After events like the global financial crisis and the advent of globalisation, companies have experienced increased competition and pressure to improve performance in the new environments in which business is conducted. This has impacted the world of manufacturing, among others, and has necessitated companies in this industry to adopt improvement methodologies to assist in growing the business. This study looks into the implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as one of these procedures and highlights that most articles and studies on this process concentrate on the highvolume, low-mix manufacturing environment. On account of this, a gap is left in the application of these techniques in the low-volume, high-mix environment. The literature highlights the differences in the two disciplines that have now evolved into one toolkit that is applied as LSS and how that is achieved. The cases highlighted do not, however, cover the low-volume, high-variety manufacturers, and this paper seeks to use the expertise of LSS practitioners in this environment to get information and derive a framework for successful implementation of LSS in the capital equipment environment. The main contributor to the study is a company that manufactures capital equipment for the mines, with other respondents being practitioners in similar companies and customers in the mines. Respondents were sent a survey to get their opinion on the implementation of LSS in their environment. The survey attempted to gather information through five key questions on how LSS was being applied and its impact on the cost, cycle-time and on-time delivery of the organisation. A quantitative study design was adopted to develop a framework for the successful implementation of LSS in the capital equipment industry. A total of 38 respondents gave feedback, which was analysed, and this showed what - according to the professionals involved in this study - are the vital aspects of this implementation to ensure success. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

The aim of this study was to assess whether a relationship existed between an employee’s attitude toward business ethics and the variables of age, race, gender, level of education, position, tenure and place of work within the South African Motor Industry. The study was conducted using a well-known research instrument, the Attitude Toward Business Ethics Questionnaire (ATBEQ), in order to be able to compare the results with previous studies. The study did not find significant evidence to suggest that the above-mentioned demographic variables were related to an employee’s attitude toward business ethics barring for a few of the measured variables from the questionnaire. In its findings, the study did not support most of the previous studies that have been done in the field of attitude toward business ethics. The suggested area for future research is to include a demographic of culture and upbringing to assess the relationship between that variable and attitude toward business ethics. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Celebrity endorsement has become a pervasive means of communication strategy by marketing practitioners worldwide. One of the main aims of celebrity endorsement is to utilise the prominent status of the celebrity to positively impact the consumption behaviour of consumers. However, due to globalisation, marketers use internationally renowned celebrities (usually Hollywood stars) to promote products in foreign markets. The costs of using these celebrities are quite significant and as such the objectives of the communication strategy need to be realised if the firm intends to continue with the communication strategy approach. Social Identity plays an important role in mainstream societies as it provides a basis for identification and belonging for people. Individuals who are part of a specific culture or society are positively influenced by the group norms. The sense of identification can be based on race, religion or cultural dimensions. Literature on celebrity endorsement has discussed in depth the source characteristics required by a celebrity to ensure positive consumption behaviour, but it has not explored the role of racial congruency (in the context of Social Identity) between the celebrity and the target market (i.e. race as a source characteristic). As such, the aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between the race of the celebrity endorser and consumer purchase behaviour in multi-racial societies. A quantitative design study was conducted with a sample of 278 respondents across two firms. The data collected from the survey was analysed using non-parametric and descriptive statistical methods. The main finding of the research was that consumers do not outwardly regard the race of the celebrity as an important characteristic in the endorsement process and their subsequent consumption intentions. Interestingly though, the findings showed that consumers have an innate preference for celebrities that are of the same racial profile, which indicates that race plays a role when selecting a celebrity for a specific target market. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

Due to the ever-changing environment that businesses operate in, there is a need to manage people differently to equip firms to avoid extinction. This need means that firms must identify and leverage sources management innovation. This research study investigated management innovation on an individual level by examining eight predetermined characteristics of an individual (age, total employment tenure, organisational tenure, functional role, innovation momentum, management training, educational level and gender) as possible factors that could predispose him/her to being a source of management innovation. Data was collected using nonprobability sampling and employed a self-administered survey. The findings indicated that all factors with the exception of management training are associated with an individual being a source of management innovation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

This research study investigated the concept of professional workers’ propensity to embark on industrial action in the context of organisational justice on an individual level; as well as the collective conditions of union commitment and professionalism. The study also made enquiries into the perceived Janus face of professional trade unions in terms of how they aim to be perceived as professional associations, acting as guardians of standards, professionalism and their members’ status, which is contradicted by their organisational mandates to extract concessions from employers through industrial action on a collective level. Data was collected through a quantitative approach, using survey questionnaires which were distributed to scheduled airline pilots in South Africa in their capacity as professional workers. The survey questionnaires elicited 199 responses, which provided valuable insights into professional workers’ propensity to embark on industrial action in the context of organisational justice. The responses, on average, were instructive, aside from the fact that no significance could be attributed to professionalism as a moderator of professional workers’ propensity to embark on industrial action. Contrary to expectations and prior research, it was found that the collective conditions captured by union commitment were statistically more significant than any individual factors, represented by organisational justice constructs, on professional workers’ propensity to embark on industrial action. Professional trade unions are indeed Janus-faced; a duality that presents trade unions with a dichotomy in that on the one hand they have a mandate to extract concessions from employers, but on the other hand are expected to remain professional and uphold the status and standards of the industries that they represent. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rapid increase in the prevalence of diabetes has resulted in significant public health and socioeconomic liability in the face of scarce resources. Faced with a growing pandemic of non-communicable diseases, developing countries need to be proactive in investigating alternative cost-effective interventions, with the primary aim being to minimize illness and maximize health benefits relative to the limited available resources. The aim of this research study was to quantify the economic impact of an exercise intervention as a preventative strategy for type 2 diabetes in a developing country. The research also sought to investigate if there was an economic case for physical activity as a primary and secondary preventative measure in the management of non-communicable diseases. The study was quantitative in nature and used both primary and secondary data to conduct the cost analysis. A questionnaire was administered to 40 patients at a diabetic clinic in a peri-urban community health care centre. Secondary data, consisting of clinic records and an extensive literature review, was used to source the remaining inputs needed for the cost analysis. Results revealed that the implementation costs of a physical activity intervention exceeded the costs of a pharmaceutical programme. Physical activity resulted in decreased productivity loss, with significant economic implications at a household level. Evidence reviewed in the literature suggested that physical activity could be used in primary prevention as a viable substitute to pharmaceutical therapy. For secondary disease prevention, however, physical activity was complementary in the production of health benefits, limiting disease progression and morbidity caused by illness. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

With soaring unemployment rates coupled with stifled growth and rising inequality, the economic outlook in South Africa is disheartening. Entrepreneurial activity is viewed as a catalyst of economic development, and as such, government and policy makers should be creating an environment in which the determinants of entrepreneurship can be fostered. Entrepreneurial intention has been shown to be a leading indicator of future entrepreneurial activity. With an understanding of the links between entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurial activity, and economic growth, it is clear that the South African economy faces a challenge; not only is economic development slow, but levels of entrepreneurial intention are low. This research paper planned to study the significance of the Theory of Planned Behaviour through structural equation modelling, as a predictor of entrepreneurial intention within a sample that has previously received little attention, and is commonly known to produce numerous entrepreneurs including high impact entrepreneurs; the South African Jewish Community. The results illustrate that the Theory of Planned Behaviour was a sound model with the sample data; however the Theory of Planned Behaviour did not provide a significant prediction of entrepreneurial intention within the South African Jewish Community. Further analysis discovered that within the Jewish Community of South Africa, perceived behavioural control provided powerful predictive strength of entrepreneurial intention. Attitude toward the behaviour and subjective norms provided insignificant predictive strength of entrepreneurial intention. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

As there are now more dual income earners in the workforce, people are facing greater pressure from both their families and their place of work to commit more of their time and energy. Unfortunately, time and energy are limited resources so either their family or careers may have to endure some form of compromise. Clearly family situations can have an impact on one’s career yet little has been done to measure how much people do in fact consider their families with respect to their careers. The purpose of this report then is to bridge this gap in the literature and provide meaningful recommendations for businesses. This research report explores the difference in attitudes that male and female managers have towards compromising their career goals for their family. It then examines if aging and having children have any influence on these attitudes. In order to measure these attitudes a quantitative analysis using primary data from a questionnaire was conducted. The findings indicate that compromising one’s career for family is not only a feminine problem and that when people do compromise their career goals they are more willing to compromise on extrinsic career goals rather than intrinsic career goals / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

This research focuses on the relationship between branding and company share price. This research’s purpose is to investigate the impact of branding indicators on a company share price. There has been a lot of research that has evidenced a positive relationship between marketing, of which its core component is branding, and firm performance. Even though it has been evidenced that strong branding leads to firm performance, stock analysis literature has not taken into consideration branding indicators as a key component in predicting the future performance of a company’s share price. This research addresses insights on the direct relationships between branding and share price values, which has not been extensively studied. Literature reviewed outlined three important measures of brands which offer a view of the future performance of a brand. These brand performance measurements are brand value, brand ranking and brand ratings. These are measures which are publicly available and have been measured over time. The research utilised data from Brandentity which is a brand valuing organisation which reports brand performance annually. The research investigated the impact of the change in brand value, brand ranking and brand ratings on company share price. The investigation shows brand rating as the only brand indicator tested that significantly positively impacts a company share price. This was found to mainly be because its orientation is competitor’s performance and future brand performance. Brand value and Brand rankings were found to have no significant impact on a company share price. The research thus concludes that brand indicators have a positive impact on a company share price and therefore brand measurements should be used as part of stock analysis to predict future performance of a company share price. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / zkgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

There has been a vast amount of academic research done in the field of employee satisfaction and the resulting impact of this dimension on employee innovation output and institutional entrepreneurship. However, there is a dearth of literature on how to retain employees and their tacit knowledge in firms. This study, therefore, seeks to identify Institutional Entrepreneurship (IE) as a key pivot point of strategy, that firms can exploit when endeavouring to actively improve employee retention levels. In this interpretation, the researcher seeks to make a distinction between generally entrepreneurial companies and employee driven innovation or intrapreneurship within companies. There appears to be an appealing synergy that the fostering of institutional entrepreneurship initiatives can offer business strategists. By incorporating plans for IE into core strategy, they could potentially create sustainable competitive advantage from new business innovations. What this report aims to show is that businesses that make a concerted effort at fostering IE can also protect their current competitive advantage contained in the tacit knowledge of their workforce. This all happens in a climate that is better equipped to deliver organic growth. The main objective of the research is to establish that there is a relationship between the propensity for an employee to remain in a firm in the near future and their perceptions of whether or how strongly their firm supports IE. A secondary objective is to explore whether this association is stronger among young employees, specifically those who are from the cohort that has been defined as ‘the millennials’, with an assumption that this relationship, therefore, will become more important in future. This research report has set out to prove that by orchestrating strategies to improve institutional entrepreneurship, firms can enjoy the benefits of increased employee retention in conjunction with increased organic growth. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted