No / This research seeks to measure citizen satisfaction with the electronic Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC) offered by National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK). The paper reports on the findings of a survey of over 500 users of the NHS PPC service. Satisfaction is measured using the four dimensions from the COBRA framework (Osman et al. (2011) [1]) which comprise the cost, opportunity, benefits and risk assessment constructs. This is the first study to measure citizen satisfaction with the electronic PPC in the UK across these constructs. The results show that most citizens using the PPC electronic service are satisfied with this service and that the service meets their essential needs. The paper also presents the results of qualitative feedback obtained from the participants that can be used to determine the areas that need further improvement in the current electronic PPC service and potential influence on user satisfaction.

No / In 2005, the UK Department of Health recommended that a new role, the arrhythmia care coordinator (ACC), be created to guide patients through the diagnosis and treatment for arrhythmia. The belief was that this would improve the efficiency of care and improve their quality of life. The British Heart Foundation provided funding for 32 such posts, all of which were filled by arrhythmia specialist nurses, and commissioned an evaluation of the new service to assess its impact on patients. This paper focuses on the impact of the ACCs on their patients’ levels of anxiety and depression, hospital readmissions and costs to the National Health Service (NHS). From 2008 to 2010, using questionnaires, we conducted a longitudinal audit of the psychological status of the patients referred to the ACCs; we also assessed the ACCs’ impact on readmissions and cost benefits to the NHS using UK Hospital Episode Statistics. We found high levels of anxiety and depression amongst patients. Nearly one-third were at the ‘borderline’ or ‘clinically anxious’ and 18% were at the ‘borderline’ or ‘clinically depressed’ level at their first assessment with small changes at follow-up. In arrhythmia specialist nurse sites, readmission rates were reduced by half. After deducting the cost of the ACCs and their support, the estimated annual saving was £29,357 per ACC. This evaluation has shown that the NHS saves £29,357 per year over and above the costs of employing a British Heart Foundation ACC and that all arrhythmia centres should be encouraged to employ an appropriate number of such specialists.

M. Tech. Business Administration / Failure to use appropriate procurement and management policies and guidelines for the routine maintenance of buildings cost the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) more than necessary, and the practice has resulted in lack of efficiency. The cost of maintenance is an integral part of the business process, and needs to be assessed, monitored and evaluated based on empirical evidence and due process. The study aimed to analyse factors that affect the cost of building maintenance at SANBI, and find out ways and means in which the cost of maintenance could be reduced without compromising the quality of workmanship. It is against this background that the purpose of this study was to identify factors that affect the cost of maintenance of buildings at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in Pretoria and investigate how the factors influence maintenance cost.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore how risks and costs can be reduced when working with incoterms in purchasing within the Asia-Pacific region. To fulfil this purpose, the following two research questions have been developed: 1. How does the case company currently work with incoterms when purchasing within the Asia-Pacific region? 2. How can risks and costs be reduced when working with incoterms when purchasing within the Asia-Pacific region? Method - Theories relevant for the study's purpose were collected through a literature study. To apply the theoretical framework to empirical data, a case study was conducted at a company. The empirical data was gathered through interviews and document studies. Findings - Use of the standard Incoterms 2010 is considered to be a good tool for reducing risks and costs when purchasing within the Asia-Pacific region, where risk management is a necessary complement. It is required that all employees working with incoterms have the right knowledge about the incoterms in order to use them correctly. The knowledge can be disseminated through the organisation by using knowledge management. It is also considered important to understand the differences between countries, in order to reduce the risk of misunderstanding. Contributions - The result of the study facilitates for companies who do not know how to work correctly with incoterms. The study contributes to decreasing the gap in theory regarding working with incoterms in the APAC region. It also facilitates for companies who do not know how to disseminate knowledge internally. Limitations - The case study was conducted at a company based in Thailand, which limited the ability to communicate, due to linguistic differences. Future research - It would be of interest to conduct an empirical study at other case companies of different sizes within the APAC region and in other trade regions. In addition, it would be interesting to study how internal courses about working with incoterms can be implemented in different types of organisations. Keywords - Incoterms 2010, APAC, Asia-Pacific, risk management, logistics costs in purchasing, knowledge management, relationship between risks and costs.

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Sunk cost accounting refers to the empirical finding that individuals tend to let their decisions be influenced by costs made at an earlier time in such a way that they are more risk seeking than they would be had they not incurred these costs. Such behaviour violates the axioms of economic theory which states individuals should only consider incremental costs and benefits when executing investments. This dissertation is concerned whether the pervasive sunk cost phenomenon extends to corporate acquisitions and financial markets. 122 students from the University of St Andrews participated in three experiments exploring the use of sunk costs in interactive negotiation contexts and financial markets. Experiment I elucidates that subjects value the sunk cost issue higher than other issues in a multi-issue negotiation. Experiment II illustrates that bidders are influenced by the sunk costs of competing bidders in a first price, sealed-bid, common-value auction. In financial markets their exists an analogous concept to sunk cost accounting known as the disposition effect. This explains the tendency of investors to sell “winning” stocks and hold “losing” stocks. Experiment III demonstrates that trading strategies in an experimental equity market are influenced by a pre-trading brokerage cost. Not only are subjects influenced in the direction that reduces the disposition effect but also trading is diminished. Without the brokerage cost there was a significant disposition effect.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the separation of rehabilitation from production costs in vocational rehabilitation workshops. Within workshops there are those functions and tasks—testing, counseling, and the administration thereof—which clearly are rehabilitative. The costs of these activities, therefore, are solely rehabilitation costs. In the production area of workshop operations, however, where production and rehabilitation efforts are intertwined, two kinds of costs are incurred simultaneously: (l) rehabilitation or training costs and (2) production costs. As yet, no generally accepted procedures exist for separating these joint costs.

12. Abstract Costs of civil proceedings with concentration in petty cases This diploma thesis focuses on costs of civil trial proceedings. Although costs of proceedings are often perceived as a secondary topic, their reimbursement may commonly represent a very problematic issue for a party to a case. Costs of proceedings are incurred by both parties to a case or involved parties and the state. The thesis describes different principles that are applied to decision-making about reimbursement of the costs of proceedings with regard to their origin and the type of proceedings. After a general introduction to the costs of proceedings issues I pay attention to different types of costs of proceedings. In the second chapter I deal in more detail with the representation fee, which is usually the largest expense of the party to the case. Further I explain the terms of payment and reimbursement of the costs of proceedings. I also study an institute of moderation law that enables the court in certain conditions to disallow the reimbursement of the costs fully or partially. The core of my thesis is the reimbursement of the costs in petty cases. The whole chapter is devoted to the term of petty case because of controversial issues of one instance appeal and the limits of boundaries that set petty cases. Minor cases which...

O fenômeno da globalização provocou maior integração entre as nações influenciando o fluxo de comércio e de capitais de forma a intensificá-los. Nesse contexto, os portos figuram como importantes elementos de desenvolvimento econômico do país por serem as principais portas de entrada e saída do fluxo do comércio internacional, tornando-se estratégicos para o crescimento econômico local. Dessa forma, torna-se importante para o setor que os portos sejam eficientes e competitivos, seja nos aspectos das operações portuárias como nos custos das operações. Isso porque as tarifas portuárias, juntamente com outros fatores operacionais e geográficos, são fundamentais no processo de escolha do porto pelos seus clientes. Apesar disso, pouco se tem pesquisado acerca do desempenho econômico-financeiro dos portos e seus impactos no custo das operações portuárias, levando a processos de tomada de decisão sem boas bases de informação a respeito da economicidade das operações, como por exemplo, as decisões de formação das tarifas portuárias. Adicionalmente, isso dificulta a tomada de decisões sobre os processos e melhoria contínua como forma de melhorar o posicionamento competitivo. Este trabalho apresenta a proposição de um modelo de gestão econômico-financeira para portos, apoiado nas estruturas conceituais existentes na literatura e aplicado em uma Autoridade Portuária. O modelo é composto de quatro fases com base no conceito do ciclo PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act): i) planejamento (Plan) – onde acontece o alinhamento dos objetivos com o Plano Mestre do porto; ii) desenvolvimento (Do) – onde é realizada a estratificação do porto em processos que são analisados e avaliados em sua economicidade pela implementação de um modelo de custeio baseado em atividades (Activity-Based Costing); iii) controle (Check) – onde são construídos indicadores para controle e avaliação dos processos e; iv) avaliação (Act) – onde as informações geradas são avaliadas para tomada de decisão e possibilitam a revista ao modelo para uma revisão se necessário. Esse modelo foi aplicado parcialmente em uma Autoridade Portuária, sendo implementadas a primeira e a segunda fase, em função do tempo disponível e necessidades específicas da organização. Durante a aplicação foi possível analisar e avaliar os processos portuários do porto em estudo, identificando as potenciais oportunidades de melhoria capazes de reduzir os custos das operações e a possibilidade de implementar processos mais eficazes, contribuindo assim, no posicionamento competitivo do porto. / The globalization phenomenon boosted to greater integration among nations and intensified flow of trade and capitals. In this context, ports appear as country’s important economic development elements because they are main gateways for international trade flow, becoming strategic for local economic growth. Thus, it is important for the sector that ports be efficient and competitive, both in the aspects of port operations and the operations costs. That is because the ports tariffs, along with other operational and geographic features, are fundamental to clients in the process of choosing a port. Despite this, there is little research about the ports’ economic-financial performance and its impact in port operation costs, leading to decisions-making without information about operation cost-benefit ratio, for example, the establishment port tariffs. Additionally, this makes decision-making difficult considering the process and the continuous improvement as ways to competitiveness improve. This research shows an economic-financial management model proposition to the ports, based on the literature conceptual structures and applied a Port Authority. The model is composed of four phases according to the PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act): i) planning (Plan) — where the goals are aligned to the Port Master Plan; ii) development — where the processes are stratified, analyzed and assessed of cost-benefit ratio by an Activity-Based Costing model; iii) control (Check) — where indicators to control and to assess of the processes are created and; iv) assess (Act) — where the information is assessed to decision-making enabling us to review the model. The model was partially applied a Port Authority and had the first and second phases implemented, given the time availability and the organization specific needs. During the application, it was possible to analyze and evaluate the port processes identifying potential opportunities for improvement capable of reducing the costs of operations and the possibility of implementing more efficient processes in the competitive positioning of the port.

A indústria de biodiesel atingiu importante desenvolvimento no Brasil a partir de 2005, através da implementação do Programa Nacional de Produção e Uso de Biodiesel - PNPB. As propostas do programa incluem o estímulo ao uso de oleaginosas a partir da agricultura familiar e a negociação do biodiesel por leilões. As matérias-primas mais participativas na indústria de biodiesel no Brasil são a soja (80-85%) e o sebo bovino (9-15%). Ao demonstrar as características do sebo, a pesquisa evidencia problemas na coordenação entre frigoríficos/graxarias e usinas de biodiesel, indicando um mercado de sebo pouco organizado. Assim, o objetivo desta dissertação é verificar se a integração vertical é o regime de governança mais apropriado para a indústria. Ao mesmo tempo, a pesquisa observa as variáveis que poderiam implicar maior eficiência à cadeia do biodiesel e procura responder a cinco hipóteses relacionadas com a questão da pesquisa, através de um estudo multi-caso com oito usinas de biodiesel no Brasil que utilizam sebo bovino para a produção de biodiesel. A revisão teórica utilizou a Economia Custos de Transação e a Teoria dos Custos de Mensuração, e através da percepção dos produtores de biodiesel entrevistados, concluiu-se que a integração vertical pode ser considerada a estrutura de governança mais apropriada para a produção de biodiesel a partir de sebo bovino. Foram encontrados indícios de que o sebo é um ativo específico, com atributos de difícil mensuração, o que atesta tanto a necessidade de criação de normas técnicas como também a extensão do selo social para o sebo bovino para melhorar a coordenação entre os agentes das transações através de políticas públicas, o que poderia estimular a diversidade de matérias-primas para biodiesel. / The biodiesel industry has achieved significant development in Brazil since 2005, through the implementation of the National Program for Biodiesel Production and Use - PNPB. The proposed program includes the encouragement of oilseeds use from family farming and biodiesel trade through auctions. The most important raw materials for biodiesel production in Brazil are soybeans (80-85%) and beef tallow (9-15%). Describing tallow characteristics, the research evinces coordinating problems between slaughterhouses/rendering plants and biodiesel plants, indicating a poorly organized tallow market. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze if vertical integration is the most appropriate governance structure for the industry. At the same time, the research looks for variables that could lead to higher efficiency in the biodiesel chain and answer five hypotheses related to the research question, through a multi-case study with eight biodiesel plants in Brazil that use beef tallow to produce biodiesel. The theoretical review used Transaction Cost Economics and the Measurement Costs Theory, and through the opinion of the interviewed biodiesel producers, it is concluded that vertical integration can be considered the most appropriate governance structure for biodiesel production from beef tallow. There were found evidences that tallow is a specific asset, whose attributes are difficult to measure, in which requires technical standards as well as the extension of the Social Label Program for beef tallow to improve coordination between transactions agents through public policies, which could stimulate raw materials diversity for biodiesel.