M.Comm. / The importance of motivation for organisational success is recognised by organisations of various sizes and functions the world over. One of thebiggest challenges for organisations is to establish the motivational levels of their employees with a greater degree of certainty. The multi-dimensional nature of an individual’s motivation complicates matters, requiring in depth analysis. The objective of the research is to determine the motivating factors, from an appreciative inquiry perspective, of the lower-managerial employees in a steel manufacturing company in South Africa. Appreciative inquiry reframes relationships around the positive and the possible and is grounded on the positive organisational behaviour philosophy. This philosophy suggests that focusing on the positive rather than the negative aspects of a situation will improve organisational success and individual well-being (McShane & Travaglione, 2007). The study on motivational factors was deemed important as the company has gone through a number of organisational changes without establishing the impact thereof on the employees. Owing to the multi-dimensional nature of motivation, the literature review showed that there is no single theory or integrated model for motivation studies. The evident lack of research integration in this area presented an opportunity for the researcher to study motivation from an appreciative inquiry perspective, of which the data collection stage began with the posing of questions that are unconditionally positive. The questions were analysed using the first-level factors framework presented in the two-factor theory of motivation by Frederick Herzberg.

M.Comm. / Many companies, especially in the steel industry, are today required to dedicate much of their time to managing the risks they are faced with. Risk can be defined as the uncertainty or probability of the potential deviation from the expected or the norm. Risk management therefore encompasses all activities undertaken by management, which seek to reduce either the probability of a potential deviation and/or the quantum of the potential deviation. The risk management process is therefore aimed at ensuring that the steel company will deliver to its shareholders the earnings that are expected of them. In order to avoid these potential risks, the steel company has to make sure that the clients that the company are doing business with have the ability and willingness to pay their accounts. There is a very thin line between choosing potential clients and the sales that will be gained from dealing with these debtors, and the risk that these debtors has for the steel company. It is therefore important to categorize the debtors into different risk profiles. After the category of risk is identified, the steel company has to choose between different credit insurance methods to cover risks. The methods that are currently available in the steel industry are rigid, and are costing the company money, that could have been invested elsewhere in the company. It is therefore important to look at alternative methods to either avoid the risks or cover the risks. It depends on the type of client the company is doing business with. The clients can be classified as A, B, C or D risk profile. The composition of the debtors book in terms of risk profiles will be the criteria for choosing a method for credit insurance.

This dissertation is a journey into the world of risk and safety in the steel industry. The problem statement that is explored in this study relates to the nature of the relationship between safety performance and stakeholders in the steel industry, the nature of the relationships between different stakeholders and the way in which these relationships impact on risk management strategies. The author contends that safety is not a normative or procedural system within the workplace, but rather a performative system. Performance in this system, which determines life and death, is based on consensual cooperative-conflict relationships between different role-players. The nature of these relationships are analysed and explored with the concept of cooperative conflict as a reference, while keeping temporal and spatial considerations in mind. The physical space of the steel mill is a contested space. Within this space, relationships play out themes relating to agency, masculinity, risk, resistance, compliance and survival in a constant subliminal negotiation for power and perceived control over an environment that is inherently threatening in nature. The research is presented as ethnography in the form of a case study of an international organisation that provides materials handling and slag reduction services to the ferro-industry in South Africa. The researcher interacted with role-players in this organisation as a participant observer, with the primary method of data gathering and analysis being qualitative in nature. Data gathering and analysis revealed that safety performance relates to specific aspects within the work environment, namely macro political, economic, institutional, psychological and concrete factors. The researcher concludes that overt, normative safety management procedures in the steel industry only provide a backdrop for daily risk management strategies. Negotiating risk, together with the often covert ways in which actors assert their agency within the steel industry, makes safety performance complex and relationship based. To improve safety performance in the steel industry, relationships and power need to be renegotiated. This requires internal organisational changes as well as larger systemic changes. / Prof. T. de Wet

The general problem involved in this study is one of resource utilization. The specific approach of this study shall take the form of an inquiry into the relation between monopoly and waste.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 450-503).

M.B.A. / Over the past two years the international steel industry amply demonstrated just how precarious the business can be. Several steel companies fell by the way. Protectionism increased dramatically. Anti-dumping actions and unfair trade accusations were instigated at a level not previously seen. Any concept of the value of steel became blurred and in the near future, analysis predict, it is difficult to see much in the way of relief. To ensure its survival in these harsh conditions, the South African steel industry will be forced to look beyond its traditional markets and seek strategies to become more competitive. The objective of this research project is to determine the key strategic factors that lead to the successful global competitiveness of an organisation in the South African steelmaking industry. The literature survey revealed the trend among many of the global leaders in the steel industry. The literature also included Porter's research on competitive advantage and other authors strategies, which are considered as key factors in influencing global competitiveness. The analysis of the survey among the South African steelmakers revealed a picture of a fragmented industry. The majority of steelmakers were identified as been well out of step with the global trend and the issues identified in the literature. The research highlighted that in order for South African steelmakers to achieve global competitiveness there is a need for consolidation and strategic alliances in the industry. It was also recognised that organisations need to develop, exploit and lever their technologies, competitive advantages, core-competencies and their strategies, in creating a globally competitive organisation. Managing the linkages between these various strategies was revealed as key to achieving a unique global competitive advantage.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This thesis undertakes an analysis of alleged unfair foreign trade practices and examines what public relations responses were revealed by three domestic steel corporations. One of the most frequent techniques practiced by a number of European and Asian nations was wire rod dumping, or the practice of selling rods in different markets at adjusted prices. When Japanese trade interests began to introduce goods in United States markets at prices below the price of domestic steel goods, U.S. producers began a public relations program which extended from special tabloid newspapers to testimony before several federal agencies. The central objective of the study was to establish and examine the role of public relations in the dumping crisis. Research methodology was primarily a case study approach to the working public relations programs of the three domestic programs. Press releases, employee publications, and speech materials were reviewed for each firm. Each firm was analyzed in terms of pUblic relations objectives, selection of primary and secondary publics, communications strategy, and public relations results. A cursory examination of the role of the steel industry's trade association, the American Iron and Steel Institute, was also conducted. A final summarization then graphically outlined a proposed communications pattern between the Iron and Steel Institute and its member companies. Conclusions or the study indicated a need for a greater definition of public relation's role in international trade, a lack of economic knowledge among public relations personnel engaged in the corporate programs, a need for greater attitude research and the necessity of a more responsive framework of communications between the American Iron and Steel Institute and member steel companies. / 2031-01-01

by Cheung Him-wah, Tam Sui-leung. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaves 62-63. / SUMMARY --- p.ii / CONTENTS --- p.iii / CHAPTER / Chapter 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Economic Situation of Hong Kong --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Economic Situation of China --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- The Feasibility Study --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Supporting Arguments --- p.4 / Chapter 2 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Market Demand Analysis --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2 --- Location Selection Analysis 一 Part I --- p.7 / Chapter 2.3 --- Location Selection Analysis 一 Part II --- p.8 / Chapter 2.4 --- Form of Investment Analysis --- p.8 / Chapter 2.5 --- Cash Flow Analysis --- p.9 / Chapter 2.6 --- Flow Chart --- p.9 / Chapter 3 --- MARKET DEMAND ANALYSIS --- p.10 / Chapter 3.1 --- Types of Product --- p.10 / Chapter 3.2 --- Forecasting Methodologies --- p.11 / Chapter 3.3 --- Demand Forecasting --- p.12 / Chapter 4 --- PRELIMINARY SELECTION OF LOCATION --- p.18 / Chapter 4.1 --- Background --- p.18 / Chapter 4.2 --- Shenzhen Special Economic Zone --- p.19 / Chapter 4.3 --- Huichow --- p.21 / Chapter 4.4 --- Shantou Special Economic Zone --- p.23 / Chapter 4.5 --- Guangzhou 一 Guangzhou Economic & Technology Developing Zone --- p.24 / Chapter 4.6 --- Hainan Special Economic Zone --- p.26 / Chapter 4.7 --- Zhuhai - The West Economic Developing District --- p.28 / Chapter 4.8 --- First-round Conclusion --- p.30 / Chapter 5 --- FORMS OF INVESTMENT --- p.33 / Chapter 5.1 --- Background --- p.33 / Chapter 5.2 --- Compensation Trade --- p.33 / Chapter 5.3 --- Joint Exploration and Exploitation --- p.35 / Chapter 5.4 --- Equity Joint Venture --- p.35 / Chapter 5.5 --- Contractual Joint Venture --- p.37 / Chapter 5.6 --- Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise --- p.38 / Chapter 5.7 --- Comparisons of the Three Forms of Investment --- p.39 / Chapter 5.8 --- Final Selection of Investment Form --- p.41 / Chapter 6 --- COST ANALYSIS AND CASH FLOW ANALYSIS --- p.43 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction of Cost Analysis --- p.43 / Chapter 6.2 --- Cash Flow Analysis --- p.53 / Chapter 6.3 --- Net Present Value Analysis --- p.58 / Chapter 7 --- CONCLUSION --- p.60 / APPENDEX I / APPENDIX II / APPENDIX III / APPENDIX IV / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.62

Recent years, global steel industry has become oversupply caused by economic recession of the world, and lots of steel makers suffered serious deficit. In order to improve the business performance or create the conglomerate synergy, many decisions of mergers and acquisitions rose all around the world. It happened seldom for Taiwan¡¦s small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt the strategy of mergers and acquisitions. However, due to globalization, deregulation, and operating capital accumulation in Taiwan¡¦s business, it becomes a strategy of fast-growth for enterprises to adopt mergers and acquisitions. Unfortunately, very few cases of mergers and acquisitions are adopted in Taiwan¡¦s steel industry except China Steel Co., Ltd (CSC). On the other hand, it may be an opportunity for Taiwan steel industry to improve its structure, to reinforce its management constitution, to create production synergy, to pursuit quick growth, and to build its competitive advantages by the strategy of mergers and acquisitions since there is a great demand of steel for Mainland China market. The research uses the method of case study and deduces to a generalized model of enterprise¡¦s mergers and acquisitions theoretically, and induces with individual facts to analyze the secondary data of steel industry and the interview data of case with exploratory qualitative research. The case study of CSC merging Yieh Loong enterprise tries to find the strategic goal, motives, and have a further exploration about the execution process of mergers and acquisitions, the discussions which manage the performance, such as raw materials, marketing, financial affairs and human resources after merging, in order to analyze the reasons of its success or failure, and build to construct out the management style that the suitable steel industry merges. This research tries to build the steel industry's optimum model of mergers and acquisitions, and propose that the global steel industry is under the trend of the regional economic and trade integration, causing the globalization overall arrangement management tactics. The best market-Mainland China that has become Taiwan and global steel industry carried on the alliance or merged in addition. The case that China Steel Co. merged Yieh Loong Enterprise can be a good example for Taiwan steel manufacturers to carry on the growth strategy that maintain its internal competencies and resist foreign aggression.

From 1992, the economy of Mainland China grow up faster, and the supply of steel falls serious short of demand, Taiwanese companies all want to invest in China. Our search focuses on these Taiwanese companies in China to find the key successful factors in investment. Based on the research result, we conclude below: 1. The advantage of culture different The interaction between Taiwan and Mainland China are very frequently, no matter in commerce activities, political and so on. Related to others foreign companies, the Taiwanese companies get more advantage in culture parts, like same language, living situation and also avoid the culture shake, so, the Taiwanese companies could get complete information than the foreign companies. But the companies still pay attention to deal with the localization. 2. The better managerial abilities Related to local company, the Taiwanese company have compete managerial system, for a new comer, it will help company to gain more performance, but the Taiwanese company still need to keep the organization flexibility, to hold the competitive advantage. 3. Product price setting flexible When company set price in China market, the price setting system should let the customers feel they been treat fair and reasonable, when the company use open quantity discount, allowance, payment term system, flexible price will make the customers feel more value. Keyword: Stainless Steel Industry, Key Successful Factors