At the current level of the world and Russian economy development industrial enterprises can get important advantages due to the effective formation and use of intangible resources which have a significant impact on the activities of these enterprises. The purpose of the thesis is to assess the impact of intangible assets on the industrial complex enterprises activities. The information and empirical base of the research was based on legislative acts and regulations governing commercial organizations and enterprises accounting of intangible assets, normative acts, monographic research, periodical materials, international accounting and reporting standards, guidelines, scientific works and publications of foreign and domestic economists, official statistic data of the intangible assets use by commercial organizations, reporting documents of the investigated industrial enterprise. Domestic and foreign literary sources analysis shows the unified approaches absence to the study of the problems of accounting and valuation of industrial enterprises intangible assets. Therefore, in the course of writing the master’s thesis the author’s definition of “intangible assets” was given, the classification of industrial enterprises intangible assets was clarified, and a multifactor model for evaluating the industrial enterprise’s activities results taking into account the influence of various factors including intangible assets considered and not accounted for was developed. This multifactor model which was tested on research enterprise will help to give not only an assessment of the degree of these factors impact, but also allow for a predictive check of changes in the results of the enterprise’s activity under various development scenarios. / При современном уровне развития мировой и российской экономики промышленные предприятия могут получить существенные преимущества за счет эффективного формирования и применения нематериальных ресурсов, которые оказывают значительное влияние на деятельность этих предприятий. Целью диссертационной работы является оценка влияния нематериальных активов на результаты деятельности предприятий промышленного комплекса. Информационно-эмпирическая база исследования основывалась на законодательных актах и положениях, регламентирующих коммерческие организации и ведение бухгалтерского учета нематериальных активов предприятиями, нормативных актах, монографических исследованиях, материалах периодической печати, международных стандартах учета и отчетности, методических рекомендациях, научных трудах и публикациях зарубежных и отечественных экономистов, официальных статистических данных об использовании нематериальных активов коммерческими субъектами, отчетных документах исследуемого промышленного предприятия. Анализ отечественных и зарубежных литературных источников показывает отсутствие единых подходов в изучении проблематики учета и оценки нематериальных активов промышленных предприятий. Поэтому в ходе написания магистерской диссертации дано авторское определение «нематериальные активы», уточнена классификация нематериальных активов промышленных предприятий, а также разработана многофакторная модель оценки результатов деятельности промышленного предприятия с учетом влияния различных факторов, в том числе учитываемых и не учитываемых в балансе нематериальных активов. Данная многофакторная модель, которая была апробирована на исследуемом предприятии, поможет дать не только оценку степени воздействия этих факторов, но также позволит провести прогнозную проверку изменения результатов деятельности предприятия при различных сценариях развития.

A Internacionalização das empresas se impõe como um imperativo em tempos de globalização. O forte processo de concorrência nos mercados domésticos faz com que as empresas busquem novos mercados para competir, motivando a Internacionalização de suas operações. As empresas buscam o processo de Internacionalização visando manter e expandir suas trajetórias de crescimento, e logicamente, visando também melhorar sua performance empresarial. Este estudo analisou a relação entre o Grau de Internacionalização e a Performance de empresas brasileiras. O Grau de Internacionalização foi medido pela variável FSTS (Foreign Sales over Total Sales ou Vendas no Exterior sobre Vendas Totais). A performance foi avaliada sob duas dimensões: Performance Contábil (Retorno sobre o Ativo; Retorno sobre Vendas) e Performance de Mercado (Retorno das ações; Valor de Mercado). A relação entre Grau de Internacionalização e Performance foi avaliada sob diversas formas, a partir de regressões simples, multivariadas e polinomiais (usando modelos de Dados em Painel e Heteroscedasticidade-Corrigida). Adicionalmente, foi investigada a relação entre o valor (força) da Base de Ativos Intangíveis (medida pelo indicador Tobin’s Q) e o Grau de Internacionalização das companhias. Os resultados deste estudo sugerem associação positiva entre Grau de Internacionalização e Performance para a amostra analisada. Foram explorados modelos lineares e polinomiais. Tanto os modelos lineares quanto polinomiais demonstraram relação positiva entre as variáveis. Os modelos polinomiais Quadráticos apresentaram os melhores ajustes, indicando que a relação entre Grau de Internacionalização e Performance (Contábil, medida pelo ROA; de Mercado, medida pelo Valor de Mercado) apresenta o formato de uma curva em “U”, com retornos negativos no início do processo de Internacionalização, até um ponto de inflexão, a partir do qual a relação entre Grau de Internacionalização e Performance passa a ser positiva. Os resultados também sugerem relação positiva entre o valor (força) da Base de Ativos Intangíveis e o Grau de Internacionalização das firmas. / The Internationalization of firms is mandatory in an environment marked by globalization. The fierce competition in domestic markets pressures firms to find new markets to compete, motivating the Internationalization process of these firms. Firms seek Internationalization to maintain and to expand their growth trajectories, and, logically, to enhance their Business Performance. This study analyzed the relationship between Degree of Internationalization and Performance of Brazilian Firms. The Degree of Internationalization was measured by the variable FSTS (Foreign Sales over Total Sales). Performance was evaluated using two dimensions: Accounting measures (Return on Assets; Return on Sales) and Market measures (Return on Stocks; Market Value of Equity). Simple, Multivariate and Polynomial Regressions (using Panel Data and Heteroscedasticity-Corrected models) were used to analyze the relationship between variables. Additionally, it was analyzed the relationship between the value (strenght) of the Intangible Assets Base (measured by Tobin’s Q) and the Degree of Internationalization. The results suggest positive association between Degree of Internationalization and Performance for the sample studied. Both linear and polynomial models showed positive relationship between the two variables. The quadratic (second-order) polynomial models were found better adjusted than linear models, indicating that the relationship between Degree of Internationalization and Performance (measured by ROA and Market Value of Equity) is better explained by an “U-shaped” curve: at early stages of Internationalization the returns are negative. Later, at the second stage of the Internationalization process, there is an inflection point, when returns become positive. Results also suggest that there is a positive relationship between the value (strenght) of the Base of Intangible Assets and the Degree of Internationalization of firms.

L’objet de cette recherche est d’étudier les moyens utilisés par les entreprises de l’Union Economique Monétaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) pour développer leur capital immatériel. Deux questions principales sont évoquées : (i) pourquoi certaines entreprises privilégient-elles certains modes de gestion du capital immatériel plus que d’autres ? (ii) Ces modes de gestion de l’immatériel influencent-ils différemment la performance des entreprises de l’UEMOA ? Une étude empirique de 381 entreprises réparties dans huit (8) pays montre que les pratiques de gestion du capital immatériel diffèrent entre les pays et peuvent s’expliquer par des différences au niveau du climat des affaires et de la corruption dans le pays, des différences sectorielles et des variables spécifiques à chaque entreprise. Plus précisément, nous relevons le rôle complexe de la variable « corruption » qui incite à la fois à certaines actions favorables au capital immatériel et à une réticence des entreprises à lancer des innovations. Nous observons que l’orientation clients constitue une variable clé dans la gestion du capital immatériel. Les entreprises orientées vers leurs clients sont celles qui innovent le plus, adoptent les « bonnes pratiques » de gestion des ressources humaines et qui utilisent le plus la communication publicitaire pour développer leur notoriété. Les activités de gestion de l’immatériel, en retour, influencent indirectement la performance de l’entreprise car elles améliorent la notoriété, l’implication / The purpose of this research is to study how companies operating in the Wertern African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) area proceed to develop their intangible assets. Two main questions were addressed: (i) why do some companies prefer some particular means for developing intangle assets more than others? And (ii) do the means used by companies to develop intangible assets lead to better performance? A cross-country investigation of 381 companies in eight (8) countries shows that cross-country differences in the management of intangible assets can be explained by the business climate and corruption, industry differences, and firm-specific factors. Regarding cross-country differences, we find that corruption plays a complex role in the sense that it both leads to more and less effort towards developing intangible assets. We also find that customer focus is a key variable in the management of intangible assets. Customer-focused companies innovate more, invest more in human resources, and are more enclined towards developing their brand equity through advertising. The actitivities designed to develop intangible assets, in return, indirectly lead to better firm performance as they increase company awareness levels, employee involvement, and the success of innovative activities.

The purpose of financial reporting is to provide information that is useful for decision making. Recently, however, there has been a systematic decline in the usefulness of such information. Indeed, the current reporting model seems to be no longer sufficient mainly due to the fact that it ignores many of the nonfinancial intangible factors which are increasingly becoming important in determining corporate value and performance. That is, there is a need for the traditional reporting model to be modified or at least broadened to reflect Intangible Assets (IA) in order to enhance the usefulness of information being provided to different stakeholders. In the absence of mandatory reporting requirements, one alternative way of disseminating information regarding IA is to engage in voluntary disclosure practices. It has also been suggested that companies which would benefit the most from such practice are those originating from emerging economies looking to expand into international markets. While there exists an array of empirical studies which have examined the voluntary disclosure practices of corporations from developed economies, less considered are the reporting practices of emerging market companies regarding their IA. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the voluntary disclosure practices of the top 200 emerging market companies regarding the variety, nature and extent of IA and to consider some of the factors that may be associated with the level of such disclosure. Using a disclosure index based on the Value Chain Scoreboard??? (Lev, 2001), narrative sections of the 2002 annual reports of the top 200 emerging market companies are analysed. The findings indicate that emerging market companies engage in voluntary disclosure practices in order to disseminate different varieties of mainly quantitative IA information to their global stakeholders. Further, the variety and the extent of IA disclosure are associated with corporate specific factors such as leverage, adoption of IFRS/US GAAP, industry type, and price to book ratio. Contrary to the existing literature on voluntary disclosure, however, firm size and ownership concentration are not found to be associated with the IA disclosure level. Country specific factors such as the level of risks associated with economic policy and legal system are also found to be significantly associated with the IA voluntary disclosure level.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 14, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Bakgrund Majoriteten av alla svenska företag är familjeföretag. Forskning inom området har inte bedrivits i någon större utsträckning förrän på senare år. Därtill kommer att forskning inom värdering av familjeföretag är närmast obefintlig. Familjeföretag skiljer sig på många sätt från icke-familjeföretag, t.ex. när det gäller kultur, ägande och ledning. Härav finns det anledning att tro att familjeföretag värderas annorlunda än icke-familjeföretag. Syfte med uppsatsen Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva hur värdering av familjeföretag går till från ett uppköpande företags synvinkel. Metod För att utföra denna uppsats har ett kvalitativt, hermeneutiskt tillvägagångssätt använts för att förstå helheten av fenomenet familjeföretags värdering. Vi har genomfört en fallstudie bestående av tre familjeföretags uppköp gjorda av Företag X som noggrant har studerats. Slutsats När ett familjeföretag värderas är det avgörande att ha erfarenhet, branschkännedom, intuition och framför allt kunskap och erfarenhet om familjeföretag. De immateriella tillgångarna i ett familjeföretag, som till exempel rykte, kultur och kunskap bidrar tillsammans med olika värderingsmodeller till ett rättvist värde av familjeföretaget. / Background The vast majority of all Swedish companies are family businesses. Research within the field of family businesses has not until recent years been developed. Moreover, the research regarding valuation of family businesses is close to non-existing. Family businesses differ in many ways from non-family businesses, for example when it comes to culture, ownership and management. Hence, there is a possibility that family businesses are valuated differently from non-family businesses. Purpose of this thesis The purpose with this thesis is to describe how valuation of family businesses is done from the perspective of an acquiring company. Method For this thesis a qualitative, hermeneutic approach was applied in order to understand the whole picture of the valuation of the family business phenomenon. A case study approach was carried out by carefully studying three acquisitions of small private family businesses in the service sector made by Company X. Conclusions The crucial skills to possess are experience, industry knowledge, intuition and most of all family business knowledge and experience when determining a fair value of a family business. The intangible assets of a family business, for instance reputation, culture and knowledge, together with different valuation methods contribute to the estimation of the value of a family business.

Today’s globalized economy puts considerable pressure on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as they are forced to compete in a world where business is often conducted over nations’ borders. This globalization has also led to the creation of free trade areas such as the European Union, where most traditional barriers to trade have been removed. Despite this there still seems to be several, more invisible, barriers that hampers business between member states. We therefore intend to examine how companies in two member states – Lithuania and Sweden – have been affected by such invisible barriers and how they are trying to cope with them. This research has been conducted using following theoretical foundation; Invisible barriers, knowledge, the Uppsala model, psychic distance and networks. Our empirical data have been gathered by holding semi structured interviews with 7 SMEs, this data have then been analyzed with the help of our theoretical foundation. We have found substantial evidence pointing towards the importance of psychic distance and lack of knowledge when explaining the barriers still in existence. Furthermore we have also discovered the duality of knowledge and networks which can be both barriers in themselves as well as ways for companies to work their way around previously mentioned barriers.

The current problems and possible solutions surrounding United States transfer pricing regulations are discussed and studied. The schemes large multinational companies are implementing to legally evade taxes are uncovered as the financial effects to the United States Treasury and government are becoming material. The benefits for these schemes are financially advantageous for corporations as they are able to report larger profits and higher returns for investors. But this is being done at the expense of our government. Corporations are finding ways to escape the high U.S. corporate tax rate and lower their global tax liabilities by allocating income to lower tax jurisdictions. Tax havens like Ireland or Bermuda are popular to have subsidiaries which hold a corporations intangible property. Five United States Tax Court cases concerning transfer pricing are studied and the outcomes are analyzed. The current problems studied from these cases are, shipping intangible property, valuing intangible property, the arm’s length standard. The possible solutions to these currents problems are by no means easy to solve and no one revision can relieve all the problems. The arm’s length standard is the corner stone to the current problems and if the government can find a way to better enforce the standard or replace it, it will be a large step in the right direction.

El objetivo de esta tesis es evaluar la eficiencia así como la evolución de la productividad en las empresas del sector textil y de la confección en diferentes regiones del mundo. Además, investigamos los factores que contribuyen a explicar las diferencias en cuanto a los niveles de eficiencia mostrados por las empresas bajo análisis. En particular, la tesis se enfoca en el papel de los recursos intangibles y su contribución a eficiencia empresarial. Como marco de referencia esta investigación emplea la Teoría de los Recursos y Capacidades (Resource-based View of the Firm) con su reciente desarrollo del Enfoque de las Capacidades Dinámicas (Dynamic Capabilities Approach), la Teoría de la Agencia (Agency Theory), y la Teoría Institucional (Institutional Theory). Construimos y contrastamos un modelo teórico el cual relaciona los recursos intangibles y otros factores internos y externos con la eficiencia de las empresas. De esta forma, este estudio contribuye al desarrollo de la investigación sobre los activos intangibles mediante la introducción de un método alternativo para la medición del desempeño empresarial. Además nuestra propuesta permite abordar la eficiencia desde una perspectiva integral, donde diferentes enfoques teóricos son considerados a la hora de explicar los factores que afectan la eficiencia. Para ello, usamos una base de datos original que se desarrolló a través de la vinculación de datos a partir de tres fuentes de información: COMPUSTAT, DATASTREAM y OSIRIS. Nuestra base de datos consta de 5477 observaciones (eficiencia estática) y 4982 observaciones (evolución de la productividad en el tiempo) de las empresas de la industria textil y de la confección en diferentes regiones del mundo para el período de 1995-2004. La mayoría de las empresas provienen de los EE.UU., Japón, China, Corea, Taiwán, Alemania y el Reino Unido (regiones de Asia, America del Norte y Europa). La metodología empleada en esta tesis involucra: 1) el cálculo de los indicadores de eficiencia para las empresas de la muestra mediante una función distancia orientada hacia el "input", utilizando el método de Análisis Envolvente de Datos (Data Envelopment Analisis DEA); 2) el cálculo de la evolución de la productividad en el tiempo mediante la aplicación del índice de Malmquist; y 3) el contraste de las hipótesis donde empleamos un modelo de regresión truncada con datos de panel. Además, evaluamos la significancia estadística de los indicadores estáticos y dinámicos de eficiencia obtenidos mediante la aplicación de métodos de "bootstrapping". Por último, nuestras conclusiones se presentan junto con las implicaciones que consideramos pertinentes tanto para managers como para los encargados de formular políticas de desarrollo. La referencia a las limitaciones del estudio, y algunas recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones se presentan al final del documento. La principal implicación de esta tesis indica que las empresas de la industria textil y de la confección necesitan invertir en recursos intangibles. / In this dissertation, we aim at assessing efficiency as well as productivity evolution over time of firms in the textile and apparel sector in different regions in the world, and we look at the factors contributing to efficiency outcomes. In particular, we focus on the role that intangible assets play in efficiency. Theoretically, this research stands upon the Resource-Based View of the Firm with its recent development of the Dynamic Capabilities Approach, the Agency Theory, and the Institutional Theory. We build and test a theoretical model that hypothetically links intangible assets, other internal factors and external factors with firm efficiency. In this way, this study contributes to the development of intangible assets research by introducing the alternative method for performance measurement, and benefits the efficiency literature by trying to integrate different theoretical perspectives considering the factors affecting efficiency. We rely on the original dataset which was developed through the linkage of the information from three databases: COMPUSTAT, DATASTREAM and OSIRIS. It consists of 5477 observations (static efficiency) and 4982 observations (productivity evolution over time) of firms from the textile and apparel industry worldwide for the 1995-2004 time-period. The majority of companies come from the USA, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Germany and the UK (regions of Asia, North America and Europe). Methodology applied in this dissertation involves: 1) the computation of static efficiency indicators of firms in the sample by means of an input distance function using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method; 2) the computation of productivity evolution over time through the application of Malmquist index; 3) the model and the hypotheses testing in the panel data truncated regression. In addition, we assess the statistical significance of static and dynamic efficiency indicators through the application of bootstrapping methods. Finally, our conclusions are presented together with their implications for managers and policy makers, reference to the studyís limitations, and some recommendations for future research. The main implication of this dissertation indicates that textile and apparel firms need to invest in intangible assets.

<p>Bakgrund</p><p>Majoriteten av alla svenska företag är familjeföretag. Forskning inom området har inte bedrivits i någon större utsträckning förrän på senare år. Därtill kommer att forskning inom värdering av familjeföretag är närmast obefintlig. Familjeföretag skiljer sig på många sätt från icke-familjeföretag, t.ex. när det gäller kultur, ägande och ledning. Härav finns det anledning att tro att familjeföretag värderas annorlunda än icke-familjeföretag.</p><p>Syfte med uppsatsen</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva hur värdering av familjeföretag går till från ett uppköpande företags synvinkel.</p><p>Metod</p><p>För att utföra denna uppsats har ett kvalitativt, hermeneutiskt tillvägagångssätt använts för att förstå helheten av fenomenet familjeföretags värdering. Vi har genomfört en fallstudie bestående av tre familjeföretags uppköp gjorda av Företag X som noggrant har studerats.</p><p>Slutsats</p><p>När ett familjeföretag värderas är det avgörande att ha erfarenhet, branschkännedom, intuition och framför allt kunskap och erfarenhet om familjeföretag. De immateriella tillgångarna i ett familjeföretag, som till exempel rykte, kultur och kunskap bidrar tillsammans med olika värderingsmodeller till ett rättvist värde av familjeföretaget.</p> / <p>Background</p><p>The vast majority of all Swedish companies are family businesses. Research within the field of family businesses has not until recent years been developed. Moreover, the research regarding valuation of family businesses is close to non-existing. Family businesses differ in many ways from non-family businesses, for example when it comes to culture, ownership and management. Hence, there is a possibility that family businesses are valuated differently from non-family businesses.</p><p>Purpose of this thesis</p><p>The purpose with this thesis is to describe how valuation of family businesses is done from the perspective of an acquiring company.</p><p>Method</p><p>For this thesis a qualitative, hermeneutic approach was applied in order to understand the whole picture of the valuation of the family business phenomenon. A case study approach was carried out by carefully studying three acquisitions of small private family businesses in the service sector made by Company X.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The crucial skills to possess are experience, industry knowledge, intuition and most of all family business knowledge and experience when determining a fair value of a family business. The intangible assets of a family business, for instance reputation, culture and knowledge, together with different valuation methods contribute to the estimation of the value of a family business.</p>