Thesis (MTech (Cost and Management Accounting))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa play a pivotal role in the economy. However, sustainability and operational problems are hindering these business entities, and researchers continue to report extremely high rates of business failure. Arguably, not making adequate use of management accounting practices (MAPs) could be a contributory factor to this status quo. These MAPs are a set of established accounting tools and techniques that have been developed through practice to provide timeous, accurate and relevant information for decision making in a firm. In this regard, MAPs can be used to aid operational efficiency and improve the overall performance of the business. This study sought to determine the extent of MAPs utilisation and the relationship with perceived organisational performance in manufacturing SMEs located in Cape Town. A quantitative approach was adopted using a structured questionnaire to collect data. Through a stratified random sampling technique using sub-industries in the manufacturing sector as the basis for stratification, a total of 104 usable responses were obtained. This data was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The results showed that the mostly utilised MAPs were costing, budgeting and performance measurement techniques. Decision support systems were used to a lower extent, and strategic management accounting techniques were rarely used. The intensity in competition and rising costs of productions were cited as the most influential factors in the adoption of MAPs. These results implied that manufacturing SMEs relied on basic MAPs and did not fully utilise the more sophisticated ones. Using the Spearman’s rank of the correlation coefficient, the associative relationship between MAPs utilisation and perceived organisational performance was tested. Results showed a moderate positive significant relationship between costing, budgeting and performance measurement techniques utilisation and increasing operating profits. A weaker positive significant relationship was found between decision making support, strategic management accounting techniques and increasing operational profits. These results implied that there was a positive relationship between MAPs utilisation and perceived organisational performance represented by operational profits. This study extends the current knowledge of MAPs utilisation and performance links in SMEs particularly in developing economies. Also, this research is vital to SME owners in considering adoption of MAPs, and it is recommended that they take the initiative to explore these tools. Furthermore, the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) can incorporate strategic MAPs in their training materials. Lastly, accounting advisory firms need to expand their services rendered to the SMEs to include the utilisation of relevant MAPs.

Bakgrund och problem: Många universitetsorter i Sverige lider av bostadsbrist gällande studentbostäder och utöver detta tycker många fastighetsbolag att det är problematiskt att generera lönsamhet i studentbostadsprojekt. Detta är en studie som undersöker ”problemet” med studentbostäder. Det har identifierats att många bostadsbolag i Sverige tycker att det är svårt att generera lönsamhet i nybyggda studentbostäder. Studien kommer redogöra för vad bostadsbolag anser vara de kritiska faktorerna för att uppnå lönsamhet vid nybyggda studentbostäder och hur dessa bolag opererar för att nå en tillfredsställande avkastning. Syfte: Uppsatsens övergripande syfte är att undersöka varför det är svårt att uppnå lönsamhet i nybyggnationen av studentbostäder i Sverige. Studien kommer även identifiera vilka faktorer som påverkar lönsamhet i det studerade ämnet. Metod: Författarna har genomfört en kvalitativ fallstudie som bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem bostadsbolag på olika orter i Sverige. Företagen har valts ut för att de är stora aktörer på sin respektive ort som har stor insyn i studentbostadsmarknaden. Studien använder en abduktiv ansats. Slutsats: Det finns inte någon enskild kritisk faktor som skapar lönsamhet i projekt utan det krävs en noggrann avvägning mellan flera faktorer för att lyckas. Förutom att målgruppen (studenter) är en väldigt betalningssvag grupp har studien identifierat ett antal kritiska faktorer som spelar stor roll på lönsamhet hos studentbostäder iSverige. Användandet av diskonteringsmetoder är viktigt för att göra en bra bedömning av investeringar i studentbostäder. Det statliga investeringsstödet är i flera fall avgörande för att få investeringskalkylerna att gå ihop. Studien finner att ränteläget idag är fördelaktigt för att investera, även om avkastningskrav behöver vara hållbara på sikt. Utöver det ökar byggkostnaden per m² och driftkostnader med små studentbostäder. Slutligen gör den stora bostadsbristen i Sverige att flera företag inte använder sig av omfattande känslighetsanalyser men vikten av riskanalyser ökar med att bristen på bostäder minskar. / Background: Many cities with universities in Sweden are experiencing a shortage of student housing and at the same time many property builders have a hard time achieving profitability when building student housing. This thesis studies the problem with student housing. Many real estate companies have expressed that they have a hard time achieving profitability in newly built student accommodation. This study will make clear for what property builders think are the most important factors when building as well as how these companies work to reach a satisfying yield on their investments when building student accommodation. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study why it is hard to achieve profitability in newly constructed student accommodation in Sweden. This thesis will also identify which factors that affect profitability in the chosen subject. Method: The authors have done a qualitative case study built on semi-structured interviews with five different property owners in different cities in Sweden. The companies have been chosen because they are well established at their respective city and have knowledge and experience within student housing. This study uses an abductive approach. Conclusion: This thesis concludes in that there is no single factor that leads to profitability in student housing projects but rather that a careful balance between several factors are needed to succeed. Except that students are a low incomedemographic with a low willingness to pay, the study has found several critical factors that affect profitability in building student housing. The use of discount methods is important when it comes to capital budgeting as well as the governmental investment subsidy put in place by the government. The investment subsidy is in many cases important to be able to achieve profitability in certain projects. The current interest rate makes borrowing money which facilitates investments even if an investments yield has to be sustainable over a longer period of time. Furthermore building costs increase per m² when building smaller apartments such as student accommodation. Lastly, the large shortage of housing in Sweden leads to that many companies disregard using a sensitivity analysis in projects but the importance of risk analysis increases with the increased availability of housing.

Stockholm is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Its population is growing every day and the housing needs are becoming higher. Despite the growth and the need for more houses only a few new housing units are being built every year. Critics argue that if the building rate stays as it is today the development of the city will be very limited since there is no capacity for the city to embrace new incomers. The decision makers in the municipality of Stockholm are planning for large investments in housing units for the coming years up until 2030. There are plans of building approximately 140 000 new apartments to mend the ascending need for new houses. Farsta County is part of Stockholm and lies a few kilometers to the south of the city center. Today the county contains roughly 5 000 housing units. It also contains enormous office facilities rented by the Swedish Telecom company TeliaSonera. These facilities are the current TeliaSonera headquarters, but due to the aging nature of the facilities the company has decided to move out. It is known among market experts that Farsta does not possess the most attractive office location. Thus when TeliaSonera leaves the premises there is potential risk that they will be vacant for quite a long time. And in such situation the opportunity comes to exploit the land in different use than its original. The high need of housing combined with the high office vacancy rate of the county generate the idea of using the land for housing purposes. One can either use the already existing buildings and convert them into apartments and then complete the rest of the land with new buildings, which is a more sustainable alternative. Or one can demolish the existing stock and build a completely new compound. Feasibility and social studies have been carried out in this paper to determine which alternative is the most suitable in the current situation. Out of social point of view the alternative where a completely new compound is produced is more beneficial than the alternative with the conversion and completion. This is due to the higher standard the new apartments will have compared to the other alternative plus, and according to the study, the higher number of flats obtained. It will also be more beneficial economically in the future due to the reduced costs of maintenance. Regardless of which alternative to be chosen the project is going to be costly and it is therefore important to organize it well by finding the financiers and studying all the legal and economic aspects before starting off with it. This project is estimated to produce over 2 500 apartments, a number that says much about the size of the project. / Stockholm är en av världens snabbast växande städer. Dess befolkning ökar för varje dag och behovet av nya bostäder växer. Trots stadens utveckling och det växande bostadsbehovet byggs det enbart ett fåtal nya bostäder årligen. Om det fortsätter att byggas så lite som det görs idag kommer stadens utveckling att hämmas rejält då det inte finns möjlighet för nyinflyttade att bo i staden. Stockholms stad planerar för stora investeringar i bostadssektorn i de kommande åren och fram till år 2030. Avsikten är att bygga färdigt runt 140 000 nya lägenheter fram till 2030 för att minska det växande bostadsbehovet. Farsta är en stadsdel som är belägen ca 10 kilometer söder om Stockholms stadskärna. Idag finns det cirka 5 000 bostäder i stadsdelen. I Farsta finns också TeliaSoneras huvudkontor som består av ett stort kontorsområde. TeliaSonera har beslutat att flytta från Farsta år 2016. Det är känt bland marknads experter att Farsta inte är attraktivt för kontorsverksamhet. När TeliaSonera flyttar ut finns det därför stor risk att lokalerna står vakanta en längre period utan att hyras. Därför är det lämpligt att tänka på alternativa användningar för området. Det växande bostadsbehovet kombinerat med områdets höga vakansgrad på kontor skapar iden om att omvandla området till bostäder. Då finns det sätt att tillgå. Antingen konverteras det gamla beståndet till lägenheter och kompletteras med nya hus för att uppnå önskad täthet för marken, vilket är ett grönare alternativ. Eller rivs allt gammalt och nytt byggs istället. Ekonomiska och sociala faktorer vägs in för att avgöra vilket alternativ är mer passande för dagens behov. Utav samhälleliga anledningar tycks alternativet med totalomvandling (där det gamla beståndet rivs ner) vara mer fördelaktigt jämfört med konverteringsalternativet. Det är på grund av att totalomvandlingen skapar fler lägenheter samt att de nyproducerade lägenheterna har högre standard. I längden kommer detta alternativ att också vara mer ekonomiskt fördelaktig då det har mindre drift- och underhållskostnader. Oavsett vilket alternativ som föredras innebär ett sådant projekt stora kostnader. Därför är det viktigt att redan i ett tidigt skede organisera projektet genom att hitta lämpliga investerare samt att studera de juridiska och ekonomiska aspekterna. Detta projekt beräknas producera drygt 2 500 lägenheter, något som talar om storleken av projektet.

The purpose of this dissertation is to be an introductory examination of whether the use of the Prudent Person Rule in place of legal list investment restrictions could have a significant difference upon the return on investment that a state or local government may receive through its cash management practices. The dissertation will examine this issue by studying the effect of the Prudent Person Rule and legal list limitations on state-run local government investment pools in the United States. The specific question to be asked in this study will be: "Is there a difference in the return on investment yield performance of state-run local government investment pools among those operating under the Prudent Person Rule fiduciary standard, those operating under a legal list fiduciary standard, and those operating under a combination legal list/Prudent Person Rule fiduciary standard, for the five-year period beginning with Fiscal Year 1992 and ending with Fiscal Year 1996? It appears from this brief examination that there may be a difference in return among state-run pools operating under different fiduciary standards. However, because of various factors that might affect the results, the author believes that this is just a preliminary study, and that further research must be done on this important topic in public cash management. / Ph. D.

In the 2019 National Survey for Wales, 81% of respondents stated that they felt they couldnot influence decisions in their local area and only 14% said they were consulted about howpublic funds were spent (National Survey, 2019). Participatory budgeting (PB) offers atangible way to improve these figures, providing transparency about public spending andgiving power to local people to influence decisions. It also has the potential to encouragemore cohesive communities to develop, which in light of the UK’s recent departure from theEU could become increasingly important going forwards.Public discussion about the possibility of introducing PB in Wales has been taking place forover a decade, but the initiative is yet to be widely adopted. In order for PB to reach itspotential as a mechanism for social change, it is vital that the community are activelyinvolved in the process. To explore this idea, the focus of the research will be on therelationship between policymakers, civil society and citizens in Wales, and how aparticipatory approach could be used to improve communication amongst these actors andstrengthen relationships. This is a qualitative study that draws from various theories ofparticipation and relies on data from in-depth interviews with professionals and practitionersinvolved in PB in Wales.

California community college leaders are looking for strategies to sustain facilities and maintenance operations because the governor only approved the allocation of $87.5 million in the 2014-2015 Budget Act for facilities maintenance operations. Guided by the change and strategy theories, the purpose of this multicase study was to explore the strategies that a select group of college leaders have used to sustain or improve their facilities maintenance operations. The data collection process included a review of college planning documents and semistructured interviews with 10 senior administrators from 3 large California community colleges who have used strategies to address sustaining or improving their facilities maintenance operations. Saldana coding and an inductive analysis process were used to identify themes. Triangulation was employed to increase the trustworthiness of interpretations. The analysis revealed the central role of planning as the strategy leaders should employ to improve institutional success. Funding was an additional theme leaders regarded as the issue that most often undermined planning and effective maintenance operations. All participants acknowledged the need for the integration of planning and funding to create institutional success. These findings suggest that community college leaders who use planning, funding strategies, maintenance strategies, and who empower people to sustain facility and maintenance operations can improve the teaching-learning environment. When community college leaders transform the teaching-learning environment, they enable student success. Student success increases the earning power of students that contributes to social change by expanding the tax-base and creating greater economic development.

The aim is to analyze selected methods of budgeting and the valuation used in the Czech Republic. Explain the essential concepts of both fields, signal and break down their principles and rules of different methods, show creation process, imagine a software base budgeting and valuation, and consequently the practical example demonstrating its use.

Increasing cycling and making it safer has been a policy at the national level in Sweden for nearly two decades. However, the policy has yielded limited success. Insufficient funding for safe and attractive bicycle infrastructure have been singled out as a key factor. The aim of this study is to examine the intersection where the policy at the national level in Sweden is to be translated into transport planning budgeting and the impediments for the allocation of funds. The method consists of analysing key texts and performing 28 interviews with government officials and national and regional planners to examine professionals’ views on budgeting prac-tices. Actor-network theory (ANT) is applied for the analysis. Impediments are found in disappearing funds, responsibility-delegation to municipalities, unbeneficial cost-benefit methods and organisational hypocrisy. The national transport planning system, as it is enacted in terms of legislation, objectives and practices, is in some aspects rigged in disfavour of cycling investments.

Date: 02.06.2021 Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr  Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University  Authors: Naomi Akafare Akelmu                      Mihaela Dafinova Mihaylova                          (90/08/18)                                                  (98/01/17) Title: Exploring budgeting as an underlying guidance tool for the management of externally induced crises Tutor: Leanne Johnstone Keywords: crisis management, sensemaking, strategy, strategizing, organizational learning, budgeting Research question: How can budgeting assist crisis management during the Covid-19 pandemic, using the aviation industry as an empirical context? Purpose: Drawing upon the contingencies of managing externally induced crises and thus, the inherent lack of a single effective approach, this research attempts to uncover the role of budgeting in assisting crisis management practices, by marrying management and accounting literature. Method: Using the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic in the aviation industry as an empirical context, a mixed-method research design was employed, with both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Primary data was collected through interviews with managers for a thematic analysis, and secondary data from interim financial reports was used for statistical accounting analysis. Conclusion: The alternative budgeting process provides possibilities for forecasting and reference during crisis management and thus, managers can receive practical guidance on their performance. That, in turn, minimizes the complexities (uncertainty, threats and time pressure) of crises and reduces crisis’ impact on organizations. Key contribution: Employing alternative budgeting methods in managing externally induced crises increases the measurability of reactions through budgeting’s functions, by quantifying the sensemaking process, strategizing process, and organizational learning, which are discovered to occur simultaneously during crisis management.

This study aims to unpack the pre-implementation phase of initiating a transition to smart budgeting. Previous studies have mainly focused on implementing artificial intelligence and developing budgeting practices, leaving a gap in the research. The research uses a single-case study methodology of the organization Saab AB and is based on interviews with seven respondents in total. In this study, we develop a process model that details the mechanisms and underlying processes by which organizations can guide their pre-implementation of smart budgeting. The findings provide a sequential process to pre-implement smart budgeting by combining components of AI adoption and budgeting, further highlighting the understandings, decisions, competencies, and assignments organizations should entertain. Thus, adding to the current understanding of Smart FinTech.