Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sidnei Augusto Mascarenhas.pdf: 578132 bytes, checksum: 19f781c8d0a382d8bdb644280fd58dfa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-06-20 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / This study has been carried out to establish a positive relation between organizational environment and mimetic isomorphism in organizations located at State of São Paulo, Brazil. Research method was survey. Environmental dimension was based on IBGE and RAIS data base researched by researchers from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie. Data about institutional isomorphism was obtained through a questionnaire. Fifteen organizations from six different CNAE sectors and thirty nine managers from level 1 or 2 were considered. Data was analyzed through multivariate regression and confirmed initial hipotese. / O objetivo do presente trabalho é verificar a relação entre o ambiente técnico e o isomorfismo mimético em empresas sediadas no Estado de São Paulo. Os dados sobre as dimensões do ambiente foram obtidos do banco de dados do IBGE e RAIS por pesquisadores da Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie. Os dados sobre o isomorfismo institucional foram colhidos via aplicação de questionário fechado. Foram estudadas 15 organizações escolhidas de seis diferentes setores da indústria de transformação totalizando 39 respondentes (gestores dos níveis I e II). A análise efetuada por regressão multivariada evidenciou a relação existente entre a ambigüidade de meios e os ambientes dinâmicos e pouco munificentes.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:32:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gerson Cohen.pdf: 318906 bytes, checksum: fe0e016e3604ba77168dfde7f8949bed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-19 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The Brazilian real estate sector has seen strong growth in recent years due to improved macroeconomic conditions, notably by controlling inflation, reducing interest rates and increasing credit supply. This sector has also been highlighted in the capital market, where companies made 32 offers of shares in the period September 2005 to December 2009, resulting in more than 20 companies traded on the Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo. With so many investment options, it is natural that investors use performance indicators to determine the best allocation of resources, and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) has been widely used to analyze and compare financial and operational performance of companies in various industries including real estate, for allegedly represent operating cash flow of the company, as well as its ease of calculation by the financial statements. This study aimed to identify the degree of importance attributed to EBITDA for the analysis of companies in the industry, from the standpoint of pricing firms, measurement of operating performance and cash, and the underlying form, identify some possible reasons why your use. To this end, we performed a field survey, supplemented by an experiment whose objective was to identify whether the way information is presented affects the degree of importance attributed to the indicator. Despite of being widely reported by companies and industry analysts, data analysis indicates that EBITDA has low degree of importance for analyzing sector performance and, furthermore, that the disclosure of information affects the degree of importance attributed to it. One factor that may explain this contradiction is the mimetic isomorphism, conceptualized in Institutional Theory. / O setor imobiliário brasileiro tem apresentado forte crescimento nos últimos anos em decorrência da melhoria das condições macroeconômicas, notadamente pelo controle da inflação, redução das taxas de juros e da crescente oferta de crédito. Esse setor tem se destacado também no mercado de capitais, onde as empresas realizaram 32 ofertas de ações, no período de setembro de 2005 a dezembro de 2009, resultando em mais de 20 empresas com ações negociadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo. Com tantas opções de investimentos, é natural que os investidores utilizem indicadores de desempenho para decidir a melhor alocação de recursos, e o EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) tem sido amplamente utilizado para analisar e comparar desempenho financeiro e operacional de empresas em diversos setores, inclusive o imobiliário, por supostamente representar a geração de caixa operacional da empresa, bem como pela sua facilidade de cálculo por meio das demonstrações contábeis. O presente estudo teve como objetivo identificar o grau de importância atribuído ao EBITDA para análise das empresas do setor, do ponto de vista de precificação de empresas, mensuração de desempenho operacional e de caixa e, de forma subjacente, identificar algumas possíveis razões que explicam seu uso. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo, complementada com um experimento cujo objetivo foi identificar se a forma como as informações são apresentadas afeta o grau de importância atribuído ao indicador. Apesar de ser amplamente divulgado pelas empresas e analistas de mercado, o exame dos dados indica que o EBITDA possui baixo grau de importância para análise de desempenho do setor e, ainda, que a divulgação de informações adicionais afeta o grau de importância atribuído a ele. Um dos fatores que podem explicar essa contradição é o isomorfismo mimético, conceituado na Teoria Institucional.

Purposes: The main purpose of the study is to gain understanding of how district heating companies divide their tangible assets into components. The second purpose is to explain how the district heating companies qualitatively processed the new component depreciation method and also be able to reflect what challenges the companies faced during implementation. Method: This study was based on qualitative telephone interviews and a document review of the companies' financial statements. Theory: The study is based on institutional theory, relevant scientific articles as well as laws and standards that companies are subject to. Empirics: Empirical part consists of document review from financial statementsand interviews with eleven different district heating companies. Conclusions: The study shows that the implicating the component method requires extensive cooperation between the economic and technical function.Problem areas that is rendered are older assets as well as collaborationswith turnkeys. Most companies have divided the components based on its function. / Syfte: Huvudsyfte med studien är att få förståelse för hur fjärrvärmeföretag delar in materiella anläggningstillgångar i komponenter. Delsyfte i studien är att förklara hur fjärrvärmeföretagen kvalitativt bearbetat de nya kraven på komponentredovisning och även kunna återge vilka utmaningar företagen mött vid implementeringstillfället. Metod: Denna studie baserades på kvalitativa telefonintervjuer samt granskning av företags årsredovisningar. Teori: Studien stödjer sig på institutionell teori och relevanta vetenskapliga artiklar samt lagstiftningning och normgivning. Empiri: Empiridelen består av dokumentgranskning från årsredovisningar samt intervjuer med elva olika fjärrvärmeföretag. Slutsatser: Studien visar att komponentindelningen kräver ett extensivt samarbetemellan ekonomiska och tekniska funktionen. Problemområden som nyanseras är äldre anläggningar samt samarbeten med totalentreprenad. Merparten företag har delat in komponenterna efter dess funktion.

This study investigates forces and organizational structures that facilitate or hinder sustainabledevelopment to be introduced and integrated in the core activities of public institutions.Specifically, the way global national sustainable development goals find their way into thelocal curriculum and overall-encompassing strategy of a few Swedish high-schools isidentified.To facilitate the search, the study is assisted by actor-network theory to find human and nonhuman―power-brokers‖ that can ensure the adoption and continuous application of newconcepts in a school. A pre-study of several schools, consisting of explorative interviews,located and classified factors and processes of potential importance for the implementation ofactivities related to sustainable development. At the same time, the large variety ofdefinitions of sustainable development encountered was recorded.The main study expanded on the findings from the pre-study and provided a more detailedanalysis of one senior high-school (upper secondary school). Several examples oforganizational structures and other factors– macro-actors in the theoretical model - werelocated with the potential to influence the furthering of the cause of sustainable developmentin that particular school. The possibility is discussed that the school would profit fromdeveloping a common mode of communication based on exploring experiences from applyingthe many issues that can be related to sustainable development. Such an endeavor could resultin organizational change typical of a learning organization. In that case, the resilience andcapacity of the organization to handle abrupt changes in national policy would be increased aswell as the preparedness of its students – our future – to handle rapidly changing situations intomorrow‗s society.The study further suggest that a similar ―tool-box‖ of theoretical models could be applied tothe local implementation of other national issues in an institutional setting.

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Bakgrund: Det finns idag ett stort utbud av hållbara fonder på den svenska marknaden och intresset för att investera hållbart ökar. Dock finns det inte någon entydig definition av hållbarhet och därmed blir innebörden av ”hållbar fondförvaltning” diffus. Det har i tidigare studier inte analyserats hur begreppsproblematiken påverkar den svenska marknadens aktörer och fondutbud och det var därför av intresse att undersöka hur aktörer på fondmarknaden ser på problematiken och hur den hanteras. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att utifrån ett institutionellt perspektiv undersöka vilka problem och möjligheter som oklarheter gällande begreppet ”hållbar fondförvaltning” skapar för svenska fondförvaltare och fondbolag i relation till dess kunder. Studien ämnar även analysera hur begreppsproblematiken samt informationsasymmetrier mellan fondförvaltare och kund påverkar fondutbud och förvaltningsstrategier i relation till hållbarhet. Genomförande: En kvalitativ metod har används för att besvara studiens syfte. Utifrån tidigare forskning gällande hållbarhet och institutionell teori utvecklades en för studien unik analysmodell som låg till grund för utformandet av intervjumallar och analys av det insamlade empirimaterialet. Totalt genomfördes tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med kapitalägare, representanter från svenska fondbolag, en intresseorganisation samt tillsynsmyndighet. Slutsats: Studien visar att begreppsproblematiken på den hållbara fondmarknaden skapar stora informationsasymmetrier mellan fondförvaltare och kunder, vilket innebär att förvaltares möjligheter att påvisa kvalitet försvåras. Då det är svårt för kunder att avgöra kvalitetsskillnader finns det utrymme för strategiskt beteende på marknaden och för att minska problematiken kring informationsasymmetrier krävs det att det institutionella ramverket utvecklas. / Background: There is currently a large supply of sustainable funds on the Swedish fund market and a growing interest for sustainable investing. However there is no consensus regarding the definition of sustainability and therefore the term “sustainable fund management” becomes vague. The effects that this conceptual problem has on the Swedish fund management and fund markets have not been analysed in previous studies, therefore it was interesting to examine how market participants perceive and handle the problem. Aim: The purpose of this study is to, from an institutional perspective, examine which problems and opportunities that uncertainties regarding the concept “Sustainable fund management” create for Swedish fund fiduciaries and fund management companies in relation to its clients. In addition, the paper aims to analyse how conceptual problems and information asymmetries between fund fiduciaries and clients affect fund offerings and investment strategies in relation to sustainability. Completion: To fulfil the aim of this study a qualitative method has been applied. A unique model has been created to construct the interview template and to analyse the empirical findings. The model was based on previous research regarding sustainability and institutional theory. In total, ten semi structured interviews were conducted with asset owners, representatives from Swedish fund management companies, one sustainable investment association and Sweden’s financial supervisory authority. Conclusion: The study shows that the conceptual problem on the sustainable fund market creates large information asymmetries between fund fiduciaries and customers. Therefore proving fund quality becomes more complex for fund fiduciaries. Due to the fact that it is hard for customers to determine differences in quality, there is room for strategic behaviour. In order to decrease the problems regarding information asymmetries, the institutional framework needs to be developed.

Le gouvernement égyptien a lancé en 1997, sous la pression des bailleurs de fonds, dans un contexte dediffusion du New Public Management une réforme visant à améliorer la qualité dans les hôpitaux publics.Cette réforme a été globalement un échec, à tel point qu’une nouvelle réforme a été mise en œuvre en 2007.L’échec de ces deux réformes a été largement documenté dans la presse.Nous montrons que les approches qualité retenues par ces réformes sont essentiellement d’inspiration nord-américaine.Leur transplantation dans un contexte culturel différent, celui de l’Egypte, pose un problème demanagement interculturel, mais aussi, plus globalement, de prise en compte du contexte économique etsocial. Les méthodes de travail, le style de communication, les conceptions du temps ou de l’autorité sontdifférentes et engendrent des malentendus. Nos enquêtes de terrain ont montré à quel point il existe undécalage entre les textes sur la qualité, conçus dans un contexte nord-américain, et leur application enEgypte.Cependant, malgré la différence entre des normes conçues dans un contexte qui est essentiellement celui del’Amérique du Nord et le contexte culturel égyptien, le succès a occasionnellement été au rendez-vous. Cecinous a amenée à analyser la manière dont la transposition des outils de management de la qualité s’étaitopérée dans les rares cas de succès. Nous mettons en évidence le rôle des acteurs.Nous mobilisons donc dans notre recherche la théorie néo-institutionnelle et la théorie de la structuration, eten particulier le concept d’interaction action/structure. / In 1997, the Egyptian government launched a reform aimed at improving quality in public hospitals. Thisreform has largely been a failure, to the point that a new reform was implemented in 2007. The failure ofthese two reforms has been widely documented. Our masters’ degree research shows what gap there isbetween texts on quality, probably imported without thinking, from other countries, and their application.Working methods, styles of communication, conceptions of time and authority are different and causemisunderstandings. It appears difficult to make systems and people with different cultures and norms ofbehaviors work together.Our research focuses on the confrontation between two cultures through the implementation of qualityprocedures in public hospitals in Egypt. We show that these approaches are essentially of North Americaninspiration. However, despite the difference between standards developed in a context different from theEgyptian one, success has occasionally been achieved. This leads us to formulate the following question:How is, in a case of success, the transposition of management tools performed from the North Americancontext to an Egyptian context?In order to answer this question we are using the concept of interaction between action / structure, borrowedfrom the neo-institutional theory and from structuration theory.

The establishment of sustainability reports has become more prominent among companies the last decades as well as the demand to be able to compare these reports. There are many variables which affect the comparability of sustainability reports, partly the difficulty with the actual definition of the term sustainability as well as the lack of regulations and directives regarding the matter. Further, the style of the texts has bearing on the comparability since the rhetoric of the company affects how sustainability is communicated in the sustainability reports. The aim of this study is to create an understanding of how sustainability is communicated by the three largest companies within the construction- and development industry in Sweden, as well as to see if their sustainability reports are comparable. Through a discourse analysis it is examined how sustainability is communicated in the companies’ sustainability reports. The result shows that the discourse of sustainability is institutionalized by the companies. It is possible to identify a homogeneity since all the companies studied account for their corporate social responsibility, their environmental impact as well as how they strive for conducting a safe, legal and corruption-free business. The result also shows that depending on what the companies choose to communicate, in combination with what rhetorical argument is used to convey the information, it impacts the comparability. The study indicates that the comparable information regarding sustainability has a greater feature of logos argumentation where the texts are supported with statistics and data. This information has a greater opportunity to be compared within the company itself over time but also between the different companies, given that the information meets the basic criteria regarding consistency and uniformity. In the future, it would be of interest to study the comparability of sustainability reports within the construction- and development industry on a larger scale, for instance by comparing companies from different European countries. Further, a similar comparative study of big versus small companies could provide knowledge regarding if sustainability is institutionalized within the whole construction- and development industry. / Upprättandet av hållbarhetsredovisningar hos företag har blivit mer framträdande under de senaste decennierna, tillika efterfrågan om att kunna jämföra dessa rapporter. Det finns många faktorer som påverkar jämförbarheten av hållbarhetsredovisningar, dels svårigheten med definitionen av hållbarhet samt avsaknaden av reglering med tydliga direktiv. Dessutom har texternas utformning en inverkan på jämförbarheten, där företagens retorik påverkar hur de väljer att kommunicera hållbarhet i sina hållbarhets-rapporter. Syftet med denna studie är att skapa en förståelse hur hållbarhet kommuniceras hos de tre största företagen inom bygg- och fastighetsbranschen i Sverige, samt att se om denna hållbarhetsinformation går att jämföra. Genom en diskursanalys undersöker vi hur hållbarhet kommuniceras i företagens hållbarhetsrapporter, där resultatet påvisar att diskursen hållbarhet är institutionaliserad hos de studerade företagen. Det går att identifiera en homogenitet då samtliga företag redogör för hur de tar ett socialt ansvar, sin miljöpåverkan samt hur de strävar efter säkra affärer. Resultaten påvisar även att beroende på vad företagen väljer att kommunicera, i kombination med vilket retoriskt argument som används för att förmedla informationen, har en inverkan på jämför-barheten. Studien indikerar att den hållbarhetsinformation som går att jämföra har större inslag av logosargumentation, där texterna styrks med hjälp av statistik och data. Denna information har en större möjlighet att jämföras inom företaget över tid men även mellan företagen, givet att informationen uppfyller de grundläggande kriterierna om konsekvens och enhetlighet. I framtiden vore det av intresse att se hur jämförbarheten av hållbarhets-redovisningar inom bygg- och fastighetsbranschen ser ut på en större skala, som till exempel i fler europeiska länder. Vidare skulle en liknande jämförande studie mellan stora och små företag bidra med kunskap om hållbarhet är institutionaliserad inom hela bygg- och fastighetsbranschen.

Inledning: Under år 2004 beslutade BFN om att genomföra flera ändringar i sitt normgivningsarbete med syftet att få fler företags redovisning att harmonisera med den internationella utvecklingen. Beslutet resulterade i utvecklingen av K-regelverken. K3 beskrivs som huvudregelverket och är principbaserat vilket ställer högre krav på utövarna eftersom osäkerheten i hur reglerna ska appliceras och tolkas är större. Syfte: Studien ämnar öka förståelsen för hur institutionella strukturer kan ge förklaringar till hur revisorer och redovisningskonsulter arbetar givet osäkerhetsaspekten i det principbaserade K3-regelverket. Metod: En kvalitativ studie i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med två revisorer och två redovisningskonsulter har genomförts. Intervjuerna spelades in och har i efterhand transkriberats för vidare analys. Intervjuerna genomfördes utifrån en upprättad intervjuguide i strävan efter så lika förutsättningar som möjligt. Empiri: Primärdata har samlats in genom att kvalitativa intervjuer har genomförts med revisorer och redovisningskonsulter som är verksamma på redovisningsbyråer av varierande storlek. Den gemensamma nämnaren för intervjurespondenterna är deras förståelse och erfarenhet av K3-regelverket vilket utgör grundstenen för intervjuernas utformning och innehåll. Slutsats och diskussion: Studien har visat att den institutionella teorin kan ge förklaringar till hur redovisningskonsulter och revisorer hanterar osäkerhet som uppstår till följd av K3- regelverkets principbaserade utformning. Det har framkommit att revisorer och redovisningskonsulter på många sätt både påverkas av, men också bidrar till det institutionella trycket som har format och fortsätter att forma redovisningsbranschen . / Introduction: In 2004, BFN decided to implement several changes in its standard-setting work with the aim of getting more companies' accounting to harmonize with international development. The decision resulted in the development of the K-regulations. K3 is described as the main regulation and is principle-based, which places higher demands on practitioners because the uncertainty in how the rules are to be applied and interpreted is greater. Purpose: The study aims to increase the understanding of how institutional structures can explain how accountants and accounting consultants work given the uncertainty factor in the principle based K3 regulation. Method: A qualitative study in the form of semi-structured interviews with two auditors and two accounting consultants has been conducted. The interviews were recorded and have subsequently been transcribed for further analysis. The interviews were conducted on the basis of an established interview guide in an effort to create as equal conditions as possible. Empirics: Primary data has been collected through qualitative interviews with two auditors and two accounting consultants who work at accounting firms of different sizes. The common denominator for the interviewees is their understanding and experience of the K3 regulation which is the cornerstone for the design and content of the interviews. Conclusion and discussion: The study has shown that the institutional theory can provide explanations for how accounting consultants and auditors handle uncertainty that arises as a result of the K3 regulations' principle-based design. It has emerged that auditors and accounting consultants are in many ways both influenced by, but also contribute to, the institutional pressure that has shaped and continues to shape the accounting industry.

Sustainability reporting today is an important tool for companies to show how they work with sustainable development. The design of the companies' sustainability reports can vary since the regulations can be seen as somewhat vague. GRI provides a framework and standards that create a common language for organizations and its reporting of current economic, environmental, and social aspects. However, GRI is voluntary to follow which creates a possibility for both similarities and differences in companies' sustainability reporting. The study was conducted with a qualitative research strategy and a comparative design. The purpose of this study is to investigate the sustainability work of selected companies based on sustainability reporting according to GRI based on stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and institutional theory. The aim of the study is to compare companies active in the trade and real estate industry to distinguish any similarities and differences. To shed light on the purpose of the study, an analysis of the companies' sustainability reports of four selected years has been carried out, as well as an interview from one of the real estate companies. A comparison has then been made between the companies to point out potential similarities or differences. The analysis of the empirical material indicates that there are some similarities and differences between the surveyed industries' reporting of GRI standards. The main differences are found in the social part of GRI reporting, while the financial and environmental reporting appears to be equally similar. Development over time of GRI reporting also differs between industries. These similarities and differences have been analyzed with the use of stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and institutional theory.