The requirement to perform duties with reasonable care and loyalty under the threat of liability is a basic standard every corporate director must meet. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the content of this standard and liability within the context of new re-codification of Czech private law. In doing so, the author focuses on interpretative possibilities and problems that may occur. Chapter One is an attempt to connect the main topic with a broader context of law and economics knowledge in order to define leading requirements for company regulations. Chapter Two consists of three parts. Part One briefly describes content of fiduciary duties. Part Two refers to duty of loyalty. The author aims to answer a traditional task to whom the corporate directors serve. The author argues for so-called enlightened shareholder value model. This model requires director to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its shareholders as a whole. In doing so, they need to take into account the company's stakeholders' interests and the impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment. Part Three examines to what extend company directors have to exercise general knowledge, skills and experience that they are expected to have. Chapter Three investigates a task of director's...

The most common approach towards transfer pricing has been purely economic or with focus on tax regulations. However, transfer pricing has developed to become a component of organizational strategy. This indicates a growing focus on transfer pricing from a managerial perspective. A well-functioning transfer pricing structure can enable increased operational efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to explain the alignment between transfer pricing methods and strategy. The alignment between corporate levels and divisions enhances a corporation’s possibility to obtain strategic congruence, and thereby competitive advantage to become a stronger player on the market. The research is conducted as a multi-level case study with both qualitative and quantitative data collection. The result stresses that the case firms transfer pricing design is based on managerial objectives, and uses market-based and negotiated transfer price policies. The result finds that the methods and the strategy are partly aligned, which contributes to the corporation’s overall performance. Although, due to the levels different perceptions of profit maximization some sub-optimization occurs.

M.Ed. (Subject Didactics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This dissertation addresses the question of effective delegation, exploring it through the concept of managerial discretion (i.e., a latitude of managerial actions, which lie in the zone of shareholders’ acceptance). While the corporate governance perspective on managerial discretion focuses mainly on the costs associated with delegation, the strategic management perspective emphasizes its benefits in creating value for the firm. Building on research in corporate governance and strategic management, this dissertation develops and empirically tests a theoretical framework that explains how the two distinct dimensions of managerial discretion jointly influence organizational outcomes. The proposed framework illuminates the importance of balance between the restraining and enabling decisions undertaken by professional managers. This dissertation makes a two-fold contribution to the field of corporate governance. First, it identifies and explains organizational and environmental forces that jointly shape strategic and governance dimensions of managerial discretion, redefining the concept. Second, it conceptually and empirically explores an integrative model of managerial discretion within the broader corporate governance framework, providing evidence of the joint effects of governance and strategic dimensions of discretion on organizational outcomes. The results suggest that the effect of governance dimension of managerial discretion on a firm’s performance is contingent on the strategic dimension of discretion. This draws attention to potential strategic implications of board monitoring over managerial decision making. While the majority of studies emphasize the benefits of increased control over managerial decision making, particularly stressing board monitoring, this dissertation also considers the benefits of delegation for firms’ strategic development. By reversing the polarity of the current emphasis on disciplining managers, this dissertation provides a more balanced view of the notion of corporate governance. The value of this approach derives from the integrated model, which highlights the benefits and the costs of delegation.

Microfranchising is emerging as a potentially powerful strategy for reaching the enormous markets at the base of the pyramid (BOP). Microfranchising also represents an effective and sustainable way to contribute to poverty alleviation and economic growth. However, we know little about how organizations maneuver contradictory forces as they use this innovative business model to engage the BOP. To address this gap, I offer a longitudinal case study of an emerging microfranchise effort by a successful Mexican agribusiness—one whose ambitions to continue growing were challenged by multinational agrochemicals suppliers. As this project shows, companies and BOP markets can realize mutual benefits from a value co-creation strategy. Specifically, I adopted a dialectical approach to analyze the tensions and competing forces that arose as business managers and local BOP distributors and producers collaborated in this emerging microfranchising venture. As a result, the research offers three contributions. First, it provides a detailed empirical account of how contradictory forces shaped the Mexican agricultural firm’s implementation of microfranchising to engage with BOP farmers. Second, it presents a conceptual synthesis that describes the major contradictory forces a company faces as it implements microfranchising as part of its BOP strategy. Finally, it offers lessons for how business managers can maneuver contradictory forces to co-create value with the BOP through microfranchising.

Dans le contexte de la globalisation croissante, les entreprises multinationales qui s’implantent à l’étranger ont un véritable défi à relever à l’heure actuelle et pour les années à venir : comment attirer et retenir des talents dans le cadre d’une compétition mondiale. L’enjeu est particulièrement fort en Chine dans un contexte de croissance rapide et de pénurie de talents. Le taux de turn-over au sein des entreprises multinationales en Chine est très élevé. Une mobilité fréquente des jeunes talents, au particulier les jeunes cadres qui circulent entre les entreprises étrangères est une vraie menace managériale. L’objectif de cette recherche est déterminer les meilleures pratiques de GRH et, tout particulièrement, de management des compétences qui permettent d’améliorer la fidélisation des jeunes cadres des multinationales. La fidélité se traduit par une faible intention de départ et une forte implication organisationnelle. Notre question de recherche est donc : Quels sont les facteurs qui influencent l’intention de départ des jeunes talents d’une part et leur implication organisationnelle d’autre part ? / In the context of increasing globalization, multinational companies set up abroad have a real challenge at present and for the near future: how to attract and retain talent in a global competition. This is particularly crucial issue in China, in a context of rapid growth and of talent shortage. The rate of turnover in multinational companies in China is very high. The frequent mobility of young cadres moving between foreign companies is a real managerial threat. The objective of this research is to determine the best HRM practices, and especially, the practices of management skills that improve the loyalty of senior executives of multinational companies. The loyalty is translated by a low intention to depart and a strong organizational implication. Therefore, our research question is: What are the factors that influence on the one hand, the intention to depart of the young talents, and the organizational implication on the other?

[pt] Os sistemas gerenciais contábeis nas Empresas são instrumentos essenciais aos administradores para produzir informações valiosas voltadas a tomadas de decisões. Um sistema de custeio que vem sendo muito estudado nos últimos anos é o Sistema de Custeio ABC (Activity Based Costing), que exige melhor nível de controle interno e responde com maior acurácia às necessidades de empresas de alta eficiência. Dentro desse contexto, o presente estudo pretende aplicar o sistema de custeio ABC, através de uma abordagem matemática voltada para organizações complexas, onde existem interações de transferência de custos entre atividades exercidas pelos Departamentos Internos. Para testar a adequação da abordagem nessas organizações, realizouse um Estudo de Caso em uma Companhia Seguradora com uma simulação de cálculo em Microsoft Excel. Como resultado do trabalho conseguiu-se mensurar com melhor grau de acurácia e exatidão os custos das atividades internas da Seguradora. Foram estudadas também formas de se balancear o equilíbrio entre os controles necessários ao Sistema e os custos que eles geram para a Empresa, através de algumas flexibilidades de desenho. / [en] The Companies management accounting systems are essential tools to produce valuable information for decision makers. In recent years the ABC (Activity Based Costing) has been a very studied costing system. It improves the internal controls and provides greater precision to the necessities of high efficiency companies. In this context, the present study intends to apply the ABC through a Mathematical Practical Approach for Complex Organizational Structures where exists interactions of cost transferences between activities produced by its Internal Departments. To test the approaching adequacy in these organizations, it was done a Case Study in a Insurance Company with a Microsoft Excel simulation. As a result it was measured the costs of the Insurance Company internal activities with exactness and precision. Also, it was studied ways to establish the optimum relation between necessary controls to the system and the costs that they generate for the Company, through some assembling flexibilities.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the outcome of mergers and acquisitions are perceived from different managerial positions in the acquiring firm and how managerial expectations can affect the perception of the outcome. Empirical data were gathered through an explorative multiple case study of five acquisitions at three companies by interviewing eight managers at different positions as well as reviewing secondary data. The data was analyzed and cross-case compared in order to detect possible differences between managers at different positions. The findings shows that financial and non-financial aspects are deemed important for how the outcome is perceived by different managers. The findings further indicate that financial aspects are more prominent for managers occupying a position with financial responsibility. The non-financial aspects are on the other hand perceived as important regardless of managerial position. Lastly, the empirical findings indicate that expectations held by individual managers are more dependent on the organizational motive of the acquisition rather than the position held by the manager and that not all expectations have to be fulfilled in order for the acquisition to be perceived as successful.

Devido à grande volatilidade e ao dinamismo do mercado financeiro, a gestão do risco operacional é fator preponderante para a sobrevivência de qualquer negócio. A lógica existente na disciplina de mercado pressupõe que este possui mecanismos coercitivos de maneira a induzir os gestores a administrar prudentemente os negócios. Ou seja, a sua eficiência depende da atuação ativa dos participantes do mercado no sentido de beneficiar ou recompensar as instituições mais bem geridas e penalizar as empresas mal administradas. Tradicionalmente, os bancos divulgam dados acerca das exposições ao risco de crédito e de mercado, a fim de auxiliar a compreensão do seu perfil de risco. Entretanto, também estão expostos a outros tipos de riscos, tais como o risco operacional, o qual pode prejudicar significativamente o desempenho futuro, podendo levá-los até a falência. Logo, verifica-se a importância da divulgação dessas informações para a disciplina de mercado. Buscando proteger o sistema financeiro dos resultados negativos advindos dos riscos inerentes às suas atividades, o Comitê da Basiléia publicou o Novo Acordo de Capital, previsto para entrar em vigor no final de 2006, sendo que nesta data as instituições financeiras deverão obedecer a certos padrões mínimos no gerenciamento de seus riscos, entre eles o operacional. Esta dissertação tem por objetivo analisar a avaliação e gerenciamento do risco operacional em uma instituição financeira nacional de grande porte, detectando instrumento de medida e análise e o estágio de desenvolvimento quanto ao gerenciamento do risco operacional. Para tanto, utilizou-se a metodologia de Estudo de Caso e as evidências foram obtidas por documentação, registros em arquivos, entrevistas e observação direta. Os resultados sugerem que o banco pesquisado encontra-se em estágio intermediário na administração dos riscos operacionais, contudo, está desenvolvendo técnicas e processos tanto para se adequar às exigências dos órgãos supervisores, quanto para a melhoria de seus resultados. / Due to the great volatility and to the dynamism of the finance market, the management of the operational risk is a preponderant factor for the survival of any business. The logic that is in the market discipline, implies that it has coercive mechanisms that induces the managers to manage carefully theirs business. In other words, the efficiency depends on the active performance of the participants of the market, on the sense of benefiting or to reward the institutions that are good managed and to penalize the bad managed one. Traditionally, the banks give data concerning the exposure to the credit market risks, in order to assist the comprehension of their risk profile. However, they are also exposed to other kinds of risks, such as the operational risk, which can injure significantly the future performance and could even conduct them to the bankruptcy. Soon, they can verify the importance of the divulgation of these information for the market discipline. Seeking to protect the financial system from negative results of the inherent risks to its activities, Basel Committee published the New Capital Accord, foreseen to go into effect at the end of 2006, and in this date the financial institutions should obey some minimum standards in the management of their risks, among them the operational. The goal of this dissertation is to analyze the evaluation and management of the operational risk in large financial institution, detecting measure and analysis instrument and the stage of development regarding the management of the operational risk. For that, the methodology of Study of Case was used and the evidences were obtained by documentation, records in files, interviews and direct observation. The results suggest that the searched bank is on an intermediary stage in the administration of the operational risks, however, it is developing techniques and processes to adapt to the supervisors\' demanding and to the improvement of its results.

Para assegurar o alcance de seus objetivos, as organizações utilizam sistemas de controle gerencial (SCG), os quais podem ser analisados sob duas dimensões distintas. A primeira é a dimensão desenho, que compreende as características de configuração técnica dos SCG. A segunda é a dimensão uso, que representa as diferentes finalidades de aplicação dos SCG nas organizações. Além disso, o escopo de análise pode considerar o conjunto de SCG ou apenas parte dele. Pode-se afirmar que as pesquisas sobre SCG têm se caracterizado por uma abordagem reducionista em relação à dimensão analisada e, também, em relação ao escopo de controles considerados na análise. O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar o conjunto de SCG, em suas dimensões desenho e uso, e identificar sua contribuição para a formação e implementação da estratégia organizacional. Para tanto, realizou-se um estudo de caso em uma instituição de ensino superior brasileira, explorando aspectos relevantes da configuração e uso dos SCG. Concluiu-se que as principais contribuições dos SCG para a formação e implementação da estratégia organizacional são: (i) direcionar a formação da estratégia organizacional; (ii) comunicar diretrizes, propósitos e prioridades; (iii) definir limites de atuação da organização e de seus membros; (iv) monitorar realização de planos e (v) estimular a aprendizagem organizacional. Constataram-se, como resultado da pesquisa, características dos SCG que prejudicam o estímulo à aprendizagem organizacional: (i) o desconhecimento ou invalidação dos critérios de mensuração pelos gestores; (ii) a fraca conexão entre controles cibernéticos e controles de planejamento; (iii) a ausência de uma visão integrada dos resultados apontados pelos diferentes SCG; (iv) a falta de articulação dos SCG com informações tipo feed-forward com outros SCG e (v) o uso interativo com foco exclusivo em aspectos internos à organização. O aperfeiçoamento desses aspectos pode proporcionar melhor aproveitamento dos benefícios do SCG e aperfeiçoar o modelo de gestão. Este trabalho não contemplou controles de remuneração e recompensa, nem controles informais, de maneira que se recomenda, como oportunidade de pesquisa futura, incluir esses controles na análise da configuração e uso dos SCG nas organizações. Assim, espera-se que os resultados deste trabalho contribuam para o desenvolvimento da teoria sobre SCG e, também, para maior efetividade de seu uso nas organizações, provendo elementos relevantes para uma melhor compreensão de sua influência na formação e implementação da estratégia organizacional. / In order to ensure the achievement of its objectives, the organizations use management control systems (MCS), which can be analyzed by two different dimensions. The first is the design dimension, which comprises the features of the MCSs technical configuration. The second is the use dimension, which represents the different purposes of MCSs application in the organizations. Moreover, the scope of analysis can consider the set of MCS or just a part of it. In general, the research on MCS has been characterized by a reductionist approach regarding the dimension analyzed, and also regarding the scope of controls considered in the analysis. The objective of this research is to examine the MCS package, in its design and use dimensions, and identify its contribution to the formation and implementation of organizational strategy. This way, it was carried out a case study in a Brazilian higher education institution, exploring relevant aspects of configuration and use of MCS. It was concluded that the main contributions of MCS to the formation and implementation of organizational strategy are: (i) guide the formation of organizational strategy; (ii) communicate guidelines, goals and priorities; (iii) define the domain of organizational activities and organizational members; (iv) monitor the achievement of plans; and (v) stimulate the organizational learning. In addition, as findings of this research, it was concluded that the features of the MCS that undermine the incentive to organizational learning: (i) the ignorance or invalidation of the measurement criteria by managers; (ii) the weak connection between cybernetic controls and planning controls; (iii) the lack of an integrative view of the results indicated by different MCS; (iv) the lack of articulation between MCS with feed-forward information and others MCS; and (v) the interactive use with exclusive focus on internal aspects of organization. The improvements of these issues may support better usage of the MCS and provide additional benefits from management model. This study did not contemplate reward and compensation controls, neither informal controls, so it is recommended, as an opportunity of future research, include these controls in the analysis of MCS design an use in the organizations. Therefore, it is expected that the results of this study contribute to the development of MCS theory, likewise to a greater effectiveness of MCS use in the organizations, providing relevant information to a better understanding of its influence in formation and implementation of organizational strategy.