presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar o desenvolvimento das orientações e escolhas estratégicas, ao longo de dez anos, em empresas brasileiras de performance superior. A partir de uma abordagem longitudinal, de natureza qualitativa, foram analisadas duas empresas em posição de destaque no cenário mercadológico nacional. As empresas estudadas foram o Grupo Gerdau e a Natura Cosméticos S. A. Para acessar as orientações e escolhas estratégicas, optou-se por uma triangulação de fontes primárias e secundárias, que incluiu entrevistas com Diretores, Presidentes e Executivos, análise de relatórios anuais e análise de campanhas publicitárias, pelo período dos dez anos. Os resultados revelam que as orientações estratégicas norteiam o desenvolvimento de estratégias, que possuem um forte componente cultural e que embasam as práticas gerenciais das companhias. As contribuições da tese aqui apresentada incluem a identificação das interações entre as orientações estratégicas desenvolvidas para responder às mudanças no mercado, bem como a indicação de algumas das iniciativas desenvolvidas pelas companhias no sentido de estender suas crenças, valores e competências a seus fornecedores e clientes.Ademais, foi possível observar como evoluem, nas grandes companhias que foram analisadas, as escolhas e caminhos estratégicos, ao longo de um continuum de tempo. Outro importante resultado da pesquisa aqui apresentada foi a identificação do caráter estável e constante da orientação estratégica central de uma dada companhia. Além disto, foi possível identificar os componentes das diferentes orientações estudadas o que fornece insights e auxilia na demarcação dos conceitos para futuros trabalhos que possam ser realizados sobre o tema. / The present work aims to analyze the development of strategic orientations and of strategic choices along a period of ten years, in Brazilian companies which present superior performances. Employing a qualitative longitudinal approach in the present study, were analyzed two different companies which posses a standing out position on national marketing scenery. The studied companies were Grupo Gerdau and Natura Cosméticos S. A. In order to access their strategic orientations and choices, it was made an option for a triangulation technique, which included interviews with some of their directors, presidents and other executives in charge, and the analysis of annual reports and of publicity campaigns made throughout this selected period of ten years. The results of this research gave evidences of the facts that the strategic orientations lead the development of the company strategies, and that they possess a strong cultural component, and that they base the managing practices of the companies. The contributions offered by the here presented thesis include the identification of the main interactions between the strategic orientations developed by the firms to propose an answer to the changes observed in the market, as well as the indication of some of the initiatives which were developed by the companies, aiming to extend their beliefs and values and competences to their suppliers and clients. Additionally, it was possible to observe, in the analyzed companies, how do evolve the strategic choices and the strategic routes, along a continuum of time. Another important result brought out by the same here presented research was the identification of the standing and constant character of the core strategic orientation in a specific company. Moreover, it was also possible to identify the components of the different studied orientations, and this aspect offer important insights and helps on the establishment of concepts and constructs for future works to be made on the same subject.

presente trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar o desenvolvimento das orientações e escolhas estratégicas, ao longo de dez anos, em empresas brasileiras de performance superior. A partir de uma abordagem longitudinal, de natureza qualitativa, foram analisadas duas empresas em posição de destaque no cenário mercadológico nacional. As empresas estudadas foram o Grupo Gerdau e a Natura Cosméticos S. A. Para acessar as orientações e escolhas estratégicas, optou-se por uma triangulação de fontes primárias e secundárias, que incluiu entrevistas com Diretores, Presidentes e Executivos, análise de relatórios anuais e análise de campanhas publicitárias, pelo período dos dez anos. Os resultados revelam que as orientações estratégicas norteiam o desenvolvimento de estratégias, que possuem um forte componente cultural e que embasam as práticas gerenciais das companhias. As contribuições da tese aqui apresentada incluem a identificação das interações entre as orientações estratégicas desenvolvidas para responder às mudanças no mercado, bem como a indicação de algumas das iniciativas desenvolvidas pelas companhias no sentido de estender suas crenças, valores e competências a seus fornecedores e clientes.Ademais, foi possível observar como evoluem, nas grandes companhias que foram analisadas, as escolhas e caminhos estratégicos, ao longo de um continuum de tempo. Outro importante resultado da pesquisa aqui apresentada foi a identificação do caráter estável e constante da orientação estratégica central de uma dada companhia. Além disto, foi possível identificar os componentes das diferentes orientações estudadas o que fornece insights e auxilia na demarcação dos conceitos para futuros trabalhos que possam ser realizados sobre o tema. / The present work aims to analyze the development of strategic orientations and of strategic choices along a period of ten years, in Brazilian companies which present superior performances. Employing a qualitative longitudinal approach in the present study, were analyzed two different companies which posses a standing out position on national marketing scenery. The studied companies were Grupo Gerdau and Natura Cosméticos S. A. In order to access their strategic orientations and choices, it was made an option for a triangulation technique, which included interviews with some of their directors, presidents and other executives in charge, and the analysis of annual reports and of publicity campaigns made throughout this selected period of ten years. The results of this research gave evidences of the facts that the strategic orientations lead the development of the company strategies, and that they possess a strong cultural component, and that they base the managing practices of the companies. The contributions offered by the here presented thesis include the identification of the main interactions between the strategic orientations developed by the firms to propose an answer to the changes observed in the market, as well as the indication of some of the initiatives which were developed by the companies, aiming to extend their beliefs and values and competences to their suppliers and clients. Additionally, it was possible to observe, in the analyzed companies, how do evolve the strategic choices and the strategic routes, along a continuum of time. Another important result brought out by the same here presented research was the identification of the standing and constant character of the core strategic orientation in a specific company. Moreover, it was also possible to identify the components of the different studied orientations, and this aspect offer important insights and helps on the establishment of concepts and constructs for future works to be made on the same subject.

Diploma Thesis,The Strategic Performance Measurement of Company, is focused on creation of the vision and Balanced Scorecard management system for GRANITI, s.r.o. organization. In the theoretical part, there are explained basic vocabularies of strategic management as system INFA, methodes focused on external analysis of the organization environment (PEST analysis, Porter`s model of five forces and SWOT analysis) and internal analysis of the organization environment. In the next chapter of theoretical part, there is explained Balanced Scorecard management system.In the practical part of diploma thesis, there is introduced GRANITI, s.r.o. oraganization and its strategic analysis which is linked with creation of vision and Balanced Scorecard strategy including its strategic map.

The master thesis deals with performance evaluation of Imos Brno a.s. using the Balanced Scorecard method. The theoretical part is the basis for measuring the performance of the company, it contains the theoretical knowledge gained from professional literature. The next part of the thesis is dedicated to the presentation of the selected company and then financial and strategic analysis is performed. The results of these analyzes become the basis for the last part of the work. This section discusses the individual steps of implementing the Balanced Scorecard model to the selected business to improve business performance.

This master thesis deals with increasing performance using benchmarking in selected engineering company in the Zlín region. The theoretical part introduces the concept of benchmarking in the context of improving business performance. The main part however is in-depth case study on business performance. Based on both secondary and primary data sources are the selected engineering companies in the Zlín region evaluated by the benchmarking. Building on outcomes of this evaluation are presented possible recommendations for the selected company in order to enhance or even eliminate identified weaknesses.

Literature on the divorce of ownership from control has emphasised the declining proportion of shares owned by salaried managers who control large companies. Because these salaried managers have negligible proprietarial interest in the companies they manage, some writers have suggested that they will have different motives to owner-managers. In particular, managers' direct pecuniary interests may cause them to pursue company growth at the expense of profit, for managers' salaries tend to be related to the size of the companies which they manage rather than the profitability of those companies. These alternate motivations were incorporated in various managerial theories of the firm developed in the late 1960's which emphasised company growth as a key objective. An investigation of the shareholdings and salaries of the directors of major British companies confirms that the proportion of total shares held by company directors has fallen over the years, though it is argued that shareholdings are still large enough to allow directors to exercise effective control over their companies. In addition, while the proportion of total shares held by directors is small, these shareholdings are often large in absolute terms and constitute a significant source of directors' income, though the size of directors' shareholdings varies considerably between industries. Combined dividend income and capital appreciation of shareholdings match the remuneration which directors receive as salary income. It is argued that these profit-related income elements are sufficiently large to cause directors to attach priority to profitability goals. This proposition is explored through statistical analysis of the relationship between directors' remuneration and company performance. Regression results show that as the definition of directors' remuneration is broadened to include dividends and capital appreciation as well as salary, company size variables diminish in importance as determinants of remuneration and profitability variables predominate. Managers do have an incentive to pursue profitability. / Bradford University Research Committee

This research paper explores differences in company performance levels, as measured by selected company fundamentals and annual return, with regard to the marital status of top executives, specifically the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer. It examines whether the differences in firm performance are determined by the marital status of the respective business executive. Groups of never married, married, and divorced executives are compared against each other to establish if and how the company performance changes between these groups. Summary statistics of the examined variables in conjunction with the results of the simple and multiple regression analyses indicate that marriage clearly has a detrimental effect on a firm’s performance. By contrast, divorce is beneficial as it contributes to improved firm performance. As previous research has revealed, professional performance of top executives, particularly CEOs, as well as money managers is influenced by distractions originating in their personal life events. Because human attention is naturally limited, major life events, such as marriage or divorce, can have detrimental effects on the professional performance of a business executive, and therefore also on the firm performance. Consistent with the results of previous research, the data analysis identifies marital status of CEOs and CFOs as a significant determinant of firm performance.

The objective of this study investigated the successful prediction of business failure of JSE listed companies using financial ratio analysis. During the research, financial statement data of failed and non-failed JSE listed companies during 2007-2012 financial periods were analysed, compared and interpreted. The interpretation of the trends and comparisons is of a quantitative nature, together with a qualitative genre which examines the tables, figures and equations in order to get the entire picture of the company’s performance for a five year period. The combination of literature on various failure predictor models and experience of these models resulted in the development of a modified model. The conclusion from the study indicated that financial ratio analysis successfully predicts failure and non-failure of the 16 companies that were investigated. These companies were grouped into eight delisted (failed) and eight listed (non-failed) JSE companies, which were paired in accordance to industry, fiscal period and closest asset size. The adoption of the traditional ratio analysis methods and EMS model yielded some interesting findings. The traditional ratio analysis methods (trend and comparative ratio analysis) were used with the Emerging Market Score (EMS) Model. The outcomes indicated the traditional methods are viable company failure prediction tools and the EMS model points out companies at a score of 2.60 and above as being financially stable. Between 2.60 and 1.10 the results are not very dependable because it is known that the company is in distress, yet uncertain whether the company has financially failed and below 1.10 the company has failed. It was concluded that a combination of the various prediction models enhances the accuracy of failure prediction. Therefore further research is required to assist stakeholders of South African companies to predict business failure by developing an adjusted model in a South African context. / MCom (Accountancy)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

The objective of this study investigated the successful prediction of business failure of JSE listed companies using financial ratio analysis. During the research, financial statement data of failed and non-failed JSE listed companies during 2007-2012 financial periods were analysed, compared and interpreted. The interpretation of the trends and comparisons is of a quantitative nature, together with a qualitative genre which examines the tables, figures and equations in order to get the entire picture of the company’s performance for a five year period. The combination of literature on various failure predictor models and experience of these models resulted in the development of a modified model. The conclusion from the study indicated that financial ratio analysis successfully predicts failure and non-failure of the 16 companies that were investigated. These companies were grouped into eight delisted (failed) and eight listed (non-failed) JSE companies, which were paired in accordance to industry, fiscal period and closest asset size. The adoption of the traditional ratio analysis methods and EMS model yielded some interesting findings. The traditional ratio analysis methods (trend and comparative ratio analysis) were used with the Emerging Market Score (EMS) Model. The outcomes indicated the traditional methods are viable company failure prediction tools and the EMS model points out companies at a score of 2.60 and above as being financially stable. Between 2.60 and 1.10 the results are not very dependable because it is known that the company is in distress, yet uncertain whether the company has financially failed and below 1.10 the company has failed. It was concluded that a combination of the various prediction models enhances the accuracy of failure prediction. Therefore further research is required to assist stakeholders of South African companies to predict business failure by developing an adjusted model in a South African context. / MCom (Accountancy)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015

1 Abstract The equity-based incentives are considered to be one of the instruments helping to motivate executives. The use of this compensation framework should in theory tackle and mitigate the agency problems, and prevent the possible attempts of managers to pursue their own interest over the interests of shareholders. The literature focusing on the effects differs greatly. There is no conformity over the effect of equity compensation on company performance. This research study the effect of CEO-related equity incentives and stock ownership on company performance. The main finding is the positive effect of the equity incentives measured by the percentage of CEOs' equity- based compensation on company performance proxied by the change in Tobin's Q. The thesis does not find any significant effect of insiders' stock ownership. The dataset of 107 publicly traded US companies is used for the empirical analysis. The results are estimated based on a fixed effects model and pooled ordinary least squares. This thesis contributes to the ongoing debate over the effects. It also widens the narrow literature on the structure of compensation. JEL Classification M120 Keywords Equity-based, CEO, compensation structure, equity ownership, company performance Author's e-mail theo.sarec@gmail.com Supervisor's e-mail...