Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Also available in print.

Thesis (doctoral)--Jyväskylä. / Summary in Finnish. Bibliography: p. 187-191.

Thesis (M.S.C.I.T.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Sept. 19, 2006). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.Soc.Sc.) - University of Queensland, 2007. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, August 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-149).

Title from title page of source document. Dissertation no. 3398. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-106).

Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) are considered a vital catalyst for economic growth and a source of job creation. In South Africa, with the high levels of unemployment, the contribution made by SMEs is of particular importance. However this sector of the economy is plagued by a high rate of business failure. In an effort to improve the current situation, this study sought to identify which business practices and entrepreneurial traits are present in SMEs in the Eastern Cape that may enhance business performance. The research was carried out amongst SMEs in the Eastern Cape however the results and recommendations of the study can be applied to SMEs in other parts of the country. The research methodology employed in this study was a quantitative approach. A web-based survey was distributed to potential respondents. The criteria used in identify potential respondents for the purpose of this study was that, the SME had to have less than 200 employees and been in business for more than three years. A combination of snowball and convenience sampling was used to select the sample. The researcher developed a conceptual framework using the literature as basis. The survey was distributed to 40 potential respondents. A total of 21 responses were received which translates to a 51 percent response rate. Data analysis was performed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics. The study confirmed the existence of a significant relationship between the independent variables being human resource management, accounting, technology, internal controls and entrepreneurial traits and the dependent variables being business performance. The study affirmed the notion that certain business practices and entrepreneurial traits should be prevalent in a SMEs business in order to enhance business performance. The findings of this study are such that these business practices should be present however the variables highlighted here are not absolute as there are other business practices that are of equal importance.

This thesis examines whether UK companies engage in classification shifting after the introduction of IFRS in 2005. While IFRS was issued to improve the quality of accounting practices and provides users with more useful and valuerelevant information, non-recurring items disclosures is less regulated under IFRS than under UK GAAP. Therefore, firms may have more opportunity to exercise their discretion on the classification of items within the income statement. Previous studies showed weak evidence of misclassification of recurring items within the income statements in the UK prior to the introduction of IFRS. However, it is unclear whether the flexibility under IFRS has affected the misclassification of recurring items within the income statement. The empirical results reveal that managers are more likely to exercise their discretion in the disclosure of non-recurring items following the adoption of IFRS. More specifically, it is found that managers are more likely to misclassify some recurring items as non-recurring before they engage in new debt contracts in the next period, and when classification shifting allows them to report core earnings increases. However, the results reveal that companies do not engage in classification shifting to avoid reporting core loss. This thesis also examines whether external auditors and corporate governance are able to mitigate classification shifting practices. The results show that high quality auditors are less likely to question the proper classification of recurring items. However, high quality internal governance in terms of board and audit committee are more likely to challenge management accounting practices, especially, the disclosure of exceptional items. These inferences are robust to a number of modelling specifications and variable definitions. The results collectively demonstrate that IFRS provides management with greater opportunity to misclassify some recurring items, and while external auditors do not mitigate such practices, strong internal governance do.

Emerging markets are contributing more to the global economy’s growth. This has attracted multinational manufacturing and service firms to these markets. This research investigated whether the subsidiaries of service multinationals outperform those of manufacturing service multinationals in emerging markets. The research identified 430 listed service multinational subsidiaries and 359 listed manufacturing subsidiaries currently operating in 27 emerging markets. The subsidiaries performance was analysed using the Shapiro Wilk’s test for normality and the Mann-Whitney test. In addition to this, the research ran 10 multiple regression models to test the impact of country competitiveness factors on subsidiary performance. The findings show that service multinationals’ subsidiaries outperform manufacturing multinationals subsidiaries. Additionally the findings show that manufacturing multinationals subsidiaries have developed capabilities better suited to minimising the impact of the emerging market environment on their performance. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / mngibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted