Magister Commercii - MCom / Proponents of lean production (LP) argue that successful implementation is dependent on creating an organisational climate that complements the adoption and implementation of innovation. Transformation of the organisational climate, from a culture of adversarialism (management versus workers) and worker exclusion (in terms of decision making) toward a culture of co-operation and worker participation, is thus a necessary complement to LP. Successful implementation of LP, and associated practices, thus requires the commitment of all stakeholders. This study explores worker attitudes towards transition to LP within a chosen company in the South African auto components sector. The study focuses on understanding worker perceptions of shifts in Human Resource and Industrial Relations practices which are associated with the transition to LP. The research reports on two surveys of workers to better understand their perceptions of the changes to the relationships among workers, and between workers and management. / South Africa

Over and above the fact that South African automotive business firms do not have the advantages of a major domestic market and are far removed from the major world markets, they face the challenges of operating in a tough and ever-changing environment. This environment is characterised by a global recession, aggressive global competition, high inflation and more demanding customers. To overcome these obstacles and to ensure their continuous success and existence, these domestic firms need to create a competitive advantage. The establishment of such a competitive advantage is dependent on a number of factors which mainly include sourcing from a world-class supplier base in terms of price, quality and service delivery. The main objective and central theme of this study is to determine the factors that are required by a supplier in the South African automotive industry to be classified as a world-class supplier. In support of the main objective, it was necessary to source the reasons why a firm would find it important to trade with a world-class supplier base, and to determine whether the current levels of supplier performance as experienced by buying firms in the Eastern Cape automotive industry, could be regarded as world-class. Furthermore, the study set out to determine the consequences to customer firms of inferior supplier performance, as well as the actions currently taken and support programmes in place to bring suppliers in line with world-class standards. As a starting point to the study, a literature review was undertaken which revealed the definite interdependence between a business firm and the environment in which it operates. The review underlined the need for environmental scanning as a means to proactively manage the impact of environmental changes on a firm. Porter’s value chain and business process re-engineering, as discussed in the study, are also perceived as means to manage environmental changes. The literature study further revealed some of the latest business trends followed by automotive business firms, as well as the expected supplier buy-in to ensure success. A statistical analysis on the quantitative data gathered, grouped specific items (questions) that relate to the study’s main objective with three respective individual supplier performance areas. A confirmatory factor analysis which focused on the three factors, namely quality, pricing and service delivery was carried out to assess the validity of the questions used for gathering the research data. The Cronbach Alphas determined for the three factors portrayed the reliability of the research instrument as acceptable. The empirical study revealed a few main factors that automotive business firms strongly perceive as being key to the establishment of a world-class supplier base. These factors are: a culture of continuous improvement; consistently meeting delivery deadlines by being able to respond to customer schedule changes; quoting fair prices and having respect for business ethics; as well as the consistent application of a quality policy which leads to conformance to specifications and subsequent high levels of product reliability. The empirical study also identified the following benefits enjoyed by customer business firms when trading with a world-class supplier base: Firms are able to be more flexible to customer schedule changes; they receive products that meet specifications; and they are able to operate at lower costs. The empirical findings with regard to the current level of supplier performance in the Eastern Cape Province automotive industry highlighted mainly three problem areas. These are late deliveries; the inability of suppliers to respond to customer schedule changes; as well as a lack of continuous improvement. Late deliveries which lead to production stoppages, with its resultant high costs, as well as the receipt of below-par quality products, were revealed as the main consequences when dealing with suppliers whose performance are not world-class. The main actions taken and programmes or incentives offered by automotive business firms to bring inferior suppliers more in line with world-class performance, include the rewarding of good suppliers by granting them more business; applying formal supplier performance evaluations; and having regular supplier audits.

For many manufacturing companies, equipment is the largest capital investment andeffective maintenance of these assets can impact on profitability. It extends equipment life, improves equipment availability and retains equipment in proper condition. Conversely, poorly maintained equipment may lead to more frequent equipment failures, poor utilisation of equipment and delayed production schedules. Malfunctioning equipment may result in scrap or products of poor quality. Total productive maintenance (TPM) is one of the most popular concepts for improving process dependability (Nakajima 1988). It focuses on increasing the effectiveness of maintenance which is commonly measured by the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Ford Struandale Engine Plant (FSEP) applies lean manufacturing through its Ford Production System (FPS) which consists of twelve elements. One element of FPS is Ford Total Productive Maintenance (FTPM) with the objective to maximise the overall effectiveness of plant facilities, equipment, processes and tooling through the focused efforts of work groups and the elimination of the major losses associated with manufacturing equipment. The concern for FSEP management was that although FTPM is implemented, the OEE data revealed that equipment availability targets are not achieved. The researcher identified a gap to investigate the reasons for the poor performance. A literature study was conducted to search for relevant information on the subject. A questionnaire was constructed from the theoretical information and a survey was conducted. After data collection the results were captured and analysed. The researcher made conclusions based on the data and made recommendations. The main findings were that autonomous maintenance is not functioning well, spares management is not good and the Computerised Maintenance Management System is underutilised. The recommendations were that these issues must be addressed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-242).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Boston University, 1993. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 453-499).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 472-498).

South Africa's current industrial policy focuses on the economy at two levels: a sectoral and spatial level. The former relates to the manner in which industrial policy is concentrating on particular sectors i.e. industrial clusters. This shift in industrial policy from targeting individual industries to an emphasis on industrial clusters, has complemented the change in focus to export promotion under trade policy. Furthermore, there has been increasing recognition of the need to improve industry performance and competitiveness in order to successfully implement export growth. Industry clusters are considered as having the potential to increase manufacturing performance and can provide the basis for sustainable competitive advantage for nations. Consequently the concept of industry clusters was introduced in South Africa in 1997. Because industry clusters are relatively new in South Africa, most of the cluster initiatives in various sectors of the economy are in their early stages of development. Nevertheless, some are already showing signs of potential success in increasing competitiveness in particular sectors. This thesis uses Porter's "diamond" framework apprdach to investigate whether clustering has improved the manufacturing performance of the motor industry in the Eastern Cape. International experience from both developed and developing countries will illustrate the potential of clustering as a powerful strategy in increasing manufacturing performance and consequently competitiveness. Ultimately this should lead to long-term economic development, especially if government adopts clusterbased economic development policies. Information from a survey conducted on both the motor vehicle assemblers and component suppliers is used in this study. The findings reveal that it is mainly the motor vehicle assemblers who have experienced some improvements in manufacturing performance. The components sector on the other hand has not experienced any such improvements. This thesis concludes with the recommendation that it is important to develop cluster policy as a broader and dynamic view of competition. The main emphasis under such policy would be a move from targeting particular industries and providing subsidies towards focusing attention to all clusters in the economy. To effectively apply such a policy requires the repositioning of national, local and provincial government in order to become more involved in regional development issues. Moreover, the various levels of government need to incorporate cluster policy into their competitive strategies.

M.B.A. / According to du Plessis et al., (1994:67), the history of protectionism in trade goes almost as far back as that of trade itself. There are various arguments for the numerous benefits, which can be gained from free trade such as, efficiency and welfare gains. But, despite these benefits, governments have had counter arguments as to why protectionism is justified. Examples of these traditional arguments for protection are, the infant industry argument, the terms of trade argument, protection to increase employment in an industry, a tariff to offset foreign dumping and a tariff to improve the balance of payments. All of these arguments have important gains for the protected economy but could be considered beggar-thyneighbour policies since they are at the expense of the unprotected economy. Various trade instruments are used by governments to intervene in its countries trading activities. These trade instruments are categorised into, tariff, non-tariff barriers and export taxes and subsidies. Both tariff and non-tariff barriers are used to interfere on the import side of trade, whereas export subsidies and taxes are used to interfere with the free flow of exports. Tariff barriers include specific tariffs, ad valorem tariffs, import subsidies, preferential duties, most-favoured nation treatment and offshore assembly provisions. Nontariff barriers include import quotas, "voluntary" export restraints, government procurement provisions, local content provisions, administrative classification and restriction on service trade (du Plessis et al.,1994:67-70). An example of a protected industry in South Africa is the motor industry. The initial protectionist programmes used by the motor industry were characterised by local content policies. These programmes resulted in a heavily protected motor and component industry. In recent years, policymakers have attempted to reduce the level of protection in the industry through the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP), in line with the General Trade and Tariff Agreement (GATT). This programme is not only attempting to reduce the use of trade instruments but, also to become globally competitive. This dissertation attempts to evaluate the effects that protectionism, in the form of the Motor Industry Development Programme, has had on the Motor Industry's component suppliers.