In this thesis I used the 3SLS method to test the national competitiveness model found by Fagerberg(1988), which regards the technological competitiveness as a dominant factor deciding national competitiveness of a country. The data concerned including economic variables of Taiwan, U.S., U.K., French, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan, ranging from 1990 to 1997.

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For the Cyprus Manufacturing Industry, previously committed to the production of medium quality standard products, the increased and changing nature of competitive pressures represents a fundamental challenge. The major problems the Cyprus manufacturing industry is facing appear to be labour shortages, together with low product competitiveness and poor production organization. It is widely believed that the introduction of Advanced Manufacturing technologies (AMTs) offers a means of resolving the above problems but their implementation is a risky venture. The main objective of the study was to examine the implementation of AMTs in the Cyprus Manufacturing Industry, identify the factors leading to successful application of these technologies and based on these factors develop an integrated process plan to facilitate their successful implementation. A survey was conducted on a sample of 40 companies using personal interviews based on a purpose designed comprehensive questionnaire. The questionnaire encompassed the international trends in the management and implementation of AMT. Successes and failures have been considered in terms of the Technical, Manufacturing and the Business aspects and influences of each technology. It has been found that the most important factors contributing to the successful implementation of AMT were the level of long term planning, the fitness level of AMT in the existing processes and the attention given to infrastructure preparation and human resource development. Based on the success factors identified an integrated planning model has been developed. The model incorporates all the planning procedures and implementation parameters to be followed in order to ensure successful AMT adoption and implementation. The model addresses the three main stages of AMT adoption and implementation: (a) the planning phase, (b) the selection, transfer and pre-implementation phase and (c) the post implementation phase. For each phase the steps to be followed are fully explored and analysed. Finally the usefulness of the model in facilitating the successful application of AMT is illustrated through two case studies.

Climate change, poor technological and information developments, fluctuations in exchange rates, access to credit, infrastructure, etc. threaten resources, endowments, and skills and technology development opportunities, especially in sectors like agriculture, which is most vulnerable to changes in underlying conditions. Consequently, there is a consistent need to assess the competitiveness of businesses, supply chains, sectors, countries and regions to inform public sector policy making and private sector strategy. Having acknowledged the importance of competitiveness through studies covered in Chapter Two of the dissertation, it is crucial for Lesotho’s most important commodities to undergo such analysis for the betterment of the stakeholders and Lesotho as a whole. This study analysed the competitiveness of the wool and mohair industry of Lesotho, which is one of the primary and strategic sectors in the country. The consequences of rangeland degradation, poor handling standards of wool and mohair, and declining production in Lesotho raise questions about the sector’s competitiveness in a global market for the products. The main purpose of the research was to establish the competitiveness status of the industry against other wool and mohair producing countries, and discover contributing or inhibiting factors to the status. The Relative Trade Advantage (RTA), designed by Vollrath (1991), was employed to evaluate the status of the industry. Through the use of Porter’s Diamond Model, the study gathered and analysed the perceptions of farmers to determine the factors that affect competitiveness of the industry. The study discovered that the five most prominent factors that drive Lesotho’s wool and mohair industry competitiveness are strongly enforced rules at the shearing sheds, rules governing the association, collective action, prevalence of competition for high quality products, and availability of skilled labour. Conversely, crime, climate change, occurrences and effects of natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and a lack of trust in government officials’ to full their responsibilities are those factors that have a detrimental effect on the competitiveness of Lesotho’s wool and mohair industry. The research finds that the existence of unfavourable factors within the industry does not affect the competitiveness status and, therefore, the industry is considered to have a competitive advantage against pertinent countries, based on the Relative Trade Advantage (RTA). Therefore, efforts promoting the enhancing factors would help the industry to maintain and/or promote its competitiveness status. Serious provisions, on the other hand, are recommended for eliminating the constraining factors. Possible strategies in this regard include: implementation of trade tax policies that cater for the industry products, reforms or amendments of marketing and trading regulations of the commodities, and policies that foster skill, innovation and technological development. Additionally, the involvement of farmers in decision-making may help improve their awareness and understanding of the business environment. Lastly, private-sector development is a necessity for the industry to guarantee proper channels for information and resource dissemination. / Dissertation (MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / CMAAE / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics) / Unrestricted

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The research was conducted to determine the degree of organisational performance measurement in SMEs in the ICT sector within the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Literature on performance measurement and SMEs was reviewed and provided the theoretical foundation for the research. A qualitative approach to research was followed using case research based on semi-structured interviews to determine the knowledge and perceived value of performance measurement in SMEs. The study also investigated the prominent performance measures used by SMEs and difficulties around the implementation of these measures. The findings were related to the literature regarding the attributes of measures, the dimensions of performance and the characteristics of performance measurement frameworks. In conclusion, a method for SMEs to use performance information to their advantage was proposed.

Credit risk analysis is an important topic in financial risk management. Financial institutions (e.g. commercial banks) that grant consumers credit need reliable models that can accurately detect and predict defaults. This research investigates the ability of artificial neural networks as a decision support system that can automatically detect and predict “bad” credit risks based on customers demographic, biographic and behavioural characteristics. The study focuses specifically on the learning vector quantization neural network algorithm. This thesis contains a short overview of credit scoring models, an introduction to artificial neural networks and their applications and presents the performance evaluation results of a credit risk detection model based on learning vector quantization networks.

Executive Summary This report uses modified physics and the basic business relationship equations to describe the business system. The physics - business equations are derived using conformal mapping, while thermodynamic and kinematic relationships are further developed and related before being applied to a business situation. The system developed has general applicability to business and can be used for strategic competitive positioning, amongst other postulated uses. The main purpose of this project is to build on existing work in the area of process modeling and strategy formulation to define a quantitative management tool that will effectively enable the formulation of a generic framework, to measure the effects of various strategic options using time based financial management and physics models. The main aims of this research project are to provide an evaluative summary of the existing literature on the applications of process modeling and physics to business limited in scope to competitive strategic planning through a literature review of existing business models and the subsequent development of a mathematical model based on kinematics and thermodynamics for strategic formulation. From the literature review derive a mathematical framework relating business and physics based on an indirect relationship of physical laws to business models based on existing knowledge. Further explain why the derived model has applications to business, and derive a non-rigorous mathematical proof thereof. From these equations make recommendations on how this model can be utilised as a tool to assist in strategy formulation. Thereafter provide statistical proof that the model is applicable to a defined set of companies and show by means of applications how to determine optimal strategies using the model. The main objectives of the research project are to utilise the quantitative tool to determine where a company is, and where it should position itself in future to optimise its competitive position. Further, the framework must be developed into a strategic tool that would allow for the fast turnaround in the implementation of strategy, and the ability to quickly predict necessary changes in direction. The statistical hypothesis tested asks if it is possible to relate the laws of physics to business and use the resultant mathematical framework to analyse a firm’s competitive position in an industry and position it accordingly. From the derived equations a mathematical model to determine strategic options for a firm using time based financial accounting principles and physics equations can be formulated and used to find profitable options for a firm. By implication the model can be applied to strategic positioning of the firm. Unfortunately there is no work in the literature reviews to build this study on and much of it is built from first principles. This leads to complex mathematical relationships, which may prove difficult to follow. .

The objective of this research is to investigate how mobile cellular network operators can increase the average revenue per user by stimulating the usage of mobile broadband services. There is a general consensus that the revenue from voice calls is slowly reaching saturation; hence, mobile cellular operators, service providers and content providers are looking for other sources of revenue from their new and existing customers. They are therefore beginning to focus more intensively on customer retention and on developing new strategies that will stimulate the usage of high speed mobile data services. The research shows that most people are aware of many of the mobile data services offered by operators, but that they thought that they were unreliable, slow, difficult to use and expensive. By and large, people signed up for mobile data services because they wanted a mobile always-on connection anytime, anywhere, with faster speed when accessing e-mail and other services or when downloading data from the Internet. The majority of people would use mobile broadband internet service if it cost less to use; if the speed were faster and the service were easy to use; if the cellular phone had a larger screen and used less battery power; and if the keyboard were larger. The relationship between Network operators, WASPs and content providers was found to be good, even though at times it is strained by the increased competition between them; this forces them not to cooperate on some issues for fear of compromising their competitive advantage.

iv ABSTRACT This research study was the first to investigate the nature of time-use behaviour of the South African Clinical Research Associates (CRA’s) and Clinical Trial Managers (CTM’s). The study determined the relative polychronicity of project members in clinical trials in South Africa and identified possible non-alignment in the approaches and expectations between managers of clinical research projects and that of their project staff members. The study assumed that the clinical trial project environment is monochronic by nature. Information about a possible mismatch in expected temporal orientation of project staff and real temporal orientation of project staff would constitute grounds for adaptation of project management execution guidelines and staff selection processes for CRA’s and Managers of clinical trials. Quantitative data were collected through the Inventory of Polychronic Values measuring instrument from a sample of the total registered membership base of the South African Clinical Research Association by means of a web based questionnaire. The study analysed the relationships between the following three constructs of relevance: 1. CRA’s own personal preferences for time-use, and 2. CRA’s perceptions of what time-use behaviour their direct managers expect from them, and 3. Managers’ expectations for the time-use behaviour of CRA’s. CRA’s were found to be relatively monochronic in their work behaviour towards time-use and Managers to be more polychronic than CRA’s. Within each group a range of timeuse opinions and preferences were found. Within the constraints of sample size, Cultural Heritage and Age were the only demographic variables found to exert significant influence on the dependent variables in this study. A good alignment was found between the CRA’s perceptions of the time-use behaviours expected from them and the Managers’ expectations for time-use behaviour. The results of this study relate to complementary role differentiation between monochronic and polychronic people in project execution and management.