The issue of dimensions of quality has received very little attention in the marketing literature. This dissertation studies the impact selected individual dimensions of quality has on firm performance. The study examined the relation between product, service and image based dimensions of quality and firm performance. The performance measure utilized in this study was a firm's return on investment (ROI). Sample for the study included Strategic Business Units (SBUs) involved in the manufacture of consumer goods and industrial capital goods. A theoretical framework that details performance effects of selected variables was developed. Drawing upon previous research in Marketing, Management, Economics, and Strategic Planning, propositions and hypotheses were developed. The data required to test the hypotheses was obtained from the PIMS data base of the Strategic Planning Institute. Several GLM procedures including ANOVA, ANCOVA, and Multiple Comparison tests, such as SNK, Tukey and Bonferroni, were employed to test the various operational hypothesis. The results show that product and image based dimensions of quality impact RoT differentially for consumer goods and industrial capital goods. The extent of the difference depends on the order of market entry and the product's stage in the product life cycle. On the other hand, service based dimensions of quality did not impact ROI differentially for pioneers and non-pioneers. Similar results was found across stages of the product life cycle.

published_or_final_version / Business / Master / Master of Philosophy

Li Wing-Yi. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.ii / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / List of Tables --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Relevant Dividend Literature / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Dividend Irrelevance Theory --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Information Content of Dividends --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Cash Flow Signaling --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Agency Cost Theory --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2 --- Relevant Literature on Corporate Governance / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Ownership Structure in Hong Kong --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Ownership Concentration --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Separation of Cash Flow Rights and Control Rights --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3 --- Relevant Literature on Corporate Governance and Dividend Policy / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Corporate Governance and Dividend Payout Levels --- p.22 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Corporate Governance and Stock Price Reaction to Dividend Changes --- p.24 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Methodology --- p.27 / Chapter 3.1 --- Stock Price Reaction to Dividend Change Announcements / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Hypothesis Development --- p.28 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Regression Model --- p.29 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Interpretations --- p.29 / Chapter 3.2 --- Ownership Structure and Stock Price Reaction to Dividend Changes / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Hypothesis Development --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Regression Models --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Interpretations --- p.33 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Data Description --- p.35 / Chapter 4.1 --- Sample Criteria --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2 --- Data Sources --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3 --- Variables / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Stock Price Reaction --- p.38 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Unexpected Dividend Changes --- p.38 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Ownership Structure --- p.44 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Descriptive Statistics --- p.47 / Chapter 5.1 --- Summary Statistics / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Cumulative Abnormal Return (CAR) --- p.47 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Stockholdings (major) --- p.47 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Ratio of Cash Flow to Control Rights (O/C) --- p.48 / Chapter 5.2 --- Limitations --- p.49 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Empirical Analysis --- p.50 / Chapter 6.1 --- Regression Results / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Stock Price Reaction to Dividend Change Announcements --- p.50 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Effects of Ownership Structure on Stock Price Reaction --- p.51 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Non-Linear Ownership Effects on Stock Price Reaction --- p.53 / Chapter 6.2 --- Sensitivity Tests / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Two-Step Estimation Problem --- p.55 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Regression Results With Corrected Covariance Matrix --- p.56 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Discussion and Relation to Prior Literature --- p.58 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Conclusion --- p.60 / Tables --- p.62 / Appendices / Appendix A1 Interim dividend increase announcements in sampling period 2001 --- p.79 / Appendix A2 Interim dividend decrease announcements in sampling period 2001 --- p.80 / Appendix A3 Interim dividend increase announcements in sampling period 2002 --- p.81 / Appendix A4 Interim dividend decrease announcements in sampling period 2002 --- p.82 / Appendix A5 Final dividend increase announcements in sampling period 2001 --- p.83 / Appendix A6 Final dividend decrease announcements in sampling period 2001 --- p.85 / Appendix A7 Final dividend increase announcements in sampling period 2002 --- p.86 / Appendix A8 Final dividend decrease announcements in sampling period 2002 --- p.87 / Appendix B Definitions of Datastream Datatype --- p.88 / Appendix C Complete dataset --- p.89 / Bibliography --- p.93

The primary objective of this dissertation is to show that corporate governance affects the value relevance of earnings in the presence of earnings management. The role of corporate governance is to reduce the divergence of interests between shareholders and managers. The role of corporate governance is more useful when managers have an incentive to deviate from shareholders’ interests. One example of management’s deviation from shareholders’ interests is the management of earnings through the use of accounting accruals. Corporate governance is likely to reduce the incidence of earnings management. Corporate governance is also likely to improve investors’ perception of the reliability of a firm’s performance, as measured by the earnings, in situations of earnings management. That is, corporate governance will be value relevant when earnings management exists. The results of this research support these propositions.In this thesis, the value relevance of earnings is measured using the earnings response coefficient. Earnings management is measured using the magnitude of abnormal accruals as estimated by the modified Jones (Dechow et al., 1995) model. A review of the corporate governance literature revealed nine attributes that were expected to impact on shareholders’ perception of earnings reliability due to their role in enhancing the integrity of the financial reporting process. The nine attributes represent three categories of corporate governance: 1) organisational monitoring; 2) incentive alignment; and 3) governance structure.Although not all corporate governance attributes suggested in the literature impact on investors’ perception of a firm’s performance, the primary proposition that corporate governance affects this perception when earnings are managed is supported. The primary contribution of the study is finding evidence supporting the moderating effect of earnings management on the relationship between corporate governance and the value relevance of earnings. These results validate Hutchinson and Gul’s (2004) claim that the role of corporate governance attributes in firm performance should be evaluated in concurrence with a firm’s organisational environment. Future research should control for corporate governance and earnings management, as indicators of earnings reliability, when using returns-earnings regressions to address a research question.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-109). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / "Fall 2009." At head of title: University of Alberta. Title from pdf file t.p. (viewed on Dec. 4, 2009). "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Researchin partial fulllment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Mathematical Finance, Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences" Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-140). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-82). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-89).