Background and Purpose A debate over the practice of physician self-referral has been ongoing in health care since the 1980s. At issue is the practice of physicians who refer patients to facilities in which they share a financial interest, a phenomenon known as referral for profit. Physician investment or ownership interest in ancillary (e.g., physical therapy) services has been shown to have an impact on utilization rates, costs, access to care, and quality of care. What has not been identified in previous research is the influence of physicians‘ selective referral on competing clinics, particularly the hospital-based outpatient centers that share their health care markets. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between the emergence of orthopaedic physician owned physical therapy services (POPTS) and changes in physical therapy referrals made to two groups of not-for-profit, hospital-based outpatient physical therapy (OPPT) centers in one health care market. Methods This study examined the referrals made by orthopaedic physicians to two large hospital systems in the Orlando, Florida, outpatient physical therapy market between 1999 and 2007. This study was conducted using existing proprietary databases maintained by the Orlando Regional Healthcare System (ORHS) and Florida Hospital System (FHS), as well as phone surveys conducted by the primary investigator. Information regarding the orthopaedic physicians‘ ownership status and the patients‘ payer types was combined into analyses to determine if physician status was related to the number of physical therapy patients from each payer type referred, or the number of total referrals made to the hospital-based outpatient physical therapy facilities. Comparisons were made between physicians who became owners of physical therapy services during the study period and physicians who never became owners of physical therapy services. Mixed Linear Models (MLM) were used to test for the effects of physician ownership and the combined influence of physician ownership and payer type on referrals for OPPT. Point estimates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the mean differences between Group 1 and Group 3 physicians for changes in OPPT referrals over time. The analyses were conducted first with samples of physicians who met a minimum criterion of ten referrals within the first year of data included in the data sets. Use of this criterion resulted in a small pool of physicians who qualified for inclusion in the testing. Data were compared between years 1 and 5 and then between years 1 and 2 versus 4 and 5. The criterion for physicians‘ inclusion was revised for post hoc analysis in an attempt to increase the sample size. All of the statistical tests were repeated in post hoc with the larger samples of physicians who met the minimum criterion of an average of ten referrals per year for years 1 and 2 rather than just the referral count for year 1. Results Overall, there was no statistically significant change in the total referrals as a result of a change in physicians‘ ownership status. Tests for the influence of payer type, physician group, and ownership status on referrals also revealed no significant differences between the two physician groups. Point estimates of the differences between Group 1 and Group 3 for changes in mean referrals supported the hypothesized relationships between physicians‘ ownership status and total referrals, referrals of commercially insured patients, and referrals of underinsured patients; however, the 95% confidence intervals for the point estimates were consistent with the non-significant MLM results. The hypothesized relationship between POPTS and referrals of Medicare patients was not supported in any of the analyses. In post hoc testing of the combined influence of payer type, physician group, and ownership status on referrals, a three-way interaction between physician group, payer type, and status was found (p=0.034, α<0.05). Including a larger sample size in the post hoc analyses led to outcomes that were different than those seen in the initial statistical tests. Conclusion This research outlines a novel approach to analyzing the influence of physician ownership and payer type on referral behaviors. The findings suggest that physicians‘ ownership of physical therapy services was not a predictor of their referrals to hospital-based OPPT services. Specifically, there was no significant effect of physician ownership of OPPT services on the total volume of referrals made to two hospital-systems‘ OPPT clinics. There also was no significant relationship between physician ownership, payer type, and referrals made to the hospital-based clinics. The theory predicting that POPTS physicians would work to eliminate market competition by reducing referral volumes and retaining patients with more lucrative reimbursement for their own practices was not supported. However, post hoc analysis with a larger sample size provided some evidence that a larger sample may have revealed the hypothesized relationships between physician ownership, payer type, and referrals for OPPT. Future research utilizing larger samples and data tracking physicians‘ OPPT referrals from their origins to their final dispositions are needed to clarify the relationships between physicians‘ ownership of OPPT services and the referrals they make for those services.

En 1973, Alain Peyrefitte publiait son livre intitulé : « Quand la Chine s’éveillera…le monde tremblera ! ». Ce titre prémonitoire s’inspirait d’une citation de Napoléon Ier. Aujourd’hui, le monde occidental doit adapter ses idéologies économiques, financières, politiques et sociales aux nouvelles structures émergentes telles que les « CHINDIA » (Chine et Inde), « BRIC » (Brésil, Russie, Inde et Chine), ou « VISTA » (Vietnam, Indonésie, Afrique du Sud, Turquie et Argentine). La cohabitation voire la coopération avec ces pays sont le nouveau défi du 21ème siècle. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’étudier les rapprochements d’entreprises grâce à la création de joint-ventures internationales. La question est de savoir : « Quels sont les déterminants de la performance des joint-ventures internationales entre pays développés et pays émergents, et plus particulièrement le cas de la Turquie ». L’originalité de cette recherche réside dans le fait de recueillir la perception du partenaire local turc sur son allié mais également sur sa structure commune. Le recueil et le traitement statistique de 123 questionnaires nous ont permis de répondre à cette question. En effet, le principal résultat a montré que la joint-venture internationale implantée en Turquie est plus performante lorsque les partenaires étrangers et locaux contribuent conjointement en termes d’objectifs, d’apports et de contrôles. / In 1973, Alain Peyrefitte published his book : « When China will wake up the world will tremble! ». This premonitory title was inspired by a quotation of Napoléon Bonaparte. The Western world may adapt its economic, financial, political and social ideologies to the new emerging structures such as « CHINDIA » (China and India), « BRIC » (Brazil, Russia, India and China), or « VISTA » (Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey and Argentina). Cohabitation and even cooperation between these countries are the new challenge of the 21st century. This thesis aims to study the closeness links between the firms thanks to the creation of international joint ventures. The question is : « What are the determinants of performance in international joint ventures between developed and emerging countries, and more especially in the case of Turkey ». The originality of this research consists in gathering the perception of local Turkish parent about its partner but also about his joint structure. The gathering and the statistical treatment of 123 questionnaires have allowed us to answer this question. In fact, the main result proved that the international joint venture in Turkey is more performant when foreign and local partners contribute jointly to objectives, contributions and controls.

Publicación a texto completo no autorizada por el autor / El documento digital no refiere asesor / Propone formar bases iniciales de un modelo de negocio de Joint Venture de algas marinas del puerto de Pisco orientado al mercado de Estados Unidos por la elección de un Joint Venture Societario o Joint Venture Contractual, para llegar a esto, debido a la cultura empresarial de la población de pescadores, hemos tenido que utilizar una estrategia de evaluación de acuerdo al nivel de condiciones técnicas y económicas (NCTE) de las Asociaciones Pesqueras Artesanales de Pisco con el fin de plantear los primeros pasos en propiciar la unión con el inversionista extranjero para generar el desarrollo del cultivo de algas marinas. El análisis de los resultados obtenidos con la entrevista y cuestionario del NCTE a 17 asociaciones pesqueras artesanales, ha verificado las hipótesis de asociación del nivel de conocimiento tecnológico de cultivar algas marinas con la capacidad de endeudamiento y posesión de bienes. El cual describe el nivel de conocimiento tecnológico bajo de los pescadores que les imposibilita para llegar por sí mismos, a una explotación integral del recurso pesquero. En ambos casos entre Perú y Estados Unidos el Joint Venture responde al mutuo deseo por parte de dos países, uno frecuentemente poseedor de capital, tecnología y mercado y el otro aportante de los recursos naturales con el deseo de establecer y desarrollar el cultivo de algas marinas. / Tesis

The aim of this paper is to explore what factors affect the survival of international joint ventures involving Chinese family business. The results show that “Wulun” ， “ Guanxi -based trust”, and communication as the main factors, control, and “Mianzi” could influence on the survival of IJV. Among them, “Wulun,” “Guanxi-based trust,” and “Mianzi” derived from Confucian culture.

Abstract not available

As the relative capital value of major real estate investment grows, and investment risk continues to centralise, the requirement to diversify this risk through shared ownership has increased. This international trend toward increased co-ownership has been manifested in cross border collaborations and, with this sharing of risks has come the dilemma of preserving the operational integrity of these assets and the capital value of the fractional interests created. This thesis considers the process of valuation of fractional interests, examining the methods employed in both the real estate and securities investment communities, and it identifies the shortcomings of the current unstructured approach to the problem. It reveals the impact of improperly structured agreements between co-owners on the value of their interests and illustrates the enormity of this in terms of the Australian publicly traded real estate securities sector. This thesis concludes that the current deficiencies in fractional interest valuation methodologies can be effectively addressed through the adoption, by professional real estate valuers, of a common approach to the investigation of the factors influencing the value of fractional interests and the terms of agreements which underlie these interests / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Background: Traditionally defined boundaries and borders between organizations are at present being re-evaluated because of new and tougher demands. Today we can see a trend where these boundaries are being lowered or even eliminated when organizations choose to co-operate instead of compete. Purpose: In order to create an understanding for the partner selection process in the newly founded joint ventures between the companies which are building the Swedish 3G Network, the determining factors are being studied. Delimitation: The studies companies are co-operating as network operators but are at the same time competing as mobile operators. This relationship is in the literature described as co-opetition, which will not be investigated in this paper. Realization: Taking our starting point in Geringer’s task- and partner-related approach, a simple model has been created for the task. Empirical data have been collected through interviews, and have been analyzed with this model. Results: Essentially the same factors have been found determining for the companies which have committed themselves for co-operation. These factors do however tend to differ partly between the two joint ventures that have been founded. In the Europolitan Vodafone” Hi3G joint venture, compatibility between top management and culture&amp;structure seem to be the motivating factors. From a Telia - Tele2-perspective, the mutual factors seem to be financing and compatibility between top management. An important criterion has in both joint venture constellations to the access to existing real capital and infrastructure as well as having existing customers.

No description available.

Partnering is in the agenda of many construction companies worldwide as it is an effective strategy that may increase competitiveness of partner companies and reduce risks retained by each party. In order for partnering to reach its expected benefits, partner selection is of vital importance. Similarly, there are some critical success factors (CSF) that should be taken into account by the parties in order to maintain a successful partnership throughout its lifecycle. The aim of this thesis is identification of factors that affect the partner selection process of the Turkish contractors as well as CSFs that are found important by the Turkish contractors. For this purpose, interviews are carried out with experts and a questionnaire is designed to collect necessary statistical data regarding the CSFs. The number of experts who answered the questionnaire is 49. Statistical analysis is conducted to reveal the perception of contractors about partnering in the Turkish construction industry. One of the findings is that Turkish contractors prefer establishing short-term partnerships in the form of project-based joint ventures rather than long-term strategic alliances. Results demonstrate that the most important factors while selecting the partners are experience and image of the company. Mutual trust between the parties, management support and commitment to win-win attitude are identified as the most important CSFs by the Turkish contractors. Finally, the results of the questionnaire are compared with those from other countries and certain strategies are proposed to practitioners for maximizing success of partnerships.

Vietnam has been a popular place for Taiwanese businesses to invest in lately. Vietnam¡¦s economy has been growing since implementing a reform policy called ¡§Doi Moi¡¨ (renovation) in 1986. Vietnam is an emerging market and attracts more and more Taiwanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) to engage in foreign direct investment (FDI). Taiwan plays an important role in FDI in Vietnam and is the third biggest investing country there, only behind South Korea and Singapore. The purpose for this research is to investigate what determinants would influence Taiwanese MNEs¡¦ when deciding between joint ventures (JVs) and wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) when they enter the Vietnamese market. According to the literature review of the resource based view, the eclectic theory, transaction cost theory and institution theory, the framework is developed by two dimensions, parent company¡¦s advantages and environment in the host country. The independent variables under this framework are R&D intensity, firm size, international experiences, debt ratio, ROA, Vietnamese government¡¦s restriction and Vietnamese economy. Through secondhand data, Taiwanese MNEs investing Vietnam were sampled for this research. By the Pearson¡¦s correlation coefficient and the binary logistic regression, hypotheses were tested by which independent variables had significant correlation to the dependent variable, the investment decision (JVs or WOS). The findings of this study reveal that when a Taiwanese parent firm has a lower debt ratio it would be more likely to invest in Vietnam by WOS. Also, Taiwanese MNEs would tend to invest there by WOS when the economy in Vietnam becomes better. But the rest of the variables do not have significant correlations with the investment decision in this research. The result of this study can offer a reference for companies wanting to enter the Vietnamese market in the future.