This thesis explores the challenges Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) face in complying with EU sustainable packaging regulations as they pose ever tightening guidelines to follow. The study respondents are representatives from SMEs operating within the EU, who provided insights through semi-structured interviews. Employing the 7Rs framework—Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle, and Rot—this research investigates how these enterprises adapt their packaging strategies to align with EU directives aimed at achieving 70% recyclable and reusable packaging by 2030. Despite varied challenges such as high costs and diverse regulatory demands across EU states, SMEs demonstrate resilience and innovation in their compliance strategies. environmental impact while maintaining economic viability. Such as an SME transitioning from using plastic packaging to cardboard, driven by both regulatory requirements and carrier fees for non-compliance, which resulted in reduced environmental impact and improved customer satisfaction. This research provides insights into the dynamic interplay between regulatory frameworks and business practices, offering a deeper understanding of sustainability in the packaging industry.

A unique characteristic of Earth is that it is the only planet in the solar system where water is known to exist. Seventy one percent of the earth is comprised of water with the largest body of water being the ocean. Everyone is very dependent on this water source and therefore, it becomes important, if not vital, to protect the ocean from unnecessary pollutants. Unfortunately, as the presence of manmade vessels in the ocean has increased it has become very difficult and costly to protect the ocean and prevent it from becoming polluted. One particular industry that has been heavily criticized for their disposal of waste into the ocean is the cruise ship industry. Although, there are many vessels that dispose of waste into the ocean this is an industry that has been surrounded by a lot of controversy regarding this issue. This may be attributed to the vast number of cruise vessels traveling in the ocean, making this industry a very visible one to the public. This thesis will examine the effect of the cruise ship industry on the ocean and if current laws are regulating this industry in a sufficient manner. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze these regulations in order to determine whether the government must place more stringent regulations on the cruise ship industry. It will examine the growth of the cruise ship industry in relation to the implementation of new guidelines to keep up with this growth. It will also analyze the current enforcement of these regulations to determine if the cruise ship industry is complying with current laws. This thesis will explain whether the government is doing all it can to protect the ocean or if the government needs to take a more active role in implementing new regulations.

Solvency II is the new European Union (EU) legislation which will replace the capital adequacy regime for the insurance industry. Considering that the banking sector has experienced a similar change through the different Basel Accords (Basel), there is an opportunity for the insurance industry before The results indicate similar distortions between developing countries while the major driver behind the cost of capital for developing countries is equity market volatility, and not credit risk as might have been expected. Finally, the fourth research problem relates to another objective of financial regulations: to reflect the risks that financial institutions face. The risk sensitivities of economic and regulatory capital for credit risk are investigated empirically using a dynamic optimisation model in one of the first studies of its kind. Results show that economic capital is a superior risk measure to regulatory capital from a systemic- and institution-specific risk perspective. This, along with calls to strengthen Pillar 2 disciplines following the financial crisis, leads to a suggestion that economic capital could be considered as a Pillar 1 capital requirement, replacing the current forms of Pillar 1 regulatory capital. the implementation of Solvency II to learn from the weaknesses and shortcomings in Basel to ensure that the design of Solvency II will, as far as possible, compensate for these. The financial crisis of 2007 to 2010 highlighted certain weaknesses and shortcomings of Basel and there is accordingly an opportunity for the insurance industry to learn from these deficiencies and to strengthen Solvency II to help prevent similar events in the insurance industry. This thesis investigates these weaknesses in Basel in an attempt to determine the extent to which these are inherently included in Solvency II. The first research problem of this thesis examines these weaknesses in Basel and relates them back to Solvency II to determine which, and to what extent, some of them may have been included in Solvency II. The second research problem leads from the first and critically explores an objective of financial regulations, namely to provide financial institutions with equal competitive conditions (the so-called ‘level playing field’) from a regulatory perspective. To achieve this objective, there is an implicit assumption that the cost of capital between countries is equal. Investigation into the cost of capital between both developed and developing countries using a modified weighted average cost of capital model indicates that the cost of capital between developed and developing countries differs and that regulations based on capital requirements tend to favour developed countries. This means that current financial regulations cannot achieve this objective as intended. The third research problem investigates the cost of capital between various developing countries to determine firstly whether similar competitive distortions exist among such countries, while secondly exploring the drivers behind the cost of capital in such countries through linear regression analyses. / PhD (Risk Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Solvency II is the new European Union (EU) legislation which will replace the capital adequacy regime for the insurance industry. Considering that the banking sector has experienced a similar change through the different Basel Accords (Basel), there is an opportunity for the insurance industry before The results indicate similar distortions between developing countries while the major driver behind the cost of capital for developing countries is equity market volatility, and not credit risk as might have been expected. Finally, the fourth research problem relates to another objective of financial regulations: to reflect the risks that financial institutions face. The risk sensitivities of economic and regulatory capital for credit risk are investigated empirically using a dynamic optimisation model in one of the first studies of its kind. Results show that economic capital is a superior risk measure to regulatory capital from a systemic- and institution-specific risk perspective. This, along with calls to strengthen Pillar 2 disciplines following the financial crisis, leads to a suggestion that economic capital could be considered as a Pillar 1 capital requirement, replacing the current forms of Pillar 1 regulatory capital. the implementation of Solvency II to learn from the weaknesses and shortcomings in Basel to ensure that the design of Solvency II will, as far as possible, compensate for these. The financial crisis of 2007 to 2010 highlighted certain weaknesses and shortcomings of Basel and there is accordingly an opportunity for the insurance industry to learn from these deficiencies and to strengthen Solvency II to help prevent similar events in the insurance industry. This thesis investigates these weaknesses in Basel in an attempt to determine the extent to which these are inherently included in Solvency II. The first research problem of this thesis examines these weaknesses in Basel and relates them back to Solvency II to determine which, and to what extent, some of them may have been included in Solvency II. The second research problem leads from the first and critically explores an objective of financial regulations, namely to provide financial institutions with equal competitive conditions (the so-called ‘level playing field’) from a regulatory perspective. To achieve this objective, there is an implicit assumption that the cost of capital between countries is equal. Investigation into the cost of capital between both developed and developing countries using a modified weighted average cost of capital model indicates that the cost of capital between developed and developing countries differs and that regulations based on capital requirements tend to favour developed countries. This means that current financial regulations cannot achieve this objective as intended. The third research problem investigates the cost of capital between various developing countries to determine firstly whether similar competitive distortions exist among such countries, while secondly exploring the drivers behind the cost of capital in such countries through linear regression analyses. / PhD (Risk Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Sedan attacken på USA 11 september 2001 har åtskilliga rapporter skrivits om Talibanernaför att skapa underlag för styrkorna som bekämpar dem. Syftet med uppsatsen är att försökaåskådliggöra en struktur på styret av talibanernas organisation 2009 och förklara varför dehade denna struktur på styret med utgångspunkt i den religiösa utbildningen. Och i och meddetta bidra till forskningsläget om talibanerna. Frågeställningen som besvaras i uppsatsen är:Vilken struktur hade styret av talibanernas organisation 2009 och varför hade styret dennastruktur? Denna frågeställning löses ut av följande 2 frågor: Fråga 1 - Kan strukturen påstyret av talibanernas organisation 2009 beskrivas med hjälp av en strukturellorganisationsteori? Fråga 2 - Kan den religiösa utbildningen vara en förklaring till dennastruktur på styret?Med hjälp av en strukturell teori om organisationers form och två sociologiska teorier sombehandlar varför människor och grupper handlar som de gör utifrån deras bakgrund ska jagförsöka uppfylla uppsatsens syfte och beskriva hur strukturen på styret av talibanernasorganisation såg ut 2009 och förklara varför den såg ut så.Uppsatsen använder en kvalitativ metod där divisionaliserad organisation, habitus och dendolda läroplanen används som teorier. I den första analysen som svarar på den första frågangörs en fallstudie på ett dokument som beskriver regler och förhållningssätt för talibanernaunder Mullah Omar med hjälp av divisionaliserad organisation. Därefter för att svara påuppsatsens andra fråga analyseras talibanernas habitus utifrån den religiösa utbildningen föratt sedan analyseras med hjälp av Pierre Bourdieus habitusteori och Donald Broadys dendolda läroplanen.Resultatet av analyserna visar att strukturen på styret av talibanernas organisation 2009 tillstor del kan beskrivas med teorin om divisionaliserad organisation och att habitusteorin medstöd av den dolda läroplanen kan ge en förklaring till varför deras styre hade denna struktur2009 utifrån de enskilda individernas religiösa utbildning i södra Afghanistan och Pakistan. / Since the attack on The United States of America September 11 2001 numerous reports hasbeen written about the Taleban to provide information to the forces fighting them. Thepurpose of my thesis is to try to illustrate a structure on the rule of the Taliban organisation2009 and explain why they had this structure on their rule based on religious education. Andby this contribute to the current research about the Taliban. To fulfil this purpose I willanswers the following question in the thesis: What structure did the Taliban have on the ruleof their organisation in 2009 and why did the rule have this structure? This main questionwill be answered through two sub questions: Question 1 – Can the structure of the rule of theTaliban organisation 2009 be described by using a structural theory about organisations?Question 2 – Can the religious education be an explanation to this structure of their rule?With the help of one structural theory about organisations and two sociological theory’sthat concerns why people and groups act the way they do based of their background I will tryto fulfil the purpose of the thesis and describe the structure of the rule of the Talibanorganisation 2009 and explain why the rule had this structure.The thesis uses a qualitative method and divisionaliserad organisation, habitus and thehidden curriculum as theories. In the first analyse that answers to the first question I make acase study on a document that describes rules and regulations for the Taliban’s under MullahOmar using Henry Mintzbergs theory of divisionaliserad organisation. Thereafter to answerthe second question I first analyse the Taliban habitus based on their religious education.Then I continue the analysis using Pierre Bourdieus theory of habitus and Donald Broadysthe hidden curriculum.The result of the two analyses shows that the structure of the rule of the Talibanorganisation 2009 can be described fairly well using the theory of divisionaliseradorganisation. It also shows that the theory of habitus with the support of the hiddencurriculum can give an explanation to why their rule had this structure 2009 based on theindividual’s religious education in southern Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This paper discusses the ability of models on cheap talk, and of audit and liability regulations, to provide analytically-based assessment of credibility of management forecast disclosure in market and regulated settings. While credibility is linked to restrictive conditions in pure market settings, regulatory enforcement does not necessarily contribute to forecast credibility. Key findings imply that ex ante approaches, including audit and tort liability in general, as well as partly verifiable disclosures supplementing the forecast and safe harbour provisions in particular can contribute to forecast credibility. Overall results suggest that the usefulness of managerial forecast disclosure should not be overestimated, as neither market nor regulatory mechanisms can overcome the problems related to non-verifiability.

No description available.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Bryan Schurle / Quantifying the impact of various economic events is essential for risk management in community banks. Interest rate shocks of either rapidly increasing or decreasing rates, in magnitudes of at least 200 basis points, is one of the more common risks modeled. Liquidity crises that impact deposits or loan demand can arise from either local or national economic events is another risk factor that regulators are requiring banks to quantify and plan for. Excel spreadsheets can be used to develop models to measure and quantify these risks. Simulation tools and what-if analysis using data table and scenario manager identify possible outcomes for differing interest rate scenarios, interest rate shocks and liquidity stresses. Data table was used for simulation of a stochastic model to produce a cumulative distribution function of two hundred results each on three different interest rate environments. Scenario manager was used to narrow the simulation to a certain set of expectations affecting the balance sheet of the bank and another set of expectations from an interest rate shock. Changes in the bank’s balance sheet resulting from three different commodity price expectations were modeled. An interest rate shock of four hundred basis points over a two year period was also modeled. These models are simple and cost effective. Once data are captured, the time required to develop and generate scenarios is manageable. The model can be used for a wide range of what-if alternatives as an individual bank may see fit. These models are adequate to meet present regulatory requirements for a community bank of smaller size that is not complex and does not possess a high risk profile.

Concern about privacy is an important consideration for users of information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly when using computer-mediated communication (CMC), i.e. Internet usage. Several researchers have studied privacy issues by taking into account the views of users to include individuals, organisations, privacy policy makers, governments and trust organisations. This thesis investigates whether an individual's perspectives about privacy are culturally relevant when using the Internet. This research used a survey in the form of a questionnaire in two countries, namely, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia to compare online privacy perspectives of young and mature (male and female) Saudi and Malaysian students. The research examines the relationship of the effect of the cultural background including the effect of social norms, religious belief, Internet regulation and IT skills of these Internet users upon their attitude towards privacy online and their perspectives about privacy. It also examines the effect of nationality (Malaysian and Saudi), gender and age groups. In this study, online privacy perspectives are a synthesis of three perceptions; what is 'personal' information online, the online privacy concerns and the Internet trust, whereby the cultural effects are the effect of religious beliefs, social norms, Internet regulation and IT skills in the privacy attitudes of keeping personal information safe, caring about their and others' privacy online and when revealing personal information. The demographic factors in this research are nationality, gender and age. To study these relationships, the research uses t-test, ANOVA, and single regression methods as data analysis techniques. The results show that the level of concern and degree of trust exhibited by Malaysian students with regard to submitting personal information via the Internet was affected the most by their gender, and social norms upon their online privacy attitudes. For Saudi students, the level of concern and trust with regard to submitting personal information via the Internet was found to be related to the effect of their age, gender, and religious beliefs on their online privacy attitudes. The other cultural factors, i.e. Internet regulation in force in each country and the IT skills of participants, are likely to have equal effects on both Malaysian and Saudi privacy perspectives. This research adds the cultural background, age and gender effects to the model of the calculus of the privacy concern that is proposed by Dinev and Hart (2006, pp. 63-64). The research also establishes what is 'private' in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, by identifying 'what counts as personal information with regard to Internet users' and provides a comparison in this concept between the two countries, their gender and age groups. For examples, Malaysian students consider name, e-mail address, date of birth, nationality and religion as 'personal' information and Saudi students consider home address, phone number, photographic image and credit card number as 'personal' information. In addition Saudi females tend to consider, particularly, home address, phone number, and photographic image as 'personal' information more than Saudi males. These findings should help both web designers and Internet policy makers in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia to consider these cultural effects when designing the privacy policies of their websites.

This study examines some of the challenges that Maltese broadcasting is facing with respect to the news programming produced by the public service broadcaster and by the other two political stations. The thesis also investigates the concepts of balance and objectivity in news reporting and analyzes the extent to which Maltese TV news programmes succeed in providing balanced, impartial and accurate accounts. Special attention is paid to the role of the public service broadcaster, but consideration is also given to the part played by the two Maltese political stations competing with the public service broadcaster. A particular aim of this study is to measure how the requirement to preserve impartiality and balance impinges on the content of TV news bulletins and current affairs programmes produced by PSB and the other two political stations. The study will also consider the impact of current broadcasting regulations and will examine the degree to which such legislation is relevant in the attempt to achieve impartiality and balance in Maltese news broadcasting. As a basis for the study the thesis focuses on a sample of news programming material broadcast on the three television stations in Malta during a Local Council electoral campaign. The aim is to assess how various news messages are communicated to audiences and to consider whether such messages are perceived as impartial and balanced by the viewers. The study explores how news workers and news producers strive to achieve impartiality and balance in their day-to-day practices. Finally the thesis makes one or two tentative suggestions as to how current broadcasting legislation might be amended in order for the Broadcasting Authority can become a more effective watchdog and is able to intervene in cases where news programming is not deemed to be balanced and impartial.