http://etd.aau.edu.et:80/dspace/handle/123456789/5 Search the Channel search http://etd.aau.edu.et:80/dspace/simple-search http://etd.aau.edu.et:80/dspace/handle/123456789/4799 Title: IMPLEMENTATION OF QMS ISO 9001/2000 CASE STUDY OF SELECTED ETHIOPIAN LEATHER EXPORTING & PROCESSING ORGANIZATIONS <br/> <br/>Authors: Benyam, Atnafe <br/> <br/>Abstract: The LLPI (Leather and Leather Products Industry) of Ethiopia generates the second major export income of the country with between 10 and 20 % of total foreign earnings. International market is sensitive to regulations and standards like, environment, safety and quality; where ISO: 9001 certification for quality management system is currently a popular requirement for the industry. It is claimed that installing quality management system not only boosts market competitiveness but enhance efficiency, productivity and profitability. This study addresses the importance, challenges, assistance and gap analysis in implementation of ISO 9001:2000 in selected organizations in the LLPI. The industry is stratified under tannery, foot wear, and leather products. 25 organizations were selected that represent 73% of the tanneries, 38% of the footwear manufacturers and 29% of the leather product manufacturers of the country. Cluster samples of Addis Ababa, D/Zeit, Nazreth and Modjo were used due to concentration on these areas. The study is descriptive and explanatory in nature where both primary and secondary data are in use. Despite the grueling requirements of the international market only two organizations has been certified. The advantages to be gained due to ISO certification includes new market entry, better price, and maintenance of customers that lead to profitability and growth of the organization. Also, productivity could be boosted with increased efficiency and effectiveness in internal management processes. The challenges faced include the cost of certification, time and effort needed to develop required documentation and infrastructure to satisfy the requirements. The lack of commitment by owners of the organizations is also a major set back observed. Even there are various support organizations working around the leather industry only few focused on the certification of ISO 9001:2000. In the gap analysis unsatisfied requirements by most of the organizations include; lack of proper QMS documentation, procedure and records, poor product realization tools, missing infrastructure, poor quality objective setting, and lack of continuous improvement tools. Hence, a lot remains by support organizations in creating awareness and devising means to eliminate the challenges faced in the certification processes. With the accreditation of the Quality and Standard Authority of Ethiopia (QSAE) for ISO 9001 certification; major part of the industry could be certified with reasonable cost and effort, by restructuring their existing documents, management system and infrastructure if the commitment of the owners of the organizations is gained. <br/> <br/>Description: A study offered in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Administration http://etd.aau.edu.et:80/dspace/handle/123456789/4747 Title: Determinants of Bank Profitability: An Empirical Study on Ethiopian Private Commercial Banks <br/> <br/>Authors: Habtamu, Negussie <br/> <br/>Abstract: Determinants of Banks Profitability: An Empirical Study on Ethiopian Private Commercial Banks Habtamu Negussie Addis Ababa University, 2012 The purpose of this study is to investigate determinants of private commercial banks profitability in Ethiopia by using panel data of seven private commercial banks from year 2002 to 2011. The study used quantitative research approach and secondary financial data are analyzed by using multiple linear regressions models for the three bank profitability measures; Return on Asset (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Net Interest Margin (NIM). Fixed effect regression model was applied to investigate the impact of capital adequacy, asset quality, managerial efficiency, liquidly, bank size, and real GDP growth rate on major bank profitability measures i.e., (ROA), (ROE), and (NIM) separately. Beside this the study used primary data analysis to solicit mangers perception towards the determinants of private commercial banks profitability. The empirical results shows that bank specific factors; capital adequacy, managerial efficiency, bank size and macro-economic factors; level of GDP, and regulation have a strong influence on the profitability of private commercial banks in Ethiopia. Thus, management bodies of private commercial bank should strive to strengthen the identified significant factors and government bodies should also see the adverse effect of tight polices imposed on the existing private banks as well as for the new entrants. <br/> <br/>Description: A Thesis Submitted to The Department of Accounting and Finance Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration in Finance http://etd.aau.edu.et:80/dspace/handle/123456789/4746 Title: Assessing Progress in Ethiopia towards Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger as Part of Goal One of the Millennium Development Goals <br/> <br/>Authors: Ashenafi, Kitessa <br/> <br/>Abstract: In Ethiopia, just like many African countries, it is the high incidence of poverty and hunger that served as a push factor for the adoption and integration of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in to the national development plans. The progress towards achievement of the MDGs and eradication of extreme poverty and hunger in Ethiopia has not been researched after 2005 as a result of the unavailability of data i.e. the 2010 HICES and WMS. In addition to this, the agglomerated impact of external challenges such as the global economic challenge, recurrent drought and low agricultural productivity on the achievement of the MDG goal one has not been researched. In line of these gaps, the following research objectives were set including; i. showing the achievements made so far in terms of meeting the MDG goal one targets ii. Identifying the challenges encountered, opportunities gained and prospects for achieving the goal by 2015. To achieve the objective of the study secondary data were acquired from Welfare Monitoring Surveys and Household Income, Consumption and Expenditure surveys published by the Central Statistics Agency. To complement the aforementioned data, the results of Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey, variety of reports published by Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and, various agencies of the United Nations have been used. With the help of poverty headcount, gap and severity indices, the progress made so far in terms of reduction of poverty have been addressed. In addition to this, the issues of inequality and hunger have been discussed with the help of gini coefficient, Lorenz curve and anthropometric measures of nutrition. To date significant progresses have been observed in terms of halving the proportion of the poor and those who suffer from hunger. However, there appears to be a long way to go for the creation of decent employment opportunity for all. Despite the progresses made in terms of halving the proportion of the poor and those who suffer from hunger, the overwhelmingly high dependence of the government budget on external assistances and loans, the poor macro-economic management that resulted in soaring inflation and increasing trade deficit, the traditional and drought stricken nature of agriculture, climatic change and global economic challenges such as rise in food and oil prices, and the limited ability of the government to cope up with such shocks make the progresses made unsustainable and make many vulnerable to slip back again to poverty. Hence, the continuation of the current trend of strong economic growth and pro poor spending, focus on export oriented and import substituting industries and, the structural transformation of agriculture and the introduction of commercial farms are critical in terms of ensuring the continuity of the progresses made. <br/> <br/>Description: A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Public Administration and Development Management of Addis Ababa University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Public Management and Policy. http://etd.aau.edu.et:80/dspace/handle/123456789/4711 Title: THE EFFECT OF WORKING CAPITAL POLICIES MANAGEMENT ON FIRMS’ PROFITABILITY Evidence from Manufacturing Private Limited Companies in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. <br/> <br/>Authors: Nuru, Mohammed <br/> <br/>Abstract: Research studies on the effects of management of working capital policies on firms’ profitability in developing countries, especially in Ethiopia remained an ignored area of empirical research. Thus, this study examined the effect of working capital investment and financing policies on firms’ profitability by using audited financial statements of a sample of 11 manufacturing private limited companies in Tigray region, Ethiopia for the period of 2005 to 2009. The study used return on assets, return on equity and operating profit margin as dependent profitability variables. Accounts receivable period, inventory holding period and accounts payable period are used as independent working capital investment policy variables. Moreover, cash conversion cycle and current assets to total assets ratio are used as comprehensive measures of working capital investment policy. On the other hand, current liabilities to total assets ratio is used as measure of working capital financing policy. The two traditional measures, current ratio and quick ratio, are used as liquidity indicators. In addition, the study used firm size as measured by logarithm of sales, firm growth rate as measured by change in annual sales, financial leverage and annual GDP growth rate as control variables. Both correlation analysis and pooled panel data regression models of cross-sectional and time series data were used for analysis. The results show that longer accounts receivable and inventory holding periods are associated with lower profitability. There is also negative relationship between accounts payable period and profitability measures; however, except for operating profit margin this relationship is not statistically significant. The results also show that there exists significant negative relationship between cash conversion cycle and profitability measures of the sampled firms. No significant relationship between current assets to total assets ratio and profitability measures has been observed. On the other hand, findings show that a highly significant positive relationship between current liabilities to total assets ratio and profitability. Finally, negative relationships between liquidity and profitability measures have also been observed. Managers, therefore, can increase firms’ profitability by improving the efficiency of management of working capital investment and financing policies while, also keeping in view the trade-off between liquidity and profitability. <br/> <br/>Description: A Thesis Proposal Submitted for the partial fulfillment of Masters Degree in masters of Business Administration in Finance (MBA in finance)