Customer retention has been shown by academic researchers to be more profitable than customer acquisition. However, its implementation in the business environment has not been so successful. One of the reasons for this is that customer retention can be achieved in several ways (e.g.. loyalty programs, affinity cards and switching costs)and that the translation from the concept of “retaining customers” to the actions and strategies to retain them is not always easy. One of the most attractive strategies to ensure that customers remains within the organisation is through cross-selling and up-selling. In short, the objective is to increase the number (or the value) of the products that a customer buys from a company to make it more difficult for him/her to leave. Whilst academic research has deeply investigated the concepts of loyalty, retention programs and trust, amongst others, cross-selling has not received the same level of attention. Moreover, existing research on cross-selling has been focused on products rather than on services. Finally, this research has mostly been conceptual in nature, with limited attempts to model or design practical cross-selling and up-selling strategies. In order for cross selling and up-selling to be effective strategies, they need to be tailored to the needs of the customer. The offer must be adequate in terms of the target (who is going to buy the product), the content (what is going to be purchased) and a time (when is the right moment to offer the new product). This thesis investigates cross-selling and up-selling from a practical point of view in Nedbank It assesses the importance of the concepts of customer retention and cross-selling and up-selling through several interviews conducted within Nedbank. Finally, this research highlights, from an empirical analysis, how repurchase decision is highly influenced by the length of the relationship with the provider and the type of products already purchased. Understanding these factors is key to successfully retaining customers via cross selling. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

Affirmative Action has been around in South Africa for about two decades. Recently, the government decided to impose Affirmative Action through the Employment Equity Act. Organisations are anxious to transform their demographical composition across job categories, particularly into management. One of the problems organisations faced in the past and may continue to face in the future is the perceived short tenure ('Job hopping") of black employees. The impression has been created that black employees are taking advantage of the favourable employment market and constantly keep moving on to jobs that offer better packages. The aim of this study is to investigate how organisations are trying to manage this problem . Five Human Resources systems/criteria i.e. selection, training and development, career management, pay and socialisation were identified in the theory as instruments with which employees could be retained. in-depth case studies were conducted at two large banks (A and B) in Kwazulu Natal to establish and compare the relationships that these human resources criteria might have with the retention of black employees. To obtain this information, a structured interview schedule with open-ended as well as closed-ended questions was used. Face to face interviews with a senior Human Resources Practitioner from each bank as well as two current and two exemployees from each bank were conducted. The resulting data was captured onto a computer and analysed statistically. The results of the research showed that the bank that scored the best (bank A) on the implementation of these five retention-related criteria also had the highest turnover of black employees. This was contrary to what was anticipated. The research also found that there was little uniformity in practice between the two banks regarding which criteria they were emphasising within their respective organisations. Furthermore, current and ex-employees bad different perceptions to management regarding how well these criteria were being implemented. The findings suggest that when employees are developing they are content and tend to stay longer. They further indicate that in order to reduce black employee turnover, management should recruit individuals with potential and develop them, rather than purchasing skills from the outside. The findings also show that whilst management might have good Human Resources systems at it's disposal, the implementation thereof needs to be of a high standard and well-controlled in order to optimise retention. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.