This thesis describes in depth what the steps for a successful business project are: from an idea to its implementation. Every business project may be regarded as an investment. I followed the institutions involved and then the instruments needed, but the next logical step in order to complete the picture would be the human factor. Because all the knowledge base on how to support the mission (idea and its goal), how to manage the project, and what kind of players to involve in the end is executed by people. Humans are incapable of predicting the future, but are perfect in adapting to new realities. Similarly, no capital budget can be perfectly coinciding with expected performance. No matter how many times the facts are checked the perfect balance is lost with time. My goal with this topic was to show that in order to bring business value and competitive advantage, good knowledge of the processes and methods is paramount. Careful planning and execution can bring in synchrony idea, raising capital, risk management, capital budgeting and execution close enough, so that in the end a business project may be titled successful.

Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2011 / The South African economic system is reliant to a greater extend on the availability of resources within this economy. Agricultural business opportunities should be properly explored to contribute significantly towards LED and the S.A economy at large. The aim of this study is to determine the situation of agricultural businesses, analyse the situation and give recommendations as input to the strategy that will assist to effectively improve the performance of agricultural businesses in Aganang municipality and their contribution to economic growth of the municipality. A general census of all these agricultural businesses within Aganang municipality as registered in the municipal LED database was considered for the research. Two different questionnaires were distributed to the two categories in the population, one for the officials and the other for business owners/managers. The results indicated that agricultural businesses in Aganang municipality are not aware of agricultural business opportunities and support programmes offered by government. They therefore do not participate in such programmes, remain survivalist and thus do not contribute to the economic growth of the municipality. The study recommends that: The younger generation should be involved in the agricultural sector. An active learning and entrepreneurship skill development programme at secondary school level should be considered. More farmers should be encouraged to engage in goat and cattle farming as the climate and soil structure dictates. There should be coordination of SMME including agricultural business development activities, within the municipality.

The theoretical aspects of Architectural Management (AM) have been widely researched from a variety of international perspectives through the published research work of the CIB W096 Working Group. There is much less research, however, covering the transfer of these theoretical aspects into professional practice. There is a lack of a holistic approach towards defining AM, explaining what it constitutes, its deliverables to its users, whether there is a need for architectural managers, and if so, what are their qualifications. Similarly, there is a lack of research concerning the opinions of those outside the CIB W096 community with regard to Architectural Management. This research has contributed to the theory and practice of AM by conducting a combination of inductive/deductive, exploratory/explanatory, and qualitative/quantitative approaches in order to understand the exact meaning of AM; capture and detail its components; and to validate all these issues by examining the professional opinions of two groups: researchers and practitioners. The primary focus of this research was answering the question as to how AM can be transferred successfully from theory into practice. In order to answer this question, the research was divided into five consecutive phases. Firstly, reviewing the literature helped establish a solid theoretical background for the research, and it helped in highlighting the major gaps in knowledge associated with AM. Subsequently, and in response to the shortage of information within the AM literature, a preliminary study was found to be a useful source for gathering information about the meaning, components, benefits, strategies and requirements of AM, and the need for architectural managers. Then, both the data extracted from the literature and the data obtained through the preliminary study were analysed and combined, generating a framework for transferring AM from theory to practice using the grounded theory methodology. Then the AM framework testing process was conducted in three stages through a workshop, interviews, and questionnaire survey examining the professional perspectives of architectural researchers (within and outside the CIB W096) and the leaders of UK architectural firms. The final stage involved discussing and synthesising the data obtained through the entire course of this research and generating conclusions. During its testing and after refinement, the newly proposed AM framework proved its practicality and usefulness for transferring Architectural Management from theory to practice. The findings indicated that the decision to adopt AM should be taken at the firm's strategic management level; and there is a need for a facilitator expert in design, management and construction to lead the successful adoption and application of AM. Similarly, the findings revealed that adopting AM in practice has the capability to increase a firm's competitiveness. However, this requires effective communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing within the firm's internal and external environments. Similarly, the findings indicated the crucial role of basic and vocational architecture education in spreading the concept of AM and assuring its successful application.