In common with other countries India has been drawn into a global trend of standardising national accounting practices with international norms to enhance its ability to attract inward foreign investment and gain increased access to global capital markets. In 2004, India committed itself to achieving convergence with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in the public sector and in 2007 to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the private sector. Both sectors have taken the route to convergence with clear cut roadmaps being designed by the national accounting standard setters and the state. However, there has been a striking contrast in the decision-making processes and preparations for convergence in the two sectors. While the public sector made relatively good progress in terms of following the scheduled roadmap, the first roadmap issued for the private sector was scrapped, new deadlines were set and the roadmap was replaced in 2013 due to severe delays in the process which as of August 2016 have not yet been fully resolved. This cross-sector comparison is interesting because the contrasting decision-making scenarios in India exist despite the state being the central decision-maker in both sectors. Hence, while much existing literature on standardisation takes the decision to converge as a given and focuses on the implementation of IFRS or IPSAS, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the processes that led to the convergence decisions. Using a transnational governance theoretical lens, this thesis investigates the chaotic routes through which the idea of convergence travels before being finalised as an implementation decision, in both the public and private sectors in India. The research questions focus on unravelling the development of the convergence decision-making process in India, tracing the networks of national and transnational actors driving the process, analysing the two-way interactive dynamics between actors that shaped the process and examining the role of the state as the central decision-maker in the public and private sectors. The research methods included documentary analysis and in-depth interviews with key individuals in India, with substantial knowledge about the decision making with regards to convergence. Key empirical findings are as follows. Firstly, while in the early phases of decision-making, transnational influences, in the form of international financial institutions and standard setting agencies, were equally apparent in both sectors, in subsequent phases the transnational influences were greater and arguably more successful in the public than the private sector. Secondly, local resistance formed and was successful in delaying the project of IFRS convergence in the private sector. Local actors were successful in raising their concerns about, for example, fair value accounting and the impacts of IFRS accounting on taxation, and in the context of a turbulent political environment, their influence was powerful enough to cause delays. Thirdly, the empirics show the significance of foreign governments and inter-governmental regional networks as an important source of influence on the decision to delay IFRS convergence. Specifically, the study demonstrates how India’s position was also affected by the decision of the US, a major trading partner, to delay its convergence with IFRS, and by the informal links with countries such as Japan, another significant economic counterpart. This thesis has three important areas of contributions. Firstly, it makes a significant methodological contribution by studying convergence as a process rather than an event by tracing the dynamics preceding the actual implementation of international accounting standards. Conducting a study in such a manner entails identifying the multiplicity of actors involved in the convergence project, their concerns and opinions with regards to convergence, the means through which they voice these concerns, and the ultimate drivers of the decision-making behind convergence. Therefore, this study draws attention to the significance of understanding and fully accounting for the pre-implementation phase of convergence as such an understanding has a potential to provide a deeper insight into the primary sources of the difficulties with standards implementation observed in many countries. Secondly, this thesis contributes substantially to the existing standardisation literature. In most prior studies the discussion on accounting standardisation broadly revolves around the advantages and disadvantages of convergence, drivers of convergence and issues of compliance with international accounting standards. While this study finds the significant presence of transnational actors, a deeper analysis into the reasons for convergence delays in India was traced to a variety of legislative, political and economic concerns of stakeholders, especially local actors including potential users of these standards. Thirdly, this study contributes to the literature on global governance by highlighting the importance of not losing sight of the nation state as an important player in the transnational governance arena. Specifically, literature on global (accounting) regulation devotes a great deal of attention to the roles of organisations and agencies with transnational remits (such as global standard setters and donor agencies) while often downplaying the significant impacts of the more traditional cross-country links forged through economic relationships and resource dependencies. The aforementioned influences of India’s links with countries such as US and Japan on the decision-making process as well as India’s regional alliances with neighbouring Malaysia and China provide a vivid indication of the important roles of cross-governmental relationships in the global governance arena and also questions the position of transnational organizations as pervasive powers in such governance. The study’s findings clearly demonstrate that the pursuit of full IFRS convergence strongly favoured by the transnational forces was invariably challenged in the Indian context by the influences of powerful nation states advocating a more cautious approach.

Autonomous decision-making machines – ranging from autonomous vehicles to chatbots – are already able to make decisions that have ethical consequences. If these machines are eventually deployed on a large scale, members of society will have to be able to trust the decisions that are made by these machines. For these machines to be trustworthy, their decisions must be overseen by socially accepted ethical principles; moreover, these principles and their role in machine decision-making must be transparent and explainable: it must be possible to explain why machine decisions are made and such explanations require that the mechanisms involved for making them are transparent. Furthermore, manufacturing companies have a corporate social responsibility to design such robots in ways that make them not only safe but also trustworthy. Members of society will not trust a robot that works in mysterious, ambiguous, or inexplicable ways, particularly if this robot is required to make decisions based on ethical principles. The current literature on embedding ethics in robots is sparse. This thesis aims to partially fill this gap in order to help different stakeholders (including policy makers, the robot industry, robots designers, and the general public) to understand the many dimensions of machine- executable ethics. To this end, I provide a framework for understanding the relationships among different stakeholders who legislate, create, deploy, and use robots and their reasons for requiring transparency and explanations. This framework aims to provide an account of the relationships between the transparency of the decision-making process in ethical robots, explanations for their behaviour, and the individual and social trust that results. This thesis also presents a model that decomposes the stages of ethical decision-making into their elementary components with a view to enabling stakeholders to allocate the responsibility for such choices. In addition, I propose a model for transparency which demonstrates the importance of and relationships between disclosure, transparency, and explanation which are needed for societies to accept and trust robots. One of the important stakeholders of robotics is the general public and, in addition to providing an analytical framework with which to conceptualize ethical decision-making, this thesis also performs an analysis of opinions drawn from hundreds of written comments posted on public forums concerning the behaviour of socially autonomous robots. This analysis provides insights into the layperson’s responses to machines that make decisions and offers support for policy recommendations that should be considered by regulators in the future. This thesis contributes to the area of ethics and governance of artificial intelligence.

Im Rahmen dieses Beitrags wird ein Einstieg in die Diskussion zum Thema Corporate Governance von NPO geliefert, indem ein Überblick über unterschiedliche wissenschaftliche und alltagspraktische Verständnisse von Governance gegeben wird. Wissenschaftliche Governanceverständnisse werden charakterisiert, indem die Hauptmerkmale des politikwissenschaftlichen, des betriebswirtschaftlichen und des soziologischen Zugangs zur Governance dargestellt werden. Alltagspraktische Governanceverständnisse werden anhand einer Typologie dargestellt, die von betriebswirtschaftlicher über familiäre, professionalistische und zivilgesellschaftliche bis hin zu basisdemokratischer Governance reicht. Abschließend werden Überlegungen zur Zukunft der Governance von NPO angestellt. Eine weitere Verbreitung des be-triebswirtschaftlichen Governance-Diskurses ist wahrscheinlich. Alternative Governance-Zugänge bleiben jedoch notwendige Gegenpole, die wohl in Nischen des Nonprofitsektors weiterbestehen werden.

A Governança da Informação (GI) é uma nova abordagem para a governança dos ativos informacionais nas organizações, resultando de desafios como o crescimento exponencial de dados, novas e mais complexas regras do negócio e de um contexto competitivo mais regulado e litigioso. O objetivo principal da pesquisa foi investigar como fatores organizacionais, relacionais e de Tecnologia da Informação (TI) podem atuar como viabilizadores, inibidores ou componentes da adoção da Governança da Informação em instituições. Alicerçada na revisão de literatura, foi feita uma pesquisa qualitativa descritiva e exploratória, baseada em vinte e um estudos de caso de empresas brasileiras escolhidas por apresentarem alta intensidade de utilização de informações em seus processos, produtos e serviços. A pesquisa apresenta como contribuições teóricas a proposta de dois modelos: uma Matriz para Comparação entre Governanças Institucionais, usada para diferenciar aspectos das Governanças Corporativa, da Informação, de TI e de Dados; e uma Matriz de Fatores Viabilizadores e Inibidores, com fatores derivados da teoria e das observações dos estudos de caso. As contribuições práticas compreendem: diferentes visões sobre o impacto dos fatores previstos em teoria, principalmente considerando-se a atuação dos entrevistados, a segmentação econômica e os portes das empresas; e fatores não previstos na teoria, como a falta de alinhamento entre TI e áreas de negócios, a cultura da empresa, os avanços da tecnologia e a gestão de mudanças. A comparação entre teoria e prática sugere maior polarização em fatores como: cultura de acumulação de dados; práticas e políticas organizacionais; comunicação entre áreas; e, educação dos usuários. Como conclusão destaca-se que a GI é entendida nas empresas como uma disciplina específica dos negócios, fundamental para atribuir sentido aos estudos empresariais e para suportar projetos e processos coerentes e eficazes. / Information Governance (IG) is a new approach to the governance of the organizational information assets, resulting from challenges such as exponential data growth, new and more complex business rules and a more regulated and litigious competitive context. The main objective of the research was to investigate how organizational, relational and Information Technology (IT) factors can act as enablers, inhibitors or components for IG adoption in companies. Supported by a literature review, an exploratory-descriptive qualitative research was carried conducted, based on 21 case studies from Brazilian companies selected by information high intensity usage in processes, products and services. The theoretical contributions of the research are two proposed models: a Matrix for Institutional Governance Comparison, to be used for differentiating Corporate, Information, IT and Data governance; and an Enablers and Inhibitors Matrix, with factors derived from theory and case studies. Practical contributions are different views from theory, especially related to the interviewee\'s professional area, industry and company size; unpredicted factors such as lack of alignment between IT and business areas, institutional culture, technology advancements and change management. The comparison between theory and practice suggests greater polarization in factors such as data accumulation mentality, organizational practices and policies, communication between areas and users education. The research concludes that IG is a business-specific discipline, fundamental to sensemaking for company studies and support to coherent and effective organizational projects and processes.

[pt] Para minimizar a perda de valor da empresa decorrente da separação entre controle e propriedade, surgiu o conceito de governança corporativa, há cerca de vinte anos. A governança traduz-se em mecanismos internos (Conselho de Administração, Estrutura de Propriedade, Sistema de Remuneração dos Executivos, etc) e externos (mercado de fusões e aquisições e sistema legal/regulatório). A adoção de suas práticas é um processo recente no Brasil. Em virtude disto, ainda não existe uma literatura empírica consolidada sobre o assunto no país. Sendo assim, o propósito deste trabalho é investigar a influência de mecanismos internos de governança corporativa - relativos ao Conselho de Administração e à Estrutura de Propriedade - sobre o desempenho econômicofinanceiro e o valor dos bancos no Brasil. Para isso, a amostra selecionada contém 19 bancos, analisados durante o período de 1998 até 2003. Os resultados demonstram que ainda é tímida a influência dos mecanismos de governança tanto sobre a variável de desempenho analisada quanto sobre a medida de valor estudada. No entanto, estudos sugerem que pelo fato de o setor financeiro ser regulado é possível que se encontre resultados distintos daqueles preditos pela teoria e que, até então, foram obtidos para empresas não- financeiras. / [en] Over twenty years ago, the concept of corporate governance appeared to minimize the loss in the firm value due to the conflict of interest inherent in the separation between ownership by shareholders and control. Governance can be classified in two sets of mechanisms: internal (Board of Directors, Ownership Structure, Executive Compensation, etc.) and external mechanisms (Mergers and Acquisitions Market, Legal/Regulatory System, etc.). The adoption of these practices is a recent trend in Brazil. For this reason, there is no consolidated empiric literature in Brazil. In such a case, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of internal mechanisms of corporate governance - especially the Board of Directors and the Structure of Ownership - on the performance and the firm-value of banks in Brazil. For that, the selected sample contains 19 Brazilian banks, analyzed during the period from 1998 to 2003. The results demonstrate that the influence of internal and external mechanisms on the performance variable analyzed as well as on the measure of firm value studied is still small. However, studies suggest that because financial system is a regulated sector it is possible to obtain results different from those predicted by the theory and that, until now, were obtained in studies of non- financial firms.

M.B.A. / The focus on small and medium sized enterprises in South Africa stems from the recognition throughout the world of the importance of small business to a nation's economy, particularly through their creation of additional employment opportunities. The slow growth in employment in the South African economy has accelerated the need for emerging entrepreneurs to play a stronger role in job creation, income generation and growth. These enterprises accounted for about 60% of total employment in 1997. The adoption of sound corporate governance practises is very significant for the continued success of small and medium enterprises. Enterprises must place a lot of emphasis on corporate governance in order to survive in the economy. Corporate governance is seen as enhancing return on capital through increased accountability. Corporate governance is good to have and also good for the continued success of an enterprise. The benefits to be derived from the adoption of sound corporate practises and conduct more than outweigh the costs of implementation. Good governance leads to competitive advantage in the market place, improved efficiency and effectiveness, increased shareholder value and increased market value. To determine the requirements that emerging entrepreneurs need to comply with in order to improve productivity, efficiency and credibility, a research study was conducted to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of the entrepreneurs towards corporate governance. In addition, the study also focused on the benefits to be derived by emerging entrepreneurs from the introduction of corporate governance and the suitable effectiveness criteria for corporate governance within emerging entrepreneurs. The research was limited to 40 small and medium sized enterprises within the Gauteng area, which is one of the 9 provinces in South Africa. The responses indicated that a majority of the entrepreneurs are ignorant of the subject of corporate governance. The ii few entrepreneurs who are familiar with corporate governance had different views or attitudes on the subject. The majority of the respondents, who responded positively, believe that there are a lot of benefits to be derived from the introduction of corporate governance within their enterprises. It is also interesting to note that some of the entrepreneurs who stated that they were ignorant of the subject of corporate governance have in fact implemented some of the recommendations as set out in the Code of corporate practises and conduct.

Performance of the institutions in the public sector has always been among the main drivers that determine how the country is ultimately perceived by its citizens and the world, it is the policies and regulations established by these institutions that governs the private sector. The objectives of these public institutions can only be achieved through well formulated, well implemented and a continuous review of the strategies being pursued to achieve the stated objectives. At the core of setting strategies is Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), being an organisational procedure enabling the identification, assessment and action plans for the organisational risks linking to the achievement of objectives. The action plans formulated through the ERM should translate into strategic objectives mainly in the public sector where resources are chronically limited. Even with good intentions, government may spend badly because it has either chosen the wrong projects to fund or planned badly for good projects if the strategies are not continually and systematically reviewed. The objective of this research was to gain an understanding of how risk management is conducted at an enterprise-wide level within public sector institutions to ensure that the institution complies with all the relevant requirements within its ambit. It was a qualitative study that was conducted using a case study methodology wherein a public sector institution was identified and the executives involved in the risk management were interviewed individually. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the results were analysed through the themes that were identified. The study identified that more understanding is required by public sector organisations to be able to realise the benefits of ERM. A clear distinction of what the objectives of the institution are, the related strategies, strategic objectives and risks to the strategic objectives, need to be made clear. The use of risk registers at different levels of the organisation is a tool to draw the relevant risks from deep in operations to a strategic level and this has to be understood at all levels. More importantly the correct action plans in reaction to identified risks can greatly turn risks into opportunities but this is not currently the case as risk registers are still not well implemented and utilized. Risk identification should not be a brainstorming session when the strategy is created but a continuous well operated system within operations throughout the period. The risk culture, roles and relevant systems are still lacking in public institutions. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

The management of conflict has long been of concern to social scientists, urban planners and community-minded citizens. While differing mechanisms of managing ethno-national or ethno-linguistic tensions exist, few studies advance our understanding of how conflicts are actually managed – in other words, the study of ethnic peace. In this study I draw on the experiences of two differing examples of ethnic peace: Belfast and Brussels in the expectation that other contested cities such as Kirkuk, Jerusalem, Nicosia or Mostar, who may one day consider power-sharing as a form of governance, may learn from what have been categorised as sites of successful power-sharing. While there are few studies of ethnic peace, fewer studies again seek to understand the role of the elite level bureaucrat in sustaining this peace. This dissertation fills this gap in the literature, investigating the politician-bureaucrat relationship within the contested urban environment of two differing mechanisms of consociationalism. The dissertation ascertains the extent of discretion available to the bureaucratic elite and further, through determining core beliefs of interviewees, establishes how this discretion is employed. Methodologically, the dissertation draws on a multi-method approach, consisting of semi-structured interviews and a method well established in Psychology but relative new to Political Science: Q Methodology. The empirical findings show that the bureaucratic elite influence the conflict management process. While bureaucrats are found to share a number of core governance beliefs, a number of categories of association can also be identified. These categories are not based on a primary identity, but a secondary learned identity. The findings therefore also propose that a professional or societal attachment can supersede a primary attachment within the public administration of a contested society. In a number of instances, bureaucrats are found to actively represent these secondary learned attachments over their primary identities. The findings define bureaucratic activity in two instances of ethnic peace, as well as contributing to the literature on active representation. Moreover, it is suggested that the role of the bureaucrat in the conflict management process requires much more scholarly attention if political level power-sharing agreements are to be sustainable.

Employment equity legislation facilitates the entry of women into the workforce; as a consequence there is now a need to investigate factors that would increase female employees’ commitment levels in the workplace. One such factor is perception of social aspects of the corporate governance policy. The present study investigated the influence of employee perceptions of the value of social factors of company policy, on affective, continuance and normative commitment levels. This study was conducted in order to ascertain whether a perception of high value of social factors of corporate governance correlates with high levels of organisational commitment. A positive relationship between these variables would direct and inform the corporate governance policy in an organisation, resulting in a more committed and productive workforce. The study was contextualised in the South African banking industry- in FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank and Absa. A literature review was undertaken to gain insight into previous work in the fields of organisational commitment studies and corporate governance. A quantitative study was then conducted, using a researcher-constructed questionnaire. Data was analysed using an SPSS statistical package. Findings indicated that the respondents are satisfied that employee welfare, gender equality, increased promotion opportunities for female employees, flexible working hours, parental responsibilities, retaining, training and developing women in the workplace, and employee health and safety are all important considerations in a company’s corporate governance policy. The findings revealed that overall these positive perceptions of the social factors of the corporate governance policy in respondents’ organisations correlated positively with respondents’ workplace commitment levels in the organisation. Findings were then discussed in relation to the literature. Conclusions, recommendations and areas for further study were presented. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Organisations operate under unpredictable business environments. These business environments can be classified into internal and external environments. The decision taken by organisations to allocate resources for CSR depends on business environments. Organisations have no control of external business environments. Global financial crisis is an example of an external business environment of which organisations have no control over. The event in the business environments can influence the organisation to review its CSR operations. The beneficiaries of the organisation's CSR program get affected by such decision reviews and face even bigger challenges.