COOPETITION ON ENTERPRISE PLATFORMS
In the interview phase of our last research project, which was supposed to focus primarily on blockchains as a technology, we repeatedly encountered an exciting phenomenon: although our interviewees were ostensibly concerned with this new technology, in many cases the threat posed by the expansion of the so-called platform economy was in the foreground. The concern was not that miraculous properties of individual technologies would give them an unassailable lead, but that the large companies of the platform economy could create dependencies among existing companies through a combination of technology, technology narratives, and conventional means of power such as capital, reach, and political influence. The issue of blockchains and DLT turned out to be an important door opener to initiate debates on how to counterbalance the perceived threat. The result, are increasing attempts to coordinate through their own corporate platforms, which on the one hand should enable synergies and efficiency gains, but on the other hand must balance difficult issues of ownership and control. As well as pointing to new spaces of action for co-determination that may require additional competencies. More
PROPERTY TAXES IN THE SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION
The countries of the global North and South are facing one of the greatest challenges in their history: building an economic structure that is in harmony with planetary boundaries. Distributional issues are often seen only as a side condition of a successful “techno-ecological” transformation, for example in the context of the European Green Deal. In contrast, there are proposals for a “socio-ecological” Green New Deal, which believe that the ecological crisis can only be overcome if distributional aspects are placed at the center of economic policy. The debate on tax policy reflects these different approaches. Consumption and classic emissions taxes are at the center of most proposals; wealth taxes are an important element of proposals for a more fundamental restructuring of the economy. In both cases, however, there is a need for clarification with regard to the actual effects of wealth taxes. More
Leading in the crisis
Crisis management in companies is one of the most important areas of corporate management – often neglected in good times, in bad times it is decisive for the future of the employees and managers concerned and sometimes even for the existence of the company. Therefore, it is of high entrepreneurial and economic, but also social and human importance to identify critical success factors and to develop or further develop recommendations for action for crisis management in companies. The Corona crisis offers a great opportunity for new insights.
“Soft aspects” such as leadership, communication and culture are important success factors in corporate crisis management. Compared to “hard” operational restructuring measures, however, they have received far too little attention in the context of crisis management, which is why they are the subject of this research project. More
Bicycle derlivery service for Darmstadt
Freight transport has increased significantly in recent years. This is accompanied by increasing environmental pollution through emissions and a growing use of traffic areas. The quality of life in cities is declining and conflicts with other road users are on the increase. One of the reasons for this development is the growing desire to deliver goods to the door. Innovative concepts are therefore needed to satisfy this demand in a way that is as compatible as possible for everyone.
A research project of the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt together with the Research Lab for Urban Transport of the FRA-UAS is pursuing exactly such a concept. More
THE IMPACT OF BLOCKCHAIN ON WORK AND ORGANIZATION
How is a technology affected by its claim to make established mechanisms of confidence-building obsolete? The project investigates the impact and changes the new Blockchain technology has triggered, in particular on the institutional structure of organizations. The blockchain technology can contribute to more democratic participation in everyday working life, but downside risks involve a deterioration in working conditions. More
Digital Cities in Europe
- How can local authorities contribute to EU digital policy?
- How are local authorities currently contributing to EU digital policy (in its various mechanisms)?
- What are the authorities’ local policies in relation to digital transformation? Examples of good practices (exemplification on Darmstadt digital city project)
- What are the local policies in Romania in relation to digital transformation? More
ALL IN DIGITAL CHANGE
The project “ALL in digital change” deals with the question of how companies and administrations can remain sustainable with the help of new forms of work. The focus is on supporting and accompanying employees in the areas of lifelong learning, independent competence development, agile mindsets and new forms of work organisation. More
MAKROREGIMES
How are political-economic regimes formed? How do they remain stable over a longer period of time and what initiates their decay? There have been many attempts to explain such questions, but often they do remain within the limits of their respective scientific discipline. This project aims to combine insights from political science, sociology and macroeconomics to compensate for blind spots in individual disciplines and to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the processes mentioned above. Historical regime changes are investigated and applied for insights on contemporary developments. More
WEALTH TAXES IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE POLICY
The topic of wealth taxation is currently once again the subject of great controversy in German political discourse. This often leads to a mixture of several individual questions: Economically, for example, there is a debate about whether wealth taxes have a negative impact on investments and can thus lead to overall economic losses despite higher tax revenues. At the same time, there is an urgent need for ecological action because of climate change and the crossing of further planetary boundaries. More
“RODS II” – PROJECT AND STUDY OF MINDFULNESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DARMSTADT
The RODS II – Team project aims to reduce students’ stress and improve their resilience skills by teaching mindfulness practice at individual and team level, thus enabling them to use and expand their existing mental resources. More
WHAT SHOULD BANKS DO? ON THE IMPORTANCE OF RATIONALITY AND LEGITIMACY IN THE BANKING SYSTEM
The financial sector, and banks in particular, fulfil a central function of our modern economies. Ever since the recent financial crisis trust into the banking system has taken a massive hit. How do financial institutions deal with the shaken public perception? How are these perceptions shaped? Does it feed into the decision-making process of banks? More
SOLAR ENERGY IN AFRICA
The study presents various strategies for using solar energy (and other modern renewable energy technologies) and examines their effectiveness taking into account heterogenous conditions in African countries (rural electrification, overexploitation of biomass potentials, shortage of power plant capacity, capacity bottlenecks in electricity transport and distribution, etc.). More
TRANSPARENCY OF PUBLIC SERVICES
The aim of the research project is to develop a grid of key figures for measuring public performance of municipalities, which can be used for reporting purposes. The project claims that a high degree of comparability of the services and performance levels provided by municipalities can be achieved through standardized specifications for performance indicators. More