by Chui Kit Yee, Gloria, Mak Oi Yi. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-78). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Background --- p.1 / Scope of the study --- p.3 / Objectives of the study --- p.3 / Justification of the study --- p.4 / Chapter II. --- CPA FIRMS' EXISTING MARKETING PRACTICES --- p.5 / Service marketing vs. product marketing --- p.5 / Service characteristics vs. product characteristics --- p.5 / Characteristics of professional services --- p.5 / Consumer evaluation of CPA firms' services --- p.3 / Relationship marketing --- p.9 / The Importance of Relationship Marketing to Service Industry --- p.9 / Definition of relationship marketing --- p.10 / Strategies used by CPA firms --- p.11 / Promotional activities of CPA firms --- p.12 / Different practices between CPA firms in Hong Kong and other English-speaking countries --- p.12 / Promotional tools used for existing and potential clients --- p.14 / Chapter III. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.15 / Secondary Data Collection --- p.15 / Primary Data Collection --- p.15 / Exploratory research with CPA firms in Hong Kong --- p.15 / Preliminary Field Research --- p.16 / Descriptive Research --- p.17 / Questionnaire Design --- p.17 / Chapter IV. --- DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION --- p.19 / Data Analysis --- p.19 / General Characteristics --- p.19 / Characteristics of External Auditors --- p.20 / Consumer Decision Making --- p.20 / Deloitte louche Tohmatsu --- p.21 / Interpretation of Results --- p.22 / General Characteristics --- p.22 / Characteristics of External Auditors --- p.23 / Consumer Decision Making --- p.24 / Chapter V. --- MARKETING IMPLICATIONS FOR ALL CPA FIRMS IN GENERAL --- p.27 / Marketing Strategies for CPA firms in influencing the selection process of potential clients --- p.27 / Product --- p.29 / Price --- p.30 / Place/Presentation --- p.31 / Promotion --- p.32 / People --- p.33 / Processes --- p.33 / Strategies to sustain clients' satisfaction level --- p.34 / Customer focus --- p.36 / Process improvement --- p.38 / Total involvement --- p.38 / Chapter VI. --- MARKETING IMPLICATIONS FOR DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU --- p.40 / Data Collected from Market Survey --- p.40 / Marketing in Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu --- p.41 / Competition Analysis --- p.42 / Recommendations to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu --- p.44 / Marketing Orientation --- p.44 / Situation Analysis --- p.46 / Competition Analysis --- p.47 / Business Environment Analysis --- p.47 / Product Analysis --- p.48 / Marketing Analysis --- p.48 / Marketing Opportunity Analysis --- p.48 / Chapter VII. --- LIMITATIONS --- p.49 / Secondary Study --- p.49 / Sampling Method --- p.50 / Questionnaire Design --- p.51 / Chapter VIII. --- CONCLUSION --- p.52 / APPENDICES / IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS --- p.53 / PRELIMINARY QUESTIONNAIRE --- p.55 / QUESTIONNAIRE --- p.57 / RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS - OVERALL SAMPLE --- p.60 / RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS - BIG SIX GROUP --- p.62 / RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS- NON-BIG SIX GROUP --- p.64 / RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS -DELOITTE GROUP --- p.66 / RESULTS FROM ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND CROSS-TABULATION… --- p.68 / DELOITTE'S COMMUNICATION CIRCLE --- p.74 / DELOITTE'S 10 CLIENT SERVICES STANDARD --- p.75 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.76

by Mak Tsz Yee. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-53). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.v / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Objective --- p.1 / The Engineering Consulting Business --- p.1 / Review of Literature --- p.3 / "Value-Creation, Resources and Capabilities" --- p.4 / Cost vs. Differentiation Advantage --- p.4 / Scope of Target Market --- p.5 / Isolating Mechanisms --- p.6 / Resources and Capabilities --- p.6 / Evolutionary Economics and Dynamic Competition --- p.8 / Scope of this Study --- p.9 / Chapter II. --- GENERAL ENVIRONMENT --- p.10 / Global Segment --- p.10 / Demographic Segment --- p.11 / Economic Segment --- p.11 / Office Properties --- p.11 / Residential Properties --- p.13 / Political Segment --- p.14 / Technological Segment --- p.15 / Concluding Observation of the General Environment --- p.15 / Chapter III. --- INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT --- p.17 / Construction Industry --- p.17 / Consultancy Arrangement --- p.19 / Normal Scope of Services --- p.20 / Hong Kong Real Estate Property Market --- p.20 / Analysis of Industry Environment --- p.25 / Threat of Entry --- p.25 / Barriers to Entry --- p.25 / Economies of Scale --- p.25 / Product Differentiation --- p.26 / Capital Requirements --- p.26 / Switching Cost --- p.26 / Cost Disadvantages to New Entry Independent of Scale --- p.26 / Government Policy --- p.27 / Expected Retaliation --- p.27 / Bargaining Power of Suppliers --- p.28 / Bargaining Power of Buyers --- p.29 / Concentration of Buyers --- p.29 / Cost of Service an Insignificant Fraction of the Buyer's Cost --- p.29 / Undifferentiated Services and Low Switching Cost --- p.29 / Buyer Industry Earns Low Profits --- p.30 / Buyers Pose No Credible Threat of Backward Integration --- p.30 / The Industry's Service is Important to the Quality of the Buyers' Products --- p.30 / Threat of Substitute --- p.31 / Substitute Subject to Trends Improving Their Price-performance Trade-off --- p.31 / Profitability of Industry Producing Substitute --- p.31 / Rivalry Among Existing Competitors --- p.32 / Numerous or Equally Balance Competitors --- p.32 / Slow Industry Growth --- p.32 / Lack of Differentiation and Low Switching Cost --- p.32 / High Fixed Costs --- p.33 / Low Exit Barriers --- p.33 / Summary of Industry Analysis --- p.34 / Chapter IV. --- INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT --- p.37 / Ove Arup and Partners Company Limited --- p.37 / Review of the Resources and Capabilities of the Firm --- p.38 / Tangible Resources --- p.38 / Financial Resources --- p.38 / Physical Resources --- p.38 / Human Resources --- p.38 / Organisational Resources --- p.39 / Intangible Resources --- p.39 / Technological Resources --- p.39 / Resources for Innovation --- p.39 / Reputation --- p.40 / Identification of Core Competence --- p.40 / Weaknesses --- p.42 / Corporate-Level Strategy --- p.42 / Blurring Business-Level Strategy --- p.43 / Cost Structure --- p.43 / Human Resource Management --- p.44 / Organizational Structure --- p.44 / Market Sensing Activities --- p.44 / Concluding Remarks on Internal Environment --- p.44 / Chapter V. --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.46 / What Is Strategy? --- p.46 / Conclusions and Recommendations --- p.47 / Chapter VI. --- BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.51

I examine the association between earnings quality and audit firm type using a three-tiered audit firm classification scheme which allows for an explicit examination of the quality of Second-Tier audited earnings. My tests are motivated by the lack of competition in the market for audit services, theoretical arguments which suggest a positive association between audit firm size and audit quality, evidence pointing to the rapid post-Andersen growth in Second-Tier audit practices, and the lack of empirical research that fully differentiates audit firm type. My results indicate that the post-Andersen growth of Second-Tier audit firms coincides with improved Second-Tier audit quality, relative to the other audit firm types (Big N and other non-Big N). Specifically, the results indicate that Second-Tier client earnings quality was not distinct from that of other non-Big N clients in the pre-Andersen period. However, in the post-Andersen period, the results indicate that Second-Tier client earnings quality was higher than that of other non-Big N clients. Moreover, the post-Andersen results provide partial evidence suggesting that there is no difference in Second-Tier and Big N client earnings quality and, thus, lend some credence to the notion of a new era for the Big 8. These results convey important information to market participants (e.g., investors, underwriters, analysts, etc.) who wish to assess the extent to which financial statements are likely to be free from opportunistic managerial manipulation, to clients that are contemplating switching to a Second-Tier audit firm, to government agencies who have expressed concern over the state of competition in the market for audit services, and to those who have promoted the use of Second-Tier audit firms in the wake of SOX-related resource constraints.

In the recent years, a lot of Taiwan firms shut factories and turned to invest their capital in Mainland China. This situation reflects that the investment conditions in Taiwan are not as good as before. On the contrary, China has plenty of labor forces and their wage rate is much lower than Taiwan. Besides, China is an extensive market and abundant in natural resources. Many famous businesses in the world seize the chance of investing in China and get the market share. The first purpose of thesis is that analyzing the differences of HR values, competitive strategies, HRM systems, and firm performance between the indigenous firms in Taiwan and Taiwan firms in Mainland China. And the second purpose is that using all the samples to examine the effect of HRM systems on firm performance. This research collected data by issuing and mailing questionnaires. Effective questionnaires of indigenous firms in Taiwan sent back are 182 and effective rate is 10.11%; effective questionnaire of Taiwan firms in Mainland China sent back are 119 and effective rate is 19.01%. By using statistical method, the results are as follows: 1. There are significant differences in ¡§HR values¡¨ and ¡§firm performance¡¨ between indigenous firms in Taiwan and Taiwan firms in Mainland China. The result shows that Taiwan firms in Mainland China put more emphasis on HR values and has better performance than indigenous firms in Taiwan. 2. ¡§HR values¡¨ and ¡§competitive strategies¡¨ have positive effects on ¡§HRM systems¡¨. Besides, setting up an independent HR department also has positive effects on ¡§HRM systems¡¨. The result indicates that if the top managers put more emphasis on human resource management and adopt differentiation strategies, the firms are more likely to use ¡§make-organic¡¨ HRM systems. 3. ¡§HR values¡¨, and ¡§competitive strategies¡¨ have positive impact on ¡§firm performance¡¨. This result shows that if the top managers put more emphasis on human resource management and adopt differentiation strategies, the firms will get better performance. According to the results above, this study suggest that we should take human resource as the most important asset of the business, and set up an independent HR department to manage human resource and make good use of it. In addition, we should adapt the ¡§make-organic¡¨ HRM systems in order to improve performance. v

Researchers have been addressing on entry strategies, most of them are foreign researchers conducted researches on multinational firms, especially firms entering developed European countries or USA. Domestic researches mainly focused on firms entering PRC market, literally few studies have been found served Taiwan as the market being entered. Since Taiwan released the limit on foreigner share holding proportions in 1984, international advertisement firms gradually entered Taiwan. In the score years, Taiwan¡¦s advertisement market have been totally owned by foreign firms, thus Taiwanese advertisement firms need a method to break through. Given southeastern Asia markets are emerging, for Taiwanese advertisement firms, they pose as a market to be invested. Thus this thesis analyzed the entry mode of international advertising firms in order to serve as a reference to Taiwanese advertisement firms. This research served the period between establishment and entering Taiwan, cultural differences, five years average growth rate of GDP per capita, five years average growth rate of FDI in origin country, year 1984 and the changes in the number of competitors as the independent variables, and ownership or not as the dependent variable, applied logistic regression models in testing the relation between the selected variables. Outcomes indicate that cultural differences factor and five years average growth rate of GDP per capita factor bear significant factor loading while the other yielded insignificant results. Emerging countries in Asia ¡V e.g. Vietnam and Thailand ¡V possess close culture characteristics with Taiwan. Thus if advertisement firms are willing to invest in these markets, it is suggested to enter with ownership ¡V especially when the underlying countries¡¦ GDP growth rates are high.

Whether it is internationalisation or globalisation, many South African firms are under constant pressure to enter and compete in foreign markets. For some firms, the decision to internationalise is crucial to the sustainability of the firm and in some instances requires a re-evaluation of the strategic intentions and objectives of the firm. Firms in the civil engineering consultant industry are no different, with many having no logical choice of expansion and growth except to enter foreign markets. For the civil engineering consultant, the acquisition of international projects is somewhat different from domestic projects in that key role players and operational norms in the international arena are relatively unknown and often misunderstood. Many firms attempting to enter foreign markets simply do not undertake the necessary analysis to understand the international environment and fail to formulate a sustainable international strategy. The objective of this dissertation is to analyse those factors contributing to the successful identification and formulation of an international strategy. Whilst the dissertation has a bias to civil engineering consultants it is believed that many of the points and issues highlighted can be used by any firm attempting to breach international markets. In order to provide a suitable conclusion to this dissertation, a case study is analysed. The case in point is the international strategy identification and formulation of Goba Moahloli Keeve Steyn (Pty) Ltd, a multi-disciplinary engineering firm whose aims are to acquire and manage large engineering projects beyond national borders. It is evident from this study that in order to be effective in foreign markets, it is extremely important for consulting engineering firms to have a thorough understanding of the market and to ensure that the most sustainable markets are chosen for possible operation. The design, delivery and implementation of services may have to be tailored to suit the environment within which the firm chooses to operate. The main recommendation of the study is that the consultant engineering firm needs to develop and formulate an international strategy that is consistent with the firm's goals and is one that can be easily adapted to a changing environment. / Thesis (MBA)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

This thesis is a study of firm dynamics, family ownership, and employment protection. It addresses the implications of employment protection on firm productivity and how family owned firms react differently with regard to economic shocks. It also investigates whether family ownership matters for the probability of exhibiting high growth. By using a novel data identification strategy, family ownership is identified in full population register data. The thesis also highlights some important caveats in the official statistics on self-employment. / Denna avhandling behandlar företagsdynamik, familjeägande och anställningsskydd. I avhandlingen analyseras anställningsskyddet och hur det påverkar företagens produktivitet, samt hur familjeägda företag reagerar på chocker inom industrin. I avhandlingen analyseras också hur familjeägande påverkar sannolikheten för ett företag att uppnå en hög tillväxttakt. Genom att kombinera olika statistikkällor kan samtliga familjeföretag i den den svenska företagspopulationen identifieras. Avhandlingen belyser också några av de problem som finns i den officiella statistiken över egenföretagare.

There will always be a need for consulting engineering services in industry. In the engineering consulting fraternity, employees are the key valuable assets and this study addresses how the professional employees’ skills can be managed and structured in such a manner that they contribute efficiently to the daily operation of the consulting engineering firms. The core business of the consulting engineering firms is to sell or offer engineering or technical solutions to their clients and this can be successfully recognised by integrating the firm’s different engineering disciplines into projects teams that are able to implement specific projects allocated to them. Leaders in these teams are expected to have proficiency to identify individuals’ skills and talents that can be incorporated into a specific project team. At a strategic level, firms’ mangers should consider developing skills development plans that takes into consideration a combination of academic training, professional training and practical employee training. As soon as a skills development plan is in place, it is easier for it to be implemented at the operational level under the supervision of team leaders who are responsible for the continuing professional development of individual team members. The aim of this study was to determine the various business and technological strategies applied by consulting engineering firms while tendering and competing for project work in the country. The consulting engineering industry is highly competitive; managers of these firms must be properly equipped with both technical and management skills in order that they may survive in this industry. A probability sample of 44 engineering consultants was drawn from consulting engineers in two areas of South Africa, namely, North West Province and Eastern Cape Province, which have a total of 140 consultants. 22% of the respondents offered electrical engineering services, followed by the civil engineering services that form 16.7% of the respondents. The structural and mechanical engineering followed at 13.9% and 11.1% respectively. Chemical engineering and architecture were both at 5.6%. Some of the findings of this study were that managers of the consulting engineering firms must be equipped with communication competencies as well as emotional intelligence and self-management competencies, because, although consultants are highly technically skilled, they lack business and human skills. Part of the recommendations are that there is a need for the consulting engineering firm to upload a succinct synopsis of their services on their company websites, which will help promote the value of their services to their clients. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

The purpose of this research was to empirically examine the relationship between audit committees and the changing of independent accounting firms, especially those independent auditor changes in which accounting firms are displaced as auditors by accounting firms that are in the larger-sized category. This research involved the testing of two different, but closely related questions. The first research question asks, "Does the existence of an audit committee of a board of directors partially explain a company's decision to change independent accounting firms?" The second research question asks, "Does the existence of an audit committee of a board of directors partially explain a company's decision to change to a larger accounting firm rather than change to an accounting firm of equal or smaller size?" Statistical models were developed for the two research questions using criteria involved in the auditor change decisions as reported in previous research studies. Eight criterion, including the existence of an audit committee, were defined specifically and incorporated into a survey instrument. The survey instrument was circulated to the accounting firms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The accounting firms were asked to report certain information regarding their current and previous auditing clients. Data received from the firms were analyzed using multiple regression techniques .

Background: The relationship between family firms and auditors is not a topic that is very well examined. This is also a relationship that is extraordinary because they have different aims with the relationship. Since the family firms seek for long and close relationships while the auditor needs to maintain their independence. There have also been several scandals in the past between family firms and their auditor where the relationship has become to close. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the auditor’s role in family firms, how value is co-created and what value that is co-created when they interact with each other. Method: To answer the research question the data in this study is collected through semi- structured interviews. The interviews were performed and inspired by previous studies which we developed a framework on to have as a guideline during the interviews. The participants in the study were three family firms and their respective auditor and the participants were located in the same geographical area. Findings: In this study, we have focused on how and what value family firms and auditors co- create when they interact with each other. The study suggests important aspects of the family firm and auditor relation to facilitating the value co-creation process. The aspects that were revealed as important were the relationship, communication, collaborative, trust, and experience from the auditor. The study also investigated which values family firms and auditors co-create, these were smarter planning, increase of effectiveness, exchange of knowledge, expanded networks, and value for society.