本研究探討台灣製造業實施品質風險管理與財務績效之間的關聯性。以ISO 9001品質保證系統認證作為企業實施品質風險管理的衡量指標，研究台灣實施品質風險管理企業是否有較佳財務績效。本研究以截至2012年6月通過ISO 9001認證之上市櫃公司為實驗組，以未曾通過ISO 9001認證之相同產業和總資產大小相近之上市櫃公司為對照組，透過迴歸分析進行實證研究。主要研究結果如下： (一) 台灣製造業中，公司規模較大、營業成本率和營業收入淨額較高之公司，較會實施品質風險管理。 (二) 以實驗組樣本進行分析，發現企業實施品質風險管理短期內能顯著提升員工生產力，但同時亦顯著降低企業獲利、營運能力和公司價值。 (三) 加入對照組與實驗組進行比較，發現長期下實施品質風險管理之企業之營收和營運能力較佳，但卻也有較高的營業成本率和較低的獲利能力與公司價值。 (四) 將實驗組區分為高科技產業和傳統製造業分別探討，發現高科技產業企業實施品質風險管理對生產力有負向影響，而傳統製造業實施品質風險管理對生產力有正向影響，對獲利、營運能力和公司價值有負向影響。

El objeto de este trabajo es evaluar la performance financiera de una muestra de fondos europeos de renta variable y analizar si existe una relación entre, por una parte, invertir en empresas socialmente responsables (factor social de la inversión), el tipo de política de inversión del fondo (criterios de selección negativos y/o positivos), y la calidad de la información utilizada por los gestores de fondos en sus decisiones de inversión, y por otra, la performance financiera de los fondos. Se propone dos tipos de análisis diferentes para comparar los resultados: uno clásico utilizado con frecuencia en la investigación empírica sobre el tema basado en el contraste de diferencia de medias (test de Mann-Whitney), y otro enfoque más innovador basado en la técnica multivariante de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM). La principal conclusión obtenida por este trabajo es que la aplicación de criterios sociales en las decisiones de inversión conlleva un coste para los inversores en términos de una menor rentabilidad. / The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of a sample of European equity funds and to examine whether there is any relationship between, on one hand, the investment in socially responsible firms (social factor of the investment), the type of investment policy (negative and positive screening), and the quality of information used by fund managers in their investment decisions and, on the other, the financial performance of funds. Two kinds of analysis are proposed to compare the results: one classical commonly used in empirical research into the subject based on the bivariate testing of difference in means (Mann-Whitney test), and another, more innovative approach, based on the multivariate technique of structural equation models (SEM). The main conclusion of this study is that the application of social criteria in investment decisions carries a cost to the investor in terms of lower return.

This study focuses on what impact the Management Control System of Non-life Insurance Industry under Financial and Non-financial Holding Company has on a company¡¦s financial and business performance. (Management Control System, hereinafter referred to as MCS) . The scope of the MCS is not conclusive, it consists of management accounting and other control methods. This study adopts Simons¡¦s Diagnostic Control Systems and Interactive Control Systems as a yardstick, and the indicators of the financial and business performance are collected from Taiwan Insurance Institute. This study is based on the exploratory study --- in-depth interviews in case studies. In order to understand what types of the MCS a Non-life Insurance Industry company choices , and each respondent¡¦s feedback on the MCS , the study is followed by semi-structured interviews. By the comparison of multiple-case designs and a more in-depth discussion , this study has found that: (1) There is no special relationship of the MCS selection between Non-life Insurance Industry under Financial and Non-financial Holding Company . (2) Both Non-life Insurance Industry under Financial and Non-financial Holding Company have Strategic Alliances in marketing . (3) Only Non-life Insurance Industry under Financial Holding Company could take the advantage of the joint-marketing in the distribution channel of a bank. (4) Non-life Insurance Industry under Non-financial Holding Company tends to have better business performance when using Interactive Control Systems . Therefore, the study suggests that when Non-life Insurance Industry under Non-financial Holding Company tries to design the control system of an organization, it is better to use the Interactive Control System to help the performance of a company.

現今競爭日趨激烈，企業需與外界利害關係人緊密結合，以形成知識充分交流的關係網絡，且若個人的知識與關係深植入組織中，將可累積企業的智慧資本，並增加競爭優勢。既然往來關係、組織內之知識分享對企業如此重要，本研究除單獨討論企業往來關係、組織內之知識分享對企業財務績效的影響外，尚探討自變數對企業財務績效的交互影響。 　　本研究之樣本來自台灣智慧資本研究中心之「智慧資本企業實地調查問卷」，共172家我國上市櫃公司。本研究以「經常往來供應商」與「經常往來顧客」代理企業往來關係，以「高階主管討論會議頻率」及「整合企業資訊及建立知識庫」代理組織內知識分享，而應變數為總資產報酬率、股東權益報酬率、權益市價淨值比與Tobin's Q值。研究期間為2004年1月至12月，以線性迴歸方式進行實證分析。 　　實證結果顯示，對電子產業而言，經常往來供應商愈多，且高階主管討論會議的頻率愈高，對企業的財務績效愈不好；當企業有整合企業資訊及建立知識庫時，對企業財務績效具正向影響。除此之外，更發現二自變數的確對企業財務績效具交互影響及部分遞延效益。 / As competitive environment nowadays, corporation need close relationships with its related parties. It is critical that guanxi and relationship root in corporation to share this kind of knowledge, and even spread out the whole corporation for better performance. Shortly, the objective of this paper is to explore the relationship among guanxi, knowledge sharing and financial performance. The data, which is from the TICRC's questionnaire, is composed of 172 firms of Taiwan's stock exchange market and OTC during 2004. This paper used suppliers (LNSUP) and customers (LNCUS) as the guanxi variables respectively, managers’ meeting frequency (FRE_MAN) and database establishment (DABASE) as the knowledge sharing variables separately, and ROA, ROE, M/B and Tobin's Q as the financial performance independently. Linear regression model was applied and found that, to the electronic industry, the more suppliers and the higher frequency of managers’ meetings, the worse financial performance. Another finding is the more comprehensive database establishment, the better financial performance. Furthermore, guanxi and knowledge sharing indeed have interaction with financial performance and partially defer its influence to the next period.

Baltijos šalių kapitalo rinkos pripažįstamos kaip augančios ir perspektyvios, tačiau įmonės vis dar nesiryžta dėl įvairių priežasčių įtraukti savo akcijas į vertybinių popierių rinkos prekybos sąrašus. Nors užsienio autorių darbuose yra plačiai nagrinėjamos pirminio viešų akcijų platinimo prielaidos ir pasekmės bendrovėms, mokslinių tyrimų, sistemingai atliekamų Baltijos šalyse, nėra. Šio diplominio darbo tikslas yra ištirti pirminio viešo akcijų platinimo pasekmes bendrovių veiklos rezultatyvumui. Analizuojamos įmonės, OMX biržoje vykdžiusios pirminius viešus akcijų siūlymus 2004 – 2006 m.. Remiantis atliktu tyrimu, teigiama, kad po pirminio viešo akcijų platinimo įmonėse padidėja pardavimai ir pelningumas, išauga investicijos, sumažėja finansinis svertas. Taip pat patvirtinama, kad pirminio viešo akcijų siūlymo pasekmės yra skirtingos didelės, vidutinės ir mažos kapitalizacijos įmonėms. Pirminio viešo akcijų platinimo pasekmės įmonių veiklos rezultatyvumui didelės ir vidutinės kapitalizacijos įmonėms yra teigiamos, tuo tarpu mažos kapitalizacijos įmonės, bent jau nagrinėjamame trumpame laikotarpyje patvirtina užsienio autorių tyrimų rezultatus apie veiklos rezultatyvumo pablogėjimą, vertinant pelningumo rodiklius. / This diploma paper investigates the change in operating performance of firms as they make the transition from private to public ownership. The sample is based on 30 OMX firms that go public during 2004 -2006, examining their financial performance one year prior to the IPO, at the time of the IPO and following year. The firms’ pre-IPO and post-IPO financial performance is compared. Although few recent studies find a decline in operating performance among IPO firms in foreign countries, this paper documents a significant increase in selected measures of financial performance. The results of this paper suggest that IPO firms display high growth in sales, profits, assets and measures of profitability. Moreover, the IPO firms reduce their financial leverage after going public. The results also provide strong support that transition from private to public ownership has different impact on large, medium and small capitalization firms.

This thesis attempts to extend the research in the Corporate Social Performance – Corporate Financial Performance relationship. The studies conducted previously display mixed findings with no unified evidence of the relationship direction and impact. This study reviews the existing literature on CSP and CFP as well as their link, identifying main problems and brings forward the concepts of strategic CSP and ad-hoc CSP. These concepts in a wider term are referred as CSP maturity. The main aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between company’s financial performance and CSP maturity and if the relationship is present, the relationship direction and causality. A study sample was constructed from large European banks and insurance companies. A panel data containing the information of 86 companies measured separately three times in three years period was analyzed. The empirical study used return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on sales (ROS) ratios for CFP operationalisation. CSP maturity was measured as years of continuous involvement into strategic CSP. The correlation analysis was build in order to verify the hypothesis about the CSP maturity and CFP relationship direction. Additionally the average mean of ROA, ROE and ROS was compared between the companies engaged in strategic and ad-hoc CSP. The weighted least squares regression, including several control variables was constructed to test two models of CSP maturity and CFP... [to full text] / Šiuo magistriniu darbu autorė siekia praplėsti įmonės socialnės veiklos (CSP) ir įmonės finansinių resultatų (CFP) sąryšio tyrimus. Ankstesnių tyrimų rezultatai yra prieštaraujantys ir nepateikiantys vienalyčių įrodymų apie šių dviejų kintamųjų ryšio kryptį bei stiprumą. Šis tyrimas apžvelgia ankstesnius tyrimus, atliktus siekiant ištirti ryšį tarp CSP ir CFP, identifikuoja pagrindines problemas ir pristato strateginės ir atsitiktinės socialinės veiklos sampratas. Šios sampratos apibendrintai yra vadinamos CSP branda. Pagrindinis šio tyrimo tikslas yra ištirti ar egzistuoja priežastinis ryšys tarp CSP and CFP ir jei egzistuoja, nustatyti jo kryptį bei priežastingumą. Tyrimui naudojama imtis buvo sudaryta iš stambių Europos bankų bei draudimo kompanijų. Tyrimui buvo naudojami paneliniai duomenys, kurie buvo gauti 86 įmones matuojant 3 kartus tryjų metų periode. Tyrime įmonių finansiniai rezsultatai buvo matuojami turto grąžos (ROA), nuosavybės grąžos (ROE) bei pardavimų grąžos (ROS) rodikliais. CSP branda buvo matuojama nepertraukiamos strategines CSP veiklos metų skaičiumi. Koreliacijos analizė parodė neigiamą ryšį tarp CSP brandos ir įmonės finansinų rezultatų (koreliacijos koeficinetai kievienam finansiniam rodikiui buvo -0.438, -0.358, -0.350). Nepriklausomų imčių vidurkių palyginimo T-testas parodė statistiškai reikšmingą skirtumą tarp ROA ir ROS rodiklių lyginant įmones, kurios CSP vykdė strategiškai ir atsitiktinai. Įmonės, kurios vykdė CSP atsitiktinai, jų ROA ir ROS... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Purpose: Examine the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and financial performance in Swedish publicly traded companies in the years 2006-2009. Hypothesis: H1: There is a positive linear relationship between a company's CSR performance and its accounting based financial performance (represented by ROA). H2: There is a positive linear relationship between a company's CSR performance and its market based financial evaluation (represented by Tobin's Q) H3: Industry moderates the relationship between CSR and financial performance. H4: Firm size moderates the relationship between CSR and financial performance. Theoretical framework: CSR and previous research. Methodology: Longitudinal study, Secondary analysis.  Conclusion: Hypothesis 1 may be rejected. Hypothesis 2 may be rejected. Hypothesis 3 may be rejected. Hypothesis 4 may be rejected. / Syfte: Undersöka relationen mellan företags sociala ansvar och dess finansiella resultat på Svenska börsnoterade företag under åren 2006-2009. Hypoteser: H1: Det är ett positivt linjärt samband mellan ett företags CSR utförande och dess bokföring baserad på finansiella resultat (representerad av ROA). H2: Det är ett positivt linjärt samband mellan ett företags CSR utförande och dess markandsbaserad finansiella värdering (representerad av Tobin's Q). H3: Industri modererar relationen mellan CSR och finasiellt resultat. H4: Företagsstorlek modererar relationen mellan CSR och finansiellt resultat. Teoretiskt ramverk: CSR och tidigare forskning. Metod: Longitudinell studie, Sekundär analys. Slutsats: Hypotes 1 kan avvisas. Hypotes 2 kan avvisas. Hypotes 3 kan avvisas. Hypotes 4 kan avvisas.

Problem: Do ethical investments perform better than conventional investments? Purpose: To evaluate whether Shariah-compliant indexes and/or socially responsible indexes can improve financial performance of an investment portfolio. Sub-problem: What kind of relationship exists between socially responsible investments and faith-based investments, represented by Shariah-compliant investments? Sub-purpose: To discover how two types of ethical investments, socially-responsible and Shariah-compliant, are related. Method: Quantitative study, covering three types of investment styles of four index families during the period from 2000 until 2011. Financial performance evaluation through the Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio and Jensen’s alpha. Conclusions: Conventional, socially responsible, and Shariah-compliant indexes do not have any significant differences in financial performance on a global basis. However, Shariah-compliant indexes could slightly over-perform conventional and socially responsible indexes during financial downturns. In the same time socially responsible indexes were noticed to be the most volatile during the whole period of study, to compare with conventional and Shariah-compliant. Regarding relationships, high correlations were found between ethical indexes, as well as between ethical and conventional indexes.

Purpose To determine sustainable Resource Based View drivers (RBV) (i.e. resources, capabilities) and motivation for the successful (i.e. positive Financial (FP) / Social Performance (SP)) implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the strategies of top performing companies in regards to CSR. In addition to find out how these drivers are being nourished, developed and utilized in order to contribute to the sustainable development in companies. Design/ Methodology/ Approach Interviews are held with CSR-managers from top performing companies based on their engagement and performance in CSR. In addition, their Corporate Responsibility (CR) reports are observed in order to apply triangulation on the company’s engagement in CSR. Furthermore shall reports by third party organizations be observed to get multiple perspectives on the concept of CSR and Sustainability? Lastly an exclusive guest lecture at Linnaeus University is attended which provided insight on corporate partnership in regards to CSR from the point of view of a charitable organization. Findings The most important non-financial drivers of CSR and Sustainability are; knowledge flow, capabilities and competence. Knowledge can be acquired through active engagement with all the company’s stakeholders, especially by collaborating with universities and for example charitable organizations. Companies have invested in the training of top level management in their understanding of the importance of CSR and Sustainability. This is because the top level management is seen as the driving and deciding force within the company to engage in CSR and Sustainability. Some companies have invested research in the understanding of their stakeholders’ perceptions on Sustainability issues which they deem as most important. Delimitations/ Limitations This research investigates the non-financial drivers (i.e. sources and antecedents) of CSR and Suitability in order to invest in and develop the drivers with the purpose of further developing Sustainability. This research is primarily focussed on Swedish companies as they seem to be further advanced in this subject due to for example legislation and the fact that Sweden is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. The purpose of this research is not to generalize the findings, but to provide insight so other companies could learn and develop themselves further in their pursuit for Sustainability.  Implications In order to develop Sustainability further companies need to create tighter collaborations with especially universities as the managers and business leaders for the future, but also other employees, are the students of today. Especially business students complain about the way their subject is being taught as it fails to thoroughly address current and future business problems. Furthermore the concept of Sustainability should be taught not only at universities but at high schools as well, because the society as a whole needs to collaborate to deal with the mega forces that await us in the not too distant future.  Originality/ Value CSR finds itself in a cross-section in academic literature between different affecting disciplines. By combining the different disciplines the authors want to contribute to sustainable development and competitive advantage in CSR-strategies by examining top performing companies who are (perceived to be) well advanced in this subject. Previous research has primarily focussed on proving the relationship between implementing CSR and positive Financial Performance (FP) as the driver of CSR. Much less have other antecedents to CSR been investigated with purpose of further improving sustainable development.

This study is concerned with developing a model to identify small-medium U.K. companies at risk of financial failure up to five years in advance. The importance of small companies in an economy, the impact of their failures, and the lack of failure research with respect to . this population, provided justification for this study. The research was undertaken in two stages. The first stage included a detailed description and discussion of the nature and role of small business in the UK economy, heir relevance, problems and Government involvement in this sector, together with literature review and assessment of past research relevant to this study. The second stage was involved with construction of the models using multiple discriminant analysis, applied to published accountancy data for two groups of failed and nonfailed companies. The later stage was performed in three parts : (1) evaluating five discriminant models for each of five years prior to failure; (2) testing the performance of each of the .five models over time on data not used . in their construction; (3) testing the discriminant models on a validation sample. The purpose was to establish the "best" discriminant model. "Best" was determined according to classification ability of the model and interpretation of variables. Finally a model comprising seven financial ratios measuring four aspects of a company's financial profile, such as profitability, gearing, capital turnover and liquidity was chosen. The model has shown to be a valid tool for predicting companies' health up to five years in advance.