Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 314-328).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2003. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-194).

Ao considerar que as empresas de serviços contábeis não prestam somente serviços na área contábil, mas também nas áreas societária, trabalhista e tributária, dentre outras; que clientes de portes semelhantes geram serviços com dificuldades de elaboração diferenciada em razão da forma de tributação, da atividade exercida e de questões de organização interna de cada empresa, entre outros fatores; que muitos dos escritórios contábeis cresceram e hoje são considerados empresas de serviços contábeis e constituem um segmento de grande importância no cenário empresarial brasileiro, faz-se necessário estudos quanto aos custos dos serviços prestados, a fixação do preço de venda destes serviços e a análise da lucratividade de cada cliente. O presente estudo, que tem como objetivo de propor um modelo de mensuração de custos mensais para as empresas de serviços contábeis, com o intuito de viabilizar a análise da lucratividade de cada um de seus clientes. O trabalho parte de uma abordagem administrativa, com enfoque gerencial da empresa de serviços contábeis, identifica custos e despesas, utiliza-se de conceitos de diversos métodos de custeio para direcionar os custos a cada departamento da empresa de serviços contábeis e, consequentemente, a cada cliente usuário dos serviços. Identifica, portanto, os custos, compara com os preços de venda praticados, e analisa, individualmente, a lucratividade de cada cliente da empresa de serviços contábeis. / Considering that accounting services companies do not only provide services in accounting, but also in corporation, labor and taxation, and other fields, considering that clients of similar sizes generate services with special development difficulties due to the way they are taxed, the type of business being carried out, and matters of each company’s internal structure, among other factors, considering that many accounting firms grew and today are considered financial services companies which constitute a segment of great importance in the Brazilian business scenario, studies on the costs of services provided to each client are made necessary as well as fixing the selling price of services and profitability analysis of each client. The present study aims to propose a measurement model of monthly costs for businesses providing accounting services, it intends to facilitate the analysis of the profitability of each client. It comes from an administrative perspective, with a managerial focus on accounting services companies, it identifies costs and expenses and uses the concepts of various defrayment methods to direct the costs to each department of the accounting services company and therefore to each client user of the services. Therefore it identifies the costs, compares them with the sales prices, and analyzes individually the profitability of each client of the accounting services company.

Ao considerar que as empresas de serviços contábeis não prestam somente serviços na área contábil, mas também nas áreas societária, trabalhista e tributária, dentre outras; que clientes de portes semelhantes geram serviços com dificuldades de elaboração diferenciada em razão da forma de tributação, da atividade exercida e de questões de organização interna de cada empresa, entre outros fatores; que muitos dos escritórios contábeis cresceram e hoje são considerados empresas de serviços contábeis e constituem um segmento de grande importância no cenário empresarial brasileiro, faz-se necessário estudos quanto aos custos dos serviços prestados, a fixação do preço de venda destes serviços e a análise da lucratividade de cada cliente. O presente estudo, que tem como objetivo de propor um modelo de mensuração de custos mensais para as empresas de serviços contábeis, com o intuito de viabilizar a análise da lucratividade de cada um de seus clientes. O trabalho parte de uma abordagem administrativa, com enfoque gerencial da empresa de serviços contábeis, identifica custos e despesas, utiliza-se de conceitos de diversos métodos de custeio para direcionar os custos a cada departamento da empresa de serviços contábeis e, consequentemente, a cada cliente usuário dos serviços. Identifica, portanto, os custos, compara com os preços de venda praticados, e analisa, individualmente, a lucratividade de cada cliente da empresa de serviços contábeis. / Considering that accounting services companies do not only provide services in accounting, but also in corporation, labor and taxation, and other fields, considering that clients of similar sizes generate services with special development difficulties due to the way they are taxed, the type of business being carried out, and matters of each company’s internal structure, among other factors, considering that many accounting firms grew and today are considered financial services companies which constitute a segment of great importance in the Brazilian business scenario, studies on the costs of services provided to each client are made necessary as well as fixing the selling price of services and profitability analysis of each client. The present study aims to propose a measurement model of monthly costs for businesses providing accounting services, it intends to facilitate the analysis of the profitability of each client. It comes from an administrative perspective, with a managerial focus on accounting services companies, it identifies costs and expenses and uses the concepts of various defrayment methods to direct the costs to each department of the accounting services company and therefore to each client user of the services. Therefore it identifies the costs, compares them with the sales prices, and analyzes individually the profitability of each client of the accounting services company.

Ao considerar que as empresas de serviços contábeis não prestam somente serviços na área contábil, mas também nas áreas societária, trabalhista e tributária, dentre outras; que clientes de portes semelhantes geram serviços com dificuldades de elaboração diferenciada em razão da forma de tributação, da atividade exercida e de questões de organização interna de cada empresa, entre outros fatores; que muitos dos escritórios contábeis cresceram e hoje são considerados empresas de serviços contábeis e constituem um segmento de grande importância no cenário empresarial brasileiro, faz-se necessário estudos quanto aos custos dos serviços prestados, a fixação do preço de venda destes serviços e a análise da lucratividade de cada cliente. O presente estudo, que tem como objetivo de propor um modelo de mensuração de custos mensais para as empresas de serviços contábeis, com o intuito de viabilizar a análise da lucratividade de cada um de seus clientes. O trabalho parte de uma abordagem administrativa, com enfoque gerencial da empresa de serviços contábeis, identifica custos e despesas, utiliza-se de conceitos de diversos métodos de custeio para direcionar os custos a cada departamento da empresa de serviços contábeis e, consequentemente, a cada cliente usuário dos serviços. Identifica, portanto, os custos, compara com os preços de venda praticados, e analisa, individualmente, a lucratividade de cada cliente da empresa de serviços contábeis. / Considering that accounting services companies do not only provide services in accounting, but also in corporation, labor and taxation, and other fields, considering that clients of similar sizes generate services with special development difficulties due to the way they are taxed, the type of business being carried out, and matters of each company’s internal structure, among other factors, considering that many accounting firms grew and today are considered financial services companies which constitute a segment of great importance in the Brazilian business scenario, studies on the costs of services provided to each client are made necessary as well as fixing the selling price of services and profitability analysis of each client. The present study aims to propose a measurement model of monthly costs for businesses providing accounting services, it intends to facilitate the analysis of the profitability of each client. It comes from an administrative perspective, with a managerial focus on accounting services companies, it identifies costs and expenses and uses the concepts of various defrayment methods to direct the costs to each department of the accounting services company and therefore to each client user of the services. Therefore it identifies the costs, compares them with the sales prices, and analyzes individually the profitability of each client of the accounting services company.

Organisations are increasingly under pressure to meet financial and other objectives in dynamic and competitive markets, that are being driven more by services than by products. Marketing as a function needs to become more accountable with respect to the marketing investments that are made and the returns generated from these programmes, and hence to increase shareholder value. Intangible assets are comprising a growing proportion of this shareholder value, to the extent that 75% of the value of the organisation is currently made up of intangibles such as Human Equity, Brand Equity and Customer Equity. Thus the marketer needs to build the marketing-based intangible assets of Brand Equity, the inherent value of the brand, and Customer Equity, the sum of the lifetime values to the organisation of its current and future customers. To be able to monitor and manage marketing’s contribution, these assets need to be measured, and the effectiveness of marketing programmes needs to be determined ideally in financial terms, e.g. ROMI – Return on Marketing Investment. The purpose of this research study was to develop and test a framework of Customer Equity in the financial services sector, to guide marketing spend so that shareholder value is built by leveraging the marketing intangibles. Consequently, the objectives were to develop a model of Customer Equity, to calculate Customer Lifetime Value of customers in a segment, to determine the value drivers and the elasticity relation of Customer Equity, and finally to provide guidelines to organisations to improve their Customer Equity. The first area of research was in the field of Marketing metrics, the set of measures that helps organisations to understand their marketing performance. The recommendation for organisations is to develop a marketing dashboard, or range of key marketing indicators, which would include short-term performance measures, e.g. market share or customer satisfaction, as well as long-term planning measures, e.g. Brand Equity and Customer Lifetime Value. Brand Equity was then reviewed as a valuable intangible asset. Various models have been developed to explain the different sources, components and outcomes of ii Brand Equity, as it is a multidimensional construct. The measurement and valuation of Brand Equity was also researched, and its link to shareholder value. Customer Equity, an alternative market-based intangible asset that can be a driver of shareholder value, was also reviewed. The conclusion from a review of the models is that there are two schools: the Blattberg, Gupta and colleagues school, which tends to focus on internal analysis as typically used in direct marketing applications; and the Rust and colleagues school, which tends to focus externally on the customer and the competition. Both schools have something to contribute: the internal school, on accurate understanding of Customer Lifetime Value, and the external school, on the relative importance of the drivers of Customer Equity. This research also makes a contribution to the Brand Equity / Customer Equity debate, analysing similarities and differences, and developing a model to explain the trade-off between the two concepts. A combination of the two schools was used to develop a model of Customer Equity, including supply side inputs (for accurate CLTV calculations) and demand side inputs (for determining drivers and their elasticities). Using input from the databases of a financial institution, Customer Lifetime Value and Customer Equity for customers in the SME market sector were calculated. A convenience sample of 251 SME’s was interviewed on the demand side using a structured questionnaire, to develop data on the drivers of their importance and the relative performance of banks. A statistical model was then developed, using Principal Components Regression (PCR) analysis, to determine the drivers of Customer Equity, the factors influencing these and the relative sensitivities. A key contribution of this research was the development of the Probability of Defection as a measure of the dependent variable in the multiple regression. The model was tested by determining the ROI of two marketing programmes from the financial institution, to guide their marketing spend. Finally, a Customer Equity Management Process was developed to assist organisations in implementing a Customer Equity focus. / Prof. Chris Jooste

M.Comm.

Magister Legum - LLM / The objective of this research was to draw a relationship between legal and institutional frameworks in a country, and the competitiveness of that country as a destination for investment either as real investment or portfolio investment for infrastructure development. / South Africa

Business rules shape the behaviour of a business and guide the behaviour of employees when conducting business. Therefore, business rules explain what is allowed and not allowed. It is argued that all organisations have business rules and engage in some form of relationship whether through competition or cooperation with other companies. In today’s business environment, organisations are embedded in relationships with other actors in order to gain access to resources that are needed. Therefore, each organisation’s business rules define their strategies and actions. The type of business rule behaviour which is applied by organisations encourages them to grow by taking market share from rivals or creating new markets. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the rules of business behaviour on perceptions of the competitive banking environment in Uganda and its potential impact on certain outcomes. In this study, a quantitative research approach was adopted, as the study sought to investigate the relationships between variables. This study collected data through the use of a structured self-administered survey questionnaire which was distributed to 233 branches of banks in Uganda, totaling 700 bank employees. The survey yielded 529 usable questionnaires which were analyzed, using several statistical analysis techniques. A hypothetical model and measuring instrument of perceptions of the rules of business behaviour in the competitive banking environment within Uganda was developed. Six null-hypotheses were subjected to statistical analysis. The influence of three independent variables, namely, confrontational business behaviour, co-operational business behaviour and typologies of competition on the intermediate variable, perceptions of the competitive banking environment in Uganda were tested. The impact of these variables on three independent outcome variables, namely, organisational performance and customer loyalty and retention were also tested The empirical findings revealed that the rules of business behaviour have a significant relationship with perceptions of the competitive banking environment in Uganda. These results showed that confrontational behaviour as a rule of business behaviour can be classified as being direct or indirect. The study further revealed that banks should consider competitors as co-partners and not only as aggressors, indicating that co-operational business behaviour is statistically significantly related to perceptions of the competitive business environment in Uganda. The three typologies of competition, namely, defy attack, defense and debase attack are also positively related to perceptions of the competitive business environment in Uganda. The empirical results of the study also indicated that perceptions of the competitive banking environment have a positive relationship with outcomes such as organisational performance, customer retention and customer loyalty. This study contributed to the literature and body of knowledge regarding the impact of rules of business behaviour in the competitive banking environment in Uganda. This study could also assist banks, employees and customers alike to understand the different rules of business behaviour that exist and what strategies banks can employ to improve their position in the market. This study could also be replicated by other banks in other developing countries so as to ensure successful competition and the cooperation of banks as they engage in their activities in the banking industry.

In many developing economies, access to and subsequent utilisation of mainstream financial services act as a barrier to financial inclusion. The merging of financial services and information technology, especially by means of mobile devices, result in consumers being able to make use of financial services at any time and place, thereby overcoming the distribution challenges and subsequent use (Gu, Lee, & Suh, 2009). This research examined the factors influencing the continued use of tech-based financial services post adoption by the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) in South Africa. The research uses the risk-benefit framework to understand usage behaviour focusing on cost, convenience, perceived ease of use and risk (security and operational) as predictor variables. The research makes use of analysed secondary data on 481 low-income individuals using the Structural equation modelling (SEM).The partial least squares structural modelling was utilised to test the hypotheses and relationship between the variables. The findings indicate that perceived benefit has a greater influence on usage than perceived risk. Even though consumers consider both benefit and risk in decision making, the expectation of potential benefits is a greater driver of usage. Convenience, cost and perceived ease of use were found to have significant impacts on usage, with the latter two having the greatest impacts. Perceived risk had a significant but weak impact on usage, with operating risk influencing usage more than security risk. The research recommends that when creating a value proposition for Fintech products, resources should be weighted more towards improving and highlighting those factors that drive the perception of benefit or value added to customers (cheaper, quicker etc.) vs. those that manage a potential risk. Customers are likely to respond positively and increase usage when there is an additional benefit to be derived.