Academic literature on the topic 'Insurance companies – Botswana – Decision making'

Audit activities form part of the key functions that enhance the reliability and validity of financial and non-financial information. One of the reporting processes investors and other stakeholders rely on when making decisions is the annual reports of enterprises which are a compilation of various reporting elements. Although internal auditors do not make direct disclosures in annual reports, many financial and non-financial disclosures are for audited items. Ultimately internally-audit activities and those of the external auditor are reflected in disclosures made by the internal audit function, the audit committee, and the external auditors themselves. The main objective of this study was to identify the levels of audit disclosure made in reference to the activities of IAFs, external auditor and the audit board committee, and to make comparisons therein between Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies. To uncover the extent of these disclosures the current study derived seventeen (17) mandatory or voluntary audit disclosure areas that were used to conduct text analysis and to determine disclosures made for a cross-country study of three companies, each from the areas of retail, banking and insurance selected from the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The study found that audit committees and internal audit functions dominated the disclosure of the audit-related variables, and that external auditors tend to confine their disclosure to areas concerned with presentation and qualification of financial statements. The study also found that companies listed in the JSE made more disclosures than their BSE counterparts, and that the retail sector made fewer disclosures as compared to the other two sectors. Furthermore, disclosures related to assessment and management risk as well as aspects of internal audit functions were the two most frequently disclosed variables in both geographic locations. The study goes on to recommend that future studies make more comparative studies by sector, geographic location, and to explore the use of a broader range of auditing variables.

Life insurance is an agreement between an insured and an insurer, where the insurer pays out a sum of money either on a specific period or the death of the insured. Now a day, People can buy a policy through an online platform. There are a lot of insurance companies available in the market, and each company has various policies. Selecting the best insurance company for purchasing an online term plan is a very complex problem. People may confuse to choose the best insurance company for buying an online term. It is a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem, and the problem consists of different criteria and various alternatives. Here in this paper, a model has been proposed to solve this decision-making problem. In this model, a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach combined with technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and it has been applied to rank the different insurance companies based on online term plans. The experimental results show that the life insurance corporation of India (LIC) gets the top rank out of 12 companies for purchasing an online term plan. A sensitivity analysis has been performed to validate the proposed model.

Purpose The biggest challenge in the Indian life insurance industry is mis-selling and unfair business practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of relational selling behaviour on investor decision making in life insurance market in India. This study also aims to elucidate the mediating role of trust in predicting the purchase of life insurance policies by investors. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was carried out to collect quantitative data using a validated structured questionnaire. A total of 813 policyholders of life insurance companies operating in Karnataka, South India, were chosen. The data were analysed using the partial least square method of structural equation modeling. Findings The process of investors’ life insurance buying decision is directly influenced by interaction intensity, co-operative intentions of agents, sharing of overt and covert policy information, and indirectly through the partial mediation of trust. Also, trust fully mediates the effect of agent disclosure and personal rapport on decision making by investors. The importance‒performance map analysis highlights the pivotal role of overt policy information in investors’ decision making. Practical implications The financial mis-selling in India can be curtailed significantly if the insurance companies insist on responsible and relational selling by their sales agents. The companies would also strategically gain by investing in trust-building programs that enhance quality interactions and honest disclosure of overt and covert policy information, unpretentious intention to co-operate in the policy selection, and emphasize emotional connection and personal rapport with customers. These genuine actions and behavioural manifestations would certainly facilitate appropriate decision making by the investors. Originality/value There is a paucity of research in India which explicates the role of relational selling behaviour in insurers’ decision making. As such, this article expands the scope of relational marketing research in insurance by assessing the relational determinants of investor decisions as well as the role of trust as the mediator in influencing insurance decision making.

This article considers that consumers choose offline returns under the omni-channel model to bring additional benefits to retailers, and studies the impact of different freight insurance delivery strategies on the pricing and consumer behavior of omni-channel retailers. Establish consumer utility function and corporate profit maximization model. Research has shown that consumers’ satisfaction with the three ways that companies do not provide return freight insurance for consumers’ online return, companies offer return freight insurance for consumers’ online return, and companies do not provide return freight insurance for consumers’ offline return when the price is high, free return shipping insurance can maximize the company’s online benefits, while not providing return shipping insurance services can maximize the company’s offline benefits, reducing commodity prices, and improving offline store service levels to further increase revenue; improve products Packaging quality to increase the net residual value of the product by ensuring the integrity of the product has a positive impact on increasing market share and corporate profits.

The global life insurance industry has shown a phenomenal growth in number of companies, insurance products and their users. The digital revolution has played a pivotal role in the field of insurance too. Increased numbers of companies and insurance plans have increased the complexities and time involved in selection of appropriate policies. At present, major share of policy selling goes to the agents which may be biased and time consuming. The web aggregators too have failed to provide customized and personalized suggestions. Major portion of population still finds the selection of best insurance plan unfriendly and tedious. This huge volume of data requires intelligent system to facilitate efficient and effective retrieval, processing and management of the data from multiple dimensions. This research paper proposes a framework to provide a personalized life insurance recommender system using TOPSIS method of multi-criteria decision making. Point allocation method along with TOPSIS provides preference elicitation and list of recommended policies ranked according to closeness coefficients. Sensitivity analysis in the paper shows the effect of changing the policy features’ preferences (criteria weights) on the final recommended products. The proposed framework helps in achieving computational excellence for efficient decision making with reduced complexity

This article theorises, within the context of the law of England and Wales, the potential outcomes in negligence claims against clinicians and software development companies (SDCs) by patients injured due to AI system (AIS) use with human clinical supervision. Currently, a clinician will likely shoulder liability via a negligence claim for allowing defects in an AIS’s outputs to reach patients. We question if this is ‘fair, just and reasonable’ to clinical users: we argue that a duty of care to patients ought to be recognised on the part of SDCs as well as clinicians. As an alternative to negligence claims, we propose ‘risk pooling’ which utilises insurance. Here, a fairer construct of shared responsibility for AIS use could be created between the clinician and the SDC; thus, allowing a rapid mechanism of compensation to injured patients via insurance.

The Taiwanese government has encouraged bank privatization and the establishment of financial holding companies to improve banking sustainability and consolidate banks, insurance companies, and securities firms. It is important for bank decision makers to set policies that lead to sustainable development. However, the literature remains unclear about the types of banks that achieve greater business sustainability. This paper aims to (1) identify the criteria that affect banks’ business sustainability and (2) determine the most sustainable types of banks. This study uses a hybrid multiple-criteria decision-making approach on eighteen financial criteria for twenty-five Taiwanese listed banks with data from 2012 to 2016. The results show that non-performing loan ratio is the most critical factor. In addition, financial holding companies outperformed non-financial holding companies. Financial holding companies with insurance companies as their largest subsidiaries performed best. Private banks exceeded state-owned banks in sustainability. The results lead to two implications. First, banks should value risk over profitability and diversify financial products. Second, the government should continue to privatize banks. These findings suggest that bank managers implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with a master plan, framework, and guidelines to help them track bank performance indicators to ensure sustainability.

In the contemporary business environment, the fundamental parameter for the successful subsistence of the competitive advantages is keeping pace with the contemporary trends. This also applies to the insurance industry, regardless of how conservative it is considered to be. Information and Communication Technologies influence all business sectors of the insurance companies. The users are increasingly reaching for the Internet as tools of research of insurance prices and products, and possibilities are opening up for the insurers through the new distribution channels. Innovations of the existing products and the development of the new ones represent the driving force behind the evolution of the entire insurance sector. Investing in the modern technology through information systems and risk modeling software makes administrative work easier, and has a significant role in the strategic-business decision-making process.

Asset configuration of Insurance Companies is crucial to their efficient management since the diversification it implies is vital for the dispersion and atomisation of risks underwritten. Asset portfolio decisions are important to Insurance Companies because they conciliate between rarely converging and often conflicting goals, security, liquidity and profitability. This study examines asset portfolio decision making process of Insurance Companies in Nigeria. The current study, aims to identify and develop integrated investment decision concepts guiding and influencing the asset portfolio decision process. Prior literature on asset portfolio decision making in Nigeria is sparse and focussed principally on classical models of decision making with inadequate metrics for quantifying risks, questionable and impracticable methods and data. The main problem of the portfolio theory, ex-pected utility and most modem theories of risks is that they regard risks in terms of standard deviations, variances, decision weights and co variances whereas risks can be defined in many ways and terms in different situations They fail to account for many facets of decision making by reflecting on rational and normative models that treat investment decision making as highly structured and formalised. By contrast, decision making and risk assessment are multi criteria processes that cannot be defined by rigid quantitative models thus highlighting the necessity to consider decision making by decision makers in their natural settings (social contexts, political and environment) in the case of this thesis, an Insurance Company. Decision theory literature together with asset portfolio decisions literature are reviewed and considered within the contexts of the unit of analysis. Utilising the qualitative paradigm, the research made use of exrploratory case study of a single organisation through the application of modified grounded theory methodology to develop six broad cases of investment decision concepts. The emergent concepts were critique against extant literature thereby highlighting their similarities and differences. The thesis introduces new perspectives of decision making by the introduction of the investment decision concepts influencing asset portfolio decisions of Insurance Companies. Thus, the research specifically contributes to three areas of research. The first area centred on asset portfolio management six decision concepts (Consistency of Return, Security, Legal and Regulatory Control, Competency of Management. Association &Relationships and Stable Environment). The second area is the methodological approach by situating naturalistic decision making within the insurance sector and the modified grounded theory employed enhances conventional qualitative research within the financial sector of the Nigerian economy. The third key area addresses the significance of social relationship, association and specific environmental issues influencing asset portfolio decision of Nigerian Insurance Companies.

The public is regularly shocked by revelations of new business scandals. Nearly every sector of society is tainted by incidents of unethical behaviour. In this regard, the South African financial services industry has attracted a lot of attention, as some of the biggest scandals in recent years have occurred in this industry. With the world economy still experiencing the effects of the global recession, the last thing that institutions in the financial arena must do is engage in unethical behaviour. Immoral behaviour could damage a company's repution and lead to further financial losses. The purpose of this study was thus two-fold: firstly, to investigae the factors that influence unethical decision-making and behaviour in the local life insurance sector, and secondly to evaluate how business ethics are institutionalised at a sample of life insurance companies.

Dissertation (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Notwithstanding the importance of institutional financial investments and labour to the South African economy, relatively little attention has been paid by researchers to the interdependence of these two issues. As a result of this gap in the existing literature, a potential exists for inefficient financial investment decision-making by institutional investors with a resultant non-optimal allocation of valuable capital on the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa (previously known as Johannesburg Stock Exchange). The objective of this study thus embodies the evaluation of the impact of labour-related risks on financial investment decision-making regarding long-term insurance assets, given the basic theory available in this regard, so that the resultant recommendations can lead to a better utilisation of the theory by investors in general. The resulting tasks of the study are as follows: • To do a literature study of the basic theory available in this regard. • To obtain information about the relevant aspects, by means of personal interviews with investment practitioners responsible for financial investment decision-making, as far as long-term insurance assets are concerned. • To develop a tool that can be used to measure the degree of labour-related risk at enterprises for the purpose of financial investment decision-making. • To make suitable recommendations based on the critical analysis of the obtained information. Twenty-three interviews were conducted during March and the first half of April 1999 to cover the financial investment decision-making practices of the 47 participating long-term insurers, resulting in a 100 per cent response rate. The personal interviews were structured by using a written discussion guideline that was drafted with reference to the literature study. A distinction was made between the perceived labour-related risks in manual and knowledge worker enterprises. In addition to general information, the discussion guideline required the participating institutions to disclose information about the financial investment decisionmaking process in use at their institutions and to respond with regard to the perceived importance of various labour-related risk factors. The discussion guideline also required the participants to rank certain aspects in order of their significance when the degree of labourrelated risk at enterprises is determined. Finally, questions were asked to determine the relative importance of labour-related risks in general when financial investment decisions are taken. The information obtained during the interviews was summarised on an Excel spreadsheet and subjected to an elaborate statistical analysis to satisfy the objectives of the study. The majority of the data that were obtained during the survey are ordinal, because the discussion guideline made use of an ordinal level of measurement. With this in mind, the mean (as a measure of central tendency) and the range (as a measure of dispersion) are used to describe the data. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient is used as a measure of correlation. The sign test, being one of the simplest non-parametric tests, is used throughout the study to investigate whether the observed differences in opinion regarding manual worker and knowledge worker enterprises are significant. The study highlights the significant role of long-term insurance assets on the JSE Securities Exchange South Africa, as well as the significant differences between manual and knowledge worker enterprises regarding the perceived importance of labour-related risk factors for the purpose of financial investment decision-making. The large number of labour-related risk factors and the existence of significant correlation between many of them reflects the complicated nature of labour-related risks. The respondents regard labour-related risks between moderately and highly important for manual and knowledge worker enterprises when financial investment decisions are taken. Classification trees are introduced as the preferred method to deal with these complexities and to measure labour-related risks in manual and knowledge worker enterprises for the purpose of financial investment decisionmaking. These classification trees are constructed based on the wealth of experience of investment practitioners active in the long-term insurance industry at the time of the survey and with reference to the literature study. Generally, the most critical labour-related aspects to consider when the degree of labourrelated risk at manual and knowledge worker enterprises is determined, are internal to these enterprises and can be managed. Management and the labour force of enterprises should take cognisance of their responsibilities in this regard and the perceived ability they have to significantly influence the degree of labour-related risk at manual and knowledge worker enterprises. Other role players also have important roles to play in this regard, given the impact of the external environment on the degree of labour-related risk. The responsibility of enterprises to disclose the information required by investors to determine the prevailing degree of labour-related risk at enterprises is matched by the responsibility of investment practitioners to request and rationally assess this information. The resulting conclusions and recommendations of this study and the tool that is developed to measure the degree of labour-related risk at enterprises for the purpose of financial investment decision-making are largely based on the perceptions of investment practitioners active in the long-term insurance industry at the time of the survey. With this in mind, it is recommended that future research activities be aimed at enhancing the value of the classification trees developed in this study by applying the tree-growing method on actual cases where the variables can be measured and the eventual outcomes are determined.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Desnieteenstaande die belangrikheid van institusionele finansiele beleggings en arbeid vir die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie, het navorsers tot dusver relatief min aandag aan die interafhanklikheid van hierdie twee aspekte gegee. Die leemte in die bestaande literatuur kan lei tot oneffektiewe finansiele beleggingsbesluitneming deur institusionele beleggers met die gevolg dat waardevolle kapitaal nie optimaal op die JSE Sekuriteitebeurs Suid-Afrika (voorheen bekend as die Johannesburgse Effektebeurs) verdeel word nie. Die doelstelling van hierdie studie behels dus die beoordeling van arbeidsverwante risiko's se invloed op finansiele beleggingsbesluitneming met betrekking tot die bates van langtermynversekeraars, gegewe die basiese teorie beskikbaar in hierdie verband, sodat die voortspruitende aanbevelings kan lei tot 'n beter benutting van die teorie deur beleggers in die algemeen. Die take van die studie is as volg: • Om'n literatuurstudie te doen van die basiese teorie wat in hierdie verband beskikbaar is. • Om inligting rakende die relevante aspekte te bekom deur middel van persoonlike onderhoude met beleggingspraktisyns wat vir beleggingsbesluitneming rakende die bates van langtermynversekeraars verantwoordelik is. • Om'n hulpmiddel te ontwikkel wat gebruik kan word om die graad van arbeidsverwante risiko in ondememings te meet vir die doeleindes van beleggingsbesluitneming. • Om toepaslike aanbevelings te maak op grond van die kritiese ontleding van die verkrygde inligting. Drie en twintig onderhoude is gedurende Maart en die eerste helfte van April 1999 gevoer om die beleggingsbesluitnemingspraktyke van die 47 deelnemende langtermynversekeraars te dek. 'n Een honderd persent reaksiekoers is dus behaal. Die persoonlike onderhoude is gestruktureer deur gebruik te maak van 'n geskrewe besprekingsriglyn wat na aanleiding van die literatuurstudie opgestel is. 'n Onderskeid is tussen die waargenome arbeidsverwante risiko's gemaak waar hande-arbeiders en werknemers wat kennis aanwend in ondememings werksaam is. Bo en behalwe algemene inligting, het die besprekingsriglyn ook van die deelnemende instellings gevra om inligting te openbaar rakende die beleggingsbesluitnemingsproses deur hulle gebruik en om 'n mening uit te spreek orntrent die belangrikheid van 'n verskeidenheid arbeidsverwante risikofaktore. Die besprekingsriglyn het ook versoek dat die deelnemers sekere aspekte rangskik in terme van hul belang wanneer die graad van arbeidsverwante risiko by ondememings bepaal word. Ten slotte is vrae gestel ten einde die relatiewe belangrikheid van arbeidsverwante risiko's in die algemeen te bepaal wanneer finansiele beleggingsbesluite geneem word. Die inligting wat tydens die onderhoude verkry is, is op 'n Excel sigblad opgesom en aan 'n omvattende statistiese ontleding onderwerp ten einde die doelstellings van die studie te verwesenlik. Die data wat tydens die opname verkry is, is hoofsaaklik volgens 'n rangorde, aangesien die besprekingsriglyn van 'n ordinale vlak van meting gebruik gemaak het. Met dit in gedagte, is die gemidde1de (as 'n maatstaf van lokaliteit) en die variasiewydte (as 'n maatstaf van spreiding) gebruik om die data te beskryf. Spearman se rangorde korrelasiekceffisient is as 'n maatstaf van korrelasie gebruik. Die tekentoets, een van die mees eenvoudige nie-parametriese toetse beskikbaar, is in die studie gebruik om ondersoek in te stel of die waargenome verskille in mening rakende ondernemings waar hande-arbeiders en werknemers wat kennis aanwend, betekenisvol is. Die studie beklemtoon die betekenisvolle rol wat die bates van langtermynversekeraars op die JSE Sekuriteitebeurs Suid-Afrika speel, sowel as die betekenisvolle verskille rakende die waargenome belangrikheid van arbeidsverwante risiko's vir die doeleindes van beleggingsbesluitneming waar ondernemings hande-arbeiders en werknemers wat kennis aanwend, in diens het. Die groot aantal arbeidsverwante risikofaktore en die betekenisvolle korrelasie wat tussen talle van hulle bestaan, dui op die komplekse aard van arbeidsverwante risiko 's. Die respondente beskou arbeidsverwante risiko' s as tussen redelik belangrik en hoogs belangrik vir sowel ondernemings met hande-arbeiders en die met werknemers wat kennis aanwend wanneer beleggingsbesluite geneem word. Klassifikasiebome word bekend gestel as die gewenste metode om vir hierdie kompleksiteite voorsiening te maak en om arbeidsverwante risiko's in ondernemings wat hande-arbeiders en werknemers wat kennis aanwend, in diens het, vir die doeleindes van beleggingsbesluitneming te meet. Die klassifikasiebome word op grond van die omvangryke ervaring van beleggingspraktisyns (wat ten tye van die opname in die langtermynversekeringsbedryf bedrywig was) en met verwysing na die literatuurstudie opgestel. Oor die algemeen is die mees kritiese arbeidsverwante aspekte wat oorweeg moet word ten einde die graad van arbeidsverwante risiko te bepaal by ondernemings met hande-arbeiders en die met werknemers wat kennis aanwend, intern tot hierdie ondernemings. Sodanige aspekte kan gevolglik bestuur word. Bestuur en die arbeidsmag van ondernemings moet kennis neem van hul verantwoordelikhede in hierdie verband sowel as die waargenome vermoe wat hulle het om die graad van arbeidsverwante risiko by ondernemings wat handearb eiders en werknemers wat kennis aanwend, in diens het wesenlik te beinvloed. Ander rolspelers speel ook 'n belangrike rol in hierdie verb and vanwee die invloed wat die eksterne omgewing op die graad van arbeidsverwante risiko het. Die verantwoordelikheid van ondernemings om die nodige inligting aan beleggers te openbaar ten einde hulle in staat te stel om die heersende graad van arbeidsverwante risiko by die ondernemings te bepaal, stem ooreen met die verantwoordelikheid van beleggingspraktisyns om die inligting te versoek en rasioneel te beoordeel. Die voortvloeiende gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings van die studie en die hulpmiddel wat ontwikkel is om die graad van arbeidsverwante risiko by ondernemings te meet vir die doeleindes van beleggingsbesluitneming, is grotendeels gebaseer op die persepsies van beleggingspraktisyns wat ten tye van die opname in die langtermynversekeringsbedryf bedrywig was. Met dit in gedagte, word aanbeveel dat toekomstige navorsingsaktiwiteite gerig word op die verhoging van die waarde van die klassifikasiebome wat in hierdie studie ontwikkel is deur die boom-groei metodiek toe te pas op werklike gevalle waar die veranderlikes gemeet en die finale uitkomste bepaal kan word.

The primary objective of this study was to develop an Enterprise Risk Management Maturity Framework (ERMMF) for use in the assessment of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) maturity levels of the insurance industry in Botswana. The ERMMF incorporated elements from the Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)’s ERM framework and the AON risk maturity model. Five criteria were utilised to define each of the eight components of ERM used to measure ERM maturity levels. The framework was developed qualitatively through literature review. The ERMMF was tested empirically to evaluate the ERM maturity levels of the insurance industry in Botswana. Data was collected from 12 respondents from long-term insurance companies, 15 from short-term insurance companies, 4 from reinsurers and 59 from brokerages. The findings revealed that the whole insurance industry is at the Defined stage of ERM maturity level as the responses bordered around 3 on the developed scale of measurement. The findings implied that the insurance sector in Botswana has generally implemented ERM but not enough follow-ups had been made to ensure that ERM became a continuous process. Results further indicated that although the whole sector was at the defined stage of ERM, the responses in each component differed per stratum. Literature indicates that insurance organisations, regardless of stratum within which they are, are faced with similar risks generally. The differing responses could be due to the magnitude of risks that could differ according to unique characteristics of each stratum. The study further recommended an enterprise risk management implementation procedure for the insurance industry in Botswana.
Business Management
D. Admin (Business Management)

碩士
國立高雄第一科技大學
金融理財研究所
99
Risk-Based Capital system (RBC) was implemented since July 2003. This system attempted to monitor the financial structure of an insurance company, reduce the risk that a company might be unable to clear off the debt, and encourage a company to pay attention to its property structure and the risked revolved around its capital. The present study examined whether capital structure and percentage of equity holdings by industry among Taiwanese insurance companies would appear differences after implementing Risk-Based Capital system. This study employed a series of independent sample T-tests to investigate the effects of RBC system on capital structure and percentage of equity holdings by industry across different insurance companies in Taiwan. Further, the target companies were categorized into six types: 1. finance holding company and non- finance holding company 2. foreign venture and local company .3 capital . The results indicated that after RBC system, percentage of equity holdings by industry among finance holding company and non- finance holding company and insurance companies holding by local corporation decreased. However, no significant differences regarding percentage of equity holdings were found. According to capital, insurance company of middle capital asset appeared to decrease the investment on the stock market. Further analyses found that in addition to stock variation, RBC also had positive effects on percentage of equity holdings by non- finance holding company and insurance company of low capital asset.

Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree: Master of Management Sciences: Marketing, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017.
The immigration Act 19 of 2004 requires that all international students have proof of medical aid cover for a whole year from a provider that is registered with the South African Council for Medical Schemes in terms of Medical Schemes Act, 1998. Some medical insurance companies provide gifts to students to gain a larger market share in educational institutions. Health insurance products are very crucial in the lives of students and therefore the students must be familiar of medical product benefits and exclusions. Students lack relevant knowledge of health insurance products. Students seem have a perception that medical insurance products cover all healthcare expenses. Dissatisfied customers will tarnish the image of the respective medical aid companies, hence customer attrition. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the influence of promotional tools in awareness creation on higher education international students’ selection of medical products. The study was descriptive and quantitative in nature. A structured questionnaire with close-ended and scaled response questions was used as the research instrument. The sample comprised 400 international students studying at two universities in KwaZulu-Natal. Non probability sampling was used to select the sample. The results indicate that the respondents are very sensitive to price and majority of them are influenced by advertising and word of mouth. The results indicate that students react differently to each promotional tool.
M

The aim of the thesis with title Evaluation of life insurance is to choose the most convenient insurance product for a specific client. Since we choose insurance on the basis of several criteria and it is not obvious at first sight which product is the most advantageous, it is suitable to use methods of multiple criteria decision making. In theoretical part basic notions concerning insurance industry and multiple criteria decision making are explained. Next, all methods which are used to determine weights of criteria and to choose the best variant are described in detail. For purposes of the thesis there were gathered drafts contracts for investment life insurance and risk life insurance from seven insurance companies, which means altogether fourteen contracts. In practical part evaluation criteria are determined in collaboration with client and their weights are calculated. Next, order of particular variants was determined. All process was in person consulted with a specialist from the area of insurance industry. On the basis of used methods of multicriterial evaluation of variants we can say that for the specific client the insurance product Bella Vita from the Insurance Company Generali is the best choice. In comparison with other alternatives it´s advantage is insurance payment already from the fifteenth day in case of incapacity for work, which arose as a consequence of injury and high insurance payment in case of hospitalization. If the client will choose investment variant or risk variant depends only on his decision, because their results are comparable.

The aim of this thesis is to compare the products of the life insurance offered by various insurance companies. Were selected five insurance - Česká pojišťovna, Kooperativa pojišťovna, ČSOB Pojišťovna, ING Pojišťovna and Pojišťovna České spořitelny. Products that are currently the best were selected from the product lists of these insurance companies. The aim of this thesis is to compare the products of the life insurance offered by various insurance companies. Using the method of evaluated sum and method TOPSIS was identified that the most ideal life insurance for the selected client is the product called Diamant by Česká pojišťovna.

This study shows that managers of short-term insurers may improve their financial results if they can identify and manage the factors that are critical to their financial results. The development and application of the concept of critical success factors are therefore used as a basis for this study. The study reviews the functions performed by short-term insurers, focusing on the effect these functions have on their cash flows. Selection and pricing of risk are discussed in detail. The underwriting cycle in South Africa, and several possible causes of the cycle are investigated. Reinsurance, claims handling and rilanagement expenses are important components of the cash flows of short-term insurers and are therefore examined in detail. The optimum risk level at various combinations of underwriting and investment income is empirically tested, using the financial results of several insurers. The study investigates different approaches to the measurement of financial success of insurers, and the return on shareholders' funds is found to provide the fairest and most reliable method. Empirical comparisons are made on the financial results of the insurers that participated in the study to distinguish between those that are financially successful and those that are not. To discover what the industry consider to be their critical financial success factors, a postal survey was done of key decision makers in the South African short-term insurance industry. Respondents identified several success factors, but did not include some success factors discovered during the review of the literature. Respondents apparently experienced difficulty in separating strategic issues from operational ones. The survey revealed that the pricing of risk is problematic for short-term insurers. The importance of the investment function is also underestimated by the industry. The study concludes that the combined systematic risk of the investment and underwriting portfolios is a critical success factor, along with the capital base of the insurer, the ability of the insurer to use the leverage provided by using policyholders' funds as free reserves and the size and direction of an insurer's cash flows.
Business Management
D. Com (Business Management)

The purpose of the monograph is to create a methodology, combined expert and simulation models, as well as algorithms and software-modeling tools for reconstruction and examination of accident events for automating decision-making by an expert center employee. The methodology of combining and algorithms of joint work of an expert system based on logical artificial intelligence (mivar approach) and a simulation system for solving problems of reconstruction and examination of road accidents are developed; model reconstruction and examination of the accident in the formalism of the knowledge base bipartite oriented mivar nets, including analysis formulas braking qualities of the vehicle, determining the speed of a car's performance in terms of specific DTS, the formula for calculating different occasions: - slip car when braking, driving on curved sections of the road, hitting a car on the pedestrian in uniform motion and unlimited visibility; a method of generation of interfaces for designer expert systems based on the concept of mivar approach; special software in the form of expert systems "Analysis of road accident" in order to reduce the complexity of the process of calculating the disputed accidents, errors in the calculation and improve the accuracy and objectivity of the results obtained and the speed and quality of the calculations. It can be useful to specialists of expert institutions, insurance companies, educational institutions in the field of expertise, as well as unmanned vehicles in terms of objective analysis and examination of road accidents.

To date, the insurance industry’s interest in the blockchain has focused largely on the possibility of recording insurance entitlements in a transparent way. While the blockchain may produce significant efficiencies of this sort, it has considerably greater transformative potential. Smart contracts could serve as a substitute for insurance companies, conventionally conceived. Such contracts could perform the function of deciding whether claims should be paid, without the need for or possibility of judicial intervention. The blockchain and smart contracts are difficult to regulate, because ownership and decision making can be decentralized. Blockchain-based insurance may successfully provide a means of avoiding expensive regulation and could have a competitive advantage over regulated insurance. This chapter discusses how blockchain-based insurance might work and identifies some technical challenges and other obstacles that it may face.

Fintech is a new buzz word in the fourth industrial revolution environment. No financial services across the globe are left unaffected by the new technologies. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and data analytics have immensely influenced many aspects of financial services such as deposits, transactions, billings, remittances, credits (B2B and P2P), underwriting, insurance, and so on. Fintech companies are enabling larger financial inclusion, improvement of lives of humans, better decision-making, and lots more. This chapter covers the development, opportunities, and challenges of financial sectors because of new technologies in India. This chapter throws the light on opportunities that emerged because of demographic dividend, high penetration, and access to the latest and affordable technology, affordable cost of smartphones, and government policies such as Digital India, Startup India, Make in India, and so on. Lastly, this chapter portrays the untapped potentials of Fintech in India.

Understanding how firms differ is a central challenge for both theory and practice of management. For a long time, Porter’s (1985) value chain was the only value configuration known to managers. Stabell and Fjeldstad (1998) identified two alternative value configurations. First, a value shop schedules activities and applies resources in a fashion that is dimensioned and appropriate to the needs of client problems, while a value chain performs a fixed set of activities that enables it to produce a standard product in large numbers. Examples of value shops are professional service firms, as found in medicine, law, architecture and engineering. Next, a value network links clients or customers who are or wish to be interdependent. Examples of value networks are logistic companies, telephone companies, retail banks and insurance companies. In this chapter, we apply the contingent approach to systems outsourcing by making the outsourcing decision dependent on the value configuration of the enterprise. We present the three different value configurations – the value chain, the value shop, and the value network. Next, the three different value configurations are compared according to key characteristics, e.g. use of information systems. Then, we take a look at interfirm relations to be able to identify areas for outsourcing, and value configuration as a determinant and predictor for the extent of outsourcing. Finally, we discuss levels of strategy and we introduce the Y-model for IS/IT strategy work.

There is a remarkable association between an organization's analytics intricacy and its competitive enactment. The biggest problem to adopting analytics is the lack of knowledge of using it to improve business performance. A website is believed and considered as ‘face' of the company. In present era, there are more than 200 million people who buy goods online across the globe. Business Analytics helps companies to find the most profitable customer and allows them to justify their marketing effort, especially when the competition is very high. Predictive analytics helps organizations to predict churn, default in loan payment, brand switch, insurance loss and even the outcome in a football match. There is ample evidence from the corporate world that the ability to make better decisions (by management executives) improves with analytical skills. This chapter will provide an in-depth knowledge of business analytic techniques and their applications in improving business processes and decision-making.

Purpose – the main idea of the article was to characterize the process of digitalization in insurance companies through the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT). This research examined the relationship between the expenses for information technologies of selected insurance companies and the results of their activity. Research methodology – the research had empirical character and was based on the analysis of two groups of indicators: digitalization and insurance. The first group characterizes the level of insurance companies’ investments in ICT, and the second – the results of insurance activity. Data were collected from notes to financial statements of top 4 European insur-ance groups. The results have been received based on correlation analysis. Findings – the results of the research showed that there is a different tendency in the raising of ICT investments and the values of gross premiums, claims, and expenses. This result deals with the important question in insurance if the higher invests in technologies could be a factor of insurers’ effectiveness. Research limitations – most important limitation relates to the lack of complete data about information and communica-tion technologies in insurers. It is closely connected with some ambiguity in defining modern information technologies. Practical implications – the results of the research could be used in the decision-making process in practice or future re-search. Originality/Value – in the research the possibility to combine analysis and comparison of selected parameters of digitali-zation based on financial statements of insurance companies was described.