This book provides an up-to-date overview of the development of the German financial system, with a particular focus on financialization and the financial crisis, topics that have increasingly gained attention since the crisis and the discussion on the secular stagnation started. The authors of the book-economists who have conducted extensive research in this area-offer a perspective on the financial system in the context of its importance for the overall economic system. The book not only provides detailed insights into Germany's financial system; it also takes a broader perspective on finance and connects it with current macroeconomic developments in Germany.

The book presents a broad view on the nature of intelligent decision-making which is characterized by the use of models and methods in the framework of decision support for management. Contributions to this volume dedicated to Paul StAhly on the occasion of his 65th birthday include theoretical research and applications in optimization, operations research as well as decision support and management systems.

In recent years, social innovation has experienced a steep career. Numerous national governments and large organisations like the OECD, the European Commission and UNESCO have adopted the term. Social innovation basically means that people adopt new social practices in order to meet social needs in a different or more effective way. Prominent examples of the past are the Red Cross and the social welfare state or, at present, the internet 2.0 transforming our communication and cooperation schemes, requiring new management concepts, even empowering social revolutions. The traditional concept of innovation as successful new technological products needs fundamental rethinking in a society marked by knowledge and services, leading to a new and enriched paradigm of innovation. There is multiple evidence that social innovation will become of growing importance not only concerning social integration, equal opportunities and dealing with the greenhouse effects but also with regard to preserving and expanding the innovative capacity of companies and societies. While political authorities stress the social facets of social innovation, this book also encompasses its societal and systemic dimensions, collecting the scientific expertise of renowned experts and scholars from all over the world. Based on the contributions of the first world-wide science convention on social innovation from September 2011 in Vienna, the book provides an overview of scientific approaches to this still relatively new field. Forewords by Agnes HUBERT (Member of theBureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA) of the European Commission) and Antonella Noya (Senior Policy Analyst at OECD, manager of the OECD LEED Forum on Social Innovations)

This book presents an internationally comprehensive perspective into the field of complex systems. It explores the challenges of and approaches to complexity from a broad range of disciplines, including big data, health care, medicine, mathematics, mechanical and systems engineering, air traffic control and finance. The book's interdisciplinary character allows readers to identify transferable and mutually exclusive lessons learned among these disciplines and beyond. As such, it is well suited to the transfer of applications and methodologies between ostensibly incompatible disciplines. This book provides fresh perspectives on comparable issues of complexity from the top minds on systems thinking.

Since their discovery in the 1960s, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains continue to present unique challenges to clinicians, microbiologists, and molecular biologists around the world. These organisms are typically resistant to several other antimicrobial agents, including aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, clindamycin, fluoroquinolones and macrolides and are susceptible only to vancomycin. In fact there is increasing evidence that this susceptibility will soon disappear. In this book, internationally renowned authors comprehensively review all aspects of MRSA research. Topics covered include strategies for the detection and typing of MRSA strains, epidemiological characterisation, molecular evolution of MRSA, vancoymcin resistant S. aureus, mechanisms of methicillin resistance, virulence mechanisms in MRSA pathogenesis, recommended treatment of MRSA infections, and options for the prevention and control of MRSA infections.

Intelligent technical systems, which combine mechanical, electrical and software engineering with methods from control engineering and advanced mathematics, go far beyond the state of the art in mechatronics and open up fascinating perspectives. Among these systems are so-called self-optimizing systems, which are able to adapt their behavior autonomously and flexibly to changing operating conditions. The Collaborative Research Center 614 "Self-optimizing concepts and structures in mechanical engineering" pursued the long-term aim to enable others to develop dependable self-optimizing systems. Assuring their dependability poses new challenges. However, self-optimization also offers the possibility to adapt the system's behavior to improve dependability during operation.

The aim of this book is to provide methods and techniques to master the challenges and to exploit the possibilities given by self-optimization. The reader will be able to develop self-optimizing systems that fulfill and surpass today s dependability requirements easily.

This book is directed to researchers and practitioners alike. It gives a brief introduction to the holistic development approach for self-optimizing mechatronic systems and the steps required to assure a dependable product design starting with the very early conceptual design phase. A guideline to select suitable methods for each step and the methods themselves are included. Each method is individually introduced, many examples and full references are given.

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This edited volume presents a structured approach to a new lean education curriculum, implemented for the education of engineers, managers, administrators as well as human resources developers. The authorship comprises professors and lecturers, trainers and practitioners who educate future professionals in Lean Thinking principles and tools. This edited book provides a platform for authors to share their efforts in building a Body of Knowledge (BoK) for Lean Education. The topical spectrum is state-of-the-art in this field, but the book also includes a glimpse into future developments. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book, providing valuable insight for scholars with an interest in Lean Education.

Intelligent technical systems, which combine mechanical, electrical and software engineering with control engineering and advanced mathematics, go far beyond the state of the art in mechatronics and open up fascinating perspectives. Among these systems are so-called self-optimizing systems, which are able to adapt their behavior autonomously and flexibly to changing operating conditions. Self-optimizing systems create high value for example in terms of energy and resource efficiency as well as reliability.

The Collaborative Research Center 614 "Self-optimizing Concepts and Structures in Mechanical Engineering" pursued the long-term aim to open up the active paradigm of self-optimization for mechanical engineering and to enable others to develop self-optimizing systems.

This book is directed to researchers and practitioners alike. It provides a design methodology for the development of self-optimizing systems consisting of a reference process, methods, and tools. The reference process is divided into two phases the domain-spanning conceptual design and the domain-specific design and development. For the conceptual design a holistic approach is provided. Domain-specific methods and tools developed especially for the design and development of self-optimizing systems are described and illustrated by application examples. This book will enable the reader to identify the potential for self-optimization and to develop self-optimizing systems independently."

An intensive development of the theory of generalized analytic functions started when methods of Complex Analysis were combined with methods of Functional Analysis, especially with the concept of distributional solutions to partial differential equations. The power of these interactions is far from being exhausted. In order to promote the further development of the theory of generalized analytic functions and applications of partial differential equations to Mechanics, the Technical University of Graz organized a conference whose Proceedings are contained in the present volume. The contributions on generalized analytic functions (Part One) deal not only with problems in the complex plane (boundary value and initial value problems), but also related problems in higher dimensions are investigated where both several complex variables and the technique of Clifford Analysis are used. Part Two of the Proceedings is devoted to applications to Mechanics. It contains contributions to a variety of general methods such as L p-methods, boundary elements and asymptotic methods, and hemivariational inequalities. A substantial number of the papers of Part Two, however, deals with problems in Ocean Acoustics. The papers of both parts of the Proceedings can be recommended to mathematicians, physicists, and engineers working in the fields mentioned above, as well as for further reading within graduate studies.

This book analyses Germany's role in the euro crisis. Based on the perception of Berlin as the emerging capital of the European Union, the author investigates three interrelated issues: Did the German policy approach of imposing austerity programs on countries in the middle of a deep recession contribute to the successful management of the euro crisis? Does Germany extend its sway over its European partners by forcing them to surrender to the German diktat of fiscal Disziplin and economic efficiency? Is the stubborn insistence on rigid fiscal adjustment another ominous sign of the Berlin Republic moving away from the country's traditional European vocation toward an imperial leadership role? The book's main argument is that Germany's role in and responses to the euro crisis can best be explained by different concepts of self, historical memory, and institutional practices.

Direct Store Delivery (DSD) is a key method of selling and distributing products for a variety of industries. In the consumer products industry, DSD is one of the strategic key growth areas, as the process delivers a broad range of business benefits to all parties of the value chain. Today, 24 of the world's Top 30 Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies employ the DSD business process.

Although DSD is gaining major and steadily increasing attention in the market, it has hardly been covered by literature and empirical studies. For the first time and including the input of both practitioners and academics, this book throws light on the topic of DSD from different perspectives, providing fresh insights and benefits.

The book covers diverse topics. Among others, it delivers a deeper understanding of the DSD business process and why companies use it. Furthermore, the global status quo of DSD usage and details of its implementation will be illustrated and multi-level insights (strategic, operational) will be discussed.