published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

The following thesis will examine, and utilize, an in-depth case study of a family business turnaround by a new change leader. Theory will be used to explore and extend existing models concerning family business, organizational crisis, turnaround, and leadership. A non-sequential model will be developed that looks into the past in order to understand the present and seek out strategies for the future. Interviews were conducted with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) of the firm and will be analyzed and discussed in the subsequent sections along with a theoretical framework. These analyses will help the authors answer their research questions in order to fulfill the purpose and ultimately formulate a model.

This investigation combines contemporary Marxian political economy with Lacanian psychoanalysis to understand the discourse of finance capitalism, and to understand the dialectical seeds of the industry’s eventual destruction that were inherent within the hegemonic commodities of the era. These commodities, which include derivatives, futures, collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps and subprime mortgage loans, were ideological and communicative as well as profitable, and thus do a double duty under finance capitalism’s dominance. Lacan’s concepts of metaphor, fantasy, the quilting point, and the master signifier are extended in order to understand how subjects come to know themselves and their world through the terms given to them by capital. In addition, the rhetorical interventions of two chief ideologists for finance capitalism in the 1990s, Thomas Friedman and Alan Greenspan, are interrogated as exemplifications of the fantastical nature of late capitalism. / text

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In the year of 1999 a new monetary experiment commenced – the birth of the euro. Over the years more countries have joined the new currency and it was expected to be a continuously growing community. The purpose of this paper is to measure the effect of European membership, the currency of euro and the financial crisis on trade between the countries located in Europe. For the task of this paper the gravity model is used to study the bilateral trade flows in the European Union from 1995-2011. It additionally investigates, besides the correlation between GDP and distance, the effect of shared border, shared language and coastal access. The results showed that the euro did indeed have a positive impact on trade in the introduction year to later significantly have a negative impact on trade. Moreover, a membership in the European Union results showed to promote intra-European Union trade at the cost of extra-European Union trade and have its largest impact in the beginning and end of the study years. The conclusion is that other factors than increased trade were the main reasons to join the European Union, such as enhancing the role of Europe in the world market and to turn into a unified market. Finally, the effect of the financial crisis was found to have a negative impact on trade, concluded that it exposed the failures and lack of coordination between and within countries. It was also shown that the physical distance, and not specifically distances in i.e. social culture and languages, boosted the trade between countries.

Ingeniero Civil Industrial / La reciente crisis financiera y los altos niveles de deuda de los países Europeos, afectaron fuertemente al mercado de deuda internacional y produjeron un gran aumento en los spreads de crédito. Dado que los spreads de bonos corporativos son una manifestación del costo de financiamiento para el sector privado, estos pueden afectar las decisiones de inversión de distintas compañías y con ello, afectar al crecimiento económico. Por lo tanto es crucial entender los principales determinantes de los spreads de bonos corporativos. Ferri y Liu (2002) y Borensztein, Cowan y Valenzuela (2013), muestran que el riesgo de crédito soberano es uno de los principales factores que afectan al costo de financiamiento privado. La evidencia muestra que la relación entre el riesgo de crédito corporativo y el soberano es más fuerte en el sector financiero, porque firmas que pertenecen a este rubro invierten gran cantidad de dinero en bonos soberanos. Usando una base de datos a nivel de bonos para el periodo 2004-2009, este estudio explora el impacto del riesgo soberano sobre los spreads de bonos corporativos emitidos en el mercado internacional por firmas de países Europeos. La base de datos final consta de 266 bonos emitidos por 73 firmas, localizadas en 13 países europeos. Este trabajo muestra que el riesgo de crédito soberano es un determinante importante de los spreads de bonos corporativos y un incremento en estos, está asociado a un incremento de los spreads de bonos soberanos. Este efecto es más fuerte en periodos de inestabilidad financiera y en firmas pertenecientes al sector financiero. Estos resultados son robustos a distintos test. Son robustos controlando por los principales determinantes de los spreads de bonos corporativos de acuerdo a los modelos estructurales de riesgo de crédito (Merton, 1974). Son robustos controlando por diferentes efectos fijos: efecto fijo país, efecto fijo industria, efecto fijo tiempo y efecto fijo por bono. Finalmente, los resultados son robustos a especificaciones alternativas. Los resultados de este trabajo tienen importantes implicancias para los inversionistas que necesitan predecir los spreads de bonos corporativos. También ayudan a los directivos de empresas que necesitan conocer los principales factores que afectan al costo de financiamiento de sus empresas. Finalmente, son relevantes para los políticos que necesitan diseñar políticas públicas para hacer que el mercado financiero sea menos vulnerable ante episodios de inestabilidad financiera global.

Tesis para optar al grado de magíster en estrategia internacional y política comercial / No autorizada por la autora para ser publicada en texto completo / Este estudio de caso analiza la estrategia desarrollada por Chile para resolver su demanda de gas durante la última década (período 2004-2014), y si dicha estrategia es sustentable en el mediano y largo plazo. Las estadísticas del Banco Mundial indican que el PIB de Chile se ha más que duplicado durante éste período (de 100 a 277 MMUS$); y según el Ministerio de Energía, la demanda energética ha acompañado dicho crecimiento casi con las mismas tasas. Éste crecimiento en la demanda energética está respaldado por el crecimiento Industrial de Chile; el cual, según datos de la SOFOFA (2014), basa su economía en 3 grandes Pilares: - La Industria Manufacturera (que representa un 11,3 % del PIB), - La extracción y exportación de recursos naturales (donde la minería es el principal sector exportador, representando un 11,2 % del PIB), - La industria de la Construcción (que representa un 7,3 % del PIB). Teniendo en cuenta que éstas 3 actividades representan el 30% del PIB; y que son las mayores consumidoras de energía, es allí donde se hace necesario evaluar cómo el país está planificando el desarrollo energético en el mediano y largo plazo para poder sustentar el crecimiento futuro.

CHDS State/Local / Military civil support operations following Hurricane Katrina revealed a compelling need for improving the command and control arrangements between the National Guard, operating in Title 32 status subordinate to the governors, and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) who controlled all of the assigned Title 10 active duty forces subordinate to the President. This details the three mutually exclusive duty statuses of the National Guard, reviews the statutory, strategy and policy environment, and examines the joint military doctrine that covers civil support. It describes the three potential command and control models with their strengths and weaknesses. There is a detailed analysis of the USNORTHCOMS's Defense Support of Civil Authority concept plan with recommended enhancements. The paper concludes that the command and control arrangement is situationally dependent and provides considerations for the commander. There is no directive authority that compels the National Guard to work with U.S. Northern Command. However, there are mutual benefits to working in partnership to create the coordination and communication model organization and procedures for future civil support operations that include the National Guard and USNORTHCOM. The USNORTHCOM commander needs to build trust with the governors, and then get a full time National Guard brigadier general on his staff to complete the coordination with the states. / Staff Engineer, US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)

CHDS State/Local / Historically, the American governance system, divided into federal, state and local jurisdictions, does not provide a natural vehicle for discussing public policy issues from a regional, multi-jurisdictional perspective. The autonomy of local jurisdictions and competing priorities within and among them makes regional coordination difficult. Efforts that seek to overcome these challenges to coordinate regionally must take into account the different operational structures and civic traditions of states and municipalities. The establishment of a Homeland Security Regional Structure will support the DHS mission of leading a unified national effort to secure America. The homeland security regions will enhance the national effort to prepare for threats and hazards to the nation. The regional structure will move DHS support closer to state, and local governments that have been overwhelmed by new requirements for homeland security within their jurisdictions. Engaging state and local governments at the regional level provides the best opportunities for the integration of homeland security efforts across all levels of government. / Operations Analyst, Department of Homeland Security (DHS)