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Traditional cost management systems adopted by construction firms have many problems, which are widely discussed in the literature: the information provided by them is usually too late, and tends to be too aggregated and too distorted to be relevant for production management. The main objective of this research work is to propose a project cost planning and control model for construction firms. This model aims to support the development of production management systems, in which cost management and production planning and control can be gradually integrated, in order to overcome the existing limitations of cost accounting systems. The scope of the model was limited to building projects carried out by small and medium sized companies, involved in both product development and production. The development of the model was based on the literature review and also on the results of nine empirical studies conducted in four different Brazilian construction firms. The model suggests the integrated application of three fairly well known cost management techniques: operational cost estimating, S‐curves and target costing. By using this set of tools, it is expected that cost management will become more proactive, and able to deal with the dynamic, uncertain and complex construction environment that exists in most projects. The model was partially tested in two case studies, in which it provided key information for supporting decision making related to design, production planning and contracts with suppliers.

Downsizing, outsourcing and decentralization are all symptoms of a fundamental change in corporate structure triggered by the ‘killer applications’ — revolutionary new goods or services — being spawned by the exponential growth potential of information technology. The secret of why they are threatening the foundation of traditional companies and markets lies in an understanding of the neglected subject of transaction costs.

This study analyzes the impact of Korea ETF market growth on trading costs, information efficiency and corporate valuation focusing on the behaviors of individual component stocks in ETFs.

The empirical analysis exhibits that an increase in the number of stocks held by ETFs has statistically significant effects on the bid-ask spreads of component stocks. In terms of the information efficiency, the correlations between componet stocks and the market, and industry return are statistically significant, suggesting the expansion of the ETF market could be a factor to allow market systematic risks higher.

The impact of ETF on PBR is found to be statistically significant in the positive direction, howing that the growth of the ETF market could be conducive to making the value of component stocks overvalued relative to their fundamentals.

These findings explain that negative side effects may occur from the rapid expansion of the ETF market and suggest special attention and policy considerations are needed to avoid unintended effects resulting from the growth of the ETF market.

As Information Technology enters its second era, it's encountering a paradigm shift that mirrors changes in the corporation itself. With no respect for traditional boundaries, it's breaking down walls and hierarchies—and, in the process, becoming an increasingly valuable strategic tool.

The use of productivity measurement in relation to the marketing function is relatively new. The central role of marketing can be expressed as the management of consumer demand and the translation of this demand into sales and profits. Marketing productivity analysis is an important tool in evaluating the performance of the marketing department in carrying out this role. It measures the efficiency with which marketing inputs are used to generate target levels of marketing outputs.

When the subject of outsourcing originally surfaced in the corporate real estate community, the process was promoted as both a tactical resource and a strategic opportunity. Tactical objectives included the obvious: increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost of traditional real estate activities. Strategic prospects focused on broader goals. Real estate would be managed dynamically to serve the corporation’s comprehensive business and financial objectives. The corporate real estate function would be elevated in the organisational hierarchy as a result. What happened to this vision? That which was promoted as a strategic partnership has, in many cases, turned out to look far more like a traditional customer/vendor relationship. Strategic advances have been limited. Financial performance may have been boosted initially and incrementally as real estate headcount was moved off one balance sheet and onto another. But, in general, outsourcing has not helped the corporate real estate function emerge as a strategic business force. It is entirely possible to revive and redefine an outsourcing relationship, so that it delivers on the strategic promise that both clients and service partners have found so attractive and yet so elusive. The challenge lies in creating and maintaining a real partnership between the corporate real estate team and the service provider. The key is to determine what needs to be done on both sides of the relationship to make it work effectively.

The economic environment and competitive pressures are forcing business planners to look strategically at their internal business processes and to then assess the alignment of these processes with new sources of competitive advantage. It is clear to most strategists that time to market, quality improvement, and service responsiveness have joined traditional cost, market share, and ROI goals as factors influencing both proactive and defensive planning.

The purpose of this study is to find out the tendency to outsource hotel operations, explain the reasons, both strategic, related mainly to quality, improvement of service, concentration on core operations, and tactical or cost reasons. The relationship between the tendency to outsource and performance is also analyzed with regard to quality and cost of hotel services. In addition, the relationship between the size of the hotel and the tendency to outsource is analyzed. The tendency to outsource is defined as the predisposition of the company to leave certain hotel functions or services in the hands of third parties, keeping in mind both degree of present and desired outsourcing by the hotel under the hypotheses that there are suppliers who offer better quality than could be obtained by the hotel if it kept it in‐house. The results of the study make it possible to establish significant differences between present and desired outsourcing indicating that an increase in outsourcing is decided by the possibility that this strategy can improve quality and service and increase flexibility in operations, and not because of a cost reduction as traditionally believed. This study also establishes three groups of hotel activities according to the tendency to outsource (i.e., low, medium and high tendency). It is also observed that the larger the size of the hotel, the more present outsourcing there is. Finally, current demands of businesses with regard to suppliers able to satisfy their needs and the limits that impede a larger number of activities from having been outsourced up to now have been found. Finally, a series of practical and academic conclusions and implications are presented.

Data collected from 202 large and 92 small consumer goods manufacturing firms were analysed to examine the perceptions and experiences of these companies with test marketing as part of their new product development strategy. Seventy six per cent of the large companies and twenty four per cent of the small firms in the study test marketed their new products before full‐scale introduction. Chi‐square analysis indicated a relationship between firm size, type of business/industry, the scope of marketing operations, and whether the firm conducted test marketing or not. Cost, time constraints, and the generic nature of the product were the most prominent reasons cited by all firms for not conducting test marketing. In addition, small firms cited their size as amajor reason they did not engage in test marketing.

As a habitual award winner TNT United Kingdom is consistently rated a top performer by its peers. But the distribution and logistics company has equally vigorous and rigorous internal means of judging — and improving on — its performance.