<p>Forecasting, cost management and pricing policies are topics which have beenwidely investigated over time. Due to a lack of scientific research about therelationships between each of those subjects, these methods have beeninvestigated in combination with their outcomes. The purpose of this work was todevelop a framework which can be used by managers who want to make adecision in either of the subjects mentioned before. By the use of a qualitative, interpretive research design, a literature review was performed which led to some interesting findings. Generally, it can be said that the methods are not related directly, although the outcomes are linked and can often be used as a criterion for the decision making process for the other methods.</p>

Forecasting, cost management and pricing policies are topics which have beenwidely investigated over time. Due to a lack of scientific research about therelationships between each of those subjects, these methods have beeninvestigated in combination with their outcomes. The purpose of this work was todevelop a framework which can be used by managers who want to make adecision in either of the subjects mentioned before. By the use of a qualitative, interpretive research design, a literature review was performed which led to some interesting findings. Generally, it can be said that the methods are not related directly, although the outcomes are linked and can often be used as a criterion for the decision making process for the other methods.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Managerial decision-making has always involved the use of numerous distinct information resources. Modern managerial decision-making processes require a wealth of information that is enhanced and transformed into knowledge in order to take effective action. Mobility in business is increasingly exercising influence on core business processes of organisations. The shift to wireless technologies coupled with the rapid growth of mobile devices in business has led to a new era in business computing. Mobile Business Intelligence (Mobile BI) is a system that has been conceived to assist, accelerate and to enhance the managerial decision-making processes. This thesis focuses on the e ect of Mobile BI on managerial decision-making. This thesis was able to answer the research question and to meet the research objectives through an extensive study of literature on the two most important spheres of influence i.e Business Intelligence and Managerial decision-making. Moreover, the objectives were met through the implementation of practical empirical research. The latter was carried out through a survey research design using questionnaire method of data collection. This research produced an number of ndings. The results indicated that Mobile BI played an important influencing role in the way managers make decisions. This study found that Mobile BI improved the quality of decisions made by managers used it for decision support subsequently improving performance of the organisation. Overall, four factors were found to be the predictors of Mobile BI for managerial decision making in organisations: Perceived Ease of Use of Mobile BI, Attitudes towards Use of Mobile BI, Perceived Value of Mobile BI with Behavioural Intention to Use of Mobile BI emerging as the most important predictors of Managerial Organisational decision-making.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the Balanced Scorecard provides guidance to managerial decision making in Company M. The impetus for this study came from the observations within Company M which is in the process of completing a restructuring programme. Several areas have already completed the transition. Performance measurement has become a crucial factor under the new structure and managers are making use of the Balanced Scorecard to evaluate performance, this begs the question: “ Does the Balanced Scorecard provide effective guidance to managerial decision making? “ To facilitate an objective and effective analysis of the proposed research an extensive literature review was conducted. The Balanced Scorecard is defined, the evolution of the Balanced Scorecard was observed and the preference for the uses of the Balanced Scorecard was examined in detail. This should provide a fair overview of the functionality of the Balanced Scorecard and the intended purpose it was designed to fulfil. However the literature review does not look at any specific company in detail therefore in order to investigate further from the findings of the literature review an empirical study was conducted. The research method used in the research design was a case study; the results were both structured and quantitative. The case study is purely focused on the management and operating activities of a single company (Company M). Therefore the results of the practical research should not be associated with any other company. From a theoretical perspective, the research was conducted in the form of a desktop analysis of literature content ranging from: case studies, existing research papers and published articles. For the empirical study a survey was used to gather information by the distribution and completion of a questionnaire to individuals at all levels of management within the company. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Financial Management / unrestricted

The question of whether outsourcing is a good or bad organizational practice has traditionally come down to whether the positive financial impact of outsourcing overcomes the potential organizational liabilities. The theoretical model proposed in this thesis argues that such thinking underestimates the positive organizational benefits that arise from outsourcing by giving inadequate consideration to impacts that outsourcing has on the innovation cycle of outsourcing providers. This research adds to our understanding of outsourcing decision-making in three important ways. First, the thesis presents how innovation benefits can arise from outsourcing and proposes four potential innovation benefits from outsourcing – the motivation for creativity, innovation scale, innovation scope and complementarity of capability. The central hypotheses argue that these beneficial factors should increase the likelihood of a decision to outsource an activity. Second, this research extends our understanding of outsourcing by examining the moderating effect of value appropriation on the decision to outsource. Third, the thesis provides a rigorous empirical utility theoretical approach – best-worst scaling and discrete choice modeling – to understanding managerial preferences and the components of outsourcing decision making. The findings reveal that a significant segment of managers do indeed look beyond cost in choosing to outsource, focusing instead to concentrate broadly on a supplier’s commitment to innovation, complementarity of capabilities and the ability of an outsourcing contract to appropriate value created in a relationship. This implies that the managerial application of outsourcing is not restricted to a short-term solution for cost savings, but can potentially be thought of, and used as, a strategic mechanism to drive innovation in organizations. Some benefits may not be immediately obvious (e.g., a supplier’s motivation for innovation) and require more awareness from managers. Together, the theory and empirics provide insight into outsourcing decision-making and the opportunities for extending outsourcing as a strategic mechanism to drive innovation more broadly.

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.

The question of whether outsourcing is a good or bad organizational practice has traditionally come down to whether the positive financial impact of outsourcing overcomes the potential organizational liabilities. The theoretical model proposed in this thesis argues that such thinking underestimates the positive organizational benefits that arise from outsourcing by giving inadequate consideration to impacts that outsourcing has on the innovation cycle of outsourcing providers. This research adds to our understanding of outsourcing decision-making in three important ways. First, the thesis presents how innovation benefits can arise from outsourcing and proposes four potential innovation benefits from outsourcing – the motivation for creativity, innovation scale, innovation scope and complementarity of capability. The central hypotheses argue that these beneficial factors should increase the likelihood of a decision to outsource an activity. Second, this research extends our understanding of outsourcing by examining the moderating effect of value appropriation on the decision to outsource. Third, the thesis provides a rigorous empirical utility theoretical approach – best-worst scaling and discrete choice modeling – to understanding managerial preferences and the components of outsourcing decision making. The findings reveal that a significant segment of managers do indeed look beyond cost in choosing to outsource, focusing instead to concentrate broadly on a supplier’s commitment to innovation, complementarity of capabilities and the ability of an outsourcing contract to appropriate value created in a relationship. This implies that the managerial application of outsourcing is not restricted to a short-term solution for cost savings, but can potentially be thought of, and used as, a strategic mechanism to drive innovation in organizations. Some benefits may not be immediately obvious (e.g., a supplier’s motivation for innovation) and require more awareness from managers. Together, the theory and empirics provide insight into outsourcing decision-making and the opportunities for extending outsourcing as a strategic mechanism to drive innovation more broadly.

Behavioural economics has established that cognitive biases such as the overconfidence bias impact managerial decision-making. Literature has also shown that different levels of management require different skills, values and decision-making processes and styles. It would likely follow that cognitive biases would impact different levels of management in varying ways. This research seeks to expand on current literature in drawing on principles of behavioural economics to further investigate the overconfidence bias and its relationship with different levels of management. This research also seeks to explore whether cognitive ability or reflection can further explain any relationship between overconfidence and level of management. A sample of managers at professional services firms was surveyed using various assessments of overconfidence. Utilising statistical techniques, it was found that in fact there were differences in overconfidence between levels of management. Specifically, middle management appeared to display different overconfidence tendencies than upper and lower management levels. The relationship between cognitive ability, level of management and the overconfidence bias also appeared to be significant enough to warrant further investigation. The results also showed insight into problems with the current definitions of overconfidence. Based on the findings, this study concludes by providing several business and academic recommendations. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Despite the availability, capability, and inclination of older workers to remain in the workforce, research indicates that older workers are generally perceived and evaluated less favorably than younger workers (cf., Kite, Stockdale, Whitley, &Johnson, 2005). However, little is known about what factors lead older workers to be perceived less favorably. Up until this point, research investigating attitudes towards older workers has been limited to traditional work contexts. However, telework is an increasingly popular alternative work context and may be more appropriate for older workers. Another possible factor relating to evaluations of older workers is knowledge about age-related changes in ability. For example, the task demands of a job may be particularly high in fluid ability or crystallized ability. The work context and task demands of a job may be two potential sources of influence regarding perceptions of older workers. In the current set of studies, I examined the impact of applicant age, work context (telework and office work), and task demands (fluid ability and crystallized ability) on participants ratings of younger and older job applicants. In Study 1, a total of 16 job descriptions were selected based on their suitability and dependency on: office work/crystallized ability, office work/fluid ability, telework/crystallized ability, telework/fluid ability. Hiring managers recognized the jobs that were suited to telework or office work, but did not distinguish when either fluid or crystallized ability was of primary importance to a particular job. In Study 2, participants rated either younger or older applicants for 4 jobs selected from Study 1. The results of Study 2 were compelling. Older applicants were rated as more qualified when the job was dependent on crystallized ability, as well as when the job took place in a telework context. However, there were no significant differences between older and younger applicants when the job was dependent on fluid ability, or when the job took place in an office work context. The current research is critical to understanding the influence of task demands and the work context on differences between evaluations of older and younger workers.

Many features of the making of major managerial decisions have been covered by research - complexity, politicality, innovations, and so forth. Yet one - to which all others may be subject - remains almost untouched by research. It is the effects of societal culture on the way managers from different nations make, and implement, such decisions. This study compares the effects of a New World Latin dominated culture with those of an Old World Anglo-Saxon dominated culture, namely in Brazil and England respectively. It arises from the proposition that decision making, as well as other managerial practices, must be shaped by the cultures of the societies of which senior executives are part, in ways of which they themselves may be unaware. Methodologically, in response to the criticisms of earlier research which often attributed managerial and organizational differences to culture without direct evidence for that, this study began by composing portrayals of both cultures. The purpose of the portraits was to enable predictions of culturally affected elements in decision making, prior to empirical investigation. Data was collected by interview on twenty Brazilian and twenty English decisions in sixteen Brazilian and seventeen English organizations, ranging through a variety of manufacturing and service industries as well as universities. The examination of the results confirmed most of the predicted cultural characteristics. Differences although small on each variable were remarkably consistent across all variables. Brazilian strategic decision making was found to be dominated by a clique around the chief executive, who make fast decisions in a process strongly based on the social relationships between the participants. This style of decision making leads, in Brazil, to very informal processes, with little or no delays and, relatively speaking, less search for information. English decisions were found to be more consultative with more interests being involved in different stages of the process. Decisions in this country were characterized by caution and conservatism with some tendency to postpone decisions. Methodologically, the value of the prior conceptualization and description of societal culture is demonstrated since this gives meaning to the extensive differences found in all aspects of decision making. Theoretically, an attempt is made to elucidate the interconnectedness of societal culture and managerial behaviour.