Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'SEO mergers'

Much of the literature on lesbian relationships links the positive feminine relational trait (intimacy or communion) with problems of psychological merger (Burch, 1982, 1985; Decker, 1984; Elise, 1986; Krestan and Bepko, 1980). Karpel (1976), describes psychological merger as a person's "state of ernbeddedness in and undifferentiation within, the relational context" (p. 67) . This study explores the femininity/masculinity sex role traits as they relate to psychological merger in lesbian couples. Thirty-eight lesbian couples were recruited through friendship and acquaintance networks, newsletter announcements and direct solicitation of members of the Portland Lesbian Community Project (LCP). Couples had to have been living together in a primary relationship for one year or longer in order to qualify for the study.

Prior to the announcement of a merger or acquisition, the stock price of the target company often experiences a price run-up prior to the announcement of the transaction. This price run-up can be attributed to information leakage and insider trading. This paper examines how changes in the SEC’s budget effects the pre-announcement price run-up of mergers and acquisitions. Furthermore, this paper explores the political processes surrounding SEC budgeting, as well as flaws in the current system. This paper finds that with a $10 million increase in the SEC’s budget, the average pre-announcement run-up ratio decreases by 0.3%. The findings of this paper suggest a concrete means of reducing insider trading, dependent on an increase in SEC budget.

The Galactic transient V1309 Sco was the result of a merger in a low-mass star system, while V838 Mon was thought to be a similar merger event from a more massive B-type progenitor. In this paper, we study a recent optical and infrared (IR) transient discovered in the nearby galaxy NGC4490 named NGC4490-OT2011 (NGC 4490-OT hereafter), which appeared similar to these merger events (unobscured progenitor, irregular multi-peaked light curve, increasingly red colour, similar optical spectrum, IR excess at late times), but which had a higher peak luminosity and longer duration in outburst. NGC4490-OT has less in common with the class of SN 2008S-like transients. A progenitor detected in pre-eruption Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images, combined with upper limits in the IR, requires a luminous and blue progenitor that has faded in late-time HST images. The same source was detected by Spitzer and ground-based data as a luminous IR (2-5 mu m) transient, indicating a transition to a self-obscured state qualitatively similar to the evolution seen in other stellar mergers and in luminous blue variables. The post-outburst dust-obscured source is too luminous and too warm at late times to be explained with an IR echo, suggesting that the object survived the event. The luminosity of the enshrouded IR source is similar to that of the progenitor. Compared to proposed merger events, the more massive progenitor of NGC4490-OT seems to extend a correlation between stellar mass and peak luminosity, and may suggest that both of these correlate with duration. We show that spectra of NGC4490-OT and V838 Mon also resemble light-echo spectra of eta Car, prompting us to speculate that eta Car may be an extreme extension of this phenomenon.

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Mobile computers and wireless communication technologies are already a reality in the modern IT environment, resulting in the paradigm of Mobile Computing. These mobile devices may have BD and their data may be shared. However, the junction operators of the conventional search operators do not take into account the limitations of a mobility-supporting environment, such as a disconnection from the communication network, a narrow communication bandwidth, the battery charge level, etc. Therefore, the junction algorithms need to be adjusted to the limitations of the mobile computing in order to render satisfactory results and execute a search requested by the user within a reasonable period of time. The necessary characteristics for an algorithm to be executed in a mobilitysupporting environment are: (1) incremental production of results as the data become available; (2) continuous processing of the search, even if the delivery of data is blocked; and (3) reaction to limited memory situations during the execution of the search [1]. It was evidenced through studies and tests that the Hash-Merge Join (HMJ) is more efficient to guarantee these 3 characteristics (properties) needed when working with junctions in an efficient fashion within a mobile computing environment. When the memory is at its full storage capacity, the HMJ algorithm releases memory partitions according to the memory status. This adaptation to the memory status determines the best pair of partitions, being each partition from a different source, to be sent to the disk in a way that maximizes the time until the next memory overflow. A memory overflow occurs when the memory reaches its storage capacity. The aim of this work is to propose a new memory data flushing policy MFP. This policy offers an optimization of the Adaptive Flushing Policy (AFP) while keeping the same main goal, i.e. to send pairs of partitions to the disk in the event of a memory overflow. The AFP releases corresponding pairs of partitions to the disk based on a summary table kept in memory and on two parameters: (1) memory balance; and (2) minimum partition size. The summary table in memory contains the size of each partition, the sum of the individual sizes of each pair of partitions of both lists and the total size of partitions of each list. 8 The MFP also releases corresponding pairs of partitions to the disk, based on a constant memory balance and a summary table different from the summary table used by the AFP. The summary table of this new policy has one more column, which states the cardinality difference of each pair of partitions of the input lists. The main goal of this new column is to guarantee that the pair of partitions chosen to be sent to the disk will always leave a balanced memory, while it guarantees that there will always be at least one pair of partitions to be sent to the disk.
Em uma MDBC as técnicas de processamento de consultas devem ser adaptadas para lidarem com a instabilidade do ambiente, assim como limitação de recursos, por exemplo memórias limitadas dos computadores móveis. Vejamos um exemplo: as fontes de dados podem ter as taxas de entregas de tuplas previstas pelo otimizador de consultas, no entanto devido a uma desconexão de uma das fontes de dados da rede sem fio, tal fonte de dados ficará desconectada da rede e por conseqüência, não poderá entregar suas tuplas temporariamente, logo o operador de junção ficará parado(bloqueado). Para processar consultas em uma MDBC, os algoritmos de junção precisam ter as características seguintes: (1) produção incremental de resultados à medida que os dados são disponibilizados, (2) continuidade no processamento da consulta mesmo que a entrega dos dados esteja bloqueada, e (3) reação a situações de limitação de memória durante a execução da consulta[Erro! A origem da referência não foi encontrada.]. Esse trabalho é propõe uma nova política de liberação de dados da memória, chamada Mobile Flushing Policy(MFP). A política MFP propõe uma otimização da política Adaptive Flushing Policy(AFP), usada pelo algoritmo de junção Hash-Merge Join, mantendo o mesmo objetivo principal, enviar pares de partições para o disco, em caso de ocorrência de overflow de memória. A política AFP libera pares correspondentes de partições para o disco com base em uma tabela resumo mantida em memória e dois parâmetros: (1) balanceamento de memória e (2) tamanho mínimo de partições. Esta política mantém uma tabela resumo em memória contendo o tamanho de cada partição, o somatório dos tamanhos de cada par de partições de ambas as relações e o tamanho total de partições de cada relação. A política MFP também libera pares correspondentes de partições para o disco com base em uma constante de balanceamento de memória e uma tabela resumo diferenciada da tabela resumo utilizada pela política AFP. A tabela resumo da nova política tem uma coluna a mais discriminando a diferença da cardinalidade de cada par de partições das relações de entrada. O objetivo principal da nova coluna é garantir que o par de partições escolhido para ser enviado ao disco deixará a memória balanceada, além de garantir que sempre haverá no mínimo um par de partições a ser enviado ao disco.

A new oceanic climatology to calculate ocean heat content (OHC) was developed for application year-round in the Atlantic Ocean basin. The Systematically Merged Atlantic Regional Temperature and Salinity (SMARTS) Climatology blends temperature and salinity fields from the World Ocean Atlas 2001 (WOA) and Generalized Digital Environmental Model v.3.0 (GDEM) at 1/4° resolution. This higher resolution climatology better resolves features in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), including the Loop Current and eddy structures, than the previous coarser 1/2° products. Daily mean isotherm depths of the 20° C (D20) and 26° C (D26) (and their mean ratio), reduced gravity (e.g., 2-layer model), mixed layer depth (MLD), and OHC were estimated from the blended climatology. Using SMARTS with satellite-derived surface height anomaly and SST fields, daily values of D20, D26, MLD, and OHC were calculated from 1998 to 2010 using a two-layer model approach. Airborne and ship-deployed eXpendable BathyThermographs (XBT), long-term moorings, and Argo profiling floats provided the in-situ data to blend and assess the SMARTS Climatology. A clear, direct relationship emerged from the detailed analysis between satellite-derived and in-situ measurements of isotherm depths and OHC. This new climatological approach created a more accurate estimation of isotherm depths and OHC from satellite radar altimetry measurements, which can be used in hurricane intensity forecasts from the Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme (SHIPS). The Mainelli (2000) technique of calculating OHC was reexamined to most accurately project sea surface height anomalies (SSHA) into changes in depths of D20, D26, and MLD. SSHA surface features were tracked to determine realistic drift velocities ingested into the objective analysis algorithm. The former OHC algorithm assumed a climatological MLD, however observations show large temporal variability of MLD. Using a SSHA-dependent MLD for the OHC estimation improves the two-layer model by 5%. Upper ocean thermal structure estimations improved by 25% using the SMARTS Climatology as compared to that of Mainelli (2000).

Bakgrund: Det blir allt vanligare att banker vänder sig till förvärv och sammanslagningar för en internationell tillväxt. Då banker inte enbart agerar som en finansiell intermediär samtidigt som globaliseringen skapar allt större bolag ställs högre krav på banker, där dessa utvecklas mot att vara universella med bl.a. bredare produktutbud och kundsegment. Storbankerna är centrala för det finansiella ståndet och är hårt övervakade och komplexa varelser. Förvärv och sammanslagningar kan inneha en stor påverkan på en storbank vilket kan påverka samhället i en större grad än vid andra branscher. Internationell etablering med förvärv är generellt snabbare och innebär fler konkurrensfördelar än en organisk tillväxt. Dock tilltalar många studier att en extern tillväxtmetod sällan är lönsam och organisk tillväxt bör följaktligen föredras. Erkända forskare hävdar även att finansiella nyckeltal även inte förbättras i de flesta fall. Dock tas ingen hänsyn till om målen bakom M&A är direkt finansiella eller ej. Syfte: Att identifiera de effekter som uppstår vid internationella förvärv och sammanslagningar, mätt i finansiella nyckeltal samt att skapa en fördjupad förståelse för vilka bakomliggande faktorer, motiv och målsättningar anses vara viktigast för Handelsbanken och Nordea vid valet av att utföra en internationellt horisontell M&A. Metod: Metodtriangulering tillämpats vilket innebär att både en kvalitativ- samt kvantitativ ansats appliceras. Samtliga globala M&A mellan 1995-2013 har observerats och bearbetats med kvartalsrapporter i kvantitativ metod, där ROE, ROA, ETA samt ETR beräknats med kvartalsrapporter. Öppna intervjuer med väsentliga respondenter från Handelsbanken och Nordea tillämpas för att besvara delsyftet med kvalitativ metod. Slutsats: Inom Sveriges storbanker kan det inte med säkerhet konstateras att varken aktieägare eller ledningen gynnas av M&A. Räntabiliteten på det egna kapitalet och tillgångarna tenderar att avta snarare än tillta, samtidigt som det motsatta förhållandet upplevs inom kostnadseffektivisering. Ses bankerna över individuellt står Nordea för den större delen av en försvagning i nyckeltalen, men detta är eftersom Nordea prioriterar en starkare förhandlingsstyrka och större marknadsandelar, vilket innebär tillväxtförklaringar som önskad synergi och följaktligen är målen mer långsiktiga än Svenska Handelsbankens där dessa önskar en finansiell förbättring omedelbart. Generellt förbättras kostnadseffektiviteten men inte räntabilitet på eget kapital samt tillgångar i samband med M&A. Individuellt skiljer dock resultaten åt p.g.a. bankernas olika strategier. De banker som dock förbättrar nyckeltalen avsevärt är SEB samt Swedbank.
Background: It is becoming increasingly common for banks to turn on acquisitions and mergers for global growth. Since banks are acting much more than only financial intermediary, while globalization is making large companies even greater, the demands are becoming higher on banks where they develop towards being universal, including broader range of products and customer segments. Great banks are central to the financial state and are tightly monitored and complex creatures. Acquisitions and mergers are likely to possess a large impact on a major bank, which later can affect the community in a greater degree than in other industries. International establishment of acquisition is generally faster and offers a more competitive edge than organic growth. However, many studies and scholars claim that an external growth method is rarely profitable and organic growth should therefore be preferred. Many scholars also argue that financial ratios do not improve in most cases. However, no consideration is taken if the goals behind M&A are directly financial or not. Purpose: To identify the effects that arise in international M&A, measured in financial ratios and to create a deeper understanding of the underlying factors, motives and objectives that are considered to be most important for Handelsbanken and Nordea in the choice of performing an internationally horizontal M&A. Method: Method triangulation is applied, which means that both a qualitative- and quantitative approach is applied. Global M&A between 1995-2013 preformed by Swedish banks have been observed and processed with quarterly reports in the quantitative method, in which ROE, ROA, ETA and ETR are calculated quarterly. Open interviews with essential respondents from Handelsbanken and Nordea are applied to answer the second aim in the study with a qualitative method. Conclusion: In Sweden's major banks, it cannot be stated with certainty that shareholders or management benefit from M&A. The return on equity and assets tend to diminish rather than grow, while the opposite occurs in the cost efficiency. If we analyse the banks individually, then Nordea stands for the most of a weakening in the financial ratios, but this is because Nordea prioritize a stronger bargaining power and a larger market share. This means growth explanations is the desired synergy effects and therefore financial targets are more long term than the Swedish Handelsbanken's where they want a financial improvement immediately. Generally, the cost efficiency does improve, but not the return on equity and assets. Individually, however, the results differ due to the banks different strategies and goals. However, the banks that improve the ratios most significantly are SEB and Swedbank.

Current approaches integrating large scale data and information from a variety of sources to reveal molecular basis of cellular events do not adequately benefit from pathway information. Here, we portray a network structure based pathway enrichment system that fuses and exploits model and data: signalling pathways are taken as the biological models while microarray and ChIP-seq data are the sample input data sources among many other alternatives. Our model- and data-driven hybrid system allows to quantitatively assessing the biological activity of a cyclic pathway and simultaneous enrichment of the significant paths leading to the ultimate cellular response. Signal Transduction Score Flow (SiTSFlow) algorithm is the fundamental constituent of proposed network structure based pathway enrichment system. SiTSFlow algorithm converts each pathway into a cascaded graph and then gene scores are mapped onto the protein nodes. Gene scores are transferred to en route of the pathway to form a final activity score describing behaviour of a specific process in the pathway while enriching of the gene node scores. Because of cyclic pathways, the algorithm runs in an iterative manner and it terminates when the node scores converge. The converged final activity score provides a quantitative measure to assess the biological significance of a process under the given experimental conditions. The conversion of cyclic pathways into cascaded graphs is performed by using a linear time multiple source Breadth First Search Algorithm. Furthermore, proposed network structure based pathway enrichment system works in linear time in terms of nodes and edges of given pathways. In order to explore various biological responses of several processes in a global signalling network, the selected small pathways have been unified based on their common gene and process nodes. The merge algorithm for pathways also runs in linear time in terms of nodes and edges of given pathways. In the experiments, SiTSFlow algorithm proved the convergence behaviour of activity scores for several cyclic pathways and for a global signalling network. The biological results obtained by assessing of experimental data by described network structure based pathway enrichment system were in correlation with the expected cellular behaviour under the given experimental conditions.

Mestrado em Gestão e Estratégia Industrial
As PME têm um papel cada vez mais importante, sobretudo nas economias desenvolvidas, já que a sua estrutura flexível permite uma adaptação mais rápida em contextos de mudança, com impacte positivo ao nível de emprego e, até, da oferta. Porém, muitas destas empresas enfermam de problemas, nomeadamente ao nivel económico, financeiro e, mesmo, estratégico, que por vezes são difíceis de ultrapassar isoladamente. Desta forma, as PME encontram na aquisição por empresas maiores, com estruturas financeiras sólidas e capacidade de gestão consolidada, o processo de ultrapassarem as suas dificuldades. O objectivo deste estudo é compreender um conjunto de questões associadas à recuperação das PME em situação económica difícil, abordando, nomeadamente, a natureza estrutural, as vias da sua recuperação, bem como as suas motivações e especificidades das aquisições de PME naquelas situações. Para isso, irão ser explorados cinco casos empresariais concretos. As conclusões mostram que as empresas estudadas entraram em situação económica difícil por motivos comuns, centrados numa gestão deficiente por parte dos seus directores. Esta questão acabou por ser facilmente controlável pelas empresas adquirentes, beneficiando de gestores competentes e das vantagens decorrentes de uma F&A, nem sempre obedecendo aos modelos de processos de recuperação defendidos teoricamente, se bem que cumprindo os princípios subjacentes.
The small and medium-sized enterprises have a role of growing importance, especially in developed economies, since their flexible structure allows a faster adaptation in contexts of change, with a positive impact on employment levei, and even, on offer. However, a lots of these enterprises suffer ffom problems, mainly in economic, financial and even strategic leveis, which are sometimes difficult to overcome on their own. This way, the small and medium-sized enterprises find the process to overcome their difficulties in the acquisition by big enterprises, with solid financial structures and a Consolidated management capacity. The goal of this study is to understand a number of issues associated with the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises in difficult economic situation, especially their structural nature, the ways of recovery, as well as the motivations and specificity of acquisition of small and medium-sized enterprises in those conditions. Thus, five real business cases will be explored. The conclusions show that the studied enterprises got into a difficult economic situation for identical reasons, focused on a deficient management by their directors. These issues tumed out to be easily controlled by the acquirer, benefiting ffom competent managers and from the advantages taken ffom M & A, not always obeying the model of recuperation processes defended in theory, but performing the underlying principies.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

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Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa
The allocation of resources and the constant search for competitive advantages differentiators to reach best results are always business challenges. In the contemporary context, in order to achieve superior performance, it reinforces the company's need to have, and make good use, of scarce, valuable, non-substitutable and inimitable resources. These resources include brands, customer base, knowledge, ability and competence of the work teams, corporate culture, partnerships and operational processes established, among other intangible assets, usually arising from a long and risky development process. Mergers and acquisitions (M & A) arise, then, as an important strategic action, being an alternative means to obtain and accelerate the accumulation of these resources within the companies. That is the subject of this work, which discusses the importance of existing and intangible assets disclosed, previous to the M & A transactions, their classification into various types, measurement, and impact on the resulting firm's financial performance in long term. The overall objective of this thesis was to analyze how this performance, after a minimum period of 36 months of the event, is related to the existence, level of disclosure and the nature of intangible assets in the organizations involved. One hundred-eighteen (118) companies were investigated in fifty-nine (59) cases of M & A occurred in France between 1997 and 2007; the study reflects a multi-method research, pluralistic, on qualitative and quantitative aspects. Intangible assets disclosure indicators were built by applying the content analysis technique to financial and accounting reports provided by the companies prior to the events, as well as financial indicators (proxies) for the existence of intangibles were calculated. These indicators were initially confronted with each other and later their explanatory power in relation to financial ratios of growth and profitability (for the corporation and its shareholders), which are the analyzed dimensions of financial performance. Many methods for statistical analysis were used in the multivariate data analysis (correlations and factor analysis, multiple regressions) and in the structural equation modeling (SEM), via Partial Least Squares (PLS). A total of twelve models, with statistics significance, were established to express the relationship among the constructs examined. Best results were achieved in the models developed with variables of semantic origin, in detriment of those with financial indicators only. The results obtained in this thesis leads to deduce that, in this study, there are positive relationships between the existence and the disclosure of intangible assets by firms involved in the operations of M & A and subsequent financial performance, measured by the corporate profitability and the growth of the resulting organization. This suggests that the strategic choice for business growth via M & A operations is favorable to the accumulation of intangible assets in the firms, in search for better results.
A alocação de recursos e a constante busca por diferenciais competitivos, visando melhores resultados, são grandes desafios empresariais. No contexto contemporâneo, para obter desempenho superior, reforça-se a necessidade de a empresa dispor, e fazer bom uso, de recursos raros, valiosos, não-substituíveis e de difícil imitação. Dentre estes recursos, destacam-se aspectos como as marcas, a base de clientes, o conhecimento, a capacidade e competência das equipes de trabalho, a cultura corporativa, as parcerias e os processos operacionais estabelecidos, dentre outros ativos intangíveis, geralmente decorrentes de longos e arriscados processos de desenvolvimento. As fusões e aquisições (F&A) surgem, então, como movimentos estratégicos importantes, sendo meio alternativo para obter e acelerar a acumulação destes recursos nas empresas. É essa a temática deste trabalho, que discorre sobre a importância dos ativos intangíveis existentes e divulgados previamente às operações de F&A de empresas, sobre a classificação dos seus diversos tipos, a sua mensuração e o seu impacto sobre o desempenho financeiro da firma resultante, no longo prazo. O objetivo geral desta tese foi analisar como este desempenho, após prazo mínimo de 36 meses do evento, está relacionado à existência, ao nível de divulgação e à natureza dos ativos intangíveis das organizações envolvidas. Foram investigadas 118 empresas, em 59 casos de F&A ocorridos na França entre 1997 e 2007, em uma pesquisa multi-métodos, pluralística, nas vertentes qualitativa e quantitativa. Foram construídos indicadores de divulgação (disclosure) de ativos intangíveis, mediante aplicação da técnica de análise de conteúdos aos relatórios contábil-financeiros disponibilizados pelas empresas antes do evento, e calculados indicadores financeiros (proxies) para a existência de intangíveis. Estes indicadores foram inicialmente confrontados entre si e posteriormente quanto ao seu poder explicativo em relação aos índices financeiros de crescimento e de lucratividade (empresarial e para os acionistas), que são as dimensões analisadas do desempenho financeiro. Utilizaram-se métodos de análise estatística de dados multivariados (análises de correlações, fatoriais, regressões múltiplas) e modelagem em equações estruturais, via Partial Least Squares (SEM- PLS). Foram estabelecidos, no total, doze modelos com significância estatística para expressar o relacionamento entre os construtos examinados. Alcançaram-se melhores resultados nos modelos desenvolvidos com variáveis de origem semântica, em detrimento daqueles que utilizaram indicadores exclusivamente financeiros. Os resultados obtidos nesta tese permitiram deduzir que há relações positivas entre a existência e a divulgação de ativos intangíveis pelas firmas envolvidas nas operações de F&A estudadas e o posterior desempenho financeiro, mensurado pela lucratividade empresarial e pelo crescimento, da organização resultante. Isto sugere que a opção estratégica por crescimento empresarial via operações de F&A é favorável ao acúmulo de recursos intangíveis nas firmas, na busca por melhores resultados.

« L’Europe ne se fera pas en un jour, ni sans heurts.», dixit Monsieur Robert Schuman. Tel est le constat qui peut encore être fait à l’heure actuelle avec l’adoption, après trente ans d’intenses débats au niveau européen, de la Societas Europaea, introduite en droit français avec la loi du 26 juillet 2005 pour la confiance et la modernisation de l’économie, complétée par les décrets du 14 avril 2006 et du 9 novembre 2006. La même analyse peut s’appliquer à la proposition du règlement de la commission européenne relatif au statut de la société privée européenne faite le 25 juin 2008, en cours d’examen devant le Parlement Européen. Il s’agit de démontrer l’existence de normes communautaires flexibles propices au développement des normes statutaires, à l'image de celles applicables à la société privée européenne (SPE) d'origine communautaire et d'essence contractuelle. La SPE doit être analysée comme structure sociétaire, symbole de l’émancipation du droit communautaire et vecteur du principe de libre établissement des sociétés, à la fois par rapport à sa « grande cousine », la société européenne, et à travers l’étude des normes communautaires comme éléments nécessaires au bon fonctionnement des structures européennes.La question est enfin de savoir si le recours à la SPE constitue un instrument pertinent dans les opérations de restructuration intra-communautaire. Deux axes de réflexion semblent s’imposer : l’aménagement des relations contractuelles intragroupe via le modèle de la SPE et la SPE comme élément moteur dans le cadre des opérations de fusion intracommunautaire
“Europe will not be made in a day, nor without any clashes,” according to Mr Robert Schuman. The statement proved to be true with the adoption, after thirty years of intense debates at the European level, of Societas Europaea, introduced into French law with the bill of July 26, 2005 for the confidence and modernization of the economy, supplemented by the decrees of April 14, 2006 and November 9, 2006. The same analysis can be made of the European Commission proposals for the regulations relating to the statute of the European private company made on June 25, 2008, and now under consideration before the European Parliament. The question is to show the existence of flexible Community standards favourable to the development of statutory standards, in the image of those applicable to the European Private Company of Community origin and which is contractual in essence. The European Private Company should be analysed as a member structure and a symbol of the emancipation of Community legislation as well as a vector of the principle of free establishment of companies both in relation to its “big cousin,” the European Company, and through the study of Community standards as necessary elements to the correct operation of European structures. The next step is to question if resorting to the European Private Company constitutes a relevant instrument in the operations of intracommunitarian reorganization following two main lines of investigation: the adjustment of contractual intragroup relations via the model of the European Private Company and the European Private Company as a mainspring within the framework of intracommunitarian fusion operations

Cette recherche s’attache à l’étude d’une institution britannique, à son rôle et son organisation depuis la fusion, en 1968, du Commonwealth Office et du Foreign Office, jusqu’à l’année 1985.Il s’agit ainsi de voir comment le Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) fonctionne et comment il a su évoluer au gré du temps, du changement de la place de la Grande-Bretagne dans le monde, et des conflits internationaux. Ainsi, on peut se demander quelles influences le contexte a eu sur l’institution en elle-même. Dès lors, une place particulière est accordée à l’Europe, la ‘relation spéciale’ avec les États-Unis et la décolonisation.La politique étrangère britannique semble aujourd’hui être principalement dans les mains du pouvoir politique : du ministre des Affaires étrangères (Foreign Secretary), et du Premier ministre. Quelle place le FCO occupe-t-il alors, et quelles relations entretient-il avec le pouvoir politique ?Il s’agit ainsi de considérer la place du FCO au sein des différents acteurs internes et externes de la politique étrangère britannique en analysant trois cas concrets : une réorganisation interne de l’institution (la fusion de 1968), une gestion de crise (l’indépendance retardée de la Guyane britannique, 1953-1966), et une négociation d’accord en temps de paix (l’échec des négociations de la Convention des Nations unies sur le droit de la mer, 1973-1982).Ce travail de recherche tente ainsi d’offrir une interprétation allant au-delà du fonctionnement interne de l’institution. Il s’agit de mettre en relation le Foreign and Commonwealth Office et le pouvoir politique, et ainsi d’étudier les pouvoirs et influences du FCO tout en s’attachant à des périodes clés à l’orée de changements
This research work is devoted to the study of a key British institution, its function and its organization, from the merger of the Commonwealth Office and the Foreign Office in 1968, until 1985.Of particular interest is the way the changing role of Britain in the world and international conflicts bear upon the functioning and the evolution of the FCO. The point is to assess to what extent the context influences the institution itself.British foreign policy seems to be mostly determined by the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister. It is therefore well worth gaging what the function of the FCO is, and its relationship with the holders of political power.The role of the FCO as one of the internal and external agents of British foreign policy is assessed here, through three cases: the internal reorganization of the service in 1968, the management of a crisis – the postponements of independence for Guiana from 1953 to 1966, and the failure of a negotiation in peacetime – the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea from 1973 to 1982.Beyond the internal functioning of the institution, this research work strives to offer an interpretation of the changes. The relationship between the FCO and the holders of political power, the real power and influence of the FCO are under consideration, in particular during key moments of particular significance for the institution

This thesis investigates whether Initial Public Offering (IPO) firms adopt a high degree of conservatism in response to investors’ demand for high quality earnings and subsequently experience increased capital market benefits. The accounting literature suggests that the enforcement of timely loss recognition under a conservative reporting policy can mitigate managerial opportunistic behavior reducing information asymmetries between managers and outside investors (e.g., Watts 2002; LaFond & Watts 2008). This thesis hypothesizes that such benefits of accounting conservatism should be more pronounced for IPO firms because there is inherently high information asymmetry in the IPO market. In particular, financial reports are one of the primary information sources available for investors that provide information regarding a firm’s past and expected future performance. As a result, the IPO environment provides an important research setting to investigate the capital market consequences of accounting conservatism. Based on a large sample of U.S. IPO firms over the period from 1990 to 2010, this thesis investigates whether the extent to which accounting conservatism adopted by IPO firms can predict: (i) the well-documented IPO market anomalies, IPO underpricing and IPO long-term stock return underperformance, (ii) the probability of seasoned equity issue (SEO) in the post-IPO market and the costs associated with the SEO and (iii) the longevity of IPO firms. The empirical findings of this thesis suggest that firms adopt a higher degree of conservatism prior to going public in response to high information asymmetry at the IPO and issuers adopting higher conservatism incur a lower indirect cost of going public through less underpricing. The results also suggest that IPO issuers adopting higher conservatism are less likely to reissue equity within five years of the IPO, indicating that these firms do not have short-term cash needs soon after the IPO. However, these firms are more likely to be able to issue their next equity financing on more favorable terms by experiencing less SEO underpricing and better announcement returns. Moreover, the results indicate that issuers adopting a higher degree of conservatism face less risk of failure and survive longer in the stock market. In particular, these firms are more likely to acquire another entity within five years of the IPO and their acquisition announcement returns are positively associated with the extent of conservatism adopted prior to going public. This thesis makes a significant contribution to the literature on conservatism by providing empirical evidence that: (i) IPO issuers adopting a higher degree of conservatism experience various benefits that the capital markets offer in response to less uncertainty and information asymmetry; and shows (ii) how conservatism can contribute to resolving information asymmetry problems in the IPO market. Specifically, this thesis has important implications for accounting standard setters, policy makers and regulators associated with the IPO market. Against the recent movements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) toward fair value accounting, the evidence in this thesis suggests that, in the absence of conservatism, the information quality of financial statements may be jeopardized in the IPO environment, leading to higher information asymmetry between firm insiders and outside investors.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Business School, 2014

As Fusões e Aquisições (F&A) constituem um instrumento de reestruturação de empresas, que correspondem normalmente a ações de combinações entre empresas. A sua ocorrência apesar de comum entre grandes empresas vem a revelar-se arredada das opções da generalidade dos empresários de pequenas e médias empresas (PME) portuguesas. No atual ambiente de negócios, a concentração de empresas poderá revelar-se um veículo crucial para as empresas adquirirem massa crítica por forma a alcançarem uma capacidade exportadora, que se pode revelar crítica para o seu crescimento e mesmo sobrevivência. A aquisição de massa crítica constitui assim uma das fortes motivações para a realização de operações de F&A no seio das PME. As PME nacionais, que se caracterizam pela sua reduzida dimensão e fraca abertura ao exterior, apresentam desde logo atributos favoráveis à realização de operações de F&A. Um dos grandes desafios que se coloca atualmente às PME consiste nos problemas de sucessão, em que dada a idade avançada de muitos dos empresários e falta de sucessores aparentes, a continuidade da empresa fica seriamente posta em causa. As condições económicas e de mercado constituem outra das forças impulsionadoras para a realização de operações, onde a escassez de financiamento cada vez mais sentida na economia ameaça estrangular a tesouraria das empresas. No entanto, apesar das notórias vantagens, existem bastantes entraves à concretização de operações de F&A, demonstrados na análise de casos reais de transmissão ocorridos em Portugal.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are corporate restructuring instruments, which normally correspond to the action of combination of companies. Its occurrence although common among large companies is proving to be brushed off the options of most entrepreneurs of Portuguese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In today’s business environment, the consolidation of business could prove a crucial way for companies to acquire dimension in order to achieve export capacity. This may prove critical for growth and survival even. The acquisition of dimension is therefore a strong motivation for carrying out M&A transactions within SMEs. Portuguese SMEs characterized by their small size and weak export capacity, show favorable attributes to M&A operations. One of the greatest challenges currently facing SMEs consists in succession problems, due to the advanced age of the entrepreneurs and lack of immediate successors, which put the continuity of the company at risk. The economic and market conditions are another of the driving forces to conduct M&A operations, where the shortage of funding is increasingly felt in the economy threatens to strangle the liquidity situation of enterprises. Although the notorious advantages, there are many barriers to the realization of M&A, as seen in the analysis of real cases occurred in Portugal.

Dissertação de mestrado em Finanças
Ao longo dos anos foram surgindo vagas de Fusões e Aquisições, cada qual com as suas características e motivações. Após a bolha tecnológica no início do século XX, surge uma nova vaga de Fusões e Aquisições que a literatura apelidou de “A 6ª Vaga”. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo principal, caracterizar a 6ª vaga de F&A no contexto Europeu. Em primeiro lugar, pretende-se, através da análise de estudos de eventos, determinar se a 6ªVaga de Fusões e Aquisições criou, ou não, valor para os acionistas das empresas intervenientes. Os resultados são consistentes com a literatura. Quando analisados de forma combinada existe, em média, criação de valor de 3%. Os ganhos são maiores para os acionistas da empresa alvo, que nesta vaga, obtiveram ganhos médios de aproximadamente 11%. Na segunda parte desta dissertação procurou-se analisar qual a probabilidade de uma empresa ser alvo de uma aquisição, tendo como base o modelo previsional de Palepu (1986). Formulouse a hipótese de que as principais motivações desta vaga de F&A foram a procura por empresas que investem em I&D, e que possuem boas relações com o exterior. Chegou-se a resultados opostos a esta hipótese, empresas que investem em I&D e vendem para o exterior, não são potenciais alvos de aquisição. Este tipo de empresas enquadram-se mais na perspetiva de empresas compradoras, em vez de empresas de alvo, pois, são empresas de maior dimensão, com maiores níveis de liquidez e menores níveis de endividamento. Concluímos então, que estes dois indicadores não motivaram o surgimento da 6ª vaga de Fusões e Aquisições. Paralelamente, procurou-se encontrar uma justificação para o surgimento desta vaga de F&A, a partir de duas teorias divergentes da literatura de finanças: a teoria neoclássica e a teoria comportamental. No entanto, nenhuma destas teorias parece explicar o surgimento da 6ª vaga de Fusões e Aquisições.
Over the years, waves of Mergers and Acquisitions occured, each one with its own characteristics. After the “tech bubble”, in the early twenty- first century, a new wave of mergers and acquisitions the so-called "The 6th Wave", started. This paper's main objective is to characterize this wave in the European context. First, we determine if the 6th Wave of Mergers and Acquisitions created value, or not for shareholders, using event-studys. The results are consistent with previous financial literature. On average, mergers and acquisitions create value for its shareholders aproximatelly 3%, especially for the target company's shareholders, whose gains averaged about 11%. In the second part of this work, we analyze the probability of a company being targeted, based on the forecasting model of Palepu (1986). We thought that the search for companies that invest in R&D and with good external relationships were the big reason for the rise of the “sixth wave of mergers and acquisitions”. We found evidence that firms investing in R&D and exporters are not potential acquisition targets. These types of companies are most considered buyers instead of targets. Because they used to be large companies with higher levels of liquidity and reduced debt levels. We conclude, then, that these two indicators didn’t motivated the emergence of this wave of mergers and acquisitions. In parallel, we tried to find a further justification for the emergence of this wave from two divergent theories of finance literature: neoclassical theory and behavioral theory. However, none of these theories seem to explain the emergence of the 6th wave of mergers and acquisitions.