The problem in this study was to discover if the public relations program of the Dallas Petroleum Center was useful in leasing and if the program played a significant role in a leasing increase. The study was carried out by describing the development of the building project, by analyzing the planning and execution of the public relations program, by testing the program's effectiveness, and by drawing conclusions about the program and by making recommendations for this specific program and for office leasing in general. The effectiveness of the program was tested by questionnaires and interviews. The public relations program proved to be an effective tool in leasing office space; and a similar program was recommended for other buildings.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to present an approach for good practice with regards to using cost benefit analysis (CBA) as a value-adding activity in the information security investment process for large enterprises. The approach is supported by empirical data.</p><p>From a MIO model perspective, this report is focused on the phase of strategic choices regarding organization, i.e. trying to find optimal investments for efficient operations. To assess, improve and monitor the operational effectiveness and management’s internal control environment is essential in today’s business execution. Executive management and boards are increasingly looking for an information security governance framework that encompasses information technology and information security: a single framework through which all information assets and activities within the organisation can be governed, to provide the optimum capability for meeting the organisation’s objectives, in terms of functionality and security.</p><p>The investment decision is one of the most visible and controversial key decisions in an enterprise. Some projects are approved, others are bounced, and the rest enter the organisational equivalent of suspended animation with the dreaded request from the decision makers to “redo the business case” or “provide more information.”</p><p>The concept of cost benefit analyses of information security helps management to make decisions on which initiatives to fund with how much, as there needs to be an approach for measuring and comparing different alternatives and how they meet business objectives of the enterprise. Non-financial metrics are identified using different approaches: governance effectiveness, risk analysis, business case analysis or game theory. The financial performance metrics are driven by the main value disciplines of an enterprise. These lead to the use of formulas enabling the measurement of asset utilisation, profit or growth: ROI (ROIC), NPV, IRR (MIRR), FCF, DCF, Payback Period, TCO, TBO, EVA, and ROSI.</p><p>The author shows research in the field of good corporate governance and the investment approval process, as well as case studies from two multinational enterprises. The case from Motorola demonstrates how IT governance principles are equally applicable to information security governance, while the case from Ericsson demonstrates how an information security investment decision can be supported by performing a cost benefit analysis using traditional marketing approaches of business case analysis (BCA) and standard financial calculations.</p><p>The suggested good practice presented in this thesis is summarised in four steps:</p><p>1. Understand main rationale for the security investment</p><p>2. Identify stakeholders and strategic goals</p><p>3. Perform Cost Benefit Analysis (non-financial and financial performance metrics)</p><p>4. Validate that the results are relevant to stakeholders and strategic goals</p><p>DISCLAIMER</p><p>This report is intended for academic training only and should not be used for any other purposes. The contents are not to be considered legal or otherwise professional advice. No liability is taken, whatsoever, by the author.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to present an approach for good practice with regards to using cost benefit analysis (CBA) as a value-adding activity in the information security investment process for large enterprises. The approach is supported by empirical data. From a MIO model perspective, this report is focused on the phase of strategic choices regarding organization, i.e. trying to find optimal investments for efficient operations. To assess, improve and monitor the operational effectiveness and management’s internal control environment is essential in today’s business execution. Executive management and boards are increasingly looking for an information security governance framework that encompasses information technology and information security: a single framework through which all information assets and activities within the organisation can be governed, to provide the optimum capability for meeting the organisation’s objectives, in terms of functionality and security. The investment decision is one of the most visible and controversial key decisions in an enterprise. Some projects are approved, others are bounced, and the rest enter the organisational equivalent of suspended animation with the dreaded request from the decision makers to “redo the business case” or “provide more information.” The concept of cost benefit analyses of information security helps management to make decisions on which initiatives to fund with how much, as there needs to be an approach for measuring and comparing different alternatives and how they meet business objectives of the enterprise. Non-financial metrics are identified using different approaches: governance effectiveness, risk analysis, business case analysis or game theory. The financial performance metrics are driven by the main value disciplines of an enterprise. These lead to the use of formulas enabling the measurement of asset utilisation, profit or growth: ROI (ROIC), NPV, IRR (MIRR), FCF, DCF, Payback Period, TCO, TBO, EVA, and ROSI. The author shows research in the field of good corporate governance and the investment approval process, as well as case studies from two multinational enterprises. The case from Motorola demonstrates how IT governance principles are equally applicable to information security governance, while the case from Ericsson demonstrates how an information security investment decision can be supported by performing a cost benefit analysis using traditional marketing approaches of business case analysis (BCA) and standard financial calculations. The suggested good practice presented in this thesis is summarised in four steps: 1. Understand main rationale for the security investment 2. Identify stakeholders and strategic goals 3. Perform Cost Benefit Analysis (non-financial and financial performance metrics) 4. Validate that the results are relevant to stakeholders and strategic goals DISCLAIMER This report is intended for academic training only and should not be used for any other purposes. The contents are not to be considered legal or otherwise professional advice. No liability is taken, whatsoever, by the author.

This thesis presents an empirical inquiry that explicitly exposes the relationships between CSR practice in Malaysia and the scope of PR. This thesis embraced a critical approach which offers alternate readings in Malaysian PR literature which are dominantly quantitative in nature. The focus is on how socio-political, economic, cultural and organizational contexts shape the practice of CSR and affect the scope and function of PR in pursuing the practice. This thesis has contributed to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the underlying motives behind the pursuit of CSR among businesses in the country. It also offers empirical data on PR roles in pursuing CSR in Malaysia – something that has received very little attention in the literature despite PR’s perceived potentials in spearheading the function. This empirical work has employed semi-structured interviews among PR managers and CSR managers working in renowned CSR organizations in Malaysia. In addition, the thesis analyses executives’ messages in CSR reports and later triangulated with interview findings that helped to achieve a rich description of the topic under study. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was adopted in this thesis and made explicit the relationships between socio-political, economic and cultural dimensions that shape CSR practice and the scope of PR by taking into consideration the presence of power relations in this phenomenon. Fairclough’s (2010) three dimensional frameworks was adopted to enable interpretation go beyond texts that mainly applied to data from CSR reports. The literature revealed CSR practice is a recent phenomenon in Malaysia whereby the government has been a major driver in its development. Drawing from Malaysian experience, economic growth is fundamental to ensure a fair distribution of wealth among multi-races in Malaysia that perceived imperative to preserve national unity. In this respect, CSR initiatives have been largely undertaken to achieve the long term survival of businesses that consequently drive the nation’s economy in a long term. CSR has been primarily constructed as a means to create business competitiveness and a symbol for success. This has been widely accepted among business firms in Malaysia thus become ideological. At the same time, PR role was found dominant in promoting the practice of CSR that appears to be working to the advantage of the dominant groups i.e., business and government. Nevertheless, how PR promotes mutual interests of business and society through CSR remain obscure. This thesis also argues that the motivation to promote business interests serves as the key stumbling block for PR in creating sustainable impact and value to other than it paymaster and financial stakeholders. This thesis suggests that it is time for PR to reflect on this common practice particularly in terms of its ethical implications to both the organizations and the value of PR profession as a whole. This empirical study has significantly contributed particularly in the realm of PR role research in CSR within specific social-cultural, political, economic contexts of Malaysia and PR research from the critical perspectives.

The process of globalization over the past five decades has given impetus to drivensustainability and related thinking in business. It is also observed that there areunprecedented trends in corporate strategy towards sustainable thinking - the emergenceof sustainability as corporate strategy and the concern of business for ecology and society.This forces companies to rethink their standard business models and increase theirinterest in innovating products and services based on the challenges of global sustainabledevelopment. The pressure from external stakeholders, mainly non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs), as drivers of change may also contribute strongly to thisendeavour. This substantial change pressure clearly reflects companies’ recognition of themounting pressures for social responsibility and governance. The overall aim of this thesisis to describe and understand how social responsibility and value-creation of customers’influence the overall service quality of companies in developing a sustainable servicebusiness. The theoretical and conceptual frame of reference finds its stimulation from the researchin sustainable development – corporate social responsibility, service research and qualitymanagement. In this way it attempts to bridge the gap between business and socialresponsibility. Theoretically and conceptually, the thesis amalgamates sustainabilitythinking and the service logic. Here, value creation and co-creation of Service DominantLogic (S-D logic) approach expands to integrate the values based approach of CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR) in management thinking and have created the prevailingbusiness practices and service quality (SQ) improvement. This thesis is a compilation offive different papers that follow an interpretative case study approach. The empiricalstudy developed from the cases of multinational companies, small and mediumenterprises, smallholders and NGOs. In this thesis, ‘Sustainable Service Dominant Logic’ (SSDL) was labelled to argue thatvalue-based co-creation of the S-D logic framework can be used to create values-basedservices for sustainable business by examining the link between CSR and S-D logic basedon value, values and service quality for sustainable business. This is this thesis’scontribution to the ongoing discussion of the paradigm shift in service research. Theframework is of the integration of CSR thinking into service business to create sustainablebusiness thinking. This signifies the new thinking of incorporating different managementsystems in creating the organizational change process, sustainability and finally SQimprovement. This counters the critique against S-D logic by expanding the societal andethical dimensions by using CSR, and showing real business cases. This depends on theintegration of different change pressures for value creation, whether related to economicand social resource integration. This involves the shift of the focus of managerial controlfrom a preoccupation with financial issues to a wider awareness of CSR thinking. Theseissues are also explored by demonstrating, based on cases, how the adoption of thisperspective can also enable the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) framework to become animportant aspect of value creation. Finally, the paradigm shift can be generalized to newthinking in S-D logic and the social responsibility of businesses as the major phenomenonof the changing and globalizing business environment; time for the CSR framework to permeate S-D logic.

Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to set up a closed-loop supply chain model for B2C online subscription box retailers and to develop a business case evaluating the model’s sustainability. Method This explorative thesis has an abductive research approach. Multiple-case studies are conducted and data from four cases and an expert are collected by conducting interviews. The research contains both qualitative and quantitative data. Findings A closed-loop SC model is created with regards to transport packaging. The model suggests that once the package is received by the consumer it can be returned in an empty state. After being cleaned it should be reused by the 3PL. The model’s sustainability is evaluated by developing a business case. Sustainable performance measures with regards to economic, social and environmental practice are assembled. The model enhances general social performance and environmental performance. Economic performance is mostly positively influenced. Options for cost savings in order to improve the economic performance of the model are suggested by the researchers. Practical implications The work provides businesses within the online B2C subscription box retail with a model for a possible closed-loop supply chain with regards to transport packaging. The business case for sustainability can be applied as a guideline to evaluate the model or similar ones. Researchers give suggestions on adapting packaging to enhance economic performance. Societal implications This thesis points out possible environmental and social benefits that may be achieved by a closedloop supply chain model. Besides waste and emission reduction, social performance such as employee motivation is positively influenced. Theoretical implications The thesis provides a model developed from theory and empirical data. The model does not only have practical implementations but also complements theory where a gap has earlier been identified. Through the business case for sustainability researchers contribute to theory since literature is scarce.

This research explores the business case for sustainability as experienced by small and medium sized, house building construction companies in the UK and Sweden. The authors investigate what benefits, if any, these businesses have gained from adopting environmental and socially responsible business practices. The authors also set out to understand the barriers and drivers influencing the companies in respect of sustainability. The purpose of the thesis was to help sustainability practitioners in their work with the sector. The research had three separate strands of investigation; interviewing industry experts who had wide experience of the sector; interviews with companies that had some relevant experiences; and a detailed survey was sent to companies asking them to rate their experiences to date and estimate their future expectation on sustainability issues. The findings were collated, analyzed and an overview of the benefits, barriers and drivers for the sector were discussed. A sector specific strategic approach to dealing with the companies was presented for use by the practitioners.

Almost all businesses are affected by the current trend of digitalization. To stay competitive, they need to find the right balance between innovation and exploitation. IT-investments could result in increased efficiency, as well as other competitive advantages. To be sure that the IT- investments contributes to these expected advantages, the businesses should evaluate their IT- investment. For the systems to continue to create value and to avoid the use of outdated systems, it’s also of major importance the IT-systems are assessed at a regular basis.   The aim of this thesis is to investigate on what basis IT-investments are made, as well as what approaches organizations tend to adopt while valuating and evaluating their systems. The study was conducted through a qualitative method and the data-collection was made through semi- structured interviews with respondents from 6 different businesses who occupied positions such as chief information officer, chief digital officer and project manager. The part of empirics and analysis explains the results of the study and compares the empirical data with theory.   The result of the study shows that IT-investments often are made to match the digitalization of society and that such investments are affected by factors such as competition and customer’s requests. The result also reveals that acquisition, through Business Case, often is made to decide whether the IT-investment should carry on or discontinue. Furthermore, the result shows that the work with system management often is conducted in a controlled and thoroughly way, but that the work with evaluation isn’t sufficiently comprehensive; which the businesses is aware of and wishes to do in greater extent.

In modern conditions, the effective development of industrial enterprises is complicated by the low organizational and technical level of production, high costs and insufficient financial resources, which requires the active attraction of investment funds. The purpose of the master's thesis is to develop a methodological approach to the formation of the investment policy of a non-ferrous metallurgy enterprise within the framework of Industry 4.0. The research considers the concept of the investment policy of the enterprise and the correlation of the investment activity of the enterprise with the implementation of technologies of Industry 4.0. The sources used were teaching and research literature, the results of empirical research of the author and corporate statistics. In the master's thesis, the author’s methodology for the selection of investment projects was developed as part of the investment policy of an industrial non-ferrous metallurgy enterprise, which includes three stages of selection: preliminary, coefficient, final. The application of this technique allows you to deepen the analysis and assessment of the effectiveness of investment projects related to Industry 4.0. / В современных условиях эффективное развитие промышленных предприятий осложняется низким организационно-техническим уровнем производства, высокими затратами и недостаточными финансовыми ресурсами, что требует активного привлечения инвестиционных средств. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка методического подхода к формированию инвестиционной политики предприятия цветной металлургии в рамках «Индустрии 4.0». В работе рассматривается понятие инвестиционной политики предприятия и вопросы взаимосвязи инвестиционной деятельности предприятия с внедрением технологий «Индустрии 4.0». В качестве источников использовалась учебно-методическая и научно-исследовательская литература, результаты эмпирических исследований автора и данные корпоративной статистики. В магистерской диссертации была разработана авторская методика отбора инвестиционных проектов в рамках инвестиционной политики промышленного предприятия цветной металлургии, включающая в себя три этапа отбора: предварительный, коэффициентный, заключительный. Применение данной методики позволяет углубить анализ и оценку эффективности инвестиционных проектов, связанных с «Индустрией 4.0».

Numerous management scholars argue that management theory is anthropocentric and considers humans as being separate from the environment. Further anthropocentrism does not enable theory and organisations to contribute to sustainable development. To counter this it is argued theory and organisations should embrace an environmental paradigm that does not separate humans and the environment. This exploratory research attempts to identify whether any organisations operate with an environmental paradigm. The research questions focus on paradigms and some of the tensions surrounding the human-environment debate, such as; sufficiency versus profit maximisation and quoted status, money as a means or an end and notions of boundaries between the organisation and the environment. The questions are explored with individuals from 23 environmentally focused, primarily for profit, organisations. The results indicate that the organisations operate with an environmental paradigm, do not perceive of boundaries between the organisation and the environment, do not pursue profit maximisation, can demonstrate sufficiency, view money as a means rather than an end and do not have a favourable view of quoted status. Furthermore, the interviewees do not separate their world into two realms, one social and one natural. Narratives that arise include the organisations operating to a mode of mission and money and that an aphorism of “altruistically selfish and selfishly altruistic” (Maturana & Varela, 1998:197) can be applied. In short, the results indicate some challenges to conventional management theory, in particular strategy and competitive advantage, and that the organisations interviewed could help to, some extent, enable sustainable development. To close, the hope of this study it that its narratives and the conceptual tool it has prompted, provide succour to students and managers who want to develop a ‘future normal’ of theories and organisations that better enable sustainability.