There is broad agreement in the literature that in general, mergers and acquisitions in both the short and long run are largely zero or negative, net present value exercises for the shareholders of the acquiring company. At the same time it is believed that significant returns are realised by the shareholders of the target companies. Despite this broad agreement and due to the complexity of the open market, there are still a large number of variables which can and could possibly account for many of the exceptions which have been highlighted in a range of studies. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is any evidence to suggest that merger and acquisition activity in the different market sectors of the JSE are either, more or less successful than the average. A total of 82 transactions were identified as meeting the strict requirements of the methodology. These included representatives from five sectors Basic Industries, Consumer Goods&Services, Financials, Information Technology and Resources. Event study methodology was used to investigate the abnormal returns of acquiring companies before and after the announcement of the event. It was established that in all but one of the market sectors there was statistically significant evidence that merger and acquisition transactions in different market sectors are either better or worse than the average at creating value for the acquiring company shareholders. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This paper assesses the impact of earnings quality on market responses to annual earnings announcements. Earnings quality is measured by the ratio of earnings to funds from operations. The difference in the association between forecast errors and excess returns across the high/low quality earnings subsamples is found to be statistically significant; there is a greater market response to earnings announcements of high-quality firms than to low-quality firms. Hence, earnings quality as measured by the ratio of earnings to funds from operations, is found to have pricing implications. The results are robust across two regression models: OLS on returns ordered in announcement time and SUR/GLS on returns ordered in calendar time. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / abstract / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

0 Abstract The use of educational interventions to increase female educational attainment in developing countries has the potential to both provide women with more advantageous economic opportunities and contribute to economic growth. Achieving gender equality in education is an important first step towards achieving gender equality in the labor market. This thesis examines educational intervention programs that promote female education in rural Cambodia, and focuses in particular on conditional cash transfers. One such conditional cash transfer program in Cambodia is examined in more detail to determine its effectiveness. A qualitative evaluation was conducted in the form of focus groups and interviews with students, parents, and community members in the villages where the program was implemented. While the results of the study confirm the effectiveness of conditional cash transfers in increasing female attendance in school, the evaluation also revealed other factors that influence girls to stay in school. The study concluded that increasing the number of university-educated females in a girl's life through a mentoring program could have a positive effect on female educational attainment. Though further quantitative study is needed to investigate the effectiveness of such an intervention, this approach...

In partial fulfillment of the Degree: Master of Commerce (Accountancy), University of the Witwatersrand, October 2017 / This research examines through the use of survey data which key factors around a companies‟ industry positioning, strategic decisions and internal qualitative capabilities, are considered by financial analysts when preparing their financial forecasts. The research covered buy-side and sell-side analysts in South Africa. The results were however found to be non-conclusive and did not align to previous research on this matter. Comparisons between analysts covering the same company were performed with consistencies found on average across all variables. It is interesting to note that when a detailed analysis and comparison was performed by individual variable for analysts covering the same company, different views on some of the variables were identified between buy-side and sell-side analysts, therefore supporting the research obtained during the literature review. It was found based on the tests performed that the factors which have an impact on forecasted financials relate to superior product/service strategy, innovation and ability to execute strategy. These variables were however noted not to be consistent across all the financial forecast factors and are contradictory to the research highlighted in the literature review as well as the outcomes of the original study, ie. There are additional factors which are considered important. Further research is recommended on analyst behaviour in South Africa. / GR2018

There were 133 billion pounds of food that went to waste in the United States in 2014, leading to $161.6 billion in economic loss. Of this waste, 89 billion pounds occurred in restaurants and other food service facilities. A case study was used to explore the strategies small, independent, family-owned restaurants owners used to reduce food waste. Four small independent, family-owned restaurants owners located in the Washington, DC, metro area participated in the study. These owners were selected based on their revenue and years of survival. Stakeholders theory was the conceptual framework in which the study was grounded. Face-to-face interviews with participants and company financial documents comprised the data. Interview transcripts, member checking results, and financial documents were analyzed for emergent themes. The 3 themes that emerged from this study are employee training, communication among stakeholders, and customer loyalty. The implications for social change include the potential to provide new strategies that can help small, independent, family-owned restaurants reduce food waste, increase profits, and improve the economic conditions of communities in the Washington, DC metro area.

The relationship between customer satisfaction and firm profitability has received varying attention in the research literature. Customer satisfaction itself has been thoroughly investigated and a number of possible attributes identified. A linkage between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention has been shown to exist, though little research has been completed on actual repurchase, while recent research has shown a linkage between customer retention and revenue. If the research on these component parts is added together, it suggests a direct linkage between attributes of customer satisfaction and firm revenue, implying that firm revenue may be increased by identifying and improving key attributes of customer satisfaction.

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