Any company operating in the developing world must view Aids as a threat and have response mechanisms in place (Rosen, Simon, Vincent, MacLeod, Fox and Thea, 2003). The objective of this research was to discover how South African professional services companies are responding to HIV/Aids. The research further sought to confirm whether the response of the professional services sector can be considered ‘rational’ or ‘reasonable.’ Twenty interviews were undertaken across professional services companies to understand how the sector is responding to HIV/Aids from the perspective of their employee base, client base and surrounding communities. The findings showed that most professional services companies have neither felt nor measured the impact of HIV/Aids on their business. Most companies have implemented some sort of measure to respond to HIV/Aids internally, even if only a policy to safeguard them. Some companies view HIV/Aids as an opportunity, in that it enables the provision of additional products and services to clients. More than half of the companies interviewed are contributing to HIV/Aids causes outside of their workplace. As a result of this study, a model has been developed to classify companies according to their response to HIV/Aids. Based on the classification, companies surveyed fell into one of 4 types: shrew, responsible, uninformed or saviour. Twelve companies fell within the ‘shrew’ category, indicating a primarily rational response to HIV/Aids. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

In the professional services industry, it is no secret that people are the greatest assets. The investment in human capital is the core of the business, the dividends of which can never be under-estimated. The continued success of the professional services firm therefore lies in being able to retain that investment within the organisation. The current high rate of turnover within the firm, and in the professional services industry, is indeed a big challenge for management. One that necessitates a review into a variety of ways of keeping the talent within the firm. This research study was commissioned to look into one of the proposed initiatives for retaining employees; that of wealth creation. The aim was to source the views of employees on wealth creation as a way of increasing the rate of retention or otherwise as well as identify the preferred structure of such a scheme. The results of the research showed that employees deem financial remuneration to be highly important and would stay with the firm longer if provided with a wealth initiative. There was preference for a short to medium term scheme rather than a long term one, with some particular suggested schemes coming out as preferred favourites than others. Respondents also went further to highlight other factors that were contributing to loss of talent within the firm. The responses from the survey have been comprehensively analysed and recommendations made on the implementation of the wealth creation scheme. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

In the professional services industry, it is no secret that people are the greatest assets. The investment in human capital is the core of the business, the dividends of which can never be under-estimated. The continued success of the professional services firm therefore lies in being able to retain that investment within the organisation. The current high rate of turnover within the firm, and in the professional services industry, is indeed a big challenge for management. One that necessitates a review into a variety of ways of keeping the talent within the firm. This research study was commissioned to look into one of the proposed initiatives for retaining employees; that of wealth creation. The aim was to source the views of employees on wealth creation as a way of increasing the rate of retention or otherwise as well as identify the preferred structure of such a scheme. The results of the research showed that employees deem financial remuneration to be highly important and would stay with the firm longer if provided with a wealth initiative. There was preference for a short to medium term scheme rather than a long term one, with some particular suggested schemes coming out as preferred favourites than others. Respondents also went further to highlight other factors that were contributing to loss of talent within the firm. The responses from the survey have been comprehensively analysed and recommendations made on the implementation of the wealth creation scheme. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / (M.B.A.)

This research takes the Executive Master of Business Administrator¡]EMBA¡^, a kind of higher education, as an example to discuss the consumer¡¦s choice models in the professional service. The main purpose of the research is to realize whether consumer¡¦s decision environment, involvement and knowledge of EMBA service as well as their personal difference will have connection with their choice models. About the research method, subjects were EMBA graduate students who ever had chosen experience. The sample came from north and south Taiwan where got more choices of EMBA school and received 192 valid questionnaires. For statistic analysis, the sample was separated into two groups by the number of decision environment¡¦s alternative and attribute quantity, and distinguished by both involvement and knowledge into low, median and high groups. The factor analysis, reliability analysis, chi-square test, discriminant analysis and one-way ANOVA are used as statistical analysis methods. The results are presented below: 1. When consumers choose EMBA, the number of alternatives has the connection with choice models. But there is no obvious connection between the number of attributes and the choice models. 2. When the degree of consumer involvement is different, the connection between alternative numbers and choice models will be different. 3. When the degree of consumer knowledge is different, the connection between alternative numbers and choice models will be different. 4. The difference of consumer personal factors only exist the connection with the consumer involvement of EMBA, but has no obvious connection with choice models and the knowledge of EMBA. Comparing to the other related researches, most of them are based on such as EKB model, analyzing all consumer decision or purchase processes. But those researches didn¡¦t investigate deep enough about consumer purchasing behavior¡¦s final secret process of professional services. Thus, this is an exploratory research, trying to describe the consumer decision situation of internal EMBA. And that is this research¡¦s contribution and value.

Abstract The article used PZB service quality model and SERVQUAL Scale as bases to investigate the service quality of CPA firms in Kaohsiung. And the target interviewees will be focused on accountants, business service agency managers, and their clients. The purpose of this study was to find whether the six gaps exist or not. Therefore, there are three questionnaires designed in order to interview the objects of study. Using statistical analysis approaches such as t-test, one-way ANOVA, and descriptive statistics, the result of the research were as follows¡G 1¡B For all of the CPA firms in Kaohsiung, there are significant differences on the five service quality dimensions¡]tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy¡^for consumer expected service-perceived service gap¡]Gap 5¡^ 2¡B For all of the CPA firms in Kaohsiung, there are significant differences on the two dimensions of responsiveness and empathy for consumer perceived service-business service agency managers¡¦ service delivery gap (Gap 6) 3¡B Comparing united CPA firms with non-united CPA firms, the research finds the two dimensions of marketing research orientation and levels of management are significant differences for Gap 1. As to the Gap 2, the three dimensions of management commitment to service quality, goal setting, and task standardization are significantly different. There are significant differences on the two dimensions of tangibility and assurance for Gap 5, and there are differences on the five service quality dimensions for Gap 6. In particular, Gap 5 and Gap 6 of non-united CPA firms are bigger than united CPA firms. In other words, the service quality of non-united CPA firms should be strengthened and improved. 4¡B The organizational variables of customers show that there are significant differences on the dimensions of Gap 5. For enterprises in the different industries have distinct differences on the dimensions of responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Furthermore, the capital demonstrates significant differences on the dimension of tangibility; the annual revenue appears significant differences on the dimensions of tangibility, assurance, and empathy; the founding time of a firm exhibits significant differences on the dimensions of reliability, assurance responsiveness, and empathy. A company which is listed securities, OTC, and public offering or not determines whether the significant differences exist on the dimensions of tangibility, reliability, and assurance; the employees¡¦ quantity of a firm¡¦s accounting department indicates significant differences on the dimensions of tangibility, reliability, and assurance; the total quantity of a firm¡¦s employees reveals significant differences on the dimension of tangibility. As a result, CPA firms should offer different weight on the service quality dimensions according to distinct clients so that the client perception on service quality can be increased.

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This study examined how to best transfer social capital during professional service firm acquisitions. Using a qualitative, multiple case-based approach the study makes two important contributions. First, all four cases were successful in client retention and professional staff retention, yet only two cases were successful in retaining partners. This finding contradicts previous studies that found when partners leave the firm after acquisition clients follow. This research study found that clients stayed with an acquiring firm as long as their on-site project team remained more or less intact. This finding implies that social capital can be transferred between individuals and organizations. Second, a framework of organizational factors that contribute to the successful retention of social and human capital was developed. Successful retention of clients was primarily dependent on the retention of the project team (professional staff), but the robustness of the contract, the nature of the project work and sufficient communication were factors as well. Successful retention of professional staff relied upon the integration process, of which sufficient communication; goodness of organizational fit and goodness of strategic fit were factors. Successful retention of partners was based on timely communication and the importance of leadership roles for some of the acquired partners. / Organizational Analysis

Research in the field of retention has been dominated by studies focused on retention of highly talented employees or A players. Organisations for many years have overlooked, misunderstood and to a large degree ignored the contributions of the steady and capable performers, the B players. Understanding the retention needs of B players has become critical in ensuring organisational success in the short and long term. The purpose of the research aimed to identify the key factors influencing the retention of B players across generations and ethnic groups, and thereby develop a retention framework that will contribute towards the improved retention of B players. The study adopted a dual approach, incorporating a qualitative and quantitative methodology. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders to validate the questionnaire and gain insights regarding the key retention variables that influence B players. A questionnaire was then distributed to respondents to obtain their views. Data was gathered electronically and analysed against the research objectives defined. The key findings indicated that B players are most influenced by Financial Reward&Recognition, Independence&Freedom and Leadership& Management factors. A Factor Significance and Variable Importance Retention Framework was developed to assist organisations to develop dynamic multidimensional strategies. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

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The DuPont analysis is one of the most commonly used financial analysis tools for traditional businesses. It disaggregates return on equity (ROE) into profit margin (PM), asset turnover (ATO), and leverage (LEV) thereby providing value-relevant information relative to aggregated profitability. In this paper, I extend the use of the DuPont model to the professional service industry. The professional service industry has recently become one of the fastest growing segments driving the U.S. economy (USITC 2009, U.S. Census Bureau of Economic Analysis 2009). Unlike traditional businesses whose key business assets are their physical assets, professional service firms rely on human capital assets that are not recognized in the balance sheet. I introduce a profitability ratio analysis model that focuses on human capital. I validate the model by examining whether the disaggregated profitability ratios for professional service firms add relevant information over aggregated ratio in the same way as they do for traditional businesses. I use law firms as a representative segment of the professional service sector to empirically evaluate my model. I collect financial and human resource data for 81 of the 100 largest U.S. law firms from 2000 to 2007 then disaggregate profit per equity partner (PPP) into the three profitability ratios: profit margin (PM), revenue per lawyer (RPL), and leverage (LEV). I compare the absolute forecasting error (AFE) of the simple AR (1) model that uses only the current year profit per equity partner (PPP) to forecast one-year ahead profit per equity partner (PPP) and my model that uses the three profitability ratio model (PM, RPL, and LEV) of current year to forecast one-year ahead profit per equity partner (PPP). I find that using the disaggregated profitability ratios significantly improves forecasting of future profitability relative to using only profit per equity partner (PPP), analogous to similar results documented for the DuPont model in Fairfield and Yohn (2001) and Soliman (2004). I examine which firm characteristics are associated with the profitability ratios. I include four firm characteristics variables (STRUCTURE, SCOPE-INTL, SCOPE-RGNL, and SCALE) that are commonly used in economic analysis of industrial organizations. I find that the profitability ratios are systematically associated with firm characteristics that reveal information on the business models of individual firms. Leverage (LEV) is higher in law firms with non-equity partners (STRUCTURE), international focus (SCOPE-INTL), regional focus (SCOPE-RGNL), or large size (SCALE). Law firms that are large sized (SCALE) or regional focused (SCOPE-RGNL) command premium fee (high RPL) on average, but law firms with international focus or with non-equity partners do not. / Business Administration/Accounting