Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on June 8, 2009) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF DAVID WELKER, for the Master of Arts degree in CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE, presented on OCTOBER 18, 2011, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: POLICE PROGRAMS, CANINES, AND CONTINGENCY THEORY: AN EXPLANATION OF CANINE NUMBERS AMONG LARGE POLICE DEPARTMENTS MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Joseph Schafer Canines have provided services for humans over many centuries. More recently, they have been used for police work. Canines are used to apprehend suspects, track people, and find drugs. They are also seen as a less-than-lethal weapon and can be used in a number of different programs such as D.A.R.E./crime prevention education, S.W.A.T., and drug task forces. But research on canine use and effectiveness is lacking. This study tries to fill that gap using secondary data from the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey of police agencies. In this study, adoption of canines was predicted by contingency theory based on contingencies such as tasks and structural programs in the various departments. Contingency theory was also used to test the canine's role in enhancing the effectiveness of the police organizations. This study tries to explain the variation of canine use across departments by using contingency theory and the effectiveness of canines by assessing monetary values from drug forfeitures.

Sammanfattning Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi inom ekonomistyrning.             Ekonomihögskolan Linneuniversitetet Vårterminen 2012.   Författare:                 Claes Lindberg Handledare:               Jan Alpenberg Titel:                           Ekonomistyrning i småföretag                        Syfte:                          Syftet med denna studie är: Att bidra till ökad förståelse för användningen av ekonomistyrsystemen i ett tillverkande småföretag i Israel och jämföra med dito i Sverige. Att beskriva användandet av ekonomistyrsystemen samt analysera olikheter och likheter emellan dem.                                                                                                  Metod:                        Jag har i den här undersökningen valt att göra en fallstudie med två företag, ett israeliskt och ett svenskt. Den metod som jag använt definierar jag som en fallstudieteknik med en kvalitativ metod som enligt Yins dimensioner faller under multipel fallstudie med ett holistiskt tillvägagångssätt. Själva analysen har utförts med hjälp av ”contingency theory”.   Slutsats:                      I studien har framkommit att det är stor skillnad i hur de två företagen har använt sina ekonomistyrsystem. Det är stor skillnad i hur man ser på ekonomistyrsystemen och vilket mervärde de tillför organisationen. Det svenska företaget har ett ekonomistyrningssystem som är väldigt traditionellt uppbyggt och där det anses viktigt för att leda företaget på effektivt sätt. Dessa skillnader har troligtvis uppkommit både på grund av skillnader i omgivningen men också av skillnader i företagens affärsidé, koncept och också pga. skillnader i VD/ägares personlighet. Vi kan dock konstatera att båda dessa företag har verkat under längre tid med god lönsamhet trots sina olika sätt att använda de traditionella ekonomistyrsystemen. / Abstract Title                            Management Control Systems in Small Businesses Author                        Claes Lindberg Supervisor                  Jan Alpenberg Course                        Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration 15 ECts Purpose                      The purpose of the thesis is to: Add understanding to the use of management control systems in a small producing business in Israel and compare it to a similar business in Sweden. Describe the use of the management control systems and analyze the differences and differences between them.    Methodology              The methodology used in this thesis is a qualitative multiple case study                                          that according to Yins dimensions would be characterized as a holistic case study. The relevant theory for analyzing the result is contingency theory.          Conclusions                The study has found that there is a big difference in how the two companies are using their management control systems and a big difference in how management see the added value to the organization from these control systems.                                     The Swedish company has a control system that is very traditional in the type of segment where they operate and they consider the system as an important tool to lead the company in the right direction. The Israeli company on the other hand has a system that gives a more general picture and is less complicated and exact compared to the Swedish one. These differences are probably due to differences in the surroundings but also in business concept, customer demands and also difference in character and leader style of company owners. We can conclude that both these companies have been successful for 25 plus years with a profit level way above their competitors despite their different ways of using the traditional management control systems.

Denna uppsats menar att den svenska bankbranschen genomgår ett miljöskifte. I enighet med Contingency Theory finns då ett behov av anpassning för de bankerna som äntrar den nya miljön. Den svenska storbanken Nordea används i denna studie som ett exempel på en bank i den nya miljön. Genom att intervjua sex medarbetare och sex kunder till banken antas ett dubbelt perspektiv för att diskutera hur Nordeas organisationstyp och strategi förhåller sig till den nya miljön. Kundintervjuerna har påvisat att personliga relationer värderas högt. Samtidigt visar medarbetarintervjuerna och en analys av Nordeas arbetssätt att den antagna organisationstypen och strategi ser ut att minska på de personliga relationerna. Diskussionen hävdar att en Flexibel, Organisk och Kundorienterad strategi som skapar Relational Benefits passar i den nya miljön; en strategi Nordea endast delvis antagit. Slutsatsen uppmärksammar en risk i att inte tillvara ta kundernas önskan om en personlig bankrelation i den nya digitala miljön.

Abstract not available

This study investigates the degree of professionalization of human resource departments (HR departments) based on the contingency theory and institutional theory. Previous studies indicate that organizational structures are influenced by rational and institutional determinants. The requirement for increasing efficiency in organizations will drive the organizations to fit the rational determinants and demonstrate assorted structures. In contrast to the rational model, the motivation for acquiring legitimacy will drive organizations to conform to the institutional determinants and demonstrate similar structures under institutional pressure. Nevertheless, efficiency and legitimacy are not always contradictory. Organizations that share the same environment are believed to become structurally similar. By investigating the influence factors on the professionalization of HR departments, as well as how and why these influences work, this study can clarify the possible role of HR department in an organization. Extensive surveys and interviews have been conducted for this study. Specifically, one hundred and forty-four (144) questionnaires are collected from 517 Taiwanese public companies, representing a response rate of 27.85 %. Additionally, interviews are performed with qualified senior HR managers in selected companies. These interviews act to complement the surveys. The results show that the degree of professionalization in HR departments is influenced by both contingency and institutional factors. Environmental uncertainty and cost-driven strategy are two important contingency determinants. There are two possible institutional determinants. One is the mechanism of imitation by industrial trait, and the other is the normative pressure from professional HR groups. Furthermore, results demonstrate that the degree of professionalization of HR departments is higher in the electronic industry. This phenomenon may be due to the organization to deal with the high environmental varieties, to imitate successful organizations and to be influenced by professional HR groups. Since imitation is a strategy to face uncertainty, the higher degree of professionalization of HR department in this industry is not only a rational arrangement, but also helps the organization to acquire legitimacy. These findings reveal that HR department plays the roles to help the organization to increase efficiency and also to serve the motivation for legitimacy. The possible rationales for variations in the degree of professionalization among HR departments are discussed in this study. Finally, it points out that the increased professionalization will become increasingly important for Taiwanese HR departments as international competitions grow in the future.

This thesis serves auto part manufacturers as research objects, and categorizes them by market characters into types of OEM and AM strategy groups in order to discover the application differences in managerial control systems by group. This thesis aims at finding the relation between strategy group and their managerial control systems. This research took these firms¡¦ current application practices of managerial control systems as the cases. The outcomes of this study could provide a reference base for the management of underlying firms for the design and operation management of managerial control systems. This thesis developed related hypotheses via multiple case interview and questionnaire surveys with contingency point of view. The main hypotheses used in this study are: (1) Cost leadership group is facing a generally stable environment while differentiation group facing a generally uncertain environment, (2) Cost leadership group assumes less uncertainty in techniques, firms in this group aim at mass production while differentiation group assumes more uncertainty in techniques, aims at researching capacity, (3) Firms in cost leadership group have relatively formal, centralized and larger sized organizations while firms in differentiation group have flexible, decentralized and smaller sized organizations, and (4) Cost leadership firms value formal control, budgeting systems while differentiation firms value planning process and interpersonal control. Via interviews and questionnaires, the study discovered following points: OEM firms are categorized into cost leadership group, their managerial control systems think highly of cost budgeting and formal control; AM firms are categorized into differentiation group, their managerial control systems think highly of information process integration and participative budgeting. Gather quantitative information via mass amount of questionnaires is recommended. Researchers could also analyze and research further in practical realms through managerial control systems¡¦ tools in order to help forms design their tools for enhancing forms strategy implementation and objective attainment.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Apr. 22, 2009). Advisor: Nawal Ammar. Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-112).

Islamic banking system is one of the fastest growing segments of the international financial industry. This system has been receiving a growing attention nowadays especially after the global financial crisis which gave Islamic banks an opportunity to prove their resilience and contribution to financial and economic stability. The beginning of the Islamic banking in its contemporary mode was in the sixties of the past century by the first modern Islamic banking experiment which was undertaken in Egypt in 1963 by Ahmad Al-Najjar. Islamic financial institutions are established to operate commercial banking activities within an Islamic teaching perspective which depends on the elimination of any prohibited element in Islamic Shariah jurisprudence such as interest, gambling, speculation, dealing in pork or alcohol. The very distinct nature of Islamic banking led to a growing interest in determining the success factors of such type of banks especially that in most of the cases they operate with conventional banks vis a vis within the same market and sometimes under the same regulatory framework. The aim of this research is to make a comparative study between the performance of Islamic banks and conventional banks in the Egyptian financial market. The study is an attempt to determine the internal and external contingent factors that affect the profitability of Islamic banks in Egypt in comparison to conventional banks while taking into consideration the fact that both types of banks operate under the same rules and regulations. The goal is to discover whether the different nature of operations between the two types of banks is likely to affect their determinants of performance. The main motivation for undertaking this research is to fill the gap in literature and provide some information that might benefit both academics and practitioners in this field. A thorough revision of the literature suggested contingency perspective as the most suitable and appropriate theoretical framework for this type of research (Thomas, 1991; Schweikart, 1985; Otley, 1980). Data were gathered in this research through the collection of annual financial reports for the two Islamic banks working in Egypt and a sample of eleven conventional banks registered in the stock market. The study covered the period from 2002 to 2010. The findings indicate that in general, the performance of conventional banks in Egypt outweighed that of their Islamic counterparts. Moreover, it can be concluded from the results of the study that there are differences between the profitability determinants of Islamic banks and conventional banks. And eventually, it can be inferred that the nature of operations has an effect on the determination of profitability in Islamic banks and conventional banks.

The purpose of this research is to develop a comprehensive, IS assessment framework using existing IS assessment theory as a base and incorporating suggestions from other disciplines. To validate the framework and to begin the investigation of current IS assessment practice, a survey instrument was developed. A small group of subject matter experts evaluated and improved the instrument. The instrument was further evaluated using a small sample of IS representatives. Results of this research include a reexamination of the IS function measurement problem using new frameworks of analyses yielding (a) guidance for the IS manager or executive on which IS measures might best fit their organization, (b) a further verification of the important measures most widely used by IS executives, (c) a comprehensive, theoretically-derived, IS assessment framework, and by (d) the enhancement of IS assessment theory by incorporating ideas from actual practice. The body of knowledge gains a comprehensive, IS assessment framework that can be further tested for usefulness and applicability. Future research is recommended to substantiate and improve on these findings. Chapter 2 is a complete survey of prior research, subdivided by relevant literature divisions, such as organizational effectiveness, quality management, and IS assessment. Chapter 3 includes development of and support for the research questions, IS assessment framework, and the research model. Chapter 4 describes how the research was conducted. It includes a brief justification for the research approach, a description of how the framework was evaluated, a description of how the survey instrument was developed and evaluated, a description of the participants and how they were selected, a synopsis of the data collection procedures, a brief description of follow-up procedures, and a summary. Chapter 5 presents the results of the research. Chapter 6 is a summary and conclusion of the research. Finally, included in the appendices are definitions of terms, and copies of the original and improved survey instruments.