An AHP-based Decision Support Model for Corporate Bond Selection and Investment Analysis

This paper explores the use of an intuitive decision support model for evaluating and selecting corporate bonds. The model is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which enables an individual investor and a portfolio manager to identify the relative impacts of multiple criteria derived from the assessment of a particular investment environment. It also allows the pairwise comparisons of several corporate bond alternatives with respect to each of the pre-determined criteria. In particular, the evaluation process can capture individual investment behavior and perceptions on different decision criteria and corporate bond alternatives. Therefore, the model can be customized to facilitate corporate bond selection and fixed income investment analysis

The Assessment of Real Estate Initiatives to Be Included in the Socially-Responsible Funds

The acknowledgment of the ongoing economic and financial crisis involving real estate, creates the need to formulate proposals and scenarios (in real estate) with the characteristics of socially responsible investments. These kind of investments aim towards “sustainable” development both environmentally (safeguarding the shortage of resources such as land, energy, and natural elements), and socially (protecting the population and raising its level of well-being) according to so-called “ethical finance”, instead of a mere “speculative” investment. Effectively, real estate is still an investment sector only marginally explored by the socially-responsible funds. Based on these premises, this paper will: (i) briefly analyze the nature of socially-responsible investments, setting their characteristics apart from “traditional investments”; and (ii) propose a possible procedure (of the multi-criteria type) which aims to assess socially-responsible investments in real estate. This will be applied to a case study regarding a social housing initiative in the municipality of Anguillara Sabazia (Rome, Italy)

Using Analytical Hierarchy Process Methods in Cash Holding and Corporate Working Capital Management: an Asian Perspective

Cash holding behavior is an important financial behavior of the company, which reflects the company\u27s financial strategy and management strategy. What are the factors that affect corporate cash holdings? How does the change in these factors affect the change in corporate cash holdings? Starting from two aspects of national macroeconomic environmental factors and microeconomic environmental factors, this paper tries to analyze these factors and how they affect corporate cash holdings. Working Capital Management is an important part of the company\u27s financial management, which is closely related to the value creation of the company. What is the content of working capital management? How to manage the working capital effectively? This paper expounds the contents of working capital management from the perspective of process management, and expounds how to effectively manage working capital from the perspective of situational management. To link these two areas ids the goal of this study

Capital Expenditure Financing in Italian Municipalities: An Analytic Approach

The economic literature finds a strong link between infrastructure endowment and economic growth. In recent years, the Italian infrastructure backwardness has become a central theme in the national political, economic and social debate. By definition, infrastructure investment implies the allocation of financial resources at present to obtain future advantages. The temporal gap brings up questions related to the financing mechanism, which is one of the most interesting themes of the debate.Traditionally, within the Italian system of derived finance and according to the inter-generational equity principle, Italian Municipalities (IMs) have financed investment expenditures by resorting to borrowing, for a minimum amount with the banking system, and for the most part with the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (CDP). Unfortunately, this financing method has imposed heavy burdens on future budgets, in terms of refund of interest and capital. Moreover, in 2001, the reform of the Constitution (especially the part regarding Local Authorities (Las), Title V, Part II) has strengthened the political, administrative, and financial autonomy of LAs

SDG scoring : an analytic hierarchy process approach

The demand for non-financial information has substantially risen in the last few years. Previously, investors only considered financial information on their investment decisions but there is an increased perception that non-financial factors might provide an additional framework on which firms can be measured, which can positively impact their investment success. Due to this, multiple rating agencies have risen as providers of scores reflecting the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) position of firms. However, they often seen as not providing the adequate theoretical reasoning and methodological clarity, which in addition to the lack of a consensus on ESG criteria, creates the space for the development of another scoring system with a robust and clear sustainability framework underlying it. Additionally, following the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), a broader set of firms are required to report on their environmental and social impacts. This might create an information disadvantage for non-CSRD covered firms, which has led these firms to also have the desire to report on these issues. This dissertation presents the development process of a scoring system on which non-financial performance is measured through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), i.e., a robust framework and that combines both financial and non-financial information in a single value, through Multi-Criteria Decision Making, namely, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Additionally, it also provides a base framework for firms ESG reporting.Recentemente, a procura por informação não financeiro aumentou bastante. Previamente, os investidores apenas consideravam informação financeira nas suas decisões de investimento, mas há uma crescente perceção de que fatores não financeiros podem fornecer um quadro adicional para a avaliação das empresas, podendo impactar positivamente o sucesso dos seus investimentos. Devido a isso, múltiplas agências de classificação surgiram como provedoras de pontuações que refletem a posição Ambiental, Social e de Governança (ASG) das empresas. No entanto, estas não fornecem o raciocínio teórico e clareza metodológica por trás dessas pontuações, o que, além da diferente definição de critérios ASG entre elas, cria espaço para o desenvolvimento de um outro sistema de pontuação com um quadro de sustentabilidade robusto e claro. Além disso, após a implementação da Diretiva de Relato de Sustentabilidade Corporativa (DRSC), um conjunto mais amplo de empresas é obrigado a relatar sobre os seus impactos ambientais e sociais. Isto pode criar uma desvantagem de informação para as empresas não cobertas pela DRSC, o que levou essas empresas a também terem o desejo de relatar sobre estas questões. Esta Tese apresenta o processo de desenvolvimento de um sistema de pontuação no qual o desempenho não financeiro é medido por meio dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável e que combina informações financeiras e não financeiras num único valor, por meio do processo de tomada de decisão multicritério, nomeadamente, o Processo Analítico Hierárquico (PAH). Além disso, também fornece um quadro básico para o relato ASG das empresas

ERP-ORE: A Framework to Measure Organizational Risk during ERP Systems Evolution in a Distribution Business

Enterprise Resource Planning systems evolution initiatives often represent the single largest investment (and therefore risk) for distribution corporations yet there exist few management frameworks in the literature to help decision makers measure risk during this organization-wide change process. We have customized our original ORE framework as a multi-criteria, relative risk, condition consequence management decision framework enabling executive decision makers in distribution businesses to calculate and compare risk evolution at fixed points of the ERP change cycle. The framework emphasizes the political and process dimensions of evolution and utilizes the Analytic Hierarchy Process to enable management to make structured and balanced risk mitigation decisions. This paper describes the development of ORE into ERP-ORE and illustrates the application of the framework through a case study description of a medical supplies distributor implementing an ERP system

Capacity requirement planning master data solution procurement at Qimonda Portugal SA

Estágio realizado na Qimonda Portugal S. A. e orientado pelo Eng.º Peter MaderaTese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Industrial e Gestão. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200