German Car Manufacturer Research Articles

Understanding the drivers of fleet emission reduction activities of the German car manufacturers

The current mobility system, dominated by fossil fuel powered automobiles, is under increasing pressure due to its environmental impact. To address this issue there is a need for a transition of the system towards one that is more sustainable, including the introduction of car technologies that allow a decrease in fuel consumption and the substitution of fossil fuels as primary energy source. Due to the stability of the current automotive industry and the dominance of the internal combustion engine technology, it is expected that the incumbent firms and their activities will play a crucial role in the transition. Policy makers have therefore introduced a variety of policies to encourage the industry to provide suitable solutions. We have conducted a micro-level analysis of how the three main German car manufacturers have changed their activities in the field of low emission vehicle technologies in response to national/international events and policy making. Our analysis suggests that policy makers only have limited influence on the type of disruptive solution that is chosen by these individual companies and that activities related to solutions that were not familiar to the individual car manufacturer were mainly induced by internal or external champions. Still, while the existence of regulatory policies allowed such activities to succeed, on its own it only encouraged the industry to work on incremental solutions based upon the knowledge already possessed.

Shift work and hypertension: Prevalence and analysis of disease pathways in a German car manufacturing company.

Hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) may share a similar pathophysiology. Despite shift workers' CVD excess risk, studies on shift work and hypertension are inconclusive. Blood pressure and shift status for 25,343 autoworkers were obtained from medical check-ups and company registers. Cross-sectional associations modeling the total effect from shift work (day shifts, shift work without nights, rotating shift work with nights, and night shifts) on hypertension were assessed. By sequential adjustments, the influence of behavioral, psychosocial, and physiological factors on the total effect was examined, with subsequent mediation and moderation analyses. Adjusted for confounders, shift work without nights (vs. day shifts) was significantly associated with hypertension (OR 1.15, 95%CI 1.02-1.30). The total effect was mediated by BMI, physical inactivity, and sleep disorders. No moderation of the total effect by behaviors was found. The association between shift work and hypertension seems mainly attributable to behavioral mechanisms.

Process-oriented Knowledge Management within the Product Change Systems of the Automotive Industry

The following paper extends the literature of process-oriented knowledge management. It describes the continuous increase of complexity within the product change management of the automotive industry (e.g. variety of products, globally positioned production sites, dynamic customer needs and regulations). This environment combined with less process-oriented systems requires an intense practice of experience-based knowledge that is not available to everyone at all times and thus leads to reduced project performance. Furthermore, it illustrates a new procedural understanding of knowledge activities and its application within a project at a German car manufacturer (Volkswagen AG). The application of this understanding in response to the challenges is accomplished by systems engineering. The result is an ergonomically created product change management system with decreasing need for experience-based knowledge, evolutional character, increased process quality and reduced processing times.

Trust, Competition and Innovation: Theory and Evidence from German Car Manufacturers

Trust, Competition and Innovation: Theory and Evidence from German Car Manufacturers

Business Model Innovation: A German Automobile Manufacturer’s Business Model Adaptation for India

Emerging markets offer a wide range of opportunities, especially in terms of high growth potential. However, business models that enable firms to achieve competitive advantage in their home markets...

Planning of synchronized assembly lines taking into consideration human performance fluctuations

Increasing demands on the flexibility of assembly workers has led to numerous times of high exposure rates within one workday. Inflexible processing times in synchronized assembly lines mismatch the individual, circadian variable work capacities of operators. As a result, frequent performance peaks due to limited possibilities for individualization elevate physiological and psychological workloads. This paper’s main objective is an individualization of assembly system performance requirements aimed at providing the opportunity to adapt current processing times to individual work capacities for reactively levelling the operators’ workload. On the one hand, the authors focus on defining requirements to enable a company to record valid current processing times within a synchronized assembly line. The authors provide a checklist aimed at generating sets of raw data specifying the necessary requirements. This checklist can be applied by the user of the approach. The authors provide an approach of statistical data processing to eliminate non-valid data-sets which do not allow inference on human performance fluctuations. On the other hand, the paper provides an approach for planning synchronized assembly lines taking into consideration human performance fluctuations. Based on defining performance and time characteristics, the authors methodically deduce one exemplary recommendation for the examined synchronized assembly lines quantifying the expected value for production periods. As a result, this combination leads to the possibility of methodically adapting systems’ performance requirements to fluctuating operators’ work capacity. Moreover, application of the presented approaches within a field study leads to an analysis and evaluation of significant production periods in a German car manufacturer’s engine assembly.

Determinants and outcomes of dual distribution: an international study

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the coexistence of independent and manufacturer-owned distributors within the same distribution system. In particular, the authors seek to identify those factors that determine the use of dual distribution and the effect of dual distribution systems on different economic outcomes.Design/methodology/approach– Using a case study-based approach, the authors compare different brands in different European markets of a German automobile manufacturer using 24 expert interviews in Germany, Sweden and Spain.Findings– Our results demonstrate the importance of limited resources, investment specificity, location, divergent interests and competitive strategies for the development of dual distribution structures. The results show that the overall distribution system performance is positively related to dual distribution.Research limitations/implications– The generalizability of the findings is limited due to the use of cases for different brands of one large corporation within a specific industry and the limited number of countries that were examined. This study is also limited to the subjective evaluation of firm performance and the qualitative evidence provided by the interviewees in our sample group. Our study contributes to the ongoing debate on the use of independent and manufacturer-owned distributors among distributive vertical chains. Based on the qualitative findings, propositions for future research and managerial implications are provided.Originality/value– While in previous research, the explanatory approach of make-or-buy has often been used for examining dual distribution, the authors combine insights from different theoretical streams (transaction cost theory, market-based view, resource-based view and principal-agent theory) to identify and empirically investigate the antecedents and outcomes of dual distribution. Furthermore, while prior research focused on single-country studies and franchise systems, the authors examine a multi-country sample in the automobile industry and expand the findings of the existing literature by covering different brands.

0170 Shift work and hypertension: prevalence and analysis of disease pathways in German car manufacturing workers

ObjectivesTriggered by disturbed circadian rhythm, increased blood pressure comprises an intermediate step on suggested pathways between shift work and cardiovascular disease. Despite accumulated evidence indicating an excess risk for cardiovascular...

The stochastic guaranteed service model with recourse for multi-echelon warehouse management

The guaranteed service model (GSM) computes optimal order-points in multi-echelon inventory control under the assumptions that delivery times can be guaranteed and the demand is bounded. Our new stochastic guaranteed service model (SGSM) with Recourse covers also scenarios that violate these assumptions. Simulation experiments on real-world data of a large German car manufacturer show that policies based on the SGSM dominate GSM-policies.

"Winners, Losers, and Non-Participants in Innovation Contests - Motivation, Creativity, and Skills (WITHDRAWN)"

Based on the componential model of creativity we investigate differences between participants and non-participants of crowd innovation contests and between successful and unsuccessful participants. Analyzing an innovation contest performed by a German car manufacturer via an open call to a crowd of 254 individuals, we find that successful participants show significantly higher levels of task skills and extrinsic motivation than non- successful participants and non-participants. However, they obtain no higher levels of intrinsic motivation and creativity-relevant processes relative to these groups. Interestingly, non-participants differ significantly from unsuccessful participants with respect to exactly these two dimensions. Hence, while intrinsic motivation and creativity-relevant processes act as preconditions of participation, it is task skills and extrinsic motivation, which characterize individuals with superior creative contributions. Our findings contradict the current understanding of contribution quality in crowd innovation contests by revealing extrinsic motivation and task skills as its drivers. Further, our results extend the current body of literature on participation by showing that not only intrinsic motivation, but also creativity-relevant processes act as determinants. Both findings challenge the widely assumed efficiency of participants’ self-selection, calling for fine-grained research and implying careful choice of crowds and management of innovation contests.

Increasing Ramp-up Performance By Implementing the Gamification Approach

Rapid product lifecycles and a growing product range lead to an increasing number of production ramp-ups. This basically leads to an increasing importance of efficient ramp-up processes, reducing ramp-up costs and ramp-up time become more and more the focus of attention. Furthermore, linked to the decreasing quantities, there is a growing importance of low volume productions, characterized by low automation level and high work contents. One of the most important key challenges in ramp-up of low volume production systems is the qualification of employees. The training process is usually set up in accordance with the Four-Step-Model, a state-of-the-art method for training in the context of production developed decades ago under different circumstances in production. In order to meet the actual market challenges, a new method is required. For a few years the Gamification Approach has become more and more apparent. In a new approach, Gamification is used in order to improve learning efficiency in production ramp-up. For this purpose the four step model is extended by a new one, the Gamification Step. The new model is the basis for a game which has been developed in cooperation with a German car manufacturer. The purpose of the game is to increase the efficiency in learning the assembly sequences.

Health-Focused Leadership – Prevention and Intervention as Enablers of Work Ability and Performance

This study aims at advancing our knowledge of the conceptualization, measurement, and organizational functioning of health-focused leadership. By drawing from the fields of organizational psychology, medicine, public health, disability management, and social work, and transferring this knowledge to the leadership context, we derive a health-focused leadership construct with the two dimensions of prevention and intervention. In a second step, we develop and test a model of organizational health in which prevention and intervention behaviors relate to emotional exhaustion and work ability, which in turn, relate to job performance and turnover intention. We base our scale development and model testing on a qualitative study with 153 employees of a German car manufacturer and two quantitative studies with 96 members of the German working population, respectively 1,277 employees of a German public service organization. We find that prevention and intervention behaviors are significant predictors of employees’ physical and psychological health states and that these, in turn, show significant relationships with both job performance and turnover intention.

Option Framing and Product Feature Recommendations: Product Configuration and Choice

ABSTRACTWhen configuring a customized product, consumers must decide which product features to include. While many times firms allow consumers to add features to a base item (hereinafter referred to as additive option framing), it is also possible in some settings to remove undesired features from a fully equipped product (subtractive option framing). At the same time, companies not only provide different option‐framing formats, but also include recommendations from different sources such as what other customers have chosen previously or what is recommended by the company. This research provides evidence from two field experiments using a German car manufacturer's online configurator that customer recommendations in an additive option‐framing format affect customer spending equally well as subtractive option framing. A follow‐up experiment reveals that customer recommendations lead to increased positive thoughts about the recommended option, which stimulates consumers’ intention to buy the final product.

Identification of Production Rhythms in Synchronised Assembly Lines by Recording and Evaluating Current Processing Times

Increasing demands on the flexibility of assembly workers lead to numerous times of high exposure rates within one shift. Inflexible processing times in synchronised assembly lines mismatch individual, circadian variable work capacities of operators. As a result, frequent performance peaks due to limited possibilities for individualisation elevate physiological and psychological workloads. The main objective of this paper is an individualisation of assembly system performance requirements. The conceptual framework presented gives the opportunity to specify diurnal assembly system performance requirements by recording and evaluating current processing times. The authors focus on the definition of demands on selecting a workstation, on raw data as well as on time measurement. Subsequently, a methodical approach to record current processing times as well as statistical data processing is presented. Moreover, the application of the presented method leads to an analysis of one representative workstation of a German car manufacturer’s engine assembly. Based on this, the authors define the production rhythm for this workstation and deduce statements on how to adapt the production system to current performance levels preventing physiological and psychological deterioration of assembly employees.

Identifying, analyzing, and assessing risk in the strategic planning of a production network: the practical view of a German car manufacturer

This paper addresses the issue of identifying and assessing risk relevant to production networks. The objective is to create a systematic, comprehensive record of the risks relevant to the planning of car manufacturer’s production networks and to analyze these risks. The paper also discusses the methodology for assessing relevant risk in terms of the probability that the risk will materialize and the scale of the potential loss. A further objective is to assess the options for mitigating the risk through the use of a flexibly structured production network and to evaluate the associated options for responding to a change in market conditions. A case study demonstrates the possible impact of the main risk factors on performance if the organization concerned does not build flexibility into the network.

Supply chain design during the product emergence process – The example of the German car industry

Car developers are often open to requirements or suggestions from logisticians and tend to find very creative solutions to their issues. However, the right timing appears to be a critical factor and logistics often does not have the necessary manpower to attend every relevant meeting in the many different development projects. Based on a number of interviews (~ 25) with representatives of German car manufacturers, the impact of activities like choice of location, definition of product structure, make-or-buy decision, selection of main suppliers and carrier planning on the shape of the supply chain and the product are discussed using various examples. The possibilities of logisticians trying to influence New Product Development are described as well as the constraints which accompany the main decisions during Target Definition and Fuzzy Front End. Thus, scarce resources (e. g. personnel) can be focused on the most important activities and therefore be used more efficiently. We will also point out major problems with possible solutions and examples of best-practices. Keywords : Integrated Product Development, Supply Chain Design, Concurrent

The Role of Openness for Business Model Innovation: Emerging Business Models of OEM Carsharing (WITHDRAWN)

This paper analyzes the business model innovation process of market-driving corporations, especially in light of an increasing openness towards the environment. We apply case study research to examine the emerging carsharing business models of two leading German car manufacturers: Car2Go (Daimler) and Quicar (Volkswagen Group). The resulting models serve as a detailed example of how organizations can create shared economic and societal value with their businesses as an alternative to hitherto existing capitalist market approaches. Our study contributes to research and practice in a number of ways. First, regarding research into market-driving behavior, the findings highlight the necessity of moving beyond creating a new business model to combine it with other innovation types in order to successfully create a new market. Second, we identify the following three critical stages of the innovation process for radically new business models: vision and prototype, experimentation and customer integration, and implementation and upscaling. Third, we contribute to research on open business models by examining that and how firms pursue different degrees of openness during the business model innovation process, which may be positively affected by strong competition. Fourth and finally, we contribute to research on the business model concept itself by illustrating the resulting interdependencies between the structures that make up a business model.

Competition and Trust: Evidence from German Car Manufacturers

We explore the determinants and effects of trust relationships between upstream suppliers and downstream producers. Using unique survey data on individual supplier-buyer relationships in the German automotive industry, we show, by means of different measures of supplier-buyer trust, that higher levels of trust mitigate relationship-specific underinvestment in a classical hold-up situation. Moreover, contrary to the extant literature, we show that higher levels of supplier's trust are reflected in the buyer's choice of a more competitive procurement strategy among potential suppliers.

Competition and Trust: Evidence from German Car Manufacturers

Competition and Trust: Evidence from German Car Manufacturers

Life-cycle of simulation models: requirements and case studies in the automotive industry

There is a tendency to maintain and use some simulation models, once implemented, over a period of several years. This article discusses a couple of reasons for the increasing long-term use of models. Two cases from the German car manufacturer BMW Group are presented to illustrate the particular technological and organizational challenges related to the application of simulation models for almost a decade.