La thèse explore la question de l’efficacité des comités d’audit en France : les comités d’audit jouent-ils effectivement leur rôle ? La problématique de l’efficacité de ces comités dans le processus d’évaluation du gouvernement d’entreprise demeure importante dans le contexte français, où les textes (notamment les recommandations de la 8ème directive) restent très imprécis. Une première partie expose les critères d’efficacité et le fonctionnement général des comités d’audit à partir d’un état de la littérature et d’une étude empirique sur des données secondaires. Nous examinons de façon approfondie les principaux déterminants de la diligence d’un comité d’audit. Ce problème est examiné dans le cadre d’une relation d’agence et d’asymétrie d’information. Ainsi, notre étude dépasse le cadre de la simple existence d’un comité d’audit (purement formel), pour s’intéresser de plus près à la capacité de ces comités à protéger effectivement les intérêts des parties prenantes et ceci en renfonçant la qualité du contrôle interne et celle du processus de l’audit externe. / Corporate governance in France has developed considerably in recent years. The strengthening of governance procedures is illustrated by the creation of audit committees, which today exist in virtually all listed companies. However, the issue of the audit committee’s effectiveness in the corporate governance evaluation process remains significant in the French context, where the texts (particularly the recommendations of the 8th European Directive) continue to lack clarity. This thesis aims to contribute to our understanding of the “black box” of governance procedures by studying the way that the audit committee’s characteristics affect the extent of reporting on internal control and risk management procedures and on audit fees. It emphasizes that the mere existence of an audit committee is not sufficient; it also needs to be effective. To be effective it must have the necessary means (composition, diligence, and resources). This study therefore looks beyond the simple existence of the audit committee (purely formal) and focuses on attributes related to its composition, its diligence, and the diversity of its members in order to more closely examine the audit committee’s ability to protect stakeholder interests. To do this, we analyze 176 non-financial French listed companies during a period when establishing an audit committee was voluntary. The results obtained support previous works advocating that audit committees comply with best practice rules for expertise,independence, and diligence and be comprised of experienced and diverse members. Our results raise several questions on the scope of the transposition into French law of the 8th European Directive.

In a time when record numbers of dollars are being spent on campaigns the unregulated dollars are flowing faster than ever. Hundreds of millions of dollars in independent expenditures are being used for “issue advocacy”, print and broadcast advertising, which does not expressly endorse or oppose a candidate for office. The one-time campaign finance ceiling has become the campaign finance basement. Individuals are able to give unlimited dollars to 527 organizations, which function outside of all campaign finance regulation and provide a new path for the flow of political dollars. Since the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, commonly known as the McCain-Feingold Act, federally regulated lobbyists and PACS are being edged out of the political dollar due to contribution limits. It is in 1996 that we witness the birth of 527 organizations and the flourishing growth of soft money spending in the campaign process.

This study attempted to discover the role of internal auditors in the professional development of audit committee members, leading to enhanced performance, through the provision of induction programmes and professional development opportunities to committee members, with due regard for the principles of good governance and international best practices. A secondary aim of this study was to propose methods to improve the relationship between the internal audit activity and audit committees in providing additional support to its members. The audit committee's needs and requirements were assessed by using the audit committee charter as the basis in identifying the responsibilities of the committee and the professional development needs of committee members in an organisation. It was found that a framework for the induction and professional development of audit committee members would be most useful to internal auditors to assist audit committees to meet their requirements and improve their performance. / Auditing / M. Com.

This study focuses on the effectiveness of audit committees in public entities, specifically schedule 3A entities, which are governed by the PFMA. It is clear that the audit committee cannot operate on its own if it wishes to be effective. Management, Internal Audit and External Audit (Auditor General of South Africa) all play significant roles in the effectiveness of the audit committee. Internal Audit and the Auditor General are assurance providers for the audit committee and therefore play an even bigger role in its effectiveness. The independence of these assurance providers is vital, as the audit committee relies on them to obtain an independent view of the effectiveness of controls within the entities. / Graduate School of Business Leadership

Business Management / D. B. L.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the state executive committees of the two major political parties in Texas and to present facts regarding the membership of the committees (the policy-makers) and the professional staff of the state party organization (the administrators of party policy).

"To discuss the effect all this war activity has had upon the Dallas Schools and to voice a protest against those who seek to discredit mathematics and at the same time to contribute a readable thesis upon the subject is largely the purpose of this study." --leaf 2

Cette thèse porte sur les déterminants et les enjeux de la diversité du genre dans la composition des instances de gouvernance d'entreprise. Elle a pour objectif de contribuer au débat sur la féminisation du conseil d'administration, mettant en perspective les discussions en cours sur les enjeux économiques de la diversité du genre. Au regard des réflexions théoriques, actuelles ou plus anciennes, sur le rôle et la composition du conseil d'administration dans le processus de création de valeur, la thèse explore les dimensions relatives aux apports de compétences, au processus d'apprentissage organisationnel et à la capacité d'innovation. Les recherches menées corroborent, en particulier, la plausibilité de la thèse du "business case". Les résultats montrent clairement que la féminisation des instances de gouvernance est porteuse d'enjeux économiques et managériaux. Ils soulignent que la féminisation apporte des compétences distinctives au conseil d'administration, qu'elle participe favorablement à la bonne gouvernance, porteuse d'avantages compétitifs, et que le marché financier encourage l'intégration des femmes au conseil d'administration des entreprises. Ainsi, la thèse conclut que les entreprises tirent un apport net à envisager des mesures de féminisation de leurs instances de gouvernance. Toutefois, la prudence s'impose dans le parti pris de systématiser le recours à la diversité du genre au conseil d'administration comme un moyen de performance incontournable. / This thesis investigates the determinants and issues of gender diversity in the composition of corporate governance structures. The thesis aims at contributing to the debate on the feminization of corporate governance structures. It puts into perspective the ongoing debates on the economic value-added of gender diversity in corporate board of directors. Under the current discussions on the role and composition of corporate board in value creation, this thesis focuses on aspects related to competencies, and learning and innovation capacity. The research shows, in particular, the plausibility of the business case theory. The results clearly show that the feminization of corporate governance structures involve economic and managerial concerns. They stress that feminization brings distinctive expertise to corporate board of directors. It participates positively in good governance and as a result, carries out a competitive advantage for companies. In addition, financial market encourages the integration of women in corporate Board of Directors. Although the results call for caution in imposing bias gender diversity in corporate boards as an essential means of performance, the thesis concludes that companies must consider measures of feminization of their governing structures.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria_Cristina_Lourenco_dos_Santos.pdf: 684113 bytes, checksum: b7fc34240e66cc7fb121e746793f6f3e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-08-19 / This work aims to report the result of a search relating to the Fiscal Council of a Health Plan corporation, in a medical work cooperative system, in S??o Paulo state, considering two periods of time: before and after of hiring a specialized technical advice for assisting this inspection and control organ. The intention was to analyze what the extent this advice has contributed to the performance of the Fiscal Council. For this, were used the data based on minutes of the organ meetings occurred in the years 2003 to 2004 (before) and 2005 to 2006 (after), an interview with the contracted technical adviser and also the data achieved through a questionnaire applied to two groups of Council members, before and after the technical advice, for knowing how it was developed and its results. The search is a case study of incorporated type, supported by a protocol, being used for that an information triangulation with the document analysis, the interview with the adviser and the questionnaire data. It was used the Cluster Analysis to identify and group the differences and similarities of the groups of council members opinions. The results pointed out the hiring of an independent technical advice contributed for the Fiscal Council performance, providing good Corporate Management practices. / Este trabalho relata o resultado da pesquisa com o Conselho Fiscal de uma operadora de planos de sa??de, na modalidade cooperativa de trabalho m??dico, no Estado de S??o Paulo, considerando dois momentos de tempo: antes e ap??s a contrata????o de uma assessoria especializada para assistir este ??rg??o de fiscaliza????o e controle. O objetivo foi analisar em que medida esta assessoria contribuiu para a atua????o do Conselho Fiscal. Foram usadas como fontes de coleta de informa????es as atas de reuni??es do ??rg??o entre os anos de 2003 a 2004 (antes) e 2005 a 2006 (ap??s), uma entrevista com o assessor contratado, e os dados colhidos com um question??rio aplicado aos dois grupos de Conselheiros, antes e ap??s a assessoria, para um levantamento sobre como a assessoria foi desenvolvida, e seus resultados. A pesquisa ?? um estudo de caso do tipo incorporado, apoiado em um protocolo, e para a qual realizou-se a triangula????o das informa????es obtidas na an??lise documental, entrevista realizada e os dados obtidos com o question??rio. Foi usada a An??lise de Clusters para identificar e agrupar diferen??as e similaridades de opini??es entre os grupos de Conselheiros. Os resultados apontaram que a contrata????o da assessoria contribuiu na atua????o do Conselho Fiscal, proporcionando boas pr??ticas de Governan??a Corporativa.

O presente trabalho tem como área de estudo o Sistema Cantareira de abastecimento de água. Considerando a importância da gestão ambiental para este sistema e a discussão sobre a problemática relacionada aos recursos hídricos, diversas alternativas foram criadas visando incentivar e orientar o gerenciamento participativo nesta área. Tais inciativas contam com instrumentos governamentais estabelecidos pela política nacional para a proteção ambiental e gestão os recursos hídricos. Como exemplos, pode-se se citar a Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos, que instaurou os Comitês de Bacias Hidrográficas, e o Sistema Nacional das Unidades de Conservação, que fomentou a criação dos conselhos. Em especial no Sistema Cantareira foram identificados nesta pesquisa três Comitês de Bacias Hidrográficas e 5 Conselhos de Unidades de Conservação. Existe uma sobreposição destes Organismos Consultivos/Gestores na área de estudo deste trabalho. Diante desta realidade apresenta-se a governança e o diálogo de saberes como meios para a gestão no Sistema Cantareira possa ser mais articulada. A governança propõe que novos caminhos teóricos e práticos sejam apresentados e adotados visando estabelecer uma relação alternativa entre o nível governamental e a sociedade civil, o que diante de realidade do Sistema Canteira é importante e necessário. Neste contexto diversos atores com conhecimentos e experiências diversificadas precisam estar envolvidos, e o diálogo de saberes torna-se uma via para que estes conhecimentos dialoguem entre si e sejam confrontados estabelecendo o interconhecimento. Buscando verificar a existência da governança e do diálogo de saberes no Sistema Cantareira adotou-se como metodologia a pesquisa qualitativa realizada em três fases: exploratória que neste trabalho envolveu a pesquisa bibliográfica e a aplicação questionários com perguntas abertas para os representantes de todos os Organismos Consultivos/Gestores presentes no Sistema Cantareira, participaram deste levantamento 79 representantes; a fase do trabalho de campo na qual foram realizadas 18 entrevistas com representantes do Conselho da APA Fernão Dias em Minas Gerais, do Conselho Unificado Gestor Unificado das APAs Piracicaba/Juqueri-Mirim Área II, Sistema Cantareira e Represa Bairro da Usina em São Paulo e do Comitê Federal de Bacias Hidrográficas dos Rios Piracicaba, Capivari e Jundiaí; e por fim a fase de análise dos resultados possibilitou a apresentação de um mapa que demonstra a sobreposição das Unidades de Conservação e dos Comitês de Bacias Hidrográficas no Sistema Canteira e a apresentação e sistematização dos dados obtidos das fases anteriores. Por meio dos resultados obtidos foi possível verificar a necessidade de elaboração de estratégias que ampliem a participação e a mobilização social e que trabalhem o diálogo de saberes nos processos de discussão e decisórios, visando uma articulação das propostas presentes na área de estudos. A pesquisa revelou também que existe potencial para que a governança e o diálogo de saberes aconteçam, tendo em vista a existência dos fóruns de debates existentes e de instrumentos que buscam garantir a participação de diversos atores sociais nas discussões de temáticas relacionadas ao Sistema Canteira. Por fim pode-se concluir que a governança e o diálogo de saberes são importantes elementos para a gestão ambiental e dos recursos hídricos no Sistema Cantareira. / The present work has as study area the Cantareira Water Supply System. Considering the importance of environmental management for this system and the current discussion related to water resources, various alternatives were created aiming to encourage and guide a participatory management in this area. Such initiatives are related to government apparatus established by National Policies for environmental protection and management of water resources. As examples, can be mentioned the National Water Resources Policy, which established the Watershed Committees, and the National System of Protected Areas, which fostered the creation of the councils. For the Cantareira Water Supply System were identified, in this research, three Hydrographic Basin Committees and five Conservation Areas Councils. There is thus an overlap of these Advisory/Management Committees in the study area of this research. Given this reality, this research presents the governance and the dialogue of knowledge as strategies for managing the Cantareira Water Supply System in a more articulate way. The Governance proposes that new theoretical and practical ways are presented and adopted to establish an alternative relationship between government and civil society level which considering the Cantareira Water Supply System reality is important and necessary. In this context, many actors with diverse knowledge and experiences need to be involved, and the dialogue of knowledge becomes a pathway that allows discussions, confront different knowledge\'s, establishing the inter-knowledge. Seeking to verify the existence of governance and dialogue of knowledge in the Cantareira Water Supply System, a qualitative research methodology was adopted, and conducted in three phases. An exploratory work, which involved a literature research and questionnaires, with open questions, application to representatives of all Advisory/Management Committees present in the Cantareira Water Supply System. In this phase and 79 representatives participated in this survey. The phase of fieldwork in which 18 interviews were performed with representatives of the Fernão Dias EPA Council, located in Minas Gerais State, of the Unified Council of the Piracicaba/Juqueri-Mirim area II, the Cantareira System and the Usina Neighborhood EPA\'s, all located in São Paulo State and the Federal Committee of the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí River Basins. Finally, the stage of results analysis that allowed the presentation of a map that shows the overlap of Protected Areas and Watershed Committees in the Cantareira Water Supply System and presentation data obtained in previous stages. Through the results, it was possible to verify the necessity to develop strategies that enhance the participation and social mobilization and help to cultivate the dialogue of knowledge in discussions and decision-making processes, aiming an articulation of the current proposals to the study area. The survey also revealed that there is potential for governance and dialogue of knowledge to happen, given the existence of forums and instruments that seek to ensure the participation of different social actors in discussions of issues related to the Cantareira Water Supply System. Finally, it can be concluded that the governance and the dialogue of knowledge are important elements for Environmental Management and Water Resources Management in the Cantareira Water Supply System.