A product portfolio approach is used in this dissertation to develop a model permitting capital budgeting to be modeled interactively with aggregate production planning, in light of market supply and demand functions. Primary emphasis is on the maximization of profit, but other goals are also addressed. These are maximization of the rate of return, maximization of market share, and minimization of the cost of excess capacity. A linear mixed integer programming model is developed for each of these objectives. Then, a single goal programming model that combines all four objectives is formulated. Costs are not allocated to products. Accordingly, the notion of cash flows per product (or per project) is not used. Instead, cost is incurred as a result of the demand that a product portfolio places on resources. All costs are considered to be incurred in the acquisition and utilization (in the form of activities) of resources. Four distinct levels of activities are considered: unit, batch, product sustaining, and facility sustaining. The demand for each resource is aggregated over all levels of variability and over all the products in the product portfolio. The direct cash outflow or inflow as a result of changing resource capacity is continuously traded off against the eventual cost or benefit of changing the capacity (in the form of changed revenues and as a function of both time and market supply and demand). Capital structure and capital investment decisions are considered simultaneously for a given set of assumptions. Different sources of funds are utilized for different costs of capital. Lending and borrowing are simultaneously incorporated without the solutions becoming inconsistent due to incorrect or inappropriate discount factors. This is mainly attributable to the fact that the organization, as a single entity that manufactures a product portfolio, demands capital, and invests excess funds. The net present value of the organization (not of projects or products) is maximized. Also, the output of each project is modeled specifically. This alleviates the practical problem of fractional acceptance of projects. Variable market supply and demand functions are also included and modeled explicitly. Finally, it is shown that the developed model contains several elements of aggregate production planning. The main conclusions from this research are: 1) Better capital budgeting results can be obtained if costs are not allocated to projects (or products) when resources are shared among different projects or products; 2) Financing and investment decisions can be made interactively (with the developed model) without the solutions becoming inconsistent due to unknown discount rates; 3) Resource acquisition and resource consumption should be modeled explicitly in capital budgeting; and 4) The model yields an improvement over existing capital budgeting techniques for a given set of assumptions. Some recommendations are presented for further research to extend these conclusions. / Ph. D.

The Penrith Lakes Scheme is a series of inter-connected lakes, produced by the rehabilitation of a sand and gravel quarry, for water quality treatment and recreational uses. Presently, 5 lakes are operational comprising 4 upstream lakes for treatment of storm-water and quarry discharge and a single downstream recreational lake as the Sydney International Regatta Centre used during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. This report is the result of a study, during 1998-2003, with an aim to develop dynamic budget models of water, sediments and nutrients for these lakes, providing suitable data for long-term management planning and evaluation of short-term operational management.Findings showed that while progressive reassessment and refinement will be required as management control increases, the approach provides the foundation modelling procedures and frame-work for suitable hydrological and water quality management of the Penrith Lakes Scheme, and may be extended to include further lakes, water sources and management strategies. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The use of a typical model of budgeting does not guarantee a positive result, since the choice of one or another model should be determined by the specifics of the enterprise. Therefore, when choosing a budget model, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the enterprise’s activities and to individualize the chosen model, with the result that the budgeting system being introduced will be most effective. The purpose of the master's thesis is to develop tools that allow to take into account the specifics of the enterprise when choosing and developing a budgeting system at the enterprise. In the framework of the thesis, the use of tools to take into account the specifics of the enterprise when selecting and developing a budget model was proposed, and an algorithm for its use was developed. The application of the developed algorithm will allow enterprises to achieve the greatest efficiency in the implementation of the budgeting system. The developed algorithm served as the basis for choosing a budget model for a particular enterprise. Within the framework of the formed system of budgets budgets for a particular enterprise have been drawn up. / Применение типовой модели бюджетирования не гарантирует положительного результата, поскольку выбор той или иной типовой модели должен определяться спецификой деятельности предприятия. Поэтому при выборе бюджетной модели необходимо учитывать специфику деятельности предприятия и индивидуализировать выбранную модель, в результате чего внедряемая система бюджетирования будет наиболее эффективна. Целью магистерской диссертации является разработка инструментария, позволяющего учитывать специфику деятельности предприятии при выборе и разработке системы бюджетирования на предприятии. В рамках диссертации предложено использование инструментария, позволяющего учитывать специфику деятельности предприятия при выборе и разработке бюджетной модели, и разработан алгоритм его использования. Применение разработанного алгоритма позволит предприятиям добиться наибольшей эффективности при внедрении системы бюджетирования. Разработанный алгоритм послужил основой при выборе бюджетной модели для конкретного предприятия. В рамках сформированной системы бюджетов составлены бюджеты для конкретного предприятия.

M. Tech. (Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Management Sciences) Vaal University of Technology. / Efficient planning and effective budget and cost control are key to the financial survival of universities in South Africa. Given the #FeesMustFall, students and their parents, starting in 2018, no longer contribute to the development of new infrastructure, payroll expenditure, maintenance and other daily operational expenses of public universities in South Africa. A new funding model for higher education calls for even stricter planning and allocation of budgets to departments within an institution of higher education. Evenly important, stricter control over the actual spending of these allocated funds needs improved planning and implementation of more effective policies and procedures to answer to the needs of the post #FeesMustFall funding model. Public universities will then be even more greatly funded by taxpayer’s money via government grants. There is this constant factor of the current situation of the South African economy, which will always bring the need for best possible use of scarce resources of funds. To eliminate the abuse of funds and elements of corruption, internal control strategies and systematic automation of controls need to be employed and even more rigorously enforced. The current phenomenon of different political parties’ that interfere with autonomous public universities to use #FeesMustFall and free education as a political “play-ball” is in full swing. These political structures and unions will in all probability have a huge impact, largely on the principals and methods used to plan an annual budget and the procurement policies and procedures of operational needs and on the expenditure control in public universities in South Africa. This study investigates the budgetary planning processes and expenditure control in universities in Gauteng, South Africa. This research is done by means of a detailed empirical study of the budgeting processes, cost and expenditure control processes, procedures followed and the internal control mechanisms at some universities in Gauteng. The empirical study was conducted with public universities in Gauteng and applicable research online questionnaire were used to analyse. The primary objective of this empirical study was to investigate what budget model and budgetary processes and principles regarding decision making to allocate budgets to specific allocations in the budget. Furthermore, the research study investigated how cost management and expenditure are controlled and how internal control mechanisms are applied in higher education institutions that formed part of this study. This study investigated the manner in which the budgets for annual expenditure are planned and how the internal controls are employed to ensure effective control over expenditure at public universities in Gauteng, South Africa. This research is supported by a literature study into the role of higher education in South Africa, the different controlling bodies in South African Higher Education, funding of South African public universities, budgetary planning and earmarked spending, procurement and expenditure control and reporting by universities in South Africa.