Maike Althaus

In der aktuellen Forschung im Bereich der Informationssysteme (IS) wird kritisiert, dass bestehende Taxonomien häufig nicht die optimalen Clusteranalyse-Methoden verwenden. Heumann et al. (2024) hebt diese Problematik hervor und argumentiert, dass die Wahl ungeeigneter Methoden die Validität und Aussagekraft von Taxonomien beeinträchtigt. Um die Qualität und Genauigkeit von Klassifizierungen in der IS-Forschung zu erhöhen, ist es daher essentiell, die vorgeschlagenen verbesserten Methoden der Clusteranalyse anzuwenden und deren Auswirkungen zu untersuchen.

Gute Englischkenntnisse

Heumann, M., Kraschewski, T., Werth, O., & Breitner, M. H. (2024). Reassessing taxonomy-based data clustering: Unveiling insights and guidelines for application. Decision Support Systems, 114344.

Masterarbeit

nicht vergeben

Dennis Kundisch

East Westphalia-Lippe (OWL) is considered a region with a pronounced SME sector, in particular due to the existence of companies with relevant future competences in mechanical engineering, automation and Electrical Engineering as well as computer science. At the same time, start-ups have become a visible part of the economic ecosystem in OWL in recent years thanks to a wide range of initiatives by various start-up centres and offers for founders.

According to the German StartUp Monitor 2021, two thirds of start-ups already cooperate with established companies and 42.5% of start-ups would like strategic investments from companies or family offices. On the other hand, established companies can benefit from early access to product and process innovations and generate ideas for new business models. Networking and cooperation between start-ups and established SMEs for the benefit of both sides is therefore of particular importance. At the same time, anecdotal evidence suggests that untapped potential could be realised - also in OWL.

Based on a well-founded synthesis of the literature, this study aims to qualitatively and empirically analyse which criteria start-ups and established SMEs use to consider a potential cooperation, which cooperation models are (or could be) used and which criteria potentially determine the success of a cooperation. The results obtained from the literature research and expert interviews will then be used as a basis for the design and prototypical implementation of a matching platform for start-ups and established SMEs in OWL.

The work will be carried out in cooperation with the heder:Lab in Salzkotten.

Master thesis

assigned

Maike Althaus, Christian Vorbohle

The culture and events industry is the sixth largest economic sector in Germany. A total of 6.5 billion euros is generated annually in the field of cultural events (excluding public cultural organisations). However, it can sometimes be difficult for those interested in culture to find suitable events from a diverse cultural programme. Digital platforms in the cultural and event industry offer those interested in culture the opportunity to find out more about events that they are already familiar with (e.g. admission price, venue, duration of event), but also to discover interesting, previously unknown events. On the one hand, people interested in culture can therefore benefit from the fact that they can interact with a larger number of cultural professionals via a digital cultural platform. On the other hand, cultural professionals can benefit from the fact that they can present and make their events accessible to a potentially larger customer group via such a digital cultural platform.

For those interested in culture who are looking for interesting events, cultural platforms can create additional benefits through possible additional value-added services, such as data-based recommendations, ticket systems or the integration of external services. However, it is not obvious to the operators of cultural platforms what preferences and willingness to pay those interested in culture have for the additional value-added services. Conjoint analysis, which originates from market research, enables a better understanding of user preferences through a simultaneous comparison of different attributes. This allows the preferences of users with regard to different attributes of cultural platforms to be researched. In addition, conjoint analysis is also suitable for supporting the development of business models by incorporating economic attributes and willingness to pay, and can therefore better predict purchasing behaviour.

The aim of the master's thesis is therefore to carry out a conjoint analysis of user preferences for attributes on digital culture platforms. In a first step, the relevant terminology and (theoretical) foundations are to be developed. In a second step, a conjoint analysis will then be carried out. Firstly, the attributes and attribute levels must be defined and attribute profiles derived from them. Secondly, the attribute profiles must be evaluated by potential users in a survey and then analysed. In a third step, the results of the conjoint analysis should then be prepared and clearly presented in order to provide an overview of user preferences on digital cultural platforms. In a fourth step, the results will be critically discussed and recommendations for the design of cultural platforms will be developed.

Good knowledge of English

Knowledge of marketing methods is an advantage, but not essential

Naous, D., & Legner, C. (2021). Leveraging market research techniques in IS: a review and framework of conjoint analysis studies in the IS discipline. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 49(1), 10.

Giessmann, A., & Stanoevska, K. (2012). Platform as a Service-A conjoint study on consumers' preferences. ICIS 2012 Proceedings.

Nikou, S., Bouwman, H., & de Reuver, M. (2014). A consumer perspective on mobile service platforms: A conjoint analysis approach. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 34(1), 82.

Giessmann, A., Naous, D., & Legner, C. (2016, June). User-Oriented Cloud Service Design based on Market Research Techniques. ECIS 2016 Proceedings.

Rao, V. R. (2014). Applied conjoint analysis. Springer Science & Business Media.

Master thesis

assigned

Maike Althaus

The emergence of co-working spaces has fundamentally changed the way people work. Co-working space platforms bring together individuals or organisations with shared office space. Different workspaces such as private offices, shared desks, meeting rooms and other co-working spaces can be utilised. The coworker.com platform in particular facilitates and sponsors the creation and utilisation of such co-working spaces. In this context, the impact of co-working spaces on local property markets, including the impact on rental prices, housing availability and demand for housing, is still largely unrecognised.

The aim of this master thesis is therefore an econometric analysis of the impact of the entry of a selected co-working space platform (e.g. coworker.com) on the market situation (e.g. price behaviour, supply, demand) of the local real estate market. In a first step, the state of research on the effects of co-working spaces as part of the sharing economy on the economy and society will be shown. Subsequently, suitable local markets will be identified for analysis. In order to carry out an econometric analysis, data from the platform and the property market will be collected and processed. Web crawlers such as "Microsoft Power Automate" can be used for this purpose.

Good knowledge of English

Microeconometric knowledge (e.g. by attending W2474 or W5489) required

Programming skills and knowledge of STATA, Python or R advantageous

Possibly experience with Power Automate (or comparable automation software)

Yang, E., Bisson, C., & Sanborn, B. E. (2019). Coworking space as a third-fourth place: changing models of a hybrid space in corporate real estate. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 324-345.

Bouncken, R. B., & Reuschl, A. J. (2018). Coworking-spaces: how a phenomenon of the sharing economy builds a novel trend for the workplace and for entrepreneurship. Review of Managerial Science, 12, 317-334.

Master thesis

not assigned

Michelle Müller

In recent decades, many promising start-ups have established themselves on the market, developing modern digital technologies and using them in a wide variety of industries. Funding from investors is crucial for the survival of these start-ups. In order to obtain such financing, many founders present their start-up and the product or service they have developed at pitch events. At these events, founders try to convince potential investors of the merits of their start-up and thus obtain funding. However, it is striking that female founders receive significantly less funding on average than male founders. However, why this difference occurs is largely unexplained in research. One possibility that could explain this difference lies in the different ways in which female and male founders present their start-ups at pitch events.

The aim of this master's thesis is therefore to carry out a comparative text analysis of recorded pitches between female and male founders. In a first step, the state of research on the success factors of start-ups and the differences between women and men in the start-up scene will be analysed. Subsequently, a data set made available, which contains pitch transcripts from female and male founders at the NOAH Conference(https://www.youtube.com/user/NoahAdvisors/playlists), will be processed and analysed using text mining methods. This data set will then be merged with investment data on Crunchbase.com(https://www.crunchbase.com/) in order to find out which founders were particularly successful in acquiring financing. Finally, the results will be critically discussed and recommendations for action for founders, investors and political decision-makers will be derived.

Good English skills
Programming skills
Text mining skills

Kanze, D., Huang, L., Conley, M. A., & Higgins, E. T. (2018). We ask men to win and women not to lose: Closing the gender gap in startup funding. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2), 586-614

Handlan

Master thesis

assigned

Christian Vorbohle

Motivated by the strong growth and far-reaching influence of companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent, or Alibaba, scholars have intensively studied digital value creation mechanisms in recent years. Platforms and ecosystems have emerged as valuable concepts that describe how customers and companies work together to create value, especially in a digital context.

One key reason why platform-based business models are particularly interesting for companies is the so-called network and economies of scale. Customers benefit when they can interact with a larger number of other users or providers. Previous economic literature often derives strong growth and scalability from these two types of effects and, based on this, a tendency towards monopoly or oligopoly formation. In contrast, the concept of ecosystems has largely developed separately in the research literature. Scientists see a central element of ecosystems primarily in the partnership-based association of companies that all contribute to a common value proposition and therefore have to coordinate their resources and activities.

Although ecosystems are often based on platforms, these are different concepts that operate at different levels and with different value creation and coordination mechanisms. However, both concepts are often used together (or even synonymously) in literature and practice without making a meaningful distinction. The large variety and quantity of scientific literature from different research disciplines currently makes it difficult to differentiate between platform and ecosystem publications.

The aim of the master's thesis is therefore to provide a systematic overview of the current state of research on platforms and ecosystems as well as a conceptual comparison and differentiation from neighbouring concepts, such as alliances. In a first step, the relevant terminology and theoretical foundations for both concepts will be defined. In a second step, a systematic literature review will be conducted in primarily influential journals (VHB-JOURQUAL3 ≥ B) on both platforms and ecosystems. In a third step, the results from both literature searches will be examined, systematised and clearly presented. In a fourth step, the results will be critically discussed and similarities and differences between the two concepts will be emphasised.

Good knowledge of English (the relevant literature is almost exclusively in English).

Adner, R. (2017). Ecosystem as structure: An actionable construct for strategy. Journal of management, 43(1), 39-58.

Gawer, A. (2021). Digital platforms' boundaries: The interplay of firm scope, platform sides, and digital interfaces. Long Range Planning, 54(5), 102045.

Jacobides, M. G., Cennamo, C., & Gawer, A. (2018). Towards a theory of ecosystems. strategic management journal, 39(8), 2255-2276.

De Reuver, M., Sørensen, C., & Basole, R. C. (2018). The digital platform: a research agenda. Journal of information technology, 33(2), 124-135.

Master thesis

assigned