Most social assistance programmes have exit strategies in place which require beneficiaries to end their participation in the programme either on an involuntary or voluntary basis. This can occur when the socioeconomic circumstances of the recipients have improved so they accomplish programme objectives and no longer need programme benefits (World Bank, 2000). Despite this ideal of being able to exit the grant system it seems that the withdrawal of the foster care grant can erode quality of life, particularly in circumstances where the foster parents do not have exit plans put in place. The aim of the study was to explore the exit plans of the recipients of the foster care grant in Soweto and the challenges they face in coming up with these plans. The study adopted a qualitative approach and it was exploratory in nature. Ten foster parents and four key informants from the Department of Social Development were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected using two separate semi-structured interview schedules for participants and key informants. The data gathered was then analysed using thematic content analysis. The results of the study revealed that there was little knowledge and understanding about the foster care grant and what it seeks to do. The study also revealed that there were no exit plans put in place by foster parents. These results of the study found that the participants had very little knowledge of what an exit strategy was and they did not have set exit plans to exit the grant. Other findings indicated that there was no support for participants from their social workers in terms of the sharing of information and the development of exit plans. This study will thus contribute to the discourse on social assistance in general and foster care grants in particular. Furthermore, it will help to sensitise social workers on the need for exit plans for the recipients of foster grants.

Exit is an inevitable part of any business relationship. However, despite its importance, exit in buyer–supplier relationships is still a poorly understood phenomenon. Building on previous studies, this thesis addressed these concerns by empirically: a) identifying the economic and social antecedents that influence the exit decision; and b) validating how the antecedents of exit are related with the choice of exit strategies. To achieve these objectives, first, a systematic literature review was conducted to identify 82 studies that documented existing research on exit in buyer–supplier relationships. Second, informed by Transaction Cost Economics and Social Exchange Theory, a set of 88 testable hypotheses was developed and a survey captured data from 505 recently terminated relationships involving UK based firms. Finally, for data analysis, statistical techniques were employed including: a) analysis of variance; b) independent sample t–tests; c) multiple logistic regression; and d) multi–nomial logistic regression. The empirical findings of this thesis validated that: a) there are 8 economic and 14 social antecedents that influence the exit decision; b) lending support to extant research on exit, 57 hypotheses were accepted; c) 12 multiple logit models confirmed the relationship between a set of antecedents and exit strategies; and d) 6 multinomial logit models validated the relationship between a set of antecedents and a choice of one exit strategy over another. The results suggest that the influence of antecedents on the choice of exit strategies was subject to how the antecedents were analysed. The contributions of this research to Supply Chain Management literature are that we know now: a) which economic and social antecedents influence the exit decision; b) how individual antecedents affect exit strategies; c) how antecedents combine to affect exit strategies; and d) how antecedents combine to affect the choice of one exit strategy over another. This work provides an exit management tool box comprising a combination of data collection instrument, empirically derived framework and models that enables the managers to timely review the strength and weaknesses of their business relationships and their management processes.

Czech economic depends on small and medium enterprises that represent 99.84 % of all active Czech enterprises. Every single region in the Czech Republic is strongly interconnected with SMEs. Every entrepreneurial subject similarly to every person has its parent the founder that set up, managed and developed the business. Despite the enormous progress the humans have made one thing we cannot change and that is the simple time going by and with it related growing old and mortality of humans. There always comes the time in the life of every business founder to leave their business. Further existence of the business unit depends on what exit path the entrepreneur-founder chooses and how he handles this process. Its further existence is the key for the stability of economics and influences the inhabitants' welfare in the region, the business unit comes from. The enterprise can lose or earn much when the founder leaves. The leadership change is a huge intervention in functioning enterprise, and becomes a milestone in its next existence. The European Commission's Directorate General Enterprise and Industry stated that "Approximately one third of European enterprises will need to be transferred to the next generation in the coming 10 years. This means that an average of 610 000 small and medium-sized enterprises will be changing hands each year, potentially affecting 2.4 million jobs." Considering this I carried out the first research among the Czech entrepreneurs about their exit from their businesses so far. Based on this research I can state that the question of entrepreneurial exit is topical for interviewees. More than a half of respondents applied themselves to this question more or less, however only 30 % of them are prepared for the entrepreneur's exit and have a prepared plan. Next 30 % of respondents' firms are endangered by sudden incident because they have no plan for the case of the entrepreneur's exit. One half of interviewees that have already thought about heir exit would like to leave their business in a 5-year-horrizons. Whether the entrepreneur addresses his entrepreneurial exit or not depends mainly on his age, time spent by building the business and the number of employees. The entrepreneurs are attached to their businesses and they retire only reluctantly. The least of interviewees (only 2 % of entrepreneurs) would choose the complete transfer to another family member, i. e. not only passing the manager's post but also the whole ownership share. On the contrary most of the respondents would like to keep at least some ownership share and pass only the control over the firm. Some of the exit path factors are the entrepreneur's age, motivation to set up the business, current situation and expected future progress of the firm, and engagement of other family members within the business. All interviewees that had clear plan of their entrepreneurial exit and would choose passing the business to other family member were pushed into starting the business. When the respondents perceived the current business situation as positive they preferred such exit path that their business would survive. At the same time they would not choose business liquidation when they expected positive further development of the firm. Out of 14 respondents that would like to pass the control to their family member, 65 % stated that other family members were engaged in the business. The higher the age of the entrepreneur the higher the probability that the leaving entrepreneur will pass their business to their family member in some way.

The international community has long relied on United Nations (UN) peace operations as the means of creating and maintaining international peace and security, however the realities of what a “successful” mission looks like remains obscured, as the experiences and definitions of success may differ between the various players involved. While a shared definition of success and operational structure remains elusive, it is clear that the assessment of UN missions must be conducted in a holistic manner, from mandate crafting, to mission transition and exit. Among these realities is that the assessment of UN peace operation success is all too often hindered by political partiality with the determination of mission success frequently held hostage by faulty political processes. It is essential that evaluative frameworks encompass the various stages of a peace operation, in order to illustrate the political challenges that often obstruct the planning and assessment of a UN mission. Highlighting the political obstacles associated with holistic mission planning and assessment, against the backdrop of ongoing, ad hoc UN peace operation deployments to Haiti, breaks down existing normative positions and exposes the realities and voids in current methodology.

High self-monitors choose as friends skilled activity partners, whereas low self-monitors select friends who are similar in attitude and values. We hypothesized that (a) as self-monitoring increased, individuals would identify the loss of shared interest as the cause for dissolving a former friendship and (b) as self-monitoring decreased, individuals would identify the loss of shared attitudes and values as the cause for dissolving a former friendship. One-hundred sixty one (82 males, 79 females) participants were recruited from MTurk. Participants were prompted with a forced choice measure to identify one of two reasons why a past close friendship dissolved. For one response participants could identify a loss of shared activities, for the other a loss of shared values. Participants then completed the 25-item Self-Monitoring Scale. For exploratory purposes, participants then completed a measure of the strategies they used to terminate that relationship of a best friend. Our results were consistent with our predictions, as self-monitoring appeared to influence the cause of dissolution in former close friendships. Additionally, as self-monitoring tendencies increased, participants were more likely to report using cost escalation, manipulation, distant/mediated communication, and de-escalation as strategies for ending a friendship. Explanations for these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Foreign aid project exit strategies that contribute to sustainable development have been rarely considered throughout the history of development studies and practice. The philosophical underpinnings of early development were based on economic theories. Over the years initiatives have manifested themselves by investments through international aid projects. As aid projects are donor-driven, most exit strategy planning involves closing down a project without turning it over to another organization to continue implementation. This means that aid benefits end with whatever impact the project has made, leaving ill-equipped local ministries or under-resourced NGOs to meet local development needs and fill the gap of terminated services. The project cycle—a popular development tool used by multinational and bilateral organizations alike—provides a framework to induce development, but makes no accommodation for an exit strategy that perpetuates development. This is a missed opportunity that reveals a flaw in the project cycle. This flaw can be corrected by revising the project cycle implementation stage to include building the capacity of people to perform the functions the project was designed for, as well as a local implementing entity through which they can work. Once accomplished, a sponsor can transfer project activities and resources to the local implementing entity though a phase-over process to extend development post-project for ongoing impact. / The aim of this thesis is to promote a greater understanding of exit strategies and analyze an aspect of project management essential to all foreign aid projects since every project must eventually end its interventions upon completion of its goals or within prescribed financial and time constraints. What are the conditions necessary to complete a foreign aid project phase-over to a local institution successfully? How can in-country local project staff contribute to institution-building before, during, and after a phase-over? What are the appropriate ways to measure the success of a phase-over? / This thesis examines the concept of exit strategy within the context of a case study of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Marketing Assistance Project (USDA-MAP) in Armenia (1995-2005) and the innovative phase-over approach it used to establish the Center for Agribusiness & Rural Development (CARD). To do this, the writings of Levinger & McLeod (2002), Gardner et al. (2005), and Esman (1972) are drawn upon to analyze this case. The actions taken by the USDA illustrate how an emphasis on internal local project staff, over external technical interventions, furthers development. The USDA’s exit strategy incorporated collective participation, empowered local stakeholders, promoted development ownership through localization, and built individual and institutional capacity. The resulting organization that was created is evidence of a successful phase-over and an innovative institution. This phase-over model offers a paradigm that embraces and promotes social/human assets within aid projects for sustainable development, and in so doing has ramifications for policy makers, project designers, and development practitioners to rethink conventional development practices.

Foreign aid project exit strategies that contribute to sustainable development have been rarely considered throughout the history of development studies and practice. The philosophical underpinnings of early development were based on economic theories. Over the years initiatives have manifested themselves by investments through international aid projects. As aid projects are donor-driven, most exit strategy planning involves closing down a project without turning it over to another organization to continue implementation. This means that aid benefits end with whatever impact the project has made, leaving ill-equipped local ministries or under-resourced NGOs to meet local development needs and fill the gap of terminated services. The project cycle—a popular development tool used by multinational and bilateral organizations alike—provides a framework to induce development, but makes no accommodation for an exit strategy that perpetuates development. This is a missed opportunity that reveals a flaw in the project cycle. This flaw can be corrected by revising the project cycle implementation stage to include building the capacity of people to perform the functions the project was designed for, as well as a local implementing entity through which they can work. Once accomplished, a sponsor can transfer project activities and resources to the local implementing entity though a phase-over process to extend development post-project for ongoing impact. / The aim of this thesis is to promote a greater understanding of exit strategies and analyze an aspect of project management essential to all foreign aid projects since every project must eventually end its interventions upon completion of its goals or within prescribed financial and time constraints. What are the conditions necessary to complete a foreign aid project phase-over to a local institution successfully? How can in-country local project staff contribute to institution-building before, during, and after a phase-over? What are the appropriate ways to measure the success of a phase-over? / This thesis examines the concept of exit strategy within the context of a case study of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Marketing Assistance Project (USDA-MAP) in Armenia (1995-2005) and the innovative phase-over approach it used to establish the Center for Agribusiness & Rural Development (CARD). To do this, the writings of Levinger & McLeod (2002), Gardner et al. (2005), and Esman (1972) are drawn upon to analyze this case. The actions taken by the USDA illustrate how an emphasis on internal local project staff, over external technical interventions, furthers development. The USDA’s exit strategy incorporated collective participation, empowered local stakeholders, promoted development ownership through localization, and built individual and institutional capacity. The resulting organization that was created is evidence of a successful phase-over and an innovative institution. This phase-over model offers a paradigm that embraces and promotes social/human assets within aid projects for sustainable development, and in so doing has ramifications for policy makers, project designers, and development practitioners to rethink conventional development practices.

Foreign aid as an economic policy was previously widely accepted as a way to assist least developed economies to achieve economic growth. Over the years, aid effectiveness has been questioned, whilst aid dependency has continued to rise. To assist in aid reduction, various economists have proposed aid exit strategies that countries could adopt to reduce aid dependency. However, the adoption of these strategies has been rather slow. The purpose of this study was to review and assess the current literature on the different proposed foreign aid exit strategies, in terms of their feasibility and ease of implementation, taking into account the current state of African economies. The analysis focused on the exit strategies recommended by Tandon (2008), Moyo (2009) and Fee (2012). The main finding of this study suggests that the aforementioned exit strategies are feasible, but not necessarily easy to implement, due to the limitations faced by many least developed countries. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

Innovation has been considered the critical driver behind economic growth and value creation for a long time. However, in order to achieve an innovative status, the commercializing of an invention is required by injecting capital and strategy. While capital comes in many forms, this thesis focuses on the field of venture capital and how this type of financial backing can be analyzed and managed. Herein, the company characteristics continuum is presented, where business model innovation and technological innovation represent the two extremities. The purpose was then to investigate if there are significant differences in the venture capitalists' investment models as one moves along the aforementioned continuum. Semi-structured interviews were used and interpreted independently by the authors, with respect to coding units, in order to enhance objectivity. The thesis mainly targeted the information technology industry, where analysis was conducted on four of the largest actors on the Nordic venture capital market. The Nordic focus, combined with the rapidly moving industry, resulted in that significant differences, in the venture capitalists' investment models, were identified; giving implications both for theory and practice. These differences were identified as stemming from the initially adopted risk profiles, which then affected all other areas of the investment models. / Innovation har länge ansetts vara den kritiska drivkraften bakom ekonomisk tillväxt och värdeskapande. Emellertid, för att uppnå en innovativ status, krävs kommersialisering av en uppfinning genom att tillföra kapital och strategi. Kapital existerar i flera olika former, dock fokuserar denna uppsats på området riskkapital, och hur denna typ av finansiell backning kan analyseras och hanteras. Häri presenteras kontinuumet för företagskaraktäristik, där innovation inom affärsmodeller och teknik representerar de två ändpunkterna. Syftet var att undersöka om det fanns signifikanta skillnader mellan riskkapitalisters investeringsmodeller, när ett företag rör sig längs det ovan nämnda kontinuumet. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer användes och tolkades oberoende av författarna, genom att använda kodord, för att förbättra objektiviteten. Uppsatsen berör främst företag inom industrin för informationsteknologi, där analys har gjorts på fyra av de största aktörerna inom marknaden för riskkapital i Norden. Ett Nordiskt fokus, kombinerat med en hastigt utvecklande industri, resulterade i att signifikanta skillnader, i riskkapitalisters investeringsmodeller, identifierades; vilket gav implikationer för både teori och praktik. Dessa skillnader identifierades att härstamma från de initialt anammade riskprofilerna, som sedan påverkade alla andra områden inom investeringsmodellen.