This paper uses stock market data from 2000-2010 to examine the role long-term growth (LTG) uncertainty plays in equity valuations. In theory, the convex relationship between LTG and per-share value suggests a positive relationship between LTG uncertainty and analysts’ price targets, with higher levels of LTG uncertainty leading to higher, less accurate price targets. However, this paper finds conclusive evidence that analysts are not incorporating LTG uncertainty into their pricing models. This leaves uncertainty regarding the discount rate and the perpetuity growth rate as the only remaining potential sources of upward pressure on analysts’ price targets that are attributable to uncertainty.

Escherichia coli survives in both nutrient rich nutrient-limited environments. As such, understanding the gene and protein level activity that occurs during stationary phase is considered an important aspect of bacterial survival. Escherichia coli has been studied for decades providing substantial insight into gene expression profiles in exponential phase and recently, during adaptation to stationary phase. This led to the discovery of RpoS as a growth phase-dependent sigma factor. Further studies indicated that there are many genes that are expressed in an RpoS-independent but stationary phase-specific manner. However, proteins represent the functional molecules of the cell. Additionally, protein expression does not always correlate with the corresponding gene expression patterns. Therefore, to obtain an in depth understanding of the proteins that play a role in long-term growth in E. coli, TMT- (Tandem Mass Tags) based quantitative proteomic analysis was performed to identify proteins that are preferentially expressed during prolonged starvation. We identified proteins that were both positively and negatively regulated by RpoS during stationary phase, such as GadA and TnaA, respectively. RpoS levels peaked during early stationary phase and declined thereafter. However, proteins that were RpoS-dependent continued to increase during prolonged stationary phase. Additionally, we identified proteins that were expressed in an RpoS-independent manner during stationary phase. This suggests that protein expression during early stationary phase is distinct from prolonged stationary phase. Furthermore, RpoS-independent proteins may also play an important role during long-term growth. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Escherichia coli adapts to shifts in nutrient availability using the alternative sigma factor RpoS which controls morphological and physiological changes. Although gene expression during growth has been extensively studied, comparable information regarding changes in protein abundance during prolonged incubation is not available. We employed a quantitative proteomics approach to identify proteins that are preferentially expressed during stationary phase in E. coli. We identified classes of proteins that are upregulated and downregulated by RpoS in addition to proteins regulated independently of RpoS. Global analysis of protein expression during growth can aid in understanding the adaptation of E. coli under starvation conditions.

Organizational growth poses new challenges for top management. In small organizations, coordination and communication is spontaneous and require little structure to be efficient. However, as the organization grows, the increased number of individuals requires a larger amount of coordination and communication. In this study, our purpose is to increase understanding of why growing companies are experiencing challenges with coordination as well as to increase organizational control. To fulfill this, we study one organization in particular. In order to find a sustainable solution, we investigate why these challenges are experienced. We argue that addressing the underlying causes for experiencing these challenges is the most effective solution in the way that it ensures that the same challenges do not recur. Therefore, the relationship between the challenges that are articulated by the organization and the underlying causes for the challenges is central to our study. Our study shows that our object of study would benefit from an increased internal focus to enable for long-term growth. This finding supports several existing models for organizational growth. Our object of study currently employs few systematized internal processes and is in need of further systematization with regards to several aspects, such as strategy development and implementation and organizational control. Our study further shows that a lack of systematization on a managerial level leads to ambiguities that are translated to the operational level. This explains the discrepancies between the challenges that are expressed by the organization and their underlying causes. / Organisatorisk tillväxt innebär nya utmaningar för företagsledningen. I små organisationer sker koordination och kommunikation spontant och kräver inte särskilt mycket struktur för att vara effektiv. När organisationen växer, gör emellertid det ökade antalet individer så att mer koordination och kommunikation behövs. Vårt syfte med denna studie är att öka förståelse för varför växande företag upplever utmaningar med koordination samt att öka organisatorisk kontroll. För att uppnå detta studerar vi en specifik organisation. För att hitta en hållbar lösning, så undersöker vi varför dessa utmaningar upplevs. Vi menar att detta är den mest effektiva lösningen på så sätt att man genom att adressera de underliggande orsakerna till att utmaningarna upplevs kan säkerställa att samma utmaningar inte återuppstår vid ett senare tillfälle. Således blir kopplingen mellan de utmaningar som artikuleras av organisationen och dess underliggande orsaker en central del i vår studie. Vår studie visar på att vårt fallföretag skulle gynnas av ett ökat internt fokus. Detta ökade interna fokus skulle möjliggöra för långsiktig tillväxt. Denna upptäckt stödjer flertalet befintliga modeller för organisatorisk tillväxt. Vårt fallföretag har i nuläget få systematiserade interna processer och är i behov av ökad systematisering utav flera aspekter, bland annat strategiarbete och organisatorisk kontroll. Vår studie visar även att en bristande systematisering på ledningsnivå leder till tvetydigheter som fortplantar sig till den operationella nivån. Detta förklarar diskrepansen mellan de utmaningar som artikuleras av organisationen och dess underliggande orsaker.