M.Com. (Computer Auditing) / In the wake of the economic catastrophes and corporate disgraces such as Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat, and other corporations at the turn of the 21st Century, the United States Senate adopted the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency Act, which became known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (hereafter the SOX Act). The concluding bill, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, was accepted and approved by the United States Senate on July 25, 2002. The primary motive of the SOX Act is to safeguard shareholders of public corporations by improving, cultivating and ultimately ensuring the reliability and accuracy of corporate disclosure of financial and non-financial information. More than a decade later, many corporations have enhanced their compliance capabilities and competencies, having learned from prior experience and/or earlier SOX fiascos. The envisioned benefits of the SOX Act were to provide the charter and contextual information needed to implement, monitor and review operational and financial processes, reinforce internal controls, and enhance corporate financial reporting. Since the SOX Act forces corporations to conform and comply, the question is; whether SOX compliance can essentially benefit the company’s everyday business as it affects virtually every line of work with the unequivocal purpose of reinstating public confidence in the disclosures included in annual financial statements. The study focuses on how to approach the rudimentary SOX compliance checklist and possibly transform it into an actual value added service for stakeholders and furthermore, how to leverage off the knowledge garnered through complying with the SOX Act – ultimately creating a more effective and resourceful corporation in all financial spheres. By aligning the SOX compliance process with the actual improvement of internal controls, financial processes and ultimately financial reporting, an unprejudiced ambition to identify and manage “real world” risks can be achieved. Ultimately, to comply with the SOX Act might not be an option for public corporations; however, being SOX compliant doesn’t have to be without substantial benefit to a corporation, Senior Executive Management and eventually and ultimately the shareholders.

This research addresses the application of Value Stream Mapping in the automotive component industry. The goal of this research is to investigate how Value Stream Mapping can identify waste, and to evaluate its benefits on a specific application instance. Value Stream Mapping is used to first map the current state and then used to identify sources of waste and to identify lean tools to try eliminate this waste. The future state map is then developed with lean tools applied to it. A South African company, Federal Mogul South Africa (FMSA), has experienced the impact of globalisation and the need to become globally competitive first hand. FMSA will be used as a case study to illustrate the impact of using Value Stream Mapping as a tool for identify waste and the need for improving the performance of a company’s value stream in achieving the international goals set for the company and its supply chain.

Abstract This study examines value creation by value added resellers (VARs) in the context of the enterprise systems business, with particular respect to product lifecycle management (PLM) systems. The purpose of the study is to increase theoretical and empirical understanding of value creation in this specific context by integrating the enterprise systems theory, the software ecosystems theory, the software business model theory, and the value creation theory. The theoretical framework assumes the perspective of the VARs, and examines their interactions with customers and suppliers during the value creation process. The customers and suppliers are the parties that perceive the value created by the VAR. The primary objective is to determine how and why the VAR creates value in the perception of its customers and suppliers. The method includes a qualitative case study research strategy in which empirical data were collected primarily through interviews with highly knowledgeable informants within three VAR organizations, five customer organizations, and five supplier organizations. Each source viewed the scope of the research questions from a diverse perspective. As a result of the empirical analysis, value creation by the VAR value was connected to the VAR type, the value creation strategy, and the business model. The VAR's strategy results from synergy and synchronization with its PLM system. The customer-perceived value is, in part, the value created by the VAR-customer business relationship. It is also partially specific to the customer type. A VAR creates value for its customers because its product and service offerings fulfill customer needs, and because it offers abilities, knowledge, expertise, and experience of interest to its customers. The most advanced value creation occurs when the business relationship is a source of co-value creation that creates value for both parties. The supplier-perceived value is also partially specific to the supplier type. The VAR- supplier business relationship creates value for suppliers because the VAR extends the supplier’s market presence, offers market and customer knowledge, and creates new business opportunities. This study is context-dependent and geographically and culturally focused on Nordic countries. The results reflect the contexts of the three research cases and their geographical and cultural areas, and as such are not generalizable. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimus keskittyy lisäarvoa tuottavien jälleenmyyjien (VAR) arvontuotantoon yritysjärjestelmien liiketoimintakontekstissa ja siinä erityisesti tuotteen elinkaaren hallintajärjestelmien liiketoimintakontekstissa. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on lisätä sekä teoreettista että empiiristä ymmärrystä arvontuotannosta integroimalla yritystietojärjestelmä-, ohjelmistoekosysteemi-, ohjelmistoliiketoimintamalli- ja arvontuotantoteorioita. Teoreettisen viitekehyksen näkökulma on VAR:t sekä niiden vuorovaikutus asiakkaiden ja toimittajien kanssa arvontuotantoprosessin aikana. Asiakkaat ja toimittajat ovat niitä osapuolia, jotka havaitsevat VAR:n arvontuotannon. Tutkimuksen päätarkoitus on ymmärtää miten ja miksi VAR luo lisäarvoa asiakkailleen ja toimittajilleen. Tutkimusstrategia on laadullinen tapaustutkimus. Empiirinen materiaali on kerätty pääasiassa tekemällä haastatteluja kolmessa VAR-yrityksessä, sekä viidessä asiakasyrityksessä ja viidessä toimittajayrityksessä. Haastateltavilla oli hyvä ymmärrys tutkimuksen kohteesta. He arvioivat siihen liittyen tutkimuskysymyksiä useista eri näkökulmista. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että VAR:n arvon tuottaminen on riippuvainen VAR:n tyyppistä, sen arvontuotantostrategiasta sekä sen liiketoimintamallista. VAR:n strategia on synkronoitu sen PLM järjestelmätoimittajan strategiaan. Asiakkaan havaitsema arvo muodostuu osittain asiakkaan ja VAR:n välisen liikesuhteen tuottamasta arvosta. Lisäksi se on riippuvainen asiakkaan tyypistä. VAR tuottaa arvoa asiakkailleen, jos sen tuote- ja palvelutarjonta vastaa niiden tarpeita. Lisäksi se tuottaa arvoa, jos sillä on kyvykkyyksiä, tietämystä, asiantuntemusta ja kokemusta, joita sen asiakkaat tarvitsevat. Edistyneintä arvontuotantoa edustaa liikesuhteen mahdollistama yhteinen arvontuotanto, josta hyötyvät molemmat osapuolet. Arvontuotanto on osittain riippuvainen toimittajan tyypistä. VAR tuottaa arvoa toimittajilleen, koska se laajentaa niiden läsnäoloa markkinoilla, tuntee markkinat ja niiden asiakkaat sekä luo uusia liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia. Tutkimus on kontekstiriippuvainen. Se on maantieteellisesti ja kulttuurillisesti keskittynyt Pohjoismaihin. Tutkimuksen tulokset heijastavat kolmea tutkimustapausta ja niiden maantieteellistä ja kulttuurillista taustaa eikä sen takia ole sellaisenaan yleistettävissä.

Abstract The era of mobile communications and mobile services has begun. The ongoing mobile revolution has dramatically and fundamentally changed our daily lifestyles, and it will continue to do so in a foreseeable future. For the next generation, mobile service end users have more demands for such services. This thesis examines the challenging user perspectives in designing and developing high value added mobile services. The aim of this research is to develop reference models and elicit user requirements for 3G and beyond mobile services in order to improve the quality of mobile services. This thesis first examines the existing architectures and models for high value added mobile services, followed by the contributions of the thesis. In this thesis, a Cyberworld model, which is a contribution to the WWRF reference modeling initiative and a specification of the WSI reference model, was developed and it serves as a basis for 3G and beyond mobile services design and development. A series of definitions of the Cyberworld model and a roadmap of the enabling technologies were also built up. The emphasis of this part is on how to describe and model user participation in mobile services. For this purpose, a model of the communication element to represent the components of the wireless world was created. Both static and dynamic reference modeling steps were established to better describe and understand user participation in mobile services. The validation was achieved through the CyPhone navigation mobile service. In order to enhance mobile service mobility, personalisation, and security, an ontology based model was developed to extend the Cyberworld model functionalities. The innovative ontology based mobile system will greatly increase service mobility, personalisation and security, thus improving the quality of mobile services. The ontology based model was illustrated and validated using a healthcare mobile service. A Quality Function Deployment (QFD) approach was adopted in this research in order to elicit, weigh and prioritise actual user requirements and link them to technical design requirements of mobile services. Traditionally QFD is employed in manufacturing industry. This approach is now extended to the mobile service industry for the first time. In this thesis, a detailed step by step QFD approach was proposed for designing high value added mobile services. As a result, the developed mobile services will better meet users' wants and needs which also means that the quality of mobile services will be significantly improved. The QFD approach was validated through a mobile e-learning service and another dedicated healthcare service for senior citizens. Through development of reference models and examination of user requirements for 3G and beyond mobile services from user perspectives, this thesis contributes to the design and development of high value added mobile services.

M.Bibl. / Television producers form a unique user group that mainly requires information regarding audio-visual material in order to produce or to enhance a television programme Information services can contribute to the successful completion of a programme by making information available. The aim of this study is to determine whether information services can enhance information for producers by adding value. The question is also asked which value-added level of information is required. A literature study was done to -examine the term "value-added" in order to be able to apply it to the information needs of television producers; -study the work environment of television producers in order to determine their information needs. An empirical investigation was executed by means of a layered random sampling test. Structured interviews were conducted by means of a questionnaire with a random portion of the television producer corps of the SABC. Personal details were gathered, as well as the use of information sources and services within the SABC and to which value- added level of information they require for a production. Value-added levels were based on Taylor's value-added continuum which consists of information that is enhanced to level two, Information Knowledge, followed by level three, Productive Knowledge, which leads to level four, Action. A television production is completed in four phases, that is the planning and research phase, filming phase, editing phase and final mixing phase .. The results showed that during the planning and research phases television producers require access to all possible information sources and services within the SABC. The information specialist can add value to the first level of value adding. In certain cases the television producers require information during the editing phase, during which the information specialist can add value up to the third level. The results of the research were distilled into a matrix, structured to indicate the levels of added-value to the television producer. Recommendations were made in order to provide a better information service.

In the last few decades, educational research has largely demonstrated the effects of the socio-economic background on academic performance. Traditionally, researchers have used the so-called contextualised value-added (CVA) concept, implemented via multilevel statistical models, to assess variation in learning outcomes arising from schools and pupils. Depending on the stakeholders they intend to inform, two basic types of CVA models can be defined: models for school accountability and models for school choice. School accountability models can be further distinguished according to the ‘recipient’ of the information: internal models provide information for school authorities to improve their own practices, while external models provide information for government officials to assess school performance for policy-making purposes. Despite the evidence in favour of the use of more complex models for school accountability, government practice in Chile has been restricted to the use of raw school averages in standardised tests as indicators of effectiveness, which have been used indiscriminately for the purposes of school accountability and school choice. Using data from the Chilean National Pupil Database (SIMCE 2004-2006), this thesis demonstrates how the traditional CVA (2-level) models fall short in addressing the complex phenomenon of academic performance, especially in the context of a developing and highly unequal country, such as Chile. The novelty of the CVA modelling in this thesis is that it extends and improves the traditional models insofar as they explicitly assess the variation between pupils, classrooms, primary schools, secondary schools and local authorities, as well as the correlation between Mathematics and Spanish Language at all levels. This is done by implementing two univariate 4-level CVA models for progress in Mathematics and Spanish fitted separately via maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and a bivariate 5-level cross-classified CVA model for progress in both subjects fitted via Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation. External school accountability measures were derived from the extended univariate and multivariate models and compared to measures derived from a model akin to the traditional approach. A number of key differences were found, leading to the conclusion that further adjustments to the traditional CVA models are not negligible. The univariate 4-level CVA models provide more insight into school accountability than the traditional approach in a straightforward fashion, while the bivariate 5-level model encompasses a more reliable and ultimately comprehensive view on school performance. With regard to internal school accountability, further models were specified with the purpose of analysing pupils' heterogeneity to inform school improvement processes. The concept of "cultural capital" (Bourdieu, 1977) was chosen to shed light on the matter. Since cultural capital is essentially immeasurable, a latent variable was constructed from a group of manifest variables related to access and use of reading materials. From a substantive point of view, this thesis shows how access to all sorts of reading materials and reading habits can have not only a relevant impact on pupils' progress in Language, but also in Mathematics. Finally, this thesis concludes around three main ideas: firstly, school value-added models for school accountability, either external or internal, need to take into account the complexity of influences affecting pupils' academic progress as thoroughly as possible, in order to make a fair assessment of schools' performance and/or to inform school improvement policies. Secondly, school effectiveness is not a unidimensional process, which implies that school value-added models should ideally (when there are available data) reflect upon the multidimensionality of the phenomenon and take into consideration the relationship between different subjects, as well as non-academic outcomes. Thirdly, CVA models can also be used to inform internal school accountability by analysing the effects of meaningful modifiable factors and potentially serve as drivers of school improvement policies.

It is important to distinguish between types of commercial and residential property for value-added tax (VAT) purposes. The reason for this is because the supply of residential property may be exempt from VAT in certain cases, whereas the supply of commercial property is a taxable supply. One of the aims of this treatise was to generate some characteristics that can assist vendors to distinguish between types of commercial and residential property for VAT purposes. SARS proposed numerous changes to the VAT Act with regards to fixed property in 2011. This treatise explains the reason for the changes made and also comments on them. Firstly, property developers previously had to account for an output tax adjustment when they changed the use of their property i.e. from a taxable use (selling the completed units) to a non-taxable use (renting the completed units as a residential dwelling). This „output tax adjustment‟ sometimes places developers in a financial dilemma, especially in times of an economic depression. SARS therefore provided „developers‟ as defined with a short term solution. This short term solution provides property developers with a 36 month temporarily relief period, before they have to account for the „output tax adjustment‟. Therefore, the new section 18B was proposed to assist property developers in times of an economic recession. Secondly, in the past a vendor who acquired a property from a non-vendor to make taxable supplies was allowed a notional input tax deduction, limited to the transfer duty paid. SARS has however "delinked VAT from transfer duty‟, which means that the notional input tax deduction will no longer be limited to the transfer duty paid. This change may benefit vendors as they may now be allowed a bigger input tax deduction. Furthermore, the treatise also compares the VAT treatment of the above issues to that of the goods and services tax treatment in New Zealand. The treatise concludes with a summary of all distinguishing characteristics identified and other findings noted.

The thesis deals with individual  measures of administrative cooperation of tax authorities to combat tax evasion on VAT, which is at present used in European Union. The most common administrative measures may include exchange of information on request or without prior request, electronic database VIES, multilateral controls and decentralized network Eurofisc. The main objective is  summary of individual measures with an emphasis on administrative cooperation and effectiveness evaluation in combating tax evasion. Part of the work is devoted to types of tax evasion and policy instruments which are put into practice  against them in the Czech Republic.

The aim of this thesis is to find out (estimate) the value of the firm Škoda AUTO, a. s., that acting in the field of automotive industry. The thesis is separated up 6 parts. In the first part there is basic characterization of the firm. In the second part there are the strategic analysis and estimation of the future revenue. Third part is the financial analysis and a decision about financial health of this firm. Fourth part includes the value creator, that is the main source for fifth part presents the composition of financial plan. Sixth part attends to valuation of the firm. The main method has been chosen economic value added (EVA), the alternative method is the method of market comparison, in the concrete the method of comparable companies.

This graduation thesis contains an economic analysis of the BM MOTO, s.r.o. corporate entity. The aim is to perform a detailed analysis of its financial health in relation to an undergone investment as well as recommend a set of changes that would lead to an improvement of its financial performance. The thesis is divided into two main parts, the first of which being the methodological part, where all the applied models and processes are mentioned and explained. The second part applies these models on the chosen company. The second part is founded predominantly on accounting statements and also makes use of a bulk of internal data. The thesis also contains a detailed analysis of both absolute and relative indicators. Amongst the applied models belong the Du Pont analysis, the analysis of the Economic Value Added (EVA), bankruptcy and creditworthy models and an inter industry comparative analysis. The conclusion summarizes and evaluates all the results and presents an appropriate recommendation.