Pacioli 16 : changing agricultural markets: consequences for FADN

The PACIOLI network explores the need for and feasibility of innovation in farm accounting and its consequences for data gathering for policy analysis in Farm Accountancy Data Networks (FADNs). PACIOLI 16 took place in Zagreb, Croatia in June 2008. The theme of the workshop was 'Changing agricultural markets: Consequences for FADN'

Human element in security markets.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Boston Universit

Service quality indicators for business support services

Quality is critical to corporate success as it plays a vital role in improving organisational productivity. It can be defined as ‘the totality of inherent characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to increase the demand for that product or service at a fixed price’ and can best be measured by capturing customer perceptions of the performance of those characteristics. Customising the SERVPERF methodology to measure service quality in a business-to-business context and subsequently testing it on both customers and suppliers of cleaning, catering and security services, the research led to a number of important and valuable insights concerning the service quality construct in a business-to-business environment. First, service quality in relation to cleaning, catering and security services consists of nine clear dimensions: reliability, clout, reputation, awareness, competitiveness, collaboration, accessibility, competence and assurance. The nine-dimensional construct identified shows high reliability and good validity in statistical terms. Furthermore, eight of the nine service quality dimensions are strongly or moderately yet significantly related to customer perceived service quality and customer satisfaction - clout being the exception. The same eight dimensions are significantly, but moderately related to purchase intention - suggesting that that there might be other constructs important in making a purchase decision (e.g. the costs of service delivery). Third, relating the nine service quality dimensions to the financial performance of supplier organisations, it was identified that six of the nine dimensions have significant relationships with one or more of the ten financial performance measures investigated - reliability, accessibility and competence being the exceptions. Finally, it was identified that customer organisations have significantly lower perceptions of the service quality they receive than do supplier organisations for competitiveness, collaboration, accessibility and competence. Moreover, customer perceived performance is significantly lower than customer perceived importance for eight of the nine service quality dimensions. For customer organisations, the empirical findings can be used to develop a framework of Service Quality Indicators, which can be used for monitoring and benchmarking service quality perception. For supplier organisations, the findings can be used for resource-allocation decisions pertaining to improve service quality, customer satisfaction and ultimately purchase intentions. It should be noted that the research is exploratory in nature and has only begun to address the many issues that are important in the management of business support services, but the questions addressed - what quality dimensions are important for customer satisfaction and what quality dimensions are important for supplier performance - are arguably among the most important in service quality management

Prudence in Trust Investment

Part I of this article presents a brief history of the prudent man standard and explores the meaning of prudence. Part II discusses the shift in legal theory to include equities as prudent investments. Part III articulates the weaknesses in the method currently used by courts to assess investment prudence in view of the exigencies confronting today\u27s trustee-investor. Finally, part IV shows that the same factors which justified the creation of the Prudent Man Rule and its expansion to include equities will support its modification to encompass modern investment theories and techniques

Essays on Improving the Regulation and Supervision of Insurance in PR China

PhDThis thesis consists of six chapters dealing with several issues related to the common theme of improving the insurance regulation and supervision in China based on China's realities and experience drawn from some selected regimes. Chapter I provides an overview of China! s insurance industry and its regulatory framework with an aim at providing a platform for deeper discussions in the following chapters. In particular, it reviews the 2002 revision of PRC Insurance Law. Chapter 2 critically examines the liberalisation process, competition issues and relevant legal framework in China's insurance sector in the context of the WTO accession and the international convergence of regulatory standards and practices. Chapter 3 examines how China's insurance regulation and supervision can be effectively and efficiently improved by the implementation of market-based approaches, shifling some of responsibilities for supervision onto insurance firms and the insurance industry through greater corporate governance, active self-rcgulation by the industry, and reinforced insurers' transparency. Chapter 4 addresses issues on the restructuring of China's insurance prudential regulation and supervision from four sides: the inefficiency of solvency management existing in the insurance industry, the framework of prudential regulation, the upgrade of early warning system, and the need to establish policyholder protection funds. Chapter 5 demonstrates the urgent needs for both relaxing restrictions on insurers' investment and improving investment regulation, and discusses a set of regulatory measures that would both facilitate insurers' effective portfolio management and safeguard the soundness of the insurance sector. Chapter 6 examines rate regulation and impacts of rate deregulation in China's nonlife insurance markets, focusing on auto insurance as a typical case. By drawing experience from the rate regulation in the US property and casualty insurance, it shows that China needs certain legal environment to escort a gradual liberalisation of rate control

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 145

This bibliography lists 301 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in August 1975

A blessing in disguise?! Discretion in the context of EU decision-making, national transposition and legitimacy regarding EU directives

This dissertation looks into the role of discretion granted by EU directives in EU legislative decision-making and national transposition processes. It applies a qualitative single country-study, focusing on the transposition of six directives in the Netherlands, from the policy areas of consumer protection, environment and justice and home affairs (migration). In the theoretical part the concept of discretion is explored, using insights from both the legal and political sciences. The empirical analysis then presents both EU and national processes regarding the six directives, addressed individually as well as in a comparative manner. This study contributes to clarifying the reasons and circumstances regarding the granting of different margins of discretion to Member States and the effects of discretion on EU negotiations and national transposition. It confirms that discretion can have facilitating and impeding effects on transposition, explains why, and identifies other factors affecting transposition by interacting with discretion. Additionally, a more fine-grained approach to measuring discretion is proposed than hitherto. Finally, but addressed separately from the empirical analysis, the link between discretion and legitimacy is elaborated. It is argued that discretion in national transposition processes can be used to enhance the directives’ input, throughput and output legitimacy within national law