We compare the use of stochastic dynamic programming (SDP), Neural Networks and a simple approximation rule for calculating the real option value of a flexible production system. While SDP yields the best solution to the problem, it is computationally prohibitive for larger settings. We test two approximations of the value function and show that the results are comparable to those obtained via SDP. These methods have the advantage of a high computational performance and of no restrictions on the type of process used. Our approach is not only useful for supporting large investment decisions, but it can also be applied in the case of routine decisions like the determination of the production program when stochastic profit margins occur. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

The Local Education Development Fund was established by the Kaohsiung City Government according to the Compilation and Administration of Education Expenditures Act in 2003 and was operated as affiliated unit budget. Affiliated unit budget, which has the autonomy of distribution and flexibility of the execution, tallying with school-based management which are influenced by the educational reform trend, therefore was generally approved by educational administrators. However, according to the research¡¦s analysis, there was no significance on the encouragement of raising funds and there was difference between deposition of the accumulated surplus into the normal cost and the general financial concept. What kind of system on earth is the implementation of Kaohsiung Local Education Development Fund at the school managers, the principals¡¦ points of view? Furthermore, are their opinions changing with time? Has the affiliated unit budget exerted any influence on school management¡HHow can the merits of the affiliated unit budget be used to coping with the shortening of educational budgets after the combining of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County and to exalt the spirit of school-based management and to promote civils¡¦ education. These are issues worth those people¡¦s discussion who care about civils¡¦ education and these are also the concerns of the research. The research adopted nature research and grounded theory to interview seven principals in primary schools and junior high schools in Kaohsiung City. The research explored interviewees¡¦ cognitions and opinions on Local Education Development Fund and their strategies and measures based on their experiences, and inquired the influence of Local Education Development Fund (which is based on affiliated unit budget), on school managements by means of Atlas.ti techniques. According to the research¡¦ analysis, though Kaohsiung Local Education Development Fund possesses the meaning of school-based budgeting. The practice can help the municipal avoid invest excessive capital in schools which has surplus of budget with the aid of controlling the cumulation on surplus budgets. Furthermore, in the interaction of administrative departments, there are strategic changes in financial execution which are less related to the types of budgeting, but more related to School Budget Evaluation implemented by the Educational Bureau. Besides, the budgeting has little effect on encouragements to increasing income and decreasing expenditure but enlarges gaps among schools and causes disadvantages to remote small schools. To sum up, the distribution of educational budget is more important than budgeting.

Two significant differences were found between theoretical expectation and empirical results to budgetary slack in managerial accounting study. First, subjects under the slack-inducing pay schemes set their budgets well above zero regardless of their risk-neutral or risk-averse characteristics, although their maximum rewards arise from setting their budgets at zero (Waller, 1988; Chow, Cooper, and Waller, 1988; Chow, Cooper, and Haddad, 1991). Second, theoretically subjects operating under truth-inducing pay schemes set budgets at their best estimate performance, that is, no budgetary slack. But in violation of traditional economic theory, truth-inducing pay schemes have not been found to drive all slack out of the budget (Chow, Cooper, and Haddad, 1991). These results suggest that the existence of other non-pecuniary factors impacting slack, such as personal integrity and conscience, or social pressure (Chow, Cooper, and Waller, 1988). Moreover, the other potential causes in methodology may affect the congruence with theoretical expectation: (1) single-period experimental setting may limit the subjects¡¦ learning effect (Chow, Cooper, and Haddad, 1991), or (2) social pressure that was not controlled between subjects results in measurement errors. This study investigates the impacts of pay scheme, social pressure, internal norm and organizational commitment on budgetary slack in the participative budgeting setting. Specifically, this research executes an experimental test of the effects of a truth-inducing pay scheme, superior-generated social pressure, and subordinates¡¦ intern norm and their organizational commitment on the propensity to set their budgets below expected performance. In the experimental setting budgets were participatively set under three kinds of pay scheme and under the condition of either existence of social pressure or no social pressure. Pay schemes are categorized by three factors: truth-inducing pay scheme, fixed-pay-plus-bonus pay scheme, and fixed-pay-plus-bonus pay scheme with ratchet. The social pressure manipulation involved having subordinates either personally submit their budgets and performance to a superior, or enter their budgets into a computer with no personal interaction. Moreover, internal norm and organizational commitment are measured by questionnaires built in the personal computer. The experiment was conducted by computerizing the multi-period task on the screen of man-machine interactive personal computer. To eliminate the potential social pressure, subjects in the group with no social pressure executed the computerized procedure to create a ¡¨doubled-blinded¡¨ environment where there was inter-participant anonymity (anonymity between subjects) and experimenter-participant anonymity (anonymity between experimenter and subjects), hence the effects of internal norm and organizational commitment on budgetary slack were investigated. This study tested the following hypotheses with 120 production unit managers that sampled from one manufacturing company in Kaohsiung. (1) Managers will build the least slack into their budget under a truth-inducing pay scheme, the second slack under a fixed-pay-plus-bonus pay scheme with ratchet, and the most slack under a fixed-pay-plus-bonus pay scheme. (2) Managers will build less slack into their budget as social pressure from superior is increased. (3) The difference in budgetary slack between the truth-inducing pay scheme and fixed-pay-plus-bonus pay scheme with ratchet will be reduced as social pressure from superior is increased. That is, there is an interaction between pay scheme and social pressure. (4) The level of slack built into the budget will be negatively correlated with the managers¡¦ degree of internal norm in condition of no social pressure. (5) The level of slack built into the budget will be negatively correlated with the managers¡¦ degree of organizational commitment in condition of no social pressure. The test result verified the mentioned-above hypotheses except item (1) that is partially supported. This study not only extends the management accounting literature that investigates the effects of pay schemes, but also further examines the potential effects of social pressure from superior, subordinates¡¦ internal norm and organizational commitment on budgetary slack. Especially, the results that isolated the effects of internal norm from social pressure on budgetary slack have shown the implications of personnel recruitment and managerial style in the enterprises organization.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

No description available.

Valstybės finansinių išteklių paskirstymas yra vienas iš svarbiausių valstybės valdymo uždavinių. Racionalus šių resursų paskirstymas sudaro prielaidas efektyviai naudoti turimus svarbiausius išteklius, pasiekti prioritetinius valstybės tikslus ir aktyviai įgyvendinti numatytų sričių veiklą. Programinio finansavimo sistema yra viena iš Naujosios viešosios vadybos elementų, skatinančių modernizuoti šalies biudžetinio finansų valdymo sistemą. Pats programinis biudžetas nėra biudžeto sudarymas programiniu principu, tai daugiau veiklos rezultatų valdymo įrankis, kartu su strateginio planavimo, kaupiamojo biudžeto ir rezultatų vertinimo bruožais. Programinio finansavimo sistema yra biudžetinio finansavimo sistema, kuri identifikuoja institucijos misiją, tikslus ir uždavinius, integruoja strateginio planavimo, veiklos efektyvumo informaciją ir rezultatus į biudžeto procesą, naudoja veiklos efektyvumo valdymą ir veiklos efektyvumo kontraktų sistemą, biudžetą ir apskaitą sudaro kaupimo principu, paskirsto išteklius decentralizuotai ir vertina veiklą, veiklos rezultatus ir programas. Danija ir Australija įdiegė programinio finansavimo sistemą daugiau kaip prieš 15 metų. Šalys atitinkamų reformų metu pasinaudojo veiklos efektyvumo sistemos pranašumais ir įdiegė modernią biudžetinio finansavimo sistemą. Nors šalys skaičiuoja jau nebe pirma dešimtmetį veiklos efektyvumo sistemos srityje, tačiau ir šiose šalyse vis dar susiduriama su tam tikrais, kiekvienai šaliai būdingais iššūkiais ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Allocation of State financial resources is one of the most important tasks of public administration. Rational allocation of these resources for the effective use of available resources essential to achieve national objectives and priorities to implement the areas of activity. Program budgeting system is one of the new public management elements to promote the modernization of the country budget financial management system. Program budgeting is more than budgeting method by the programming principle, it can be identified as performance management tool, in conjunction with strategic planning, budgeting by the results and the performance mesurament and evaluation. Program budgeting system is the budgeting system, which identifies the institutions mission, goals and objectives, integrates strategic planning, performance information and results in the budget process, it uses performance management information, accrual budgeting and acounting, allocates resourses in decentalized way and evaluates activities and performance. Denmark and Australia have introduced the program budgeting system for more than 15 years ago. While the countries are no longer calculate the first decade of operational efficiency in the system, but they are still faced with some, country-specific challenges and problems. The main problems and challenges faced by countries are mostly technical in nature, because there is a different management culture problems. South Korea obtaining assistance of the United... [to full text]

<p>The study focused on financial reporting in the public sector with the view to understanding the impact of the present financial management system in South Africa is adding value to the measurable outcomes-based objective process as required by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The study determines the role of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in financial reporting, in relation to the business plan (strategy) and measurable outcomes and results of the Department of Community Safety. The primary objective of this study was to perform an assessment of financial reporting and its effectiveness in terms of the PFMA as the legislative framework and the MTEF as a financial management tool. The secondary objectives were to: (1) to provide a theoretical perspective of public financial management and reporting in government / (2) to provide an&nbsp / verview of policies, legislation and strategies / (3) to record and develop a case study of financial reporting in the Western Cape Provincial Government within the Department of Community Safety (WCPG) / (4) to present the research findings on financial management, and (5), to apply the theoretical framework to the case study in order to develop findings.</p>

Background: Swedish football clubs have lost their competitiveness both economically andgamely. The last time a Swedish team was represented in Champions League was 1999 and last season there were only 2 clubs with positive financial results in Allsvenskan. One factor that has not worked is budgeting where many clubs have budgeted too optimistic and thus not able to make positive results.Purpose: The purpose of this report is to review and analyze how the Swedish football clubs are working with their budgeting. The goal was to identify problems in their budgeting and to find solutions which can be used practically.Methodology: This report is a qualitative study consisting of a cross-sectional study of how Swedish football clubs are working on budgeting in 2014. Data collection has primarily consisted of interviews of budgetmakers in the clubs. Also studies in annual reports and business economic theories have been part of the report.Results and conclusions: The study shows that there is big differences in the clubs budgeting. Audience-revenue and transfers is most difficult to budget. These problems leadsto a model with the purpose to improve the budgeting in football clubs. / Bakgrund: Svenska fotbollsklubbar har tappat i konkurrenskraft såväl ekonomiskt somsportsligt. Senast ett svenskt klubblag representerades i Champions League var år 1999 och det senaste året var det endast två allsvenska klubbar som visade positiva ekonomiska resultat. En faktor som inte fungerat är budgeteringen där många klubbar har budgeterat för optimistiskt och därmed inte kunnat göra positiva resultat.Syfte: Ett första syfte med studien är att granska och analysera hur allsvenska fotbollsklubbar arbetar med deras budgetering. Ett andra syfte är att identifiera eventuella brister i budgeteringen samt hitta lösningar på dessa som kan användas praktiskt.Metod: Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ studie bestående av en tvärsnittsstudie kring hur allsvenska klubbarna arbetar med budgetering år 2014. Datainsamlingen har primärt bestått av intervjuer med de budgetansvariga i flertalet fotbollsklubbar. Även studier i årsredovisningar och företagsekonomiska teorier har varit en del i studien.Resultat och slutsatser: Studien visar att det finns stora skillnader i hur olika fotbollsklubbar budgeterar. De svåraste posterna att budgetera har visat sig vara publikintäkter och spelarförsäljningar. Dessa problem mynnar ut i en modell med syfte att förbättrafotbollsklubbars budgetering.

The purpose of this study is to explain a management the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend (Indiana). For well over 100 years the Catholic school system in this diocese was =governed by the following principles: (1) each parish was expected to have a parish school; (2) this school was to be financed from the resources of the parish; and (3) the teachers were largely religious sisters. Not until the 1960's was any serious attempt made to centralize a school system which encompassed 54 grade schools, 6 high schools, and enrolled 28,600 pupils in 1965. The late 1960's witnessed a crisis in Catholic education; between 1964 and 1970 enrollment declined in the grade schools 27.3%; during that same period of time the ratio of lay teachers to religious teachers rose 160.5:0 (while the number of sisters dropped 18%); parishes income, in constant dollars, dropped 0.5%. The educational crisis found the parishes without adequate management information for decision making.Two types of information puterized for annual updating.I. Educational Data Analysis. Basic income and expense information, from each parish, is analyzed for the most recent five year period. This analysis brings into one place the necessary data for trend analysis. (Projections are based on the polynomial method of curve fitting.) Most data treated is analyzed for year-to-year rates of change; at the same time an over-all rate of change is developed with 1964 forming the base year. All income data is reduced to a constant dollar (1958= 100) with the Implicit Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Deflator. Educational costs are further analyzed on a per pupil cash cost basis, and on a percent of total educational costs. The contributed services of each teacher is developed (as well as an analysis of degrees, license, grade taught, years of experience, etc.). In this way a total cost, closer to true costs than are the cash costs, are developed. Some use is made of regional median income data to determine the over-all ability of a parish to support the program. This data is intended for the use of the pastors, parish councils, committees on education, etc.II. Educational Situation Indices. These indices were developed to simplify financial explanations for parishioners; at the same time they provide a means of comparing one parish against the rest of the diocese. Thirteen key resources were selected from the data developed by Part I. These resources from each parish are compared with the diocesan average to develop and index number. The "norm=100." Three types of mathematical formulas develop three indices. The Parish Index (I,) merely measures the percent above or below the norm. This information makes it possible to analyze parish resource use, the flow of resources both within the parish and between parishes, and aids greatly in resource allocation. (This latter is aided because for the first time one parish can compare itself to other parishes.) The Variance Index (12) makes use of the Z-value and the standard deviation to develop an "average range" of parishes (± one standard deviation). Therefore, parishes which are using resources in such a manner as to be beyond the middle 68/ are identified, and the "mis-used resource" located. The final index (14) is the result of weilhtin the various resources with the Beta coefficient (by means of a stepwise multiple regression computer formula). This produces a single composite number termed the Educational Situation Index.The use of scatter charts makes it possible to obtain visual pictures of the entire diocese for each resource, or for all resources in a single parish. (The basic scatter charts are developed by a Calcomp plotter.)These computer print-outs are meant to be tools to aid the volunteer members of the many parish committees on education, and the area and diocesan boards of education. The study explains the development and the use of these managerial tools which are developed for broad level use.

Det vanligaste ekonomiska styrmedlet är budgetering, budgetering används i alla branscher oavsett hur stor den externa osäkerheten är. Den här studien behandlar och granskar hur budgeteringsarbetet ser ut i organisationer som verkar i en osäker miljö, där vårt fokus riktas mot hockeyklubbarna i de två högsta hockeyligorna i Sverige.Syftet med uppsatsen är att förklara hur organisationerna i de två högsta hockeyligorna i Sverige arbetar med budgetering. I syftet ingår även att redogöra för hur organisationerna hanterar extern osäkerhet. I den teoretiska referensramen presenteras de olika definitioner och tidigare forskning som finns inom budget, budgetering samt osäkerhetsfaktorer. I studien har använts en kvalitativ metod med verktygen; personlig intervju, mejlintervju samt dokumentinsamling. Sex ekonomer som arbetar i sex olika hockeyklubbar har intervjuats via en personlig samt fem mejlintervjuer.Analysen fokuserar på den decentralisering organisationer inom hockeyligorna arbetar med i sitt budgetarbete samt hur utvecklingen ser ut. Där behandlas även miljön organisationerna verkar i samt olika osäkerhetsfaktorer. Exempel på viktiga slutsatser är att organisationer som verkar i osäkra miljöer kan dra fördel av att dela upp budgeten i mindre delar för att separera osäkerhet A från osäkerhet B samt att organisationerna inom den Svenska Hockeyligan och HockeyAllsvenskan kan dra fördel av att använda decentralisering i budgetarbetet. / The most common element of management control system is budgeting, budgeting is used in all industries no matter how big the external uncertainty is. This study will reflect on and examine how budgeting works in organizations that appear in uncertain environments, where the focus will be on the two highest rated hockey leagues in Sweden.The purpose of the study is to describe how the organizations in the two highest rated hockey leagues in Sweden work with budgeting. The purpose is also to describe how organizations manage external uncertainty. The theoretical framework presents different definitions and previous research about budget, budgeting and uncertainties. In the study we have been using a qualitative method with the tools; face-to-face interview, e-mail interview and documentary secondary data. Six economists who work in six different hockey organizations have been interviewed.The analysis focuses on the decentralization that organizations in the hockey leagues work within their budgeting and also how the development appears. It also discusses the environment in which the organizations operate and uncertainty factors. Examples of important conclusions are that organizations in uncertain environments can benefit from dividing the budget into smaller parts, separating uncertainty A from uncertainty B. The organizations in the Swedish Hockey league and HockeyAllsvenskan can also benefit from decentralization when working with their budget.