaults. Although each country has its particular challenges, it was found that the three Andean countries have consistently neglected the importance of strong formal institutions with a flexible and decentralized structure, which in turn significantly compromised the rural electrification effort in these countries.
The dissertation consists of three scientific papers and a synopsis. The synopsis addresses the relevance of the dissertation and lists the key factors for the sustainability transition in the electricity system as a common denominator of the three papers. The relevance of the dissertation results, on the one hand, from the urgency of the sustainability transition in the electricity system and an insufficient transition willingness of the eastern European Member States. On the other hand, the Multi-Level-Perspective as one of the most important scientific frameworks to grasp transitions does not provide a sufficient explanation of its mechanisms. Moreover, Demand Response aggregators as new enterprises on the European electricity market and potential reform initiators are still under researched. The following key factors for the sustainability transition of the electricity system have been identified: supply security concerns, Europeanisation, policy making and the dominance of short-term oriented economic evaluation. Paper#1 sheds light on the roots of this problem in the context of Poland. It suggests that unfavorable regulation is symptomatic of the real, underlying barriers. In Poland, these barriers are coal dependence and political influence on energy enterprises. As main drivers, supply security concerns, EU regulatory pressure, and a positive cost-benefit profile of DR in comparison to alternatives, are revealed. A conceptual model of DR uptake in electricity systems is proposed. Applying a social mechanisms approach to the Multi-Level Perspective, paper#2 conceptualizes mechanisms of socio-technical transitions and of gaining legitimacy for transitions as co-evolutionary drivers and outcomes. Situational, action-formational, and transformational mechanisms that operate as drivers of change in a socio-technical transition require corresponding framing and framing contests to achieve legitimacy for that transition. The study illustrates the conceptual insight with the case of the coal dependent Polish electricity system. Paper #3, a qualitative study reveals Demand Response (DR) aggregators as institutional entrepreneurs that struggle to reform the still largely supply-oriented European electricity market. Unfavourable regulation, low value of flexibility, resource constraints, complexity, and customer acquisition are the key challenges DR aggregators face. To overcome them they apply a combination of strategies: lobbying, market education, technological proficiency, and upscaling the business. The study highlights DR aggregation as an architectural innovation that alters the interplay between key actors of the electricity system and provides policy recommendations including the necessity to assess the real value of DR in comparison to other flexibility sources by taking all externalities into account, a technology-neutral approach to market design and the need for simplification of DR programmes, and common standards to reduce complexity and uncertainty for DR providers.
Consisting of three articles and a framework manuscript, this cumulative dissertation deals with sustainable compensation of chief executive officer (CEO) with a focus on climate-related aspects. Against the backdrop of the European action for sustainability and the EU Green Deal, the dissertation pays special attention to the consideration of climate-related aspects of corporate performance in CEO compensation. In this context, sustainable compensation is characterized by the consideration of long-term interests and sustainability of the company as well as by the inclusion of financial and non-financial aspects of environmental, social and governance performance (ESG) in compensation agreements. While this novel instrument of corporate governance aims to incentivize the implementation of sustainability-oriented corporate strategy, it is particularly important to unfold this incentive effect at the individual CEO level in view of their managerial discretion. The framework manuscript discusses the research objectives, the regulatory and theoretical background, the results of the dissertation and their implications in the context of regulation, research, and business practice. The essence of the dissertation are the three articles. The first article examines the current state of empirical research based on 37 articles that were published between 1992 and 2018. Based on a multidimensional research framework, the structured literature review compiles past research findings, identifies contentual and methodological foci in the research area, and derives questions for future research. The second article addresses the topic from a conceptual perspective. Taking the existing work as a starting point, a conceptual framework is derived, which organizes the determinants of carbon-related CEO compensation at societal, organizational, group and individual levels of analysis. On this basis, eight propositions are presented that seek to distinguish between the determinants which support and challenge the implementation of carbon-related CEO compensation. The third article focuses on the use of CO2-oriented performance indicators in CEO compensation. The empirical-qualitative study analyzes corporate disclosure of the 65 largest companies in the EU for the years 2018 and 2019. The study addresses the use of CO2-oriented performance indicators in corporate strategy and CEO compensation. It also examines which compensation components are determined with the help of CO2-oriented performance indicators, which type of performance indicators are used, and whether CO2-intensive and less CO2-intensive companies differ in this regard.
The process perspective provides a unifying framework that has substantially contributed to our understanding of entrepreneurship. However, much of the research up to now has neglected this process oriented conception of entrepreneurship. There is therefore a need for studies that take the inherent dynamic processes into account and analyze the underlying mechanisms when researching entrepreneurship. This dissertation aims to improve our understanding of the entrepreneurial process. Specifically, this dissertation focuses on new venture creation and the processes of sustainable opportunity identification and opportunity deviation. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction that highlights the theoretical contributions of this dissertation and gives an overview over the conducted studies. Chapter 2 argues for a process model of entrepreneurship that places entrepreneurs and their actions center stage. The model combines different perspectives and levels of analysis and provides an integrative framework for researching new venture creation. In chapter 3 we establish and test a theoretical model of sustainable opportunity identification. The chapter explains how younger generations identify sustainable opportunities. The findings indicate that sustainable opportunity identification is a process with two transitions from problem to solution identification and from solution identification to sustainable opportunity identification. These transitions are contingent on awareness of consequences and entrepreneurial attitude. Chapter 4 offers insights into how deviation from the original opportunity increases the performance of entrepreneurial teams. The findings indicate that entrepreneurial teams with a high level of error orientation set themselves higher goals when deviating from their original opportunity. Higher goals then lead to higher team performance. Chapter 5 summarizes the overall findings and outlines the general theoretical and practical implications. Each chapter thus contributes to the process perspective by focusing on how different phases of the entrepreneurial process unfold and develop over time. Thereby, this dissertation advances our understanding of entrepreneurship as a process.