The optimal replacement policy for an asset subject to a stochastic deteriorating operating cost is determined for three different tax depreciation schedules and a known re-investment cost, as the solution to a two-factor model using a quasi-analytical method. We find that tax depreciation exerts a critical influence over the replacement policy by lowering the operating cost thresholds. Although typically a decline in the corporate tax rate, increase in any initial capital allowance, or decrease in the depreciation lifetime (increase in depreciation rate) results in a lower operating cost threshold which justifies replacing older equipment, these results are not universal, and indeed for younger age assets the result may be the opposite. An accelerating depreciation schedule may incentivize early replacement in a deterministic context, but not necessarily for an environment of uncertainty.

The purpose of the study was to determine and compare the judgments of the non-teaching administrators, teaching administrators and teachers regarding the effectiveness of Planned Program Budgeting Systems in the three pilot New Jersey Districts.A questionnaire based on the goals identified in the New Jersey Program Budget Guide, was developed for the study. Fifty questions divided into five categories, needs assessment, consideration of alternative programs, determination of financial need for preferred alternatives evaluation of performance in each program, and process, were developed. Two field tests were conducted.Data were treated in two ways. The frequency and percentage of responses to each item was counted. Based on these data, three questions concerning administrators' and teachers' judgments of the extent and effectiveness of PPBS were answered.Second, the chi-square test of independence was applied to each of the fifty statements in the questionnaire to determine the rejection or non-rejection of the null hypothesis:No statistically significant difference exists among the judgments of non-teaching administrators, teaching administrators and teachers regarding the effectiveness of Planned Program Budgeting Systems.The p = .05 level of significance was used to determine rejection or non-rejection of the null hypothesis.Summary of the ConclusionsGenerally non-teaching administrators, teaching administrators and teachers, have different judgments regarding the extent and effectiveness of PPBS. No consistent agreement or disagreement existed between any two of the groups.Selected FindingsThe chi-square test of independence (p = .05) was applied to each of the fifty questions. The null hypothesis was rejected for thirty-eight statements and not rejected for twelve statements.Selected Recommendations1. A better communication system between non-teaching administrators, teaching administrators and teachers regarding the various processes and procedures needed to make PPBS effective, should be strengthened.2. In-service workshops should be conducted for each of the groups to clarify the role of each group and to inform and discuss with each other problems that occur with the ongoing process of PPBS.3. Teachers in all the schools should be informed of the procedures of PPBS and should participate in the various facets of the program.Selected Recommendations for Further Study1. Conduct a follow-up study to determine the progress made in the implementation of PPBS after a three-year period in the three pilot New Jersey districts.2. Develop and test an instrument which would determine the effectiveness of PPBS in school districts.3. Conduct a study comparing the judgments of the educators in the pilot districts in New Jersey with the judgments of the educators in pilot districts in another state.

Background The debate about the budgets being and not being has been going on for 40 years. On one hand advocates for abolishing the budget have been criticising the budget, arguing for example that it is a waste of resources that only provides an illusion of control. Whereas on the other hand, business students are still taught to use the budget and previous studies show that companies are still holding on to it. Hence, there seems to exist a budget paradox.   Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine the use and perception of fixed budgets within larger companies of today and to clarify the reality behind the debate about the usefulness of budgets. Further, to get an understanding of what purposes are deemed as important when using different control measures, and how well these are fulfilled.    Method This study is predominantly quantitative with a deductive approach, as it via a self-administrative web survey has collected data from 58 publicly traded companies in Sweden. The questionnaire has consisted of open- and close-ended questions, to provide a deeper understanding of the role the fixed budget.   Conclusion The overall percentage of companies that have abolished the budget has increased when compared to previous studies, but the majority of 81% still use the fixed budget in one way or another. Out of the participating companies, 67% stated that they supplement the fixed budget with other control measures, and as the percentage of those considering abolishing the budget have decreased, the overall perception of the fixed budget has improved.

The prime objective of this thesis is to research and develop a new system of project budgeting, monitoring and forecasting to meet the needs of the Construction Industry. It is intended that this work will facilitate the means for more efficient control of projects from inception to final completion, utilising where possible the latest developments in computer technology. The initial stage of the work involves an investigation and appraisal of existing methods of formulating project budgets. In particular attention is paid to previous work in the development of mathematical 's' curve models, together with their limitations in use and application. Potential for future development is also identified. The thesis then focuses on the evolution of an improved modelling philosophy for project budgets and forecasts which overcomes previously known problems. In parallel with this work is the development of a computerised system intended to enable the testing of the model against live project data. The model finally selected is then tested against the extensive research work previously undertaken by the DHSS and the data collected from sixteen construction projects. To facilitate the development of a suitable control system to act as a vehicle for the application of the principles developed, a contextual survey is included. This survey is intended to provide an update of previous survey work undertaken by the author in 1977 and to further investigate factors orientated specifically to the objectives of the thesis. The research then concentrates on the development of an integrated set of sub-systems which contribute to the budgeting, monitoring and prediction of project expenditure. These systems are developed in accordance with the need to establish the financial status of projects both before, during and after they are completed. The overall system is based on the latest computer technology available and is designed to be flexible in its application. Tests documented in the text prove that the system operates both in principle and in practice. A further extension of the research is the use of the various project data bases to provide information for a corporate control system which has been developed in principle. This thesis provides a significant step forward in computerised project budgeting and control utilisng 's' curve philosophy and provides a basis for further development. Potential exists for future development of the prediction and corporate control systems, together with software developments to improve general application over a wide range of industries and disciplines where project work is undertaken.

Merger integration includes taking decisions to ensure procedures are shared within a company to achieve common goals. Simultaneously, research shows a need for adaption to specific units’ practices. Consequently, this paper aims to increase the understanding in the interaction between central and local views of management control in terms of the key concepts of budgets and key performance indicators. We pose the question of how intended and perceived control differs, as differences may implicate that control is not followed. It is examined by a theoretical framework built upon four archetypes of change. We used semi-structured interviews to achieve a deep understanding in one merger case. The results show that top management use centralized control by commanding and informing employees in order to gain information from the local units. Yet, local units perceive the intended control as adapted due to that dialogue is used at this level. This amounts to the concept of “false socializing” that is argued to create a deeper understanding of merger integration. It depicts how local units can carry out and perceive control intentions made by a central unit.

Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2003.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Η εργασία που ακολουθεί εξετάζει την χρησιμότητα και την έκταση χρήσης του οικονομικού προγραµµατισµού σε περιόδους χρηματοοικονομικής κρίσης, στον Ελληνικό Τραπεζικό κλάδο. Η έρευνα πραγματοποιήθηκε χρησιμοποιώντας βιβλιογραφική επισκόπηση και συλλέγοντας στοιχεία και ευρήματα κατόπιν έρευνας, ενώ για την πληρέστερη ενημέρωση και κατανόηση του θέματος από τον συγγραφέα, πραγματοποιήθηκαν και κάποιες προσωπικές συναντήσεις του ιδίου με στελέχη του Τραπεζικού κλάδου, προκειμένου να προκύψουν κάποια ποιοτικά χαρακτηριστικά που βοήθησαν στην ποικιλομορφία και ευρύτητα της έρευνας. Από την έρευνα προκύπτουν σημαντικά συµπεράσµατα εκ των οποίων τα κυριότερα είναι ότι οι Ελληνικές τράπεζες ακολουθούν γενικότερα διαδικασίες budgeting, η διαδικασία του οικονομικού προγραμματισμού χαρακτηρίζεται εξαιρετικά κρίσιμη ιδιαίτερα σε περιόδους σφοδρής χρηματοοικονομικής κρίσης όπως αυτή που διανύουμε. Ο ρόλος των τµηµάτων και των υπευθύνων της διαδικασίας αποκτά ολοένα μεγαλύτερη σημασία, καθώς οι τράπεζες κατευθύνουν την διαδικασία προς επιθυμητά επίπεδα όγκων και εσόδων για τα οποία έχουν δεσμευτεί στους μετόχους. Ακόμη οι σημαντικότεροι στόχοι της διαδικασίας είναι η πρόβλεψη των μεγεθών και η αύξηση της αποτελεσματικότητας των τραπεζών, όπως και ότι τα budgets µε τον τρόπο που καταρτίζονται αποτελούν το ιδανικό εργαλείο για επικοινωνία του οράματος της διοίκησης σε όλα τα επίπεδα του χρηματοπιστωτικού ιδρύματος. Η σημαντικότητα της μελέτης αυτής έγκειται κυρίως στο γεγονός ότι εξετάζεται ένας συγκεκριμένος κλάδος της Ελληνικής οικονομίας και η διαδικασία του budgeting μέσα σε αυτόν τον κλάδο. Το budgeting στο τραπεζικό χώρο δεν έχει χρησιμοποιηθεί ιδιαίτερα και με την παρούσα εργασία δίδεται κάποια έμφαση στο συγκεκριμένο αντικείμενο εξέτασης. Οι πληροφορίες, οι οποίες παρατίθενται είναι σημαντικές και δίνουν το έναυσμα για περαιτέρω διερεύνηση. Το τελευταίο διάστημα στο παγκόσμιο χρηματοοικονομικό σύστημα παρατηρείται η εξέλιξη μιας χρηματοοικονομικής κρίσης, της οποίας οι προεκτάσεις δεν έχουν ακόμα καθορισθεί. / The work that follows examines the usefulness and the extent of use of financial budgeting in periods of financial crisis, in the Greek Banking sector. The research was completed by using bibliographic review and by collecting elements and discoveries, while for the more complete briefing and understanding of the subject certain personal meetings took place with executives of the Greek Banking sector in order to obtain certain qualitative information that helped in the diversity and broadness of this research. The research showed considerable evidence and the most important is that the Greek banks generally follow processes of budgeting. The process of financial planning is extremely critical particularly in periods of intense financing crisis as the current one. The role of branches and the employees in charge of the process obtains significant importance, while the banks direct the process to desirable levels of volumes and income for which they have been committed to the shareholders. In addition the more important objectives of the procedure are the forecast of sizes and the increase of effectiveness of banks, as well as the way that budgets are used constitutes the ideal tool for the communication of the administration’s vision to all levels of financial institutions. The importance of this study lies mainly in the fact that a particular sector of the Greek economy is examined as well as the process of budgeting in this branch. Budgeting in the banking field has not been extensively used and with this present places additional emphasis in the particular object of examination. The information mentioned is important gives the spark for further investigation. Nowadays a development of economical crisis is observed the extensions of which still have not been determined.

Thesis (MScEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the implementation of an integrated capital budgeting visual mapping framework comprised of both Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and Real Options Analysis (ROA) techniques. Physical asset investment decisions are based largely on rigid discounted cash flow tools which provide untimely and incomplete decisional criteria. While literature outlines the wide spread use of traditional DCF techniques, it very openly reveals large limitations, including its static inflexibility and slow to evolve framework. ROA is a more recent valuation tool based on stock option theory. It brings into account added value found in the flexibility of managerial decision making and uncertain conditions. This study implements a combined DCF and ROA capital budgeting tool within a Physical Asset Management (PAM) environment. The validity of the framework is realised through an industry relevant case study presented by a South African mining company. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die toepassing van ’n geïntegreerde visuele kapitaalbegrotingafbeeldingsraamwerk wat uit verdiskonteerde kontantvloei en reële opsie–analise bestaan. Fisiese batebeleggingsbesluite is dikwels gebaseer op rigiede kapitaalbegrotingstegnieke wat onvolledige besluitnemingsmaatstawwe aanbied. Terwyl literatuur die wydverspreide uiteensetting van verdiskonteerde kontantvloei openbaar, is daar nog steeds baie beperkings, soos die onbuigsaamheid en die stadige ontwikkelingstempo van verdiskonteerde kontantvloei– analise. Reële opsie–analise is ’n meer onlangse waardasiemetode wat op aandelemarkfinansies gebaseer is. Reële opsies word addisionele waarde bygevoeg deur die onsekerheid en buigsaamheid van fisiese batebeleggings. Hierde tesis implimenteer ’n gekombineerde verdiskonteerde kontantvloei en reële–opsie kapitaalbegrotingmetode binne ’n fisiese batebestuur omgewing. Die geldigheid van die gekombineerde metode is getoets met behulp van ’n gevallstudie beskikbaar gestel deur ’n Suid Afrikaanse myn.

Bakgrund: Budgeten har en lång historia i vilken dess roll och betydelse har ändrats över tid. Budgeten fyller en mängd olika syften som är såväl företags- som situationsspecifika. Under senare år har det riktats kritik mot budgeten gällande att den inte är anpassad till dagens ständigt föränderliga miljö. Byggföretag verkar i en bransch som är ständigt beroende av förändringar i samhällsutvecklingen som förutsätter flexibilitet och ställer hårda krav på anpassningsförmåga samt behärskning av potentiell hastig omstrukturering. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att skapa kunskap om vilka, och hur, olika osäkerhetsfaktorer påverkar byggföretags budgetanvändande. Detta genom att analysera vilka osäkerhetsfaktorer som upplevs som störst i byggbranschen och hur dessa hanteras i byggföretagens budgetering. Avsikten är även att skapa en insikt om vilka syften budgeten uppfyller under osäkra förhållanden. Metod: Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ branschstudie på byggföretag inom den svenska marknaden. Empirin utgörs av två semistrukturerade intervjuer med två väletablerade bolag. Detta material har analyserats för att urskilja likheter och skillnader mellan företagen för att kunna besvara uppsatsens syfte. Slutsats: Studien visar på att det finns flera huvudsakliga osäkerhetsfaktorer som påverkar byggföretagen. Osäkerheten hanteras främst genom förebyggande analyser som inkluderas i budgetanvändandet. Vidare kombinerar företagen traditionell budgetering med alternativa budgetformer. Budgeten fyller en mängd olika syften där planering, uppföljning och kontroll ses som de primära.   Nyckelord: Ekonomistyrning, budget, budgetering, osäkerhet, byggbranschen. / Background: The budget has a long history where its role and meaning has changed over time. The budget may fulfill a lot of different purposes that take form by its context and surroundings. During the previous years the budget has been criticized for not being able to adapt to the constantly changing environment. Construction companies are operating in an industry that are affected by changes in the society that postulate flexibility, requires adaptability and also control if it will be a quick realign. Purpose: The purpose with the thesis is to create knowledge about which and how different forms of uncertainty have an impact on construction companies use of their budget. We are doing this by analyzing which forms of uncertainty that are experienced in the construction industry and how these are handled by the companies budgeting. The intention is also to create an insight about which purposes fulfils in an environment with uncertainty.  Method: This study is a qualitative study about construction companies on the swedish market. The empirical material is based on two semistructured interviews with two well established firms. The material has been analyzed with the intention to identify differences and similarities between the companies in order to answer the purpose of the thesis. Conclusions: The thesis shows that there are many forms of uncertainty that affects the construction companies. The uncertainty is handled through prevention analyzes that are included in the budget. Except that, the companies are combining traditional budgeting with alternative budgeting. The budget fulfills a lot of different purposes where planning, follow-up and control are the mainly.  Keywords: Management control, budget, budgeting, uncertainty, construction industry