This bachelor thesis was written in cooperation with IAC Group AB in Låssby/Gothenburg. The report explains the background to this project and why it was started. It also describes some theory which is needed to understand the project that has been made and which methodologies that have been used during this study. In this project the current state of the door panel department layout was analyzed and studied. Very early on it became clear that one of the biggest wastes for this department is related to operators walking. To make an improvement the focus was on reducing the unnecessary walking distances that the operators have to make and also not exceed the given budget. Six different layout alternatives were analyzed in regards to these factors and compared with each other as well as with the current state. The comparisons resulted in an own layout suggestion which is a combination of some of the six layouts analyzed but also own inputs. This layout is recommended for the company to implement since it reduces the unnecessary walking distances the most of all alternatives and the investment for it is within the given budget.

The primary investment objective of investors is to create their wealth which is reflected in the change of stock market price and dividend yield they receive over the investment period. Thus, investors need financial tools to assess and forecast company performance before making investment decisions. Traditionally, such accounting measures as Earnings Per Share (EPS), Return On Assets (ROA), Return On Equity (ROE) and Return On Sales (ROS) are basic tools for investors in Thailand to evaluate companies¡¦ performance in the stock market. Value based approaches such as Economic Value Added (EVA) and Market Value Added (MVA) are not widely known among investors yet. Therefore, this study aims to examine the explanatory power of various accounting measures (EPS, ROA, ROE and ROS ) and value based measures ( EVA and MVA ) on the stock returns. This study focuses on 190 sample companies which are representative of all listed companies in the years from 2006-2010 in terms of the spread of EPS and industry diversification. The empirical results indicate that accounting measures are more associated with stock returns than MVA and EVA respectively. Among accounting measures, ROA provides highest explanatory power on stock return although the analysis is done separately by sector. In contrast, the results for EVA appear in some sectors and are not consistent with the past research done in other stock markets including Thailand. Thus, the analysis is extended to examine the company characteristics that have relationship between EVA and stock return. The findings indicate that EVA tends to be associated with stock return in companies that have low book to market ratio. In terms of portfolio returns, typical investing styles, such as value and growth strategies still outperform the return from MVA and EVA strategies.

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Thesis (MEng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The age old principle of earnings exceeding the cost of capital as a sound basis of wealth creation has been re-packaged and to a large extent, prominently revived, by the Stern Stewart Consultancy of New York in the form of EVA (economic value added). The most well know application of EVA for the past 10 years and subsequent success has been with the global company, Coca Cola. However, the widely debated capital asset pricing model - with no conclusion in site - is used as the basic principle in calculating EVA and therein lies one of its many weaknesses. All aspects of measurement is the foundation on which Industrial Engineering is based. This dissertation set out to evaluate this financial measurement and / or measure in terms of; a) an ability to replace any existing financial ratios b) an ability to measure wealth creation c) an ability to influence or improve on manufacturing systems such as JIT (Just-In- Time) or TOC (Theory of Constraints). d) an ability to focus on the productive use of capital and lastly e) an ability to point towards failure of a business when realising a low or negative EVA On a comparison with the traditional financial measurement techniques and ratios the EVA concept shows too strong a correlation to render it "unique" or able to replace EPS (earnings per share) as the single most important indicator in the financial markets. There is also the interesting phenomenon that industrial sectors vary significantly from country to country in their ability to earn over and above their cost of capital and that being the case in EVA terms, the question is raised whether those countries with negative EVA industrial sectors, should consider moving out of those businesses. The EVA calculations consist of reducing a company's annual earnings with its total weighted average cost of capital and a positive result is stated as a sign of "wealth creation" whereas a negative result points to the destruction of wealth. As will be seen in this dissertation, the EVA measure is healthy as to focussing on the "hurdle" effect of the cost of capital but that the world consists of many organisations with low or negative EVA that have been successfully doing business and producing profits for many years. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die eeu oue beginsel dat inkomste die koste van kapitaal moet oorskry vir 'n grondige basis om rykdom te skep, is herverpak en tot In groot mate, uitstekend vernuwe deur Stern Steward Consultancy van New York in die vorm van ETW (ekonomiese toegevoedgde waarde [EVA)). Die mees bekende toepassing van ETW die afgelope 10 jaar asook die gevolglike sukses daarvan is op die internasionale maatskappy, Coca Cola. As gevolg van die feit dat die onvoltooide debat rondom die kapitale bates prysmodel as beginsel gebruik word in die berekening van ETW, is die waarde van die ETW maatstaf dienooreenkomstig verswak. Die aspek van maatstawwe of meting is een van die hoekstene van Bedryfsingenieurswese. Hierdie tesis het dan dit ten doel gestelom hierdie ETW maatstaf te evalueer in terme van; a) 'n vermoë om enige bestaande finansiële verhouding te vervang b) veral die vermoë om die skep van rykdom aan te dui c) 'n vermoë om 'n invloed te hê, of selfs verbeterings aan te bring aan moderne vervaardiging stelsels soos .HT (Knapbetyds) of TOC (sinkrone vervaardiging) d) 'n vermoë om die produktiewe gebruik van kapitaal te meet en e) 'n vermoë om aan te dui of 'n onderneming gaan faal as gevolg van 'n lae of negatiewe ETW waarde. In vergelyking met die tradisionele finansiële maatstawwe en verhoudings, wys die ETW konsep 'n te sterk ooreenkoms met bogenoemde om dit as uniek te beskryf of om VPA (verdienste per aandeel [EPS)) as die belangrikste aanwyser van die finansiële markte te vervang. Daar is ook die interessante verskynsel dat industriële sektore beduidend verskil, van land tot land, in hulle vermoë om hoër as die koste van kapitaal te verdien en indien dit die geval is met ETW, moet die vraag gevra word of hierdie lande wat negatiewe ETW industriële sektors het, nie daaraan moet dink om daardie besighede te sluit nie. Die ETW berekenings bestaan uit die verlaging van 'n maatskapy se jaarlikse inkomste. Die totale gewig is die koste van kapitaal wat indien positief 'n teken is dat "rykdom" geskep word en indien negatief dat rykdom vernietig word. In hierdie tesis sal die volgende aan die ligkom: die ETW maatstaf is goed in die sin dat dit fokus op die "drumpel"-effek van koste van kapitaal; die wêreld bestaan egter uit baie organisasies wat In lae of negatiewe ETW het, maar wat baie jare suksesvol besigheid doen en wins lewer.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Value Added Statement does not provide any information that does not already exist in the income statement. It only arranges the information and adds a new item, salaries and wages, to highlight the value created by the company and how that value is distributed amongst stakeholders. This information would assist users in their evaluation of the economic performance of the organisation. The study set out to show the composition, calculation and the reconciliation of both Cash Value Added Statement (CVAS) and the Value Added Statement (VAS). A database has been created for the years 1990-1998 for all the companies that published the CVASNAS during that period. The differences between CVAS and VAS can be determined by: a) Non-cash items (excluding depreciation). b) Movements in non-cash components of working capital. c) Differences between an income statement and cash flow statement relative to : • Extra-ordinary items • Exceptional items • Abnormal items • Associated income • A few sundry items Individual reconciliation was performed per company per year for the period 1990 to 1998 to enable the balancing of the CVAS total (Total A) with the VAS total (Total B)- see the example on Figure 3.1 to Figure 3.3. Items in both eVAS and VAS were then expressed about the two totals (see the line, Total A) to arrive at the common size for both CVAS and VAS (Tables 1(a) and 1(bj). Descriptive statistics were performed in order to find out how much each item constitutes to the value added. Due to the large amount of data, the initial raw data was excluded from the study project and is only available in the databank. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Toegevoegdewaardestaat verskaf geensins enige inligting wat nie reeds in die inkomstestaat verskyn nie. Die doel daarvan is slegs om inligting te rangskik en voeg nog 'n item by, nl. salarisse en lone. Die doel hiervan is om die waarde wat die maatskappy geskep het, uit te lig en ook hoe daardie bepaalde waarde onder belanghebbers verdeel word. Hierdie inligting kan gebruikers help by die evaluering van die ekonomiese prestasie van die betrokke organisasie. Die ondersoek dui die samestelling, berekening en die rekonsiliasie aan van beide die Kontant- Toegevoegdewaardestaat (KTWS) en die Toegevoegdewaardestaat (TWS). 'n Databasis is saamgestel vir die tydperk 1990 - 1998 vir alle maatskappye wat gedurende hierdie tyd KTWS/TWS gepubliseer het. Die verskille tussen KTWS en TWS word bepaal deur: a) Nie-kontant items (uitsluitend waardevermindering). b) Die bewegings in die nie-kontant komponente van bedryfskapitaal. Die verskille tussen 'n inkomstestaat en kontantvloeistaat met betrekking tot: • Buitengewone items • Besondere items • Abnormale items • Geassosieerde inkomste • Enkele diverse items Individuele rekonsiliasies is uitgevoer per maatskappy per jaar vir die tydperk 1990 - 1998 vir die balansering van die KTWS se totaal (Totaal A) met die TWS se totaal (Totaal B) - kyk na die voorbeeld in Figuur 3.1 tot Figuur 3.3. Items in beide KTWS en TWS is dan uitgedruk ten opsigte van die twee totale (kyk na die lyn, Totaal A) om by die gemeenskaplike grootte vir beide KTWS en TWS (Tabelle l(a) en l(b)) uit te kom. Beskrywende statistiek is gebruik om vas te stel hoeveel elke item bydra tot die toegevoegde waarde. Weens die geweldige hoeveelheid data/inligting, is die aanvanklike rou-data van die ondersoek uitgesluit. Dit is slegs beskikbaar in die databank.

What determines the value an MNC's headquarters adds to its own affiliates? In this paper, we shed light on this question by linking the embeddedness view of the multinational corporation to the literature on parenting advantage. We test our hypotheses on an original dataset of 124 manufacturing subsidiaries located in Europe. Our results indicate that the external embeddedness of the MNC is an antecedent to headquarters' value creation. We find that headquarters' investments into their own relationships with the subsidiaries' contexts are positively related to the value added by headquarters. Furthermore, this relationship is stronger when the subsidiary itself is strongly embedded. We discuss implications for the MNC literature, embeddedness research, and the literature on parenting and headquarters' roles. (authors' abstract)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When it comes to risk management, academic opinion is divided into two camps. There are those who argue that risk management is a waste of resources and time, and that in spite of all the effort invested, it does not add any economic value to an organisation. On the other hand, there are those who believe that risk management not only safeguards, but also actively contributes to the value of an organisation. This study was an attempt to obtain empirical evidence from the South African sector to support one of the two abovementioned arguments. In doing so the study addresses the research problems of whether risk management and specifically Enterprise Risk Management, creates value for an organisation, and whether the fact that a company has a risk management program in place should influence investor decisions The study was conducted in the following way: Measurements of the maturity of the risk management systems and the implementation dates of these systems were obtained from the senior managers of a number of organisations by means of a questionnaire. This data was then compared with annual measurements of the value of these organisations that were taken between 2000 and 2013. To determine if there was a relationship between the value of an organisation and the risk management maturity tests were conducted to look for the following: i. A statistically significant relationship between the most recent measure of organisational value and the maturity of risk management. ii. A statistically significant relationship between risk management maturity and the most recent rate of organisational value increase. iii. A discernible difference between the rate of organisational value change before and after the implementation of an Enterprise Risk Management system. iv. A statistically significant relationship between risk management maturity and organisational value subsequent to the introduction of an Enterprise Risk Management system. The study found evidence of a significant gain in the rate of organisational value increase directly subsequent to the introduction of an Enterprise Risk Management system, but also that the increased rate was not sustained. Other tests yielded contradictory or indecisive results that did not lead to clear conclusions, but illuminated future research directions.

Šiandieninėje ekonominėje situacijoje, pasauliui išgyvenant globalios finansų krizės padarinius, stiprėjant konkurencijai rinkose, kai konkurentai dėl rinkos dalies griebiasi nesąžiningų kovos priemonių, tokių kaip kainų dempingavimas ir pan., kiekvienas įmonės vadovų sprendimas turi būti vertinamas ekonominio efektyvumo aspektu, t.y. ar bus pasekoje sukurta papildoma vertė įmonei. Tradiciniai įmonės finansinę situaciją apibūdinantys grynojo pelno bei pardavimų rodikliai neatskleidžia tikrosios situacijos. Tuo tarpu ekonominės pridėtosios vertės EVA rodiklis skatina įmones efektyviai panaudoti ne tik skolintą, bet ir nuosavą kapitalą. Viena didžiausių problemų ta, kad dauguma Lietuvos įmonių vadovų, pasirinkusių įmonės vertinimui naudoti EVA, praktiškai nežino, kaip teisingai apskaičiuoti šį rodiklį, kaip teisingai nustatyti įmonės valdomo kapitalo kainą, nesugeba identifikuoti vertei darančių įtaką veiksnių ir susieti sprendimų priėmimo su bendru įmonės tikslu – kaip didinti EVA. Tyrimo objektas – vidutinio dydžio gamybinė įmonė UAB „TECA“. Šio darbo tikslas – atskleisti įmonės vertės kūrimo ekonominę prasmę ir svarbą, išanalizuoti rodiklio EVA koncepciją, jo pritaikymą ir diegimą Lietuvos įmonėje. Šiam tikslui pasiekti iškelti šie svarbiausi uždaviniai: • Atskleisti vertės sampratą ir vertės nustatymo problemą; • Pristatyti ekonominio pelno – EVA rodiklio – koncepciją, palyginti su tradiciniais pelnu pagrįstais įmonės veiklos vertinimo rodikliais; • Išanalizuoti EVA... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In today‘s economical situation, when world suffers from the consequences of global financial crisis, when competition increases in the markets, when competitors take unfair means of rivalry for the part of the market, such as price dumping and similar, when each decision of companies’ heads should be evaluated at the aspect of economical efficiency, i.e. whether consequently is going to be created an additional value for the company. Traditional indicators, defining financial situation of the company, of net profit and sales do not reveal real situation. Meanwhile economic value added EVA index motivates companies to efficiently use both not only the borrowed but also own capital. One of the biggest problems is that most Lithuanian companies’ heads, who for the evaluation of company choose EVA, practically do not know how to calculate this index correctly, how to determine correctly the price of company‘s controlled capital, are not able to identify factors, influencing value and to interconnect taking decisions with general aim of the company – how to increase EVA. Object of the research – medium manufacturing company UAB “TECA”. The aim of the thesis – is to reveal economical meaning and importance of creation of company value, to analyze the conception of EVA index, and its application and implementation in Lithuanian company. For the achievement of the aim there are being set the following most important tasks: • To reveal the concept of value and the problem of value... [to full text]

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of teachers on student achievement using a longitudinal analysis. The analysis was based on the value-added assessment system implemented in Tennessee. In order to conduct this study, data were collected for two sets of students in one school district. The first set of students began Kindergarten in Spring 2000-Spring 2001 and continued to third grade in the Spring 2003-Spring 2004. The second set began Kindergarten in Spring 2001-Spring 2002 and went through second grade in the Spring 2003-Spring 2004 school year. Using mixed model ANOVAs modeled after Sanders' work, data were examined in thirteen separate analyses using nine independent variables. Year-to-year language arts differences, math differences, and reading differences on the ITBS were the dependent variables. In all of the year-to-year models, teachers were found to have a profound impact on student achievement. Prior achievement level was found to be another important factor in student achievement, with higher achieving students making consistently higher year-to-year gains than lower-achieving students.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015. / The main purpose of the study is to determine which value drivers of economic value added (EVA) are most important. That is, what are the main determinants of the overall company value? The three main questions raised in the study are: (1) How sensitive is total EVA to changes in each of the various value drivers? (2) Which of the value drivers are more important in managing economic value? (3) Is there a combination of these value drivers that best explain EVA as a group? The study, which adopts the Stewart (1991) definition of EVA, covers the life insurance sector in South Africa, specifically focusing on the following companies: Discovery Holdings, Liberty Holdings, MMI Holdings, Old Mutual plc, and Sanlam Ltd. It covers the period 2004-2014 and uses variance analysis and principal component analysis to identify the main drivers of EVA. Five main drivers of EVA were identified namely; underwriting, asset management, costs, opportunity cost and strategic investments.