The aim of this study is to understand the importance of public relations activity in non-profit organisations. The study emphasizes the bearing public relations activities can have on non-profit organisations in the contemporary world. This is especially true in an over communicated society where the vast majority of organisations compete to gain access to the scare media resources to put their message across to their potential clients, supporters and customers. Non-profit organisations generally have to depend on the donor agencies and therefore fail to attract a sizeable public relations budget. On the one hand, these organisations lack the resources to launch a successful public relations campaign and on the other the lack of knowledge and interest among general staff members makes it even harder for a public relations campaign to be developed or successfully launched. In this study, I used both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to collect and analyse data. The data were collected from two non-profit organisations based in New Zealand working in the area of child welfare. The primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews and survey questionnaires. A single semi-structured interview was conducted with each team leader of the two selected organisations. However, this was like skimming the surface and in-depth interviews would have helped me to collect richer data. On the other hand the data collected was sufficient for this research and it helped me to create a holistic understanding of the topic. The findings of the research highlight that most non-profit organisations working in the area of child welfare find it hard to market themselves due to a lack of funds and employee involvement. Although the findings from the study are significant; caution is necessary in applying the results to other scenarios and in making generalizations. One of the key findings from this research is that both organisations did not use public relations as a strategy. Most decision related to public relations was made on random basis and no long term strategic plan was made to adopt public relations as a core strategy to build creditability among their stakeholders.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD), / The confluence of a number of marketplace phenomena has provided the impetus for the selection and conduct of this research. The first is the so called value relevance of intangibles in determining share market performance of publicly listed companies. The growing gap between market and book values has been proposed as an indication of the impact of intangibles on share price values. A second related phenomenon is the increasing reliance on share price appreciation as the principal means for shareholder return as opposed to returns through dividends. This suggests that share prices are becoming an even more critical firm performance measure than traditional accounting-based firm performance measures like return on investment (ROI). A third phenomenon is the rapid growth in marketplace alliances and joint ventures, the number of which has grown rapidly over the past 30 years. The explanation for these phenomena may lie in the concept of corporate social capital (CSC) which, as an intangible asset (IA), has been proposed in several normative studies. CSC has been defined as “the set of resources, tangible or virtual, that accrue to a corporate player through the player’s social relationships, facilitating the attainment of goals” (Leenders & Gabbay, 1999, p3). However, constructs for CSC have only been loosely defined and its impacts on firm performance only minimally empirically tested. This research addresses this gap in the literature. The key aim of this research is to explore the impact of CSC on firm performance. Through the use of CSC as a lens for viewing a firm’s intangibles, several important sub-components of the CSC formulation are exposed. These include a firm’s market centrality (CENT), absorptive capacity (AC), internal capital (INC), human capital (HC) and financial soundness. Therefore, an extended aim for this research is to identify the differential impacts of the CSC sub-components on firm performance. Firm performance was measured as ROI, market-to-book ratios (Tobin’s Q) and total shareholder return (TSR). Overall, the research results indicate that CSC is a significant predictor of firm performance, but falls short of fully explaining the market-to-book value disparity. For this research an innovative computer-supported content analysis (CA) technique was devised to capture a majority of the data required for the empirical research. The use of a commercial news aggregation service, Factiva, and a standard taxonomy of terms for the search, allowed variables for intangible constructs to be derived from a relatively large sample of firms (n=155) from the global information technology services (ITS) sector from 2001 to 2004. Data indices for joint venture or alliance activity, research and development (R&D) activity, HC, INC and external capital (EC) were all developed using this CA approach. The research findings indicated that all things aren’t equal in terms of how the benefits of CSC accrue to different firms in the sector. The research indicated that for larger, more mature firms, financial soundness does not necessarily correlate with improved shareholder return. The inference is that these firms may have reached a plateau in terms of how the market is valuing them. In terms of market centrality, the research indicates that software firms could benefit from building a larger number of alliances and becoming more centrally connected in the marketplace. The reverse is true, however, for larger, more established firms in the non-software sectors. These companies can be penalised for being over-connected, potentially signalling that they are locked into a suite of alliances that will ultimately limit their capacity to innovate and grow. For smaller, potentially loss-making firms, the research indicates that investments in HC are potentially the only investment strategy that could result in improvements in profitability and shareholder return. Investments by such firms in R&D or INC developments are likely to depress shareholder value and therefore should be minimised in favour of HC investments. For larger, more established firms, investment in HC is beneficial for both ROI and TSR. Investments in areas like R&D and INC were found to be only beneficial to those firms who have the financial capacity to afford it. Firms that don’t appear to have the financial resources to support the level of investments they are making in R&D and/or INC were penalised by the market. Overall, the research provides specific insights into the links between firms and their performance, through appropriate investments in CSC. In terms of research practice, this research demonstrates the viability of computer-supported CA. Progress in the development of more intelligent search technologies will provide increasing utility to CA researchers, promising to unlock a vast range of textual source data for researchers that were previously beyond manual CA practices.

Univ., Diss.--Bayreuth, 2007.

Thesis (J.C.L.)--Catholic University of America, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-70).

Η αγορά των συνταγογραφούμενων φαρμάκων λειτουργεί σε ένα πολύπλοκο περιβάλλον που διαμορφώνεται από ισχυρές κυβερνητικές πιέσεις, ριζικές αλλαγές στην ιατρική περίθαλψη σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο, αυξανόμενο συγκεντρωτισμό της αγοράς και μεγαλύτερο ανταγωνισμό από αντίγραφα φάρμακα. Δημιουργείται έτσι η πιεστική ανάγκη για τις φαρμακευτικές εταιρίες να συγκεκριμενοποιήσουν την εικόνα που έχουν οι μέτοχοί τους για αυτές (εταιρική εικόνα) και αν είναι εφικτό να προσπαθήσουν να την διαμορφώσουν. Η δημιουργία και διατήρηση μιας θετικής εταιρικής φήμης είναι μια πολύ δύσκολη και πολύπλοκη διαδικασία, που λίγες εταιρίες κατορθώνουν να πετύχουν. Περισσότερη μελέτη του αντικειμένου υποστηρίζει την άποψη ότι υπάρχουν πολλοί εσωτερικοί παράγοντες που πρέπει να ρυθμιστούν από μια εταιρία για να απολαμβάνει ευνοϊκή φήμη από τους ομάδες ενδιαφερομένων (stakeholders). Οι εσωτερικοί παράγοντες αφορούν πληροφορίες ή σήματα που εκπέμπουν οι εταιρίες, σχετικά με την οικονομική και λογιστική τους επίδοση, την ύπαρξη θεσμικών επενδυτών στο μετοχικό τους κεφάλαιο, και την στρατηγική τους τοποθέτηση. Στηριζόμενοι σε αυτές τις πληροφορίες οι stakeholders, αξιολογούν την εταιρική φήμη. Ο απώτερος σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η αξιολόγηση των παραγόντων που προσδιορίζουν την εταιρική φήμη στο φαρμακευτικό κλάδο, καθώς και ο τρόπος που συσχετίζονται μεταξύ τους. / The market of prescribed medicines functions in a complicated environment that is shaped by powerful governmental pressures, radical changes in the medical care in world level, increasing centralism of market and bigger competition than generic medicines. It's thus created the pressing need for the pharmaceutical companies to particularise the picture that have their shareholders for them (corporate picture) and if it is feasible they try they shape it. The creation and maintenance of positive corporate reputation is a very difficult and complicated process that few companies are achieving. Further study of the object supports the opinion that there are a lot of internal factors that should be regulated from a company in order to achieve a favourable reputation from their stakeholders. The internal factors concerns information and data that companies are emitting, with regards to their financial and accounting record, the existence of institutional investors in their participial capital, and their strategic placement. Based on this information the stakeholders are evaluating the corporate reputation. The ultimate aim of present study is the evaluation of factors that determines the corporate reputation in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the way they are related to each other.

Interpersonal trust is a one-sided social dilemma. Building on the binary trust game, we ask how trust and trustworthiness can evolve in a population where partners are matched randomly and agents sometimes act as trustors and sometimes as trustees. Trustors have the option to costly check a trustee's last action and to condition their behavior on the signal they receive. We show that the resulting population game admits two components of Nash equilibria. Nevertheless, the long-run outcome of an evolutionary social learning process modeled by the best response dynamics is unique. Even if unconditional distrust initially abounds, the trustors' checking option leads trustees to build a reputation for trustworthiness by honoring trust. This invites free-riders among the trustors who save the costs of checking and trust blindly, until it does no longer pay for trustees to behave in a trustworthy manner. This results in cyclical convergence to a mixed equilibrium with behavioral heterogeneity where suspicious checking and blind trusting coexist while unconditional distrust vanishes. (author's abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Bakgrund: Flertalet tidigare studier har undersökt fenomenet underprissättning vid börsintroduktioner utifrån en rad olika perspektiv och teorier. Däremot har ingen tidigare studie analyserat investmentbankernas direkta påverkan på utfallet och om det finns en tydlig korrelation mellan en viss typ av investmentbank och graden av underprissättning. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att, med utgångspunkt i att validera tidigare teorier och studier, undersöka alternativa förklaringsgrunder till fenomenet genom att analysera sofistikeringsgraden av de underliggande processerna bland investmentbanker och därmed bidra med en mer holistisk och nyanserad förståelse. Metod: Då studien både ämnar fastställa utbredningen av ett fenomen samt undersöka dess alternativa förklaringsgrunder, kombineras en kvantitativ och kvalitativ metodik. Studien tar avstamp i en statistisk analys, följt av en kvantitativ klassificering samt slutligen en kvalitativ datainsamling i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med strategiskt utvalda respondenter. Slutsats: Studiens resultat lyckas både styrka och motsäga befintlig teori inom området och presenterar därtill en alternativ syn på bakomliggande förklaringsgrunder till underprissättning, vilka utgår från investmentbankens egna perspektiv. / Background: Several previous studies have investigated the phenomenon of underpricing based upon different theories and from various perspectives. However, none of these previous studies have analysed the direct impact of the investment bank on the final result and if there is a clear correlation between certain types of investment banks and the level of underpricing. Purpose: The purpose of this study is, based upon validating previous theories and studies, to investigate alternative explanations of the phenomenon by analysing the level of sophistication in the underlying processes of the investment bank and by doing this, contributing to a more holistic and nuanced understanding. Method: Since this study both intends to determine the scope of, and find alternative explanations of, a phenomenon, a combined quantitative and qualitative research method is applied. The study takes its starting point in a statistical analysis, followed by a quantitative classification and finally a qualitative data collection in terms of semi-structured interviews with a strategic selection of interviewees. Conclusion: The result of the study succeeds in both strengthening and contradicting existing theories within the field and presents in addition an alternative view on the underlying explanations of underpricing, from the perspective of the investment bank.

The main goal of this diploma thesis was to propose changes of PR communication in a chosen company. These recommendations were created based on the analysis of the current trends in public relations and analysis of the current situation in marketing communications and PR in a chosen company, ENERGON Brewery. They mainly concerned cooperation with life-style bloggers and other opinion-influencers, collaboration with the food-specialized magazines. Recommendations will also be applied to improve on-line reputation of the company and its on-line communication. An important part of the proposals was also the calculation of their financial cost.

Ce travail propose de s’intéresser au système « up or out » des cabinets d'audit Big Four à partir de données qualitatives (interviews et observations participantes in situ). La question de recherche initiale consiste à interroger les logiques de l’engagement des auditeurs dans un cabinet d’audit Big Four. Nous montrons d’abord que les carrières dans les cabinets Big Four sont contraignantes et incertaines car l’auditeur doit agir comme un entrepreneur de sa réputation subissant des logiques sociales incontrôlables (dynamique de la disproportion, des cercles vertueux et vicieux, des homologies d'appariement). Nous montrons dans un deuxième temps que derrière une rhétorique individualiste (la rémunération, la carrière), l'expérience du cabinet a une fonction de distinction et d’auto-affirmation qui donne aux individus le sentiment d’appartenir à une élite sélective. Le système « up or out » est présenté comme un argument scénique permettant de distribuer des prestiges différenciés. Enfin nous analysons les effets du système « up or out » sur les carrières morales des individus. Nous montrons comment le rapport au travail se reconfigure au fur et à mesure de la confirmation ou non de la promesse de carrière et nous distinguons trois figures de cette reconversion : l’intégré-distancié, le forfait et le jobard. / This work proposes to focus on the "up or out" system in the 'Big Four' audit firms through qualitative data, interviews and on site participant observation. The initial research question is to understand the logic of auditors’ involvement in a Big Four audit firm. We first show that careers in the Big Four firms are demanding and uncertain since each auditor must act as an entrepreneur of his reputation undergoing uncontrollable social logics (disproportion dynamic, virtuous and vicious cycles, homologies of pairing). We then show that behind an individualistic rhetoric (career advancement, salary) practicing in such a firm has a function of distinction and self-affirmation, which gives individuals the sense that they belong to a selective elite. The "up or out" system is presented as a theatrical argument for attributing differentiated prestige. Finally, we analyze the effects of the "up or out" system on individuals’ moral careers. We show how the relationship to work is reconfigured depending on whether the promised career is confirmed or not and we distinguish three figures in this conversion: the integrated-detached, the looser and the withdrawing.

AWeb 2.0 coloca em evidência iniciativas que valorizam atividades comunitárias, colaborativas e democráticas. Os processos de filtragem e seleção de artigos para publicação científica caminham na contra-mão destes novos conceitos. A seleção de artigos para publicação, tanto em conferências quanto em periódicos, utiliza abordagens fechadas. O objetivo deste processo fechado é garantir que somente artigos de qualidade sejam publicados. Por outro lado, devido a falta de transparência, o processo fechado está sujeito a uma infinidade de problemas que podem surgir através de equívocos ou até mesmo de tendências anti-éticas. Constam na literatura vários exemplos de problemas com o processo de seleção fechado. Com a consolidação daWeb 2.0, ambientes abertos de edição de conteúdo conquistam cada vez mais espaço. Aproveitam contribuições espontâneas de usuários para crescer rapidamente. A aplicação do processo de edição utilizado por estes ambientes em um contexto de edição e revisão de artigos científicos pode modificar radicalmente o processo utilizado atualmente. Por outro lado, por estarem sujeitos ao acesso de usuários não comprometidos, ambientes abertos não apresentam fortes argumentos para estabelecer confiança entre usuários. Este trabalho apresenta um método dinâmico para indicação de pontos de qualificação aplicado em um protótipo desenvolvido para editoração de artigos. O protótipo segue um processo onde todas as etapas que envolvem edição, revisão e comentários dos artigos são abertas e transparentes. As qualificações indicadas pelo método são geradas a partir de dados quantitativos e qualitativos e são utilizadas para gerar um ranking de qualificação dos usuários. Este ranking tem o objetivo de contribuir para o estabelecimento de confiança entre usuários. / Web 2.0 evidence initiatives over communitarian, collaborative and democratic activities. The filtering processes for selection of papers for scientific publication goes against these new concepts. The selection of paper for publications in conferences and periodics uses closed review. The objective of this closed process is to guarantee the quality of these published papers. On the other hand, the closed process has transparency lack. It is subject to a infinity of problems that can even appear through mistakes or of anti-ethics trends. Some examples of problems with the closed process consists in literature. The consolidation of Web 2.0 brings more attention to open content edition environments. These environments use spontaneous user’s contributions to enlarge quickly. The application of the process used by open content edition environments can strongly change the currently closed process used to selection of scientific publications. On the other hand, the open process is subject to fake or not compromised users. This problem starts a lack of trust for unknown users. This work presents a method for qualification points generation applied in a prototype for edition and review of articles that extends MediaWiki, the Wikipedia’s environment. The prototype implements a process where all steps of edition, comment and review of articles are open. To complete lacks of trust between users, the prototype uses a dynamic qualification method. The qualifications indicated by this method are based in quantitative and qualitative data and the users are listed in a ranking ordered by best ratings.