Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1957. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliographical footnotes. "Bibliographical essay": leaves 328-341.

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This thesis would be trivial if it did not aim to assist organisations to continuously improve their activities and sustain long-term profitability in today’s competitive market. It reports the development of a knowledge transfer model within MNCs with the major focus on knowledge flow within international Lean and Six Sigma teams. The model highlights the inhibitory and facilitatory factors in knowledge transfer processes. To remain among the leaders in the market, firms must continuously strive for better performance. This often implies the best management practices such as continuous improvement processes. Lean and Six Sigma are two well-known approaches which are strategically important for businesses. The adoption and deployment of both Lean and Six Sigma, however, cannot be successful without a robust knowledge management structure, especially when deployed in an international dimension where subsidiaries and HQ constantly interact to maintain a high performance level. For many decades, efforts to develop knowledge management in multinationals have been important. Some of the well-know authors in this field are Davenport and Prusak, Szulanski, Minbaeva, Gupta and Govindarajan, and Holden. Although there have been many attempts to understand the phenomenon of knowledge management in multinationals, there are limited studies reported in the literature regarding knowledge transfer in international Lean and Six Sigma teams within MNCs in the broad triad of developed, underdeveloped and developing countries. Moreover, a number of knowledge transfer models have been proposed and described in many other research studies, but none is fully adaptable to the context of these international teams because of their lack of specificity to this particular field of practice. In fact, besides working within an international team, Lean and Six Sigma project leaders in MNCs are often seen as internal consultants, providing their services to two different categories of individuals: people with basic Lean and Six Sigma knowledge and those with no Lean and Six Sigma knowledge. Hence there is a need for a strong communication system to maintain good information flow and understanding in such international firms. This research thus investigated the existing phenomenon of knowledge transfer in Lean and Six Sigma teams within MNCs through a single case study carried out in four main regions Asia (Malaysia), Europe (France, Germany, the UK), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil) and the USA. It emphasised evaluating and comparing how (1) Lean and Six Sigma knowledge was developed, transferred and implemented in these different units, and (2) how the team members interacted together in order to successfully deploy Lean and Six Sigma projects internationally. This enabled the researcher to identify and understand the difficulties behind the success of knowledge transfer effectiveness in such teams. This study was conducted in three phases. In the preliminary phase, the literature review enabled the researcher to identify the gaps and establish the conceptual framework that helped the presentation of the phenomenon. Definitions of knowledge and knowledge management are put forward to highlight the characteristics of these concepts and to show how a good understanding of the complexity of ‘knowledge’ itself can improve knowledge absorption. An evaluation of the development of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies in MNCs was conducted. Secondly, the framework guided the researcher through interviews with Lean and Six Sigma experts and document analysis which resulted in a selection of frameworks. Finally, the resulting insights from the data analysis using expert knowledge, understanding, interpretation and experience enabled the refinement and validation of the proposed conceptual framework. A final model was then recommended to help Lean and Six Sigma project leaders and managers to effectively communicate and internalise, implement and innovate knowledge within their area of practice. This model contributes to knowledge in the area of international business, management practices and knowledge management within MNCs by incorporating new factors that affect knowledge transfer processes. To begin with, it suggests ensuring a balance between subsidiary autonomy and HQ–subsidiary networking for effective communication flow while investing more time in developing trust and understanding culture since cross-cultural differences appeared also to be seen as a positive asset for organisations, offering new opportunities for learning new ways of doing things and thus leading to innovation. Secondly, it proposes reinforcing the relationship base (common interest, individual commitment, trust, credibility and respect) in teams for better interaction, decision-making and change management. Thirdly, it emphasises training for knowledge development and internalisation, mentoring and coaching, and IT compatibility for ‘knowledge leveraging’. Knowledge transmission channels such as IT compatibility systems and mentoring and coaching enabled non-duplication of a piece of knowledge in the sense that it minimises the reinvention of knowledge that already exists elsewhere in the network. This thesis provides a constructive basis for further research within the field of both knowledge management and continuous improvement methodologies (Lean and Six Sigma) within MNCs and the researcher’s goal is to expand its analytical generalisation. Although DAS was specifically using Lean and Six Sigma as continuous improment methodologies, the company was the most appropriate case for this study as it has shown remarquable results in the deployment of continuous improvement methodologies (Lean Six Sigma). This success is mainly due to their capacity in improving organisational effectiveness by expanding knowledge transfer within their MNC through networking in international teams and geographically disperced units. Besides, they have a strong organisational culture which they try to align with other unit’s cultures. Other MNCs using continuous improvement teams can thus draw on this example to improve their organisational effectiveness.

In this thesis, the ten stocks with the highest dividend yield from the OMXS30 have been used to construct a portfolio, a strategy called The Dogs of the Dow. The portfolio was equally weighted and rebalanced every year. The purpose of this thesis is to see how the strategy would perform in terms of return and risk compared to the market. To define the market two indexes were used, OMXSPI and OMXSGI, which excludes and includes dividends respectively. A low dividends portfolio was also used as a benchmark. Though beating the market some individual years and showing a tendency of performing better in an up-going market, the strategy's average annual return of 9.69 percent for the whole period only beat one of the benchmarks. The strategy's risk was fairly similar to the market risk hence, it does not compensate the lower return with lower risk. The Sharpe ratio showed that the Dogs of the Dow portfolio had the best risk adjusted return in only two out of the eleven years. This points towards the conclusion that the strategy would not have performed better, overall, compared to the benchmarks between the years of 2005 and 2015.

Seminario para optar al título de Ingeniero Comercial / El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la capacidad predictiva del modelo desarrollado por Black y Scholes. Para este propósito se testeó la capacidad de diversos modelos autoregresivos, además de un modelo multivariable y otro ingenuo. Las conclusiones se detallan a nivel de acción, modelo, sector y vencimiento. El modelo que obtuvo los mejores resultados a nivel promedio fue el Arima recursivo seguido por el Arima rolling. Durante el desarrollo del trabajo surgieron objetivos secundarios, uno de estos fue verificar si realmente el mercado sigue o no a B and S. Para esto se compararon los precios calculados por la fórmula con los precios observados en el mercado y se encontró que en un 95% de los casos, el mercado transó los activos a un precio superior al arrojado por la formula. Por esto no somos capaces de afirmar si el mercado sigue o no a B and S, pero es muy probable que su valor sea tomado en cuenta pero complementado por otras variables que el modelo no considera, como podrían ser las expectativas, el valor de la cobertura por riesgo, o la estabilidad económica y política del país. Por último buscamos un modelo que tuviera resultados probados para una determinada acción y encontramos que el modelo multivariado con las variables Dow (-1), Dow (-4), Dow (-5), Nasdaq (-1), Klac (-1), Klac (-2) y Error (-2) es el que había arrojado la mejor predicción para la acción Klac el mes anterior. Entonces aplicamos los modelos anteriores en conjunto con este a Klac y comparamos los resultados. La idea fue comprobar si es que modelos que fueron precisos en un pasado cercano, lo siguen siendo con el transcurso del tiempo. Los nuevos resultados indicaron que a medida que pasa el tiempo y cambian las condiciones económicas del mercado, los modelos pierden precisión. Finalmente el modelo con mejores resultados fue el modelo Multivariado rolling. Corroboramos que el mercado es complejo, dinámico y que aprende. En ocasiones modelos tan simples como el ingenuo obtuvieron mejores resultados que los modelos más complejos, lo que indica que hay cuotas de azar, expectativas y otros factores aleatorios que hacen muy difícil predecir el comportamiento del mercado y superar su rendimiento.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Jay F. Coughenour, Dept. of Finance. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed May 27, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-44)

[pt] O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar o desempenho da estratégia de investimento Dogs of Dow (DoD) nos mercados latinos americanos no período de 1995 a 2011 bem como determinar se tal desempenho é discrepante em momentos de crise e crescimento econômico. Foram analisados os seguintes mercados: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colômbia, México e Peru. Os resultados demonstram que a estratégia DoD possuiu um desempenho superior ao mercado, antes e após ajustar ao risco, em todos os países à exceção do México no período analisado. Os resultados são significativos do ponto de vista estatístico como econômico. Em geral, o desempenho nos sub-períodos apresentou-se em linha com o desempenho no período todo, indicando que, tanto em momentos de crise como de crescimento, as estratégias DoD tem retorno superior ao mercado. / [en] The goal of this study is to analyze the performance of the Dogs of Dow (DoD) investment strategy in Latin American stock markets from 1995 to 2011 and also determine if the performance varies on growth and recession periods. The following countries were analyzed: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Our findings suggest that the DoD outperforms the market, on an absolute and on a risk-adjusted basis, in all Latin American countries except Mexico. The results are significant in both statistical and economic terms. In general, the performance of DoD in different sub-periods is in line with the overall period, indicating that the DoD has a superior performance in both growth and recession periods.

Det finns mycket och omfattande forskning kring företags engagemang i miljö- och socialrelaterade frågor, också benämnt CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). Det råder dock ännu ingen konsensus om hur CSR påverkar marknadsvärdet av företag och huruvida hållbarhetsarbete är värdeskapande eller ej. Trots att Europa anses ligga i framkant inom hållbarhet är flertalet studier gjorda på den amerikanska marknaden. Därför syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur inkludering/exkludering ur ett hållbarhetsindex påverkar kortsiktigt aktiekurs för företag i Europa. Dessutom undersöks om det finns en skillnad i kortsiktig marknadsreaktion vid inkludering beroende på om ett företag antas ha små respektive stora agentproblem. För att undersöka detta genomförs en eventstudie, dels för annonseringsdagen av Dow Jones Sustainability Index World, dels för dagen då justeringen av indexet görs gällande. Studien påvisar ingen signifikant marknadsreaktion för varken inkludering/exkludering. Små och stora agentproblem kan heller inte fastslås orsaka en skillnad i marknadsreaktion vid inkludering. Detta utesluter dock inte att CSR kan ha en effekt på aktiekursen på längre sikt. Något som rekommenderas för framtida studier är därför att undersöka hur arbete med hållbarhet påverkar företags aktiekurs på längre sikt.

Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2005.