Firms in many sectors have achieved significant economies by taking advantages of opportunities made possible by innovation in trucking logistics. Transportation usually represents the single most important component in trucking logistics costs for most firms. Transportation costs are particularly important to the corrugated container industry. Averaging an estimated 12 to 20% of total costs, transportation costs are a vital factor in the geographical scope of the markets producer can serve in addition to affecting the prices of production inputs and outputs. A natural question for the corrugated container industry is how improvements in the trucking logistics impacts a firms overall operating rate. The literature contains very little information on the relative costs and benefits of alternative logistic operations, including outsourcing, long term contracts, and private carrier. This research seeks to identify practices in trucking logistics that box plants might utilize to obtain materials and disburse products more economically.

This study looks at the relationship between ownership structure, monitoring and firm performance. The research employed the agency theory hypothesised by Jensen and Meckling (1976) from the view of contractual relationships among various parties involved within a company. It presents a longitudinal study of the 161 non- financial publicly listed companies in the Jakarta Stock Exchange between 1994- 2000. This design enables a researcher not only to examine the effects of various governance variables on corporate performance, but also to examine the extent to which such relationships vary with changes in the general economic environment. This study reveals that only a small proportion of private-domestic Indonesian firms have a widely dispersed ownership structure. Viewed from the standpoint of traditional agency theory, the separation of ownership and control seems to work differently in Indonesia. In this country the agency problem is not between the owners and the managers, as in Anglo-Saxon countries, but may be between “strong” controlling shareholders and “weak” minority owners. The findings suggest a strong association between degrees of ownership concentration, owner involvement in supervisory/management board and the existence of family business groups. These factors are interdependent, and each of them relates cohesively to the others within the organisation. In this regard, the collectivism and higher power distance value dimensions that are dominant in Indonesian society also heighten such relationships. Inappropriate institutional, law and legal enforcement provide the means for the controlling shareholders to continue these practices, which insulate them from external interference, monitoring and supervision. / Taken together, these findings support the view that national cultural features have a profound effect on the structure of national economies. The evidence corroborates the uniqueness of corporate governance practices in Indonesia, and the findings support the supremacy of controlling shareholders Further to the growing debate on the costs and benefits of controlling shareholders, the empirical findings of this study reveal that these shareholders are the source of the corporate governance problem rather than solution. In short, the most basic factor which inhibits the effectiveness of corporate governance implementation in Indonesia is the existence of powerful large shareholdings in the hands of a family. Governance reform, therefore, should address the corporate system by seeking to reduce the supremacy of these shareholders, and at the same time empower the other stakeholders. The findings also support the view of both the co-evolutionary and path-dependency theories in regard to factors that determine the pattern of ownership structure. The development of firms in Indonesia follows the path-dependence structure and, during this process, the firms’ environments will interact with and operate endogenous responses for environmental change. Such exogenous and endogenous forces shape the environment and trigger organisations to adapt in different ways so that they are able to survive. / Thus, one would expect there to be different corporate governance systems within each country and any effort towards reforming such systems should consider factors specific to that country. This implies that governance reforms should be fully compatible with a country’s national culture, institutional, legal and business systems. Other variables, such as informal norms (social norms and cultural beliefs) and the political environment in a country should also be considered in the design of these reforms.

This research investigates the strategic governance choices made in commercializing new technologies arising from university research. <br /><br /> Departing from the traditional licensing vs. start-up approach, it is proposed that there are three primary methods of commercializing these technologies: 1) Build ? creating a new business based on the technology, 2) Rent ? ongoing development and marketing of the technology to established firms that use the technology in their businesses and 3) Sell ? disposition of the technology to an established firm. <br /><br /> Using economic theories of the firm, particularly transaction cost economics, it is hypothesized that: <ul> <li>the build option is positively associated with firms deriving revenue primarily from product market activity (H1a) and expending resources on both technology development activities and production activities (H2a); </li> <li>the rent and sell options are positively associated with firms deriving revenue primarily from technology market activity (H1b) and expending resources on technology development activities but not on production activities (H2b). </li> <li>the greater the patent or other legal protection (H3), the risk of substitutes (H5) or the dynamism associated with the technology (H8), the greater the likelihood that the technology will be commercialized using the rent option;</li> <li>the greater the tacitness and complexity (H4) or the greater the volatility associated with the technology, the greater the likelihood that the technology will be commercialized using the build or sell options; and</li> <li>the greater the importance of specialized complementary assets, the greater the likelihood that the technology will be commercialized using the sell option (H6). </li> </ul> Three studies were conducted providing differing perspectives on the research question. Study #1 examines three start-ups based on new technologies arising from research conducted at the University of Waterloo. Study #2 analyzes the business activities of a number of Canadian and U. S. public start-up firms using archival data. Study #3 is a survey of university faculty members who have had new technologies arising from their academic research put into commercial use. <br /><br /> Hypotheses H1a/b, H2a/b and H3 are supported and Hypothesis H7 received more limited support. Evidence for Hypothesis H5 is in the predicted direction but failed to achieve statistical significance. Hypotheses H4, H5, H6 and H8 are not supported.

This research investigates the strategic governance choices made in commercializing new technologies arising from university research. <br /><br /> Departing from the traditional licensing vs. start-up approach, it is proposed that there are three primary methods of commercializing these technologies: 1) Build ? creating a new business based on the technology, 2) Rent ? ongoing development and marketing of the technology to established firms that use the technology in their businesses and 3) Sell ? disposition of the technology to an established firm. <br /><br /> Using economic theories of the firm, particularly transaction cost economics, it is hypothesized that: <ul> <li>the build option is positively associated with firms deriving revenue primarily from product market activity (H1a) and expending resources on both technology development activities and production activities (H2a); </li> <li>the rent and sell options are positively associated with firms deriving revenue primarily from technology market activity (H1b) and expending resources on technology development activities but not on production activities (H2b). </li> <li>the greater the patent or other legal protection (H3), the risk of substitutes (H5) or the dynamism associated with the technology (H8), the greater the likelihood that the technology will be commercialized using the rent option;</li> <li>the greater the tacitness and complexity (H4) or the greater the volatility associated with the technology, the greater the likelihood that the technology will be commercialized using the build or sell options; and</li> <li>the greater the importance of specialized complementary assets, the greater the likelihood that the technology will be commercialized using the sell option (H6). </li> </ul> Three studies were conducted providing differing perspectives on the research question. Study #1 examines three start-ups based on new technologies arising from research conducted at the University of Waterloo. Study #2 analyzes the business activities of a number of Canadian and U. S. public start-up firms using archival data. Study #3 is a survey of university faculty members who have had new technologies arising from their academic research put into commercial use. <br /><br /> Hypotheses H1a/b, H2a/b and H3 are supported and Hypothesis H7 received more limited support. Evidence for Hypothesis H5 is in the predicted direction but failed to achieve statistical significance. Hypotheses H4, H5, H6 and H8 are not supported.

<p>Over the last thirty years successful national economic development is considered participation in global industries, particularly in global value chains. Frequently, however, inclusion in these chains brings forth varied socioeconomic benefits for chain actors, acutely different ethnic and racial groups. Costa Rican participation in the tourism global value chain while heralded as a success story shows varied impacts for ethnoracial groups who are incorporated, excluded, and stratified in various forms. By comparing two communities in Costa Rica, Tamarindo and Cahuita, three main practices are apparent in determining the position of foreigners from the global North, Costa Ricans from the Central Valley, Afro-Costa Ricans, and Guanacastecans in the industry as workers or entrepreneur suppliers: (1) the role of <italic>governance structures</italic>, i.e., power dynamics between firms along the value chain and the importance of standards, formal and subjective; (2) <italic>institutions</italic>, including global private travel fairs, national tourism boards, and specific development policies; and (3) the dominance of environmental imagery and rural democracy narratives to <italic>market</italic> Costa Rica. Concretely, the development of global tourism in Costa Rica and its impact upon different groups is nuanced and it is a testament to both opportunities for local economic and social empowerment and stratification and marginalization.</p> / Dissertation

Orientador: Walter Belik / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T05:44:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Quadros_AllanVieiradeCastro_M.pdf: 1920709 bytes, checksum: 8c2e451ff93c3fa9f3d59bfa8074cc8a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: O consumo crescente de cafés de melhor qualidade no Brasil e no mundo, assim como a busca de maior rentabilidade e proteção no segmento rural vêm estimulando a diferenciação do café commodity. Essa diferenciação é realizada por meio de investimentos específicos na produção, os quais geram quase-rendas. No entanto, mesmo cafeicultores que venceram concursos de qualidade encontram dificuldades em comercializar o café gourmet a um preço diferenciado, não se apropriando, portanto, das quase-rendas geradas. Com base na Economia dos Custos de Transação, pode-se asseverar que a apropriação dessas quase-rendas depende de fatores institucionais que caracterizam a relação produtor - indústria - consumidores. Para avaliar quais seriam as estruturas de governança redutoras de custos de transação e que permitiriam apropriação de quase-rendas pelo segmento rural, optou-se por realizar estudo de caso dos produtores da região da Alta Mogiana. Foram entrevistados cinco produtores cooperados de porte pequeno e médio, a cooperativa local e um grande produtor. Partiu-se da hipótese de que a integração vertical seria a estrutura mais adequada à produção gourmet. Para os grandes produtores, essa seria uma estratégia viável, dado o nível de capitalização. Contudo, os pequenos e médios produtores teriam de adotar a coordenação horizontal (cooperativa) a fim de possibilitar a integração vertical e apropriação de uma marca, bem como facilitar a obtenção de contratos de comercialização de cafés gourmet com outras torrefadoras. De ambas as formas, os pequenos e médios produtores poderiam se apropriar das quase-rendas oriundas da diferenciação. Os resultados demonstraram que para o grande produtor a estrutura verticalizada é adequada. No entanto, o sistema de cooperativa com torrefadora e marca própria de café gourmet não se apresentou como uma estrutura de governança eficiente quando os pequenos e médios produtores cooperados vendem café diferenciado diretamente à cooperativa. Por outro lado, a coordenação horizontal demonstrou ser eficiente na intermediação/ facilitação de contratos de comercialização de cafés gourmet por esses produtores com outras torrefadoras / Abstract: The growing consumption of better quality coffee in Brazil and worldwide, as well as the search for more profitability and protection in the rural segment have stimulated the differentiation of the commodity coffee. This differentiation is achieved by specific investments in production, which generate quasi-rents. However, even coffee growers who have won quality contests face difficulties to commercialize the gourmet coffee at a differentiated price, not appropriating so, the generated quasi-rents. Based on the Transaction Costs Economics, it is possible to assert that the appropriation of these quasi-rents is contingent on institutional factors that characterize the grower - industry- customer relationship. In order to evaluate which would be the transaction cost reducing governance structures that would allow appropriation of quasi-rents by the rural segment, it was opted to accomplish a case study of the Alta Mogiana's region growers. Five small and medium cooperated growers, the local cooperative and one major grower were interviewed. The starting point was the hypothesis that the vertical integration would be the most adequate structure. For major growers, that would be a feasible strategy, given the capitalization level. However, the small and medium growers would have to adopt horizontal coordination (cooperative) in order to make vertical integration and brand appropriation possible as well as to facilitate the obtainment of gourmet coffees commercialization contracts with other roasters firms. Either way, the small and medium growers would be able to appropriate the quasi-rents from differentiation. The results demonstrated that for the major grower the verticalized structure is adequate. However, the cooperative system with roaster and own gourmet coffee brand did not present itself as an efficient structure when the small and medium cooperated growers sell differentiated coffee to the cooperative. On the other hand, the horizontal coordination demonstrated being efficient in the intermediation / facilitation of gourmet coffee commercialization contracts for these growers with other roaster firms / Mestrado / Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente / Mestre em Desenvolvimento Econômico

No description available.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo principal analisar as estruturas de governança e os mecanismos de coordenação adotados pelas agroindústrias familiares no Corede Médio Alto Uruguai e seus alinhamentos com os pressupostos teóricos. Para tanto, procurou compreender a trajetória e as dinâmicas de funcionamento das agroindústrias estudadas, identificar quais formas de governança adotam, caracterizar as transações e os agentes, verificar quais mecanismos de coordenação utilizam para auxiliar suas trocas e por fim, comparar a realidade encontrada com as recomendações teóricas da Economia dos Custos de Transação - ECT. De forma mais específica, esta dissertação procurou responder aos seguintes problemas: Quais são as estruturas de governança e os mecanismos de coordenação adotados pelas agroindústrias familiares no Corede Médio Alto Uruguai? As estruturas de governança e os mecanismos de coordenação utilizados pelas agroindústrias familiares no Corede Médio Alto Uruguai atendem aos pressupostos teóricos de maximização da eficiência e redução dos custos de transação? Para responder essas perguntas e alcançar os objetivos, foi empregado o enfoque teórico da Nova Economia Institucional e da ECT. A pesquisa, de caráter exploratório-descritivo, foi delineada por meio de estudos de casos múltiplos, empregando técnicas qualitativas e quantitativas. O estudo foi desenvolvido no Corede Médio Alto Uruguai, norte do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, onde foram investigadas onze agroindústrias familiares. Os dados foram gerados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, observação e diário de campo e analisados com o suporte da estatística descritiva e da Análise Estrutural Discreta Comparada. Os resultados apontam que a maioria das agroindústrias familiares estudadas, totalizando sete casos, adota uma estrutura de governança de mercado. Outras duas se utilizam de uma forma de governança híbrida e outros dois casos caracterizam a governança hierárquica. As transações apresentam alta especificidade de ativos, frequência recorrente, baixa incerteza, pouco oportunismo e racionalidade pouco limitada. Diante disso, ao aplicar Análise Estrutural Discreta Comparada avalia-se que, (i) frente às características das transações e dos agentes, a estrutura de governança de mercado adotada pelas agroindústrias familiares pode não ser a mais adequada, porém (ii) mesmo não sendo a estrutura mais adequada, as agroindústrias familiares estão obtendo sucesso em suas transações. Acredita-se que, neste estudo, a segunda avaliação seja mais coerente com a realidade empírica tratada, mesmo que, de certo modo, contrarie alguns argumentos da ECT. Porém, a própria ECT trata do ambiente institucional, e é este que torna impossível e/ou inviável que as agroindústrias familiares analisadas nesta pesquisa adotem estruturas de governança hierárquicas. Por fim, considera-se que a confiança é o mecanismo de coordenação responsável, em grande medida, pelo sucesso das transações realizadas pelas agroindústrias familiares estudadas. / The present study had as main objective to analyze the structures of governance and the coordination mechanisms adopted by the familiar agroindustries of Corede Médio Alto Uruguai and their alignments with the theoretical assumptions. In order to do so, it sought to understand the trajectory and dynamics of the agroindustries studied, to identify which forms of governance they adopt, to characterize the transactions and the agents, to verify which coordination mechanisms they use to aid their exchanges and, finally, to compare the reality found with the theoretical recommendations of the Transaction Costs Economy - TCE. More specifically, this study sought to answer the following problems: What are the governance structures and coordination mechanisms adopted by the Corede Médio Alto Uruguai familiar agroindustries? Does the governance structures and the coordination mechanisms used by the familiar agroindustries of Corede Médio Alto Uruguai meet the theoretical assumptions of maximizing efficiency and reducing transaction costs? In order to answer these questions and to achieve the objectives, the theoretical approach of the New Institutional Economy and TCE was used. The exploratory-descriptive research was delineated through multiple case studies using qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study was developed in Corede Médio Alto Uruguai, in northern Rio Grande do Sul, where eleven familiar agroindustries were analized. The data were generated through semi-structured interviews, observation and field diary and analyzed with the support of descriptive statistics and Comparative Discrete Structural Analysis. The results show that most of the familiar agroindustries studied, seven cases, adopts a structure of market governance. Two of them use an hybrid governance form and the other two cases characterize hierarchical governance. The transactions present high asset specificity, recurrent frequency, low uncertainty, little opportunism and little limited rationality. Therefore, in applying Comparative Discrete Structural Analysis it is assessed that, (i) in face of the characteristics of the transactions and the agents, the market governance structure adopted by the familiar agroindustries may not be the most adequate, but (ii) even not being the most appropriate structure, familiar agroindustries are getting success in their transactions. It is believed that in this study the second assessment is more consistent with the empirical reality reflected, even if, to some extent, it opposes some TCE arguments. However, TCE itself deals with the institutional environment, and it is what makes it impossible and / or unfeasible to the familiar agroindustries analyzed in this research to adopt hierarchical governance structures. Finally, it is considered that reliability is the coordination mechanism responsible, to a large extent, for the success of the transactions carried out by the familiar agroindustries studied.

Each software project requires a specialized management to handle software development activities throughout the project life cycle successfully and efficiently. Software governance structures provide easy and efficient ways to handle software development activities. Software configuration management is an important software development activity, and while selecting the right strategy in configuration management, its conformity to the software governance should be considered as well. Software configuration management patterns are aligned with the software governance structures to increase the success in development and management of the projects. Companies running large and inter-dependent projects, should adapt their governance structures to the changing characteristics and dependencies of projects. In this thesis, we propose a method to dynamically manage software configuration management, as a result of the changing specifications in the software governance representation.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo principal analisar as estruturas de governança e os mecanismos de coordenação adotados pelas agroindústrias familiares no Corede Médio Alto Uruguai e seus alinhamentos com os pressupostos teóricos. Para tanto, procurou compreender a trajetória e as dinâmicas de funcionamento das agroindústrias estudadas, identificar quais formas de governança adotam, caracterizar as transações e os agentes, verificar quais mecanismos de coordenação utilizam para auxiliar suas trocas e por fim, comparar a realidade encontrada com as recomendações teóricas da Economia dos Custos de Transação - ECT. De forma mais específica, esta dissertação procurou responder aos seguintes problemas: Quais são as estruturas de governança e os mecanismos de coordenação adotados pelas agroindústrias familiares no Corede Médio Alto Uruguai? As estruturas de governança e os mecanismos de coordenação utilizados pelas agroindústrias familiares no Corede Médio Alto Uruguai atendem aos pressupostos teóricos de maximização da eficiência e redução dos custos de transação? Para responder essas perguntas e alcançar os objetivos, foi empregado o enfoque teórico da Nova Economia Institucional e da ECT. A pesquisa, de caráter exploratório-descritivo, foi delineada por meio de estudos de casos múltiplos, empregando técnicas qualitativas e quantitativas. O estudo foi desenvolvido no Corede Médio Alto Uruguai, norte do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, onde foram investigadas onze agroindústrias familiares. Os dados foram gerados por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, observação e diário de campo e analisados com o suporte da estatística descritiva e da Análise Estrutural Discreta Comparada. Os resultados apontam que a maioria das agroindústrias familiares estudadas, totalizando sete casos, adota uma estrutura de governança de mercado. Outras duas se utilizam de uma forma de governança híbrida e outros dois casos caracterizam a governança hierárquica. As transações apresentam alta especificidade de ativos, frequência recorrente, baixa incerteza, pouco oportunismo e racionalidade pouco limitada. Diante disso, ao aplicar Análise Estrutural Discreta Comparada avalia-se que, (i) frente às características das transações e dos agentes, a estrutura de governança de mercado adotada pelas agroindústrias familiares pode não ser a mais adequada, porém (ii) mesmo não sendo a estrutura mais adequada, as agroindústrias familiares estão obtendo sucesso em suas transações. Acredita-se que, neste estudo, a segunda avaliação seja mais coerente com a realidade empírica tratada, mesmo que, de certo modo, contrarie alguns argumentos da ECT. Porém, a própria ECT trata do ambiente institucional, e é este que torna impossível e/ou inviável que as agroindústrias familiares analisadas nesta pesquisa adotem estruturas de governança hierárquicas. Por fim, considera-se que a confiança é o mecanismo de coordenação responsável, em grande medida, pelo sucesso das transações realizadas pelas agroindústrias familiares estudadas. / The present study had as main objective to analyze the structures of governance and the coordination mechanisms adopted by the familiar agroindustries of Corede Médio Alto Uruguai and their alignments with the theoretical assumptions. In order to do so, it sought to understand the trajectory and dynamics of the agroindustries studied, to identify which forms of governance they adopt, to characterize the transactions and the agents, to verify which coordination mechanisms they use to aid their exchanges and, finally, to compare the reality found with the theoretical recommendations of the Transaction Costs Economy - TCE. More specifically, this study sought to answer the following problems: What are the governance structures and coordination mechanisms adopted by the Corede Médio Alto Uruguai familiar agroindustries? Does the governance structures and the coordination mechanisms used by the familiar agroindustries of Corede Médio Alto Uruguai meet the theoretical assumptions of maximizing efficiency and reducing transaction costs? In order to answer these questions and to achieve the objectives, the theoretical approach of the New Institutional Economy and TCE was used. The exploratory-descriptive research was delineated through multiple case studies using qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study was developed in Corede Médio Alto Uruguai, in northern Rio Grande do Sul, where eleven familiar agroindustries were analized. The data were generated through semi-structured interviews, observation and field diary and analyzed with the support of descriptive statistics and Comparative Discrete Structural Analysis. The results show that most of the familiar agroindustries studied, seven cases, adopts a structure of market governance. Two of them use an hybrid governance form and the other two cases characterize hierarchical governance. The transactions present high asset specificity, recurrent frequency, low uncertainty, little opportunism and little limited rationality. Therefore, in applying Comparative Discrete Structural Analysis it is assessed that, (i) in face of the characteristics of the transactions and the agents, the market governance structure adopted by the familiar agroindustries may not be the most adequate, but (ii) even not being the most appropriate structure, familiar agroindustries are getting success in their transactions. It is believed that in this study the second assessment is more consistent with the empirical reality reflected, even if, to some extent, it opposes some TCE arguments. However, TCE itself deals with the institutional environment, and it is what makes it impossible and / or unfeasible to the familiar agroindustries analyzed in this research to adopt hierarchical governance structures. Finally, it is considered that reliability is the coordination mechanism responsible, to a large extent, for the success of the transactions carried out by the familiar agroindustries studied.