Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Methods of budgeting'

The purpose of this study is to determine alternative ways of controlling costs that are more reliable, updated and useful than traditional budgeting. To identify the advantages and disadvantages of the budgeting process. To determine whether a South African company combines different planning methods to suit its specific planning needs. To determine how key performance drivers for planning purposes are chosen in the event that the company makes use of key performance drivers. Finally, to determine the relevance of traditional budgeting when combined with alternative planning methods for a South African company. This study should contribute greatly to how unique the budgeting process has become in the modern economy. Unlike previous studies that only focussed on abandoning budgets completely or on alternative methods, this study will investigate the use of the traditional budget in conjunction with alternative planning and the extent of alternative planning methods being used. As far as it could be determined, this will be the first study of the implementation of alternative budgeting in conjunction with the traditional budget in a South African context. The study will also make a unique contribution by investigating new combinations of planning techniques used by a South African company. For this mixed-method study, one single case was selected for an in-depth analysis of the budgeting process. Data was collected by means of questionnaires that were given to all participants of the budgeting process and a once off face-to-face in-depth interview with the CFO of the company. It was concluded that the budgeting process is unique for this South African company. It includes various alternative planning methods used in conjunction with the annual budgeting process. Disadvantages and advantages of the budgeting process were discussed as found form previous research and from the current study. Alternative methods of planning used by the company in conjunction to the traditional budget were identified and discussed. Further research in a South African context would prove very interesting on the unique budgeting processes implemented by South African companies today.
Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Financial Management
unrestricted

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2016.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 107-112).
Quantification and management of uncertainty are critical in the design of engineering systems, especially in the early stages of conceptual design. This thesis presents an approach to defining budgets on the acceptable levels of uncertainty in design quantities of interest, such as the allowable risk in not meeting a critical design constraint and the allowable deviation in a system performance metric. A sensitivity-based method analyzes the effects of design decisions on satisfying those budgets, and a multiobjective optimization formulation permits the designer to explore the tradespace of uncertainty reduction activities while also accounting for a cost budget. For models that are computationally costly to evaluate, a surrogate modeling approach based on high dimensional model representation achieves efficient computation of the sensitivities. Example problems in aircraft conceptual design illustrate the approach. The first example investigates the influence of uncertainty in the propulsion technology on the overall aircraft design, whereas the second problem looks at the influence of six different uncertain design parameters from three different disciplines within the aircraft design. Secondly, the distributional sensitivity analysis (DSA) method is extended for better computational efficiency and wider applicability. Instead of assuming that all uncertainty in an input parameter can be reduced, DSA apportions output uncertainty as a function of the uncertainty reduction of a particular input parameter. This leads to more information on influences of uncertainty reduction, and to a more informative ranking of input parameters. In this thesis the ANOVA-HDMR framework is used for DSA to increase computational efficiency. Additionally, this approach allows for using DSA for more general distributions.
by Max Maria Jacques Opgenoord.
S.M.

MBA Professional Report
The purpose of this MBA Project is to identify the capital budgeting methods of both the private sector and the Department of Defense. Additionally, the purpose is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each capital budgeting method and conduct a comparison. The intent is to identify those capital budgeting practices that are used in the private sector, some of which have been implemented in other public sector organizations, which may have merit for implementation in the Federal sector and possibly the Department of Defense. Finally, a set of conclusions and recommendations on how to implement best practices of capital budgeting for the Federal Sector will be presented.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
Essa tese apresenta uma abordagem alternativa para orçamento de capital, denominada Métodos Modificados de Avaliação de Projetos de Investimentos em Ambiente Fuzzy, para avaliação de projetos em condições de incerteza. O desenvolvimento da abordagem proposta está dividido em duas fases: na primeira fase, é estabelecido um modelo determinístico generalizado que prevê explicitamente a utilização dos custos de oportunidade associados com os fluxos de caixa intermediários de um projeto de investimento empresarial. Os pressupostos implícitos dos métodos modificados da taxa interna de retorno e do valor presente líquido são incluídos nos métodos do índice de lucratividade e do tempo de retorno do investimento total. Os indicadores resultantes são o índice de lucratividade modificado e o tempo de retorno do investimento modificado. Essa abordagem unificada tem a propriedade de coincidir as decisões de aceitação / rejeição de projetos de investimentos de mesmos horizontes de vida e escalas com as do valor presente líquido modificado e, portanto, maximizam a riqueza do acionista. Na segunda fase, números fuzzy triangulares são utilizados para representar as incertezas das variáveis de um projeto de investimento: os fluxos de caixa, as taxas de financiamento e de reinvestimento e a taxa de desconto ajustada ao risco. Os indicadores fuzzy resultantes são o valor presente líquido modificado, a taxa interna de retorno modificada, o índice de lucratividade modificado e o tempo de retorno do investimento modificado. A aplicação de custos de oportunidades e de critérios difusos para a atribuição dos valores das variáveis permite obter resultados mais realistas e compatíveis com as condições de mercado. Devido à complexidade dos cálculos envolvidos, novas funções financeiras de uso amigável são desenvolvidas utilizando Visual Basic for Applications do MS-Excel: três, para avaliação de projetos em condições de certeza (MVPL, MIL e MTRI) e quatro para avaliação em condições de incerteza (MVPLfuzzy, MTIRfuzzy, MILfuzzy e MTRIfuzzy). A principal contribuição dessa tese é a elaboração de uma nova abordagem unificada para orçamento de capital em condições de incerteza que enfatiza os pontos fortes dos métodos modificados do valor presente líquido e da taxa interna de retorno, enquanto contorna os conflitos e as desvantagens individuais dos métodos convencionais. Os resultados mostram que os métodos propostos são mais vantajosos e mais simples de se utilizar que outros métodos de avaliação de investimentos em condições de incerteza.
This thesis presents an alternative approach to capital budgeting, named Fuzzy Modified Methods of Capital Budgeting, for evaluating investment projects under uncertainties. The development of the proposed approach is divided into two phases: in the first stage, a general deterministic model that explicitly provides for the use of the opportunity costs associated with the interim cash flows of a project is established. The implicit assumptions of the modified internal rate of return and modified net present value methods are included in the index of profitability and in the total payback period. The resulting indicators are the modified index of profitability and the modified total payback period. This unified approach has the property to match the decisions of acceptance / rejection of investment projects with same horizons of life and same scales with the decisions of the modified net present value method and therefore maximize shareholder wealth. In the second phase, triangular fuzzy numbers are used to represent the uncertainties of the project variables: cash flows and reinvestment, financing and risk-adjusted discount rates. The resulting indicators are the fuzzy modified net present value, the fuzzy modified internal rate of return, the fuzzy modified index of profitability and the fuzzy modified total payback period. The application of opportunity costs and fuzzy criteria for determining the variables allows obtaining more realists and consistent results with the market conditions. Due to the complexity of the calculations involved, new MS-Excel financial functions are developed by using Visual Basic for Applications: three functions for evaluating projects under conditions of certainty (MVPL, MIL and MTRI) and four functions for evaluating projects under uncertainties (MVPLfuzzy, MTIRfuzzy, MILfuzzy and MTRIfuzzy). The main contribution of this thesis is to develop a unifying approach to capital budgeting under uncertainty that emphasizes the strengths of the methods of modified net present value and modified internal rate of return, while bypassing the individual conflicts and drawbacks of the conventional methods. Results show that the proposed methods are more advantageous and simpler to use than other methods of investment appraisal under uncertainties.

This thesis evaluates the benefit of meshing mathematical programming and expert systems for solving capital budgeting problems, using constraint logic programming methods. A review of modelling capabilities of mathematical programs for capital budgeting, and of financial expert systems leads to defining the respective role and potential of each method, and to the proposal of a two-tiered project selection approach: project evaluation and resource allocation. With emphasis placed on a tight coupling of the two tiers, logic programming is shown to be a language of choice to implement mathematical programming within an expert system shell. Prolog has the requisite properties to deal with both logical considerations and optimization problems. Although Prolog was not primarily designed to solve optimization problems, it is shown that the backtracking mechanism of the Prolog language is powerful enough for that purpose; it liberates the programmer from having to implement tree-search programs. A generate and test program is written in Turbo-Prolog, and compared to a more sophisticated test and generate implementation that uses methods of constraint satisfaction programming. Continuous capital budgeting problems are solved in CLP(${\cal R}$), an experimental extension of Prolog that enables the solution of simultaneous algebraic constraints, as required to solve linear programs.

This study aims to investigate reasons for variation in accuracy between different forecast methods by studying the choice of methods, learning processes, biases and opinions within the firms using them; enabling us to provide recommendations of how to improve accuracy within each forecast method. Eleven Swedish and international companies that are regularly forecasting commodity price-levels have been interviewed. Since there is a cultural aspect to the development of forecast methods; the authors have chosen to conduct a qualitative study, using a semi-structured interview technique that enables us to illustrate company-specific determinants. The results show that choice of methods, learning processes, biases and opinions all have potentially substantial implications on the accuracy achieved. The phenomena’s individual implication on accuracy varies amongst method-group.

Fiscal reports have, since 2010, documented weak budget credibility in Sierra Leone public financial management noting that the government budget does not constitute a dependable framework for the planning, allocation and efficient use of the nation's resources. The purpose of this study was to develop a budgetary reform agenda and the research question that guided the study related to the reasons for the high monetary variances between the approved budget and the year-end financial reports. Government budgets and financial reports were reviewed for 2010-2014 and senior government officials were interviewed regarding the main stages of the annual budgetary process. The new public management model constituted the overarching conceptual foundation based on a qualitative case study of 7 government ministries and the House of Parliament. The baseline criteria for efficient government budgeting developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development served as the analytical framework from which four themes were established to analyze the planning, preparation, approval and the execution of the annual budget. The main finding was that the government's budget exhibited a lack of credibility given the significant variances between the budget and the actual outcomes; and the ineffective role of the legislature. As part of the financial management reforms needed, the government would have to rewrite the budget law and recruit experienced staff to strengthen the legislative budgetary function. These changes could contribute to the enhancement of value in the government's use of taxpayers' monies, causing improved economic and financial reporting and thereby promoting positive social change for the people of Sierra Leone.

Bakgrund och problem: Vindkraftens tillförlitliga fastställelse av lönsamhet påverkas av olika osäkerheter, främst vindförhållanden men även ekonomiska faktorer. Vanligtvis används de traditionella metoderna så som nuvärdesmetoden, pay-back metoden och IRR för att värdera en investerings lönsamhet. Dessa metoder är dock otillräckliga vid värdering av riskfyllda projekt. Reala optioner tar hänsyn till flexibilitetens värde och är en komplettering till de traditionella metoderna vid värdering av riskfylla investeringar. Reala optioner möjliggör att fatta beslut efter iakttagelser av hur utvecklingen utvecklas. Genom flexibilitet kan osäkerhet minskas. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva och analysera hur reala optioner tar sig uttryck i vindkraftsprojekt i Sverige. Detta för att skapa förståelse för om reala optioner används för att hantera den osäkerhet som föreligger i vindkraftsprojekt. Metod: Studien kännetecknas av en metod som är av hermeneutik, induktiv och kvalitativ karaktär. Studien blir därmed av tolkande art och vi utgår från empiri i studien. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med tre bolag i vindkraftsbranschen. Slutsats: Utifrån vår forskningsfråga: ”Hur tar sig reala optioner uttryck i vindkraftsprojekt?” kunde vi finna tre av fem reala optioner i de studerade bolagen. Dessa är: optionen att skjuta upp investeringar, optionen att göra stegvisa investeringar och optionen att expandera. Trots att begreppet reala optioner inte används i de studerade bolagen kan slutsatser ändå dras att reala optioner existerar i vindkraftsprojekt. Uppsatsens bidrag: Vår förhoppning med uppsatsen är bland annat att den ska bidra med ökad förståelse för användningen av reala optioner i vindkraftsprojekt. Förslag till framtida forskning: Vår studie behandlar fem reala optioner. Trigeorgis (2005) redogör åtta reala optioner i artikeln: Making use of real options simple: an overview and applications in flexible/modular decision making. En studie som inkluderar alla åtta reala optioner i vindkraftsprojekt hade varit intressant. Detta för att undersöka om det finns fler reala optioner än de tre denna studie identifierat i vindkraftsprojekt.
Background and problem: The reliable determination of the wind power profitability is affected by various uncertainties, mainly wind conditions but also economic factors. Generally the traditional methods are used, such as net present value method, the pay-back method and the IRR when it comes to evaluate an investment's profitability. These methods are insufficient to valuing risky projects. Real options considering the value of flexibility and is a complement to the traditional methods when it comes to valuation of risky investments. Real options allow making decisions based on observations of how the evolution develops. Through flexibility, the uncertainty can be reduced. Purpose: The purpose is to describe and analyze how the real options are reflected in windpower projects in Sweden. This is to create an understanding if the real options are used to manage the uncertainty that exists in wind power projects. Method: The study is characterized by a method of hermeneutic, inductive and qualitative character. The study is therefore interpretive and the starting point of the study is empirical data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three companies in the wind power industry. Conclusion: Based on our research question: "How do the real options find their expression in wind power projects?" are we able to find three of the five real options in the studied companies. These are: the option to defer investment, the option to stage investment and the option to expand. Although the concept of real options is not used in the studied companies, conclusions can still be drawn that real options exists in wind power projects. The grants in the essay: Our hope, among other things, is that the essay will contribute to increased understanding for the use of real options in wind power projects. Proposals for future research: Our study deals with five real options. Trigeorgis (2005) describes eight real options in the article: Making Use of Real Options Simple: an overviewand applications into flexible/modular decision making. A study that includes all eight real options in wind power projects would be interesting. This is to investigate whether there are more real options than the three this study identifies in wind power projects.

The purpose of this project is to describe and explain the foreign investment decision process in the uncertain and turbulent environment of transition economy. By getting an in-depth understanding of how decision-making works in the environment of transition economy, the study intends to contribute to the development of business administration theory in the area of foreign investment decision-making, particularly its application in the turbulent and uncertain world. Theoretical ‘blocks’, elaborated on the basis of literature study, include the following concepts: the framework of transition economy; initial motivation (or reasons) of companies to make foreign direct investments (FDI); investigation of the investment climate and information collection methods; project evaluation and investment decision criteria; risk assessment factors and risk reduction measures. Transition economy is defined in the study as ‘a non-planned, non-market economy’ where the new emerging market institutions coexist with the bureaucracy and hierarchy inherited from the old administrative system. Investment projects, therefore, should probably be seen as being under institutional influence from both the local (i.e. transition economy) and the Western investor’s home country environments. The empirical data presented in the paper also shows that it is necessary to establish the relevant economic, legal, political and social institutions in order to attract FDI. The study further includes the analysis of the main components and features of transition economies and their influence on FDI decision-making. One of the results of the study is that FDI decision-making in transition economies is largely consistent with different theoretical approaches suggested in the literature. On the other hand, the empirical support obtained for different theoretical approaches is often questionable and opened to alternative interpretations. The presented project suggests that theoretical perspectives do not preclude each other, but rather have a complimentary character. The study attempts to contribute to the mainstream FDI theories through a firm-level approach based on the case studies. Two in-depth case studies are presented in the paper: Ericsson’s direct investments in Russia and Vattenfall’s investments in the Baltic countries. A formal questionnaire based on the parameters of theoretical ‘blocks’ was created and 25 top executives from Ericsson and Vattenfall who participated in FDI decision-making were surveyed. The empirical investigation took place during the period 1997 - 1998 with partial updating of the cases during the year 2000.  The study shows that where companies confront stable environments, investment decision routines and procedures will be less necessary and important than where market uncertainty is high. The strong appreciation of the local business partners for properly done investment calculations increases the importance of capital budgeting in transition economies more than in developed market economies. Besides, traditional investment appraisal methods provide managers with an ‘objective’ or ‘materialistic’ feedback for the decision-making in the rapidly changing uncertain environment. On the other hand, the study emphasises the importance of strategy over financial techniques and argues that FDI decisions in transition economies should be based on methods consistent with the company’s long-term objectives. In case of permanent changes, new approaches as well as better co-ordination of traditional techniques with strategic, political, historical, geographical and cultural issues are required. Ericsson’ s direct investments in Russia are presented in the paper in connection with other factors: the company’s historical involvement in Russia, marketing strategy, human resource development, privatisation and restructuring of the telecommunication sector in Russia, etc. Nordic Electric Power Co-operation (Nordel), the EU’ s decision in 1996 to create an internal electricity market in Europe, Baltic ring study, future plans to privatise the energy companies in the Baltic countries, etc., are the framework to present the second case. An application of project evaluation and risk assessment techniques for broader and more complicated environments shows that investment decision-making is probably as much, if not more, a social, political and cultural technology as an economic one. The study argues then that the rational choice decision-making model often co-exists with alternative models elaborated in social science - limited rationality, political and garbage can. According to the empirical data, the investment decisions are largely based on intuition, business experience and judgement, personal contacts with representatives from the local country, and these investment criteria are inevitable and acceptable in a situation of total chaos and permanent change. The right chosen partner, for example, is one of the major criteria for the success of the investment project in a transition economy. One of the outcomes of this study is that the revitalised form of investment decision-making will differ rather markedly from much of what has gone before: less emphasis on the quantitative aspects of capital budgeting, more on the qualitative aspects of companies and investment environment. The project also argues that determinants, approaches and criteria of investment activity in transition economies are largely consistent with patterns observed in other parts of the world. A few specific environmental conditions of transition economies, however, are shown in the study to affect the pattern of FDI decision-making. The level of turbulence is still different compared to the developed market economies due to uncertainties and unpredictibilities associated with environment of transition economies. Other major differences are the large power distance with authoritarian leadership, strong hierarchy and bureaucracy as well as the vital role of personal contacts in transition economies. It is not clear, however, if these features of transition economies should be seen as inherited from the past communist system or as an alternative way to organise the economic actors through networks, a way that is natural and appropriate for the majority of Asian societies.

Background and problem: There is a need for more research that is specific to a particular branch of industry when it comes to capital budgeting. Especially when it comes to mapping how companies within the Swedish forest industry proceed capital budgeting when investing in tangible fixed assets. The reason for this is that the research regarding the subject within the industry is either made abroad, focusing only on a few companies or excluding the non-financial considerations that are made during the capital budgeting process. It is not reasonable to not take these considerations into account, due to the fact that it has a great impact on the capital investment decision. Besides this, it is through both the financial and the non-financial consequences that the complex reality can be captured. In other words, capital budgeting can only be studied in large when including both financial and non-financial considerations at the same time as there is a need to delimit the research to one industry and one country.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to map how companies within the Swedish forest industry handle capital budgeting when investing in tangible fixed assets. The mapping will be done by determining which calculation methods that are frequently used and what financial and non-financial considerations that are made. The purpose is also to define the reasons as to why the Swedish forest companies prioritize precisely these considerations when managing capital budgeting. The ambition is to make sure that the research’s conclusions depict capital budgeting in the industry and trought that contribute to a greater understanding of the practical application of capital budgeting within Swedish forest industry.  Method: The thesis is primarily described as a qualitative research that is based on interviews. The empirical data is mostly gathered through semi structured interviews with respondents from different Swedish forest companies and the interviews are supplemented with information from various websites, annual reports and internal documents.  Conclusions: Swedish forest companies are influenced by a number of factors which in turn affects how they handle capital budgeting when investing in tangible fixed assets. The financial considerations are mainly found through the usage of different investment calculation methods, where the payback method followed by the net present value method are most commonly used. The non-financial considerations are mainly characterized by industry specific conditions together with a focus on environment, security and competitiveness.

The budget is used in many organizations to estimate and control costs. The budgeting process requires extensive knowledge and information exchange between the budget setters in the organization. It is therefore critical for budget setters, often finance and line managers, to communicate and exchange knowledge to reach a budget for the upcoming period.   The aim of this thesis is to highlight both budgeting and internal communication findings from past research, and develop a model for how internal communication is affected by different factors during the budgeting process. Specifically, we develop an unprecedented model based on previous research and test it through qualitative semi-structured interviews. We then improve and develop the model to provide a theoretical framework for future research on factors affecting internal communication during the budgeting process.   Our empirical study of communication between line managers and finance managers in GE Healthcare in their budgeting process indicates that the factors are intertwined, and that the various factors can affect internal communication during the budgeting process directly and indirectly.  The factors we find to directly affect internal communication are geographical distance, interpersonal relationship, communication method, organizational distance and characteristics of the budgeting process. The indirect factors are characteristics of the participant and time constraint. The study also finds a series of interconnected relationships of both the direct and indirect factors with each other.

This thesis contributes to an understanding of capital budgeting and accounting practice. The factors affecting practice are of special research interest. It is also investigated whether practice diverges from what is prescribed by finance text books and accounting standards/frameworks. The overarching research question posed in this thesis is: “What capital budgeting and accounting choices are made by top management in practice, and how can these choices be explained?”. The thesis consists of four papers that address this issue. The first two papers focused on capital budgeting choices. Findings emphasised that the use of sophisticated capital budgeting and cost of capital estimation methods such as NPV and CAPM was widespread in Swedish listed companies. However, also unsophisticated accounting based methods were employed. Overall, findings suggested that Swedish companies used capital budgeting and cost of capital estimation techniques less often than did U.S./continental European companies. Other interesting findings were changes over time. Over time, the use of sophisticated methods increased and the use of unsophisticated methods decreased. This indicated a closing of the theory-practice gap. Finally, size was generally positively related to more extensive use of methods. The last two papers focused on accounting choices. Findings showed that non-preparers supported amortisation of goodwill to a greater extent than did preparers. Preparers instead supported the goodwill impairment-only approach. It was suggested that economic consequences could explain why preparers supported the goodwill impairment-only approach. When the impairment-only approach subsequently was introduced by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), Swedish and Dutch preparers however only disclosed slightly more than 60% of the assumptions underlying the impairment test, after three years of learning. Moreover, findings showed that the level of compliance with the IASB’s disclosure requirements was associated with industry; financials were less compliant than were non-financials. Findings also showed that Swedish and Dutch companies were more compliant in 2008 than they were in 2005, which suggested learning over time. Finally, in 2005 the disclosure compliance level was higher in Sweden than in the Netherlands. Three years later, 2008, the difference was eliminated, thus indicating convergence.

The purpose of this diploma thesis is to understand financing of drug development from an enterprise risk management perspective as well as to critically assess the efficiency of the ISO framework and risk management techniques used for determining whether to fund drug development or not. The diploma thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. The first part starts with perception and assessment of uncertainty and risk in the past. It describes how risk-averse individuals attempted to deal with uncertainty and different risk. This is followed by the evolution of traditional risk management into the fast developing enterprise risk management. The text further analyses commonly used risk management standards COSO ERM and ISO 31000:2009. However, the main focus is on the critical assessment of analytical tools which are frequently used for evaluating and assessing risks, especially financial ones, during drug development. The theoretical part is finished by a drug development process, whose phases are briefly described. The practical part was written in co-operation with AstraZeneca, a top-notch pharmaceutical company. The overview of its business is preceded by an explanation of current issues in the pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, the risk analysis is conducted with respect to the ISO framework. Subsequently, selected risk assessment techniques are applied on the simplified financial model of two different drugs, which was created based on AstraZeneca's real data. These risk assessment tools are used in different phases of drug development so it could be seen clearly how the results are changing during a project. The outcomes of this risk analysis are compared with original plans used by AstraZeneca which were used for deciding whether to fund drug development or not.

The thesis is focused on managerial accounting, which serves as a tool for cost control in the construction business. The first part of my work includes introduction to basic concepts, which may be encountered in the use of management accounting. The second part focuses on the practical application of management accounting. With regard to the documents which I received, this section focuses on deviation control.

In today´s business environment, companies are forced to constantly adapt to ever changing internal and external influences. Yet, the traditional budgeting process with its inherent flaws has remained relatively stable for decades. In order to stay competitive, companies need to improve their budgeting process by implementing Better Budgeting methods. The aim of this research was to develop a framework that helps companies to identify their budgeting problems and address them more efficiently with fitting Better Budgeting methods. Through a detailed literature review, a comprehensive list of budgeting problems was developed and explained, which can act as a checklist for companies to evaluate which problems they are facing. In addition, a theoretical framework was developed that matches Better Budgeting methods and the respective traditional budgeting problems they are able to solve/decrease. A survey that tested the framework with actual organizations was used to validate the theoretical results. The results proved a strong correlation between the implementation of certain Better Budgeting methods and the reduction of certain traditional budgeting problems and therefore supported the managerial and academic value of the developed framework; however additional layers, such as company size, industry, or quality of method implementation need to be evaluated in order to increase precision of the framework.
No ambiente de negócios de hoje, as empresas são forçadas a adaptar-se constantemente para influências internas e externas sempre em mudança. No entanto, o processo orçamentário tradicional, com suas falhas inerentes, manteve-se relativamente estável ao longo de décadas. De forma a se manterem competitivas, as empresas precisam melhorar o seu processo orçamentário, através da aplicação de métodos de Melhoria de Orçamento. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi desenvolver uma estrutura, que auxilia as empresas a identificar os seus problemas de orçamento e resolvê-los de forma mais eficiente, com métodos de Melhoria de Orçamento apropriados. Através de uma revisão bibliográfica detalhada, uma lista abrangente de problemas de orçamento foi desenvolvida e explicada, que pode atuar como uma lista de verificação para as empresas para avaliar quais os problemas que eles estão enfrentando. Além disso, um quadro teórico de métodos foi desenvolvido, que corresponde os métodos de Melhoria de Orçamento e os problemas orçamentários tradicionais que são capazes de resolver/diminuir. Uma pesquisa que testou o quadro com organizações reais foi usada para validar os resultados teóricos. Os resultados comprovaram uma forte correlação entre a implementação de certos métodos de Melhoria de Orçamento e redução de certos problemas de orçamento tradicionais e portanto, apoiaram o valor gerencial e acadêmico do quadro desenvolvido; no entanto camadas adicionais, tais como o tamanho da empresa, a indústria, ou a qualidade de implementação do método, precisam ser avaliados, a fim de aumentar a precisão do enquadramento.

碩士
國立中正大學
企業管理研究所
102
Enterprises have confronted an increasing global competition and impact since 20 century; therefore, successful marketing strategies and investment plans count on the survival and development of a company, and also can further bring forth competitiveness enhancement and enterprisevalue maximization. The decision making, with great consequence for capital investment, is meant to be considerably cautious. Nevertheless, according to the domestic research demonstration, most companies are stilldependent upon a simple and crude method to make capital budget inpractice . It’s evidently against theoretical study . The aquaculture to fishery industry ratio of annual production value inTaiwan is increasing year by year. Traditional concrete or soil pond farmingis progressively being replaced by intensive aquaculture farm technology,and it also focus on enhancing disease prevention. For this reason,high-tech aquaculture biology plants arise spontaneously, and from smallholder farmer to corporation, they make a large investment on expanding farm scale, upgrading technique and equipment to expect to gain a considerable margin of profit and reward. However, the budget plan is commonly created by a basic and inconsiderable method, ex: Payback Period Method. Such a decision model is excessively subjective, and lots of influencing factors (ex: time value of money) are all left aside. This research attempts to investigate capital budgeting decision for aquaculture industry applications, and the analysis methods will be in accordance with six decision criterion of capital budgeting, including Payback Period Method (PP), Average Accounting Return (AAR), Net Present Value(NPV), Internal Return Rate(IRR),Profitability Index Method(PI), and Modified Internal Rate of Return(MIRR). In the last subject,we investigate how to make an assessment and decision while capital budgeting is incompatible. In short, I deeply hope to find the means to make efficient capital budget for aquaculture industry through this research.

abstract: ABSTRACT Academic literature and industry benchmarking reports were reviewed to determine the way facilities benchmarking reports were perceived in the healthcare industry. Interviews were conducted through a Delphi panel of industry professionals who met experience and other credential requirements. Two separate rounds of interviewing were conducted where each candidate was asked the same questions to determine the current views of benchmarking reports and associated data in the healthcare industry. The questions asked in the second round were developed from the answers to the first-round questions. The research showed the panel preferred changes in the data collection methods as well as changes in the way the data is presented. The need for these changes was unanimous among the members of the panel. The main recommendations among the group were: 1. An interactive method such as a member portal with the ability to customize, run scenarios, and save data is the preferred method. 2. Facilities Management (FM) teams are often not included in the data collection of the benchmark reports. Including FM groups would allow more accuracy and more detailed data resulting in more accurate and in-depth reports. 3. More consistency and “apples to apples” comparisons need to be provided in the reports. More categories and variables need to be added to the reports to offer more in depth comparisons and assessments between buildings. Identifiers to help the users compare the physical condition of their facility to others needs to be included. Suggestions are as follows: a. Facility Condition Index (FCI)- easily available to all participants and allows an idea of the comparison of upkeep and maintenance of their facility to that of others. b. An indicator on whether the comparison buildings are Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) accredited. 4. Gross Square Footage (GSF) is not an accurate assessment on its own. Too many variables are left unidentified to offer an accurate assessment with this method alone.
Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Construction Management 2020

O objectivo deste trabalho é avaliar a viabilidade da produção de biometano e sua injecção na rede do gás natural. Para o efeito, recorremos aos métodos tradicionais de avaliação de projectos. Como o projecto é caracterizado pela sua flexibilidade e modularidade, escolhemos recorrer também ao método de opções reais. Em termos comparativos, o valor obtido pelo projecto quando avaliado sob esta última óptica de avaliação é superior ao obtido através dos métodos tradicionais. Este nosso resultado evidencia uma maior capacidade de captar as características do projecto e enquadra-se nas linhas gerais da literatura opções reais.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of producing biomethane and its injection in the natural gas network. To achieve our goal we resorted to traditional methods of capital budgeting. As the project is also characterized by its flexibility and modularity, we chose to use also the real options approach. In comparison, the value obtained for the project when evaluated with the real options approach is superior to that obtained using traditional capital budgeting techniques. This result demonstrates the real options’ ability to better capture the characteristics of the project and it is in accordance with the general literature of real options.

The aim of my thesis was to clear up the issues of the program and performance budgeting on the level of municipal authorities. On the basis of available sources, I have gained findings and experience from abroad where these methods are used from the half of last century. Various changes and measures are assessed and realized to make a budget process better, economising more transparent and the allocation of sources more improved. The establishing of program-performance budgeting is quite a difficult process including several phases. Their realization is a necessary condition to be able to continue with the next phase and the whole process itself.

碩士
國立清華大學
資訊工程學系
86
In this paper, we present an RTL time-budgeting method for early design planning. We formulate the RTL time-budgeting method into a slack distribution problem. We present three algorithms, namely the Lagrange-Multipliers-based algorithm, the balanced slack distribution algorithm, and the AT-based slack distribution algorithm. We propose an integrated RTL/logic-synthesis and physical-synthesis design flow to exploit the RTL time-budgeting problem. Experimental results have demonstrated that our proposed algorithms can effectively provide timing budgets at RTL.

В современной сложной экономической ситуации в России для успешной деятельности предприятий важно прогнозировать критические для них ситуации, находить оптимальные решения для выхода из них. Это обуславливает необходимость освоения методов и средств управления, составной частью которых является система управленческого учета. Одним из основных элементов этой системы является бюджетирование. Бюджетирование является одним из важнейших факторов коммерческого успеха, так как помогает менеджерам функциональных подразделений лучшим образом уяснить и исполнить поставленные перед ними задачи, оценить возможности по их достижению в установленные сроки, своевременно внести требуемые коррективы, а также обеспечить программу производства необходимыми ресурсами. Предложенная усовершенствованная методика бюджетирования производственной деятельности промышленного предприятия предоставляет возможность сформировать уникальную, адаптированную под особенности деятельности, техническую и технологическую базу конкретного предприятия, систему планирования (бюджетирования) производственной деятельности промышленной организации. В настоящее время отмечается высокий интерес к построению эффективной системы управления, представляющей собой основу для обеспечения успешного функционирования предприятия. Значительное внимание отводится на вопросы внедрения новых инструментов и усовершенствования имеющихся технологий, которые позволяют разработать стратегию управления, эффективно планировать деятельность и осуществлять контроль реализации планов. Таким образом, одной из актуальных проблем для современных компаний является внедрение и развитие системы бюджетирования.
In the current difficult economic situation in Russia, it is important for the successful operation of enterprises to predict critical situations for them, to find optimal solutions for getting out of them. This necessitates the development of management methods and tools, an integral part of which is the management accounting system. One of the main elements of this system is budgeting. Budgeting is one of the most important factors of commercial success, as it helps managers of functional units to better understand and fulfill their tasks, to assess the possibility of achieving them in a timely manner, to make the required adjustments, as well as to provide the production program with the necessary resources. The proposed improved method of budgeting of industrial activity of an industrial enterprise provides an opportunity to create a unique, adapted to the characteristics of the technical and technological base of a particular enterprise, the system of planning (budgeting) of industrial activity of an industrial organization. Currently, there is a high interest in building an effective management system, which is the basis for the successful operation of the enterprise. Considerable attention is given to the introduction of new tools and improvement of existing technologies that allow to develop a management strategy, effectively plan activities and monitor the implementation of plans. Thus, one of the urgent problems for modern companies is the introduction and development of the budgeting system.

O setor do fast fashion, cada vez mais competitivo, imprevisível e dinâmico, exige a melhoria constante dos processos, especialmente de controlo de gestão. O orçamento é considerado como o sistema predominante de controlo de gestão das organizações, revelando-se uma ferramenta de planeamento estratégico que proporciona aos gestores informações úteis para a monotorização e análise de desvios da empresa. No entanto, é uma das ferramentas mais criticadas, tanto na literatura como por gestores, levando à adoção de melhorias nos processos tradicionais ou a uma reformulação profunda que poderá conduzir ao seu abandono. A presente tese de mestrado é o resultado de um estudo de caso, realizado após um estágio em ambiente organizacional, entre setembro de 2018 e janeiro de 2019, na área de controlo de gestão financeira, na empresa Barata & Ramilo, S.A., detentora da marca Parfois, empresa portuguesa líder no setor do fast fashion. Neste contexto, o estudo visa conhecer, compreender e descrever as práticas de controlo de gestão utilizadas na empresa. O modelo de controlo de gestão da Parfois assenta na estratégia e no plano estratégico com horizonte temporal a três anos, suportado por um orçamento anual e completado com análises semanais, mensais e forecasts trimestrais. O objetivo principal passa por compreender o que motiva a empresa a usar esta ferramenta, quais as limitações que esta apresenta e se o modelo da Parfois mitiga as críticas encontradas na literatura. Com o propósito de responder a estas questões, foram analisados documentos e textos fornecidos pela empresa e, ainda, realizadas entrevistas presenciais a oito elementos da empresa, com contacto direto com o Controlo de Gestão, tendo por base as funções e as limitações do orçamento referidas na revisão de literatura. As conclusões estão em concordância com o que é referido na literatura, uma vez que a empresa adota medidas de melhoria, contrariando as limitações e desvantagens da ferramenta. O impacto é um alinhamento entre o curto prazo e longo prazo, na medida em que se baseia na estratégia e no plano com horizonte temporal a três anos para a construção do orçamento anual; recorre, ainda, a ferramentas complementares, como o forecast, que permitem adaptar-se a alterações na envolvente, uma vez que prevê, analisa e revisa o orçamento, baseando-se na situação atual e determina, também, objetivos, compensando os colaboradores com base nesta ferramenta. Porém, é reconhecido um excesso de tempo despendido neste processo e um foco excessivamente financeiro, característico de um controlo de gestão focado no orçamento. Conclui-se que o impacto da ferramenta é positivo pelos fatores anteriormente mencionados. Este estudo permite concluir que o orçamento é uma ferramenta vantajosa, apesar das críticas evidentes e que os processos de melhorias mitigam as limitações.
The fast fashion sector, increasingly more competitive, unpredictable and dynamic, demands a constant improvement of the processes, mainly in what concerns management control. Budget is viewed as the predominant system of organizations’ management control, revealing itself as a strategic planning tool, which gives managers useful information for the monitoring and analysis of the company’s deviations. Being, however, one of the most criticized tools, in literature and by managers, budget is often subjected to the adoption of improvements in the traditional processes or to a deep reformulation; finally, it may, even, be driven to abandonment. The present report is the result of a case study, carried out after an internship in an organizational environment, from September 2018 to January 2019, in the financial management control area, that integrates Barata & Ramilo, S.A. company, owner of Parfois’ brand, a Portuguese leader of the fast fashion sector. In this context, the study aims to know, understand and describe the management control practices used by the company. Their management control system is based on strategy and on the 3 years strategic plan, supported by an annual budget and completed with weekly and monthly analysis and quarterly forecasts. The main goal is to understand what motivates the company to use this tool, which limitations it presents and if Parfois’ system mitigates the critiques found in literature. In order to answer these questions, documents and texts provided by the company were analysed, face-to-face interviews to eight elements directly connected with management control, were made, based on the budget’s functions and limitations, referred on the literature review. The conclusions agree with the literature references, as the company adopts improvement measures, countering the tool’s limitations and disadvantages. impact is an alignment between short-term and long-term, once it is based on strategy and on the 3 year plan for the construction of the annual budget; it, also, uses complementary tools, such as forecast, which allows an adaptation to changes in the environment, since it forecasts, analyses and reviews the budget, taking the present situation as a basis and it, also, determines, goals, compensating the collaborators. However, it is recognised the excess of time spent in this process, as well as the overly financial focus, characteristic of a management control centered on the budget. It can be concluded that the tool’s impact is positive, due to the factors previously mentioned. This study case allows the following conclusions: budget is an useful tool, despite all the criticism; improvement processes mitigate the limitations.

Abstracts in English, Xhosa and Afrikaans
The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) is the mechanism that enables service delivery to alleviate poverty in South Africa through the payment of social grants as mandated by the Social Security Agency Act No. 9 of 2004. The rapid increase of social grant beneficiaries in the past decade, fuelled by social inequality, directly affects the administration cost associated with social grants. This study aimed to investigate the allocation of indirect costs related to the administrative elements that makes it possible for SASSA to pay social grants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted; the study concluded that ABC (activity-based costing) could be implemented as an alternative to the traditional costing (TC) method on a pilot project basis. The study also recommended a framework for SASSA to consider in laying the foundation to start the process of ABC implementation. Drawing from the research conducted, further studies on the implementation of ABC principles within the public sector could be pursued.
Ejensi ya Vuhlayiseki bya Vanhu ya Afrika Dzonga ku nga South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) i ndlela leyi endlaka leswaku mphakelo wa vukorhokeri wu koteka ku hunguta vusweti eAfrika Dzonga hikwalaho ka ku hakeriwa ka timalimpfuneto ta vanhu (social grants) tanihileswi swi pfumeleriweke hi Nawu wa Social Security Agency Act 9 wa 2004. Ku ndlandlamuka ka vavuyeriwa va malimpfuneto ya vanhu swi khumbha hi ku kongomisa tihakelo ta vulawuri leti fambelanaka na timalimpfuneto ta vanhu. Dyondzo leyi yi kongomisiwile eka ku lavisisa mphakelo wa tihakelo to ka ti nga kongomisi leti fambelanaka na swiyenge swa vulawuri leswi endlaka leswaku SASSA yi kota ku hakela timalimpfuneto ta vanhu. Ku endliwe ti-semi-structured interview. Dyondzo yi kumile leswo ti-activity-based costing (ABC) ti nga tirhisiwa hi ndlela yo cincana na maendlelo ya vupimahakelo bya ntolovelo eka projeke ya nkarhinyana. Dyondzo yi bumabumerile leswaku ku anakanyiwa rimba ro nyika mianakanyo yo sungula maendlelo yo tirhisa ABC.
Die “South African Social Security Agency” (SASSA) verlig armoede in Suid-Afrika deur ingevolge die “Social Security Agency Act” 9 van 2004 sosiale toelaes te betaal. Die aansienlike toename in die aantal begunstigdes het ʼn uitwerking op die administrasiekoste van sosiale toelaes. Hierdie studie ondersoek die toewysing van indirekte koste ten opsigte van die administratiewe elemente wat SASSA in staat stel om sosiale toelaes te betaal. Halfgestruktureerde onderhoude is gevoer. In hierdie studie word tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat aktiwiteitsgebaseerde kosteberekening (ABK) as ʼn alternatief vir en as ʼn proefprojek die tradisionele kosteberamingsmetode geïmplementeer kan word. ʼn Raamwerk word aanbeveel wat as ʼn grondslag kan dien vir die implementering van ABK.
College of Accounting Sciences
M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)