The hospital industry operates in a very competitive environment, where differentiation strategies play a very important role to out perform rivals. Corporate reputation is an intangible asset of immense value and probably the only sustainable competitive advantage that any hospital can possess. This research therefore has as its objective, the identification of the factors affecting the corporate reputation of hospitals. / The concept of reputation hinges upon the perceptions and beliefs of stakeholders. Perceptions and beliefs are intrinsically hard to manage. It is also hard to measure corporate reputation unless the parameters of reputation are known. Many of the current measures of reputation in the literature were found to be lacking in rigour. A search of the literature failed to find any comprehensive studies on identifying the factors affecting corporate reputation for the hospital industry. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory research was, to fill this gap in the understanding of corporate reputation of hospitals, from the Singapore perspective. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2007.

This research focuses on the retail investor???s perception of the corporate image and reputation of large Mainland enterprises listed in Hong Kong. Such enterprises have grown and are expected to grow, in both number and significance in the local securities market. Despite the effort to align themselves with international business practices, these enterprises are generally still perceived as being less accountable and transparent, and have a less favourable corporate image and reputation when compared to the other blue chip companies listed in Hong Kong. / Our results indicate that only three factors, namely, corporate management and communication, financial prospects, and market presence, significantly influence retail perception. Four implications arise: how companies communicate with retail investors is as important as how companies are perceived to be managed; maximising leadership driven communication, communicating clearly to retail investors the financial prospects of the company and communicating and impressing retail investors with the market presence of the company. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007

This research has considered the extent to which Australia's top 100 companies by capitalisation at 30 June 2003 have responded to this call for improved corporate governance reporting. It has considered what companies were reporting in 2002, prior to the 2003 ASX Corporate Governance Report, what they were able to report in 2003, and the extent to which they met the requirements in 2004, the first year in which most companies could report fully against the recommendations. The research questions being asked related to the extent of change to corporate governance reporting as a result of the ASX Corporate Governance Report, whether the recommendations were met in whole or in part, whether the reporting was also changing corporate governance practices, and whether this provided any insight into models of governance amongst Australia's top companies. / The Australian Stock Exchange should be well pleased with the action taken in response to its recommendations, showing high levels of goodwill towards the changes that have been proposed, which it now seems unlikely it will be necessary to mandate. Significant improvement in reporting is evident, particularly amongst companies which are listed on the stock exchange as responsible entities. / What this research tells us about models of governance is that there is no single model of governance that stands out as being pre-eminent. Some companies adopt traditional models but more often there is the sense that the governance model evolves for a company at a particular time based on the circumstances facing the company and the personalities involved. / Has this ASX reform process been a form of window dressing or does it reflect serious change? Evidence gathered form annual reports over three years of Australia's top companies would suggest that this is not window dressing because of the extent and detail of disclosure in corporate governance reporting and the willingness of so many companies to change their practices as a result of an enhanced disclosure regime. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007.

This study examines the relationship between ownership structures and the performance of listed Thai financial firms, using a sample of 39 companies which is accounted for 86% of the market capitalisation of all financial firms listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in 1996. The study employs both univariate and multivariate regression analysis. The empirical results reveal that the presence of controlling shareholders is associated with higher performance, particularly when measured, for example, by return on equity (ROE). This evidence is consistent with the view that large shareholders mitigate the “free-rider” problem of monitoring a management team, and reduce agency costs, as contended by Shleifer and Vishny (1986) and Admati et al. (1994). In addition, the separation of voting and cash-flow rights through the use of pyramid and cross-shareholding is not detrimental to the value of a firm. The study does not find evidence to support the argument that a family's involvement in management has a negative effect on company performance. Rather, there is strong evidence to support the hypotheses that state-owned financial institutions display superior performance. Finally, the study does not find evidence to support the argument that there is a non-monotonic relationship between ownership concentration and company value. Nevertheless, there is strong evidence that, at higher levels of ownership (in this case 50-75%), the involvement in management by controlling shareholders has a positive effect on firm performance, in terms of accounting, ROE, and market measures, price-to-book ratio. The results add to the literature that evaluates an empirical the link between ownership structure and firm performance, and provide additional information to policy-makers engaged in the ongoing development of corporate governance in developing countries, particularly in Thailand. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2003.

Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2003.

Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2002.

Since the late nineteen nineties, corporate governance has been recognised by the Chinese leadership as being an integral and vital part of economic reform. At the macro level the reform is to transition to a market economy and at the micro level, business enterprises are adopting sound standards of corporate governance. This thesis analyses the various models: the shareholder value, the stakeholder, the stewardship and the convergence models of corporate governance. It looks at the Chinese scenario - what model of governance has China adopted and is it appropriate? What problems of corporate governance are special to China and how are these problems being resolved? Many of the problems are due to the fact that China has adopted the shareholder value model ??? a model based on the UK / USA. However, unlike them, China does not posses the requisite institutions necessary to underpin the efficient functioning of the model. The Chinese capital markets are nascent and not well regulated, the rule of law is tentative and the regulatory bodies are lacking in enforcement powers. In an effort to encourage good corporate governance, the China Securities Regulatory Commission promulgated the QFII (Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor) scheme in December 2002 in the hope that by opening the domestic securities market to foreign financial institutions, this would result in the implementation of sound corporate governance in Chinese listed companies as they vied to attract foreign shareholders. A survey was carried out and the results have only been mildly encouraging. The QFII has not had the dramatic impact that was expected of it initially and the reason is that the quotas allocated have been small and the QFII have had many restrictions placed. Until these are loosened the impact of the QFII will continue to be modest.

The hospital industry operates in a very competitive environment, where differentiation strategies play a very important role to out perform rivals. Corporate reputation is an intangible asset of immense value and probably the only sustainable competitive advantage that any hospital can possess. This research therefore has as its objective, the identification of the factors affecting the corporate reputation of hospitals. / The concept of reputation hinges upon the perceptions and beliefs of stakeholders. Perceptions and beliefs are intrinsically hard to manage. It is also hard to measure corporate reputation unless the parameters of reputation are known. Many of the current measures of reputation in the literature were found to be lacking in rigour. A search of the literature failed to find any comprehensive studies on identifying the factors affecting corporate reputation for the hospital industry. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory research was, to fill this gap in the understanding of corporate reputation of hospitals, from the Singapore perspective. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2007.

This research focuses on the retail investor???s perception of the corporate image and reputation of large Mainland enterprises listed in Hong Kong. Such enterprises have grown and are expected to grow, in both number and significance in the local securities market. Despite the effort to align themselves with international business practices, these enterprises are generally still perceived as being less accountable and transparent, and have a less favourable corporate image and reputation when compared to the other blue chip companies listed in Hong Kong. / Our results indicate that only three factors, namely, corporate management and communication, financial prospects, and market presence, significantly influence retail perception. Four implications arise: how companies communicate with retail investors is as important as how companies are perceived to be managed; maximising leadership driven communication, communicating clearly to retail investors the financial prospects of the company and communicating and impressing retail investors with the market presence of the company. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2007