Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 2004. / Advisor: Zelin, Madeleine.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisors: David A. Kendrick and Beatrix Paal. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-208). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Inaug. Diss.--Zürich. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-137). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston University

Operational risk was identified as one of the primary risk types that a bank faces. Neglected for many years, there is a growing awareness in the banking industry that the management of operational risk is crucial for their future existence. The effective management of operational risk, however, requires a structured approach. This study, therefore, investigates the management of operational risk by way of a literature study and empirical research in order to develop a framework for a structured approach to operational risk management in banking. The framework comprises the primary risk factors of operational risk, namely: people, processes, systems and external events, as well as a definition of operational risk. The operational risk exposures that apply to the aforementioned primary risk factors are identified. It, furthermore, illustrates that operational risk management is an ongoing process that consists of risk identification, risk evaluation, risk control and risk financing and addresses the methods that could be applied in the management process. As operational risk management in the banking industry is still in a development stage it is believed that this study could assist banks with establishing formal operational risk management processes. The framework demarcates the area of operational risk properly and provides insight into all the activities that should be performed in the operational risk management process, but the following issues still require further research: • The practical implementation of methods for the quantification of operational risk and determining a capital charge for it; • The effect of the requirements of corporate governance on banks as it relates to the management of operational risk; and • The interaction between operational risk and the other primary risk types to ensure an effective, enterprise-wide risk management process. The framework that has been developed could also be applied to any other enterprise as operational risk management is not unique to banks and the basic principples are generic. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Public Relations Management in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula Univesity of Technology / The aim of this research is to establish the gaps between the potential role of the public relations practitioner within the CMA central bank context, and management’s perception and expectation of that role. The study may then improve the overall status of public relations in central banking. The research focuses specifically on the role of public relations practitioners of central banks belonging to the CMA of Southern Africa. The research question is: what are top managements’ perceptions and expectations of the public relations practitioner’s role in CMA central banks, and how does this differ from the potential role public relations practitioners can play within this context? An empirical study was conducted in order to achieve the aim and meet the objectives of this research study. Elements of both the positivist and anti-positivist paradigms are evident in this research study. The research approach is, therefore, both quantitative and qualitative of nature. The research design is an instrumental and intrinsic case study, which used methodological triangulation. The study population consisted of the dominant coalition (top management) of the central banks. Management committees at the central banks provided a sampling frame for the study. Due to the small size of the population a census was taken instead of a sample. Fourteen self-administered questionnaires were returned, but the response rate was too low to draw any solid conclusions from the data. In order to overcome this obstacle, one-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted with the fourteen respondents who returned their questionnaires. According to the majority of interviewees, the strategic role of public relations practitioners is the ideal role. The interviewees emphasised that the most senior public relations practitioner plays an essential role in acting as the CMA central banks’ media liaison person. This entails being the spokesperson of the bank, writing and disseminating information to the media, ensuring the media complies with central bank protocols, as well as coordinating and responding to media enquiries on a daily basis. The data suggests that, currently, public relations practitioners spend most of their time dealing with the media. It is a concern, though, that many of the interviewees could not describe the current ‘satisfactory performance’ or behaviours of most senior public relations practitioners. Many answered: “I don’t know”. The interviewees further commented that the public relations position lacks status and authority at the central banks. However, indications are that this situation is slowly improving with positions gaining increased status. Despite limitations, the majority agreed that corporate communication is extremely important to central banks in the light of continuously building and maintaining public confidence. The data further suggested that public relations practitioners may increasingly find that the value of their position rests in advising and serving on the Boards of central banks in the future. According to the literature review, there are mainly three public relations roles: strategist, manager and technician. All three of these roles should be enacted depending on the environment within which the public relations practitioner operates. Ideally, the public relations practitioner should enact these roles with a strategist mindset. Top management of the CMA central banks expect that senior public relations practitioners enact a strategist role, but currently this is lacking. The study further suggests that top management found it challenging to describe the current roles that practitioners are executing within CMA central banks. Many of the interviewees had difficulty answering questions about the current behaviours and performances of practitioners. The expectations of top management for practitioners to enact a strategist role are contradictory to what they further revealed in the interviews. This is because the dominant coalition’s key expectation is for public relations practitioners to mainly deal with the media by disseminating information, but also to influence media reports positively. The research may suggest that top management equates the strategist role as that of a media liaison person. The data further suggests that CMA central banks may be following the press / media agentry or public information public relations models, which are one-way models. This is in conflict with the strategist role, which is mostly evident in organisations following the two-way public relations models. Overall, this study emphasised the lack of research regarding corporate communication / public relations within the central banking context. It is therefore recommended that further research be conducted about the comprehensive role that public relations practitioners can play in central banks.

[pt] Para minimizar a perda de valor da empresa decorrente da separação entre controle e propriedade, surgiu o conceito de governança corporativa, há cerca de vinte anos. A governança traduz-se em mecanismos internos (Conselho de Administração, Estrutura de Propriedade, Sistema de Remuneração dos Executivos, etc) e externos (mercado de fusões e aquisições e sistema legal/regulatório). A adoção de suas práticas é um processo recente no Brasil. Em virtude disto, ainda não existe uma literatura empírica consolidada sobre o assunto no país. Sendo assim, o propósito deste trabalho é investigar a influência de mecanismos internos de governança corporativa - relativos ao Conselho de Administração e à Estrutura de Propriedade - sobre o desempenho econômicofinanceiro e o valor dos bancos no Brasil. Para isso, a amostra selecionada contém 19 bancos, analisados durante o período de 1998 até 2003. Os resultados demonstram que ainda é tímida a influência dos mecanismos de governança tanto sobre a variável de desempenho analisada quanto sobre a medida de valor estudada. No entanto, estudos sugerem que pelo fato de o setor financeiro ser regulado é possível que se encontre resultados distintos daqueles preditos pela teoria e que, até então, foram obtidos para empresas não- financeiras. / [en] Over twenty years ago, the concept of corporate governance appeared to minimize the loss in the firm value due to the conflict of interest inherent in the separation between ownership by shareholders and control. Governance can be classified in two sets of mechanisms: internal (Board of Directors, Ownership Structure, Executive Compensation, etc.) and external mechanisms (Mergers and Acquisitions Market, Legal/Regulatory System, etc.). The adoption of these practices is a recent trend in Brazil. For this reason, there is no consolidated empiric literature in Brazil. In such a case, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of internal mechanisms of corporate governance - especially the Board of Directors and the Structure of Ownership - on the performance and the firm-value of banks in Brazil. For that, the selected sample contains 19 Brazilian banks, analyzed during the period from 1998 to 2003. The results demonstrate that the influence of internal and external mechanisms on the performance variable analyzed as well as on the measure of firm value studied is still small. However, studies suggest that because financial system is a regulated sector it is possible to obtain results different from those predicted by the theory and that, until now, were obtained in studies of non- financial firms.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Until mid-1997, South East Asia was regarded as among the most economically successful regions of all time. Growth forecasts were very positive and current account deficits were equally satisfying, Then, on July 2, 1997, the Thai Baht suffered severe devaluation and subsequently sparked the "East Asian crisis" (Zaaiman & King, 3). The crisis started in Thailand and soon spread to Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and eventually Malaysia. Everyone was still measuring the spill-over effects that the Asian crisis had on other emerging markets when another piece of alarming news made the headlines. Russia's. Rouble suffered devaluation during October 1998 - slightly more than a year after the East Asian crisis first emerged. Suddenly emerging market economies became a major cause of concern and banks, like many other industries, within emerging markets were viewed with equal pessimism. The above two crises were unfortunately not the end of what was perceived to be a world-wide emerging market crisis. During December 1998, Brazil's Minister of Finance and the country's Central Banker both resigned within a short period, again sending shock waves throughout emerging markets. This situation was reminiscent of the' Mexican Peso devaluation and the crisis that followed accordingly in emerging markets in the early 1990's.