In an ever-changing environment, it has become difficult for organisation to create and maintain a competitive advantage. Nowhere is it more evident than in the manufacturing industry. For organisations to be successful, it is imperative for them to have a clear and well-defined strategy. This strategy should be viewed as the steering mechanism of the organisation. With the ever-increasing demands of customers, organisations have been forced to be agile in order to adapt to sudden changes. Now more than ever, technology can be used as a powerful tool. For organisations to be profitable and grow, they need to have a management team that is competent to manage the organisation in turbulent times. To ensure a competitive advantage, management must be able to predict the future needs of the organisation. The use of technology forecasting and technology audits can assist management in addressing this process. Most organisations are technology intensive and deliver products or services. The research attempts to determine a strategy for the successful implementation and management of technology in a manufacturing organisation. It also tries to establish the impact of technology auditing on the competitive advantage of the organisation. A comprehensive technological audit questionnaire was used in conducting an audit at Valor Fruit Processors (Pty) Ltd. It must be emphasised that this model is a generic model and should be customised to suit each particular organisation.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African citrus industry was deregulated in 1997. Before deregulation only Outspan could export citrus from South Africa and no other export company was allowed to do so. The deregulation process was not gradual, but came suddenly and the industry changed from fully regulated to deregulated in a very short time. This sudden deregulation created a lot of uncertainty in the industry. More than one hundred new fruit export companies were established within a year after deregulation. Most of these new entrants had very little experience in exporting citrus. Many of them went bankrupt within a year or two and many citrus producers suffered considerable financial losses as a result. Producers had no experience in exports themselves and many were not qualified to choose reputable export companies to export their fruit. The face of the industry has been changed unrecognisably. In the past there was one big company exporting all the citrus from South Africa. After deregulation a lot of small to medium fruit export companies were established. These companies playa very important role in the industry as it stands today. Deregulation also opened the door for big international fruit marketing and distribution companies to enter the South African fruit business. After some years of chaos and very little reliable information available in the industry in terms of volumes produced and exported, the industry is stabilising. A number of industry bodies like the Citrus Exporters Forum (CEF) and Citrus South Africa (CSA) have been formed to represent the exporters and the producers. These bodies have formed the Joint Marketing Forum (JMF) that meets every month to discuss marketing and industry-related issues jointly. The debate with regards to deregulation rages on. Most industry role players are supportive of less regulation and free market principles. However, deregulation could have been more gradually phased in. This would have given more people, especially producers, the chance to adapt to the new environment. Most role players are of the opinion that the citrus industry is more market driven and more competitive after deregulation than before. Taking a look at the South African citrus industry in the future, there will be increased competition due to increased volume of citrus produced world wide. Producers can therefore no longer produce unwanted varieties or produce in marginal areas where the yields are low. Producers must take their destiny in their own hands and must educate themselves in the export process so that they can make the right decisions about production and exports. As a result of increased competition and lower margins the distribution chain must be as short as possible with as few middle men as possible. As a result of this producer exporters are on the increase. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Suid Afrikaanse sitrusbedryf is in 1997 gedereguleer. Voor deregulering kon slegs Outspan sitrus uit Suid Afrika uitvoer en geen ander maatskappy is toegelaat om dit te doen nie. Die dereguleringsprosess was nie geleidelik nie, maar die industrie het van ten volle gereguleerd tot gedureguleer verander in 'n baie kort tyd. Die skielike deregulering het gelei tot groot onsekerheid in die industrie. Meer as eenhonderd nuwe vrugte uitvoermaatskappy is binne 'n jaar na deregulering gevorm. Meeste van die nuwe rolspelers het baie min ondervinding in die uitvoer van sitrus gehad. Baie het dan ook bankrot gespeel binne 'n jaar of twee en baie sitrusprodusente het groot finansiële verliese gelei as gevolg daarvan. Meeste produsente het ook geen ondervinding in uitvoere gehad nie 'en was dus nie gekwalifiseerd om betroubare uitvoermaatskappye te kies om hulle sitrus uit te voer nie. Die gesig van die industry is onherkenbaar verander. Tydens regularing was daar slegs een groot maatskappy wat alle sitrus van Suid Afrika af uitgevoer het. Na deregulering is 'n groot aantal klein tot medium vrugte uitvoermaatskappye gevorm. Hierdie maatskappye speel 'n baie belangrike rol in die industrie soos dit tans lyk. Deregulering het ook die deur vir groot internasionale vrugtebemarkings en distribusiemaatskappye oopgemaak om die Suid Afrikaanse industrie te betree. Na 'n aantal jare van chaos en baie min betroubare informasie wat beskikbaar was in terme van volume geproduseer en uitgevoer, is die industrie besig om te stabiliseer. Daar is ook 'n aantal industrieliggame soos die Sitrus Uitvoerders Forum en Sitrus Suid Afrika gevorm om die belange van uitvoerders en produsente te verteenwoordig. Hierdie liggame het die Gesamentlike Bemarkings Forum gevorm wat elke maand vergader om bemarking en ander industrie aangeleenthede gesaamentlik te bespreek. Die debad met betrekking tot deregularing is steeds aan die gang. Meeste industrierolspelers ondersteun minder regulering en vryemark beginsels. Hulle stem egter saam dat die dereguleringsproses meer geleidelik ingefaseer moes word. Dit sou produsente meer tyd gegee het om aan te pas by die nuwe omgewing. Meeste rolspelers is van die opinie dat die sitrusindustrie in Suid Afrika meer markgerig en ook meer kompeterend geword het na deregulering. In die toekoms kan verwag word dat daar meer kompetisie in die sitrusbedryf sal wees as gevolg van 'n toename in sitrusproduksie wêreldwyd in sitrusproduserende lande. Produsente kan dus nie meer ongewenste variëteite produseer of sitrus produseer in marginale areas waar opbrengste laag is nie. Produsente moet hulle toekoms in hulle eie hande neem en moet die uitvoerproses leer ken sodat hulle die regte besluite kan neem oor produksie en uitvoere. As gevolg van toenemende kompetisie en kleiner marges moet die logistiekeketting so kort en koste effektief as moontlik gehou word. As gevolg hiervan is produsente uitvoermaatskappye aan die toeneem.

Agriculture plays a significant role in South Africa’s export earning and in providing employment opportunities. Amongst the major agricultural crops is citrus. Within the context of postmodern and feminist geographies and utilizing the intensive research design, this thesis discusses citrus production with a focus on growers and black women workers in the Kat River Valley area in Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape. The thesis also explores the challenges and implications of restructuring within agriculture for growers, cooperatives and labour within the citrus industry. It is argued that whilst legislation related to labour and tenure within agriculture has changed since the mid-1990s, power relations in the citrus industry have remained firmly entrenched. Consequently, the flexible labour strategies that the citrus farmers adopted have had serious consequences for women worker

In recent years, concern about food safety linked to health issues has seen a rise in private food safety standards in addition to the regulations set by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). These have presented challenges to producers and exporters of agricultural food products especially the producers of fresh fruits and vegetables. In spite of the food safety-linked challenges from the demand side, the vast range of business-environment forces pose equally formidable challenges that negatively impact on the exporting industries’ ability to maintain or improve their market shares and their ability to compete in world markets. The objective of this study was therefore to establish the competitiveness of the South African citrus industry in the international markets within this prevailing scenario. Due to the diversity of the definitions of competitiveness as a concept, this study formulated the following working definition: “the ability to create, deliver and maintain value and constant market share through strategic management of the industrial environment or competitiveness drivers”. This was based on the understanding that the international market shares of an industry are a function of forces in the business environment which range from intra-industry, external and national as well as the international elements. The unit of analysis were the citrus producers engaged in export of their products and the study made use of 151 responses by producers. The study adopted a five-step approach to the analysis of the performance of the South African citrus industry in the global markets, starting with the analysis of the Constant Market Share (CMS) of the South African citrus industry in various world markets, establishing the impact of the business environmental factors upon competitiveness, establishing the costs of compliance with private food safety standards, determining the non-price benefits of compliance with the standards, as well as highlighting the strategies for enhancing long-term competitiveness of the industry in the international markets. South Africa is one of the top three countries dominating the citrus fruit export market. Since its entry into the citrus fruit exports market in the 1900s, the industry has sustained its activity in the international market. The Constant Market Share Analysis shows that, amidst the challenges on the international market side, and the changes in the business environment, over much of which the industry has limited control and influence, the industry has maintained its competitive advantage in several markets. The CMS shows that South Africa’s lemons are competitive in America. Despite a negative trend, the South African grapefruit has been competitive in France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Oranges have been competitive in the Greece, Italy, Portugal, UK, Asian and Northern Europe markets. Competitiveness in these markets has been due to the inherent competitiveness of the industry. Competitiveness in such markets as the Middle East has been attributed to the relatively rapid growth of these markets. The South African citrus industry has similarly undergone many major processes of transformation. The business environmental factors influencing its performance have ranged reform to the challenges beyond the country’s borders. These factors directly and indirectly affect the performance of the industry in the export market. They have influenced the flow of fruits into different international destinations. Of major concern are the food safety and private standards. Challenges in traditional markets as well as opportunities presented by demand from newly emerging citrus consuming nations have seen a diversification in the marketing of the South African citrus. The intensity of competition in the global market is reflected by the fluctuations in the market shares in different markets as well as the increase and fluctuations of fruit rejection rates in some lucrative markets such as America. A combination of challenging national environmental forces and stringent demand conditions negatively impact on revenues especially from markets characterised by price competitiveness. This study identified cost of production, foreign market support systems, adaptability, worker skills, challenges of management in an international environment and government policies such as labour and trade policies as some of the most influential obstacles to competitiveness. Some of the most competiveness-enhancing factors were market availability, market size, market information, market growth and the availability of research institutions. However, compliance with private standards still poses a challenge to the exporters. The different performance levels of the industry in various markets prove the dissimilarity of the demand conditions in the global market. These are supported by the negative influence associated with the foreign market support regimes as well as the challenges associated with compliance with private food safety standards. While market availability, market growth, market information and size were identified as enhancing competitiveness, the fluctuations and inconsistencies in the competitiveness of the industry in different foreign markets require more than finding markets. Resource allocation by both the government and the industry may need to take into account the off-setting of the national challenges and support of farmers faced with distorted and unfair international playing fields. Otherwise, market availability is not a challenge for the industry save meeting the specifications therewith as well as price competitiveness which is unattainable for the South African citrus producers faced with high production costs. For the purposes of further study, it is recommended that account should be taken of all the products marketed by the industry (including processed products such as fruit juices) in order to have a whole picture of the competitiveness of the industry in the international market. This study also proffers a new theoretical framework for the analysis of the business environment for the citrus industry and other agro-businesses. This framework takes into account the indispensability of the food safety standards and measures as well as the diversity of the global consumer and the non-negotiability of food trade for the sustenance of the growing population.

The main objective of this study was to analyse South African (SA) citrus farmers’ perceptions of the benefits and costs of complying with quality assurance (QA) certification schemes for citrus exports to the European Union (EU). The study used an e-mail and postal survey questionnaire mailed to a stratified random sample of 260 SA commercial citrus growers during July 2007. The survey yielded 108 usable responses - a response rate of 10.8% from the target population of 1001 commercial SA citrus growers. The main factors motivating respondents to adopt QA certification were to keep and maintain access to existing markets; to improve customer confidence in their products; to access new markets; and to meet food safety and retailer requirements. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) identified six underlying dimensions of motivators, which suggest a drive by sampled respondents to gain certification to meet market requirements, achieve intra-farm benefits such as cost-reduction, and to remain competitive in existing and new foreign markets. The sampled respondents identified the main internal benefits from QA certification as the ability to retain existing markets; improved worker health and safety; better access to foreign markets; better farm organisation; and improved fruit safety and orchard management. The PCA identified six broad dimensions of these internal benefits. Comparing the motivator and perceived benefit dimensions, most of the motivators seem to have been in part realised by the respondents. Respondents rated shared goals and values about the product; more joint decision making on fruit safety; more working together on quality assurance; a better business working relationship; improved coordination; and improved trust as the six major supply chain benefits from QA certification. The two dimensions identified from these external benefits by PCA were: (1) Improved working relationship and product quality benefits, and (2) Improved cooperation and contractual benefits. The major costs of implementing EUREPGAP certification related to initial investment costs and the recurrent annual costs of compliance. The respondents, on average, spent an estimated R70655 on initial compliance costs, mainly for infrastructure, additional buildings and employees training. Some 60% of respondents spent less than 1% of annual farm turnover on initial compliance costs, while most of the respondents (84%) spent less than 1% of annual farm turnover on recurrent costs of compliance. Growers that owned a pack-house had statistically significantly higher initial and annual costs of compliance. Most (63%) of the respondents had a relatively high level of overall satisfaction with QA certification. The second objective of this study was to analyse the determinants of SA citrus farmers’ overall level of satisfaction with QA certification. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression estimated that perceived dimensions of internal benefits, namely (1) Foreign market access benefits; (2) Intra-farm benefits; (3) Improved fruit safety and orchard management; (4) Quality and worker welfare benefits; and (5) Ability to retain existing markets, all had a statistically significant positive influence on the sampled growers’ overall level of satisfaction with QA certification. Supply chain benefits also had a positive effect on overall level of satisfaction, although the effects were not statistically significant. Similarly, no statistically significant relationship could be established between farm size or the respondents’ level of satisfaction with their certifying agents and their overall level of satisfaction with QA certification. Record keeping is required by nearly all EUREPGAP control chapters and for farm audits. Crop protection is also perceived as a complex requirement of the EUREPGAP protocol. Policymakers thus need to be aware of the extra costs that protocols create for management. The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) could consider providing more extension advice to farmers on the technical requirements of certification (particularly best practices for implementing the control chapters). Comparing the motivator and perceived benefit dimensions, most of the motivators for QA certification seem to have been in part realised by the respondents. For instance, the drivers to improve business image/market competitiveness/market access requirements/farm profitability were realised via perceived reputation/input cost savings/foreign market and profit improvement benefits. The study results, therefore, provide some evidence that QA certification is a necessary strategy for maintaining competitiveness in EU citrus markets. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

This study examines the socio-economic impact of fair trade on black emerging citrus fruit farmers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is a comparative analysis of farmers involved in fair trade and those who are not. Farmers from Riverside Enterprise and Sundays River Citrus Cooperative were examined to evaluate the impact of fair trade. Such impact was analyzed through looking at access farmers have to foreign markets and their ability to receive high income returns from these markets. The study also discusses the influence fair trade has on the social and economic development of the farmers’ communities. The findings of the study indicate how most fair trade communities have benefited financially and through public infrastructure such as crèches, learning centers and access to computers for both farmers and workers. Such public developments are funded through the fair trade social dividend which is a premium farmers receive for selling their fruit under fair trade. However, the study findings also indicate the limitations of fair trade; farmers have to incur high costs to become fair trade accredited. The study also examines the commodity value chains (hereinafter referred to as CVC) for citrus fair trade farmers and non fair trade farmers. This analysis reveals the procedure of value chains, their benefits and constraints.

The South African citrus fruit industry faces enormous challenges in the global markets, such as an increasing demand for higher quality citrus fruits, as well as increasing fierce competition from the southern hemisphere citrus producing countries. Its long history of global integration makes it highly sensitive to international developments, as well as domestic ones. The purpose of the study is to investigate the competitiveness of the South African citrus fruit industry relative to its southern hemisphere competitors – namely, Argentina, Australia, Uruguay, Chile and Peru. Both local and international literature on the citrus fruit industries was used as part of the analysis. In addition to this, a variety of methods and techniques were applied. These included the three well-recognised indices which were used to calculate the competitive indices of various citrus fruit product categories – namely, the Balassa Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA#) index, the Net Export index (NXi) and the Relative Revealed Comparative Trade Advantage (RTA) index. Time series data on South African and southern hemisphere major producing countries’ citrus fruit imports and exports were used to calculate the competitiveness indices using Excel spreadsheets. A structured questionnaire was also used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data of expert views from key industry stakeholders. Data collected were analysed using Excel spreadsheets and the Porter methodology. The competitiveness analysis of this study clearly pointed out that the South African citrus fruit industry reveals more competitive advantage in some citrus fruit products than its southern hemisphere counterparts. The results of the RCA#, NXi and RTA indices analyses clearly showed that the domestic industry has a stronger and relatively higher revealed competitive advantage in three citrus fruit product categories – namely, oranges, grapefruit and grapefruit juice than its southern hemisphere competitors. However, its orange competitiveness decreases when moving from primary orange to orange juice. This means that the value-adding opportunities are still lacking in the orange sub-sector. One possible reason for this could be the high rates of return recorded for farm-level applications of technology for most primary orange commodities. This study identified the availability of skilled employees, quality of unskilled labour, cost of doing business in the industry, services from financial institution, electricity supply, land reform and some other government policies, such as trade policy, labour policy, BEE policy iv and tax system as the major factors impeding the competitiveness of the industry. The list also included the current climatic conditions, high incidences of HIV/AIDS and crime, economic instability and the cost of technology and infrastructure in the industry. Despite the challenges mentioned above, quality of skilled labour; general level of development and quality of infrastructure and technology in the industry; quality of soils; the availability of scientific research institutions and the collaboration of the industry with these institutions; availability and quality of local suppliers of primary inputs; and market information flow were found to have a positive influence on the competitiveness of the industry. In order for the industry to enhance its competitiveness, a number of recommendations and strategies are suggested at the end of this study. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M.Sc. (Agriculture)

The South African citrus fruit industry faces enormous challenges in the global markets, such as an increasing demand for higher quality citrus fruits, as well as increasing fierce competition from the southern hemisphere citrus producing countries. Its long history of global integration makes it highly sensitive to international developments, as well as domestic ones. The purpose of the study is to investigate the competitiveness of the South African citrus fruit industry relative to its southern hemisphere competitors – namely, Argentina, Australia, Uruguay, Chile and Peru. Both local and international literature on the citrus fruit industries was used as part of the analysis. In addition to this, a variety of methods and techniques were applied. These included the three well-recognised indices which were used to calculate the competitive indices of various citrus fruit product categories – namely, the Balassa Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA#) index, the Net Export index (NXi) and the Relative Revealed Comparative Trade Advantage (RTA) index. Time series data on South African and southern hemisphere major producing countries’ citrus fruit imports and exports were used to calculate the competitiveness indices using Excel spreadsheets. A structured questionnaire was also used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data of expert views from key industry stakeholders. Data collected were analysed using Excel spreadsheets and the Porter methodology. The competitiveness analysis of this study clearly pointed out that the South African citrus fruit industry reveals more competitive advantage in some citrus fruit products than its southern hemisphere counterparts. The results of the RCA#, NXi and RTA indices analyses clearly showed that the domestic industry has a stronger and relatively higher revealed competitive advantage in three citrus fruit product categories – namely, oranges, grapefruit and grapefruit juice than its southern hemisphere competitors. However, its orange competitiveness decreases when moving from primary orange to orange juice. This means that the value-adding opportunities are still lacking in the orange sub-sector. One possible reason for this could be the high rates of return recorded for farm-level applications of technology for most primary orange commodities. This study identified the availability of skilled employees, quality of unskilled labour, cost of doing business in the industry, services from financial institution, electricity supply, land reform and some other government policies, such as trade policy, labour policy, BEE policy iv and tax system as the major factors impeding the competitiveness of the industry. The list also included the current climatic conditions, high incidences of HIV/AIDS and crime, economic instability and the cost of technology and infrastructure in the industry. Despite the challenges mentioned above, quality of skilled labour; general level of development and quality of infrastructure and technology in the industry; quality of soils; the availability of scientific research institutions and the collaboration of the industry with these institutions; availability and quality of local suppliers of primary inputs; and market information flow were found to have a positive influence on the competitiveness of the industry. In order for the industry to enhance its competitiveness, a number of recommendations and strategies are suggested at the end of this study. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

This paper presents the findings of part of a research project entitled "Population Mobility and Settlement Patterns in the Eastern Cape, 1950 to 1990", which was funded by the Human Sciences Research Council. The part of the project with which this paper is concerned, is the study of resettlement in the Border/Ciskei area of the (new) Eastern Cape Province. It involves two main foci: a) the Whittlesea district of the former Ciskei, where research was done in the resettlement area of Sada (where findings are compared with research done there in 1981) and Dongwe; and b) the Fort Beaufort area, where we looked at the two 'black spot' communities of Upisdraai and Gqugesi which were uprooted and moved to the Fort Beaufort township of Bhofolo in the 1960s, and at the establishment of black citrus farmers in the Kat River Valley in the late 1980s, on previously White owned farms which were bought out by the (then) Ciskei government. In the Conclusion, some important differences are suggested between resettlement in the Eastern Cape and in QwaQwa, one of the areas of South Africa that has been most severely affected by resettlement. Ways in which the South African material may be seen in terms of prevailing models for the analysis of resettlement, and may provide an input for the modification of these approaches, are briefly considered. / Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)

While skilled labour shortages are common in many countries, including South Africa, mainly due to a skills mismatch, the undersupply of unskilled labour was less expected, especially in developing countries with high unemployment. The thesis utilises data on perceived worker undersupply on selected citrus farms in the Sundays River Valley (SRV), located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, collected in 2013, to analyse why unemployed residents, surprisingly, do not fill up vacancies on farms. In contrast to other labour markets, farm employment is not restricted by educational levels and as workers reported, with little training the various job tasks and skills required are easy and quick to grasp. At a time the government is trying to find ways of reducing unemployment, and the SRV Municipality (2012:29) reported approximately 42% unemployment, the question arises as to why the relatively low educated residents do not take advantage of the employment opportunities on farms. According to local workers and unemployed residents, the farm job was unattractive largely because of a combination of two factors: perceived relatively low salaries partly caused by the availability of migrant seasonal workers accepting lower remuneration and poor non-wage working conditions. The survey also found that farmers preferred migrant workers because they were more productive compared to their local counterparts who were, reportedly, characterised by high absenteeism and laziness, caused mainly by a reliance on social grants and alcohol abuse. Other reasons given for the unattractiveness of the farm job included the seasonal nature of farm employment, which left workers with no source of income in the offseason, the redundancy associated with farm tasks, perceived poor treatment of workers and lack of information on UIF and Provident funds to farm workers. To address problems associated with the dislike of farm work, seasonality of on-farm employment and the reportedly relatively low income, farm managers, the local municipality and the Labour Department could possibly be involved in creating more communal agricultural projects and help provide local community members to venture into supporting alternative careers within the Hospitality, Ecotourism and Conservation Industries through training programmes. Farm managers may need to consider improving their working relationship with workers in communication and when assigning tasks. Farmers and the local municipality could also consider investing in training programmes for the unemployed residents to equip them with technical skills that can improve their chances of finding jobs.