European venture capital (VC) funds have historically underperformed their US counterparts. This has resulted in reduced investment into European VC by the traditional institutional investors. This book investigates the factors that give rise to the performance difference. It is based on the author's research at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow which involved a qualitative study of some 64 VC firms in the UK, continental Europe and the US, supplemented by 40 interviews with other stakeholders, including limited partner investors, corporate venturers, entrepreneurs and advisors. Readers will gain an in-depth understanding of the various structural, operational and wider environmental factors that impact on the performance difference between UK/European and US VC funds. The study is unique in that it provides, for the first time, a holistic and extensive analysis of the entire investment process from sourcing deals to exiting deals specifically contrasting Europe and the US in terms of the variables pertaining to the investment process and the impact on the fund performance. Factors impacting on the performance differential are structural, resulting from characteristics of the funds themselves, operational such as the investment practices of the VC firms which manage the funds and environmental such as culture and attitude to risk and the wider ecosystem in which the funds operate. These factors are set out clearly for the reader. The characteristics of the better performing funds in Europe and the US are also investigated. The book is aimed at academics who are researching venture capital fund performance and investment practices and also at practitioners, advisors and policymakers who want to learn about best VC investment practices. Whilst the book is focused on European and US VC investing, the best practices are also pertinent for VC firms and funds setting up in other geographies, particularly in emerging markets. To this end, best practice guidelines based on the research are included.

This title was first published in 2001: Product and particularly customer profitability are black holes in most managers' understanding of their business. Identifying customer revenue is easy but identifying what they cost - so we can understand whether or not they are profitable - is difficult. In a world in which competition, regulation and the increasing use of the Internet put ever greater pressure on margins it is vitally important to understand both product- and customer-profitability. Activity Based Management (ABM) enables you to do this. This book explains the power of using ABM to increase the profitability of your business. It provides step-by-step guidance on basic principles, comparisons between traditional methods, definitions of processes, activities and cost-drivers as well as details of data collection techniques and implementation steps. Through the book's numerous detailed examples a logical picture builds up of how to obtain the benefits that ABM can deliver. On its own ABM will change management decision-making: by showing how ABM also supports other profit improvement initiatives such as Business Process Reengineering, Shareholder Value Added and Customer Relationship Management, managers will learn how they can use the best possible toolkit to put their business firmly on the road to leaps in profitability.

This textbook presents concepts and applications of Management Accounting, one of the main approaches used by management to support future organisational performance. It covers methods and instruments of management and cost accounting, cost management, and management control and is based on the German textbook "Interne Unternehmensrechnung" by Ralf Ewert and Alfred Wagenhofer (Springer). The authors describe the managerial uses of accounting information, both for decision-making and decision-influencing, and provide a broad perspective on the subject combining the academic foundations of the field with recent cutting-edge research results. Moreover, traditions of German accounting theory and practice that are little known outside of the German-speaking countries are reflected in the book. With its unique approach based on information economics, the textbook offers a comprehensive and innovative presentation to a global audience.

This expert guide walks you through the practice of cost segregation analysis, which enables property owners to defer taxes and benefit from "accelerated cost recovery" through depreciation deductions on assets that are properly identified and classified. A relatively new practice that evolved from various court decisions and Internal Revenue Service rulings, cost segregation can be applied to new buildings under construction, renovations of existing buildings, leasehold improvements, and purchased real estate - going back as far as 1987.

Cost segregation practice requires knowledge of both tax law and the construction process. In this book, the authors share their expertise in these areas with tax and accounting professionals, cost segregation consultants, facility owners, architects and general contractors - providing guidance on major aspects of a professional, defensible cost segregation study, including: The legal framework for cost segregation, as defined by the IRS, tax courts, and federal agenciesReview of key IRS cases, court rulings, and revenue proceduresClassification and depreciation methodsUnderstanding construction plans and specificationsProfessional takeoff and cost estimating proceduresOptimizing cost segregation in new construction - from design choices to proper project documentation

With a glossary of terms, sample cost segregation estimates for various building types, key information resources, and updates via a dedicated website, "The Practice of Cost Segregation Analysis" is a must-have resource.

The book introduces pragmatic constructivism as a paradigm for understanding actors' construction of functioning practice and for developing methods and concepts for managing and observing that practice. The book explores, understands and theorises organisational practices as constructed through the activities of all organisational actors. Actors always act under presumptions of a specific actor-world-relation which they continuously construct, adjust and reconstruct in light of new experiences, contexts and communication. The outcome of the actor-world-relation is a reality construction. The reality construction may function successfully or it may be hampered by fictitious and illusionary elements, due to missing or faulty actor-world relations. The thesis is that four dimensions of reality - facts, possibilities, values and communication - must be integrated in the actor-world-relation if the construct is to form a successful basis for effective, functioning actions. Drawing on pragmatic constructivism, the book provides concepts and ideas for studies regarding actors and their use of management accounting models in their construction of organized reality. It concentrates on researching and conceptualizing what creates functioning reality construction. It develops concept and methods for understanding, analysing and managing the actors' reality constructions. It is intended for people who do research on or work actively with developing management accounting.

"This is an impressive step in the development of company reporting. The proposed reporting system, based on business definition, business position, business reputation, and advanced cash flow, is actually a revelation. It shows a new way to expand today's business reporting systems, matching development trends in society. I see it as a welcome and even necessary step to bring company reporting in line with today's requirements."
--Pierre Berhin, international fund manager

"I just read Chapter Four . . . extremely interesting and very much in tune with the needs of companies today. Especially the parts about baseline reporting, business definition, and client relationships. It is amazing how many important international companies that I have done consulting for have such internal disasters going on and apply very little of the concepts that you speak of. I believe your book will be received very well and hopefully be placed on required reading lists for business students around the world."
--Christian G. Foucher, international business consultant performance management specialist

"A true enterprise risk management process. Not only should this book have an impact on how society and commerce look upon how we create, preserve, lose, or destroy value and how we account for our business activities, but also on the way we perceive and react to risks and opportunities. Through their teachings and business practices, the authors have significantly changed my own perception of the vast variety of factors and circumstances (risks) that may threaten the health and well-being of organizations."
--Per E. Aakenes, Chairman The Swedish Risk Management Association

"Accountingspecialists know that traditional accounting concepts are no longer adequate to describe today's companies, but for the most part they, and corporate managements themselves, have nothing to replace the current system. Now, along come Hans V. A. Johnsson and Per Erik Kihlstedt with Performance-Based Reporting, a clear and convincing description of why the old system can't work and what system can."
--Peter J. Wallison, Resident Fellow American Enterprise Institute

The successfully proven alternative system for relevant business reporting through performance management

Performance-Based Reporting shows businesses how traditional accounting fails to provide meaningful measures for performance and presents radically innovative and thoroughly tested methods for performance-oriented management, assessment, and reporting. Twenty-five years in the making, this helpful book also presents The Baseline Approach to management, assessment, and reporting--composed of eighty-percent accounting-free methods.

Performance-Based Reporting presents the culmination of intense experiments involving more than 1,500 businesses and over 4,000 executives. It definitively proves the need for new tools for realistic business planning and management in an unpredictable world. These tools already exist, and this helpful guide walks readers through the process of implementing them to help firms improve their ability to predict the direction they should take in the future.

The security criteria of the International Standards Organization (ISO) provides an excellent foundation for identifying and addressing business risks through a disciplined security management process. Using security standards ISO 17799 and ISO 27001 as a basis, How to Achieve 27001 Certification: An Example of Applied Compliance Management helps an organization align its security and organizational goals so it can generate effective security, compliance, and management programs. The authors offer insight from their own experiences, providing questions and answers to determine an organization's information security strengths and weaknesses with respect to the standard. They also present step-by-step information to help an organization plan an implementation, as well as prepare for certification and audit. Security is no longer a luxury for an organization, it is a legislative mandate. A formal methodology that helps an organization define and execute an ISMS is essential in order to perform and prove due diligence in upholding stakeholder interests and legislative compliance. Providing a good starting point for novices, as well as finely tuned nuances for seasoned security professionals, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone involved with meeting an organization's security, certification, and compliance needs.

Organizations are networks of conversations. In this groundbreaking book for executives, managers, coaches and educators, follow a new manager in a large organization, as she transforms her conversational capabilities with the help of an executive coach into an effective, visionary leader. Conversational capability is one of, if not the most important capabilities an individual or organization can possess. It is also the most challenging to measure and improve. From spouses and children in morning routines to bosses, employees and coworkers at the workplace to clients, customers, suppliers, and so on, conversations either rule our days completely or simply serve as clear boundaries to their success or failure. Conversational competency is at the heart of leadership, coaching, mentoring and creating sustainable value. Conversation Innovation is a compelling and engaging text at the forefront of this critically important subject matter. It is suited for corporate, academic and executive coaching audiences.

Managerial cost accounting is the financial and managerial tool that is used to estimate the organizational cost of products and services in business and government. In recent decades, cost accounting in the United States and other advanced industrial countries has been dominated by discussions of Activity Based Costing or ABC. While ABC can be shown to produce a more accurate estimate of cost than older and more basic types of cost accounting, ABC is not used extensively in many governments. We argue that this recent focus on ABC has stifled examination and discussion of how government cost accounting is being used and how it could be used in practice. The study of cost accounting practice reveals an important and underexplored area of financial management in government. Given the scandals that cost accounting estimates can create and that different types of cost accounting can create different estimates of cost it may be reasonable to ask whether the cost accounting exercise is worth it? Cost Accounting in Government: Theory and Applications addresses these unusual and unusually important topics through a series of studies of different government cost accounting practices. The first section of the book presents two chapters on the history and basic elements of cost accounting. The second section of the book provides further discussion and case studies of actual cost accounting practices in the main areas that cost accounting has been used in government: benchmarking the performance of government services, rate setting, grant overhead cost recovery, and cost management. The last two chapters discuss cost accounting practices in Europe and the future of cost accounting. These cases span local and federal governments and provide a much needed context to the study of cost accounting in government. Aimed at academics, researchers and policy makers in the fields of Accounting, Public Administration, and Government Studies, Cost Accounting in Government: Theory and Applications seeks to address the practical and theoretical gap in government cost accounting research with case studies of different public agencies that are using cost accounting for different purposes. The case studies illustrate that different purposes for cost accounting create unique and interesting cost accounting practices. The case studies provide useful examples of actual cost accounting systems that can inform both research and instruction

Since 2008, the world has experienced an enormous decrease of wealth. By many measures the impact of the crisis was severe. The fall in GDP, the collapse of world trade, the rise in unemployment, and the credit slump reached bigger proportions than in any other crisis since World War II. Although the economic figures seem to improve in some countries, the crisis continues being a challenging issue and is said to be one of the most important problems governments face today. The crisis has put public finances under ever increasing pressure, and governments have responded through austerity measures such as new fiscal rules and budgeting procedures and cutbacks of public spending. Public Management in Times of Austerity seeks to explore the austerity policies adopted by European governments and their consequences to public management. It asks how governments have implemented new rules leading to more stringency in public budgeting and financial management, and how they have cut back public expenditure. These questions are examined comparatively through case studies in different parts of Europe, and variations across countries are discussed and explained. Throughout the volume, the consequences of the crisis and austerity policies for public management are discussed. What is the relationship between crisis and decision-making in the public sector, and how does austerity affect public-sector organisation? As the previous crisis in the 1970s resulted in a major reform movement, which was later referred to as New Public Management, Public Management in Times of Austerity look to understand whether the current crisis also leads to a wave of public management reform, and if so what is the content of this?

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This monograph is an innovative endeavour in many ways. First, it brings to the fore the synergy between human evolution and economic and social progress. Second, it acknowledges the critical contributions from the routine adherence to contextual truth and contextual non-violence of humanity at large. Finally, it argues that the world is sliding towards evolutionary failure by not moving further forward in the adherence to the two core human values. For all those interested in development in a holistic sense, the book will inspire thinking and debate. Human evolution will go on - one way or the other - with or without adherence to truth and non-violence. The book stresses the time is now, to go for the best and eschew the worst.

This book is an oral history of the auditing profession in Britain from 1920s to the present day based on extended extracts from interviews with 77 past and present practitioners. Those interviewed ranged from a nonagenarian who qualified in the 1920s, to active contemporaries, from sole practitioners to the present day heads of the Big Five accounting firms. The often candid interviews uncover a surprising variety of experience and opinions and allow a group of often fascinating individuals to tell their own stories.

This book offers a step-by-step guide to basic accounting and financial management techniques. It is written in plain language for people who have no previous experience of accounting and book-keeping. The procedures described in this book are not just specific to development programs.The success of any venture, whatever its size, depends on proper financial control. Using simple case studies, the author shows how to: construct a budget and cash-flow forecast; record and control cash payments; draw up an analyzed cash book, and a receipts and payments account; operate a bank account; and prepare a budget and actual statement. Each section is followed by activities to practice the material covered. Full solutions and notes for trainers and facilitators are also included. "Basic Accounting" is suitable for training non-governmental organizations in an international development context. This book should be useful to any small group that needs to keep accurate records of its financial transactions.

Originally published in 1997. This study investigates what the effects of real exchange rate volatility are on sectorial investment in the fixed and flexible exchange rate systems. It lays out the results of research into the effects of the levels and volatility of real exchange rates on investment in the manufacturing sectors of the countries in the European Monetary System as well as of the countries in the flexible exchange rate system, with data from between 1973 and 1993. Examining the differences between the two systems in the results this book also looks at exchange rate effects on interest rates at the time.

This book demonstrates the importance of understanding how political rhetoric, financial reporting and media coverage of austerity in transnational contexts is significant to the communicative, social and economic environments in which we live. It considers how aspects of moral storytelling, language, representation and ideology operate through societies in financial crisis and through governments that impose austerity programmes on public spending. Whilst many of the debates covered here are concerned with UK economic policy and British social contexts, the contributions also consider examples from other countries that reflect similar concerns on the ideological operations of austerity and financial discourse. The multiple discursive contexts of austerity demonstrate the breadth of social concerns and conflicts that have developed in societies and institutions following the global economic crisis of 2008. Through its interdisciplinary focus on this topic, this book provides an important contribution across multiple subject areas, with shared interests in critical and analytical approaches to discourse, power and language in social contexts reflecting the healthy collaborative scope of critical discourse studies as a field of research. This book was originally published as a special issue of Critical Discourse Studies.

The Conservative's privatisation programme was one of the most ambitious aspects of their attempt to redraft the political and economic map of the United Kingdom. Originally published in 1988, this book explores the processes of privatisation from a variety of standpoints. Its contributors include academics, enterprise executives and government officials, many of whom had been closely involved in the programme. Fiscal, legal and social aspects of privatisation are explored but the book treats the subject as more than an immediate political issue and takes the opportunity to discuss the success - or otherwise - of public enterprise and to explore the implication of the UK experience for other countries which have an interest in privatisation.

To what extent can governments supplement private venture capitalists and stimulate the economy by providing money to new entrepreneurs as well as existing enterprises? The UK's National Enterprise Board (NEB) attempted to do just this, and whilst it gained most publicity through its efforts to bail out ailing giants such as British Leyland and Rolls Royce Aerospace, much of its attention was actually directed to smaller ventures. Originally published in 1988 Professor Kramer reports that the NEB's record of success was surprisingly good, and that many flourishing undertakings would not be in business today had it not been for the NEB's efforts. The author goes further, and after discussing the political and economic issues involved in according public aid to private enterprises on a case by case basis, he argues that not only should the UK revive its NEB, but that other countries, notably the United States, could benefit by establishing their own versions of it. Indeed, throughout, the author's perspective as an outsider makes him peculiarly alive to the relevance of the UK example to a whole range of international cases. As the first scholarly, full-length study of the NEB, this book will be of value to those interested in the relationships between venture capitalists generally and the enterprises in which they take equity. It will also interest those studying the relationship between holding companies and their subsidiaries.

How amenable is public enterprise to the implementation of national distributional policies? This is the question explored here by Professor Ramanadham. Originally published in 1988, he examines the various channels through which distributional effects take place through their operations, and draws attention to the implicit conflicts of interest among consumers, workers, and tax payers. He focuses on the problems associated with the use of public enterprises as instruments of distributional goals and examines the question of whether direct budgetary measures on the part of government would be preferable. There are detailed analyses of the distributional implications of wage incomes, prices, and surpluses in the public enterprise sector. Finally, the author comments from the distributional angle on the results of privatization. Here is a detailed study of the way in which public enterprise may be employed as an instrument of redistribution of income and wealth, also of the extent to which this is feasible.

Were you looking for the book with access to MyAccountingLab?Essentials of Accounting with MyAccountingLab: International Editions, 11/e (ISBN: 9780273771517) and save 40%. For courses in Introductory Accounting. Essentials of Accounting is a workbook that provides a self-teaching and self-paced introduction to financial accounting for active users of business data. This text presents the ideas and terminology essential to understanding balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flows in a unique format that enables students to study and learn with ease. Essentials of Accounting is best used when paired with the Core Concepts of Accounting, which captures the full text (but not the programmed approach) of Essentials of Accounting, while including important accounting concepts and terms. Need extra support? This title can be supported by MyAccountingLab, an online homework and tutorial system which can be used by students for self-directed study or fully integrated into an instructor's course. This product is the book alone, and does NOT come with access to MyAccountingLab. You can benefit from MyAccountingLab at a reduced price by purchasing a pack containing a copy of the book and an access card for MyAccountingLab: Essentials of Accounting with MyAccountingLab: International Editions, 11/e (ISBN: 9780273771517). Alternatively, buy access online at www.MyAccountingLab.com. For educator access, contact your Pearson Account Manager. To find out who your account manager is, visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/replocator

Originally published in 1971, when nationalized industries employed about 7 per cent of the national labour force, created about 10 per cent of the gross domestic product and had annual investment programmes which were equal to those of all private manufacturing put together. Even this understates the scope of public enterprise at the time, since there were many other organizations, ranging from the BBC to the Public Trustee, which were semi-autonomous public enterprises, but not nationalized industries. Moreover, the public enterprise sector continued to grow, even under Conservative governments, and there were many reasons for thinking that no government would succeed in reversing this trend, for it was felt unlikely that, as government became more complex, it would disgorge many new activities which would be given a semi-autonomous, that is, public enterprise status. The author, drawing on personal experience, shows that the facts of ministerial and parliamentary control were very different from what the public and Parliament thought at the time. He describes the very great practical independence of the Boards and also how much Ministers had come to rely on persuasion (which not only can impose serious waste of time and money on both Boards and Government but is also inefficient). Ministers have least power where the aims of public enterprise are social rather than commercial. If there were no changes, the growth of public enterprise to achieve social purposes would mean an important decline in the power of Parliament and Ministers. This book explores solutions to this problem and concludes that the government must build up a cadre and capacity for financial control which at the time were lacking to it.

In both the developed world and the third world public enterprise has come to assume considerable importance in the structure and development of national economies. Originally published in 1984, this book, by an acknowledged international authority on public enterprise, explores this concept in both the major and the developing economies. He analyses how public enterprise functions and demonstrates how it may be integrated into both traditional Western mixed economies and third world economies with a much high level of state control.

The book argues that accountants overemphasise cost and liquidation value, ignore cashflow and value to a going concern; that they would 'rather be precisely wrong than roughly right'. They therefore distort the values of many tangible and intangible assets, and overstate goodwill, with serious distorting effect. The book supports these arguments, illustrates the harm they do, and discusses how values, and their impact, vary - depending on the party banker, shareholder and situation.

This book focuses on the impact of the disclosure of non-financial risk, which could be seen as the most relevant non-financial information (NFI), in the aftermath of the 2014/95/EU Directive. The author analyses whether the switch from voluntary to mandatory NFI enhance the quality of disclosed NF risk-related information and the usefulness of the risk disclosure for investors. The book focuses specifically on the mandatory disclosure of non-financial (NF) risks as required by the EU Directive for listed Italian companies, investigating both the state of art of its disclosure and its usefulness for investors. In doing so, the book contributes to fill two relevant gaps in risk literature. The first research gap is related to the insufficient investigation of the disclosure of NF risks. Companies mandated to disclose risk-related information focused mainly on financial risks, in spite of the width of the definition of risk, conceived as information about any opportunity, danger, threat, or exposure that has or could impact the company in the future. The second gap is that empirical evidence about the effects of corporate risk disclosures is still limited, and the potential benefits of the disclosure of information on risks have not been fully explored. In particular, the relationship between risk disclosures and firm value is under researched, as the risk literature mainly focuses on the incentives question, related to the motives for which companies decide to disclose. The research in this book focuses on Italy, a country that provides a unique opportunity to examine the impact of mandatory NF risk disclosure on firm market value, being one of the biggest industrial European countries that had not mandatory legislation for NFI disclosure, and also one of the leading countries in voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting at an international level. It has been carried out in the fiscal year 2017, the first year of the application of the mandatory NF disclosure for obliged Italian listed PIEs. The book contributes both to the measurement literature, as it presents a self-constructed quality NF risks and to the value relevance analysis literature, providing evidence of the usefulness of financial and non-financial risk-related disclosures in the Italian context.