published_or_final_version / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

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The process of transition from a centrally planned economy established during the period of Socialism (1944-1989) to a free market economy, began in 1989 and since then a range of reforms (political, economic and agricultural) that have affected the agricultural/horticultural sector in the country have taken place. The agricultural reform began in 1991 with the liquidation of the state Agricultural Industrial Complexes (AICs) and the introduction of private farming that established two main organisational structures: private farms and private co-operatives. The situation in agricultural/horticultural sector in Bulgaria and in the Plovdiv region has been placed in a critical condition with decreased production outputs when compared to the prereform levels due to the loss of established markets, high production costs, limited governmental financial and marketing support, old plots of perennial crops (orchards and vineyards), obsolete machinery and technologies and a highly fragmented pattern of land holding. The aim of this research is to evaluate a range of alternative strategies for the revitalisation and the future development of the horticultural industry in the Plovdiv region of Bulgaria. This was achieved by an investigation of the following: " The national characteristics of Bulgarian agriculture/horticulture as well as the political/legal environment within which the, farms have operated during the transition period. The local characteristics of the horticultural sector in the Plovdiv region, including an identification of the main advantages and problems. " The business operational characteristics of the farms in the Plovdiv region, particularly with regard to current production and marketing structure. " The evaluation by the farm managers of a range of alternative strategic options, based on Ansoff products/market matrix, for the revitalisation of the horticultural sector in the Plovdiv region. The identification of the business characteristics and the evaluation of the proposed alternative strategic options were studied using face-to-face interviews, assisted by a questionnaire, with farmers managing different types of farms in the Plovdiv region. The main findings indicated that the farms, irrespective of their size, land ownership patterns and type of crops, intended to continue with existing production patterns over the next 5 years, which they perceived as a `safe' option for business survival and as a way of life. This it is argued is the result of the influence of the external (political/legal and economic) and internal environments acting upon the farm businesses. The external environment remains inconsistent and unstable characterised by poor agricultural policies and legislation, undeveloped markets and a lack of finance (subsidies or borrowed) for investment in modernisation and products/markets transformations, while the internal environment was characterised by the weak market position, and low competitive power of the small and highly fragmented farms, which were obliged to sell their produce locally and to accept the market price offered to them. However, farm businesses in the Plovdiv region have considerable potential due to the favourable natural conditions, centuries old traditions of growing horticultural crops, the availability of a wholesale market in the region, combined with the significant knowledge and experience of the farm managers. Although the majority of farmers rejected new business approaches they were aware of the new opportunities that arose from the changing business environment. However, they were waiting for the political/legal and economic stability in the country and EU membership when the external environment would they believe be more stable and consistent.

Executive coaches are a relatively new and high profile addition to the supplier ranks offering development services for directors and senior managers in the UK. There is a paucity of theory about executive coaching, despite its widespread purchase and use in practice. The research and thesis examines current practice from two different perspectives - suppliers and commissioners - in order to advance understanding of the issues that affect the commissioning of executive coaching for directors and senior managers. Being one of the first in an area has a number of implications for the research design. The research environment is the real world of commissioners from a number of organisations who are members of the IES Research Club (and its successor body an IES Research Network) and the real world of executive coaches themselves. The chosen iterative research approach of action research and co-operative inquiry involved collaborating with three different sets of practitioner co-researchers in shaping the nature of the research and reflecting upon what was being learned. A particular contribution to the knowledge about the subject is made in categorising, for the first time, what organisations hope to gain by commissioning executive coaching on behalf of their most senior employees. The thesis also explores the 'how' of the work of executive coaches through situated research in one organisational context where 17 directors were coached by three executive coaches, including the researcher. A model of the executive coaching process, from the coach's perspective, has been developed and is presented and described here. The model is a significant contribution to theory in the field.

After many years of domination by the Soviet Union, 1989 brought great changes in Eastern Europe. The collapse of the communist system has led to the beginning of a new era in which Eastern European countries are being required both to develop a democratic system and adapt to a market economy. Left with a legacy of massive unproductive factories and immense co-operative farms, the beginning of the transition towards the market economy has been difficult. One of the factors associated with the emerging market economy is argued to be the increasing importance of the consumer. In Romania, some sectors of the economy declined more than others and compared to other sectors, agriculture and horticulture in particular, have declined less. However, land reform, loss of former markets and poor inputs due to financial constraints have left their mark on Romanian horticulture. Once named by the Soviet Union "the breadbasket of Eastern Europe", Romania and Romanian horticulture are required to adapt presently to the new market conditions. Within the horticultural sector, the apple industry is one of the areas in urgent need of revitalisation. Reaching its peak under the communist centralised command system, the industry has to be rebuilt to new standards which recognise, perhaps for the first time, the role of the consumer. This research examines the Romanian apple industry (fresh apples and apple juices), in order to analyse the expectations of consumers and to determine whether the Romanian apple industry is able to adapt and respond to those key expectations in the foreseeable future. Additionally, Romanian consumers and the country's apple industry arc contrasted with those in the UK and Germany, countries with traditional market economies which also represent potential export markets for Romanian produce. Focusing on the consumer in relation to the Romanian apple industry, the work reports on the findings and discusses some obstacles to, and proposed actions for, the revitalisation of the Romanian apple industry. In order to achieve the various objectives a multiple methodology was developed, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The expectations and preferences of consumers were identified by means of questionnaires and focus groups, involving the four domestic apple varieties selected as reference products. The information collected was presented to the apple industry and in-depth interviews were conductedi n order to assess the industry's difficulties and its capacity to respond the consumer requirements which had been determined.

Set in the Greek subsidiary of a multinational company whose products are capital goods and consumables sold through business-to-business channels, this work addresses a noticeable fall in sales over recent years from the perspective of a practitioner-researcher. A participative approach to the research work was chosen by reference to the Action Inquiry paradigm and the thesis outlines the reasons for this choice. It goes on to trace how the problem of falling sales was first explored through the literatures of customer satisfaction and customer relationship management before finding expression in the Service-Profit Chain model. The application of this model to a business-to-business environment is carefully considered throughout. From a wide client base, not all customers could be accommodated in the research and so a method of customer selection is outlined. To enable an evaluation of the progress of the work, a non-positivist process for benchmarking customer sentiment towards the subsidiary has been developed by extensive use of the Repertory Grid Technique. The thesis reports on two applications of this method, each a year apart, and on the ameliorating interventions made in the intervening period. These interventions were facilitated by the application of a key account management system in the company where the work took place. Both practical and theoretical issues concerning the KAM approach are discussed at length. The work may be seen as pursuing a gap in the literature recognized by several writers and as such it contributes to knowledge by virtue of being a rare piece of pragmatic research into customer relationships and their management. It demonstrates a practical integration of the fields of theory covered by the Service-Profit Chain, Customer Relationship Management and Key Account Management, whilst reinforcing the Service- Profit Chain model as an integrating theory within the business-to-business field. Finally, the research outlines a transferable process for the assessment of a company's standing with its customers in such an environment and for planning appropriate interventions with a view to influencing that standing on a cyclical basis.

This research aims to find ways to enhance understanding of how Korean companies in the UK can improve their market positions through localisation. The thesis may be divided into three main sections. The first, which consists of chapters 1 and 2, is concerned with the way Koreans conduct business and the marketing strategies they tend to adopt. The second section, which is covered in chapters 3 to 5, is concerned with the way in which localisation has been investigated. That is, it outlines a number of different marketing theories and indicates that none of them is individually an entirely satisfactory means of describing Korean methods and marketing strategy. Two of the newer theories, the interaction and network approaches, are treated in greater detail since they are shown to be vital components of the synthesis of marketing theories which appears to be the most suitable for describing Korean methods.The third section, which comprises chapters 6 and 7, describes the empirical research itself. It shows the extent to which chaebol have achieved localisation in the UK and it provides evidence for ways that they can improve their marketing strategies.

The purpose of this study is to assess the state of e-commerce adoption by the SMEs in Northern Malaysia and to examine the factors that might hinder the adoption. The methodology employed in this study was questionnaire survey. Questionnaires were sent to the SMEs in Northern who were listed in the latest official business directory of SMI association of Malaysia as well as other sources. Analysis of the data obtained found that the general usage of e-commerce among the SMEs in Northern Malaysia is low; most firms seemed to have implemented only basic e-commerce applications and do not adopt advance e-commerce applications. For example, the most used e-commerce application is email whereas the least used application is online payment system. Furthermore, while a substantial number of the SMEs have implemented web sites, they were used merely to display products and company information rather than having advanced features such as providing online transaction and online payment services. Analysis of benefits realized found that most of the SMEs in Northern Malaysia, which have adopted e-commerce, only gained some of the benefits of e-commerce. Benefits realized were in the areas of customer service, market expansion, and back-end efficiency and inventory management. On the other hand, the SMEs who have adopted e-commerce seemed incapable of improving their overall performance and profitability. Examination of the factors that might hinder the adoption of e-commerce by the SMEs in Northern Malaysia were initially identified through factor analysis as environmental barriers, financial barriers, governmental barriers, technical barriers and behavioural barriers. However, correlation analysis showed that only factors related to organizational, governmental and environmental barriers have some negative influence on the extent of e-commerce usage. Out of the three factors, only the factor associated with environmental barriers has a significant correlation with the extent of e-commerce adoption. Regression analysis confirmed that the factor related to environmental barriers has significant negative influence on the extent of e-commerce adoption. Therefore, it was concluded that while many factors could be hindering the adoption of e-commerce by the SMEs in Northern Malaysia, only the factor pertaining to environmental barriers has significant negative influence on its adoption. / Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2004