Företaget Cibes lift AB tillverkar skruvdrivna plattformshissar i olika storleksklasser för laster upp till tusen kilogram. Plattformhissar är ett mindre utrymmeskrävande alternativ till vanliga standardhissar och lyder under EU:s maskindirektiv. Masskonsumtion och prissättning tvingar företag att utveckla nya strategier för att hantera större flexibilitet och lägre tillverkningskostnader. Då även Cibes jobbar kontinuerligt med att kostnadseffektivisera sina produkter hade arbetet till syfte att göra en omkonstruktion av den bärande ramen till företagets standardmodell A5. Den nya ramkonstruktionen skulle utvecklas med avseende på kostnadsreducering, moderna tillverkningstekniker och hög tillverkningseffektivitet. Genom en litteraturstudie i ämnet, kostnadseffektiv produktion, identifierades en modell för konstruktionsprocessen som tillämpades i arbetet med omkonstruktionen.   Omkonstruktionen utgick från ett belastningstest och en finita elementanalys av den befintliga ramen där kritiska punkter identifierades och randvillkor verifierandes. Genom produktutvecklingsmetoden kvalitetshuset skapades en teknisk specifikation med målvärden för omkonstruktionen. För att identifiera tillgängliga produktionsresurser och utveckla en konstruktion anpassad till de resurser som finns att tillgå besöktes i ett tidigt skede två tänkbara underleverantörer. Tillsammans genererade nulägesanalysen, den tekniska specifikationen och de tillgängliga produktionsresurserna en konceptmodell. Konceptmodellen utvärderades genom att med teori för utböjning analysera olika tänkbara tvärsnitt för bärande profiler. Profiler och övriga komponenter dimensionerades sedan genom finita elementanalyser mot hållfasthetskrav enligt gällande standard och kostnadskrav för att skapa en optimal lösning.   Resultatet av arbetet är en standardiserad bärande ram som passar företagets samtliga tre varumärken. Ramen är uppbyggd av enbart plåt och kallformade profiler anpassad för en mer automatiserad produktion. I jämförelse med den befintligta konstruktionen har vikten minskats med drygt tre procent, den förväntade inköpskostnaden sänkts med cirka 15 procent och nedböjningen av den bärande ramens golv minskades med runt 33 procent. Vår slutsats av detta arbete är att den modell som används för konstruktionsprocessen är väl lämpad för att generera kostnadseffektiva produkter. / The company Cibes Lift AB manufactures screw-driven platform lifts in different sizes for loads up to a thousand kilogram. Platform lifts are a less space consuming alternative to usual standard elevators and subjected to the EU Machinery Directive. Mass consumption and pricing is forcing companies to develop new strategies to handle greater flexibility and lower their manufacturing costs. Since also Cibes are continuously working with cost efficiency of their products the work had the aim to make a redesign of the supporting frame to their standard model A5. The new frame design would be developed in terms of cost reduction, modern manufacturing techniques and high production efficiency. Through a literature review on the subject of cost-effective production a model for the design process were identified and applied in the process of the redesign.   The redesign started with a practical load test and a finite element analysis of the existing frame in which critical points were identified and boundary conditions was confirmed. The product development method the House of Quality where used to create a technology specification and target values for the redesign. To identify the available production resources and develop a design appropriate to the available resources two possible subcontractors were visited in an early state. Together the analysis of current frame, the technical specification and the available production resources generated a concept model. The concept model was evaluated by the theory of deflection and analyze of various possible cross-sections for the bearing profiles. Profiles and other components were dimensioned trough finite element analyses against the strength requirements according to applicable standards and cost requirements in order to create an optimal solution.   The result of this work is a standardized supporting frame that fits all the company's three brands. The frame is constructed entirely of steel and cold-formed sections designed for a more automated production. In comparison with the current design the weight has been reduced by more than three percent, the expected purchase cost has been reduced by approximately 15 percent and the deflection of the supporting frames floor was reduced by around 33 percent. We make the conclusion by this work that the model used for the redesign is well suited to generate cost-effective products.

This thesis applies the concept of cost e ciency to the design of executive compensation. In a classical Black-Scholes framework, we are able to express the cost e cient counterpart of the Asian Executive Option explicitly, and design a payo that has the same distribution as the Asian Executive Indexed Option but comes at a cheaper price. The cost e cient counterpart of the latter option is not analytically tractable, but we are able to simulate its price. Furthermore, we extend the study of these two types of options in the presence of stochastic interest rates modeled by a Vasicek process. We are able to derive new closedform pricing formulas for these options. A framework for crafting the state price process is introduced. From here, an explicit expression for the state process is given and its distribution is derived. Using the pricing formulas and the state price process, we are then able to simulate the prices of the corresponding cost e cient counterparts in a stochastic interest rate environment. We conclude with some avenues for future research.

This thesis applies the concept of cost e ciency to the design of executive compensation. In a classical Black-Scholes framework, we are able to express the cost e cient counterpart of the Asian Executive Option explicitly, and design a payo that has the same distribution as the Asian Executive Indexed Option but comes at a cheaper price. The cost e cient counterpart of the latter option is not analytically tractable, but we are able to simulate its price. Furthermore, we extend the study of these two types of options in the presence of stochastic interest rates modeled by a Vasicek process. We are able to derive new closedform pricing formulas for these options. A framework for crafting the state price process is introduced. From here, an explicit expression for the state process is given and its distribution is derived. Using the pricing formulas and the state price process, we are then able to simulate the prices of the corresponding cost e cient counterparts in a stochastic interest rate environment. We conclude with some avenues for future research.

abstract: This study examines the 3 key questions of media budget allocation, to find our a better invest model. Including spending share of traditional media and digital media, program selection strategy and duration mix optimization to analyse the trend of sample A (a global cosmetic brand) . Based on every test media campaign, we do research of media performance and sales volumn, add youth consumer behavior result, to develop a media investment ROI model for this brand. Create the evaluation system according to past big data and find the learnings of different length TVC usage. Of course all relavant findings and implications will be summarized after every section. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2018

Submitted by Liliane Ferreira (ljuvencia30@gmail.com) on 2018-06-15T10:57:12Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Aretuza Pereira Silva - 2018.pdf: 2097098 bytes, checksum: a2d0e2db32f8d49c12dbeff79344bcff (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-06-15T14:57:40Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Aretuza Pereira Silva - 2018.pdf: 2097098 bytes, checksum: a2d0e2db32f8d49c12dbeff79344bcff (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-15T14:57:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Aretuza Pereira Silva - 2018.pdf: 2097098 bytes, checksum: a2d0e2db32f8d49c12dbeff79344bcff (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-06-08 / The objective of this study was to measure the efficiency of the Brazilian Federal Universities' expenditures to identify the Benchmark Universities and, from this information, propose more efficient resource application measures for the Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG). For this purpose, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used, a non-parametric methodology that allows comparative analysis of the efficiency of the Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IFES). In order to measure the efficiency of expenditures in Federal Universities, data from the Censo de Educação Superior of INEP and data from the Ranking Universitário Folha (RUF) were used. A diagnosis was made to identify the level of efficiency of the Benchmark Universities, in which the results indicate that the following IFES have obtained the best levels of efficiency: UFPB, UFPA, UFRGS, UFAL, UFSJ, UFMA and UFF. It was verified that the UFG was among the relatively inefficient Federal Universities in the period from 2012 to 2015. From this information four measures were proposed to improve the performance indicators of the UFG, which are: (a) to reduce the number of courses offered; (b) reduce school dropout rates; (w); increase the number of vacancies in undergraduate courses; (d) improve results in the RUF Ranking. / Este estudo teve como objetivo mensurar a eficiência dos gastos das Universidades Federais Brasileiras para identificar as Universidades Benchmarks, e a partir dessas informações propor medidas de aplicação de recursos mais eficientes para a Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG). Para tanto, utilizou-se a Análise Envoltória de Dados – DEA, uma metodologia não paramétrica que possibilita analisar comparativamente a eficiência das Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior (IFES). Para mensurar a eficiência dos gastos nas Universidades Federais, utilizou-se dados do Censo de Educação Superior do INEP e dados do Ranking Universitário Folha (RUF). Foi realizado um diagnóstico para identificar o nível de eficiência das Universidades Benchmarks, em que os resultados apontam que obtiveram os melhores níveis de eficiência em gastos as IFES a seguir: UFPB, UFPA, UFRGS, UFAL, UFSJ, UFMA, e a UFF. Verificou-se que a UFG esteve entre as Universidades Federais relativamente ineficientes no período de 2012 a 2015. A partir dessas informações foram propostas quatro medidas para melhorar os indicadores de desempenho da UFG, quais sejam: (a) reduzir o número cursos ofertados; (b) reduzir os índices de evasão escolar; (c); aumentar a oferta de vagas em cursos de Graduação; (d) melhorar os resultados no Ranking RUF.

Benchmarking is a technique used by Decision Making Units (DMUs) to enable continuous quality improvement. Benchmarking includes almost any activity that compares a DMU's performance with some standard. Benchmarking offers the possibility of optimizing the DMU's processes, services, outcomes and products through those comparisons. Quite often, benchmarking is understood to be an act of imitating or copying but in reality benchmarking proves to be a concept that helps in innovation rather than imitation. Though benchmarking is not new, it has become popular both as an analytical research instrument and a practical decision-support tool. To some, benchmarking is not a choice; it is a necessity. Indeed, the penalty for neglecting proper benchmarking is loss of competitive edge, which is the key to survival and profitability.Usually, benchmarking involves four distinct phases. Phase I: determine the set of comparison partners. There are three types of benchmarking procedure: internal benchmarking (i.e. the benchmark is chosen within the same organization), functional benchmarking (i.e. the benchmark is chosen regardless of which industry they are) and competitive benchmarking (i.e a competitor is used as the benchmark). Phase II: collect the data. Much information is already in the public domain (financial reports, newspaper reports, analysts' reports) but it is unlikely to provide all the information required for a successful benchmarking exercise. Phase III: analyze the collected information which results in the creation of a model and an identification of performance gaps. The model will have huge influence on the results. It is crucial to motivate all assumptions made in that phase. The model could be specific to the benchmarking exercise. Phase IV: the action phase. Analyzing the reasons for the performance differentials and use the findings to redefine goals, redesign processes, and change expectations regarding the evaluated DMU's own functions and activities.Amongst the models chosen in Phase III, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has received more and more attention in the benchmarking literature. The goal of such analysis is to evaluate the efficiency of a DMU by comparing its input-output performance to that of other DMUs operating in a similar technological environment. The increasing attention for DEA could be explained by two main reasons. On the one hand, DEA does not resort to any unverifiable parametric/functional specifications of the production technology but rather lets the data speak for themselves by reconstructing the production possibilities using the observed inputs and outputs and imposing some technology axioms (such as monotonicity, convexity, returns-to-scale). Consequently, DEA is nonparametric in nature. On the other hand, deviation from efficiency, which is measured as the distance to the reconstructed production possibilities, is very easily computed. Indeed, the computation of the efficiency measures merely requires solving simple linear programming problems.Recently, Cherchye et al (2008, 2013) argued that standard DEA models provide a black-box treatment of efficiency production behavior since they ignore the links between inputs and outputs, i.e. they implicitly assume that all the inputs produce all the outputs simultaneously. This assumption is not plausible in several applications (e.g. employees that are allocated to different productions processes, specific capital which is used to produce only one type of goods). These authors suggested a multi-output nonparametric efficiency measurement technique, based on a cost minimization condition, which uses available information on the allocation of inputs to outputs. The new methodology characterizes each output by its own production technology while accounting for interdependencies between the different output-specific technologies giving rise to scope economies. This methodology provides a more realistic modelling of the production process and has a bigger ability to detect inefficient behavior (i.e. has more discriminatory power) than standard DEA techniques.In this thesis, we extend the method suggested by Cherchye et al (2008, 2013) in several directions. Firstly, we incorporate bad outputs (in contrast to good outputs). This extension deals in a natural way with several limitations of existing DEA approaches to treat undesirable outputs. As demonstrated with our application to the electricity sector. Next, we extend the methodology to allow for output-specific returns-to-scale assumptions. This allows for a more flexible model that does not force the practitioners to choose the same returns-to-scale assumption for all the outputs (as it is the case for the standard DEA model). This simultaneous choice could be difficult to defend in several settings but it is surely the case when undesirable outputs are present in the production process, as demonstrated in our application. Next, we extend the methodology for multi-output producers by considering a dynamic context. We suggest a new productivity index which takes the form of a Malmquist Productivity Index. Finally, we also generalize the method of Cherchye et al (2008, 2013), based on a cost minimization condition, to a profit maximization condition. This establishes a novel DEA toolkit for profit efficiency assessments in situations with multiple inputs and multiple outputs. We apply this new model to the case of electricity plants. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the economics of biodiversity maintenance in boreal forests. From the many tasks available in forest management to improve biodiversity maintenance, the focus is on the lengthening of forest rotation and strict protection, i.e., protected areas. Accordingly, the analysis basis on two different models named forest rotation model and site selection model. Moreover, both socially optimal and cost-effective conservation are considered. The data consists of 32 old-growth stands from northern Finland. The four studies of this dissertation provide evidence of the non-negligible economic consequences of taking biodiversity services into account along with timber production in the forest management. Study I shows that theoretically the optimal management of initial stands involves three alternatives: immediate clear cutting, delayed harvesting, and protection. Moreover, the numerical analysis reveals that taking into account the biodiversity services along with timber production results in considerably longer optimal rotation than in pure timber production management. Delayed harvesting is the most common option for socially optimal management of old-growth forests. However, the integrated approach results also in strict protection of some stands. Study II compares alternative approaches, named integrated, ecological and penny pincher selection, for selecting forest reserves. It suggests the integrated selection leads to 9–19% higher conservation cost-efficiency than the other selections. The integrated selection takes into account both the economic value and ecological features of the stands as the other selections focus only on one of these aspects. It seems also that the xeric forest type may be under-represented in the current old-growth forest preservation network in the studied region. Study III analyses the performance of alternative biodiversity indicators used in the selection of protected areas. It shows that the use of indicators likely results in a loss of species and, therefore, a complete species inventory is necessary if the goal is to maintain all species in the landscape. However, the use of indicators seems to be an economically more efficient practice than to execute a large species survey for habitat protection. Study IV examines the relative merits of alternative biodiversity conservation targets for forestry, which give different weights to species according to their conservation status and assumed population persistence. Also, socially optimal conservation is solved as a benchmark by maximizing the benefits from timber production and biodiversity services. According the results it is optimal to protect 16 out of 32 stands. Alternative conservation goals give different characters in terms of benefit-cost tradeoffs. More specifically goals relying on complementarity between protected stands result in great marginal costs at a high conservation level.

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Elizabeth Yeager / The main objective of this analysis was to examine the profitability and efficiency of Kansas farms in order to draw inferences among the profitability, efficiency, and growth of agricultural producers in Kansas. The time period analyzed was 2005 to 2015. Farms in the sample include a mix of 564 crop and/or livestock operations with 11 years of continuous data through the Kansas Farm Management Association data-bank. Efficiency scores were calculated to determine how close each farm was to the production possibilities frontier, or their cost efficiency. Profitability measures, (operating profit margin and return on assets), were obtained for each farm. The profitability dynamics in 2014 and 2015 for these farms changed compared to previous years. Crop farms generated less profits in 2014 and 2015 compared to previous years, and relative profits from average fluctuated more for sampled farms in 2014 and 2015. Farms were also categorized into risk classes. These classifications aim at distinguishing farms that are profitable or not, and their level of solvency, utilizing their net farm income from operations and their debt to asset ratio. Farms are migrating from the low risk classification, showing that Kansas farms are becoming less profitable, but are not transitioning to a higher risk solvency state. These farms will need to focus on utilizing their inputs more efficiently to keep their solvency levels in check. After analyzing persistence in profitability, the results suggest that farms with higher return on assets tend to be more solvent, but farms with higher operating profit margin tend to be less solvent. The analysis also suggests that there might have been persistence in profits in the years prior to 2015. The analysis of relative positioning of farms in terms of return on assets suggests that during 2007-2011 some farms were able to consistently differentiate themselves by generating either below or above normal profits. Some farms were able to become more profitable in 2012 and 2013, while others lagged behind supported by regression results that signaled divergence of profitability levels. The relative positioning analysis for operating profit margin indicates that farms had similar operating profit margins from 2010 through 2014, and divergence occurred in 2015 by farms that were able to differentiate themselves more through the average operating profit margin. Next the efficiencies of the farms were examined. Analysis of the efficiency scores suggests that the cost efficiencies of Kansas farms are not explained by risk classification significantly, but the crop-labor percentage ratio significantly explains the cost efficiency of the farms. The relationship between cost efficiency and profitability measures proved to be the strongest out of the three performance measures due to their correlation. The final step in the analysis was to examine farm characteristics of the top performing farms. Farms were ranked by profitability measurements and the efficiency measure. Variables of interest that were significantly different between the top 25 percent and the bottom 25 percent of farms include total farm assets, value of farm production, crop-labor percentage, crop acres, number of workers, and age of operators.

Abstract Recent advances in wireless communications coupled with the widespread of bandwidthhungry and high-power consuming wireless services as well as the rapid penetration of multimedia-enabled smart handheld devices generate a drastic growth in mobile traffic volume. With these trends, the goals of 5G and beyond wireless communications include energy efficiency, low latency, and low service cost from the user’ perspective as well as spectrum efficiency, revenue increasing, and lower capital and operational cost from the network operators’ point of view. This thesis studies the potential of mobile clouds for improving energy, spectral, and cost efficiency towards the primary goals of 5G networks. Mobile clouds define a promising 5G integrated technology which combines the conventional cellular and shortrange networks into a novel and powerful communication architecture. Mobile clouds can be seen as a flexible and efficient platform for cooperative content delivery, cooperation, resource sharing, and social networks. Research work in this thesis is conducted in two main areas, namely fundamental and applied research on mobile clouds. Fundamental research focuses on cloud formation strategies and cloud maintenance mechanisms. In the applied area, the potential of mobile clouds for content distribution is investigated in both licensed and unlicensed bands. For content distribution using unlicensed band, several cooperative strategies are designed and their efficiency is compared to traditional multicast strategy in terms of energy efficiency, content distribution latency, and users’ quality of experience (QoE). In content distribution over licensed band, spectrum sharing and resource allocation algorithms are considered for multi pair and full-duplex device-to-device (D2D) communications, aiming at improving spectral efficiency and network performance as well as quality of service (QoS) provisioning. In addition, a business model is designed to consider how mobile clouds can reduce the cost of users and operators while improving revenue of operators and increasing users’ satisfaction. The results of this thesis show that mobile clouds technology creates a flexible and efficient platform which can efficiently enhance spectral efficiency, significantly improve energy efficiency and network performance while guaranteeing cost efficiency for users and network operators simultaneously. / Tiivistelmä Langattomassa viestinnässä on viime aikoina saavutettu useita edistysaskeleita samalla kun suurta kaistanleveyttä edellyttävien ja paljon tehoa kuluttavien langattomien palveluiden käyttö on yleistynyt ja multimediatoiminnoilla varustetut älylaitteet ovat vallanneet nopeasti markkinoita. Tämän seurauksena mobiililiikenne on lisääntynyt huomattavasti. Näiden suuntausten valossa langattoman 5G-viestinnän ja sitä seuraavien sukupolvien langattoman viestinnän kehitystavoitteita ovat muun muassa seuraavat: käyttäjän näkökulmasta energiatehokkuus, mahdollisimman lyhyet viiveajat ja palvelun käytöstä aiheutuvien kustannusten edullisuus sekä verkko-operaattorin näkökulmasta spektritehokkuus, tulojen kasvattaminen ja aiempaa matalammat pääoma- ja käyttökustannukset. Tässä väitöskirjassa tarkastellaan millaisia mahdollisuuksia mobiilipilvet tarjoavat energia-, spektri- ja kustannustehokkuuden parantamiseen ja siten 5G-verkkojen päätavoitteiden saavuttamiseen. Mobiilipilvi on lupaava osa 5G-teknologiaa, jossa perinteiset solukkoverkot ja lyhyen kantaman verkot yhdistyvät aivan uudenlaiseen ja tehokkaaseen tietoliikennearkkitehtuuriin. Mobiilipilvet voidaan nähdä joustavana ja tehokkaana alustana sisällön yhteisjakelulle, yhteistyölle, resurssien jakamiselle ja toiminnalle sosiaalisissa verkoissa. Tätä väitöskirjaa varten on tehty tutkimusta sekä mobiilipilviä koskevan perustutkimuksen että soveltavan tutkimuksen parissa. Perustutkimuksessa keskitytään tarkastelemaan pilvien muodostamisessa käytettäviä strategioita ja pilvien ylläpidossa käytettäviä mekanismeja. Soveltavan tutkimuksen alueella mobiilipilvien tarjoamia sisällön jakelun mahdollisuuksia tarkastellaan sekä luvanvaraisilla että vapaasti käytettävillä kaistoilla. Vapaasti käytettävillä kaistoilla toteutettavaa jakelua varten työssä kehitetään useita yhteistoimintastrategioita, joiden tehokkuutta verrataan perinteiseen monilähetysstrategiaan energiatehokkuuden, sisällön jakelun viiveiden ja käyttäjien kokemuksen laadun (Quality of Experience, QoE) osalta. Luvanvaraisilla kaistoilla toteutettavan sisällön jakelun osalta tarkastellaan moniparisessa ja samanaikaisessa molemminsuuntaisessa laitteiden välisessä viestinnässä (D2D-kommunikaatiossa) käytettäviä spektrin jakamisen ja resurssien allokoimisen algoritmeja, jotta spektritehokkuutta ja verkon suorituskykyä sekä palvelun laatua (Quality of Service, QoS) pystyttäisiin parantamaan. Tämän lisäksi työssä kehitellään liiketoimintamallia, jonka avulla voidaan pohtia, miten mobiilipilvillä voidaan vähentää käyttäjien ja operaattorien kustannuksia ja samalla kasvattaa operaattorien tuloja ja parantaa käyttäjien tyytyväisyyttä. Tämän työn tulokset osoittavat, että mobiilipilviteknologia on joustava ja tehokas alusta, jolla voidaan lisätä olennaisesti spektritehokkuutta, parantaa merkittävästi energiatehokkuutta ja verkon suorituskykyä sekä taata kustannustehokkuus sekä käyttäjien että verkko-operaattorien näkökulmasta.

This diploma thesis deals with the transition and privatization of banks in Slovak Republic. In the beginning, it describes the theoretical background of financial transition. It then copes with the emergence of two-tiered banking and privatization and its implications for the uprise of a Slovak specific corporate governance model, in which banks played a crucial role. The third part investigates problems of the development of the banking sector until late 90s, mostly the vast non-performing loan portfolio. These problems eventually led to a banking crises, that was necessary to be solved via costly restructuring and privatization of banks with the entry of strategic foreign investors, the fourth part describes the process. The last part is dedicated to an empirical analysis of the impact of various ownership forms on the cost efficiency of banks in the sample of Czech and Slovak banks in the period 1996-2005. To estimate the efficiency we use the stochastic frontier approach with the translog specification of the cost function. The results support the hypothesis that privatized banks are more cost efficient than stateowned banks.