A presente tese visa a construir um princípio cujo conteúdo normativo e eficácia viabilizem a concretização, de forma ótima, das finalidades idealizadas na Constituição Federal de 1988, no que diz respeito às microempresas e empresas de pequeno porte, reunidas na expressão “empresas de porte reduzido”. A partir da relevância que essas empresas detêm ao redor do mundo destaca-se o caso do Brasil, em que há dois princípios constitucionais positivados (inciso IX do art. 170 e art. 179) que lhes atribuem um tratamento diferenciado e favorecido, de modo a incentivá-las. Todavia, os referidos princípios, isoladamente considerados, não têm o condão de transmitir todo o conteúdo normativo necessário para otimizar o atendimento às finalidades constitucionais, a partir de uma perspectiva tributária. Como decorrência mostra-se necessária a construção de uma norma jurídica, até então não vislumbrada pela doutrina, a qual contemple a mais ampla extensão da proteção às empresas de porte reduzido. A partir disso, e interpretando os referidos dispositivos constitucionais, é construída a norma com natureza de princípio, chamada de princípio da atenuação tributária das empresas de porte reduzido. Em relação ao conteúdo normativo desse princípio é defendido o seu caráter bidimensional, de modo a produzir efeitos não apenas perante a empresa como contribuinte (primeira dimensão), mas também perante seus titulares, sócios e administradores como responsáveis tributários (segunda dimensão). Com isso o princípio em tela acaba por ter eficácia também em duas dimensões, atingindo a relação da Fazenda Pública com o contribuinte e também com os terceiros responsáveis tributários. Como consequência, em sua primeira dimensão o princípio pode produzir uma redução da carga tributária das empresas de porte reduzido, e reduzir a quantidade e complexidade das obrigações tributárias acessórias que lhe são impostas, devendo a concretização desse desiderato se dar por lei complementar (art. 146 da CF/88). Além disso, não pode o Poder Legislativo elaborar norma que atribua carga tributária maior para as empresas de porte reduzido, em comparação com as demais empresas; ou obrigações tributárias acessórias em quantidade e complexidade maior para as empresas de porte reduzido, em comparação com as demais empresas. No que concerne à segunda dimensão o princípio em questão impõe limites ao Poder Legislativo para que não elabore normas de responsabilidade tributária de terceiros mais gravosas do que as normas gerais do Código Tributário Nacional. Além disso, fica o Poder Legislativo também impedido de elaborar normas de responsabilidade tributária de terceiros baseadas em presunções, em função do excessivo ônus imposto aos micro e pequenos empreendedores para afastamento do fato presumido. Ainda, o princípio em questão impõe limites ao Poder Judiciário, que não pode aplicar normas de responsabilidade tributária mais gravosas do que aquelas fixadas no CTN. E, por fim, o princípio em tela também impede que o Poder Judiciário atribua responsabilidade tributária a titulares, sócios e administradores de empresas de porte reduzido com base em presunções, enfatizando-se a inaplicabilidade da Súmula nº 435 do STJ. / The purpose of this thesis is to develop a principle which normative content and effectiveness make it possible to optimally achieve the goals envisaged in the Federal Constitution of 1988, in the case of micro-enterprises and small enterprises, named as “small size enterprises”. From the relevance of these companies around the world stands out in the case of Brazil, in which there are two written constitutional principles (section IX of article 170 and article 179) that give those companies a differentiated and favored treatment, in order to incite them. However, these principles, considered separately, do not have the power to transmit all the normative content that is necessary to optimize the attention for the constitutional purposes, from a tax perspective. As a result, it is necessary to develop a legal norm, hitherto not envisaged by the doctrine, which contemplates the broadest scope of protection for small size enterprises. From this, and interpreting the mentioned constitutional provisions, the norm is developed with the normative nature of principle, named as principle of tax relief for small size enterprises. With regard to the normative content of this principle, its two-dimensional nature is defended, so as to produce effects not only on the company as a taxpayer (first dimension), but also on its owners, partners and administrators as tax responsibles (second dimension). With this, the principle on the screen turns out to be effective also in two dimensions, reaching the relation of the Public Treasury with the taxpayer and also with the third party tax responsible. As a consequence, in its first dimension the principle can produce a reduction in the tax burden of small companies, and reduce the quantity and complexity of ancillary tax obligations imposed on it, considering that the accomplishment of this goal should be given by a complementary statute (article 146 of the Constitution). In addition, the Legislative Branch cannot elaborate a norm that assigns a higher tax burden to small companies compared to other companies; or ancillary tax obligations in a larger quantity and complexity for smaller companies compared to other companies. With regard to the second dimension, the principle in question imposes limits on the Legislature so that it does not elaborate norms of third-party tax liability that are more burdensome than the general rules of the National Tax Code. In addition, the Legislature is also prevented from elaborating norms of third-party tax liability based on presumptions, due to the excessive burden imposed on micro and small entrepreneurs to move away from the presumed facts. Moreover, the principle in question imposes limits on the Judiciary, which cannot apply tax liability rules that are more burdensome than those established in the National Tax Code. Finally, the mentioned principle also prevents the Judiciary from assigning tax liability to holders of smaller companies, members and managers based on presumptions, emphasizing the inapplicability of Superior Court Order 435.

The thesis analyzes the area of enterprise content management (ECM), identifies its relation to other business applications and defines various stages of the life cycle of documents. It also describes individual components of ECM, including the technologies covering these components. A tool for managing and storing documents (DMS) in ABC company is presented in more detail in the practical part. The Exact Synergy Enterprise software demonstrates its advantages and disadvantages affecting document management and operational problems that this kind of software may carry.

Technical debt is used to describe the changing or to maintain a system due to expedient shortcuts done during its development. In the context of the software development industry, technical debt is regarded as a critical issue in terms of the negative consequences such as increased software development cost, low product quality, decreased maintainability, and slowed progress to the long-term success of developing software. Code Smells are well informed in the domain of Technical Debt. They indicate to the common bad practices that may impair the future quality of the software system. By identifying those Code Smells, it is possible to give an improved solution or make the developers aware of a possible deficiency. I explore the premise that technical debt within the enterprise should be viewed as a tool. Extensible and Appropriate tools can check the Code Smells automatically and improve the quality assessment accordingly. However, in the field of Enterprise Architecture(EA), common bad habits in EA can be called EA Smells. EA Smells itself can be a component of EA Debt. Enterprise Architecture Debt can be defined as such a metric that depicts the deviation of the currently present state of an enterprise from a hypothetical ideal state.In this thesis, we introduce SmellCull as an extensible tool for capturing, tracking and managing Enterprise Architecture debt in the EA field. SmellCull allows measuring different kinds of Enterprise Architecture debts for EA Model. SmellCull is extensible since different types of Model can be integrated as input into the tool environment and provides developers with a lightweight tool to capture EA debt and make it easier to understand them indicating corresponding parts in the implementation. The tool is used to create propagation paths for the EA debt. This allows for an up-to-date and accurate presentation of EA debt to be upheld, which enables developer conducted implementation-level micromanagement as well as higher-level debt management.Since the tool is sophisticated enough, automated detection supports the design process and ongoing change of EAS(Enterprise Architecture System). This includes the strategic development of EAS with the corresponding roadmaps, as well as design assurance and performance monitoring to assess the quality of data in EA repositories and the compliance with certain standards defined by EA Smells. Due to the limited scope of master thesis, the tool will identify a few number of EA debt. At the end, some future work suggestions in the context of identifying more salable Enterprise Architecture Debts with this tool are given. / Teknisk skuld dvs dålig eller kortsiktig programutveckling som belastning på IT-system måste förr eller senare återbetalas. I industrin betraktas teknisk skuld som en kritisk fråga när det gäller de negativa konsekvenserna som ökad mjukvaruutvecklingskostnad, låg produktkvalitet, minska underhåll och långsammare framsteg till den långsiktiga framgången med att utveckla programvara. Dålig kodkvalitet “code smell” är vanligt förekommande teknisk skuld. Det uppkommer i vanliga dåliga metoder “anti-patterns” som försämrar programvarans framtida kvalitet. För att kunna identifiera bristande kodkvalitet är det möjligt att skapa en förbättrad lösning eller göra utvecklare medvetna om de möjliga bristerna. Jag undersöker förutsättningarna att en sådan teknisk skuld i företag bör undersökas med en programvara. Utbyggbara och ändamålsenliga programvaror kan analysera källkod och hitta var kvaliteten behöver förbättras. Företagens tekniska skuld kan definieras som ett mått som visar avvikelsen från ett hypotetiskt idealtillstånd genom att jämföra det aktuella tillståndet med praktiska rekommendationer “best practice”. I detta examensarbete introducerar jag SmellCull som ett utbyggbart verktyg för att hitta, spåra och hantera bristfällig kodkvalitet inom företagsarkitektur (EA). SmellCull tillåter mätning av olika typer av tekiska skulder för EA modellen. SmellCull är utbyggbart genom att olika typer av datamodeller kan integreras som indata i miljön, och det ger utveck-lare ett lätt verktyg för att hantera teknisk skuld i programmeringsprojekt och hjälpa projektdeltagarna i programmeringsprojekt att förstå vad orsakar brister i kodkvalitet.  Eftersom verktyget är tillräckligt sofistikerat finns det automatiserad spårning, designprocess och kontinuerlig förbättring av EAS (Enterprise Architecture System). Detta inkluderar strategisk utveckling av EAS med motsvarande färdplan, samt konstruktionssäkerhet och prestandäovervakning för att bedöma kvaliteten på data i EA förvar och efterlevnaden av vissa standarder som definieras av EA code smell detection. På grund av den begränsade omfattningen av examensarbetet kommer verktyget att  identifiera några få EA skuld. I slutet, några framtida arbetsförslag i samband med identifiering mer säljbara företagsarkitekturskulder med detta verktyg ges.

The structure of the master's thesis includes an introduction, three chapters, conclusion, list of used sources. The first chapter deals with theoretical foundations, including the disclosure of the concepts of "costs", "costs" and "expenses", their comparative analysis, the study of the classification and structure of enterprise costs, as well as the functions, principles, and methods of cost management. In the second chapter, a detailed analysis of the financial position of the object under study is carried out, as well as studying the features of the structure and formation of costs. In the third chapter of the work highlights the main problems of cost management of the enterprise, develops a set of measures to optimize costs, which includes an investment project, which is aimed at optimizing costs and increasing profits. / Структура магистерской диссертации включает в себя введение, три главы, заключение, список использованных источников. В первой главе рассматриваются теоретические основы, включая раскрытие понятий «затраты», «издержки» и «расходы», их сравнительный анализ, изучение классификации и структуры затрат предприятия, а также функций, принципов и методов управления затратами. Во второй главе осуществляется детальный анализ финансового положения исследуемого объекта, а также изучаются особенности структуры и формирования затрат. В третьей главе работы выделяются основные проблемы управления затратами предприятия, разрабатывается комплекс мероприятий для оптимизации затрат, который включает в себя инвестиционный проект, который направлен на оптимизацию затрат и на увеличение прибыли.

This investigation aims to explore the motivating factors behind the decision to engage in informal self-employment within ethnic economies. Through a series of semistructured qualitative interviews with Latin American immigrant women participating in informal self-employment in Stockholm, this study focuses on the ways in which agency and structure can influence economic decisions. Using the theory of mixedembeddedness, the results show that participating in informal self-employment can be understood as both a product of capitalizing on available social and ethnic resources, as well as the outcome of limited opportunities in traditional labour markets. While social and ethnic networks facilitate informal exchanges and provide an environment in which alternative employment opportunities become available, the decision to start an informal enterprise correlates with a lack of other opportunities, due to factors such as discrimination, a lack of language skills, limited access to start-up capital and a complex institutional context for small-scale entrepreneurs.

In South Africa the main electricity supplier “Eskom” is struggling to meet the increasing demand. To lower the problematic electricity demand, demand side management projects are implemented by large electricity consumers. Measuring equipment is installed as part of these projects to monitor and manage the electricity consumption. Measured data is stored and can be analysed to produce information used for energy management. This, however, is a difficult and time-consuming task, because there are large volumes of data to filter through. It is repetitive work which can be automated. Various data analysis methods are available. These include plotting charts and tables using software packages or data management products. Manually analysing the data using different methods and software packages can be a long and painstaking process especially with large volumes of historical data. Information needs to be customised for different users. For example, managers need to view the end power usage and the amount of electrical energy that can be saved or was saved. Technical personnel need more detail about the electricity consumption by individual components in their system. To interpret the data in different ways a powerful tool is needed. There are many existing tools and software packages available, but most of them focus on buildings or factories. The software packages also have fixed reporting methods that are usually not customisable. In this study a customisable data analysis interface was developed to provide a solution for all the different needs. This interface is user friendly without limiting its customisable functionality. Data is received via emails, processed and then stored in a database hosted by a web server. Users access a website and configure custom charts and tables using the available data. The charts and tables are then displayed on the client’s own home page when the client logs onto the website. This interface was implemented on a website. The results of the interface were tested by automating existing reports using the customisable data analysis interface. Also when compared with the previous data analysis methods it was easily customisable, where it was very hard to customise the previous data analysis methods. It was found that the development of the customisable data analysis interface reduced man-hours spent on reporting with 70% to 80% for large energy consumers by automating the reports. The man-hours are estimated to have a value of R 20 000 to R 60 000 per month, depending on the salaries of the personnel and the volume of reports. It will help the Demand-Side Management (DSM) projects to become a continuous system to lower electricity consumption by providing information that is useful for energy management. / MIng (Computer and Electronic Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In South Africa the main electricity supplier “Eskom” is struggling to meet the increasing demand. To lower the problematic electricity demand, demand side management projects are implemented by large electricity consumers. Measuring equipment is installed as part of these projects to monitor and manage the electricity consumption. Measured data is stored and can be analysed to produce information used for energy management. This, however, is a difficult and time-consuming task, because there are large volumes of data to filter through. It is repetitive work which can be automated. Various data analysis methods are available. These include plotting charts and tables using software packages or data management products. Manually analysing the data using different methods and software packages can be a long and painstaking process especially with large volumes of historical data. Information needs to be customised for different users. For example, managers need to view the end power usage and the amount of electrical energy that can be saved or was saved. Technical personnel need more detail about the electricity consumption by individual components in their system. To interpret the data in different ways a powerful tool is needed. There are many existing tools and software packages available, but most of them focus on buildings or factories. The software packages also have fixed reporting methods that are usually not customisable. In this study a customisable data analysis interface was developed to provide a solution for all the different needs. This interface is user friendly without limiting its customisable functionality. Data is received via emails, processed and then stored in a database hosted by a web server. Users access a website and configure custom charts and tables using the available data. The charts and tables are then displayed on the client’s own home page when the client logs onto the website. This interface was implemented on a website. The results of the interface were tested by automating existing reports using the customisable data analysis interface. Also when compared with the previous data analysis methods it was easily customisable, where it was very hard to customise the previous data analysis methods. It was found that the development of the customisable data analysis interface reduced man-hours spent on reporting with 70% to 80% for large energy consumers by automating the reports. The man-hours are estimated to have a value of R 20 000 to R 60 000 per month, depending on the salaries of the personnel and the volume of reports. It will help the Demand-Side Management (DSM) projects to become a continuous system to lower electricity consumption by providing information that is useful for energy management. / MIng (Computer and Electronic Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Customer relationship management (CRM) as an academic subject and a business tool is as relevant today as ever before. As part of the CRM model banks have implemented the concept of relationship banking. The retail banking industry has been troubled with the issue of customer loyalty as both personal and commercial customers have shown the tendency to utilise different products and services from different banks or financial institutions. The problem seems to be Customer Loyalty (or is it?), which as a field of research has been exploited in recent years. The aim of the research report will be to contribute to the existing research on Customer Loyalty and the effects of Relationship Banking (as part of a CRM model) thereon. / Relationship banking, as exemplified by retail banks, is a valuable enabling strategy that promotes competitiveness and provides sustainable success. The utilisation of relationship banking as a business strategy to increase customer retention, create customer loyalty and ultimately increase long-term profits is a relative young tactic, originating in the 1980s and gathering pace during the 1990s. The correct application of relationship banking could impact on the bottomline of banks favourably. Hence the positioning of this research to investigate the effect of the relationship banking offering on customer loyalty, and its use in realising customer loyalty and long-term value from relationship banking initiatives. The retail banking industry in South Africa is a complex and very competitive environment, which is dominated by the big four banks (ABSA, First National Bank, Nedbank, and Standard Bank). It is a business imperative for the management of the banks to ensure that they establish, develop and improve relationships with their most important asset, their customers. Operating in such a dynamic environment requires of banks to fully understand all the factors of relationship banking that affect their success and market share. What is the impact of relationship banking on customer loyalty, and what are the possible results that can flow from a close relationship between bank and customer? The main research hypothesis states that business customers who receive the relationship banking offering from their retail bankers are more loyal towards their bank than those business customers who do not receive the relationship banking offering. With this in mind the research seeks to clarify specific primary objectives based on the hypothesis: • To investigate the impact that relationship banking has on the loyalty of business banking customers in the retail banks in South Africa. ii • To identify the critical factors of relationship banking that can influence customer loyalty. • To identify the benefits of relationship banking and customer loyalty. The research composed of a field study in the retail banking industry, with a sample of 80 business banking customers with a close business relationship with their banker or having a personal banker looking after the relationship, and 80 business customers without a close business relationship with their banker or no personal banker looking after their relationship. The survey focused on the attitude or perception of business customers based on relationship and loyalty dimensions. The research, in combination with the literature review provided valuable insight into the factors influencing relationship banking, its value as part of a retail business banking proposition, as well as the effect it has on customer loyalty. It also provided insight into the importance of customer loyalty and its impact on customer retention and long-term profitability. It is clear from the literature review and research that a relationship banking offering adds value with regard to customer retention and loyalty. The results and findings from the research and literature review represent a remarkable difference between the perceived levels of customer loyalty of the two groups. This is an indication that relationship banking affects customer loyalty positively. The critical factors of relationship banking that were found to influence customer loyalty included the value proposition, service and quality, employee competency (relationship banker), price, reward and recognition, and communication. The benefits of developing and building customer loyalty included: retention of customers and staff, customer satisfaction, trust, word of mouth referrals and growth, cost reduction, cross-sales, profitability (relationship lifetime value) and enhancing the bank’s competitive advantage. iii The researcher recommends that retail banks must continue to implement relationship banking offerings across all business customer segments. A possible consideration will be to divide the relationship banking offering on different levels: high-touch; medium-touch; and low-touch. These different value propositions should represent mutual (bank and customer) requirements and financial feasibility for banks. Banks must place customer-centricity at the core of their relationship banking strategy. To support the relationship strategies banks need to understand the behaviour of their customers and their buying habits. Market segmentation is a critical aspect of relationship marketing and the segmentation of business customers must be in line with the different levels of relationship offerings. Segmentation should also be in line with customer value or customer profitability, complexity of financial demands, annual turnover and industry. This segmentation will allow banks to provide the correct relationship banking offering to the right customer. To support the segmentation process banks need to be able to determine the individual customer profitability. Management information systems must be developed and used to determine the customer’s profitability. Once the segmentation has been concluded banks must implement and use applicable CRM strategies and CRM systems to complement the relationship banking offering. It’s about knowing their customers well enough to determine the kind of relationship they would like to have. Banks must also try to extend their CRM strategy across all customers. The support from top management and understanding of the relationship banking offering is critical as a lack of support can derail the success. The main recommendations for further study that transpired from the research included: • Research on the calculation of relationship life time value. iv • Research on a model for appropriate market segmentation of business banking customers in South Africa. • Research on the importance of reward and recognition strategies to valued customers, plus loyalty programmes. • Research on the key characteristics of relationship bankers.

The tension uncovered during this study is between two worlds: the very pragmatic and enormously challenging world of managing in a rapidly changing and highly competitive global market, and the scientific world of strategic management thinking and the concern that contemporary strategic management is unable to deal effectively with the modern dilemma of globalisation. This dilemma is as a result of change; before a current scenario can be solved, the next evolution of scenarios is upon the business community. In today's turbulent world, globalisation is sweeping away the market and industry structures that, historically, have defined competition. Swept away with them are the classic approaches to strategic management, nearly all of which mistakenly assume that a predictable path to the future can be paved from the experiences of the past. The solution: Strategy should be dynamic and should change constantly in order to contend with external turbulences. Organisations should brace themselves for a future of hyper-competition. They should respond to these rapid changes in the business environment by adopting a new approach to strategy, one that combines speed, openness, and flexibility. Organisations need: an ability to sense changes in their environment; an ability to understand the impact, of this change, on the whole; a willingness to adapt to change; and an ability to adapt. Experimenting with new strategies is also important. Constant testing, adaptation and building on what is found to be successful with customers is the way ahead, especially when one is trying to re-invent the value provided, or the way in which it is produced and delivered. The overall purpose of this experimental strategic learning and management process is to establish which strategic options or elements thereof are robust across the possible competitive scenarios, and use the healthiest elements to develop your strategic intent - your core strategic focus or theme.

Decades after the idea of not-for-profit marketing was first introduced the uptake has not been universal. This study investigates the application of commercial marketing principles in a sector where objectives other than profit are pursued. In particular, it seeks to establish the effectiveness of not-for-profit marketing in encouraging the public to “pay” the required “price”; to investigate the influence of charity brands on stakeholder choices; the influence of a charity’s reputation on donor behaviour; and whether smaller charities are aware of and use their brands. A questionnaire tested donor perceptions and through a focus group insight was gained into the marketing practices of smaller charities. The results indicate that not-for-profit marketing is effective and that smaller organisations can compete through less expensive marketing techniques, that charity brands are extremely valuable but underutilised, and that an organisation’s reputation is its most valuable asset. Recommendations are made to improve the performance of smaller charities by addressing marketing and wider management practices.