What determines the value an MNC's headquarters adds to its own affiliates? In this paper, we shed light on this question by linking the embeddedness view of the multinational corporation to the literature on parenting advantage. We test our hypotheses on an original dataset of 124 manufacturing subsidiaries located in Europe. Our results indicate that the external embeddedness of the MNC is an antecedent to headquarters' value creation. We find that headquarters' investments into their own relationships with the subsidiaries' contexts are positively related to the value added by headquarters. Furthermore, this relationship is stronger when the subsidiary itself is strongly embedded. We discuss implications for the MNC literature, embeddedness research, and the literature on parenting and headquarters' roles. (authors' abstract)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When it comes to risk management, academic opinion is divided into two camps. There are those who argue that risk management is a waste of resources and time, and that in spite of all the effort invested, it does not add any economic value to an organisation. On the other hand, there are those who believe that risk management not only safeguards, but also actively contributes to the value of an organisation. This study was an attempt to obtain empirical evidence from the South African sector to support one of the two abovementioned arguments. In doing so the study addresses the research problems of whether risk management and specifically Enterprise Risk Management, creates value for an organisation, and whether the fact that a company has a risk management program in place should influence investor decisions The study was conducted in the following way: Measurements of the maturity of the risk management systems and the implementation dates of these systems were obtained from the senior managers of a number of organisations by means of a questionnaire. This data was then compared with annual measurements of the value of these organisations that were taken between 2000 and 2013. To determine if there was a relationship between the value of an organisation and the risk management maturity tests were conducted to look for the following: i. A statistically significant relationship between the most recent measure of organisational value and the maturity of risk management. ii. A statistically significant relationship between risk management maturity and the most recent rate of organisational value increase. iii. A discernible difference between the rate of organisational value change before and after the implementation of an Enterprise Risk Management system. iv. A statistically significant relationship between risk management maturity and organisational value subsequent to the introduction of an Enterprise Risk Management system. The study found evidence of a significant gain in the rate of organisational value increase directly subsequent to the introduction of an Enterprise Risk Management system, but also that the increased rate was not sustained. Other tests yielded contradictory or indecisive results that did not lead to clear conclusions, but illuminated future research directions.

Šiandieninėje ekonominėje situacijoje, pasauliui išgyvenant globalios finansų krizės padarinius, stiprėjant konkurencijai rinkose, kai konkurentai dėl rinkos dalies griebiasi nesąžiningų kovos priemonių, tokių kaip kainų dempingavimas ir pan., kiekvienas įmonės vadovų sprendimas turi būti vertinamas ekonominio efektyvumo aspektu, t.y. ar bus pasekoje sukurta papildoma vertė įmonei. Tradiciniai įmonės finansinę situaciją apibūdinantys grynojo pelno bei pardavimų rodikliai neatskleidžia tikrosios situacijos. Tuo tarpu ekonominės pridėtosios vertės EVA rodiklis skatina įmones efektyviai panaudoti ne tik skolintą, bet ir nuosavą kapitalą. Viena didžiausių problemų ta, kad dauguma Lietuvos įmonių vadovų, pasirinkusių įmonės vertinimui naudoti EVA, praktiškai nežino, kaip teisingai apskaičiuoti šį rodiklį, kaip teisingai nustatyti įmonės valdomo kapitalo kainą, nesugeba identifikuoti vertei darančių įtaką veiksnių ir susieti sprendimų priėmimo su bendru įmonės tikslu – kaip didinti EVA. Tyrimo objektas – vidutinio dydžio gamybinė įmonė UAB „TECA“. Šio darbo tikslas – atskleisti įmonės vertės kūrimo ekonominę prasmę ir svarbą, išanalizuoti rodiklio EVA koncepciją, jo pritaikymą ir diegimą Lietuvos įmonėje. Šiam tikslui pasiekti iškelti šie svarbiausi uždaviniai: • Atskleisti vertės sampratą ir vertės nustatymo problemą; • Pristatyti ekonominio pelno – EVA rodiklio – koncepciją, palyginti su tradiciniais pelnu pagrįstais įmonės veiklos vertinimo rodikliais; • Išanalizuoti EVA... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In today‘s economical situation, when world suffers from the consequences of global financial crisis, when competition increases in the markets, when competitors take unfair means of rivalry for the part of the market, such as price dumping and similar, when each decision of companies’ heads should be evaluated at the aspect of economical efficiency, i.e. whether consequently is going to be created an additional value for the company. Traditional indicators, defining financial situation of the company, of net profit and sales do not reveal real situation. Meanwhile economic value added EVA index motivates companies to efficiently use both not only the borrowed but also own capital. One of the biggest problems is that most Lithuanian companies’ heads, who for the evaluation of company choose EVA, practically do not know how to calculate this index correctly, how to determine correctly the price of company‘s controlled capital, are not able to identify factors, influencing value and to interconnect taking decisions with general aim of the company – how to increase EVA. Object of the research – medium manufacturing company UAB “TECA”. The aim of the thesis – is to reveal economical meaning and importance of creation of company value, to analyze the conception of EVA index, and its application and implementation in Lithuanian company. For the achievement of the aim there are being set the following most important tasks: • To reveal the concept of value and the problem of value... [to full text]

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Timothy J. Dalton / Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is a drought tolerant crop able to adapt to hot and dry weather. It has excellent chemical and physical properties, which make it a grain of good quality for processing different types of products. This research is an impact assessment study that estimated the potential impacts of new uses of sorghum by using an equilibrium displacement model. The data used was drawn from interviews developed in July 2011. Using total quantity production, prices, prices elasticities and cost shares 8 potential market scenarios were simulated. Results between countries were similar. Thus, the analysis was applied for both countries. Producers gain when the sorghum flour demand is shifted between $6,000 and $ 30,000. When the feed demand curve shifted the producer benefit was between $3 million and $ 13 million. In the scenario where the sorghum grain curve shifted and the demand curve for feed and sorghum flour, producer net benefit is between $300,000 to $2.5 million. Interpreting these results suggest that increasing yield and promoting sorghum as a substitute of maize for feed and sorghum as a substitute of wheat for sorghum flour can benefit producers while helping them to increase yield.

M.A. (Information Science) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of teachers on student achievement using a longitudinal analysis. The analysis was based on the value-added assessment system implemented in Tennessee. In order to conduct this study, data were collected for two sets of students in one school district. The first set of students began Kindergarten in Spring 2000-Spring 2001 and continued to third grade in the Spring 2003-Spring 2004. The second set began Kindergarten in Spring 2001-Spring 2002 and went through second grade in the Spring 2003-Spring 2004 school year. Using mixed model ANOVAs modeled after Sanders' work, data were examined in thirteen separate analyses using nine independent variables. Year-to-year language arts differences, math differences, and reading differences on the ITBS were the dependent variables. In all of the year-to-year models, teachers were found to have a profound impact on student achievement. Prior achievement level was found to be another important factor in student achievement, with higher achieving students making consistently higher year-to-year gains than lower-achieving students.

Value-added tax (VAT) and similar taxes known as General Sales Tax (GST) are indirect taxes which are currently levied in over 150 countries world-wide. The republic of South Africa (South Africa) introduced VAT through the enactment of the Value-added Tax Act 89 of 1991. Financial services are exempt, by the Value-Added Tax Act 89 of 1991, largely due to the South African VAT system being based on the New Zealand GST system. It is generally accepted that in theory financial services should be subjected to Value-Added Tax. This study will outline the VAT effects of certain common financial services and how financial service providers may account for the related input and output tax. Additionally the application of the VAT Act against some of the more complex financial arrangements, including new financial instruments that have gained popularity with the increased availability to technologies such as the internet, will also be examined. This report is limited to the application of the VAT Act only and does not consider other fiscal legislation and its interaction with the VAT Act in this regard. Key Words Value-Added Tax, Financial Services, Exemptions, Complex Financial Arrangements / Thesis (M.Com. (Taxation))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2017 / Online resource (141 leaves) / GR2018

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015. / The main purpose of the study is to determine which value drivers of economic value added (EVA) are most important. That is, what are the main determinants of the overall company value? The three main questions raised in the study are: (1) How sensitive is total EVA to changes in each of the various value drivers? (2) Which of the value drivers are more important in managing economic value? (3) Is there a combination of these value drivers that best explain EVA as a group? The study, which adopts the Stewart (1991) definition of EVA, covers the life insurance sector in South Africa, specifically focusing on the following companies: Discovery Holdings, Liberty Holdings, MMI Holdings, Old Mutual plc, and Sanlam Ltd. It covers the period 2004-2014 and uses variance analysis and principal component analysis to identify the main drivers of EVA. Five main drivers of EVA were identified namely; underwriting, asset management, costs, opportunity cost and strategic investments.

O relacionamento entre empresas e sociedade faz emergir a necessidade de prestação de contas a distintos grupos de interesse e a DVA apresenta-se como ferramenta importante, ao apresentar informações relevantes a diferentes stakeholders. Este trabalho discute a interpretação dessa demonstração a partir do que se concebe no senso comum, propondo-se a identificar e caracterizar mitos originados numa leitura simplista da DVA, bem como verificar o impacto do setor de atuação sobre a análise. A plataforma teórica edifica-se sobre a teoria dos stakeholders que, para determinar grupos efetivamente relevantes à entidade, se distingue nos atributos: poder, legitimidade e urgência. Analisa a DVA em sua gênese e desenvolvimentos posteriores até os dias atuais. Para responder à questão de pesquisa, Quais as verdades e os mitos contidos na interpretação da Demonstração do Valor Adicionado?, tomou-se como base uma amostra composta de informações contábeis de 6.286 empresas não financeiras, oriundas de diversos setores, extraídas do banco de dados mantido pela Fipecafi e utilizado como fonte para o ranking das Melhores e Maiores, da Revista Exame. O estudo abrange os anos de 2004 a 2009. Os resultados demonstraram haver correlação positiva e moderada entre valor adicionado e lucro líquido ajustado, indicando que elevações do lucro podem estar acompanhadas de aumentos do valor adicionado; nesse caso, a segregação setorial não apontou resultados distintos em relação à amostra global, apenas realçando a tendência observada. As correlações de Spearman indicaram a existência de relacionamento estatístico entre o valor adicionado destinado aos empregados e o destinado aos acionistas, sob a forma de juros sobre capital próprio e dividendos, embora essa associação negativa tenha se apresentado em nível moderado. Nesse caso, a consideração dos setores de atuação apontou algumas diferenças, como, por exemplo, para o setor 1, constituído basicamente por empresas comerciais, no qual não se identificou significativo nível de associação. Nos demais setores, identificou-se uma associação negativa e moderada entre as variáveis testadas. Os resultados globais dos testes de médias indicaram não haver indícios de que as destinações do valor adicionado se comportassem de modo constante, exceção feita ao item lucro retido; entretanto, a separação por setores trouxe novas informações, sobretudo para os setores 1 (comércio em geral); 3 (serviços) e 4 (energia), cujas distribuições não apresentaram, na média, diferenças expressivas. A aplicação de modelos lineares generalizados destacou que somente a variável rentabilidade ajustada ao patrimônio líquido (Rent) foi significativa no modelo, em todos os anos da análise, tendo apresentado sinal negativo. Apenas, em 2007, a variável crescimento de vendas (Cresc) mostrou-se significativa no modelo e, também, com sinal negativo. As correlações de Spearman indicaram a existência de associação positiva e fraca, entre 2004 e 2007, e moderada, em 2008 e 2009. A consideração dos setores não conferiu novos contornos aos achados, apenas um destaque em relação ao setor 4 (formado por empresas de energia elétrica), em que ocorreu uma elevação dos níveis de associação: de parâmetro fraco para moderado. Assim, os resultados dos testes estatísticos permitiram um real aprofundamento da análise da DVA, de modo a desvendar alguns mitos, pelo menos, no que possa ser aplicável à amostra utilizada. / The relationship between entities and the society brings to the fore a need for a public accountability to specific groups. VAS proves to be an important tool to achieve this need when demonstrating relevant information to various stakeholders. This study aims to discuss the VAS interpretation from the common sense knowledge, consequently identifying and characterizing the myths derived from a simplistic VAS interpretation, as well as checking the impact of a product sector over this analysis. The stakeholders theory on power, legitimacy and urgency as means to identify the most relevant groups for an entity is the theoretical basis for this study. Moreover, this paper analyses the VAS origin and its development down to our day. From Fipecafi database, which ranks Maiores e Melhores, published by Exame magazine, accounting information of 6,286 sample entities, from different sectors, with the exception of non-financial enterprises, was selected to answer the question: What are the truths and myths within the Value Added Statement interpretation? This study spans the years 2004 to 2009. The results disclosed a positive and moderate correlation between added value and adjusted net profits, indicating that higher profits may be accompanied by higher added value. In this case, an isolated sector did not display a distinct result in relation to the overall sample, but simply emphasized the tendency identified above. Spearmans rank correlation coefficient identified a statistical connection between the added value dispensed to employees and to the stakeholders in the form of interest on own equity and dividend, although such negative relation was presented in a moderate level. In this case some differences were identified when studying the product sectors, such as found in sector 1, made up mainly of commercial enterprises, where no significant level of association was identified. Tested variables displayed a negative and moderate association within other sectors. In addition, except for retained earnings, overall results of main tests showed no sign of the applied added value behaving. However, when sectors were isolated, new information was brought to light, specially in sectors 1 commerce; 3 service; and 4 energy. In their distribution, no significant differences were found. Overall linear models highlighted that only the Rent variable had a significant outcome to the model during the whole period of time, and with a negative result. The Cresc variable had an important outcome, only in 2007, with a negative result as well. The Spearmans rho general outcome indicated a positive and weak association from 2004 to 2007, and a moderate one, for the 2008 and 2009 period. The analysis of the sectors did not add new information to the finds, except for sector 4, the energy segment, which the association level raised from weak to moderate. To sum up, the outcome of the statistical tests has led to a much deeper VAS analysis, at least unveiling some myths related to the sample analyzed

El objetivo general del trabajo de investigación es determinar la influencia de las herramientas financieras en la toma de decisiones, para ello se ha tomado como objeto de estudio a la empresa Agrumaq S.A.C. realizado una encuesta al personal seleccionado en la muestra, con la finalidad de analizar las variables “Herramientas financieras” y “Toma de decisiones”. The general objective of the research work is to determine the influence of financial tools in decision making, for this purpose the company Agrumaq S.A.C. conducted a survey of the personnel selected in the sample, with the purpose of analyzing the variables "Financial tools" and "Decision making".