For the global business school community, the twenty-first century inaugurated a season of introspection. As global sustainability concerns grew in prominence, critical debate about the purpose of business and its role in society could not be left without an educational response. At the same time, however, it raised the question of whether business schools were at all ready to equip their students for leadership in a world faced by crucial economic, social, and environmental challenges. The answer is not self-evidently positive. Various authors grapple with questions on the purpose of business schools and their relationship with business and society. This empirical study examines the influence of EQUIS accreditation standards on business school practices in the areas of institutional strategies, programmes, faculty, research, and development, as well as in responsible management education at large. Although accreditation is not the only factor that determines what business schools believe, do, and become, it is an important shaper of the direction in which they will find their way forward in the face of twenty-first–century management education imperatives. This has especially become the case since the inclusion of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability (ERS) in the revised EQUIS standards. The analysis is drawn from a qualitative multi-case study where the author outlined a theoretical framework by developing an understanding of the organisational responses to EQUIS standards, using interviews and document review as the primary source of information. The case study included private, public, stand-alone, and university-embedded business schools. The findings show that business schools engage in a variety of ERS activities in their research and education portfolio. However, different stakeholder expectations pressure business schools to become more ethical, responsible, and sustainable, which leads to a decoupling of the schools’ “ERS talk” from their “ERS actions”. The decoupling can be seen as the consequence of a school’s translation, editing, and imitation activities in order to appear committed to society’s demands. Despite budget constraints and limited autonomy, public business schools seem to be more engaged in ERS education and research as compared to private institutions. Also, a multidisciplinary environment further supports ERS development as compared to stand-alone business schools. The research proposes core changes and developments that business schools may take into consideration to provide a systematic response to EQUIS ERS standards and criteria.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-11-24T11:36:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabio José Capecchi_.pdf: 1637258 bytes, checksum: 204baec6a7c2a8bf5ab5de9ce51fd6b3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-24T11:36:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabio José Capecchi_.pdf: 1637258 bytes, checksum: 204baec6a7c2a8bf5ab5de9ce51fd6b3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-29 / Nenhuma / A presente Tese se propôs a discutir como que a estrutura de relacionamentos interorganizacionais em rede impacta a responsabilidade social corporativa da rede de suprimentos da organização Bibi Calçados LTDA, integrante do setor calçadista Gaúcho, que é situada na cidade de Parobé/RS. A pesquisa tem caráter descritivo, explicativo e exploratório pois, além de descrever como se comporta a estrutura de relacionamentos em rede das organizações do setor calçadista gaúcho a partir da organização Bibi Calçados LTDA, também explica os ponderados impactos que os construtos sintetizados pelo esquema conceitual-teórico proposto por esta Tese exercem sobre o modelo de Responsabilidade Social Corporativa (RSC) da unidade de análise considerada. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório concomitantemente, pois o fenômeno problematizado que trata dos impactos da estrutura de relacionamentos em rede sobre a RSC ainda não se apresenta na literatura acadêmica com a devida clareza e solidez teórica nem empírica. A metodologia de pesquisa, inicialmente, utiliza-se da identificação e cálculo da métrica de redes centralidade obtidas através de coletas primárias e secundárias junto aos stakeholders fornecedores e clientes da rede produtiva em análise e, por fim, após a obtenção destes dados da rede e das variáveis independentes sintetizadas para este estudo no esquema conceitual-teórico (i.e stakeholders e isomorfismo), o conjunto acumulado de dados foi submetido ao tratamento estatístico de regressão multivariada para que as devidas análises confirmatórias e reflexivas fossem sintetizadas. Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram que os construtos constituintes da estrutura da rede analisada impactam a RSC de maneira ponderada e portanto, sugere-se que estes construtos sejam incluídos no modelo de RSC tornando-o um modelo teórico com foco além do corporativo intraorganizacional apenas, mas também com foco nas relações interorganizacionais em rede. Como desafio futuro desta linha de pesquisa, propõe-se que aos estudos sobre gestão da responsabilidade social corporativa em redes sejam incorporados a perspectiva da análise de redes sociais pois, a partir desta tipologia de redes, poder-se-á entender atributos qualitativos formais e informais de redes que também impactam a RSC e, por consequência, avançar no conhecimento teórico sobre responsabilidade social corporativa ainda mais. / This thesis proposes to discuss how the organizational network relationships structure impacts the corporate social responsibility of the supply network from the organization Bibi Shoes LTD which is located in the city of Parobé/RS and integrated of Gaucho´s footwear sector. The research is descriptive, explanatory and exploratory because in addition to describe how it behaves in the network relationships structure of the gaucho’s footwear industry organizations from Bibi Shoes LTDA also explains the weighted impact that the constructs synthesized by scheme conceptual-theoretical proposed by this thesis have on the model of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) considered the unit of analysis. It is an exploratory study concurrently because the questioned phenomenon that deals with the impacts of networked relationships of structure on CSR still does not appear in the academic literature with proper clarity and theoretical soundness or empirical. The search methodology, initially, it uses the identification and calculation of centrality networks metric obtained by primary and secondary collections stakeholders with suppliers and customers of the production network analysis and finally, after obtaining these data from the network, and the independent variables for this study summarized in the conceptual-theoretical scheme (i.e. stakeholders and isomorphism), the accumulated data set was submitted to statistical analysis of multivariate regression for the necessary confirmatory and reflective analysis were synthesized. The results showed that the constituents constructs of network structure impact the CSR weighted manner and therefore it is suggested that these constructs are included in the CSR model making it a theoretical model focusing beyond the corporate intraorganizational only, but also focusing in network interorganizational relationships. As future chalenge of this line of research, it is proposed that the studies on management of corporate social responsibility in corporate networks inlcude the tipology of social network analysis because, from this perspective networks, will be able to be construed formal and informal qualitatives attributes networks that also impact CSR and therefore advance in the theoretical knowledge of corporate social responsibility even more.

Esta dissertação buscou analisar um arranjo de cooperação interorganizacional no setor público direcionado para a qualificação dos servidores públicos no que tange à gestão e fiscalização de contratos. O objetivo principal foi compreender como se formou o arranjo de cooperação entre a Escola de Governo (EG)/FDRH e a Escola de Gestão e Controle Francisco Juruena/TCE-RS, assim como sua atuação na legitimação de práticas padronizadas relacionadas à gestão e fiscalização de contratos públicos no âmbito do Rio Grande do Sul através da operacionalização de um curso na modalidade EAD. Trata-se de um estudo de caso predominantemente qualitativo com base em: 1) pesquisa documental para compreensão dos fatores históricos e características das duas organizações que realizaram a cooperação; 2) entrevistas semiestruturadas com os principais atores que participaram do processo decisório em relação à formação, operacionalização e avaliação dos principais resultados do arranjo de cooperação; e 3) questionários enviados aos alunos aprovados na primeira edição do curso para identificar sua percepção sobre a relevância do Curso de Gestão e Fiscalização de Contratos EAD. Como principais resultados desta pesquisa, percebe-se que o curso vem atingindo seus objetivos ao padronizar a atividade dos fiscais e gestores de contratos públicos, assim como as edições EAD suportadas pelo arranjo de cooperação interorganizacional atingiram um número maior de alunos/servidores, com menor custo e com abrangência de servidores de um maior número de municípios. / This dissertation had the intent to analyze an interorganizational arrangement within the public sector related to the qualification of the public sector employees regarding inspections and Management of Contracts. The main objective was to understand how the cooperation arrangement between the Government School/ FDRH and the Management and Control School Francisco Juruena/TCE-RS was established, as well as its performance in the legitimation of isomorphic practices related to the management and inspection of public contracts within Rio Grande do Sul’s scope, via the operationalization of an EAD course. This is a predominantly qualitative study based on: 1) documented research to understand the historical factors and characteristics of the two organizations that practiced the cooperation; 2) semi-structured interviews with the main players who participated in the decision-making process regarding the establishment, operationalization and evaluation of the main results of the cooperation arrangement; and 3) questionnaires sent to the course’s first edition approved students in order to capture their perception about the relevance of the EAD Contracts Management and Inspection course. It was perceived, via the main results of this research, that the course reached its objectives as part of an institutionalization process that seeks to standardize the activity of inspection and public contract managers; As well as the EAD editions supported by the interorganizational cooperation arrangement reached a greater number of students /employees, with lower cost and with the inclusion of public employees from a greater number of municipalities;

Human trafficking exists domestically and internationally, and each year thousands of men, women, and children are trafficked into lives of involuntary servitude. Law enforcement efforts to investigate human trafficking across the United States are similar in nature; yet, prior research had not investigated the possible causes of these similarities. Utilizing institutional theory, this research investigated whether institutional isomorphic pressures have any impact on the formalization of human trafficking investigations. Data were collected from 26 municipal police organizations in a mid-Atlantic state on departmental human trafficking policies and practices via Farrell's understanding law enforcement responses to human trafficking survey instrument. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict the probability of human trafficking investigations occurring when institutional coercive, mimetic, and normative isomorphic pressures are introduced. The results indicated no significant relationship between institutional isomorphic pressures and the formalization of human trafficking investigations for the 26 municipal police departments in a mid-Atlantic state. Nonetheless, this study provides an understanding of municipal police department responses to human trafficking and investigatory practices. Accordingly, the social change implications of the study may encourage municipal policing institutions to develop and implement responses based upon human capital and interagency collaboration.

We have investigated several monomial and permutation progenitors, including 2*8 : [8 : 2], 2*18 : [(22 x 3) : (3x2)], 2*16 : [22 : 4], and 2*16 : 24, 5*2 :m [4•22], 5*2 :m [(4x2) :• 2], 103∗2 :m [17 : 2] and 103∗4 :m [17 : 4]. We have discovered original, to the best of our knowledge, symmetric presentations of a number of finite groups, including PSL(2, 7), M12 , A6 : 2, A7 , PSL(2, 25), 25 :• S4, 24 : S3, PSL(2, 271), 12 x PSL(2, 13), and U(3, 7) : 2. We will present our construction of several of these images, including the Mathieu sporadic simple group M12 over the maximal subgroup PSL(2, 11), PSL(2, 17) over D9, PSL(2, 16) : 2 over [24 : 5] and PGL(2, 7) over S3. We will also give our method of finding isomorphism classes of images.

The goal of this presentation is to find original symmetric presentations of finite groups. It is frequently the case, that progenitors factored by appropriate relations produce simple and even sporadic groups as homomorphic images. We have discovered two of the twenty-six sporadic simple groups namely, M12, J1 and the Lie type group Suz(8). In addition several linear and classical groups will also be presented. We will present several progenitors including: 2*12: 22 x (3 : 2), 2*11: PSL2(11), 2*5: (5 : 4) which have produced the homomorphic images: M12 : 2, Suz(8) x 2, and J1 x 2. We will give monomial progenitors whose homomorphic images are: 17*10 :m PGL2(9), 3*4:m Z2 ≀D4 , and 13*2:m (22 x 3) : 2 which produce the homomorphic images:132 : ((2 x 13) : (2 x 3)), 2 x S9, and (22)•PGL4(3). Once we have a presentation of a group we can verify the group's existence through double coset enumeration. We will give proofs of isomorphism types of the presented images: S3 x PGL2(7) x S5, 28:A5, and 2•U4(2):2.

Dependently typed programming languages allow the type system to express arbitrary propositions of intuitionistic logic, thanks to the Curry-Howard isomorphism. Taking full advantage of this type system requires defining more types than usual, in order to encode logical correctness criteria into the definitions of datatypes. While an abundance of specialized types helps ensure correctness, it comes at the cost of needing to redefine common functions for each specialized type. This dissertation makes an effort to attack the problem of code reuse in dependently typed languages. Our solution is to write generic functions, which can be applied to any datatype. Such a generic function can be applied to datatypes that are defined at the time the generic function was written, but they can also be applied to any datatype that is defined in the future. Our solution builds upon previous work on generic programming within dependently typed programming. Type theory supports generic programming using a construction known as a universe. A universe can be considered the model of a programming language, such that writing functions over it models writing generic programs in the programming language. Historically, there has been a trade-off between the expressive power of the modeled programming language, and the kinds of generic functions that can be written in it. Our dissertation shows that no such trade-off is necessary, and that we can write future-proof generic functions in a model of a dependently typed programming language with a rich collection of types.

<p>In May 2000 share repurchases were legalized in Sweden, with the purpose to provide companies with an efficient and flexible way to distribute capital. To buy back shares gives companies several benefits which are discussed in our study. The lack of academic research about this topic for Swedish companies gave us an incentive to provide knowledge specifically for this market. When companies announce a share repurchase program they are subject to uncertainty about the society’s reaction and economic consequences. Individuals within a well established organizational field deal rationally with uncertainty by adjusting to their institutional environment. The institutional environment can be defined as an abstract structure of regulations and behavioral norms that guide human’s decisions. This often leads to homogeneity in companies’ culture, structure and output. We ask the question if companies are realizing repurchase programs in a similar way over time, and if share repurchases have been developed as a more common used financial instrument since 2000. Our second question is if companies that decide to buy back shares pursue this under similar economic conditions as a result from becoming homogeneous.</p><p>The purpose of this study is to describe how institutional pressures in form of coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism have affected companies’ decision to repurchase shares. We want to explain if there is an upward going trend of share repurchases, a standardized way to repurchase over time and if this decision can be determined by similarities in certain financial indicators of a company’s economic situation. To answer our purpose we used a quantitative research strategy with a deductive approach. The collected data was analyzed in a logistic regression analysis and by interpretations of descriptive statistics. We decided to examine for mimetic isomorphism public companies listed within the industrial sector on Stockholm Stock Exchange from the years 2000-2006. For the test of coercive and normative isomorphism with a logistic regression analysis we had to limit ourselves to investigate the years 2001-2003.</p><p>In reality the three institutional pressures are working simultaneously and should together lead to a common perception about share repurchases among companies. For our testing we separated institutional isomorphism based on our theoretical preconceptions. This allowed us to analyze each individual institutional pressure and how they interact together. We defined mimetic isomorphism as companies adjusting their repurchase behavior to other companies within the industrial sector. Our result has not shown any indications of such a behavior concerning time, amount or frequency of the buybacks. Testing if certain financial indicators such as excess cash, liquidity, solvency, dividends, volatile operative income, prior year return, growth opportunities, companies’ size, ownership concentration, institutional and individual shareholders could explain stock repurchase activity gave us the possibility to evaluate coercive and normative isomorphism. But the question how institutional isomorphism affects companies’ repurchase decisions still remains unanswered. We have not found any certain financial indicator which motivates companies’ decision to buy back their own shares. The decision might therefore be carried out under very different economic conditions and with different objectives. In the industrial sector and generally in the whole Swedish market only a relatively low proportion of companies buy back shares. The stated findings for the Swedish market imply a need for further investigations over a longer time horizon and for a larger population. Further investigations in this topic which has the potential to provide recent insight into the stock repurchase decision for Swedish companies would enhance and verify our statements.</p>

<p>Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning trädde i kraft 1 juli 2005, Sverige var då ett av de sista länderna i Europa med att skaffa sig en kod. Anledningen till att koden introducerades var för att höja kunskapen om och öka förtroendet för svensk bolagsstyrning, samt att stärka näringslivets effektivitet och konkurrenskraft, detta både inom och utanför Sveriges gränser. Att koden kom just då hade att göra med de stora redovisningsskandaler internationellt sett med Enron och Worldcom som exempel men också med anledning av de felaktiga bonussystem som i Sverige innefattar Skandia, där Skandias förre VD Lars-Eric Petersson i dagarna dömts till 2 års fängelse.</p><p>De bolag som omfattas av Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning är alla bolag på A-listan samt de på O-listan med ett marknadsvärde överstigande 3 miljarder kronor. Totalt handlar det om 84 st bolag.</p><p>Denna uppsats syftar till att beskriva hur de berörda företagen på A- och O-listan har mottagit koden med avseende på motstånd till förändring, samt förklara vad motståndet beror på. För att besvara syftet skickades en enkät ut till samtliga bolag. Enkäten utformades för att mäta variablerna förändringsgrad, svårigheter med införandet och graden av nytta med koden, vilka konstruerades utifrån institutionell teori och teori kring motstånd mot förändring. Av den totala populationen på 84 st företag svarade 44 st på enkäten, vilket motsvarar en svarsfrekvens på 52 %.</p><p>Utifrån teorin och den inhämtade empirin, drogs följande slutsatser. Det har konstaterats att bolagen inte har haft några större svårigheter med att implementera koden. De befintliga rutinerna i bolagen kan inte heller anses förklara hela motståndet. Det är snarare den ökade administrationen som inte har legitimitet genom att det finns en tveksamhet till kodens nytta, som förklarar förändringsmotståndet.</p>

I give explicit estimates of the Lp-norm of a mean zero infinitely divisible random vector taking values in a Hilbert space in terms of a certain mixture of the L2- and Lp-norms of the Levy measure. Using decoupling inequalities, the stochastic integral driven by an infinitely divisible random measure is defined. As a first application utilizing the Lp-norm estimates, computation of Ito Isomorphisms for different types of stochastic integrals are given. As a second application, I consider the discrete time signal-observation model in the presence of an alpha-stable noise environment. Formulation is given to compute the optimal linear estimate of the system state.