<p>This thesis is conducted in the context of the hotel industry. Every year, the hotel investigated in this thesis completes a job satisfaction survey. The survey is built upon several facets from which an overall job satisfaction is derived. The problem is that the survey has through time shown poor results, especially with facets concerning management. When those facets were summed up with other facets, it had a strong negative influence on the overall job satisfaction at Hotel X. Scarpello and Campbell (1983) argue that all facets may not directly influence overall job satisfaction, and as a consequence the sum of several facets might contribute to misleading conclusions.</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how managerial processes influence employees’ overall job satisfaction at Hotel X. By managerial processes is meant what managers do or is perceived by employees to do. The thesis investigates job satisfaction at both an overall and a facet level. Questions on which facets that influence overall job satisfaction, as well as whether managerial processes have a direct or indirect influence on overall job satisfac-tion are answered.</p><p>In order to fulfil our purpose multiple sources of evidence were used. Surveys made by the hotel were used as secondary data. The primary data consisted of qualitative observations and indepth interviews with employees. The facets investigated were; Job Contents, Equip-ment, Salary, Rewards, Benefits, Conditions of Employment, Personal Development, Co-workers, Immediate Management and Top Management. The managerial processes dealt with were organisational structure, managerial style and communication.</p><p>The company survey of 2005 and the results from qualitative data corresponded well. Job Contents, Conditions of Employment, Personal Development, Co-workers, Immediate Management and Top Management all influenced overall job satisfaction. However, there were no indications found that Equipment, Salary, Rewards and Benefits influenced overall job satisfaction. Managerial processes were significant for all facets, except for Salary. Top Management and Immediate Management were the only facets with a direct connection between managerial processes and overall job satisfaction. Communication was found to be the process which influence job satisfaction the most. It turned out to influence all the facets that were either directly or in-directly linked to overall job satisfaction.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-55). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Master Thesis within Business Administration Title: Decision-Makers behind Effective Crisis Management: An industry comparison of a crisis prepared approach among Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Author: Renée Löwhagen Tutor: Angelika Löfgren Date: May, 2015 Key words: Crises, Crisis Management, Crisis preparedness, SME, Managerial decision-making Abstract Problem. The world is in an era with technological advancements, shorter business cycles and a growing competition that requires constant organizational changes in order for or-ganizations to stay on track. Uncertainty in the business world is therefore higher than ev-er. With respect to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and their central role in the European economy, it is of high relevance of today’s researchers to adopt the perspec-tive of these businesses to take on a more crisis prepared approach. Purpose. The focus of this study is to investigate the perception of the concepts of crisis and crisis management among SMEs’ managers in different industries in Sweden. Moreover, this study intends to develop an understanding of the decision-making behind a crisis pre-pared approach of different industries of SMEs. Method. This research employs a multi-methodical qualitative research approach in which, in-depth interviews with owner-managers of SMEs and a crisis expert have been conduct-ed. Results. This study indicates that there may be a lack of insight regarding the core meaning of crises and crisis management among the SMEs’ managers studied. Crises and crisis management was found to be perceived in a similar way among all the managers in the study. Crises were perceived as involving the personnel and safety issues of the business-es. Crisis Management, was understood as the management of an already occurred crisis, rather than the preparation for potential crises. A deficiency was found among the busi-nesses regarding crisis preparations. This seemed to be related to resource restrictions and a general lack of research about this topic in the context of SMEs. The study indicates that SME managers do not always make formal decisions regarding crisis preparations. In the cases where the SME managers of the study had prepared plans and strategies for how to handle crises, these had emerged as a gradual process rather than from decisions taken in this matter.

We construct a measure of CEO concern for non-equity stakeholders based on corporate social responsibility (CSR) scores, and we investigate how such incentives affect firm leverage and cash holding. In general, we find that non-equity stakeholder incentives decrease leverage and increase cash holding, after controlling for CEO managerial incentives and other firm characteristics. Our findings suggest that corporate social responsibility benefit non-equity stakeholders, which may come at the expense of shareholders.

Given the high level of scrutiny on top executives in recent years, particularly those at banks, examining the impact of bank managers' ability on financial reporting is of great value. This paper builds on models of bank efficiency in the banking literature to derive a measure of bank managerial ability, and examines how bank managerial ability impacts the quality of accounting information related to unique bank accounting issues. I find evidence that higher ability managers do report higher quality accounting estimates for the allowance for loan losses and fair values of securities. Additionally, I identify two settings that affect the strength of the relation between bank managerial ability and accounting quality, the Financial Crisis and when capital ratios are binding. I find evidence that this relation is stronger during the recent Financial Crisis but is attenuated when capital ratios are binding. These findings should be of interest to investors, standard setters, and particularly bank regulators tasked with monitoring the stability of banks. / text

This thesis investigates how CEO risk taking incentives related to compensation in the form of executive stock options affect the decision to engage in merger and acquisition (M&A) activities with particular attention to same-industry versus cross-industry acquisitions. Risk taking incentives increase the propensity of M&As, especially for same-industry M&As. Furthermore, risk taking incentives increase the likelihood of cash payment for both same and cross-industry acquisitions. We do not find a significant direct stock price response difference between same-industry and cross-industry acquiring firms. The market responds favorably when risk taking incentives are higher for both same-industry acquisitions and cross-industry takeovers. We further find that the acquiring firm’s post-acquisition cash flow volatility is also positively related to risk taking incentives for both same- and cross-industry M&As.

Background Exploring the literature stream of the knowledge perspective as well as that of start-ups andincubation, and subsequently bringing the two together. Aim To construct propositions regarding the process of developing managerial capability in incubatedstart-ups. Methodology The study entails 3 start-ups that provide a high technology product. The development ofmanagerial capability was explored through a comparative case study in which founders, businesscoaches and externally recruited employees where interviewed. Findings The process of managerial capability development in incubated start-ups can be deconstructedinto two processes, knowledge acquisition and knowledge integration, where each process presentdistinct attributes in different stages of development of the start-up. This managerial capabilityformation is an incremental process that drives growth.

This thesis is conducted in the context of the hotel industry. Every year, the hotel investigated in this thesis completes a job satisfaction survey. The survey is built upon several facets from which an overall job satisfaction is derived. The problem is that the survey has through time shown poor results, especially with facets concerning management. When those facets were summed up with other facets, it had a strong negative influence on the overall job satisfaction at Hotel X. Scarpello and Campbell (1983) argue that all facets may not directly influence overall job satisfaction, and as a consequence the sum of several facets might contribute to misleading conclusions. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how managerial processes influence employees’ overall job satisfaction at Hotel X. By managerial processes is meant what managers do or is perceived by employees to do. The thesis investigates job satisfaction at both an overall and a facet level. Questions on which facets that influence overall job satisfaction, as well as whether managerial processes have a direct or indirect influence on overall job satisfac-tion are answered. In order to fulfil our purpose multiple sources of evidence were used. Surveys made by the hotel were used as secondary data. The primary data consisted of qualitative observations and indepth interviews with employees. The facets investigated were; Job Contents, Equip-ment, Salary, Rewards, Benefits, Conditions of Employment, Personal Development, Co-workers, Immediate Management and Top Management. The managerial processes dealt with were organisational structure, managerial style and communication. The company survey of 2005 and the results from qualitative data corresponded well. Job Contents, Conditions of Employment, Personal Development, Co-workers, Immediate Management and Top Management all influenced overall job satisfaction. However, there were no indications found that Equipment, Salary, Rewards and Benefits influenced overall job satisfaction. Managerial processes were significant for all facets, except for Salary. Top Management and Immediate Management were the only facets with a direct connection between managerial processes and overall job satisfaction. Communication was found to be the process which influence job satisfaction the most. It turned out to influence all the facets that were either directly or in-directly linked to overall job satisfaction.

Vienas iš svarbiausių vadybos uždavinių yra darbuotojų ugdymas t.y. jų bendrųjų ir specialiųjų kompetencijų (gebėjimų) tobulinimas. Šio darbo tikslas - ištirti smulkių ir mikro įmonių vadybinį darbą dirbančių darbuotojų ir jų darbdavių požiūrį į darbuotojų vadybinius gebėjimus ir jų tobulinimo galimybes, bei remiantis gautais rezultatais suformuoti vadybinių gebėjimų modelį. Šio darbo metu gauti rezultatai naudingi mažoms ir mikro įmonėms, bei jų vadovams, kadangi išryškinti darbuotojų vadybinių gebėjimų trūkumai ir privalumai, padėsiantys vadovus daugiau dėmesio atkreipti į problemines sritis. Tuo pačiu remiantis teorine mokslinės literatūros analize, bei praktiniu tyrimo suformuotas vadybinių gebėjimų modelis. / One of the most important management tasks is employees’ development that means their general and specific competences (skills) improvement. The goal of this work is to survey small and micro enterprises employees which do managerial work and their employers attitude to employees managerial skills and its improvement possibilities. Also according to obtained results to form managerial skills model. The results of this work will be useful to small and micro enterprises and their managers, because there will be spot employees managerial skills disadvantage and advantage, which will help to put more attention on problematic fields. Furthermore, according to the scientific literature and the survey to form managerial skills model.

ABSTRACT MANAGERIAL INCENTIVES AND TAKEOVER WEALTH GAINS By EBRU REIS DECEMBER 5, 2006 Committee Chair: Dr. Jayant R. Kale Major Department: Finance This study examines the relationship between managerial equity incentives and takeover wealth gains both for target and acquirer firms. Although there is some research about the effect of acquirer managers’ incentives on acquirer wealth gains, this paper is one of the first to investigate the effect of target managers’ incentives on the wealth effects of target firms in corporate takeovers. In addition, prior research has focused on the alignment effect of equity incentives in takeovers. However, takeovers provide an opportunity to liquidate personal equity portfolio for managers who hold an undiversified portfolio of their firms’ stock. In this study, I identify two hypotheses that potentially explain the effect of target managers’ incentives on wealth gains. While incentive alignment hypothesis predicts a positive relationship, diversification driven-liquidity hypothesis predicts a negative relationship between target managerial incentives and target wealth gains. I use a sample of 656 successful and 104 failed acquisitions over the period 1994-2003 to test these competing hypotheses. I find that for targets that are less (more) diversified, equity incentives are negatively (positively) related to wealth effects. I also find that the target managerial incentives increase the success probability of a takeover bid and this positive effect is less pronounced for diversified target managers. Based on these results, I conclude that incentive alignment argument is dominated by liquidity argument in less diversified target firms, however, holds in diversified firms. For acquirer managers, I do not find any evidence that supports incentive alignment or diversification arguments.