Thesis Announcements

The disclosure of personal information, thoughts and feelings is central to the development of human relationships. The CASA paradigm suggests that we also treat computers, and therefore robots, as social actors. Would we therefore tell service robots as much as we tell our human environment?

One way to alleviate the need for teaching different robots individually is by using teleoperation. Typically, human demonstrations can be captured by skeleton tracking with VR or motion capture, which requires special hardware. Can the use of simple videos combined with deep learning and AI achieve similar results which can be generalized?

Digitalization and AI offer extensive opportunities for companies' marketing activities. However, these new algorithms are also associated with a number of challenges. The suggested topics in the attached PDF are intended to shed light on these aspects.

The arrival of social robots in work teams is only a matter of time. But such robots – like any new team member – must be integrated into their teams to ensure their successful and sustainable use. Exemplary research questions are: What do we already know about the integration of new team members in all-human work teams? What are important factors for the integration of robotic team members in mixed human-robot teams (HRTs)? And what are fruitful areas for future research on robot integration in work teams?

Die Büroumgebung der Mitarbeiter ist einem ständigen Wandel unterworfen. In der Abschlussarbeit sollen mögliche Szenarien zukünftiger Arbeitsumgebungen entwickelt werden, z. B. durch die Durchführung von Unternehmensbefragungen. Diese Abschlussarbeit wird mit unserem Kooperationspartner, der Jakob Maul GmbH (MAUL), ausgeschrieben. Die Abschlussarbeit soll bei MAUL vor Ort in Bad König (Zell) geschrieben werden. Währenddessen erhält der Studierende eine finanzielle Vergütung. MAUL ist ein führender Marken-Hersteller von Büroprodukten mit 190 Mitarbeitenden.

The office environment of employees is undergoing constant change. In the thesis, possible scenarios of future working environments can be developed, e.g., by conducting company surveys. This thesis is offered with our cooperation partner, Jakob Maul GmbH (MAUL). The thesis will be written at MAUL, which is located in Bad König (Zell). During this time the student will receive a financial compensation. MAUL is a leading brand manufacturer of office products with 190 employees.

With advancing digitization also comes a greater responsibility that not only involves technical performance and safety but also social aspects and more concrete ethics. In order to shed more light on this important topic, this thesis should aim at providing insights that can help to answer a number of research questions, including

- What do we already know about ethical aspects of placing technology, such as robots, in teams?

- How do ethics for all-human teams and ethics for human-robot teams fit together?

- What are important ethical considerations for future research on and deployment of human-robot teams?

Selecting suitable instruments and methods to measure causal effects is a challenge for many researchers across scientific fields. It is an important prerequisite for any further decisions regarding any study design. We want to take a closer look at various methods that are currently used to assess causality in (field) experiments in business contexts, compare them and derive specific recommendations.

Many jobs are experiencing a major shift in the skills and core capabilities required for the future. This change does not stop at “classic” office jobs such as team assistance and PMO. We want to take a closer look at how the jobs of a team assistant and a PMO in large corporations are changing, what today’s core competencies are, and which competencies will be needed in the future.

Digitalization and COVID-19 led to a major shift on how we actually work and will work in the future. The suggested topics in the attached PDF are intended to shed light on these aspects. The topics cover all exciting areas of HR work of the future: from AI-based recruiting and leadership to digital work opportunities.