Bøger udgivet af Deutscher Universitats-Verlag

Stefan Wengler provides a well founded answer to the question of the economic value and shows the need for the implementation of key account management. He presents a comprehensive, but easy-to-handle decision-making model that supports the decision on the most efficient key account management organization for individual companies.

There are many reasons why firms decide to extend their business operations by entering foreign markets. Whether it is a defensive step aimed at avoiding the consequences of saturating domestic markets or an offensive strategy based on the expectations of unusual profits, the most common market entry drivers are widely discussed and understood. What remains open is the most intriguing question of the selection of a particular market entry mode and the factors determining the right choice. On a theoretical ground the problem may be reduced to the issue of how many links of the Value Chain should be moved abroad in the process of international expansion. In practical terms the choice of a market-entry mode means a set of decisions taken in each particular case of a firm going international. The complexity of the task involves many different areas like the amount of risk, the scope of control, the level of capital involvement and financial efficiency. This is one of the reasons why there is no universal theory explaining the optimal way of making a successful market entry. The multitude of views on this subject does not make the question easier.

This collection of essays is dedicated to Professor Klaus Neumann, Head and Chair of the Institute for Economic Theory and Operations Research WiOR at the University of Karlsruhe. On the occasion of his emeritation, disciples, colleagues, scientific companions, and friends coming from dif­ ferent fields have contributed their perspectives on Operations Research to form a broad view on the discipline. The papers are organized in four parts on optimization, OR in production and service management, OR in logistics, and interdisciplinary approaches. We thank all the authors for their participation in publishing this volume. Mrs. Ute Wrasmann from Deutscher Universitats-Verlag deserves credit for her interest and assis­ tance on this project. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to PTV Planung Transport Verkehr AG in Karlsruhe and to numerous former WiOR colleagues for their financial support. Klaus Neumann was born in Liegnitz (Silesia) in 1937. Prom 1955 to 1961 he studied mathematics at the Technical Universities of Dresden and Munich. His first paper on analog computers and dynamic programming was published less than two years later. In 1964 he obtained a Ph. D. in mathematics under the supervision of Josef Heinhold in Munich. After a two-year stay in industry, he returned to his alma mater, working on the fields of dynamic optimization and control theory.

In seiner organisationstheoretischen Analyse zeigt Thomas Tauchnitz, wie sich ein strukturell homogenes und interessenpolitisch weitgehend konsensuelles System ausgebildet hat, das eine Monopolstellung in der medizinischen Versorgung der Bevölkerung erlangen und eine hohe Wandlungsresistenz entwickeln konnte

I. Narrative Gedankenspiele in der deutschen Literatur nach 1945 In einem Standardwerk zur Geschichte der deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur werden die unterschiedlichen erzahlerischen und poetologischen Tendenzen des Romans nach 1945 auf folgenden Antagonismus komprimiert: [A]uf der einen Seite die traditionelle Linie des Romanerzahlens, die dadurch gefahrdet sein kann, mitunter ins Epigonale abzurutschen, und auf der anderen Seite eine experi- mentelle und innovative Linie, die freilich auch die Grenze zum Abstrus-Hermetischen uberschreiten kann.' Fur die "e;traditionelle"e; Seite steht hier Gunter Grass, fur die "e;experimentelle"e; Arno Schmidt. Wahrend Grass in "e;Die Blechtrommel"e; (1959) den Erzahler noch einmal mit einer auktorialen Ubersicht ausstatte, gehe Schmidt mit seinem ein Jahr spater erschienenen Roman "e;KAFF auch Mare Crisium"e; den umgekehrten Weg und kapriziere sich auf die facettenreiche Innen- welt seines Erzahler-Ich. Sicherlich hatten die Verfasser der Literaturgeschichte andere poe- tologische und asthetische Extrempositionen zur Charakterisierung der deutschen Nach- kriegsliteratur gegenuberstellen konnen. Gleichwohl ist die Wahl symptomatisch insofern, als hier zwei Autoren und Werke herangezogen werden, die jeweils auf unterschiedliche Weise quer zur Entwicklung der deutschsprachigen Nachkriegsprosa stehen. Beide Autoren gehoren zu den meistdiskutierten des Literaturbetriebes, haben aber insgesamt kaum Einflu auf die deutsche Romankunst gehabt - wobei Grass zumindest im Ausland Nachahmer und Bewun- 2 derer gefunden hat.

Looking back in history, we conceive the twentieth century as the century of wars. Most Hkely, we will conceive the twenty-first century as the century of (natural) catastrophes. Wars can be avoided (unfortunately, it did not happen often in history), in contrast, most natural disasters are outside human influence. However, the consequences of disasters can be alleviated by means of risk management. For an effective risk management, information is needed about (i) the size of the risk (measured by the frequency and intensity of the hazard), and (ii) the degree of vulnerability of the economy and society. Stefan Hochr- ner's thesis deals with measuring and modehng of both. While the physical risk modeUng is a well developed area within statistical modeling (frequency analysis, point processes, extreme value theory, etc. ), estimating the economic consequences is a more challenging task. The author studies economic effects of catastrophes by statistical analysis of mac- economic data. One interesting finding is that disasters can decrease the absolute level of economic performance, such as the GDP, while keeping growth levels nearly the same (at least after some years) as in the pre-disaster years. The boom of new products in the financial markets, especially of new derivative instru­ ments, has led to new risk hedging instruments such as catastrophe bonds. CAT-bonds transfer the risk to the market of investors.

The first portion of Dr. Magin' s dissertation research focuses on the impact of demand related information on marketing activity. More precisely, Dr. Magin addresses important questions such as the degree to which firms equipped with demand-related information (DRI) introduce more products, satisfy consumers better, and, most fundamentally, make more money than firms without such DRI. This portion of Dr. Magin's dissertation work involves condensing the broad extant knowledge pertaining to marketing information and creating new hypotheses, empirically testing these hypotheses, and linking results to managerial practice as well as linking the findings to research opportunities. In addition to this, Dr. Magin's dissertation research entails a more theoretical and quantitative portion that addresses the problem of product differentiation. Here, she immerses herself into the areas of distance functions, distance measures, and spatial product differentiation. This portion of her dissertation is more quantitative and theoretical. In the first portion of her dissertation, Dr. Magin augments extant knowledge from economics, game theory, decision research, and social psychology into a sizeable set of hypotheses. To empirically test these hypotheses, she makes a large effort to collect primary data. More precisely, she uses a complex market simulation to conduct experiments through the course of three full years. Next, she tests her hypotheses using a variety of conservative tests. Her results are very interesting as she finds much support for the linkages she hypothesized.

The significance of China's development reaches far beyond the country's domestic concerns. This is due to a variety of factors, among them the country's rapid growth and development and its increasingly open borders, allowing it to become a member of the regional and international community of states over the last twenty-five years. China is not a major force yet, but its voice is gaining influence. Simultaneously, its development on domestic, regional, and international levels is a huge uncertainty which inheres both potential and risk and is likely best described by the title of Johnny Erling's book China - der grosse Sprung ins Ungewisse^ (China - the Great Leap into the Unknown). Thereby, the attempts to understand the relevant processes and related prospects often appear to be an endless puzzle which allows for fiirther insight with every piece that can be added, while a certain dimension of mystery remains as China develops ftirther. Today, China's development is challenged considerably by a number of factors in the fields of the society, policy, economy, and environment. Finding a viable solution to these challenges and sustaining development is a concern of great priority to the Chinese government. A decisive question with this in mind is how the financial system could be enhanced to a level at which it would be an effective catalyst for development.

The increased use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is leading to noticeable changes within the organisational structure of the economy. Geographical distances within companies as well as between companies and their customers can be bridged more easily with the use of ICT. Thus, economic activities are less dependent on time and place. Taking into account the manifold changes in the economic structures, it has to be questioned whether and to what extent the current rules of international company taxation are still applicable in a reasonable way. With regard to this issue, a need for the development of suitable reform approaches covering the whole system of international taxation still existed. The doctoral thesis of Mrs. Schafer provides a major contribution to fulfill this need. Mrs. Schafer has worked out in a very comprehensive way the creation of new organizational structures as well as the resulting implications on tax law and the system of international taxation. Moreover, the existing literature on the subject at hand has been analyzed in a competent way. The special merit of the doctoral thesis of Mrs. Schafer consists in elaborating reform proposals for international company taxation which cover the different relevant issues of international taxation.