Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg

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Abstracts SoSe15

08.07.2015

“Effectiveness of Direct Marketing Techniques on Fundraising for the Charities in Syria-Damascus” (Hicham Al Sabbagh)

Many NPO’s in Syria blamed the political/legal constrains and many controlling procedures on promoting and managing their supportive programs. Other NPO’s who have been capable to create specific projects suffered from lack of resources and little experience in implementing those projects whether managerial or marketing (issues like gaining support from donors/volunteers).

Many scholars were interested in researching marketing used by non-profit organizations, but this was not the case for Syria. One or two modest studies were conducted on managerial aspects or legal backgrounds but not on fundraising and marketing techniques, they were never the subject of real scientific investigation. Scholars in UK/USA examined fundraising through a well-tested mathematical model, and in this research we applied the same model on a sample of 135 NPO’s in Damascus/Syria. Their financial reports were used being provided by the regulator in 2010 before the political crisis.

This research is trying to examine specifically if “Direct Marketing” techniques were effective and used by NPO’s in Damascus/Syria for “Fundraising”, comparing to “Traditional Marketing” techniques. Other methods currently used techniques in fundraising were also discovered; Empirical results yielded two effective variables in the model, the other variables were not significantly effective in Damascus/Syria. Some results were identical other were not with UK, USA NPO’s analysis.

Another sample of 102 questionnaires were completed by NPO’s in Damascus/Syria, measured the usage degree of “Direct Marketing” technique in fundraising. This measurement yielded separating two different groups of NPO’s in Damascus/Syria, first group measured high in using DM, and the second group measured low. Then the previous empirical analysis was repeated on each group separately using the mathematical model, examining if the dependent variable “Fundraising” was affected more or less by the first group or by the second group.

Results of the research measured how far NPO’s of Damascus/Syria are conforming to the standards of Direct Marketing. Two other variables proven effective on fundraising were also discovered and that is very useful for Decision-makers of NPO’s in Syria/Damascus, they can use the findings to improve the effectiveness of the fundraising activities. Moreover the providers of professional fundraising services would have scientific evidence on whether their services enhance the effectiveness of NPOs’ fundraising efforts.

Keywords: Fundraising, DM-Direct Marketing, Traditional Marketing, Non-profit organizations - Syria.

Rankings, Performance and Sabotage: The Moderating Effects of Target Setting (Schreck)

Competitive incentive systems that rely on performance rankings are widely used in today’s organizations. These systems enable agents to improve their performance rank not only by increasing their own performance, but also by reducing their competitors’ performance. While accounting studies have stressed the positive effect of ranking systems on managerial effort, this paper investigates when and how such ranking systems may induce sabotage. We report on a laboratory experiment designed to study the incidence, and potential mitigation, of this negative effect of performance rankings. Specifically, we investigate whether relative performance information increases an agent’s inclination to disrupt competitors’ efforts, in a case in which ranking has no effect on compensation. We find that rankings caused both higher performance and higher sabotage. Adding an absolute performance standard appeared to reduce the dysfunctional effects of ranking. As performance in presence of an absolute target was higher without than with a ranking, our results overall suggest that performance benefits from the use of either a relative or an absolute performance benchmark, but not of using both simultaneously.

24.06.2015

Developing a Conceptual Framework for How Institutions Shape Corporate Sustainability: A Cross-Country Empirical Study in US-DJIA and German-DAX Companies (Stefan Hielscher)

In recent years, research on corporate sustainability has witnessed a remarkable paradigm shift toward a “win-win” orientation. Yet this paradigm shift is not without its critics. Some scholars fear that shortsighted win-win approaches would tempt companies to focus on the ‘free lunches’ of sustainability and overlook or even neglect important sustainability trade-offs. To refocus on social and ecological priorities, vocal critics propose a comprehensive conceptual framework to analyze urgent sustainability tradeoffs. In an effort to evaluate the empirical grounds of and develop further such a framework, we use a method for qualitative research and analyze the sustainability approaches of seven German, DAX-listed consumer goods companies. Based on the study’s results, we contribute to developing a strategic management framework for corporate sustainability in three dimensions: the dimension of organizational levels, the dimension of management fields, and a strategy dimension of corporate sustainability. Our empirical analysis reveals stakeholder dialogues to be key drivers of problem awareness as well as strategy formulation and implementation in corporate sustainability.

Keywords: Corporate Sustainability, Strategic Management, Qualitative Analysis, Win-Win, Tradeoffs

Mindestlohn durch Diskursversagen? (Prof. Dr.Pies)

War die Einführung des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns in Deutschland eine Sternstunde der Demokratie? Vorausgegangen war eine jahrelang intensiv geführte öffentliche Debatte. In ihr stand das moralische Anliegen im Vordergrund, die objektiven und subjektiven Lebensbedingungen bisheriger Niedriglohnempfänger, ihren Arbeitslohn und ihr Selbstwertgefühl nachhaltig anzuheben. Allerdings wurde die Debatte so geführt, dass sie bei den Bürgern massenmedial die Illusion erzeugte, dieses moralische Anliegen sei für sie kostenlos zu haben, weil nicht die Steuerzahler, sondern die Unternehmen für die anfallenden Kosten schon aufkommen werden und zudem keine Beschäftigungseinbußen zu befürchten seien. Im Vortrag wird untersucht, inwiefern eine primär in moralischen Kategorien geführte Debatte im Hinblick auf die relevanten Alternativen so irreführend sein kann, dass ein Diskursversagen entsteht, welches dann ein Politikversagen nach sich zieht.

22.04.2015

"Ansätze zur Neuregelung der Erbschaft- und Schenkungsteuer". (Simon Schaz)

Mit Urteil vom 17. Dezember 2014 hat das Bundesverfassungsgericht die derzeit im Erbschaft- und Schenkungsteuerrecht geltenden Verschonungsregeln für den Übergang von betrieblichem Vermögen als teilweise unvereinbar mit der Verfassung erklärt. Der Gesetzgeber wurde aufgefordert, bis zum 30. Juni 2016 die entsprechenden Regeln nachzubessern. Der Vortrag stellt die bisher geltenden Regeln zur Verschonung von Betriebsvermögen und die Kritikpunkte des Bundesverfassungsgerichtes hieran dar. Im Anschluss wird eingegangen auf die derzeit nach dem Bekanntwerden erster Überlegungen des Bundesministeriums für Finanzen intensiv geführte Debatte zu möglichen Ansätzen einer Neuregelung.


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