Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of British Columbia (Canada), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Augsburg, Univ., Diss., 2002. - Diss. u.d.T.: Financial services firms as life-cycle solution providers. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2010. / "Submitted to Department of Information Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-118)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2004. / Advisor: Tony Porter. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-238) Also available via World Wide Web.

The economy of Saudi Arabia is rich in oil. It is the world’s leading oil exporter and a prominent member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and a country which embraces Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). FDI is core to increasing the capital and the economic wealth of a country. It is a platform for innovative technologies, advanced management practices, investment, and for the development of an unrestricted market for generating goods and services. Host nations struggle to attract FDI because of the difficulty in recognising FDI drivers that shape FDI inflows. This study identifies significant drivers that influence financial services. These are market drivers, economic drivers, infrastructure drivers and political drivers. Noticeably, previous studies have failed to discuss the complexity of these drivers’ effectiveness in terms of a particular business and a particular country. The objective of this study, therefore, is to analyse the effect of different FDI drivers on FDI inflows with regard to Saudi financial services. This study finds that market drivers are the most effective FDI drivers in terms of Saudi financial services, followed by economic and political drivers. This study supports the findings of previous studies that suggest that infrastructure drivers are not effective in terms of FDI inflows with regard to Saudi financial services.

M.Com. (Business Management) / This study concerns itself with the concepts of strategy, risk management and risk appetite. Strategy and risk management playa very important role in any business, but it is very difficult to determine the interrelationship between strategy and risk. There is no scientific/academic proof and there is no model or framework on what the alignment between an organisation's strategy and risk appetite is. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a risk appetite model to align an organisation's strategy and risk management, so that management will be able to improve its decision-making. The research design is based on a qualitative evaluation of the various literature concepts on strategy, risk management and risk appetite. Furthermore, personal interviews were held with senior risk, strategy and financial managers in the South African financial services industry to test the risk appetite model and determine the relevance and robustness of the risk appetite model. The main findings of this study revealed that: • to take full advantage of business opportunities, risk management and strategy cannot operate independently in any organisation; they must be integrated or at least linked with one another; • risk appetite is an important concept on its own, but is even more crucial as the link between risk management and strategy; • most financial services organisations assume that there is a link between risk management, strategy and risk appetite but that there is no formal processor framework available to link the three concepts; • effective risk management enables financial services organisations to achieve a competitive advantage, which is achieved by optimising risks and rewards; and • organisations that probably will withstand future crises are those with appropriate enterprise risk management practices in place where risk and strategy are linked with each other; and the risk appetite model can play an important role in achieving this goal. The main conclusion is that the risk appetite model is the formal framework to integrate risk management with strategy, because the model: • takes a holistic view to risk management; • allows all employees at all levels to understand risk appetite because it is quantitative and not too mathematical; • utilises risk appetite as the "gel" to link strategy and risk management; • allows for measured decision-making and proper governing; • allows organisations to be proactive in their risk management; • takes the upside and downside of risk into consideration; • gives strategic direction to the business; and • addresses all the important steps to integrate risk management, risk appetite and strategy. Lastly, for the risk appetite model to be successful it is essential to: • have buy-in from everyone in the organisation; • have the right governance in place to ensure the effective implementation and communication of the organisation's risk appetite; and • continuously monitor the organisation's risk appetite.

M.Comm. / Achieving quality in products and services requires that TQM be viewed as "a journey to a destiny" in which many routes can be taken, rather than a destiny in itself. Organisations that wish to implement TQM have to study the map carefully before embarking on this "journey" as the Latin phrase "salutes in media via" or "safety lies in the middle route" is unfortunately not a guarantee to reaching the TQM destiny. The main aim of this study is to provide an understanding into the concerns, problems and challenges as well as advantages associated with TOM in modem financial services organisations, which can lead to a false sense of security if not managed correctly. The objectives of the study are therefore 1. To gain insight on how and why TQM developed, placing an emphasis on the change in markets and organisations as well as the management thereof over time To review current TQM trends and obstacles that modern organisations face within the South African financial services industry; and 3. To develop and arrive at a workable model for TOM implementation within the financial services industry. Specifically the study wishes to provide the reader with a broad understanding of TQM, as well as the necessary stimulation to further probe and exploit this management technique.

Includes bibliographical references / The turn of the millennium witnessed the uptake and proliferation of mobile technology in developing regions. This occurrence has provided a medium for mobile telecommunication vendors within the region to create and offer services that are now accessible across socio-economic classes. A notable case of a widely adopted mobile technology-enabled service in the developing world is a mobile money service in Kenya called M-pesa. Since its inception, M-pesa has witnessed a mass adoption which has generally been attributed to prior lack of access by majority of individuals' in the country to affordable regulated financial services. M-pesa's presence has now been anticipated to afford a larger population the initial opportunity to harness economic benefits such as: increase money circulation, increase employment opportunities, facilitate social capital accumulation, facilitate savings, and promote financial autonomy, amongst others. Also, M-pesa based transactions in Kenya are reported to exceed those of western union globally. Whilst M-pesa presently vaunts large user adoption numbers, it is the first of its kind in the region to amass such achievement. Further, historically: products and services of similar nature to M-pesa have been unsustainable. A case of M-pesa's demise would have dire implication for the Kenyan economy and 30% of the households in the country that rely on it for remittances. To understand this phenomenon, extant studies have examined the drivers of adoption of this service but have slacked in subsequent investigations to understand user continuance with the service. As such, the information systems literature cautions that initial adoption of technology, although crucial, does not guarantee sustained use. Therefore it is imperative to investigate drivers of continuance. In general, extant research has not focused on investigations of user continuance intention in Africa. In response, this thesis presents an African based study on the determinants of user continuance intention towards M-pesa. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to i) identify and discuss factors from the literature that are most likely to influence user continuance intention towards M-pesa, (ii) develop a research model that is grounded in theory, (iii) test the model within the sample context to identify the antecedents and determinants of user continuance intention towards M-pesa in Kenya. A broad, critical review of the relevant literature provided basis for hypothesized relationships between the identified factors. A formal survey of users of M-pesa in Kenya comprised the phase of data collection and resulted in a usable data set of (n=434). The data collected from the respondents within Kenya was relied upon to test the hypotheses. The survey instrument used to measure the study's constructs was developed via a process of literature review, expert pre-testing, pilot testing, and statistical validation. Partial Least Square and Artificial Neural Network analyses were used to examine the study's measurement and structural model comprising variables of : behavioural beliefs (post-usage usefulness, confirmation, satisfaction), control-beliefs (utilization and flow), object-based beliefs (perceived task-technology fit, system quality, information quality, and service quality), and attitudinal belief (trust). Collectively, the afore-listed ten independent variables and one dependent variable (continuance intention) comprised the study's model. Four of the independent variables (utilization, satisfaction, flow, and trust) were hypothesized to directly determine continuance intention. Of these four, all emerged as determinants of continuance intention. However, trust emerged as the strongest determinant, subsequently, utilization, flow, and satisfaction respectively. The result was unexpected, as satisfaction (a behavioural belief) has been presented in the extant literature as the dominant determinant of continuance intention but does not hold a consistent predictive strength in a developing world. Its predictive power was diluted by trust, utilization, and flow amongst the Kenyan sample. The study's model revealed an R² of 0.334. The analyses demonstrated that user continuance intention is determined by factors across object, control, attitudinal, and behavioural beliefs. The unexpected finding of the rankings of predictive strength of the factors turns a new leaf and introduces areas of further inquiry in future studies. The study concludes with realized contributions to theory and important guidelines for current and future technology-enabled service vendors in developing regions.

Yes

I investigate the association between large shareholder heterogeneity and firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. Specifically, I construct three measures of ownership heterogeneity based on the type, size, and monitoring aggressiveness of large shareholders present in a firm. Applying these three measures of heterogeneity, I examine whether large shareholder heterogeneity is associated with the variation in firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. I also examine new block formations to provide evidence on the consequences of large shareholder investment on firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. I find that the monitoring aggressiveness of large shareholders is positively associated with firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. These findings suggest that large aggressive shareholders constrain earnings management, but contribute to firms' overall information asymmetry. Further, using new blockholder data, I find that investments by large aggressive shareholders are positively associated with firms' accounting quality and firms' information asymmetry in the post investment period. This finding provides additional support to my hypotheses that large shareholders play an important role in firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. / by Joseph E. Trainor. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.