The main purpose of the master thesis is to determine the role of corporate governance in solving the economic and financial crises. This is done through explanations of events that led to the current form of Corporate Governance in developed countries. Corporate Governance is defined as the set of rules governing the relationship between owners and managers. The thesis present the basic model of the relationship management, which allows to evaluate the form of Corporate Governance in selected countries. At the same time clarifies the causes of economic crises since the 90s of the 20th century to the present from the perspective of Corporate Governance.

This thesis documents a study of the factors associated with Boards of Directors’ strategic decisions. The premise upon which such a research initiative is founded concerns the increased interest of academics and business practitioners in Board of Directors in the U.K and in U.S in part arising from recent financial scandals made in major public companies. Despite this increased attention to Board of Directors, it is acknowledged that Boards of Directors is one of the most under-researched management topics and its research is limited in scope and scale. An extensive review of the literature revealed that a useful contribution to knowledge could be derived from the investigation of the factors that influence Boards’ strategic decisions in quoted organisations. The research objectives is then to investigate the strategic decisions Boards of Directors and the organisation make by examining the environmental factors associated with the Board, the characteristics of the Board such as age, education, experience, composition, the Boards’ strategic choices in areas such as innovation, strategic decisions and to examine the influence the Boards have on performance. Despite the significant research interest in this topic, knowledge is still incomplete. This thesis makes a significant contribution to the strategic management literature by developing an integrative framework which examines strategic decisions from both content and process perspectives. The model developed, identifies the influence on strategic decisions, the environment, the characteristics of the Boards of Directors and its involvement has as influence on strategic decisions. The empirical study is carried out in a new cultural context; Greece and more specifically to listed firms on the Athens Stock Exchange. A theoretical model has been created and following a deductive approach, primary data through questionnaires was collected from 105 Greek listed organisations. Data was analysed according to their descriptive properties and underlying correlation structure. Several principal components were derived from these analyses which were used in hypothesis testing. Subsequently, a multiple regression and GLM analyses were conducted in order to examine the interrelationships between the factors associated with Boards’ strategic decisions. The research findings are discussed and considered in light of current knowledge in the area. A number of conclusions are made from the findings. Furthermore, implications for academics and business practitioners are drawn that indicate the relevance and applicability of this research to corporate governance practices. Limitations of the research and possible future research are set out. The thesis is organised into seven chapters which are entitled in the following order: literature review of Boards of Directors and development of theoretical framework; empirical approach and conceptualisation of the factors associated with boards’ strategic decisions; descriptive research findings; principal component analysis and construction of scale indices; multiple regression and GLM analyses; and, conclusions and implications of the study.

Recent accounting scandals and current global financial crisis have brought new demands on the whole corporate world. The call for better corporate governance is strengthening in all business areas including tax. Tax non -- compliance brings substantial risks for both tax payers and tax revenue authorities. The way how companies manage their tax risks can significantly influence their overall financial performance and reputation. The paper deals with issues of tax non -- compliance as a lack of good corporate governance practice. The main goal of the paper is to put tax into the concept of corporate governance. Moreover, the paper deals with the concept of tax risk management as a way of how tax compliance in general could be enhanced and introduces the current international practice in this field.

No description available.

Zugl.: München, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2009

Thesis (MBus) -- AUT University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (iv, 71 leaves ; 30 cm.) in the Archive at the City Campus (T 332.1068 YUN)

Zugl.: München, Techn. University, Diss., 2008.

This thesis investigates the association between corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management in industrial Jordanian firms. We identify the most important corporate governance mechanisms that have an effect on accounting choices and operating decisions, investigate the tools that managers use to decrease or increase earnings in Jordanian industrial firms, and finally, determine which accruals model is more powerful to detect earnings management in Jordanian industrial companies. Historically, corporate governance mechanisms are considered to be the most important factors in assessing and monitoring the effectiveness of financial reporting (Brown, Pottb and Wömpenerb, 2014), and may be considered to be a cornerstone of control in general. Internal and external corporate governance is established by senior managers to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and reduce the incidence of error or manipulation in accounting systems (Lee, 2006). Earnings management is considered one of the most important issues related to financial reporting, particularly after the Enron and WorldCom scandals. Earnings management behaviours are also related to low levels of corporate social responsibility and improvements in both areas would be expected to lead to improvements in the quality of corporate governance. Mixed methodology is used in this research including both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The quantitative analysis used accruals models the Standard Jones model (Jones 1991), modified Jones model (Dechow, Sloan and Sweeney, 1995), and the Peasnell, Pope and Young margin model (2000) as measures of earnings management and used these variables in conjunction with corporate governance factors. Annual financial reports that were published by the Amman stock market over the period 2005 to 2012 were used to extract the data for corporate governance characteristics of the firms. The qualitative analysis involved semi-structured interviews, conducted with general managers, financial managers and internal audit managers to provide in-depth information about corporate governance issues that we could not investigate easily through quantitative methods and to provide understanding of the context for the firm s earnings management. The qualitative analysis identified a range of motivations for earnings management in Jordanian firms including attempts to reduce customs fees; tax avoidance; the desire to attract more investors and increase share price, and the desire to increase management compensation. We find also that the Peasnell, Pope and Young margin model (2000) is a more powerful model for explaining earnings management in Jordan than the more commonly used accruals models. Quantitative results indicate that the ownership structure of the business plays a more significant role in constraining earnings management than characteristics relating to the board of directors or the characteristics of the audit process. Furthermore, the interviews also explored in depth a number of cultural factors and external economic factors, which were found to be related to the incidence of earnings management. Relevant cultural factors include particularly the tribal system that operates in Jordan, which creates pressures on firms likely to increase earnings management and external economic factors include the recent Middle East revolutions and adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards. The findings could be useful to investors, senior managers in Jordanian industrial firms, and legislators in Jordan, in relation to decisions about how to enhance the quality of monitoring mechanisms and constrain the incidence of earnings management. Our methodology and evaluation of standard accruals models in this context may also prove useful to other researchers on earnings management in developing economies.

This thesis is concerned with what pervasive risk management is, and how it can be achieved in practice. Specifically, it examines the effect of social processes and cultural factors on how risk management can be coordinated across and embedded within business processes and organisational culture. A growing literature addresses what is termed risk management maturity: the capability of an organisation to assess, manage, communicate and govern risk (and opportunity). Notwithstanding its benefits, the emphasis of this literature on risk management benchmarking and standardisation has led, arguably, to a bureaucratisation of risk management process. Research followed a case study strategy and data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. A total of 43 interviews were conducted in one private and one public sector organisation. The findings describe a number of social processes and related cultural factors that significantly affected risk management pervasiveness in the two organisations. (1) Shared experience and respect for experience facilitated flexible coordination between operational and strategic risk management. (2) Informal, lateral communication integrated the knowledge of diverse stakeholders required to manage complex environmental risks. (3) Lack of common understanding of the purpose and function of risk management undermined coordination of risk management practice. These findings progress the debate on the balance between standardisation and informal social process to achieve pervasive risk management, and contribute to a richer description of organisational risk management maturity. The findings are of value to risk managers wishing to embed the adaptive and coordinated risk management required in dynamic and complex environments

The transition from one energy system to another has been analysed by many researchers especially in the context of developed countries. Community renewable energy transition in rural areas is largely under-researched, particularly in developing countries. This study developed a model based on indicators from transition theory and concepts to assess the transformative potential of the processes and governance approaches to community renewable energy in accelerating energy and sustainability transition in off-grid communities in Nigeria. The exploratory research adopted a case study approach and analysed renewable energy planning and decision-making processes as well as evaluated the development of a pilot community renewable energy project in Shape rural community in Nigeria. In addition to documentary evidence, the study gathered data primarily by interviewing 24 relevant actors in the Nigerian electricity industry as well as actors involved in the pilot community renewable energy project. The study reveals that the processes and governance approaches adopted are in line with transition theory and have the potential of contributing to the transformation of the rural electricity provision in Nigeria. However, there is still a long way to go for Nigeria to effectively implement an integrated governance approach capable of accelerating the transition processes. The study found that community renewable energy is motivated by several determinants including: the lack of energy accessibility; removing carbon emissions; meeting environmental obligations; achieving energy security; and, addressing cracks in the current system of rural electrification. The study further found a lack of local initiatives at the grassroots level that can add pressure to make the transition happen. The study found the establishment of an arena for the identification of the challenges facing rural communities and development of strategies. However, some prominent actors are not involved in both strategic decision-making and the implementation process. Of concern, the study revealed a lack of clearly defined responsibilities with most of the government agencies carrying out renewable energy activities independently. Similarly, the study found several barriers which are classified as: actor; interaction; institutional; infrastructural; and, socio-political that are challenging the successful transition to community renewable energy. This work contributes to current attempts to operationalise transition theory and concepts to assess on-going transition processes and governance. This is a significant contribution to the literature because it helps in linking theoretical development with sustainability in practice in a developing country context. The study may assist policy makers, communities and other relevant stakeholders in designing an integrated governance framework for renewable energy transition in rural areas.