Mergers and acquisitions have been demonstrated to create synergies, but not in all cases. Current research reveals that where synergies exist, these seem to accrue to the shareholders of the selling companies. Given the limitations of our qualitative research design, we find that it is important to quantify synergy before the acquisition, preferably by applying certain best practices. In an attempt to enhance understanding of the phenomenon, we find that several types of synergy exist and that their origins include efficiencies, such as economies of scale and economies in innovative activity. We further find that the bid price is an important indicator of success and that its maximum should not exceed the intrinsic value of the target, plus the value of synergies between the bidder and target. We further find that best practices exist in quantifying cost and revenue synergies and describe these separately per origin. / Management Accounting / M.Com. (Accounting)

As pequenas empresas vêm ganhando destaque no contexto econômico brasileiro dado o importante papel que desempenham. Dentre estas empresas, destacam-se as pequenas empresas de base tecnológica (PEBTs), as quais são caracterizadas por focalizar a estratégia competitiva na inovação, participar ativamente das mudanças tecnológicas e atuar como fornecedores em diferentes cadeias produtivas. O processo de desenvolvimento de produtos (PDP) representa o conjunto de atividades pela qual as informações sobre o mercado são transformadas em requisitos de produto. É um processo complexo e com um elevado grau de incertezas. Grande parte da literatura sobre o tema está relacionada com o contexto das grandes empresas, entretanto, uma série de particularidades torna a realidade das pequenas empresas bastante diferente. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é explorar as particularidades do PDP das PEBTs. Foi conduzido um levantamento dos fatores críticos de sucesso de PEBTs através de uma pesquisa qualitativa. Na sequência, foi realizado um mapeamento de artigos publicados em periódicos internacionais, entre os anos de 2002 e 2011, sobre a velocidade do PDP. Por fim, foi efetuado um estudo quantitativo para identificar associações entre as melhores práticas de gestão e os problemas mais frequentes encontrado no PDP destas empresas. / Small businesses are gaining prominence in the brazilian economic context given the important role they play. Among these firms, there are the small high technology companies, which are characterized by the competitive strategy focused on innovation, by the actively participation in technological changes and as suppliers in different production chains. The new product development (NPD) is a set of activities in which information about the market are transformed into product requirements. It is a complex process with a high degree of uncertainty. Most part of the literature on the topic is related to the large companies context, however, a variety of particularities makes the reality of small firms quite different. Therefore, the aim of this work is to explore the particularities of the NPD small high technology firms. It was conducted a survey of critical success factors through qualitative research. Further, a research mapping the articles published in international journals, between the years of 2002 and 2011, about the speed of the NPD. Finally, a quantitative study was conducted to identify associations between best management practices and most common problems found in the NPD of these companies.

Este trabalho busca desvelar e sistematizar claramente os princípios straussianos de filosofia política clássica e, especificamente, os princípios straussiano-platônicos do melhor regime. Isto é, este trabalho busca desvelar o que Leo Strauss acredita ser o começo da filosofia política clássica, o que Leo Strauss acredita ser a “metodologia” clássica à filosofia política e, especificamente, as conclusões de Platão sobre o melhor regime. Os primeiros são princípios straussianos, porque advêm da interpretação de Leo Strauss sobre vários filósofos clássicos; os últimos são straussiano-platônicos, pois advêm de uma interpretação straussiana de Platão. Por fim, a análise de Leo Strauss sobre a crise da modernidade e sobre a historiografia da filosofia são apresentadas a fim de que possamos entender por que e como trilhar o caminho straussiano aos clássicos. / This work intends to state and arrange clearly the Straussian principles of classical political philosophy and, especially, the Straussian-Platonic principles of the best regime. That is, this work intends to state what Leo Strauss thought to be the beginnings of classical political philosophy, what Leo Strauss thought to be a classical “methodology” for political philosophy and, finally, Plato's conclusions about the best regime. The first two are Straussian principles because they ensued from Leo Strauss' interpretation of various classical political philosophers and the last ones are Straussian-Platonic because they ensued from a Straussian interpretation of Plato. That being said, Leo Strauss' analysis of the crisis of modernity and Leo Strauss' historiography of philosophy are presented as requirements for a better understanding of what consists the Straussian way back to the classics.

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / As states continue to rapidly transition from conflict or autocracy to democracy, there has been need to address past gross human rights violations. To address these past egregious violations, transitioning countries often relied on immunities and prosecutions. However, prosecutions and amnesties presented several challenges that necessitated a recourse to truth and reconciliation commissions (hereafter TRCs). Since then, TRCs have evolved to be an essential accountability mechanism in transitional justice. Given the important role that TRCs play in transitioning countries, the composition of TRCs should be of credible character in the eye of the public. The selected and appointed truth commissioners (hereafter commissioners) play a key role in the truth-finding process and the importance of having a constraint-free and reliable work plan of selecting these commissioners cannot be overestimated. However, in practice the selection and appointment of the commissioners has proven to be a challenging exercise.

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / In the early 1990s Botswana faced rising levels of grand corruption and economic crimes in general. The laws could not cope with the high incidence of economic criminality, especially as regards the confiscation of dirty assets. At the time, the government relied solely on laws regulating the forfeiture of prohibited property and instruments of crime, given that there were no laws authorising the confiscation of proceeds of crime. The drivers of the said forfeiture laws are the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Botswana Police Service (BPS) and the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS). Parliament then enacted the Proceeds of Serious Crime Act No. 19 of 1990 (PSCA). The PSCA was a three-pronged tool in that it introduced the offence of money-laundering, enhanced investigative powers, and authorised conviction-based confiscation of proceeds of crime. The DPP was tasked with conducting criminal prosecutions and applying for confiscation orders. The BPS was mandated to conduct financial investigations.

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / As states continue to rapidly transition from conflict or autocracy to democracy, there has been need to address past gross human rights violations. To address these past egregious violations, transitioning countries often relied on immunities and prosecutions. However, prosecutions and amnesties presented several challenges that necessitated a recourse to truth and reconciliation commissions (hereafter TRCs). Since then, TRCs have evolved to be an essential accountability mechanism in transitional justice.

abstract: Alternative Project Delivery Methods (APDMs), namely Design Build (DB) and Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), grew out of the need to find a more efficient project delivery approach than the traditional Design Bid Build (DBB) form of delivery. After decades of extensive APDM use, there have been many studies focused on the use of APDMs and project outcomes. Few of these studies have reached a level of statistical significance to make conclusive observations about APDMs. This research effort completes a comprehensive study for use in the horizontal transportation construction market, providing a better basis for decisions on project delivery method selection, improving understanding of best practices for APDM use, and reporting outcomes from the largest collection of APDM project data to date. The study is the result of an online survey of project owners and design teams from 17 states representing 83 projects nationally. Project data collected represents almost six billion US dollars. The study performs an analysis of the transportation APDM market and answers questions dealing with national APDM usage, motivators for APDM selection, the relation of APDM to pre-construction services, and the use of industry best practices. Top motivators for delivery method selection: the project schedule or the urgency of the project, the ability to predict and control cost, and finding the best method to allocate risk, as well as other factors were identified and analyzed. Analysis of project data was used to compare to commonly held assumptions about the project delivery methods, confirming some assumptions and refuting others. Project data showed that APDM projects had the lowest overall cost growth. DB projects had higher schedule growth. CMAR projects had low design schedule growth but high construction schedule growth. DBB showed very little schedule growth and the highest cost growth of the delivery methods studied. Best practices in project delivery were studied: team alignment, front end planning, and risk assessment were identified as practices most critical to project success. The study contributes and improves on existing research on APDM project selection and outcomes and fills many of the gaps in research identified by previous research efforts and industry leaders. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil Engineering 2014

This research takes an iterative multiple case study approach and seeks new insight from common language in the workplace - specifically exploring what we mean when we say that we're at our best in work. Being at your best is a common term in the workplace but one that is not reflected in the academic literature. Given that it is commonly used, perhaps there is a common or shared meaning. Exploring that shared meaning could help identify how to get more from individuals and support the development of positive workplaces. There are three strands to this research thesis. Firstly, the notion of being at one's best is introduced. The literature review identifies an overlap in the concepts of work performance, engagement and commitment. These three concepts are complex and have challenges of definition and measurement. It is suggested that being at one's best can be understood as involving high performance, engagement and commitment and will involve factors that are consistent to each of the three concepts. The overlap of the concepts is demonstrated in the pilot studies undertaken in three retail stores: the highest performing store; the store with the highest staff engagement survey results; and the store with the longest serving (committed) staff. Interviews, wordlists and questionnaires were interrogated and consistent themes across the 3 contexts formed a tentative framework of positive subjective states and positive behavioural patterns. Secondly, this thesis explores the possibility of a shared meaning of being at one's best - extending the research to wider organisations. Further case studies are undertaken involving a total of 154 individuals in: a highly engaged hotel team; a high performing executive search team; the top performing shop managers in one company; and a study of individuals with at least five years' service and intending to stay in their jobs. The common experiences of these individuals form the refined framework that describes being at one's best in terms of: Positive subjective states (feelings); Positive behavioural patterns; and values. Individuals were feeling positive about themselves, their job, and their colleagues. They also showed positive behaviours related to achieving, supporting, and interacting. The connection between an individual's values and their work was also highlighted as playing a role in being at one's. The third and final strand of the research is the opportunity to reflect on techniques used to explore shared meaning. There is little consistency in the literature regarding how to explore shared meaning. The iterative approach of this research allowed for reflection on: interviews, questionnaires, word lists, focus groups and mental model activities as potential techniques for exploring shared meaning. The reflections provide insight regarding each technique and lead to the suggestion that focus groups are used earlier in the process of exploring shared meaning in the future.

Submitted by Johnny Rodrigues (johnnyrodrigues@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-07-24T13:50:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 JÉSSYCA LANGE FERREIRA MELO - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGMAT 2010..pdf: 549809 bytes, checksum: d97e157afe502f81bdc9beda3a5c1489 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-24T13:50:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JÉSSYCA LANGE FERREIRA MELO - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGMAT 2010..pdf: 549809 bytes, checksum: d97e157afe502f81bdc9beda3a5c1489 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02 / CNPq / Para visualizar o resumo recomendamos do download do arquivo uma vez que o mesmo utiliza formulas ou equações matemáticas que não puderam ser transcritas neste espaço. / To preview the summary we recommend downloading the file since it uses mathematical formulas or equations that could not be transcribed in this space.

Submitted by Claudinei Pracidelli (cpracide@ipen.br) on 2016-06-22T13:19:02Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-22T13:19:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP