This thesis is an empirical and theoretical analysis of the impact of financing constraints on firm-level investment behaviour. Its primary objectives are to model this impact, and to test the restrictions these models place on the data. Chapter 1 contains a discussion of these themes, and provides an overview of the thesis. Chapter 2 addresses the empirical question of whether innovative firms are financially constrained. To answer this question, several structural investment equations are tested, and the sensitivity of physical investment expenditures to internal finance is compared across innovative and non-innovative firms. The investment expenditures of innovative firms are found to be more sensitive to cash flow than those of non-innovative firms. These results support the hypothesis that innovative firms are financially constrained. The third chapter builds a theoretical model to explain a widely reported fact in the inventory literature, which is that the variance of production exceeds the variance of sales. This fact contradicts a prediction of the standard Linear-Quadratic model of inventory investment, and for this reason is often referred to as the "excess variance of production" puzzle. In this chapter, a model of inventory investment is built. It is shown that when financing constraints are imposed on the model, it can explain the excess variance of production puzzle. In the absence of these constraints, the model does not deliver this result. The fourth chapter returns to the theme of identifying financially constrained firms. A weakness of existing tests of financing constraints is that they are not both direct and structural. This chapter addresses that criticism by constructing a model of investment from which is derived a simple and direct, structural test of the null hypothesis that a group of firms is financially constrained. The test is implemented on a panel of U.S. manufacturing firms. The results support the findings of existing tests.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Fred L. Hasler / Presently, the design basis for urban areas with a scarcity of surface space is the construction of skyscrapers. Skyscrapers, even with a lot of challenges, have been a great solution for the development of large urban areas since their introduction, per modern definition, in the early 1900’s (Kelley, 2010). This has allowed us to have a “reach a new height” type of mentality, with which the industry has been able to develop new construction ideas and concepts to improve, if not reinvent, those that have been used for nearly a century. The appreciation and application of new concepts will lead us into a progressive path to improve the overall designs within the industry. The concept of earthscrapers, best described as an underground skyscraper, is very intriguing but more than anything attractive to those in the industry. These new concepts will also bring a set of new challenges, with which solutions will arise. The concept of earthscrapers is a major game changer, with a design that offers several comparison and contrast points to skyscrapers. Some of the main focus points when discussing the approach of designing earthscrapers in comparison to skyscrapers are its space constraints, structure stability, and energy efficiency. Consequently, the paper will review the technical literature within the industry on these three subjects and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages. At the same time the paper will be reviewing the building systems of safety, mechanical, electrical and lighting applicable to this concept and discuss its challenges and effects on the overall design. Overall, this report covers and evaluates research done surrounding this design concept as well as providing topics and information that will need further testing and investigation. Initially, it covers further description of the two design solutions being discussed, skyscraper and earthscrapers, as well as its challenges and future development. The report will follow by an evaluation of the different ways that these designs provide a solution in regards to space scarcity in urban areas, as well as what each requires to be classified as an efficient design. Then, different engineering system implementations in these designs are introduced and a comparison is presented with the most up to date information available in the industry. All this with the purpose to give an idea of the differences in energy efficiency between designs as well as some of the social and psychological effects that these may have on the occupants and community. Finally, an overall evaluation is made in regards to the different benefits and challenges that approaching this new design concept faces, while also providing some recommendations on what could be done within the industry in order to make this possibility a reality.

The diploma thesis is focuses on the evaluating of the impact of product innovation on business opportunities and barriers in the European market. We gradually analyzed the external and internal environment of the company, which influences product innovation. Subsequently, a proposal was made to measure the company's performance using the Balanced Scorecard method. The last part of the work is focused on the evaluation of the created proposal.

Newly hired nurse educators face multiple challenges in today's rapidly changing academic environment. Transitioning from clinical practice into academia without the benefit of effective mentoring may lead to dissatisfaction, frustration, and attrition. Newly hired nurse educators may find difficulty in understanding academic areas of teaching, scholarship, and service, especially if they are transitioning from clinical practice. An effective mentoring program for nurse educators provides guidance, support, resources and assistance, as well as an opportunity for experienced faculty mentoring team members to guide newly hired nurse educators through the complex world of academia. The purpose of this project was to create a sustainable mentoring program to promote successful assimilation of newly hired nurse educators into the academic environment. Methods: The method was a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) project to create an effective mentoring program for newly hired nurse educators. The project leader (scholar) guided the Faculty Mentoring Program Committee (FMPC) through the creation and progression of the faculty-mentoring program. The triad that consisted of the scholar Greta Marek, DNP, RN, CNE, her mentor M. Peggy Hays, DSN, RN, COI, and faculty Cynthia Clark, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN regularly discussed the project's progress. The Experienced Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy (ENFLA), sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International/Chamberlain College of Nursing Center for Excellence in Nursing Education, provided an evidence-based program that encouraged learning and growth for the scholar. A review of the literature included searches in PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, Ovid, Google Scholar and EBSCHO host using the search terms: academic mentoring, nursing faculty mentoring, mentoring programs, nurse educator mentoring. Limitations placed on the search were English language, peer reviewed, and a timeframe of 2000 to the present. Scholar reviewed 29 full-text articles and 20 university websites; used Watson's Theory of Human Caring and Benner's Novice to Expert models in relation to nurse educator mentoring programs. The scholar formed the FMPC at their college of nursing secondary to the need to develop a formalized faculty-mentoring program. Information from the literature review guided planning, actions and recommendations from the committee. Results: The ENFLA scholar endeavors to continue to work with the FMPC towards the mentoring program's growth and sustainability. The committee developed the program's mission, vision, goals, outcomes, logo, and a semester-by-semester structure. The FMPC created two different tracks for newly hired nurse educators: a three-semester program for experienced nurse educators and a five-semester program for novice nurse educators. The first semester of each track focuses on orientation to the university, the college, and assigned courses. Newly hired nurse educators remain a cohort, instead of the traditional dyad mentoring model. Experienced nurse educators serve as a resource person and share their expertise in teaching, scholarship, or service. The goal of remaining in a cohort would be to help newly hired nurse educators develop team-building skills, enhance collegiality, provide support, adapt to the local culture, and provide consistency. The new nursing faculty, hired during the 2014-2015 academic year, serendipitously decided to form an ad hoc committee to the FMPC, to ensure input. The ad hoc committee will collaborate with the FMPC to determine the mentoring program's effectiveness each semester through formative and summative evaluations. Conclusion: Members of the FMPC expressed a sense of renewed purpose and pride while collaborating on creating a sustainable mentoring program. Ad hoc committee members expressed optimism and excitement about working with the FMPC towards evaluating the mentoring program's effectiveness.

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The 21st Century is a highly competitive era. More and more international business realize that only by developing new products unceasingly can they enjoy the extra profits in the international market, and maintain the constant competitive superiority. Hence, the formation and accumulation of organizational innovative capabilities (OIC) are especially meaningful for international business. The research is of the opinion that most of the innovative activities take place in the R&D department. The R&D people are the crucial roles of producing extra OIC. Therefore, they have great relationship with the R&D department's adopting the innovative human resource strategies, elevating the degree of organizational commitment, and creating OIC. In the process of the innovative activities, how to eliminate the obstacles of innovation is the key successful factor of assuring innovation, and it depends on the highly efficient innovative management. The research took the three dimensions of "Innovative Organizational Culture" "Innovative Organizational Reengineering" and "Innovative Organizational Learning" as the focal points of the R&D human resource strategies for international business in order to test and verify if it has the influence on OIC's producing and accumulating. Moreover, "Innovative Management" was manipulated as the conditional variables and conducted into the above-mentioned research model to prove if it has the obvious influence on the research model. The result of actual demonstration manifested that: (1) When a firm adopts "Innovative Organizational Culture" as the focal point of the R&D human resource strategies, it has the conspicuous influence on OIC's producing and accumulating. It shows that the R&D people attach importance to the organizational cultural contents that can mold the innovative atmosphere and environment, and inspire the innovative activities. Besides, it has the obvious influence on the research model after conducting the highly efficient conditional variables of "Innovative Management." (2) When a firm adopts "Innovative Organizational Learning" as the focal point of the R&D human resource strategies, it has the same favorable result on OIC just like the previous item (1). It also has the obvious influence on the research model after conducting in the highly efficient conditional variables of "Innovative Management." In short, it shows the good innovative management can efficiently eliminate the factors that obstruct the innovation in the firm, either is beneficial for the formation of the creative learning in the firm.

Abstract To Cope with the aggressive competition and under the encouragement of the government, several domestic financial institutions have combined as financial holding companies in recent years. Through the function of cross selling, they expect the maximized synergy could be created; however, banking industry plays an important role here. Financial goods sold via banks could be easily imitated by others, thus, the capability of innovation is the key to victory. Past researches show lack of attention on the relationship between organizational innovative climate and individual innovative behavior, furthermore, most researches about organizational innovation were taking technology industry as examples. Thus, this research tries to proceed an empirical study of domestic banking industry and find out the effect of organizational innovative climate on individual innovative behavior. Besides, it comprehends the exploration of the mediating effect of the perceived self-efficacy and the moderating effect of problem solving styles. After statistical analyses, the results are summarized as the following. 1. Different personal backgrounds perform differently in the perception of organizational innovative climate, individual innovative behavior, perceived self-efficacy, and problem solving style 2. Organizational support and the autonomy during work have positive effects on the implementation of innovative ideas. Organizational support, autonomy in work, and team work also have positive effects on the generation of innovative ideas. 3. Intuitive problem solving style has positive effect on individual innovative behavior. 4. Systematic problem solving style has no effect on individual innovative behavior. 5. The autonomy during work has positive effect on perceived self-efficacy. 6. Perceived self-efficacy has positive effect on individual innovative behavior. 7. The intuitive problem solving style has moderating effect among the relationship between the autonomy during work and the generation of innovative ideas. 8. Perceived self-efficacy has mediating effect among the relationship between the autonomy during work and individual innovative behavior.

A capacidade inovativa não é um assunto recente, mas ainda não possui consenso entre os pesquisadores na sua definição. Alguns estudos, como os de Rush, Bessant e Hobday (2007) e Cetindamar et al. (2009), propuseram modelos de avaliação da capacidade inovativa como resultado do processo de aprendizagem tecnológica. Nesta abordagem, ter capacidade inovativa significa adquirir informações, transformá-las em novos conhecimentos, promover a mudança tecnológica e obter novos produtos. Seguindo esta abordagem, o objetivo deste trabalho foi o de estabelecer um modelo que pudesse analisar a capacidade inovativa através da capacidade absortiva e da capacidade tecnológica mediante a inclusão de uma variável de validação econômica, o desempenho inovativo das empresas. Isto foi realizado através de um levantamento [survey] em 491 empresas da indústria cosmética brasileira. Em 202, como resultado se obteve uma grande quantidade de empresas que lançam produtos cosméticos em função do conhecimento contido na sua própria cadeia produtiva. Desta forma, clientes e fornecedores possuem um papel importante no desenvolvimento de produtos deste setor e as mudanças tecnológicas acabam centradas em melhorias, o que confere menor grau de novidade aos produtos. A partir da análise de cluster proposta neste trabalho foi possível identificar um cluster com maior desempenho inovativo e que apresenta diferenças nas suas práticas com relação ao grande grupo de empresas. / Innovative capability is not a recent issue but still there is no consensus among researchers as to its definition. Some studies, such as Rush, Bessant and Hobday (2007) and Cetindamar et al. (2009), have proposed models for evaluation of innovative capability as a result of the technological learning process. According to this approach, being innovative capable means to acquire information, turn into new knowledge, promote technological changes and get new products. Following this view, the aim of this study was to establish a model that would be able to analyze the innovative capability through the absorptive capacity and technological capability by including a economic variable, the innovative performance of the firms. This was accomplished through a survey conducted among 491 Brazilian companies in the cosmetics industry. In 202, as a result, it was obtained a large number of companies that launch cosmetics from the contained knowledge in their own supply chain. Thus, customers and suppliers have an important role in product development. The technological changes in this industry are focused on improvements, which gives a less degree of novelty in products. Through the cluster analysis, it was possible to identify a cluster with the highest innovative performance. This cluster differs in its practices with respect to the large group of companies.

A capacidade inovativa não é um assunto recente, mas ainda não possui consenso entre os pesquisadores na sua definição. Alguns estudos, como os de Rush, Bessant e Hobday (2007) e Cetindamar et al. (2009), propuseram modelos de avaliação da capacidade inovativa como resultado do processo de aprendizagem tecnológica. Nesta abordagem, ter capacidade inovativa significa adquirir informações, transformá-las em novos conhecimentos, promover a mudança tecnológica e obter novos produtos. Seguindo esta abordagem, o objetivo deste trabalho foi o de estabelecer um modelo que pudesse analisar a capacidade inovativa através da capacidade absortiva e da capacidade tecnológica mediante a inclusão de uma variável de validação econômica, o desempenho inovativo das empresas. Isto foi realizado através de um levantamento [survey] em 491 empresas da indústria cosmética brasileira. Em 202, como resultado se obteve uma grande quantidade de empresas que lançam produtos cosméticos em função do conhecimento contido na sua própria cadeia produtiva. Desta forma, clientes e fornecedores possuem um papel importante no desenvolvimento de produtos deste setor e as mudanças tecnológicas acabam centradas em melhorias, o que confere menor grau de novidade aos produtos. A partir da análise de cluster proposta neste trabalho foi possível identificar um cluster com maior desempenho inovativo e que apresenta diferenças nas suas práticas com relação ao grande grupo de empresas. / Innovative capability is not a recent issue but still there is no consensus among researchers as to its definition. Some studies, such as Rush, Bessant and Hobday (2007) and Cetindamar et al. (2009), have proposed models for evaluation of innovative capability as a result of the technological learning process. According to this approach, being innovative capable means to acquire information, turn into new knowledge, promote technological changes and get new products. Following this view, the aim of this study was to establish a model that would be able to analyze the innovative capability through the absorptive capacity and technological capability by including a economic variable, the innovative performance of the firms. This was accomplished through a survey conducted among 491 Brazilian companies in the cosmetics industry. In 202, as a result, it was obtained a large number of companies that launch cosmetics from the contained knowledge in their own supply chain. Thus, customers and suppliers have an important role in product development. The technological changes in this industry are focused on improvements, which gives a less degree of novelty in products. Through the cluster analysis, it was possible to identify a cluster with the highest innovative performance. This cluster differs in its practices with respect to the large group of companies.

nÃo hà / A manutenÃÃo e o desenvolvimento da competitividade organizacional tÃm motivado diversas pesquisas no intuito de detectar, na inovaÃÃo, determinantes para o desempenho empresarial. Abordagens como a teoria da firma e a RBV atribuem à empresa o papel de gerar, contÃnua e endogenamente, melhores desempenhos para manutenÃÃo de sua vantagem competitiva no mercado. O presente estudo tem por objetivo principal analisar a relaÃÃo entre a capacidade inovativa, assim como de seus antecedentes, e o desempenho de empresas brasileiras inovadoras. As trÃs hipÃteses de pesquisa buscam confirmar a relaÃÃo entre os antecedentes da capacidade inovativa, a capacidade inovativa e o desempenho das empresas. A metodologia da pesquisa caracteriza-se como exploratÃria, com abordagem quantitativa, utilizando-se das tÃcnicas estatÃsticas de correlaÃÃo e regressÃo linear. A populaÃÃo da pesquisa, escolhida dentre as empresas de capital aberto, classificadas nos setores abrangidos pelos critÃrios do IBI, totalizou em 174 empresas devidamente analisadas e listadas para envio ao IBGE, onde se constatou haver o nÃmero de 73 que participaram das ediÃÃes de 2005 e 2008 da PINTEC, constituindo a amostra da pesquisa. Para mensuraÃÃo da capacidade inovativa e de seus antecedentes foram utilizados dados da PINTEC. As variÃveis componentes da capacidade inovativa foram compostas por inovaÃÃo de produto, processo, organizacional e de marketing. As variÃveis dos antecedentes da capacidade inovativa compreenderam os investimentos realizados pelas empresas em prol de aquisiÃÃo de conhecimentos externos, atividades com P&D (interna e externa), aquisiÃÃo de equipamentos e mÃquinas, treinamento, introduÃÃes de inovaÃÃes e novos projetos. O desempenho empresarial, mensurado a partir das dimensÃes econÃmica, operacional e de valor, teve como variÃveis o ROA, EBITDA e o MVAÂ, respectivamente, cujos valores foram obtidos por meio de variÃveis do EconomÃticaÂ. As relaÃÃes efetuadas consideraram a defasagem temporal de um ano entre as variÃveis de inovaÃÃo e as de desempenho, sob a perspectiva da maturaÃÃo dos investimentos e da capacidade inovativa nesse intervalo de tempo. Os resultados de H1 indicaram a existÃncia de uma relaÃÃo positiva entre os antecedentes da capacidade inovativa e a capacidade inovativa, sugerindo, contudo, investimentos expressivos nos antecedentes para a geraÃÃo de capacidade inovativa. Os resultados de H2 revelaram uma relaÃÃo positiva entre os antecedentes da inovaÃÃo e os desempenhos econÃmico e operacional, nÃo sendo significante na relaÃÃo com o MVAÂ. Sobre H3, nenhuma evidÃncia pode ser inferida sobre a relaÃÃo entre a capacidade inovativa e os desempenhos econÃmico e operacional, sendo possÃvel observar a sua relaÃÃo com o MVAÂ. Conclui-se que os desempenhos operacional e econÃmico das empresas analisadas sÃo ampliados quando hà investimentos em software e se inova em produtos completamente novos para a empresa e para o mercado nacional, direcionando aos preceitos da teoria da firma por se relacionarem com investimentos estratÃgicos para geraÃÃo de capacidade inovativa. A geraÃÃo de valor ao acionista à maximizada com investimentos que impulsionem as inovaÃÃes de processo e marketing, pois a capacidade inovativa medida por esses tipos de inovaÃÃo contribuem para a manutenÃÃo da diferenciaÃÃo estratÃgica das empresas, conforme propÃe a RBV. / The maintenance and development of organizational competitiveness have motivated several research in order to detect, innovation, crucial to business performance. Approaches such as the theory of the firm and RBV give the company the role of generating, continuous and endogenously best performances to maintain its competitive edge in Marketplace. This study is meant to examine the relationship between capacity Innovative as well as their background, and the performance of Brazilian companies innovative. The three research hypotheses seek to confirm the relationship between the background the innovative capacity, innovative capacity and the performance of companies. THE research methodology is characterized as exploratory, with a quantitative approach, using the techniques of correlation and linear regression statistics. The population research, chosen among public companies classified in the covered sectors the criteria of IBI, totaled in 174 companies properly analyzed and listed for dispatch IBGE, where it was found there the number 73 who participated in the 2005 and editions 2008 PINTEC, making the research sample. For measurement of capacity Innovative and its antecedents have been used data from PINTEC. The variables components of the innovative capacity were composed by product innovation, process, organizational and marketing. The variables of history of innovative capacity realized investments by companies in favor of purchasing external knowledge, R & D activities (internal and external), acquisition of equipment and machinery, training, innovations and introductions of new projects. Performance business, measured from the economic, operational and value, had as variables ROA, EBITDA and MVAÂ, respectively, whose values ​​were obtained means EconomÃtica variables. Relations made considered the gap time a year between innovation variables and performance, from the perspective of maturity investments and innovative capacity in the interval. The H1 results indicated the existence of a positive relationship between the background of the innovative ability and the innovative ability, suggesting, however, significant investments the antecedents for the generation of innovative capability. The results revealed an H2 positive relationship between the history of innovation and economic performance and operational, not significant in relation to the MVAÂ. About H3, no evidence It can be inferred on the relationship between the innovative capacity and economic performances and operational and are recording their relationship with MVAÂ. It is concluded that the operational and economic performance of the companies analyzed are magnified when there investments in software and innovation in completely new products for the company and for the domestic market, directing the precepts of the theory of the firm because it relates with strategic investments to generate innovative capacity. The generation of value to shareholder is maximized with investments that drive the process of innovation and marketing, because the innovative capacity measured by these types of innovation contribute to maintenance of strategic differentiation of companies, as proposed by the RBV.