This thesis is about Balanced Scorecard methodology and about information systems that support Balanced Scorecard in business. The main goals for the thesis are creating a design of Balanced Scorecard for an existing company and then design a BSC information system for this company. Business strategy management is introduced in the beginning of the theoretical part of this thesis. The description of each perspective of Balanced Scorecard follows. There is also a focus on BSC and strategy modifications over the time and one chapter is devoted to metrics, different types of metrics and relationships between them. Application part introduces the company used in the thesis. Based on the knowledge from the theoretical part the Balanced Scorecard is designed for this specific company and then an information system design is created.

This diploma thesis focuses on risk management of a selected company using data analysis tools. The thesis comprehends three main parts. The first part aims at an introduction and presentation of a selected company, and marketing analysis of its surroundings is realized. The second part addresses theoretical issues concerning risk management and data analysis tools. In the third part, financial analysis and evaluation of the possible risks of the company using data analysis tools are realized. Eventually, for the highest risks precautions are proposed.

This master's thesis deals with business simulation games. The first part introduces us to the field of business management, analysis of available business simulations and situation of this market. Further in the text we will find design of new business simulation game. In the last part there is a complete description of project realization. The main contribution is an unusual theme (software selling companies), availability and modern solution.

Le imprese sociali sono organizzazioni ibride che combinano missioni e processi del mondo profit e non-profit, spesso operando in ambienti con risorse limitate come i Paesi africani. A causa della loro doppia missione e dei processi divergenti che da essa derivano, gli ibridi affrontano continue sfide nella gestione e nella crescita delle loro attività, con il rischio di compromettere l'impatto sociale o limitare la sostenibilità finanziaria. Questa tesi mira a far luce sull’opportunità che la natura ibrida può offrire a queste imprese sociali. In particolare, il primo paper mostra come, attraverso strategie di hybrid harvesting, le imprese sociali possano superare specifiche carenze di risorse. Il secondo paper offre un contributo rilevante nella comprensione del processo di diversificazione ibrida nelle imprese sociali, che può essere considerato una forma di raggiungimento della doppia missione. Il terzo documento si concentra sulle strategie di crescita delle organizzazioni ibride differenziate, evidenziando le strategie per crescere l’impatto sociale verso i beneficiari e allo stesso tempo le vendite dai clienti. Infine, questa tesi offre una research agenda negli studi sulle organizzazioni ibride e imprenditorialità sociale, con particolare attenzione alla gestione della doppia missione e al contesto di ricerca rappresentato dalle economie africane. / Social enterprises are hybrid organisations that combine different missions and processes from the for-profit and non-profit domains, and they usually operate in a resource-scarce environment such as African countries. Due to their dual missions and logics, they face continuous challenges and tensions in the management and growth of their businesses, with the risk to jeopardize the social impact, or constrain the financial sustainability. This thesis aim to shed lights on the opportunity that the hybridity may bring to hybrid organizations, especially in the interesting research setting offered by social enterprises. In particular, the first paper shows how, through hybrid harvesting strategies, social enterprises can overcome specific resource constraints. The second paper offers a relevant contribution in understanding the hybrid-diversification process in social enterprises as hybrid organizations, which can be considered a dual mission achievement. The third paper focus on scaling strategies of differentiated hybrid organizations, highlighting the strategies to scale the social impact toward beneficiaries while also scaling the commercial revenues from customers. Finally, this thesis offer a research agenda in the field of hybrid organizations and social entrepreneurship, with the specific focus on dual mission management and exploiting the research setting of challenging environments as african economies.

Im Arbeitskontext ist das auf die Beeinflussung anderer Personen ausgerichtete Handeln ein wichtiges Element beruflichen Erfolgs. Dazu gehören beispielsweise Aktivitäten wie die Selbstdarstellung bei der Bewerbung oder in Verhandlungssituationen, der Aufbau gewinnbringender sozialer Netzwerke sowie der Erhalt relevanter arbeitsbezogener Informationen. Ausgeprägte mikropolitische Kompetenzen gelten dabei als hilfreich, um solche sozialen Einflussversuche in Organisationen erfolgreich zu gestalten und die eigene Karriere zu fördern. Zusätzlich zu solchen „Einflusskompetenzen“ werden seit einigen Jahren durch wesentliche Um- bzw. Neugestaltungen von Arbeitsprozessen und -strukturen weitere personale Fertigkeiten für den beruflichen Erfolg und die Karriere relevant: So wird durch eine steigende Virtualisierung von Arbeits- und Geschäftsprozessen und der damit verbundenen Nutzung von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IuK) der kompetente Umgang mit den verwendeten Medien zu einer wesentlichen Schlüsselqualifikation im beruflichen Kontext . Um am Markt als Unternehmen oder Arbeitnehmer sichtbar und handlungsfähig zu sein, ist die Nutzung webbasierter Dienste zur medialen Darstellung der eigenen Identität sowie zum Austausch fachbezogener Informationen mittlerweile fester Bestandteil. Im vorliegenden Beitrag soll am Beispiel von XING, dem mit mehr als sieben Millionen Mitgliedern im deutschsprachigen Raum führenden beruflichen Online-Netzwerk, untersucht werden, welche medien- und einflussbezogenen Fertigkeiten der Nutzer relevant sind, um erfolgreich diese Plattform zu nutzen. Es werden Konzepte zur Medien- und Einflusskompetenz, die Mthodik beschrieben und Ergebnisse dargestellt.

This publication-based dissertation analyzes the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and technological entrepreneurship on firm level over six chapters. The essence of this dissertation consists of four independent research papers developed for publication in academic journals whose peer review process is double-blinded. The first chapter offers a general introduction to the subject matter and provides a summary of the four research papers in this dissertation. The second chapter is a systematic literature review that focuses on the importance of AI in strategic management. The third chapter is a research paper that examines the significance of technology-driven entrepreneurship activities and provides crucial lessons from small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the manufacturing industry. The fourth chapter is a research paper that empirically examines how top management can encourage and facilitate AI-enabled business model innovation. The fifth chapter comprises a teaching case study and provides and understanding of how to implement an AI-based analytical tool in a firm. The sixth chapter outlines the main findings and contributions of this dissertation.

Despite some understanding within the development literature about innovation in extreme contexts marked by challenges of institutional voids and resource scarcity, there exists little knowledge within organization theory and strategic management. To extend this understanding, I connect innovation in extreme contexts with research on social and purposeful innovation. But while the literature attributes social innovation to social entrepreneurs, we know little about how social entrepreneurs themselves view innovation. Questions that arise: How do social entrepreneurs conceptualize innovation broadly and specifically under extreme contexts marked by institutional voids and resource scarcity? I explore these questions using qualitative, descriptive and analytical methods by studying two communities of globally networked and formally recognized social entrepreneurs. Analysis is at meso level of innovation and value chains but observations are at micro level through document analysis, interviews, and observations. I reveal perceptions by social entrepreneurs on conceptual drivers, determinants and key features of innovation. The findings help organizational theorists to frame models of innovation to understand innovation among social entrepreneurs broadly and in extreme contexts. In contrast to social innovation presented in current literature, I find innovation among social entrepreneurs is viewed as a disparate range of understandings that stem from varied motivations, means and outcomes related to social concerns as well as user, efficiency, and challenge concerns. I further find that social entrepreneurs turn to a mix of technology, social, and institutional innovations to deal with, make use of, or overcome constraints. The varied concerns and approaches to innovation can be condensed using the construct of 'frugal innovation' which helps provide some cohesion to the seemingly disparate notions of innovation among social entrepreneurs. I build propositions from the findings and suggest models of innovation that help develop a theory of frugal innovation with implications and lessons relevant for theory, practice, policy and future research.

This diploma thesis deals with the measurement and analysis of the project portfolio as an integral part measuring company's productivity. The goal is to project a model for measuring and analyzing the project portfolios for a specific medium-sized Czech IT company, operating in development and software sales. The work is based on a theoretical basis for the concept of Balanced Scorecard and for operating company's productivity, focused primarily on the portfolio, project management and monitoring. The practical part identifies the strategic objectives of the company, concerning the project portfolio, and arranges them into perspectives on the basis of the Balanced Scorecard concept. It also analyzes the way of monitoring the implementation of strategic objectives and determines in which phases the monitoring objectives are pursued. Further step is the definition of indicators and their attributes. Metrics are compiled of these attributes and a structure is projected for a presentation of metrics. Metrics are logically arranged so that the users are provided with information-based decisions and are arranged to find the causes of results the metrics show. The thesis has three main outputs. Firstly, it is a list of goals arranged to the Balanced Scorecard structure and identification of mutual structures among the objectives in the strategic map. Secondly, it is a model of parameters and metrics for managing project portfolios that can be applied to companies with similar characteristics, such as the company for which the model is implemented. The final outcome of this work is the implementation of the projected solutions in the Microsoft Business Intelligence.

Zugl.: @Göttingen, Universiẗat, Diss., 2006.

The diploma thesis maps the theoretical starting points of the issue of customer relationship management. The practical part analyzes the current state of customer relationship management, marketing and business activities of the selected company. The analysis also focuses on the market for CRM systems, which then selects the most appropriate system for the company. It proposes its implementation, including a quantifying of benefits and costs.