Research projects and publications

The demographical change as a challenge for human resource management

(Die demographische Entwicklung als Herausforderung einer zukunftsorientierten Personalpolitik)

Prof. Dr. Silvia Föhr

Demographic change has been a topic of political discussion since the 1990s. Falling birth rates on the one hand and rising life expectancy on the other have led to a decline in numbers and at the same time to an increase in the average age of the population. For the future, it is becoming apparent that the age pyramid of the population will rotate and that the proportion of people under the age of 30 will for the first time be below that of the over-50 age group in the population. So far, the effects have mainly been discussed from a socio-political point of view, especially with regard to the financing of social security systems. The effects on labour relations and thus on the personnel policy of companies have meanwhile also moved into the focus of analyses. It is foreseeable that it will become increasingly difficult for companies to recruit and retain suitable young junior staff. In addition to the scarcity problem, the higher average age of the workforces will have to be taken into account. What consequences this development may have for the design of personnel policy instruments and what options companies have to deal with this situation will be examined in this project.

(Verhaltensökonomik in der Personalwirtschaftslehre)

Prof. Dr. Silvia Föhr

Human resource economics models not only have a high power of representation and explanation of peculiarities in employer-employee relations on the labour market and in companies, but far-reaching design recommendations for employment contracts and labour relations can be derived from these models. Nevertheless, their practical applicability is sometimes limited by their premises. An extension of the models to include behavioural science findings would appear to be beneficial. In recent years, a research direction has emerged that demonstrates precisely this approach: behavioural economics. In initial field and laboratory experiments, researchers are demonstrating the influence of human behaviour in strategic interaction situations with regard to economic problem solving. One focus is on the social preferences of individuals, which seem to guide actions in addition to the classical economic decision criteria. In this project, the initial findings of this orientation are to be examined and further developed with regard to their fruitfulness for human resource management instruments.

(Geschlechtsspezifische Arbeitsmarktstrukturen)

Prof. Dr. Silvia Föhr

The analysis of gender-oriented work in this project is based on economic theories. This applies to the labour market, to the reality in companies and finally to the international comparison within the topic. One focus is the analysis of the special features of the labour market in relation to gender differentiation. First of all, this includes gender-specific labour market segmentation, which directly leads to financial differentiation between men and women. Gender-specific wage differentials can also be distinguished into "explainable" and "non-explainable" (= discriminatory) wage differentials between men and women by means of empirical decomposition methods. In addition, there are phenomena of job discrimination in the sense of access barriers to certain sectors, occupations or hierarchical levels, the effects of which on those affected, the companies and society need to be examined in more detail.

Top management teams and the performance of firms-an interdisciplinary approach

(Der Einfluss von Top Management Teams auf den Unternehmenserfolg – ein interdisziplinärer Ansatz)

Prof. Dr. Silvia Föhr/Dr. Silke Niklaus

A more recent research approach in business theory deals with the question of whether strategic decisions by management can be attributed to the influence of individual actors or that of a group. Assuming that the company management consists of a team, it must be clarified in which way this team works together, by which contextual factors the cooperation is influenced and whether it can be determined how the composition of this top management team influences the company's success. The core of the project is to research the determinants of the success of the work of top management teams, to translate particularly successful patterns into design recommendations and, in the process, to discuss the design of incentives to overcome the conflict of interests of owners and decision-makers. At the centre of the methodology are analyses from the field of principal-agent theory and the so-called upper-echelon theory. The explanations are substantiated by the results of empirical (secondary) studies.

Success factors and incentives in the interim management

(Erfolgsfaktoren und Anreize im Interim Management)

Dr. Claudia Heinrich

Current changes in the labour market and the associated dynamisation are prompting companies to flexibly adapt their staff structure to changing needs and to increasingly bring in external expertise for a limited period of time. This temporary deployment of external managers in companies is called "temporary management" or "interim management". They are provided with the necessary competencies and authority for tasks in upper and middle management, without being bound by instructions themselves. The selection of a suitable candidate as well as the incentive structure after the conclusion of the contract are of particular importance in order to ensure an optimal match. The characteristics of an interim manager that serve as success factors for long-term utilisation, but also guarantee successful project completion from the company's perspective, are therefore to be analysed. From an agency theory perspective, various incentives will be examined for their effectiveness in order to derive recommendations for practice.

Teaching and learning in the German university education

(Lehren und Lernen an Hochschulen)

Dipl.-Hdl. Denis Todte

It is not only since the more recent discussion on demographic development and the resulting shortage of skilled workers that studying at German universities has come under greater scrutiny. Since the 1990s, the focus has been on the employability of graduates of the German education system and thus also on the employability of German university graduates. Reinforced by the Bologna Process, employability should become more of a goal of university teaching in order to prepare future employees for working life and the demands of the labour market. Since there are heterogeneous views on the term and the dimensions of employability in the academic discussion, an attempt at a definition will be made at the beginning. How the requirements of the labour market match the personal, professional, social and methodological competences of potential employees will be examined in the following. The focus is on where prospective employees are taught these competences, which seem to become increasingly important in the future. Finally, the project aims to derive recommendations for action for universities, but also for companies, in order to be able to survive in competition.

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• 102 Beiträge zu: Scholz, C. (Hrsg.): Vahlens Großes Personallexikon. Stuttgart 2010. Stichwörter zum Sammelbegriff „Personalkosten“, u. a.
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  • „Betriebliche Sozialleistungen“, S. 139 – 140.
  • „Investitionsrechnung“, S. 557 – 558.
  • „Materielle Mitarbeiterbeteiligung“, S. 726 – 727.
  • „Personalentlohnung“, S. 870 – 871.
  • „Prämienlohnsysteme“, S. 945 – 946.
  • „Sozialleistungen“, S. 1057 – 1058.
  • „Tarifautonomie“, S. 1103 – 1104.
• Beiträge zu: Corsten, H. / Gössinger, R. (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Betriebswirtschaftslehre. 5. Auflage, München 2008,
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  • Stichwort „Koordination“, S. 406 – 408.
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• Beiträge zu: Bühner, R. (Hrsg.): Management-Lexikon. München 2001
  • Stichwort „Human-Relations-Ansatz“, S. 351 – 354.
  • Stichwort „Humanvermögensrechnung“, S. 354 – 357.
  • Stichwort „Personaladminstration“, S. 369.
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• Stellungnahme zu den Anmerkungen von Wagner / Grawert zum Aufsatz „Zur Vorteilhaftigkeit von Cafeteria-Systemen“. In: Zeitschrift für Personalforschung 8, 1994, S. 467 – 470.
• Mittelstand und Personaldienstleister – Chancen einer effizieten Partnerschaft. In: OFFiS Magazin für Industrie, Handel, Dienstleistungen und Handwerk, 4/98, S. 6 – 7.