The aim of this study is to investigate the role and implications of the customer orientation of service employees (COSE) in highly relational services (HRS) and its front-line employees. Customer orientation (CO) is considered a key pillar in the development of relationship marketing (RM). However, there are not COSE studies trying to fully exploit its potential by the use of highly relational settings and the introduction of new consequences from the original COSE model aligned with those of RM goals. Accordingly, the COSE model was adequately framed under the relationship marketing (RM) theory, compared with other different CO models and then assessed via a qualitative study. For this study, private banking (PB) was chosen as HRS due to its particular characteristics, namely; a dyadic relationship between customers and employees (private bankers), a high customisation of the service, a needed judgement of the employee, and a particular way of delivery. The qualitative study was comprised of 25 semi-structured interviews to PB practitioners in order to address different research questions regarding the importance and applicability of the COSE model. Additionally, this research questioned what changes to the COSE model should be introduced for it to be adapted to HRS. Furthermore, new potential outcomes of COSE were examined together with the current situation related to the application of measurements of COSE in practice. This analysis confirmed the validity of the construct. COSE was proved to be notably important in PB, as in any HRS. Regrettably, no PB firm has a standardised process for measuring COSE. Moreover, the four dimensions that make up COSE received different grades of importance. Social skills were agreed to be more important than technical skills. Motivation was also considered as less important than social skills. Likewise, decision-making authority generated some disagreement as it can eventually result in a worse performance of the service delivery. There is a risk of the private banker to lose his or the focus on the service delivery due to the close relationship with the customer. Therefore, the interests of the three parties (company, employee and customer) have to be calibrated and aligned. Regarding the different COSE outcomes, new consequences were elicited; trust, loyalty, word of mouth, and customer-oriented deviance, from which some of the consequences were confirmed to be outcomes of RM too. Finally, an improved and extended COSE model has been proposed, including the potential effect of some characteristics of the firm and the employee. This is as well as a questionnaire to use in a future quantitative study that is adapted to the reality of the PB service. Numerous academic and managerial implications have also been extracted; (1) an innovative application of a qualitative methodology to an area where quantitative studies are the norm, (2) the application of the COSE model to a HRS setting like PB, whose academic classification and characterisation was also provided, (3) the identification and validation of new consequences of COSE, and (4) the adaptation and improvement of the COSE model that was provided by the proposition of a new conceptual model and a new questionnaire.

Thesis (PH.D.) -- Syracuse University, 2007. / "Publication number AAT 3281731"

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1950. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 304-307).

<p> Poor decisions and conflicts of interest by members of company boards of directors have been a factor in the dramatic rise in chief executive officer (CEO) compensation, resulting in a lower return on equity (ROE) for shareholders. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between CEO compensation, CEO duality, and ROE after controlling for CEO age, CEO tenure, and firm size, as measured by total assets. Agency theory was the theoretical framework for this study. The study examined whether a statistically significant relationship existed between CEO compensation, CEO duality, and ROE, after controlling for CEO age, CEO tenure, and firm size. Archival data were collected and analyzed from a sample of publicly traded firms in the United States listed on the 2016 Standard &amp; Poor&rsquo;s 500 Index. Hierarchical multiple regression techniques were used to test the relationship between variables. The results indicated that there was not a statistically significant relationship between CEO compensation, CEO duality, and ROE after controlling for CEO age, CEO tenure, and firm size. The study may contribute to positive social change by increasing the potential for board of directors&rsquo; members to implement best practices, contributing to reduced shareholder conflicts, less litigation, higher ROE, and enhanced investor confidence benefiting emerging economies and local communities.</p><p>

<p> In the United States, 20% of newly established small businesses, including small businesses in the life insurance industry, fail within 2 years, and over 50% of them fail during the first 5 years. The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify and explore the strategies that life insurance brokerage owners use to sustain business operations beyond 5 years. Porter&rsquo;s 5 forces model served as the conceptual framework for exploring this subject matter. Owners of 3 separate small life insurance brokerage firms in Texas, who sustained their businesses beyond 5 years, participated in semistructured interviews. A secondary source of data was relevant company documents. Methodological triangulation and member checking assured the reliability and validity of the interpretations. Through thematic analysis and supporting software, 5 themes emerged: exceptional customer service, relationship-building, efficient promotional strategies, regular training of salespersons, and hiring the right employees. The application of the findings of the study could contribute to positive social change by reducing unemployment and thereby catalyzing an economic environment supporting employees, families, and communities. </p><p>

<p> Financial journals have just begun to examine the implications of unsecured fixed-rate loans between lenders and borrowers administered over the internet. This study observes 31,550 loans issued between June 2007 and April 2013 with a 36-month term, that are fully paid or charged off, based on a data set from the largest P2P lending website. Initial findings within peer-to-peer (P2P) lending markets have identified that social disclosures may influence these markets. The result of this analysis unambiguously confirms social disclosures influence lenders and the factors significant for funding a loan are inconsistent with the factors significant to repayment of the loan. Prescriptive filters based on social disclosures can improve the likelihood of selecting a creditworthy borrower and increase the models explanatory power. The study finds that distinct forms of social disclosure and specific content within social disclosures predict the amount of funding received and probability of loan repayment. </p><p>

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Periodically concern is shown over the plight of small business in most of the industrial countries of the West. This concern has recently been voiced in Canada and monies were made available to investigate the position of small business in this country. The prime purpose of this study was to investigate the various government and private aids which it was felt could be of assistance to small business and to evaluate their effectiveness in assisting the small businessman in running his business. A secondary yet complementary aim was to determine what problems still faced small business. First a compendium of federal, provincial, municipal and private aids to business was compiled. This was produced by thorough review of annual reports of federal and provincial departments concerned and also by the thorough review of numerous government and private publications, brochures and pamphlets. To determine the effectiveness and usefullness of aids to small business in Canada a questionnaire was compiled and mailed to businesses in the three provinces of Nova Scotia, Ontario and Manitoba. Several very general conclusions may be made with respect to aids to small business in Canada. First, with one or two notable exceptions all forms of aids are directed to primary and secondary industry often with the specific exclusion of tertiary industry. Another discernible trend is that of the increased role the provincial governments are playing in assisting business. This is so even though both the federal and provincial governments have increased the scope of aid offered. The final conclusion with respect to aids to small business in Canada is that in general they are quite adequate. No major changes to the present system of aids to small business would appear desirable but there is evidence that improvements in financial aids, management education and management services, and the promotion of existing services would appear desirable. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

This dissertation probes the interface between foreign direct investment (FDI) and sustainable industrial development in the context of the neo-liberal institutions governing the global economy. Comprised of three essays, it defines sustainable industrial development as simultaneous evolution across three axes: (1) economic, defined as increases in local capacities for production and innovation; (2) environmental, defined as a reduction in the environmental and health impacts of industry; and (3) social, defined as increases in the job-creating and equity-enhancing capacities of industry. The dissertation focuses on the economic and environmental dimensions. The dissertation is structured around three questions. First, is the neo-liberal claim about the positive contribution of FDI to development robust, that is, supported by empirical evidence? In particular, what is the evidence that FDI generates knowledge and environmental spillovers and "crowds in" domestic investment in developing countries? The central finding is that there is a substantial gap between theory and evidence. There is no statistical evidence that FDI generates positive and some evidence that it generates negative horizontal spillovers; and little evidence that it generates positive vertical spillovers. Case studies find evidence of both positive and negative horizontal and vertical spillovers. Second, what factors determine the environmental and economic impacts of FDI? The central findings are that host country regulation is pivotal and that neo-liberal global governance constrains nation-states in both direct and indirect ways. Global and regional trade and investment rules directly limit requirements host country governments can place on multinational corporations. In the absence of global environmental or corporate responsibility standards, competition between states for FDI puts a downward pressure on national environmental policy. While other social forces, including citizen demand, push environmental standards up, the counteracting pressure of competition for FDI keeps them "stuck in the mud," that is, it slows the rate of innovation in response to environmental threats. Third, how should FDI be governed, at the national and international levels, to more reliably promote sustainable industrial development? At the national level, it suggests that corporations work in a "development partnership" with host country governments and civil society. Such a partnership would define, pursue and evaluate progress towards specific development objectives. At the international level, investment rules should provide "policy space" for developing countries to pursue development objectives, and specify social responsibilities of foreign investors.

This dissertation examines the implications of technological advances on the net working capital balance of U.S. firms over the past five decades. I find that the annual mean value of the net working capital balance of U.S. firms has sharply declined, from 28.9% of average total assets in the 1970s to 6.5% in the 2010s. I also show that an increase in IT spending is associated with a reduction in net working capital balance, after controlling for alternative explanations. This real (vis-à-vis accounting) change in net working capital balance has significant implications for practical financial management and accounting research. On one hand, companies have become more efficient in managing their working capital and thus in conserving cash, leading to an increased cash savings at U.S. firms. On the other, the declining working capital balance has reduced accounting current accruals from 18.8% to 5.4% of earnings, which, in turn, has reduced the explanatory power of the Jones (1991) model from 23.7% to 3.7% and increased the correlation between earnings and cash flows from 0.689 to 0.947 over time. Such a structural change is worth noting for accounting research addressing the relationship between accruals, cash flows, and earnings.