by Lan Yat Si, Wong Tai Chun, Mark. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-37). / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vi / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.vii / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Research Problem --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Overview --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Different Perspectives Explanation --- p.2 / Chapter 1.4 --- Earnings Management Explanation --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Big-bath Hypothesis --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Blaming Hypothesis --- p.3 / Chapter 1.5 --- Difference between Big-bath and Blaming Hypotheses --- p.4 / Chapter 1.6 --- Motivation and Potential Contributions of Study --- p.4 / Chapter 1.7 --- Chapter Summary --- p.5 / Chapter II. --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK / Chapter 2.1 --- Earnings Management --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Definition --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Overview --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Motivations --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Patterns of Earnings Management --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Executive Succession --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3 --- Accounting Change --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Definition --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Accounting Policies --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Accounting Bases --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Accounting Estimates --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3.5 --- Disclosure Requirements --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3.6 --- Discretionary Changes --- p.12 / Chapter 2.4 --- Summary of Related Empirical Research --- p.12 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Copeland and Moore (1972) --- p.13 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Moore (1973) --- p.13 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Strong and Meyer (1987) --- p.14 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- DeAngelo(1988) --- p.14 / Chapter 2.4.5 --- Elliot and Shaw (1988) --- p.15 / Chapter 2.4.6 --- Lilien et al (1988) --- p.15 / Chapter 2.4.7 --- Chen and Lee (1990) --- p.16 / Chapter 2.4.8 --- La Salle (1990) --- p.16 / Chapter 2.4.9 --- Walsh et al (1991) --- p.16 / Chapter 2.4.10 --- La Salle et al. (1993) --- p.17 / Chapter 2.5 --- Chapter Summary --- p.17 / Chapter III. --- RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS AND METHODOLOGY / Chapter 3.1 --- Development of Hypothesis --- p.18 / Chapter 3.2 --- Sample --- p.20 / Chapter 3.3 --- CEO Change and the Likelihood of Accounting Change --- p.21 / Chapter 3.4 --- CEO Change and the Directional Effect on Earnings --- p.22 / Chapter 3.5 --- Statistical Test and Employed --- p.22 / Chapter 3.6 --- Chapter Summary --- p.22 / Chapter IV. --- RESEARCH FINDINGS / Chapter 4.1 --- Officer Titles for CEOs --- p.23 / Chapter 4.2 --- Accounting Changes --- p.24 / Chapter 4.3 --- Income Effect on Accounting Changes --- p.24 / Chapter 4.4 --- CEO Change and Accounting Change --- p.25 / Chapter 4.5 --- CEO Change with Positive and Negative Accounting Changes --- p.27 / Chapter 4.6 --- Chapter Summary --- p.28 / Chapter V. --- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION / Chapter 5.1 --- Summary of Key Findings --- p.29 / Chapter 5.2 --- Implications and Discussion --- p.30 / Chapter 5.3 --- Concluding Summary --- p.31 / APPENDIX --- p.32 / BIBIOGRAPHY --- p.35

Xiao, Rui. / "August 2010." / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 28-30). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.iii / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.2 / Chapter 3. --- Research Hypothesis --- p.5 / Chapter 3.1 --- Institutional Background --- p.5 / Chapter 3.2 --- Hypothesis Development --- p.6 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Firm Performance and Outside Succession --- p.6 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Board Composition and Outside Succession --- p.6 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Predecessor Characteristics and Outside Succession --- p.7 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Successor Characteristics and Outside Succession --- p.7 / Chapter 3 2 --- 5 Performance Consequences and the Source of Successor --- p.9 / Chapter 4. --- Methodology --- p.9 / Chapter 4.1 --- Measurement --- p.9 / Chapter 4.2 --- Bivariate Probit with Sample Selection --- p.11 / Chapter 4.3 --- Event Study --- p.13 / Chapter 5. --- Data --- p.15 / Chapter 5.1 --- Sample Selection and Data Sources --- p.15 / Chapter 5.2 --- Descriptive Statistics --- p.16 / Chapter 6. --- Empirical Results --- p.17 / Chapter 6.1 --- The Determinants of Outside Succession --- p.17 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Univariate Tests of Outside Succession and Firm Performance --- p.17 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Univariate Tests of Outside Succession and Board Composition --- p.18 / Chapter 6.1.3 --- Univariate Tests of Outside Succession and Predecessor Characteristics --- p.18 / Chapter 6.1.4 --- Regression Results --- p.18 / Chapter 6.2 --- Outside Succession and Successor Characteristics --- p.21 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Univariate Tests --- p.21 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Regression Results --- p.21 / Chapter 6.3 --- Market Reaction and CEO Succession --- p.22 / Chapter 6.4 --- Post-turnover Performance and Outside Succession --- p.23 / Chapter 6.5 --- Robustness Tests --- p.26 / Chapter 7. --- Conclusion --- p.26 / Reference --- p.28 / Table 1. The Percentage of CEO Outside Succession during the Sample Period …… --- p.31 / Figure 1. CEO Turnover and Outside Succession in Each Year --- p.32 / Figure 2. Outside Succession Rate in the Turnover Sample --- p.32 / Table 2. Literature Summary of Outside Succession --- p.33 / Table 3. Descriptive Statistics of Variables --- p.34 / Table 4. Outside Succession Rates at Different Performance Levels --- p.36 / Table 5. Relation between Outside Succession Rates and Board Composition --- p.37 / Table 6. Relation between Outside Succession Rates and CEO Predecessor Characteristics --- p.38 / Table 7. Outside Successions Regression Results --- p.39 / Table 8. CEO Successor Characteristics --- p.41 / Table 9. Regression Results of the CEO Successor Characteristics --- p.42 / Table 10. Cumulative Abnormal Returns around the Announcement of CEO

In essay two, I study top executive compensation and CEO turnover and their relationship to firm performance in business groups in China, using a sample of listed subsidiaries and their parent companies in China. The empirical results support the hypothesis that the pay-performance sensitivity of managerial compensation (CEO turnover) in a listed firm is positively (negatively) related to the accounting performance of its parent company. In addition, I find a stronger relationship between the compensation (turnover) in a listed subsidiary and the performance of its parent company when the controlling shareholder's ownership is high. Using related party transactions to proxy for the correlation between the two firms, I find that management compensation in a listed firm is related to the performance of its parent company if related party transactions exist between them. Using brand name as a proxy for reputation, I find that management compensation and CEO turnover in group firms are more likely to be sensitive to the performance measures in their parent companies if both use the same brand name. In conclusion, the association between the listed subsidiary and its parent company may affect the pay-for-performance sensitivity to a parent company. / Keywords: Communist Party of China (CPC), party secretary, performance; management compensation, business group, China / My dissertation includes two essays. In essay one, I investigate the party control in China's listed firms. Along with state shareholding and government administration, the third source of political control of Chinese listed firms is the Communist Party of China (CPC). Using a unique hand-collected dataset that includes the party secretaries' information for listed firms between 2000 and 2004, I examine the existence and power of the party secretaries in companies and their influence on performance. The party secretary is the leader of party committee and exercises the power of the CPC at firm-level. Power is assessed by whether the party secretary concurrently holds another key management position, such as chairman or CEO, thus allowing him or her to exert influence on the managerial decisions of the firm. I find that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and firms with many employees are more likely to have a party secretary or a powerful party secretary than are other firms. Party secretaries are more likely to have political reliability but less professionalism than are CEOs or other senior managers. The existence of a party secretary is negatively associated with a firm's performance, but only in SOEs. Non-state firms with a party secretary are more likely to have senior managers with political connections, but less professionalism, but I find no such significant results for SOEs. The firms with a party secretary or a powerful party secretary have lower labor productivity than do other firms, especially in SOEs and in regions with high unemployment rates. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the CPC has great influence over listed firms in China and that this influence should not be neglected in Chinese studies. / Yu, Wei. / Adviser: P. H. Joseph Fan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 71-01, Section: A, page: 0239. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-88). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Project (Ed.S.)--James Madison University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to examine the life satisfaction of the wives of naval non-commissioned officers living in an isolated military suburb. As little is known about this phenomenon an exploratory design was used. A sample group of 81 wives was selected by means of stratified random sampling. Measuring instruments used were the Heimler Scale of Social Functioning and a needs assessment. The results of the study indicated that although a small majority of the wives experience their lives as satisfactory they have a great deal of frustration. The two largest areas of low satisfaction was work and finances. It seems that these wives have sufficient support systems. The lack of transport seems to be a problem for these wives. The needs assessment identified a great interest in, and a need for certain courses, hobbies, aerobic classes and a daycare centre. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

No description available.

This thesis is set in the context of social science’s interest in the generation of expectations, the news media, and neurotechnologies. It is a qualitative case study that examines the nature and impact of news media reporting of some pioneering research, which used functional magnetic resonance imaging in an attempt to diagnose and communicate with severely brain-injured individuals. Previous news media studies exploring neurotechnologies have been quantitative, or have tended to focus on how or why the news media represents neurotechnologies and/or the impact of the reporting, but rarely all three together. My thesis looks at all three aspects of the news media reporting of my case study. I draw on three sets of empirical data. First, those related to the production of the media - the press releases which reported the research; ten semi-structured interviews with science press officers; and the relevant expert comments posted on the Science Media Centre’s website. Second, 51 newspaper articles reporting the research. Third, five semi-structured interviews with relatives of severely brain-injured patients. I show that the mood of excitement and ‘breakthrough’ present in the press release reporting of this research was closely echoed in the news coverage. This excitement influenced the views and beliefs of only some of the relatives I interviewed. I then examine the nature of hype and by drawing on Haraway’s concept of ‘situated knowledges’ (1988) I argue that individuals view hype differently depending on their profession, industry and/or socio-cultural background. Finally, I show how whilst both the news media and the scholarly literature portrayed this research as ethically contentious, the issues most prominently discussed by scholars and/or journalists do not necessarily equate with relatives’ concerns. My findings aim to contribute to the sociology of expectations, media theory, the sociology of bioethics and the public understanding of science.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Please refer to fulltext for abstract / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sien asb volteks vir opsomming

Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have become recognised as brands in the academic and popular domain, but little is known about the relationship between these senior manager 'brands' and the corporate brand of the organisation they represent. Since stakeholders associate the CEO's reputation with that of the company, they may negatively or positively affect each other, and there is little research into this dynamic. Indeed there is only a limited understanding about the field of people branding in general and much less into CEO brands in particular. Consequently this doctoral thesis investigates the people and CEO brands phenomena, the relationships between CEO, corporate brand and stakeholder's self-image and how these can be effectively managed in order to enhance brand equity for the company. Based on a critical realist perspective, this research examines traditional product brand elements from the literature and develops a new conceptual framework for people brands, which is subsequently applied to CEOs. Furthermore a survey is performed with business school students. The findings are analysed by using content analysis, descriptive statistics and by developing and testing a Structural Equation Model. The contribution to knowledge is threefold. Firstly a conceptual framework of people brands is constructed. Second this model is applied to CEO brands. Third five propositions about stakeholder perceptions of CEO brand differentiation and equity are empirically tested. The main findings are that visual presentation is not the main factor to differentiate CEO brands from each other, nor is their association with the company. Positive perceptions of corporate brands can influence the reputation of the CEO brand and lead to an enhancement of their brand equity. Importantly this indicates that stakeholders do not distinguish between CEO and company. Brand equity is also created if there is a relationship between stakeholder self-image and company brand, which in turn can improve the reputation of the CEO brand. Finally brand equity is enhanced through stakeholder perceptions of an ideal self-image. Overall this research has important implications for academia and managerial practice as it extends the knowledge about people and CEO brands and provides an insight into ways in which the relationships between CEO, company and stakeholders can be managed to enhance brand equity for the company

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work