This investigation examines the management concept of corporate vision in organisations. The study includes an investigation of the etymology and definitions of vision, and considers existing views of its application in management theory. Research was carried out into the foundation of independent voluntary hospices in Britain, using case studies, interviews, hospice histories, and a questionnaire survey. Information was obtained from 11 case studies and from questionnaires responses of 140 founders of seventy-two separate hospices. The principal finding is that corporate vision is a valid concept in organisations, and a definition of successful corporate vision is derived from the evidence obtained. The content of successful vision was shown to admit detailed analysis, and a feasibility test was devised which was then applied to a number of projects. The feasibility test showed a clear correlation between feasibility scoring and project time to completion. It is also shown that there are several common elements between hospice visions and the activity of a small number of successful visionary individuals both in business and charitable work. A relationship is demonstrated between leadership and corporate vision which shows that the leader is subordinate to the vision. Team structure and behaviour in hospice founding groups is shown to be at variance with those commonly found in business organisations. Hospice founders do not appear to use relative measures either for progress or success, and accept substantial changes to financial targets largely without concern. The only common factor related to failure of hospice projects is shown to be visions that were defective at the outset, in that they were not shared. The context of corporate vision is considered, and it is concluded that corporate vision as a concept is not necessarily applicable to all types of organisation.

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Allt fler företag redovisar information kring CSR i sina årsredovisningar. Där en stor del av tidigare studier utgått från att företag använder CSR-redovisningen på ett standardiserat sätt. Vilket kan förklaras av att CSR-standarders framväxt utgör en ram för hur företagen ska rapportera denna information. Samtidigt kan en ökad konkurrens leda till att företagen blir mer benägna att differentiera sig för att uppnå olika fördelar. Studier har även funnit att företagen använder sin CSR-redovisning på ett differentierat sätt. Därför kan det vara intressant att gå i en motsatt riktning gentemot merparten av tidigare studier och undersöka hur företagen kan använda CSR- redovisningen som en strategi. Där företagen kan implementera en viss strategi, genom att utmärka sig i sin CSR-redovisning och förmedla sitt CSR-arbete för sina intressenter på ett visst sätt. Det kan även vara intressant att undersöka hur karaktärsdragen hos företagets beslutsorgan (bolagsstämma, styrelse & Vd) påverkar hur företaget utmärker sig. Då tidigare studier visat att karaktärsdragen har en inverkan till vilka strategiska val ett företag fattar. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att identifiera hur de svenska börsnoterade bolagen väljer att utmärka sig i sin CSR-redovisning och undersöka vilka karaktärsdrag hos företagets beslutsorgan som kan tänkas ligga bakom detta strategiska val. Metod: Studien utgick från en abduktiv forskningsansats, där vi växelvis använt teori och empiri. Detta då dominerande bolagsstyrningsteorier tillsammans med subjektiva bedömningar från företagens årsredovisningar använts för att skapa en förståelse för hur företagen kan utmärka sig med sin CSR-redovisning. Därefter har en statistisk undersökning utförts, där datainsamlingen hämtats ifrån 183 företags årsredovisningar. Detta för att undersöka hur beslutsorganens karaktärsdrag kan kopplas till företagens sätt att utmärka sig i CSR-redovisningen. Resultat och slutsatser: Studien fann att företagen kan utmärka sig i sin CSR-redovisning enligt två olika kategorier, det vinstmaximerande och ansvarsfulla företaget. Det fanns å ena sidan företag som ville framstå mer lönsamt och i större grad fokusera på att tillfredsställa sina aktieägare. Å andra sidan fanns det företag som ville framstå som mer ansvarsfulla, med fokus på att skapa mervärde längs hela värdekedjan. Det visade sig även att karaktärsdragen ägarkoncentration, könsfördelning i styrelse, styrelsestorlek och Vd varaktighet har en inverkan för vilken strategi företagen väljer att utmärka sig enligt. / Background and problem: More and more companies report information about CSR in their annual reports. Where a large part of previous studies assumed that companies use CSR-reporting in a standardized way. Which can be explained by the emergence of CSR- standards which provides a framework for how companies should report this information. At the same time, increased competition may lead companies to become more prone to differentiate themselves, to obtain various benefits. Studies have also found that companies use their CSR-reports in a differentiated manner. Therefore, it might be interesting to go in an opposite direction and examine how companies can use the CSR- report as a strategy. Where companies through CSR-reporting can differentiate by using a certain strategy to communicate its CSR-work. It may also be interesting to investigate how the characteristics of the company's decision-making bodies (General Meeting, Board of directors & CEO) affect how the company differentiate. As previous studies have shown, characteristics have an impact to the strategic choices a company makes. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify how the Swedish listed companies choose to differentiate in their CSR-reporting and investigate the characteristics of the company's decision-making bodies who might be behind this strategic choice. Method: The study was based on an abductive research approach, where we alternately used theory and empirics. This is because the dominant corporate governance theories along with subjective assessments of the company's financial statements where used to create an understanding of how companies can differentiate within its CSR-reporting. A statistical study has also been made, where the data collection was gathered from 183 companies’ financial statements. To examine how the decision-making bodies characteristics can be linked to the way companies differentiate in their CSR-reporting. Result and conclusion: The study found that companies can differentiate in their CSR- reporting according to two different categories, the profit maximizing and responsible company. There was, on the one hand, companies that wanted to appear more profitable with a greater degree of focus on satisfying their shareholders. On the other hand, there were companies that wanted to seem more responsible, with a focus on creating added value along the entire value chain. It was also found that the characteristics of ownership concentration, gender distribution within the board, board size and duration of the CEO has an impact on what strategy the companies choose to differentiate in accordance with.

Studien har gjorts för att minska bristen på forskning om vilseledande information via figurer i årsredovisningar och på så vis bidra till diskussionen om hur figurer tillämpas i redovisningen. Syftet med uppsatsen är att förklara hur vilseledande av information via figurer i årsredovisningar påverkas av företagsspecifika egenskaper. Studien har tagit ett positivistiskt perspektiv och tillämpat en deduktiv ansats för att kunna uppfylla studiens syfte. Vidare antas det att företagsledningen agerar opportunistiskt och kommer vilseleda informationen i figurerna som presenteras i årsredovisningarna. Därför bygger den bakomliggande teorin på agentteorin, Positive Accounting Theory och Impression Management. För att skapa hypoteserna har tidigare forsking gällande frivillig redovisning och vilseledande av figurer använts. Den empiriska metod som användes var en dokumentstudie där syftet var att samla in kvantitativa data från årsredovisningar. Studien är gjord på totalt 152 företag som är listade på Stockholmsbörsen och hela 1149 figurer mättes för att upptäcka mängden vilseledande information. Studiens resultat visar att företag som anlitar en revisionsbyrå från Big 4 presenterar färre vilseledande figurer. Dessutom verkar det som att företag som betalar ut en hög ersättning till styrelsemedlemmar och VD redovisar en större andel vilseledande figurer. Studien kan också påvisa att i företag med en större ägarspridning förekommer det färre vilseledande figurer. Avslutningsvis bidrar studien med bevis som indikerar att högre agentkostnader påverkar hur företagsledningen agerar, eftersom en högre ägarspridning leder till mindre vilseledande information via figurer. Där finns även bevis för att företagsledningen använder sig av vilseledande av figurer för att förbättra intrycket av sig själva och på så vis rättfärdiga en hög ersättning. / To reduce the lack of research on graph distortion this study is made to contribute to the discussion about graph practice. The purpose of the thesis is to explain what firm characteristics affect graph distortion in annual reports. In order to fulfil this purpose, a positivistic perspective and a deductive approach was applied. With the assumptions that management act opportunistically and distorts the information disclosed in the graphs presented in the annual reports, Agency Theory, Positive Accounting Theory and Impression Management are used as underlying theories. Further, prior research regarding voluntary corporate disclosure and graph distortion are used in order to derive the hypotheses. The empirical method used has been a document study where the purpose was to collect quantitative data. In total 152 companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange were included in the study and a comprehensive amount of 1149 graphs measured to detect their distortion. The findings of the study show that companies hiring an audit firm from the Big 4 disclose less distorted graphs. In addition, companies that pay a higher compensation to the board members and CEO seem to present more distorted graphs. The study also found that for companies with a more dispersed ownership less graph distortion occurs. However, the findings do not support the view that firm size and debt ratio affect the level of graph distortion within the annual report. Concluding, the study contributes with evidence indication that higher agency costs affect management’s actions regarding graph distortion because a more dispersed ownership leads to less graph distortion. Also there is evidence that managers try to justify high compensation by improving impression of themselves through graph distortion.

<p>The risk assessment process and the subsequent risk management measures need tobe constantly evaluated, updated and improved. This thesis contributes to that workby considering, and suggesting improvements, regarding aspects like userfriendliness,transparency, accuracy, consistency, data reporting, data selection anddata evaluation.The first paper in this thesis reports from an empirical investigation of themotivations, intentions and expectations underlying the development andimplementation of a voluntary industry owned environmental classification systemfor pharmaceuticals. The results show that the purpose of the classification systemis to provide information, no other risk reduction measures are aimed for.The second paper reports from an evaluation of the accuracy and the consistency ofthe environmental risk assessments conducted within the classification system. Theresults show that the guideline recommendations were not followed in several casesand consequently alternative risk ratios could be determined for six of the 36pharmaceutical substances selected for evaluation in this study. When additionaldata from the open scientific literature was included the risk ratio was altered formore than one-third of the risk assessments. Seven of the 36 substances wereassessed and classified by more than one risk assessor. In two of the seven cases,different producers classified the same substance into different classificationcategories.The third paper addresses the question whether non-standard ecotoxicity data couldbe used systematically in environmental risk assessments of pharmaceuticals. Fourdifferent evaluation methods were used to evaluate nine non-standard studies. Theevaluation result from the different methods varied at surprisingly high rate and theevaluation of the non-standard data concluded that the reliability of the data wasgenerally low.</p> / QC 20100929

強制性財務預測揭露制度已實施十多年，惟財務預測品質不佳、管理當局刻意操縱財務預測以影響股價等問題遲遲無法解決，致金管會乃決定自2005起廢止舊制，改採自願性財務預測揭露制度。本次改革除符合國際做法之外，並期望能達到降低公司財務預測成本、提高預測準確度，以及健全預測資訊公開之環境。 2005年為實施自願性財務預測揭露制度之第一個年度，當年上市（櫃）公司中，只有約6%的公司自願公開其財務預測。本研究認為，對投資人而言，財務預測既為有用資訊，為何願意公開財務預測的公司卻如此少呢？故本研究欲辨認左右公司是否公開財務預測行為之因素。 本研究設立七項與管理當局自願性揭露財務預測有關之決定因素─內部人持股比率、資本結構、資金需求、經營績效、盈餘波動性、權益資金成本，以及外資持股率，並以公司規模、產業、負債對權益比率為控制變數。研究樣本為2005年之上市(櫃)公司，將其分成兩組，ㄧ組為當年度自願揭露財務預測之公司，另ㄧ組則為當年度未曾揭露財務預測之公司，運用logit進行迴歸分析。 實證分析結果顯示，揭露與不揭露財務預測公司之主要不同特質，在於：公司過去經營績效之好壞及外資對公司之持股比率。過去經營績效較佳之公司，其主動揭露財務預測資訊給外界之機率較高；外資持股比率越高之公司，其主動揭露財務預測給外界之機率較高。 / This study examines the factors that affect managers to disclosure financial forecasts. Seven potential factors were compared for a sample of firms that reported forecasts and another sample of firms that did not release this information. The seven factors are: (1) the proportion of inside ownership, (2) capital structure, (3) the demand for external finance, (4) the business performance, (5) earnings volatility, (6) the cost of equity capital, (7) the proportion of foreign ownership. There are three control variables, including size, industry and the ratio of debt to equity. The findings report that the better the past business performance is, the more the probability that the manager will voluntarily disclose financial forecast is. The findings also report that the higher the proportion of foreign ownership is, the more willing the manager is to voluntarily disclose financial forecast.

Darbo objektai – 1) skirtingiems fiziniams krūviams adaptuotų sportininkų maksimalios valingos jėgos įtaka greitumo jėgos rodikliams. 2) krepšininkų parengimas taikant skirtingus treniruočių modelius. Keliame hipotezes, kad turintys didesnę maksimalią valingąją jėgą tiriamieji greičiau bėgs 30 m distancijos pirmą atkarpą (0-10 m.), o adaptuoti maksimaliajam bėgimo greičiui – greičiau bėgs nuotolio pabaigoje ir pasieks geresnius rezultatus. Taikant koncentruotą treniruočių sistemą didelio meistriškumo krepšininkai pasiekia geresnių galingumo rodiklių ir sugeba juos išlaikyti rungtynių metu. Tikslai Nustatyti taikytų skirtingų treniravimo modelių įtaką judamųjų gebėjimų ugdymui. Uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti ir palyginti skirtingam fiziniam krūviui adaptuotų sportininkų maksimalios valingosios jėgos (MVJ) ir 30 m bėgimo rezultatus bei bėgimo greičio prieaugio tempą. 2. Nustatyti ir palyginti vertikalaus šuolio rezultatus krepšininkų grupėms, besitreniruojančioms pagal skirtingus treniruočių modelius. Išvados: 1. Turėdami didžiausią MVJ pirmus 10 m greičiausiai įveikia sunkiaatlečiai, tačiau likusias bėgimo atkarpas greičiausiai įveikia elito sprinteriai, taip pat pasiekdami didžiausią bėgimo greičio prieaugį nuo 10 iki 30 bėgimo metro – 29,74 % (p<0,05). 2. Koncentruotas skirtingų judamųjų gebėjimų ugdymo modelis labiau pagerina krepšininkų vertikalaus šuolio rezultatus bei jų atsistatymą po rungtynių nei mišraus režimo modelis. Praktinės rekomendacijos: tyrimo metu gauti duomenys... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The objects of the study: 1) the impact of maximum voluntary contraction force to speed values for the athletes who are adapted to different physical loads. 2) the physical preparation of the basketball players using different training models. It is possible to make a hypothesis that athletes who have greater maximum voluntary contraction force runs faster in the first 10 meters (0-10 meters.) in the distance of 30 meters. However, the sprinters who are adapted to maximum speed of running runs faster in the end of the distance and achieves better results. Applying concentrated training model, the results of professional basketball players achieve greater power indicators and are able to keep them during the mach. The aim – To identify the influence of the different training models applied to the training of the moving abilities. Scopes: 1. To identify and compare the maximal voluntary contraction force and 30 meters of running results. Although to identify and compare the rate of increment for the speed of running. 2. To identify and compare the rates of vertical leap for the groups of basketball players who are trained using different training models. Conclusions: 1. Weightlifters who have the greatest maximum voluntary contraction force pass the first 10 meters faster. However, the other meters of the distance are passed faster by elite sprinters. In addition, the elite sprinters achieve the greatest increment of running speed (from 10 to 30 running meter – 29.74 % (p<0.0... [to full text]

Bakgrund Av bolag som omfattas av frivillig revision väljer 75 procent bort revision trots att den genomsnittliga kostnaden endast uppgår till 10 000 SEK per år för mindre bolag. Syftet med avskaffandet av revisionsplikten år 2010 var att minska småbolagens kostnader för att på så sätt underlätta verksamhetsdriften. Trots att forskning visar att revisorn hjälper till att förbättra och utveckla bolaget väljer majoriteten av bolagen bort den externa kompetensen om möjlighet finns. Resursberoendeteorin säger samtidigt att revisorn är en värdefull resurs som är nödvändig för småbolags överlevnad. Syfte Denna uppsats syftar till att förklara sambandet mellan revision och risken för konkurs för småbolag. Metod Denna kvantitativa studie utgår från en deduktiv ansats. Hypoteser har formulerats med utgångspunkt i resursberoendeteori. En tvärsnittsdesign används med syfte att undersöka risken för konkurs vid en viss tidpunkt. Det empiriska underlaget utgörs av sekundärdata. Slutsats Det finns ett negativt samband mellan revision och risken för konkurs bland svenska småbolag. Revisorn minskar risken för konkurs med 10,42 % varför revision bör ses som en nödvändig resurs för småbolagens överlevnad. / Introduction Despite the fact that the average cost of auditing for SMEs only amounts to 10 000 SEK per year, 75 percent of the SMEs refrain from voluntary audit. The purpose of the abolition of mandatory audit in 2010 was to reduce costs for SMEs in order to benefit their operations. Although research has shown that the auditor helps to improve and develop the company, the majority of the SMEs in Sweden refrains from this external resource. At the same time, according to resource dependence theory, the auditor is a valuable resource that is essential for SMEs. Purpose This study seeks to explain the relationship between auditing and the risk of bankruptcy for SMEs. Method This quantitative study is based on a deductive approach, where hypotheses have been formulated on the basis of resource dependence theory. A cross-sectional design is used in order to study the risk of bankruptcy at a given time. The empirical data consists of archival data. Conclusion There is a negative relationship between auditing and the risk of bankruptcy among SMEs in Sweden. The auditor reduces the risk of bankruptcy with 10.42 %. Hence, the auditor should be seen as essential for the survival of SMEs.

The survival of organizations is dependent upon their legitimacy since legitimacy provides them with access to valuable resources. Organizations do not possess legitimacy, but rather it is ascribed to them by the society they are in when their actions meet societal expectations. Fulfillment of these societal expectations requires the moral and practical obligations of organizations which we call Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). To show their CSR performance, organizations have increasingly adopted the practice of CSR reporting. In CSR reporting, organizations are expected by their stakeholders to disclose both positive and negative aspects. Although disclosing negative aspects can pose a threat to organization’s legitimacy, a third party reporting them may cause more severe damages to the legitimacy of the organization. Therefore, organizations are motivated to legitimize their negative aspects by using legitimation strategies. Using the typology of Coombs and Holladay (1996), in combination with the legitimation strategies by Hahn and Lülfs (2014) as our frameworks, and the non-financial reports of the top ten German chemical companies as our illustrative cases, we investigate and interpret the choice of legitimation strategies used by organizations to report different types of negative aspects in CSR reports. Our findings show that there is a clear pattern in the use of corrective action as a legitimation strategy for all types of negative aspects. Furthermore, we identified instances, where a new type of legitimation strategy, which we called shifting blame legitimation strategy was used. We interpreted our findings using analytical reasoning and theoretical framework such as the concept of symbolic and substantive approach to interpret our findings. Based on the findings, we concluded that the dominant pattern identified falls under the substantive approach, theoretically known for helping companies retain their legitimacy.

Few environmental problems exemplify market-failure better than municipal solid waste does: A direct by-product of economic production and consumption, its collection and disposal (still mainly at landfills, in many countries) incurs high capital and running costs, creates environmental and health impacts and, in European Union countries, risks incurring heavy financial penalties. The main remedy proposed in environmental economics is a marginal tax on the disposal of mixed household waste, intended to incentivise its reduction and separation for recycling. But taxes are politically unpopular, expensive to administer and generate variable response − sometimes stimulating illegal disposal of waste instead of its reduction. Taxes also risk undermining the moral benefits people seem to enjoy from cooperating voluntarily. Inducing voluntary cooperation could cultivate moral motives and generate cooperation, but this has received less attention in environmental economics to date. The aim of this thesis is to examine the determinants of cooperation by households in waste management activities, investigating the role that government policy can play in stimulating it, and focusing on the role of price incentives and of scheme promotion. Chapter 1 introduces the issue of waste management as an economic problem, and the role of household cooperation as a promising solution. Chapter 2 surveys the literature on the topic of what determines household cooperation in waste management and identifies the key gaps which the thesis seeks to address. Three manuscripts are presented in Chapters 3, 4 and 5, each of which examines a distinct question on the determinants of household cooperation in waste management. Chapter 6 concludes with a synthesis of main findings, key policy cues and suggestions for future research. The first manuscript titled “Voluntary recycling despite financial disincentives” employs a unique merged panel data set (n = 4,644) using data from 58 localities over 86 weeks to assess the determinants of participation in a voluntary waste separation scheme in Malta. The two manuscripts that follow are based on a nationally-representative telephone survey (n = 1,037), containing two embedded experiments, and conducted during 2013, in Malta, for this thesis. Manuscript 2 titled “Partisanship, priming and participation in voluntary recycling” tests whether party identification, as distinct from environmental or political ideology, can act as a determinant of participation in a recycling scheme, particularly if the scheme is promoted in a manner that associates it with the party in government. Manuscript 3 titled “The impact of a Pay as You Throw tax level and label on home-composting” examines the potential of a Pay As You Throw (PAYT) tax, and of its labelling, to induce substitution of biodegradable waste away from mixed kerb-side disposal and into home-composting. It also examines the prospect that this type of intervention stimulates illegal disposal. Synthesising the results of three studies, the thesis finds that: 1. The type of households most likely to cooperate in waste management schemes are multiple-person ones facing lower constraints of space and time, where members hold pro-environmental preferences. This confirms findings of similar studies in other contexts, helps forecast uptake and may guide the design and promotion of schemes to target low-lying fruit and tackle relevant constraints. 2. Driven mainly by moral motives, households are willing to recycle voluntarily even if it is less convenientc e than disposing of un-separated waste, and they are willing to pay for it. This is a useful finding for municipalities with low budgets, unable to institute taxes or fearing illegal disposal as a reaction. 3. Political preferences are relevant to recycling: Where negative sentiment towards the party in government exists, (even subtle cues) promoting the scheme as a government scheme and associating it with the party in government can suppress participation. Decoupling political communication from scheme promotion can release more households into cooperative effort. 4. Responses to waste taxes are not just a matter of price level but also of tax salience: A tax label can significantly increase waste separation and home-composting but it also boosts higher illegal-disposal intent. The way a fee is labelled therefore itself forms part of the intervention tool-kit, meriting pre-testing and capable of manipulation. These findings make a marginal contribution to gaps in the environmental economics literature by integrating insights from psychology. They are also intended to offer simple and applicable ideas to policy-makers and to scheme-operators aiming to increase household cooperation in waste management.

Cooperation in joint enterprises poses a social dilemma. How can altruistic behavior be sustained if selfish alternatives provide a higher payoff? This social dilemma can be overcome by the threat of sanctions. But a sanctioning system is itself a public good and poses a second-order social dilemma. In this paper, we show by means of deterministic and stochastic evolutionary game theory that imitation-driven evolution can lead to the emergence of cooperation based on punishment, provided the participation in the joint enterprise is not compulsory. This surprising result - cooperation can be enforced if participation is voluntary - holds even in the case of 'strong altruism', when the benefits of a player's contribution are reaped by the other participants only. (authors' abstract)