Risk and return management is one of the core competencies of venture capital companies (VCCs) as they invest in young, innovative firms with a high return potential, but also high risk potential. Due to the liability of smallness, newness and financial constraints young, innovative firms are constantly under the threat of failure. In the scope of this dissertation are four related studies – three empirical studies and one literature review – analyzing the risk and return management of VCCs. In particular, risk assessment and risk management and value adding activities in the post investment phase were examined. In the first article, authors analyze which risks are relevant over the whole venture capital (VC) investment process and show how VCCs assess and documents risks in their deal documents. The second article studies risk management practices of VCCs. We show that the experience and the skills of the corresponding investment manager have a significantly negative impact on the failure risk of a venture. Article three analyzes value creation measures applied by VCCs. The results suggest that VCCs are highly engaged in supporting ventures in financial and human capital issues as well as in establishing strong governance mechanisms. The fourth article also deals with the foregone topic. This paper provides a literature analysis on value adding activity measures in VC investments, synthesizes the variables measuring the main levers of value adding and identifies directions for improvement in terms of data, variables and methods.:1. Introduction 2. The entire research project 3. Risk and return management of venture capital companies in the post-investment phase 3.1 Risk types and risk assessment in venture capital investments: A content analysis of investors´ original documents 3.2 Risk management in the venture capital industry: Managing risk in portfolio companies 3.3. Value adding activities of venture capital companies: A content analysis of investor´s original documents in Germany 3.4 Value adding activities in venture capital literature: A review on data, variables and methods 4. Further research in the venture capital field

It is widely held that CEOs are central to the successful financial performance of companies. Yet, little attention has been given to the correlation between CEO tenure and financial performance of companies specifically. The purpose of this study was to determine whether CEO tenure has an impact on financial performance of companies in South Africa. The financial performance variables for the study were ROA and ROE. The performance of 30 JSE listed companies from three industries, namely, mining, retail and real estate, between 1995 to 2007 was examined. This gave a total of 62 data observations across the selected three tenure categories: short tenure (one to three years); medium tenure (four to five years); and long tenure (six or more years). The results showed that the average tenure for South African CEOs was four years; this was slightly lower than the findings of previous studies conducted in the USA. Medium and long tenure showed better financial performance for ROA than short tenure, while there was no statistically significant finding for ROE. Therefore from an ROA point of view, as tenure increases so does financial performance, until a certain point at which it is anticipated that lengthy tenure will lead to a decline in financial performance. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Denna studie undersöker tidsvinsterna med en investeringen av automatiserade regressionstester i förhållande till manuellt genomförande. Syftet med detta är att skapa ett beslutsunderlag av ROI och break-even beräkningar med avsikten att minska osäkerheten ifall investeringen kommer resultera i en tidsvinst under systemets livslängd samt hur stora dessa vinster kan bli. För att undersöka detta har automatiska regressionstester utvecklats, där en mätning av tidsåtgången för detta användes som den investerade tiden. De automatiska testernas tid för genomförandet av studiens testfall jämfördes med den manuella motsvarigheten. Detta har tillsammans med empiriskt material från intervjuer stått som grund för ROI och break-even beräkningar gällande investeringen av automatiska regressionstester. Det empiriska materialet bidrog till beräkningarna med parametrarna testfrekvens, testmängd och livslängd. Till skillnad från tidigare forskning genomför studien beräkningar med flera testfrekvenser, vilket resulterade i att även vid en relativt låg testfrekvens har automatiska regressionstester goda förutsättningar för ett positivt ROI. Vid en medel till hög testfrekvens kunde break-even punkten uppnås inom ett år med möjligheter för stora tidsvinster. Det empiriska materialet har även påvisat att uppstartsfasen, systemtypen, testfallens komplexitet och återanvändning är faktorer som kan påverka tidsvinsterna. / This study examines the time savings of an investment in automated regression tests relative to a manual approach. The purpose of this is to produce an underlay for decision making consisting of ROI and break-even calculations which has the intention of reducing uncertainty in case the investment will result in time savings within the systems life span as well as how big these savings can become. To examine this, automated regression tests have been developed where time spent was measured to be used as the invested time. The time it took for the automated tests to execute the studies test cases were compared with the manual counterpart. This has, together with the empirical material from the interviews, formed the basis for ROI and break-even calculations regarding the investment of automated regression tests. The empirical material contributed to the calculations with parameters for test frequency, test amount and life span. Unlike previous research, this study uses calculations with a higher amount of test frequencies which showed that even with a relatively low test frequency, automated regression tests have good opportunities for a positive ROI. With a medium to high test frequency, the break-even point was reached within one year with possibilities for great time savings. The empirical material has also shown that the start-up phase, system type, test case complexity and reusability are factors that can affect the time savings.

The recent wave of Syrian refugees’ spontaneous return to conflict areas in Syria is not a new phenomenon, various cases of return to areas that do not meet safety and security standards has happened in cases like Somali refugees returning from Kenya or Angolan refugees returning from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the Syrian case is important to study in order to examine any new patterns or elements in refugee returns that could arise or could be unpacked. This study examines Syrian refugees’ spontaneous returns, to what is considered by the international community as unsafe Syria and discusses the reasons for return that were provided by refugees returning currently and refugees who answer the question of return. The study finds that the notion of “home” and “homeland” are amongst the most influential when it comes to the decision to return coupled with push factors like livelihood issues and discrimination in host countries, in addition to pull factors from country of origin like amnesty regarding military conscription. The study finds that refugees not returning do so due to starting a new life, not having guarantees of safety and having lost everything in their home country. The study confirms King’s (2000) argument regarding home country pull factors having a bigger influence in impacting refugee returns. This study uses discourse analysis as a method using the proposed framework of Teun A. van Dijk’s (1985, 2011), the primary data source are interviews by Syrian refugees on YouTube in the Arabic Language. YouTube was chosen due to the role it played throughout the Syrian uprising in providing news to Syrians. The analysis of the data will use a four-dimensional framework which dissects push and pull factors, then examines them through the transnational and diaspora theories for refugee returns and has the place-identity theory as an overall starting point. The study concludes by recommending the international community pays more attention to the psychological factors from the home country so interventions and programmes of return make sure refugees are safe, protected and not falsely lured into return.

This study examined the relationship between return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA), the business sector, and long-term performance of new firms 5 years after the initial public offer (IPO) date. IPOs have a high rate of delisting from stock exchanges, and understanding possible predictors of long-term performance will benefit business owners and investors. The purpose of this study was to determine if ROE and ROA are predictors of long-term performance of IPOs on U.S. stock exchanges. The research question examined whether there is a statically significant relationship between the ROE, ROA, business sector, and market capitalization of IPOs. This study followed a correlational design to analyze the research question and its hypotheses. Both shareholder theory and financial ratio models constituted the theoretical framework for this study; public databases provided all the historical financial data on publicly traded companies. The population for this study included all firms that pursued an IPO within the United States stock exchanges from January 2007 through December 2009. Using Spearman correlations, the results suggested no significant relationship between ROE and any business sector with market capitalization of IPOs. However, there was a significant correlation with ROA and market capitalization for these IPOs. The implications for positive social change in this study are new insights for leaders concerning the survivability and monetary gain for new firms entering the public market and the new firm's ability as a result of this gain to provide new jobs thereby improving the economy.

Yes / This paper examines the role of institutional investor sentiment in determination of the beta-return relation. Empirical evidence documents a positive (negative) beta-return relation over bearish (bullish) periods, implying that institutional investors can also be sentiment traders.

ost companies adhere to corporate governance, which is a generally recognized governingstructure in order to enhance the financial performance of their business. This studyinvestigates the relationship between corporate governance and the financial performanceof Sri Lanka's licensed banks using this scenario as a basis. The research question raised bythis study was “Does Corporate Governance impact on Financial Performance of BankingSector in Sri Lanka?”. The independence variables were corporate governance and it wasmeasured from five dimensions board size ,gender diversity , number of board meetings,and board independence, number of board committees. The dependent variables wasfinancial performance and it was measured from return on assets and return on equity. Thecontrol variables used for study were firm size, leverage, and firm age. The non-randomconvenience sampling methods was used and selected 19 banks out of 30 licensed banks inSri Lanka. The data was collected from secondary sources, that is, annual reports of 2018-2022.The collected data were analyzed through regression analysis using SPSS statistical methodto ascertain the developed hypothesis of this study. The findings of the study revealed thatboard independence was statistically significant with both ROA and ROE indicating that anegative and positive linear relationship respectively. Board size and number of femaledirectors were statistically significant with ROA while board size and number of femaledirectors were not statistically significant with ROE. However, number of board meetingsand number of board committees were not statistically significant with both ROA and ROE.These results revealed that in overall, corporate governance dimensions were moreimpacted on return on assets compared to return on equity in the Sri Lankan banking sector.

Den svenska e-handeln har under de senaste åren rapporterat en markant ökning av returer som en följd av den växande onlinemarknaden där allt från kläder, accessoarer och skor går att beställa hem med några enstaka knapptryck. Syftet med denna studie var att utreda hur kunderna ställer sig till de nuvarande köpvillkoren i e-handelsbranschen, samt hur villkoren påverkar kundens köpprocess. För att uppfylla vårt syfte har tretton semistrukturerade intervjuer undersökt unga vuxna kvinnliga konsumenters uppfattningar och inställningar till mode e-handelns aktuella köpvillkor. Resultatet tyder på att märkbara ändringar i köpvillkor har skett oannonserat i form av tillkomna avgifter och kortare tidsram för retur, vilket har inverkan på faktorer som kundvärde och kundnöjdhet. Aspekterna är viktiga ur företagens konkurrenssynpunkt, som ger dem fördelar gentemot andra företag i branschen. Kundens köpprocess grundas till stor del på bekvämlighet vilket gör att beställningar av kläder sker rutinmässigt och det belyser vikten av att företag skapar relation till kunderna för att uppnå ökade köptillfällen. Företagen behöver hitta en balans mellan att möta kundens förväntningar samtidigt som de förhåller sig till den rådande situationen på e-handelsmarknaden som uppstått av kunders sätt att konsumera och returnera. Uppsatsen är skriven på svenska. / In recent years, Swedish e-commerce has reported a noticeable increase in returns as a result of the growing online market, where everything from clothes, accessories and shoes can be ordered home with a few clicks of a button. The purpose of this study was to investigate how customers feel about the current purchase conditions within the fashion industry, as well as how these conditions affect the customers' purchase process. In order to fulfill our purpose, thirteen semi-structured interviews investigated the perceptions and attitudes of young adult female consumers towards the current purchase conditions of e-fashion retail. The result suggests that noticeable changes in terms of the conditions have taken place unannounced in the form of added fees and shorter timeframes for returns, which has an impact on factors such as customer value and customer satisfaction. The aspects are important from the companies' competitive point of view, which gives them advantages over other companies in the industry. The customers' buying process is largely based on convenience, which means that orders for clothes are made routinely and this highlights the importance of companies creating relationships with customers in order to achieve increased purchase opportunities. The companies need to find a balance between meeting the customer's expectations while dealing with the current situation in the e-commerce market caused by the way customers consume and return. The paper is written in Swedish.

Kam Ying Chuen. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-83). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Overview of Hong Kong Stock Market --- p.3 / Chapter 2.1 --- Stock Exchange of Hong Kong --- p.3 / Chapter 2.2 --- Hang Seng Index --- p.4 / Chapter 2.3 --- Influences of the United States --- p.5 / Chapter 2.4 --- Hong Kong Government's Intervention --- p.6 / Chapter 3 --- Literature Review --- p.8 / Chapter 3.1 --- Stable and Student t Distributions --- p.8 / Chapter 3.2 --- Generalized Distribution --- p.10 / Chapter 3.3 --- Socio-economic Model --- p.11 / Chapter 3.4 --- Extreme Value Analysis --- p.11 / Chapter 4 --- Methodology --- p.14 / Chapter 4.1 --- Homogeneous Model --- p.15 / Chapter 4.2 --- Inhomogeneous Model --- p.15 / Chapter 4.3 --- Model Validity --- p.16 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Exceedance Rate --- p.17 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Distribution of Excesses --- p.17 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Independence --- p.18 / Chapter 5 --- Data --- p.19 / Chapter 5.1 --- Minute-by-minute Returns --- p.20 / Chapter 5.2 --- Daily returns --- p.21 / Chapter 5.3 --- Explanatory Variables for the Inhomogeneous Model --- p.21 / Chapter 6 --- Empirical Results: Minute-by-minute Returns --- p.24 / Chapter 6.1 --- Shape Parameter k --- p.24 / Chapter 6.2 --- Location Parameter μ --- p.25 / Chapter 6.3 --- Scale Parameter σ --- p.26 / Chapter 6.4 --- Conditional Scale Parameter ψ --- p.27 / Chapter 6.5 --- Specification Test --- p.29 / Chapter 7 --- Empirical Results: Daily Returns --- p.29 / Chapter 7.1 --- Homogeneous Model --- p.30 / Chapter 7.2 --- Inhomogeneous Model --- p.31 / Chapter 7.2.1 --- Constant Term --- p.32 / Chapter 7.2.2 --- Dow Jones Industrial Average Returns --- p.33 / Chapter 7.2.3 --- Volatility Indicators --- p.34 / Chapter 7.2.4 --- Monday Dummy --- p.35 / Chapter 7.2.5 --- Time Trend --- p.36 / Chapter 7.2.6 --- Duration Dummy --- p.37 / Chapter 7.2.7 --- Indicator for the Behavior of the Previous Trading Day --- p.38 / Chapter 8 --- Conclusion --- p.39

Abstract Purpose – The purpose of the study is to identify key-factors for the development of reverse logistics in a distribution central. The study should contribute to cover the knowledge gap that is the problem area: development of reverse logistics in a distribution central. This, since former research primarily deal with the problem area: development of reverse logistics between costumer and focal firm. The purpose of the study has been broken down into two research questions. The first one deals with which forces that affect the development of reverse logistics in a distribution central. Further, important factors for the development of reverse logistics in a distribution central will be identified. Method – The method for the study is an one case study since only one process will be studied. Also, to be able to obtain more profound knowledge within the problem area. The chosen business case is named Ikea distribution central and is located on the industrial area Torsvik. The company is active on the furniture market. The literature collection has been done through four different methods which are: recommendations of search words, recommendations of articles, database searches and snowball sampling. Further, the data collection has been made through interviews, document studies and observations. Finally, the internal validity of the study is high under the circumstance that theories regarding the development of reverse logistics based on B2C is considered to be applicable on the problem area which is based in B2B. Further, the external validity of the study is considered to be low since only one business case was studied. Although, the theory and empiricism of the study has been analysed which in turn strengthens the external validity. Findings – With the collected theories and empiricism as background the authors has produced a basis on which key-factors that are important for the development of reverse logistics in a distribution central. The key-factors that were identified as important and should be taken under consideration is: driving- and hindering forces for the development of reverse logistics in a distribution central, the primary causes of reverse logistics in a distribution central, return avoidance, gatekeeping, supplier relationship management and green logistics. Further, it was discovered that a big factor for a favourable development of reverse logistics in a distribution central was continuous training of the personal simultaneously as the development of the reverse logistics process. Implications – Through the analysis of the study it became clear that a big amount of hinders that can occur in association with the development of reverse logistics, comes as a result of the gap in understanding between the management and the operating core. With this as background the authors of the study recommends that whenever a process is developed, great importance should be added in developing the personal working in the process. Limitations – The limitations which lowers the internal validity and in turn the credibility of the study is that many of the theories used in the study is based on B2C. Another limitation is the choice of one case study since the research questions aimed at obtaining general conclusions. Keywords – Reverse logistics, Return management, Return avoidance, Gatekeeping, Supplier relationship management, Green logistics, Distribution central / Syfte – Syftet med studien är att identifiera nyckelfaktorer för utvecklingen av returlogistik på en distributionscentral. Studien skall bidra till att täcka det kunskapsgap som finns i problemområdet utveckling av returlogistik på en distributionscentral. Detta då tidigare forskning primärt behandlat problemområdet mellan kund och fokalfirma. Studiens syfte har brutits ned i två frågeställningar. Först vill studiens författare ta reda på vilka krafter som påverkar utvecklingen av returlogistik på en distributionscentral. Vidare skall viktiga faktorer för utvecklingen av returlogistik på en distributionscentral identifieras. Metod – Studiens valda metod är enfallsstudie då endast en process studeras, även för att kunna erhålla mer djupgående kunskap om det valda problemområdet. Studiens fallföretag är Ikea distributionscentral som är lokaliserade på industriområdet Torsvik utanför Jönköping och är verksamma inom möbelbranschen. Litteraturinsamlingen har genomförts med hjälp av fyra olika insamlingsmetoder: rekommendation av sökord, rekommendation av artikel, sökning i databaser och snowball sampling. Vidare har studiens insamlade data erhållits genom intervjuer, dokumentstudier samt observationer. Slutligen anses studiens interna validitet vara hög, under förutsättningen att teorier om utvecklingen av returlogistik baserade på B2C även anses vara applicerbara i B2B. Vidare anses den externa validiteten vara låg då endast ett företag har studerats. Dock har teorin och empirin analyserats för att nå generella resultat, vilket stärker den externa validiteten. Resultat – Med studiens insamlade teori och empiri som bakgrund har författarna tagit fram underlag för vilka nyckelfaktorer som är viktiga för utvecklingen av returlogistik på en distributionscentral. De nyckelfaktorer som identifierades som viktiga och bör tas i beaktande var: drivande- och hindrande krafter för utvecklingen av returlogistik på en distributionscentral, grundorsaker för returlogistik på en distributionscentral, return avoidance, gatekeeping, supplier relationship management och grön logistik. Vidare upptäcktes att en stor påverkande faktor för en gynnsam utveckling av returlogistik på en distributionscentral var kontinuerlig utbildning av personal i samband med utvecklingen av sin returlogistikprocess. Implikationer – I studiens analys framkom det att många av de hinder som kan uppstå i samband med utvecklingen av returlogistik handlar om det förståelsegap som finns mellan ledning och den operativa kärnan. Med detta som bakgrund rekommenderar studiens författare att ett företag måste lägga stor vikt på att se till att en utveckling sker både på process-nivå och personal-nivå. Begränsningar – Det som anses begränsa den interna validiteten och i sin tur studiens trovärdighet är att många av de teorier som har använts primärt är grundade i B2C. En ytterligare begränsning är valet av enfallsstudie, detta då forskningsfrågorna och syftet formulerades för att söka generella slutsatser. Nyckelord – Reverse logistics, Return management, Return avoidance, Gatekeeping, Supplier relationship management, Green logistics, Distributionscentral