Semi-autonomous revenue authorities (ARAs) have been established all over the world as a distinctive institutional model outside the traditional public service aimed at enhancing tax administration, and thereby raising tax revenues. In order to boost the robustness of their operations, substantial expenditures have gone towards modernising ARAs. Expenditures have been guided by medium-term corporate-wide plans, and the results monitored, assessed and reported using performance measures. Performance measurement has proved challenging for ARAs to implement and sustain in practice. Some of the challenges evolve around weak capacity, implementation costs, issues to do with quantification, competing demands from a wide range of constituents, the inappropriate selection of measures and a bias towards performance measures that focus on finances. As a means for enhancing performance measurement, there are practices, lessons and theoretical perspectives that can be discerned from the broadspectrum of literature on performance measurement in the public sector and ARAs from around the world. This thesis explores how performance measurement in African ARAs can be more strategic, efficient and effective by ascertaining which key factors shape its adoption. The research focuses on the in depth study of three ARAs in Sub Saharan Africa, involving a combination of structured interviews with internal and external stakeholders, the administration of a survey instrument and review of ARA documents. The final chapters of the thesis deploy fuzzy set logic techniques to identify and test the significance of various causal conditions in the adoption of performance measurement in ARAs, as a plausible answer to the research question.

Funding strategy has often been the determinant factor in the level of success for social entrepreneurships. The strategy could be a preference for internally generated revenue, externally generated revenue or a combination of the two. Interestingly, scarcity of resources has always been ‘a clog in the wheel’ of meaningful execution of projects irrespective of the funding model a social entrepreneur chooses. Through a review of existing literatures, this paper weighs the implications of choosing either externally generated revenue or internally generated revenue; specifically contextualizing the study to US. More so, it attempts to find out which of the two models would ensure optimum productivity, given that scarcity of resources would hamper the chances of effectively running the two models simultaneously. To arrive at a ‘plausible’ response, principles of resource valuation become vital in determining the costs and benefits associated with each model of funding. Consequently, the findings show that though both internally and externally generated revenue are sine qua non to an effective and efficient production of social values, internally generated revenue ensures better optimum production than externally generated revenue.

Il contributo si propone – attraverso anche l'individuazione di punti di forza e di debolezza, di opportunità e di sfide (c.d. “SWOT Analysis”) – l'esame di una delle principali Agenzie pubbliche (esecutive) italiane, l' “Agenzia delle Entrate”: l'analisi dell'internazionale processo di c.d. “Agencification”, unitamente alla più sensibile dottrina versata nell'argomento, ne costituisce il presupposto teorico e comparato. La considerazione dell'adattamento al contesto italiano della modellistica internazionale (sub specie esecutiva: “structural disaggregation”; “reregulation”; “performance contracting”) e l'esame degli antecedenti storico-istituzionali e giuridici (interni) si palesano importanti linee di ricerca percorse. Lo specifico approfondimento dei profili storici, funzionali, strutturali e comparati – utilizzando lo strumentario euristico della contemporanea Scienza dell'Amministrazione – della recente esperienza istituzionale “Agenzia delle Entrate” mostra una sensibile, ma ancora parziale (specie sotto il profilo della c.d. “reregulation”), attuazione della ricordata modellistica agenziale esecutiva, ed al contempo evidenzia interessanti ipotesi di sviluppo istituzionale, già avvenute od in corso di manifestazione, per un passaggio – nella gestione del fenomeno tributario italiano – da un sistema a “Government” (ovvero verticistico e centralistico-ministeriale) ad un modello a “Governance” (cioè partecipato e qualificato dal principio di “sussidiarietà” istituzionale, verticale ed orizzontale), prima monolivello e stellare (la situazione attuale) e, quindi, multilivello e plurinodale (con l'avvento del c.d. “federalismo fiscale”). / The paper proposes - through the identification of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats (so-called “SWOT Analysis”) – the examination of one of the major public (executive) Italian Agencies, the “Agenzia delle Entrate”: the analysis of international process so-called “Agencification”, together with the more sensitive doctrine well-versed in the argument, constitutes the theoretical and compared assumption. The adaptation to the Italian context of international modelling (sub executive specie: “structural disaggregation”, “reregulation” and “performance contracting”) and the exam of the historical-institutional and legal antecedents reveal important covered lines of search. The specific deepening of historical, functional, structural and comparative profiles - using the heuristic tools of contemporary “Science of Administration” – of the recent institutional experience “Agenzia delle Entrate” shows a sensitive, but still partial (especially in terms of s.c. “reregulation”), implementation of the mentioned agencial-executive modeling, and, at the same time, highlights interesting hypothesis of institutional development, already happened or in course of show, toward a transition – managing Italian fiscal phenomenon - from a “Government” system (top - down and centralist - ministerial) to a “Governance” model (participated and qualified by institutional, vertical and horizontal “subsidiarity”), first monolevel and stellar (current situation), therefore, multilevel and networked (with the advent of s.c. “fiscal federalism”).

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / Some digitised pages may appear illegible due to the condition of the original hard copy / ENGLISH ABSTRACT; SARS is the arm of Government tasked with collecting revenue for the State and it is therefore contributing to the growth and development of South Africa. The objective is to provide a world-class tax and customs service and effectiveness therefore needs to be increase. It is the responsibility of the SARS Special Investigations (SI) Unit to protect the South African economy and society by being a leading law enforcement agency that focuses on commercial related crimes. This benchmarking study is an effort to identify best practices by comparing the SARS SI Unit with nine other criminal or forensic services investigations units in the Western Cape. Networking and partnerships between criminal investigations units are very important in order to combat commercial crime successfully. Half of the benchmarking participants are from the public sector and the other half from the private sector. The study is done from a management perspective and not from a technical legal perspective. Benchmarking leads to better performance and a process of continuous improvement. The SARS Siyakha re-engineering project is also currently addressing more effective processes for the whole organisation, including SI. One of the major problems of a criminal investigations unit is that it covers a very wide and specialised field and cases become bigger and more complex, because the criminals involved are using more sophisticated methods. Commercial crime is also growing at a rapid rate and even extends to the core of corporate life and is threatening to corrupt the values of our country. In criminal cases, the burden of proof is on the State and the standard of proof is beyond reasonable doubt, which is a very high standard. The objective of the criminal investigation is to obtain all relevant facts in dispute and to prove the elements of fraud in such a manner as to ensure a successful prosecution. Benchmarking represents a practical business application of the scientific approach to problem solving. The benchmarking study was therefore done by following a scientific approach, which encompasses a literature review, personal interviews with each benchmarking participant, and the completion of a questionnaire. During the interviews, critical success factors and problem areas were discussed. From the author's viewpoint it was important to provide a solid scientific foundation for the identification of best practices, models and recommendations, instead of simply stating an opinion. The key success factors and best practices identified were grouped into three key areas: Inputs, professionalism and strategy; Process, procedures and methodology; and Outputs and productivity. These three key areas were chosen to ensure that a systems perspective was followed. The findings of the study were also discussed, grouped and summarised in terms of the three key areas. A multi-disciplined criminal investigations team model was also developed as a result of the research and represents a combination between what the private and public sectors are using. Final recommendations to management and a conclusion complete the study. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: SARS is die arm van die Regering wie se taak dit is om inkomste vir die Staat in te vorder en daardeur dra hulle ook by tot die groei en ontwikkeling van Suid-Afrika. Die doelwit is om 'n wêreldklas diens te lewer om belasting en doeane in te vorder en daarom moet doeltreffendheid verbeter word. Die verantwoordelikheid van die SARS Spesiale Ondersoeke- (SO) afdeling is om as 'n agent die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie en gemeenskap te beskerm deur 'n toonaangewende wetstoepassingsagent te wees wat hom op kommersiële misdaad toespits. Hierdie maatstafstudie (benchmarking) is daarop gemik om beste praktyke te identifiseer deur die SAID se SO-eenheid met nege ander kriminele of forensiese ondersoekeenhede in die Wes-Kaap te vergelyk. Die daarstelling van netwerke en vennootskappe tussen kriminele ondersoekeenhede is geweldig belangrik in die stryd teen kommersiële misdaad. Die helfte van die deelnemers aan die maatstafstudie is uit die privaat sektor en die ander helfte uit die openbare sektor. Die studie is uit 'n bestuursoogpunt en nie vanuit 'n regstegniese perspektief nie, gedoen. Maatstafstudies lei tot beter produktiwiteit en 'n proses van deurlopende verbetering. Die SAID Siyakha herontwerpprojek (re-engineering) is tans ook besig om die prosesse van die hele organisasie, met inbegrip van dié van SO, te herontwerp. Een van die grootste probleme wat 'n kriminele ondersoekeenheid ondervind is dat dit 'n baie wye en gespesialiseerde veld dek en sake al hoe groter en moeiliker raak omdat die misdadigers wat betrokke is, meer gesofistikeerde metodes gebruik. Kommersiële misdaad neem ook teen 'n geweldige tempo toe en brei selfs uit na die hart van die korporatiewe sektor en word 'n bedreiging vir die waardes van ons land. Die bewyslas in kriminele sake rus op die Staat en die standaard van die bewyslas is bo redelike twyfel. Die doel van kriminele ondersoeke is om al die relevante feite waaroor dit gaan te openbaar en om die elemente van bedrog op so 'n manier te bewys en aan te bied sodat 'n suksesvolle vervolging verseker kan word. Maatstafstudies word gedoen deur middel van 'n wetenskaplike probleemoplossingsbenadering en dit verteenwoordig 'n praktiese besigheidstoepassing. Die maatstafstudie is daarom gedoen deur 'n getroue navolging van 'n omvattende wetenskaplike benadering. Eerstens is 'n teoretiese studie gedoen wat opgevolg is deur persoonlike onderhoude wat die invul van 'n vraelys ingesluit het. Tydens die onderhoude is kritieke suksesfaktore en probleemareas bespreek. Uit die skrywer se oogpunt was dit deurentyd belangrik om 'n grondige wetenskaplike basis te hê vir die identifisering van beste praktyke, modelle en aanbevelings, eerder as om net 'n persoonlike mening uit te spreek. Die kritieke suksesfaktore asook die beste praktyke is gegroepeer in drie hoofareas: Insette, professionele gedrag en strategie; Prosesse, prosedures en metodologie; en Uitsette en produktiwiteit. Hierdie drie sleutelareas is gekies om te verseker dat 'n stelselbenadering gevolg word. Die bevindings van die studie is ook bespreek, gegroepeer en saamgevat onder die drie kernareas. Een van die resultate van die studie is dat 'n "multi-dissiplinêre kriminele ondersoekspanmodel" ontwerp is wat verteenwoordigend is van 'n gekombineerde toepassing tussen die privaat en openbare sektor. Die studie word afgerond deur finale aanbevelings aan bestuur en 'n gevolgtrekking.

O trabalho concentra-se sobre o critério do valor adicionado fiscal na repartição do ICMS, com o objetivo de verificar sua adequação como mecanismo de provisão de recursos financeiros a Municípios, no contexto do federalismo fiscal brasileiro. Mediante análise teórica, de dados de distribuição e legislação referente à repartição e ao ICMS, identificamos que o valor adicionado fiscal é gerador de enormes desigualdades de tratamento entre Municípios de porte equivalente e de oscilações brutais de valores de transferência de um para outro ano, mas, sobretudo, que é juridicamente inadequado à multiplicidade de locais de ocorrência de fatos geradores e a heterogeneidade do imposto que pretende repartir. Não atinge, assim, o propósito de medir a adição de valor em um território, nem o de conferir aos Municípios receitas em montante similar ao potencial de arrecadação de um imposto sobre valor adicionado municipal depurado dos efeitos de imunidades, isenções, diferimentos e substituições tributárias, que justificou sua criação. A permanência da utilização do critério do valor adicionado por décadas é apontada no trabalho como resultante de acomodações e ajustes institucionais, característicos de dependência de trajetória (path dependence), que, desrespeitando os limites jurídicos de regulamentação, disfarçam a inadequação do critério e perpetuam as desigualdades e instabilidades dele advindas. Justifica-se, assim, que atenções sejam voltadas à análise de alternativas à repartição do ICMS por outros meios que não o VAF e o aperfeiçoamento de seus mecanismos de regulação, caso permaneça sendo utilizado. / The Added Value Criteria (VAF) is used in Brazil for purposes of ICMS (A State tax on circulation of goods, communication and interstate and intercity transportation services) revenue sharing to cities. The data on how the VAT based tax sharing occurs shows that VAT is a source of inequalities in resource distribution to cities of equivalent population and oscillations in the amounts received by a given city along the years. Moreover and as the central hypothesis of this thesis, VAF, as defined in Brazilian legislation, is not suitable to the complexity of situations and places of occurrence of ICMS taxable events nor to the effects of ICMS on prices, being, thus, unable to measure the value added in each city territory and to protect the revenue sharing from the effects of ICMS exemptions, constitutional immunities, deferrals and tax substitutions. Being so, the VAT regulations, do not recreate the potential of a municipal VAT, falling short in accomplishing the purposes it was created for. In spite of its defects, VAT remains in use decades after its creation as a result of accommodations and institutional adjustments that can be explained by a path dependence trajectory that was, and still, is able to disguise its chronic inadequacies and to perpetuate the inequalities and instabilities arising out of such distribution criteria. Our conclusions on VAF justify the study of other alternatives for the ICMS revenue sharing, as well as attempts to improve the quality of VAT regulations.

[pt] Como conseqüência da desregulamentação da indústria aérea americana nos anos 70, Yield Management YM foi criado como uma ferramenta gerencial para maximizar os lucros e manter as vantagens competitivas de empresas do setor. Com o tempo, essa ferramenta passou a ser utilizada por diversas empresas prestadoras de serviço, quando existe uma demanda variável para uma capacidade fixa e elevado custo de ociosidade, ajudando os gerentes a maximizar as receitas das suas operações. Basicamente, YM é o processo de alocação do tipo certo de capacidade, para cada tipo de cliente, ao preço certo, para que se maximizem os lucros. Pode-se ainda dizer que YM é uma forma sistemática de realizar um tipo de preço discriminatório em função de dados de demanda, de ocupação e dos custos marginais de utilização do recurso (avião, hotel, ou outro sistema prestador de serviço). Esta dissertação tem como objetivo verificar como os maiores hotéis turísticos do Rio de Janeiro se utilizam desta ferramenta em suas operações de reservas e vendas. Para atingir tal objetivo, selecionou-se uma amostra de onze hotéis na orla marítima. Entrevistas foram realizadas com os respectivos gerentes responsáveis pelo processo de reservas e/ou vendas, que responderam a um sobre a atual aplicação dos elementos de YM dentro da organização. Os resultados indicaram que o uso de YM é ainda muito pouco difundido entre esses hotéis, sendo reconhecido e de aplicação incipiente apenas em hotéis de maior porte pertencentes a cadeias, sobretudo internacionais. Alguns impedimentos indicados pelos respondentes e inferidos de suas respostas são comentados. / [en] As a consequence of the deregulation of the American airline industry in the 70 s, Yield Management was created as a managerial tool in order to maximize the profits and to keep the competitive advantages of companies of the sector. With time, this tool was adopted by other service companies, where a flexible demand for a fixed capacity and high under utilization costs exist, helping the managers to maximize their operations revenues. Yield Management (YM), or Revenue Management, is the allocation process of the right type of capacity to each type of customer at the proper price to maximize the sales revenues of services, or of highly perishable goods. It can still be said that YM is a systematic form to carry out a type of discriminatory price to meet demand taking into account occupation data and the marginal cost of resource utilization (airplane, hotel, or another service rendering system). The study presented in this thesis aimed at verifying how the main tourist hotels of Rio de Janeiro are taking advantages of this tool within their reservation and sales processes. To accomplish this objective, a sample of eleven hotels was selected amongst the fifteen more important hotels of the main touristic area of Rio de Janeiro City. Interviews were carried out with the managers responsible for the reservation and, or sales, departament, who answered a questionnaire about the current application of YM elements within the organization. The results have indicated that YM is still very little spread out among these hotels, being recognized and of incipient application, only in large hotel chains, mainly, the international ones. Some obstacles pointed out by the respondents and inferred from their responses are commented.

Social and individual spending on higher education has outpaced social and individual economic growth, resulting in nonprofit institutions of higher education (NIHEs) growing increasingly dependent upon unsustainable governmental subsidies and tuition increases. The purpose of this study was to examine the interactions among components of the nonprofit university system, existing revenue generation methods, and sustainability of revenue generation, thereby generating a new sustainable revenue theory for nonprofit universities within the United States. This qualitative grounded theory study used a multiphase design incorporating data from the literature review, historical documents, and phone interviews from a theoretical sampling of 10 NIHEs. Participants were 20 faculty, 40 students, 40 administrative staff, and 20 members of the business community. Analysis included open, focused, axial, and theoretical coding. The study's findings theorize that a sustainable revenue generation system must continually include, and respond to, the multidirectional interactions of all system components as they change over time, including businesses. The result of the multidirectional connectivity between all of the system components was increased revenue for NIHEs and reduced student and government-funded tuition. Additionally, an organizational culture that is incongruent with change has been identified in NIHEs and must be mitigated. The findings of this study could positively affect NIHEs by providing a sustainable and adaptable system for improving revenue generation while increasing affordability and accessibility for students of these institutions, which, in turn, may produce positive social change.

<p><strong>Syfte</strong>: Studiens syfte är att analysera hur flygbolaget Ryanair prissätter sina flygbiljetter och om det skiljer sig beroende på flygsträcka.</p><p><strong>Metod</strong>: En kvalitativ longitudinell studie med deduktiv ansats där primärdata i form av prisuppgifter samlats in från Ryanairs hemsida.</p><p><strong>Teorier</strong>: Prisdiskriminering, Priselasticitetshävstång, Operationell hävstång och Hallbergs prisstrategier.</p><p><strong>Slutsats</strong>: Studiens resultat bekräftar Anjos, Chengs och Curries teori om att lågprisflygbiljetter håller sig på en ganska stabil nivå fram till att det återstår ungefär 20 dagar kvar till avresa, då priset stiger fram till avgångsdagen då det är som högst. Detta motsäger Anderson och Wilsons teori om att biljettpriset går i cykler och att flygbiljetterna är som dyrast några dagar före avresa för att sedan sjunka i pris. Den höga prishöjningen på avgångsdagen sker konsekvent på alla de undersökta flygsträckorna och är intressant eftersom höga priser inte är något som lågprisflygbolagen vill förknippas med. Förklaringen kan vara det som diskuteras av Piga och Bachis om att flygbolagen försöker skapa en osäkerhet hos resenärer kring när det är billigast att köpa sina flygbiljetter. Studien resultat visar också på att det går att se ett mönster i prissättningen av flygbiljetter på Ryanairs resmål med få flygningar medan de mer populära resmålen har en mer dynamisk prissättning som är desto svårare att förutspå.</p> / <p>The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is to analyze how the airline Ryanair is pricing their tickets and if there is a distinction between different flight destinations. The thesis used a deductive approach and the data (ticket prices) was collected during a time period of 53 days from Ryanair’s internet homepage. The theories used to analyze the data were price discrimination, price elasticity leverage, operating leverage and four different price strategies presented by Niklas L. Hallberg. The result shows that Ryanair uses second degree of price discrimination in all of the observed flights at the departure day. As for the rest, the result shows that there is a distinction between how Ryanair uses pricing as a strategy depending on what the destination is. The conclusion of the thesis is that Ryanair uses different price strategies depending on how popular the specific flight or destination is. The more popular the flight or destination is, the more dynamic the price is and the harder it is to predict the coming price. The pricing of the more popular flights could be, as presented by Piga and Bachis, a way of creating an uncertainty when it is the cheapest to buy airline tickets. Further the Study confirms Anjos, Cheng and Currie’s theory that the prices low-fare tickets are at a stable level until it remains about 20 days until departure, when the price increases until the departure date. This contradicts Anderson and Wilson’s theory that the ticket price goes in cycles where the price is at the highest level some days before departure before it starts to decrease.</p>

Syfte: Studiens syfte är att analysera hur flygbolaget Ryanair prissätter sina flygbiljetter och om det skiljer sig beroende på flygsträcka. Metod: En kvalitativ longitudinell studie med deduktiv ansats där primärdata i form av prisuppgifter samlats in från Ryanairs hemsida. Teorier: Prisdiskriminering, Priselasticitetshävstång, Operationell hävstång och Hallbergs prisstrategier. Slutsats: Studiens resultat bekräftar Anjos, Chengs och Curries teori om att lågprisflygbiljetter håller sig på en ganska stabil nivå fram till att det återstår ungefär 20 dagar kvar till avresa, då priset stiger fram till avgångsdagen då det är som högst. Detta motsäger Anderson och Wilsons teori om att biljettpriset går i cykler och att flygbiljetterna är som dyrast några dagar före avresa för att sedan sjunka i pris. Den höga prishöjningen på avgångsdagen sker konsekvent på alla de undersökta flygsträckorna och är intressant eftersom höga priser inte är något som lågprisflygbolagen vill förknippas med. Förklaringen kan vara det som diskuteras av Piga och Bachis om att flygbolagen försöker skapa en osäkerhet hos resenärer kring när det är billigast att köpa sina flygbiljetter. Studien resultat visar också på att det går att se ett mönster i prissättningen av flygbiljetter på Ryanairs resmål med få flygningar medan de mer populära resmålen har en mer dynamisk prissättning som är desto svårare att förutspå. / The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is to analyze how the airline Ryanair is pricing their tickets and if there is a distinction between different flight destinations. The thesis used a deductive approach and the data (ticket prices) was collected during a time period of 53 days from Ryanair’s internet homepage. The theories used to analyze the data were price discrimination, price elasticity leverage, operating leverage and four different price strategies presented by Niklas L. Hallberg. The result shows that Ryanair uses second degree of price discrimination in all of the observed flights at the departure day. As for the rest, the result shows that there is a distinction between how Ryanair uses pricing as a strategy depending on what the destination is. The conclusion of the thesis is that Ryanair uses different price strategies depending on how popular the specific flight or destination is. The more popular the flight or destination is, the more dynamic the price is and the harder it is to predict the coming price. The pricing of the more popular flights could be, as presented by Piga and Bachis, a way of creating an uncertainty when it is the cheapest to buy airline tickets. Further the Study confirms Anjos, Cheng and Currie’s theory that the prices low-fare tickets are at a stable level until it remains about 20 days until departure, when the price increases until the departure date. This contradicts Anderson and Wilson’s theory that the ticket price goes in cycles where the price is at the highest level some days before departure before it starts to decrease.

The traditional air cargo supply chain is composed by the shippers, the freight forwarders and the airlines. The freight forwarders secure capacity with airlines in order to accommodate shippers' demand. They bid for capacity six to twelve months before the actual departure date of the aircraft, and confirm the needed capacity a few days before departure. We address the freight forwarders' problem of confirming needed capacity based on balancing the costs of ordering too much capacity versus ordering too little. We use a Markov decision process to model the problem. We show the value function is convex in the state variables for lead times of one and two periods. We present the structure of the optimal policy and show it is stationary. In addition we present solutions to the case with subcontracting options and order due dates. We also address the airlines' revenue management problem with respect to its cargo capacity available for free sale (after honoring committed capacity to freight forwarders), in particular the problems of (1) accepting/rejecting incoming bookings based on bid prices, and of (2) estimating the show-up rate (ratio of bookings handed in at departure over bookings on hand) with impact on overbooking. To address the lumpiness of demand, we split the cargo into two categories: small cargo, composed of mail and small packages, and large cargo, composed of the bulk of commercial cargo. The small cargo is approximated with the passenger arrival, and we propose a new algorithm to solve the traditional probabilistic nonlinear problem from the passenger side. The large cargo is solved using a dynamic program, which is decomposed at the leg level using a fare-prorating scheme. The solution from our new approach is shown via simulation to be superior to two approaches currently used: the first come first serve, and the deterministic linear program. The show-up rate is estimated using wavelets and we show that a discrete show-up rate is more suitable than the traditional Normal estimator used in practice. The new estimator results in considerable more potential revenue.