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Showing 1 - 25 of 5605 matches in Business & Economics
Bachelor Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, University of Applied Sciences Augsburg, language: English, abstract: Micro insurance in Kenya is still undeveloped compared to micro credit and micro savings due to the fact that it offers no immediate benefits to the insured. Insurance companies in Kenya have been taking long to compensate their clients in the case of any peril and therefore insurance is seen as a way of stealing the money from the citizens. This thesis has looked into ways of making micro insurance locally available to both large and small scale crop farmers. It has gone a step further to investigate ways of merging up micro insurance and micro credit by using insurance as collateral to acquire loan. It was realized that there is a possibility of selling an insurance contract to a buyer of a produce whereby the farmer can later pay the premium after the harvest of the produce. Moreover, there is a possibility of the harvest being used as collateral when it is in the warehouse of the Kenya National and Cereals Produce Board (NCPB). This increases the creditworthiness of the otherwise not qualifying-for-credit farmer as well as the produce being stored waiting to hit the market highs in order to be sold for profit. To make use of the technology, this paper calls for the development of a mobile application that will enable farmers access information in real time on their mobile phones and thereby being able act accordingly.
Bachelor Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 1,3, University of Applied Sciences Saarbrucken (Betriebswirtschaft), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: On May 14th, 2007, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung announced in its Monday edition that the so-called Grand Coalition, formed of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats, had come to an agreement in principle regarding a fundamental modification of the Inheritance and Gift Tax. A motion for a resolution containing the achieved compromise had been released to the public the day before. Thus, neither the abolition as intended by some liberal-thinking conservatives, nor a drastic tax increase as demanded by some egalitarian leftists will be the result. A precedent draft of the German Federal Ministry of Finance published last year therefore is very much likely to form the basis of an amended regulation of entrepreneurial succession. There had been long discussions beforehand, attendant on the outstanding ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, which was expected to assess the differential treatment of acquired assets and its compatibility with the constitution. Introduction: Firstly, this thesis addresses, in its section 2, the legal status quo. I will depict in detail the issues of tax liability, valuation of assets, the calculation prescriptions as well as the current preferential treatment of business assets in practice all based on law in force. Next, the relevant changes comprised in the amending draft are exposed in section 3 with a clear focus on issues dealing with corporate succession, i.e. the transfer of business property. This includes a short, summarizing critique, reflecting how the draft was perceived amongst scientific commentators. In section 5, the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court is subject to recapitulating representation. The judges dealt with the issue of preferential treatment of real estate and business pro
Diploma Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar, 58 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This paper aims to give an overview of two related human traits that have attracted particularly wide interest, namely overconfidence and overoptimism. The two are closely related to each other, and often used synonymously. Broadly speaking, overconfidence results in underestimation of future risks, e.g. the riskiness of future cash flows, whilst overoptimism leads to an overestimation of future positive outcomes, e.g. the future returns of a company. Besides, the paper wants to deduct suggestions for further research, by systematically identifying uncovered topics in existing literature. This paper also provides a closer look at the empirical methods normally applied in field studies. Although the phenomena are intuitively understandable, empirical researchstill presents itself as a mosaic of fragmented testing rather than a coherent framework. One may assume that this is mainly caused by the difficult measurability of overconfidence and overoptimism: On the one hand, the decision maker, convinced of his own rationality, contributes zero overconfidence or overoptimism to his actions. On the other hand, even a neutral observer cannot specify any degree of biasedness a priori, as stochastic outcomes per definition do not allow for perfect prediction. Therefore, scientists frequently rely on proxy variables that at least allow for measuring a group's average overoptimism or overconfidence. Furthermore, this paper empirically examines several considerations regarding existing research and measurement methods. It particularly aims to connect biasedness with certain personal and economic characteristics, namely participants' gender, industry affiliation, company life cycle, success and risk preferences. Additionally, different methods are e
Diploma Thesis from the year 2005 in the subject Business economics - Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, Social Media, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg (Betriebswirtschaft, International Buisness), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Zusammenfassung: Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde zum grossten Teil in den USA erstellt. Der Autor hatte uber einen Studentenaustausch und ein Praktikum in Miami/USA einen Kontakt zu einem Start-Up-Unternehmen aufgebaut, mit dem zusammen er schliesslich seine Diplomarbeit erarbeitete. Unterstutzt wurde er dabei massgeblich von Frau Prof. Dr. Nickerson von der Barry University in Miami, einer Partneruniversitat der GSO FH Nurnberg, zu der intensivste Beziehungen bestehen. Das Ziel der Arbeit bestand darin, aufbauend auf das erfolgreiche Business Modell der Firma eAppeals LLC neue Geschaftsfelder in Europa zu identifizieren und zu bewerten. Dazu war es erforderlich, Erfolgsgrundlagen der Firma in den USA zu untersuchen, die Ubertragbarkeit der spezifischen Losungen auf anderen Anwendungen zu uberprufen und schliesslich neue Markte zu finden und zu vergleichen. Der Verfasser benutzte zu letzterem eine spezifische Methode, namlich die sog. Strategische Portfolio Analyse. Die Struktur der Arbeit ist sehr gut: nach Einfuhrung gibt der Autor einen Uberblick uber relevante Literaturansatze zum Thema Business Plan (Kap. 2). Anschliessend entwickelt er in Kap. 3 die zugrunde liegende Idee (Kap.3), beschreibt die Firma (Kap. 4) und entwirft dann die methodische Vorgehensweise (Kap. 5). Die Haupteile der Arbeit sind sodann die Marktanalyse bzw. die Suche nach neuen strategischen Geschaftsfeldern (Kap. 6) und schliesslich die Strategische Portfolio Methode (Kap. 7). Die Arbeit uberzeugt insgesamt durch ihre kreative und auch grundliche Vorgehensweise. Der Verfasser hat sich insbesondere in den empirischen Teilen tief in die anspruchsvolle Materie hineingearbeitet. Juristische, technische und orga
Scholarly Research Paper from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, Social Media, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Sciences Offenburg (Studiengang Medien und Informationswesen), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: In a time of tightening budgets, rising bankruptcies and heightened job insecurity, all commerce, be it a major corporation or simply that of a sole operator, must improve its ROI (Return On Investment) rate in order to ensure its continued sustainability. This factor is the key performance indicator (KPI) for any business. The goal of improved ROI becomes all the more difficult when comparing the effectiveness of competing marketing strategies because intangible factors in the purchasing decision such as brand awareness as well as product credibility and loyalty cannot be easily quantified. Even the consumer often has an unconscious preference for one particular product over another. In this regard online marketing offers the advantage of the pull-principle: the user, who pulls the information that he/she is seeking for directly from the Internet, initiates all activities. This implies that a relationship is established between the corporation and consumer. With 90 percent of all Internet users choosing to access a SE during a given session, this first point of contact becomes often decisive in the success or failure for the online marketing concept. Nevertheless, there is an inter-dependency between both the attractiveness and the ability to locate a website, i.e. its findability. A website's content may be highly interesting and appropriate to the user's needs but it will be condemned to failure if it cannot be correctly sourced (i.e. ranked) by a SE. Be that as it may, every top ranked website will be rejected if content and usability disappoint expectations. This report intends to show how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be used in a strategic context as t
Diploma Thesis from the year 2000 in the subject Business economics - Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, Social Media, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm (Betriebswirtschaftslehre), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: The objective of this thesis comprises the analytic and strategic approach to develop new and international markets based on the specific interest for the medium-sized US software company Pixel Magic Imaging, Inc. (PMI). PMI was in its infancy in terms of going international. In other words, PMI had neither an organized and international marketing conception nor a regular business to foreign customers and markets so far. Aim and object of this project was analyzing marketing opportunities for their product portfolio within different international markets and to approach adequate marketing strategies. Therefore data of international markets must be collected, evaluated and analyzed to put these results in a strategic order. This thesis deals with the development of foreign markets and how market entry could be realized. It focuses on explaining ways how to get there. The aim of this thesis is to prove which strategies are possible and to explain them in a general approach. The market research and defining the appropriate strategies where focused on the company's product portfolio. The products are digital imaging software and equipment and are placed in the segment for professional photographers, photographic entrepreneurs and retail outlets. The scope of duties in this thesis consisted in gathering data and compiling reports for international sales opportunities in so far unknown international markets. The study combines the theoretical approach with the know-how of working expierence and expatiated the methodology of international marketing research, designing of an international marketing concept and the implementation of market strategies in describing the theoretical disciplines and to imp
Bachelor Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, Social Media, grade: 1,0, Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Montpellier (International Marketing Department), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: Since the 1990s Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) has particularly influenced both the theory and practice of communication management. The complex and evolving shift from the nineteenth century product' centred approach to that of the twentieth century customer' and twenty-first century stakeholder' approaches has necessitated the adaptation of the concept. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) has evolved from the roots of psychology, marketing and mass communication. Despite its respected lineage, however, IMC remains an immature field that has struggled to establish its own unique body of literature. A key milestone in IMC's emerge occurred in 1991, when a task force of academics and professionals was formed in an effort to agree on such fundamental issues as the most appropriate terminology and definition of the IMC concept. Interestingly, the task force actually debated the use of at least three different terms which were integrated communications, total communications, and IMC . Although the task force did not forge a clear consensus on which term to use, IMC emerged as most commonly cited option and began to enter the mainstream of mass communications and marketing discussions in the early 1990s. Therefore literature in this paper is used as if it had intended to refer to integrated marketing communications. IMC is aiming to provide a consistent and effective message to the customers and other stakeholders as strategic consistency would lead to an increased brand value providing a competitive advantage for the given company. From this perspective IMC is a supportive concept. Yet, in practice, IMC has never been fully embraced. One of the most significan
Diploma Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Accounting and Taxes, grade: 1,3, University of Mannheim (Volkswirtschaftslehre), course: Finanzwissenschaft und Wirtschaftspolitik, language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: There are only few results of empirical research about corporate tax evasion and avoidance in comparison to individual tax evasion. One reason is a lack of exact data. Moreover, due to the nature of tax non-compliance it is not easy to calculate its volume. There is set of empirical questions on which we can make progress, such as the determinants of corporate evasion, for example the impact of penalties on corporate tax directors in large enterprises or the size of a company and the owner structure. It is material for policymakers to know which characteristic of enterprises let us assume that a firm evades more or less and which circumstances enhance corporate tax evasion. We suggest that the developments in a more globalized world may change incentives for non-compliance of enterprises and change the options to evade taxes, in particular for import or export firms. The growing importance of transfer prices for tax directors of multinational enterprises may emphasize this assumption. But not only large multinational enterprises have options to evade taxes. Also smaller companies controlled by private owners can misstate import and export invoices in order to shift profits into low-tax countries or tax haven countries or build up capital in the informal economy. We analyze the existing basic theory and provide a critical discussion to it. And we survey the existing empirical literature about corporate tax evasion. Furthermore, we present the results of a corporate tax survey in China and Germany. By this survey related to import and export firms of all size, evidence is provided that there are remarkable incentives to evade taxes by manipulation of commercial invoices. We find that this type of tax evasion by impo
Diploma Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Trade and Distribution, grade: 1,3, Heilbronn University (Wirtschaft), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: In these times of rapid increase of internet usage, the question arises for multinational companies (MNCs) whether to standardise or adapt their internet presence to different cultural groupings or even subcultures. The overall target of this research is therefore to assist MNCs by producing recommendations concerning the promotion of products and services for a particular transnational consumer group. Therefore, country-specific websites of companies rooted in different cultural origins are selected for this research, namely EgyptAir, Mercedes-Benz and SonyEricsson. This analysis follows the inductive research approach embedding elements of an ethnographic and exploratory research method. The main part of the empirical study is conducted by means of an online-behaviourist questionnaire following the quantitative research approach and complementary a culture-related questionnaire following the qualitative research approach. The sample size is composed of Egyptian students from the Misr International University in Cairo and German students from Heilbronn University forming the selected samples. Even though Egypt is a developing country and Germany an industrialised one, the samples are comparable due to the similar social and educational backgrounds. The research results are applied to the lifestyle typology segmentation method, namely the Euro-Social-Styles of the GfK thus creating a new model of six lifestyle typologies in which the two samples are categorised. It is revealed by the main findings that the respective companies deal despite the different nationalities of the samples, with a transnational consumer group which is characterised by a relative homogeneity. Nevertheless, not all values and traits are similar within this consumer group and it therefore requires a ce
Diploma Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 1,0, University of Vienna (Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Finanzwirtschaft), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: This diploma thesis analyses squeeze-outs a deal where a controlling shareholder has the right to buy out minority shareholders at a fair compensation. As expected, the term fair can have very different meanings depending on who you ask. On the one hand, minority shareholders often argue perceiving the squeeze-out as a legal expropriation and accordingly demand a significant squeeze-out premium. On the other hand, controlling shareholders have the clear and simple intention to pay as little as possible when acquiring the remaining stake in the company. Even law, often seen as the last resort, leaves out a clear and definite description of the expression fair why the squeeze-out compensation turned out to be the crucial point in almost all past squeeze-out processes. Squeeze-outs, in the US called freeze-outs, usually follow a public tender offer where a shareholder has acquired the necessary shareholding (e.g. 90 percent) and consequently obtained the right to exclude the remaining minority shareholders by paying an adequate compensation. In this context the squeeze-out rule, providing the legal framework, has the intention to make public takeovers more attractive. However, in the recent years, more and more minority shareholders executed their own right to challenge the proposed fair squeeze-out compensation in court with the objective to improve the value of the initial squeeze-out offer. For example, minority shareholders of the German Hamburg-Mannheimer AG that protested against the squeeze-out resolution and requested a judicial appraisal of majority shareholder's initially proposed fair squeeze-out compensation in June 2002 could, after a costly lawsuit that lasted two years, finally more than double the amount offered under
Master's Thesis from the year 2005 in the subject Business economics - Law, grade: 1,5, Anglia Ruskin University (Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences, Studiengang L.L.M. International and European Business Law), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: The aim of this dissertation is to analyse the potential clash of the principle of free establishment and the creditor protection principles in Germany. It researches the position of unsecured creditors of insolvent pseudo-foreign companies following the rulings of the European Court of Justice in Segers, Centros, Uberseering and Inspire Art with the focus on German creditors of companies with limited liability incorporated in England and Wales. Research is carried out through reviewing and analysing academic and professional opinions voiced concerning the applicability, restricted or non-applicability of specific German creditor protection instruments following the ECJ rulings considering that the law of the country of incorporation governs foreign companies. European case law defining the current understanding of the fundamental freedom of establishment is reviewed and contrasted with subsequent rulings by German courts involving insolvent English companies. The result of the analysis shows that the number of English limited companies (Limited) is still relatively insignificant compared to the total number of German GmbH companies. Limiteds don't seem to replace the GmbH and don't yet present a threat to the German economy. Questionable is the accuracy and completeness of company information a German creditor can obtain. The main reason is the lack of a formalized or regulatory information process between the company registers of England and Germany. Based on the research performed it can be concluded that the principles of creditor protection in Germany differ greatly from those applied in England. The German creditors can no longer rely on the applicability of German creditor protection instrume
Diploma Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,3, University of Paderborn (Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Studiengang International Business Studies), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: In 1996, managers of U.S. based automaker Ford Corporation realized that they had been fooled: The decision to allocate the company's seat construction to the single supplier Lear Corporation had turned out to be a disaster. Lear had made unrealistic promises concerning their engineering talent in order to get into business with the major carmaker. As Ford was locked-in with a supplier that was unable to keep deadlines and that produced parts that did not work, the production and on time launch of the 1996 version of Ford Taurus were severely put at risk. In this industry example, the supplier behaved opportunistically towards the buyer by misrepresenting the true skills of its employees. According to Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), opportunism is considered as an endogenous factor it forms an inherent part of business relationships. Following Williamson's explanation, opportunism is one of the rudimentary attributes of human nature. Whenever individuals will be given the chance to act opportunistically, they will do so. However, taking a look at current literature, the classical view of opportunism as a ubiquitous phenomenon becomes unsustainable. The emergence and degree of opportunistic behaviour is influenced by a variety of antecedent factors, such as institutional environment (e.g., competition, technology), or social determinants of behaviour (e.g., commitment, trust). Psychological research on this topic has shown that TCE lacks an explicit distinction between opportunism as an attitude and as a type of behaviour or action. Whether an agent behaves opportunistically or not does not only depend on his inclination towards carrying out unfair business practices, but also on the inc
For engineering goods the bought-in part costs represent a big share of the overall production costs. Facing increasing global competition, many German engineering companies identify low-cost sourcing from China as one of the remaining levers to reduce costs. But shifting purchasing volume to China requires in general the development and improvement of new suppliers. In order to do so, what methods do exist? How do they match the specialties in German buyer Chinese supplier relationships? And, what can be done to boost the results? Based on the state of the art in literature and in concerned companies, the author Matthias Vodicka analyzes the current approaches and illustrates their strengths and weaknesses regarding their use in China. An adapted Balanced Scorecard is designed, which, including the identified drivers of success, aims for the improvement of the buyer supplier relationship itself. With this, a strategic guideline and an action plan can boost the outcomes for both parties. This work addresses companies which are (or plan to get) involved in China sourcing activities and those, who are generally interested in the issues occurring for Western companies in China.
Diploma Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Trade and Distribution, grade: 3,0, University of Passau (Philosophische Fakultat, Studiengang Sprachen, Wirtschafts- und Kulturraumstudien), language: English, abstract: Inhaltsangabe: Abstract: The aim of this Masters thesis is to explain Chinese business culture. In order to understand why Chinese business culture is different from European or American business culture, for example, it is necessary to know the roots of Chinese cultural values: what is the specific Chinese context which made it possible that China bore its unique business culture? Which specific values are valid in China today? How do they influence Chinese business conduct? This Master's thesis explains the development and constitution of Chinese business culture. Furthermore, with reference to the latest literature about the topic and additional field research in a private company in China, this Masters thesis reveals recent changes in Chinese business cultural values. Because business culture is influenced by variables such as globalisation or the political system, it represents a dynamic value system over the long term. Thus, this Masters thesis updates academic knowledge about this topic. Moreover, it addresses questions that have been raised by academic authors. Whenever I found a remark in literature which raised up an interesting issue for further research, I noted the hint down and included it into my survey. Thereby, I try to add new perspectives to the topic of Chinese business culture. In total, this Masters thesis should therefore be a useful and topical guide to Chinese business culture. Inhaltsverzeichnis: Table of Contents: Table of Contentsiii List of Abbreviationsv List of Figuresvi Acknowledgementsvii 1.Aim of the Thesis and Leading Argument8 2.Theoretical Background of Chinese Business Culture9 2.1Definition of Business Culture9 2.2Chinese Business Environment14 2.2.1Philosophical Background: Confucianism, |
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