The study begins with a conceptual framework, which defines services, examines theories on the role of services within economies and looks at the concept of services sector productivity. It then discusses measurement issues as they relate to services in general and more specifically to tourism activities. The study then presents an empirical analysis of Caribbean services sectors, in order to indicate their growing importance in the economies of the English-speaking Caribbean countries. It examines the relative contributions of the components of the services sector, investigates the income elasticity thesis and suggests criteria for identifying service economies. As a background for the production function analyses, the dissertation presents synopses of the three tourism sub-sectors being studied (accommodation, restaurant and transport and allied activities). These descriptions are based on data compiled from a survey undertaken in three countries. The dissertation's main area of focus is on the use of the production function approach to the study of productivity in tourism activities. Using a model based on the Cobb-Douglas and modified production functions, it estimates the partial elasticities of output with respect to individual inputs. The findings indicate that the labour variable exerts a relatively strong influence on output, while the capital variable exhibits little or no impact on the latter. Based on these findings and an examination of the productivity ratio, the study concludes with a discussion of factors influencing productivity.

The initial direction of this research was in the application of Quality tools and techniques, within the framework of the EFQM Model for Business Excellence. Three quality improvement projects managed by the author (Cost of Quality, BPR and Benchmarking) sought to identify the key elements of a process improvement methodology. However, the completion of the three case studies led the author to review the whole approach of the research. The review led to the need to develop an understanding of the culture and the environment of an organisation as a precursor to implementing quality improvement. The ability of an organisation to manage the process of continuous improvement or TQM implementation was fundamentally dependent on the culture of an organisation. Organisational culture is the bedrock upon which organisational change is based and an understanding of the culture could help the practitioner focus on key change issues at the outset. The main work in the research then set about attempting to develop and test a model of organisational culture and climate which would help practitioners develop a fuller understanding of organisational culture and internal environment before interventions were carried out. A process for developing an understanding of organisational culture and climate was derived, using information obtained from the culture, quality and climate literature and the review of the case studies. This process included the use of various tools and techniques such as multi-item questionnaire and focus groups. The process used Focus Groups to identify key issues within Lloyds TSB and to help develop a multi-item questionnaire, termed PCOC. The PCOC questionnaire was then tested in four different Areas of Lloyds TSB and the results were analysed and compared to identify similarities and differences across Business Areas. The implications for the implementation of quality improvement were identified and recommendations for managing change were made.

This dissertation focuses on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ('OECD') transfer pricing methods and its application to Multinational Enterprise ('MNE') groups in the financial sector. This study examines whether the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ('BEPS') Action Plan 9 is an appropriate framework for MNE groups in the banking sector or whether it creates further challenges. Additionally, the dissertation scrutinises MNE groups in the financial sector that are involved in the business of global trading of financial instruments. It further explores the functions of a global trading entity, the arm's length principle and the OECD BEPS Action Plan 9. This dissertation concludes that the global trading of financial instruments using the integrated trading model is challenged when the OECD traditional transfer pricing methods are applied. Multinational financial institution groups in the banking sector that are involved in the business of global trading of financial instruments are subject to rigid regulations. Furthermore, the report concludes that these rigid regulations mitigate some of the complications that arise when applying the OECD BEPS Action Plan 9. Taxing authorities need to focus greater attention on the global trading of financial instruments by multinational financial institutions groups. As South Africa's financial institutions expand across borders, the concerns over transfer pricing and BEPS are likely to intensify. It is therefore imperative that the South African revenue authorities prioritise the recruitment of skilled personnel in order to address the complexities posed by the global trading of financial instruments by multinational financial institution groups.

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Unemployment within the South African economy has indicated to be a prominent issue with an official unemployment rate of 25.2% in the year 2013 (Statistics South Africa, 2013). The South African government released the National Growth Path that is primarily focused on creating stable economic growth, in order to create jobs as well as eradicate inequality. This is followed by the Industrial Policy Action Plan 2 (IPAP2) document which includes a policy package to facilitate the specific industries that are identified for job creation (DTI, 2012). Thus, employment creation has become a real concern within the South African context. The highest percentage of total employment has remained within the services industry since 2004, at a rate above 60%. This is double the combined employment within agriculture and industry, with agriculture at 5% and industry at 25% of total employment. Thus the services industry has contributed to the highest amount of employment in South Africa. The exports of services have grown consistently since the year 2004. The largest exporter within the services industry is the travel sector, with substantial exports which peaked at 9 billion dollars in 2013. When analysing the remaining service sectors within the South African economy, it indicates that there can be a greater deal of growth in exports, with the majority of service sectors exporting less than 1 billion dollars. Export expansion can be a basis to growth in employment creation, if policy can specifically be focused towards it. Because of the demand for methods and strategy for employment creation, this study reviewed the literature regarding the effects of export expansion, as well as research methods to identify labour intensive sectors and their spill-over effects. Studies show that the increases in exports have a predominantly positive effect on employment. Furthermore, these studies also found prominent inter-linkages of services sectors within the economy. The aim of this study was to determine the most employment-intensive services sectors and their linkages with other sectors within the South African economy, in order to make recommendations for policy makers towards sustainable economic growth and job creation in the services sector. The Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) used in this study model generally explains through a general table of a region or nation, by listing the regional or national economy accounting data within a square table. Thus the main goal of the SAM model was to form a comprehensive economic-wide database, which included information about all the productive activities in the economy, as well as incorporating unproductive institutions and markets, such as capital markets, factor markets, government, households and the rest of the world. The above model can thus be used to determine the link between a specific sectors expansion and the labour intensity of that sector. Furthermore, the model is not only limited to measure labour intensity, but it can also measure the specific GDP and production spill-over effects for a specific sector within the economy. Therefore, the study could analyse the spill-over effects of specific services sectors, as well as the possible employment effect it could have throughout the South African economy. The results of the study could then also be used as a strategy for export expansion and employment creation. There is currently no policy focused strategy for the services industry, which could become beneficial. The first step for the empirical analysis was to identify the services sectors which are tradable/ exportable. The following SAM services sectors are more tradable/ exportable than others in commercial terms, and thus they will be used in the analysis of this study: - Building and Construction - Trade - Accommodation - Communication - Finance and Insurance - Real Estate - Business Services - Community, Social and Personal Services In the second part of the study, the objective was to determine the most employment-intensive services sectors and its linkages with other sectors within the South African economy, in order to make recommendations for policy makers towards sustainable economic growth and job creation in the services sector. The results of this study indicated that an increase in the exports of services in South Africa has a definite impact on employment in the following sectors: - Production o Accommodation, Real Estate and Building and Construction - GDP o Accommodation, Real Estate and Building and Construction - Labour o Community, Social and Personal Services, Accommodation, and Business Services / MCom (International Trade), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Unemployment within the South African economy has indicated to be a prominent issue with an official unemployment rate of 25.2% in the year 2013 (Statistics South Africa, 2013). The South African government released the National Growth Path that is primarily focused on creating stable economic growth, in order to create jobs as well as eradicate inequality. This is followed by the Industrial Policy Action Plan 2 (IPAP2) document which includes a policy package to facilitate the specific industries that are identified for job creation (DTI, 2012). Thus, employment creation has become a real concern within the South African context. The highest percentage of total employment has remained within the services industry since 2004, at a rate above 60%. This is double the combined employment within agriculture and industry, with agriculture at 5% and industry at 25% of total employment. Thus the services industry has contributed to the highest amount of employment in South Africa. The exports of services have grown consistently since the year 2004. The largest exporter within the services industry is the travel sector, with substantial exports which peaked at 9 billion dollars in 2013. When analysing the remaining service sectors within the South African economy, it indicates that there can be a greater deal of growth in exports, with the majority of service sectors exporting less than 1 billion dollars. Export expansion can be a basis to growth in employment creation, if policy can specifically be focused towards it. Because of the demand for methods and strategy for employment creation, this study reviewed the literature regarding the effects of export expansion, as well as research methods to identify labour intensive sectors and their spill-over effects. Studies show that the increases in exports have a predominantly positive effect on employment. Furthermore, these studies also found prominent inter-linkages of services sectors within the economy. The aim of this study was to determine the most employment-intensive services sectors and their linkages with other sectors within the South African economy, in order to make recommendations for policy makers towards sustainable economic growth and job creation in the services sector. The Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) used in this study model generally explains through a general table of a region or nation, by listing the regional or national economy accounting data within a square table. Thus the main goal of the SAM model was to form a comprehensive economic-wide database, which included information about all the productive activities in the economy, as well as incorporating unproductive institutions and markets, such as capital markets, factor markets, government, households and the rest of the world. The above model can thus be used to determine the link between a specific sectors expansion and the labour intensity of that sector. Furthermore, the model is not only limited to measure labour intensity, but it can also measure the specific GDP and production spill-over effects for a specific sector within the economy. Therefore, the study could analyse the spill-over effects of specific services sectors, as well as the possible employment effect it could have throughout the South African economy. The results of the study could then also be used as a strategy for export expansion and employment creation. There is currently no policy focused strategy for the services industry, which could become beneficial. The first step for the empirical analysis was to identify the services sectors which are tradable/ exportable. The following SAM services sectors are more tradable/ exportable than others in commercial terms, and thus they will be used in the analysis of this study: - Building and Construction - Trade - Accommodation - Communication - Finance and Insurance - Real Estate - Business Services - Community, Social and Personal Services In the second part of the study, the objective was to determine the most employment-intensive services sectors and its linkages with other sectors within the South African economy, in order to make recommendations for policy makers towards sustainable economic growth and job creation in the services sector. The results of this study indicated that an increase in the exports of services in South Africa has a definite impact on employment in the following sectors: - Production o Accommodation, Real Estate and Building and Construction - GDP o Accommodation, Real Estate and Building and Construction - Labour o Community, Social and Personal Services, Accommodation, and Business Services / MCom (International Trade), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Les sociétés actuelles montrent un déclin toujours plus important du niveau d’activité physique, associé à une progression alarmante des comportements sédentaires. Compte tenu de la mutation inéluctable des activités professionnelles, le milieu du travail a récemment été suggéré comme un environnement pertinent et intéressant pour favoriser l’activité physique. Dans ce contexte, l’objectif principal de ce travail de doctorat était d’évaluer la faisabilité de mise en place et l’efficacité de programmes d’activité physique conduits en entreprise sur les principaux indicateurs de santé d’employés du secteur tertiaire. Si les premiers résultats soulignent bien la faisabilité de ce type d’approche et viennent confirmer leurs bienfaits sur la santé, ce travail vient enrichir la littérature dans le domaine de nouveaux résultats particulièrement importants à considérer : i) le haut niveau de sédentarité semble influencer le niveau de santé des employés ; ii) la mise en place de ce type de programme se confronte à un faible taux d’adhésion qui semble déterminé à la fois par le profil initial de participant et par les effets à court terme du programme. De manière importante, nos résultats mettent clairement en avant que la santé générale des employés de ce secteur tertiaire ne peut pas être uniquement améliorée par l’accroissement du niveau d’activité physique, mais également très certainement par la réduction concomitante de leur temps de sédentarité. Si les travaux conduits jusqu’alors se sont intéressés de manière isolée à la promotion du niveau d’activité physique ou à cette rupture de sédentarité, des approches combinées doivent être maintenant conduites et ce de manière individualisée. / Current societies show a continuous decline of physical activity level associated with an alarming progression of sedentary behaviors. Considering the inevitable shift in professional activities, workplace has recently been suggested as a relevant and interesting setting for the promotion of physical activity. In this context, the main objective of this PhD thesis was to evaluate the feasibility, implementation and effectiveness of physical activity programs conducted within companies on the main health indicators of tertiary employees. If our first results underline the feasibility of such an approaches and confirm their health benefits, this work enriches the literature in the field of new results particularly important to consider : i) the high level of sedentary time seems to influence the employees’ health level despite increased physical practice ; ii) the introduction of this program type is confronted to a high attrition rate which seems determined by both the initial participants' profile and the short-term effects of the program. Importantly, our results clearly point out that the employees’ general health in the tertiary sector can not only be improved by increasing the physical activity level, but needs a concomitant reduction of their sedentary time. If the work carried out until now has been independently focusing on the promotion of physical activity or on anti-sedentary time strategies, combined individualized approaches must now be carried out.

This thesis analyses what effects foreign direct investments (FDI) has on a firm’s gross profit, wages and labour productivity. Focus is on the Swedish industrial goods and service sector which has shown on a rapid growth of offshore production. We use a theoretical framework with FDI and productivity theories. As a result of cost efficient alternatives to domestic production, a firm’s productivity should fall in the case of increased foreign production. Although, the increase in gross profit should rule out the negative affect that a decrease in productivity cause. There is a positive relationship between offshore production and gross profits, and expanded foreign production leads to a decreased wage rate. However, increased foreign employment showed a boost the labour productivity, which is wrong from a theoretical point of view. / I den här uppsatsen analyseras hur utländska direktinvesteringar påverkar företags vinster, löner och arbetsproduktivitet. Fokus är ställt på svenska företag inom sektorn industriella varor och tjänster. Den teoretiska delen tar upp utländska direktinvesteringar och arbetsproduktivitet. Som ett resultat av kostnadseffektiva alternativ utomlands, borde arbetsproduktiviteten falla om den utländska produktionen ökar. Den väntade vinstökningen efter utlandslokalisering borde dock ge en generell positiv effekt. Den empiriska delen visar ett positivt samband mellan utlandslokalisering och vinst. Bevis finnes också för att medellönen sjunker när utlandslokaliseringen ökar. Empiriska resultat visar också att ökad utlandslokalisering ökar arbetsproduktiviteten, vilket ur teoretisk ståndpunkt inte stämmer.

<p>This thesis analyses what effects foreign direct investments (FDI) has on a firm’s gross profit, wages and labour productivity. Focus is on the Swedish industrial goods and service sector which has shown on a rapid growth of offshore production. We use a theoretical framework with FDI and productivity theories. As a result of cost efficient alternatives to domestic production, a firm’s productivity should fall in the case of increased foreign production. Although, the increase in gross profit should rule out the negative affect that a decrease in productivity cause.</p><p>There is a positive relationship between offshore production and gross profits, and expanded foreign production leads to a decreased wage rate. However, increased foreign employment showed a boost the labour productivity, which is wrong from a theoretical point of view.</p> / <p>I den här uppsatsen analyseras hur utländska direktinvesteringar påverkar företags vinster, löner och arbetsproduktivitet. Fokus är ställt på svenska företag inom sektorn industriella varor och tjänster. Den teoretiska delen tar upp utländska direktinvesteringar och arbetsproduktivitet. Som ett resultat av kostnadseffektiva alternativ utomlands, borde arbetsproduktiviteten falla om den utländska produktionen ökar. Den väntade vinstökningen efter utlandslokalisering borde dock ge en generell positiv effekt.</p><p>Den empiriska delen visar ett positivt samband mellan utlandslokalisering och vinst. Bevis finnes också för att medellönen sjunker när utlandslokaliseringen ökar. Empiriska resultat visar också att ökad utlandslokalisering ökar arbetsproduktiviteten, vilket ur teoretisk ståndpunkt inte stämmer.</p>

This thesis focuses on how popular ideas in society influence corporate behavior, as corporations adapt to normative ideas in society in order to achieve legitimacy. However, we need more knowledge about how ideas influence organizations and what happens when ideas enter in an organizational context. Hence, this thesis deals with the following research question: ‘How do actors transform ideas on being socially and environmentally responsible into practice?’ This question is studied empirically within corporations in the Swedish financial services sector. The thesis contributes to organizational institutional theory and to knowledge on the translation of ideas in organizational contexts. Based on analyses of the empirical observations six translation processes are identified. Incorporation is used to incorporate already legitimate external CSR elements into the organization. Localizing is used to give an idea local character by inscribing the idea into the history of the organization. De-coupling is used to translate ideas simultaneously and over time by adjusting the presentation of the organization’s business according to the relevant audience. Co-optation is used to incorporate external actors with know-how and legitimacy into internal processes. Organizing is used to gain internal acceptance for the idea. Blending is used to translate the idea into a modest adaptation to make it fit existing practice in the firm’s core business. Several of these translation processes are at work at the same time. As demonstrated in the study, new ways of presenting the organization as well as new activities appear as outcomes of translation. Translation processes that both influence presentation and practice are necessary for gaining legitimacy for the idea. The adoption of CSR in the studied financial services corporations could only partly be strategically planned. Results from the study also point to unintended and unexpected consequences of integrating social and environmental responsibility. / <p>QC 20110526</p>