The aim of this master’s thesis is to design and choose the most optimal source of financing fixed assets for Mr. Zavadil, which operates in the field of transport and forwarding. The theoretical part is focused on the possibility of financing the investment plan and the methods by which evaluates the effectiveness of investment. In next chapters thesis deals with the planned investment project in a concrete company, its characteristic, comparison of the various options of financing investments in order to assess its efficiency. The result is a proposal on how to finance an investment with recommendation for the company.

The goal of this paper is to evaluate economic efficiency of a development project, including sensitivity and probability analysis of selected residential development project. In theoretical part, the term "development project" is explained and project lifecycle is described. In this part there is also mentioned, how cash flow is determined, how cash flow report is created, and how economic efficiency indicators are calculated. It also describes specific risks of a development project. In the end of theoretical part, possible risk identification and evaluation methods are described. Practical part is focused on an actual development project. It evaluates the project using economic efficiency indicators, sensitivity analysis and probability analysis.

Decisions on measures reducing environmental damage or improving environmental impact are usually constrained by financial limitations. Eco-efficiency analysis has emerged as a practical decision support tool by integrating environmental and economic performance. Environmental impact, as well as economic revenues and expenses, are usually distributed over a certain time scale. The temporal distribution of economic data is frequently assessed by discounting while discounting of environmental impact is rather uncommon. The scope of this paper is to reveal if this assumed inconsistency is common in eco-efficiency assessment literature, what reasons and interrelations with indicators exist and what solutions are proposed. Therefore, a systematic literature review is conducted and 35 publications are assessed. Theoretical eco-efficiency definitions and applied eco-efficiency indicators, as well as applied environmental and economic assessment methods, are compared here, but it is revealed that none of the empirical literature findings applied or discussed environmental discounting. It was, however, found in methodical literature. It is concluded that the theoretical foundation for the application of discounting on environmental impact is still insufficient and that even the theoretical foundation of economic discounting in studies is often poor. Further research and, eventually, a practical framework for environmental discounting would be beneficial for better-founded, more “eco-efficient” decisions.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rafael Picchioni Tavares.pdf: 374508 bytes, checksum: b3aba124f1b6628e3b78b40273d1b848 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-17 / This study examines efficiency applying the method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) in branches database of a consumer finance company. It presents various perspectives on the analysis of organizational performance, identifying the pros and cons of each perspective in comparative study of performance of business units concluding with the justification for the application of DEA. The sample includes information from 98 branches of a consumer finance company with operations in Brazil, with annual data from 2010 and 2011. It is also analyzed changes in efficiency between 2010 and 2011 using Malmquist index and its components. It is investigated different approaches of efficiency, as, for example, the operational and financial and its linear relationship with the input variables or outputs. - The index of correlation and linear regression analyzes seek to identify the relationship between resources used (inputs) and results (outputs) with the efficiency index. Finally, the results are compared using DEA with the current method adopted by the company for branch performance analysis based on the profitability. The results suggest that, when it adopted the criteria of profitability, there is a favoring of large branches. In contrast, it is not observed DEA favoring any branch depending on its size. Another important result was the indication that policies to reduce expenses through staff cuts may cause a worsening of financial efficiency. Another warning to senior management is the fact that the branches had a worse gap relating to efficient frontier from 2010 to 2011. / Este estudo analisa eficiência utilizando o método de Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA Data Envelopment Analysis) com aplicação em uma base de dados de filiais de uma sociedade de crédito. São apresentadas diversas perspectivas de análise de desempenho organizacional, identificando os prós e os contras de cada perspectiva no estudo comparativo de desempenho de unidades de negócio, concluindo com a justificativa para a aplicação do DEA. A amostra deste estudo compreende informações de 98 filiais de uma sociedade de crédito com atuação no Brasil, com dados anuais de 2010 e 2011. São analisadas também as mudanças de eficiência entre 2010 e 2011 pelo Índice de Malmquist e seus componentes. São investigados diferentes tipos de abordagem de eficiência; como, por exemplo, a operacional e a financeira e sua relação linear com variáveis de input ou output. - A partir de índices de correlação e de análises de regressão linear busca-se identificar o relacionamento entre os recursos utilizados (inputs) ou resultados obtidos (outputs) com os índices de eficiência. Finalmente, são comparados os resultados encontrados na utilização do DEA com o atual método, baseado na lucratividade, adotado pela empresa para análise de desempenho das filiais. Os resultados sugerem que, quando é adotado o critério de lucratividade, há um favorecimento das filiais grandes. Em contrapartida, com o método DEA, não se observa o favorecimento em função do tamanho. Outro resultado importante foi a indicação de que políticas de redução de despesa por de cortes de pessoal podem causar piora na eficiência financeira. Outro alerta para a alta gestão é o fato de as filiais apresentarem um distanciamento da fronteira de eficiência de 2010 para 2011.

The diploma thesis analyses the problem of the company efficiency and its evaluation. Theoretical basis was applied in the cooperative company, whose main activity is the custom-made furniture. The analysis of company efficiency was conducted on a base of a financial analysis. The concrete analysis includes: analysis of absolute indicators, differential indicators, ratio indicators, Du Pont analysis, bankruptcy and value indicators, economic value added, Spider analysis. The conclusion contains suggestions for improving the current company situation.

The Master’s thesis is focused on purchase of a horizontal boring machine for a company, which operates in the engineering industry. It informs about the financial situation of the company, compares offers of individual banks and leasing companies as well as methods of evaluation of the investment project. The essential part of the work comprises an evaluation of a specific investment project, including formulation of recommendations for its implementation.

The Master’s thesis is focused on purchase of a horizontal boring machine for a company, which operates in the engineering industry. It informs about the financial situation of the company, compares offers of individual banks and leasing companies as well as methods of evaluation of the investment project. The essential part of the work comprises an evaluation of a specific investment project, including formulation of recommendations for its implementation.

Evaluations of the Higher Education Sector are receiving increased attention, due to the rising expenditures and the absence of efficiency enhancing market pressure. To what extent universities are able to eliminate inefficiency is a question that has only partially been answered. This paper argues that heterogeneity among universities as well as persistent inefficiency hinder the institutions to achieve full efficiency - at least in the short run. Two standard and one novel specification of the Stochastic Frontier Analysis are applied to a new, comprehensive set of panel data to show how the standard efficiency evaluation changes when both aspects are taken into account. It is the first time that the idea of persistent inefficiency is considered in the analysis of the German Higher Education Sector. The comparison reveals that the disregard of heterogeneity distorts the estimation results towards lower efficiency values. The newly introduced specification improves the accuracy of the heterogeneity assumption and exposes that inefficiency tends to be long term and persistent rather than short term and residual. This implies that increasing efficiency requires a comprehensive change of the university structure.

Distillation is the leading thermal separation technology that is carried out in many industrial tray columns worldwide. Although distillation columns are expensive in terms of cost and energy, they will remain in service due to unavailability of any equivalent industrially-viable alternative. However, rising energy costs and urgent needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions demand improvements in the energy efficiency of separation processes, globally. This can be achieved by tuning the dynamics of the evolving two-phase dispersion on column trays via design modification and revamping. Thus, it becomes necessary to understand how the two phases evolve over the tray and how they link to tray efficiency for given tray designs, systems and operating conditions. Only then, the cost and energy reduction can be achieved by strategically iterating the tray design and revamps with respect to the resulting tray efficiency. To pursue this strategy, accurate prediction of the separation efficiency based on flow and mixing patterns on the trays is an important prerequisite. In this thesis, the mathematical models relying on flow and mixing patterns for predicting the tray efficiencies were reviewed. These models were developed based on the analyses of two-phase flow, crossflow hydraulics and mass transfer over the trays. Several limitations in the existing models were identified that could lead to inaccurate tray efficiency predictions. First, the conventional models do not account for any variation in the local two-phase flow in their formulation. These models rather consider a homogeneous flow scenario based on flow monitoring at the tray boundaries only, which indicates a black box efficiency estimation. Second, the existing models do not consider any vapor flow maldistribution, which can be detrimental to the tray efficiency. In response to these limitations, a new model based on refinement of the conventional residence time distribution (RTD) model (referred to as the ‘Refined RRTD model’) was proposed. The new model involves geometric partitioning of the tray into compartments along the flow path length, which permits computing the tray efficiency through quantification of the efficiency of the individual compartments. The proposed model ensures that the fluid dynamics of each compartment contribute towards the overall tray efficiency, which specifically targets the black box prediction of the tray efficiency by the conventional models. The tray discretization further aids in analyzing the impact of vapor flow maldistribution on the tray efficiency. In the initial assessment, the new model capabilities were demonstrated in appropriate case studies after theoretical validation of the model for the limiting cases of the two-phase flows. For the experimental validation of the new model, a full hydrodynamic and mass transfer description of the two-phase dispersion specific to the tray operation is indispensable. Because of the inherently complex dispersion characteristics, significant advancements in the imaging and efficiency modeling methods were required. In this thesis, a DN800 column simulator equipped with two sieve trays (each with 13.55% fractional free area) was used with air and tap water as the working fluids. Deionized water was used as a tracer. The gas loadings in the column in terms of F-factor were 1.77 Pa0.5 and 2.05 Pa0.5, whereas the weir loadings were 2.15 m3m-1h-1, 4.30 m3m-1h-1 and 6.45 m3m-1h-1. An advanced multiplex flow profiler comprising 776 dual-tip conductivity probes for simultaneous conductivity measurements was introduced for hydrodynamic characterization. The spatial resolution of the profiler based on the inter-probe distance was 21 mm × 24 mm, whereas the temporal resolution was 5000 Hz. The design characteristics of the new profiler, electronic scheme, measurement principle, reference framework, and data processing schemes are explained in detail. By analyzing the two-phase dispersion data gathered by the profiler at multiple elevations above the tray, the effective froth height distributions were obtained for the first time based on a newly proposed approach. Uniform froth heights were seen over the majority of the tray deck, whereas both minimum and maximum froth heights were detected immediately after the tray inlet. Based on threshold-based calculation (accompanied by γ-ray CT scans), 3D time-averaged liquid holdup distributions were visualized for the first time, too. Homogeneous liquid holdup distributions were observed at multiple elevations above the deck with the highest holdups occurring near the average effective froth heights. The detailed flow and mixing patterns of the liquid in the two-phase dispersion were retrieved via tracer monitoring. With respect to tray centerline, axisymmetric liquid flow and mixing patterns were detected with parabolic velocity distributions near the tray inlet. The liquid velocities over the remaining tray deck were nearly uniform for the prescribed loadings. Eventually, the RRTD model was applied by discretizing the tray geometrically, and accordingly employing the available hydrodynamic data. The conventional models often applied in the literature were also evaluated with the new model. For evaluating the model predictions, a new system add-on for the existing air-water column facility was proposed for direct efficiency measurements. The air-led stripping of isobutyl acetate from the aqueous solution is a safe and viable approach that overcomes numerous limitations posed by the existing chemical systems. Based on liquid sampling at different tray locations, the liquid concentration distributions were obtained at each operating condition via UV spectroscopy. The tray and point efficiencies as well as stripping factors were calculated from those distributions. Because of the low liquid diffusivity and high liquid backmixing, low efficiencies were observed at the given loadings. The model predictions were consistent with the experimental counterparts (even for the extrapolated values of the involved parameters), because of the uniform liquid flow and mixing in the compartments. For the given predictions, those corresponding to the new RRTD model were the most accurate. Additional hydrodynamic and efficiency data are needed for more conclusive evidence regarding the promise of the RRTD model.

Information systems form an inseparable part of all business entities nowadays. They differ only in their size and complexity. Therefore each company should have its information system whose setting is adequate and maximally effective. The aim of this paper is to analyse the information system of NET4GAS, s.r.o., identify its weaknesses and propose changes to enhance it in order to increase the company efficiency.