Akademisk avhandling--Historia--Stockholm, 1979. / Résumé en anglais et en allemand avec une bibliogr. p. 875-905 (vol. 2). Index à la fin de chaque vol.

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'Best Company To Work For’ surveys (BCTWF) promise to promote winners’ status as an “Employer of Choice” (Conradie, 2007) leading to increased employer branding, easier talent attraction and retention, improved employee engagement, and ultimately to improved financial results – all of which could be benchmarked against competitors through the survey results. Recent attempts to merge concepts from traditional marketing and HR practices led to the exciting new realm of employer and employee branding, however there was very little empirical evidence of how this could be achieved (Boyd&Sutherland, 2006). BCTWF surveys purport to be a common tool with which a company could address both the aspects of marketing and human resources, with a view toward improved business performance. This research investigated the value of BCTWF surveys through quantitative analysis of the data collected from a survey questionnaire (n=449). Factor analysis was employed to validate the structure and internal reliability of the instrument. ANOVA, post-hoc Scheffé test, chi-square test, tests of meaningfulness, and stub-and-banner tables were used to investigate the relation between ‘Best Company’ ranking and the independent variables. Of the four constructs, employer branding and employee engagement showed a positive relation to BCTWF ranking; while applicant attraction and employee retention did not show any relation. A BCTWF Value Model (Figure 10) was developed in response to the findings and current literature to assist managers with their decisionmaking related to BCTWF and strategic human resource management in the future. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Corporate diversification is one of the fundamental strategic alternatives available to organisations to sustain growth and search for greater profits. International research has been conducted since the 1950’s to establish if diversification creates value and if it resulted in greater financial performance. The findings are inconsistent and there remains a lack of consensus regarding the diversification-performance relationship, although there has been a trend since the 1990’s of organisations focusing more on their core competencies. A quantitative research methodology was followed whereby organisations listed on the industrial sector of the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) were categorised as either diversified or focused organisations. Each category consisted of 15 organisations, against which four financial measures were compared from the period 2001 to 2005 in the form of hypotheses, to determine which category of organisations performed better than the other. Three of the four performance measures are not statistically significant to prove that either the diversified group or the focused group of organisations outperformed the other. One of the financial measures is statistically significant and it was found that the Average Market Return (AMKTRET) of focused organisations outperform the AMKTRET of diversified organisations. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The modern corporation did not reach its present position of importance in economic and social fact without a long struggle marked by an increasing liberalization of incorporation process and appreciation of its merits by businessmen. This led to the rise of the corporate system and resulted in the concentration of industry in this form. The concentration of economic power in the corporate form was followed by the separation of ownership and management. This process of change lasted several decades and was aided by the increasingly wide dispersion of ownership among thousands upon thousands of scattered shareholders. Historically control was exercised by ownership of a majority of the voting stock. This was a proprietary right. As corporations grew in size and economic importance, ownership began to disperse and control through less than majority ownership evolved. This was aided by legal devices and various techniques that made control possible with a minimum of investment. The bulk of the shareholders were slowly losing their rights and voice in management. The coup was complete with the advent of management control, which stemmed from the wide dispersal of ownership among small scattered stockholders. The rise of the institutional investors completes the circuit with the concentration of holdings in institutional portfolios. Thus, control may once more be dependent on ownership for its existence. The changes that this evolution has brought about have had their effect on the system. Management control, the dominant form of control in industry, at present, has many inherent dangers. Profit is no longer the only motivating force driving the controlling group. The corporation has become a prominent citizen in the community in which it resides, ruled by men accountable to themselves alone. Gone: are the inherent checks on management and the ability to oust them when they become slack or dishonest. Control has become a power position in the economy with no proprietary right to the situation. Ownership has been reduced to the passive position of receiving dividends. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

The thesis is in two distinct parts. The first part deals with the theoretical aspect of long-range corporate planning. Specifically it: 1. Traces the history of development of long-range planning; giving evidence of maturing of the discipline, its efficacy, and its acceptance in the business world. 2. Introduces the concepts of long-range corporate planning and develops them into a comprehensive theory. 3. Outlines and analyses the advantages of long-range planning, distinguishing between 'defensive' and 'creative' advantages. 4. Suggests broad outlines on 'how to plan'. Includes some interesting (to the author) models developed by others as an aid to the planning exercise. The second part contains details of a real-life application of long-range planning. A heuristic approach is utilized to develop a 4-year plan for two associated firms, a metal-stamping organization and a distributing-cum-sales organization. The exercise involves: 1. Setting up objectives. 2. Examination of the existing resources of the two firms. Locating sources of present and potential strengths and weaknesses. 3. A study of the market. 4. Establishing a time horizon. 5. Developing a product-market policy. 6. Integrating all the above into a comprehensive long-range plan. The principles developed in the first part find normative application in the above plan. The plan therefore serves a dual purpose: a vehicle for integration of various planning principles, as also for guiding the corporate destiny of the two firms. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

The most meaningful way to estimate the current value and the future value of a mining company is to consider the cash flow of the company through time. This is the case since the reported earnings of a mining company are highly sensitive to the accounting practices followed and to changes in metal prices. The valuation of a mining company is strongly dependent on the forecasting of the expected net cash flows of the company. The computer model presented herein has been designed to assemble all of the pertinent variables relating to a mining operation and to calculate the net cash flow for a mining company. The diversity of the operations in the mining industry has necessitated the development of a general model which can be applied to a number of different situations. The model has been developed for base metal mining operations which, produce any combination of the following seven metals: copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, cadmium and molybdenum. The model has been divided into thirteen subroutines and a main programme. Each of the subroutines corresponds to a particular phase of the mining operation. In this way, the critical variables in the operation can be isolated and examined in detail. Although the model is complex and requires a large amount of data, it is hoped that its use will be straightforward and that it will be of assistance to those persons interested in the valuation of a mining company. / Business, Sauder School of / Operations and Logistics (OPLOG), Division of / Graduate

Interest in the question of adequate corporate disclosure has never been greater than in recent years. Among the factors contributing to this increase in interest are the postwar trend of corporations to develop into the more complex conglomerates, the growing participation of institutional investors and the rising role of the financial analysts. The institutional investors, financial analysts, other shareholder groups, employees, credit grantors, professional organisations, Securities and Exchange Commissions, as well as others, are interested in disclosure on a more disaggregative basis by corporations to meet their diverse and sometimes overlapping needs for information. The rationale of adequate corporate disclosure is examined from the viewpoints of these different parties at interest. A related consideration is the accounting problem of materiality. It is suggested that an explicit guideline would provide a common approach in the interpretation and application of the materiality concept, thereby ensuring that a more consistent disclosure practice is followed. Unlike the interested external parties, who are only concerned with the informational aspect of corporate disclosure, management, however, must also consider its motivational, competitive, legal and cost implications. As would be expected, the general reaction of corporate management is one of opposition to more extensive disclosure. In the light of the foregoing considerations, a structure of factors relevant to estimate the present net worth of the estimated future benefits of and future costs of full corporate disclosure is presented, using as a model the technique of the value concept. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

This paper is an attempt to shed light on Japanese business organization from a mentality perspective and thus to explain some characteristic attributes of the organization. "Mentality" provides, the basis for the mode of thought attributable to the nation. The "YAMATO SPIRIT", which is one of such mentalities and which is also the core concept of this thesis, is the Japanese mentality and thus is the basis for Japanese ways of thought and action. The Japanese mentality, in other words, the "YAMATO SPIRIT", is defined as "an effort to attain the identity of one with many through 'Nothingness'". As such, it manifests itself in the business field as well as in other aspects of Japanese life. In fact, this SPIRIT is one of the decisive elements in the business field, emerging as the Japanese business spirit. The Japanese business,spirit, in turn, takes various forms, such as the maxim "do your bit for your country" on the management side, Nenko wage system and Shushin Koyo employment system on the labor side, and the interdependence among firms, banks, and the Government. Furthermore, it is manifest in the business decision-making, functioning as a synthesizing element. Finally apart from the business organization, the Japanese mentality manifests itself with the existence and importance of the "Betriebswirtshaft" in the scholarly field of business in Japan. Again, this paper is an attempt to explain these characteristic attributes of Japanese business organization through Japanese mentality. The paper is composed of three Parts. In Part I, we shall look briefly, from a historical point of view, at the management and labor sides of Japanese business organization. This preliminary survey should present a good background for us to understand what the "YAMATO SPIRIT" is, and what its implications are in the Japanese business scene. In Part II, we shall discuss the three elements on which the "YAMATO SPIRT" is based, and then arrive at the definition of YAMATO SPIRIT by referring to Dr. Nishida's philosophy, and finally take up two distinguishing traits of Japanese mentality. The definition of YAMATO SPIRIT and its traits in this stage will be highly conceptual and abstract. Proceeding to Part III, however, YAMATO SPIRIT will take concrete forms; i.e., the forms of those above-mentioned characteristic attributes of the organization. In other words, it is in this Part that we shall view Japanese business organization from a mentality perspective. For this reason, much more emphasis has been put on this particular Part. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate