Comprehensive economic and financial analysis of the enterprise activity: approaches, methods and implementation

This thesis intends to analyse the performance and the efficiency of companies and to identify the key factors that may explain it. A comprehensive analysis based on a set of economic and financial ratios was studied as an instrument which provides information on enterprise performance and its efficiency. It was selected a sample with 15 enterprises: 7 Portuguese and 8 Ukrainian ones, belonging to several industries. Financial and non-financial data was collected for 6 years, during the period of 2009 to 2014. Research questions that guided this work were: Are the enterprises efficient/profitable? What factors influence enterprises’ efficiency/performance? Is there any difference between Ukrainian and Portuguese enterprises’ efficiency/performance, which factors have more influence? Which industrial sector is represented by more efficient/profitable enterprises? The main results showed that in average enterprises were efficient; comparing by states Ukrainian enterprises are more efficient; industries have similar level of efficiency. Among factors that influence ATR positively are fixed and current assets turnover ratios, ROA; negatively influencing are EBITDA margin and liquidity ratio. There is no significant difference between models by country. Concerning profitability, enterprises have low performance level but in comparison of countries Ukrainian enterprises have better profitability in average. Regarding the industry sector, paper industry is the most profitable. Among factors influencing ROA are profit margin, fixed asset turnover ratio, EBITDA margin, Debt to equity ratio and the country. In case of profitability both countries have different models. For Ukrainian enterprises is suggested to pay attention on factors of Short-term debt to total debt, ROA, Interest coverage ratio in order to be more efficient; Profit margin and EBITDA margin to make their performance better. For Portuguese enterprises for improving efficiency the observation and improvement of fixed assets turnover ratio, current assets turnover ratio, Short-term financial debt to total debt, Leverage Ratio, EBITDA margin is suggested; for improving higher profitability track fixed assets turnover ratio, current assets turnover ratio, Debt to equity ratio, Profit margin and Interest coverage ratio is suggested.

Justification the strategy of enterprise development: PJSC Elektrotermometriya: case study

The research is orientated to the actual issues of strategic management of industrial enterprises. The theoretical aspects of strategic management are generalized, its role is certain in organization development, methods and processes of strategic management are investigational. In this context the main objective of study is based on the strategic analysis of PJSC «Elektrotermometriya», formation ways to improve the strategic management of the company with regard to the readiness of the company to strategic changes and conducting of developments and recommendations for improvement activity of the enterprise. To answer to the main objective it was conducted the strategic analysis of activity of PJSC «Elektrotermometriya». The results proved the basic strategy to achieve the strategic goal of PJSC «Elektrotermometriya». According to the life cycle, and based on the current conditions of its functioning, is appropriate to use the strategy of gradual growth. Forecast implementing strategies defined by the optimistic, probable and pessimistic forecasts. According to the pessimistic forecast the company should use a strategy of stabilization, while to the optimistic and the most likely scenario - moderate growth strategy. Thus to achieve the main strategic goals according to each scenario PJSC «Elektrotermometriya» should use set of functional strategies and define the business strategy.

Regulatory governance of ‘training markets’, ‘market failure’, and ‘quasi’ markets: historical dimensions of the post-initial training market in the Netherlands

This article examines regulatory governance of the post-initial training market in The Netherlands. From an historical perspective on policy formation processes, it examines market formation in terms of social, economic, and cultural factors in the development of provision and demand for post-initial training; the roles of stakeholders in the longterm construction of regulatory governance of the market; regulation of and public providers; policy responses to market failure; and tripartite division of responsibilities between the state, social partners, commercial and publicly-funded providers. Historical description and analysis examine policy narratives of key stakeholders with reference to: a) influence of societal stakeholders on regulatory decision-making; b) state regulation of the post-initial training market; c) public intervention regulating the market to prevent market failure; d) market deregulation, competition, employability and individual responsibility; and, e) regulatory governance to prevent ‘allocative failure’ by the market in non-delivery of post-initial training to specific target groups, particularly the low-qualified. Dominant policy narratives have resulted in limited state regulation of the supply-side, a tripartite system of regulatory governance by the state, social partners and commercial providers as regulatory actors. Current policy discourses address interventions on the demand-side to redistribute structures of opportunity throughout the life courses of individuals. Further empirical research from a comparative historical perspective is required to deepen contemporary understandings of regulatory governance of markets and the commodification of adult learning in knowledge societies and information economies. (DIPF/Orig.)

The challenges of a social enterprise with a broker model: The case of Plugged-in

The existing sources on the creation of new business are limited in providing assistance when it comes to specific challenges that the foundation team of an enterprise may face. Likewise, in the case of the social enterprise Plugged-in, there are key challenges with regard to the business model. In this work project, a benchmarking approach was chosen to address these challenges and to derive implications from the practices established by successful sample enterprises. Besides several best practices, potential approaches to solutions were identified and suggestions for further examination were given.

Forms of Collaboration in Collaborative Enterprises: An Ontological Model

Part 19: Knowledge Management in Networks

Beneath the surface of the heritage enterprise. Governmentality and cultural representation of rural architecture in Portugal

This article focuses on the construction of heritage in rural Portugal. Drawing on anthropological fieldwork in the village of Castelo Rodrigo, it analyses the extensive protection and exhibition of domestic architecture in the framework of a State-led local development programme. By bringing in the messiness of daily practices, the article goes beyond neat theoretical formulations in the study of heritage such as Foucault’s theory of “governmentality” and Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s notion of “second life as heritage”. It argues that the “conduct of conduct” is actually nowhere near as effective as its theoretical formulation might have us believe, and the second life as heritage suffocates the first life of houses as social habitats for the village population.

Corporate governance in european transition economies: Emerging models

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on corporate governance models in European transition economies. The paper consists of four parts. After a historic overview of the evolution of corporate governance, the introduction presents various understandings of the corporate governance function and describes current issues in corporate governance. Part two deals with governance systems in the (mainly domestically) privatized former state-owned companies in Central European transition countries, with the main types of company ownership structures, relationships between governing and management functions, and deficiencies in existing governance systems. Part three is dedicated to the analysis of factors that determine the efficiency of the relationship between the corporate governance and management functions in Central European transition economies. It deals with the issue of why the German (continental European) governance model is usually the preferred choice and why the chosen models underperform. In the conclusion the author offers his suggestions on how the Central European transition countries should improve their corporate governance in the future.

Designing a S2-Enterprise (Smart x Sensing) Reference Model

Part 11: Reference and Conceptual Models

Virtual Enterprise Process Management: An Application to Industrial Maintenance

Part 2: Behaviour and Coordination

Corporate governance : value creation and performance in credit unions

In this study, we examine the relationship between good corporate governance practices and the creation of value/performance of credit unions from 2010 to 2012. The objective was to create and validate a corporate governance index for credit unions, and to then analyse the relationship between good governance practices and the creation of value/performance. The problem question is: do good corporate governance practices provide value creation for credit unions? The research started by creating indices from factor analysis to identify latent dependent variables related to value creation and performance; next indices were created from the principal component analysis for the creation of independent latent variables related to corporate governance. Finally, based on panel data from regression models, the influence of the variables and indices related to corporate governance on the indices of value creation and performance was verified. Based on the research, it became evident that the Corporate Governance Index (IGC) is mainly impacted by Executive Management, with 40.31% of the IGC value, followed by the Representation and Participation dimension, with 34.07% of the IGC value. The contribution for academics was the creation of the Corporate Governance Index (IGC) applied for credit unions. As for the contribution to the system of credit unions, the highlight was the effectiveness of the mechanisms for economic-financial and asset management adopted by BACEN, credit unions and OCEMG.

Integração entre frameworks de suporte à gestão e governação das tecnologias de informação : modelação da Norma ISO 9001

A ISO 9001 e Arquiteturas Empresariais (AE), diferentes ferramentas de Governação com diferentes perspetivas, são dominantes entre os seus praticantes. Uma representação de uma ISO 9001 em ArchiMate pode potenciar ainda mais alinhamentos com outras frameworks representadas por AE e pode ajudar na obtenção de melhores resultados na implementação da Qualidade numa organização, obviando os custos e a duplicação de esforços. Esta tese propõe uma abordagem de integração entre a ISO 9001 e AE na perspetiva das AE ao propor um mapeamento de conceitos de ISO 9001 em EA pela definição de uma Arquitetura de Referência da ISO 9001 utilizando a linguagem de modelação do ArchiMate Dois objetivos são endereçados: a demonstração da capacidade de representar todos os requisitos da ISO 9001 em componentes de AE através do desenvolvimento da Arquitetura de Referência e reciprocamente a capacidade de desenvolver uma AE de um Sistema de Gestão da Qualidade (SGQ) teórico baseado na ISO 9001 com as componentes dessa Arquitetura de Referência. Adicionalmente, ao identificar e avaliar a existência das componentes da Arquitetura de Referência numa organização concreta, se estes não estão completamente mapeados, pode-se concluir a existência de um desvio relativamente ao referencial ISO 9001. Por ultimo, uma Arquitetura de Referência ArchiMate da ISO 9001 permite a partilha de conhecimento, a comunicação entre partes interessadas e contribui para a discussão e validação da ISO 9001 entre os utilizadores de Arquiteturas Empresariais.

The impact of culture and corporate governance in dividend policy: evidence from emerging and developed countries

The present research aims to analyse the impact of corporate governance and cultural dimensions in dividend policy. The corporate governance and dividend policy have a close relationship, in that both are evidenced in literature to mitigate agency problems. Cultural factors are also related to agency problems. The existence of agency problems and their solutions differs across countries and it is related to the implementation of the mechanisms of governance. So, cultural factors may have influence on corporate governance and dividend policy. Our sample consists in 1 232 companies belonging to the main indices of 38 countries classified as emerging or developed. To measure the quality of firm level corporate governance, we use the ASSET4 Corporate Governance Performance Index, developed by Thomson Reuters, and as proxy of culture we use three cultural dimensions developed by Geert Hofstede, namely uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and indulgence. We obtained significant empirical evidence that firms with high quality of corporate governance pay higher dividends. With regard to cultural factors, we confirm that in countries with high levels of masculinity and uncertainty avoidance, the dividend payout ratio is lower. On the other hand, countries with high level of indulgence have higher dividend payout ratio. However, we verify that the impact of cultural effects is minimized when the firms have a high quality level of corporate governance. Additionally, we found that the impact of corporate governance and cultural factors in dividend policy differs when dealing with emerging or developed countries.

Holacracy as an alternative to organisations governance

Holacracy as an alternative to organisations governance A *TRS event, Room P1.2 (Fernando Pessoa Hall), University Fernando Pessoa 16th, November, 2016, Luis Borges Gouveia This presentation introduce holacracy and discuss its use as an alternative to organize people within a corporate environment. A holacracy is a governance structure characterized by a distribution of power among self-organizing groups, rather than the top-down authority in the typical hierarchical corporate culture model. A holacracy provides a flat management structure that distributes authority. The goal of a holacracy is to ensure that those responsible for completing the work have the authority to decide how that work should be carried out. Holacracy benefits are the promises to harness agility, transparency, accountability, employee engagement and innovation. It also potentiates greater efficiency. Main critics are that the model do not allow for sufficient lateral communication. Also, it use is still emerging and we do not have sufficient evidence on holacracy advantages to rely on its promises

If we can't have it, then no one should : Shutting down versus selling in family business portfolios

How does a business family manage its business portfolio in times of declining performance to sustain the portfolio's long-term endurance? Drawing on social identity theory and six family business portfolios from Pakistan, we find that business families may prefer to shut down a satellite business rather than sell it, which is primarily driven by identity considerations. In addition, the family's goal to recycle the assets, the aim to restart the business later, and the increasing decline in performance are important contingency factors. This study contributes to the literature on portfolio entrepreneurship, business exit, and the enduring entrepreneurship of family firms.

Informationen verzweifelt gesucht – Enterprise Search in österreichischen Großunternehmen

Die Arbeit geht dem Status quo der unternehmensweiten Suche in österreichischen Großunternehmen nach und beleuchtet Faktoren, die darauf Einfluss haben. Aus der Analyse des Ist-Zustands wird der Bedarf an Enterprise-Search-Software abgeleitet und es werden Rahmenbedingungen für deren erfolgreiche Einführung skizziert. Die Untersuchung stützt sich auf eine im Jahr 2009 durchgeführte Onlinebefragung von 469 österreichischen Großunternehmen (Rücklauf 22 %) und daran anschließende Leitfadeninterviews mit zwölf Teilnehmern der Onlinebefragung. Der theoretische Teil verortet die Arbeit im Kontext des Informations- und Wissensmanagements. Der Fokus liegt auf dem Ansatz der Enterprise Search, ihrer Abgrenzung gegenüber der Suche im Internet und ihrem Leistungsspektrum. Im empirischen Teil wird zunächst aufgezeigt, wie die Unternehmen ihre Informationen organisieren und welche Probleme dabei auftreten. Es folgt eine Analyse des Status quo der Informationssuche im Unternehmen. Abschließend werden Bekanntheit und Einsatz von Enterprise-Search-Software in der Zielgruppe untersucht sowie für die Einführung dieser Software nötige Rahmenbedingungen benannt. Defizite machen die Befragten insbesondere im Hinblick auf die übergreifende Suche im Unternehmen und die Suche nach Kompetenzträgern aus. Hier werden Lücken im Wissensmanagement offenbar. 29 % der Respondenten der Onlinebefragung geben zudem an, dass es in ihren Unternehmen gelegentlich bis häufig zu Fehlentscheidungen infolge defizitärer Informationslagen kommt. Enterprise-Search-Software kommt in 17 % der Unternehmen, die sich an der Onlinebefragung beteiligten, zum Einsatz. Die durch Enterprise-Search-Software bewirkten Veränderungen werden grundsätzlich positiv beurteilt. Alles in allem zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass Enterprise-Search-Strategien nur Erfolg haben können, wenn man sie in umfassende Maßnahmen des Informations- und Wissensmanagements einbettet.