We structure a literature review which we provide with broader definitions of the majorconcepts: value creation, cost efficiency (leadership), competitive strategies, financialperformance and statement analysis. The literature review focuses mainly on Hong Kongcontext and literatures supporting the similar business strategies among similar size ofcompanies from various industries.The study takes forms as a quantitative study with a deductive approach. A set offinancial performance data will be collected and examined, to show how companyperformance is correlated to its strategies and what an outcome is. We aim at providinganother perspective of investment analysis approach to the potential investors, so theycould embrace the whole picture of available information.We develop two groups of hypothesis; the first group is company’s strategy measures thatshow no effect on financial performance, the second group is company’s strategymeasures that show some effect on financial performance.The result indicates while normally staff cost and cost of sale are recognized as costleadership measure under product industry, it implies positive contribution to valuecreation financial performance in service industry, instead of having influence onprofitability. Also, the wealth generated from previous sale revenue margin will havepositive impact on company’s competiveness in the hotel industry.Keywords: value creation cost leadership, competitive strategies, financial performanceand statement analysis

Islamic banking and finance in Pakistan started in 1977-78 with the elimination of interest in compliance with the Principles of Islamic Shari’ah in Islamic banking practices. Since then, amendments in financial system to allow the issuance of new interest-free instrument of corporate financing, promulgation of ordinance to permit the establishment of Mudaraba companies and floatation of Mudaraba Certificates, constitution of Commission for Transformation of Financial System (CTFS), and the establishments of Islamic Banking Department by the State Bank of Pakistan are some of the key steps taken place by the governments.   The aim of this study is to examine and to evaluate the performance of the first Islamic bank in Pakistan, i.e. Meezan Bank Limited (MBL) in comparison with that of a group of 5 Pakistani conventional banks. The study evaluates performance of the Islamic bank (MBL) in profitability, liquidity, risk, and efficiency for the period of 2003-2007. Financial ratios (12 in total) such as Return on Asset (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), Loan to Deposit ratio (LDR), Loan to Assets ratio (LAR), Debt to Equity ratio (DER), Asset Utilization (AU), and Income to Expense ratio (IER) are used to assess banking performances. T-test and F-test are used in determining the significance of the differential performance of the two groups of banks. The study found that MBL is less profitable, more solvent (less risky), and also less efficient comparing to the average of the 5 conventional banks. However, there was no significant difference in liquidity between the two sets of banks. The reasons are due to the facts that conventional banks in Pakistan have longer history and experience in doing banking business and hold dominating position in the financial sector with its large share in the overall financial assets of Pakistan, as compared to Islamic banks, which in true sense, started only a few years back with all letter and spirit.     Albeit, the study found that MBL is less profitable, more solvent (less risky), and less efficient during 2003-2007, however, it is improving considerably over time indicating convergence with the performance of the conventional banks.

The prominence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives today suggests that the corporate perception of such policies has shifted from an unnecessary addition to a critical business function. Using a reliable source of data on corporate social performance (CSP), this study explores and tests the relationship between CSP and corporate financial performance (CFP). Unlike prior research, this study additionally tests the impact CSP has on sales and gross margin in hopes of providing insight on sales strategies that can be implemented to maximize the impact of the relationship. The dataset includes most of the S&P 500 firms and covers years 2001-2005. The relationships are tested using time-series regressions. Results indicate that CSP and CFP have a significantly positive relationship in both directions, supporting the view that CSR programs have positive impacts on the bottom-line. Results also indicate that increased CSP leads to increases in gross margin, indicating that some customers are willing to pay a premium for the products and/or services of a company with CSR initiatives. Lastly, results also indicate that increases in CSP leads to a decrease in sales, which implies a decrease in customer base because less people are willing to buy the products at premium. Despite the result on sales, I argue in this paper that firms can increase sales by increasing CSR investments—assuming increases in CSR investments leads to higher CSP—as long as the perception of programs transform from socially responsible, philanthropic actions to programs promoting corporate shared value (CSV).

Purpose - To analyze the relationship between supply chain management maturity, supply chain performance and financial performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME:s). Design/methodology/approach - The data comprises 15 SME:s that participated in a local logistic study in Gävleborgs län. The levels of supply chain mature within these firms were based upon an interview study and the financial performance of the firms was then examined using financial reports-based data. Findings -The results of this study indicate that there is a strong relationship between SCM maturity and SC performance in SMEs, some relationships between SCM maturity and financial performance, as well as some relationships between SC performance and financial performance. This means that if firms use maturity indicators in the SCOR areas to improve their processes, they will most likely achieve a positive effect on supply chain performance and probably also on financial performance. The result implies that the supply chain maturities in these firms are higher than expected with no one at the adHoc level. While this study is based on a rather small number of participating firms, it would be valuable to further test the significance of the indicated correlations between SCM maturity and performance in a large-scale survey. Research limitations/Implications - The research is an attempt to understand supply chain maturity and it´s implication on financial performance. Developing supply chain maturity is an opportunity for a company to gain superior performance. The use of this approach has been validated in several previous research studies. The research limitation of this study is the small number of participating firms. Practical implication - Maturity models could be valuable frameworks for corporate management. This study provides statistical evidence that a SME firm that has achieved a higher maturity level in their supply chain management also can achieve higher SC performance and financial performance as well. The study further confirms the maturity model from Lockamy and McCormack (2004) as a very reliable tool for this purpose, even in extremely small firms. Originality/Value - This study is one of very few to focus on supply chain maturity of SME:s and analyze the linkage between financial performance and supply chain maturity in SME:s. This is particularly significant since earlier research implicate that SME:s has a very low maturity and in addition to that a high potential of improvements in this area. Maybe the findings of this study can be a starting point for these SME:s to take their maturity to a higher level and improve their financial performance. These findings might be valuable for further research in the linkage between maturity and superior performance in SME:s. Key words - Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Performance, Supply Chain Maturity, Financial Performance, Logistic Performance. Paper type - Thesis/research paper

Purpose - The goal of this research is to demonstrate that financial performance of current year is dependent to the amount of maturity of the supply chain processes. This aim is achieved through considering current supply chain process maturities of the firm together with financial performance of prior years.     Research question - How supply chain process maturities in relation to financial performance of prior years are related to current financial performance       Methodology - The deductive approach has been followed to use theories and literatures to build the hypothetical model in order to test it empirically. This quantitative research is benefited from the primary data of Swedish steel SMEs including the secondary data from financial ratios from Scandinavian financial database     Findings - The effect between supply chain process maturity and current year financial performance, the effect between prior year financial performance and current year financial performance, and also total effect of prior year financial performance and supply chain process maturity on current year financial performance proved empirically.

With contribution of Modigliani and Miller in 1958, capital structure has attained animportant place in finance field. The path breaking contribution has stimulated subsequentresearchers to put emphasis on this topic. Therefore, other theories and researches have beenrevealed and many aspects have been included to capital structure studies so far. However, it has always been controversial topic and the consensus has not been reached yet. Nevertheless,there are many important theories and hypotheses, which explain and investigate this topicvery well such as agency cost theory, trade-off theory, pecking order theory, signalling theory,efficiency-risk hypothesis and franchise-value hypothesis. When we reviewed the literature and extended our understanding of these theories andhypotheses, we found that the relationship between capital structure and firm performance isinteresting aspect and worthwhile to research. Therefore, we started an extensive literaturereview and found a research gap, which is the relationship between capital structure and afirm's financial performance from the perspective of capital structure theories in the Swedishcontext during the period 2002-2011. Since researchers investigate the relationship betweencapital structure and firm performance in many different countries and there is nothing in theSwedish context, we thus decided to write the thesis about it. Accordingly, our study began with discussing the problem background. We also stated theresearch question, the objectives, and the expected contribution to clarify the scope ofresearch. After that, we present the existing theories regarding capital structure and providetheir interplay with firm performance. After we constituted research question and reviewed literature, we knew what kind of data weneeded to utilize. Therefore, we started to search the best database provider for our study. Asa result, we decided on using Thomson Reuter’s database, DataStream. The study sampleincluded 174 non-financial Swedish firms listed on Nasdaq OMX (Stockholm StockExchange). We used ordinary least squares regression analysis over a period of ten years from2002 to 2011. After we collected the data, we imported it to SPSS and ran regression anddescriptive analysis. According to our empirical findings and analysis, we identify that there is a significantnegative relationship between capital structure and firm performance of listed Swedish firms.In other words, the financial performance of Swedish listed firms for the past decade isnegatively influenced by its leverage ratio. In practical terms, the more debt in relation toassets that firm takes in to finance its operations, the worse does the firm perform financially.When we elaborated our investigation and looked at each industry, we found no differencefrom the general results when dividing the Swedish firms into four major industry categories.However, health care industry has a different relationship. With this study, we provide further evidence about the interplay between capital structure andfinancial performance and make a contribution both to theory regarding capital structure andfinancial performance as well as giving practical insight for Swedish CFO’s and CEO’s.

This study addresses the importance of cost accounting and performance evaluation for organizations. Further, this study explains the purposes of cost accounting and performance evaluation. The chosen method is a single case study which investigates how product costing is made within a food manufacturing company, called Omega in this study. Interviews have been an important tool for collecting data; data used to create a snapshot of Omega’s current operations. Cost concepts, cost allocation methods, and performance evaluation theories are presented and later compared with the snapshot of Omega. Dissatisfaction concerning product costing in Omega was first expressed by a business unit manager. Search revealed that the issue concerning product costing was not a problem per se; instead it was a symptom of a more fundamental issue. The more fundamental issue is Omega’s cost accounting and financial performance evaluation used throughout the organization. Omega evaluates its business units using financial operating results measures based on information from its cost accounting system. Uncertainty within Omega has been observed concerning a performance measure called operational result. Search has revealed that the business units within Omega do not have the ability to control costs upon which they are evaluated, and further that all costs are not relevant for business unit performance evaluation. Three cost categories for cost accounting have been constructed with the purpose of serving as a base for financial performance evaluation. Treating costs differently based upon their characteristics enables organizations to form a well-functioning financial performance evaluation system which can lead the organization in the right direction. Ultimately, a well-functioning financial performance evaluation system enhances motivation and commitment in business units as well as it gives the top management a correct performance indicator.

The financial sector due to the particularity of the industry, the government set a lot of control provisions, therefore most of the earnings management research will set financial sector excluded. In fact, the financial sector, in order to comply with the legal provisions, which the motives of earnings management may be even higher than the average company. This study used The Modified Jones Model to calculate the proxy of discretionary accruals as an earnings management¡Ffinancial holding company engaged in the amount of the core subsidiary of the format category to measure the extent of its related diversification¡Fand the implementation of SFAS No. 34 divided into two study period, to explore the relationship between the relevant level of diversification and earnings management, earnings management and financial asset disposition gains and losses, earnings management and financial performance is different. Empirical results show that: (1)Before and after of SFAS No. 34 implementation , the higher the degree of diversification of financial holding company, the earning management were higher.(2) Before and after of SFAS No. 34 implementation, the financial holding company will make use of the disposal of financial assets in order to increase the gain on disposal for earnings management.(3) Before and after of SFAS No. 34 implementation, the financial holding company will engage in earnings management operations in order to enhance the company's financial performance.

The number of building projects in Taiwan has rapidly increased each year, and the vacancy rate has reached a peak at 19.7%, an astonishing number. Therefore, this study examines the financial performance of property firms who execute building projects by calculating their Economic Value Added (EVA) and Economic Value Added Momentum (EVA Momentum). In addition, because numerous financial factors may affect EVA, this study examines how these factors influence the EVA of property firms to ascertain which factors are relevant. Furthermore, this study monitors the EVA of these firms to determine their relationship with the property cycle index to establish whether a causality exists between them.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a subject long debated since the 1930s, but the premises of the topic in regards to the what, how, why, and to whom it should be remain in question. The relation between CSR and corporate financial performance (CFP) has emerged at the forefront of this debate, particularly within the last 30 years, yet no unified theory has been reached. Other scholars interested in CSR have criticized the emphasis on CFP as a means of economic justification for what they believe to be a broader social issue, and have attempted to redirect the focus in CSR research to include other motivations and outcomes associated with organizational stakeholders other than shareholders. Using a descriptive and instrumental stakeholder theory approach, the focus of the current study was to explore CSR practices in both a dependent and independent sense. These theoretical underpinnings reflect stakeholder management decisions based on organizational characteristics, and the strategic management of various organizational stakeholders, respectively. The study population consisted of a diverse array of 353 U.S.- based corporations, 80 percent from the Fortune 500. Data included eleven corporate classification variables that represented organizations’ geographical location, industry, executive leadership dimensions, and financial health. It also included six CFP variables that represented accounting and market-based measures, and seven CSR variables that represented the key organizational stakeholders of the local community and environment, employees, and customers. The corporate classification variables were utilized to assess CSR performances, while CFP was assessed by analyzing differences among levels of the CSR practices. These assessments were performed for organizations for the twelve years within 1991-2002. Several results that assisted in informing descriptive and instrumental stakeholder theory were produced through the examination of previously used and under-explored variables. Specifically, the study results included new insights regarding how several organizational characteristics related to their CSR practices. Study findings provided elaboration regarding how performance differences in seven key CSR categories affected six representative accounting and market-based measures of corporate financial performance. Implications for practice for organizational decision-makers are provided along with detailed information pertaining to how, with inferences as to why, firms engage in CSR. Additionally, associated financial outcomes from different levels of CSR implementation are reported. Key findings from the study were that the CSR practices regarding employees and the environment remained stable over the twelve-year time period. Additionally, organizations’ geographical location, financial health, and corporate leadership dimensions had an impact on CSR practices for various stakeholder groups, with the exception of employees. A high level of investment in CSR for certain stakeholder groups did not produce the best financial outcomes in all cases; however, organizations that emphasized CSR in the categories relative to the community and its employees outperformed others with respect to certain financial performance measures.