Cases involving sudden environmental events, such as British Petroleum’s (BP’s) accidental oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, clearly demonstrate the causal relation between poor corporate environmental performance and abrupt loss of shareholder value. Under such circumstances, a firm’s results can be readily priced using a conventional valuation model and hence, there is a clear nexus between environmental performance and business outcomes, as represented by the firm’s financial results as well as the event impact on shareholder value through equity prices. However, in less extreme cases there is no clear evidence of there being a relationship between these elements. Further, in relation to the literature on the nature of and motivations for corporate social and environmental reporting, scant attention has been directed towards research on the usefulness of environmental performance information to financial decision makers. Moreover, such studies as there have been have delivered mixed results in the absence of a conceptual framework that is able to distinguish the quality of such reporting from underlying performance and other representations of performance, such as reputation and SRI index membership. In order to address these previous shortcomings in this field, the proposed research focuses on environmental issues to investigate whether corporate environmental performance information can be considered as an aspect of a firm’s value, in terms of equity performance and to this end three empirical studies are carried out probing the relationships, respectively, between: - corporate social responsibility (CSR) reputation and equity performance, - socially responsible investment (SRI) index membership and equity performance, and - CSR ratings and share selection in SRI versus general investment funds, whilst in each case controlling for other environmentally related factors, as well as financial performance. The findings of the first empirical study suggest that environmental reputation and physical performance measured as proxies of the corporate environmental performance have value relevance, being negatively significantly related to the stock valuation, whereas environmental disclosure (DJSI) is not value relevant to financial decision-makers, and hence, not incorporated into share prices. However, the outcomes suggest that the GRI, an alternative measure of environmental disclosure, is value relevant even though it is not incorporated into share prices. The outcomes of the second empirical study indicate that companies being added to the DJSI or the FTSE4Good index in the March announcement results in a temporary decrease in a their share price, whilst companies added in (deleted from) the September announcement of the FTSE4Good index experience a significant but temporary increase (decrease) in stock return. However, membership of SRI indices does not have value relevance. Finally, the findings from the third empirical study suggest that CSR ratings have a weak influence on the ownership holdings decisions taken by SRI fund managers and further, they show that they, on aggregate, prefer to take into account multidimensional CSR measurements when making investment choices.

Thesis (M.Comm. Hons.)-- University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, Faculty of Business and Technology, Dept. of Manufacturing and Quality Systems, 1996.

Performance-based landfill design approach is a relatively new design approach adopted recently in solid waste management and applied in USA, European Union countries and some developing-economy countries like South Africa. This approach rejects the strict design criteria and accommodates a design that selects the most appropriate design components of a landfill (final cover, bottom liner, and leachate collection system) and their design details to result in the best overall performance with respect to performance criteria (groundwater contamination and stability) considering the system variables (climatic conditions of the site, site hydrogeology, and size of the landfill). These design components, performance criteria and design variables involved in decision process make performance-based landfill design a complex environmental problem. Decision support systems (DSS) are among the most promising approaches to confront this complexity. The fact that different tools can be integrated under different architectures confers DSSs ability to confront complex problems, and capability to support decision-making processes. In this thesis study, a DSS to aid in the selection of design components considering the design variables and performance criteria for performance-based landfill design was developed. System simulation models and calculation modules were integrated under a unique DSS architecture. A decision support framework composed of preliminary design and detailed design phases were developed. The decision of appropriate design components leading to desired performance was made based on stability issues and vulnerability of groundwater, using knowledge gathered from DSS. Capabilities and use of the developed DSS were demonstrated by one real and one hypothetical landfill case studies.

Poor cost performance of construction projects has been a major concern for both contractors and clients. The effective management of risk is thus critical to the success of any construction project and the importance of risk management has grown as projects have become more complex and competition has increased. Contractors have traditionally used financial mark-ups to cover the risk associated with construction projects but as competition increases and margins have become tighter they can no longer rely on this strategy and must improve their ability to manage risk. Furthermore, the construction industry has witnessed significant changes particularly in procurement methods with clients allocating greater risks to contractors. Evidence shows that there is a gap between existing risk management techniques and tools, mainly built on normative statistical decision theory, and their practical application by construction contractors. The main reason behind the lack of use is that risk decision making within construction organisations is heavily based upon experience, intuition and judgement and not on mathematical models. This thesis presents a model for managing global risk factors affecting construction cost performance of construction projects. The model has been developed using behavioural decision approach, fuzzy logic technology, and Artificial Intelligence technology. The methodology adopted to conduct the research involved a thorough literature survey on risk management, informal and formal discussions with construction practitioners to assess the extent of the problem, a questionnaire survey to evaluate the importance of global risk factors and, finally, repertory grid interviews aimed at eliciting relevant knowledge. There are several approaches to categorising risks permeating construction projects. This research groups risks into three main categories, namely organisation-specific, global and Acts of God. It focuses on global risk factors because they are ill-defined, less understood by contractors and difficult to model, assess and manage although they have huge impact on cost performance. Generally, contractors, especially in developing countries, have insufficient experience and knowledge to manage them effectively. The research identified the following groups of global risk factors as having significant impact on cost performance: estimator related, project related, fraudulent practices related, competition related, construction related, economy related and political related factors. The model was tested for validity through a panel of validators (experts) and crosssectional cases studies, and the general conclusion was that it could provide valuable assistance in the management of global risk factors since it is effective, efficient, flexible and user-friendly. The findings stress the need to depart from traditional approaches and to explore new directions in order to equip contractors with effective risk management tools.

L’objet de ce travail de recherche est de contribuer à l’étude du concept de l’intuition dans la prise de décision du dirigeant de PME et d’apporter un éclairage d’ordre théorique et praxéologique de cette notion dont les fondements conceptuels jusqu’à présent fournis demeurent largement controversés.En effet, les dirigeants de PME sont souvent décrits comme prenant les décisions de façon personnalisée possédant une autonomie décisionnelle (Julien et Marchesnay, 1988). Il est donc probable que les caractéristiques de la personnalité du dirigeant et sa dimension intuitive soient d’une grande importance dans la conduite d’une PME (Legohérel et al., 2003). Toutefois, peu de recherches empiriques existent et permettent d’étudier le recours à l’intuition dans les PME malgré la nature personnalisée de la prise de décision dans ces petites structures. Nous tentons alors, dans cette étude, de comprendre dans quelle mesure l’utilisation de l’intuition serait en mesure d’affecter la prise de décision du dirigeant de PME. En premier temps, nous identifions, à partir d’une étude qualitative auprès des 10 dirigeants de PME, les représentations que se font les dirigeants de l’intuition afin d’en proposer une définition opérationnelle et développer une échelle de mesure de l’intuition selon les préconisations de Churchill (1979).En deuxième temps, nous intégrons la variable intuition dans un modèle de recherche qui vise à intégrer, conformément à l’approche systémique, l’utilisation de l’intuition dans la prise de décision, ses déterminants (contexte et nature de la décision) ainsi que ses conséquences (performance perçue de la décision) dans un cadre général d’analyse. L’intérêt de cette modélisation systémique pour notre recherche réside dans le fait qu’elle permet une compréhension approfondie de l’utilisation de l’intuition à travers ses dimensions et l’analyse de cette notion dans sa globalité à travers ses déterminants et ses conséquences. Ce modèle est testé par une étude quantitative auprès de 178 dirigeants de PME dans le contexte tunisien. Les résultats de cette recherche montrent qu’il est possible de développer une mesure fiable et valide de l’utilisation de l’intuition dans la prise de décision. Ces derniers permettent d’entériner une structure bidimensionnelle de la notion d’intuition qui correspond à une personnalité ressentie et à une capacité à se représenter globalement la situation. Les résultats permettent également de supporter d’une part, l’influence de l’incertitude de l’environnement, l’origine et l’importance de la décision sur l’utilisation de l’intuition et, d’autre part, l’influence de l’utilisation de l’intuition sur la satisfaction de la décision du dirigeant de PME. / The purpose of this research is to contribute to the study of the concept of intuition in decision making managers of SMEs and provide theoretical and praxeological lighting around the notion that the conceptual foundations up 'now provided remain largely controversial.Indeed, SME managers are often described as taking decisions individually with a decision-making autonomy (Julien et Marchesnay, 1988). It is therefore likely that the personality characteristics of the manager and intuitive dimension are of great importance in the conduct of an SME (Legohérel et al., 2003).However, little empirical research exists and used to study the use of intuition in SMEs despite the personalized nature of decision making in these small structures. We will try in this study to understand how the use of intuition would be able to affect the decision of the manager of SMEs. First, we identify, from a qualitative study of 10 manager of SME, representations that are the leaders of intuition in order to propose an operational definition and to develop a scale of intuition according to the recommendations of Churchill (1979).Second, we integrate the variable intuition in a research model that seeks to integrate, in accordance with the systemic approach, the use of intuition in decision making, its determinants (context and nature of the decision) and its consequences (perceived performance of the decision) in a general framework. The interest of this systemic modeling for our research is that it allows a thorough understanding of the use of intuition through its dimensions and the analysis of this concept as a whole through its determinants and consequences. This model is tested by a quantitative survey of 178 managers of SMEs in the Tunisian context.The results of this research show that it is possible to develop a reliable and valid measure of the use of intuition in decision making. These allow endorsing a two-dimensional structure of the concept of intuition which corresponds to an experienced personality and an ability to represent overall situation. The results also support the one hand, the influence of the uncertainty of the environment, the origin and importance of the decision on the use of intuition and, secondly, the influence of the use of intuition on the satisfaction of the decision of the managers of SMEs.

La tesi affronta il tema dell’utilizzo delle informazioni in ambito pubblico sulla scia di quanto avviato dalle teorie di (bounded) rationality, e di diversi filoni di (public) management che si sono occupati nel tempo di indagare i meccanismi attraverso i quali le informazioni vengono identificate, selezionate e utilizzate nei processi decisionali. Attraverso l’analisi delle politiche sociali nei comuni italiani, la tesi si occupa di indagare tre specifiche situazioni: la presentazione delle strategie e politiche pubbliche; la costruzione di piani strategici; la risoluzione di situazioni critiche e di trade-off complessi. La tesi mostra che le informazioni sono usate per presentare le decisioni tramite meccanismi di razionalità ed altri legati alla creazione di consenso per l’innovazione dei contenuti, governance e contesto di riferimento delle politiche sociali. Nella pianificazione strategica le informazioni vengono spesso solamente raccolte oppure utilizzate in modo strumentale. Nel caso di situazioni complesse e caratterizzate da trade-off, le informazioni di accounting hanno sia una valenza manageriale che politica di costruzione del consenso e delle motivazioni ad agire. / The PhD thesis deals with the issue of information use in the public sector. Building on (bounded) rationality theories and (public) management studies focusing on mechanisms through which information is identified, gathered and used in decision making processes, the thesis analysed what happens in Italian Municipalities, in the field of social care policies. Three different situations are analysed: public presentation of social care policies; social care strategic plans; wicked problems resolutions and trade off discussion. The thesis shows that information is used to present public strategies through rationality or by building consensus towards innovation in contents, governance and context of social care policies. In the case of strategic plans, information is often only presented or used instrumentally. In the case of trade-offs and wicked situation information is used both in a managerial perspective and in a political fashion so to build consensus and motivation for action.