Researchers in various business disciplines use the event study methodology to assess the market value of firms through capital market reaction to news in the public media about the firm's activities. Capital market reaction is assessed based on cumulative abnormal return (sum of abnormal returns over the event window). In this study, the event study methodology is used to assess the impact that two important information technology activities, Internet security breach and ecommerce initiative, have on the market value of firms. While prior research on the relationship between these business activities and cumulative abnormal return involved the use of regression analysis, in this study, we use decision tree induction and regression.For the Internet security breach study, we use negative cumulative abnormal return as a surrogate for damage to the breached firm. In contrast to what has been reported in the research literature, our results suggest that the relationship between cumulative abnormal return and the independent variables for both the Internet security breach and ecommerce initiative studies is complex, often involving conditional interactions between the independent variables. We report that the incomplete contract theory is unable to effectively explain the relationship between cumulative abnormal return and the organizational variables. Other ecommerce theories provide support to the findings from our analysis. We show that both attack and firm characteristics are determinants of damage to breached firms.Our results revealed that the use of decision tree induction presents additional insight to that provided by regression models. We illustrate that there is value in using data mining techniques to study the market value of e-commerce initiative and Internet security breach and that this approach has applicability in other domains and that Decision Tree can enhance the event study methodology.We demonstrate that Decision Tree induction can be used for both theory building and theory testing. We specifically employ Decision Tree induction to test and enhance ecommerce theories and develop a theoretical model for cumulative abnormal return and ecommerce. We also present theoretical models for Internet security breach and damage to the breached firm. These models can be used by decision makers in Internet security and ecommerce investments strategic formulations and implementations.

research aims to examine evidence concerning the implementation of learning theories in the QU PharmD programme, utilising a case study research approach. The research is divided into four stages, conducted under the umbrella of a social constructivist interpretative framework and the constructivist and social theories of learning. In the first stage, the perceptions of full-time students, faculty and preceptors in the QU PharmD programme were explored; these raised questions regarding the role of learning theory in the design and delivery of the programme. The second stage explored the extent to which the programme is based on learning theories by interviewing two programme designers, a pharmacy education scholar and an accreditation agency administrator. This stage proposed a disconnect between learning theories and educational practice in the QU PharmD programme, and suggested the need for investigating the implications of the proposed disconnect from a Communities of Practice (CoP) theory perspective. In the third stage, a novel CoP theory-informed framework was developed through an extensive review of the literature. In the fourth stage, the CoP framework was used as a theoretical instrument to analyse the evidence of CoP theory in the QU PharmD programme by conducting three focus groups and five interviews with key stakeholders, and by performing document analysis. The research suggests that the disconnect between CoP learning theory and the educational practices in the QU PharmD programme is at the “implicit disconnect” level, meaning that some elements of the CoP framework were implicitly evident. This implicit disconnect contributes to the challenges found in the programme. This study concludes with the creation of a case study-developed theory emphasising the importance of the full and explicit implementation of learning theory in educational practices. The theory calls for better integration of academic, practice, accreditation, and governmental sector efforts in professional healthcare educational reform initiatives.

參考從2001到2005在台灣股市的股息對股票的影響的研究，在根據event-study and SAR method這兩種方式之實證研究可以得到本次的台灣股市裡面除權的效應。 / Referring to our research into the ex-dividend effects on stocks traded on TSE from 2001 to 2005, we come to the following conclusions under the event-study and SAR method. There should be negative ARs on the three days prior to the ex-date and a positive AR on the ex-dividend day, no matter in a bear or bull market. Stocks with cash-only dividends present lower ARs on the three days prior to the ex-date and the ex-dividend day while stock-only dividend ones suffer from higher ARs. The performances of stocks with balanced dividends are just in-between. The most significant ex-dividend effects turn up when it comes to stocks which go ex-dividend in season, with a positive CAR to the seventh day after the ex-date. On the other hand, the effects on the early-ex-dividend stocks exhibit insignificance generally. Later-ex-dividend stocks demonstrate the lowest fluctuation of ARs. However, the simultaneous decline of the index in the ex-dividend season is likely to result in higher-significant ARs. In terms of industry, the ex-dividend effects on electronic companies are more significant than on non-electronic companies. Given a bear market, there used to be negative CARs on electronic companies after shareholders’ meeting; on the contrary, in a bull market, there were positive CARs.

A fundamental process in many important research foci in information systems is the appropriation of IT artifacts in creative ways by users. The objective of this thesis is to develop a theoretical explanation of that process. An embedded multiple-case study of incidents in which users, in a variety of field settings, developed creative ways to apply IT artifacts, was conducted. Employing theoretical lenses drawn from cognitive science (dual-process theory, distributed cognition), and Markus and Silver’s (2008) variant of adaptive structuration theory, a novel theoretical framework was developed to analyze the data. This framework – Affordance Field Theory – was used to abstract away the context-specific details of each case, so that the events in each could be compared and analyzed using a common conceptual vocabulary. Applying critical realist assumptions, the initial retroductive analysis was done with narrative networks, then the cases were re-analyzed using framework matrices. The complementary logical forms (processual and thematic, respectively) of the analytic tools helped to provide empirical corroboration of the findings. A set of cognitive mechanisms was identified that describe the information-processing operations involved in creative user appropriation. Using assumptions from distributed cognition, it was demonstrated that these mechanisms can describe those operations at the individual and collective levels. An integrative model which shows how the mechanisms explain user creativity at the individual level was then developed. It is called the Information Cycle Model of creativity. This thesis makes several contributions to knowledge. It develops a theoretical framework for analyzing interactions between users and systems that is designed to represent the cycles of ideation and enactment through which creative appropriation moves are developed. It also presents a model of the cognitive mechanisms involved in the discovery of novel appropriation moves. The thesis also contributes to current debates within IS about representational metaphors for user interaction with IT.

This research investigated teachers'perceptions, understandings and implementation of education standards in elementary and primary schools in Papua New Guinea. The main research question and two sub-questions were designed to explore teachers' perceptions and understanding of national standards. This exploration engaged teachers in identifying factors which they believed influenced their professional work. This study also explored stakeholders' perceptions of teachers' interpretations of national education standards. This study adopted social constructivist epistemology, symbolic interactionism, and ethnographic case study methodology. This provided the basis for its theoretical framework to purposefully understand human interactions within their culture and context. Social constructivism accommodates situated learning, a conceptual framework which was adapted to interrogate understanding and implementation of national education standards. A variety of research methods were used to elicit teachers' and stakeholders' perceptions and experiences of their professional world. These methods included in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, documentary analysis, field notes and observations. Most of the focus group discussions engaged participants to "tell their stories", thus storytelling became an avenue for eliciting teachers' and stakeholders'perceptions. Workshops conducted for teachers became another important strategy for data collection. Two schools, one rural and one urban, became case studies to understand national education standards as an external phenomenon. A total of 595 participants were involved in this study including teachers and pupils, parents and community members, school board members, members of curriculum committees, and policy makers. The study found numerous contextual factors influenced teachers' understandings, interpretation and implementation of standards at the school level. Foremost, teachers' own knowledge of formal education standards was deficient thus influencing their commitment to and enthusiasm in their professional work. Teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical skills influenced their ability to translate content standards into clear benchmarks for pupils' learning. The absence of effective monitoring systems of teachers' performance contributed to pupils' superficial assessment reports and of uncoordinated mastery of subject content and performance skills. The absence of effective school leadership affected teachers' commitment, attitudes and professionalism. This generated a culture of isolationism acute in both schools. Teachers were performing to hierarchically externally imposed requirements, and in the process, overlooked essential knowledge and skills that were needed to improve quality of students' learning. The national education standards are an inherited policy from the colonial administration. This study found that successful implementation of education standards is highly dependent on the social and cultural expectations of Papua New Guinea's rapidly changing society. At the local level, education standards are highly influenced by teachers' professionalism, provincial education boards and community expectations. This is compounded by the mismatch of priorities and policies between the national and provincial education divisions. Such a practice impacts negatively on the successful implementation of educational reform agendas. The study implies that a reconsideration of national education standards is necessary. This process will involve a rethinking of teacher education programmes, dismantling previous assumptions of national standards and local implementation, and accommodating challenges presented by economic, political, social and cultural change in Papua New Guinea.

1 juli 2018 lanserades bonus-malus-systemet i Sverige i syfte att öka andelen miljöbilar i den svenska fordonsflottan. Den 8 november 2022, valde regeringen att avskaffa bonusen i systemet, då man menade att marknaden nu hade åtgärdat de problem som systemet var till för att lösa. Den här studien ämnar att undersöka om avskaffandet av bonusen i bonus-malus-systemet har påverkat konsumtionen av miljöbilar. Detta genom att använda sig av en Event study-metodik där en dynamisk paneldataanalys genomförs för att skatta hur andelen miljöbilar har förändrats över tid för att sedermera predicera för hur denna andel hade sett ut om bonusen kvarblivit. Resultatet visar att den faktiska andelen miljöbilar har minskat efter bonusens avskaffande med  15.5 procent. Storleken av effekten bör undersökas vidare av framtida studier då förlängda leveranstider påverkat resultaten och med all sannolikhet dämpat effekten. Däremot bedömer studien att regeringen högst troligt hade fel i sitt uttalande att slopningen av bonusen inte skulle ge några effekter på bilmarknaden. / On July 1, 2018, the bonus-malus system was implemented in Sweden to promote the use of environmentally friendly vehicles. However, on November 8, 2022, the government decided to abolish the bonus, arguing that the market had resolved the issues the systems intended to address. This study investigates the impact of removing the bonus on the consumption of environmentally friendly vehicles. Employing an Event Study Methodology, a dynamic panel data analysis was conducted to assess the change in the vehicle share over time and predict its size if the bonus had remained. The findings reveal a 15.5 percent decrease in the share of environmentally friendly vehicles following the abolition of the bonus. The magnitude of the effect could be further examined in future studies as delivery times have influenced the results and likely dampened the effect. In contrast to the government's claim that the bonus's elimination would not affect the car market, the study concludes that they most likely were mistaken.

There has been a continual emergence of shopping centres in the 21st century. In recent years the prevailing shopping centres have been designed as an indispensable part of city centres having all the urban elements and qualities of traditional streets in combination with convenience, commercial efficiency, and high functioning design. The evolving shopping malls are challenged to add diversity to the range of shopping facilities and add on to the new experience keeping up with the ever-changing trends in society. This study aims to investigate if shopping malls are over-managed consumer spaces embedded in privatisation and commercialisation, thus creating a hindrance for true public spaces to emerge, or do they have a possibility of becoming a real public realm with true public spaces. Two case studies of shopping centres provided valuable insights on how stakeholders pursued planned public spaces in shopping centres and how the public perceives them. The placemaking model, highlighting the fundamental rights in a public space by covering the tangible and intangible aspects, has been central to this research. The results indicate that the malls should integrate more into the cities. They should focus on incorporating adaptive flexibility with the diversity of usage inclusive of changing demographics and increased urbanisation, which means a greater need for public spaces for mingling and congregation. / Det har skett en ständig uppkomst av köpcentra under 2000-talet. Under de senaste åren har de rådande köpcentrumen utformats som en oumbärlig del av stadskärnan med alla urbana inslag och kvaliteter av traditionella gator i kombination med bekvämlighet, kommersiell effektivitet och hög fungerande design. De utvecklande köpcentrana utmanas att lägga till mångfald i utbudet av shoppingfaciliteter och lägga till den nya upplevelsen som följer de ständigt föränderliga trenderna i samhället. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka om köpcentra är överhanterade konsumentutrymmen inbäddade i privatisering och kommersialisering, och därmed skapa ett hinder för att verkliga offentliga utrymmen dyker upp eller har de en möjlighet att bli en riktig allmänhet med verkliga offentliga utrymmen. Två fallstudier av köpcentrum gav värdefull insikt om hur intressenter förföljde planerade allmänna utrymmen i köpcentra och hur allmänheten uppfattar dem. Platsframställningsmodellen, som belyser de grundläggande rättigheterna i ett offentligt rum genom att täcka de konkreta och immateriella aspekterna, har varit centralt i denna forskning. Resultaten indikerar att köpcentra bör integreras mer i städerna. De bör fokusera på att integrera anpassningsbar flexibilitet med mångfalden av användning inklusive förändrad demografi och ökad urbanisering, vilket innebär ett större behov av offentliga utrymmen för mingling och församling.

Die studie ondersoek die inligtingswaarde van dividende as 'n moontlike verldaring van die waargenome aandeleprysreaksie op dividendaankondigings. Twee algemene hipoteses is getoets, naamlik dat 'n betekenisvolle verandering in 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid inligting oor daardie maatskappy se toekomstige verdienste per aandeel bevat, en tweedens dat hierdie inligting in die reaksie van aandelepryse na die aankondiging van die verandering gereflekteer word. Die belangrikste bevindinge is soos volg: • Die inligting vervat in huidige dividendaankondigings kan nie deur beleggers gebruik word om die volgende jaar se verdienste per aandeel van 'n maatskappy te voorspel nie. Die aandeleprysreaksie op positiewe, negatiewe en neutrale nuus is statisties beduidend, maar vind hoofsaaklik in dieselfde rigting plaas. Beleggers sou dus nie die inligting vervat in dividendaankondigings kan gebruik om bogemiddelde opbrengskoerse te genereer nie. • Die inligtingswaarde van dividende is dus 'n onwaarskynlike verldaring van die invloed van 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid op die waarde van sy gewone aandele. / This research investigates the information content of dividends as a possible explanation for the observed share price reaction to dividend announcements. Two hypotheses were tested, namely that a significant change in a company's dividend policy contains information on that company's future earnings per share, and secondly, that this information is reflected in the share price reaction after the announcement of the change. The most important findings are as follows: • Investors cannot use the information contained in current dividend announcements to predict a company's earnings per share for the next year. • Share price reactions to positive, negative and neutral news are statistically significant, but will be in the same direction. Hence investors cannot use this information to generate above-normal returns. The information content of dividends is therefore an unlikely explanation of the influence a company's dividend policy has on the value of its ordinary shares. / Business Management / MCom (Sakebestuur)

Syfte: Studien har utrett om aktiesplit genomförda på Stockholmsbörsen under åren 2004-2008 genererat överavkastning och i sådana fall om det har funnits några skillnader i överavkastning beroende på företagens storlek. Teori: Den effektiva marknadshypotesen, framförallt i dess semistarka form, har utgjort en teoretisk referensram för arbetet. Metod: En kvantitativ deduktiv forskningsansats har tillämpats med eventstudiemetodik som grund. Undersökningen behandlar en femårsperiod mellan 2004-2008 där ett urval av 56 stycken splitar mötte uppsatta kriterier. Dessa delades in i tre undergrupper beroende på bolagens kapitalstorlek vid splitgenomförandet. Kursdata för 250 dagar innan spliten och 250 dagar efter har samlats in för berörda bolag med hänsyn till splitdagen. OMXSPI har använts som jämförelseindex. Resultat: Resultatet tillsammans med hypotesprövning visar att överavkastning i samband med aktiesplit har påträffats för hela populationen under mätperioden. Ett möjligt samband mellan storleken på bolag och omfattningen överavkastning har även upptäckts. Den enskilt största överavkastningen uppmättes på splitdagen. Analys: En analys av resultaten pekar på att marknaden uppfattat aktiesplit som en positiv nyhet och i linje med tidigare forskning har det funnits överavkastning i tiden runt en aktiesplit. Vid uteslutande av en undergrupp som inte klarat hypotestestet kunde sambandet mellan företagsstorlek och omfattningen överavkastning till viss del bekräftas som negativt. Slutsats: Investerare har kunnat generera överavkastning i samband med aktiesplit på Stockholmsbörsen mellan 2004-2008. Resultatet tyder på ett negativt samband mellan företagsstorlek och överavkastning, däremot kan inte sambandet bekräftas tillfullo. / Purpose: The study has investigated whether or not stock splits on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the years 2004-2008 generated positive abnormal return and in such case, has there been any difference in the positive abnormal return depending on firm size. Theory: The efficient market hypothesis, especially in its semi-strong form, has provided a theoretical framework for the essay. Method: A quantitative deductive research approach is applied with event study methodology used as basis. The study concerns a five-year period 2004-2008, where a selection of 56 splits met set criteria. These were divided into three groups depending on their capital size at the split date. The price data for 250 days before the split, and 250 days after were collected for the companies with regard to split day. The same data was collected for OMXSPI that was used as a benchmark. Results: The result together with hypothesis testing shows that positive abnormal return associated with stock split has been found in the overall population. A possible correlation between the firm size and the extent of positive abnormal returns has also been discovered. The single greatest positive abnormal return was measured on the split date. Analysis: An analysis of the results indicates that the market perceived stock split as positive news. There has been a positive abnormal return around the time of a stock split in line with previous research. The exclusion of a subgroup that failed hypothesis test revealed a partly confirmed negative relationship between firm size and the amount of positive abnormal returns. Conclusion: Investors have been able to generate positive abnormal returns in association with stock split on the Stockholm Stock Exchange from 2004 to 2008. The results suggest a negative correlation between firm size and positive abnormal returns, however, the correlation is not fully confirmed.

Die studie ondersoek die inligtingswaarde van dividende as 'n moontlike verldaring van die waargenome aandeleprysreaksie op dividendaankondigings. Twee algemene hipoteses is getoets, naamlik dat 'n betekenisvolle verandering in 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid inligting oor daardie maatskappy se toekomstige verdienste per aandeel bevat, en tweedens dat hierdie inligting in die reaksie van aandelepryse na die aankondiging van die verandering gereflekteer word. Die belangrikste bevindinge is soos volg: • Die inligting vervat in huidige dividendaankondigings kan nie deur beleggers gebruik word om die volgende jaar se verdienste per aandeel van 'n maatskappy te voorspel nie. Die aandeleprysreaksie op positiewe, negatiewe en neutrale nuus is statisties beduidend, maar vind hoofsaaklik in dieselfde rigting plaas. Beleggers sou dus nie die inligting vervat in dividendaankondigings kan gebruik om bogemiddelde opbrengskoerse te genereer nie. • Die inligtingswaarde van dividende is dus 'n onwaarskynlike verldaring van die invloed van 'n maatskappy se dividendbeleid op die waarde van sy gewone aandele. / This research investigates the information content of dividends as a possible explanation for the observed share price reaction to dividend announcements. Two hypotheses were tested, namely that a significant change in a company's dividend policy contains information on that company's future earnings per share, and secondly, that this information is reflected in the share price reaction after the announcement of the change. The most important findings are as follows: • Investors cannot use the information contained in current dividend announcements to predict a company's earnings per share for the next year. • Share price reactions to positive, negative and neutral news are statistically significant, but will be in the same direction. Hence investors cannot use this information to generate above-normal returns. The information content of dividends is therefore an unlikely explanation of the influence a company's dividend policy has on the value of its ordinary shares. / Business Management / MCom (Sakebestuur)