Agricultural conservation practices can have a vast number of environmental benefits but adoption of these practices may not be widespread. If farm operators are able to reap financial returns for environmental services, adoption of these conservation practices could increase. One source of potential financial returns is in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions or increased GHG sequestration. An example of a conservation management strategy for beef and dairy operations which has the potential to decrease GHG emissions or increase GHG sequestration is an intensively managed rotational grazing system. The objective of this study is to estimate potential financial returns from conversion to rotational grazing and the sale of GHG credits by Virginia beef and dairy farms. The three GHGs examined in the study are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. Primary and secondary data are used to simulate financial performance and GHG emissions for three case study farms under different levels of production and pasture utilization. Each case study farm is simulated under three reference conditions to calculate financial performance and three baseline scenarios and a regional performance standard to calculate GHG emissions on both a per farm and a per metric ton of product sold metric. The change in emissions between the scenarios is found and potential returns from the sale of GHG emissions credits are calculated. Results of the analysis demonstrate that conversion to rotational grazing has the potential to increase overall revenues for the farm operation from $4,197.72 to $50,007.46. GHG emission changes for the farm operation do not show a clear trend towards reduction. The amount of financial return from the sale of GHG reduction credits varies from $37.15 to $76.26 for the three case study farms for the initial calculations, and varies from $24.10 to $755.36 once the study performs sensitivity analysis for methane emissions. Therefore, results indicate that rotational grazing can increase net revenues for farm operations but additional net revenue from the sale of GHG reduction credits is small and dependent on the chosen baseline scenario and metric. Follow up research should address the following areas: changes in the cost of on-farm labor, risk of conversion to rotational grazing, increased accuracy of the measurement of GHG emissions and soil carbon, the effects of rotational grazing on forage TDN, and the water quality impacts of rotational grazing. / Master of Science

The topic around sustainability is something that has emerged as a vital pillar for companies all around the world. In the sense of measuring sustainability performance, ESG has become a worldwide used and accepted measurement tool for sustainability performance. The ESG score evaluates the company within three main pillars, Environmental, Social, and Governance. This Study will dissect the ESG into the three main pillars as this gives the possibility to analyze the impact of the three different pillars individually and not only the overall score. The passenger airline industry has had some issues over the years, and they are still existent. Environmental issues such as high greenhouse gas emissions and social issues such as poor working conditions. Therefore, this thesis will focus on the passenger airline industry and investigate how the individual ESG pillars affect financial performance. In this thesis financial performance was divided into two parts, market-based which was measured through Tobin’s Q and accounting-based which was measured through Return On Assets. In order to fulfill the purpose of this study, which were to investigate whether there is a connection between a listed airline’s separate environmental-, social-, and governance scores and its financial performance, six different regression analyses were made. The regressions were made on data from 50 listed passenger airlines during the time-period of 2016-2022. All six different regression analyses failed to find a significant relation between the individual ESG pillar and financial performance. This does not necessarily mean that there is no connection between the ESG pillars and financial performance, but in this thesis with the data we collected there was not enough evidence for a statistically significant connection. Because of the non-significant result, we could not provide additional evidence towards which of the theories, stakeholder theory or shareholder theory, being best suited for this industry.

Denna studie fokuserar på företagsstorleks inverkan på sambandet mellan Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) och Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). Huvudsyftet är att mäta om effekten av CSR på CFP skiljer sig mellan små och stora företag noterade på Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm. Perioden som studeras är åren 2006-2009 samt år 2011. För att utröna om företagsstorlek har inverkan på sambandet tillämpas modererande regressionsanalys som går ut på att fastställa huruvida någon interaktionseffekt förekommer eller ej. Vi kontrollerar även för variablerna bransch och tid. Efter exkluderingar och bortfall består urvalet av 286 företag listade på Small-Cap, Mid-Cap och Large-Cap under den studerade tidsperioden. Resultaten visar att företagsstorlek påverkar sambandet mellan CSR och CFP, även om det är oklart på vilket sätt. Olika mått på CFP påvisar skilda riktningar av interaktionseffekten. / This study focuses on the interaction effect of firm-size on the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). The main purpose is to determine if the effect of CSR on CFP differ between small and large firms listed on Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm. The studied period is the years between 2006 and 2009 plus 2011. In order to investigate if firm-size moderates the relationship between CSR and CFP, we apply moderated regression analysis which is used to determine whether or not an interaction effect is present. We also control for other variables such as industry and time. We consider a final sample of 286 firms listed on Small-Cap, Mid-Cap and Large-Cap during the observed time period. The results show that firm-size does have an interaction effect on the relationship between CSR and CFP, even though it is not clear in which way. Diverse measurements of CFP yield different direction of the interaction effect.

Corporate sustainability confronts significant challenges when supply chain managers pursue short-term financial performance to meet stakeholders' expectations. To achieve sustainable economic success, organizational managers need to understand the relationship between corporate sustainability and long-term financial performance. Based on the resource dependence theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between sustainable supply chain management (SCM), stakeholder pressure, and corporate sustainability performance. The population consisted of worldwide public organizations from Newsweek Global Green Ranking 2016 list engaged in sustainable SCM. The secondary data for the study were collected from databases hosted by Sustainalytics and Standard & Poor's. The hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated statistically significant relationships between sustainable SCM and corporate sustainability performance, F(5, 158) = 3,981, p = .002, R2[.112], and between stakeholder pressure and corporate sustainability performance, F(5, 158) = 2,552 p = .030, R2[.075]. Analysis of the relationship between sustainable SCM and corporate sustainability performance with stakeholder pressure as a moderator showed non-significant interaction effect, F (5, 158) = 5.54, p < .001, R2 =.11. R2 -chng =.0007, p-int = .669. With stakeholder pressure as a mediator, the relationship showed non-significant indirect effect, b = .024, z = 0.97, p = .329. The findings of this study could contribute to the social change given that sustainable development of supply chains support the conservation of natural resources and living standards of stakeholders.

The study investigated the role of innovation management modes on organisationorganisational financial performance in South Africa. to examine what the relationship is with organisational financial performance. Although research has been conducted on the innovative strategy in South Africa none has been identified that seeks to establish the link to organisational financial performance. Innovativeness and an adapted innovation management mode questionnaire taken from Bisbe and Malagueno’s (2009), was administered to 73 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. These 73 companies were selected because they were registered and they confirmed to be innovating companies. A poor response rate of 18% was obtained due to changes in the willingness of respondents from when the database was compiled to the date of the actual research. The Cronbach alpha coefficient analysis was conducted to ascertain the reliability of the measurement tool in relation to the small sample size obtained. The innovativeness tool proved to be reliable with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.845. Some of the innovation management mode tool items were coded and reversed and upon applying the Cronbach alpha coefficient, the tool was found not to be reliable when all 25 items were analysed. Reliability was obtained for three out of the six subsections when analysed separately. These subsections were used for Spearman rho correlation analyses, together with descriptive statistics for all items in the tool, in order to test innovativeness in organisations; relationship of innovativeness and IMM; and lastly the relationship between IMM and organisational financial performance; for the sample being observed. Shareholder wealth creation (SWC) was used as a tool for organisational financial performance measurement, together with other more common measures for profitability, leverage, growth and survival. A positive relationship between financial performance and innovativeness in the sample confirmed that innovation is a source of increased financial performance in organisations. No conclusive relationship could be ascertained between organisational financial performance using SWC, leverage, return on assets and survival. However the positive relationship found between growth and IMM in the sample, suggests that IMM may have a role to play in a growing organisation. The prevalence of systematic IMM in the sample and the high organisational financial performance of some of the companies using this mode could be due to the use of the contingency innovation management. Limitations were identified in the study, which included the small sample size obtained and suggestions to improve on the implementation of the empirical research. Areas of further study include improving implementation and opening it up to a wider population group to ascertain whether the results found in this research are representative for South African companies. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The study investigated the role of innovation management modes on organisationorganisational financial performance in South Africa. to examine what the relationship is with organisational financial performance. Although research has been conducted on the innovative strategy in South Africa none has been identified that seeks to establish the link to organisational financial performance. Innovativeness and an adapted innovation management mode questionnaire taken from Bisbe and Malagueno’s (2009), was administered to 73 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. These 73 companies were selected because they were registered and they confirmed to be innovating companies. A poor response rate of 18% was obtained due to changes in the willingness of respondents from when the database was compiled to the date of the actual research. The Cronbach alpha coefficient analysis was conducted to ascertain the reliability of the measurement tool in relation to the small sample size obtained. The innovativeness tool proved to be reliable with a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.845. Some of the innovation management mode tool items were coded and reversed and upon applying the Cronbach alpha coefficient, the tool was found not to be reliable when all 25 items were analysed. Reliability was obtained for three out of the six subsections when analysed separately. These subsections were used for Spearman rho correlation analyses, together with descriptive statistics for all items in the tool, in order to test innovativeness in organisations; relationship of innovativeness and IMM; and lastly the relationship between IMM and organisational financial performance; for the sample being observed. Shareholder wealth creation (SWC) was used as a tool for organisational financial performance measurement, together with other more common measures for profitability, leverage, growth and survival. A positive relationship between financial performance and innovativeness in the sample confirmed that innovation is a source of increased financial performance in organisations. No conclusive relationship could be ascertained between organisational financial performance using SWC, leverage, return on assets and survival. However the positive relationship found between growth and IMM in the sample, suggests that IMM may have a role to play in a growing organisation. The prevalence of systematic IMM in the sample and the high organisational financial performance of some of the companies using this mode could be due to the use of the contingency innovation management. Limitations were identified in the study, which included the small sample size obtained and suggestions to improve on the implementation of the empirical research. Areas of further study include improving implementation and opening it up to a wider population group to ascertain whether the results found in this research are representative for South African companies. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Syfte: Det föreligger ett lagförslag som kan komma att ställa krav på omkring 2000 svenska företag vad det gäller redovisning inom Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), en redovisning som idag ännu är frivillig. Denna studies huvudsakliga syfte är att undersöka om det finns någon relation mellan sådan redovisning och fööetags finansiella prestation. I forskningen kring denna relation har begreppet Corporate Social Performance (CSP) använts för att kvantifiera redovisad CSR. Relationen studeras dels utifrån ett samlat mått på CSP, dels separat utifrån de två dimensionerna miljö och mänskliga rättigheter. Metod: Föreliggande studie har utgått ifrån den positivistiska forskningsfilosofin och antagit en hypotetiskt-deduktiv ansats. Vidare har den strategi som antagits varit kvantitativ, där en tvärsnittsdesign använts och där data som samlats in uteslutande varit av sekundär art. Studiens urval uppgår till 211 företag noterade på Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Den data som använts som måttåå CSP har hämtats från Folksams index för ansvarsfullt företagande för år 2013. Måtten på finansiell prestation har hämtats från årsredovisningar för räkenskapsåret 2013, vilka erhållits genom databasen Retriever och företagens egna hemsidor. Vidare har all data behandlats i statistikprogrammet SPSS där den analyserats med hjälp av multipla regressionsanalyser. Resultat &amp; slutsats: Studien visade att det fanns en positiv relation mellan CSP och företags finansiella prestation. Studien gav vidare stöd åt en relation både utifrån det totala måttet av CSP samt dimensionen miljö. CSR-arbete kan följaktligen anses vara en värdeskapande strategi om man ser till företags finansiella prestation, i synnerhet vad det gäller miljörelaterat arbete. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Föreliggande studie är av tvärsnittsdesign vilket ibland kritiserats för att vara otillräcklig när relationen som är central i detta arbete studeras. Ett förslag vi lämnar till fortsatta studier är därför att göra en liknande studie över tid för att kunna kartlägga förändringar. Vidare anser vissa forskare att det inte är tillräckligt att mäta företags finansiella prestation endast genom redovisningsmässiga mått, varpå ett förslag är att undersöka samma relation och då även inkludera marknadsmässiga mått. Vi tar i kapitel 5.4 upp fler förslag till vidare forskning. Uppsatsens bidrag: Denna studie bidrar med ytterligare kunskap kring de varierande resultaten av relationen mellan företags CSP och finansiella prestation. Vidare bidrar studien praktiskt till en ökad förståelse för hur CSP påverkar företags finansiella prestation i en svensk kontext. / Aim: The Swedish ministry of justice has submitted a legislative proposal that could require about 2000 Swedish companies to report Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), something that today is voluntary. The main purpose of the study is to investigate whether there is any relationship between reported CSR and corporate financial performance. In this area of research, Corporate Social Performance (CSP) has been used to quantify reported CSR. The relationship is studied partly based on an aggregate measure of CSP, but also from the two dimensions environment and human rights. Method: The study is based in positivist research philosophy and adopts a hypothetical-deductive approach. The strategy adopted is quantitative, using a cross-sectional design and secondary data only. The study's sample amounts to 211 companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. The data used as a measure of CSP is taken from Folksam’s index for corporate responsibility for 2013. The measures of financial performance is taken from the annual reports for the financial year of 2013, obtained through the database Retriever and the companies' own websites. Furthermore, all data is processed in SPSS where it was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results &amp; conclusions: The study showed that there was a positive relationship between CSP and corporate financial performance. The study provided further support for a relationship both from the overall dimension of CSP and the environmental dimension. CSR-related work can therefore be regarded as a value-creating strategy in terms of the company's financial performance, particularly in terms of environment-related work. Suggestions for further research: This study has a cross-sectional design, which is sometimes criticized for being insufficient when the relationship between CSP and financial performance is studied. One suggestion we leave for further studies is to do a similar study over time to identify changes. Furthermore, some researchers believe that it’s not enough to measure the company's financial performance only through accounting-based measures. Therefore, another suggestion is to investigate the relationship including market-based measures. In chapter 5.4 more suggestions for further research are presented. Contributions of the thesis: This study contributes more knowledge to the varying results of the relationship between companies CSP and financial performance. Furthermore, the study's practical contribution is to give a better understanding of how CSP affects financial performance of companies in a Swedish context.

無形資產一向是企業提昇競爭力的重要資產。當企業自行研發無形資產具一定之障礙與風險時，取得無形資產即成為企業併購的主要原因之ㄧ。本研究主要探討併購取得之無形資產與併購公司財務績效之關聯性，選取74家於2001年至2005年發生併購之美國公司為樣本，將股東權益報酬率、資產報酬率和營運現金流量報酬率作為併購公司績效之衡量變數。本研究運用敘述性統計、Pearson相關係數和複迴歸分析來達到本研究之目的。 實證結果顯示，在不包含2005年併購案件的樣本中，併購取得之無形資產與資產報酬率呈現正相關。高科技產業經由併購取得之無形資產與其績效亦呈現正相關；然而對傳統產業而言，併購取得之無形資產與績效並無正向相關。在各類別無形資產方面，併購取得之行銷相關的無形資產與資產報酬率呈現正相關，但是契約基礎的無形資產則與股東權益報酬率呈現負相關。 / Intangible assets are important to companies in improving their competitiveness. As it may be risky to internally develop intangible assets, companies engage in merger activities to acquire intangible assets from outside. This research aims to explore whether intangible assets acquired in mergers and acquisitions are associated with acquirers’ post-acquisition financial performances. The sample consisted of 74 American merger and acquisition cases that took place during the period of 2001 to 2005. The empirical results are as follows. The acquired intangible assets are positively associated with the return on assets for the sample excluding the cases of year 2005. The acquired intangible assets are positively associated with acquirers’ financial performance in the high-tech industry, but not so for the traditional industry. As to different types of intangible assets, the acquired marketing-related intangible assets are also positively associated with the return on assets. On the other hand, the acquired contract-based intangible assets are negatively associated with the return of equity.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur den ekonomiska prestationen skiljer sig mellan de ideella föreningarna och IdrottsAB som styrs av elitlicensens krav inom fotbollen och ishockeyn. Metod: Vi har i denna jämförande studie använt oss av en kvantitativ metod med en longitudinell design där vi med hjälp av sekundärdataanalys undersökt ideella föreningar och IdrottsAB:s ekonomiska prestationer i utvalda nyckeltal under en femårsperiod. Resultat &amp; slutsats: I denna studie har empirin samlats in genom att beräkna de ideella föreningarnas och IdrottsAB medelvärde på de utvalda nyckeltalen och sedan jämfört dessa resultat mot varandra. Hypotestester har även använts för att se om det fanns någon signifikant skillnad mellan vad de ideella föreningarna och IdrottsAB presterat i de olika nyckeltalen. Vår slutsats var att det inte fanns någon större skillnad mellan de ideella föreningarna och IdrottsAB:s finansiella prestationer men att de ideella föreningarna presterade lite bättre sammantaget.

Problem:      Companies need to maintain a competitive position in the market to financially perform, and in order to do so, the companies need to have a good corporate governance structure. In the latter years, the ethical discussion about gender diversity has gained a lot of attention in society, which influence norms, standards and legislations, and also the business. Today, Swedish and Danish firms are obligated to strive for gender diversity in their corporate boards according to the corporate governance codes in the respective countries. However, the financial aspects should be taken into concern, since a company needs to financially perform to keep its operations. It is not established whether an increased gender diversity is related to financial performance, since studies on the field are contradictive. Due to the different results, it is interesting to see what the relationship looks like in the Nordic countries, especially in Sweden and Denmark where quota-based legislation has not yet been established. This thesis investigates the issue to provide evidence for the companies in similar countries if an increased gender diversity is financially supportable.   Purpose:      The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the gender diversity in the board of directors and its relationship with the financial performance of a corporation. Further, the study will investigate the financial performance dependency on the gender diversity in the board of directors.   Method:       A sample of 104 Swedish and Danish companies was chosen as observation objects. To investigate the relationship between the gender diversity and the financial performance, a Pearson correlation analysis was made. To identify the financial performance dependency on the gender diversity regression analyses were performed. Hypotheses that were built on agency theory, resource dependency theory, upper echelons theory and previous research were tested in the statistical analyses.   Results:        The statistical analyses show that there is no statistically significant relationship between gender diversity and financial performance, neither that the financial performance is dependent on the gender diversity. This evidence implies that increased gender diversity in board rooms should be motivated for other reasons than strictly financial success. Companies should consider these findings in the attaining process of directors and focus on other factors than financial progress in the proceeding involvement of women in the board. Thus, a company cannot increase its financial performance only by attaining more women to the board room. / Problem:      För att prestera finansiellt behöver företag bibehålla konkurrenskraft, och för att göra det är företagsledningen viktig. På senare tid, har den etiska diskussionen kring könsdiversitet fått stor uppmärksamhet i samhället, vilket påverkar normer, standarder och lagstiftning. Svenska och danska företag är förpliktigade att sträva efter könsdiversitet enligt den svenska och danska koden för bolagsstyrning, men även de finansiella aspekterna av könsmångfald bör tas i beaktning eftersom ett företag behöver prestera finansiellt för att kunna fortsätta sin verksamhet. Ännu är det inte fastslaget att en ökad könsdiversitet är relaterat till finansiella framsteg, då studier på området säger emot varandra. Därför är det intressant att se hur denna relation ser ut i de nordiska länderna, speciellt i Sverige och Danmark där kvoteringslagar ännu inte har införts. Denna uppsats undersöker frågan för att skapa bevis för företagen i länderna om en ökad könsdiversitet är finansiellt försvarbar.   Syfte:            Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka könsdiversitet i bolagsstyrelser och relationen till finansiella prestationer av företaget i fråga. Dessutom ämnar studien undersöka de finansiella prestationernas beroendeförhållande till könsdiversiteten i bolagsstyrelserna.     Metod:         Ett urval av 104 svenska och danska företag valdes som observationsobjekt. För att undersöka relationen mellan könsdiversitet och finansiella prestationer görs en Pearson korrelationsanalys. För att upptäcka om finansiella prestationer är har ett beroendeförhållande till könsdiversiteten i bolagsstyrelserna gjordes regressionsanalyser. Hypoteserna som testades baserades på agentteori, resursberoendeteori, och övernivåteori och tidigare empirisk forskning.   Resultat:      De statistiska analyserna visar att det inte finns något signifikant samband mellan könsdiversitet och finansiella prestationer, och inte heller att finansiell prestation har ett beroendeförhållande till könsdiversitet i bolagsstyrelsen. Dessa resultat indikerar att en ökad könsdiversitet i styrelserummen bör motiveras av andra faktorer än strikt finansiell framgång. Företag bör ta ställning till resultaten från denna forskning i tillsättandet av styrelseledamöter och inte förvänta sig en förbättrad finansiell ställning enbart genom att tillsätta fler kvinnor till styrelsen.