Corporate Communication Management (CCM) is an important concept within the communication and marketing discipline. The term corporate communication came to the attention of the general public more than 40 years ago, due to changes in global business environments. Although corporate communication received great attention from scholars and the business community, its complex concepts are still unclear. Furthermore, many scholars believe there are influences of corporate culture, ICT diffusion innovations and corporate leadership on corporate communication and its impact to organisational performance, yet there is a paucity of studies on the validation of this theoretical assumption. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to address this gap by providing an elevated understanding of the concept of CCM and its antecedents, and in consequence, focus on organisational performance from the managerial perspectives. This study employs a two tier mixed-method research process involving qualitative and quantitative approaches. The first tier commences with a semi-structured interview (with 12 respondents) to refine a conceptual framework developed based on existing literature. Then, content validity (with 10 expert opinions) and pilot test (with 35 respondents) follow, to develop a measurement scale with good validity and reliability. The second tier involves online survey data (with 223 respondents) and secondary data (from Thomson DataStream) to test the research hypotheses and proposed conceptual model. In this stage, structural equation modelling (SEM) is employed. Results indicate a very good fit to the data, with good convergent, discriminant and nomological validity and reliability stability. The findings of this research show that corporate culture, ICT diffusion innovation and corporate leadership are factors that influence CCM directly. While CCM correlates positively with financial performance, it has no effect on mission achievement. Corporate culture was found to have a positive relationship with mission achievement but negative relations with financial performance. Furthermore, ICT diffusion innovation demonstrates a positive association with mission achievement. Despite corporate leadership having a positive relationship with mission achievement, there was no effect on financial performance. Therefore, this study answered the antecedents and consequences of CCM, and they were found to be influential factors. In addition, the study demonstrates that managers rely on internal factors such as corporate culture, ICT diffusion innovation and corporate leadership to predict and assess CCM. The findings have implications for knowledge of theories and practices, and also contribute in the development of a model that explains the CCM functions and shows that functions have a definite positive impact on financial performance. Furthermore, the research adds an insight to a growing body of communication literature (primarily corporate communication) and makes recommendation for future research directions.

The thesis investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financial performance. The thesis is organised into three parts. The first part, the literature review, is in three sections, the first section provides an introduction to the field of corporate social responsibility, its grounding in economic theory and its historical background. The second part of the literature review covers the social and environmental issues relevant specifically to the food and agriculture sector. The third section is a systematic review of the studies that examine the relationship between corporate social performance and financial performance. This review was carried out using a modified Cochrane systematic review method, more commonly found in the medical literature than in the economics literature. The results showed that 70% of the studies reviewed showed a positive and statistically significant relationship between CSR and financial performance. The second part of the thesis includes three empirical studies. The first study, an event study, assessed the impact of the FTSE4Good Index on firm price. The study examined the return to companies of being included in a modified share index that signals good performance in terms of CSR. The results of this event study showed that companies are not rewarded for being included in the index and are not penalised for being deleted from it. The second empirical study, a probit analysis, aimed to identify the probability of a company passing a social and environmental screen given information about the company’s size, financial performance and sector. Results showed that companies with small market capitalisation, low income gearing and high net profit margins were more likely to pass the screen than other companies. Companies in the energy sector were less likely to pass than other companies, and financial sector companies more likely to pass. The third empirical chapter assessed the effect on the financial performance of companies of passing a socially responsible investment screen. The results showed that there was a relationship between passing the screen and higher earnings per share, but the relationship between passing the screen and other financial indicators was not proven. These studies demonstrated the difficulties that exist to provide statistically strong evidence for the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. Thus the third part of the thesis moved into a different area, from the supply to the demand side. This is the valuation of non-financial indicators and their relationship with CSR, this included a discursive chapter on intangibles and their relationship with CSR and a final empirical study: a choice experiment. This study demonstrated that MBA students take nonfinancial and ethical issues into account when making investment decisions. In conclusion, providing strong evidence for the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance is difficult. There are many ways of measuring CSR and many ways of measuring financial performance. Depending on the measures used, different results are obtained. Looking beyond conventional financial performance measurements, to intangibles, provides a more holistic picture of what is going on in the relationship and shows that there is more to company valuation and investment decision making than financial performance indicators. CSR is an important component of company reputation and has an intrinsic value that is difficult to measure but is no doubt very high.

Banks within Europe have a major role in the European financial system. The financial collapse in 2008 made regulators well aware of the importance of corporate transparency to allow stakeholders to assess the banks health and maintain a stable market. Risk reporting within the European Union (EU) contributes to transparency in terms of disclosing information on risk management activities. The heavy regulations and demand from investors have caused the extent of risk reports to increase over time. The purpose of this research is to investigate if there is a relationship between the quantity of information in risk disclosures and the financial performance for banks in the EU and thus contribute with new knowledge to the field of finance, and increase managers' as well as stakeholders' understanding of the impact of risk reports. The methodological standpoints guide our choices throughout the research process. Our epistemological view is positivism and our ontological view is objectivism. A deductive research approach and a quantitative research method are adopted to collect archival data from risk reports and on financial performance from a sample of 41 banks. Our population consist of banks within the EU. The research design is cross-sectional using data from one point in time, the time period 2013-04-01 - 2014-03-31. Based on relevant theories and previous research, quantity proxies in terms of number of pages, words, characters and recurrence of keywords together with financial performance measures in terms of stock return, standard deviation and beta are used to investigate the relationship. 3 hypotheses are derived and tested by running regressions where the financial performance measures are the dependent variables and our proxies for quality are the independent variables. Our tests show that no significant relationship exists between the quantity of information in risk disclosures and the financial performance of banks within the EU. The results from our research contribute with new knowledge to academics within the field of finance by increasing the understanding of the explanatory variables for financial performance. Moreover, academics may use our results to justify the choice of other proxies than quantity when investigating quality in corporate disclosures. Additionally, our results indicate that practitioners should not use quantity of information in risk reports as an indicator of quality, as no relationship with the financial performance of a bank could be statistically proven.

Background: Foresight is a vague concept with several definitions. There is barely any existing practical evidence of how it should be conducted or what effect it could have on a company’s performance. Due to the lack of research done, a study within the field was justified. Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to investigate and measure if, and how, foresight practices influence company’s financial performance. Method and theory: A theoretical framework was established in order to compile knowledge about the field. These theories were used as a basis for upcoming in-depth interviews. To make foresight measureable the foresight maturity model was applied in order to assess the company’s foresight practices and to compare it with financial performance. The financial performance was assessed by doing an archival analysis on the company’s annual reports. Findings: The study indicated that foresight practices were limited within the studied companies. However, all the companies used it to some extent. Conclusion: The practices of foresight are greatly contextual and a clear relationship between how the foresight practices affect financial performance is difficult to map out and is need of further research. Tendencies of foresight practices influencing financial performance were however noticed. These tendencies indicated that there is a positive relationship between foresight practices and financial performance.

abstract: In this study I investigate the organizational mechanisms (pathways) through which strategic investors can help a firm improve performance. Many commercial banks in China have recently invited foreign banks as strategic investors since China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), hoping to gain managerial and technological knowhow from the foreign banks. Using Shanghai Pudong Development Bank as a representative example, I conduct an in-depth qualitative analysis about how the joining of Citi Bank as a strategic investor has helped the local Chinese bank improve its financial performance. On the basis of a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, I first develop a theoretical model that describes the organizational mechanisms (pathways) through which foreign strategic investors can influence the local bank’s performance. Specifically, by participation in corporate governance, the foreign strategic investor can have a positive influence over the local bank’s strategy development, operational targets, incentive systems, and organizational culture, which consequently lead to improvements in the local banks operations and financial performance. I then use a case study method to substantiate the logic and the pathways of the model with the detailed information collected from the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Citi Bank strategic alliance. The results are consistent with the model’s descriptive validity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2015

O objetivo desta tese é investigar a relação entre a remuneração dos executivos e o desempenho financeiro das empresas, no contexto do mercado brasileiro. A premissa é que o sistema de remuneração pode ajudar a direcionar os esforços dos executivos para os objetivos estratégicos do negócio, contribuindo para que a companhia alcance níveis superiores de desempenho financeiro. A amostra não-probabilística é formada por 44 empresas industriais. Elas foram selecionadas dentre as eleitas como As 150 Melhores Empresas para Você Trabalhar no Brasil, em 2007. Os dados da pesquisa são secundários e foram extraídos de dois bancos de dados: a) Programa de Estudos em Gestão de Pessoas (Progep), vinculado à Fundação Instituto de Administração (FIA); b) Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Contábeis, Atuariais e Financeiras (FIPECAFI). Para operacionalizar a variável independente remuneração, são utilizados, além do salário mensal e do salário variável, três índices criados especialmente para este trabalho: benefícios, carreira e desenvolvimento. Esses índices medem o acesso a benefícios; a mecanismos de estímulo e suporte à carreira; a mecanismos de estímulo à educação e ao desenvolvimento profissional. Trata-se de itens oferecidos pelas empresas a seus diretores, vice-presidentes e presidentes, os quais são denominados, neste trabalho, de executivos. Esses dados de remuneração referem-se ao exercício de 2006. Para operacionalizar a variável desempenho financeiro, são utilizados três indicadores contábeis crescimento das vendas, retorno sobre patrimônio líquido e margem líquida sobre as vendas dos exercícios sociais de 2006 e de 2007. O porte das companhias é utilizado como variável de controle e é medido pelo logaritmo natural do número de funcionários. A hipótese da pesquisa de que existe uma relação positiva e significante entre a remuneração dos executivos e o desempenho financeiro das empresas, no contexto do mercado brasileiro, é verificada por meio de um conjunto de testes estatísticos: de igualdade de médias, análise de correlação e análise de regressão. Os resultados do teste de Mann-Whitney não apresentam evidências de que existe relação entre as variáveis. A análise de correlação de Pearson mostra associações fracas e negativas entre as seguintes variáveis: a) índice de carreira e crescimento das vendas de 2006; b) índice de carreira e retorno sobre patrimônio líquido de 2006; c) índice de desenvolvimento e retorno sobre patrimônio líquido de 2006. Já a análise de correlação de Spearman aponta: a) associação fraca e positiva entre índice de benefícios e margem líquida sobre as vendas de 2006; b) associação fraca e negativa entre índice de desenvolvimento e retorno sobre patrimônio líquido de 2006. Os resultados da análise de regressão linear múltipla não permitem comprovar a existência de relação positiva e significante entre a remuneração dos executivos e o desempenho financeiro das empresas. As contribuições deste trabalho estão em produzir conceitos mais amplos para operacionalizar as variáveis, estudar a relação no contexto do mercado brasileiro e abrir perspectivas para a realização de novos trabalhos acadêmicos. / This thesis is intended to investigate the relation between remuneration of executives and the financial performance of the companies in the context of the Brazilian marketplace. The underlying assumption is that the remuneration system may help to direct the efforts of executives towards the business strategic purposes. Hence, it will contribute for the company to attain higher levels of financial performance. The non-probabilistic sample is comprised of 44 industrial organizations. They have been selected out from the 150 Best Companies to Work For in Brazil in 2007. The research data are secondary and have been taken from two databases: a) Programa de Estudos em Gestão de Pessoas (Progep) linked to Fundação Instituto de Administração (FIA); b) Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Contábeis, Atuariais e Financeiras (FIPECAFI). In order to operationalize the independent remuneration variable, in addition to using the monthly salary and the variable salary, three indexes that have been especially created for this paper were used: benefits, career and development. These indexes measure the access to benefits, the fostering mechanisms and the support to career, and also the mechanisms fostering the education and the professional development. These are items the companies offer their officers, vice presidents and CEOs, which are referred to in this paper as executives. These remuneration data refer to the fiscal year of 2006. In order to operationalize the financial performance variable, three accounting indicators are used growth of sales, return on equity and net margin for the fiscal years of 2006 and 2007. The companies size is used as a control variable and is measured by the natural logarithm of the number of employees. The research hypothesis that there is a positive and significant relation between the remuneration of executives and the financial performance of companies in the context of the Brazilian marketplace is verified by means of a set of statistical tests of: the Mann-Whitney test, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The results of the Mann-Whitney test do not present any evidences that there actually is a relation between variables. The Pearson correlation analysis shows weak and negative associations between the following variables: a) index of career and growth of sales in 2006; b) index of career and return on equity in 2006; c) index of development and return on equity in 2006. While Spearman correlation analysis points out: a) weak and positive association between the index of benefits and the net margin in 2006; b) weak and negative association between the development index and return on equity in 2006. The results of the multiple regression analysis do not allow to evidence the existence of a positive and significant relation between the remuneration of executives and the financial performance of companies. The contributions of this thesis are in producing broader concepts in order to operationalize the variables, study the relation in the context of the Brazilian marketplace and open up perspectives for the development of new academic studies.

Continuous changes taking place in the business environment require organisations to adapt constantly to new realities, new products, new technologies, and new concepts. The manner in which organisations create and sustain competitive advantage is therefore one of the fundamental questions in the field of strategic management research. Most concepts taught in business schools are largely based on research in American and European countries. Previous research work has also shown that there are clear key differences in concepts used across regions, industries, and company size. These arguments therefore led one to conclude that there is a lack of research available on popular concepts used by local companies and the impact on their financial performance, hence the purpose of this research study. This research was the first research study and therefore a pioneering study in establishing concepts used in the South African context. This research, in a small measure, attempted to build concepts based on local research. The objectives of this study were firstly to identify the popular concepts used by JSE listed companies in formulating and implementing their strategy; and secondly, to establish the effect of these popular concepts on financial performance. The research was quantitative and descriptive in nature. Self-administered questionnaires were sent to 250 CEO’s of the JSE listed companies out of whom 35 completed the survey. The popular concepts used by JSE listed companies in formulating and implementing their strategy were identified; and the effect on financial performance were established. The popular concepts used by JSE listed companies in formulating and implementing their strategy identified were the concepts “environmental analysis”, “strategic positioning”, “growth”, “customer focused/ customer relationship management”, and “shareholder return/ shareholder value”. The following relationships were found to be significant and important: The relationship between “environmental analysis” and market capitalisation from years 1 to 3 and years 2 to 3 show a negative relationship; and The relationship between “environmental analysis” and share price from years 1 to 3 and years 2 to 3 show a negative relationship. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / ccgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Sustainability Reporting amongst corporates has been growing in prominence with, amongst others, the Principles for Responsible Investment outlined in 2005, the King III Report published in 2010 and International Integrated Reporting framework published in late 2011. The need for analysing the business case for sustainability reporting underpins the motivation for this research which undertook to ascertain the link between certain organisational attributes, sustainability reporting and financial performance. The literature review identified conflicting results in similar studies, and given that this is a fast evolving field of study, this study was deemed necessary. A quantitative research method was used utilising financial and operational data for 200 South African organisations, in an attempt to study the correlation between key organisational attributes, sustainability reporting frameworks, and financial performance. This research adds to the ongoing and dynamic ‘business case for sustainability’ discussion, by studying the links and correlations between the quality of sustainability reporting, specific organisational attributes and key financial performance ratios. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

There is much debate amongst academics regarding the contribution of women on corporate boards, particularly, the effect on financial performance. There has been a stride post democracy to ensure equality in South Africa. Although there has been progress, the percentage of women on corporate boards is still microscopic. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of board gender diversity on financial performance of publicly listed companies. Similar studies have been conducted in other countries with equivocal results implying that results are country-specific. Quantitative research methodology was employed, where financial ratios ROE, ROA and Tobin's Q, of companies with gender diverse boards were compared to those of companies whose boards are not considered gender diverse. Gender diverse boards are defined in this study as boards with 25 percent or more female representation on boards. Differences in financial performance of companies with gender diverse boards across industries were also examined. ROE and ROA mean scores were higher for the gender diverse group, whereas, mean scores of the market-based ratio Tobin‟s Q were higher in the group whose boards were not gender diverse. Market-based results are subjective and influenced by investors and analysts perceptions. Tobin‟s Q was higher in industries with lower percentages of women on boards; however, these results were not statistically significant. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The research examines the effect between corporate governance and company-specific variables to financial performance among a sample of long-term insurance companies in South Africa from 2011 to 2016. The study employed a panel regression technique using board size, board independence, audit committee size and CEO tenure as proxies for corporate governance while controlling for firm size, reinsurance usage and leverage. The proxies used for financial performance were underwriting profits, return on assets (ROA) and returns on equity (ROE). The findings show that board size is the only corporate governance variable that is statistically significant with financial performance in the sample of South African longterm insurance providers. The remaining corporate governance variables did not have a statistically significant relationship with financial performance because each company in the sample set them in line with the recommendations outlined in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance. The implication of the adherence to the recommendations in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance reduced the variation in corporate governance structures between the companies in the sample. The findings also show leverage as the only control variable that is statistically significant with financial performance in the sample. The dissertation recommends that the corporate governance guidelines outlined in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance be made statutory in the South African longterm insurance sector, because these guidelines do not adversely affect the financial performance in a statistically significant way. Further, the dissertation recommends a board size ceiling be set in the sector to address the observed negative and statistically significant relationship between board size and financial performance. Finally, the dissertation recommends the use of regulation to limit the amount of leverage that companies in the sector can take on to address the observed negative and statistically significant relationship between leverage and financial performance.