Student Number : 0105159R - MSc(Eng) Dissertation - School of Electrical and Information Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment / This dissertation presents the design of a re-usable rocket for use in triggered-lightning experiments. It is intended that the rocket will tow a thin wire to sufficient height so that the lightning mechanism will attach onto the wire and follow it to ground. The rocket design is inherently safe as it does not use explosive materials for its propulsion system, and hence conforms to South African explosive legislation. The designed rocket consists of a hybrid motor, which uses a solid combustion chamber and liquid oxidiser rather than solid motors which use a single solid fuel or a liquid motor which uses two liquid propellants. The mechanical performance of the oxidiser stage is critical in containing the pressurised oxidiser and regulating the flow of the oxidiser into the combustion chamber. The design of the combustion chamber and the rate at which the solid material burns is key to the generation of the pressure which is expelled through the nozzle to produce thrust. The design of the nozzle is covered in which the material from which it is made must withstand temperatures in excess of 1600 ◦C. The entire system was modelled to calculate the parameters of the various subsystems. The simulation study shows that the rocket will be able to reach 1 km with a complete section of wire towed behind it. A cost analysis, against other commercial rocket systems, was performed. The analysis concludes from the total cost of ownership that it is significantly cheaper to operate the designed rocket, over the course of the experiment, than other rocket systems.

Thesis advisor: Christopher Maxwell / Although there is extensive theoretical and empirical literature discussing the impact of revenue sharing agreements on competitive balance in professional sports leagues, there has been little work done to improve the structure of current agreements which are designed to improve competitive balance. This paper focuses on the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the current revenue sharing agreements it has in place. This paper both evaluates franchises’ efforts in earning revenue sharing payments and offers alternative metrics designed to accomplish the goals of league-wide profitability and competitive balance. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics.

Student Number : 0413406F - MA dissertation - School of Journalism and Media Studies - Faculty of Humanities / This study examines the rise and fall of ThisDay newspaper by examining its strategies to break into the South African media market. The study places ThisDay in the context of certain factors of the political economy of the South African media and examines how the dynamics of advertising contributed to the collapse of the newspaper. By analysing perspectives from Bagdikian (1983) among others, that the success and failure of the media depends on its success or failure to attract advertising revenue. The study examines the specific strategies used by ThisDay’s management to attract advertising as a key source of revenue to determine how the failure or lack of such strategies could have played a contributory role in the collapse of the newspaper. Among the factors examined is the further consolidation of ownership in the competing media companies. The intricacies and complex relationships that existed between the South African media its owners and advertisers are examined, to determine whether the actions of the competition contributed to ThisDay’s failure. The findings of this study show that ThisDay’s entry met what was arguably a major need for quality news in South Africa’s daily newspaper market; this however, did not prevent its closure. It had to grapple with too many challenges, most of them internal. The underlying reason for most of the problems management encountered was the unavailability of financial resources to run a paper of ThisDay’s magnitude. However the strategies that its management adopted as well as the business plan were way off the mark. The demise of ThisDay newspaper is a loss to South African journalism in two aspects; the industry lost a quality newspaper which greatly improved the level of South African journalism (the quality of which many now say is in a decline). Secondly, its failure will serve as a deterrent to any aspiring entrepreneur who would like to put together a quality product, the perception being that quality newspapers are not profitable. With the demise of ThisDay newspaper and recently the Nova, it seems that the South African print media environment has closed its doors to new entrants.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering, 2017 / Empowerment of previously disadvantaged groups has been applied in many countries, in order to achieve specific political, economic and social outcomes. Group preferences and preferential policies are common in developed and developing countries under various names. They have been mostly implemented in countries where a specific ethnic, religious, or gender group has been discriminated against historically. An ESOP is an empowerment tool that can be adapted and designed to achieve the goals of companies, employees and governments. An ESOP is an instrument used to enable employee ownership in private and public companies. Internationally the application of ESOPs have taken various architectures highly dependent on individual company and country circumstances. SA has a long and well documented history of racial discrimination and economic exclusion. Poverty, unemployment and inequality continue to bedevil the South African economy. Transformation in the mining industry is given effect in the Mining Charter which is governed under section 100 of the Minerals and Resources Development Act. The Charter is buttressed by a key set of pillars. These pillars are supplemented by the codes of good practice as well as the housing and living conditions standards. These pillars include reporting; ownership; housing and living conditions; procurement and enterprise development; employment equity; human resource development; mine community development; sustainable development and growth and beneficiation. This report focusses on the ownership pillar of the Charter. The mining industry has completed a number of empowerment deals post implementation of the Mining Charter. The impacts of most BEE deals have not been broad-based; and have mostly benefitted only a few HDSA entrepreneurs. The value and number of transactions have coincided with the rise and fall of the JSE, making the deals expensive – due to elevated stock prices in favourable market conditions. ESOPs enable extensive employee ownership; and have the ability to foster a sense of individual enterprise that fuels productivity in companies that have imbued a culture of ownership amongst their employees. ESOPs generally contribute positively to company performance; and they provide a stable and dynamic working environment, when administered effectively. ESOPs cannot be implemented in isolation; but they require a combination of factors to make them successful. ESOPs generally contribute positively to company performance; and they provide a stable and dynamic working environment, when administered effectively. Effective ESOPs require a combination of elements for success: these comprise of financial incentives, employee-involvement mechanisms and the instilling of an ownership culture. Anglo American was used as a proxy for the industry due to its size and diversity. ESOPs that have been implemented have failed to meet stakeholders’ expectations. These ESOPs are inconsistent, complicated and mostly opaque to employees; whilst delivering modest returns to employees. This report proposes the application of a new ESOP framework that is to be considered in amending existing ESOPs or in the crafting of new programmes. Existing ESOPs are assessed against this proposed framework in this report. The proposed ESOP framework is supported by a set of key principles, essential to the success of the framework. The performance of ESOPs in Anglo American varied when assessed against the framework. With the exception of Envision, Anglo American’s ESOPs have delivered very modest financial benefits to employees. They have not achieved their intended purpose, of empowering employees and aligning company performance with individual employee performance. When assessed against the other pillars of the framework, KIO and AAP did not perform satisfactorily. / XL2018

The purpose of the thesis "Contract of sale under business law" is to compare changes of the contract of sale, which occurred as a result of the newly adopted Act No. 89/2012 Coll., Civil Code. The aim of this thesis is to simultaneously take into account the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation on a Common European Sales Law (Common European Sales Law, CESL). The thesis also focuses on selected provisions of the purchase - especially rules governing the acquisition of ownership from unauthorized (and the related principle of good faith) under the new Civil Code. Rules governing the acquisition of ownership were significantly changed. Thesis attepmts to specify rules which are applied in the case one of the contracting parties is in the possition of a consumer. Specific features of contracting process must be taken in consideration due to the protection of consumers and or small and medium- sized enterprises. The thesis is focused on selected aspects of the contract of sale, thus the purchase of property, asset deal or liability for defects are mentioned only in passing.

Two different systems of corporate governance globally coexist - the concentrated ownership system and the dispersed ownership system. The dissertation focuses on the history of companies and large economic entities. Attention is also paid to the relationship between the state and corporations. The importance of the first regulation of joint stock companies is discussed as well. Governance of large corporations is described and analyzed. The presented non-legal reasons for the existence of two systems of corporate governance are also summarized. Particular attention is paid to the legal preconditions for the dispersed ownership. Common law and civil law are compared. The differences in law of corporations (company law) are extensively analyzed - co-determination, fiduciary duties, piercing of corporate veil, board and independent directors. Detailed attention is focused on executive pay (remuneration / compensation).

Ownership of land and its transfer from the perspective of tax legislation Abstract The thesis deals with ownership of land and its transfer from the perspective of tax legislation. The aim of the thesis is to describe tax obligations connected with the ownership of land and with the transfers of ownership of land in the Czech Republic and further to consider the appropriateness of current legislation and its potential changes. The issue of tax regulations related to the ownership of land and its transfer is closely linked to the civil law. Introductory part of the thesis is therefore devoted to the theoretical introduction of the issue with respect to both financial law and civil law. The first chapter defines the term real estate and land. The second chapter describes and overviews forms of transfer of ownership of real estate and shortly also the issue of real estate cadaster. The fourth and fifth parts are the crucial ones with respect to the whole thesis. The fourth part overviews the responsibilities relating to the ownership of real estate particularly with regard to the land tax. In the following subchapters the author describes structural tax elements of the land tax and further deals with appropriateness of the land tax and its potential changes. The author perceives the land tax as justifiable by...

Battery electric vehicles (BEV) are promoted as a viable near-term technology to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). With Sweden's relatively slow adoption of the BEV in combination with the Swedish government's target of a vehicle fleet independent of fossil fuels by 2030, we study how adoption intentions are influenced by vehicle attribute and when these effects influence BEV adoption. This thesis builds on previous research investigating the effects of barriers and drivers on consumers intentions to adopt electric vehicles. Our study has more specifically examined Swedish consumers intentions to adopt a BEV by conducting a quantitative designed study. We considered the barrier of high perceived price and the driver of environmental self-identity, alongside demographic factors. Furthermore, we also highlight the understudied concept of total cost of ownership (TCO) by studying its moderating role on the relationship between high perceived price, environmental self-identity and consumers intention to adopt BEV’s.  We find that the barrier of high perceived price had no significant influence on intentions to adopt BEV’s, while environmental self-identity was positive and a strong predictor of consumers intentions. Additionally, our results show that the moderating effect of attention to cost (TCOA) and level of information (TCOB) was only significant at one of the four interactions. Concluding that the moderator TCOB has a positive effect on the relationship between high perceived price and intention to adopt BEV’s. These results have implication for BEV marketing, policy and consumers, and suggests that symbolic attributes of the battery electric vehicle have a tendency to reinforce consumers self-identity. This serves as a promising non-financial strategy for increasing BEV adoption. Moreover, the results indicate that consumer with little knowledge of the cost associated with car ownership (low TCOB) are more sensitive to the negative effects from the price of BEV’s in relation to their adoption intentions.

[pt] As empresas familiares são a forma predominante de organização empresarial em todo o mundo e seu campo de estudos teórico- práticos surgiu, sobretudo, na década de 1980, em torno de questões relacionadas com a sucessão e a profissionalização. Partindo de uma abordagem sistêmica, a empresa familiar pode ser considerada como um sistema formado por três subsistemas - a família, a administração e a propriedade da empresa. O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar o funcionamento das empresas familiares, tendo em vista a influência recíproca destes subsistemas e seus impactos sobre as fronteiras que os delimitam e os distinguem. Realizou-se uma revisão bibliográfica sobre as abordagens sistêmicas da família e das empresas familiares. Um estudo exploratório foi realizado, junto a três grupos de sujeitos envolvidos com tais empresas: profissionais que prestam serviços às empresas, funcionários que não fazem parte da família, e herdeiros que trabalham, ou não, nas empresas de suas respectivas famílias. A análise do discurso dos sujeitos e a articulação da percepção dos diferentes grupos, sobre este tipo de empresa, possibilitaram uma visão mais abrangente e menos fragmentada das questões que envolvem as empresas familiares. Dessa forma este estudo contribui para um melhor entendimento dessas organizações e para a própria resolução das questões que afetam a saúde e a continuidade das empresas familiares. / [en] Family businesses are the most common type of business worldwide. As a field of research, family businesses emerged during the 1980s around the issues concerning formalization and succession. From a systemic approach, family businesses can be defined as a system comprising three sub- systems - the family, the administration and the property. This study investigates the operation of family businesses considering that the sub-systems comprising such businesses exert reciprocal influence and impact upon the borders that define and distinguish each sub-system. A bibliographic review was conduced of studies applying the systemic approach to families and to family businesses. This review was then combined to an exploratory research of three groups of people directly involved with family businesses: professionals that provide services to family businesses, employees that do not belong to the families, and heirs that may or may not work for the businesses owned by their families. The discourse of these individuals was analyzed, and their different perceptions of family businesses were combined to provide a more comprehensive, less fragmented view of this type of business and its related issues. This study contributes to the understanding of family businesses and facilitating the resolution of the main issues that affect both the businesses and the families.

This paper contains an analysis of the bronzed keys with bird motifs that were discovered during archaeological investigations between the years 1991 and 1997 at Kyrksundet, in the archipelago of southwestern Finland. Bronzed keys with bird motifs have never been found in Finland before, but similar keys have been found both in Birka and on Gotland, Sweden. The aim with this paper is firstly to analyse and compare the keys from Kyrksundet, Birka and Gotland, and their find contexts. Secondly, together with the results from the analysis, the following questions will be discussed; What is the meaning behind the bird motif, why can these keys be found at Kyrksundet, and who were the people that had these keys in their possession during the Viking Age. The symbolic aspect of the keys is a strong theme in this discussion, because the underlaying theory in this paper is that the keys most likely had both a worldly and a cosmological meaning. Earlier archaeological investigations mainly have associated these keys with the Nordic peoples and their eastern connections during the Viking Age. Reason behind this association is that the birds on the motif have been interpreted as falcons and the falcon has a relatively strong connection to the Rurik dynasty that ruled in Novgorod and Kiev. Whether the bird is a falcon or not, is however a question that will be discussed in this paper. The analysis performed in this paper, shows that the bird motif on the keys shares more similarities with a raven motif that was used on the British Isles than with the falcon motif that was used in Novgorod and Kiev. This paper will therefore include a suggestion for another perspective, where the keys might be connected to the Nordic peoples and their western connections.