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Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit individuellen Krisen von Mitarbeiter*innen, deren Ursache sowohl im privaten als auch im beruflichen Kontext liegen kann. Krisen haben neben psychischen und physischen Auswirkungen auf die Mitarbeiter*innen, auch einen Einfluss auf das Unternehmen. Im Zuge einer Literaturrecherche, Leitfadeninterviews mit Expert*innen sowie einer Dokumentenanalyse wurde die zentrale Forschungsfrage „Wie gestaltet sich der Umgang mit individuellen Krisen von Mitarbeiter*innen in sozialwirtschaftlichen Großunternehmen in Wien?“ untersucht. Durch die Analyse der erhobenen Daten konnte in den sozialwirtschaftlichen Großunternehmen in Wien ein Bewusstsein für die Relevanz der Thematik festgestellt werden. Die Auseinandersetzung mit individuellen Krisen von Mitarbeiter*innen findet sowohl aus wirtschaftlichen als auch sozialen Gründen statt. Zudem befassen sich die Unternehmen damit im Sinne einer nachhaltigen Personalpolitik und aus Imagegründen. Verschiedene Konzepte, Maßnahmen und Angebote zur Prävention und Unterstützung sind in den Unternehmen bereits implementiert. Dabei sind die Organisationskultur, die Schaffung von organisatorischen Rahmenbedingungen sowie die direkten Führungskräfte mit deren Kompetenzen und Führungsverhalten zentrale Faktoren für eine erfolgreiche Umsetzung. Für ein bestehendes Weiterentwicklungspotential in den Unternehmen wurden anhand der Analyse der Ergebnisse und der bestehenden Literatur Empfehlungen für die Praxis abgeleitet. This thesis deals with individual crises of employees, the cause of which can lie in both private and professional contexts. Crises not only have a psychological and physical impact on employees, but also an influence on the company. Over the course of a literature research, guideline-based interviews with experts as well as a document analysis, the following central research question was analysed: “How do large social economy enterprises in Vienna handle individual crises of their employees?” Through the analysis of the collected data, an awareness of the relevance of the topic was determined in the large social economy enterprises in Vienna. Dealing with individual crises of employees takes place for both economic and social reasons. In addition, the companies deal with it in the sense of a sustainable personnel policy and for image reasons. Various concepts, measures, and offers for prevention and support have already been implemented in the enterprises. The organisational culture, the creation of organisational framework conditions as well as the direct managers with their competencies and leadership behaviour are central factors for a successful realisation. For an existing potential for further development in the enterprises, recommendations were derived based on the analysis of the results and the available literature. Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des Verfassers Masterarbeit Wien, FH Campus Wien 2022

In IT-Sicherheit gewann ein Crowdsourcing-Ansatz zur offensiven Sicherheit (auch als Bug Bounty bekannt) in den letzten Jahren zunehmend an Beliebtheit. In diesem Ansatz lädt eine Organisation externe Sicherheitsforscher ein, um Schwachstellen zu finden und diese zu melden. Im Gegenzug bietet die Organisation eine Belohnung an, üblicherweise in Form von Bezahlung. Dieser Ansatz bietet einige Vorteile gegenüber anderen Sicherheitsmethoden. Erstens wird das Zielvon einer großen Anzahl von Testern mit unterschiedlichen Fähigkeiten getestet, sodass die Wahrscheinlichkeit,Schwachstellen zu erkennen, erhöht wird. Zweitens ist das Kostenmodell attraktiv. Da Belohnungen nur für gültige Schwachstellenberichte angeboten werden, stehen die Kosten in dieser Sicherheitstestmethode eng mit den von ihr generierten Ergebnissen in Zusammenhang. Trotz der Beliebtheit hat sich ein Crowdsourcing-Ansatz zur offensiven Sicherheit in Großunternehmen nur langsam durchgesetzt. Dies ist auf den Mangel an Informationen und formalen Richtlinien zum Erstellen und Verwalten eines Bug Bounty Programms zurückzuführen. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es diese Lücke zu schließen und einen praktischen Leitfaden für die Integration und Ausführung von Crowdsourced-Sicherheitstest in Großunternehmen bereitzustellen. Für die Integration eines Bug Bounty Programms werden zwei Alternativen vorgestellt: ein institutioneller Ansatz, in dem eine Organisation beschließt ihr Bug Bounty Program selber zu verwalten, und ein Ansatz in dem ein Bug Bounty Dienstleister mit der Verwaltung beauftragt wird. Für beide Optionen bietet diese Arbeit detaillierte Anweisungen zum Starten, Betreiben und Verwalten eines Bug Bounty Programms. Dies umfasst Aspekte wie das Erstellen der Rules of Engagement, das Zusammenstellen des Betriebsteams, das Definieren von Erfolgsmetriken, das Auswählen derrichtigen Ziele und das Verarbeiten von Schwachstellenberichten. Um die Konzepte dieser Arbeit zu testen, wird eine Fallstudie für ein Großprojekt durchgeführt. Experteninterviews werden als zusätzliche Methode zur Bewertung der Leistung dieser Konzepte verwendet. Die Ergebnisse kommen zu dem Schluss, dass Bug Bounties eine wirksame Maßnahme zur Verbesserung der IT-Sicherheit in Großunternehmen darstellt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen auch, dass Crowdsourced-Sicherheitstests nicht herkömmliche Offensive-Sicherheitstestmethoden ersetzten. Stattdessen dienen diese als ergänzende Maßnahme und erhöhen bei gleichzeitiger Verwendungdie Wirksamkeit anderer offensiver Sicherheitsmethoden., In IT security, a crowdsourced approach to offensive security has seen increasing popularity in recent years. In this approach, an organization invites external security researchers to find and report vulnerabilities to them. In return, the organization offers some type of reward, commonly in monetary form. This approach provides some advantages compared to other offensive security methods. First, the target is tested by a large number of testers with various skill sets. This increases the exposure of the target and is likely to lead to more vulnerability findings. Second, the return of investment is attractive. Because an organization only pays for valid vulnerability reports, the cost of this offensive security testing methodology is closely connected to the results it generates. Despite its popularity, crowdsourced offensive security has seen slow adoption amongst enterprise organizations. This is attributed to the lack of information and formal guidelines for creating and managing a bug bounty program. This thesis aims to fill this void and provide a practical guideline for integrating and running crowdsourced offensive security in enterprise IT. Two alternatives for integrating a bug bounty program in enterprise organizations are discussed: an institutional approach where the bug bounty program is managed in-house, and utilization of a bug bounty services provider. For both options, this work offers detailed instructions for launching, operating and managing a bug bounty program. This includes aspects such as creating the rules of engagement, assembling the operations team, defining success metrics, selecting the right targets and processing vulnerability reports. To test the concepts of this thesis, a case study for a major project is conducted. Expert interviews are used as an additional methodology to evaluate the performance of these concepts. The results conclude that crowdsourced offensive security is an effective measure to improve IT security in enterprise organizations. The results also show that crowdsourced offensive security does not replace traditional offensive security methods. Instead, it serves as a complementary measure and increases the effectiveness of other offensive security methods when used simultaneously.

Digitalisierungswissen in Großunternehmen stellt eine wichtige, bislang nur unzureichend erforschte Machtressource für die Gestaltung digitaler Arbeit dar. Dieses Working Paper fragt, wer über dieses Wissen verfügt. Es argumentiert, dass sich die betriebliche digitalen Bohème nicht auf die Kerngruppe von IT-nahen Beschäftigten beschränkt, sondern heterogene Beschäftigtengruppen umfasst, die über formelles und informelles Techniknutzungswissen verfügen. Digitalisierungsprozesse in Großbetrieben lassen sich daher als Interaktionsfeld differenter Wissensbestände begreifen und gestalten.

Den Lesern internationaler Wirtschaftsmedien ist seit einiger Zeit eine ungewohnte Erfahrung gegönnt. Die Schlagzeilen zur ostasiatischen „Wirtschaftswunderregion“ - mehr als zehn Jahre monotonen Lobgesängen ähnelnd - zeugen von bisher unbekannter Unsicherheit. Die Zukunftsperspektiven einer Reihe von Akteuren in der Region scheinen nicht mehr ungetrübt. Vorbei sind die Zeiten des unerschütterlichen Fortschrittsoptimismus. Einige selbsternannte Kassandras haben sich zu Wort gemeldet. Das Spektrum der Botschaften“ oszilliert von altbekannten Formeln wie „Emerging Asia’s Bright Prospects“ bis zu „End of the Miracle Phase“. Philip Bowring, einer der erfahrenen „Veteranen“ unter den Beobachtern der ostasiatischen Entwicklungsszene, sprach in der International Herald Tribüne vom 19./20. Juli 1997 sogar von einem tiefen „Ungemach“, das sich auf dem großen Teilkontinent ausbreite: „The Asian miracle has become the Asian malaise. Currencies are weak. Stock markets are mostly failing to share in the global boom. At home, hubris is giving way to self-doubt. Abroad enthusiasm for the region is fading.“, Korea: Politik, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft, 1997: Korea: Politik, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft

This report analyzes the role of the largest companies in the Finnish economy. According to the results, the ten largest companies in terms of their value added together produce 7,6 % of the Finnish GDP. In addition, these companies generate notable multiplicative effects in the economy. According to the findings, the productivity and the growth rates of the ten largest companies clearly surpass the economy average. In this study, it was also analyzed what kinds of macroeconomic effects will generated by Metsä Fibre’s investment into their new bioproduct factory in Äänekoski, Finland. The calculations were conducted for the construction phase and the production phase individually. According to these analyses, the construction phase alone will generate a positive impact on employment reaching thousands of man-years. However, the true significance of the investment will only become evident in the production phase, since not all investments of equal scale produce similar macroeconomic effects. Besides the characteristics of the examined industries, the size of these effects also depends on which countries acquisitions are made from.

It is often argued that in Germany jobs are mostly created in small and medium sized firms, while large firms generally tend to destroy jobs. The so-called Mittelstand is considered as the engine of job creation. Using panel data for manufacturing firms this paper demonstrates that this simple view is wrong. Growing and shrinking firms, entries and exits can be found in a substantial amount in all size classes in each time period considered. Economic policy measures with a special focus on firms from different size classes, therefore, can not be justified by pointing to an extraordinary large contribution of these firms to job creation. In der öffentlichen Diskussion gilt als allgemein akzeptiert, dass in Deutschland ein Zusammenhang zwischen Firmengröße und Arbeitsplatzdynamik besteht, der sich durch den stilisierten Fakt beschreiben lässt, dass kleine und mittlere Firmen vorwiegend Arbeitsplätze schaffen, während in großen Firmen vor allem Arbeitsplätze abgebaut werden. Der Mittelstand gilt als Jobmotor. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt, dass eine Auswertung von Längsschnittdaten für Betriebe Zweifel an dieser einfachen Sichtweise begründen kann. In mittelständischen Betrieben entstehen viele Arbeitsplätze, aber es werden auch viele abgebaut, und dasselbe gilt für Großbetriebe. Wachsende und schrumpfende, neu gegründete und geschlossene Betriebe sind in jeweils erheblichem Umfang in jedem Jahr in allen Größenklassen anzutreffen. Wirtschaftspolitische Maßnahmen mit einer spezifischen Ausrichtung auf bestimmte Firmengrößenklassen lassen sich daher nicht mit einem besonders ausgeprägten Beitrag dieser Firmen zur Beschäftigungsdynamik rechtfertigen.

This paper explores the dynamics in strategic alliances between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large organisations (corporates). Despite the volumes written on this subject, few studies take into account this context of interorganisational relationships. The dynamics in strategic partnerships between small and large organisations are potentially multifaceted and fraught with complexities and contradictions. The partner organisations bring diverse interests and resources to the strategic partnerships and these affect the dynamics of their relationships. Using the literature on strategic alliances, this article examines four such strategic partnerships in New Zealand. Results show that in order to increase the likelihood of successful collaboration, the alliance partners must understand the importance of building trust and a shared alliance purpose, and both of these must be communicated effectively at executive and operational levels. Key words: Strategic Alliances, SMEs, Trust, Commitment, New Zealand 1. Introduction Strategic alliances are assuming increasing prominence in the strategy of leading firms, large and small. They have become a means through which firms expand into new markets, access dispersed capabilities, and leverage technologies and other resources. In fact, some popular business writers argue that strategic alliances have become a necessity rather than a choice in today's turbulent business environment (Doz/Hamel 1998; Dussauge/Garrette 1999). Despite the volumes written on this subject, very few studies take into account strategic alliances between small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms (Alvarez 2001; Farkas-Conn 1999; Sulej/Stewart/Keogh 2001). Most literature predominantly pertains to strategic alliances that are formed between large organisations (Hamel 1991; Kanter 1994). While such studies indeed provide relevant insight into the alliance phenomenon, it is important to note that many small countries including New Zealand are increasingly dependant on SMEs. The research reported here considers the interplay in strategic alliances between SMEs and large organisations (corporates). By doing so, it hopes to provide better insight into what makes collaborative partnerships effective between SMEs and corporates. If indeed the effective use of strategic alliances is viewed increasingly as an important issue facing SMEs (Bekmann/Robinson 2004), what, then, is the importance of developing trust and commitment within strategic alliances, and how can an increased understanding of these and other relevant dimensions associated with effective collaborative partnerships be useful to other SMEs wishing to embark on similar strategies for growth? The paper is structured as follows. The first three sections highlight some of the potential issues and challenges that might be relevant in the context of strategic alliances between SMEs and corporates. The fourth section outlines the research method while the fifth section offers insights into empirical investigation of four case studies of strategic partnerships. The final sections draw on the accumulated evidence presented in the previous sections to discuss three prominent aspects of strategic partnerships between SMEs and large firms, and identify potential areas for future research. 2. The importance of strategic alliances The last two decades have witnessed a significant increase in the frequency and magnitude of strategic alliances. Despite their increasing popularity, both management scholars and practitioners (Das/Rahman 2001; Seligman 2001) agree that most strategic alliances have failed to fully accomplish their goals. Inkpen and Ross (2001), for example, describe strategic alliances as unstable organisational forms. Hutt and colleagues (Hutt/Stafford/Walker/Reingen 2000) note that many strategic alliances fail to meet expectations because little attention is given to nurturing the close working relationships and interpersonal connections that unite the partnering organisations. …

Frauen sind in Europa zu einem erheblich geringeren Maße in Führungspositionen tätig als Männer; im europäischen Durchschnitt haben sie nur 10 % der Sitze in den höchsten Entscheidungsgremien der jeweils 50 größten börsennotierten Unternehmen inne. Dabei gibt es von Land zu Land beträchtliche Unterschiede: Spitzenreiter sind Slowenien und Lettland mit Anteilen von jeweils 22 %, Schlusslicht ist Italien mit 2 %. Deutschland liegt hier mit 10 % im Mittelfeld. Eine stärkere Differenzierung für Unternehmen und Interessenverbände zeigt allerdings ein noch ungünstigeres Bild: In den Vorständen der 87 größten Kapitalgesellschaften der Old Economy stellen Frauen im Durchschnitt beispielsweise nur 1% und in Aufsichtsräten 8% der Sitze. In den Interessenvertretungen von Arbeitnehmern und den Berufsverbänden sieht die Situation mit einem Anteil von einem Fünftel bis einem Viertel besser aus, auch wenn man von einer Gleichstellung noch weit entfernt ist. Selbst in der umfassenderen Abgrenzung der Fach- und Führungspositionen insgesamt in allen Beschäftigungsbereichen von Angestellten und Beamten erreicht der Frauenanteil nicht einmal ein Drittel - obwohl ihr Anteil an der Gesamtbeschäftigung bei 45 % liegt.

Aktuelle Umfragen zeigen, dass großen Unternehmen und internationalen Konzernen von der Bevölkerung in Deutschland eher wenig Vertrauen entgegengebracht wird. Dies hat auch entscheidend mit den Themen und der Art und Weise zu tun, wie die Unternehmen kommunizieren. In diesem Kontext ist - von der Akademischen Gesellschaft für Unternehmensführung & Kommunikation beauftragt - 2014 eine doppelte Befragungsstudie von einem Team um Prof. Dr. Günter Bentele durchgeführt worden. Faktisch wurden knapp 60 der größten Unternehmen in Deutschland hinsichtlich der Institutionalisierung von Unternehmenskommunikation befragt, d.h. zu der Existenz von schriftlichen Kommunikationsrichtlinien, aber auch zu ihren Einstellungen zu ethischen Grundlagen in der Unternehmenskommunikation. Ausgewählte Ergebnisse zeigen: Für 75 Prozent der Befragten hat die Bedeutung von Kommunikationskodizes und -richtlinien in den vergangenen Jahren zugenommen. Die meisten Unternehmen haben bevorzugt in den Bereichen Media Relations, Finanzkommunikation und Online- Kommunikation schriftliche Kommunikationsrichtlinien entwickelt. Bei immerhin 43 Prozent der Befragten sind ethische Probleme ein regelmäßiges Thema. Für eine große Mehrheit der leitenden Kommunikationsmanager spielt Kommunikation auch für die allgemeinen Compliancekodizes eine wichtige Rolle. 84 Prozent der Befragten könnten sich vorstellen, dass ihr Unternehmen sich öffentlich hinter die Leitwerte des Deutschen Kommunikationskodex stellt. Diese Werte in den Arbeitsverträgen zu verankern sehen allerdings nur 30 Prozent als sinnvoll an. Representative surveys indicate that the population in Germany shows rather low trust towards large companies and international corporations. Lack of trust is strongly influenced by topics and the ways companies communicate. In this context - commissioned by the Academic Society of Corporate Management & Communication - a dual-survey study was conducted by a team led by Professor Guenter Bentele. Nearly 60 of the largest companies in Germany were interviewed regarding the institutionalization of corporate communications, including the existence of written communication guidelines and policies, but also regarding attitudes concerning ethical principles in corporate communications. According to 75 per cent of respondents, the relevance of communication codes and policies has increased in recent years. Most companies have developed written communication guidelines, preferably in the areas of media relations, financial communications and online communication. For 43 per cent of the respondents, ethical issues are a regular topic. For a large majority of senior communication managers, communication also plays an important role in the general compliance codes. A full 84 per cent of respondents could imagine that their company is publicly supporting the core values of the German Communication Code. But for only 30 per cent, it would be helpful to embed these values into labour contracts.

"Alongside economic wealth, Egypt's business elite attained notable political influence under Mubarak. And after Mubarak's fall in February 2011 Egyptian entrepreneurs very successfully defended their power, profiting from the laxness of fraud and corruption investigations after the armed forces took power. The same course was continued by the Muslim Brotherhood under the presidency of Mohammed Morsi in 2012/2013. More broadly, the Brotherhood’s policies closely echoed Mubarak’s pro-business economic policy. But its attempt to co-opt the business elite failed, as did the efforts of certain Brotherhood members to seriously expand their own business activities. Many of the mostly secular-leaning top entrepreneurs were deeply mistrustful of the Brotherhood and supported its adversaries by funding opposition parties and politicians and via private-sector media. These activities contributed to the Brotherhood's failure to consolidate the power it gained through elections. The armed forces' removal of Morsi in July 2013 could permit the influence of big business on the political process to increase still further. Regardless of current political turbulence, Germany and the European Union should therefore shape their long-term cooperation with Egypt so as to counteract the foreseeable negative consequences of such influence by supporting both the creation of transparency and competition in the Egyptian economy and the establishment of a more equitable tax system." (author's abstract)

Ägyptens Unternehmerelite hatte in der Mubarak-Ära nicht nur wirtschaftlichen Reichtum erlangt, sondern auch politischen Einfluss. Nach dem Umsturz Anfang 2011 war sie sehr erfolgreich darin, diese Machtposition zu bewahren. Die ägyptischen Großunternehmer profitierten nicht zuletzt davon, dass das Militär, das zunächst die Führung des Landes übernommen hatte, Korruption und Misswirtschaft nur unzureichend aufarbeitete. Von der Muslimbruderschaft wurde dieser Kurs unter der Präsidentschaft Mohammed Mursis 2012/2013 fortgesetzt. Zudem orientierte sich die Bewegung programmatisch an der unternehmerfreundlichen Wirtschaftspolitik des Mubarak-Regimes. Ihr Versuch, dadurch die Unternehmerelite zu kooptieren, scheiterte jedoch ebenso wie die Bemühungen einiger Muslimbrüder, die eigenen wirtschaftlichen Aktivitäten in nennenswertem Umfang auszubauen. Viele der meist säkular geprägten Großunternehmer hegten ein grundsätzliches Misstrauen gegenüber der Bruderschaft. Sie unterstützten daher die Gegner der Organisation – durch Finanzierung von oppositionellen Parteien und Politikern sowie über private Medien. Dieses Vorgehen trug dazu bei, dass es der Bruderschaft nicht gelang, ihre durch Wahlen erlangte Macht zu konsolidieren. Nach Mursis Absetzung durch das Militär Anfang Juli 2013 könnte der Einfluss der Großunternehmer auf den politischen Entscheidungsprozess noch zunehmen. Ungeachtet der aktuellen politischen Turbulenzen sollten Deutschland und die EU bei ihrer langfristigen Zusammenarbeit mit Ägypten daher versuchen, den absehbaren Negativfolgen eines solchen Einflusses entgegenzuwirken. Zu unterstützen gilt es dabei sowohl die Herstellung von Transparenz und Wettbewerb in der ägyptischen Wirtschaft als auch den Aufbau eines gerechteren Steuersystems.(Autorenreferat), Alongside economic wealth, Egypt's business elite attained notable political influence under Mubarak. And after Mubarak's fall in February 2011 Egyptian entrepreneurs very successfully defended their power, profiting from the laxness of fraud and corruption investigations after the armed forces took power. The same course was continued by the Muslim Brotherhood under the presidency of Mohammed Morsi in 2012/2013. More broadly, the Brotherhood's policies closely echoed Mubarak's pro-business economic policy. But its attempt to co-opt the business elite failed, as did the efforts of certain Brotherhood members to seriously expand their own business activities. Many of the mostly secular-leaning top entrepreneurs were deeply mistrustful of the Brotherhood and supported its adversaries by funding opposition parties and politicians and via private-sector media. These activities contributed to the Brotherhood’s failure to consolidate the power it gained through elections. The armed forces' removal of Morsi in July 2013 could permit the influence of big business on the political process to increase still further. Regardless of current political turbulence, Germany and the European Union should therefore shape their long-term cooperation with Egypt so as to counteract the foreseeable negative consequences of such influence by supporting both the creation of transparency and competition in the Egyptian economy and the establishment of a more equitable tax system. (author's abstract)

Den Ergebnissen des ifo Investitionstests Handel zufolge hat die Investitionsfreudigkeit im Einzelhandel sowie im Kraftfahrzeughandel im Vergleich zum Vorjahr etwas abgenommen. Per saldo beabsichtigen die Unternehmen, ihre Ausgaben für Ausrüstungen und Bauten im Jahr 2013 zu senken. Lediglich bei den umsatzstarken Firmen überwiegen die expansiven Investitionspläne weiterhin. Darüber hin­aus wurden die Umfrageteilnehmer auch nach der voraussichtlichen Entwicklung ihrer Umsätze sowie des Personalstandes im laufenden Jahr befragt. Vor dem Hintergrund der nicht mehr ganz so günstig bewerteten Geschäftslage im Einzelhandel, fallen die Umsatzerwartungen der Unternehmen dieser Handelsstufe eher skeptisch aus. Zudem richteten sie ihre Personalpläne zunehmend auf eine Verkleinerung des Mitarbeiterstamms aus. Die Kfz-Händler sind in Anbetracht einer schlechten Nachfragesituation bereits seit einem Jahr merklich unzufrieden mit ihrem Geschäftsverlauf und rechnen dementsprechend für 2013 mit sinkenden Umsätzen. Die Beschäftigtenzahl soll verringert werden.

Firms commonly use supervisor evaluations to assess the performance of employees who work in complex environments. Doubts persist whether their subjective nature invalidates using these performance measures to learn about careers of individuals and to inform theory in personnel economics. We examine personnel data from six large companies and establish how subjective ratings, interpreted as ordinal rankings of employee performances within narrowly defined peer-groups, correlate with objective career outcomes. We find many similarities across firms in how subjective ratings correlate with base pay, bonuses, promotions, demotions, separations, quits and dismissals and cautiously propose these as empirical regularities. Firms commonly use supervisor evaluations to assess the performance of employees who work in complex environments. Doubts persist whether their subjective nature invalidates using these performance measures to learn about careers of individuals and to inform theory in personnel economics. We examine personnel data from six large companies and establish how subjective ratings, interpreted as ordinal rankings of employee performances within narrowly defined peer-groups, correlate with objective career outcomes. We find many similarities across firms in how subjective ratings correlate with base pay, bonuses, promotions, demotions, separations, quits and dismissals and cautiously propose these as empirical regularities.

Large exporters are simultaneously large importers. In this paper, we show that this pattern is key to understanding low aggregate exchange rate pass-through as well as the variation in pass-through across exporters. First, we develop a theoretical framework that combines variable markups due to strategic complementarities and endogenous choice to import intermediate inputs. The model predicts that firms with high import shares and high market shares have low exchange rate pass-through. Second, we test and quantify the theoretical mechanisms using Belgian firm-product-level data with information on exports by destination and imports by source country. We confi rm that import intensity and market share are the prime determinants of pass-through in the cross-section of fi rms. A small exporter with no imported inputs has a nearly complete pass-through of over 90 percent, while a firm at the 95th percentile of both import intensity and market share distributions has a pass-through of 56 percent, with the marginal cost and markup channels playing roughly equal roles. The largest exporters are simultaneously highmarket-share and high-import-intensity firms, which helps explain the low aggregate pass-through and exchange rate disconnect observed in the data.

We analyze the impact of large firms on business tax rates using data from German mu-nicipalities in Hesse in 1998-2005. Results suggest that business tax rates decrease with tax-payers' concentration, indicating strong local lobbying power of large firms.

Discriminatory programs that favor local and small firms in government procurement are common in many countries. This paper studies the long-run impact of procurement discrimination on market structure and future competition in industries where learning-by-doing makes incumbent firms more efficient over time. We consider a sequential procurement design problem in which local and global firms compete for public good provision. Both firms benefit from learning-by-doing if they provide the public good in the previous period but global firms only may be able to transfer learning-by-doing from different markets. We find that the optimal procurement has to be biased in favor of the local firm even when all firms are symmetric with respect to their initial cost distribution. This bias fosters future competition and reduces intertemporal expected transfers to providers.

Using the approach suggested by Gabaix (Econometrica 2011) this paperdemonstrates that idiosyncratic shocks in the largest firms are important for anunderstanding of aggregate volatility in German manufacturing industries. Theimplications of this finding for theoretical and empirical research and for economicpolicy are discussed.

Die Arbeit geht dem Status quo der unternehmensweiten Suche in österreichischen Großunternehmen nach und beleuchtet Faktoren, die darauf Einfluss haben. Aus der Analyse des Ist-Zustands wird der Bedarf an Enterprise-Search-Software abgeleitet und es werden Rahmenbedingungen für deren erfolgreiche Einführung skizziert. Die Untersuchung stützt sich auf eine im Jahr 2009 durchgeführte Onlinebefragung von 469 österreichischen Großunternehmen (Rücklauf 22 %) und daran anschließende Leitfadeninterviews mit zwölf Teilnehmern der Onlinebefragung. Der theoretische Teil verortet die Arbeit im Kontext des Informations- und Wissensmanagements. Der Fokus liegt auf dem Ansatz der Enterprise Search, ihrer Abgrenzung gegenüber der Suche im Internet und ihrem Leistungsspektrum. Im empirischen Teil wird zunächst aufgezeigt, wie die Unternehmen ihre Informationen organisieren und welche Probleme dabei auftreten. Es folgt eine Analyse des Status quo der Informationssuche im Unternehmen. Abschließend werden Bekanntheit und Einsatz von Enterprise-Search-Software in der Zielgruppe untersucht sowie für die Einführung dieser Software nötige Rahmenbedingungen benannt. Defizite machen die Befragten insbesondere im Hinblick auf die übergreifende Suche im Unternehmen und die Suche nach Kompetenzträgern aus. Hier werden Lücken im Wissensmanagement offenbar. 29 % der Respondenten der Onlinebefragung geben zudem an, dass es in ihren Unternehmen gelegentlich bis häufig zu Fehlentscheidungen infolge defizitärer Informationslagen kommt. Enterprise-Search-Software kommt in 17 % der Unternehmen, die sich an der Onlinebefragung beteiligten, zum Einsatz. Die durch Enterprise-Search-Software bewirkten Veränderungen werden grundsätzlich positiv beurteilt. Alles in allem zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass Enterprise-Search-Strategien nur Erfolg haben können, wenn man sie in umfassende Maßnahmen des Informations- und Wissensmanagements einbettet. The dissertation pursues the status quo of enterprise search within large companies in Austria and examines which aspects take influence on it. From the analysis of the current state the demand for enterprise search software is derived and the conditions of how it can be implemented successfully are outlined. The study is based on an online survey in 2009 among 469 large companies in Austria (response rate of 22 %), which was complemented by semi-structured interviews with twelve participants of the online survey. The theoretical part puts the examination in the field of information and knowledge management. It focuses on the strategy of enterprise search, its differences compared with web search, and its technical features. The empirical part investigates how companies organize information and which problems might arise as a result. This is followed by an analysis of the state of information retrieval within the company. Finally, the degree of awareness and use of enterprise search software and the basic conditions for its installation are explored. Above all, the respondents and interviewees identify deficits concerning metasearch features as well as the search for experts within the company. This in turn reveals gaps in knowledge management efforts. Moreover, 29 % of the online survey’s respondents indicate that their company either sometimes or often take wrong decisions because of insufficient information. 17 % of the responding companies take advantage of enterprise search software. In principle, the changes due to enterprise search software are seen positively. In summary, the results show that enterprise search risks to fail as a success-ful strategy unless it is embedded in comprehensive information and knowledge management activities.

We document that trust in public institutions - and particularly trust in banks, business and government - has declined over recent years. U.S. time series evidence suggests that this partly reflects the pro-cyclical nature of trust in institutions. Cross-country comparisons reveal a clear legacy of the Great Recession, and those countries whose unemployment grew the most suffered the biggest loss in confidence in institutions, particularly in trust in government and the financial sector. Finally, analysis of several repeated cross-sections of confidence within U.S. states yields similar qualitative patterns, but much smaller magnitudes in response to state-specific shocks.

This paper summarizes the findings of studies which investigate the determinants of wages in Germany, using data of the German Socioeconomic Panel (GSOEP). The empirical analyses apply least squares estimates as well as the estimators developed by Altonji and Shakotko, Rev. Econ. Stud. 54, 437 (1987) and Topel, J. Polit Econ. 99(1), 145 (1991). These estimators reduce the endogeneity of indicators of specific and general labor market experience. The studies focus on the heterogeneity in wage determinants in the private and the public sector, in East and West Germany, for men and women, as well as in large versus small firms. Among the most interesting results, we find clear differences in returns to experience between East and West and by employer size.

Based on German data between 1999 and 2007, we analyze the growth factors of SMEs and contrast them with those of large _rms. Differences show up both in balance sheet and employment growth. While we confirm earlier results on inherent growth structures and the influence of firm age, we derive several new, complex growth effects that set SMEs apart: particularly ownership type and ownership structure play a distinctive role that may additionally interact with other variables affecting growth, such as, e.g. profitability or capital structure. As such, the distinction - according to size - between SMEs and large firms may not be sufficiently meaningful unless combined with further information on ownership type and structure and, preferably, also on firm age.

This paper analyses the gender gap in compensation for CEOs, Vice-Directors, and potential top executives in the 2000 largest Danish private companies based on a panel data set of employer-employees data covering the period 1996-2005. During the period, the overall gender gap in compensation for top executives and potential top executives decreased from 35 percent to 31 percent. However, contrary to many other studies, we do not find that the gender gap for Danish top executives disappears when controlling for observed individual and firm characteristics and unobserved individual heterogeneity. For CEOs, the raw compensation gap is 28 percent during the period while the estimated compensation gap after controlling for observed and unobserved characteristics increases to 30 percent. For executives below the CEO level, the estimated compensation gap is lower, ranging from 15 to 20 percent. Thus, we find evidence of both glass ceilings and sticky floors in Danish private firms.

We analyze the welfare and employment effects of different wage bargaining regimes. Within the large firm search model, we show that collective bargaining affects employment via two channels. Collective bargaining exerts opposing effects on job creation and wage setting. Firms have a stronger incentive for strategic employment, while workers benefit from the threat of a strike. We find that the employment increase due to the strategic motive is dominated by the employment decrease due to the increase in workers' threat point. In aggregate equilibrium, employment is ineffciently low under collective bargaining. But it is not always true that equilibrium wages exceed those under individual bargaining. If unemployment benefits are suffciently low, collectively bargained wages are smaller. The theory sheds new light on policies concerned with strategic employment and the relation between replacement rates and the extent of collective wage bargaining.

We provide new evidence that large firms or establishments are more sensitive than small ones to business cycle conditions. Larger employers shed proportionally more jobs in recessions and create more of their new jobs late in expansions, both in gross and net terms. The differential growth rate of employment between large and small firms varies by about 5% over the business cycle. Omitting cyclical indicators may lead to conclude that, on average, these cyclical effects wash out and size does not predict subsequent growth (Gibrat's law). We employ a variety of measures of relative employment growth, employer size and classification by size. We revisit two statistical fallacies, the Regression and Reclassification biases, that can affect our results, and we show empirically that they are quantitatively modest given our focus on relative cyclical behavior. We exploit a variety of (mostly novel) U.S. datasets, both repeated cross-sections and job flows with employer longitudinal information, starting in the mid 1970's and now spanning four business cycles. The pattern that we uncover is robust to different treatments of entry and exit of firms and establishments, and occurs within, not across broad industries, regions and states. Evidence on worker flows suggests that the pattern is driven at least in part by excess layoffs by large employers in and just after recessions, and by excess poaching by large employers late in expansions. We find the same pattern in similar datasets in four other countries, including full longitudinal censuses of employers from Denmark and Brazil. Finally, we sketch a simple firm-ladder model of turnover that can shed light on these facts, and that we analyze in detail in companion papers.

This paper deals with the topic of related R&D and innovation strategies of large firms. We ask what determines the diversity of a firm's product portfolio. More specifically, we try to explain large firms' expansion into new product markets driven by the characteristics of their technological knowledge. Empirically, we study firms in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, using relevant data on product development and technological knowledge. We find a positive relationship between the diversity of a firm's future product portfolio and the diversity of its stock of technological knowledge. This relationship becomes weaker when the breadth of technological knowledge increases.

This study shows that the wage premium paid by large firms fell over the past 20 years and that the decline in the size premium has been most pronounced among the least educated work force. Empirical evidence supports several explanations for the decline in the size premium. First, there has been a convergence in the returns to worker characteristics at large and small firms over time. Second, there has been a convergence in the types of workers employed at small and large firms. Particularly important have been changes in the distribution of workers across industries and the greater rate of decline in unionism at large firms.

Die seit 2008 geltende "Zinsschranke" begrenzt den Abzug des Zinsaufwands von der steuerlichen Bemessungsgrundlage bei hoher Fremdfinanzierung. Eine Abschätzung auf Grundlage von veröffentlichten handelsrechtlichen Jahresabschlüssen des Jahres 2006 ergibt 1 100 Unternehmen, die von der Zinsschranke betroffen sein könnten. Davon werden 600 Unternehmen tatsächlich steuerlich belastet. Für die übrigen Unternehmen hat die Zinsschranke keinen unmittelbaren Effekt, da sie einen hinreichend hohen steuerlichen Verlust aufweisen. Das Steuermehraufkommen wird auf 750 Millionen Euro geschätzt, ohne Berücksichtigung von Anpassungsreaktionen der Unternehmen. Eine Anhebung der Zinsschranken-Freigrenze auf einen Nettozinsaufwand von drei Millionen Euro, wie derzeit vom Gesetzgeber geplant, würde die Zahl der betroffenen kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen sehr stark reduzieren. Da die Zinsschranke vor allem Großunternehmen trifft, geht das Steueraufkommen bei einer solchen Reform um weniger als ein Zehntel zurück.

We use monthly personnel records of a large German company to analyse the gender wagegap (GWG). Main findings are: (1) the unconditional GWG is 15 percent for blue-collar and26 percent for white-collar workers; (2) conditional on tenure, entry age, schooling, andworking hours, the GWG is 13 percent for blue-collar as well as for white-collar workers; (3)after additionally controlling for hierarchical levels, the GWG is less than 4 percent for bluecollarand 8 percent for white-collar workers; (4) Oaxaca decompositions reveal that theunexplained part of the GWG is 87 percent for blue-collar workers and 46 percent for whitecollarworkers; (5) males have larger absolute wage growths than females; (6) the relativeGWG gets larger with tenure for blue-collar but smaller for white-collar workers; (7) individualabsenteeism has no significant impact on the GWG; (8) the gender gap in absenteeism isbetween 26 and 46 percent. Overall, the results are consistent with statistical discriminationexplanations of the gender wage gap, though we cannot rule out other forms ofdiscrimination. A simple model within the context of absenteeism and statistical discriminationis offered. We use monthly personnel records of a large German company to analyse the gender wage gap (GWG). Main findings are: (1) the unconditional GWG is 15 percent for blue-collar and 26 percent for white-collar workers; (2) conditional on tenure, entry age, schooling, and working hours, the GWG is 13 percent for blue-collar as well as for white-collar workers; (3) after additionally controlling for hierarchical levels, the GWG is less than 4 percent for bluecollar and 8 percent for white-collar workers; (4) Oaxaca decompositions reveal that theunexplained part of the GWG is 87 percent for blue-collar workers and 46 percent for whitecollar workers; (5) males have larger absolute wage growths than females; (6) the relative GWG gets larger with tenure for blue-collar but smaller for white-collar workers; (7) individual absenteeism has no significant impact on the GWG; (8) the gender gap in absenteeism is between 26 and 46 percent. Overall, the results are consistent with statistical discriminationexplanations of the gender wage gap, though we cannot rule out other forms ofdiscrimination. A simple model within the context of absenteeism and statistical discrimination is offered.

This paper is a part of larger research project on the role of the 30 largest firms in the Nordic countries. By examining the changes in the role of top 30 firms in the Finnish economy we aim to reveal some essential features of the structural transformation in the economy. From the national economy point of view these firms are in a crucial position. Almost all of them are multinationals, operate in several countries, and make influential decisions on trade and location of production. The analysis suggests that top 30 firms account for a substantial portion of business sector employment and value added in Finland. Moreover, the role of these large companies is particularly significant in foreign direct investment and in research and development. Our data however indicate that their role in the Finnish economy in terms of output and employment shares seems to have decreased during the recent decades. Yet, it is an open question to what extent large firms have reorganized their operations in such a way that they do not directly show up in their own output and employment data.

This paper studies the serial autocorrelation of annual growth rates in employment for selected Austrian service industries over a 30-year period using quantile regression techniques. The autocorrelation of growth rates provides important information on firms growth processes. We find that the growth patterns of micro firms are strikingly different from the growth patterns of small, medium-sized and larger firms. First, we do find a positive dependency of growth on size for growing micro firms, while this relationship is negative for the other size groups. Second, growing micro firms are subject to negative autocorrelation of annual growth rates making sustained growth a very rate occurrence, while larger growing firms usually display a positive autocorrelation suggesting that high growth episodes of larger firms stretch over a longer time horizon. This indicates that non-convex adjustment costs leading to lumpy growth are much more important for micro firms than for large firms. Furthermore, we find that the autocorrelation patterns are asymmetric with regard to decline and growth.

This article analyzes the role of suggested prices in the Dutch retail market for gasoline. Suggested prices are announced by large oil companies with the suggestion that retailers follow them. There are at least two competing rationales for the existence of suggested prices: they may either help retailers translate changes in international gasoline spot market prices into retail prices, or they may coordinate retail prices. We show that there is, next to the international spot market prices, additional information in suggested prices that explains retail prices. Therefore, we conclude that suggested prices help to coordinate retail prices.

If large companies buy small dynamic enterprises, and move them to the headquarters' location or elsewhere, the process could suppress regional, or dependent, economy income and productivity. We investigate this hypothesis by analysing around 2 million observations of the UK enterprise- level Business Structure Database. Contrary to the experience of large firms, more productive small businesses are more subject to takeover. In addition, SMEs that have been acquired are also more likely to both exit and relocate to another region. This last finding however cuts both ways; a peripheral region or country may receive post-merger companies as well as lose them. With the exception of the core of London and the South East, British regions achieve an approximate numerical balance of relocations from SME takeovers.

Trotz des Auslaufens der degressiven Abschreibung bei mobilen Anlagegütern zum Jahresende 2007 zeigen die Ergebnisse der jährlichen Investitionssonderfrage des ifo Instituts auch 2008 kein Ende der Investitionsdynamik im Einzelhandel. Die bereits in zurückliegenden Umfragen zu beobachtende Tendenz, dass sich die Investitionsdynamik weitgehend auf die Großunternehmen beschränkt, scheint sich auch in diesem Jahr fortzusetzen. Von den befragten Firmen waren es in erster Linie die mit einem Jahresumsatz von 25 Mill. € und mehr, die für 2008 mehrheitlich mit Umsatzsteigerungen rechnen und eine Aufstockung ihres Personalbestandes sowie ihrer Ausgaben für Baumaßnahmen, Betriebs- und Geschäftsausstattung in Aussicht stellen.

In this paper we highlight the importance of technology flows between sec- tors and their impact on the labor productivity of large-scale corporations. Based on theoretical considerations, we explore technological spillovers between the sectors of an economy. Large-scale corporations usually focus on certain sec- tors but make use of a wide range of technological knowledge from other sectors. Thereby, technological knowledge built up in sectors by continuous R&D ac- tivities does not spill over without bounds but is directed by firms' absorptive capacities. We use firms' patent portfolio to empirically calculate the sector af- filiation and therewith the firms' absorptive capacities in order to estimate the impact of technology diffusion on labor productivity. Fortune 500 firms serve as data base.

A national-champions-related industrial policy has become (again) en vogue among European politicians. Against this background, our work orders different types of national champions along the industry lifecycle. Different types of locally bound externalities appear along the lifecycle. In a simple model, we show that it may be efficient to subsidize innovative firms in their early stages or to protect mature firms from competition to appropriate these externalities. However, non-benevolent politicians may not choose efficient policies. Real-world examples indicate that politicians tend to concentrate on externalities at the mature stage of the lifecycle. These externalities may be transitory or at the expense of foreign country consumers.

The idea of an industrial policy that promotes large businesses—heavyweights—as the best way to compete in a globalized world has become, again, en vogue among European politicians. The only apparent controversy about the idea revolves around whether it is better to promote national champions or, instead, European champions. Empirical evidence on the issue is rare and contradictory. A uniquely rich industry-level dataset for Germany is used in this paper to test whether large business size in an industry fosters growth in terms of total factor productivity (TFP). The results suggest that the overall effects of firm size on TFP growth are negative.

In der öffentlichen Diskussion gilt als allgemein akzeptiert, dass in Deutschland ein Zusammenhang zwischen Firmengröße und Arbeitsplatzdynamik besteht, der sich durch den stilisierten Fakt beschreiben lässt, dass kleine und mittlere Firmen vorwiegend Arbeitsplätze schaffen, während in großen Firmen vor allem Arbeitsplätze abgebaut werden. Der Mittelstand gilt als Jobmotor. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt, dass eine Auswertung von Längsschnittdaten für Betriebe Zweifel an dieser einfachen Sichtweise begründen kann. In mittelständischen Betrieben entstehen viele Arbeitsplätze, aber es werden auch viele abgebaut, und dasselbe gilt für Großbetriebe. Wachsende und schrumpfende, neu gegründete und geschlossene Betriebe sind in jeweils erheblichem Umfang in jedem Jahr in allen Größenklassen anzutreffen. Wirtschaftspolitische Maßnahmen mit einer spezifischen Ausrichtung auf bestimmte Firmengrößenklassen lassen sich daher nicht mit einem besonders ausgeprägten Beitrag dieser Firmen zur Beschäftigungsdynamik rechtfertigen.