Browsing by Subject "Unternehmen"

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Beschreibung von 24 Nachhaltigkeitspreisen in Deutschland mit Relevanz für Unternehmen der Ernährungsbranche
(2016) Gebhardt, Beate
Sustainability awards are an exclusive instrument of sustainability communication. They are significant limited - mainly quantitative. Not everyone can get such a price. Often only a few, mostly one, wins a contest.Interest in sustainability prices grows. This interest express companies, the potential winners,and show the donors of awards, the awarding institutions. In the last yearsmore and more sustainability competitions in Germanyare founded.Meanwhile, companies in the food industry can participatein 24 competitions with 82 categories (as of 2013). It is a dynamic market of sustainability awards - with lots of potential, but also some challenges. Independence and transparency of procurement become important elements of awards’ concepts. In this report, 24 sustainability competitions and their categories are featured in factsheets. This include the relevant competitions directlyaimed at companies in the food industry or be open for those.The approach to identify them isdescribed. In addition, the evaluation scheme of transparency of sustainability competitions is explained. Key results are described.
Corporate financing choices : new ideas and revisited common themes
(2011) Michelsen, Marc; Hachmeister, Dirk
Observed industry-specific leverage ratios in and across financial systems imply the relevance of capital market imperfections. This severely questions the validity of the irrelevance of capital structure decisions for firm value. Moreover, survey studies of CFOs suggest that managers have some target debt ratio or range, which also refutes the irrelevance of capital structure. The number of studies on capital structure is enormous, but to date no universal theory has been formulated for capital structure. It has even been argued that there might not be any reason to expect a universal theory of capital structure. Instead, different theories apply to firms under different circumstances. For that reason, this dissertation on empirical capital structure research aims to discuss and investigate two specific ?firm circumstances? that influence corporate financing choices and seem promising for future research. First, I investigate a determinant of capital structure that has so far received little attention in literature ? credit ratings by the external agencies Standard & Poor?s and Moody?s. Rating agencies play an eminent role in today?s capital markets. It is likely that firms under the scrutiny of such strong external supervisors may follow a different leverage policy to non-rated firms. However, rating agencies? renowned importance is so far not reflected in the capital structure research. Therefore, I thoroughly investigate the financing choices of externally rated firms for managers? rating considerations. Chapter 2 shows that managers follow a more conservative leverage policy if their firm?s credit rating is about to be upgraded or downgraded. While retained earnings are cross-sectional the dominant source of funding, the economics of security offerings has generated considerable empirical research interest over the past two decades. Survey evidence and stock price dynamics around seasoned equity offerings indicate that managers exploit temporary overvaluations of the firm?s stock and therefore time the equity offering. These efforts are possible because of the information asymmetry between managers and investors and the associated incentives for managers to exploit this informational advantage. Externally rated firms, on the other hand, reduce adverse selection problems with the information gathering process of the rating agencies. Therefore, it is questionable if the market timing hypothesis still holds for externally rated firms? seasoned equity offerings. The results of Chapter 3 imply that rating concerns are an important consideration for equity issuing firms. As a second ?firm circumstance? that may alter the composition of the balance sheet, I examine managers? weighting of public versus private equity in the decision to opt out of the public markets and go private. Such a public-to-private transaction (PTP) is an important step in the corporate life cycle, and modifies the capital structure of the firm significantly. However, consensus has not been reached in the literature on the underlying motives, and accordingly the relevant financial theories. Therefore, in Chapter 3 I investigate the characteristics of German firms that opted out of the public equity markets. Studying the public-to-private decision in Germany is of particular interest, because Germany can still be regarded as a prime example of an insider-controlled and relationship-based financial system. Therefore, the transferability of findings from Anglo-Saxon countries is difficult, as the structure of the financial and legal system is known to have a strong influence on corporate decisions. On the whole, I find no evidence of the free cash flow problem in the German corporate governance system. In respect of the respective PTP companies, the PTP phenomenon can be accounted for by a changing corporate life cycle status and a malfunctioning of the public capital markets.
Issues Management unter veränderten Umweltbedingungen
(2023) Wnuck, Corinna; Schweiger, Wolfgang
The idea of issues management aims to ensure that companies actively exert influence on other environmental developments through early identification and strategically planned participation in publicly and organisationally relevant issues. The goal is to maintain their own room for manoeuvre and secure their corporate reputation. Environmental conditions play a central role in shaping issues management. These have changed noticeably since the first issues manage- ment approaches at the end of the 1970s. Digitalisation, medialisation, globalization, and the transformation of the public sphere through digital structural change are the drivers of these changes. Issues management has not yet been tested for its validity under changed environmen- tal conditions. The overarching research question of this study therefore is: How do companies shape issues management under changed environmental conditions? The empirical study uses qualitative, guideline-based expert interviews to examine how issues management is carried out today under changed environmental conditions. For this purpose, the research question is deepened on the basis of six issue management dimensions: the concept, the structure, the process, the management, the actor and the resource dimension. For the research, 22 experts from the agency/consultancy context and the corporate environment were interviewed. Conceptually, issues management has not altered under changed environmental conditions. It remains a preventive function that identifies issues in the corporate environment as early as possible in order to secure and enhance the companys reputation and to deal with these issues in a strategically planned manner. Issues management has a deprioritised existence in many companies, partly because the overlaps with other disciplines are high. Therefore, in many com- panies issues management is practised but not called such. At the structural level of issues management, changes due to digitalisation and globalisation are becoming visible. Modern is- sues management organisations have to work faster, more agile and more flexibly than before. They have to identify issues globally, in real time, and prepare them in a way that is appropriate for different cultural areas. This requires efficient and transparent information and knowledge management systems as well as flexible resource adjustment options. The study shows that changes due to digitalised environmental conditions are effective on the processual level. Due to the acceleration of environmental developments, the process phases run faster or parallel to each other. Reflection and reaction times have shortened with increasing issue complexity. Fol- lowing the sequences of the Scrum logic from software development, an alternative process model is developed in the study that maps the simultaneity and growing complexity of environ- mental developments. The management level is characterised by changes due to accelerated environmental developments, globalisation, medialisation and changed public structures, which are evident to different degrees in the individual phases of the management level. The study shows that the evaluation of issues management is still a challenge today and is only carried out with limitations in the companies. Agencies see a lack of will here, companies justify this with the lack of meaningfulness of the results about the actual performance of issues management. At the actor level, the transformation of the public sphere is having an effect. There is an in- crease in the number of situational, volatile and well-networked sub-publics, which are grouped around various issues and ensure that once an issue has arisen, it can no longer be laid to rest. In addition, the balance of power has shifted in favour of previously weakly represented groups. Furthermore, "journalism bypassing" is a frequently observed phenomenon. On the resource level, issues managers need a significantly expanded repertoire of competences and skills due to digitalisation and medialisation. Furthermore, the use of digital tools in issues management is increasing. At the time of the survey, these were primarily online monitoring tools, editorial management tools, collaborative work platforms and virtual team environments. AI and chat- bots, on the other hand, are the exception. Overall, the study concludes that the changed environmental conditions make the idea of issues management more relevant than ever. Although not always under the name, strategically planned early recognition and management of issues has become established in most compa- nies. At the same time, the environmental changes have a strong impact on implementation. Furthermore, there is a need to catch up especially in the area of digital and data-based corporate communication. This is where potential lies dormant to remedy some of the problems identified in the paper.
Die Kraft von Awards : Umfrage unter Unternehmen und Vergabeinstitutionen in Deutschland 2023
(2023) Gebhardt, Beate; Hellstern, Laura
From an academic perspective, research on the effects of sustainability awards and their potential to contribute to sustainability transformation represents a niche. Against the backdrop of an increasing number of awards targeting companies and multiple crises "disrupting" companies in different ways and new EU regulations, such as on evidence-based corporate communication on environmental aspects, the question of the power of awards needs to be re-examined and answers are more important than ever. In a double study within the framework of the SIEGER project funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), awarding institutions and companies throughout Germany were surveyed online in spring 2023. The objective was to discover first the effects of sustainability awards from the point of view of award-giving institutions, the donators, and companies, the award-recipients, and second the contribution they can make to a sustainability transformation. Sustainability awards are mostly attributed positive to very positive effects, both on the micro level (employee motivation), but especially on the meso level (image gain; awareness), less so on the macro level (ecological aspects; social aspects). The evaluation of the power of awards, their direction of impact and strength, in this study is perceived and is shaped by the different framing of the respondents. Award donors and winners overestimate the perception of awards by third parties as well as the external learning effects (imitation effects). The thematic focus on sustainability leads awarding institutions to overstate the intended ecological effects of an award. The majority of respondents believe that awards can contribute to sustainability transformation. Compared to other awards, sustainability awards are seen as having more power and making a more positive contribution to sustainability transformation. The analysis also shows that awards are a mirror of current political and social demands and developments. Beyond the ecological claim "sustainability award", awards integrate socio-ecological aspects in their requirements for the entrepreneurial participants of the competition. The further development of sustainability awards can therefore be achieved through internal development on the part of the awarding institutions and supported by external measures.
Nachhaltigkeitsexzellenz in der Landwirtschaft: Mehr Sichtbarkeit für die versteckten Leuchttürme der Alltagspraxis
(2024-09) Gebhardt, Beate; Hellstern, Laura
Im Projekt NEAL wurde die Bedeutung von exzellenter Mikro-Nachhaltigkeit und die Rolle von Nachhaltigkeitsawards sowie weiterer unterstützender Instrumente einer nachhaltigen Transformation in der Landwirtschaft untersucht. Die Erkenntnisse des Projektes sollen landwirtschaftlichen Unternehmen, Verbänden sowie weiteren relevanten Akteuren der land¬wirtschaftlichen Wertschöpfungsketten eine Orientierung geben in den Fragen: • Welche Nachhaltigkeitsthemen benötigen in Zukunft ein größeres Augenmerk? • Wie können Landwirt*innen in ihrer Nachhaltigkeitstransformation gefördert werden? • Welche Rolle spielen Nachhaltigkeitsawards in der Nachhaltigkeitstransformation? Für das Forschungsprojekt NEAL wurden dazu (a) 310 Landwirt*innen und 59 landwirtschaftsnahe Verbände in einem bundesweiten Nachhaltigkeits-Crowd-Screening im Frühjahr 2022 online befragt und hierbei insgesamt 236 herausragende, awardwürdige Nachhaltigkeitsaktivitäten identifiziert, die in der Landwirtschaft bereits umgesetzt oder geplant werden. Mittels Awards-Matching und Clustering wurde (b) der webbasierte, interaktive CSR-Award Finder mit über 150 Wettbewerben erstellt und Ende 2022 online gestellt. Der CSR-Award Finder macht die Welt der Awards für Unternehmen übersichtlicher und einfacher zugänglich, insbesondere erleichtert dies den Zugang kleiner Unternehmen und landwirtschaftliche Betriebe. Zentrale Aussagen der Studie lauten: 1. Nachhaltigkeit ist für Landwirt*innen ein relevantes Thema und viele „versteckte“ nachhaltige Tätigkeiten werden auf den befragten Betrieben bereits umgesetzt. 2. Bio-Betriebe zeigen sich als Vorreiter von Nachhaltigkeitsexzellenz in der Landwirtschaft. 3. Bodennutzung, Biodiversität, regionale Wertschöpfung und Tierwohl sind wichtige Bereiche, in denen viele nachhaltigkeitsbezogene Maßnahmen von Landwirt*innen umgesetzt und als besonders hervorgehoben werden. 4. „Blinde Flecken“ in Nachhaltigkeitsansätzen korrespondieren mit Bewertungen der Landwirtschaft.. 5. Leuchttürme der Mikro-Ebene kommen auf der Makro-Ebene kaum an. 6. Eine heterogene und multifunktionale Landwirtschaft benötigt vielfältige, multiple Instrumente zur Förderung von Nachhaltigkeit auf Betriebsebene. 7. Nachhaltigkeitstransformation in der Landwirtschaft benötigt mehr gemeinsame An-strengungen. 8. Nachhaltigkeitsexzellenz in der Landwirtschaft benötigt mehr Mut und Sichtbarkeit. Die Ergebnisse im Projekt NEAL unterstreichen: Ein Ansatz alleine ist nicht ausreichend. Aufgrund der Heterogenität der landwirtschaftlichen Betriebe gilt dies gerade auch für die Landwirtschaft. Sustainable Finance und Awards sind dabei zwei verschiedene Ansätze bzw. Instrumente, die beide als wichtig und unterstützend gelten, um die Nachhaltigkeitstransformation landwirtschaftlicher Systeme und Betriebe voranzubringen. Beiden Ansätzen wird bescheinigt, ein wichtiges Instrument unter vielen zu sein, aber singulär einen eher geringen Hebel zu haben, da nicht alle landwirtschaftlichen Betriebe damit eingebunden werden können oder sich dadurch angesprochen fühlen. Die Ergebnisse im Projekt NEAL zeigen außerdem, Awards sind in die Toolbox der bekannten Instrumente und Anreize zur Stärkung der Nachhaltigkeitstransformation einzubinden. Sie stehen damit neben ökonomischen Anreizen im Markt oder regulativen Anreize, die vom Staat gesetzt werden. Awards setzen am Positiven und an der Sichtbarmachung des Vorbildhaften und Innovativen in der Landwirtschaft an. Sie können damit das verborgene Besondere, die nachhaltigen Aktivitäten und die versteckten Leuchttürme in der Landwirtschaft, nach außen tragen und zum Leuchten bringen, und damit die Nachhaltigkeits-Motivation der Landwirt*innen erheblich steigern.
Nachhaltigkeitswettbewerbe in Deutschland 2020 : Übersicht und Methodik der Bestandsaufnahme
(2020) Gebhardt, Beate
This working paper present a systematic collection of German sustainability competitions in 2020 to all interested readers. The collection of 141 sustainability competitions serves as a basis for further projects and studies by the Business Excellence and Sustainability Transformation Working Group (AK BEST), University of Hohenheim. The present collection updates a previous list from 2017.
Phänomen Shitstorm - Herausforderung für die Onlinekrisenkommunikation von Unternehmen
(2015) Salzborn, Christian; Schweiger, Wolfgang
Social media has found their way into society as well as the corporate world. But the more benefits the new platforms brings to the corporate communication, the more are their responsible members afraid about the potential loss of control over their communication. Customers and consumers communicate now on "eye level" and in the case of criticism it may lead to an accumulation of critical, sometimes gleeful comments in social media, which are directed against the company - the so-called Shitstorm. The term was chosen among others as the Anglizismus of 2011 in Germany and found its way into the “Duden” dictionary. But what exactly is meant by this? How long does a Shitstorm take? Which platforms are involved and how develop it? What topics make up a Shitstorm and how can the players involved be described? What are the consequences of a Shitstorm for the company and how can it react within a professional online crisis communication before, during and after a Shitstorm? The aim of the present communication science work was to answer these and other questions in the context of a theory-based empirical study to identify and describe key characteristics and structures of the phenomenon Shitstorm. For this purpose, a combination of methods was used, which combines the advantages of quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Based on the findings the author present also three Shitstorm types as well as a final definition and derives comprehensive recommendations for the crisis communication of the company.
Quo vadis? Ansätze der Qualitätssicherung von Nachhaltigkeitswettbewerben für Unternehmen
(2021) Gebhardt, Beate
This report summarises the findings of an expert workshop on "Approaches and possibilities for quality assurance of sustainability competitions", which was successfully held on 4 November 2021. The workshop was hosted by the BEST initiative at the University of Hohenheim, under the leadership of Dr Beate Gebhardt. In the workshop, together with stakeholders from practice and science, approaches for quality improvements and visualisation of high-quality standards in sustainability contests were identified and evaluated by the experts. Essential steps and research projects for the future were defined. The key results of the event are: 1.) the impact and power of sustainability competitions as potential drivers of sustainability transition is endangered (loss of significance); 2.) in order to sharpen their profile, high-quality sustainability competitions should become more visible (visualisation); 3.) the BEST initiative at the University of Hohenheim is starting a dialogue to develop criteria for high-quality sustainability competitions (orientation).
SIEGER! Business-Awards als Instrument zur Steuerung der Nachhaltigkeitstransformation : Ansätze für Qualitätssicherung und Schärfung der strategischen Weiterentwicklung
(2024-08-14) Gebhardt, Beate; Hellstern, Laura
Das von der Deutschen Bundestiftung Umwelt (DBU) geförderte Forschungsprojekt „SIEGER“ ist ein wichtiger Baustein für Überlegungen und Analysen zum Nutzen und zur Qualitätssicherung von hochwertigen Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitswettbewerben. Es stellt die Möglichkeiten der konzeptionellen und organisatorischen Weiterentwicklung von Nachhaltigkeitswettbewerben dar und beschäftigt sich mit Erfolg und der Zukunftsfähigkeit solcher Awards. Untersucht wurden in diesem Zusammenhang die strategische Bedeutung sowie Herausforderungen und – erstmals in diesem Kontext – der Einfluss von Krisen auf die Rolle von Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeits-awards. Eine weitere Frage ist, ob und wie Awards die konkrete Nachhaltigkeitsperformance und -bewertung von Unternehmen bzw. einen Paradigmenwechsel oder eine Unternehmenstransformation unterstützen. Die Erkenntnisse des Projekts sollen Vergabeinstitutionen von Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitswettbewerben eine Orientierung geben in den Fragen: • Was macht hochwertige Wettbewerbe aus? • Wie können kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen (KMUs) davon profitieren und Awards nutzen? • Können Awards zu einer gesamtgesellschaftlichen nachhaltigen Transformation beitragen? Für das Forschungsprojekt SIEGER wurden mittels Methoden-Mix deutschlandweit Vergabeinstitutionen von Awards und Unternehmen befragt. Gesammelt, systematisiert und abgeleitet werden Möglichkeiten resilienter, erfolgsversprechender Ansätze einer nachhaltigen Transformation der Vergabekonzepte; Möglichkeiten zur Stärkung von KMUs aus Sicht von Vergabeinstitutionen (Awardgebende), von Unternehmen (Awardnehmende) und von weiteren Experten sowie strategische Empfehlungen für zukunftsfähige Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitswettbewerbe. Die Projektbearbeitung übernahm der AK BEST (Business Excellence and Sustainability Transformation), eine Initiative angegliedert an die Universität Hohenheim, mit Schwerpunkt in der Award-Forschung. Zentrale Aussagen der Studie lauten: 1. Auf den Ausbau oder eine Weiterentwicklung der Nachhaltigkeitstransformation können hochwertige Nachhaltigkeitsawards eine positive Auswirkung haben – auch wenn die (Unternehmens-)Welt von Krisen und/oder Unsicherheiten beeinflusst ist. 2. Die Stärken und Chancen von Awards werden höher bewertet als die Schwächen und Risiken. 3. Insbesondere der Imagegewinn, Sympathiegewinn bei Kund*innen und die Motivation bei Mitarbeiter*innen werden von Unternehmen als positive Effekte genannt. 4. Für kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen (KMUs) sind vor allem Finanzier-barkeit und Zeitaufwand eine Hürde für die Teilnahme, für Großunternehmen ist es die Vielzahl an Awards und deren Glaubwürdigkeit. 5. (Nachhaltigkeits-)Awards spielen auch in der Zukunft eine Rolle für Unternehmen, wenn die Vergabeinstitutionen fünf wesentliche Merkmale sicherstellen: Qualität, Glaubwürdigkeit, Transparenz, Zugänglichkeit und Wirkung. 6. Für zukünftige oder Zukunftsawards erwarten Unternehmen Kommunikations-fähigkeit (für sich) und Kommunikation (der Vergabeinstitution), um externe sowie interne Stakeholder in das Handeln und ggfs. eine Transformation zu integrieren. 7. Zentral ist dafür, dass auch die Vergabeinstitutionen in der Lage sind, ihre Awards situativ anzupassen und ggfs. eine Selbstveränderung zu schaffen (Resilienz). In diesem Abschlussbericht des Forschungsprojekts SIEGER werden diese Ergebnisse detailliert beschrieben, Ziel und Methodik der Forschungsstudie benannt und ein Weg in die Zukunft für (Nachhaltigkeits-)Awards aufgezeigt.
Zweinutzungshuhn – was ist das? Umfrage unter Landwirt*innen und Geflügelhalter*innen in Deutschland 2022
(2023) Gebhardt, Beate; Bermejo, Gabriela; Imort-Just, Annik; Kiefer, Lukas; Zikeli, Sabine; Hess, Sebastian
To comply with the ban on chick culling that has been in effect since January 2022, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture proposes three alternatives, including the hatching of dual-purpose chickens. In addition to the breeding and economic challenges of establishing dual-purpose animals in the value chain, the inconsistent understanding of what a dual-purpose chicken actually is and how its characteristics can be successfully communicated to consumers are seen as challenges. The goal of this working report is to present what a dual-purpose chicken is and what understanding farmers have of it. The German nationwide online survey among farmers and poultry farmers regarding the understanding and future of dual-purpose chickens was conducted in autumn 2022 as part of the EIP-Agri project "ZweiWert." The EIP project titled "Building Value Chains for Dual-Purpose Chickens in Baden-Württemberg" (ZweiWert) is funded by the Ministry of Food, Rural Areas and Consumer Protection of Baden-Württemberg from 01/2022 to 12/2024. Project partners include the Naturland Association of Baden-Württemberg, several departments of the University of Hohenheim, and many partners from agricultural production and marketing.