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This research explores the evolution of risk management practices, from traditional to enterprise risk management (ERM), in Iran's automotive industry. It also investigates the alignment of ERM and performance management, and their mutual impact. Academic and industry studies reveal that throughout recent decades there has been an increasing interest into ERM development and its alignment with performance management. However, despite the increase in ERM adoption over recent years, ERM is still in the early stages of implementation and requires further research and development. Moreover, a literature review revealed that the literature in respect of the alignment of ERM with performance management is limited and those existing are mostly of a visionary nature and lack practical implementation. Therefore, the gap identified through the literature review led to the development of a theoretical framework within this research, exploring the main organisational elements significant to the effective alignment of ERM and performance management and its implementation, which will provide practitioners and academics with practical guideline regarding such alignment. This research was completed through two empirical stages within the context of automotive industry. The primary data were collected and analysed through a mixed methods approach: 30 semi-structured interviewees were conducted with senior managers within the automotive industry (Qualitative). In the second stage, automotive industry professionals' responses were gathered from 101 survey questionnaires (Quantitative). The theoretical and empirical findings of this research confirm that in the recent decades, risk management has been evolving and transforming from its traditional approach to a strategic foundation, leading organisations towards competitive advantage and value creation. This research also indicates that aligning ERM with organisational performance management is critical in establishing a sustainable ERM and enhancing business performance over time. Based on the empirical findings of this research supported by theoretical findings, a lack of support from senior managers for effective ERM implementation and its alignment with performance management is considered as one of the significant challenges of sustainable ERM. In addition, a lack of ERM infrastructure and shareholders' poor understanding of ERM remains as challenging factors in aligning ERM with performance management. To the Researcher's best of knowledge, there is very limited literature into alignment of ERM and performance management in automotive industry. Therefore, this research's main contribution to the body of knowledge is the development of an effective framework for automotive industry, aligning ERM with organisational performance management, along with guidance for its implementation in practice. The key limitation associated with this research is that, due to complexity of ERM and its incorporation with other management functions and various organisational elements in the developed framework (Chapter 7, Section 7-1), it might be difficult somewhat to manage at the beginning of the framework adoption. It should be emphasised that the framework has been developed for those organisations that have a good understanding of ERM principles. So, this limitation might apply to those with inadequate knowledge of ERM. In addition, the developed aligning framework addresses the challenges and concerns of automotive industry organisations in aligning ERM with performance management. Applying this research in other sectors and industries provides the opportunity to investigate the potential changes and/or collaboration of certain elements of the framework based on the business area that the organisation operates in. The Researcher recommends further investigation into intangible organisational factors, such as how critical ERM culture could be effective in alignment of ERM with performance management. Moreover, the Researcher recommends that as ERM is growing quickly, future studies should continue to reveal and correlate new factors into the current framework. It is further recommended that future researchers could attempt to measure the benefits as well as the shortcomings associated with implementation of the aligning framework. This enables management with in organisations to improve the framework's advantage and to attempt to overcome its limitations.

In a research study, which focused on a strategy to link informal and formal motor mechanic artisan training, a number of constraints leading to the shortage of artisans in general were identified in the literature. Disparities between big businesses and the informal sector were highlighted. Emphasis was placed on the need for a growth initiative, which would include the informal practising motor mechanic, to address the key constraints and obstacles encountered in the development and implementation of artisan training for South Africa. The study was explorative and a qualitative research design followed. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to collect data from 16 (n = 16) experts in the field of training automotive artisans. A purposive snowball sampling method was applied to select participants from educational sectors (public and private FET colleges), automotive organisations and organised labour with the common characteristic of involvement in the training of motor mechanic artisans. The key themes identified in the different participants’ responses formed the data for the study, which was analysed by means of the ATLAS.ti 7.0 version data analysis program. The research confirmed that a strategy could be developed to successfully link the informal and formal motor mechanic artisan communities.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / The purpose or the automotive technical publication is to simplify distinct technical principles. In reality, however, just the opposite is taking place within the automotive industry. Complexity of language, poorly organized illustrations, and misleading installation instructions are continually handed the reader. The aim of this study is to simplify and clarify the. three major typesof automotive technical publications: the parts catalog, the technical bulletin, and the promotional brochure.

Many companies are questioning the value created from logistics outsourcing. This is especially evident in contract logistics (specialised warehousing), given the increased commoditisation of transportation and distribution today. A clear need emerged to understand the value creation characteristics at play between third party logistics (3PL) providers and clients, and this formed the basis for this research. More specifically, the research sought to identify the elements driving the quality and functionality of value creation. The research focused on the South African automotive industry limited to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s) that had outsourced, were currently outsourcing or were planning to outsource their specialised warehousing. The research consisted of a phased approach in which key industry players (clients and 3PL’s) were interviewed to understand and expand on the nature of the problem. A questionnaire was then sent out to the OEM’s and quantitative analysis was undertaken on the data collected to answer the stated research propositions It was found that client satisfaction was achieved through long term strategic relationships with 3PL’s rather than a short term transactional approach. The value creation that was driving client satisfaction was being achieved through behaviour that sought stronger relationships, cooperation and strategic partnering with each other. Although there was a clear understanding on what the value creation characteristics were, the execution was unclear. Overall, the majority of OEM’s that took part in this study indicated satisfaction with their 3PL providers. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Introduction – The scene for this thesis is set in the highly regulated automotive industry. Recent scandals in the automotive industry have shown that companies have manipulated their emission results in order to pass regulations. The regulations are from the beginning implemented to protect the environment and encourage companies to develop green innovation but the authors question if regulations puts more pressure on the companies than they can handle. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate how regulations affect green innovation. Method – The authors adopted a pragmatist research philosophy and used an abductive research method. The empirical data has been gathered through a qualitative study, conducting semi structured interviews with companies within the automotive industry. The abductive research approach meant that the frame of reference has been updated and revised when new data, which was previously not covered in the theory, was gained from the interviews. With a five-step process the authors have analyzed the empirical data with the frame of references and from the result drawn conclusion. Conclusion – The conclusions drawn in this thesis is that regulations have a positive impact on companies green incremental innovation and can have both an inhibitory and a positive effect on radical green innovation. However, there are few underlying factors affecting the outcome such as infrastructure, technology neutrality and communication. Contribution – The contribution of this thesis has added new qualitative knowledge to the research field on how regulations affect green innovation. By localizing and highlighting the factors found in the conclusion, companies and policy makers can cooperate to enhance the development of green radical innovations in the future. Future research - Future researcher are encouraged to investigate how infrastructure, technology neutrality and communication each are affecting green radical innovation. Key words: Green innovation, Regulations, Government policy and the Automotive Industry Paper type: Master thesis

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The influence of recycling on aluminium alloys and subsequent influence on the microstructure and corrosion performances have been investigated. The investigation was commenced by taking two block cast, recycled aluminium alloys (AA5050 and AA6011) and rolling them into 1mm gauge plate. In the case of AA6011, the plate was subjected to subsequent solution heat treatment and artificial aging steps, in order to attain certain temper specifications. To replicate the automotive paint bake industrial practice, a sample was subjected to a 2% tensile stretch followed by heat treatment for 30 minutes at 180˚C. Microstructural observations revealed Al-Fe-Mn-Si intermetallics to be the dominant secondary phase in both alloys. The size, distribution and composition of these were unaffected by artificial aging. Mg2Si was found in a coarse, localised form in both alloys also, albeit in much less amounts in AA5050. The presence of this phase was likely due to poor homogenisation during thermomechanical processing. HR-TEM of AA6011 revealed needle/rod shaped precipitates, aligning in the [001]Al lattice direction. This is consistent with β''/β' hardening precipitates consisting of magnesium and silicon. Circumstantial evidence was found for the copper-containing Q phase precipitate also. An additional, unidentified precipitate was observed, nucleating on the {111} habit plane of the aluminium matrix. The high iron content of AA6011 retarded the precipitation hardening response by capturing elements associated with hardening precipitates in the Al-Fe-Mn-Si intermetallics. Electrochemical corrosion experiments revealed the materials had a high susceptibility to localised corrosions, with the open circuit potential and breakdown potential possessing similar values. Atmospheric corrosion experiments showed that artificial aging had a large influence on the preferred corrosion mechanism. Non-heat treated samples showed susceptibility for pitting corrosion. This was particularly true for the -T4P temper, which showed large scale pitting. Heat treated samples saw an introduced susceptibility to intergranular corrosion. This was attributed to precipitation at grain boundaries, which would then form a microgalvanic couple with adjacent depleted zones. In the case of the -T8P temper, tensile stretching introduced defects into the sub-grain microstructure. This resulted in intergranular corrosion fronts of increased width, where grains with higher stored energy undergo preferential dissolution alongside the grain boundary attack. Overall, the detrimental effects of high iron content need to be overcome before AA5050 and AA6011 can be seriously considered for use in the automotive industry. However, the corrosion performance of AA6011-T8P is encouraging.