The diploma thesis deals with the issue of strategic cost management in the selected company. The theoretical part contains the division of costs into individual groups, budgeting and cost calculation and acquaintance with the tools of strategic cost management. The practical part focuses on the analysis of the current state of the company and its costs, where a horizontal and vertical analysis of costs and revenues is performed according to data from the company's profit and loss statement. This analysis identifies the key cost items of the company to which the chosen method of strategic cost management is applied in order to significantly reduce these items and thus improve the financial situation of the company.

The results of small business operations play a significant economic role in developed economies, yet in the United States, approximately 50% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years of operation. Some small business owners embark on small business initiatives without the cash management strategies necessary to sustain their businesses. Grounded on financial literacy theory, this multiple-case study identified the strategies that owners of small businesses used to manage cash in their daily operations. The population included 3 owners of small tavern business in southeast Alaska who have implemented cash management strategies. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, supplementary documentation, and reflective journal notes. Data were analyzed using methodological triangulation, coding, and thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from data analysis: cash management capabilities, internal controls and employee accountability, and cash management opportunities. The findings of this study may contribute to positive social change by improving the ability of leaders of small businesses to increase job availability and contribute to economic stability in communities, thereby improving local and regional economies and enhancing the standard of living for individuals and households.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第18476号 / 農博第2076号 / 新制||農||1025(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H26||N4860(農学部図書室) / 31354 / 京都大学大学院農学研究科地域環境科学専攻 / (主査)教授 舟川 晋也, 教授 縄田 栄治, 教授 間藤 徹 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

The problem of this study was to determine the status of program budgeting in selected Texas public schools as perceived by superintendents of those schools. The purposes were (1) to determine the implementation status of program budgeting in the major concept areas of systems analysis, multiyear planning, objective-based programs, cost inclusiveness, and administrative commitment and (2) to determine if the perception of the superintendents differed significantly depending upon the size of the school district they represent. Conclusions and recommendations for effective transition to a program budgeting system were then formulated. It was concluded from the findings that program budgeting concepts are present in all sizes of school districts surveyed; however, the data failed to reveal a fully implemented system in operation in any of the districts. The moderate level of program budgeting implementation in school districts appears to be the result of mandated utilization of the program-oriented accounting system. The program budgeting concepts other than the program budget seems to be implemented only to the degree necessary to adequately operationalize the required accounting system elements. There were no significant differences for any of the concept items relative to the size of the districts. Tire review of the literature failed to reveal significant encouragement from the state level for the full implementation of a program budgeting system in local school districts. It was implied from, the findings and conclusions that program budgeting should continue as a priority for Texas school districts, and efforts at all levels of education be expended to establish fully operational program budgeting systems in Texas school districts.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Overarching and decision-making frameworks may be used to facilitate the evaluation of prescription drug technologies to enable Health Technology Assessment (HTA) agency’s reassessment recommendations. The objectives of this thesis were to; 1) identify overarching and qualitative decision-making reassessment framework challenges and methodological gaps and; 2) develop and/or modify a framework to address challenges/gaps. The focus was on Canadian public prescription drug reimbursement with the hope that the findings may inform other jurisdictions. METHODS The first paper systematically identified drug disinvestment frameworks to describe framework components, challenges and solutions. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in the second paper to explore whether a qualitative benefit-risk framework (Universal Methodology for Benefit-Risk Assessment (UMBRA)) could be used or modified to further enable Health Technology Reassessment (HTR) recommendations. The last research paper assessed the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health’s (CADTH’s) Therapeutic Review Process. Enhancements to this process were developed based on previous research and published frameworks. RESULTS Qualitative framework components were identified, disinvestment terms captured and challenges and solutions to drug disinvestment were compiled in Chapter 2. The participants interviewed in chapter 3 recognized that the Therapeutic Review assessment process did not include a qualitative deliberative framework. However, participants did not consider that all steps of the UMBRA framework were transferable to the assessment phase of HTR. Assessment of CADTH’s Therapeutic Review process, conducted in Chapter 4, found three areas for process enhancement: Therapeutic Review topic prioritization criteria; a qualitative assessment framework, and; publically accessible mechanisms for decision monitoring and performance measurement. CONCLUSION This thesis has identified reassessment framework enhancements that are hypothesized to address HTR challenges and specific solutions to enhance CADTH’s Therapeutic Review Framework. Next steps include further evaluation and pilot testing of these proposed enhancements to enable additional Canadian stakeholder feedback. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis focuses on overarching and decision-making assessment frameworks whose purpose is to aid policy-makers in recommending which prescription drugs should continue to be government-funded and/or if modifications to funding should occur. The goal of this work is to; 1) identify challenges and gaps in these frameworks and 2) develop or modify a framework to address findings. This thesis focuses on the Canadian public prescription drug reimbursement environment. Results identified Canadian reassessment framework enhancements which could address challenges to ultimately aid in maintaining financial and institutional stability of public health care systems.

The major purpose of this study was to investigate how single earner and dual earner families in Delaware manage their family finances and what factors influence satisfaction with their financial management. This study was also designed to assess the impact of perceptions of income adequacy on satisfaction with financial management practices. The subsamples of married single earner and dual earner families were obtained from the larger study on Interactive Planning for Family Futures. This project was partially funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging and the University of Delaware. The survey was conducted in 1988 by telephone interview in the state of Delaware. Subsamples of 121 dual earner families and 69 single earner families were drawn from a random statewide sample of 306 families in Delaware. The subsamples were limited to married couples where one or both spouses were gainfully employed either full-time or part-time. Analysis of data included use of frequencies, t-tests, chi square, two-way and three-way analyses of variance. Demographically the subsamples were predominantly white, and 70% of the respondents were female. Dual earner families had more education, higher occupational status and higher average incomes than single earner families. The average income range for the study was $30,000-39,999 for single earner families and $40,000-49,999 for dual earner families. Results of the study indicated that dual earner families were more interested in planning for the future than single earner families, and respondents in dual earner families were especially interested in retirement planning. Goal setting was a common practice among both single and dual earner families. A similar proportion (16%) of one and two earner families were concerned about how they would handle a $1,000 crisis. Differences were found in credit use and savings and investment practices of one and two earner families. Dual earner families are more likely to share money management decisions than single earner families. A satisfaction index was created by summing satisfaction scores for standard of living, amount of savings, amount of investments, ability to pay debt and achievement of goals. Respondents were more Satisfied with their standard of living and less satisfied with their savings and investments. Sociodemographic variables significantly related to satisfaction with financial management included age, spouse’s education, respondent’s occupation, and family income. Perceptions of income adequacy were significantly related to satisfaction with financial management for married single earner and dual earner families. Financial management practices significantly related to satisfaction with financial management were amount of debt, amount of savings and investments, money management activities and satisfaction with the decision making process. While it may appear from the data that dual earner families were less satisfied with their financial management, they were more interested and involved in their family’s financial well-being. / Ph. D.

OBJECTIF: Évaluer l’association entre le nombre d’heures de travail des parents et leur rôle parental dans les familles d’enfants d’âge préscolaire qui ont fait partie de l’ELNEJ, 2004-2005. MÉTHODES : Le devis de l’étude est transversal. Le rôle parental a été mesuré par un instrument validé. Des analyses de régression linéaire ont été réalisées, en ajustant pour les facteurs de confusion potentiels. L’effet modifiant de plusieurs facteurs a été évalué. RÉSULTAT : Un nombre élevé d’heures de travail (40h et plus) n’était pas associé à un score parental plus faible, comparativement à un horaire de 30h-39h. Toutefois, le score parental des participants travaillant moins de 30h/semaine était significativement plus élevé (+0,8 p=0,03). Un effet modifiant du genre a été observé. Un nombre élevé d’heures de travail était associé à un score parental plus élevé chez les femmes, mais pas chez les hommes (interaction p=0,07). CONCLUSION : L’horaire de travail < 30 heures semble avoir un effet bénéfique sur le rôle parental. Cependant, l’étude suggère que les mères travaillant un nombre élevé d’heures ont également un score parental élevé. / OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between working hours and parental role, for preschooler’s families who participated in the NLSCY, 2004-2005. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used. Parenting role was assessed using a validated scale. Multivariate regression models were computed, adjusting for potential confounding factors. Effect modifications of several factors were examined. RESULTS: Long working hours was not associated with lower score for parental role, compared to regular working schedule. However, part time work (< 30/week) was associated with higher score (+0.8, p=0.03). A modifying effect of the parent’s gender was found. For women, long working hours were associated with a higher parental role score, but not for men (p interaction =0.07). CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that part-time work might have a beneficial effect on parental role. However, the study also suggests that women who work long working hours per week also have higher parental score.

The thesis explores the effect of fiscal decentralization on local governments budgeting and fiscal autonomy in selected transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The implications of legislative changes on local budgets and revenue authority are analyzed. Discrepancies between legal provisions and actual fiscal practices are identified on the basis of case studies of four countries: Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, and Lithuania. The study explores some specific approaches to dealing with local finances based on the respective countries' fiscal legislation. An attempt is made to evaluate local revenue authority based on both comparable statistical data and legal provisions of the selected countries. Following a comparative conceptual framework, the thesis reveals both unique and common patterns of budget policy and local revenue raising authority in each of the four countries. The results of the inquiry indicate that despite the greater fiscal authority and independence which local authorities gained during the transition, local governments in many CEE countries continue to operate within old centralized fiscal structures and budget policies. The right balance between the need for decentralization of governance and the ability and desire of local authorities to control and steer the local revenue policies is still to be found. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

This dissertation examined the literature of cutback management in the context of the Great Recession. Specifically, it studied the relationship between cutback management policies used by county governments during the recession and revenue changes. The purpose of this dissertation was to test whether or not the percent change in revenue had an impact on the probability that cutback management policies were used in the recession. According to the cutback management literature developed in the 1970s and 1980s, there should be a relationship. The theoretical framework used for this study was the rational-approach framework, which proposes that every expenditure reducing and revenue increasing policy is enacted based on the percent decrease in revenue the government faces. This suggests that the cutback management policies are a proportional response to revenue decline. The framework was operationalized by using a binary logistic regression that used policy en actment as the dependent variable and the percent change in revenue as the independent variable. Eighty-six counties were sampled and 7 years of each county's budget book were examined for policies and financial data. The research found that eleven expenditure policies and three revenue policies had a statistically significant relationship with the percent change in revenues. This resulted in the conclusion that the framework and, therefore, the cutback management literature were useful in explaining primarily expenditure policies. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This research critically analysed the role, if any, that is played by the budgetary reforms in enhancing basic service delivery, with specific reference to the case of Amathole District Municipality. The main objectives of this study were to investigate and evaluate the causes of possible challenges encountered by the ADM in the implementation of local government budgetary reforms; to assess and determine the role played by budgetary reforms in promoting basic service delivery by the Amathole District Municipality; to analyse the extent to which budgetary reforms are used in the preparation of the municipal budget and the IDP; and to evaluate the level of ADM institutional capacity in delivering basic services to communities in terms of the municipality’s capital budget and financial plan. The study is premised on the fact that there is no guaranteed service delivery without a sound financial management and planning. In this study, it is acknowledged that municipalities in South Africa are struggling to implement the local government budgetary reforms; and as such, South African municipalities could succeed in rendering effective and efficient public services, provided the matters of governance are adhered to, as well as financial governance in particular. This research is solely based on the assumption that the Amathole District Municipality’s budgets and budget process, like other municipalities in South Africa, are done for the sake of compliance with the requirements of National Treasury and the MFMA – with less emphasis being placed on enhanced basic service delivery to communities. The study proposed to provide a brief literature review on the basic service delivery, with reference to the South African context, as well as a theoretical overview on the evolution of developmental local government budgetary reforms. The empirical survey and research methodology employed in the study are described, followed by the operationalization of the survey questionnaire used for gathering the field data. The research findings of the empirical survey are then statistically analysed, using statistical procedures. The qualitative data analysis involved thematic content analysis, being interpreted and reported on. The triangulation-research methodology was employed with the emphasis being on the quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The sample comprised councillors, officials and ward committee members. Questionnaires, with open and closed-ended questions, were employed for the councillors and the officials. Focus-group interviews were conducted with the ward committee members from the respective local municipalities.The findings strongly suggest that, the introduction of the budgetary reforms indeed resulted in a shift by municipalities from their core mandate – that is service delivery – to a more legislative-compliant mode of practice. Recommendations flowing from, inter alia, the results of the empirical study, are presented to improve financial governance and service delivery in the Amathole District Municipality, as well as in other municipalities in South Africa. If adopted, these recommendations should enable the Amathole District Municipality, as a development agent, to fulfil its developmental mandate, thereby addressing the matters of financial governance and service delivery.