Global Business Team Projects, GlobalMBA Cohort 2016/17

A Critical Analysis of Success Factors in Urban Agriculture – The Case of the United States of America

Jordan Chmiel Twardowski, Evan Diaz, Vera Carolin Himken, JoannaKrwawicz, Christina Nobis

The below study investigates the factors that contribute to success of urban farming organizations in the U.S. Throughout the research, the authors firstly address relevant concepts which need to be understood in order to grasp the broad industry of urban agriculture and agriculture in general. Included are an overview of urban agriculture and the reasons for its rise in popularity, its negative aspects as well as overall concepts of success. To further explore the factors that contribute to success in the U.S., the aim of this research was to identify challenges, barriers and success factors. Therefore, qualitative research, in form of case study analysis as well as semistructured interviews, was conducted with four different urban farming organizations. During the analysis, the Business Model Canvas, SWOT and PEST were used to provide extensive background analysis of all projects. Additionally, the interviews were conducted and analyzed to find common factors for success as well as challenges. Key findings are that projects indeed face common challenges and success factors. Main challenges faced by all four interviewees are resources and competition, whereas, factors that contributed to success for all four included location and stakeholder relations.

The impact of disruptive technologies on the global automotive industry: An explorative case study of the U.S. industry

Ashley Elizabeth Asmuth, Kathrin Ernst, Alana Krystyna Robertson, Michal Jerzy Kralski, Chris Oderwald

This thesis focuses on the automotive industry and disruptive technologies that are currently reshaping its structure, competitive landscape, and environment. The reader can find an extensive analysis of the U.S. automotive industry with a special focus on three companies: GM and Ford, as representatives of traditional automakers, and Tesla, as an emerging innovator and disruptor. Research was conducted on how the companies are individually impacted by and approach the disruptive trends of alternative powertrain technologies and digitization. The research showed the different approaches utilized by traditional automakers in comparison to emerging automakers in response to the disruptive trends. For this research, the Value Net Model was utilized to capture the complexity of the automotive industry and the multitude of different stakeholders. As a result, several opportunities were revealed for the above companies to simultaneously compete and cooperate in order to benefit from the developments in technology and gain longterm competitive advantage in a rapidly changing environment. The end result exposed a juxtaposition of the two types of automakers. At this juncture in time, both continue to succeed, but the coming months and years will show which business model and practices will prevail.

The Transformation of the Automotive Industry based on Mobility Innovations – A Comparative Analysis of Automotive Markets in the United States of America and Germany

Olivia Sage Addie, Patrick Horvath, Magdalena Rytelewska, Anna-Lena Strehl, Christina Weis

The automotive industry has seen innovations and transformation since its very beginning. In recent times, the industry has seen major changes, from the invention of hybrid cars in the 1990s to smart technology in cars since the 2000s. This thesis aims to research the automotive industry, identify recent innovations in the field of mobility and then apply it to specific markets. In the scope of the thesis, it was examined, whether the innovations had a considerable transformative effect on the automotive industry. Additionally, the extent to which this transformation occurs due to the three identified areas of mobility innovation is determined. The three innovations are further split up into subgroups that are analyzed. Hence, mobility services are divided into car sharing and ride sharing, digitalization is split into media integration in vehicles, connectivity and autonomous driving, while alternative drive trains look into alternative fuels, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. For this, the thesis at first takes a close look at the current state of the automotive industry. With this knowledge it then analyzes the transformative effect of those innovations in two of the biggest automotive markets in the world, Germany and the United States of America. This is done through a comparative analysis. Concluding, the thesis provides recommendations for the future to German automobile manufacturers based on the research. However, since some of these innovations are still on the rise, the thesis also opens up a discussion for future research.

The Competitiveness of the Chinese Automotive Industry – A Critical Analysis and Outlook

Will Adolph Pettinger, Lingxi Zhao, Sylwia Le, Isabel Schröder, Aline Theresa Hertkorn

In less than twenty years, China has gone from a mere blip on the proverbial global automarket radar to the world’s largest consumer and producer of motor cars. However, almost all of China’s vehicle production is consumed domestically – less than two percent of Chinese vehicle production ever sees beyond its home borders. This thesis examines the current state of the Chinese auto market, the impacts of government policy on the market’s past growth and its current trends, analyses several leading Chinese automakers, and uses a modified Porter’s Diamond to determine the forces shaping the Chinese automotive industry. Through expert interviews, a competitive index, and independent research, it was ascertained that the industry still faces many challenges before it can become internation ally competitive, but there are several bright points that indicate possible future success.

Dealing with Competition from Global Retailers – Is Omni-Channeling a Strategic Option for Supermarkets?

Sarah Diekhoff, Saskia Koreneef

This thesis examines whether omni-channeling is a strategic growth option for supermarkets. In the mature food retail markets, traditional global brick-and-mortar food retailers are confronted with new competitors and business models. The emergence of e-commerce resulted in pure online retailers that entered the stationary retail business. New business models are driven through technological advancement. E-tailers such as Amazon disrupted the traditional retail landscape This has led to a slowdown in growth of traditional retailers so that new means for growth are needed. An industry analysis with a focus on the US and UK, a literature review on channel integration, as well as an exploratory research on the status quo of selected retailers in terms of omni-channel practices were conducted. Omni-channeling uses the changing trends in terms of convenience, price sensitivity, urbanization, and digitalization in providing opportunities for retailers to build a competitive advantage based on shopping experience. The exploratory research shows that channels are not seamlessly integrated and despite an attempt of cross-channeling, growth has been stagnating. Literature shows the monetary benefits of omni-channeling. Therefore, a seamless channel integration is a strategic growth option for retailers by of fering products and services to the consumer anywhere, at any time, and through any medium or channel. This research is limited by restricted access to internal company data so that it examines only the customer perspective. This thesis focuses on sales and market share as an indicator for positive effects of omni-channeling so that future research should address when omni-channeling is profitable.

Structural Shift in the Fishing Industry Towards Aquaculture: The Case of China

Philip Davari, Mai Denzin-Nguyen, Theresa Koop, Darlene Vela, Susanne Walter

With the world population projected to surpass the 10 billion mark by 2060, the global agriculture sector is facing the challenge of responding to the surging need for food around the globe. As a result, in order to satisfy the worldwide growing demand for protein-rich diets, a transformation of the fishing industry has occurred. Given this need for protein supply, the global agriculture industry has seen a record-breaking expansion of its aqua-culture farming sector in recent decades. With this development, China has not only emerged as the largest player in the global aquaculture industry with a share in the production of over 60 percent but additionally, its domestic sector has also seen a tremendous change in recent decades. Traditional forms of fishery production are becoming increasingly replaced by aquaculture farming. This unprecedented shift in the global fishing industry structure has led to the increased modification of fish and consequently has had profound implications for stakeholders worldwide. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of this structural shift and its resulting impacts, the goal of this Master’s Thesis is to provide an in-depth analysis of both the factors that have functioned as catalysts for the tremendous expansion of aquaculture farming in China, as well as of the challenges and opportunities the sector is currently facing. In doing so, this study seeks to support affected stakeholders by identifying patterns that can help their decision-making process regarding innovation and research initiatives, as well as assist with future resource allocations.