Information systems analysis was done for the computerization of an existing long range financial planning model, in case study form. The model, that of Lockheed Petroleum Services Limited, was analyzed and recommendations for model sophistication were made. Computerization was justified by projected cost reduction and several other advantages which were judged to outweigh the disadvantages of computerization. Implications of computerization and difficulties of information systems analysis were described. Results of the study were the design of a detailed algorithm and of ancillary documents making future computer programming, verification, and implementation easily achievable. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Prepared in association with the Sloan School of Management and the Dept. of Economics

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M.Com. (Economics and Economic History))--Rhodes University, 2006. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Commerce (Financial Markets).

The objective of this thesis is to highlight the Egyptian experiment concerning its economic reform programme, and to determine whether this programme has affected Egypt's stock market performance. Using 18 years of data, which covered the period 1980/8 1 to 1997/98 and incorporates time periods prior to and after adopting the economic reform programme, the thesis empirically investigates three main issues. Firstly, there is an examination of whether the Egyptian government succeeded in implementing its economic reform programme by looking to the main economic indicators: nominal interest rates, real interest rates, the inflation rate, exchange rate stability, the real GDP growth rate, per capita income and the budget deficit in Egypt after 1991, and comparing them with the same indicators prior to this period. Secondly, the thesis considers the changes in Egypt's stock market after the introduction of the economic reform programme by measuring the changes in four main dimensions: market activity, market size, market liquidity and market concentration. Thirdly, and this is the main part of the thesis, the research concentrates on examining the impact of Egypt's economic reform programme on its stock market performance. For the first two issues, several logistic regressions are performed to determine whether the data prior to 1991 can be separated from the data relating to the period after 1991. The results from this analysis indicate clearly that both type of data series witnessed dramatic changes after 1991. As to the third issue, cointegration analysis is used to model the relationship between economic reform programme variables and the stock market performance variables within an error correction model form. Generally speaking, the results from this analysis demonstrate that economic variables have an impact upon various features of market activity, market size, market liquidity and market concentration. An important observation in this thesis is that Egypt still needs to accelerate its rate of growth, as it was the only independent variable, which did not show any significant change or significant impact upon the stock market performance variables.

M.Tech. (Fashion Design) / In January 2014, the Mail & Guardian published an article, ‘Going out of business is coming into fashion’, which claims that “South African fashion is in a state” (Witepski 2014:5). The journalist based her statement on the number of fashion designers that went out of business in the previous year (2013). Local designers, such as Tiaan Nagel, Marion and Lindie, Hip Hop, to name but a few, were all popular with both the public and the media, but just did not manage to stay afloat. Witepski (2014:5) writes that the problem with these businesses does not seem to be a lack of talent but rather a lack of business skills. Although the South African fashion sector has increased its economic profile in the last decade, the Gauteng Creative Mapping Project (GCMP) claims that a number of factors restrict its growth (Ameru & Caj 2008:190). One such issue is the sustainability of small businesses and, according to GCMP, this is an area where the government needs to lend its support

National Science Foundation Grant no. SIA75-00739

The purpose of this study was to develop a probabilistic model that could be used by petroleum refiners to evaluate the economic potential of refinery capital investment proposals. The following two requirements were placed on the development at the outset: (1) that the model use linear programming to simulate refinery operations; and (2) that the model keep computer time within reasonable bounds. A probabilistic model was developed that requires the following steps for its application: (1) use linear programming to simulate both the operations of the existing refinery and the operations assuming that the investment is made; (2) select two variables that can be treated as probabilistic variables and assign either a theoretical or a subjective probability distribution to represent future values for the two variables; (3) develop return on investment interpolation data by computing a return on investment for all pair combinations of three tenth year values for each of the two probabilistic variables; (4) develop a return on investment distribution by selecting values at random from the two probability distributions and interpolating among the interpolation data to obtain return on investment data; (5) interpret the return on investment distribution. The model was applied to an actual refining situation that involved determining the expected internal rate of return of a proposed hydrocracker addition to a United States refinery. Total computer time required to evaluate the hydrocracker proposal was about 159 minutes. Accuracy of the interpolation feature of the model was also determined during the application. The average error of ten interpolated return figures that were selected at random for the accuracy check was 1.89 per cent.

Magister Legum - LLM / A popular difficulty that all SMEs have had to face is limited access to finance. The fact that banks are not prepared to finance small businesses, has exacerbated the existing 'financing gap' in the small and medium-sized business which is already present in the SME industry. In an analysis of small and medium business are faced with a myriad of difficulties often as a result of restrictions in current collateral systems that do not offer a viable degree of risk mitigation due to ineffectual legislation, insufficient enforcement procedures, or an existing legal structure.1 All of these have therefore made factoring a great choice as far as SMEs go in all African countries that want to have access to financial services. Factoring is the service that, in order to provide the underlying credit sales of goods or services (known as a factor), is provided by a third-party.

This thesis in Industrial Engineering and Management examines which the critical success factors are for implementing blockchain technology in the context of trade finance. Blockchain is an up-and-coming technology that has yet not been implemented in many organizations. By examining which the success factors are for implementing the technology, a foundation can be provided for future implementation efforts with the hope of achieving a successful result. Furthermore, to assess if an implementation of blockchain has been successful or not, the value of it has been assessed. Through a qualitative study with interviewees from both companies acting in the trade finance industry and experts on the subject of blockchain, information could be gathered in order to confirm the theoretical framework as well asprovide for new findings. The conclusion was that the most important success factors for implementing blockchain, found in the theoretical framework were: "Managing and involving stakeholders (for instance customers and suppliers)", "Clear management support/commitment/involvement of the implementation",and "Understanding of the organization in which the implementation is to take place (its strengths, needs,etc.)". The least important factors proved to be "An in depth understanding of the technology that is to be implemented; what it is and how it works", "Keeping the change communicable and transparent within the organization", and "Extensive project definition and planning". Unexpected findings were that almost all interviewees mentioned that there has to be a real need for the technology in order for it to be successfully implemented. Also, as the very nature of blockchain requires cooperation; it is important to realize that blockchain will require a higher degree of working over organizational boundaries. Another aspect that proved to be important to take into consideration is that the trade finance industry holds legacyand therefore is prone to be resistance to change, especially to a technology of such a highly disruptive character. Lastly, it is of importance to mention that the context also has to be taken into consideration;every organization is different and require different approaches when it comes to implementing blockchain technology. When it comes to how blockchain technology generates value from an organizational perspective, the most common answers were that it enhances collaboration and trust. Many identify value in the problem-solving and more decentralized mindset that blockchain brings. An unexpected finding was that the mere use of the word blockchain will create value, as this enables collaboration and investment. Other reasons given were security, transparency, automation, traceability,and decentralization. Further analysis examined the reasons behind the importance and connection of these answers. / Det här examensarbetet i industriell ekonomi undersöker vilka de kritiska framgångsfaktorerna är för implementering av blockkedjeteknologi inom området trade finance. En blockkedja är en teknologi med stora möjligheter som ännu inte har implementerats inom många företag. Genom att undersöka vilka framgångsfaktorerna är för att implementera teknologin, så kan en grund för framtida implementeringsförsök läggas med hopp om att uppnå ett framgångsrikt resultat. Vidare, för att utvärdera om en implementering har varit lyckad eller ej, måste värdet i implementeringen utvärderas. Genom en kvalitativ studie med intervjuer av personer både inom företag som ägnar sig åt trade finance och med experter på blockkedjor, kunde information tas fram för att bekräfta det teoretiska ramverket likväl bidra med nya resultat. Slutsatsen blev att de viktigaste framgångsfaktorerna för implementering av blockkedjor, som hittats i det teoretiska ramverket, var: "Tydligt stöd/engagemang/medverkan avmanagement i implementeringen", "Hantering och involvering av olika intressenter (till exempel kunderoch leverantörer)", "Förståelse för organisationen som implementationen sker i (dess styrkor, behovetc.)". De minst viktiga framgångsfaktorerna visade sig vara: "En djup förståelse för teknologin som skall implementeras; vad det är och hur den fungerar", "Förändringen sker på ett transparent sätt och med tydlig kommunikation", "Omfattande projektdefinition och planering". Oväntade resultat var att nästan alla de intervjuade personerna nämnde att det måste finnas ett riktigt behov för teknologin för att det ska kunna implementeras framgångsrikt. Likväl, en fundamental egenskap av blockkedjan är att teknologin kräver samarbete; det är viktigt att inse att blockkedjan kräver en högre grad av samarbete över organisatoriska gränser. Ytterligare en aspekt som visade sig vara viktig att ta hänsyn till är att tradefinance industrin har varit oföränderlig under låg tid och därmed är benägen att kännetecknas av motstånd till förändring, särskilt mot en teknologi som är av en sådan disruptiv karaktär. Slutligen är det av vikt att nämna att kontexten också behöver tas hänsyn till; alla organisationer är olika och kräver olika tillvägagångssätt när det kommer till att implementera blockkedjeteknologi. Gällande hur blockkedjeteknologi genererar värde från en organisatorisk synvinkel, är det vanligaste svaret att det förbättrar och ökar samarbete och förtroende. Många identifierar värde i den problemlösning och det mer decentraliserade tankesättet som blockkedjor möjliggör. Ett oväntat resultat var att bara användandet av ordet blockkedja kommer att skapa värde, eftersom det möjliggör samarbete och investeringar. Andra faktorer som gavs var säkerhet, transparens, automatisering, spårbarhet och decentralisering. Vidare analys undersökte de bakomliggande anledningarna till dessa faktorers betydande och kopplingen mellan dessa svar.