M.Phil. (Leadership in Performance and Change) / Technicians are frequently promoted to supervisory positions based on their technical abilities, with scant attention focused on developing supervisory competencies. This oversight often poses significant challenges. The effective transition from technician to supervisor is important in any organisation. Human Resource (HR) managers, Human Resource Development (HRD) managers, and line managers need to ensure that relevant training interventions are implemented to develop the necessary management competencies for this career advancement. The primary objective of this study was to identify and verify the competencies required for the positions of both a technician and a supervisor; whilst the secondary objective was to determine the differences in the competencies between the positions of technician and supervisor, so that Human Resource (HR) managers and Human Resource Development (HRD) managers are able to design and implement relevant training interventions to ensure the smooth transition of technicians to supervisory positions. The literature review highlights that the transition of technicians to supervisory positions often poses significant challenges for technical professionals because they may lack management or supervisory competencies. Effective transitioning is a necessary step. In this study, the mixed method approach was used to enable three-phase data collection, namely, the development of a theoretical framework, quantitative, and qualitative studies. The first phase was to generate a theoretical framework to gather information from energy utility industries on the competencies that are required for a technician and a supervisor. The second phase was the quantitative phase, where a survey was used to identify and verify the competencies required for a technician and a supervisor. The third phase was the qualitative phase, where the focus groups were instructed to validate the list of competencies, assign a degree of agreement, identify the differences between the lists of competencies for the technicians and supervisors, and recommend any further competencies that are essential to successfully transition an employee from the level of a technician to the level of a supervisor.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / The aim of this study was to investigate the barriers that impede the career advancement of women at an auditing firm in the Western Cape. These include internal and external barriers. More specifically, the study aimed to establish whether significant differences exist between women in different age groups, job levels, race groups and single, divorce/widowed and married groups in the firm, regarding their views in relation to their own career advancement. / South Africa

My work is about motivation of brand store managers for local sales promotions. In the theoretical part I write about motivation, stimulation, motivation program for employees. In the empiric part I write about all the data I get form quistionnaires and personal interviews with the brand store managers. At the end I write my recommodation for Telefónica O2 Czech Republic, a.s. how to motivate brand store managers for local sales promotions better.

This paper analyses the difference probability in holding managerial positions between men and women in Japan as the glass ceiling effect. In addition, we analyses whether the difference is affected by gender composition within the workplaces. We estimate two specifications of an ordered logit model on Japanese General Social Surveys (JGSS) as well as Japanese yearbook of labor statistics in the year 2010. The results indicate that there is different probability of holding managerial status that women have lower probability of holding managerial positions irrespective of management level comparing to men. However, we can observe that the differentials are decreasing as the managerial positions move up into higher managerial hierarchies. This finding indicates that women have higher chance to hold higher positions. Thus, it is contradict to our hypothesis. In addition, the result suggests that the gender composition also matter in probability of holding managerial status between male and female in Japan. We inspect that the difference probability in holding managerial status between genders is greater in female dominated occupation. This finding shows the effect of glass ceiling that occurs when women work in female dominated occupation as it follows the theory.

La présente recherche a pour objectif de définir l'influence que peut avoir le management des risques de la supply chain aval sur la performance des entreprises agro-industrielles. Elle adopte une démarche comparative internationale entre le Cameroun (pays en développement) et la France (pays développé) pour scruter les concepts habituellement développés en amont de la supply chain (entreprise - fournisseur). Fondée sur le réalisme scientifique, deuxième courant post-positiviste, elle allie la théorie au terrain d'application pour appréhender les concepts inobservables. Sur la base d'une combinaison des données qualitatives obtenues à travers des entretiens semi-directifs auprès des manageurs de la supply chain, et quantitatives obtenues via l'administration d'un questionnaire sur des échantillons d'entreprises, elle examine les liens entre les construits envisagés. Ceci à travers l’analyse du contenu lexical et l'analyse par les équations structurelles à l’aide de la méthode des moindres carrées partiels (Partial Last Square, PLS). Il ressort des différentes analyses que le management des risques stratégiques influence positivement et significativement la performance des entreprises agro-industrielles. Ce lien est à la fois direct et indirect via la relation client. Par contre, le management des risques opérationnels entretien une relation négative mais non significative avec la performance. De même, la relation entretenue avec la clientèle influence négativement la performance contrairement à la théorie. Mais le management des risques stratégiques et une partie des risques opérationnels (prévisions) influencent significativement la relation client de l'entreprise. Cette relation est modérée par l'implémentation des systèmes d'information efficaces. Les promotions de vente n'influencent pas le lien relation client - performance, mais constituent un antécédent de la relation client de l'entreprise. Ces résultats proposent sur le plan théorique, une autre lecture de la théorie des coûts de transaction et de l’agence à travers l’impact positif du management de la sous-traitance sur la performance. De même la recherche suggère de ne pas isoler certains construits lorsqu'on envisage une recherche sur la théorie de la supply chain. Sur le plan managérial, les managers doivent se départir des activités dont ils ne sont pas détenteurs des compétences clés telles que les activités de transport à travers un développement des partenariats avec les LSP. Ils doivent aussi privilégier l'implémentation des systèmes d'information efficaces, ce qui constitue un gage de réussite dans l'orientation client de l'entreprise. Les recherches postérieures pourront s'intéresser à intégrer, à côté du CRM, les aspects de confiance, d'avantage concurrentiel, de la qualité du produit dans le modèle pour obtenir une meilleure mesure de leur impact sur la performance financière et non financière de l’entreprise. / This research aim to determine the influence of downstream supply chain risk management on performance of agro-industrial firms. It adopts an international comparative investigation between developing economy (Cameroon) and developed economy (France) to examine the concepts actually improved upstream of the supply chain. Based on scientific realism, the second post-positivist paradigm, it combines theory with field investigation to understand unobservable constructs. Using a combination of qualitative data obtained through semi-direct interviews with supply chain managers, and quantitative data obtained through the survey of agro-industrial companies’ sample, it examines the possible links between Constructs. This is done through the lexical analysis and by the Structural Equation Modeling using the Partial Least Square method (PLS). Results show that strategic risks management positively and significantly influences the performance of agro-industrial firms. This link is both direct and indirect through customer relations. On the other hand, the operational risks management negatively (but not significantly) affects performance. Similarly, the customer relationship negatively affects firm performance, the contrary of theoretical predictions. But the management of strategic risks and part of the operational risks (forecasts) significantly influence the company's customer relationship. This relationship is moderated by the implementation of effective information systems. Sales promotions do not affect the relationship between customer and performance, but are antecedent of the customer relationship of foods companies These results propose another theoretical perspective of transaction costs and agency theories through the positive impact of outsourcing management on performance. Similarly, research suggests to not isolating certain constructs when considering a research on supply chain theory. From managerial implications, managers must divest themselves of activities where they do not possess key competences such as transport activities through the development of partnerships with LSPs. They must also privilege the implementation of effective information systems as a guarantee of success in the customer orientation of the company. Subsequent research may focus on integrating aspects of trust, competitive advantage, and product quality into the model, in order to better measure their impact on the financial and non-financial performance of CRM.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This thesis contains three essays in microeconometrics and applied labor economics. In the first two essays, we estimate dynamic models of schooling choices and employment contract outcomes of the French population. The first essay focuses on the comparison between second-generation immigrants from Africa and their French-natives counterparts. We show that the gap in higher education attainments between those two sub-populations is mainly explained by parents' background and that schooling investment is the main determinant of the gap in permanent employment. The second essay investigates the role played by educational attainments on the employment contract transitions in the early career. We find that a first fixed term contract has a positive impact on the probability of employment in a permanent contract, except for a limited set of the population endowed with particular schooling attainments and unobserved characteristics. Globally, schooling attainments account for around one third of the variance in the probability of permanent employment. The third essay is devoted to the analysis of intra-firm promotions of American executives. We estimate a dynamic model of promotions, in which we disentangle the spurious and the causal impacts of the speed of past advancement. We find that the principal determinant of promotions is unobserved heterogeneity and that the speed of past advancement in the firm's hierarchy (fast tracks) does not have a causal impact on promotions. Functional area has a high explanatory power in promotion outcomes. / Cette thèse présente trois essais en microéconométrie et économie du travail appliquée. Dans les deux premiers essais, nous estimons des modèles dynamiques de choix d'éducation et de contrats de travail en France. Le premier essai s'intéresse à la comparaison entre immigrés de deuxième génération originaires d'Afrique et natifs de parents français. Nous montrons que l'écart dans l'accès aux diplômes d'éducation supérieure entre ces deux sous-populations est expliqué principalement par l'environnement parental et que l'investissement en scolarité est le principal déterminant de l'écart dans l'accès à l'emploi permanent. Le deuxième essai s'intéresse au rôle joué par la scolarité dans les transitions entre contrats de travail en début de carrière. Nous trouvons qu'un premier contrat à durée fixe a un impact positif sur la probabilité d'emploi dans un contrat permanent, excepté pour une partie limitée de la population, dotée de niveaux de scolarité et de caractéristiques inobservables particulières. Globalement, le niveau de scolarité atteint explique environ un tiers de la variance de la probabilité d'emploi permanent. Le troisième essai est dédié à l'analyse des promotions intra-firme de cadres américains. Nous estimons un modèle dynamique de promotion dans lequel nous séparons l'effet causal de l'effet artificiel de la vitesse des avancements passés. Nous trouvons que le principal déterminant des promotions est l'hétérogénéité individuelle inobservable et que la vitesse antérieure de progression dans la hiérarchie de la firme (fast tracks) n'a pas d'impact causal. La division d'appartenance dans l'entreprise a un fort pouvoir explicatif dans les promotions observées.

La presente investigación tiene como propósito encontrar la relación entre las promociones online a través de Instagram, Facebook y mailing en su relación con la intención de compra en el entorno offline. Para ello, se realizó un análisis mixto de carácter cualitativo y cuantitativo. Con respecto al análisis cualitativo, se realizaron entrevistas a expertos y un focus group al target. También se realizó un análisis cuantitativo bivariado a través de correlaciones mediante encuestas a 150 mujeres jóvenes entre 18 a 24 años, los datos fueron procesados utilizando un análisis de correlaciones. Como resultado se obtuvo que existe una relación más fuerte entre Instagram y la intención de compra y, en el caso de Facebook esta es más débil. Con respecto a la plataforma mailing se encontró que no existe relación con la intención de compra. Dichos resultados son de utilidad para el sector estudiado debido a que se ha podido conocer la opinión sobre qué tipo de red social es la más utilizada. De esta forma, las empresas deberían de comunicar sólo en redes sociales como Facebook e Instagram y descartar otras herramientas que son secundarias para el target, porque aparentemente las mujeres jóvenes no esperan este tipo de información como son las promociones de venta vía mailing. / The purpose of this research is to find the relationship between online promotions through Instagram, Facebook and mailing in relation to the purchase intention in the offline environment. For this, a mixed analysis of qualitative and quantitative character was carried out. With respect to the qualitative analysis, expert interviews and a focus group were conducted on the target. A bivariate quantitative analysis was also carried out through correlations through surveys to 150 young women between 18 and 24 years old, the results were analyzed using correlation analysis. From this, it has been found that there is a stronger relationship on Instagram than on Facebook with the purchase intention, in the case of the mailing it was found that there is no relationship with the purchase intention. These results are useful for the sector studied because it has been possible to know the opinion on what type of social network is the most used. In this way, companies should only communicate on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram and discard other tools that are secondary to the target, because apparently young women do not expect this type of information such as sales promotions via mailing. / Trabajo de investigación

Much of our current understanding of how consumers shop for goods and services is based on cross-sectional analyses of end-of-trip variables (e.g., basket composition, total spending) that has largely assumed purchase behavior is constant over the course of a shopping trip, however research has begun to demonstrate how an initial purchase can influence a subsequent purchase decision. This suggests shopping behavior may not only vary throughout a shopping trip, but rather is specifically influenced by when a purchase decision occurs within a shopping trip. I build on this foundation through two essays that show how and why a consumer’s in-store purchasing behavior is influenced by both the decisions they have made and the decisions they anticipate to make later. The first essay demonstrates that a consumer’s relative spending— the price of an item, relative to the prices of the other items in the same product category—evolves nonlinearly over a single shopping trip, and this pattern is distinct for budget and nonbudget shoppers. The second essay examines whether and how encountering promotions in-store, but temporally in advance of the promoted product influences a consumer’s redemption decision. These findings suggest that shoppers’ decisions evolve of a single shopping trip as a function of the decisions and evaluations the have made earlier in the shopping trip, as well the decisions they still have left to make. In each essay, implications for researchers and practitioners are presented and opportunities for future research are discussed.

Apart from the introduction (Chapter 1) and conclusion (Chapter 7), this thesis comprises five chapters organized into two parts: Part I studies promotion incentives in the public sector, and focuses on the case of teachers in rural China. All teachers in China compete with their colleagues for rank promotions. I aim to answer two questions: first, whether the promotion system for teachers in China elicits effort from teachers, and second, how the design features of the promotion system affect effort incentives. Part I includes four chapters. Chapter 2 introduces the topic and provides a background on promotions for teachers in China. It also discusses related work in this area, and introduces the data that will be used in Part I. Chapter 3 presents and tests a theoretical model of promotions as an incentive device. The model treats all teachers as identical in terms of their ability, and as such, focuses on average levels of teacher effort. It predicts that effort is exerted in response to potential promotions. In addition, the model also predicts that average effort incentives are higher in promotion contests in which the wage gap is higher, the promotion rate is closer to one half, the number of teachers competing for a promotion is higher (for promotion rates between 1/3 and 2/3), and the average age of teachers in the contest is lower, or the proportion of female teachers is lower. The model is used to derive an estimating equation by which to test predictions on average levels of teacher effort. An equation is estimated for the probability of promotion as a function of teacher effort, which is proxied by the teachers' annual performance evaluation scores. There is simultaneity present as effort increases the probability of promotion, but it is also the promise of promotion that motivates effort. As a result, effort is instrumented using wage changes, which are both informative (higher wage gaps are associated with higher effort) and valid (wages only affect promotions through effort). The second stage of the regression demonstrates that effort is indeed exerted by teachers in order to win promotions. The first stage confirms the predictions of the model with regards to wage gaps, the promotion rate, and the size and composition of the pool of competitors. Chapter 4 extends the model of Chapter 3 in two ways: teachers are now treated as heterogeneous in ability, and a multi-period model of teacher effort over time is also added. This chapter focuses on individual levels of teacher effort, and on how the parameters of the promotion system interact with teacher characteristics to affect teacher effort. The predictions include that teachers in the extremes of the skill distribution will have lower incentives, and as the contest size increases these teachers will have effort incentives that are lower still, that teachers who are five or more years from promotion eligibility will have zero effort, as will teachers in the highest rank, that teacher effort will increase in the five years leading up to promotion eligibility, and that teacher effort will decrease after a teacher is eligible for promotion but has been passed over several times. An effort equation is estimated that captures all of these components, and the predictions are largely affirmed by the data. Tests are conducted in order to alleviate concerns about selection, as well as measurement error in the performance evaluation scores. Chapter 5 concludes Part I. Part II of this thesis looks at teacher labour markets, social distance, and learning outcomes in Punjab, Pakistan. Chapter 6 explores the link between the distribution of teachers in the labour market, caste differences between teachers and students, and child learning outcomes. Using rich longitudinal data from Pakistan that allows me to convincingly identify the causal effects of caste on learning outcomes, I show how the distribution of teachers across public schools induces particular matches of high and low caste teachers and students, and that these matches are highly predictive of test score outcomes. Specifically, low caste male children perform significantly better when taught by high caste teachers than when they are taught by low caste teachers. Several possible channels are explored, including discrimination in the classroom, role model effects, teacher quality, patronage, peer effects, and returns to education. Although the channel cannot be proven, the data points to high caste teachers being able to raise the already high returns to education for low caste children because they are able to assist these children in getting educational benefits and employment later on using their patronage networks. Low caste children therefore work harder to impress high caste teachers, and this results in higher learning outcomes.