Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 97-101).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 209-213). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-171). Also available on the Internet.

The intention of this dissertation is to attempt to project the theoretical concept of Corporate (or Long-Range) Planning into the reality of one of South Africa's major motor vehicle manufacturing company's task environment. It is a sad fact that there are no universally - applicable practical planning "laws" (as are present within the discipline of, say, Physics) amidst the ever-changing hurly-burly world of modern commerce and industry. Accordingly, there are very real distinctions between distilled Corporate Planning theory, as it is propounded in the many available books and articles, and Corporate Planning practice as actually implemented. This is true largely by virtue of the fact that in the same way as persons differ in their physical and mental make-up, so too do individual companies; even to the extent of acquiring a distinct corporate "personality" of their own. Terms of reference, p. 1.

No description available.

Uma abordagem premente que está transformando os negócios é o desenvolvimento sustentável, apoiado no tripé econômico, ambiental e social. Nesse contexto, emergem novas regras na competitividade entre empresas, movidas principalmente pelas mudanças nos padrões de comportamento do consumidor e exigindo a adaptação empresarial quanto aos paradigmas contemporâneos de gestão. O tema sustentabilidade apresenta-se como uma estratégia empresarial competitiva, porém, conceitualmente é debatido e controverso entre as diversas correntes de pesquisadores, especialistas e empresários. Uma outra indagação que se faz é quanto ao entendimento dos colaboradores e gestores em relação à concepção da sustentabilidade, e se os objetivos organizacionais estão alinhados para esse propósito. Com o intuito de investigar esses diferentes aspectos, a presente dissertação traz um estudo empírico e teórico sobre sustentabilidade empresarial, cuja proposta foi identificar as percepções sobre empreendimento sustentável na opinião de gestores e colaboradores de quatro relevantes empresas de diferentes segmentos da Região Sudoeste do Paraná. Quanto ao aspecto metodológico tratou-se de uma pesquisa quanti-qualitativa, onde se fez o uso de método estatístico não paramétrico para analisar a associação entre as respostas dos diversos colaboradores. Além disso, foram realizadas entrevistas com os gestores para confrontar e comparar as suas opiniões com as respostas dos colaboradores. O resultado global do estudo demonstrou que, de um modo geral, os indivíduos expressam um saber limitado sobre sustentabilidade, predispondo uma preocupação maior para os aspectos econômicos e financeiros, que para os atributos sociais e ambientais. Contudo, foi possível identificar várias ações tanto sociais, quanto ambientais que já vem sendo desenvolvidas nas empresas pesquisadas. Percebeu-se também com a pesquisa, que a maior compreensão de sustentabilidade empresarial encontra-se nos níveis de direção e gerenciais das empresas, e que muitas vezes essa política não é repassada de forma clara para todos os colaboradores. / Sustainable development, a pressing approach, has changed businesses meaningfully and is based on economic, environmental and social bottom lines. Upon this context, new rules on business competition come up, supported especially by the changes in the standards of consumers’ behavior; demanding the company to adjust to new management paradigms. Sustainability is regarded as strategy for business competition however; the concept seems to be still controversial among researchers, experts and businesspeople. It is also in point of discussion how much managers and employees understand the idea of sustainability and whether companies are overlooking this goal or not. The present dissertation aims to analyze these aspects through an empirical and theoretical study. Its purpose, in a nutshell, is to identify managers’ and employees’ knowledge about corporate sustainability, in four major companies, from both industrial and commercial segments, in Southwest Paraná. The method adopted is quantitative and qualitative; nonparametric statistics were used to compare the answer of all interviewed employees. Managers have also been interviewed and their answers confronted the employees’. The general outcome of the study showed that most individuals in this context have a limited knowledge about the concept of sustainability, worrying more about its financial impacts than the environmental ones. Nevertheless, it was possible to identify diverse actions, social and environment-related, which have been put into practice by the companies. The research determined that the idea of sustainability is clearer among managers, mostly because it is not usually brought to employees and other individuals involved.

Orientador: Sergio Robles Reis de Queiroz / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T15:10:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Zeitoum_Camila_M.pdf: 1631244 bytes, checksum: c64564b4ac4763df3285c7ba87ea720f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: O objetivo do trabalho é apresentar a evolução das firmas prestadoras de serviços de manufatura por contrato em direção a um leque mais amplo e complexo de etapas da cadeia de valor de produtos eletrônicos. Inicialmente, é feita uma contextualização do fenômeno da subcontratação de atividades. Discutem-se as principais mudanças na forma de organização das grandes corporações verticalmente integradas, principalmente a partir da década de 1970, diante de um acirramento da competição e da volatilidade das demandas. Além do aumento da internacionalização das empresas, a estratégia de subcontratação produtiva surge como uma alternativa ao modelo predominante em diversas indústrias. Em seguida, apresentam-se algumas características do complexo eletrônico, intimamente relacionadas com as motivações para que nesse setor a estratégia de subcontratação seja expandida para além da manufatura. Nesse contexto, inserem-se as fornecedoras EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services), empresas que emergiram como fabricantes de placas para suprir as necessidades das empresas clientes, - as companhias OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers), também conhecidas como firmas "de marca" - mas que atualmente oferecem um pacote integrado de soluções que vão desde as etapas mais iniciais da cadeia de valor dos produtos eletrônicos, como design e desenvolvimento de produtos, até as etapas posteriores à manufatura, de logística, distribuição e reparos. A partir da abordagem teórica evolucionária, discutem-se elementos que estão por trás da evolução da firma, com base nos conceitos de estratégia, estrutura e competências centrais. Supõe-se que na busca por um processo consistente de desenvolvimento, a firma deve adotar uma estratégia que combine práticas de exploitation e exploration, para alcançar (i) um melhor aproveitamento dos recursos internos, mas sem deixar de promover (ii) a busca por novas tecnologias e conhecimentos. As mudanças na estratégia da firma devem impactar a forma como a empresa está estruturada, resultante de rotinas organizacionais. Em função desse arranjo, a firma desenvolve competências centrais. Reforça-se a importância das capacitações dinâmicas nesse processo, fundamentais para que a firma se adapte a um ambiente de concorrência em constante mutação. O caso da Flextronics ilustra o processo evolutivo de uma das maiores empresas da indústria EMS em direção a serviços mais complexos / Abstract: This study presents the evolution of the contract manufacturers to a broader range of more complex phases of electronics' value chain. The outsourcing phenomena is discussed as one of the changes in the organization of the great vertically integrated corporations in the 1970s, mainly due to a stonger competition and the volatile demands. Besides these companies' internationalization process, the manufacturing outsourcing emerges as an alternative to the predominant model in different industries. Some of the electronics industry's characteristics are pointed out as reasons for the companies to outsource functions beyond manufacturing. In this scenario, we introduce the Electronics Manufacturing Serivices providers, which emerged as board stuffers to respond to the Original Equipment Manufacturers and are now capable of offering an integrated set of solutions from the most inicial phases of the electronics products' value chain - such as product design and development - to the post manufacturing phases - logistics, distruibution and repair services. Based on the evolutionary theory, some of the elements related to the evolution process of the firm are discussed through the concepts of strategy, structure and core compentences. It is assumed that the firm must adopt a strategy that combines exploration and exploitation practices to reach (i) a better use of the internal resources and also (ii) the search for new technologies and knowledge. The changes in the firms' strategies must impact the way through which the company is structured, as a result of organizational routines. Due to this arrangement, the firm develops core competences. The importance of dynamic capabilities is reinforced, as they are pointed out as crucial for the firms to adapt to the changing environment of competition. The case of Flextronics ilustrates the evolution process of one of the greatest firms in the EMS industry towards more complex services / Mestrado / Mestre em Política Científica e Tecnológica

M.Comm. / Volgens West (1988: 1) begin mense vanwee verskeie redes 'n sakeonderneming: vir wins, vir onafhanldikheid, of weens desperaatheid - wanneer hulle byvoorbeeld 'n lang termyn van werkloosheid in die gesig staar. Sommige voorbeelde van nuwe sakeondernemings, soos by dit stel, is waarvan drome gemaak word, die "rags to riches progress of dazzling proportions". Alhoewel die suksesstories inspirerend is vir baie voornemende sakeondernemers en dit spreekwoordelik die goud aan die einde van die reenboog uitwys, is die realiteit van kleinsakeondernemings dikwels verskillend en teleurstellend in die wereld daar buite. Die gemiddelde kleinsakeonderneming kan eers beskou word as lewensvatbaar as dit die eerste vyf jaar van bestaan oorskry het. Navorsing toon ook dat ongeveer 85% van alle nuwe sakeondernemings in die eerste vyf jaar misluk (West, 1988: 1). Die oorsake van die mislukkings wissel weens verskeie faktore. Na aanleiding van 'n studie onder kleiner sakeondernemings is die oorsake soos volg bevind: deels ekonomies (47,7%), finansieel (38,4%), onervarenheid (7,1%), nalatigheid van die eienaar (3,4%) en ander redes (3,7%) (Timmons, 1999: 32).

Prof. S.H. von Solms

M.B.A. / The last decade has been a period of great transformation in South Africa and many companies have found themselves facing many challenges. Prospering in this environment have lead many companies to embark on programmes of restructuring and refocusing their companies in order to face the new challenges locally and globally. For this reason the purpose of this study is to determine if management in non-listed companies based in Gauteng have a formalised business plan in place to achieve its short-term objectives and a formalised strategy that would synergise the company's short-term objectives with its long-term vision. The reason for undertaking this research was to enable the researcher to provide an in-depth analysis of the strategic planning process used by nonlisted companies in Gauteng when in developing its business strategy in a transformational environment. The researcher relied on quantitative research techniques and the following data collection method was utilised. Email survey questionnaires produced by the researcher on a proprietary software programme to respondents of the sample group. In assessing the research data and the literature review, the researcher provides a wealth of knowledge on strategic planning in non-listed companies in Gauteng and globally. With this insight strategy consultants will be ideally positioned to facilitate a strategic planning session or the development of a strategic business plan/strategy for a non-listed company in Gauteng. The researcher is confident that the literature review, the research data and the recommendations will provide excellent insight into the strategic planning process in non-listed companies based in Gauteng, South Africa.