Society's strategy for achieving well being is incompatible with long term global development. The consequences of economic growth and expansion are manifested in severe ecological and social crisis. Structural changes are needed throughout society's institutions to shift the dominant concept and pursuit of progress toward a concept of progress that is based on the development of balanced social, ecological and economic well being. This involves changing roles, responsibilities and accountability of many global institutions and organizations including government, corporations and civil society. Reviews of both dominant theory's (classical theory) and current corporate-led practices' perceptions about corporate social responsibility and accountability elucidate their limitations to motivate or support structural changes, thus prompting the need to explore alternative theories and practices for structural change. Social institution theories and structural change theories are examined as alternatives, as well as alternative practices that build corporate social responsibility. The main objective of the thesis is to explore social accounting as tool for corporations and other organizations to build social responsibility and accountability in society. This objective is explored by studying and analyzing the current practices and theoretical perspectives on social accounting and auditing. Social accounting and auditing principles are applied and further examined by developing a multiple bottom line framework for VanCity Credit Union's Alternative Lending Program. Social accounting and auditing has limited applicability to large corporations since their profit motive prevents their transparency and accountability. The contribution of social accounting and auditing in society is to increase the accountability of some organizations: it allows some corporations with unique social goals to substantiate their claims for social responsibility. Social accounting and auditing is also key in assessing the performance of organizations in the social economy since their social contributions to society are undermined by mainstream bottom line assessment. The role of civil society in advancing social accounting practices is essential. It is concluded that social accounting and auditing should be developed in conjuntion with practices that resist negative outcomes of the growing global economy, as well as in co-ordination with local strategies that strive to develop an economy focused on meeting local needs. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the possibility of household investment in the money market in the Czech Republic. In the theoretical section we can find details of the cash market and its segments. Followed by financial institutions and relevant indicators influencing investor decisions. The practical part is focused on specific financial products. They are mutually compared and evaluated in terms of availability and suitability for the small investor. Return, risk and liquidity are also taken into account.

"This project provides a blueprint that will allow Arrowhead Credit Union to clarify and confirm the new sales accountabilities associated with sales jobs within the organization, and to design and implement compensation plans that are successful and aligned with the company's objectives."

Based on research into the area of financial service delivery it has become obvious that convenience and simplicity are the keys to success in the future as far as delivering financial services to consumers. This thesis discusses how this convenience and simplicity will be accomplished. It also covers the changes that need to be made and the financial impact on the institutions.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-10-26T10:52:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Miriam Cechin da Silva_.pdf: 4003937 bytes, checksum: 36a1903d608029472cfc4baccc2587a0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-26T10:52:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Miriam Cechin da Silva_.pdf: 4003937 bytes, checksum: 36a1903d608029472cfc4baccc2587a0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-18 / Nenhuma / O tema da governança corporativa tem ganhado dimensão entre as sociedades cooperativas, dada a relevância dos impactos positivos esperados a partir de um conjunto de condutas e comportamentos aplicáveis aos agentes envolvidos neste tipo de organização. No contexto das cooperativas de crédito, em que a competitividade do setor financeiro é alta e o atendimento aos interesses dos cooperados deve ser equilibrado através de um regime de autogestão, torna-se ainda mais pertinente o estudo do assunto. Neste cenário desenvolveu-se a presente pesquisa motivada a avaliar a aderência das práticas de governança corporativa da Banricoop frente às recomendações do Guia das Melhores Práticas de Governança para Cooperativas do IBGC (2014), sinalizando na sequência, ações para o seu aprimoramento. As instâncias da governança analisadas foram delimitadas à propriedade, conselho de administração, gestão, e, conduta e conflito de interesses. A estratégia da dissertação, de delineamento qualitativo, utilizou-se de estudo de caso por ser apropriado para compreensão em profundidade do ambiente único da unidade de estudo escolhida para a pesquisa. Os dados foram coletados a partir de documentos e realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com o grupo da alta administração da Cooperativa, tendo sido tratados através da análise qualitativa. Constatou-se em cada uma das instâncias analisadas, que diversas condutas da Unidade estudada estão alinhadas com o referencial teórico utilizado, no entanto, o ponto crítico de desencontro está na constituição da estrutura de governança e gestão, em que não há segregação, gerando algumas inconformidades em relações às práticas recomendadas pelo documento referenciado. Esta situação resultou em recomendação de melhoria na estrutura de governança corporativa da Banricoop, propondo-se a separação entre o conselho de administração e a diretoria executiva, com consequente distinção dos papeis estratégico da gestão. / The theme corporative governance has gained dimension among cooperative societies due to the relevance of the positive impacts expected from a group of practices and behaviors applicable to the agents involved in such kind of organization. Within the context of the credit unions, in which the financial sector competitiveness is high and the attendance to the members interests shall be equilibrated through an auto management regime, the study of such matter becomes even more pertinent. In this scenario the present research was developed, motivated to assess the adherence of Banricoop corporative governance practices in face of the recommendations of IBGC Cooperatives Guide of Governance Best Practices (2014), signaling afterwards, for actions for its improvement. The governance instances analyzed were restricted to property, administration council, management, and, practices and interest conflict. The dissertation strategy, of a qualitative design, used a case study as it is proper to comprehend deeply the sole environment of the unity of study chosen for the research. The data were collected from documents and semi-structured interviews performance with the high administration board of the Cooperative, and they are analyzed qualitatively. It was determined in each of the analyzed instances, that several practices of the studied unity are aligned with the theoretical references used, however, the critical disagreement point lies in the constitution of governance structure and management, in which there is no segregation, generating non-conformities regarding the recommended practices related within the previously mentioned document. This situation resulted in a recommendation of improvements in Banricoop corporative governance structure, proposing a division between the administration council and the executive board of directors, with a consequent distinction of the management strategic roles.

Submitted by Oskari Kalliala (oskari.kalliala@sciencespo.fr) on 2016-04-18T07:44:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Credit Union Correspondents and Financial Inclusion in Brazil - An Exploratory Study.pdf: 5545792 bytes, checksum: 6d34d7539e504a0435f497516a543549 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Luiza Holme (ana.holme@fgv.br) on 2016-04-18T12:31:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Credit Union Correspondents and Financial Inclusion in Brazil - An Exploratory Study.pdf: 5545792 bytes, checksum: 6d34d7539e504a0435f497516a543549 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-18T12:34:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Credit Union Correspondents and Financial Inclusion in Brazil - An Exploratory Study.pdf: 5545792 bytes, checksum: 6d34d7539e504a0435f497516a543549 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-11 / The Brazilian banking correspondent network has been a topic of study for already a decade, due to its well-documented success in improving access to financial services in remote areas. The marginal but growing role of credit unions in the usage of correspondents has not received much attention from academics, despite the appraised importance of credit unions in finance of proximity. This thesis takes a multi-method approach to perform an exploratory research of credit union correspondents in Brazil. The research objective is two-fold, aiming, from one side, at understanding the incentives of credit unions for contracting correspondents and, from the other, at evaluating whether credit union correspondents improve financial inclusion. The research consists of a case study and quantitative analysis of correspondent registration data and credit union financials. The results indicate that generally the largest and most profitable credit unions use banking correspondents in order to improve efficiency and decrease waiting lines, while promoting financial inclusion only in one restricted dimension – bill payment. Nevertheless, in 2014, credit union correspondents had an important role in providing access to payments in 690 municipalities, of which 200 had low financial depth. Despite the scope limitation of credit union correspondents, the results give reasons to believe that these actors could increase their importance in the promotion of financial inclusion in the future. / A rede de correspondentes bancários do Brasil tem sido estudada há mais de uma década, em particular por causa da sua importância no aumento do alcance de serviços financeiros para regiões distantes dos maiores centros urbanos. O uso de correspondentes por cooperativas de crédito não tem recebido destaque, apesar do papel importante das cooperativas na inclusão financeira. Esta dissertação adota uma abordagem 'multimétodo' para efetuar uma pesquisa exploratória dos correspondentes de cooperativas de crédito no Brasil. A pesquisa visa, por um lado, alargar a compreensão dos incentivos que levam cooperativas a usarem correspondentes, e por outro, avaliar se esses correspondentes merlhoram a inclusão financeira. A pesquisa é formada por um estudo de caso assim como por análise de dados relativos ao registro de correspondentes bancários e de dados financeiros das cooperativas. Os resultados apontam que o uso de correspondentes bancários por cooperativas está relacionado à busca de maior eficiência e redução de filas nas agências. A melhoria da inclusão financeira por esses correspondentes limita-se a um serviço único – o recebimento de pagamentos. Não obstante, em 2014, cooperativas de correspondentes de crédito tinham um papel importante no fornecimento de serviços de recebimento de contas em 690 municípios brasileiros, dos quais 200 tinham baixos níveis de inclusão financeira. Apesar da escassa disponibilidade de serviços dos correspondentes das cooperativas, os resultados sugerem que esses atores poderiam adquirir uma importância maior na promoção de inclusão financeira no futuro.

Submitted by Marilene Donadel (marilene.donadel@unioeste.br) on 2017-10-31T00:10:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tiago_R_Fischer_2017.pdf: 2003875 bytes, checksum: c1bdcdd4bc45df8951aa64fa2fbe233d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-31T00:10:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tiago_R_Fischer_2017.pdf: 2003875 bytes, checksum: c1bdcdd4bc45df8951aa64fa2fbe233d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Collective actions are present in several organizational structures, among them credit union. This structure has been showing continuous growth rates in Brazil, and has increased its participation in the National Financial System. Credit union has played an important role in the economic and social spheres, emphasizing the role of agent that promotes regional development. Due to this situation, it should be pointed out that according to the literature, if, on the one hand, the growth of credit cooperatives has favored economic results, on the other hand it has generated challenges for the social sphere, due to the greater difficulty in organizing and motivating the credit union governance and the sustainability of this structure. As of 2011, Sicredi Alliance PR/SP, divided its cooperative base into 38 nuclei, so that the large group of cooperatives was divided into smaller groups. Such a procedure is known by Collective Action Theory as the creation of federative groups, maintaining the economic potential of a large group, without, however, losing the characteristics and benefits of small groups. In this sense, the objective of this research is to analyze the implications of group size on the collective performance of Sicredi Aliança PR/SP. The methodology used was the descriptive research, a method that allows the description of the characteristics of a given population or phenomenon, or the establishment of relations between the analyzed variables. The primary data were collected through the application of forms to the cooperative and observation of the assemblies; Already the secondary ones were collected in management reports and minutes of the assemblies. Data analysis was performed using Excel software and SPSS Statistic 24.0, through descriptive statistics and cross-tables, with quantitative-qualitative approach. It was possible to identify the positive influence of federative groups on the collective performance of the credit union under study. Specifically, it was observed that leftovers and the number of credit union increased significantly after the implementation of the new governance model. On the social side, it was also possible to verify a greater participation in assemblies and also the beginning of a credit union education program, which proved to be fundamental for the sustainability of the collective action under study. However, it has been identified that groups are still large and that reducing the size of the group without the accompaniment of cooperative education is not enough. / As ações coletivas estão presentes em diversas estruturas organizacionais, dentre as quais destaca-se o cooperativismo de crédito. Essa estrutura vem apresentando taxas de crescimento contínuas no Brasil, e tem aumentado sua participação no SFN – Sistema Financeiro Nacional. O cooperativismo de crédito, tem desempenhado relevante papel nas esferas econômica e social, destacando-se pelo papel de agente fomentador do desenvolvimento regional. Decorrente dessa conjuntura, cabe destacar que de acordo com a literatura, se por um lado, o crescimento das cooperativas de crédito tem favorecido os resultados econômicos, por outro tem gerado desafios para a esfera social, devido a maior dificuldade de organização e de motivar a participação dos cooperados, consequentemente, prejudicando a governança cooperativa e a sustentabilidade dessa estrutura. A partir de 2011, a Sicredi Aliança PR/SP, dividiu sua base de cooperados em 38 núcleos, de forma que o grupo grande de cooperados foi dividido em grupos menores. Tal procedimento é conhecido pela Teoria da Ação Coletiva como a criação de grupos federativos, mantendo o potencial econômico de um grande grupo, sem, contudo, perder as características e os benefícios dos grupos pequenos. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar as implicações do tamanho do grupo no desempenho coletivo da Sicredi Aliança PR/SP. A metodologia utilizada foi a pesquisa descritiva, método que permite a descrição das características de uma determinada população ou fenômeno, ou ainda, o estabelecimento de relações entre as variáveis analisadas. Os dados primários foram coletados através da aplicação de formulários aos cooperados e observação das assembleias; já os secundários foram coletados em relatórios gerenciais e atas das assembleias. A análise dos dados foi feita com utilização dos softwares Excel e o SPSS Statistic 24.0, através da estatística descritiva e tabelas cruzadas, com abordagem quantitativa-qualitativa. Foi possível identificar a influência positiva dos grupos federativos no desempenho coletivo da cooperativa em estudo. Especificamente observou-se que as sobras e o número de cooperados aumentaram de forma significativa após a implantação do novo modelo de governança. Já no aspecto social, também foi possível verificar uma maior participação em assembleias e ainda o início de um programa de educação cooperativa, que se mostrou fundamental para a sustentabilidade da ação coletiva em estudo. Contudo, foi identificado que os grupos ainda continuam grandes e que a redução do tamanho do grupo sem o acompanhamento da educação cooperativa não é suficiente.

No description available.

The purpose of this project is to gain a better understanding of the different market opportunities available to credit unions. The project differentiates the markets by age: Net Generation 2 to 22, Generation X 23 to 34 and the Baby Boomers 35 to 53. Each of these groups are important to the ongoing health of credit unions.

The problem of this study was to determine which publications available to Texas credit union managers are selected for reading and on what bases these choices are made. The study considered independent publications and those within the credit union industry. Survey respondents were Texas credit union managers. The study found that managers depend heavily on the two publications of the state trade association, two to three publications of the national trade association, and the state regulatory agency newsletter in cases of state-chartered credit unions. Independent publications function as secondary information sources. It was recommended that the Texas Credit Union League combine its two publications and that the Credit Union National Association consider combining publications.