<p>Problem: The development of new ventures has been an issue of keen interest to the society. This is due to the fact that it enhances the socio-economic development of the society by creating jobs and also filling the gaps in the market. However, it is of interest to note that most people do not follow a business planning process when they are starting up a new venture. This may be due to the fact that they do not have any knowledge in a business planning process at the period of business initiation.</p><p>Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to give an individual or an organization a clear direction of a business planning process in a new venture development.</p><p>Method: A qualitative research method with a deductive approach was used to conduct this research. A primary and secondary data was collected from 4 organizations and were used to find out the possible steps of business planning process.</p><p>Frame of Reference: The theoretical spheres that were utilized in this thesis consisted of business planning process from authors that had a sequential approach to business planning for a new venture development.</p><p>Conclusion: The authors derived a model for business planning process in a new venture development that can be a recommendation to individuals or organizations starting up a new business because it provides a step by step direction in business planning to stay competitive in the market.</p>

<p>Problem: The development of new ventures has been an issue of keen interest to the society. This is due to the fact that it enhances the socio-economic development of the society by creating jobs and also filling the gaps in the market. However, it is of interest to note that most people do not follow a business planning process when</p><p>they are starting up a new venture. This may be due to the fact that they do not have any knowledge in a business planning process at the period of business initiation.</p><p>Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to give an individual or an organization a clear direction of a business planning process in a new venture development.</p><p>Method: A qualitative research method with a deductive approach was used to conduct this research. A primary and secondary data was collected from 4 organizations and were used to find out the possible steps of business planning process.</p><p>Frame of Reference: The theoretical spheres that were utilized in this thesis consisted of business planning process from authors that had a sequential approach to business planning for a new venture development.</p><p>Conclusion: The authors derived a model for business planning process in a new venture development that can be a recommendation to individuals or organizations starting up a new business because it provides a step by step direction in business planning to stay competitive in the market.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2010. / Mode of access: Internet. Title from PDF title page; viewed on March 15, 2010. Major professor: Camille O'Bryant. "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree [of] Master of Science in Kinesiology." "March 2010." Includes bibliographical references (p. 26-30).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-171). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2003. / "MBA professional report"--Cover. Joint authors: Anastasios Karakasis, Evangelo Morris, Konstantinos Mousonis, David Rhone. Thesis advisor(s): Cary Simon, Mary C. Malina. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49). Also available online.

An increasing number of companies are reporting their environmental performance, impacts, and activities. The objectives of such reports are many including, in particular, reacting to external pressures from company stakeholders demanding more information about environmental performance. This might also be matched by management requiring information to better run the business - hence an internal requirement for information that would then be available for publication. Because, this environmental reporting serves multiple objectives and satisfies different needs of different readers, it varies in the type of information provided, the scope and depth of material disclosed, presentation formats used, the credibility of the information provided and its overall quality. Although richness of report content, scope of topics covered, presentation and credibility of this content have all been used to assess the quality of corporate environmental reporting (CER), to date most prior studies have looked simply at the volume of and/or the types of information when assessing the quality of CER. Studies have used two main indices to measure disclosure quality; subjective analysts' indices and semi-objective indices. Subjective indices such as the Association of Investment Management and Research (AIMR), formerly the Financial Analysts Federation (FAF) disclosure ratings, are built on corporate disclosures' ratings weighted by a panel of leading analysts in each industry. In semi-objective indices, on the other hand, a pre-determined list of items (topics of disclosure) is developed and tested for their presence (absence ) and/or the richness of their content. It is noted that most disclosure studies adopt this second approach in the form of disclosure index studies, a partial type of content analysis. Other disclosure measures have included textual analysis such as thematic content analysis, readability studies, and linguistic analysis. However, there is no consensus about the best measure for assessing reporting quality. One of the most important limitations encountered in the disclosure literature is the difficulty in assessing the quality of disclosure (Healy and Palepu, 2001; Urquiza et al., 2009). For example, these studies identify three key limitations. Firstly, there is inherent subjectivity involved in the selection of the quality measure and in the coding scheme to assess this 'quality' generally researchers choose their own methods or proxies. Secondly, there is an ignorance of the quality perceptions of preparers and users of corporate disclosure. Hammond and Miles (2004) argue that we cannot assess the quality of disclosure independently of a detailed understanding of users' need of disclosure. Thirdly, it has been common to use annual reports (ARs) to assess the extent and quality of corporate responsibility disclosure, ignoring the other reporting media such as corporate responsibility reports (CRRs), websites, home advertisings, etc (Forst et al., 2005; KPMG, 2011). Thus considering the fact that robust, reliable, and replicable quality assessment is problematic, the objectives of this research are threefold. Firstly, to build a more representative quality model based on the findings of a questionnaire ascertaining the views of both preparers and distinct categories of readers of ARs and/or CRRs. Secondly, to apply this model to FTSE 100 CER in both ARs and CRRs to ascertain whether the proxies frequently used in prior literature yield similar results to those derived from this more complex model. Thirdly, to investigate whether the common use of ARs, rather than more detailed CRRs in assessing CER quality is giving a misleading picture of the level and richness of disclosure available to stakeholders.

Past studies on strategic decision-making are mainly focused on large corporations in the western context. The knowledge on how strategic decisions are made in small to medium sized enterprises is limited. Its application in the context of a transitional economy like China is also lacking. The present study is conducted to fill such a knowledge gap and intended to advance the theory and practice to the context of transitional economy where institutional change is considered the most predominant variable affecting strategic decision-making behaviours. Hence, the overall objective of the present study is to identify the specific pattern of strategic decision-making processes by Chinese private enterprises and to analyse the unique characteristics of their strategic decision-making behaviours. In addition, the study will also address the question of what factors would contribute to the differences in processes and behaviours. / In order to explore the characteristics and the patterns of strategic decision-making behaviours and processes undertaken by private entrepreneurs in China, a qualitative approach using multiple case study method is justified and used in the study. Five companies are selected from various industries and locations in China. Fieldwork includes in-depth retrospective interviews, site observation/participation, document analyses, archival study, and informal discussion, etc. 15 decision events relating to strategic issues are reported, analysed and interpreted. The results are interesting. Firstly, bounded rationality is found the most dominant mode of strategic decision-making undertaken by private entrepreneurs in China. Secondly, dual mode is used in most of the decision events. The most common pattern is the combination of bounded rationality and adaptation/incremental approach or the combination of bounded rationality and political/visionary style. Thirdly, avoidance mode is not applied in all decision events, implying that private entrepreneurs in China tend to deal with strategic issues directly. / Moreover, the results suggest that the decision behaviours of private entrepreneurs in China are characterized with the following: no formality and procedure in making strategic decisions, preferred to search comprehensive decision information, obligatory government involvement but random or ad hoc staff involvement in decision situations, highly flexible and recursive decision making process, strong personal vision in the decision content, and great speed in decision-making. The unique patterns and characteristics of their strategic decision-making behaviours are attributed to four major factors: a) the psychological context of the private entrepreneurs, i.e. decision-makers, who are found “overconfident” and “optimistic”; b) the decision context, which is more opportunity-driven and goal-driven; c) the organizational context, which belongs to the type of “centralization of power” on one single person, i.e. the private entrepreneur; and d) the institutional context, which facilitates opportunistic behaviours of private entrepreneurs in making strategic decisions. / In sum, the study contributes to the understanding of the insight of strategic decision-making processes and behaviours undertaken by private enterprises in China. In particular, the institutional perspective is of more direct relevance in the explanation of strategic decision-making model under the transitional economy like China. Based on the findings of the study, practical implications are drawn to show how private entrepreneurs could make strategic decisions more effectively in the transitional economy like China, e.g. preparing to use dual mode, getting government involved in the decision process, using strong personal vision, making speedy decisions and paying due attention to institutional changes. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2003.

China has been changing from a centrally planned to a market economy. Its journey has not been a smooth one and is not likely to be easy in the years to come. One of its industry sectors, the chemical industry, which represents approximately 4.6% of its national GDP, is facing challenges in the changing market dynamics. The Chinese government has applied administrative actions rather than simply relying on the market to address these challenges. Fragmentation has been reduced by closing down inefficient chemical plants; merging various companies to form groups. It has also attempted to privatise government owned enterprises by corporatisation and marketisation. Corporatisation of government-owned enterprise refers to alteration of their ownership to create joint stock companies. Marketisation refers to listing those privatised enterprises on the stock market. The objective of this research was to find out whether taking these administrative actions is the best strategy for the Chinese government-owned chemical industry rather than making it more effective by building up state owned chemical enterprises? core competencies and core capabilities. The principal argument of this thesis is based on the resource-based view (RBV). / thesis (PhDBusinessand Management)--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2001. / Adviser: Arthur Winston. Submitted to the Dept. of Interdisciplinary Studies. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 335-366). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.