I propose an integrative approach to address the above questions. My findings suggest that certain kinds of the organizational form were always interwoven with the social situation at the time and could not be simplistically explained in terms of efficiency alone. It was the state and the development of the market that determined the dynamics of the organizational form. In my opinion, efficiency theory, specifically the concept of asset specificity, could explain why the internal market system failed. On the other hand, power theory, specifically the phenomenon of isomorphism, could shed light on why the enterprise adopted the internal market system in 1994. The study suggests that the perspective of power has more strength to explain the social process of the organizational form framing. Furthermore, it explores the source of the internal transaction costs, which was underdeveloped in neo-institutional economic theory. It is my argument that there is a missing link between asset specificity and the internal transaction costs. / In the institutional approach, the studies of organizational forms have long been influenced by two theories: efficiency theory and power theory. The general theoretical concern of this study is: Is efficiency theory adequate to explain the internal organizational form? Which of these two theories is more appropriate to explain the internal organizational form of the state-owned enterprises in China? / The twenty-year economic reform in China has witnessed frequent changes in the titles and structures of China's economic organizations. This case study investigates the internal organizational form of a state-owned enterprise in Guangzhou, China. It depicts the history of its organizational form from 1949 to 2000. Under the planned economy, the said enterprise, The Southern Heavy Machinery Corporation, had an over-integrated organizational structure. From 1994 to 2000, the enterprise has set up a system consisting of an enterprise group corporation and dozens of subsidiary companies, moving toward a market system for its internal transactions among the production units. The subsidiary companies were set up on the basis of the earlier production plants established before 1984. As profits decreased year by year, the new general manager who started his tenure in September 2000 made the decision to bring some of its crucial subsidiary companies back into the form of production plants to render stronger continuities in production. / Why then, after 16 years of internal market practice that has begun in 1984, did the enterprise restructure itself to adopt the unitary form (U form) in some crucial production units? This study aims to explain the following questions: what was the cause of adopting the certain organizational form, why it used the internal market system and why the internal market system failed. / 平萍. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2002. / 參考文獻 (p. 254-264). / 中英文摘要. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 63-05, Section: A, page: 2020. / Supervisor: Tai-lok Lui. / Available also through the Internet via Current research @ Chinese University of Hong Kong under title: From over-integration to asset specificity the organizational change of a state-owned machinery enterprise in Guangzhou (China, Chinese text) / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2002. / Can kao wen xian (p. 254-264). / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao. / Ping Ping.

by Wan Kai Hong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-102). / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Method --- p.11 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- An Evaluation of Economic Efficiency of State-owned and Collective Enterprises in Hubei --- p.23 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- An Evaluation of Economic Efficiency of International Joint Ventures in Shanghai --- p.44 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.90 / References --- p.95 / Tables --- p.103 / Figure --- p.241

Arivia.kom was formed out of a merger of the information technology (IT) departments of Eskom, Transnet and Denel. The aim was to address skilled staff losses and to achieve economies of scale. Agreements were drafted ensuring arivia.kom business patronage for a period of five years. Arivia.kom's commencement was accompanied by problems, affecting its customers to the extent that they indicated dissatisfaction with performance. This study established the extent of those problems, and the reasons for their occurrence. A market analysis was conducted with specific focus on customer and competitor analysis. An investigation was conducted into the quality of service, overall customer impression of the organisation since its inception, as well as performance against competitors. The major findings indicated that performance problems were not isolated incidents but consistent across the organisation. These problems stemmed from poor organisational design, poorly evolved organisational culture, unclear positioning and poor competitor and customer intelligence capability. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

Corn production is scattered geographically over various continents, but most of it is grown in the United States. As such, the world price of corn futures contracts is largely dominated by North American corn prices as traded on the Chicago Board of Trade. In recent years, this market has been characterised by an increase in price volatility and magnitude of price movement as a result of decreasing stock levels. The development and implementation of an effective and successful derivative price risk management strategy based on the Chicago Board of Trade corn futures contract will therefore be of inestimable value to market stakeholders worldwide. The research focused on the efficient market hypothesis and the possibility of contesting this phenomenon through an application of a derivative price risk management methodology. The methodology is based on a combination of an analysis of market trends and technical oscillators with the objective of generating returns superior to that of a market benchmark. The study found that market participants are currently unable to exploit price movement in a manner which results in returns that contest the notion of efficient markets. The methodology proposed, however, does allow the user to consistently achieve returns superior to that of a predetermined market benchmark. The benchmark price for the purposes of this study was the average price offered by the market over the contract lifetime, and such, the efficient market hypothesis was successfully contested. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

Effective corporate governance of boards can become a sustainable competitive advantage for organisations. In the extant literature a number of reasons are cited for dysfunctional boards. Some of the reasons attributed to board failure relate to poor corporate governance, practice and oversight. Some of the reasons for board failure pertain to micromanaging of the organisation, an ineffective nominating committee, size of the board, non-functioning committee structure, absence of strategic plan, no orientation\induction plan and no rotational plan. Poor governance practises across all sectors has negatively tainted economic investment in South Africa consequentially affecting economic growth. Below South Africa’s competitive rating slipped from (52nd) in 2012-2013 to 53rd in 2013-2014 rating is given to show that marked improvement is needed in corporate governance. South Africa’s rating in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2012 was 43 and slipped to position 69 amongst 176 countries for the Corruption Perception Index, 2013. The trend analysis report of the Public Service Commission reported that In 2006/7, there were 1 042 cases of corruption, amounting to R130.6-million; in 2007/8, there were 868 cases, amounting to R21.7-million; in 2008/9, there were 1 204 cases, amounting to R100.1-million; in 2009/10, there were 1 135 cases, amounting to R346.5-million; in 2010/11, there were 1 035 cases, amounting to R932.3-million; in 2011/12, there were 1 243 cases, amounting to R229.9-million. Good governance frameworks, policies, procedures, processes and practices attract foreign direct investments. Better governance practices are critical for improved economic growth and development that will result in an improvement in the South Africa’s competitiveness and corruption perception index ratings. South Africa’s continued economic growth and development is dependent on attracting foreign direct investment. From 1994 corporate governance regimes were promulgated. Although there are a collection of corporate governance codes and guidelines that have been published, few specifically cover governance practices in public entities. Moreover, with better governance practices state-owned enterprises can significantly contribute to the economic transformation and development in South Africa. The purpose of the study is to establish that improved governance is a function of board structure and board process variables. With the presence of structural and process variables board activism will improve resulting in board decision quality. Independent directors without no conflict of interest, the requisite industry expertise and intelligence (functional area knowledge), the information to make decisions are adequate, accurate and timely (information quality), directors exert the needed effort (effort norms), directors robustly explore all dimensions and options (cognitive conflict) and the board functions optimally (cohesiveness) influence board decision quality. Boards which are configured optimally are able to execute their fiduciary responsibility optimally. In 2012 a budget of R845.5 billion was provisioned for infrastructural development to boost economic development. This budget allocation must be prudently and frugally managed in accordance with good governance practises to achieve economic development. In particular South Africa has to improve its competitiveness rating and corruption perception index to attract investments and continual growth. In terms of the research design, to address the research questions, a mixed research approach was selected for the study. The phenomenological (qualitative) and positivist (quantitative) philosophical paradigms were adopted with the purpose to obtain a greater understanding of board decision quality in the Public Entities in South Africa. The data collection instruments used in the study was in-depth interviews, focus group interviews and administration of a survey. The population for the qualitative research was 19 in-depth interviews and two focus group interviews. For the quantitative study a population of 215 public entity board members were selected for the study. A total of 104 board members of Public Entities completed the survey for the study. In relation to data analysis for the qualitative study Tesch’s coding, thematic analysis was used to analyse the in-depth and focus group interviews. For the quantitative study, SPSS was used to analyse responses from the surveys. The hypothesis was tested using inferential statistics, namely, factor analysis and multiple regression was used.. The findings generated from the first phase, the qualitative study that provided support for the positive relationship between board structure, board process variables and board decision quality. The following five variables are incorporated in a model that seeks to identify the strongest predictor of board decision quality: (1) board independence, (2) effort norms, (3) functional area knowledge and skill, (4) cognitive conflict and (5) information quality. The findings show that information quality is the strongest predictor of board decision quality followed by expert knowledge and skill. As expected, expert knowledge does not only increase the cognitive capacity of the board, but it also positively affects company competitiveness. The findings also show that cognitive conflict has a negative association with decision quality. The study argues that political influence exerted by board political appointees may explain the negative relationship between cognitive conflict and board decision quality. The major contribution of this study is that it provides a 28-item instrument that can be used practically by public entity boards in the reflective process to improve board decision quality. The study concludes by offering avenues for further research. The model suggests that board decision quality is a product of board structure (board independence), board process (functional area knowledge, information quality, and cognitive conflict and effort norms). / Business Management / D.B.L.

Public entities are faced with the problem of increasing the interest of stakeholders in their annual reports. The aim of this study was to identify the stakeholders of AISA who use the annual report, to investigate their perceptions of the AISA annual report and to determine whether it is used for decision making or accountability purposes. Data was collected by using questionnaires sent to a representative sample of the stakeholders and minutes of meetings and audio recordings of the interrogation of the annual report by the parliamentary accountability and oversight body over DST. The study found that the AISA stakeholders use the annual report for accountability purposes and not for decision making and it has a small readership as it is read mainly by internal stakeholders. The study recommends that public entities need to do much to inform the stakeholders of the availability of their annual reports. / Business Management / M. Com. (Accounting)

State-owned enterprises (SOES) exist in South Africa to drive economic development and improve service delivery to the large population. In order for SOES to achieve their mandates, as set out by government through their shareholding department, financial assistance by the state is imperative. In the case of the monopolistic power utility, Eskom, the South African government (SAGO) has 100% ownership which is managed through the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). This total ownership by the state means that government is responsible in ensuring that the utility is operational and supported financially. The current study was aimed at evaluating the financial assistance received by SOEs in South Africa by the state with specific focus on Eskom. Eskom was selected from the eight SOES managed by the DPE for the purpose of focusing the research. The focus of the study was on the financial assistance to SOES in South Africa by the state. In 2008, Eskom received funding from different sources through loan intervention of the South African government. The loan and guarantees made available to Eskom by government, enabled the SOE to achieve a positive credit rating. Data for this research was primarily collected through academic journals, books, Acts, White Papers, legislation and personal interviews at the National Treasury (NT). The recommendation that this research states relates to the need for a single policy document on state financial assistance to SOES in South Africa. / Public Administration / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This assignment seeks to explore the role of privatisation in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to South Africa and Zambia. In doing this, literature review method based on primary and secondary documentary sources have been utilised. In order to attract FDI, the study revealed that it is necessary to get the policy environment right. Creating an investor-friendly environment which promises good return on investment in line with the international "regulatory" framework - the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) requirements - is therefore significantly important. The World Bank regards Zambia's privatisation programme as the model for Africa. South Africa finds itself in a contradictory position. On the one hand it is the leading economic power in Africa, while on the other hand it still lags behind in terms of restructuring its parastatals. Privatisation programme in South Africa has been very slow. However, the government and other stakeholders, particularly in 1997, have been trying to get privatisation off the ground. The conclusion is that both South Africa and Zambia succeeded in attracting FDI through their processes of privatisation. In both countries major FDI inflows have been an outcome of privatisation. FDI is important for creating employment, debt reduction, empowerment, transfer of technology and managerial skills. However, these countries follow different approaches to privatisation. Due to the slow privatisation pace in South Africa, it is recommended that South Africa learn from Zambia's approach and experience. This would enable South Africa to fully explore some of the benefits of privatisation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie opdrag ondersoek die rol van privatisering in die trek van direkte buitelandse beleggings (DBB) in Suid-Afrika en Zambie. Ten einde hierdie doelstelling te kon bereik is 'n literere oorsig van primere en sekondere bronne gedoen. Hierdie studie het bevind dat 'n gunstige beleidsomgewing DBB sal trek. Die skep van 'n beleggings-vriendelike omgewing wat goeie dividende beloof en in Iyn is met die internasionale "regulerende" raamwerk - die Wereldbank se International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) en World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) - se vereistes is van kardinale belang. Die Wereld Bank beskou Zambie se privatiseringsprogram as die model program vir Afrika. Suid-Afrika bevind haarself in 'n teenstrydige posisie. Aan die een kant is sy Afrika se voorste ekonomiese moondheid, en aan die anderkant is die programme om haar staatsondernemings te herstruktureer nog in hul kinderskoene. Privatiseringsprogramme in Suid Afrika het tot dusver baie stadig verloop. In 1997 het die regering en ander belanghebbende partye egter privatisering van die grond af probeer kry. Die konklusie is dat beide Suid-Afrika en Zambie daarin geslaag het om DBB te lok met hul privatiseringsprogramme. In beide lande was groot DBB die uitkoms van privatisering. DBB is belangrik om werk te skep, skuld vereffening, bemagtiging, en die oordrag van tegnologie en bestuursvaardighede. Hierdie lande volg egter verskillende benaderings tot die privatiseringsproses. Vanwee die stadige privatiseringsproses in Suid Afrika word die voorstel gemaak dat Suid-Afrika by Zambie leer in hul benadering en ervaring. Dit sal Suid-Afrika toelaat om al die voordele van privatisering te ontdek.

Audit committees (ACs) can enhance corporate governance in the public sector, particularly in State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). This study adopted a qualitative research approach to identify factors contributing to the effectiveness of ACs in selected Namibian SOEs to provide sound corporate governance. The empirical data was collected primarily through semi-structured interviews with participants as well as from field notes and company documents. The study highlighted certain AC characteristics and practices contributing to the effectiveness of ACs in selected Namibian SOEs to provide sound corporate governance. The mandate, composition, managing the activities of the AC, performance assessment of the members of the AC and reporting of the AC if applied correctly can enhance effectiveness of ACs. The study also highlighted weaknesses, suggesting that some of the ACs needed improvement in order to enhance corporate governance at SOEs. / College of Accounting Sciences / M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration