Bøger udgivet af Josef Eul Verlag Gmbh

Until recently, internationalization was seen as predominantly performed by large and well established firms, since young entrepreneurial firms especially face the risks of internationalization due to their limited assets. Firms which start international operations right or near from inception, and, thus take the therewith connected risks and uncertainties, are called Early Internationalizers or International New Ventures. This phenomenon is increasingly recognized in the last years, especially in innovative technologies. However, scholarly inquiry concerning this interesting issue is limited so far. This work is devoted to the foundation and development of International New Ventures and empirically investigates this phenomenon by observing a population of German High-technology firms. In the first part of this work, International New Ventures and their domestic staying counterparts, so called Domestic New Ventures are compared to each other. In doing so, it is dealt with questions such as how important are e. g. the prior international experience of the founder or international network contacts? And how do liabilities of foreignness change the impact of these factors? In the second part, it is analyzed if International New Ventures are a rather homogeneous group of firms or if different subcategories exist. And if so, which factors account for these differences? At the same time it is discussed whether all International New Ventures profit from operating in many foreign countries, or if some might be well advised to conduct a focussed internationalization.

This thesis examines stakeholder relationships in entrepreneurial ecosystems by focusing on the importance of sustainability, education and culture in this context. A three-staged research approach on the topic is employed. First, based on a systematic literature review the relevance of stakeholder theory for the creation of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems that encourage sustainable entrepreneurship is examined as conceptual approach. Second, a qualitative empirical stance is used to investigate stakeholder involvement from the entrepreneurial ecosystem at 20 higher educational institutions in 19 European countries with regard to entrepreneurship education. Third, comparative, quantitative empirical research is conducted to identify cross-cultural and stakeholder-related factors that determine the perceived strength of the sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems in Austria and Germany. The findings of this thesis indicate that stakeholder theory, sustainability, education and culture all matter for developing strong entrepreneurial ecosystems. These results can be of interest for policy makers, entrepreneurship educaters, entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurial stakeholders, who aim at strengthening regional entrepreneurial ecosystems.

In today's dynamic world, technology and innovation are of extreme importance for many organizations and for the advancement of society as a whole. In the past decades, firms have faced grand challenges of fast-changing innovation environments, shortening product life cycles and increased global competition. Especially those firms that seek to establish and maintain a competitive advantage by following an innovation-related strategy have been pressured to ensure an effective and efficient innovation process. However, a centralized R&D configuration with one large in-house domestic location was in many ways no longer sufficient in achieving this. Instead, firms have increasingly crossed country boundaries, have opened up their organizational boundaries, or have done so simultaneously.While there are first insights on the performance implications of crossing country and organizational boundaries, further research is needed to understand better how firms can effectively manage boundary-crossing activities. This is where this thesis sets in. Despite the heterogeneity in methods and specific research questions, all thesis chapters focus on the related general question: How can firms increase their innovation performance through boundary-crossing activities?The thesis implies that through strategically opening up the R&D system and crossing organizational and country boundaries, firms can build and maintain a competitive advantage. However, managers need to assess whether their firm is especially vulnerable to potential downsides of crossing boundaries. Based on this thesis, the assessment can build on three major aspects: First, the specific characteristics of the firm. Second, its management practices. And third, the potential effects on the firm's employees.

In practice, it is often discussed which effects of Lean Six Sigma projects are relevant for financial success, which in turn is directly linked to the financial measuring system. Due to its new approach of combining the Lean Six Sigma and Shareholder Value concepts with the resulting project evaluation and prioritisation, this book will be of interest for managing directors, controllers and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belts. Accordingly, the question of how Lean Six Sigma projects can sustainably increase shareholder value is clarified. Providing detailed descriptions of the theoretical background and practical realisation for both concepts, financial and non-financial project evaluation, project risk evaluation and project prioritisation, this book will as well be of use for students, lecturers and project managers. The demonstration of these concepts includes project starting points such as types of wastage and quality costs, project procedures, Lean Six Sigma organisation, a comparison of discounted cash flow (DCF) and different residual income (EVA, CVA) evaluation versions as well as value based management and levers of value creation. For typical projects, the different effects along the company value chain are described comprehensively and the financial impact on earnings (EBIT), cash flow (CF) and shareholder value (SV) is calculated in detail taking into account the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) as well as sustainability, duration and growth. Furthermore, non-financial impact based on the balanced scorecard (BSC) approach and project risks are evaluated. Considering the portfolio theory and different methods of project portfolio selection, a project prioritisation is conducted. The implementation of these steps allows the selection of the most relevant projects for realisation in order to sustainably increase shareholder value.