The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a positive relationship between environmental responsibility and financial performance of South African listed companies. For the purposes of this study annual financial statements for the periods ending from 1994 to 1998 were investigated. Only companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) during the calendar years 1994 to 1998 were included. The investigation was not limited to certain sectors of the JSE in order to include all possible environmentally responsible companies. In the review of the related literature the theoretical foundation of environmental reporting was investigated based on fundamental accounting principles. The stakeholders interested in environmental reporting were identified and their influence on the environmental information presented in annual financial statements was examined. The costs or disadvantages versus the benefits or advantages of environmental responsibility were explored. The findings of previous studies that examined the relationship between environmental performance and financial performance were investigated. Environmental responsibility was defined, taking previous researchers' definitions into consideration. Pressures towards environmental responsibility that companies experience and progress made by companies were discussed. Previous studies were used to identify the most appropriate measures to use when measuring environmental responsibility. A control list and a judgement scale developed from previous research were selected for use in this study to determine environmentally responsible companies. Profitability, as a key component of financial performance, was defined. Elements of financial performance were discussed under the profit zone and causal factors. Financial performance measures most often used were identified from relevant literature. These measures were considered as well as measures used in previous research before selecting return on equity, return on assets, return on capital and economic value added for purposes of this study. Correlation analyses were performed for the following groups of companies for every year from 1994 to 1998: · Total qualifying population of companies; · total population excluding wild points regarding environmental reporting percentages; and · companies reporting on environmental matters during four to five years of the period examined. The financial performance measures ROE, ROA and ROC were individually correlated with the environmental reporting percentages for all the companies, regardless of the JSE sector of the companies. The correlation of EVA with the environmental reporting percentages was limited to industrial companies. Analyses per sector were performed by way of the following trend analyses for every year from 1994 to 1998: · Environmental responsibility per sector; · average financial performance for environmentally responsible companies in comparison to average financial performance for companies without a environmental responsibility measure per sector; and · data plots. There is a positive relationship between the environmental responsibility and the financial performance of South African listed companies; i.e. the higher the environmental responsibility of a company is, the higher is the financial performance of that company. However, it is important to note that this conclusion is based on the results in total and that causality could not be addressed. There are still many sectors with no or very little evidence of environmental responsibility. / Dissertation (DComm(Accounting Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Accounting / unrestricted

AFRIKAANS: Die doel van rekeningkundige verslagdoening is om inligting te verskaf oor die finansiële stand, prestasie en veranderinge in die finansiële stand van ’n onderneming wat nuttig is vir ’n verskeidenheid van gebruikers om rasionele ekonomiese besluite te kan neem. Die probleem wat in hierdie studie aangespreek word, is die onvermoë van rekeningkundige inligting in finansiële state om aan die spesifieke behoeftes van die gebruikers van klein maatskappy finansiële state in Suid-Afrika te voldoen. Die studie behels ’n omvattende meningsopname van die behoeftes van gebruikers van klein maatskappy finansiële state in Suid-Afrika, ten einde aanbevelings vir die verbetering van die huidige rekeningkundige verslagdoeningstelsel ten opsigte van klein maatskappye te maak. Die empiriese ondersoek wat uitgevoer is, het die spesifieke inligtingsbehoeftes van die verskillende gebruikersgroepe van klein maatskappy finansiële state in Suid-Afrika bepaal deur gebruik te maak van vraelyste. Die data wat ingesamel is, vir doeleindes van die studie, het bestaan uit 434 voltooide vraelyste deur geregistreerde klein praktisyns, 212 voltooide vraelyste deur eienaars/bestuur van privaatmaatskappye, 5 voltooide vraelyste deur finansiële instellings, asook ’n onderhoud wat met die Suid-Afrikaanse Inkomstediens (SAID) gevoer is. Hierdie studie het getoon dat huidige rekeningkundige verslagdoeningsvereistes vir privaatmaatskappye nie aan die behoeftes van die gebruikers van hierdie maatskappye se finansiële state in Suid-Afrika voldoen nie. Die vereistes van die rekeningkundige standaard, IFRS for SMEs, wat gedurende 2007 in Suid-Afrika aanvaar is en op klein maatskappye van toepassing is, voldoen nie aan die inligtingsbehoeftes van Suid-Afrikaanse gebruikers nie. Gesien in die lig van die belangrike bydrae wat klein maatskappye tot die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie lewer, is die rekeningkundige verslagdoening van hierdie maatskappye noodwendig belangrik. Gebruikers van klein maatskappy finansiële state vereis dat huidige rekeningkundige verslagdoeningsvereistes verminder en vereenvoudig word, ten einde aan hulle spesifieke inligtingsbehoeftes te voldoen en om te verseker dat finansiële state betekenisvolle, relevante en betroubare inligting vir die gebruikers daarvan voorsien. ENGLISH: The objective of financial reporting is to provide information in regards with the financial position, performance and changes in the financial position of an entity that is useful for various users, enabling the users to form rational economical decisions. The problem that has been addressed in this study pertains to the inability of accounting information, produced in financial statements, to address specific needs of users of small company’s financial statements in South Africa. The study includes a comprehensive opinion survey of needs for users of small company’s financial statements in South Africa, in order to make recommendations for the improvement of the current accounting reporting standards for small companies. The empirical research performed within this study included the assessment of specific information needs for various user groups of small company’s financial statements in South Africa, by use of questionnaires. The data gathered for the purpose of this study consisted of 434 completed questionnaires by registered small practitioners, 212 completed questionnaires by owners of private companies, 5 completed questionnaires by financial institutions, as well as an interview with the South-African Revenue Services (SARS). The results of the study showed that the current reporting standards for private companies do not satisfy the needs of the users of these small company’s financial statements in South Africa. The requirements of the accounting standard, IFRS for SMEs, that was accepted in South Africa during 2007, applicable on small companies, does not satisfy the information needs of the South-African users. In the light that small companies make up an integral part of the South-African economy, the accounting reporting for these small companies is inevitably important. Users of small company’s financial statements require that the current reporting standards be reduced and simplified in order to address the users’ specific information needs and to ensure that the information in financial statements is meaningful, relevant and reliable for the users. / Thesis (DCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Accounting / unrestricted

In the present study, event sponsorship and event marketing are identified as two distinct event-related marketing communications tools. As a research field, sponsorship and event sponsorship has experienced continuous research interest for the last four decades. This in clear contrast to event marketing, which only within the last 10 years has attracted research interest from marketing scholars. However, little research has been carried out in the field of (event-) sponsorship from an organisational perspective. Thus, to the author s knowledge, the present study is the first of its kind investigating both event formats, event sponsorship and event marketing, from an organisational perspective in one study. A literature review that spans the domains of branding, signalling theory and hedonic consumption helped to differentiate between the two event formats, and to provide a theoretical grounding of the two event formats. The present study evaluates the impact of event sponsorship and event marketing on the brand and performance dimensions of brand awareness, brand attitude, brand performance and financial performance. Furthermore, brand orientation and organisational innovativeness moderate the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Moreover, this research study was undertaken from an organisational perspective. There is little evidence within the field of event sponsorship and event marketing as to how organisations evaluate the performance impact of event sponsorship and event marketing. Similarly, the more established sponsorship outcomes of brand awareness and brand attitude have yet to receive research attention within an organisational research setting. This research study follows a cross-sectional research design. A conceptual model is developed on the basis of the literature review, and is tested through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The data for this study was collected via an online survey which resulted in 226 responses. The findings indicate a negative relationship between event sponsorship and brand performance. Furthermore, organisational innovativeness was identified as moderating the event sponsorship brand performance relationship, whereas brand orientation is found to moderate the event marketing financial performance relationship.

L’objectif de notre travail est de vérifier s’il existe une relation entre les mécanismes de gouvernance exercée par les capital-Investisseurs et la performance financière des entreprises camerounaises. Selon les théories juridico – financières et cognitives, des mécanismes peuvent influencer la performance financière. A partir d’un échantillon de 70 entreprises, observées sur la période de cinq ans, nos résultats indiquent que, conformément aux prédictions de la théorie de l’agence et celles qui ont trait aux théories cognitives de la gouvernance, la performance financière croît en présence des mécanismes traditionnels et liés au capital-Investissement. D’autre part, les capital-Investisseurs développent un mécanisme de gouvernance disciplinaire et cognitif spécifiques à un environnement africain particulier. / The objective of our work is to test a relationship between governance mechanisms using by venture capitalist and financial performance of Cameroonians companies. According to the legal theories - Financial and cognitive, mechanisms can influence financial performance. From a sample of 70 firms over the period of five years, our results indicate that, as predicted by the theory of agency and one that features the cognitive aspects of governance, financial performance grew in the presence of traditional mechanisms and specific venture capital.

Background: Females are underrepresented in Swedish boards, and in 2016 females represented 29 % of all board members. Many researchers have studied the relationship between the gender composition of company boards and company performance, but they have not managed to reach consensus in explaining the relationship. Pure shareholder theory suggests that the company philosophy is to focus on profitability and shareholder maximization. If the gender distribution in the board affects the performance of the company, some companies may underperform because of their board composition. If so, this is an issue that should be solved according to the shareholder theory and some adjustments to the composition should be done.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether or not companies with female directors on their boards perform better than companies without female directors on their boards. The target group of the study is Swedish listed companies with a statutory domicile in Sweden.   Method: For conducting this research, data for a period of three years (2013-2015) are collected from a sample of 94 Swedish listed companies. The performance measurements investigated are the ratios; ROE, profit margin, ROCE, EBIT margin and EPS. As for control variables, the board size and company size are used. An independent samples t-test is conducted, as well as a correlation matrix analysis and a regression analysis, to fulfil the purpose of this study.   Conclusion: The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between female representation in the boardroom and the ratio EBIT margin. However, the correlation strength is so weak that it is not fair to draw the conclusion that female representation has a positive effect on the financial performance of the companies. Also, the regression analysis shows no relationship between the two variables. However, this study contributes by showing that there is no negative correlation between the presence of females on boards and the financial performance of the companies.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Accounting)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017. / This research examined the effect of carbon emissions reduction on financial performance Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s SRI companies. Empirical results of corporate fossil energy-based dependence on environment and economic performance thus far have been ambiguous. The major objective of this research was to examine the effect of emissions and energy intensity on market and accounting based performance measures. This research adopted the positivist paradigm approach and therefore used a quantitative causal research approach. Archival data was collected from fourteen JSE’s SRI companies for seven years. The research applied a panel data analysis, a total of 98 observations were derived from panel data set. Multiple linear and causal econometric models were applied in the data analyses namely ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects and dynamic models. OLS results showed a significant effect of energy usage intensity (ENGINT) on return on assets (ROA), and return on sales (ROS), with carbon emissions intensity (EMSINT) exhibiting a significant effect on return on assets (ROA), and return on sales (ROS). When the study controlled for omitted variable bias and possible orthogonality condition, a significant negative effect of energy intensity (ENGINT) on equity returns (EQRTNS) was found. Impulse response analysis revealed that shocks in energy intensity on average tend to decrease firms’ financial value, while shocks in emissions intensity on average increase firms’ financial value within the sampled companies. Whilst testing for causality, the Panel Granger causal analysis showed unidirectional effect of EMSINT on EQRTNS, and bidirectional causal relationship between EMSINT and MVE/S at 1% significant level. This research made a contribution by extending the model used by previous researchers through the use of multiple market and accounting based performance measures which were analysed using advanced econometric models: Arellano-Bond DPD model, impulse response function in short PVARs and Bootstrap dynamic panel threshold model. In addition, this thesis suggested a model to advance future research on carbon emissions and firm performance and managerial decision propensity for carbon reduction. / Carbon Disclosure Project and School of Accountancy of the University of Limpopo

Purpose: This study is made to analyze and examine effects of an IPO before and after a stock is introduced on the market, and if the age of the company makes a difference on the day it becomes listed. And if it could be associated with an improved financial performance through several assumptions. Theory: This study is based on three different theories, the Pecking Order Theory, Agency Cost Theory and Window-Dressing Theory, but could also be supported by previously recognized research. Method: The theories subjected of the study is based on quantitative elements of deductive and theory-testing approaches in different angles of the company's financial status.  Empiries: 54 companies were involved in a study of Initial Public Offering in the years of 2014 and 2015, the selection of the 54 companies were divided in two groups depending on which stock market they were listed on. We then made further research based on three questions. Is getting listed on the stock market an advantage for financial growth? If the age of the company gives it an advantage in financial growth when it gets listed on the stock market? Does it affect the financial growth depending on where the company got listed? Conclusion:Generally we can see a connection between choice of trading venue and the company's age of an IPO does affect the impact of financial growth and performance. / Syfte: Studien avser att analysera effekter av en börsnotering innan och efter, samt om ett bolags ålder vid noteringsdagen kan associeras med en förbättrad finansiell prestation genom olika antaganden. Teori: Denna studie utgår från tre teorier, Pecking Order Theory, Agency Cost Theory och Window-Dressing Theory, men även en referensram av tidigare forskning.  Metod: Studien utgår från en kvantitativ ansats med inslag av deduktiv- och teoriprövande ansatser.  Empiri: Ett urval bestående av 54 bolag studerades utifrån deras börsnotering som skedde år 2014 och 2015. Urvalet av 54 bolag delades upp i två grupper beroende på vilken marknadsplats som de var listade på. Därefter gjordes en vidare undersökning baserat på tre forskningsfrågor. Leder en börsnotering till tillväxt i bolaget? Påverkar valet av handelsplats ett bolags tillväxt vid börsnotering? Är bolagets ålder vid noteringsdagen associerat med förbättrad finansiell prestation? Slutsats: IPO har generellt sett en påverkan på bolags finansiella prestation. Beroende på val av handelsplats gav den finansiella prestationen olika utslag. Samband mellan ett bolags ålder vid en IPO verkade även ha en inverkan på den ekonomiska tillväxten.

This study sought to examine whether the use of tax incentives to boost investment into the SME sector is an effective policy for economic development. More specifically, the study focused on the Section 12J tax incentive of the Income Tax Act of South Africa, which underpins the current venture capital companies' (VCC) regime for this country. This VCC regime is aimed at addressing the challenge of lack of access to finance by SMEs, and it does so by incentivising venture capital investors to provide equity capital to qualifying SMEs. These SMEs are, in turn, expected to grow and help reduce the economic challenges of poverty and unemployment in South Africa. A mixed methods research approach was adopted for this study. It was also inductive in nature, based on primary data collected from a survey of various stakeholders of the VCC regime using a convenience sampling method. The data variables of the study were based on factors relating to the impact that the VCC regime has had on SMEs in terms of financial performance and creation of decent employment. The study concludes that the VCC regime has had a positive impact on the South African SME sector in terms of financial performance and creation of decent employment. As a result, the VCC regime has shown to be an effective tool for addressing various economic challenges, such as: lack of access to finance faced by SMEs, high failure rate of SME businesses, and poverty alleviation through provision of decent employment by SMEs. Thus, the resultant recommendation submitted in the study is that the VCC regime should as such be extended beyond its current sunset date in order to ensure the South African economy continues to enjoy the benefits that the regime has to offer.

This master's thesis is focused on the evaluation of the financial performance of a selected company and its competitors by benchmarking from 2014 to 2018. It is divided into a theoretical part, which introduces the concept of performance, selected classical and modern methods of financial performance applied in the practical part. After the evaluation of these applied methods in the last part of the thesis will be proposed measures to improve the current situation.

The diploma thesis deals with the evaluation of the performance of the company Westrock Packaging Systems Svitavy, s. r. o. using the Balanced Scorecard method. The theoretical part of the thesis defines the theoretical basis of the literature, which forms the basis for other parts. In the analytical part, the researched company is introduced and a strategic and financial analysis is prepared. Based on the obtained outputs from the performed analyzes, a proposal for the implementation of the BSC model is elaborated in the last part of the diploma thesis, which should lead to an increase in the company's performance.