[pt] Esta dissertação documenta o volume negociado dos contratos futuros sobre nove commodities agropecuárias negociadas na Bolsa de Mercadorias e Futuros (BM&F), entre dezembro de 1999 e dezembro de 2003. A análise identifica as commodities mais negociadas e, a partir daí, estuda a formação dos preços futuros do boi gordo e do milho. O trabalho mostra como usar a crise brasileira de 2002 para identificar o impacto de custos de transação e expectativas de crise sobre os preços futuros do boi gordo e do milho. / [en] This work documents the trade volume of nine agricultural futures contracts negotiated on the Bolsa de Mercadorias e Futuros (BM&F), between December of 1999 and December of 2003. The analysis identifies the most traded commodities and, then, studies the formation of futures prices of live cattle and corn. The work shows how to use the Brazilian currency crisis of 2002 to identify the impact of storage costs and crisis expectations on the futures prices of live cattle and corn.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to find out when Research and Development (R&D) becomes a suitable attribute for a production company to outsource. In an environment where innovations are following up quickly up and uncertainty about the type of innovation and customer is a fact, external sourcing can bring a competitive advantage. The empirical evidence shows that when R&D is outsourced the total cost does not increase at a due cause of outsourcing in this given study.</p><p>Although a lot of theory explains outsourcing as a cost increasing factor, the internal experience and frequent relation between the technical production company Beta and its R&D vendor company Alfa can decrease costs considerably due to lower communication and governance costs. This was not explicitly expressed in related theory and is therefore a contribution to the academia as well as for managers who seek to find an answer to the question of when to outsource and when not to outsource.</p>

This study uses academic literature from peer-reviewed journals to assess the literary consensus of the three perspectives. The literature has been found by using specific keywords and an assortment of scholarly databases. The analysis of the literature is structured according to explanations for alliance formation, the attainment of advantages, and disadvantages according to the perspectives. The study is written in article format. Conclusions: The perspectives both overlap and differ from one another but focus on different aspects and incentives. There are, however, more similarities between the resource-based and knowledge-based views. Transaction cost theory and the knowledge-based view are narrow explanatory models, whereas the resource-based view offers a broader view on alliances.

The purpose of this thesis is to find out when Research and Development (R&amp;D) becomes a suitable attribute for a production company to outsource. In an environment where innovations are following up quickly up and uncertainty about the type of innovation and customer is a fact, external sourcing can bring a competitive advantage. The empirical evidence shows that when R&amp;D is outsourced the total cost does not increase at a due cause of outsourcing in this given study. Although a lot of theory explains outsourcing as a cost increasing factor, the internal experience and frequent relation between the technical production company Beta and its R&amp;D vendor company Alfa can decrease costs considerably due to lower communication and governance costs. This was not explicitly expressed in related theory and is therefore a contribution to the academia as well as for managers who seek to find an answer to the question of when to outsource and when not to outsource.

Submitted by Elizabete Silva (elizabete.silva@ufes.br) on 2015-01-13T18:08:28Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação.Nádia Delamelina.pdf: 1366888 bytes, checksum: 98693d326437d60549096a3e4c5cef91 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Elizabete Silva (elizabete.silva@ufes.br) on 2015-03-03T18:30:05Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação.Nádia Delamelina.pdf: 1366888 bytes, checksum: 98693d326437d60549096a3e4c5cef91 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-03T18:30:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação.Nádia Delamelina.pdf: 1366888 bytes, checksum: 98693d326437d60549096a3e4c5cef91 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / O principal objetivo desta Dissertação é estudar como são estabelecidas as relações contratuais entre as cooperativas agropecuárias do Espírito Santo e como estas relações permitem reduzir os custos de transação. A motivação básica, portanto, é contribuir para que as cooperativas voltadas para este ramo possam melhor estruturar a governança de suas transações. Para atingir estes objetivos, a base teórica que apóia este trabalho é discutida em uma revisão de literatura da Teoria dos Custos de Transação, abordando seus princípios teóricos. Outra investigação importante para o debate a ser realizado neste estudo refere-se ao surgimento do sistema cooperativista, seu conceito e sua forma de funcionamento. A conexão estabelecida entre estes dois temas é considerada importante para entender a natureza das cooperativas, principalmente em seu conceito de firma (ou instituição) que busca organizar as trocas (de bens e/ou serviços) de maneira eficiente. O estudo busca, portanto, compreender quais estruturas estas associações adotam para realizar suas transações, propondo estruturas alternativas que permitam reduzir os custos de transação de forma eficiente e aumentar o retorno esperado pelos produtores, de acordo com as propostas da teoria. O estudo revela que o comportamento de diversas cooperativas é diferente do proposto pela TCT. Em alguns desses casos, isto impede que elas reduzam os custos de transação da forma mais eficiente possível. Em outros, no entanto, as práticas que colidem com o proposto na TCT (por motivos idiossincráticos, institucionais e/ou estruturais próprios da organização) podem trazer resultados auspiciosos para as cooperativas. / This Dissertation aims to study how the contractual relationships are established between the agricultural cooperatives of the Espírito Santo and how these relations allow a transaction costs reduction. The basic motivation, therefore, is to help them to structure the governance of their transactions. To achieve these objectives, the Dissertation starts with a literature review of the Transaction Cost Theory, approaching its theoretical principles. Another important debate for the research refers to the emergence of the cooperative system, its concept and its way of functioning. The connection established between these two issues is important to understand the nature of cooperatives, especially in his concept of the firm (or institution) that seeks to organize trade (goods and/or services) efficiently. The study, therefore, seeks also to understand what structures these associations adopt to conduct their transactions, proposing alternative structures to reduce transaction costs efficiently and increase expected returns by producers. The study reveals that the behavior of several cooperatives is different from proposed by the TCT. However, this does not mean that the results obtained this way are inefficient. In some of these cases, this prevents them to reduce transaction costs in the most efficient way. In others, the practices that conflict with the proposed TCT (for idiosyncratic, institutional, structural, and even organizational reasons) can bring auspicious results.

This research investigates political risk in the context of service offshoring and the corresponding impact on risk management decisions. The first stage of the study uses the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT), to explore key post-contract political risks experiences within offshore outsourcing activities. Twelve key political risks affecting offshore outsourcing decisions are identified, and the moderating effect of offshoring activity types (BPO, ITO or KPO) on political risk exposure and impact perceptions is highlighted. The research also explores the conditioning effect of industry specific exposure to political risk and enhances the explanatory ability of the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) constructs, offering a re-operationalization of the political risk component of external uncertainty. The second stage of the research introduces a series of hypotheses between offshoring flows and political risk profiles, and applies multiple regression to analyse political risk affecting offshore activities in low cost countries across contract-based offshoring engagements and FDI. The findings highlight that political risk is a genuine business concern for offshore contract-based outsourcing modalities, and identify concerns with Intellectual Property protection, Quality of Bureaucracy and Corruption as key considerations affecting location decisions in low-cost countries. The research further suggests a positive relationship between strong country level institutional and regulatory systems and high knowledge content in offshoring engagements. From a practical perspective, the research highlights the need for managerial tools to determine diversified firm and industry specific political risk impact on global service outsourcing engagements. The key practical contribution is the development of differentiated political risk typologies that can capture the nuances of external risks in offshoring, allowing for more accurate risk assessment of offshoring decisions.

En ökad tillväxt inom tjänstesektorn och företagens strävan efter att bli mer konkurrenskraftiga har bidragit till högre användning av ett betydelsefullt verktyg i affärsvärlden: outsourcing. Outsourcing gör det möjligt för företag att köpa in tjänster som saknas internt. Genom att ingå i ett samarbete tillsammans med externa leverantörer kan företaget, genom att köpa externa aktiviteter, stärka delar av sin verksamhet som tidigare varit bristfälliga. Dagens samhälle präglas av företag som ständigt strävar efter att höja sin effektivisering och minska sina kostnader. Det har i sin tur medfört att outsourcingen fått en stor inverkan på tjänster, till exempel marknadsföring. Trenden har lett till att många företag därför outsourcar sin marknadsföringsfunktion, som i sin tur kan ge många fördelar. Det ger företaget tid till att fokusera på sin kärnkompetens och få experthjälp i utsatta situationer. Outsourcing kan också medföra risker exempelvis kan en extern leverantör få för stor kontroll över verksamheten, vilket kan leda till att företaget förlora sin unika kärnkompetens. Det kan även uppkomma andra dolda kostnader under projektet som företag inte är medvetna om.Studien har genomförts för att skapa en förståelse kring varför företag outsourcar sin marknadsföringsfunktion. Varför en verksamhet väljer att outsourca sin marknadsföringsfunktion, hur verksamheten påverkas samt vilka för- och nackdelar det finns med den här typen av outsourcing, är därför frågeställningar som lyfts upp i denna uppsats. Vår teoretiska referensram ligger till grund för den empiriska undersökning där fokus legat på teorierna om The Resource Based View och Transaktionskostnadsteorin. Genom att se till The Resource Based View granskar vi vilka aktiviteter som möjliggörs för det köpande företaget genom outsourcing. Fokus ligger i att se till vikten av att inneha resurser och att kunna utnyttja dessa på rätt sätt. Det leder i sin tur till företags vilja att bibehålla sin unika kärnkompetens och möjligheterna som kan uppnås genom att arbeta i ett nätverk med externa leverantörer. Transaktionskostnadsteorin används för att titta närmare på faktorer som motverkar outsourcing. Det berör alla dolda kostnader som kan uppkomma med outsourcing, och att det finns en viss osäkerhet att förlita sig till externa leverantörer.Den här studien har gjorts med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer, där deltagarna bestått av sex informanter från sex olika företag, som arbetar med marknadsföring på olika sätt. I studien har vi kommit fram till att företag outsourcar sin marknadsföringsfunktion för att tidsbespara och för att kunna lägga internt fokus på kärnkompetensen inom verksamheten. Tillsammans med den tidsmässiga aspekten outsourcar företag för att uppnå en högre kompetens. Det handlar inte främst om att företag inte är kapabla till att utföra en viss aktivitet internt, utan på grund av att företagen strävar efter ett utförande på en professionell nivå. Outsourcingen kan även ses som ett verktyg för att kunna producera en enhetlig marknadsföringskampanj med nya infallsvinklar. Att outsourca sin marknadsföringsfunktion har haft påverkan på företagen. Den empiriska undersökningen skildrar en mängd effekter, till exempel ökad intern kompetens, möjligheten att nå nya potentiella marknader, resultat som inte följt förväntningarna och interna konflikter. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

本研究基於文獻探討發現品牌權益內涵看法分歧，且缺乏理論背景。因此以交易成本理論為基礎，提出一具基礎理論(Microfundation)的交易成本觀點之顧客基礎品牌權益模型。說明消費者購買產品時，是處於Williamson所稱的市場失靈情況，除了要考慮商品的實際售價外，另外必須對市場不完全下產生的交易成本納入考量。品牌可視為一種能夠降低消費者購買產品時產生之交易成本的機制。而品牌權益來自於顧客對不同品牌認知交易成本差異而反應於財務上的價值。 交易成本的高低取決於資訊搜尋成本、道德危機成本、遲滯成本；當顧客面對某品牌所投注的資訊搜集成本及購買後面對的道德危機成本相對其他品牌愈少，交易成本即愈低。若顧客與品牌間產生之資產專屬性愈高，則其被遲滯的程度愈大，欲轉換至其他品牌的轉換成本愈大，相對於其他品牌而言，繼續使用資產專屬性較高的品牌，顧客所須付出的成本較低。綜合資訊收集成本、道德危機成本與遲滯成本形成顧客面對的交易成本。顧客知覺交易成本高的品牌，品牌權益較低。反之顧客知覺交易成本相對較低的品牌，則反應出較高的品牌權益。 研究發現品牌策略的典範移轉情形大致為創造品牌知識、至品牌信任、再到品牌依賴。品牌知識由品牌形象及品牌知名度構成；品牌信任則由消費者知覺品牌的品質、創新、關懷三者所組成；品牌依賴則由消費者對產品實體利益、品牌心理認同、與社會規範形成。籍由對品牌知識、信任、依賴的建立可以減少消費者的交易成本，增加品牌權益。 本研究並由品牌權益理論發展與模型建構，輔以文獻整理與佐證，發展了19項品牌權益內涵的命題，且就行銷組合、市場與競爭情況、次要聯想、消費者面等因素，探討對品牌權益的影響。 最後提出對理論與實務的涵意，對學術界，本研究統整了複雜且眾多的品牌權益構面，有助於了解品牌權益的意義及內涵全貌，並可作為品牌權益研究的基礎。對實務界，建議行銷人員應減少消費者購買產品所產生的交易成本，增加品牌權益。透過思考品牌權益發生的根本原因，可以清楚的掌握品牌權益建立的重心。另從品牌管理重心的演變觀之，追求品牌依賴是可見的趨勢。因此本研究對企業界有極大的幫助，可以建立起行銷人員品牌權益管理的架構。 目錄 第一章 緒論 1 第一節 研究背景 1 第二節 研究動機 2 第三節 研究問題與目的 4 第四節 研究架構 8 第二章 品牌權益與交易成本理論之文獻探討 12 第一節 品牌權益 13 一、品牌權益的定義 13 二、品牌權益研究的發展 21 三、品牌權益的構面 26 第二節 交易成本理論 40 一、交易成本簡介 40 二、交易與交易成本 42 三、交易成本的主要內涵 43 四、投機主義的介紹 49 五、交易的特性 51 節三節 文獻探討評論 54 第三章 交易成本理論觀點之品牌權益模型 56 第一節 品牌權益模型 56 第二節 交易成本與品牌權益 62 第四章 品牌權益內涵之探討 69 第一節 品牌知識與資訊成本 70 第二節 品牌信任與道德危機成本 75 第三節 品牌依賴與遲滯成本 81 第四節 品牌權益內涵比較 92 一、與Keller 架構之比較 92 一、與Aaker 架構之比較 92 第五章 影響品牌權益內涵相關因素之探討 95 第一節 行銷組合策略對品牌權益的影響 95 一、產品策略 95 二、價格策略 96 三、通路策略 96 四、促銷組合策略 97 第二節 市場與競爭情況 98 一、競爭品牌數目 98 二、產品間的品質差異程度 99 節三節 次要聯想對品牌權益的影響 99 第四節 消費者因素對品牌權益的影響 100 第六章 結論與建議 105 第一節 研究結論 105 一、品牌權益理論發展與模型建構 105 二、品牌權益內涵命題發展 106 第二節 理論與實務涵意 110 一、對學術界的涵意 110 二、對實務界的涵意 110 第三節 研究限制 113 第四節 後續研究建議 114 參考文獻 117 一、中文部份 117 二、英文部份 120 表次 表2-1 品牌權益定義彙整 19 表2-2 品牌權益分涵分類彙整表 39 表4-1 交易成本觀點下品牌權益命題彙整 88 表6-1 品牌權益內涵命題發展結果 107 圖次 圖 1-1 本研究架構圖 11 圖 2-1 Aaker之品牌權益架構 30 圖 2-2 Keller之品牌權益架構 33 圖 2-3 Magajan、Rao & Srivastava 之品牌權益架構 35 圖 2-4 組織失靈架構 46 圖 3-1 品牌權益內涵與交易成本關係圖 58 圖 3-2 交易成本理論觀點之品牌權益模型 61 圖 3-3 交易成本與品牌權益之關係 62 圖 4-1 顧客基礎品牌權益內涵 69 圖 2-4 本研究品牌權益模式與Aaker、Keller 架構之比較 94 圖 5-1 品牌在不同消費者決策階段扮演之角色 101

This essay deals with the topic options costs and whether such costs would arise for smaller companies now when they have the opportunity to choose not to have an auditor. Small companies are defined as companies that fulfill at least two of the following three criteria’s: less than 1,5 million SEK in balance sheet, less than three employees and turnover less than 3 million SEK.   The decision regarding internal revision does not only affect the company itself but also other parties such as the taxation authority, banks and others that can be influenced by the decision. This essays main focus is on the influenced parties, especially the taxation authority and the banks as these have been highlighted in debates in media and because the small companies themselves may have difficulties to foresee the consequences of the new changes. The opinions from accounting companies will be considered in the essay as they can be considered as experts regarding the different aspect within this area. The basis and as a point of comparison when analyzing the agency theory, the theory about economical efficiency in communities and the theory regarding transaction cost will be used.   The conclusion that can be drawn from this essay is that it may arise option cost for the smaller companies that have the opportunity to choose not to have an auditor.

Personalentwicklung ist mit erheblichem Aufwand für Humankapitalinvestitionen für Unternehmen verbunden, wobei die Aneignung des Investitionsobjektes selbst und auch der Erträge aus der Investition unsicher sind. Zunächst werden aus realgeschichtlichen Befunden betriebswirtschaftliche Begründungen für die Personalentwicklung abgeleitet, und ökonomisch interpretiert. Im Hauptteil wird die Personalentwicklung innerhalb des Rahmens eines dreigeteilten Arbeitsmarktes ökonomisch analysiert. Schlussendlich werden einige Prognosen zur künftigen Rolle der Personalentwicklung auf Basis der aktuellen Entwicklungen am Arbeitsmarkt erstellt.