Thesis (DTech (Marketing))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-203). Also available online.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Technology: Marketing in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2008 / This thesis identifies and examines evidence of e-commerce in three large businesses (Woolworths, Momentum and Santam) focusing on their Internet branding strategies, the impact of management actions and how those actions contribute to e-commerce success. Case study was used to assemble evidence from the three companies. The data received from respondents were transcribed, codified into thirteen key words. These were analysed using Cohen Kappa method of content analysis. The findings show different impact of management actions and prioritisation of management functions are evident at different stages of the adoption process. In addition, the application of management function differs at different stages suggesting expected changes in management competency as the adoption process matures. This thesis argues that as we move to a more interactive mode of working with customers and competitors using Internet technology, the role of marketing is critical; within marketing, brand management is seen as a particularly important activity. The work reported is based on the evidence that brand management is indeed important, and a maturity model is presented to guide brand management activities at different stages of e-commerce adoption. Internet-related partnering opportunities with large firms remain a concern for smaller firms. It reveals that although much Internet research has taken a technical viewpoint, some experts have begun to make connections between Internet success and brand management. This thesis shows that there are opportunities for businesses doing e-commerce but, sufficient attention should be given to the implementation of branding and brand management strategies that recognise the changes and challenges of e-commerce adoption. It also shows that the patterns of management activities and actions that will ensure success are much clearer, as well as the partnering opportunities with small businesses.

Magister Commercii - MCom / Product innovation and its efficient diffusion are important to enhance factor productivity, market access, job creation and trade. Innovative firms remain competitive in an increasingly global environment. Product innovation add maximum economic value when the new knowledge and technical know-how are spread through the economy. Standardisation of products is regarded as a vital tool to enable the diffusion of product innovations. The economic rationale for standardisation is based on the theory market failure that requires some sort of correction. Standardisation is regarded as a public good, a form of technical infrastructure. It reduces transaction costs and information asymmetries; increased the willingness of consumers to pay, which in turn increases the success and diffusion of innovation. Lower transaction costs result in reduced production and distribution costs. For consumers it also results in reduced search and testing costs as well as reduced time and effort to evaluate quality. Studies on the impact of standardisation were done for some developed countries, but not for developing countries. Unlike most studies that have a narrow industry-focus, this report has a broader focus on the impact of various types of standards on product innovation, market access and trade. It presented specific case studies for various industries in South Africa as well as studies on the impact of standards internationally. / South Africa

The study was conducted at the University of Fort Hare farm to assess the effect of dietary supplementation on physico-chemical and consumer sensory characteristics of chevon from South African indigenous goat genotypes. Forty-eight 6-month-old Xhosa lop-eared (XLE), Nguni (NGN), Xhosa-Boer cross (XBC) and Boer (BOR) castrated goats with a body weight range from 20 to 25 kg were used in this study. Half of the goats in each genotype were supplemented with 200g/head/day of sunflower cake. The other half of goats in each genotype was not supplemented. The goats were slaughtered at day 90 to determine slaughter weight (SLW), cold dress mass (CDM), meat colour, cooking loss, meat pH and Warner-Bratzler (WB) shear force values. Furthermore, a consumer sensory evaluation of cooked or fried chevon from supplemented and non-supplemented goats was conducted with consumers of different ages, tribes and gender. The XLE and NGN goats had higher pH24 (P < 0.05) than BOR and XBC goats. Supplemented BOR goats had higher L* values than their non-supplemented counterparts (P < 0.05). The other meat quality attributes in XLE and NGN were comparable to those in meat from the Boer goat. Female respondents gave higher (P < 0.05) sensory scores than male respondents for both cooked and fried meat on aroma intensity. Shona consumers gave higher (P < 0.05) aroma intensity scores than the Xhosa and the Zulu consumers for both cooked and fried meat. In the non-supplemented goats, fried meat for all genotypes was superior (P < 0.05) to the cooked meat for initial impression of juiciness. Age and gender of respondents and thermal iv treatment influenced initial impression of juiciness scores (P < 0.05). The quality of chevon from XLE and NGN was comparable to that of the Boer goat, and dietary supplementation improved most meat quality attributes. Chevon from the supplemented goats had higher consumer sensory scores than chevon from the non-supplemented goats. Keywords: supplementation, meat colour, ultimate pH, consumer sensory evaluation, Xhosa lop eared, Nguni, Boer goats.

This master thesis deals with Czech television commercial products in relation to cooperation with media houses. The objective is to evaluate the presence of commercial products in Czech Television using qualitative and quantitative research, taking into consideration the part of the viewer, and advertiser of individual campaigns focusing on media houses. The thesis consists of two parts. The first theoretical part introduces the issue of commercial communication, characteristics and measurability of media. Further, it deals with media influence of Czech Television, including commercial products which may be used in broadcasting. The second part looks into the implementation process of barter between Czech Television and media house. After that, there are secondary data obtained from the project MML-TGI and primary data from the questionnaire survey analyzed. Fi-nally are presented interviews with practitioners who provide a comprehensive view of the ongoing barter cooperation.

In fire debris analysis, substrate contribution refers to compounds present within the material collected that can interfere with the instrumental detection of ignitable liquids or contribute petroleum or alcohol-based compounds, which may complicate the interpretation. The concept of substrate contribution was brought to light by "The petroleum-laced background" by Lentini et al. focusing on commercial products (e.g. tennis shoes, magazines, etc.), the publication successfully illustrated that these products can produce chromatograms similar to those generated by the presence of petroleum-based ignitable liquids (ILs). As a result, Lentini et al. demonstrated that fire debris analysts can identify the presence of ignitable liquids without realizing the compounds in question might be the result of the manufacturing processes, and are inherent to the substrate in question. Therefore, the findings may or may not be probative. Gasoline is easily accessible and is frequently used by arsonists. As such, fire debris analysis focuses primarily on petroleum-based compounds. However, oxygenated solvents, which encompass all oxygen-containing compounds as defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) classification scheme, can also be used in an arson event. Despite the potential to be used as ILs, little is known regarding the recovery of these compounds. Previous thesis projects from the Biomedical Forensic Sciences program at Boston University School of Medicine explored and optimized the use of zeolites in recovering low molecular weight oxygenated ignitable liquids. An isothermal gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method was also developed to detect these oxygenated ILs. The results from these projects show that zeolites have the potential to be used in forensic casework. Inspired by previous publications and thesis research, the goal of this project was to first develop a reference library on substrate contribution from oxygenates (e.g. ethanol, isopropanol and acetone) present in commercial products using the isothermal GC/MS methods. The development of this reference library included a specific interest in wood treatment products, considering wood is one of the most commonly submitted fire debris materials. The second stage involved an attempt at evaluating extraction efficiencies of activated charcoal strip and zeolites. The results of this project suggested that automotive and food products examined contained only acetone and ethanol respectively, while the variety of oxygenates found in household and personal care products indicated further analysis of additional products in these categories would be beneficial. Moreover, the results also reaffirmed zeolites' role in recovering oxygenated ILs in a controlled testing environment using KimWipes as a non-contributing substrate. However, the instrumental method required some modifications, as there was partial separation between ethanol and acetone. The results from applying products onto wooden blocks suggested that activated charcoal strips recovered more oxygenates than zeolites. This unexpected result prompted an investigation into the existing extraction parameters. The investigation suggested that the wooden blocks themselves were responsible for the unexpected recovery results, and future studies would be needed to understand if this recovery was substrate-specific.

Mini-study project (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The traditional role of the procurement functions within large organizations has changed significantly over the last couple of years. Moving away from a function purely directed at rendering a supply of material service to the relevant plants, the procurement departments are now a vital link in the chain to improve global competitiveness. In this changing role, procurement is expected to work closely with the organization's internal operations, as well as with suppliers to ensure that opportunities for gaining competitive advantages are fully explored. The procurement manager and his team will have to focus on building links to ensure that the organization's goals and objectives are met. This paper serves to describe the changes made by Iscor Steel to ensure that its procurement department is adequately equipped to manage these new challenges. The changing face of the department, its organizational structure, the operational methodology and focus are explained. The methodology of modem supply chain cost reduction initiatives undertaken by Iscor and its suppliers is explained and the results thereof are presented. The paper highlights the successes achieved by Iscor in transforming the traditional service orientated procurement function into a world class, continuous business improvement orientated department. The success revolves around changing the organizational structure in such a way as to equip the procurement function with the commercial and technical expertise to focus on specific commodities in such detail that maximum cost and efficiency advantages are realized. As an example, the latter part of the paper gives a detailed explanation of one of the tools used by the procurement department to minimize cost and maximize efficiency, and describes in general the considerable success achieved by using these tools. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tradisionele rol van die aankopefunksie binne groot organsisasies het geweldig verander oor die laaste aantal jare. Dit het wegbeweeg van 'n funksie wat uitsluitlik gemik was op die verskaffing van materiaal aan betrokke aanlegte. Die aankope departement speel vandag 'n belangrike rol in die verbetering van 'n maatskappy se internasionale kompeteringsvermoê. In hierdie veranderende rol word van die aankopefunksie verwag om baie nou met die interne bedrywighede van die maatskappy, sowel as met die verskaffers saam te werk om te verseker dat geleenthede vir die benutting van kompeterende voordele ten volle ontgin word. Die aankopebestuurder en sy span moet fokus daarop om bande te bou wat kan verseker dat die organisasie sy doelwitte bereik. Hierdie studie ondersoek en illustreer die veranderinge wat deur Iscor Staal gemaak is om te verseker dat die aankopefunksie toegerus is om hierdie nuwe uitdagings te hanteer en te bestuur. Die veranderende funksie van die aankopedepartement, die organsisasiestruktuur, die bestuursmetodologie en die nuwe fokus word beskryf in die studie. Die metodologie van moderne kosteverminderings inisiatiewe binne die verskaffingsketting van Iscor en sy verskaffers word verduidelik en die resultate daarvan weergegee. Hierdie studie reflekteer die suksesse wat Iscor behaal het deur die verandering van die tradisionele diensgeorienteerde aankopefunksie na 'n wêreldklas aaneenlopende besigheidsverbeterings georienteerde funksie. Die sukses wentel rondom die verandering van die organisasiestruktuur op so 'n wyse dat die aankopefunksie toegerus is met kommersiële en tegniese kundigheid om te fokus op spesifieke kommoditeite sodat maksimum koste en effektiwiteitsvoordele verwesenlik word. 'n Gedeelte van die studie gee 'n gedetaileerde verduideliking van een van die metodes wat deur die aankopefunksie gebruik word om koste te verminder en effektiwiteit te verbeter en beskryf in die algemeen die sukses wat behaal is deur hierdie metodes te gebruik.

<p>Product innovation and its efficient diffusion are important to enhance factor productivity, market access, job creation and trade. Innovative firms remain competitive in an increasingly global environment. Product innovation add maximum economic value when the new knowledge and technical know-how are spread through the economy. Standardisation of products is regarded as a vital tool to enable the diffusion of product innovations. The economic rationale for standardisation is based on the theory market failure that requires some sort of correction. Standardisation is regarded as a public good, a form of technical infrastructure. It reduces transaction costs and information asymmetries / increased the willingness of consumers to pay, which in turn increases the success and diffusion of innovation. Lower transaction costs result in reduced production and distribution costs. For consumers it also results in reduced search and testing costs as well as reduced time and effort to evaluate quality. Studies on the impact of standardisation were done for some developed countries, but not for developing countries. Unlike most studies that have a narrow industry-focus, this report has a broader focus on the impact of various types of standards on product innovation, market access and trade. It presented specific case studies for various industries in South Africa as well as studies on the impact of standards internationally.</p>

When they resided along the White River in Indiana from 1790 to 1821, the Lenape culture exhibited a blend of traits created by contact with European and other Native American groups. This has made observing the Lenape culture archaeologically problematic, especially the village of Wapicomekoke. In searching for this site, several research questions were addressed including who the Lenape were during this time period and what type of material culture would be associated with them. By compiling a brief history of the Lenape, the archaeological evidence associated with these encounters, and ethnohistoric data pertaining to the life of the Lenape at Wapicomekoke, it can be predicted that the archaeological site associated with this historic location would show evidence of log cabins, a large central longhouse, and of daily activities such as food preparation, dress, and trade goods use as well as Lenape specific items such as the “Delaware dolls.” / Theory and methods -- The Lenape history of contact -- Lenape archaeology -- Settlement patterns and material life -- The Lenape in Indiana, synthesizing the data -- Historic Lenape. / Department of Anthropology

Approximately 98 % of South African exports are conveyed by sea. The volume of South Africa's sea trade represents approximately 3,5 percent of world seaborne trade in tonnage terms, a performance that placed the country on the map of international maritime nations. The major portion of South Africa's dry-bulk exports is shipped from the port of Richards Bay. Richards Bay is the seventh largest world port in terms of cargo volumes, and handles in excess of 80 million tons per annum. This represents approximately 57 % of all South African seaborne trade by volume. The greater portion of South African seaborne trade, especially on the export side consists of shipments of primary (raw) products or beneficiated primary products, and accounts for approximately 140 million tons of all cargoes. The export of primary products or commodities is a vital part of the South African economy and generates a substantial amount of the country's foreign exchange. This dissertation concludes that shipment on FOB terms continues to command the lion's share of all export consignments handled in the port. In fact from the more than 78 million tons of cargo covered in the survey, more than 64 million is shipped on FOB terms, which constitute in cargo volumes approximately 82% of all exported commodities from the Port of Richards Bay. The high incidence of shipments on FOB terms leaves the final arrangement of shipping in the hands of foreign buyers. This represents a substantial loss of revenue in invisible earnings for the country's service account of the balance of payments. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.