The Workers' Compensations Board of British Columbia (WCB) operates 4 call centers in the province devoted to compensation services. This thesis describes a review of operations at the call center in the head office, located in Richmond, B.C. We identified the need for a mathematical model to schedule telephone operators (called CSRs in WCB) in order to minimize the workforce required, while assuring minimal staffing levels to provide good customer service. We developed two integer programming models and built an interface that would enable the supervisors to use the model interactively. We compared the results from the model to one of their schedules and found that the model used 5 fewer CSRs than currently in their schedule. The potential savings derived from such a test convinced management that WCB needed to acquire and implement software to schedule staff. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

The goal of the project was to use the data in the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) of British Columbia's data warehouse to develop a statistical model that could predict on an ongoing basis those short-term disability (STD) claims that posed a potential high financial risk to the WCB. We were especially interested in identifying factors that could be used to model the transition process of claims from the STD stratum to the vocational rehabilitation (VR) and long term disability (LTD) strata, and forecast their financial impact on the WCB. The reason for this focus is that claims experiencing these transitions represent a much higher financial risk to the WCB than claims that only progress to the health care (HC) and/or the short term disability (STD) strata. The sample used to investigate the conversion processes of claims consists of all STD claims (323,098) that had injury dates between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 1992. Although high-risk claims represent only 4.2 % of all STD claims, they have received 64.3% ($1.2 billion) of the total payments and awards ($1.8 billion) made to July 1999. Low-risk claims make up 95.8% of all the claims but only receive 35.7% ($651 million) of the payments and awards. Moreover, the average cost of high-risk claims ($86,200) is 41 times higher than the average cost of low-risk claims ($2,100). The main objective of the project was to build a reliable statistical model to identify high-risk claims that can be readily implemented at the WCB and thereby improve business decisions. To identify high-risk claims early on, we used logistic regression modeling. Since ten of the most frequently observed injury types make up 95.72% of all the claims, separate logistic regression models were built for each of them. Besides injury type, we also identified STD days paid and age of claimant as statistically significant predictors. The logistic regression models can be used to identify high-risk claims prior to or at the First Final STD payment date provided we know the injury type, STD days paid and age of claimant. The investigation showed that the more STD days paid and the older the injured worker, the higher the probability of the claim being high-risk. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

This thesis was the result of a study conducted for the call-centre at the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia (WCB). The management at WCB wanted to understand the nature and pattern of calls at their newly opened call-centre. The purpose of this was to provide an efficient customer service while streamlining the flow of calls coming to the call-centre. An extensive data collection exercise was undertaken at the call-centre and two other units of WCB with which the call-centre interacts. The data analysis revealed that a high proportion of calls were related to transfers to these departments. There were also calls related to routine inquiries on claim payment cheques and forms that could potentially be handled by a well designed IVR system. Based on this understanding the development of an effective IVR system was proposed to address the problems that were discovered through documenting the nature and pattern of calls. An extensive review of literature was undertaken to design a new system according to the standard industry guidelines suggested by the best practices and customized to WCB's business needs. Two alternate scripts were developed after analysing the source and purpose of calls to WCB. One was 'person specific' and the other was 'task specific'. The two scripts were tested on students at WCB through a computer-based IVR simulation. The results of the student survey provided evidence that introducing additional options and use of simple and clear instructions in the new scripts could potentially in fact address the problems discovered in the study and they were preferred over the existing WCB script. The IVR simulation is reconfigurable and can be used in future studies to gather further evidence in support of the results obtained in this thesis as well as refine scripts before putting them in a production mode. / Business, Sauder School of / Marketing, Division of / Graduate

The purpose of the thesis is the analysis of the performance management system in the company Grafton Recruitment, which is based on the theoretical knowledge. In case of deviations from the desired condition it is required to propose changes. The basis for the practical part of the thesis was internal documents, interviews with managers and staff survey, which took place at the end of the year 2012. The concept of the performance management system meets the general requirements, but generally there are some deficiencies, such as mistakes in the provision of feedback and communication in general, irrelevance or duplication of evaluated criteria and development of staff is not based on the result of evaluation.

The objective of this research is to test the expensing of stock options as part of CEO compensation to earnings quality. Agency theory posits a conflict between the CEO's own self-interest and that of the owners who seek to maximize the long term value of their investment. To avoid this conflict compensation should align and bond these parties. Data was retrieved from Compustat, ExecuComp and Corporate Governance databases spanning the years of 2000 through 2009. The Dechow and Dichev (2002) earnings quality model using the change in working capital and error terms taken as the residuals was utilized. All hypotheses used earnings quality as a proxy for management choices and as the predictive power of accruals. The first hypothesis indicated granting of CEO stock options has a positive association to earnings quality. The second hypothesis tests the implementation of SFAS 123 (R) by expensing stock options and the association to earnings quality. The third and final hypothesis utilized the number of BOD members as to compare the association between expensing stock options as part of CEO compensation and earnings quality. Empirical support for all three hypotheses was found and consistent with expectations established by other research using earnings quality methodologies. Both the granting and expensing of stock options as part of CEO compensation has an association to earnings quality. There exists a stronger association between expensing stock options and earnings quality when firms have a larger number of BOD members. Support for agency theory was discovered because all three hypotheses were supported. This study was limited to U.S. firms that were publicly traded on major U.S. exchanges and only CEO compensation. Other executive compensation was not included. These limitations provide opportunities for future research. Knowledge was gained by exploring the earnings quality measures for evidence of bonding and alignment theory. This study extends the research in earnings quality by examining the relationship of granting and expensing of stock options as per SFAS 123 (R). It also contributes to the work in SFAS 123 (R) by testing four years before and after 2005, when implementation occurred.

The purpose of this study is to examine the theory of workmen's compensation, tracing its historical development and showing how the law evolved in the United States. Pertinent statutes and administrative and judicial decisions will be given to the evolution of the theory of compensable occupational diseases. Following an analysis of the occupational disease concept and the significance of this concept in modifying the basic theory, an effort will be made to evaluate the effect of this concept upon the meaning of the laws.

This study examines the impact of negative compensation shocks on individual performance over time. To do so, performance data over a two year time period were obtained for individuals who remained with their organization after experiencing a reduction in compensation. Using both equity theory and the unfolding model of turnover as theoretical perspectives, the study examines whether the magnitude of the shock matters, whether the individual's pay level affects their reaction to a negative shock, and whether or not the impact of a negative compensation shock dissipates over time. Additionally, this study proposes an extension to the unfolding model of turnover by suggesting that a logical outcome in response to a negative shock may be to stay with an organization but to reduce one's performance in response to a dissatisfying situation. Based on equity theory, it was predicted that individuals would decrease their performance (inputs) in response to a decrease in compensation (outputs). To examine these questions, the study used an interrupted time series with a nonequivalent no-treatment control group method of design. Data on 292 individuals were analyzed. The findings were contrary to expectations in that negative compensations shocks caused performance to increase rather than decrease. The contradictory findings may be due to the fact that pay was highly linked to individual performance for the individuals participating in this study. Some of the study's findings do show consistency with expectations. First, the results show that in response to a negative compensation shock, individuals at high pay levels change their performance less than individuals at lower pay levels. Thus, high pay seems to be an insulating factor as it relates to negative compensation shocks. Second, the effects of negative compensation shocks on performance tend to dissipate time. Third, the study shows that the magnitude of the shock matters such that the larger the shock, the larger the resulting performance impact. The practical implications of these findings provide important new insights into contingencies that may affect the outcomes of pay for performance programs, particularly in the case of individuals whose performance in tightly linked to their compensation.

Magister Commercii - MCom / CEO’s compensation, as a global management problem, has been a matter of continuing argument in Western economies, over the last two decades. However, the relationship between CEO compensation and firm performance is still weak, resulting in the CEO overpaid problem being more severe, since the financial turmoil experienced in 2008. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether firm performance justifies CEO remuneration, by comparing South African and Chinese stock-holding banks. The motivation for this study was to understand the correlation between CEO remuneration and the value they added to shareholders. It was anticipated that the results would contribute to exploring whether CEOs were overpaid for what they produced, and help companies to adjust their compensation frameworks. The researcher employed a quantitative approach to ascertain compensation alignment with firm performance. The sample for this current research, from which the data were collected consisted of ten (10) banking institutions (5 South African and 5 Chinese). The findings for the South African banks revealed that the CEO’s remuneration was positively and significantly related to the firm performance; however, the strength of the relationship showed a declining tendency. Additionally, the non-apparent relationship between CEO compensation and firm performance for Chinese banks, indicated the weakness of the pay-performance structure in China. This result may help companies and shareholders to adjust the existing management system, and standardize executives’ responsibilities that would reduce, and avoid many enterprise management loopholes, while improving the development of the nation’s economy, and attracting foreign investors.

This diploma thesis describes the procedures of individual electronic compensations for CNC machines used to increase the accuracy of machines. This part is followed by the determining tolerance of the measuring and the influence of individual electronic compensations based on measured data using touch probe and calibrated standards according to VDA 5 norm.

This graduation thesis is aimed in usage of MERS circuits in high-current electroengineering. The MERS circuit is a serial variable capacitor which capacity is possible to change by the help of switching of semiconductor components. On beginning of the thesis I shall acquaint you with usage of the MERS circuit. It will be sketched out their basic circuitry, the operating method, possibilities of transistors switching and calculation of the capacity capacitors for particular controlling method. On the prepared device we shall accomplish the predefined measurement. Furthermore we shall create the simulation by means of the Matlab programme. In the end we shall compare the results of the simulation with measured values.