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Investment in manufacturing is important to sustained UK economic recovery, quality of life and national economic standing. Considers results from a survey of UK manufacturers on influences on capital investment, the appraisal methods used and the impact of recent changes, particularly in interest rates. Compares results with the Bank of England and CBI surveys and studies of appraisal methodology. Outcomes include the finding that UK interest rates are not seen by most manufacturers as an important influence on their investment decisions. Examines the effects of factors such as inflation, taxation and the UK and EU economic outlooks. Responses confirm near universal usage of the payback method in financial appraisals and widespread use of multiple criteria. Looks at UK investment in advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) and what allowances are made for intangible benefits. Considers a number of aspects of short‐ termism and concludes that the Cadbury recommendations are unlikely to have a major impact.

An extensive search of the literature showed no data on the payback times associated with moving to a total quality management (TQM) style of management. Given the company‐wide nature of the undertaking, and the fact that TQM conversion is generally considered to be a long‐term, difficult process, this finding was unexpected. A survey of manufacturing companies showed that the initial investment associated with shifting to TQM was recouped in one year for 42.3 per cent of the responding companies. Payback times were two years or less for 65.4 per cent of the companies and three years or less for 80.8 per cent of the companies. All companies that reported quantitative data expected their TQM efforts to be profitable eventually, if not already so. Thus, despite the substantial training, reorganization and systems modification costs, initial TQM investments are being paid back within a time frame similar to that for other large financial undertakings. The lack of financially unfavourable TQM programmes among the survey respondents suggests that the probability of financial success is high.

This article reports on the results of a survey on how companies listed on the main board of the JSE Securities Exchange SA make a capital investment decision in practice. The respondents to the survey questionnaires provided answers regarding the methods that their companies use to evaluate capital investments, as well as to evaluate mutually exclusive projects. The results suggest that South African companies prefer to use the internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV) to evaluate capital investments. In addition, there appears to be a correlation between the methods that companies use and the size of their annual capital budget. Finally, a hypothetical problem was presented to the respondents, who were asked to choose between two mutually exclusive projects. Interestingly, the majority of the respondents chose the project which added the least value.

This study employs a sample survey to determine and analyse the corporate finance practices of South African listed companies in relation to cost of capital, capital structure and capital budgeting decisions.The results of the survey are mostly in line with financial theory and are generally consistent with a number of other studies. This study finds that companies always or almost always employ DCF methods such as NPV and IRR to evaluate projects. Companies almost always use CAPM to determine the cost of equity and most companies employ either a strict or flexible target debt‐equity ratio. Furthermore, most practices of the South African corporate sector are in line with practices employed by US companies. This reflects the relatively highly developed state of the South African economy which belies its status as an emerging market. However, the survey has also brought to the fore a number of puzzling results which may indicate some gaps in the application of finance theory. There is limited use of relatively new developments such as real options, APV, EVA and Monte Carlo simulation. Furthermore, the low target debt‐equity ratios reflected the exceptionally low use of debt by South African companies.

This paper investigates the extent to which formal capital budgeting methods are used in small high-tech firms. We define high-tech firms by their R&D intensity. In addition, we define software industry as a special type of R&D-intensive firm. We focus on the methods that are used by the small high-tech firms in evaluating the profitability of investment projects, estimating the cost of capital and making decisions related to the capital structure. Our results based on two surveys of Finnish firms indicate that the high-tech firms use similar capital budgeting methods and estimate their cost of capital in a similar way to other small-sized firms in other industries. Moreover, high-tech firms seek external financing and co-owners.

This paper aims to examine the capital budgeting practices used by firms in Barbados using contingency theory.

The study involves the use of a self-administered questionnaire sent to the individual responsible for capital budgeting decisions (either the accountant, financial controller or senior manager) in each of the firms selected. In total, 41 completed questionnaires are received; 12 follow-up interviews are conducted with respondents to indicate the reasons for use and non-use of capital budgeting practices.

Capital budgeting practices are not widely used by firms in Barbados. The payback method (PBM) is determined to be the preferred method of choice because of its simplicity, agility and cultural practices. Based on contingency theory, organisations in Barbados believe that the PBM is a better fit for them. Top management drives the capital budgeting process with crude and non-traditional methods for the acceptance of capital projects. While there are no statistically significant differences in the capital budgeting practices used in different sectors, professional accountants are more likely to use net present value and sensitivity analysis than non-professional accountants.

The sample is small, and consequently, findings may not be generalisable to the population.

This study makes a significant contribution to the body of literature in emerging countries such as Barbados on the usage of capital budgeting practices and factors that may influence their usage. It further contributes to policymakers, practitioners, organisations and stakeholders of organisations.

This paper reviews and analyzes the literature on agency theory in terms of the nature of the problem and its implications for management. Finance theory posits that the goal of economic organizations is to maximize stockholders' wealth. Attaining this goal was not an issue when owners were also managers. But since World War II corporate ownership world‐wide has become increasingly diffused. By 1969 only 15% of the largest U.S. non‐financial institutions were owned by their managers. This change raises the issue of the relationships between owners and managers. To what extent do managers act on their own behalf rather than the owners as prescribed by finance theory? Several studies indicate that managers substitute their own interests in place of the shareholders. This is possible because managers possess more information about the firm, control the election procedure to the Board of Directors, and the shareholders are widely dispersed. This phenomenon is called an agency problem. According to Jensen and Meckling an “agency problem” exists when managers own less than 100% of the firm. With less than 100 per cent ownership, managers can shift part of the cost associated with decisions made in their own interest. Clearly these conditions are common in major corporations of the world where global markets require raising large amounts of capital for the research, development, and production facilities required to remain competitive.

The purpose of this paper is to understand current practices in capital budgeting (including real options) in Indian companies and provide a normative framework (guidelines) for practitioners (based on our findings and literature reviewed).

A questionnaire survey was administered to 166 non‐financial companies of the BSE 200 index. Secondary data were also collated from 2001‐2011.

Trends towards sophisticated techniques and sound capital budgeting decisions have continued in India. All sample respondent firms used discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques in conjunction with non‐DCF techniques. Internal rate of return (IRR), used by more than three quarters of the sample companies, is favored over net present value (NPV), used by half of the sample companies. Real options are used by half of the sample companies. Permanent (long‐term) capital has been used to finance fixed assets (net) and working capital (net).

The limitations of the study are that it is country specific and a detailed sectoral analysis of the constituent sectors of the sample companies could have perhaps provided deeper insight into the subject.

The findings of this research, decades of teaching experience of the authors and the literature reviewed have been utilized to evaluate current practices and suggest possible improvements in decision making (through a normative framework).

The findings show that there still remains a theory‐practice gap in the usage of IRR over NPV. The usage of permanent (long‐term) capital to fund fixed assets (net) and permanent working capital requirements, although sound, could be an indication of surplus funds which could be used to repay long‐term debt or finance more asset building.

This review of O.R. work in the fields of finance and investment indicates the considerable scope both for the standard tools of the trade, such as mathematical programming, and for the more general scientific approach which the author believes is characteristic of the best O.R. work. The use of scientific models of the system under study enables the investigator to compare alternative policies, to try out possible systems without the need to experiment in the real life situation—a particular merit of simulation techniques—and to search for optimum solutions.

The aim of this paper is to identify ways for improvement of the foresight evaluation framework on the basis of analysis and systematisation of accumulated experience in the field of project management.

The paper is based on a detailed literature review devoted to an evaluation of foresight and traditional projects. The approaches to project evaluation in the field of project management were investigated, and the main steps of traditional project evaluation process were determined. The most commonly applied steps of foresight evaluation were identified by the analysis of recent foresight evaluation projects. The comparison of evaluation frameworks for foresight projects and traditional projects allows to provide recommendations for foresight evaluation framework improvement.

The paper identifies several lessons for foresight evaluation from project management. The elements which can enrich foresight evaluation framework are the following: the development of an evaluation model; the extensive use of quantitative methods; the elaboration of evaluation scales; the inclusion of economic indicators into evaluation; and the provision of more openness and transparency for evaluation results.

Given the importance of foresight evaluation procedures and the lack of a commonly applied methodological approach, the value of this paper consists in identifying a foresight evaluation framework and enriching it with elements of project management.