In the first essay, we study mutual funds' voting on compensation-related proposals initiated by corporate management. Compared with proposals on other topics, proposals on compensation issues are more likely to be challenged by mutual funds. Consistent with active institutional influence, mutual funds are more likely to vote against management at portfolio firms that make more excess CEO pay or depict other symptoms of poor governance such as bad performance and CEO entrenchment. Both active and passive funds' votes are significant drivers of the voting outcome of a proposal. Failed proposals are associated with lower CEO pay, especially excess pay, in the following year. Say-on-pay proposals opposed by more mutual funds are also followed by lower excess CEO pay. Collectively, evidence in this paper suggests that institutions (including passive institutions) play an important role in setting CEO pay through the voting channel. The second essay examines the equity loan supply for short selling. Using detailed stock lending data, we show that active equity funds, on average, are informed, stock lenders. The stocks they lend outperform those that they do not. The stocks they recall and sell perform worse in the future than those that remain on loan. These funds avoid lending stocks when lending fees are extremely high and use the shorting market's signals to form stock-selling decisions. Our findings help explain why institutional investors lend stocks. They also highlight a new source of short-sale constraints arising from the informed loan supply. / Doctor of Philosophy / Shareholders of a firm are expected to monitor executive compensation. Among all share-holders, institutional investors such as mutual funds play an important role in setting pay practices for executives. However, do they vote on related proposals at annual meetings or simply "vote by feet"? The first essay strives to answer the question using mutual fund proposal vote records data. Our findings suggest that mutual funds can affect CEO compensation in the future by voting against management-initiated pay proposals and the effect is both statistically and economically significant. Institutional investors such as mutual funds also participate in lending business on otherwise idle shares in their portfolio. While they are often considered passive and not informed in the equity loan market, their behavior has been much less investigated. We study the extent to which mutual funds exploit information in lending their shares using the first detailed stock lending dataset obtained from SEC filings. We find that mutual funds are informed lenders and important to market efficiency.

Yes / The increased equity lending supply (ELS) in the equity loan market, available for short sellers to borrow, exposes a firm to greater short selling threats. Considering short sellers’ strong incentives to uncover firm-specific information and monitor managers, we hypothesize that short selling threats, proxied by ELS, enhance corporate investment efficiency. We find that ELS significantly reduces managerial tendencies to underinvest (overinvest) especially for firms prone to underinvest (overinvest). The effect of ELS on investment efficiency is stronger for firms with higher information asymmetry and weaker corporate governance, confirming short sellers’ role in mitigating information and agency costs. However, short selling risk weakens the effect of ELS. Our evidence is robust to endogeneity checks and suggests that corporate investment can be driven by a particular capital market condition: the amount of lendable shares in the equity loan market.

This thesis highlights the gap in previous literature and research of activist short selling in the context of the Swedish market. This thesis investigates the impacts of short sell research reports on the Swedish financial markets, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics, implications, and outcomes related to this phenomenon. The study is conducted through empirical research involving semi-structured interviews, allowing for in-depth exploration and understanding of various perspectives, with investor relations representatives from targeted firms, legal experts, analytics and short sell research firms. From our empirical findings key research questions are addressed.  Firstly, the study examines the market dynamics and industry-specific factors driving increased attention from short sell research firms towards Swedish companies, highlighting factors such as market volatility, valuation challenges, and transparency concerns. Secondly, it explores how the emergence of short sell research reports shapes market dynamics, investor behaviour, and market integrity, noting both positive contributions to market efficiency and challenges regarding the accuracy and validity of the reports. Thirdly, the responses of targeted companies to allegation made in these reports are analysed, emphasizing the importance of a prompt, transparent response to maintain investor confidence. Fourthly, concerns about market manipulation are evaluated, considering the regulatory framework and the need for balance between market freedom and regulatory oversight.  This thesis contributes insights into market dynamics, conflicts of interest in financial analysis, and regulatory mechanisms, offering practical recommendations for stakeholders, including targeted companies, investors, and regulatory authorities. The recommendations from the study focuses on enhancing transparency, communication strategies, and regulatory compliance. Overall, this thesis enriches the understanding of short sell activism and its impact on financial markets, offering valuable insights for practitioners, researchers, and regulators.

Salesperson performance has been heavily researched in the marketing literature. Previous research has identified various personality traits, salesperson behaviors, and situational characteristics that affect salesperson performance. Results indicate that no single approach to the study of salesperson performance is sufficient by itself. This study investigated the interactions among personality, situational, and behavioral characteristics of salespeople, and their effect on salesperson performance. Since the adaptive behavior construct has been cited as a key determinant to understanding these interactions, an examination of the adaptive behavior-performance relationship was undertaken. A model of adaptive selling behavior was developed and empirically tested. An analysis of the data suggests that adaptive behavior (e.g., salesperson planning process) affects salesperson performance. ln addition, several of the situational characteristics (i.e., sales position characteristics, customer variables, salesperson-customer relationship, personal resources, and managerial variables), utilized in this study, were found to affect both adaptive behavior (i.e., salesperson planning process and customer interaction) and salesperson performance. The results of this study provide theoretical, methodological, and substantive implications concerning the adaptive behavior to performance relationships. The study concludes with suggested directions for future research. / Ph. D.

Network Direct Selling Organisations (NDSOs) exist in more than 50 countries and have more than 74 million members. The most recent statistical information reveals that the vast majority of members do not earn significant income. Criticism of these organisations revolves around the ethicality of consumption, the commercialisation of personal relationships, and the exploitation of unrealistic expectations. This study aims to explore how communication creates networks that sustain an industry of this kind despite the improbability of its existence. The study commences with a description of NDSOs from historical, operational, tactical, and strategic perspectives. Given the broader context created by the global presence of this industry, cybernetics has been selected as a meta-theoretical perspective for the study of communication. The more recent development of second-order cybernetics and social autopoiesis are introduced to communication theory as a field. Niklas Luhmann‟s new social theory of communication is assessed and applied in relation to existing communication theory. New conceptual models are developed to explore communication as the unity of the synthesis of information, utterance, understanding, and expectations as selections that occur both consciously and unconsciously, intentionally and unintentionally. These models indicate the multiplexity of individual and social operationally closed, yet informationally open systems, and they are used here to provide a systemic and coherent alternative to orthodox communication approaches to the study of organisations. The study adopts a constructivist epistemological stance and propounds throughout the necessity of further interdisciplinary collaboration. The study concludes that individuals are composite unities of self-creating systems, and they co-create social systems by self-creating and co-creating meaning. Meaning is described as the continuous virtualisation and actualisation of potentialities that in turn coordinate individual and social systems‟ actions. A communication process flow model is created to provide a theoretical explanation for the existence of NDSOs as self-creating systems. The study aims to show that communication has arguably become the most pervasive discipline as a result of the globally interactive era. It is shown that second-order cybernetics and social autopoiesis raise several further questions to be explored within communication theory as a field. / Communication, first-order cybernetics, second-order cybernetics, Complexity and complex systems, autopoiesis, self-reference, recursivity, operational closure, system boundaries, Network Direct Selling Organisations / Communication / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

<div><div><div><p>The purpose of this project was to investigate and propose a solution to gaps identified in existing paradigms for buying and selling secondhand goods online. Through a review of existing literature, the secondhand market was explored together with the variety of reasons for individuals’ participation. Different modes of collaborative consumption and some of the challenges unique to peer-to-peer markets were also examined. A computational approach to identifying items and actions within digital media was reviewed in support of the proposed solution. Research discoveries uncovered through directional surveys, semi-structured interviews, and an analysis of peer products were summarized. These discoveries were consolidated into a list of requirements, including 1) being able to sell many items at once, 2) disbursing items quickly and with minimal effort, 3) making lower value items worth selling, 4) establishing and maintaining trust by designing for safety and encouraging quality, and 5) reducing the need for communication between buyers and sellers by managing the sale, condition, and inventory status. After multiple rounds of concept development, a principal direction based upon the “make me move” concept in the real estate industry was selected. Combined with panoramic images, the resulting solution relied on computer-driven tagging of items for sale. This allowed many items to be listed at once through a single image while making it possible for buyers to find and place offers. Offers were suggested in lieu of bids or an immediate checkout process to avoid some of the negative, bid-related behaviors and minimize the communication required to complete a sale. An interactive prototype was created to evaluate the concept and usability via online user testing, which included surveys and cognitive walkthroughs. The results were analyzed and prioritized to refine the final details of the solution. Overall, I demonstrated a unique concept for buying and selling secondhand goods which supports selling many items, efficiently and safely, while eliminating much of the back and forth communication required to facilitate transactions on many existing platforms.</p></div></div></div>

Die Arbeit stellt die wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen von Aktienleerverkäufen auf die Liquidität, die Preisfindung und auf die Volatilität von Aktienmärkten dar. Zudem werden die nach der Finanzmarktkrise 2008 in den USA und in Deutschland und in Großbritannien erlassenen Leerverkaufsregulierungen untersucht. Ein Schwerpunkt der Arbeit liegt auf der Analyse der aktuellen US-Leerverkaufsgesetzgebung sowie der europäischen Leerverkaufsverordnung (EU) 236/2012. / This thesis analyses the economic impact short selling has on liquidity, price formation and volatility of stock markets. Moreover it thoroughly describes the regulatory measures that were taken with regard to short selling in the United States, in Germany and in Great Britain after the financial crises in 2008. The main focus of this thesis is on the current short selling regulation in the US and on the European Short Selling Directive EU 236/2012

by Connie S.K. Leung. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Bibliography: leaves [93]-[98] / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1. --- Some Observations on Direct Marketing in Hong Kong / Chapter 2. --- The New Generation - Hong Kong Yuppies / Chapter 3. --- Overview of the Huppies Club Concept / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.14 / Chapter 1. --- What is Direct Marketing? / Chapter 2. --- Direct Marketing Versus Geneial Marketing / Chapter 3. --- Merits of Direct Marketing / Chapter 4. --- Why does Direct Marketing Grow? / Chapter 5. --- Prime Prospects of Direct Marketing / Chapter 6. --- Key to Direct Marketing Success / Chapter 7. --- Direct Mail in Hong Kong / Chapter 8. --- Definition of Yuppies / Chapter 9. --- Yuppies' Demographic Characteristics / Chapter 10. --- Yuppies' Psychographics / Chapter 11. --- Yuppies' Lifestyle / Chapter 12. --- Yuppies and Direct Marketing / Chapter 13. --- Huppies: Hong Kong Yuppies / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- RESEARCH OBJECTIVES --- p.49 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.50 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- KEY FINDINGS --- p.51 / Chapter 1. --- Huppies' Lifestyle / Chapter 2. --- Experience With Direct Mail / Chapter 3. --- Club Membership / Chapter 4. --- The Huppies Club Concept / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.71

by Yau Ka Pui, Lea [and] Yeung Sze Man. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-112). / ABSTRACT --- p.II / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.IV / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.VI / LIST OF TABLES --- p.VII / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.IX / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Global Trend --- p.2 / Music Industry in a Global Perspective --- p.2 / Growth of Mass Retailing IndusTRy in Hong Kong --- p.5 / Marketing Situation of the Small Music Retailers in Hong Kong --- p.7 / Product --- p.7 / Price --- p.8 / Place the Stores --- p.8 / Promotion --- p.9 / Emergence of CD Chain Stores in HK Music Retailing in Early 1990's --- p.10 / HMV CD Retailing Chain Stores --- p.10 / HMV as a Store Differentiator --- p.11 / HMV's unique Store Atmosphere: --- p.13 / Carefuliy Designed Entertainment Facilities in HMV --- p.14 / HMV's Role as an Information Provider --- p.15 / Market Reality --- p.19 / CHAPTER CONCLUSION --- p.20 / Chapter II. --- RESEARCH OBJECTIVES --- p.22 / Chapter III. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.24 / Data Collection --- p.25 / Sampling Plan --- p.25 / Terminology --- p.26 / Chapter IV. --- DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS --- p.29 / Causeway Bay Store --- p.29 / Profile of Existing Shoppers --- p.29 / "Profile of HMV Buyers and "" Mere Shoppers""" --- p.35 / Profile of Buyers with regard to their Purchase Volume --- p.39 / Shatin Store --- p.43 / Profile of Existing Shoppers --- p.43 / "Profile of HMV Buyers and “Mere Shoppers""" --- p.47 / Profile of Buyers with regard to their Purchase Volume --- p.49 / Summary of Analysis and Results --- p.51 / Chapter V. --- RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.54 / The Marketing Model --- p.55 / The Market Segmentation for HMV Customers --- p.56 / Target Group Analysis --- p.58 / Generic Marketing Objectives --- p.59 / Enlarge the Market --- p.60 / Increase Market Share --- p.60 / Improve Profitability --- p.60 / Specific Objectives for HMV --- p.61 / Analysis of Mere Shoppers --- p.62 / The Marketing Tactics for Mere Shoppers --- p.62 / Free CD Trial in Neighbouring Retail Stores --- p.63 / Coupons --- p.63 / Set a Time Slot for CD on Sales --- p.64 / Men's Day --- p.64 / Analysis of the Light Buyers --- p.66 / Feasible Marketing Tactics for the Light Buyers --- p.66 / HMV Club --- p.67 / Chance of Getting an Autographed CD --- p.68 / Chance of Getting an Autographed Poster or Photograph --- p.68 / Dedication Service --- p.69 / "Modification on the Current ""Members Card""" --- p.69 / Analysis of the Medium Buyers --- p.72 / Marketing Tactics for the Medium Buyers --- p.72 / Starting from the Existing Pool of Information --- p.72 / Store Image --- p.73 / The Real Meaning of Quality Service --- p.75 / A Private Listening Area --- p.76 / Analysis of the Heavy Buyers --- p.76 / Marketing Tactics for Heavy Buyers --- p.77 / Customer Retention Program --- p.77 / HMV Credit Card --- p.77 / Direct Mailing Service --- p.78 / Quality Service --- p.78 / A Private Listening Booth --- p.78 / Long-term Marketing Strategy --- p.79 / The Significance of a Customer Database --- p.80 / Blueprint for Customer Segmentation --- p.81 / Quality Data for precise Target Segments --- p.81 / Basis for Relationship Marketing --- p.82 / Customer Databases as a Survey Research Complement --- p.82 / Customer Survey as a Monitoring Means --- p.83 / Chapter Conclusion --- p.85 / Chapter VI. --- CONLUSION --- p.86 / Project Limitation --- p.86 / Objectives achieved in this HMV Project --- p.87 / Marketing Implications for Other Organisations --- p.88 / APPENDIX --- p.90 / BIBLOGRAPHY --- p.108

Network Direct Selling Organisations (NDSOs) exist in more than 50 countries and have more than 74 million members. The most recent statistical information reveals that the vast majority of members do not earn significant income. Criticism of these organisations revolves around the ethicality of consumption, the commercialisation of personal relationships, and the exploitation of unrealistic expectations. This study aims to explore how communication creates networks that sustain an industry of this kind despite the improbability of its existence. The study commences with a description of NDSOs from historical, operational, tactical, and strategic perspectives. Given the broader context created by the global presence of this industry, cybernetics has been selected as a meta-theoretical perspective for the study of communication. The more recent development of second-order cybernetics and social autopoiesis are introduced to communication theory as a field. Niklas Luhmann‟s new social theory of communication is assessed and applied in relation to existing communication theory. New conceptual models are developed to explore communication as the unity of the synthesis of information, utterance, understanding, and expectations as selections that occur both consciously and unconsciously, intentionally and unintentionally. These models indicate the multiplexity of individual and social operationally closed, yet informationally open systems, and they are used here to provide a systemic and coherent alternative to orthodox communication approaches to the study of organisations. The study adopts a constructivist epistemological stance and propounds throughout the necessity of further interdisciplinary collaboration. The study concludes that individuals are composite unities of self-creating systems, and they co-create social systems by self-creating and co-creating meaning. Meaning is described as the continuous virtualisation and actualisation of potentialities that in turn coordinate individual and social systems‟ actions. A communication process flow model is created to provide a theoretical explanation for the existence of NDSOs as self-creating systems. The study aims to show that communication has arguably become the most pervasive discipline as a result of the globally interactive era. It is shown that second-order cybernetics and social autopoiesis raise several further questions to be explored within communication theory as a field. / Communication, first-order cybernetics, second-order cybernetics, Complexity and complex systems, autopoiesis, self-reference, recursivity, operational closure, system boundaries, Network Direct Selling Organisations / Communication / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)