The South African automotive industry is by no means a ―cut and paste‖ version of their overseas counterparts. The industry and the market are very complex. The historical background of the industry is such that companies have difficulty forming partnerships and joint ventures with bigger international conglomerates. The difficulty with this kind of mindset is that it is restricting growth and development of the nation as a whole. Globalisation is a future we cannot be avoided. Should the nation continue to reject it and embrace the mindset of countries in Africa, South Africa (SA) will continue on the path that the rest of Africa is heading, a path that leading to self-destruct and segregation. Even though SA is a developing country, it is in some areas as developed as many other first world countries. For a country to generate wealth it needs to be innovative and develop an entrepreneurial consciousness. A young country like South Africa needs creative thinkers and opportunists that can see into the future, seizing every opportunity, to grow and develop new ideas and business. In order for a country to grow it needs a leadership that is to nurture the baby of innovation. If South Africa wants to be part of the global village it need to develop a trade policy that welcomes trade and at the same time creates stable and sustainable jobs. The environment for investments needs to be cultivated in a problem-free and growth prone nation. This can only happen when the educational level of the nation is improved. The fact that so many skilled workers need to be imported creates tension in the labour market. People with talent need to have a reason to stay in the country. Their salaries should match that of their overseas counterparts. Furthermore, with the same skill level and work ethic, should have the same rewards and remuneration.

Organisations are constantly expected to be more competitive while working in an environment in which time and cost are limited, thereby preventing such organisations from taking the time required to be responsive. The supply chain provides a critical linkage between various organisations which should seek collective opportunities to improve performance. It is, therefore, important that organisations understand that conventional knowledge and methods will not serve unless there is a concerted focus on improvement of organisational performance toward fulfilling increased expectations, not just maintaining that which is comfortable. A more sustainable approach may be the introduction of supply chain best practice. An optimal supply chain is one that continuously strives to reduce unnecessary cost and eliminate waste, thereby increasing the percentage of time that may be devoted to value-adding activities. Supply chain technology principles were assessed and the application thereof, sought to understand its efficiency and effectiveness. This study was intended to identify supply chain cost dimensions with a focus on the optimal use of supply chain technology. Within the current supply chain context, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was explored to identify opportunities. A supply chain audit tool (SCAT) was developed which had proven to be an effective tool to analyse it’s logistics functions. Implementation of remedial tools through the SCAT could result in a leaner, cost optimal and more value-adding process. The result of conducting individual organisational improvements is expected to result in an overall improvement in the total supply chain. These supply chain cost drivers were rooted in cost, quality, safety and product performance. Recommendations on further improvements were also offered.

Organisations within the South African automotive industry (SAAI) are always seeking innovative ways to remain globally competitive. In order to keep costs as low as possible, existing facilities are often adapted to either cater for a wider variety of products or, alternatively, to produce larger volumes than they were originally designed to produce. In every instance, some form of change needs to take place. When the change management processes are defined within the system, quick wins need to be identified. These quick wins may include the elimination of non-valueadding time that is spent moving paper work between offices or ensuring the correct checks are in place to prevent the process from moving to the next step until all the requirements for the current steps have been completed. Technology has been identified as a suitable support mechanism that would be able to integrate into the complex system that comprises processes to be followed in an order that can be predefined. Every organisation faces its own unique challenges when technology is introduced. These can include a lack of computer literacy and the unwillingness to accept that change can in fact benefit the organisation. Getting the users to take ownership of the new systems through comprehensive training initiatives will be shown to be the most effective manner in which to ensure that the systems are effective and used to their full potential. This treatise will investigate the change management systems currently being used in the SAAI and compare the most important factors against the perceived best practices of the resources that are involved in change management. Organisations that operate at various levels within the SAAI will be researched. A literature review of the best practices in change management systems combined with an investigation into how technology can assist in supporting these best practices will be conducted. The findings will then be summarised and recommendations based on the collected data and information will be formulated and put forward.

The research problem in this study was to identify best practices for the contingency management of health-related absenteeism. To achieve this goal, the following actions were taken: A literature study was conducted to identify the scope and impact of health-related absenteeism on organisations and the legal parameters within which health-related absenteeism should be managed. A literature study was also conducted to identify strategies to prevent and reduce health-related absenteeism and strategies to ensure the continuous provision of products and services in periods of high absenteeism. The theoretical study focused on the management of absenteeism, wellness, ill-health/mental problems and HIV/AIDS, as well as contingency strategies aimed at maintaining production and service provision. iii The findings from the literature study were integrated into a model of best practices for the contingency management of health-related absenteeism. This model was used as a basis for the development of a survey questionnaire to determine whether senior human resources practitioners, occupational health practitioners or line managers, who were responsible for the management of health-related absenteeism in organisations, agreed with the best practice guidelines developed in the study. The survey was conducted in the motor and motor component industry in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality and Buffalo City Metropole. The empirical results from the study showed a strong concurrence with the best practices guidelines developed in the study, with the exception of the strategies aimed at maintaining undisrupted production and service provision during periods of high absenteeism. In particular, disagreement was shown with regard to alternative work arrangements such as flexible work-hours, a compressed workweek, telecommuting and job-sharing. Absenteeism, in general, is an issue that organisations are challenged with on a daily basis. The proliferation of various diseases, specifically HIV/AIDS, is contributing to this problem. An integrated and strategic approach is required to deal effectively and constructively with the immediate and expected future impact of health-related issues on absenteeism. Organisations could use the best practices guidelines, identified in this study, as a mechanism to benchmark how well they manage health-related absenteeism

Presently in the South African automotive industry competition is becoming more fierce. It is becoming more important for companies to concentrate on thier competitive strategies to ensure that they remain competitive in this industry. Military strategy techniques have always been successful in defeating an anemy opponent. An enemy in a military sense could be considered as a competitor in a business sense. There is currently a potential for an improvement of the competitive strategies that South African organisations, in particular the South African automotive industry uses to remain competitive. Military strategists such as Sun Tzu and Carl von Clausewitz have provided valuable strategy theories and philosophies to many military institutions. Military strategies such as Attrition and Maneuver have long been used by these institutions in battle to defeat the enemy. Military strategies could provide the edge that companies ranging from manufacturers, suppliers of components and dealerships need, to remain competitive in the automotive industry.

Driving a vehicle while it is within the warranty period provide customers with assurance that should a failure occur on the vehicle, there would be no financial obligation for the customer to repair the vehicle. For the manufacturer, it is a huge financial obligation to repair or replace components that fail on the vehicle. The research conducted in this study explores and identifies the main reasons for high warranty costs as well as the reasons that do not influence high warranty costs at VWSA. The purpose of this research is to provide VWSA with a potential starting point to reduce warranty costs and increase profits. The study revealed that the main cause of high warranty costs at VWSA was related to the quality of vehicles. By improving the quality of vehicles produced, VWSA could reduce a significant portion of the warranty costs it spends each year. With reduced warranty costs, VWSA could increase the warranty period and thereby attract more customers to purchase VW products. In a cutthroat automotive industry, this would ensure a competitive advantage over rivals; maintain longevity, increase profits and continued success.

The world automotive industry has evolved through different manufacturing methodologies over many decades. It originated from craft production, but was transformed to mass production by Henry Ford in response to increased market demand. The methodology developed by Henry Ford made it possible to produce quality vehicles in large numbers and at affordable cost to the general public. However, it cannot deliver a great variety of products to the marketplace. Mass production was overtaken by a new automotive manufacturing methodology developed in Japan after World War II. The methodology, commonly referred to as lean production, yields consistently high quality products at even lower costs, whilst being able to deliver a variety of products to the consumer. The effectiveness of the lean production methodology hinges upon the strength and closeness of the relationships that exist between the assembler and its suppliers. Different models have been developed over time to describe the relationships between automotive assemblers and their suppliers. The lean supply model is generally accepted as an effective way of describing the relationships that exist between an automotive assembler and its first tier suppliers in a lean manufacturing environment. The research study aims at gaining an improved understanding of the relationships that exist between a selected Eastern Cape automotive assembler and its first tier suppliers. The effect of its supplier support practices towards lean manufacturing implementation amongst its first tier suppliers is evaluated. For the selected assembler it is found that the effect of its supplier support practices on lean manufacturing implementation amongst its first tier suppliers is limited by a non-uniform approach followed towards the supplier base. It is shown that opportunities for improvement exist for the selected assembler to develop closer relationships with its first tier suppliers to increase its global competitiveness.

The South African automotive industry has been identified as an important influence on the economy of South Africa. In particular, it plays a role in job creation in a country with high unemployment rates. However, being linked to a global industry, its competitive position and future relevance have come into question on numerous occasions. After a period of isolation and protection, the local industry had to enter global competition. The competitive playing field had suddenly widened from companies competing locally amongst each other for local market share, to competing globally for international sales. In addition it was found that competition was not only limited to opposing brands but also existed within the subsidiaries of the same brand. The reason for this was the existence of overcapacity in the manufacturing facilities internationally. Coupled with this, most of the dominant vehicle manufacturers were creating more capacity in developing markets to support demand as well as to benefit from cheaper resources. There are of course many influencing factors on the competitive position of such an important industry. The value chain has been identified as a tool to analyse and compare the activities within rival businesses or industry role players. Two primary activities within the value chain are inbound logistics and outbound logistics. The objective of the research was to investigate the influence of inbound and outbound logistics on the competitiveness of the South African automotive industry. A literature review created the conceptual framework for the research. It was necessary to discuss the automotive industry in a global sense to understand the history and trends of the development within the industry. It was also necessary to understand the South African automotive industry within this context to identify its place and relevance in global terms. It was found that, although important to the local economy, the local industry was not a dominant force to be reckoned with and was in fact being over taken by many of its competitors. Part of this investigation was spent on the development of the local industry in a protected environment and what it meant for the growth of local content and exports. This was also important as the component manufacturers based in South Africa need critical mass to create an efficient platform to be globally competitive. It was found that historic development programmes did not do much to improve this aspect but there is optimism about the latest programme which promotes an increase in production volumes. The state of logistics in South Africa was critically analysed to understand the influence it has on the automotive industry. It was found that although the logistics infrastructure within South Africa is the best in Africa, it is behind the standards of its competitors. This is influencing the automotive industry as a result of inadequate rail infrastructure. The reason for this was that most of the freight which was being transported by road would be more efficiently transported by rail. The cost of logistics was also found to be high in South Africa and skills were also a concern to improve the current situation. A research questionnaire was created from the findings of the literature review. The questionnaire formed the primary research tool for this study. The sample was identified as respondents from vehicle assemblers and component manufacturers who would have sufficient knowledge of this topic. It was found that inbound and outbound logistics costs formed a relatively large component of total costs. The high levels of imported parts being used as well as export levels added to the logistics costs. This also caused uneconomical inventory levels as stock needed to be kept for longer periods before being replenished. The respondents were also aware of the fact that rail would improve the situation if the infrastructure was sufficient. The respondents seemed to be of the opinion that the skills of the employees responsible for logistics were not a major influencing factor and that logistics service providers were in addition, not creating an overwhelming cost improvement. The incentive programmes were also not seen to be doing much to address the influence of logistics on the automotive industry.

Psychological capital (PsyCap), work engagement (WE) and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) are all positive constructs which research has indicated will have a positive impact on the bottom line. In light of Positive Organisational Behaviour, this has become increasingly important, particularly in the service industry where good service leads to satisfied customers and ultimately repeat purchases. This research took on the form of a cross- sectional design, using a composite questionnaire to measure PsyCap, WE and OCB. This was a self-report electronic questionnaire which was distributed via email to customer service representatives (N=276) from a national automotive company with dealerships in Gauteng and the Western Cape. The measurement models were revalidated for the South African sample of customer service representatives through conducting Exploratory Factor Analysis. PsyCap remained a four-factor structure, however lost items in the elimination process. Both the UWES and OCB instruments lost items and became two-factor structures. This makes the notion that these instruments are portable to the South African situation questionable. To confirm these structures, item parcelling was utilised and Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted. The results indicated that the new measurement models were better suited to the South African sample. Demographic groups had significant differences in the means for PsyCap, WE and OCB. Further to this, relationships between the constructs were tested through multiple regression and structural equation modeling. The most significant relationship was found between PsyCap and work engagement. Finally, PsyCap (barring optimism) and WE were found to load onto a single factor when testing for factorial independence, while OCB came out as a separate factor.

Globalization in the automotive industry exerts enormous pressure on automotive manufacturers and forces many global companies to expand into emerging markets, which results in adopting new ways to manage product design and development. Excellence in product design and development offers an opportunity to gain competitive advantage and can be achieved by implementing Toyota´s Lean Product Development System (LPDS). Although in the last three years Toyota has been severely challenged by the global economic crisis, by a series of recalls resulting in reputation damage and also by natural disasters such as the recent tsunamis - the world can still learn from Toyota´s successes embodied in the lean concept and practices, which are integral to Toyota´s ‘way of life’. The LPDS model (Morgan & Liker 2006) has captured the attention of academics worldwide (including this researcher) thanks to the following key characteristics: shorter development times, less engineering hours involved in development, lower manufacturing costs, higher customer satisfaction and fewer defects reported. In the academic world, lean product development (LPD) is a new field of exploration and thus relevant literature and numbers of studies available are limited. However, scientists are asking questions about successful adaptation and adoption of this model to other environments beyond Toyota. Similarly, the researcher aimed in this thesis to find answers to its main research question, namely: ‘What would be a suitable LPD model for the South African automotive industry?’ South Africa (SA) is a country with a strong manufacturing tradition and although the automotive sector is the third-largest segment in the South African economy and its vehicle market is the largest on the African continent in a global perspective SA´s contribution is relatively small as it produces only 0.61percent of the global motor vehicle volume (OICA 2011). While the country strives to secure sustainable development for the automotive industry and seeks to improve its global competitiveness, companies operating in SA are currently faced with several unique challenges and problems. Lean has been expanding slowly in SA and some companies in the local automotive industry have implemented the lean concept into production areas to improve their operational excellence and performance. However, it is a search for excellence in product development (PD) that could best contribute to improved sustainability for the automotive industry and also provide an important strategic spur towards global competitiveness. The primary intention of this research was to develop an integrated LPD framework tailored for SA´s automotive industry. Considering this, it was necessary to determine current PD capabilities at domestic and international companies operating in SA´s automotive industry so as to examine levels of adaptation of LPD practices. A questionnaire survey and personal interviews involving all seven locally operating Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), including Toyota, as well as 36 local automotive suppliers provided an empirical base for this investigation. This study indicates that SA plays an important supportive role in the global PD context. In spite of a strong manufacturing focus and very limited PD capabilities, SA´s automotive companies have already achieved a high level of ‘leanness’ in product engineering processes. However, on the downside, it appears that industry leaders and senior managers are sceptical about current and future capabilities and opportunities for SA in the designing and developing of global products.