This thesis examines how, in the global context of the 1990s, economic planning for an economically disadvantaged peripheral region within a small open national economy has become an exercise in the maxim 'Think Globally and Act Locally". It examines the content, context and process of economic policy making in Atlantic Canada in the 1990s. It critically analyzes the dissonance between generic visions of a competitive Atlantic Canada and the particular regional realities that must be taken into consideration if the plans are to be successful. The thesis also suggests a normative course of action in policy planning and implementation that can reduce this dissonance. The thesis is organized around four fundamental questions: 1) How is a competitive economy created in the global context of the 1990s and what roles should the state and the market assume. 2) What prescriptions for competitiveness are being presented in Atlantic Canadian economic policy documents. 3) What impediments and advantages does the Atlantic Canadian political-economy present to the realisation of this vision of a competitive economy. and 4) How can the economic policy planning and implementation processes be improved in order to better the chances of success for these kinds of policies. The critical analysis of the literature addresses the first three questions by surveying the areas of industrial policy, management theory, and Atlantic Canadian economic history and economic development planning. The fourth question is addressed through an empirical case study evaluation of Nova Scotia Voluntary Planning, a non-government sector organization composed of industry and labour leaders, and of its economic strategy document entitled "Creating Our Own Future". Theoretical and methodological guidelines for the evaluation models were drawn from the literature on policy research, cooperative inquiry, critical planning and critical evaluation theory, the role of mediating structures in public policy delivery and planning as social learning.

Published Article / The changes brought about by global competitiveness place increasing pressure on local government to deliver more and better services to communities. To determine whether South Africa has benefited from globalisation per se in terms of improved performance, performance management in the South African local government needs to be investigated through benchmarking the prerequisites for such a system set, and an appraisal of the performance of local government in South Africa since 1994. Strategies for improved performances to be globally competitive will furthermore be advanced.

The main contribution of this work is to evaluate the competitive position of the Czech Republic within the Visegrad countries and its weaknesses and threats related to the international competitiveness, or competitiveness in the Central European region.

This study analyses the manner in which a higher education institution (HEI) – namely, the University of Pretoria – is internationalising, while taking into account the dual imperatives of national development needs and of competing and integrating with an increasingly interdependent and globalised world. These dual imperatives and the challenges they pose are referred to in this study as the “dual development challenge”. By focusing on the responses of one university, the study provides useful insights into how other HEIs might understand their role and ability to internationalise and address both national needs and global issues. The study thus has several key findings relative to HEIs and how they might address the “dual development challenge”, as well as findings regarding the internationalisation of higher education (HE). In terms of addressing the “dual development challenge”, the study demonstrates how one university’s ambitious and enthusiastic pursuit of its international research agenda and its focus on individual agents and collective individual agents as facilitators of that research agenda, allows it to pursue a “developmental settlement” while internationalising. Although it is marked by contestations and contradictions, the pursuit of this developmental settlement consists of a communal ambition that the university’s international activities and actions provide key catalysts to its contributions to both national development and global competitiveness and integration. With regard to internationalisation of HE, the study challenges notions that individualism is negative and that holistic, campus-wide and/or comprehensive internationalisation must be confined to a specific set of criteria. These two findings are linked, and thus the study’s key finding and argument is that a primary method of engaging with internationalisation within the context of the dual development challenge is through the pursuit of a developmental settlement, which can depend greatly on the development of individuals, their research and the building of their individual capacities. As such, the participation in international research activities and networks by individual and collective individual agents at an HEI can build their capacity both in terms of their professional abilities and their influence on other individuals, institutions and the nation, while at the same time allowing them to contribute to the global competitiveness and integration status of the HEI. Ultimately, the central thesis of this study is that internationalisation, via the support and activities of individual and collective individual agents, is a primary facilitator of a university’s abilities to address and contribute to both national and global developmental imperatives. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The global economy is continually evolving, with new market trends constantly emerging. There appears to be one exception, globalization remains a dominant and consistent trend, even among SMEs. Numerous SMEs enter international markets, encountering diverse business standards and cultures, and must align their local strategies with global responsibilities. They need to consider their position in the global economy and their impact on all stakeholders, from actors in the supply chain to citizens in the countries where they operate. Corporate Social Responsibility has become an increasingly important approach for businesses to understand and improve their global impact and competitiveness by adapting both internal and external strategies. Therefore, this thesis investigates how internationalization impacts CSR initiatives for SMEs when expanding across European borders and how these practices contribute to companies' long-term success. Moreover, the emphasis on culture is investigated through Hofstede's cultural dimensions and the CAGE distance framework, to understand the challenges and opportunities related to cultural differences, along with other distances between countries encountered while internationalizing. Furthermore, CSR is investigated based on popular cluster definitions and approaches suggested by the EU and the UN. For the simplicity of this thesis, SMEs originating from Sweden and Germany have been the focal point of this research.  For this thesis, primary and secondary data have been collected and will be analyzed using a qualitative research approach. Secondary data comprising theoretical literature was collected and analyzed from numerous databases. Primary data was gathered through Semi-structured interviews with four specialists employed at SMEs and one expert working with local and global SMEs regularly. This data collection will be analyzed to suggest successful CSR approaches related to the internationalization within Europe.  This research concludes that SMEs must understand their global responsibilities to stay competitive in the international market as CSR will become an inevitable part of a company's business strategy. Companies prioritize different aspects of CSR based on their size and industry and adjust these strategies in line with market trends and the conditions of their respective industries. The extent to which companies can integrate CSR into their core values and business plans depends on the resources available to them.

<p>The importance of the tasks performed by international organizations is increasing at the global level and the discourse used is the one of progress and development. The aim of this thesis is to introduce a new approach regarding the discussions of development in terms of competitiveness and transnational governance by discussing these subjects within the same framework. The empirical findings are focused on the main organizations contributing with different translations of competitiveness and the tools used to measure it, such as nation rankings. In addition, findings stress how within development theory, the concept of competitiveness has become quite popular in media and among policy makers, presidents, prime ministers, scholars and the like. Some of these actors use the term quite loosely and without a further and deeper understanding of the concept, while others endeavor on contributing with different definitions. The World Economic Forum and its Global Competitiveness Index has become if not the most, one out of the two more mentioned and used indexes measuring competitiveness of nations. The GCI is used in this paper to compare two economies in the Latin-American region: Brazil and Mexico, since for a long time Mexico was depicted as a more competitive economy, but in the latest years Brazil has managed, within the GCI perspective, to be depicted as more competitive. The final result of the comparison and what nations should do to be more competitive within the Latin American region is in line with what academics have already discussed. But the main contribution of this thesis is the analysis of the popularity of rankings developed by international organizations, and at the same time, what traits of transnational governance can one identify in such trend, being these rankings an attractive tool to spread free-market ideologies in order to develop a global order.</p>

The importance of the tasks performed by international organizations is increasing at the global level and the discourse used is the one of progress and development. The aim of this thesis is to introduce a new approach regarding the discussions of development in terms of competitiveness and transnational governance by discussing these subjects within the same framework. The empirical findings are focused on the main organizations contributing with different translations of competitiveness and the tools used to measure it, such as nation rankings. In addition, findings stress how within development theory, the concept of competitiveness has become quite popular in media and among policy makers, presidents, prime ministers, scholars and the like. Some of these actors use the term quite loosely and without a further and deeper understanding of the concept, while others endeavor on contributing with different definitions. The World Economic Forum and its Global Competitiveness Index has become if not the most, one out of the two more mentioned and used indexes measuring competitiveness of nations. The GCI is used in this paper to compare two economies in the Latin-American region: Brazil and Mexico, since for a long time Mexico was depicted as a more competitive economy, but in the latest years Brazil has managed, within the GCI perspective, to be depicted as more competitive. The final result of the comparison and what nations should do to be more competitive within the Latin American region is in line with what academics have already discussed. But the main contribution of this thesis is the analysis of the popularity of rankings developed by international organizations, and at the same time, what traits of transnational governance can one identify in such trend, being these rankings an attractive tool to spread free-market ideologies in order to develop a global order.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 TCC Saulo Nacif 29 May 2018 com ficha catalográfica Rev2.pdf: 1836333 bytes, checksum: 9d3db4d0237f2dbe134472fe3f41442d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018 / This study analyses firms' compliance with disclosure requirements of the International Accounting Standard 37 (IAS 37 - provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets), through a thorough examination of the 20-F Reports of 91 foreign companies for the fiscal year of 2016. These companies have in common that they are foreign firms cross-listed in the U.S. stock exchanges NASDAQ or NYSE, they report under IFRS both locally and in the U.S., and they are from 14 countries that obligate the adoption of IFRS for locally traded companies. I measured disclosure compliance levels for each required item and overall, by calculating two indexes, one stricter and another more tolerant in treating omissions on the non-applicability of an item to the company. My hypothesis confronts the assertions that the legal tradition to which a company is submitted influences its disclosure level. An important finding is that the enforcement of the SEC regulations is what mostly explains the level of disclosure, rather than the legal tradition of the firm’s country of origin. I found that cross-listed companies under the same enforcement of the SEC, do not differ in their level of disclosure, regardless of the legal tradition of their country of origin. No statistically significant differences were found between the disclosure level for companies from countries with common law tradition, compared to countries with civil law roots. Additionally, the study concluded that the local financial markets development and the local regulation of the security exchanges are variables that significantly influence the level of disclosure. / Este estudo analisa a conformidade das empresas com os requisitos de divulgação do International Accounting Standard 37 (IAS 37 - Provisões, Passivos Contingentes e Ativos Contingentes), através de um exame minucioso dos Relatórios 20-F de 91 empresas para o ano fiscal de 2016. As 91 empresas têm em comum que são empresas estrangeiras listadas nas bolsas de valores norte-americanas NASDAQ ou NYSE, reportam sob as normas IFRS tanto localmente quanto nos EUA e são de 14 países que exigem a adoção de IFRS para empresas de capital nacional. Este estudo mediu os níveis de conformidade de divulgação para cada item exigido e calculou um nível de conformidade composto, de duas formas: um índice mais rigoroso e outro mais tolerante no tratamento de omissões sobre a não aplicabilidade de um determinado item para a empresa. Minha hipótese confronta as afirmações de que a origem (ou tradição) do sistema legal do país no qual a empresa originalmente foi constituída (e onde mantem a sua sede), influencia seu nível de divulgação. Uma conclusão importante é que a aplicação dos regulamentos da SEC é o que mais explica o nível de divulgação, em vez da origem do sistema legal do país sede da empresa. O estudo revela que empresas listadas sob a mesma imposição das regras da SEC não diferem em seu nível de divulgação, independentemente da tradição legal de seu país de origem. Não foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre o nível de divulgação das empresas de países com tradição do direito consuetudinário, em comparação com empresas de países com raízes no direito civil. Além disso, o estudo concluiu que o desenvolvimento dos mercados financeiros locais e a regulamentação das bolsas de valores locais são variáveis que influenciam significativamente o nível de divulgação.

The thesis deals with the analysis of competitiveness of the Visegrad Group. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the competitiveness of the Visegrad countries - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The countries will be examined in today's competitive environment within the Visegrad Group and the European Union. The analyze is based on data available from public sources and statistics. The work is divided into three chapters. The first part is devoted to the theoretical definition of competitiveness and methods of how to measure the competitiveness of the state. The second chapter introduces Visegrad Group and its common characteristics. The another part of the work is focused on the macroeconomic indicators - inflation, government debt and GDP per capita. The foreign trade and territorial and commodity structure of exports in the last ten years are also examined in this part. In the third chapter there is an analysis of the competitiveness based on investigation of labor productivity, labor costs, expenditures on research and development and tertiary education. In conclusion there is an evaluation of competitiveness of Visegrad Group based on the Global Competitiveness Index in 2011-2012.

The Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) was implemented on 1 September 1995 in the context of the country's political and economic liberalisation and the major structural shift in government policy and the trade regime. In an intensely competitive global environment, the strategies of a few dominant motor vehicle manufacturers, mainly operating from the Triad regions of North America, Europe and Japan, impact significantly on the developments of the global automotive industry. Over the past decade the small, highly protected and inwardly focused South African automotive industry has become fully integrated in the global strategies of foreign parent companies. As South Africa's leading manufacturing sector, the automotive sector is contributing significantly to the country's economy in terms of exports, investment, employment and the gross domestic product. The objective of the study was to establish and measure the relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool in the global automotive environment by capturing the responses and perceptions of direct automotive industry exporters and stakeholders for * the South African automotive industry in general, and * the companies forming part of the empirical survey. To satisfy the objectives of the study, the research methodology incorporated an extensive primary and secondary research phase (qualitative and quantitative). A structured empirical survey was used to collect the primary data. The survey data were captured and processed by the Bureau for Market Research (BMR), Unisa. The main findings of the study are that: * The promotional relevance and value of the MIDP as a promotional tool is embedded in the programme's ability to trigger interest in the South African automotive industry, to generate business and to attract investments. * The MIDP is successful in contributing to the automotive sector's international competitiveness and is therefore a very important promotional tool for convincing foreign parent companies to consider South Africa as an investment destination. * The South African automotive industry would not be able to cope with global competition without the MIDP. * Different factors impact on the business operations of the South African automotive industry in general and the specific company in particular and the factors are viewed differently by the selected groups based on their demographic details. The process of trade liberalisation is forcing many South African companies to encounter both intensified competition and new forms of competition. The South African government's target of a 6 percent economic growth rate by 2010 will largely depend on the ongoing successes achieved in priority sectors such as the domestic automotive sector. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)