This study investigated community college faculty productivity from within the overall context of faculty vitality. The study was conducted at Fraser Valley College in Abbotsford and Chilliwack, British Columbia, and Red Deer College in Red Deer, Alberta. Two research problems were addressed. First, which work related factors, as reported by continuing contract teaching faculty at the two community colleges, facilitated or hindered the productivity of instructors? Second, to what extent are a composite set of factors, based on those suggested in the literature as affecting faculty vitality, perceived by faculty at these colleges to affect their productivity? The research was descriptive, extending faculty productivity and vitality inquiry into the community college context using a case study approach. A questionnaire employing the critical incident technique was used to collect data from faculty about incidents they perceived as having had a personally significant effect on their productivity. A definition of community college faculty productivity for use in the critical incident process was developed using a 12 member Delphi group consisting of three faculty and three administrators from each college. Rating of the composite set of vitality factors was accomplished by asking the respondents to rate each factor on a five point bipolar rating scale based on their perception of the priority each factor had in affecting their productivity. The 330 incidents collected by the questionnaire (171 facilitating, 159 hindering) were classified into 15 incident categories which in turn were able to be grouped into four major areas each of which provides a theme for the related categories they contain. All factors in the composite set of vitality related factors received a minimum mean rating of three on the five point scale. Conclusions drawn include: (1) the frequency of incidents by category should not be the only measure of category importance because frequencies may vary by institution, by instructor, and over time; (2) the categories reflect an open rather than closed classification system and as such are interrelated; (3) the categories reflect both facilitating and hindering incidents; (4) factors suggested by the literature as affecting vitality are perceived by faculty to affect their productivity but these results may hide a diversity of views for a particular situation; (5) the factors identified as facilitating or hindering community college faculty productivity should not be interpreted as applicable in all situations or for all faculty. Research results suggest increased awareness by administrators (at the colleges in the study) of the facilitating/hindering productivity factor category scheme should lead to a working environment more facilitative to faculty productivity if either facilitating incidents are increased and/or hindering incidents are reduced. The productivity factor assessment section of the questionnaire results suggests administrators at the two colleges should be sensitive to any actions which are perceived as undermining quality of performance. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This thesis explores whether independent directors in the USA and Canada are effective in holding management accountable by: (1) analyzing how the policy of relying on independent directors developed and operates; (2) introducing the main theoretical critiques of independent directors’ monitoring effect; and (3) examining whether empirical studies in the field of management science and financial economics support the policy in both countries of relying on independent directors as corporate monitors. Empirical evidence shows that boards with a majority of independent directors, in some circumstances, were associated with better firm performance (in the post-SOX period) and fulfilled certain board tasks effectively in the United States. Canadian studies, however, have not shown a positive association with improved firm performance. Audit committees composed entirely of independent directors have been effective in ensuring the quality of financial reporting in the United States, but this effect has not been found in Canada. Compensation committees composed fully of independent directors neither constrained the level of executive compensation nor tied CEO pay to firm performance in either country. US firms with an audit committee member who had accounting expertise, rather than financial analysis or supervisory expertise, were associated with a higher quality of financial reporting, while Canadian firms with an audit committee member who has financial expertise, instead of financial literacy, were associated with a similar effect. Studies also showed that independent directors perform better in certain circumstances. Based on empirical evidence, US regulators should consider: (1) changing the current mandatory requirements for an independent board and a completely independent compensation committee to a comply-or-explain requirement; (2) narrowing the qualification of a financial expert to an individual who has accounting expertise; and (3) recruiting independent directors who have two or fewer outside directorships, hold more of the corporation’s shares, have lower cost of acquiring corporate information, and have no social connections with the CEO. In Canada, weak evidence of the monitoring effectiveness of independent directors supports the existing comply-or-explain approach. Canadian regulators may only need to require or recommend that at least one audit committee member has financial expertise, instead of only financial literacy.

The service and housing sector stands for 40 % of the total energy consumption in Sweden and extensive measures ought to be made to reduce this number. Measures have been ongoing in this this sector during a relatively long period with the objective in sight that the EU implemented for the year 2020. There is a great focus on technical development that is applied to new construction projects but the measures to improve the energy performance in existing buildings are also an important area for the real estate companies. The European Council has implemented directives that will drive the issue forward regarding energy consumption in the housing sector. Several studies indicate that energy efficiency in existing buildings can be made but there are split opinions regarding energy savings, profitability and what incentives encourage companies to make these investments  What underlying causes make companies want to invest in making existing buildings more energy efficient?What kinds of energy efficiencies are being made? Which factors may affect decisions regarding investments in energy efficiency? The purpose of this essay is to examine how real estate companies are undertaking energy efficiencies in existing building, how the process for these investments may look regarding what types of energy efficiencies that is being performed and what type of investment calculations that is being used.The essay is a qualitative study with exploratory purpose and has an abductive approach. The studies primary data has been gathered through interviews with respondents from 9 different real estate companies. The informants have different positions but a strong relation to energy efficiency. The study indicates that real estate companies have a great focus on performing energy efficiency in existing buildings in their property stock to reach internal environmental goals and because there is a profit to be made by lowering operating costs through energy savings. The buildings specific preconditions dictate to a large extent what type of energy efficiencies that are being performed but in most cases there must be a profitability in the investments for them to be made. In some cases, the energy efficiencies are not necessarily cost effective but they are presumed to make the real estate companies reach their environmental goals and for their business to be run in a sustainable way.

Research and development is one of the technological indicators of developed countries. The vast majority of investment in this area comes from the private sector, it is therefore in the interests of each state to support the private sector investments in research and development. This thesis deals with the tax support of research and development in each of country of OECD. Subsequently the thesis describes tax incentive for research and development in the Czech Republic and the aim of the thesis is to test the hypothesis whether the tax incentive in Czech Republic has increased due to legislative changes effective from 1 January 2014.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-06-07T20:01:14Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Robson Coelho Guerreiro.pdf: 668937 bytes, checksum: b9c46f11f1b2b33983ba034c5d42682e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-07T20:01:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Robson Coelho Guerreiro.pdf: 668937 bytes, checksum: b9c46f11f1b2b33983ba034c5d42682e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-04-28 / The aim of the study is to identify what are the elements of social capital that influence the institutional performance of the Federal Law for Encouragement of Sport, due to the low level of fundraising for sports projects to the law, these relationships between the actors (government, proposer, supporters, pickups and experts in projects). It was adopted a qualitative method, divided into two parts, the first phase of the research was exploratory, as it sought to understand the social mechanisms of functioning of raising funds from the Federal Law of Incentive to Sports. In the second phase, the research was descriptive, as it sought to understand how the social capital elements influence the institutional performance of the Federal Sports Incentive Law. The results presented in the first phase a new configuration in funding mechanisms and relationships within the Federal Law for Encouragement of Sport in the second phase relations were explored and within seven selected items, there was a variation of the importance of the law. In conclusion we found a great relationship on some items and not so well in others, most of the government relations was quoted in a negative way and being the center of dissatisfactions for who regulates the law. Some suggestions have been made to improve institutional performance and thus enforce the law to get more financial resources for the implementation of sports projects. / O objetivo do estudo é Identificar quais são os elementos do capital social que influenciam no desempenho institucional da Lei Federal de Incentivo ao Esporte, devido ao baixo nível de captação de recursos para os projetos esportivos a da lei, essas relações entre os agentes ( governo, proponente, apoiadores, captadores e especialistas em projetos). Foi adotado o método qualitativo, sendo dividido em duas parte, a primeira fase da pesquisa foi exploratória, já que se buscou entender os mecanismos sociais de funcionamento da captação de recursos a partir da Lei Federal de Incentivo ao Esporte. Na segunda fase, a pesquisa foi descritiva, já que se buscou compreender como os elementos de capital social influenciam no desempenho institucional da Lei Federal de Incentivo ao Esporte. Os resultados apresentaram na primeira fase uma nova configuração dos mecanismos de captação e relacionamentos dentro da Lei Federal de Incentivo ao Esporte, na segunda fase as relações foram exploradas e dentro dos sete itens selecionados houve uma variação da importância em relação à lei. Na conclusão foi encontrada uma grande relação em alguns itens e nem tanto assim em outros, na maioria das relações o governo foi citado de forma negativa e sendo o centro das insatisfações por ser quem regulamenta a lei. Algumas sugestões foram apresentadas para que o desempenho institucional melhore e assim se faça cumprir a lei que consiga mais seus recursos financeiros para a execução dos projetos esportivos.

Kundnöjdhet är ett icke-finansiellt prestationsmått. Det kan kopplas till ett belöningssystem för att motivera och vägleda medarbetare samt främja en ökad ansträngning att skapa nöjdare kunder. Ytterligare forskning behövs kring vad som talar för respektive mot att denna koppling fungerar för att motivera medarbetare. Syftet med denna studie är därmed att skapa kunskap om hur medarbetare blir motiverade av att koppla kundnöjdhet till ett belöningssystem. Därför har en kvalitativ fallstudie genomförts där tio intervjuer med medarbetare på en organisation inom bank- och försäkringsbranschen utförts. Från tidigare forskning har det identifierats åtta faktorer som behövs för att skapa ett motiverande belöningssystem. Dessa är; reliabilitet, tydlighet, rättvisa, möjlighet till påverkan, kunskapsnivå, tätare mätpunkter, betydelsefull belöning och motiverande nivå. Av studien framkom det att, när kundnöjdhet mäts leder det till en ökad motivation att få nöjdare kunder. Dessutom ledde belöningssystemets uppbyggnad via den kollektiva belöningen till att medarbetare kände sig lika värdefulla vilket kan bidra till att skapa motivation. Dock upplevdes kundbedömningarna inte alltid som rättvisa och speglade inte medarbetarnas arbetsinsats och rättvisa verkar vara en viktig faktor för att skapa ett motiverande belöningssystem. De slutsatser som framkommit är att om ett belöningssystem inte innefattar de ovan nämnda kriterier som behövs för att få en motiverande effekt, kan belöningssystemet få en underordnad betydelse. Har ett belöningssystem inte en motiverande effekt på medarbetare kommer det inte heller driva oönskade effekter som manipulation och kortsiktighet som annars är möjliga. Även om kundnöjdhetsmätningen är icke reliabel och kundbedömningar kan upplevas som subjektiva och orättvisa, kan belöningssystemet i sin helhet ändå upplevas som rättvist och därmed motiverande. / Customer satisfaction is a non-financial performance measurement that can be connected to an incentive system to motivate and direct employees, as well as drive and increase efforts to create a higher customer satisfaction. More research is needed on what speaks for and against this connection to motivate employees. The purpose of this study is to create knowledge about employees being motivated by connecting customer satisfaction to an incentive system. Therefore, a qualitative case study was conducted in which ten interviews with employees from an organization within the banking and insurance industry. From previous research eight factors has been identified that are needed to create a motivational incentive system. These are; reliability, distinctness, justice, opportunity to influence, knowledge, more frequent measuring points, significant reward and motivational level. The study shows that customer satisfaction led to an increased motivation to get more satisfied customers. In addition, the structure of the incentive system, through the collective reward, led to everyone feeling valuable which can help to create motivation. However, customer assessments were not always perceived as fair and did not reflect employees' performance and justice seems to be an important factor in creating a motivational incentive system. The conclusions reached are that measuring customer satisfaction has a motivating effect on employees to create more satisfied customers. If an incentive system is not based on the criteria above which are required to have a motivating effect, the incentive system will have minor importance. If an incentive system does not have a motivating effect on employees, it will neither drive the undesirable effects at the employees such as manipulation or act myopically which otherwise are possible. Although the customer satisfaction measurement is not reliable and the customer satisfaction assessments is sometimes perceived as subjective and unfair, the incentive system can be perceived as fair and thus motivating.

The master´s thesis contains a theoretical definition of investment incentives in selected countries, specifically these countries are the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. In addition, the calculations of IVEP, a.s investment incentives are compared, when an investment event is being carried out in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Finally, the advantage of an investment event in selected countries is evaluated.

This thesis solves the problem of motivation system in the company Telconnect, Ltd. and notes and address any deficiencies of motivation system. New motivation system should excel its attraction and targeting the employees, but also minimized the financial intensity for the company. In my thesis are provided basic theoretical knowledge, practical solutions and suggestions, which could lead to total improvement of the system and effective work of employees.

Orientation: Over the years, the increase in executive remuneration in both the private sector and state-owned entities (SOEs) has been the subject of intense discussions. The poor performance of some SOEs with highly remunerated executives begs the question whether chief executive officers (CEOs) in South African SOEs deserve the high levels of remuneration they receive. Research purpose: The main purpose of the study was to determine whether there is a relationship between CEOs’ remuneration and company performance in South Africa’s Schedule 2 SOEs. Motivation for the study: A greater understanding of the relationship between CEO remuneration and organisational performance would expand knowledge when developing optimal CEO remuneration systems to ensure sustainability of SOEs in the South African context. If a relationship exists, it could justify the high remuneration received by CEOs. Research design, approach, and method: This quantitative, longitudinal study, conducted over a nine-year period, collected secondary data from the annual reports of 18 Schedule 2 SOEs. The primary statistical techniques used in the study included were OLS multiple regression analysis and correlational analysis on a pooled dataset. Main findings/results: The primary finding was that there is a relationship between CEO remuneration and company performance (mainly an inverse relationship), with no consistent trend between the constructs. Turnover appears to be an important component, as it was the most stable measure of company performance during the study period. The results indicate that the CEOs’ remuneration continued to increase, even when the SOEs were performing poorly. Practical managerial implications: Since the study focused on the relationship between CEOs’ remuneration and company performance, it may aid policymakers in forming new rules and regulations that would help improve the country’s economic performance while attracting international investors. Contribution/value-add: The study provides new knowledge to the limited research available on SOEs in South Africa. Further, this research focused on three different components of CEOs’ remuneration, thereby shedding more light on the relationship between their remuneration and company performance. / Business Management

Det nuvarande farledsavgifterna infördes 2018, det uppstod sedermera en debatt angående den nya modellen, dess utformning och vilka ekonomiska och miljömässiga incitament den ger upphov till. I syfte att utröna vilka förändringar i miljöstyrning tanksjöfarten erhållit, genomfördes en fallstudie som utgår ifrån ett antal modellfartyg som representerar ett genomsnitt av den svenska tankfartygsflottan. Utifrån modellfartygen byggdes sedan upp ett enkelt analysverktyg för att beräkna farledsavgiften enligt de nya reglerna såväl som de tidigare. Personer med bred kunskap om de svenska farledsavgifterna intervjuades. Därefter jämfördes åsikterna med resultatet av fallstudien. En del av den problematik som nämndes av respondenterna kunde bekräftas av fallstudien, till exempel den snedfördelning av kostnader som den nya dräktighetsindelningen gett upphov till. Andra resultat av fallstudien gick emot vissa av respondenternas tankar, exempelvis att den nya frekvensrabatten för antal anlöp medför en högre kostnad för rederierna. / The current fairway dues were introduced in 2018. Since its introduction there has been an ongoing debate regarding the new model, its design and the economic and environmental incentives it generates. In order to find out what changes in environmental incentives the tanker shipping segment has received, a case study was carried out which is based on a number of model vessels representing an average of the Swedish tanker fleet. Based on the model vessels, a simple analysis tool was then created to calculate the fairway fee according to the new rules as well as the previous ones. People with knowledge concerning the Swedish fairway fees were interviewed. Their opinions were compared with the results of the case study. Some of the problems mentioned by the respondents could be confirmed by the case study, for example the distortion of costs that the new tonnage classification gave rise to. Other results of the case study contradicted some of the respondents' thoughts, for example that the new frequency discount for number of calls entails a higher cost for the shipping companies.