D. Tech (Department of Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Only one in ten newly established business enterprises survive for longer than ten years in the business environment. The reasons behind the failures of these small enterprises include the lack of access to financing, lack of financial and managerial skills, lack of expertise, as well as economic factors such as poor sales and weak growth prospects. The new norm in industry requires organisations to have a remarkable amount of agility to survive and succeed. This is important in South African SMEs given their significant contributions to the national economy. A major research gap exists, which pertains to the scant evidence of studies that focus on the influence of organisational agility on business performance of small to medium enterprises in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of organisational agility on business performance in small to medium enterprises in the Gauteng province. Using a quantitative approach and a cross-sectional survey research design, a structured questionnaire was administered to 564 randomly selected owner-managers of small to medium enterprises in the Gauteng province. Questionnaire items were adapted from previously validated scales. Simple descriptive statistics in the form of percentages and mean scores were utilised in testing the perceptions of respondents towards organisational agility, its sub-elements and business performance. Hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modelling approach, which was conducted after implementing a confirmatory factor analysis to test the psychometric properties of the measurement scales. The results of the study show that owners and managers of small and medium enterprises perceived that the performance of their organisations was satisfactory in terms of technology capability, collaborative innovation, organisational learning, internal alignment, organisational agility and business performance. Upon testing the hypotheses, positive and significant relationships were observed between organisational agility and its four dimensions, namely technology capability, collaborative innovation, organisational learning and internal alignment. In turn, organisational agility exerted a significant and positive influence on business performance. The results of the study imply that the performance of small to medium enterprises can be improved significantly through adjustments to organisational agility and its subdimensions. This study is important in that its results can be applied to assist small to medium enterprises to survive and succeed in today’s turbulent and tomorrow’s dynamic operational environments, where agile organisational abilities are required.

M. Tech. (Department of Logistics Management, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Production planning in the manufacturing industry has previously been viewed as a less strategic function for achieving businesses’ bottom-line goals. Many companies in the manufacturing industry focus more on strategic sourcing and cost saving initiatives for financial profits and often neglect the operational planning initiatives. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of production planning on business performance as a risk management technique. A quantitative approach was adopted for the study and a questionnaire was distributed physically and electronically to production managers, operation managers, supply chain managers and general managers; 306 respondents participated. The data obtained were analysed by means of the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SSPS). Model fit and hypotheses between the relationships identified in the study were tested through the Smart PLS 3 software. Business performance was evaluated through four indicators, namely production planning, production scheduling, lead time delivery and first to market. The results of the study show that production planning has a positive impact on the production scheduling function for lean production cost saving initiatives. The study also found that production planning positively influences lead time delivery and first to market because it manages the flow of material, production and delivery to the end user. Production scheduling and first to market proved to have very significant and positive relationships with business performance. These constructs have proved to deliver a competitive advantage and also improved customer satisfaction. The findings of this study present general key strategies to improve operational efficiencies and this study can contribute to increasing the literature in lean manufacturing and production excellence.

Characteristics such as speed of reaction, order accuracy, operational flexibility and sustained quality have become fundamental in successful business today. The success of aligning a supply chain to attain these characteristics depends largely on the use of efficient communication and information technology. Communication between supply chain members requires that relevant information is transferred from its point of inception to the next point(s) of use. The transfer of information entails an efficient flow of information between systems, between systems and humans and between humans, which is directly associated with the effective interoperability between the various entities handling the relevant information. Accordingly, the realisation of interoperability will mean a faster information flow and, thus, an effective decision-making process. This research, therefore, will propose indicators and metrics for the assessment of the information flow efficiency of a business and, in particular, of a supply chain, examine the existing techniques of information flow measurement, and identify inherent weaknesses. New information flow efficiency metrics are developed and categorised into different indicators, which are based on the quality of the information as it is applied in finance, information technology and the principles of business performance measurements. This research will illustrate that these quality characteristics drive an effective and efficient information flow which, in turn, enables them to be used both as indicators and as associated metrics of information flow efficiency. Explorative analysis and statistical cluster analysis identified the most important indicators and associated metrics based on the results of a survey instrument designed specifically for this purpose. Scales were developed to facilitate the numeric assessment of the metrics and indicators. In order to prove the ability of the new indicators and associated metrics to differentiate between different levels of information flow efficiency, the new metrics were applied in sample organisations and the responses evaluated. This research lays an important foundation in terms of the ability to assess information flow efficiency which is, in turn, necessary in order to gain a better understanding of the performance of supply chains in a time where real-time information flow and electronic integration are becoming strategic business success factors. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

近年來台灣工業用塑膠製造產業因技術門檻降低、國內人力成本提升，導致廠商的營運愈來愈艱困，並開始尋求各種轉型的方式，包括研發新技術、轉戰高科技市場、改良設備、開發綠色產品…等。在這麼多轉型的選項中，研發一直被視為是企業維持長期競爭力的指標，而本研究即以此為出發點，探討研發管理、新產品開發專案管理、以及經營績效的關聯性。 為求貼近實務狀況，了解當前工業用塑膠製造廠商如何利用研發提升經營績效，本研究選擇採用個案研究法，並挑選於台灣上櫃的M公司作為個案公司，藉由其實際開發案例，分析研發管理、新產品開發專案管理與經營績效三者之間的關係。 研究結果顯示，雖然研發管理與新產品開發專案管理都各自能為公司提升部分的經營績效，但新研發技術運用的順遂與否卻仰賴部門間的合作，唯有在大家具有相同的共識時，企業內部資源才得以整合，並為公司帶來效益。因此，企業除了可以藉由各作業流程的改善提升經營績效外，也可利用共同績效指標的訂定，確保各部門間有一致的方向，以利公司整體運作。

經濟體系由過去以產品為導向、有形資產為主的經濟體系轉向為以知識、服務與無形資產為主的知識型經濟時，產業核心競爭力已逐漸改變，財務性及非財務性的智慧資本成為企業取得核心競爭力與確保未來獲利能力之驅動力量。因此本研究將智慧資本與企業經營績效之關係性研究，試著根據「平衡計分卡」以非財務性領先指標連結最終財務績效表現之觀點與「智慧資本」的觀念架構，以瞭解影響企業經營績效之核心智慧資本項目與衡量指標，並提出具體建議，期使企業內部經理人與外部投資人能獲得足夠且攸關的財務與非財務資訊，俾以做出正確的決策。 本研究乃針對我國上市(櫃)製造業為研究對象，包含資訊電子業、化學業、水泥、生物科技、玻璃陶瓷、食品、紡織、造紙、塑膠、運輸工具、電線電纜、橡膠輪胎、機電、鋼鐵金屬等產業，並將智慧資本分為人力資本、創新資本、流程資本以及顧客資本四大構面因素，探討智慧資本與經營績效之關係性，從企業內部管理者的觀點，以企業之經營績效作為衡量智慧資本所產生實質效益之衡量指標，並發展以下問題： 【問題一】人力資本對企業經營績效之影響為何？是否具有遞延效益？ 【問題二】創新資本對企業經營績效之影響為何？是否具有遞延效益？ 【問題三】流程資本對企業經營績效之影響為何？是否具有遞延效益？ 【問題四】顧客資本對企業經營績效之影響為何？是否具有遞延效益？ 研究結果顯示，整體而言，儘管並非所有自變數之反應皆如預期，智慧資本對企業之經營績效仍然具有正向之影響。就個別項目而言，代表人力資本衡量指標之「員工附加價值」與「員工變動率」，代表創新資本衡量指標之「研發投入密集度」，以及代表顧客資本之「廣告投入密集度」均對於當期經營績效具有正向之影響。而人力資本、創新資本以及流程資本對於經營績效則具有遞延一期以上之影響。 / This study is based on the viewpoint of ” the balanced scorecard”－linking non-financial, leading performance measures to ultimate financial performance measures, and the framework of “intellectual capital” to analyize the relationship between intellectual capital and business performances, catch on which categories and measures of intellectual capital can be concerned with business performances, and set forth concrete suggestions. It’s anticipated that the management and investors would obtain enough and relevant information to make accurate decisions. This study primarily focuses on the enterprises of manufacturing industry trading in Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation, classifies intellectual capital into four categories: human capital, innovation capital, process capital and customer capital, and then analyzes the relationship between intellectual capital and business performances from the management’s viewpoint through using business performance as measures of benefit from intellectual capital. Four issues are as follows: （1） Is human capital concerned with business performances? Are there any legged effects? （2） Is innovation capital concerned with business performances? Are there any legged effects? （3） Is process capital concerned with business performances? Are there any legged effects? （4） Is customer capital concerned with business performances? Are there any legged effects? The results show that intellectual capital as a whole has positive effects on business performances. Specificly, both “value-added by personnel” and “rate of personnel change” of human capital measures, “R&D intensity” of innovation capital measures, and “advertisement intensity” of customer capital measures are positively concerned with business performances. In addition, human capital, innovation capital, and process capital do have lagged effects on business performances.

本研究之架構主要是探討台灣具有代表性的產業，其智慧資本是否影響企業績效、影響的途徑和影響力的強弱。 另外，本研究除了探討智慧資本對企業績效直接的影響外，接著再著手探討對企業績效無顯著正向影響的智慧資本類別，是否透過其他智慧資本當作中介，對企業績效產生間接的正向影響。 而為了避免產業間特性的不同對結果造成影響，故本研究僅針對台灣兩個特定產業進行研究分析。在挑選預分析的產業時，主要的考量為台灣代表性的產業，最後選擇資訊電子業和金融服務業為主要研究的對象。 在瞭解智慧資本對企業績效是否有正向影響以及影響途徑之後，本研究另外再利用上述實證的結果，探討當所處的產業不同時，智慧資本對企業績的影響有無異同，並且著手比較其兩者之間相同和相異之處。 / The framework of this study deals with the issue about whether Intellectual Capital impacts business performance, the path of such impact, and the strength level of this influence. Besides investigating the direct impact of Intellectual Capital to business performance, this study paid attention to certain categories of Intellectual Capital that didn’t bring positive significant influence to business performance. This study tried to find out whether such kinds of Intellectual Capital produce indirect impact on business performance through other Intellectual Capital as the mediator. In order to eliminate the biased results coming from the diversified characters in different industries, this study focuses on two specific industries in Taiwan. This study choice information and electronic industry and financial service industry as research samples because these two industries play imperative roles among others in Taiwan. Based on the result of investigating whether Intellectual Capital has positive influence to business performance and what its path, this study also use the evidence from empirical study to survey and compare the relationship between Intellectual Capital and business performance in different industries.

績效評估為績效管理之核心功能，提供組織或個人之工作表現資訊，與進行改善和管理之回饋。本研究綜合各績效評估方法之需求，以設計績效評估資訊系統的應用框架，可作為實際進行應用系統開發之基礎。 / Performance measurement is the core function of performance management that provides the work information of individuals and organization to give feedback for improvement and management. This study examines the means of performance measurement to design an application framework, that can be the base to build a business performance measurement information system.

Governança corporativa é um conjunto de mecanismos que visa alinhar interesses entre as diferentes partes envolvidas que compõem a empresa. Os interesses muita vezes são conflitantes em virtude de que o indivíduo tende a maximizar sua utilidade pessoal, e desta discrepância de busca individual surge o conflito, conhecido como de interesse. O conflito pode ocorrer com qualquer envolvido na companhia, porém este trabalho estudará os que ocorrem entre o agente e o principal. O agente pode ser tanto funcionários da empresa, como investidor minoritário, sendo que o principal é representado pelo acionista controlador, que detém o poder sobre a companhia. Os mecanismos de governança corporativa podem ser internos e externos à corporação. Dentre os internos se destacam: conselho de administração, conselho fiscal, estrutura de propriedade, remuneração dos executivos, relatórios contábeis em concordância com as normas internacionais publicados periodicamente, e política de distribuição de dividendos. Dentre os externos os que se destacam são: possibilidade de aquisição hostil, mercado de trabalho competitivo, leis de proteção aos investidores, crosslistings e parecer contábil dos relatórios financeiros realizados por empresas externas de auditoria com renome no mercado. O conjunto de mecanismos visa alcançar os princípios básicos de governança corporativa: transparência, equidade, prestação de contas e responsabilidade corporativa. A presente pesquisa investigou a relação entre governança corporativa e o desempenho econômico-financeiro das empresas brasileiras listadas na BM&FBOVESPA entre os anos 2010 e 2014, representando o período posterior à crise econômica mundial desencadeada pelos títulos de subprime americanos, ocorrida no segundo semestre de 2008, e anterior à crise econômica e política no Brasil, iniciada em 2015. Foi utilizado o índice de governança IGC desenvolvido por Silva e Leal (2005) para medir a governança. O desempenho econômico-financeiro das empresas foi medido através das variáveis Q-tobin e taxa de lucro econômico. O modelo utilizou ferramentas que diminuem os problemas de endogeneidade e causalidade reversa, que são: inserir variáveis de controle e utilizar o método de regressão MMG-Sis (Método dos momentos generalizados - Sistêmico). Os resultados obtidos comprovaram o esperado pela literatura, pois o índice de governança corporativa influenciou positivamente o desempenho da empresa. Para a variável taxa de lucro econômico (TLE) o resultado apresentou significância estatística no nível de 5%, o que torna confiável a alegação. Já para a variável Q-tobin, apesar de também apresentar relação positiva com a governança, a análise estatística não se mostrou robusta a ponto de poder exercer alguma afirmativa sobre o resultado. Por fim, a pesquisa observou uma melhora na governança corporativa nas empresas da amostra ao longo dos anos e em relação a outras pesquisas de anos anteriores. / Corporate governance is a set of mechanisms to align interests between the different individuals who compose the company. The interests a lot of times are conflicting because of the individual´s seek to maximize their personal utility, and from this discrepancy of individual pursuit comes the conflict, known as interest. Conflict can occur between any involved in the company, but this work study those between the agent and the principal. The agent may be employees of the companies or minority investors and the main one is represented by the controlling shareholder, which holds power over the company. Corporate governance mechanisms can be internal and external to the corporation, the internal are: Board of Directors, audit committee, ownership structure, executive compensation, financial reporting in accordance with international standards published periodically and dividend distribution policy . The external are: possibility of hostile takeover, competitive labor market, protection laws for investors, cross-listings and accounting advice of financial reports made by external companies with renowned consultancy market. The mechanisms aim to achieve the basic principles of corporate governance: transparency, fairness, accountability and corporate responsibility. This study investigated the relationship between corporate governance and the financial performance of Brazilian companies listed on the BM&FBOVESPA between 2010 and 2014, representing the period after the global economic crisis triggered by securities US subprime, in the second half of 2008 and previous economic and political crisis in Brazil, which began in 2015. It was used the IGC governance index developed by Silva and Leal (2005) to measure governance. And the financial performance of the companies was measured by the variables: Q-Tobin and economic profit rate. The model used tools that reduce the endogeneity and reverse causality, which are: insert control variables and use the system GMM (Generalized method of moments) estimator as regression method. The results confirmed the expected by the literature as the corporate governance index positively influenced the performance of the company. For the variable TLE the result was statistically significant at the 5% level, which makes it reliable. As for the Q-tobin variable, although also have positive relationship with governance, statistical analysis was not robust to be able to exercise some confirmation about the result. Finally, research has found improved corporate governance in companies over the years and improvement over other research from previous years.

Estudos da área de melhores práticas de produção têm revelado que a implementação de práticas idênticas em firmas diferentes pode conduzir a níveis de desempenhos distintos. É sugerida, pela literatura consultada, uma discussão mais apropriada das melhores práticas para contextos específicos. O objetivo principal desta pesquisa é avaliar o relacionamento entre práticas (ou programas de ação) implantadas e a estratégia de produção e, também, analisar os efeitos das práticas sobre a melhoria de indicadores de desempenho operacional e de negócio em empresas do setor moveleiro no Brasil. O objetivo secundário é, por intermédio da análise desses relacionamentos, analisar se tais práticas podem ser consideradas as melhores práticas no contexto do setor pesquisado. Foi elaborado um modelo conceitual com cinco hipóteses de pesquisas, baseado na revisão da literatura. A pesquisa de campo consistiu de uma survey explanatória e de corte-transversal. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas, observações diretas no chão-de-fábrica e, também, mediante questionário estruturado respondido pela internet. Noventa e nove firmas participaram da pesquisa. A técnica usada para a análise dos dados foi a modelagem de equações estruturais com o método de estimação dos mínimos quadrados ponderados. Os resultados indicaram que (a) práticas de produção em diferentes áreas afetam direta e indiretamente indicadores de performance operacional e de negócio; (b) a implantação conjunta de práticas de infra-estrutura dão suporte às práticas-chave que estimulam a melhoria da performance de diferentes indicadores de indicadores; (c) em geral as práticas de produção influenciam diretamente, com maior magnitude, o desempenho operacional que o desempenho de negócio, uma vez que esse último é afetado indiretamente pelas práticas, por intermédio da melhoria do desempenho operacional; (d) práticas nas áreas de desenvolvimento de novos produtos, recursos humanos, gestão de qualidade e planejamento e controle de produção podem ser consideradas como melhores práticas para o contexto estudado, conforme análise da pesquisadora por meio da revisão da literatura. / Studies in the area of best practices have shown that the implementation of identical practices in different companies may result in diverse performance levels. Studies also suggest the need for deeper analysis of best practices for specific contexts. The main objective of this work is twofold. It analyses the relationship between manufacturing strategy and production practices. It also investigates the effects of such practices on the improvement on business and operational performance indicators in brazilian furniture companies. The secondary objective is to investigate whether such production practices can be considered indeed the best practices for the furniture industry. A conceptual model, with five research hypotheses, has been elaborated following thorough literature review. The empirical research consisted of an explanatory cross-sectional survey. Data have been collected during interviews and direct observations on the shop-floor from 99 furniture companies. Some data have also been collected from online questionnaire available on the internet. The technique used for data analysis was the structural equation modeling (SEM) with the weighted least square (WLS) estimation method. Results indicated that (a) practices of production in different areas direct and indirectly affect operational performance indicators of specific and general areas and also firm indicators; (b) the joint adoption of infrastructure supports key practices that stimulate improved performance of different indicators; (c) most of the practices of production influence operational performance directly and with greater magnitude than firm performance, as this last one is affected indirectly by the practices, through improved operational performance; and (d) practices in the area of development of new products, human resources, production planning and control and quality management were could be considered best practices in the context under study, in accordance with the analyzes of the researcher and theory review.

A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo descrever descrever e interpretar o trabalho do dirigente na preparação e avaliação do desempenho organizacional da pequena empresa. Como objetivos específicos buscou compreender a natureza do processo estratégico na pequena empresa; compreender como é feito o acompanhamento do desempenho organizacional; e compreender o trabalho do dirigente pela descrição dos papéis desempenhados. Na revisão de estado da arte foram encontradas diferentes perspectivas de estudo, no entanto, a perspectiva que trata especificamente do dirigente da pequena empresa e o desempenho organizacional, que pode sucintamente ser compreendida como uma orientação estratégica da empresa, foi a escolhida para tema desta pesquisa. Quanto aos métodos, a pesquisa pode ser caracterizada pelos seus fins em descritiva; pelos procedimentos de estudo multicasos; com abordagem qualitativa. Como técnicas de coleta de dados foram utilizadas a entrevista e a observação estruturada. Na análise dos dados foi utilizada a técnica de análise de conteúdo. O resultado principal da pesquisa é uma descrição do trabalho do dirigente da pequena empresa a partir da abordagem dos papéis de Minztberg (1973) e a orientação no desempenho organizacional. Também se obteve como resultado uma análise comparativa da incidência dos papéis no estudo de Minztberg (1973) e nos dirigentes analisados neste estudo, bem como uma comparação dos resultados dessa pesquisa com outras pesquisas relevantes no tema trabalho do dirigente da pequena empresa. / This study aimed to describe describe and interpret the work of the small business manager and the preparation and evaluation of organizational performance of small company. The specific objectives sought to understand the nature of the strategic process in small business; understand how is the monitoring of organizational performance, and understand the job description in accordance with Mintzberg´s ten roles. In reviewing the state of the art found different perspectives of the study, however, the prospect that deals specifically with the manager of the small business and organizational performance, which can briefly be understood as a strategic orientation of the company, was the theme chosen for this research. Regarding methods, research can be characterized by its descriptive purposes in; procedures by multicase study, using a qualitative approach. As data collection techniques were used structured interviews and observation. In the data analysis we used the technique of content analysis. The main result of this research is a job description of the director of small business from the approach papers Minztberg (1973) and guidance on organizational performance. Also, as a result, was obtained a comparative analysis of the role´s incidence in the study of Minztberg (1973) with the role´s incidence of the managers examined in this study and other relevants studies which the main topic is the small business manager.