No description available.

This study provides a critical evaluation of break-even analysis in terms of its assumptions and uses and also in terms of the economic theory of the firm in the short and long run and under perfect and imperfect competitive conditions. It also includes a test of the hypothesis that break-even analysis can be better than the percentage of sales method as a technique for forecasting the future operating profits of firms and the null hypothesis that there is no difference between break-even analysis and the percentage of sales method as a technique for forecasting the future operating profits of firms. The test is based on data (without adjustments) from Moody's Industrial Manuals. Although the break-even approach is more sophisticated and requires more time, effort and expense, the test shows that at the 0.01 level of significance, there is no difference between the accuracy of its forecasts of operating profits and that of the percentage of sales method. The hypothesis is therefore rejected and the null hypothesis accepted. The conclusion drawn from the test is that the management of a firm should not make use of break-even analysis to forecast its operating profits if it is not prepared to make any adjustments to its data to recognise the effects of changes in the determinants (excluding volume) of profits. The percentage of sales method should be used instead. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Hochschule für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und Sozialwiss., Diss.--St. Gallen, 1990.

Diss. Wirtschaftswiss. St. Gallen, 1990 ; Nr. 1177. / Bibliogr.: p. 285-310.

The last thirty years in the US have been characterized by rising financial profits as a share of total profits and the growth of banking activities yielding non-interest income. These developments pose two questions. First, what are the social relations enabling and sustaining financial profits and what are their macroeconomic sources? Second, what do these trends imply for the nature of banking and what kind of theory of banking can capture them? This study addresses these questions and makes four contributions. First, a Marxist theory of banking is developed to capture the transformation of banking drawing on two characteristics: first, emphasis on liquidity provision through exchange of promises to pay among credit participants and, second, explicit connection between bank revenues and macroeconomic aggregates (wages, profits, assets). It is shown that a Marxist theory of banking can be a more general theory of banking retaining strengths of other approaches and overcoming their limitations. Second, it is shown that the corporate form of business organization and the attendant capital markets create opportunities to extract a range of profits with similar characteristics, i.e., capital gain-like revenues. The key features of their simplest form - founder's profit - are shown also to hold for securitization revenues and, partly, for profit from mergers and acquisitions. These revenues hinge on wealth transfers across the society and, therefore, differ from profits from production. Third, by bringing together the Marxist theory of banking and the analysis of capital gain-like revenues, liquidity provision is shown to form the basis for banks' sharing in capital gain-like income. The core functions of banking can, therefore, co-exist with, and even form the basis, for a significant transformation of bank revenues. Examination of the multiplicity of forms of capital gain-like revenues shows that their extraction is the common driving force behind the apparently heterogeneous activities associated with the transformation of banking. Fourth, empirical analysis of the US bank holding companies confirms that capital gain-like revenues were a significant part of bank revenues in 2001-2010. Given the rising household vulnerability toward wealth transfers, this trend suggests a reinstatement of predatory aspects of finance in contemporary capitalism.

A challenge facing many not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) is that of financial sustainability; an organisation’s ability to remain sustainable despite the rules that govern NGOs, environmental challenges faced and demands placed on the organisation by that of their donors. This paper explores the challenges faced by NPOs in the South African context and possible models that could be used by NPOs to become sustainable. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

No description available.

No description available.

A challenge facing many not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) is that of financial sustainability; an organisation’s ability to remain sustainable despite the rules that govern NGOs, environmental challenges faced and demands placed on the organisation by that of their donors. This paper explores the challenges faced by NPOs in the South African context and possible models that could be used by NPOs to become sustainable. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Mathematical Sciences, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.