Doing Business in the Czech Republic

[Excerpt] Baker & McKenzie is one of the world’s largest law firms with its presence in 70 locations in 42 countries. We have been active in the Czech Republic since 1993 and our work includes a full range of legal and tax services directed primarily to foreign investors doing business in the Czech Republic, but also, increasingly, to large, domestic Czech companies, especially as they seek to expand into new markets. Over the past 10 years, the Czech Republic has adopted new laws in virtually every area of regulation in the Czech legal system consistent with European standards as it prepared for accession to the European Union. The Czech Republic formally joined the European Union on May 1, 2004 and its legal system continues to develop in line with European norms. Doing Business in the Czech Republic has been prepared by the Prague office of Baker & McKenzie as a general guide for those companies or persons who wish to engage in business activities or invest in the Czech Republic. The information contained in this publication is general in nature and is intended only to provide an introduction to the Czech legal system and investment climate. This publication may not be relied upon in relation to any transaction or investment decision and it should not be viewed as a substitute for specific legal and tax advice. In addition, readers should be aware that the law and its interpretation are constantly changing in the Czech Republic; as such, the information contained in this publication may quickly become outdated

The dynamics of the China logistics industry

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-81).As required by the WTO accession, China is opening its logistics industry to international logistics companies. What are these companies' strategies in the China market, and how are Chinese domestic logistics companies responding? The author interviewed four executives in charge of China business from three major international logistics companies and one international logistics user, and surveyed the literature to track the investments and plans of international and Chinese logistics companies. The thesis analyzes the strategies of third-party logistics (3PL) providers in the China logistic industry, namely international companies, and Chinese state-owned and Chinese private companies. The research finds that network expansion is the main strategy for the international companies, and the tendency is to operate independently. Infrastructure and extensive network are the state-owned companies' main assets, and niche market expertise is the private companies' strategy to survive and compete in the China logistics industry. These three types of players will coexist in the short term in China, while in the long term, when the international logistics companies have set up their infrastructure and network, there will probably a new round of shuffling.by Xuepin Cen.M.Eng.in Logistic

Teacher educators' perceptions about possibilities and challenges of the merger between Namibian Higher Education institutions for improving teacher education

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThe purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of the teacher educators about the merger between the University of Namibia and Namibia’s former Colleges of Education with regards to the merger's capacity to improve quality teacher education. The focus of the study differed from the various merger studies in that theirs has mainly been on technical issues of mergers to interpret merger capacity to improve change. Of importance about this focus is that the views of teacher educators were deemed important because of their 'agency' in the merger and its capacity to improve teacher education quality. The grounded theory of Strauss and Corbin of 1998 framed the study. The key question of the study was: "what are the perceptions of teacher educators about the merger of the former colleges of education with the University of Namibia's and the capacity to improve teacher education quality in the country?" A case study methodology was employed in which semi-structured questions were used to collect data. In addition, the study also employed observations and document analysis as sources of data.The key finding of the study was that all the participants' perceptions were that the merger has the capacity to improve the quality of teacher education in Namibia. The core of this finding serves as evidence of the complexities of mergers, particularly in terms of how participants perceive the merger's capability of improving quality. Firstly, the perceptions related to the contexts in which the participant teacher educators found themselves. Furthermore, the perceptions appeared to be associated with various contextual needs experienced by participants in the various institutions. The study analysis further suggested that the needs related to issues associated with input, process and output. These findings laid the ground for an emergent theory for understanding of teacher educators’ perceptions about the mergers. A conclusion drawn from the above findings were that the Maslow Hierarchy of Need Theory (with its biological/physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love, esteem needs, and self-actualization) provide better understanding of perceptions about mergers

Merger between Vestas and Gamesa

This dissertation focus is the analysis of a possible merger of two wind turbine manufacturers, Vestas and Gamesa. The proposed deal will have has business background the trend for market consolidation, as well the down trend of both firms market share and market value, being the wind power sector still with attractive prospects,. For this proposal, it is combined a deep industry and company analysis with the state of the art valuation tools. Literature on Valuation and M&A is reviewed and applied to evaluate the standalone and merged businesses, proposing an optimal transaction structure. The whole analysis relies on data until end of 2011, being performed estimated for both companies’ standalone and the combined firm, for a growth and stable period. Data from comparables and market benchmarks where also collected for different tools usage. The merged firm with synergies will generate a high increase in the equity value. Net synergies are estimated to be around 67% attributable to Vestas and 33% to Gamesa in the combined firm value. Therefore, it is concluded that the deal will create a sustainable value both firms’ shareholders by issuing a new leading company

Foreign direct investment and worker rights : a case study of a private security multinational in Mozambique.

This article intends to contribute with the reflection upon the theories that link FDI with social and economical development. For this purpose, the meanings of the expression “human and economical development” will be briefly reviewed, and later it will be approached along the theories on the relation of FDI with development. The theories are used as a support in order to reach this article’s goal of pointing out the FDI impacts on labour conditions on the private security multinational G4S in Mozambique, thus examining the impacts of this sort of FDI towards the country’s human development

RIO Country Report Slovak Republic 2014

The report offers an analysis of the R&I system in the Slovak Republic for 2014, including relevant policies and funding, with particular focus on topics critical for two EU policies: the European Research Area and the Innovation Union. The report was prepared according to a set of guidelines for collecting and analysing a range of materials, including policy documents, statistics, evaluation reports, websites etc. The report identifies the structural challenges of the Slovak research and innovation system and assesses the match between the national priorities and those challenges, highlighting the latest policy developments, their dynamics and impact in the overall national context.JRC.J.6-Innovation Systems Analysi

Merger and acquisition laws in UK, UAE and Qatar: Transferring rights and obligations

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Law and awarded by Brunel University.Across six Chapters, this thesis examines the legal effects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on the employees, Board of Directors and shareholders of companies with the objective of gaining in-depth understanding of this area. The thesis then develops legal and practical solutions for the problems and negative effects associated with M&As, specifically regarding employees, Boards of Directors and shareholder companies involved in such operations. This research determines to answer the following question: How do mergers and acquisitions (M&As) affect employees, management and shareholders rights and obligations? And what the legal basis for transferring their rights and liabilities between companies involved in M&As? Despite the importance of M&As as a means of economic concentration and emergence in terms of major commercial or industrial projects, the laws of both the UAE and Qatar do not sufficiently address the issue of mergers or their goals and conditions. They also fail to regulate acquisitions or to otherwise specify when acquisitions become necessary for companies. Furthermore, the laws do not specify the rights of workers regarding their knowledge of or participation in M&As or developed adequate solutions for the negative impacts on companies workers in such processes. These laws do not provide the right for the Board of Directors of the transferor company to merge with the Board of Directors of the transferee company. Additionally, they also unsuccessfully address the minority shareholders right (those not interested in the merger) to exit the merged company and recover the value of their shares. Moreover, the UAE and Qatar have not developed appropriate solutions for the exchange of shares between companies involved in mergers in the case of dissimilarity between the actual values of the shares of both companies. This has notably led to jurisprudence and judiciary confusion between the concept of M&As, their legal nature and the legal basis or theory for the transfer of the rights and liabilities of employees, management and shareholders between companies involved in M&A operations. In accordance with legal texts, the above discussion, M&A legal theory and the theory of the agency contract between a company and its Board of Directors, the thesis argues that M&As should not lead to cutting labour contracts or negatively affect employee rights as long as corporate ventures remain in place and M&A operations do not lead to the liquidation of merged or acquired companies. Also, the thesis shows that a company is linked with its Board of Directors through a special form of agency contract, which justifies the transfer of the rights of the Board of Directors of the merged company with regards to the merging or new company management. The thesis also develops solutions and processes for the exchange of shares between merged companies when there are differences between the actual values of their shares, through the shareholders of the merged company buying shares from the merging company or by selling their shares to the merging company and recovering the value of their shares in cash. The study also recommends taking a set of procedural measures during M&As, modifying some of the relevant legal texts of the UAE and Qatar, which would mitigate the negative effects of mergers and acquisitions. Furthermore, this research suggests ways to improve such laws to reach the level of those of developed countries, in order to encourage mergers and acquisitions in the region